Mahatma Gandhi termed the Rowlatt Act of 1919 the ‘Black Law.’ This legislation allowed the British government to imprison any person suspected of “terrorist” activities for up to two years without a trial. Gandhi condemned it as a “negation of all civil rights” and launched the Rowlatt Satyagraha, which eventually became the first nationwide mass protest against British rule in India. ANSWER: (A) Rowlatt Act
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The Rowlatt Act was officially called the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act. It effectively suspended the right of ‘habeas corpus,’ allowing the state to detain political activists indefinitely. Gandhi was appalled by this law, which he saw as a betrayal of the promises made by the British during World War I. He called for a nationwide strike (hartal) to protest the act. The resulting tensions led to the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which permanently radicalized the Indian freedom struggle and led to the total loss of faith in British justice among the Indian masses.