Q. The ‘Swadeshi’ and ‘Boycott’ were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the

  • Agitation against the Partition of Bengal
  • Home Rule Movement
  • Non-Cooperation Movement
  • Visit of the Simon Commission to India

Answer: (a) Agitation against the Partition of Bengal

Notes:
  • Partition of Bengal in 1905:
    • When Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, announced the partition of Bengal in July 1905, Indian National Congress, initiated the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. 
    • Swadeshi movement was launched as a protest movement which also gave a lead to the Boycott movement in the country.
    • Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai are the key people in the swadeshi movement.
    • The Partition was aimed for administration purposes but in fact is treated as divide and rule policy and further agitated people, who perceived that it was a deliberate attempt to divide the Bengal Presidency on religious grounds, with a Muslim majority in the east and a Hindu majority in the west, thereby weakening the nationalist cause.
  • Home rule movement:
    • Its objective is to establish self-government 
    • Tilak started the movement in April 1916 at Belgaum, while Annie Besant started in September 1916 at Adyar, Madras.
    • Tilak’s movement was confined to Maharashtra and Karnataka, And the Annie Besant movement spread to other parts of India.
    • The All India Home league ended in 1920 when it elected Mahatma Gandhi as its President and when it merged into the Indian National Congress.
    • In 1920, All India Home Rule League changed its name to Swarajya Sabha.
  • Non-cooperation Movement:
    • The non-cooperation movement by Gandhiji was followed from September 1920 to February 1922. 
    • The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in Amritsar in 1919 was one of the major reasons for the start of the Non-cooperation movement.
    • The Chauri Chaura incident occurred at Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur district (Uttar Pradesh) on 4 February 1922, when a large group of protesters, participating in the Non-cooperation movement, clashed with police, who opened fire.
    • As the incident turned violent Mahatma Gandhi called off the ‘Non-cooperation Movement’ on 12 February 1922, as a direct result of this incident.
  • Simon commission:
    • Lord Birkenhead appointed the Simon Commission in 1927 to look after the working of the Government of India Act 1919 and had challenged Indians to frame their constitution.
    • The challenge thrown by Birkenhead led to the drafting of the Nehru report in 1928.
    • Simon Commission is known as the Indian Statutory Commission.
    • John Simon was the head of the commission.
    • All the 7 members of the commission were Britishers. There was no Indian representation in the commission.
    • All the political parties except the Justice party and a section of the Muslim league opposed the commission.
    • In Punjab, Lala Lajpat Rai lost his life in protest against the commission.