Please refer to Indigo (Louis Fischer) Class 12 English Important Questions with solutions provided below. These questions and answers have been provided for Class 12 English based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued by CBSE, NCERT, and KVS. Students should learn these problem solutions as it will help them to gain more marks in examinations. We have provided Important Questions for Class 12 English for all chapters in your book. These Board exam questions have been designed by expert teachers of Standard 12.
Class 12 English Important Questions Indigo (Louis Fischer)
Short Answer Type Questions :
Question. What was the attitude of the average Indian in smaller localities towards advocates of ‘home rule’?
Ans. The average Indian in smaller localities was afraid to show sympathy openly for advocates of ‘home rule’. He probably feared negative consequences. It is for this reason that Gandhiji recalls Professor Malkani’s offering him shelter in his own home as an extraordinary matter.
Question. Gandhi makes it clear that money and finance are a secondary aspect of the struggle in Champaran. Comment on aspect that you think was most important for Gandhi.
Ans. Gandhi made it clear that money and finance are secondary in the struggle in Champaran. For Gandhi, it was the removal of the fear amongst the peasants that was central. His persistent efforts, firm determination and resolution taught courage to the peasant who realised that they too, had certain rights. For him the successful challenge to the British tyranny was more important than the money and finance involved in the agreement.
Question. Why do you think Gandhi considered the Champaran episode to be a turning-point in his life?
Ans. Gandhiji considered the Champaran episode to be a turning point in his life because it was the first successful civil disobedience movement for him. Though it began as an ordinary attempt to free the poor peasants from injustice and exploitation, it was important because it wiped out mortal fear of the Britishers from the hearts of the simple farmers.
Question. Why did Gandhiji feel that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless?
Ans. Gandhiji felt that taking the Champaran case to the court was useless after discussion with the lawyers, he realised that the peasants were crushed and fear stricken. As a result, they would not fight their case and the court would favour the Britishers. Hence, going to court was useless and the people needed to be free from fear.
Question. How did the episode change the plight of the peasants?
Ans. The episode changed the plight of the peasants by helping them immensely. It removed their mortal fear of the British. They were made aware of their rights and developed courage to fight for their own selves.
Consequently, within a few years, the British planters abandoned their estates, which was reverted back to the peasants. Slowly, indigo sharecropping completely disappeared from the district of Champaran.
Question. What were the terms of the indigo contract between the British landlords and the Indian peasants?
Ans. The terms of the indigo contract between the British and the peasants was related to the arable land. The arable land in the Champaran district was divided into estates which were owned by Englishmen and worked by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was indigo. The landlords compelled all tenants to plant 15 per cent of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent.
Question. Though the sharecroppers of Champaran received only one-fourth of the compensation, how can the Champaran struggle still be termed a huge success and victory?
Ans. Though the sharecroppers of Champaran received only one-fourth of compensation, yet the struggle was a huge success and victory because the objective of Gandhiji in his Champaran campaign was to mould a new free Indian who could stand on his own feet and thus make India free. The peasants found confidence in fighting their own battles and they were liberated from fear of the British. They not only made the landlords obliged to surrender part of money along with their prestige but the peasants also gained courage.
Question. How was Gandhi treated at Rajendra Prasad’s house?
Ans. Rajendra Prasad was out of town when Rajkumar Shukla and Gandhiji reached his house. But his sevants knew Shukla as a poor peasant who pestered Rajendra Prasad to help the indigo sharecroppers. So he was allowed to stay there with his companion. But Gandhiji was not permitted to draw water from the well as he was considered as an untouchable and some drops of water from his bucket could pollute the entire source.
Question. The peasants were themselves the most crucial agents in the success of the Champaran Civil Disobedience. Expand.
Ans. The peasants were the most crucial agents in the success of the Champaran Civil Disobedience because without their presence in such large numbers, the British authority and the landlords would have continued their tyranny in Champaran. If the peasants had not withstood Gandhi or placed trust in him, then the movement will have been a great disaster. Gandhi alone could not have achieved success of Champaran. The support of the peasants made the movement a success.
