Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
The correct sequence is: Partition of Bengal (1905, by Lord Curzon, sparking the Swadeshi and Boycott movements) → Lucknow Pact (1916, between INC and Muslim League, brokered by Tilak and Jinnah) → Rowlatt Act (March 1919, allowing detention without trial) → Jallianwala Bagh massacre (13 April 1919, when General Dyer ordered firing on an unarmed crowd). Options (c) and (d) are traps designed to confuse the timings of the Rowlatt Act and the Lucknow Pact.
The Act was based on the Sedition Committee Report (1918) chaired by Justice Sidney Rowlatt, recommending detention without trial to suppress revolutionary activities. Option (a) is wrong — any association with the salt trade belongs to the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930. Option (b) is wrong — it was a peacetime measure introduced after World War I, not a wartime law. Option (c) is wrong — every Indian member of the Imperial Legislative Council voted against it; it was passed purely by official British votes, earning the label "Black Act."
The Karachi Session (1931), presided over by Vallabhbhai Patel, passed a landmark resolution on Fundamental Rights and a National Economic Programme, giving the freedom struggle a concrete social and economic vision beyond mere political independence. Poorna Swaraj was declared at the Lahore Session (1929) — a common trap given their proximity. The Moderate-Extremist split occurred at the Surat Session (1907), and the Gandhi-Irwin Pact led only to a suspension, not a permanent withdrawal, of the Civil Disobedience Movement.
- The movement was launched on 8 August 1942 with Gandhi's call for "Do or Die."
- The All India Muslim League actively supported the Quit India Movement.
- Underground leaders of the movement included Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali.
- The British government arrested the entire Congress leadership within 24 hours of the launch.
Statement 1 is correct — Gandhi gave the "Do or Die" call at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay, on 8 August 1942. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Muslim League opposed the movement fearing Congress dominance; the Communist Party of India also withheld support, viewing the war as a "People's War" after Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Statement 3 is correct — with top leaders arrested, underground resistance was led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Ram Manohar Lohia. Statement 4 is correct — the British pre-emptively arrested Gandhi, Nehru, and virtually the entire Congress leadership within hours of the Bombay resolution.
- The Simon Commission was appointed to review the working of the Government of India Act, 1919.
- The Commission had no Indian member, which was the primary reason for its nationwide boycott.
- Lala Lajpat Rai died due to injuries sustained during a lathi-charge at an anti-Simon Commission protest in Lahore.
- The Indian National Congress supported the Commission, while the Muslim League boycotted it.
Statements 1, 2, and 3 are correct. The Commission was appointed in 1927 under Sir John Simon to review the Government of India Act, 1919 and suggest further reforms. Being an all-white body with no Indian member, it was widely seen as an insult to Indian political maturity, triggering the "Simon Go Back" protests. Lala Lajpat Rai led the Lahore protests in 1928 and was severely beaten in a lathi-charge ordered by Superintendent James Scott; his death provoked Bhagat Singh and associates to assassinate J.P. Saunders in retaliation. Statement 4 is incorrect — both the INC and the Muslim League boycotted the Commission, making this a deliberate trap for those who assume the two bodies always took opposing positions.
