10th Standard, Social, History, Chapter – 18
THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE
EXERCISES
I Fill in the blanks with suitable words:
1. The Indian National Congress was established in the year 1885.
2. The person who talked about the ‘Drain theory’ was Dadabhai Naoroji.
3. ‘Swarajya is my birth right’ was declared by Lokamanya Balgangadhara Tilak.
4. The Ali brothers started the Khilafat movement.
5. Separate nation for Muslims was proposed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
6. The Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress that took place in 1929 was presided by Jawaharlal Nehru.
7. Mahad tank and Kalaram temple movement was organised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
8. The Jhansi regiment of Indian National Army was headed by Captain Lakshmi.
9. The place where Gandhiji carried out the Salt Satyagraha was Dandi in Surat.
10. Quit India movement was carried out in the year 1942.
II Fill in the blanks with given alternatives:
11. Founder of the Indian National Congress was _________.
a) Mahathma Gandiji b) A.O.Hume
c) Balagangadhara Tilak d) Gopalkrishna Gokhale
Answer: A.O.Hume
12. Publisher of ‘Maratha’ Paper was _________.
a) Jawaharlal Nehru b) Ras Bihari Bose
c) Balagangadhara Tilak d) V.D. Savarkar
Answer: Balagangadhara Tilak
13. Swaraj Party was established in the year _________.
a) 1924 b) 1923
c) 1929 d) 1906
Answer: 1923
14. President of Indian National Congress of Haripura session was _________.
a) Sardar valbha Bhai Patel b) Dr. B.R.Ambedkar
c) Lal Lajapath Roy d) Subhashchandra Bose
Answer: ) Subhash Chandra Bose
15. Iron man of India was _________.
a) Bhagath Sing b) Chandrashekar Azad
c) Abul Kalam Azad d) Sardar Valbahi Patel
Answer: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
III Discuss the following in groups and answer them:
16. Which were the organizations in India before the establishment of the Indian National Congress?
Answer: The organizations in India before the establishment of the Indian National Congress were as follows.
- ‘The Hindu Mela’,
- ‘The East India Association’,
- ‘Poona Sarvajanik Sabha’
- ‘The Indian Association’
17. What were the demands put forward by moderates to the British?
Answer: The demands put forward by moderates to the British are,
- development of industries
- reduction of military expenses
- improvement in educational standards
- forcing the British government to take up studies about poverty in the country
18. Analyse the drain theory.
Answer: The transfer of Indian wealth to England and called it as Drain Theory. The moderates critically analysed the ill-effects of the British rule in India. They placed before the people facts and figures about the drain of Indian wealth into England. Dadabhai Naoroji explained about the transfer of Indian wealth to England and called it as Drain Theory. He maintained that encouraging imports and reducing exports created a situation unfavourable to India, leading to drain of wealth. Since India had to bear the burden of paying wages, pension and administrative expenses of British officials, a lot of wealth was flowing into England. The Age of Moderates is also called the Age of Generous Nationalism.
19. Name the revolutionaries in freedom movement.
Answer: V.D.Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Shyamji Krishna Verma, Madam Cama, Khudiram Bose, Ramaprasad Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Azad, Subhash Chandra Bose and Rani Lakshmi Bhai were prominent revolutionary leaders in freedom movement.
20. Explain the role of Balagangadhar Tilak in the freedom struggle.
Answer: One group of Congress members who became unhappy with the mild attitude of the moderates called them ‘political beggars’. Those who criticized the moderate thinking and propagated extremist ideas were known as Extremists. Aurobindo Ghosh, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Balgangadhara Tilak were the prominent extremist leaders. Extremists maintained that good administration cannot be a substitute for independence. Balagangadhar Tilak declared “Swaraj is my birthright and I will get it at any cost”. Thus, an independent India was the aim of extremists. They started preparing the common people for freedom struggle. Through religious functions they started organizing people for a freedom movement. He encouraged people towards nationalism through the celebrations of Ganesha, Shivaji and Durga Pooja. Lokamanya Tilak utilized his ‘Kesari’ in Marathi and ‘Maratha’ newspaper in English for freedom struggle. Through these papers he called for the active participation in the fight for freedom. He was imprisoned for his revolutionary articles and enquiries were instituted against him. He wrote Geetha Rahasya in the jail.
21. What were the reasons for withdrawing of partition of Bengal?
Answer: Bengal was the centre of protests and anti-British sentiments. In order to curb this, Viceroy Lord Curzon proposed a plan to divide Bengal citing administrative problems.
Extremists opposed the partition of Bengal in the year 1905, highlighting it as an example of ‘Divide and Rule’ policy. Protests started mounting throughout the country against the division of Bengal in 1906. The Swadeshi movement was very important among these protests. Swadeshi movement called for a ban on western goods and the organizations supporting the import of European items. They encouraged the people to use Indian goods. In the backdrop of these severe protests, in 1911 the British government withdrew the Declaration of Partition of Bengal.
22. Describe Chowri-Chowra incident.
Answer: In the year 1920, Gandhiji gave a call for a non-co-operation movement against the British. During this period, there was a stiff opposition to the visit of the British Prince. There were widespread agitations against the visit throughout the country. After seeing the intensity of the agitation, fear surfaced in the mind of the British. At this juncture, thousands of people jumped into the freedom struggle at Chowri-Chowra in Uttar Pradesh. In the year 1922, police used their force against peaceful protestors. Enraged by this, the people tried to enter the police stations. Police resorted to firing. When their ammunition got exhausted, the police ran into the station. The angry protestors set the police station on fire. About 22 police were burnt alive inside the station. This incident is termed Chowri-Chowra incident in history.
