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Difficulty: MediumGandhian Era and Major Mass Movements

Regarding the Rowlatt Satyagraha organized under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919, which of the following statements are correct?

  1. Mahatma Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay to direct the campaign and enlist volunteers.Answer
  2. It represented Mahatma Gandhi's first attempt to launch an all-India mass agitation using a nationwide strike (hartal).Answer
  3. C
    The Rowlatt Act was enacted based on the recommendations of the Montagu-Chelmsford Reform Committee.
  4. D
    The agitation continued uninterrupted until it merged directly into the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930.

Answer

The correct statements are that Mahatma Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay to direct the campaign, and that the movement was his first attempt to launch an all-India mass agitation using a nationwide hartal.
The statements highlighting the formation of the Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay and the status of the Rowlatt Satyagraha as Gandhi's first all-India mass protest with a nationwide hartal are correct. Gandhi organized the Satyagraha Sabha to build a cadre of activists and declared April 6, 1919, as a day of national strike.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the establishment of the organizing body for the agitation
Gandhi founded the Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay to collect signatures for the satyagraha pledge and coordinate protest activities across regions.
This confirms that Gandhi created a structured organization specifically to direct the anti-Rowlatt agitation.
2
Determine the scale and nature of the Rowlatt Satyagraha
The movement served as Gandhi's first pan-Indian mass agitation, calling for a countrywide hartal (strike), fasting, and prayer on April 6, 1919.
Earlier Satyagrahas (Champaran, Kheda, Ahmedabad) were localized regional struggles, whereas this was all-India in scope.
3
Verify the committee behind the Rowlatt Act and the timeline of the movement
The Rowlatt Act originated from Sir Sidney Rowlatt's Sedition Committee, and Gandhi suspended the campaign on April 18, 1919, after outbreaks of violence.
This invalidates the assertions attributing the legislation to Montagu-Chelmsford and claiming continuous operation until 1930.

Key Concept

Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) and the emergence of Gandhian mass nationalist leadership
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Topics

Gandhian Era and Major Mass Movements

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