Long Answer Questions: Nationalism in India - Social Studies (SST) Class 10

Q.1. What what the main issue behind the Khilafat Movement? Why did Gandhiji support this?

OR

Why did Gandhiji decide to join the Khilafat Movement? Describe his association with the movement and its importance.
Ans. 

• Gandhiji wanted to make his ‘Satyagraha’ movement more broad-based. He realised that this could be possible only if Hindus and Muslims came closer and joined it. He found the Khilafat issue as one that could bring about this unity. The First World War had given a death blow to the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. The British had promised generous treatment to the Khalifa, but they did not keep up the promise. The Khalifa was considered the spiritual head of the Muslims and a protector of their holy places. By 1920, the British had totally dismembered the Turkish Empire.
• Mahatma Gandhiji extended his support to the Khilafat movement which strengthened it. He supported this movement for these reasons:
  1. The limitations of the Rowlatt Satyagraha which was mostly in cities and towns necessitated a widespread movement.
  2. Gandhiji wanted to unite Hindus and Muslims. He felt their unity will pave the way to strengthen the nationalist movement.
  3. The First World War had ended with the defeat of Ottoman Turkey, and there were rumours that a harsh peace treaty was going to be imposed on the Ottoman Emperor.
  4. To defend the Khalifa’s temporal powers, a Khilafat Committee was formed in Bombay in March 1919.
  5. 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.

Hence, Gandhiji convinced the other leaders to began Non-Cooperation movement at the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1920.

Q.2. Why did Gandhi choose “Non-Cooperation” as a method of fighting colonial rule? Explain his method.
Ans. His idea was very simple. The British were ruling India because the people had allowed them to do and cooperated with them. They had survived because the Indians did not throw them out. If the Indians refused to cooperate with the British, their rule would collapse and India would win active “Swaraj.”
He wanted the movement to unfold in stages and take various steps one by one. First was the surrender of all titles granted by the government, second, to boycott all services under the government — civil, police, and the army. Next was to boycott the courts and the Legislative Councils. If the government used repressive measures, then a full civil disobedience campaign was to be launched. This programme was launched in 1920 and lasted for two years.

Q.3. Explain the term “Swaraj” and its changed meaning in this period.

Ans. “Swaraj” means freedom or self-rule. Before Gandhiji came, the Indian National Movement asked for “self-rule” within the British Government, as in the dominions like Australia and Canada. Before Gandhiji, British rule was considered good for India. In 1920, “Swaraj” meant “Self-Government” within the empire if possible and outside if necessary. Earlier the attainment of Swaraj was through “constitutional means”; now it was substituted by “all peaceful and legitimate methods.” A resolution for ‘poorna swaraj’ or complete independence was passed at the Lahore session of Congress in December 1929.

Q.4. Why did different social groups join the Non-Cooperation Movement?

OR

Describe the extent of peoples’ participation in the Non-Cooperation Movement in the towns. What were its economic effects? [2011(T-2)]
Ans.

• The middle class joined the movement because the boycott of foreign goods would make the sale of their textiles and handlooms go up.
• The peasants took part in the movement because they hoped they would be saved from the oppressive landlords, high taxes taken by the colonial government.
• Plantation workers took part in the agitation hoping they would get the right to move freely in and outside the plantations and get land in their own villages.

Q.5. Why were the hill people of Andhra aggrieved by colonial rule?

OR

Analyze any four features of the Gudem rebellion of Andhra Pradesh. [2011(T-2)]
Ans. The hill people of Andhra (Gudem Hills) were angry with the British rule because the government had deprived them of the use of forest lands. They were prohibited to graze their cattle on forest lands, denied the right to cut trees for fuel and eat the fruits of the forest. This affected their livelihoods as well as denied them their traditional rights. They were also forced to do begar for building roads by the government. This enraged them so much that they organised a militant guerrilla movement in the 1920s.

Q.6. What is the importance of the Non-Cooperation Movement in India’s struggle for independence?
Ans. It was the first attempt at an all-India mass struggle against the British.

