Day-711 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | HISTORY

Answer: D
Explanation:
Foundation of AITUC (October 1920)
● All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is the oldest trade union federation in India, founded on 31 October 1920 in Bombay (Mumbai).
● Among its founders were renowned nationalist leader Lala Lajpat Rai, who became the first President of AITUC, Joseph Baptista , N.M. Joshi and Diwan Chaman Lal.
● Formation of the AITUC led to it being the designated official representative of the Indian Workers at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) from 1921 onwards.
Arrival of Simon commission (February, 1928)
● The British government appointed the Simon Commission to review the Government of India Act 1919, in 1927.
● The Indian Statutory Commission, also known as the Simon Commission, was a group of seven members of the British Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon.
● The Simon commission arrived in India in February, 1928. It was formed to study constitutional reforms and make recommendations to the government in India. Simon commission submitted its reports in May 1930.
Formation of HSRA: (September 1928)
● Responding to the rise in anti-colonial sentiment in 1928, the HRA became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, with the change of name largely due to the influence of Bhagat Singh.
● Around the time of the Kakori robbery and the subsequent trial, various revolutionary groups had emerged in places such as Bengal, Bihar, and Punjab.
● These groups and the HRA met at Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi in September 1928, and from this emerged the HSRA.
Launch of Civil Disobedience Movement (March 1930)
● Civil disobedience movement was started in 1930 (12 March 1930 – 6 April 1930). It began with the famous Dandi March of Gandhi, on 12 March 1930.
● The Civil Disobedience Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi when the British Government did not give a positive response to Gandhi’s eleven demands.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Reasons for failure of Ijaradari system:
1) Earlier, the Zamindars had the customary hereditary rights of revenue collection and formed two-way links to the Government and the peasants. But the auctioning of Land made many of those old settled Zamindars lose their jobs and thus the two way links were broken. The Izaredar was essentially a contractor who squeezed the poor peasants and then paid to the company saving his profit. They had no interest in the welfare of the peasants.
2) In auction, bidding for a particular land was assumed higher than the actual capacity of land, and revenue was fixed at its maximum. It leads to oppression, extortion and impoverishment of peasants and eventual failure of the system.
3) Officers from EIC also participated indirectly in the auction through their servants. This led to rise in corruption in allocation of contracts which ultimately resulted in financial losses for the government and failure of the Ijaradari system.
Additional information:
● After the battle of Plassey, the British secured the Diwani rights (rights to collect revenue). When Robert Clive obtained the Diwani of Bengal, there used to be annual settlements of the Land revenue.
● The Izaredari system was introduced in 1773 by Warren Hastings in Bengal whereby he assumed that all land belonged to the State. This was the first land tenure system implemented in India by the British.
● Under this system, right of collecting revenue of a particular area was auctioned to the highest bidder. The Peasants, shopkeepers and merchants had to pay their taxes to the Izaredar who eventually was also the highest bidder to the company.
● Hastings first made the assessment from annual to 5 years and then back to annual.
● From Company’s point of view also, the Izaredari system was no good because there was a frequent change in the assessment period and no fix revenue generation.
● The Ijaradari system ended when Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and some parts of Carnatic (parts of northern Karnataka).

Answer: D
• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Utilitarians or Anglicists considered Indian society to be decadent and stagnant and held that Western education in English was the only way to deliver education to Indians. Unlike the Orientals, they saw no good in Indian culture or values. Some prominent names who held that Western education in English was the only way to deliver “useful learning’’ were Thomas Babington Macaulay, Charles Trevelyan and William Wilberforce. Others who contributed to this Anglicist discourse were Jeremy Bentham, James Mill and John Stuart Mill. The purpose of English education to this group was the creation of a class “Indian in race and colour, but English in manners, morals and intellect”, who would adopt western values and attitudes and thereby, support British rule. Therefore, they emphasised on reform or even the total substitution of indigenous institutions.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Wood’s Dispatch is considered to be the “Magna Carta of Education” in India. The aim of education was stated as diffusion of European Arts, Science, Philosophy and Literature through English. Promotion of Indian languages was also to be encouraged. “Creation of a class of public servants”, was the important objective of Wood’s despatch.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Three Engineering Colleges were opened in the three Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras during the governor general Lord Canning (1856-1862). In Bengal Presidency, a college called the Calcutta College of Civil Engineering was opened in 1856. In the Bombay Presidency, the Overseers’ School at Pune eventually became the College of Engineering, Pune in 1858. In the Madras Presidency, the industrial school attached to the Gun Carriage Factory ultimately became the College of Engineering, Guindy in 1858.

