Why was the Champaran episode a turning point for Gandhi?

The lesson, Indigo describes Gandhi taking on the landlords of Champaran in order to relieve the peasants of the scourge of sharecropping and the amount of money that the British Landlords had extorted from them.  The sharecroppers of Champaran wanted a refund of the amount that they had given to the landlords in lieu of the indigo harvest (which was in excess of the price of natural Indigo). The peasants’ grievance was that they had been made to pay more than what the indigo was worth after scientists in Germany had developed synthetic Indigo. When Gandhi met the secretary of the Landlord’s association, he was told that ‘they could give no information to an outsider’. The British official commissioner of the Tirhut division bullied Gandhi suggesting that he should leave Motihari forthwith!

It was in light of all the opposition that Gandhi experienced that he probably decided to experiment with Non-Cooperation. The first instance of Non-Cooperation took place when Gandhi was served with an order to quit Champaran while on a trip to a village to investigate an incident of the harassment of a sharecropper by his Landlord. Gandhi signed a receipt for the order and added that he would not comply with the order. Gandhi was then served with a notice from the Magistrate ordering him to appear for a hearing the next day. The next day, we are told that Motihari was, “black with peasants” who wanted to see a ‘Mahatma’  who had come to fight for them. The presence of the peasants in such large numbers put the administration into a tizzy. Gandhi went on to manage the crowd. Looking at the tense situation, the magistrate decided to adjourn the court hearing. Gandhi, however, didn’t wait for a judgement to be passed on him. He went on to declare himself guilty for breaking the laws of the land, but then he claimed that he was upholding the higher laws of humanity. This was the second instance when Gandhi used the tool of non-cooperation in so far as he didn’t wait for the judge to pass judgement on him. The judge then announced an adjournment for two hours and asked Gandhi to furnish a bond for that period. Gandhi refused. This was the third instance when he used the tool of Non-Cooperation. The end result was that the case against Gandhi (for refusing the order to leave Champaran) was dropped by the British administration. This was a major victory for Gandhi!

What happened next was that an enquiry commission was set up by the British Administration and it resulted in the acceptance of the fact that the share-croppers had indeed been wronged. What happened next was that the landlords decided to enter into a stalemate with Gandhi about the percentage of the amount to be returned. Gandhi however, relented on a demand for a fifty per cent refund and agreed to a twenty-five per cent refund, thus breaking a possible deadlock with the Landlords. Gandhi later stated that the amount of refund was not as important as even a twenty-five per cent refund would prove that the Landlords were not above the law, and moreover, he wanted to pass on the message to the peasants that they had rights and had people who would fight for their rights! Ultimately, the landlords quit Champaran being unable to face the peasants whom they had been compelled to compensate.

The whole Champaran episode became a turning point for Gandhi because it had taught Gandhi about the effectiveness of Non-Cooperation, and Satyagraha. He had succeeded in teaching the peasants a lesson in courage, he had been able to pass on a message to the British that they could not order him about in his own country. He had proved to the Landlords that they were not above the law, and most important of all he had taught the share-croppers that they had rights. The battle was fought and the peasants were victorious, all through a revolution that was based not on blood-shed, but on the tenets of Non-Cooperation, Satyagraha and Non-Violence. His success in Champaran convinced Gandhi that some wars can be fought successfully not with violence and bloodshed, but through more humane means. The Champaran Episode was an eye-opener not just for Gandhi, but also for the common people who rose to the occasion in their own way to support their Mahatma. The Champaran episode proves to the world that what might not be achieved through violence and bloodshed might be in fact achieved through more peaceful means. This is a potent message for all of those who are aggrieved that the tools of Non-Violence, Non-cooperation and Satyagraha are more potent than the tools of violence, namely, guns, bombs and knives-an important lesson for us in times of impatience and shortened tempers!

Important extract-based questions
Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants. They did not know Gandhi’s record
in South Africa. They had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them was in
trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous demonstration, in thousands, around the
courthouse was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
1. What does the term, ‘black with peasants’ mean in the above extract?
Answer: The town of Motihari was filled with peasants. A large number of peasants had
gathered in the town of Motihari.
2. Why had so many people gathered in Motihari? What kind of trouble was Gandhi in?
Answer: Gandhi had disobeyed the orders of the police superintendent’s order to quit
Champaran. As a result, Gandhi had been summoned to the court. He could go to prison
for this.
3.What impact did such a show strength have on the British Administration?
Answer: The Administration dropped charges and released Gandhi from appearing in court.
They feared lest the peasants should get out of control and resulting in a riot.
4. How was this show of strength a ‘turning point’ for Gandhi experiment in Champaran?
Answer: The peasants learned a lesson in courage. Gandhi learned about the immense power
of the common man.

"What I did," he explained, "was a very ordinary thing. I declared that the British could not order me about in my own country."

But Champaran did not begin as an act of defiance. It grew out of an attempt to alleviate the distress of large numbers of poor peasants. This was the typical Gandhi pattern - his politics were intertwined with the practical day to day problems of the millions. His was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was a loyalty to living, human beings.

1. What was the 'ordinary thing' he had done in Champaran?

Answer: He had taught the British landlords that they were not above the law. He had taught the peasants that they had rights and champions to fight for them.

2. How was the Champaran episode a turning point in Gandhi's life?

Answer: It was a turning point because he had experimented with non-cooperation or satyagraha with great success. He had learned how even the common man could become a game-changer when properly educated and motivated. He had learned how it was important to be connected to grass root level problems than to be obsessed with abstract philosophy as a politician.

3. What were the 'practical day to day problems' of the peasants? How did Gandhi address them?

Answer: They did not have proper medical facilities. They did not have schools. They did not have any idea about hygiene. He asked for doctors from other parts of the country to volunteer their services, opened dispensaries, he asked for teachers to volunteer their services, opened primary schools, and he asked Kasturbai to talk to the women about hygiene.

4. How was Gandhi a grass-root level politician? 

Answer: He addressed the problems of the peasants. He strived to address the 'cultural and social backwardness' of the people.

You might also like to read:

1.https://rodrickwrites.blogspot.com/2019/08/gandhis-leadership-qualities-included.html

2.https://rodrickwrites.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-relevance-of-gandhis-experiment.html

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