• The launching of the non-cooperation movement (NCM) transforms the character of national struggle completely. 
• The peasant participated in the National struggle for the first time. Students, women, and the working-class also participated in large numbers. 
• The launching of the non-cooperation movement greatly radicalizes the anti-British struggles. The discontent lying in the heart and minds of Indians came out in the open street. 
• The non-cooperation movement (NCM) transformed Indian National Congress (INC) into a true organization of masses. It was no longer an assembly of elites.
• The fear of British rule got erased from the heart and mind of the common masses when people came out to participate in the national struggle. They could see the helplessness of the British in front of Gandhiji with their own eyes. Every Indian felt emboldened.
• The non-cooperation movement (NCM) played an important role in the liberation of women because a large number of Indian women came out of their houses to participate in the anti-British struggle at one call of Gandhiji. Their active participation in national struggle paved the way for change in the social outlook.
• The geographical spread of the Nationalist struggle took place in the non-cooperation movement (NCM) in the true sense. It was the first Pan India Movement in the true sense. The urban classes, as well as villages, participated in the non-cooperation movement.
• The non-cooperation movement (NCM) gave new aims and objectives to the national struggle. The aim of Swaraj was Defined by Gandhiji at the Nagpur session of Congress in December 1920. He explained Swaraj as self-rule within British Empire if possible and outside if necessary.
• New methods of struggle also became part of the moment during the non-cooperation movement (NCM). Resignation from government services, the boycott of hospitals, courts, and peaceful Court arrest were some of the new methods used by Nationalists during the non-cooperation movement.
• The launching of the non-cooperation movement (NCM) raised the hopes and aspirations of Indians enormously. In December 1920, when Gandhiji promise Swaraj within one year, the atmosphere of gloom at hopelessness prevailing in India got to transform into an atmosphere of excitement of freedom.
• Every Indian felt that the days of British rule are over. The people sense freedom and they took pride in that freedom during the Non-cooperation movement. The people lived in a kind of intoxication during NCM because the promise of Gandhiji gives them new hope.

Q.7. How did the different social groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement look at it? What was their attitude towards its aim?

Ans. All the groups that participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement did not have the same ideals or same views of “Swaraj”.

(i) In the countryside: The active members were the rich peasant communities, the Patidars of Gujarat, and the Jats of Uttar Pradesh.

Reason: They were producers of commercial crops which were hit by the trade depression and falling prices. As cash income disappeared they were unable to pay the government’s revenue demands. The government refused to reduce its demands. So they joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, hoping to get the revenue demands reduced. For them “Swaraj”\ meant fighting against high revenues.

(ii) The poor peasants joined the movement because they were unable to pay the rent for the land they cultivated for the landlords. They did not own the land, they were small tenants who cultivated lands taken on rent from the landlords. As the Depression continued, the small tenants could not pay the rent, so they joined the movement hoping that their unpaid rent would be remitted.

(iii) The rich merchants and industrialists joined the movement to protest against colonial policies that restricted business activities. They wanted protection against the import of foreign goods and a rupee-sterling foreign exchange ratio to discourage imports.

(iv) The industrial workers joined the Civil Disobedience Movement dropping to get their demands passed — like laws against low wages and poor working conditions. All four classes were disappointed by the movement.

1. The rich peasants lost interest because the movement was called off in 1931 without the revenue rates being revised and reduced. Many of them did not join the movement when it was resumed in 1932.
2. The poor peasants were disappointed because Congress was unwilling to support their “no rent” campaign.
3. The industrialists were unhappy with the spread of militant activities and the increasing influence of socialism in Congress. They could not achieve their goal of colonial restrictions on business taken away, so they lost interest.
4. The industrial working class did not get full Congress support as the Congress did not want to alienate the industrialists and divide the anti-colonial struggle. It could not include the workers’ demand in its programme.

Q.8. Compare the image of Bharat Mata with the image of Germania. Do you find any similarities? Why do you think these images of Bharat Mata will not appeal to all castes and communities?

Ans. Bharat Mata

• Bharat Mata Image was a symbol of India; it was painted by Abanindranath Tagore.
• Bharat Mata was created with learning, food and clothing.
• Her mala shows her bear՚s aesthetic quality.
• In some of images Bharat Mata has Trishul, Lion and elephant which shows power and authority.

