Non-Cooperation & Civil Disobedience — Set 19

Correct Answer: B. All civil disobedience, boycott of foreign goods, and picketing

Under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, the Congress agreed to discontinue all civil disobedience activities — including the salt satyagraha, boycott of foreign goods, picketing of foreign cloth and liquor shops, and non-payment of land revenue. In return, the British released political prisoners and allowed coastal salt manufacture. Critics argued that Gandhi gave up all forms of pressure while gaining very limited concessions.

Correct Answer: C. Dandi (in Navsari district)

The Dandi March ended at Dandi, a small coastal village in the Navsari district of Gujarat. Gandhi chose Dandi specifically because it was a place where natural salt was readily available on the seashore. The remoteness of the destination meant that the British could not easily intercept the march, and the 24-day walk allowed maximum publicity to build up.

Correct Answer: A. High Command

The 'High Command' was the informal term for the Congress Working Committee, which served as the executive body of the Congress organisation. During the Civil Disobedience Movement, the High Command made key decisions about when to launch, suspend, or modify the movement. Gandhi, as the movement's undisputed leader, effectively controlled the High Command's decisions.

Correct Answer: B. Section 124A (sedition)

Gandhi was arrested in March 1922 under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code — the law of sedition — for articles he wrote in his journal 'Young India.' At his trial, Gandhi famously pleaded guilty and invited the judge to give him the maximum sentence, turning the trial into a moral indictment of colonial rule. Judge Broomfield reluctantly sentenced him to 6 years.

Correct Answer: B. A pledge to work non-violently for complete independence until it was achieved

The Purna Swaraj pledge taken on January 26, 1930 included a solemn promise to work nonviolently for complete independence until India achieved full freedom from British rule. The pledge was administered simultaneously across India at public meetings. This collective oath-taking was a powerful ritual of mass commitment to the independence cause.

Correct Answer: B. Significant fall in customs revenue from boycott of foreign goods; salt revenue disrupted

The Civil Disobedience Movement created significant economic pressure through the boycott of British goods (particularly textiles) which reduced customs revenue, and the disruption to salt revenue through widespread salt law violations. Lancashire's textile industry suffered from the Indian boycott. This economic pressure, combined with the political embarrassment of mass arrests, ultimately brought the British to negotiate the Gandhi-Irwin Pact.

Correct Answer: A. Indian Home Rule League

Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded the Indian Home Rule League in 1916 (with Annie Besant founding a separate Home Rule League in the same year) to demand self-governance for India. Tilak died on August 1, 1920, just as the Non-Cooperation Movement was being launched. The Tilak Swaraj Fund named after him raised one crore rupees for the movement.

Correct Answer: B. He returned empty-handed — no agreement on India's constitutional future

Gandhi returned from the Second Round Table Conference in December 1931 empty-handed. The conference failed to agree on minority representation, the status of depressed classes, or India's constitutional future. Gandhi's insistence on speaking for all Indians was challenged by other delegates. The failure of the conference led to the resumption of the Civil Disobedience Movement and Gandhi's arrest.

Correct Answer: B. Military medals and civilian honours like OBE, CIE, and knighthoods

The Non-Cooperation Movement asked Indians to surrender military medals (from World War I and other wars) and civilian honours such as OBE (Order of the British Empire), CIE (Companion of the Indian Empire), knighthoods, and other imperial honours. These awards symbolised Indian collaboration with the colonial system. Gandhi himself had earlier returned his Boer War and Zulu War medals, setting a precedent.

Correct Answer: B. Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was the Congress President when the Dandi March was launched in March 1930. He had been elected at the Lahore Session of December 1929. Under his presidency, the Congress authorised the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Working Committee was empowered to decide its timing and form. Nehru himself was arrested on April 14, 1930.