CBSE Class 12-science Answered

Hi Alan, 

The Champaran episode proved to help the Indian Independence. Gandhiji took up a fight for the sharecroppers against the landlords. Rajkumar Shukla who told him about the injustice suffered by the sharecroppers took Gandhiji to Champaran. Gandhiji assessed the situation and understood that the landlords were forcing the sharecroppers to plant 15% of their holding with indigo and then give up the entire harvest to them as rent. Since Germany had come up with the concept of synthetic indigo, the price of the natural indigo fell. The landlords forced the sharecroppers to pay compensation. It was then that Gandhiji heard about the ill-treatment of a peasant.Gandhiji decided to look into the matter, but he received an official notice to leave Champaran and quit whatever he was doing there. Gandhiji fought against this injustice by telling the court that it was a conflict of duties and he had come to serve the peasant. In the end, he won his case against the cruel landlords and made them pay 25% of the money back to the sharecroppers. This movement emboldened the peasants and they got to know their rights. He made the British realize that Indians now have the courage to oppose injustice. This episode gave Gandhiji a clear direction to launch the freedom struggle. Thus, it was a turning point in the history of Indian freedom struggle.