Q- How was nationalism in Europe different nationalism in colonies like India and Vietnam?
Ans:
A: Nationalism in Europe
Modern nationalism in Europe came to be associated with the formation of nation-states.
i) It also meant a change in people’s understanding of who they were, and what defined their identity and sense of belonging.
ii) New symbols and icons, new songs and ideas forged new links and redefined the boundaries of communities.
iii) In most countries, the making of this new national identity was a long process.
B: Nationalism in Colonies
i) In India, as in Vietnam and many other colonies, the growth of modern nationalism is intimately connected to the anti-colonial movement. People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism.
ii) The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together.
iii) Each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently, their experiences were varied, and their notions of freedom were not always the same.
----------------------
Q- What was the impact of the First World War on the Indian economy?(Outside Delhi Set-I,II,III, 2019; 5 marks)
OR
“The First World war created a new economic and political situation.” Examine. (Board Term-II, 2013; 3 marks) (Board Term-II, 2016; 5 marks)
(Board Term-II, Foreign Set-III; 2016; 5 marks) (Board Term-II, Outside Delhi Set-II, 2015; 5 marks)
Ans: The First World War created a new economic and political situation.
i) It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes. The custom duties were raised and income tax was introduced to increase the revenue.
ii) Through the war years prices increased doubling between 1913 and 1918¬leading to extreme hardship for the common people.
iii) Villages were called upon to supply soldiers and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.
iv) Then in 1918-19 crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute food shortages.
v) This was accompanied by influenza epidemic and 12 to 13 million people perished as a result of famines and epidemic.
Conclusion: People hoped that their hardships would end after the war was over but it did not
happen so.
----------------------
Q- Examine the idea of Satyagrah as perceived by Mahatma Gandhi?
Or
Explain the idea of Satyagraha according to Gandhiji. (Board Term-II, 2014; 3 marks)
Or
Explain Gandhiji’s view on Satyagraha. Which quality of Mahatma Gandhi turned the freedom struggle into a mass movement? (Board Term-II, 2013; 5 marks)
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa in January 1915. In South Africa, he had successfully fought the racist regime with a novel method of mass agitation, which he called
Satyagrah. According to Mahatma Gandhi:
i) The idea of Satyagrah was mass agitation which emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth, if the struggle was against injustice, and then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppressor.
ii) Without seeking vengeance or being oppressive, a Satyagrah could win the battle through non-violence.
iii) People including the oppressors -had to be persuaded to see the truth, instead of being forced to accept the truth through the use of violence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately triumph.
iv) It promoted the notion of passive resistance that involved intense activity. Satyagraha according to him was pure soul force. Truth was the very substance of the soul. That is why this
force was called Satyagrah.
v) According to the Mahatma, the soul was informed with knowledge. In burnt in the flame of love, He further stated that nonviolence was the supreme dharma.
----------------------
Q- Name the places where Mahatma Gandhi first practiced Satyagrah?
Ans: Between 1916 and 1918, Mahatma Gandhi successfully experimented with Satyagraha at the following places:
i) In 1916, Gandhiji travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.
ii) In 1917, Gandhi ji organized a Satyagrah to support the peasants of Kheda district of Gujarat. Affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic, the peasants of Kheda could not pay the revenue, and were demanding the revenue collection to be relaxed.
iii) In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi went to Ahmedabad to organize a Satyagrah movement amongst the cotton mill workers, for better wages.
-----------------
Q- What was the provision of the Rowlatt Act? Why were the Indians outraged by it? Briefly explain the Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Or
Why did Gandhiji decide to launch a nationwide ‘Satyagraha’ against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919)? How was it opposed? Explain. (2018, CBSE Compartmental Paper, Set-I, II, III; 5 marks)
Ans: Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide Satyagrah against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919).
i) The Rowlatt Act was had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council against the will of Indian members. This act gave the British Government the power to repress political activities and detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
ii) Mahatma Gandhi revolted against this act, in the form of non- violence civil disobedience, which would start with a hartal on 6th April. Rallies were organized in various cities. Workers went on a strike in railway workshops and shops closed down.
iii) The British administration was alarmed by the popular upsurge and was scared that lines of communication such as railways and telegraph would be disrupted; they decided to clamp down on nationalists.
