Question
Read the ‘value – based’ passage given below and answer the questions that follow:
Nawab Wajid Ali shah was dethroned and exiled to Calcutta on the plea that the region was being misgoverned, the British government also wrongly assumed that Wajid Ali Shah was an unpopular ruler. On the contrary, he was widely loved, and when he left his beloved Lucknow, there were many who followed him all the way to Kanpur singing songs of lament. The widespread sense of grief and loss at the Nawab’s exile was recorded by many contemporary observers. One of them wrote:
“The life was gone out of the body, and the body of this town had been left lifeless… there was no street or market and house which did not wail out the cry of agony in separation of Jan-i-Alam.” One folk song bemoaned that “the honorable English came and took the country
(Angrez bahadur ain, mulk lai linho)
  1. Why did people bemoan and shown an emotional upheaval at? Explain.
  2. What human values are revealed in the above passage?

Answer

  1.  
  1. The British dethroned and exiled Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to Calcutta on the plea that the kingdom of Awadh was being misgoverned. Lord Dalhousie’s annexations of Awadh shocked and bewildered the people of Awadh.
  2. The Nawab was loved and respected by his people. The widespread sense of grief and loss at the Nawab’s exile was recorded by many contemporary observers. One of them mentioned. “The life was gone out of the body, and the body of this town had been left lifeless ….there was no street or market and house which did not wail out the cry of agony in separation of Jan-i-Alam. One folk song bemoaned that “the honorable English came and took the country.”
  1.  
  1. The above passage reveals an emotional bond between the ruler and his subject. It reflects their insurmountable and extensive love for the Nawab. When the Nawab was dethroned and exiled by the British the people of Awadh felt as if their feelings were mercilessly slaughtered.
  2. This dethronement crushed their feelings and the sentimental bridge between the ruler and his subject was demolished by the British.

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