IT WAS exactly 100 years ago that Nagpur earned a permanent place in the history of Indian freedom struggle. On December 26, 1920 began the proceedings of a historic Nagpur Session of the Indian National Congress (INC). When the session concluded on December 31, 1920, history had been created. Mahatma Gandhi emerged as the supreme leader of Congress, and a new chapter was set to be written in the Indian struggle for Independence with the non-cooperation movement. The historic Nagpur Session not only saw solid emergence of Mahatma Gandhi in national politics but also passage of all-important resolution on non-cooperation movement.

The session also saw Congress changing its creed while adopting a new Constitution. It truly marked the change of gears of the freedom struggle. A galaxy of eminent leaders of time Mahatma Gandhi, Mohd Ali Jinnah, Pt Motilal Nehru, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sardar Patel, C R Das, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipinchandra Pal, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and a host of others arrived in the city and debated and discussed various important matters to shape India’s freedom struggle. Col Wedgewood, Holford Knight, Ben Spoor of Labour Party of the United Kingdom also attended the session.

In the words of Dr B Pattabhi Sitaramayya, known as historian of Congress, “The Nagpur Congress really marked a new era in recent Indian history. The old feelings of impotent rage and importunate requests gave place to a new sense of responsibility and a spirit of self-reliance. The Nagpur Congress laid a heavy duty upon the Nation, and the All India Congress Committee, under the advice of the Working Committee, set itself seriously to its task.”

 

Mahatma Gandhi moved the first resolution about changing the Congress creed, and introducing constitution of the party defining the object of the Indian National Congress to attain Swarajya by the people of India by ‘all legitimate and peaceful means’. Lala Lajpat Rai seconded the resolution. Here is an excerpt from Gandhi’s historic speech:

“I want you to accompany the carrying out of this Resolution with a faith and a resolution which nothing on earth can move, that you are intent upon getting Swaraj at the earliest possible moment and that you are intent upon getting Swaraj by means that is legitimate, that is honourable, and by means that is non-violent, that is peaceful. You have resolved upon this thing that so far as we can see today we give this battle to this Government by means of steel but we can give battle by exercising what I have so often called soul force and soul force is not the prerogative of one man or a Sanyasi or even of a so-called saint. Soul force is the prerogative of every human being, female or male, and therefore I ask my countrymen, if they want to accept this 

In his book ‘The History of the National Congress’ (Vol-I, 1885-1935), Dr Sitaramayya also commented on the rise of the phenomenon called Mahatma Gandhi. “The session was a personal triumph for Gandhi. It left every one of the older Congressmen -- seniors, leaders and patriarchs -- aghast, asking themselves and each other, “Who is this man that speaketh with a tone of authority and whence doth he come?”

As Durga Das, the eminent journalist of time, noted, “The session marked a watershed in the history of Congress and of the freedom struggle. Whereas at former sessions of the Congress, President was the first among equals, Gandhi emerged as the supreme rebel leader. Secondly, the Constitution he drew up created a mass base and an infrastructure. Thirdly, he took up in earnest the plea by Jamnalal Bajaj that Hindi-Hindustani be made Rashtrabhasha.”

The session was very, very important on many counts. Jamnalal Bajaj was the Chairman of Reception Committee and Dr B S Moonje was its General Secretary. As per the report of the session by Dr Moonje, Nagpurians wanted to host the session for long. They were enthusiastic that Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who was a towering national figure, would chair the session at Nagpur in 1920. However, it was not to be the case. Tilak passed away on August 1, 1920. Nagpur leaders then tried to convince Arvind Ghosh to chair the session but their efforts did not succeed. Finally, C Vijayaraghav Achariar Salem -- who was also referred to as the Grand Old Man of Congress -- chaired the session.

One finds the mention of preparations and arrangement for the historic Nagpur Session in the Nagpur Tercentenary Volume (1702-2002). As per Dr Sangeeta Meshram’s article, Dadasaheb Khaparde and Dr Moonje toured the region extensively since January 1920 to make necessary arrangements and ensure that the session was a grand success. Dr K B Hedgewar, who later founded RSS, founded Bharat Swayamsevak Mandal to organise youths for the Congress session.