----------------------
Q- Write a note on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Or
Describe the incidence of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. (CBSE SQP-2020, 3 Marks).
Or
Describe the incident and impact of Jallianwala Bagh. (Board Term-II, Foreign Set-I, 2015; 5 Marks)
Or
Explain the reason and effects of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. (Board Term-II, 2014; 5)
Or
Explain the impact of Jallianwala Bagh incident of the people. (Board Term-II, Outside Delhi-2014; 5 marks)
Ans: Following the launch of the Rowlatt Satyagraha, local leaders were picked up from Amritsar, and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.
i) On 10th April 1919, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.
ii) On 13th April, the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. On that day, a crowd of villagers had come to Amritsar to attend a fair of gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh.
iii) Being from outside the city, they were unaware of the martial law that had been imposed. Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds. His object, as he declared later, was’ to produce a moral effect’, to create a feeling of terror and awe in the minds of Satyagrahis.
iv) As the news of Jallianwala Bagh spread, crowds took to the streets in many north Indian towns. There were strikes, clashes with the police and attacks on government buildings.
v) The government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorise people: Satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets, and do salaam (salute) to all sahibs; people were flogged and villages (around Gujranwala in Punjab, now in Pakistan) were bombed.
Conclusion: Seeing violence spread, Mahatma Gandhi called off the movement.
----------------------
Q- What was the Khilafat Movement? Explain the main issue behind the Khilafat Movement.
Or
What was the Khilafat Agitation? Why did Gandhiji give support to this agitation? (Board Term-II, 2014; 3 Marks)
Ans: Following the Rowlatt Satyagraha, Mahatma Gandhi now felt the need to launch a more broad-
based movement in India by bringing the Hindus and Muslims closer together. One way of doing
this, he felt, was to take up the Khilafat issue.
i) The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey. And there were rumors that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman emperor - the spiritual head (Khalifa) of the Islamic world.
ii) To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919.
iii) A young generation of Muslim leaders like the brothers Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, began discussing with Mahatma Gandhi about the possibility of a united mass action on the issue.
iv) Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslims under the umbrella of a unified national movement. At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, he convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj.
----------------------
Q- Examine the genesis and evolution of the Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM).
Or
Discuss the various stages of the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. (Board SQP-2016)
Ans: In his famous book, Hind Swaraj (1909) Gandhi ji declared that British rule was established in India only with the cooperation of Indians. If they refuse to cooperate British Raj would end within a year.
i) Gandhiji proposed that the Non-Cooperation
movement should unfold in stages.
ii) It should begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools and foreign goods.
iii) In case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched. Through the summer of 1920 Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali toured extensively mobilizing popular support for Non -Cooperation Movement.
iv) Many within the Congress were, however, concerned about the proposals. They were
reluctant to boycott the council elections scheduled for November 1920, and they feared
that the movement might lead to popular violence. In the months between September and
December there was an intense tussle within the Congress.
v) Finally, at the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, a compromise was worked out and the Non-Cooperation programme was adopted.
----------------------
Q- Discuss the effects of NCM on the economy.
Ans: The Indian economy was affected by the introduction of the NCM.
i) Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.
ii) The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922, its value dropping from Rs. 102 crore to Rs. 57 crore.
iii) In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance the foreign trade.
iv) As the Boycott movement spread, and people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. (Boycott movement- People not only refused to buy foreign goods but also discarded and burnt the foreign goods. This method of protest was first used by the extremists in 1905 when Bengal was partitioned)
----------------------
Q- How did the NCM rise in the cities? Why did the NCM to slow down in the cities? (Board Term-II, Delhi Set-II, 2015; 3 Marks)
Ans:
A: Rise of NCM in the cities:
i) The movement started with middle-class participation in the cities. Thousands of students left government-controlled schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
ii) The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras, where the Justice Party, the party of the non-Brahmans, felt that entering the council was one way of gaining some power –something that usually only Brahmans had access to.
