Introduction Of Chapter
- In This Chapter We Will See
How Mahatma Gandhi Stood Up For The Poor Peasants Of
Champaran, Bihar.
- Landlords Extorted Money From
Poor Peasants At The End Their Struggle Ended With Victory
Main
Characters In The Story
1. Mahatma Gandhi
2. Rajkumar Shukla (Poor
farmer)
3. Land Lords
4. Rajendra Prasad & Other
Advocates
Summary
This Chapter Deals In Detail How
Gandhi Ji Freed The Poor Peasants Of Champaran.
From The Clutches Of The British
Planters. Gandhi ji attended annual
convention of the Indian national congress. in Lucknow
in December 1916.
A Poor Peasant Named Rajkumar
Shukla. Approached Gandhi Ji To Come To
The Help Of The Peasants In Champaran. He Wanted Gandhi Ji To Come In His District.
Rajkumar Shukla Was Illiterate
But He Was Resolute. He Had Come Here To Complain
Against The Injustice Of The Landlord System In Bihar.
Poor Peasants Are Beaten And
Tortured For Not Obeying Landlord. Gandhi Ji Was Very Busy During
Those Days But Rajkumar Remained By His Side All The Time.
Gandhi Ji Was Impressed With
Rajkumar's Determination. Gandhi Ji Asked Rajkumar To Meet
Him In Calcutta And Take Him From There.
Rajkumar Met Gandhi Ji On That
Day. He Took Gandhi Ji To Patna. There He Took Him To The House
Of Rajendra Prasad (Who Later Became President). But Rajendra Prasad Was Not In
Town. He Decided First To Go To
Muzzafarpur That Was On The Way To Champaran. He Wanted To Collect Information
About The Conditions In Champaran.
J.B Kripalani Waited For Gandhi Ji At The Station With A Large Body Of Students. Gandhi Ji Learnt That The Peasants In Champaran Were Sharecroppers. By An Ancient Agreement, They Had To Plant Indigo On 15 % Of The Land. The Entire Crop Had To Be Surrendered To The Landlords As Rent. The Peasants Were Unhappy Over This Injustice
Germany Had Developed Synthetic
Indigo, So Now Indigo Plantation Was Not
Profitable. So, Landlords Made Them Sign A
New Agreement. They Have To Pay Compensation
For Not Planting Indigo On The 15% Land. Many Of The Illiterate Peasants
Signed This Agreement, Others Protested.
They Got Lawyers And Went To
Court. It Was At This Point That Gandhiji Arrived In Champaran. He Met Many Lawyers Of Bihar. Like : Rajendra Prasad, Brij
Kishore Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq And Many Others. Gandhi Ji Met The Secretary Of
British Landlord’s Association, But He Didn’t Give Him Any Info. Gandhi Ji Proceeded To Motihari Gandhi Ji Was Asked To Leave
Champaran With An Official Notice
Gandhi Ji Disobey The Order So
He Received A Summon To Appear In Court Next Day.
Gandhi Ji Talked To
Viceroy Gandhi Ji Helped The Officials
To Regulate The Crowd
The Government And Authorities
Wanted To Postpone The Trial But Gandhi Ji Protested. Gandhi Ji Doesn’t Want To Set A
Bad Example As A Law Breaker But He Also Wants To Do Justice To Thousands Of
Poor Sharecroppers The Lawyers Decided To Follow
Gandhi Ji Into The Jail. The Battle Of Champaran Is Won –
Said Gandhi Ji Several Days Later, Gandhi Ji
Received A Written Communication From The Magistrate, Informing Him That The
Lieutenant Governor Of The Province Had Ordered The Case To Be Dropped. For The
First Time In Modern India Civil Disobedience Had Won.
Gandhi Ji Was The Main
Representative Of The Peasants. At Last The Landlords Agreed To
Pay Back The Compensation They Had Illegally Collected. The Representative Of The
Landlords Offered To Refund 25% And Gandhi Ji Agreed. Gandhi Ji Explained It To His
Followers That The Amount Of The Refund Was Not Important. Gandhi Ji Wanted To Do Something
To Remove Social Backwardness In The Champaran Villages.
Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh
And Their Wives Also Joined. Gandhi Ji Son Devdas Also Joined
Them. Primary Schools Were Opened In
Different Villages. Kasturba Taught Cleanliness And
Sanitation. Health Conditions Were
Miserable. Gandhi Ji Got A Doctor To
Volunteer His Services For Six Months. The Chamsparan Episode Was A
Turning Point In Gandhi Ji's Life. It Proved That The British Could Not Order
Him About In His Own Country. He Wanted Indians To Stand On
Their Own Feet And Fight For Themselves. Gandhi Ji Opposed The Stay Of
C.F Andrews And His Help.
Most Important Questions For
Board Exams
1. The Champaran Episode Was A Turning Point In
Gandhi Ji’s Life . Elucidate.
2. “The Battle Of Champaran Is Won!” Why Did
Gandhi Ji Exclaim This ?
3. Why Is Rajkumar Shukla Described As Being
Resolute ?
4. What Did Gandhi Ji Do To Remove The Cultural
And Social Backwardness In The Champaran Villages ?
