History Of Modern India Part 10

Justice Ranade and others organised the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha in the 1870Y The Madras Mahajan Sabha was started in 1881 and the Bombay Presidency

Dadabhai Ncorojl with Annie Bewnt and others (Courtesy: Ifehn Manorial Museum and Library)

a.s.sociation in 1885. These organisations were mainly devoted to criticism of important administrative and legislative measures, The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha brought out a quarterly journal under the guidance of Justice Ranade, This journal became the intellectual guide of new India particularly on economic questions.

The most important of the pre-Congress nationalist organisations was 'the Indian a.s.sociation of Calcutta. The younger nationalists of Bengal had been gradually getting discontented with the conservative and prolandlord policies of the British India a.s.sociation. They wanted sustained political agitation on issues of wider public interest. They found a leader in Surendranath Baneijea who was a brilliant writer and orator. He was unjustly turned out of the Indian Civil Service as Ms superiors could not. tolerate the presence of an independent-minded Indian in the ranks of *this service. He began his public career in 1875 by delivering brilliant .addresses on nationalist topics to the students of Calcutta. Led by Surendranath and Anandamohan Bose, the younger nationalists of Bengal founded the Indian a.s.sociation in July 1876. The Indian a.s.sociation set before itself the aims of creating a strong public opinion in the country on political questions and the unification of the Indian people on a common political programme. In order to attract large numbers of people to its banner, it fixed a low membership fee for the poorer cla.s.ses.

The first major issue it took up for agitation ws the reform of the Civil Service regulations and the raising of the age limit for its examination, Surendranath Banerjea toured different parts of the country during 1877-78 in an effort to create an all-India public opinion on this question.

The Indian a.s.sociation also carried out agitation against the Arms Act and (he Vernacular Press Act and in favour of protection of the tenants from oppression by the zamindars. During 1883-85 it organised popular demonstrations of thousands of peasants to get the Rent Bill changed in favour of the tenants, It also agitated for better conditions of work for the workers in the English-owned tea plantations where conditions of near-slavery prevailed. Many branches of the a.s.sociation were opened in the towns and villages of Bengal and also in many towns outside Bengal.

The time was now ripe for the formation of an all-India political organisation of the nationalists who felt the need to unite politically against the common enemy-foreign rule and exploitation. The existing organisations had served a useful purpose but they were narrow in their scope and functioning. They dealt mostly with local questions and their membership and leadership were confined to a few people belonging to a single city or province. Even the Indian a.s.sociation had not succeeded in becoming an all-Indian body.

The Indian a.s.sociation sponsored an all-India National Conference at Calcutta in December 1883. This Conference was attended by several leaders from outside Bengal. It adopted a programme very siihilar to the one adopted by the Indian National Congress with which it merged in 1886. It did not, however, succeed in becoming a representative body of political workers and leaders all over the country.

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS Many Indians had been planning to form an all-India organisation of nationalist political workers. But the credit for giving the idea a concrete and final shape goes to A.O. Hume, a retired English Civil Servant. He got in touch with prominent Indian leaders and organised with their cooperation the first session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay in December 1885. It was presided over by W.C. Bonnerjee and atten-ded by 72 delegates. The aims of the National Congress were declared to be the promotion of friendly relations between nationalist political workers from different parts of the country, development and consolidation of the feeling of national unity irrespective of caste, religion, or province, formulation of popular demands and their presentation before the Government, and, most important of all, the training and organisation of public opinion in the country.

One of the main aims of Hiune in helping to found the National Congress was to provide an outlet-a safety valve.-to the increasing popular discontent against British rule. Already in 1879, Wasudeo Balwant Phadke, a clerk in the commissariat department, had gathered a band of Ramoshi peasants and started an armed uprising in Maharashtra. Though this crude and ill prepared attempt was easily crushed, it was a portent of events to come. Hume as well as other English officials and statesmen were afraid that the educated Indians might provide leadership to the ma.s.ses and organise a powerful rebellion against the foreign government. As Hume put it: "A safety valve for the escape of great and growing forces generated by our own action was urgently-needed." He believed that the National Congress would provide a peaceful and const.i.tutional outlet to the discontent among the educated Indians and would thus help to avoid the outbreak of a popular revolt.

The safety valve. theory is, however, a small part of the truth. More than anything else, the National Congress represented the urge of the politically conscious Indians to set up a national organisation to work for their political and economic advancement. We have already seen above that a national movement was already growing in the country as a result of the working of powerful forces. No one man or group of men can be given credit for creating this movement. Even Hume.s motives were mixed ones. He was also moved by motives n.o.bler than those of the 'safety valve*. He possessed a sincere love for India and its poor cultivators. In any case, the Indian leaders, who cooperated with Hume in starting this National Congress, were patriotic men of high character who willingly accepted Hume.s help as they did not want to arouse official hostility towards their efforts at so early a stage of political activity. Thus with the foundation of the National Congress in 1885, the struggle for India.s freedom from foreign rule was launched in a small but organised manner. The national movement was to grow and the country and its people were to know no rest till freedom was won. Surendranath Baaerjea and many other leaders of Bengal had not attended the first session of the National Congress as they were busy with the Second National Conference at Calcutta. In 1886 they merged their forces with those of the National Congress whose second session met in Calcutta in December 1886 under the presidentship of Dadabhai Naoroji. From this session the National Congress became the whole country.s Congress'. Its delegates, numbering 436, were elected by different local organisations and groups. Hereafter, the National Congress met every year in December, in a different part of the country each time The number of its delegates soon increased to thousands. Its delegates consisted mostly of lawyers, journalists, traders, industrialists, teachers, and landlords. In 1890, Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Congress session. This was symbolic of the fact that India.s struggle for freedom would raise Indian women from the degraded position to which they had been reduced for centuries past. The Indian National Congress was not the only channel through which

Btdroddln Tytbjl

the stream of nationalism flowed. Provincial conferences, provincial and local a.s.sociations, and nationalist newspapers were the other prominent organs of the growing nationalist movement. The press, in particular, was a powerful factor in developing nationalist opinion and the nationalist movement. Some of the great presidents of the National Con-gress during its early years were Dadabhai Naoroji, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, P.Ananda Charlu, Surendranath Baneijea, Ramesh Chandra Dfltt, Ananda Mohan Bose, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Other prominent leaders of the Congress and the national movement during this period were Mahadev Govind Ranade, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the brothers Sisir k.u.mar and Motilal Ghosh, Madari Mohan Malaviya, G. Subramaniya Iyer, C. Vijayaraghavachariar, and-Dinshaw E. Wacha.

