INDIGO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS/PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTIONS -CLASS XII ENGLISH CBSE

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS-INDIGO

Q1.Why did Rajkumar Shukla go to meet Gandhi? (CBSE 2008)

Ans. Rajkumar Shukla came to meet Gandhi at  the December 1916 Congress Session in Luknow  to complain about the injustice of the landlord system of Bihar and to invite him to visit his district.

Q2. How did Gandhiji react after receiving summon to appear in court the next day?

Ans. Gandhiji received a summon to appear in the court but disobeyed the order. He remained awake all the night. He telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential friends. He sent instructions to the ashram. He wired a full report to the Viceroy.

 

Q3. What was the conflict of duties in which Gandhi was involved? 

Ans. In court, Gandhi pleaded guilty for having disobeyed the official notice to quit Champaran. He read out a statement claiming he was involved in a conflict of duties. He clarified that he disobeyed not to break law and set a bad example but to render the humanitarian and national services for which he had come to Champaran.

Q4.When did Gandhi say ‘The battle of Champaran is won' ? 

Ans. When the lawyers reconsidered their decision about their course of action in case of Gandhi’s arrest and volunteered to court arrest for the cause of sharecroppers, Gandhi felt pleased and said ‘The battle of Champaran is won’

Q5. “Civil disobedience had triumphed the first time in India” . How did it happen ? 

Ans.When Gandhi disobeyed official order to quit Champaran , a case was initiated against him for disregarding the orders. The spontaneous demonstration of thousands of peasants around the courtroom baffled the officials. Not knowing how to handle the case , the judge postponed the judgement for few days. Then finally few days later, the case was dropped by Lieutenant Governor himself.So civil disobedience triumphed for the first time in India.

 

Q6 What did Gadhiji say to his friends when they suggested that Charles Andrews should be retained for the sake of the Champaran movement ? (Question Bank ,NCT)

Ans.Gandhi vehemently opposed the lawyer’s suggestion to seek Andrew’s assistance and said  that  taking the support of an Englishman would reveal the weakness of their hearts. He urged his friends to rely upon themselves to win the battle.

 

Q7 Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to court was useless?

Answer. When Gandhiji got to know about the plight of the peasant groups in Champaran from his discussion with the lawyers, he came to the conclusion that the poor peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken that law courts were useless in their case.  What really needed to be done was to make them free from fear.

 

Q8.Why did Gandhiji decide to go to Muzaffarpur before going to Champaran? (Foreign 2011)

Answer. Rajkumar Shukla had given quite a lot of information to Gandhiji about the indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. However, Gandhiji wished to obtain more complete information about the conditions than Shukla had imparted. He visited Muzaffarpur, which was en route to Champaran, to inquire from the lawyers there about the issue, as they frequently represented the peasant groups in the court.

 

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1 Justify the appropriateness of the title  ‘Indigo’ to this extract.

The title ‘Indigo’ focuses our attention on the central issue of the chapter –exploitation of indigo sharecroppers at the hands of cruel British planters. Britishers compelled them through a long term agreement to plant indigo on 15 percent of their land and surrender the entire harvest as rent. After the development of synthetic indigo by Germany , The British planters extracted money from the peasants as compensation from being released from the 15 percent agreement. The peasants who wanted their money back filed civil suits. Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to take up the case of Indigo sharecroppers.

 So indigo sharecropping exemplifies the injustice of the Britishers and Indians’ submission to British authority. The exploitation of indigo sharecroppers led Gandhi to arrive in Champaran to alleviate their distress. Peasants not only got back  the compensation but also became courageous and confident. They learnt the lesson of self reliance.

The Champaran movement that centred on indigo sharecropping led to social and cultural upliftment of the peasants.Their education , health and hygiene received due attention.

Thus the title ‘Indigo’ is highly suggestive and appropriate.

 

Q2 How did Gandhi use Satyagraha and non-violence to achieve his goal?

Ans. Non violence and satyagraha were the weapons used by Gandhi to secure justice for oppressed peasants of Champaran. He adopted legal ,moral and democratic path of negotiation.

Gandhi refused to leave Tirhut division in which Chamaparan district lay despite being told by the British official commissioner to do so. Later he defied the official order to leave Chamaparan for which he received summon to appear in the court. When the British authorities could not regulate the unmanageable crowd at Motihari  , he pacified the crowd in polite and friendly way. Thus he gave concrete proof of the power of satyagraha and non violence.

In the court he clarified that he did not want to set a bad example as a law breaker  but  intended to render humanitarian and national service..His convincing argumentation baffled the magistrate who released him without the bail.

Later he fought the case of the peasants peacefully by collecting evidences and the documents pertaining to  the case. When the Britishers agreed to pay the compensation he peacefully negotiated with the landlords and accepted 25 percent of the amount due.

So the peasants got a partial refund of the compensation with the use of satyagraha and nonviolence.

 

Q3. How did Rajkumar Shukla prove to be an important link between Gandhi and his Champaran campaign?

