INDIGO QUESTION ANSWER BY LOUIS FISCHER

Give short answer of the following questions.

a) Who is Sir Edward Gait ?

= Sir Edward Gait was the Lieutenant Governor of Bihar.

b) Who was Rajkumar Shukla ?

= Rajkumar Shukla was a poor sharecroppers of Champaran district in Bihar.

c) Whom did Gandhi and Shukla proposed to meet at Patna ?

= At Patna Gandhi and Shukla proposed to meet Rajendra Prasad a prominent lawyer of Bihar.

d) Where was Rajkumar Shukla from ?

= Rajkumar Shukla was from Champaran in Bihar.

e) Name the Lieutenant Governor who summoned Gandhi in June .

= Sir Edward Gait is the Lieutenant Governor who summoned Gandhi in June.

f) Who was Devadas ?

= Devadas was the youngest son of Mahatma Gandhi.

g) Who was Kasturbai ?

= Kasturbai was the wife of Mahatma Gandhi.

h) " Who had read our minds correctly. " Who made the comment ?

= Rajendra Prasad made this comment.

i) Where did Gandhi decide to go first from Patna ?

= From Patna Gandhi decided to go to first Muzzafapur which was on the way to Champaran.

j) What ashram rules did Kasturbai teach in the village of Champaran ?

= In the Champaran villages Kasturbai taught the ashram  rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.

k) When did Gandhi decide to urge the departure of the British ?

= Gandhi decided to urge the departure of the British from India in the year 1917.

l) Where did Gandhi and Shukla board a train to ?

= Gandhi and Shukla boarded a train to Patna in Bihar .

m) Which country had developed synthetic Indigo ?

= Germany had developed synthetic Indigo.

n) Name the professor of the Arts college in Muzzafapur , whom Gandhi had seen at Tagore's Shantineketan School ?

= J. B. Kripalani is the professor of the Arts College in Muzzafapur, whom Gandhi had seen at Tagore's Shantineketan School.

o) " The battle of Champaran is won ." Who said this ?

= Gandhi said this.

p) Who taught the ashram rules in the villages of Champaran ?

= Kasturbai the wife of Mahatma Gandhi taught the ashram rules in the villages of Champaran .

q) How many schools were opened in the Champaran  villages ?

= Six primary schools were opened in the Champaran villages.

r) Which medicines did Gandhi make available in the Champaran villages ?

= Gandhi made three medicine available in the Champaran villages. they were- castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment.

ANSWER THE QUESTION GIVEN BELOW.

1) Who was Rajkumar Shukla ? Why did he come to the congress session ?

= Rajkumar Shukla was a poor peasant who belonged to Champaran district of Bihar. He was illiterate but emaciated. He came to the congress session to meet Gandhi and to complain about the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar

2) Why is Rajkumar Shulka described as being resolute ?

= Rajkumar Shukla went to the congress session to meet Gandhi and to bring him to his district Champaran to give them settlement in regards of the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar.  At that time Gandhi was very busy. He showed him his busy schedule . But Shukla accompanied him everywhere. He even followed him to his ashram. After all for weeks he never left Gandhi's side until Gandhi fixed a date to come to Champaran. That is why Rajkumar Shukla is described as being resolute.

3) When and where did Louis Fischer visit Gandhi ?

= In the year 1942 Louis Fischer visited Gandhi at his ashram in Sevagram.

4) What did Gandhi say to the author when the latter visited Gandhi at his ashram ?

= When the author visited Gandhi at his ashram , Gandhi told him how it had happened that he had to decide to urge the departure of the British from India.

5) Why did Rajkumar Shukla  want to take Gandhi to Champaran ?

= Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran peasants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was one of them. They had to suffer a lot for the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar. No one could relief them from this system. Somebody had told him to speak to Gandhi. So, Rajkumar Shukla came to the congress session to take Gandhi to his district Champaran.

6) Name the destination where both Gandhi and Rajkumar Shukla led Gandhi ?

= Both Gandhi and Rajkumar Shukla boarded a train for the city of Patna in Bihar and then Shukla led him to the house of a prominent lawyer named Rajendra Prasad.

7) Why did Gandhi decide to go first to Muzzafarpur ? To whom did he send a telegram ?

=Muzafarpur was on the way to Champaran. Gandhi decided to go first to Muzafarpur to obtain more complete information about condition than Shukla was capable of  imparting. He sent a telegram to professor J. B. Kripalani of the Arts college in Muzzafarpur.

8) Who waited for Gandhi at the Muzzafarpurt railway station ? Where did Gandhi stay in Muzzafarpur ?

= J. B. Kripalani a professor of the Arts college in Muzzafarpur waited for Gandhi at the Muzzafarpur railway station with his students. In Muzzafarpur Gandhi stayed for two days in the house of professor Malkani.

9) What news spread quickly through Muzzafarpur and to Champaran ?

= The news of Gandhi's advent and the nature of his mission spread quickly through Muzafarpur to Champaran.

10) Who were the prominent lawyers arrived from Bihar to confer with Gandhi's trial ?

= Rajendra Prasad, Brij Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul huq and several lawyers arrived from Bihar to confer with Gandhi about his trial.