The programme of the Indian national movement during its early phase (1885-1905) can be studied under various heads.

Const.i.tutional Reforms The early nationalists wanted a larger share in the government of their own country and made an appeal to the principle of democracy, But they did not ask for the .immediate fulfilment of their goal. Their immediate demands were extremely moderate. They hoped to win freedom through gradual steps. They were also extremely cautious, lest the Government suppress their activities. From 1885 to 1892 they demanded the expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils. They demanded membership of the councils for elected representatives of the people and also an increase m the powers of the councils.

The British Government was forced by their agitation to pa.s.s the Indian Councils Act of 1892, By this Act the number of members of the Imperial Legislative Council as well as of the provincial councils was increased. Some of these members could be elected indirectly by Indians, but the officials. majority remained. The councils were also given the right to discuss the annual budgets though they could not vote on them The nationalists were totally dissatisfied with the Act of 1892 and declared it to be a hoax. They demanded a larger share for Indians in the councils as also wider powers for them. In particular, they demanded Indian control over the public purse and raised the slogan that had earlier become the national cry of the American people during their War of Independence: No taxation without representation..

By the beginning of the 20th century, the nationalist leaders advanced further and put forward the claim for swarajya or self-government within the British Empire on the model of self-governing colonies like Australia and Canada. This 'demand was made front the Congress platform by Gokhale in 1905 and by Dadabhai Naoroji in 1906.

Economic Reforms In the economic field, the early nationalists complained of India.s growing poverty and economic backwardness and the failure of modem industry and agriculture to grow; and they put the blame on the policies of the British rulers. Thus Dadabhai Naoroji declared as early as 1881 that British rule was "an everlasting, increasing, and every day increasing foreign invasion" that , was "utterly, though gradually, destroying the country." The nationalists' blamed the British for the destruction of India.s indigenous industries: The chief remedy they suggested for the removal of India.s poverty was the rapid development of modern industries. They wanted the government to promote modern industries through tariff protection and direct government aid. They populaused (he idea of swadeshi or the use of Indian goods and the boycott of British goods as a means of promoting Indian industries. For example, students in Poona and in other towns of Maharashtra publicly burnt foreign clolhcs in 1896 as part of the larger swadeshi campaign.

The nationalists complained that India's wealth was being drained to England, and demanded that this drain be stopped. They carried on persistent agitation for the reduction of land revenue in order to lighter the burden of taxation on the peasant. They also agitated tor improvement in the conditions of work of the plantation labourers. They declared high taxation to be one of the causes of India.s poverty and demanded abolition of the salt tax and reduction of land revenue. They condemned the high military expenditure of the Government of India and demanded its reduction. As time pa.s.sed more and more nationalists came to the conclusion that economic exploitation and impoverishment of the country and the perpetuation of its economic backwardness by foreign imperialism more than outweighed some of the beneficial aspects of the alien rule. Thus, regarding the benefits of security of life and property, Dadabhai Naoroji remarked; The romance is that there is security of life and property in India; the reality is that there is no such thing. There is security of life and property in one sense or way-i.e., the people are secure from any violence from each other or from Native despots ...... But from England's own grasp there is no security of property at all and, as a consequence, no security for life India.s property is not secure. What is secure, and well secure, is that England is perfectly safe and secure, and does so with perfect security, to carry away from India, and to eat up in India, her property at the present rate of 30,000,000 or 40,000,000 a year. .1 therefore venture to submit that India does not enjoy security of her property and life .. .To millions in India life is simply 'half-feeding.', or starvation, or famine and disease.

With regard to law and order, Dadabhai said: There is an Indian saying. Fray strike on the back, but don't strike on (he belly.' Under the native despot the people keep and enjoy what they produce, though at times they suffer some violence on the back Under the British Indian despot the man is at peace, there is no violence; his substance is drained away, unseen, peaceably and subtly-he starves in peace and perishes in peace, with law and order 1 Administrative and other Reforms The most important administrative reform the Indians desired at this time was Indianisation of the higher grades of administrative services. They put forward this demand on economic, political and moral grounds.

Economically, the European monopoly of the higher services was harmful on two grounds, (a) Europeans were paid at very high rates and this made Indian administration very costly-Indians of similar qualifications could be employed on lower salaries; (b) Europeans sent out of India a large part of their salaries and their pensions were paid m England. This added to the drain of wealth from India Politically, the nationalists hoped that the Indianisation of these services would make the administration moie responsive to Indian needs The moral aspect, of the question was stated by Gopa! Krishna Gokhalc in 1897: The excessive costliness of Ihe foreign agency is not, however, its only evil, There is a moral evil which, if anything, js even greater A kind of dwarfing or stunting of the Indian race is going on under the present system. We must live all the days of our life in an atmosphere of infeiiority, and the tallest of us musi bend.. The full height of which our manhood is capable of rising can never be reached by us under the present system The moral elevation which every self- governing people feel cannot be felt by us Our administrative and military talents must gradually disappear, owing to sheer disuse, till at last our lot, as hewers of wood and drawers of water in our own country, is stereotyped The nationalists demanded separation of the judicial from executive powers. They opposed the curtailment of the powers of the juries. They opposed the official policy of disarming the people and asked the government to trust the people and grant them the right to bear arms and thus defend themselves and their country in times of need.

They urged the government to undertake and develop welfare activities of the state. They laid a great deal of emphasis on the spread of primary education among the ma.s.ses. They also demanded greater facilities for technical and higher education.

