Indian National Movement (Part-II)

Total Questions: 50

31. During the Indian freedom struggle, the Khudai Khidmatgars, also known as Red Shirts called for: [2002]

Correct Answer: (d) the Pathan regional nationalist unity and a struggle against colonialism.
Solution:Khudai Khidmatgars were organized by Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (Frontier Gandhi). Khudai Khidmatgar literally translates as the servants of God, represented a non-violent freedom struggle against the British Empire by the Pashtuns (also known as Pathans, Pakhtuns or Afghans) of the North-West Frontier Province.

Abdul Ghaffar Khan
• About:
◦ He was also called the Frontier Gandhi.
◦ Born on 6th February 1890 in Utmanzai, Frontier Tribal Areas of Punjab Province.
◦ He was named Badshah Khan at twenty-six by the members of his tribe when his father died.
◦ Foremost 20th-century leader of the Pashtuns (Pakhtuns, or Pathans; a Muslim ethnic group of Pakistan and Afghanistan).
◦ As a young boy, he left his high school final exams, aspiring to join ‘The Guides’, a corps composed of Sikhs and Pathans.

• Roles:
◦ He met Mahatma Gandhi and entered politics in 1919 during the agitation over the Rowlatt Act.
◦ Joined the Khilafat movement.
◦ He founded the Red Shirt movement (Khudai Khitmatgar/ Servant of God) among the Pashtuns.
▪ It espoused nonviolent nationalist agitation in support of Indian independence and sought to awaken the Pashtuns’ political consciousness.

32. Assertion (A): The effect of labour participation in the Indian nationalist upsurge of the early 1930s was weak. [2002]

Reason (R): The labour leaders considered the ideology of Indian National Congress as bourgeois and reactionary.

Correct Answer: (a) Both A and R are true but R is the correct explanation of A
Solution:The labour leaders were influenced by communist ideology and considered INC as bourgeoisie and reactionary. That's why their participation in the Indian nationalist upsurge was limited.
The emergence of modern workers in India during the latter half of the nineteenth century was closely tied to the slow development of modern industry and the establishment of essential utilities like railways, the post, and the telegraph network. Before the concept of the Indian ‘people’ took hold, the idea of an Indian working class did not fully exist.
As the Indian national movement gained momentum and the process of shaping the Indian ‘nation-in-the-making’ progressed, disparate groups of workers from different regions began to organise and develop a collective, self-aware, all-India class. The growth of the Indian working class became inseparable from the broader context of the nation's striving for independence.

33. The last opportunity to avoid the partition of India was lost with the rejection of: [2002]

Correct Answer: (c) Cabinet Mission
Solution:Cabinet Mission (1946) was the last opportunity to avoid the partition of India with the formation of interim Government. But Muslim League rejected the plan even though they won 73 out of 78 seats in the interim government. They did not attend the first meeting of Constituent Assembly on Dec 9, 1946.
The Cabinet Mission of 1946 was a turning point in India's struggle for independence. The mission aimed to devise a plan for the peaceful transfer of power while addressing the competing demands of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. Headed by Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander, it sought to maintain the unity of India, while offering a constitutional framework for self-governance.
The mission proposed the creation of a Constituent Assembly, a federal union with autonomy for provinces, and a complex grouping of provinces. Despite its efforts, the mission failed to reconcile the conflicting visions of the Congress and the Muslim League, setting the stage for India's eventual partition and independence in 1947.

34. The members of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the Constitution of India were: [2002]

Correct Answer: (c) elected by the Legislative Assemblies of various province
Solution:The members of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the Constitution of India were to be elected by provincial assemblies under the system of proportional representation.
The Constituent Assembly is an institution specifically conceived to design or amend a Constitution, with the authority to establish the norms that govern the political and social framework of a territory. In India, the Constituent Assembly was formed in November 1946 under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946) as a partly elected and partly nominated body.
It convened for the first time on December 9, 1946, to draft and formulate the Constitution of India, seen as essential for implementing self-determination.
After its final session on January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly served as the provisional Parliament from January 26, 1950, until the first general elections in 1951–52 established the new Parliament.

