Indian independence movement

The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide spectrum of political organizations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending British colonial authority in South Asia. The term incorporates various national and regional campaigns, agitations and efforts of both nonviolent and militant philosophy.

The first organized militant movements were in Bengal, but it later took political stage in the form of a mainstream movement in the then newly formed Indian National Congress (INC), with prominent moderate leaders seeking only their basic rights to appear for civil services examinations and more rights, economic in nature, for the people of the soil. The beginning of the early 1900s saw a more radical approach towards political independence proposed by leaders such as the Lal Bal Pal and Sri Aurobindo. Militant nationalism also emerged in the first decades, culminating in the failed Indo-German Pact and Ghadar Conspiracy during World War I.

The last stages of the freedom struggle from the 1920s saw the Congress adopt the policies of nonviolence led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; and several campaigns of civil resistance ensued. Some leaders, such as Subhash Chandra Bose, later came to adopt a military approach to the movement, and others like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati who along with political freedom wanted economic freedom of peasants and toiling masses of the country. The World War II period saw the peak of the movements like the the Quit India movement led by Gandhi and Indian National Army (INA) movement led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

These various movements led to the formation of the Dominions of India and Pakistan in 1947. India remained a dominion of The Crown until 26 January 1950, when it adopted its Constitution and proclaimed itself a republic and Pakistan proclaimed itself a Republic in 1956. In 1971, the Pakistani Civil War broke out, which subsequently led to the 1971 War which saw the splintering-off of East Pakistan into the nation of Bangladesh.

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