Who among the following wrote The Philosophy of the Bomb?
- (a)Sukhdev
- (b)Chandrashekhar Azad
- (c)Bhagwati Charan Vohra
- (d)Bhagat Singh
Correct — C, Bhagwati Charan Vohra. He drafted The Philosophy of the Bomb, and it was issued in the name of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association with Chandrashekhar Azad's approval. It was written as a direct reply to Gandhi. After the attempt on the Viceroy Lord Irwin's train on 23 December 1929, Gandhi published an article called 'The Cult of the Bomb' condemning the revolutionaries and giving thanks for Irwin's escape; the HSRA's answer defended armed action and appealed to the young to join it, with lines such as 'There is no crime that Britain has not committed in India. Deliberate misrule has reduced us to paupers, has bled us white.' Vohra was propaganda secretary of both the HSRA and the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, and he was killed on 28 May 1930 on the bank of the Ravi at Lahore when a bomb he was testing — for a plan to rescue Bhagat Singh — went off prematurely.
- (a)Sukhdev — Sukhdev Thapar was a founder of the HSRA and was hanged with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru on 23 March 1931, but the drafting of this pamphlet is not attributed to him.
- (b)Chandrashekhar Azad — Azad was the commander of the HSRA and approved the document, and it went out under the organisation's name rather than his own. He is the closest wrong answer here, which is what makes him the strongest distractor.
- (d)Bhagat Singh — Bhagat Singh was in jail awaiting trial in the Lahore Conspiracy Case when this was written. His own famous prison writings are 'Why I am an Atheist' and the letters and jail notebook, not this pamphlet.
The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was formed in September 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, when the older Hindustan Republican Association added 'Socialist' to its name and adopted an explicitly socialist goal. Its best-known members were Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Bhagwati Charan Vohra and Jatindranath Das. Its actions included the killing of Saunders in December 1928, the Central Legislative Assembly bomb of April 1929, and the attempt on Irwin's train later that year. The Philosophy of the Bomb is the group's clearest statement of why it believed armed action was justified.
Authorship items on revolutionary pamphlets are answered by pairing each document with a person rather than by remembering titles alone. Vohra was the HSRA's writer — that is the single association worth carrying. It is also worth knowing that the credit is not entirely uncontested: Yashpal, another HSRA member, later claimed a share in the writing, and one NDA paper has keyed the question to his name. The document was a collective act of the organisation, so more than one hand is plausible; but the drafting is attributed to Vohra, and that is the attribution this paper is testing.
- The Philosophy of the Bomb was drafted by Bhagwati Charan Vohra and issued in the HSRA's name with Chandrashekhar Azad's approval, in answer to Gandhi's article 'The Cult of the Bomb'.
- Gandhi's article followed the attempt on Viceroy Irwin's train on 23 December 1929.
- Vohra was propaganda secretary of both the HSRA and the Naujawan Bharat Sabha.
- He died on 28 May 1930 at Lahore when a bomb he was testing on the bank of the Ravi exploded prematurely; the bombs were meant for a plan to free Bhagat Singh.
- The HSRA was formed in September 1928 in Delhi, renaming the Hindustan Republican Association and adopting a socialist objective.
- Assigning every revolutionary writing to Bhagat Singh. 'Why I am an Atheist' is his; this pamphlet is Vohra's.
- Reading Azad's approval as authorship — the document went out in the organisation's name.
- Confusing 'The Philosophy of the Bomb' with Gandhi's 'The Cult of the Bomb', which it was written to answer.
As an author-to-text match, or as a statements item on the HSRA and its founding members.
Who among the following is one of the authors of the book “Philosophy of the Bomb ?”
- (a) Bhagat Singh
- (b) Jawaharlal Nehru
- (c) Surya Sen
- (d) Yashpal
Answer(d) Yashpal
The same pamphlet with a different name keyed to it, and worth reading side by side. The wording there is 'one of the authors', because Yashpal of the HSRA also claimed a hand in the writing; the drafting itself is attributed to Vohra, which is what this paper asks for.
Which of the following was/were the founder member(s) of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army established in September, 1928? 1. Bhagat Singh 2. Jatindranath 3. Ajoy Ghosh 4. Phanindranath Ghosh Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Answer(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Same organisation, tested on its membership rather than on its writings. The body that put out this pamphlet is the one founded in September 1928, and knowing who was in it is the other half of the topic.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'The Philosophy of the Bomb' was issued as a reply to an article by which one of the following leaders?
- (a)Motilal Nehru
- (b)Mahatma Gandhi
- (c)Lala Lajpat Rai
- (d)C. R. Das
Answer(b) Mahatma Gandhi — it answered his article 'The Cult of the Bomb', written after the attempt on Viceroy Irwin's train in December 1929.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Hindustan Socialist Republican Association was formed in which year?
- (a)1924
- (b)1925
- (c)1928
- (d)1931
Answer(c) 1928 — it was constituted in September 1928 at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, renaming the older Hindustan Republican Association.