They urged the development of agricultural banks to save the peasant from the clutches of the money-lender. They wanted the government to undertake a large-scale programme of extension of irrigation for the development of agriculture and to save the country from famines. They demanded extension of medical and health facilities and improvement of the police system to make it honest, efficient, and popular The nationalist leaders also spoke up in defence of Indian workers who had been compelled by poverty to migrate to foreign countries su h as South Africa,' Malaya, Mauritius, the West Indies and British Guiana in search of employment. In many of these foreign lands they were subjected to severe oppression and racial discrimination. This was particularly true of South Africa where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was leading a popular struggle in defence of the basic human rights of the Indians.

Defence of Civil Rights The early nationalists fully recognised the value of the freedoms of speech and the press and opposed all attempts to curtail them. In fact, the struggle for these freedoms became an integral part of the nationalist struggle for freedom. In 1897 the Bombay Government arrested B.G. Tilak and several other leaders and tried them for spreading disaffection against the government through their speeches and writings, They were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. At the same time two Poona leaders, the Natu brothers, were deported without trial. The entire country protested against this attack on the liberties of the people. Tilak, hitherto known largely in Maharashtra, became over-night an all-India leader. The Amrita Bazar Pnlrika wrote: "There is scarcely a home in this vast country, where Mr. Tilak is not npw the subject of melancholy talk and where his imprisonment is not considered as a domestic calamity." Tilak.s arrest, in fact, galvanised the country and marked the beginning of a new phase of the nationalist movement.

Methods of Political Work The Indian national movement up to 1905 was dominated by leaders who have often been described as moderate nationalists or Moderates. The political methods of the Moderates can be summed up briefly as const.i.tutional agitation within the four walls of the law, and slow, orderly political progress. They believed that if public opinion was created and organised and popular demands presented to the authorities through pet.i.tions, meetings, resolutions, and speeches, the authorities would concede these demands gradually and step by step.

Their political work had, therefore, a two-p.r.o.nged direction.. Firstly, to build up a strong public opinion in India to arouse the political consciousness and national spirit of the people, and to educate and unite them on political questions. Basically, even the resolutions and pet.i.tions of the National Congress were directed towards this goal. Secondly, to persuade the British Government to introduce reforms along directions laid down by the nationalists. The moderate nationalists believed that the British people and Parliament wanted to be just to India but that they did not know the true state of affairs there. Therefore, next to educating Indian 'public opinion, the moderate nationalists worked to educate British public opinion. For this purpose, they carried on active propaganda in Britain. Deputations of leading Indians were sent to Britain to propagate the Indian view. In 1889, a British Committee of the Indian National Congress was founded. In 1890 this Committee started a journal called India, padabhai Naoroji spent a major part of his life and income in England in popularising India's case among its people.

A student of the Indian national movement sometimes, gets confused when he reads loud professions of loyalty to British rule by prominent Moderate leaders. These professions do not at all mean that they were not genuine patriots or that they were cowardly men. They genuinely believed that the continuation of India.s political connection with Britain w^s in the interests of India at that stage of history. They, therefore, planned not to expel the British but to transform British rule to approximate to national rule. Later, when they took note of the evils of British rule and the failure of the government to accept nationalist demands for reform, many of them stopped talking of loyalty to British rule and started demanding self-government for India. Moreover, many of them were Moderates because they felt that the time was not yet ripe to throw a direct challenge to the foreign rulers.

We sfcoyld also remember that not all the nationalists of the period belonged to the moderate trend. Some of them had from the beginning no faith in the good intentions of the British. They believed in depending on political action by, and the strength of, the Indian people themselves. They advocated a, fighting political and economic programme. Tilak and numerous other leaders and newspaper editors represented this trend. These leaders later came to be known as Extremists or radical nationalists. Their work and outlook will be discussed in the next chapter, Att.i.tude of the Government The British authorities were from the beginning hostile to the rising nationalist movement and had become suspicious of the National Congress. British officials from Dufferin downwards branded the nationalist leaders as 'disloyal babus., seditious brahmins' and violent villains.. But in the beginning this hostility was not openly expressed- It was perhaps hoped that Hume.s leadership would make the national movement and its organ, the National Congress, harmless to British rule. In December 1886, the Viceroy even invited tjae delegates to the National Congress to a garden party. But it soon became, apparent that the National Congress would pot become a tool in the hands of the authorities and that it was gradually becoming a focus of Indian nationalism. British officials, now began to openly criticise and condemn the National Congress and other nationalist, spokesmen. In 1887, Dufferin attacked the National Congress-in a public speech and ridiculed it as representing only a microscopic minority of the people. * In 1906, Lord Curzon awjoyjoped tQ tjjie Secretary pf St#te th$t "the Congress is tottering to it? fall, and on^ qf my gre^t ambitions, while in India,,.a.s.sist-it to a peaceful demise". The British authorities lso. pushed further the policy of (Jiyvte ?md They^oprage^gayyid Ahmed Khan, Raja Stays* wid other pro^ritiph individuals to start an ferities fai!?d, however, in shpeirffig % growth, of patiosM moveme^ Evaluation of tbe Early National Movement According to some critics, the nationalist movement and the National Congress did not achieve much success in their early phase. Very few of the reforms for which the nationalists agitated were introduced by tbe government. Critics also point out that tbe national movement during these years had no roots among the.ma.s.ses.

There is a great deal oC. truth in this criticism. But the critics are not quite correct in declaring the early national movement a failure. It succeeded in creating a wide national awakening, in arousing among the people the feeling that they belonged to one common nation-the Indian nation It trained people in the art of political work, popularised among them the ideas of democracy and nationalism, propagated among them a modern outlook and exposed before them the evil results of British rule. Most of all, it made people recognise the economic content and character of British imperial ism-that Britain was making India a supplier of raw materials, a market for British manufacture, and a field for investment of British capital. It evolved a common political and economic programme around which the Indian people could gather and wage political struggles later on. It established the political truth that India must be ruled in the interests of the Indians. It made the issue of nationalism a dominant one in Indian life. While its weaknesses were to be removed by the succeeding generations, its achievements were to serve as a base for a more vigorous national movement in later years.

