Champaran satyagraha

By Tushar Gandhi It is a tragedy that the agrarian situation in the country doesn’t seem to have changed much even after a century. The plight of indigo farmers in Champaran a hundred years ago is the plight of farmers all over the country in modern-day India. The Champaran movement, or Neel Satyagraha as it was popularly called, was a symbol of the fight for ethics and rights. There was a clear exploitation of the poorest of the poor and the motive was unbridled profiteering. It became a very emotive issue because on one side were rich landlords backed by the most powerful empire of the time, while on the other side was a completely disenfranchised and enslaved community—that of the subsistence farmer. It was assumed that they did not have any voice or pose any threat. Terms like common market and world community that are used today were, in certain ways, also present at that time. Then, as it is now, the philosophy was to extract raw materials at the cheapest rate and to find markets to sell them at most remunerating prices. The trade was loaded in favour of the manufacturer, while the seller of the raw material as well as the purchaser of the finished product were the sufferers. The mills of Manchester were thriving because of the dye that was being produced by farmers in India, who were made to produce it compulsorily. But once the colonisers got cheaper synthetic substitutes, the farmers were abandoned. The situation is similar to what cotton farmers of Vidarbha have ...

Champaran Satyagraha stands as a significant milestone. This nonviolent movement led by Mahatma Gandhi marked the awakening of the Indian masses and set the stage for future acts of civil disobedience. In this article, we will delve into the history, features, significance, and results of the Champaran Satyagraha, highlighting its profound impact on India's freedom struggle. The Indigo Plantation System The Champaran district in Bihar, India, was notorious for the oppressive indigo plantation system imposed by British landlords. Indigo cultivation dominated the region, and farmers were forced to grow indigo instead of food crops, leading to dire consequences for their livelihoods. The Champaran district in Bihar, India, was plagued by the oppressive indigo plantation system imposed by the British landlords during the colonial era. The indigo plantation system was characterized by the cultivation of indigo plants on vast stretches of land, often at the expense of food crops. Under this exploitative system, the British landlords forced the local farmers into growing indigo instead of cultivating crops for their sustenance. The indigo produced was used for dyeing purposes and fetched high profits for the British colonial masters. However, this came at a heavy cost to the local population. The farmers were subjected to various forms of exploitation and coercion. They were compelled to give up fertile lands for indigo cultivation, leading to a scarcity of land for growing food ...

The Tinkathia System or Teen Kathia System ( three In other words, a farmer had to grow History [ ] Background [ ] In the 17th and 18th century, most of Eastern India came under the rule of the Units of Measurement [ ] The term Tinkathia literally means three In Indian units of measurement, each Champaran [ ] In his autobiography, The Champaran tenant was bound by law to plant three out of every twenty parts of his land with indigo for his landlord. This system was known as the tinkathia system, as three kathas out of twenty (which make one acre) had to be planted with indigo. Legacy [ ] The Tinkathia System which had been in existence for about a century was thus abolished and with it the planters’ raj came to an end. The riots, who had all along remained crushed, now somewhat came to their own, and the superstition that the stain of indigo could never be washed out was exploded.

(Coutsey: Wiseart.com) This month, India is observing the 100th annivesary of the first non vilent satyagraha movement of Gandhi. April 1917 was the month when a man who later on became ‘Mahatma’ and father of the nation and liberated India from the British yoke was ushered into the political scene of India. A couple of years before that year, Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi had returned from South Africa after fighting against racial discrimination in that country where he had resorted to the non- violent Sathyagraha means to resist the oppression of the colonial power there. Gandhi having returned to India was only getting himself familiar with the Indian scenario at that time. But the famers of Bihar especially of the Champaran area were undergoing oppression from the planters with whom they had entered into agreements called “teenkathia” means the farmers had to grow indigo in three out of 20 parts of his farm land compulsorily. Even if it was off season, he was not allowed to grow any other crops. The British used to take these indigo products to Britain. But as synthetic colour started replacing indigo, its demand also started dwindling. The farmers were not allowed to stop cultivating indigo but were penalised for not growing them. This led to widespread resistance and indignation among the peasantry. They started revolting against the planters/landlords who were supported by the British rulers. At that time strangely though, a money lender by occupation but sympathiser...

The Champaran Satyagraha is of prime importance in the history of the Indian freedom struggle. It is this Satyagraha that made Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi. And this is the Satyagraha which showed India the path of freedom. After Gandhi’s arrival in Motihari on April 15, 1917, this Satyagraha of the farmers, which was started against the exploitation and atrocities of the British without any protest, demonstration and use of weapons, was completely successful. It was a matter of those days when the First World War was going on. The farmers of Champaran (Bettiah and Motihari) districts of Bihar along with the whole country were troubled by the tyranny and exploitation of the Firangis. Indigo cultivation was being done forcibly on their land. The cultivation of indigo was not only destroying the fertility of the fertile agricultural land of the farmers, but the farmers were also not able to produce the necessary food grains for their food. Along with the practice of three kathas of indigo in one bigha land, arbitrary Taxes were being collected. A spark was also burning inside against exploitation, suffering and tyranny. On the suffering of Champaran, articles started being published in Pratap newspaper of Ganesh Shankar student. Meanwhile, Rajkumar Shukla, a simple farmer from Champaran, started mobilizing journalists Pir Mohammad Munis, Lomraj Singh, Santa Raut and many other farmers like him. When the British came to know about this, these people were put in j...