B: The NCM slowed down in the cities because:
i) Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass produced foreign mills cloth. Poor people could not afford to buy it.
ii) The boycott of British institutions posed the problem. Alternative Indian Institutions had to be set up but these were slow in coming up. So students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.
----------------------
Q- How did the NCM impact the middle-class?
Ans: This movement in cities was started by the middle-class people.
i) Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges, headmasters and teachers resigned and lawyers gave up their legal practices.
ii) The council elections were boycotted in most provinces except Madras, where the Justice Party, the Party of non-Brahmins, felt that entering the council was one way of gaining power.
iii) Foreign goods were boycotted. Liquor shops were picketed and foreign cloth was burnt in
bonfires.
----------------------
Q- How did the peasants of Awadh interpret the meaning of Swaraj?
Or
Describe any three major problems faced by the peasants of Awadh in the
days of Non-Cooperation Movement. (Board Term-II, Outside Delhi Set-III, 2015, 3 marks)
Or
Describe the spread of Non-Cooperation Movement in the countryside.
(Board Term-II, Outside Delhi Set-II, 2019; 3 Marks)
Ans: In Awadh, the peasants were led by Baba Ramchandra, a Sanyasi, who worked as an
indentured labourer in Fiji. Here, the movement was against the talukdars and landlords who
demanded high rents and a variety of other cases from the peasants.
i) The peasants had to do beggar and were forced to work on the farm of the landlords without any payment. As tenants, they had no security of tenure.
ii) In June 1920, Jawaharlal Nehru went to the villages in Awadh and tried to understand the
grievances of the peasants. As a result, the Oudh Kisan Sabha was setup in October headed by
Jawaharlal Nehru.
iii) So, peasants demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of beggar and social boycott of oppressive landlords. In many places nai-dhobi hartals were organized.
iii) When the NCM began in the next year, the effort of the congress was to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into a wider struggle.
iv) The peasant movement however, developed in such a way that the congress leadership was
unhappy. As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted, and hoarded grains were taken over.
v) In many places, local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor. Local leaders invoked Gandhiji’s name to sanction all action and aspirations.
----------------------
Q- How did the tribal peasants of Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh interpret the meaning of Swaraj?
(Sub: Examine the contribution of Alluri Sitaram Raju to the NCM. Points 3, 4, 5) (CBSE SQP-2020, 3 marks)
Ans: The Tribal peasants interpreted the messages of Mahatma Gandhi and idea of Swaraj in another way.
i) In the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh a militant guerrilla movement spread in the early 1920s -not a form of struggle that the Congress would approve.
ii) Here the colonial government did not allow the people to enter the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect firewood and fruits. By this, the livelihood of the people there was affected. They felt that their traditional rights were being denied.
iii) The person who came to help these people was Alluri Sitaram Raju. He claimed that he had a variety of special powers: he could make correct astrological predictions and heal people, and he could survive even bullet shots. Captivated by Raju, the rebels proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God.
iv) He talked about the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, he was also inspired by the NCM and persuaded people to wear Khadi and support Gandhi ji. But at the same time, he believed that India could be liberated only by force, not non-violence.
v) The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving Swaraj. Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and over a time became folklore.
----------------------
Q- How did the plantation workers of Assam understand the notion of Swaraj?
“The plantation workers in Assam had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of Swaraj.” Support the statement with arguments. (Board Term-II, Outside Delhi Set-I, II, III, 2016; 3 marks)
Ans: i) For plantation workers of Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the
confined space in which they were enclosed.
ii) This meant retaining a link with the villages from which they had come.
iii) Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea garden without permission.
iv) After hearing about the NCM, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.
v) They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.
vi) They left their lands but never reached their destination and were killed on the way. Stranded on the way by a railway and steamer strike, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.
----------------------
Q- How did people from diverse backgrounds come to interpret the notion of Swaraj during the NCM?
