Gandhi in Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad: Sowing the Seeds of Satyagraha
Gandhi returned to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915. The day he returned has been celebrated as the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or Non-Resident Indian Day in India since 2003. On his return, he spent the initial phase in understanding the situation of the country on the advice of his political Guru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and organizing his ashram in Ahmedabad, living a community life with his wife, Kasturba Gandhi and followers from South Africa. One of the reasons he opted for distancing himself from politics or joining any of the current political trends such the Home Rule Movement (founded by Annie Besant in 1916) because in his opinion the time for agitating for Home Rule was not appropriate when the British were in trouble owing to the First World War. Also, he believed that none of the existing different methods of political struggle seemed feasible. He had a firm faith in non-violent Satyagraha. During this phase of political inactiveness, however, Gandhi did participate in three important movements that took place in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda. These events were significant from the perspective that it aided Gandhi in meeting important political personalities of the freedom struggle movement of India- Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Anugraha Narayana Sinha, J. B. Kriplani, Braj Kishore Prasad, Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahadev Desai, Indulal Yajnik and Shankarlal Banker.
Champaran
In 1917 Gandhi led his first Satyagraha movement in the form of Champaran Satyagraha. In Champaran (in modern-day Bihar), the peasants had been oppressed by the European planters who had been forcing the peasants to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their land holdings. This arrangement was called the tinkathia system. however, by the end of the 19th c. these indigo cultivators were rendered free of any obligation to grow indigo as German synthetic dyes captured the European market as a cheaper option. And on top of that, as a price for the release of the obligation, the peasants were being forced to pay increased rent and other illegal dues. To address their grievances, Raj Kumar Shukla, a native of Champaran followed Gandhi all over the nation and persuaded him to come to Champaran. When he arrived, he was ordered to leave Champaran by the Commissioner which he refused to do and instead showed willingness to be punished for flouting the order. But no action was taken against him, and he went on to investigate the problems the peasants in the region were facing. He along with Rajendra Prasad (who later became India's first President and the only Indian President to hold the office for 12 years, from 1950 to 1962), J. B. Kriplani, Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parekh visited the villages where the peasants were suffering. Seeing the matter getting serious, the government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to look into the matter and Gandhi was nominated one of the members of the commission. He argued in favour of the peasants and that they should be compensated for the illegal extraction of the dues and rent and that the tinkatia system should be prohibited. However, the Commission asked the planters to refund only 25 percent of the money. In the opinion of Gandhi, this was enough to mar the reputation of the planters.
Kheda
The situation in Kheda district of Gujarat was similar to Champaran in a way that this too involved the peasants, but the difference was that the Kanbi-Patidar peasants were comparatively prosperous peasant landholders than the poverty-stricken Champaran cultivators. The Patidars grew food crops, cotton and tobacco for Ahmedabad which is located close to Kheda and many of them had been to South Africa for trade as traders, and also, many received primary education. However, in the late 19th c., after 1899 the district was severely affected by recurring famines and plagues. This led to crop failures which made the payment of land revenue extremely difficult. The pleas of the peasants for the suspension of revenue went unheard by the government despite the fact that as per the revenue code if the crops yield was to be less than one-fourth of the regular yield, the peasants were to be granted a full remission of revenue.
Gandhi as the president of the Gujarat Sabha guided the peasants to agitate against the government. He was aided by Vallabhbhai Patel (a resident of Kheda district and a young lawyer), Indulal Yagnik, and others. They toured many villages and asked the peasants not to pay and even those who could afford to pay would advise against it in the interests of lesser Patidars who were the worst affected as these lesser Patidars unlike superior Patidars could neither find employment in the civil service of nearby Baroda state nor they could attract hefty dowries through the means of marriage as they were placed in the lower rung of their Patidar or Kanbi caste. Besides, the Patidars hired the low-caste Baraiyas as agricultural labourers and the latter were able to raise their wages. However, it was the local village leaders such as Mohanlal Pandya who started to agitate for no-revenue in the month of November in 1917. Later, in March 1918 Gandhi after a delay agreed to consider the demand for no revenue payment and by this time, a number of lesser Patidars were forced to pay. Finally, the agitation was called off in June. The peasant satyagraha of Gandhi impacted only 70 villages out of 559.
Ahmedabad
Afterwards in February-March 1918, Gandhi took up the case of the mill workers of Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad mill workers strike is known for Gandhi's first use of hunger-strike. Gandhi was against any use of violence and therefore, he forbade any militant picketing by the workers. The mill workers collided with the mill owners over the issue of a 'plague bonus' of 1917 which the mill-owners decided to end since the epidemic had elapsed. But the workers demanded to keep it since due to the First World War, the cost of living had become dear. Ambalal Sarabhai who was Gandhi's friend and had recently saved the Sabarmati Ashram from the financial crisis by donating a sum of 13,000 Rs, was one of the prominent mill owners of Ahmedabad. Amablal's sister, Anasuya Behn was Gandhi's follower and she started night schools for mill workers. Gandhi went on a hunger-strike which effectively put pressure on the mill owners, and they relented to take the issue to a tribunal and the strike was called off. Gandhi's hunger strike aided the workers in clinching a 35 percent wage-increase.
.jpg)
Hence, Gandhi's active participation in the initial phase of his political career in India's struggle for independence had been relatively minimal, yet significant. It provided him time to examine and understand the political scenario of the country by touring its different regions and interacting with many leaders and surveying the conditions of the people.
Comments
Post a Comment