Ch. 3 Nationalism in India Questions and Answers

Q. In which year did Poona pact take place?

A. Poona pact took place in the September of 1932.


Q. Due to which incident did Gandhiji call off the Non-cooperation Movement?

A. Gandhiji called of the NCM in 1922 due to the incidence of Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur, where a peaceful demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash with the police.


Q. In which session of Congress was Non-cooperation Movement adopted?

A. The NCM was adopted at the Congress session at Nagpur in December 1920.


Q. Who wrote Vande Mataram?

A. Vande Mataram was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in the 1870s. It was later included in his novel Anandamath.


Q. Who painted the image of Bharat Mata?

A. The image of Bharat Mata was painted by Abanindranath Tagore. He portrayed her as an ascetic figure; calm, composed, divine and spiritual.


Q. What were the demands of the peasants of Awadh?

A. The peasants of Awadh demanded reduction of revenue, the abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords.



Q. What was the importance of the Lahore Congress session of 1929?

A. It was at the Lahore Congress session of 1929 that, the Congress, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, formalised the demand of 'Purna Swaraj' or full independence for India. It was declared that 26 January 1930 would be celebrated as the Independence Day.


Q. Explain (NCERT)

a) Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.

A. ・In many colonies like India, Vietnam etc., 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.

・The sense of being oppressed under colonialism provided a shared bond that tied many different groups together.

・But each class and group felt the effects of colonialism differently, their experiences were varied, and their notions of freedom were not always the same.


b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India.

A. The First World War helped in the growth on the National Movement in India in the following ways:

・The war created a new economic and political situation. It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes: customs duties were raised and income tax was introduced.

・Through the war years prices increased- doubling between 1913 and 1918- leading to extreme hardship for the common people. Villages were called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.

・Then in 1918-19 and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India resulting in acute shortages of food. This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic.


c) Why were Indians outraged by the Rowlatt Act?

A. ・The Rowlatt Act (1919) had been hurriedly passed through the imperial legislative council despite the united opposition of the Indian members.

・It gave the government enormous power to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

・Thus Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.

d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement?

A. ・At Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash with the police. Hearing the incident, Mahatma Gandhi called a halt to the Non-Cooperation Movement.

・Gandhiji felt the Movement was turning violent in many places and Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles.

・Within the Congress, some leaders were by now tired of the mass struggle and wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils.

Q. Who had designed the Swaraj flag by 1921? Explain the main features of this flag?

A.・By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the Swaraj flag.

・It was a tricolour flag with the colours- red, green and white and had a spinning wheel in the centre representing the Gandhian idea of self-help.

・It was a symbol which unified people and inspired in them the feeling of nationalism. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft, during the marches became a symbol of defiance.


Q. Describe briefly the economic effects of the Non-Cooperation Movement.

A.・The effects of non-cooperation on the economic front were dramatic. Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.

・The import of foreign cloth halved between 1921 and 1922, its value dropping from Rs. 102 crore to Rs. 57 crore. In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. 


・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.

Q. Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism. (NCERT)

OR

How did the salt satyagraha become an effective tool of resistance against British colonialism in India during 1930? Explain.

A. ・Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31st January 1930, he sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating 11 demands. Some of these were of general interest.

・The most stirring of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax. Salt was something consumed by the rich and poor alike, and it was one of the most essential food items. The tax on salt and the government monopoly over it, Mahatma Gandhi declared, revealed the most oppressive face of British rule.

・If the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the Congress would start a Civil Disobedience Campaign. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate.

・So, Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers. The March was over 240 miles from Gandhiji's Sabarmati Ashram to the Gujarati coastal town of Dandi.

・The volunteers walked for 24 days, about 10 miles a day. Thousands came to hear Gandhiji wherever he stopped. He told them what he meant by Swaraj and urged them to peacefully defy the British.

・On 6 April he reached Dandi and ceremonially violated the law, manufacturing salt by boiling sea water.

Q. What do you mean by the sense of collective belongingness? How was it practiced in India by the Indians?

OR

"Nationalism spreads when people begin to believe that they are all part of the same nation." Support the statement.

A. The sense of collective belonging came partly through the experience of united struggles. But there were also a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people's imagination:

・The identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of  Bharat Mata first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In 1870s he wrote 'Vande Matram'. Later it was included in his novel Anandmath.

・Moved by the Swadeshi Movement, Abanindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata, who is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual.

・ In the late 19th century India, nationalists began recording folk tales. In Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore himself began collecting ballads, nursery rhymes, and myths and led the movement for folk revival. In Madras, Natesa Sastri published a massive 4 volume collection of Tamil folk tales, the folklore of southern India.

・During the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag (red, green and yellow) was designed. It had 8 lotuses representing 8 provinces under British India, and a crescent moon representing Hindu-Muslim unity. 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 idea of self-help.

・Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history. Indians began looking into the past to discover India's great achievements. They wrote about the glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and philosophy, crafts and trade had flourished. 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 the British rule.

Q. What is meant by the idea of stayagraha?     [N.C.E.R.T.]

A.・Satyagraha is a novel method of mass agitation advocated by Mahatma Gandhi.

