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ASIA 


1 


SPEECHES  AND  WRITINGS 


OF 


M.  K.  GANDHI 


In  lh$  motn#iii  of  our  triAl  and  x-vr  tt\^<wp>i 
Ui  m«  (i«c'ar«  mv  /at/*!.  /  b«.'vM  iti  UxKnf  my 
tn$mii$.  I  itlupt  lit  non  violtnet  at  llu  (»>ry 
rftuMty  op«n  to  tilt  Ilindui.  Hvnulmant.  Eihhi, 
ParM*,  Chi  (iliani  and  Jtwi  rf  /nd<>i  /  btluvt 
in  Ikt  pwtr  e/  tiifftrmg  ti^  ntU  th»  i(o»<»»< 
ktirt.  Tl\4  kmnt  vf  Iht  fcocV  mutt  fall  o»  t'n* 
/Irll  »*rM,  Tl\4  Ultt  namtd  litrti  art  afraid  tf 
th*  eombinalton  of  Ih*  flrit  ihrtt.  W»  mvH.  tv 
«ur  kotutt  conduct,  d»ncnstralt  la  thim  that  f'rv 
an  our  kimm**.  iC*  fnu«l  tt/  ovr  cmcucl, 
dai»omtrai$  to  tv*ty  Sn^lnhviin  thnl  h$  it  a$ 
tafa  M  tht  rtmolitl  corn/r  tf  India  dj  /'(  p>6 
ftut$  to  fttX  ithind  tkt  m,aclin$  gun. 

U  tka  Kottd  biliitu  in  thi  r*i»ttnct  of  a  »o«<, 
it  mutt  b*  rtatfiind  that  tout  fcrtt  u  itiler  tkan 
iodt  foKt~tt  t<  tf.*  $ccr*d  ftifiCipU  of  fre* 
tekith  mcttt  mointcita.  On  ui  tt  tl.t  rf<}«fi*>- 
(ilif*  tf  lit  ing  out  thi*  luertd  law  :  uf  or*  fiol 
toncfrntd  V'tk  rttulll,  .  .  • 

Wt    tkoulJ    not  tneouraf*   Ih*   tkntahl  thai 

«IM  ka:   to   work    torjiMi    h*    Ml    be    konntid, 

imilailf,  1/   f.ii6<ie  men    fttl  that  Ihty    triil  b» 

,,«n*d  and   Iktv  will  I*   ntfltcud  lit  Ihtm    HtU 

lov*  Ihf  CO  ■Hry  ,    for  ttrlict  ••  it  ctcn  ttvard. 


I 


^'  THIRD    EDITION 

G.  A.  NATRSAIS  &  Co.  MADRAS. 

PRICE  Rs-  3. 


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CORNELL 

UNIVERSITY 

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Library 


The  original  of  tliis  book  is  in 
tine  Cornell  University  Library. 

There  are  no  known  copyright  restrictions  in 
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SPEECHES  AND  WRITINGS 

OF 

M.  K  GANDHI 


Cornell  University  Library 
DS  448.G19S8  1922 

Speeches  and  writings  of  lU.K.  Gandhi  / 
3   1924  023   968  757 


WITH 

AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 

MR.  C.  F.  ANDREWS 

AND  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH- 


THIRD  EDITION 

G.  A.  NATESAN  &  CO.,  MADRAS 

RUPEES  THREE 


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If  we  would  classify  him  with  any  of  the  supreme 
■figures  of  human  history,  it  must  be  with  such  august 
religious  'prophets  as  Confucius  and  Lao-tse,  Buddha, 
Zoroaster  and  Mohammed,  and,  most  truly  of  all,  the 
Nazarene  !  Out  of  Asia,  at  long  intervals  of  time,  have 
arisen  these  inspired  ^  witnesses  of  God.  One  hy  one 
they  have  appeared  to  teach  men  hy  precept  and 
example  the  law  of  life,  and  therewith  to  save  the 
race.  To-day,  in  this  our  time,  there  comes  another  of 
this  sacred  line,  the  Mahatma  of  India.  In  all 
reverence  and  with  due  regard  for  historic  fact,  I 
match  this  man  with  Jesus  Christ : — Rev.  Dr.  Holmes. 
— Minister  of  the  Community  Church,  New  Torlc  City, 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE 


THIS  is  an  exhaustive,  comprehensive  and  thorough- 
ly up-to-date  edition  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  Speeches 
■and  Writings  revised  and  considerably  amplified^ 
with  the  addition  of  a  large  number  of  articles  from 
Young  India  and  Navajivan  (rendered  int®  English.) 
The  inclusion  of  these  papers  have  almost  doubled  the 
size  of  the  old  edition  and  the  present  collection 
Tuns  to  about  1,000  pages  of  well- arranged  matter 
ranging  over  the  whole  period  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  public 
life.  It  opens  with  a  succinct  biographical  sketch  of 
Mr.  Gandhi  bringing  the  account  of  his  life  dovi^n  to 
the  historic  trial  and  sentence.  The  Volume  begins 
with  the  Indian  South  African  Question  and 
covers  his  views  on  indentured  labour  and  Indians 
in  the  Colonies,  his  jail  experiences  in  South  Africa, 
his  pronouncements  on  the  Khaira  and  Champ aran 
affairs,  his  discourses  on  Rowlatt  Bills  and  Satya- 
rgraha,  and  finally  his  Toung  India  and  Navajivan 
articles  on  the  Non-Co-operation  movement,  including 
select  papers  on  the  Khilafat  and  Punjab  wrongs,  the 
Congress,  Swadeshi,  Boycott,  Gharka,  National  Edu- 
cation and  Swaraj.  The  additional  chapters  are 
arranged  under  suitable  headings  and  include  his 
messages  on  the  eve  of  and  after  the  arrest,  his 
statement  before  the  court,  the  trial  and  judgment. 


iv  PUBLISHERS'   NOTE 

Then  follows  a  symposium  of  appreciations  from  sucb 
diverse  men  as  Tolstoy  and  Tagore,  Prof.  Gilbert 
Murray  and  Dr.  Holmes  of  New  York  besides  ex- 
cerpts from  the  British  and  American  press.  The 
book  which  is  bound  in  cloth  and  indexed  contains- 
portraits  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gandhi  and  %three  charac- 
teristic pictures  of  Mr.  Gandhi  taken  at  different 
■periods  of  his  life. 

May,  1922.  G.  A.  NATESAN  &  CO. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 

By  Mr.  C.  F.  Andrews 

M.  K.  Gandhi:  A  Sketch 

'. 

South  African  Indian  Question 

The  Beginning  of  the  Struggle 

1 

Deputation  to  Lord  Selborne 

30 

Mr.  Gandhi's  Address 

32 

Deputation  to  Lord  Elgin 

43 

Before  the  Court  in  1907 

50 

Attitude  towards  the  Assailants 

54 

The  Issue  at  Stake 

..       56 

The  Marriage  Question 

..       61 

Before  the  Court  in  1913 

m, 

The  Solomon  Commission 

. .       69- 

Should  Indians  have  full  Citizen  Kights  ? 

..        77 

A  Truce  with  the  Government 

. .       80! 

The  Settlement 

..       83 

Farewell  Speech  at  Durban 

85 

Address  to  the  Indentured  Indians 

..       89 

Address  to  the  Tamil  Community 

. .       91 

Farewell  Speech  at  Johannesburg 

95 

Farewell  to  South  Africa 

..     102 

Heeeption  in  England 

..      107 

Letter  to  Lord  Crewe 

. .      108 

Farewell  to  England 

..      109,. 

Eeception  in  Bombay 

..    no" 

E.eoeption  in  Madras 

. .      112 

The  Indian  South  African  League 

..      115 

Advice  to  South  African  Indians 

..      117 

Kailway  Restrictions  in  Transvaal 

. .      119 

Indians  in  South  Africa 

,.      122 

Indian  JRights  in  the  Transvaal 

. .      125 

Another  S,  A.  Commission 

..     129 

VI 


CONTENTS 


Indians  in  the  Colonies 

Beciprocity  Between  India  and  the  Dominions . .  13 1 

Indian  and  European  Emigrants  . .  IBS'- 

Indentured  Labour  .  .  135- 

Indian  Colonial  Emigration  ..  139 

The  Iniquities  of  the  Indenture  System  144 

Imperial  Conference  Resolutions  149" 

Jail  Experiences  152 

Passive  Resistance 

How  the  Idea  Originated  ..  179* 

Soul  Force  v.  Physical  Force  .  .  1 80- 

The  Origin  of  the  Movement  in  South  Africa   .  181 

The  Genesis  of  Passive  Resistance  .  .  182 

Passive  Besisters  in  the  Tolstoy  Farm  ..  183 

A  Lesson  to  India  .  .  184 

A  Message  to  the  Congress  .  .  185 

The  Gains  of  the  Passive  Resistance  Struggle  18& 

The  Cfaamparan  Enquiry 

Labour  Trouble  in  Behar  . .  193- 

The  Kaira  Question 

The  Situation  in  Kaira  . ,  19& 

The  Vow  of  Passive  Resistance  . .  199 

Statement  on  the  Kaira  Distress  . .  200 

Reply  to  the  Commissioner  . .  206 

The  Meaning  of  the  Covenant  . ,  210' 

Reply  to  Kaira  Press  Note  ..  211 

End  of  the  Kaira  Struggle  . .  217 

•  The  Last  Phase  . .  221 

Earlier  Indian  Speeches 

The  Duties  of  British  Citizenship  . .  225 

A  Plea  for  the  Soul  . .  226 

On  Anarchical  Crimes  . .  229- 

Loyalty  to  the  British  Empire  . .  232 

Advice  to  Students  . ,  233 

Politics  and  the  People  , ,  23& 

The  Reward  of  Public  Life  . .  241 


CONTENTS 


VU 


Earlier  Indian  Speeches — amtd. 

Three  Speeches  on  Gokhale — . 

Unveiling  Mr.  Gokbale's  Portrait 
The  La<eMr.  Gokhale 
Gokhalb's  Services  to  India 

Hindu  University  Speech 

The  Benares  Incident 

Reply  to  Karachi  Address 

The  Gurukula 

Swadeshi 

Ahimsa 

Economic  vs.  Mora!  Progress 

The  Moral  Basis  of  Co-operation 

Third  Glass  in  Indian  Railways 

Yernaculars  as  Media  of  Instruction 

Social  Service 

True  Patriotism 

The  Satyagrabasrama 

Indian  Merchants 

National  Dress 

The  Hindu- Mahomedan  Problem 

Gujarat  Educational  Conference 

Gujarat  Political  Conference 

Address  to  Social  Service  Conference 

The  Protection  of  the  Cow 
""■— ^'  Oa  Womanhood 

Plea  for  Hindi 

The  Ahmedabad  Mill  Hands 

A  Letter  to  the  Viceroy 

Recruiting  for  the  M''ar 

The  Montagu  Chelmsford  Scheme 

Present  Top-heavy  Administration 

The  Rowlatt  Bills  &  Satyagraha 

Mgipifesto  to  the  Press 
The  Pledge 
Speech  at  Allahabad 
Speech  at  Bombay 
Speech  at  Madras 


242 
244 
247 
249' 
258 
263 
265 
273 
282- 
286 
293 
301 
307 
309' 
314 
316 
330 
332 
334 
335 
372 
397 
407 
411 
418 
420 
426 
430 
^37 
439 


440 
442 
443 

444 

44& 


via 


CONTENTS 


The  Rowlatt  Bills  &  Satyagraha— co»<(2. 

Appeal  to  the  Viceroy 

Thq  Satyagraha  Day 

Sa,tyagraha  Day  in  Madras 

Message  to  Satyagrahis 

The  Delhi  lucident 

Message  to  Madras  Satyagrahis 

Mp^sage  to  the  Bombay  Citizens 

Distribution  of  Prohibited  Literature 

Message  After  Arrest 

TljQ  "  Satyagrahi  " 

Saityagraha  and  Duragraha 

Speech  at  Ahmedabad 

Temporary  Suspension  of  the  Movement 

Non-Co-Operation 

The  Punjab  &  Khilafat  "Wrongs 
The  Amritsar  Appeals 
The  Khilafat  Question 

"  Why  I  have  Joined  the  Khilafat  Movement 
Cqngress  Report  on  the  Punjab  Disorders 
The  Punjab  Disorder :  A  Personal  Statement 
How  to  Work  Non-Co-operation 
Open  Letter  to  Lord  Chelmsford 
Pqlitical  Freemasonry 
Courts  and  Schools 
SpL^ech  at  Madras 
Speech  at  the  Special  Congress 
Swaraj  in  one  Year 
"  To  Every  Englishman  in  India  " 
'The  Creed  of  the  Congress 
Appeal  to  Young  Bengal 
Open  Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Connaught 
The  Need  for  Humility 
Strikes 

The  Malegaon  Incident 
The  Simla  Visit 
The  Ali  Brothers'  Apology 
Violence  and  Non-Violenoe 


450 
454 
455 
460 
461 
462 
463 
466 
468 
470 
471 
473 
479 


481 
484 
487 
491 
494 
500 
507 
511 
515 
520 
524 
541 
548 
553 
561 
565 
569 
573 
574 
577 
579 
585 
593 


CONTENTS 


IX 


Non-Co-Operation — contd. 

A[^eal  to  the  Women  of  India 
The  Arrest  of  the  Ali  Brothers 
Manifesto  on  Freedom  of  Opinion 
The  Great  Sentinel 
Honour  the  Prince 
The  Bombay  fiiots — 
The  Statement 

Message  to  the  Citizens  of  Bombay 
Appeal  to  the  Hooligans  of  Bombay 
Appeal  to  his  Co-Workers 
Peace  at  Last 
The  Moral  Issue 
Oivil  Disobedience 
The  Moplah  Outbreak 
Reply  to  Lord  Ronaldshay 
The  Round  Table  Conference 
The  Abmedabad  Congress  Speech 
The  Independence  Resolution 
The  Bombay  Conference 
Letter  to  H.  E,  the  Viceroy 
Reply  to  the  Government  of  India 
The  Crime  of  Chauri  Ohaura 
In  Defence  of  the  Bardoli  Decisions 
The  Delhi  Resolutions 
Reply  to  Critics 
A  Divine  Warning 

On  the  Eve  of  Arrest 

"  If  I  am  Arrested." 
Message  to  Co- Workers 
Message  to  Kerala 

After  the  Arrest 

The  Arrest 

The  Message  of  the  Charka 
Letter  to  Hakim  Ajmal  Khan 
Letter  to  Srimati  Urmila  Devi 
Interview  in  Jail 


597 
601 
606 
607 
614 

617 
623 
625 
628 
631 
633 
636 
640 
642 
647 
650 
655 
657 
666 
670 
679 
689 
695 
703 
720 

726 
732 
734 

735 
738 
737 
742 
742 


COKTENTS 


After  the  Attest— contd. 

Letter  to  Moulana  Abdul  Bari 

.      745- 

Message  to  the  Parsis 

.      746 

Truth  of  the  Spinning  Wheel 

.      747 

Letter  to  Mr.  Andrews 

.      748 

The  Great  Trial 

Statement  Before  the  Court 

.      749 

Written  Statement 

.      751 

The  Judgment 

.      757 

Mr.  Gandhi's  Eeply 

.     758 

Message  to  the  Country 

.      758- 

Jail  Life  in  India 

The  Meaning  of  the  Imprisonments 

.      759 

Work  in  Gaols 

.      763 

A  Model  Prisoner 

.     766 

Miscellaneous 

A  Confession  of  Faith 

.      769 

Passive  Kesisters  in  the  Tolstoy  Farm 

.      773 

The  Rationale  of  Su£fering 

.     774 

The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Passive  Resistance 

776 

Oa  Soul  Force  and  Indian  Politics 

.     779 

Rights  and  Duties  of  Labour 

.     784 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Sword 

.      788 

The  Gujarat  National  University 

.      793 

Indian  Medicine 

.      798 

Hindustani  and  English  , 

.     800 

Social  Boycott 

.      802 

"  Neither  a  Saint  nor  a  Politician  " 

.      805 

Hindu- Moslem  Unity 

.     811 

Untouchability 

.      815 

Gokhale,  Tilak  and  Mehta 

.      818 

The  Fear  of  Death 

.     823 

Hinduism 

.      826 

National  Education 

.     834 

From  Satyagraha  to  Non-CoOperation 

.     838 

Introspection 

.     841 

The  Spinning  Wheel 

.     844 

Love,  not  Hate 

..     846 

CONTENTS  Xl' 

Appendix  I 

Mr.  Gandhi's  Religion  ,,  J 

The  Rules  and  Regulations  of  Satyagrahasrama  5 

The  Memorial  to  Mr.  Montagu  . ,  10 

The  Swadeshi  Vow  .  i  12 

Appendix  II — Appreciations. 

Count  Leo  Tolstoy  . ,  17 

Prof ,  Gilbert  Murray  ..  17 

Lord  Hardinge  ■  ■  20 

Lord  Ampthill  . .  20 

The  Lord  Bishop  of  Madras  . .  20 

Lord  Gladstone         •  . .  21 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Jameson  . .  21 

Sir  Henry  Cotton  . .  21 

Mr.  Charles  Roberts,  M.  P.  . .  21 

Senator  W.  P.  Sohreiner  . .  22 

G.  K.  Gokhale  . .  22^ 

Rev.  Joseph  Doke  . .  23 

Mrs.  Annie  Besant  . .  24 

Sir  P.  M.  Mehta  . .  24 

Mrs.  Sarojini  Naidu  . .  24 

Dr.  Subramania  Iyer  . .  25 

Sir  Rabindranath  Tagore  . .  25 

Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak  . .  25 

Lala  Lajpat  Rai  . .  26- 

Dr.  J.  H.  Holmes  . .  26 

Mr.  W.  W.  Pearson  . .  27 

Mr.  Percival  Landon  -  .  27" 

Col.  J.  C.  Wedgwood,  M,  P.  . .  28 

Mr.  Blanch  Watson  . .  28 

Mr.  Ben  Spoor,  MP.  . .  28 

Mr.  S.  E  Stokes  . .  30 

Vincent  Anderson  . .  30- 

Sir  Valentine  Ohirol  . .  30 

Mr.  C.  F.  Andrews  . .  30 

S.  W.  Clemes  . .  32 

Mr.  W.  E.  Johnson  . .  32: 


XU  CONTENTS 

Appendix  II — Appreciations — contd. 

The  Rt.  Hon.  V.  S.  Srinivasa  Sastri  . .  33 

Mi«.  H.  S.  L.  Polak  . .  38 

Mr.  K.  Natarajan  . .  45 

Mrs,  Sarojini  Naidu  . .  45 

Bkbu  Dwijendranath  lagore  . .  46 

Index  . .  i 

Illustrations 

Mr.  &  Mrs,  Gandhi 
Three,  Portraits  of  Gandhi 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  appears  to  me  unnecessary  for  any  prefatory  note- 
to  be  written  to  the  Life  and  Speeches  of  Mohandas 
Karamchand  Gandhi ;  they  live  and  speak  for  themselves. 
Personally,  I  have  had  such  a  great  shrinking  from  writing^ 
anything,  during  his  life-time,  a'bout  one  whom  I  reverence 
so  deeply,  that  I  have  many  times  refused  to  do  so.  Eut  a 
promise  given  in  an  unguarded  moment  now  claims  fulfil- 
ment, and  I  will  write  veiy  briefly. 

To  Mr.  Gandhi,  any  swerving  from  the  truth,  even 
in  casual  utterance,  is  intolerable  ;  his  speeches  must  be- 
read  as  stating  uncompromisingly  what  he  feels  to  be  true. 
They  are  in  no  sense  diplomatic,  or  opportunist,  or  merely 
'  political,'  using  the  word  in  its  narrower  sense.  He  never 
pays  empty  compliments  :  he  never  hesitates  to  say,  for  the 
truth's  sake,  what  may  be  unpalatable  to  his  audience. 

I  shrink,  as  I  have  said,  out  of  the  very  reverence- 
that  I  have  for  him,  from  writing  for  the  cold  printed 
page  about  his  character  ;  but  I  may  perhaps  not  offend  by 
setting  down  something,  however  inadequate,  concerning, 
his  intellectual  convictions.  It  is  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  understand  these  ;  because,  in  his  case,  they  are- 
held  so  strongly,  as  to  bind  fast  his  whole  life  and  to 
stamp  it  with  an  originality,  all  its  own. 

The  greatest  of  all  these  is  his  conviction  of  the- 
eternal  and  fundamental  efficacy  of  ahimsa.  What  this 
means  to  him,  will  be  explained  a  hundred  times  over  in  the 
writings  which  follow.  To  Mr.  Gandhi, — it  would  not 
be  too  much  to  say, — ahimsa  is  the  key  to  all  higher  exist- 
ence. It  is  the  divine  life  itself,  I  have  never  yet  been 
able  to  reconcile  this  with  his  own  recruiting  campaign,  for- 
war  purposes,  during  the  year  1918,  But  he  was,  himself,, 
able  to  reconcile  it ;  and   some  day,  no   doubt,  he  will  give 


Xiv  INTRODUCTION 

to  the  world  the  logical  background  of  that  reconciliation. 
Leaving  aside  the  question  ot  this  exceptional  case,  T  do 
not  think  that  there  has  been  any  more  vital  and  inspir- 
ing contribution  to  ethical  truth,  in  our  own  generation, 
than  Mr.  Gandhi's  fearless  logic  in  the  practice  ot  ahimsa. 
Sir  Gilbert  Murray's  article  in  the  Hibberi  Journal  has 
made  this  fact  known  to  the  larger  world  of  humanity 
outside  India. 

A  second  intellectual  conviction  is  the  paramount  use  of 
religious  vows  in  the  building  up  of  the  spiritual  life, 
Personally,  I  find  it  far  more  difficult  to  follow  Mr. 
Gandhi  here.  Especially  I  dread  the  vow  of  celibacy 
which  he,  not  unfrequently,  recommends.  It  appears  to 
me  unnatural  and  abnorm!U«  But  here,  again,  he  has 
.  often  told  me,  I  do  not  understand  his  position. 

The  further  convictions,  which  are  expressed  in  his 
writing,  concerning  the  dignity  and  necessity  for  manual 
labour, — the  simplification  of  society, — the  healing  powers 
of  nature  as  a  remedy  for  all  disease, — the  Swadeshi  spirit, 
— the  false  basis  of  modern  civilisation,  — all  these  will  be 
studied  with  the  deepest  interest.  They  will  be  seen,  through 
Mr.  Gandhi's  Speeches,  in  a  perspective  which  has  not 
been  made  evident  in  any  other  writer.  For,  whatever 
may  be  our  previous  opinion,  whether  we  agree  or  disagree 
with  Mr.  Gandhi's  position,  he  compels  us  to  think  anew 
and  to  discard  conventional  opinion. 

It  is  necessary  to  add  to  these  very  brief  notes  (which 
1  had  already  published  in  an  earlier  edition  of  this  book) 
a  statement  with  regard  to  Mahatma  Gandhi's  intellectual 
position  on  the  subject  of  the  '  British  Constitution  '  and 
the  '  British  Empire.' 

I  have  heard  him  say,  again  and  again,  to  those  who 
were  in  highest  authority  :  "  If  I  did  not  believe  that 
racial  equality  was  to  be  obtained  within  the  British 
Empire,  I  should  be  a  rebel." 

At  the  close  of  the  great  and  noble  passive  resistance 
struggle  in  South  Africa,  he  explained  his  own  standpoint 
in  Johannesborg,  in  his  farewell  words,  as  follows  : — 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

"It  is  my  knowledge,  right  or  wrong,  of  the  British 
constitution,  which  has  bound  me  to  the  British  Empire. 
Tear  that  constitution  to  ehreds,  and  my  loyalty  will  also 
be  torn  to  shreds.  Oa  the  other  hand,  keep  it  intact,  and 
you  hold  me  bound  unreservedly  in  its  service.  The  choice 
has  lain  before  us,  who  are  Indians  in  South  Africa,  either 
to  sunder  ourselves  from  the  British  Empire,  or  to 
struggle  by  means  of  passive  resistance  in  order  that 
the  ideals  of  the  British  Constitution  may  be  preserved, — 
but  only  those  ideals.  The  theory  of  racial  equality  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Law,  once  recognised,  can  never  be  departed 
from  ;  and  its  principle  must  at  all  costs  be  maintained; — 
the  principle,  that  is  to  say,  that  in  all  the  legal  codes, 
which  bind  the  \Empire  together,  there  shall  be  no  racial 
taint,  no  racial  distinction,  no  colour  disability." 

I  have  summarised,  in  the  above  statement,  the 
speech  which  Mahatma  Gandhi  delivered  on  a  very 
memorable  occasion  at  Johannesburg,  before  a  European 
audience,  and  I  do  not  think  that  he  has  ever  departed 
from  the  convictions  wl^ich  he  then  uttered  in  public. 
What  has  impressed  me  most  of  all,  has  been  his  unlimit- 
ed patience.  Even  now,  when  he  has  again  been  imprisoned 
by  the  present  rulers  of  the  British  Empire,  who  have 
charge  of  Indian'~~a3airs,  he  has  not  despaired  of  the 
British  Empire  itself.  ^According  to  his  own  opinion,  it^ 
is  these  rulers  themselves  who  have  been  untrue  to  the 
underlying  principle  of  that  Empire, 

A  short  time  before  Mahatma  Gandhi's  arrest,  when 
I  was  with  him  in  Ahmedabad,  he  blamed  me  very  severely 
indeed  for  my  lack  of  faith  in  the  British  connexion  and 
for  my  publicly  putting  forward  a  demand  for  complete 
independence.  He  said  to  me  openly  that  I  had  done  a 
great  deal  of  mischief  by  such  advocacy  of  independence. 
If  I  interpret  him  rightly  his  own  position  at  that  time 
was  this.  He  had  lost  faith  in  the  British  Administration 
in  India, — it  was  a  Satanic  Government.  But  he  had 
not  lost  faith  in  the  British  Constitution  itself,  He  still 
believed  that  India  could  remain  within  the  British  Empire 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

on  the  basis  of  racial  equality,  and  that  the  principle  of 
racial  equality  would  come  out  triumphantly  vindicated 
after  the  present  struggle  in  India  was  over.  Indeed,  he 
held  himself  to  be  the  champion  of  that  theory,  and  the 
upholder  of  the  British  Constitution. 

"Whether  that  belief,  which  he  has  held  so  persistently 
and  patiently  all  these  years,  will  be  justified  at  last,  time 
alone  can  show.  I  remember  how  impressed  I  was  at  the 
time  by  the  fact  that  he,  who  had  been  treated  so  disgrace- 
fully time  after  time  in  South  Africa,  should  still  retain  his 
faith  in  the  British  character.  I  said  to  him,  "  It  would 
almost  seem  as  if  you  had  more  faith  in  my  own -country -t 
men  than  I  have  myself."  He  said  to  me,  "  That  may  be 
true," — and  I  felt  deeply  his  implied  rebuke. 

I  have  gone  through  carefully  the  words  he  employed 
later  at  the  time  of  his  trial,  and  in  spite  of  all  that  he 
said  with  such  terrible  severity  concerning  the  evil  effect  of 
British  Rule  in  India,  I  do  not  think  that  he  has  actually 
departed  from  the  position  which  runs  through  all  the 
speeches  in  this  book  from  beginning  to  end.  He  still  trusts 
that  the  temper  and  character  of  the  British  people  will 
change  for  the  better,  and  that  the  principle  of  racial  equal- 
ity will  finally  be  acknowledged  in  actual  deed,  not  merely 
in  word.  If  that  trust  is  realised,  then  he  is  prepared  to 
remain  within  the  British  Empire.  But  if  that  trust  is 
ultimately  shattered,  then  he  will  feel  that  at  last  the  time 
has  come  to  sever  once  and  for  all  the  British  connexion. 

Shantiniketan,      1 
May,  1922.         |  C.  F.  ANDREWS. 


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M.  K-  GMDfll 

A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE   AND  WORK. 


A  Scene  in  Johannesburg 
^lAHB  scene  is  laid  in  Johannesburg.  Summer  is- 
JL  coming  and  the  days  are  lengthening  out.  At  Park 
Station,  at  6  o'clock  on  a  Sunday  evening,  in  September 
1908,  whilst  it  was  still  broad  daylight,  a  small  animated 
group  of  dark-skinned  people  might  have  been  observed 
eagerly  looking  in  the  direction  from  which  the  mail  train 
from  Natal,  that  stops  at  Volksrust,  was  expected.  The 
watchers  were  Madrassi  hawkers,  who  were  apparently 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  one  aSeutionately  regarded  by  them. 
Punctually  to  time,  the  train  steamed  in  and  there  was 
observed,  descending  from  a  second-class  compartment^ 
attended  by  a  prison-warder  in  uniform,  a  small,  slim, 
dark,  active  man  with  calm  eyes  and  a  serene  countenance, 
He  was  clad  in  the  garb  of  a  South  African  native  con- 
vict— small  military  cap,  that  did  npt  protect  him  from 
the  sun,  loose,  coarse  jacket,  bearing  a  numbered  ticket  and' 
marked  with  the  broad  arrow,  short  trousers,  one  leg  dark,, 
the  other  light,  similarly  marked,  thick  grey  woollen  socks 
and  leather  sandals.  But  it  was  plain  that  he  was  not  a 
South  African  native,  and  upon  closer  scrutiny,  one  became 
aware  that  he,  too,  was  an  Indian,  like  those  who  respect- 
fully saluted  him,  as  he  turned  quietly  to  the  warder  for 
instructions.  He  was  carrying  a  white  canvas  bag,  which 
held  his  clothing  and  other  effects  found  upon  him  when  he 
was  received  by  the  gaol  authorities,  and  also  a  small 
basket  containing  books.  He  had  been  sent  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  travel  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  for  many  hours, 
without  food   or  the  means  of  procuring  it,  as  the  warder 


2  M.   K.   GANDHJ 

had  no  funds  for  that  purpose  and  but  for  the  charity  of  a 
European  friend — a  Government  official — he  would  have 
had  to  starve  for  twenty-four  hours.  A  brief  consultation 
ensued  between  the  prisoner  and  the  warder.  The  latter 
appeared  to  realise  the  incongruity  of  the  situation,  for  he 
bore  himself  towards  the  prisoner  with  every  reasonable 
mark  of  respect.  The  latter  was  evidently  a  person  of 
some  importance,  to  whom  a  considerable  amount  of  defe- 
rence should  be  shown.  The  subject  of  conversation  was 
■whether  the  prisoner  preferred  to  go  by  cab  or  to  walk  to 
lihe  gaol.  If  the  former,  he  (the  prisoner)  would  have  to 
pay  for  it.  He,  however,  declined  the  easier  method  of 
locomotion,  choosing  to  walk  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in 
broad  day-light,  in  his  convict  suit,  to  the  gaol  and  re- 
solutely shouldering  his  bag,  be  briskly  stepped  out,  the 
Madrassi  hawkers  shamefacedly  following  at  some  distance. 
Later,  he  disappeared  within  the  grim  portals  of  the 
Johannesburg  gaol,  above  which  is  carved,  in  Dutch,  the 
motto,  "Union  makes  strength." 

Five  years  have  passed.  On  the  dusty,  undulating 
road  from  Standerton  to  Greylingstad,  for  a  distance  of 
three  miles,  is  seen  a  long,  trailing  "  army  "  of  men  who, 
on  closer  inspection,  are  recognisable  as  Indians  of  the 
labouring  classes,  to  the  number  of  some  two  thousand. 
Upon  questioning  them,  it  would  be  found  that  they  had 
been  gathered  from  the  coal  mines  of  Northern  Natal, 
where  they  had  been  working  under  indenture,  or  as  "free" 
men,  liable  to  the  £3  annual  tax  upon  the  freedom  of 
themselves,  their  wives,  their  sons  of  16  years  and  their 
daughters  of  thirteen.  They  had  marched  from  Newcastle 
to  Charlestown,  whence  they  had  crossed  the  border  into 
the  Transvaal,  at  Volksrust.  They  were  now  marching 
stolidly  and  patiently  on,  until  they  reached  Tolstoy  Farm 
near  Johannesburg,  or  they  were  arrested,  as  prohibited 
immigrants,  by  the  Government.  Thus  they  had  marched 
for  several  days  on  a  handful  of  rice,  bread  and  sugar  a 
day,  carrying  with  them  all  their  few  worldly  belongings, 
hopeful  that,  at  the  end,  the  burden  of  the  hated  £  3  tax 
would  be   removed  from    their  shoulders.     They  appeared 


M.  K.  GANPHI  3 

■to  place  inqplicit  trust  in  a  small,  limping,  bent,  but  dogged 
>maD,  coarsely  dressed,  and  using  a  staff,  painfully  marching 
:at  the  head  of  the  straggling  column,  but  with  a  serene 
and  peaceful  countenance,  and  a  look  of  sureness  and  con- 
tent. A  nearer  inspection  of  this  strange  figure  discloses 
<uhe  same  individual  that  we  have  already  seen  entering  the 
'forbidding  portals  of  the  "  Fort,"  at  Johannesburg.  But 
•how  much  older  looking  and  care-worn  !  He  has  taken  a 
vow  to  eat  only  one  poor  meal  a  day,  until  the  iniquitous 
■tns.  upon  the  honour  and  chastity  of  his  brothers  and  sisters 
shall  have  been  repealed,  Upon  him,  as  the  foremost 
pro^^gonist  of  the  movement,  has  fallen  the  main  burden 
^and  responsibility  of  organising  one  of  the  greatest  and 
nobleBt  protests  against  tyranny  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen  during  the  preceding  seven  years.  Time  has  left  its 
mark  upon  him  ! 

Nine  more  years  have  passed.  Bent  down  by  the  weight 
of  years,  but  resolute  of  heart,  that  same  figure  is  yet  the 
-cynosure  of  all  eyes.  The  scene  is  laid  now  in  Abmedabad 
where  thousands  of  Khadder-dad  pilgrims  march  in  solemn 
■array  to  the  court-house  and  await  "  the  man  of  destiny." 
it  was  twelve  noon  on  the  18th  of  March.  That  same 
frail  figure  in  a  loin  cloth,  with  the  dear  old  familiar  smile 
^f  deep  content,  enters  the  court-house,  The  whole  court 
suddenly  rises  to  greet  the  illustrious  prisoner.  "This  looks 
'like  a  family  gathering,"  says  he  with  the  benignant  smile 
of  his.  The  heart  of  the  gathering  throbs  with  alternate 
'hopes  and  fears  but  the  august  prisoner,  pure  of  heart  and 
'meek  of  spirit,  is  calm  like  the  deep  sea.  In  a  moment 
the  great  trial  had  begun  ;  and  as  the  prisoner  made  his 
'historic  statement,  tears  were  seen  trickling  down  the  cheeks 
of  the  stoutest  of  hearts  "  I  wish  to  endorse  all  the  blame 
that  the  Advocate -General  has  thrown  on  my  shoulders," 
says  he  with  perfect  candour.  "  To  preach  disaffection  to 
the  esiisting  system  of  Government  has  become  almost  a 
ipassion  with  me.  *  *  *  I  do  not  ask  for  mercy.  I  do  not 
'plead  any  extenuating  act.  I  am  here  therefore  to  invite 
and  submit  to  the  highest  penalty  that  can  be  inflicted 
'Upon  me  for  what  in  law  is  a  deliberate  crime  and  what 


4  M.  K,  GANDHI 

appears  to  me  to  be  the  highest  duty  of  a  citizen."  And"' 
then  follows  the  terrible  inditement  of  the  Government. 
The  judge  himself  is  deeply  moved.  He  feels  the  great- 
ness of  the  occasion  and  in  slow  and  deliberate  accents  he 
says  :  "  It  will  be  impossible  to  ignore  the  fact  that  you 
are  in  a  different  category  from  any  person  I  have  ever 
tried  or  am  likely  to  try.  It  would  be  impossible  to  ignore- 
the  fact  that  in  the  eyes  of  millions, of  your  countrymen  you 
are  a  great  patriot  and  a  great  leader.  Even  those  who  differ 
from  you  in  politics  look  upon  you  as  a  man  of  high- 
ideals  and  of  noble  and  even  saintly  life."  But,  Oh,  the 
irony  of  it,!  "  I  have  to  deal  with  you  in  one  character 
only  *  *  to  judge  you  as  a  man  subject  to  the  law  who  hss- 
by  his  own  admission  broken  the  law  and  committed,  what 
to  an  ordinary  man  must  appear  to  be,  grave  offences- 
against  the  state."  A  sentence  of  six  years'  simple  impri- 
sonment is  passed  ;  but  the  judge  adds  :  "  that  if  the 
course  of  events  in  India  should  make  it  possible  for  the 
Government  to  reduce  the  period  and  release  you,  no  one 
will  be  better  pleased  than  I."  And  the  prisoner  thanks- 
the  judge  and  there  is  perfect  good  humour.  Was  there 
ever  such  a  trial  in  the  history  of  British  Courts  or  any 
other  court  for  the  matter  of  that  ?  And  finally  he  bids 
farewell  to  the  tearful  throng  pressing  forward  to  touch 
the  bare  feet  of  him  whose  presence  was  a  benediction  ! 

The  man  is  Mohandas  Karamchand  Gandhi,  Dewan's 
son,  Barrister-at-Law,  scholar,  student,  cultured  Indian 
gentleman  "  farmer,  weaver,"  and  leader  of  his  people^ 
Because  he  preferred  to  obey  the  dictates  of  conscience* 
because  he  placed  honour  before  comfort  or  even  life  itself' 
because  he  chose  not  to  accept  an  insult  to  his  Motherland' 
because  he  strove  so  that  right  should  prevail  and  that  his 
people  might  have  life,  a  civilised.  Christian  Government 
in  a  Colony  over  which  waves  the  British  flag,  deemed  that 
the  best  way  to  overcome  such  dangerous  contumacy  was- 
te cast  his  body  into  gaol,  where  at  one  time  he  was  com- 
pelled to  herd  with  and  starve  upon  the  diet  of  the  most 
degraded  aboriginal  native  felons,  men  barely  emerging 
from  the  condition  of  brute  beasts,  or  rather,  with  all  their 


M.   K.  GANDHI  5 

'human  aspirations  and  instincts  crushed  out  of  them  by 
iihe  treatment  accorded  to  them  under  the  "  civilising  " 
.process  of  the  Transvaal's  colour  legislation,  And,  again 
obeying  the  behests  of  conscience,  believing  that  he  best 
serves  India  so,  he  has  again  chosen  the  refuge  of  prison, 
convinced  like  Thoreau  that  he  is  freer  than  his  gaolers  or 
those  who  mourn  for  him,  but  do  not  liberate  themselves 
from  bondage. 

EAELT   LIFE   AND   EDUCATION 

Mohandas  Karamchand  Gandhi  was  born  on  the  2nd* 
(October,  1869.  Though  he  has  a  Brahmin's  spirituality 
and  desire  to  serve  and  teach,  he  is  not  a  Brahmin.  Though 
he  has  a  Kshattriya's  courage  and  devotion,  he  is  not  a 
'Kshattriya.  He  belongs  to  an  old  Bania  family  resident  in 
'Kathiawar,  politics  being  a  heritage  of  the  family.  His 
forefathers  were  Dewans  of  the  State  of  Forbandar  in  that 
Province,  his  father  having  been  Dewan  of  that  State  for 
25  years,  as  also  of  Rajkote  and  other  States  in 
Kathiawar,  He  was  likewise,  at  one  time,  a  member 
-of  the  Rajasthanik  Sabha,  having  been  nominated 
thereto  by  the  Government  of  Bombay.  Mr,  Gandhi's 
iather  was  known  to  and  loved  by  all  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact  and  he  did  not  hesitate,  if  need  came,  to 
oppose  the  will  of  the  Rana,  of  Forbandar  and  of  the  Foli- 
tical  Agent,  when  he  thought  that  they  were  adopting  a 
wrong  or  unwoethy  line  of  conduct.  This  particular  trait 
has  evidently  descended  to  his  youngest  son.  Mr.  Gandhi's 
mother  was  an  orthodox  Hindu  lady,  rigid  in  her  obser- 
vance of  religious  obligations,  strict  in  the  performance  of 
Jier  duties  as  wife  and  mother,  and  stern  in  determination 
that  her  children  should  grow  up  good  and  honest  men 
and  women.  Between  her  jftungest  son  and  herself  exist- 
ed a  strong  affection  and  her  religious  example  £).nd  influ- 
ence left  a  lastii^g  impression  upon  his  character.  Mohan- 
das Gandhi  received  his  education  partly  in  Kathiawar  an4 
partly  in  London.  It  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
that  his  mother  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  consent  to  his 
^crossing  the  waters,  and  before  doing  so,  she  exacted  from. 


6  M.   K.  GANDHI 

him  a  threefold  vow,  administered  by  a  Jain  priest 
that  he  would  abstain  from  flesh,  alcohol  and  women. 
And  this  vow  was  faithfully  and  whote-heartedly  kept 
amidst  all  the  temptations  of  student  life  in  London. 
Young  Gandhi  became  an.  under-graduate  of  the  London. 
University  and  afterwards  joined  the  Inner  Temple, 
whence  he  emerged  in  due  course  a  barrister-at  law.  He- 
returned  to  India  immediately  after  his  call,  and  was  at 
once  admitted  as  an  Advocate  of  the  Bombay  High  Court,. 
in  which  capacity  he  began  practice  with  some  success. 

VISIT  TO   SOUTH   AFEIGA 

In  1893,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  induced  to  go  to  South  Africa,, 
proceeding  to  Natal  and  then  to  the  Transvaal,  in  connec- 
tion with  an  Indian  legal  case  of  some  difficulty.  Almost 
immediately  upon  lauding  at  Durban,  disillusionment  await- 
ed him.  Brought  up  in  British  traditions  of  the  equality  of 
all  British  subjects,  an  honoured  guest  in  the  capital  of 
the  Empire,  he  found  that  in  the  British  Colony  of  Natal,. 
he  was  regarded  as  a  pariah,  scarcely  higher  than  a  savage- 
aboriginal  native  of  the  soil.  He  appealed  for  admission 
as  an  Advocate  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Natal,  but  his- 
application  was  opposed  by  the  Law  Society  on  the  ground 
that  the  law  did  not  contemplate  that  a  coloured  person 
should  be  admitted  to  practise.  Fortunately,  the  Supreme 
Court  viewed  the  matter  in  a  different  light  and  granted- 
the  application.  But  Mr.  Gandhi  received  sudden  warn- 
ing of  what  awaited  him  in  the  years  to  co«ie. 

In  1894,  on  the  urgent  invitation  of  the  Natal' 
Indian  community,  he  decided  to  remain  in  the 
Colony,  in  order  that  he  might  be  of  service  in  the  political 
troubles  that  he  foresaw  in  the  near  future.  In  that  year 
together  with  a  number  of  prominent  members  of  the 
community  he  founded  the  Natal  [ndian  Congress,  being 
for  some  years  its  honorary  secretary,  in  which  capacity  he 
drafted  a  number  of  petitions  and  memorials  admirable  in 
construction,  lucid  and  simple  in  phraseology,  clear  and' 
concise  in  the  manner  of  setting  forth  the  subject  matter. 
He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  successful  attempt  to  defeat 
the  Asiatics'  Exclusion  Act  passed  by  the  Natal  Parliament 


M.  K.   GANDHI  f 

and  in  the  unsuccessful  one  to  prevent  the  disfranchise- 
ment of  the  Indian  community,  though  the  effort  made- 
obliged  the  Imperial  authorities  to  insist  that  this  dis- 
franchisement should  be  effected  along  non>raciaI  lines.  A.t- 
the  end  of  1895,  he  returned  to  India,  being  authorised 
by  the  Natal  and  Transvaal  Indians  to  represent  their 
grievances  to  the  Indian  public.  This  he  did  by  means  of 
addresses  and  a  pamphlet,  the  mutilated  contents  of  which' 
were  summarised  by  Renter  and  cabled  to  Natal,  where- 
they  evoked  a  furious  protest  on  the  part  of  the  European- 
colonists.  The  telegram  ran  thus  :  "  A  pamphlet  published 
in  India  declares  that  the  Indians  in  Natal  are  robbed,  and 
assaulted,  and  treated  like  beasts,  and  are  unable  to  obtain 
redress.  The  Times  of  India  advocates  an  enquiry  into- 
these  allegations  " 

This  message  was  certainly  not  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  though  it  had  elements  of 
truth  in  it  About  the  saine  time,  Mr.  Gandhi  returned  to- 
Durban  with  his  family,  and  with  him,  though  independent- 
ly of  him,  travelled  several  compatriots.  The  rumour  arose 
that  he  was  bringing  with  him  a  number  of  skilled  Indian 
workers  with  the  express  object  of  ousting  the  European 
artisans  from  the  field  of  employment,  and  the  two  circum- 
stances combined  to  stimulate  in  the  colonists,  high  and 
low  alike,  all  the  worst  passions,  and  feeling  ran  so  high- 
that  the  Attorney- General,  Mr.  Escombe,  felt  himself 
obliged  to  side  with  the  popular  party,  and  accordingly 
gave  instructions  that  the  vessels  bringing  Mr.  Gandhi  and 
his  companions  should  be  detained  in  quarantine.  The- 
quarantine  was  only  raised  when  the  ship-owners  announc- 
ed their  intention  of  taking  legal  action  against  the  Govern- 
ment. The  vessels  now  rame  alongside  the  wharf,  but  the- 
crowd  that  assembled  became  so  hostile  that  a  police  in- 
spector, who  came  on  boaid,  warned  Mr.  Gandhi  of  his  own. 
personel  danger  if  he  landed  then,  and  urged  him  to  delay 
the  landing  until  night.  A  little  later,  however,  a  wpII- 
known  member  of  the  Natal  Bar  came  on  board  specially 
to  greet  Mr.  Gandhi  and  offer  his  services,  and  Mr.  Gandhi 
at  once  determined  to  land  without  waiting  for  darkness  to- 


8  M.  K.   GANDHI 

come,  trusting,  as  be  himself  expressed  it,  to  the  British 
sense  of  jus+ice  and  fair-play.  He  was  soon  recognised, 
however,  set  upon,  and  half-killed,  when  the  wife  of  the 
superintendent  of  police,  who  recognised  him,  ran  to  his 
rescue,  and,  raising  her  umbrella  over  him,  defied  the  crowd 
and  accompanied  him  to  the  store  of  an  Indian  friend. 
Mr.  Gandhi  was,  however,  in  order  to  save  his  friend's 
property,  obliged  to  escape  disguised  as  a  police  constable. 

The  affair  was  at  an  end,  popular  pafsions  calmed 
down,  and  the  newspapers  apologised  to  him,  though  the 
incident  demonstrated  the  temper  of  the  mob  towards 
the  resident  Indian  community.  Years  afterwards, 
meeting  Mr.  Gandhi  one  day,  Mr.  Esoombe  expressed 
profound  regret  at  his  connection  with  this  unsavoury 
business,  declaring  that,  at  the  time,  he  was  unacquainted 
with  Mr.  Gandhi's  personal  merits  and  those  of  the  com- 
munity to  which  he  belonged.  Half-an-hour  later  he  was 
found  dead  in  the  streets,  stricken  down  by    heart-disease, 

BOER  WAR  AND  THE  INDIAN  AMBUI.ANCE  CORPS 

In  1899,  at  the  outbreak  af  the  Anglo- Boer  War,  Mr. 
Gandhi,  after  considerable  opposition,  induced  the  Govern- 
ment to  accept  the  offer  of  an  Indian  Ambulance  Corps. 
The  Corps  was  one  thousand  strong  and  saw  active  service, 
being  on  one  occasion,  at  least,  under  heavy  fire,  and  on 
another,  removing  the  dead  body  of  Lord  ilobert's  only 
son  from  the  field.  The  Corps  was  favourably  reported  on, 
and  Mr.  Gandhi  was  mentioned  in  despatches  and  after- 
wards awarded  the  war  medal.  His  object  in  offering  the 
services  of  a  body  of  Indian  to  do  even  thw  most  menial 
work  was  to  show  that  the  Indian  community  desired  to 
take  their  full  share  of  public  responsibilitieF^,  and  that  just 
as  they  knew  how  to  demand  rights,  so  thpv  also  knew  to 
assume  obligations.  And  that  has  been  the  keynote  of 
Mr.  Gandhi's  public  work  from  the  beginning. 

"Writing  in  the  Illustrated  Star  of  Johannesburg 
in  July  1911,  a  European,  who  had  taken  part  in  that 
campaign,  says-: — 

My  first  meeting  with  Mr.    M.  K.  Gandhi  was  under  strange 
circumstances.    It  was  on  the  road  from  Spion  Kop,  after  the 


M.   K.  GANDHI  9. 

"fateful  retirement,  of  the  British  troops  in  January,  1900.  The 
previous  afternpon  I  saw  the  Indian  mule-train  moved  up  the 
slopes  of  the  EC  op  carrying  water  to  the  distressed  soldiers  who 
liadlain  powerless  on  the  plateau.  The  mules  carried  the  water 
in  immense  hags,  one  on  each  side,  led  by  Indiana  at  their  heads. 
'The  galling  rifle-fire,  which  heralded  their  arrival  on  the  top, 
did  not  deter  the  strangely-looking  cavalcade,  which  moved 
■lowly  forward,  and  as  an  Indian  fell,  another  quietly  stepped 
forward  to  fill  the  vacant  place.  Afterwards  the  grim  duty  of 
"the  bearer  corps,  which  Mr.  Gandhi  organised  in  Natal,  began. 
It  was  on  such  occasions  the  Indians  proved  their  fortitude,  and 
the  one  with  the  greatest  fortitude  of  all  was  the  subject  of  this 
-sketch.  After  a  night's  work  which  had  shattered  men  with 
much  bigger  frames.  I  came  across  Gandhi  in  the  early  morn- 
ing sitting  by  the  roadside — eating  a  regulation  Army  biscuit. 
Every  man  in  Buller's  force  was  dull  and  depressed,  and  dam- 
nation was  heartly  invoked  on  everythinir.  But  Gandhi  was 
stoical  in  his  bearing,  cheerful,  and  confident  in  his  conversa- 
-tion,  and  had  a  kindly  eye.  He  did  one  good.  It  was  an  infor- 
mal introduction,  and  it  led  to  a  friendship.  I  saw  the  man 
and  his  small  undisciplined  corps  on  many  a  field  of  battle  dur- 
ing the  Katal  campaign.  When  succour  was  to  be  rendered 
they  were  there.  Their  unassuming  dauntlessness  cost  them 
many  lives,  and  eventually  an  order  was  published  forbidding 
them  to  go  into  the 'firing- tine.  Gandhi  simply  did  his  duty 
then,  and  his  comment  the  other  evening  in  the  moment  of  his 
triumph,  at  the  dinner  to  the  Europeans  who  had  supported  the 
Indian  movement,  when  some  hundreds  of  his  countrymen  and 
a  large  number  of  Europeans  paid  him  a  noble  tribute,  was  that 
ihe  had  simply  done  his  duty. 

RETURN  TO   INDIA 

In  1901,  owing  to  a  breakdown  in  health,  Mr.  Gandhi 
came  to  India,  taking  his  family  with  him.  Before  he  went, 
however,  the  Natal  Indian  community  presented  him,  Mrs. 
Gandhi,  and  his  children  with  valuable  gold  plate  and 
jewellery.  He  refused,  however,  to  accept  a  single  item  of 
this  munificent  gift,  putting  it  on  one  side  to  be  used  for 
public  purposes,  should  the  need  arise.  The  incident  but 
endeared  him  the  more  to  the  people,  who  realised  once 
again  how  selfless  was  the  work  that  he  had  so  modestly 
iind  unassumingly  undertaken.  Before  the  Ambulance 
-Corps  left  for  the  front,  its  members  had  been  publicly 
entertained  by  the  late  Sir  John  Kobinsoo,  then  Prime 
Minister  of  Natal,  and  on  the  occasion  of  the  presentation 
to  Mr.  Gandhi  by  the  Indian  community,  he  addressed   a- 


lo  M..  K.   GANDHI 

letter  to  the  organisers   of  the  ceremony,  in  which,   after 
excusing  his  unavoidable  absence,  he  said  : — 

It  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  have  been- 
present  on  the  occasion  of  so  well-earned  a  mark  of  respect  to 
our  able  and  distinguished  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Gandhi.  •  •  •  .  ■ 
Not  the  less  heartily  do  I  wish  all  success  to  this  public  recogni- 
tion of  the  good  work  done  and  the  many  services  rendered  to 
the  community  by  Mr.  Gandhi. 

On  his  arrival  in  Bombay  Mr.  Gandhi  once  more 
resumed  practice,  as  he  then  had  no  intention  of  returning 
to  South  Africa,  believing  that  with  the  end  of  the  war,  a 
new  era  had  arrived. 

BACK    TO    SOUTH    AFRICA 

Scarcely,  however,  had  he  returned  from  the  Calcutta. 
Congress,  where,  under  Mr.  Waoha,  he  did  some  very 
useful  organising  work  unobtrusively,  when  he  received  an- 
urgent  telegram  from  Natal,  peremptorily  calling  him  back 
to  South  Africa  to  draft  the  memorials  to  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain, whose  visit  was  imminent,  to  take  charge  of  the  work- 
required  to  secure  the  removal  of  existing  grievances  and 
to  place  Indian  affairs  finally  on  a  higher  level.  Without  a 
moment's  hesitation  he  obeyed  the  ceiII  of  duty,  and  a  new 
chapter  opened  in  his  life.  In  Natal,  he  had  been  able  to 
overcome  official  prejudice  and  was  high  in  the  esteem  of  all 
those  heads  of  departments  and  ministers  with  whom  his 
public  duties  brought  him  into  contact.  But  when,  after 
heading  a  deputation  to  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  NatU,  he 
was  called  to  the  Transvaal  for  a  similar  purpose,  he  found 
all  officialdom  hostile,  and  he  was  refused  the  right  to 
attend  upon  Mr.  Chamberlain  as  a  member  of  a  deputa- 
tion of  Transvaal  Indians:  and  it  was  only  after  the 
utmost  endeavours  that  he  prevailed  upon  the  Indian  com- 
munity to  send  a  deputation  that  did  not  include  hira. 
Finding  that  the  situ-ition  was  becoming  rapidly  worse,. 
and  being  without  a  trained  guide,  the  Transvaal  Indians 
pressed  him  to  remain  with  them,  and  this  he  at  last  con- 
sented to  do,  being  admitted  to  practise  as  an  Attorney 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Transvaal.  In  1903  together 
with  other  communal  leaders,  he  founded  the  Transvaal 
British    Indian    AssociatioD,    of    which    until    his    finals 


M.  K.   GANDHI  II 

departure  from  South  Africa,  he] was  the  Honorary  Secratary 
and  principal  legal  adviser. 

FOUNDING   OP   "  THE   INDIAN   OPINION" 

About  the  middle  of  1 903,  it  had  occurred  to  him 
that,  if  the  South  African  Indians  were  to  be  brought  into 
closer  association  with  each  other  and  with  their  European 
fellow-colonists,  and  to  be  poli*:ica]ly  and  socially  educated, 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  newspaper,  and,  after 
consultation,  he  provided  the  greater  part  of  the  capital 
for  its  inauguration,  with  the  late  Mr,  M,  H.  iN'azar  as 
editor,  and  thus  the  Indian  Opinion  was  born.  It  was  first 
published  in  English,  Gujarati,  Hindi  and  Tamil.  For 
various  reasons  it  afterwards  became  necessary  to  dispense 
with  the  Tamil  and  Hindi  column?.  But  although  Mr. 
Gandhi,  had,  in  theory,  delegated  much  of  the  work  of 
conducting  the  paper  to  other!',  he  was  unremitting  in  his 
own  efforts  to  make  it  a  success.  His  purse  was  ever  open 
to  make  good  the  deficits  that  continually  occurred  owing 
to  the  circumstances  of  its  production,  and  to'  its  English 
and  Gujarati  columns  he  contributed  month  after  month 
and  year  after  year  out  of  the  fund  of  his  own  political  and 
spiritual  wisdom  and  his  unique  knowledge  of  South 
African  Indian  affairs. 

Towards  the  end  of  1904,  however,  finding  that  the 
paper  was  absorbing  most  of  the  money  that  could  be  spared 
without  making  any  appreciable  financial  headway,  he 
went  to  Durban  to  investigate  the  situation.  During  the 
journey  he  became  absorbed  in  the  perusal  of  Kuskin's 
"  Unto  this  Last,"  and  he  received  certain  impressions  that 
were  confirmed  whilst  on  a  visit  to  some  relatives,  who 
had  started  a  trading  enterprise  in  an  up-country  village. 
His  conclusions  were  that  the  town  conditions  in  which  the 
paper  was  produced  were  such  as  almost  to  compel  unlimit- 
ed waste,  to  act  as  a  check  upon  the  originality  and  indi- 
viduality of  the  workers,  and  to  prevent  the  realisation  of 
his  dearest  desire  to  so  infuse  the  columns  of  the  paper 
with  a  spirit  of  tolerance  and  persuasiveness  as  to  bring 
together  all  that  was  best,  in  the  European  and  Indian 
communities,  whose  fate  it  was  to  dwell  sideby  side,  either 


1 2  M.  K.   GANDHI 

-mutally  hostile  to  or  suspicious  of  each  other,  or  amicably 
co-operating  in  the  securing  of  the  welfare  of  the  State  and 
the  building-up,  of  a  wise-administration  of  its  assets. 

THE    PHCENIX   SETTLEMENT 

Accordingly,  he  determined  that  the  very  first  thing 
to  be  done  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  divorce  of  the  workers 
from  the  land,  and  from  this  determination  arose  what  has 
since  become  known  as  the  Phoenix  Settlement.  Phoenix 
is  situated  about  12  miles  from  Durban,  in  the  midst  of  a 
sugar-growing  country,  and  Mr,  Gandhi  invested  his 
savings,  in  the  purchase  of  an  estate  of  about  100  acres  of 
land  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  station,  on  which  were 
erected  the  press  buildings  and  machinery.  A  number  of 
selected  Indians  and  Europeans  were  invited  to  become 
•  settlers,  and  the  original  conditions  were  these — that  they 
-should  have  entire  management  of  all  the  assets  of  the 
press,  including  the  land  itself;  that  each  should  practical- 
ly vow  himself  to  a  life  of  poverty,  accepting  no  more 
,£3  (Rs.  45)  a  month,  expenses  being  high  in  South 
Africa,  and  an  equal  share  in  the  profits,  ?f  any ; 
that  a  house  should  be  built  for  him,  for  which  he 
should  pay  when  able,  and  in  whatever  instalments 
might  seem  suitable  to  him,  without  interest ;  that 
he  should  have  two  acres  of  land  as  his  own  for 
cultivation,  payment  being  on  similar  conditions,  and 
that  he  should  devote  himself  to  working  for  the  public 
good,  Inditm  Opinion  being  meanwhile  the  mainspring  of 
the  work.  Whilst  the  fundamental  principles  remained, 
it  became  necessary  later,  in  the  light  of  further  experience] 
to  modify  these  conditions.  Subsequently  the  Phoenix' 
settlers  extended  the  scope  of  their  labours,  to  the  task  of 
educating  some  at  least  of  the  children  of  the  lakh-anda- 
half  of  Indians  in  South  Africa.  It  is  true  that,  in  com- 
parison with  the  magnitude  of  the  task,  only  a  small  begin- 
ning was  made,  but  this  was  principally  due  to  the  fack 
of  qualified  workers  and  also  to  the  state  of  the  exchequer. 

SERVICE   IN    PLAGUE    AREAS 

In  1904,  an  outbreak  of  plague  occurred  in  the  Indian 
•Location,  Johannesburg,  largely  owing  to  gross   negligence 


M.-  K.  GANDHI  13- 

on  the  part  of  the  Municipal  authorities,  in  spite  of  repeated 
warnings  of  the  insanitary  conditions  prevailing.  A  week' 
before  the  official  announcement  of  the  outbreak,  Mr. 
Gandhi  sent  a  final  warning  that  plague  had  already  broken- 
out,  but  his  statement  was  officialy  denied.  "When,  how- 
ever, a  public  admission  of  the  existence  of  plague  could 
no  longer  be  withheld,  but  before  the  Municipal  authorities- 
bad  taken  any  steps  to  cope  with  the  disease,  he  at  once 
organised  a  private  hospital  and  nursing  home,  and,  to- 
gether with  a  few  devoted  friends,  personally  tended  the 
plague  patients  ;  and  this  work  was  formally  appreciated^ 
by  the  Municipal  authorities.  In  the  same  year,  owing  to 
arbitration  proceedings  between  expropriated  Indian  stand- 
holders  in  the  Location  and  the  Johannesburg  Municipa- 
lity, in  which  he  was  busily  engaged,  he  earned  large 
professional  fees  which  he  afterwards  devoted  in  their 
entirety  to  public  purposes. 

LEADING  A  STEETCHER  BEARER  CORPS 

In  1906,  a  native  rebellion  broke  out  in  !N'atal  due  to 
many  causes,  but  realising  that  bloodshed  was  imminent 
and  that  hospital  work  would  necessarily  ensue  therefrom, 
Mr.  Gandhi  offered,  on  behalf  of  the  ^atal  Indians,  a 
Stretcher  Bearer  Corps,  which,  after  some  delay,  was 
accepted.  Meanwhile,  he  had  sent  his  family  to  Phoenix,  , 
where  he  thought  it  was  most  proper  that  they  should  live, 
rather  than  in  the  dirt,  noise,  and  restlessness  of  the  town. 
He  himself  volunteered  to  lead  the  Corps,  which  was  on 
active  service  for  a  month,  being  mentioned  in  despatches 
and  publicly  congratulated  and  thanked  by  the  Governor 
for  the  valuable  services  rendered.  Each  m£mber  of  the 
Corps  has  had  awarded  to  him  the  medal  especially  struck 
for  the  occasion,  and  as  an  indication  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Transvaal  Government  appreciated  the  work 
so  selflessly  performed  by  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his  Corps,  it 
may  be  noted  that,  together  with  at  least  three  other 
members  of  the  Corps,  as  well  as  some  who  belonged  to  or 
helped  to  fit  out  the  old  Ambulance  Corps,  he  was  flung- 
into  gaol,  to  associate  with  criminals  of  the  lowest  type. 
The  work  of  the  Corps  was,  besides  that  of  carrying  stretch- 


J4  M.   K.   GANDHI 

ers  and  marching  on  foit  behind  mounted  infantry, 
through  dense  bush,  sometimes  thirty  miles  a  day,  in  the 
midst  of  a  savage  enemy's  country  unarmed  and  unprotect- 
ed to  perform  the  task  of  hospital  assistants  and  to  nurse 
the  wounded  natives,  who  had  been  callously  shot  down  by 
the  colonial  troopers,  or  had  been  cruelly  lashed  by  mili- 
tary command.  Mr.  Gandhi  does  not  like  to  speak  his 
mind  about  what  he  saw  or  learnt  on  this  occasion.  But 
many  times  he  must  have  had  searchings  of  conscience  as 
to  the  propriety  of  his  allying  himself,  even  in  that  merci- 
ful capicity,  with  those  capable  of  such  acts  of  revolting 
and  inexcusable  brutality.  However,  it  is  well  to  know 
that  nearly  all  his  solicitude  was  exercised  on  behalf  of 
aboriginal  native  patients,  and  one  saw  the  Ddwan's  son 
ministering  to  the  needs  and  allaying  the  sufferings  of 
some  of  the  most  undeveloped  types  of  humanity,  whose 
odour,  habits  and  surroundings  must  have  been  extremely 
repugnant  to  a  man  of  refined  tastes — though  Mr.  Gandhi 
himself  will  not  admit  this. 

ANTI-ASIATIC   LAW   AND   PASSIVE   RESISTANCE 

Scarcely  had  he  returned  to  Johannesburg  to  resume 
practice  (he  had  left  his  office  to  look  after  itself  during 
his  absence),  than  a  thunderbolt  was  launched  by  the 
Transvaal  Government  by  the  promulgation  of  the  Draft 
Asiatic  Law  Amendment  Ordinance,  whose  terms 
are  now  familiar  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  India.  After  years  of  plotting  and  scheming, 
the  anti-Asiatics  of  the  Transvaal,  having  first  secured 
the  willing  services  of  an  administrative  depart- 
ment anxious  to  find  an  excuse  for  the  continuance 
of  its  own  existence,  compelled  the  capitulation  of  the 
executive  itself  with  the  afore- mentioned  result.  Mr. 
Gandhi  at  once  realised  what  was  afoot,  and  understood, 
immediately  that,  unless  the  Indian  community  adopted  a 
decided  attitude  of  protest,  which  would  be  backed  up,  if 
necessary,  by  resolute  action,  the  whole  Indian  population 
of  South  Africa  was  doomed,  and  he  accordingly  took 
counsel  with  the  leading  members  of  the  community,  who 
agreed  that  the  measure  must  be  fought  to  the  bitter   end. 


M.  K.  GANDHI  1 5 

Mr.  Gandhi  is  chiefly  responsible  for    the  initiation  of   the 
t,policy  of  passive  resistance  that  was  so   successfully  carried 
-out  by  the  Indians  of  South  Africa   during  the  next   eight 
years,     Since   that  day,    Mr.  Gandhi's    history  has    been 
mainly  that  of  the  Passive  Resistance  struggle.     All  know 
how   he  took  the  oath   not  to   submit   to   the  Law  on  the 
11th    September,  1906 ;  how  he    went  to   England  with  a 
compatriot  in  the  same  year,  and  how  their  vigorous  plead- 
ing  induced  Lord  Elgin    to  suspend    the  operation  of  the 
objectionable  piece  of    legislation :  how,    when    the    law 
<fiDally  received  the  Boyal  assent,  he  threw  himself  into  the 
forefront  of  the  fight,  and,    by  speech,  pen,   and  example, 
inspired    the    whole  community  to  maintain    an   adaman- 
"tine    front   to    the  attack  that   was    being    made    upon 
the  very  foundations  of  its    religion,  its  national  honour, 
its  racial  self-respect,  its  manhood,     No   one  was,  tfaeie- 
fore,  surprised    when,  at    the  end  ot  1907,    Mr.    Gandhi 
was  arrester'!,   together  with   a  number  of  other   leaders, 
and  consigned  to  gaol !  or  how,  when  he  heard  that  some 
of   his   friends   in   Pretoria   had   been   sentenced   to  six 
months'   imprisonment  with  hard   labour,  the  maximum 
penalty,  he    pleaded   with  the  Magistrate  to  impose   the 
.penalty  upon   him  too,   as  he  had  been  the  acknowledged 
leader  and  inspirer  of  the  opposition  against  this  Law,    To 
him  it  was  a  terrible  shock  that   his  followers  were  being 
more  harshly  treated   than   he   himself,  and   it    was  with 
bowed  head  and  deep  humiliation   that  he  Teft  the  court, 
sentenced   to    two    months'    simple    imprisonment   only. 
Happily,  the  Government  realised  the  seriousness  of  the 
situation,   and   after    three    weeks'   imprisonment   of  the 
leading  passive  resistors,   General  Smuts  opened   negotia- 
tions with  them,  and  a  compromise  was   effected  between 
him  and    the   Indian  community,    partly   written,  partly 
verbal,  whereby  voluntary  registration,  which  had  been  re- 
ipeatedly  offered,  was  accepted    conditionally  upon  the  Law 
being  subsequently  repealed.     This  promise   of  repeal  was 
made  personally  to   Mr,   Gandhi  by  General  Smuts  in  the 
^presence  of  official  witnesses.     When,  shortly  afterwards- 
.Mr.  Gandhi  was  nearly  killed  by  a  few  of  bis  more  fanatil 


1 6  M.  K.   GANDHI 

cal  countrymen  (who  thought  he  hadj  betrayed  them  to- 
the  Government)  as  he  «Tas  on  his  way  to  the  Registration 
Office  of  carry  oub  his  pledge  to  the  Government,  he^ 
issued  a  letter  to  the  Indian  community  in  which  he  defi- 
nitely declared  that  promise  of  repeal  had  been  made.. 
General  Smuts  did  not  attempt  to  deny  the  fact  and, 
indeed,  did  not  do  so  until  several  months  later.  No 
one  was,  however,  astonished  to  find  Mr.  Gandhi' 
charging  General  Smuts  with  breach  of  faith,  and  absolute- 
ly refusing  to  compromise  himself  or  the  community 
that  he  represented  by  accepting  further  legislation  that 
would,  in  the  end,  have  still  further  degraded  the  Indians 
of  South  Africa.  Having  convinced  his  colleagues  that 
such  acceptance  on  their  part  was  impossible,  the 
struggle  recommenced. 

Twice  more,  during  this  period  of  passive  resistance, 
was  he  sent  to  gaol,  and  then  the  Government  sought  to 
^educe  his  followers  from  their  allegiance,  by  imprisoning 
them  in  hundreds  and  leaving  him  free.  In  1909,  whilst  his 
friend  and  fellow- worker,  Mr.  Polak,  was  in  India,  on 
behalf  of  the  South  African  Indian  community,  he  and  a 
colleague  had  gone  to  England  to  endeavour  to  arouse  the 
public  conscience  there  to  the  enormities  that  were  being 
perpetrated  in  South  Africa  in  the  name  of  the  British 
people.  Whilst  he  failed  in  his  main  purpose  to  secure 
from  General  Smuts,  through  the  mediation  of  the  Imperial- 
Government,  the  removal  of  the  racial  bar  in  the  Immigra- 
tion Law,  he  nevertheless  sowed  the  seeds  of  the  subsequent 
settlemept,  for  his  suggestions  were  embodied,  and  their 
adoption  was  recommended  by  the  Imperial  Government 
in  their  despatch  to  Lord  Gladstone,  shortly  after  the 
creation  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa  in  the  following, 
year, 

ME.   GOKHALE's   historic   VISIT 

In  1911,  the  second  "provisional  settlement"  wa* 
eflfected  after  the  Union  Government  had,  notwithstanding,, 
prolonged  and  sympathetic  negotiations  with  Mr.  Gandhi 
found  themselves  unable  to  discover  a  formula  acceptable 
ahke  to   the  Indian  community,   the  Government  them- 


M.   K.   GANDHI  If 

selves  and  Parliament.  Nor  did  the  year  1912  show  any 
better  promise  in  the  direction  of  a  final  settlement. 
Meanwhile,  there  occurred  the  historic  visit  to  South 
Africa  of  India's  great  statesman-patriot,  the  Hon.  Mr.. 
Gokhale,  who,  even  then,  was  suffering  from  ill-health. 
Mr.  Gandhi,  who,  for  years  had  regai-ded  him  as  his  own 
political  leader,  had  invited  him  to  South  Africa,  not 
primarily  for  political  reasons,  but  so  that  he  might  nurse 
his  guru  back  to  health.  Circumstances  combined,  how- 
ever, to  impose  upon  Mr.  Gokhale  a  greater  physical  strain 
than  had  been  anticipated,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  own 
devoted  personal  service.  It  was  pathetic  and  beautiful  to 
observe  the  way  these  two  old  friends  refused  to  see  any- 
thing but  the  best  in  each  other,  in  spite  of  their  funda- 
mental differences  of  temperament  and  often  of  outlook, 
To  Gandhi,  Gokhale  was  the  gallant  and  selfless  paladin, 
whom  the  whole  of  India  looked  up  to  as  her  noblest  son, 
To  Gokhale,  Gandhi  was  the  very  embodiment  of  saintly 
self-abnegation,  a  man  whose  personal  sufferings,  splendid 
and  chivalrous  leadership  and  moral  fervour,  marked 
him  out  as  one  of  the  most  outstanding  figures  of 
the  day,  the  coming  leader  of  his  people,  who  had 
made  the  name  of  his  adored  Motherland,  revered  and 
honoured  throughout  the  Empire  and  beyond,  and  who 
had  proved  beyond  dispute  the  capacity  of  even  his  most 
insignificant  countrymen  to  live  and  die  for  her. 

FnBTHEB    STAGES    OP    THE    STRUGGLE 

During  his  visit,  Mr.  Gokhale  extracted  a  promise- 
(afterwards  denied)  from  the  principal  Union  Ministers, 
that  they  would  introduce  legislation  -repealing  the  ,£3  tax. 
When  therefore  in  1913,  Mr,  Gandhi  discovered  that  the 
Government  were  not  going  to  fulfil  their  pledges  of  1911,. 
and  that  they  refused  to  repeal  the  .£3  tax,  he  denounced 
the  "  provisional  settlement,"  and,  in  September,  announced 
the  revival  of  Passive  Kesistance  and  its  bodily  extension 
to  Natal,  where  he  promptly  organised  and  carried  through 
the  now  historic  strike.  The  events  of  this  last  phase  of 
the  struggle  are  still  fresh  in  the  public  memory  and 
therefore  need  no  more  than  the  barest  recapitulation — the- 


J  8  M.   K.   GANDHI 

<jampaign  of  the  Indian  women  whose  marriages  had  been 
dishonoured  by  a  fresh  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  at 
the  instigation  of  the  Government,  tbe  awakening  of  the 
free  and  indentured  labourers  all  over  Natal,  the  tremen- 
dous strikes,  the  wonderful  and  historic  strikers'  march  of 
protest  into  the  Transvaal,  the  horrible  scenes  enacted  later 
in  the  effort  to  crush  the  strikers  and  compel  them  to 
resume  work,  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  the 
principal    leaders     and    of     hundreds — many     thousands 

qJ    the    rank    and    file,    the     enormous  Indian    mass 

meetings,  held  in  Durban,  Johannesburg,  and  other 
parts  of  the  Union,  the  fierce  and  passionate  indignation 
aroused  in  India,  the  large  sums  of  money  poured 
into  South  Africa  from  all  parts  of  the  Motherland,  Lord 
Hardinge's  famous  speech  at  Madras,  in  which  he  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  Indian  public  opinion  and  his 
demand  for  a  Commission  of  Inquiry,  the  energetic  efforts 
•flf  Lord  Ampthill's  Committee,  the  hurried  intervention  of 
the  Imperial  authorities,  the  appointment  over  the  heads 
of  the  Indian  community  of  a  Commission  whose  personnel 
could  not  satisfy  the  Indians,  the  discharge  from  prison  of 
the  leaders  whose  advice  to  ignore  the  Commission  was 
;almost  universally  accepted,  the  arrival  of  Messrs.  Andrews 
and  Pearson  and  their  wonderful  work  of  reconciliation, 
the  deaths  of  Harbat  Singh  and  Valliamma,  the  strained 
position  relieved  only  by  the  interruption  of  the  second 
European  strike,  when  Mr,  Gandhi,  as  on  an  earlier  occa- 
sion, undertook  not  to  hamper  the  Government  whilst 
they  had  their  hands  full  with  the  fresh  difficulty  and 
when  it  had  been  dealt  with,  the  entirely  new  spirit  of 
friendliness,  trust,  and  co-operation  that  was  found  to 
have  been  created  by  the  moderation  of  the  great  Indian 
leader  and  the  loving  influence  spread  around  him  by  Mr. 
Andrews  as  he  proceeded  with  his  great  Imperial  mission, 

All  these  things  are  of  recent  history,  as  are  the 
favourable  recommendations  of  the  Commission  on 
practically  every  point  referred  to  it  and  out  of  which 
Passive  Resistance  had  arisen,  the  adoption  of  the  Com- 
mission's   Report  in  its  entirety  by  the  Government,  the 


M.  K.   GANDHI  1 9 

introduction  and  pasBing  into  law  of  the  Indians' 
Belief  Act,  after  lengthy  and  remarkable  debates 
in  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  the  correspond- 
■ence  between  Mr.  Gandhi  and  General  Smuta^ 
in  which  the  latter  undertook,  on  behalf  of  the 
'Government,  to  carry  through  the  administrative  reforms 
that  were  not  covered  by  the  new  Act,  and  the  final  letter 
of  the  Indian  protagonist  of  Passive  Kesistance — formally 
annouDcing  the  conclusion  of  the  struggle  and  setting 
forth  the  points  upon  which  Indians  would  sooner  or  later 
have  to  be  satis'fied  before  they  could  acquire  complete 
-equality  of  civil  status — and  the  scenes  of  his  departure 
fur  his  beloved  Motherland,  enacted  throughout  the 
«ountry,  wherein  the  deaths  and  sufierings  of  the  Indian 
•martyrs,  Nagappan,  Narayanasamy,  Harbat  Singh  and 
Yalliammn,  were  justified  and  sanctified  to  the  world. 

MB.   AND  MBS.   QANDHI   IK  LONDON 

Faithful  {o  his  instinct  for  service,  Mr,  Gandhi  hurried 
to  England,  where  he  heard  that  Gokhale  was  critically  ill, 
and  arrived,  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Great  War,  to  find 
that  his  friend  was  slowly  recovering  from  the  almost  fatal 
attack  that  had  overwhelmed  him.  Here,  too,  his  sense  of 
responsibility  revealed  itself.  He  recognised  that  it  was 
India's  duty,  in  the  hour  of  the  Empire's  trial,  to  do  all  in 
jier  power  to  belp,'and  he  at  once  set  about  the  formation 
-of  the  Indian  Yolunteep  Ambulance  Corps  in  London, 
-enrolling  himself  and  his  devoted  wife,  who  had  herself 
been  barely  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  death  but  a  few 
weeks  earlier,  amongst  the  members.  But  the  years  of 
strain,  his  neglect  of  his  own  physical  well-being,  and  his 
addiction  to  long  fasts  as  a  means  to  spiritual  purification, 
had  undermined  a  never  very  robust  constitution,  and  his 
condition  became  so  serious  that  private  and  official 
friends  insisted  upon  his  proceeding  immediately,  with 
Mrs.  Gandhi,  to  India. 

BETURN  TO  THE   MOTHEBLANS 

Since  his  arrival  in  his  Motherland,  at  the  beginning 
-of  1915,  his  movements  have  been  much  in  the  popular 
«ye.     His   progress  through    India,  from    the  day  of   tha 


2p  M.   K.  GANDHI 

public  landing  and  welcome  at  the  Apollo  Bunder,  was  in 
the  nature  of  a  veritable  triumph,  marred  only  by  the  sud- 
den death  of  his  beloved  teachpr,  Gopal  Krishna  Gokhale„ 
who  had  sacrificed  health  and  life  itself  upon  the  altar  of 
his  country's  welfare. 

The  Government  of  India  marked  their  appreciation 
of  Mr.  Gandhi's  unique  services  by  recommending  him  for 
the  Kaiser- i- Hind  gold  medal,  which  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  King  Emperor  amongst  the  1915  New  Year 
Honours.  To  Gokhale  he  had  given  a  promise  to  make  no 
public  utterance  on  Indian  affairs  until  at  least  a  year  had 
passed,  and  he  had  visited  the  principal  centres  of  public- 
life  in  India.  This  promise,  which  was  faithfully  kept,  was 
exacted,  because  Gokhale,  hoping  to  see  in  him  his  own 
successor,  had  been  somewhat  disturbed^  by  the  very 
advanced  views  expressed  by  Mr.  Gandhi  in  the  proscribed 
pamphlet.  Hind  Swaraj,  whose  pages,  we  now  know, 
were  written  to  show  the  basic  similarity  of  civilisation  the- 
world  over,  the  superiority  of  India  for  the  particular 
Indian  phase  of  that  civilisation,  and  the  stupidity  of  the 
barriers  of  luxury  erected  by  the  modern  industrial  civili- 
sation of  the  West,  that  constantly  separate  man  from  man 
and  make  him  a  senseless  machine  drudge,  and  that  threat- 
en to  invade  that  holy  Motherland  that  stands  in  his  eye& 
for  the  victory  of  spirit  over  matter,  Ho  had  condemned 
some  things  of  which  he  had  'disapproved,  in  Gokhale's 
opinion,  somewhat  hastily,  and  the  older  man  hnd  thought 
that,  after  an  absence  from  India  of  so  many  years,  during 
which  he  had  perhaps  idealised  certain  phases  of  Indian 
life,  a  year's  travel  and  observation  would  be  a  useful 
corrective.  Which  of  the  two,  if  rfther,  has  correctly 
diagnosed  the  situation,  time  alone  can  show. 

SATYAQEAHASHBAM 

Mr.  Gandhi,  however,  made  his  headquarters  at 
Ahmedabad,  the  capital  of  his  own  Province  of  Gujarat 
and  here  he  founded  his  SatyagrahaBhram,*  where  he  ifr 
endeavouring  to  train  up  from  childhood  public  servants 
upon  a  basis  of  austerity  of  life  and  personal  subordination 

*  For  a  full  account  of  the  Ashram,  see  appendix. 


M.   K.   GANDHI  2t 

iio  the  common  good,  the  members  supporting  themselves 
by  work  at  the  hand-loom  or  other  manual  labour, 

TR&VELS  IN  INDIA 

True  to  his  promise  to  Gokfaale,  Mr,  Gandhi, 
on  his  return  to  India,  started  on  an  extensive  tour 
through  the  country.  Though  his  idea  was  merely  to 
visit  every  place  of  importance  and  acquaint  himself 
thoroughly  with  the  conditions  of  the  country  and  thus 
acquire  first-hand  knowledge  of  men  and  things,  he  had 
of  course  to  speak  wherever  he  went.  He  was  given  a  warm 
and  enthusiastic  welcome  at  every  station  and  the  magnifi- 
cent demonstrations  in  his  honour  bore  eloquent  testi- 
mony to  the  great  regard  in  which  his  countrymen  have 
always  held  him.  Mr.  Gandhi  accepted  these  marks  of 
affection  and  respect  with  his  accustomed  grace,  but 
spoke  out  his  mind  on  every  subject,  as  the  occasion 
-demanded.  One  characteristic  feature  of  these  speeches  is 
that  Mr.  Gandhi  seldom  repeats  second-hand  opinions  and 
his  views  on  every  subject  are,  therefore,  refreshingly 
•original.  Undeterred  by  fear  or  any  exaggerated  sense  of 
-conventional  respectability  he  retains  his  independence, 
-indifferent  to  the  applause  or  contumely  of  his  listeners. 
Speaking  at  the  Students'  Hall,  College  Square,  Calcutta, 
in  March  1915,  when  the  Hon.  Mr.  Lyon  presided  he 
said  with  reference  to 

ANARCHICAL  CRIMES  : 
Whatever  his  perional  views  were, he  must  say  that  misguid- 
ed zeal  that  resorts  to  dacoities  and  assassinations  cannot  be 
productive  of  any  good.  These  dacoities  and  assassinations 
are  absolutely  a  foreign  growth  in  India.  They  cannot  take 
root  here  and  cannot  be  a  permanent  institution  here. 
History  proves  that  assassinations  have  done  no  good.  The 
religion  of  this  country,  the  Hindu  religion,  is  abstention 
from  "  himsa,"  that  is  taking  animal  life.  That  is,  he  believes 
the  guiding  principle  of  all  religions.  The  Hindu  religion 
says  that  even  the  evil-doer  should  not  be  hated.  It  says  that 
nobody  has  any  right  to  kill  even  the  evil-doer.  These  assassina- 
tions are  a  western  institution  and  the  speaker  warned  his 
hearers  against  these  western  methods  and  western  evils. 
LOYALTY  TO   THE   BRITISH   RAJ 

At  the  Madras  Law  Dinner  in  April  of  the  same  year 
he  observed  in  proposing  (at  the   request  of  the  P^esideub 


22  M    K.  GANDHI 

the  Hon.  Mr.     Corbett,   the   Advocate- General)  the  toast? 
of  the  British  Empire  : — 

As  a  passive  resister  I  discovered  that  a  passive  resister 
has  to  make  good  his  claim  to  passive  resistance,  no  matter- 
under  what  circumstances  he  finds  himself,  and  I  discovered 
that  the  British  Empire  had  certain  ideals  with  which  I  have 
fallen  in  love,  and  one  of  those  ideals  is  that  every  subject  of 
the  British  Empire  has  the  freest  scope  possible  for  his  energies 
and  honour  and  whatever  he  thinks  is  due  to  his  conscience.  I 
think  that  this  is  true  of  the  British  Empire,  as  it  is  not  true  of 
any  other  Government.  (Applause)  I  feel,  as  you  here  perhaps 
know,  that  I  am  no  lover  of  any  Government  and  I  have  more- 
than  once  said  that  that  Government  is  best  which  governs  least... 
And  I  have  found  that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  be  governed  least 
under  the  British  Empire.  Hence  my  loyalty  to  the  British 
Empire.  {Loud  applause). 

