Making of national movement

 Who was the viceroy in 1905?

Answer: Viceroy Curzon

Who gave the slogan “do or die”?
Or
Who raised the slogan “do or die”?

Gandhi

What does RSS stand for?

Answer: RSS stands for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Name the newspaper edited by Balgangadhar Tilak.

Answer: Kesari, a Marathi newspaper was edited by Balgangadhar Tilak.

What does HSRA stand for?

Answer: HSRA stand for Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.

When was Muslim League formed?

Answer: All India Muslim League was formed at Dacca in 1906.

Name three places where Gandhiji started local movement.
Or
Write the places of intervention of Gandhiji in local movements.

Answer: Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad

9. When did the congress split and reunited?

Answer: The Congress split in 1907 and reunited in December 1915.

What was the Swadeshi Movement known as in deltaic Andhra?

Answer: It was known as the Vandemataram Movement in deltaic Andhra.

Who were the three main leaders of Radical group?

Answer: Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai

Who raised the slogan “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!”?

Answer: Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!”

14. Who were the leaders of Khilafat Movement?
Or
Who were the leaders of the Khilafat agitation?

Answer: The leaders of the Khilafat agitation were Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali.

Who was Chitta Ranjan Das?

Answer:  Chitta Ranjan Das was a lawyer from East Bengal. He was especially active in the Non- Cooperation Movement.

Who was the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress?

Answer: Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress (1925).

Why did Rabindranath give up the title of knighthood?
Or
Why did Rabindranath Tagore renounce his knighthood?

Answer:  Rabindranath Tagore had renounced the British knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.

Who was A.O Hume? What role did he play in the history of India?

A.O Hume was a retired British official. He played a part in bringing Indians from the various regions together. He founded the party Indian National Congress.

When was Indian National Congress established?

Answer: The Indian National Congress was established when 72 delegates from all over the country met at Bombay in December 1885.

Who wrote the book Poverty and Un-British rule in India? What was it about?

Answer: Dadabhai Naoroji wrote the book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. It offered a scathing criticism of the economic impact of British rule.

Free India's First Governor General?

C. Rjagopalachari

What did the Muslim League resolution of 1940 ask for?

Answer: The Muslim League resolution of 1940 asked for “Independent States” for Muslims in the north-western and eastern areas of the country.

Why did the Muslim League announce 16 August 1946 as ‘ Direct Action Day’?

 After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand. It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”. (A Cabinet Mission went to India on 24 March 1946 to discuss the transfer of power from the British government to the Indian political leadership with the aim of preserving India's unity and granting its independence.)

Write a short note on Maulana Azad.

Answer:  Azad was born in Mecca to a Bengali father and an Arab mother. Well-versed in many languages, Azad was a scholar of Islam and an exponent of the notion of wahadat-i-deen, the essential oneness of all religions. An active participant in Gandhian movements and a staunch advocate of Hindu- Muslim unity, he was opposed to Jinnah’s two-nation theory.

Why did Gandhi start Dandi march?

Describe Gandhi march to Dandi.

Gandhi and his followers believed that Purna Swaraj would not come by itself. People need to fight for it. 

• Gandhiji declared that he would lead a march to break the salt law.
• According to this law, the state had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt.
• Gandhiji and his followers marched for over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi where they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt.
• Peasants, tribals and women participated in large numbers. A business federation published a pamphlet on the salt issue.
• The government tried to crush the movement through brutal action against peaceful satyagrahis. Thousands were sent to jail.

 How did people participate in non-cooperation movement during 1921-22?

Answer:  The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22.

• Thousands of students left government controlled schools and colleges.
• Many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari and Asaf Ali gave up their practices.
• British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted.
• People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth. The imports of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922.

Who were the Moderates? How did they propose to struggle against British rule?

Answer:  It has often been said that the Congress in the first twenty years was “moderate” in its objectives and methods. The congress leaders of this period were called ‘moderates’. The Moderate leaders wanted to develop public awareness about the unjust nature of British rule. They published newspapers, wrote articles, and showed how British rule was leading to the economic ruin of the country. They criticised British rule in their speeches and sent representatives to different parts of the country to mobilise public opinion. They felt that the British had respect for the ideals of freedom and justice, and so they would accept the just demands of Indians.

How was the politics of the Radicals within the Congress different from that of the Moderates?

Answer:  By the 1890s many Indians began to raise questions about the political style of the Congress. In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were beginning to explore more radical objectives and methods. They criticised the Moderates for their “politics of prayers”, and emphasised the importance of self-reliance and constructive work. They argued that people must rely on their own strength, not on the “good” intentions of the government; people must fight for swaraj.

What caused the partition of Bengal in 1905?

 In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal. At that time Bengal was the biggest province of British India and included Bihar and parts of Orissa. The British argued for dividing Bengal for reasons of administrative convenience. But clearly, it was closely tied to the interests of British officials and businessmen. Even so, instead of removing the non-Bengali areas from the province, the government separated East Bengal and merged it with Assam. Perhaps the main British motives were to curtail the influence of Bengali politicians and to split the Bengali people.

What were the consequences of partition of Bengal?

• The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India. All sections of the Congress – the Moderates and the Radicals, opposed it.
• Large public meetings and demonstrations were organised and novel methods of mass protest developed.
• The struggle that unfolded came to be known as the Swadeshi movement, strongest in Bengal but with echoes elsewhere too – in deltaic Andhra for instance, it was known as the Vandemataram Movement.

What was khilafat agitation?

