The 1907 Surat Split

The British authorities were alarmed by the Calcutta resolution, especially its call for Swaraj, and they put pressure on some of the moderate Congress leaders.

So at the next session, at Surat in December 1907, those Moderates tried to step back from Calcutta and return to the old requests: small administrative concessions, and a gradual move to self-government within the British Empire.

They were serious and respected figures: Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale (educationist and founder of the Servants of India Society), Pherozeshah Mehta, Surendranath Banerjee and Rashbehari Ghosh.

When Tilak was prevented from speaking, the session fell into chaos. The Nationalist camp (Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, called the 'Lion of Punjab' for his forceful speeches and writings, and Aurobindo Ghose) walked out and held their own separate session.

That is the split: one Congress, two sessions, in the same city.

The chapter adds a point about words that is worth more than it looks.

The Moderates and the British authorities called those who demanded nothing less than independence 'Extremists' or 'Radicals'.

That group called themselves simply 'Nationalists', because, as the chapter puts it, "they saw nothing 'extreme' or 'radical' in the objective of an independent Indian nation." A label can take sides before anyone has looked at the argument.