Question. What made the Lieutenant-Governor drop the case against Gandhiji?
Ans. The Lieutenant-General dropped the case against Gandhiji because thousands of peasants held a spontaneous demonstration in Motihari leaving the government helpless and baffed. The judge did not want to aggravate the situation and decided to hold the situation of several days. Finally Gandhiji was released without bail and in the end, the case was dropped.
Question. Why did Rajkumar Shukla want to take Gandhiji to Champaran?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla was one of the poor impoverished sharecroppers of the Champaran district. He had gone to the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress to take Gandhiji to Champaran to fight the injustice and the exploitation of the sharecroppers.
Question. Gandhi was a lawyer himself. Examine how his professional expertise helped in Champaran.
Ans. The fact that Gandhi was professionally a lawyer worked to his benefit in the Champaran episode. When Gandhi came to understand the sharecropping agreement, his first action was to view the entire situation. In midst, he realised that there was no point in getting into cases as law courts would hardly be able to do justice to the peasants. He felt that it was necessary to remove the terror of Britishers and teach farmers how to be courageous. Once he was able to do so, the British authority had no choice but to review the case justly and provide justice.
Question. Explain the possible reasons for Gandhi’s quick popularity among the peasants of Champaran.
Ans. Gandhi very quickly became popular among the peasants because he had come to help them fight for justice without any fee unlike the lawyers. Further, he had gone against the British law and authority to do so. Consequently, without any knowledge about Gandhi they had come to protest against his trail. In addition, even after the Champaran episode, he stayed with the sharecropping peasants to uplift them socially as well as culturally.
Question. Why is Rajkumar Shukla described as being ‘resolute’?
or
How did Rajkumar Shukla establish that he was resolute?
Ans. Rajkumar Shukla is described as being resolute because he went along with Gandhiji everywhere that he went till Gandhiji agreed to help him. He was adamant to take Gandhiji to Champaran to solve the problems faced by sharecroppers and so he resolutely went everywhere with Gandhiji until, impressed with his tenacity, Gandhiji agreed to go with him.
Question. Why did Gandhiji not take CF Andrew’s help during the Champaran campaign?
Ans. Gandhiji was opposed to CF Andrews helping him in Champaran because he wanted the lawyers to be self-reliant and know their own strengths. He told them that their cause was just and they must rely upon themselves to win the battle. He did not want them seek a prop in Mr Andrews because he happened to be an Englishman.
Question. Why did Gandhi tell the court that he was involved in a ‘conflict of duties’?
Ans. Gandhi told the court that he was involved in a ‘conflict of duties’, i.e. he must not set a bad example by breaking the law (by refusing to comply with the eviction order), but he must also render humanitarian and national service for which he had come to Champaran.
Question. What did Gandhiji do about the social and cultural upliftment of a Champaran villages ?
Ans. When Gandhiji saw the cultural and social backwardness in the Champaran villages, he wanted to do something about it immediately. He appealed for teachers. Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh, two young men who had just joined Gandhi as disciples, and their wives, volunteered for the work.
Others also joined from other parts of India. Primary schools were opened in six villages. Kasturba taught the ashram rules on personal cleanliness and community sanitation. As the health conditions were miserable. Gandhiji also got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months.
Question. How did the invention of German synthetic indigo affect the peasant-landlord relationship in Champaran ?
Ans. When the landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo, they wanted to dissolve the sharecroppers agreement. However, they asked the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being released from the 15% arrangement. Obviously, synthetic indigo would be cheaper and more readily available and thus would bring down the price of natural indigo.
The entire arrangement was irksome to the peasants. Some refused to the arrangement and engaged lawyers while others who had signed wanted their money back.
Question. Why did Gandhi agree to a settlement of 25% refund to the farmers?
or
Why did Gandhi agree to the planter’s offer of a 25% refund to the farmers?
Ans. When the landlords agreed to pay a refund of only 25%, they wanted to create a deadlock which would prolong the dispute. To everybody’s surprise,Gandhiji accepted the offer.