Rajkumar shukla was a poor and emaciated sharecropper from Champaran. Though he was poor and illiterate he was determined to oppose the injustice of the British planters. He used to seek legal recourse to get justice and was in constant touch with Rajendra Prasad ,an eminent lawyer.  He came to December 1916 annual convention of the Indian National Congress party in Lucknow to meet Gandhi as someone had told him that Gandhi Gandhi could give a solution to their problems. He complained about the injustice of landlord system in Bihar and invited Gandhi to visit his district.

When Gandhi mentioned about his prior engagements to go to Cawnpore and other parts of India, Shukla showed tremendous patience and perseverance and accompanied him everywhere. He also followed Gandhi to his ashram and stayed there for weeks. Impressed by his determination and tenacity Gandhi promised to meet him at Calcutta on a particular date. Few months later Shukla arrived at Calcutta and took him to Champaran.

So, Rajkuma Shukla’s strong will power and painstaking efforts were instrumental in arranging Gandhi’s visit to Champaran and thus improving the plight of the poor peasant.

Q4. Why was Gandhi summoned to appear in the court? How did civil disobedience triumph for the first time in India?

Ans. Gandhi had reached Motihari, the capital of Champaran, to study the problems of the sharecropper peasants. He was on his way to a neighbouring village, where a peasant was illtreated. On the way, he was stopped by the police superintendent's messenger and ordered to return to town. When he reached home, he was served with an official notice to quit Champaran at once. Gandhi wrote on the receipt that he would disobey the order. So Gandhi received a summon to appear in the court the next day.

Next morning the town of Motihari was black with peasants. Thousands of peasants demonstrated voluntarily outside the court. The prosecuter requested the judge to postpone the trial. Gandhi protested against the delay. He read out the statement pleading guilty. He asked the penalty. The judge announced that he would pronounce the sentence after a two-hour recess. He asked Gandhi to furnish bail for that period. Gandhi refused. The judge released him without bail. After the recess , the judge said that he would not deliver the judgement for several days. Meanwhile he allowed Gandhi to remain at liberty. Several days later Gandhi received a letter. The case against him had been dropped. Thus, civil disobedience had triumphed, for the first time in India.

Q5 Self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all bound together. Elucidate with reference to the excerpt ‘Indigo’.

Ans. When Gandhiji reached Champaran, he came to know that the arable areas of Champaran were divided into large estates owned by British landlords. As per the long-term contract, these sharecroppers were supposed to grow indigo on 15% of the land and give it as rent. But due to the advent of synthetic indigo in Germany, landlords got the compensation agreement signed by these peasants, who later on felt cheated.

Gandhiji’s first triumph in the form of civil disobedience at Motihari laid the foundations of the Indian Independence Movement. No doubt this brought a good result for sharecroppers in the form of a committee through which 25% of the money was given by the landlords. Gandhiji taught the lesson of unity and courage to the sharecroppers. His refusal to keep his friend Andrews at Champaran to help him emphasized the importance of self-reliance for him. He trained the peasants to be self-reliant and not to be dependent on others.

Thus, self-reliance, Indian Independence and help to sharecroppers were all tied together.

 

Q6.Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for independence? (All India 2014 Modified)

Answer. 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 urge the departure of the British from India.

A close examination of the problems of the Champaran peasants opened 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 nation’s support in his fight against the Britishers. It also aroused patriotism in the heart of the Indians.

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.

 

Q7 . What steps were taken by Gandhiji to solve the problems of Social and cultural backwardness in the villages of Champaran?

Ans. Gandhiji never restricted himself to political or economic solutions only.

 He wanted to bring about some socio-cultural transformation.

 He appealed for teachers. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Many disciples of Gandhiji Volunteered to teach in Champaran and adjoining villages.

 Kasturba Gandhi taught ashram rules on Cleanliness and Community Sanitation.

 To improve the miserable health conditions, Gandhiji got a doctor who volunteered to render his services for six months.

 Three medicines were made available - Castor, quinine and sulphur ointment.

 The filthy state of women's clothes was also noticed by Gandhiji.

 His was not a loyalty to abstractions, it was a loyalty to human beings.

 

Q8. Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor indigo sharecroppers of Champaran. (All India 2012)

Answer. In the course of his journey to Champaran with Rajkumar Shukla, Gandhiji stayed at Muzaffarpur where he met the lawyers and concluded that fighting through courts was not going to solve the problem of the poor sharecroppers of Champaran. He declared that the real relief for them was to be free from fear.

With this intention, he arrived in Champaran and contacted the Secretary of the British Landlord’s association. The Secretary refused to provide him any information. After this, Gandhiji met the Commissioner of the Tirhut division who served a notice on him to immediately leave Tirhut.

Gandhiji accepted the notice by signing it and wrote on it that he would not obey the order. He was even willing to court arrest for the cause of the peasants.

After four rounds of talks with-the Governor, an official commission of inquiry was appointed in which Gandhiji was made the sole representative of the peasants.

Through this commission Gandhiji succeeded in getting 25% of the compensation award for the poor sharecroppers from the British landowners.