Lec 3 & 4 AIML, Minto Morley 1919 PDF

PARTITION OF BENGAL, SIMLA DEPUTATION, ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE & MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS, ANNULMENT OF PARTITION, LUCKNOW PACT & KHILAFAT MOVEMENT Lecture 3 & 4  PARTITION OF BENGAL Bengal was the biggest province in the subcontinent. The whole province was under one Li...

PARTITION OF BENGAL, SIMLA DEPUTATION, ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE & MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS, ANNULMENT OF PARTITION, LUCKNOW PACT & KHILAFAT MOVEMENT Lecture 3 & 4  PARTITION OF BENGAL Bengal was the biggest province in the subcontinent. The whole province was under one Lieutenant-Governor who could not look after the requirements of such a huge area alone. Lord Curzon became the Viceroy of India in 1899 and undertook an extensive tour of Bengal and felt that the province was too big to be administered effectively.  PARTITION OF BENGAL Lord Curzon decided to divide the province into two provinces and Bengal was divided into two parts on 16th October 1905; Western Bengal and Eastern Bengal. The new province of Eastern Bengal consisted of Dhaka as capital with majority Muslim. West Bengal with the capital of Calcutta and become the Hindu Majority.  MUSLIM REACTION TO THE PARTITION The new province of Eastern Bengal gave happier prospects of economic political and social life to the Muslims. The partition gave huge chances of progress to the Muslims who were supressed and dominated class of society before the partition. They now hoped that their social status would get a tremendous boost in the new province.  HINDU REACTION TO THE PARTITION The Hindus reacted toward the partition of Bengal in a hostile and violent manner. The Hindus believed that they would come under the domination of the Muslim majority in the new province. As the provincial High Court and other judicial bodies were to be shifted to Dhaka, the Hindu lawyers feared that their legal practice would be affected. The Hindus, therefore, launched an intensive movement against the partition of Bengal.  HINDU REACTION TO THE PARTITION Religion & colour were given the agitation in order to arouse intense opposition by the Hindu masses. They termed the partition as degrading and an insult to the national character of the Hindu population. The day of 16 October, 1905, when the partition was enforced, was declared as a national tragedy.  HINDU REACTION TO THE PARTITION People disobeyed government orders by refusing to pay taxes and rentals. Bombs were thrown and attacks were made on the lives of the British people, Hindu majority boycotted the British manufacturers. The most serious result of the Hindu agitation was a steep rise in Hindu - Muslim riots. The net result of this was that the Hindu agitation definitely disunited the Muslims from the Congress.  HINDU REACTION TO THE PARTITION This agitation against the Muslims further strengthened the Two- Nation Theory. It also convinced the Muslims leaders for the need for a separate Muslim political organization which would safeguard the interests of the Muslims of India and would counter the Hindu and Congress propaganda.  SIMLA DEPUTATION Liberal Party of England had won General Elections in 1905 and announced it would introduce constitutional reforms in India. Muslims decided to avail this opportunity and a Muslim delegation of 35 Muslim leaders known as the Simla Deputation called on the Viceroy on 1st October 1906 in Simla.  SIMLA DEPUTATION The deputation apprised the Viceroy of Muslim demands and expressed the need of protection of Muslim interests Deputation asked for separate electorate through which the Muslims should elect their own representatives for councils. They demanded seats in legislatures, quota in government services and seats of judges in the courts for the Muslims.  SIMLA DEPUTATION Lord Minto patiently heard the demands presented by the deputation and completely agreed with the principle of a separate electorate. It was a great achievement for the Muslims to have convinced the Viceroy about the Muslims demands. At this time the Muslims had left the Congress and they had no political platform to project their demands.  FORMATION OF ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE The annual session All India Muslim Educational Conference was held in 1906 at Dhaka. Nawab Salim Ullah Khan of Dhaka convened a meeting of the Muslim leaders to discuss the possibilities of forming a political association for the Muslims known as All India Muslim Confederacy. He said that Congress political activities were highly injurious for the Muslims.  