INDIGO

-LOUIS FISCHER

About the Author

Louis Fischer was born on 29 February 1896 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. First, he worked as a
schoolteacher. Then he served as a volunteer in the British Army during the First World War and then
he made a career as a journalist and wrote for ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Saturday Review’ and for
‘European and Asian Publications’. As a journalist he lived through and reported the Second World
War. he was a Jewish-American who was greatly influenced by Gandhiji’s use of non-violence and
spiritualism as political tools. He wrote highly acclaimed books on Gandhi and Lenin. he died at the
age of 73 on 15 January 1970 in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

Answer the following in short:

1. Why did Gandhiji oppose when his friend Andrews offered to stay in Champaran and help
the peasants?

C Freer Andrews, an English pacifist, was a devoted follower of Gandhiji. The lawyers
thought that being an Englishman, Andrews could be of immense help to them in their
cause of fighting the battle of Champaran. Gandhiji, however, was against this because he
felt that enlisting an Englishman’s help showed weakness. Their cause was just, and they
had to win the battle by relying on themselves. This would make them self-reliant.

2. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?
The Champaran episode began as an attempt to alleviate the distress of poor peasants.
Ultimately it proved to be a turning point in Gandhiji’s life because it was a loud
proclamation that made the British realise that Gandhiji could not be ordered about in his
own country. It infused courage to question British authority in the masses and laid the
foundation of non-cooperation as a new tool to fight the British tooth and nail.

3. “The battle of Champaran is won!” What led Gandhiji to make this remark?
The lawyers first decided to return home if Gandhiji was arrested. But they soon realised
their mistake. When they declared that they would fight for the peasants’ cause in the event
of Gandhiji’s arrest and volunteered to court arrest for the cause of the sharecroppers,
Gandhiji was very pleased and exclaimed, “The battle of Champaran is won!”

4. Why did Gandhi agree to the planters’ offer of a 25% refund to the farmers?
Gandhiji agreed to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers to break the deadlock
between the landlords and peasants. For him, the amount of the refund was not very
important. The fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender a part of their money
as well as their prestige gave a moral victory to the farmers. Thus, Gandhiji not only made
the landlords accept their dishonesty but also made the farmers learn a lesson in defending
their rights with courage.

II. Long Answers:

1. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for
independence?
 The Champaran episode was one of the major events in the struggle for independence. It
was in the course of this small but significant movement that Gandhiji decided to urge the
departure of the British from India.
A close examination of the problems of the Champaran peasants opened Gandhiji’s eyes to
the unjust policies of the British. He realised that people had to be made free from fear and
only then could they be freed from foreign oppression. The spontaneous demonstration of
the people proved that Gandhiji had the nation’s support in his fight against the Britishers. It
also aroused patriotism in the heart of the Indians.
The triumph of The Civil disobedience at Champaran motivated the launching of the
movement on a large scale during the freedom movement. Gandhiji’s winning the case of
the sharecroppers proved that British authority could be challenged. Hence, the Champaran
episode served as a steppingstone to the Indian struggle for independence.
2. Gandhiji’s loyalty was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was a loyalty to living human beings.
Why did Gandhiji continue his stay in Champaran even after indigo sharecropping
disappeared?
After the Champaran battle was won and the land reverted to the peasants, Gandhiji
continued to stay on in the region. His loyalty was, indeed, to living human beings and he
realised that a lot needed to be done for the upliftment of the peasants in the villages of
Champaran. Gandhiji took the initiative and began the work of eradicating their cultural and
social backwardness. Primary schools were started so that the poor peasants and their
children could be educated. Gandhiji appealed to teachers, and many of his disciples,
including his wife and son, volunteered for the work.
Health conditions in the area were also miserable. Gandhiji got a doctor to volunteer his
services for six months. All this-goes to prove that Gandhiji’s loyalty was not to abstractions,
but his politics was always intertwined with the practical day to day problems of the millions.
3. Why did Gandhiji agree to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers? How did it influence
the peasant-landlord relationship in Champaran?
Under an ancient arrangement, the peasants of Champaran were sharecroppers. The
landlords forced the Indian tenants to plant 15% of their holding with indigo and surrender
the entire indigo harvest as rent.
After Germany developed synthetic indigo, the landlords wanted to dissolve the agreement,
as synthetic indigo would be cheaper. They asked the peasants for compensation to release
them from this arrangement. Most of them signed it willingly but felt cheated after they
learned about synthetic indigo.
Gandhiji fought their case and the evidence that he collected was so overwhelming that the
landlords were asked to repay. When Gandhiji asked for 50% repayment, the landlords
offered to pay only 25%, as they wanted to create a deadlock, and thus prolong the dispute.
To everybody surprise, Gandhiji agreed to a refund of only 25%. Gandhiji explained that the
amount of refund was not important. What mattered was that the landlords were obliged to
surrender a part of their money and with it, part of their prestige.
4. “Freedom from fear is more important than Legal justice for the poor.”
Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
For the poor of India means of survival is far more important than freedom or legal justice. I
do not think the poor of India are free from fear after Independence. The foreign rulers have
been replaced by corrupt politicians and self-serving bureaucracy. Power- brokers and
moneylenders have a field day. The situation has improved in cities and towns for the poor
but the poor in the remote villages still fear the big farmers and moneylenders. The police
and revenue officials are still objects of terror for them.
The poor, landless workers must still work hard to make both ends meet. Peasants and
tenant-farmers must borrow money from rich moneylenders on exorbitant rates of interest,
which usually they fail to repay due to the failure of monsoon or bad crops. Cases of small
farmers committing suicide are quite common. If this is not due to fear, what is the reason
behind it?
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