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Mar c h 8, 2011
Who was Raj Kumar Shukla? Why did he want Gandhiji in Champaran? Raj Kumar Shukla Shukla was a peasant peasa nt from from Champaran. He was a sharecropper s harecropper under th the e British B ritish landlords landlords there. The The sharecropping sharecropp ing system had had become b ecome a big trouble trouble for all a ll the the peasants pe asants in Champaran and there was no one to help them. Shukla heard from someone that Gandhiji could solve solve their problems and a nd therefore therefore wanted Gandhiji in i n Champaran. What made Gandhiji accompany Raj Kumar Shukla to Champaran? Gandhiji had no plan to involve himself in any mass movements. But when he heard about the miseries of the Champaran peasants under the British landlords and that the Indian lawyers there didn’t do anything honestly for the peasants and having seen the determination and tenacity of Shukla, Shukla, Gandhiji Gandhiji decided deci ded to accompany acco mpany him to Champaran. How were Gandhiji and Raj Kumar Shukla treated by Rajendra Prasad’s servants? Why? Rajendra Prasad was an influential lawyer in Patna. Gandhiji had acquaintances with him too. But when he reached his home with Raj Kumar Shukla, he was not at home. His servants thought that Gandhiji Gandhiji was also an a n ‘untouch ‘untouchable’ able’ as the peasants pea sants were generally considered and asked them them to stay on the ground and refused to drink water from the well. Why did Gandhiji Gandhiji want want to make a fresh enquiry into into the sharecroppers' sharecroppe rs' problem? prob lem? Raj Kumar Shukla had given Gandhiji an exact account of the nature of problems in Champaran. But Gandhiji, Gandhiji, being b eing a seeker of truth, truth, wanted wanted to gather all th the e facts regardi re garding ng the the sharecroppers’ sharecroppe rs’ problems beyon b eyond d what Shukla Shukla had imparted i mparted to him. What was extraordi extraordinary nary about Professor Professo r Malkani's accommodating acc ommodating Gandhiji in his home? Professor Malkani was a British Bri tish Government Government professor at Muzz Muzzafarpur afarpur and Gandhiji Gandhiji fighting against agai nst the same government for freedom and home-rule. Generally no one harbored the advocates of home-rule home-rule for fear of o f the the British B ritish and therefore Professor Professo r Malkani’s act was extraordinary. extraordinary. How did the Muzzafarpur lawyers look at Gandhiji's presence in Champaran? What did Gandhiji blame them for? The The Muzzafarpur Muzzafarpur lawyers lawyers were of the opinion opini on that that the sharec sharecropp ropping ing issue is sue would would never be solved. The thought that this issue would be a long-term source of their income. So they convinced the poor, illiterate peasants that there would be justice for them. Therefore these lawyers were unhappy with Gandhiji’ Gandhiji’s s arriv arri val there to solve the the sharecroppers’ sharecropp ers’ issue. What was the cause of the Champaran C hamparan sharecropp sharecroppers' ers' resentm re sentment? ent? The The sharecropping sharecropp ing system began bega n a long time before Gandhiji Gandhiji was called to involv involve. e. The peasant peasa nts s were already struggling under this. What aggravated the resentment was a new agreement the British Briti sh landlords landlords had made the the peasants pea sants to sign to pay a big bi g amount to get free from the old agreement. The landlords did this not to alleviate the peasant's struggles but because they learnt that Germany had developed synthetic indigo due to which the demand for natural indigo would decline. Why did Gandhiji Gandhiji discourage disc ourage the peasant peasa nts s and the lawyers lawyers from going go ing to the court of law? When Gandhiji saw that the illiterate peasants still relied on the Indian lawyers who promised justice
for them, he knew how foolish that was. Being himself a lawyer, Gandhiji saw that the poor Indians would would not get justice justice as long as the the law, prosecutors, courts, judge judge and the accused being b eing British. B ritish. Why were the sharecroppers ready to sign the agreement to pay the money to get released from the previous agreement to plant indig indigo? o? The The peasants pe asants had already been suffering suffering due to the the age ag e old agreement made by their their forefathers. forefathers. They could not do any other work than the cultivation of indigo and therefore remained poor. When they they were told of the new agreement to pay a compensation compe nsation to be released relea sed from the previous agreement, the the peasants p easants found found it i t better. Why did the the sharecroppers sharecroppe rs demand their money back? The British landlords were very shrewd and knew how to exploit the poor, unlettered Indian