ADDBESS   TO   THE   STUDENTS 

Addressing  the  students  of  Madras  at  the  Y.  M.C.A. 
when  the  Hon.  Mr.  (now  the  Rt.  Hon.)  V,  S.  Srinivasa 
Sastri  presided,  he  pointed  out : — 

I  am  and  I  have  been  a  determined  opponent  of  modern 
civilisation.  I  want  you  to  turn  your  eyes  to-day  upon  what  is- 
going  on  in  Europe  and  if  you  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Europe  is  to-day  groaning  under  the  heels  of  the  modern  civilisa- 
tion then  you  and  your  elders  will  have  to  think  twice  before- 
you  can  emulate  that  civilisation  in  our  Motherland.  But  I 
have  been  told,  "  How  can  we  help  it,  seeing  that  our  rulers< 
bring  that  culture  to  our  Motherland."  Do  not  make  any  mis- 
t^e  about  it  at  all.  I  do  not  for  one  moment  believe  that  it  iS' 
f(^any  rulers  to  bring  that  culture  to  you,  unless  you  are  pre- 
pared to  accept  it,  and  if  it  be  that  the  rulers  bring  that  culture 
before  us,  I  think  that  we  have  forces  within  ourselves  to  enable- 
us  to  reject  that  culture  without  having  to  reject  the  rulers- 
themselves. 

He  concluded : — 

I  ally  myself  to  the  British  Government,  because  I  believe- 
that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  claim  equal  partnership  with  every 
subject  of  the  British  Empire.  I  to-day  claim  that  equat 
partnership.  I  do  not  belong  to  a  subject  race.  I  do  not  call 
myself  a  subject  race.  (Applause).  But  there  is  this  thing :  it 
is  not  for  the  British  Governors  to  pive  you,  it  is  for  you  to  take^ 
the  thing.  I  want  and  I  can  take  the  thing.  That  I  want  only 
by  discharging  my  obligations.  Max  MuUer  has  told  us,— we 
need  not  go  to  Mai  MuUer  to  interpret  our  own  religion— but 
he  says,  our  religion  consists  in  four  letters  "  D-u-t-y  "  and  not 
in  the  five  letters  "E-i-g-h-t."    And  if  you  believe  that  all  that. 


M.   K.   GANDHI  2$ 

we  want  can  flow  from  a  better  discharge  of  our  dutS",  then 
think  always  of  your  duty  and  fighting  along  those  lines'  you 
will  have  no  fear  of  any  man,  you  will  fear  only  God. 

UNVEILING  MR.  QOKHALE's    PORTRAIT 

In  May  Mr,  Gandhi  went  to  visit  some  cities  jn  th& 
south  where  he  discoursed  on  social  leform  and  the  vexed 
question  of  untouchability  which  is  somewhat  rampant  on 
the  banks  of  the  ICaveri  and  its  environs.  He  spoke  witb 
characteristic  candour  soniGwhat  1o  the  chagrin  of  the 
orthodox. 

Later  he  was  invited  to  Bangalore  to  unveil  the- 
portrait  of  Mr.  Gokhale,  when  he  made  a  brief  and  highly 
suggestive  speech: — 

.  I  saw  in  the  recitation, — the  beautiful  recitation 
that  was  given  to  me, — that  God  ii  with  them  whose- 
garment  was  dusty  and  tattered.  My  thoughts  imme- 
diately went  to  the  end  of  my  garment;  I  examined 
and  found  that  it  is  not  dusty  and  it  is  not  tattered ;  it  is  fairly- 
spotless  and  clean.  God  is  not  in  me.  There  are  other  condi- 
tions attached ;  but  in  these  conditions  too  I  may  fail ;  and  you, 
my  dear  countrymen,  may  also  fail ;  and  if  we  do  tend  this- 
well,  we  should  not  dishonour  the  memory  of  one  whose  por- 
trait you  have  asked  me  to  unveil  this  morning.  I  have  declar- 
ed myself  his  disciple  in  the  political  field  and  I  have  him  as" 
my  Saja  Guru :  and  this  I  claim  on  behalf  of  the  Indian  people. 
It  was  in  1896  that  I  made  this  declaration,  and  I  do  not  regret 
having  made  the  choice. 

Later  in  the  year  he  presided  over  the  anniversary 
function  at  the  Gurukul  and  spoke  in  Hindi  on  the  mean- 
ing of  true  Swadeshism,  the  doctrine  of  Ahimsa  and  other 
kindred  topics, 

HINDU    UNIVERSITY    SPEECH 

On  Feb.  4,  1916,  he  attended  the  Hindu  University- 
celebrations  and  delivered  an  address  which  unfortunately 
was  intercepted.  But  the  regrettable  incident  of  which  far 
too  much  was  made,  revealed  the  hold  that  he  possesses 
upon  the  esteem  and  affection  of  his  countrymen,  for  his- 
version  of  what  transpired  was  generally  accepted.  Since- 
then  Mr.  Gandhi  has  been  taking  a  prominent  part  in  the 
building-up  of  the  Indian  nation  along  his  own  peculiar 
lines.     For,   he   teaches  both  by  precept  and  by  example^ 


24  M.   K.   GANDHI 

But  he  goes  his  own  way,  untrammelled  by  precedent, 
carefully  analysing  the  criticism  to  which  he  is  naturally 
subjected,  holding  himself  answerable,  however,  to  his  own 
conscience  alone.  For  he  is  of  the  prophets,  and  not 
merely  of  the  secondary  interpreters  of  life. 

The  same  month  he  came  to  Madras  and  on  the  10th 
spoke  on  Social  Service  to  a  large  audience  presided  over 
by  Mrs,  Whitehead.  On  the  14th  he  spoke  on  Swadeshi 
before  the  Missionary  Conference  and  a  couple  of  days 
later  gave  a  lucid  account  of  his  Satyagrahaahram  to  a 
large  gathering  of  students  in  the  precincts  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Madras,  the  Hon.  B,ev.  G. 
'Pittendrigh  of  the  Christian  College  presiding.  He  then 
went  back  to  Ahmedabad  to  look  after  his  Ashram,  Late 
in  the  year  on  December  22,  he  made  a  remarkable  speech 
on  "  Economic  versus  Moral  Progress  "  at  the  Muir  Central 
■College,  Allahabad,  Mr.  Stanley  Jevons  presiding.  The 
address  contains  some  of  his  most  mature  and  thoughtful 
reflections  on  life,  and  both  in  style  and  sentiment  is  one 
of  the  most  characteristic  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  utterances, 

ME.    GANDHI    IN    CHAMPARAN 

Then  came  the  Champaran  incident  which  has  since 
become  historic.  In  the  Lucknow  Congress  of  December 
1916,  Mr.  Gandhi,  though  pressed  by  some  of  the  citizens 
of  Behar,  declined  to  talk  about  the  grievances  of  the 
labourers  in  the  Behar  plantations  without  first-hand 
knowledge  of  the  real  state  of  afiairs.  This  he  resolved  to 
acquire  soon  after  the  Congress  session  :  nnd  in  response 
■to  an  insistent  public  demand,  to  inquire  into  the 
conditions  under  which  Indians  work  in  the  indigo 
plantations,  Mr  Gandhi  was  in  Muzaffarpur  on  the 
15th  April  1917,"  whence  he  took  the  mid-day  train  for 
Motihari,  Next  day  he  was  served  with  a  notice  from  the 
Champaran  District  Magistrate  to  quit  the  district  "  by 
the  next  available  train  "  as  his  presence  "  will  endanger 
the  public  peace  and  may  lead  to  serious  disturbance  which 
may  be  accompanied  by  loss  of  life."  But  the  local 
authorities  in  issuing  this  mandate  counted  without  the 
host.     For  Mr.  Gandhi,   who   had    initiated    the  Passive 


M.   K.   GANDHI  2$ 

fleBista.nce  Movement  in  South  Africa,  replied  in  a  way 
that  did  not  surprise  those  who  had  known  him  : — 

Out  of  a  sense  of  public  responsibility,  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
•duty  to  say  that  I  am  unable  to  leave  this  district,  but  if  it  so 
pleases  the  authorities,  I  shall  submit  to  the  order  by  suffering 
the  penalty  of  disobedience. 

i  most  emphatically  repudiate  the  Commissioner's  sugges- 
tion that  "  my  object  is  likely  to  be  agitation."  Hy  desire  is 
.purely  and  simply  for  "  a  genuine  search  for  knowledge  "  and 
this  I  shall  continue  to  satisfy  so  long  as  I  am  left  free^ 

Mr.  Gandhi  appeared    before  the  District  Magistrate 
on  the  18th,  when  he  presented  a  statement.  Finding  that 

the  case  was  likely  to  be  uanecessarily  prolonged  he  pleaded 

.guilty  and  the  judgment  was  deferred  pending  instructions 
from  higher  authorities.  The  rest  of  the  story  is  pretty 
familiar.     The    higher    authorities     subsequently    issued 

'instructions  not  to  proceed  with  the  prosecution, 
while  a  commiiision  of  enquiry  was  at  once  instituted  to 
enquire  into  the  conditions  of  the  Behar  labourers  with 
Mr,  Gandhi   as   a  member  of  that  body.     As  usual,  Mr. 

'Gandhi  worked  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  other 
members  and  though  with'the  findings  of  his  own  private 
enquiry  he  could  have  raised  a  storm  of  indignant  agita- 
tion against  the  scandals  of  the  plantations,  he  refrained 

'  from  using  his  influence  and  knowledge  for  a  merely  vin- 
dictive and  vainglorious  cry,  He  worked  quietly,  with 
no  thought  of  himself,  but  absorbed  in  the  need  for'reme- 
dial  measures  ;  and  when  in  December  1917  the  Champaran 
Agrarian  Bill  was  moved  in  the  Behar  Legislative  Coun- 
cil, the  Hon.  Mr.  Maude  made  a  frank  statement  of  the 
scandals  which  necessitated  an  enquiry  by  a  Commission 
and  acknowledged  Mr.  Gandhi's  services  in  these  hand- 
some terms : — 
It  is  constantly  asserted,  and  I  have  myself  often  heard  it 

:said,  that  there  is  in  reality  nothing  wrong  or  rotten  in  the 
state  of  affairs ;  that  all  concerned  are  perfectly  happy  so  long 
as  they  are  left  alone,  and  that  it  is  only  when  outside  influences 
and  agitators  come  in  that  any  trouble  is  experienced.  I 
submit  that  this  contention  is  altogether  untenable  in  the  light 
of  the  history  of  the  last  fifty  years.  What  is  it  we  find  on 
each   individual  occasion  when   fresh   attention  has  been,  at 

iremarkably  short  intervals,  drawn  oAce   more  to  the  conditions 


26  M.   K.   GANDHI 

of  the  production  of  the  indigo  plant  ?  We  do  not  find  on  eacb 
occasion  that  some  fresh  little  matter  has  gone  wrong  which 
can  be  easily  adjusted,  but  we  find  on  every  occasion  alike  that 
it  is  the  system  itself,  which  is  condemned  as  being  inherently 
wrong  and  impossible,  and  we  see  also  repeated  time  after  time- 
the  utter  futility  of  brincing  the  matter  to  any  lasting  or  satis- 
factory settlement  by  the  only  solutions  that  have  so  far  been 
attempted,  namely,  an  enhancement  of  the  price  paid  for  indigo 
and  a  reduction  of  the  tenant's  burden  by  reducing  the  limit  of 
the  proportion  of  his  land  which  he  would  be  required  to  earmark 
for  indigo  cultivation.  Repeatedly  those  expedients  have  been- 
tried — repeatedly  they  have  failed  to  effect  a  lasting  solution, 
partly  because  they  could  not  be  universally  enforced,  but 
.  chiefly  because  no  thinking  can  set  right  a  system  which  is  in. 
itself  inherently  ratten  and  open  to  abuse. 

The  planters  of  course  could  not  endure  this.  They 
took  occasion  to  indulge  in  the  most  rapid  and  UDbecoming: 
attacks  on  Mr,  Gandhi,  One  Mr.  Irwin  earned  an 
unenviable  notoriety  by  writing  all  sorts  of  scurrilous- 
attacks  touching  personalities  which  have  nothing  to  do- 
with  the  subject  of  enquiry.  Columns  of  such  stuff  appear- 
ed in  the  pages  of  the  Pioneer  :  but  Mr.  Gandhi  with  a. 
quiet  humour  replied  in  words  wiich  should  have  made  the 
soul  of  Irwin  penitent.  Tbe  controversy  on  Mr.  Gandhi's 
dress  and  Mrs.  Gandhi's  stall-keeping  reveals  the  character 
of  the  two  men,  Mr,  Irwin,  fussy,  vindictive,  violent,  ill- 
tempered,  writhing  like  a  wounded  snake  in  anger  and 
^gotiy)  and  Mr.  Gandhi  secure  in  his  righteousness,, 
modest,  quiet,  strong  and  friendly  with  no  malice  and 
untainted  by  evil  passions. 

THE    COKQEISSS-LEAGUE    SCHEME 

By  this  time  Mr.  Gandhi  had  made  the  Guzerab 
Sabha  a  well-equipped  organisation  for  effective  srcial 
service.  "When  in  August  1917  it  was  announced  that  Mr. 
Montagu  would  be  in  India  in  connection  with  the  scheme 
of  Post-War  Reforms  the  Guzerat  Sabha  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Gandhi  devised  in  November  the  admirable 
scheme  of  a  monster  petition  in  connection  with  the  Con- 
gress League  Scheme.  The  idea  and  the  movement  alike 
were  opportune.  Mr.  Gandhi  himself  undertook  the  work 
in  his  province  of  Guzerat  and  carried  it  out  with  charac- 
teristic thoroughness.     The   suggestion  was   taken    up  by 


M.   K.  GANDHI  27' 

the  GoDgress  and  the  Home  Rule  League  and  the  pUes  of 
books  containing  the  monster  signatures  were  duly  present- 
ed to  Mr.  Montagu  at  Delhi. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Gandhi  was  not  idle.  On  the  17th. 
September  he  presided  over  the  Bombay  Co-operative  Con- 
ference. On  Nov.  3,  he  delivered  a  remarkable  address  as- 
president  of  the  Quzerat  Political  Conference  and  later,  of 
the  Guzerat  Educational  Conference.  Then  came  the- 
Gongress  week  in  Calcutta  in  December  and  be  presided- 
over  the  First  Session  of  the  Social  Service  League  when ' 
he  made  a  striking  speech. 

Mr.  Gandhi  has  always  travelled  in  the  third  class  in 
all  his  journeyings  and  the  grievances  of  the  third-class  - 
passengers  are  driven  home  in  this  address  to  the  Social - 
Service  League.  But  even  before  this  he  had  already  sent 
a  letter  to  the  press  on  the  subject  on  the  25th  September,^ 
1917,  in  which  he  gave  a  vivid  and  true  account  of  the 
woes  of  the  third-class  paesengers, 

FAMINE  IN  THE  £AIBA   DISTRICT 

After  his  return  from  the  Calcutta  Congress  of  Dec 
1917,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  occupied  in  connection  with  the- 
famine  in  the  Kaira  district.  The  facts  of  the  story  can 
be  easily  told  in  Mr.  Gandhi's  own  words  uttered  at  a~ 
meeting  in  Bombay  on  Feb.  5,  1918, 

The  responsibility  for  the  notice  issued  by  the  Guzerat 
Sabha  of  Ahmedabad  was  his  ;  and  nobody  expected  that  the 
Government  would  misinterpret  the  objects  of  the  notice.  The 
Guzerat  Sabha  had  sufBcient  proof  of  the  plight  of  the  people- 
in  the  Eaira  District  and  that  the  people  were  even  obliged  to 
sell  their  cattle  to  pay  taxes,  and  the  notice  was  issued  to 
console  those  suffering  from  hardships.  The  Sabha's  request 
was  to  suspend  the  collection  of  dues  till  negotiations  were 
over.  If  the  Commissioner  of  the  Division  had  not  been  angry 
with  the  deputation  and  had  talked  to  them  politely,  such 
crises  would  not  have  happened.  He  fully.,  expected  that  the- 
deputation  which  would  wait  on  the  Governor  would  be  able- 
to  explain  the  situation  to  His  Excellency' and  the  people's- 
cause  would  succeed  in  the  end.  Pi»blic  men  had  every  right 
to  advise  tbe  people  of  their  rights.  He  trusted  that  those  who 
had  given  the  people  the  right  advice  would  stand  by  them 
and  would  not  hesitate  to  undergo  hardships  in  order  to  secure^ 
justice. 


28  M.   K.   GANDHI 

Ihe  first  and  last  principle  of  passive  resistance  is  that 
we  should  not  inflict  hardships  on  others  but  put  up  with  them 
ourselves  in  order  to  get  justice,  and  the  Government  need  not 
fear  anything  if  we  make  up  our  mind  as  we  are  bent  on 
getting  sheer  justice  from  it  and  nothing  else..  We  can  have 
two  weapons  on  occasions  like  this:— Revolt  or  passive  resist- 
ance, and  my  request  is  for  the  second  remedy  always.  In 
order  to  remove  distress  through  which  the  Guzerat  people 
are  passing,  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  if  we  tell  the  truth  to 
the  Government,  it  will  ultimately  be  convinced  and  if  we  are 
firm  in  our  resolve,  the  Kaira  District  people  shall  suffer 
wrongs  no  more. 

INTEREST    IN    SOUTH    AFBICA 

In  spite  of  all  these  activities  in  India,  Mr.  Gandhi 
has  not  forgotten  the  scene  of  his  early  labours.  His 
South  African  friends  and  fellow- workers  are  always  dear 
to  him.  In  a  communication  to  the  Indian  Opinion  he 
wrote  under  date  15th  December,  1917  : — 

When  I  left  South  Africa,  I  had  fully  intended  to  write  to 
my  Indian  and  English  friends  there  from  time  to  time,  but  I 
found  my  lot  in  India  to  be  quite  different  from  what  I  had 
expected  it  to  be.  I  had  hoped  to  be  able  to  have  comparative 
peace  and  leisure  but  I  have  been  irresistibly  drawn  into  many 
activities.  I  hardly  cope  with  them  and  local  daily  corre- 
spondence. Half  of  my  time  is  passed  in  the  Indian  trains.  My 
South  African  friends  will,  I  hope,  forgive  me  for  my  apparent 
neglect  of  them.  Let  me  assure  them  that  not  a  day  has  pass- 
ed but  I  ha'^e  thought  of  them  and  their  kindness.  South 
African  associations  can  never  be  effaced  from  my  memory. 

I  note,  too,  that  our  people  in  South  Africa  are  not  yet  free 
from  difficulties  about  trade  licences  and  leaving  certificates. 
My  Indian  experience  has  confirmed  the  opinion  that  there  is 
no  remedy  like  passive  resistance  against  such  evils.  The  com- 
munity has  to  exhaust  milder  remedies  but  I  hope  that  it  will 
not  allow  the  sword  of  passive  resistance  to  get  rusty.  It  is 
our  duty  whilst  the  terrible  war  lasts  to  be  satisfied  with  peti- 
tions, etc.,  for  the  desired  relief  but.  I  think  the  Government 
should  know  that  the  community  will  not  rest  until  the  ques- 
tions above  mentioned  are  sal;isfactorily  solved.  It  is  but  right 
that  I  should  alaft  warn  tlie  community  against  dangers  from 
within.  I  hear  from  those  who  return  from  South  Africa  that 
we  are  by  no  means  free  of  those  who  are  engaged  in  illicit 
traffic.  We,  who  seek  justice  must  bo  above  suspicion,  and  I 
hope  that  our  leaders  will  not  rest  till  they  have  urged  the 
.  community  of  internal  defects. 


H.   K.   GANDHI  2^> 

AHMESABAD   MILL  STBIEE 

Passive  Resistance  in  some  £orm  or  other  bas  always 
been  Mri  Gandhi's  final  panacea  for  all  ailmeAts  in 
the  body  politic.  He  has  applied  it  with  resolute 
courage,  and  has  at  least  as  often  succeeded  as  he  bas 
undoubtedly  failed.  But  success  or  failure  in  the  pursuit 
of  a  righteous  cause  is  seldom  the  determining  factor,, 
with  men  of  Mr,  Gandhi's  moral  stamina.  When  in  March 
1918  the  mill  hands  at  Ahmedabad  went  on  strike,  Mr. 
Gandhi  was  requisitioned  to  settle  the  dispute  between  the 
millowners  and  the  workmen.  He  was  guiding  the  latter 
to  a  successful  settlement  of  their  wages  when  some  of 
them  betrayed  a  sense'  of  weakness  and  despair ;  and 
demoralisation  was  apprehended.  At  a  critical  stage  in 
the  crisis  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Mis!)  Anusuyabhai  took  the  vow 
of  fast.  This  extreme  action  on  the  part  of  Mr,  Gandhi 
was  disquieting  to  friends  and  provoked  some  bitter  com- 
ments from  the  unfriendly.  He,  of  course,  would  be  the 
last  person  to  resort  to  such  a  method  of,  forcing  the  mill- 
owners  by  appe^ing  to  their  sense  of  pity,  knowing  that 
they  were  his  friends  and  admirers.  He  explained  the 
circumstances  in  a  statement  issued  subsequently : — 

I  am  not  sorry  for  the  vow,  but  with  the  belief  that  I  have, . 
I  would  have  been  unworthy  of  the  truth  undertaken  by  me  if 
I  had  done  anything  less.  Before  I  took  the  vow  I  knew  that 
there  were  serious  defects  about  it.  For  me  to  take  such  a 
vow  in  order  to  affect  in  any  shape  or  form  the  decision  of  the 
millowners  would  be  a  cowardly  injustice  done  to  them,  and 
that  I  would  so  prove  myself  unfit  for  the  friendship  which  J 
had  the  privilege  of  enjoying  with  some  of  them.  I  knew  that  I 
ran  the  risk  of  being  misunderstood.  I  could  not  prevent  my  fast 
from  affecting  my  decision.  That  knowledge  moreover  put  a 
responsibility  on  me  which  I  was  ill-able  to  bear.  From  now 
I  disabled  myself  from  gaining  concessions  for  the  men  whioh- 
ordinarily  in  a  struggle  such  as  this  I  would  be  entirely  justified 
in  securing.  I  knew,  too,  that  I  would  have  to  be  satisfied  with 
the  minimum  I  could  get  from  the  millowners  and  with  a  fulfil- 
ment of  the  letter  of  the  men's  vow  rather  than  its  spirit  and  so 
hath  it  happened.  I  put  the  defects  of  my  vow  in  one  scale  and 
the  merits  of  it  in  the  other.  There  are  hardly  any  acts  of  human 
beings  which  are  free  from  all  taint.  Mine,  I  know,  was 
exceptionally  tainted,  but  better  the  ignominy  of  having 
unworthily  compromised  by  my  vow  the  position  and  indepen- 


3° 


M.   K.   GANDHI 


dence  of  the  mill-owners  than  that  it  should  be  said  by  pos- 
terity that  10,000  men  had  suddenly  broken  the  vow  whioh  they 
'had  for  over  twenty  days  solemnly  taken  and  repeated  in  the 
name  of  God.  I  am  fully  convinced  that  no  body  of  men  can 
make  themselves  into  a  nation  or  perform  great  tasks  unless 
ithey  become  as  true  as  steel  and  unless  their  promises  come 
•to  be  regarded  by  the  world  like  the  law  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians,  inflexible,  and  unbreakable,  and  whatever  may  be  the 
verdict  of  friends,  so  far  as  I  can  think  at  present,  on  given 
occasions,  I  should  not  hesitate  in  future  to  repeat  the  humble 
performance  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  describing  in  the 
communication. 

DELHI    WAK     CONFERENCE 

Mr.  Gandhi  was  one  of  those  invited  to  attend  the 
Delhi  War  Conference  in  April  1918.  At  first  he  refused 
to  participate  in  the  discussions  on  the  ground  that  Mr. 
Tilak,  Mrs.  Besant  and  the  Ali  Brothers  were  not  invited 
to  the  Conference.  He  however  waived  the  objection  at 
•the  pressing  invitation  personally  conveyed  by  H.  B.  the 
"Viceroy  in  an  interview.  At  the  Conference  he  spoke 
briefly,  supporting  the  loyalty  resolution.  He  explained 
his  position  more  clearly  in  a  communique  issued  by  him 
soon   after  the  Conference.     He  pointed  out: — 

I  recognise  that  in  the  hour  of  its  danger  we  must  give,  as 
we  have  decided  to  give,  ungrudging  and  unequivocal  support 
to  the  Empire  of  which  we  aspire  in  the  near  future  to  be 
'partners  in  the  same  sense  as  the  Dominions  Overseas.  But  it 
js  the  simple  truth  that  our  response  is  due  to  the  expectation 
that  our  goal  will  be  reached  all  the  more  speedily.  On  that 
account  even  as  performance  of  duty  automatically  confers  a 
corresponding  right,  people  are  entitled  to  believe  that  the 
imminent  reforms  alluded  to  in  your  speech  will  embody  the 
main  general  principles  of  the  Congress- League  scheme,  and  I 
am  sure  that  it  is  this  faith  which  has  enabled  many  members 
of  the  Conference  to  tender  to  the  Q-overnment  their  full-hearted 
co-operatioD.  If  I  could  make  my  countrymen  retrace  their 
steps,  I  would  make  them  withdraw  all  the.  Congress  resolutions 
-and  not  whisper  "Home  Rule  "  or  "  Responsible  Government" 
during  the  pendency  of  the  War.p  would  make  India  offer  all 
her  able-bodied  sons  as  a  sacrificelo  the  Empire  at  its  critical 
moment  and  I  know  that  India,  by  this  very  act,  would  become 
the  most  favoured  partner  in  the  Empire  and  racial  distinctions 
would  become  a  thing  of  the  past.  But  practically  the  whole 
of  educated  India  has  decided  to  take  a  less  effective  course,  and 
it  ii  no  longer  possible  to  say  that  educated  India  does  not 
-exercise  any  influence  on  the  masses. 


M.  K.  GANDHI  31 

I  feel  sure  that  nothing  less  than  a  definite  vision  of  Home 
^ule  to  be  realised  in  the  shortest  possible  time  will  satisfy  the 
Indian  people.  I  know  that  there  are  many  in  India  who 
-consider  no  sacrifice  is  too  great  in  order  to  achieve  the  end, 
and  they  are  wakeful  enough  to  realise  that  they  must  be 
equally  prepared  to  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  Empire  in  which 
they  hope  and  desire  to  reach  their  final  status.  It  follows  then 
that  we  can  but  accelerate  our  journey  to  the  goal  by  silently 
and  simply  devoting  ourselves  heart  and  soul  to  the  work  of 
delivering  the  Empire  from  the  threatening  danger.  It  will  be 
a  national  suicide  not  to  recognise  this  elementary  truth.  We 
■must  perceive  that,  if  we  serve  to  save  the  Empire,  we  have  in 
that  very  act  secured  Home  Rule.  * 

Whilst,  therefore,  it  is  clear  to  me  that  we  should  give  to 
the  Empire  every  available  man  for  its  defence,  I  fear  that  I 
cannot  say  the  same  thing  about  the  financial  assistance!  My 
intimate  intercourse  with  the  raiyats  convinces  me  that  India 
has  already  donated  to  the  Imperial  Exchequer  beyond  her 
capacity.  X  know  that,  in  making  this  statement,  I  am  voicing 
"the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  my  countrymen.  "7 

It  is  iateresting  to  note  that  even  so  early  as  this 
Mr.  Gandhi  foreshadowed  his  views  on  the  Khilafat 
<}uestion  of  which  we  shall  hear  so  much  indeed  in  the 
subsequent  pages.  Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  these  words  in  a  letter 
to  the  Viceroy : — 

V  Lastly,  I  would  like  you  to  ask  His  Majesty's  Ministers  to 
give  definite  assurance  about  the  Muhammadan  States.  I  am 
sure  you  know  that  every  Muhammadan  is  deeply  interested  in 
them.  As  a  Hindu  I  cannot  be  indifferent  to  their  cause.  Their 
sorrows  must  be  our  sorrows.  In  the  most  scrupulous  regard 
for  the  rights  of  these  States  and  for  the  Muslim  sentiment  as  to 
the  places  of  worship  and  in  your  just  and  timely  treatment  of 
the  Indian  claim  to  Home  Rule  lie  the  safety  of  the  Empire,  t 
write  this,  because  I  love  the  English  nation  and  I  wish  to 
evoke  in  every  Indian  the  loyalty  to  Englishman, 

LORD   WILIiINGDON  AND   HOME   B0LERS 

On  June  10,  1918,  Lord  Willingdon,  then  Governor 
of  Hombay,  presiding  over  the  Bombay  War  Conference, 
happened  to  make  an  unfortunate  reference  to  Home 
!Rulers.  Mr,  lilak  who  was  on  the  war-path  resented  what 
be  deemed  an  unwarranted  insult  to  Home  Bulers  and 
instantly  launched  on  a  downright  political  oration.  His 
Excellency  ruled  him  out  of  order  and  one  by  one  the 
Home  Bulers  left  the  Conference,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  asked 


32  M.   K.   GANDHI 

to   preeide  over  the  protest  meetiog  in  Bombay  held  oa 
the  16th    June.     He  spoke  as  follows  : — 

Lord  Willingdon  has  presented  them  with  the  expression' 
Home  Rule  Leaguers  distinguished  from  Home  Eulers.  I  can- 
not conceive  the  existence  of  an  Indian  who  is  not  a  Home 
Ruler;  but  there  are  millions  like  myself  who  are  not 
Home  Rule  Leaguers.  Although  I  am  not  a  member  of  any- 
Home  Rule  League  I  wish  to  pay  on  this  auspicious  day  my 
humble  tribute  to  numerous  Home  Rule  Leaguers  whose  associa- 
tion I  have  ever  sought  in  my  work  and  which  has  been 
extended  to  me  ungrudgingly.  I  have  found*  many  of  them  to 
be  capable  of  any  sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  the  Motherland. 

RECRUITING  FOR  THE  WAR 

Mr.  Gandhi  did  a  great  deal  to  stimulate  recruitiDg- 
for  the  war,  Though  he  did  not  hesitate  to  criticise  the 
.bureaucracy  for  individual  acts  of  wrong,  he  went  about 
In  the  Districts  of  Kaira  calling  for  recruits.  Time  and 
again  he  wrote  to  the  press  urging  the  need  for  volunteers 
and  he  constantly  spoke  to  the  educated  and  the  illiterate 
alike  on  the  necessity  for  joining  the  Defence  Force. 
On  one  occasion  he  said  in  Kaira  where  he  had  conducted 
Satyagraha  on  an  extensive  scale  : — 

You  have  successfully  demonstrated  how  you  can 
resist  Government  with  civility,  and  how  you  can  re- 
tain your  own  respect  without  hurting  theirs.  I  now 
place  before  you  an  opportunity  of  proving  that  you 
bear  no  hostility  to  Government  in  spite  of  your  strenuous  flght 
with  them. 

You  are  all  Home  Rulers,  some  of  you  are  members  of 
Home  Rule  Leagues.  One  meaning  of  Home  rule  is  that  we 
should  become  partners  of  the  Empire.  To-day  we  are  a  subject 
people.  We  do  not  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  Englishmen.  We 
are  not  to-day  partners  of  the  Empire  as  are  Canada,  South 
Africa  and  Australia.  We  are  a  Dependency.  We  want  the 
rights  of  Enelishmen,  and  we  aspire  to  be  as  much  partners  of 
the  Empire  as  the  Dominions  Overseas.  We  wish  for  the  time 
when  we  may  aspire  to  the  Viceregal  office.  To  bring  such  a 
state  of  things  we  should  have  the  ability  to  defend  ourselves, 
that  is  the  ability  to  bear  arms  and  to  use  them.  As  long  as 
we  have  to  look  to  Englishmen  for  our  defence,  as  long  as  we 
are  not  free  from  the  fear  of  the  military,  so  long  we  cannot  be 
regarded  as  equal  partners  with  Englishmen.  It,  therefore,  be- 
hoves us  to  learn  the  use  of  arms  and  to  acquire  the  ability  to 
defend  ourselves.  If  we  want  to  learn  the  use  of  arms  With  the 
greatest  possible  despatch,  it  is  our  duty  to  enlist  ourselves  in 
the  Army. 


M.  K.    GANDHI  33. 

The  easiest  and  the  straightest  way  to  win  Swiwajya, 
sai4  Mr.  Gandhi,  is  to  participate  in  the  defence  of  the 
Empire.  This  argument,  doubtless,  went  home,  and  he- 
appealed  in  the  following  words  : — 

There  are  600  villages  in  the  Kaira  District.  Every  village- 
has  on  an  average  a  population  of  over  1,000.  If  every  village 
gave  at  least  twenty  men  the  Eaira  District  would  be  able  to 
raise  an  army  of  12,000  man.  The  population  of  the  whole 
district  is  seven  lakhs  and  this  number  will  then  work  out  at  17 
per  cent. — a  rate  which  is  lower  than  the  death-rate.  If  we  are 
not  prepared  to  make  even  this  sacrifice  for  the  Empire  and 
Swarajya,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  are  regarded  as  unworthy  of  it. 
If  every  village  gives  at  least  twenty  men  they  will  return  from 
the  war  and  be  the  living  bulwarks  of  their  village.-  If-  they 
fall  on  the  battle-fleld,  they  will  immortalise  themselves,  their 
villages  and  their  country  and  twenty  fresh  men  will  follow 
suit  and  offer  themselves  for  national  defence. 

THE   MOHTAGU    REFORMS 

We  have  noticed  how  Mr.  Gandhi  took  a  leading  part 
in  the  agitation  for  post-war  reforms  and  how  his  idea  of  a 
monster  petition  was  taken  up  by  every  political  body  of 
importance  in  the  country.  It  must,  however,  be  noted 
with  regret  that  his  enthusiasm  for  the  reforms  was  nofe 
kept  up  as  he  was  absolutely  engrossed  in  other  affairs.  On 
the  publication  of  the  Joint  Report  in  July  1918,  Mr. 
Gandhi  wrote  to  the  Servant  of  India  at  the  request  of  th& 
Hon.  Mr,  (now  the  Rt.  Hon.)  V.  S.  S.  Sastri  for  an  ex- 
pression of  opinion  : — 

No  scheme  of  reform  can  possibly  benefit  India  that  does 
not  recognise  that  the  present  administration  ia  top-heavy  and 
ruinously  expensive  and  for  me  even  law,  order  and  good 
government  would  be  too  dearly  purchased  if  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  it  is  to  be  the  grinding  poverty  of  the  masses.  The 
watchword  of  our  Beform  Councils  will  have  to  be  not  the 
increase  of  taxation  for  the  growing  needs  of  a  growing  country, 
but  a  decrease  of  financial  burdens  that  are  sapping  the  founda- 
tion itself  of  organic  growth.  If  this  fundamental  fact  is  recog- 
nised there  need  be  no  suspicion  of  our  motives  and  I  think  I 
am  perfectly  safe  in  asserting  that  in  every  other  respect 
British  interests  will  be  as  secure  in  Indian  hands  as  they  are  in 
their  own. 

It  follows  from  what  I  have  said  above  that  we  must  respect- 
fully press  for  the  Congress-League  claim  for  the  immediate- 
granting  to  Indians  of  50  per  cent.-^of  the  higher  posts  in  the' 
Civil  Service. 
3 


34  .  M.   K.   GANDHI 

THE    ROWLATT    BILLS    AND    SATTASBAHA 

But  soon  there  began  a  muvement  which  was  to  tax 
"the  utmost  energies  of  Mr.  Gandhi,  a  movement  fraught 
with  grave  consequences.  The  Government  of  India  per- 
sisted in  passing  a  piece  of  legislation  known  as  the 
Rowlatt  Laws  which  were  designed  to  curb  still  further 
what  little  liberty  is  yet  poshessed  by  Indians  in  their  own 
country.  The  legislation  was  presumed  to  be  based  on  the 
Report  of  the  Rowlatt  Committee  which  announced  the 
•discovery  of  plots  for  the  subversion  of  Government, 
Friends  of  Government,  solicitous  of  the  peaceful  and  well- 
ordered  condition  of  society,  warned  it  of  the  danger  of 
passing  such  acts  which  betrayed  a  tactless  want  of  confi- 
dence and  trust  in  the  people  at  a  time  when  Responsible 
•Government  was  contemplated.  The  bill  was  stoutly 
opposed  by  the  public  and  the  press.  It  was  denounced 
by  every  political  organisation  worth  the  name.  It  was 
•severely  and  even  vehemently  attacked  in  the  Imperial 
Council.  Irrespective  of  parties,  the  whole  country  stood 
solid  against  a  measure  of  such  iniquity.  The  Hon.  Mr. 
Sastri  and  Pundit  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya,  and  in  fact 
©very  one  of  the  non-official  members  condemned  the  bill 
as  outrageous  and  forebode  grave  consequences  if  it  should 
be  passed.  But  Government  was  obstinate  and  the  bill 
was  passed  in  the  teeth  of  all  opposition. 

Mr.  Gandhi  who  travelled  all  over  the  country  and 
wrote  and  spoke  with  amazing  energy  was  not  to  be  easily 
silenced.  Every  other  form  of  constitutional  agitation 
having  failed  he  resorted  as  usual  to  his  patent — Satya- 
graba.  On  February  28,  1919,  he  published  a  momentous 
pledge  which  he  asked  his  countrymen  to  sign  and  observe 
as  a  covenant  binding  on  them,  The  pledge  ran  as 
follows :  — 

"  Beingconsoientiously  of  opinion  that  the  Bills  known  as 
the  Indian  Criminal  Law  (Amendment)  Bill  No.  1  of  1919,  and 
the  Cnmmal  Law  (Emergency  Powers)  Bill  No.  11  of  1919  are 
un]uat,8ubversive  of  the  principle  of  liberty  and  justice,  and  de- 
structive of  the  elementary  rights  of  individuals  on  which  the 
safety  of  the  community  as  a  whole  and  the  State  Itself  is 
based,  we  solemnly  affirm  that  in  the  event  of   these   Bills 


M.   K.  GANDHI  35 

tieooming  law.  and  until  they  are  withdrawn,  we  shall  refuse 
•civilly  to  obey  these  laws  and  such  other  laws  as  a  committee 
to  be  hereafter  appointed  may  think  fit  and  further  affirm  that 
in  this  struggle  we  will  faithfully  follow  truth  and  refrain  from 
•violence  to  life,  person  or  property." 

He  then  started  on  an  extensive  tour  through  the 
country  educating  the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  in 
the  principles  and  practice  of  Satyagraha.  At  Bombay, 
Allahabad,  Madras,  Tanjore,  Trichy,  Tuticorin  and 
Negapatam  he  addressed  large  gatherings  in  March. 
"Sunday  the  6th  April  was  appointed  the  Satyagraha  Day 
when  complete  hartal  was  to  be  observed,  prayers  offered 
and  the  vo<v  to  be  taken  amidst  great  demonstra- 
'tions.  Delhi  observed  the  Satyagraha  day  on  the  30th,  and 
there  ensued  a  scuffle  between  the  people  and  the  police. 
It  was  alleged  against  the  Delhi  paople  at  the  B.ailway 
•Station 

(1)  that  some  of  them  were  trying  ^to  coerce  sweetmeat 
-sellers  into  closing  their  stalls ;  (2)  that  some  were  forcibly 
preventing  people  from  plying  tramcars  and  other  vehicles  ; 
(3)  that  some  of  them  threw  brickbats;  (4)  that  the  whole 
crowd  that  marched  to  the  Station  demanded  the  release  of 
men  who  were  said  to  be  coercers  and  who  were  for  that 
reason  arrested  at  the  instance  of  the  Railway  authorities ; 
(5)  -that  the  crowd  declined  to  disperse  when  the  Magistrate 
Kgave  orders  to  disperse. 

Swami  Shraddhananda  (the  well-known  Mabatma 
Munshi  Kam  of  the  Gurukuln,  who  had  taken  the  orders  of 
-the  Sannyasi)  denied  the  first  three  allegations,  Granting 
they  were  all  true  there  was  no  need,  argued 
Mr.  Gandhi,  for  the  interference  of  the  military  who  were 
called  on  to  fire  on  the  unarmed  mob.  But  the  crowd 
was  completely  self-possessed  and  though  there  was  some 
'loss  of  life,  it  spoke  volumes  in  praise  of  the  Delhi  people 
that  they  conducted  a  meeting  of  40,000  in  perfect  peace 
and  order.  But  the  Dalhi  tragedy  had  burnt  itself  into 
the  soul  of  Mr.  Gmdhi  and  his  friends.  The  incident  he 
said,  "  imposed  an  added  responsibility  upon  Satyagrahis 
of  steeling  their  hearts  and  going  on  with  their  struggle 
-until  the  Rowlatt  Legislation  was  withdrawn."  The  whole 
•country  answered  Mr.  Gandhi's  call  in  a  way  that  was  at> 


36  M.  K.   GANDHI 

once  significant  and  impressive.  Tens  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  gathered  in  different  cities,  and  never  withim 
living  memory  have  such  demonstrations  been  witnessed, 

In  the  meanwhile  the  Satyagraha  Committees  m 
diflFerent  centies  of  India  were  actively  carryirg  or  their 
propaganda.  The  Central  Committee  of  which  Mr, 
Gandhi  was  the  president,  advifed  that  for  the  time'being 
laws  regarding  prohibited  literature  and  registration  of 
newspapers  might  be  civilly  disobeyed.  Accordingly  on  the 
7th  April  Mr.  Gandhi  issued  a  notice  to  organise,  regulate^ 
and  control  the  sale  of  these  publications.  A  leaflet  called 
Stttyagrahi  was  at  once  brought  out  as  also  some  early 
writing  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  which  was  pronounced  to  be 
seditious.     The  first  print  stated  among  other  things  : 

"The  editor  is  liable  at  any  moment  to  be  arrested,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  ensure  the  continuity  of  publication  until  India 
is  in  a  happy  position  of  supplying  editors  enough  to  take  the 
place  of  those  who  are  arrested.  It  is  not  oui  intention  to  break 
for  all  time  the  laws  governing  the  publication  of  newspapers. 
This  paper  will,  therefore,  exist  so  long  only  as  the  Rowlatt 
Legislation  is  [not  withdrawn." 

Meanwhile  as  contemplated  by  Mr.  Gandhi  he  wa« 
arrested  at  Kosi  on  his  way  to  Delhi  on  the  morning  of  the 
10th  April  and  served  with  an  order  not  to  enter  the 
Punjab  and  the  District  of  Delhi,  The  oflBcer  serving  the 
order  treated  him  most  politely,  assuring  him  that  it  would  be 
his  most  painful  duty  to  arrest  him,  if  he  elected  to  disobey,, 
but  that  there  would  be  no  ill-will  between  them.  Mr, 
Gandhi  smilingly  said  that  he  must  elect  to  disobey  as  it 
was  his  duty,  and  that  the  officer  ought  also  to  do  what  was 
his  duty.  Mr.  Gandhi  then  dictated  a  message  to  Mr. 
Desai,  his  secretary,  laying  special  emphasis  in  his  oral 
message  that  none  should  resent  his  arrest  or  do  anything 
tainted  with  untruth  or  violence  which  was  sure  to  harm 
the  sacred  cause. 

Mr.  Gandhi   arrived  in    Bombay  on  the   afternoon  of 

the  11th  April,   having  been   prevented  from  entering  the 

Provinces  of  the  Punjab  and   Delhi.     An    order  was    soon 

after  served  on  him  requiring  him  to  confine  his  activities 

;  within  the  limits  of  the  Bombay  Presidency.  Having  heacd 


M.   K.  GANDHI  37 

oi  the  riots  and  the  consequent  bloodshed  in  different 
places  he  caused  the  following  message  to  be  read  at  all  the 
meetings  that  evening :  — 

I  have  not  been  able  to  uaderstand  the  cause  of  so  much 
-excitement  and  disturbance  that  followed  my  detention.  It  is 
xiot  Satyagraha.  It  is  worse  than  Duragraha.  Those  who 
join  Satyagraha  demonstrations  are  bound  one  and  all  tp 
refrain  at  all  hazard  from  violence,  not  to  throw  stones  or  in 
any  way  whatever  to  injure  anybody. 

I  therefore  suggest  that  if  we  cannot  conduct  this  move- 
ment without  the  slightest  violence,  from  our  side,  the  move- 
ment might  have  to  be  abandoned  or  it  may  be  necessary  to 
give  it  a  different  and  still  more  restricted  shape.  It  may  be 
necessary  to  go  even  further.  The  time  may  come  for  me  to 
offer  Satyagraha  against  ourselves.  I  would  not  deem  it  a 
disgrace  that  we  die.  I  shall  be  pained  to  hear  of  the  death 
of  a  Satyagrahi,  but  I  shall  consider  it  to  be  the  proper 
sacrifice  given  for  the  sake  of  the  struggle. 

I  do  not  see  what  penance  I  can  offer  excepting  that  it  is 
for  me  to  fast  and  if  need  be  by  so  doing  to  give  up  this  body 
and  thus  prove  the  truth  of  Satyagraha..  I  appeal  to  you  to 
peacefully  disperse  and  to  refrain  from  acts  that  may  in  any 
way  bring  disgrace  upon  the  people  of  Bombay. 

But  the  Duragraha  of  the  few  upset  the  calculations 
of  Mr,  Gandhi,  as  he  had  so  constantly  been  warned  by 
many  of  his  friends  and  admirers  who  could  not  however 
subscribe  to  his  faith  in  civil  disobedience.  The  story  of 
the  tragedy  needs  no  repeating.  It  is  written  on  the 
tablet  of  time  with  bitter  memories,  and  the  embers  <rf 
that  controversy  have  not  yet  subsided.  But  Mr, 
Oandhi,  with  a  delicacy  of  conscience  and  a  fine  apprecia- 
tion of  truth,  which  we  have  learnt  to  associate  with  his 
name  as  with  that  of  Newman,  felt  for  the  wrongs  done  to 
Englishmen  with  the  same  passionate  intensity  with  which 
:he  felt  for  those  infiicbed  on  his  own  countrymen.  Few 
•words  of  remorse  in  recorded  literature  are  more  touching 
than  those  uttered  by  Mr.  Gandhi  in  his  speech  at  A.hme- 
dabad  on  the  14th  April  1919,  They  are  in  the  supreme 
manner  of  Cardinal  Newman's  Apologia : 

Brothers,  the'  events  that  have  happened  in  the  course  of 
the  last  few  days  have  been  most  disgraceful  to  Ahmedabad, 
and  as  all  these  things  have  happened  in  my  name,  I  am  ashala- 
«d  of  them,  and  those  who  have  been  responsible  for  them 
have  thereby  not  honoured  me  but  disgraced  me.    A  rapier  run 


38  M.   K.   GAND-Hl 

through  my  body  could  hard)y  have  pained  me  more.  I  have- 
said  times  without  number  that  Satyagraha  admits  of  no  vio- 
lence, no  pillage,  no  incendiarism ;  and  still  in  the  name  of 
Satyagraha  we  burnt  downbuildings,.forcibly  captured  weapons, 
extorted  money,  stopped  trains,  cut  off  telegraph  wires,  killed 
innocent  people  and  plundered  shops  and  private  houses.  If 
deeds  such  as  these  could  save  me  from  the  prison  house  or  the- 
■caffold  I  should  not  like  to  be  so  saved. 

'  It  is  open  to  anybody  to  say  that  but  for  the  Satyaeraha 
campaign  there  would  not  have  been  this  violence.  For  this  I 
have  already  done  a  penance,  to  my  mind  an  unendurable  one, 
namely,  that  I  have  had  -to  postpone  my  visit  to  Delhi  to  i^eek 
re-arrest  and  I  have  also  been  obliged  to  suggest  a  temporary 
restriction  of  Satyagraha  to  a  limited  field.  This  has  been  more 
painful  to  me  than  a  wound,  but  this  penance  is  not  enough,, 
and  I  have  therefore  decided  to  fast  for  three  days,  i.  e.,  72 
hours.  I  hope  my  fast  will  pain  no  one.  I  believe  a  seventy.two 
hours  ■  fast  is  easier  for  me  than  a  twenty-four  hours'  fast  for 
you.  And  I  have  imposed  on  me  a  discipline  which  I  can  bear. 
In  consequence  of  the  violence,  he  ordered  a  general 
suspension  of  the  movement  on  the  18th  April  only  to  be 
resumed  on  another  occasion  which  was  soon  to  follow  in 
the  heels  of  the  Punjab  tragedy. 

THE    PUNJAB    DISORDERS 

Before  passing  to  a  consideration  of  the  Khilafat 
question  and  Mr.  Gandhi's  lead  which  made  it  such  a  potent 
and  All-Jndia  agitation  we  must  say  a  word  on  the  after- 
math of  the  Punjab  tragedy.  It  is  unnecessary  to  recount 
the  extraordinary  happenings  in  the  Punjab  as  time  and 
vigilant  CLquiries  have  laid  bare  the  unscrupulous  method^ 
of  that  Government.  For  over  a  year,  the  tale  of  the  Punjab 
atrocities,  the  shooting  down  of  a  defenceless  and  unarmed 
gathering  of  some  2,000  men,  women  and  children  in  cold 
blood  at  the  Jallianwallah  Bagh,  the  monstrous  metbods^ 
of  martial  law  administered  by  Col.  Johnson  and  Bosworth 
Smith,  the  outrageous  indignities  to  which  the  poor  people 
of  the  place  were  subjected,  the  callous  disregard  of  life 
and  respect  with  which  Sir  Michael  O'Dwyer  and  Briga- 
dier Dyer  were  inflicting  some  of  the  worst  features  of 
Prussianism  on  a  helpless  people— the  crawling  order  and' 
the  public  flogging— these  have  been  the  theme  of  countless 
articles  and  speeches.  The  Punjab  revelations  have  shock- 
ed  the    conscience    of    the    civilized   world   which  coul* 


M.  K,  GANDHI  39- 

scarcely  believe  that  such  frightful  acts  of  brutality  could 
be  possible  in  the  British  Government  till  the  Hunter 
Oommission  confirmed  their  worst  apprehensions. 

But  it  was  long  before  the  Government  could 
be  forced  to  appoint  a  Commission  of  Inquiry.  And  at- 
last  only  a  Committee  was  appointed  while  all  India  was- 
anxious  for  a  Boyal  Commission.  It  was  therefore  decid- 
ed to  proceed  with  an  independent  enquiry.  Mr.  Gandhi 
headed  the  Congress  Sub  Committee  and  carried  out  a 
most  searching  and  thorough  investigation.  It  was  a  pity 
he  could  not  lead  the  Congress  evidence  before  the  Hunter 
Committee,  owing  to  certain  differences  between  the  two- 
Committees  in  regard  to  the  freedom  of  certain  witnesses 
then  under  confinement.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  Congress- 
Committee  decided  not  to  give  evidence,  or  in  any  way 
participate  with  the  Hunter  Committee. 

But  under  the  able  and  indefatigable  guidance  of  Mr. 
Gandhi  the  Congress  Committee  collected  a  great  mass  of 
material  for  judging  the  Punjab  disorders.  They  examin- 
ed over  1,700  witnesses  and  recorded  the  evidence  of  na 
less  than  650.  Mr.  Gandhi's  participation  in  the  Committee 
was  itself  a  guarantee  to  its  merit  as  an  authoritative  and 
responsible  body.  In  fact  no  name  could  carry  more 
weight  than  Mr.  Gandhi's  in  the  matter  of  veracity  in  such 
an  undertaking — an  undertaking  likely  to  prejudice  and 
warp  the  judgment  of  many.  When  in  April  1920  the- 
Report  was  published  it  was  hailed  everywhere  as  an 
unanswerable  document — the  result  of  patient  industry 
and  dispassionate  judgment  on  a  most  brutal  and  savage 
episode  in  contemporary  history. 

Soon  after,  the  Hunter  Report  which  was  for  many 
months  in  the  hands  of  the  Cabinet,  was  also  issued,, 
accompanied  by  a  despatch  by  the  Secretary  of  State. 
The  Report  recorded  indeed  many  of  the  facts  published 
already  in  the  Congress  Report,  laid  stress  on  the  evils  of 
Satyagraha,  condoned  the  bloody  exploits  of  Gen.  Dyer 
as  "  an  error  of  judgment  "  (a  diplomatic  euphemism  for 
the  slaughter  of  the  innocents)  and  vindicated  the  states- 
manship-of  Sir  Michael  O'Dwyer  !     The  force  of  perversion. 


40  M.   K.   GANDHI 

could  no  further  go  !  Mr.  Montagu,  however,  passionately 
denounced  Gen.  Dyer's  savagery  as  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  British  Government  but  curiously  enough 
paid  a  tribute  to  Sir  Michael's  sagacity  and  firmness  and 
the  Viceroy's  policy  of  masterly  inactivity  !  This  was  bad 
enough  from  the  Indian  point  of  view.  But  there  sprang 
up  a  wild  scream  from  the  Anglo  Indian  Press,  and  Mem- 
Sahebs  in  search  of  sensation  and  notoriety  discovered  in 
Gen.  Dyer  the  saviour  of  British  India.  The  Pioneer  and 
-other  prints  followed  the  lead  of  the  London  Morning 
Fast  and  appealed  for  funds  towards  a  memorial  to  this 
gallant  soldier  who  shot  men  like  rabbits,  while  a  section  of 
the  Indian  Press  urged  that  "  Chelmsford  must  go."  Then 
followed  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  which  was 
looked  forward  to  with  some  excitement.  The  House  ulti- 
mately retained  its  honour  in  the  debate  and  though  Mr. 
Montagu,  Mr.  Asquith  and  Mr.  Churchill  spoke  with  a  pro- 
found sense  of  justice  and  carried  the  day,  there  was  no 
doubt  of  the  mentality  of  the  average  Englisbmen.  But  it 
was  left  to  the  House  of  Peers  to  betray  the  utter  demoralisa- 
tion that  had  set  in.  Lord  Finlay's  motion  condoning  Gen, 
Dyer  was  passed  ha  spite  of  the  masterly  speeches  of  Lord 
Curzon  and  Lord  Sinha.  Though  the  noble  Lords' 
action  could  have  no  constitutional  value  it  was  yet 
an  index:  to  the  depth  of  English  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice. Above  all,  some  officers  who  had  misbehaved 
in  the  late  tragedy  still  continued  to  exercise  authority 
in  the  Punjab,  and  Mr.  Lajpat  Rai  started  a  propaganda  to 
boycott  the  New  Councils  so  long  as  they  were  not  dispens- 
ed with.  Mr.  Gandhi  who  had  already  made  up  his  mind 
to  offer  Satyagraha  in  varying  forms  in  connection  with 
the  Khilafat  question  readily  joined  the  Lala  and  issued 
the  following  note  in  July  1920  : — 

Needless  to  say  I  am  in  entire  accord  with  Lala  Lajpat 
Rai  on  the  question  of  a  boycott  of  the  Reformed  Councils.  For 
me  it  is  but  one  step  in  the  campaign  of  Non-Co-operation,  as 
I  feel  equally  keenly  on  the  Punjab  question  as  on  the  Khilafat. 
Lala  Lajpat  Rai's  suggestion  is  doubly  welcome,  I  have  seen 
a  suggestion  made  in  more  quarters  than  one  that  Non-Co- 
operation with  the  Reforms  should  commence  after  the  process 
of  election  has  been  gone  through.    I  cannot  help  saying  that 


M.  K.  GANDHI  4J, 

it  is  a  mistake  to  go  through  the  election  farce  and  the  expense 
-of  it,  when  we  clearly  do  not  intend  to  take  part  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  these  Legislative  Councils.  Moreover,  a  great  deal  of 
educ5tive  work  has  to  be  done  among  the  people,  and  if  I  could 
I  would  not  have.the  best  attention  of  the  country  frittered 
away  in  electioneering.  The  populace  will  not  understand  the 
'beauty  of  Non-Co-operation,  if  we  seek  election  and( 
then  resign ;  but  it  would  be  a  fine  education  for  them  if 
electors  are  taught  not  to  elect  anybody  and  unanimously  to 
tell  whosoever  may  be  seeking  their  suffrage  that  he  would 
■not  represent  them  if  he  sought  election  so  long  as  the  Punjab 
and  Ehilafat  questions  were  not  satisfactorily  settled.  I  hope, 
however,  that  Lala  Lajpat  Rai  does  not  mean  to  end  with  the 
boycott  of  the  Reformed  Councils.  We  must  take,  if  necessary, 
every  one  of  the  four  stages  of  Non-Co-operation  if  we  are  to 
be  regarded  as  a  self-respecting  nation.  The  issue  is  clear. 
Both  the  Khilafat  terms  and  the  Punjab  affairs  show  that 
Indian  opinion  counts  for  little  in  the  Councils  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  a  humiliating  position.  We  shall  make  nothing  of  the  Re- 
forms if  we  quietly  swallow  the  humiliation.  In  my  humble 
opinion,  therefore,  the  first  condition  of  real  progress  is  the  re^ 
moval  of  these  two  difficulties  in  our  path,  and  unless  som4 
ietter  course  of  action  is  devised,  Non-Co-operation  must  hold 
the  field. 

The  Khilafat  Question 
We  have  referred  more   than   once  to  Mr.   Gandhi's 
connection  with  the  Khilafat  question.     The  country   was 
in    the   throes   of   a   tremendous   agitation — an  agitation 
which    gained  enormously   in '  its   intensity  and    popular 
appeal  by  the  mere  fact  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  participation  in  it. 
It  would  take  us  far  afield  to  discuss  the  whole  question  of 
the   history   of  the    Khilafat  movement.     Briefly  put,  it 
resolves  itself  into  two  primary  factors.     The  first  was  the 
Premier's  pledge  and  promise,  that  after  the    war   nothing 
would   be   done   to   disturb  the  integrity  of  the  Ottoman 
Jlmpire   both   as   a   concession    to  Muslim  loyalty  and  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  self-determination.     The 
second  was  that  the  violation   of   imperial   obligation   was 
thoroughly  immoral  and  should  at  all  costs  be  resisted  by 
•all  self-respecting  Mabomedans.     In   this   gigantic   enter- 
prise  Hindus     must    help    Mabomedans   and  join    hands 
'with  them  as  a  token  of  neighbourly  regard.     This  at  any 
rate  was  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  Khilafat  question 
hy  Mr.  Gandhi,  Mr.  Gandhi  would  not   stoop  to   consider 


42  M.  K.   GANDHI 

that  the  Governrcent  of  India  could  possibly  have  no  voic&- 
in  the  determination  of  an  international  negotiation.  He 
knew  that  the  Governiuent  of  India  had  represented  the 
Indian  feeling  with  some  warmth  and  tjaat  Mr.  Montagu 
and  Lord  Sinha  had  done  their  best  to  voice  the  claims  of 
India  at  the  Peace  Table.  But  he  hfld  that  the  Government 
of  India  had  not  done  all  in  their  powjr  and  when  the 
terms  of  Treaty  with  Turkey  were  published  with  a  lengthy 
note  from  the  GoverniLent  of  Jndia  to  soothe  the  injured 
sentiment  of  the  Muslim  peoph ,  Mr  Gandhi  wrote  a  re- 
markably frank  letter  to  H.  E  Lord  Ohtlmsford,  the 
Viceroy,  on  June  14,  1920,  io  which  he  pointed  out: — 

The  Peace  terms   and  Your  Excellency's  defence  of  them 
have  given  the  Mussulmans  of  India  a  shock  from  which  it  will ' 
be  difficult  for  them  to  recover.    The  terms  violate  Ministerial', 
pledges    and  utterly  dlBiegard  the    Mussulman  sentiment.    I 
consider  that  as  a  staunch  Hindu,  wishing  to  live  on  terms  of 
the  closest  friendship  with  my  Mussulman  countrymen  I  should 
be  an  unworthy  son  of  India  if  I  did  not  stand  by  them  in  their 
hour  of  trial.    In  my  humble  opinion  their  cause  is  just.    They 
claim  that  Turkey  must  not  be  punished  if  their  sentiment  is  to  - 
be   respected.    Muslim  soldiers   did  not  fight  to  inflict  punish* 
ment  on  their  own  Ehalifa  or  to  deprive  him  of  his  territories. 
The  Mussulman  attitude  has  been  consistent  throughout  these 
five  years.    My  duty  to  the  Empire  to  which  I  owe  my  loyalty, 
requires  me  to  resist  the  cruel  violence  that  had  been  done  to- 
Mussulman  sentiment.    So  far  as  I  am  aware  the  Mussulmans 
and  Hindus  have    as  a  whole  lost    faith   in  British  justice  and 
honour. 

The  report  of  the  majority  of  the  Hunter  Committee,  Your 
Excellency's  despatch  thereon,  and  Mr.  Montagu's  reply  have 
only  aggravated  the  distrust.  In  these  circumstances  the  only 
course  open  to  one  like  me  is  either  in  despair  to  sever  all  con- 
nection with  British  Eu  e  or  if  I  still  retained  the  faith  in  the 
inherent  superiority  of  the  British  Constitution  to  all  others  at 
present  in  vogue,  to  adopt  such  means  as  will  rectify  the  wrong 
done  and  thus  restore  that  confidence. 

Non-Co-operation  was  tl3e  only  dignified  and  constitutional  • 
form  of  such  direct  action.  For  it  is  a  right  recognised  from 
times  immemorial  of  the  subjects  to  refuse  to  assist  the  ruler  ■ 
who  misrules.  At  the  same  time  I  admit  Non-Co-operation 
practised  by  the  mass  ot  people  is  attended  with  grave  risks. 
But  in  a  crisis  such  as  has  overtaken  the  Mussulmans  of  India, 
no  step  that  is  unattended  with  large  risks  can  possibly  bring 
about  the  desired  change.  Not  to  run  some  risks  will  be  to 
count  much  greater  risks  if  not  the  virtual  destruction  of  law  - 


M.  K.   GANDHI  43: 

and  order ;  but  there  ia  yet  an  escape  from  Non-Co-operation. 
The  Mussulman  representation  has  requested  Your  Excellency 
to  lead  the  agitation  yourself  as  did  your  distinguished  prede- 
cessor at  the  time  of  the  South  African  trouble,  but  if  yott 
cannot  see  your  way  to  do  so  and  Non-Co-operation  becomes 
the  dire  necessity,  I  hope  Your  Excellency  will  give  those  whO' 
have  accepted  my  advice  and  myself  credit  for  being  actuated' 
by  nothing  less  than  a  stern  sense  of  duty. 

The  Non  Co-opekation  Pbogbamme 

And  what  was  the  Non-Co-operation  programme  that 
Mr,  Gandhi  had  worked  out  for  the  adoption  of  the  country 
for  rectifying  the  wrongs  done  to  Muslim  sentiment  ?  He 
enunciated  the  four  stages  in  the  programme  of  Non -Co- 
operation in  clear  and  unambiguous  terms. 

The  first  was  the  giving  up  of  titles  and  honorary- 
offices  ;  the  second  was  the  refusal  to  serve  Government  in 
paid  appointments  or  to  participate  in  any  manner  in  the- 
working  of  the  existing  machinery  of  civil  and  judicial 
administration.  The  third  was  to  decline  to  pay  taxes  and' 
the  last  was  to  ask  the  police  and  the  military  to  withdraw 
■co-operation  from  the  Government.  From  the  first  Mr. 
Gandhi  realised  the  full  scope  of  the  movement  and  he  had 
no  doubt  of  its  far-reaching  efiects.  It  cannot  therefore 
be  said  that  he  started  the  movement  in  a  fit  of  indigna- 
tion. Far  from  it  he  had  worked  out  his  programme  to 
the  farthest  limits  of  its  logic  and  had  a  clear  grasp  of  all 
its  implications.  From  time  to  time  he  set  right  many  a 
misconception  in  the  mind  of  the  non-  co-operationists,  such 
for  instance,  in  regard  to  the  position  of  the  non  co- 
operationist  Vakil.  There  is  no  ambiguity  in  what  Mr. 
Gandhi  said.  The  Vakil  should  quietly  wash  his  hands  oflT 
the  court,  cases  and  all,  Mr.  Gandhi  took  care  to  explain 
that  no  stage  would  be  taken  until'he  had  made  suie  that 
he  was  on  firm  ground.  That  is,  he  would  not  embark  on 
the  last  two  stages  till  he  bad  created  an  indigenous 
panchayat  to  dispense  justice  and  an  organization  of 
volunteers  to  maintain  peace  and  order.  In  any  case, 
violence  should  be  completely  avoided. 

Now  it  must  be  admitted  that  many  people  had  only 
a  vague  and  hazy  notion  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  programme^ 
There  were  of  course  those  who  plainly  told  Mr.  Gandhi  of 


44  M.   K.  GANDHI 

the  impracticability  of  his  scheme  and  the  dangers  involved 
in  it.  Many  Liberal  League  organisations  implored  Mr. 
Gandhi  not  to  lead  the  country  to  a  repetition  of  the 
Punjab  tragedy.  Moderate  leaders  like  Sir  Narayan  Chan- 
davarkar  argued  the  futility  of  methods  leading  to 
anarchy  and  chaos.  But  the  most  amusing,  even 
at  such  serious  times,  was  the  attitude  of  some 
Congressmen.  These  were  variously  divided.  All  hailed 
Non- Co- operation  in  theory.  But  when  the  time 
came  for  practising  it,  they  flooded  the  country  with  a 
mass  of  literature  of  the  most  tortuous  kind  ;  casuistry  was 
dealt  in  abundance.  Aspirants  after  Council  honours 
refused  to  commit  what  they  called  "political  suicide"  by 
"boycotting  the  New  Councils".  Others  affected  to  believe 
in  the  possibilities  of  further  efforts  of  constitutional  agita- 
tion. Still  others  detected  illegalities  in  some  stages  of 
Non- Co-operation.  And  yet  some  would  not  commit 
themselves  but  await  the  verdict  of  the  Special  Congress, 
_A  minority  would  contest  at  the  elections  only  to  resign 
again  and  yet  some  others  would  join  the  New  Councils 
just  to  wreck  the  Reforms  !  What  a  cloud  of  words  and 
mystification  of  meaning !  To  all  this  warfare  of  words 
Mr.  Gandhi's  own  direct  and  simple  statements  are  in 
refreshing  contrast.  He  spoke  and  wrote  strongly  on  the 
subject.  There  could  be  no  doubt  of  bis  intentions  or  his 
iplans.  There  was  no  ambiguity  in  bis  language.  His 
words  went  straight  as  a  bullet  and  he  had  a  wholesome 
scorn  of  diplomatic  reserves  in  opinion.  Whatever  one 
■may  think  of  his  views  Mr.  Gandhi's  leadership  was 
faultless  and  he  held  his  ground  with  the  fervour  of  faith. 
In  no  case  would  he  play  to  the  gallery  nor  make  light 
of  his  cherished  convictions  even  if  he  found  the  whole 
mass  of  the  people  ranged  against  him.  He  would  not  be 
led  away  by  the  passing  gusts  of  popular  frenzy  'and  he 
has  a  wholesome  contempt  for  sycophancy  of  any  kind, 
even  to  the  people.  He  has  a  noble  way  of  bearing  the 
brunt  of  all  toil  and  trouble.  He  would  not  like  many 
■other  "leaders"  throw  the  followers  into  the  fray  while 
they  continue   to  remain   in   comparative   security.       He 


M.   K.   GANDHI  45, 

has  ail  inconvenient  way  of  urging  the  leaders  really  to 
lead.  Accordingly  on  tbe  1st  of  August,  as  he  had  already 
announced  he  led  the  movement  by  returning  his  Kaiser-i- 
hind  gold  medal  to  the  Viceroy.  ,  In  returning  it  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  His  Excellency  from  which  we  must  quote  the 
following  sentences  : — 

"  Events  that  have  happened  during  the  past  month  have 
confirmed  me  in  the  opinion  that  the  Imperial  Government 
have  acted  in  the  Khilafat  matter  in  an  unscrupulous,  immoral, 
and  uo just  manner  and  have  been  moving  from  wrong  to  wrong 
in  order  to  defend  their  immorality.  I  can  retain  neither 
reap  ect  nor  affection  for  such  a  Government. 

Your  Excellency's  light-hearted  treatment  of  ofBcial  crime, 
your  exoneration  of  Sir  Miohsel  O'Dwyer,  Mr.  Montagu's  des- 
patch, and  above  all  the  shameful  ignorance  of  the  Punjab 
events  and  callous  disregard  of  the  feelings  of  Indians  betrayed 
by  the  House  of  Lords  have  filled  me  with  the  gravest  misgiv- 
ings regarding  the  future  of  the  Empire,  have  estranged  me  com- 
pletely from  the  present  Government  and  have  disabled  me 
from  rendering  as  I  have  hitherto — whole-heartedly  tendered, 
my  loyal  co-operation. 

"  In  my  humble  opinion  the  ordinary  method  of  agitating 
by  way  of  petitions,  deputations,  and  the  liJ^e  is  no  remedy  for 
moving  to  repentance  a  Government  so  hopelessly  indifferent 
to  the  welfare  of  its  charge  as  the  Government  of  India  has 
proved  to  be.  In  European  countries  condonation  of  such 
grievous  wrongs  as  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  would  have 
resulted  in  a  bloody  revolution  by  the  people.  They  would  have 
resisted,  at  all  costs,  national  emasculation.  Half  of  India 
is  too  weak  to  offer  violent  resistance,  and  tbe  other  half  is  un- 
willing to  do  so.  I  have  therefore,  ventured  to  suggest  the 
remedy  of  Non-Co-operation,  which  enables  those  who  wish  to 
dissociate  themselves  from  Government,  and  which,  if  it  is 
unattended  by  violence  and  undertaken  in  ordered  manner, 
must  compel  it  to  retrace  its  steps  and  undo  the  wrongs  com- 
mitted ;  but  whilst  I  pursue  the  policy  of  Non-Co-operation,  in- 
so  far  as  I  can  carry  the  people  with  me,  I  shall  not  lose  hope 
that  you  will  yet  see  your  way  to  do  justice,  I  therefore  re- 
spectfully ask  Your  Excellency  to  summon  a  conference  of 
recognised  leaders  of  the  people,  and,  in  consultation  with 
them,  to  find  a  way  that  will  gladden  Mussulmans  and  do  re- 
paration to  the  unhappy  Punjab." 

Soon  after,  Mr.  Gandhi  started  on  an  extensive  cam- 
paign preaching  Non- Op- operation  to  large  audiences. 
In  August  he  came  to  Madras  where  he  delivered  a  power- 


46  M.   K.  GANDHI 

ful  speech  advocating  his  scheme.  Mr.  Gandhi  went  to 
Tanjore,  Trichy,  Bangalore  and  other  places  and  discourBsd 
on  the  same  subject  with  his  accustomed  energy,  while  his 
weekly  Towng  India  was  replete  with  regular  contributions 
from  his  indefatigable  pen.  Week  after  week  Young  India 
came  out  with  a  series  of  articles  from  Mr.  Gandhi's  pen 
answering  objections  and  formulating  methods  of  Non-Co- 
operation. 

CONGRJSSS   AND   NoN-Co-OPEKATION 

Mr.  Gandhi's  immediate  objective  was  to  convert  the 
Special  Congress  to  his  creed.    For  as  we  have  said  though 
many   had   jubilantly  proclaimed    their   faith    in  his  pro- 
gramme, it  was  found  that  as  time  drew  near    for   putting 
his  plans  into  practice  they  were  busy  finding  loopholes  to 
escape  the  rigours  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  discipline.     Everybody 
would  throw  everybody  else  into  the  struggle.     A  body   of 
men  who   had    sworn   by   Mr.    Gandhi      and   denounced 
those  yiho  had  the  courage  to  differ  from  him  were  suddenly 
faced  with  an  awkward  dilemma.  They  felt  the  inconveni- 
ence of  suffering  and  sacrifice  and  would  fain  be  relieved  of 
their  unwitting  words  of  bravado.     But  Mr.  Gandhi  would 
stand  four  square  to  all  the  winds  that  blow.     Nor  could 
they  with  any  grace  secede  from  the  Congress,  having  so 
violently  denounced  as  treason  the  Moderates'  disregard  of 
the  Delhi  and  Amritsar  Besolutions.     There  was  to  their 
mind  only  one  course  left  open,  i.  e.,  to  thwart  Mr.  Gandhi's 
resolution  in   the  open   Congress.     But    Mr.  Gandhi    had 
prepared    the    ground   with    characteristic   thoroughness. 
Khilafat  specials   from    Bombay   and  Madras    had  flooded 
the  Congress  with  delegates  sworn  to  vote  for  him.    There 
was  a  tough  fight  in  the  Subjects  Committee  which  sat  for 
eight  long  hours  without  coming  to  any  apparent  decision. 
Over  forty  amendments  were  brought  in  by  different  mem- 
bers, twelve  of  them  were  ruled  out  as  mere  verbal    repeti- 
tions and  there  remained    no  less  than  28   amendments  to 
consider.     The  speeches  in  the  Subjects    Committee   were 
remarkably    frank.    Messrs.    Malaviya,    Das,  Pal,  Jinnab, 
Baptista,  all  attacked  the  original  resolution  with   warmth 
while  Mrs,  Besant  vigorously  assailed  the  very  principle  of 


M.  K.   GANDai  47 

INon-Oo-operation.  The  debate  was  most  exciting.  The 
President,  Mr,  Lajpat  Bai  himself,  spoke  strongly  against 
-certain  important  provisions  of  the  Besolutiou.  He  would 
not  agree  to  the  withdrawal  of  boys  from  schools  nor  could 
he  think  it  at  all  possible  to  call  upon  lawyers  to  leave 
their  practice.  He  was  personally  in  favour  of  the 
■principle  of  Ifon-Go-operation  but  he  doubted  the  wisdom 
of  committing  the  Congress  to  those  extravagant  and  far- 
reaching  items  in  Mr.  Gandhi's  programme. 

BoTccoTT  OF  Councils 

But  by  far  the  most  contentious  item  in  the  Resolu- 
tion was  that  relating  to  the  boycott  of  councils.  The  bulk 
of  the  nationalists  were  strangely  enough  opposed  to  it  and 
by  a  curious  stretch  of  logic  they  considered  obstruction  in 
-the  council  as  preferable  to  wholesale  boycott. 

Mr.  C.  R.  Das,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  main  resolu- 
tion on  behalf  of  the  Reception  Committee,  agreed  to  Mr. 
iBspin  Chandra  Pal's  amendment  of  his  resolution,  but  if  it 
was  defeated,,  he  would  stand  by  his  own.  Mr.  Pal's 
amendment  was  put  to  the  vote  and  was  lost,  155  voting  for 
and  161  against.  Then  another  vote  was  taken  on  Mr. 
Das's  resolution  and  Mr.  Gandhi's  resolution  as  amended  by 
Pundit  Motial  Nehru  and  as  accepted  by  Mr.  Gandhi  him- 
self. It  is  said  that  in  the  final  voting  a  poll  was  taken 
133  voting  for  Mr.  Dis's  resolution  and  148  for  Mr, 
•Gandhi's,  thus  giving  a  majority  to  Mr.  Gandhi  of  15 
votes  and  thus  showing  that  the  voting  was  very  close.  It 
is  clear  that  the  Subjects  Committee  consisted  of  296 
members  present  and  that  15  of  w.hom  remained  neutral. 
The  greatest  excitement  prevailed  both  inside  the  Com- 
mittee room  and  outside  when  it  was  known  that  Mr. 
■Gandhi  won  the  day.  Nearly  two  thousand  people  collected 
outside  and  shouted  "  Gandhi  Mahatma  Kee  Jai "  and 
*'  Bande  Mataram." 

EXCITEMBaJT   IN   THE   CONGRESS 

That  gives  the  clue  to  the  mentality  of  the  Congress. 
If  Mr.  Gandhi  could  win  in  the  Subjects  Committee  itself 
there  was  no  doubt  of  his  triumph  in  the  open  Congress. 
'Still  Mr,  Das  proposed  to  bring  his  amendments  to   the 


48  M.   K,   GANDHI 

open  Congress  and  take  the  verdict.  That  verdict  was  a, 
foregone  conclusion.  The  Nationalists  complained  (what 
an  irony  of  things  !)  that  the  Khilafats  had  packed  the 
bouse  and  macosuvred  a  majority.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
each  party  strove  for  victory.  When  the  Congress  met  the- 
next  day,  Sir  Asutosh  Choudhuri  moved  for  adjournment 
of  the  question  in  the  right  legal  way.  Mr.  V,  P.  Madhava 
Kao  seconded  it  but  the  motion  was  lost  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority. 

Mr,  Gandhi  then  rose  to  move  his   resolution    amidst 
thunderous  applause.     The  Resolution  ran  as  follows  : — 

This  Congress  is  of  opinion  that  there  can  be  no  content- 
ment in  India  without  redress  of  the  two  aforementionerl  wrongs 
and  that  the  only  effectual  means  to  vindicate  national  honour 
and  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  similar  wrongs  in  future  is  the 
establishment  of  Swarajya.  This  Congress  is  further  of  opinion 
that  there  is  no  course  left  open  for  the  people  of  India  but  to 
approve  of  and  adopt  the  policy  of  progressive  non-violent  Non-, 
Co-operation  until  the  said  wrongs  are  righted  and  Swarajya  is. 
established. 

And  inasmuch  as  a  beginning  should  be  made  by  the  classes 
who  have  hitherto  moulded  and  represented  public  opinion  and 
inasmuch  as  Government  consolidates  its  power  through  titles 
and  honours  bestowed  on  the  people,  through  schools  controlled 
by  it,  its  law  courts  and  its  legislative  councils,  and  inasmuch 
as  it  is  desirable  in  the  prosecution  of  the  movement  to  take  the 
minimum  risk  and  to  call  for  the  least  sacrifice  compatible  with 
the  attainment  of  the  desired  object,  this  Congress  earnestly 
advises : 

(o)  surrender  of  titles  and  honorary  ofiSces  and  resignation 
from  nominated  seats  in  local  bodies  ; 

(6)  refusal  to  attend  Government  levees,  durbars,  and  other 
of&ciai  and  semi-official  functions  held  by  Government  officials 
or  in  their  honour ; 

(c)  gradual  withdrawal  of  children  from  schools  and 
colleges  owned,  aided  or  controlled  by  Government  and  in  place 
of  such  schools  and  colleges  establishment  of  national  schools 
and  colleges  in  the  various  provinces  ; 

{d)  gradual  boycott  of  British  courts  by  lawyers  and  liti- 
gants and  establishment  of  private  arbitration  courts  by  their 
aid  for  the  settlement  of  private  disputes  ; 

(e)  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  military,  clerical  and 
labouring  classes  to  offer  themselves  as  recruits  for  service  in 
Mesopotamia ; 

(f)  withdrawal  by  candidates  of  their  candidature  for  elec- 
tion to  the  Beformed  Councils    and  refusal  on  the  part  of  the 


M.  K.  GANDHI  49 

voters  to  vote  for  any  candidate  who  may  despite  the  CongTes» 
advice  offer  himself  for  election. 

(g)  And  inasmuch  as  Non-Co-operation  has  been  conceived 
as  a  measure  of  discipline  and  self-sacrifice  without  which  no 
nation  can  make  real  progress,  and  inasmuch,  as  an  opportunity 
should  be  given  in  the  very  jBrst  stage  of  iN'on-CO'Operation  to 
every  man,  woman,  and  child,  for  such  discipline  and  self-sacri- 
fice, this  Congress  advises  adoption  of  Swadeshi  in  piecegoods 
on  a  vast  scale,  and  inasmuch  as  the  existing  mills  of  India  with 
indigenous  capital  and  control  do  not  manufacture  sufficient 
yarn  and  sufficient  cloth  for  the  requirements  of  the  nation,  and 
are  not  likely  to  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come,  this  Congress 
advises  immediate  stimulation  of  further  manufacture  on  a 
large  scale  by  means  of  reviving  hand-spinning  in  every  home 
and  hand-weaving  on  the  part  of  the  millions  of  weavers  who 
have  abandoned  their  ancient  and  honourable  calling  for  want 
of  encouragement. 

In  moving  the  resolution,  Mr.  Gandhi  spoke  with 
compelling  fervour.  "  I  stand  before  you,  in  fear  of  God," 
he  said,  "  and  with  a  sense  of  duty  towards  my  country  to 
commend  this  resolution  to  your  hearty  acceptance."  Mr. 
Gandhi  said  that  the  only  weapon  in  their  hands  was  Non- 
Co-operation,  and  non-violence  should  be  their  creed.  Dr» 
Kitchlew  seconded  the  resolution  in  Urdu. 

Mr.  Pal  then  placed  his  amendment  which  proposed  a 
mission  to  England  to  present  our  demands  and  meanwhile 
to  establish  national  schools,  formulate  arbitration  courts 
and  not  to  boycott  the  councils. 

Mr.  Das  in  supporting  the  amendment  made  an 
appeal  to  Mr.  Gandhi  to  consider  the  practical  effect  of  his 
victory.  Mrs.  Besant  opposed  both  the  resolution 
and  the  amendment,  while  Pandit  Malaviya  and  Mr. 
Jinnah  preferred  the  latter.  Messrs.  Yakub  Hasan, 
Jitendra  Lai  Banerjea,  Nehru  and  Kambhuji  Dutt 
supported  Mr.  Gandhi  whose  resolution  was  finally- 
carried, 

The  Congress  reassembled  on  the  9th  and  the  whole 
morning  was  devoted  to  the  taking  of  votes,  province  by 
province,  for  and  against  Mr.  Gandhi's  motion.  Out  of 
twelve  provinces  only  the  Central  Provinces  and  Berar 
showed  a  majority  against  Mr.  Gandhi's  motion,  while  in 
the  remaining  ten  provinces  the  majority  of  votes  were  in 
4 


5° 


M.   K.  GANDHI 


his  favour.  The  president  announced  that  out  of  5,814 
delegates,  the  registered  number  of  delegates  who  took 
part  in  voting  was  2,728  while  63  did  not  vote.  Actual 
voting  showed  that  3,855  voted  for  and  873  against  Mr. 
Oandhi's  motion. 

