Rabindranath Tagore had renounced his knighthood because ________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy
On 13 April 1919, troops under General Dyer fired on an unarmed crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, killing hundreds of people. In protest, Rabindranath Tagore wrote to the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, at the end of May 1919 and gave up the knighthood he had received in 1915.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) of execution of Bhagat Singh — Incorrect. Bhagat Singh was hanged in March 1931, almost twelve years after Tagore had already given up the knighthood.
Option (2) of Chauri-Chaura incident — Incorrect. At Chauri Chaura (February 1922) a crowd set fire to a police station, and Gandhi called off the Non-Cooperation Movement; it came after Tagore’s protest.
Option (3) he wanted to join the Congress — Incorrect. Tagore gave up the title as a protest against the killings, not to take up any party post.