Germania

• Image of Germania reflects symbol of Germany, it was painted by Philip Veit in which she holds a sword, but looks more feminine.
• After some time image of Germania redrawn by Lorenz Clasen, where she wields a sword and shield, and looks ready to fight.
• She represents strength of the German Empire.

Q.9. Explain the shared beliefs and common bonds that give rise to a sense of common belonging.

OR

How did the people belonging to different communities, regions, or languages develop a sense of collective belonging during the Indian freedom struggle?

Ans. Common bonds that give rise to common belonging are:

• Experiences of common struggles (against colonialism, against oppression, against poverty caused by a colonial rule).
• Through symbols: like certain figures and wages becoming the identity of a nation. Examples: Statue of Liberty USA, the Storming of Bastille — French Revolution. India’s symbol was ‘Bharat Mata’.
• Through folklore, songs, legends, and stories. Nationalists collected songs, for example; Rabindranath Tagore and Natesa Sastri of Madras. Sastri wrote a four-volume book on folk stories of Southern India.
• Through the reinterpretation of history. The British had portrayed Indians as backward, primitive, and incapable of governing themselves. By rediscovering the past, India’s greatness — its cultural progress in mathematics, literature, religion, and culture, imbibed a sense of pride among the Indians.
• Last but not least, Gandhiji used this sense of collective belonging by channelizing it in the National Movement. He tried to forge a sense of unity among the different social groups in India.

Q.10. Do you agree with Iqbal’s idea of communalism in the extract given below? Can you define communalism in a different way?

“In 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as President of the Muslim League, reiterated the importance of separate electorate for the Muslims as an important safeguard for their minority political interests. His statement is supposed to have provided the intellectual justification for the Pakistan demand that came up in subsequent years. This is what he said: ‘I have no hesitation in declaring that if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free development on the lines of his own culture and tradition in his own Indian homeland is recognised as the basis of a permanent communal settlement, he will be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. The principle that each group is entitled to free development on its own lines, is not inspired by any feeling of narrow communalism … A community that is inspired by feelings of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religions, and social institutions of other communities. Nay, it is my duty according to the teachings of the Quran, even to defend their places of worship, if need be. Yet I love the communal group which is the source of life and behaviour and which has formed me what I am by giving me its religion, its literature, its thought, its culture, and thereby its whole past as a living operative factor in my present consciousness … ‘Communalism in its higher aspect, then, is indispensable to the formation of a harmonious whole in a country like India. The units of Indian society are not territorial as in European countries … The principle of European democracy cannot be applied to India without recognising the fact of communal groups. The Muslim demand for the creation of a Muslim India within India is, therefore, perfectly justified…

‘The Hindu thinks that separate electorates are contrary to the spirit of true nationalism because he understands the word “nation” to mean a kind of universal amalgamation in which no communal entity ought to retain its private individuality. Such a state of things, however, does not exist. India is a land of the racial and religious variety. Add to this the general economic inferiority of the Muslims, their enormous debt, especially in Punjab, and their insufficient majorities in some of the provinces, as at present constituted, and you will begin to see clearly the meaning of our anxiety to retain separate electorates.”
Ans. Communalism is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of a social community. All the followers of one religion belong to one community and their basic interests are the same. People of different religions cannot belong to the same social group. This is what Iqbal is saying that Muslims are different from Hindus, they cannot have the same fundamental interests. They cannot be bound together as one nation. One will dominate the other if it happens to be in majority (in this case Hindus); in the end, there would be two nations. Iqbal is trying to propagate the “Two Nation Theory”. I do not agree with it as people of one religion do not have the same interests and ambitions. We have seen this in the case of Ireland, where in spite of being a Christian country, there was a deep religious division between the Catholics and the Protestants. Religion should never be seen as the basis of a nation. No religion should try to dominate others. Communalism is a divisive force that destroys the unity and peace of a nation. We have seen how Yugoslavia has been divided into six small nations because of religious differences.