INDIGO

Q. 1. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?

Answer: 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 country, 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.

Question 2: Why do you think the servants thought Gandhi to be another peasant?

Answer: 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.

Question 1:

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

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

Question 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?

Answer: 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 a compensation. Development of synthetic
indigo would lead to an increase in the price of natural indigo.

Question 1: 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?

Answer: 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”.

Question 1: Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the farmers?
Answer: 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.

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

Answer: 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.

Question 1: Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his
life?

Answer: 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.

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

Answer: 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.

Question 3:

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

Answer: 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 latter’s visit to Muzzafarpur.

Question 4: How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?

Answer: 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.

Q. 5. Describe how, according to Louis Fischer, Gandhiji succeeded in his Champaran campaign.

Ans The objective of Gandhiji in his Champaran campaign was to mould a new free Indian who could
stand on his own feet and thus make India free. He succeeded because, as Rajendra Prasad said,
"Gandhi in this way taught us a lesson in self-reliance". The peasants did not take the help of any
specialist lawyers or any Englishmen like CF Andrews to fight their case. This gave them a new-found
confidence in fighting their own battles and they were liberated from fear of the British. The fact that
the British planters agreed to refund some of the money paid by the peasants was the crucial point
that made the Champaran campaign successful. It showed that both the British and Indians could be
treated equally. This ultimately led them in the freedom struggle and gave India its freedom.

Q. 6. "Civil disobedience had triumphed the first time in modern India". How? Explain with reference
to the chapter 'Indigo'.

or How did Civil Disobedience triumph at Motihari?

Ans When Gandhiji visited Champaran to look into the grievances of the peasants, he was served with
an official notice to quit Champaran immediately. Gandhiji returned the notice with the remark that
he would disobey the order. This was the beginning of civil disobedience.

As a result, Gandhiji was ordered to appear in the court next day. Thousands of peasants put up a
demonstration at the courthouse. The powerless officials appealed to Gandhiji to help them manage
the crowd, which he no doubt did. The magistrate demanded Gandhiji to furnish bail, but Gandhiji did
not comply with the orders. Then he released Gandhiji without bail. After several days, the case was
dropped by the Lieutenant-Governor. This was the start of the triumph of civil disobedience in India.