LESSON NO 1 SOCIO RELIGIOUS AWAKENING Q.1.

Which were the various evils and evil customs prevalent in our society before independence? When and why did the new awakening begin? A.1. Various evils which were prevalent in India before independence were like superstitions, doubts, ignorance, evil social customs, caste system etc. The condition of women was the worst in the narrow minded society. Various evil customs which were prevalent in our society were: the custom of dudhpiti for girl child, sati system, denial of widow remarriage, etc. Due to western education, a New Awakening began in the nineteenth century to remove the evil customs from the society. Revolutions started for social and religious improvements. Q.2.What recommendations were made to the British government by Raja Ram Mohan Roy? What was the result? A.2. Raja Ram Mohan Roy recommended many changes to the British Government like press-independence, freedom of speech, women rights, individual independence, to keep judiciary away from reforms, etc. He started movements against sati system. As a result of it, the British Governor William Bentinck framed a law putting ban on the Sati Pratha [system]. This law was framed in the year 1829 A.D. Q.3.Who started Arya Samaj for the society? Why? What did Dayanand Saraswati preach the people? A.3. Dayanand Saraswati started Arya Samaj for society in 1875 A.D. to bring back those people to Hinduism especially those who had changed their religion. He preached the people to move Back in Vedas. He made people aware that there are no written evidences about idol worship, religious rituals, child marriage, Sati Pratha, untouchability, etc. in Vedas. He preached the fact that There is only one God. He preached in Hindi so that his thoughts could reach to maximum people. Q.4.What activities were done in society by Ramkrishna Mission? A.4. Swami Vivekanand established Ramkrishna Mission Math in Bellur in the year 1897 A.D. in the name of his guru. This mission adopted the ideals of service to man through various works. The mission implemented the slogan, Service to man is service to God, by gaining motivation from the life of Ramkrishna Paramhans. This mission opened various schools nationwide for imparting education and service was granted to people by opening hospitals. Q.5.What was done by Thakkar Bapa and his companions? A.5. Thakkar Bapa gave valuable contribution for the upliftment of untouchables [harijans] by providing his services many years as minister of Akhil Hind Harijan Sangh. He gave relief to the people affected by natural calamities. He established Panchmahal Bhil Seva Mandal and with its help, he brought a drastic change in the life of Bhils who inhabited the deep jungles and hilly areas of Panchmahal. Thakkar Bapa and his

companions freed the Bhils from the habit of alcohol and other evil customs and doubts. He opened schools for the Children of Bhils. He made them spin the spinning wheel and involved them in small cottage industries. Q.6. Write few lines on Jyotiba Phule A.6. Jyotiba Phule was a well known social reformer of Maharashtra state. He started a girls school in Pune in 1857 A.D. He helped the widows to remarry. He challenged the authoritativeness of Brahmins in the society. He established Satya Shodhak Samaj in order to inculcate confidence, courage and enthusiasm in people. Q.7. Write few lines on Swami Vivekanand. A.7. A Bengali graduate, named Narendranath Dutt became the disciple of Ramkrishna and became a saint acquiring the name Swami Vivekanand. He did intensive study about Indian and Western philosophy. He advised people to serve the poor and look for God in needy people. He created in Indian youngsters, the pride for our past and awareness for a bright future. With his influential speech at Chicago, he provided an understanding about philosophy and Indian culture. He propagated Indian culture by touring various countries. He was a staunch nationalist. He gave the slogan to Indians, Arise, awake and stop not still the goal is achieved. He established Ramkrishna Mission in Bellur.

LESSON 4 SUPREME COURT Q.1. Narmada Yojna is an important plan. No fundamental right of any individual will be violated due to this. Why was such judgement given by the Supreme Court? Discuss. Madhya Pradesh and voluntary agencies working for the conservation of environment protested against the fact that the height of the dam on the water body near Navagam on Narmada River should not be more than 110 meters. They felt that the fundamental rights of the tribal people be violated due to this plan. So, the Supreme Court passed a resolution on 8th March 2006 that this plan is very important from the view point of increasing population of the country. Various areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh can get water and the spreading of the desert can be controlled. It assured that the planning of habitation would be done to the people who would have to face adverse effects due to this yojna. In this way, the Supreme Court said that the fundamental rights will not be violated. Q.2. Why should the judiciary be independent? A.2. If a powerful person captures our land, we take the matter to the court. But we would find that a judge would always favour a strong person. If a strong person has a control over the judge, he cannot take any decision independently. Judiciary deprived of freedom will always force the judge to give the judgement in favour of powerful person. But our constitution does not allow such kind of interference. That is why judiciary has been kept independent from legislative and executive in our constitution. So, once the judges are appointed in the High Court and the Supreme Court, it is difficult to remove them from