After  this  fateful  decision  it  is  no  wonder  that.  Con- 
gressmen who  were  avowedly  against  Non- Co-operation 
found  themselves  in  a  difficult  predicament.  They  hastily 
called  for  a  meeting  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee 
and  it  was  resolved  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  mess  the  Con- 
gress had  made. 

The  mandatory  nature  of  the  Congress  Resolution 
was  relaxed  at  the  instance  of  Pandit  Malaviya  and  a  few 
others  who  thought  it  suicidal  to  let  slip  the  benefits  of  the 
new  reforms.  It  was,  however,  thought  inexpedient  to 
impair  the  authority  of  the  Congress  and  Congressmen 
like  Mr.  Patel  in  Bombay,  Mr.  Das  in  Bengal,  Pandit 
Motilal  Nehru  in  TJ.  P.,  Messrs.  Madhava  Rao  and 
"Vijayaraghavachariar  in  Madras — though  they  had  oppos- 
ed the  Resolution  in  the  Congress —  decided  to  abide  by 
it,  and  withdrew  their  candidature  from  the  forthcoming 
elections.  Many  leading  Congressmen  resigned  their 
honorary  offices  and  relinquished  their  titles.  While  Mr, 
Gokaran  Nath  Misra,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  All- 
India  Congress  Committee,  and  several  office-bearers  in  the 
Provincial  Congrets  Committees  who  were  opposed  to  the 
Resolution  resigned  their  offices  so  as  to  leave  the  Congress 
organisations  free  to  work  out  Mr.  Gmdhi's  programme. 

If  Mr.  Gandhi's  Jinfluence  was  so  decisive  at  the 
Special  Congress  as  to  set  at  naught  the  opinons  of  Con- 
gressmen like  C.  R.  Das  and  Bepin  Chandra  Pal,  his  autho- 
rity was  supreme  at  the  Nagpur  Session  in  December. 
Nagpur  in  fact,  witnessed  the  turning  point  in  the  history 
of  the  Congress,  as  in  that  year  Mr.  Gandhi,  with  an  over- 
whelming majority  completely  captured  this  institution 
and  converted  its  leading  spirits  to  his  creed.  Here  it  was 
that  the  old  creed  of  the  Congress  was  discarded  for  the 
new  one  of  indifference  to  British  overlordship, 


M.   K.  GANDHI  5! 

With  the  change  of  creed  and  the  wholesale  adoption 
of  the  programme  of  Non-Co-operation  the  old  Congress 
■was  virtually  dead.  The  New  Congress  was  inspired  by  a 
■new  hope  and  sustained  by  new  methods  altogether  alien 
~to  the  faith  of  men  like  Dadabhai  and  Gokhale  who  had 
guided  it  in  its  years  of  infancy  and  adolescence. 

Mr.  Gnndhi  was  not  slow  to  use  his  great  authority 
■over  the  Congress  to  further  the  movement  of  which  he  was 
the  directing  head.  At  his  command  were  all  the  Congress 
and  Khilafat  organisations,  and  he  set  out  on  an  extensive 
■tour  of  the  country  preaching  the  new  cult  with  the 
•fervour  of  a  prophet.  Everywhere  he  was  received  with 
■ovation.  His  Nagpur  triumph  was  the  beginning  of  an 
agitation  -bsfora.  v,'hieh  even  his  Satyagraha  demonstra- 
tlaaa  wera  as  nnt.h>r;g.  M".  Qandhf.as  saigbt.  be  expected 
of  one  of  his  ardent  and  generous  impulse,  staked  his  life  on 
the  agitation,  and  day  after  day  he  was  unwearied  in  his 
-services  and  unsparing  of  himself  in  his  devotion  to  what 
might  be  called  the  most  supreme  and  desperate  adventure 
of  his  life. 

As  be  went  from  place  to  place  accompanied  by  the 
All  Brothers  the  movement  became  popular  among  the 
■ignorant  and  the  literate.  His  fourfold  programme  of  boy- 
cotting schools,  cloths,  councils  and  Government  Service 
'was  the  theme  of  his  multitudinous  discourses.  But  the 
most  painful  result  (at  any  rate  to  those  who  are  not  of 
his  pursuasion)  was  the  calling  away  of  youths  from  their 
schools  and  colleges.  Many  a  lad,  led  away  by  the  glamour 
of  the  great  ideal  and  the  irresistable  appeal  of  a  saintly 
leader,  gave  up  their  school  education,  the  only  education 
available  at  present. 

THE   STUDENT   MOVEMENT 

At  Aligarh  and  Benares  great  efforts  were  made  to 
-call  away  the  students  from  the  Muslim  and,  Hindu  Uni- 
versities, if  they  could  not  nationalise  them.  They  were 
not  quite  successful  though  a  few  joined  the  Congress,  but 
in  Bengal,  at  the  instance  of  Messrs.  C.  B.  Das  and  Jitend- 
ralal  Banerjea,  a  large  number  of  students  flocked  to  their 
standard  and  deserted  the  schools.     It  was  such  appeals 


52 


M,   K.   GANDHI 


that  enthused  the  youth  of  Bengal  who  created  a  pro- 
found sensation  by  throwing  themselves  in  their  thonsanda- 
at  the  steps  of  the  Calcutta  University  Hall,  that  the  few 
who  did  attend  the  examination  had  to  do  so  by  walking, 
over  their  bodies. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  programme  was  that  emphasis 
was  laid  on  each  item  as  the  occasion  demanded.  At  one 
time  it  was  the  boycott  of  schools,  again  it  was  the  collec- 
tion of  a  crore  of  rupees  for  the  Swarajya  Fund,  a  third 
time  it  was  the  burning  of  mill  cloths  and  yet  again 
it  was  the  boycott  of  the  Duke  or  the  good  Prince.  Bach 
was  in  turn  to  bring  Swarajya  within  the  year.  Thus  in 
February  the  agitation  centred  on  the  boycott  of  the  Duke 
of  Connaught  to  whom  Mr.  Gandhi  addres.sed  a.  dignified- 
it  uncompromisiEg  lotoe?,     wir,  ^jraiiuui  ^rctc; — 

Our  nan-partioipation  in  a  hearty  welcome  to  Your  Royar 
Highness  is  thus  in  no  sense  a  demonstration  against  your  high 
personage,  but  it  is  against  the  system  you  come  to  uphold.  I 
know  individual  Englishmen  cannot  even  if  they  will,  alter 
the  English  nature  all  of  a  sudden.  If  we  would  be  the  equals- 
of  Englishmen  we  must  oast  off  fear.  We  must  learn  to  be  self- 
reliant  and  independent  of  schools,  courts,  protection  and 
patronage  of  a  Government  we  seek  to  end  if  it  will  not  mend. 

By  May  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  had  spread  far  and 
wide  and  strikes  and  hartals  became  the  order  of  the  day. 
Mr,  Gandhi,  however,  resolutely  discountenanced  all 
violence  and  he  was  seldom  sparing  in  his  admonition  of 
those  who  took  part  in  the  incident  at  Malegaon  and  other 
places.  Again  and  again,  be  spoke  strongly  against  the 
spirit  of  non-violence  which  for  a  time  broke  out  as  often  as 
he  decried  it  in  all  earnestness. 

INTERVIEW    WITH    THE   NEW    VICBKOY 

It  was  about  this  time  too  that  Lord  Chelmsford  retired 
and  his  place  was  taken  by  Lord  Reading,  who  came  to 
India  with  a  great  reputation.  An  Ex-Lord  Chief  Justice  of 
England  and  sometime  British  Ambassador  at  Washington 
during  the  fateful  years  of  war — the  new  Viceroy  inspired 
great  hopes.  His  reputation  for  justice,  strengthened  by 
his  repeated  assurances,  and  his  reputation  for  tactful 
dealing    of   delicate  questions    were   just  the    things   of 


M.  K.   GANDHI  53 

momentous   need   for  India,     No  wonder,    an  air  of  hope 
and  expectancy  bung  over  the  whole  country. 

Soon  after  Lord  Reading  arrived  in  India,  an  inter- 
-view  was  arranged  by  Pandit  Malaviya  between  the  new 
Viceroy  and  Mr.  Gandhi,  This  interview,  which  lasted 
many  hours,  took  place  at  Simla  in  May  1921.  Much 
speculation  was  rife  as  to  its  result  and  Mr.  Gandhi 
explained  the  circumstances  and  the  results  of  his  talk  in 
an  article  in  Young  India  under  the  title  "  The  Simla 
Tisit."  What  was  the  upshot  of  the  visit  ?  The  leader  of 
the  ]S'on- Go-operation  movement  and  the  head  of  the 
Government  of  India  got  to  know  each  other.  It  was  a 
great  thing. 

But  the  immediate  result  of  this  was  the  statement 
issued  by  the  Ali  Brothers — a  statement  in  which  they 
regretted  their  occasional  lapse  into  excessive  language  and 
promised  to  refrain  from  writing  or  speaking  in  any  man- 
ner likely  to  provoke  violence.  This  "  definite  result  of 
the  interview  "  was  claimed  as  a  victory  for  the  Govern- 
ment. Others  claimed  that  it  was  a  victory  for  Mr.  Gandhi 
who  explained  that  it  was  no  apology  or  undertaking  to 
the  Government  but  a  reassertion  of  the  principle  of  non- 
violence to  which  the  Ali  Brothers  had  subscribed.  It  was 
a  statement  to  the  public  irrespective  of  what  the  Govern- 
ment might  or  might  not  do  with  them.  In  answer  to 
-criticisms  against  his  advice  to  the  Brothers,  Mr,  Gandhi 
stoutly  defended  his  action,  and  praised  the  Brothers' 
attitude. 

Indeed  Mr.  Gandhi's  loyalty  to  his  colleagues  and 
particularly  his  affectionate  and  fraternal  regard  for  the 
brothers  is  beautiful  and  touching  to  a  degree.  And  when 
in  September  1921  the  Brothers  were  prosecuted  by  the 
Bombay  Government,  Mr.  Gandhi  with  fifty  others  issued 
a  public  manifesto  that  "  it  is  the  inherent  right  of  every 
one  to  express  bis  opinion  without  restraint  about  the 
propriety  of  citizens  offering  their  services  to,  or  remaining 
in  the  employ  of  the  Government  whether  in  the  civil  or 
the  military  department," 


34  M.  K.   GANDHI 

THE   ETHICS   OP   DESTEUCTION 

Another  feature  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  activity  which  for  a: 
a  time  threw  a  baleful  light  over  the  movement  was  the> 
cult  of  destruction,  as  typefied  in  the  burning  of  foreign 
cloth.  KabiEdranath  Tagore  and  0.  F.  Andrews  and, 
several  others,  horrified  at  the  wanton  waste,  pointed  out 
from  time  to  time  the  evil  effects  of  this  burning  business, 
Mr.  Gandhi,  mercilessly  logical  as  ever,  would  heed  no 
such  counsel  but  continued  literally  to  feed  the  flames.. 
With  that  cultivated  sense  of  distinction  between  the  doer 
and  the  thing  done,  which  is  ever  present  in  men 
such  as  he,  there  might  be  some  efficacy  in 
this  form  of  purification  and  self-denial.  But  many  were 
the  critics  who  held  that  his  honfvre  mania  was  the  surest- 
way  to  rouse  all  the  evil  passions  of  the  multitude  and  as- 
surely  lead  to  hatred  and  civil  strife. 

The  Bombay  Riots 

Whatever  the  root  cause  of  the  breaking  out  of  violence- 
and' hooliganism,  the  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  in 
Bombay  on  the  17th  November  was  made  the  occasion  of 
a  ghastly  tragedy.  Mr.  Gandhi  had  since  the  announce- 
ment of  the  Eoyal  visit  appealed  to  his  countrymen  to 
refrain  from  participating  in  the  functions  got  up  in 
honour  of  the  Prince.  Non-Co  operators  all  over  the 
country  had  organised  what  are  known  as  '  hartals,*^ 
closing  of  shops  and  suspending  all  work,  and  boycot- 
ting the  Prince.  In  Bombay  such  activities  resulted  in 
a  great  riot  in  which  all  parties'  suffered  owing  to  the 
hooliganism  of  the  mischievous  elements  in  the  mob  who 
violated  Mr.  Gandhi's  injunctions  to  be  non-violent  and 
brought  about  a  terrible  riot.  Mr.  Gandhi  was  then  in 
Bombay  and  after  witnessing  the  scene  of  the  tragedy,, 
wrote  some  of  the  most  stirring  letters  which,  coupled  with 
the  exertions  of  men  of  all  parties,  restored  peace  in  the 
city. 

As  a  penance  for  this  ghastly  tragedy  he  pledged' 
himself  to  fast  till  complete  peace  was  restored.  Strangely 
enough,  the  situation  was  well  in  hand  in  a  couple  of 
days  and  on  the  fourth  day  in  breaking  the  fast  in  th& 


M.   K.   GANDHI  55 

midst  of  a  gathering  of  Co-operatorp,  Non-Co-operators, 
Hind  UP,  Mussulmans,  Parsis  and  I^Ohristians,  Mr,  Gandhi 
made  a  thrilling  statement. 

I  am  breaking  my  fast  upon  the  strength  of  your  assurances. 
I  have  not  been  unmindful  of  the  affection  with  which  innumer- 
able friends  have  surrounded  me  during  these  four  days.  I  shall 
ever  remain  grateful  to  them.  Being  drawn  by  them  I  am- 
plunging  into  this  stormy  ocean  out  of  the  heaven  of  peace  in 
which  I  have  beep  diu-ing  these  few  days.  I  assure  you  that,  in 
spite  of  the  tales  of  misery  that  have  been  puured  into  my  ears,. 
I  have  enjoyed  peace  because  of  a  hungry  stomach.  I  know 
that  I  cannot  enjoy  it  after  breaking  the  fast.  I  am  too  human 
not  to  be  touched  by  the  sorrows  of  others,  and  when  I  find  no 
remedy  for  alleviating  them,  my  human  nature  so  agitates  me- 
that  I  pine  to  embrace  death  like  a  long-lost  dear  friend.  There- 
fore I  warn  all  the  friends  here  that  if  real  peace  is  not  estab- 
lished in  Bombay  and  if  disturbances  break  out  again  and  if  as- 
a  result  they  find  me  driven  to  a  still  severer  ordeal,  they  must 
not  be  surprised  or  troubled.  If  they  have  any  doubt  about 
peace  having  been  established,  if  each  community  has  stiU 
bitterness  of  feeling  and  suspicion  and  if  we  are  all  not  prepared 
to  forget  and  forgive  past  wrongs,  I  would  much  rather  that  they 
did  not  press  me  to  break  the  fast.  Such  a  restraint  I  would 
regard  as  a  test  of  true  friendship. 

And  then  Mr,  Gandhi  drove  the  moral  home  to  the 
gathering  as  also  to  the  eager  and  anxious  public  all  over 
India, 

Warned  by  the  disasters  at  Bombay  and  the  Moplab 
rebellion  which  was  still  going  on  in  Malabar,  it  was  ex- 
pected that  Mr.  Gandhi  would  reconsider  his  position  and' 
stop  short  of  the  extreme  steps  in  Non- Co  operation.  But 
that  was  not  to  be.  The  Congress  had  by  this  time  become 
an"  organ  for  registering  his  decrees.  And  the  Committee 
met  frequently  to  devise  methods  in  pursuance  of  Non-Co- 
operation. Thundering  resolutions,  alternating  with  hopes- 
and  warnings,  came  in  quick  succession.  Province  after 
Province  vied  with  one  another  for  the  exciting  novelty  of 
civil  disobedience. 

Though  the  author  of  the  Civil  Disobedience  move- 
ment in  India,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  always  alive  to  its  dangers,. 
He  therefore  insisted  that  his  conditions  should  be  fulfilled 
in  toto  before  any  Taluka  could  embark  on  a  campaign  o£ 


56  M.   K.   GANDHI 

"Civil    Disobedience.       And    those    conditions   were   very 
.rigorous  indeed. 

The  Calcutta  Hartal 
Meanwhile  the  hartal  organised  by  Non-Co  operators 
in  connection  with  the  Prince's  visit  was  more  or  less 
successful  in  many  places.  It  was  alleged  that  by  intimi- 
datioa  and  otherwise,  the  hartal  in  Calcutta  on  the  day  of 
the  Prince's  lauding  in  Bombay  was  phenomenally  com- 
plete. The  Bengal  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the  Anglo- 
Indian  press  took  an  alarmist  view  of  the  situation  and 
expressed  grave  indignation  against  the  passivity  of  the 
■Government.  With  a  view  to  suppress  the  activity  of  the 
Congress  in  this  direction  Government  resuscitated  part  II 
of  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act  which  was  then 
literally  Under  a  sentence  of  death.  "When  volunteering 
was  declared  unlawful  Congress  leaders  took  up  the 
challenge  and  called  on  the  people  to  disobey  the  order 
and  seek  imprisonment  in  their  thousands.  Men  like 
Messrs.  C,  B  Das  in  Calcutta  and  Motilal  Nehru  in  Alla- 
habad openly  defied  the  order  and  canvassed  volunteers  in 
total  disregard  of  legal  consequences.  They  sought  impri- 
sonment and  called  on  their  countrymen  to  follow  them  to 
prison.  The  situation  was  grave.  It  was  then  that 
Pundit  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya,  Sir  P.  C.  Ray  and  others 
thought  that  the  time  had  come  when  they  should  step 
into  the  breach  and  try  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
between  Government  and  Non  Co-operators.  With  this 
view  Pandit  Madan  Mohan  and  others  interviewed  leading 
Non-Co  operators  and  those  in  authority.  Lord  Konald- 
shay,  in  his  speech  at  the  Legislative  Couacil  referred  to 
the  gravity  of  the  situation  and  defined  the  firm  attitude 
of  Government. 

The  Viceroy  who  had  invited  the  Prince  was  natu- 
rally very  indignant  at  the  strange  form  of  "  reception " 
that   awaited   the   innocent   scion   of   the  Royal    Souse. 
Could  anything  be  done  at  all  towards  a  rapproachment  ? 
The  Dbpctation  to  the  Vicekoy 

A  Deputation  headed  by  Pundit  Madan  Mohan  Mala- 
viya waited  on   His  Excellency   the   Viceroy  at  Calcutta 


M.  K.  GANDHI  57 

-on  Dcember  21  and  requested  him  to  call  a  Round 
Table  Conference  of  representatives  of  people  of  all 
shades  of  opinion  with  a  view  to  bring  about  a  final  settle- 
ment. Lord  Reading  replied  at  some  length  and  defined 
the  attitude  of  the  Government.  He  regretted  that  "  it  is 
impossible  even  to  consider  the  convening  of  a  conference 
if  agitation  in  open  and  avowed  defiance  of  law  is  mean- 
while to  be  continued."  Mr.  Gandhi's  refusal  to  call  oflf 
the  hartal  in  connection  with  H.R.,H.  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
-visit  to  Cilcutta  on  December  24,  apparently  stiffened  the 
attitude  of  the  Government,  Interviewed  by  the  Associat- 
ed Press,  Mr.  Gandhi  made  the  following  statement  re- 
garding the  Vicero>'ii  reply  to  the  Deputation  :- — 

I  repeat  for  the  thousandth  time  that  it  l8  not  hostile  to  any 
nation  or  any  body  of  men  but  it  is  deliberately  aimed  at  the 
system  under  which  Government  of  India  is  being  to-day  con- 
-ducted,  and  I  promise  that  no  threats  and  no  enforcement  of 
threats  by  the  Viceroy  or  any  body  of  men  will  strangle  that 
agitation  or  send  to  rest  that  awakening. 

The  Ahuedabad  Congbess 
Meanwhile  the  Annual  Session  of  the  Congress 
■met  at  Ahmedabad,  the  headquarters  of  Mr,  Gandhi. 
It  was  virtually  a  Gandhi  Session.  The  President-elect, 
Mr.  C.  R.  Dxs,  was  in  prison  and  so  were  many  other  lead- 
ers besides.  Hakim  Ajmal  Khan  was  elected  to  take  the 
-chair  and  the  proceedings  were  all  in  Hindi  and  Gujarati, 
Mr.  Gandhi  was  invested  with  full  dictatorial  powers  by 
the  Congress  and  the  central  resolution  of  the  session, 
which  he  moved,  ran  as  follows  : 

"  This  Congress,  whilst  requiring  the  ordinary  machinery  to 
•remain  intact  and  to  be  utilised  in  the  ordinary  manner  when- 
ever feasible,  hereby  appoints,  until  further  ingtructions, 
Mahatma  Gandhi  as  the  sole  executive  authority  of  the  Con- 
gress and  invests  him  with  the  full  power  to  convene  a  special 
session  of  the  Congress  or  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee 
or  the  Working  Committee  and  also  with  the  power  to  appoint 
a  successor  in  emergency. 

"  This  Congress  hereby  confers  upon  the  said  successor  and 
all  subsequent  successors  appointed  in  turn  by  their  predeoes- 
■ors,  all  his  aforesaid  powers,  provided  that  nothing  in  this 
resolution  shall  be  deemed  to  authorise  Mahatma  Gandhi  or 
.anv  of  the  aforesaid  successors  to  conclude  any  terms  of  peace 


58  M.  K.   GANDHI 

with  the  Government  of  India  or  the  British  Government  with- 
out the  previous  sanction  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee,, 
to  be  finally  ratified  by  the  Congress  specially  convened  for  the- 
purpose,  and  provided  also  that  the  present  creed  of  the  Cong- 
ress shall  in  no  case  be  altered  by  Mahatma  Gandhi  or  his- 
successor  except  with  the  leave  of  the  Congress  first  obtained."" 

There  were  yet  some  in  the  Congress  who  went  a  step 
further  than  Mr.  Gandhi  himself.  Moulana  Hazrat 
Mobani  stood  out  for  complete  independence  and  it  is 
interesting  to  note  how  valiantly  Mr.  Gandhi  fought 
against  the  motion  of  absolute  severance  from  Britain. 
Mr.  Gandhi  opposed  all  his  amendments  and  pinned' 
the  Congress  down  to  his  own  dubious  resolution. 
Soon  after  the  session,  some  of  the  Provincial  organisations- 
were  busy  preparing  for  a  no-tax  campaign.  In  TJ.  P., 
Guzerat,  the  Andhra  and  in  the  Punjab  the  movement- 
threatened  to  assume  a  serious  turn.  Mr.  Gandhi,  him- 
self, while  insisting  that  his  conditions  should  be  fulfilled 
before  any  taluka  should  embark  on  an  offensive  com- 
paign,  threw  the  onus  of  responsibility  on  the  Province 
itself — Provincial  autonomy  with  a  vengeance  !  But  then- 
there  were  hopes  of  peace  in  the  air. 

The  Bombay  Confeeencb 
A  conference  of  representatives  of  various  shades 
of  political  opinion  convened  by  Pundit  Malaviya,  Mr. 
Jinnah  and  others,  assembled  at  Bombay  on  the  14tb- 
January,  1922,  with  Sir  C.  Sankaran  Nair,  in  the  Chair, 
On  the  second  day  Sir  Sankaran  withdrew  and  Sir  M.. 
Visveswaraya  took  up  his  place.  Over  two-hundred  leading 
men  from  different  provinces  attended.  Mr.  Gandhi  was 
present  throughout  and  though  he  refused  to  be  officially 
connected — an  attitude  resented  by  many — with  the  reso- 
lution?, he  took  part  in  the  debates  and  helped  the  con- 
ference in  framing  the  resolutions  which  were  also  ratifiei^ 
by  the  Congress  Working  Committee, 

The  Ultimatum 
While    negotiations    were    going    on    between    the 
representatives  of  the  Malaviya  Conference  and  H.  E,  the- 
Viceroy,  Mr.   Gandhi   addressed  an  open  letter   to   Lord 


M,   K.   GANDHI  ^g^ 

Heading.  The  letter  was  in  effect  an  ultimatum  threaten- 
ing with  the  inauguration  of  offensive  civil  disobedience  in 
Bardoli.  The  efforts  of  the  Conference  thus  came  to- 
nothing  as  neither  Mr.  Gandhi  nor  the  Viceroy  would- 
give  up  any  one  of  their  points.  Compromise  was  im- 
possible. And  the  Qovernment  of  India  in  a  communique 
published  on  the  6  th  February  in  reply  to  Mr,  Gandhi's 
letter,  repudiated  his  assertions  and  urged  that  the  issue 
before  the  country  was  no  longer  between  this  or  that  pro- 
gramme of  political  advance,  but  between  lawlessness  with 
all  its  consequences  on  the  one  hand  and  the  maintenance- 
of  those  principles  which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  civilised 
governments.  Mr.  Gandhi  in  a  further  rejoinder  issued: 
on  the  very  next  day  pointed  out  that  the  only  choice 
before  the  people  was  mass  civil  disobedience  with  all  its 
undoubted  dangers  and  lawless  repression  of  the  lawful- 
activities  of  the  people. 

The  Chauri  Chauka  Tkaqedy 

While  Mr,  Gandhi  was  about  to  inaugurate  mass 
civil  disobedience  in  Bardoli,  there  occurred  a  terrible 
tragedy  at  Chauri  Chaura  on  the  14th  February  when  an 
infuriated  mob,  including  some  volunteers  also,  attacked 
the  thana,  burnt  down  the  building  and  beat  to  death  not 
less  than  twenty-two  policemen.  Some  constables  and- 
chaukedars  were  literally  burnt  to  death  and  the  whole  place 
was  under  mobocracy.  Mr.  Gandhi  took  this  occurrence  as 
a  third  warning  from  God  to  suspend  civil  disobedience, 
and  the  Bardoli  programme  was  accordingly  given  up.^ 
On  the  11th  the  Working  Committee  met  at  Bardoli  and 
resolved  to  suspend  all  offensive  action  including  even 
picketing  and  processions.  The  country  was  to  confine 
itself  to  the  constructive  programme  of  Khaddar  manu- 
facture. The  Working  Committee  advised  the  stoppage 
of  all  activities  designed  to  court  imprisonment. 

The  suspension  of  mass  civil  disobedience  in- 
Bardoli,  whicsh  was  recommended  by  the  Working  Com- 
mittee at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Gandhi,  was  resented  bjr 
some  of  his  colleagues  and  followers.     In    reply  to   corre- 


60  M.   K.   GANDHI 

spondents  who    attacked    bim,     he     wrote     as     follows 
in  Young  India  of  February,  23  : 

I  feel  still  more  confident  of  the  correctness  of  the  decision 
of  the  Working  Committee,  but  if  it  is  found  that  the  country 
repudiates  my  action  I  shall  not  mind  it.  I  can  but  do  my  duty. 
A  leader  is  useless  when  he  acts  against  the  promptings  of  his 
own  conscience,  surrounded  as  he  must  be  by  people  holding  all 
kinds  of  views.  He  will  drift  like  an  anchorless  ship  if  he  has 
not  the  inner  voice  to  hold  him  firm  and  guide  him.  Above  all, 
I  can  easily  put  up  with  the  denial  of  the  world,  but  any  denial 
by  me  of  my  God  is  unthinkable,  and  if  I  did  not  give  at  this 
critical  period  of  the  struggle  the  advice  that  I  have,  I  would 
be  denying  both  God  and  Truth. 

The  All-India  Congress  ComDoittee  met  on  the  25th 
at  Delhi  to  consider  the  Bardoli  decisions  and  though  the 
latter  were  endorsed  it  was  not  done  without  some  impor- 
tant modifications,  to  feed  the  growing  demand  for 
aggressive  action  on  the  part  of  the  extreme  Non-Co-opera- 
tors. From  subsequent  events  it  is  fairly  certain  that 
the  Delhi  resolutions  confirmed  the  Government's  resolve 
to  prosecute  Mr.  Gandhi,  a  resolve  which  was  held  in 
abeyance  after  the  Bardoli  programme  was  made  known, 
Mb.  Gandhi's  Aeebst 

For  months  past  the  rumour  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  impend- 
ing arrest  was  in  the  air.  Expecting  the  inevitable  Mr. 
Gandhi  had  more  than  once  written  his  final  message.  But 
in  the  first  week  of  March  the  rumour  became  more  wide- 
spread and  intense.  The  stiflFening  of  public  opinion  in 
England  and  Mr.  Montagu's  threatening  speech  in  defence 
of  his  Indian  policy  in  the  Commons,  revealed  the  fact  that 
the  Secretary  of  State  had  already  sanctioned  Mr.  Gandhi's 
prosecution,  Chauri  Chaura  and  the  Delhi  decisions  were 
presumably  the  immediate  cause  of  Government's  action 
on  Mr.  Gandhi.  Kealising  that  his  arrest  would  not  long 
be  deferred,  Mr.  Oandhi  wrote  a  farewell  message  in  Young 
India  calling  on  his  countrymen  to  continue  the  work  of 
the  Congress  undeterred  by  fear,  to  prosecute  the  Khadder 
programme,  to  promote  Hindu-Muslim  Unity  and  to 
desist  from  violence  at  any  cost. 

Meanwhile  he  was  arrested  at  the  Satj'agraha  Ashram, 
^hmedabad,  on  Friday  the  10th  March,  On  the  11th  noon 


M.   K.   GANDHI  6 1 

Messrs.  Gandhi  and  Sankarlal  Banker  the  publisher  were 
placed  before  Mr.  Brown,  Assistant  Magistrate,  the  Court 
being  held  in  the  Divisional  Commissioner's  Office  at 
Sahibab.  The  Superintendent  of  Police,  Ahmedabad,  the 
first  witness,  produced  the  Bombay  Government's  authority 
to  lodge  a  complaint  for  four  articles  published  in  Young 
India,  dated  the  15fch  June,  1921,  entitled  "Disaffection 
a  Virtue  ",  dated  the  20th  September,  "  Tampering  with 
Loyalty"  dated  the  15th  December,  "  The  Puxzle  and  Its 
Solutiou"  and  "  Shaking  the  Manes,"  dated  the  23rd  Febru- 
ary 1922.  Two  formal  police  witnesses  were  then  produced. 
The  accused  declined  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses,. 
Mr.  M.  K,  Gandhi,  who  described  himself  as  farmer  and 
weavfir  hv  nrofessiou,  residing  at  Satyagraha  Ashram,. 
Sabarraati,  said  : 

I  simply  wish  to  state  that  when  the  proper  time  comes  I 
shall  plead  guilty  so  far  as  disaffection  towards  the  Government 
is  concerned.  It  is  quite  true  that  I  am  the  Editor  of  Young 
India  and  that  the  articles  read  in  my  preience  were  written 
by  me  and  the  proprietors  and  publishers  had  permitted  me  to 
control  the  whole  policy  of  the  paper. 

The  case  then  having  been  committed  to  the  Sessions,, 
Mr.  Gandhi  was  taken  to  the  Sabarmati  Jail  where  he  was 
detained  till  the  hearing  which  was  to  come  off  on 
March  1 8.  From  his  prison  Mr,  Gandhi  wrote  a  number 
of  inspiring  letters  to  his  friends  and  colleagues  urging  the 
continuance  of  the  Congress  work. 

The  Geeat  Trial 

At  last  the  trial  came  off  on  Saturday  the  18  th  March, 
before  Mr,  C,  N.  Broomfield,  I.  C.  S,,  District  and  Sessions 
Judge,  Ahmedabad..  Of  the  trial  itself  it  is  needless  to 
write  at  length.  Fo(^  it  will  be  long  before  the  present 
generation  could  forget  the  spell  of  it.  It  Was  historic  in- 
many  ways,  Men's  minds  involuntarily  turned  to  another 
great  trial  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  when  Jesus  stood 
before  Pontius  Pilate.  Mr.  Gandhi's  statement  (both  the 
oral  and  the  written  statements)  was  in  his  best  form,, 
terse  and  lucid,  courageous  and  uncompromising,  with  just 
that  touch  of  greatness  which  elevates  it  to  the   level  of  a 


.•62  M.   K.  GANDHI 

masterpiece.  Never  before  was  such  a  prisoner  arraigned 
before  a  British  Court  of  Justice,  Never  before  were  the 
laws  of  an  all-powerful  Government  so  defiantly,  jet  with 
such  humility,  challenged.  Men  of  all  shades  of  political 
opinion,  indeed  all  who  had  stood  aloof  from  the  movement 
and  had  condemned  it  in  no  uncertain  terms,  marvelled  at 
the  wisdom  and  compassion  and  heroism  of  the  thin  spare 
-figure  in  a  loin  cloth  thundering  his  anathemas  agairst  the 
Satanic  system.  And  yet  none  could  be  gentler  nor  more 
sweetly  tempered  than  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  with  a  smile 
and  a  nod  of  thanks  and  recognition  for  every  otip, 
■including  his  prosecutors.  An  eye-witness  has  given  an 
account  of  the  scene  and  we  can  not  do  better  than  quote 
his  words  :■ — 

Mahatmaji  stood  up  and  spoke  a  few  words  complimenting 
the  Advooate-G-eneral  on  his  fairness  and  endorsing  every  state- 
ment he  made  regarding  the  charges.  "I  wish  to  endorse  all 
the  blame  that  the  Advocate-General  has  thrown  on  my 
shoulders ",  said  Mahatmaji  in  pathetic  earnestness,  "and  I 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
dissociate  myself  from  the  diabolical  crimes  of  Cbauri  Chaura 
or  the  mad  outrages  of  Bombay.' '  These  words  of  confession 
seemed  to  penetrate  every  heart  throbbing  in  that  hall  and 
make  those  present  there  feel  miserable  over  the  mad  deeds  of 
their  thoughtless  countrymen.  The  speech  finished  and  Mahat- 
maji sat  down  to  read  his  immortal  statement.  It  is  impossible 
to  describe  the  atmosphere  of  the  Court-house  at  the  time  he 
was,  and  a  few  minutes  after  he  finished  reading  his  state- 
ment. Every  word  of  it  was  eagerly  followed  by  the  whole 
audience.  The  Judge  and  the  Advocate-General,  the  military 
oflScera  and  the  political  leaders  all  alike  strained  their  ears  and 
were  all  attention  to  hear  the  memorable  statement  of  the  Great 
Man.  Mahatmaji  took  nearly  15  minutes  to  read  his  statement. 
As  he  proceeded  with  his  reading,  one  could  see  the  atmosphere 
of  the  Hall  changing  every  minute,  This  historic  production  was 
the  master's  own.  The  ennobling  confessions,  the  convincing 
logic,  the  masterly  diction,  the  elevated  thoughts  and  the  in- 
spiring tone — all  produced  instantaneous  eflfeot  on  the  audience 
including  the  Judge  and  the  prosecutor.  For  a  minute  every- 
body wondered  who  was  on  trial — whether  Mahatma  Gandhi 
before  a  British  Judge  or  whether  the  British  Government 
before  God  and  Humanity.  Mahatmaji  finished  his  statement 
and  for  a  few  seconds  there  was  complete  silence  in  the  Hall. 
Not  a  whisper  was  heard.  One  could  hear  a  pin  falling  on  the 
-ground. 


M.   K,   GANDHI  63 

The  most  unhappy  man  present  there  was  perhaps  the 
-Judge  himself.  He  restrained  his  emotion,  cleared  his  voice, 
gathered  his  strength  and  delivered  his  oral  judgment  in  care- 
tul  and  dignified  words.  No  one  could  have  performed  this  duty 
^better.  To  combine  the  dignity  of  his  position  with  the  courtesy 
Jue  to  the  mighty  prisoner  before  him  was  no  easy  task.  But  he 
.succeeded  in  doing  it  in  a  manner  worthy,  of  the  highest  praise. 
Of  course,  the  prisoner  before  ^im  belonged  of  a  different  cate- 
gory from  "any  person  he  ever  tried"  or  is  r likely  try  in 
future.  And  this  fact  influenced  his  whole  speech  and  demean- 
our. His  words  almost  fell  when  he  came  to  the  end  and 
j)ronounced  the  sentence  of  simple  imprisonment  for  six  years. 

And  who  is  this  Mr.  Gandhi,  who  at  the  age  of  53, 
has  been  sentenced  to  six  jears*  imprisonment  ?  He  is  the 
man  whom  the  convicting  judge  himself  described  "  as 
•n  great  pa,triot  and  a  great  leader,  as  a  man  of  high  ideals 
and  leading  a  noble  and  even  saintly  life,"  a  man  in  whom, 
as  Gokhale  aptly  described,  '  Indian  humanity  has  really 
reached  its  high  water-mark  '  and  in  whom  a  Christian 
Bishop  witnesseth  '  the  patient  sufferer  for  the  cause  of 
-righteousness  and  mercy.'  Such  a  man  has  been  condemn- 
ed despite  his  public  avowal  of  his  huge  mistake,  his 
penitance  for  the  same,  his  decision  to  suspend  his  aggres- 
sive programme,  and  his  grave  warnings  that  it  would  be 
'"  criminal "  to  start  civil  disobedience  in  the  existing 
state  of  the  country.  Even  some  of  the  Anglo-Indian 
papers  have  condemned  the  action  of  the  Government  as  a 
blunder  ;  and  one  of  these  has  gone  so  far  as  to  characte- 
rise it  as  '  a  masterpiece  of  official  ineptitude.'  And  such 
a  criticism  cannot  be  described  as  altogether  undeserved  or 
unjust.  Mr.  Gandhi's  agitation  originated  with  the 
Rowlatt  Act.  It  received  strength  on  account  of  the 
«alcHlated  brutalities  and  humiliations  of  the  Martial  Law 
regime.  And  the  climax  was  reached  when  the  solemn 
pledges  of  the  British  Prime  Minister  in  regard  to  Turkey 
were  conveniently  forgotton  at  Severs.  The  Bowlatt  Act 
has  since  been  repealed,  the  Punjab  wrongs  have  been  ' 
admitted  and  an  appeal  has  been  made  to  "forget  and 
forgive."  Mr.  Gandhi's  bitter  complaint  that  the  British 
Ministers  have  not  sincerely  fought  for  the  redemption  of 
the  solemn  pledges  to  the  Mussulmans  has  been  proved  to 


64  M.   K.  GANDHI 

be  well  founded.  And  so  the  three  great  grievances 
for  which  Mr.  Gandhi  has  been  fighting — are  griev- 
ances admitted  by  all  to  be  just.  In  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Gandhi  and  most  of  his  countrymen 
there  would  never  have  arisen  these  festering  sores 
'  if  we  were  in  our  country  what  others  are  in  their 
own,'  if  in  short,  we  too  had  been  given  ''  the  Self- 
determination,"  for  which  elsewhere  so  much  blood  and 
treasure  have  been  sacrificed.  The  whole  question  there- 
fore reduces  itself  to  one  dominant  problem — the  Problem 
of  8waraj.  And  the  problem  of  Mr.  Gandhi  is  no  less  than 
that.  But  for  the  lost  faith  of  the  people  in  the  sincerity 
of  the  British,  even  this  question  would  not  have  assumed 
such  an  acute  form  as  we  find  it  to-day. 

You  cannot  solve  this  problem  by  clapping  its  best, 
brightest  and  noblest  exponent  even  though  bis  methods 
may  be  novel  and  his  activities  inconvenient  and  some- 
times dangerous.  Sir  John  Rees  was  not  far  wrong 
when  he  observed  that  "  Gandhi  in  Jail  might  prove  to  be 
more  dangerous  than  Gandhi  out  of  it."  There  is  a 
world  of  significance  in  the  warning  of  Professor  Gilbert 
Murray : — 

"Persons  in  power  should  be  very  careful  when  they  deal 
with  a  man  who  cares  nothing  for  sensual  pleasures,  nothing  for 
riches,  nothing  for  comfort  or  praise  or  promises  but  simply 
determines  to  do  what  he  believes  to  be  right.  He  is  a  danger- 
ous and  uncomfortable  enemy  because  his  body,  which 
you  can  always  conquer,  gives  you  so  little  purchase  upon  his 
soul." 


THE 

South  African  Indian  Question 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  STRUGGLE 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  a  lecture  delivered 
at  the  Pachaiyappa's  Ball,  Madras,  on  October  26,  1896, 
by  Mr,  M.  K.  Qandhi  on  the  "  Grievances  of  Indian 
settlers  in  South  Africa.''  The  Hon.  Mr.  P.  Ananda 
Charlu  presided.  Besolutions  sympathising  with  the 
Indian  settlers  and  expressing  regret  at  the  action  of  the 
■Home  and  Indian  Governments  in  ha,ving  assented  to 
the  Indian  Immigration  Amendment  Bill  were  passed. 
Mr.  Gandhi  said  : — 

Mr,  Preeideat  and  GeatlemeD,-^!  am  to  plead  before 
you  this  eTSDiog  for  the  100,000  British  Indians  in  South 
Africa,  the  land  of  gold  and  the  seat  of  the  late  Jameson 
Baid.  This  dooumeut  will  show  you  (here  Mr.  Gandhi 
read  a  credential  from  the  people  of  Natal  deputing  him 
to  plead  their  cause)  thati  I  have  been  deputed  to  do  so 
by  the  signatories  to  it  who  profess  to  represent  the 
100,000  Indians.  A  large  majority  of  this  number  are 
people  from  Madras  and  Bengal.  Apart,  therefore,  from 
the  interest  that  you  would  take  in  them  as  lodians,  you 
are  specially  interested  in  the  matter. 

South  Africa  may,  for  our  purposes,  be  divided  into 
the  two  self-governing  British  Colonies  of  Natal  and  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  Grown  Colony  of  Zululandi  the 
Transvaal   or  the  South  African   Bapubiie,  the    Oranga 


2  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN  QUESTION 

Free  State,  the  Chartered  Territories  and  the  Portuguese 
Territories  oomprisiog  Delagoa  Bay  and  Beira. 

South  Africa  la  iodabted  to  the  Colony  of  Natal  for 
the  presenoe  of  the  ladian  population  there.  In  the  year 
1860,  when  m  the  words  of  a  member  of  the  Natal  Parlia- 
menti,  "  the  existence  of  the  Colony  hung  in  the  balance," 
the  Golooy  of  Natal  introduced  indentured  Indians  into 
the  Colony,  Such  immigration  is  regulated  by  law,  is 
permissible  only  to  a  few  favoured  States,  eg.,  Mauritius, 
Fijif  Jamaica,  Straits  Sattlemeuts,  Damarara  and  other 
States  and  is  allowed  only  from  Madras  and  Calcutta. 
As  a  result  of  the  immigration,  in  the  words  of  another 
eminent  Natalian,  Mr.  Saunders,  "Indian  immigration 
brought  prosperity,  prices  rose,  people  were  no  longer 
oontent  to  grow  or  sell  produce  for  a  song,  they  could  do 
better."  The  sugar  and  tea  industries  as  well  as  sanita- 
tion and  the  vegetable  and  fiab  supply  of  the  Colony  are 
absolutely  dependent  on  the  indentured  Indians  from 
Madras  and  Calcutta,  The  presence  of  the  indentured 
Indians  about  sixteen  years  ago  drew  the  free  Indians  in 
the  shape  of  traders  who  first  went  there  with  a  view  to 
supply  the  wants  of  their  own  kith  and  kin  ;  bub  after- 
wards found  a  very  valaabia  customer  in  the  native  of 
South  Africa,  called  Zulu  or  Kaffir.  These  traders  are 
obieiiy  drawn  from  the  Bombay  Memon  Mahomedans 
and,  owing  to  their  less  unfortunate  position,  have 
formed  themselves  into  custodians  of  the  interests 
of  the  whole  Indian  population  there.  Thus,  adversity 
and  identity  of  interests  have  united  in  a  oom- 
pact  body  the  Indians  from  the  three  Presidencies  and 
they  take  pride  in  calling  themselves  Indians  rather  than 
Madrasees  or  Bengalees  or  Gujaratees,  except  when  it  is 
necessary  to  do  so.  That  however  by  the  way. 


THB  BBGINNINQ  OP  THB  STaUGSIfB  3 

Tbese  ^Indians  have  now  spread  all  OTer  Soatb 
Afrioa.  Natal  which  is  governed  by  a  LegtBlative 
Assembly  ooDsisting  of  37  members  elected  by  the  voters, 
a  Lagialative  Coanoil  ooDsistiog  of  11  members  nominati- 
ed  by  the  Gavernor  who  represents  the  Qaeen*  and  a 
movable  Ministry  oonsisting  of  5  members,  oontains  a 
'Baropean  population  of  50>000,  a  native  population  of- 
400,000,  and  an  ladian  population  of  51,000.  Of  the 
^1,000  Indians  about  16,000  are  at  present  serving  their 
indenture,  30.000  are  those  that  have  oomplefead  their 
indeniiure,  and  are  now  variously  engaged  as  domestio 
servants,  gardeners,  hawkers  and  petty  traders  and 
about  5.000  are  those  who  emigrated  to  the  Colony  on 
-their  own  aciioaat  and  are  either  traders,  shop-keepers, 
assistants  or  ha tvkers.  A  few  are  also  sohool-masters, 
-interpreters  and  olerks. 

The  self-governing  Oolony  of  the  Gape  of  Good  Hope 
has,  I  believe,  an  Indian  population  of  about  10,000  oon- 
sisting of  traders,  hawkers  and  labourers.  Ids  total 
population  is  nearly  1,500,000  of  whom  not  more  than 
400,000  are  Raropeans,  The  rest  are  natives  of  the 
country  and  Malays. 

The  SjaBh  AC;rieaa  Bapublio  of  the  !fransvaal  whiob 
is  governed  by  two  eleotive  Chambers  called  the  Vol- 
■fasraad  and  an  Bseoutive  with  the  President  at  its  head 
has  an  Indian  population  of  about  5,000  of  whom  aboufi 
200  are  traders  with  liqaidated  assets  amounting  to 
Dearly  £100  000,  The  rest  are  hawkers  and  waiters  or 
hoaaehold  servants,  the  latter  being  men  from  this 
Presidency.  Its  white  population  is  esbiea&ted  at  roughly: 
120.000  ani  the  K»ffic  population  at  roughly  6a0,000«f' 
This  B^public  is  subjaot  to  the  Qaaen's  suzsrainty.  Ani 
(there  is  a  ooaveation  batwaea    Great    Britain    and   tha. 


4  THE  SOUTH  AFBKAi?  IMDIAK  QUBSTIO^I 

Bepublio  nhioh  seonres  the  property,  trading  and  farm- 
ing right -of  all  persona  other  than  natives  of  Sontb 
Africa  in  common  \7ith  the  oiti-zens  of  the   Bepnbiio. 

The  other  States  have  noIodiaD  population  to  speak 
of,  beoause  of  the  grievanoas  and  disabilities  except  the 
Portuguese  territories  whioh  QODtain  a  very  large  Indian 
population  and  whioh  do  not  give  any  trouble,  to  the- 
Indians.  :< 

The  grievances  of  the  Indians  in  South  Africa  are 
two-fold,  i,e.,  those  that  are  due  to  the  popular  ill-feeling, 
against  the  Indians  and,  snoondly,  the  legal  disabilities^ 
placed  upon  them.  To  deal  with  the  first,  the  Indian  is^ 
the  naost  hated  being  in  South  Africa.  Every  Indian 
without  distinction  is  contemptuously  called  a  "  coolie."' 
He  is  also  called  "  Sammy, "  Bamasawmy,"  anything: 
but  "  Indian."  Indian  ecbool-masters  are  called  "  coolie- 
school  masters.''  Indian  storekeepers  are  "  coolie  store- 
keepers." Two  Indian  gentlemen  from  Bombay.  Messrs,. 
Dada  Abdulla  and  Moos  Hajea  Oassim,  own  steamers* 
Their  steamers  are  "  coolie  ships." 

There  is  a  very  respectable  firm  of  Madras  traders- 
by  name,  A.  ColandaVeloo  Pilla'y  &  Cc.  They  have  built 
a  large  block  of  buildings  in  Darban,  these  buildings  are 
called  "  ooblie  stores  "  and  the  owners  are  "  oooli6> 
owners."  And  I  can  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that  there  is- 
as  much  difference  between  the  partners  of  that  firm  and 
a  "  coolie  "  as  there  ia  between  any  one  in  this  ball  and 
a  coolie.  TheiraiJway  and  tram-officials,  in  spite  of  the 
contradiction  itttat  has  appeared  in  official  quarters 
which  X  am  goiSg  to  deal  with  presently,  I  repeat,  tr^aii 
us  as  beasts,  :  We  oanrfist  safely  walk  on  the  footipalhs, 
A  Madrassi  gentleman,  e^potlessly  dressed,  always  avoids. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  STRUGQIiB  S 

lihe  fdobpaifas  of   prominenb  sbreelis  in   Baiban   for   fear 
lie'  should  be  iasalbed  or  puabad  off. 

Wa  are  6ha  "Asian  dirti  "  bo  be  "hearbily  oursad,"  wa 
are  ohokefulof  vice  "  *' and  wa  live  upon  rioe,  "waare 
'  sbinking  ooolias  "  living  on  "  bhe  smell  of  an  oiled  rags," 
we  are  '  bhe  blaok  vermin, "Iwe  are  desoribed  in  tbe  Sbabuba 
Books  as  "  semi-barbarous  Asiabios,  or  persons  belquging 
to  the  unoivilised  raaes  of  Asia."  We  "breed  like  rabbits" 
and  a  gentleman  at  a  maebing  lately  beid  in  DarbfiQ  said 
>he  "was  sorry  we  oould.nob  be  shob  like  them."  There 
are  ooaohes  running  bebween  aactsin  places  in  the  Trans- 
vaal. We  mty  npb  sib  inside  them.  lb,  is  a  sore  triat, 
apart  from  the  indigaiby  ib  involves  and  oonbemplates,  to 
faava  to  sit  outside  bbam  either  in  deadly  winter  morning, 
{or  the  winter  is ,  severe  in  bhe  Transvaal,  or  under  a 
l^qrning  sun,  though  wa  are  Indians,  The  hotels  refuse 
Ujs  admission..  Indeed,  there  ara  oases  in  whioh  respeot- 
«bla  Indians  have  found  ib  difficulb  even  bo  prooure 
cefripishm^nbs  ab  European  plaoes.  Ih  was  only  a  abort 
time  ago  that  a  gang  of  Europeans  set  fire  bo  an  Indian 
store  in  a  village  {cries  of  shame)  called  Dundee  in  Na.tal^ 
doing  some  damage,  and  another  gang  threw  burnipg 
craokers  into  the  Indian  stores  in  a  business  street  in 
Durban.  This  feeling  of  intense  hatred  has  been  X&-. 
produced  into  legislation  in  bhe  various  Sbabea  of  Soubh 
Africa  resbrioting  the  freedom  of  Indians  in  many  Ways. 
To  begin  with,  Nabal,  which  is  thf  most  important  frondi 
an  Indian  point  of  view,  has  of  late  shown  tbe  greatest 
aobiviby  in  passing  Indian  legislation.  Till  1894,  the 
Indians  had  been  enjoying  the  franchise  ni^ually  with  the 
SiUrop^ans  under  the  general  frat^ohise  law;  of  the  Colony, 
which  entitles  any  adult  male  being  a  British  sabjeot  bo 
il)e  placed  on  bhievobers'  lisbirwho   possessjag   immoveable 


6  THE   SOUTH   APaiOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

property  worth  £50  or  pays  an  annual  rent  of  £lO  There- 
ia  a  separate  franohise  qaalifioation  for  the  Zulu.  In- 
1894,  the  Natal  Legislature  paaaed  a  Bill  distranohising 
Asiatioa  by  name.  We  resisted  it  in  the  Looal  Parlia- 
ment bub  without  any  avail.  We  then  memorialifled  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  and  as  a  result  thab 
bill  was  this  year  withdrawn  and  replaced  by  another 
which,  though  not  quite  so  bad  as  the  first  one,  is  bad 
enough,  It  says  that  no  natives  of  countries  (not  of 
Kuropean  origin)  which  have  nob  hitherto  possessed 
elective  representative  ioetitutions,  founded  on  the 
Parliamentary  Franohise,  shall  be  placed  on  the  voters 
roll  unless  they  shall  first  obtain  an  exemption  from  the- 
Governor  in  Council.  This  bill  excepts  from  its  operatiou^ 
those  whose  names  are  already  rightly  contained  in  any 
voters'  list-  Before  being  introduced  it  was  submitted  to- 
Mr.  Chamberlain  who  has  approved  of  it,  We  have- 
opposed  it  on  the  ground  that  we  have  such  institutions 
in  India,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Bill  will  fail  in  its  ob}eot 
if  it  is  to  disfranchise  the  Asiatics  and  that  therefore  also^ 
it  is  a  harassing  piece  of  legislation  and  is  calculated  to- 
involve  us  in  endless  litigation  and  expense.  This  ig> 
admitted  on  all  bands.  The  very  members  who  voted  for 
it  thought  likewise.  The  Natal  Grovernment  orgun  sayS' 
in  effect:  — 

We  know  India  has  such  inBtitutione  and  therefore  the  bill  will 
ooii  apply  to  the  Indians.  But  we  oan  have  that  bill  or  none,  li  it- 
diBfranohisea  Indians,  nothing  oan  be  better.  If  it  does  ,not,  then 
too  we  have  nothing  to  fear  1  for  the  Indian  oan  never  gain  politioa^ 
eupremaoy  and  if  neoesBary,  we  oan  soon  impose  an  edooational  test 
or  raise  the  property  qualifioation  which,  while  disfranohieing 
Indians  wholesale,  will  not  debar  a  single  European  from  voting. 

Thus  the  Natal  legislature  ia  paying  a  game  of  "toss^ 
up"  at  the  Indians'  eipense.  We  are  a  fit  subject  for 
TiviseotioD  under  the  Natal  Pasteur's   deadly  scalpel  and 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE  STRUGGLE  7 

knife,  with  this  diffarenoe  between  the  Paris  Pasteur  and 

the  Natal  Pasteur  that,  while  the  former  indulged  in  vivi- 

seotion  with  the  object  of  benefiting  humauity,  the  latter 

has  been  indulging  in  it  for  the  sake  of  amusement  out  of 

sheer  wantonness.     The  object  of  this  measure    is  nob 

politioal.  It  is  purely  and  simply  to  degrade  the  Indians 

in  the  words  of  a  member  of    the  Natal  Parliament,  "to 

make  the  Indian's   life  more  comfortable   in  his   native 

land  than  in   Natal,'   in  the  words    of  another    eminent 

Katalian,  "  to  keep  him  for  ever  a  hewer    of  wood    and 

drawer  of  water."     The  very  fact  that,  at  present,  there 

are  oily  250  Indians  as  against  nearly  10,000  European 

voters    shows  that  there   is  no  fear  of    the  Indian    vote 

swamping  the    European,     "Ear  a    fuller    history  of     the 

question,  I  must  refer  you  to  the  Green  Pamphlet,    The 

London  Times  which  has   uniformly  supported  us  in  our 

troubles,    dealing  with  the    franchise  question  in    Natal, 

Ihcs  puts  it  in  its  issue    of  the  27i)h  day  of  June  of    this 

year  : — 

The  question  now  put  before  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  not  an 
aoademio  one.  It  is  not  a  question  of  argument  but  of  raoe  feeling. 
We  cannot  afiord  a  war  of  races  among  our  own  subjects.  It  would 
be  a  wrong  for  the  Government  of  India  to  suddenly  arrest  the 
development  of  Natal  by  shutting  all  the  supply  of  immigrants,  as 
it  would  be  for  Nata)  to  deny  the  right  of  oitizenship  to  British 
Indian  eubjaots,  who,  by  years  of  thrift  and  good  work  in  the 
Colony,  have  raised  themselves  to  the  aocaal  status  of  citizens, 

If  there  is  any  real  danger  of  the  Asiatic  vote 
swamping  the  European,  we  should  have  no  objection  to 
an  educational  test  being  imposed  or  the  property) 
qualifications  being  raised.  What  we  object  to  is  class 
legislation  and  the  degradation  which  it  necessarily; 
involves.  We  are  fighting  for  no  new  privilege  in  oppos- 
ing the  Bill,  we  are  resisting  the  deprivation  of  the  one 
we  have  been  ecjoying. 


8-  THE    SOUTH   APBI0/4K    INDIAN   QUESTION 

In  stiict  accordance  with    the   policy  of    degrading 
tbe  Indian  to  dbe  level  of  a    raw  Kaffir  and,  in  the  words 
of  tbe    Attorney-General   of  Natal,  "  that  of     preventing 
him    from    forming  part    of  the    future  South     African 
nation  that  is  going  to    be  bailb,"  the  Natal  Government) 
last    year    introduced   their  Bill    to    amend  the    Indian 
Immigration    Law  which,  I  regret  to    inform  you,    has 
received  the  Boyal   sanction  in  spite  of  our  hopes    to  the 
contrary.     This    news  wsa    received'  after    the   Bombay 
meeting,  and    it  will,  therefore,    be  necessary    for  me    to 
deal  with  this  queBbion  at  some  length,  also  because  this 
question  more  immediately  affects  this  Presidency    and 
can  be  best  studied  here.    Up  to  the  iStb  day  of  August, 
1894,  the  indentured    immigrants  went  under  a  contract 
of   service    for    five    years    in    oonsideration    for  a    free 
passage  to  Natal,  free  board    and  lodging  for  tbdmselves 
anji  their  families  and  wages    at  the  rate  of  ten  shillings 
per  month  for  tbe  first  year  to  be  increased  by  one  shil- 
ling every  following  year.     They  were  also  entitled  to  a 
free    passage    back    to  India,    if  they   remained  in     the 
Colony  another  five  years  as  free  labourers.  This  is  now 
changed,  and,  in  future,  tbe  immigrants  will  have  either 
to  remain  in  the  Colony  for  ever  under  indenture,    their 
wages  increasing  to  20   shillings  at  the  end  of  the  9th 
year  of  indentured  service,  or   to  return  to    India  or   to 
pay  an   annual    poll-tax    of    £3    sterling,    equivalent)   to 
nearly  half  a  year's  earnings  on  the  indentured  scale.     A 
Commission  consisting  of  two  members  was  sent  to  India 
in  1893  by  the  Natal    Gcvercment  to  induce  the  Indian 
Government  to  agree  to  tbe  above  alterations    vjith   the 
exception  of  tbe  imposition  of  tbe  poll-tax.     The  present 
Viceroy,  while  expressing  bis  reluctance,    agreed    to   the 
alteration  subject  to  tbe    sanction  of  the  Home  Gorero- 


IHB  BEGINNING  OF  THE  STEUGGIiB  9 

ment,  refuaing  to  allow  the  Naiial  GovernmenI)  bo  maka 
the  breach  of  the  olauae  about  aompalsory  returo  a 
oriminal  offenoe.  The  Natal  Governmant  have  gob  ovat 
the  difficulty  by  the  poll-tax  Clause. 

The  Attoroey-General  in  disouseiag  that  clause  said 
that  while  ati  lodiaa  could  aob  be  seat  bo  gaol  for  refas- 
iog  to  returp  to  lodia  or  to  pay  the  tax,  so  loag  as  there 
Was  aoythiDgworth  haviag  ia  hia  hut,  it  will  ba  liable 
to  seizure.  We  strongly  opposed  that  Bill  in  the  local 
Parliament  and  failiog  there,  aenb  a  msmorial.  to  Mr. 
-GbamberlaiD,  praying  either  tbab  the  Bill  should  ba  dis- 
allowed or  emigration  to  Natal  should  be  suspended. 

The  above  proposal  was  mooted  10  years  ago  and  it 
was  vehemently  opposed  by  the  mosl:  eminent  colonists 
in  Natal.  A  Commission  was  then  appointed  to  inquire 
into  various  mattera  concerning  Indians  in  Natal.  Oae 
-o(  the  Commissioners,  Mr,  Saunders,  says  in  bis  addi- 
tional report : — 

Thoogh  tbcCommiseion  has  made  no  reoommendatioa  on 
the  Bubjeoc.of  paBBiug  a  law  to  force  IndiaDB  back  to  India  at  the 
expiratiup  of  their  term  of  service,  unless  they  renew  their  inden- 
tures, I  wish  to.ezprees  my  strong  condemnation  of  any  suoh  idea, 
and  I  feel  convinced,  that  many,  who  now  advocate  the  plan  .when 
they  realise  what  it  means,  will  reject  it  aa  energetically  as  I  do. 
Stop  Indian  emigration  and  face  results,  but  don't  try  to  do 
what  I  can  show  is  a  great  wrong. 

Whafi  is  it  but  taking  the  best  of  our  servants  (the  good  as  well 
as  the  bad),  and  tiien  refusing  them  ihe  enjoyment  of  the  reward, 
forcing  them  bacfc  iif  we  could,  but  we  oannotl  when  their  best 
days  have  been  spent  for  our  benefit,  Whereto  ?  Why  baok  to 
face  a  prospect  of  starvation  from  which  they  sought  to  escape 
when  they  were  young.  Shylook-like,  taking  the  pound  of  flesh, 
and  Shylook-like  we  may  rely  on  it  meeting  Bhylock's  reward.    - 

The  Colony  can  stop  Indian  immigration,  and  thai-,  perhaps, 
far  more  easily  and  petmanectly  than  some  '  popularity  seekers' 
'would  desire.  But  force  men  off  at  the  end  of  their  service,  this 
the  Colony  cannot  do,  And  I  urge  on  it  not  to  discredit  a  fait 
name  by  trying. 


10  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN  INDIAN  QUBaTION 

The  AbborDey-General  of  Natal  who  introduoed  the 
Bill  under  diBoussion  expreesed  the  following  viewii  whilfr 
giving  his  evidenoa  before  the  Oonanaisaion  :  — 

With  referenoe  to  time-expired  Indians,  I  do  not  think  that  it- 
ought  to  be  compulBory  on  any  man  to  go  to  any  pact  of  the  world 
save  for  a  crime  for  which  he  is  irausported.  I  hear  a  great  deal 
of  this  question;  I  have  been  asked  again  and  again  to  take  a  dif- 
ferent view,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  do.it,  A  man  is  brought 
here,  in  theory  with  his  own  consent  in  practice  very  often  without' 
his  consent,  he  gives  the  best  five  years  of  his  life,  he  forma  new- 
ties,  forgets  the  old  ones,  perhaps  establishes  home  here,  and  he 
cannot,  aooording  to  my  view  of  right  and  wrong,  be  sent  baok. 
Better  by  far  to  stop  the  further  introduetion  of  Indians  altogether' 
than  to  take  what  work  you  can  out  of  them  and  order  them  away, 
Ibe  Colony,  or  part  of  the  Colony,  seems  to  want  Indiana  but  alsa 
wishes  to  avoid  the  oonBequeaoes  of  Indian  immigration.  The- 
Indian  people  do  no  harm  as  far  as  I  know  ;  in  oertaia  respeota 
they  do  a  great  deal  of  good.  I  have  never  heard  a  reason  to  jus- 
tify the  extradition  of  a  man  who  has  behaved  well  for  five  years. 

And  Mr,  Binna  who  oama  to  India  as  one  of  the 
Natal  CommissicDers  to  induoe  the  Indian  Governmenfi- 
to  agree  to  the  above-mentioned  alterations  gave  bbe- 
foilowing  evidence  before  the  Gommisaion  ten  years 
ago :—  / 

I  think  the  idea  whioh  has  been  mooted,  that  all  Indians- 
should  be  ocmpelled  to  return  to  India  at  the  end  of  their  term  of 
indenture,  is  most  unfair  to  the  Indian  population,  and  would 
never  be  sanctioned  by  the  Indian  Qovernment.  Id  my  opinion 
the  free  Indian  population  is  a  most  useful  seotion  of  the  com- 
munity, 

But  then  great  men  may  obanga  their  views  aa  of> 
ten  and  as  quickly  aa  they  may  ohange  their  olothes 
with  impunity  and  even  to  advantage.  In  them,  they 
Bay,  such  changes  are  a  result  of  sincere  oonviotioDi  II^ 
is  a  thousand  pities,  however,  that  unfortunately  for  the, 
poor  indentured  Indian  his  fear  or  rather  the  expeatation- 
that  the  Indian  Governmenb  will  never  sanotion  the 
ohange  was  not  realised. 

The  London  Star  thus  gave  venb  to  its  feelings  oa 
reading  the  Bill : — 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE  STRUGGLE  It. 

Theaa  parMoulars  are  anongh  to  throw  light  upDn  the  hateful* 
jperseoution  to  which  British  Indian  subjeots  are  being  subjeoted. 
The  new  Indian  Immigration  Law  Amendment  Bill,  which  virtu- 
ally propoBsa  to  reduce  Indians  to  a  state  of  slavery,  is  another 
example.  The  thing  is  a  monstcous  wrong,  an  insult  to  British - 
subjeots.  a  disgrace  to  its  authors,  and  a  slight  upon  ourselves. 
Every  Englishman  is  oonoerned  to  see  that  the  oommeroial  greed 
of  the  South  African  trader  is  not  permitted  to  wreak  such  bitter 
iDJustioe  upon  men  who  alike  by  proclamation  and  by  statute  are 
placed  upon  an  equality  with  ourselves  before  the  Law. 

Thd  London  Times  also  in  supporting  our  prayer 
has  compared  the  etate  of  perpetual  indenture  to  a  "state 
perilously  near  to  slavery."     It  also  says  : — 

The  Governmenii  of  India  has  one  simple  remedy.  It  oan 
enapend  indentured  immigration  to  South  Africa  as  it  has  sus- 
pended such  immigration  to  foreign  possessions  until  it  obtains  (he- 
necessary  guarantees   for   the   present   well-being   and  the   future 

status  of  the  immigrants It  is  eminently  a  case  for  sensible 

and  oonoiliatory  action  on  both  sides.  .  .  ,  But  the  Indian  Govern- 
ment may  be  forced  to  adopt  measures  in  connection  with  th»' 
wider  claim  now  being  urged  by  every  section  of  the  Indian  com- 
munity and  which  has  been  explicitly  acknowledged  by  Her  Majes- 
ty's Government  at  home-^namely,  the  claim  of  (he  Indian  races 
to  (rade  and  to  labour  with  the  full  status  of  British  subjects 
throughout  the  British  Empire  and  in  allied  States. 

The  letters  from  Natal  informing  ma  of  the  Boyat- 
sanction  to  this  Bill  ask  me  to  request  the  Indian  public^ 
to  help  US  to  get  emigration  suspended.  I  am  well  aware 
that  the  idea  of  suspeoding  emigration  requires  eareful' 
oonsideration.  I  humbly  think  that  there  is  no  other- 
oonolusion  possible  in  the  interests  of  the  Indians  at' 
large.  Emigration  is  supposed  to  relieve  the  oongeeted 
districts  and  to  benefio  those  who  emigrate.  If  the 
Indians  instead  of  paying  the  poll-tax,  return  to  India, 
the^ongestion  cannot  be  affected  at  all.  And  the  re- 
turned Indians  will  rather  ba  a  source  of  difficulty  than 
anything  else  as  they  must  necessarily  find  it  difficult  to- 
get  work  and  oannob  be  expected  to  bring  sufficient  to 
live  upon  the  interesli  of  their  capital.     It  certainly   wilfe 


12  THE  S0UT:H  APBIOAN  INDIAN   QUESTION 

Dob   benefili   the   emigranlia    as   lihey   will   never,    if  the 
"Government  can  possibly  help  it,  be  allowed  to  rise  higher 
than  the  sUtus   of    labourers.     The    faob    is    that    they 
are  being  helped  on  to  degradation, 

Under  such  ciroumslianoea  I  humbly  ask  you  to 
support  our  prayer  to  suspend  emigration  to  Natal, 
unless  the  new  law  can  be  altered  or  repealed.  You  will 
naturally  be  anxioua  to  know  the  treatment  of  the 
Indians  while  under  indenture.  Of  course,  that  life  can- 
not be  bright  under  any  ciroumstanoea  ;  but  T  do  not 
think  their  lot  is  worse  than  the  lob  of  the  Indiana  simi- 
larly placed  ia  other  parts  of  the  world,  At  the  same 
time  they  too  certainly  come  in  for  a  share  of  the  tre' 
mendous  colour  prejudice,  I  can  only  briefly  allude  to 
the  matter  here  and  refer  to  the  curious  Green  Pamphlet 
wherein  it  has  been  more  fully  discussed.  There  is  a  sad 
mortality-^rom  suicides  on  certain  estates  in  Natal,  lb  is 
-very  di£Scult  for  an  indentured  Indian  to  have  hia 
services  transferred  on  the  ground  of  ill-treatment.  An 
indentured  Indian  after  he  bseomes  free  is  given  a  free 
pass.  This  he  has  to  show  whenever  asked  to  do  so, 
lb  is  meant  to  debeob  desertion  by  the  indentured  Indiana. 
The  working  of  this  system  is  a  source  of  much  irrita- 
tion to  poor  free  lodians  and  often  puts  respeptabU 
Indians  in  a  very  unpleasant  position.  This  law  really 
would  Dob  give  any  trouble,  but  for  the  unreasonable 
prejudice.  A  sympathetic  Protector  of  Immigrants, 
preferably  an  Indian  gentleman  of  high  standing  and 
knowiog  the  Tamil,  Telugu  and  Hindustani  languages, 
would  certainly  mitigate  the  usual  hardshipa  of  the 
indentured  life.  An  Indian  immigrant  who  loses  hia 
free  pass  la,  as  a  rule,  called  upon  to  pay  £3  starling  for 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE   STBtJGGriE  13= 

a   duplioalia   oopy.     This    is    DodhiDg   bub  a   system  of- 
blaokmail. 

Tbe9  o'clock  rale  in  Natal  which  makes  it  Deoessary 
for  every  Isdian  to  carry  a  pass  if  he  wants  to  be  out  after- 
9  P.M.,  at  the  pain  of  being  locked  up  in  adungeon,  causes- 
much  heart-burning  especially  among  the  gentlemen 
from  this  Presidenoy.  You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that 
children  of  many  indentured  Indians  receive  a  pretty 
good  education  ;  and  then  wear  as  a  rule  the  European 
dress.  They  are  a  most  sensitive  class  and  yet  unfortu- 
nately most  liable  to  arrest  under  the  9  o^olook  rule. 
The  European  dress  for  an  lodian  is  no  reoommendatioD 
in  Natal.  It  is  rather  the  reverse.  For  the  flowing 
robe  of  a  Memon  frees  the  weareit  from  suoh  molestation. 
A  happy  incident  described  in  the  Green  Pamphlet  led 
the  police  in  Durban  some  years  ago  to  free  Indians  thus- 
dressed  from  liability  to  arrest  after  9  P.M.  A  Tamil- 
school- mistress,  a  Tamil  school-master  and  a  Tamil 
Sunday  school-teacher  were  only  a  few  months  ago 
arrested  and  locked  up  under  this  law.  They  all  got 
justice  in  the  law  courts,  but  that  was  a  poor  consolatioa. 
The  result,  however,  was  that  the  Corporations  in  Natal 
are  clamouring  for  an  alteration  in  the  law  so  that  it 
might  be  impossible  for  such  Indians  to  get  off  scot-free 
in  the  Law  Courts. 

There  is  a  Bye- Law  in  Barban  which  requires 
registration  of  coloured  servants.  This  Bule  may  be  and 
perhaps  is  necessary  for  the  Kaffirs  who  would  not  work,. 
but  absolutely  useless  with  regard  to  the  Ihdians,  Bat 
the  policy  is  to  class  the  Indian  with  the  Kaffir  whenever 
possible. 


:ti  THE  SOUTH  AFBI04N  INDIAN  QUESTION 

Tbia  does  noti  oomplete  the  list  of  grievanoea  in 
"Natai,  I  musb  beg  to  refer  bhe  ourioua  to  the  Gtean 
Pamphlet  for  further  information. 

But,  gentlemen,  you  have  been  bold  lateJy  by  the 
Natal  Agent-General  that  the  Indiana  are  nowhere  better 
treated  than  in  Natal;  that  the  faot  that  a  majoriby  of 
bhe  indentured  labourera  do  not  avail  themaelvea  of  the 
rebarn  paaaaga  ia  the  beat  answer  to  my  pamphlet,  and 
bhab  bhe  railway  and  tram-oar  offieiala  do  nob  breat  bha 
Indiana  as  beasts  nor  do  bhe  Law  Gourba  deny  them 
juabice. 

With  the  greataab  deference  to  the  Agent-Ganeral,  all 
I  dan  say  as  to  the  first  abatemenb  ia  bhab  he  must  have 
very  queer  notions  of  good  breatmeat,  if  bo  be  loakad  up 
for  being  oub  afber  9  P.M.  wibboub  a  pass,  to  ba  denied  the 
most  elementary  right  of  oibizanship  in  a  free  oountry,  bo 
be  denied  a  higher  sbatas  than  bhab  of  bondman  and  at 
besii  a  free  labourer  and  to  be  subjaotad  to  obher  restrio- 
tiona  referred  to  above,  are  insbanoes  of  good  breabment. 
And  if  auoh  treatment  is  the  best  the  Indians  reoeive 
throughout  tbe  world,  then  the  lot  of  the  Indians  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  and  hare  must  be  very  miserable 
indeed,  acoording  to  the  oommonsense  vieWi  The  thing 
ia  that  Mr.  Walter  Feaoe,  the  Agenb-Ganeral,  ia  made  (o 
look  through  tbe  official  apeotaolea  and  bo  him  everything 
official  is  bound  bo  appear  rosy.  The  legal  disabilibiea 
are  oondemnatory  of  the  action  of  the  Nabal  Government 
and  how  can  bhe  Agenb-General  be  expeobed  bo  oondemo 
himself  ?  If  he  or  the  Government  which  ha  represents 
only  admitted  that  the  legal  disabilitiea  mentioned  above 
were  against  the  fundamental  prinoiples  of  tbe  B''itiBh 
Oonstitubion,  I  ahould  not  stand  before  you  this  evdning. 
I  respectfully  submit  that  statements  of  opinions   mada 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  IHB   gTRUGGLK  15 

(by  the  Agent-General  cannot'  be  allowed  to  have  greater 
weight  than  tboea  of  an  aooused  person  about  his  own 
■igailt. 

The  fact  that  the  indentured  Indians  as  a  ruie  do 
•not  avail  themselves  of  the  return  passage  we  do  not 
•dispute,  but  we  certainly  dispute  that  it  is  the  best 
answer  to  our  complaints.  How  can  that  fact  disprove 
the  esistenoe  of  the  legal  disabilities  ?  It  may  prove  that 
'bhe  Indians  who  do  not  take  advantage  of  the  return 
-passage  either  do  not  mind  the  disabilities  or  remain  in 
the  Colony  in  spite  of  suoh  disabilities.  If  the  former  be 
the  case,  it  is  the  dusy  of  those  who  koow  better  to 
make  the  Indians  realise  their  situation  and  to  enable 
'them  to  see  that  submission  to  them  means  degradationt 
Jf  the  latter  be  the  case  it  is  one  mora  instance  of  the 
patienoe  and  the  forbearing  spirit  of  the  Indian  Nation 
wbioh  was  acknowledged  by  Mr.  Chamberlain  in  his 
Despatch  in  oonneotion  with  the  Transvaal  arbitration. 
Because  they  bear  them  is  no  reason  why  the  disabiiitieB 
flhonid  not  be  removed  or  why  they  should  be  interpreted 
Jnto  meaning  the    best  treatment  possible. 

Moreover,  who  are  these  people  who.  instead 
of  returning  to  India,  settle  in  the  Colony  ?  They 
are  the  ladians  drawn  from  the  poorest  classes  and 
itOBa  the  most  thickly  populated  districts  possibly 
living  in  a  state  of  semi- starvation  in  India.  They 
-migrated  to  Natal  with  their  families,  if  any,  with 
the  intention  of  settling  there,  if  possible.  Is  it  any 
wonder,  if  these  people  after  the  expiry  of  their  in- 
denture, instead  of  running  '  to  face  semi-starvation,' 
as  Mr.  Saunders  has  put  it,  settled  in  a  country  where  the 
-olimate  is  magnificent  and  where  they  may  earn  a  decent 
Jiving  ?  A   starving    man  generally    would    stand    any 


16  THE   SOUTH   AFKICAN  INDIAN   QtrESTiON 

amouDt  of  rough  breatmenti  to  get  a  orumb  of  bread, 

Do  not  the  UitUoders  make  out  a  terribly  long  list, 
of  grievanoea  id  the  Transvaal  ?  And  yet  do  they  Dot> 
flook  bo  the  Transvaal  in  thousands  in  spite  of  the  ill- 
treatment  they  receive  there  beoause  they  can  earn  their 
bread  in  the  Transvaal  more  easily  than  in  the  old> 
country  ? 

This,  too,  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  makiog- 
bis  statement,  Mr-  Peace  has  not  taken  into  account  the' 
free  Indian  trader  v;ho  goes  to  the  Colony  on  his  owo' 
aooount  and  who  feels  most  the  indignities  and  disabilities. 
If  it  does  not  do  to  tell  the  Uitlander  that  he  may  not  go 
to  the  Transvaal  if  he  oannot  bear  the  ill-treatment,  much 
lass  will  it  do  co  say  so  to  the  enterprising  Indian.  We 
belong  to  the  Imperial  family  and  are  children,  adopted' 
it  may  be,  of  the  same  august  mother,  having  the 
same  rights  and  privileges  guaranteed  to  us  as  to  the- 
European  children.  It  was  in  that  belief  that  we  went 
to  the  Colony  of  Natal  and  we  trust  that  our  belief  was 
well-founded. 

The  Agent-General  has  oontradioted  the  statement 
made  in  the  pamphlet  that  the  railway  and  tramoar 
o£Qoials  treat  the  Indians  as  beasts.  Even  if  the  state- 
ments I  have  made  were  incorrect,  that  Would  not 
disprove  the  legal  disabilities  which  and  which  alone  have 
been  made  the  subject  of  memorials  and  to  remove  which 
we  invoke  the  direct  intervention  of  the  Home  and  the 
Indian  Governments.  But  I  venture  to  say  that  the 
Agent-General  has  been  misinformed  and  beg  to'  repeat 
that  the  Indians  are  treated  as  beasts  by  the  railway 
and  the  tramoar  officials.  That  statement  was  made 
now  nearly  two  years  ago  in  quarters  where  it  oould  have 
bean  contradicted  at  onoe.     I  had  the  hononr  id  addreea 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  XHB   STKUGOLE!  '17 

an    open  letter  '   to  the  members  of  the  Looal  Parliamenb 

in  Natal,     It  was  widely  oiroulatad  io    the    Colony    and 

Dotioed  by    aimoati    every    leading    newspaper    in    South 

Africa.     No    one    oontradioDed    it    then.     lb    was    even 

admitted  by  soma  newspapers.  Uoder  such  oiroumstanaee, 

I  ventared  to  quote  it  in    my    pamphlet    published    here. 

I    am    not    given    to    exaggerate    matters  and  it  is   very 

unpleasant  to  me  to  have  m  citd   tediimony    in    my    own 

favour,  but  since  an  attempt  has  been  made  to    disoredili 

nay  staiiements  and  thereby  the  cause  I  am  advocating,  I 

feel  it  to  be  my  duty  for  the  soke  of  the  oauBe  to  tell  ytfn 

what  the  papers  in  South  Africa  thought  about  the  'op'eh 

letter  '  in  whiob  the  statemenii  was  made. 

The  Star,  the  leading   newspaper    in    Johannesburg, 

says: —  ' 

Mr.  Gandhi  writes  foroiblj,  moderately  and  well,  He  hgg 
himsel{  eufieied  some  slighi  medsute  of  lujustioe  eiaoe  he  oame 
into  the  Colony,  but  that  fact  does  not  aeem  co  have  coloured  his 
sentiment,  and  it  must  be  coDfessed  that  to  tbe  tone  of  ihe  opea 
lenter  do  objeaciou  can  reasonably  be  taken.  Mr,  Gandhi  disoustes 
the  quescioDB  he  has  raised  with  ooDspicuous  moderation. 

The  Natal  Mercury,  the  Go'vernment  organ  in  Naiial, 

says : —  i  " 

Mr,  Gandhi  writes  with  calmness  and  moderatiota,  &e  is  as 
impartial  as  any  one  ooald  expect  him  to  be  and  probably  a  little 
more  80  than  might  have  been  expected,  oonsidering  that  he  did 
not  reeoeive  very  just  treatment  at  the  bands  of  the  Law  Sbdidty 
when  he  first  came  to  the  Colony, 

Had  I  made  unfounded  etatementa,  the  newspaper's 
wquld  not  have  given  such  a  oertifioata  to  the  '  op^u 
letter,' 

An  Indian,  abouii  two  years  ago,  took  out  a,  seqbpd 
class  ticket  on  tbe  Natal  railway.  In  a  single  night  jour- 
ney be  was  thrice  disturbed  and  was  twice  made  !jia 
change  compartments  to  please  European  passengei^s. 
Tbe  oase  oame  before  the  Court  and  the  Ipdian  got  &^lo 
3 


18  THE   SOCTH    AFRICAN    INDIAN   QUESTION 

dumages.     The  following  is  the  plaintiff's  evidenoe  in  the 

case : — 

Deponent  got  into  a  eeoond  class  carriage  in  tfce  train,  leaving 
Charleetown  at  1-30  P  M.     Three  other  Indiana    were  in   the  same 
oompaFtment,    but  they  got  out  at   New   Castle.     A   white  man 
opened  the  door  of  the    compartment    and    Decknned  to  witness, 
saying  "come  out.   Sammy."    Plaintiff   afked,    "why,"   and  the 
white  man  replied  "  Never  mind,  come  out,  I  want  to   place  'Some- 
one here."     Witness  said,   "  why  should  I  come   out  Irom  here 
when  I  have  paid  my  fare  ?"....  The  white  man  then  leic  and 
brought  an  Indian  who,  witness    believed,    was  in  the  employ  of 
the  railway.     The  Indian  was    told  to  tell  plaintifi  to  get  ont  of 
the  carriage.     Thereupon  the  Indian  said,  "  the  white  man  orders 
ybu  to  come  out  and  you  must  come  out."     The  Indian  then  left. 
Witness  said  to  the   white  man,   "what  do  you  want  to  shift  me 
about  for.     I  have  paid  my  fare  and  have  a  right  to  remain  here," 
The  white  man  became   aogry  at  this   and   said,   "  well,   if  yon 
don't  oome  out,  I  will  knocli  hell  out  of  you."     The  white  man 
got  into  the  carriage  and  laid  hold  of  witness  by  the  arm  and  tried 
to  pull  him  out,     Plaintifi  said,  "Let  me  alone  and  I  will  oome 
out."    The   witness   left  the   carriage  aod  the  white  man  pointed 
ont  another  second  class  compartment  and   told  him  to  go  there. 
Plaintifi  did  as  he  was  directed.     The  compartment  he  was  shown 
into  was  empty.     He  believed  some   people  who  were  playing  a 
band  were  put  into  the  carriage  from  which  he  was  expelled.    This 
white  man  was  the  District  Superintendent  of   Railways  at  New- 
castle.    {Shame).     To   proceed,   witness   travelled   undisturbed  to 
Maritzberg,     He  tell  asleep  and  when  he   awoke   at  Mariizberg  he 
foand  a   white  man,  a  white   woman  and  a  ohild  in  the  compart- 
ment with  him,     A  white  man  came  up  to  the  carriage  and  said, 
"  Is  that  your   boy    speaking  to  the  white  man  in  the  compart- 
ment ?"    WitmeBs's  fellow-traveller  replied  "yes,"  pointing  to  hia 
little  boy.    The   other  white  man  then  said,   "  No,  I  don't  mean 
him.     I  mean  the  damned  coolie  in  the  corner,"    This  gentleman 
with  the  choice   language  was  a  railway  cfSoial,  being  a  shunter. 
The  white  man  in  the  compartment  replied,  "  Oh  never  mind  him, 
leave  him  alone."     Then  the  white  man  outside  (the  ofSoial)  said, 
"I  am  not  going  to  allow  a  coolie  to  be  in  the  same  comDartmeni 
with  white  people."    This  man  addressed  plaiutifi.  saying  "Sammy, 
oome  out,"     Plaintifi  said,  "  why,  I  was  removed  at  New  Casile  to 
this  compartment."     The  white  man  said,  "  well,  you  must  oome 
out  "    and    was  about  to  enter  the  carnage.     Witness  thinking  he 
Would  be  handled  as  at  New  Castle  said  be  would  go  out   and  left 
the  compartment.     The   white   man   pointed  out  another  second 
class  oompariment  which  witness  entered.     This  was  empty  for  a 
time  but  before  leaving,  a  white  man  entered.  Another  white  man, 
(the  official),   afterwards  came  up  and  said  if  you   don't  like  to 
travel  with  that  stinking  ooolie  I  will  find  you  another  carriage," 
{The  Natal  Advertiser,  SDnd  November,  1893.) 