According to him, the amount of refund was less important than the fact that the landlords had been obliged to surrender part of their money and, with it, part of their prestige.
Question. How do we know that ordinary people too contributed to the freedom movement?
Ans. Ordinary people stood by and supported Gandhiji in their own little ways. Rajkumar Shukla and Professor Malkani defied all odds to contribute in the movement.
Professor JB Kriplani motivated a large number of students and welcomed Gandhiji at the Muzaffarpur railway station at midnight. The spontaneous demonstration outside the court was also a significant contribution, as it showed the Britishers the unity of the Indians. Civil disobedience could triumph in India only because of the courage and unity of ordinary people.
Long Answer Type Questions :
Question. Why is the Champaran episode considered to be the beginning of the Indian struggle for independence?
Ans. The Champaran episode was one of the major events in the struggle for independence. It was in the course of this small but significant movement that Gandhiji decided to spur the exit of the British from India. A close examination of the problem of the Champaran peasants opened up Gandhiji’s eyes to the unjust policies of the British.
He realised that people had to be made free from fear and only then could they be freed from foreign oppression. The spontaneous demonstration of the people proved that Gandhiji had the people’s support in his fight against the Britishers. The triumph of the civil disobedience at Champaran motivated the launching of the movement on a large scale during the freedom movement.
Gandhiji’s winning the case of the sharecroppers proved that British authority could be challenged. Hence, the Champaran episode served as a stepping stone to the Indian struggle for independence.
Question. Gandhiji, Father of our nation, is a great leader whose values have been admired by one and all. Describe at least three characteristics of Gandhiji you get to know from ‘Indigo’, which you wish to adopt into your own life quoting suitable instances from the story.
Ans. Characteristics of Gandhiji we get to know from ‘Indigo’ and which we can adopt into our own lives are
(i) Humility and Simplicity Gandhiji did not object to being treated as a peasant at Rajendra Prasad’s house by the servants.
(ii) Non-violent Attitude He used peaceful means to bend the British law. He was prepared to go to jail for subverting the order for his eviction from the district.
(iii) Fellow Feeling Gandhiji worked for the people of Champaran even though he did not belong to the area and was not familiar with them.
(iv) Humanitarian Approach He called his wife and children to work for medical upliftment and literacy of the peasants of Champaran.
(v) Determination He stayed in Champaran for about a year to ensure that justice for the peasants there was accomplished.
(vi) Self-reliance He did everything himself and taught the lawyers there also to be self-reliant. He did not take help from CF Andrews, a British pacifist, despite the lawyers requesting him to do so.
Question. Give an account of the problems faced by the indigo sharecroppers. What was Gandhiji’s role in solving the problem?
Ans. Most of the arable land in Champaran was divided into large estates owned by Englishmen and worked on by Indian tenants. The chief commercial crop was indigo. So, the landlords compelled all the tenants to plant 15% of their holdings with indigo and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. This was done through a long-term contract.
When the landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo, they obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being released from the 15% arrangement. This led to a conflict between the poor sharecropper and the British landlords. Gandhiji, with the lawyers of Muzaffarpur, conducted an inquiry into the grievances of the farmers. The investigations, documentation and evidence collected favoured the peasants.
Hence, Gandhiji asked for only 50% of the money as compensation as opposed to the landlord’s thinking that he might demand the whole amount they had extorted.
However, an agreement was reached at 25% of the money to be compensated to the peasants. Gandhiji accepted the settlement because he did notwant a deadlock between the landlords and the peasants. Thus, Gandhiji played a very proactive role in resolving the issue.
Question. Gandhiji’s was not a loyalty to abstractions; it was loyalty to living, human beings. Why did Gandhiji continue his stay in Champaran even after indigo sharecropping disappeared?
Ans. After the Champaran battle was won and the land reverted to the peasants, Gandhiji continued to stay on in the region. His loyalty was to living human beings and he realised that a lot needed to be done for the upliftment of the peasants in the villages of Champaran. Gandhiji took the initiative and began the work of eradicating their cultural and social backwardness. Primary schools were started so that the poor peasants and their children could be educated. Gandhiji appealed to teachers, and many of his disciples, including his wife and son, volunteered for the work. Health conditions in the area were also miserable. Gandhiji got a doctor to volunteer his services for six months. All this goes to prove that Gandhiji’s loyalty was not to abstractions; his politics was always intertwined with the practical day-to-day problems of the millions.