OR
“Swaraj, meant different things to different people.” Explain
Ans: The visions of these movements were not defined by the Congress programme. They
interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways, imagining it to be a time when all suffering and all troubles would be over.
i) Cities: The Middle class participated actively in the movement. They boycotted not only British
goods, but also British institutions like schools, colleges, law courts and provincial councils. They promoted the use of goods manufactured locally.
ii) Peasantry: The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of beggar, and
social boycott of oppressive landlords. In many places, local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor.
iii) Tribal regions: In the forest regions, the colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuel wood and fruits. This enraged the hill people. Not only were their livelihoods affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied. When the government began forcing them to contribute beggar for road building, the hill people revolted.
iv) Yet, when the tribal chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised slogans demanding ‘Swatantra Bharat’, they were also emotionally relating to an all-India agitation. When they acted in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, or linked their movement to that of the Congress, they were identifying with a movement which went beyond the limits of their immediate locality.
v) Plantation workers: For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.
----------------------
Q- Who formed the Swaraj Party and why?
Ans: Some leaders within the Congress wanted to participate in the elections to the Provincial
Council that had been set up by the Government of India Act of 1919.
i) They felt that it was important to oppose British policies within the councils, argue for reform and also demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic.
ii) Therefore, C.R Das and Motilal Nehru funded the Swaraj Party within the Congress to argue for a return to council politics.
iii) But younger leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose pressed for more radical mass agitation and for full independence.
----------------------
Q- Why was the Non-Cooperation movement called off?
Or
Why did Gandhiji decide to withdraw the ‘Non-Cooperation Movement’ in February 1922? Explain any three reasons. (CBSE outside Delhi Set, II, 2017)(Board Term-II, 2016) (Board Term-II, Foreign Set-II) (3 Marks)
Ans: Mahatma Gandhi had launched the NCM on the pre-condition of non-violence.
i) In Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash with the police, hearing this Gandhi ji called a halt to the NCM in February 1922.
ii) He felt the movement was turning violent in many places and Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles.
iii) Within the Congress, some leaders were by now tired of mass struggle and wanted to participate in elections to the Provincial councils that had been setup by the government of
India act of 1919. They felt it was important to oppose the British policies within the councils, argue for reforms and also demonstrate that these councils were not truly democratic.
----------------------
Q- Enlist and explain the two factors that shaped the Indian politics towards late 1920s after the withdrawal of NCM.
Ans: In a situation of internal debate and dissension, following the calling off of the NCM, two economic factors shaped Indian politics towards the late 1920’s.
i) The first was the effect of worldwide economic depression. The agricultural prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed after 1930.
ii) As the demands for agricultural goods fell and exports declined, peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay their revenues. By 1930 countryside was in turmoil.
----------------------
Q- Why did the Tory Government constitute the Simon Commission? Why did the Indians boycott it?
Or
Simon Commission was greeted with slogan ‘Go back Simon’ at arrival in India. Support the reactions of Indians with arguments. (Board Term-II, Foreign Set-I, II, III, 2016; 5 marks)
Ans: Tory government in Britain constituted a statutory Commission under Sir John Simon. This Commission was formed to look into the functioning of the Constitutional system in India and suggest changes.
i) The problem was that the council had no single Indian member. They were all British.
ii) When the Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogans of ‘Go back Simon’. All parties including the Congress and the Muslim League participated in the demonstration. Lala Lajpat Rai was brutally beaten up and later died of Lathi wounds.
iii) In an effort to win them over, Lord Irwin, announced in October 1929, a vague offer of ‘dominion status’, for India in an unspecified future, and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution. This did not satisfy the Congress leaders.
iv) The radicals within the Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose,
became more assertive. The liberals and moderates, who were proposing a constitutional system within the framework of British dominion, gradually lost their influence.
----------------------
Q- State the important decisions taken at the 1929 Lahore session of INC.