・The idea of stayagraha emphasises the power of truth and the need to search for truth. It suggests that if the cause is true, if the struggle is against injustice, then physical force is not necessary to fight the oppressor.

・Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi can win the battle through non-violence by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor.


Q. Analyse the role of merchants and industrialists in the Civil Disobedience movement.

A.・During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and had become powerful. During the Civil Disobedience Movement, keen on expanding their business, they reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities. They wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.

・To organise business interests, they formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress in 1920 and the Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) in 1927.

・Led by prominent industrialists like Pushottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla, the industrialists attacked colonial control over the Indian economy and supported the Civil Disobedience Movement when it was first launched.

・They gave financial assistance and refused to buy or sell imported goods. Most businessmen came to see swaraj as a time when colonial restrictions on business would no longer exist and trade and industry would flourish without constraints. 

・But after the failure of the Round Table Conference, bussiness groups got apprehensive of the spread of militant activities and worried about prolonged disruption of business. The growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the Congress disappointed the industrialists. Thus they suspended their support.


Q. Why did Mahatma Gandhi decide to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act? Give three reasons.

A.・Emboldened with the success of his previous satyagrahas of Champaran (1916), Kheda (1917) and Ahmedabad (1918), Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt Act (1919). 

・This Act had been hurriedly passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of Indian members.

・It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years. Thus Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws.


Q. What were the factors responsible for the gradual slowdown of Non-Cooperation movement?

A. Factors responsible for the gradual slowdown of the NCM were-

・Khaadi cloth was often more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it. Thus it wasn't possible for everyone to boycott cheap mill cloth.

・The boycott of British institutions posed a problem. For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of the British ones. 

・As these institutions were slow to come up, students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.


Q. Explain the circumstances under which Gandhiji decided to call off the Civil Disobedience movement.

A.・During the Civil Disobedience movement, the worried colonial government began arresting the Congress leaders one by one. This led to violent clashes in many places.

・When Abdul Ghaffar Khan was arrested in April 1930, angry crowds demonstrated in the streets of Peshawar, facing armoured cars and police firing. Many were killed.

・A month later, when Mahatma Gandhi himself was arrested, industrial workers in Sholapur attacked police posts, municipal buildings, law courts and railway stations- all structures that symbolised British rule.

・A frightened government responded with a policy of brutal repression. Peaceful satyagrahis were attacked, women and children were beaten, and about 1,00,000 people were arrested.

・Thus Mahatma Gandhi once again decided to call off the movement and entered into a pact with Irwin on 5 March 1931. By this Gandhi-Irwin pact, Gandhiji consented to participate in a Round Table Conference in London and the government agreed to release the political prisoners.


Q. Who was Alluri Sitaram Raju? Explain his role in inspiring the rebels with Gandhiji's ideas.

A.・Alluri Sitaram Raju was the leader of the militant guerrilla movement spread in the 1920s in the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh. Here, as in other forest regions, the colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits.

・This enraged the people. Not only were their livelihoods affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied. Thus they began a revolt under Alluri Sitaram Raju.

・He claimed that he could make correct astrological predictions and heal people, and he could even survive bullet shots. Captivated by Raju, the rebels proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God.

・Inspired by Gandhiji and the Non-Cooperation movement, he persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking. But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.

・Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and over time became a folk hero.


Q. What was the notion of plantation workers in Assam?

A.・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.

・Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given such permission.

・When the plantation workers heard of the NCM, thousands of them defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.

・They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.

・They, however, never reached their destination. Stranded on their way by a railway and streamer strike, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.


Q. Mention the efforts made by Gandhiji to get the 'untouchables' their rights.

A. Gandhiji made the following efforts to get the 'untouchables' their rights:

・Mahatma Gandhi declared that Swaraj would not be possible if untouchability was not eliminated. He gave the 'untouchables' the title 'Harijan' or the children of God.

・He organised satyagraha to secure them entry into temples, and access to public wells, tanks, roads, and schools. 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'.

・Gandhiji signed the Poona Pact (September 1932) with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. This gave the Depressed Classes reserved seats in provincial and central legislative councils. Thus he even worked for their political representation.


Q. "Some of the Muslim political organisations in India were also lukewarm in their response to the Civil Disobedience Movement." Explain the statement.

A. Some of the Muslim political organisations in India were also lukewarm in their response to the Civil Disobedience Movement because:

・After the decline of the Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the Congress. From the mid 1920s the Congress came to be more visibly associated with openly Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.

・As relations between Hindus and Muslims worsened, each community organised religious processions with militant fervour, provoking Hindu-Muslim communal clashes and riots in various cities.

・The Congress and the Muslim League made efforts to renegotiate an alliance in 1927. The important differences were over the question of representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected.

・Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League, was willing to give up the demand for separate electorates, if Muslims were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation in proportion to the population in the Muslim dominated provinces. But all efforts of resolving the issue at the All Parties Conference in 1928 disappeared when M. R. Jayakar of the Hindu Mahasabha strongly opposed efforts at compromise.

・Thus, due to suspicion and distrust between the two communities, when the Civil Disobedience movement started, large sections of Muslims could not respond to a call for a united struggle. Many Muslim leaders feared that the culture and identity of minorities would be submerged under the domination of a Hindu majority.