Which of the following statement is incorrect?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 2

The correct answer is Option (2) → Extremist leaders are known for their moderate politics.

Option (1) Lal, Bal and Pal were the leaders of Swadeshi Movement. Correct statement. The Swadeshi movement of 1905-07 threw up towering leaders – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai – who were known as “Lal, Bal and Pal”.

Option (2) Extremist leaders are known for their moderate politics. Incorrect statement. Leaders such as Lal, Bal and Pal advocated militant opposition to colonial rule. It was the other group, the “Moderates”, who preferred a gradual approach.

Option (3) Moderates preferred gradual and persuasive approach. Correct statement. As against the militant leaders, the “Moderates” preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach.

Option (4) Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a Moderate leader. Correct statement. Among the Moderates was Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Gandhiji’s acknowledged political mentor.

Note: The word ‘Extremists’ is not used for these leaders in the NCERT book (2026-27). The book says that Lal, Bal and Pal “advocated militant opposition to colonial rule”, in contrast to the “Moderates”. Such militant leaders of the Swadeshi period are commonly called the Extremists.

NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … Through the Swadeshi movement of 1905-07 it had greatly broadened its appeal among the middle classes. That movement had thrown up some towering leaders – among them Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra, Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal, and Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab. The three were known as ‘Lal, Bal and Pal’, the alliteration conveying the all-India character of their struggle, since their native provinces were very distant from one another. Where these leaders advocated militant opposition to colonial rule, there was a group of ‘Moderates’ who preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach. Among these Moderates was Gandhiji’s acknowledged political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, as well as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who, like Gandhiji, was a lawyer of Gujarati extraction trained in London.…”