Kerala Plus Two Political Science Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building
Question 1
Independent India faced so many challenges. Among them the three most prominent challenges are :-
1. To shape a nation that was united and accommodation of the diversity in our society.
2. ……………….
3. To ensure the development and well being of the entire society.
Fill up the second challenge.
Answer:
Establishment of Democracy
Question 2.
The political competition between the Congress and the Muslim League and the British led to the decision for the creation of Pakistan. For this purpose Muslim League made a proposal. Can you identify the proposal?
1. Radcliffe Commission Report.
2. Two Nation Theory
3. Cripps mission Report
Answer:
Two Nation Theory
Question 3.
Identify the Gandhian who died by performing an in-definite fast for the creation of separate Andhra.
1. S. Nijalingappa
2. N. Sanjeeva Reddy
3. Sriramalu
Answer:
Sriramalu
Question 4.
Can you fill up the following diagram showing the states that are formed on sub region basis during 2000……………
Answer:
Uttarakhand
Question 5.
Match the principles with the instances.
| Principles | Instance | ||
| 1 | Mapping of boundaries on religious grounds | A | Pakistan and Bangladesh |
| 2 | Mapping of boundaries on grounds of different languages . | b | India and Pakistan |
| 3 | Demarcating boundaries within a country by geographical zones | C | Jharkhand and Chattisgarh |
| 4 | Demarcating boundaries within a country on administrative and political grounds | D | Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand |
Answer:
1- B ; 2 – D; 3 – C ; 4 – A
Question 6.
Name the original state from which -the following states, were carved out.
A) Gujarat ……….
B) Haryana …………
C) Meghalaya ………….
D) Chhattisgarh …………..
Hints:
Assam, Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh
Answer:
a) Maharashtra
b) Punjab
c) Assam
d) Madhya Pradesh
Question 7.
Name the two states that were affected by the partition of the country.
1. Bengal
2. ………..
Answer:
Punjab
Question 8.
Name the two states today that were once a Union Territory.
1. Manipur
2. ……………..
Answer:
Tripura
Question 9.
Find the odd state out.
A) Andra Pradesh
B) Chhattisgarh
C) Uttaranchel
Answer:
A) Andra Pradesh
Question 10.
Identify the first linguistic State in India.
1) Andhra Pradesh
2)Tamilnadu
3) Gujarat
Answer:
Andhra Pradesh
Question 11.
Potti Sri Ramalu led the movement for separate state-hood for Andra Pradesh. Identify the leader of the movement for Telangana State ?
Answer:
Chandrasekhara Rao
Question 12.
Identify the largest princely State in British India
a) Manipur
b) Hyderabad
c) Mysore
Answer:
Hyderabad
Question 13.
“Tryst with Destiny”. These were the words of a great Indian. Write his name.
Answer:
Jawaharlal Nehru
Question 14.
Identify the Indian Territory in which election was held for the first time on the basis of Universal Abdul Franchise?
(Hyderabad, Manipur, Goa)
Answer:
Manipur
Question 15.
Political competition between the Congress and Muslim League forced the British rulers to create Pakistan. For this purpose the League made a proposal. Can you identify the proposal ?
a) Radcliffe Commission Report
b) Two nation theory
c) Cripps mission plan
d) Cabinet mission plan
Answer:
b) Two nation theory
Question 16.
While addressing a special session of the Constituent Assembly of India at the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru made a famous speech. Point out the name by which the speech is known.
Answer:
Tryst with Destiny
Question 17.
A list of nations in the cold war era is given below. Fill the following table appropriately.
Hints : India, USA, Egypt, Poland, USSR, Britain, Cuba, France, Yugoslavia.
| Capitalist Block | Communist Block | Non Aligned Block |
| USA | USSR | India |
Answer:
| Capitalist Block | Communist Block | Non-Alianed Block |
| America Britain France |
Soviet Union Poland Cuba |
India Egypt Yugoslavia |
Question 18.
Match column A with Column B.
| A | B | ||
| 1 | Sardar Patel | A | Frontier Gandhi |
| 2 | Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan | B | Integration of Princely States |
| 3 | Potti Sriramalu | C | Merger Agreement September 1949 |
| 4 | Bodha Chandra Singh | D | Creation of Andra Pradesh |
1-B, 2-A, 3-D,4-C
Question 19.
“The division of India into India and Pakistan was not only very painful but also very difficult to decide and to implement.” Try to find out the difficulties.
