UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 16 of 98

UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Rowlatt Satyagraha

With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the 'Sedition Committee'.

2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to utilize the Home Rule League.

3. Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 2 only
  3. 2 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
Show answer

Answer: B. 1 and 2 only

Verdict

The answer is 1 and 2 only. The Rowlatt Act followed the Sedition Committee and Gandhiji drew on the Home Rule League, but the Simon Commission belongs to a much later date.

Analysis

Statement 1 is CORRECT. The Rowlatt Act rested on the recommendations of the Sedition Committee chaired by Justice Rowlatt. Statement 2 is CORRECT. The Satyagraha Sabha formed in Bombay in 1919 drew its organising strength from the recently established Home Rule League, whose leading Home Rulers sat on its committee, and that network prepared the ground for the April satyagraha. Statement 3 is INCORRECT on chronology. The Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, nine years after the Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919, so the demonstrations could not have coincided.

Source

Gazetteer material on the satyagraha movement, with the background deducible from standard NCERT facts.

How to crack it

One statement in a set of three is usually falsifiable on date alone, and finding it is the fastest route in. Rowlatt is firmly 1919 and Simon is firmly 1928, so statement 3 fails without any further knowledge, and that removes two options. Build a spine of anchor years for the national movement, 1905, 1919, 1928, 1930, 1942, and check every statement against it before evaluating content.

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