What was the reason for Mahatma Gandhi to organise a satyagraha on behalf of the peasants of Kheda?
- The Administration did not suspend the land revenue collection in spite of a drought.
- The Administration proposed to introduce Permanent Settlement in Gujarat.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct but statement 2 is incorrect
- In 1918, the peasants of Kheda were hit by a bad harvest and price rise. The peasants demanded the remission of revenue for the year to reduce their sufferings as the crops were less than one-fourth of normal yield. However, the colonial government paid no heed to their concerns.
- In response, local leaders like Mohanlal Pandya and Shankar Lal Parikh initiated the no-revenue movement in November 1917. The government retaliated by seizing the properties of the non-payers. The satyagrahis reached out to Gandhiji through the Gujarat Sabha to take up their leadership.
- Gandhi insisted that the cultivators were entitled to a suspension of revenue as a legal right and not as a concession by grace. On March 22, 1918, Gandhiji addressed the public meeting of 5000 peasants at Nadiad and advised them not to pay land revenue. He toured villages, gave moral support to the peasants in refusing to pay revenue, and expelled their fear of government authority.
- Gandhi began to realise that the peasantry was on the verge of exhaustion. He called off the agitation when the government instructed that revenue should be recovered from only those who could pay and that no pressure should be exerted on the genuinely poor peasants.
Statement 2 is incorrect
- The Permanent Settlement was mainly implemented in Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha, and there was no proposal to introduce this system in Gujarat during that period.
