Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
Dimdima
Online Children's Magazine from India
| The Gentle Satyagrahi |
|
On his return to India from South Africa, Gandhi made Ahmedabad his home and
set up his Satyagraha Ashram there. In the beginning there were many people
helping him monetarily but they stopped doing so when he took in a family of
'untouchables' from Bombay and earned their displeasure. The ashram was in
dire straits and just when it looked as if he would have to close it down,
help came unexpectedly. One evening a stranger drove up to the ashram, handed
over a bundle of currency notes, enough to meet the ashram's expenses for a
year and drove away, refusing to reveal his identity. This unsolicited help
left Gandhiji speechless. |
Unseasonal rains in the Kheda district in 1917-1918 had destroyed most of the
crops there. The famine code stipulated that if the crop yield fell to a certain
minimum level the cultivators need not pay tax. In Kheda however, the revenue
officials insisted on collecting revenue.
When petitions to the government fell on deaf ears, Gandhiji advised the ryots
to resort to satyagraha. The ryots took a pledge not to pay revenue but to
submit to whatever penalty the government imposed on them as a consequence.
Volunteers fanned out to villages in the district to explain the principles of
satyagraha to the peasants. The volunteers explained that while the ryots did
not have to fear the government officials, they should be civil to them. To
Gandhiji, civility did not mean mere outward gentleness of speech cultivated for
the occasion but an absence of ill-will towards the adversary. He explained that
if the peasants were rude to the officials, the satyagraha would be spoilt. It
would be like 'a drop of arsenic in milk'.
It was hard for the satyagrahis to come up to Gandhiji's expectations and going
by the reports of the revenue officials the code of conduct laid down by Gandhi
was not always observed by the satyagrahis. The villagers for example stopped
giving food or water or shelter to the officials when they came on their rounds.
Livestock would be let loose so that the animals belonging to tax defaulters
could not be identified and therefore could not be impounded. Local people who
assisted in the collection of revenue were ostracised.
The revenue officials complained bitterly about the rude methods adopted by the
farmers but they knew that things could become even worse. Law and order could
break down altogether. The peasants, however did not have the resources to
sustain a long agitation and to avoid causing them hardship, Gandhi began to
look for some graceful way out of the situation. In the event it was the revenue
officials who made the first move. They offered to suspend revenue collection if
the well-to-do farmers agreed to pay the revenue.
The satyagraha had borne fruit but Gandhiji did not consider it a complete
victory. He said a satyagraha could be considered worthwhile only if it left the
satyagrahis stronger and more spirited. Apparently that had not happened in the
case of the Kheda satyagrahis who had been left exhausted by the stand-off with
the government.
Still Gandhiji was satisfied with the outcome of the Kheda satyagraha as it
marked the beginning of an awakening among the peasants of Gujarat.
Dimdima is the Sanskrit word for ‘drumbeat’. In olden days, victory in battle was heralded by the beat of drums or any important news to be conveyed to the people used to be accompanied with drumbeats.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
K. M Munshi Marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai - 400 007
email : editor@dimdima.com
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
505, Sane Guruji Marg,
Tardeo, Mumbai - 400 034
email : promo@dimdima.com
Dimdima.com, the Children's Website of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan launched in 2000 and came out with a Printed version of Dimdima Magazine in 2004. At present the Printed Version have more than 35,000 subscribers from India and Abroad.