Long Answer TypeRead the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Well, Sir, I must congratulate Pandit Nehru for the fine expression he gave to the spirit of the Indian people when he said that no imposition from the British will be accepted by the Indian people. Imposition would be resented and objected to, he said, and he added that if need be we will walk the valley of struggle. That is very good, Sir - bold words, noble words.
But the point is to see when and how are you going to apply that challenge. Well, Sir, the point is that the imposition is here right now. Not only has the British Plan made any future Constitution... dependent on a treaty satisfactory to the Britisher but it suggests that for every little difference you will have to run to the Federal Court or dance attendance there in England;
or to call on the British Prime Minister Clement Attlee or someone else. Not only is it a fact that this Constituent Assembly, whatever plans we may be hatching, we are under the shadow
of British guns, British Army, their economic and financial stranglehold' - which means that the final power is still in the British hands and the question of power has not yet been finally decided, which means the future is not yet completely in our hands. Not only that, but the statements made by Attlee and others recently have made it clear that if need be, they will even threaten you with division entirely. This means, Sir, there is no freedom in this country. As Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel put it some days ago, we have freedom only to fight among ourselves. That is the only freedom we have got
... Therefore, our humble suggestion is that it is not a question of getting something by working out this Plan but to declare independence here and now and call upon the Interim Government, 166 call upon the people of India, to stop fratricidal warfare and look out against its enemy, which still has the whip in hand, the British Imperialism – and go together to fight it and then resolve our claims afterwards when we will be free.
(1) Why did Somnath Lahiri congratulate Pt. Nehru?
(2) Explain why Somnath feels that the absence of constitution will mean dependence on the
British.
(3) How did he feel that the final power was still in the hands of the British?
(4) Explain the views of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
OR
'The real minorities are the masses of this country'.
Welcoming the Objectives Resolution introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru, N.G. Ranga said:
Sir, there is a lot of talk about minorities. Who are the real minorities? Not the Hindus in the so-called Pakistan provinces, not the Sikhs, not even the Muslims. No, the real minorities are the masses of this country. These people are so depressed and oppressed and suppressed till now that they are not able to take advantage of the ordinary civil rights. What is the position? You go to the tribal areas.
According to law, their own traditional law, their tribal law, their lands cannot be alienated. Yet our merchants go there, and in the so-called free market they are able to snatch their lands. Thus, even though the law goes against this snatching away of their lands, still the merchants are able to turn the tribal people into veritable slaves by various kinds of bonds, and make them hereditary bond-slaves. Let us go to the ordinary villagers. There goes the money-lender with his money and he is able to get the villagers in his pocket. There is the landlord himself, the zamindar, and the malguzar and there are the various other people who are able to exploit these poor villagers. There is no elementary education even among these people. These are the real minorities that need protection and assurances of protection. In order to give them the necessary protection, we will need much more than this Resolution...
(1) Who are the real minorities according to Shri N.G. Ranga and why?
(2) Explain N.G. Ranga's views about the condition of ordinary villagers.
(3) Mention the views of Prof. N.G. Ranga regarding the tribal areas and the tribal law.'
(1) Somnath Lahri congratulated Pandit Nehru for the fine expression that he gave to the spirit of Indian people, when he said, there could be no imposition from the British as it will cause resentment from the Indian people.
(2) Somnath felt that absence of the Constitution would mean dependence on the British because:
(a) For every little problem Indians would have to run to the Federal Court in England.
(b) Indians would remain under the stranglehold or the shadow of the British.
(3) He felt that the final power was still in the hands of the British as:
(i) The Indian constituent assembly was a creation of the British
(ii) India was still under British rule.
(4) Sardar Patel Said ‘We have freedom only to fight among ourselves’ and no other freedom.
OR
(1) The real minorities according to NG Ranga are the masses of the country i.e the poor peasant, tribals etc. These people are oppressed, depressed and suppressed and have no knowledge of their civil rights.
(2) The ordinary villager was oppressed, suppressed and depressed. He had no civil rights. He was dominated by outsiders like traders, money lenders, zamindars …etc. They were treated as bonded slaves. They had no elementary education.
(3) According to NG Ranga, tribal areas have their own traditional laws. According to these laws, the tribals can’t be alienated from their lands but the traders, moneylenders and zamindars oppressed and exploited them. They needed protection in the Constitution.
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