The Moderates and Extremists | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Indian National Congress Phases

• Moderate Period (1885-1905)
• Extremist Period (1905-1920)
• Gandhian Period (1920-1947)

Moderate Period of Indian National Congress (1885-1905):

• The initial phase of Congress politics is characterized as moderate. During the first twenty years, Congress functioned more like an annual conference than a full-fledged political party. It held meetings for a few days each year to discuss and pass resolutions, then disbanded for the rest of the year.
• Members of Congress at this time were primarily part-time politicians. They were successful professionals in their personal lives, mostly from an Anglicized upper class, had limited time and commitment for full-time politics.

Moderate Leaders:

• A.O. Hume
• W.C. Banerjee
• Surendra Nath Banerjee
• Dadabhai Naoroji
• Feroze Shah Mehta
• Gopalakrishna Gokhale
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
• Badruddin Tyabji
• Justice Ranade
• G. Subramanya Aiyar

W.C. Banerjee:

• He was the first president of the Indian National Congress and the first Indian to contest in the British House of Commons, although he lost the election.
• He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress in the 1892 session held in Allahabad.

Feroze Shah Mehta:

• Sir Pherozeshah Mehta(4 August 1845 – 5 November 1915) was a prominent Parsi Indian political leader, activist, lawyer in Mumbai. He was knighted by the British Government in India for his legal services and was known as The Lion of Bombay.
• He served as the Municipal Commissioner of Bombay Municipality in 1873 and was its President four times. He was nominated to the Bombay Legislative Council in 1887 and became a member of the Imperial Legislative Council in 1893.
• Mehta was elected president of the Indian National Congress in 1890.
• In 1910, he founded the Bombay Chronicle, an English-language weekly newspaper.

Justice Ranade:

• Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade(18 January 1842 – 16 January 1901) was a respected Indian scholar, social reformer, author.
• He was a founding member of the Indian National Congress and held various positions, including member of the Bombay Legislative Council, member of the finance committee at the center, judge of the Bombay High Court.
• Ranade wrote books on Indian economics and Maratha history. He advocated for heavy industry for economic progress and emphasized the importance of Western education for building the Indian nation.
• Together with friends like Atmaram Pandurang, Bal Mangesh Wagle, Vaman Abaji Modak, Ranade established the Prarthana Samaj, a Hindu movement inspired by the Brahmo Samaj, promoting principles of enlightened theism based on ancient Vedas. The Prarthana Samaj was initiated by Keshav Chandra Sen.
• Ranade was a founder of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the Ahmednagar Education Society. He played a key role in the formation of the Indian National Congress and was seen as a critic of Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s politics and a mentor to Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
• He was a founder of the Social Conference movement, focusing on social reforms like widow remarriage,female education, addressing issues such as child marriage,widows’ head shaving, caste restrictions on travel. He also helped establish the Widow Marriage Association in 1861.
• Ranade appreciated India’s history, particularly interested in Shivaji and the Bhakti movement. He believed in adapting traditional social structures, like the caste system, to preserve India’s ancient heritage.
• Despite criticizing superstitions, Ranade was conservative in his personal life. After the death of his first wife, he followed family traditions and married a child bride, Ramabai Ranade, whom he later educated. After his death, she continued his work in social and educational reforms.

Surendranath Banerjee:

• He established the Indian National Association and was also referred to as Rashtraguru.
• Banerjee passed the Indian Civil Service exam in 1869 but faced age-related disputes that barred him. After clearing the exam again in 1871, he was posted as an assistant magistrate in Sylhet. However, he was dismissed due to racial discrimination. Banerjee went to England to protest this decision but was unsuccessful. During his time in England (1874–1875), he studied the works of Edmund Burke and other liberal philosophers, which influenced his protests against the British. He earned the nickname Indian Burke.
• In 1879, he started the newspaper The Bengalee.
• He founded the Indian Association in 1876 to advocate for political reforms. He convened the Indian National Conference in 1883, which later merged with the Indian National Congress in 1886. Banerjee strongly opposed the Partition of Bengal and was a key figure in the Swadeshi movement, promoting Indian-made goods over foreign products.
• He supported the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909, which were largely criticized by the Indian public and nationalist leaders as inadequate. Banerjee also critiqued the civil disobedience methods proposed by Mahatma Gandhi.

