narrate the plot development of gandhiji movement again the british landlord for the cause of peasant in champaram in the content of lesson 'indigo'
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Answer:
In this story, Louis describes Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran who were the sharecroppers with the British planters. They led a miserable life and were forced to grow indigo according to an agreement. They suffered a great injustice due to the landlord system in Bihar. Gandhi waged a war for about a year against their atrocities and brought justice to the poor peasants.
Indigo Characters
Mahatma Gandhi: Indian National Leader
Rajendra Prasad: a lawyer and later the President of India
J.B. Kriplani: a professor in Art College, Muzaffarpur, Bihar
Prof. Malkani: a teacher in a government school
Sir Edward Gait: Lieutenant Governor
Raj Kumar Shukla: a sharecropper from Champaran, Bihar
Charles Freer Andrews: a follower of Gandhi
Kasturba: wife of Mahatma Gandhi
Indigo Places in the Story
Motihari = capital of Champaran
Muzaffarpur = a town in Bihar
Champaran = a district in Bihar
Tirhut Division or Commissionary = is an administrative-geographical unit of Bihar in India. Muzaffarpur is the headquarters of the Division. The Division comprises six districts – Muzaffarpur, West Champaran, East Champaran, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Sheohar.
Indigo word Meanings
Indigo = a tropical plant of the pea family, which was formerly widely cultivated as a source of dark blue dye.
Convention = meeting
Proceedings = working, and events of the meeting
Resolute = determined
Tenacity = stickiness, firmness
Indigo Summary
This story describes Gandhi’s struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. In those days most of the arable land in the Champaran district was divided into large estate owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was Indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant 15% of their Indigo and surrender the entire Indigo harvest as rent. This was done through long term contracts. The British didn’t need the Indigo crop any more when Germany had developed synthetic Indigo. Just to release the peasants from the 15% agreement they demanded compensation. Some illiterate peasants agreed but the others refused.
One of the sharecroppers named Raj Kumar Shukla met Gandhi in this regard and compelled him to visit Champaran because of the long term injustice of landlords. Then the two of them boarded a train for the city of Patna in Bihar. From there Shukla led him to the house of a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad. Mahatma Gandhi’s humble and simple attire made the servants mistook him as another poor peasant. He surveyed before taking any vital step in order to get those peasants justice. It was the time when the British government punished those who in any condition gave shelter to national leaders or protesters.
Gandhi’s arrival and the nature of his mission spread like a wildfire. Many lawyers and peasant groups came in large numbers to support him. The lawyers accepted the fact that their charges were high and for a poor peasant it will be irksome. Gandhi rebuked them for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers. He stressed on counseling as this would give the peasants enough confidence to fight their fear. He managed to get justice after a yearlong battle for the peasants. He also made arrangements for the education, health, and hygiene for the families of the poor peasants. He gave them the lesson of self-reliance.