Which of the following statements is NOT correct about Gandhi's speech at the opening of the Banaras Hindu University in February 1916?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Gandhi said that the lawyers, doctors and rich landlords are going to secure India's salvation.
Option (1) Gandhi was worried about “millions of the poor” Indians who were absent at the inauguration of the Banaras Hindu University. — Correct statement. He worried about the contrast between the “richly bedecked noblemen” present and the “millions of the poor” Indians who were absent.
Option (2) According to Gandhi, India’s “salvation can only come through the farmer”. — Correct statement. He told the invitees, “Our salvation can only come through the farmer.”
Option (3) Gandhi said that the lawyers, doctors and rich landlords are going to secure India’s salvation. — Incorrect statement. Gandhiji said the very opposite: “Neither the lawyers, nor the doctors, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it.”
Option (4) Gandhi charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor. — Correct statement. When his turn came to speak, Gandhiji charged the Indian elite with a lack of concern for the labouring poor.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … 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 selfgovernment 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.…” |