G. Subramanya Aiyar:

• G. Subramanya Aiyar was a prominent Indian journalist, social reformer, freedom fighter. He co-founded The Hindu newspaper on September 20, 1878, along with M. Veeraraghavachariar, T. T. Rangachariar, P. V. Rangachariar. Through the Madras Mahajana Sabha, he promoted nationalism and also established Swadesamitran.
• Aiyar was one of the 72 delegates at the Bombay Conference held at Tejpal Sanskrit College on December 12, 1885, which led to the formation of the Indian National Congress.
• He was a strong advocate for reforms in Hindu society, supporting widow remarriage, the abolition of untouchability, the elimination of child marriages. Aiyar even arranged for the remarriage of his widowed daughter, an act that led to his social ostracism.

Dadabhai Naoroji:

Dadabhai Naoroji(4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) was a prominent Indian figure known as the Grand Old Man of India. He was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader who played a significant role in early Indian politics. Naoroji became the first Asian member of the British Parliament, serving from 1892 to 1895.

• Naoroji was involved in the East India Association, which aimed to represent Indian interests in Britain. This group eventually influenced British Parliament and merged into the Indian National Congress (INC).
• He served as Prime Minister of Baroda in 1874 and was a member of the Legislative Council of Mumbai from 1885 to 1888.
• Naoroji represented India in the Second International socialist congress in 1905. His assistant, Mrs. Bhikaiji Rustom Cama, later spoke at the International Socialist Conference in 1907 about the plight of India under British rule.
• In 1901, he published Poverty and un-British Rule in India, highlighting the economic exploitation of India by Britain. His work on the "drain of wealth" theory led to the formation of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure in 1896.
• Naoroji was re-elected as president of the Indian National Congress in 1906.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale:

• Gokhale joined the Indian National Congress in 1889, mentored by social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade.
• In 1899, he was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council and later to the Council of India in 1903.
• He gained a reputation for his expertise and significant contributions to budget debates.
• Gokhale's influence grew, leading to his invitation to London by Lord John Morley to help shape the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909.
• He had a parallel early career with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, but their views diverged in the Congress.
• Gokhale supported the Age of Consent Bill to combat child marriage, while Tilak opposed British interference.
• In 1905, Gokhale became president of the Indian National Congress and founded the Servants of India Society to promote education and national interests.
• He mentored Mahatma Gandhi, who respected Gokhale but later rejected his approach to political reform.
• Gokhale also inspired Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan.
• He died on February 19, 1915, at the age of forty-nine.
• At Gokhale's funeral, Bal Gangadhar Tilak eulogized him as a “diamond of India” and a model for others to emulate.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya:

• Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861–1946) was a prominent Indian educationist and politician.
• He was affectionately called Mahamana.
• In December 1886, Malaviya participated in the 2nd Indian National Congress session in Calcutta, chaired by Dadabhai Naoroji.
• He served in the Imperial Legislative Council from 1912 and continued in the Central Legislative Assembly until 1926.
• Malaviya played a crucial role in the Non-cooperation movement.
• He opposed the politics of appeasement and the Congress's involvement in the Khilafat movement.
• He founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi in 1916, collaborating with Annie Besant and others.
• Malaviya was a moderate leader who opposed separate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow Pact of 1916.
• He served as the President of the Indian National Congress four times (1909, 1913, 1919, 1932).
• Later, he became a leader in the Hindu Mahasabha.
• In response to the Communal Award, Malaviya and Madhav Shrihari Aney founded the Congress Nationalist Party.
• This party won 12 seats in the 1934 elections.
• He was instrumental in founding Scouting in India.
• Malaviya established the influential English newspaper, The Leader, in Allahabad in 1909.
• In 1924, he, along with national leaders and industrialists, acquired Hindustan Times.
• He ensured its survival and launched its Hindi edition, Hindustan Dainik, in 1936.
• Malaviya played a vital role in the removal of untouchability.
• He directed the Harijan movement and presided over the founding meeting of the Harijan Sevak Sangh in 1933.

Badruddin Tyabji:

Badruddin Tyabji (10 October 1844 – 19 August 1906) was an Indian lawyer and the third President of the Indian National Congress.

• After studying in Europe, he returned to India in 1867 and became the first Indian solicitor.

