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Answer: Mahatma Gandhi was able to influence lawyers through his strong moral force, simplicity, and commitment to truth and justice. In the Champaran Satyagrah, Gandhi had to influence lawyers to carry on the movement.
Complete Answer:
In the ‘Indigo’ chapter by Louis Fischer, Mahatma Gandhi influenced lawyers during the Champaran movement in 1917, when he took up the cause of poor indigo sharecroppers who were being exploited by British landlords. Gandhi arrived in Champaran, Bihar, in April 1917, after receiving persistent requests for help from Rajkumar Shukla, a farmer from the region.
When Gandhi reached Muzaffarpur on 15 April 1917, several lawyers came to meet him. These included prominent local advocates like Dr. Rajendra Prasad. Initially, the lawyers were charging high fees from the peasants, but they were not united in their approach. Gandhi advised them to stop taking money from poor tenants and instead work together to support them.
Soon after, Gandhi was served a notice by the British authorities to leave Champaran, which he disobeyed. He was summoned to appear in court the next day. The lawyers gathered there were unsure whether to continue the struggle if Gandhi were arrested. Gandhi calmly asked them if it would be morally right to leave the cause of the peasants at such a crucial moment.
Moved by his selfless courage and sense of duty, the lawyers declared that they would follow Gandhi to jail if needed. This marked a shift in their attitude; they no longer saw the case as merely legal, but as a moral fight for justice. Mahatma Gandhi had thus influenced them through his personal example and ethical conviction, not by pressure or force.
This incident shows how Gandhi’s leadership transformed the outlook of the legal professionals, inspiring them to serve the oppressed without seeking personal gain. It was a key moment in India’s freedom struggle that began Gandhi’s role as a national leader.
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