Indian National Congress

🌍 The Need for an All-India Organisation

By the 1870s and early 1880s, there was a clear feeling among educated Indians that the existing provincial associations (like Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, Madras Mahajan Sabha, Indian Association, Bombay Presidency Association) were not enough.

• They were too local in scope, often confined to a single city or presidency.
• Membership was limited to a small circle of elites.
• They were not able to build a truly national outlook.

👉 A new generation of leaders realised that Indians needed a common platform to express their political aspirations, coordinate their activities, and present demands to the government in a united voice.

The Indian Association’s National Conference of 1883 was an attempt in this direction, but it remained Bengal-centric. The final shape was given by Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant who believed Indians needed an all-India organisation.

📜 Foundation of the Indian National Congress

• The first session of the INC was held on 28 December 1885 at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay.
• W.C. Bonnerjee presided over it.
• 72 delegates attended, representing all regions of India.

This meeting marked the first organised expression of Indian nationalism on an all-India scale.

Key Developments:

• Surendranath Banerjee and Bengal leaders could not attend because they were engaged in their own National Conference at Calcutta.
• Importantly, the INC leaders decided to meet again the next year (1886), showing that they saw this as the beginning of a larger movement, not a one-time event.
• In 1886, the second session at Calcutta, presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji, decided that Congress would meet annually in different parts of the country.

🌸 A symbolic moment came in 1890, when Kadambini Ganguli, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Congress — showing that nationalism would also uplift women, long held in degraded positions.

By 1889, ten women delegates attended Congress, including Pandita Ramabai and Swarna Kumari Devi (Tagore’s sister).

🌟 Aims of the National Congress

The INC’s declared objectives in its early years were moderate, constitutional, and unifying:

1. Promote friendly relations among political workers from different parts of India.
2. Develop and consolidate national unity, transcending caste, religion, and provincial differences.
3. Create public opinion in India.
4. Place popular demands before the government.
5. Spread anti-colonial nationalist ideas.

👉 In short, the INC became the political platform of educated Indians, giving them voice, unity, and continuity.

🔥 Controversies about the Origin of INC

The biggest debate around INC’s birth is the so-called “Safety Valve Theory”.

Safety Valve Theory (Myth)

• Suggested that Hume, supported by Viceroy Lord Dufferin, founded INC as a safety valve — to provide educated Indians a peaceful outlet for their grievances, so they would not lead the masses into rebellion like 1857.
• This idea was later used by different critics:
  • Lala Lajpat Rai used it to attack Moderates.
  • R.P. Dutt (Marxist historian) popularised it in India Today.
  • M.S. Golwalkar (RSS chief) also used it in 1939 to criticise Congress.
• The theory was traced back to William Wedderburn’s biography of Hume (1913).

The Reality

• In truth, INC was not a sudden British creation. It was the culmination of two decades of Indian political activity.
• Hume’s role was important, but Indian leaders themselves had long been planning such an organisation.
• Hume was more than a manipulator — he genuinely sympathised with India and served as INC’s General Secretary till 1906, recording and shaping its work.
• For Indians, Hume served as a “lightning conductor”: his presence gave legitimacy and avoided early government hostility.

👉 So, while the British may have had their calculations, the INC’s real driving force was Indian political awakening itself.

⚖️ Why Educated Indians Accepted Hume’s Leadership

• The early leaders (Naoroji, Ranade, Bonnerjee, Banerjee, Tyabji, Gokhale) were patriotic and farsighted.
• They knew that an Indian-founded body might attract suspicion and repression from the government.
• By allowing Hume to front the organisation, they gained breathing space to consolidate their movement.

Thus, if Hume used INC as a safety valve, Indians used him as a shield.

🚫 Early Congress and Social Reforms

Another important aspect: INC consciously decided to avoid social reform debates in its sessions.

• Leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji insisted that the INC focus only on political issues common to all Indians, not divisive questions like caste or religious reform.
• This helped Congress appeal to all communities.
• In 1888, a rule was passed that no resolution would be carried if most Hindu or Muslim delegates opposed it — a way to avoid communal friction.
• Still, reform-minded leaders like Ranade and Gokhale personally worked against child marriage and in favour of widow remarriage outside the Congress platform.

👉 This shows that INC was careful to keep unity intact, even at the cost of postponing social questions.

🌸 Unsung Heroes

🖋 Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840–1911)

• Journalist, social worker, and freedom activist.
• Wrote powerfully about indigo peasants’ exploitation in Hindu Patriot (1859–60).
• Founded Amrita Bazar Patrika (1868), which became bilingual (Bengali + English) and later an English daily.
• Outwitted the Vernacular Press Act (1878) by turning it into an English paper in just 7 days!
• Founded the India League (1875) to spread nationalism.

⚖️ Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi (1828–1880) – “Sarvajanik Kaka”

• Lawyer, social reformer, and co-founder of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.
• Started Stree Vicharavati Sabha for women’s welfare.
• Took a vow in 1871 to use only Swadeshi goods.
• Defended Vasudev Balwant Phadke in court.
• At the 1877 Delhi Durbar, boldly appealed to Queen Victoria to grant Indians equal status with the British.

These early voices may not be as celebrated as Naoroji or Tilak, but they kept the flame of political self-respect alive, preparing the ground for national awakening.

🌟 The Bigger Picture

The founding of INC in 1885 was not an accident, nor merely a British plot. It was the logical culmination of:

• Earlier associations (1830s–1880s).
• Spread of education, press, and reform.
• Common experience of exploitation and discrimination.

INC gave this awakening a national forum, a regular structure, and a unifying agenda. It started cautiously, but it laid the foundation of modern Indian politics.