Ln -5 INDIGO

-LOUIS FISCHER
Introduction:
‘Indigo’ written by Louis Fischer is an excerpt from the biography of Mahatma
Gandhi entitled ‘The Life of Mahatma Gandhi’. Indigo details numerous events in
the life of Gandhi which he witnessed in Champaran, Bihar. In 1916, Gandhi was
approached by a peasant Rajkumar Shukla from Champaran in order to plead
Gandhi and make him do something for the liberation of sharecroppers from the
cruel English landlords. Gandhi visited Champaran, stayed almost a year and
successfully made the landlords pay compensation to the poor sharecroppers. He
also worked hard for socio-cultural development of Champaran. He made them
fearless and self-reliant. The Champaran episode was a turning point in Gandhi’s
life as he resolved to drive the British out of our country.
Theme:
The leadership shown by Gandhi to secure justice for oppressed people through
convincing, argumentation and negotiation.

Subtheme:
Contribution made by anonymous Indians to the freedom movement.
MCQ:
1. Rajkumar Shukla was
a) poor
b) physically strong
c) illiterate
d) all of these
2. Why did Gandhiji vehemently oppose taking help of Charles Freer Andrews?
 a) He was an African.
b) He was going on a tour of duty to the Fiji Islands.
c) He believed it would be an equal fight.
d) He wanted Indians to be self-reliant.
3. “Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants.” Here ‘black’ means
_________
a) Colour
b) Shade
c) Crowded
d) Blank
4. What else did Gandhiji work upon besides political and economic solutions?
a) Personal and familiar interests
b) Cultural and social gathering
c) Social and promotional activities
d) Cultural and social backwardness
5. Where did Gandhiji stay for two days in Muzzafarpur?
a) At Rajkumar Shukla’s house
b) At Rajendra Prasad’s house
c) At J.B. Kripalani’s house
d) At Prof. Malkani’s house
ANSWER KEY:
1. a, c 2.d 3.c 4. d 5.d

Short Answers:
1. Why did Rajkumar Shukla want to take Gandhiji to Champaran?
Rajkumar Shukla was one of the poor and impoverished sharecroppers of
Champaran district. He went to the Lucknow session of Indian National Congress
to take Gandhiji to fight the injustice and exploitation of English landlords.
2. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
 Rajkumar Shukla is described as being resolute because he followed
Gandhiji everywhere that he went until the time Gandhi agreed to visit
Champaran. He was adamant to take Gandhiji to Champaran to to solve
the problems faced by the sharecroppers. Gandhiji was impressed by his
tenacity and agreed to go to Champaran.

3. How was Gandhiji treated at Rajendra Prasad’s house?

Gandhiji came along with Rajkumar Shukla who was a peasant to Rajendra
Prasad’s house. Seeing Gandhi in simple attire, the servants thought him to
be another peasant and he was treated like an untouchable by not being
allowed to drink water from the well.

4. What were the terms of the Indigo contract between the British landlords
and the Indian peasants?
The terms of the Indigo contract between the British landlords and the
Indian peasants were that the sharecropper tenants had to plant 15% of
the land with indigo and surrender the entire harvest to the British
landlords.

5. Why did Gandhiji tell the court that he was in a conflict of duties?
Gandhiji told the court that he was involved in a conflict of duties because
on one hand he must not set a bad example by breaking the law and on
the other he must also render humanitarian and national service for which
he had come to Champaran. He disregarded the order to eave and obeyed
the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience.

6. Why did Gandhjii feel that taking the Champaran case to court was
useless?
When Gandhiji got to know about the peasant groups in Champaran from
his discussion with lawyers, he came to the conclusion that the poor
peasants were so crushed and fear stricken that the lawcourts were
useless in their case. Going to courts, overburdened the sharecroppers
with heavy litigation expenses. Gandhiji felt the first step was to make
them free from fear.
7. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25%?
When the landlords agreed to pay a refund of only 25%, the wanted to
create a deadlock which would prolong the dispute. To everybody’s
surprise, Gandhi accepted the offer. According to him, the amount of
refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been
obliged to surrender part of their money and with it, part of their prestige.

8. “The battle of Champaran is won!” What led Gandhiji to make this

remark?
The lawyers first decided to return home if Gandhi was arrested but, soon
they realized their mistake. When they declared that they would fight for
the peasants’ cause in the event of Gandhi’s arrest and volunteered to
court arrest, for the cause of the sharecroppers. Gandhi was very pleased
and exclaimed that the battle of Champaran was won.

9. Why did Gandhiji object to Charles Freer Andrews’ stay in Champaran?

Charles Freer Andrews was an English pacifist who became a devoted
follower of Gandhiji. He wanted to stay in Champaran so that he could help
its people.the lawyers and other educated people thought his stay would
add to their benefits and help the peasants. But Gandhiji objected to this
because he wanted to mould a new free Indian. He wanted Indians to
stand on their feet he taught everybody to be self-reliant.

10.How did Gandhi show that he cared for the cultural and social
backwardness of Champaran village?
The peasants of Champaran were culturally and socially backward besides
being crushed and fear-stricken by the British due to sharecropping
agreement. Gandhi freed them from exploitation by teaching them that
they had rights and also supporters for their cause. The backwardness was
tackled by opening primary schools, improving health care facilities and
teaching the villagers personal hygiene and community sanitation.