05 November 2022

Daily Mains Answer Writing

Q1. The Government of India Act of 1935 as a whole was important. In addition to acting as a temporary constitution, it served as the basis for the constitution of Free India. Elucidate. (250 words)

Paper & Topic: GS I – National Movement

Introduction:

• The Government of India Act of 1935 was an important piece of legislation in Indian history. A number of earlier Government of India Acts and Round Table Conferences led to the passage of the Government of India Act of 1935. It completely altered the political system, judicial system, and other aspects of the Federation of India. It made the Indian Federation possible and gave the Indian province’s autonomy. A framework, the Government of India Act of 1935, established some federal qualities.

Body:

The 1935 Government of India Act’s characteristics:

• This Act has a number of noteworthy features, some of which have been thought important while others have been deemed unimportant. These are a few crucial qualities:
• This Act serves as evidence of the British Parliament’s dominance or governing power.
• This Act attempted to create an All-India Federation made up of princely states and provinces as a whole.
• The old dyarchy system in the provinces was replaced by a system of provincial autonomy under this Act. Dysarchy was only used at the federal level this time, not the state level.
• The Act’s recommendation led to the creation of a federal court. This court was established in 1937, two years after this Act was passed.
• The Reserve Bank of India will be established under the provisions of this Act, and it will be responsible for managing the country’s currency and credit markets.
• The Government of India Act of 1858, which established the Council of India, was abolished following the passage of this Act.
• After the enactment of this Act, separate electorates were created for Muslims, Sikhs, and other communities aside from the lower classes.
• The population of Universal Adult Franchise would rise from 3% to 14% with the approval of this Act.
• The important emergency powers are no longer under the Governor’s exclusive control.

The GOI, 1935 Act had following issues:

• The “safeguards” and “specific functions” of the governor-many generals served as limitations on the effectiveness of the Act.
• The need to win Indian support for the British Raj determines the course of India’s constitutional development.
• The governor of a province still held a lot of authority.
• 14% of British Indians received voting rights as a result of the Act.
• India was divided as a result of the expansion of the system of communal electorates and the representation of different interests.
• The Act produced a constrained Constitution with no space for internal expansion.
• The British Parliament was given sole authority to make changes.
• Suppression is only a short-term tactic. It was planned for the movement to gradually lose strength and be heavily absorbed into the colonial, constitutional, and administrative structures.
• Constitutionalist liberals and moderates lost support from the general public as a result of the civil disobedience movement; reforms would improve their political position.
• A large portion of Congressmen would be persuaded of the futility of an unlawful war by past repression and current reforms.
• Congressmen would be hesitant to return to politics of sacrifice once they had a taste of power.
• Reforms might be utilised to increase polarisation in Congress, with the right wing being appeased by constitutional compromises while the radical left being controlled through coercion.
• Strong provincial leaders would emerge as a result of regional autonomy and eventually turn into independent political power centres. Congress would consequently become regionalized, eroding centralised authority.

Conclusion:

• Nearly all parties opposed the 1935 Act, and Congress unanimously rejected it. Instead, the Congress supported the election of a Constituent Assembly that would write an independent India’s constitution by democratic adult vote. Up until the start of the 1942 Quit India Movement, Congress ran in the provincial elections on the basis of the Act and won in the vast majority of provinces.

Q2. The largest prominent anti-imperialist conflict has properly been referred to as the Quit India Movement, which occurred on the verge of Partition and Independence. Explain. (250 Words)

 Paper & Topic: GS I – National Movement

Introduction:

• The disastrous failure of the Cripps Mission in April 1942 revealed Britain’s reluctance to offer an honourable settlement and a significant constitutional advance throughout the War. In order to encourage the British to leave, Gandhiji authored a resolution for the Congress Working Committee, which brought the nation closer to the August Kranti or Quit India Movement. The British were enraged by Mahatma Gandhi’s call to action, “Do or Die,” and rushed to arrest the whole Congress leadership while also motivating hundreds of party members.