Ideology

• They demanded equality, which appeared to be an abstract concept. They associated liberty with class privilege and advocated for gradual or piecemeal reforms.
• Most of them viewed ‘British rule’ as a providential act destined to bring about modernization. They believed that Indians needed time to prepare for self-government. In the meantime, they placed absolute faith in the British Parliament and the British people. Their only complaint was against the “un-British” practices in India carried out by the viceroy, his executive council, the Anglo-Indian bureaucracy—an imperfection they thought could be corrected through gentle persuasion.
• Their political approach was very limited in terms of goals and methods.
• While they were secular in their attitudes, they were not always forthright enough to rise above their sectarian interests. They recognized the exploitative nature of British rule but preferred reforms over expulsion.

Methods:

• Early Congress members believed in peaceful and constitutional methods of agitation, as opposed to more forceful means. Gokhale explained this approach in his journal Sudhar using the “3P method”: Petition, Prayer, Protest. The press and the platform of the annual sessions were their main tools for agitation.
• Holding annual sessions was another method of Congress propaganda. During these sessions, government policies were discussed, resolutions were passed forcefully. These sessions attracted the attention of both the educated middle class and the government. However, a significant drawback was that Congress met only for three days a year and had no means to continue its work between sessions.
• Congress members believed in the inherent sense of justice and goodwill of the British nation. The Moderates thought that the British genuinely wanted to be fair to the Indians but were unaware of the actual conditions. They believed that the bureaucracy was the main obstacle between the people and their rights. Therefore, they aimed to create public opinion and present public demands to the government through resolutions, petitions, meetings, hoping that the authorities would gradually concede these demands.
• To remind the British of their responsibilities, deputations of leading Indians were sent to Britain to present this viewpoint. In 1889, a British committee of the Indian National Congress was formed to carry out this propaganda, presenting India's perspective to the British authorities. Dadabhai Naoroji played a significant role in this effort, spending much of his time in England, where he was elected to the British House of Commons and formed a strong Indian lobby there.
• In 1890, it was proposed to hold a session of the Indian National Congress in London in 1892. However, due to the British elections of 1891, this proposal was postponed and was never revived later.

Programs and Limited Successes

Constitutional field

• They initially aimed to abolish the Indian Council, which restricted the Secretary of State from implementing liberal policies in India.
• They sought to increase Indian involvement in legislatures by expanding central and provincial legislatures to include 50% elected representation from local bodies, chambers of commerce, universities, etc.
• They proposed the establishment of new councils for North-Western Provinces and Punjab, along with the inclusion of two Indian members in the Viceroy’s Executive Council and one such member in each of the executive councils of Bombay and Madras.
• The budget should be referred to the legislature, granting it the right to discuss, vote on it, also the right of interpellation.
• There should be a right to appeal to the Standing Committee of the House of Commons against the Government of India.

Immediate Demand:

• The immediate demand was not for full self-government or democracy; rather, it focused on democratic rights for the educated members of Indian society, who would represent the masses.

Expectation of Moderate Politicians:

• Moderate politicians expected that full political freedom would gradually be achieved and that India would eventually be granted self-governing rights similar to those enjoyed by colonies like Canada or Australia.

Faith in British Rule:

• They had an intrinsic faith in the providential nature of British rule in India and hoped to be recognized as partners rather than subordinates in the empire, ultimately gaining full British citizenship rights.

Response:

• In response, they received Lord Cross’s Act or the Indian Council’s Amendment Act of 1892, which only offered a marginal expansion of legislative councils at both the central and provincial levels.

Social Reforms

• Some Moderates, like Ranade and Gokhale, advocated for social reforms and opposed practices like child marriage and widowhood.

Constitutional Reforms and Legislative Advocacy:

• Legislative councils in India lacked significant official power until 1920. However, the work done by nationalists in these councils contributed to the growth of the national movement.
• The Imperial Legislative Council, established by the Indian Councils Act of 1861, was an ineffective body intended to make official measures appear as though they were passed by a representative body.
• Indian members in the council were few in number. From 1862 to 1892, only forty-five Indians were nominated, most of whom were wealthy, landed, had loyalist interests.
• Only a small number of political figures and independent intellectuals, such as Syed Ahmed Khan,Kristodas Pal,V.N. Mandlik,K.L. Nulkar, Rashbehari Ghosh, were nominated.

From 1885 to 1892, nationalist demands for constitutional reforms focused on:

• Expanding councils for greater Indian participation.
• Reforming councils to grant them more powers, especially over finances.

The early nationalists aimed for democratic self-government.

