Read the passage and answer the questions:
Events and the Constitution
The years immediately preceding the making of the Constitution had been exceptionally tumultuous: a time of great hope, but also of abject disappointment. On 15 August 1947, India had been made free, but it had also been divided. Fresh in popular memory were the Quit India struggle of 1942 – perhaps the most widespread popular movement against the British Raj – as well as the bid by Subhas Chandra Bose to win freedom through armed struggle. An even more recent upsurge had also evoked much popular sympathy – this was the rising of the ratings of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay and other cities in the spring of 1946. Through the late 1940s there were periodic, if scattered, mass protests of workers and peasants in different parts of the country. One striking feature of these popular upsurges was the degree of Hindu-Muslim unity they manifested. In contrast, the two leading Indian political parties, the Congress and the Muslim League, had repeatedly failed to arrive at a settlement that would bring about religious reconciliation and social harmony. The Great Calcutta Killings of 1946 began a year of almost continuous rioting across northern and eastern India. The violence culminated in the massacres that accompanied the transfer of populations when the Partition of India was announced.
Which struggle is fresh in popular memory and is regarded as the most widespread popular movement against the British Raj?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Quit India Movement
The passage says that fresh in popular memory was the Quit India struggle of 1942 – perhaps the most widespread popular movement against the British Raj. It was Mahatma Gandhi’s third major movement against British rule. It began in August 1942, and although Gandhiji was jailed at once, younger activists organised strikes and acts of sabotage all over the country.
Note: This passage is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Framing the Constitution’, almost word for word; it is the opening paragraph of the chapter. The first page of a chapter is read in a hurry by many students, but NTA set five questions on this passage.
NCERT (2025-26): “1. A Tumultuous Time … The years immediately preceding the making of the Constitution had been exceptionally tumultuous: a time of great hope, but also of abject disappointment. On 15 August 1947, India had been made free, but it had also been divided. Fresh in popular memory were the Quit India struggle of 1942 – perhaps the most widespread popular movement against the British Raj – as well as the bid by Subhas Chandra Bose to win freedom through armed struggle with foreign aid. An even more recent upsurge had also evoked much popular sympathy – this was the rising of the ratings of the Royal Indian Navy in Bombay and other cities in the spring of 1946. Through the late 1940s there were periodic, if scattered, mass protests of workers and peasants in different parts of the country. One striking feature of these popular upsurges was the degree of Hindu-Muslim unity they manifested.…” |