NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Politics in India since Independence Chapter 1: Challenges of Nation Building

Chapter at a glance

Exercises

Answer

4. The scheme of partition included a plan for transfer of population across the border.

Answer

1. – ii, (b) – i, (c) – iv, (d) – iii

Answer

Mark these on the outline map of India:

Junagadh: Gujarat; Manipur: north-east; Mysore: Karnataka; Gwalior: Madhya Pradesh.

Answer

My opinion: both are partly right, but democracy was extended, and consensus was also sought.

In support of Bismay

1. Most rulers signed the Instrument of Accession willingly, after negotiation and with the pressure of people’s movements.
2. The people of the states got the fundamental rights, adult franchise and elected governments, which they never had under the rulers.
3. The Government offered privy purses and guaranteed the rulers’ status, to build consensus.

In support of Inderpreet

1. Some rulers resisted: Junagadh (a plebiscite was held after the Nawab left), Hyderabad (police action, 1948), and in Manipur, the ruler’s decision was taken without the assembly, which led to resentment.
2. Some people, as in Hyderabad and Manipur, were not consulted fully about the decision.

Conclusion: the government used negotiation first, force only as the last resort. The integration made India united and democratic, but a consensus-based approach would be the more democratic method.

Integration mostly extended democracy and used persuasion, but force in a few states shows that consensus was not always the method.

Answer

Agenda from Gandhi’s statement: humility and service; power as a duty and a test, not a privilege; vigilance against corruption and abuse; ethical politics, concern for the poor and harmony between communities.

Agenda from Nehru’s statement: a new beginning, with freedom as an opportunity; development, ending poverty, ignorance and disease; democracy, equality of opportunity, secularism, scientific temper; and building national unity.

Which appeals to me? Gandhi’s, because the best plans fail if those in power forget their duty; yet Nehru’s vision gives the goal. Both together form the full agenda.

Gandhi stressed humility and ethical power; Nehru stressed hope, development and democracy; the two together make the nation-building agenda.

Answer

Nehru’s reasons

1. Ethical: the equal respect for all religions; a nation cannot be built on the denial of faith, and the idea of Gandhi that all religions are equal.
2. Values of the freedom struggle: the Constitution and the Congress committed to equality of all citizens, whatever their religion.
3. Protection of minorities: a state that favours one religion would make the minorities second-class citizens.

Prudential (practical) reasons

1. Unity of a diverse nation: with many religions, languages and castes, only a secular state could hold the country together.
2. Avoiding another partition and communal violence: after the partition, a Hindu state would have strengthened the two-nation theory.
3. Democracy: equal citizenship is essential for a democracy; discrimination would cause conflicts and instability.
4. Image of India: it would improve relations with the world and help to counter Pakistan’s theory.

So the reasons were not only ethical and sentimental; they were also practical and political.

Nehru’s reasons were ethical (equal respect for all faiths) and prudential (unity, minority safety, avoiding another partition and sustaining democracy).

Answer

Other differences: in the west, the government gave land and compensation in exchange for property left behind; in the east, no such uniform plan was made. East Pakistan was also not contiguous to West Pakistan, and later Bangladesh was created (1971).

In the west, the migration was sudden and finished quickly; in the east, it was continuous and long-lasting.

Answer

Task: the Government appointed the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953, under Fazl Ali, to look into the question of the redrawing of the boundaries of the states, after the demand for a separate Andhra (Potti Sriramulu’s fast unto death, 1952) and the agitations for linguistic states.

Most salient recommendation: the boundaries of the states should reflect the boundaries of different languages (linguistic principle).

Result: the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 created 14 states and 6 Union Territories.

The Commission (1953) examined the redrawing of state boundaries and recommended that states be formed on linguistic lines.

Answer

The features which make India a nation:

1. Shared history: the common experience of colonial rule and the freedom struggle.
2. Common political aspirations: liberty, equality, justice and democracy, expressed in the Constitution.
3. Unity in diversity: many languages, religions, cultures and regions accepted within one nation.
4. Common geography and heritage: the land from the Himalayas to the sea, with a long cultural and civilisational tradition.
5. Constitutional identity: single citizenship, fundamental rights, a federal structure and a secular state.
6. National symbols: the flag, the anthem and the emblem.
7. Shared institutions and ideals: elections, an independent judiciary and a common market.
8. Belief in being one people: a shared sense that “we are Indians” overcomes the differences.

India is held together by a shared history, constitutional ideals, unity in diversity and a common sense of belonging.

Question 10 (a)

Read the passage by Ramachandra Guha: “In the history of nation-building only the Soviet experiment bears comparison with the Indian. There too, a sense of unity had to be forged between many diverse ethnic groups, religious, linguistic communities and social classes. The scale – geographic as well as demographic – was comparably massive. The raw material the state had to work with was equally unpropitious: a people divided by faith and driven by debt and disease.” — List the commonalities that the author mentions between India and Soviet Union and give one example for each of these from India.

Answer

Ethnic, religious, linguistic and class diversity, large scale and a people divided by faith, debt and disease, as in India.

Question 10 (b)

The author does not talk about dissimilarities between the two experiments. Can you mention two dissimilarities?

Answer

1. Political system: India built a multi-party democracy with free elections and rights; the USSR was a one-party communist state with limited freedom.
2. Method of unity: India accommodated diversity through federalism, secularism and linguistic states; the USSR relied on central control and the dominance of Russia.

(Also: India has a mixed economy, while the USSR had a command economy.)

India was democratic and federal, while the USSR was a one-party, centralised state.

Question 10 (c)

In retrospect which of these two experiments worked better and why?

Answer

The Indian experiment worked better.

1. The USSR disintegrated in 1991 into 15 republics, while India has remained united for over 75 years.
2. India’s democracy gave people a voice, so grievances were handled through politics; the USSR’s lack of freedom left the dissatisfaction to grow.
3. India accepted diversity (languages, religions) and made states on a linguistic basis, which strengthened unity; in the USSR the republics felt suppressed by Russia.
4. India’s flexible, federal structure and mixed economy adapted to change.

India’s experiment worked better; its democratic, federal and inclusive approach kept it united, while the USSR broke up.

Question 11 (Let us do it together – 1)

Read a novel/story on partition by an Indian and a Pakistani/Bangladeshi writer. What are the commonalities of the experience across the border?

Answer

Suggested reading: Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas and Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan (India); Saadat Hasan Manto’s Toba Tek Singh and Intizar Husain’s Basti (Pakistan).

Commonalities of experience

1. Violence and fear among neighbours who had lived peacefully.
2. Loss of home, land and roots, and the pain of being a refugee.
3. Division of families, friends and communities by the line.
4. Ordinary people’s helplessness in the hands of politics.
5. Acts of humanity, shown by friends who sheltered people of the other faith.
6. Memory and nostalgia for the places left behind.

Writers on both sides describe the same suffering: violence, displacement, loss of home and some acts of kindness.

Question 12 (Let us do it together – 2)

Collect all the stories from the ‘Let’s Research’ suggestion in this chapter. Prepare a wallpaper that highlights the common experiences and has stories on the unique experiences.

Answer

This is a classroom activity. A model layout for the wallpaper:

A group activity; collect the partition stories, show the common experiences, and add panels for the individual stories.

Topic checklist

• ☒ Partition (Q1, Q2, Q7, Q11)
• ☒ Princely states (Q3, Q4)
• ☒ Secularism and nation building (Q5, Q6, Q9)
• ☒ Reorganisation of states (Q8)
• ☒ India and the Soviet experiment (Q10)

Total questions answered: 14 of 14