NCERT Folder 10th History Chapter 2 : Nationalism in India

Write in brief:
Question.1. Explain:
(a) Why the growth of nationalism in the colonies is linked to an anti-colonial movement?
Ans. In India, as in other colonial countries like Vietnam, the growth of nationalism is totally linked with anti-colonial movement. In their fight against colonialism, people began to discover their unity. They found out they had a common oppressor and had common complaints, so it created a bond among different groups. They realised they were fighting for the same causes — against poverty, discrimination, high taxes, begar, crop failures, forced recruitment to the army during the First World War etc. These shared hardships created a feeling of unity, and aroused nationalism against the common colonial ruler. Though the aims of each group were not similar, now they had a common demand “Swaraj”.

(b) How the First World War helped in the growth of the National Movement in India?
Ans.

1. It created new economic and political problems. The war had led to huge expenditure which was financed by heavy loans and increase in taxes. Customs duties were raised and income tax was introduced.
2. The prices had doubled between 1913-18 and the common people underwent great hardships.
3. Crops had failed between 1918-19 and 1920-21 leading to famine and disease. There were epidemics killing between 12-13 million people (Census, 1921).
4. People’s hope that the end of war would bring an end to their goals were belied, and this led to their support to the national movement.
5. The Muslims were antagonised by the British ill-treatment of the Khalifa, after the First World War.
6. Indian villagers were also incensed by the British Government’s forced recruitment of men in the army.
7. The Congress and other parties were angry with the British for not consulting them before making India a party on their side against Germany.
8. Taking advantage of the First World War, many revolutionary parties cropped up and they incited the people to join the anti-colonial movement in India (i.e. the National Movement).

(c) Why Indians were outraged by the Rowlatt Act?
Ans.

1. Rowlatt Act was passed through the Imperial Legislative Council on a report of the Sedition Committee, headed by Justice Rowlatt.
2. It was the black act which gave the government and the police to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without tried for two years..
3. The Act was passed despite the united opposition of the Indian members of the Council.
4. This Act became one of the factors due to which Gandhiji launched the Non-Cooperation Movement.

(d) Why Gandhiji decided to withdraw this Non-Cooperation Movement?
Ans. In February 1922, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement due to the following reasons:

1. The movement was turning violent. At Chauri-Chaura in Gorakhpur, a peaceful demonstration in a Bazar turned into a violent clash in which more than 20 policemen were killed.
2. Gandhiji felt that the Satyagrahis needed to be properly trained before they would be ready for mass struggle.
3. Within the Congress, some leaders were tired of mass struggles and wanted to participate in elections to the provincial councils, which were set up under the Government of India Act, 1919.
4. Industrialists, workers, peasants etc. interpreted the term ‘Swaraj’ in their own way. At many places like that of Andhra Pradesh, leaders like Alluri Sitaram Raju asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force. But their values were not approved by the Congress.

Question 2. What is meant by the idea of Satyagraha?
Ans.

1. It was a non-violent method of mass agitation against the Oppressor.
2. It emphasized the power of truth and the need to search the truth.
3. It suggested that if the cause was true if the struggle was against injustice, there is no need for physical force to fight the oppressor.
4. People-including the oppressors had to be persuaded to see the truth instead of being forced to accept truth through the use of violence.
5. By this struggle, the truth was bound to be victorious.

Question.3. Write a newspaper report on:
(a) The Jallianwala Bagh massacre
Ans.