11) What was the written communication Gandhi received from the magistrate ?

= Gandhi received a written communication from the magistrate where he was informed that the Lieutenant Governor of Bihar had ordered his case to be dropped.

12) How did Gandhi managed his ashram in Sevagram, when he was in Champaran ?

= During the long stay in Champaran, Gandhi kept a long distance watch on the ashram. He sent regular instructions  by mail and asked for financial accounts. Once he even, wrote to the residents that it was time to fill in the old latrine trenches and dig new ones otherwise the old one would  begin to smell bad. Thus, Gandhi managed his ashram in Sevagram , when he was in Champaran.

13) Where did Gandhi proceed after meeting with the British Official Commissioner ? Who accompanied him ?

= After meeting with the British Official Commissioner of the Tirhut division, Gandhi proceeded to Motihari the capital of Champaran. A good number of prominent lawyers accompanied him to the capital of Champaran.

14) Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers ? 

= Gandhi chided the lawyers of Muzzafarpur for collecting big fee from the sharecroppers to take their cases to the court and suggested them not to go to the law courts.

15) What did Gandhi say about the law courts ?

= According to Gandhi law courts were useless. Taking the cases of the sharecroppers to the court did little good. The law courts could not give them justice. Even , there they were so crushed and fear stricken. So Gandhi suggested the lawyers to stop going to the law courts.

16) Why did the indigo planters obtain new agreement from the sharecroppers to pay them compensation ? Why did many sign ?

= When the indigo planters came to know about the synthetic indigo developed by Germany, they were in trouble. They were sure that they were going to be lose. Thereupon , they obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them compensation.

         Most of the sharecroppers of Champaran signed willingly because the sharecropping arrangement was irksome to the peasants.

17) Where did Gandhi visit to get the real facts of the whole episode of Indigo ? What did the secretary tell him ?

= To get the real facts of the whole episode of Indigo, Gandhi first visited the secretary of the British Landlord's Association. But he did not get any help from him. The secretary told him that they could give no information to an outsider. In reply Gandhi told him that he is not an outsider.

18) Where did Gandhi proceed after meeting with the British official commissioner ? Who accompanied him ?

= After meeting with the British official Commissioner of the Tirhut division Gandhi proceeded to Motihari the capital of Champaran. A good number  of prominent lawyers accompanied him to the capital of Champaran.

19) Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers ?

= Gandhi agreed to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers because to him the amount of the refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender part of the money with their prestige. Moreover the peasants learned courage and they saw that they had rights and defenders to fight against injustice.

Q) What were the steps taken by Gandhi to solve social and cultural backwardness in the villages of Champaran ?

= After solving the problems of the sharecroppers Gandhi came to notice the social backwardness  in the Champaran villages and he wanted to do something about immediately . The villages in Champaran were very backward. There were not a primary school in the villages. So, Gandhi opened six primary schools in them. Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh who were the disciples of Gandhi were sent for to teach in the schools. Their wives also volunteered for the work. Several more come from Bombay, Poona and other distant parts of India to teach in the schools. Gandhi's youngest son Devdas and his wife Kasturbai came from the ashram to Champaran. Kasturbai taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation.

                      The health condition in the villages at that time was very miserable. So Gandhi got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months. Three medicines were made available. They were - castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment.

                        Thus, Gandhi tried his best for the upliftment of the villages in Champaran.

Q) Describe the exploitation of the Indigo sharecroppers by the English landlords. Did Gandhi help them to get an honourable settlement ?

= Most of the arable land in Champaran district was divided into large states owned by Englishman and worked by Indian tenants. Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran peasants were sharecroppers . The chief commercial crop was Indigo. The landlords compelled all the tenants to plant three twentieth or 15 percent of their holdings with indigo and had to surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done by long term contract.

        When the landlords came to know about the synthetic indigo developed by Germany, they obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being released from the 15 percent arrangement. The sharecropping arrangement was irksome to the poor peasants, and so many of them signed willingly. Some of them resisted and engaged lawyers, but the landlords hired thug. Meanwhile the information about synthetic indigo reached the illiterate peasants who had signed and they wanted their money back.

         At this point Gandhi arrived Champaran and he helped them to get an honourable settlement. But it took a year of his life to settle their cases.

Q) Describe the efforts made by Rajkumar Shukla to persuade Gandhi to go to Champaran ?

= Rajkumar Shukla was a poor peasant from Champaran district of Bihar. Like any other peasant in India , he was poor and emaciated. He came to the Congress Session to meet Gandhi and to complain him about the injustice of the landlords system in Bihar.

     At first Gandhi showed him his busy schedule and told him that he had an appointment in Cawnpore and had to go

to other parts of India. Shukla accompanied him everywhere. He even, followed him to his ashram. After all, for weeks he never left Gandhi's side and begged him to fix a date. Impressed by Rajkumar Shukla's tenacity and story. Gandhi at last fixed a date to go to Champaran with him and told him  to  come to Calcutta to take him from there.

       Thus , Rajkumar Shukla was capable to persuade Gandhi to go to Champaran.