Political Institutions in Madras
A. Madras Native Association:
It was established by Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty in 1852 and its main objective was to call for reforms in British administration and protest any injustice meted out to Indians. The Madras Native Association was formed as a branch of the British India Association of Calcutta.
Some of the other Famous Organizations:
- Madras Mahajan Sabha: It was established in 1884 by M. Veeraraghavachariar, P. Ananda Charlu, and G. Subramania Iyer. They talked about fundamental rights like freedom for the people of the country. It was established to create harmony among local institutions.
- Bangabhasha Prakashika Sabha: It was the first political organization of Bengal established in 1836 by Raja Rammohan Roy. It encouraged Bengali education and reviewed government and administration work. It also tried making Indians initially aware of politics.
- National Indian Association: It was founded in 1867 by Mary Carpenter with the help of Keshub Chunder Sen in London. Its primary goal was to increase Indian women’s education. In Addition, they tried to educate the British about India as the number of Indians was growing in Britain.
- The Bombay Presidency Association: Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T Telang, and Badruddin Tyabji founded the Bombay Presidency Association in 1885. It was instituted in response to Lytton’s regressive views and the Ilbert Bill issue.
Political Associations Before Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded in December 1885. However, before INC, many political organizations were established in different parts of India and abroad. The political institutions that were established in India in the first half of the 19th century were mainly led by the rich and influential class. The nature of these institutions was local or regional. Through various petitions and applications, they placed the following demands before the British government:
- Administrative reforms
- Promote the participation of Indians in administration
- Spread of education
- Social reforms
Although, the political institutions that were formed in the country in the second half of the 19th century were mainly led by the Upper class, over time middle class also became part of it. Various people of this class such as lawyers, doctors, journalists, teachers, etc. provided strong leadership to these political organizations, all of them gave fulfillment and relevance to the demands of these institutions by delivering competent leadership.