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

THE CLOUDS GATHER 57
ciation of titles bestowed by the Government and with the
triple boycott (namely, boycott of legislatures, law-courts and
educational institutions) and would end in non-payment of
taxes. This resolution was carried by a large majority,
1,855 votes out of 2,728 being in his favour.
The resolutions of the Special Congress at Calcutta came
up for consideration at the regular annual session held at
Nagpur in December, 1920, under the presidency of the
veteran Congress leader from Madras, Mr. Vijayaraghava-
chariar. Mr. Das and his followers mustered strong at
Nagpur hoping to cross swords with Mr. Gandhi once again.
But through the latter's tactful handling of the situation an
understanding was arrived at between him and Mr. Das.
The boycott of the legislatures, to which Mr. Das was chiefly
opposed, was no longer a live issue, as the elections had
already taken place. It was, therefore, possible to persuade
Mr. Das to come to an agreement. When this was done,
the non-co-operation resolution was ratified with practical
unanimity, though Pandit Malaviya, Mrs. Besant, Mr.
Jinnah and Mr. B. C. Pal remained irreconcilable.
Besides ratifying the resolution on progressive non-
co-operation, including the boycott of legislatures, law courts
and educational institutions, the Nagpur Congress took a
very important step in altering the Constitution of the Indian
National Congress. Hitherto, the goal of the Congress, as
defined in the Constitution, had been 'Self-Government
within the British Empire.' This had antagonised all those
Congressmen who believed in the severance of the British
connection or who refused to be tied down to the Empire.
To enable the Left-Wingers to return to the Congress fold,
the goal of the Congress was declared to be 'Swaraj' (which
means literally self-rule) and it was left to individual Con-
gressmen to define 'Swaraj' in their own way. Mr. Gandhi
however, defined 'Swaraj' to mean 'Self-Government within
the Empire, if possible—and outside, if necessary.'
Before the Nagpur Congress the machinery of the Congress
had been a loose one. There were branches only in the big
cities and throughout the year, no work was done according
to a systematic plan. At Nagpur, it was decided to re-organise