CBSE Class 12 English Indigo Notes Set 07

Indigo

About the Author

Louis Fischer (1896-1970) was a Jewish-American journalist. He began his career as a school teacher but later became a journalist and a famous international reporter. In June 1942, he was permitted to stay for a week in the guest house near Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and conducted daily interviews with the great leader.

Chapter Sketch

This chapter is an excerpt from Fischer's book, ‘The Life of Mahatma Gandhi’. The book has been reviewed by the Times Education Supplement as one of the best books ever written on Gandhi. The author visited Gandhi in 1942 and Gandhi narrated him the incident which prompted him to fight against the British. Rajkumar Shukla, a poor peasant came to Gandhi with the problem of exploitation in his district. Gandhi visited the place and freed the people of Champaran from tyranny.

About the Characters

• Louis Fischer: He is the narrator of the story. He convinces Gandhi to tell him about the incident at Champaran.
• Gandhi: He is the powerful figure who not only freed the peasants from the tyranny of the Britishers but also helped them gain self-sufficiency.
• Rajkumar Shukla: He is a resolute man who persistently waited to take Gandhi so that he can help the peasants of Champaran.
• Peasants: They are the peasants from the nearby regions of Champaran. They are exploited by the Britishers and with Gandhi’s help realised their freedom and self-sufficiency.
• Lawyers: They are Indians who come to help the peasants but are selfish and money hungry in nature.
• British Officials: They are exploitative people who get confused when the Indian peasants understand their rights and revolt against them.
• Rajendra Prasad: A lawyer in Patna who helped Gandhiji in his case against the Britishers. He later became the president of Congress and the independent India.

Summary of the Chapter

Rajkumar Shukla- A Resolute

Gandhi narrated the incident that made him decide to start the exit of the British from India when Louis Fischer visited Gandhi in 1942. Gandhi had gone to the December 1916 annual convention of the Indian National Congress Party in Lucknow when Rajkumar Shukla, a poor sharecropper of Champaran, approached him. He wanted Gandhi to visit his district and look into the condition of the peasants there.

Gandhi had other commitments. However, Shukla accompanied him everywhere, which impressed Gandhi. Consequently, Gandhi told him to come to Calcutta and take him from there. When Gandhi went to Calcutta after some months, Shukla was already present there, waiting for him.

Obtaining Information

Shukla and Gandhi went to Patna, Bihar, to meet a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad. But, Rajendra Prasad was out of town. The servants knew Shukla and as Gandhi accompanied him, they thought him to be another farmer. So, Gandhi was not allowed to drink water from the well.

From there, Gandhi decided to visit Muzaffarpur to obtain more information about the conditions prevalent in the area. He sent a telegram to Professor JB Kripalani, who received them at the station at midnight on 15th April, 1917. Gandhi stayed in Muzaffarpur for two days in the home of Professor Malkani. This according to him was a big thing.

The Real Relief

The news of Gandhi’s arrival spread quickly and as a result, sharecroppers from Champaran began arriving in large numbers. Muzaffarpur lawyers met Gandhi and told him about their cases as well as the size of their fee. Gandhi scolded them for it and stated that the peasants were so fear-stricken that going to law courts was useless. The real relief for them would be to be free from fear.

The Champaran Arrangement

The Champaran peasants were sharecroppers. Most of the land fit for cultivation in the region was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen. They forced the Indian tenants to plant 15% of their land with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done according to a long term contract between the tenants and the landlords.

After the landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo, they asked for compensation for being released from the 15% arrangement. The sharecropping arrangement was problematic and so, many peasants signed willingly. However, when the news of synthetic indigo reached the sharecroppers, they felt cheated. They wanted their money back.

Gandhi’s Investigation

At this point, Gandhi arrived in Champaran. He visited the Secretary of the British landlord’s association in order to get all the facts. However, he got no information. Then, Gandhi visited the British Commissioner where he was asked to leave Tirhut. Instead of leaving, Gandhi along with several lawyers went to Motihari.

At the railway station, a huge crowd of peasants greeted Gandhi. Using a house as headquarters, Gandhi continued his investigations. When a report that a peasant had been maltreated in a nearby village came, Gandhi decided to check the matter himself. Next day, when he was on the way, he was served with an official notice to quit Champaran. Gandhi signed a receipt and further wrote that he would disobey the order. As a result, he was summoned to appear in the court the next day.

The Revolt of the Peasants

That night Gandhi telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar, sent instructions to the ashram and wired a full report to the Viceroy. Next day, several thousand peasants reached Motihari and started demonstrating around the courthouse. Gandhi felt that this was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.

Seeing the demonstration, the officials felt powerless. So, Gandhi helped them regulate the crowd. However, when the trial was postponed, Gandhi protested. He told the court that he was in a ‘conflict of duties’. On one hand, he did not want to set a bad example as a lawbreaker; on the other, he wanted to render the ‘humanitarian and national service’ for which he had come.