THE.  BEaiNNINQ  OF  TBB  BXBlTaOIiB  .lj9 

Yon  will  have  Dotioed  that  tha  offioial  ad  Marilizberg 
"Uial-breated  the  Indian  passeogsr  althoagb  hit  whiiia 
fellow-paHgeDger  did  nob  mind  him,  I(  tbis  is  not)  bestiial 
treatmeDii,  I  abould  very  maoh  like  to  know  what  ia,  and 
flaoh  noourrenoes  take  plaqa  oftea  enougb  to  be  irritatiog. 

It  was  found  during  the  oase  th^  ona  of  tha 
"Witneeses  for  the  defendant)  waa  ooaohed.  In  aoBwer  to 
a  Question  from  the  Bdaoh  whether  the  Indian  peaseogera 
"Were  treated  with  oaneideration,  the  witneaa  who  waa 
one  of  the  offiaiala  referred  to  replied  ia  the  affirmative, 
T^^reupoQ  the  preaiding  Magiatrata  who  tried  the  ease  ia 
re^ortec^fio  have  said  to  the  witneae,  '  Then  you  haina 
a  dtffdrent  opioioa  to  what  I  have  and  it  ia  a.  onrioua 
thing  that  peopla  who  ara  no*)  oonneoted  with  the 
railway  observe  more  than  you," 

The  Natal  Adwrtiser,  a  Eiaropean  daily  in  Datban, 
made  the  followiog  remurka  on  the  case  i — 

It  was  indisputable  from  the  eyidenoe  that  the  Arab  had  beap 
badly  treated  and  seeiDg  that  seooad  olasa  tiflkstg  are  issaed  tp 
IndiaDB  oi  tbia  deeonpiiion,  the  plaiatifi  ought  not  to  have  been 
subjacted  10  anDeoeSBary  aODoyaDce  andiDdignity,  .  ,  ■  .  ,  ,  Some 
definite  meapnrea  abonid  be  taken  to  minimise  the  danger  of  trouble 
'ariaiDg  be'  ween  Kuropean  and  oolonred  passsngers  Without  rendet- 
ing  the  oarrving  out  of  auoh  measures  annoying  to  any  person 
whether  black  or  white. 

In  thfl  ooiiraa  of  ita  remarks  on  the  aama  oaaa  the 
Natal  Mercury  observed  : — 

Toera  la  throughout  S'luth  Africa  a  tendenojr  to  treat  all 
Indians,  as  onoli^a  pure  and  simple,  no  matter  whether  they  be  edu- 
cated aud  cleanly  in  their  habits  or  cot,  .  .  On  our  railways  wa 
iiave  noticed  ou  more  than  one  oooasioD  that  coloured  psssengera 
are  not  by  any  means  treated  with  civility,  and  although  it  would 
be  unreasonable  to  ezpeot  that  the  white  employees  of  the  N.G-.d, 
shoutd  treat  them  with  the  same  deference  as  is  aooorded  to 
Buropean  p^Sieiigerg  still  we  th">k  it  would  not  be  in  any  way 
derogatory  to  their  dignity  if  the  offluials  were  alittle  more  ^uavitor 
-in  ntodo  when  dealing  with  coloured  (ravelleis. 

The  Cape  Times,  b  leading  newspaper  in  Soath 
Afrioa,  aaya  :— 


20  IHE  teoiaiH   AFBIOAN'lNDIA^  (JtJESTION 

Natal  presents  the  ourious  epeotacle  of  a  oounti^  eoteMainitig^ 
a  supreme  oqnlempt  {or  the  very  olaes  o(  pjBopIs  she  oan  least  40 
without,  Imagination  oan  only  picture  the  oommetoial  paralysis 
whioh  would  inevitably  attend  the  withdrawal  of  the  Indian  popu- 
lation {rem  that  Colony.  And  yet  the'Indian  is  the  most  despised 
of  creatures,  he  may  not  ride  in  the  tram-oars,  nor  sit  in  the  same 
compartment  of  a  railway  carriage  with  the  Buropeans,  hotet> 
keepers  refuse  him  food  or  shelter  and  he  is  denied  (he  privilege  of 
the  public  bath  I 

Hare  ia  the  opiniou  of  an  Aoglo-Indian,  Mr-  Drum- 
mond  wbo  ia  intimately  oocaeobed  with  the  lodiana  iit- 
^abal.    Ha  says,  writing  to  the  Natal  Mercury  : — 

^fae  majority  6f  the' people  here  seem  to  forget  that  they  aE» 
British  subjects,  that  their  Mabarani  is  our  Qaeen  and  for  that 
leason  alone  one  would  think  that  they  might  be  spared^he  oppro- 
brious term  of  '  coolie,  '  as  it  is  here  applied.  In  India  it  is  only 
.the  lower  class  of  white  men  who  calls  native  a  *  nigger  '  aocl'treats 
him  as  if  he  were  unworthy  of  aay  consideration  or  respect.  In 
their  eyes,  as  in  the  eyes  of  many  in   this  colony,  he    ia  tteated 

{either  as   a  heavy  burden   oi   a  mechaiiiqal  ;maohiDe ,..Ic  is  a 

common  thing  and  a  lamentable  thing  to  hear  the  ignorant  and 
the  uaenligbtened  epesk  of  the  Indian  generally  as  the  soumrdf 
the  earth,  eto.  It  is  depreciation  from  the  white  man  and  not 
appreciation  that  they  get, 

;  I  thibk  I  have  adduced  aaffioient  outside  teatimony 
to  substantiate  my  statement  that  the  railway  ofi&oials 
treat  the  Indians  aa  beaata,  Oa  the  tramoarSi  the 
Indiana  are  often  not  allowed  to  ait  inaide  but  are  sent 
npataira,'  aa  the  phrase  goea.  They  are  often  made-to 
remove  from  one  Beat  to  another  or  prevented  from  ooou- 
pying  front  benohea,  I  linow  an  Indian  ofifioer,  a  Tamil 
gentleman,  dreased  in  the  lateat  European  style  who  was 
made  to  stand  on  the  tram-oar  board  although  there  was 
accomodation  available  for  him. 

Quoting  statistics  to  prove  the  prosperity  of  the 
Indian  community  is  quite  unneoesBary,  It  is  not  denied 
that  the  Indians  who  go  to  Natal  do  earn  a  living  and 
that  in  spite  of  the  persecution. 


.T^Bj^SgiNNliNO  OF  THBfBTBUaGLB  21 

.  la.liba  Transvaal  wa  oanool)  own  landed  prooertiy,  wa 
"may  nob  trade  or  i  reside  exoeph  ia  speoified  Iocations« 
'Whiob  are  daapribad  by  tba  Brijiiab  Agent.  ''  as  places  to 
-deposit  tbe  rafaaa.of  tb^  town  w.itboufe  any  water  exoepb 
the  polluted  Boakage  in  tbe  gully  between  tba  location 
ftitd  tbe  towo,"  We  may  not  as  of  rigbt  walk  on  tba 
'foplpatba  in  Job^kaneaburg  and  Pretoria,  we  may  not  b» 
oat  afcer  9  ?•  M.  Wa  in^yjnot  travel  witbonb  paaaea, 
Tba  law  praveota.ua  (rom  travelliag  first  or  aeoond  olaas 
on  thatra|Iwaya,  We  a,ra  required  to  pay  a  special  regis- 
tration fee  of  £3 -to  enable  us  to  settle  in  tbe  Transvaal 
and  tbongt)  wa  are  treated  as  mere  "chattels"  and 
'have  no  priyilegea  wba,tever,  we  may  be  oalled  upon 
to  render  oompQlaory  military  aervioer  if  Mr.  Gbamberlain 
-disregarda  tbe  Memorial  whipb  wa  .have  addresaed 
bo  him  ^  on  tbe  aubjaot.  Tbe  biatory  of  tbe  wbola 
oase  as  ibaSdcts  tba'  ladiaaa  la  tba'  Trab'sVa'al  is  very 
interestiog  and  t  am  o'aly  sorry  '  tbab  fbi:  wanb  of  tima 
I  oannot  deal  with  in  how.  1  must,  however,'  beg  you  to 
abudy  ib  from  bba  Qreen  Pamphlet.  I  hiusb  not  omit  bo 
mention  that  ib  ia  criminal  for  an  Indian  bo  buy    Dativei- 

«old.    -'■'•.•         J  ;r 

Tb^  Orange   Erea   Sbabe    baa     made    "tba '  BritiabI 
Indian  aii'itndoa'^tbilitv  by  'simiily    classifying  him    with' 
the'  iSaffir,"  aa  it^  ohief  or^ah  puta  ib.     Ib  bafl   paaaeda' 
Bpeoial   law    whereby   we    are  jjrevent'ed   from    br'aditig,'' 
farming  or  owniiig  >  tiroperby   under  any    oiroufaastaneeB. 
If  we    aubmit  to    tbesaf  degrading  oonditiona  we  may  be 
allowed  bo'Veside  a'ftee  pasaing  tbrbt^gh  oertaib  humUiat- 
ing    oeremoiiiaa.     We  Were   driven  bub    from    tba   State 
and  our  abores  were  oloaed  oauaing  to  ud  a  loss  of  £9,000. 
And  this  grievance  remains   absolutely   without  redress- 
The  Oape  Padiament  has  passed  a  Bill  gtaafcing  the  E^abi 


29  IHB  60TJTH  APBIOAIS  IHDIAN  QUESTION 

London  Mnnioipality  in  that  Oolony,  the  power  to  frfrma> 
Bye-Lawa  prohibiting  lodians  from  walking  on  the  foot- 
paths  and  making  them  live  in  locations.  Ic  has  issued 
instructions  to  the  authorities  of  Bast  Gripuinland  not 
to  issue  any  trading  lioenoes  to  the  Indians.  Tne  Gaps 
Government  are  in  ootnmunioation  with  the  Home 
Government  with  a  view  to  induce  them  to  sanction 
legislation  restricting  the  influx  of  the  Asiatics.  The 
people  in  the  Chartered  territories  are  endeavouring  to 
close  the  country  against  the  Asiatic  trader.  In  Zulu- 
land,  a  Crown  Cplony,  we  cannot  own  or'  acquire  landed 
property  in  the  townships  of  Eahowe  and  Nondweni. 
This  question  is  now  before  Mr.  Chamberlain  for  consi- 
deration,  As  In  the  Transvaal  there  also  it  is  criminal 
for  an  Indian  to  buy  native  gold. 

Thus  we  are  'hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  restriction^. 
And  if  nothing  further  were  to  be  done  here  and  in  Bog- 
land  on  our  behalf,  it  is  merely  a  question  of  time  whan 
the  respectable  Indian  in  South  Africa  will  be  absolutely 
extinct,  i 

Nor  is  this  merely  a  local  question.  It  is  as  the- 
London  Tivtes  puts  it,  "that  of  the  status  of  the  British 
Indian  outside  India,"  "If,"  says  the  Thund^reri  "they ; 
fail  to  secure  that  position,  (that  is  of  equal  status)  in 
Boutb  Africa,  it  will  be  difficult  for  them  to  attain  it  else- 
where." I  have  no  doubt  you  have  read  in  the  papers 
that  Australian  Colonies  have  passed  legislation  to  pre-- 
vent  Indians  from  settiirg  in  that  part  of  the  World.  It- 
will  be  interesting  to  know  how  the  Home  Government 
deal  with  that  question. 

The  real  cause  of  all  this  preiudice  may  be  expressed 
in  the   words  of    tha  leading   organ  in    South   Afrioftt 


THE   BEGINNING   OP  .THE  STRUGGLE  23 

namelyi  tha  Gape  Times,  when  ib  was  under  the  edilior- 
ship  of  the  ptiaoa  oi  South  A(rioau  joucnalists,  Mr.  St., 
Lager. 

It  is  the  position  of  these  merohants  which  is  produotive  of  no 
little  hostility  to  this  day.  And  it  is  in  oonsideting  their  position 
that  their  rivals  in  trade  have  sought  to  inflict  upon  them  chrongb 
the  medium  of  the  BDaie,  what  looks  on  the  face  of  it  something 
very  like  an   injascioe   foe  the  benefii  of  self, 

CoDtiDueB  the  Bame  organ  :  — 
The  injustice  to  the  Indians  is  so  glaring  thai  one  is  almost 
ashamed  oi  one's  oounirymen  in  wishiog  to  have  these  men  treated 
as  native  {i.e.,  of  South  Africa,)  simply  because  of  their  suQcesB  in- 
trade.  The  very  reason  that  they  have  been  so  euooessful  against  th^ 
dominant  race  is  sufficient  to  raise  them  above  that  degrading  level. 

If  this  was  true  in  1889  when  the  above  was 
written,  it  is  doubly  so  now,  beoauae  the  legislatora  of 
South  Africa  have  shown  phenomeDal  activity  in  passing 
maagnres  restrioting  the  liberty  of  the  Qaean'g  Indian 
sabjectEi.  Other  objeatioDS  alao  have  been  raised  to  our 
pcesenoe  there,  but  they  will  not  hear  ecruciny  and  I 
have  dealt  .with  them  in  the  Green  Pamphlet.  I 
venture,  however,  to  quotp,  from  the  Natal  Advertiser, 
which  states  one  of  them  and  presoribes  a  statesman- 
like  remedy  also.  And  so  far  as  the  objection  may  be 
valid,  we  are  in  perfect  aooord  with  the  Advertiser's 
suggestion.  Tiiis  paper  whioh  i^  under  European  manage- 
ment was  at  one  time  violently  against  us.  Dealing  with 
the  whole  questioQ  from  an  Imperial  standpoint  it 
ooDcludes  :— 

It  will,  therefore,  probably  yet  be  found  that  the  removal  of 
the  drawbacks  at  present  incidental  to  the  immigration  of  Indians 
into  British  Colonies  is  not  to  be  effected  so  much  by  the  adoption 
of  au  obsolete  policy  of  exclusion  bs  by  an  enMghtened  and  pro- 
gressive application  of  ameliorating  laws  to  those  Indians  who 
settle  in  tiiem.  One  of  the  chief  obieotioos  to  Indians  is  that  they 
do  not  live  in  accordance  with  European  rules.  The  remedy  for 
this  is  to  gradually  raise  their  mode  of  life  by  oompeliing  tbem  to 
live  in  better  dwellings  and  by  creating  among  them  new  wants,  it 
will    probB  bly    be    found  easier,  because,   mote  in  accord  with  the 


24:  THE  SOUTH   APBlgAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

gceat  onward  raoTements  of  minkiod,  to  demand  of  suoh  settlers 
that  they  shall  tian  to  thait  new  oonditions  than  to  ondeavout  to 
maintain  the  status  quo  ante  by  theit  oatice  exolusion. 

Wa  believe  alao  bbaS  cnuoh  of  the  ill-feeling  ia  due 
feo  the  want  of  proper  knowledge  in  South  Afrioa  about 
the  Indians  in  India.  We  are,  therefore,  endeavouring 
to  eduoate  publio  opinion  in  South  Afrioa  by  impartiDg 
the  neoeasary  informaition.  With  regard  feo  the  legal 
disabilitiea  we  have  tried  to  inflaeuoe  in  our  favour 
the  publio  opinion  both  in  Eagland  and  here.  Aa  you 
know  both  the  Oonaervatives  and  Liberals  have  supported 
US  in  Eagland  without  distiootion.  Tne  London  Times 
has  given  eight  leading  articles  to  our  oausa  in  a  vary 
aympathetio  spirit.  This  alone  has  raised  us  a  step 
higher  in  the  esttmitioa  of  4iha  Earopaans  in  South 
Afrioa  'and  baa  oonaiderably  affeoted  for  the  better  the 
tone  of  newspapers  there.  The  British  Committee  of 
the'  Congress  has  been  working  for  us  for  a  very  long 
time.  Ever  sinoe  he  entered  Parliament,  Mr,  Bhownaggrea 
baa  been  pleading  oar  cause  in  season  and  out  of  season. 
Says  one  of  our  bast  sympathisers  in  London  :— 

The  wroDg  ia  so  seriou!!  chat  it  has  only  to  be  known  in  order 
I  hope  to  be  remedied,  I  feel  ic  my  daty  on  all  oooaaiona  and  in 
all  suitable  ways  to  insiac  that  the  Indian  subjects  of  the  Crown 
should  enjoy  the  full  status  of  British  aubjeot  throngout  the  whole 
British  Empire  and  in  allied  states.  Thia  ia  the  poaition  whioh 
you  and  oar  Indian  friends  in  South  Afrioa  should  firmly  take  up. 
In  suoh  a  qneation  aompromise  is  impossible.  For  any  oompromise 
would  reliuguish  the  fuuditmencal  right  of  the  Indian  races  to  tha. 
complete  status  of  British  sabj'jots— a  right  which  they  have 
earned  by  their  loyalty  in  peace  nod  by  their  serviceB  in  war,  a 
right  whioh  was  solemnly  guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Queen's 
Proolamation  in  1857,  and  whioh  has  now  been  explicitly  recognis- 
«d  by  Her  Majesty's  Government," 

•   .    Says  the  same  gentleman  in  another  letter  ;— 

I  have  great  hopes  that  justice  will,  in  the  end,    be  done,     You 

bare  a    gdbd    cause You  have    only  to    take  up    your  positioii 

strongly  in  order  to  be  successful.  That  position  is  that  the  British 
Indian  Bubjects  in  South  Africa  are  alike  in    out  own  Colonies  and 


THE  BSGIMNINO  OF  THE   STRUGGLE  25 

in  iadependent  friendly  States  beiog  deprived  of  theic  status  as 
British  subjeocs  guaranireed  to  them  bj  the  Sovereiga  and  the 
British  Farliameot. 

Ad  es-Liberal  member  of  the  House  of  Gommona 
flays; — 

You  are  infamously  treated  by  the  Colonial  Govetoment  and 
you  will  be  so  treated  by  the  Home  Governmeot  if  they  do  not 
compel  the  Colonies  to  alter  their  policy. 

A  Conservative  member  says  : —    , 

I  am  quite  aware  that  the  situation  is  surrounded  with  many 
difSoulties  ;  but  some  points  stand  out  olear  and,  as  far  as  I  oaa 
-make  out  it  is  true  to  say  that  breaches  of  what  in  India  is  a  oivil 
oontraot  ace  punishable  in  South  Africa  as  though  they  were 
criminal  offences.  This  is  beyond  doubt  contrary  to  the  principles 
of  the  Indian  Code  and  seems  to  me  an  infringement  of  the  privile- 
ges guaranteed  to  British  subjects  in  India.  Again  it  is  perleotly 
evident  tnai  in  the  Boer  republic  and  possibly  in  Natal  it  is  the 
-direct  obvious  intention  of  tbe  Government  to  "  kunt"  natives  of 
India  and  to  compel  tbem  to  carry  on  their  business  under  degrad- 
ing conditions,  Tbe  excuses  which  are  put  forward  to  defend  the 
iniringemems  of  the  liberties  of  British  subjects  in  tbe  Transvaal 
are  too  flimsy  to  be  worth  a  moment's  attention."  Vet  another 
-Conservative  member  says:  "Your  activity  is  praiseworthy  and 
demands  justice.  I  am,  therefore,  willing  to  help  you  as  far  as 
Jies  in  my  power." 

Suoh  18  tbe  sympathy  evoked  in  Bogland.  Here,  too, 
I Isnov?  we  have  tbe  same  sympathy,  but  I  bumbly  tbink 
that  our  oause  may  oooupy  your  attention  still  mora 
'largely. 

What  is  required  inlaiiia  has  been  well  put  by  the 
Moslem  Chronicle  in  a  forcibly  written  leader  : — 

What  with  a  strong  and  intelligent  public  opinion  hers  and  a 
■well  meaning  Oovercment  the  difficulties  we  have  to  contend  with, 
-are  not  at  all  commensurate  with    those  that  retard  the  well-bsiug 

of  our  countrymen  in  that  country.  It  is  therefore  quite  time 
'that  all  public  bodies  should  at  once  turn  their  attention  to  this 
•important  subject  to  create  an   intelligent  public  opinion  with  a 

view  to  organise  an  agitation  for  thd  removal  of  tbe  gcievanoea 
-under  which  our  brethren  are   labouring.    Indeed,  these  grievances 

have  become  and   are   day  by   day   becoming   so    unbearable   and 

offensive  that  the  requisite  agitation  oaanot  be  taken  up  one 
.day  too  soon. 


26  THE   SOtlTH   APalCAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

I  may  stata  oar  posiliioD  a  little    more  olearly,     Wff- 
are  awara  that  the  insulta   and    iadignitids    tbat    we    are  , 
anbjaoted  to   at  the    hands    of    the    populane   oannot    be 
direotly     removed    by    the    intervention     of    the    Home 
Government.     We  do    not    appeal    to    it   for    any    suoh 
intervgntioD.    We  bring  them  to  the  notice  of  the  publio 
BO  that  the  falrminded  of  all   communiciea  and  the  Press 
may  be  expressing   their  disapproval,    materially    reduos- 
their  rigour  and  possibly  eradicate  them  ultimately.    But 
we  certainly  do  appeaJ  and  we  hope  not  vainly  to  the  Hame- 
Government  for  protection    againnt  reproduction  of  suoh 
ill-feeling  in  legislation.  We  oerTiainly  beseeoh  the  HdmS' 
Government  to  disallow  all  the  Aots  of    the    Legislative 
bodies  of  the  Colonies    restricting    our    freedom    in    any 
shape  or  form.     And  this  brings  me  to  the  last  qaestioD, 
namely,  how  far  can    the    Home    Government   interfere- 
with  such  Botion  on  the    part  of    the    Colonies    and    the 
allied  States.     As  for  Zaluland  there  can  be  no  gaestion 
siDce    it    is    a    Crown    Colony    direotly    governed    from- 
Downing  Street  through  a  Governor.     It  is    nob    a   self- 
governing   or    a   responsibly-governed    Colony    as    the 
Colonies  of  Natal  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  are.  With 
'  regard  to  the  last  two    their    Constitution    Act    provides 
that  Her  Majesty  may  disallow  any    Act   of    the   Local 
Parliament  within  two  years  even    after    it  baa    become 
law  having  received  the  Governor's  assent.     That  is  one 
safeguard    against  oppressive    measures  by  the  Colonies. 
The  Boyal    instructions    to    the    Governor    as   also   the 
Constitution  Act  enumerate  certain   Bills   which    cannot 
be  assented  to  by  the  Governor    without  Her    Majesty'e 
previous  sanction.     Among  such  are    Bills    which    have 
for    their   object   class   legislation  suoh  as  the  FranohiBe 
Bill  or  Immigration    Billi    Her   Majesty's   interventioo 


THB  BBOINNING  OP  THE   STBUOSIiB  2T 

ia  libug  direob  and  preoisa.     While  iti   ia    trae  thai)    the 
Home  Goverumeab  is  slow  to    incerfara  with  the  Acta  of 
the  Colonial  Legislatures,  there  are  iastaooes  where  it  hae- 
npli  hesitated  to  pub  its  loat  dowD  on  ocoEisions  less  urgent 
than  the    Draaeoli    one'      Aa  you   araawarei  (he  repeal  o{ 
the  first  Fi-unohise  Bill  was  dee  to  such  wholesome  inter- 
veabion,  What  is  more  the  Colooists  are  ever  afraid  of  it. 
Aad  as  a  result  of  tha  syaopa'ihy    expraassd    in    England 
and  the  aympaiihetia  answer  given    by    Mr   Chamberlain 
to  the  Ddputation  that  vvaited  on  him  some  months    ago 
moat  of  the  papers  in  South  Afrioai  ab  any  rata  in  Natal 
tiave  veered   round    oonaiderably.     As    to    the  Transvaal 
there  ia  the  oonvention.     As  to  tbe  Orange  Free  State  T 
oan  oaly  say  that  it  is  an  uafi-iandly  aoS  oq  the  part  of  a 
fFieodly  Scate  Go  shut  her  doors  against    any    portion    ot" 
ffar  Majesty's  sabjaota.     And  as  auah  I  humbly  think  it 
oan  be  effeotiveiy  oheoked. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  quite  a  few  pasfiaga^  (rom- 
tha  Ii>ndon  ITmes  'ariiialaB  baarmg  on  the  qauation  of 
incervantion  as  wall  as  tna  whole  questiou  generally  : 

Taa  nhole  question  lesolvas  Uself  into  this.  Are  Hec- 
Uajescy'a  Indian  subjeots  to  be  treated  as  a  degraded  and  an  ont- 
oaste  race  by  a  friendly  govoromeiit  or  are  they  to  have  the- 
aama  rights  and  status  as  other  British  suhjeots  eb}oy  ?  Are- 
leading  Muhammadan  merohaDta  who  might  aib  ip  the  Legis- 
lative Qounoil  at  Bombay,  to  be  liable  to  indignities  and  outrage 
to  tha  Sonbh  Afrioan  Republio  ?  We  are  oontinually  telling  our 
Indian  subjects  that  the  eoonomio  future  of  their  country  depends 
OB  their  ability  to  spread  themselves  out  and  to  develop  their 
toreigD  trade.  What  answer  oan  our  Indian  Governmenli  give 
them  i{  it  iaila  to  secure  to  them  the  same  proteotion  abroad  which 
is  aeoured  to  the  subjects  of  every  other  dependency  of  the  Grown  f" 

It  is  a  mockery  to  urge  our  Indian  fellow-Bubjeets  to  embark 
pu  external  commerce  if  the  moment  they  leave  India  they  lose 
their  rights  as  Uritish  subjects,  and  can  be  treated  by  loreign- 
governments  as  a  degraded  and  an  outeaste  race. 

In  another  article  it  says  : — 
The  matter  ia  eminently  one  for  good  offices  and  lot  ioAuence. 
foir  that " friendly  negotiation"  whioh  Mr.  Chamberlain  promi«es^ 


28  THE   SO0TH   AiPBIOANiINDlAN    QUESTION 

though  he   warns  the  depntation  that  it  may   be  tedious  and  will 

oerCaioly  oot  be  easy.     As    Co    the    Gape  Colony   and    NaCnl,  the 

question  18  Co  a  oerCain    escent    simplified    siuoe,    of  coatee,  tb^ 
Colonial  Office  can  speak  t;o  them  wiih  greater  authority. 

The  inoideot  is  oneof  those  whioh  suggests  wider  queationa, 
than  any  Chat  directly  offer  thems<>lveB  for  official  replies.  We 
are  at  the  oeatreof  a  world-wide  Empire,  at  a  period  when  looo- 
lootioa  is  easy  and  is  every  day  becoming  easier,  both  in  :fime. 
and  cost.  Some  portions  of  the  Smpire  are  crowded,  others  are 
oomparacively  empcy,  a'nd  the  flow  from  the  oongeHCed  to  thei 
under-peopled  discriots  is  continuous.  What  is  to  happen  when, 
flubjeota  difiaring  iq  colour,  religion  and  habits  from  ourselves  or 
from  the  natives  of  a  particular  spot  emigrate  to  chat  spot  foe 
their  liviug  7  Hovi[  are  race  prejudices  and  antipathies,  the  jeal- 
ousies of  trade,  i  he  fear  of  competition  to  be  controlled?  She 
answer,  ol  oourse,  must  be  by  intelligent  policy  at  the  Colonial 
Office. 

Small  as  are  the  reQ;uirements  of  the  Indian  the  steady  growth 
of  the  population  of  India  is  snoh  that  a  certain  outward  move- 
ment is  inevitable,  and  it  is  a  movement  that  will  increase.  It 
is  very  desiraele  thai  our  white  fellow-subjeota  in  Africa  shonld. 
ijoderstand  chat  there  will,  lo  all  probability,  be  this  current  flovy-, 
ing  from  India,  that  it  is  perfectly  within  the  rights  of  the  British 
Indian  to  seek  bis  subsistence  at  the  Cape,  and  that  he  ought,  in 
the  common  interest  of  the  Empire  lobe  well  treated  when  he 
comes  ihere.  It  is  indeed  to  be  feared  that  the  ordinary  Oolbnist, 
wherever  settled,  thinks  muoh  more  of  his  immediate  interests  than 
of  those  of  the  great  empire  which  protects  him,  and. he  has  soma 
difficulty  in  recognising  a  fellow-subjeot  in  the  Hindu  or-,  the 
Paraee.  The  duty 'of  thei  Colonial  Office  is  to  enlighten  him  Jtni^ 
to  see  that  fair  treatment  is  extended  to  British  subjeots  of  what-. 
■  ever  colour. 

Again : — 

In  India  the  British,  the  Hlnd^i  and  the  Mussalman  oommuJ 
cities  find  themselves  face  to  f»oe  with  the  question  as  to  whe- 
ther  at  the  outaec  of  the  new  industrial  movements  whioh  have 
been  BO  long  and  aoxiously  awaited.  Indian  tradefs  and  workerfli 
are  or  are  not  to  have  the  same  status  before  ihe  law  as  all  other 
BciciBh  Bubjeocs^DJoy.  May  they  or  may  they  not  go  freely  from 
one  British  poaseaaion  to  another'and  claim  the  rights  of  British 
•flubjecta  in  allied  states  or  ate  they  to  be  treated  as  ou'Oaste  races, 
aubjeoi.ed  CO  a  system  of  permits  and  passes  when  travelling  oil 
their  ordinary  business  avooations,  and  relegated,  as  tiha  Transvaal 
Government  would  relegate  them  to  a  ghetto  at  the  permanent 
centres  of  their  trade  ?  These  are  questions  which  applied  to  all 
Indians  who  seek  to  better  their  fort,un6a  outside  the  limiliB  of  the 
Indian  Empire.     Mr.   Chamberlain's  Words  and  the  determined 


THE  BEGINNING  OP  ME   STRtOGtiU  S9 

attitude  taken  up  by  every  seotion  6l  iihoilindian.  press  sbiow   that 
for  two  Buoh  queatioDs  tbece  can  be  but  one  answer. 

I  shall  take  the  liberby   to  give  otie  mors   quotation 

from  the  same  journal  : — 

^  ■  '  ,  i. 

The  question  with  which  Mr.  Chambbrlain  Was  called  upbii 
to  deal  cannot  be  eo  easily  redaoad  to  ooa<irete  terma.  Qo  the  one 
hand  ha  clearly  laid  down  t,he  principle  of  tbo  "  equal  rights  "  and 
equal  privilege  of  all  British  subjeots  in  regard  Co  redress  froQv 
loreign  Slates.  It  would,  indeed,  haverbeen  impossible  to  deny 
that  principle.  Our  Indian  subjects  have  been  fighting  the  battles 
of  Great  Britain  over  half  tbe  old  world  with  the  loyalty  and 
courage  which  have  won  the  admiiiatioD  df  all  Jjritishi  men,  .  Tbe 
fighting  reserve  which  Great  Britain  has  in  the  Indian  taoes  adcfs 
greatly  to  her  political  influeuoe  and  prestige  and  it  would  be  » 
violation  of  the  British  sense  of  justice  to  use  the  blood  and  the 
valour  of  these  races  in  war  and  yet  to  deny  them  tbe  protection 
of  the  British  name  in  the  enterprise  of  peace.  The  Indian 
workers  and  traders  are  slowly  spreading  across  the  earth  from 
Oentrat  Asia  to  the  Australian  Colonies  and  froin  tbe  Straits  Settle- 
ments to  the  Canary  Islands.  V^berever  the  Indian  goes  he  is 
the  same  useful  well-doing  man,  lawabiding  under  whatever  form 
of  Government  he  may  find  himself,  frugal  in  bis  waots  and  in- 
,dustrions  in  his  babils.  But  these  very  virtues  inake  him  a  for- 
'midable  competitor  in  tbe  labour  markets  to  which  he  resorts. 
.Although  numbering  in  the  aggregate  some  hundreds  of  thousandsi 
tha  imigrant  Indian  labourers  and  small  dealers  have  only 
recently  appeared  in' tbe  foreign  countries  or  British  Colonies  in 
pumbets  sufficient  to  arouse  jealousy  and  to  expose  them  to 
political  injustice. 

But  the  fasts  which  we  brought  to  notice  in  June,  and 
which  were  urged  on  Mr.  Chamberlain  by  a  deputation  of 
'Indians  last  week,  show  that  the  necessity  has  now  arisen  for 
'protecting  tbe  Indian  labourer  from  Buob  jealousy,  and  foe  securing 
to  him  the  same  rights  as  otha^British  subjects  eujoy. 

GenbleoieD,  Bombay  haa  spoken  in  no  uooeKtain 
terms.  We  are  yet  young  and  inexperienoed,  we  have  a 
'right  to  appeal  to  you,  our  elder  and  freer  brethren  for 
proteotiou.  Being  under  the  yoke  of  oppression  we  oan 
'merely  ory  oub  in  aoguisbi  You  have  beard  our  ory. 
The  blame  will  now  lie  on  your  shoulders  if  tha  yoka  is 
not  removed  from  our  neeks. 


30  THP   BOOTH    APaiOAN    INDIAN    QUKSTION 

DEPUTATION  TO  LOBD  SELBORNB 

Messn.  Abdul  Gani  (Chairman,  British  Indian 
Association),  Mr.  Haji  Habib  (Secretary.  Pretoria  Cornr 
mittee),  Mr.  E.  S.  Goovadia,  Mr.  P.  Moonsamy  Moonlight, 
Mr.  Ayob  Haeje  Beg  Mahomed  and  Mr.  M.  K  GandU 
formed  a  deputation  that    waited    on  Lord  Selbome  on 

-  November,  asind,  190S.  On  behalf  of  the  deputation, 
Mr.  Gandhi  presented  the  following  statement  of  the 
position  to  His  Excellency : — 

STATEMENT 
There  are^  besides  laws  afiaotitig  ooloured  people   and  therefore 
British  Indian's  the  Peaoa  Preservation   Ocdinanoe  and   LawSoi 
1685  as  amended  io  1886. 

THE  PEACE  PBESBHVATION  OBDINANCB 
The  Peaoe  Preeetvatioa  Ordioanoe,  as  its  name  implitB 
although  framed  to  keep  out  of  the  Colony  dangeroas  oharaoier.  ig 
being  used  mainly  to  prevent  British  Indians  from  enienng  the 
Transvaal.  The  working  of  the  law  has  always  been  harsh  and 
oppressive — and  this  in  spite  o{  ihe  desire  of  the  Chief  Secretary  for 
Permits  that  it  ehnnld  not  be  eo.  Ha  has  to  receive  instruotiooB 
Irom  the  Colonial  OlSoe,  so  that  the  harsh  working  is  due,  not  tO 
the  ohief  offioer  in  uharge  of  the  Department,  but  to  the  eyseeni 
under  whiob  it  is  being  worked,  (a)  There  are  still  hundreds  of 
refugees  waning  to  oome,  (b)  Bnys  with  their  parents  or  with- 
out are  required  to  take  oat  permits,  (c)  Men  with  old  £3  reKiaira- 
tions  oomiDK  into  the  oountry  without  permits  are,  though  refugees 
being  sent  away  and  required  to  make  formal  applioatioo.  {d)  Even 
wives  of  Traugvaat  resideota  are  expected  Co  take  out  permiis  it 
they  are  alone,  and  to  pay  £3  registration,  whether  with  or  wiiboot 
their  huebands.  iGorreepondence  jp  now  going  on  beiwern  ifas 
Government  and  the  British  Indian  Assooiation  on  thepoiur. I  (<) 
Children  under  sixteen,  if  it  oannot  be  proved  that  cbeir  parents 
are  dead,  or  are  residents  of  the  Transvaal,  are  being  sent  away  or 
are  refused  permits,  in  spite  of  the  faot  that  they  may  be  supported 
by  their  relatives  wbo  are  their  guardian  and  who  are  rei^ldiiig  id 
the  Transvaal,  if)  No  non-refugee  British  Indians  are  allowed  to 
enter  the  Colony,  no  matter  what  their  station  may  be  iu  life. 
(The  last  prohibition  oauEea  serious  inoonvenienoe  to  the  establish- 
ed merchants,  who,  by  reason  thereof,  are  prevented  from  drawing 
upon  India  for  aonfidential  managers  or  clerks.) 

In  spite  of  the  deolaraiione  o{   her  late   Majesty's  mioisteia, 

.  and  asBurauoes  ol  relief  after  the    eetablishmeDC    oi  oivil    Govetn- 


DKPTJTATION  TO  LORD   SELBORNB  31 

ment,  this  law  remairg  on  the  statute  boob,  and  is  being  fully 
eoforced,  though  tnaoy  laws,  which  were  ooDsidered  to  be  in 
ooDflict  with  the  Brilieh  cODScitution,  were  repealed  as  soon  as 
British  authoriij  whs  proclaimed  iu  the  Transvaal.  Law  3  ot 
1885  is  insalting  to  British  Indians,  and  was  aooepted  totally 
under  a  misapprehension.  It  imposes  the  {ollowing  restriotions  on 
Indians  ; — (at  It  prevents  them  from  enjoying  burger  rights,  lb) 
It  prohibits  onneiship  of  fixed  property,  except  in  screets,  wards, 
or  locations  set.  apart  lor  the  residence  of  Indians,  (c)  It 
oontemplates  compulsory  segregation  in  locations  of  British 
Indians  for  purposes  of  sanitation.  And  {d)  It  imposes  a  levy  of 
£3  on  every  Indian  who  may  enter  the  Oolony  for  purpoeea  of  trade 
oc  the  like. 

EEFOEMED  ADMINISTRATION  OF  OEDINANCE 
It  is  reBpeccfully  submitted,  on  behalf  of  the  British  Indian 
Association  thar,  the  Fcaos  Preservation  Ordinance  should  be  so 
administered  thut  ia)  it  should  facilitate  the  entry  of  all  refagees 
without  delay,  (b)  'Children  under  sixteen  should  be  exempt  from 
any  restriotion  wbaLsoever,  if  ihey  have  their  parents  or  supporters 
with  them,  (c)  Female  relatives  of  British  Indians  should  be 
entirely  free  from  interference  or  restriotion  as  to  the  lights  on 
entry.  And  (di  a  limited  number  of  lodians,  though  not  refugees, 
should  on  the  application  of  resident  traders  who  mvy  satisfy  the 
Permit  Offl)er  that  they  require  the  services  of  suoh  meu,  be 
granted  permits  for  residence  during  the  period  of  their  oontraot  of 
service.  (e)  Indians  with  educational  attainment  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  the  Colony  on  application. 

BEFBAD  OF  COLOUB  IiGQISLATION. 
Both  the  Law  of  1885   and  the   Peace  Preservation  Ordinanoe 
and  all  other  colour  legislation  aSecting  British  Indians,  should  be 
repealed  so  soon  as  possible  and  they  should  be  assured  as  to — 

(o)  Their  right  to  own  landed  property.  (61  To  live  where  they 
like,  subject  to  the  general  sanitary  laws  of  the  Colony,  (c)  Exemp- 
tion from  any  special  payment.  |<i)  And  generally  freedom  from 
speoial  legislation  and  enjoyment  of  civil  rights  and  liberty  in  the 
same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  the  other  Colonists. 

SUBSTITOTKS  SUGGESTED 
Though  the  British  Indian  Association  does  not  share  the  fear  of 
the  European  inhabitants  that  an  unrestricted  immigration  from 
India  will  swamp  the  Utter,  as  an  earnest  of  its  intention  to  work 
in  harmony  with  them  and  to  ooociliate  them,  it  has  all  along  sub- 
mitted that -(a)  The  Peace  Preservation  Ordinanoe  should  be 
teplaoed'oy  an  immigration  law  of  a  general  character,  on  the  Gape 
or  the  Natal  basis,  provided  that  the  educational  test  recognises  the 
«reat  Indian  languages  and  that  power  be  given  to  the  Government 
•to  grant  residential  permits  to  suoh  mea  as  may  be  required  foe 


32  THE   SOUTH  AFBICAN  INDIAN  QUESTION 

tbe  wants  of  Indians  who  may  be  themselves  already  established  in 
businesses,  (6)  A  Dealer's  Ij'oeDoes  Law  of  a  general  oharaoter 
may  be  passed,  applicable  to  all  seotions  of  the  oommunity,  where- 
by the  Town  Oounoils  or  Local  Boards  could  control  the  issue  of 
new  trade  lioenees,  subject  to  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  to 
review  the  decisions  of  such  Councils  or  Local  Boards.  Under  such 
a  law  whilst  tbe  then  existing  licenses  would  be  fully  proteoted, 
except  when  the  premises  licensed  are  not  kept  in  a  sanitary  condi- 
tion, all  new  applicants  would  have  to  be  approved  or  by  the  Town 
Councils  of  tbe  Local  Boards,  so  that  the  increase  of  licenses 
would  be  largely  dependent  upon  the  bodies  abave-named, 


Mb.  GANDHIS  ADDRESS 

Before  presenting  the  statement  to  Lord  Selborne,  Mr. 
Gandhi  addressed  His  Excellency  as  follows :  — 

PBELIMINART  REPBESBNTATIONS 
Before  I  deal  vvith  the  etatemeDb  I  am  bo  baud  to  your 
Ssoellanoy,  I  have  beeo  asked  to  mentica  two  matberB 
that  baveooourred  during  yoar  reoeot  tour  through  the 
TraoBvaal.  Your  EsoelleDoy  ig  reported  to  have  said  at 
Pobohefatroom  that  "no  non-refnges  British  ludians 
would  be  allowed  to  eater  tbe  Colony  until  tbe  Represen- 
tative Assembly  has  oonsldered  the  qaestioa  nest  year." 
If  tbe  report  is  oorreot,  it  would,  as  I  hope  to  show  this 
afternoon,  be  a  very  grave  iniaatioe  to  the  vested  rights' 
of  the  Indian  oommunity.  At  Ermelo,  your  Exoellenoy 
is  reportsd  to  have  used  the  espresaion  "ooolia  store- 
keepers." This  expression'  has  given  very  great  offenoe 
to  the  British  Indians  in  the  Oolony,  but  the  BrUiflh 
Indian  AssooiaSion  has  assured  them  that  the  expression 
has  probably  not  been  used  by  your  Bxcellenoy,  or,  if  it 
haSi  your  Esoellenoy  is  incapable  of  giving  thereby  any 
intentional  offence  to  British  Indian  storekeepers..  The 
use  of   the  word    "aoolieV    has   oaused  a    great    deitl   oi 


DEPUTATION  TO  LORD   SELBOBNB  33 

misohief  in  Natal.  Atone  time  it  beoame Ao  serious  that) 
tbe  then  Juatioe,  Sit  Walter  Wagg,  had  to  intervene  and 
to  pot  down  the  use  of  that  expreasion  in  oonnection  with 
any  bat  indeaturad  Indians,  it  having  baan  imported  into 
the  Court  of  Jaatioe.  Aa  your  Esoellenoy  may  be  aware, 
it  means  "labourer"  or  "porter."  Used,  therefore,  in 
oonnection  with  tradera,  it  ia  not  only  offenaive,  bat  a 
oontradiotion  in  terms. 

THE  PEACE  PRESERVATION  ORDINANCE 
Coming  to  the  abatement  t^at  the  Britiah  Indian  Aaao- 
oiation  ia  submitting  to  your  Excallenoy,  I  would  take  firab 
the  Paage  Preservation  Ordinance.  Soon  after  tbe 
Tranavaal  beoame  part  of  the  Briciah  Dominions,  the 
aervioea  rendered  during  the  war  by  the  dhooly-bearers 
that  came  with  Sir  George  Wnite,  and  those  rendered  by 
the  Indian  Ambulanoa  Corps  in  Natal,  were  on  many 
people's  lips.  Sir  George  White  apoke  in  glowing  terms 
of  the  heroism  of  Parbhur  Singh,  who,  perched  up  in  a 
tree,  never  ones  failed  to  ring  the  gong  aa  a  notice  to  tbe 
inhabitants  each  time  the  Boar  gun  waa  fired  from  the 
Umbulwana  Hill.  General  Buller'a  despatobes,  praising 
the  work  of  the  corps,  were  juat  out  and  the  administra- 
tion was  in  the  hands  of  the  military  officers  who  knew 
the  Indians.  Toe  first  batch  of  refugees,  therefore,  who 
were  waiting  at  the  ports,  entered  the  country  without 
any  difficulty,  bub  the  civilian  population  beoame  alarm- 
ed, and  called  for  the  restriction  of  the  entry  of  even  the 
refugees.  The  result  waa  that  the  country  waa  dotted 
with  Aaiatio  officers,  and  from  that  time  up  to-day  the 
Indian  community  has  known  no  resB ;  whereas  aliens,  in 
every  sense  of  the  term,  aa  a  rule,  got  their  permits  at  the 
ports  on  application  there  and  then,  the  Indian,  evea 
3 


34  THE   SOUTH  AFKIOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

though    a  refugee   had    to  write   to    the    euperviaora  of 
Asiatiog,  who  had  to  refer  the  applioation  to  the  Colonial 
Office,   before  permits  were  issued.     The  process  took  a 
very  loog  time,  from  two  to  six  months,    and    even    one 
year  and  more,    and  then,    too,    the    Colonial    office  had 
laid  down  a  role  that  only  so    many   permits  should   be 
issued  to  British  Indian  refugees  per   week.     The  result 
of  this  mode  of  operation    was    that    corruption    became 
rampant,  and  there  grew  up  a  gang  of  permit-agents  who 
simply  fleeced  innooenb  refugees  ;  and  it  was  a  matter  of 
notoriety  that  each    refugee    who  wanted    to    enter   the 
Transvaal  had  to  spend  from  £15  to  £30  or   more.    The 
matter  came  bo  the' notice  of  (he  British  Indian  Assooia- 
tioD,  repeated  representations  were  made,  and  ultimately 
the  Asiatic  offices  were  wiped  out.     The  mode  of    grant- 
ing permits  was  however,    unfortunately    still    kept   up, 
and  the  Chief  Secretary    for  Permits    has    been    always 
subject  to  instruction  from    the    Colonial    Office.     Thug 
the  Peace  Preservation  Ordinance,  which    was    intended 
to  apply  to  dangerous  character   and   politioal  offenders, 
under  the  iofluenoe  of  the  Colonial  Office  had  become  an 
Indian  Immigration  Eestriobion  Law,    as    it   remains  to 
this  day.     Under  the  present  regime,  too,  therefore,  it  is 
a  most  difficult  matter  for  even  bona  fide   refugees  to  get 
permits,  and  it  is  only  in  rare  oases  that  it  is  possible  to 
get  them,  except  after  a  delay    of   months.     Every   one, 
no  matter  what  his  status  may  be,  has  to  make  an  appli- 
cation on  a  special  form,  give    two    references,    and    put 
his  thumb  impression  upon    the    form,     The   matter   is 
then  investigated,  and  the  permit  is  granted.     As   it  this 
were  not  enough,  owing    to    the    charges    made   by   Mr. 
Loveday  and  his  friends,  the  Chief  Secretary  for  Permits 
received  instructions  to    insist  on   European    references.  • 


:  DEPUTATIOfI  TO  LqRI)   SBIiBOR^lB  35 

'This  was  bantamounb  bo  bhe  denial  of  bherighb  of  Bribish 
Indian  refugees  bo  enbet  bhe  oounbry.  lb  would  be  hard 
'bo  find  bwenby  Indians  who  would  be  known  borespeob- 
«ble  Uaropeana  by  name  as  well  as  appearance.  The 
Bribiah  Indian  Assooiabion  had  bo  oorree^pond  wibh  bhe 
<jrovernmenb,  and,  in  bhe  meanbime,  bhe  issue  of  permits 
was  suspended,  and  ib  has  been  only  labely  realised  bbai 
■bhe  inaisbing  upon  Eturopean  ,  reference  was  a  serious 
^njuabioe, 

THE  ENTRY  OF  CHILDRBli 
Bub  sbill  bhe  difSoulbies  aparb  from  bhe  neoeasiby  lor 
European  refarenoes  are  bhere,  Mala  children  under 
-fiixbeen  years  of  age  are  now  oallad  upon  bo  bal^e  oub  per- 
mibs  before  bhey  oan  euber  bhe  Colony,  bo  bhab  it  has 
i)een  nob  an  unoommon  exparianpa  for  libble  children  of 
ten  years  of  age  and  under  bo  be  born  away  from  their 
parenba  at  bhe  border  bowns.  Why  such  a  rule  has  been 
imposed  we  fail  bo  undarsband. 

-  The  High  Oommissioner  :  Have  you  ^v«r  known  a 
oaae  where  bhe  parenbs  have  ababed  beforehand  bhab  bhey 
faave  children  and  which  children  have  been  refueed  per- 
mission bo  come  in  ? 

Mr.  Gandhi :  Yes ;  and  bhe  parenba  have  been 
obliged  bo  make  afGdavite  before  bhe  children  .have  been 
allowed  bo  come  in. 

If  bhe  parenba  have  the  righb  bo  enter,  so  far  as  I 
am  aware,,  every  civilised  country  has  admitted  the  righb 
of  minor  children  also  bo  enber  with  them,  and,  in  any 
oase,  children  under  sixteen  years,  if  bhey  oannob  prove 
their  parenba  are  dead,  or  bhat  their  parenbs  have  been 
^esidenb  in  bhe  Transvaal,   before  bhe   war,    are   nob.    al-> 


36  THE  80DIH   APBIOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

lowed  to  enter  or  remain  in  the  Colony.  This  is  a  very 
serious  matter.  Aa  your  Exoellenoy  is  aware,  the  "joint- 
family  "  system  prevailB  all  over  India.  Brothers  and 
siatera  and  their  children  live  under  the  same  roof  from 
generation  to  generation,  and  the  ePdest  member  in  thfr 
family  is  nominally,  as  well  as  in  reality,  the  supporter 
and  the  bread-earner.  There  is,  therefore,  nothing  unu- 
sual in  Indians  bringing  the  children  of  their  relatives 
into  bbe  oountry,  and  it  is  submitted  that  it  will  be  a. 
very  serious  injustice  if  such  children,  who  have  hither^ 
to  been  left  unmolested,  are  either  deported  from  the- 
Colony  or  prevented  from  entering  the  Colony.  The 
Government,  again,  intend  to  require  the  female  relatives 
of  resident  Indians  also  to  be  registered,  in  the  same- 
manner  as  the  males.  The  British  Indian  Association 
has  sent  an  empbatio  protest  against  any  such  measure, 
and  bas  even  submitted  that  it  would  be  prepared  to- 
fighb  the  question  in  a  court  of  law,  as,  according  to  the 
advice  given  to  it,  wives  of  resident  Indians  are  not 
required  to  take  out  registration  cereifioates  and  pay  £  3> 

THE   ENTRY   OF   SPECIAL    CLBEKS,    ETC. 

No  new  petmita  are  granced  by  the  Government,  no 
matter  how  neoeasary  it  may  ba  in  certain  oases.  We 
vvere  all  extremely  pleased  to  read  in  the  papers  your 
ExQellenoy'a  empbatio  declaration  that  the  vested  inte- 
reeta  of  the  Indians  who  are  already  settled  in  the  country 
ehould  not  be  disturbed  or  touched.  There  are  merohanta 
who  bave  constantly  to  draw  upon  India  for  confidential 
clerks,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  carry  on  their  bueineas. 
It  is  not  easy  to  pick  out  reliable  men  from  the  reaideuit^ 
population.  That  is  the  experience  of  merohanta  all 
over,  and  belonging  bo    all   oommunibiea.    If     thereforei. 


DEPUTATION  TO  LOBD  SELBOBNB  37 

new  Indians  are  abaolubely  shut  onb  of  the  country  until 
the  establishment  of  representative  government,  it  will 
seriously  interfere  with  these  vested  interests,  and  in  any 
ease,  it  is  diffioult  to  sea  why  naen  of  attainments  and 
eduoatioD,  whether  they  be  refugees  or  not,  should  not  be 
able  to  have  their  permits  on  application-  And,  in  epita 
of  all  these  hardships,  our  anti-Indian  friends  are  never 
tired  of  saying  the  country  is  flooded  with  British  Indians 
who  were  never  in  the  Transvaal.  They  have  made  a 
■point  of  saying  that  every  Indian  who  was  before  in  the 
country  was  registered-  I  hardly  think  it  is  necessary 
for  me  to  dilate  upon  this  matter,  as  your  Excelienoy  has 
been  told  that  all  the  facts  with  reference  to  this  charge 
are  wrong,  but  I  may  be  pardoned  for  referring  your  , 
SiXdellenoy  to  a  case  that  happened  in  1893.  Shire  and 
Damat  were  large  contractors  of  labour.  They  brought 
into  the  country  at  one  time  800  Indian  labourers.  How 
many  mora  they  brought  I  do  not  know.  The  then  State 
Attorney  insisted  that  they  should  take  out  registration 
■oertifioates  and  pay  £  3  each.  Shire  and  Damat  tested 
the  matter  in  the  High  Court,  and  the  then  Chief  Justice, 
Kotz3,  held  that  these  men  were  not,  in  the  terms  of  the 
laW)  called  upon  to  pay  £3,  as  they  did  not  enter  for 
"  purposes  of  trade,"  and  that  he  could  not  help  the 
'Government,  even  if  the  men,  after  the  contract  was 
over,  subsequently  remained  in  the  country.  That  is 
only  one  instance,  which  cannot  be  gainsaid,  in  which 
hundreds  of  Indians  remained  in  the  country  without 
praying  £8  each.  The  British  Indian  Association  has 
always  submitted,  and  that  from  personal  experience, 
itbat  hundreds  of  Indians,  who  did  not  take  out  trade 
licences,  remained  in  the  country  witbouli  ever  registering 
4ihemselye?  and  paying  4t  3. 


38  THE    SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

BAZAARS    AND  LOCATIONS 
Oomibg  to  Law  3  of  1885,  ib  has   been    often  urge* 
that  Indians,  after  the  establislament  of  British  Govern- 
nfent  in  this  country,  have  reoeived  relief  with   reference 
to  trade  lioenoes.   Nothing,  however,  can  be  farther  from, 
the  truth.'    Bafore  the  war,  we  were   able  to    trade  any- 
where we  liked,  as  against  tender  of  payment    for  lioenoe- 
moaey,     The  long  arm  of  the   British  Government    wafr 
then    strong    enough  to    protect  us.  and  up  to    the    very; 
eve  of    the   war,  in  spite   of  the  constant  threats    of    the 
then  Government  to  prosecute  British  Indians  who  were 
trading,  no  aoii'on  was  taken.    It  is  true  that  now,  owing, 
to  the  decision    of  the   Supreme    Court,  Indian  trade    is 
unfettered  but  that  is  in    spite  of  the   Government,     Up 
to  the  very    last   moment  the    Government   declined    tql 
come  to  the  rescue  and  a^po^tioe  was  published  called  th& 
"Bazaars  Notioe,"  which  stated  that,  after  a  certain  date, 
every  Indian  who  did  nob  hold    a  licence  to  trade  at   thft 
outbreak  of  war  outside  locations,  wpuld  be  expected  nob 
only    to  remote  to  locations,    but    bo    trade   there    also. 
After  the  notice  was  published  locations  were  established. 
in  almost   every  town,   and  when    every   effort   to    get 
justice  ab  the  hands  of  the  Government    was   exhausted,., 
as  a  last   reSort  it  was   decided  to  test   the  matter  in   a 
Court  of  Law.    The  whole  of  the  Government  machinery 
was  then    set  in  motion    against  us,     Before  the  war    a 
similar  case   was    fought,    and  the  British    Government- 
aided  the  lodians    to  seek    an  interpretation  of  the   law, 
which  we  have  now  received   frdm  the  present    Supreme- 
Court.     After  the  establishment  of  the    British    Govern- 
ment,   all   these   forces  were    against  us.     It  is   a   ornet 
irony  of  fate,  and  there  ifl  no  use  disguising  the  fact  that 
we  have  felb   ib  most  keenly,  and   this,  I  may   state,   as- 


DEPUTATION   TO  LOKD   SBLBOBNB  Z9 

has  now  transpired,  in  spite  of  the  faoi  that  the  then 
Attorney-General  told  the  Government  that  the  inter- 
pretation they  sought  to  place  upon  the  law  was  bad , 
that,  if  it  went  to  the  Supreme  Court,  the  matter  would 
be  decided  in  favour  of  British  Indiana.  If,  therefore, 
British  Indiana  have  nob  been  sent  to  looations  and  are 
free  to  trade  anywhere  they  like,  and  to  live  where  they 
like — as  I  say,  it  is  beaause  it  is  notwithstanding  the 
intentions  of  the  Government  to  the  contrary.  In  every 
instance,  Law  3  of  1885  has  been,  so  far  as  the  Indians 
are  concerned*  most  strictly  interpreted  against  us,  and 
we  have  not  been  allowed  advantage  of  any  loopholes 
that  are  left  in  it  in  our  favour,  For  instance,  British- 
Indiana  are  not  debarred  from  owning  landed  property 
in  "streets,  wards,  or  looations  that  may  be  set  aparb''- 
by  the  Government.  The  Government  have  resolutely 
declined  to  consider  the  words  "streets  and  wards,"  and 
have  simply  clung  to  the  world  looations,  and  these 
locations,  too,  have  been  established  miles  away,  We 
have  pleaded  hard, 'saying  that  the  Government  have  the 
power  to  give  us  the  right  to  ownership  of  land  in  streets 
and  wards,  that  they  should  make  use  of  that  power  in 
our  favour,  but  the  plea  baa  been  in  vain.  Even  land 
which  is  being  used  Jor  religious  purposes,  the  GoTern- 
ment  would  not  transfer  in  the  names  of  the  trustees,  as 
in  Johannesburg,  Heidelburg,  Pretoria  and  Fotobefstr 
roocTi  although  the  mosque  premises  are  good  in  every 
respect,  from  a  sanitary  standpoint.  It  is  time,  ws. 
therefore  submit,  that  soma  relief  was  granted  to  us, 
while  new  legislation  is  under  consideration, 
CLASS  LEGISLATION 
Aa  to  the  new  legislation  to  replace  Law  3  of  1885 
the  despatch  drawn  by  Sir  Arthur  Lawley  has  caused  us 


40  THE   SODTH   AFEICAN   INDIAN    QUESIION 

a  very    great     deal   of    paio.     It   insiate    od    legislation 
affeotiDg  British  Indians  or  Asiaticia,    aa    such.     It    also 
inslBts  on  the  prinoiple  of    oonapulsory    segregatloo    both 
of  whioh  are  in  oGtjflJol;  with  ibe  repeated  assuraDces  given 
to  British  Indiane,     Sir  Arthur  Lawley,    I    wish    to  say 
vrith  the  greatest  deference,    bag   allovred    himeelf    to  be 
led  astray  by  what  he  saw  in  Natal.  Matal  has  been  held 
up  aA  an  axanaple  of  what  the  Transvaal  would  be,  but  the 
responsible  poiitiorans  in    Natal    have    always    admitted 
that  Indians  have  been    the  saving  of    the    Colony.     Sir 
James  .Huiett  stated  before  the   Native   Affairs  Gommis- 
sioQ  that  the  Indian,  even  as  a    trader,    was    a    desirable 
oitizen,   and    formed    a   better    link    between    the  white 
wholaaala     merohRnt      and     the     Native.     Sir     Arthur 
Lawley  had  also  stated  that,  even  if  promises  were  made 
to  British  lodians,  they  were  made  in    ignorance  of  the 
faots  aa  they  now  are,  and  therefore  it  would  be  a  greater 
duty  to  break  them  than  to  carry  them    out.     With    tba 
greatest    deference,    I    venture  to   submit    that    this  is  a 
wrong   view  to  take  of  the  promises.  We  are  not  dealing 
with  promises  that  were  made  fifty  years  ago,  though  we 
undoubtedly  rely  upon    the    Proclamation    of    1858    as 
our    '   Magna    Gbarta."     That     proclamation    has    been 
reaffirmed  more  than    once.   Viceroy    after   Viceroy   has, 
stated  emphatically  that  it  was    a    promise   acted    upon. 
At  the  Ooofereuoa  of  the  Colonial  Premiers,    Mr-  Gbam- 
berlMn    laid    down    the    same    doctrine    and    told  .  tba 
Premiers  that  no  legialation  affecting  British   Indians  as 
such    would    be    countenanced    by    Her    late  Majesty's 
Government,  that  it  would  be  putting    an    affront   quite 
unnecessarily  on  millions  of    the    loyal   subjects    of    the 
crown,  and  that,  therefore,  the  legialation  that  was  passed 
could  only  be  of  a  general    character.     It    was   for    that 


DEPUTATION   TO  LORD  SELBOBNB  41 

■reason  thah  the  first  Immigrabion  Eaeliriotiion  Aob  of 
Australia  was  vetoed.  It  was  for  the  same  reason  that 
the  first  Natal  Eranohise  Aot  was  vetoed,  and  it  was  (or 
the  same  reason  that  the  Oolony  of  Natal,  after  submit- 
ting a  draft  bill  applioable  to  Asiatics  as  suoh.  had  to  draft 
another  measure.  There  are  matters,  not  of  years  gone 
■by,  hut  of  reoenb  years.  It  oanoot  ha  said  that  there  are 
to-day  any  uew  facts  that  have  oooae  to  light  to  .change  all 
this.  Indeed,  even  immediately  before  the  war,  declara- 
tions were  made  by  Miaisterg  that  one  of  the  reasons  was 
to  protect  the  rights  of  British  Indiana.  Lastly,  but  not 
■ieaat,  your  Esoallenoy,  too,  gave  expresaion  to  similar 
sentimenta  on  the  eve  of  the  war.  Taough,  therefore,  the 
manner  in  which  Sir  Arthur  Liwiey  has  approached  &ha 
question  ie,  in  our  humble  opinion,  vary  unjust  and  inoon- 
sistent  with  the  British  traditions,  we,  in  order  to  show 
that  wa  wish  to  oa-operatie  with  the  white  ooionista, 
have  submitted  that,  even  though  no  such  law  existed 
before,  there  may  now  be  an  Immigration  Act  after  "the 
basis  of  the  Gape  or  Natal,  except  that,  as  to  the  edu- 
cational test,  the  great  Indian  languages  should  be 
recognised  and  that  the  already  estaliahed  British 
Indian  merchants  should  have  facilities  afforded  to 
them  for  importing  temporarily  men  whom  they  may 
require  in  their  businesses.  That  will  at  once  do  away 
with  the  fear  of  what  has  been  termed  an  Asiatic  invaaion. 
We  have  also  submitted  that  with  reference  to  trade 
{icanaes,  which  have  caused  so  much  grumbling,  the 
power  should  be  given  to  the  Local  Boards  or  Town 
-Councils  to  regulate  the  issue  of  any  new  licence  subject 
to  the  control  of  the  Supreme  Court,  All  the  existing 
licences  should  -be  taken  out  of  the  operation  of  any 
such  statute,  because   they   represent    vested    interests. 


42  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INMAN   QUESTION 

We  feel  tbab,  if  those  two  measures  were  passed,  andLaw 
3  of  1885  were  repealed,  some  measure  and  only  some- 
measure  of  jusbioe  would  be  done  bo  ludiaos.  We  sub- 
mib  tbab  we  ought  to  bave  perfeob  freedom  of  owning 
landed  property  and  of  living  where  we  like  under  the 
general  munioipal  regulations  as  to  sanitation  and  appear- 
ance of  buildings,  and  during  the  time  that  the  legislation 
is  being  formed,  the  Feaoe  Preservation  Ordinanoe  should' 
be  regulated  in  aooordanoe  with  the  spirit  of  suoh  regula- 
tion, and  liberal  interpretation  should  be  placed  upon 
Law  3  of  1885.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  foreign  to  the 
nature  of  the  British  Constitution  as  I  have  been  taught 
from  my  obildhood,  and  it  is  difScult  for.  my  oouutrymen 
to  understand  that,  under  the  British  flag  whioh  protects 
aliens,  its  own  subjeots  should  be  debarred  from  holding' 
a  foot  of  landed  property  so  long  as  good  use  is  made  of 
it,  Uuder  the  oonditions,  therefore,  submitted  by  the 
Association,  it  ought  to  be  possible  for  the  Government  to 
free  the  Statute  Book  of  the  Colony  from  legislation  that 
neoessarily  insults  British  Indians,  I  do  not  wish  to  touch 
on  suoh  questions  as  footpath  regulations,  when  we  have- 
to  consider  the  question  of  bread  and  butter  and  life  and 
death.  What  we  want  is  nob  political  power ;  bat 
we  do  wish  to  live  side  by  side  with  other  pribish 
subjects  in  peace  and  amity,  and  with  dignity  and  self- 
respect.  We,  therefore,  feel  that  the  moment  His  Majes- 
ty's Government  decide  so  pass  legislation  differentiating 
between  class  and  class,  there  would  be  an  end  to  that 
freedom  which  we  have  learned  to  cherish  as  a  prioelesa' 
heritage  of  living  under  the  British  Crown, 


DEPUTATION   TO   LORD   EliaiN  43^ 

DEPUTATION  TO  LORD   ELGIN 

The  deputation  to  the  Earl  of  Selborne,  High   Com- 
missioner in  South  Africa,  having  failed  in  its  efforts  to 
obtain  redress,  the  Indians  led  by  Mr.    Oandhi  organised 
an  agitation  in  England  and  succeeded  in  enlisting   the 
sympathy  of  many  Englishmen  in  the  cause  of  the  South 
African  Indians.     An  influential  Committee  with  Lord 
Ampthill  as  President,  SirM.M.  Bhownaggree  as   Execu- 
tive Chairman  and  Mr.  Bitch  as  Secretary,  was  formed  to 
guard  over  Indian  interests  and  a  deputation  ffom  among 
the  leading  sympathisers  of  the  cause  of  British  Indians 
in  South   Africa   was  organised   to  wait   on  the   Earl  of 
Elgin,  the    Colonial    Secretary,     The    deputation    luhich 
consisted  of  Lord   Stanley  of   Alderley,  Mr.  H.  0,   Ally, 
Mr.  M,  K.   Gandhi,    Sir  Lepel   Griffint  Mr.   J.  D.  Bees,. 
G.I.E.i  M,P.,  Sir  George  Birdwood,    K.C.S.L,  Sir  Henry- 
Cotton,   KG.S.I.,    M.  P.,  Mr.    Dadabhai    Naoroji,   Sir 
M.  M.  Bhownaggree,  K.G.I.E.,  Mr.  Amir  Ali,  Mr.  Harold 
Oox,M.P.,  and  Mr-    Thornton,     G.S.I.,  waited  on  Lord 
Elgin  on  Thursday,  November,  8,  1906,  at  the .  Colonial 
office.  Lord  Elgin   began  by    saying  that  his   sentiments 
would  all  be  in  favour  of  doing  anything  he  could  for  the^ 
interest  of  British  Iridians.  Sir  Lepel  Griffin  having  in- 
troduced the  Delegates  in  a  neat  little  speech,  Mr.  Gandhi,^ 
as  one  of  the  two  delegates  from  South   Africa,  spoke  a»^ 
follows  : 

Both  Mr.  Ally  and  1  are  very  muoh  obliged  to  your 
Lordship  for  giving  ua  the  opportunity  of  plaoiog  the- 
British  Indian  position  before  you-  Supported  though-- 
vre  are  by  distiogaiahed  Aogio-Indiakn  frienda  and  othara, 
I  feel  that  the  task  before  Mr.  Ally  ani  myaelf  ia  very 
difficult  beoauEe  your  Lordship,  in  reply  to  the  oablegranx 


44  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION     ' 

sent  to  you  through  Lord  Selborne,  after  the  great 
Indian  Mass  Meeting  in  Johannesburg,  was  pleased  to 
ioform  the  British  Indian  Association  that,  although  you 
would  be  pleased  to  give  as  every  opportunity  of  stating 
our  case,  no  good  purpose  was  likely  to  he  served,  as 
your  Lordship  bad  approved  of  the  priuciple  of  the 
Ordinance,  in  that  it  gave  sooie  naeaaure  of  relief  to  (he 
British  Indian  oommunity,  though  not  as  muoh  as  His 
Majesty's  Government  would  desire.  We>  who  are  the 
men  on  the  spot,  and  who  are  afifeoted  by  the  Ordinance 
in  question,  have  ventured  to  think  otherwise.  We  have 
felt  that  this  Ordinance  does  not  give  us  any  relief  what- 
soever. It  is  a  measure  which  places  British  Indians  in 
a  far  worse  position  than  before,  and  makes  the  lot  of 
the  British  Indian  well-nigh  intolerable.  Under  the 
Ordiuanee,  the  British  Indian  is  assumed  to  be  a 
criminal.  If  a  stranger,  not  knowing  the  oiroumstanoes 
of  the  TrauEvaal,  were  to  read  the  Ordinance,  he  would 
have  no  hesitation  in  coming  to  the  conolueion  that 
an  Ordinance  of  that  nature,  which  carries  so  many 
penalties,  and  wounds  the  British  Indian  oommunity  on 
ali  sides,  musr.  only  apply  to  thieves  or  a  gang  of  robbers, 
I  venture,  therefore,  to  think  that,  although  Sir  Lapel 
Griffin  has  used  strong  language  in  connection  with  the 
Ordinance,  he  has  not  at  all  exaggerated,  but  every  word 
of  it  is  justified.  At  the  same  time  I  beg  to  state  that 
the  Ordinance,  as  amended,  does  not  apply  to  British 
Indian  females.  The  draft  Ordinance  undoubtedly 
applied  to  females  also,  but  owing  to  the  very  strong 
protest  made  by  the  British  Indian  Association,  and  by 
Mr.  Ally  separately,  as  Chairman  of  the  Hamidia  Islamio 
Society,  pointing  out  the'greit  violence  that  would  have 
been  done    to    female    sanctity,    if  I   may    say    so,  the 


DBPUTAIION  TO  LOBD  ELGIN         4&> 

Ordinanoe  was  amended  ao  aa  to  take  femalea  out  of  ita 
operatioa.  Bull  ib  applies  to  all  adatt  malea  and  even  to 
obildren,  to  that  the  parents  or  guardians  have  to  take 
out  registration  oertifioates  for  theit  ohiidran  or  wards, 
aa  the  ease  may  be. 

It  is  a  fundamental  maxim  of  the  British  law  that - 
everyone  ia  preaumad  to  be  inoooant  until  he  is  found 
guilty,  but  the  Ordinanoe  revarsea  the  prooess,  brand». 
every  Indian  aa  guilty,  and  leavea  no  room  for  him  to 
prove  his  innooenoe.  There  is  absolutely  nothing  proved 
against  ua,  and  yet  every  British  Indian,  no  matter  what 
his  statua  ia,  ia  to  be  ooademnad  as  guilty,  and  not 
treated  aa  an  innooent  man.  My  Lard,  an  Ordinance  of 
this  nature  it  ia  not  possible  for  British  Indiana  to  re- 
oonoile  themaelvaa  to.  I  do  not  know  that  auoh  an 
Ordinance  is  applicable  to  free  British  subjeota  in  any 
part  of  His  Majeaty'a  Dominions. 

Moreover,  what  the  Irauavaal  thinks  to-day,  the 
other  Colonies  thinks  to-morrow.  When  Lord  Milner 
sprang  bis  Bazaar  Notice  on  British  Indiana,  the  whole 
of  South  Africa  rang  with  the  idea.  The  term  "bazaar" 
is  a  misnomer-  it  baa  been  really  applied  to  iooationa 
where  trade  is  utterly  impoasible.  However,  a  proposal 
was  aariously  made,  after  a  Bazaar  Notice  by  the  then 
Mayor  of  Durban,  Mr.  Ellis  Brown,  that  Indians  should 
be  relegated  to  bazaars.  There  ia  not  the  alightest- 
reason  why  this  Ordinance  also,  if  it  ever  beoomea  law, 
should  not  bd  copied  by  the  other  parts  of  South  Africa. 
The  position  to-day  in  Natal  is  that  even  indentured 
Indians  are  not  required  to  carry  passes  as  contemplated 
by  the  Asiastio  Law  Amendment  Ordinance  ;  nor  are 
there  any    penalties    adtaobed    feo   the  non-carrying   o£ 


46  THE   SOUXH  AFRICAN    INDIAN    QUESTION 

passes  as  are  defined  in  the  Ordinance  under  disoug- 
«ion.  We  have  already  shown,  in  our  humble  repra- 
aentabion,  that  mo  relief  has  been  granted  by 
this  Ordinance,  beoauae  the  ramiasion  of  the  £3  fag 
referred  to  by  Mr.  Dancan  is  qaite  illusory,  beoauaa 
all  we  British  Indians  resident  in  the  Transvaal,  who 
are  obliged  to  pay  £3  under  Ltw  3  of  1885)  and  thosa 
who,  under  Lord  Sslborna'a  protnisas  are  likaiy  to  be 
allowed  to  re-enter  the  Transvaal,  have  paid  the  £3 
already. 

The  authority  to  issue  teoiporary  permits  is  also 
saperfiaouB)  in  lihali  the  Government  have  already  eseroia- 
ed  the  power,  and  (hare  are  to-day  in  the  Transvaal 
several  Indians  in  possession  of  temporary  permits. 
Taey  are  liable  to  be  espalled  from  the  Colony  on  the 
expiry  of  their  permits. 

The  relief  under  the  Liquor-Ordinance  is,  British 
Indiana  feel,  a  wanton  insult.  So  much  was  thus 
recognised  by  the  local  Government  that  they  immediately 
assured  the  Indians  that  it  was  not  intended  for  British 
Indians  at  all,  but  for  somebody  else.  We  have  no 
connection  with  anybody  else  and  we  have  always 
endeavoured  to  show  that  the  British  Indians  ought  to 
be  treated  as  British  aubjeots,  and  ought  not  to  ba 
included  with  the  general  body  of  Asiatics  with  respaoi 
to  whom  there  may  bs  a  need  for  some  restrictions  which 
ought  not  to  apply  to  British  Indians  as  British  subjects. 

There  remains  one  mora  sentimenli,  that  is,  in  con- 
nection with  the  land  owned  by  the  late  Aboobalser.  Tha 
land  should  belong  bo  the  hairs  by  right,  but  under  tha 
interpretation  reluctantly  put  upon  it  by  tha  Saprema 
Court,  that  it  is  o«ly  individual  in  oharaoSer,  and  does  nob 


,       DEPpXATlON   TO  LORD  ELGIN  47 

touch  the  oommunity,  (be  land  oannoti  be  transmiliied  to 
the  heirs,  The  Ordioanoe  is  intieiided  to  rectify  the  error, 
but  as  I  had  the  honour  to  represent  the  heirs,  I  ventured 
-to  think  that  even  they  would  not  consent  to  pay  for 
getting  this  relief  at  the  price,  in  the  nature  of  the 
Ordinance  for  British  Indians ;  and  certainly  the  Indian 
oommunity  can  never  exchange,  for  the  relief  given  to  the 
heirs  of  the  land  of  Aboobaker,  an  Ordinance  of  this 
nature,  which  requires  them  to  pay  so  great  a  price  for 
what  is  really  their  own.  So  that  under  the  Ordinance, 
in  that  respect  again,  there  is  absolutely  no  relief.  Aa 
I  said  before,  we  shall  be  under  the  Ordinance  branded 
as  criminals. 

My  Lard,  the  existing  legislation  is  severe  enough., 
I  hold  in  my  hands  returns  from  the  Court  of  the  Magis- 
trate at  Volksruat.  Over  150  successful  proseoations  of 
Indians  attempting  to  enter  the  Transvaal  ha\[B  taken 
place  during  the  years  1905  and  1906,  All  these  prose- 
cutions, I  venture  to  say,  are  by  no  means  just.  I 
'venture  to  believe  that,  if  these  prosecutions  were  gone 
into,  you  would  see  that  some  of  them  were  absolutely 
groundless, 

So  far  as  the  question  of  identification  is  concerned, 
the  present  laws  are  quite  enough.  I  produce  to  Your 
Lordship  the  Eegistration  Certificate  held  by  me,  and  it 
will  show  how  complete  it  is  to  establish  idenbifioation. 
The  present  law  can  hardly  be  called  an  amendment.  I 
produce  before  Your  Lordship  a  registration  receipt  held 
by  my  colleague,  Mr.  Ally,  from  the  Transvaal  Govern- 
ment. Your  Lordship  will  see  that  it  is  merely  a  receipt 
^or  £3,  The  registration  under  the  present  Ordinaoce 
is  of  a  different   type.     When  Lord  Milner  wished   to 


48  THE    SODTH    APBIOAN    INDIAN   QUBSTION 

enforce  L\w  3  of  1885,  he  suggested  new  registratioo. 
We  protesiied  agaioBti  it,  bul;  on  his  strong  advice,, 
as  a  voluntary  act,  we  allowed  ourselves  to  be  newly 
registered  ;  and  hence  the  form  produced  before  Your 
Lordship.  At  the  time  the  registration  was  nudertakeu. 
Lord  Milner  stated  empbatioaliy  that  it  was  a  measure- 
once  for  all,  and  that  it  would  form  a  complete  title  to 
residence  by  those  who  hold  suoh  registration  oertifioates,. 
Is  all  this  now  to  be  undone? 

Your  Lordship  is  doubtless  aware  of  the  Fania  case,, 
wherein  a  poor  Indian  woman  in  the  company  of  her 
husband,  was  torn  away  from  her  husband,  and  was- 
ordered  by  the  Magistrate  to  leave  the  oouniiry  within 
seven  hours.  Fortunately,  relief  was  granted  in  the  end,. 
as  the  matter  was  taken  up  in  time.  A  boy  under 
eleven  years  was  also  arrested  and  sentenced  to  pay  a 
fine  of  £  30  or  to  go  to  gaol  for  three  months,  and  at  the 
end  of  it  to  leave  the  country.  In  this  case,  again,  the 
Supreme  Court  has  been  able  to  grant  justice,  The  con- 
viction was  pronounced  to  be  wholly  bad,  and  Sir  James 
Bose-Innes  stated  that  the  Administration  would  bring 
upon  itself  ridicule  and  contempt  if  such  a  policy  was 
pursued.  If  the  existing  legislation  is  strong  enough, 
and  severe  enough  to  thus  prosecute -British  Indians,  is 
it  not  enough  to  keep  out  of  the  colony  British  Indians 
who  may  attempt  fraudulently  to  enter  it? 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  reason  for  passing  the 
Ordinance  is  that  there  Is  an  unauthorised  influx  of 
British  Indians  into  the  Transvaal,  on  a  wholesale  scale, 
and  that  there  is  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the  Indian 
community,  to  introduce  Indians  in  such  a  manner.  The 
last  charge  baa  been,  times   without  number,  repudiated 


DEPtlTATION   10  LOBD   BLGIN      "  49 

by  the  Indian  oommanity,  and  the  makera  of  the  charge 
have  been  challenged  to  prove  tbair  statemeni).  Tua 
first)  Bbatemenb  baa  also  been  denied. 

I  oughf)  to  menliioa  one  thing  also  ;  that  ia,  the  fourth 
resolution  that  waa  passed  at  the  Britiah  Indian  Mass 
Meeting.  It  waa  passed  by  the  meeting  solemnly, 
prayerfully,  and  in  all  humility,  and  the  whole  of  that 
great  meeting  decided  by  that  reaolutionisMaii,  if  this 
Ordinance  ever  oame  to  be  enforced  and  we  did  nob  get 
relief,  the  British  Indiana,  rather  than  submit  to  the 
great  degradation  involved  in  it,  would  go  to  gaol,  such 
was  the  intensity  of  the  feeling  aroused  by  the  Ordinanoe. 
We  have  hitherto  suffered  much  in  the  Transvaal  and  in 
other  parts  of  South  Africa  ;  bat  the  hardship  baa  been 
tolerable  ;  we  have  not  considered  it  neoeaaary  to  travel 
6000  milea  to  place  the  poaition  before  the  Imperial 
Government.  But  the  strainibg  point  bas  been  reached 
by  the  Ordinanoe,  and  we  felt  that  we  should>  in  all 
humility,  exhaust  every  resource,  even  to  the  extent  of 
sending  a  deputation  to  wait  on  Your  Lordahip, 

The  least,  therefore,  tfaat,  in  my  bumble  opinion, 
is  due  to  the  British  Indian  community,  ia  to  appoint  a 
Gommission  as  suggested  in  the  bumble  representation 
submitted  to  Tour  Lordship.  It  is  a  time-honoured 
British  custom  that,  whenever  an  important  principle  la 
involved,  a  Commission  is  appointed  before  a  step  is 
taken.  The  question  of  Allen  Immigration  into  the 
United  Kingdom  ia  a  parallel  case.  Charges  somewhat 
similar  to  the  charges  against  the  Indian  oommanity 
were  made  against  the  aliena  who  enter  the  United 
Kingdom.  There  waa  also  the  question  of  adequacy  of 
the  existing  legislation,  and  the  neoesaity  for  further 
i 


60  THE   SOUTH    AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

legislation.  All  these  three  points  were  referred  to  a 
GommiBsioa  before  any  step  was  taken,  I  therefore 
venture  to  think  that  a  Gommisaion  ahoald  be  appointed, 
and  the  whole  question  thrashed  out  before  any  drastic 
measures  are  taken. 

I  venture  therefore  to  hope  that  Your  Lordship  will 
see  your  way  to  grant  this  small  measure  of  relief  to  the 
British  Indian  community. 


