A series of seven lectures delivered by the author and made into this book outline the course of India’s struggle for freedom and present an insight into various thinking that have taken it to its final goal. The several social movements of the 19th century have greatly contributed to India’s awakening. The starting of Indian nationalism can be said to be from 1857 when the first
war of independence against the British was made. Several organisations were established for creating social and political awakening. It was but natural that a
national organisation like the Indian National Congress (INC) should be formed thereafter in 1885. This was the period during which the British rule exploited and ruined Indian industries for their own benefit and had begun to implement the policy of ‘divide and rule’ by creating a distinguished ‘privileged’ class and by driving a wedge between the major religious communities of Hindus and Muslims. Dadabhai Nauroji, the President of the INC for three years giving evidence on the Parliamentary Committee on Finance presented a
theory, now known as the Drain Theory, which became the basis of India’s nationalism. Apart from material drain there was also a moral drain and the evidences presented in this regard made the educated in India to realise the black side of the British rule and also the necessity to carry the fight for freedom battle on Indian as well as the foreign soil. Dadabhai Nauroji took the INC through the whole gamut of evolution, become people’s organ seeking redress of administrative grievances to that of a National Assembly working for the definite object of attaining Swaraj. The Moderates in the INC, understandably, had all along followed constitutional method of ‘petition and prayer’ mainly because they had great faith in the philosophy of liberalism and leaders like Gopal Krishna Gokhale set an example of strictly adhering to values and norms associated with democracy. In pursuance of a resolution passed in Congress Session in 1904, Gokhale and others were deputed to England to educate the British on grievances and demands of the people of India.As a result some of the demands put forward by the INC were accepted. Gokhale was one of the earliest political leaders who applied mind to various questions that would have a bearing on India’s future, such as free and compulsory education, teaching of vernaculars and autonomy of the Universities. Gokhale also struggled on the floor of the Imperial Legislative Assembly for abolishing the oppressive and un-just SaltTax. Important happenings took place between 1905 and 1920, such as Partition of Bengal, formation of All India Muslim League and the All India Hindu Mahasabha,starting of the two Home Rule Leagues (by Tilak and Annie Besant), split in the Indian National Congress, the agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League, Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British passing away of Tilak and emergence of Mahatma Gandhi. There were also revolutionary terrorist activitiessuch as by Chaphekar, Khudiram Bose, Madanlal Dinghra and the formation of Ghadar Party in Canada.Mohandas Gandhi was now beginning to emerge on the national scene. He championed the cause of farmers in Gujarat, factory workers in Ahmedabad, workers of indigo plantations and formed Satyagraha Sabha to oppose harmful legislations like the Rowlatt Act. He launched his first mass
movement, known as the Khilafat movement, in 1920. He issued a ‘Do or Die’ slogan and started a Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 demanding the abolition of
Tax on
Salt and participated in the Round Table Conferences that ultimately did not bring desired results. Jawaharlal Nehru, now on the national scene, trusted Gandhi’s judgement and basic principles. He admired the moral and ethical side of the Indian freedom movement and of Satyagraha. Gandhiji made the Congress organisation democraticand a mass organisation and won the top leaders of the Congress through his own qualities of leadership. His movements were multi-dimensional in nature. They had political as well as social and economic dimensions. The Cripps Mission arrived in March 1942 to solve the Indian problem was a disappointing failure and the Congress therefore passed the Quit India Resolution in1942. Four years later, the Cabinet Mission, based on the idea of a United India arrived. Its
plan was accepted by the Congress and the Muslim League with certain reservations and elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Formation of an interim government was a part of the Cabinet Mission Plan and Viceroy Lord Wavell invited Nehru to form the interim government. It came into being in September 1946 with Nehru as the Vice President. After election, the Muslim League withdrew its support for the Plan and passed the resolution for Direct Action on 16 August 1946. This resulted in an unprecedented bloodshed, loss of life and property in Bengal and Punjab. It became obvious that the ‘direct action’ had non-Muslims as the target and not the government. With pressures from the Viceroy, the Muslim League rejoined the interim government in October 1946 but started sabotaging the government from within. This and several other reasons resulted in the partition of the country by forming a separate Pakistan. The truncated India finally became independent on 15 August 1947. Dr. N.G.Rajurkar’s book brings out the philosophy and the spirit behind the happenings at each and every stage of the country’s struggle for freedom and therefore makes an interesting and a valuable reading.
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