ABOUT :

• I have done my Engineering from Pune

university.
• I have been associated with field of
UPSC for past 6 years.
• I have an experience of UPSC CSE
Exam, CDS Exam.
(Appeared for SSB twice), UPPSC.
• 4 year experience of teaching for
UPSC Exams.
Mr. Alok Ojha
 TOPIC
Home Rule League,Lucknow
merger and Lucknow Pact.
AKOUS
AKOUS AKOUS
 HOME RULE LEAGUE MOVEMENT
Annie Besant was proponent of Fabianism
INTRO
• Home rule movement was Indian response to 1st World War.
• Indian Home rule leagues were organised on lines of Irish Home Rule Leagues.
• The league represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive politics.
• Annie Besant & Tilak were founder of the two leagues in India.
Factors leading to Home Rule Movement.
• Nature of congress as a purely deliberative body.
• Govt. of India Act (Morley-Minto Reforms 1909) were dissatisfactory to aspirations of Indians.
• A section of nationalist felt that popular pressure was required to attain concessions from
British Govt.
• People were ready to participate in any protest because they were burdened with war-time
miseries, high taxation, rising prices.
• World war I exposed the myth of white superiority.
• Tilak was released in 1914.
• Tilak understood the need for revival of nationalist movement in country.
• Mrs. Annie Besant & Tilak realised that sanction of moderate – dominated congress as well as
support of extremist was required for home rule league to succed.
• By early 1915, Annie Besant launched a campaign to demand “Self-Govt” for India.
• She campaigned through her newspapers “Common weal” & “New India” & through Public
meetings & conferences.
• In 1915 it was decided extremists to be re-admitted into congress.
• Mrs. Annie Besant moved a resolution for starting Home rule league in Bombay session (1915)
of INC President by S.P. Sinha.
• Proposal was over-ruled by the president.
• Besant managed to convince the congress to pledge for an Educative Propoganda and
establishing local – Level Committees. It was agreed that if these conditions were not fulfilled,
she would be free to set up Home rule league.
• Accordingly, she set up her Home rule league in Sept. 1916.
• Tilak was not bound by any such conditions and so he set up his league in April 1916.
• Both Tilak & Besant set up separate leagues to avoid any friction.
 Foundation of Two Leagues
1. Tilak’s League
• Tilak’s Home Rule Movement was called as “Indian Home Rule League”
• Tilak launched Home rule league at Belgaum with its headquarters at
Poona in April 1916.
• National headquarters was at Delhi.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah supported the activities of League.
• League had 6 branches.
• Tilak’s league worked in Maharashtra (Except Bombay), Karnataka,
Central Provinces & Berar.
• Tilak’s league had 3 major demands.
- Swarajya.
- Formation of Linguistic states.
- Education in vernacular.
2. Annie Besant’s League
• Besant’s league was called as Home rule league.
• It was set up in Sept. 1916 at Madras.
• It covered rest of India Including Bombay.
• It had 200 branches.
• It was loosely organised as compared to Tilak’s league.
• “George Arundale” was secretary of Besant’s league. B.P. Wadia, C.P.
Ramaswamy Aiyar, S. Subramaniya Aiyar, are associated with Besant’s
league.
Other members of All India Home Rule League
1. Motilal Nehru 8. G.S. Khaparde
2. Jawaharlal Nehru 9. Tej Bahadur Sapru
3. Bhulabhai Desai 10.Lala Lajpat Rai
4. Chittaranjan Das 11.B.P. Wadia
5. Madan Mohan Malviya 12.S. Subramaniya Aiyer
6. Muhammad Ali Jinnah 13.C. Ramaswamy Aiyer
7. Joseph Baptista 14.George Arundale
Ojective of Home Rule League Movement
• To establish Home Rule / Self Govt. on the lines of autonomous colonies of Australia, New
Zealand Etc.
• To Build an agitation for home rule by promoting political education & discussion.
• To build the confidence of Indians against suppression of British Govt. and to create alternative
movement to break existing stagnations.
