Indigo
A. Very Short Answer Questions
1. Who is the author of “Indigo”?
Answer: “Indigo” was written by Louis Fischer.
2. Who was Rajkumar Shukla?
Answer: Rajkumar Shukla was a poor indigo sharecropper from Champaran.
3. Where did Rajkumar Shukla first meet Gandhi?
Answer: He first met Gandhi at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress.
4. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as “resolute”?
Answer: Because he persistently followed Gandhi until Gandhi agreed to visit Champaran.
5. Where was Champaran located?
Answer: Champaran was in Bihar.
6. Who was Rajendra Prasad?
Answer: Rajendra Prasad was a lawyer who later became the first President of India.
7. Why did Rajendra Prasad’s servants mistake Gandhi for a peasant?
Answer: Gandhi was simply dressed and had arrived with Rajkumar Shukla, a poor peasant.
8. Who received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur?
Answer: J. B. Kripalani received Gandhi at the railway station.
9. At whose house did Gandhi stay in Muzaffarpur?
Answer: He stayed at the house of Professor Malkani.
10. Why was Gandhi’s stay at Professor Malkani’s house considered extraordinary?
Answer: Because Malkani was a government school teacher and openly sheltering an advocate of home rule was considered risky.
11. What percentage of land were the peasants forced to grow indigo on?
Answer: Fifteen percent of their land.
12. What was the indigo arrangement known as?
Answer: The tinkathia system.
13. Why did the British planters want compensation?
Answer: Synthetic indigo had reduced the demand for natural indigo, so they wanted money to release peasants from the indigo agreement.
14. Where was synthetic indigo developed?
Answer: In Germany.
15. What order did the British authorities give Gandhi?
Answer: They ordered him to leave Champaran.
16. What did Gandhi do with that order?
Answer: He politely refused to obey it.
17. Why did Gandhi plead guilty?
Answer: Because he had deliberately disobeyed the official order in obedience to his conscience and duty to the peasants.
18. What happened outside the Motihari court?
Answer: Thousands of peasants gathered in support of Gandhi.
19. What percentage of refund did the British landlords finally agree to pay?
Answer: Twenty-five percent.
20. Why was the 25 percent refund important?
Answer: It was a moral victory that broke the prestige and authority of the British landlords.
21. What happened to the indigo sharecropping system later?
Answer: It gradually ended.
22. What did Gandhi establish in Champaran apart from fighting the indigo issue?
Answer: Schools and programmes for sanitation, hygiene and basic healthcare.
23. Who helped Gandhi in the social work at Champaran?
Answer: Kasturbai Gandhi and other volunteers.
24. Who was Charles Freer Andrews?
Answer: He was an English missionary and a friend of Gandhi.
25. Why did Gandhi refuse to depend on C. F. Andrews?
Answer: He wanted the Indians to develop self-reliance and fight their own battle.
B. Textbook Exercises
1. Strike out what is not true.
(a) Rajkumar Shukla was:
-
A sharecropper — True
-
A politician — Not true
-
A delegate — True
-
A landlord — Not true
(b) Rajkumar Shukla was:
-
Poor — True
-
Physically strong — Not true
-
Illiterate — True
2. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being “resolute”?
Answer:
Rajkumar Shukla is called resolute because he was determined to bring Gandhi to Champaran. He met Gandhi at the Lucknow Congress session and followed him from place to place despite Gandhi’s busy schedule. He patiently waited until Gandhi finally fixed a date and agreed to accompany him. His persistence and single-minded determination made him “resolute.”
3. Why did the servants think Gandhi to be another peasant?
Answer:
Rajkumar Shukla took Gandhi to Rajendra Prasad’s house in Patna. The servants knew Shukla as a poor peasant who often came to seek help. Since Gandhi was simply dressed and had come with him, they assumed that Gandhi too was another poor peasant.
4. List the places Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival in Champaran.
Answer:
Gandhi first met Shukla at Lucknow. He later went to his ashram near Ahmedabad and then to Calcutta. From Calcutta, Gandhi and Shukla travelled to Patna, then to Muzaffarpur, and finally to Motihari in Champaran.
5. What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British want instead and why?
Answer:
The peasants were forced to grow indigo on fifteen percent of their land and surrender the entire indigo crop to the British landlords as rent.
Later, Germany developed synthetic indigo, which reduced the value of natural indigo. The British landlords therefore wanted compensation from the peasants in return for releasing them from the old agreement.
