INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE

Picture Courtesy Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash- free picture

Fifteenth August 2021 was the 75th anniversary of Indian freedom. This year fifteenth of August marked 75 years under the free sky for the Indian nation. Interestingly some time back there was a heated discussion in my school buddy's WhatsApp group about why we became slaves to the British and as to who was/were responsible for getting us the freedom. Was it that the British had enough problems of their own? Having already looted us of all removable wealth they might have got too tired of administering us and gave us the freedom dividing us further based on religion. There was total disagreement and chaos in this elite group of granddads leading even to people leaving the group and yours truly had to put them back in again being the administrator.

Propelled by the WhatsApp war as above, I decided to look back in time to examine the situation in India when the East India Company first entered its shores. I have not considered the period when Mughals first entered India in the 13th century. I have also limited my objectives to examining why the British were able to enslave us and who were the key players in getting us freedom.

BRITISH ENSLAVEMENT OF INDIA:

The early modern period in India began in the 16th century by which time the Mughal Empire had conquered most of the Indian subcontinent. India under the Mughals had the biggest global economy and manufacturing power, with a nominal GDP that was valued at a quarter of the world GDP, superior to the whole of Europe combined. Naturally, India was the golden geese (Sone ki Chiriya). The East India Company wanted a part of this booty.

For a hundred years after the company’s first ship docked at Surat in 1608, almost the whole of India was under the direct control of the Mughals. Aurungzeb’s fifty-year reign came to an end around this time. The Mughal rulers who came to power after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 -“the later Mughals” were rather weak. India in the 1750s saw the decline of the Mughal Empire and the emergence of Successor States. Although Mughal rule continued over a large part of the Indian subcontinent for another 150 years, the nature of power and authority was rather diluted.

The East India Company rule or “Raj” in India started, in 1757 after the battle of Plassey, gained momentum in 1765 when the company was granted the right to collect revenue in Bengal and Bihar, and started in 1773 when the company established a capital in Calcutta and appointed Warren Hastings as its governor-general. The company for a long period only had business interests but lack of cohesion and central control within the successor states offered to them Bengal and Bihar on a platter.

There was no “nation of India” in those days. The British competed with other European nations to gain commercial contracts with local rulers offering  British defence in return for exclusive trade. British Parliament passed laws to allow trading companies to be formed for the purpose. The trading company raised their investments from London financiers.

Before the Muslim invasion in the 13th century, there were 36 clans of Rajput alone all over India and they were always fighting among themselves. This thing doesn’t happen in a COUNTRY. It paved an easier way for Muslims to invade India and later for the Company and then for the British Monarchy.

Think about modern India. If the central govt topples today or there is political instability at the centre like that of the 90′s, is it possible for states to break away from the nation? No…. because Constitution doesn’t allow so. It describes India as a Union of States which is indestructible. There is a central administration, a constitution, a national flag, and a national emblem of India today. These are all main and associate features to define a country which were absent in those times.

The Sepoy Mutiny (1857):

The revolt of 1857 can be assumed as the beginning of the Independence struggle against the colonial tyranny of the British. The revolt began on May 10, 1857, at Meerut. It was initiated by sepoys in the Bengal Presidency against the British officers. It was more like a protest over the alleged use of cow fat in cartridges which required to be cut with teeth defiling the religious Hindus.

The Government of India Act of 1858- Colonisation of India:

After the revolt of 1857, The Government of India Act of 1858 transferred the control of India from the East India Company to the Crown through the Secretary of State who was responsible to the British Parliament. Thus, India came under the direct rule of the British Parliament as a colony.

To prevent further mutinies in the Indian army, the proportion of European soldiers to the Indian soldiers was increased. An old policy of not giving any key and strategic post to Indians was brought back after 1857.

Indians were intentionally restricted from civil services by making their entry very tough by reducing the age upper limit. In 1876, the Queen adopted the title ‘Empress of India’ and made it clear to the Princes through her India representative that they were only agents of the Crown.

 The British policy of Divide and Rule:

The British also embarked on a policy of “Divide and Rule” pitting Hindus and Muslims against one another resulting in the partition of Bengal in 1905 and encouragement to Md Ali Jinnah to form the Muslim League of India in 1907. They brainwashed Jinnah into believing that Indian Muslims weren’t safe under Hindu India. Jinnah never paid any heed to the appeals made by Mahatma Gandhi who always bent backwards to accommodate him at the peril and even bloodbath of the Hindu majority. Gandhijee perhaps knew it too well that his fasts left Jinnah unmoved and so he stopped using his emotional appeals to Muslims in general and their leader Jinnah in particular. Gandhiji’s main weapon to force the British to leave India was non-violence. Naturally, he did not support Netajee Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and other freedom fighters who did not subscribe to his policy of nonviolence and appeasement of Md Ali Jinnah as they saw it.

INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE (1895-1947):

Broadly speaking, the history of the freedom struggle can be divided into two periods—pre-Gandhian (1885-1919) and post-Gandhian (1919-1947).

