28/07/2020 - History

KEY POINTS

·         Dadabhai Naoroji was an Indian first. He was the first modern Indian economic thinker, the first Indian elected to the British Parliament, and the first leader to establish swaraj as the goal of the Congress.

·         But Naoroji was an Indian first in another important way. Throughout his career, he stressed an Indian national identity which overrode religious, caste, class, or ethnic differences.

·         Dadabhai Naoroji was specially attuned to the concerns of minorities. It helped that he grew up in Bombay, where, in the mid-19th century, all political ventures had to be cross-communal in order to succeed.

·         His first political ventures drew in people from all across India. This cosmopolitanism played a defining role in launching Indian nationalism, which would have been impossible without deep personal networks across communal divides.

·         After the Congress was established in 1885, he laboured to make it reflective of India’s diversity. Naoroji expended great effort to reach out to Muslims, particularly after the educationalist Sayyid Ahmad Khan repudiated the organisation in 1887, and after a wave of communal violence wracked northern India and Bombay in 1893.

·         He mentored Joseph Baptista, an East Indian Christian who later became an associate of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. And he overcame an anti-Congress reaction instigated by his fellow Parsis.

·         After he was elected to the British Parliament in 1892, Naoroji declared himself to be an Indian representative, someone who would fight on behalf of all of his countrymen and countrywomen.

·         In December 1893, Naoroji returned to India in order to preside at the annual Congress session, held that year in Lahore. His journey from Bombay to Lahore became a popular demonstration staged by hundreds of thousands of Indians.

·         The Indian nationalism of Naoroji’s generation was far more popular and pervasive than is commonly believed. But it did have notable limitations. Naoroji was almost completely blind to the issue of untouchability, a glaring omission given his close study of Indian poverty. He endorsed swadeshi but hesitated about tactics he saw as unconstitutional, such as mass boycotts and strikes.

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Sir/madam, I want to inform you that from last two days questions are not displayed in updated page of your telegram channel, due to which views are also less.....May be this happened with me only. But, I got this qu. after clicking your previous posts......

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