Ask a Teacher

Search



Indian National Congress
Realising the injustice of British rule and the value of freedom, many of the people in India and some Englishmen came together in 1885 and formed the Indian National Congress (INC). The INC was founded by a prominent member of the Theosophical Society, Allan Octavian Hume, along with Dadabhai Naoroji and Dinshaw Wacha. W C Bonnerjee was the first President of the INC. Its aim was to unite the people of the country under one common goal. The INC had leaders from all across the country to discuss the problems of the people. They put forward the demands of the people through petitions, memoranda and speeches to the British government. They demanded that Indians be appointed to high positions and to end racial discrimination and drain of wealth.The first session of the INC was held in Bombay (now Mumbai). After that it met in different cities every year.

In the beginning, INC made moderate demands such as spread of education, employment of Indians in government services, etc. Some of the important leaders of INC were W C Banerjee, Dadabhai Naoroji, S N Banerjee, G Subramaniya Aiyer, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Badruddin Tayyabji, Madan Mohan Malaviya, etc. They were referred to as moderates.

Several other leaders were not in favour of such a moderate approach. They felt that they would gain nothing by following such an approach. They preferred a stronger and more active opposition to the British. They wanted 'Swaraj' or self-rule for the Indians. Some of the important Extremists were Bal Gangashar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai. This triumvirate was known as Lal Bal Pal.


comments powered by Disqus