• To revive political activity, maintaining the principles of congress i.e. within the constitutional
limits.
• To demand for greater political representation from british govt.
Activities of the league
• League aimed to convey the common man the message of home rule.
• League attracted politically backward regions of Gujrat & Sindh.
• League Organised demonstrations, discussions among groups, public meeting, libraries & holding
conferences, lecture tours.
• Organising classes for students on political proponganda through newspaper, pamphlet, posters,
post-cards, plays & religious songs.
• League also collected funds, organised social work and participated in local govt. activities.
• Activities of league were not very different in form from older moderate activities but
significantly new.
• The two leagues co-operated with each other as well as with Congress & Muslim league.
Activities of the league
• League aimed to convey the common man the message of home rule.
• League attracted politically backward regions of Gujrat & Sindh.
• League Organised demonstrations, discussions among groups, public meeting, libraries & holding
conferences, lecture tours.
• Organising classes for students on political proponganda through newspaper, pamphlet, posters,
post-cards, plays & religious songs.
• League also collected funds, organised social work and participated in local govt. activities.
• Activities of league were not very different in form from older moderate activities but
significantly new.
• The two leagues co-operated with each other as well as with Congress & Muslim league.To put
forward the demand of self-Govt was intention of both the Leagues.
• Leaders of Home Rule League believed freedom was natural rights of all nations.
• The leaders of Home rule movement thought that india’s resources were not being used for her
needs.

Govt Attitude towards home rule

 Govt came down with severe repression.
 A case was instituted against Tilak by high court.
 Especially in madras where students were prohibited from attending political Meetings.
 Tilak was barred from entering Punjab & Delhi.
 In 1917 Annie besant, B.P. Wadia & George Arundale were arrested.
 In a dramatic gesture, Sir S. Subraminya Aiyer renounced his knighthood while tilak advocated a
prog. of passive resistance.
Significance of home rule movement
• Extension of nationalist movement in new areas & groups.
(Eg. Kayasth & Kashmiri pandits in United provinces, hindu amil minority in Sindh, Gujrat became the
part of the movement.)
• Home rule movement shifted the emphasis from educated elite to the masses.
• It created organisational link B/W town & the country.
• It created generation of ardent nationalists.
• It prepared the masses for for politics of Gandhian Style .
• Montague – Chelmsford reforms were influenced by activities of home rule movement.
• Efforts of Tilak & Besant led to merger of moderates & extremists.
• HRL created a sense of urgency to national movement.
• Moderates, extremists & muslim league were briefly united through this movement
• Movement organised congress party when it was decaying.
• It revived the lost confidence of Indians.
Reasons for failure of home rule movements
• Communal riots were witnessed during 1917-18.
• Muslim League did not garner much support from muslims as they thought home rule would
mean a rule of upper caste hindu majority.
• Moderates along with Annie besant became a loyalist after Montagu promised a responsible Govt.
• Montagu-Chemsford reforms further divided the nationalist ranks.
• Talk of passive resistance by extremist kept moderates away from the movement
• In 1918, Tilak went to England to pursue a libel case against Valentine Chirol (Journalist & author
of ‘Indian Unrest’) who had called Tilak as father of Indian unrest.Tilak lost the case.
• After the 1st world war, All india home rule league elected Gandhi as it’s president and later on
within a year it was merged into INC.
Points to be noted.
• HRL dropped the idea of extremist’s mass movement but continued their idea of passive
resistance.
• HRL dropped the idea of mendicancy of moderates but continued their concept of patriotism.
• In 1917, when Annie Besant was arrested under Defence of India act.She flew a red & green flag to
show her defiance.Mass protest began & American president “Wilson” intervened for her release.
• Annie Besant began her career in England as proponent of free thought, radicalism, fabianism &
theosophy.
• In 1920, M.K. Gandhi accepted leadership of home rule league & renamed it “Swaraj sabha”.
