Insights Static Quiz -294, 2019–History

Solution: d)

The Royal Commission on Labour or the Whitley Commission on Labour was set up in 1929 to inquire into the existing conditions of labour in industrial undertakings and plantations in India. The Commission was chaired by John Henry Whitley. The commission submitted its report in 1931. The report surprised many by concurring with the criticisms of Mahatma Gandhi and others that poverty was the cause of India’s social and industrial problems. It was also critical of British employers’ role in perpetuating the problems.

Solution: c)

April 13, 1919, marked a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle. It was Baisakhi that day, a harvest festival popular in Punjab and parts of north India. Local residents in Amritsar decided to hold a meeting that day to discuss and protest against the confinement of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, two leaders fighting for Independence, and implementation of the Rowlatt Act, which armed the British government with powers to detain any person without trial.

The crowd had a mix of men, women and children. They all gathered in a park called the Jallianwala Bagh, walled on all sides but for a few small gates, against the orders of the British. The protest was a peaceful one, and the gathering included pilgrims visiting the Golden Temple who were merely passing through the park, and some who had not come to protest.

While the meeting was on, Brigadier-General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, who had crept up to the scene wanting to teach the public assembled a lesson, ordered 90 soldiers he had brought with him to the venue to open fire on the crowd. Many tried in vain to scale the walls to escape. Many jumped into the well located inside the park.

Outcomes:

• Considered the ‘The Butcher of Amritsar’ in the aftermath of the massacre, General Dyer was removed from command and exiled to Britain.
• Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, as a sign of condemnation, renounced their British Knighthood and Kaiser-i-Hind medal respectively.
• In 1922, the infamous Rowlett Act was repealed by the British.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre was followed by establishment of a non-official enquiry committee. The 7 member Hunter Committee which was set up to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy was also known as Disorders Inquiry Committee.

Solution: c)

It was in 1942 when the world was going through the havoc caused by World War II. India too was facing the heat and after the Cripps Mission had failed, and on 8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi made a Do or Die call through the Quit India movement.

On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi made a Do or Die call in his Quit India speech which was delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan.

Even though the speech caused some turmoil within the party and even leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad were apprehensive and critical of the call, but backed it and stuck with Gandhi’s leadership until the end.

• Other key facts:

o Several national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Abdul Kalam Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were arrested.

o The Congress was declared an unlawful association, leaders were arrested and its offices all over the country were raided and their funds were frozen.

o The first half of the movement was peaceful with demonstrations and processions. The peaceful protest was carried till Mahatma Gandhi’s release.

o The second half of the movement was violent with raids and setting fire at post offices, government buildings and railway stations. Lord Linlithgow adopted the policy of violence.

A significant feature of the Quit India Movement was the emergence of what came to be known as parallel governments in some parts of the country. The first one was proclaimed in Ballia, in East UP, in August 1942 under the leadership of Chittu Pande. In Tamluk in the Midnapur district of Bengal, the Jatiya Sarkar came into existence on 17 December, 1942 and lasted till September 1944. Satara, in Maharashtra, emerged as the base of the longest lasting and effective parallel government.

Solution: c)

Nishan- order of a member of the royal family.

Farman- order of the emperor.

Parwana- orders issued by higher authorities.

Siyaha huzur- proceedings of the provincial court.

Solution: b)

• Their inscriptions refer to more than 400 terms for different kinds of taxes.
• The most frequently mentioned tax is vetti, taken not in cash but in the form of forced labour, and kadamai, or land revenue.
• There were also taxes on thatching the house, the use of a ladder to climb palm trees, a cess on succession to family property, etc.