Who drew Mahatma Gandhi's attention towards the exploitation of the peasants by the European indigo planters?
- ABaba Ram Chandra
- BRaj Kumar Shukla
- CSwami Sahajananda Saraswati
- DSri Krishna Sinha
- ENone of the above/More than one of the above
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: (b) Raj Kumar Shukla
Explanation
After returning from South Africa in January 1915, Gandhiji carried out his first successful Satyagraha in Bihar’s Champaran district in 1917. In 1916, a Champaran farmer, Rajkumar Shukla, met Gandhiji in Lucknow and urged him to visit Champaran. The Champaran issue was quite old. By the end of the 19th century, German synthetic dyes replaced indigo in the market. As a result, the European plantation owners in Champaran were forced to stop indigo cultivation. The peasants too wanted to get rid of indigo cultivation as a cash crop. Taking advantage of the peasants helplessness, the white planters arbitrarily increased rent and other illegal taxes in the name of releasing them from their contracts. It was against this exploitation of the peasants that Gandhiji began the Champaran Satyagraha.