Test: Nationalist Movement Phase 2 (1919-1939) - 2 - UPSC MCQ

Statement 1 is incorrect. Mahatma Gandhi did not see Satyagraha as passive resistance. Rather, he saw it as a form of active, nonviolent resistance to injustice.

Statement 2 is correct. Mahatma Gandhi described Satyagraha as a true soul force with truth as its very substance.

Therefore, only statement 1 is incorrect.

• Mahatma Gandhi on Satyagraha: It is said of passive resistance that it is the weapon of the weak, but the power that is the subject of this article can only be used only by the strong. This power is not passive resistance; indeed, it calls for intense activity. The movement in South Africa was not passive but active. Satyagraha is not a physical force. A satyagrahi does not inflict pain on the adversary; he does not seek his destruction.

• In the use of Satyagraha, there is no ill will whatsoever. Satyagraha is pure soul force. Truth is the very substance of the soul. That is why this force is called Satyagraha. The soul is informed with knowledge. It burns the flame of love. Non-violence is the supreme dharma.

• Certainly, India cannot rival Britain or Europe in force of arms. The British worship the war god and they can become, as they are becoming, bearers of arms. The hundreds of millions in India can never carry arms. They have made the religion of non-violence their own.

• Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign was based on the ideals of humanism and reason. He argued that untouchability had no sanction in the Hindu Shastras, and even if this was not the case, the Shastras should be ignored because they are against human dignity.

• Mahatma Gandhi advocated the need for caste Hindus to do ‘penance’ and ‘make reparations’ for the untold hardships to which caste Hindus have subjected the Harijans for centuries. And he was not hostile to Dr Ambedkar and other Harijans who criticised and distrusted Gandhi.

• Caste Hindus largely accepted this theme of ‘penance’ and readily accepted reservations in jobs and enrollment in professional colleges for the Scheduled Castes after independence.

• Dateline of the fasts unto death

• In 1918. For an increase in the wages of mill workers in Ahmedabad. Lasted four days.
• In 1932. For joint electorates for the entire Hindu populace rather than separate electorates for untouchables. Lasted six days.

• Dateline of all fasts

• July 1913, South Africa. As atonement for a moral fall of two Ashram inmates. Fast for 1 week; thereafter, 1 meal a day for 20 weeks.
• Late 1913, South Africa. During the Miners March. When striking indentured labourers were killed by policemen, Gandhi ate one meal a day for some time and asked others to follow suit. The first of his public fasts.
• 15 March 1918 to 19 March 1918, Ahmedabad. For raising of wages of mill workers. Resulted in an arbitration mechanism being put in place for labour disputes, and in the formation of the first of Gujarat’s labour unions, the Ahmedabad Labour Association.
• 14 April 1919, Ahmedabad. A 72-hour fast, as atonement for the violence during the anti-Rowlatt Act protests. Asked countrymen to fast for 24 hours.
• February 1922, Bardoli. A 5-day fast to atone for Chauri Chaura.
• 17 September 1924, Delhi. A 21-day fast against the anti-Hindu violence in Kohat in the North West Frontier Provinces.
• 12 September 1932, Yerwada jail. A fast unto death against separate electorates for untouchables. It culminated in the Gandhi-Ambedkar Poona Pact where a common electorate for all Hindus was agreed upon, provided the untouchable had seats reserved for them in the legislature and provided there was a primary election – before the main election – where the untouchable would vote for other untouchable who would then stand for elections on the reserved seats.
• May 1933, Yerwada jail. A 21-day fast for self purification and over his distress at the continuing practice of untouchability. Released from jail after a few days, he continued to fast until the 21 days were over.
• 16 August 1933. Facilities in his jail cell for Harijan work. Released from jail.
• 7 August 1934, Wardha. A 1-week fast in reparation for the attack on Lalnath, a sanatanist; the sanatanists were opposed to Gandhi’s untouchability cause.
• 3 March 1939, Rajkot. A fast against the breach of faith by the ruler of Rajkot who had promised to carry out administrative reforms in his territory but retracted on his promise.  The fast ended four days later when the dispute got referred to the Chief Justice of India.
• 10 February 1943, Poona. A 21-day fast as a response to the Viceroy’s insisting that Gandhi admit to being responsible for the disturbances of 1942 and give an assurance that they would not recur.
• September 1947, Calcutta. A fast unto death for communal harmony. Ended when Gandhi received a signed declaration from several parties.
• 13 January 1948. A fast unto death for communal harmony. Ended on January 18 after assurances from various groups.
•  
• In 1947. For communal harmony. Lasted four days.
• In 1948. For communal harmony. Lasted six days.

