Read the passage and answer the questions:
The Making and Unmaking of the Non-Cooperation
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. The protests were particularly intense in the Punjab, where many men had served on the British side in the War - expecting to be rewarded for their service. Instead they were given the Rowlatt Act. Gandhiji was detained while proceeding to the Punjab. The situation in the province grew progressively more tense, reaching a bloody climax in Amritsar in 1919, when a British Brigadier ordered his troops to open fire on a nationalist meeting. More than four hundred people were killed in what is known as the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It was the Rowlatt satyagraha that made Gandhiji a truly national leader. Emboldened by its success, Gandhiji called for a campaign of “non-cooperation” with British rule. Indians who wished colonialism to end were asked to stop attending schools, colleges and law courts, and not pay taxes. In sum, they were asked to adhere to a “renunciation of (all) voluntary association with the (British) Government”. If non-cooperation was effectively carried out, said Gandhiji, India would win swaraj within a year.
The main institutional feature of the ‘Rowlatt Act’ introduced by the British was:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Censorship of Press
During the Great War of 1914-18 the British had brought in censorship of the press and detention without trial. On the recommendation of the committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, these tough measures were continued, and that is what the Rowlatt Act did.
Option (1) Reward for Services — Incorrect. The men of the Punjab who had served on the British side in the War expected to be rewarded; instead they were given the Rowlatt Act. A reward was their hope, not part of the Act.
Option (2) Censorship of Press — Correct. Censorship of the press was one of the wartime measures that the Rowlatt Act kept in force.
Option (3) Bandh Call — Incorrect. The bandh was the people’s response to the Act: shops shut down and schools closed when Gandhiji called for a countrywide campaign against it.
Option (4) Public Welfare — Incorrect. The Act continued repressive measures; nothing in it was meant for public welfare, which is why it was met with protests.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist Movement’, almost word for word, from the section ‘The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation’. NTA left out the month, ‘April’, from the book’s ‘April 1919’, and then asked for the month in Q3. Read this section with its dates, and such questions take seconds.
NCERT (2026-27): “2. The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation … 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. The protests were particularly intense in the Punjab, where many men had served on the British side in the War – expecting to be rewarded for their service. Instead they were given the Rowlatt Act. Gandhiji was detained while proceeding to the Punjab, even as prominent local Congressmen were arrested. The situation in the province grew progressively more tense, reaching a bloody climax in Amritsar in April 1919, when a British Brigadier ordered his troops to open fire on a nationalist meeting.…” |