In the same book, there is an article by Dr Shubha Johri, which mentions that more than 22,000 people had participated in the session. “A grand pandal was erected in Craddock Town. Most members wore ‘Gandhi Topi’ and Swadeshi clothes. A motorcade of leaders started from the railway station and reached the venue, with Home Rule flag flying atop the vehicles. C Vijayaraghav Achariar’s vehicle was in the front,” the article mentions.

The session and arrangements were so grand that Dr Sitaramayya observed, “The number of delegates who attended the Congress was immense and no Congress before or after can claim to its credit as many delegates as did Nagpur.” As per Dr Moonje’s report, of total number of people who attended the session, the number of Congress delegates alone was 14,582. These included 14,413 men and 169 women. Maximum number of delegates were from Central Provinces, followed by Bombay, and Berar. A princely amount of Rs 3,12,302/- was spent on the session, of which Rs 33,253/- was spent on pandal, and a whopping Rs 70,681/- on furniture specially made for the session.

Prior to the proceedings of the session, All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting was held on December 24. Pt Motilal Nehru presided over it. Several matters to be discussed later in the session were on agenda of AICC, and many were referred to Subjects Committee. As per the book ‘Nagpur Nagar Evam Swatantra Andolan’ written by Dr Nandkishor Bachchraj Vyas, Lokmanya Tilak’s oil portrait formed the backdrop of Chairman’s table on the dais.

 

 

 

 

The first day proceedings of the Nagpur Session began at 1.30 pm on December 26. Jamnalal Bajaj delivered his address in Hindi. After formal announcement, C Vijayraghav Achariar was garlanded as chair of the session. He started his speech, but as people could not hear him, Bipinchandra Pal read out a portion of the speech. Later, C Vijayraghav Achariar gave a summary of the remaining portion of his address. He spoke of Government of India Act provisions, Constitution of the party, plight of Indians in British colonies in various parts of the world including Fiji, need for free elementary education, universal suffrage etc.

On December 27, delegates of different provinces elected their members to the Subjects Committee.

On December 28, the proceedings began at 12.20 pm. It was important day as Mahatma Gandhi moved the first resolution about changing the Congress creed and introducing Constitution of the party defining the object of the INC to attain ‘Swarajya’ by the people of India by ‘all legitimate and peaceful means.’ Jinnah recorded his objection, but his speech saw several interruptions from the people.

On December 30, the proceedings began at 8.10 am. C R Das, who had earlier opposed the idea of non-cooperation, moved a resolution on the same. Interestingly, His Holiness Sri Sankaracharya of Sarada Peeth also attended the session and spoke in favour of the resolution. He also stressed upon need for resolving disputes between Hindus and Muslims, Brahmins and non-Brahmins, Nationalists and Moderates in the larger national interest. The resolution on non-cooperation, after much debate, was passed. However, C Vijayraghav Achariar had left chair before the passage of the resolution and Pt Motilal Nehru was in chair when the resolution was passed. According to Dr Sitaramayya, C Vijayraghav Achariar did so to ‘cooperate with Mahatma Gandhi passively’.

On December 31, the last day of the Nagpur Session, the proceedings began at 3 pm. Several resolutions on important issues discussed were passed. Gandhi’s leadership was reinforced as Pt Motilal Nehru, Dr M A Ansari and C Rajagopalachari were appointed as General Secretaries, and Allahabad was chosen as AICC headquarters for the year 1921. As per the new Constitution, it was decided that AICC would have 350 members excluding ex-officio members. Further, the subscription of 4 annas per annum was fixed for members of the INC, to ensure that more people joined the organisation.

 

 

 

The resolution on non-cooperation had many shades including renunciation of voluntary association with the then Government, refusal to pay taxes, boycotting schools aided or controlled by the Government, nationalising educational institutions, call to lawyers to suspend their practice, economic boycott of foreign goods, encouraging hand-spinning and hand-weaving, boycott of Legislative Council elections etc. Also, in another resolution, people were asked to popularise Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine by establishing schools, colleges, and hospitals.

Following boycott call, thousands of students across the country shifted to national educational institutions. Some of such students rose to great heights including Lal Bahadur Shastri and Zakir Hussain. Jamnalal Bajaj started Ashtayog Ashram and Tilak Vidyalaya. The no-vote campaign turned out to be a remarkable success in some parts of the country. Numerous lawyers left their profession and dedicated themselves to the cause of national movement. In January 1921, Bajaj donated Rs 1 lakh to Tilak Memorial Swaraj Fund to support lawyers who had participated in non-cooperation movement.