• April 13, 1919 will be a date never forgotten by Indians — those who were present and those who will come later. Generations will talk about the infamous, brutal massacre at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. Hundreds of villagers had come to Amritsar to celebrate Baisakhi and attend a fair. They were totally unaware of the martial law, which General Dyer had imposed on the city because of the ‘hartal’ observed on April 6 against the Rowlatt Act. On 10 April the police had fired upon a peaceful procession, which had provoked widespread attacks on banks, post offices and railway stations.
• General Dyer entered the area where a peaceful meeting was going on in Jallianwalla Bagh. He blocked all the exit points and ordered his troops to fire upon the unarmed people. His object was to create terror and awe in the minds of the satyagrahis and produce a “moral effect”. Hundreds of innocent people were killed, some were drowned as they jumped into a well to escape bullets.
• The mass murder was not enough; the government used brutal repression to crush people who rose in anger after this massacre. The satyagrahis were forced to rub their noses in the dirt, crawl on the streets and “Salaam” all “Sahibs”. People were mercilessly flogged and in some villages bombs were also used (Gujranwala in Punjab).
• It was the most shameful act in the history of British rule in India.

(b) The Simon Commission
Ans.

• In 1927, the British Government appointed a seven-member commission under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. It was to report about the extent to which the Act of 1919 had worked out successfully. It was to examine the functioning of the constitutional system in India. This Commission was boycotted by the Indians as it had not a single Indian member.
• It was welcomed with black flags and slogans of “Simon go back” when it landed in India. At Lahore, a procession taken out under the leadership of Lala Lajpat Rai was lathi-charged and he was fatally wounded in 1928.
• The Simon Commission led to Jawaharlal Nehru demanding “Poorna Swaraj” at the Lahore Session of the Congress. The Nehru Report was also a reaction to this Commission and it gave Gandhiji an opportunity to start his Civil Disobedience Movement in India.

Question 4. Compare the images of Bharat Mata in this chapter with the image of Germania in Chapter I?
Ans.

1. There are two images of Bharat Mata one by Abanindranath Tagore and the second by another artist. In the image by Tagore, Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure. She has been shown as calm, composed, divine and spiritual. She is shown also as dispensing learning food and clothing. Abanindranath Tagore tried to develop a style of painting that could be seen as truly Indian.
   In the second figure, Bharat Mata is shown with a trishul, standing beside a lion and an elephant both symbols of power and authority. This figure is a contrast to the one painted by Abanindranath Tagore.
2. On the other hand, the image of Germania by Philip Veet wears a crown of oak leaves which stands for heroism. Thus, there is one similarity between Bharat Mata and Germania – both have an element of bravery i.e., power, authority, and heroism.

Discuss:
Question.1. List all the different social groups which joined the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1921. Then choose any three and write about their hopes and struggles to show why they joined the movement.
Ans. The social groups of India that joined the Non- Cooperation Movement of 1921 were as under:

• Middle – classes people (students, headmasters, teachers, lawyers, etc.)
• Political parties, except the Justice Party of Madras, the party of non-Brahmins.
• Merchants and traders.
• Peasants of Awadh led by Baba Ramchandra.
• Tribals of Andhra Pradesh led by Alluri Sitaram Raju.
• Plantation workers in Assam.

Let know why some of these social groups joined the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Peasants of Awadh:

1. The poor peasants of Awadh had tough times. They didn’t have land, therefore, they had to cultivate the landlord’s fields.
2. The latter asked for rents, which if not paid at times led to the confestication of the rented land as well as crops.
3. This incurred credit to the poor peasants, and they got trapped into the debt cycle. They had to do beggar and work at landlords farms without any payment.
4. But Baba- Ramchandra, a Sanyasi led the poor peasants movement and with the help of Jawahar Lal Nehru established “Oudh Kisan Sabha”in 1920.
5. This movement was later merged with the Non- Cooperation – Khailafat Movements of 1921.

Tribals of Andhra Pradesh:

1. The tribals of Andhra Pradesh were a disturbed lot. They could not enter the forests as those were reserved by the colonial government.
2. Tribals could not collect fuelwood from forests. Also tribal people depended upon cattle which grazed in the Jungles. But this activity ended as soon as forests were reserved. Therefore the lives of tribals came to a standstill.
3. Led by Alluri Sitaram Raju, who firmly believed in Gandhi except his non – violent methods of attaning freedom tribals rebelled against the oppressive British government. They joined the Non-Cooperation – Khailafat movements, but violently.

