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The British Committee of the Indian National Congress was established in Britain by the Indian National Congress in 1889. Its purpose was to raise awareness of Indian issues to the public in Britian, to whom the Government of India was responsible.〔 It followed the work of W.C. Bonnerjee and Dadabhoi Naoroji, who had enlisted the support of radical MPs like Charles Bradlaugh for raising issues related to India in the British Parliament. William Wedderburn served as the first chairman and William Digby as secretary. ==History== The decades following the 1857 rebellion were a period of growing political awareness in India, moulding of Indian public opinion for self-governance, and emergence of Indian leadership at both national and provincial levels. Dadabhai Naoroji formed the East India Association in 1867 and Surendranath Banerjee founded the Indian National Association in 1876. The Congress was founded in 1885 by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, including Scotsman Allan Octavian Hume. Its objective was to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between educated Indians and the British Raj. From its inception, the organisation met annually to express its loyalty to the British Raj and passed numerous resolutions on less controversial issues such as civil rights or opportunities in government (especially in the civil service). These resolutions were submitted to the Viceroy's government. Alan Octavian Hume left India in 1894 to return to Britain. At the time of his departure, Hume held the opinion that to implement political change and self-governance in India, political work was required in Britain to raise awareness of Indian issues among the British public.〔 William Wedderburn held the same train of thought, since the Government of India was constitutionally responsible to the British electorate.〔 Congress leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji and W.C. Bonnerjee had been able to enlist the support of radical MP Charles Bradlaugh to take up Indian issues in the British Parliament. In 1888 a paid agency under Digby was established in Britain by the Congress. Digby's organisation arranged lectures in England and distributed pamphlets. In July 1889, a permanent committee was established with Wedderburn as chairman and Digby as secretary. Bradlaugh died in 1891, but the British committee of the Congress had been able to establish an Indian Parliamentary Committee pressure group.〔 In 1903, Henry Cotton, a radical politician, joined the committee and rapidly became the leading member of Labour party MPs who formed the core group of the parliamentary committee. Cotton's efforts championed, among others, the labour-rights of tea-plantation workers in Assam. Among other notable members of the committee was Keir Hardie. The British Committee of the Congress continued to function up to 1920, when it was abolished. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Committee of the Indian National Congress」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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