Modern History GS Paper I by Rashid Yasin

Model Answer

Question #1. The major religious reform movements got transformed into social reform movements. Explain with examples

The early nineteenth century India was a period of Indian renaissance where the religion and social orthodoxy was attacked by the western educated Indians. The movements as Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Aligarh movement, etc. started as religious movements which gradually transformed into social reform movements.

Against the critique of Britishers on Indian civilisation, the response of the educated d elite was to reform Hinduism from within in the light of post-enlightenment ration The movement was started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Bengal where he tried to re Hinduism in the light of reason, by going back to its basic form as enshrined in the Vol texts. He condemned idolatry and polytheism. This religious reform movement suppon social reforms, as it was the effort of Raja Ram Mohan Roy which resulted in Sati Probi Regulation in 1829.

The Brahmo Samaj Movement gradually became a major social reform movement und the leadership of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Keshub Chandra Sen where it and the social evils like caste system and child marriage and promoted widow remarriag inter-caste marriages and women's rights. On similar lines, the Prarthana Samaj also preached monotheism, denounced idolatry, priestly domination and caste distinctions, and supported social reforms like widow remarriage in western India.

The Arya Samaj Movement started by Dayanand Saraswati was a revivalist religion movement which invoked the authority of the Vedas as the most authentic Indian religious 

text, and sought to purge Hinduism of all its post-Vedic accretions. On the authority of Vedas he attacked idolatry, polytheism, ritualistic religion dominated by the brahman priests, and condemned child marriage and stood for widow remarriage, inter-caste marriages, and female education. Thus, a movement of religious character advocated social reforms and became a pioneer in the field of education.

The Aligarh Movement started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan started as a religious reform movement where he tried to reconcile western scientific education with the teachings of the Quran. He attacked the purdah system and polygamy prevalent among Muslims. He also promoted modern education and established the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College In Aligarh.

Similar trends could be seen in Parsi and Sikh reform movements where religion and society vere reformed simultaneously under the influence of rationalism and humanism promoted by western education in India.

Question #2.The congress socialist party and communist party of India had different approaches and strategies ,even though both belonged to the left wing. Elucidate.

The Congress Socialist Party and the Communist Party of India had different approaches and strategies, even though both belonged to the left-wing. Elucidate.

The terms Left and Right originated during the French Revolution to indicate Pro Revolutionaries and Anti-Revolutionaries. The Pro-Revolutionaries or Left Ideology became popular at global level after the successful Russian Revolution. Ans.

This Revolution promoted the ideologies of Socialism and Communism that acquired popularity even among the Indian leaders. The Left Wing Ideology during the course of Indian National Movement was promoted by both the Socialist and Communist leaders

The Socialist leaders largely promoted workers' and peasants' interest within the Congress. On the other hand, the Communist leaders promoted radical ideas by remaining outside

Within the Congress, the Socialist Ideology leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose played a major role in promoting workers' and peasants' interests.

Jawaharlal Nehru started his political career as a leader of the peasants and a member of Awadh Kisan Sabha, Pratapgarh in 1920. In 1926, he went to Switzerland for the treatment of his wife. While staying in Europe, he got exposed to the Socialist philosophy that became popular in several European nations after the Russian Revolution

He attended an International Conference of League Against Imperialism and Colom Oppression at Brussels in 1927. In this Conference, he met several socialist thinkers and leaders and got convinced about this philosophy.

Jawaharlal Nehru returned back to India in 1927 as a pure socialist leader and received support of another socialist leader Subhash Chandra Bose.

The two leaders tried to create pressure within the Congress to address the interests of workers and peasants. They established a pressure group within Congress known as the Independence Indian League, 1928. At the same time, both the leaders decided to promote the demand of Complete Independence for India. Due to such an approach Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the Nehru Report at the Calcutta session.

Moreover, he passed the Resolution of Poorna Swaraj or Complete Independence in 1928 Jawaharlal Nehru supported workers and peasants' demands and presided over the Faizpur Session in 1936 whereby the Kisan Manifesto was issued from Congress platform. At the same time, he supported the establishment of All India Kisan Sabha at Lucknow in1936.

Subhash Chandra Bose promoted the Socialist Ideology within the Congress by establishing a National Planning Committee at Haripura session in 1938 to ensure economic planning for resource distribution. In this way, the socialist leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose promoted radicalisation of Congress from within by addressing the demands of peasants and workers

Socialist Ideology was promoted to some extent even outside the Congress. The socialist leaders beyond Congress had established their own Party: The Congress Socialist Party at Bombay in 1934.

This party was established by socialist leaders like Acharya Narendra Dev, Jay Prakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardan, and Minoo Masani. This Party promoted workers and peasants agenda all across Indian Territory whereby workers and peasants' movements became relatively successful.

Within Left Wing Ideology, Communism began to evolve again under the influence of the Russian Revolution. The pioneering role in promoting the Communist Ideology India was played by Manabendra Nath Roy. In order to comprehend Communist Ideology he went to Central Asia and announced the formation of Communist Party of India (CPI) at Tashkent in 1920.

He began to train a large number of Islamic youth in Central Asia to organise Armed Revolt against the British in India. This was declared as a religious duty by Islamic youth and they were termed as Holy Men or Muhajira.

However, large numbers of Muhajirs were arrested by the British when they tried to enter India from the North Western side. This conviction of Muhajirs took place under the Peshawar Conspiracy Case of 1922. After some time, M. N. ROY wanted to establish CPI within India. Under his instruction, communist leader at Kanpur, Satya Bhakta announced the formation of CPI in 1925. Sace then Kanpur emerged to be the most prominent centre of Communist ideology The British authority was totally against the Communist Ideology which prescribed violent overthrow of the State. The British arrested 4 members of CPI immediately in 1925 and victed them under Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case. These four CPI members were

Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta, S.A.Dange and Shaukat Usmani. It was a big setback for CPI but the Communist ideology gained popularity due to two simultaneous global developments. The Soviet Union witnessed rapid economic growth and development under the leadership of Stalin, who formulated and implemented the Eight Years Plan from 1928. This convinced people at the global level to support and accept the Communist Ideology of the Soviet Union.

On the other hand, the Capitalist countries faced a serious crisis due to demand-supply mismatch that resulted in the Great Economic Depression of 1928. Consequently, the validity of Capitalist philosophy began to be questioned.

On account of such developments, several Indian leaders and even some British officers began to support Communist ideology in India. This affected the prestige of the British and they arrested 31 trade union leaders at Meerut in 1929.

These trade union leaders were convicted under the Meerut Conspiracy Case which included 3 British officers Philip Sprati, Ben Bradley and Lester Hutchinson. This conspiracy case continued for three and a half years and in 1933 CPI was declared to be an illegal party. After some time, CPI began to be revived secretly by PC Joshi and several leaders began Joining this Party However, several members of CPI supported the British during the Quit India Movement as a response to German aggression against the Soviet Union.

Due to such support given to the British, CPI was declared to be a legal party in 1942. However, this Party lost its popularity due to the Pro-British stand. During the Transfer of Power by the British, the leaders of CPI even proposed that India should be divided into 17 independent States based on ethnic considerations.

Mountbatten rejected this plan as the British wanted to create a large India as the Indian proposal by CPI members is known as Plan Balkanisation. However, Lord leaders wanted to join the Commonwealth of Nations Group.

Such proposals given by CPI further affected its popularity and it remained a minor player in Indian politics in the Post Independent Era.

It can be safely concluded that the growth of Communist Ideology was based on globals. Ta factors that could not get reconciled with domestic requirements of India and therefore failed to get required popularity and acceptance