Ans: In December 1929, the Lahore session of the INC was held under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru.
i) At the session, the Congress formalized the demand of Poorna Swaraj or full independence for India.
ii) It was declared that 26th January 1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day, when people were to take a pledge to struggle for complete Independence.
iii) But the celebrations attracted very little attention. So, Gandhi ji decided to find a way to relate this abstract idea of freedom to more concrete issues of everyday life.
Conclusion: Thus, the breaking of the Salt Law became the starting point of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in 1930.
----------------------
Q- Examine the importance of the Salt Law as an effective symbol of resistance against the colonial rule.
Or
How did salt become a powerful symbol to unify
the nation? (CBSE Compartment Set I, II, III, 2018, 5 Marks)
Or
Explain in brief the ‘Dandi March’. (Board Term-II, 2016, 2014; 5 marks)
Ans: On 31st January 1930, Gandhi ji sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating 11 demands. Some of
these were of general interest; others were specific demands of different classes, from industrialists to peasants.
i) The idea was to make demands wide ranging, so that all classes within Indian society could identify with them and everyone could be brought together in a united campaign.
ii) The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was something consumed by the rich and the poor alike, and it was one of the most essential items of food. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over its production, Mahatma Gandhi declared, revealed the most oppressive face of the British rule.
iii) Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was an ultimatum. If the demands were not fulfilled by 11th March,
Congress would launch a Civil Disobedience Campaign. Viceroy Irwin was unwilling to negotiate so Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.
iv) He ceremoniously violated the salt law by boiling the sea water in Dandi on 6th April. This was also famous as Dandi March.
v) Thousands came to hear Gandhi and he told them what he meant by Swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British.
Conclusion: This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
----------------------
Q- “The Civil Disobedience Movement was different from the Non-Cooperation
Movement.” Support the statement with examples. (Board Term-II, Delhi
Set-I, II, III, 2016)
Or
How was the Civil Disobedience Movement different from the Non-Cooperation Movement? State any three points of different.
Ans: The Civil Disobedience Movement was different from that of the Non-Cooperation Movement:
NON-COOPERATION MOVEMENT:
i. The people were asked not to co-operate with the government.
ii. Foreign goods were boycotted. Foreign clothes were burnt. Liquor shops were picketed.
iii. In many places merchants and traders refused to.
iv. In many places merchants and traders refused to trade on foreign goods or finance foreign traders.
v. Students left government-owned colleges and schools. Lawyers gave up legal practices.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT:
i. People were asked to break colonial laws.
ii. The countrymen broke the salt laws.
iii. Peasants refused to pay revenue and chaukidari tax.
iv. Village officials resigned from their job.
v. Forest people violated forest rules and laws.
----------------------
Q- Which repressive methods were used by the colonial government to control the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Or
Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to
call off the Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain. (CBSE Board 2015; 5 marks)
Ans: The colonial government became worried by the developments of CDM as people started
breaking the laws.
i) The British government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent
clashes in many places.
ii) Abdul Gaffar Khan, a devout disciptre of Gandhi, was arrested in April 1930.This angered the crowds and they staged demonstrations on the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars and police firing. Many were killed.
iii) A month later Gandhi was arrested. Industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, law courts and railway stations ¬the structures that symbolized British rule.
iv) A frightened government responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful Satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about 100,000 people were arrested.
----------------------
Q- State the provisions/clauses/ terms of the Gandhi Irwin Pact. What was the
outcome of the II Round Table Conference?
Ans: Gandhi ji decided to call off the CDM following instances of violence and brutal repression. He entered into a pact with the Viceroy Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931. This was known as Gandhi Irwin Pact. By this pact -
i) Gandhi consented to participate in a Round Table Conference in London, as Congress had boycotted the first-Round Table Conference.
ii) The British government agreed to release the political prisoners.
iii) In Dec 1931 Gandhi went to London for the conference, but the negotiations broke down and he returned disappointed.
----------------------
Q- Mention the repressive policies that were followed after the signing of the Gandhi Irwin Pact.