Answer:
The division of India was carried out on the basis of the Two-Nation Theory put forward by the Muslim League. According to that theory, in India there were two nations – the Hindus and Muslims. Therefore the Muslim League demanded a separate nation, Pakistan, for the Muslims. The formation of Pakistan was based on the majority of the population of an area. Thus the areas which had Muslim majority became Pakistan and the remaining areas remained as Indian Territory.
It was not easy to implement such a division. There were three reasons for that. First of all in British India, there was not a single area which had only Muslims. There were two areas in which the majority was Muslims, one in the West and the other in the East. Therefore Pakistan was formed consisting of two areas – West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Between therm there were large areas of Indian Territory.
Secondly, not all areas with majority Muslirri population wanted to become part of Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffer Khan, who was the leader Of the North – Western Province had objected to the Two-Nation Theory. But ignoring his objection, the North West Province was included in Pakistan.
The third problem was that British India’s Punjab and Bengal were areas with Muslim majority. But in these huge provinces there were very many non- Muslims. Therefore the Provinces were divided into Districts and Panchayats depending on the religious majority of the population there. The result was that on the day of Independence many people did not know to which circuitry they belonged – India or Pakistan.
It deeply wounded the people. The problem of the minorities in each country was the worst of all. The Hindus and Sikhs in the Pakistani areas and the Muslims in Punjab and Bengal were unfortunate preys to this division of the country. When the division was decided upon, there was large scale violence against the minorities in both the countries.
Question 20.
During the discussion regarding the consequences of partition, Raju, a student in your class argued that, “British India was divided into, India and Pakistan, as per Two Nation Theory recommended by Muslim League. Pakistan became the state for Muslims; Naturally India should be a state for Hindus.” Express your opinion about Raju’s argument.
Answer:
No. 1 do not support Raju’s argument. There are many reasons for that. First of all, the leaders of the Indian Independence Movement did not like the Two- Nation theory. They did not like the separation of people into religious-groups. But it all happened in an unfortunate manner.
Secondly, even though the majority of Muslims went to Pakistan, according to the 1951 census, nearly 12% of the Indian population is still Muslim. There are also other religious minorities here like Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Jews. If India becomes a Hindu nation, it will adversely affect all these religious minorities.
Question 21.
The Partition of India is generally regarded as“ Division of hearts”. As a student in Political Science can you explain the tragic situation during the period of partition?
Answer:
The division of British India in 1947 into India and Pakistan was a very tragic incident in history. In the border areas many people on both sides were killed because of their religion and caste. Huge cities like Lahore, Amritsar and Calcutta became religious areas. Muslims avoided going to-areas of Hindus and Sikhs. Similarly Hindus and Sikhs did not want to go near the Muslim areas. People were forced to flee their homes, suffering a lot of difficulties on their way. Many of the people in the minorities in the border areas had to live in refugee camps. The governments and the police were not there to help them.
People had to walk or ride in some vehicles from their homes to their new places. During the journey, many were attacked and killed; women were raped. Many were forced to accept the majority religion and marry people against their will. In many homes women were killed by their own relatives in the name of honour. Children were separated from their parents and guardians.
People who came to the new land had no houses and they had to live in refugee camps.Not only the land, but even moveable properties like tables and chairs were divided. The government and railway workers were divided. People who were living like brethren were divided. It is believed that between 5 to 10 lakh people lost their lives in this tragic division of the country.
Question 22.
Here are two opinions :
Ramesh, “ The merger with Indian state was an ex-tension of democracy to the people of the Princely States”.
Kamal, “ I am not so sure, there was force being used. Democracy comes by creating consensus” What is your opinion in the light of accession of Princely States and the response of the people in these parts?
Answer:
During the British rule India was divided into British Provinces and princely states. The former were under direct British rule. The Princely States were ruled by local kings. Even when the British authority was accepted by the local kings, they had the freedom to run the internal affairs of their principalities. One- third of British India consisted of such Princely States. That means one out four Indians lived in a Princely State.
As per the declaration made by the British, their authority over the Princely States also would end with the granting of freedom to India. Therefore legally each Principality was also free. There were 565 Princely States in India.The Principalities were not ruled democratically. Indian Freedom aimed at unity, progress and democracy. But the condition of India was pitiable at the time of independence.
The British had told the local rulers of Principalities that they could either join India or Pakistan or remain independent, if they so wished. Thus the king’s had the power to decide what to do. This created a lot of headache during the time of integration. It grew into a situation where the unity of India was threatened.
When India was granted freedom, the King of Travan core and the Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to remain independent. Rulers like the Nawab of Bhopal were also not keen on joining the Constituent Assembly. That means there was a possibility of India being further subdivided into small kingdoms. There was no possibility of democracy in such small Principalities. But the Administration of Independent India was determined not to allow any further division of the country. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the Dy. Prime Minister and the Home Minister. Through clever diplomacy, he was able to integrate most of the Principalities into the Indian Union. Three things influenced the administration for such integration.
