Section Fifth: Kheda and Bardoli Satyagrahas Summary and Analysis

Section Five concerns the Satyagrahas during the famines in the Kheda District of Gujarat in 1918. The government is unresponsive to the famines and so Gandhi advises the owners of the land to withhold land revenue payment. The government then grants remission to poorer peasants. This is brought about through the work of the Kheda Satyagrahis.

Next, in Bardoli, an area in Gujarat, Gandhi finds a place where he can try mass civil disobedience; in 1928, Gandhi leads the people to fight a land tax increase of 25% on the grounds that the redistributive process is not transparent. The government finally yields to the wishes of the people.

During the Kheda Satyagraha, Gandhi is president of the Gujarat Sabha and they send petitions and telegrams to the Government. The land cultivators' demands are clear...