The word ‘Satyagraha’ means “holding firmly to truth” or “truth force” and it is a form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. A person who practises satyagraha is called a ‘satyagrahi’
In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi led the first satyagraha movement in India. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
New Delhi: Satyagraha was Mahatma Gandhi’s most potent weapon in his fight against the British colonial empire in the Indian subcontinent. The word ‘Satyagraha’ means “holding firmly to truth” or “truth force” and it is a form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. A person who practises satyagraha is called a ‘satyagrahi’. Gandhi confined the term and developed the principles of Satyagraha. He first practised satyagraha in South Africa to fight against the racist administration there and later made it an integral part of the Indian independence movement. But, where did he first use the Satyagraha in India?
Mahatma Gandhi and the Champaran Satyagraha
In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi led the first satyagraha movement in India in Bihar’s Champaran. Due to that, that movement has immense significance in the Indian freedom struggle. It was a farmer’s uprising that took place in Champaran during the British Raj in India. The Britishers were forcing the farmers to grow indigo with barely any payment for it and the peasants were protesting against the deplorable practice which was greatly harming them financially.
After returning to India from South Africa, Gandhi saw that Indigo planters were oppressing the peasants in Northern India. He had deployed Satyagraha in South Africa to organize mass uprisings against injustice and decided to use it in Champaran as well. The resultant Champaran Satyagraha was the first time that it was used in India. It gave direction not only to the farmers but also to the youths of the country in the freedom struggle, as they were tottering between moderates and the radicals.
The reason behind the Champaran Satyagraha
The British indigo planters forced the tenant farmers in Champaran to grow some indigo on a portion of their land. They were forced to grow it on a portion of their lands and used to get minimal money in return. As a result, the peasants were suffering heavy losses which created much anger and resentment.
Gandhi went to Champaran and got to know about the plight of the farmers. He travelled the villages and interrogated and documented the statements of almost 8,000 tenant farmers of indigo. He understood their grievance and opined that it was the illiteracy of the cultivators which was enabling the European planters to control them. Gandhi established voluntary groups to improve the economic and educational conditions of the people.
What happened at the end of the Champaran Satyagraha?
The Champaran Satyagraha ended with the government appointing a commission to investigate the claims of the cultivators of being oppressed by the indigo planters. Gandhi was asked to serve on the committee and he accepted. Within a few months, the Champaran Agrarian Bill was passed much to the relief of cultivators and land tenants.
Next Article
Follow us on social media
