Gandhi’s Early Movements in India: Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda

Upon returning to India in January 1915, Gandhi received a warm welcome. His reputation from South Africa, known not only among educated Indians but also for resonating with the masses, was evident during his visit to the Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, where people flocked for his ‘darshan.’ Gokhale, recognizing Gandhi’s extraordinary qualities, hailed him as a hero and martyr-maker. The veteran Indian leader noticed in Gandhiji an even more important quality: ‘He has in him the marvelous spiritual power to turn ordinary men around him into heroes and martyrs.’

Developments

Travel Across India: Following Gokhale’s advice, Gandhi refrained from taking a public stand on political issues for the first year. Instead, he traveled the country, organizing his ashram in Ahmedabad, where he and his devoted followers aimed to lead a community life. 

• Observing Refrain: Regarding the ongoing political dynamics in India during that period, he firmly believed in the constraints of moderate politics. 
  • Gandhi’s Divergence from Mainstream: Despite the momentum of the Home Rule Movement, Gandhi maintained his distance from political affairs, as none of the existing political currents aligned with his beliefs. 
  • Critique of Home Rule Agitation: Moreover, he expressed dissent towards the rising popularity of the Home Rule agitation, deeming it inappropriate to advocate for Home Rule while Britain was entangled in a war.
  • His reasons for not joining the existing political organizations are best explained in his own words: “At my time of life and with views firmly formed on several matters, I could only join an organization to affect its policy and not be affected by it. This does not mean that I would not now have an open mind to receive new light. I simply wish to emphasize the fact that the new light will have to be especially dazzling to entrance me.”

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• Entry into Political Realm: Gandhi firmly believed in Satyagraha as the only viable answer to political struggles, expressing reluctance to join organizations that did not adopt non-violent Satyagraha. 
  • Gandhiji’s Active Engagement: Nevertheless, this didn’t imply that Gandhiji would stay aloof from political activities. 
    • In the period spanning 1917 to early 1918, he actively participated in three notable struggles—in Champaran(Bihar), Ahmedabad, and Kheda(Gujarat). 
  • The distinctive trait of these movements was their direct connection to localized concerns, centered around the economic aspirations of the masses. 
  • Focus on Peasant and Worker Issues: Among these, the Champaran and Kheda struggles revolved around the concerns of peasants, while the one in Ahmedabad centered on the issues faced by industrial workers.

Champaran Satyagraha (1917)

• Tinkathia system: The Champaran narrative unfolded in the early 19th century when European planters entrapped cultivators in agreements compelling them to cultivate indigo on the 3/20th of their land (known as the tinkathia system). 
• German synthetic dyes impact: As the century neared its end, the indigo market was overshadowed by German synthetic dyes, prompting Champaran’s European planters to seek advantages in releasing cultivators from indigo cultivation. 
  • Exploiting the situation, they demanded increased rent and other illicit fees in exchange for release. 
• Raj Kumar Shukla’s invitation to Gandhiji: While resistance had emerged in 1908, the planters’ exactions persisted until Raj Kumar Shukla, a resident, embarked on a journey following Gandhiji nationwide, urging him to come to Champaran and investigate the issue.
• Civil disobedience against an unjust government order:  Upon reaching Champaran with Rajendra Prasad, Mazharul-Haq, Mahadeo Desai, Narhari Parekh, and J.B. Kripalani to investigate, Gandhiji faced an immediate order from the authorities to leave the area. But Gandhiji defied it with readiness to accept the consequences. 
  • Compliance of Other Leaders: This was uncommon, as even Tilak and Annie Besant, when expelled from a specific province, complied with the orders, albeit organizing public protests against them. 
  • Pioneering Passive Resistance: This act of passive resistance or civil disobedience against an unjust order was a groundbreaking method at that time.  Eventually, the authorities relented, allowing Gandhi to conduct an inquiry. 
    • A government-appointed committee was formed, with Gandhi as a member. 

• Gandhi’s Demand: With evidence gathered from 8,000 peasants, he successfully argued for the abolition of the tinkathia system and compensation for peasants for the unlawfully extracted dues. 
• Outcome: As a compromise with the planters, Gandhi agreed to a 25% compensation of the funds taken. Within a decade, the planters left the area, marking Gandhi’s victory in the first battle of civil disobedience in India. 
  • Other prominent leaders associated with the Champaran Satyagraha included Brajkishore Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Ramnavmi Prasad, and Shambhusharan Varma.