The pre-Gandhian period can be further divided into the Moderate Phase and the Extremist Phase. The extremist period can further be divided into two phases as after phase  I, the revolutionary movement was revived again in 1921 after Gandhiji suspended Non-cooperation movement.

In the first phase of twenty years of its life (1885-1905) the Indian National Congress was controlled by the moderates. The leaders of this period Dadabhai Naroji, Mahadev Govinda Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, W.C. Banerjee, S.N. Banerjee, Pheroz Shah Mehta etc wanted the British to be just kind and considerate and treat Indians as equal and improve their lot. They never asked for freedom. They followed the method of prayer, petition, representation, deputation, and persuasion which didn’t work.

EXTREMIST REVOLUTION -PHASE-I (1907-17):

This period saw political murders like Rand murder(1897), the attempt on the life of  Douglas Kingsford, the Assassination of Curzon Wyllie(1909), the murder of  Inspector Shamshad Aalam (1910) attempt on the life of  Lord Hastings (1912) and the Ghadar movement (1913) by expatriates led mainly by Lala Hardayal who founded Ghadar party headquartered at San Francisco to involve expatriates mostly students in freedom movement abroad.

(Free picture-Khudiram Bose (painting))

During this phase, the British came down heavily on the revolutionaries and gave stiff penalties including death penalties to several through summary trials. Heroes of this period were the Chapekar brothers, Khudiram Bose, Rashbehari Bose, Prafulla Chaki, Madanlal Dhingra, and Jatindranath Mukherjee, B K Biswas, Avadh Bihari, and Amur Chand. B K Biswas, Avadh Bihari and Amur Chand and earlier Khudiram Bose were executed.

REVIVAL OF EXTREMIST REVOLUTION-PHASE II:

Chauri Chaura incident (February 4, 1921)

Chauri-Chaura incident- Gorakhpur

Gandhijee started the non-cooperation movement in 1920. The extremists of the freedom struggle too had joined him. But they did not subscribe to his philosophy of non-violence which was Gandhiji’s weapon of choice. On February 4, 1921, a group of extremist participants clashed with local authorities, attacked police officers, and burnt police stations which unfortunately led to the death of 22 police officers and three civilians. Saddened by this Gandhiji suspended the Non- Cooperation Movement. Angered by this sudden suspension the extremist elements started the second phase of the revolutionary movement. The objectives were to establish a socialist state in India and to arouse consciousness among Indians about the futility of the Gandhian method of non-violence.

Hindustan Republican Association (1924):

In 1924, at Kanpur, Hindustan Republican Association was formed by the extremists. The leaders were: Ram Prasad Bismil, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, and Yogesh Chatterjee.

Free photo- Ram Prasad Bismil-painting

Kakori Conspiracy (1925):

To muster funds for purchasing arms on 9th, August 1925, they looted a train, 8 Down. Later all involved were arrested and finally death sentence was given to Ram Prasad Bismil, Thakur Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqullah Khan. Despite differences, Mahatma Gandhi appealed for commuting of the death penalty with no result.

Kakori martyrs

Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (1928):

This was founded on 10th September 1928, under the leadership of Chandra Shekhar Azad.

It had Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Battukeshwar Dutt with several others.

Free photo- Bhagat Singh-painting.

On 8th April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Battukeshwar Dutt, threw a bomb in Central Legislative Council to protest the Public Safety Bill and Trade Dispute Bill. They were arrested on 23rd March 1931, were summarily tried and Bhagat Singh, Raj Guru and Sukhdev were hanged. Bhagat Singh was also involved in Saunders murder case. To take revenge for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh and his associates plotted the assassination of James A. Scott, the Superintendent of Police. However, the revolutionaries mistakenly killed J.P. Saunders.

 THE GANDHIAN ERA – PHASE-III  OF NATIONAL MOVEMENT (1917-1947):

 Picture by Pratik Chauhan on Unsplash

The third and final phase of the Nationalist Movement [1917-1947] is known as the Gandhian era. During this period Mahatma Gandhi became the undisputed leader of the National Movement. His principles of nonviolence and Satyagraha were employed against the British Government.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917):

It was a farmers’ uprising led by Mahatma Gandhi. The farmers were protesting having to grow indigo without barely any payment.

The non-Cooperation Movement (1920):

This was led by Mahatma Gandhi to force the British to grant self-governance to Indians. This was the first large-scale movement led by him which was suspended by him himself in 1921 for reasons explained earlier giving birth to revolutionary movement phase-II.

The Dandi March (1930):

This was an act of civil disobedience against the British monopoly over salt and taxation on this essential commodity. Gandhiji undertook 24 days, 385 km walk from the Sabarmati Ashram to the then Navsari in Gujerat to make salt symbolically to break the law and British monopoly. Hundreds of thousands of common Indians joined him on the way.

