After his local struggles of 1917 and 1918, which colonial measure ga…

A history student is reading about a ceremony held in February 1916 to open a new university in a north Indian city. Among the guests were princes, noblemen and leading Congress figures such as Annie Besant. One speaker, still little known in India and invited for his work in South Africa, did not praise the occasion. He turned instead to the people of the country and to the privileged guests gathered before him. In December that year, at the annual Congress session in Lucknow, a man from Champaran in Bihar came to the same speaker with a complaint.

After his local struggles of 1917 and 1918, which colonial measure gave this leader an issue from which he could build a much wider movement?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → The Rowlatt Act

Option (1) The Simon Commission — Incorrect. The Simon Commission came much later, in the late 1920s, and belongs to a different phase of the struggle.

Option (2) The Rowlatt Act — Correct. Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda were localised struggles. In 1919 the Rowlatt Act kept wartime press censorship and detention without trial, and Gandhiji called a countrywide campaign against it.

Option (3) The Partition of Bengal — Incorrect. The Partition of Bengal of 1905 came before Gandhiji returned to India. It drove the earlier Swadeshi protests.

Option (4) The Salt Law — Incorrect. The Salt Law became Gandhiji's target only in 1930, in the Civil Disobedience campaign.

NCERT (2026-27): “2. The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation …
These initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda marked Gandhiji out as a nationalist with a deep sympathy for the poor. At the same time, these were all localised struggles. Then, in 1919, the colonial rulers delivered into Gandhiji’s lap an issue from which he could construct a much wider movement. During the Great War of 1914-18, the British had instituted censorship of the press and permitted detention without trial. Now, on the recommendation of a committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, these tough measures were continued. In response, Gandhiji called for a countrywide campaign against the “Rowlatt Act”. In towns across North and West India, life came to a standstill, as shops shut down and schools closed in response to the bandh call. …”