A history student is reading about a ceremony held in February 1916 to open a new university in a north Indian city. Among the guests were princes, noblemen and leading Congress figures 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 turned instead to the people of the country and to the privileged guests gathered before him. In December that year, at the annual Congress session in Lucknow, a man from Champaran in Bihar came to the same speaker with a complaint.
Why was the opening of this university seen as an occasion for celebration?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → It was a nationalist university, sustained by Indian money and Indian initiative.
Option (1) It was the first university set up by the colonial government in north India. — Incorrect. The BHU was not a colonial government university. Its pride came from being built by Indians themselves.
Option (2) It was a nationalist university, sustained by Indian money and Indian initiative. — Correct. The BHU was a <strong>nationalist university</strong>, paid for by <strong>Indian money</strong> and started by <strong>Indian initiative</strong>. That is what made its opening a matter of pride.
Option (3) It was founded by Christian missionaries to spread modern science in India. — Incorrect. Missionary colleges existed in colonial India, but the BHU was not one of them. It rested on Indian donors and Indian effort.
Option (4) It was set up by the Congress after a resolution at its annual session. — Incorrect. Congress leaders were among the guests, but the university was not created by a Congress resolution. Princes and philanthropists gave the money.
NCERT (2026-27): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … “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.” |