द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

52 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
was wrecked the ship of co-operation built by the Secretary
of State for India, Mr. Montagu, through his sympathetic
gestures and his elaborate intrigues during his visit to India
in 1917-18.
It is an open secret that while Mr. Montagu and Lord
Chelmsford were touring India with a view to preparing
their joint memorandum on the new constitutional reforms,
the former was engaged in rallying public support in favour
of working the New Constitution. Before he left India in
1918, Mr. Montagu succeeded in definitely winning over
the Moderate section in the Indian National Congress.
When the Indian National Congress met at a special session
in Bombay in 1918 to consider the Montagu-Chelmsford
Report, the Moderate Congressmen who were then being
led by Sir Surendranath Bannerji and Mr. Srinivasa Sastri,
absented themselves and soon after they seceded from
the Congress and formed a separate political party under
the name of the All-India Liberal Federation, pledged to
work the New Reforms. The Special Congress at Bombay
in 1918 pronounced the Montagu-Chelmsford Report as
unacceptable. Nevertheless, in December, 1919, the Amritsar
Congress resolved to work the constitution drafted on the
basis of that report and also thanked Mr. Montagu. Thus,
in spite of all the unfortunate events of 1919, Mr. Montagu
was able through his personal influence, to keep the Congress
back from the path of opposition. It was only the Government
of India's attitude towards the Punjab atrocities that proved
to be the proverbial last straw.
A British politician in 1934 will naturally inquire why
attempts were not made in 1920 to win over the Moslem
Community when it was apparent that the Indian National
Congress was heading towards an oppositionist policy. On
this point, Mr. Montagu was not inactive and he did his
level best to influence the British Cabinet, but the odds were
against him. During the Great War, Indian Mohammedans
had expressed their uneasiness as to what the policy of
Britain towards Turkey would be when the time came for
discussing peace-terms. To placate them the British Prime
Minister, Mr. Lloyd George, had made a conciliatory state-