INDIGO

CLASS-12TH
WORKSHEET
Q. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being 'resolute
[NCERT Compartment 2015]
or
How did Rajkumar Shukla establish that he was resolute?
[All India 2015]

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla is described as being resolute because he went

along with Gandhiji everywhere that he went till Gandhiji agreed to help
him. He was adamant to take Gandhiji to Champaran to solve the
problems faced by sharecroppers and so he resolutely went everywhere
with Gandhiji until, impressed with his tenacity, Gandhiji agreed to go
with him.

Q. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to the court
was useless? Delhi 2014

Ans. Gandhiji felt that taking the Champaran case to the court was
useless after discussion with the lawyers, he realised that the peasants
were crushed and fear stricken. As a result, they would not fight their
case and the court would favour the Britishers. Hence, going to court
was useless and the people needed to be free from fear.

Q. What were the terms of the indigo contract between the British
landlords and the Indian
peasants? [CBSE 2015]

Ans. The terms of the indigo contract between the British and the
peasants was related to the arable land. The arable
land in the Champaran district was divided into estates which were
owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief
commercial crop was indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant
15 per cent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo
harvest as rent.
Q. How did the invention of German synthetic indigo affect the peasant-
landlord relationship in Champaran ?
[CBSE 2020]

Ans. When the landlords leamed, that Germany had developed synthetic
indigo, they wanted to dissolve the sharecropper’s agreement. However,
they asked the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being
released from the 15% arrangement. Obviously, synthetic indigo would
be cheaper and more readily available and thus would bring down the
price of natural indigo.

The entire arrangement was irksome to the peasants. Some refused to

the arrangement and engaged lawyers while others who had signed
wanted their money back.

Q. Explain the possible reasons for Gandhi's quick popularity among the
peasants of Champaran.
[CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. Gandhi very quickly became popular among the peasants because
he had come to help them fight for justice without any fee unlike the
lawyers. Further, he had gone against the British law and authority to do
so. Consequently, without

any knowledge about Gandhi they had come to protest against his trail.
In addition, even after the Champaran episode, he stayed with the
sharecropping peasants to uplift them socially as well as culturally.

Q. Why did Gandhi tell the court that he was involved

in a conflict of duties?
[Foreign 2015]

Ans. Gandhi told the court that he was involved in a 'conflict of

duties, i.e. he must not set a bad example by breaking the law (by
refusing to comply with the eviction order), but he
must also render humanitarian and national service for
which he had come to Champaran.
Q. The peasants were themselves the most crucial
agents in the success of the Champaran Civil Disobedience. Expand.
[CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. The peasants were the most crucial agents in the success of the
Champaran Civil Disobedience because without their presence in such
large numbers, the British authority and the landlords would have
continued their tyranny in Champaran. If the peasants had not withstood
Gandhi or placed trust in him, then the movement will have been a great
disaster. Gandhi alone could not have achieved success of Champaran.
The support of the peasants made the movement a success.

Q. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?

[NCERT]

Ans. The episode changed the plight of the peasants by helping them
immensely. It removed their mortal fear of the British. They were made
aware of their rights and developed courage to fight for their
own selves.

Consequently, within a few years, the British planters abandoned their

estates, which was reverted back to the peasants. Slowly, indigo
sharecropping completely disappeared from the district of Champaran.

Q. What did Gandhiji do about the social and cultural upliftment of a

Champaran villages ? [CBSE 2019]

Ans. When Gandhiji saw the cultural and social backwardness in the
Champaran villages, he wanted to do something about it immediately.
He appealed for teachers. Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two
young men who had just joined Gandhi as disciples, and their wives,
volunteered for the work.

Others also joined from other parts of India. Primary schools were
opened in six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal
cleanliness and community sanitation. As the health conditions were
miserable.

Gandhiji also got a doctor to volunteer his services for

six months.
Q. Gandhi was a lawyer himself. Examine how his professional expertise
helped in Champaran.
[CBSE Question Bank 2021]

Ans. The fact that Gandhi was professionally a lawyer worked to his
benefit in the Champaran episode. When Gandhi came to understand
the sharecropping agreement, his first action was to view the entire
situation. In midst, he realised that there was no point in getting into
cases as law courts would hardly be able to do justice to the peasants.
He felt that it was necessary to remove the terror of Britishers and teach
farmers how to be courageous. Once he was able to do so, the British
authority had no choice but to review the case justly and provide justice.

