12th std Indigo

 12th std Indigo by Louis Fischer

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

 Q1. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

 Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a man with a strong willpower and determination. He had come all the way from Champaran district to Lucknow to speak to Gandhiji. He accompanied Gandhiji everywhere, even to the Ashram near Ahmedabad. For weeks he never left Gandhiji’s side till the latter asked him to meet him at Calcutta.

 Q2. Why do you think the servants thought Gandhiji to be another peasant?

Ans. Shukla took Gandhiji to Rajendra Prasad’s house. Gandhi was dressed in a simple dhoti and was accompanying a poor peasant. Hence the servants mistook him to be a peasant and forbade him to draw water from well.

 Q3. List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.

 Ans. Gandhi first met Shukla at Lucknow. Then he was in Kanpur, to visit some parts of India. He returned to his Ashram near Ahmedabad. Later he visited Calcutta, Patna and Muzaffarpur before arriving at Champaran.

 Q4. What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British now want instead and why?

 Ans. The peasants used to pay indigo as rent to the British landlords. Germany had now developed synthetic indigo. So the British landlords wanted money as compensation for being released from the natural arrangement. The prices of natural Indigo would go down due to production synthetic indigo which was better and much cheaper.

Q5. The events of 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?

Ans. Gandhiji opposed unjust laws. His politics were intermingled with the day to day problems of millions of Indians. He was willing to oppose the unjust laws and go to jail. The famous Dandi March is an example of his law-breaking action. He broke the Salt Law. His disobedience was always peaceful and a fight for truth and justice. This had a direct link to his ideas of Satyagraha and non-violence.

 Q6. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?

 Ans. For Gandhi, the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been forced to return part of the money and with it, part of their prestige. So he agreed to the settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers.

Q7. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

 Ans. The peasants were saved from spending time and money on court cases. After some years the British planters gave up control of their estates. These were now reverted to the peasants, and indigo sharecropping disappeared.

 Q8. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?

Ans. The Champaran episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of a large number of poor peasants. He got the whole-hearted support of thousands of people. Gandhiji admitted that he had done a very ordinary thing. He declared that the British could not order him about in his own country. Hence he considered the Champaran episode as a turning point in his life.

 Q9. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

Ans. Gandhi asked the lawyers what they would do if he was sentenced to prison. They said that they had come to advise him. If he went to jail, they would return. Then Gandhi asked them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers held consultations. They concluded that it would be a shameful desertion if they returned home. So they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him into jail.

 Q10. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home rule’?

 Ans. The average Indians in smaller localities were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of home-rule. Gandhi stayed at Muzaffarpur for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. It was an extraordinary thing in those days for a government professor to give shelter to one who opposed the government.

Q11. How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?

 Ans. Gandhi was received by Professor J.B Kriplani at Muzaffarpur railway station at midnight. He had a large body of students with him. Sharecroppers from Champaran came on foot and by transport to see Gandhi. The lawyers at Muzaffarpur also called on him. A vast multitude greeted Gandhi when he reached Motihari railway station. Thousands of people demonstrated around the courtroom. This shows that ordinary people also contributed to the freedom movement.

Q12. How did the development of synthetic indigo affect English estate owners?

Ans. Most of the arable land in Champaran belonged to the English landlords who had signed a long-term contract with the peasants. The farmers planted 15% of their holdings with indigo and surrendered it as rent. With the development of synthetic indigo, its cultivation was no longer profitable. The landlords wanted to release the peasants of the contract and take money from them as compensation.

 Q13. Why did Gandhi meet the Secretary of the British Landlords Association on arriving in Champaran? What was the secretary’s response?

 Ans. When Gandhi arrived in Champaran, he first set out to ascertain the facts. He wanted the viewpoints of the landlords and the peasants. He visited the secretary of the British Landlords Association to get to know their point of view. The secretary told Gandhi that he could give no information to an outsider. Gandhi’s efforts proved futile.

Q14. Why did Gandhi meet the British official commissioner of the Tirhut division?

 Ans. To understand the situation at Champaran, Gandhi wanted to understand the of the landlord’s point of view. The secretary of the British Landlords Association refused to impart any information. Gandhi then called on the British official commissioner of the Tirhut division. The commissioner bullied Gandhi and advised him to leave Tirhut.

Q15. What was the conflict of duties in which Gandhi was involved?

 Ans. In court, Gandhi pleaded guilty for having disobeyed the official notice to quit Champaran. He read out a statement claiming he was involved in a conflict of duties. He clarified that he disobeyed not to break the law and set a bad example but to render the humanitarian and national service for which he had come to Champaran.

Q16. Why did Gandhi stay on in Champaran even after the sharecropper’s problems were solved?

