Bookstawa – Modern History

Home Rule League Movement

Background

Like India, Ireland was also a British colony. The word traces its origin back to 1860s
Ireland. As the Irish people demanded Self Government from the British, the movement got
traction & as a result in 1886, for the first time Irish Home Rule Bill was brought in the British
Parliament. Although the bill could only be passed in 1920 after many attempts but the long
history of Home rule movement became an inspiration for revolutionaries in many British
colonies.

Annie Bessant Connection

In 1893, Annie Bessant, an Irish lady, came to India to join the Theosophical Society of India.
She stayed in India for years & became a prominent theosophist. With increased popularity, she
started a newspaper to spread her ideas to massses. This newspaper was “Commonweal”. She
also purchased another newspaper “Madras standard” & renamed it to “New India”. With time,
as she got interested in Indian freedom struggle, she also started publishing political thoughts in
her newspapers.

In 1914, she joined Indian National Congress & in 1915 session of INC, she proposed the idea of
starting the Home Rule League. She started spreading awareness about the Homerule league that
was already going on in Ireland. Coincidentally, Bal GangadharTilak, who got released from jail,
liked the idea of Home Rule League proposed by Bessant.

By early 1915, Annie Bessant launched a campaign to demand self-government for India after the
war on the lines of white colonies. She campaigned through her newspapers & through public
meetings & conferences. Although Bessant couldn’t succeed to get the Congress to approve her
scheme of Home Rule Leagues, the congress did commit itself to a programme of educative
propaganda. Not willing to wait for too long, Bessant laid the condtions that if the Congress didn’t
implement its commitments, she would be free to set up her own league. When there was no
response from the Congress, she finally set up her own league. To avoid any kind of friction, both
Bessant & Tilak set up their separate leagues.

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Tilak’s Home Rule League

In April 1916, Tilak set up his Indian Home Rule League, headquartered at Poona, and whose first
meeting was held at Belgaum. His league was restricted to the following regions:

• Mahrashtra (exlcuding Bombay city)

• Karnataka
• Central Provinces & Berar.

The league had six branches & the demands included

• Self-Government or Swarajya.
• Formation of Lingustic states.
• Education in vernacular language.

Bessant’s Home Rule League

In September 1916, Bessant set up her All-India Home Rule league, headquartered in
Madras. It covered all the regions in India not covered by Tilak’s league. It had 200 branches, was
loosely organised as compared to Tilak’s league & had George Arundale as the organising
secretary. Other prominent leaders were: B. W. Wadia & C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer.

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The Home Rule League Programme

The campaign aimed to convey to the common !man the message of Home rule as self-
government. It carried a much wider " appeal than the earlier mobilisations had & also
attaracted the hitherto “politically backward” regions of Gujarat & Sindh.

Strategies Utilised

The aim was to be achieved by promoting political education & discussion through public
meetings, organising libraries & reading rooms containing books on national politics, holding
conferences, organising classes for students on politics, carrying out propaganda through
newspapers pamphlets, posters, illustrated post-cards, plays, religous songs, etc.

Leaders of The Home Rule Agitation

The agitation was later joined by Motilal Nehru, Bhulabhai Desai, C R Das, K M Munshi,
Saifuddin Kitchlew, M M Malviya, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Tej Bahadur sapru & Lala Lajpatrai.

INC Session of 1916, Lucknow

In the 1916, both the Leagues were invited to Lucknow. The leaders went there with their
followers with great enthusiasm & showcased their popularities. At the end of the session, both
Tilak & Bessant shared stage in the presence of more than 1000 supporters.

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Government’s Attitude

With the increased popularity of these leagues, the government came down with severe
represssion, especiallyy in Madras where the students were prohibited from attending political
meetings. Both the leaders were arrested under Defence of India Act, 1915 on the charges of
sedition. Tilak was however released later by the Highcourt but was barred from entering the
Punjab & Delhi.

The arrest of Annie Bessant invited nationwide protest. During this time, many moderate
leaders showed their solidarity with the leagues now by joining them. In a dramatic gesture, Sir
Subramaniya Aiyer renounced his knighthood while Tilak announced that if Annie bessant was
not released by the government, he would give a call for a passive Civil Disobedience movement.

Montagu’s statement of August 1917

The Secretary of State for India, Edwin Samuel Montagu, made a statement on August 20,
1917, in the British House of Commons in what has come to be known as the “August Declaration
of 1917”.

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The statement said:

“The government policy is of an increasing participation of Indians in every branch of
administration & gradual development of self-governing institutions in a view to the progressive
realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British empire.”

From now onwards, the demand by nationalists for self-government or Home Rule could not be
termed as seditious since attainment of self-government for Indians now became a government
policy. As a result, Annie Bessant was released from the jail in September 1917. The Home-rule
agitation proved to be short-lived. By 1919, it had petered out. In 1920, Gandhi accepted the
presidentship of All India Home Rule League, & changed the organisation’s name to Swarajya
Sabha. Within a year, however, the League joined the Indian National Congress.

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