04-16-2005, 09:54 AM
the Indian Freedom Struggle went through four phases.The Four Phases of Indian Freedom Struggle
(1) The Moderates
First came the Moderates, men like Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade ( 1842-1901 ), Surendra Nath Banerjee (1848-1925), Gopal Krushna Gokhale ( 1866-1915 ) . They were great visionaries, men of utmost sincerity and devotion. They sought reforms and better government.
the Militants.
They propagated that, without a direct action, the British would never accede to the Indian demands. They proposed the boycott of British goods. They said, "if you cannot avoid buying foreign goods, buy non British goods." They emphasised self reliance, support to indigenous industries, mass agitation and even going to jail if necessary.
Their undisputed leader was Bal Gangadhar Lokamanya Tilak ( 1856 - 1920 ).
.(3) The Revolutionaries
The Revolutionaries went one step further. Their leader was Vinayak Damodar popularly called Veer Savarkar ( 1883-1966 ). Since 1900, he had been preaching Absolute Political Independence for India as their aim. This was to be achieved by incessant armed struggle whenever possible.
He said, " Tilak and his followers are carrying out their activities ( movements ) within the law and look what happened. The British rulers did not hesitate to send him to jail in 1897. If a movement is within the law today, the British can change that law tomorrow and make the movement illegal. Today or tomorrow, we will have to seek the authority to make the law itself. At some stage, an armed struggle is inevitable. Why not start such a struggle today. Why waste time ? "
Â¥ Savarkar studied for Law at Grays Inn, London. Despite having completed his studies and passed examinations in 1909, he was not called to the Bar because of his political activities. The decision of the benchers of Grays Inn not to call Savarkar to the bar was so outrageous that hereafter Indians deliberately called him Barrister Savarkar.
Â¥ Savarkar came to London in 1906 with a passport issued by the Government of India. However, in July 1910 he was arrested under the Fugitive Offenders Act and sent to India to stand trial for trying to overthrow the British Raj..
Â¥ Due to Savarkar's efforts, there arose a succession of revolutionaries. For example, Khudiram Bose ( 1908 ), Madanlal Dhingra ( 1909 ), Anant Kanhere, Karve and Deshpande others ( 1910 ), Bal Mukund Avadhabihari, Amirchand and Vasant Vishwas ( 1915 ), Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev ( 1931 ), Udham Singh ( 1941 ) and many more.
Â¥ Finally came Mahatma Gandhi ( 1873 - 1948 ).
Tilak died in August 1920. Savarkar was on the Andaman Islands till 1921, transferred to mainland India but kept in jails till 1924 and was kept in internment till 1937.
Gandhi, who returned to India from South Africa in 1916, had a free hand.
Gandhi proposed a 4 Anna ( quarter of a Rupee ) annual membership of the Congress Party, thus spreading the freedom movement to the masses. He initiated the idea of Indians wearing clothes made from Khadi ( home spun
cotton ). It gave a uniform to the Congress workers throughout India. Gandhi also gave Congress a organisational structure.
By 1920, the Congress Party had been in existence for 35 years. Among the Moderates, we regarded persons like Gokhale as fatherly figures."
Savarkar also met Ramesh Chandra Dutta, a retired high ranking civil service officer, in London in 1908. He persuaded Dutta that the 1857 war was a War of Independence from the British. Datta was President of the Indian National Congress in 1899.
(1) The Moderates
First came the Moderates, men like Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade ( 1842-1901 ), Surendra Nath Banerjee (1848-1925), Gopal Krushna Gokhale ( 1866-1915 ) . They were great visionaries, men of utmost sincerity and devotion. They sought reforms and better government.
the Militants.
They propagated that, without a direct action, the British would never accede to the Indian demands. They proposed the boycott of British goods. They said, "if you cannot avoid buying foreign goods, buy non British goods." They emphasised self reliance, support to indigenous industries, mass agitation and even going to jail if necessary.
Their undisputed leader was Bal Gangadhar Lokamanya Tilak ( 1856 - 1920 ).
.(3) The Revolutionaries
The Revolutionaries went one step further. Their leader was Vinayak Damodar popularly called Veer Savarkar ( 1883-1966 ). Since 1900, he had been preaching Absolute Political Independence for India as their aim. This was to be achieved by incessant armed struggle whenever possible.
He said, " Tilak and his followers are carrying out their activities ( movements ) within the law and look what happened. The British rulers did not hesitate to send him to jail in 1897. If a movement is within the law today, the British can change that law tomorrow and make the movement illegal. Today or tomorrow, we will have to seek the authority to make the law itself. At some stage, an armed struggle is inevitable. Why not start such a struggle today. Why waste time ? "
Â¥ Savarkar studied for Law at Grays Inn, London. Despite having completed his studies and passed examinations in 1909, he was not called to the Bar because of his political activities. The decision of the benchers of Grays Inn not to call Savarkar to the bar was so outrageous that hereafter Indians deliberately called him Barrister Savarkar.
Â¥ Savarkar came to London in 1906 with a passport issued by the Government of India. However, in July 1910 he was arrested under the Fugitive Offenders Act and sent to India to stand trial for trying to overthrow the British Raj..
Â¥ Due to Savarkar's efforts, there arose a succession of revolutionaries. For example, Khudiram Bose ( 1908 ), Madanlal Dhingra ( 1909 ), Anant Kanhere, Karve and Deshpande others ( 1910 ), Bal Mukund Avadhabihari, Amirchand and Vasant Vishwas ( 1915 ), Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev ( 1931 ), Udham Singh ( 1941 ) and many more.
Â¥ Finally came Mahatma Gandhi ( 1873 - 1948 ).
Tilak died in August 1920. Savarkar was on the Andaman Islands till 1921, transferred to mainland India but kept in jails till 1924 and was kept in internment till 1937.
Gandhi, who returned to India from South Africa in 1916, had a free hand.
Gandhi proposed a 4 Anna ( quarter of a Rupee ) annual membership of the Congress Party, thus spreading the freedom movement to the masses. He initiated the idea of Indians wearing clothes made from Khadi ( home spun
cotton ). It gave a uniform to the Congress workers throughout India. Gandhi also gave Congress a organisational structure.
By 1920, the Congress Party had been in existence for 35 years. Among the Moderates, we regarded persons like Gokhale as fatherly figures."
Savarkar also met Ramesh Chandra Dutta, a retired high ranking civil service officer, in London in 1908. He persuaded Dutta that the 1857 war was a War of Independence from the British. Datta was President of the Indian National Congress in 1899.