question_answer 10)

How was Gandhi able to influence lawyers? Give instances.  

Answer:

The MuzzaJarpur lawyers called on Gandhi in Champaran to brief him about their cases and reported the size of the fees they charged the sharecroppers. Gandhi scolded the lawyers for collecting big fees from the sharecroppers. He also said that freedom from fear would help the sharecroppers much more than merely taking such cases to court.   When Gandhi was asked to furnish bail, he refused, though he expected them to arrest him Hence, when before the Judgment, RaJendra Prasad, BriJ Kishor Babu, Maulana Mazharul Huq and several other prominent lawyers arrived from Bihar he asked them what they would do if he was sentenced to prison. A senior lawyer replied that they had come to advise and help him and if he went to Jail, there would be nobody to advise and they would go home. But, when Gandhi talked about the injustice to the sharecroppers, they withdrew to consult. They felt that Gandhi being a complete stranger was prepared to go to prison for the sake of the peasants then if they, not only as residents of the adjoining districts but also as those who claimed to have served these peasants, should go home, it would be a shameful desertion. They went back to Gandhi and told him they were ready to follow him into Jail.