Question. Gandhiji said, ‘‘Freedom from fear is more important than legal justice for the poor.’’ How does it become clear from the lesson ‘Indigo’ that freedom from fear is an essential condition for justice ?
Ans. When Gandhiji learned about the conditions of the peasants of Champaran, he concluded that the peasants were so crushed and fear-stricken that going to the law courts was useless. The real relief would come if they were free from fear. The conclusion that Gandhiji reached is true in every sense. The peasants of Champaran were so exploited by the foreign
rulers that they were scared of the British landlords. In the Champaran episode, inspite of fighting endless legal battles, the results were inconclusive due to their fear. Thus, Gandhiji felt that it was imperative to teach these farmers to be courageous. So Gandhiji helped the farmers face life boldly. He not only refused to go to the court but also got arrested for being the Champion of share croppers. As a result, multitudes gathered at the court, which the Britishers couldn’t control. Consequently, the trial was postponed and Gandhiji was released without Bail. Later, Gandhiji made the landlords surrender money as well prestige, thus, making the peasants shed their fear.
In this way, it becomes clear from the lesson ‘Indigo’ that freedom from fear is an essential condition for justice.
Question. Imagine Gandhi were to deliver a speech to students in present day India showing them the path to becoming responsible world leaders. Based on your understanding of Gandhi’s own leadership skills, write a speech, as Gandhi, addressing the students about the qualities that every leader and politician should nurture. Dear students, you are all leaders of social change. I see many bright and enthusiastic faces that assure me that our future is in good hands. I have learnt from my own experience…………………..
Ans. Dear students, you are all leaders of social change. I see many bright and enthusiastic faces that assure me that our future is in good hands. I have learnt from my own experience that emptying away all the biased thoughts and prejudices gives new values that enhance living. I stress upon the importance of Truth and Non-violence and call you to ‘Be Fearless’ on all endeavors. It is you who is the future, the tomorrow of the nation and the instruments of social change that we want to see in the nation.
The modern youth and students have the spiritual and ethical values to become the means to form idealistic thoughts, thoughts that aim for greatness. I encourage young minds about self-reliance as a crucial necessity to success. The young leader of today must be flexible, self reliant, independent and open-minded.
Simplicity, kindness, truth and non-violence should be the life’s mantra of youth. These are the essential things that you as students have to learn and follow. Morality and spirituality of course cannot be forgotten.
Question. How did the Champaran episode prove to be a turning point in Gandhi’s lite?
Ans. Champaran episodes proves to be a turning point in Gandhiji’s life. The success of the Champaran episode made Gandhiji decide to speed up the exit of the British from India. Gandhiji concluded that the root cause of the problem was fear, so going to law courts to solve the dispute was useless. It brought him face to face with reality and he became aware of the miserable condition of the poor, illiterate farmers. He also realised the exploitation that lay beneath the policies of the Britishers.
The spontaneous demonstration by the peasants was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British. Civil disobedience had triumphed for the first time in modern India. Gandhiji declared that the British could not order him about in his own country.
Thus, it was a turning point in his life, which also served as a source of strength and motivation for his future movements. With its success, Gandhiji tried to mould a free India which
could stand on its own and thus make India free.
Extract Based Questions :
Question. Read the extract below to attempt the questions that follow.
Presently, the landlords learned that Germany had developed synthetic indigo. They, thereupon, obtained agreements from the sharecroppers to pay them compensation for being released from the 15 per cent arrangement.
The sharecropping arrangement was irksome to the peasants, and many signed willingly. Those who resisted, engaged lawyers; the landlords hired thugs. Meanwhile, the information about synthetic indigo reached the illiterate peasants who had signed and they wanted their money back.
(i) What is the significance of the given lines?
(ii) How did the development of synthetic indigo affect the 15 % arrangement?