The correct answer is Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919.
Key Points

• Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 is also called as Government of India Act 1919.
• Montague was the secretary of state for India and Chelmsford was the viceroy of India during the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms 1919.
• Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 introduced dyarchy in provinces by dividing the provincial subjects into transferred and reserved.
• It also introduced bicameralism and direct election for the first time in India.
• It provided the right to vote for women in India.
• It provided for the establishment of a public service commission which was set up in 1926.
• It extended the principle of communal representation by providing a separate electorate for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo Indians, and Europeans.

The correct answer is A. 1 and 4 only.

Statement 1 is correct. The First World War led to a huge increase in defence expenditure, which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes. This had a significant impact on the Indian economy, as resources were diverted towards the war effort.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The British government actually raised customs duties during the war to protect British industries and to raise revenue for the war effort. This had a negative impact on Indian industries, as it made it harder for them to compete with British imports.

Statement 3 is also incorrect. The Rowlatt Act was actually passed in 1919, after the end of the First World War. It was a repressive law that allowed the British government to detain individuals without trial and to suppress political dissent.

Statement 4 is correct. The demand for industrial goods during the First World War led to the growth of Indian industries, as they were able to produce goods to meet this demand. This had a positive impact on the Indian economy and helped to lay the foundations for industrial development in India.

Therefore, only statement 1 and 4 are correct.

Lahore Congress Session:

• The Indian National Congress (INC), on 19 December 1929, passed the historic "Purna Swaraj resolution" at its Lahore session.
• A Public Announcement was made on 26 January 1930 a day which the Congress Party selected for the Indians to celebrate as "Independence Day".
• 26th January 1930 was declared as Purna Swaraj Diwas.
• Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru presided over the Lahore Congress session. 
• Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the tricolor flag of India. 

• Statement 1: The Khilafat Movement, (1919-1920) was a movement of Indian Muslims, led by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad one of the founders of the Khilafat movement.
• Statement 2: It demanded the following: The Turkish Sultan or Khalifa must retain control over the Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman empire; the jazirat-ul-Arab (Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Palestine) must remain under Muslim sovereignty; and the Khalifa must be left with sufficient territory to enable him lo defend the Islamic faith.
• Statement 3: The Congress supported the movement and Mahatma Gandhi sought to conjoin it to the Non-cooperation Movement.

• Khilafat movement arose in India in the early 20lh century due to Muslim fears for the integrity of Islam. These fears were aroused by Italian (1911) and Balkan (1912-13) attacks on Turkey—whose sultan, as caliph, was the religious head of the worldwide Muslim community—and by Turkish defeats in World War I.

• They were intensified by the Treaty of Sevres (August 1920), which detached all non-Turkish regions from the empire and gave parts of the Turkish homeland to Greece and other non-Muslim powers.

• A campaign in defence of the caliph was launched, led in India by the brothers Shaukat and Muhammad Ali and Abul Kalam Azad. The leaders joined forces with Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation movement for Indian freedom, promising non-violence in return for his support of the Khilafat movement.

• In 1920, the latter movement was marred by the hijrat or exodus from India to Afghanistan of about 18,000 Muslim peasants, who felt that India was an apostate land. It was also tarnished by the Muslim Moplah rebellion in South India (Malabar) in 1921, the excesses of which deeply stirred Hindu India.

