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GS History Modern India
Q.

Consider the following statements:

1. Bankim Chandra felt that the ideas of western civilization could be applied to India.

2. Leaders like Dayanand and Vivekanand derived their inspiration from the European texts.

3. Economic nationalism, cultural nationalism and religious nationalism all followed different paths to arrive at the same end.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/ are correct?
Explanation:

Statements 1 and 2 are incorrect.

  • The social and religious reform movements of the 19th century contributed to the feeling of Nationalism. Swami Vivekananda, Annie Besant, Henry Derozio and many others revived the glory of ancient India, created faith among the people in their religion and culture and thus gave the message of love for their motherland.
  • The intellectual and spiritual side of Nationalism was voiced by persons like Bankim Chandra Chatterji, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Aurobindo Ghosh.
  • Bankim Chandra’s hymn to the Motherland, ‘Vande Matram’ became the rallying cry of patriotic nationalists. It inspired generations to supreme self-sacrifice. Simultaneously, it created a fear in the minds of the British. The impact was so strong that the British had to ban the song.
  • Similarly, Swami Vivekananda’s message to the people, “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached”, appealed to the Indians. It acted as a potent force in the course of Indian Nationalism.

Statement 3 is correct. Economic nationalism, cultural nationalism and religious nationalism may seem different from each other, they actually had many things in common. They were different from one another only to the extent that they followed different paths so come to the same destination.

  • They were also not opposed to each other in any fundamental sense. They were all opposed to the British colonial rule but their opposition was based on different grounds.
  • The advocates of cultural nationalism believed that the colonial rule had started encroaching into Indian culture which should be resisted. The profounders of economic nationalism argued that the colonial rule was economically exploiting India and was the main factor in keeping India backward.
  • Similarly leaders like Bankim and Vivekanand opposed the British rule on the ground that it was tempering with the spiritual resources of India. All the three were opposed to the colonial rule because of its impact on the Indian people. Their ideas helped in the building of a powerful anti-colonial Indian national movement in the 20th century which finally defeated and overthrew the colonial rule from India.

Thus, Option B is Correct.

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