Q. With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
  2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to Utilize the Home Rule League.
  3. Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 1 and 2 only

Notes:
  • Rowlatt Satyagraha was one of the first movements launched by Mahatma Gandhi, after his arrival in India. It began in 1919 in Mumbai City, Maharashtra, against the oppressive Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act. The Act was based on the recommendations of the Sedition Committee headed by Sir Sidney Rowlatt.
  • It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, imprisonment without trial and judicial review enacted in the Defence of India Act 1915 during the First World War.
  • It was enacted in the light of a perceived threat from revolutionary nationalists of re-engaging in similar conspiracies as had occurred during the war which the Government felt the lapse of the Defence of India Act would enable.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha
  • Rowlatt Act 1919 Features:
    • The British government was concerned about the threat of terrorism and revolutionary activity, and the Rowlatt Act was seen as a way to suppress these threats.
    • The draconian Act suspended basic civil liberties.
    • It enabled detention without trial for up to 2 years of purported political agitators.
    • No appeal was allowed against such administrative detention.
    • It authorised camera trials without juries for sedition cases, severely compromising judicial transparency and fairness.
    • Tighter censorship, control of extremist publications and restrictions on public gatherings were introduced.
  • Simon Commission:
    • The Government of India Act, 1919 had a provision that a commission would be appointed ten years from the date to study the progress of the government scheme and suggest new steps.
    • An all-white, seven-member Indian Statutory Commission, popularly known as the Simon Commission (after the name of its chairman, Sir John Simon), was set up by the British government under Stanley Baldwin’s prime ministership on November 8, 1927.
    • The commission was to recommend to the British government whether India was ready for further constitutional reforms and along what lines.
  • Hunter Commission:
    • On October 14, 1919, the Hunter Commission(The Disorders Inquiry Committee) was set up to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Dyer defended his excessive actions, claiming that it was necessary to punish defiance and violence.
    • Decision:
      • The Hunter report criticised Brig. General Dyer’s actions as unjustified.
      • He was forced to resign, but no serious penalties were imposed on him and other perpetrators.

Q. Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?

  1. Dadabhai Naoroji
  2. G.Subramania Iyer
  3. R.C. Dutt

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

Notes:
  • Most significant historical contribution of moderates was that they offered an economic critique of colonialism.
  • This economic nationalism, as it is often referred to, became a major theme that developed further during the subsequent period of nationalist movement and to a large extent influenced the economic policies of the Congress government in independent India.
  • The early nationalists took note of all three forms of contemporary colonial economic exploitation, namely, through trade, industry and finance. They grasped that the essence of British economic imperialism lay in the subordination of the Indian economy to the British economy.
  • Names important to remember in this respect:
    • Dinshaw Wacha, Dadabhai Naoroji, a successful businessman,
    • Justice M.G. Ranade (Essays in Indian Economics, 1898) and 
    • R.C Dutt, a retired ICS officer, who published The Economic History of India in two volumes (1901-1903).
  • Early nationalists complained of India’s growing poverty and economic backwardness, the failure of modern industry and agriculture to grow and put blame on British economic exploitation. 
  • Dadabhao Naoroji, RC Dutt, G.V. Joshi, G. Subramaniya Iyer, G.K. Gokhale, Prithwis Chandra Ray, and hundreds of other political workers and journalists analyzed every aspect of the economy and subjected the entire range of economic issues and colonial economic policies to minute scrutiny.
  • Main thrust of this economic nationalism was on Indian poverty created by the application of the classical economic theory of free trade their main argument was that British colonialism had transformed itself in the 19th century by jettisoning the older and direct modes of extraction through plunder, tribute and mercantilism in favour of more sophisticated and less visible methods of exploitation through free trade and foreign capital investment.
  • Dadabhai Naoroji in his ‘Indian Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’ laid his Drain of Wealth Theory. He showed how India’s wealth was going away to England in the form of salaries, savings, pensions, payments to British troops in India and, profits from British companies.
Dadabhai Naoroji:
  • Dadabhai Naoroji, known in the pre-Gandhian era as the Grand Old Man of India.
  • Born in 1825, he became a successful businessman but devoted his entire life and wealth to the creation of a national movement in India.
  • Work: Poverty and Un-British Rule in India
  • The Drain Theory was established by him.
Romesh Chandra Dutt:
  • Romesh Chandra Dutt, a retired ICS officer, published The Economic History of India at the beginning of the 20th century in which he examined in minute detail the entire economic record of colonial rule since 1757.
G Subramania Iyer:
  • Founder of ‘The Hindu’ in 1878.
  • Tamil Newspaper; “Swadesmaitran” in 1882.

