Indigo Notes 2021

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Q1.Why do you think Gaffdhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning- point in his life?
Ans: The Champaran episode began as an attempt to ease the sufferings of large number of poor
peasants. He got spontaneous support of thousands of people. Gandhi admits that what he had done
was a very ordinary thing. He declared that the British could not order him about in his own country.
Hence, he considered the Champaran episode as a turning- point in his life.
Q2. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

Ans: Gandhi asked the lawyers what they would do if he was sentenced to prison. They said that they
had come to advise him. If he went to jail, they would go home. Then Gandhi asked them about the
injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers held consultations. They came to the conclusion that it
would be shameful desertion if they went home. So, they told Gandhi that they were ready to follow
him into jail.
Q3. “What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home
rule’?
Ans: The average Indians in smaller localities were afraid to show sympathy for the advocates of
home-rule. Gandhi stayed at Muzaffarpur for two days at the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in
a government school. It was an extraordinary thing in those days for a government professor to give
shelter to one who opposed the government.
Q4. How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans: Professor J.B. Kriplani received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur railway station at midnight. He had a
large body of students with him. Sharecroppers from Champaran came on foot and by conveyance to
see Gandhi. Muzaffarpur lawyers too called on him. A vast multitude greeted Gandhi when he
reached Motihari railway station. Thousands of people demonstrated around the court room. This
shows that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement in India.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Discuss the following:
Q1. “Freedom from fear is more important than Legal justice for the poor.”
Do you think that the poor of India are free from fear after Independence?
Ans: For the poor of India means of survival are far more important than freedom or legal justice. I
don’t think the poor of India are free from fear after Independence.The foreign rulers have been
replaced by corrupt politicians and self-serving bureaucracy. Power- brokers and moneylenders have
a field day. The situation has improved in cities and towns for the poor but the poor in the remote
villages still fear the big farmers and moneylenders. The police and revenue officials are still objects
of terror for them.
The poor, landless workers have to still work hard to make both ends meet. Peasants and tenant-
farmers have to borrow money from rich moneylenders on exorbitant rates of interest, which usually
they fail to repay due to failure of monsoon or bad crops. Cases of small farmers committing suicide
are quite common. If this is not due to fear, what is the reason behind it?
Q2. The qualities of a good leader.

Ans: A good leader has a mass appeal. He rises from the masses, thinks for them and works for them. He is
sincere in his approach. He is a man of principles. Truth, honesty, patriotism, morality, spirit of service and
sacrifice are the hallmarks of a good leader. He never mixes politics with religion or sect. He believes in
working for the welfare of the nation and does not think in the narrow terms of class, caste or region.
Corruption and nepotism are two evils that surround a leader in power. The life of a good leader is an open
book. There is no difference between his words and actions. Such good leaders are very rare. What we find
today are practical politicians, who think of achieving their end without bothering about . the purity of means.
The law of expediency gets the better of morality.
Why was Gandhi summoned to appear in the court? How did he gain his liberty ?
OR
‘Civil disobedience had triumphed, the first time in modern India.’Relate the events during Gandhi’s stay in
Champaran that led to the triumph.
Ans. Gandhi had reached Motihari, the Capital of Champaran, to study the problems of the sharecropper
peasants. He was on his way to a neighbouring village, where a peasant was ill-treated. On the way, he was
stopped by the police superintendent’s messenger and ordered to return to town. When he reached home, he
was served with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi wrote on the receipt that he would
disobey the order. So Gandhi received a summons to appear in the court the next day.
Next morning the town of Motihari was black with peasants. Thousands of peasants demonstrated voluntarily
outside the court. The prosecutor requested the judge to postpone the trial. Gandhi protested against the
delay. He read out a statement pleading guilty. He asked the penalty. The judge announced that he would
pronounce the sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked Gandhi to furnish bail for that period. Gandhi
refused. The judge released him without bail. After the recess, the judge said that he would not deliver the
judgement for several days. Meanwhile he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty.
Several days later Gandhi received a letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil disobedience
had triumphed, for the first time in India.
Give an account of Gandhi’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran.
OR
“Indigo sharecropping disappeared.” Which factors do you think, helped to achieve freedom for the fear-
stricken peasants of Champaran?
Ans. Gandhi went to Champaran on receiving reports of exploitation of the poor sharecropper peasants at the
hands of British planters. He began by trying to get the facts. The British landlords as well as the
Commissioner of Tirhut were non-cooperative. Lawyers from MuZaffarpur briefed him about the court cases
of these peasants.
Gandhi and the lawyers collected depositions by about ten thousand peasants. Notes were made on other
evidence. Documents were collected. The whole area throbbed with the activities of the investigators and
forceful protests of landlords.
The lieutenant governor summoned Gandhi. After four protracted interviews an official commission of inquiry
was appointed to look into the indigo sharecroppers’ condition. Gandhi was the sole representative of the
peasants. The official inquiry assembled huge quantity of evidence against the big planters. They agreed, in
principle, to make refunds to the peasants. After consultation, a settlement of 25 per cent refund to the
farmers was agreed on. This was a moral victory of the peasants. They recognised their rights and learned
courage.
Within a few years the British planters gave up their estates. These now went back to the peasants. They
became the masters of land. Thus, indigo sharecropping disappeared.

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UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

Q2. How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

Q2. The qualities of a good leader.

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