Question

State any two hopes and expectations of the industrial working class from the Civil Disobedience Movement. Explain any two reasons why the Congress was not interested in including their demands.

Answer 1

Demands of workers

(i) They demanded higher wages.

(ii) They demanded proper working conditions.

Congress was not interested in them because:

(i) It would have alienated the industrialists and divided the anti-imperialist forces.

(ii) The industrial working class did not participate in the Civil Disobedience movements in large numbers except Nagpur.

Answer 2

The expectations were to protect their own interests and promote exchange.

• The industrialists had the hope of -

1. Safeguarding their own financial interests, thus, industrialists and merchants originally supported the movement.
2. They had made tremendous profits after the First World War, but current colonial rules were constraining their economic activity.
3. They wanted lower imports and a foreign exchange rate that discouraged imports.

• However, the Congress was not interested as -

1. Workers remained distant while the industrialists drew closer to Congress. This, they believed, would annoy manufacturers.
2. They also felt Its anti-imperial forces would be divided.

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