The peasants demonstrated in large numbers to lend support to Gandhi outside the courthouse in Motihari. The officials felt helpless without Gandhi’s cooperation to bring the crowd under control. Gandhi cooperated with them and helped regulate the crowd. He was polite and friendly. He gave British proof of how they could be challenged by Indians. The government was bewildered. The authorities wished to consult their superiors.

Question - 32 : -
What was Gandhi’s advice to the lawyers that made them champion peasants rights?

Answer - 32 : -

The prominent lawyers told Gandhi that they had come to advise and help him. When Gandhi talked to them about the injustice to the sharecroppers, the lawyers realized that Gandhi was a complete stranger and yet he was prepared to go to prison for the peasants. On the other hand, if they, being residents of the adjoining districts, and having claimed to have served these peasants, should go home, it would be a shameful desertion. They promised to join in Gandhi’s efforts and follow him to jail to win the cause.

Question - 33 : -
Why did Gandhi say, “The battle of Champaran is won”? Was it true?

Answer - 33 : -

When the lawyers told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail, Gandhi exclaimed that the battle of Champaran was won. He divided the group into pairs and decided the order in which each pair was to court arrest. Several days later, Gandhi received a written communication from the magistrate informing him that the case against him was to bedropped. This gave them their first victory against the injustice at Champaran.

Question - 34 : -
Why did Gandhi compromise to break the deadlock between the sharecroppers and planters?

Answer - 34 : -

The Lieutenant Governor appointed an official commission of enquiry into the indigo sharecroppers’ situation. Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants. The sharecroppers thought Gandhi would ask for repayment of the money which the landlords had illegally extorted from them. However, he asked for only fifty per cent of the amount, but later agreed to a twenty-five per cent refund. He said that the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had surrendered a part of the money and were brought down from their pedestal. The landlords were made to realize that they were not beyond the reach of law.

Question - 35 : -
What were Gandhi’s chief concerns? How did he address them?

Answer - 35 : -

Gandhi was keen to assist in the improvement of the cultural and social conditions of the villages. He appealed to teachers and other young people to act as volunteers. People were educated in personal cleanliness and community sanitation. He looked into the health conditions of the community and medicines were made available to the people.

Question - 36 : -
Who helped Gandhi in his endeavour to uplift the backward people?

Answer - 36 : -

Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two young men and their wives volunteered to serve the community of Champaran. Several others arrived from Bombay, Poona, and other distant parts of the land. Devadas, Gandhi’s youngest son, and his wife, Kasturba Gandhi, played a pivotal role in helping him fight backwardness. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.

Question - 37 : -
Why was the Champaran episode a turning point in Gandhi’s life?

Answer - 37 : -

The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s life. It was during his fight for justice for the Champaran peasants that he declared that the British could not order him about in his own country. It grew out of his attempt to alleviate the distress of large numbers of poor peasants. The Champaran episode made Gandhi launch a movement that finally drove out the British from India.

Question - 38 : -
Gandhi was not a politician but his political principles were intertwined with the practical problems of the Indians. Justify.

Answer - 38 : -

Gandhi’s political principle was aligned with the day-to-day problems of the masses. He was not loyal to his principles alone, he endeavoured to work towards the greater good of human beings. Champaran was a typical pattern of Gandhi’s politics. It did not begin as an act of defiance but as an effort to help the destitute.

Question - 39 : -
Rajkumar Shukla unwittingly played an important role in freeing the peasant community in India. Discuss.

Answer - 39 : -

Rajkumar Shukla met Gandhi in December 1916, when he had gone to attend the annual convention of the Indian National Congress in Lucknow. He informed Gandhi about the injustice of the indigo sharecropping arrangement that preyed on the poor Champaran peasants. He informed him about the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar.

Though Rajkumar was illiterate, he was resolute to convince Gandhi to take up their cause. He accompanied Gandhi to Kanpur and other parts of India and to his ashram near Ahmedabad, and for weeks he never left Gandhi’s side. Finally, when Gandhi went to Calcutta, Rajkumar Shukla convinced him to visit Champaran.

Question - 40 : -
Give a detailed account of the problem of sharecroppers in Champaran.

Answer - 40 : -

In Champaran, most of the arable land was owned by Englishmen who had engaged Indian tenants to cultivate their lands. The landlords of the area compelled all tenants to plant fifteen per cent of their holdings with indigo, the chief commercial crop, and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done by long-term contract. When the landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo, they forced the sharecroppers to enter into an agreement to rake in compensation to free them of their fifteen per cent arrangement. Many peasants signed it willingly. Those who resisted, engaged lawyers but the landlords hired thugs to beat them into accepting their terms. Meanwhile, the information about synthetic indigo reached the illiterate peasants, and they demanded their money back.

Free - Previous Years Question Papers

Chapter 5 Indigo Solutions

Subscribe Now!