• Mahatma Gandhi’s suspension of his movement and his arrest in March 1922 weakened the Khilafat movement. It was further undermined when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk drove the Greeks from western Asia Minor in 1922 and deposed the Turkish sultan in the same year; it finally collapsed when he abolished the caliphate altogether in 1924.

Gandhi was the main force behind the movement, and C.R. Das moved the main resolution on non-cooperation in the annual session of the Congress in Nagpur in 1920 and played a major role in promoting the movement.

Both statements are correct.

As per the call, all offices and factories would be closed. Indians would be encouraged to withdraw from Raj-sponsored schools, police services, the military and the civil service; lawyers were asked to leave Raj’s courts. Public transportation and English-manufactured goods, especially clothing, was boycotted.

Although most Congress leaders remained firmly behind Mahatma Gandhi, the determined broke away. The Ali brothers would soon become fierce critics. Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das formed the Swaraj Party, rejecting Gandhi’s leadership.

• In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi 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.

• In April 1919, several 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, were a part of this repression.

• The Khilafat issue was another such cause. 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 retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire.

• The Khilafat agitation leaders, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, wished to initiate a full-fledged Non-Cooperation movement. Mahatma Gandhi supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against the ‘Punjab wrongs’ (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand Swaraj.

• The Chauri Chaura incident occurred at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district of the United Province (modem Uttar Pradesh) in British India in February 1922, when a large group of protesters participating in the Non-Cooperation movement clashed with police, who opened fire.

• In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing all its occupants. The incident led to the deaths of three civilians and several police officers.

• Mahatma Gandhi, who was strictly against violence, halted the Non-Cooperation movement on the national level in February 1922 as a direct result of this incident.

• C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru suggested that the nationalists should end the legislative councils' boycott and enter them to expose the sham parliament and obstruct every work of the Council.

• Another section of the Congress, headed by Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and C. Rajagopalachari, opposed the proposal. After the defeat of the proposals, Das and Motilal resigned from their respective offices in the Congress and announced the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party (Swaraj Party or pro changers). And those advocating a boycott of the councils were known as no changers.

• It was formed in 1923 by members of the Indian National Congress who had opposed the suspension of all civil resistance in 1922 in response to the Chauri Chaura tragedy.

• C. R. Das and Motilal Nehni suggested that the nationalists should end the legislative councils' boycott and enter them to expose ‘sham parliaments’.

• The suspension of all civil resistance in 1922 in response to the Chauri Chaura tragedy. C. R. Das and Motilal Nehni suggested that the nationalists should end the legislative councils' boycott and enter them to expose ‘sham parliaments’.

C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru put forward either mending or ending the boycott of councils at the Gaya session of the Congress in December 1922. The other section of the Congress led by Vallabhbhai Patel, C. Rajagopalachari and Rajendra Prasad opposed the new proposal.

• A major debate on strategy occurred with the withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

• A section of congress members led by Dr M. A. Ansari, Asaf Ali, Satyamurthy, Bhulabhai Desai and B.C. Roy advocated participation in the elections to the Central Legislative Assembly which was to be held in 1934.

• The new Swarajists argued that in a period of political apathy and depression, it was necessary to utilise elections and work in legislative councils to keep up the people's political interest and morale.

• The Swarajist activity in the legislatures inspired the politicised persons and kept their political interest alive.

• In 1923-1924, Congress members got elected to several municipalities: C. R. Das became the mayor of Calcutta and Vithalbhai Patel of Ahmedabad Municipality. The no-changers actively joined the works of Swarajists, as they believed that local bodies could be used to promote the constructive programme and other nationalist activities.

• But the Swarajists lacked any policy of coordinating with the mass political work outside and relied almost mainly on newspaper reporting.

• The Punjab Hindu Sabha, founded under the leaders U.N. Mukherji and Lai Chand in 1909, laid the foundations of the Hindu communal ideology and politics.

• The first session of the All India Hindu Mahasabha was held under the Maharaja of Kasim Bazar's presidency in April 1915.

