UPSC Prelims 2020 Question:

With reference to the book "Desher Katha" written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar during the freedom struggle

Consider the following statements

1. It warned against the Colonial State’s hypnotic conquest of the mind.
2. It inspired the performance of swadeshi street plays and folk songs.
3. The use of ‘desh’ by Deuskar was in the specific context of the region of Bengal.
   
   

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Explanation:

• The book “Desher Katha (Story of the Nation) was written by Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar (1869-1912) in 1904. He was a compatriot and close associate of Sri Aurobindo. He promoted swadeshi and popularised the ideas of Dadabhai Naoroji and Mahadeo Govind Ranade.
  
  
• “Desher Katha" emphasised the British colonial state's economic and commercial exploitation of India and issued a warning against its hypnotic control of the mind. So, statement 1 is correct.
  
  
• The texts of “Desher Katha” had become a mandatory reading for the swadeshi activists and it inspired swadeshi street plays and folk songs. The British Government of Bengal put a ban on the book in 1910. So, statement 2 is correct.
  
  
• During the Swadeshi period, the overlap of place of origin and nation, as well as jati (literally birth, family or caste) and nationality inflected understandings of the nation or country. However, Deuskar used desh to mean nation in the text and not just Bengal. So, statement 3 is not correct.
  
  

Therefore, option (1) is the correct answer.

Subject: History | Indian Freedom Struggle