 In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa. People were furious about this as they had been about the Jallianwala massacre. Also, Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire. The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, now wished to initiate a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.

Under what circumstances did Mahatma Gandhi initiate Quit India Movement?

 In September 1939, after two years of Congress rule in the provinces, the Second World War broke out. Critical of Hitler, Congress leaders were ready to support the British war effort. But in return they wanted that India be granted independence after the war. The British refused to concede the demand. The Congress ministries resigned in protest. Mahatma Gandhi decided to initiate a new phase of movement against the British in the middle of the Second World War. The British must quit India immediately, he told them. To the people he said, “do or die” in your effort to fight the British – but you must fight non-violently.

What economic impact did the First World War have on India?

Answer: The First World War altered the economic and political situation in India. It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Government of India. The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits. Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices which created great difficulties for the common people. On the other hand, business groups reaped fabulous profits from the war. The war created a demand for industrial goods (jute bags, cloth, rails) and caused a decline of imports from other countries into India. So Indian industries expanded during the war, and Indian business groups began to demand greater opportunities for development.

Why were people dissatisfied with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s?

People were dissatisfied with British rule in the 1870s and 1880s due to the following reasons:

• The Arms Act was passed in 1878, disallowing Indians from possessing arms.
• In the same year the Vernacular Press Act was also enacted in an effort to silence those who were critical of the government. The Act allowed the government to confiscate the assets of newspapers including their printing presses if the newspapers published anything that was found “objectionable”.
• In 1883, there was a furore over the attempt by the government to introduce the Ilbert Bill. The bill provided for the trial of British or European persons by Indians, and sought equality between British and Indian judges in the country. But when white opposition forced the government to withdraw the bill, Indians were enraged.

Discuss the various forms that the Non-Cooperation Movement took in different parts of India. How did the people understand Gandhiji?

Non-Cooperation Movement took various forms in different parts of India.

• In Kheda, Gujarat, Patidar peasants organised nonviolent campaigns against the high land revenue demand of the British.
• In coastal Andhra and interior Tamil Nadu, liquor shops were picketed.
• In the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, tribals and poor peasants staged a number of “forest satyagrahas”, sometimes sending their cattle into forests without paying grazing fee. They were protesting because the colonial statehad restricted their use of forest resources in various ways.
• In Sind (now in Pakistan), Muslim traders and peasants were very enthusiastic about the Khilafat call. In Bengal too, the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation alliance gave enormous communal unity and strength to the national movement.
• In Punjab, the Akali agitation of the Sikhs sought to remove corrupt mahants – supported by the British – from their gurdwaras. This movement got closely identified with the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• In Assam, tea garden labourers, shouting “Gandhi Maharaj ki Jai”, demanded a big increase in their wages. They left the British-owned plantations amidst declarations that they were following Gandhiji’s wish.
• People thought of Gandhiji as a kind of messiah, as someone who could help them overcome their misery and poverty.

What was the Rowlatt act? Give an account of the Rowlatt Satyagraha?

Answer:  The Rowlatt Satyagraha

• In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed.
• The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.
• Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and others felt that the government had no right to restrict people’s basic freedoms. They criticised the Act as “devilish” and tyrannical.
• Gandhiji asked the Indian people to observe 6 April 1919 as a day of non-violent opposition to this Act, as a day of “humiliation and prayer” and hartal (strike). Satyagraha Sabhas were set up to launch the movement.
• The Rowlatt Satyagraha turned out to be the first all-India struggle against the British government although it was largely restricted to cities.
• In April 1919 there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them.
• The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression.                                                             

Discuss those developments of the 1937-47 period that led to the creation of Pakistan.

From the late 1930s, the League began viewing the Muslims as a separate “nation” from the Hindus.

The provincial elections of 1937 seemed to have convinced the League that Muslims were a minority, and they would always have to play second fiddle in any democratic structure. 

The Congress’s failure to mobilise the Muslim masses in the 1930s allowed the League to widen its social support.

• At the end of the war in 1945, the British opened negotiations between the Congress, the League and themselves for the independence of India. The talks failed because the League saw itself as the sole spokesperson of India’s Muslims. The Congress could not accept this claim since a large number of Muslims still supported it.
• Elections to the provinces were again held in 1946. The Congress did well in the “General” constituencies but the League’s success in the seats reserved for Muslims was spectacular. It persisted with its demand for “Pakistan”.
• In March 1946 the British cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine this demand and to suggest a suitable political framework for a free India.
• This mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation with some autonomy for Muslim-majority areas. 
• After the failure of the Cabinet Mission, the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand. It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”.
• Ultimately in 1947 partition took place with the birth of new country.

Evaluate the dynamic role of Gandhiji in the Indian nationalist struggle for freedom as a leader of the masses.

• Mahatma Gandhi emerged as a mass leader. Gandhiji, aged 46, arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa.
• Having led Indians in that country in non-violent marches against racist restrictions, he was already a respected leader, known internationally.
• His South African campaigns had brought him in contact with various types of Indians.
• Mahatma Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country, understanding the people, their needs and the overall situation.
• His earliest interventions were in local movements in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad where he came into contact with Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel. In Ahmedabad he led a successful millworkers’ strike in 1918.
• In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed.
• Gandhiji supported urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj. The Non-Cooperation Movement gained momentum through 1921-22.
• He abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri Chaura.
• Gandhi again took off with another nonviolent movement known as the civil disobedience movement in 1930.
• The Quit India Movement was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942.