23. Describe the Salt Satyagraha.
Answer: Gandhiji, after assuming the leadership of Civil disobedience movement, submitted a Charter of 11 demands to Viceroy Irwin. One of the demands was abolition of tax imposed on salt. But Irwin did not consider Gandhiji’s demands. As a result, in the year 1930, Gandhiji travelled from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi in Surat on foot with his followers to produce salt in the seashore. In this manner, he started the Civil Disobedience Movement. This event in history is popular as ‘Dandi March’ or Salt Satyagraha.
24. What were the reasons for the failure of the Quit India movement?
Answer: On the 8th of August 1942, the Congress started the Quit India Movement. Gandhiji gave a call to the Indians to ‘Do or Die’. The reasons for the failure of the Quit India movement are as follows.
- In this context, many leaders like Gandhiji, Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Abul Kalam Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Acharya Kripalani, Kasturba Gandhi and others were imprisoned.
- The Quit India Movement failed due to harsh British repression including mass arrests, leading to a leadership vacuum and a shift to underground activity
- Internal dissent from the Muslim League, the Hindu Mahasabha, and others weakened the movement’s unity.
- The British government responded with severe violence, lathi charges, and firing on protesters. Many leaders, including Gandhi, were arrested, which created a leadership vacuum and pushed the movement underground.
- After the quick arrests of leaders, the movement struggled with a lack of clear strategic leadership and a well-defined plan to achieve its objectives.
- Several important political groups did not support the movement, weakening its broad appeal.
25. Name the revolutionaries who took part in the Indian freedom struggle.
Answer: The revolutionaries who took part in the Indian freedom struggle are V.D.Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Shyamji Krishna Verma, Madam Cama, Khudiram Bose, Ramaprasad Bismil, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekar Azad.
26. What was the result of the second Round Table Conference?
Answer: In second Round Table conference, B.R. Ambedkar asked for separate constituencies for the depressed classes during elections. This was not acceptable to Gandhiji. As a result, there was difference of opinion between Gandhiji and Ambedkar. Hence, even the II Round Table Conference ended without any conclusions. But the British Government declared that they would recognize the depressed classes’ request for separate constituency. Gandhiji began up a fast unto death agitation. Attempts were made to placate Ambedkar. Consequently, Poona Agreement was reached. As per this agreement, out of the existing constituencies, some were reserved for depressed classes. In such places, only depressed classes leaders had filed nomination as representatives of all people. Instead of a separate constituency, some areas were reserved for the depressed classes. The British government rejected the Indian demand for immediate self-government and responsibility. The failure of the conference led to Gandhi’s return to India and the resumption of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
27. Give an account of the achievements of Subhash Chandra Bose in the independence struggle.
Answer: The most prominent among the revolutionary fighters of India was Subhash Chandra Bose. Although he secured the 4th rank in the Indian Civil Services examination, he rejected the prestigious post in the British Service, and took an active part in the freedom struggle. In the early part of the 1930, Subhash Chandra Bose was engaged in the attempt to organize Indians settled abroad and equip them for fighting against the British. He travelled to Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul and other countries and inspired the Indians there to support their motherland. Bose became the President at the Haripur Session of the Indian National Congress in 1939. Disappointed with the Congress and Gandhiji’s techniques, Netaji left the Congress and established a separate party called Forward Block. This party aimed to bring in progressive, fast changes. Subhash opposed the war preparations of the British and the participation of India in the World War. As a result, he was arrested by the British.
Subhash Chandra Bose escaped from house-arrest and left for Germany. He gained the support of the German dictator, Hitler to make India free. He urged the Indians: “Give me blood, I will give you freedom!” There was a ladies wing in the INA named Jhansi Regiment. Captain Lakshmi was the Commandant of this regiment.
Subhash had planned a military strategy through Rangoon to capture Delhi which was in the clutches of the British. By that time, thousands of soldiers of the INA had prepared themselves to occupy Delhi. Towards this end, as per Netaji’s command, they began an armed attack on the Burma border. Fierce fighting took place between the British and the INA. In the midst of this, Subhash died in a plane accident. The British army captured the Burmese capital, Rangoon and arrested the INA members.
28. Describe the tribal revolts in the Indian freedom struggle.
Answer: The Tax and Forest Act implemented by the British East India Company provoked the tribal revolt. Of the tribal rebellions, the Santala’s revolt and Munda movement are prominent. In this regard, the Halagali Hunters rebellion in Karnataka is noteworthy.
The Santala tribal revolt can be termed India’s first movement. These tribals lived in Bengal and Orissa hillocks. When the permanent landlord system was brought into force by the British, the people of this community became destitutes. Their lands went to the landlords. The landlords, money-lenders and the British government behaved in a way that triggered intolerance in the Santalas. The Company exploited the decent and peace-loving attitude of the Santalas. Enraged by this, the Santalas held secret meetings and decided to loot the landlords and prominent citizens. The agitation became intense in Barahat area and also in Bhagatpur and Rajamahal. The rioters killed their enemies. As a result, the landlords and money-lenders ran away. The government used the army to stem the revolt and was successful. Many rioters were arrested. Although the revolt by the Santalas ended, it lent its voice to many similar protests later.
III Activities:
1. Collect pictures of freedom fighters and prepare an album.
2. With the help of the internet, collect pictures and information about Jallianwallah Bagh tragedy and Dandi Satyagraha.
3. Arrange lectures on Gandhiji’s policies of Satyagraha and non-violence.
IV Project:
1. Enact dramas depicting patriotism in your school.