Ans. Gandhi aimed at improving Champaran culturally and socially. The problems were many. Health conditions were miserable. There were poverty, illiteracy and lack of sanitation. So he stayed on even after the sharecropper’s problems were solved.

Q17. How did Gandhi teach his followers a lesson in self-reliance?

 Ans. Charles Freer Andrews, the English pacifist and follower of Gandhi came to bid him farewell. Gandhi’s lawyer friends asked Andrews to stay on and support them. Gandhi vehemently opposed the suggestion and asked them to face the crisis independently. If their cause was just, Gandhi said, they would win the battle by relying on themselves.

Q18. Why did Gandhi feel that taking the Champaran case to count was useless?

 Ans. The Muzzafarpur lawyers called on Gandhi and brief him as he represented peasant groups in court. They also told him about their cases and reported the size of their fees. Gandhi chided them as the poor peasants were already so crushed and fear-stricken that saw courts were useless in their case. The real relief for them would be to make them free from fear.

Q19. How did the Champaran peasants react when they heard that a Mahatma had come to help them?

 Ans. When the Sharecroppers heard that a Mahatma had come to help them, they assembled in Motihari in large numbers to see their champion. Their spontaneous demonstration, in thousands, around the courthouse was uncontrollable that the officials felt powerless, and Gandhiji himself helped the authorities to regulate the crowd.

 Q20. What made the Lieutenant Governor drop the case against Gandhi?

 Ans. When Gandhi was asked to appear in the court in Motihari, thousands of peasants held a demonstration around the court. The officials were baffled and the trial was postponed. The judge said he would not deliver the judgement for several days. Gandhi was allowed to remain at liberty. Subsequently, the Lieutenant-Governor ordered the case to be dropped.

Q21. What did the peasants pay the British Landlords as rent?

 Ans. The British landlords had entered into a long-term contract with the farmers. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant three-twentieths or 15 per cent of their holdings with indigo, the chief commercial crop, and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.

 Q22. Why did Gandhi decide to go to Muzaffarpur before going to Champaran?

 Ans. Raj Kumar Shukla had apprised Gandhi about the injustice meted out the indigo sharecroppers in Champaran. Gandhi wished to obtain corn.

Q23. Where is Champaran situated?

 Ans. Champaran district in Bihar is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal. Raj Kumar Shukla was a poor peasant from the Champaran district. He had come to meet Gandhi in Lucknow to complaint about the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar.

 Q24. How did Gandhi work for the upliftment of education in Champaran villages?

 Ans. Gandhi appealed for teachers. Two young disciples of Gandhi, Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh and their wives volunteered themselves for work. Several others responded from distant parts of the country. Mrs Kasturba Gandhi and Devdas, Gandhi’s youngest son, arrived from the Ashram. Primary schools were opened in six villages.

Q25. How did the woman respond when Kasturba talked to her about her filthy clothes?

Ans. Kasturba taught the Ashram rules on personal cleanliness and hygiene. Gandhi notices the filthy state of women’s clothes. He asked Kasturbai to talk to them about it. One woman took Kasturbai into her home and pointed out that there was no box or cupboard there for clothes. The sari she was wearing was the only one she had.

26. How were Shukla and Gandhiji received in Rajendra Prasad’s house?

Ans. When Shukla and Gandhiji reached Rajendra Prasad’s house, he was out of town. The servants knew Shukla as a poor peasant who always used to pester their master. They thought Gandhiji to be a peasant. They both were treated like peasants and were made to sit on the floor and were not to draw water from the well.

27. How did Gandhiji begin his mission in Champaran?

Ans. After reaching Champaran, first of all, Gandhiji collected all the facts and information. He visited the secretary of the British Landlords Association, but could not get any information. He also called on the British Official Commissioner of Tirhut division, but could not get any positive response. So, finally, he proceeded to Motihari, the capital of Champaran.

28. How did Gandhiji react to the Commissioner’s advice and where did he go?

Ans. When Gandhiji was served an official notice with advice from the Commissioner to leave Champaran immediately, he refused to obey it. He was then served a summons to appear in the court the following day. Then Gandhi sent a telegram to Rajendra Prasad to come along with his influential friends.

29. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being resolute?

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate peasant from Champaran. When he came to know that Gandhi was in Lucknow, he decided to meet him and ask him to help the poor sharecroppers of Champaran. He requested Gandhi to come to Champaran but Gandhi was not free. He had appointments in Cawnpore and in other parts of India. Shukla followed him everywhere and even to his Ashram at Ahmedabad and urged him to fix a date. Finally, Gandhi had to agree to visit Champaran. This clearly shows that Shukla was resolute.