• After the unpopular partition of Bengal, Jinnah approached the Muslim League to make it more popular among the Muslim masses. Due to the reconciliation brought about by Jinnah between the Congress and the League, the Nightingale of India, Sarojini Naidu, gave him the title of the ‘Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity’.

In April 1929, Bhagat Singh and Batukeswar Dutta threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly.

• The commission submitted its report in 1930. To consider the commission's proposals, the British Government convened three Round Table Conferences of the representatives of the British Government, British India and Indian princely states.

• The Simon Commission was a group of 7 MPs from Britain sent to India in 1928 to study constitutional reforms and make recommendations to the government. The Commission was originally named the Indian Statutory Commission.

• One of its members was Clement Attlee, who became committed to Indian independence by 1934 and achieved that goal as Prime Minister in 1947 to grant independence to India and Pakistan.

• Some people in India were outraged and insulted that the Simon Commission, which was to determine India's future, did not include a single Indian member.

• The draft constitution was prepared, which was called ‘Nehru Committee Report’.

• This report was submitted on August 28, 1928, at the Lucknow conference of all the parties.

• The main points of the Nehru report were as follows: India would be given Dominion status. This means independence within the British Commonwealth. India will be a federation with a bicameral legislature at the centre, and the Ministry would be responsible to the legislature.

• The Governor-General of India would be India's constitutional head and have the same powers as that of the British Crown.

• There will be no separate electorate. The draft report also defined citizenship and fundamental rights.

• Throughout 1928 and 1929, the period before the Civil Disobedience Movement, Mahatma Gandhi acted as a brake on mounting pressure for another round of All-India mass struggle.

• Gandhi had strongly disapproved of Jawaharlal snap Independence resolution passed in his absence at the Madras Congress (1927).

• At Calcutta next year, he was able to push through a compromise formula which accepted the Nehru Report’s dominion status objective provided the British granted it by the end of 1929, failing which the Congress would be free to go in for Civil Disobedience and Puma Swaraj.

As per the commission, there should be a constitutional reconstruction in the form of a federal constitution. The provinces should be given full autonomy, including law. Other major recommendations include:

• The number of members of the provincial legislative council should be increased. The Governor-General should have complete power to appoint the members of the cabinet.

• The Governor should have discretionary power to relate to internal security and administrative powers to protect different communities.

• The Government of India should have complete control over the High Court.

• There were no Indian members in the commission. No universal franchise was proposed, and the position of Governor-General remained unaffected.

• There was no provision to abolish separate electorates, but it was rather extended to other communities. No financial devolution was proposed.

• It was prepared by an All Parties Conference chaired by Motilal Nehru with his son Jawaharlal Nehru acting as secretary.

• There were nine other members of this committee. The final report was signed by Motilal Nehru, Ali Imam, Tej Bahadur Sapru, Madhav Shrihari Aney, Mangal Singh, Shuaib Qureshi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and G. R. Pradhan. Qureshi disagreed with some of the recommendations.

Some of the important elements of the report.

• Unlike the eventual Government of India Act 1935, it contained a Bill of Rights.

• All power of government and all authority - legislative, executive and judicial-are derived from the people and the same shall be exercised through organisations established by, or under, and in accord with, this Constitution.

• There shall be no state religion; men and women shall have equal rights as citizens.

• There should be a federal form of government with residuary powers vested in the centre. (Some scholars, such as Moore 1988 considered the Nehru Report proposal as essentially unitary rather than federal);

• It included a description of the machinery of government including a proposal for creating a Supreme Court and a suggestion that the provinces should be linguistically determined.

• It did not provide for separate electorates for any community or weightage for minorities. Both of these were liberally provided in the eventual Government of India Act 1935.

• However, it did allow for the reservation of minority seats in provinces having a minority of at least 10%, but this was to be in strict proportion to the community's size.

• The Union's language shall be Indian, which may be written either in Devanagari (Hindi/Sanskrit), Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali or Tamil in character. The use of the English language shall be permitted.

• The Nehru Report, along with that of the Simon Commission was available to participants in the three Indian Round Table Conferences (1930-1932)