Thursday, November 12, 2015

Nationalism in India


class - 10th ( Ch-3)

NATIONALISM IN INDIA

Q    1. What is the meaning of term Nationalism?

      Ans-   Nationalism is associated with the formation of nation states. It also meant a change in people u    nderstands of who they were, and what identified their sense of belonging and identity. New   ssymbols and icons, new songs and ideas forged new links and redefined the boundaries of    ommunities.

Q     2. When did the feeling of nationalism develop among Indians?
  Ans-    1. The growth of modern nationalism is ultimately connected to anti-colonial movement.

2.      People began discovering their unity in the process of their struggle with colonialism.

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

Q   3. Examine the effect of First World War in India.

Ans-    1. The war created a new economic and political situation.

 2.  It led to a huge increase in defense expenditure which was financed by war loans and   increasing taxes: custom duties were raised and income tax introduced.

 3.  through the war year’s prices increased.

 4.  Villages were called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger.

 5.  Then in 1918-19 and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India, resulting in acute shortages of food.

 6.  This was accompanied by an influenza epidemic.

 7.  People hoped that their hardships would end after the war was over. But that did not happen.

Q4. What new idea of fighting colonialism was suggested by Mahatma Gandhi in India? Write its main features.

      Ans-   Satyagraha was the new idea of fighting colonialism as suggested by Mahatma Gandhi in India. It            its main features were:

1.      The idea of Satyagraha emphasized the power of truth and the need to search for truth.

2.      I suggested that if the cause was true, if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not necessary to fight the oppression.

3.      Without seeing vengeance or being aggressive, a satyagrahi could win the battle through non-violence.

4.      This could be done by appealing to the conscience of the oppressor.

 Q5. Name 3 regions of India where Mahatma Gandhi successfully organized the Satyagraha movement?

      Ans-   Mahatma Gandhi successfully organized Satyagraha movements in various places:

 1.      In 1916, he travelled to Champaran in Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system.

 2.      Then in 1917, he organized a Satyagraha to support the peasants of the Kheda district of Gujarat.

3.      In 1918, he went to Ahmadabad to organize a Satyagraha movement amongst cotton mill workers.

Q6. State the main features of Rowlatt Act passed by the British government in In    India.

      Ans-       1. Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the poposed   Rowlatt  Act     which began on 6 April, 1919.

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

3.      It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial of two years.

Q     7. Give brief information on Jallianwala Bagh incident.

    Ans-    On 13 April the infamous Jallianwala Bagh incident took place. On that day a large crowd ga  thered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwala Bagh. Some came to protest against the government’s new repressive measures. Others had come to attend the annual Baisakhi fair. General Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds.

Q 8. How did the satyagrahis in India react to the Jallianwala Bagh incident? What repressive measures were taken by the British against the satyagrahis?

    Ans-   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. The government responded with brutal repression, seeking to humiliate and terrorize people: satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses on the ground, crawl on the streets, and do salaam.

Q 9. Discuss the growth of non-cooperation movement in urban areas or cities or to   towns. 

      Ans-      1. The movement started with the middle-class participation of cities.

2.      Thousands of students left government controlled schools or colleges, headmasters and teacher resigned, and lawyers gave up their legal practices.

3.      The council elections were boycotted in most provinces.


Q 10. How did the non-cooperation movement affect the economy of Britain?

      Ans-   The effects of non-cooperation movement on the economic front were more dramatic:

1.      Foreign goods were boycotted, liquor shops picketed, and foreign cloth burnt in huge bonfires.

2.      The import of foreign cloth halve between 1921 and 1922, its value dropped.

3.      In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade.

4.      As the boycott movement spread, and people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production of Indian textiles mills and handlooms went up.

     Q11. Give reason why non-cooperation movement gradually slowed down in cities?

      Ans-   1. Khadi cloth was often more expensive than mass-produced mill cloth and poor people could n    ot afford to buy it.

2.      For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of British ones.

3.      These were slow to come up.

4.      So students and teachers began trickling back to government schools and lawyers joined back work in government courts.

     Q12. Discuss the main features of Sanyasis/ peasants revolt in Awadh.

    Ans-   1. In Awadh, peasants were led by Baba Ramchandraa Sanyasi.

2.      The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded from peasants high rent and a variety of other cesses.

3.      The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, demand social boycott of oppressive landlords.

4.      When the non-cooperation movement began, the effort of the congress was to integrate the Awadh peasant struggle into the wider struggle.

5.      As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted and grain hoards were taken over.

6.      The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to sanction all actions and aspirations of the rebels.

    Q13. State the main features of tribal revolt of Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh.

    Ans-    1. In the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement spread in the early          1920’s.

