Question

chittaranjan das was an indian political activist for the indian independence movement. the following is from a speech given in october 1917 about responsible government.
from public meeting - mymensingh
i draw your particular attention to the words progressive realization of responsible government in india, as an integral part of the british empire. that is the ideal which the secretary of state has sketched out. what is the deduction from this? what is it that we have got to hope for from this statement? it is this: that there will be several representative institutions and that these institutions will be responsible institutions and that these institutions will form the government of india, which will be an integral part of the british empire. now, what does that mean? it means that there should be autonomous governments in every province and that these provincial governments are to be responsible and autonomous, that is to say, responsible not to the government of india, not to anything which is above them, but to the people, the electors who would elect the representatives to these autonomous legislative bodies. that is the doctrine of responsible self - government as it is understood in politics and in constitutional law.
(from public meeting - mymensingh by chittaranjan das)
what is the authors main claim in the passage?

1. the british empire should ultimately determine what indian government looks like.
2. a responsible self - government is one that is local and accountable to the people.
3. it is important for representative institutions to stay completely separate from one another.
4. india should be ruled through provincial governments that answer to the government of india.

Explanation:

The passage emphasizes that responsible self - government means provincial governments are autonomous and accountable to the people (electors). Option 1 goes against the idea of self - government as it gives the British Empire the ultimate say. Option 3 about institutions staying separate is not the main claim. Option 4 focuses on provincial governments answering to the Government of India, but the text emphasizes answering to the people. Option 2 aligns with the description of responsible self - government in the passage.

Answer:

1. A responsible self - government is one that is local and accountable to the people.