It is the 100th year since Mahatma Gandhi’s Champaran Satyagraha campaign. Champaran symbolises a watershed moment in modern Indian history. The farmers of Champaran, mostly tenant farmers, were coerced by the British landlords to plant indigo, failing which they had to pay heavy taxes. The small farmers weren’t allowed to cultivate foodgrain, resulting in a quasi famine situation. This was the context of Mahatma Gandhi’s arrival in Motihari in Bihar’s East Champaran district. The then district magistrate served orders on Gandhi to leave immediately but Gandhi declined, willing to court arrest if needed. During the trial, Gandhi read out a
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