AHSEC| CLASS 12| ENGLISH| INDIGO
UNIT – 4
FLAMINGO
PROSE
(INDIGO)
CHAPTER SUMMARY
In this chapter the author has given a detailed description of Gandhiji's dedicated struggle in favour of the poor farmers of Champaran. Here the author narrates Gandhiji's own accounts of how he and other freedom fighters made it possible to drive the British out of India in 1917. He went to the annual conference of the Indian National Congress in Lucknow in December 1916., there were 2,301 delegates and many visitors, a man named Rajkumar Shukla from Champaran came to Gandhiji, he was a farmer. The place he came from was in the Himalayan foothills near Nepal, and Gandhiji had never heard of it.
From ancient
times the farmers of Champaran agreed with the British planters, Shukla was one
of those farmers, he was illiterate but determined. He told Gandhiji about the
injustice being done by the landlords in Bihar and sought help from the Father
of the Nation. Gandhiji told about his appointments and meetings in different
parts of India and wherever he went, Shukla accompanied him. Gandhiji was
impressed by the man's dedication and said that he had met him on a few dates
in Calcutta and he had asked Shukla to take him to Champaran after those
appointments in Calcutta.
Gandhiji's visit
to Calcutta was after several months and Shukla was waiting for him at the
appointed place in Calcutta and both of them boarded the train for Patna. After
reaching there, Shukla took him to the house of a lawyer, that lawyer was the
future President of our India. Prasad was out of town, but the servants allowed
both of them to live on the land, but they considered Gandhiji untouchable and
did not allow him to use the well.
Gandhiji wanted
to collect complete information about the real condition of the poor
sharecroppers. Therefore, he decided to first go to Muzaffarpur which was on
the way to Champaran. There he stayed at Professor Malkani's place for two
days. Malkani was a teacher in a government school, he had the courage to show
sympathy for Gandhiji as it was a bit risky in those days.
The news of
Gandhiji's arrival immediately spread in Muzaffarpur and Champaran. Shareholder
farmers came in large groups to meet their leader. A lawyer from Muzaffarpur
met Gandhiji and informed him about the cases and his fees. Gandhiji scolded
lawyers for charging high fees in such cases which discriminated against poor
farmers and in such a situation it was more important to allay the fears of the
natives rather than the law courts.
The main crop
cultivated on commercial basis in Champaran was indigo. Rich landlords forced
farmers to cultivate indigo on 1 percent of their land and the entire crop of
indigo cultivation was taken by them (the landlords), this was a long-term
contract imposed on the tenants. Meanwhile, the landowners learn that the
Germans have developed a new artificial indigo. Therefore, they would no longer
cultivate rural indigo and so they made new agreements to compensate tenants
who did not cultivate indigo on a certain percentage of their share, some
signed and others signed but in legal processes. Were included. Went because
they were not ready to pay compensation. Then the illiterate people who signed
and paid wanted their money back. When Gandhiji reached Champaran, these
problems had become acute.
First of all
Gandhiji went to meet the Secretary of the British Landlord Association, but
the Secretary refused to give any information to any outsider, from there
Gandhiji went to the British Commissioner of the area, he tried to attack the
guest and there Instructed to leave. District immediately. Gandhiji did not
leave from there but proceeded towards Motihari, the capital of Champaran,
where a large number of lawyers accompanied him and a large crowd welcomed the
national leader at the railway station. At that time it was reported that a
nearby farmer had been brutally treated. Gandhiji decided to go to the place
and look into the matter, but he had hardly gone far when the messenger of the
Superintendent of Police caught hold of him and ordered him to return. Gandhiji
was immediately sent back with the official notice to leave Champaran. Gandhiji
signed to receive the official notice but wrote on the same that he would not
obey the police order and as a result he was ordered to appear in the court the
next day. The next morning the city of Motihari was filled with farmers who
were unaware of Gandhiji's record in South Africa. But he knew very well that
Gandhiji had come there to help him and now he himself was in trouble. From
then onwards we saw the beginning of protests against the British. The
authorities found it impossible to handle the crowd and sought the help of
Gandhiji who controlled the crowd with friendliness and love. The British
government was surprised to see that Indians could challenge their power.
However, Gandhiji
read a statement before the judge admitting his guilt. He said that he does not
want to be a representative who breaks the law, but will definitely serve the
country and the people for whom he has come. He demanded appropriate
punishment, upon which the judge announced that he would decide the case after
two hours and asked Gandhiji to bring bail for those two hours. Gandhiji
refused and then he was released without bail. At the next meeting the court
decided not to announce the sentence for several days but allowed Gandhiji to
move about freely.
Many big lawyers
including Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Mazharul Haq had come from Bihar. Everyone
sat and discussed, Gandhiji asked what he would do if he was sentenced to jail.
The decision of their conversation was that if Gandhiji was given jail sentence
then they would also follow him in groups. On this Gandhiji shouted with joy
that the battle of Champaran had been won. After a few days, Gandhiji received
a written note from the magistrate informing him that the Deputy Government of
the district had ordered his case to be dismissed. This was the first time in
the history of modern India that civil disobedience won.
The next step was
to conduct a detailed investigation of the farmers' problems by Gandhiji and
the lawyers. Thousands of written complaints were submitted along with
testimonials by farmers. The whole area got involved in this serious activity
which was also protested by the landlords. In June Gandhiji was again called for
four interviews by the Lieutenant Governor.
After this the
matter was officially investigated. The inquiry commission included landlords
and government people. Gandhiji was the representative of the farmers.
The whole affair
caused Gandhiji to stay in Champaran for seven continuous months and make other
brief visits thereafter. Almost the entire year of his life was spent in
government investigations gathering evidence against big planters. The accused
gardeners had to return the money of the tenants. The plantation owners asked
Gandhiji how much they would have to pay. Gandhiji asked for 50 percent but he
wanted to give 25 percent out of 25. Gandhiji immediately agreed and the
trouble ended, then he explained that the money was not so important, but the fact
that the landlords had surrendered some money and their reputation was
important. , The planters used to behave like bosses and disregard the law to
cheat the ignorant farmers, but after this decision the rights of the farmers
were recognized and made available to every individual, which gave them courage
and confidence. After a few years, those British planters abandoned those
estates and indigo sharecropping ended forever.
Apart from the
problem of sharecropping in Champaran, Gandhiji saw social and cultural
backwardness in these villages, so he thought of doing something about these
areas. He arranged for some teachers, two of his disciples volunteered for the
task along with their wives and many other educated youths from different parts
of the country also joined him. Primary schools were opened in six villages and
Gandhi's wife Kasturbai and youngest son came from the ashram to teach
elementary rules on hygiene and other personal care activities. Another
disappointing area was the health situation, people had to suffer a lot when
they fell ill. Gandhiji also arranged for a doctor. The basic medicines
available at that time were castor oil, quimin and sulfur ointment.
Champaran Chapter
is another important part of Gandhiji's life and his services towards our
nation. He proved that Indians can challenge and fight any kind of enemy. He
also showed that the British could not dictate legal and official matters in
their homeland. The Champaran Act was a great help to the suffering farmers of
the region. Writer Charles Andrews was an Englishman who liked peace, so he
became a devotee of Gandhiji. Some of Gandhiji's friends thought that Andrews
would get help if he stayed in Champaran. But Gandhiji did not want to take
advantage of Andrew's devotion to him and opposed it. He told his friends that
this would only demonstrate his weakness of heart. Therefore, they must win the
battle themselves. The Champaran struggle was successful because truth,
self-reliance, patriotism and help of farmers were all tied together.
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