Important questions National Movement Class 8 SST

Important Questions  National Movement

Write a note about Jalianwala Bagh Massacre in about 100 Words?

On 10 April 1919, two nationalist leaders- Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr Satya Pal were arrested in Punjab. On 13 April 1919, people gathered in a small park in Amritsar which was called the Jalllianwala Bagh, to protest against these arrests. The peaceful gathering was attended by men, women and children. General Dyer, a British military officer, stationed a regiment of soldiers at the only entrance of the park, declared the meeting illegal and without warning ordered his soldiers to fire. The firing lasted for ten minutes, till all the ammunition was exhausted. More than a thousand people were killed and over twice that number wounded.
The massacre inflamed the anger of the Indians. After the massacre, General Dyer said that he had ordered his troops to fire to teach the Indians a lesson. This added fuel to the fire. There were widespread protests. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood I protest. All nationalist leaders condemned this shameful act. The government leaders martial law in Punjab and resorted to inhuman cruelties to stem the rising tide of protests. People were tortured and newspapers were banned. However, all this strengthened people’s determination to fight against oppression.

What was Simon Commission and why did Indians opposed it?

In November 1927, The british appointed simon commision to look after the working of the govt. of India Act, 1919 and to suggest changes. But they were consisted only of Englishmen, without a single Indian representative. And its terms of reference did not hold out hopes of anything remotely like swaraj. Therefore in the congress session held in december 1927 in madras, a resolution was passed, demandinf for complete independence. They also, thus resloved to boycott the simon commision. We have lost great leaders like Lala lajpat Rai.

Why did Gandhiji choose to break the salt law?

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi and other nationalist leaders argued that salt was an essential item of our food and hence it was wrong to impose a tax on salt. Moreover, the issue of salt affected all; the rich and poor; alike. Hence, Gandhiji choose to break the salt law.

How was the politics of the Radicals within the Congress different from that of the Moderates?

Answer: They criticized the Moderates for their “policy of prayers”. They argued that people should not believe on the so called good intentions of the government and must fight for swaraj. They wanted to explore radical methods to ensure freedom.

The Radicals were different from the Moderates in many ways.

Moderates-

• They were in favour of English rule in India
• They believed in pleading before the English govt for reforms

Radicals-

• They were against the English rule in India

They were in favour of strikes and boycott to remove British from India.