Indigo

- Louis Fischer
Theme
The leadership shown by Mahatma Gandhi to secure justice for oppressed
people through convincing argumentation and negotiation.

Summary
Indigo is written by Louis Fischer, who narrates Gandhiji’s struggle at Champaran
for the poor people. The peasants at Champaran were sharecroppers with the
British planters. The peasants produced Indigo on 15% of the land area and
according to an old agreement, they had to give it as rent to the landlords. It
was around 1917, the Germans started developing synthetic Indigo and this
mitigated the requirement of Indigo for British planters. In order to release the
peasants from the 15 per cent old agreement,the British landlords demanded
compensation from them. Most of the illiterate peasants agreed to it except a
few. During that period, Gandhiji appeared in Champaran.
He looked into the matter, stood by the side of the poor peasants and fought a
long battle of one year, managing to get justice for them. This made the
peasants courageous and made them aware of their fundamental rights.
Gandhiji’s work at Champaran wasn’t just confined to political or economic
struggle. He also worked on social issues like arrangements for education, health
and hygiene for the families of the poor peasants. He taught them lessons of
self-reliance and self-dependence.

Page No 47:

Q2: Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as ‘being resolute’?

Rajkumar Shukla is described as being resolute because even after being told
about the prior engagements of Gandhi at Cawnpore and other parts across
the county, he does not quit. He continues to accompany Gandhi everywhere.
Furthermore, he persistently asks Gandhi to fix a date for his visit to his native
district of Champaran. His resolution and determination finally impresses Gandhi
and the latter complies with his request.

Q 3: Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

Gandhi was a simple and humble man dressed in a plain dhoti (loincloth). To the
servants, he must have looked like just another poor farmer in this country.
Moreover, he was accompanied by Rajkumar Shukla whom they knew to be a
poor indigo sharecropper. Thus, when the servants saw them both together,
they mistook Gandhi to be another peasant.

Page No 49:

Q 1: List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and
his arrival at Champaran.

After his first meeting with Shukla, Gandhi visited Cawnpore, his ashram near
Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Patna and Muzzafarpur before he reached
Champaran.

Q 2: What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British
now want instead and why? What would be the impact of synthetic indigo on
the prices of natural indigo?

According to the long-term contract, the peasants were forced to plant fifteen
percent of their holdings with indigo and pay the entire harvest as rent.Now,
with the development of synthetic indigo in Germany, the British landlords did
not want indigo from these plantations. Hence, the shrewd landlords decided to
release the peasants of Champaran from the fifteen percent arrangement on
the payment of compensation. The prices of natural indigo would go down due
to the synthetic indigo.

Page No 51:
Q1: The events in this part of the text illustrate Gandhi's method of working. Can
you identify some instances of this method and link them to his ideas of
satyagraha and non-violence?

There are many instances in the narrative that can be linked to Gandhi’s idea of
non-cooperation and satyagraha. One such instance is Gandhi’s refusal to
obey the court order asking him to leave Champaran immediately. Besides that,
Gandhi’s protest against the delay of the court proceedings is also an instance
of his belief in civil disobedience.

Furthermore, Gandhi does not falter to plead guilty in front of the court. He
accepts his guilt but presents a rational case as to what made him disobey the
law. For him, truth is above everything and, thus, he decides to follow the voice
of conscience and obey the higher law of our being.

Page No 53:

Q 1: Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the

farmers?

For Gandhi, it was not the money but the principles that were of utmost
importance. He believed that the very fact that the British landlords surrendered
was of more significance than the percentage of refund. He wanted the poor
farmers to realise that they too had rights and that they need not really live in
fear of the British landlords. Therefore, although he had initially quoted a 50
percent refund, he later agreed to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the
farmers. Besides, Gandhi was interested in long-term solutions rather than
immediate benefits. His decision was proved right when, years later, the British
landlords decided to leave their estates, putting an end to the sharecropping
arrangement.

Q 2: How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

The episode of Champaran brought more than one change in the plight of the
peasants of that district. These peasants gained confidence which was evident
in their spontaneous demonstration on the morning of Gandhi’s trial. After the
successful refund of the compensation, the peasants, for the first time, realised
their own rights and were liberated from the fear that had plagued them.

This episode brought an end to the fifteen percent arrangement of

sharecropping. However, the most radical change that the episode brought
about was in their social and cultural standard. Gandhi opened schools in six
villages. His wife took pains to make the peasants aware of the importance of
general sanitation and personal hygiene. He even appointed a doctor.

Page No 54:

Q 1: Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a

turning-point in his life?

Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life

because he realised that civil disobedience, which had triumphed for the first
time, could go a long way in the freedom struggle. Moreover, he had
succeeded in making the peasants aware of their rights and becoming
confident. This success, thus, proved the effectiveness of Gandhi’s method of
non-violence and non-cooperation.

Q 2: How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

Gandhi was able to influence the lawyers through his conviction, earnestness
and pertinent questioning. Gandhi reproached the lawyers of Muzzafarpur for
charging a large sum of money as fee from the peasants. Later, the lawyers
from Bihar opined that they would return to their own places in the event of his
imprisonment. But, Gandhi made them realise that it would be impudent for
them, being lawyers from a neighbouring place, to return when a stranger was
ready to get himself imprisoned for the peasants. So, they agreed to follow him
to jail. Gandhi also convinced the lawyers not to seek support from an
Englishman and be self-reliant.
Q 3: What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards
advocates of home rule?

During those times, the average Indian in smaller localities lived in fear of the
British. They were afraid of the dire consequences of helping the advocates of
home-rule. Hence, though they were supportive of people like Gandhi, they
were afraid of showing it explicitly and only a few could actually dare to come
out openly. In the story, we find people, like Professor Malkani, who had the
courage to give shelter to Gandhi on the latters visit to Muzzafarpur.

Q 4: How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom

movement?

In the chapter,Indigo Louis Fischer writes of how a small farmer Rajkumar Shukla
from a small district, Champaran, helps bring about a very prominent change.
Likewise, many other peasants from the villages fought courageously and
contributed in their own way to the movement. Their cumulative effort
eventually resulted in their winning the battle of Champaran and to finally free
themselves of the sharecropping arrangement.