द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

20 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE the Company should be nominated by the Crown. So far as India was concerned, further administrative changes were made. Bengal was made a separate province under a Lieu- tenant-Governor and the Government of India was thereby separated from the provincial governments. The Act also provided for a Legislative Council for India consisting of twelve members, all of whom were, however, to be officials. During the discussions in the House of Commons in con- nection with the renewal of the Charter in 1853, John Bright spoke strongly against the Company's administration, which he said had 'introduced an incredible amount of disorder and corruption into the state and poverty and wretchedness among the people.' He demanded that the Crown should assume direct responsibility for the administration in India. The advice was not heeded and a few years later the revolu- tion (called by English historians the 'Sepoy Mutiny' and by Indian Nationalists the 'First War of Independence') broke out. After the suppression of the revolt, a new Act was passed called the Government of India Act, 1858. By this Act the Crown took over from the East India Company the entire administration of India. With the introduction of this Act, Queen Victoria issued a Royal Proclamation, which was read out by the Governor-General, Lord Canning, on November 1st, 1858, at Allahabad. In view of the respon- sibility of the British Cabinet to the British Parliament, the latter became the virtual arbiter of India's political destiny. The next important step was taken in 1861 when the Indian Councils Act was passed. The Act provided for the Governor-General's Legislative Council which was to have not more than twelve and not less than six members, half of whom were to be non-officials. Besides the Central Legis- lative Council, Provincial Councils, consisting partly of non- official members appointed by the government were also introduced. Thus Bengal got a Provincial Legislative Council in 1862 and the North-West Provinces and Oudh (now called the United Provinces) in 1886. The failure of the revolution of 1857 was followed by a period of reaction and during this period all anti-British movements in India were ruthlessly suppressed, while the