INDIGO
Q. 1. How did Shukla
succeed in persuading (request,bring or demand) Gandhiji to visit Champaran ?
Or
What made Gandhi to
surrender to the wish of Rajkumar Shukla and board a train to Patna in
Bihar ?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla wanted Gandhiji to visit Champaran to take up the cause
of sharecroppers there. Gandhiji told Shukla that he had an appointment in
Kanpur. He was also committed to go to other parts of India. Shukla followed
Gandhiji to the ashram. He went to Calcutta when Gandhiji arrived there.
Gandhiji was impressed by his tenacity and story. They boarded the train for
Patna.
Q. 2. Why did Rajkumar
Shukla want to take Gandhiji to Champaran?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla
was a poor peasant sharecropper from Champaran in Bihar. He had come to the
Congress session to meet Gandhiji. He wanted Gandhiji to visit Champaran to see
the miserable condition of the peasant sharecroppers at the hands of the
British indigo planters. They were victims of the injustice of the landlord
system in Champaran.
Q. 3. What did the
servants at Rajendra Prasad's house take Gandhi to be? Why was he not
allowed to draw water from the well ?
Ans. Shukla led Gandhi
to Rajendra Prasad's house in Patna. He was out of town. Dr. Prasad's servants
knew that Shukla was a sharecropper. So they took Gandhi also to be a poor
peasant of a low caste. He was not allowed to draw water from the well because he
could pollute the water.
Q. 5. Why didn't
Gandhi go straight to Champaran but stayed first at Muzaffarpur?
Ans. Gandhi thought it
advisable(sensible) to go first to Muzaffarpur. It was en route to Champaran. He
wanted to collect more information about conditions prevailing there.
Therefore, he sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani. He stayed for two
days in the home of Professor Malkani. Even Muzaffarpur lawyers called on
Gandhi to brief him.
Q. 4. Why did Gandhi chide(scold) the lawyers of Muzaffarpur
?
Ans. Muzaffarpur
lawyers called on Gandhi to brief him. They had frequently represented peasants
in courts. Gandhi chided them for collecting big fees from the poor sharecroppers.
When peasants were so poor and crushed, it was inhuman to charge heavy fees
from them.
Q. 5. What was the
long-term contract or agreement that English landlords had made with the
sharecroppers of Champaran ? How was it exploitative ?
Ans. Most of the arable(cultivating)
land in Champaran district was owned by English landlords. Indians were only
their tenants. Indigo was the main commercial crop. The landlords compelled(forced)
all tenants to plant 15% of their land with indigo. This long-term agreement
was enough to twist the arms of the peasants. They had no freedom of their own.
Q. 6. Why did the
indigo planters obtain new agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them
compensation ? Why did many sign willingly ?
(Imp.)
Ans. Germany
produced synthetic indigo. Now the plantation of indigo was no more profitable.
The landlords wanted to free the peasants from the 15% agreement. For this freedom,
they demanded compensation from the sharecroppers. Many of them signed
willingly as the previous 15% arrangement was not liked by them.
Q. 7. How did even
illiterate sharecroppers see through the trick and fraud of the English
landlords ? Why did they want their money back ?
(Imp.)
Ans. Germany had
invented synthetic indigo. Now indigo plantation was no more profitable. Even
the illiterate peasants could see through the trick and game of the landlords.
The landlords demanded compensation for freeing the peasants from the 15%
agreement. The peasants refused. Therefore, they were not ready to pay the
compensation and demanded their money back.
Q. 8. What was the
reaction of the peasants when they heard that Gandhi was in trouble with the
authorities ? How did Gandhi help the authorities ?
Ans. Gandhi
received a summon to appear in court. The next day thousands of peasants had
assembled in Motihari. They didn't know much about Gandhi. But they knew that
he had come there only to take up their cause. Thousands of them held a
demonstration. The officials felt powerless. Gandhi helped the authorities to
regulate the crowd.
Q. 9. Gandhi
was involved in a 'conflict of duties'. What did he decide in the
end and why? (Imp.)
Ans. Gandhi was
involved in a 'conflict of duties'. On the one hand, he didn't want to set a
bad example. He didn't want to be a law-breaker. On the other hand, he couldn't
give up the cause of the poor peasants of Champaran. Therefore, he heard the
'voice of conscience' in the end. He decided to disobey the order.
Q. 10. How could
Gandhi persuade the lawyers to follow him into jail ?
Ans. Many prominent
lawyers of Bihar came to confer with Gandhi. Gandhi asked what they would do if
he was sentenced to prison. A senior lawyer told frankly that they would go
home. Gandhi asked them about the injustice done to the sharecroppers. The
lawyers felt ashamed. They finally declared that they were ready to'-follow'
him into jail.
Q. 11. "Civil
disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India". Justify
this statement.(Imp.)
Ans. Gandhi was asked
to leave Champaran by an official order. He respected the lawful authority. But
the Voice of conscience' made him disobey the order. Thousands of peasants,
held a huge demonstration. The government was baffled. The officials felt
helpless. Gandhi was released without bail. So civil disobedience had triumphed
for the first time in modern India.
Q. 12. How was the
settlement for compensation reached between the English planters and the
sharecroppers ? Describe Gandhi's role in it.
(Imp.)
Ans. The official
enquiry had collected many evidences against the English landlords. They were
under pressure to make refunds to the peasants. They thought Gandhi would press
for the full repayment. But he asked only for 50%. The landlords offered to
refund 25% of the money. To their surprise, Gandhi agreed. So the settlement
was adopted unanimously by the commission.
Q. 13. The
settlement of 25% refund to the farmers appeared rather small. Why did
Gandhi agree to it and how did events justify his position ?
(Imp.)
Ans. According to
the settlement, the planters were to refund 25% of the compensation money to
the peasants. The achievement appeared to be rather small but events justified
his position. But for Gandhi the amount of refund was less important. More
important was the fact that the landlords were forced to surrender part of
their right. So he agreed to the settlement.
Q. 14. What did Gandhi
do to remove the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran
villages ?
Ans. Politics and
economic issues were important. But for Gandhi the cultural and social
backwardness in the Champaran villages was a curse. He wanted to do something
about it immediately. Many more volunteers came from other parts of India.
Primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturbai taught cleanliness and
sanitation. Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months.
Q. 15. 'The
Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi's life’? How do
you justify it ?
Ans. The Champaran
episode was really a turning point in Gandhi's life. It began not as an act of
defiance. It was an effort to remove the distress of poor peasants. The success
of Champaran justified Gandhi's ways and means. It gave a message. The
Britishers were dreaded and unquestioned but now they could be challenged by
the Indians. The success of Champaran was the success of peaceful Civil
Disobedience in modern India.
Q. 16. How did Gandhi
teach us a lesson in self-reliance ? Why did he oppose taking help from C. F.
Andrews ?
(V.
Imp.)
Ans. Gandhi wanted to mould 'a new free Indian'. He wanted
Indians to stand on their own feet. Some of his followers wanted C.F. Andrews
to stay in Champaran and help them. Gandhi opposed it. He didn't want Indians
to take the help of an Englishman in their struggle for freedom. So he taught a
lesson in self-reliance.
