Question

Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest of the _____.
1. Cabinet MIssion
2. Jallianwala Bagh massacre
3. Rowlatt Act
4. Simon Commission

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Jallianwala Bagh massacre

The correct answer is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

• Rabindranath Tagore received the news of the massacre on 22 May 1919. 
• He tried to arrange a protest meeting in Calcutta and finally decided to renounce his British knighthood as "a symbolic act of protest".
• In the repudiation letter, dated 30 May 1919 and addressed to the Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford, he wrote "I ... wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so-called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings."
• One of the records said 381 people had died in the massacre while 1,208 sustained injuries.
• General Reginald Dyer was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

• Some important events of the National Movement:
  • Hunter Commission - 14 October 1919
  • Indian National Congress formed - 1885.
  • Non-Corporation - 4 September 1920
  • Civil Disobedience Movement - March 12, 1930
  • Dandi March - 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930
  • Hindustan Socialist Association - 1924.