Prominent Personalities in Modern History: UPSC Previous Year Questions (Modern History)

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect: The first woman President of the Indian National Congress was Annie Besant in the 1917 Calcutta Session. Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian woman President of INC in 1925 Kanpur Session.

Statement 2 is correct: Badruddin Tyabji (1844-1906) was the first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress. He presided over the third session of the INC in 1887 (Madras Session). He was a progressive leader, reformist, and the first Indian to practice law in the Bombay High Court.

Explanation

Annie Besant (1847-1933) made her first visit to India as a member of the Theosophical Society. She had embraced Theosophy after meeting Helena Blavatsky in 1889. Following her arrival, the society relocated its headquarters to Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai). Besant went on to serve as the society’s president from 1907 until her passing in 1933. In Benares, she established the Central Hindu College (CHC) and later founded the newspapers New India and Commonweal to promote her ideas and advocacy.

Statement 1 is correct: Annie Besant was instrumental in initiating the Home Rule Movement in India. In 1916 she established the All India Home Rule League which advocated for self-governance and dominion status for India within the British Empire. This movement sought to promote political awareness and mobilize Indian citizens towards the cause of self-rule.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 in New York by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Olcott, and William Judge. Annie Besant joined in 1889 after meeting Blavatsky and later became its president in 1907 andserving until her death in 1933. However, she was not its founder.

Statement 3 is correct: Annie Besant achieved the distinction of being the first woman to preside over the Indian National Congress. She was elected as the President in 1917 reflecting her significant influence and commitment to India’s independence movement.

Explanation

Dr. Bhimrao Ramaji Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891. He started the Bahiskrit Bharat newspaper to address the cause of the depressed classes. In 1942, he was appointed to the Executive Council of the Viceroy as a Labour member, in 1946. At the same time he published his book, Who were Shudras? After Independence, in 1947, he was appointed as a Minister of Law and Justice in Nehru’s first cabinet.

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Peasants and Workers Party of India was not founded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. It was established in 1947 by leaders like Keshavrao Jedhe and Shankarrao More in Maharashtra. The party primarily focused on the issues of peasants and workers but was not directly associated with Ambedkar or his political movements.

Statement 2 is correct: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar founded the All India Scheduled Castes Federation (AISCF) in 1942 to advocate for the rights and representation of Scheduled Castes (Dalits) in India. This party was established to address the social and political marginalization of Dalits and to ensure their participation in the democratic process.

Statement 3 is correct: Dr. Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1936. The party was established to address the issues of the working class, including laborers and peasants, with a focus on social justice and economic equality. The ILP was not limited to Dalits but sought to unite all oppressed sections of society, including workers and farmers against exploitation and inequality.

Explanation

Mahatma Gandhi undertook a fast unto death in 1932 primarily to oppose the Communal Award announced by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. On August 16, 1932, Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award which provided separate electorates for different communities, including Dalits (then termed Depressed Classes). This meant Dalits would vote separately from Hindus in elections, a move opposed by Gandhi as he believed it would divide Hindu society permanently. Mahatama Gandhi saw it as a British tactic of "divide and rule" to weaken the unity of Indians. In protest, he began a fast unto death on September 20, 1932, while in Yerwada Jail, Pune. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar eventually negotiated with Gandhi and agreed to the Poona Pact on September 24, 1932. The Poona Pact replaced separate electorates with reserved seats, ensuring fair representation of Dalits in the legislature while keeping the Hindu community intact.

Explanation

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915) was a moderate nationalist, social reformer, and one of the founding leaders of the Indian National Movement. He was a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi and played a key role in influencing early nationalist politics. The British government offered Gokhale the title of Knighthood and a position in the Council of the Secretary of State for India but he chose to decline both honors. His refusal was based on his commitment to India’s self-governance, as he believed accepting such honors would mean complicity with colonial rule. He was a strong advocate of constitutional reforms and gradual political progress, promoting Swaraj (self-rule) within the British Empire.

Explanation

During World War II, Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945) raised an army called the Free Indian Legion (Azad Hind Legion) with the help of Nazi Germany. This was part of his efforts to liberate India from British rule by seeking foreign assistance. In 1941 he escaped from British house arrest in India and reached Germany via Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. In 1942, he formed the Free Indian Legion (also called the "Legion Freies Indien" in German) composed of Indian prisoners of war (POWs) captured by German forces in North Africa. This legion was trained by the Nazis and was intended to be deployed in British India through Afghanistan. However, as the war situation changed he shifted his base to Japan in 1943, where he took charge of the Indian National Army (INA), which had been established earlier by Rashbehari Bose.

Explanation

Aurobindo Ghosh, a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement, provided a scathing critique of the moderate politics of the Indian National Congress in his series of articles titled New Lamps for Old. In these articles, he argued that the moderate approach of relying on petitions, prayers, and constitutional reforms was ineffective in achieving India’s independence. He advocated for a more aggressive and militant approach, including boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience.

Explanation

Naoroji, the ‘Grand Old Man of India,’ pioneered the analysis of British rule’s economic impact in his work Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901). His theory of economic drain exposed the exploitation of India’s resources by the British, fueling nationalist sentiment. By calling British rule "Un-British," Naoroji critiqued the hypocrisy of colonial claims, challenging the narrative of British benevolence. His critique laid the foundation for future debates on colonial exploitation and inspired future leaders advocating for India’s self-rule.

Explanation

J B Kripalani started his career as a teacher and later became the principal of the Gujarat Vidyapith, a university established by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920. He was deeply influenced by Gandhi’s ideas and played a significant role in the freedom movement. He was the president of the Indian National Congress during the crucial phase of Indian independence in 1947.

Explanation

Madame Bhikaji Cama, a Parsi revolutionary who had developed contacts with French socialists worked from Paris and Geneva. She published the journal Bande Mataram.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Madam Bhikaji Cama actually unfurled the first version of the Indian National Flag at the Second International Socialist Congress held in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1907, not Paris. The flag was co-designed by Madam Cama, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma. The flag had green, saffron, and red stripes, with "Vande Mataram" written on it in Devanagari script, and symbols representing different communities of India.

Statement 2 is correct: Madam Bhikaji Cama did serve as the private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji, a key figure in the Indian National Congress and a prominent advocate for India’s independence.

Statement 3 is correct: Bhikaji Cama was born into a wealthy Parsi family in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1861. Her father, Sorabji Framji Patel was a well-known merchant and philanthropist.