• In 1892, their demands were met through the Indian Councils Act.
• However, these reforms faced strong criticism at Congress sessions.

The Congress demanded:

• A majority of elected Indians in councils.
• Control over the budget, including the power to vote on and amend it.
• They popularized the slogan “No taxation without representation.

The scope of constitutional demands expanded over time.

• Leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji (1904), Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1905), Lokmanya Tilak (1906) called for self-government similar to that of Canada and Australia.
• Pherozshah Mehta and Gokhale critically examined government policies and proposals.

The British aimed to use the councils to integrate vocal Indian leaders:

• Allowing them to express their views while keeping the councils ineffective.
• However, nationalists turned these councils into platforms for addressing public grievances, criticizing government policies, highlighting economic issues, particularly related to public finance.

Administrative System

• Demand for Indianisation of Services: The moderates advocated for the Indianisation of the civil service, believing it would be more responsive to Indian needs and reduce the financial drain caused by expatriate officers' salaries and pensions. This demand was also framed as a measure against racism.

• Simultaneous Civil Service Examinations: The moderates called for simultaneous civil service examinations in India and London, along with raising the age limit for candidates from nineteen to twenty-three.

• Resolution in House of Commons: In 1892-93, under William Gladstone's initiative, the House of Commons passed a resolution for simultaneous examinations. However, the secretary of state opposed this, the maximum age for examination was further lowered, disadvantaging Indian candidates.

• Criticism of Bureaucracy and Judiciary: The moderates criticized the oppressive bureaucracy and the expensive, time-consuming judicial system. They called for the separation of judicial and executive functions.

• Administrative Demands: The moderates also demanded the extension of trial by jury, repeal of the arms act, a campaign against the exploitation of indentured labor in Assam tea gardens. They sought increased expenditure on welfare (health, sanitation), education (especially elementary and technical), irrigation works, agricultural improvement, agricultural banks for cultivators.

• Better Treatment for Indian Labor Abroad: They demanded better treatment for Indian laborers in other British colonies, who faced oppression and racial discrimination.

Military

• The British Indian army was involved in imperial wars across the globe, especially in Africa and Asia.
• These conflicts, along with the Indian frontier wars of the 1890s, placed a significant financial burden on India.
• The moderates argued that the costs of military operations should be shared equally by the British government.
• They also proposed that more Indians should be recruited into the army as volunteers and appointed to higher ranks.
• However, these demands were dismissed.
• The moderates criticized the aggressive foreign policy that led to the annexation of Burma.
• This policy also included the attack on Afghanistan and the suppression of tribal communities in the North-West.

Economic Critique of Imperialism

• The moderates' key historical contribution was their economic critique of colonialism, laying the groundwork for economic nationalism. This theme would later shape the Congress government's policies in independent India.
• Early nationalists identified three forms of colonial economic exploitation:trade,industry, finance. They understood that British economic imperialism subordinated the Indian economy to the British one.
• Key figures in this critique included Dinshaw Wacha,Dadabhai Naoroji,Justice M.G. Ranade, R.C Dutt. Naoroji and Dutt, in particular, highlighted India's economic plight under British rule.
• The early nationalists blamed India's growing poverty and economic backwardness on British exploitation. Naoroji famously described British rule as an "everlasting, increasing, every day increasing foreign invasion."
• The core of this economic nationalism was the impact of free trade and foreign capital investment under British colonialism. This transformed India into a supplier of agricultural raw materials and a consumer of British manufactured goods, reducing it to a dependent agrarian economy.
• Naoroji's Drain Theory, articulated in his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, detailed how India's wealth was drained to England through various means, including salaries,savings,pensions,payments to British troops, profits of British companies.
• In response to these concerns, the British government established the Welby Commission, with Naoroji as the first Indian member, to investigate the economic drain.
• Naoroji estimated the drain at about £12 million per year.
• William Digby calculated it to be £30 million.
• Naoroji described British rule as causing impoverishment, likening it to “the knife of sugar”—smooth and sweet but ultimately harmful.
• The moderates sought a change in economic policies, including:
• Reduction of expenditure and taxes
• Reallocation of military charges
• Protectionist policies to shield Indian industries
• Abolition of the salt tax
• Reduction of land revenue assessments
• Extension of Permanent Settlement to Ryotwari and Mahalwari areas
• Encouragement of cottage industries and handicrafts
• Support for modern industry through tariff protection and direct government aid
• The moderates' economic theory linked Indian poverty to colonial rule, challenging the notion of paternalistic imperialism.
• Despite generating anger against British rule, the moderates were unable to translate this into a strong agitation for its overthrow due to their own limitations.

