SSC Stenographer 6th Feb 2019 Shift-II

Read the following passage and answer the questions.

Rabindranath Tagore in his essay, Svadeshee Samaaj written in 1904, pointed out a concrete way for the reorganization of Indian society on the basis of self-help. He wrote about issues like peasants' cooperatives, revival of cottage industries, social reforms, Hindu-Muslim unity and rural development, and came up with ideas which were much ahead of his time. Soon after, Tagore prepared a draft, meant for private circulation, for establishing a society, based on democratic principles, and run entirely by the manpower and resources of the country. It was an amazing document which shows that he was not only a great visionary, but also had the makings of a great leader. In his vision of Indian history, politics was at no point of time recognized as the core of Indian life and culture. In Indian history, the seat of political power was always beyond the knowing of the common people. The local autonomous social unit, called samaaj was always present there to take care of their economic needs, and to protect them from state interference. This basic structure of Indian society, the samaaj, was pulled out by the British who brought in its place the `state' structure. The state in turn brought everybody under its thumb; added to this the colonial policy of divide and rule further frustrated any attempt at a united opposition to such a type of rule. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Tagore observed: "In the evolving history of India, the principle at work is not the ultimate glorification of the Hindu, or any other race. In India, the history of humanity is seeking to elaborate a special ideal, to give to perfection a special form, from which entire humanity will gain. Nothing less than this is its end and aim."

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