A history student is reading about a ceremony held in February 1916 to open a new university in a north Indian city, built with Indian money and Indian initiative. Among the guests were princes, donors and Congress leaders 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 spoke of the contrast between the jewelled guests in the hall and the millions of poor Indians who were absent. Historians read his speech at two levels.
Read at the first level, as a plain statement of fact, what did the speech show about the national movement of that time?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → It was an elite phenomenon, a creation of lawyers, doctors and landlords
Option (1) It was an elite phenomenon, a creation of lawyers, doctors and landlords — Correct. At one level, Gandhiji's Banaras speech of 1916 was a statement of fact: Indian nationalism was an elite phenomenon, made by lawyers, doctors and landlords. At another level it was a statement of intent to make it represent all Indians.
Option (2) It was a student phenomenon, a creation of the new national universities — Incorrect. The BHU was a nationalist university, but the speech did not say students had created the national movement.
Option (3) It was a princely phenomenon, a creation of donors and ruling chiefs — Incorrect. Princes and donors funded the BHU and sat in the audience, but the speech did not call nationalism their creation.
Option (4) It was a moderate phenomenon, a creation of Gokhale and Annie Besant — Incorrect. Gokhale advised Gandhiji and Annie Besant was present, but the speech made no claim about moderate leaders.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … “Gandhiji’s speech at Banaras in February 1916 was, at one level, merely a statement of fact – namely, that Indian nationalism was an elite phenomenon, a creation of lawyers and doctors and landlords. …” |