09 November 2023

Q1. With reference to the important events in the Indian freedom struggle, consider the following statements:

1. In 1912, the capital of India was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
2. For the first time Poorna Swaraj day was observed on 26th November 1929.
3. The demand for Pakistan was made by the Muslim League for the first time in 1938.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4.  None of the above

Explanation:

On 12 December 1911, during the Delhi Durbar, George V, then Emperor of India, along with Queen Mary, his Consort, made the announcement that the capital of the Raj was to be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.

In the Lahore session of December 1929, Congress passed the Poorna Swaraj resolution. Though the congress passed the Poorna Swaraj Resolution in December 1929, it was a month later on January 26, 1930, when a Pledge of Indian Independence also known as Declaration of Independence was taken. The All India Muslim League met in Lahore in March 1940. The League adopted a resolution that has become known as the Lahore Resolution. March 23, the date on which this Resolution was adopted, is celebrated in Pakistan every year.

Q2. The Lucknow session of Congress (1916) was an important event during that phase of freedom struggle. In this respect, consider the following statements:

1. It was presided by Ambica Charan Majumdar
2. Moderates and Extremists came on a common platform again after nearly a decade, particularly due to efforts of Mahatma Gandhi.
3. The Congress agreed to separate electorates for Muslims in electing representatives to the Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils
4. Demand for Self-Government with 50% reservation for Muslims in Central government was agreed upon.

Select the correct answer using the codes below:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1,2 and 4 only

Explanation:

Lucknow Pact refers to an agreement reached between the moderates and extremists of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League at the joint session of both the parties, held in Lucknow, in December 1916. Moderates and Extremists came on a common platform again after nearly a decade, particularly due to efforts of Annie Besant. Demand for a Self- Government with 1/3rd reservation for Muslims in Central government was agreed upon.

Q3. Consider the following statements:

1.The Moderates and the Extremists were united at the Lucknow session which was presided by Annie Besant.

2.The Lucknow session was also attended by Mahatma Gandhi and J.L. Nehru.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

The Lucknow session was presided by A.C. Mazumdar.

Q4. One of the major events of the Indian freedom struggle was the Lucknow Congress Session of 1916. With reference to it, consider the following statements:

1.Merger of the Muslim League with the Indian National Congress had taken place in this session.

2.For the first time a Muslim had been elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.

3.The policy of separate electorates for the Muslims had been accepted by the Indian National Congress.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1.  and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None of the above

Explanation:

The Lucknow Session 1916 was presided by Ambica Charan Majumdar. This session brought the moderates and extremists in Congress on common platform again after nearly a decade, particularly due to efforts of Annie Besant. Also Congress and All India Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact. Congress and Muslim League negotiated an agreement whose main clauses are as follows:

There shall be self-government in India.

Muslims should be given one-third representation in the central government.

There should be separate electorates for all the communities until a community demanded joint electorates.

A system of weightage to minority political representation (giving minorities more representation in the government then is proportional to their share of the population) should be adopted.

Q5. Which among the following statements about Home Rule League Movement is/are correct?

1. It was organized on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues.
2. The Indian National Congress also approved the scheme of Home Rule Leagues.
3. Tilak’s League was set up in Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka and Madras.

Select the correct answer using the codes below

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. All of the above

Explanation:

The Home Rule Movement was the Indian response to the First World War. The Indian Home Rule Leagues were organized on the lines of the Irish Home Rule Leagues and they represented the emergence of a new trend of aggressive politics. Annie Besant and Tilak were the pioneers of this new trend.

By early 1915, Annie Besant had launched a campaign to demand self-government for India after the war on the lines of white colonies. Although Besant failed to get the Congress to approve her scheme of Home Rule Leagues, the Congress did commit itself to a programme of educative propaganda and to a revival of local-level Congress committees. Not willing to wait for too long, Besant laid the condition that if the Congress did not implement its commitments, she would be free to set up her own League— which she finally had to, as there was no response from the Congress. Tilak and Annie Besant set up their separate leagues to avoid any friction.

Tilak’s League was set up in April 1916 and was restricted to

Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central Provinces and Berar. Besant’s League was set up in September 1916 in Madras and covered the rest of India (including Bombay city).

