The formation of the Congress was not an accidental event, nor was there any particular reason for its birth. All those reasons are responsible for the establishment of Congress, due to which the national consciousness emerged in India. If the Congress had not been established, some other such institution would have taken the place of the Congress, because many reasons had arisen for this. chief among them were
(1) Social and Religious Movements -
Many social and religious movements took place in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. They had a huge impact on the Indian people. Indians began to consider their country's civilization and culture to be better than the western civilization and culture. These movements were mainly
(i) Brahmo Samaj -
Raja Rammohan Roy was the founder of 'Brahma Samaj'. Establishing it in 1828 AD, Raja Rammohan Roy started movements to remove social and religious evils.
(ii) Arya Samaj-
'Arya Samaj' was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875 AD. He also made significant efforts to remove social and religious evils. Dayanand was the first Indian to raise the slogan that 'India is for Indians'. No doubt the Arya Samaj was a national renaissance, which the British government looked upon badly.
(iii) Ramakrishna Mission -
This mission (institution) was established by Swami Vivekananda in the memory of his Guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa. According to the principles of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, all religions are true. That is why he worked to establish harmony in different religions. Swami Vivekananda carried forward this work of his. In 1893 AD, during his speech at the All Religion Conference in Chicago, he made the people of the world feel that Indian culture and civilization is superior and exemplary, Western civilization is only materialistic. Swamiji infused the spirit of self-confidence, self-respect and patriotism among Indians.
(iv) Theosophical Society—
It was an international organization. It was promoted in India by Mrs. Annie Besant. Mrs. Besant described Indian culture and Hindu religion as great. He made his valuable contribution in reforming Hinduism and removing social evils.
(2) Effect of western education -
English education also contributed in generating political awakening in the country. Political awakening was not arising as a result of the different languages spoken in the country. The English language fulfilled this task. Through this language, we got information about foreign countries and we got to know how other countries of the world became independent. Raja Rammohun Roy, Dadabhai Naoroji, Womeshchandra Banerjee, Ferozeshah Mehta and Gopalkrishna Gokhale, all these messengers of Indian nationalism were the result of English education. The British had implemented English education in India in their own interest, so that they could get cheap educated babus and at the same time develop English civilization. Although the British succeeded in their aim, on the other hand, English education proved to be a boon for the Indians as well.
(3) The imperialist policy of Lord Lytton -
Surendranath Banerjee has written that "bad rulers often unknowingly become a boon to the people in the development of political progress". Undoubtedly, the rule of Lytton (Lytton was the Governor-General of India from 1876 to 1880 AD) was responsible for the national consciousness. The entire reign of Lytton was repressive and anti-India. The following works of Lytton developed national consciousness among Indians
(4) Discrimination in jobs -
To keep Indians away from high posts, the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examinations were held only in England, in which 21-year-olds could sit. In 1877, this age was reduced to 19 years, so that Indian people I could not become ICS. Despite this, even when Indians like Surendranath Banerjee and Arvind Ghosh became successful in this examination, they were not given the post. This also awakened the national consciousness among Indians,
(5) Caste discrimination—
The policy of caste discrimination of the British also created a feeling of hatred against the British rule in the hearts of Indians. The British people looked at Indians with a feeling of inferiority and hatred. The British had three things in mind
(i) The life of one European is equal to the life of many Indians.
(ii) Indians can be ruled only by illusion and terror.
(iii) The British have come to India not for public interest, but for personal gain.
(6) Economic exploitation of India-
The British exploited India economically in every way. The policy of free trade was started by the British in their own interest. India's wealth began to drag and reach England. of foreign goods. India's industries and handicrafts were destroyed one by one for the place, as a result of which the empire of poverty spread in the country. This also gave rise to national discontent.
(7) Indian newspapers and literature—
Indian languages and Indian ideology gave impetus to the national movement, exposed the errors of governance and the policy of repression. Amrit Bazar Patrika, Kesari, Maratha, Hindu, Tribune etc. were prominent in these newspapers. Indian literature also helped in the development of nationalism. Bankim Chandra breathed a new life into the Indians by the composition of 'Vande Mataram'.
(8) Revolutionary movements of the world-
The revolutionary and national movements of the world also inspired the national movement of India. The French revolutionaries gave the message of liberty, equality and fraternity to the world. Indians also got inspiration from America's War of Independence. Between 1861 and 1871, Italy, Germany, Romania, Serbia etc. were unified. These events awakened the feeling among Indians that they too could achieve independence through organized movement.
(9) Ilbert Bill debate-
The Viceroy Lord Ripon, who was a moderate and capable ruler, decided to end the caste discrimination prevalent in criminal penal legislation. For this purpose, the Viceroy's Executive Council and legal member PC Ilbert introduced a bill in 1883 AD. The purpose of this bill was to give Indian magistrates the right to try European criminals. But the British living in India considered this as an insult and due to their strong opposition this bill could not be passed. But this opened the eyes of Indians. Henry Cotton has rightly written, "The amount of unity that the European movement against this bill gave to the national ideology of India, could not have been done even if the bill was passed."
(10) Means of telecommunication and transport -
Although the British had developed rail, road, post and telegram for their own benefit, but through these means the Indians got an opportunity to meet and review the imperfections of the British Empire.
(11) Historical research -
many scholars from Europe; For example, Sir Charles. Wilkins, Sir William Jones, Max Muller, Wilson, Monier Williams, Keith etc. studied Sanskrit deeply and praised Indian culture and civilization. These researches awakened the self-respect of Indians.
(12) Political unity—
According to Griffiths, “Under British rule. Indians were affected by an efficient and powerful rule, which As a result, there was uniformity in different areas. Although the separation from caste, language, religion, social conditions, characteristics continued, yet under one rule, the political union began to bind Indians in the thread of unity,
The establishment of the Indian National Congress is clear from the above reasons that due to the policies of the British government and various social and religious movements, the need for a national organization at the all-India level began to be felt. In these circumstances, the idea of establishing Congress was first thought of by a retired British officer, A.K. O. originated in the brain of Hume. He expressed his desire by writing a letter to the graduates of the University of Calcutta on March 1, 1883. The then Viceroys Lord Dufferin and A. O. Hume's special wish was to establish such an organization of Indian intellectuals which, like England, would work as an opposition party to the government. He wanted the politicians of India to convene every year to inform the government about the errors of governance and also suggest ways to improve it. December through Hume's efforts, The All India National Congress was established in 1885. Its first session was held on 28 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay. The conference was presided over by the renowned lawyer of Calcutta, Mr. Vomeshchandra Banerjee. Apart from Indians, British officers were also present in this conference.
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