Long Answer Type Questions- 

Why did Gandhi consider freedom more important than legal justice for the poor peasants of Champaran?

 Ans. The poor peasants were ruthlessly exploited by the landlords of Champaran. Germany had developed synthetic indigo which resulted in a steep fall in indigo prices. The landlords had a long-term contract by which peasants grew indigo in 15% land and handed it over as rent. The landlords no longer needed indigo and very cleverly wished to give up this arrangement for compensation. When the news of synthetic indigo reached the peasants, they demanded their money back and engaged lawyers to fight their battles. There was no respite for the farmers under the unjust system. When Gandhi came to Champaran, he realised that the fear-stricken peasants got no help from courts. The real relief for them was to be free from fear of the British. Gandhi was summoned to appear in court for having refused the official notice to quit Champaran. The news of Gandhi being in trouble with the authorities spread fast. The peasants gathered in thousands around the courthouse. They shook off their fear and held demonstrations. The officials were baffled and helpless.

This voluntary uprising of the peasants was their liberation from fear. For them, the British power was no longer unchallengeable. This was more important than legal justice as revealed in future events.

 Q2. Civil disobedience had triumphed the first time in modern India. Relate the events during Gandhi’s stay in Champaran that led to the triumph.

Ans. Gandhi visited Champaran to look into the problems of the poor peasants. At Motihari, he was greeted by thousands of peasants. This was the beginning of the peasant liberation from fear of the British. A peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village. Gandhi set out to see him. The police superintendent’s messenger overtook him and ordered him to return. Gandhi complied. At home, he was served an official notice to quit Champaran. Gandhi signed the receipt and wrote on it that would disobey the order. This was the beginning of Civil disobedience.

Gandhi received a summons to appear in court the next day. The peasants thronged the courtroom. They wanted to help the ‘Mahatma’ who was in trouble with the authorities for trying to help them. The officials were powerless. Gandhi helped them regulate the crowd. This baffled the officials.

The magistrate postponed announcing the sentence by two hours and asked Gandhi to furnish bail. Gandhi declined. The judge released him without bail. The judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days. Later, the case was dropped by the Lt. Governor himself. Civil disobedience had triumphed.

Q3. What idea do you get about Gandhiji from the lesson ‘Indigo’?

 Ans. The lesson ‘Indigo’ highlights the greatness of Gandhiji who was simple, unassuming and yet a force to be reckoned with. His humility is revealed by his comment on the victory of civil disobedience ‘What I did was a very ordinary thing’. He was even mistaken as a peasant by Dr Rajendra Prasad’s servants. He was a simple and unassuming man.

At the same time, Gandhi was firm and resolute. He faced the officials with boldness and with conviction. He also disregarded the orders to leave Champaran. The case against him had to be dropped.

He fearlessly faced four protracted interviews with the Lt. Governor for the justice of the indigo sharecroppers. Even though he was the sole representative of the peasants, he proved his point. He broke the deadlock settling for only a 25% refund. He was wise and judicious. He agreed because the refund instilled courage in the peasants as the landlords were obliged to surrender part of their money and prestige.

Gandhi demonstrated by his actions an important lesson of self-reliance in the freedom struggle. He refused the help of Mr Andrews and claimed that if the cause was just one must rely on oneself.

4. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran.

Ans. In 1916, during the annual meet of Indian National Congress at Lucknow, Gandhiji met a poor fanner from Champaran, who told him about the plight of the sharecroppers at Champaran and requested him to visit his state. After persistent efforts of Rajkumar Shukla, a peasant from Champaran, Gandhijifinagy went to Champaran after many months. Gandhiji came to know that the arable land in Champaran was divided into large estates owned by British landlords. Earlier these landlords had compelled the peasants to grow indigo on 15% of their land and give it as rent but later with the invention of synthetic indigo in Germany, the landlords got the agreement signed by these farmers for compensation.

Gandhiji tried to collect all facts but was asked to go back. When he refused, he was summoned to appear before the court. But due to the massive support of farmers, the case was dropped. It brought the first triumph of civil disobedience. After this, a committee was formed after Gandhiji met the Lieutenant Governor four times. Gandhiji accepted a 25% refund of the money to break the deadlock. This instilled confidence in farmers and within a few years, the landlords relinquished their claims over the estates.

