Passage I

The adoption of the Non-Cooperation Movement by the Congress gave it a new energy and from January 1921 it began to register considerable success all over the country. Gandhiji undertook a nation-wide tour during which he addressed hundreds of meetings and met a large number of political workers. In the first month, thousands of students left their educational institutions and joined more than 800 national schools and colleges that had sprung up all over the country. Gandhiji had promised Swaraj within a year, if his programme was adopted. The Non-Cooperation Movement demonstrated that it commanded the support and sympathy of vast sections of the Indian people. Its reach among many sections of Indian peasants, workers, artisans etc, had been demonstrated. The spatial spread of the movement was also nation-wide. Some areas were more active than others, but there were few that showed no signs of activity at all.

The capacity of the ’poor dumb millions’ of India to take part in modern nationalist politics was also demonstrated. This was the first time that nationalists from the towns, students from schools and colleges or even the educated and politically aware in the villages had made a serious attempt to bring the ideology and the movement into their midst.

The tremendous participation of different communities in the movement, and the maintenance of communal unity, despite the Malabar developments, was in itself no mean achievement. There is hardly any doubt that it was minority participation that gave the movement its truly mass character in many areas. And it was, indeed, unfortunate that this most positive feature of the movement was not to be repeated in later years once communalism began to take its toll. [324 words]

[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from India’s Struggle for Independence1857-1947, by Bipin Chandra and Others, Penguin Books, 1989.]

The main idea of the passage is-

Correct Option: The movement made the Indians realize their potential to fight against the mighty British

Step-by-Step Explanation:

1. Analyze the main themes in the passage:

The passage highlights several achievements and impacts of the Non-Cooperation Movement launched in January 1921:

• It demonstrated the capacity of vast sections of Indian people—peasants, workers, artisans, students, and the "poor dumb millions"—to actively participate in nationalist politics.
• It proved that the national movement could command nationwide support, communal unity, and massive participation across diverse communities.
• Overall, it showed how Indian society recognized its collective strength and political capacity to rise against British colonial rule.

2. Evaluate the given options against the text:

• Option 1: "The Non co-operation movement did not give impetus to the future movements" - Incorrect. The text shows it laid a strong foundation for mass participation in modern nationalist politics.
• Option 2: "The movement made the Indians realize their potential to fight against the mighty British" - Correct. This captures the central message of the passage regarding the demonstration of mass power, capacity, and participation of the Indian people in the freedom struggle.
• Option 3: "The British became fearful and worried of Gandhiji’s leadership and co-operation of Indians" - Incorrect. While British authority was challenged, the passage focuses primarily on the empowerment and participation of the Indian populace rather than the internal reaction of the British government.
• Option 4: "That the most positive feature of the movement was that it was repeated in later years" - Incorrect. The passage explicitly states it was "unfortunate that this most positive feature of the movement was not to be repeated in later years" due to rising communalism.

Therefore, the main idea of the passage is best expressed by the statement that the movement made Indians realize their potential to fight against British rule.