Congress Session
...O. Hume in reality it
was the consequence of political,
economic and social forces. Indians across
the length and the breadth of the country
had not forgotten the terrible atrocities
committed in suppressing the revolt of
1857. The masses of India were paying
the price of British economic exploitation
of India by means later laid bare by
Dadabhai Naoroji’s ‘Poverty and Un-British
Rule in India’.
Those among the British who were of the
view that the terrible suppression of the
1857 mutiny had forever buried Indian
nationalist feelings were in for a rude
shock when the Congress progressed
rapidly in a few years to become a
powerful force to reckon with.
1st Session, BOMBAY 1885
The President
WOMESH CHANDRA
BONNERJEE
(1844-1906)
Poona was to be the
venue for the first session
but an outbreak of cholera
led to the venue being
shifted to Bombay. Thus on 28th December
1885, in the Hall of the Gokuldas Tejpal
Sanskrit College, the First National
Congress began. In his presidential
address, Mr. W. C. Bonnerjee presented the
four basic objectives of the Congress:
‘The promotion of personal intimacy and
friendship amongst all the more earnest
workers in our country’s cause in the
various parts of the Empire.
The eradication by direct friendly personal
intercourse of all possible race, creed or
provincial prejudices amongst all lovers of
our country, and fuller development and
consolidation of those sentiments of
national unity that had their origin in our
beloved Lord Ripon’s ever memorable
reign.
The authoritative record after this has been
carefully elicited by the fullest discussion
of the matured opinions of the educated
classes in India on some of the more
important and pressing of the social
questions of the day.
The determination of the lines upon and
methods by which during the next twelve
months it is desirable...
View Full Essay
