|
OVERVIEW
|
"... I am an Indian and owe duty to
my work and all my countrymen. Whether I am a Hindu or a Mohammedan, a
Parsi, a Christian, or of any other creed, I am above all an Indian. Our
country is India and our nationality is Indian."
Dadabhai Naoroji,
Lahore, 1893
|
|
The Indian National Congress (INC) -- perhaps
the largest and oldest democratic organisation in the world -- was born as
a movement that embraced all peoples, cultures and communities into its
fold in its fight for freedom from alien domination. The early Congress
consisted of the Moderates who adopted non-confrontational methods and
sought to make the provincial legislatures more representative.
Gradually, however, the repressive policies of
the British government aroused intense opposition and strengthened
national sentiments. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Pal,
who constituted the Extremist triumvirate called Lal-Bal-Pal, advocated
the policy of swadeshi (boycott of foreign goods) and national
education.
The Home Rule Movement started by Tilak and
Annie Besant in Maharashtra and Chennai in 1916, politicised new social
classes, paving the way for the agitations launched by Mahatma Gandhi.
Tilak’s catch phrase, "Freedom is my
birthright, and I shall have it," had nationalist sentiments soaring to
new heights.
A New Era Begins
Mahatma Gandhi’s entry into active politics in
1919 began a new era in Indian national politics. The Jallianwala Bagh
massacre and the atrocities perpetuated in Punjab following the incident,
convinced the Congress to give up the old methods. At a special Congress
session in Calcutta in 1920, Gandhiji decided to start the Non-Cooperation
Movement, strictly adhering all the while to the principles of ahimsa
(non-violence).
Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas
Chandra Bose changed the ideological climate of the national movement by
disseminating the ideals of socialism. The Congress became a genuinely
revolutionary organisation and a mass
movement. |
Top
|
 The All India Congress Committee (AICC) was formed in 1929 to
launch a civil disobedience programme which included the non-payment of
taxes. January 26, 1930, was declared Independence Day and the
Independence Pledge, which would be repeated year after year, was taken by
the Indian people.
The Satyagraha Era began with the Dandi March
against the Salt Tax. Before his arrest, Gandhiji exhorted Indians to
unity: "Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians, all should heartily
embrace one another."
By the time the Civil Disobedience movement
came to an end in April 1934, the Congress had substantially succeeded in
lowering the import of British goods to India. The seeds of another social
revolution had also been sown: the emancipation of women through their
active role in the struggle for freedom.
Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu and Nellie
Sengupta were presidents of various Congress sessions, and an inspiration
to their contemporaries.
The Quit India Movement
 The non-violent Quit India movement was launched in July 1942. A
resolution passed by the AICC in August of the same year demanded the end
of British rule in India. Speaking on the resolution after it was passed,
Gandhiji said that he wanted freedom immediately: "I am today a free man
and will no longer depend on you. Every true Congressman or woman will
join the struggle with an inflexible determination not to remain alive to
see the country in bondage and slavery. We shall either free India or die
in the attempt."
The events that followed forced the government
to reach a settlement. However, the best efforts of the Congress could not
prevent the division of the country on communal lines. The Indian
Independence Act was passed by the British Parliament in July, 1947, and
on August 14, M.A. Jinnah was declared governor-general of
Pakistan. |
Top
|
 The bid to fragment India led to communal strife throughout the
country. This ‘crisis in India’s soul’, as Jawaharlal Nehru described it,
not only affected its direct victims, but shook the cherished ideals on
which the entire structure of national life was based.
Midnight, August 14-15, 1947: The sacrifices
of the millions who suffered and died for the country finally bore fruit.
India became an independent nation.
 Moving the resolution prescribing an oath for the members in the
Constituent Assembly, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of
Independent India, declared: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny,
and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge... The service of
India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of
poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of
opportunity." |
Top
|
Jawaharlal Nehru came to symbolise the best of
the Congress culture in many ways. With him, at the helm of affairs, the
Congress was able to build a national ethos based on the principles of
socialism and democracy. For a country with a long history of tribal,
feudal and colonial authoritarianism, the introduction of democracy meant
a great leap into the future. Nehru played his most creative role in the
socio-economic transformation of India. His understanding of global issues
promoted India’s image across the world as an anti-imperialist,
anti-colonial, anti-fascist and anti-racist nation.
The Challenges Of
Modernisation
The challenges of
modernisation began with Gandhiji’s determination to wipe every tear from
every eye. Having galvanised the nation into fighting for its freedom, the
leaders of the Congress went on to create the infrastructure that would
lead India into a new age of development.
Later Congress Prime Ministers, Indira Gandhi
and Rajiv Gandhi, continued development projects related to science and
technology, agriculture, education, eradication of poverty and
unemployment, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The Congress has
always advocated the process of change and growth, yet it is deeply rooted
in the values that have shaped the country’s culture.
The Congress Of The People
When pre-Independence
Congress leaders spoke of swaraj, the ideal they strove towards was
a nation whose citizens lived in unity and had equality of opportunity.
Now, over a century later, its mass base involving people from every
caste, class and creed of society, accounts for its long-standing
dominance of the Indian political scene since Independence.
|
|
