CBSE Class 12 English Indigo VBQs

Explanation of the lesson ‘Indigo’

Louis Fischer met Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram. Gandhi told him that how he initiated the departure of the British from India. He recalled that it in 1917 at the request of Rajkumar Shukla, a sharecropper from Champaran, he visited the place. Gandhi had gone to Lucknow to attend the annual meeting of Indian National Congress in the year 1916. Shukla told him that he had come from Champaran to seek his help in order to safeguard the interests of the sharecroppers. Gandhi told him that he was busy so Shukla accompanied him to various places till he consented to visit Champaran. His firm decision impressed Gandhi and he promised him that he would visit Calcutta at a particular date and then Shukla could come and take him along to Champaran. Shukla met him at Calcutta and they took a train to Patna. Gandhi went to lawyer Rajendra Prasad’s house and they waited for him. In order to grab complete knowledge of the situation, he reached Muzzafarpur on 15th April 1917. He was welcomed by Prof. J.B Kriplani and his students. Gandhi was surprised to see the immense support for an advocate of home rule like him. He also met some lawyers who were already handling cases of sharecroppers. As per the contract, 15 percent of the peasant’s land holding was to be reserved for cultivation of indigo, the crop of which was given to the landlord as rent. This system was very oppressive. Gandhi wanted to help the sharecroppers. So he visited the British landlord association but he was not given any information because he was an outsider. He then went to the commissioner of Tirhut division who threatened Gandhi and ask him to leave Tirhut. Instead of returning, he went to Motihari. Here he started gathering complete information about the indigo contract. He was accompanied by many lawyers. One day as he was on his way to meet a peasant, who was maltreated by the indigo planters, he was stopped by the police superintendent’s messenger who served him a notice asking him to leave. Gandhi received the notice but disobeyed the order. A case was filed against him. Many lawyers came to advise him but when he stressed, they all joined his struggle and even consented to go to jail in order to help the poor peasants. On the day of trial, a large crowd gathered near the court. It became impossible to handle them. Gandhi helped the officers to control the crowd. Gandhi gave his statement that he was not a lawbreaker but he disobeyed so that he could help the peasants. He was granted bail and later on, the case against him was dropped. Gandhi and his associates started gathering all sorts of information related to the indigo contract and its misuse. Later, a commission was set up to look into the matter. After the inquiry was conducted, the planters were found guilty and were asked to pay back to the peasants. Expecting refusal, they offered to pay only 25 percent of the amount. Gandhi accepted this too because he wanted to free the sharecroppers from the binding of the indigo contract. He opened six schools in Champaran villages and volunteers like Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, and his son, Devdas taught them. Kasturbai, the wife of Gandhi used to teach personal hygiene. Later on, with the help of a volunteer doctor he provided medical facility to the natives of Champaran, thus making their life a bit better. A peace maker, Andrews wanted to volunteer at Champaran ashram. But Gandhi refused as he wanted Indians to learn the lesson of self-reliance so that they would not depend on others. Gandhi told the writer that it was Champaran’s incident that made him think that he did not need the British advice while he was in his own country.

Passages for Comprehension: -

Passage -1
Next, Gandhi called on the British official commissioner of the Tirhut division in which the Champaran district lay. “The commissioner,” Gandhi reports, “proceeded to bully me and advised me forthwith to leave Tirhut.” Gandhi did not leave. Instead he proceeded to Motihari, the capital of Champaran. Several lawyers accompanied him. At the railway station, a vast multitude greeted Gandhi. He went to a house and, using it as headquarters, continued his investigations.

Question. Who asked Gandhi Ji to leave Tirhut?
(a) the Indian Sharecroppers
(b) the British commissioner
(c) the viceroy
(d) the farmers
Answer. B

Question. Where did Gandhi Ji go from Tirhut?
(a) to Motihari
(b) to Patna
(c) to Champaran
(d) to Muzzafarpur
Answer. A

Question. Who accompanied Gandhi Ji?
(a) policemen
(b) lawyers
(c) sharecroppers
(d) shopkeepers
Answer. B

Question. Name the capital of Champaran.
(a) Motihari
(b) Tirhut
(c) Lucknow
(d) Benaras
Answer. A

Question. What investigations did Gandhi Ji continue?
(a) about the system of Sharecropping
(b) about the injustice of the British Commissioner
(c) about the corrupt officials of the Government
(d) all the above
Answer. B

Question. Find the word in the passage which means the same as ‘threaten’
Answer. bully

Passage -3
Gandhi decided to go first to Muzzafarpur, which was on route to Champaran, to obtain more complete information about conditions then Shukla was capable of imparting. He accordingly sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani, of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketen School. The train arrived at midnight, 15 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 extra ordinary thing in those days.” Gandhi commented, “for a government professor to harbour a man like me.”In smaller localities, the Indians were afraid to show sympathy for advocates of home-rule.

