Question 60 from UPSC CSE 2018 - Modern History

Question

Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha?

Accepted Answer

Correct Option: C. Joining of peasant unrest to India's National Movement

Strategy: Focus on the defining impact of the Champaran Satyagraha: the joining of peasant unrest to India's National Movement. Champaran marked the first alignment of rural agrarian issues with the broader nationalist agenda. Other potential options do not fit the specific historical context of Champaran or refer to later or separate developments.

Key Info: The Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was the first satyagraha movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in India and served as a major turning point in the Indian freedom struggle. It was ignited by the severe plight of indigo cultivators (under the tinkathia system) in Bihar, who were forced to grow indigo under exploitative conditions by British planters.

Gandhi's intervention successfully united the local peasantry under their common grievances, bringing these issues to the forefront of the national movement. This movement also introduced the use of satyagraha--"truth and nonviolent resistance"--in India. The event cemented Gandhi's transformation into a national leader and catalyst for linking grassroots agrarian struggles with the larger campaign against British colonial rule.

While prominent lawyers (such as Rajendra Prasad and Mazharul Haque) participated regionally, broader all-India scale involvement of lawyers, students, and women became more prominent in subsequent movements. Dalit and tribal mass participation, along with shifts in commercial crop cultivation, were not defining characteristics of the Champaran Satyagraha.

Answer

Option A: Active all-India participation of lawyers, students, and women in the National Movement

Answer

Option B: Active involvement of Dalit and Tribal communities of India in the National Movement

Answer

Option D: Drastic decrease in the cultivation of plantation crops and commercial crops