FORMATION OF ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE Nawab Salim Ullah thus moved a resolution which declared: “Resolved that this meeting composed of Muslims from all parts of India assembled at Dhaka decide that Political Association be formed styled as All India Muslim League. o To promote among the Muslims of India a feeling of loyalty to the British government. o To protect and advance the political rights and interests of the Muslims of India, and to represent their needs and aspirations to the British government.  FORMATION OF ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE o To prevent the rise among Muslims of India of any feeling of hostility towards other communities. Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk was elected as Joint Secretary of the Muslim League. A committee of 60 members was set up for the Muslim League which included all members of the Simla Deputation.  FORMATION OF ALL INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE The Muslim League met with immediate success in the initial stages. It drew the governments attention towards the Muslims demands expressed by the Simla Deputation. It secured seats in the councils, it demanded appointment of judges in the courts, and secured safeguards for educational interests of Muslims.  MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS An extremist Hindi organization Hindu Mahasabha had emerged in India. The British government also realized that current constitutional provisions were not enough to safeguard the Muslims interests and decide to introduce new constitutional reforms. The Viceroy Lord Minto with Lord Morley prepared a Bill which was enforced in 1909 and came to be known as Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909.  MINTO-MORLEY REFORMS The Act contained the following provisions: 1. The long-standing demand of Muslims for a separate electorate was conceded and included in Minto-Morley Reforms. 2. The preparation of separate electorate was ordered. 3. The authority of council was enhanced- members were given more liberty. The Minto-Morley Reforms helped to ease the turmoil in the country.  ANNULMENT OF PARTITION The Hindus threatened the government to boycott and it could not stand extreme pressure and succumbed to the Hindus agitation. Lord Harding, the new Viceroy, agreed to reverse the partition of Bengal and was ultimately annulled on 12 th December 1911. The British tried to suggest that they had reversed the partition as a part of their governing policy of India. In reality, they had been forced into the move by the fierce opposition of the Bengali Hindus.  CHANGE IN MUSLIM LEAGUES POLITICAL STRATEGY Many national and international political incidents led the Muslim league to adopt a new line of action- establishment of self-rule in India. Quaid-i-Azam joined the Muslim League in 1913. On 22nd March 1913, a resolution was passed for the attainment of self-rule in India which demanded co- operation from leaders of both sides for the accomplishment of common objectives.  LUCKNOW PACT, 1916 The leaders of both parties agreed to co-operate to attain common objectives. In December 1916, the Muslim League and the Congress for the first time in the history of India held their sessions together in Lucknow. Quaid-i-Azam was elected as President of the session who presented the political situation of India, rejected all objections by the British against self-rule and declared Indians were capable enough to run the governments affairs.  LUCKNOW PACT, 1916 The pact included the following recommendations: 1) There shall be self rule in India. 2) The right of Muslims separate electorate was accepted by Congress. 3) Salaries of the Secretary of State should be paid by the British government and not by the Indian funds 4) Half of the elected members of the Executive Council of the Governor-General should be Indians. 5) Four-fifth members of the Imperial legislative Council should be Indians and One-third should be Muslims.  LUCKNOW PACT, 1916 The Lucknow Pact was a symbol of unity between the INC and AIML for first time in the history of freedom struggle in the Sub-continent. Its most important feature was that it led INC to realize a separate political entity of the Muslims. The credit of for creating this harmonious situation was given to Quaid-i-Azam who was given the title of Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity.  ROWLATT ACT, 1919 A Committee under Justice Rowlatt was appointed who presented a report, Rowlatt Committee Report in 1918. Also known as Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919 passed in March 1919-arrest for two years without trial- more than 4 people were not allowed to assemble at a place and search without warrant. Political leaders expressed utmost annoyance and protests against this report (Muhammad Ali Jinnah resigned from imperial legislative council). Major riots started after the act (Rowlatt Satyagraha) and Punjab under martial law The most tragic incident of Jallianwala Bagh mass killings (13 th April 1919) created extreme political aggravations in the country.  