EXERCISES.

1 In what way was the national movement the result of the clash of the interests of the Indian people with the British interests in India ?

2. Critically examine the important factors which led to the rise of modern nationalism in India in the second half of the 19th century. Bring out clearly the role of foreign domination, administrative and economic unification of the country, western thought and education, the press, cultural heritage, racial arrogance of the rulers, and the administrations of Lytton and Ripon.

3. What did the national movement in its early phase (1885-1905) try to achieve? Why is this phase described as the moderate phase? What were the achievements of the Moderate leaders?

4. Write short notes on: .

(a) Impact of the rediscovery of the pa&t on nationalism and com- munalism, (b) Ilbert Bill, (c) Dadabhai Naoroji, (d) The Indian a.s.sociation, (e) Foundation of the Indian National Congress (f) Government.s att.i.tude towards the National Congress.

Growth of New India Religious and Social Reform After 1858 T.

HE rising tide of nationalism and democracy which led to the struggle for freedom, also found expression in movements to reform and democratise the social inst.i.tutions and religious outlook of the Indian people. Many Indians realised that social and religious reformation was An essential condition for the all-round development of the country on modem lines and for the growth of national unity and solidarity. Growth of nationalist sentiments, emergence of new economic forces, spread of education, impact of modern western ideas and culture, and increased awareness of the world not only heightened the consciousness of the backwardness and degeneration of Indian society but further strengthened the resolve to reform. Keshub Chandra Sen, for example, said: What we see around us today is a fallen nation-a nation whose primitive great ness lies buried in ruins. Its national literature and science, its theology and philosphy, its industry and commerce, its social prosperity and domestic simplicity and sweetness, are almost numbered with (he things that were. As we survey the mournful and dismal scene of desolation-spiritual, social and intellectual-which spreads around us, we in vain try to recognise theremthe land of Kalidas-the land of poetry, of science, and of civilization Similarly, Swami Vivekananda described the condition of Indian people in the following words: Moving about here and there emaciated figures of young and old in tattered rags, whose faces bear deep-cut lines of the despair and poverty of hundreds of years; cows, bullocks, buffaloes common everywhere-aye, the same melancholy look in their eyes, the same feeble physique, on the wayside, refuse and dirt;-this is our present day India! Worn-out huts by the very side of palaces, piles of refuse in the near proximity of temples, the Sannyasin clad with only a little loin cloth, walking by (he gorgeously dressed, the pitiful gaze of l.u.s.treless eyes of the hunger- stricken at t he wel l-fed an d the ampl y-provid ed;-this is ou r native land! Devas- tation by violent plague and cholera; malaria eating into the very vitals of the nation; starvation and semi-starvation as second nature; death-like famine often dancing its tragic dance;, ..A conglomeration of three hundred million souls, resembling men only in appearance;-crushed out of life by being down-trodden by their own people and foreign nations...-withoutanyhope, without any past, without any future--...of a malicious nature befitting a slave, to whom the property of their fellowman is unbearable;-...licking the dust of the feet of the strong, withal dealing a death-blow to those who are weak;-full of ugly, diabolical superst.i.tions which come naturally to those who are weak, and hopeless of the future;- without any standard of morality as their backbone;-three hundred millions of souls such as these are swarming on tbe body of India, like so many worms on a rotten, stinking carca.s.s;-this is the picture concerning us, which naturally presents itself to the English official!

Thus, after 1858, the earlier reforming tendency was broadened. The work of earlier reformers, like Raja Rammohun Roy and Pandit Vidyasagar, was carried further by major movements of religious and social reform.

RELIGIOUS REFORM.

Filled with the desire to adapt their society to the requirements of the modern world of science, democracy, and nationalism, and determined to let no obstacles stand in the way, thoughtful Indians set out to reform their traditional religions. While trying to remain true to the foundations of their religions, they remodelled them to suit the new needs of the Indian people.

Brahmo Samaj The Brahmo tradition of Raja Rammohun Roy was carried forward after 1843 by Devendranath Tagore, who also repudiated the doctrine that the Vedic scriputures were infallible, and after 1866 by Keshub Chandra Sen. The Brahmo Samaj made an effort to reform Hindu religion by removing abuses, by basing it on the worship of one G.o.d and on the teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads, and by incorporating the best aspects of modern western thought. Most of all it based itself on humaij reason which was to be the ultimate1 criterion for deciding what was worthwhile and what was useless in the past or present religious principles and practices. For that reason, the Brahmo Samaj denied the need for a priestly cla.s.s for interpreting religious writings. Every individual had the right and the capacity to decide with ihe help of his own intellect what was right and whaf was wrong in a religious book or principle. Thus the Brahnxos were basically opposed to idolatry ,and superst.i.tious practices and rituals,-in fact the entire Brahmanical system; they could worship oi G.o.d without the Mediation of the priets.

The Btahiflos were also great social' reformers. They actively opposed the Csste system find chird-jparriagg and supported the general uplift of women, inehidmg widow remarriage, and the spread of modem education to mep and women, _ The^Whrrto' Samaj was wetfketied by Wternal* dissentiftns id/the teeond h^tf of t(te }9th century. Moreover its influence was eonfih.&l fjtostly to urban educated groups. Yet it had a decisive influence on the intellectual, social, cultural, and political life of Bengal and the rest of India in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Religious Reform in Maharashtra Religious reform was begun in Bombay in 1840 by the Parmahans Mandali which aimed at fighting idolatry and the caste system. Perhaps the earliest religious reformer in Western India was Gopal Hari Deshmukh, known popularly as Lokahitwadi., who wrote in Marathi, made powerful rationalist attacks on Hindu orthodoxy, and preached religious and social equality. For example, he wrote in the 1840.s: The priests are vefy unholy because they repeat things without understanding their meaning and profanely reduce knowledge to such repet.i.tion. The Pandits arc worse than priests; because they are more ignorant and also are haughty.... Who are the brahmins and in what respects to do they differ from us? Have they twenty hands and do we lack something in us?. When such questions are now asked the brahmins should give up their foolish concepts; they must accept that all men are equal and every body has a right to acquire knowledge.