BEFORE  THE  COURT  IN  1907 

Mr.  Gandhi's  appeal  to  Lord  Elgin  and  the  efforts 
of  the  British  Committee  in  London  were  sucoessful  only 
to  the  extent  of  securing  from  Lord  Elgin  a  declaration 
that  the  ordinance  would  be  hung  up  until  the  matter,  had 
received  the  consideration  of  the  Transvaal  Parliament 
that  was  shortly  to  come  into  being,  A  constitutional 
^ovefnment  was  soon  after  formed  in  the  Transvaal  and 
the  new  measure  received  the  Boyal  Assent  and  became 
Law.  The  Indian  Community  in  Transvaal,  seeing  that 
their  efforts  ivere  all  in  vain,  determined  to  fight  and  risk 
the  consequences  of  disobedience  in  accordance  with  the 
resolution  passed  at  a  vast  mass  meeting  of  some  3,000 
British  Indians  held  at  the  Empire  Theatre,  Johannesburg. 

On  the  26th  Decembert  1907,  the  Boyal  Assent  to  the 
Immigration  Act  was  announced  and  simultaneously  came 
the  news  that  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  two  Asiatic 
communities  were  warned  to  appear  before  the  Magistrate 
to  show  cause  why,  having  failed  to  apply  for  'registration, 
as  required  by  the  law,  they  should  not  be  ordered  to  leave 
the  Transvaal,     They  were  directed   to   leave    the   Colony 


bb:^orb  xhe  court  in  1907  51 

fpithin  a  given  period,  and  failing  to  do  so,  they  were 
-sentenced  to  simple  imprisonment  for  two  months. 
Mr.,  Gandhi  was  one  of  those  arrested  and  brought  to  trial. 

In  Christmas  week  of  19(^7  Mr.  Qandhi  received  a 
■telephone  message  from  Mr.  H.  F.  D.  Papenfue,  Acting 
Gommissioner  of  Police  forr  the  Tvansva,al,  ashing  him  to 
call  at  Marlborough  House.  Upon  arriving  there,  he  was 
informed  that  the  arrests  had  been  ordered  of  himself  and 
■25  others. 

"     The  following  account  of  the  proceedings   in  Court  is 
■taken  from  the  "  Indian  Opinion." 

Mr.  Gandhi  gave  hia  word  thab  all  would  appear  ba- 
4ota  the  respeotive  magistratea  at  10  A.M.  aexb  day  and 
'iibe  Gommisaioner  aooeplied  ibis  guarantee.  Next  morning 
when  he  attended  at  the  B.  Criminal  Court  ha  waa  ask- 
>ed  by  the  Superintendenb  whether  he  held  duly  issued 
I'egiatration  oertifiaates  under  law  2  ol  1907,  and  upon 
(rsoeiving  replies  in  tba  negatire,  be  waa  pronaptly  arreat- 
ved  and  obarged  under  aeocion  8  sub-aeabion  2  of  Aat  2  of 
-1907,  in  that  he  was  in  the  Tranavaal  without  a  registra- 
tion oertifiaate  issued  under  the  aot.  The  Court  was 
-orowded  to  exoessi  and  it  seemed  as  if,  at  one  time,  the 
barrier  would  be  overthrown. 

Mr.  D.  J.  Sburmau  proaeouted  on  behalf  of  the 
<Jrown. 

Mr,  Gandhi  pleaded  guilty. 

Sup.  Vernon  gave  evidenoe  as  to  the  arrest. 

Mr.  Gandhi  asked  no  queations,  but  went    into    the 

■box  prepared  to  make  a  statement.  He  aasd  what  he  waa 

ibouli  to  state  was  not  evidence  but  ha  hoped    tha,Courb 

^woaid  graat  him  iudulgsnoa  to  make  a  short  explanatioa 


52  IHB  SOUTH  AFBIOAK  INDIAN  QUESTION 

Beeing  thab  be  was  an  ofiSoer  of  thad    Court.  He    wished 
to  say  wby  be  bad  not  submitted  to  this. 

Mr.  Jordan  (Magistrate) :  I  don't  think  that  haa  any- 
thing to  do  with  it.  The  iaw  is  there,  and  you  have  dis- 
olaeyed  it,  I  do  not  want  any  politioaS  apeeohea  made. 

Mr,  Gandhi  ;  I  do  not  want  to  make  any  politioal 
apeeoheji, 

Mr,  Jordan  :  The  question  is,  have  you  registered  or 
not  ?  If  you  bave  not  registered  there  ia  an  end  of.  ika 
OBse.  If  yon  have  any  esplanatlon  to  offei;  as  regards  the 
order  I  am  going  Co  oaake  that  is  anoliher  atory.  There' 
is  the  law,  whiob  has  been  passed  by  the  Transvaal  legis- 
lature and  sanotioned  by  the  Imperial  Government,  All  I 
bave  to  do  and  all  I  oaa  do  is  to  administer  that  iaw  as 
it  stands. 

Mr.  Gandhi :  I  do  not  wish  to  give  any  evidence  in 
extenuation  and  I  know  that  legally  I  cannot  giv» 
evidence  at  all. 

Mr.  Jordan  :  All  I  have  to  deal  with  is  legal  evi- 
dence. What  you  want  to  say,  I  suppose,  is  that  you  dO' 
not  approve  of  the  law  and  you  conscientiously  resist  it. 

Mr.  Gandhi :  That  is  perfectly  true. 

Mr,  Jordan  :  I  will  take  the  evidence  if  you  say  you 
coDsoientiously  object. 

Mr.  Gandhi  was  proceeding  to  state  when  he  came 
to  the  Transvaal  and  the  fact  that  he  was  Secretary  to 
the  British  Indian  Association  when  Mr,  Jordan  said  ha 
did  not  see  how  that  aifected  the  case. 

Mr.  Gandhi :  I  said  that  before  and  I  simply  asked 
She  indulgence  of  the  Court  for  five  minutes. 

Mr.  Jordan  :  I  don't  think  this  ia  a  case  in  whiob 
the  Court  should  grant  any  indulgence  ;  you  have  defied 
tho  law. 


BBPOSB  THE  COURT  IN  1907         5* 

Mr.  Gandhi :  Vary    wall,    sir,   than  I   hava   notbiog 
vaore  tio  say. 

The  Magistrate   then  ordered    Mr.  Gandhi   to  leave 
the  oountry  in  48  hours. 

On  the  11th  January  1908  Mr.  Qandhi  appeared  before 

■the  Court,  and  he  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge  of  disobeying 

■the  order  of  the  Court  to  leave  the  Colony  within  48  hours, 

Mr.  Gandhi  asked  leave  to    make  a  tthort  Btatement 

and  having  obtained   it,  ha  said  he    thought  there  should 

'be  distinction  made  between  his  oaae  and  those  who  were 

to  follow.    He  bad  just  received  a  message  from  Pretoria 

-stating  that  his  oompatriots  had  been  tried  there  and  had 

been  sentenoed  to  thiree  months'  imprisonment  with  hard 

labour,  and  they  had    been  fined  a  heavy  amount  in  lieu 

-of  payment  of  wbiah  they  would  reoeiva  a'  further  period 

of  three  months'  bard  labour.    If  these  men  had  oommils- 

ted  an  offence,  he    had  oommitiied  a   greater  offence,  and 

ha  asked  the  magistrate  to  impose  upon  him  the  heaviest 

.penalti^- 

Mr.    Jordan  ;    You    asked   for  the    heaviest  penalty- 
which  the  law  authorised  ? 
Mr.  Gandhi:  Yes,  Sir. 

Mr.  Jordan  :  I  must  say  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  ao- 
oede  to  your  request  of  passing  the  heaviest  sentence 
which  is  six  months'  hard  labour  with  a  fine  of  £500. 
l?hat  appears  to  me  to  be  totally  out  of  proportion  to  the 
offence  which  you  have  committed.  The  offence  practi> 
•oally  is  oontampt  of  Court  in  having  disobeyed  the  order 
of  December,  28)  1907.  This  is  more  or  less  a  political 
offence,  and  if  it  bad  nob  been  for  the  political  defiance 
set  to  the  law,  I  should  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  pass 
4ha  lowest  sentenca   which  I   am  authorised  by   the  aob  > 


54  THE   SOUTH  APBICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

Under  tba  oiraumstanae,  I  bfaink  a  fair  seDtence  lio  toeefp 
tbe  case  would  be  two  montihs'  imprisoomeat  wibhonk 
bard  labour. 

Mr,  Gandbi  waa  tben  removed  in  custody. 


ATTITUDE  TOWAEDS  THE  ASSAILANTS. 

As  licences  to  trade  or    to  hawk  were  refused  without- 
the  production  of  the  new  registration  certificates  many 
men  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  hawking  without 
a  licence,  until  the  Johannesbury   gaol  was  uncomfortably 
crowded.     Bealising  that  there  was  no  sign  of  the  passive 
resistance  movement  breaking    down  and  impressed  by  the 
determination  of  the  Asiatic  communities,  as   well  as    the- 
increasing  pressure  of  public  opinion  not  only  in  England- 
and  India,  but  also  in   South  Africa   and  the   Transvaal 
itself.     General  Smuts  decided  to  try  a  truce,  and  accord- 
ingly   invited  negotiations  from  the  imprisoned    Indian- 
leaders.    As  a  result  of  these  negotiations,  General  Smuts 
suspended  the  operation  of  the  Act,  and  agreed   to  accept 
voluntary  re-registration,  promising  at    the  same  time  to- 
introduce  repealing    legislation  in    the  next  Session    of 
Parliament,  provided  that  voluntary  re-registration  had 
been  satisfactorily   effected-     True   to  his  promise,  Mr. 
Gandhi  took  to  voluntary  re-registration  and  began  advis- 
ing his  countrymen  to  do  so. 

One  morning  in  February,  1908,  when  Mr,  Gandhi  set 
out  to  fulfil  his  pledge  to  the  Transvaal  Government  that- 
he  would  undertake  voluntary  registration,  he  was  attack- 
ed by  a  small  section  of  the  Passive  Besisters  who  imagin- 
ed that  Mr.  Gandhi  was  playing  the  coward  and  betraying 
his  trust.    Though  bleeding  profusely   he  refused  to  seek 


ATXITODB  TOWARDS  THE   ASSAIIjANIS.  55^ 

police  protection  against  his  own  countrymen  and  would 
not  permit  the  Doctor  to  stitch  up  his  face  before  complet- 
ing the  form  of  application  for  voluntary  registration, 
That  same  day,  though  tossing  with  fever,  he  issued  the 
following  manifesto  from  his  sick  bed  :  — 

Thoaa  who  have  oommilited  tha  aob  did  nob  know 
what  they  were  doing.  They  tboughb  tbab  I  was  doing 
what  was  wrong.  They  have  had  bheir  tedresB  in  bhe 
only  manner  they  know.  I,  therefore,  request  thab  no 
steps  be  taken  against  them. 

Seeing  thab  the  assault  was  oommitted  by  a  Maho- 
medan  or  Mahomedans,  the  Hindus  might  probably  feel 
hurt.  If  so,  they  would  put  themselves  in  the  wrong 
before  the  world  and  their  Maker,  Bather  lab  the  blood 
spilb  to-day  oement  the  two  oommunities  indissolubly — 
snoh  is  my  heartfelt  prayer.  May  God  grant  it  I  ...  . 
The  spirit  of  passive  resiatanae  rightly  cnderstood  should 
make  the  people  fear  none  and  nothing  but  '  God — no 
cowardly  fear,  therefore,  should  deter  the  Met  majority 
of  sober-minded  Indians  from  doing  their  dai.y.  The 
promise  of  repeal  of  the  Aot,  against  voluntary  registra- 
tion, having  been  given,  it  is  tbe  saored  duty  of  every 
true  Indian  to  help  the  Government  and  the  Colpny  to 
the  uttermost. 


56  THE   SOUTH   APBiCAN    INDIAN    QUESTION 

THE  ISSUE  AT  STAKE 

Undisiurhed  in  any  way  by  the  murderous  attack  on 
him  Mr.  Gandhi  was  able  to  secure  the  voluntary  re- 
registration  of  his  countrymen  by  the  middle  of  May, 
1908.  It  was  now  time  for  Genl.  Smuts  to  carry  out  his 
promise  to  repeal  the  obnoxious  act.  It  luas  clear,  however, 
Oenl.  Smuts  was  determined  to  depart  from  Ihis  promise 
and  to  "  break  faith."  Immediate  protests  were  made  by 
both  the  British  Indian  and  Chinese  leaders  to  General 
Smuts,  who,  however,  failed  to  satisfy  them,  constantly 
evading  the  issue.  Finally  he  invited  Mr.  Gandhi  to 
discuss  the  difficulty  with  him,  and  at  the  interview  pro- 
duced a  Draft  Bill  to  repeal  the  Act.  on  condition  that  Mr. 
Gandhi,  onbehalfof  the  British  Indian  community,  would 
consent  to  regard  certain  classes  of  Indians  as  prohibited 
emigrants,  including  even  those  who  could  pass  the  most 
severe  education  test  of  the  Immigration  Act.  Recognising 
at  once  that  General  Smuts'  intention  was  to  substitute  for 
one  piece  of  insulting  legislation  an  even  more  humiliating 
law,  Mr.  Gandhi  indignantly  refused  to  contemplate  the 
suggestion  and  negotiations  were  abruptly  broken  off.  The 
agitation  was  in  full  swing  ;  the  jails  became  crowded  as 
usual ;  a  deputation  was  sent  to  England  to  explain  to 
the  British  public  how  General  Smuts  had  broken  faith 
and  was  playing  with  the  liberty  and  the  conscience  of  the 
Indian  community .  The  following  statement  issued  by 
Mr.  Gandhi  and  Mr.  Haji  Habib  on  the  5th  Nov.  1909 
in  London  gives  an  account  of  the  abortive  negotiation 
made  in  England  by  Mr.  Gandhi  and  the  British  Com- 
mittee there  for  redressing  the  wrongs  of  the  Transvaal 
Indians : — 


THE   ISSUE   AT  STAKE  57 

Tbe  Transvaal  BritiBb  Indian  Deputation  arrived  in 
London  on  bbe  lOtih  day  of  Jaly  last.  Tbe  enolosed  atate- 
ment  ot  tbe  Britisb  Indian  oaaa  in  tbat  Colony  was  pre- 
pared immediately  after  the  arrival  in  London  of  that 
Depatation,  but  ib  was  not  issued  as  delioate  negotiationa 
with  a  view  to  arriving  at  a  qaiet  settlement  were  in 
progress.  We  have  now  learnt  tbat  these  have  proved 
abortive  and  tbat  tbe  position  remains  unobanged.  It 
has,  therefore,  beaome  necessary  for  us  to  inform  the 
publio  as  to  how  tbe  matter  stands  and  what  the  struggle 
of  tbe  British  Indians  in  the  Transvaal  means. 

The  es-Goloniai  Secretary  of  the   Transvaal,    during 

its   administration    as    a    Crown    Colony,    writing    in    a 

magazine  in  South  Africa  in  the  month  of  February  last, 

thus  correctly  summed  up  the  gaestion  : 

"  The  position  of  the  Indian  leaders  IB  that  they  will  tolerate 
DO  law  which  does  not  pat  them  on  an  equality  with  Euiopeans 
in  regard  to  restriotion  on  immigration.     They  are  willing   to   see 

the  number  of  Asiatics  limited  by  administrative  aotion 

They  ioBlst  on  equality  in  the  terms  of  the  law  itself. 

That  is  still  the  position. 

Mr.  Smuts,  the  present  Colonial  Secretary  of  the 
'Transvaal,  ofiPers  to  repeal  the  Bagiatration  Law  around 
which  tbe  struggle  baa  been  raging  for  tbe  last  three  years, 
and  to  concede  to  a  limited  number  of  British  Indians, 
■other  than  former  residents  of  the  Transvaal,  certificates 
of  permanent  residence.  Were  tbe  object  aimed  at  by  tbe 
British  Indians  the  admission  into  the  Colony  of  a  few 
more  of  their  brethren,  this  concession  would  be  material, 
but  the  object  they  have  bad  in  view  in  agitating  for  tbe 
repeal  of  the  L»w  being  to  secure  legal  or  theoretical 
equality  in  respect  of  immigration,  their  purpose  is  fay 
the  propoaed  maintenance  of  the  legal  disability  noli 
=advaDoed  a  step.    We  are  not  aware  whether   tbe    abo  ve 


58  THE    SOUTH   AFKIOAN    INDIAN   QUESTION 

modjfioatiion  of  the  preaenb  law  proposed  by  Mr.  Smats- 
will  take  plaoe  irreapeotive  of  the  oontinuaDoe  of  the 
passive  reaistanoe  at  present  being  offered  by  the  British 
lodiaaa  of  the  Tranavaai,  but  we  are  in  a  positioD  to- 
state  that  the  proposed  oonoeesion  will  not  satisfy  passive 
reaistera,  The  atruggle  of  the  Indian  oommuDity  of  that 
Colony  was  underliaksn  in  order  to  obtain  the  removal 
of  the  stigma  oast  upon  the  whole  of  India  by  this  legia-^ 
lation,  which  importa  a  racial  and  colour  bar  into  the 
Immigratioo  Laws  of  a  British  Colony  for  the  first  time- 
in  tbh  history  of  Colonial  legislation.  The  priooipie  so  lail 
down  that  British  Indians  may  not  enter  the  Tranavaai 
because  they  are  Britiah  Indiana  is  a  radical  departure- 
from  traditional  policy,  is  un-British  and  intolerable,  and 
if  that  principle  is  accepted  even  tacitly  by  British  Indiana^ 
we  consider  that  they  will  be  untrue  to  themaelvaa,  to 
the  land  of  their  birth,  and  to  the  Empire  to  which  they 
belong.  Nor  is  it  the  passive  resiaters  in  the  Transvaal 
who,  in  amattercf  this  kind,  have  alone  to  baconsidered^ 
The  whole  of  India  is  now  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the 
insult  that  the  Transvaal  legislation  offers  to  her,  and  we 
(eel  thai)  the  people  bare,  at  the  heart  of  the  EmpirOi 
cannot  remain  unmoved  by  this  departure,  so  unpreoe- 
dented  and  so  vital,  from  Imperial  traditions.  Mr,  Smuts* 
proposal  brings  out  the  issue  in  the  clearest  manner 
possible.  If  we  were  fighting  not  for  a  principle  but  for 
loaves  and  fishes,  be  would  be  prepared  to  throw  them  at 
Hs  in  the  shape  of  residential  permita  for  the  amall 
number  of  cultured  British  Indiana  that  may  be  required 
for  our  wants,  but  because  we  insist  upon  the  removal  of 
the  implied  racial  taint  from  the  legislation  of  th& 
Colony,  he  ia  not  prepared  to  yield  an  inob.  He  would 
give  us  the  husk    without   the   kernel.     He   declineB   to 


THE   ISStlE   AT  STAKE  5* 

remove  the  badge  of  inferiority,  but  is  ready  to  ohange 
the  present  rough-looking  symbol  for  a  nicely  polished 
one.  British  Indians,  however,  decline  to  be  deluded. 
They  may' yield  everything,  oooupy  any  position,  but  the 
badgta  must  be  removed  first.  We,  therefore,  trust  that 
the  public  will  not  be  misled  by  the  specious  ooncessiona 
that  are  being  offered,  into  the  belief  that  British 
Indians,  because  they  do  not  accept  them,  are  unreason- 
able in  their  demands,  that  they  are  unoompromising,  and- 
that,  therefore,  they  do  not  deserve  the  sympathy  and 
support  of  a  common  sense  and  practical  public.  In  the 
final  reply  received  by  us  from  Lord  Crewe  the  following 
is  the  position  that  is  taken  up  : 

Hia  Lordship  explained  to  you  that  Mr.  Smuts  was  UDabIe< 
to  aooapt  the  olaim  that  Asiatios  should  be  placed  in  a  position- 
of  equality  with  Europeans  in  respect  of  right  of  entry  or 
otherwise. 

Herein  lies  the  orus.     Legal  equality  in  respect  of 
the  right  of  entry,  even  though  never  a  man  does  enter,  is- 
what  British  Indians  have  been  fighting  for,   and  accord- 
ing to  the  reports  we  have  received  from  the  TransvaaU- 
is   what    some  of  them,   at  least,  will  die  for.     The  only 
possible    justification  for    holding   together   the  different' 
commanitiea  of  the  Empire  under  the  same  sovereignty  is 
the   fact    of   elementary    equality,    and  ib  is  because  tba< 
Transvaal  legislation  outs  at  the  very  root  of  this  prinoipla 
that  British  Indians  have  offered  a  stubborn  resistance. 

It  would  be  contrary  to  fact  to  argue  that  no  relief' 
can  be  had  in  this  matter  because  the  Transvaal  is  a 
SeH-Governing  Colony,  and  because  now  South  Africa, 
has  got  its  Union.  Tbe  difSculty  of  the  situation  is  due 
to  a  mistake  committed  at  the  centre  of  the  Empire.  The- 
Imperial  Government  are  party  to  the  crime  against  tb» 
Imperial  Constitution.     They  sanctioned  when  they  ae^d^ 


'80  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN  QUESTION 

DOt  have,  aud  when  it  was  their  duty  not  to  have 
saaotiooed  the  leglBlation  in  gaesbion.  They  are  now 
undoubtedly  most  anxions  to  settle  this  troubleaotne 
matter.  Lord  Crewe  has  endeavoured  to  bring  about  a 
eatisfaotory  result,  but  he  is  too  late.  Mr.  Smuts, 
perhaps,  very  properly  has  reminded  his  Lordship  of  the 
{aot  that  the  legislation  in  question  had  received  Imperial 
sanotion,  and  that  he  should  or  could  now  be  called  upon 
to  retrace  his' steps,  because  the  British  Indians  in  the 
Transvaal  had  undertaken  to  disregard  the  legislation, 
and  to  suffer  the  penalties  of  such  disregard.  His 
position  as  a  politician  and  as  an  aspirant  to  high  office 
"in  a  white  South  Africa"  is  unquestionable,  but 
neither  the  British  public  nor  the  Indian  publio  are 
interested  in  bis  position  nor  are  they  party  to  this  crime 
of  the  Imperial  Government. 

We  may  add  that,  during  the  last  four  months, 
arrests  and  imprisonments  have  gone  on  unabated.  The 
leaders  of  the  community  continue  to  go  to  prison.  The 
-Severity  of  the  prison  regulations  is  maintained-  The 
Prison  diet  has  been  altered  Tor  the  worse.  Prominent 
tnedioal  men  of  Johannesburg  have  certified  (bat  the 
present  dietary  scale  for  Indian  prisoners  is  deficient. 
The  authorities,  unlike  their  action  during  last  year,  have 
ignored  the  religious  scruples  of  Mahomedan  ijrisoners. 
and  have  refused  to  give  faoilitiies  for  observing  the 
sacred  annual  fast  which  millions  of  Mahomedans  scru- 
pulously undergo  from  year  to  year.  Sixty  passive 
resistors  recently  came  out  of  the  Pretoria  gaol  emaciated 
and  weak.  Their  message  to  us  is  that,  starved  as  they 
ware,  they  are  ready  to  be  re- arrested  as  soon  aa  the 
Government  wish  to  lay  their  hands  on  them.  The 
acting  Chairman  of  the  British    Indian   Association  baa 


THE   MABRIAGB   QUESTION  St- 

only    juBb    been  arrested  and  Bentenoed  to  be  imprieotied 
for  tbree  months  with    hard    labour.     This  is  his  third 
term,     He  is  a  Mahomedaa.     A  brave    Farsee,  a    well- 
adaoated  man,  was    deported    to   Natal,     He    re-enteredi 
and  is  now  undergoing   six  months'    imprisoumenii    with' 
hard  labour*     He  is  in  gaol  for  the  fifiiii  time.     A  young. 
Indian,  an  ex- Volunteer    Sergeant,  has  also  gone  to  gaol 
for  the  third    time    on    the    sarae  terms  as  the   Parsee, 
Wives  of  imprisoned  British  Indians  and  bheir   obiidren. 
either   take    up    baskets  of  fruit,   hawk  about  and  earn- 
their  living  in  order  to  support  themselves,  or    are  being, 
supported  from  oontribations,  Mr.  Smut8>  when  be   re- 
embarked  for  South  Africa)  said  chat  be  bad  arrived  aD- 
an  understanding  with  Lord    Crewe  that  would  satisfy 
the  large  body  of  British  Indians  who  were  heartily  siclc. 
of  the, agitation.  His  prophecy  has  been  totally  disprov- 
ed by  what  has  happened  since. 


THE  MAEEIAGB  QUESTION 

The  £3  tax  was  not  the  only  disability  of  South  Afri- 
can Indians.  Among  the  various  legal  disabilities  to- 
which  Indians  were  subjected,  the  most  galling  was  the  one 
concerning  the  introdtiction  of  the  plural  wives  of  Asiatios- 
into  the  Transvaal.  The  law  involved  great  hardship  on 
the  Muslims  in  particular.  Mr.  Oandhi  urged  on  the 
Minister  "not  for  a  general  recognition  of  polygamy" ,  but 
contended  "  that,  in  continuation  of  the  practice  hitherto 
followed,  existing  plural  wives  of  domiciled  residents 
should  be  allowed  to  enter."  On  this  question  the  follow- 
ing correspondence  between  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Mr.  E.  M. 
Gorges  took  place  in  September,  1913.  In  reply  to  Mr. 
Gorges'  letter,  Mr,  Gandhi  wrote  on  22nd  September: — 


€2  THE   SOUTH   APBIC4K    INDIAN   QUESTION 

Dear    Mr,  Gorges, — I  am    muoh  obliged    to  you  for 

your    lebber    of    the    I9j1i  instaDt  regardiog  tibe  marriage 

^aeatioD.     I    faave    not    widened    the    original    aciope   of 

my   request.     Bat    I    shall    endeavour    as    olearly    as 

possible  to  re-state  the  position, 

It  is  submitted  that  authority  should  be  taizen  froaa 
Parliament   during   its   nest    session    to    legalise  mono* 

-gamous    marriages    already    solemaised    or    hereafter  to 

«be  solemnised  by  Indian  priests  among  Indians  belong- 
ing   to    non-Christian    denominations.     Legislation    has 

'become  necessary  only  beoaase  the  marriage  olause  in 
the  new  Aob  was  hastily  worded  without  considering 
the   full    position.     Unless    the    relief    now    sought    is 

.granted  soon,  the  status  of  Indian  women  married  in 
South  Africa  is  that  of  concubines  and  their  children 
not  lawful  heirs  of  their  parents.  Such  is,  as'  I  take 
it,  the  eSeot  of  the  Saarle  judgment  combined  with  the 
action  of  the  Natal  Master  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
the  Gardiner  judgment,  I  have  asked  for  a  promise 
■of    amelioration    during    the    nest    session     because    I 

^submit  that  the  matter  is  one  of  urgency.  With  regard 
to  polygamy,  I  have  not  asked  for  legal  reoogcitioo, 
but  the  admission  under  the  powers  vested  in  the 
Minister  of  plural  wives  without  the  Government  in  any 
wa,y  recognising  their  legal  status,  The  admission  is 
to  foe  restricted  only  to  plural  wives  already  married  to 
Indians  who  may  be  found  to  be  unquestionably 
domiciled  in  the  Union.  This  at  once  restricts  the 
scope  of  the  Government's  generosity  and  enables 
them  to  know  now  how  many  such  wives  will  have  to 
be  admitted,     I  have  already  submitted  a  plan  as  to  how 

itihia  can  be  brought  about). 


THE   MABBIAGE   QUESTION  6S 

In  myibumbleopinioD.rthe  letter  of  the  10:h  August, 
3911,  referred  to  in  your  ooBamuQioatioD,  bears  the 
interpretation  I  have  placed  upon  it.  The  Britiab 
Indian  As^ooiatioc  raised  the  question  of  polygamy 
and  the  above-mentioned  letter  oontaining  the  aesuranoe 
"Was  the  reply.  Id  suppose  you  know  that  plural  wives 
have  aotually  been  admitted  by  the  Immigration  Offioera 
and  that  polygamous  Unions  are  even  registered  on  the 
Transvaal  registration  oertifiaates. 

As  doubts  have  arisen  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  term 
''monogamous  marriage,"  I  beg  to  record  that  the 
meaning  that  the  community  has  placed  upon  ib  is  that 
a  marriage  is  monogamous  if  a  man  is  married  to  only 
one  woman,  no  matter  under  what  religion  and  no  matter 
whether  such  religion  under  given  circumstances  sanc- 
iiions  polygamy  or  nob. 

I  observe  that  paragraph  2  of  your  letter  seems  to 
-suggest  that  my  reply  to  your  last  wire  did  not  though  it 
-might  have  covered  the  other  points  referred  to  therein, 
I  purposely  refrained  from  tonobing  the  other  points  as  I 
felt  that  no  scope  was  left  open  for  me  to  do  so.  £ut  if 
General  Smuts  is  still  prepared  to  consider  the  other 
points,  I  shall  be  certainly  prepared  to  make  a  further 
-submission.  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  unfortunate 
rupture  has  taken  place  on  points  vary  vital  to  the  Indian 
■community  but  of  little  consequence  to  the  Government 
■or  the  dominant  population  of  the  Union. 

Fray  always  consider  me  to  be  one  the  leasb'^desiroua 
to  obstruct  the  Government  and  most  anxious  to  serve  it 
in  so  far  as  I  can  do  so  consistently  with  my  duty  to  my 
■countrymen. 

To  this  Mr,  Gorges  replied  that  the  minister  after 
Jull  consideration  had  ashed  him  to  say   that  it  would 


64  THE   SOUTH  APKtOAS  INDIAN   QUESTION 

not  he  possible  for  him  to  give  any  assurance  that  legis- 
lation on  the  lines  indicated  by  him  would  be  introduced 
at  the  next  session-  Mr.  Gandhi  thereupon  replied  on  28th 
September: — 

Daar  Mr.  Gorge?, — I  do  noli  know  that  I  am  jaatified 
in  writing  tbia  letlier  to  you,  bnt,  as  you  have  been 
peraonaily  Bolioitoua  aboat  tbe  non-revival  of  paseive 
resiatanoe,  and  as,  in  the  oourae  of  my  oonveraations 
with  yon,  I  have  so  often  told  you  that  I  have  nothiog 
to  withhold  from  tbe  Government,  I  may  as  well  in- 
form you  of  what  ia  now  going  on. 

I  wrote  to  you  from  Pfaoeois  in  reply  to  your  last 
letter,  and  if  you  have  not  yet  replied  to  my  com- 
muniaatioD  bat  intend  to  do  ao,  I  would  suggest  your 
sending  your  reply  to  my  Johannesburg  address,  as  I 
shall  habere  for  some  time  at  least. 

The  campaign  has  started  in  earnest.  As  you  know, 
sixteen  passive  reaisters,  including  four  women,  are 
already  serving  three  months  '  imprisonment  with  hard 
labour.  The  resisters  here  were  awaiting  my  arrival 
and  the  aotivity  here  will  commence  almost  immediately. 

I  cannot  help  saying  that  tbe  points  on  which  tbe 
struggle  has  re-started  are  suoh  that  the  Government 
might  gracefully  granb  them  to  tbe  community.  Bab 
what  I  would  like  to  imprees  upon  the  Government  is 
the  gravity  of  tbe  step  ws  are  about  to  take.  I  know 
(bat  it  is  fraught  with  danger.  I  know  also  that, 
once  taken,  it  may  be  difficult  to  control  the  spread  of 
the  movement  beyond  the  limits  one  may  set,  I  know 
also  what  responsibility  lies  on  my  shoulders  in  advising 
aucb  a  momentous  step,  but  I  feel  that  it  is  not  possible 
for  me  to  refrain  from  advising  a  step    which. I   consider 


THE   MARBIAGE   QUESTION  65 

to  be  naoaaaary,  to  ba  of  edaoational  valae  and,  in  thd 
end,  to  be  valuabia  both  to  the  Indian  oommanity  and 
to  the  State,  Thia  step  oonsiats  in  aotively,  peraiatentiy 
and  oontinuoualy  aaking  those  who  are  liable  to  pay  the 
£3  tax  to  daoline  to  do  so  and  to  auffer  the  penalties 
for  non-payment,  and,  what  ia  more  important,  it: 
asking  thoae  who  are  now  serving  indenture  and  who 
will,  therefore;  be  liable  to  pay  the  £3  tax  on  completion 
of  their  indantnra  to  strike  work  until  the  tax  is  with- 
drawn. I  feel  that,  in  view  of  Lord  AmpthiU'a  de- 
claration in  the  House  of  L'>rds,  evidently  with  the 
approval  of  Mr.  Gokhale,  aa  to  the  definite  promise 
made  by  the  Governmant  and  repeated  to  Lord  Glad- 
stone, this  advice  to  indentured  Indians  would  ba  fully 
justified.  That  the  tax  baa  weighed  most  heavily  upon 
the  men  I  know  from  persooal  experience  ;  that  the 
man  resent  it  bitterly  I  also  know  from  personal  know- 
ledge. But  they  have  submitted  bo  it  more  or  less 
with  quiet  resignation,  and  I  am  loth  to  disturb  their 
minds  by  any  step  that  I  might  taka  or  advise.  Can 
I  not  even  now,  whilst  in  the  midst  of  the  struggle^ 
appeal  to  General  Smuts  and  ask  him  to  re-oonsider 
hia  decision  on  the  pointa  alrnady  submitted  and  on 
the  question  of  the  £3  tax,  aod,  whether  this  letter  i& 
favourably  considered  or  not,  may  I  anticipate  the 
assurance  that  it  will  in  no  wise  be  taken  to  be  a  threat  ? 

(8d.)  M,  K,  G4NDHI. 


BEFORE  THE  COURT  IN  1913 

While  Mr.  Gandhi  was  leading  a  deputation  to 
JEngland,  another  deputation  led  by  Mr.  Polak  came 
to  India  to  press  the  question  of  the  repeal  of  the 
£3  tax.  Then  followed  an  agitation  in  England  and 
India  in  1910-1912  which  compelled  attention  of  the 
authorities.  Mr.  GoTchale  subsequently  ,visited  South 
Africa  and  made  special  representations  to  the  Union 
Ministers  on  this  particular  question  and  a  definite  under- 
taking was  given  to  Mm  that  the  tax  would  be  repealed. 
For  a  time  it  appeared  that  settlement  was  possible.  But 
General  Smuts  again  evaded  and  the  tension  became  more 
when  in  1913  a  measure  was  introduced  into  the  Union 
Parliament  exempting  women  only  from  its  operation,  Mr. 
Gandhi  wired  to  Mr.  Ookhale  asking  whether  the  promise 
of  repeal  was  limited  to  women  only.  Mr.  Gokhale  replied 
that  it  applied  to  all  who  were  affected  by  the  tax.  Mr. 
Gandhi  reminded  the  Union  Government  of  the  promise 
and  asked  for  a  definite  undertaking  to  repeal  it  in  191i- 
The  Union  Government  declined.  It  was  then  that  Mr, 
Gandhi  organised  the  great  movement  advising  indentured 
Indians  to  suspend  work  till  the  tax  loas  repealed.  Under 
his  lead  the  Indian  labourers  gathered  in  thousands  and 
they  passed  mine  after  mine  adding  to  their  numbers.  Then 
commenced  the  historic  March  into  the  Transvaal  allowing 
themselves  to  be  freely  arrested.  The  Government  hoping 
to  demoralise  the  Indians  issued  a  warrant  to  arrest  Mr,' 
Gandhi. 

Mr,  Gandhi,  was.  on  the  11th  November,  1913,  charged 
on  three  counts,  before  the  Resident  Magistrate,  Mr.  J.  W. 
Oross,  of  Dundee,  with  inducing  indentured  immigrants  to 
leave  the  Province.    The  Court  was   crowded  with  Indians 


BE^OBB   THE   OODBI.  IN   1913  67 

^nd  Europeans-  Mr.  W,  Daizell-Turnbull  was  specially 
instructed  by  the  Attorney-  General  to  appear  for  the  prose- 
cution, and  Mr.  Advocate  J,  W.  Godfrey  appeared  for 
Mr,  Gandhi.  Mr.  Gandhi  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charges. 

Mr.  TurnbuU  read  the  section  and  left  the  matter  in 
the  hands  of  the  Magistrate. 

Mr.  Godfrey  stated  that  he  was  under  an  obligation 
to  the  defendant  not  to  plead  in  mitigation  in  any  way 
whatsoever.  The  circumstances  which  had  brought  Mr. 
Gandhi  before  the  Magistrate  were  weU  known  to  all 
persons,  and  he  was  only  expressing  the  desire  of  the 
defendant  when  he  stated  that  the  Magistrate  had  a  duty 
to  perform,  and  that  he  was  expected  to  perform  that 
■duty  fearlessly,  and  should  therefore  not  hesitate  to 
impose  the  highest  sentence  upon  the  prisoner  if  he  felt 
that  the  circumstances  in  the  case  justified  it- 
Mr.  Qandhi  obtained  the  permission  of  the  Court, 
and  made  the  following  statement ; — 

As  a  mepabar  of  tha  professioo,  and  being  aa  old 
resident  of  Natial,  he  liiioughli  bhab,  in  jasbioe  bo  himself 
skpd  the  public,  ha  should  sbate  thab  bhe  oouats  agaiusb 
him  were  of  suoh  a  uabare  bhab  be  bool:  bhe  reaponeibiliby 
imposed  upon  him,  for'be  believed  thab  bhe  demonsbra- 
biou  for  whioh  bhesa  people  were  talsen  oub  of  the  Colony 
was  one  for  a  worthy  objaob,  Ha  felb  bhab  he  should  say 
that  he  bad  nobbing  against  the  employers,  and  regret- 
bed  that  in  this  oampaign  serious  losses  were  being  caused 
to  them.  He  appealed  bo  the  employers  also,  and  be 
•lelt  thab  the  tax  was  one  which  was  heavily  weighing 
-down  his  countrymen,  and  should  be  removed.  He 
also  felb  bhab  he  was  in  honour  bound,  in  view"*  of  bhe 
.Dosition  of  things   between    Mr.    Smuts   and   Professor 


68  THE   SOUTH   AFEIOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

Gokbalei  to  produce  a  atrikiag  demonstratioD,  He  wa» 
aware  of  the  miseries  oausad  to  the  women  and  babes  ia 
arms.  Oq  ibe  wbole,  he  felt  he  had  Dob  gone  beyond 
the  principles  and  honour  of  the  profession  of  which  he 
was  a  member.  He  fait  that  be  had  only  done  his  duty 
in  advising  his  countrymen,  and  it  was  his  duty  to  advise- 
them  again,  that,  until  the  tax  were  removed,  to  leave  work 
and  subsist  upon  rations  obtained  by  charity.  He  was 
certain  that  without  suffering  it  was  not  possible  for  them 
to  get  their  grievance  remedied. 

The  Magistrate  finally  in  pronouncing  sentence 
said : — 

It  ivas  a  painfui  duty  to  pass  a  sentence  upon  the 
conduct  of  a  gentleman  like  Mr, Gandhi,  upon  the  deliberate 
contravention  of  the  law,  hut  he  had  a  duty  to  perform, 
and  Mr.  Godfrey,  his  counseU  had  asked  him  fearlessly  to 
perform  that  duty.  The  accused  having  pleaded  guilty,  he 
{the  Magistrate)  accepted  that  plea,  and  passed  the 
following  sentences  : — Oount  1,  £20,  or  three  months' 
imprisonment,  with  hard  labour :  Count  2,  £20,  or  thre& 
months'  imprisonment,  with  hard  labour)  to  take  effect  up- 
on the  expiration  of  the  sentence  in  respect  to  count  1 ; 
Count  3,  £,20  or  three  months'  imprisonment,  with  hard 
labour,  this  to  take  effeH  uport  the  expiration  of  the 
sentence  imposed  in  count  2. 

Mr.  Gandhi,  in  a  clear  and  cahn  voice,  said  : — "  I 
elect  to  go  to  gaol." 

His  counsel  visited  him  later,  and,  through  him, 
desired  it  to  be  stated  that  he  was  cheerful  and  confident, 
and  sent  as  his   message  to  the   strikers    the  following '.— 

"  No  cessation  of  the  strike  without  the  repeal  of 
the  £3  tas.  The  Government,  having  imprisoned  me,  can 
graoefully  make  a  declaration  regarding  the  repeal." 


THE  SOLOMON  COMMISSION. 

While  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his  compatriots  were  suffei  ing: 
in  jail,  his  countrymen  in  India,  under  the  guidance  of 
Mr.  Ookhale,  continued  to  render  all  possible  assistance  to 
keep  up  the  firm  attitude  of  the  South  African  Indians 
Money  was  raised  in  thousands  for  the  help  of  the  distress- 
ed in  South  Africa.  And  in  December,  1913,  Lord  Ear- 
dinge's  famous  speech  in  Madras  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
Imperial  Government  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
created  by  the  Union  Government.  Soon  after  a  Royal 
Commission  to  enquire  into'  the  condition  of  Indians  in 
South  Africa  was  appointed.  In  view  of  the  forthcoming 
Commission's  enquiry,  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his  colleagues  were 
released  from  prison.  Soon  after  release  Mr,  Qandhi 
-made  the  following  statement : — 

We  wara  diBohargad  aaoonditiioaally  on  libe  iSth 
iaatianli,  on  the  reoamoaandaliioa  of  the  OommiasioDt  We 
were  noi;  told  at  bbe  titua  of  our  relief  wby  wa  were  being 
relieved,  lb  is  nob  trua  bbati  after  relief  we  weot  to 
Pretoria  to  see  tba  Miniatera.  Kaowing  aa  wa  db  the 
feelioga  of  Mr.  E^aalan,  and  Goionel  Wylie  towards 
lodiaoa,  it  ia  impoaaible  for  us  not  to  feel  strongly  tbat 
the  Oomoaiasion  has  not  bean  appointed  to  give  us  fair- 
play,  bat  it  is  a  packed  body  and  intended  to  hoodwink 
the  Government  and  the  public  both  in  England  and  in 
India.  The  Gnairmaa'd  integrity  and  impartiality  ia 
undoubted,  but  Mr.  Eaaelen  and  Colonel  Wylie  are  well 
known  and  admitted  generally  to  be  amongst  the  strong- 
est and  most  violent  opponents  of  Indiana  in  South 
Aifrioa-  Mr.  Esselen  has  emphatioally  deolared  from  the 
publio  platform  on  many  oooasiona  extreme  anti-Aaiatio 
views  and  is  ao  intimately  related  politioally  to  the  Union 


70  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

Miniatera  fchat  he  is  regarded  here  praobioally  aa  a  non- 
offioial  member  of  the  Ministry.  Oaly  reoenSIy  heexpreaa- 
ed  himaelf,  privaliely,  moab  offensively  aboub  bbe  Indiana 
to  a  member  of  She  Union  Parliament,  named  Mr,  Mey- 
ler,  who  haa  publioly  protested  againab  his  appointment. 
Colonel  Wylie  haa  been  our  bittereat  opponent  in  Natal' 
for  more  than  twenty  years.  So  far  baok  as  1896  he  led 
a  mob  to  demonatrate  against  the  iandingof  Indiana  who 
bad  arrived  at  Darban  in  two  vessela,  advocated  at  a 
publio  meeting  the  sinking  of  the  ahipa  with  all  IndiaDs 
on  board  and  commending  a  remark  made  by  another 
speaker  that  he  would  willingly  put  down  one  month's 
pay  for  one  shot  at  Jibe  Indiana  and  asked  bow  many 
were  preoared  to  put  down  similarly  a  month's  pay  on 
those  terma  ;  and  he  has  consistently  been  our  enemy  all 
these  years.  Moreover,  he  is  Colonel  of  the  Defence 
Force  whose  aots  are  the  anbjeot  of  inquiry  and  he  is 
also  the  Lsgal  Adviser  of  many  estate  owners  and  during 
the  present  agitation  he  has  openly  aaid  that  the  £  3  ta^ 
ought  not  to  be  repealed. 

The  Commission  ia  not  merely  judioial  but  also- 
political,  inveatigating  not  only  the  facta  aa  to  ill-treat- 
ment, but  also  recommending  a  policy  for  the  future,  and' 
it  ia  impossible  that  the  Chairman  will  control  tibe  view» 
of  his  colleagues  in  matters  of  policy.  The  appointment^ 
of  Messrs.  Baselen  and  Wylie  to  investigate  our  grievan- 
ces and  to  stigmatise  our  protests  agains';  their  appoint- 
ment as  an  unwarranted  reflection  on  their  impartiality 
is  to  add  insult  to  injury.  Almost  the  entire  South 
African  Press  admits  the  reasonableness  of  our  suggas-^ 
tions  as  to  the  additional  members.  Ministers  of  religion 
and  other  European  friends  are  working  to  remove  the- 
j)ra86nt  deadlock  and  seoure  ua  fair- play.     We  would  be- 


TBE   SOLOMON  .COMMISSION  71 

prepared  bo  lead  evidenoe  before  Sir  Wiliiam  Solomon 
alone  if  id  was  a  queafeion  merely  of  enquiriug  into  the 
charges  of  flogging,  aolis  of  military  and  other  ill-oreat- 
ment,  but  this  inquiry  ioaludea  an  esamination  of  griev- 
anoea  also.  Bafocja  our  release,  public  meetings  had 
been  held  at  all  Indian  eeatras  throughout  South  Africa 
protesting  strongly  against  the  personnel  of  the  Gom- 
missioD  and  urging  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Sohreiaei: 
and  Judge  Bose-Innea  to  counterbalance  Messrs., 
Esaelen  and  Wylie,  Immediately  on  our  release,  as  soon 
as  we  took  the  situation  in,  we  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Ministry  asking  for  these  additions  to  the  Commission. 
Objection  has  been  taken  to  the  form  in  which  this 
request  was  put  forward  by  us,  but  we  are  confronted 
with  a  terrible  crisis  and  it  is  not  ea,fty  always  to  weigh 
carefully  the  niceties  of  form  at  suoh  n  juncture.  The 
Indian  position  has  always  been  to  insiB*;  on  the  com- 
munity being  consulted  at  least  informally  regarding 
matters  vitally  affecting  it  since  it  is  voteless. 

In  the  constitution  of  the  present  Oommissioa, 
Indian  sentiment  not  only  was  not  consulted  bub  was 
contemptuously  trampled  on.  Daring  the  recent  dead- 
lock in  connection  with  the  European  railwaymen'a 
grievances,  the  man  were  permitted  to  choose  their 
nominee  by  a  referendum,  We  merely  aaked  for  infor- 
mal consultation  when  we  were  released. 

We  found  that  the  indignation  of  our  countryman 
was  at  white  heat  owing  to  flaggings  which  had  been  seen 
with  their  own  eyes,  shooting  which  they  believed  to  ba 
unjustified  and  other  acts  of  ill-treatment,  and  this  indig- 
nation wen  further  intensified  by  the  harrowing  accounts 
of  prison  treatment  which  the  passive  resisters  includ- 
ing ladies  who  were    released  at  this  time  on    the  expiry 


72  THE    SOUTH   AFBIOAN    INDIAN   QUESTION 

of  their  BenterioeB  gave  to  the  oommunity.  In  all  our 
'Bxperieriae  of  prison  treatment  in  this  oountry  never 
have  we  been  treated  before  with  suoh  uoparaileled 
cruelty.  Insults  by  warders,  frequent  assaultB  by  Zulu 
warders,  with  the  holding  off  of  blankets  and  other  neces- 
sary articles,  food  badly  oookeH  by  Zulus,  all  these 
neoessitated  a  hunger  strike  oausing  immense  suffering. 
You  have  to  know  Ihese  things  to  understand  the  frame 
of  mind  with  whioh  the  community  met  in  the  public 
meeting  on  Sunday,  the  Slst  December,  to  consider  the 
position  and  resolve  on  future  action. 

There  was  but  one  feeling  at  the  meeting  and  that 
was  that  if  we  had  any  self-respect,  we  must  not  accept 
the  Oommission  unless  it  was  modified  in  some  manner 
in  favour  of  the  Indians  and  we  must  also  ask  for  the 
release  of  all  real  passive  resister  prisoners  in  which 
terms  we  do  not  include  persona  rightly  conviolied  of 
actual  violence  and  we  all  took  a  solemn  oath  in  God's 
name  that  unless  these  conditions  were  complied  with,  we 
would  resume  our  Passive  Basistanoe.  Now  this  oath 
we  mean  to  keep  whatever  happens.  In  this  trouble  we 
are  fighting  with  spiritual  weapons  and  it  is  not  open  to 
us  to  go  back  on  our  solemn  declaration.  Moreover,  in 
this  matter  it  is  not  as  though  it  is  the  leaders  that  are 
«gging  the  community  on,  on  the  contrary  so  determined 
is  the  oommunity  to  keep  the  vow  whioh  it  has  solemnly 
taken  that,  if  any  leaders  ventured  to  advice  acceptance 
of  the  commission  without  any  modification  on  the  lines 
as^ed  for,  they  would  beyond  all  doubt  be  killed  and  I 
must  add,  justly  so.  I  believe  we  are  gaining  ground. 
Several  influential  Europeans  including  some  ministers 
of  religion,  recognising  the  justice  of  our  stand,  are 
working    to    help    us    and    we    have    not     yet     given 


IHB   SOLOMON  COMMISSION  73 

up  the    hope  libati  some  way  may  be    fonnd  out    of  (he 
^ifiBouIty. 

Id  ail  bhis  oriais,  I  wish  to  say  before  oonoludiogi  two 
(binga  have  greatly  sustained  and  comforted  ua,  one  is 
the  splendid  oourage  and  staunoh  advooaoy  of  our  oause 
by  His  Esoellenoy  the  Yioeroy  and  the  other  is  the 
hearty  support  which  India  baa  sent  us.  We  shall  do 
nothing  now,  till  Sir  Benjamin  Bobertaon  arrives  and 
we  shall  receive  him  with  all  honour  and  trust  both 
•foeoauae  you  tell  us  we  shall  find  in  him  a  strong  friend 
^nd  also  because  he  has  been  appointed  by  the  Yioeroy 
to  whom  we  feel  so  profoundly  grateful.  Bat  unless  the 
^Oommisaion  is  made  in  some  way  more  acceptable  to 
US,  I  do  not  see  how  the  renewal  of  Paesive  Besietance 
oan  be  avoided.  We  know  it  will  entail  enormous  suffer- 
ing. I  assure  you,  we  do  not  desire  it,  but  neither  shall 
we  shrink  from  it,  if  it  must  be  borne. 


At  a  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Natal 
Indian  Association,  Mr.  Gandhi  sketched  his  future  pro- 
gramme.   He  said : — 

He  would  have  preferred  to  speak  first  in  one  of  the 
Indian  tongues,  but  in  the  presence  of  Messrs.  Polak 
and  Kallenbacb,  bis  fellow- convicts,  feelings  of  gratitude 
compelled  him  to  speak  first  in  the  tongue  they  knew. 
They  would  notice  he  had  changed  his  dress  from  that 
he  bad  formerly  adopted  for  tbe  last  20  years,  and  he 
had  decided  on  the  change  when  he  beard  of  the  shoot- 
ing of  their  fellow-countrymen.  No  matter  whether  the 
shooting  was  found  to  be  justified  or  not,  the  fact  was 
that  they  were  shot,  and  those  bullets  shot  him 
'^Mr.  Gandhi)  through  the  beart  also,  He  felt  bow 
-{glorious    it  would  have  been  if  one  of  those    bullets    had 


74  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

sbraok  him  also,  beoause  mighfe  he  not  be  a  murderer 
himself,  by  baving  parbioipated  in  lihali  event  by  having" 
advised  Indians  to  strike  ?  His  oonsoienoe  cleared  him 
from  this  gailt  of  murder,  bat  he  felt  be  shoald  adopt 
monrniDg  for  those  Indians  as  an  humble  example  to  his 
fellow-oountrymen.  He  felt  that  he  should  go  into 
mourning  at  least  for  a  period,  which  should  be  oo- 
eztensive  with  the  end  of  that  struggle,  and  that  he 
should  aooept  some  mourning  not  only  inwardly,  bat 
outwardly  as  well,  as  a  humble  example  to  his  fellow- 
oountrymen,  80  that  he  oould  tell  them  that  it  was- 
neoessary  for  them  to  show,  by  their  oonduot  and  out- 
ward appearance,  that  they  were  in  mourning.  He  wa& 
not  prepared  himself  to  accept  the  European  mourning 
dress  for  this  purpose,  and,  with  some  modification  in 
deference  to  the  feelings  of  hia  European  friends,  be  bad 
adopted  the  dress  similar  to  that  of  an  indentured 
Indian.  Ha  asked  his  fellow-countrymen  to  adopt  soma 
sign  of  mourning  to  show  to  the  world  that  they  were 
mourning  and  further  to  adopt  some  inward  observance' 
also.  And  perhaps  he  might  tell  them  what  hia  inward- 
mourning  was — to  restrict  himself  to  one  meal  a  day, 
They  had  been  released,  he  continued,  not  on  any  con- 
dition, but  they  knew  that  they  ■were  released  on  the  re- 
commendation of  a  Commission  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, in  order  that  every  facility  might  be  given  not- 
only  to  them,  but  to  the  Indian  community,  to  bring- 
before  the  Commission  any  evidence  that  community 
might  have  in  its  possession,  He  thought  it  a  right  and- 
proper  thing  that  the  Government  had  appointed  a  Com- 
mission, but  he  thought  the  Commision  was  open  to  the 
gravest  objection  from  the  Indian  standpoint;  and  hfr 
was  there  to  tender    hia    bumble  advice  to  them    that   it 


THE   SOLOMON   COMMISSION  75- 

was  impossible  bo  aooepb  the  Commission  in  a  form  in 
whioh  bhe  Indians  bad  no  voioe.  Tbey  were  fighbiDg  for 
so  many  grievanoes,  and  the  underlying  spirit  of  tbe 
abruggle  was  to  obtain  fall  reoogniiiion  on  the  part  of  tbe 
Government  of  the  right  of  oousaltation  in  anything 
wbiob  appertained  bo  ladian  interests.  Unless  the  Gov- 
ernmant  was  prepared  to  condescend  bo  that  extent,  un- 
less they  were  prepared  to  aaoerbain  and  respeob  the 
Indian  sentiments,  it  was  nob  possible  for  Indians,  as 
loyal  but  manly  citizens  of  tbe  Empire,  to  render  obedi- 
enoe  bo  their  commissions  or  laws  which  they  might 
have  passed  over  their  heads.  This  was  one  of  tbe 
serious  fundamental  objections.  Tbe  other  objection  was 
bhab  ib  was  a  partisan  Commissioa  ;  therefore  the  Indians 
wanted  their  own  partisans  on  it.  Tais  they  might  not 
get,  bat  they  at  least  wanted  impartial  men, who  bad  not 
expressed  opinions  hosbile  to  bheir  inberests,  bub  gentle- 
men  who  would  be  able  to  bring  to  the  deliberations  of 
bhe  Commission  an  open,  just  and  imparbial  mind. 
(Applause.)  He  considered  bhat  Mr.  Esslen  and  Mr..^ 
Wylie,  honourable  genblemen  as  they  were,  could  not 
possibly  bring  open  minds  to  bear  on  the  inquiry,  for  the 
simple  reason  bhab  bhey  had  their  own  human  limitations  - 
and  could  nob  divesb  themselves  of  bheir  anti-Asiatic 
views  which*  they  had  expressed  times  without  number. 
If  the  Government  appointed  the  Indians'  nominees,  and 
thus  honoured  their  sentiments,  and  granted  a  release  for 
the  prisoners  now  in  gaol,  be  thought  it  would  be  possi- 
ble for  them  bo  assist  the  Government,  and  therefore  the 
Empire,  and  bring,  perhaps,  this  crisis  to  an  end  with- 
out farther  suffering-  Bat  it  mi^bb  be  that  they 
might  have  to  undergo  further  saffering.  It  might 
be    that  bheir    sins    were    so  greab    bhab    bhey     might. 


76  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN  QUESTION 

bave  to  do  still  farther  pananoe.  "  Therefore  I 
hope  you  will  hold  yourselvea  in  readiaess,"  he  pro- 
ceeded, "  to  respood  to  the  call  the  Goveromeat  may 
make  by  deolining  our  just  and  reasoaable  reqaeste,  and 
then  to  again  force  the  pace  by  again  undergoing  still 
greater  purifying  suffering,  until  at  last  the  Government 
may  order  the  military  to  riddle  us  also  with  thair  ballets, 
My  friends,  are  you  prepared  (or  this  ?  (Voioaa  :  "  Yea,") 
Are  you  prepared  to  share  the  fate  of  those  of  our 
oouatrymen  whom  the  oold  stone  is  restiag  upoa  to-day? 
Are  you  prepared  to  do  this  (Ories  of  "Yas.")  Then,  if  the 
Government  does  not  grant  our  request,  this  is  the  propo- 
sition I  wish  to  plaoe  before  you  this  morning.  That 
all  of  us,  on  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year,  should  ba 
r^ady  again  to  suffer  battle,  again  to  suffer  imprisaQmeot 
aod  maroh  out.  (Applause,)  Taat  is  the  only  proaess  of 
punfioation  and  will  ba  a  substantial  mourning  both 
inwardly  and  outwardly  whioh  will  bear  justifioation 
before  our  God.  That  is  the  advice  we  give  to  our  free 
and  iodentared  oouatrymen — to  strike,  and  even  though 
this  may  mean  death  to  them,  I  am  sure  it  will  be  justi- 
fied." Bat  if  they  aooapted  the  quiet  life,  ha  went  on, 
not  only  would  the  wrath  of  God  descend  upon  them,  but 
they  would  inour  the  disgrace  of  the  whole  of  that  portion 
of  the  Qaropaao  world  forming  the  British  Empire.  (Ap- 
plause.) Ha  hoped  that  every  man,  woman  and  grown- 
up child  would  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  do  this. 
He  hoped  they  would  not  oonsider  self,  that  they  would 
not  consider  their  salaries,  trades,  or  even  familias,  their 
own  bodies  in  the  struggle  which  was  bo  his  mind  a 
struggle  for  human  liberty,  and  therefore  a  struggle  for 
the  religioa  to  whioh  they  might  respectively  belong-  It 
-W48  eaaaacially  a  religious  struggle — (hear,  hear)— '.as  any 


SHOULD  INDIANS  H4VE  PULTi  CITIZEN  RIGHTS  ?   77 

struggle  involving  asaeriiioD  and  freedom  of  (beir  ood- 
eoienoa  masfi  be  a  retigioua  atruggle.  He  therefore  hoped 
they  would  hold  themaelvea  ia  readinesa  to  respond  to 
the  oall  and  not  listen  to  the  advice  of  those  who 
wavered,  nor  liateo  to  those  who  asked  them  to  wait,  or 
to  those  who  might  ask  them  to  refrain  from  the  battle. 
Toe  struggle  waa  one  involving  qaite  a  olear  iaaue,  and  an 
iaoredibiy  simple  one.  "  Dj  not  listen  to  any  one,"  be 
oonoluded,  "  ba!i  obay  your  own  oonacienoe  and  go 
forward  without  thinking.  Now  ia  the  time  for  thinking, 
and  having  made  up  your  mind§  stiok  to  it,  even  unto 
death."     (Applause.) 


SHOULD  INDIANS  HAVE  FULL  CITIZEN 
RIGHTS? 

Though  Mr.  Gandhi  declined,  to  participate 
with  the  Solomon  commission  his  demands  on  behalf 
of  the  South  African  Indians  were  never  extra- 
vagant. He  realised  the  limitations  under  which 
they  had  to  labour  and  he  defined  the  limits  of 
their  ambition.  Within  those  limits  however  he 
was  determined  to  o'ffer  resistance  to  interference. 
Beplying  to  the  criticims  of  the  "Natal  Mercury"  he 
wrote  early  in  January  1914  : — 

Your  firat  leader  in  to-day's  issue  of  your  paper 
invites  a  statement  from  me,  whiob,  I  hope,  you  will 
permit  me  to  make. 

You  imagine  that  a  more  potent  reason  for  delaying 
the  contemplated  march  is  "  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 


78  THE   SO^TH   AFBIOAN   INDIAN    Q0BSIION 

the  mags  of  the  local  Indian  oommuoity  oould  nob  be 
relied  upon  lio  join  in  the  resussibation  of  a  form  of 
ooniliot  which  raooiled  mosti  injarioualy  upon  the  Indiana 
themBelveB."  There  are  other  iuferenaes,  also,  you  have 
drawn  frono  the  delay,  with  whioh  I  shall  not  deal  all 
present.  I,  however,  assure  you  that  you  are  wrongly 
informed  if  you  consider  that  the  mass  of  the  looal 
Indian  oommunity  is  nob  to  be  relied  upon  to  join  the 
march,  if  it  has  ever  to  be  undei||tal:en.  On  bhe  oontrary 
the  diffioulty  to-day  is  even  to  delay  it,  and  tuy 
oo-worliers  and  I  have  been  obliged  bo  send  special 
messengers  and  bo  issue  special  leaflebs  in  order  bo 
advise  bhe  people  thab  bhe  march  causb  be  postponed  for 
the  time  beingni  I  admit  bhab  speculation  as  bo  whebher 
the  mass  of  bhs  looal  Indian  oommunity  will  or  will 
not  join  the  march  is  fraittass,  because  this  will  be,  if  ib 
has  to  be,  pub  to  bhe  besb  ab  no  disbant  date.  I  give  my 
own  view  in  order  thab  bhe  public  may  nob  be  lulled 
inbo  a  sense  of  false  belief  bhab  bhe  movement  is  confiaed 
bo  a  few  only  among  bhe  communiby. 

The  ahief  reason,  bherefore,  for  brespasaing  upon 
your  oourbesy  is  bo  inform  bhe  South  African  publio 
through  your  columns  bhab  whilsb  bhe  great  Nabional 
Congress  thab  has  just  cloaed  its  session  ab  Karachi  was 
fully  jusbifled  in  asking,  and  was  bound  bo  aak,  for  full 
aibizan  righbs  throughoub  bhe  Btitiab  Dominions  for  all 
bhe  King's  subjects,  irrespective  of  oasbe,  eolour,  or 
creed,  and  whilsb  bhey  may  not  and  oughb  nob  bo  be 
bound  by  loaal  oonsiderabions,  we  in  Soubh  Africa  have 
repeatedly  made  ib  clear  bhab,  as  sane  people,  we  are 
bound  bo  limit  our  ambition  by  local  oiroumabances,  we 
are  bound  bo  recognise  bhe  widespread  prejudice  however 
unjustified  ib   may  be     and,    having   done   so,  we  have 


SHOULD  INDIANS  HAVB  PULL  CITIZEN  BIGHTS  ?   79 

declared — and  I  venliure  to  re-deolare  through  your 
oolumns — that  nay  oo-workers  and  I  shall  not  be  a  party 
to  any  agitation  whioh  haa  for  its  object  the  {ree  and 
unrestricted  immigration  of  British  Indians  into  the 
Union  or  the  attainment  of  the  political  franchise  in  the 
near  future.  That  these  rights  must  come  in  time  will, 
I  suppose,  ba  admitted  by  all ,  but  when  they  do 
come  they  will  not  be  obtained  by  forcing  the  pace, 
as  passive  resistance  is  undoubtedly  calculated  to  do,  bub 
by  otherwise  educating  public  opinion,  and  by  the  Indian 
community  so  acquitting  itself  in  the  discharge  of  all  the 
obligations  that  £ow  from  citizenship  of  the  British 
Empire  as  to  have  these  rights  given  to  them  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course.  Meanwhile,  so  far  as  my  advice  counts 
for  anything,  I  can  only  suggest  that  the  eiforts  of 
the  Indian  community  should  be  oonoeutrated  upon 
gaibing  or  regaining  every  lost  civil  right  or  every  such 
right  at  present  withheld  from  the  community  ;  and  I 
hold  that  even  this  will  not  happen  unless  we  are  ready 
to  make  an  effective  protest  against  our  civil  destruction 
by  means  of  passive  resistance,  and  unless  through  our 
self-suffering  we  have  demonstrated  to  the  European 
public  that  wa  are  a  people  that  cherishes  its  honour 
and  self-respect  as  dearly  as  an<y  people  on  earth. 


A  TEUCE  WITH  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Gandhi  to  the 
Government  places  on  record  the  agreement  arrived 
at  as  a  result  of  a  series  of  interviews  with  the 
Minister  at  Pretoria.  It  was  dated  PretoriUf 
January  21,  1914  :— 

Before  leaving  for  Pboeaix,  I  ventara  tio  expreaa  my 
thanks  to  General  Smuts  for  the  patient  and  kind  inter- 
views  thai!  he  has  been  pleased  bo  grant  ma  during  this 
time  of  overwhelming  pressure.  My  countrymen  will  re- 
member with  gratitude  his  great  consideration, 

"  I  understand  that  the  Minister  is  unable  to  aooapt 
(with  regard  to  the  Indian  Inquiry  CommisaioD)  either 
(l)  my  suggestion  that  a  member  representing  Indian 
interests  should  be  oo-optad  whan  questions  of  policy  are 
inquired  into,  or  (2)  my  suggeatioa  that  a  seooad 
Gommiasioo,  with  Indian  representation  should  be' 
appointed  to  deal  with  those  qaaationa  only,  the  pre- 
sent Commission  in  that  case  beooming  puraly  judicial, 
I  Bubmitted  a  third  proposal  also,  which,  in  viaw 
of  the  Government's  decision,  I  need  not  sfiate  hare. 
Had  any  of  my  suggestions  baan  viewed  favourably 
by  the  Government,  it  would  have  been  possible 
for  my  countrymen  to  assist  the  labours  of  the  Com- 
miaaion.  Bat  with  regard  to  leading  evidence  before  thia 
GommiaaioD,  which  has  a  political  aa  well  as  a  judicial 
character,  they  have  consoiantioua  scruples,  and  these 
have  taken  with  them  a  solemn  and  religious  form,  I  may 
state  briefly  that  these  scruples  ware  baaed  on  the  atrong 
feeling  that  the  Indian  oommuoity  should  have  been 
either  oanaalted  or  repreaented  where  questions  of  policy 
vrere  oonoerned. 


A  TRUOE  WITH  THE  GOVEBNMBNT      81 

The  Minieter,  I  observe,  appreoiatea  these  scru- 
ples, and  regards  them  as  honourable,  but  is  unable  to 
alter  hi9  deoision,  Asi  however,  by  granting  me  the 
recent  interviews,  he  has  been  pleased  to  accept  the 
principle  of  consultation,  it  enables  me  to  advise  my 
oountrymen  not  to  hamper  the  labours  of  the  Commis* 
sion  by  any  active  propaganda,  and  not  to  render  the 
position  of  the  Government  diffioult  by  reviving  passiva 
resistance,  pending  the  result  of  the  Commission  and  the 
introduction  of  legislation  during  the  forthcoming 
session* 

If  I  am  right  in  my  interpretation  of  the  Govern- 
ment's attitude  on  the  principle  of  consultation,  it  would 
be  farther  possible  for  us  to  assist  Sir  Benjamin  Bobert- 
son,  whom  the  Viceroy,  with  gracious  forethought,  has 
deputed  to  give  evidence  before  the  Commission. 

A  word  is  here  necessary  on  the  question  of  allega- 
tions aa  to  ill-treatment  during  the  progress  of  the 
Indian  strike  in  Natal.  For  the  reasons  above  stated,  the 
avenue  of  proving  them  through  the  Commission  is  closed 
to  us,  I  am  personally  unwilling  to  challenge  libel 
proceedings  by  publishing  the  authentic  evidence  in  our 
possession,  and  would  far  rather  refrain  altogether  from 
raking  up  old  sores.  I  beg  to  assure  the  Minister  that, 
as  passive  resisters,  we  eadeavour  to  avoid,  as  far 
aa  passible,  any  resentmeat  of  personal  wrongs.  But 
in  order  that  our  siienoa  may  not  be  mistaken,  may  I 
ask  the  Minister  to  recognise  our  motive  and  reciprocate 
by  not  leading  evidence  of  a  negative  character  before  the 
Commissioa  on  the  allegations  in  question. 

Suspension    of    passive  resistance,  moreover,  carries 
with  it  a  prayer  for  the  release  of  the  passive   resistance 
prisoners    now    undergoing   impriaoDmeat,  either  in   tba 
6 


82  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN    INDIAN   QUESTION 

ordinary  gaols    or  bba    mine    oompouDda,    wbioh  -might 
have  beea  declared  as  auob. 

Fmallyi  ib  migbli  noti  be  outof  plaoa  bera  to  reoapi- 
tulata  Dba  poinii|i  oa  wbiob  relief  bas  been  sougbti.  They 
are  as  follows : — 

(1)  Bepeal  of  thei£3  taix  ia  suoh  a  manner   that   the  Indians ' 
lelieved    will    oooupy  virtually    the  same  status   an  the  indentured 
Indians  disoharged  under  the  Katal  Law,  25  of  1891, 

(2)  The  marriage  question,  (These  two  are  the  points,  as  I 
have  verbally  submitted,  which  require  fresb   legislation.) 

(3|  The  Oape  entry  question.  (This  requires  only  adminis- 
tracive  reliei  subjeot  to  ihe  clear  safeguards  explained  co  the 
Hinister.) 

(1)  The  Ocaoge  Free  State  question.  (This  requires  merely  a 
verbal  alteration  in  the  assurance  already  given.) 

(5)  An  assurance  that  the  existing  laws  espeoially  afieoting 
ludiaus  will  be  administered  justly,  wich  due  regard  to  vested 
rights, 

I  ventare  to  suggest  thab  Nob.  3,  i  aud  5  preseoli 
DO  special  diffiaully,  and  thab  iihe  needful  relief  may  be 
DOW  givea  on  these  toiubs  as  ao  earneBli  of  the  good 
inbeabioDS  of  the  Governmenb  regarding  the  resident 
lodiaD  popuiabion. 

]i  ibe  Miuister,  as  1  brusb  and  hope,  views  my 
submissiou  with  favour,  I  shall  be  prepared  bo  adfise  my 
oounbrymen  in  aooordanoe  with  the  tenour  of  this 
lebter. 


THE  SETTLEMENT, 

The  passing  of  the  Indian  Belief  Act  in  July, 
1914,  in  the  Union  Houses  of  Parliament  brought  a 
sigh  of  relief  to  the  whole  Indian  population  both  in 
South  Africa  and  in  India.  The  abolition  of  the 
£3  tax,  the  legislation  on  the  marriage  question  and 
the  removal  of  the  racial  bar  were  distinctly  to  the 
adoantage  of  the  Indians  and  on  the  lines  recom- 
mended by  the  Commission.  But  there  were  certain 
other  administrative  matters  which  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  Relief  Bill  hut  which  were  of  equal 
importance  to  constitute  a  complete  settlement. 
Mr.  Gandhi  submitted  a  list  of  reforms  in  the 
desired  directions  which  General  Smuts  discussed  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Gandhi  under  date,  30th 
June.  On  the  same  day  Mr.  Gandhi  sent  the 
following  reply  : — 

I  beg  to  ackaowtedga  reoeipt  of  your  lebtier  of  even 
date  herewith  setting  forth  the  sabstanoe  of  the  interview 
that  General  Soauts  waa  pleased,  notwithstandiiig  many 
other  pressing  oalle  upon  hia  time,  to  grant  me  on  Satur- 
day last.  I  feel  deeply  grateful  for  the  patienoe  and 
courtesy  which  the  Minister  showed  during  ibe  disoussion 
of  the  several  points  submitted  by  me. 

The  passing  of  the  Indians'  Belief  Bill  and  this  cor- 
reapondenoe  finally  closed  the  Passive  Besistanoe  struggle 
whiob  commenced  in  the  September  of  1906  and  which 
to  the  Indian  commanity  cost  biuch  physical  suffering 
and  pecuniary  loss  and  to  the  Govermenli  maoh  auxioua 
thought  and  ooniiideratioa. 


84  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN  INDIAN   QUESTION 

As  the  Minister  is  aware;  aome  of  my  couDtrymeB- 
have  wished  me  to  go  further.  They  are  dissatisfied  that 
the  trade  lioensea  laws  of  the  different  Frovinoes,  the' 
Transvaal  Gold  Law,  the  Transvaal  Towoahips  Act,  the 
Transvaal  Ltw  3  of  1S85,  have  not  been  altered  so  as  to- 
give  tham  full  rights  of  residence,  trade  and  ownership  of 
land.  Same  of  them  are  dissatisfied  that  fall  inter-pro- 
vinoial  migration  is  not  permitted,  and  aome  are  dissatis- 
fied that  on  the  marriage  question  the  Belief  Bill  goes  no 
further  than  it  does,  They  have  asked  me  that  all  the 
above  matters  might  be  inoladed  in  the  Passive  Besistanae 
struggle.  I  have  been  unable  to  oomply  with  their 
wishes.  Whilst,  therefore,  they  have  not  been  inoludec^ 
in  the  programme  of  Passive  Besistanoe,  it  will  not  be 
denied  that  aome  day  or  other  these  mattera  will  requira- 
further  and  sympathetic  oonsideraiion  by  the  Govern- 
ment, Complete  satiafaotion  oannot  be  expected  until' 
full  oivio  rights  have  been  conceded  to  the  resident  ludiaa 
population. 

I  have  told  my  countrymen  that  they  will  have  to- 
exeroise  patience  and  by  all  honourable  means  at  their 
disposal  educate  public  opinion  so  as  Co  enable  the- 
Government  of  the  day  to  go  further  than  the  present 
oorreapondence  does.  I  shall  hope  that  when  tha- 
Europeans  of  South  Africa  fully  appreciate  the  fact  that 
now,  as  the  importation  of  indentured  labour  from  India 
ia  prohibited  and  as  the  Immigrants'  Begulation  Act  of 
last  year  baa  in  praotioe  all  but  stopped  further  free 
Indian  immigration  and  that  my  oouutrymeu  do  not 
aspire  to  any  politioal  ambition,  they,  the  Europeaaai- 
will  see  the  justice  and  indeed  the  neoeaeity  of  my 
countrymen  being  granted  ..the  rights  I  have  jast- 
leferred  to. 


FAREWELL   SPEECH  AT  DtlRBAN  86 

Meanwhile,  if  the  geoerous  spirit)  thab  bhe  Govern- 
■menb  have  appplied  to  the  breatmenb  of  the  problem 
■during  the  past  few  monfiha  oontiaues  to  be  applied,  as 
'IDromisad  in  your  letter,  in  the  admigtratioD  of  the 
-existing  law?)  I  am  quite  certain  (hat  the  Indian  com- 
munity throughout  the  Union  will  be  able  to  enjoy  some 
measure  of  peaoe  and  never  be  a  aouroe  of  trouble  to  the 
'■Crovernment. 


FAREWELL  SPEECH  AT  DURBAN 

On  the  eve  of  their  departure  from  South  Africa 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gandhi  were  the  recipients  of 
innumerable  addresses  from  every  clas^  of  South 
African  residents,  Hindus,  Mahomedans,  Parsees 
and  Europeans.  Mr,  Gandhi  replied  to  each  one  of 
these  touching  addresses  in  suitable  terms. 

On  Wednesday  the  18th  July,  1914,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Gandhi  were  entertained  at  a  great  gathering 
of  Indian  and  European  residents  at  the  Town  Hall, 
Durban,  which  was  presided  over  by  the  Mayor 
(Mr ^W.  Holmes).  Telegrams  were  read  from  the 
Bishop  of  Natal,  Gen.  Botha,  Messrs.  Smuts,  Merri- 
■man.  Burton,  Hoskin  and  others.  The  Mayor  and 
-several  speakers  eulogised  the  services  of  Mr. 
-Gandhi. 

Referring  to  the  addresses  whioh  had  been  presented 
to  him,  he  said  that,  while  he  valued  tbem,  he  valued 
more  the  love  and  sympathy  whioh  the  addresses  had 
"expressed.     He  did  nob  know  that  he  would  be  able  to 


86  THE   SOUTH  APBIOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

tuRke  adequate  compensation.  He  did  not  deserve  all  the' 
praise  bestowed  upon  him.  Nor  did  bis  wife  claim  tO' 
deserve  all  tbat  bad  been  said  of  her.  Many  an  Indian, 
woman  bad  done  greater  service  during  the  struggle  than 
Mrs.  Gandbi.  He  thanked  the  community  on  behalf  of 
Mr.  Kallenbaofa,  who  was  another  brother  to  him,  for  the 
addresses  presented.  The  community  bad  done  well  in 
recognising  Mr,  Kallenbaob's  worth.  Mr.  Eallenbaob 
would  tell  them  tbat  he  came  to  the  struggle  to  gain.  He 
considered  that,  by  taking  |up  their  cause,  be  gained  a 
great  deal  in  the  truest  sense.  Mr,  Kallenbaoh  bad  done- 
splendid  work  during  the  strike  at  Newcastle  and,  when 
the  time  came,  he  cheerfully  went  to  prison,  again  think- 
ing tbat  be  was  the  gainer  and  not  the  loser.  Proceeding, 
Mr.  Gandbi  referred  to  the  time  of  ^bis  arrival  in  1897 
when  his  friend  Mr.  Laughton  bad  stood  by  bim  against 
the  mob.  He  also  remembered  with  gratefulness  tha 
action  of  Mrs.  Alexander,  the  wife  of  the  late  Superinten- 
dent of  Foiioe  in  Durban,  who  protected  him  with  her 
umbrella  from  the  missiles  thrown  by  the  excited  crowd. 
Beferring  to  Passive  Besistanoe,  he  claimed  that  it  was  a 
weapon  of  the  purest  type.  It  was  not  the  weapon  of  the 
weak.  It  was  needed,  in  his  opinion,  far  greater  courage 
to  be  a  Passive  Besister  than  a  physical  resister.  It  was 
the  courage  of  a  Jesus,  a  Daniel,  a  Cranmer,  a  Latimer 
and  a  Bidley  who  could  go  calmly  to  su£fering  ard  death, 
and  the  courage  of  a  Tolstoy  who  dared  to  defv  the  Czara 
of  Bussia,  tbat  stood  out  as  the  greatest.  Mr.  Gandhi 
said  he  knew  tbe  Mayor  bad  received  some  telegratDS 
stating  tbat  tbe  Indians'  Belief  Bill  was  not  satisfactory. 
It  would  be  a  singular  thing  if  in  this  world  they  would 
be  able  to  get  anything  that  satisfied  everybody,  but  ia 
the  condition  of  things i in  South  Africa  at  the  presenlt 


FAREWELL   SPEECH   AT   DURBAN  8"? 

lime,  he  was  certain  tViey  oouli?  not  have  had  a  better 
measure.  ''  I  do  nob  olaim  tbe  credit)  for  ib,"  Mr.  Gaodhi 
remarked.  "  Ib  is  rabher  due  bo  the  women  and  young 
people  like  Nagappan,  Narayanasamy,  and  Valliamab 
who  have  died  for  the  oaUBe  and  to  those  who  quickened 
the  ooDsoienoe  of  Soubh  Africa.  Our  thanks  are  due  also 
to  the  TJuioD  Government.  General  Botha  showed  the 
greatest  statemanship  when  be  said  bis  Governmenb 
would  stand  or  fall  by  this  measure.  I  followed  the 
whole  of  that  historic  debate — historio  to  me,  historio. 
to  my  countrymen,  and  possibly  historic  to  South 
Africa  and  the  world."  Proceeding,  Mr.  Gandhi 
said  that  it  was  well  known  to  them  how  the  Govern- 
ment had  done  justice,  and  bow  tbe  Opposition 
had  come  to  their  assistance  They  bad  also 
received  handsome  help  from  both  the  Imperial  and 
Indian  Governments,  backed  by  that  generous  Viceroy, 
Lord  Hardings.  (Cheers.)  Tbe  mm.nei'  in  which  Indiai 
led  by  bheir  great  and  distinguished  coiintryman,  Mr. 
Gokhale,  bad  responded  to  the  cry  which  en  me  from  tbe 
hearts  of  thousands  of  their  countrymen  in  Sou.h  Africa, 
was  one  of  the  results  of  tbe  Passive  Besistanoe  move- 
ment, and  left,  be  hoped,  no  bitter  traces  or  bitter  memo- 
ries. (Applause).  "  This  assurance,"  continued  Mr. 
Gandhi,  "  I  wish  to  give.  I  go  away  with  no  ill- will 
against  a  single  European'  I  have  received  many  hard 
knocks  in  my  life,  but  here  I  admit  bbab  I  have  received 
those  most  precious  gifbs  from  Ear.opeans — love  and 
sympathy."  (Cheers.)  This  settlement,  be  said,  bad 
been  achieved  after  an  eight  years  '  struggle.  The  Indians 
in  South  Africa  bad  never  aspired  to  any  political 
ambition,  and  as  rsgardes  the  social  question,  that 
oould     never    arise     in    connection   with    the    Indians, 


88  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

*'  I  do  nob  bold  for  one  momeDt,"  Mr.  Gandhi  esolaicD. 
fid>  ''  that  Easb  aod  West)  caonotr  combine.  I  think  the 
day  is  ooming  when  'EiBi  masti  meet  West}  or  West 
meet  Bast}  but  I  think  the  sooial  evolution  of  the  West 
to-day  lies  in  one  ohanoeli  and  that  of  the  Indian  in 
another  ohanael.  The  Indians  have  no  wish  to-day  to 
«naroaoh  on  the  sooial  institueioas  of  the  European  in 
South  Africa.  (Cheers. )  Moat  Indians  are  natural 
traders-  There  are  bound  to  be  trade  jealousies  and 
those  various  things  that  come  from  oompebition.  I  have 
never  bean  able  to  find  a  solution  of  this  most  diffioult 
problem,  whioh  will  reqaire  the  broad-mindedness  and 
spirit  of  justioa  of  tiha  Qjvaramant  of  S3Uth  Africa  to 
hold  the  baUaoa  between  ooafliobiag  interests."  Bafer- 
ring  to  his  stay  in  South  Afrioa,  Mr,  Gandhi  said  that  he 
shoald  retain  the  mosB  sacred  memories  of  this  land. 
He  had  been  fortunate  in  forming  the  happiest  and 
most  lasting  friendships  with  both  Earopeans  and 
IndianSi  Ha  was  now  returning  to  India — a  holy  land 
sanctified  by  the  auataricies  of  the  ages.  In  conclusion, 
Mr,  Gandhi  hoped  chat  the  same  love  and  sympathy 
which  had  bean  given  to  him  in  South  Africa  might  be 
extended  to  him,  no  matter  in  what  part  of  the  world 
he  might  be.  He  hoped  that  the  settlement  embodied 
in  the  Indians'  Eelief  Bill  would  be  carried  out  ia  a 
spirit  of  broad-mindedness  and  justice  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  laws  lately  passed  in  connection  with  the 
affairs  of  the  Indian  oommunioy.  "  Then,"  added  Mr. 
Gandhi,  "  I  think  there  will  be  no  fear  on  the  part  of 
my  countrymen  in  their  sooial  evolution.  That  is  one 
of  the  lessons  of  the  settlement." 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  INDENTURED  INDIANS 

The  following  speech  is  the  text  of  Mr.  Gandhi's 
<iddress  to  Indentured  Indians  at  Verulam  on  the 
12th  July,  1914  :— 

Flaase  understaDd,  my  iadanliureil  oounfiryaiaD,  tbetli 

il)  is   wroag    for    yoa   to   oonsider    thab    ralief    has    bsen 

-obtained  baoaaae  I  or  you  have  gone  to  gaol,  but  be- 
oauae   you  had  the   courage    to  give    up    your  life    and 

-flaorifioe  yourselves  and  in  this  instance  I  have  also  to 
tell  yoa  that  many  causes  led  to  this  result,  .  I  have  to 
speaially  refer  to  the  valuable  assistaaoe  rendered  by  the 
Hon.  Senator  Marshall  Campbell.  I  think  that  your 
thanks  and  my  thanks  are  due  to  him  for  his  work  in  the 

'^Senate  while  the  Bill  was  passing  through  it.  The  relief 
is  of  this  nature  ;ithe  £  3  tax  you  will  not  have  to  pay,  and 
arrears  will  be  remitted.  It  does  not  mean  that  you  are 
free  from  your  present  indentures.  You  are  bound  to  go 
through  your  present  indentures  faithfully  and  honestly, 
but  when  these  finish  you  are  jus  t  as    free  a^   any  other 

'free  Indian  under  Aot  25,  1891,  and  can  receive  the  same 
protection  as  set  forth  in  that  A  it.  You  ara  not  bound  to 
re-indenture  or  return  to  India.  Disoharge  oertifioates 
will  be  issued  to  you  free  of  charge.  If  you  want  to  go 
to  India  and  return  therefrom  you  must  first  spend  three 
years  in  Natal  as  free  Indians.  If  you,  being  poor,  want 
assistance  to  enable  you  to  go  to  India,  you  can  get  it  on 
application  to  the  Government ;  but  in  that  case  you 
would  not  be  allowed  to  return.    If  you  want  to    return, 

'£ght  shy  of  this  asistance,  and  use  your  own  money  or 
borrow  from    your    friends.     If   yon    ra-indenture   you 

40ome  under   the   same   law — namely,  25  of  1891.     My 


90  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

advioe  to  you  is:  Da  uot  re-iudentare,  but  by  all  meaps 
serve  your  presenli  masters  under  the  oommon  law  of  the 
oountry.  Now,  in  the  event  of  any  oeoasion  arising 
(whioh  I  hope  it  will  not  do),  you  vvill  know  what  is 
neoesaary.  *  * 

Viotoria  County  baa  not  been  aa  free  from  violenoe 
as  the  Newcastle  District  was  You  retaliated.  I  do  not 
oare  whether  it  was  under  provocation  or  not,  but  you 
retaliated,  and  have  used  stioka  and  stones,  and  you  have- 
burnt  sugar-oana.  That  is  not  passive  resistance.  If  I 
had  been  in  your  midst  I  would  have  repudiated  you, 
and  allowed  rather  my  own  head  to  be  broken  than 
allow  a  single  stick  or  stone  to  be  used.  Passive  reais- 
tanoe  is  a  more  powerful  weapon  than  all  ths  stioka,. 
stones,  and  gunpowder  in  the  world.  If  imposed  upon, 
you  must  8u£fer  even  unto  death.  That  is  passive  re- 
sistanoe.  If,  therefore,  I  was  an  indentured  Indian 
working  for  the  Hon,  Mr,  Marshall  Campbell,  Mr.- 
Saunders  or  other  employer,  and  if  I  found  my  treatment 
not  just,  I  would  not  go  to  the  Protector — I  would  go  to- 
my  master  and  ask  for  iuatice;and  if  he  would  Dot 
grant  it  I  would  say  that  I  would  remain  there  without, 
food  or  drink  until  it  was  granted.  I  am  quite  aure  that 
the  stoniest  heart  will  be  melted  by  passive  resistaaoe, 
Let  this  sink  deeply  into  yourselves.  This  is  a  sovereign 
and  most  effective  remedy.       *  *  "^ 

I  shall  now  say  my  farewell  to  Verulam  and  you- 
all.  The  scene  before  me  will  not  fade  in  my  memory,, 
be  the  distance  ever  so  great.  May  God  help  you  all  m 
your  trouble.  May  your  own  oonduot  be  such  that  God 
may  find  it  possible  to  help  you. 


