Background
A number of Indians, notably Shyamji Krishna Varma, had formed the India House in England in 1905. This organisation, with the support of Indian luminaries like Dadabhai Naoroji, Lala Lajpat Rai, Madame Bhikaji Cama and others, offered scholarships to Indian students, promoted nationalistic work, and was a major platform for anti-colonial opinions and views. The Indian Sociologist, published by Krishna Varma, was a notable anti-colonial publication. Prominent Indian Nationalists associated with the India House included Damodar Savarkar, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (alias Chatto), and Har Dayal.
The British government kept track of India House because of the nature of its work and the increasingly inciting tone of The Indian Sociologist, which proposed killing British colonial officials. In 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra, closely associated with the India House, shot and killed William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, the political ADC to the Secretary of State for India. In the aftermath of the assassination, India House was rapidly suppressed and its leaders, including Krishna Varma, were forced to flee to Europe. Some, including Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, moved to Germany, while a number of the leadership moved to Paris.
Read more about this topic: Berlin Committee
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