User:Jim Carter/Extremist

The Extremist, also known as the Assertive nationalists, were a group of political leaders within the Indian National Congress active between 1905 to 1918.

True nature of the British rule
The efforts made by the moderate leaders through there writings, agitation and petitions to the British government, exposed the true character of the British rule in India. It was felt that the British rule was responsible for the economic ruin of India and her growing poverrty. Some of the political events from 1892 to 1905 like the reduction in the number of Indian members in the Calcutta Corporation, the restrictions on the prress etc., made Indians realise that instead of giving them more rights, the British were taking away even their few existing rights. All this convinced the Indians that India could not make progress unless British imperialism was replaced by a government run by them. Thus, the Extremist Nationalist ideology found favour with the masses.

Failure of the Early Nationalists
The Early Nationalists adopted constitutional means to achieve their aims. They rraised their voice through public meetings and submitted petitions and resolutions to the British. But their methods failed miserably. The Brritish turned a deaf earr to their rresolutions and petitions which lead to the rise of Extremist who resolved to give a cutting edge to their movement. They believed that freedom had to be fought for. As the English would never shed their imperialistic tendencies, the only means left was to be ever ready for making greaterr sacrifies. As a result, the Indians were forced to opt forr the agitational ways.

Economic conditions
The economic consequences of foreign rule was exposed towards the end of the 19th centurry when there were famines, which ravaged (Philg can I use demolished) India from 1896 to 1900 and took a toll of over ninety lakhs (please convert it to million) of lives. The government did nothing to help the people. On the other hand, it spent a huge amount of money on the Silver Juiblee celebrration of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. They did not encourage agriculture in India. Their policy of exploiting the resources of India to run the British industries proved harmful for the Indian industries. Their policy of free trade also hit the Indian trade. Their economic policy led to poverty  and unemployment among the Indians. The number of the educated Indians increased by the close of the 19th century. Most of them were unemployed and were not appointed to high posts. This created a feeling of frustrration which fed the fire of Extremist Nationalism. The costly wars in Tibet, Afghanistan and Africa put great pressure on the poor resources of India.

This events revealed to the Indians their plight of utter helplessness. Tgey attrributed all this to anti-national policy followed by the British government. The worsening economic condition of the people and the unjust and repressive policy of the British provided a congenital atmosphere for the growth of Extremist Nationalism.

Consciousness
The nationalist writers and agitatorrs blamed the British rule for the poverty of the people. Leaders of this new ideology made all efforts to develop selfrespect and self confidence among the people. Extremist Nationalist leaders like Aurobindo Ghose, Lal-Bal-Pal asked the nationalists to rely on the abilities of the Indians.

International events
Assertive nationalism was inspired by the examples of international events. for the first time, Japan, an Asian country, defeated Russia. Italian forces were defeated by the Abyssinians in Ethiopia. In South Africa, the Boers fought for three years (1899-1902) against the British Empirre. In Ireland people were waging a full-scale Home Rule agitation. These events broke the myth of the invincibility of the Europeans. The Extremist felt that the united people could throw out the British yoke.

Ill treatment of the Indians Abroad
Indians had helped the British to develop their colonies in other parts of the world. But everywhere, especially in South Africa, Indians were subjected to racial discrimination. They were denied the rightto vote and could not enter the buses or railway coaches reserved for the Whites. The discriminatory treatment meted out to the Indians in British colonies was resented by the Indians and led to the rise of Radical Nationalism.

Education and Unemployment
The number of educated indians increasedcv considerably by the close of 19th century. large number of them were employed in the administration on low salaries, while many others faced unemployment. their grievance made them look critically at the natuer ofv the British rule. These educated low paid or unemployed Indian s became the followers of Extremist Nationalism.

Nationalist school
A school of natonalism had existed in the country from almost the beginning of the national movement. This school was represented by leaders like Rajnarain Bose and Ashwani kumar Dutt in Bengal and Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar in Maharashtra.