When did the Thona-Luhari firing incident of Niwari district take place in the Freedom Movement?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, 1939. The Thona-Luhari firing took place on 8 February 1939 in present-day Niwari district (then part of Orchha State), when the state's police opened fire on freedom fighters — organised under the Bundelkhand State Congress Committee — who had gathered to hoist the national flag.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 1922 is the year of the Chauri Chaura incident and the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement — a different episode, not Thona-Luhari.  (b) 1931 is the year of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and the Karachi Congress session — not the year of the Thona-Luhari firing.  (d) 1942 is the year of the Quit India Movement, a nationally prominent date that test-takers often default to — but it is not when Thona-Luhari occurred.

Concept: Princely states like Orchha (whose later capital was Tikamgarh) stood outside direct British administration but still saw local agitation for responsible government, organised through State Congress committees. The Thona-Luhari firing was one such episode: the Bundelkhand State Congress Committee (formed 1938) organised a march to hoist the national flag at Thona-Luhari, and the Orchha state's police opened fire on the unarmed gathering.

State PCS 2023 Q100 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q100 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer