Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
Option (c) is correct — on 4 February 1922, a mob at Chauri Chaura in the United Provinces burnt a police station, killing 22 policemen. Deeply committed to non-violence, Gandhi unilaterally suspended the movement, shocking leaders like Motilal Nehru and C.R. Das. Option (a) is wrong — Gandhi's arrest came in March 1922, after the withdrawal, not before it. Option (b) is wrong — no such compromise agreement existed; the withdrawal was Gandhi's personal moral decision. Option (d) is wrong — there was no Government of India Act in 1921; the relevant act was the Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms).
- The programme of non-cooperation included surrender of titles and honours, boycott of government schools and law courts, and boycott of foreign cloth.
- The movement was formally launched at the Calcutta Special Session of the INC in 1920, where Gandhi's resolution was adopted over opposition from C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru.
- The Khilafat Movement ran parallel to the Non-Cooperation Movement and was used by Gandhi to forge Hindu-Muslim unity.
- The Non-Cooperation Movement was the first mass movement in Indian history to involve large-scale participation from peasants, students, and women.
All four statements are correct. The programme covered surrender of titles, boycott of government schools/colleges and law courts, and boycott of foreign cloth. The resolution was adopted at the Calcutta Special Session (September 1920) despite initial resistance from C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru, who were later won over. Gandhi strategically linked the Khilafat cause with Non-Cooperation to forge Hindu-Muslim unity. And unlike earlier elite-dominated movements, this one drew genuine mass participation from peasants (Awadh, Andhra), students, and women.
Reason (R): For the first time, the movement drew in large numbers of ordinary Indians — peasants, artisans, students and women — transforming the Congress from an elite organisation into a mass movement.
Both A and R are correct, and R explains A. Before 1920, Indian nationalism was largely confined to educated urban elites petitioning the British through constitutional means. The mass participation of previously uninvolved groups — peasants in Awadh and Andhra, mill workers in Ahmedabad, students, and women stepping into public protest for the first time — directly explains why the movement transformed the nature of Indian nationalism, establishing a clear cause-and-effect link.
The correct sequence is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (April 1919, the single most radicalising event pushing Gandhi towards mass non-cooperation) → the Khilafat Conference (1919–1920, building groundwork for Hindu-Muslim unity) → the Launch of the Non-Cooperation Movement (August 1920, after the Nagpur Session) → the Chauri Chaura incident (February 1922, triggering suspension) → Gandhi's arrest (March 1922, following the withdrawal). The other options misplace the Khilafat Conference relative to Jallianwala Bagh, or confuse the sequence of Gandhi's arrest and Chauri Chaura.
Option (a) is correct — the Khilafat Movement was launched by the Ali Brothers (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali) to protest the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, seat of the Islamic Caliphate, after World War I; Gandhi saw it as an opportunity to build Hindu-Muslim unity. Option (b) is wrong — Gandhi was in fact the most enthusiastic proponent of linking the two causes. Option (c) is wrong — the Khilafat Movement collapsed alongside Non-Cooperation after 1922 and lost its very purpose when Atatürk abolished the Caliphate in 1924. Option (d) is wrong — the British were deeply opposed to Hindu-Muslim political unity and viewed the alliance as a threat to colonial stability.
