The beginning of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a new group of leaders in the history of the Indian National Congress (INC). These leaders were against the soft and persuasive policy of moderate leaders in the context of achieving freedom. The moderate leaders of the INC believed that freedom could only be gained by cooperation with the British government. This policy of the moderate leaders seemed to have failed in achieving the goals and demands of the Indians. This raised dissatisfaction among the leaders of the INC, which further led to the rise of extremist leaders.

Extremist period: Important Facts 

Extremist period of the Indian National Congress is from the year of 1905 to 1920. The leaders of the then period were called extremist because they firmly believed that freedom could only be attained through mass movement and revolution. The causes for the rising of the extremist period in the history of the Indian National Movement were:

• The failure of the moderate leaders in order to satisfy the needs and demands of the people of India further leads to the rising of the extremist period
• There were many limitations that existed for moderate leaders. They were very soft in nature which was not appropriate to achieve freedom
• One of the main reasons for the emergence of the extremist period is the ‘partition of Bengal’. This particular event opened the eyes of the Indians, and they recognized the real nature and ambition of the British rulers
• The notable revolutions that were happening at that time, such as the successful repulsion of Abyssinia, the expulsion of the Italian army in the year of 1896 and the defeat of Russia to Japan in 1905, inspired the extremist leaders as it rejected the myth of the invincibility of European dominance. These revolutions around the world play a vital role in the emergence of the extremist movement in India. Extremist leaders started to believe that freedom could only be achieved by the revolution

Boycott of foreign goods

In the extremist period, it was very popular among the people to boycott foreign goods. They selected these methods as a protest against the British government. List of boycotted foreign goods such as clothes and foods like sugar, salt, and various luxurious items were abandoned by the people. The people of the time not only abandoned the goods but also burned them in the open street. This boycott movement was part of the ‘Swadeshi movement’. The Boycott movement also includes not only the abandonment of the foreign goods but also the social boycott. The Boycott movement witnessed the participation of the students and women on a large scale. The women of this period came out to the roads and organized ‘picketing’ of the shops that were selling the foreign goods.

Prominent leaders and their methods

The moderate leaders of the early phase of the national movement failed to achieve the necessary demands of the people. It made way for raising another group of people popularly known as ‘extremist leaders’. Prominent leaders and their methods, for instance Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai gave hope to the Indians to dream for a free nation during the extremist period.

Conclusion

The rise of the extremist period in the context of freedom struggle is a significant incident. The failure of the moderate leaders to fulfill the claims of the people is the reason for extremist movement in history. Many reasons, such as the discrimination among the people, the plague and famine of 1896 and 1897 and the negligence of the British government to it, further added a reason to accept the extremist policy among the leaders of the congress.