Extremists and the Surat Split (1907)

The Extremists, led by Tilak, Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo, wanted Swaraj through boycott and passive resistance, and their clash with the Moderates split the Congress at Surat in 1907.

Why Extremism arose

• Failure of the Moderates to win reforms from the British.
• Curzon's reactionary policies and the Partition of Bengal.
• Famines and plague, and heavy economic distress.
• International events: the victory of Japan over Russia (1905), the Boer War, and nationalist movements in Ireland, Egypt and Turkey.
• Growth of a radical, educated youth.

Leaders and ideas

Surat Split (December 1907)

• The 1907 session was to be at Nagpur, but was moved to Surat, where the Moderates' stronghold lay. The Moderates wanted Rash Behari Ghosh as president. The Extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Tilak.
• The Extremists also demanded that the resolutions of 1906 (Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education) be confirmed. The Moderates dropped them. There was disorder, and the session was suspended, with a split in the Congress.
• Aftermath: The Moderates held the Allahabad Convention (April 1908), which adopted the Congress constitution (the aim: self-government like other British colonies by constitutional means). Tilak was jailed for six years (1908) for articles in Kesari after the Muzaffarpur bombs. The Extremists were suppressed. The Congress became weak until the Lucknow Session (1916), when the two groups reunited.