ABSTRACT
The announcement of August 20, 1917, was universally welcomed in India not merely because it contained an authoritative declaration of British policy which Indian nationalists had demanded, but more so because the man who made it was considered to be a champion of India’s demand for self-government. ‘We recognize in him [Montagu]’, wrote the Bengalee, commenting on the announcement, ‘the friend of India and of the aspirations for liberty and constitutional freedom, as equal subjects of the Crown, which are now throbbing in our hearts.’ 1 The cold and cautious phraseology of the announcement, however, aroused some apprehension and was attributed to the influence of Tories like Curzon and Milner in the Cabinet. The claim that the British Government and the Government of India were to be the sole judges of the time and measure of each advance was resented. It was hoped and asserted, on the contrary, that the people of India should have an effective voice in the matter. The Amrita Bazar Patrika also demanded that ‘a definite declaration of the nature of responsible government proposed to be granted and the time when it may be conferred should ... be made without delay’. 2
