68 A PILGRIMAGE FOR PEACE
They would even come and confess to me their secret
crimes. They were a rough and ready lot. Pastmasters
in the art of wielding the lathi, inflammable, the first to
take part in riots, they held life cheap, and would have
killed a human being with no more thought than they
would a sheep or a hen. That such men should, at the
bidding of one man, have laid down their arms and ac-
cepted non-vioienc*e as the superior weapon sounds almost
like a fairy tale. If the one lakh Khudai Khidmatgars
became truly non-violent in letter and in spirit and shed
their violent past completely as a snake does its outworn
skin, it would be nothing short of a miracle. That is why
in spite of the assurance of your faith in non-violence that
you have given me, I am forced to be cautious and pre-
face my remarks with an ' if'. My diffidence Is only a
measure of the difficulty of the task. But nothing is too
difficult for the brave and I know the Pathans are brave/'
(He then went on to describe the signs by which he
would judge whether the Khudai Khidmatgars had im-
bibed the spirit of non-violence. " The crucial test by
which I shall judge you is this. Have you befriended and
won the confidence of each and all in your locality ? Do
the people regard you with love or with fear ? So long
as a single individual is afraid of you, you are no true
Khudai Khidmatgar. A Khudai Khidmatgar will be gen-
tle in his speech and manner, the light of purity will shine
forth from his eyes, so that even a stranger, woman or
even a child would instinctively feel that here was a friend,"
a man of God, who could be implicitly trusted, A Khudai
Khidmatgar will command the co-operation of all sections
of the community, not the sort of obedience that a Musso-
lini or a Hitler can command through his unlimited power
of coercion, but the willing and spontaneous obedience
which is yielded to love alone. This power can be acquir-
ed only through ceaseless, loving service, and waiting
upon God. When I find that under your influence people
are gradually giving up their insanitary habits, the drunk-
ard is being weaned from drink and the criminal from
crime and the Khudai Khidmatgars are welcomed every-