Chapter 5 Indigo Solutions
Question - 21 : - What was Gandhi’s first step to help Rajkumar Shukla and the indigo sharecroppers?
Answer - 21 : -
Gandhi decided, first, to go to Muzzafarpur en route to Champaran, to obtain more information about the prevailing conditions of the indigo sharecroppers. He, consequently, sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketan school requesting a meeting.
Question - 22 : - Why was Gandhi’s stay with Professor Malkani an astonishing experience?
Answer - 22 : -
Gandhi stayed for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. It was unlikely for a government professor to provide shelter to a rebel like Gandhi for fear of termination from service by the government. In smaller localities, the Indians were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home-rule. Professor Malkani’s defiance to fall in line revealed his sympathy for the movement.
Question - 23 : - Why did Gandhi decide against taking the cases of the sharecroppers to the court of law?
Answer - 23 : -
When Gandhi reached Muzzafarpur, the lawyers told him about their cases and revealed how they charged ‘ the peasants hefty sums of money as fees. Gandhi reprimanded the lawyers and discouraged them from charging the sharecroppers. He said taking such cases to the courts would do no good. He felt that because the peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken, the law courts were useless. The real relief to them would be to free them from fear.
Question - 24 : - How was Gandhi’s visit to Champaran viewed by the peasants?
Answer - 24 : -
Gandhi decided to visit Muzzafarpur, en route to Champaran, to obtain more information about the situation at Champaran. The news of Gandhi’s arrival and his initiative spread through Muzzafarpur and reached Champaran. Though they did not know of Gandhi’s record in South Africa, they gathered in multitudes to see him. These sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving on foot to see the man who had come to champion their cause.
Question - 25 : - What was the problem of the sharecroppers in Champaran?
Answer - 25 : -
Most of the agricultural land in the Champaran district was divided into large estates that were owned by Englishmen. They engaged Indian tenants to work on their lands. The landlords forced all tenants to plant . fifteen per cent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. With Germany developing synthetic indigo, the British duped the sharecroppers into entering an agreement where they were required to pay them compensation for being released from the fifteen per cent arrangement. Some peasants signed it, while others engaged lawyers to get their money back. The landlords hired thugs to fight them.
Question - 26 : - What was the stand of the Englishmen on indigo farming? What was the reaction of the peasants?
Answer - 26 : -
The English landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo. They forced the sharecroppers to enter an agreement whereby they were required to pay them compensation for being released from the fifteen per cent arrangement. Many peasants signed it. Some of them resisted and engaged lawyers. The landlords hired thugs to get their way. When the information about synthetic indigo reached the peasants who had signed the agreement, they wanted their money back. They arranged for Gandhi to intervene on their behalf but he was met with resentment from the government who tried their best to dissuade him from taking up this cause, by forcing him to leave Champaran.
Question - 27 : - It was not easy for Gandhi to get information about the agreement with the peasants. Why?
Answer - 27 : -
Gandhi first visited the secretary of the British landlords association to collect information about the agreement with the peasants, they refused to give information to an “outsider”. The British official commissioner of the Tirhut division, in which the Champaran district lay, bullied him, and advised him to leave Tirhut. Gandhi refused to leave.
Question - 28 : - What was the treatment meted out to Gandhi in Motihari? What was the reaction to Gandhi refusing to obey the order to quit Champaran?
Answer - 28 : -
Gandhi was accompanied by several lawyers to Motihari. There he got news that a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. Gandhi decided to go and meet him, but on his way, the police ordered him to return to town and Gandhi agreed. He was then asked to quit Champaran but Gandhi declared that he would disobey the order.
Question - 29 : - On his refusal to quit Champaran, Gandhi received summons to appear in court the next day.
Answer - 29 : -
He telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with his influential friends. He sent instructions to the ashram. He wired a full report to the Viceroy. By morning, Motihari was full of peasants. They demonstrated around the courthouse when Gandhi was summoned to court. This was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British. The officials felt powerless without Gandhi’s cooperation. Gandhi finally helped them regulate the crowd.
Question - 30 : - How did the gathering of peasants in Motihari help them tremendously?
Answer - 30 : -
The peasants who had collected in Motihari did not know Gandhi’s achievements in South Africa. They knew that a Mahatma who wanted to help them was in trouble with the authorities. Their unplanned demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was the beginning of their freedom from fear of the British. Thus, Gandhi knew that this was a leap in the right direction and would go a long way in helping them achieve home-rule.