- The people of most principalities wanted to join the Indian Union.
- The government was willing to give self-government in some places.
- The greatest importance was given to the unity and perfectibility of the country.
Every before independence, the leaders moved with caution. Many Principalities automatically agreed to the Indian Union. The rulers signed the document called ‘Instrument of Accession’. But the integration of 4 places -Junagarh, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur – proved difficult.
Through a plebiscite, it was found out that the people of Junagarh wanted to join the Indian Union. So it was integrated. Hyderabad was the biggest Principality. It was surrounded by centrally administered areas. The ruler of Hyderabad was ‘ known as Nizam. He wanted to remain independent. But the Communists, the Telangana farmers,
. member of the Hyderabad Congress, and most women reacted against the plan of the Nizam. The women were generally repressed in Hyderabad.
The city of Hyderabad became the centre of protest against Nizam. Using his army, the Nizam tried to resist opposition. Many non-Muslims were looted and killed. Soon the Central Government sent its army and the Nizam surrendered. Hyderabad became part of India.
Junagarh and Hyderabad became part of India because of the wishes of the peoples But things were different in Manipur. The government had assured King Bodha Chandra Singh that he would be given autonomy after independence. In June 1948, an election was conducted in Manipur. Following that, Manipur became a constitutional monarchy.
It was in Manipur that adult franchise was exercised for the first time in India. In the Manipur Assembly, there were different views about Manipur joining the Indian Union. Following the pressure from the Union Government, the King was forced to sign the Instrument of Accession. It was done with the approval of the Assembly. In short, one can say that the integration of the Principalities was actually a spread of democracy into, those places.
Question 23.
State re-organization was a major challenge after independence. For the re organization of state we faced so many hurdles. Can you briefly explain the process of state re organization?
Answer:
During the British rule, the internal boundaries were made for the sake of administrative convenience] But after independence, the determination of State boundaries became a big problem. The Government wanted to form new States on a linguistic basis and
thus redraw their boundaries. In 1920, Nagpur Congress itself approved this idea. But the leaders felt that after independence the division into States on a linguistic basis might adversely affect the unity of the country. So, the Central Government decided to postpone the formation of the States.
Reasons:
- The re-drawing of the State boundaries would bring into focus the social and economic problems.
- The future of the Principalities was not yet determined.
- The bitter memories of the partition of India were still fresh in the minds of people.
In spite of all these, the local leaders and people wanted the formation of States faster. The first protest came from areas where Telugu was spoken. Because of the indecision on the part of the Central Government, the Movement for a State became very strong. Potti Sriramulu, a Gandhian, died after 56 days of fasting. His death caused a number of violent protests in the Telugu speaking areas. Thus in 1952, permission was granted for the formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh.
The formation of Andhra Pradesh on a linguistic basis caused other States also to be formed on the same basis. In 1953, a Commission was appointed to suggest the basis for the formation of States. The Commission recommended the formation of States on a linguistic basis. On the basis of the report of the Commission, a Law was enacted and various States were formed in 1956. There were also 6 Centrally Administered Regions or Union Territories.
Additional Questions
Question 1.
Explain the meaning of Nation-building.
Answer:
Nation building is the process by which the loyalties and responsibilities that people feel for the irrace or tribe, their village and their political process are transferred towards the political process of the Indian Nation.
Question 2.
What was announced by the British Governor-General Mountbatten on June 3,1947?
Answer:
On 3 June 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the British Governor General, announced the Division of India. According to this announcement the change of authority which was to take place in June 1948, would be done in August 1947.
Question 3.
Do you think the problem of reorganization of states is solved? Give one example of such problem.
Answer:
The problems of nation-building have not been completely solved yet. Many Movements are active in different parts of the country demanding their own separate States. Examples are Telangana in Andhra Pradesh and Vidarbha in Maharashtra.
Question 4.
Why did the leaders of the National Movement cherish the ideal of a secular nation? Give any one reason.
Answer:
The leaders of the National Movement cherished the idea of a secular nation because they wanted members of all religions to be considered equals. They did not want any religion to be above another.
Question 5.
What was the task of the States Reorganisation Commission? What was its most salient recommendation?
Answer:
It was decided that after independence, States would be created on the basis of language. On 22 December 1953, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru informed the Lok Sabha about the formation of a Commission to recommend the modes of State Reorganization. Fazal Ali was the head of this Commission. The Commission recommended that the reorganization of States should be based on language and culture.