Congress Leaders' Early Approach to Self-Government

The early phase of the Indian National Congress (1885–1905) is generally referred to as the era of the Moderates. The leaders of this period sought limited self-government within the British Empire rather than complete independence.

Methods Used by the Moderates

The Moderate leaders, such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Pherozeshah Mehta, relied on constitutional and peaceful methods. Their primary tools were:

• Submitting peaceful petitions, memoranda, and representations to British authorities.
• Holding annual sessions, public meetings, and resolutions to highlight Indian grievances.
• Using the press, pamphlets, and speeches to mould public opinion both in India and Britain.
• Engaging in dialogue and reasoned argument with the colonial administration.

This approach is often described as the policy of "prayer, petition, and protest" — strictly within the constitutional framework, with no recourse to violence.

Evaluating the Options

• Violent protests: Not used by the early Congress; this characterised some later revolutionary groups, not the Moderates.
• Peaceful petitions: The defining method of the early Congress leaders.
• Foreign intervention: Never sought as a strategy.
• Revolutionary wars: Associated with later revolutionary nationalists, not the early Congress.

Conclusion

The Congress leaders in the early years used peaceful petitions to demand limited self-government from the British government.