2.      Here 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.

3.      This enraged the hill people.

4.      When the government began forcing them to contribute beggar for road building, the hill people revolted.

5.      The person who came to lead them was Alluri Sitaram Raju.

6.      The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj.

Q  14. Discuss the contribution of Alluri Sitaram Raju fighting against the colonial  domination?

  Ans-       1. He led the tribal revolt in the Gudem hills of Andhra Pradesh.

2.      He claimed that he had a variety of special powers.

3.      Captivated by Raju, the rebels proclaimed that he was an incarnation of God. Raju talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhiji.

4.      But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.

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

    Q15. How did the plantation workers in Assam react to the non-cooperation m ovement?

       Ans-      1. For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the c       onfined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which th    ey had come.

2. 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.

3. When they heard of the non-cooperation movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.

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

5.      They however never reached their destination. They were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.

Q16. Explain how the people/movements in countryside interpret the meaning of non-cooperation in their own ways.

  Ans- 1. People in the country interpreted the term swaraj in their own ways, margining it to be       time when all sufferings and all troubles would over.

2.      When the tribals chanted Gandhiji’s name and raised slogans demanding ‘Swantantra Bharat’, they were also emotionally relating to an all-India agitation.

3.      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.

Q17. How did the Indians respond to Rowlatt act?

   Ans- 1. Gandhiji in 1919 decided to launch a nationwide Satyagraha against the proposed Rowlatt

     Act (1919)

2. Rallies were organized in various cities, workers went on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed down.

3. Alarmed b y the popular upsurge, and scared that lines of communication such as the railways and the telegraph would be disrupted, the British administration decided to clamp down on nationalists.

4.      Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi.

5.      On 10 April, the police in Amritsar fired upon a peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations.

6.      Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command.


Q   18. When, by whom and why was Khilafat movement started? Why Gandhiji did join this movement?

       Ans-   1. Khilafat movement was started by Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali against the injustice done to the ottoman emperor in turkey by the British.

2.      Gandhiji saw this as an opportunity to bring Muslim under the umbrella of a unified national movement.

3.      At the Calcutta session of the congress bin September 1920, he convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as swaraj.

Q19. When and why did Mahatma Gandhi call off the non-cooperation movement?

  Ans-   In February 1922, Mahatma Gandhi decided to withdraw the non-cooperation movement. 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.

Q20. How did the congress leaders react to the calling off non-cooperation?

    Ans-   1. Within the congress, some leaders were by now tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in election to the provincial councils.

2.      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.

3.      Young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhash Chandra Bose pressed for more radical mass agitation and for full independence.

Q21. Why Mahatma Gandhi did launched the non-cooperation movement in India?

    Ans-      1. Mahatma Gandhi declared that Britain rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation.

2.      If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and Swaraj would come.

Q 22.  Mention the two factors that shaped Indian politics towards the late 1920’s?

    Ans -   1. The first was the effect of the world wide economic depression. Agricultural prices began to fall from 1926 and collapsed after 1930. As the demand for agricultural goods fell and exports declined, peasants found it difficult to sell their harvests and pay their revenue .By 1930, the countryside was in turmoil.

2. The second factor was the coming up of the Simon commission in India.


Q23. When and why did Simon Commission arrive in India? How did Indians respond to this Simon commission?

    Ans-    1.  Simon Commission was set up in response to the nationalist movement; the commission was to look into the functioning of the constitutional system in India and suggest changes.

2.      Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, it was greeted with the slogan “Go back Simon “. All parties, including the congress and the Muslim League, participated in the demonstrations.

Q24. What is the significance of the congress session of December 1929?

    Ans -    In December 1929, under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Lahore Congress formalized the demand of “Purna Swaraj “ or full independence for India . It was declared that 26 January 1930, would be celebrated as the Independence Day when people were to take a pledge to struggle for complete independence.

Q25. What circumstances lead to the beginning of Civil Disobedience Movement in India?

    Ans- 1. On 31 January 1930, Mahatma Gandhi sent a letter to Viceroy Irwin stating eleven demands.

2. The demands were wide-ranging, so that all classes within Indian society could identify with them.

3. the most striving of all was the demand to abolish the salt tax.

4. Mahatma Gandhi’s letter was, in a way, an ultimation. If the demands were not fulfilled by 11 March, the letter stated, the congress would launch a civil disobedience campaign.

5. Irwin was unwilling to negotiate. So Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Salt March accompanied by 78 of his trusted volunteers.

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

7. This marked the beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

Q26. Why the rich peasant community did joined the civil disobedience movement?

    Ans- 1. In the countryside, rich peasant communities were active in the movement.