 Lucknow Merger (1916)
The Lucknow session of INC, presided over by a moderate,
“Ambika Charan Mujumdar” finally readmitted extremists
led by Tilak to the congress fold. Various factors facilitated
the reunion.
• Old Controversies had become meaningless now.
• Both moderates & extremists realised that split had led to political
inactivity.
• Annie besant & Tilak had made vigorous efforts for the reunion.
• Tilak had declared that he supported reforms in administration and
not an overthrow of govt.
• Tilak denounced all the acts of violence.
• Death of two moderates, Gokhale & Pheroz Shah Mehta, facilitated
the reunions.
 Lucknow Pact
• Aims & Ojectives of muslim league were unclear.
• Till signing of Lucknow pact,Muslim league seemed to be a fringe organisation, though it had
rapidly brought many muslims into it’s fold. Meanwhile, Viceroy Lord Chelmsford had invited
suggestions from Indians for post world war I. reform in lieu of Indian support in the war.
• At this juncture, muslim league sought for a sort of joint platform with congress to put
constitutional pressure on british govt. towards making reforms.
• The idea was that such joint demand would give an impression of Hindu-Muslim unity.
• Towards this, Congress & Muslim league negotiated an agreement whose main clauses are –
- Muslims and congress jointly demanded for “self-govt” in India.
- Muslims should be given 1/3rd representation in central govt.
- There should be separate electorates for all communities until a community demanded joint
electorates.
- A system of weightage to “Minority Political Representation” (Giving Minorities), more
representation in the govt then is proportional to their share of population should be adopted)
- No. of members of Imperial legisliatative council should be increased to 150.
- At provincial level, 4/5th members of legislative councils should be elected and 1/5th should be
Nominated.
- Size of provincial legislature should not be less than 125 in major provinces and 50 to 75 in minor
provinces.
- All members, except nominated, sholud be elected direcltly on the basis of adult franchise.
- No bill concerning a community should be passed if the bill is opposed by ¾ of members of that
community in legislative council.
- Term of legislative council should be 5 years.
- Members of legislative councils should themselves elect their president.
- Half of the members of imperial legislative council to be Indians.
- Half of the members of viceroy’s executive council should be Indian.
- Of the two under secretaries, 1 should be Indian.
- Executive should be seperated from judiciary.
- Signing of Lucknow pact was an important step in Hindu-Muslim unity.
Q. Why was league ready to work with congress.
• British refusal to help turkey in it’s balkan & Italian wars.
• Annulment of partition of Bengal in 1911 annoyed those sections of muslims who had supported
the partition.
• The refusal of British govt. in India to set up university at Aligarh with power to affiliate colleges
all over Indian alienated some muslims.
• Calcutta session of muslim league 1912 had committed working with other groups for
attainment of self govt. but its basis ojective of protection of muslim interest should be
protected.
• Maulana azad’s ‘Al-hilal’ & mohammad ali’s Comrade faced suppression during world war – I
• Maulana azad, Ali brothers, Hasrat mohani faced internment (Nazarbandi)
• This generates anti – Imperialist sentiments among the ‘Young Party’
 Impact of Lucknow Pact
Positive
 Acceptance of principle of separate electorate represented a serious desire to allow minority
fears of majority dominations.
 Large amount of enthusiasm was generated among the people.
 Govt. declaring its intention to grant self-govt. to Indians.
 Impact of Lucknow Pact
Negative
 A blunder was committed by accepting separate electorate not because muslims deserved it but
it sowed the seeds of communal politics.
 This pact made it open that india had different communities and each one of them has its own
interests.
 Muslim member’s strength in legislature was laid down province by province.
 This was one of the most dangerous pacifist policies of congress.
 It not only recognized communal representation but also communal privileges.
 In imperial legislative council, muslim representations was stated to be 1/3rd although their
population was not 1/3rd.
 Any legislature could not work if more than 3/4th member of any religion opposed it, its
consequence was introduction of communal veto.
 Sarojini naidu nailed Jinnah as “Ambassador of Hindu-muslim unity”.