Plantation Workers:

1. They assumed that non-Cooperation movement meant that they could reunite with their families, by overruling the terms and conditions of their contracts.
2. Therefore many of them defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home.
3. They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.
4. But their plans failed as they could not reach their destinations due to railway and steamer strikes and were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.

Question.2. Discuss the Salt March to make clear why it was an effective symbol of resistance against colonialism. OR
Why did Mahatma Gandhi perceive ‘Salt’ as a powerful symbol to unite the nation? OR
Describe the main events leading to Salt March and Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
Ans.

• Mahatma Gandhi found in salt a powerful symbol that could unite the nation. On 31 January, 1930, he sent a letter to the Viceroy Lord Irwin, making eleven demands. Some of these demands were of general interest, some were specific demands of different classes from industrialists to peasants. The idea was to make the demands all-embracing and wide-ranging, so that all classes within Indian society could identify with them and work together in a united campaign. He made the “Salt tax” his target and called it the most repressive Act of the British government. This tax hit both the poor and the rich as salt was used in every household. The British had the monopoly in producing salt and they misused their power.
• Gandhi started his famous “Salt March” on March 12, 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a small coastal village in Gujarat. He started with 78 followers and thousands joined him on his 240-miles route.
• It took him 24 days of 10 miles walking per day. On April 16, 1930 he broke the Salt Law by boiling sea water and extracting salt. Newspapers carried day-to-day reports of his march and the speeches he made on the way. It is reported that about 300 Gujarat village officials resigned their posts and joined Gandhiji.
• His Salt March led to violation of Salt Law all over the country. It also led to boycott of foreign goods and picketing of liquor shops. Students and women played a significant role in this movement. Peasants refused to pay taxes, forest people broke forest laws and grazed their cattle, collected wood in prohibited forest areas. There was an uprising against the government everywhere in India and the British had to use brutal force to suppress it.

Question.3. Imagine you are a woman participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Explain what the experience meant in your life. OR
What was the role of women in the Civil Disobedience Movement?
Ans. Women entered the National Movement in large numbers for the first time by participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement. During Gandhiji’s ‘Salt March’, thousands of women came out of their homes to listen to him. They participated in protest marches, manufactured salt, picketed foreign goods and liquor shops. They came in the urban areas from high caste families. In the rural area they were from the rich peasant households. They took part in the movement as their sacred duty. They stood by their men and suffered physical blows also. They included old women, women with babies in their arms, and young girls. It did not win them any new status. Even Gandhiji thought women’s place was at home, as good mothers and good wives. The Congress did not give them any position in the organisation — but the women made their presence felt. Women who had never stepped out of their homes, women in purdah could be seen marching side by side with their men.

Question.4. Why did political leaders differ sharply over the question of separate electorates?
Ans. By separate electorates we mean a system in which people of one religion vote for a candidate of their own religion. The British used this system to divide the people of India and thus to weaken the National Movement. This would make their position strong in India and make them rule for a long time. They succeeded in driving a wedge between the Hindus and Muslims which finally led to the partition of the country in 1947. The different political leaders did not agree with this policy and held different opinions.

1. Congress : It opposed tooth and nail the British policy of separate electorates. It understood the mischief created by the divide and rule policy. It was in favour of joint electorates.
2. Muslim leaders like Muhammad Iqbal and M.A. Jinnah wanted separate electorates to safeguard the political interests of the Muslims. They were afraid, as a minority religious group, that they would never be able to win elections in a joint electorate and the Hindus would always dominate them.
3. The leaders of the Depressed Classes under Dr B.R. Ambedkar also wanted a separate electorate, because they were also afraid of Hindu dominance in a joint electorate. After Gandhi’s fast unto death, the Poona Pact was signed between him and Dr. Ambedkar. Gandhiji saw it as a blow to national unity and feared that the Dalits would never become one with the Hindu society, under separate electorate. Dr Ambedkar agreed to a joint electorate provided the Depressed Classes had reserved seats in the Provincial and Central Legislative Councils.