35. Who headed the Interim Cabinet formed in the year 1946? [2003]

Correct Answer: (b) Jawaharlal Nehru
Solution:

The Interim Government was established as a temporary administration bridging the imperial structure and a democratic framework. It functioned from August 1946 until India’s independence on August 15, 1947, when the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan.
Its formation came from the newly elected Constituent Assembly, whose representatives were indirectly chosen by provincial legislatures. In these elections, the Indian National Congress (INC) won a plurality with 208 seats (about 69%), while the Muslim League secured 73 seats. The Interim Government replaced the Viceroy’s Executive Council with a Council of Ministers as the administrative branch.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru served as its Vice President and de facto Prime Minister. Although initially opposed to joining the Interim Government, the Muslim League eventually participated to gain political leverage, as Muhammad Ali Jinnah described, “entering the Interim Government to get a foothold to fight for… the cherished objective of Pakistan.”.

36. The leader of the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) was: [2003]

Correct Answer: (a) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Solution:The Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, in the state of Gujarat was led by Vallabhbhai Patel. The women of Bardoli gave him the title of Sardar.
The Bardoli Satyagraha took place in 1928 in Bardoli taluka, located in the Surat district of Gujarat. This region was predominantly agrarian, with most of the population engaged in farming. The roots of the Satyagraha can be traced back to the oppressive tax policies imposed by the British colonial government, which disproportionately affected the farmers of Bardoli.
In 1927, despite severe famine and reduced agricultural productivity, the British government raised land revenue by 22%, worsening farmers’ distress. With pleas for relief ignored, this sparked the Bardoli Satyagraha, where peasants launched a non-violent protest against British authority.

37. Assertion (A): In 1916, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the Legislative Council. [2003]

Reason (R): The Rowlatt Act was passed by the Government in spite of being opposed by all Indian members of the Legislative Council.

Correct Answer: (d) A is false but R is true
Solution:Rowlatt Act was passed in March, 1919. The act authorized the government to imprison any person without trial and conviction in a court of law. Maulana Mohd. Ali and Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the legislative council in 1919 during the Khilafat Movement and not in 1916.
The Rowlatt Act had a number of features that were widely criticized by Indians.
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.

38. With reference to the Indian freedom struggle, which one of the following statements is not correct? [2003]

Correct Answer: (d) In 1931, the Congress Session at Karachi opposed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Solution:In 1931, the Congress Session at Karachi endorsed (not opposed) Gandhi-Irwin Pact. It was presided over by Vallabh Bhai Patel.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was an agreement signed in 1931 between Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin.
• The pact aimed to end the Civil Disobedience Movement and secure Congress’s participation in the Second Round Table Conference (RTC).
• This agreement reflected a compromise between the Indian nationalists and the British government, each seeking to advance their respective goals while addressing immediate concerns.
• The Gandhi-Irwin Pact date, also known as Delhi Pact, was signed on March 5, 1931.

39. An important aspect of the Cripps Mission of 1942 was: [2003]

Correct Answer: (b) the creation of an Indian Union with Dominion status very soon after the end of Second World War
Solution:Statement d is incorrect as any province not willing to join the Union could have a separate constitution and form a separate union. Cripps Mission provides for an Indian Union with a dominion status after the second world war, which would be free to decide its relations with the Commonwealth and free to participate in the United Nations and other international bodies.

40. When Congress leaders condemned the Montagu-Chelmsford Report, many moderates left the party to form the: [2003]

Correct Answer: (d) Indian Liberal Federation
Solution:When Congress leader scondemned the Montagu-Chelmsford Report (July, 1918), many moderates led by Surendra Nath Banerjea left the party to form Indian Liberal Federation in 1919.

Surendranath Bannerji left the congress opposing Montagu-Chelmsford report and formed a separate party name Indian Liberal federation after refusal to attend Bombay session of Congress in 1918.