Two Home Rule Leagues were established, one by B.G. Tilak at Poona in April 1916 and the other by Mrs. Annie Besant at Madras in September 1916.
The aim of the Movement was to get self government for India within the British Empire. It believed freedom was the natural right of all nations.
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Moreover, the leaders of the Home Movement thought that India’s resources were not being used for her needs.
The two Leagues cooperated with each other as well with the Congress and the Muslim League in putting their demand for home rule. While Tilak’s Movement concentrated on Maharashtra, Annie.
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Aim:
To convey the message of Home Rule to common man in remote and politically not conscious areas new method of publicity were used. Emphasis was on propaganda to make it mass based and stressed on public meeting to spread awareness among people.
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It got a new dimension with Annie Besant being elected as the President of Indian National Congress. Many Congress leaders supported it and joined the Movement.
Government reaction to Home – Rule propaganda was stern – handling and suppressive. Orders served on Tilak prohibiting his entry into Punjab and Delhi. Mrs. Besant forfeited security on her paper New India.
By 1919 Home Rule Movement had lost its hold for:
Government’s Reaction to the Home Rule Movement
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The Government tried to crush the new movement. Tilak’s entry into Punjab was prohibited by the Punjab Government on the ground that Home Rule propaganda was a threat to the public peace.
On June 15, 1917 the Madras Government issued orders of arrest of Mrs. Besant and her colleagues, B. P. Wadia and G. S. Arundale who were soon released on account of public pressure in September 1917.
Mrs. Besant was soon elected as the President of the Calcutta session in 1917.
Reasons for Failure:
1. Lack of organization among Home rulers.
2. Growth of communal tension as a result of Hindu-Muslim riot of 1917 -18.
3. Those who joined the Movement after Besant’s arrest were pacified by the promise of reforms and by Besant’s release.
4. Announcement of constitutional reform of 1919
5. Tilak leaving for London to attend a libel suit
6. Arrest of Annie Besant.
Gains:
1. Emphasis on participation in freedom movement shifted from educated elite to masses, which gave it a new dimension.
2. Declaration of Montague – Chelmsford reforms of 1919
3. It prepared the country for Gandhian way of style of political action.
Impact of the Home Rule League:
1. Tilak and Besant infused a new spirit and life in the national movement and intensified the demand for the grant of self-government.
2. The movement involved the participation of women, revival of Swadeshi spirit and spread of the movement far beyond the frontiers of India. Monided organizational limits between town and countryside.
3. The Movement brought together the Moderates and the Extremists in the Congress.
4. The Congress and the League presented a common Charter of Demand i.e., Self-Government.
5. It created a generation of ardent nationalists who formed the backbone of the national movement when, under Mahatma’s leadership, it entered its truly mass phase.
In order to pacify the Indians the British Government declared a policy. On August 20,1917, the Secretary of State Mr. Montague, announced in the House of Commons, that the policy of the British Government was to develop Self-Governing institution in India, which was enthusiastically received by the Indians.