Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Indian National Congress Surat Split in 1907

Surat Split 1907

There was a much debate and disagreement between the moderates and extremists in the Indian National Congress. The extremists wanted to extend the Swadeshi and Boycott movement from Bengal to the rest of the country and extent boycott to every form of association with the colonial government. The moderates wanted to confine the Boycott movement to Bengal and even there to limit it to the boycott foreign goods. The differences dividing the two wings of the nationalist movement could not be kept in check for long. The moderates had failed to advance to the new stage of the national movement. The split between the two came at the Surat session of the Congress in 1907. The moderate leaders having captured the machinery of the Congress excluded the militant elements from it.

But in the long run, the split did not prove useful to either party. The moderate leaders lost touch with the younger generation of nationalists. The British played the game of Divide and Rule. While suppressing the militant nationalists, it tried to win over moderate nationalist opinion. To placate the moderate nationalists, it announced constitutional concessions through the Indian Councils Act of 1909 which are known as the Morley-Minto Reforms. In 1911, the government announced the annulment of the Partition of Bengal. At the same time the seat of the Central Government was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.


Reference
Bipan Chandra : India's Struggle for Independence
Bipan Chandra : Freeddom Struggle edtd
Sumit Sarkar : Modern India
NCERT Text book
SCERT Text book Kerala

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