their place/post. If an individual feels that his fundamental rights are violated, he can go to the court. Q.3.Why is the Application for Public Welfare considered to be an important step? A.3.It becomes very tough for a person who is poor and illiterate to go to the court to demand justice. Keeping this situation in mind, the Supreme Court accepted the structure Application for Public Welfare in the year 1980. With this, the Supreme Court has made such an effort that maximum people can reach up to court for justice. The judicial system has given the right to file an application to any individual or institution. It can be done by all those whose fundamental rights are being violated. An individual can file a petition in the High Court or the Supreme Court. After 1980, with this medium many matters have been solved and justice has been imparted to the people. To free the labourers from inhuman labour and to free few prisoners from Bihar this scheme of application of the Supreme Court has been used. Q.4. State the various judgments given by various courts in the case of Ratlam Municipality. A.4.Various judgments given by various courts in the case of Ratlam Municipality were as follows: 1] The Taluka Court Magistrate gave judgment in favour of residents. He said the Municipality and Town Improvement authority has failed in their duty. He ordered both institutions to clean the place with immediate effort and within 15 days; the work of closed drainage system should be completed. 2] The District Court of Ratlam declared the judgement of Taluka Court to be irresponsible. 3] The High Court approved the judgement of Taluka Court. It gave 7 months for the closed drainage system plan and ordered the pits to be covered and to take adequate measures to stop breeding of germs within 2 years time. 4] When the case was move to the Supreme Court by the Ratlam Municipality, it approved the judgement of the Taluka Court and further ordered that the chemical and dye plant which was responsible for pollution should be closed with the joint effort of Municipality and the State Government. LESSON 5 REVOLUTIONARIES OF INDIA Q.1. Write few lines on Vir Savarkar. A.1. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born on 28th May 1883 in Bhagur village of Nasik. He established an institution named Mitra Mela which was later known as Abhinav Bharat. The main objective of this institution was to free India from the British rule with the help of weapons and through revolt. He lit fire to foreign clothes. He went to London for further studies. He wrote a book titled 1857: Indias first freedom struggle. He was sent to Kala Pani punishment to Andaman in the charge of the murder of a British

official. Due to his poor health, he was kept hidden in India as a prisoner. He died on 26th February, 1966. Q.2. Write few lines on Vir Bhagat Singh A.2. Bhagat Singh was born on25th September, 1907 in Banga village of Layalpur district of Punjab. He was an active participant in burning the foreign clothes during Non Cooperation Movement. He got a good backing for his revolutionary ideas when he came in touch with Shukdev, Bhagwat Charan and Yashpal. Along with Batukeshwar Butt, he threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly on 8th April 1928. His main objective behind throwing a bomb was to awaken the deaf British Government. Various pamphlets were distributed carrying revolutionary messages and they fired shots in the air and surrendered themselves peacefully. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru killed the British officer named Saunders to take revenge for the murder of Lala Lajpat Rai. The three of them were hung to death on 23rd March. Q.3. Write few lines on Chandra Shekar Azad A.3. Chandra Shekar was born on 23rd July, 1906 in Bhavra village in Madhya Pradesh. He was a nationalist since childhood. He took part in the Non Cooperation Movement. He was arrested for this. But he freed himself later on. He participated in the robbery of the Kakori train. So, a prize money was announced by the British Government to catch him. He took a vow never to be caught by the British Government. When he was sitting in a park of Allahabad, the British police surrounded him. He shot himself with a pistol so that the British could not catch him. Q.4. Write few lines on Shyamji Krishna Verma. A.4. Shyamji Krishna Verma was born on 4th October 1857 in Mandvi village of Kutch. He established Indian Home Rule Society in order to attain Swaraj. For the propagation of his institution, he started a magazine entitled Indian Sociologist. He got various companions to run his revolutionary activities. He arranged scholarship for Indians. When Madanlal Dhingra was shot dead, he felt unsafe in London. So he went to Paris and after sometime to Switzerland. He died in 1930 AD.