CHAPTER V

INDIA AND SOCIALISM

Socialism was not born with the discovery of the
misuse of capital by capitalists. As I have contended,
socialism, even communism, is explicit in the first verse
of Ishopaniskad. What is true is that when some refor-
mers lost faith in the method of conversion, the tech-
nique of what is known as scientific socialism was born.
I am engaged in solving the same problem that faces
scientific socialists. It is true, however, that my approach
- is always and only through unadulterated non-violence.
It may fail. If it dies, it will be because of my ignorance
of the technique of non-violence. I may be a bad ex-
ponent of the doctrine in which my faith is daily in-
creasing. The A.I.S.A. and the A J.V.I. A. are organi-
zations through which the technique of non-violence is
being tested on an all-India scale. They are special
autonomous bodies created by the Congress for the
purpose of enabling me to conduct my experiments
without being fettered by the vicissitudes of policy to
which a wholly democratic body like the Congress is
always liable.
Harijan, 20-2-'37

Real socialism has been handed down to us by our
ancestors who taught : "All land belongs to Gopal;
where then is the boundary line? Man is the maker of
that line and he can, therefore, unmake it." Gopal
literally means shepherd; it also means God. In modern
language it means the State, i.e. the People. That the
land today does not belong to the people is true. But

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