Q. With reference to Congress Socialist Party, consider the following statements:

  1. It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes.
  2. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat.
  3. It advocated, separate electorate for minorities and oppressed classes.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None

Answer: (d) None

Congress Socialist Party:
  • The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress.
  • It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of the Communist Party of India towards the Congress.
  • Influenced by Fabianism as well as Marxism-Leninism, the CSP included advocates of armed struggle or sabotage (such as Yusuf Meherally, Jayaprakash Narayan, and Basawon Singh (Sinha) as well as those who insisted upon Ahimsa or Nonviolent resistance (such as Acharya Narendra Deva).
  • The CSP advocated decentralized socialism in which co-operatives, trade unions, independent farmers, and local authorities would hold a substantial share of the economic power.
  • As Marxists, they hoped to transcend communal divisions through class solidarity. Some, such as Narendra Deva or Basawon Singh (Sinha), advocated a democratic socialism distinct from both Marxism and reformist social democracy.
  • During the Popular Front period, the communists worked within CSP.
History of CSP:
  • Jayaprakash Narayan and Minoo Masani were released from jail in 1934. Narayan convened a meeting in Patna on 17 May 1934, which founded the Bihar Congress Socialist Party. He was a Gandhian Socialist. Narayan became general secretary of the party and Acharya Narendra Deva became president.
  • The Patna meeting gave a call for a socialist conference which would be held in connection to the Congress Annual Conference. At this conference, held in Bombay October 22–23 October 1934, they formed a new All India party, the Congress Socialist Party. Narayan became general secretary of the party, and Masani joint secretary. The conference venue was decorated by Congress flags and a portrait of Karl Marx.
  • Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha) was among the prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress Party as among the founders of the Congress Socialist Party.
The ideology of CSP:
  • They believed in Marxist Ideas, Gandhism, Liberal, and Social democracy of the west.
  • They owe allegiance to Indian National Congress (INC)
  • Goals: Nationalism and Independence,
  • They joined hands with the Bourgeois or Middle class along with Bringing in workers and peasants to create a broad base for Congress.
  • Demands: Abolition of capitalism, the zamindari system, and princely states. 
  • Incorporate radical socio-economic measures for the upliftment of distressed people into the Congress work program.

Q. The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined

(a) the separation of power between the judiciary and the legislature

(b) the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments

(c) the powers of the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy

(d) None of the above

Answer: (b) the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments

Notes:
  • The British Government declared for the first time on August 20, 1917, that its objective was the gradual introduction of responsible Government in India.
  • Features:
    • It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects.
    • The central and provincial legislatures were authorized to make laws on their respective list of subjects.
    • The structure of the government continued to be centralized and unitary.
    • It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts– transferred and reserved.
    • The transferred subjects were to be administered by the Governor with the aid of Ministers responsible to the legislative council.
    • The reserved subjects were to be administered by the Governor and his executive council without being responsible to the legislative council.
    • This dual scheme of governance was known as ‘dyarchy’–a term derived from the Greek word diarche which means the double rule.
    • It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct elections in the country. The Indian legislative council was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly).
    • The majority of members of both the Houses were chosen by direct election. It granted franchises to a limited number of people based on property, tax, or education.
    • It required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council (other than the Commander-in-Chief) were to be Indian.
    • It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans.
    • It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in London and transferred to him some of the functions hitherto performed by the Secretary of State for India.
    • It provided for the establishment of a public service commission. Hence, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants.
    • It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the Central budget and authorized the provincial legislatures to enact their budgets.
    • It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its working after ten years of its coming into force.

