Plantation workers in Assam had their own unique interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi and the concept of Swaraj, quite different from the Congress programme.
Freedom of Movement: Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, which was rarely granted. For them, Swaraj meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space of the plantations.
Link with Native Villages: They also understood Swaraj as the right to retain a link with the villages from which they had come. They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages.
Defiance: When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied authorities and left the plantations to head home. They were stranded mid-way by a railway and steamer strike, caught by police and brutally beaten up.
Thus, they interpreted Swaraj as an end to all their suffering, imagining it as a time when all troubles would be over.
Source: Chapter 2, Section 2.3 — Swaraj in the Plantations
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