Question

"The Gandhian idea of Satyagraha, emphasized the power of truth and struggle against injustice." Explain the statement with examples. OR How did…

Accepted Answer

(i) The idea of satyagraha highlighted the power of truth and the need to search for the truth. (ii) Satyagraha was a novel method of mass agitation, (iii) It stressed the principle of truth, tolerance, non- violence and peaceful protests. (iv) Satyagraha according to Gandhiji is not physical (v) The idea was to resist injustice without use of force. (vi) Gandhiji made people aware of their rights and encouraged them to fight for them without using violence. (vii) He organized Satyagrahas against oppressive plantation system in Champaran. (viii) Organised satyagraha to help people in Kheda adversely affected by crop failure who were demanding relaxation of revenue collection. (ix) Organised satyagraha movement to help cotton mill workers in Ahmedabad. (x) Later, he extended the practice of satyagraha in all major movements like Rowlatt Satyagraha, Non-Cooperation Movement, Civil Disobedience Movement and Quit India Movement. OR (b) How did people belonging to different communities, regions and language group developer science of collective belonging in the late 19th century India? Explain with examples. (i) With the growth of nationalism the identity of India was associated with the image of Bharat Mata. (ii) The image was first created by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. In the 1870s he wrote ‘Vande Mataram’ as a hymn to the motherland. Later it was included in his novel Anandmath and widely sung during the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. During Swadeshi movement, Abanindranath (iii) Tagore painted his famous image of Bharat Mata. In this painting Bharat Mata is portrayed as an ascetic figure; she is calm, composed, divine and spiritual. Ideas of nationalism also developed through a (iv) movement to revive Indian folklore. (v) In late-nineteenth-century India, nationalists like Rabindra Nath Tagore and Natesa Sastri began recording folk tales sung by bards and they toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. order to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past. (vii) During the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour flag was designed. It had eight lotuses representing eight provinces of British India, and a crescent moon, representing Hindus and Muslims. (viii) Gandhiji designed a Swaraj flag. It was a tricolour flag with a spinning wheel in the centre. Another means of creating a feeling of (ix) nationalism was through reinterpretation of History. By the end of the nineteenth century, many Indians began feeling, that to instil a sense of pride in the nation; Indian history had to be thought about differently and began looking into the past to discover India’s great achievement.

"The Gandhian idea of Satyagraha, emphasized the power of truth and struggle against injustice." Explain the statement with examples.

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