GANDHIAN IDEAS

 Through his freedom movements like the non-cooperation movement, civil

disobedience, or the Champaran movement, Gandhi always stood for the human rights.

 He gave his blood and sweat for the attainment of Indian independence from the
clutches of the British colonial rule.

 With the support of millions of Indian masses, he finally took India’s freedom
movement to the paths of victory.

 Gandhi has been a true inspiration for the past generations and also for the generations
to come with his views on non-violence, tolerance, truth, and social welfare.
 Champaran Movement (1917)

 The Champaran rebellion in Bihar was the first active involvement of Gandhi in the Indian
freedom struggle.
 When Gandhi returned to India in 1915, the country was reeling under the tyrannous colonial
rule. The British forced the farmers to grow indigo and other cash crops on their fertile land, and
then sell these crops to them at a much cheaper price.
 The situation became more gruesome for the farmers due to harsh weather conditions and levy
of heavy taxes pushing them towards abject poverty. Having heard of the situation of farmers at
Champaran, Gandhi immediately paid a visit to this district in April 1917.
 He adopted the approach of civil disobedience movement and launched demonstrations and
strikes against the landlords bringing them down on their very knees.
 As a result, they signed an agreement in which they granted control and compensations to the
farmers, and canceled the hikes in revenue and collection. The success of this movement earned
Gandhi the status of Mahatma.
Indigo Plant
 The primary use for indigo is as a dye for cotton yarn, mainly used in the
production of denim cloth suitable for blue jeans.

 The cultivation of indigo plants and the extraction of the dyestuff were an important

industry in India up to the beginning of the 20th century. 

 Synthetic  indigo, developed about that time, gradually replaced natural indigo as a

dyestuff. The plants are native to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.

 The Champaran Agrarian Bill was passed which gave great relief to the indigo

cultivators and land tenants.

 Ahmedabad Satyagraha 1918

 Ahmedabad Satyagraha is also known as Ahmedabad Mill Strike was the first
hunger strike led by Mahatma Gandhi.
 Gandhi used the hunger strike as a weapon in this strike.
 The Ahmedabad Satyagraha was held as an intervention in the dispute between
Ahmedabad workers and mill owners.
 The strike was successful, and workers received a 35% wage increase as a result.
 There was an issue with paying taxes to the government by farmers where there
was less yield due to agriculture failure, which led to another strike called Kheda
Satyagraha.
 Many other leaders, including Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, joined under the guidance
of Gandhi, and this was also successful.
 To compensate for wartime inflation, workers wanted a 50% raise.
 The employees went on a hunger strike as the mill owners were ready to
pay only a 20% increase in wages.
 For help in their struggle for justice, the mill workers went to Anusuya
Sarabhai.
 Gandhi resolved the dispute between cotton mill owners and workers in
Ahemadabad.
Features of Ahmedabad Satyagraha
 Anusuya Sarabhai, president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association and sister
of Ambalal Sarabhai, was approached for help in the fight for justice.
 Anusuya Behn contacted Gandhi to step in and help resolve the dispute between
workers and mill owners.
 Regardless of the fact that he took the workers' cause, Gandhi was Ambalal's
friend.
 Gandhi encouraged employees to strike in order to demand a wage increase of
35%.
 Gandhi asked the workers to remain peaceful while on strike. After failing to reach
an agreement with mill owners, he went on his first fast to boost the workers'
determination.
 The mill owners gave in and finally agreed to listen to the workers' demands.
 The strike ended at some point. The panel eventually awarded the workers a 35%
wage increase.
 Kheda Satyagraha

 Kheda Satyagraha was held on 11 March 1918, just 4 days after the Ahmedabad Satyagraha.
The Kheda Satyagraha was essentially led by Sardar Patel and Gandhi after the region faced
famine, cholera, and plagues which led to destroyed agriculture.
 The Gujarat District of Kheda was on the verge of starvation due to droughts. The harvest was
so low that the growers were unable to pay the revenue. But the government insisted that for
cultivators, the yield is not that bad and they have to pay the taxes.
 Gandhi accepted the Kheda Satyagraha fight just as the mill workers' strike was coming to an
end. Many leaders, like Vallabhbhai Patel, Shankarlal Banker, Mahadev Desai, and others,
under Gandhi's guidance, took an active part in the protest against the government for not
paying the taxes.
 The protest was peaceful and successful, as the government authorities gave in and agreed to
give some concessions to farmers.
 Reason for Kheda Satyagraha
 Despite a devastating crop failure and outbreaks of plague and cholera, the peasant-
Patidar hamlet of Kheda was forced to submit to a 23 % tax rise.

 Kheda Satyagraha is also known as First non-cooperation movement led by Mahatma

Gandhi
 Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928

• The movement was a truly participative and secular peasants movement guided by Sardar Vallabhai
Patel and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the non-violent Bardoli Satyagraha laid the blueprint of what
followed.
• For four months starting from February 1928, farmers from 137 villages in this 600-sq-km taluka of
Surat district, Gujarat, not only challenged the British colonial administration and won but also played
a part in reinvigorating the freedom struggle after the mass Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) fell
apart
• Also, the movement was further went on to pave way for the Civil Disobedience Movement, two years
later, highlighted by the game changing Dandi March
 Causes that led to the Resolution

 The trigger was the Bombay Presidency’s Government decision to impose an exorbitant 30%

increase in land revenue assessment

 The decision came at the behest of government’s belief that farmers in the region were more

prosperous, alongside an appreciable rise in land and produce prices, along with the belief that

the condition of bonded and landless labourers had improved as well

 However, the bureaucratic assessment of the ground situation was very different from reality

 When the demands of the farmers were ignored, farmer representatives reached out to Sardar

Patel, who in the past had prior experience of leading Satyagrahas

 When the Governor of Bombay ignored Patel’s letter asking to reduce taxes, he then

instructed all the farmers of Bardoli taluka to refuse payment of their taxes

 Aided by Narhari Parikh, Ravi Shankar Vyas and Mohanlal Pandya, he divided Bardoli

into several zones, each with a leader and volunteers specifically assigned

 Patel instructed the farmers to remain completely nonviolent and not to respond

physically to any incitements or aggressive actions from officials

 The Government then began suppressing the revolt

 The government began to auction the houses and the lands

 Bands of Pathans were gathered from northwest India to seize the property of the

villagers and terrorize them

Bardoli Resolution

• In 1928, an agreement was finally brokered

• It agreed to restore the confiscated lands and properties, to cancel revenue payment for the

year and to cancel the 22% raise until after the succeeding year.

• The government had appointed the Maxwell-Broomfield Commission to look in to the matter

• After a rigorous survey, the raise in taxes was decided to be just 6.03%

• However, the basic problems of the peasants were left unsolved, and bonded labour continued
Movements led by Gandhi Year

Champaran Satyagraha 1917

Ahmedabad Mill Strike 1918

Kheda Satyagraha 1918

Bardoli Satyagraha 1928

Open Discussion About
Mahatama Gandhi