Home Rule Movement
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Home Rule Movement -
It was an Indian response to the World War I in a less charged but more effective way than the Gadar Movement.
In 1914, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was released from the British captivity and he started to take steps to unite moderates and extremist leaders of the Congress.
In 1915, Tilak decided to start Home Rule Movement in addition to Annie Besant who also wanted to run Home Rule Movement on the lines of Irish Home Rule League.
Factors leading to Home Rule Movement
After 1907 Surat Split, both the factions were in disadvantageous position.
During World War I, requisitioning of food supplies particularly cereals led to inflation in food. Cash crops like Jute and Cotton suffered because the exports declined due to loss of European market and there was no relied in taxation.
During World War I, the assurance of self rule given by the British PM seemed a blatant lie.
Moreover, there was disillusionment from the Morley-Minto reform of 1909.
Home Rule League and its activities
Tilak assured British government of his loyalty and maintained that he wanted to reform in administration on the lines of Irish Home Rule League.
He also urged Indians to assist Britain in its hours of crises.
Tilak setup his home rule league in April 1916 which was restricted to Maharashtra (excluding Bombay), Central Province, Karnataka and Berar. It had 6 branches and was highly organised.
Tilak's demand included -
- Swarajya
- Formation of linguistic states
- Education in vernacular languages
On the other hand, Annie Beasant setup his home rule league in September 1916 in rest of India including Bombay. It had more than 200 branches but was loosely organised than the Tilak's league.
George Arundel was the secretary of Besant's league and C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer and B.W. Wadia were the notable leaders of her league.
Later home rule agitation was joined by Motilal Nehru, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, C.R. Das, Madan Mohan Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Tez Bahadur Sapru and Lala Lajpat Rai. Some members of Gopal Krishna Gokhale's Servant society of India also joined Home rule agitation.
Objectives and Methods of Home Rule Movement
They wanted to promote political education and aware people through discussion, public meetings, organising libraries, reading rooms, propaganda through pamphlets, posters and also street plays. They also collected funds to increase its membership.
British response
Britishers came down with severe repression particularly in Madras. A case was registered against Tilak which was defended by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
In June 1917, Annie Besant, Wadia and Arundel was arrested by the Britishers. It led to a chain reaction in India. In a dramatic gesture Sir S. Subramanian Iyer renounced his knighthood title.
Montague the secretary of state commented, "Shiva cut his wife into 52 pieces only to discover that he had 52 wives. This is what happened to Government of India when it interns to Mrs. Annie Besant". It led to release of Mrs. Annie Besant in September 1916.
At the height of her popularity, Mrs. Annie Besant became the President of Indian National Congress in 1917.
Fading out of the Home Rule Movement
Declaration of British PM on 28th August 1917 - "The aim of the British authority is to establish a Responsible Government in India".
And a committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary of state, Montague in order to provide a responsible government to Indians.
In July 1918, the reforms were made public. Annie Besant accepted it and withdrew her Home Rule agitation.
In 1918, Tilak went to London to file a suit against Valentine Chirole who claimed Tilak was the "Father of Indian unrest". Tilak was away for several months and his Home Rule agitation became dis-functional in the absence of his leadership.
Contribution of Home Rule Movement
- It created a large group of ardent nationalist specially in the remotest part of the country.
- It also facilitated the reach of print media to the hinterlands.
- It created organisational link between the nationalists in urban areas and masses in countryside.
- It provided a platform for mass movement in subsequent phase of freedom struggle.
- Though Gandhi Ji was critical to the Home rule agitation, he used this cadre of mass in later phase of struggle in a much better way.
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