Ahmedabad Mill Strike (1918)

• Groups Involved: In March 1918, Gandhi stepped into a conflict that involved the cotton mill owners of Ahmedabad and the workers concerning the discontinuation of the plague bonus. 
• The Issue: The mill owners aimed to withdraw the ‘plague bonus’, while the workers sought a 50% wage increase to cope with wartime inflation caused by Britain’s involvement in World War I, doubling the prices of essential goods. 
  • The mill owners were willing to offer only a 20 percent wage hike, leading to a worker strike.
• Gandhi’s Involvement: Tensions escalated as striking workers faced arbitrary dismissals, and the mill owners decided to bring in weavers from Bombay. Seeking justice, the mill workers turned to Anusuya Sarabhai, a social worker and sister of Ambalal Sarabhai, one of the mill owners and president of the Ahmedabad Mill Owners Association. Anusuya approached Gandhi, a respected figure among both mill owners and workers, urging him to intervene and resolve the deadlock.
  • Gandhi’s Support for Workers: Despite being a friend of Ambalal, Gandhi took up the workers’ cause, supported by Anusuya, who later played a key role in forming the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association in 1920. 
  • Strategic Wage Demand: Gandhi recommended that workers strike and demand a 35 percent wage increase instead of the initially proposed 50 percent.
  • Fast unto Death: The strike began and Gandhiji addressed the workers every day on the banks of the Sabarmati River. He brought out a daily news bulletin and insisted that no violence be used against employers or blacklegs. 
    • Growing Fatigue and Escalation of Tensions: After some days, the workers began to exhibit signs of weariness. The attendance at the daily meetings began to decline and the attitude towards blacklegs began to harden. 
    • Gandhiji’s Fast: In this situation, Gandhiji decided to go on a fast, to rally the workers and strengthen their resolve to continue. Also, he had promised that if the strike led to starvation he would be the first to starve, and the fast was a fulfillment of that promise. 
      • The fast, however, also had the effect of putting pressure on the mill owners and they agreed to submit the whole issue to a tribunal. 
• Demands Met: Subsequently, the strike was called off, and the tribunal granted the workers a 35 percent wage hike.

Kheda Satyagraha (1918)

While the conflict in Ahmedabad was ongoing, Gandhi received information that the peasants in the Kheda district were facing severe distress due to crop failure. Their pleas for the remission of land revenue were being disregarded by the Government. 

• The Issue: In 1918, Kheda district in Gujarat faced a devastating drought, resulting in crop failure. As per the Revenue Code, if the yield was less than one-fourth of the normal produce, farmers were entitled to remission. 
  • Despite petitions from the Gujarat Sabha (of which Gandhiji was the President), representing the peasants, requesting the suspension of revenue assessment for 1919, the government remained unyielding. 
  • In response, the government warned that farmers’ property would be seized if taxes were not paid.
• Gandhi’s Guidance and Patel’s Leadership: Gandhi, acting as the spiritual leader of the struggle, advocated for non-payment of taxes. 
  • The practical leadership of the movement was undertaken by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and a group of dedicated Gandhians, including Narahari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya, and Ravi Shankar Vyas. 
  • This team traveled to villages, organized the villagers, provided guidance, and offered crucial political leadership. Patel and his colleagues played a pivotal role in orchestrating the tax revolt, gaining support from diverse ethnic and caste communities in Kheda.
• Display of Discipline: Remarkably, the revolt maintained discipline and unity even as the government seized farmers’ personal property, land, and livelihood for non-payment of taxes. The majority of Kheda’s farmers stood steadfast in support of Sardar Patel. 
  • Gujaratis in other regions sympathized with the cause, assisting by sheltering the relatives and property of protesting peasants. 
    • Those seeking to purchase the confiscated lands faced social ostracization.
• Government Yielded: Ultimately, the government sought an agreement with the farmers. They agreed to suspend the tax for the specified year and the next, reduce the increase in the rate, and return all confiscated property. 

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• Significance: The Kheda struggle sparked a new consciousness among the peasantry, emphasizing the realization that true freedom from injustice and exploitation could only be achieved with complete independence for their country.

Conclusion

Champaran, Ahmedabad, and Kheda acted as live demonstrations of Gandhiji’s political style and methodology nationwide. The viability of his unique political style was affirmed through these endeavors. His identification with the ordinary Indians’ issues and his proactive stance in championing their cause left a lasting impression. These movements sparked a new consciousness among the peasantry, emphasizing the realization that true freedom from injustice and exploitation could only be achieved with complete independence for their country.

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