5. Why did Rajkumar Shukla invite Gandhiji to Champaran? How did Gandhiji solve the problem of the indigo farmers?

 Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate peasant who requested Gandhiji to visit Champaran and told him about the plight of the sharecroppers. Gandhiji, first of all, instilled fearlessness and confidence in the farmers. He was served a summons to appear in the court as he had refused to obey the civil order. The entire town of Motihari was crowded with the peasants who had come to support him. This demonstration around the courthouse was the showcase of the beginning of fearlessness in the farmers. Finally, the case was dropped and it marked the first triumph of civil disobedience. Gandhiji instilled the farmers with the courage to speak for their right. Due to continuous efforts of Gandhiji, a committee was formed and 25% money was refunded to the farmers. In this way, Gandhiji solved the problem of the indigo farmers by making it a people’s struggle, involving everyone from sharecroppers to the lawyers.

6. Self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together. Elucidate with reference to the excerpt ‘Indigo’.

Ans. When Gandhiji reached Champaran, he came to know that the arable areas of Champaran were divided into large estates owned by British landlords. As per the long-term contract, these sharecroppers were supposed to grow indigo on 15% of the land and give it as rent. But due to the advent of synthetic indigo in Germany, landlords got the compensation agreement signed by these peasants, who later on felt cheated.

Gandhiji’s first triumph in the form of civil disobedience at Motihari laid the foundations of the Indian Independence Movement. No doubt this brought a good result for sharecroppers in the form of a committee through which 25% of the money was given by the landlords. Gandhiji taught the lesson of unity and courage to the sharecroppers. His refusal to keep his friend Andrews at Champaran to help him emphasized the importance of self-reliance for him. He trained the peasants to be self-reliant and not to be dependent on others.

Thus, self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all tied together.

7. Gandhi was impressed by the sharecropper’s tenacity and this led to a series of events which had a far-reaching impact on Indian freedom struggle. Discuss with reference to the excerpt by Louis Fischer’s ‘Indigo’.

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was resolute, whose persistent efforts brought Gandhiji to Champaran to help the poor farmers. On his arrival at Motihari, Gandhiji was summoned to appear before the court as he had refused to obey the civil order to leave the place immediately. The case was dropped as the British got scared of the multitudes of farmers who demonstrated in support of Gandhi outside the courthouse. This brought this first triumph of civil disobedience.

 In fact, this triumph embarked on the civil disobedience movement in the Indian freedom struggle. Moreover, the courage that the farmers had shown proved the fact that Indians were coming out of their fears and were ready to fight for their rights. Thus, all the events at Champaran strengthened the Indian freedom movement.

VALUE-BASED QUESTIONS 

 Q1. What values do we learn from Gandhi’s campaign (Indigo) to combat the present day problems of exploitation? (120-150 words)

 Ans. The Indigo share-croppers were exploited at the cruel hands of the British planters. Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to take up the case of the Indigo sharecroppers. When Gandhi came to Champaran, he realised that the fear-stricken peasants got no help from courts. He was firm and broke the deadlock. He instilled courage in the peasants.

The lesson learnt from the Champaran episode is that if the cause is just, one must rely on oneself. In the face of exploitation, in society or in professional life, one must be resolute and confront the problem. Gandhi gathered information before going to the governor. With evidence and determination, exploitation can be dealt with.

Q2. What qualities helped Shukla and Gandhi, respectively, to initiate one of the most powerful movements in the history of our freedom struggle?

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a man with strong willpower and determination. He came all the way from Champaran to Lucknow to speak to Gandhi. He followed Gandhi everywhere until Gandhi relented to go to Champaran.

Gandhi himself opposed the unjust laws and first made the British officials hear their side of the story. He felt that if their cause was right, they did not need the help of a British man in the form of Charles Freer Andrews giving proof of self-reliance. Gandhi gathered all the information and could, therefore, prove to the British administration that the sharecroppers had been wronged. These qualities can assist each of us to lead a fulfilling life and to combat the problems that come our way.

3. Rajkumar Shukla, a poor, unassuming peasant, became a catalyst for change by taking Gandhi to Champaran, an act which later culminated into the first successful instance of civil disobedience in India. What qualities do you think helped Shukla and Gandhi respectively to initiate one of the most powerful movements in the history of our national struggle?

 Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate peasant but he was resolute. He wanted Gandhiji to visit Champaran and for that he made efforts. He was determined to meet Gandhi and persuade him to help the sharecroppers. It was only due to RajkumarShukla’s persistent efforts and requests that Gandhiji consented to visit Champaran. After reaching Champaran, Gandhiji initiated the civil disobedience movement by refusing to obey the civil orders to quit the place. It was Gandhiji’s courage and honesty that brought him the victory when the case was dropped. Gandhiji was full of empathy for the poor peasants and was determined to help them. Thus, courage, determination, truthfulness, honesty and, above all, patriotism exemplified by Gandhiji and determination and being resolute the qualities in Rajkumar Shukla, initiated the Civil Disobedience Movement in India.