2.      Being producers of commercial crops, they were very hard hit by the trade depression and falling prices.

3.      As their cash income disappeared, they found it impossible to pay the government’s revenue demand.

4.      These rich peasants became enthusiastic supporters of the civil disobedience movement.

5.      For them the fight for swaraj was a struggle against high revenues.

6.      But they were deeply disappointed when the movement was called off in 1931 without the revenue rates being revised.

7.      So when the movement was restarted in 1932, many of them refused to participate.

Q27. What were the main demands of the poorer peasantry during the civil disobedience movement?

  Ans- 1. The poorer peasantry was not just interested in the lowering of the revenue demand but also wanted reduction in the rent of land.

2.      They wanted the unpaid rent to the landlord to be remitted.

3.      Apprehensive of raising issues that might upset the rich peasants and landlords, the congress was unwilling to support ‘no rent’ campaigns of poor peasants in most places.

4.      So the relationship between the poor peasants and congress remained uncertain.

    Q28. How did the industrialists/ business classes in India relate themselves to the c  civil disobedience movement?

    Ans-     1. During the First World War, Indian merchants and industrialists had made huge profits and made powerful.

2.      Keen on expanding their business, they now reacted against colonial policies that restricted business activities.

3.      They wanted protection against import of foreign goods.

4.      Led by prominent industrialists they attacked colonial control over the Indian economy, and supported the civil disobedience movement.

5.      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.

Q  29. Why did the business classes take a back seat from the civil disobedience movement?

    Ans-   1. After the failure of the Round Table Conference, business groups were no longer uniformly enthusiastic.

2.      They were apprehensive of the spread of militant activities and worried about prolonged disruption of business as well as of the growing influence of socialism amongst the younger members of the congress.

Q30. Discuss the contribution of industrial working class in the civil disobedience movement?

                                                   Or

Why were congress leaders reluctant to include workers in this movement?

    Ans-    1. The industrial working classes did not participate in the civil disobedience movement in large numbers, except in Nagpur region.

2.         They adapted some of the idea of the Gandhian program me like boycott of foreign goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions.

3.         But the congress was reluctant to include workers’ demands as part of its program me of struggle. It felt that this would alienate industrialists and divide the anti-imperial forces.

Q31. “One of the most important features of the civil disobedience movement was the large scale participation of women”. Explain.

    Ans-   1. The most important feature of the civil disobedience movement was the large scale participation of women.

2.      During Gandhiji’s salt march, thousands of women came out of their houses to listen to him.

3.      They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt and picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.

4.      Many went to jail.

5.      In urban areas, these women were from high caste families, in rural areas they came from rich peasant households.

6.      Moved by Gandhiji’s call, they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women.

Q32. What was the position of women in India as visualized by Mahatma Gandhi and other congress leaders?

    Ans-   1. Gandhiji and many other congress men were convinced that it was the duty of women to look after home and health, be good mothers and good wives.

2.      And for a long time the congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position of authority within the organization.

3.      It was keen only on their symbolic presence.


Q33.   What was Congress attitude towards untouchables in India ? How was it different from that of Mahatma Gandhi’s view ?

    Ans-   1. For long the congress had ignored the dalits. For fear of offending the sanatanis, the conservative high-caste Hindus.

2.      But Mahatma Gandhi declared that swaraj would not come for a 100 years if untouchability was not eliminated.

3.      He called the untouchables “harijans”, or the children of God, organized Satyagraha to secure them entry into temples and acce3sss to public wells, tanks, roads and schools.

4.      He persuaded upper castes to change their heart and give up the ‘sin of untouchability’

Q34. Give reason why dalits participation in civil disobedience was limited?

    Ans-   1. Dalit leaders were keen on political solution to the problems of the community.

2.      They began organizing themselves, demanding reserved seats in educational institutions and a separate electorate that would chose Dalit members or legislative councils.

3.      Political empowerment, they believed would resolve the problems of their social disabilities.

4.      Dalit participation in civil disobedience movement was therefore limited.

Q35. Who was the founder of depressed Class Association? What was his clash with Mahatma Gandhi?

    Ans-   1. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the founder of Depressed Class Association. (1930)

2.      When the British government considered Ambedkar’s demand of separate electorate, Gandhiji began a fast unto death.

3.      He believed that separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their integration into society.

Q36. Explain why Muslim political organizations were lukewarm in this response to civil disobedience movement.

    Ans-   1. Muslim political organizations in India were also lukewarm in this response to civil disobedience movement.

2.      After the decline of the non-cooperation-Khilafat movement, a large section of Muslims felt alienated from the congress ads the congress came to be more visibly associated with openly Hindu religious nationalist groups like the Hindu Mahasabha.


Q37. What was the main point of difference between congress and Muslim league with respect too Muslim political participation?

    Ans-   1. The important differences between congress and Muslim league were over the question of representation in the future assemblies that were to be elected.

