Question

Consider the following statements

A) In 1897 on charges of Sedition Lokmanya Tilak was sent to prison for one and a half year

B) Bal Gangadhar Tilak got the Lokmanya title during the home rule league movement

C) Dadabhai Naoroji accepted Swarajya, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education in 1904

D) In 1893 Annie Besant established the Theosophical Society in India

Which of the above statements is CORRECT?

1. A and D
2. B and C
3. A and C
4. A and B

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : A and B

The Correct answer is- A and B.

• After 1858, the European press always rallied behind the government in political controversies while the vernacular press was critical of the government.
• There was a strong public opinion against the imperialistic policies of Lytton, compounded by terrible famine (1876-77), on the one hand, and lavish expenditure on the imperial Delhi Durbar, on the other.
• Tilak was one of the extremists who took the anti-British stance and criticized British policies.
• The government had been looking for an opportunity to check this militant trend and hostility in the press. They decided to make Tilak a victim to set an example to the public.
• Tilak was arrested after the murder of Rand on the basis of the publication of a poem, ‘Shivaji’s Utterances’, in Kesari, and a speech which Tilak had delivered at the Shivaji festival, justifying Afzal Khan’s murder by Shivaji. Tilak’s defense of Shivaji’s killing of Afzal Khan was portrayed by the prosecution as an incitement to kill British officials.
• Tilak was held guilty and awarded rigorous imprisonment of eighteen months. Simultaneously several other editors in Bombay presidency were tried and given similar harsh sentences. Hence statement A is Correct.
• There were widespread protests against these measures. Overnight Tilak became a national hero and was given the title of ‘Lokmanya’ (respected and honored by the people)—a new leader who preached with his deeds.

 

Theosophical Society-

• A group of westerners led by Madame H.P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) and Colonel M.S. Olcott, who was inspired by Indian thought and culture, founded the Theosophical Society in New York City, United States in 1875. Hence option D is Incorrect.
• In 1882, they shifted their headquarters to Adyar, on the outskirts of Madras in India. Society believed that a special relationship could be established between a person’s soul and God by contemplation, prayer, revelation, etc.
• It accepted the Hindu beliefs in reincarnation and karma and drew inspiration from the philosophy of the Upanishads and Samkhya, yoga and Vedanta schools of thought.
• It aimed to work for the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color. The society also sought to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
• The Theosophical Movement came to be allied with the Hindu renaissance (At one time it allied with the Arya Samaj too.)
• It opposed child marriage and advocated the abolition of caste discrimination, uplift of outcastes, improvement in the condition of widows.
• In India, the movement became somewhat popular with the election of Annie Besant (1847-1933) as its president after the death of Olcott in 1907. Annie Besant had come to India in 1893. She laid the foundation of the Central Hindu College in Benaras in 1898 where both Hindu religion and Western scientific subjects were taught. The college became the nucleus for the formation of Benaras Hindu University in 1916. Annie Besant also did much for the cause of the education of women.