Answer: A
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct: In August 1905, at Calcutta Town Hall, a massive meeting was held and the formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement was made.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: It led to passing of the Morley-Minto Reforms considered as the beginning of constitutional reforms in India. Gopal Krishna Gokhale played an important role in framing these reforms.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: There was establishment of Swadeshi Institutions such as in August 1906, the National Council of Education was set up to organise the national education system. NCE was an organization founded by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and other Indian nationalists in Bengal. A National College with Aurobindo Ghose as principal was started in Calcutta.
• Also, inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan, the Bengal National College and a number of national schools and colleges in various parts of the country were set up.
Additional information:
The movement had its roots in the anti-partition movement which was started to oppose Lord Curzon’s decision of dividing the province of Bengal. The Anti-Partition Campaign was launched by Moderates to exert pressure on the government to prevent the unjust partition of Bengal from being implemented. The petitions were written to the government, public meetings were held and the ideas were spread through newspapers such as Hitabadi, Sanjibani and Bengalee.
Swadeshi Movement:
The message was propagated to boycott goods such as Manchester cloth and Liverpool salt.
After the partition came into force, widespread opposition was shown by the people of Bengal by singing Vande Mataram.
Rabindranath Tagore also composed Amar Sonar Bangla.
People tied Rakhis on each other’s hands as a symbol of unity.
Although the movement was confined majorly to Bengal, it spread to a few different parts of India:
● In Poona and Bombay under Bal Gangadhar Tilak
● In Punjab under Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh
● In Delhi under Syed Haider Raza
● In Madras under Chidambaram Pillai.
Impact of Swadeshi Movement
Decline in Imports: It resulted in significant decline in the foreign imports during 1905-1908.
Growth of Extremism: Movement resulted in growth of extreme nationalism amongst youth which took to violence and wanted to bring an instant end to British dominance.

Answer: D
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: Usha Mehta organized the Congress Radio, also called the Secret Congress Radio, an underground radio station, during the Quit India Movement of 1942 on 14 August 1942. It went on air on 27 August. However, the Secret Congress Radio functioned only for three months, but it greatly assisted the movement by disseminating uncensored news and other information banned by the British-controlled government of India. The Congress Radio team went to great lengths to avoid detection, changing transmission locations every few days. But authorities knew about its existence from early September itself, and put in significant resources to apprehend those behind it. The operation was finally busted after Printer’s capture, who, in return for immunity, disclosed the location of what would be Congress Radio’s final broadcast on November 12, 1942.
Statement 2 is incorrect: Aruna Asaf Ali was called as the Queen of the 1942 movement for her bravery and was called Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement in her later years.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Government of India conferred on her Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of the Republic of India in 1998 before her death. She died on August 11, 2000, at the age of 80.
Additional information:
● Usha Mehta was born on March 25, 1920, in Saras, Gujarat to Gheliben Mehta, a homemaker and Hariprasad Mehta, a district-level judge. Her father’s involvement in the Indian National Congress made her a part of the movement.
● She continued her education at Wilson College, Bombay, graduating in 1939 with a first-class degree in philosophy. She also began studying law, but ended her studies in 1942 to join the Quit India Movement. Thereafter, beginning at age 22, she participated in the freedom movement full-time.
About the secret radio:
● The first words broadcast in her voice were: “This is the Congress radio calling on [a wavelength of] 42.34 meters from somewhere in India.”
● Her associates included Vithalbhai Jhaveri, Chandrakant Jhaveri, Babubhai Thakkar and Nanka Motwani, owner of Chicago Radio, who supplied equipment and provided technicians.
● Many other leaders, including Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyutrao Patwardhan and Purushottam Trikamdas, also assisted the Secret Congress Radio. The radio broadcast recorded messages from Gandhi and other prominent leaders across India. To elude the authorities, the organizers moved the station’s location almost daily.
● The broadcasts were in both English and Indian languages daily in the morning and evening. The famous Jamshedpur working labourer’s strike from the Tata Iron and Steel Company was also reported from the station.