History & Civics
Imagine you are a student, who witnessed the protest movement organised by the people of Bengal on October 16, 1905. How did the people react to the Partition of Bengal and what was its impact?
2ⁿᵈ Phase of INM
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Answer
People started a strong movement against the partition, known as the Anti-partition Movement.
- The Partition of Bengal led to a mighty upsurge which brought people and political leaders together.
- The Indian National Congress and the nationalists of Bengal opposed the partition. Within Bengal, different sections of the population — zamindars, merchants, lawyers, students and women — rose up in opposition to the partition of their province.
- Many protest meetings were held by eminent leaders like Surendranath Banerjee, Krishna Kumar Mitra, P.C. Ray, B.C. Pal and Ananda Mohan Bose.
- The Early Nationalists and the Assertive Nationalists cooperated with one another during the course of the movement.
- The leaders condemned partition through newspapers like Bengali, Hitabadi and Sanjibani. They declared it a day of national mourning throughout Bengal.
- There was strike in Kolkata.
- The streets of Kolkata were full of the cries of 'Bande Mataram' which became the theme song of the national movement.
- Rabindranath Tagore composed the patriotic song, 'Amar Sonar Bangla' (My Golden Bengal), for the occasion which was sung by huge crowds parading the streets.
- The ceremony of Raksha Bandhan was celebrated in a new way. Hindus and Muslims tied rakhis on one another's wrists as the symbol of unbreakable unity of the Bengalis and the two halves of Bengal.
- In the afternoon, there was a great demonstration when the veteran leader Ananda Mohan Bose laid the foundation of a Federation Hall to mark the indestructible unity of Bengal. All gathered there took the vow to follow Swadeshi.
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Related Questions
In the second phase of the national movement, there emerged a new younger group of leaders within the Congress who did not agree with the old leadership. In this context, answer the following questions:
(a) Explain how the repressive policies of Lord Curzon and influence of International events led to the Assertive nationalism.
(b) Name the Assertive Nationalist leader who was wounded when he was leading a protest against Simon Commission. How were his words, when he was wounded, prophetics?
(c) Differentiate between the Early Nationalists and the Assertive Nationalists in their objectives and achievements, stating one objective and two achievements of each wing of the Congress.
Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:
"You will have observed the word 'boycott' attached to the word 'movement'. It means that it shall move, move from point to point, move from city to city, move from division to division, move from province to province till we realise the highest destiny of our people as a nation in the comity of nations. I mean swaraj."
—Bipin Chandra Pal, 1906 Calcutta Session of the Congress
(a) Mention Bipin Chandra Pal's political aims.
(b) State his ideas on National Education.
(c) What remedies did he propose to eradicate India's poverty and unemployment?
Read the excerpt given below and answer the questions that follow:
It is a mistake to suppose that the Swadeshi movement requires sacrifice from poor people. We, the middle classes are the greatest offenders in this respect. The poor Kumbi villagers, require not many foreign articles at all, — probably none at all. It is we, the middle classes, who are the consumers of foreign goods; and since this Government is not going to stop the drain by imposing a protective duty it becomes imperatively necessary to adopt a measure by which we can do ourselves what the Government is bound to do and what the government ought to have done long ago. That one point was self-help and another point was determination; and the third sacrifice. You will find that all this included in this resolution, joined with the declaration made in the Presidential address that Swadeshism is a forced necessity in India owing to unnatural economic conditions in India, makes up a complete case for you. I trust that resolution of self-help adopted this year will form the basis of other resolutions of self-help in years to come.’
— Bal Gangadhar Tilak (At the 1906 session of Indian National Congress, where the resolution on Swadeshi was moved.).
(a) What was the main aim of Swadeshi as referred to in the extract? How does, it relate to 'boycott'?
(b) What are the reasons for focussing on Swadeshi?
(c) In what ways is the speaker of this extract the forerunner of Gandhiji?
Study the pictures given below and answer the questions that follow:


(a) Identify the persons 'A' and 'B' given above. To which section of the Congress did each belong and what were their ultimate objectives?
(b) State three different methods of struggle adopted by each section of the Congress.
(c) State two contributions of persons 'A' and 'B' to the freedom struggle.