Class XII – Democratic Resurgence – Important Questions

Ans. (i) Economic Crisis. War took place between India and Pakistan in Dec 1971 and Pakistan was defeated in the war. But this war had put a heavy strain on India’s economy. More than eight million people crossed over the East Pakistan border into India. Oil prices increased in the international market and this led to an all-round increase in the prices of other commodities.

(ii) Railway Strike. In April 1974 there was a strike of railway employees which affected the Indian Economy.

Ans. Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi declared Internal Emergency on 25^th June 1975. After the declaration of emergency fundamental rights mentioned in Article 19 was suspended throughout the country and thousand leaders and workers of opposition parties were put in jails. Restrictions were imposed on freedom of the press. The Janata Party made this election into a referendum on the emergency in the backdrop of arrests of thousands of persons and the censorship of the press, the public opinion was against the Congress.

Ans. (i) The Naxalite movement has been the most important peasant movement in the post-independence movement. A peasant uprising took place in 1967 in the Naxalbari police station area of Darjeeling hills district in West Bengal. This movement was started under the local leadership of the Marxist Party.

(ii) Naxalite does not believe in democracy. They believe in violence and guerrilla war in order to achieve their aims.

(iii) Naxalite used force to snatch land from the big landlord and distributed to the poor and landless workers. West Bengal government used strong measures to crush the movement. In 1972, Charu Majumdar died in police custody which created a vacuum in the movement as there was no competent leader to replace him.

Ans. (i) In 1974, students of Bihar came together to protest against price rising, unemployment, food shortage, corruption, etc. When the movement was in progress students invited socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan to lead the students’ movement. Jayaprakash Narayan accepted the offer of leading the movement on the condition that movement will remain totally non-violent and it will into be limited to Bihar. Soon the movement spread to other states of India.

(ii) Jayaprakash Narayan demanded the resignation of the Congress Government in Bihar. He gave the slogan of a total revolution in economic, social, and political spheres in order to establish true democracy. This movement started influencing national politics. Railway employees’ Union gave a call for a nation-wide strike. In 1975, Jayaprakash Narayan led a people’s march to the Parliament.

(iii) In March, Jayaprakash Narayan was supported by non-Congress opposition parties like the Jan Sangh, Congress (O) Socialist Party, Bharatiya Lok Dal, etc. These parties projected Jayaprakash Narayan as an alternative leader to Indira Gandhi. In fact, the Bihar movement was seen as anti-Congress Movement and it was a direct challenge to Mrs. Gandhi. However, Mrs Indira Gandhi was of the opinion that this movement was motivated due to personal opposition to her.

Ans. The following were the consequences of imposing an internal emergency in June 1975:

(i) Fundamental Rights were suspended.

(ii) Censorship was imposed on Freedom of the Press and Mass Media.

(iii) Preventive detention laws were enacted.

(iv) Political leaders of opposition parties and active workers were put behind bars.

(v) Federation was changed into a unitary form of government

(vi) Strikes were banned.

Ans. Following two lessons were learnt from the emergency:

(i) Bureaucracy and Judiciary should be independent. Bureaucracy should be independent and impartial. It should not be committed to the ideology and principles of the ruling party. Rather bureaucracy should be committed to the Constitution. Judiciary should not be subordinated to the executive. Judiciary should be independent and it should protect the rights and liberties of the citizens.

(ii) The government should run the administration according to the provisions of the constitution. Judiciary is the guardian of the constitution.

Ans. Following are the factors responsible for the downfall of the Janata Government in 1979

(i) Janata Party lacked direction, leadership, and a common program.

(ii) The Janata Party government could not bring about a fundamental change in policies from those pursued by Congress.

(iii) In the Janata Party government, different political parties lacked co-operation among themselves.

(iv) All important leaders of different political parties were egoistic and over-ambitious for power.

Ans. The period of Emergency and the time around it is known as the period of constitutional crisis due to the following reasons:

(i) Strike of railway employees in 1974, Bihar movement led by students, Navnirman Movement of Gujarat, the defeat of Congress party in Gujarat, etc., were responsible crisis.

(ii) Immediately after the imposition of emergency, the leaders of all opposition parties including J.P. Narayan were thrown behind bars. Thousands workers and leaders of opposition parties were put in jail under MISA.

(iii) During an emergency, various black acts were imposed by the Indira government. The people suspected of anything against the government were arrested and thrown behind bars without any trial under MISA. The life, liberty, respect and property of a person were not considered safe.

(iv) Sanjay Gandhi, the Prime Minister’s younger son, did not hold any official position, yet he controlled the administration and allegedly interfered in the functioning of the government.

Ans. (i) In a very short period, this movement spread to major parts of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and certain areas of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. In 1969, the Naxalite group broke off from the CPi(M), and a new party Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) was formed under the leadership of Charu Majumdar.

(ii) Naxalite do not believe in democracy. They believe in violence and guerrilla war in order to achieve their aims.

(iii) Naxalite used force to snatch land from the big landlord and distributed to the poor and landless workers. West Bengal government used strong measures to crush the movement. In 1972, Charu Majumdar died in police custody which created a vacuum in the movement as there was no competent leader to replace him.

Ans. Following were the circumstances that led to the mid-term election in 1980.

(i) The opposition to the Emergency could keep the Janata Party together for a very short period.

(ii) It is also observed that Janata Party lacked direction, leadership, and a common program.

(iii) Janata Party government was unable to bring fundamental changes in the policies from those pursued by the Congress government.

(iv) Ultimately, the Janta Party split and the government led by Morarji Desai list its majority in less than 18 months.

(v) After 1977, Congress Party led by Indira Gandhi worked hard and tried to identify itself with a different ideology claiming to be the only pro-poor party. In 1980, a fresh Lok Sabha election took place and Congress got the victory.