IMPORTANT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS OF NATIONALISM IN INDIA CLASS X
Q.1. How was the first World War responsible for the growth of the
Indian national movement?
Ans: First of all, the war created
a new economic and political situation.
1. It led to a huge
increase in defence expenditure which was financed by war loans and increasing
taxes:
2. Customs duties
were raised and income tax introduced.
3. Through the war
years prices increased –doubling between 1913 and 1918 – leading to extreme
hardship for the common people.
4. Villages were
called upon to supply soldiers, and the forced recruitment in rural
areas caused
wide spread anger.
5. Then in 1918-19
and 1920-21, crops failed in many parts of India , resulting in acute shortages
of food.
This was accompanied by an influenza
epidemic. According to the census of 1921, 12 to 13 million people perished as a result of famines and
the epidemic.
People hoped that
their hardships would end after the war was over. But that did not happen.
Q.2. Explain the idea of Satyagraha?
Ans: The idea of satyagraha emphasised the power
of truth and the need to search for truth. It suggested that if the cause was
true, if the struggle was against injustice, then physical force was not
necessary to fight the oppressor. Without seeking vengeance or being aggressive,
a satyagrahi could win the battle through non-violence. This could be done by
appealing to the conscience of the oppressor. People – including the oppressors
– had to be persuaded to see the truth, instead of being forced to accept truth
through the use of violence. By this struggle, truth was bound to ultimately
triumph. Mahatma Gandhi believed that this dharma of non-violence could
unite all Indians.
Q.3. Arrange the following in Chronological Order.
Ans: a) Congress adopts the demand for ‘Purna
Swaraj’.
b)Second
Round Table Conference.
c)Non-Cooperation
and Khilafat movement launched.
d)Chauri Chaura
e)Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
f)Gandhiji begins
Civil Disobedience Movement by breaking salt law at Dandi.
Ans. e, c,d,a,f,b
Q.4. How did Gandhiji want the Non Cooperation
Movement to unfold? Explain
Ans. Gandhiji proposed
that the movement should unfold in stages. It should begin with the surrender
of titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of
civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and
foreign goods. Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil
disobedience campaign would be launched.
Q.5
Different social groups that participated in the civil disobedience movement.
Why did they join the movement?
Ans.
1. In the countryside rich peasant communities, being producers of
commercial crops, they were very hard
hit by the trade depression and falling prices.
2.
The poorer peasantry were not just interested in the lowering of the revenue
demand.
3.
Business classes wanted protection against imports of foreign goods, and a
rupee
sterling
foreign exchange ratio that would discourage imports.
Q.6. What do you know about the Rowlatt Act? How did Gandhiji plan to
oppose this act?How did the Colonial government react to the popular upsurge?
Ans: a)This Act had been hurriedly
passed through the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition
of the Indian members. It gave the government enormous powers to repress
political activities,and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial
for two years.
b)Mahatma
Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws, which
would start with a hartal on 6 April1919.Rallies were organised in
various cities, workers went on strike in railway workshops, and shops closed
down.
c)
Alarmed by the popular upsurge, and scared that lines of communication such as
the railways and telegraph would be disrupted, the British administration
decided to clamp down on nationalists. Local leaders were picked up from Amritsar , and Mahatma Gandhi was barred from entering Delhi .
On 10 April 1919, the police in Amritsar fired upon a
peaceful procession, provoking widespread attacks on banks, post offices and
railway stations. Martial law was imposed and General Dyer took command. d)On 13 April 1919 the
infamous Jallianwalla Bagh incident took place. On that day a crowd of
villagers who had come to Amritsar
to attend a fair gathered in the enclosed ground of Jallianwalla Bagh. Being
from outside the city, they were unaware of the martial law that had been
imposed. Dyer entered the area, blocked the exit points, and opened fire on the
crowd, killing hundreds
Q.7. Write how Indians began to have a sense of national identity and a
feeling of collective belonging?
Ans: The
sense of nationalism and a feeling of collective belonging came partly through
the experience of united struggles. But there were also a variety of cultural
processes through which nationalism captured people’s imagination. History and
fiction, folklore and songs, popular prints and symbols, all played a part in
the making of nationalism. Apart from that the following efforts by
intellectuals, scholars and nationalist leaders helped to reinforce those
feelings:
(i)
through reinterpretation of history. By the end of the nineteenth century many
Indians felt that to instill a sense of pride in the nation
(ii)
As the national movement developed, nationalist leaders became more and more
aware of such icons and symbols in unifying people and inspiring in them a
feeling of nationalism..
(iii) Movement
to revive Indian folklore. In late-nineteenth-century India ,
nationalists began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages
to gather folk songs and legends. These tales, they believed, gave a true
picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by outside
forces..
(iv)
Leaders created an image of the nation in the form of ‘Bharat Mata’.This helped
to create an image with which people can identify the nation.
Q.8 Write
about the significance of the Poona Pact of September 1932.
Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who
organised the dalits into the Depressed Classes Association in 1930, clashed
with Mahatma Gandhi at the second Round Table Conference by demanding separate
electorates for dalits. When the British government conceded Ambedkar’s demand,
Gandhiji began a fast unto death. He believed
that
separate electorates for dalits would slow down the process of their
integration into society. Ambedkar ultimately accepted Gandhiji’s position and
the result was the Poona Pact of September 1932.It gave the Depressed Classes
(later to be known as the Schedule Castes) reserved seats in provincial and
central legislative councils, but they were to be voted in by the general
electorate.
Q.10 Write about the role played by women in our struggle for freedom.
Women picketed foreign cloth and liquor shops.
Many went to jail. In urban areas these women were from high-caste families; in
rural areas they came from rich peasant households. Moved by Gandhiji’s call,
they began to see service to the nation as a sacred duty of women. Yet, this
increased public role did not necessarily mean any radical change in the way
the position of women was visualised. Gandhi
was convinced that it was the duty
of women to look after home and hearth, be good mothers and good wives. And for
a long time the Congress was reluctant to allow women to hold any position
of authority within the
organisation. It was keen only on their symbolic presence.
No comments:
Post a Comment