Read the Passage and answer the questions:
Gandhiji on the Indian Elite
When his turn came to speak, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor. The opening of the BHU, he said, was "certainly a most gorgeous show". But he worried about the contrast between the "richly bedecked noblemen" present and "millions of the poor" Indians who were absent. Gandhiji told the privileged invitees that "there is no salvation for India unless you strip yourself of this jewellery and hold it in trust for your countrymen in India". "There can be no spirit of self-government about us," he went on, "if we take away or allow others to take away from the peasants almost the whole of the results of their labour. Our salvation can only come through the farmer. Neither the lawyers, nor the doctors, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it." The opening of the BHU was an occasion for celebration, marking as it did the opening of a nationalist university, sustained by Indian money and Indian initiative. But rather than adopt a tone of self-congratulation, Gandhiji chose instead to remind those present of the peasants and workers who constituted a majority of the Indian population, yet were unrepresented in the audience. 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.
At the opening of which institution did Gandhiji make the following statement, "a most gorgeous show"?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Banaras Hindu University
Gandhiji called the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916 “certainly a most gorgeous show”.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement’, almost word for word, from the section ‘A Leader Announces Himself’. Read the account of Gandhiji’s BHU speech closely: who was present, who was missing and what he asked of the rich.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … His first major public appearance was at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in February 1916. Among the invitees to this event were the princes and philanthropists whose donations had contributed to the founding of the BHU. Also present were important leaders of the Congress, such as Annie Besant. Compared to these dignitaries, Gandhiji was relatively unknown. He had been invited on account of his work in South Africa, rather than his status within India.… …When his turn came to speak, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor. The opening of the BHU, he said, was ‘certainly a most gorgeous show’. But he worried about the contrast between the ‘richly bedecked noblemen’ present and ‘millions of the poor’ Indians who were absent.…” |