Jallianwala Bagh Incident Colonel Reginald Dyer ordered troops to open into a crowd of Indians, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. Firing went on for about 10 minutes until the 1650 rounds of ammunition were exhausted. Dyer was appreciated by many in Britain and the British in India, although some people in the British government were quick to criticize it. The government set up the Hunter Commission to inquire into the massacre. Although the commission condemned the act by Dyer, it did not impose any disciplinary action against him. General Dyer was relieved of his duties in 1920. Gandhiji relinquished his title ‘Kaiser-e-hind’ bestowed on him by the British for his services during the Boer War in South Africa. Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab at that time was Michael O’Dwyer was later assassinated as revenge by Udham Singh in London in 1940.  MONTAGUE-CHELMFORD REFORMS, 1919 On 20th August 1917, Edwin Montague (secretary of state) said that in order to satisfy the local demands, his government was interested in giving more representation to the natives in India. Lord Chelmsford was India’s viceroy The report was discussed in 1919, known as Montague- Chelmsford Reforms.  MONTAGUE-CHELMFORD REFORMS, 1919 They included reforms like: 1) Separate electorate was retained for Muslims 2) The Central Legislature was to consist of two houses, Upper House (Council of the State), and the Lower House (Legislative Assembly). 3) Self Government would be established gradually in India. 4) The system of ‘Dyarchy’ was introduced. The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms conceded far less than the Lucknow Pact and were not accepted by the Muslim League and Congress.  KHILAFAT MOVEMENT The First World War ended in 1918 with the Allies emerging as conquerors and were bent upon destroying the Khalifate of Turkey. The Indian Muslims were greatly disappointed over the fate of Turkey and desired a respectable settlement be concluded between British and Turkey. It left the Indian Muslims in a very awkward situation as they were stuck between British and Turkey.  KHILAFAT COMMITEE In order to protect the Khalifat, the Muslims formed the Khilafat Committee. The Khilafat Committee decided to send a representative deputation of Hindus, Muslims to the Viceroy to apprise him of the demands of the people for Turkey. The Viceroy promised that the demand would be met and no harm will be done to the Khalifat and the sacred places of Islam. He promised that religious and political matters will and should be kept separate. NON- COOPERATION MOVEMENT The Hindus under the leadership of Ghandi gave full support for the Khilafat movement. The plan was to boycott all British institutions and goods completely. The Congress adopted and re-affirmed this program in December 1920. Quaid-i-Azam was against this as he thought it would bring more violence in the country and resigned from the Congress.  TREATY OF SEVRES The war ended and peace was made through the Treaty of Sevres in 1920. The treaty abolished the Ottoman Empire and obliged Turkey to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa. According to this treaty that victorious Allies could occupy any part of Turkey at will. Syria, Iraq and Jordon would be separated from the Turkish Empire. The Muslims were disappointed over the betrayal of the government. The Muslims launched the non-cooperation movement to safeguard the Khalifate.  CHAURI CHAURA TRAGEDY Ghandi intended to begin his Civil Disobedience movement in 1922 from Chauri Chaura. People refused to pay taxes, fire was set to police station. This shook Ghandi and he immediately called of the non-cooperation event without consulting other leaders.  END OF KHILAFAT MOVEMENT The Khilafat movement ended in a complete failure for the Muslims- they felt betrayed at the eye of victory. The Khalifat was abolished by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk. This shook the Muslims and left the Muslims almost leaderless. The Indian politics entered a new era once again back to rivalries between Hindus and Muslims.  RESULTS OF THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT 1. The Khilafat movement was a great Muslim struggle and established foundations to launch further Muslim Freedom movements. 2. Ghandi's betrayal confirmed to the Muslims that Hindus can never be sincere to the Muslims. 3. The British now seriously felt of giving independence to India. 4. It played an effective role in eliminating un-Islamic trends and concepts from the religion. 5. It immensely strengthened the Two- Nation Theory. 6. It added much to the economic miseries of the Muslims.