Why was accepting punishment a political strategy in civil disobedience?

Correct answer: Because it publicly exposed the moral weakness of an unjust law

Correct answer: A. Civil disobedience means deliberately and openly refusing to obey a law considered unjust, usually while avoiding violence. Accepting the legal punishment showed that the protester was not secretly trying to escape responsibility. The action placed the law and the government before the public: if peaceful people were punished for opposing injustice, the fairness and legitimacy of that law could be questioned. This created moral and political pressure and could attract wider public support. B is wrong because accepting punishment was intended to challenge, not strengthen, unjust colonial authority. C is wrong because punishment could deepen public attention and sustain a movement rather than automatically end it. D is wrong because public response was essential to the strategy. Memory cue: open disobedience plus peaceful acceptance of consequences turns a private complaint into a public test of legitimacy.