Question

The east and west Bengal are the two chambers of the same Heart "Who said this?​

• A. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
• B. Rabindranath Tagore
• C. Mahatma Gandhi
• D. Subhas Chandra Bose

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Rabindranath Tagore

National Movement

• With the formation of the Indian National Congress the agitations against the British attained an organised nature. Such organised agitations against the British power can be called the National Movement.

• Based on the style and strategies of the agitations, the National Movement can be divided into three phases:

1. The period of moderate nationalism

2. The period of extreme nationalism

3. Gandhian Era

Moderate Nationalism – From 1885 to 1905

• The prominent leaders were Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Badruddin Tyabji and Pheroze Shah Mehta

• Their policy was to bring the common problems and demands to the notice of the British Government by means of petitions, resolutions and protests

• These leaders studied the root causes of the poverty in British India which formed the ideological base for the national movement.

• E.g. Drain theory of Dadabhai Naoroji: There was a drain of wealth from India to England during colonial rule. It was mainly in the form of salary, taxes and gifts. He proved that the economic drain under the British rule is the root cause of poverty in India.

• The British officials treated Bengal as a growing power against the British rule. In this background the Viceroy Lord Curzon divided Bengal in 1905.

• Rabindranath Tagore stated that 'the East and West Bengal' are the two chambers of the same heart which is made fertile by the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. It is the warm blood originating from these vessels that flows through the arteries of the Bengalis'.

• Agitations against partition came up. 'Boycott foreign goods and use swadeshi products" was the man slogan of the agitations.