The real story of India’s Independence: Ch – 1 – Why was the Congress founded?

On December 28, the Indian National Congress celebrates its Foundation Day. December 28, 2021, was the 137th Foundation Day of the grand old party, which is the oldest functional political party in the country. Senior party leaders generally attend the event, and then there are remarks about contribution to the democracy of India, which is similar to the celebrations on such a pivotal day of any political party.

But what is the story behind the establishment of the Congress party? Have you ever wondered why the party was founded? And who were the people behind its establishment?

AO Hume, a retired British ICS officer, founded the Congress

Interestingly, the Indian National Congress (INC) wasn’t founded by an Indian, rather it was founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer. 

More interestingly, AO Hume had no plans of setting up a pro-independence organisation that would help India overthrow the reign of a racist British government. He wanted to create a platform for civil and political dialogue among educated Indians. 

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Truth be told, the Congress was quite moderate in its early years. It passed resolutions on political, administrative and economic issues. And there were no big demands like independence from the British Raj. The main political demands were reform in legislative councils, local self-government, reforms in civil services, and separation of the judiciary from the executive. The demands were soft and mostly of an administrative character. 

The ‘safety valve’ theory

In fact, the popular extremist leaders in the Indian freedom movement like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal also came up with a concept called the Safety Valve Theory. It stated that the British had witnessed the restive political situation in the country and were fearing another rebellion on the lines of the 1857 mutiny.

The theory further states that the British wanted to avoid yet another rebellion, so they wished to create a platform for the people to discuss their political problems. It was said that the Indian National Congress was started by A.O. Hume as a part of Viceroy Lord Dufferin’s wish to create a “Safety Valve” against popular discontent. 

As per the theory, the British thought that educated Indians may lead to a rebellion against the government. So, the government itself should create a platform where the educated Indians could raise their voice and avoid a situation where popular discontent translates into a public movement against the British.

What Gopal Krishna Gokhale had to say about the Congress’ Foundation?

Gopal Krishna Gokhale had accepted the contribution of the British to the foundation of the Indian National Congress.

He had said, “No Indian could have started the Indian National Congress…if an Indian had come forward to start such a movement embracing all Indians, the officials in India would not have allowed the movement to come into existence. If the founder of the Congress had not been an Englishman and a distinguished ex-official, such was the distrust of political agitation in those days that the authorities would have at once found some way or the other to suppress the movement”.

Lala Lajpat Rai even criticised the policy of the British regarding the establishment of the INC in his two books- ‘Unhappy India’, and ‘Punjabi’. According to him, it was a conspiracy between Lord Dufferin and A.O. Hume that resulted in the establishment of the INC.

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