peasants. When they heard that the demand for natural indigo would soon fall and that the Champaran peasants would be free from the agreement, they exhorted/took money from them before the peasants knew the true story. But when the peasants knew the truth they realized that they were cheated and a nd therefore therefore wanted their money back. On what grounds was Gandhiji called an outsider? How did he react to that? India was not a federal nation at the time when Gandhiji reached Champaran. The country was scattered i nto nto kingly ki ngly and princely states. Gandhiji Gandhiji belonged to the the West We st of India India while while Champaran lay on the extreme East. Though Gandhiji considered India as a whole, the British ruled it divided and therefore Gandhiji came from outside Champaran, hence an outsider. Gandhiji felt angry to be considered an outsider and he wanted to show the the British B ritish who was outsider and who was insider. insid er. Why was Gandhiji Gandhiji stopped on his way to the vill village age where where a peasant peasa nt was was maltr ma ltreated? eated? While in Champaran, C hamparan, Gandh Gandhiji iji heard that a poor po or peasant pe asant of another village village had been bee n beaten by the landlords’ men. Gandhiji and many of his followers went to see the situation. But Gandhiji was stopped by the the police po lice fearing fea ring that his his presence along with many furious furious people peo ple and the sight sig ht of the the maltreated peasant would cause a mutiny in Champaran. What did Gandhiji learn from the voluntary support of the villagers in Champaran? Gandhiji had never foreseen the support he would have got from the peasants of Champaran. He was not sure of o f the unity unity among this thi s people pe ople but when when he saw the voluntary voluntary support the uneducated peasants gave him Gandhiji learned that what India wanted was a strong leader and that he could certainly win the battle of Champaran. How were the British Briti sh authoriti authorities es held helpless during Gandhiji's trial? The day when Gandhiji was tried in the Tirhut court, thousands of villagers surrounded the courthouse courthouse announcing announcing support for their leader. leade r. With their limited police force, the British Bri tish authoritie authorities s were helpless in front of the mob fury. They were forced to seek Gandhiji’s help to save their face. Both Gandhiji Gandhiji and the British Bri tish authoritie authorities s learnt lessons during his trial. What were the lessons? Both Gandhiji and the British authorities were not aware of the unity and strength of the Indian peasant peasa ntry ry till till they witnessed witnessed it at the the time ti me of Gandhiji’s trial. Gandhiji Gandhiji learned from this this that that a leader lea der was what what India India needed while while the British Bri tish became aware of the real threats to their existence in India India.. What were the two types of duties Gandhiji brought to a conflict? Being a lawyer himself Gandhiji amazed the lawyers and judge of the Tirhut Court with the accurate use of eloquence and law points. He said that he was involved in a conflict of duties: one with the law of the court and the other with his own conscience. He said he had to stand with his conscience
because he believed that serving people peo ple was more mo re important i mportant than than serving the the law. How did Gandhiji Gandhiji make the judge grant/allow grant/allow him him bail? b ail? The crafty British judge wanted to postpone the trial so as to get Gandhiji without the cover and support of the peasants to put him behind the bars. Sensing S ensing this, this, Gandhiji declared dec lared that he he was guilty and requested the court to grand him his punishment. at this point, the judge was forced to announce the verdict and released Gandhiji on bail. What was the immediate reaction of the Indian lawyers when Gandhiji sought their advice? Gandhiji Gandhiji was released re leased on o n bail but was still in danger of being caugh ca ughtt and tried in i n secret. Knowing Knowing this Gandhiji sought the advice of the Indian lawyers. The lawyers were already discontent with him and therefore said they would not mind if he went to prison. When did Gandhiji announce that 'the battle of Champaran was won?' What made him say so? The Indian lawyers behaved indifferently with Gandhiji when he was released on bail. But Gandhiji reminded them that they would lose support and trust of the peasants if they didn’t help him. He furth further er explained that he he was an a n outsid outsider er yet was going goi ng to jail for the peas peasants. ants. At this this crucial point poi nt the lawyers discussed among themselves and announced their support for Gandhiji. Having secured the support of the rich and poor, the educated and the uneducated, Gandhiji announced that the battle of Champaran was won. 