Q. Give an account of the problems faced by the indigo sharecroppers.

What was Gandhiji's role in solving the problem?
Ans. Most of the arable land in Champaran was divided into large
estates owned by Englishmen and worked on by Indian tenants. The
chief commercial crop was indigo. So, the landlords compelled all the
tenants to plant 15% of their holdings with indigo and surrender the
entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done through a long-term
contract. When the landlords learned that Germany had developed
synthetic indigo, they obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to
pay them compensation for being released from the 15% arrangement.
This led to a conflict between the poor sharecropper and the British
landlords. Gandhiji, with the lawyers of Muzaffarpur, conducted an
inquiry into the grievances of the farmers. The investigations,
documentation and evidence collected favoured the peasants. Hence,
Gandhiji asked for only 50% of the money as compensation as opposed
to the landlord's thinking that he might demand the whole amount they
had extorted. However, an agreement was reached at 25% of the money
to be compensated to the peasants. Gandhiji accepted the settlement
because he did not want a deadlock between the landlords and the
peasants.
Thus, Gandhiji played a very proactive role in resolving
the issue.
Q. Gandhiji said, "Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice
for the poor. How does it become clear from the lesson Indigo that
freedom from fear is an essential condition for justice?

Ans. When Gandhiji leamed about the conditions of the peasants of

Champaran, he concluded that the peasants were so crushed and fear-
stricken that going to the law courts was useless. The real relief would
come if they were free from fear. The conclusion that Gandhiji reached is
true in every sense. The peasants of Champaran were so exploited by
the foreign rulers that they were scared of the British landlords. In the
Champaran episode, inspite of fighting endless legal battles, the results
were inconclusive due to their fear. Thus, Gandhiji felt that it was
imperative to teach these farmers to be courageous So Gandhiji helped
the farmers face life boldly. He not only refused to go to the court but
also got arrested for being the Champion of share croppers. As a result,
multitudes gathered at the court, which the Britishers couldn't control.
Consequently, the trial was postponed and Gandhiji was released
without Bail. Later, Gandhiji made the landlords surrender money as well
prestige, thus, making the peasants shed their fear In this way, it
becomes clear from the lesson 'Indigo' that freedom from fear is an
essential condition for justice.

Q. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the

Indian struggle for independence?
CBSE 2019

Ans. The Champaran episode was one of the major events in the
struggle for independence. It was in the course of this small but
significant movement that Gandhiji decided to spur the exit of the British
from India. A close examination of the problem of the Champaran
peasants opened up Gandhiji s eyes to the unjust policies of the British.
He realised that people had to be made free from fear and only then
could they be freed from foreign oppression. The spontaneous
demonstration of the people proved that Gandhiji had the people's
support in his fight against the Britishers. The triumph of the civil
disobedience at Champaran motivated the launching of the movement
on a large scale during the freedom movement. Gandhiji's winning the
case of the sharecroppers proved that British authority could be
challenged. Hence, the Champaran episode served as a stepping stone
to the Indian struggle for independence.
Q. How did the Champaran episode prove to be a turning point in
Gandhi's lite? [CBSE 2020]
Ans. Champaran episodes proves to be a turning point in Gandhiji's life.
The success of the Champaran episode made Gandhiji decide to speed
up the exit of the British from India. Gandhiji concluded that the root
cause ot the problem was fear, so going to law courts to solve the
dispute was useless. It brought him face to face with reality and he
became aware of the miserable condition of the poor, illiterate farmers.
He also realised the exploitation that lay beneath the policies of the
Britishers.

Q. Imagine Gandhi were to deliver a speech to students in present day

India showing
them the path to becoming responsible world leaders. Based on your
understanding of Gandhi's own leadership skills, write a speech, as
Gandhi, addressing the students about the qualities that every leader
and politician should nurture.

Dear students, you are all leaders of social change. I see many bright
and enthusiastic faces that assure me that our future is in good hands. I
have learnt from my own experience……….

[CBSE Question Bank 2021]

Ans. Dear students, you are all leaders of social change. I see many
bright and enthusiastic faces that assure me that our future is in good
hands. I have learnt from my own experience that emptying away all the
biased thoughts and prejudices gives new values that enhance living. I
stress upon the importance of Truth and Non-violence and call you to
'Be Fearless' on all endeavours. It is you who is the future, the tomorrow
of the nation and the instruments of social change that we want to see in
the nation.

The modern youth and students have the spiritual and ethical values to
become the means to form idealistic thoughts, thoughts that aim for
greatness. I encourage young minds about self-reliance as a crucial
necessity to success. The young leader of today must be flexible, self-
reliant, independent and open-minded.

Simplicity, kindness, truth and non-violence should be the life’s mantra

of youth. These are the essential things that you as students have to
learn and follow. Morality and spirituality of course cannot be forgotten.