ADDKESS  TO  THE  TAMIL  COMMUNITY 

On  the  15th  July,  1914,  at  the  West-End' 
Bioscope  Hall,  Johannesburg,  Mr.  Gandhi  addressed 
a  meeting  of  the  Tamil  Community,  including  maiiy 
ladies, 

Mr,   Gandhi    said    tbat  be  fell!,,iti    oonaing  to   meefi 
the  Tamil    hrotbsra  and  siBters,  as  if  he   came  to  meet 
blood    felatioDS.      That   was   a   sentiment  wbioh  he  had 
oherished    now   for    many    years,    and    the   reason    was 
qnite  simple.     Of  all  the  diitereot  eeotions  of  the  Indian 
oommnnity,  he   thought  that  the  Tamil  had  borne  tha 
braot  of  the   struggle.     The   largest    number   of    deaths 
bbat  Passiva   Besistanoe  had    taken  had  been  from  the 
Tamil  oommunity,     They  bad  that  morning  gone  to  the- 
oemetery  to  perform  the  unveiling  ceremony  in  aoDneotion 
with  the  two    memorialp   to    a  dear    sister   and    brother.. 
Both  of  these  had  been  Tamils.  There  was  Narayaneamy 
whose  bones  lay  at  Dalagoa  Bay.     He  had  been  a  Tamil. 
The  deportees  had  been  Tamils,     The    last   to    fight    and' 
oome    out  of  gaol    had    bean    Tamil's.     Those  who  were- 
ruined  hawkers  were  all    Tamils.     Tha    majority   of    the- 
Passive  Bssiaters  at  Tolstoy  Farm  had  been  Tamils.    Or^ 
every    aide,   Tamils    had    shown    themselves  to  be  most- 
typioal  of  the  beat    traditions    of   India,    and  by    saying- 
that    be    was    not    exaggerating    in    the  slightest  degree, 
The   faith,  the   abundant   faith   in   God,    in   Truth,   that 
the  Tamils  had  shown,  had  been  one  of  the  most  suBtaic- 
ing    forces    throughout    those    long-drawn    years.     The 
noajorifey   of    women    to   go   to  gaol    were  Tamils.     The 
sisters  who  defied  the  authorities  to  arrest  them  and  bad" 
gone   from    door  to  door,  from  barrnoks  to  barracks  at 
Newoaalilp,   to  ask  the  men  to  lay  down  tbetr  tools  aods 


■  92  THE   SOUTH   APBIOAN   INDIAN    QUESTION 

■  flbrike  work — who  were  they  ?  Again,  Tamil  sistera. 
Who  matohed  amoog  the  womeD  ?  Tamils,  of  course. 
Who  lived  on  a  pound  loaf  of  bread  and  an  ounoe  of 
sugar?  The  majority  were  Tamils:  though  there  be 
must  give  their  due  also  to  those  of  their  countrymen 
who  were  called  Calcutta  men.  In  that  last  struggle 
they  also  had  responded  nobly,  hut  he  was  not  able  to 
say  quite  so  nobly  as  the  Tamils  ;  but  they  had  oertainly 
come  out  almost  as  well  ae  the  Tamils  bad,  but  the 
Tamils  had  sustained  the  struggle  for  the  last  eight  years 
and  had  shown  of  what  stuff  they  were  made  from  the 
very  beginning,  Here  in  Johannesburg  they  were  a 
handful,  and  yet,  even  numerically,  they  would  show,  be 
thought,  the  largest  number  who  bad  gone  to  gaol  again 
and  again  ;  also  if  they  wanted  imprisonment  wholesale, 
it  came  from  the  Tamils.  So  that  he  felt,  when  became 
to  a  Tamil  meeHng,  that  he  came  to  blood-relations.  The 
Tamils  bad  shown  so  much  pluck,  so  much  faith,  so  much 

-devotion  to  duty  and  such  noble  simplicity,  and  yet  had 
been  so  self-efifaoing,  He  did  not  even  speak  their 
language,  much  as  h&  should  like  to  be  able  to  do  so,  and 
yet  they  had  simply  fought  on.  It  bad  been  a  glorious, 
a  rioh  experience,  which  he  would  treasure  to  the  end  of 
hie  life.  How  should  be  explain  the  settlement  to  them  ? 
They  did  not  even  want  it.  But  if  he  must  he  could  only 
tell  them  that  all  that  they  and  theirs  had  fought  for  had 
been  obtained  and  obtained  largely  through  the  force  of 
character  that  they  had  shown  ;  and  yet  they  did  not 
want,  they  had  not  wanted  to  reap  the  reward,  except 
the  reward  that  their  own  consciences  would  o£fer  tbem. 
They  had  fought  for  the  Cape  entry  right  for  Colonial 
borns,  That  they  had  got.  Thay  had  fought  for 
the  iast   adminigtratioD   of  the   laws,     That  they   had 


ADDRESS  XO  THE  TAMIL  COMMUNITY  93: 

got.     Tbey   had  foughfi   for    bha    removal  of  the   racial 
taint  in  the  law  with  refereaoe  bo  the  Eree  State.     That 
they   had    got.     The   £3    Tas    was  now  a  matter  of  the 
past.     And,    with    refetenoa    to    the  marriage    questioa, 
all    those    dear    sisters    who    had    gone   to    gaol    now 
oould  be  called  the  wives  of  their   husbands,    whilst  bub- 
yesterday  they  might  have  been  oaliad    so   out   of    oour>- 
tesy  by  a  friend,  but  were  not  so  in  the    eye    of  the  law. 
That  was  one  of  the  things  tbay  had  fought  for  and    bad- 
got.     Truth  was  what  they  had    been    fighting    for,    and- 
Truth  had  conquered — not  he  or  they.     They  might  fight 
to-morrow  for  an  unrighteous  thing,  and  as  sure    as    fata- 
they  would  be  beaten  and  well-beaten,     Truth    was    un- 
oonquerable,  and  whenever    the   aall    to    duty   oame    he- 
hoped  they  would  respond.     There  was  one  thing    more.^ 
They  had  sometimes,  as  every  other  section    of  the   com- 
munity had,  jealousies  amongst    bbamselves,     Tbey    had 
petty  jealousies  not  in  aoneotion  with  the  struggle,  but  in 
matters  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  struggle,     All 
those  petty  jealousies  and  dififerenoas,  he  hoped,  would  go, . 
and  they  would    rise    higher    still    in    the    estimation    of 
themaelvo?  and  of  those  who  at  all   grew    to  know    them- 
and  the  depth  of  oharaoter  which  they    had,     Tbay    bad- 
alsoi  as  all  sections  of  the    Indian    community    had,    not 
only  those    jealousies   but    sometimes    m&ny    piokerings- 
also,  and  petty  quarrels.     Ha  felt  these    also    should    ba- 
removed  especially  from  their  midst,    beoaaea    they    had- 
shown  thempelvas  so  fib  to  give  themselves  to  the  Mother- 
land.     And  hare,  of  coarse,  it  was  a  Tamil  who  had  giverv 
his  four  sons  to  be   trained    as    servants    of    India.     He 
hoped  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Naidoo  knew  exactly  what  they  bad 
done.     Tbay  bad  surrendered  all  right    to  those   children 
or  life,  and  they  could  not  possibly  do  anything    to     ad- 


94  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   Q0KSTION 

vaooe  tbeir  maberial  well-beiag,  bub  had  always  bo  remain 
Bervanlia  of  ladia.  lb  wag  no  joke,  and  yeb  Mr,  and  Mre, 
Naidoo  bad  oertaioly  doDe  bbab.  Ha  oould  Dob  appeal  to 
bbem  boo  abroagly  bbao  bbey  of  all  saotioos  sboald  rid 
tbemselvea  of  all  those  biokerioga,  petty  jealouBies  aod 
qaarrela  amongst  themselves.  He  would  also  ask  bbem 
wbeoevar  they  oboae  a  President  or  a  Gbairman  to  obey 
him,  to  follow  him,  and  not  always  listen  to  the  views  of 
this  or  chat  man.  If  they  did  tbab  their  usefulness  would 
ba  curtailed.  And  then  too  thay  should  not  worry  if 
others  and  nob  tiboy  might  reap  the  reward.  Tbeir  re- 
ward would  be  all  the  greater  if  it  was  not  of  this  earth ; 
they  were  not  fightiag  for  material  reward,  and  a  trua 
Passive  Basistar  never  thought  of  material  reward.  Tbey 
should  nob  worry  about  material  proaperiby,  but  always 
have  higher  things  before  them.  Then  indeed  they  would 
ba  ilka  the  eleven  working  in  the  oommuniby  whiob  oould 
raise  the  oommunity  as  one  to  look  up  bo.  The  privilege 
was  oertainly  theirs  and  time  also  was  at  tbeir  disposal, 
and  if  they  make  good  use  of  that  time  it  would  be  a 
splendid  thing  for  the  whole  of  South  Afrioa,  and  would 
oertainly  be  a  splendid  thing  for  them;  and  if  ha  heard 
in  India  that  all  those  libble  bhings  to  whioh  he  had 
drawn  attention  had  also  been  got  rid  of  by  the  Indian 
oommunity  he  would  indeed  be  rejoioad.  One  thing  moret 
He  had  known  something  of  Madras,  and  how  sharp 
oaste  distinotions  were  there,  He  felt  they  would  have 
oorae  to  South  Afrioa  in  vain  if  they  were  to  carry  those 
oaste  prejudioes  with  them.  The  oasbo  system  had  its 
uses,  bub  bhab  was  an  abuse.  If  tbey  carried  oaste  disbino- 
tionai  to  that  fatuous  extent  and  drew  those  diatincbione, 
and  called  one  anobhar  high  and  low  and  so  on,  those 
things  would  ba  their  ruin.    Ibey  should  remetuber  that 


PAKEWBLL   SPEECH   AT  JOHANNESBUBG  95 

they  were  noli  high  oaste  or  low  oaate,  but  kH  Indians, 
all  Tanails.  He  said  Taoiils,  but)  that  was  also  applicable 
to  the  whole  Indian  oommuniiiy,  but  most  to  them 
beoause  most  was  certainly  espeoted  of  them. 


PAEEWELL  SPEECH  AT   JOHANNESBUEG 

At  Johannesburg  Mr.  Gandhi  was  the  recipient 
of  numerous  addresses,  from  Hindus,  Parsees, 
Mahomedans,  Europeans  and  other  important 
communities.  Indeed  every  class  of  people,  and 
every  important  association  presented  a  separate 
address.  Mr,  Gandhi  made  a  touching  reply  to  them:. 

Johannesburg  was  not  a  new  place  to  him.  He  saw 
many  friendly  faces  there,  many  who  had  worked  with 
him  in  many  struggles  in  Johannesburg.  He  had  gone 
through  much  in  life.  A  great  deal  of  depression  and 
sorrow  had  been  his  lot,  but  he  had  also  learnt  during  ali 
those  years  to  love  Johannesburg  even  though  it  was  a  Min- 
ing Camp.  It  was  in  Johannesburg  that  he  had  found  his 
moat  precious  friends.  It  was  in  Johannesburg  that  the 
foundation  for  the  great  struggle  of  Passive  Besistanoe 
was  laid  in  the  September  of  1906.  It  was  in  Johannes- 
burg  that  he  had  found  a  friend,  a  guide,  and  a  biographer 
in  the  late  Mr.  Doka.  It  was 'in  Johannesburg  that  ba 
bad  found  in  Mrs.  Doke  a  loving  sister,  who  had  nursed 
him  back  to  life  when  he  had  been  assaulted  by  a  country- 
man who  had  misunderstood  his  mission  and  who  mis- 
understood what  he  had  done.  It  was  in  Johannesburg 
that  he  had  found  a  Kallenbaob,  a  Polak,  a  MXm  Sahlesin 
and  many  another  who  had  always  helped  him  and  had 


P  THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN  QUESTION 

always  ohaared  him  and  his  oountrymen.  Johannesburg^ 
therefore,  had  the  holiest  assooiations  of  all  the  holy 
assooiations  that  Mrs.  Gandhi  and  he  would  oarry  baok 
to  India,  and,  as  be  had  already  said  on  maay  another 
platform.  South  Africa,  next  to  India,  would  be  the 
holiest  land  to  him  and  to  Mrs.  Gandhi  aod  to  bis 
ohildreo,  for,  ia  soita  of  all  the  bittaraessas,  it  had  givatt 
tham  those  life-loog  companions,  It  was  in  Johannesburg 
again  that  the  Earopaaa  Committee  had  bean  formed, 
when  ladians  ware  going  through  the  darkest  stage  ia 
their  history,  presided  0  7er  tham,  as  it  still  was,  by 
Mr.  Hoslsen,  It  was  last,  but  not  least,  Johannesburg, 
that  had  givan  Valliamma,  that  young  girl,  whose  piotura 
rose  before  him  even  as  ha  spoka,  who  had  died  in  the 
oausa  of  truth.  Simple-minded  in  faith — shd  had  not  the 
knowledge  that  ha  had,  she  did  nob  kaow  whali  Paaaiva 
Basistianoe  was,  she  did  not  koow  what  it  was  the  oom' 
munity  would  gain,  but  she  was  simply  taken  up  with  ua- 
bounded  enthusiasm  for  her  people — want  to  gaol,  oama 
out  of  it  a  wraok,  and  within  a  few  days  died.  It  was 
Johannesburg  again  that  produoad  a  Nagappan  ani 
Narayansamy,  two  lovely  youths  hardly  out  of  thair 
teens,  who  also  died.  But  both  Mrs.  Gaodhi  and  ha  stood' 
living  before  tham.  Ha  and  Mrs.  Gaadbi  had  worked  ia 
the  lima-ligbt;  those  others  had  worked  behind  tho  soeoea 
not  knowing  where  they  were  going,  esoept  this  that  what 
thay  were  doing  was  right  and  proper  and,  if  any  praise 
was  due  anywhere  at  all,  it  was  due  to  those  three  who 
died,  Thay  had  had  the  nama  of  Harbatsiagh  givan  to 
them.  He  (the  speaker)  had  had  the  privilega  of  serving 
imprisonment  with  him,  Harbatsingh  was  75  years  old, 
He  was  an  ex-indentured  Indian, and  when  he  (the  speaker^' 
asked  him  why    he  had  come    there,    that   he    had   gonS' 


PAQ^WgU:^  SBBiQH  AT  JOBAtlKaSBtrBO  97 

(faere  ^o  seek  his  grave,  the  brave  man  replied,  "  Whab 
does  it  matber  ?  J  know  what  yoa  are  fighting  for,  Yoa 
hfkve  nob  bo  pay  bhe  £3  bax,  bub  my  fellow  es-uidenbared, 
ladians  h^ve  bo  pay  fchab  bax,  and  whab  more  glorious 
dQ^bh  oouid  I  meeb  ?"  He  had  meb  bhab  deabh  in  bhe  gaol 
ab  Doirbaa.  No  wonder  if  Paaaive  BaBiabanoe  had  fired 
i^nd  quickened  the  oonaoienaa  of  Soubb   Afrioa  ! 

Bub,  praoeedad    Mr.    Gandhi,    he    oonourred    wibb 
Mr.  Dunoan  in  an  arbiele  be  wrote  some  years  ago,  when 
he  bruly  analysed  bhe  abruggle,   and  said  tbab  behind  bhab 
afarnggle  for  oonorabe  righbs  lay    bhe  'great    spirib    which 
asked  for  an  ababraob  principle,  and   the  figbb  which   was 
underbaken  in  1906,  although   ib    was  a    fi^hb   against   at 
particular  law,  waa  a  fight  underbaken  in  order  bo  aombab 
the  apirib  bhab  waa  aeen  aboub   to  overshadow  the    whole 
pf  South  Africa,  and  to  undermine  the   glorious    British 
Constitution,    of    which    the    Chairman   had    spoken    so 
lofbily  bhab  evening,  and  about   which  he    (the   speaker) 
shared  his  views.     It  was  hia  knowledge,  tight  or  wrong, 
of  the    British    Qonstiituliioa    which    bound  him   to   the 
Empire.  Tear  that  Conabibubion  bo  shreds  and  hialoyalby 
alao  would  be  bora  bo  shreds.  Keep  bhab  Conabibubion  in- 
taobi  and  they  held  him   bound  a   slave  to  that  Consbibu- 
tion.  He  had  felb  tbab  bhe  choice  lay  for  himself  and   hia 
tellow-countryman  babweaa      bwp    courses,    when     ihia 
spirit  waa  brooding  over  South  Africa,  either    to    sunder 
thamaelvea  from  the  Bribiah  Conabibubion,  or  bo   fight   in 
order  that  the  ideala  of  bhat   Conabibubion  might  be   pre- 
served— but  only  the  ideala.     Lard  Ampthill  had  said,  in 
a  prefaoa  to  Mr.  Doke'a  book,     bhab  bhe     bbeory    of    tbe> 
British  Conatibubion  must  be  preaerved  ab  any  coat  if  the. 
Bribiah  Empire  was  to  ba  eavad   from  the   mistakes    bhat 
all  the  previous    Empires    hai    made.     Practice    might. 
1 


98  XHB  SOUIH  APBIOAN  INDIAN  QUESTION 

bead  to  the  temporary  aberration  through  vrhioh  looal 
oiroumstanoes  might  oompel  them  to  pasa,  it  might  bend 
before  UDreaeoning  or  anreasonable  prejudice,  but  theory 
oDoe  reoogniaed  oould  never  be  departed  from,  and  ihig 
prinoipie  must  be  maintained  at  any  oost.  And  it  waa 
that  apiriii  wbioh  had  been  acknowledged  now  by  the 
Union  Government,  and  aolinowledged  how  nobly  and 
loftily.  The  worde  that  General  Smuts  so  often  em- 
ohaaised  still  rang  in  his  ears.  He  had  said,  *'  Gandhi, 
this  time  we  want  no  misunderstanding,  we  want  no 
mental  or  other  reservationa,  let  ail  the  oarda  be  on  the 
table,  and  I  want  you  to  tell  me  wherever  you  think  that 
«  particular  jpaesageor  word  does  not  read  in  aooordanoe 
with  your  own  reading,"  and  it  was  so.  That  waa  the 
spirit  in  which  be  approached  the  negotiations.  When 
lie  remembered  General  Smuta  of  a  few  years  ago,  when 
he  bold  Lord  Crewe  that  South  Africa  would  not  depart 
from  ita  policy  of  racial  distinction,  that  it  waa  bound  to 
retain  that  distinction,  and  that,  therefore,  the  sting  that 
4ay  in  this  Immigration  Law  would  not  be  removed, 
many  a  friend,  including  Lard  Ampthilf,  asked  whether 
-tbey  could  not  for  the  time  being  suspend  their  activity. 
He  had  said  ''  No."  If  they  did  that  it  would  undermine 
his  loyalty,  and  even  though  he  migbt  be  the  only  person 
be  mould  stiil  fight  on.  Lord  Ampthill  had  oongratulac- 
ed  him,  and  that  great  nobleman  had  never  deserted  the 
«au8e  ev,en  when  it  was  at  ics  lowest  ebb,  and  they  saw 
the  result  that  day.  They  bad  not  by  any  means  to  con- 
gratulate themselves  on  a  victory  gained.  There  was  no 
question  of  a  victory  gained,  but  the  question  of  the 
-eetablishment  of  the  prinoipie  that,  so  far  aa  the  Union 
cf  South  Africa  at  least  was  concerned,  ita  legislation 
would  never  contain  the  racial  taint,  would  never  ooniiaiu 


FABBWBIiL  SPKEOB  AT  JOHANNESBUBa  93 

the  colour  diBability.  The  pracMoe  would  oertainly 
be  diiCeceat,  There  Tua  the  Immigratioa  L»Wi  li  ra- 
«ogaised  no  racial  distioations,  but  \q  praoMoe  bhay  had 
arranged,  they  had  given  a  promise,  thab  there  should  ba 
QO  undue  inflax  from  India  as  to  immigraiion.  That 
was  a  ooncession  to  present  prejadioe.  Whether  it 
was  right  or  wrong  was  not  for  him  to  disouss  then. 
Bat  it  was  the  establiahmant  of  the  prinoiple  which 
■had  made  the  struggle  so  important  in  the  British 
Empire,  and  the  establisbment  of  that  prinoiple  which 
had  made  those  Buiferings  perfectly  justifiable  and  per- 
leotly  honourable!  and  ba  thought  lihat,  when  they 
^ionsidered  the  struggle  from  that  standpoinb,  it  was  a 
perfectly  dignified  thing  for  any  gathering  to  con- 
-gratulate  itsalf  upon  such  a  vindication  of  the  prinoiples 
of  the  Bcibish  Constitution,  One  word  of  caution  he 
wished  to  utter  regarding  the  settlemant.  Tba  settle- 
ment was  hoDOurabla  to  both  parties.  He  diii  not  think 
there  was  any  room  left  for  misunderstanding,  but  whilst 
jt  was  final  in  the  sense  that  it  closed  the  great  struggle, 
it  was  not  final  in  the  sense  that  it  gave  to  Indians  all 
that  they  were  entitled  to.  There  was  still  the  Gold  Law 
which  had  many  a  sting  in  it.  There  was  still  the 
Licensing  L%ws  throughout  the  Union,  which  also  ooa- 
.tained  many  a  sting.  There  was  still  a  matter  which  the 
Colonial-born  Indians  especially  could  not  understand  or 
appreciate,  namely,  the  water-tight  compartments  in 
which  they  had  to  live ;  whilst  there  was  absolutely  free 
inter-communication  and  inter-migration  between  the 
Provinces  for  Europeans,  Indians  had  to  be  cooped  up  in 
their  respective  Frovinoes.  Then  there  was  undue 
restraint  on  their  trading  activity.  There  was  the 
prohibition     as    to    holding     landed    property    in     tfa^ 


100  THB   SOUTH   AFftlOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

Transvaal,  whioh  was  degradiog,  and  all  these  things 
took  ladiana  into  all  kinds  of  uodesirable  ohannels. 
These  restriotioaa  would  have  to  be  removed.  Bat  for 
that,  he  thought,  auf&oiant  patienoe  would  have  to  be 
exeroised.  Time  was  now  at  their  dispoBal,  and  how 
wonderfully  the  tone  had  been  changed  I  And  here  he 
had  been  told  in  Capetown,  and  he  believed  it  implicitly, 
the  spirit  of  Mr.  Andrews  had  pervaded  all  those  states- 
men and  leading  men  whom  he  saw.  He  oame  and  went 
away  after  a  brief  period,  hut  he  certainly  fired  those 
whom  he  saw  with  a  sense  of  their  duty  to  the  Empire 
of  whiob  they  "were  members.  But,  in  any  case,  to 
whatever  oiroumstanQes  that  healthy  tone  was  due,  it  had 
not  esoaped  him.  Qe  had  seen  it  amongst  European 
friends  whom  he  met  at  Capetown  ;  he  had  seen  it  more 
fully  in  Durban,  and  this  time  it  had  been  hia  privilege 
to  meet  many  Europeans  who  were  perfect  strangers 
even  on  board  the  train,  who  had  come  smilingly 
forward  to  congratulate  him  on  what  they  had  called  a 
great  victory.  KiVery where  be  had  notioed  that  healthy 
tone.  He  asked  European  friends  to  continue  that 
activity,  either  through  the  European  Committee  or 
through  other  ohannels,  and  to  give  hia  fellow-country- 
men their  help  and  extend  that  fellow-feeling  to  them 
also,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to  work  out  their  own 
salvation. 

To  his  countrymen  he  would  say  that  they  should 
wait  and  nurse  the  settlement,  which  he  considered  was 
all  that  they  could  possibly  and  reasonably  have  expect- 
ed, and  that  they  would  now  live  to  see,  with  the  co- 
operation of  their  European  friends,  that  what  was 
promised  waa  fulfilled,  that  the  administration  of  the 
existing  laws    waa    just,   and    that    vested   rights   were 


PABBWBLL  SPEECH  AT  JOHANNESBURG  101 

Tespeotecl  in  the  adminiatiratiioii  ;  that  after  they  had 
nursed  these  things,  if  they  oultivated  European  public 
-opinion,  making  it' possible  for  the  Government  of  the 
day  to  grant  a  restoration  of  tlie'bt^^r  rigbtET  of  whiob 
they  had  been  deprived,  be  did  not  think  that  there  need 
be  any  fear  about  tbe  future.  He  thought  that,  with 
mutual  ao-operation,  wit¥  muYaal  good-will,  with  due 
response  on  the  part  of  either  party,  the  Indian 
oommuoity  need  ever  be'  a  source  of  weakness  to  that 
'Government  or  to  any  Government,  Qa  the  contrary 
he  had  full  faith  in  his  oouotrymen  that,  if  they  were 
welV-treateid,  they  would  alwayslrise  to  tlie  occasion  and 
help  the  (jroveVnmenf  of  the  day.  If  tliey  Had'  insisted  on 
their  rights  on  many  an  occasion,  he  hop^d't'hat't^e  Euro- 
pean friends  who  were  tfaeire  would  remember  that  they 
'had  also  diactiarged  the  responsibilities  which  had  faced 
them. 

And  noW  it  was  time  for  him  to'  close  his  remarks 
and  say  a  few  words  of  fiirdwell  only.  He  did  liot  know 
how  he  could  expres'S'  those  words.  The  best  years  of 
bis  life  had  been  passed  in  South  Africa.  India,  as  bis 
dietingaishedi  oonntryman,  Mr,  Gokhale,  had  reminded' 
faim,  had'  become  a  strange  land'  tio  hiiu.  South  Africa, 
he  koew,  but^  not  India.  He  did  not  know  whatf  impdlled' 
bim  to  go  to  India,  but  be  did  know  that  th^  parting 
from  them  all,  the  parting  from  tbe  European  friend'r 
who  had  helped  him  through  thick  and  thin,  was- a  heavy 
blow,  and  one  he  was  least  able  to  bear,  yet  be  knew  he' 
had  to  part  from  them,  He  oould  only  say  farewell  and 
ask  them  bo  giV'C  him  their  blessing,  to  pray  for  them 
that  their  beads  might  not  be  turned  by  the  praise  they 
had'  reoeired;  that  they  might  still  know  how  to  do  their 
duty  to  the  best  of    bfaeir   ability,  that-  they    might'  still 


102  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

learn  thai)  firab,  seoond,  and  last  should  be  tiba  approba- 
tion of  tbeir  own  consoienoa,  and  bhati  then  whatever 
might  be  due  to  them  would  follow  in  iba  own  time. — 
From  ^'The  Souvenir  of  the  Passive  Resistance  Movement 
in  Smith  Africa." 


FAREWELL  TO  SOUTH  AFEIOA 

Just  before  leaving  South  Africa,  Mr.  Oandhi 
handed  to  Beuter's  Agent  at  Capetown  the  following 
letter  addressed  to  the  Indian  and  European  public 
of  South  Africa: — 

I  would  li'ke  on  the  eve  of  my  departure  for  lodin 
to  Bay  a  few  worda  to  my  countrymen  in  South  Africa, 
and  a1ao  to  the  European  oommunity.  The  kindoesa 
with  which  both  European  and  Indian  frienda  have' 
overwhelmed  me  aenda  ma  to  India  a  debtor  to  tbem-  li 
ia  a  debt  I  ahall  endeavour  to  repay  by  rendering  in  India 
what  aervioea  I  am  capable  of  rendering  there ,  and  if  in 
speaking  about  the  South  African  Indian  qneation  I  am 
obliged  to  refer  to  the  injuaticea  whioh  my  countrymen 
have  received  and  may  hereafter  receive,  I  promise  that< 
I  ahall  never  wilfully  exaggerate,  and  ahall  atate  the  truth 
and  nothing  but  the  truth. 

A  word  about  the  aettlemenl,  and  what  it  means.  Id- 
my  humble  opinion  itia  the  Magna  Gharta  of  our  liberty 
in  thia  land.  I  give  it  the  hiatoric  name,  not  beaausa  it 
gives  US  righta  whioh  we  have  never  enjoyed  and  which 
are  in  themaelves  new  or  striking,  but  because  it  haa 
come  to  us  after  eight  years'  strenuous  suffering,  that  has 
involved  the  loss  of  material  posaeasions  and  of  precious 


FAREWELL  TO  SOUTH   AFRICA  10* 

livea.  I  call  it  our  Magna  CharU  beoause  id  marka  a, 
ohange  in  the  poUoy  of  the  Government  towards  us  and 
establishes  our  right  not  only  to  be  oonsolted  in  matters 
affecting  ua,  bat  to  have  our  reasonable  wishes  respected. 
It  moreover  confirms  the  theory  of  the  British  Oonatitu- 
tion  that  there  should  be  no  legal  raoial  inequality  be- 
tween different  eubjeots  of  the  Grown,  no  matter  how 
much  practice  may  vary  according  to  local  oircGmstance. 
Above  all  the  settlement  may  well  be  called  oar  Magna 
Gharta,  because  it  has  vindicated  Passive  Besistanoa  as 
a  lawful  clean  weapon,  and  has  given  in  Passive  Basiat- 
ance  a  new  strength  to  the  community ;  and  I  consider  ib 
an  infinitely  superior  force  to  that  of  iha  voie,  which 
history  shows  has  often  bean  turned  againsk  the  voiierB 
themselves. 

The  settlement  finally  distjoaea  of  al),the  points  that 
were  the  subject-matter  of  Passive  Beaiatanoe,  and  in  do- 
ing so  it  breathes  the  spirit  of  justioa  and  fair  play.  If 
the  same  spirit  guides  the  administration  of  the  existing 
laws  my  countrymen  will  have  comparative  peacOi  and 
South  Africa  will  hear  little  of  Indian  problem  in  an 
acute  form. 

Some  of  my  countryman  have  protoated  against  it. 
The  number  of  these  protestants  is  numerically  very 
small  and  in  influence  not  of  great  importance.  They 
do  not  object  to  what  has  been  granted,  but  they  object 
that  it  is  not  enough.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to 
withhold  sympathy  from  them.  I  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  speaking  to  them,  and  I  have  endeavoured  to 
show  to  them  that  if  we  had  asked  for  anything  more  It 
would  have  been  a  breach  of  submission  made  on  behalf 
of  the  British  Indiana  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Govern- 
ment by  Mr.  Gachalia  during   the  latter  part  of  last  year 


104  THE   SOtTlH   aJ"RIGaN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

aod  we  should  have  laid  ourseWes    opan   to  the  charge  of 
naaking  new  dbmaodB. 

But  I  have  also  assured  them  that  the  present  set- 
tlement does  not  praolada  them  from  agitation  (as  has 
been  mads  clear  in  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  of  the  16th  uUimo)  for  the  removal  of  Other 
disabilities  crbich  the  community  will  still  suSer  froin 
ucder  the  Gold  Liw,  the  Townships  Act,  the  Law  3  6f 
1885  of  the  Transvaal  and  the  Trade  Licences  Laws  of 
Natftl  and  the  Cape.  Tela  promlsa  made  by  General  Smuts 
to  administer  the  esisting  law  justly  and  with  due  regard 
to  vested  rights  gives  the  community  bt'eathing  time,  but 
these  laws  ara  in  thamsalvas  dafaotive,  and  can  bd,  as 
tbey  hsva  badtf,  tarned  into  anginas  of  Oppression  add 
iDstrumsnts  by  indirect  means  to  drive  the  resident 
Indian  popuUC'idtil  from  S3Uth  Africa-  Tbe  ooncession  to 
popular  pfdjudica  in  that  we  have  raoaaoiled  ourselves  to 
the  almos't  total  prohibition  by  administrafrive  methods 
of  a  fresh  infljx  of  lacliaa  immigrants,  and  to  the  depriva- 
tion of  all  political  po«7ar,  iss  in  my  opinion,  the  utmost 
that  could  ha' reasonably  espeotad  from  us.  These  twd 
things  being  assured,  I  venture  to  submit  thaii  we  are 
entitled  to  full  rights  of  trade,  inter-  provincial  migration,, 
aud  bwaershi [I  of  landed  property  being  restored  in  the 
nbt  distant  future.  I  leave  South  Africa  in  tbe  hope  thai 
the  haslthy  tone  that  pervades  tibe  European  oommUnity 
in  South  Africa  to-day  will  continue,  and  that  it  Wilt 
enable  Europaans  to  recagdise  the  inharaoit  justice  of  6ur 
submission,  To  my  countrymen  I  have  at  Various  meet- 
ings that  I  have  addressed  during  the  pEis't  fortolgfat 
attended  iu  several  cases  by  thousands,  said,  "Nurse  the 
settlement ;  see  to  it  that  tbe  promises  made  are  being 
carried  out.     Attend  to  development  and   progress    frooi 


PAREt?BLti  TO   SOUTH   AFRICA  105 

'\TithiD,  Zanlously  remove  all  oaases  whioh  we  may 
tava  given  for  the  rise  and  growth  of  anbi-Indian  preju- 
dioa  or  agitation,  and  patiently  oultivste  and  inform 
HaropAan  opinion  bo  as  to  enable  the  Government  of  the 
day  and  legislature  to  restore  to  us  our  rights."  tt  is  by 
mutual  oo-operation  and  goodwill  that  tde  solution  of  the 
i)Blanoe  of  the  pressing  disabilities  whioh  were  not  made 
voints  for  Passive  Besistanoe  may  be  obtained  in  the 
uabaral  ooarse,  and  without  trouble  or  agitation  in  an 
acute  form. 

The  presehoe  of  a  large  indentured  and  es-indentar- 
fid  Indian  population  in  Natal  is  a  grave  problem, 
CompalEtory  repatriation  is  a  physioal  and  potitioal 
jmpossibility,  voluntary  repatriation  by  way  of  granting 
free  passages  and  similar  induoements  will  not — as  my 
«xperieliae  teaofaes  me^-be  availed  of  to  any  appreoiable 
-extent,  "fhe  only  real  and  effeoliive  remedy  for  the  great 
State  to  adopt  is  to  face  respoasibility  fdirl'y  and 
'squaraly,  to  do  av^ay  with  the  remnant  of  the  system  of 
indenture,  and  to  level  up  this  part  of  the  population  and 
make  xiae  of  it  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  tJdion, 
]Vlen  and  women  who  can  e£Eaotively  strike  in  tatg^ 
bodies,  who  oan  for  a  oommoa  purpose  suffer  untol'cl 
hardships,  who  oan,  uadisoiplinad  though  they  are,  he 
martyrs  for  days  without  polide  supervis'lon  and  yeS 
avoid  doing  any  damage  to  property  or  person,  and  who 
-oan  id  times  of  need  serve  their  King  faithfully  etnd 
-oapably,  as  the  ambulaooe  oorps  raided  at  the  time  of  th>e( 
late  war  (and  which  had  among  other  olasses  orf  Iadi>aa<s 
nearly  I|500  indentured  Indians)  bore  wi'tnaas,  are 
aurefy  people  who  wflT,  if  given  ordinary  opportanities  inf 
Jife,  form  an  hdnouralJle  part  of  any  nation. 


106         THE   SOUTH  AFftlOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

If  any  olasa  of  persons  have  speoial  olaim  to  br 
considered,  ii)  is  lihese  iadeatured  Indians  and  their 
children,  bo  whom  South  Africa  has  beoome  either  a  land 
of  adoption  or  of  birth.  They  did  not  enter  the  Unioo 
as  ordinary  free  immigrants,  but  they  came  upon  invita- 
tion, and  indeed  even  after  mnoh  coaxing,  by  agents  o£ 
South  African  employers  of  this  class  of  labour.  In  this 
letter  I  have  endeavoured  as  accurately  and  as  fairly  as 
is  in  my  power  to  set  forth  the  Indian  situation)  and  the 
extraordinary  courtesy,  kindness  and  sympathy  that: 
have  been  shown  to  me  during  the  past  month  by  so- 
many  European  friends.  The  frankaesa  and  generosity 
with  which  General  Smuts,  in  the  interview,  that  he  waa< 
pleased  to  grant  me,  approached  the  questions  at  issuer 
and  the  importance  that  so  many  distinguished  members, 
of  both  Houses  of  Parliament  attached  to  the  Imperial 
aspect  of  the  problem,  give  me  ample  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  my  countrymen  who  have  made  South  Africa 
their  homes  will  receive  a  fairly  full  measure  of  justice 
and  will  be  enabled  to  remain  in  the  Union  with  self-^ 
respect  and  dignity. 

Finally,  in  bidding  good-bye  to  South  Africa,  I 
would  like  to  apologise  to  so  many  friends  on  whom  I. 
have  not  been  able,  through  extreme  pressure  of  work, 
to  call  personally.  I  once  more  state  that  though  I  have- 
received  many  a  hard  knock  in  my  long  stay  in  this, 
country,  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  receive  much, 
personal  kindness  and  consideration  from  hundreds  of 
European  friends,  well-wishers  and  sympathisers.  I 
have  formed  the  closest  friendships,  which  will  last 
for  ever,  for  this  reason  and  for  many  similar  reasons,, 
which  I  would  love  to  reduce  to  writing  but  for  fear  of 
trespassing   unduly  open  the  courtesy  of  the  press.    Thi* 


BBOBPTION   IN   BNGIiiND  107'^ 

Bub-Bontioenb  baa  beoome  to  me  a  saored  and  dear^ 
land,  next  only  bo  my  motberland.  I  leave  fche  abores  of 
Soutb  Afrioa  wibb  a  beavy  beart,  aod  the  distanoe  tbatr- 
will  now  separate  ma  from  South  Afrioa  will  but  draw 
me  oloaer  to  it,  and  its  welfare  will  always  be  a  matter 
of  great  oonoern,  and  the  love  bestowed  upon  me  by  my 
oountrymen  and  the  generous  forbaaranaa  and  kindness- 
extended  to  me  by  tbe  Europeans  will  ever  remain  al- 
most cherished  treasure  in  my  memory. 


BEOEPIION  IN  ENGLAND 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gandhi  left  South  Afrioa  for  London^ 
in  July,  1914.  On  their  arrival  in  Englaiid  they  were- 
welcomed  at  a  great  gathering  of^British  and  Indian 
friends  and  admirers  at  the  Hotel  Geail,  on  August  8.. 
Letters  of  apology  were  received  from  the  Prime  Minis  ter^. 
the  Marquis  of  Grewe,  Earl  Roberts.  Lords  Gladstone, 
Gurzon,  Lamington,  Anipthill,  Harris,  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Gohhale,  Mr.  Harcourt,  Mr.  Keir  Hardie  and  Mr.  Ramsay:. 
Maodonald.  The  Reception  was  arranged  by  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Bhupendranath  Basu,  the  Rt.  Hon.  Mr.  Ameer  Alt 
and  others  who  spoke  on  the  occasion. 

Mr.  Gandhi,  in  returning  thanks,  referred  to  the- 
great  arisia  wbioh  at  the  moment  overshadowed  l*be- 
world.  He  hoped  his  young  friends  would  "  thio  k 
Imperially  "  in  the  beat  sense  of  tbe  word,  and  do  their 
duty.  With  regard  to  affairs  in  South  Afrioa,  Mr> 
'Gandhi  paid  a  noble  tribute  to  the  devotion  of  hia 
followers.  It  was  to  tbe  rank  and  file  that  their  victory 
was  due,     Those  who  had  suffered  and  died  in  tbe  strug.- 


108  THE   SOUTH   AFBIOAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

gla  were  the  real  heroes'.  *  *  Mr-  Gandhi  regarded  the 
Bettlemenfi  as  the  Magna  Gharba  of  the  South  Afrioa 
British  IndiaDS,  not  because  of  the  substaaoe  but  be- 
oause  of  the  spirit  which  brought  it  about.  There  bad 
been  a  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  people  of  South 
Afrioa  and  the  settlement  had  been  sealed  by  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Indian  oomnauDity.  It  had  proved  that  if 
Indians  were  in  earnest  they  were  irresistible,  Tbeire 
had  been  no  oooipromise  in  principles.  Some  grievanoefi 
remained  unredressed  but  these  were  capable  of  adjust- 
•ment  by  pressure  from  Downing  Street,  Simla,  and  from 
South  Afrioa  itself.  The  future  rested  with  themselves. 
It  they  proved  vi^orthy  of  better  Conditions,  they  would 
.^geti  tbem. 


LETTER  TO  LORD  CREWE 

The  following   letter  dated  tHe  14th   August,  1914, 

■signed  by.  Mr.   and  Mrs.   Oandhi,^  Mrs.  Sarojini  Naidu, 

Major  N.  P.  Sinha,  Dr.  Jivraj  N.    Mehta  aiid  some  fifty 

■other  Indians,  was  sent  to  the  Under- Secretary,   of  State. 

./or  India : — 

Id  was  thought  desirableby  many  of  usthatdariDg' 
the  crisis  that  has  overtaken  the  Empire  and  whilst 
many  Englishmen,  leaving  their  ordinary  vooations  in 
life,  are  responding  to  the  Imperial  call,  those  Indiana 
who  are  residing  in  the  United  Kingdom  and  who  can  at 
all  do  so  should  place  themselves  unconditionally  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Authorities. 

With  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  feeling  of  th«' 
resident  Indian  population,  the  undersigned  sent  out  a 
siraular  letter  to  as    many  Indians    in  the  United   King- 


FABBWBIiL   TO  ENGLAND  109=" 

dom  as  oould  be  approached  during  the  fchirty-aigbti 
hours  tbab  the  orgaoisers  gave  themselvea.  The  res- 
ponse has  been  generous  and  pronapt,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  under-signed  representabives  of  Hia  Majesty's 
subjeots  from  the  Indian  Empire  at  present  residing  in  ■ 
the  different  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom, 

On  behalf  of  ourselves  and  those  whose  names 
appear  on  the  list  appended  hereto,  we  beg  to  offer  our 
servioes  to  the  authorities.  We  venture  to  trust  that 
the  Bight  Hon'ble  the  Margaess  of  Crewe  will  approve 
of  our  offer  and  secure  its  aooeptance  by  the  proper 
authority.  We  would  respectfully  emphasise  the  fact 
th»t  the  one  dominant  idea  guiding  us  is  that  of  render- 
ing such  humble  assistance  as  we  may  be  considered 
capable  of  performingias  an  earnest  of  our  desire  to  share 
the  responsibilities  of  membership  of  this  great  Empire 
if  we  would  share  its  privileges. 


FAREWELL  TO  ENGLAND 

When  England  joined  the  war  Mr,  Gandhi  organised  ' 
the  Indian  Field  Ambulance  Corps  loith  the  help  of  lead- 
ing Indians  in  England,  notably  H.  H.  the  Aga  Khan. 
Soon  after  Mr.  Gandhi  fell  ill  and  he  teas  nursed  back  to 
health  by  thelJeindness  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Roberts.  Mr,  and 
Mrs,  Gandhi  were  again  entertained  at  a  Farewell  Be- 
ception  at  the  Westminster  Palace  Hotel,  prior  to  their 
departure  for  India.  Among  those  who  tooTt  part  in  the 
function  were  Sir  Henry  Gotton,  Mr.  Charles  Boberts, 
Sir  K.  G.  Gupta.  A  letter  of  apology  was  read  from  Sir 
William  Wedderbum.  Mr,  Gandhi  said  in  the  course  of 
his  reply : — 

Hia  wife  and  himself  were  returning  to  the    mother- 
land with  their  work  unaooomplished    and  with    brolien  . 


110  THE    SOUaH  iFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

faealtih,  bub  ha  wished  navertheiessi  to  nS9  the  laagnage  of 
^ope.  *  *  He  bad  himself  pleaded  bard  vvitb  Mr.  Boberts 
thab  some  place  should  be  found  for  him  ;  bub  his  healbb 

'had  nob  permibbed  and  the   doobora  had    been    obdurate. 

i  He  had  nob   resigned    from    che    oorps,     If  in  bis   own 

:  mabherland  he  should  be  restored  to  strengtb,  and  hosti- 
iibiea  were  still  oonbinuing,  be  intended  bo  come  back, 
^ireobly  the  summons  reached  bim.  (Cheers),  As  for 
his  work  in  South  Africa,  bhey  had  been  purely  a  matter 

-of  duty  and  carried  no  merit  with  them  and  his  only  as- 
'piration  on  hia  return  to  his  motherland  was  bo    do    hia 

~^uty  as  he  found  it  day  by  day.  He  had  been  pracbioally 
an  exile  for  25    years   and   bis    friend    and    maaber,  Mr. 

•X^rokhale,  bad  warned  him  nob  bo  speak  of  Indian  questioDg 
as  India  was  a  foreign  land  to  him.  (Laughter.)  Bat  the 

'India  of  his  imagination  was  an  India  unrivalled  iirthe 
worldi  an  India  where  the  moat  spiritual  treasures  were 
bo  be  found:  and  ib  was  his  dream  and  hope  bhab  bhe  con- 
oeotion  between  India  and  England  migkb  be  a  aouroe 
at  spiritual  oomforb  and  uplifbing  bo  bbe  whole  wcrldi 


EEOBPTION  IN  BOMBAY 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gandhi  arrived  at  Bombay  on  the  9th 
January,  1915',  They  were  entertained  on  arrival  at  a 
great  public  reception  over  which  Sir  Fherozeihah  Mehta 
presided,  Beplying  to  the  toast  Mr.  Gandhi  said  in  the 
course  of  his  speech  : — 

In  what  he  had  done,  be  had  done  nobbing  beyond 
hia  duty  and  ib  remained  bo  be  seen  how  far  he  had  auo- 
oeeded    in    doing  bis   duty.     That   was  nob    a   mere  lit) 


BEOBFXION   IN   BOMBAY  111 

"a^pression   bub  be  asked  them  to  believe   einoerely   bhali 
these  were  his  feelings. 

They  had  also  hononred  Mrs.  Gandhi  as  the  wife  of 
the  great  Gandhi.  He  had  no  knowledge  of  the  great 
■Oandhi  but  he  oouid  say  that  she  oould  tell  them  more 
abont  the  sufferings  of  women  who  rushed  with  babies  to 
'the  jail  and  who  had  now  joined  the  majority,  than  he 
could. 

In  oouolnsion,  Mr.  Gandhi  appealed  to  them  to  aooept 

the  servioes  of  himself  and  hia  wife,  for  he  said  they  had 

-oome  to  render  suob  service  as  God  would  enable  bfaem  to 

do  so.     They  had  not  oome  to  reaeive  big  entertainments 

like  that  because  they  did  not  think  they  were  worthy  of 

-euch  presents,    He  felt  they  would  only  spoil  tbem  if  ever 

-by  Buoh   action   a  thought  crossed  their  minds-  tbat  they 

-had  done  something  to  deserve  suoh  a  big  tamasha  made 

in  their  honour,     He,  however,  thanked  tbem  on  behalf 

of  his  wife  and  himself  most  sincerely  for  the  great  honour 

done  to  them  that  afternoon  and  he  hoped  to  receive  the 

whole  country  in  their  endeavour  to  serve  the  Motherland. 

Hitherto,  he  said,  they  bad  known  nothing  of  his  failures. 

AH  the  news  that  they  had  received  related  to  his  sucoesses. 

Here  they  would    now  see   them   in  tbe  naked  light,  and 

would    see   their  faults,    and  anticipating  such  faults  and 

failures,  he  asked  them  to  overlook  them,  and  with  that 

appeal,  he'  said,  they  as  humble  servants  would  commence 

the  service  of  their  country. 


EEOEPTION  IN  MADRAS 

In  reply  to  the  Welcome  Address  read  by  Mr.  G.  A- 
Natesan  on  behalf  of  the  Indian  South  African  League,  at 
a  meeting  at  the  Victoria  Public  Hall,  Madras,  on  the  21st 
April,  1915,  with  Dr.  Sir  Subramania  Iyer  in  the  Ghair^ 
Mr,  Odndhi  said : — 

Mr,  Chairman  and  Frienda, — On  behalf  of  my  wifa 
and  myself  I  am  deeply  gratefal  for  (he  greab  honour  thab 
you  here  in  Madras,  and,  may  I  say,  this  Presidency,  have 
dons  tio  us  and  the  affeobion  thai;  has  been  lavished  upon 
us  in  this  great  and  enlightened — not  benighted — 
Presidency. 

If  there  is  anything  that  we  have  deserved,  as  has 
been  stated  in  this  beautiful  address,  I  oan  only  say  I  lay 
it  at  the  feet  of  my  Master  under  whose  inspiration  I  have 
been  wording  all  this  time  under  exile  in  South  Afrioa. 
(Hear,  hear).  In  30  far  as  the  sentiments  expressed  in  this 
address  are  merely  prophebio^  Sir,  I  aooept  them  as  a  bles- 
sing and  as  a  prayer  from  you  and  from  this  great  meeting 
that  both  my  wife  and  I  myself  may  possess  the  power,  the 
inolination,  and  the  life  to  dedicate  whatever  we  may  de- 
velop in  this  sacred  land  of  ours  to  the  service  of  the 
Motherland.  (Cheers),  Iti  is  no  wonder  that  we  have  ooma 
to  Madras.  As  my  friend,  Mr.  Natesan,  will  perhaps  tall 
you,  we  have  been  overdue  and  we  have  neglected  Madras. 
But  we  hare  done  nothing  of  the  kind.  We  know  (hat 
we  had  a  corner  in  your  hearts  and  we  knew  that  you 
will  not  misjudge  us  if  we  did  not  hasten  to  Madras 
before  going  to  the  other  presidencies  and  to  other 
towns.         *     *     *     *         ^^^    gji.^  jj  Qna.tiQQijj,  ^j  jj,g 

language    that  has  been  used    in    this  address  is  deserved 
by  us,  what  language  do  you  propose  io  use  for  (hose  who 


BEOEPTION    IN    MADRAS  113 

bava  lost  their  lives,  and  bherefore  finiahed  their  work  on 
behalf  of  your  euflfering  oountrymen  in  South  Africa  ? 
What  language  do  you  propose  to  use  for  Nagappan  and 
Narayanaaawmy,  lads  of  aevanteen  or  eighteen  years, 
who  braved  in  simple  faith  all  the  trials,  all  the  sufifer- 
ingB,  and  all  the  indignities  for  the  sake  of  the  honour  of 
the  Motherland  {Cheers.)  What  language  do  you  propose 
to  use  with  reference  to  Vallianoma,  that  sweet  girl 
of  seventeen  yeara  who  was  discharged  from  Maritzbnrg 
prison,  skin  and  bone  suffering  from  fever  to  which  she 
ancoumbed  after  about  a  month's  time  (Cries  of  shame). 

It  was  the  Madrasaia  who  of  all  the  Indians  were 
singled  out  by  the  great  Divinity  that  rules  over  us  for 
this  great  work.  Do  you  know  that  in  the  great  city  of 
Johannesburg,  the  Madrasis  look  on  a  Madraasi  as  die- 
honoured  if  he  has  not  passed  through  the  jails  once  or 
twice  during  this  terrible  crisis  that  your  countrymen  in 
South  Africa  went  through  during  these  eight  long  years  ? 
Tou  have  said  that  I  inspired  these  great  men  and 
women,  but  I  cannot  accept  that  proposition.  It  was 
they,  the  aimple-minded  folk,  who  worked  away  in  faith, 
never  expecting  the  aligblieat  reward,  who  inspired  me, 
who  kept  ma  to  the  proper  level,  and  who  inspired  me  by 
their  great  sacrifice,  by  their  great  faith,  by  their  great 
trust  in  the  great  God,  to  do  the  work  that  I  was  able  to 
do.  {Cheers.)  It  is  my  misfortune  that  my  wife  and  I 
have  been  obliged  to  work  in  the  lime-light,  and  you 
have  magnified  out  of  all  proportion  {cries  of  'No  ?  no  ?') 
this  little  work  we  have  bean  able  to  do.  Believe  me, 
my  dear  friends,  that  if  you  consider,  whether  in  India  or 
in  South  Africa,  it  ia  possible  for  us,  poor  mortale — the 
same  individuala,  the  same  stuff  of  which  you  are 
made — if  you  consider  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  da 
8 


114  IHB   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUBSIION 

aaytbing  whatsoever  wibbouii  your  assisfcaaoe  aod  witb- 
outi  your  doing  fcbe  Bame  tbiog  tbat  we  would  be  prepared 
to  do,  you  are  lost,  and  we  are  also  lost,  and  our  servioes 
will  be  in  vain,  I  do  not  for  one  moment  believe  tbat 
tbe  inspiration  was  given  by  as.  The  inspiration  was 
given  by  tbem  to  usi  and  we  were  able  to  be  interpreters 
between  tbe  powers  who  called  tbems'elves  the  Governors 
and  tbosa  man  (or  wbom  redress  was  bo  neoessary.  We 
were  simply  links  between  those  two  parties  and  nothing 
more.  It;  was  my  duty,  having  reoeived  tbe  eduoation 
that  was  given  to  ma  by  my  parents  to  interpret  what 
was  going  on  in  our  midst  to  those  simple  folk,  and  (hey 
rose  to  tbe  oooasion.  They  realised  hhe  might  of  religious 
foroe,  and  it  was  they  who  inspired  U9,  and  let  them  who 
have  finished  their  work,  and  who  have  died  for  you  and 
me,  let  tbem  inspire  you  and  us.  We  are  still  living  aul 
who  knows  whether  tbe  davil  will  uoo  poaaass  us 
to-morrow  and  we  shall  not  forsaka  tbe  post  of  duty 
before  any  new  danger  that  may  faoa  us.  Bat  these 
three  have  gone  for  ever, 

An  old  man  of  75  from  tbe  United  I'rovinoes, 
Harbart  Singb,  has  also  jaiaed  tbe  majority  and  died  in 
jail  in  South  Africa ;  and  he  deserved  the  crown  tbat  you 
would  seek  to  impose  upon  us.  These  young  men  deserve 
all  the  adjectives  tbat  you  have  so  affectionately,  but 
blindly  lavished  upon  us.  It  was  not  only  the  Hindus 
who  struggled,  bun  there  were  Mahomedans,  Parsis  and 
Christians,  and  almost  every  part  of  India  was  represented 
in  tbe  struggle.  They  realised  the  oommon  danger,  and 
they  realised  also  whab  their  destiny  was  as  Indians,  aud 
It  was  Ihey,  and  tbey  alone,  who  matched  tbe  soul-forces 
against  tbe  physical  forces.     {Loud  applause,) 


THE  INDIAN  SOUTH  AFBIOAN  LEAGUE 

At  the  General  Meeting  of  the  Indian  South  African 

League,  hetd  at  the  premises    of  Messrs  O.  A.  Natesan  d 

Co.,  Madras,  on  Friday,  May  7, 1913,  with  Demon  Baha- 

dur  M.  Audinarayana  lyah  in  the  Chair,  Mr,  G.A.  Natesan, 

one  of  the  Joint  Secretaries,  presented  a  statement  of 

uocounts  of  the  League  and  wound  up  by  urging   that  the 

balance  of  the  League's  Fund    might  be    handed  over  to 

Mr.  Gandhi  who  had  undertaken  to  look  after  the  interests 

of  the  South  Africa  returned  Indians  and  their  dependents. 

The  Resolution  was  unanimously  passed.  Mr.  Gandhi  in 

the  course  of  his  reply  made  a  brief  statement  and  said:  — 

Tbe  paseive  reaiabanoe  straggle  started  with  the  Aaia- 

tio  struggle  in  the  Tranevaal    in    1906.     As    it    went    on 

stage  after  stage,  it,  owing  to  the    esigenoiea  of  the    case 

aod  as  a  matter  of  course,  expanded    and   embraoed   the 

following  further  points,  viz.,    (1)    the    removal  of    racial 

disability  in  the  Immigration  Lagialation  of  the  Union  of 

8outh  Africa ;  (2)  the  restoration  of  the  status  of  Indian 

wives  whether   married    in    accordance    with    Hindu    or 

Mahomedan  religious  rites  as  it  orginally    existed    before 

what  was  known  in  South  Africa  as  the  Saarle  Judgment; 

(3)  repeal  of  the  annual  £3  tax    which    was    payable    by 

every  ex-indentured  Indian,  bis  wife  and    bis    children — 

mala  and  female — males  after  reaching  16  years,  females 

after  reaohing'lS,  if  they  decided  to  settle  in  the  province 

of  Natal  as  freemen  ;   (4)  just  administration   of    existing 

aws  specially  affeoMng  British  Indiana  with  due  regard 
to  vested  rights.  All  these  points  were  completely  gained 
under  the  settlement  of  last  year,     and    they    have    been 

embodied  so  far  as  legislation  was  necessary  in  what  was 
known  as  the  Indian  Belief  Act  and  otherwise  in  the  oor- 


116  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN   INDIAN   QUESTION 

reapondenoe  that  took  place  betwesD  General  Smub's  '  and 
himBelf  imoaediately  after  the  passing  of  the  Aob  referred 
to.  Saob  being  the  oase  and  as  the  Indian  South  Afrioan 
League  wan  formed  solely  for  the  purpose  of  assieting  thd 
struggle  it  Qould  well  disETolve  itself,  Mr,  Gandhi  refer- 
red also  to  the  administration  of  the  funds  that  were  sent 
to  him  from  India  and  other  parts  of  the  Empire.  He 
said  that,  at  every  stage  of  the  struggle,  a  complete  sbate- 
ment-of  income  and  expenditure  was  published, 

Mr-  Gandhi  then  informed  the  meeting  that  there 
were  nearly  30  passive  resiaters  including  their  families' 
in  India  who  were  to  be  supported.  These  included  the- 
widows  aad  obildren  of  the  two  men  who  were  shot  in 
the  oouree  of  the  struggle.  He,  therefore,  suggested  that 
the  small  balance  which  was  still  with  the  Indian  South 
African  League  might  well  be  devoted  to  their  assistance. 
Mr.  Gandlii  desired  to  take  the  opportunity  to  express 
the  thanks  of  the  South  Afrioan  Indians  for  the  great 
and  valuable  assistance  it  had  rendered  to  them  during 
the  most  oritioal  times  of  the  struggle.  Ha  was  not 
going  to  mention  any  names,  but  he  felt  it  his  daty  to 
convey  in  person  as  the  interpreter  of  the  wishes  of 
many  Transvaal  deportees,  who  were  in  Madras  in 
1909,  of  their  heartfelt  thanks  to  Mr,  Natasan  for  the 
devotion  which  he  displayed  in  looking  after  their  interest 
during  their  exile  in  India-  He  was  glad-  he  was  able  to 
convey  in  person  bis  grateful  thanks  to  the  chairman 
and  the  members  of  the  League  for  the  moral  and 
material  support  they  had  rendered  to  their  cause. 


ADVICE  TO  SOUTH  AFEIOAN  INDIANS 

In  spite  of  his  multifarious  activities  in  India,  Mr, 
■Oandhi  seldom  forgot  the  scene  of  his  early  labours.  His 
South  African  friends  and  fellow-workers  are  always  dear 
to  him.  In  a  communication  to  the  Indian  Opinion  he 
wrote  under  date  13th  December,  1917  : — 

When  I  lefb  Soatb  Afrioa,  I  had  fully  iDbeaded  to 
write  to  my  ladian  Eaglisb  friends  there  from  time  to 
time,  but  I  fouad  my  lot  in  India  to  be  quite  different) 
from  what  I  had  espeoted  it  to  be.  I  had  hoped  to  be 
able  to  hava  oomparatire  pease  and  leisure  but  I  have 
beet!  irresistibly  drawn  into  many  aotivities.  I  hardly 
oope  with  bhem  and  looal  daily  oorrespondenoe.  Half 
of  my  time  is  passed  in  the  Indian  trains.  My  South 
African  friends  will,  I  hope,  forgive  me  for  my  apparent 
negleot  of  them.  Lat  me  assure  them  that  not  a  day  baa 
passed  but  I  have  thought  of  them  and  their  kindness, 
South  African  assooiations  oan  never  be  efifaoed  from  my 
memory. 

Yon  will  not  now  be  surprjasd  when  I  tell  you  that 
it  was  only  to-day  that  I  learnt  from  Indian  Opinion  to 
iiand  about  the  disastrous  floods.  Daring  my  travels  I 
rarely  read  newspapers  and  I  have  time  merely  to  glance 
at  them  whilst  I  am  not  travelling,  I  write  this  to 
tender  my  sympathy  to  the  sufferers.  My  imagination 
enables  me  to  draw  a  true  picture  of  their  sufferings. 
They  malse  one  thing  of  God  and  His  might  and  the  utter 
«vaneaceaoe  of  this  life.  They  ought  to  teach  us  ever  to 
seek  His  protection  and  never  to  fail  in  the  daily  duty 
before  us.  In  the  divine  aooount-books  only  our  actions 
«re  noted,  not  what  we  have  read  or  what  we  have 
epoken.     These  and  similar   reflactiona  fill    my    soul   foe 


118  THE   SOUTH    APRICAK    INDIAN   QUESTION 

the  momenti  and  I  wish  to  share  them  with  the  sufferers. 
The  deep  poverty  that  I  esperienoe  in  this  ooantry  deter» 
me  even  from  thinking  of  finanoial  assiatanoe  to  be  sent 
for  those  who  have  been  rendered  homeless.  Even  one 
pie  in  this  country  ooants.  I  am  at  this  very  moment 
living  in  the  midst  of  thousands  who  have  nothing  but 
roasted  pulse  or  grain  flour  mixed  with  water  and  salt. 
We  here,  therefore,  oan  only  send  the  sufferers  an  assur- 
ance of  our  heartfelt  grief. 

I  hope  that  a  determined  movement  will  be  set  on 
foot  to  render  illegal  residence  on  flats  exposed  to  visita- 
tions of  death-dealing  floods.  The  poor  will,  if  they  oan, 
inhabit  even  suob  sites  regardless  of  conseguencesi  It  is 
for  the  enlightened  persons  to  make  it  impossible  for 
them  to  do  so. 

The  issues  of  Indian  Opinion  that  acquainted  me 
with  the  destruction  caused  by  the  floods  gave  me  also 
the  sad  news  of  Mr.  Abdul  Ganie's  death.  Please  con- 
vey my  respectful  condolences  to  the  members  of  our 
friend's  family.  Mr.  Abdul  Ganie's  services  to  comma- 
nity  can  never  be  forgotten-  His  sobriety  of  judgment 
and  neverr-faiiing  courtesy  would  have  done  credit  to 
anybody.  His  wise  handling  of  public  questions  was  a. 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  services  to  one's  country 
could  be  efficiently  rendered  without  a  koowledge  of 
English  or  modern  training, 

I  note,  too,  that  our  people  in  South  Africa  are  not 
yet  free  fi^om  difficulties  about  trade  licences  and  leaving 
certificates,  My  Indian  esperienoe  has  confirmed  the 
opinion  that  there  is  no  remedy  like  passive  resistauoa 
against  suab  evils,  The  community  has  to  exhaust 
milder  remedies  but  I  hope  that  it  will  not  allow  the 
aword  of  passive   resistanoe  to  geb  rusty.   It  is  our   duty 


BAILW AT  RESTRICTIONS   IN   TBANSVAAli  119 

-whilai  the  terrible  war  lasts  to  be  satisfied  wHh  petitions, 
eto.  for  the  desired  relief  but  I  think  the  Government 
should  know  that  the  oommunity  will  not  rest  until  the 
questions  above  mentioned  are  satisfaotorily  solved.  It  ia 
but  right  that  I  should  also  warn  the  oommunity  against 
dangers  from  within.  I  hear  from  those  who  return 
from  South  Africa  that  we  are  by  no  means  free  of  those 
who  are  engaged  in  illicit  traflSo.  We  who  seek  justice 
mast  be  above  suspicion,  and  I  hope  that  our  leaders 
will  not  reso  till  they  have  purged  the  oommunity  of 
internal  defeats. 


BAIL  WAY   RESTRICTIONS   IN   TRANSVAAL 

Writing  to  the  "  Times  of  India  "  on  June  2,  1918, 
Mr.  Gandhi  drew  attention  to  the  fresh  disabilities 
imposed  on  Indians  by  the  Union  Government  by  the 
introduction  of  the  railway,  travelling  restrictions, 
Mr,  Gandhi,  while  deploring  the  existing  coloiir  prejudices 
felt  bound  to  protest  against  the  attempt  of  the  Union 
Government  to  give  legal  recognition  to  the  anti-colour 
campaign.  We  omit  the  long  extracts  from  the  „  Indian 
Opinion"  and  give  the  text  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  letter : — 

Sib, — I  offer,  no  apology  for  seeking  the  hospitality 
of  your  columns  for  the  enclosed  extracts  from  Indian 
Opinion,  They  deal  with  the  well  being  of  over  two  lakhs 
ofeaiigrants  from  India,  Mr.  Ahmed  Mahomed  Gachaliai 
the  esteemed  president  of  the  British  Indian  Association 
of  Johatineaburg,  baa  sent  from  that  plaoe  the  following 
oablegram  regarding  cne  of  the  matters  referred  to  in  the 
eztraots : — 


120         THE   SOUTH   APBIOAN    INDIAN   QUESTION 

'MaBB  meeting  fifth  strongly  proteeted  seotion  nineteen,  tailway^ 
cegulations,  Besolved  oable  aupportera  India,  Begulationa  impose 
statutory  oolor-bar  in  regard  to  issue  of  tiokets,  plaoing  in  and 
removing  from  oompartmeuts,  oooupation  of  plaoes  on  station 
platforms,  empowers  minor  o'fSoiala  remove  without  assigning 
reason,  Please  make  suitable  representations  appropriate  quarters. 
Community  unanimous  assert  rights  unless  relief  sought  granted.' 

Mr,  Caohalia  was  one  of  the  Btaunobesli  workers 
during  tiha  Passive  Besisbanoa  oampaign  that  raged  for 
eigbt  years  in  South  Africa.  Daring  that  oampaign  ha 
reduoed  himself  to  povariiy  and  aooepted  imprisoDmeDli 
for  the  sake  of  India's  honoar,  Oae  oan,  therefore,  easily 
undaretand  what  is  meant  by  the  words  oommuoity 
unsDimous  assert  right  unlesH  relief  sought  granted.' 

It  is  not  a  threat.  It  is  the  burning  cry  of  distress 
felt  by  a  oomoaunity  whose  self-respeot  has  been  injured. 

It  is  evident  that  the  white  people  of  South  Africa 
have  not  been  visibly  impressed  by  the  war  which  is 
claimed  to  be  waged  for  the  protection  of  the  rights  of 
weaker  or  minor  nationalities.  Their  prejudice  against 
colour  is  not  restrained  even  by  the  facli  that  local  Indians 
have  raised  a  volunteer  bearer  corps  which  is  gallantly 
serving  in  East  Africa  with  the  column  that  was  taken 
bo  Eist  Africa  by  General  Smuts, 

The  problem  is  difficult,  it  is  oomples-  Prejudices 
oanpot  be  removed  by  legislation,  Ttiey  will  yield  only 
to  patient  toil  and  education.  Bab  what  of  tha  Union 
Government?  It  is  now  feeding  the  prejudice  by 
legalising  it.  Indiana  would  have  been  content,  if 
the  popular  prejudice  hid  been  left  to  work  itself  out, 
oare  being  taken  to  guard  against  violence  on  either  side^ 
Indians  of  South  Africa  could  not  complain  even  against 
a  boycott  on  the  part  of  the  whites.  It  is  there  already. 
In  social  life  they  are  completely  ostracised.  Thay  feel 
the  ostracism,  but  they  silently  bear  it,     But  the  situa- 


BAILWaT.  BBSIRIOTIONS  in  TRANSVAAL  121 

tion  alliara  when  theGoverDmdnt  steps  in  and  gives  legaF 
«6oognition  bo  the  Anti-Colour  Campaign.  It  ia  impoB- 
flible  for  the  Indian  settlers  to  submit  to  an  insulting 
restraint  upon  their  noovemants  They  will  not  allow 
booking  clerks  to  decide  as  to  whether  they  are  beoom- 
"Sngly  dressed.  They  oanooli  allow  a  plaiforna-inapeotor 
to  restrict  them  do  a  reserved  part  of  a  platforin.  They 
"Will  not,  as  if  they  were  ticket  of-leave  men,  produce 
-their  certifijates  in  order  to  secure  railway  tickets. 

The  pendency  of  the  war  cannot  be  used  as  an 
-effaotive  shield  to  cover  fresh  wrongs  and  insults.  The 
plucky  custodians  of  India's  honour  are  doing  their  share 
in  South  Africa.  We  here  are  bound  to  help  them, 
Meetings  throughout!  India  should  inform  the  white 
inhabitants  of  Sjueh  Africa  that  India  resents  their 
treatment  of  her  sons.  Toey'  should  call  ui;on  the 
'Government  of  India  and  the  Imperial  Government  to 
secure  effective  protection  for  our  oouatrymen  in  Sauth 
Africa.  I  hope  that  Englishmen  in  India  will  not  be- 
behind  band  in  lending  their  valuable  support  to  the 
movement  to  redress  the  wrong.  Mr.  Casbalia's  cable  is 
-silent  on  the  grievance  disclosed  in  the  second  batch  of 
extracts.  It  is  not  less  serious.  In  its  effect)  it  is  far 
more  deadly.  Bat  the  community  is  hoping  to  right  the 
wrong  by  an  appeal  to  the  highest  legal  tribunal  in  the 
Union.  But  really  the  question  is  above  that  tribunal. 
Xidt  me  state  it  in  a  sentence.  A  reactionary  Attorney- 
■General  has  obtained  a  ruling  from  the  Natal  Supreme 
Court  to  the  effect  that  subjects  of  '  native  states  '  are 
aliens  and  not  British  subjects  and  arei  therefore,  nob 
-entitled  to  its  protection  so  far  as  appeals  under  a  parti- 
cular section  of  the  Immigrants  Bestriotion  Act  are- 
ooncarned.     Thus  if  the  losal   courts'    ruling    is.   correct. 


122  THE    SOUTH    APRIOAN    INDIAN    QUESTION 

bbouaands  of  ladiaas  setbled  in  Soalih  Africa  will  bei" 
deprived  of  the  aeouriby  of  raaidaDoa  \a  South  Africa  for 
whioli  they  fought  for  eight  yeara  aad  wbioh  they 
thought  they  had  won.  At  least  a  quarter  of  the  Indian 
settlers  of  South  Africa  are  subjeota  of  the  Baroda  and 
the  Ktthiawar  states.  If  any  law  oonsiders  them  as 
aliens,  eurely  it  has  to  be  altered,  It  is  an  insult  to  the- 
etates  and  their  subjeota  to  treat  the  latter  as  aliens 


INDIANS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA 

In  1919  the  Transvaal  legislature  passed  laws  res- 
tricting the  then  Indian  traders  and  their  suooessors  to 
particular  Townships,  The  disabilities  of  Indian  traders 
multiplied  and  became  the  subject  of  an  acute  agitation, 
and  threatened  to  revive  passive  resistance.  On  receipt 
of  a  cable  early  in  August,  1919,  from  the  British 
Indian  Association,  Natal,  Mr,  Gandhi  wrote  as  follows 
in  the  Indian  Beview  : — 

I  have  juat  reoaived    the  following    oablegram    from 

Mr.    Ibrahim   Ismail    Aawaii,    Chairman  of  the  British 

Indian  Asaooiation,  Johannesburg  : 

"BiUaaseated  33(d  Jaae,  pcomalgatecl  3(d  iaaUoti.  Beatciota 
oompaniea  acquiring  further  fixed  propaitiea  and  holding  bonds 
aa  prior  to  ootnpany  law,  Be-affirma  Gold  and  Townships  Aots 
operating  on  new  lioenaeea  after  1st  May  and  testrioting  present 
traders  and  suooessors  to  pactioular  townships.  Deputation  waiting- 
His  Exoellenoy  urging  withhold  assent  on  ground  olasa  legislation, 
Government  promised  another  oomtnission  during  reoess  inveati.. 
gale  Indian  question  throughout  Union  as  oonoession  to  the 
detraotors  in  Parliament.  Fear  further  restrictive  legislation. 
Community  request  you  appeal  Viceroy  propose  Boyal  Commission, 
India  representing  Union  looal  Indian  interests.  Convened  Union; 
Indian  Conferenoe  4th  Auguat,great  success.  Decided  united  action, 
Many  of  th;  association  pledged  resist  any  cost.— Aswat," 


INDIANS   IN   SOUIU   AFRICA  123: 

The  cablegram  beara  oul:  what  I  have  said  in  my 
letter  to  Sir  George  Bstrnes*  and  v«bat  I  said  at  the 
reoent  meetitsg  at  Poo&a,  The  reetriatioDa  are  olear — I.- 
No  further  holding  of  landed  property  in  the  Traoavaai  ;. 
2.  No  new  trade  lioenoea  within  the  area  affeoted  by  the 
Gold  Law  and  the  Townshipa  Aot ;  3  the  preeenb 
holders  and  their  auooesaora  in  title  to  be  reatrioted  a» 
iio  trade  to  the  townahipa  in  whiob  they  are  now 
trading. 

Aa  I  have  already  remarked,  this  meana  virtual  ruin 
of  the  Indian  settlers  in  the  Transvaal,  Their  only 
meana  of  livelihood  to  the  largest  number  is  trade,  and: 
the  largest  number  of  Indians  is  to  be  found  probably 
within  the  gold  area.  I(  the  Aot  stands,  they  must  die- 
out  in  the  natural  oourae, 

*  In  the  course  of  the  correspondence  between  Mr.  Oandhi 
and  Sir  George  Barnes,  Mr.  Qandhi  wrote : — 

Do  you  know  that  the  Indiana  of  South  Africa  raised  an  ambu- 
lanoe  corps  which  served  under  General  Smuts  in  South  Africa?  Is 
this  new  law  to  be  their  reward  ?  I  ought  not  to  bring  in  war 
servioea  in  order  to  secure  the  protection  of  an  elementary  rigfat 
which  oonsiderations  alike  of  honour  and  justice  entitle  them  to. 
I  commend  to  your  attention  the  report  of  the  Select  Comiuittee  of 
the  Union  House  of  Assembly. 

The  Union  Government,  unmindful  of  their  trust  and  equally 
unmindful  of  their  written  word,  accepted  the  amendment  "  prohi- 
biting the  holding  of  mortgages  by  the  Asiatics  on  property  except 
as  security  for  bona  fide  loan  or  investment  and  providing  that  any 
Asiatic  Company  which  acquired  fixed  property  after  the  1st  instant 
should  dispose  of  the  same  within  two  years  or  a  farther  period  aa 
fixed  by  a  competent  Court  with  a  rider  that  in  the  event  of  failure 
to  do  so  the  property  might  be  sold  by  an  order  of  the  Court,"  I 
am  quoting  from  Beuter'a  cable  dated  33rd  May  from  Capetown. 
You  will  see  this  completes  legalised  confiscation  of  property  rights 
throughout  the  Transvaal  and  virtually  the  trade  rights  within  the 
gold  area  of  the  Indian  settlers.  There  was  no  evasion  of  Law  3  of 
188S.  Indians  did  openly  what  the  law  permitted  them  to  do,  and 
they  should  be  left  free  to  do  so.  I  do  not  wish  to  prolong  this  tail 
of  agony.  The  Government  of  India  are  bound  to  protect  the  rights 
of  the  5,000  Indian  settlers  in  the  Tranevaal  at  any  coat. 


124  THE   SOUTH   AFRICAN  INDIAN   QUESTION 

In  the  oablegracD  the  word  aesenli'  ooourg  twioe-  III 
saya  the  Bill  haa  beaa  assented  to  and  it  refers  to  a 
deputation  that  is  to  wait  on  H,  E.  the  Governor-Gener- 
a1  of  South  Afrioa  requesting  bim  to  withhold  assent 
The  seaoad  use  of  the  word  'assent'  refers  probably  to  a 
clause  in  the  Lsiterd  Patent  providing  for  the  vetoing  of 
olass  legislation,  Tne  clause  is  undoubtedly  to  be  used 
under  esoeptional  ciroumstanoes.  No  one  oan  deny  that 
the  Asiatioa  Act  constitutes  a  very  esoeptional  ciroum- 
etaaoa  warranting  the  esaraise  of  the  Boyal  veto. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  cablegram,  however, 
is  the  fact  that  the  aommission  promised  by  the 
Union  Government  is  to  be  appointed  as  a  "  oon- 
cession"  to  "the  detractors"  of  Indiana  in  the  UoioD 
Parliament,  Unless,  therefore,  the  Government  of  India 
take  care,  tbere  is  every  likeliheod  of  the  oommissioD, 
"^ike  the  committee  of  the  South  African  Assembly 
proving  to  the  British  Indians  a  curse,  instead  of 
a  blessing.  It  is,  therefore,  not  unnatural  that  the 
.British  Indian  Association  urges  that  H.  B-  the  Viceroy 
should  propose  a  Royal  Oommission  upon  which  both  the 
Union  and  the  Indian  interests  are  represented. 
/Nothicg  oan  be  fairer  than  the  proposal  made  by  Mr. 
Aswat.  I  say  so,  because  as  a  matter  of  right  no  com- 
mission is  really  needed  to  decide  that  Indian  settlers 
are  entitled  to  trade  in  South  Afrioa  where  they  like  and 
hold  landed  property  on  the  same  terms  as  the  European 
settlers.  This  is  the  miaimum  -they  oan  claim.  Bab 
under  the  complex  constitution  of  this  great  Empire, 
justice  is  and  has  often  to  be  done  in  a  round-aboat 
manner.  A  wise  captain,  instead  of  sailing  agatoat 
a  head-wind,  tacks  and  yet  reaches  his  destination 
sooner  than  he  othejrwise  would  have.  Even  so,  Mr,  Aawati 


INDIAN   EIGHTS  IN   THE   TRANSVAAL  125^ 

Wisely  aooepts  the  prinoiple  of  a  oommission  on  ft 
malitier  that  ia  self  evident,  but  equally  wisely  wants  a 
oonamisBion  that  would  not  prove  abortive  and  that  will  < 
dare  to  tell  the  ruling  raoe  in  South  Africa  that,  as  mem- 
berg  in  an  Empire  which  has  more  coloured  people  than 
white,  they  may  not  treat  their  Indian  fellow-subjeota 
as  helots.  Whether  the  above  proposal  is  accepted  or 
some  other  is  adopted  by  the  Imperial  Government,  it 
must  be  made  clear  to  them  that  public  opinion  in  India, 
will  not  tolerate  confiscation  of  the  primary  rights  of  ^ 
the  British  Indian  settlers  in  South  Africa, 


INDIAN  RIGHTS  IN  THE  TRANSVAAL 

From  time  to  time  trouble  rose  in  Transvaal  between 
the  trading  people  among  European  colonists  and  Indians. 
A  policy  of  squeezing  out  the  Indian  petty  trader  was: 
prevalent  throughout  the  colony.  A  correspondent  of  the 
Times  of  India  wrote  to  its  columns  in  August  18,  1919, 
that  South  Africa  cannot  be  run  economically  with  the 
Indian  in  it  and  the  white  people  cannot  be  expected 
to  commit  race  suicide.  Strangely  enough  even  the 
Smutts-Oandhi  agreement  was  pressed  into  issue.  Mr. 
Gandhi  wrote  to  "The  Times  of  India"  : — 

No  possible  exception  can  be  taken  to  the  impartial 
manner  in  which  your  South  Afrfoan  correspondent  bas 
given  a  summary  of  the  Indian  position  in  the  Trans- 
vaal in  your  issue  of  the  18th  instant.  He  has  put  as 
fairly  as  it  was  possible  for  him  to  do,  both  sides  of  tba 
queBtioD. 