Q. Who of the following organized a march on the Tanjore coast to break the Salt Law in April 1930?

(a) V.O. Chidambaram Pillai

(b) C.Rajagopalachari

(c) K. Kamaraj

(d) Annie Besant

Answer: (b) C.Rajagopalachari

C. Rajagopalachari:
  • C. Rajagopalachari organized a march on the Tanjore coast to break the Salt Law in April 1930.
  • He was arrested in April 1930 for leading a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast.
  • He was the first and last Indian Governor-General of India.
  • He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai
  • V. O. Chidambaram Pillai was an Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress.
  • He founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company (BISNC).
  • Tuticorin Port Trust, one of India’s thirteen major ports, is named after him.
K. Kamaraj
  • Kumaraswami Kamaraj, commonly known as K. Kamaraj, was a prominent Indian independence activist and politician.
  • He served as the Chief Minister of Madras State (now Tamil Nadu) from April 13, 1954, to October 2, 1963.
  • He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress between 1964–1967 and was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi to the position of Prime Minister of India.
  • Kamaraj was also a Member of Parliament and played a significant role in Indian politics during the 1960s, earning the nickname “Kingmaker” for his influence in political leadership transitions.
  • He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor, in 1976.
  • His dedication to public service and education, including the introduction of the free Midday Meal Scheme, left a lasting legacy in Tamil Nadu and India as a whole
Annie Besant
  • She was associated with the of the Theosophical Society in India.
  • She had started two newspapers namely “The Commonweal” and another was “New India”.
  • She was the first woman president of the Indian National Congress.

Q. Consider the following statements

  1. The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu.
  2. The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b) 2 only

Annie Besant
  • She is considered as the founder of the Theosophical Society in India.
  • She was the first woman President of Indian National Congress in the Calcutta session in 1917.
  • In 1898, she was instrumental in setting up Central Hindu College, which in 1911 culminated as Banaras Hindu University with her joint efforts with Madan Mohan Malviya.
Badruddin Tyabji
  • Badruddin Tyabji was the first Muslim President of the 3rd session of Indian National Congress (INC) that was held at Madras in 1887. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • He was the first Indian barrister, first Muslim Chief Justice of Bombay High Court.
Sarojini Naidu
  • Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to become President of INC in the Kanpur session in 1925.
  • She was awarded by British “Kaiser-i-Hind medal” for her work during the plague epidemic in India.

Q. With reference to the Cabinet Mission, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. It recommended a federal government.
  2. It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts.
  3. It provided for more Indians in the ICS.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) None

Answer: (a) 1 only

Notes:
  • The Cabinet Mission was composed of three Cabinet Ministers of England.
  • The objective of this mission was to
    • Devise machinery to draw up the constitution of Independent India.
    • Make arrangements for the interim Government.
    • Thus the mission was like a declaration of India’s independence.
  • The cabinet mission plan proposed that there shall be a Union of India which was to be empowered to deal with the defence, foreign affairs and communications.
    • The Union Government and its legislature were to have limited powers, dealing with Finance, Foreign Affairs and Communications.
    • The Union would have powers necessary to raise the finances to manage the subjects.
    • All subjects other than the Union subjects and all the residuary powers would be vested in the provinces.
    • Thus, the Cabinet Mission plan proposed a weak Centre with Provincial autonomy – essentially proposing a federal structure of government.

Q. Which one of the following movements has contributed to a split in the Indian National Congress resulting in the emergence of ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’?

(a) Swadeshi Movement

(b) Quit India Movement

(c) Non-Cooperation Movement

(d) Civil Disobedience Movement

Answer: (a) Swadeshi Movement

Notes:
  • Swadeshi movement was the result of the partition of Bengal.  
  • After the partition of the Bengal Swadeshi and Boycott Movement was adopted as a means of integration. 
  • It was aimed at self Reliance, self-determination, and self-help.
  • Tilak called it Bahiskar Yoga.
  • Bande Mataram became the theme song of this movement.
  • Swadeshi movement along with the Boycott Movement aimed at boycotting foreign-made goods and adopting Indian goods as an alternative.
  • Boycott and public burning of foreign clothes, picketing of shops selling foreign goods were adopted.
  • The Shivaji and Ganpati festivals were organized by Tilak to deliver the Swadeshi message to the masses. 
  • The National College of Bengal was founded with Aurobindo Ghosh as its principal. 
  • The national education council was established in August 1906.
  • It also changed the character of the Indian National Congress.  
  • The Congress split into moderates and extremists at the Surat session which weakened the Swadeshi Movement.