Q6. During the colonial era, the “India League” was a Britain-based organization whose main aim was to

1. Eradicate untouchability from India
2. Increase the representation of Indian MPs in British Parliament
3. Work for the welfare of Indian immigrants in Britain
4. Achieve full independence and self-government for India

Explanation:

1. K. Krishna Menon was the driving force behind it. It evolved from the Commonwealth of India League (est. 1922) – which in turn evolved from Annie Besant’s Home Rule for India League (est. 1916).

Menon became joint secretary of the Commonwealth of India League in 1928 and radicalized the organization, rejecting its objective of Dominion Status for the greater goal of full independence and alienating figures such as Besant in the process.

The League’s activities were closely linked to events in India. It is often described as ‘the Sister Organization of the Congress Party in India’.

Q7. With reference to ‘Home rule movement, consider the following statements

1.B.G. Tilak established one league at Madras.

2.Annie Besant established a league at Poona.

3.Mahatma Gandhi was elected as a President of All India Home Rule League.

4.It dropped ideas of extremist’s mass movement but continued their idea of passive resistance.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 and 4 only
3. All of the above
4. None of the above

Explanation:

Two Home Rule Leagues were established, one by B.G. Tilak at Poona in April 1916 and the other by Mrs Annie Besant at Madras in September 1916. The aim of the Movement was to get self- government for India within the British Empire. The All India Home league ended in 1920 when it elected Mahatma Gandhi as its President when within a year it merged into the Indian National Congress. It believed freedom was the natural right of all nations. On 20 August 1917, Montague, the Secretary of State in England, made a declaration in the Parliament of England on British Government’s policy towards future political reforms in India. This August Declaration led to the end of the Home Rule Movement.

Q8. Which of the following is/are true about Home Rule Movement?

1.Tilak league was restricted to some parts of India like Maharashtra whereas Besant league covered major parts of the country.

2.Home Rule movement was merged with the Swadeshi movement by Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. None

Explanation:

Indian Home Rule League and Home Rule League were not simultaneously launched by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant. Indian Home Rule League of Tilak was launched in April 1916, while the Home Rule League of Annie Besant came into existence in September that year. Objective was to demand for self government after the end of War. World War I destroyed the myth of racial superiority of Western nations over Asian people. It increased misery among masses, heavy taxation, huge discontent, etc. Hence it has a role in triggering this movement in India.

Q9. Which of the following is correct about Rowlatt Act:

1. It allowed the British government to imprison people without due trial.
2. It provided separate electorates for the Muslims.
3. It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced ‘provincial autonomy’.
4. It introduced bicameralism and direct elections in the country.

Explanation:

Another example of British arbitrariness was the Rowlatt Act which allowed the British government to imprison people without due trial. Indian nationalists including Mahatma Gandhi were vehement in their opposition to the Rowlatt bills. Despite the large number of protests, the Rowlatt Act came into effect on 10 March 1919. In Punjab, protests against this Act continued quite actively and on April 10 two leaders of the movement, Dr Satyapal and Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew were arrested. To protest these arrests, a public meeting was held on 13 April at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. General Dyer entered the park with his troops. They closed the only exit and without giving any warning General Dyer ordered the troops to fire. Several hundreds of people died in this gunfire and many more were wounded including women and children.

Q10. In which of the following movements, Gandhiji admitted to have committed a ‘Himalayan Blunder’ by offering a weapon of Satyagraha to the people insufficiently trained in the discipline of ‘non-violence’?

1. Bardoli Satyagraha
2. Non-cooperation Movement
3. Rowlatt Satyagraha
4. Quit India Movement

Q11. With reference to the Indian freedom struggle, consider the following events:

1. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
2. Hunter Report
3. Rowlatt Act

What is the correct chronological sequence of the above events?

1. 3, 1, 2
2. 2, 1, 3
3. 3, 2, 1
4. 1, 2, 3

Explanation:

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired rifles into a crowd of Baishakhi pilgrims, who had gathered in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was followed by establishment of a enquiry committee headed by Lord William Hunter. Rowlatt Acts, (February 1919), legislation passed by the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. The acts allowed certain political cases to be tried without juries and permitted internment of suspects without trial.