Later the Prarthana Samaj was started with the aim of reforming Hindu religious thought and practice in the light $f modern knowledge. It preached the worship of one G.o.d and tried to free religion of caste orthodoxy and priestly domination. Two of its great leaders were R.G. Bhandar- kar, the famous Sanskrit scholar and historian, and Mahadev Gov in d Ranade (1842-1901). It was powerfully influenced by the Brahmo Samaj. Its activities also spread to South India as a result of the efforts of the Telugu reformer, Viresalingam. One of the greatest rationalist thinkers of modern India, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, also lived and worked in Maharashtra at this time. Agarkar was an advocate of the power of human reason. He sharply criticised any blind dependence on tradition or false glorification of India.s past.

Hamaltrinhna and Vivekananda Ramakrishna Parmhansa (1834-1386) was a saintly person who sought religious salvation in the traditional ways of renunciation, meditation, and devotion (&AofcrO- In his search foT religious truth or the realisation of G.o.d he lived with mystics of other faiths, Muslims and Christians. He again and again emphasised that there were many roads to G.o.d and salvation and that service of man was service of G.o.d, for man was theembodi- ment of Gsd.

It was his great disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), who popularised his religious message and who tried to put it in a form that would suit the needs of contemporary Indian society. Above all, Vivekananda stressed social action. Knowledge unaccompanied by action in Ihe actual world in which we lived was useless, he said. He too, like his guru, proclaimed the essential oneness of all religions and condemned any narrowness in religious matters. Thus, he wrote in 1898, "For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Vivekananda

Hinduism and Islam... is the only hope." At the , same time, he was convinced of the superior approach of the Indian philosophical tradition.

He himself. subscribed to Vedanta which he declared to be a fully rational system.

Vivekananda criticised Indians for haying lost touch ^vith the rest of the . world and become stagnant and mummified.

He wrote; "The fact of our isolation from all other nations of the world is the cause of our degeneration and its only remedy is getting back into the current of the rest of the world. Motion is the sign of life."

Vivekananda condemned the caste system and the current Hindu emphasis on rituals, ceremonies, and superst.i.tions, and urged the people to imbibe the spirit of liberty, equality, and free-thinking. -Thus he blting- ly remarked: There is a danger of our religion getting into the kitchen. We are neither Vedan- tists, most of us now, nor Pauramcs, nor Tantrics. We are just "don.t touchists". Our religion is in the kitchen. Our G.o.d is in the cooking-pot, and our religion _ is "Don.t touch me, I am holy.*. If this goes oh for another century, everyone * "..oTus will be in a lunatic asylum.

^ i Regarding liberty of thought, he'said: Liberty in thought and action is the only condition of life, growth and well being: Where it does not exist, the man, the race, and the nation must go down.

Like his gum, Vivekananda was also a great humanist. Shocked by ( the poverty, misery and suffering of the common people of the country, he wrote: The only G.o.d in whom I believe, thesum total of all souls, and above all, my G.o.d the wicked, my G.o.d the afflicted, my G.o.d the poor of all races. To the educated Indians, he said: So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold everyman a traitor, who having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them. In 1896, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishana Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social work. The Mission had many branches in different parts of the country and carried on social service by opening schools, hospitals and dispensaries, orphanages, libraries, etc. It thus laid emphasis not on personal salvation but on social good or social service. Swami Dayanand and Arya Samaj The Arya Samaj undertook the task of reforming Hindu religion m North India. It was founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati

(1824-1883). Swami Dayanand believed that selfish and ignorant priests had perverted Hindu religion with the aid of the Puranas which he said were full of false teachings For hts own inspiration, Swami Dayanand went to the Vedas which he regarded as infallible, i being the inspired word of G.o.d, and as the fount of all knowledge. He rejected all later religious thought if it conflicted with the Vedas. This total dependence on the Vedas .* Dayanand< ,="" and="" their="" infallibility="" gave="" his="" teachings="" an="" prthodox="" colouring,="" for="" infallibility="" meant="" that="" human="" reason="" was="" not="" to="" be="" the="" final="" deeding="" factor.="" however,="" hjs="" approach="" hi*d,.a,="" rationalist="" aspect,="" because="" .the="" vedas,="" though="" revealed,="" were="" to="" be="" interpreted,="" by="" himself="" and="" others,="" who="" were="" human="" beings.="" thus="" individual="" reason="" was="" the="" decisive="" factor.="" he="" believed="" that="" every="" person="" had="" the="" right="" of="" direct="" access="" to="" G.o.d.="" moreover,="" instead="" of="" supporting="" hindu="" orthodoxy,="" he="" attacked="" it="" and="" led="" a="" revolt="" against="" it.="" the="" teachings="" he="" derived="" from="" his="" own="" interpretation="" of="" the="" vedas="" were="" surprisingly="" similar="" to="" the="" religious="" and="" social="" reforms="" that="" other="" indian="" reformers="" were="" advocating.="" he="" was="" opposed="" to="" idolatry,="" ritual,="" and="" priesthood="" and="" particularly="" to="" the="" prevalent="" caste="" practices="" and="" popular="" hinduism="" as="" preached="" by="" brahmins.="" he="" also="" directed="" attention="" towards="" the="" problems="" of="" men="" as="" they="" lived="" in="" this="" real="" world="" and="" away="" from="" the="" traditional="" belief="" in="" the="" other="" world.="" he="" also="" favoured="" the="" study="" of="" western="" sciences.="" interestingly="" enough,="" swami="" dayanand="" had="" met="" and="" had="" had="" discussions="" with="" keshub="" chandra="" sen,="" vidyasagar,="" justice="" ranade,="" gopal="" hari="" deshmukh="" and="" other="" modem="" religious="" and="" social="" reformers.="" in="" fact,="" the="" idea="" of="" the="" arya="" samaj="" with="" its="" sunday="" meeting="" resembled="" the="" practices="" of="" brahmo="" samaj="" and="" the="" prarthana="" samaj="" in="" this="">

Some of Swami Dayanand.s followers later started a network of schools and colleges in the country to impart education on western lines. Lala Hansraj played a leading part in this effort. On the other hand, in 1902, Swami Shradhananda started the Gurukul near Hardwar to propagate the more traditional ideals of education.

