The Kheda Satyagraha was launched in 1918 under the leadership of Gandhiji and Sardar Patel. Kheda in Gujarat was a poverty stricken region that had just suffered a severe famine. The poor farmers who lived there were heavily taxed by the British. Because of the drought, they found it impossible to pay the taxes as their crops had been destroyed.
The British, however, refused to lower the taxes, or give them any concessions whatsoever. Gandhiji, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and other leaders mobilized the farmers and spearheaded a historic revolt against the British. The peasants just refused to pay the taxes. The movement gathered a lot of support from different communities.
The unrelenting government gave directives to confiscate the land that the peasants possessed. Finally, however, British had to bow down to the pressure. They agreed to suspend tax collection for that year, and the next.
The Kheda Satyagraha thus proved to be another victory for Gandhiji’s path of non violence and civil disobedience.
