Mahatma Gandhi launched the 'Kheda Satyagraha' on which of the following issues?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → For the remission of taxes following the failure of their harvest.
Option (1) To obtain for peasants security of tenure and the freedom to cultivate the crops of their choice. — Incorrect. This was Gandhiji’s aim in Champaran in 1917, where peasants suffered harsh treatment from British indigo planters.
Option (2) To demand better working conditions for the textile mill workers. — Incorrect. This was his demand in the labour dispute in Ahmedabad in 1918, the first of his two campaigns in Gujarat that year.
Option (3) For the remission of taxes following the failure of their harvest. — Correct. In 1918 Gandhiji joined peasants in Kheda in asking the state for the remission of taxes following the failure of their harvest.
Option (4) To repeal censorship of the press and detention without trial. — Incorrect. These wartime measures were continued by the Rowlatt Act in 1919, against which Gandhiji called a countrywide campaign; they had nothing to do with Kheda.
NCERT (2026-27): “2. The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation … Mahatma Gandhi was to spend much of 1917 in Champaran, seeking to obtain for the peasants security of tenure as well as the freedom to cultivate the crops of their choice. The following year, 1918, Gandhiji was involved in two campaigns in his home state of Gujarat. First, he intervened in a labour dispute in Ahmedabad, demanding better working conditions for the textile mill workers. Then he joined peasants in Kheda in asking the state for the remission of taxes following the failure of their harvest.… 2. The Making and Unmaking of Non-cooperation … These initiatives in Champaran, Ahmedabad and Kheda marked Gandhiji out as a nationalist with a deep sympathy for the poor. At the same time, these were all localised struggles. Then, in 1919, the colonial rulers delivered into Gandhiji’s lap an issue from which he could construct a much wider movement. During the Great War of 1914-18, the British had instituted censorship of the press and permitted detention without trial. Now, on the recommendation of a committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt, these tough measures were continued.…” |