World-Wars I (1914-18) and II (1939-45):

Britain without consulting the Indian leaders declared war on Germany on India’s behalf in 1914. Netajee Bose was opposed to this highhandedness of the British. In the world-war-I, about 1.5 million Indian soldiers served in the British Indian army which Gandhijee approved thinking that this gesture would change the British attitude. But unmoved the British introduced ordinances that curbed the freedom of India. For example, the Rowlett Act, and the resulting protests it led to the Jallianwala Bag massacre. When world-war-II broke out in 1939, India once again contributed hugely to the British war effort. In addition to troops, the princely states donated substantial amounts of cash. Still the British were unmoved.

Quit India Movement(1942):

Looking at the British attitude, the Quit India Movement was launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942 demanding an end to British rule in India. The movement failed as it lacked leadership most of the leaders were in jails.

 The Royal Indian Navy revolt (1946):

On 18 February 1946, in Bombay, the sailors on HMIS Talwar protested the poor quality of food and racial discrimination by British officers. The protest spread rapidly to the Castle and Fort barracks on shore, and 22 ships in Bombay harbour. The demands combined service grievances with wider national concerns including the release of Indian National Army personnel and other political prisoners; withdrawal of Indian troops from Indonesia; and the acceptance of Indian officers only as superiors.

The strike spread to other naval establishments around the country. At its height, 78 ships, 20 shore establishments, and 20,000 sailors were involved in the uprising. The revolt at various locations was coordinated by signal communication equipment on board HMIS Talwar. The RIN was not supported by Congress and the Muslim league. Only the Communist party of India supported it. The strike was called off by the intervention of Vallabh Bhai Patel.

Indian Independence Act of 1947:

The losses of Britain in the war and the worst winter of 1946-47 had begun to take their toll and the Indian independence movement events enumerated above seemed to signal that the British were losing control of their Indian holdings as they had hordes of problems at home. The British decided to quit India and in preparation in March 1947, Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy of India and oversaw the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan. He then served as the first Governor-General of India until June 1948.

Under such circumstances the British parliament passed the  Indian Independence Act of 1947. The Act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947 

1. Two independent countries namely India and Pakistan were set up on August 15 1947 .

2. The British Government gave up control over the affairs of India and Pakistan after August 15 1947 and transferred all powers to the Assemblies of India and Pakistan. 

3. The Viceroy was replaced by a separate Governor- General for each country. 

4. The Constituent Assemblies of both the countries were to frame their respective Constitutions and empowered to decide whether to stay with the British commonwealth or not. 

5. The Constituent Assembly of each Country were to exercise the power of the Central Legislatures. 

6. The Legislature of each of the new Country was to have full powers to make laws for that Country. 

7. The right of the king to veto laws was given up. This right was given to the Governor-General. 

8. Till the new Constitution was framed each of the Country and all Provinces were to be governed in accordance with the Act of 1935. 

9. The states were given the choice to join with either of the Countries or to retain their independence. 

10. The Governor-General was given the powers to modify or adopt the Government of India Act 1935 by March 31 1948. 

11. The office of the Secretary of State for India was abolished. 

12. Agreements with the tribes of the NWFP were to be negotiated by the Country concerned.

The British left a society with 16% literacy, a life expectancy of 27, over 90% living below the poverty line and leaders who had no experience of running a country so vast. According to an estimate during the Raj, Britain looted equivalent of about 17 times of the current combined GDP of Britain and India.

Lord Mountbatten

CONCLUDING REMARKS:

British were able to enslave India because India did not exist as a nation with no unity of purpose amongst its several rulers. Although several individuals contributed to the freedom struggle in their way as described, Mahatma Gandhi and Congress party leaders of the time played a major role. In the hindsight, it is easy to criticize some of the actions of the party and even that of Mahatma Gandhi himself, but their overall contribution was selfless and mindboggling. The actions of the revolutionaries were not organised and appeared impulsive oftentimes. Several patriots and their precious lives were lost without much impact on the English.

Even Netajee Subhash Chandra Bose’s idea of taking help from Hitler of Germany to fight the British to gain independence failed. He left Germany for Japan disillusioned with the lukewarm German support for Azad Hind and died of third-degree burns which he suffered in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945. However, many in India refused to believe that he had died.

After going through all the material on the history of our freedom struggle It appears to be the net effect of the freedom struggle as given in phase 3 and Britain’s own internal financial issues that finally forced it to accord freedom to India just as they had to according to several of their colonies over time like Burma(taken away from India in 1937 and freed in 1948) and so many others like Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, the Bahamas, Australia, Belize, Canada, Jamaica, Grenada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts and Nevis and so on…A total of 65 countries claimed their independence from Britain.

References: Wikipedia, NCERT and BYJU’s published material.

Shri Satish Pashine is a Metallurgical Engineer from VNIT-NGP (erstwhile VRCE) and a Management of Systems post-graduate from the IIT-D. He worked in various positions in the Public & private sectors for 22 years. In 1995 he founded  Q-Tech Consultancy to provide management system solutions. He is still active professionally and lives in Z-1, Bhubaneswar and loves to dabble in literature writing mostly from experiences in life.