Indian National Congress (INC): Revolutionary Activities and Decline

Bengal

1. 1902: First revolutionary group by Jnanendranath Basu
2. Anushilan Samithi (1905)
   • Founded by Promotha Mitter.
   • Leaders – Jatindranath Banerjee, Barindra Kumar Ghosh.
   • Weekly – Yugantar by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, and Bhupendranath Dutt.
   • Revolutionary Activity
     • Associated with the assassination of Sir Fuller.
     • Alipore Bomb Case – Associated people are Aurobindo Ghosh, Prafula Chaki and Khudiram Bose
3. Rash Bihari Bose
   • Associated with Hardinge Bomb Case or Delhi Bomb Case (1911).
   • Supported the Ghadar Party in America.
   • Founded the Indian Independence League in Tokyo.

Maharashtra

1. Ramosi Peasant Force (1879)
   • Founded by Vasudev Balwant Phadke
   • Aim – To free the country from the British by instigating an armed revolt by disrupting communication lines.
2. Assassination of Plague Commissioner of Poona (1897)
   • By the Chepkar brothers.
3. Abhirav Bharat (1904)
   • Founded by V.D. Savarkar by merging the secret society Mitra Mela.
   • Associated case – Nasik conspiracy case.

Punjab

1. Anjuman – i – Mohisban – i – Watan
   • Founded by Ajit Singh.
   • Journal – Bharat Mata in Lahore.
   • Other leaders – Aga Haider, Syed Haider Raza, Bhai Permanand, and an Urdu Poet called Lal Chand (Falak).
2. Bharat Mata Society
   • By Lala Hardayal, Lala Lajpath Rai, and Amba Prasad.

Abroad

1. India Home Rule Society / India House (1905)
   • Founded by Shyamji Krishnavarma.
   • Location – London
   • Journal – Sociologist
   • Aim – To promote self-rule.
   • Supported by Savarkar, and Lala Hardayal.
   • Madanlal Dhingra from India House assassinated Curzon-Wyllie in London in 1909.
2. Indian Independence Committee
   • Founded by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta, and Lala Hardayal.
   • It worked with the help of German foreign officers under Zimmerman Plan with headquarters in Berlin, Germany.
3. Indian National Party
   • By Champak Raman Pillai.
   • Headquarters – Germany.
4. Indian Independence League
   • Founded in 1907.
   • Founded by Taraknanth in California, USA.
5. Madam Bhikaji Cama
   • She was a Parsi revolutionary.
   • She was the first Indian to unfurl India’s flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany in 1907.
   • She co-founded the Parsi Indian Society.
   • Journals – Bande Mataram, and Talwar.
6. Ghadar Party
   • The Ghadar Party was a revolutionary organisation with its main office in San Francisco and was centred around the weekly journal “The Ghadar.”
   • The majority of these revolutionaries were ex-soldiers and peasants who had moved to the USA and Canada from Punjab in pursuit of better job possibilities.
   • Founded by Sohan Singh Bhakna.
   • Associated leaders are Kartar Singh Saraba, Rash Bihari Bose, and Lala Hardayal.
   • Earlier known as Pacific Coast Hindustan Association.
   • Related to Mounting Oriented Invasion.
   • 1914 – The Komagata Maru incident and the outbreak of the First World War gave a push to the movement.
     • Komagata Maru was a Japanese steamship that sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada via Japan in May 1914. 
     • It was carrying 376 passengers who were immigrants from Punjab, India. 
     • Of these, only 24 were granted admittance in Canada when the ship docked in Vancouver. 
     • At that time, Canada had laws restricting the entry of migrants of Asian origin. 
     • Following a two-month stalemate, the ship and its 352 passengers were escorted out of the dock by the Canadian military and forced to sail back to India.
     • Adding further insult to injury, some of the passengers were killed in protests on their return to India, when they were prevented from docking and attempts were made to arrest its leaders who were suspected by the colonial government to be political agitators.
   • After Incident
     • Shore Committee
       • To fight the rights of passengers as an after-effect of the Komagata Maru incident.
       • Members of the committee – Husaim Rahim, Sohan Lal Pathak, Balwant Singh
7. Mutiny in Singapore
   • By Jamadar Chisti Khan, Jamadar Abdul Gani, and Subedar Daud Khan.

Decline of Revolutionary Activities

• Stern Government repression along with a series of draconian laws.
• Lack of popular response.
• World War I ended and the government released all political prisoners arrested under the Defense of India Act.
• Discussion began on the new Constitutional Reforms (Government of India Act 1919) which generated an atmosphere of compromise.
• Gandhi arrived on the national scene and emphasised non-violent means which also halted the place of revolutionary activities.