question_answer 9)

Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life?    

Answer:

Gandhi went to Champaran in 1917 and it was then that he decided to insist on the British leaving India. It was there that not only did he raise his voice against the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar but also freed them from fear.   First he defied the secretary of-the British landlords' association, who refused to give information to an 'outsider'. Next, he refused to leave Tirhut division in which the Champaran district lay despite being told to do so. He also arranged a gathering of peasants in huge numbers which was the beginning of their freedom from fear of the British. The official felt powerless without Gandhi's cooperation, This was his proof that the power-of the Britishers could be challenged by Indians.   The peasants realized that they had rights and this was their first lesson in courag-e. Soon within a Jew years, the British planters returned the estates to the peasants. This was the end of indigo sharecropping. Through the Champaran incident, Gandhi declared for the first time that the British could not order Indians in their own country. It did not begin as an act of-disobedience though. He was through personal example, able to motivate the masses into civil disobedience and teach them to be self-reliant