Figurative evidence from an 1885 Calcutta newspaper reports the formation of the Indian National Congress. Its organisers claimed to speak for all people of...
Question 1 Report
Figurative evidence from an 1885 Calcutta newspaper reports the formation of the Indian National Congress. Its organisers claimed to speak for all people of India and asked the British state for a greater Indian role in government. A museum guide asks visitors to consider why Sir Syed Ahmad Khan advised Muslims not to join this new movement at first. Your answer should refer to political conditions in the subcontinent.
(a) Identify the city in which the Congress was founded. [1]
(b) Explain two reasons for Sir Syed's opposition to Congress membership by Muslims. [4]
(c) Explain one way in which his view affected later Muslim political organisation. [4]
Answer Details
(a) Calcutta [1] (b) Any two: Muslims were educationally and economically behind Hindus and could not compete fairly [2]; representative government based on numbers would allow the Hindu majority to dominate [2]; Congress was seen as mainly Hindu in leadership and priorities [2]; Muslims needed cooperation with the British state to improve their position [2]. (c) It encouraged Muslims to organise separately to protect their interests [2]; this helped create support for an all-India Muslim political body, culminating in the Muslim League in 1906 [2].
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