(iii) What does the given extract tell us about the British landlords?
(iv) How would you describe the act of asking for compensation as done by the British landlords?
(v) Why do you think that the sharecropping agreement was irksome to the peasants?
Ans. (i) The given lines are significant as they present the reader with a factual backdrop of the sharecropping arrangement and the problem faced by the sharecroppers of Champaran.
(ii) The development of synthetic indigo affected the 15% arrangement because now the British landlords did not require the natural indigo the sharecroppers produced. The arrangementwas nowuseless for them.
(iii) The given extract tells us that the British landlords were selfish and greedy people who did not care for the poor Indian peasants. For their own benefit, they exploited the poor peasants.
(iv) The act of asking for compensation from the poor peasants can be described as deceitful and illegal.
(v) The sharecropping agreement could have been irksome to the peasants because it was compulsory for them to grow indigo on 15% of the land which they had to surrender to them as rent.
Question. Read the extract below to attempt the questions that follow.
In consequence, Gandhi received a summons to appear in court the next day.
All night Gandhi remained awake. He telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential friends. He sent instructions to the ashram. He wired a full report to the Viceroy.
Morning found the town of Motihari black with peasants. They did not know Gandhi’s record in South Africa. They had merely heard that a Mahatma who wanted to help them was in trouble with the authorities. Their spontaneous demonstration, in thousands, around the court house was the beginning of their liberation from fear of the British.
(i) Why did Gandhi receive summons to appear in court the next day?
(ii) What made Gandhi telegraph Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential friends?
(iii) ‘Motihari was black with peasants’. Explain.
(iv) What does ‘Gandhi’s records’ refer to?
(v) How do you think the Britishers reacted to the ‘spontaneous demonstration’?
Ans. (i) Gandhi received summons to appear in court the next day because he had refused to follow the order of the British Commissioner of the Trihut division and hence had broken a law.
(ii) Gandhi telegraphed Rajendra Prasad to come from Bihar with influential friends because he knew that the British official would show their might and arrest him to increase the fear in the minds of the peasants.
(iii) Motihari was black with peasants because the sharecroppers had heard that a man called Mahatma, who was trying to help them get justice, was in trouble with the British authorities.
(iv) Gandhi’s records refer to Gandhi professional history as a lawyer in South Africa.
(v) The British Government officials were confused and baffled upon seeing the huge crowd of peasants around the courthouse. They had not expected such challenge to their might and tyranny and thus did not know how to control the crowd.
Question. Read the given extract to attempt the questions that follow.
He accordingly sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani, of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketan school. The train arrived at midnight, 15th April, 1917. Kripalani was waiting at the station with a large body of students. Gandhi stayed there for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school. ‘‘It was an extraordinary thing ‘in those days,’’ Gandhi commented, “for a government professor to harbour a man like me”.
(i) What was the purpose of sending a telegram to Kripalani?
(ii) What does the fact that Kripalani was waiting for Gandhi with a large body of students show?
(iii) For what purpose has the specific date being mentioned in the extract?
(iv) Did something extraordinary take place while Gandhi was in Muzzafarpur?
(v) Why does Gandhi call staying at Malkani’s house an ‘extraordinary thing’?
Ans. (i) Mahatma Gandhi sent a telegram to Kripalani to inform him that he was coming to Muzzafarpur to gather complete information about the problems faced by the Sharcroppers.
(ii) The fact that Kripalani was waiting for Gandhi with the large body students at midnight shows the popularity of Gandhi as a leader amongst the educated Indians.
(iii) The purpose of mentioning the specific date in the extract is to show that relevance of the year 1917 in the Indian independence struggle as the first Civil Disobedience Movement triumphed in this year.
(iv) Yes, something extraordinary did happen while Gandhi was in Muzzafarpur. The sharecropping peasants of Champaran and the nearby regions united together to support Gandhi.
(vi) Gandhi calls staying at Malkani’ house an extraordinary thing because in those times an average Indian did not openly show their support to advocates of home rule and Malkani, a government school teacher was harboring him.
