Read the passage carefully and answer the questions based on it.
If capitalism became the dominant economic system, nation states became the dominant political form. Societies however are not always organised along the lines of nation-states. Nation state pertains to a particular type of state, characteristic of the modern world. A government has sovereign power within a defined territorial area and the people are citizens of a single nation. Nation-states are closely associated with the rise of nationalism. The principle of nationalism assumes that any set of people have a right to be free and exercise sovereign power. It is an important part of the rise of democratic ideas. Nationalism implied that the people of India have an equal right to be sovereign. Indian nationalists during the colonial rule declared 'Swaraj' as their birth-right and fought for both political and economic freedom.
Nationalism does not imply:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → social exclusion of citizens
Option (1) that people have an equal right — Implied by nationalism (Incorrect). The passage says that nationalism implied that the people of India have an equal right to be sovereign.
Option (2) that people are sovereign — Implied by nationalism (Incorrect). The principle of nationalism assumes that any set of people have a right to be free and to exercise sovereign power; the people themselves are the source of power.
Option (3) social exclusion of citizens — Not implied by nationalism (Correct). Social exclusion means that some people are cut off from full involvement in society and kept away from opportunities open to others. Nationalism, as the passage describes it, rests on equal rights for all the people of a nation, so shutting some citizens out goes against it.
Option (4) freedom as birth-right — Implied by nationalism (Incorrect). Indian nationalists declared Swaraj their birth-right: freedom was something the people had a right to from birth, not a favour from the rulers.
NCERT (2025-26): “1.1 Understanding Colonialism … If capitalism became the dominant economic system, nation states became the dominant political form. That we all live in nation states and that we all have a nationality or a national citizenship may appear natural to us today. Before the First World War passports were not widely used for international travel, and in most areas few people had one. Societies were, however, not always organised on these lines. Nation state pertains to a particular type of state, characteristic of the modern world. A government has sovereign power within a defined territorial area, and the people are citizens of a single nation. Nation states are closely associated with the rise of nationalism. The principle of nationalism assumes that any set of people have a right to be free and exercise sovereign power. It is an important part of the rise of democratic ideas. You will be reading more about this in Chapter 3. It must have struck you that the practice of colonialism and the principle of nationalism and democratic rights are contradictory. For colonial rule implied foreign rule such as British rule over India. Nationalism implied that the people of India or of any colonised society have an equal right to be sovereign. Indian nationalist leaders were quick to grasp this irony. They declared that freedom or swaraj was their birthright and fought for both political and economic freedom.” |