6. What was likely to be the effect of synthetic indigo on natural indigo?
Answer:
Synthetic indigo would reduce the demand and market price of natural indigo, making indigo cultivation less profitable for the British planters.
7. How do the events show Gandhi’s method of satyagraha and non-violence?
Answer:
Gandhi respected the law but refused to obey an unjust order. When ordered to leave Champaran, he peacefully disobeyed and accepted the legal consequences. He pleaded guilty but explained that his higher duty was to help the oppressed peasants.
He did not encourage violence or hatred. Instead, he relied on truth, investigation, moral courage and peaceful resistance. This clearly reflected satyagraha and non-violence.
8. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 percent refund?
Answer:
Gandhi believed that the amount of money was less important than the principle involved. By agreeing to refund even twenty-five percent, the British landlords admitted that they had acted unjustly. Their prestige was weakened and the peasants gained confidence. For Gandhi, this moral victory mattered more than the exact amount.
9. How did the Champaran episode change the condition of the peasants?
Answer:
The episode freed the peasants from fear of the British landlords. The oppressive indigo arrangement gradually ended, and the peasants became aware of their rights.
Gandhi also worked to improve their social conditions by opening schools and promoting cleanliness, sanitation and basic medical care. Thus, the movement improved both their political confidence and their everyday life.
C. Short Answer Questions
1. Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers of Muzaffarpur?
Answer:
Gandhi criticised the lawyers for charging high fees from poor and frightened peasants. He felt that legal cases alone would not help them because their real problem was fear. He wanted the lawyers to serve the peasants selflessly rather than profit from their suffering.
2. What was the long-term agreement between the peasants and British landlords?
Answer:
Under the tinkathia system, the peasants had to cultivate indigo on three-twentieths, or fifteen percent, of their holdings and surrender the entire indigo produce to the British landlords as rent.
3. What was the “conflict of duties” Gandhi referred to in court?
Answer:
Gandhi faced a conflict between obeying the official order as a law-abiding citizen and obeying his conscience by helping the oppressed peasants. He chose the higher moral duty and accepted the punishment for disobeying the law.
4. What was the significance of the peasants’ demonstration at Motihari?
Answer:
Thousands of peasants gathered outside the court to support Gandhi. Their spontaneous presence showed that they were beginning to overcome their fear of British authority. It also placed moral pressure on the officials and marked the beginning of their liberation from fear.
5. What was the “extraordinary thing” that happened at Professor Malkani’s house?
Answer:
Professor Malkani, a government school teacher, gave Gandhi shelter in his house. At a time when ordinary people were afraid to openly support advocates of home rule, this was considered an unusually courageous act.
6. What did Gandhi mean when he said the amount of refund was less important than the principle?
Answer:
He meant that the real victory was not financial. The important point was that the British landlords were forced to admit wrongdoing and return part of the money. This weakened their prestige and gave the peasants confidence.
7. Why did Gandhi refuse the help of Charles Freer Andrews?
Answer:
Gandhi felt that depending on an Englishman would show weakness. He wanted the Indian lawyers to trust themselves and their own cause. He therefore insisted that they fight the battle without outside support.
8. What steps did Gandhi take to improve the social condition of Champaran?
Answer:
He arranged for primary schools to be opened, encouraged cleanliness and sanitation, brought in volunteers and arranged basic medical help. He understood that true freedom required social improvement as well as political justice.
9. Why is Rajkumar Shukla important in the Champaran movement?
Answer:
Though an ordinary poor peasant, Shukla’s persistence brought Gandhi to Champaran. Without his determination, Gandhi might not have become directly involved in the peasants’ struggle.
10. Why did Gandhi consider fear a greater problem than legal injustice?
Answer:
He realised that peasants who were afraid could not fight for their rights even if the law supported them. Therefore, making them fearless and self-reliant was more important than merely winning court cases.
D. Understanding the Text
1. Why did Gandhi consider the Champaran episode a turning point in his life?
Answer:
The Champaran episode was a turning point because it was Gandhi’s first major successful experiment with civil disobedience in India.
He directly confronted the injustice suffered by poor sharecroppers and refused to obey an order to leave the district. His peaceful resistance forced the authorities to retreat and eventually led to an inquiry and settlement.