Question. Name the chapter from which the above lines have been taken.
(a) Indigo
(b) The Last Lesson
(c) Lost Spring
(d) Deep Water
Answer. A

Question. Who is the writer of this lesson?
(a) William Douglas
(b) Louis Fischer
(c) Anees Jung
(d) A. R. Barton
Answer. B

Question. Whom did Gandhi Ji send a telegram to?
(a) Kripalani
(b) Malkani
(c) Shukla
(d) Nehru
Answer. A

Question. When did train arrive at Muzzafarpur?
(a) in the morning
(b) at Midnight
(c) in the evening
(d) in the afternoon
Answer. B

Question. In whose house did Gandhi Ji stay?
(a) Malkani
(b) Shukla
(c) Kripalani
(d) none of the above
Answer. A

Question. Find the word in the passage which means the same as ‘remarked’
Answer. commented

Important Questions for NCERT Class 12 English Indigo

Question. What statement did Gandhiji read pleading himself guilty?
A) that he did not a law breaker
B) that he wanted to do humanitarian service by helping the poor sharecroppers
C) He was not a law breaker but while he came to render humanitarian and service to the poor farmers he had to choose between the two.
D) None   

Answer : C

Question. Who came from Poona to join Gandhi as teachers ?
A) Narhari Parikh
B) Mahadev Desai
C) Devdas Gandhi
D) All the above   

Answer : D

Question. Where did Raj Kumar Shukla come from ?
A) from Champaran, Nepal
B) from Champaran , the Himalayan district
C) from Champaran, near the foothills of the towering Himalayas
D) None of the above   

Answer : C

Question. Why did the servants of Rajendra Prasad behave poorly?
A) They took him to be an untouchable like Rajkumar Shukla
B)They did not know about Gandhi
C) Gandhiji did not tell them that he was not an untouchable
D) All the above   

Answer : D

Question. The Secretary of the British landlord’s association …..
A) behaved politely when Gandhiji approached
B) helped Gandhi for raising funds to fight for the peasants
C) told him that they could give no information to an outsider
D) bullied Gandhi and advised to leave   

Answer : C

Question. Where was the annual congress party session held in the year 1916?
A) at Varanasi
B) at Mumbai
C) at Bangalore
D) at Lucknow   

Answer : D

Question. What was ‘the conflict of duties’ mentioned by Gandhi ?
A) conflict of duty as a lawbreaker and not to help the poor farmers
B) Conflict between the duty of a good citizen and as a person who wanted to do humanitarian service.
C) Conflict between the Indians and British people
D) None of the above   

Answer : B

Question. Who was Raj Kumar Shukla?
A) a lawyer
B) a government official
C) a politician
D) a poor peasant   

Answer : D

Question. Why did Gandhiji visit Muzzafarpur?
A) to seek guidance from the lawyers
B) to get ideas to be famous
C) to get detailed information about the sharecroppers’ problem than Shukla was capable of imparting
D) to seek his help for the poor sharecroppers 

Answer : C

Question. Why did Gandhiji agree to the planter's offer of 25% refund to the farmers?
A) because of money
B) because of fear of loss
C) because of fear of power
D) amount of money was less important than the fact that the farmers learnt courage by seeing the British accepting their guilt. 

  Answer : D

Question. Rajkumar Shukla was
A) poor, healthy and cunning
B) poor, weak and intelligent
C) poor and emaciated yet resolute
D) None of the above 

 Answer : C

Question. Why did the British want the peasants to pay compensation?
A) because they freed them from Indigo cultivation
B) because they got orders from the British headquarters
C) because of15% of landholding and entire Indigo harvest
D) 15% of landholding and entire Indigo harvest   

Answer : A

Question. Who was Charles Freer Andrews in the lesson Indigo?
A) Gandhi’s friend
B) An Englishman
C) An employee under the British government and Pacifist
D) All the above   

Answer : D

Question. What amount of refund was paid to the peasants by the British landlords?
A) 50% of the money extorted from the peasants
B) 25% of the money extorted from the peasants
C) 100% of the money extorted from the peasants
D) None of the above   

Answer : B

Question. Indigo sharecroppers of Champaran were facing……
A) poverty
B) illiteracy
C) unable to raise voice
D) All the above 

Answer : D

Question. Where was Charles Freer Andrews transferred??
A) To England
B) To Bihar
C) To Fiji island
D) None of the above   

Answer : C

Question. Who welcomed Gandhiji at Muzaffarpur railway station?
A) Government teachers and students
B) Professor Malkani
C) farmers and lawyers
D) Both A and B are correct 

Answer : D

Question. What according to Gandhi was an extraordinary thing?
A) for a government professor to harbour the advocates of home rule
B) fighting against the British
C) Gandhiji’s visit to Champaran
D) None of the above   

Answer : A