Mahatma Gandhi Test - 1

The correct answer is Ahmedabad struggle.

• The Ahmedabad Mill Strike was an episode in Modern Indian History where workers of textile mills in Ahmedabad fought for economic justice when the mill owners discontinued their plague bonuses.
• Mahatma Gandhi undertook his first fast unto death on 15th March 1918.
• Mahatma Gandhi led the Ahmedabad Mill Strike after Anusuyya Sarabhai (Ahmedabad Mill Owners’ Association President) urged Gandhi to intervene in the matter.

Key Points

• Gandhi used a Hunger strike for the first time during an industrial dispute between the owners and workers of a cotton mill in Ahmedabad.
• The owners wanted to withdraw the plague bonus to the workers while the workers were demanding a hike of 35% in their wages.
• During the peaceful strike led by Gandhi, he underwent a hunger strike.
• The Ahmedabad Mill strike was successful and the workers were granted the wage hike they wanted.

The correct answer is the Lahore Session.

Important Points

• Lahore Session-
  • The Indian National Congress, on 19 December 1929, passed ‘Purna Swaraj’ means total independence resolution at its Lahore session.
  • In the same session, Jawaharlal Nehru was elected as president of Congress.
  • It was announced publically on 26 January 1930.
  • Nehru marched to the banks of Ravi with the Congress members and they took an oath not to rest until Purna Swaraj was achieved.
  • On December 21, 1929, the Tiranga (tricolour) flag was unfurled.

Additional Information

Note:

• The first Independence Day (as Purna swaraj) was celebrated on January 26, 1930.
• Surat Session-
  • The 1907 Surat session was popularly known as Surat Split as the Congress split into two groups. i.e. Extremists and Moderates.
  • It was presided by Moderate leader RasBehari Ghosh.
• Kanpur Session-
  • In 1925, the Congress session was held in Kanpur and it was presided by Sarojini Naidu.
  • Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman Congress President.
• Karachi Session-
  • The Karachi session of INC was presided over by Sardar Vallabbhai Patel in the year 1931.
  • The session approved the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and passed a resolution on Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy.

The correct answer is Mahatma Gandhi.

Key PointsMahatma Gandhi

• Gandhiji made the freedom struggle and National Movement representative of masses. Movement transcended from elite to peasants, working class and encompassed every section of society.
• People started venerating Gandhiji refering to him as ‘Mahatma’.
• People started appreciating the fact that Gandhiji lived like them, dressed like them, spoke their language, stand with them, empathise with them, and identified with them.
• Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi wrote 'Hind Swaraj' in 1909 in Gujrati.
• Gandhi ji has also written his autobiography, titled 'My Experiment With Truth' in Gujrati language. 
• His symbol of self-reliance - the spinning wheel - became a popular symbol of Indian Independence Movement.
• He played a key role in pacifying people and averting the Hindu-Muslim riots as tensions rose before and during the partition of the country.
• He founded the Hindustani Prachar Sabha in 1942 at Wardha in Maharashtra. The aim of the organisation was to promote Hindustani, a link language between Hindi and Urdu.

Gandhiji in South Africa

• In 1895, along with other Indians, Mahatma Gandhi established the Natal Congress to fight against racial discrimination.
• His South African campaigns had brought him in contact with various types of Indians: Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians; Gujaratis, Tamils and north Indians; and upper-class merchants, lawyers and workers.
• This organisation led non-violent protests against the oppressive treatment of the white people towards the native Africans and Indians.
• During the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899, Gandhi gathered around 1,100 Indians and organised the Indian Ambulance Corps for the British but the ethnic discrimination and torture continued on Indians.
• English artist John Ruskin's book Unto This Last inspired Gandhi and he set up Phoenix Farm near Durban. Here, Gandhi would train his cadres on non-violent Satyagraha or peaceful restraint. Phoenix Farm is considered the birthplace of Satyagraha.
• However, it was at the Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi's second camp in South Africa, where Satyagraha was moulded into a weapon of protest.
• In September 1906, Gandhi organised the first Satyagraha campaign to protest against the Transvaal Asiatic ordinance that was constituted against the local Indians.
• Again in June 1907, he held Satyagraha against the Black Act.
• He also fought against the nullification of non-Christian marriages in 1913. Gandhi organised another peaceful resistance campaign in Transvaal against the oppression that Indian minors were suffering from. He led around 2,000 Indians across the Transvaal border.

The correct answer is Chauri Chaura incident.

• Non-Cooperation movement
  • The movement originated in the year 1920 in response to the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
  • It was the first large-scale movement organized by Gandhiji and the movement acquired more strength as he supported the Khilafat movement of the Muslims.
  • Gandhiji asked people to resign from their titles; boycott government educational institutions, the courts, government service, foreign goods, and elections; and, eventually, refuse to pay taxes; and all this to be done in a non-violent manner.
  • In addition to this, Gandhiji advocated the need to be self-reliant, for example by spinning khadi and buying Indian-made goods.

• Chauri Chaura incident
  • Some people took the message of Gandhiji differently and resorted to violence by clashing with policemen at a place called Chauri Chaura, near Gorakhpur.
  • In February 1922, people who were protesting were beaten by the police and many of their leaders were arrested and detained at the Chauri Chaura police station.
  • This led to a furious situation where people set the police station on fire, killing many of the police officials.
  • The British imposed martial law and nd arrested hundreds of people.
  • Seeing the situation going out of control, Gandhiji decided to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement on 12 February 1922.

