INDIGO

Question.1. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to court
was useless?
Answer. When Gandhiji got to know about the plight of the peasant groups in
Champaran from his discussion with the lawyers, he came to the conclusion that
the poor peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken that law courts were useless
in their case. Going to courts overburdened the sharecroppers with heavy
litigation expenses. What really needed to be done was to make them free from
fear.

Question.2. How did the Champaran peasants react when they heard that a
Mahatma had come
to help them?
Answer. When the Champaran peasants heard that a Mahatma had come to help
them, they assembled in Motihari in large number. Thousands of peasants held a
demonstration around the courthouse where Gandhiji was supposed to appear.
The crowd was so uncontrollable that the officials felt powerless, and Gandhiji
himself helped the authorities to regulate the crowd.

Question.3. What made the Lieutenant Governor drop the case against
Gandhiji?
Answer. When Gandhiji was asked to appear in the court in Motihari, thousands
of peasants held a demonstration arounck the courthouse. The officials felt
helpless and the government was baffled. The trial was postponed, as the judge
didn’t want to aggravate the situation. He held up the sentence for several days,
after which Gandhiji was released without bail. All these events made the
Lieutenant Governor drop the case against Gandhiji.

Question.4. Why did Gandhiji oppose when his friend Andrews offered to
stay in Champaran and
help the peasants?
or
Why did Gandhiji object to CF Andrews’ stay in Champaran?
Answer. CF Andrews, an English pacifist, was a devoted follower of Gandhiji. The
lawyers thought that bejng 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.

Question.5. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to

be a turning point
in his life?
Answer. 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 proclaimation 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.

Question.6. What did the peasants pay to the British landlords as rent?
Answer. The British landlords had entered into a long-term contract with the
farmers according to which they compelled all tenants to plant 15% of their
holdings with indigo. The sharecroppers had to surrender the entire indigo
harvest as rent.

Question.7.Why did Gandhiji decide to go to Muzaffarpur before going to

Champaran?
Answer. Rajkumar Shukla had given quite a lot of information to Gandhiji about
the indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. However, Gandhiji wished to obtain
more complete information about the conditions than Shukla had imparted. He
visited Muzaffarpur, which was en route to Champaran, to inquire from the
lawyers there about the issue, as they frequently represented the peasant groups
in the court.

Question.8.Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another

peasant?
Answer. The servants knew that Rajkumar Shukla was a poor farmer who
pestered their master to help the indigo sharecroppers. Since Gandhiji
accompanied Shukla and was dressed simply, they mistook him for a peasant.
Gandhiji’s modesty and unassertiveness also led to the assumption that he was a
peasant.
Question.9.”The battle of Champaran is won!.” What led Gandhiji to make
this remark?
Answer. 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!.”

Question.10.Why did Gandhi agree to the planters’ offer of a 25% refund to

the farmers?
Answer. Gandhiji agreed to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers in order 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.

Question.11.How was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers? Give instances.

or
Hbw was Gandhiji able to influence the lawyers?
Answer. Gandhiji’s sincerity towards the peasants’ cause and convincing
arguments and negotiations, thoroughly influenced the lawyers. He chided them
for overcharging the peasants and encouraged them to court arrest for the
peasants’ noble cause. He even rejected their proposal to seek Mr Andrews help
in their battle against the Britishers in order to be self-reliant and independent

Long Answer Type Questions (5marks, 120-150 Words)

Question.1. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning

of the Indian struggle
for independence?
Answer. 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 stepping stone to the
Indian struggle for independence.

Question.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?
Answer. 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.

Question.3.Describe how, according to Louis Fischer, Gandhiji succeeded in

his Champaran
campaign.
Answer. The Champaran campaign was an attempt to free the poor peasants of
Champaran from injustice and exploitation at the hands of the Britishers. Gandhiji
succeeded in this campaign using his method of satyagraha and non-violence. He
visited Muzaffarpur to obtain complete information about the actual condition of
the sharecroppers. He first appealed to the concerned authorities, but when there
was no positive response, he organised a mass civil , disobedience movement
with the support of the peasants.
Gandhiji’s main objective was to remove the fear of the British landlords from the
heart of the poor peasants and mould a new free Indian, who could participate in
the freedom movement of the country.
He made the peasants aware of their rights and gave them a new-found
confidence for fighting their own battles. He also taught them to be self-reliant
by refusing to take the help of CF Andrews, his English friend.

Question.4.Why did Gandhiji agree to a settlement of 25% refund to the

farmers? How did it
influence the peasant-landlord relationship in Champaran?
Answer. 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 refundwas not
important. What mattered was that the landlords were obliged to surrender a
part of their money and with it, part of their prestige.

Question.5. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the

poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran.
Answer. In the course of his journey to Champaran with Rajkumar Shukla,
Gandhiji stayed at Muzaffarpur where he met the lawyers and concluded that
fighting through courts was not going to solve the problem of the poor
sharecroppers of Champaran. He declared that the real relief for them was to be
free from fear.
With this intention, he arrived in Champaran and contacted the Secretary of the
British Landlord’s association. The Secretary refused to provide him any
information. After this, Gandhiji met the Commissioner of the Tirhut division who
served a notice on him to immediately leave Tirhut.
Gandhiji accepted the notice by signing it and wrote on it that he would not obey
the order. He was even willing to court arrest for the cause of the peasants.
After four rounds of talks with-the Governor, an official commission of inquiry
was appointed in which Gandhiji was made the sole representative of the
peasants.
Through this commission Gandhiji succeeded in getting 25% of the
compensation award for the poor sharecroppers from the British landowners.

Question.6. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhiji’s life.

Elucidate.
Answer. Gandhiji himself accepted the proposition that the Champaran episode
was a turning point in his life. It was then that he decided to urge the departure
of the British from India.
In fact the Champaran episode was the first experiment of civil disobedience in
India. When Gandhiji was on his way to Champaran, he stayed in Muzaffarpur,
where he met the lawyers who were fighting cases for the sharecroppers. The
peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken . that Gandhiji concluded that law
courts were useless. The real relief for them was to be free from fear. The
spontaneous demonstration by the peasants showed that they were instilled with
a new strength and spirit. Gandhiji showed the poor peasants how to fight the
British with ‘satyagraha’. He made them aware of their power and the power of
ahimsa.
All this laid the foundation of his future movements and served as a great source
of strength and motivation for all Indians.