126         THE   SOUTH  AFRICAN   INDIAN  QUESTION 

III  is  noli  the  additional  'brown  burden  on  the  top  of 
the  black  one'  wbioh  agitate  the  European  Colooiats  in 
'South  Afrioa,'  but  "the  orux  of  the  whole  question  is, 
«B  your  oorreapondent  puts  it,  '  chat  South  Afrioa  oaonot 
be  run  eoouomioally  with  the  Indian  in  it,  and  the  white 
people  who  have  made  the  couotry,  oannot  be  espeoted 
to  oommit  race  suioide,"  This  is  not  the  problem  that 
presents  itself  to  the  Boer  living  on  the  Veldt  to  whom 
the  Indian  trader  is  a  blessing  nor  to  the  European 
faousewifa  in  the  big  towns  of  che  Transvaal  who  de- 
pends solely  upon  the  Indian  vegetable  vendor  for  the 
vegetables  brought  to  her  door.  But  the  problem  pre- 
sents itself  in  the  manner  put  by  your  oorrespondent  to 
the  petty  European  trader  who  finds  in  the  thrifty  and 
resouroeful  Indian  a  formidable  rival,  and  with  his  vote 
whioh  counts  a  great  deal  and  with  his  infiueaoeas  a 
member  of  the  ruling  raoe  ha  has  suooeeded  in  oaaking 
bis  own  eoonomio  problem  a  raoe  problem  for  South 
Africa.  In  reality  the  problem  is  whether  the  petty 
trader  for  his  selfish  end  is  to  be  allowed  to  override 
every  oonsideration  of  juatioe,  fair  play,  imperial  polioy 
and  all  that  goes  bo  make  a  nation  good  and  great. 

In  support  of  the  gradual  but  oertain  squeezing  out 
process,  what  has  been  called  the  Smuts-Gandhi  agree- 
ment has  been  pressed  into  service.  Now  that  agreement 
is  embodied  in  two  letters  and  two  only  of  the  30tb 
June,  1914:  the  first  one  addressed  to  me  on  behalf  of 
General  Smuts  by  Mr.  Gorges,  Secretary  for  the  lu- 
terior,  and  the  second  my  acknowledgment  of  it  bearing 
the  same  date.  The  agreement,  as  the  letters  conclu- 
sively show,  is  an  agreement  on  questions  which  were  the 
subject  of  civil — in  the  correspondence  described  as  pas- 
sive— resistance.     The  settlement    stipulates  only  for  aa 


INDIAN   RIGHTS  IN   THE   TRANSVAAL  127 

extensioD — never  a  reatriotiioD — of  existing  rights,  and 
as  it  was  intended  only  to  cover  questions  arising  out 
of  aivil  rasistanoe  it  left  open  all  the  other  questions. 
Henoe  the  reservation  in  my  latter  of  the  SOth  June, 
■viz : — 

"  As  the  Minister  is  aware,  some  of  my  ftountrymen 
have  wished  me  to  go  further,  They  are  dissatisfied  that 
trade  licenses,  laws  of  the  different  Provinoes,  the  Trans- 
vaal Gold  Law,  the  Transvaal  Law  3  of  1885,  have  nob 
been  altered  so  as  to  give  them  full  rights  of  residence, 
trade  and  ownership  of  land.  Some  of  them  are  dissatis- 
-fied  that  full  inter-provinoial  migration  is  not  permitted, 
and  some  are  dissatisfied  that  on  the  marriage  question 
the  Belief  Bill  goes  no  further  than  it  does," 

In  this  correspondence  there  is  not  a  word  about  the 
Indian  settlers  not  getting  trade  licenses  or  holding  fixed 
property  in  the  mining  or  any  other  area.  And  the 
Indians  had  a  perfect  right  to  apply  for  and  get  as  many 
trade  licenses  as  they  could  secure  and  as  much  fixed 
property  as  they  could  bold,  whether  through  forming 
registered  companies  or  through  mortgagee.  After  a 
■strenuous  fight  for  eiqht  years  it  was  not  likely  that  I 
would  give  away  any  legal  rights,  and  if  I  did,  the  com- 
munity, I  had  the  honour  to  represent,  would  naturally 
and  quite  properly  have  dismissed  me  as  an  unworthy,  if 
Aot  a  traitorous,  representative. 

Bat  there  is  a  third  letter,  totally  irrelevant  consider- 
ed as  part  of  the  agreement,  which  has  been  used  for  the 
curtailment  of  trade  rights,  It  is  my  letter  of  the  7tb 
July  addressed  to  Mr.  Gorges.  The  whole  tone  of  ift 
shows  that  it  is  purely  a  personal  letter  setting  forth  only 
my  iudividual  views  about  vested  rights  in  •connection 
'v;itb  the  Gald  Law  and  Townships  Amendment  Act.'     I 


128  THE    SOUTH    APBICAN    INDIAN    QUBSTION 

have  therein  stalied  definitely  that  I  do  not  wish  to 
reetrioba'  the  future  aotion  of  my  ooantrymen  and  I  havs^ 
simply  Jeoorded  the  definition  of 'vested  rights' I  dieoug- 
sed  wilb  Sir  Benjamin  Robertson  on  the  4bh  March,  1914, 
saying  that  by  "  vested  rights  I  understand  the  right  of 
^n  Indian  and  his  suooessors  to  live  and  trade  in  town- 
ships in  which  he  was  living  and  trading,  no  matter  bow 
often  he  shifts  his  residence  or  business  from  place  to 
place  in  the  same  township,"  This  ia  the  definition  on 
\vhiab  the  whole  of  the  theory  of  evasion  of  law  and  breach 
of  faith  has  been  based.  Apart  from  the  question  of 
irrelevance  of  the  letter  I  claim  that  it  could  not  be  used., 
even  if  it  could  be  admitted  as  part  of  the  agreement,  in  the 
manner  it  has  been.  As  I  have  already  stated  on  previous 
occasions  there  was  a  prospect  of  an  adverse  interpretation 
of  the  Gold  Law  as  to  trade  licences,  and  there  was  the 
tangible  difficulty  in  getting  land  or  leases  of  buildings  and 
it  was  by  the  most  strenuous  efforts  that  Indians  were  able 
vritbin  Gold  Areas  to  retain  their  foothold.  I  was  ansious 
to  protect  the  existing  traders  and  their  successors  evert 
though  the  legal  interpretation  of  the  law  might  be  adverse 
to  the  Indian  claim.  The  vested  right,  therefore,  referred 
to  in  my  letter  of  the  7th  July  was  a  right  created  in 
spite  of  the  law,  And  it  was  this  right  that  bad  to  be 
protected  in  the  administration  of  the  then  existing  laws,. 
Even  if,  therefore,  my  said  letter  can  be  incorporated  in 
the  agreement,  by  no  cannon  of  interpretation  that  I  know 
can  it  be  said  to  prevent  the  Indians  morally  (for  that  is 
the  meaning  of  the  ofaarge  of  breach  of  faith)  from  getting 
new  trade  licences  in  virtue  of  the  law  of  the  land, 
Indians  openly  and  in  a  fair  fight  gained  in  their  favour 
a  legal  decision  to  the  effect  that  they  could  obtain  trade 
licences  against  tender  of  the  licence  fee  even  within  the 


ANOTHER  3.    A.   COMMISSION       .  )29 

gold  area.  To  bhia  they  were  perfeotly  morally  entitled. 
Tbere  oanDob  be  any  qaeecion  of  a  legal  breaob.  Tbere 
trade  rivale  would  long  ago  have  made  eborli  work  of  any 
legal  breaob.  Lastly  eupposing  that  the  law  was  advergB 
to  the  Indian  claim  my  definition  oonld  nob  be  pleaded  Co 
bar  any  agitation  for  amendment  of  the  law,  for  the 
whole  of  the  settlement,  if  the  nature  of  it  was  of  a 
temporary  obaraoter,  and  the  Indians,  as  definitely  stated 
in  my  letter  of  the  30tb  June,  could  not  be  expected  to 
rest  content  until  full  civic  rights  had  been  conceded:' 
The  whole  of  the  plea,  therefore,  of  breach  of  faith  is,  I 
venture  to  submit,  an  utterly  dishonest  and  shameless 
piece  of  tactics*  which  ought  nob  to  be  allowed  to  in- 
terfere with  a  proper  adjustment  of  the  question.         * 


ANOTHER  S.  A.  COMMISSION 

In  response  to  the  agitation  in  South  Africa  and  in 
India,  a  Gommissionwas  appointed  by  the  Union  Govern- 
ment to  investigate  the  trade  and  other  questions  which 
Caused  grave  irritation  to  the  Indians  ;  and  Mr.  Montagu, 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  announced  in  November, 
1919,  the  inclusion  of  6ir  Benjarnin  Bobertson,  Chief  Com- 
missioner of  the  Central  Provinces  in  the  Commission  to 
represent  the  Government  of  India,  Interviewed  by  the 
Associated  Press,  Mr.  Gandhi  said  on  the  subject  ef 
enquiry  and  the  composition : — 

lb  is  a  matter  of  very  great  regret  bhat  Mr. 
Montagu's  meseage  to  His  Bxoellenoy  the  Viceroy  so 
materially  alters  the  position.  I  do,  however,  feel  that 
any  agitabion  insisting  npou  the  appointmenb  oo  the 
Commission  of  Indian  representabivea  may  damage  our 
9 


130  IHB    SOUTH   APKIOAN    INDIAN    QUiSSTION 

case  wbioh  is  so  overwhelmingly  stroDg.  If  a  repre8en« 
tative  lilse  Mr.  SAStiri  is  appoiobed  along  with  Sir 
BeDJatnia  BiberbeoQ  bo  pub  before  the  South  Afrioan 
Governmenb  aad  bba  forBbaomiag  Gamaaisaioa  the 
Indian  case,  it  would  ba  bhe  nexs  baali  bhiDg,  In  my 
opioioQ  our  effort  should  ba  to  ooaoantraba  upon  seour- 
iug  a  propar  refareaaa  bo  tba  Go  nms^ioa  in  the  plaoa  o( 
the  very  narrow  one,  we  are  led  bo  believe,  ia  likqly  to  ba 
eugseated  by  the  Uaioa  Gjvernmanti  Tbe  Times  of 
India  is  really  rendering  a  graab  sarvioe  in  moulding  and 
'Oonsolidating  publio  opinion  on  this  quesuoo,  irrespeotive 
of  olass  or  caoe.  I>  ia  noc  enough  bhat  merely  tbe  trade 
question  is  rafarred  bo  iiha  Gomoaisaioo,  Toe  whole  of 
the  LskW  3  of  1885  must  oome  under  review  leaving 
aside  for  the  time  baiag  aha  qaajtion  of  politioal  status, 
0>ir  goal  must  be  the  restoration  of  fall  trading  and 
property  rights  of  ludiiad  lawfully  sabtted  in  South 
Afrioa.  Tois  is  what  even  Auabralia  has  allowed 
although  it  was  Audtralia  which  lad  the  anti- Asiatic  ory, 
Wd  must  also  guard  against  the  Gjmmisjioa  whittling 
down  any  of  the  righ&s  alraady  baiug  eojoyad  by  tbe 
settlers.  By  no  oanon  of  justioe  or  propriety  oan  the  ex- 
isting rights  ba  taken  a^ray  from  the  ludiaa  settlers,  but 
if.  V^e  do  not  take  oare  and  provide  bdforebaud  there  is 
every  danger  of  suah  a  aacastrophe  happening.  It 
■aotually  happened  with  the  Sjleoc  Gommictea  of  tbe 
"Uuion  Parliament  whose  fiadiogs  produoed  the  new 
iegislation  we  so  much  deplore.  ' 


Indians  in  the  Colonies 


RBGIPEOOITY  BETWEEN  INDIA  ANDCTHB 
DOMINIONS 

At  the  Madras  Provincial  Oonferenae  held  at  Nellora 
■in  June,  1915i  Mr.   G.   A.   Natesan   moved  a  resolution 

,-0ianking  Mr.  and  Mrs  Gandhi  for  the  invaluable  services 
■they   had  rendered   to   the   Motherland   by   their  heroic 

^■struggle  in  South  Africa.  Mr.  Gandhi,  in  acknowledging 
the  thanks  of  the  Conference,  spoke  as  follows  :— 

In. 80  far  as  sealiimaati  eatars.  into  tha  olaitn?  of  Ip- 
;dia,  witb  regard  bo-cfae  atatiaa  of  lodiaDS  in  the  Empire, 
ib  seema  possible  that  by  a  measara  of  raoiprodal  treat- 
Dqenli  as  batweeo  India  and  theDoEninipoa  tbvs  di£Sauhy 

^^onld  be  aurmioaDbad.  Giveo  aa  oablet  for  lodian 
emlgranlie  in  EiS-b  Africa,  iti  ougbt  nob  to  be  beyond  tba 
powers  of  stateiaciaanBbip  to  arrange  that  In^ia  sboaid 
have  tbe  power  to  exolade  wbite  men  -of  the  working 
■olaas,  just  aa  the  Djoainiona  esolude  ladian?,  -;  Or.ratber 
it  naight  be  arraagad  that  the  nambar  of  ladiana  to  bs 
admitted  to  any  one  of  tba  white  States  of  tbe  Eaapira 
abould  bear  a  relative  prooortion  to  the  wbite  popalatioa 
of  the  Ssate.  As  a  oaatter  of  faat,  if  the  proportion 
agreed  on  is  to  avoid  the  necessity  for  removing  aonae  of 
the  Aaiabioa  now  in  tbe  DomiDioDP,  it  will  have  to  be 
Bonaething  like  twioa  aa  great  aa  the  namber  of  tbe 
whites  in  lodia  in  ralaiiioa  to  the  total  population,  Tba 
esisting  white  oomaaanity  in  India,  inola^ive    of    troops.. 


132  INDIANS   IN   THE   COLONIES 

bears  the  proportion  of    abouli  1 :    2,002  of  the    oativO' 
population.  Id  Canada  there  are  now  aboat  3,000  Indians' 
in  a  total   popnlatioa  of  8,000,000.  A  1 :  ratio  1,000   aa 
suggested  ^woald;  therefore,  permit  4he  Indian    ooiony  in 
Canada  to  be  increased  by    about  5,000.     In    Australia 
there  are  rather  more    than   5,000    Indians,    and    under 
5,000,000  white  men  at  present,  bat^the  esoass  over  tbO' 
1 :  1,000  ratio  is  trifliDg.     In  Ne«7  ZaaUod,  where  there 
are  about  1 :  250  Indians,   this  ratio   is  almost   ezaotly 
oonforiiied  'Vd    by    the    existing  situation';     South  Africa- 
preaentiS    Ek    diffioulty    since   tlie    South  Afrioan  Indians 
itlready  ezo^ed  a  proportion  of  one  to  ten    of   the   white 
residents;     Bat  '  Sotii<h    Afrioti    dilfara    from   its    sistdr 
Domidions,    since  "it  is  the  only' one  which  htis  a  native- 
population  of 'more  than 'negligible  size.    The  Indian  ^eo- 
tioD    of  the  oomposite  racial  problem — presented  by  the 
TJoion — might  perhaps  be  adjusted  somewhat  by  offering: 
iaduoements   to  South  African  Indians  to  transfer  them- 
selves to  East  Africa.  ^  The   conferring    of   full    political 
rights  on  the  small  Indian  cbinmunities  domiciled  in  the* 
Dominions  would  then  be    the    only    step    necassary    to 
meet  every  legitimate  aspiration  of  Indians  for   equality 
of    treatment   and   the    recognition    of  their  claims    as- 
Briiisli  snbjeote. 


INDIAN  AND  EUBOPEAN  EMIGRANTS 

Mr.  M.  E.  Gandhi,  in  moving  the  Resolution  on 
India  and  the  Colonies  at  the  Bombay  Congress  of  1915, 
said  i — 

Mr,  Preaidanli  aad  Friends, — the  Basolattpn .  lihat 
stiaDda  in  my  name  reada  thua  : — 

'  The  Cdngreaa  regreba  tbat  the  esiatiag  lawa  affaat- 
lag  Indiana  in  South  Afrioa  and  Canada  have  not,  in 
apite  of  the  liberal  and  imDsrialistio  deolarationa  ^f 
'Colonial  statreamaD.,  been  jaatly  and  eqaitaSly  adminis- 
tered, and  thia  Congreaa  Si-aata  that  the  Salf-Governing 
'Coloniea  will  extend  to  the  Indian  emigranta  e^ual  rights 
with  Earopaan  emigranta  and  that  the  Imperial  Govern-, 
-ment  will  use  all  poasible  means  to  aeoure.  thd 'rights 
which  have'  been  hitherto  unjustly  withheld  from  them, 
<tbus  oanaing 'widespread  disaatisfaotion  and   diaoontent." 

Friebda, — It  is  an  irony  of  fate  that  whilst  this  vast 
aaa^mbly  will  be  regretting  the  hoatile  attjtnde  that  has 
been  adopted  by  the  Salf-GoverDihg  Oolonies,':  a  Go£|<lin- 
.gent  of  your  oOuntrymen  formed  in  South  Afriba  will  be 
nefaring  the  theatre  of  war  in  order  to  hel^  the  siak.;  and 
the  wounded,  and  I  am  in  poaeesaion  of  faots  in  oqnneo- 
^ion  with  thia  Contingent  formed  in  South  Afrioa  which  . 
-shows  that  it  is  oompoaed  of  the  middle  olassea  which,  in 
aooordanoe  with  the  Times  of  India,  are  going  to  focfia 
the  Tutur'e  self-governing  nation.  Thoae  men  are  drawn 
from  et-indentdred  Indians  add  their  children,  from  ,  the 
petty  hai^kera,  the  toilera,  the  traders,  and,  yaft  the  Qolp- 
niea  do  not  oonaider  it  neoeaaary  to  altei  , their  attitudes 
nor  do  I  see  the  logic  in  altering  their  poligf.1    tb  is    the 


134  INDIANS   IN  THE   COLONIES 

faehion  cow-a-dftys  to  oonsider  that  beoause  our  humbla 
share  in  not  beiog  disloyal  to  the  Goverament  ab  tha 
present  juaoture,  we  are  entitled  to  the  rights  wbioh 
have  been  hitherto  withheld  from  us,  as  if  those  rights 
■were  witrhheld  beoause  our  loyalty  was  ^uspeoliad,  "  No, 
m$'tfiends,  if  they  have' been  withheld  from  ua,  tha  rea-  ' 
sons  are  different  and  those  reasons  will  have  bo;'b»t 
altered.  They  aradae,  some  of  them  to  undying  prejudioas, 
to  eeonomio  causes  and  these  will  have  to  ba  examined  ; 
but  prejudioe  will  have  to  be  cub  down.  And  what  are 
the  hardships  that  our  Countrymen  are  labouring  under 
in  South  Afrioa,  in  Canada,  and  the  other  Salf-GoverDing 
Colonies  ?  In  South  Africa  the  Settlement  of  191.4  seoures' 
what'  tha  passive  rasiaters  were  fighting  for  and  nothing 
more,  and  they  were  fighting  for  the  restoration  of  legal 
equality  in  oonneotion  with  emigrants  from  British  India 
and  nothing  more. 

That  legal  equality  has  been  restored,  but  the  domes^ 
tio  troubles  till,remain  and  if  it  was  not  the  custom 
unfortunately  inherited  for  the  last  forty  years  that  tha 
predominant  Unguagein  this  assembly  should  ba  Eaglisb, 
oar  Madras  friends  will  have  taken  good  care  to  have 
learnt  one  of  the  northern  vernaculars,  and  then  there  ai'a 
men  enough  in  South  Africa  who  would  tell  you  about 
the  difficulties  that  we  have  to  go  through  even  now  in 
South  Africa  in  connection  with  holding  landed  property, 
in  connection  with  men  who  having  been  once  domioilad 
in  South  Africa;  return  to  ^outh  Africa,  their  difBaulties 
in  oonneotion'  With  the  admission  of  children,  their  difS- 
onlties  in  obnneotion  with  hblding  licenses  of  trade^  Theaa  ' 
are,  if't  may  so  call  them,  bread  and  butter  diffionlties. 
There  are  other  difSoulties  which  I  shall  not  enumerate 
just  DOW.  In  Canada,  it  is  not  possible  for  these  membera 


INDIAN   AND   EUROPEAN  EMIGRANTS  135 

01  the  S;khB  vsho  are  domioiled  there  to  bring  their  wives 
and  their  ohildrep.  {Cries  of 'shame,  shame.')  The  law  is 
the  aame  but  adoninistration  is  widely  unequal,  so  unequal 
that  they  cannot  bring  their  wivea  and  ohildren,  and  the 
law-or  the  adnainistration  etill  remains  the  sanoe  in  spits 
of  deolarationa. about  justiee  and  what  not,  in  view  o| 
the  hostilities  and  in  view  of  the  splendid  aid  whiob 
India  is  said  to  have  rendered  to  the  Empire.  How  are 
these  difi5oul(iiea  to  be  met.  I  do  not  intend  to  go  into 
details,  but  the  Congress  proposes  that  this  difiSoulty  oan 
be  met  by  an  appeal  to  the  sense  of  justioe  of  iihe  Gola<! 
pial  statesmen  and  by  an  appeal  to  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernmenli,  I  fear  that  the  Congress  oan  only  do  this,  bub 
thjB  Besolution  so  far  as  it  goes  in  one  respeot  is  inade- 
quate'.to  the  occasion.  L3rd  Hardinge,  only  a  few 
months  ago,  made  a  fervent  appe&l  lu  Indian  pnblioiata 
and  to  Indian  public  statesmen  for  liulping  him  to  an 
honourable  solution  which  will  retain  una  dignity  of 
India,  at  the  same  time,  not  because  of  any  trouble  to 
the  Self' Governing  Colonies.  Lord  Hardinge  is  still 
waiting  for  an  answer,  that  answer  is  not  8q.pplied  by 
the  Congress,  nor  oan  it  be  by  the  Congress  ;  it  is  to  ba 
supplied  by  an  association  of  the  specialists,  if  I  may  so 
call  them.  The  Congress  has  given  them  the  lead,  and 
it  is  for  these  associations  tu  frame  the  details  in  whiob 
they  will  have  to  examine  the  rival  claims  and  to  o£fer 
to  Lord  Hardinge  a  solution  which  shall  be  saturat- 
ed with  details,  a  soltnion  which  will  satisfy  tba 
Colonial  Governments  as  well  as  the  Indian  people  and 
will  not  take  away  anything  whatsoever  from  the  just 
-demaniia  that  this  Besolution  makes.  With  these  words 
I  have  much  pleasure  in  proposing  this  Besolution. 


INDENTURED  LABOUR 

Ihe  following  is  a  pronouncement  made  by  Mr. 
Gandhi  during  the  strenuous  agitation  made  throughout 
India  in  the  early  part  of  1917  for  the  complete  abolition 
of  indenture : — 

There  is  no  donbd  fthali  we  are  engaged  in  a  savers 
etrnggle  for  the  preaervafcion  of  our  honour,  and  thai),  if 
we  do  noti  bake  oare,  the  promisa  made  by  L3rd  Hardinga, 
that  indanbured  labour  should  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past 
may  be  rednoed  to  a  nullity.  The  Vioeregal  prononnea- 
ment  jusb  made  seams  bo  sat  at  rest  one  fear,  that  the 
system  may  be  prolonged  for  a  further  period  of  fiva 
years,  whioh,  as  Sir  Bskmakrishna  Bhandarkar  showed  at 
Poona,  would,  in  reality,  mean  ten  years.  We  are 
^'^hankful  bo  Lord  Chelmsford  for  his  assuranoe.  And  we 
are  thankful,  bop,  to  that  good  Baglishman,  Mr,  0.  F, 
Andrews,  for  the  lead  that  ha  gave  us  io  the  matter.  So 
eoon  as  he  gained  the  information  from  Fiji  that  fiva 
isrears'  extension  was  taken  by  the  planters  of  those 
lands  a^s  a  settled  faofa,  he  forsook  his  siok-bed  and  his 
rest  at  Sbanti  Nikatan,  and  sounded  for  us  the  call  of 
duty. 

Bub  if  one  oloud,  that  threatened  bo  dsstiray  our 
hopes,  seems  to  have  disADpeared,  auobher  equally  dan- 
gerous looms  on  the  hariz>a.,  Tba  oondibioos  of  aboli- 
tion, as  stated  by  L^rd  Hirdiuga  Usb  Mtroh,  are  these:— 

"On  behali  of  Hia  Majesty's  Governmeat,  he  (the  Beotetary 
of  State)  has  asked  us,  however,  to  make  it  clear  that  the  exist- 
ing system  of  reoraiting  mast  be  maintained  until  new  oondi- 
tions,  undec  whioh  labour  should  be  permitted  to  proceed 
to  the  Colonies,  should  have  been  worked  out  in  oonjunolion  with 
the  Colonial  OfSoe  and  the  Crown  Colonies  ■  oonoerned  ;  until  pro- 


INDBNTUBBD  LABOUR  137 

Ter  safeguards  in  the  Oolonies  should  have  been  pcoyided  ;  and 
'iintil  they  should  have  had  reasonable  time  to  adjast  themselves  to 
the  ohange,  a  period  which  must  neoessacily  depsnd  on  oiroum- 
Btanoes   and    conditions   impecfeotly  kaotva   at  pceaent." 

Thoaa  of  u»  who  kaow  anything  of  the  aysteai  knew 

thafi  ib  was  well-Qigh  imposaibia    to  find  new   oondiliioDS 

whioh  would  ba  eaoaamioally  sound  for  the  planters,  and 

-morally  souad    for  us.     Wa   fait   thai)  bhe   Govarnmenli 

woald   803D  fiad  thia  ous    for    thaoiaelvaa,    and  that,    in 

-view  of  Lard  Hardinga'a    whole'-liaarlied    diaapproval    of 

the  aystaaa,  his  view    of    tba  naaraasa    of  the  end  would 

ooinoide    with  oar  owa,     Bat    now  a  dififaraat   situation 

faoea  us.     Nearly  a  ye&t    haa  gone    by,    and  we  diaoover 

that  the  -planters  of    Eiji    have    bean  led  to  believe    that 

'they  will  hava  five  yaara  mora  of    the  syatam,  and  at  tba 

•end   of   it  new   oonditiona    may  after  all  be  a  ohange   in 

name  bub  not  insabatance.     L'at  Mr.  Bonar  Law'a    daa- 

-patoh  apeak  for  itaelf.  Writing  under  date  Marob  i,  1916, 

to  the  Acting  Governor  of  Fiji,  ha  aaya  :-7- 

"  Ihe  Searetary  at  State  for  India  is  Batiafiad  that  it  would  not 
be  possible  for  the  Governmeat  of  India  to  oontinne  to  defeat  by  a 
bare  official  mnjority  resolutions  in  their  Legislative  Council, 
oirgiDg  the  abolition  of  indenture  ;  that  in  his  opinion,  the  strong 
and  universal  feeliag  in  India  on  this  suojsot  makes  it  a  question 
of  urgency  :  and  that  he  has  accepted  the  aonolusion  that  inden- 
<tured  emigration  must  be  abolished." 

Ha  then  prooeada  : — 
"  Xhough,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Oolonies  oonceraed, 
the  decision  whioh  the  Indirtn  G-overnment  and  the  Secretary  of 
'Btate  for  India  have  taken  is  to  be  regretted,  I  recognise  that  the 
^nal  deoiaion  upon  this  question  must  rest  with  the,  Indian  Govern- 
,inent." 

Thus  the  humanitiaa  of  the  qaestion  are  taoitly  sup- 
posed to  ba  no  oonoero  of  the  Oolonies. 

Now  mark  thia  s.ignifiaant    paragraph,    called    from 
bbe  same  iliamiDating  deapatoh  :r- 

"  I  have,  therefore,  agreed  to  the  appointment  of  an  inter- 
departmental committee  to  consider  what  system  should  be  sub- 


138  INDIANS:  IN  THE  COLON  I  US 

stitutNl  for  tfae  system  of  indentore  should  be  allowed  for  a  fartbep 
period  of  five  years,  aod  should  cease  ae  ibe  end  of  ihac  period,; 
•  ■  .  Tue  Secretary  of  State  for  ludia  is  anxious  that  ihe  chaoge- 
of  system  should  be  brought  about  with  as  little  disturbanoe  a» 
possible  to  ihe  eoooomio  interests  of  the  Colouiea,  and  that  he  baa^ 
made  it  clear  ibac  the  existing  system  must  be  maintained  until  a 
properly  safeguarded  system  has  been  devised," 

Mr,  Andrewa  baa  been  twittad  for  baving  referred  to- 
the  five  yeara'  extension,  Lafc  hia  critica  explain  away- 
Mr.  Bonar  Ltw's  empbatio  pronounoemanli  published  ia 
the  Fiji  newspapers.  What  with  this  official  statement 
and  the  Saoretary  of  State  for  India's  solioitude  for  tha- 
eoonomio  interests  of  the  planters,  our  oause  may  easily- 
be  lost,  if  we  are  found  unwatohful, 

la  the  light  of  the  Viceregal  speech  and  Mr,  Bonar 
Law's  despatch,  our  duty  seems  to  be  clear.  We  mast' 
strengthen  the  Government's  hands  where  necessary,  and' 
even  stimulate  their  activity,  so  that  tbig  inter-depart'^ 
mental  committee  ia  not  allowed  to  frastrate  oar  hopes. 
It  is  a  body  wherein  the  ioflaeDce  of  the  Orowa  Colonies' 
and  the  Colonial  ofiSca  will  bs  preponderant.  It  is  a  body 
which  has  to  Qad  a  substitute  which  would  be  aooeptabla" 
to  us.  As  I  hold,  it)  will  be  a  vain  searqh,  if  the  mors- 
well-being  of  the  labourer  is  to  be  the  primary  oonaidera^ 
tion,  But,  if  (he  planters  can  have  their  own  way,  WB' 
know  that  they  will  urge  an  impossible  aubstitnte,  and, 
in  the  event  of  ita  rejection  by  us,  they  will,  in  aooordaose 
with  Mr.  Bonar  Liiw's  despatch,  claim  contlnaanae  (^ 
recruiting  under  indenture.  It  must,  therefore,  be  clearly; 
understood  that  the  onus  of  producing  an  acceptable  sub- 
stitute rests  with  them  and  not  with  us.  Triey  have  had' 
more  than  a  year  already.  Lard  Hardinge'a  despatch, 
urging  total  abolition,  is  dated  the  15th  Ojtober,  19 15.  Tbe 
committee  is  to  sit  in  May  next.  Tbia  period  for  findiag 
a  aubatitate  ia    long    enoagh,  in    all  coDScienae.     Either 


INDIAN   COLONIAL   EMIGRATION  139^ 

Mr? Andrews'  harrowing  picture  of  the  conditions  of  Ufa  in 
I'.ji  is  true  or  it  ia  untrue.  Wa  believe  it  to  be  trnel  andir 
it  has  never  been  seriously  attacked.  And  in  waiting  for 
over  a  year,  we  shall  have  waited  alnaost  beyond  tfas- 
point  of  enduranoa.  Substitate  or  no  substitute,  we  are 
entitled,  for  the  sake  of  our  motherland,  {or  the  sake  ot 
our  own  honour  and  reputation,  and,  indeed,  that  of  th» 
Empire,  bo  the  uooonditional  abolition  of  this  last  rem- 
nanb  of  slavery.  Natal  stopped  the  system  without  tha- 
provision  of  a  sulistitute.  Mauritius  has  done  likewise. 
Tha  Johannesburg  mines  survived  not  only  the  shock  of 
an  abrupt  termination  of  Chinese  labour,  but  the  with- 
drawal of  every  Chinese  labourer  from  the  country  as  fasb- 
aa  transport  could  be  gob  ready. 

Capital  is  both  bold  and  timid.  If  only  we  shall  do- 
onr  duty,  if  only  the  Governmanb  of  India  will  seeel  their 
hearts  against  tha  blandishmaots  of  the  Fijian  and  Wesb. 
Indian  planters,  theire  is,  no  doubt,  that  these  people  will 
know  how  bo  save  millions,  without  India's  having  to  giv 
to  their  rescue. 


INDIAN  COLONIAL  EMIGEATION 
The  following  is  the  full  text  of  on  article  published 
in  the  *'  Indian  Review"  for  September,  1917  : — 

I  have  carefully  read  the  resolution  issued  at  Simla 
bv  the  Government  of  India  on  the  lat  instant,  embody- 
ing the  report  of  the  Inter-Dapartmental  Conference  re- 
cently held  in  London.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this 
was  the  oonferer»ce  referred  to  in  the  Viceregal  speech  of 
last  year  at  the  opening  of  the  sessions  of  the  Viceregal 
Legislative  Council.     It  will  be   remembered,    too,     tb  ab 


140  IN0I4N8    IN   THE   OOLONISe 

this  was  bbe  Gonferanoe  wbioh  Sir  James  Meaton  and  Sir 
S.P.  SiDha  were  to  have  atbaoded  bub  were  unable  to 
atitond  owiDg  to  their  hftving  returned  to  India  before  the 
date  of  the  meeting  of  the  Oanferenoe,  It  is  stated  in  the 
report  under  discussion  that  these  gentlemen  were  to 
disouss  the  qaeation  of  emigration  bo  certain  ESngliab 
Colonies  informally  with  the  two  Seorebariea  of  State,  i.e., 
bbe  Searetary  of  Siate  for  India  and  the  Secretary  of, 
State  for  the  Colonies.  Lard  Islington,  Sir  A,  Steel 
Maitland,  and  Messrs,  Sebon,  Grindle,  Green  and  Mao- 
n'aughton  constituted  the  Conference.  To  take  the  word- 
ing of  the  B^solution,  this  Conference  sab  ''to  consider 
the  oroposals  for  a  new  assisted  system  of  emigration  to 
BrUish  Guiana,  Trinidad,  Jamaica  and  Fiji."  The  public 
should,  therefore,  note  that  this  assisted  emigration  is  to 
ba  ooafined  only  to  the  four  Orowa  Colonies  mentioned 
and  not  to  the  Sdlf-Gorerniog  Cjlouies  of  South  Africa, 
Canada  or  Australia,  or  the  Growa  Colony, of  MauritiuB. 
What  follows  will  show  the  importance  of  this  distinction. 
Ig  is  something  to  be  thankful  for  that  "the  Governoaept 
of  India  have  not  yet  considered  the  report  and  reserved 
judgment  on  all  the  points  raised  in  it."  Tdis  is  as  it 
should  be  on  a  matter  so  serious  as  this  and  one  which 
only  last  year  fairly  coavulsed  the  .  whole  of  India  and 
which  has  in  one  shape  or  anobber  agitated  tibe  country 
since  1895.  ^        .  ,  ; 

The  declaration  too  that  "  His  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment in  agreement  with  the  Government  of  India  have 
decided  that  iodentured  emigration  shall  not  be  re-open- 
ed "  is  welcome  as  is  also  the  one  ihab  no  free 
emigrants  can  be  introduced  into  any  Colony  until  ail 
Indian  emigrants  already  there  have  been  released  from 
existing  indentures." 


INDIAN  COLONIAL  EMIOBAIION  Ut 

In  apilie,  however,  of  so  tnuoh  in  the  reporb  thab- 
fills  one  with  gladness,  the  substantive  part  of  it  which 
sebg  forth  the  aoheme  whioh  is  to  replace  indentured' 
emigration  is,  so  far  as  one  can  judge,  to  say  the  least  of 
it,  disappointing.  Stripped  of  all  the  phraseology  under 
which  the  soheme  has  been  veiled,  it  is  nothing  less  than 
a  system  of  indentured  emigration,  no  doubt  on  a  more 
humane  basis  and  safeguarded  with  some  oonditioos 
benefioial  to  the  emigrants  taking  advantage  of  it. 

The  main  point  that  should  be  borne  in  mind  is  tbab 
Conference  sat  designedly  to  consider  a  scheme  of  emigra- 
tion  not  in    the  interests  of  the  Indian  labourer,  bub   Id 
those  of    the    Colonial    employer.     The    new    system, 
therefore,    is    devised    to  help  the  Colonies     concerned. . 
India  needs  no    outlet,    ab    any    rabe    for    the    present 
moment,    for   emigration    outside    the    country.     It    i» 
debateable  whether,  in  any    evenb,  the  four  CoIodibb  will, 
be  the  most  suitable  for  Indian    colonisation.     The    besl> 
thing,  therefore,  that  can    happen  from  an  Indian  stand- 
point is  that  there  should  be  no  assisted  emigration  from' 
India  of  any  type  whatsoever.      In  the    absence    of    any 
such  assistance,  emigration    will  have  to  be  entirely    fre» 
and    ab    the    risk   and  expense  of   the  emigrant  himself. 
Past   experience  shows  that,  in  that  event,  there  will   be- 
very  littile  voluntary  emigrabioo  to  distant  Colonies.     In^ 
the    report    assisted    emigration    means,  to  use  a  mild 
expression,  stimulated  emigration  ;  and  surely    with    tlia- 
industries  of  India  crying  out  for  labour   and    with    her 
legitimate  resources  yet  undeveloped}    it   is  madness    to 
think    of    providing    a    stimulus    for  the  stay-at-home 
Indian  to  go  out  of  India,     Neither  the  Governmeni;  nor 
any  voluntary  agency  has  been  found  capable  of  protect'-^ 
ng  from  ili-uaage   the    Indian   who  emigrates  either  to. 


142  INDIANS   IN  THE  COLONIES 

Burma  or  Geylon,    muoh    less    can  any  ^uoh  prot'eotioD 
«vail    in    far-cff   Fiji    or   the   three   other    Colonies.    I 
hope  that  leaders  of  publio  opinion  in  India  will|    there- 
fore, take  their  stand  on  the  one  impregnable  rook  of  not 
wanting  any  emigration  whatsoever  to  the  Cclonies.     It 
might  be  argued  that  we,  as  a    component    part    of    the 
-^iOjpire,  are  bound  to  consider  the  wants  of  our  partners, 
'but  this  would  not  be  a  fair  plea  to  advance  so    long    as 
India  stands  in  need  of  all  the  labour  she    can    produce. 
If,  therefore,  ladia  does  not  assist  the  Colonies,  it  is  not 
'because  of  want  of  will  but    it  is  due  to  want  of    ability, 
-An   additional  reason    a  politician  wculd  be  justifiad  in 
"Using  is  that,  so  long  as  India  does  nob  in  reality  occupy 
the  position  of  an  equal  partner  with  the   Colonies,   and 
«o  long  as  her  sons  continue  to  be  regarded  by    Eciglisb- 
men  in  the  Colonies  and  Boglisb  employers  even  aearer 
borne  to  be  fib  only  as  hewers  of  wood  and   drawers   o) 
water,   no  scheme  of  emigration  to  the  Colonies   can   be 
morally  advantageous  to  Indian  emigrants.    If  the  badge 
of   inferiority   is  always  to  be  worn  by   them,   they   can 
tiever  rise  to  their  full  status  and  any  material  advantage 
they  will   gain   by    (Jmigrating    can,    therefore,  be  of  no 
-  consideration. 

But  let  us  for  the  moment  consider  the  new  system. 
"The  system,"  it  is  stated,  "to  be  followed  in>future  will  be 
one  of  aided  emigration  and  its  object  will  be  to  encourage 
the  settlement  of  Indians  in  certain  Colonies  after  a  proba- 
tionary period  of  employment  in  those  Colonies,  to  train 
and  fie  them  for  life  and  work  there  and  at  the  same 
time,  to  acquire  a  supply  of  the  labour  essential  to  the 
well-being  of  the  colonists  themselves,"  So  the  resettle- 
'-ment  is  to  be  conditional  on  previous  employment  under 
.contract  and  it  will  be  seen  in  the  coutse  of  our  examioa- 


INDIAN    COLONIAL   EMIGBA^ION  143 

^ion  thab  (bis  ooniiraoi  is  to  be  juBt  as  bindiog  as  the 
ooDtraots  used  to  be  under  indenture.  Tbe  report  bas  tbe 
followiDg  bumorons  passage  in  it:  "He  will  be,  in  no 
way,  restrioced  to  servioe  under  any  particular  employer 
-exoepli  that  for  bis  own  proteotion,  a  selected  employer 
will  be  obosen  for  hioci  for  tbe  first  six  months."  Tbig 
baa  a  flavour  of  the  old  indentured  system.  Oae  of  the 
evils  complained  of  about  bbat  system  was  that  the 
labourer,  was  assigned  to  an  employer.  Ha  was  not  free 
'to  ciboose  one  bimself-.  Under  tbe  new  7  system,  the 
employer  is  to  be  selected  fs^  tbe  protection  of  the  la- 
bourer. It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  poitit  oiit  thab 
iibe  would-be  labourer  will  never  be  able  to  fee!  tbe  pro- 
tection devised  for  hipa.  The  labourer  is  further  "to  be 
-Encouraged  to  "work  tor  bis  first  tbreaVe^fB  iu.agrlouitijrai 
industries,  by  tbe  offer,  should  he  do  so,  of  numerous  and 
important  benefits  subsequently  as  a  colonist."  This  ig 
'another  induaemeut  to  indenture,  and  I  know  enough  of 
such  schemes  to  be  able  to  assure  both  the  Government) 
«nd  public  that  these  so-called  inducements  iu  the  bands 
of  clever  manipulators  become  nothing  short  of  methods 
of  compulsion  in  respent  of  innocent  and  ignorant;  Indian 
iabourers.  It  is  due  to  the  framers  of  tbe  scheme  that  I 
'should  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  they  have  avoided 
all  criminal  penalties  for  breach  of  contract,  Iu  India 
itself  if  tbe  schema  is  adopted,  we  are  promised  a  revival 
of  the  muob-dreaded  depots  and  emigration  agents,  all 
no  doubt,  on  a  more  respectable  basis  but  still  of  the 
/game  type  and  capable  of  untold  mischief, 

Taa  rest  of  the  'report  is  not  likely  to  interest  the 
public,  but  those  who  wish  to  study  it  will,  I  doubt  not^ 
oome  to  the  conclusion  to  which  I  have  been  driven'^ 
-that  tbe    fraiuera  have    done  their    beat  to  strip  the  old 


144  INDIANS   IN   XHE   OO^iONIfiS 

Byatem  of  many  of  the  abuses  whioh  had  orept  inbo  tli,  bu^ 
they  have  Dot  Buooeaded  in  placing  before  the  ladiait' 
public  aD  aaaaptabla  sobeme.  I  bold  that  it  was  ao 
impossible  task.  The  system  of  iadeoture  was  one  of 
temporary  slavery  ;  it  was  inoapable  of  being  amended, 
it  should  only  be  ended  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  India< 
will  never  oonsent  to  its  revival  in  any  shape  or  form. 


THE  INIQUITIES  OF  THE  INDENTUBE  SYSTBIir 

Under  the  auspioes  of  the  District  Congress  Oom- 
mittee  in  Bombay  Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  delivered  a  lecture 
on  Indentured  Indian  Labour  before  a  large  gathering 
on  30th  October,  191 7,  at  the  Empire  Theatre,  Sir  Ebrahim 
Rahimtullah  presiding. 

Mr.  Oandhi  said : — 

The  question  of  indentured  labour  was  jaac  now  a- 
topioal  question,  beuause  those  true  and  real  friends  of 
India,  Messrs.  Andrews  and  Pearson,  were  oooduotiog 
an  enquiry  in  Fiji.  The  Fiji  Islands  absorbed  the  largast 
number  of  indentured  Indians  at  the  prasenii  moment. 
Messrs.  Andrews  and  Pearson  were  not  the  first  to  in- 
terest the  Indians  in  this  question*  but  it  was  the  deoeaS' 
ed  statesman  Mr.  Gokhale,  who  first  impressed  Indians 
with  the  importance  of  their  duties  in  oonneotion  with 
this  question.  The  resolution  whioh  Mr,  Gakbala^ 
brought  before  the  Oounoil  for  the  abolition  of  the  in- 
denture system  waa  defeated  by  a  majority  though  all 
the  non-official  members  of  the  Council  voted  for  the 
abolition,  However  much  a  benign  and  symDatbetio 
Viceroy  wished  to  remove  this  abominable  system  of 
iadanture    from   the   Indian    Statute    Book  there  was    » 


THE   INIQUITIES  OF   THE   INDENTURE   SYSTEM     1.45 

vary  eerioua  difiBculty  in  hia  way  and  thai)  was  the  reporb 
by  the  two  GomDaiasionerci,  who  were  sent  by  Lord 
Hardinge,  namely,  Meaare.  MaoNeill  and  Ghimanlal 
whioh  are  oontained  ia  two  bulky  volamea.  All  might 
not  oare  to  wade  through  the  rather  dull  pagea  of  those 
Tolamea  but  to  him  who  knew  what  real  indentured  ]»,- 
bour  was,  they  were  of  great  inberaab.  They  might,  how- 
ever, take  upon  trust  that  the  report  reoogaised  that  in- 
dentured labour  should  aoatinue  just  aa  it  was,  if  certain 
tsonditioDB  were  fulfilled.  Tboae  conditions,  Mr.  Gandhi 
said,  were  impoaaible  of  fulfilmeni;.  And  the  reoommenda- 
tions  whioh  these  two  great  Gommissiouera  made,  show- 
ed that  they  really  obuld  not  seriously  have  meant  that 
the  system  of  indenture  whioh  esisted  to-day  in  Fiji, 
Jamaica,  Guiana  and  other  oolonies  should  be  oontinned 
a  minute  longer  than  was  actually  neoeasary.  The 
Speaker  here  referred  to  the  previous  Gommiesion  and  said 
that  the  defeats  whioh  Messrs.  MaoNeill  and  Ghimanlal 
had  pointed  oab  were  patent  to  all.  Their  report  eon- 
tained  nothing  new.  Bat  there  was  unofSoial  investi- 
gation on  behalf  of  some  philanthropic  body  in  England 
some  forty  years  ago,  and  in  that  book  an  unvarnished 
tale  waa  given,  which  told  in  graphio  language  what 
were  the  hardships  under  that  system. 

In  this  oonneotion  Mr.  Gandhi  quoted  a  statement 
made  by  the  Prime  Minister  of  Natal  in  whioh  he  said 
that  the  system  o^  indenture  was  a  moat  unadvisabla 
thing  and  that  the  sooner  it  was  terminated  the  better 
for  the  iudentured  labourer  and  the  employer.  Lord 
Selborne  said  the  same  thing  when  be  was  the  High 
Commissioner  in  South  Africa :  he  said  that  it  was  worse 
for  the  employer  than  the  employed,  beoftuse  it  was  a 
syatem  perilously  near  to  slavery.  Sir  William  Hunter 
10 


146  INDIANS  IN   THE    QOLQHIKS  ;      ; 

wrote  a  beautiful  series  of  letters  in   1895  when  hs   firab 
brought   himself   to  study    the   system    personally    and 
compared    the    system     of     indenture,     after      a     due 
investigation,    to    a    state    bordering     on     slavery.     Oa 
one    oooasioD    be     used    the     expression     semi-slavery, 
Mr.   Gandhi  said   if    he  erred    in   making  these    state- 
ments, he   erred -in    Lord    Selborne's     oompany,     And 
it   was   in   oonneotion    with     this     system    that    these 
two  worthy    gentlemen,   the   Gommisaionera,    had   seen 
fit  bo  report  and  advise  the   fulfilmeot   of  certain    oondi- 
tiona    which,    in    the    very     nature     of     the     oontraob, 
were  impossible  of  fulfilment.     The  conditions  were  that 
unsuitable   emigrants    be   excluded ;     the   proportion   of 
famalea  to  males  to  be  raised  from  40  to  50  per  cent,  Tba 
speaker  could    not  understand    what  they  meant  by   ua- 
fluitable  emigrants  being  excluded.     The  OommisaioDers 
Ihemselves  told  them  that  it  was  not  easy  to  find  labour 
in  India,     India  was  not  pining  to  send  her  children  out 
aa  aemi-slavea.     Lord  Sanderson  stated  that  it  was  the 
Burplua   population  from   India  that  went  out  from   dig- 
satisfaction  with  the  economic  oonditiona  in  India.     Bat 
they    must   remember    that   there    were   500   recruiting 
licences  issued  in  the  year  1907.  Gould  tbey  conceive  the 
Bignifioauoe  of  the  extraordiaary  state  of  things  which 
required   one   recruiter   to    17    labourers  ?  The    Golonial 
Governments   had    their   sub-agents    in    India    for   tbia 
indentured  labour  to  be  collected.     They  were  paid  a  sum 
of  B<i.  25  for  each  oooly  recruited,  and  this  sum  of  B9.  25 
was  divided    between    the   recruiter    and   the   sub-agect, 
Mr.  Gandhi  thought  the  mental  state  of  thosa  recruitera 
must   be    miserable,  who  could    send    so    many  of  their 
countrymen  as  semi-slaves.     After  having  seen  what  the 
recruiting  agents  did  and  after  having  read  the  many  groaa 


THE  INIQUfli^IES -OP  3CHB  iNDBNTOTB  8Y8IEM    14'7 

tnis-statemebtB  they  made,  he  was  not  surprised  that  tibou' 
«tLtids''and  thoaaandB  of  their  oountrymsn  wer'^  beoomiog 
ibdentared  labourers.  The  Oommiasiobers  deToted  several 
'Pages  to  bhe  ioamorality  prevailing  oa  the  estates.  It  was 
uob  forty  women  for  sisty  men  ;  bub  the  statement  was 
made  than  these  men  did  not  marry  these  womeo,  but  kept 
them,  aud  that  many  of  these  women  were  prostitutes. 
Mr.  Gaadhi  said  he  would  deoline  togend  his  ohildrea 
under  suoh  ao  indenture,  if  he  was  worthy  of  his  salt,  out 
<>f  the  oouatry.  Bat  thousands  of  men  and  Women  had 
gone.      What  did  thsy  think  of  that  in  India? 

The  oouditions  were  that  rigorous  provisions  should 
b'a  either  expunged  from  the  Ordinances  br  that  the  Pro- 
teotor  should  oontrol  employers.  As  for  the  ragulationa 
made  to  protect  these  labourers  they  oould  take  it  from 
him,  Mr.  Gandhi  said,  that  there  were  a  great  many 
:B.iW8  in  them  and  a  ooach  and  four  could  be  easily 
driven  through  these.  The  aim  of  the  rules  was  to 
make  the  employer  supreme.  Here  was  capital  ranged 
against  labour  with  arbifioial  props  for  capital  and  nob 
labour. 

Mr.  Gaadhi  condemned  the  "protector"  of  emigrants. 
They  ware  men  belonging  to  that  Very  class  to  which  em- 
ployers bdlooged ;  they  moved  among  them  and  was  id 
nob  only  natural  that  they  should  have  their  sympathiea 
on  the  side  of  the  employer?  How  was' it  then  possib'e 
bbab  they  could  do  justice  to  the  labourer  against  the 
•employer  ?  He  knew  many  instances  when  magistrates 
had  mated  out  justice  to  the  indentured  labourer,  but  lb 
was  impossible  to  expect  suoh  a  thing  from  the  Protectors 
of  emigrants.  The  labourer  was  bound  hand  acid  fobt  to 
the  employer.  If  he  committed  an  offenoe  Etgain'st  bia 
employer   he   first  of  all  had  to  undergo  a  course   of  iia 


lis  INDIANS  IN  THE  COLONIES 

Drisonment;  tbea  the  days  thab  bbe  labourer  had  apenfr- 
in  the  jail  ware  added  iio  his  iadanture  and  bo  was  taken 
back  Iso  hia  master  to   aerve  again.     The  GomaiisBioDers^ 
had  to  aay  nothing  agalDSb  theee  rulea.  There  waa  nobody 
to  judge  the  Frobeobor  of  Emigranta    if   he  gave  a  wrong 
iudgoaenti,  bat  in  the  oaae  of   the  magiatrata   ha  could  bft- 
oritioiaed.       Again    the   GommiBaionera    add   that  theae 
prieooers  ahoald  be  pub  into  aeparabe  jaiia.  Bat  the  Golcl-^ 
nial  GovernmeDt  would  be  bankrupt  if  they  built  jaile  foir 
hundreda  of  prisonera  that  were  impriaoned.     They  were 
not  able  to  build  jaiia  for  the  paeaive  reaistera.     Then  the 
Commiaaionera  aaid  that  the  labourer  ebould   be  allowed 
to  redeem  hia  indenture  by  payment    of   a  graduated    re- 
demption fee.     Tdey  made  a  miabake  in  thinking  bim  to 
be  an  independent  man.     He  waa    nob   hia  own    master' 
Mr.  Gandhi  said  he  had  koowu  of  Eagiiah  giria  well  edu- 
cated who  were  daooyed,  and  who  were    nob    indenturadp 
unable  to  free  ubemaal7aa.     How  waa  it  then  possible  for 
an  indentured  labourer  to  do  this  ?  Mr.  Balfour  compared 
the  labourer  under  an  indenture  to    a    soldier-     Bab    the 
aoidiar  waij  a  raspouaibie  man  and  he  could  rise  to  a  high- 
posicioD.  Bab  an  iudenbured  labourer  remained  a  labourer. 
Ha  had  no  privileges.     Hia  wife  was  also  included  under 
his  disabilities,  so  also  hia  son.     In  Natal    the    finger   of 
soorn  was  pointed  ab  theaa  people.     Never  could    an    in-^ 
denburad  lodiaa  rise  to  a  higher  post  than  thab  of  labou- 
rer.    And  what  did  the  labourer  bring  when  he  returned' 
to  India  ?  He  returned  a  broken  vessel,  with  some  of  the 
artifioial  and  suparfioial  aigna  of  oivilisation,  bab   he  left, 
more  valuable  things  behind  him.     He  may    bring   aomS' 
sovereigns  also  with  him.     They  should  decline    to    per- 
petuate this  hateful  system  of  indenture  beoauae  it  robbed, 
them  of  their  national  self-reapeet. 


IMPERIAL  OONPERBNCB  BBSOLUTIGNS     149 

If  they  ooald  oonsider  well  over  what)  he  had  said, 
^hey  wonld  try  and  abolish  the  Byatetn  in  a  year's  time 
-^nd  (his  one  (aiab  upon  the  nation  would  have  gone  and 
iodtjntnred  labour  would  be  a  thing  o(  the  past.  He 
wanted  to  renaove  the  cause  of  the  ill-treatment  af  the 
Indiana  in  the  Colonies,  However  proteotad  that  systeai 
may  be,  it  still  remained  a  state  bordering  upon  slavery. 
"  It  would  remain,"  said  Mr.  Gandhi,  "  a  state  based 
upon  (ull-fladged  slavery  and  ib  was  a  hindrance  to 
^national  growth  and  national  dignity." 


IMPBBIAL  OONIBRKNOB  EESOLUTIONS 

In  the  course  of  an  article  criticising  the  Imperial 
Oenference  Besolution  on  Indian  emigration,  Mr,  Qandhi 
wrote  as  follows  in  the  Indian  Beview  for  Attgusti 
1918  :— 

The  Imperial  Gonferenoe  Besolution  *  on  the  status 
'0(  our  oountrymen  emigrating  to  the  Goloaies,  reads  well 
on  the  surfaoe,  but  it  is  highly  deoeptive.     We  need    coll 

'A  summary    of  (he  proceedings  of  the  Conference  was  cabled 

■tp  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  Viceroy.     The  following  is  an 

'txtract: — 

The  fifteenth  meeting  of  the  ConfereDoe  was  held  on  July 
liSth.,  The  first  sabjeot  disouBsed  was  leoiprooity  ■  of  treatment 
i)etween  India  and  the  Dominions.  This  disonssion  followed  on 
the  resolutioo   passed  by  the  Gonterenoe   last  year,   aoeepting  the 

rprinoiple  of  ceoipcooity  and  a  further  resolution  passed  to^that  eSeot 
ehoUld  now  be  given  to  the  last  year's  resolution  in  pursuance  b( 
wfaioh  the   Conference   agreed   as   follows  :—(U' I<>   is  the  inherent 

-function  of  the  Governments  of  several  communities  of  British 
-bommonwealth  including  India  that  each  should  enjgy  oomplete 
oontrol  in  the  composition  of  its  own  populatioa '  by' means  of 
restriction  on  immigration  from  any  other  oblumunitieB.  <3) 
British  citizens  domiciled  in  any  British  country  including  India 
should  be  admitted   into  any  other  British   country  for  visits  for 

4be  purposes   of  pleasure  or  commerce  including  temporary  reei- 


150  INDIANS  ;M   THE   COLONIES       : 

consider  i6  a  greab  aobieremeob  (hat  we  'oan  pass  tbe:aam& 
laws  againsti  the  colonials  bhat  they  may  pass  against  ns. 
It  is  like  a  giant  telling  a  dwarf  that  the  latter  is  free  ta 
give  blow  for  blow.  Who  is  to  refuse  permission  and  pass- 
ports to  (be  colonials  desiring  to  enter  India?  But  Indians, 
DO  matter  what  their  attainments  are,  are  constantly 
being  refused  permission  to  enter  the  colonies  even  for 
temporary  periods.  South  African  legislation  of  emi- 
gration was  purged  of  the  racial  taint,  by  the  passive- 
resistance  movement,  But  the  administrative  principles 
still  continue  and  will  do  so,  so  long  as  India  remains^ 
both  in  name  and  substance  a  dependency, 

The  agreement  arrived  at  regarding  those  who  are 
already  domiciled  practically  re-states  the  terms  of  the  set- 
tlement of  1914.  If  it  extends  to  Canada  and  Australia 
it  is  a  decided  gain^  for  in  Canada  till  recently  there  was^ 
a  big  Agitation  owing  to  the  refusal  of  its  Government  ta 
admit  the  wives  and  children  of  its  Sikh  settlers.  Jjoaiay 
perhaps  add  that  the  South  African    settlement  provides- 

denor  for  the  purpoEe  of  education.  The  oonditions  of  suoh  viaitS' 
Bhould  be  regulated  on  the  pcinoiple  of  leoiprooity  as  foUons;— 
(a)  The  rigfat  of  the  GoTernment  of  India  reoogoieed  to  enaot 
laws  which  gball  have  the  effect  ot  eubjeoting  Kcitieh  oitizens- 
domioiled  in  any  other  Bcitieh  country  to  the  same  conditious  ia 
visitiDg  India  as  those  imposed  on  Indians  desiring  to  visit  suob- 
country,  lb)  Such  eight  of  visit  or  temporary  residence  shall,  in- 
each  individual  case,  be  embodied  in  the  passport  or  written  permit 
issued  by  the  country  of  domicile  and  eubjeot  to  vie  there  by  an 
o£Soer  appointed  by  and  acting  on  behalf  of  the  oouutry  to  ba 
visited.  If  suoh  a  oountry  so  desires  such  right  shall  not  extend  ta 
the  visit  or  temporary  residents  for  labour  purpose  or  to  permanent- 
settlement.  (3)  Indians  already  permanently  domiciled  in  other 
British  countries  should  be  allowed  to  bring  in  their  wives  and 
minor  children  on  condition  (a)  that  no  more  than  one  wife  and  her 
children  shall  be  admitted  for  each  such  Indian  and  (b)  that  each 
'individual  BO  admitted  shall  be  certified  by  the  Government  of 
India  as  being  the  lawful  wife  or  child  of  suoh  Indian,  The 
Conference  recommends  other  questions  covered  by  the  memoranda 
presented  to  the  Qonfetenoe  by  the  representatives  of  India. 


IMPBBUL  OOHFBRBNGE   BESOLUIIONS  151 

for  the  prolieotion  of  bboae  who  had  plural  wives  before  the 
settlemeDl),  espeoially  if  the  latter  had  at  any  time  entered 
South  Africa.  It  may  be  the  proper  thing  in  a  predomi- 
nently  Christian  oouotry  to  oonfiae  the  legality  to  only 
one  wife.  But  it  is  necessary  even  for  that  country,  in 
the  interests  of  humanity  and  for  the  sake  of  friendship 
for  members  of  the  same  Imperial  E'aderation  to  which 
they  belong  administratively,  to  allow  the  admission  of 
plural  wives  and  their  progeny. 

The  above  agreement  still  evades  the  question  of  in* 
equality  of  status  in  other  matters  : — Thus  the  difSoulty 
of  obtaining  licenses  throughout  South  Africsi  the  prohibi- 
tion to  hold  landed  property  in  the  Transvaal  and  the 
Free  State  and  virtual  prohibition  within  the  Union  itself 
of  the  entry  of  Indians  into  the  Free  State,  the  prohibi- 
tion of  Indian  children  to  enter  the  ordinary  Government 
schools,  deprivation  of  Manioipal  francbise  in  the  Trans- 
vaal and  the  Free  State  and  praotioal  deprivation  of  the 
Union  franchise  throughout  South  Africa,  barring 
perhaps  the  Cape.  The  resolutions  of  the  Imperial 
Conference  therefore  are  deoidely  an  eye-wash.  There  is 
no  change  of  heart  in  the  oaionies  and  certainly  no 
recognition  of  Imperial  obligations  regarding  India.  The 
Fii'ian  atrocities  to  which  Mr.  Andrews  has  drawn 
pointed  attention  show  what  is  possible  even  in  the 
Grown  Colonies  which  are  under  direct  Imperial  control. 


Jail  Experiences 


These  prison  experiences  were  originally  written  bv 
Mr.  Oandhi  in  Gujarati  and  we  are  indebted  to  the 
Modern  Raview  for  the  following  English  version  : — 

I 

INSPECTION 
When  the  different  inspaotiors  ooma  to  iospeoli,  all 
the  prisonere  have  to  DOSt  thecnselvea  in  a  rowi  and  take 
off  their  cap3  to  saiata  theoi.  As  M  of  us  had  Eagliah 
caps,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  observing  this  rale.  It  was 
both  legal  and  proper  that  we  should  take  off  our  oapa. 
The  words  of  direotion  used  were  "fall  in."  These  words 
had,  so  to  speal:,  beoome  our  food,  as  wa  had  to  "fall  in'/' 
four  or  five  times  a  day.  Oae  of  these  offioers,  an 
assistant  to  bha  Chief  Warder,  was  a  little  stifF-neoked, 
and  so  tha  Indians  had  niokoamed  him  "  General 
Smuts."  Generally  he  was  tha  first  to  oome  in  the 
mornings,  and  again  in  tha  evenings,  At  half  past  nina 
the  Dootor  oame,  Ha  was  very  goo^  and  kind,  and 
unfailing  in  his  inquiries.  Eaoh  prisoner  had,  aooording 
to  jail  rules,  to  show  all  pares  of  his  body,  on  the  first  day 
to  the  Dootor,  stripping  himself  bare  of  all  olothas,  but  he 
was  kind  enough  not  to  enforoe  the  same  in  our  ease. 
When  many  more  Indians  had  oome,  ha  simply  told  ua 
to  report  to  him  if  any  one  had  got  itobas,  eta  ,  so  that 
be  might  esamina  him  in  camera.  At  half  past  ten  or 
eleven,    the   Go.vernor    and   Chief    Warder   oame.     Tha 


GANDHI'S  FIBST  JAIL  BXPEBIBNOBS  153 

former  waa  a  firm,  juBb  and  quieli-aatared .  officer. 
Hia  invariable  inguiriea  were  whether  we  were  all 
Tighb,  whether  -we  wanted  anytbiDg,  whether  we  had 
any  oomplaiata  to  make.  Wtienevar  we  had  any  suob, 
be  heard  them  atteotively,  and  gave  us  relief,  if  he  ooald. 
Some  of  these  oomplaialis  and  grievaaoee  I  Bhall  refer  to 
later  on.  Hia  deputy  oamu  also  at  times.  He  waa 
^iad-hearted  too.  But  the  beat  of  them  all  was  pur  Obief 
Warder.  Himself  deeply  religioua,  he  waa  not  only  kind 
and  oourteoua  towards  us,  but  every  prisoner  sang  hia. 
praises  in  no  measured  terms.  He  waa  attentive  in  pre- 
serving to  the  prisoners  all  their  righta,  he  overlooked 
their  trivial  faults,  and  knowing  in  our  ease  that  we  were^ 
all  innooent  he  waa  particularly  kind  to  us,  and  to  show 
'hia  kindness  he  often  oame  and  talked  to  us. 

INOBBASE    IN    OUB   NUMBBBS 

I  have  aaid  before  that  there  were  only  five  of  ua 
passive  resistera,  at  first.  Oa  Hth  January,  Tuesday, 
-oame  in  Mr.  Thambi  Naidui  the  Chief  Picket,  and  Mr. 
Koin,  the  President  of  the  Chinese  Association.  We  all 
were  pleased  to  receive  them.  Oa  the  iSiih,  fourteen 
otbera  joined  us,  including  Samundar  Khan.  He  waa  in 
'{of  two  montha.  The  reat  were  Madrasia,  Kunamias 
and  Gujarati  Hindus.  They  were  arrested  for  hawking 
without  licences,  and  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  £2,  and, 
in  default,  to  H  daya' idaprisonment,  Tbey  had  bravely 
elected  to  go  to  jail.  On  the  2l8t,  76  othera  came-  In  thia 
batch  only  Nawab  Khan  had  two  months,  the  reat  were 
with  a  fine  of  £2,  or,  in  default,  14  :daya'  impria'bnment, 
TMoat  of  iibem  were  Gujarati  Hindua,  some  Kunamiaa 
and  Bome  Madraaia.  On  the  22nd,  35,  on  the  23rd,  3, 
on  the  24tb,  1,  on  the  25tb,  2,  on  the  28lib,  6,  and  in  the 


IH  JAIL   EXPEBIENCES 

eveniDg  4  more,  and  on  tha  29iib,  i  Kunamias  added  to- 
our  nambars.  So  thai)  by  bba  29iih,  tbere  were  15&: 
paaaive  resistara  inoaraeralied.  On  tiba  SOsh,  I  waa  re- 
moved lio  Pretoria,  bull  I  knew  tbab  on  tbab  day  5  or  & 
otbera  bad  ootsa  in. 

FOOD 

The  queation  of  food  is  of  greaii  momanii  to  many  oV . 
ua,  in  all  oircumatanoaa,  bab  to  thoaa  in  priaon,  it  ia  of 
the  greateab  importance.  They  are  greatly  in  need  of 
good  food.  Tbe  rule  is  tbat  a  prisoner  bad  to  reat  oon- 
tent  witb  jail. food,  be  cannot  procure  any  from  outaide.. 
Tbe  same  ia  tbe  oaaa  witb  a  aoidier  wbo  baa  to  aubmit 
to  bis  regulation  rations,  but  tbe  diffarenca  between  the 
two  is  tbat  bis  friends  can  send  other  food  to  the  aoidier 
and  he  can  take  it,  while  a  priaoner  ia  prohibited  from 
doing  so.  So  tbat  this  prohibition  about  food  ia  one  of 
tbe  aigna  of  being  in  prison.  Even  in  general  conver- 
sation, you  will  find  tbe  jail-offiaera,  aaying  that  there 
oould  be  no  exeroiae  of  taste  about  priaon  diet,  and  do 
suob  article  oould  be  allowed  therein.  In  a  talk  with 
the  priaou  medical  officer,  I  told  him  that  it  waa  neoea- 
sary  for  ua  to  have  aome  tea,  or  ghee  or  aome  such  thing: 
along  V7ith  bread,  and,  he  said,  you  want  to  eat  with 
taste,  and  no  palatable  thing  could  be  allowed  in  a  priaon. 

Aoobrding  to  the  regulations,  in  the  first  week,  an 
Indian  geta,  in  tba  morning  12  oz.  of  "  mealie  pap" 
without  sugar  or  ghee ;  at  noon,  i  oz.  of  rice  and  one  oz. 
of  ghee  ;  in  the  evening,  from  5  days,''  12  oz.  of  mealie 
pap,  for  3  days,  12  oz.  of  boiled  beana  an''d  aalb.  This 
scale  haa  bean  modelled  on  the  dietary  of  tbe  Kaffirs — 
the  only  difference  being  that  in  the  evening,  the  Kaffira 
are  given  crashed  maize  corn    and  lard  or    fat,  while  the' 


GANDHI'S  FIRST   JAIL    BXPEBIEN0B8  155» 

Indiana   get  -rioa.     In  the  aeoond    week,  and    thenoefor- 
ward,  for  two  days,     boiled  potatoes  and    for    two    days,. 
cabbages,  ox  puoapliin    or  some   suoh  vegetable   is    given 
along  with  maiza  flour.     Those  wbo  take  meat  are  given- 
naeat  wibh  vegetables  on  Sundays. 

The  first  baiioh  of  prisoners  bad    resolved  to    solicit- 
for  DO  favours  at  tbe  bands  of  Qovernmant,  and    to  take 
whatever  food  was  served  outi   if  not    religiously    objec- 
tionable. Baally  speaking,  the  above  was  not  a  proper  kind 
of  diet  for  Indians,  though  medioally,  of  oourse,    it   oon- 
bainad  suffiaient  nubtition.     Maize  is    the    daily  food   of 
tihe  Kaffirs,  so  this  diet)  suits  them,  nay,    they  bbriva    on 
it   in  jail.     But    Indians    rarely  use    ma^z^-flour,    rios- 
only  suits  them.     We  are  not   used  to  eat    beans    alotie,,. 
Dor  oould  we  like  vegetables  a^  oooked    by  or  for  Kaffirs^ 
They  never  clean  the   vegetable  nor    season  them     witb- 
any  spioes.     Again  the  vegetable  oooked    for  the    Kaffirs 
mostly  consist  of  the  paeiinga   lefo    after  tbe    same  '  hava 
been  prepared  for  the    Earopsan    conviots.     Eor    spioes, 
nothing  aha  besides  salt  is  given.     Sugar  is  never  dreamt 
of.     Thus  the  food  question  was  a   very  difficult  one   for 
us  all.     Still,  as  wa  had  determined  that  the    passive  re-- 
Bisters  were  neither  bo  solicit  nor  aak    for   favours    from 
the  jail  authorities,  we  triad     to  rest    content  with    this 
kind  of  food. 

In  reply  to  his  iaquiries  we    had  told    the    Governor- 
thab  the  food  did  not  suit  us,  but  we  were  determined  not»~ 
bo  ask  for  any    favours  from    Goveromant,     If    Govern- 
ment of  its  own  aooord    wanted  to    make  a    ohanga,    it 
would  be  weloome,  else  we  would  go    on  taking    the  re 
gulation  diet. 

But  this  determination  oould  not   last   long.     Wbeux 
obhera  joined  us,  we  [thought   it  would    be    improper   ta> 


156  JAIL  BXFBRIENOES 

make  them  share  bhia  trouble  with  ub  also.  Was  iii  nok 
stifiSaieDt  that  bhey  had  shared  the  prisoa  with  ua  *  So 
we  began  bo  talk  to  the  GoTernor  on  their  behalf,  Wa 
told  him,  we  were  prepared  bo  bake  any  kind  of  food, 
bub  bhe  later  babohes  ooald  nob  do  so.  He  thoughb  over 
"the  mabter,  and  said  bhab  he  would  allow  them  to  oook 
separately,  if  tbay  pub  ib  on  the  ground  of  religion,  bub 
the  articles  of  food  would  be  the  same,  ib  did  nob  resb 
'wilh  him  to  make  any  changes  in  them. 

In  bhe  maanbime,  fourteen  others  had  joined  ns)  and 

csome  of  them  elected  bo  starve  rabher  than    take   mealie 

•pap.     So  I  read  vhp  jail  rules  and  found  out  bhab  applioa- 

tions  in  suoh    matters    should  be  made    to  the    Director 

-of  Prisons.     I    asked,    therefore,  the  Governor    to    be 

permitted    to    apply      to    him,     and      sent    a    petition 

accordingly. 

We,  ths  uadersigned  prisoners,  beg  to  state  that  we  are  all 
'Asiatios,  18  Indiana  and  3  Chinese. 

The  18  Indians  get  for  theic  breaktast  maalie  pap,  and  the 
others,  rioe  and  ghee;  the;  gee  beans  thrioe  and  "pap"  {out 
times.  We  were  given  potatoes  on  Saturdays  and  greens  on 
Sundays.  On  religious  grounds,  we  cannot  eat  meat :  some  are 
entirely  prohibited  (com  taking  it,  and  others  oannor,  do  so  be- 
cause of  its  not  being  religiously  slaughtered. 

The  Chinese  get  maize-corn  instead  of  rioe.     All  the  ptisoa- 
■ers  are  mostly  used  to  European  food,  and  they  also  eat  bread 
and  other  flour  preparations.    None  of  us  is   used  to  mealie  pap, 
-and  some  of  us  suSar  from  indigestion. 

Seven  of  us  have  eaten  no  breakfast  at  all  ;  only  at  times, 
when  the  Chinese  prisoners  who  got  bread,  out  of  meroy,  gave 
them  a  pieoe  or  two  out  of  theic  rations,  have  we  eaten  the 
same,  When  this  was  mentioned  to  the  G-overnoc,  he  said  we 
were  guilty  of  a  jail  offenoe  in  thus  aooepting  bread. 

In  our  opinion  this  kind  of  food  is  entirely  unsuitable  to  us. 
-fio  we  have  to  apply  that  we  should  be  given  food  aooording  to 
the  rules  for  European  prisoners  and  mealie  pap  be  left  out  en- 
tirely ;  or,  in  the  alternative,  suoh  food  should  be  given  as  would 
^upp  ort  us,  and  be  in  consonance  with  our  habits  and  oustoms. 
This  is  an  urgent  matter  and  a  reply  be  sent  by  wire. 


OAMDHI'S  PIKST  jalL  BXPJERIENOBS  ,157" 

Twenty-one  of  na  bad  signed  the  petition  and  wbile^ 
it  was  being  deatiatohed  seTsnty-sis  naore  came  in,  They 
also  bad  a  dislike  for  the  ''  pap,"  and  so  we  added  a  para- 
graph stating  that  the  new  arrivals  al&o  objeoted  to    the 
diet.,    I  requested  the  Governor  to  send  it  by   wire.    He- 
asked  his  superior's  permission  by  telephone}  and  allowed 
at  onoe  4  oz.     of  bread  in  place  of*'  pap,"  We  were   all- 
Tery  pleased,  and  from  the  22nd,  i  oz,  of  bread  was  sub- 
stituted in  plaoe  of- pap,  morning    and    evening.  '  In    the 
evening  we  got  8  oz,,  i.e.,    half    a    loaf,  -  But    this    wss'- 
merely  a  temporary  arrangement.     A  committee  was  sit- 
ting on  lihe  question  and  we  heard  that  they  had    reoom- 
mended  an  allowance  of  flour,  ghee   and  pulse;  but  before 
it  oould  take  effest,  we  had  been  released,  and  so  nothing 
more  happeTned, 

In  the  beginning  when  there  was  only  eight  of  us  we 
did  not  cook  ourselv'ds,  so  we  used  to  get  uooopked  rice 
and  ill-oboked  vegetables  whenever  the  same  were  given, 
80  we  obtained  permission  to  oook  of  ourselves.  On  the 
first  day,  Mr.  Kidva  cooked.  After  that  Mr.  Thambi^ 
Naidu  and  Mr.  Jivan  both  took  up  the  function,  and  in 
our  last  days  they  bad  to  cook  for  about  150  men,  They 
had  to  epc^  onoa  only,  excepting  on  vegetable  days  which 
were  two  in  a  week — when  they  had  to  do  so  twice.  Mr. 
Naidu  took  great  trouble'  over  this,  I  used  to  distri- 
bute. 

From  the  style  of  the  petition  the  reader  must  have 
noted  the  fact  that  it  was  presented  on  behalf  of  all- 
Indian  prisoners  and  not  us  (eight)  alone.  We  talked 
with  the  Governor  also  on  the  same  lines  and  he  had 
promised  to  look  into  ili  for  all  the  Asiatic  prisoners.  We- 
still  hope  that  the  jail  diet  of  the  Indians  would  bd- 
JTu  proved. 


1.58  JAIL  BXPERIE^NOES 

Again  the  ibree  Chineaa  used  tio  gab  other  artiolea 
iDBtead  of  rioe,  and  henos  annoyanae  was  felb,  as  there 
was  an  appearanoe  of  their  being  oonsidered  separata 
^rom  and  inferior  to  us.  For  this  reason,  I  applied,  on 
their  behalfi  to  the  Governor  and  to  Mr,  FIay> 
'ford,  and  it  was  ordered  that  they  should  be  placed  on 
the  same  level  as  Indians. 

It  is  instruotiva  to  compare  this  dietary  with  that 
ot  the  Europeans,  They  get  for  their  morniDg  breakfast 
"  pap  "  and  8  oz,  of  bread  ;  for  the  midday  meal,  bread 
and  Boup  or  bread  and  meat,  or  bread  and  meat  and 
potatoes  or  vegetables  ;  and  in  the  evenings  bread  and 
*"  pap."  Thus  thsy  got  bread  thrioe  in  the  day,  and  so 
they  do  not  oara  whether  they  have  tha«"  pap  "  or  not, 
Again  they  get  meat  or  soup,  in  addition,  Besides  this 
they  are  often  given  tea  or  ooooa.  This  will  show  -  that 
both  the  Europeans  and  the  native  Ka£Srs  get  food  suit- 
able to  them,  and  it  is  the  poor  Indians  alone  who  suffer, 
They. bad  no  speoiat  dietary  of  their  own.  It  they  were 
treated  like  Europeans  in  food,  they  the  Europeans  would, 
■have  felt  ashamed,  and  no  one  had  the  oonoern  to  find 
out  what  was  the  food  of  the  Indian.  They  had  thus  to 
be  ranked  with  the  Kaffirs  and  silently  starve,  For  this 
aUta  of  oiroumstanoas  I  find  fault  with  our  own  people, 
the  Passive  Besisters.  Some  Indians  got  the  requisite 
food  by  stealth,  others  put  up  with  whatever  they  got, 
and  ware  either  ashamed  to  make  public  tha  story  of  their 
distress  or  had  no  thought  for  others,  Henoe  tha  outside 
public  remained  in  tha  dark,  If  we  were  to  follow  truth 
and  agitate  where  wa  got  iojustioe,  there  would  be  no 
room  to  undergo  such  iaconvenienoes.  If  wa  were  to 
leave  self  and  apply  ourselves  to  the  good  of  others, 
-.grievanoes  would  get  remedied  soon.     Bub  just  as  it  is 


GANDHI'S  FIRST  JAIL  BXPEEIENOES  159 

ueoessary  bo  take  etepa  for  tberadreas  of  suoh  oomplaints, 
«b  it  is  neaesaary  bo  bhink  of  oartain  other  thiogs  aUo,  lb 
is  bab  meet  for  priaonera  bo  undergo  oerbain  inooaveai- 
eooaa.  If  bhere  be  no  brouble,  whab  ia  the  good  of  being 
oalled  a  prisoner?  Those  who  are  bhe  maabers  of  their 
minds,  bake  pleasure  even  in  suffering,  and  live  happily 
Jn  jails.  They  do  nob  lose  sighe  of  the  eziabenoe  of  the 
Buffering,  and  bhey  abould  nob  do  ao,  oonaidering  (haft 
'there  are  obhars  also^  suffering  wibb  bhem. 

There  ia  anobher  evil  habib  of  onra,  and  bhab  is  our 
'feenaoity  in  sticking  to  our  manners  and  oustoms.  We 
masb  do  in  Borne  as  the  Bomans  do.  Wa  are  living 
ia  Soubb  Afrioa  and  we  musb  aconabom  ourselves  bo  whab 
-is  oonsidered  good  food  here.  "  Mealie  pap  "  is  a  food, 
as  good,  simple  and  oheap  as  our  wheat.  We  oannob  say 
ih  is  without  taste,  sometimes,  ib  beats  whaat  even.  It  is 
my  belief  that  out  of  respeob  for  the  oouniry 
of  our  adoption,  we  must  take  food  whioh  grows 
in  that  country,  if  ib  be  not  unwholesome.  Many 
■*'  Whites  "  like  this  "  pap  "  and  eat  ib  in  the  morning. 
Ib  beoomes  palatabia  if  milk  or  sugar  or  even  gbee 
■be  taken  with  it.  For  these  reasons  and  for  the  faob 
that  we  might  have  to  go  to  jail  again,  in  the  future, 
ib  ia  advisable  for  every  Indian  to  aoonstom  him- 
self to  this  preparation  of  maiza.  Wibh  bhis  habib  even 
when  bhe  time  oomea  to  bake  it  merely  with  aalb,  we 
would  not  find  it  hard  to  do  bo,  It  is  inoumbenb  on  ua 
to  leave  off  some  of  our  habiba  for  the  good  of  our 
oounbry.  All  those  nations  that  have  advanced  have 
given  up  these  things  where  there  was  nothing 
substantial  to  lose.  The  Salvation  Army  people  attraot 
the  natives  of  the  soil,  by  adopting  their  oustoma,  dress, 
-ado.,  if  not  particularly  objectionable. 


160  JAIL   BXPERIENOES 

SICKNESS 
Iti  would  hava  been  a  miracle  had  no  one  cull  of  ISC' 
priaoDers  fallen  ill.  The  first)  to  be  taken  ill  waa  Mr. 
Samundar  Eban.  He  had  been  bronghb  into  jail  ailing 
and  was  taken  Co  Hospital  the  next  day.  Mr,  EaSva 
was  a  viotim  to  rheumatism,  and  for  some  days  he  did 
not  mind  being  treated  by  the  Doctor  in  the  prison  cell 
itself,  but  eventually  he  had  to  go  to  the  Hospital  too. 
Two  others  suffered  from  fainting  fi;s  and  were  takaU' 
there.  The  reason  was  that  it  was  very  hot  then,  and 
the  convicts  had  to  remain  out  in  the  sun  the  whole  day, 
and  so  they  f ^11  down  in  fisa.  '  We  nursed  them  as  best 
we  could.  Liter  oa  Mr.  Ntwab  Khan  also  succumbed, 
and  on  the  day  of  our  release  bs  had  to  be  led  out  by 
band.  He  had  improved  a  little  after  the  Doctor  had 
ordered  milk,  etc.,  to  be  given  to  him.  On  the  whole, 
still,  it  may  be  'safely  aaid,  that  the  Passive  Basistera 
Cared  well. 

