<P> "Calcutta is the centre from which the Congress Party is manipulated throughout the whole of Bengal, and indeed the whole of India . Its best wire pullers and its most frothy orators all reside here . The perfection of their machinery, and the tyranny which it enables them to exercise are truly remarkable . They dominate public opinion in Calcutta; they affect the High Court; they frighten the local Government, and they are sometimes not without serious influence on the Government of India . The whole of their activity is directed to creating an agency so powerful that they may one day be able to force a weak government to give them what they desire . Any measure in consequence that would divide the Bengali - speaking population; that would permit independent centres of activity and influence to grow up; that would dethrone Calcutta from its place as the center of successful intrigue, or that would weaken the influence of the lawyer class, who have the entire organisation in their hands, is intensely and hotly resented by them . The outcry will be loud and very fierce, but as a native gentleman said to me --' my countrymen always howl until a thing is settled; then they accept it' ." </P> <P> Partition sparked an extremely major political crisis along religious lines . Hindu resistance exploded as the Indian National Congress began the Swadeshi movement that included boycotting British goods and public institutions, meetings and processions, forming committees, propaganda through press, and diplomatic pressure . Hitherto untouched sections of Indian society participated in these movements, providing base for later movements . Richness of the movement extended to culture, science and literature . Masses were educated for a bolder form of politics and colonial hegemony was undermined . The Muslims in East Bengal hoped that a separate region would give them more control over education and employment, hence, they opposed those movements . Rabindranath Tagore wrote Banglar Mati Banglar Jol as a rallying cry for proponents of annulment of Partition . </P> <P> Opposition to the partition was supported by Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton who had been Chief Commissioner of Assam, but Curzon was not to be moved . Later, Cotton, now Liberal MP for Nottingham East coordinated the successful campaign to oust the first lieutenant - governor of East Bengal, Sir Bampfylde Fuller . </P> <P> Due to these political protests, the two parts of Bengal were reunited on 12 December 1911 . A new partition which divided the province on linguistic, rather than religious grounds followed, with the Hindi, Oriya and Assamese areas separated to form separate administrative units: Bihar and Orissa Province was created to the west, and Assam Province to the east . The administrative capital of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi as well . </P>

Who led the agitation against the partition of bengal