Defence of Civil Right

• Early Indian nationalists were drawn to modern civil rights such as freedom of speech, press, thought, association. They strongly defended these rights whenever the government attempted to restrict them.
• The fight for democratic freedoms became a crucial part of the broader nationalist struggle for independence. In 1897, the government arrested B.G. Tilak and several other leaders for allegedly spreading disaffection against the government. The Natu brothers were deported without trial. This crackdown on civil liberties sparked widespread protests across the country.

Limitations of the Moderates

3P (Prayers, Petitions and Protest)

• Moderate politicians did not organize agitations against British rule because they still had faith in the English democratic liberal political tradition.
• They used prayers, petitions, speeches, articles to prepare a convincing case for self-government in India, aiming to persuade liberal political opinion in England.
• The moderates did not grasp the true nature of British rule in India.
• By the end of the 19th century, the failure of moderate politics was evident, especially with the return of the less sympathetic Tories to power in Britain.

Narrow Social Base and Lack of Mass Participation

• Early moderate politicians in the Congress were predominantly Hindus, with Badruddin Tyabji being a notable exception. Between 1892 and 1909, around 90% of Congress delegates were Hindus, with nearly 48% being Brahmins and the rest upper-caste Hindus. This homogeneity led to social orthodoxy, as social issues were largely avoided in Congress discussions until 1907.
• Muslim participation in Congress declined significantly after 1893. Despite this, major Congress leaders felt complacent due to the absence of a strong rival Muslim political organization until 1906.
• The early national movement was weakened by its narrow social base and lack of mass involvement. Leaders, like Gopal Krishna Gokhale, expressed concerns about the population's ignorance and resistance to change, which hindered the movement's potential for militant action.
• There were contradictions in moderate politics, making it disconnected from the broader Indian population. Most Congress delegates between 1892 and 1909 were from propertied classes, including landlords (18.99%), lawyers (39.32%), traders (15.10%), other professionals.
• The Congress struggled to address peasant issues effectively. They supported the extension of the Permanent Settlement for zamindars and opposed the cadastral survey in 1893-94, which aimed to protect peasants from zamindar exploitation.
• The Congress was also against factory reforms like the Mining Bill, which aimed to improve conditions for women and children, arguing it was influenced by Lancashire interests. However, they supported labor reforms in Assam tea gardens due to foreign capitalist interests, overlooking similar exploitation by Indian mill owners in Bombay.

Other Failures

• The British agreed to share only a tiny part of the military expenses, the demand to appoint Indians in commissioned ranks was turned down because no European officer wanted to be commanded by an Indian officer.
• Many other requests were also rejected.
• The moderate politics of the time were quite limited in terms of goals, programs, achievements, participation. Lord Dufferin could easily claim in November 1888 that the Congress represented only a 'microscopic minority' of the Indian population.

An Evaluation of the Early Nationalists

• Historical Significance of Early Congress: The early Congress played a crucial role in critiquing colonial economic policies and linking Indian poverty to colonialism. This laid the groundwork for later nationalists to conceptualize their attacks on colonialism.
• Aitchison Committee on Indian Civil Service: In 1886, at the request of the Moderates, Lord Dufferin appointed the Aitchison Committee to review the Indian Civil Service. The committee recommended raising the upper age limit for candidates to 22 years, but stipulated that the examination would be held only in London.
• Expansion of Legislative Councils: The Moderates successfully advocated for the expansion of legislative councils through the Indian Councils Act of 1892.
• Legislative Initiatives: At the request of the Moderates, the Calcutta University Act of 1904 and the Calcutta Municipal Corporation Act of 1904 were enacted.
• National Awakening: The Moderates fostered a sense of national unity and widespread awareness among the populace, promoting ideas of democracy, civil liberties, representative institutions.
• Progressive Representation: They represented the most progressive forces of their time, training people in political engagement and popularizing modern ideas.
• Anti-Imperialist Sentiments: Through their efforts, they generated anti-imperialist sentiments among the public by exposing the exploitative nature of colonial rule, undermining its moral foundations.
• Realistic Political Approach: Their political work was grounded in hard realities rather than superficial sentiments, religion, or other shallow considerations.
• Rule in Indian Interest: They established the fundamental political truth that India should be governed in the interest of Indians.
• Foundation for Future Movements: Their efforts laid a solid foundation for a more vigorous, militant, mass-based national movement in the years to come.
• Democratic Base Limitations: Despite their achievements, the nationalists failed to broaden the democratic base of the movement by not including the masses, particularly women, not demanding universal suffrage.

