An overview on Surat Split

India is a big nation spread across a large area with a great population. There is a lot of diversity in India regarding religions, ideologies, way of life, etc. Still, unity exists. Even in historical times, the beauty of India lies in unity amidst diversity. However, it is practically impossible for all people across the huge nation to agree on something. During India’s freedom struggle, many people had different thoughts about how to approach Indian Independence. The main two groups as we know them today were formed in the 1907 congress session also known as the Surat split of 1907.

The Freedom struggle of India

Before we study the 1907 congress session, let us understand the Indian Independence movement of which the session was part. The rebellion of 1857 marked the beginning of the Indian Independence movement. Many great leaders like Mangal Pandey, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi were part of the Indian Independence movement. 

The rise of Extremists

The Indian National Congress was found to be a friend of India’s freedom struggle. During the initial stage of the freedom movement, the Indian National Congress was dominated by the moderates. The moderates were the people who believed in negotiation and a cooperative approach toward the British. They wanted to achieve freedom with persuasion. 

The moderately used method such as meetings, petitions, and prayers to present the demands to the British. However, they were unable to achieve any significant results. This dissatisfied the people. The Indian National Congress meeting of 1907 was to be held in Nagpur.

 However, the moderates feared that Bal Gandhari Tilak would win if the meeting took place in Nagpur. Hence, the 1907 congress session took place in Surat. The partition of Bengal had also further enraged the public. They begin losing faith in the moderate ideologies.

Surat watched Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s birthplace, and hence he could not preside over the 1907 congress session. Ghosh was declared the president of the meeting. The extremist known as radicals at that time was enriched by the fact that Bal Gangadhar Tilak was not granted permission to speak by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. This is where the seeds of the Surat split of 1907 were 

sowed. Let us learn more about how this Congress split took place.

The 1907 Congress session and the Surat split

As discussed above, in the 1907 congress session, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who was the leader of the radicals, was not granted permission to speak. The radicals were seriously offended by this and began to protest. They threw eggs and footwear and wanted the meeting to be cancelled. The shoes thrown in the 1907 congress session only hit Surendra Nath Banerjee and Pherozeshah Mehta.

 After the shoes were thrown, great mayhem took over the 1907 congress session. The radicals began throwing the chairs at the dais and heating the rivals with sticks. This enraged the moderates a lot as they followed the policy of non-violence, and such behaviour was unacceptable to them.

The moderates held a meeting in secret about this whole chaos. After a discussion, they decided that the radicals could no longer be part of the Indian National Congress. However, upon some negotiation, the moderates in the radicals buried their differences and worked together. 

In 1907, the radicals and the moderates met again for the annual session. The same mayhem was followed in this session as well. Now the moderates also participated in shoe-throwing. Both the radicals and the moderates started shouting at each other and throwing chairs and shoes. 

This went on for a long time, and the police had to intervene to stop this chaos. This resulted in the Surat split, where the two groups that are the moderates and the radicals, permanently separated. The radicals later began to call themselves extremists.

A further split took place between the Hindu and Muslim nationalists. The leader of the radicals, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, advocated for the Hindu culture as it existed in the country for a long time. This is the reason why most people believe that Tilak was against Muslims. However, this is not quite true. 

As a result of the Surat Split of 1907, which took place during the 1907 congress session, the moderates redefined their goal to be the attainment of self-government within the British Empire.

Conclusion:

The 1907 congress session is considered a turning point in the history of the Indian National Congress. The 1907 congress session resulted in the Surat split. The two groups, the moderates and extremists, permanently separated and never again came together. Acts of violence took place during the congress session. The radicals and the moderate threw shoes at each other and shouted at each other. The leader of Radicals, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was not granted permission to speak during the 1907 congress session. This made the radicals protest during the congress session.