Body:

The Quit India Movement, which took place just before Partition and Independence, was probably the biggest anti-imperialist movement:

Gandhi’s radical social views:

• In stark contrast to the Non-cooperation campaign, from which he withdrew following the Chauri Chaura incident, Gandhi did not only refuse to condemn the use of violence by the people in the Quit India movement, but he also unequivocally blamed the government for it.
• Gandhi emphasised the importance of nonviolence time and time again, but his motto “Do or Die” perfectly sums up his aggressive nature.
• Gandhi also called on everyone to take action, including the princes, Jagirdars, and Zamindars as well as the wealthy and affluent classes, who draw their income and belongings from the workers in the fields, industries, and other locations, to whom power and authority ultimately belong.
• As socialists and communists had by this point joined the broadly based Congress, this illustrates Gandhi’s social radicalism and a shift in the Congress’s philosophical outlook.

Violence existed in some places:

• The Quit India Movement was largely peaceful. But it became violent in certain places. Post offices caught fire, rails were uprooted, and offices were destroyed.

Not having a leader:

• Before the movement was properly begun, the authorities arrested all of the top Congressmen in a single operation. As a result, widespread resentment over the detention of leaders broke out.
• Because of the unplanned widespread participation, the Quit India movement was one of the most well-liked mass movements.
• This historic movement immediately placed the demand for independence on the national movement’s agenda.
• The spirit released was carried further by the Indian National Army under Subhas Chandra Bose. There was no going back after “Quit India.” Freedom was no longer a bargaining chip.
• It aided India’s independence from Britain in 1947 and stoked the flames of freedom.

Establishing Separate Governments:

• Many locations developed parallel governments.
• Many Congress leaders were freed by Ballia under Chittu Pandey.
• The locals of West Bengal’s Midnapore sections Tamluk and Contai were successful in forming Jatiya Sarkar, which provided aid for cyclone victims, authorised grants for schools, distributed grain from the wealthy to the poor, organised Vidyut Vahinis, etc.
• “Prati Sarkar” was organised in Satara, Maharashtra, by figures like Y.B. Chavan, Nana Patil, etc. Nyayadan Mandals and village libraries were established.

Subterranean Activity:

• Many nationalists engaged in clandestine operations and fled into hiding.
• Socialists, Forward Bloc members, Gandhi ashramites, revolutionary nationalists, and local organisations from Bombay, Poona, Satara, Baroda, and other locations in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra, United Provinces, Bihar, and Delhi participated in these activities.
• Rammanohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Usha Mehta, Biju Patnaik, Chhotubhai Puranik, Achyut Patwardhan, Sucheta Kripalani, and R.P. Goenka were the prominent figures engaging in underground activity.
• In Bombay, Usha Mehta launched a clandestine radio station.
• In order to maintain public morale, this stage of underground activities continued to offer a chain of command and instructions for distributing weapons and ammunition.

A strong female presence:

• The Quit India movement was distinctive in that it involved women, who not only participated equally but also took the initiative to lead the cause.
• Aruna Asaf Ali, Sucheta Kripalani, and Usha Mehta were among the women who actively engaged, particularly the school and college females.
• A procession of 6,000 people, largely women, was led by Matangini Hazra to ransack a neighbourhood police station.

Mass Participation:

• There were many levels of participation.
• Youth, especially college and high school students, continued to be prominent.
• Repression occurred as a result of worker strikes.
• At the centre of the movement were peasants from various social classes.
• Government employees, particularly those from lower ranks of the police and administration, took part, which decreased people’s devotion to the government.
• Muslims aided by providing activists in the shadows with sanctuary. Throughout the movement, there were no intercommunal conflicts.

Conclusion:

• The Quit India Movement was a turning point in Indian politics because it set the stage for future political change. “We the People,” who fought for India’s freedom, claimed ownership of the freedom movement through the Quit India Movement.