Question

Describe various satyagraha movements successfully organised by Mahatma Gandhi in various places in India.

Answer 1

Hint: Mahatma Gandhi was the leader of the non-violent independence movement, which was against India’s British rule and the one who advocated for the civil rights of Indians in South Africa. It was in South Africa that Gandhiji developed the powerful weapon of ‘Satyagraha’.

Complete answer:
In 1915, Mahatma Gandhi returned to India from South Africa (where he had lived for more than 20 years). In South Africa, he had led a peaceful agitation against the discrimination suffered by the Indians and had emerged as an eminent leader. It was in South Africa that Gandhiji developed the powerful weapon of ‘Satyagraha’. In India, it was first used against the British government at Champaran in Bihar.

Mahatma Gandhi successfully organised Satyagraha movements in various places across India which are as follows:
In 1916, Gandhiji travelled to Champaran, a district in north western Bihar to inspire the peasants to struggle against the oppressive plantation system. Under the British rule, the majority of the farmers in the district were pressured to grow Indigo in their lands, much to their dismay. To fight this, Raj Kumar Shukla, a money lender, reached out to Gandhiji and requested him to come and help them. The Champaran Satyagraha is considered to be a very important event in the history of India’s struggle for freedom. It was India’s first Civil Disobedience Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in protest against the injustice that the tenant farmers faced in the district.

In 1918, a Satyagraha was organised in the Kheda district of Gujarat to support the peasants. The peasants of Kheda were unable to pay the revenue as they were affected by crop failure and a plague epidemic, and therefore were demanding that revenue collection be relaxed. ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel', under the guidance of Gandhiji, led the farmers in protest against the revenue collection in the wake of the famine. It was a peaceful protest and remarkable courage was shown by the people even in the face of adversities like confiscation of personal property and arrest. Finally, the authorities agreed to give some concessions to the farmers.

In 1918, a Satyagraha movement was organised by Gandhiji in Ahmedabad. It was the first time that Gandhiji used Satyagraha and hunger strike during an industrial dispute between the owners and cotton mill workers in Ahmedabad. The workers were demanding a 35 percent hike in their wages, while the owners wanted to withdraw their plague bonus. The strike was successful and finally the workers were given the wage hike.

Note: In all the above discussed movements, Mahatma Gandhi was able to involve the masses including farmers, artisans and even the lower caste people. This was quite a change as compared to the previous movements where the participation was limited to the upper and the middle classes. During the time of Satyagraha in Champaran district, Gandhiji was given the names ‘Bapu’ and ‘Mahatma’ by the people.