Extremist period (1905 – 1920)

• A new, younger group within the Indian National Congress emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, critiquing the old leadership's ideology and methods.
• This group, known as the Extremist party, advocated for Swaraj as the Congress goal, to be achieved through more self-reliant and independent means, in contrast to the older, Moderate party.
• The Extremists gained influence in Indian politics by the early 20th century, especially after the partition of Bengal.
• From 1905 onwards,moderate leaders lost influence over the National Congress, the trend of militant nationalism(or Extremism) grew stronger.
• Extremism had been developing since the 1857 revolt, though it was not visibly prominent at the time. The nationalist ideas of Swadharma and Swaraj from the 1857 revolt were significant for the extremists.

Causes of Extremism:

• When the government refused to meet the political and economic demands of the people and used repressive measures against the growing national movement, it shook the faith of many Indians in the ideas and methods of liberal nationalism.
• The leadership of the moderates had not been able to deliver any benefits to India, leading young nationalist leaders to gradually take a more dominant role.
• The Act of 1892 displeased Congress leaders, pushing them to adopt legal and nationalist policies to address their demands.
• As a result, they recognized the true nature of British rule, which the moderates had failed to see, believing that it was just.
• Education provided them with a new perspective, drawing inspiration from Indian history and the influence of Western thinkers.
• The increasing Westernization of India by the British led them to believe that British actions would destroy Indian traditions,customs, culture, fueling their opposition.
• Lord Curzon's reactionary policies also contributed to the rise of extremism. His derogatory remarks about Indian character, such as those made at the Calcutta University Convocation, wounded Indian pride. Measures like the Calcutta Corporation Act,Official Secret Act, Indian University Act of 1904 provoked significant resentment. The Delhi Durbar of 1903, held when India was still recovering from the famine of 1899-1900, was seen as a pompous display to a starving population.
• Dissatisfaction with the achievements of the moderates also paved the way for the emergence of extremists in Indian politics.
• The rise of extremism in the national movement was a reaction against the efforts of Western reformers to reshape India in the Western image. Extremists were significantly influenced by the growth of spiritual nationalism in India.
• International events such as Abyssinia's resistance against the Italian Army in 1896 and Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 challenged the perception of European invincibility. Nationalistic movements in Egypt, Persia, Turkey, Russia, along with the humiliating treatment of Indians in British colonies like South Africa, also played a role in fostering extremism.
• The Partition of Bengal was a significant catalyst for the rise of extremism.
• Many of the limitations of the moderates contributed to the birth of extremism.

Goal:

• Different leaders had varying interpretations of the goal of 'swaraj' as envisioned by extremists.
• For Tilak, swaraj meant Indian control over administration while maintaining some connection with Great Britain.
• Bipin Chandra Pal believed that self-government was impossible under British rule, so for him, swaraj meant complete autonomy free from British control.
• Aurobindo Ghosh in Bengal also envisioned swaraj as self-rule, but within the framework of the British imperial structure.

Nature of Extremism and Its Leaders:

• Extremists drew support from a wide social base, including the lower middle class, middle class, educated individuals.
• They rejected British rule and deemed the crown's authority unworthy.
• Inspired by Indian history, tradition, culture, heritage, they had faith in the masses' capacity for participation and sacrifice.
• Employed extra-constitutional methods like boycotts.
• Demanded Swaraj as their birthright.
• Reacted strongly against British imperialist policies in India.
• Political extremism was influenced by Bankim Chandra's writings on spiritual nationalism.
• Moderates' attachment to rationalism and Western ideals alienated them from the Indian masses, hindering their mass base despite high idealism.
• Militant nationalists drew inspiration from India's past, invoking historical episodes to instill national pride and self-respect.
• Opposed the liberal idealization of Western culture, viewing it as cultural capitulation and a source of inferiority complex among Indians.
• Revived memories of India's Vedic past, the regimes of Asoka and Chandragupta, the heroic deeds of figures like Rana Pratap, Shivaji, Rani Laxmibai.
• Leading extremists like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose, Rajnarayan Bose, Ashwini Kumar Dutt were products of English education.
• Despite being influenced by English literature and political ideas, they drew heavily from traditional Indian culture.
• Extremist thought was supported by the teachings of Vivekananda and Dayananda Saraswati.
• The slogan of Swaraj was first introduced by the Arya Samaj founded by Dayananda Saraswati.
• The Lal Bal Pal trio (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal) were assertive nationalists in British-ruled India from 1905 to 1918.
• They advocated the Swadeshi movement, promoting the boycott of imported goods and the use of Indian-made products.
• The militant nationalist movement declined with the arrest of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the retirement of Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh from active politics.