More importantly, the peasants lost their fear of the British landlords. Gandhi realised that the freedom movement had to be connected with the everyday problems of ordinary people.
Champaran therefore established a new method of political struggle based on truth, non-violence, civil disobedience and mass participation.
2. How was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers?
Answer:
Gandhi influenced the lawyers mainly through moral example.
He first criticised them for charging high fees from poor peasants. Later, when he faced possible imprisonment, he asked the lawyers what they would do if he went to jail. At first, they said they would return home.
Gandhi then reminded them that he was an outsider while the peasants were their own people. The lawyers felt ashamed and decided to stand by him even if they too had to go to prison.
Thus, Gandhi transformed their professional interest into a sense of social duty.
3. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of home rule?
Answer:
The average Indian in smaller towns was generally afraid to openly support advocates of home rule. Fear of British authority made people cautious.
That is why Professor Malkani’s decision to shelter Gandhi was remarkable. It showed unusual courage at a time when government employees normally avoided association with nationalist leaders.
4. How do we know that ordinary people contributed to the freedom movement?
Answer:
The chapter itself provides several examples. Rajkumar Shukla, an ordinary peasant, brought Gandhi to Champaran. Thousands of peasants gathered at Motihari in support of Gandhi. Professor Malkani offered him shelter despite the risks.
Later, volunteers worked in villages to improve education, sanitation and health. These examples show that the freedom movement was not led only by famous leaders; ordinary people played a vital role.
E. Long Answer Questions
1. Describe the Champaran episode and explain its impact on the peasants.
Answer:
The Champaran episode began when Rajkumar Shukla persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran and investigate the exploitation of indigo sharecroppers.
The peasants were forced under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on fifteen percent of their land and give the entire crop to British landlords. When synthetic indigo reduced the value of natural indigo, the landlords demanded compensation from the peasants for releasing them from the old agreement.
Gandhi began collecting facts and meeting peasants. The British authorities ordered him to leave Champaran, but he refused peacefully and accepted the legal consequences. Thousands of peasants gathered outside the court, showing their support.
The case against Gandhi was eventually dropped, and an official inquiry was ordered. Gandhi was included in the commission. The landlords finally agreed to refund twenty-five percent of the illegally collected money.
The financial amount was not the greatest achievement. The real victory was that the peasants lost their fear of the British. The landlords’ prestige was broken, the indigo system gradually ended and the peasants gained confidence in their rights.
Gandhi also worked for education, sanitation and healthcare. Thus, Champaran became both a political and social movement.
2. Explain why Champaran was a turning point in Gandhi’s life and in India’s freedom struggle.
Answer:
Champaran was significant because it demonstrated that British authority could be challenged through peaceful civil disobedience.
Gandhi did not begin with a grand political plan. He came to help poor peasants suffering under an unjust agrarian system. But when ordered to leave, he refused on moral grounds and accepted the consequences.
His stand inspired thousands of peasants and made them fearless. The authorities were forced to retreat and agree to an inquiry.
The episode taught Gandhi that the struggle for freedom had to be rooted in the everyday suffering of ordinary people. It also showed the effectiveness of satyagraha, non-violence and self-reliance.
For these reasons, Champaran became a turning point both in Gandhi’s public life and in the wider freedom movement.
3. Describe Gandhi’s method of working in Champaran.
Answer:
Gandhi’s method was practical, disciplined and people-centred.
First, he gathered facts. He listened to peasants, examined their grievances and collected evidence.
Second, he tried to remove fear. He believed that frightened people could not fight injustice effectively.
Third, he used non-violent civil disobedience. When ordered to leave, he respectfully refused but accepted legal responsibility.
Fourth, he inspired local lawyers to serve selflessly and stand with the peasants.
Finally, he did not stop after achieving a political settlement. He turned to education, sanitation, hygiene and health.
Thus, Gandhi combined truth, non-violence, investigation, self-reliance and constructive social work.
4. “Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.” Discuss in the context of Champaran.
Answer:
The peasants of Champaran were exploited not only because of unjust contracts but also because they were deeply afraid of British landlords and officials.
Legal cases alone could not solve their problem. As long as they remained frightened, they would continue to accept injustice.
Gandhi therefore focused first on making them fearless. His own refusal to obey the unjust order showed them that British authority was not absolute. Their spontaneous gathering at the Motihari court marked the beginning of this change.
Once the peasants became confident, they could demand justice and defend their rights. Therefore, Gandhi believed that freedom from fear was the foundation of real freedom.
5. How did Gandhi teach self-reliance to the lawyers and peasants?
Answer:
Gandhi taught self-reliance mainly through example.
When the lawyers looked to C. F. Andrews, an Englishman, for support, Gandhi refused to depend on him. He argued that if their cause was just, they should have the courage to fight it themselves.
Similarly, he taught the peasants that they did not need to remain helpless before landlords. By standing up peacefully and confidently, they could defend their rights.
Thus, Gandhi encouraged both the lawyers and peasants to trust their own moral strength.
6. Describe Rajkumar Shukla’s role in the Champaran movement.
Answer:
Rajkumar Shukla was a poor, illiterate sharecropper, but his persistence made him extremely important.
He met Gandhi at Lucknow and repeatedly urged him to visit Champaran. Gandhi was busy and moved from place to place, but Shukla kept following him until he received a definite promise.
Finally, he accompanied Gandhi from Calcutta to Bihar and helped bring him into direct contact with the peasants’ suffering.
Thus, Shukla proves that even an ordinary person can play a major historical role through determination.
F. Talking About the Text
1. What qualities make a good leader?
Answer:
A good leader should possess courage, honesty, dedication, empathy, patience and moral strength. A true leader inspires others by example rather than merely giving orders.
Gandhi showed these qualities in Champaran. He listened to the peasants, accepted personal risk, encouraged others to be fearless and focused on long-term improvement rather than personal success.
2. Are the poor completely free from fear even after Independence?
Answer:
Political independence has greatly expanded legal rights and protections, but poverty and unequal access to institutions can still leave vulnerable people afraid of powerful individuals or systems.
Gandhi’s lesson remains relevant: legal rights are meaningful only when people are aware of them, confident enough to claim them and able to act without fear.
G. Working with Words
Words related to legal procedures
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Deposition
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Summons
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Court
-
Lawyer
-
Judge
-
Magistrate
-
Prosecutor
-
Bail
-
Plea
-
Sentence
-
Case
-
Evidence
-
Inquiry
-
Commission
-
Judgment
-
Affidavit
-
Testimony
-
Verdict
-
Appeal
-
Witness
H. Thinking About Language
Why does the author use direct speech in the chapter?
Answer:
Direct speech makes the narration lively, immediate and authentic. It allows readers to hear the actual voices of Gandhi, Rajkumar Shukla and others, and helps reveal their personalities more clearly.
Use of commas in introductory clauses
A comma is generally used after a longer introductory clause when the main clause follows.
Example:
When the court reconvened, the judge said he would not deliver the judgment for several days.
No comma is necessary when the dependent clause follows the main clause and is essential to the meaning.
I. Important Additional Questions
1. What did Gandhi mean by “humanitarian and national service”?
Answer:
Humanitarian service meant helping the oppressed peasants of Champaran in their immediate suffering. National service meant teaching Indians to resist injustice, develop courage and move towards freedom from British rule.
2. Why was Gandhi’s court appearance important?
Answer:
It transformed a legal case into a moral challenge to British authority. Gandhi’s willingness to accept punishment showed courage, and the mass support of peasants revealed that they were overcoming fear.
3. Why was the case against Gandhi dropped?
Answer:
The authorities realised that his arrest could create greater unrest and that his moral position had strong public support. They therefore withdrew the case.
4. What did Gandhi achieve beyond the 25 percent refund?
Answer:
He restored the peasants’ confidence, weakened the landlords’ authority, ended the exploitative system and promoted education, hygiene and healthcare.
5. Why was the 25 percent refund a psychological victory?
Answer:
For the first time, the landlords had been forced to surrender part of their unjust gains. This destroyed the idea that they were all-powerful and gave the peasants courage.
6. What does Rajkumar Shukla symbolise?
Answer:
He symbolises the power of persistence and the ability of an ordinary person to initiate great change.
7. What does the Champaran episode teach about leadership?
Answer:
It teaches that effective leadership requires listening to ordinary people, moral courage, practical action and the ability to make people self-reliant.
8. Why was Gandhi not satisfied with merely solving the indigo problem?
Answer:
He realised that poverty, illiteracy, poor hygiene and lack of healthcare were also part of the peasants’ suffering. Therefore, he worked for broader social improvement.
9. What is the central theme of “Indigo”?
Answer:
The central theme is the triumph of truth, courage and non-violent resistance over exploitation and fear.
