Extremists
Also called: Militant nationalists · Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement"
Meaning
The Extremists were Congress leaders who wanted bolder, more militant action against British rule. The best known were Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, called "Lal, Bal and Pal". They became prominent during the Swadeshi movement of 1905–07. They backed boycott, swadeshi and mass protest, and did not want to rely on polite petitions. Their quarrel with the Moderates split the Congress at the Surat session of 1907.
Example
Tilak's slogan "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it" summed up the Extremist mood. In 1907, at Surat, the clash between the Extremists and the Moderates broke the Congress into two groups. They came together again only at Lucknow in 1916.
Don't confuse with
- Revolutionaries: groups such as the HSRA of 1928 used bombs and armed action. The Extremists stayed within Congress politics and used open mass protest.
Related concepts
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Gandhi in South Africa
- Natal Indian Congress
- Indian Opinion
- Phoenix Settlement
- Tolstoy Farm
- Indian National Congress
- Moderates
- Lal Bal Pal
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak