CBSE Class 12 Political Science Challenges Of Nation Worksheet

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Chapter-wise Worksheet for Class 12 Political Science Politics in India since Independence Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building

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Class 12 Political Science Politics in India since Independence Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building Worksheet with Answers

CHAPTER-1
CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING
 
 
 

Question. The government formed under the leadership of …………… in September ………… was known as the Interim Government.
(a) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, 1946
(b) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, 1945
(c) Mahatma Gandhi, 1946
(d) BR Ambedkar, 1945

Answer : A

Question. Consider the following statements about Manipur and select the correct statement(s) from the codes below.
(i) Maharaja of Manipur Bodhachandra Singh signed the Instrument of Accession with the India Government.
(ii) It was the first state to hold elections based on ‘Universal Adult Franchise’.
(iii) The Government of India succeeded in pressurising the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949.
(iv) There was consensus in Legislative Assembly of Manipur regarding the Merger Agreement.
Codes
(a) Only (iv)
(b) Both (i) and (iii)
(c) (i), (ii) and (iii)
(d) All of these

Answer : C

Question. The interim government formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan was headed by which of the following?
(a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
(d) Rajagopalachari

Answer : B

Question. Consider the following statements and select the correct statement(s) from the codes below.
(i) Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s Deputy PM and the Home Minister during the crucial period immediately following Independence.
(ii) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states to join the Indian Union.
(iii) The leader Potti Sriramulu of Madras resigned from government job to participate in Salt Satyagraha and advocated equality in the society and demanded entry of Dalits in temples of Madras.
Codes
(a) Both (i) and (ii)
(b) Both (ii) and (iii)
(c) All of these
(d) None of these

Answer : B

Question. Name the original state from which Chhattisgarh was carved out.
(a) Uttar Pradesh
(b) Bihar
(c) Jharkhand
(d) Madhya Pradesh

Answer : D

Question. Consider the following statements and select the incorrect statement(s) from the codes given below.
(i) The first and the immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united, yet accommodative of the diversity in our society.
(ii) The second challenge was to establish democracy.
(iii) The third challenge was to ensure the development and well-being of the entire society and not only of some sections.
(iv) The fourth challenge was to evolve effective policies for economic development and eradication of poverty.
Codes
(a) Both (i) and (ii)
(b) Both (ii) and (iv)
(c) All of these
(d) None of these

Answer : C

Question. Mohammed Ali Jinnah addressed the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in Karachi on which date?
(a) 11th August, 1947
(b) 12th August, 1947
(c) 13th August, 1947
(d) 14th August, 1947

Answer : A

Question. …………… and …………… were the two languages spoken in Bombay state before it was divided in 1960.
(a) Bengali and Marathi
(b) Gujarati and Marathi
(c) Marathi and Malayalam
(d) Telugu and Marathi

Answer : B

Question. Arrange the following events in the correct sequence.
(i) Nagaland
(ii) Assam
(iii) Manipur
(iv)Mizoram
Codes
(a) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(b) (ii), (i), (iii) and (iv)
(c) (iii), (ii), (i) and (iv)
(d) (iv), (iii), (ii) and (i)

Answer : B

Question. Which one of the following is a princely state of India initially resisted joining the Indian Union?
(a) Baroda
(b) Hyderabad
(c) Mysore
(d) Gwalior

Answer : B

Question. Consider the following statements and select the incorrect statement(s) from the codes below.
(i) All the Muslims left India during Partition.
(ii) Jawaharlal Nehru advocated security and democratic rights for Muslims.
(iii) ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech was delivered by BR Ambedkar.
Codes
(a) Both (i) and (ii)
(b) Both (i) and (iii)
(c) Only (ii)
(d) All of these

Answer : B

Assertion/Reason :

Answer the following questions based on Assertion and Reason and select the correct codes of each question from the options mentioned below.
Codes
(a) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
(b) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
(c) (A) is true, but (R) is false.
(d) (A) is false, but (R) is true.

Question. Assertion (A) The atrocities and communal nature of the Razakars knew no bounds.
Reason (R) In September 1948, Indian army moved in to control the Nizam’s forces.
After a few days of intermittent fighting, the Nizam surrendered.

Answer : A

Question. Assertion (A) Before 15th August, 1947, peaceful negotiations had brought almost all states whose territories were contiguous to the new boundaries of India, into the Indian Union.
Reason (R) The interim government took a firm stance against the possible division of India into small principalities of different sizes.

Answer : B

Question. Assertion (A) The drawing of the border demarcating the territory of each country marked the culmination of political developments.
Reason (R) On 14th-15th August, 1947, not one but two nation-states came into existence – India and Pakistan. This was a result of ‘partition’, the division of British India into India and Pakistan.

Answer : A

Question. Study the following picture and answer the following question.
CBSE Class 12 Political Science Challenges Of Nation Worksheet_1
The picture depicts States Reorganisation Commission trying to contain which of the following?
(a) Nationalism
(b) Regionalism
(c) Communalism
(d) Linguism

Answer : D

 
 
 
 
 

At the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India attained independence. Jawahar Lal Nehru the first Prime Minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night. This was the famous ‘Tryst with destiny’ speech.

 
Our leaders on attaining independence agreed upon two goals to be achieved:
1) We shall run our country through democratic government.
2) The government will be run for the good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups.
No other country by then was born in a situation more difficult than that of India in 1947.
Freedom came with the partition of the country. The year 1947 was a year of unprecedented violence and displacement. It was in this situation that independent India started on its journey to achieve several objectives. There were three challenges that faced the new nation-
1) To shape a nation- The first and immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united in spite of the diversity in our society. In India people spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions. It was widely believed that a country full of such kinds of diversity could not remain together for long.
2) To establish Democracy- The second challenge was to establish democracy. India adopted representative democracy based on parliamentary form of government. A democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy so the challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the constitution.
3) To ensure the development and well-being of society- The third challenge was to ensure the development and well-being of entire society and not only of some sections. The constitution clearly laid down the principle of equality and special protection to socially
disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities.
 
PARTITION: DISPLACEMENT AND REHABILITATION
• On 14-15th August 1947, not one but two nation states came into existence- India and Pakistan. This was the result of partition the division of British India into India and Pakistan.
• Such a division was not only very painful but also very difficult to decide and to implement.
• It was decided to follow the principle of religious majorities which means that areas where the Muslims were in majority would make up the territory of Pakistan and rest was to stay India
 
But the division of the country had lot of difficulties-
1. There was no single belt of Muslim majority areas in British India. There were two areas of concentration one in the west and one in the east and in no way these two areas could be joined so it was decided that new country Pakistan will comprise of two territories west and east Pakistan separated by a long expanse of Indian territory.
2. Secondly, not all Muslim majority areas wanted to be in Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan the leader of North Western Frontier province and also known as Frontier Gandhi was opposed to the Two Nation theory.
3. The third problem was that two of the Muslim majority provinces of British India, Punjab and Bengal had very large areas where the non-muslims were in majority. So it was decided that these two provinces would be bifurcated according to the religious majority at the district and even lower level.
4. The fourth problem was of the minorities on both sides of border. Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in the areas that were now in Pakistan and an equally large number of Muslims on the Indian side of Punjab and Bengal found themselves trapped. They were aliens in their own land and became easy targets.
 
CONSEQUENCES OF PARTITION
• There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border.
• In the name of religion people of one community ruthlessly killed and maimed people of the other community.
• Cities like Lahore, Amritsar and Kolkata became communal zones.
• Minorities on both sides of the border fled their home and often secured temporary shelter in refugee camps.
• They travelled to the other side of the new border by all sorts of means often by foot and were often attacked, killed or raped.
• In many cases women were killed by their own family members to preserve the family honour. Many children were separated from their parents.
• For lakhs of these refugees the country's freedom meant life in refugee camps for months and sometimes for years.
• The partition was not merely a division of properties, liabilities and assets or political division of the country and administrative apparatus but also financial assets and things like tables, chairs typewriters, paperclips, books and also musical instruments of the police band.
• It is estimated that about 80 lakh people were forced to migrate across new border and about 5 to 10 lakh people were killed.
 
Mahatma Gandhi’s Sacrifice
On 15th August 1947 Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in any of the Independence Day celebrations. He was in Kolkata in the areas which was torn by gruesome riots between Hindus and Muslims. He was saddened by the communal violence and disheartened that the principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and Satyagraha (active but non-violent resistance) that he had lived and work for had failed to bind the people in troubled times. Gandhi ji went on to persuade Hindus and Muslims to give up violence. His presence in Kolkata greatly improved the situation and the coming of independence was celebrated in a spirit of communal harmony with joyous dancing in the streets.
Gandhi ji was particularly disliked by those who wanted Hindus to take revenge or who wanted India to become a country for the Hindus, just as Pakistan was for the Muslims. They accused Gandhi ji of acting in the interest of the Muslims and Pakistan. Gandhi ji thought that these people were misguided. He was convinced that any attempt to make India into country only for the Hindus would destroy India. His steadfast pursuit of Hindu Muslim Unity provoked Hindu extremist so much that they made several attempts to assassinate Gandhi ji. Despite this he refused to accept armed protection and continue to meet everyone during his prayer meetings. Finally on 30th January 1948, one such extremist Nathuram Vinayak Godse, walked up to Gandhiji during his evening prayer in Delhi and fired 3 bullets at him, killing him instantly. Thus ended a life long struggle for truth, non-violence, justice and tolerance.
 
Integration of Princely States-
British India was divided into what were called the British Indian provinces and the Princely states. The British Indian provinces were directly under the control of the British government and several large and small states ruled by princes were called the princely states. 
Princely states enjoyed some form of control over the internal affairs as long as they accepted British Supremacy. Just before independence British announced that with the end of their rule over India the supremacy of the British over the Princely states will come to an end. It was left to the state whether to join India or Pakistan or remain independent. This was a very serious problem and could threaten the very existence of united India.
The ruler of Travancore announced that the state had decided on independence. 
The ruler of Hyderabad made similar announcement the next day.
The ruler of Bhopal was also averse in joining the Constituent Assembly.
So all this showed a strange situation since Indian independence aimed at unity and selfdetermination as well as democracy approach.
 