10. What was the greatest achievement of the Champaran movement?
Answer:
Its greatest achievement was freeing the peasants from fear and making them aware of their rights.
J. MCQs — 20
1. Who wrote “Indigo”?
A) Louis Fischer
B) William Douglas
C) Anees Jung
D) Selma Lagerlöf
Answer: A) Louis Fischer
2. Who persuaded Gandhi to visit Champaran?
A) Rajendra Prasad
B) Rajkumar Shukla
C) J. B. Kripalani
D) Professor Malkani
Answer: B) Rajkumar Shukla
3. Rajkumar Shukla was a—
A) lawyer
B) landlord
C) sharecropper
D) professor
Answer: C) sharecropper
4. Where did Shukla first meet Gandhi?
A) Patna
B) Calcutta
C) Motihari
D) Lucknow
Answer: D) Lucknow
5. What percentage of land had to be planted with indigo?
A) 15 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 10 percent
D) 20 percent
Answer: A) 15 percent
6. Gandhi stayed at whose house in Muzaffarpur?
A) Rajendra Prasad
B) Professor Malkani
C) C. F. Andrews
D) Rajkumar Shukla
Answer: B) Professor Malkani
7. Synthetic indigo was developed in—
A) France
B) England
C) Germany
D) India
Answer: C) Germany
8. Where did thousands of peasants gather in support of Gandhi?
A) Lucknow
B) Calcutta
C) Patna
D) Motihari
Answer: D) Motihari
9. Why did Gandhi refuse to leave Champaran?
A) He felt morally bound to help the peasants
B) He wanted to become a lawyer there
C) He had no money to travel
D) He was waiting for Shukla
Answer: A) He felt morally bound to help the peasants
10. Who received Gandhi at Muzaffarpur station?
A) Rajendra Prasad
B) J. B. Kripalani
C) Charles Andrews
D) Kasturbai Gandhi
Answer: B) J. B. Kripalani
11. The old indigo arrangement was called—
A) Ryotwari
B) Mahalwari
C) Tinkathia
D) Zamindari
Answer: C) Tinkathia
12. What refund did the British landlords finally agree to?
A) 10 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 25 percent
Answer: D) 25 percent
13. Why did Gandhi criticise the lawyers?
A) They charged high fees from poor peasants
B) They refused to study law
C) They worked for the British
D) They opposed Shukla
Answer: A) They charged high fees from poor peasants
14. Gandhi’s method in Champaran was based mainly on—
A) armed revolt
B) satyagraha and non-violence
C) secret conspiracy
D) boycott alone
Answer: B) satyagraha and non-violence
15. What did Gandhi want the peasants to overcome first?
A) Illness
B) Hunger
C) Fear
D) Illiteracy
Answer: C) Fear
16. Why did Gandhi refuse the help of C. F. Andrews?
A) He disliked him
B) Andrews refused to help
C) He was leaving India
D) Gandhi wanted Indians to be self-reliant
Answer: D) Gandhi wanted Indians to be self-reliant
17. What did the Champaran movement give the peasants?
A) Confidence
B) Wealth
C) Government jobs
D) Free land immediately
Answer: A) Confidence
18. Gandhi opened schools mainly to improve—
A) transport
B) education
C) trade
D) law
Answer: B) education
19. Professor Malkani’s action was considered courageous because—
A) he was a landlord
B) he fought the police
C) he was a government employee sheltering Gandhi
D) he was a British officer
Answer: C) he was a government employee sheltering Gandhi
20. The central message of “Indigo” is—
A) wealth brings freedom
B) courts solve every problem
C) violence is necessary
D) courage and non-violent resistance can defeat injustice
Answer: D) courage and non-violent resistance can defeat injustice
Teacher Generate Question Answer
Indigo
TEXTBOOK EXERCISES
1. Strike out what is not true in the following:
(a) Rajkumar Shukla was:
i) A sharecropper
ii) A politician
iii) A delegate
iv) A landlord
Answer: iv) A landlord
(b) Rajkumar Shukla was:
i) Poor
ii) Physically strong
iii) Illiterate
Ans: ii) Physically strong
2. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being “resolute”?
