MODERN INDIA-Q & A

1-Which Englishman is generally was the first chairman of the Indian National Congress?

Hume. Allan Octavian Hume was a retired British Civil Servant, who believed that it would be in the better interests of the British Rule in India if the Indians (at least the English-speaking, Western-educated ones) had some constitutional means of exressing their discontent with British rule, rather than open agitation and taking to arms. 

2-Who was the Viceroy of British India when the Indian National Congress was started?

Lord Dufferin. Lord Dufferin, who was the Viceroy of India from 1885-1890, was for a long time believed to have played a key role in the setting up of the Indian National Congress. It was said that he wanted Hume to set up a political, rather than a social organization (which apparently the latter had originally wanted to do) so as to act as a "safety valve" to manage simmering discontent among the Indian intelligentsia and the masses. However, careful research by noted historian, Bipin Chandra has disproved this. Bipin Chandra says that Hume actually wanted to start a poitical organization, whereas Lord Dufferin wanted him to start a social organization. This disproved the the "safety valve" theory, which had been believed for well over 90 years.

3-Surendranath Bannerjee, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, was denied a post in the Indian Civil Service on what grounds, even after having cleared the examinations successfully?

He had misrepresented his age. Despite the Queen's proclamation of 1858, which sought to bring more and more Indians into the administration and the Civil Service, the reality was otherwise. The conditions for the exam, the fact that an Indian candidate would have to travel to England to take it and some of the racial biases, even against successful candidates like Surendranath Bannerjee, all meant that the 'Indianization' of the Civil services was only an ideal, rarely practiced. 

4-How many delegates attended the first session of the Indian National Congress in 1888?

70. In the first ever session presided over by W.C. Bannerjee in 1885, only 70 delegates attended, mainly lawyers, educationalists, journalists and other members of the intelligensia. However, of the delegates, only two were Muslims. In the resolution passed, the first session sought to try and bring Indians together on a common platform to try and air their grievances to the British rulers. The meeting ended with the singing of the British national anthem, sung by all present.

5-Dadhabhai Naoroji was the first Indian to be elected to the British Parliament by a British constituency.

. Dadhabhai Naoroji, also known as the Grand Old Man of India was the first Indian to be elected to the House of Commons from a Labour ticket. Although he lost the first time around, the second he won, thanks to a rather crude racist comment by Lord Salisbury, that no English constituency would vote a black man to the House of Commons. Less than a hundred years after this achievement, Lord Salisbury might probably have spun in his grave, if he had found out that these "black men" had gained membership to the House of Lords. 

6-Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh Muslim University, was present in the first meeting of the Congress.

t. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the noted Islamic scholar and reformer, was one of the only two Muslim delegates to the first session of the Indian National Congress. However, he was never a great supporter of the INC, partly because he believed that it was too Hindu dominated and Muslims would not be able to find a voice within it. His fears would of course, later be allayed by the presence of such stalwarts of the Islamic community, as Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad in the high levels of the Congress. However, his fears did ultimately set the tone for the two-nation theory which led to the birth of Pakistan.

7-Which of the following was NOT a demand made of the British government by the Indian National Congress during the early phase of its existence, i.e., 1885-1905?

Independence from British rule. The intelligentsia of the early phase of the Indian National Movement were convinced that British rule of India was a boon to the land and its people, and it was never their aim to end. Rather, they sought to ensure that Indians have a say in the actual government of the country, while at the same time enjoying such benefits as membership of the British Commonwealth. Even the title of Dadhabhai Naoroji's work "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India", shows that he did not necessarily want to overthrow British rule, but rather wanted them to modify to bring it in line with what he believed were the British principles of 'fair play and justice'.

8-Which among the following Englishmen was never a President of the Indian National Congress in its early years?

A.O.Hume. That was a twister (or if you are a cricket fan, a googly. :-) A.O Hume was never a Congress President in any of its sessions, though he was the founder and chairman. Of the others, George Yule was President in the Allahabad session in 1888, its first non-Indian President. Sir William Wedderburn immediately preceded him in the 1889 session in Bombay and later in 1910 in Allahabad. Alfred Webb was the Third non-Indian Congress President in the 1894 session at Madras. For more information on the Congress Presidents since 1885 down to the current day, check out www.congresssandesh.com.

9-Which moderate political 'guru' of Mahatma Gandhi became Congress President in 1894?

Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a Chitpavan Bramhin, from what is now Maharashtra state, was one of the early stalwarts of the Indian National Movement. He was a Moderate in his views and believed totally in the methods of constitutional change. He was also the one instrumental in getting Gandhi to come to India, and try out the methods of passive resistance, which had electrified the nation by their success in South Africa. Gokhale also served on the first provinvial legislatures which were set up and was instrumental in the passage of a lot of progressive laws, such as free and compulsory education. 

10-The partition of which province on communal lines finally marked the split between the 'Moderates' and the 'Extremists' in the Congress?

Bengal. Bengal was a huge province which covered the modern day Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa and also Bangladesh, containing a total population of 70 millions then. Although there was a need for an 'administrative' change, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon decided to do it in as arrogant and ignorant manner as possible, flaming the passions of Bengalis who felt that they were deliberately being divided by the British on religious lines. Although the Moderates expressed shock and outrage, radicals like Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai, called for massive strikes and boycotts against the British. They spoke of burning British cloth, picketing stores selling foreign goods, and coined a new slogan, "Vande Mataram" ("To a United Motherland"). With this the struggle for freedom in India took a new turn and there was no going back................