History
Explain:
(a) Why growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.
(b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India.
(c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act.
(d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Answer
(a) People in the colonies suffered oppression at the hands of colonial power. This created resentment and unrest among the people and led to growth of nationalism. The people fought against the colonial powers for their rights. Therefore, growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement.
(b) The First World war created a new economic and political situation. It led to a huge increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing taxes: customs duties were raised and income tax introduced. Through the war years prices increased – doubling between 1913 and 1918 – leading to extreme hardship for the common people. Villages were called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced recruitment in rural areas caused widespread anger. All this led to resentment and as a result there was growth of the National Movement in India.
(c) Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act because it gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities, and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.
(d) At Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful demonstration in a bazaar turned into a violent clash with the police. Hearing of the incident, Mahatma Gandhi called a halt to the Non-Cooperation Movement. He decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement because he felt that the movement was turning violent in many places and satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggles.
Related Questions
Why did various classes and groups of Indians participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Read the Source D carefully. Do you agree with Iqbal’s idea of communalism? Can you define communalism in a different way?
Source D
In 1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal, as president of the Muslim League, reiterated the importance of separate electorates for the Muslims as an important safeguard for their minority political interests. His statement is supposed to have provided the intellectual justification for the Pakistan demand that came up in subsequent years. This is what he said:
I have no hesitation in declaring that if the principle that the Indian Muslim is entitled to full and free development on the lines of his own culture and tradition in his own Indian home lands is recognized as the basis of a permanent communal settlement, he will be ready to stake his all for the freedom of India. The principle that each group is entitled for free development on its own lines is not inspired by any feeling of narrow communalism. A community which is inspired by feelings of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble. I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religions and social institutions of other communities. Nay, it is my duty according to the teachings of the Quran, even to defend their places of worship, if need be. Even though I love the communal group which is the source of life and behavior and which has formed me what I am by giving me its religion, its literature, it’s thought, its culture and thereby its whole past as a living operative factor in my present consciousness. Communalism in its higher aspect, is indispensable to the formation of a harmonious whole in a country like India. The units of Indian society are not territorial as in European countries. The principle of European democracy can-not be applied to India without recognising the fact of communal groups.
The Muslim demand for the separate electorates are contrary to the spirit of true nationalism, because he understands the word ‘nation’ a kind of universal amalgamation in which no communal entity ought to retain its private individuality. Such a state of things, however, does not exist. India is a land of racial and religious variety. Add to this the general economic inferiority of the Muslims, their enormous debt, especially in the Punjab, and their insufficient majorities in some of the provinces, as at present constituted and you will begin to see clearly the meaning of our anxiety to retain separate electorates.
What is meant by the idea of satyagraha?
Write a newspaper report on:
(a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
(b) The Simon Commission