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Difficulty: HardGandhian Era and Major Mass Movements

During 1917–1918, Mahatma Gandhi led localized Satyagraha campaigns in Gujarat that helped establish his leadership and techniques before launching pan-Indian movements. In this context, which of the following statements regarding the Ahmedabad Mill Strike and the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918 are correct?

  1. In the Ahmedabad Mill Strike, Anasuya Sarabhai invited Mahatma Gandhi to intervene on behalf of the textile workers demanding a wage hike following the withdrawal of the plague bonus.Answer
  2. During the Kheda Satyagraha, Gandhi advised peasants to withhold land revenue payment because crop yields had fallen below the statutory threshold entitling them to tax remission under the revenue code.Answer
  3. C
    The dispute in the Ahmedabad Mill Strike was resolved after the colonial government intervened by enforcing provisions of the Rowlatt Act to cap industrial wages.
  4. D
    The Kheda Satyagraha was organized as a direct mass protest against the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri Chaura incident.

Answer

The statements confirming Anasuya Sarabhai's invitation regarding the plague bonus in Ahmedabad and Gandhi's advice to Kheda peasants to withhold revenue due to crop failure under revenue code rules are both correct.
The statements highlighting Anasuya Sarabhai's role in requesting Gandhi's assistance for mill workers demanding wage adjustments after the plague bonus withdrawal, and Gandhi's guidance to Kheda peasants to demand revenue remission under crop yield failure rules, are historically accurate details of the 1918 local Satyagrahas.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the statement regarding the origin and leadership involvement in the Ahmedabad Mill Strike of 1918.
Anasuya Sarabhai, sister of Millowners' Association president Ambalal Sarabhai, urged Gandhi to lead the workers who demanded a 50% wage hike (eventually settled at 35%) to offset wartime inflation following the discontinuation of the plague bonus.
This correctly identifies the historical initiator and socio-economic cause of the conflict.
2
Evaluate the legal and economic basis of the Kheda Satyagraha of 1918.
Crop failure caused by heavy rains reduced agricultural yield to less than 25% of normal. According to the Revenue Code, this warranted full revenue suspension, but colonial authorities refused to grant remission, prompting Gandhi, Sardar Patel, and Indulal Yagnik to launch revenue-refusal satyagraha.
This accurately reflects the statutory provision and Gandhian strategy used in Kheda.
3
Examine the claims linking the Rowlatt Act and Chauri Chaura to these 1918 movements.
The Rowlatt Act was passed in March 1919 dealing with emergency detention of suspected revolutionaries, not wage arbitration. Chauri Chaura occurred in 1922 during the Non-Cooperation Movement, four years after Kheda.
Both claims involve misattribution of colonial legislation and chronological confusion.

Key Concept

Early Gandhian Local Satyagrahas (Champaran, Ahmedabad, Kheda)
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Topics

Gandhian Era and Major Mass Movements

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