Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Non-Cooperation Movement.

Key Points

• Swaraj Party was formed following the failure of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Non-Cooperation Movement:
  • The movement of Non-cooperation was launched on 4 September 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi with the aim of self-governance and obtaining full independence (Purna Swaraj) as the Indian National Congress (INC) withdrew its support for British reforms following the Rowlatt Act of 21 March 1919, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919.
  • The Rowlatt Act of March 1919, which suspended the rights of political prisoners in sedition trials, was seen as a "political awakening" by Indians and as a "threat" by the British.
  • Although it was never invoked and declared void just a few years later, the act motivated Gandhi to conceive the idea of satyagraha (truth), which he saw as synonymous with independence.
• Swaraj Party:
  • Swaraj Party, an Indian political party established in late 1922–early 1923 by members of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), notably Motilal Nehru, one of the most prominent lawyers in northern India (and the father of political leader Jawaharlal Nehru), and Chitta Ranjan Das, a nationalist politician from Bengal.
  • The party’s name is taken from the term swaraj, meaning “self-rule,” which was broadly applied to the movement to gain independence from British rule.
  • The party’s primary goal was to contest the elections to the new Central Legislative Assembly in 1923 and, once in office, to disrupt official policy and derail the Raj (British government in India) by antigovernment agitation within the council chambers.
  • Though the noncooperation approach of Mohandas K. Gandhi had remained the primary strategy of the Congress, in reality, those Congress leaders who were less-orthodox Hindu or who were more secular-minded in outlook chose the alternative tactic of partially cooperating with political reforms being instituted by the British after World War I.

Additional Information

• Civil Disobedience Movement:
  • Mohandas Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement of 1930-1931—launched by the Salt March—is a critical case for understanding civil resistance.
  • Although by itself it failed to bring Indian independence, it seriously undermined British authority and united India’s population in a movement for independence under the leadership of the Indian National Congress (INC).
  • It further signalled a new stage in the struggle for Indian swaraj (self-rule) and facilitated the downfall of the British Empire in India.
  • Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha drew upon a traditional South Asian cultural practice – the “Padyatra” (a long spiritual march) that became a model of strategic action for many social movements in the decades to come.
• Rowlatt Bill Satyagraha:
  • 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 the internment of suspects without trial.
  • Their object was to replace the repressive provisions of the wartime Defence of India Act (1915) with a permanent law.
  • They were based on the report of Justice S.A.T. Rowlatt’s committee of 1918.
  • The Rowlatt Acts were much resented by an aroused Indian public.
  • All nonofficial Indian members of the council (i.e., those who were not officials in the colonial government) voted against the acts.
  • Mahatma Gandhi organized a protest movement that led directly to the Massacre of Amritsar (April 1919) and subsequently to his noncooperation movement (1920–22).
• Champaran Satyagraha:
  • The Champaran Satyagraha was the combination of elements of extra-constitutional struggle as well as the employment of moral force against an adversary, an exemplar of the rule of law; and the use of compromise as a gambit.
  • It is marked as India’s First Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against the injustice meted out to tenant farmers in the Champaran district of Bihar.
  • Champaran district was part of a permanent settlement area that consisted of the large zamindari estates under rich and influential landlords.
  • Most of the villages were leased out by the zamindars to thikadars of whom the most influential were European Indigo Planters.
  • Though the planters were temporary tenure holders, they not only extracted rent from the peasants but also exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction.

The correct answer is Sabarmati Ashram.

Key Points

• On 12 March 1930, Dandi March was undertaken from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi by Gandhiji.
• To achieve the goal of Complete independence, Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) was started by Gandhiji with the Dandi March.
• He started his march along with 78 followers from Sabarmati Ashram to the small village Dandi to break the Salt Law.
• The march lasted from 12th March 1930 to 6th April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly.

Additional Information

• Gandhian Era:
  • Mahatma Gandhi was in South Africa when he was summoned by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, after which he returned to India in 1915.
  • The period from 1915-1948 can be construed as the ‘Gandhian era’ in Indian National Movement.
  • The period between 1919 to independence is marked by three important struggles –
    • Non-cooperation movement of 1919
    • Civil Disobedience movement of 1930, with its call for complete independence
    • The famous Quit Indian Movement of 1942. 

• Al-Biruni from Uzbekistan, traveled to India in the 11th century.
• He wrote an encyclopedic work on India named 'Taḥqīq mā li-l-hind min maqūlah maqbūlah fī al-ʿaql aw mardhūlah', which translates to 'The book confirming what pertains to India, whether rational or despicable'. 

The correct answer is option 3.

Key Points

• Poona Pact (September 1932):
  • It was an agreement between Gandhi and Ambedkar.
  • Madan Mohan Malviya signed the pact on behalf of Gandhi.
  • According to this pact:
    • Separate electorates were replaced by joint electorates for depressed classes.
    • As against 71 seats announced by MacDonald, this pact reserved 148 seats in the Provincial legislature.
    • About 18% of the total seats were also reserved for the pressed classes in the central legislature.
• August Offer (August 1940)
  • The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, issued a statement from Shimla on 8 August 1940 known as the August Offer.
  • It was an attempt to secure the cooperation of the Indians in WW II.
  • Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of England at the time.
  • Some of the provisions of the August Offer were:
    • Dominion status as the objective for India.
    • The number of Indians in the Viceroy’s Executive council will be increased.
    • A representative “Constitution Making Body” shall be appointed immediately after the war.
  • The Indian National Congress rejected the August Offer as Pt. Nehru said, “Dominion status concept is dead as a doornail”, As well as Mahatama Gandhi said that the declaration had widened the gulf between the nationalists and the British rulers.
• Cripps Mission (1942):
  • In order to get the support of India in world war II, Cripps Mission was sent to India in 1942.
  • Few proposals of this mission are:
    • Dominion status to India after the war.
    • Constitution-making body after the war.
    • Constitution so framed would be acceptable by the British Government only if certain province desires to stay away from the Union of India.
    • Any province which wouldn't accept the new constitution would have the right to sign a separate agreement with the British.
    • Gandhi called Cripps Mission 'A post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank' due to the Cripps offer of Dominion Status after the war.
• Wavell plan/Shimla Conference (1945):
  • It was named after the Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell.  
  • Few proposals in this plan are:
    • With the exception of the Viceroy and Commander in chief, all the members of the Viceroys executive council will be Indians.
    • A kind of interim government was suggested.
    • Transfer of foreign affairs portfolio from the Governor-General to an Indian member.
    • Congress rejected the Wavell plans because of the actions of the Muslim league.

The correct answer is Stuttgart.

Key Points

• Madam Cama hoisted the first tricolor flag in 1907 at Stuttgart.
• Madam Cama:
  • Bhikaiji Rustom Cama was a prominent figure in the Indian Independence Struggle.
  • She is famous for hosting the precursor to the Indian National Flag on foreign soil.
  • For this act, she came to be known as the ‘Mother of the Indian Revolution.
  • During her visit to London, Bhikaiji Cama came into contact with Shyamji Krishna Varma, an Indian nationalist known for the speeches he gave in Hyde Park.
  • She met Dadabhai Naoroji, the president of the British committee of the Indian National Congress (founded on December 28, 1885).