” The agitation was the means; the raising of the maximum limit of age for the open competitive examination and the holding of simultaneous examinations were among the ends; but the underlying conception, and the true aim and purpose of the Civil Service Agitation, was the awakening of a spirit of unity and solidarity among the people of India.”
The tour of Mr. Banerjea was a great success. Sir Henry Cotton wrote about it as follows in his book New India:
” The idea of any Bengalee influence in the Punjab would have been a conception incredible to Lord Lawerence…..yet, it is the case that during the past year the tour of a Bengalee lecturer lecturing in English in Upper India, the character of a triumphal progress; and at the present moment the name of Surendranath Banerjea excites as much enthusiasm among the rising generation of Multan as in Dacca.”
The results of the national movement organised by the Indian Association with the help of Mr. Banerjea were indeed very great. To use the words of Mr. Banerjee:
” For the first time under British rule, India, with its varied races and religions, had been brought upon the same platform for a common and united effort. Thus was it demonstrated, by an object-lesson of impressive significance, that, whatever might be our differences in respect of race and language, or social and religious institutions, the people of India could combine and unite for the attainment of their common political ends”.
The Civil Service agitation thus taught important lessons, which ultimately found expression in the Indian Congress. It also opened up another line along which progress might be made towards the political regeneration of the country. A memorial on the Civil Service question was adopted at the Calcutta meeting and endorsed at the other public meetings. It contained a prayer to the House of Commons not to lower the limit of age for the open competitive examination for the Indian Civil Service and to hold simultaneous examinations in India and England. Instead of adopting the usual course of sending the memorial by post, Mr. Lalmohan Ghosh a well-known Bengali barrister in Calcutta, was sent to England to present it in person as the representative of the Indian Association. Mr. Ghosh was an eloquent speaker and made a deep impression upon the British audience about the pressing grievance of India. Mr. S. N. Banerjea thus describes his campaign:
“A great meeting was held under the presidency of all Bright. Mr.Ghosh spoke, with a power and eloquence that excited the admiration of all and evoked the warmest tribute from the President. The effect of that meeting was instantaneous. Within twenty-four hours of it, there were laid on the table of the House of Commons the Rules creating what was subsequently known as the Statutory Civil Service..….. Thus the deputation of an Indian to England voicing India’s grievance was attended with an unexpected measure of success and the experiment was in future years tried again and again.”
The Civil Service agitation was soon followed up by similar agitations against the Arms Act and the Vernacular Press Act of Lord Lytton, which sought to limit the possession of arms and control the Vernacular Press. All three measures were regarded as part of a policy to hamper the growth of a National India, and show the reactionary character of the regime of Lord Salisbury as Secretary of State for India. History teaches us that “reactionary rulers are often the creators of great public movements”. So it proved in India. The agitation against these unpopular measures shaped the political life of India and made it conscious of its strength and potentialities. Soon it ceased to be a mere question of repealing these obnoxious measures. There was a steady development of national aspirations, and a higher ideal dazzled the vision of political India. It was not thought enough that Indians should have their full share of the higher offices. They must eventually bring the entire administration under popular control and therefore make a definite demand for representative institutions.
The new ideal called for an All-India organisation of a permanent character. This was considerably facilitated by the controversy over the Ilbert Bill. The Bill introduced in 1883 by llbert, the Law Member of the Viceroy’s Council, sought to withdraw the privilege, hitherto enjoyed by European British subjects in the districts, of trial by a judge of their own race. The Anglo-Indian community carried on an agitation against this measure both in India and England. They started a Defence Association with branches all over India, and raised over a lakh and fifty thousand rupees. It provoked a counter-agitation by educated Indians. The Government ultimately withdrew the Bill and substituted for it a more moderate measure, which vested the power of trying Europeans in Sessions Judges and District Magistrates who might be Indians. The success of the anti-Ilbert Bill agitation “left a rankling sense of humiliation in the mind of educated India”, but it also demonstrated the value of combination and organisation. The lesson was not lost upon educated India. As before, Surendranath took the lead and within a year an All-India National Fund was created and the Indian National Conference, with representatives from all parts of India, met in Calcutta (1883).
During the same year a retired civilian, Allan Octavian Hume, addressed an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University urging them to organise an association for the mental, moral, social, and political regeneration of the people of India. He enlisted official favour in support of such an organisation. The Governor- General, Lord Dufferin, told him “that he found the greatest difficulty in ascertaining the real wishes of the people and that it would be a public benefit if there existed some responsible organisation through which the Government might be kept informed regarding the best Indian public opinion”.
