MCQ on Civil Disobedience Movement for All Competitive exam

The Lahore Congress session of 1929 was a historic event in India’s Freedom Struggle. This session was held in December 1929 and it was presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru.  The following major decisions were taken at the Lahore session-
i) The First Round Table Conference was to be boycotted.
ii) Poorna Swaraj or Complete Independence was declared as the main objective of the congress.
iii) The Congress working committee was authorized to launch a programme of Civil Disobedience.
iv) 26th January 1930 was fixed as the first Independence Day, to be celebrated everywhere.
v) On 31 December 1929, the newly adopted tri-colour flag of freedom was hoisted by Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Dandi March, also known as the Salt March, began on March 12, 1930. It was a significant event in the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi to protest against the British salt monopoly. Gandhiji along with 78 members of Sabarmati Ashram started the march from Sabarmati Ashram to  Dandi, a village on the Gujarat sea coast, covering a distance of approximately 240 miles.

Gandhiji launched the Civil Disobedience Movements with the historic Dandi March on 12 March 1930.

The Dandi March began on March 12, 1930. Gandhiji along with 78 members of Sabarmati Ashram started the march from Sabarmati Ashram to  Dandi, a village on the Gujarat sea coast, covering a distance of approximately 240 miles.

As the Dandi March progressed, it gathered momentum and attracted participants from various regions, but the majority of the Satyagrahis who joined and participated in the march were from Gujarat. Gandhiji openly asked the people to make salt from seawater in their homes and violated the Law. In Gujrat 300 village officials resigned in answer to Gandhiji’s appeal.

K. Kelappan organised the salt march in Malabar.

Lord Irwin 1926- 1931 ( Important Events)

• Simon Commission visited India in 1928.
• Nehru Report, 1928.
• Lahore Session of Congress. 1929; Purna Swaraj Declaration.
• Dandi March was started by Gandhi on 12 March 1930.
• The First Round Table Conference was held in 1930.
• Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1931.

Women’s participation in the Salt Satyagraha or Civil Disobedience Movement was significant.  Women not only participated in the marches and demonstrations but also took an active part in picketing shops selling foreign clothes or liquor. This movement can truly be said to have marked their entry into the public sphere.

The historic Dandi March, led by Mahatma Gandhi in March 1930, is most closely associated with the violation of the British salt laws. The march was a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British monopoly on salt production and sales. Gandhi and his followers started the march on 12 March from Sabarmati Ashram to the coastal village of Dandi in Gujarat. On 6 April, Gandhiji picked up a lump of salt and broke the Salt Law.

The chronological order of the events is as follows:

1. Arrival of Simon Commission: The Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928. It came to India to study constitutional reform.
2. Dandi March: The Dandi March, also known as the Salt March was started on 12 March 1930. It was a major nonviolent protest led by Mahatma Gandhi against the British Government’s salt monopoly.
3. Gandhi-Irwin Pact: This pact was signed in February 1931 between Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin.
4. Quit India Movement: This movement was launched in 1942 during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India. It was led by the Indian National Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

The date 6 April 1930 is significant in Indian history because it marks the culmination of the Dandi March. On this day, Mahatma Gandhi reached Dandi, picked up a lump of natural salt from the seashore, and broke the salt law. The violation of Salt law was a symbol of the Indian people’s refusal to live under British Rule.

The statement “I want world sympathy in this battle of Right against Might” is associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March. Gandhi made this statement to highlight the moral high ground of India’s Freedom Struggle against the oppressive British colonial rule.

On 4 May 1930, Gandhiji was arrested when he announced that he would lead a raid on Dharasana Salt Works on the West Coast.

Webb Miller, an American journalist, stayed at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram during the Dandi March.

C. Rajagopalachari organised a march from Thiruchirapalli to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast to break the salt Law in April 1930.

The correct answer is (D) The Pathan regional nationalist unity and a struggle against colonialism.

Here’s why___

Option (A) The Khudai Khidmatgars did advocate for Pashtun rights, but not necessarily for joining Afghanistan.

Option (B) The movement was known for its non-violent resistance, not terrorism.

Option (C) Communism wasn’t a major ideology during their struggle.

Option (D) This option accurately reflects the Khudai Khidmatgars’ goals of uniting Pashtuns and achieving independence from British rule.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was also known as Badshah Khan and Frontier Gandhi. He organised a volunteer brigade ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’. ‘Khudai Khidmatgars’ popularly known as ‘Red-Shirts’, was founded to throw out the Britishers. They were pledged to non-violence and the freedom struggle.

The two platoons of the Garhwal Regiment soldiers refused to open fire on non-violent mass demonstrators in the Civil Disobedience Movement.

The ‘Lal Kurti’ or ‘Red-Shirts’ Movement was launched by Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1930–31. It is also called the “Khudai Khidmatgar” (Servants of God) Movement. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was also known as Badshah Khan and Frontier Gandhi.

•  On 23 April 1930, Abdul Ghaffar Khan and other leaders of Khudai Khidmatgar were arrested after giving a speech in Utmanzai by British police.
• After  Khudai Khidmatgar leaders were arrested, a large crowd of the group gathered at the Qissa Khwani bazaar in Peshawar on the day of Khan’s arrest.
• British soldiers entered the market area to disperse crowds that had refused to leave and the British army vehicles drove into the crowds, killing several protesters.
• Hawaldar Major Chandra Singh Garhwali is associated with the ‘Peshawar Incident’ of 1930. He was sentenced to terms of up to eight years imprisonment

The Jiyatarang movement started in Manipur under the leadership of Naga Woman Rani Gaidinliu. She at the age of 13 responded to the call of Gandhi during the Civil Disobedience Movement. She urged the people not to pay taxes to the British. She was captured by the British Police in 1932 and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1946, the Interim Government of India finally ordered her release from Tura jail.

The agitation against the Chaukidari Tax in Begusarai was part of the Civil Disobedience Movement.

The assertion (A) that the salt agitation was launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930 is true. However, the reason (R)  given that Gandhi’s objective was to make salt available free to the poor is not entirely correct. While making salt accessible to the poor was a part of the broader goal, the primary objective of the Salt March was to protest against the British salt monopoly and the abolition of the salt tax, which was the larger issue of British economic exploitation and colonial rule over India.

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 1931 marked a temporary truce between the Indian National Congress and the British government, leading to the suspension of the Civil Disobedience Movement.