INC Sessions & Presidents — Set 5

Correct Answer: B. A British social reformer who founded the Home Rule League in India

Annie Besant was a British social reformer and theosophist who became deeply involved in Indian independence. She founded the Home Rule League in India in 1916 to advocate for self-governance within the British Empire. She was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1917, the first woman to hold this position. She also founded the Central Hindu College in Benares, which later became Banaras Hindu University.

Correct Answer: B. A movement for Indian self-governance within the British Empire

The Home Rule League was a political organization founded by Annie Besant in September 1916 to advocate for self-governance (Home Rule) for India within the British Empire. A similar Home Rule League was also established by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in April 1916. These movements were inspired by the Irish Home Rule movement. The Home Rule Leagues played an important role in reinvigorating Indian nationalism in the early 20th century.

Correct Answer: B. Gandhi's wife who actively participated in the freedom struggle

Kasturba Gandhi, affectionately called 'Ba', was Mahatma Gandhi's wife and a freedom fighter in her own right. She actively participated in several Satyagraha campaigns in South Africa and India. She was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for her political activism. She died in detention in the Aga Khan Palace, Pune, on February 22, 1944, making her a martyr of the independence movement.

Correct Answer: B. He was the chief architect of the Indian Constitution

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar served as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution and is widely regarded as the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. He played a crucial role in drafting the constitution that guaranteed fundamental rights to all citizens, including the abolition of untouchability. He fought throughout his life for the rights of Dalits and oppressed communities. He was India's first Law Minister after independence.

Correct Answer: C. Dalits and the oppressed communities

B.R. Ambedkar dedicated his life to fighting for the rights and dignity of Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) and other oppressed communities in India. He himself belonged to the Mahar caste, considered an untouchable community. He organized several campaigns against the practice of untouchability and caste discrimination. He founded the Scheduled Caste Federation and later the Republican Party of India to represent the interests of marginalized communities.

Correct Answer: A. Harijan Movement

Gandhi's movement against untouchability was associated with his use of the term 'Harijan' (Children of God) for untouchable communities. He founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh in 1932 to work for the upliftment of untouchables. He undertook fasts and marches to open temples and public places to untouchables. However, Ambedkar criticized the term 'Harijan' as patronizing and preferred the term 'Dalit' (oppressed).

Correct Answer: C. Buddhism

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar converted to Buddhism on October 14, 1956, in Nagpur, along with approximately 500,000 of his followers. He had studied world religions for years before choosing Buddhism for its egalitarian philosophy that rejected the caste system. He died just six weeks after his conversion, on December 6, 1956. His mass conversion is considered one of the largest religious conversions in history.

Correct Answer: B. Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the historic Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress in December 1929. The session passed the Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence) resolution, declaring full independence as the goal of the Congress. The Congress hoisted the tricolor flag at midnight on December 31, 1929, and January 26, 1930, was declared Independence Day. This date later became Republic Day when India adopted its Constitution in 1950.

Correct Answer: B. Separate electorates vs. reserved seats for depressed classes

The Poona Pact was signed on September 24, 1932, between Gandhi and Ambedkar regarding political representation for depressed classes (Dalits). The British government had granted separate electorates for untouchables (the Communal Award). Gandhi fasted unto death against this, fearing it would divide Hindu society. The Poona Pact replaced separate electorates with reserved seats for depressed classes in provincial and central legislatures, which Ambedkar accepted though reluctantly.

Correct Answer: B. He won the Congress presidency election against Gandhi's candidate but faced opposition and resigned

Subhas Chandra Bose won the Congress Presidential election in 1939 against Gandhi's candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya. Due to opposition from Gandhi's supporters and inability to form a working committee, Bose resigned from the presidency and later from Congress itself. He then formed the Forward Bloc in 1939 to pursue a more militant approach to independence. This showed Bose's more radical approach compared to the Gandhian method.