Later, Gandhi asked for the penalty while the magistrate asked Gandhi to get a bail prepared for a 120 minutes of recess. Gandhi refused. The judge didn’t deliver the judgement for days and Gandhi was allowed to remain at liberty.

Gandhi’s Advice

Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq and several other prominent lawyers had arrived to discuss the situation with Gandhi. When Gandhi asked them what they would do if he was sent to jail, they replied that they would go home. Gandhi reprimanded them about the injustice to the sharecroppers. The lawyers discussed among themselves and told Gandhi that they were ready to follow him to jail. Gandhi exclaimed, ‘The battle of Champaran is won’. Then, he took a piece of paper and divided the group into pairs and put down the order in which each pair was to court arrest.

The Official Inquiry

Several days later, the case against Gandhi was dropped. Civil disobedience had triumphed for the first time in modern India. Later, official inquiries into the grievances of the farmers began. Testimonials were reported, notes of the evidence were made and documents were collected. All the while, the landlords protested against the inquiries. In June, the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Edward Gait, summoned Gandhi. Soon, they appointed an official commission to enquire into the situation with Gandhi was the sole representative of the peasants.

The Compensation

At the end of the investigation, the evidence against the landlords was overwhelming. They thought Gandhi would demand full repayment of the money which was illegally and deceitfully taken from the sharecroppers. Gandhi asked for only 50%. However, the landlords offered to refund 25%. To everybody’s surprise, Gandhi agreed. He explained that the amount of the refund was not important. What mattered was that the landlords were obliged to surrender part of the money, and a part of their prestige. After this incident, the peasants saw that they had rights and persons to defend them. Within a few years the British planters abandoned their estates, which were given back to the peasants and indigo sharecropping disappeared.

Improving Living Conditions

Gandhi wanted to do something about the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages. So, he called for volunteers to help. Many volunteers including teachers and two young men - Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh along with their wives, Gandhi’s wife Kasturba and his youngest son arrived to help. Soon, primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturbai taught the ashram about the rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation. A doctor was hired to provide castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment to the ailing.

The Turning Point of Gandhi’s Life

During his stay in Champaran, Gandhi sent regular instructions by mail and asked for financial accounts. The Champaran episode was a turning point in his life. He explained that now the British could not order him about in his own country. Gandhi’s aim was to mould a new free Indian, who could stand on his own feet. In the early days of the Champaran episode, Charles Freer Andrews, Gandhi’s follower, came to bid him goodbye. Gandhi’s lawyer friends wanted Andrews to help them. Gandhi strongly opposed the suggestion, stating that asking for Andrews’ help was showing the weakness. He assured them the cause was just and they must rely upon themselves to win the battle. Gandhi in this way taught them a lesson on self-reliance. Self-reliance, Indian independence and help to the sharecroppers were all bound together.

Word-Meaning

• urge the departure: spur the exit (from India)
• convention: a meeting or formal assembly
• emaciated: abnormally thin or weak, especially because of illness or lack of food
• towering: very tall or high
• sharecroppers: tenant farmers who give a part of each crop as rent
• yeoman: peasant or farmer
• indigo: a dark blue dye obtained from the indigo plant
• harbour a man like me: give shelter to a person who advocated freedom
• advent: arrival
• champion: a person who defends or fights for a cause
• chided: scolded
• crushed: suppressed
• holdings: areas of land held on lease or rent
• synthetic: indigo obtained from a chemical indigo process which is just like the natural product
• irksome: irritating, annoying
• thugs: criminals
• summons: an order to appear before a judge or magistrate
• conflict of duties: having two duties opposing each other
• reconvened: met again after a break in proceedings
• conferred: consulted or discussed
• deposition(s): out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that is reduced to writing for later use in court
• associates: companions
• protracted: longer than expected
• entreaty: earnest request, appeal
• unlettered: illiterate
• defenders: protectors
• sanitation: cleanliness and other conditions relating to public health
• eruptions: rashes or spots
• alleviate: reduce or lessen
• intertwined: closely linked or connected
• pacifist: one who believes in adopting peaceful means rather than war or violence
• seek a prop: look for support

Important Themes of the Chapter

• Unequal Economic System: One of the prominent themes presented in the excerpt is the prevalence of the unjust and unequal economic system in British India. The chapter through the Champaran episode highlights the exploitation of indigo farmers by British landlords who forced them to grow indigo on their land and sell it at low prices. This led to extreme poverty and hardship for the farmers.
• Importance of Good Leadership: The chapter ‘Indigo’ emphasises the fact that effective leadership can solve any kind of problems without any harm to anybody. This chapter deals with the way Mahatma Gandhi solved the problem of poor sharecroppers of Champaran in a non-violent way.
• Self-Sufficiency: The chapter also presents the need for self-sufficiency for all to gain full freedom. It also highlights how the community together can realise their rights and freedoms, and fight back against the oppressive Britishers.