The Arya Samajists were vigorous advocates of social reform and worked actively to improve the condition of women, and to spread education among them. They fought untouchability and the rigidities of the hereditary caste system. They were thus advocates of social equality and promo- i ted social solidarity and consolidation. They also inculcated a spirit of self-respect and self-reliance among the people. At the same time, one of the Arya Samaj.s objectives was to prevent the conversion of Hindus to other religions. This led it to start a crusade against other religions.

This crusade became a contributory factor in the growth of communal* ism in India in the 20th century. While the Arya Samaj.s reformist work tended to unite people> its religious work tended, though perhaps uoconsci- l ously, to divide the growing national unity among Hindus, Muslims, i Parsis, Sikhs, and .Christians. It was not seen clearly that in India national unity had to be secular and above religion so that it would embrace people of all religions.

j Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society was founded in the United States by Madam H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel H.S. Olcott, who later came to India and founded the headquarters of'the Society at Adyar near Madras in 1886. )

, The Theosophist movement soon grew in India as a result of the leadership given to.it by Mn. Annie Besant who had come to India in 1893. The Theosophists advocated the revival and strengthening of the ancient religions of Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism. They recognised the doctrine of the transmigration of the soyl. They also preached the universal brotherhood of man.

As religious revivalists the Theosophists were not very successful. But they made a peculiar contribution to developments in modern India. II was a movement led by westerners who glorified Indian religions and philosophical tradition. This helped Iid:ans recover their self-confidence, even though it tended to give them a sense of false pride in their past greatness.

One of Mrs. Besant.s many achievements in India was the establishment of the Central Hindu School at Benaras which was later developed by ftladan Mohan Malaviya into the Benaras Hindu University.

Sayyid Ahmad Khan and the Aligarh School Movements for religious reform were late in emerging among the Muslims. The Muslim upper cla.s.ses had tended to avoid contact with western education and culture, and it was mainly after the Revolt of 1857 that modern ideas of religious reform began to appear. A beginning in this direction was made when the Muhammedan Literary Society was founded at Calcutta in 1863. This Society promoted discussion of religious, social, and political questions in the light of modern ideas and encouraged upper and middle cla.s.s Muslims to take to western education.

The most important reformer among the Muslims was Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898). Hewas tremendously impressed by modern scientific thought and worked all his life to reconcile it with Islam. This he did, first of all, by declaring that the Quran alone was the authoritative work for Islam and all other Islamic writings were secondary. Even the Quran he interpreted in the light of contemporary rationalism and science. In his view any interpretation of the Quran that conflicted with human reason, science or nature was in reality a misinterpretation. All his life he struggled against blind obedience to tradition, dependence on custom, ignorance and irrationalism. He urged the people to develop a critical approach and freedom of thought. "So long as freedom of thought is not developed, there can be no civilized life," he declared. He also warned against fanaticism, narrow-mindedness, and exclusiveness, and urged students and others to be broadminded and tolerant. A closed mind, he said, was the hallmark of social and intellectual backwardness. Praising the study of world cla.s.sics, he remarked: The student will learn to appreciate the temper with which great minds approach the consideration of great questions, he will discover that truth is many-blded, that it is not identical or merely coextensive with individual opinion and that world is a good deal wider than his own sect, society, or cla.s.s.

Sayyid Ahmad Khan believed that the religious and social life of the Muslims could be improved only by imbibing modern western scientific knowledge and culture. Therefore promotion of modern education remained his first task throughout his life. As an official he founded schools in many towns and had many western books translated into Urdu. In 1875 he founded at Aligarh the Muhammed an Anglo-Oriental College as a centre for spreading western sciences and culture. Later, this College grew into the Aligarh Muslim University.

Sayyid Ahmad Khan was a great believer in religious toleration. He believed that all religions had a certain underlying unity which could be called practical morality. Believing that a person.s religion was his or her private affair, he roundly condemned any sign of religious bigotry in personal relations. He was also opposed to communal friction. Appealing to Hindus and Muslims to unite, he said in 1883: Now botluof us live on the air of India, drink the ho!) waters of the Ganga and Jumna. We both feed upon (he products of the Indian spil. Wc are together in life and death, living in India both of us have changed OUT blood, the colour of ovir bodies has become the same, our features have become similar; the Musstmans have adopted numerous Hindu customs, the Hindus have accepted many Muslim traits of conduct, we became so fused that we developed the new language of Urdu, which was neither our language nor that of the Hindus. Therefore, if we except that part of our lives which belongs to G.o.d, then undoubtedly in consideration of the fact that we both belong to the same country, we are a nation, and the progress and welfare of the country, and both of us, depend on our unity, mutual sympathy, and love, while our mutual disagreement, obstinacy and opposition and ill-feeling are sure to destroy us.

Moreover, Hindus, Parsis and Christians had freely contributed to the funds of his college whose doors were also open to all Indians. For example, in 1898, there were 64 Hindu and 285 Muslim students in the college. Out of the seven Indian teachers/two were Hindu, one of them being Professor of Sanskrit. However, towards the end of his life, lie began to talk of Hindu domination to prevent his followers from joining the rising national movement. This was unfortunate, though basically, he was not a communalist. He only wanted the backwardness of the Muslim middle and upper cla.s.ses to go. His politics were the result of his. firm belief that immediate political progress was not possible because the British Government could not be easily dislodged. On the other hand, any hostility by the officials might prove dangerous to the educational effort which he saw as the need of the hour. He believed that only when Indians har'd' become as modern in their thinking and actions as the English were could they hope to succesfully 'challenge foreign rule. He therefore advised all Indians and particularly the educationally backward Muslims to remain aloof from politics for some time to come. The time for politics he said had not yet come. In fact, he had become so committed to his college and the cause of education that he was willing to sacrifice all other interests to them. Consequently, to prevent the orthodox Muslims from opposing his college, he virtually gave up his agitation in favour of religious reform. For the same reason, he would not do anything to offend the government and, on the other hand, encouraged communalism and separatism. This was, of course, a serious political error, which was to have harmful consequences in later years. Moreover, some of his followers deviated from his broadmindedness and tended later to glorify Islam and its past while criticising other religions.

