"Although the HRL remained independent of the TS, and although Besant generally continued to deny that the TS was in any way political, the League relied heavily on people and networks brought together by the Society. Once again, therefore, whatever the official position of the Society, and whatever Besant might have said or intended, it quite clearly played a political role within India." (Bevir, 2000, p. 159)
At the end of 1916 and beginning of 1917, the HRL worked vigorously to fulfill the task set by its leadership. In June 1917, the Madras government, concerned about the activity of the nationalists, interned Besant, Arundale, and Wadia. This led to a mass protest among the Indians, Besant was elected president of INC, and in September 1917, the authorities were forced to release those arrested. (Bevir, 2000, p. 174) When Besant, Arundale, and Vadia were released, they were met in Madras, Calcutta, and Benares as heroes. In December 1917, Besant presided over the session of INC. This session drew a record attendance of 4,967 delegates and about 5,000 visitors including about 400 women. Prof. Catherine Wessinger noted that Besant was not only the first woman to be elected president of the Indian National Congress, but she was the first president to make that position into an active year-long job. Under her leadership, INC adopted, in particular, a resolution on the inadmissibility of social discrimination of untouchables. (Wessinger, 2012)
The politicians and Theosophy
Mahatma Gandhi. In Prof. Kocku von Stuckrad's opinion, the most prominent example of the impact of Theosophy on Indian society is demonstrated by a biography of Gandhi, who became informed on TS in 1889 during his learning in London. (Stuckrad, 2005, p. 127) In his autobiography, he wrote that, like many other intellectuals, he realized for the first time the importance of his own culture after meeting the Theosophists. On their recommendation, he read The Key to Theosophy by Blavatsky. He wrote, "This book stimulated in me the desire to read books on Hinduism, and disabused me of the notion fostered by the missionaries that Hinduism was rife with superstition." (Gandhi, 1983, p. 60)
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. When he was 11 years old, the Irish Theosophist Ferdinand Brooks became his home teacher, who was recommended by Annie Besant to his father. According to Nehru, Brooks taught him for three years and has extremely influenced him: for some time, Theosophy had a strongest impact on him. When he was only thirteen years old he, having received the permission of his father, joined the TS. He wrote that "Mrs. Besant herself performed the ceremony of initiation." (Nehru, 1941, pp. 26-30)
Radhakrishnan. The Theosophical concept of ancient wisdom of humanity, based on the Oriental spirituality, had been supporting the strengthening of anti-colonial attitudes in India. The wave of sympathy which embraced the Theosophists in India and Ceylon had strong political implications. (Stuckrad, 2005, p. 126) Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the philosopher and second President of India (from 1962 to 1967) said:
"When, with all kinds of political failures and economic breakdowns we (Indians) were suspecting the values and vitality of our culture, when everything round about us and secular education happened to discredit the value of Indian culture, the Theosophical Movement rendered great service by vindicating those values and ideas. The influence of the Theosophical Movement on general Indian society is incalculable." (Stuckrad, 2005, p. 127)
Alfred Deakin, the Prime Minister of Australia in 1903-1904, 1905-1908, and 1909-1910, interested in spiritualism and in works by Emanuel Swedenborg. He was only during short time (1895-1896) a member of the Theosophical Society. Nevertheless, continuing to be interested in Theosophy, attended the lectures of Olcott and Besant during their Australian tours. (Norris, 1981)
George Lansbury, the leader of the Labour Party (UK) from 1931 to 1935. By joining the Theosophical Society in 1914, he was supporting all initiatives of its president. He was the head of the British branch of the All-India Home Rule League, founded by Annie Besant. (Postgate, 1951, p. 58)
Accusers of the Theosophists
According to Richard Hodgson, an author of the well-known "Hodgson Report", Blavatsky's function in India was to foster as widely as possible among the natives a disaffection towards British rule. In his article in The Age (1885), he noted that her influence has spread far beyond of the Theosophical Society. And further:
"When she returned to India at the end of last [1884] year an address of sympathy was presented to her by a large body of native students of Madras, of whom only two or three were Theosophists." (Hodgson, 12 September 1885)
Peter Washington stated that not only Annie Besant, but other Theosophists failed to draw the border between Hinduism and Indian nationalism. The preaching of the greatness of the local religion, which was conducted by Besant, was perceived by her listeners as a call for an anti-colonial revolution, and she did not seek to refute this. (Washington, 1995, p. 105) He noted that the British government was not happy that an Englishwoman, a fighter for the rights of local people, invaded the electrified atmosphere of Indian politics. The anxiety of the colonial authorities was fully justified. Having familiarized themselves with Annie Besant's political credo, nationalist newspapers admired her talent as an agitator and, being flattered by her sympathy for Hinduism, called for her to stand at the head of the campaign against British rule, praising her as their savior. (Washington, 1995, p. 106)
Sources
Besant A. "On Congress' Political Role." In New India, 17 October 1914.
Besant A. How India Wrought For Freedom. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1915.
Bevir M. "Theosophy as a Political Movement." In Gurus and Their Followers, Oxford University Press, 2000.
Gandhi M. Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Courier Corporation, 1983.
Hodgson R. "The Theosophical Society: Russian Intrigue or Religious Evolution?" In The Age, 12 September 1885.
Nehru J. Toward Freedom: The Autobiography of Jawaharlal Nehru. John Day Company, 1941.
Norris R. "Deakin, Alfred, 1856-1919." In Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1981.
Postgate R. The Life of George Lansbury. Longmans, Green, 1951.
Stuckrad K. Western Esotericism: A Brief History of Secret Knowledge. London: Equinox Publishing, 2005.
Washington P. Madame Blavatsky's baboon: a history of the mystics, mediums, and misfits who brought spiritualism to America. Schocken Books, 1995.
Wedderburn W. Allan Octavian Hume: Father of the Indian National Congress. London: Fisher Unwin, 1913.
Wessinger C. "Besant, Annie." In Theosopedia, Manila: Theosophical Publishing House, 2012.