'Civil 'Ci vil disobedie disobe dience nce had had triumphed, the the first time in modern India.' India.' Commen Co mment. t. Gandhiji Gandhiji began his Civil C ivil Disobed Di sobedient ient Movement Movement in Champaran by refusing refusing to leave the place as ordered by the the police p olice authoritie authorities. s. His arrest a rrest and trial followed. But finally finally the the judiciary judici ary had had to release Gandhiji Gandhiji and a nd drop his case ca se due to pressure pres sure from the the peasants pea sants and thus thus his his Civil C ivil Disobed Di sobedient ient Movement became successful in Champaran. Why was Gandhiji ready to accept a meager compensation of only 25% of the money from the landlords? The The Commissi C ommission on that that was set up for solving solving the Champaran issue finally agreed to pay 25% of the money as compensation to the the peasants p easants who had been fooled by the the British B ritish landlords. Gandhiji, Gandhiji, being bei ng the the only representative representative of the peasant peasa nts, s, agreed agree d to this this suggestion of the Commission. Commi ssion. Even though the amount was very less for the peasants, Gandhiji considered the agreement to be a mile stone as it was the first instance in the history of Indian freedom struggle when the British were forced to obey the Indians. Gandhiji Gandhiji foiled the the Commissi C ommission's on's hidden plans to help help the British B ritish landlords by his tactful reply. reply. Explain what what were the Commission’s Commis sion’s hidden plans. Even though though the the Commissi on seemed to be ready to solve the the Champaran C hamparan peasants, the the British B ritish members of the commission commissi on had had some so me hidden intention intention in mind. They They were prepared either to foil the the Commissi C ommission on or to sav sa ve their money and prestige. It was for this that they they disagreed disag reed to pay the 50% of the peasants’ money even though Gandhiji’s demand was more than just. Gandhiji outwitted their their hidden plans by unexpectedly unexpectedly accepting accep ting their meager mea ger compensation amount. amount. How was the the Champaran C hamparan episode episod e a turn turning ing point po int in Gandhiji's Gandhiji's life? When Gandh Gandhiji iji undertook undertook his mission missi on in Champaran he was least certain certai n about the the cooperati co operation on and unity unity of the people pe ople that would would have turned out to be b e support supp ort for him. But the voluntary voluntary support they gave him at his trial opened his eyes and Gandhiji placed himself the leader that the whole of India needed and began be gan his Freedom Freed om Struggle since then. then. Who was Charles Freer F reer Andrew A ndrews? s? Why W hy did Gandhiji's Gandhiji's friends want him him in i n Champaran? Why was was
Gandhiji Gandhiji against agai nst this? this? Charles Freer Andrew A ndrews s was an English man, a close follower follower of Gandhiji Gandhiji with wi th similar ideas ide as of a pacifist. paci fist. He was a social soc ial worker in i n Champaran. Champaran. When Gandhiji Gandhiji came c ame to Champaran, C hamparan, Andrews was getting ready to go to his new destination. Gandhiji’ Gandhiji’s s friends thought thought of stopping stoppi ng Andrews in Champaran for Gandhiji’ Gandhiji’s s help. But Gandhiji Gandhiji read their their minds and saw that they they were depending o on n a foreigner forei gner for India’s India’s freedom. To show th them em the meaning of self reliance, Gandhiji Gandhiji refused to ask Andrews to stay with him. Who was Charles Freer F reer Andrew A ndrews? s? Why W hy did Gandhiji's Gandhiji's friends want him him in i n Champaran? Why was was Gandhiji Gandhiji against agai nst this? this? Charles Freer Andrew A ndrews s was an English man, a close follower follower of Gandhiji Gandhiji with wi th similar ideas ide as of a pacifist. paci fist. He was a social soc ial worker in i n Champaran. Champaran. When Gandhiji Gandhiji came c ame to Champaran, C hamparan, Andrews was getting ready to go to his new destination. Gandhiji’ Gandhiji’s s friends thought thought of stopping stoppi ng Andrews in Champaran for Gandhiji’ Gandhiji’s s help. But Gandhiji Gandhiji read their their minds and saw that they they were depending o on n a foreigner forei gner for India’s India’s freedom. To show th them em the meaning of self reliance, Gandhiji Gandhiji refused to ask Andrews to stay with him. Gandhiji Gandhiji was a practical practica l social socia l worker. His His activities a ctivities i n Champaran prove prove this. How? Gandhiji believed only in solutions: not in planning. Explain. 'Self-reliance, Indian Indian independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together.' Explain. (Not more than 150 words)