Sayyid Ahmad.s reformist zeal also embraced the social sphere. He urged Muslims to give up medieval customs and ways of thought and behaviour. In particular he wrote in favour of raising the women.s status in society and advocated removal of purdah and spread of education among women. He also condemned the customs of polygamy and easy divorce.

Sayyid Ahmad Khan was helped by a band of loyal followers who are collectively described as the Aligarh School. Chiragh Ali, the Urdu poet Altaf Husain Hali, n.a.z.ir Ahmad, and Maulana Shibli Nomani were some of the other distinguished leaders of the Aligarh School.

Muhammad Iqbal One of the greatest poets of modern India, Muhammad Iqbal (1876- 1938) also profoundly influenced through his poetry the philosophical and religious outlook of the younger generation of Muslims as well as of Hindus. Like Swami Vivekananda, he emphasised the need for constant change and ceaseless activity and condemned resignation, contemplation, and quiet contentment. He urged the adoption of a dynamic outlook that would help change the world. He was basically a humanist. In fact he raised human action to the status of a prime virtue. Man should not submit to nature or powers that be, he said, but should control this world through constant activity. Nothing was more sinful in his eyes than the pa.s.sive acceptance of things as they were. Condemning ritualism, asceticism, and otherwordly att.i.tude, he urged men to work for and achieve happiness in this world of the living. In his earlier poetry, he extolled patriotism, though later he encouraged Muslim separatism.

Religious Reform among the Parsis Religious reform, was begun among the Parsis in Bombay in the middle of the 19th century. In 1851, the Rehnum&i Mazdayasan Sabha or Religious Reform a.s.sociation was started by jNaoroji Furdonji, Dadabhai1' Naoroji, S.S. Bengalee, and others. It campaigned against the entrenched orthodoxy in the religious field*.and initiated the modernisation, of Parsi social customs regarding the education of women, marriage and the social position of women in general. In course of time, the Parsis became socially themost westernised section of Indian society.

Religious Reform among the Sikhs Religious reform among the Sikhs was begun at the end of the 19th century when the Khalsa College was started at Amritsar. But the reform effort gained momentum after 1920 when the Akah Movement rose in the Punjab. The main aim of the Akalis was to purify the management of the gurudwctras or Sikh shrines, These gurudwaras had been heavily endowed with land and money by devout Sikhs, But they had come to be managed autocratically by corrupt and selfish mahanis. The Sikh ma.s.ses led by the Akalis started in 1921 a powerful Satyagraha against the mahanis and the Government which came to their aid. The Akalis soon forced the Government to pa.s.s a new Sikh Gurudwaras Act in 1922 which was later amended in 1925. Sometimes with the aid of this Act, but often through direct action, the Sikhs gradually turned out of the gurudwaras the corrupt mahants, even though hundreds of lives had to be sacrificed in the process.

Apart from the reform movements and individual reformers discussed above, there were numerous other similar movements and individuals during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The religious reform movements of modern times had an underlying unity-most of them were based on the twin doctrines of Reason (Rationalism) and Humanism, though they also sometimes tended to appeal to faith and ancient authority to bolster their appeal. Moreover, it was to the rising middle cla.s.ses, whose aspirations they expressed, that they appealed most. They tried to free from anti-intellectual religious dogmas and blind faith the human intellect.s capacity to think and reason. They opposed the ritualistic, superst.i.tious, irrational, and obscuranist elements in Indian religions. Many of them abandoned, though with varying degrees, the pnnciple of authority in religion and evaluated truth in any religion or its holy books by its conformity to logic, reason, or science. Swami Vivekananda said.

Is religion to justify itself by the discoveries of reason through which every science justifies itself? Are (he same methods of investigation which apply to the sciences and knowledge outside, to be applied to the science of religion? In my opinion, this must be so, and I am also of opinion that the sooner this is done the better.

Some of these religious reformers appealed to tradition and claimed that they were merely reviving the pure doctrines, beliefs, and practices of the past. But, in fact, the past could not be revived. Often there was no agreed picture of the past. The problems that an appeal to the past often created were posed aa follows by Justice Ranade, who had himself often asked people to revive the best traditions of the past: What shall we revive? Shall we revive the old habits of our people when the most sacred of our castes indulged in all the abominations, as we now understand them, of animal food and intoxicating drink? Shall we revive the twelve forms of sons, or eight forms of marriage, which included capture, and recognised mixed and illegitimate intercourse?... .Shall we revive the hecatomb.s of animals sacrificed from year's end to year.* end, in which even human-beings were not spared as propitiatory offerings to G.o.d?. ...Shall we revive the sail, and infanticide custom*?

And he came to the conclusion that the society as a living organism is constantly changing and can never go back to the past. "The dead and the buried or burnt are dead, buried, and burnt once for all, and the dead past cannot, therefore, be revived," he wrote. Every reformer, who appealed to the past, so interpreted it as to make it appear to agree with the reforms he was suggesting. Often the reforms and the outlook were new, only their justification was based on an appeal to the past. Many of the ideas which conflicted with the modern scientific knowledge were usually declared to be a later accretion or misinterpretation. And since the orthodox could not accept this view, the religious reformers came into conflict with the orthodox sections and became, at least in the beginning, religious and social rebels. For example, this is what Lala Lajpat Rai writes regarding the orthodox opposition to Swami Dayanand: The amount of obloquy and persecution to which Swami Dayanand was exposed in his lifetime may be gathered from the fact that numerous attempts were made on his life by the orthodox Hindus; a.s.sa.s.sin* were hired to kill him, missiles were thrown at him during his lectures and disputation; he was called a hired emissary of the Christians, an apostate, an atheist, and so on.