Lala Lajpat Rai (Punjab Keshari):

• Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian author and politician.
• He was injured by the police while leading a peaceful protest against the Simon Commission and died shortly after.
• His death anniversary is observed as Martyrs' Day in India.
• Despite his injuries, he famously declared that his suffering would contribute to the end of British rule in India.
• His death inspired Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries to plot revenge against the police.

Bhagat Singh's Revenge Plot:

• After Lajpat Rai's death, Bhagat Singh vowed to avenge him.
• He joined other revolutionaries, including Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev Thapar, Chandrashekhar Azad, in a plan to kill police officer James A. Scott.
• However, due to a mistake, they ended up killing John P. Saunders, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, on December 17, 1928.

Lajpat Rai's Political Involvement:

• Lajpat Rai's association with the Hindu Mahasabha faced criticism because the Mahasabha was non-secular, which clashed with the Indian National Congress's principles.
• He was a strong follower of the Arya Samaj and served as the editor of the Arya Gazette.

Deportation and Party Split:

• After joining the Indian National Congress and participating in political activities in Punjab, Lajpat Rai was deported to Mandalay, Burma, without a trial in May 1907.
• He was allowed to return in November when the viceroy, Lord Minto, found insufficient evidence against him.
• At the Congress party session in Surat in December 1907, Lajpat Rai's supporters tried to elect him as president, but the party split over differing views on cooperation with the British.
• Lala Lajpat Rai authored the book Unhappy India, where he expressed the idea that a nation without a soul is like "dumb driven cattle."

 Bipin Chandra Pal:

• Bipin Chandra Pal started a journal called 'New India'.
• Sri Aurobindo considered him one of the greatest champions of nationalism.

Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

• Within the Indian National Congress, Tilak was the leading extremist figure. He was labeled the "father of Indian unrest" by Valentine Chichole. He established the Ganesh Festival Committee in 1893, organized no tax campaigns in the famine-stricken Bombay Presidency in 1894, founded the Shivaji Festival Committee in 1895.
• The Deccan Education Society was formed after Shri Vishnushastri Chiplunkar and Tilak founded the New English School in 1880.
• Tilak launched two weekly newspapers, Kesari in Marathi and Mahratta in English, in 1880–81, with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar as the first editor. This earned him the title of ‘awakener of India’.
• In late 1896, a Bubonic plague epidemic spread from Bombay to Pune. The British authorities responded with severe measures, including forced inspections and evacuations. Tilak addressed this issue in his paper Kesar by publishing provocative articles, referencing the Bhagavad Gita to justify actions against oppressors. As a result, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for supporting the Chapekar brothers, who assassinated British officers.
• After the Partition of Bengal, which aimed to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak promoted the Swadeshi and Boycott movements.
• Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and was aligned with nationalists like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. Together, they formed the “Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate”.
• In 1907, during the Congress Party’s annual session in Surat, a dispute over the new president led to a split between the radical faction, led by Tilak, Pal, Lajpat Rai, the moderate faction.
• Nationalists such as Aurobindo Ghose and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai supported Tilak.
• On April 30, 1908, after the failed assassination attempt on Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford, Tilak defended the revolutionaries in his paper Kesar and called for immediate Swaraj(self-rule). He was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six years’ transportation. Tilak was sent to Mandalay, Burma, from 1908 to 1914, where he wrote the Gita Rahasya.
• After his release from prison, Tilak sought reconciliation with the Congress and shifted from direct action to agitations by constitutional means.
• Tilak was a strong advocate of Swaraj(self-rule) and is famous for his quote,“Swarajya is my birthright, I shall have it.” During the Indian Home Rule Movement, he formed a close alliance with Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

V O Chidambaram Pillai: