Political demands of the Indian National Congress (1885-1907)

The aim of this article is to study the political demands of the Indian National Congress in 1885-1907. To achieve this aim, the following tasks are envisaged: an analysis of the character of these demands, which formed due to historical situation; research of the content of the political demands of the INC and the proposed mechanisms of their implementation; research of the impact of the Congress’ political program in 1885-1907 on the factional struggle in the INC and the national liberation movement as a whole. The source of the study is the legislative documents, such as Government of India Act 1858 and Indian Councils Act 1892, which reflect the political realities of the British India in that period; reports of the proceedings of the Congress’ sessions, containing a statement of the demands of the Congress and the proposed schemes of political reforms; polemical papers of the members of extremists faction of the Congress, allowing to determine the extremists’ views on the political program of the Congress. In the course of the study, the author came to the following conclusions: the political demands of the Congress at an early stage of its existence were of a moderate character, that is, these demands did not contain the claims for the abolition of the British rule in India, but only intended to make adjustments to it. According to the leaders of the Congress, these adjustments could help to improve the state of India within the Empire. The political program of the Congress expressed the interests of the national bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia. A characteristic feature of the political demands of the Congress was the lack of a mechanisms for their implementation, and as a result, they were fulfilled only partially. These achievements led to the emergence of a radical opposition headed by young nationalists, who subsequently formed an extremists’ faction in the INC. In general, political demands of the INC in 1885-1907 played a controversial role in the development of the national liberation movement. Being a progressive phenomenon in the Indian social and political thought of 1880-early 1890's, they were not satisfy for younger generation of nationalists, who pursued more radical goals and offered more radical methods. This caused controversy in the camp of patriotic forces that resulted in a series of internal crises in the INC in the 1900s and 1910s, which ended with the cardinal revision of the Congress’ tactics after the First World War and the beginning of a new stage in the struggle for the national liberation of India.

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