Which Indian leader for the first time used the 'safety-valve theory' to attack the Moderates in the Congress?

Question

Which Indian leader for the first time used the 'safety-valve theory' to attack the Moderates in the Congress?

1. A. Bipin Chandra Pal
2. B. Lala Lajpat Rai (Correct answer)
3. C. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
4. D. Dadabhai Naoroji

Correct Answer

Option B — Lala Lajpat Rai

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Lala Lajpat Rai.

Key Points

• Lala Lajpat Rai was the first Indian leader to use the "safety-valve theory" to attack the Moderates in the Congress.
• He advanced this argument in his 1916 article "Young India", drawing on William Wedderburn's biography of A. O. Hume.
• The safety-valve theory holds that the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 with the help of the retired British civil servant A. O. Hume, was created as a safety valve to channel growing Indian discontent into constitutional debate and thereby prevent a violent uprising like the Revolt of 1857.
• Extremists used this theory to discredit the Moderates as collaborators.
• Lala Lajpat Rai, known as "Punjab Kesari", formed part of the militant trio Lal-Bal-Pal with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal.
• He died in 1928 from injuries sustained in a lathi charge during the Simon Commission protest at Lahore.

Exam Tip

• later Marxist historians such as R. P. Dutt developed this theory further.

प्रश्न (हिन्दी में)

कांग्रेस में किस भारतीय नेता ने प्रथम बार उदारवादियों पर 'सुरक्षित–वाल्व सिद्धांत' का प्रयोग करने का आक्षेप लगाया गया था?

1. A. बिपिन चन्द्र पाल
2. B. लाला लाजपत राय
3. C. बाल गंगाधर तिलक
4. D. दादाभाई नौरोजी