Government’s Approach Towards Princely States-
The government took firm stance against possible division of India. The Muslim League opposed the INC and took the view that states should be free to adopt any course they liked. Sardar Patel played a historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states firmly but diplomatically and bringing most of them enter into the Indian Union. The government’s approach was guided by three considerations:
1. The people of most of the princely states really wanted to become part of the Indian Union.
2. The government was prepared to be flexible in giving autonomy to some regions and the idea was to accommodate plurality and adopt flexible approach in dealing with the regions.
3. In the backdrop of partition which brought into focus the contest over demarcation of territory the integration of the territorial boundaries of the nation had assume supreme importance.
 
INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION
The rulers of most of the states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’ which meant that their state agreed to become a part of the Union of India.
The princely states of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur proved more difficult than the rest.
Issue of Junagadh was resolved after a plebiscite confirmed people’s desire to join India.
 
HYDERABAD
• Hyderabad the largest of the princely states was surrounded entirely by Indian territory and some parts of Hyderabad state today are parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
• Its ruler carried the title of Nizam. He entered into what was called the standstill agreement with India in November 1947 for a year while negotiations with the Indian government were going on. The people of Hyderabad started a movement against the Nizam’s rule.
• The peasantry in the Telangana region in particular was victim of Nizams oppressive rule and rose against him. Women too joined the movement.
• The Communists and Hyderabad Congress were in the forefront of the movement.
• The Nizam responded by unleashing a paramilitary force known as Razakars on the people who committed lot of atrocities and the communal nature of the Razakars knew no bounds.
• They murdered, maimed, raped and looted targeting particularly the non-muslims.
• In September 1948 Indian Army moved into control the Nizam’s forces and finally after few days Nizam surrendered and this lead to accession of Hyderabad to India.
 
MANIPUR
• A few days before independence the Maharaja of Manipur Bodhachandra Singh signed Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.
• Under the pressure of public opinion the Maharaja held elections in June 1948 and the state became a constitutional monarchy and became the first Indian state to hold elections based on Universal adult franchise.
• Manipur was the first part of India to hold election based on Universal Adult Franchise.
• There were lots of differences in the Legislative Assembly of Manipur over the merger of Manipur with India.
• The Government of India succeeded in pressurizing the Maharaja into finding a merger agreement in September 1949 without consulting the elected Legislative Assembly of Manipur. This caused a lot of anger and resentment in Manipur, the repercussions of which are still being felt.
 
REORGANISATION OF STATES
The first important challenge India encountered after independence was the integration of princely and other native states. The challenge was to draw the internal boundaries of the Indian states. The boundaries of the states had to be drawn in a way so that the linguistic and cultural plurality of the country could be reflected without affecting the unity of the nation. Our leaders promised the linguistic principles as the basis of formation of states.
• After the Nagpur session of Congress in 1920 the principle was recognized as the basis of the reorganisation of the INC party itself.
• After independence and partition, things changed and our leaders felt that this division on the basis of language would lead to disruption and disintegration.
• This decision of the national leadership was challenge by the local leaders and people.
• Protest began in the Telugu speaking areas of the old Madras province which included present date Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka.
• The Vishalandhra movement demanded that the Telugu speaking areas be separated from the Madras province and separate Andhra province be made.
• The movement gathered momentum as a result of the central government’s vacillation.
• Potti Sriramulu, a Congress leader went on indefinite fast that lead to his death because great unrest and resulted in violent outburst in Andhra region.
• Finally the PM announced the formation of a separate Andhra state in December 1952.
• The formation of Andhra Pradesh spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic lines in other parts of the country.
• The struggles forced the central government in appointing States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to look into the question of redrawing of the boundaries of the states.
• The States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956 which led to the creation of 14 states and six union territories.
• Thus we can conclude that creation of linguistic States which created fear of separatism and division of the country has rather changed the nature of democratic politics and leadership and has strengthened national unity.
• Democracy in other words was associated with plurality of ideas and ways of life.
 
Match
 
IMPORTANT TERMS
• Two Nation Theory – The two-nation theory propounded by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and advanced by Muslim League, consisted of not one but two people, Hindus and Muslims. That is why it demanded Pakistan a separate country for the muslims. The Congress opposed this theory and they demand for Pakistan.
• Refugee – People who migrate to new areas for rehabilitation due to civil war or natural disasters.
• Princely States – States ruled by princes who enjoyed some form control over their state’s internal affairs under the British supremacy.
• Razakars – A para-military force of Nizam was sent to respond people’s movement which had no bounds.
• States Reorganisation Commission – It was appointed in 1950 to look into the matters of redrawing of the boundaries of states.
• Instrument of Accession – A document signed by rulers of states when they agreed to become part of Indian Union.
• Bifurcation – Division of something into branches or parts. 
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CBSE Political Science Class 12 Politics in India since Independence Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building Worksheet

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