Ans: Gandhi ji had signed the Gandhi Irwin pact on 5th March 1932 and also called off the CDM. He had gone to London to attend the II Round Table conference as per the pact.
i) Following the breakdown of the negotiations, he returned to India. He discovered that the government had begun a new cycle of repression. Gaffer Khan and Nehru were both put in Jail.
ii) Congress had been declared illegal and series of measures had been imposed to prevent meetings, demonstrations and boycotts but by 1934 it lost its momentum.
iii) With great apprehensions, Gandhi ji relaunched CDM and boycotts.
----------------------
Q- Why did the Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of Uttar Pradesh participate in the CDM?
Or
Define the term Civil Disobedience Movement.
Or
Describe the participation of rich and poor peasant communities in the civil disobedience movement. (Delhi Set-I, II, III, 2019; 5 marks)
Ans: Civil Disobedience Movement- To disobey the rules of the British Government. Participation of rich and poor peasant:
i) In the countryside, rich peasant communities like Patidars of Gujarat and Jats of U.P- were active in the CDM because they were hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices.
ii) As their cash income disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue
demand. And the refusal of the government to reduce the revenue demand led to widespread
resentment.
iii) These rich peasants became enthusiastic supporters of CDM. They organized their communities and at times, forced a reluctant member to participate in boycott programmes.
iv) For them the fight for Swaraj was for the relaxation in the revenue system. They were deeply disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931, without the revenue rated being revised.
Conclusion: So, when the movement was restarted in 1931 many of them refused to participate.
----------------------
Q- “The relationship between the poor peasantry and the Congress remained uncertain during the CDM.” Explain.
Ans: The poor peasantry was interested in not only in lowering of revenue demand, but many of them were small tenants cultivating land they had rented from the landlords.
i) As the Depression continued and cash income dwindled, the small tenants found it difficult to pay their rent. They wanted the unpaid rent to
the landlords to be remitted.
ii) For this they joined a variety of radical movements, often led by Socialists and
Communists.
iii) Congress was apprehensive of raising these issues as they might upset the rich peasants and
landlords. So, they were unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns in most places.
Conclusion: So, the relationship between Congress and the poor peasants remained
uncertain.
----------------------
Q- How did the Business class relate to the CDM?
Evaluate the role of business classes in the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’. (Outside Delhi Set-II, 2017; 5 marks)
Ans: During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists had made the profits and became powerful. They were keen on expanding their business activities but the colonial policies were restricting their business so they reacted against the colonial policies.
i) They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee-¬sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports. So, to organize their business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI).
ii) This was led by prominent industrialists like Purshottamdas Thakurdas and GD Birla. The industrialists attacked colonial control over Indian economy, and supported the CDM when it was first launched in 1930.
iii) They gave financial assistance and refused to buy and sell imported goods. Most of the
businessmen joined Swaraj at a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry flourish without constraints.
iv) After the failure of Round Table Conference, the business groups were no longer uniformly
enthusiastic. They were apprehensive about the militant activities and worried about prolonged
disruption of business, as well as growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress.
----------------------
Q- What was the role of industrial working class in CDM?
Ans: The Industrial working class did not participate in CDM in large numbers, except in the Nagpur region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress workers stayed aloof.
i) In spite of that, some workers did participate in the CDM, selectively adopting some of the ideas of the Gandhian Programme like boycott off foreign goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions.
ii) There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in1932. In 1930 thousands of workers in Chhotanagpur tin mines wore
Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott campaign.
iii) But Congress was reluctant to include worker’s demands as part of its programme of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti- imperial forces.
----------------------
How did the women participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement? Explain. (Board Term-II, foreign Set-III, 2015; 3 marks)
Ans: Women participated in large numbers in CDM. During Gandhiji’s Salt March, thousands of
women came of their homes to listen to him.
i) They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops. Many went to jail.
ii) In urban areas, these women were from high caste families and in rural areas they came from rich peasants’ households.
iii) They got moved by Gandhiji’s call and began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.
iv) Yet this increased public role did not necessarily mean any radical change in the way the position of women was visualized. Gandhiji was convinced that it was the duty of the women to look after home and hearth, be good mothers and good wives.
v) For a long time, the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within the organization. It was keen on their symbolic presence.