Ans: Rajkumar Shukla is described as resolute because of his strong determination to bring Mahatma Gandhi to Champaran to help the poor peasants. He first met Gandhi at the Lucknow session of the Congress and repeatedly requested him to visit Champaran. Even though Gandhi had many commitments across the country, Shukla patiently followed him from place to place until Gandhi finally agreed to accompany him. His persistence and determination impressed Gandhi.
3. Why did the servants think Gandhi to be another peasant?
Ans: When Gandhi reached Patna with Rajkumar Shukla, they went to the house of a lawyer, Rajendra Prasad. The servants there knew Shukla as a poor farmer from Champaran who often came seeking help for the indigo farmers. Seeing Gandhi dressed simply and accompanying Shukla, they assumed he was another poor peasant like him.
4. List the places that Gandhi visited between his first meeting with Shukla and his arrival at Champaran.
Ans:
Gandhi first met Rajkumar Shukla at Lucknow. After that he returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Shukla continued to follow him and remind him of his promise. Later Gandhi travelled to Calcutta, from where both of them went to Patna. From Patna, Gandhi moved to Muzaffarpur and then to Motihari in Champaran.
5. What did the peasants pay the British landlords as rent? What did the British want instead and why?
Ans: The peasants were forced to grow indigo on fifteen percent of their land and hand over the entire indigo crop to the British landlords as rent. Later, when synthetic indigo was developed in Germany, natural indigo lost its market value. As a result, the British planters wanted compensation from the peasants in return for releasing them from the agreement to grow indigo.
6. The events illustrate Gandhi’s method of working. Identify examples linked to his ideas of satyagraha and non-violence.
Ans: Gandhi’s actions in Champaran clearly showed his belief in truth and non-violence. When he was ordered by the authorities to leave Champaran immediately, he politely refused to obey the order because he felt it was unjust. At the same time, he remained respectful towards the law and did not encourage violence. His calm defiance and commitment to truth reflected the principles of satyagraha.
7. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25 percent refund to the farmers?
Ans: Gandhi agreed to the settlement because he believed that the moral victory was more important than the exact amount of money returned. When the British landlords agreed to repay 25 percent of the money they had taken from the peasants, it showed that they had accepted their wrongdoing. This decision weakened their authority and restored confidence among the peasants.
8. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Ans: The Champaran settlement greatly improved the condition of the peasants. Earlier, the British landlords had complete control over them and forced them to grow indigo. After the settlement, the unfair agreement was abolished and the peasants realised that they had rights. They gained courage and confidence, and within a few years the British planters left the region and the land was returned to the farmers.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
1. Why did Gandhi consider the Champaran episode a turning point in his life?
Ans: The Champaran episode marked the first successful application of civil disobedience in India. Gandhi fought for the rights of poor indigo farmers who were suffering under the oppressive system imposed by British landlords. The movement demonstrated that peaceful resistance could challenge injustice.
This success encouraged people to stand up against exploitation and helped spread Gandhi’s influence among the masses. It also removed the fear of British authority from the minds of the peasants. Therefore, Gandhi regarded the Champaran struggle as an important turning point in India’s freedom movement.
2. How was Gandhi able to influence the lawyers?
Ans: When Gandhi arrived in Champaran, several lawyers came to support the peasants’ cause. Gandhi criticised them for charging high fees from poor farmers and questioned their commitment to justice. Later, when he faced trial for disobeying the official order, he asked the lawyers what they would do if he were sent to prison.
Initially, they said they would return home. Gandhi expressed disappointment and asked who would then help the farmers. Realising their mistake, the lawyers felt ashamed and promised to stand with Gandhi even if it meant going to jail. This showed how Gandhi inspired them with his courage and dedication.
3. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of home rule?
Ans: Before Gandhi’s leadership, most ordinary people in smaller towns and villages remained indifferent or fearful about supporting the movement for self-rule. They were afraid of British authority and often avoided involvement in political activities.
However, a few individuals like J. B. Kripalani and Professor Malkani supported Gandhi openly. Over time, Gandhi’s leadership helped break this fear and encouraged more people to participate in the struggle for independence.
4. How do we know that ordinary people contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans: The freedom movement became successful largely because of the participation of ordinary people. Gandhi’s leadership brought the struggle into villages and towns, encouraging farmers, workers, and students to take part. Many women also actively joined various movements.
Campaigns such as the boycott of British goods and later movements like the Quit India Movement saw widespread participation from the masses. This collective effort of common people played a crucial role in weakening British rule and eventually led to India’s independence.
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