2.      Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of the leaders of the Muslim League was willing to give up the demand for separate electorate, if Muslims were assured reserved seats in the Central Assembly and representation in proportion to population in the Muslim-dominated provinces but this demand was refused by the Hindu Mahasabha leaders present in the congress.

Q38. What factors brought a sense of collective belongingness among Indians during the colonial period?

    Ans-   1. The sense of collective belongingness came partly through their experience of united struggles.

2.      There were also a variety of cultural processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination.

3.       History and fiction, focklone and songs , popular points and symbols, all played a part in making of nationalism.

Q39. How the image of Bharat Mata did developed a sense of nationalism among the Indians during the colonial period?

    Ans-   1. In the 20th century, with the growth of nationalism, the identity of India came to be visually associated with the image of Bharat Mata.

2.       The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

3.      Moved by the swadeshi movement, Abindranath Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata.

4.      In this painting, Bharat Mata is portrayed as n ascetic figure.

5.      In subsequent years, the image of Bharat Mata acquired many different forms.

6.      Devotion to this mother figure came to be seen as evidence of one’s nationalism.

Q40. How did the idea of nationalism developed through Indian folklore?

    Ans- 1. Ideas of nationalism also developed through a movement to revive Indian folklore.

2.      Nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends.

3.      These tales, they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside forces.

4.      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.

Q41. How did the symbols and icons helped in writing the Indian during the colonial period?

Ans-    1. As the national movement developed, nationalists leaders became more and more aware of icons and symbols in unifying people and inspiring in them a feeling of nationalism.

            2. During the swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolor flag was designed.

            3. It had 8 lotuses representing 8 provinces of British India and a crescent moon representing Hindus and Muslims.

            4. By 1921, Gandhiji had designed the swaraj flag.

            5. It was again in a tricolor and had a spinning wheel in the centre, representing the Gandhian ideal of self-help.

            6. Carrying the flag, holding it aloft during marches became a symbol of defiance.

Q42. How the re-interpretation of Indian history did created a feeling of nationalism among Indians during colonial period? What was the problem associated with it?

Ans-     1. Another means of creating a feeling of nationalism was through reinterpretation of history.

             2. The British interpretation of Indian history portrait Indians as backward and primitive, incapable of governing themselves.

             3. In response, Indians began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievements.

             4. They wrote about glorious developments in ancient times when art and architecture, science and mathematics, religion and culture, law and business and trade had flourished.

             5. This glorious time, in their view, was followed by a history of decline, when\n India was colonized.

             6. 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.

When the past being glorified was Hindu, when the images celebrated were drawn from Hindu iconography, then people of other communities felt left out.

Q43. How did the clash between Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar resolve?

Ans-     Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932. It gave Depressed Classes reserved seats in provincial and legislative central councils, but they were to be voted in by the general electorate.

Q44. What is the significance of Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931?

Ans-     1. Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed between Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin on 5 march 1931.

             2. Mahatma Gandhi decided to call off this civil disobedience movement and Lord Irwin invited Mahatma Gandhi to Round table Conference in London and agreed to release the political prisoners.

 Q45. Why  did Mahatma Gandhi relaunched civil disobedience movement?

Ans-     1. In December 1931, Gandhiji went to London for the conference but the negotiations broke down and he returned disappointed.

             2. In India, he discovered that the government had begun a new cycle of repression where all political leaders were arrested.

             3. The congress had been declared illegal, and a series of measures had been imposed to prevent meetings, demonstrations and boycotts.

             4. With great apprehension, Mahatma Gandhi relaunched the civil disobedience movement.

Q46. How was civil disobedience movement different from non-cooperation movement?

Ans-     1. Under non-cooperation movement people were only told not to cooperate with British but they were not permitted to break colonial law.

             2. Under civil disobedience movement people were told to not cooperate with British but they were permitted to break the colonial law.

Q47. Why Mahatma Gandhi did wanted British to abolish salt law?

Ans-     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 phase of British rule.

Q48. Why were some congress leaders reluctant to start/join non-cooperation movement against the British?

Ans-     1. They were reluctant to boycott the council elections scheduled for November 1920, and they feared that the movement might lead to popular violence.

             2. In the months between September and December, there was an intense tussle within the congress.

             3. For a while there seemed no meeting point between the supporters and the opponents of the movement.

             4. Finally, at the congress session at Nagpur in December 1920, a compromise was worked out and the non-cooperation program me was adopted.

 Q49. Explain the 3 folds in which Mahatma Gandhi launched non-cooperation movement.

Ans-     Gandhi ji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. 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. Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched. Through the summer of 1920, Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively, mobilizing popular support for the movement.   

                                                                                                                                                                       














 


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