----------------------
Q- Discuss the efforts made by Mahatma Gandhi towards removal of untouchability. How did dalit leaders seek to solve the problems faced by
their community?
Or
“Not all social groups were moved by the abstract concept of swaraj.” Explain
Ans: Not all social groups were moved by the abstract concept of swaraj. One such group was the nation’s ‘untouchables’, who from around the 1930s had begun to call themselves dalit or
oppressed.
i) For long the Congress had ignored the dalits, for fear of offending the sanatanis, the conservative high-caste Hindus. But Mahatma Gandhi declared that swaraj would not come for a hundred years if untouchability was not eliminated.
ii) He called the ‘untouchables’ harijan, or the children of God, organised satyagraha to secure them entry into temples, and access to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.
iii) He himself cleaned toilets to dignify the work of the bhangi (the sweepers), and persuaded upper castes to change their heart and give up ‘the sin of untouchability’.
iv) But many dalit leaders were keen on a different political solution to the problems of the community. They began organising themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational
institutions, and a separate electorate that would choose dalit members for legislative councils.
v) Political empowerment, they believed, would resolve the problems of their social disabilities. Dalit participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement was therefore limited, particularly in the Maharashtra and Nagpur region where their organisation was quite strong.
----------------------
Q- Describe the main features of Poona Pact. (Board Term-II, 2015 outside Delhi
Set-I; 3 marks)
Ans: The leader of Depressed Classes Association, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar clashed with Gandhi ji at the Second-Round Table Conference to demand separate electorates for dalits.
i) The British government conceded Ambedkar’s demand, Gandhi ji began to fast unto death because he believed that separate electorates for Dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society.
ii) Dr. B.R. Ambedkar accepted Gandhiji’s position and the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932. This Pact gave Depressed Classes (later to be known as the Scheduled Castes) reserved seats in Provincial and Central Legislative Councils.
iii) But they were to be voted in by the general electorate. The dalit movement, continued
to be apprehensive of the Congress -led national movement.
----------------------
Q- How did the Muslim Political Organization respond to the CDM?
Ans: Some of the Muslim Political organizations in India gave a lukewarm response to CDM. After the decline of Non-Cooperation -Khilafat Movement a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Congress.
i) From the Mid 1920s the Congress came to be more visibly associated openly with Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.
ii) As the relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened, each community organized processions with military fervour, provoking Hindu Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities. Each riot deepened the distance between the two communities.
iii) There was an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between communities. Alienated from the Congress, large sections of Muslims could not respond to the call for a united struggle. As the Muslim leaders thought that their culture and identity would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.
Conclusion: Alienated from the Congress, large sections of Muslims could not respond to the call
for a united struggle.
----------------
Q- Trace the development of alienation of Hindus and Muslims on communal lines.
Ans: The Congress and the Muslim League made efforts to renegotiate an alliance and in 1927 it
appeared that such a unity would be forged.
i) The important differences were over the question of representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected.
ii) Mohammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League was willing to give up demand for separate electorates if Muslims were assured of reserved seats in the Central assembly and representation in proportion to population in Muslim dominated provinces (Bengal and Punjab).
iii) Negotiations over questions of representation continued but all hope of resolving the issues at the All Parties Conference in 1928 disappeared when M.R Jaykar of Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.
iv) There was an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between communities. Alienated from the Congress, large sections of Muslims could not respond to the call for a united struggle. As the Muslim leaders thought that their culture and identity would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.
v) When the Civil Disobedience Movement started, there was thus an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust between communities. Many Muslim leaders and intellectuals expressed their concern about the status of Muslims as a minority within India. They feared that the culture and identity of minorities would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.
----------------------
Q- Trace the spread of nationalism in India.
Or
Examine the factors responsible for the origin and spread of nationalist sentiment/consciousness in India.
(Sub q1: How did folklore help in developing a spirit of nationalism? Ans 35, point iv and
its sub points.)
