Freedom Struggle

Question 1

1905

Answer 1

Partition of Bengal announced to come in force from Oct 15 1906.

• The decision on the Partition of Bengal was announced on 19 July 1905 by then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon.
• The partition took effect on 16 October 1905. Due to the high level of political unrest generated* by the partition, the eastern and western parts of Bengal were *reunited because of Hindu pressure in 1911.

Question 2

1906

Answer 2

Muslim League founded at Dacca (31 Dec 1906).

• Bengal Presidency, in 1906, was a political party in British India that played a decisive role during 1940s in the Indian independence movement and developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state on the Indian subcontinent.
• After the independence of India and Pakistan, the League continued as a minor party in India, especially in Kerala, where it is often in government within a coalition with others.

Question 3

1908

Answer 3

22 July, 1908
Tilak sentenced to six years jail on charges of sedition.

• He was arrested on May 25, 1908, convicted by jury trial on July 22, 1908, and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in the case - popularly known as ‘Second Sedition Case’.
• 11 Aug, 1908*
• *Khudiram Bose executed.**
• He joined Jugantar /Yungatar - the party of revolutionary activists.
• Khudiram and Prafulla Chaki were sent to Muzaffarpur, Bihar to assassinate Kingsford, the Calcutta Presidency Magistrate, and later, magistrate of Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
• Khudiram and Prafulla watched the usual movements of Kingsford and prepared a plan to kill him. On the evening of April 30, 1908, the duo waited in front of the gate of the European Club for the carriage of Kingsford to come. When a vehicle came out of the gate, they threw bombs and blew up the carriage. However, the vehicle was not carrying Kingsford and instead two British ladies - Mrs and Miss Kennedy (the wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy) were killed. Prafulla committed suicide. Khudiram was sentenced to death.

Question 4

1909

Answer 4

May 21, 1909

Minto Morley reforms Of Indian Council Act 1909
Indian Councils Act of 1909, commonly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, began when John Morley, the Liberal Secretary of State for India, and the Conservative Governor-General of India, The Earl of Minto, believed that cracking down on terrorism in Bengalwas necessary but not sufficient for restoring stability to the British Raj after Lord Curzon’s partitioning of Bengal.

The Act of 1909 was important for the following reasons:
· It effectively allowed the election of Indians to the various legislative councils in India for the first time. Previously some Indians had been appointed to legislative councils. The majorities of the councils remained British government appointments. Moreover the electorate was limited to specific classes of Indian nationals;
· The introduction of the electoral principle laid the groundwork for a parliamentary system even though this was contrary to the intent of Morley. As stated by Burke and Quraishi -
· Muslims had expressed serious concern that a ‘first past the post’ British type of electoral system would leave them permanently subject to Hindu majority rule. The Act of 1909 stipulated, as demanded by the Muslim leadership
· that Indian Muslims be allotted reserved seats in the Municipal and District Boards, in the Provincial Councils and in the Imperial Legislature;
· that the number of reserved seats be in excess of their relative population (25 percent of the Indian population); and,
· that only Muslims should vote for candidates for the Muslim seats (‘ separate electorates’).