Similarly, Sayyid Ahmed Khan aroused the anger of the traditionalists. They abused him, issued futwas (religious decrees) against him and even threatened his life.

The humanist aspect of the religious reform movements was expressed in the general attack on priesthood and rituals and the emphasis on- the individual.s right to interpret religious scriptures in the light of human reason and human welfare. A significant feature of humanism was expressed in a new humanitarian morality which included the notion that humanity can progress and has progressed and that moral values are, ultimately, those which favour human progress. The social reform movements were an embodiment of this new humanitarian morality.

Apart from purely religious considerations, these religious reform movements fostered among Indians greater self-respect, self-confidence, and pride in their country. By interpreting their religious past in modern rational terms and by weeding out many of the corrupting and irrational elements from the 19th century religious beliefs and practices, the reformers enabled their followers to meet the official taunt that their religions and society were decadent and inferior. As Jawaharlal Nehru has put it: The rising middle cla.s.ses were politically inclined and were rot so much in search of a religion; but they wanted some cultural rools to cling on to, something that gave them a.s.surance of their own worth, something that would reduce the sense of frustration and humiliation that foreign conquest and rule had produced.

The religious reform movements helped many Indians to come to terms with the modern world. In fact they arose to recast the old religions into a new modern mould to suit the needs of new social groups of society. Thus pride in the past did not prevent Indians from accepting the essential superiority of the modern world in general and modern science in particular. Of course, some people insisted that they were merely going back to the original, most ancient scriptures which, were suitably interpreted. As a result of the reformed outlook, many Indians began to acquire a modern, this worldly, secular and national outlook in place of a narrow outlook dominated by considerations of caste and religion, though the latter tendency by no means came to an end. Moreover, more and more people began to think in terms of promoting their physical and cultural welfare in this world in place of pa.s.sively accepting their lot and waiting for improvement in life after death. These movements also to some extent ended India.s cultural and intellectual isolation from the rest of the world and enabled Indians to share in the stream of world ideas. At the same time, they were no longer bewitched by everything in the West In fact, those who copied the West blindly were increasingly looked down upon.

Two negative aspccts of the religious reform movements may also be noted. Firstly, all of them catered to the needs of a small percentage of the population-the urban middle and upper cla.s.ses. None of them could reach the vast ma.s.ses of the peasantry and the urban poor, who continued by and large to lead their lives in tbe traditional, custom-ridden ways. This was because they basically gave voice to the urges of the educated and urban strata of Indian society.

The second limitation, which later became a major negative factor, was the tendency to look backward, appeal to past greatness, and to'rely on scriptural authority. These tended to go against the positive Teachings of the reform movements themselves. They undermined to some extent the supremacy of human reason and scientific outlook. They encouraged mysticism in new garbs, and fostered pseudo-scientific thinking. Appeals to past greatness created false pride and smugness, while the -habit of finding a Golden Age* in the past acted as a check on the full acceptance of modern science and hampered the effort to improve the present. But, most of, all these tendencies tended to divide Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Parsis as also high caste Hindna from low caste Hindus. Any overemphasis on religion in a country containing many religions was bound to have a divisive effect, Moreover, the reformers put a onesided emphasis on the religious and philosophical aspects of the cultural heritage. These aspects were, moreover, not a common heritage of all people. On the other hand, art and architecture, literature, music, science and technology etc., in which all sections of people had played an equsl role were not sufficiently emphasised. In addition, the Hindu reformers invariably confined their praise of the Indian past to its ancient period. Even a broad-minded man like Swami Vivekananda talked of the Indian spirit or India.s past achievements in this sense alone. These reformers looked upon the medieval period of Indian history as essentially an era of deca-dence. This was not only unhistorical but also socially and politically harmful. It tended to create the notion of two separate peoples. Similarly an uncritical praise of the ancient period and religions could not be fully acceptable to the persons coming from lower castes who had for centuries suffered under the most destructive caste oppression which had developed precisely during the ancient period. The result of all these factors was that instead of all Indians taking an equal pride in their past material and cultural achievements and deriving inspiration from them, the past became a heritage of the few. Moreover the past itself tended to be torn into compartments on ? partisan basis, Many in the Muslim middle cla.s.ses went to the extent of turning to the history of West Asia for their traditions and moments of pride. Increasingly, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Parsis, and later on lower-caste Hindus who had been influenced by the reform movements tended to be different from one another, On the other hand, the Hindu and Muslim ma.s.ses who followed traditional ways untouched by the reform movements still lived in harmony, practising their different religious rituals. To some extent the process of the evolution of a composite culture that had been going on for centuries received a check, though in other sphere national unification of the Indian people was accelerated. The evil aspects of this phenomenon became apparent when it was found that, along with rapid rise of national conciousness, another consciousness-communal consciousness-had begun to rise among the middle cla.s.ses. Many other factors were certainly responsible for the birth of communalism in modern times; but, undoubtedly the nature of religious reform movements also contributed towards it.

SOCIAL REFORM.

The major effect of national awakening in the 19th ccntury was seen in the field of social reform. The newly educated persons increasingly revolted against rigid social conventions and out-dated customs. They could no longer tolerate irrational and dehumanising social practices. In their revolt they were inspired by the humanistic ideals of social equality and the equal worth of all individuals.

Nearly all the religious reformers contributed to the social reform movement. This was because the backward features of Indian society, such as the caste system or inequality of s.e.xes, had had religious sanctions in the past. In addition, certain other organisations like the Social Con- , ference, Servants of India Socicty, and the Christian missionaries worked actively for social reform. Many prominent persons-Jotiba Govind Phule, Oopal Hari Deshmukh, Justice Ranade, K. T. Tclang, B.M. Malabari, D.K. Karve, Sasipada Banerjee, B.C. Pal, Viresalingam, and B. R. Ambedkar, and many others-also played an important role. In the 20th century, and especially after 1919, the national movement became the main propagator of social reform. Increasingly, the reformers took recourse to propaganda in the Indian languages to reach the ma.s.ses. They also used novels, dramas, poetry, short stories, the press, and, in the thirties, the films to spread their views.