Source: Congress Presidential Addresses, Volume One: 1885-1900, ed. by A. M. Zaidi (New Delhi: Indian Institute of Applied Political Research, 1985), pp. 293-361. Typographical errors have been corrected, and punctuation slightly adjusted for clarity in some cases. The extremely long paragraphs of the text have been broken into shorter ones, and in a few cases paragraph breaks have been rearranged for ease in reading. All editorial annotations in square brackets are by FWP. The sections have been numbered by FWP for convenience in classroom use. In some cases quotations appear in the original text without attribution; these have simply been reproduced as such.

 

Presidential Address to the Twelfth Session
of the Indian National Congress
Calcutta, 1896

by Rahimatulla M. Sayani (1847-1902)

*Introduction*
*1) Origin of the Congress*
*2) Declarations of the Congress Leaders*
*3) Growth of the Congress*
*4) Congress Presidents*
*5) Congress, the Eurasians, the Portuguese, the Jews*
*6) Congress and Mohamedans*

*7) Congress Programme*
*8) Vicws of Eminent Englishmen on Indian Questions*
*9) British Policy in India*
*10) The Royal Proclamation of 1858*
*11) British Sympathy with Indian Aspirations*

*12) Syed Ahmad Khan on Indian Agitation*
*13) Congress and Musalmans*
*14) British Sympathy with Musalmans*
*15) Alleged Mohamedan Objections to the Congress*
*16) Answers to Mohamedan Objections*

*17) Fundamental Principles of Islam*
*18) Muslim Education*
*19) Mohamedan Moral Code*
*20) England and India Compared and Contrasted*
*21) Poverty of India*
*22) British Administration*
*23) Muslims and English Education*

*24) Lord Welby and Sir Auckland Colvin on Indian Financial Checks*
*25) Famine and Poverty*
*26) Government and Famine*
*27) Stock of Grain in India*
*28) Statistics of the Food-Stock*
*29) Land Revenue*
*30) Agrarian Problem*
*31) Civil and Military Expenditure*
*32) Royal Commission and Apportionment of Home Charges*
*33) Dividing the Council on the Indian Budget*
*34) Tribute to the Dead*


*Glossary* -- *FWP's main page*