How different would have been the achievement of Indian... | UPSC 2015 GS1 PYQ

MAINS 2015

GS1

12.5 marks

How different would have been the achievement of Indian independence without Mahatma Gandhi? Discuss.

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9 min

200 words

What the examiner wants

Discuss how the nature, timing and outcome of Indian independence would have differed without Gandhi.

DiscussExplain the different sides of the issue, use evidence, and finish with a balanced view.

1What Gandhi added: mass base (peasants, women, workers), satyagraha as a method, Congress reorganisation (1920), Hindu-Muslim and anti-untouchability agenda≈35 words
2Without him: moderates' petitions or revolutionaries' violence - narrow base, easier for the Raj to suppress≈35 words
3Other forces still at work: Second World War weakening Britain, INA trials, RIN mutiny 1946, Labour government, Bose, Nehru, Patel≈35 words
4Likely differences: later or more violent independence, weaker democratic and non-violent ethos, perhaps different minority settlement≈35 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Gandhi's distinct contributionCounterfactual pathsStructural factors independent of himLikely differenceConclusion

ThinkerBipan Chandra describes Gandhi's strategy as Struggle-Truce-Struggle (S-T-S), building mass participation in phases.Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence
QuoteEinstein (1944): 'Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.'.Albert Einstein, 1944

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