(Sub q2: Examine the role played by icons and symbols in creating the spirit of nationalism. Ans 35, point v and its sub points)
(Sub q3: “Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history.” Explain. Ans 35, point vi and its sub points)
Ans: Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation.
When they discover some unity that binds them together.
i) United Struggles: When the people of different communities, regions or language groups develop a sense of collective belonging because of experience of united struggles.
ii) Cultural processes: Variety of cultural processes like History and fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in making of nationalism.
iii) Allegory: The identity of a nation is most often symbolized in a figure or image.
a) Through this image people can identify the nation. It was in 20th century with the growth of
nationalism, that the identity of India became visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
b) This was first created by Bankim Chandra. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandamath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
iv) Folklore: Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.
a) In the late 19th century, Indian nationalists began recording folklore sung by bards
and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.
b) It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity and
restore a sense of pride in one’s past.
c) In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival.
d) In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive four-volume collection of Tamil folk tales, The
Folklore of Southern India. He believed that folklore was national literature; it was ‘the most
trustworthy manifestation of people’s real thoughts and characteristics’.
v) Icons and symbols: These gained a lot of importance in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism.
a) During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tri colour flag with red green and yellow colour was designed with 8 lotuses representing 8 provinces of British India and a crescent moon representing Hindus and Muslims.
b) By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag. It was again a tricolour (red, green and white) and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during marches became a symbol of defiance.
vi) Reinterpretation of History: Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through
reinterpretation of history.
a) By the 19th century many Indians felt that to instill a sense of pride in the nation, Indian history and their past achievements needed to be reread. The British saw Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves.
b) In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements. They wrote about glorious developments in ancient
times when art and architecture, science and math, law and philosophy, religion and culture, craft and trade flourished. This glorious past declined when India was colonized.
c) These nationalist histories urged the readers to take pride in India’s great achievements in the past and struggle to change the miserable conditions of life under British rule.
d) But these efforts to unify people were not without problems, when the past was glorified, all the images were taken from Hindu iconography. The people of other communities felt left out.
-----------------
Q- How did the figures and images of Bharat Mata instill feelings of nationalism among the Indian people?
Ans: The identity of the nation is most often symbolized in a figure or image. This helped create an image by which people can identify with the nation.
i) It was in the twentieth century, with the growth of nationalism that the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.
ii) The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote’ Vande Mataram’ a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel ‘Anand Math’ and widely sung during the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal.
iii) Moved by Swadeshi Movement Rabindranath Tagore, painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting, Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure, she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.
iv) In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms, as it circulated in popular prints and was painted by different artists. Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.
----------------------
Important Terms
i) Beggar – Labour that villagers were forced to contribute without any payment.
ii) Picket – A form of demonstration or protest by which people block the entrance to a shop,
factory or office.
iii) Boycott – The refusal to deal and associate with people, or participate in activities, or buy and use things; usually a form of protest.
iv) Forced recruitment – A process by which the colonial state forced people to join the army.
----------------------
Q- How was the Rowlatt Act opposed by the people in India? Explain with examples. (Board Term-II, 2013; 3 marks)
Ans: The Rowlatt Act of 1919 was opposed in the following manner:
i. Rallies were organised in various cities.
ii. Workers went on strike in railway workshops.
iii. Shops were closed down.It was in opposition to the Rowlatt Act that the famous Jallianwala Bagh Massacre took place. General Dyer ordered his troops to open fire on the innocent Civilian who had gathered from the city of Amritsar and outside to attend a peaceful meeting.
----------------------
Q- Who had organised the dalits into the ‘Depressed classes Association’ in 1930? Describe his achievements. (Delhi Set-I, II, III, 2019; 5 marks)
Ans: Depressed Classes Association was organised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in 1930.
Achievements:
i. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar raised the demand of separate electorate for Dalits.
ii. British Government conceded Ambedkar’s demand of separate electorates for Dalits.
iii. The depressed classes got reservation of seats in provincial and Central Legislative Councils.
iv. Ambedkar accepted Gandhiji’s position and as the result Poona Pact was signed.
No comments