•  Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
  • The incident occurred on April 13, 1919.
  • Gandhiji and his followers decided to protest against the Rowlatt Act which gave the British the power to arrest any person without any trial.
  • General Dyer opened fire on the peaceful protestors killing hundreds of people.
• Dandi March
  • Also known as Salt Satyagrah, the march started from the Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930 and concluded at Dandi on 6 April 1930.
  • The march was against the British Salt monopoly.

The correct answer is 1 - 2 -  3 - 4

Key Points

• In 1920, after Jalianwala Bagh Massacre he called for a campaign of non-cooperation with British Rule and joined hands with the Khilafat movement.
• He was of the opinion that coupling the non-cooperation with the Khilafat would result in Hindu-Muslim unity to end the colonial rule.
• The British Raj was shaken to its foundations for the first time since the Revolt of 1857.
• The non-cooperation movement was suspended in 1922 after the Chauri-Chaura incident where 22 policemen were killed by a violent crowd.
• In 1928, Gandhiji began to think of re-entering politics. After the failure of the Simon Commission, in its annual session at Lahore Congress demanded Purna Swaraj and decided to observe 26th January 1930 as Independence Day.
• In the Lahore Session of Congress held in December 1929, it was decided that now the struggle will be for complete independence and 26 Jan 1930 will be observed as independence day nationwide.
• In 1931, the  ‘Gandhi-Irwin Pact’ was signed by the terms of which civil disobedience was called off and all prisoners were released. This pact drew many criticisms because Gandhiji was unable to obtain a commitment to political independence for Indians from the Viceroy, he could obtain merely an assurance of talks.

The correct answer is The Congress agreed to take part in the Third Round Table Conference.

Key Points

• Gandhi Irwin Pact:
  • The Gandhi Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in London. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.
  • Before this, the viceroy Lord Irwin announced in October 1929, a vague offer of ‘dominion status’ for India in an unspecified future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.
  • The main purpose of this pact was to make Congress participated in round table conferences.
  • Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jaykar played an important role in the signing of this pact.
  • Sarojini Naidu called Gandhi and Irwin “the two Mahatmas”.
  • Alan Campbell Johnson termed Gandhi’s gain in the pact as “Consolation Prizes”.
  • Provisions and Terms of Gandhi Irwin Pact
    • Discontinuation of the civil disobedience movement by the Indian National Congress. Hence, Statement 3 is correct.
    • Participation by the Indian National Congress in the Second Round Table Conference. Hence, Statement 1 is incorrect.
    • Withdrawal of all ordinances issued by the British Government imposing curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress.
    • Withdrawal of all prosecutions relating to several types of offenses except those involving violence.
    • Release of prisoners arrested for participating in the civil disobedience movement. Hence, Statement 4 is correct.
    • Removal of the tax on salt, which allowed the Indians to produce, trade, and sell salt legally and for their own private use.

The correct answer is option 1, i.e Jawaharlal Nehru.

• Towards the end of 1940, Gandhiji decided to launch Individual Satyagraha.
• The aims of launching individual satyagraha were—
  • to show that nationalist patience was not due to weakness;
  • to express people’s feeling that they were not interested in the war; and
  • to give another opportunity to the government to accept Congress’ demands peacefully.
• The demand of the satyagrahi would be the freedom of speech against the war through an anti-war declaration.
• If the government did not arrest the satyagrahi, he/she would not only repeat it, but move into villages and start a march towards Delhi, thus precipitating a movement that came to be known as the ‘Delhi Chalo Movement’.
• Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer the satyagraha and Jawaharlal Nehru was the second.
• C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast in Tamil Nadu, in support of the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was arrested on April 30, 1930.
• K. Kelappan, a Nair Congress leader, launched the Vaikom Satyagraha and marched from Calicut to Payanneer in defiance of salt laws.
• P. Krishna Pillai defended the national flag and resisted lathi-charge on the Calicut beach on November 11, 1930. He later founded the Kerala Communist Movement.

In Second Round Table Conference, Mahatma Gandhi Ji participated.

Key Points

Second Round Table:

• In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference in London to discuss constitutional reform in India.
• ​Mahatma Gandhi represented the Indian National Congress and Sarojini Naidu represented Indian women in the second round table conferences. 
• Some important participants of the Second Round table conference:
  • Indian National Congress (INC) – Mahatma Gandhi, Rangaswami Iyengar, Madan Mohan Malaviya
  • Muslims League – Md. Ali Jinnah, Aga Khan III, Muhammad Iqbal
  • Hindus – M R Jayakar
  • Depressed classes – Dr. B R Ambedkar
• The Second Round Table Conference was one of the results of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.
• The British decided to grant a communal award for representing minorities in India by providing separate electorates for minority communities and Gandhiji was against this.

Important Points

• The First Round Table Conference was conducted from 12 November 1930 to 19 January 1931 in London.
• The Third Round Table Conference took place between 17 November 1932 and 24 December 1932 in London.

The correct answer is Dandi March.

Key Points

• The Salt Satyagraha was a mass civil disobedience movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi against the salt tax imposed by the British government in India.
• Gandhiji led a large group of people from Sabarmati Ashram on 12th March 1930 till Dandi, a coastal village in Gujarat, to break the salt law by producing salt from seawater.
• On the morning of 6th April 1930, Gandhiji broke the salt law by making salt.
• Sarojini Naidu also joined him in the way to break the salt law.

Additional Information