PAUCITY  OP  SPACE  ' 

I  have  stated  already  that  our  cell  had  epaoe- 
enough  to  accommodate  only  fifty-one  prisoners,  and  the 
same  holds  good  with  regard  to  the  area.  Later  on  when 
instead  of  51  there  were  151  souls  to  be  accommodated,, 
great  difficulty  waa  felt.  The  Governor  had  to  pitch 
tenta  outside,  and  many  bad  to  go  there.  Daring  our 
last  days,  about  a  hundred  had  to  ba  taken  out  to  sleep,, 
and  back  again  the  morning.  The  area  apace  was  too 
email  for  this  number,  and  we  could  pass  our  time  there 
with  great  difficulty.  Added  to  this  was  our  evil  iaborD- 
habit  of  spitting  everywhere,  which  rendered  the  place 
dircy.  and  there  was  the  danger  of  disease  breaking  out. 
Fortunately  our  oompanions   were   amenable  to  advioBn 


QANDHI'S  FIBST  JAlL  BXPBBIBNOBS  161 

and  aaaiBbed  us  in  keeping  the  oompound  olaan. 
Sor'jpaloas  oare  was  exeroised  in  inspeoting  the  area  and 
privieF*  and  this  saved  the  inmates  from  disease.  Every 
one  will  adnaib  that  the  Government  was  at  fault  id 
inaaroarating  saoh  a  large  number  in  so  narrow  a  space. 
If  the  room  was  insufficient,  it  was  incumbent  on  the 
Governmaat  not  to  send  so  many  there,  and  if  the 
straggle  had  been  prolonged,  it  would  not  have  been 
possible  for  the  Government  to  commit  any, more  to  this 
prison. 

RMADING' 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  the  Governor  had 
allowed  us  sthe'uee  of  a  table,  with  pen,  ink,  eto,  We  had 
the  fraa  run  of  the  prison  library  also.  I  had  taken  from 
therei  the  works  of  Garlyle  and  the  Bible,  l*rom  the 
Chinese  Interpreter,  who  used  to  come  there,  I  had  bor- 
rowed tha  Kuran-e-Sharif  translated  into  English,  speeoh- 
ea  of  Huxley,  Garlyle'a  Livas  of  Barns*  Johnson,  and 
Soott,  and  Bacon's  Essays.  Of  my  own  I  had  taken  the 
Bhagavad-Gita,  with  IVTanilai  Naihubhai's  Annotations, 
several  Tamil  works, fan  Urdu  Book  from  the  ]S|oulvi 
Sahib  tha  writings  of  TpUtoy,  Buskin  and  Socrates. 
Many  of.these  I  read  or  re-read  in  the  jail.  I  used  Ijo 
Btady  Tamil  regularly.  In  the  morning  I  used  to  read, 
tha  Gita  and  at  nooo,  mostly  the  Koran,  In  the 
evening  I  taught;  the  Bible  to  Mr.  Foretoon,  who  was  a 
Chinese  Christian.  Ha  wanted  to  learn  English,  and  I 
taught  it  to  him  through  the  Bible. 

If  I  had  been  permitted  to  spend  out  my  full  period 
I  would  have  been  able  to  complete  my  translations  of  a 
book  each  of  Carlyle  and    Euskin.     I  believe    that  as    I 
ivaa    fully  occupied  in  the  study  of  (he  above  works,  I 
11 


161  JAIIJ  ESP£IBIBN0B3 

woulj  noli  have  bsoome  tired  even  if  I  had  got  mote  than 
two  moDtha  ;  nab  only  that  but  I  would,  have  added  use> 
fully  to  my  kno.wjedga  and  studies,  I  would  have  passed 
a  happy  life,  believing  as  I  do:  that  whoever  .has  a  taste; 
for  reading  good  books  is  able  to  bear  loaeliaess  in  any 
place  with  great  ease. 

religious' STUDY 

In  the  West,  we  now  see,  that,  as  a  mittar  of  faot,' 
the  State  looks  after  the  religion  of  all  its  prisoners,  and' 
benoe,  we  fiad  a  Cburah  iii  the  Johannesburg  prison  for 
its  inmates,  but  it  is  provided  to  meet  only  the  needs  of 
the  Whites,  who  aioae  are  allowed  aooess  thereto,  I  ask-, 
ed  for  special  permission  for  Mr.  Foretoon  and  myself, 
bnt  the  Governor  told  ma  it  was  only  for  White  Chris-, 
tian  prisoners.  Every  Sunday  they  attend  ^it,  and 
preachers  of  diffarent  denominations  give  tham  religions 
lessons  there,  .  .  , 

Several  missionaries  ooma  in.  to  convert  the  EafQrs 
also  with  special  permission.  Tbare  is  no  Church  for 
ihem ythey  sit  in  the  open.  Jaws  also  have  got  their 
preaohers  to  look  after  them.  It  is  only  the  Hindus  and 
Mahomedans  wh&  are  spiritually  left  unprovided  for. 
Tbere  are  not  many  Indian  prisoners,  it  is  true,  but  the 
absence  of  any  such  provision  for  them  is  hardly  credit- 
able to  them,  Tba  leaders  of  both  communities  should, 
therefore,  lay  their  beads  together,  and  arrange  for  the 
religious  instruction  of  tba  membeis  of  their  community 
in  jail,  even  if  there  be  only  one  convict.  The  praaohers, 
whether  Hindus  or  Moulvis,  should  ba  pure-hearted,  and^ 
they  should  ba  carefuKnot  to  become  thorns  in  the  aides 
of  tba  ooDviots. 


QANDHI'S  SBOOHI}  JiAiIIi  I BXFSBIBN0E8  163 

IHB  END 

All  that  waa  worth  knowiog  has  been  stated '  abbva- 
la^ians  bsing  placed  on  a  level  with  the  Kaffirs  is  a'  faoft 
wbtAh  oalls  for  farther  aoDsideration.  While  the  White 
4dnvtc^taget  a  bedstead  to  sleep  on,  a  ^tooth-briish  to 
-olean -their  teeth,  a  tdwel  to  wipe  their'-taoes  and  hat^ds, 
■and  also  a  handkerohief,  Indians  get  nothing,  Why 
■this  distination  ?  '  i  ,   .  > 

'  ,^e  should  never  think  that  this  is  not  a  matter  for 
■our  intbrferenoe.  Is  is  these  little  things  wbioh  either 
■enhanoe  our  respeot  or  degrade  us.  An  Arabio  book  saya 
that  he'who  has  no  aelf-respeot  has  no  religion.  Nations 
4)ava  baoome  great  by  gradually  enhaDoing  their  aeU-res- 
vebt,  Salf-respeot  does  not, mean  vanity  or  rashaas^i  but 
^a  state  of  mind  whioh  ia  prepared  not  to  let  go  itg  privi- 
le.gea"Bi'mply  odt  of  fear  or  idleness,  Oae  who  has  really 
h\B  trust  in  Gad  attains  to  self-reapeot,  and  I  firmly 
4t)elieva  that  one  who  haa  no  trust  in  Him  never  knows 
^vhat  ia  right,  nor  doaa  ha  know    bow  to  do  right. 


II 

,  I  Every  prisoner  ,in  the  jail  on  getting  up  in  the  tu^orn- 
ing  is.reqnired'tq  fold  his  own  bedding,  and  to  place  it  in 
Us  proper  plaoe.  Ha  must  finish  his  toilet  by  6  o'clock 
'ftnd  be  raady  to  start  out  at  the  stroke  of' the  hour. 
The  work  begins  at  7  o'clock.  It  ia  of  various  kinds. 
Xfae  ground  to  be  dug  waa  very  bard.  lo  waa  to  be 
worked  upon  with  spades,  acid  banca  the  work  proved 
boo  hard.  Again,  it  was  a'very  bot  day.  The  place  wis 
were  taken  to  was  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  jail, 
fiacb  ana  of  us  started  very  well   indeed.     But  as  one  ol 


us  was  aaed  to  this  kind  of  woi^.'it  was    noli  long  befors 
wn  were  quite  done  up.     As  the  day   advanced,  the'work 
seemed  barderstill.     The  warder   was  very    striot,     Hf 
used  bo  cry  out   every    now   and  then,  '' go  on,    go   on.' 
This  made  the  Indians   quite    nervous.     I  saw    soma   o£ 
them  weeping,     One   of  them  had    a   swollen    foot.     AU 
this  caused  me  a  great  deal  of  heart-burning,  and  yet  oa 
every  oooasioo,  I  reminded  them  of  the  'duty,  and  asked 
tbem  to  perform  it  as  well  as  poasibia,  with  a  good  heart,, 
and  without  minding  the  words    of    the   warder,  I  felt 
myself  done   up    also.     My    bands   were   covered   with 
blisters    and  water   was  oozing   out   of    tbem.     I   could 
hardly  bend    the  spade  and  feU  the    weight  of  it  as  if   i^ 
was  quite  a   maund.     I'prayed  to  God    to  preserve  my 
honour,  to  maintain  my  limbs  intact,    and  to    bestow  on 
ma  sufficient  strength  to  be  able  to   perform    my  allotted 
iiaek.     I  trusted    to  Him    and   went   on  with   my   work. 
The  harder  would    sometimes  remonstrate  with   me  af)- 
an' occasional  break  required    to  get  over  the   fatigue.    I 
told  him  that  it  was  unnecessary  for    him  to   remind  me 
of  my  duty,  and  that  I   was    prepared  to   go    through  as 
much  of  it  as  was   possible    for  me  to    do.     Just  then   I 
saw  Mr.  Jbinabhai  faint... .^.While    I  was  pouring  water 
on    Jhinabhai's    head,    the    following     occurred    to    me. 
Most  of    the  Indians   trusted    my  word,    and   submitted 
themselves  to  imprisonment,     If  the    advice   that  I  hap* 
peoed  to  c£fer  tbem    were   erroneous,  bow  much   sin   I 
woul.4  b^  committiDg  in  the  eye^  til  God  in    tendering  i^ 
to  tbena.     Tbey    underwent    all    sorts    of    hardships'  o& 
aooountof  that  advice.     With  this    thought  in  my  mind,. 
I  heaved  a  deep  sigh.     With  God  as   npy    witness,  I  re* 
::^eQted  on  the  subject   once  more,  and    was    immediately 
xeassured   that   it  was  all  right.     I  felt  that  the   advice 


GANDHI'S  Ste06Ni}'  Mili>J4x^BEIBN0E8  86S 

that  I  baudarad  to  them  was  tha  only  rtdvioe  bhSt  I  oould 
binder  the  oiroumafcanoas.  In  antioipatlon  of  fatura 
liappinesa,  it  was  abaolufiely  neoessary  that  we  should 
ubdergo  tha  hardest  trials  and  sufferings  in  the  first 
inatianae,  and  that  there  was  no  reason  to  bs  grieved  at 
'ibe  lebtor,  This  was  simply  a  fis  6f  fainting,  bat  avad 
if  it  was  a  oasa  of  death,  how  oould  I  offer  any  other 
-advice  than  what  I  had  already  dona?  It  at  onoe 
<ooaarred  to  me  that  it  Was  more  honourable  for  anybody 
to  die  suffering  in  that  mauneri  than  to  oontinae  living 
«  life  of  perpetual  enslavement. 


At  one  time  one  of  the  warders  oame  to  ma,  and 
-aakad  me  to  provide  hiofi  with  two  of  his  men  to  clean  tha 
watar-olosebs.  I  thonghli  bhat  I  oould  do  nothing  babter 
than  olaan  them  myself  and  so  I  offared  him  my  setVioes. 
I  have  no  particular  dislike  to  bhat  kind  of  work.  On  bhe 
-contrary,  I  am  of  opinion  bhat  wa  oaght  to  get  onrsalvea 
«ooastomed  to  it. 

t  was  given  a  bad  in  a  ward,  where  there  were  princi- 
pally Kaffir  patients.  Here  I  passed  the  whole  night  lit 
;great  misery  and  terror.  I  did  nob  kaow  then  that  I 
was  to  be  taken  the  next  day  to  another  cell  that  wag 
oooupied  by  Indian  prisoners.  Fretting  that  I  would 
-be  kept  incarcerated  with  such  men,  I  got  very  nervoua 
«nd  terror-stricken,  And  yet  I  tried  my  best  to  reoonoile 
myself  to  the  idea  thiit  it  was  my  duty  to  undergo  the 
Bufferings  that  may  befall  ma.  I  read  from  tha 
"Bbagawad-Gita,"  that  I  had  with  me,  certain  veraes 
-suited  to  the  oooasion,  and,  on  pondering  over  them,  was 
soon  reconciled  to  the  aituation.  The  chief  reason  why 
1  got   nervoua    was  that   In  the  same  room,  there  were  % 


166  ^>IL,  e;^]|3IBNqe§ 

onmber  of  wild,  murderoua  looking,  vioioua  Ea£QT  an^ 
Chinesa  prie[0Der8.  I  did  nob  know  their  language,  Oaa- 
of  tlie  Kaffirs  began  to  ply  naa  with  all  aorta  of  gaestiona. 
Aa.far  aa  I  could  gather,  be  aeemed  to  be  mocking  me- 
indecently.  I  did  not  nuderatand  wbat  his  gue8tiona> 
were  and  I  kept  quiet*  ,E[e  then  aaked  me  in  his  brokea 
English,  "  W^y  have  they  brought  yon  bere  ?"  I  gave- 
him  a  very  abort  reply  and  was  again  silent.  He  was 
followed  by  one  of  the  Chinamen.  Ha  was  worse  than 
the  other.  Ha  approached  my  bed,  and  looked  at  me- 
intently.  I  kept  on  my  silence.  Ha  then  proceeded 
towards  the  above-mentioned  Kaffir's  bed.  There  they 
began  to  mock  each  other  indecently,  and  expose  their 
private  parts.  Both  these  prisoners  were  probably 'there- 
for naurder  or  highway  robbery.  How  oould  I  enjoy  sleeps 
after  seeing  these  deadfuHbings? 

(At  one  time)  aa  soon  aa  I  got  seated  at  the  water 
oloaetrthere  to  anawar  the  call  of  nature,  a  very  wild  aud 
muaoular  looking  Kaffir  turned  up.  Ha  asked  ma  to  gei^ 
off  from  the  aeat,  ana  began  to  abnae  me.  I  told  him  I 
would  not  be  long  when  betook  bold  of  ma,  and  threw 
me  outside.  Fortunately,  I- was  able  to  oabcb  bold  of 
one  of  the  doorp,  and  to  save  myself  from  a  naaty  fall.. 
Thia  did  not  make  me  very  nervous.  I  simply  walked 
away  with  a  smiling  countenance.  Bub  one  or  two  Indian 
prisoners  who  happened  to  see  the  situation  in  which  F 
was  placed,  oould  not  restrain  themselves  from  sbeddiu^ 
tears. 


Ill 

When  on  the  25lh  February  I  got  three  months'  hard 
l^abour,  and  once  again  embraped  my  brother  IndiauB  and 
my  Bon  in  the  VoiksruBt  Jail.  I  little  thought  that  I 
should  have  had  to  say  much  in  oonneotion  with  my 
third  "  pilgrimage"  to  the  jail,  but  with  many  othe? 
human  asBumptionB,  this  too  proved  to  be  false.  My 
experience  this  time  was  unique,  and  what. Ilearnt  there- 
from I  oould  not  have  learnt  after  years  of  study,  I 
consider  these  three  months  invaluable.  I  saw  many 
vivid  pictures  of  passive  resistance,  and  I  have  become, 
thereforei  a  more  ootifirmed  resister  than  what  I  was 
three  months  a^o.  For  ^11,  .this,  I  have  to  Jthank  the 
Govertmaeht  of  this  place  (the  Transvaal), 

Several  ofSoers  bad  betted  this  that  I  should  notgel( 
less  than  six  months.  My  friends — old  and  renowned 
Indians — my  own  son — had  got  six  months  and  so  I  tpo 
was  wishing  that  they  might  win  their  bets.  Still  I'had 
my  own  misgivings,  and  they  proved  true.  I  got  only 
three  months,  that  being  the  maximum  under  the  law. 

After  going  there,  I  was  glad  to  meet  Messrs,  Dawood 
Muhammad,  Bustamji,  Sorabiji,  Pillay,  Hajura  Sing,  Lai 
Bahadur  Sing  and  otber  '  fighters."  Exoepting  for  about 
ten  all  others  were  accommodated  in  tents,  pitched  in  the 
jail  compound  for  sleeping,  and  the  scene  resembled  a 
oamp  more  than  a  prison.  Every  one  liked  to  sleep  in 
the  tents. 

We  were  comfortable  about  our  joaeals.  We  used  to 
aook  ourselves  as  before,  and  so  could  cook  as  we  liked. 
We  were  about  77  passive  resisters  in  all. 

^baae    who    were  taken    out  for  work  had  rather  a 
bard  time  of  iti    lue  road  near  the  Magistrate's  Goar& 


168  JAIL   EXPEBIENOES 

had  to  be  bniU,  so  they  had  to  dig  up  stones,  etc.,  and 
carry  them,  After  that  waa  fiaished  they  were  aaked  to 
dig  up  grass  from  the  echoal  oompouad.  Bab  Uostly 
they  did  their  work  oheertuUy,  For  three  days  I  was 
also  thus  sent  out  with  the  "  shana"  (gaogs)  to  work,  but 
in  the  meanwhile  a  wire  was  reoeived  that  I  was  not  to 
be  taken  outside  to  work,  I  was  disheartened  at  this  as 
I  liked  to  move  out,  because  it  improved  my  health  and 
exercised  my  body.  Generally  I  take  two  meals  a  day, 
but  in  the  Volksrust  Jail,  oh  aooount  of  this  eserdise  I 
felt  hungry  thrice.  After  this  turn,  I  was  given  the  work 
of  a  sweeper,  but  this  was  useless,  and  after  a  time  even 
ihat  was  taken  away.  ^ 

WHY   I  Was  MADE   TO  liKAVB   VOLKSRUST  ? 

On  the  2nd  of  March  I  heard  that  I  was  ordered  to 
()e  sent  to  I^retoria.  I  was  asked  to  be  ready  at  once, 
and  my  warder  and  I  had  to  go  to  the  station  in  pelting 
rain,  walking  on  hard  roads,  with  my  luggage  on  my 
head.  We  left  by  tbe  evening  train  in  a  third  class 
carriage, 

My  removal  gave  rise  to  various  surmises.  Some 
thought  that  peace  was  near,  others,  that  after  separating 
me  from  my  companions.  Government  intended  to  op'-' 
press  me  more,  and  some  others,  that  in  order  to  stifle 
discussion  in  the  House  of  Commons  it  might  be  intend-^ 
ed  to  give  me  greater  liberty  and  convenience, 

I  did  not  like  to  leave  Volksrust,  as  we  passed 
our  days- -and  nights  pleasantly  there  talking  to  one 
another.  Messrs.  Hajura  Sing  and  Joshi  always  pat  us 
questions,  questions  which  ware  neither  useless  nor  ifff 
vial,  as  they  related  to  science  and  philosophy.  How 
would  one  like  to  leave  such  company  and  such  a  camp? 


GANDHl'a  TBIftD  JAIL  EtpiBIENOBS  46^9 

Bab  if  everythiog  happened  as  wa  wUhed,  we  Should 
aai  be  called  human  beings.  So  I  left  the  plaoe  qaiebly- 
Saluting  Mr.  Kaji  on  the  road,  the  wardet  and  I  got  oon- 
'fined  in  a  oompArtnaent.  It  waa  very  oold,  and  rainibg 
too  for  the  whole  nightr  I  had  my  overobat  with  mo 
Whioh  I  was  permitted  to  use,  I  was  given  bread  and 
-oheese  for  my  meals  on  the  way,  but  as  I  bad  eatea 
-bafore  I  left,  I  gave  them  to  my  warder. 

PRETORIA  JAIIi  :   THE  BEGINNING 

Wa  reached  Pretoria  on  the  3rd,  and  found  every- 
<%hiag  new,  Tbe  jail  was  newly  bailt,  and  the  men  ware 
■new,  I  was  asked  to  eat  but  I  had  no  inoliaation  ti>  dp 
-90.  Mealie  meal  porridge  was  placed  before  me-  I  tasted 
r«  spoonful  only  and  then  left  it  untouched-  My  warder 
was  surprised  at  it,  but  I  told  him  I  was  not  hungry,  and 
fae  smiled.  Then  I  was  handed  over  to  another  warder; 
Ha  said,  "  Gandhi,  take  off  yoar  cap."  I  did  so.  Then 
be  asked,  "Are  you  the  son  of  Ganibi?"  I  said,  ''No, 
my  aoB  is  undergoing  sis  months'  imprisonmant  at 
Yolkarust."  Ha  then  confined  ma  in  a  cali.  I  begin  ta 
walk  forwards  and  backwards  in  it<  Ha  saw  it  from  tbe 
AVeitoh-hoIe  in  the  door,  and  esolaimad, ''Gindhi,  don't' 
walk  aboiit  like  that.  It  spoils  my  fljor."  I  stoppedi 
and  stood  in  a  corner,  quielily.  I  had  nothing  to  read 
-even,  as  I  had  not  yet  got  my  books.  I  was  coofioed  at 
about  eight,  and  at  ten  I  was  taken  to  tha  Doctor,  Ha 
only  asked  me  if  I  hal  any  contagious  disease,  and  then 
'allowed  me  to  go.  I  was  then  interned  in  a  small  roSba' 
4t  eleven  wbera'^I  passed  my  whole  tiii^e.  It  seemed  to 
-^e  a  cell  made  for  one  priionSe  only.  Its  dimensions 
ware  about  10x7  feet,  Tbe  Qoor  was  of  blaok  pftob^ 
'^bidb  the  warder  tried  to  keep  shiniDg.     There  was  only 


VfO  JA^Hi  BXPERIBNOES 

one  small  glass  window,  barred  witb  iron  bars,  foriighip 
and  air.  There  was  eleoiirio  lighb  kapfs  to  esamine  the- 
inmabes  tcli  nighli.  I6  was  not  meant  for  the  Qse  of  the; 
prisoners,  as  it  was  not  strong  enough  to  enable  one  bd^ 
read.  When  I  want  and  aiooA  very  near  it,  I  oouid  read' 
only  a  large-type  book.  It  is  put  out  at  eight,  but  i» 
again  put  on  five  or  six -times  during  the  night,  to  enable 
the  warders  to  look  over  the  prisoners,  through  the- 
watoh- holes. 

After  eleven  thelDapnty-Governor  bame  and  I  made 
these  requests  to  himl  for  my  books,  for  permission  to' 
write  a  letter  to  my  wife  who  was  ill,  and  for  a  small 
bench  to  sit  on.  For  the  first,  he  said,  he  would  oonside'C 
for  the  second,  I  might  write,  and  for  the  thirds  nOr 
Afterwards  I  wrote  out  my  letter  in  Gajarati  and  gave  it 
to  be  posted,  He  endorsed  on  it,  that  I  should  write  it  in 
English,  I  said,  my  wife  did  not  know  Engliah,  and  my 
letters  were  a  great  souroa  of  a  comfort  to  her,'  and  thab 
I  had  nothing  speoial  to  write  in  them.  Still  I  did  not 
get  the  permission)  and  I  declined  to  write  in  Ecgliah, 
My  books' were  given  to  me  in' the  evening.  '    '^ 

My  mid-day  meal  I  had  to  take  standing  in  my. cell 
with  closed  doors.  At  threei  I  asked  leave  for  a  babb> 
The  wardei:  said,  '^AU  right,  bub  you  had  bobber  go  there 
afber  undressing  yourself."  (The  place  was  125  feat 
distant' from  my  cell).  I  said,  if  there  was  no  speoial 
object,  in  my  doing  so,  I  woald'put  my  olothes  on  the 
curtain  there  and  take  my  bath.  Ha  alfowad  it,  biit  said, 
"Do  not  delay-  Even  before  I  had  cleaned  my  body,  be 
shouted  out,"  "Gandhi,  have  you  done  ?"  I  said,  "  I 
would  do  so  in  a  minute."  I  could  rarely  see  the  faoe  of 
au  Indian.  In  the  evening  I  gob  a  blanket  and  a  coir 
mab  bo  sleep  on  bub  neibber  pillow  nor  plank.     Even 


QANDHI'S  IHIBD  JAIL  EXfBBIENOBa         i^^ 

7?hen  I  answering  a  call  of  naturej  I  waa  being  watohod  by 
a  warder.  If  he  did  noli  happen  to-know  me,  he  woald* 
cry  out,  "Sam,  oome  oai."  Bub  Sam  had  got  the  bad- 
habit  of^takiog  his  full  times  in  auph  a  oondition,  bo  bow 
ooald  be  get  up  at  onoa'i^  If  he  were  to  do  so,  be  would' 
not  be  easy.  Sometimes  thejwarders  and'sometimes  tli^- 
Kaffirs  would  peep  in,  and  at  times  would  sing  out,/!  get 
up."  The  labour  given  to  me  next, day  was  to  polish  the 
^oor  aq^jthe  doors.  The -latter  were  of  varnished  >'°°> 
and  what'polish  oould  be  brought  on  them  by  rubbing  7* 
I  spent  three  hours  an  reach  door  rubbiog,  but  found, 
them  apohanged,  the  same  as  before. 

po6d 
The  food  was  in  keeping  with  the  above  oonditionsl 

■.(-"•  '  •    ■,  ' 

I  kpew  that  no  ghee  was  given  with  rioe  in  tho> 
evening,  and  I  had  thought  of  remedying  the  defect,-  I 
gpoke  to  the.  Chief  Warder,  but  he  said,  ^hee  wasito  be^ 
given  only  on  W^^tissdaya  and  Sunday  noons  in  place  of 
meat^  and  if  its  farther  supply  were  needed,  I  shoipld  see- 
the Doctor.  -Next  day  applied  to  see  him  and  I  wa». 
taken  to  him.       '^ " 

I  requested  him  to  .order  out  for  all  Indians  gbee  in. 
place  of  fat.  The  Chief  Warder  was  present  and  he  add- 
ed that  Gandhi's  request  was  not  proper.  Till  then  many- 
Indians  had  used  both  fab  and  tjdeati  and  that  those  who. 
objected  to  fat,  were  given  dry  rice';'  which  they  ate  with^ 
out  atiy  objection;  that  the  ^passive  resiatera  had  also- 
done  BO,  and  when  they  were  releaaed,  they'  left  with, 
added  w^ght,  The  Doctor  asked  mei  what  I  had  to  say 
to  that,  I  replied  that  I  oould  not  quite  swallow  the  story, 
but  speaking  for  myself,   I  should  spoil  my  health,  if   £ 


it2  JAIti  EXPEETBKOBS 

-were  oompalled  to  take  rise  withouli  ghee.  Then  ha  said, 
"*  for  you  speoially,  I  would  order  bread  to  ba  given,"  I 
4aid,  "  thank  yon,  but  I  had  not  applied  for  myself  alone, 
and  I  would  not  be  able  to  take  bread  for  mygelf  alone, 
till  ghee  was  ordered  to  be  given  to  all  others."  Thd 
Dootor  said,  "  Then  you  should  not  find  fault  with  me, 
now." 

I  again  petitioned  and  1  oama  to  learn  that  the  food 
regulations  would  ultimately  be  tiaade  as  in  Natal,  t 
oritioised  that  also  and  gave  the  reasons  why  I  oould  not 
^or  myself  alone  aooept  ghee,  At  last,  when  in  all  aboUi 
a  month  and  a  half  had  elapsed,  I  got  a  reply  stating  that 
wherever  there  were  many  Indian  prisonersi  ghee  would 
invariably  be  given.  Thus  it  might  ba  said  that  after  a 
■month  and  a  half  I  broke  my  fast,  and  for  the  last  month 
I  was  able  to  take  rioe,  ghee  and  bread.  Bat  I  took  no 
■breakfast  and  at  noon,  when  pap  was  doled  out,  I  hardly 
took  ten  spoonfals,  as  every  day  it  was  differently  prepar- 
'ed,  But  still  I  got  good  nourishment  from  the  bread 
and  riee,  and  BO  my  health  improved*  I  say  so,baoansa 
when  i  used  to  eat  onoe  only,  it  had  broken  down,  I  had 
lost  all  strength,  and  for  ten  days  I  was  suffering  from  a 
severe  ache  in  half  of  my  forehead,  My  oheali  too  had 
shewn  symptoms  of  being  affected,  L 

I  had  told  many  passive  resistars  thilt,  if  they  left 
jail'wlth  spoiled  health,  they  would  be  considered  want' 
ing  in  the  right  spirit.  We  must  turn  our  prisons  into 
palaoes  so  that  when  I  found  my  own  health  getting  ruin- 
ed I  felt  apprehensive  lest  T  should  haf  a  to  go  out  for  that 
■reason.  It  has  to  be  remembered  that  I  had  dob  availed 
imyBelf  of  the  order  for  ghee  mada  in  my  favour,  so  that 
4hare  was  a  ohanoe  of^my  health  getting  affdoted,  bdt 
tihis  does  not  apply  in  the  oase  «f  ,others,  as    it  is  open  to 


GANDHI'S  THIRD  JAIIi  BXPBIIBNOES  173; 

oaoh  individaal  prisoaer,  when  be  is  in  jaili  to  have  aonae 
Bpeeial  order  made  in  his  favour,  and  thus  preserve  l^is 
healtb, 

OIHBB  OHAMQBS 

I  have  said  lihat  my  Warder  was  harsh  in  hiH  deal- 
ings with  me.     Bat  this   did  not  last  long.  When  he  saw 
that  I  was  fighting  with  the  Guverument  about  food,  &9., 
but  obeying  his  orders  aoreservedly,  he  ohanged   his  oon-- 
duot  and  allowed  me  to  do    aa  I    liked.     This    removed 
my  diffioulties  about  bath,  latrine,    &a.     He  became    80> 
ooDsiderate  that  he  soaroely  allowed  it  to  be  seen  that  h» 
ordered  me  to  do  anything,     The    man    who    auaoeeded 
him  was  like  a  Pasha  and  he    was    always    ansious    tO" 
work  after  my    oonvenieooes,     He  said,  "  I   love  thoB&- 
who  fight    for    their   oommanity,    I  myself  am  suoh    a.- 
fighter,  and  T  do  not  ooosider  you  to  be  a    oonviot."     He- 
thus  used  to  comfort  me. 

Again,  the  bench  which  was  refused  in  the  beginning- 
was  sent  to  me,  by  the  Cbief  W^rdar  himself,  after  some* 
days-  In  the  meanwhile  I  had  received  two  religious 
books  for  reading  from  General  Smuts.  Fcom  this  T 
oonolnded  that  the  hardship  I  had  to  updergo  were  due, 
Dot  to  his  express  orders,  but  to  the  carelessness  and  in- 
difference to  himself  and  others,  and  alqo  because  the- 
Indians  were  considered  to  be  like  Kaffirs.  The  only 
object  of  isolating  ma  appeared  to  be  to  prevent  my 
talking  with  others.  After  soma  trouble  I  got  permission. 
for  the  use  of  a  note-book  and  pencil. 

THB   VISIT  OP  THE  DIRBOTOB 
Before  I  was  taken  to  Pretoria,  Mr.  Liohenstein  had- 
seen  me  with  special  permission.     He  had    come  to   see. 
on  office  business,  but  be  asked  tiie   bow   I  was,  &a,     L 


:if 4  JaiIj  expbbienoes 

was  nob  willing  boianswer  him  oniiihe  point,  hni  be  pras-. 
fied  me.  So  I  said,  "  I  will  noli  tell  you  all,  bub  I  will 
Bay  this  muob,  that  they  treat  me  cruelly.  General. 
Smuts  by  this  means  wjknts  me  toj  give  in,  but  that 
would  never  be.  as  T  was  prep^jred  to  undergo  whatever 
befell  ma,  that  my  .mind  was  at  peaoe^  but  ithab  yon 
should  publish,  this.  After  poming  out>  I  myself  would 
•do  80."  Ha  oommuQioated  ib  to  Mr.  Polaki  whof  nob 
being  able  to  keep  ib  to  himself  in  hia  turn  spoke  tp 
others' and  Mr,;  Davi^  Polak  thereupon  ^rpte  tOijIjord 
~Salborne  and  an  inquiry  was  held,  Xhe  warder  oame 
for  that  purpose  and  I  spoke  to  him  the  very  wofda? 
set  out  above.  I  also  pointed  out  the  defeotei,  whioh  I 
have  mentioped  in  the  beginning,  Theteupp,n,  after  ;ten 
days  he  sent  me  a  plank  for  bed,  a  pillow,  a  nighbiBbirb 
and  a  hardkerqhief,  whioh  I  took.  In  my  ipemorial  to 
him  I  had  asked  him  to  provide  this  oonvenienoe  for  all 
Indians.  Baally  speaking,  in  this  respeob  Indians  are 
softer  than  the  whites,  and  they  oannob  do  without 
pillows. 

HANDCUFFS 

The  opinion  I  had  oome  to,  in  oonaeqaenoe  of  my 
treatment  in  jail  in  the  beginning,  was  confirmed  by 
what  happened  now.  About  four  days  after  I  received 
a  witness  summoas  in  Mr,  Pillay's  case.  So  I  was  taken 
to  Oourt,  I  was  manaoled  this  time,  and  the  Warder 
took  no  time  in  putting  on  the  handcuffs.  I  think  this 
was  dona  uninfcentioually.  The  Ohief  Warder  had  seen 
me  and  from  him   I  had  obtained  leave  tp  carry  a  book 

-with  me.  Ha, seemed  to  be  under  the  impression  that  I 
was  ashamed   of   the    maoacles,    and    so    I    had    asked 

.pfavmibsion  to  carry  a  book,  and  henoa  ha  asked  ma  to 


OANOHl'S^  XHIRD  JAiti  BXPEBIBNCES  i?5 

4iold  the  book  in  tnyi-haDdgMo-'Baisb  a  way  aa  bo  oonoeal 
the  handcuffs.  Tuis  made  me  smile,  aa  I  waa  feeliog 
4iODoared  ia  thua  ibeiag  maaaoled.  The  book  that  I  was 
-oarryiDg  was  oalded,  "  The  Court)  of  God  ia  ia  Their 
-Mmd."  I  choughti  thia  a  happy  aoiaoidease,  baoauae  I 
tboughli  what  h-irdghipa  might  trouble  me  externally,  if  I 
were  auob  aa  to  make  God  live  in  my  heare,  what  should 
1  oare  for  the  hardships?  I  was  thua  taken  on  foot, 
•bandoulfed,  to  Court. 

LESSONS  OF  PASSIVE  RESISTANOB 
Some  of  the  above  details  might  be  oonsidered  trivial, 
■but  my  main  objaot  in  setting  tham  out  has  been  that  to 
minor  aa  well  aa  importaat  mafatera'you  oaa  apply  tha 
-principles  of  re'sistanoe.  I  calmly  acqaieaoad  in  all  the 
troubles,  bodily  given  to  me  by  the  warder, .  with  tha 
result  that  not  only  was  I  able  to  remain  aalQa  and 
iguiet,  but  that  he  himself  had  to  remove  them  in  tha 
end.  If  I  had  opposed  him,  my  atrangdh  of  mind  would 
iiave  beooma  weakened,  and  I  oould  not  have  dona  thaaa 
mora  important  things  that  I  had  to  do,  and  in  tha 
-bargain  made  him  my  enemy, 

My  food  difficulty  also  was  solved  at  last  baoauae  I 
■resiatied,  and  underwent  auffaring  in  tha  baginaing, 

Toe  greatest  good  I  derived  from  these  autfarioga 
waa  that  by  uadergpiag  bodily  hardahipa  I  oould  aee 
■my  mental  strength  clearly  inoreaaiag,  and  it  ia  even  now 
maintained.  Tue  esparienoa  of  tha  last  three  montha 
has  left  me  more  than  ever  prepared  to  undergo  all  such 
hardships  wioh  ease.  ,1  fael  that  God  helps  auoh 
oonsoientious  objaotors,  and  in  putting  them  to  the  test. 
He  only  burdens  them  with  such  suffarings  aa  they  oaa 
ttear. 


179  fAlh  IXFSBIBNCBS 

WHAI  I  BEAD 

The  tale  of  my  happiness  or  aobappinesB  ia  now  abi 
ao  end,  Amongat  the  niany  benefita  I  reoeived  in  tbes& 
trhree  montha,  one  was  bbe  opportunity  I  got  to  read.  At 
the  atarb,  I  must  admit,  I  fell  into  moodS'  of  deapond- 
enoy  and  tboagbtfulneea  while  reading,  and  was  even 
tired  of  these  hardships,  and  my  mind  played  antios  like- 
a  monkey,  Suoh  a  atate  of  mind  leads  many  towards 
lunaoy,  bub,  in  my  oaae,  my  hooka  saved  me.  They  made 
tip  in  a  large  meaapre  for  the  loaa  of  the  sopjety  of  my 
Indian  brethren.  I  always  got  about  three  hours  to  read. 

So  that  I  was  able  to  go  through  about  thirty  booka^ 
and  oon  over  others,  wbioh  oompriaed  English,  Hindi, 
Gujarathi,  Sauekrit  and  Tamil  works.  Out  of  these,  I 
consider  Tolstoys'  Emerson's  and  Garlyle'a  worth  men- 
tioning. The  two  fotmer  related  to  religion,  I  had  bor- 
rowed the  Bible  from  the  jail.  Tolstoy's  bocks  are  bQ' 
simple  and  eaey  that  any  man  OBtn  study  and  profit  by 
them,  Again  be  ia  a  man  who  practices  what  he  preaobee,, 
and  hence  bia  writicga  ips.pire  great  oonfidenoe, 

Catlyle'a  French  Bevplution  ia  written  in  a  very 
tffeolive  etyie.  It  made  me  think  that  from  the  Whits 
Nations  we  could  hardly  learn  the  remedy  to  remove  thfr 
present  miaeriea  of  India,  because  I  am  of  opinion  that 
the  Erenoh  people  have  secured  no  special  benefits  by 
their  Eevolution.  This  was  what  Mazzini  thought  too. 
There  is  a  great  conflict  of  opinion  about  this,  which  it 
ja  hardly  proper  to  mention  here.  Even  there  I  aaw  aome. 
inatancea  of  pasaive  reaiatanoe. 

The  Swsmiji  Lad  Pent  me  Gcjarati,  H  ndi  and  Sana- 
krib  bocks,  Bhai  KeBhavram  bad  eent  Vedasabdasankhl]'* 
and  Mr.  Motilal  Devan,  the  Upanishads.   I  also  rea^  |ih» 


Gandhi's  thiru  jail  bxpeeienoes         177 

Manusmriti,  the  Bamayaoa  Sar,  published  in  Phoeaix, 
the  Patanjal  Yog  Darshana,  the  Ahnii  Prahash  of  Na- 
thuramji,  the  Sandhya  Outika  given  by  ProfesBor  Parma- 
nand,  the  Bhagavad  Oita  and  the  works  of  the  late  Kavi 
Shri  Bajohandra.  This  gave  me  muoh  food  for  thonght. 
The  UpaniBhadB  produced  ia  me  great  peaoefulnesB.  One 
aentenoe  epeoially  has  struck  to  me.  It  meansi  "whatever 
khon  dost,  thou  ahouldatido  the  same  for  the  good  of  the 
soal."  The  words  are  of  great  importanoe  and  deserve 
great  ooDsideration  too. 

Bub  I  derived  the  greatest  eatisfaotion  from  the 
writiogB  of  Eavi  Shri  tBajobandra,  Id  my  opioion  they 
are  snoh  as  should  attract  universal  belief  and  popularity. 
His  life  was  as  exemplary  and  high  as  Tolstoy's.  I  had 
learnt  some  passages  from  them  and  from  the  Sandhya 
book  by  heart  and  repeated  them  at  night  while  lying 
awake,  Svery  morning  also  for  half  an  hour  I  used  to 
think  over  them,  and  repeat  what  I  iiad  learnt  by  heart. 
This  kept  my  mind  in  a  state  of  cheerfulness,  night  and 
day.  If  disappointment  or  despair  attacked  me  at  times, 
I  would  think  over  what  I  bad  read  and  my  heart  would 
instantly  beoome  gladdened,  and  thank  God.  ...  I 
would  only  say,  that  in  this  world  good  books  make  up 
for  the  ahsenoe  of  good  ocmpanions,  so  that  all  Indians, 
if  they  want  to  live  happily  in  jail,  should  accustom  them- 
selves to  reading  good  books. 

MY  TAMIL  SXUDIB8 
What  the  Tamils  have  done  in  the  struggle  no  other 
Indian  community  has  done.  So  I  thought  that  if  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  show  my  sincere  gratefulness  to 
them,  I  should  seriously  read  their  books.  So  I  spent  the 
last  month  in  attentively  studying  their    language.     The 

la 


178  JAIL   BXFBBIKNCES 

mors  I  studied,  the  more  I  felt  its  beauties.  It  is  an  iu- 
terastiDg  and  sweet  language,  and  from  its  ooustraoticn 
and  from  wbab  I  read,  I  saw  that  the  Tamils  coanted  in 
theii:  midsc,  in  the  past  and  even  now,  many  intelligent, 
olever  and  wise  paraonii.  Again,  if  there  is  to  be  one  na- 
liob  in. India,  those  who  live  outside  the  Madras  Presi- 
denoy,  must  know  Tamil. 

THE  END 
'  I  wish  that  the  result  of  the  perusal  of  these  esperi- 
«noe9  would  be  that  he  who  knows  not  what  patriotism 
is  would  learn  it>  and  after  doing  so,  beoomea  jpassive 
resiateri  and  he  who  is  so  already  i  would  be  confirmed 
in  his  attitude,  I  also  get  more  and  more  oonvinoed  that 
he  who  does  not  know  his  true  duty  or  religion  would 
never  know  what  patriotism  or  feeling  for  one's  own 
country  is. 


Passive  Resistance 


HOW  THE  IDEA  ORIGINATED 

In  answer  to  a.  question  put  to  him  by  the  B^i 
Joseph  Doke.  his  biogmpher,  as  to  the  birth  and  evolution 
•0/  ihis  principle  so  far  as  he- was  conoerned,  Mr.--  Oawdhi 
replied  as  follows:  — 

-  -  I  r&member  ,  "  he  said,  "  how  one  verse  ot  a 
•Gu}*ra6i  poem,  whioh,  aa  a  obild,  I  learned  at  sohooK 
clung  to  ma,     In  aubstanca  ib  waa  thia  : — ' 

'.  If  a  man  gives  you  a  drink  of  water  and  you  giva 
•bim  a  drink  in  return,  that  ia  nothing.  -       * 

Baal  beauty  oonaists  in  doing  good  againat  evil," 
As  a  obildt  tbia  versa  had  a  powerful  influanoe  over 
-nae,  and  I    tried    to    oarry  it  into  praotioe.     Ttian    oam» 
the  'Serman  on  the  Mount.'" 

"Bat,  "  aaid  I,  "  am^aly  -  the  Bhagavad-Gita  oama 
■firsii?" 

"N'd,"  be  replied,  "  of  oourse  I  knew  the  Bhagavad' 
■Cfita  in  Sagakrit  tolerably  well,  but  I  bad  not  oaade  its 
teaching' in  that  pattiovilar  a  s'iQd.y''  It  war  th^' New 
Taatament  whioh  really  awakened"  nadto'thl^  riilltnlii 
and  value  of  Passive  Basiatanoe.  When  I  read' in  tH^ 
'Sarmon  on  the  Mount' auoh  passagea  as  'Basial  not 
bim  that  is  evil  hut  whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  thyrighji 
oheek  turn  to  him  tha  other  also  '  and  'Xiove  your  one* 
tuies  and  pray  for  them  that  perseouta  you,  that  ye  may. 


180  PASSIVE  BKSISIANOE 

be  sous  o{  your  Fabhec  whioh  ia  in  heaveD,'  I  was  aimply 
overjoyed,  and  found  my  own  opinion  confirmed  where  I 
leas!)  expeolied  ib.  The  Bhagavad  Oita  deepened  th& 
impression,  and  Toialroy'a  'Tbe  Kingdom  o{  God  i» 
Within  You'  gave  id  a  permanent!  form." 

Tolstoy,  Buskin,  Thoredii  and  the  Passive  Resistance- 
Movement  in  England  "  had  proved  an  object  lesson,  not 
only  to  him  but  to  his  people,  of  singular  force  and  in- 
terest." Mr.  Gandhi's  ideal  "is  not  so  muah  to  resist  evil 
passively;  it  has  its  active  compliment — to  do  good  in 
reply  to  evil!'  In  answer  to  Bev.  Joseph  Dohe,  he  saidi — 

I  do  nob  lilie  bhe  term  "  passive  reaiataDce."  lb  fails 
bo  oonvey  all  I  mean.  It  desoribea  a  method,  bub  gives 
no  hint  of  the  system  of  whioh  it  ia  only  part.  Beat 
beauty,  and  that  ia  my  aim,  is  in  doing  good  against  evih 
3iiiil,  I  adopt  the  phraae  because  ib  ia  well-known,  and 
eaaily  underabood,  and  because,  ab  present,  bhe  greab 
majoriiiy  of  my  people  can  only  grasp  that  idea.  To  me, 
the  ideas  which  underlie  bhe  Gujarabi  hymn  and  the 
"Sermon  on  the  Mount"  should  revolutioniae  the  whole- 
^l  life. 


SOUL  EOBOE  V.  PHYSICAL  FOEOE 

The  advantages  of  soul-force  against  phy'sioal  force 
are  well  pictured  by  Mr,  Oandhi  in  the  following 
words : — 

Faasivereaiabanoe  ia  an  all- aided  aword  ;  ib  can  be 
used  anyhow  ;  it  bleaaea  him  who  uses  ib  and  him  againab 
whom  ib  is  used  without  drawing  a  drop  of  blood ;  ib  pro« 
4ucea  {ar-reaohing  resulbs,     Ib  never  rusba  and  cannob  be 


ORIGIN   OP  THB   MOVEMENT  IN   SOUTH   AFBIOA    181 

"BlioleD.  Oompetitiion  between  paaaive  resisters  does  not 
•exhausli  them.  The  aword  of  pasaive  reaiatAtioe  does  not 
require  a  soabbardjaiid  one  oaDooli  be  foroibly  diapoaaeaa- 
«d  of  it. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE   MOVEMENT  IN  SOUTH 
AFBIOA 

As  to  how  the  movement  originated  in   South  Africa, 
here  is  Mr.  Gandhi's  statement  :— 

Some  years  ago,  when  I  began  to  take  an  active 
part  in  the  publio  life  of  Natal,  the  adoption  of  this 
fuethod  ooaarrad  to  me  as  the  best  oonrae  to  puraue, 
-should  patitioDs  fail,  but,  ia  the  then  unorganiged  oon- 
•dition  of  our  Indian  oommunity,  the  attempt  seemed' 
nselaas.  Hare,  however,  in  Johanneabarg,  when  the 
Aaiatio  Begistration  Aot  was  introduoed,  the  Indian  aom- 
tuunity  was  so  deeply  stirred,  and  so  knit  together  in  a 
aommon  determination  to  raaiat  it,  that  the  moment 
-seamed  opportune  Soma  aotion  they  would  take ;  it 
-seemed  to  be  beat  for  the  Colony,  and  altogether  right, 
that  their  aotion  should  not  take  a  riotous  form,  bub 
lihat  of  Passive  Basidtanoe.  They  had  no  vote  in  Par- 
llaiuent,  no  hope  of  obtaining  redress,  no  one  would  lis- 
ten to  their  oomplaints.  The  Christian  ohnrohes  were 
indifferent,  so  I  proposed  this  pathway  of  suffering,  and 
after  maoh  disonssion,  it  was  adopted.  In  September, 
1906,  thera  was  a  large  gathering  of  Indians  in  the  old 
Empire  Theatre,  when  the  poBitisn  was  thoroughly  faoed, 
and,  under  the  inspiration  of  deep  feeling,  and  on  the 
proposal  of  one  of  our  leading  men,  they  swore  a  solema 
-oath  oommittiug  tbamaelves  to   Paasiva  BesiBtanoe, 


THE  GENESIS  OF  PASSIVE  EESISTANOB. 

In  an  address  that  Mr.  Gandhi  delivered  before  an 
attdience  of  Europeans  at  the  Germiston  {Transvaal) 
Literary  and  Debating  Society  in  1908,  he  said  : — 

Passive  resistaooe  was  a  misDomer.  But)  the  ezprea- 
sion  bad  been  accepted  as  ill  was  popular,  aod  had  been 
for  a  long  time  used  by  those  who  carried  oub  in  praofeioe 
6he  idea  denoted  by  the  term.  The  idea  was  more  oom-^ 
pletely  and  better  expressed  by  the  term  '  soal-foroe."  As 
such,  it  was  as  old  as  the  human  race-  Active  resis- 
tance was  better  expressed  by  the  term  "  body  force.*' 
Jesus  Gfariat,  Daniel  aud  Socrates  represented  the  purest- 
form  of  passive  resistanqe  or  sonl-foroe.  All  these 
teachers  counted  their  bodies  as  nothing  in  comparison 
to  their  soul.  Tolstoy  was  the  best  and  brightest  (mo- 
dern) exponent  of  the  doctrine.  He  not  only  expounded 
it,  but  lived  according  to  it.  In  India,  the  doctrine  was 
understood  and  commonly  practised  long  before. it  came- 
ipto  vogue  in  Europe.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  eoul  foroc' 
was  in^nitely  superior  to  body  force.  If  peopior-iD  order 
to  secure  redress  of  wrongs,  resorted  to  soul  force,  muob 
of  the  present  suffering  would  be  avoided,  In  any  oaee- 
the  wielding  of  this  force  never  caused  suffering  to- 
others. So  that,  whenever  it  was  misused,  it  only,  in- 
jured the  users,  and  not  those  against  whom  it  was  used. 
Like  virtue,  it  was  its  own  reward.  There  was  no  such 
thing  as  failure  in  the  use  of  this  kind  of  force.  *'  Be~ 
sist  not  evil "  meant  that  evil  was  not  to  be  repelled  by 
evil,  but  by  good ;  in  other  words,  physical  force  was  to 
be  opposed    not   by    its  like    but    by    soul-force.    The- 


PASSIVK  RBSI3TBR3  IN  THE  TOLSTOY  FARM     183 

same 'idea  was  e^prsasad  in  Indian  philosophy  by 
the  expression,  "  freedom  from  injury  to  every  living 
thing,"  The  eseroise  of  this  dootrine  involved  physical 
offering  on  the  part  of  those  who  praotised  it.  Bat 
it  was  a  Isnown  faob  that  the  sum  of  such  suffering  was 
greater  rather  than  less  in  the  world.  That  being  so,  all 
that  was  neoaasary  for  those  who  reooghised  the 
immeasurable  power  of  soul  force,  was  oonsoionsly  and 
deliberately  to  aooept  physioal  suffering  as  their  lot,  and 
when  this  was  done,  the  very  suffering  beoame  a  sonroa 
of  joy  to  the  suffarar,  It  wa^  quite  plain  that  pasasive 
resistance  thus  understood,  was  infinitely  superior  to 
physioal  foroe,  and  that  it  required  greater  courage  than 
the  latter,  No  transition  was,  therefore)  possible  from 
passive  resistance  tq_actiye  or  physioal  resistance.  .  . 
.  The  only  condition  of  a  sucoessfut  use  of  this  foroa 
was  a  recognitjoa  of  the  existence  of  the  soul  as  apart 
from  the  body,  and  its  permanent  and  superior  nature. 
And  this  recognition  must  amount  cu  »  living,  faith  and 
not  a  mere  intellectual  grasp. 


PASSIVE  EBSISTBR8  IN  THE  TOLSTOY 
EABM 

Writing  0  a  friend  from  the  Tolstoy  Faxm,  where 
he  was  living  with  a  number  of  passive  resisters'  families, 
Mr.  Gandhi  says,  touching  manual  labour : — 

I  prepare  the  bread  that  is  required  on  the  farm.  The 

general  opinion  about    it   is  that  it  is  well  made.  Manilal 

and  a  few  others  have  learnt  how  to  prepare  it.     We  pat 

in  no  yeast  and  no  baking  power.     We  grind  our  own 


18i  PASSIVE   BBSISTANOE 

wheat.  We  have  jasb  prepared  aome  marmalada  from 
the  oranges  grown  on  the  farm.  I  have  also  learnb  how 
to  prepare  ooromel  coffee.  It  oaa  be  given  aa  a  beverage 
even  to  babies.  The  passive  resisters  on  the  farm  have 
given  up  the  use  of  tea  and  oo£fae,  and  taken  to  ooromel 
ooffee  prepared  on  the  'arm.  It  ia  made  from  wheat 
which  is  first  baked  in  a  certain  way  and  then  ground. 
We  intend  to  sell  our  surplus  prodacMon  of  the  above 
three  artiolea  to  the  public  later  on.  Just  at  present,  we 
are  working  aa  labourers  on  the  ooastruotion  wark  thtli 
is  going  on,  on  the  farm,  and  have  not  time  to  prodaaa 
mora  of  the  artiolea  above-mentioned  than  we  need  for 
ourBelvas. 


A  LESSON  TO  INDIA 

Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  these  lines  in  reply  to  the  Bev. 
Joseph  Bohe,  his  well-known  biographer,  who  had  invited 
him  to  send  a  message  to  his  countrymen  in  India  with 
referenie  to  the  unrest  in  1909 : — 

The  struggle  in  the  Transvaal  ia  not  without  its  in- 
terest for  India.  We  are  engaged  in  raising  men  who 
will  give  a  good  aocount  of  themaelvea  in  any  ptirt  of  the 
world.  We  have  undertaken  the  struggle  on  the  fallow- 
ing aaaumptions  : — 

(1)  Passive  Basiatance  ia  always  infinitely  superior 
to  physical  foroe- 

(2)  There  ia  no  inherent  barrier  between  European 
and  Indian  anywhere, 

(3)  Whatever  may  have  been  the  motivea  of  the 
British  ralera  in  India>  there  is  a  desire  on  the  part  of  tbg 
Nation  at  large  to  sea  that  juatioa  ia  done,  It  would  be  a 


A   MBSSAGB   TO  THE   OONaBKSS  185 

oalamiliy  fco  break  the  oonnaotion  between  the  Britiab 
{)eople  and  the  people  of  India.  If  we  are  treated  as, 
-or  assert  our  right  to  be  treated  as,  free  men,  whether  in 
India  or  elsewhere,  the  oonneotion  between  the  British 
ceople  and  the  people  of  India  oanaot  only  be  mutually 
ijenefiaial,  but  is  oaloulatad  to  be  of  enormous  advantage 
■to  the  world  religiously,  and,  therefore,  socially  and  poli- 
'-tioally.  In  my  opinion,  eaoh  Nation  is  the  oomplement  of 
the  other. 

Passive  Besistanoe  in  oonneotion  with  the  Transvaal 
-struggle  I  should  bold  justifiable  on  the  strength  of  any 
of  these  propoaitions.  It  may  be  a  slow  remedy,  Dot 
only  for  our  ills  in  the  Transvaal,  but  for  all  the  politioal 
«nd  other  troubles  from  whiab  our  people  suffer  in  India. 


A  MESSAGE  TO  THE  CONGRESS 

The  following  message  to  the  Congress  was  published 
in  the  Indian  Review  for  December,  1909  :— 

Yoii  have  cabled  me  for  a  message  to  the  forthcom- 
ing Congress.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  at  all  oompetenli 
to  send  any  message.  Simple  courtesy,  however,  de? 
manda  that  I  should  say  something  in  reply  to  your  cable; 
At  the  present  moment  I  am  unable  to  think  of  any- 
thing but  the  task  immediately  before  me,  namely,  the 
struggle  that  is  going  on  in  the  Transvaal.  I  hope  our 
countrymen  throughout  India  realise  that  it  is  national 
jn  its  aim'i  in  that  it  has  been  undertaken  to  save  India's 
iionour.  I  may  ba  wrong,  but  I  have  not  hesitated  pub- 
iioly  to  remark  that  it  is  the  greatest  struggle  of  modern 
iilmes,  because  it  is  the  purest  as  well  in  its  goal  as  in  its 


186  PASSIVE   BESIST4NCB 

methods.  Oar  oouDirymen  in  the  Transvaal  are  fighting^ 
for  the  right  of  ouUared  Indiana  to  enter  the  TraDSVaak 
in  oommoD  with  Europeans.  la  thia  the  fighters 
have  no  pergonal  interest  to  serve,  nor  is  there  any 
material  gain  to  aaarue  to  anybody  after  the  abovsr 
mentioned  right  (whioh  has  for  the  first  time  in  Colonial- 
Legislation  been  taken  away)  is  restored.  The  sons  of 
Hindustan,  who  are  in  the  Transvaal,  are  showing  that- 
they  are  capable  of  fighting  for  an  ideal,  pure  and  simple. 
The  methods  adopted  in  order  to  secure  relief  are  also 
equally  pure  and  equally  simple,  Violenoe  in  any  shape 
or  form  is  entirely  esohewed,  They  believe  that  self- 
suffering  is  the  only  true  and  e£feotive  means  to  procure 
lasting  reforms.  They  endeavour  to  meet  and  conquer 
hatred  by  love.  They  oppose  the  brute  or  physical  foroa. 
by  soul  force.  They  hold  that  loyalty  to  an  earthly 
sovereign  or  an  earthly  oonatitution  is  sabordinata 
to  loyalty  to  God  and  His  constitution.  In  incerpretiog 
God's  constitution  through  their  conscience  they  admit 
that  they  may  possibly  be  wrong,  Henoai  in  rasisting  or 
disregarding  those  man-made  laws  which  they  consider  to 
be  inconsistent  with  the  eternal  laws  of  God,  they  accept 
with  resignation  the  penalties  provided  by  the  former, 
and  trust  to  the  working  of  time  and  to  the  best  in 
human  nature  to  make  good  their  position.  It  they  are- 
wrong,  they  alone  suffer,  and  the  established  order  of 
things  continues.  la  the  process,  over  2,500  Indians  or 
nearly  one-half  of  the  resident  Indian  population,  or  one- 
fifth  of  the  possible  Indian  population  of  the  Transvaal, 
have  suffered  imprisonment,  carrying  with  it  terrible 
faardsbips.  Some  of  them  have  gone  to  gaol  again  and 
again.  Many  families  have  been  impoverished.  Several 
merohanta  have  accepted  privation  rather  than  surrender* 


A   MESSAGE   TO  THE   CONGBESS  187~ 

their  manhoofl.  Inoidentally,  the  Hindu-Mfthonaedan 
problem  baa  been  solved  in  Soulih  Afrioa.  We  realise 
there  that  the  one  oannot;  do  without  the  other.  Mahome- 
dansi  Parsees  and  Hindas,  oir  taking  theca  provinoially.- 
Beogaleee,  Madraaees,  Panjibig,  Afghaniataneas,  and 
Bombayitee,  have  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder. 

I  venture  to  suggest  that  a  struggle  auoh    as    this    is 
worthy  of  oooapying  the  best,  if  not,  indeed,    the    esolu- 
sive  attention  of  the  Congress.   If  ib  he  not  impertinent  I 
would  like  to  distinguish  between  this  and  the  other  items ' 
on  the  programme  of  the  Congress.     The  opposition  to  the 
laws  or  the  polioy  with  whioh  the  other  itema  deal    doea- 
nob  involve  any  material  suffering  :  the  Congress  activity 
consists  in  a  mental  attitude  without    oorreaponding    ao- 
tion.     In  the  Transvaal  oaae  the  law  aod    the    poliny    it- 
enunciates  being  wrong,  wa  disregard    it,    and    therefore 
consciously  and  deliberately  suffer  material  and  physical 
injury  ;  action  follows,  and  oorresponda  to,    our    mentat- 
attitude.  If  the  view  here  submitted  be  correot,  it  will  be- 
allowed  that  in  asking  for  the  best  plaoe  in  the  Congress 
programme  for  the  Transvaal  question,  I  have  not    been 
unreasonable.   May   [  also  suggest  that  in  pondering  over 
and  ooDoentratiDg  our  attention  upon  passive    resistance 
such  as  has  been  described  above,    we    would    perchance 
find  out  that,  for  the   many  ills    we    suffer   from    India, 
passive  resistance  is  an  infalliable  panacea,   It  is  worthy 
of  careful  study,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  be  found  that  it  is 
the  only  weapon  thst  is  suited  to  the  genius  of  our  people 
and  our  land,  which  is  the  nursery  of  the   most    ancient 
religiona  and  haa  very  little  to  learn  from  modern  oivili- 
zation^-B  civilization  baaed  on  violence  of    the   blackest 
type,  largely  a  negation  of  the  Divine  in  man,  and  whioh- 
18  rushing  headlong  to  its  own  ruin. 


THE  GAINS  OF  THE  PASSIVE   EBSISTANOB 
8TRDGGLB 

The  following  is  an  English  rendering  from  Guj'a- 
rati,  originally  published  in  the  ''  Indian  B9view'^ 
for  Nov.Deo,,  1911:— 

Very  ofban  we  ooma  aerosB  ladiaDS  who  qaesliioa 
bbe  utilitiy  of  passiva  reBistanoe  as  carried  on  in  bhis 
country  (8ouiih  Afrtoa).  They  say  fibafi  what  our  people 
have  got  as  a  resulb  of  the  terrible  saffaringci  in  the  jaila 
«nd  outside  is  aoma  proposed  modifiaation  in  the  loamig- 
ratioQ  Law,  which  they  cannot  understand,  and  which  ia 
-hardly  likely  to  be  of  any  practical  value  to  thena.  The 
maximum  gain  from  the  struggle,  according  to  their  viewi 
is  that  thereby  a  few  very  highly-ednoated  Indins  who 
are  least  likely  to  be  of  any  use  bo  them  will  find  it 
possibia  to  enter  the  country.  For  the  edification  of  those 
who  bold  the  above  view,  we  propose  to  give  a  short 
nummary  of  the  gains  thereof. 

That  thereby  the  Indian  community  could  preserve 
its  national  Belf-respeot :  according  to  our  proverb,  one 
'who  can  preserve  his  saif-respact  can  preserve  everything 
else. 

That  thereby  the  Bagiabration  Act  of  1907  has  got 
io  be  swept  off  the  statute  book. 

That  thereby  the  whole  of  India  became  aoqaainted 
with  our  disabilities  in  this  country. 

That  through  it  other  nations  beoama  aoqaainted 
with  our  grievaaoss  aud  began  to  appreciate  us  better. 

That  by  it  was  brought  about  the  prohibition  of 
Indian  indentured  labour  to  Natal  by  the  Indian  Govern- 
menti, 


GAINS  OP  THE  EASSIVB  EESISTANOE  STRUGGLE  '339» 

Thai)  the  struggle  helped  to  bring  about  some 
desirable  modifiaation  in  the  LioeDoiug  Law  or 
Natal. 

That  it  brought  about  the  diaallov7aDoe  of  the  Bagid- 
tration  Law  of  Bhodesia  whioh  was  framed  on  the  same' 
basis  as  that  of  the  Transvaal, 

That  it  brought  about  the    disallowance  of  the  most- 
obnoxious    Lioensiag    Ltw    of    Natal.       Any    one    who 
doubts  this  statenaent  had  better  refer  to  the  despatch  of' 
the   Imperial  Government    disallowing  the  Act  and    the* 
reasons  for  such  disallowance. 

That  but  for  the  struggle  the  other  Galocies  in  South 
Africa  would  have  passed  Immigration  Eastrlotion  Laws- 
similar  to  the  law  in  the  Transvaal. 

That  but  for  the  struggle,  the  Transvaal  Lsgislatura- 
would  have   passed   other  Anti-Asiatio  Law  as  batsh  as 
the  Immigration  Bestriotion  Law. 

That    the  struggle  brought   about   the  repeal  of  the 
Railway  Begulationa    whioh'.  differentiated  between   the- 
white    and  the  coloured    people    and  that  they  are   now 
appHoabla  to  all  equally. 

That  it  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  the- 
Transvaal  Begisbration  Law  of  1907  was  the  first  of  a~ 
series  of  Anti-Asiastic  Laws  that  were  proposed  to  be- 
added  to  the  statute  book.  The  unanimous  opposition  of 
the  Indians  to  this  law,  however,  deterred  the  Transvaal. 
Government  from  taking  up  the  other,  legislation. 

That  it  brought  into  esistanoe  a  committee  consist- 
ing of   Europeans  under   the  presidency   of  Mr.  Hosken 
whioh    could    not    have  come   into  existence    otherwise,. 
This  committee  is  likely  to    be  useful  to  Indians  in  their- 
fatnre  struggle. 


1190  PASSIVE    RBSISTANOE 

That  beeides  tbose  who  bava  already  joined  (he 
oommitliee,  it  has  created,  in  a  great  maDy  other  Europe- 
ans, feelings  of  sympathy  and  regard  for  lodians,. 

That  thereby  the  Indian  oommunity  has  gained  a 
great  deal  of  prestige  and  that  those  Europeans  who  be- 
fore the  struggle  used  to  treat  Indians  with  contempt, 
have  bean  taught  to  show  them  due  regard  and  conside- 
ratioD.  y 

That  the  Government  now  feels  that  the  strength 
which  is  in  us  is  unoonguerable. 

That  the  majority  of  the  ludians  domiciled  in  the 
country  showed  themselves  quite  cowardly  before  the 
struggle.  It  has,  however,  given  them  more  vigour  and 
courage.  Those  who  were  afraid  even  to  whisper  before 
that  time,' are  now  boldly  speaking  out  their  minds  as 
''men. 

That  whereas  before  the  struggle,  there  was  no 
woman's  movement  in  Johannesburg,  now  there  is  a 
class  opened  under  Mrs.  Vogle  who  gives  bar  services 
free  to  the  oummunity. 

That  jail  life  which  seemed  so  dreadful  to  Indians 
before  the  struggle,  is  no  longer  terrifying  to  them. 

That  although  on  aooount  of  the  strugglai  Mr. 
Gaohalia  and  others  have  lost  almost  all  their  earthly 
possessions,  they  feel  that  as  a  oonsequenoa  thereof, 
they  have  acquired  muoh  slirenglih  of  mind  and  aharaotet 
which  they  could  not  have  purchased  with  any  amoun^t 
of  money  and  which  nothing  but  the  actual  struggle 
could  have  infused  into  them. 

That  but  for  the  struggle,  the  Indian  oommunity 
would  have  continued  to  remain  ignorant  of  the  faot  tha^ 
in  the  Tamil  seobion  thereof,  there  ware  man  and  woman 


GAINS  OF   IHB   PASSIVE  RBSISTANOB   STRUGGLE  191 

'^vho  were  great  asselia    to  this  people,  and   who  would  do 
-oredit  to  any  oummunityi 

That  the  struggle,  wbiob  brought  about  the 
TrauBVaalLaw  of  1908,  revived  the  rights  of  huodreda  of 
IndiaDB  who  bad  left  the  oountry    during  the  great  war. 

That  the  Indian  oomaiUDity  now  standa  before  tha 
world  fully  acquitted  of  all  obarges  of  fraud  wbiob  were 
ilevelled  against  tbem  before  the  present    settlement. 

That  Ibe  withdrawal  of  the  Bill  iotroduoed  in  the 
Union  Parliament  exempting  Eiaropeana  from  the  pay- 
ment of  the  poll-tax  in  Natal  is  one  of  the  fresheat  in- 
etanoes  showing  the  dread  the  authorities  have  of  a 
-fresh  pasaive  resietanoe  struggle  on    the  part  of    Indians. 

That  the  struggle  made  General  Smuts  resoind  his 
own  orders  on  three  and  tha  Imperial  Governmaot  on 
two  different  oocasiona. 

That  before  the  struggle,  all  laws    uaed  to  be  framed 

against  us  independently  of  us  and  what    we  thought    of 

them,  but  that   since   the   struggle   the    authoritiea    are 

obliged  to  take  our  views  and   feelings  into    their    oonsi- 

•deration  and  they  aertainly  show  more  regard  to    tbem. 

That  as  a  Qonaeqaenoe  of  the  struggle,  the  prestige 
of  the  Indian  oommunity  stands  on  a  muoh  higher  level 
than  ever  before.  Better  this  than  the  riohea  of  the 
whole  world, 

That  the  oommunity  has  demonstrated  to  the  world 
the  invulnerability  of  "   Truth." 

That  by  keeping  its  full  faith  in  God  the  oommunity 
has  vindioated  tbeglorrof  Beligion.  "  Where  there  ia 
truth  and  where  there  ia  religion,  there  alone  is  viotory." 

On  bestowing  more  thought  on  the  gueatiou  and 
looking  at  it  from  its  various  bearings,  one  oan  find  muoh 
more  lio  say  as  to  the  fraifis  thacaif,  thia  what  has  baaa 


l92  -  PASSIVE  BESI'STANOE 

ataiied  above.  Tbe  last  on  the  listi,  hoTrcver,  is  inoom- 
parably  (ba  baRt  of  tbeoa  all.  Saab  a  greali  fighfi  oouli] 
nob  have  been  carried  on  Buooesafally  witboaifally  trust-^ 
iog  ID  God.  Ha  waa  our  only  prop  all  thab  bime.  Tboao' 
wbo  put  tbair  implioii:  faibb  in  Him  oannob  but  raaob 
bbeir  aima.  The  struggle  wili  not  have  been  carried  oa 
in  vain,  if,  as  a  reaall;  of  it,  wa  ahall  bava  iaarat  to  pulv 
ficill  more  trust  ia  Him. 


The  Champaran  Enquiry 


LABOUR  TROUBLE  IN  BEHAR 

For  many  yean  past  the  relations  of  landlords  and 
tenants  and  the  circumstances  attendinij  the  cultivation  of- 
indigo  in  the  Champaran  District  have  not  been  satisfae- 
iory.  In  response  to  an  insistent  public  demand  to  inquire 
into  the  conditions  under  which  Indian  labourers  work 
in  the  Indigo  Plantations.  Mr.  Gandhi  arrived  at  Muzaf- 
farpur  on  the  15th  April,  1917,  whence  he  took  themidday 
train  for  Motihari.  Next  day  he  was  served  with  a  notice 
to  quit  the  District  "  by  next  available  train  as  his  pre- 
sence," the  notice  announced  '  will  endanger  the  public 
peace  and  may  lead  to  serious  disturbance  which  may  be 
accompanied  by  loss  of  life,"  Mr.  Gandhi  replied : — 

Wbith  referenoe  to  fcha  order  under  See,  144,  Or.  P. 
0.,  justi  served  upou  me,  I  beg  to  atafca  that  I  am  sorry 
that  you  have  felt  called  upon  to  issue  it ;  and  I  am 
sorry  too  that  the  Oommisaioner  of  the  Division  has 
totally  mis-interpreted  my  position.  Oat  of  a  sense  of 
publio  responsibility,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  say  that 
I  am  unable  to  leave  cbia  distriot,  but  if  it  so  phases  the 
authorities,  I  shall  submit  to  the  order  by  suffering  the 
penalty  of  disobedienoe- 

I  moati  emphatiioally   repudiaSe    the   Oommisaiouer's 
suggestion  that  '  my  objeot  is  likely  tobe  agitation.'    My 
deaira  ia    purely    and  simply    for  '    genuine    search  foe 
13 


194  THE   0H4MPAB4N  ENQUIRY 

knowledge  '  and  this  I  shall  oontiaue  to   satiefy   eo   long 
as  I  am  left  free, 

Mr.  Oandhi.  appeared  before  the  Magistrate  on  the 
18th  instant  andtread  the  following  statement  before  the 
Oourt : —  , 

With  bhe  permisalon  of  the .  Courb  I  would  like  to 
make  a  brief  statemeDt  abowuog  wby  I  haye  taken  the 
very  aerioua  step  of  aeemiagly'diabbayiag  the  order  made 
^aAetB,  Hi  of  tbe  Gr  P.  0.  la  my  bambie  opipion  it 
i^,  a  gaeation  of  difFarenoa  of  opinion  betweea  the  local 
adminiatratioD  and  myaeU.  I  have  entered  tne  oquntry  with' 
ipotiyea  of  rendering  bamanitarian  and  national  aervioe, 
J  have  done  ao  in  reaponae  to  a  preaainjg  Invitation  to 
coma  and  help  the  ryota,  who  urge  tbey  are  not  being 
fairly  treatied  by  the  indigo  plaptera,  I  opnld  not  render 
any  lielp  without  atudying  the  problem.  I  have,  there- 
tor^,  coma  to  atndy  it  with  the  aaaiatance,  if  poaaible,  of 
the  adminiabration  and  the  ptantera.  I  have  no^btfa^ 
motive  and  1  oannot  believe  that  my  coming  hdre  oin  in 
any  way  disturb  public  paaoe^  or  oauae  loaa  of  life.  I 
claim  to  have  oonaiderabia  experience  in  atch  mattera. 
The  adminiabration*  however,  have  thought  differently. 
I  fully  appreciate  their  diffiouliy,  aad  I  admit  too,  that 
they  oaa  only  proceed  upon  the  information  they  receive. 
Aa  a  law-abiding  cibizan,  my  first  iasbinct  would  be  aa  it 
waa,  to  obey  the  order  served  upon  me.  I  could  not  do 
Bo  without  doing  violenca  to  my  senae  of  duty  to  those 
tor  whom  I  cama.  I  feel  that  I  could  juat  now  aerve 
them  only  by  remaining  in  their  midab.  I  could  not, 
therefore,  voluntarily  retire.  Amid  this  conflot  of  duty 
I  could  only  throw  the  responsibility  of  removing  ma 
from  them  on  the  administrabipn.  I  am  fully  conaoioua 
of  bbe  faob  tbab  a  person,    holding  in    bba    public  life   of 


LABOUR  THOUBLB  IN  BBHAB         195 

lodia  a  positrion  auoh  as  I  do,  has  to  be  mosli  oareful 
ia  setting  examples.  In  is  my  firm  belief  that  in  the 
-complex  ooQatitation  under  which,  we  are  living,  the 
only  safe  and.  hononrabla  Qourse  for  .  a .  self-respeotittg 
caan  ia,  in  the  oiroamstanoe^  saoh  as  faoe  me, 
to  do  what  I  have  deoMed  -bo-di>7-that  is,  to  submit  with- 
■out  protest  to  the  penalty  of  disobedienoe.  I  have  ven- 
tured to  make  this  statement  not'jn  aj3y.^wiiy  in  extenua- 
tion of  the  penalty  to  be  awarded  against  me,  but  to  show 
that  I  have  disregarded  the  order' served' upon  me,  not  for 
.want  of  respect  for  lawfal  authority,  but  in  ojbedienoe  to 
the  higher  law  of  oar  being — the  voice  of  conscience. 
f.''  Under  instructions  from  higher  authorities  the  notice 
was  soon  withdrawn.  Early  in  June  a  commission  was 
appointed  to  enquire  into  the  agrarian  troubles  in  the 
Sehat  plantations  with  Mr.  Oandhi  himself  as  one  of  the 
members  of  the  commission.  In  December,  1917,  the  Ghamr 
paran  Agrarian  Bill  based  on  the  recommendations  of  the 
•Oommassion  was  passed  in  the  Behar  Legislative  Oounoil 
'ibf^n  the  Hon,  Mr.  Maude  who  moved  the  Bill  made  a 
f^d'Ak  statement  of  the  scandals  which  necessitated  the 
inquiry,  thus  justifying  Mr.  Oandhi's  work  on  behalf  of 
■the  Ic^ourers, 


The  Kaira  Question 


THE  SITUATION  IN  KAIKA 

In  the  year  1916-17  there  was  serious  and  widespreai 
failure  of  crops  in  the  District  of  Kaira  in  Gujarat. 
Under  the  revenue  rules  the  ryots  were  entitled  to  full 
suspension  of  taxes  if  the  yield  ibas  less  than  4  as.  in  the- 
rupee  and  half  suspension  if  between  4  and  6  as.  Tht 
Government  granted  complete  suspensian  to  one  village 
only  out  of  a  total  of  600,  half  suspension  to  some  lOi^ 
milages  and  issued  orders  to  collect  revenue  from  the  rest 
The  ryots  claimed  that  the  Oovernmeut  were  wrong  in  their 
estimate  and  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Mr.  V.  J.  Patel  who  con- 
ducted an  enquiry  also  came  to  the  same  conclusion.  The 
Government  persisted  in  collecting  revenues  as  usual.  Peti. 
tions  and  protests  having  been  of  no  avail,  the  ryots  resorted 
to  passive  resistance  under  the  guidance  of  Mr,  Gandhi.. 
In  the  following  lecture  at  Bombay  in  February,  1918,  Mr. 
Gandhi  narrated  the  story  of  the  trouble  in  Kaira  in  his 
usually  brief  and  lucid  manner  : — 

I  do  not  waDb  to  say  muob.  I  have  reoeived  a  letter 
aakiog  ma  bo  be  preBenli  at  to>morrow'a  depatabion  tbat 
is  going  to  wait  oq  his  Esoalleooy  tbe  Governor,  and  I 
am  sure  I  will  be  able  to  explain  to  b'm  tbe  true  facts, 
Still  I  must  mako  it  clear  bare  tbat  tbe  reeponsibility  of 
tba  Dotioa  issued  by  tbe  Gujarat  Sabba  lies  on  me.  I 
was  at  Abmedabed  before  tbati  notioe  was   issued,  where- 


THE   SITUATION  IN  KAIRA  ^97 

the  malilier  of  Kaira  Distriob  waa  being  diaoaaaed,  when  it 
waa  daoided  that  the  Gujarati  Sabha  oughli  60  take.parbin 
the  mattier.  I  think  thab,  as  regarda  this  notioe,  a  mountain 
has  been  made  ouh  of  a  mole-hill.  Everyone  knew  what 
the  Qotioa  was  when  it  waa  being  framed,  Nobody  then 
even  dreamt  that  Government  would  misinterpret  it. 
The  Sabha  had  with  it  su£Soienb  data  about  the  plight  of 
the  people.  Tday  oama  to  know  that  Government 
ofSoials  were  aollecting  taxes  and  the  people  were  even 
■selling  their  oattla  00  pay  the  taxes.  Toe  matter  bad 
oome  to  suoh  a  paas,  and,  knowing  this,  the  Sabha 
thought  it  better  to  fssue  a  notioe  to  oonaole  the  people 
^vho  braved  these  hardships.  And  the  notioe  was  th* 
result  of  that  information,  and;!  have  every  bopa  that  in 
"the  deputation  that  is  going  to  wait  on  the  Governor,  the 
result  of  the  deliberations  will  end  in  the  suooess  of  the 
jpeople.  '    " 

COMMISSIONER'S   WRATH 

If  the  Commissioner  had  not  been  angry  with  U8| 
«nd  had  talked  politely  with  the  deputation  that  waited 
-on  him,  and  had  not  misinatruoted  the  Bombay  Gov- 
'flrnment,  saoh  a  grave  orisis  would  not  have  eventuated, 
and  we  would  not  have  had  the  trouble  of  meeting  here 
this  evening.  The  Sabha's  request  was  to  suspend  the 
colieotioo  of  dues  till  the  negotiations  were  over.  But 
-Government  did  not  take  this  proper  course  and  issued 
an  angry  Press  Note.  It  was  my  firm  belief —  and  even 
now  I  firmly  believe — that  the  representatives  of  rhe 
'People  and  Government  could  have  joined  together  and 
taken  the  proper  steps.  I  regret  to  have  to  aay  that  Gov- 
ernment haa  made  a  miatake.  Perhaps  aubordinate 
offioera  of    Government  would    aay  to    Government   that 


198  thM  kAiBA  question  " 

tbe  Dobioe  was  issued  nob  from  a  pure  motive,  buli  {roni 
some  other  ulterior  motive.  If  Government  are  impressed 
witb  this  erroneous  belief,  those  who  have  stood  by  the- 
people,  I  hope,  will  oontinne  to  stand  by  them  to  tbe  end 
and  will  not  retreat.  Any  responsible  right-tbinkicg  man- 
oould  have  given  tbem  tbe  same  advioe.  People  possess- 
the  same  rights  as  the  authorities  have,  and  public  men- 
have  every  right  to  advise  the  people  of  their  rights.  Tbe 
people  that  do  not  fight  for  their  rights  are  like  slaves- 
(hear,  hear),  and  snob  people  do  not  deserve  Home  Bule. 
When  aufhorities  think  thab  they  can  take  anything  from- 
tbe  people  and  oan  interfere,  a  difGoult  situation  arises. 
And  if  suofa  a  situation  arises,  I  must  plainly  say  that" 
tbbse  who  have  given  the  people  tbe  right  advioe,  will 
stand  by  tfaetn  till  tbe  end. 

THE   WEAPONS 

I  have  not  yet  oome  to  any  oonolusioni  and  I  sin- 
cerely trust  tbaJi  those  who  understand  tbe  responsibi- 
lity, will  not  hesitate  to  undergo  hardships  in  order  to 
sedure  justio^'.  (Applause).  And  in  such  an  eventuality 
I  hope  you  will  not  beat  an  ignominous  retreat.  The- 
first  and  the  last  prinoiple  of  passive  resistance  is  that  we 
should  not  infliot  hardships  on  others,  but  put  up  with- 
tbem. ourselves  in  order  to  get  justice,  and  Government 
need  not  fear  anything  if  we  make  up  our  mii^d,  as  wa 
are  bent -on  getting  sheer  justice  from  iii  and  nothing  else. 
To  get  that  justice  we  must  fight  with  the  authorities- 
and  the  people  that  do  not  so  fight  are  but  slaves.  We 
oMi  have  only  two  weapons  :on  occasions  like,  this t 
Bevolt  or  passive  resistance,  and  my  request  is  for  the 
second  remedy  always.  The  right  of  suiferrag  bardshipa 
and   olaiming   justice   and  getting  our  demands  is  from 


THK    TOW   OF  PASSIVE    HEBISJANCE  J,?? 

one's  birlih.  Similarly  we  have  to  get  inetioe  ad  the 
hands  of  Governmenb  by  suffering  hardships.  We  musb 
suffer  hardships  like  brave  men.     Whati  I  have  to  say  is, 

resorii  to  the  right  noiaDs/aDd  that  very  firmly,  in  order 
to  remove  the  distress  tbrongh  which  the  Gnjarab  people 

are  paesiog.  It  is  my  oonviolion  that,  if  we  tell  the  troth 
to  the  British  Goveroment,  it  oan  nitimakely  be  ooDvinoed, 
and  if  only  we  are  firm  in  our  resolve,  rest  aasared  that 
Kaira  people  shall  suffer  wrongs  no  more,  (pond 
cheers). 


THE  VOW  OF  PASSIVE  EB8ISTAN0B 

..  As  a  result  of  the  persistent  refusal  of  Government  to 
recognize  the  serious  state  of  affairs  in  Kaira  and  grant  a 
suspension  of  revenue,  a  passive  resistance  movement  wits 
inaugurated  under  Mr-  Qandhi's  lead.  At  the  meeting  oU 
the  32nd  Mtxroh,  1918,  at  Nadiad,  Mr,  Oandhi  exhorted 
the  ryots  to  resort  to  Satyagraha,  and  over  300  men  sign- 
ed the  following  deolaratian : — 

Knowing  that  the  crops  of  onr  villages  are  less  than 
four  annas  we  had  requested  the  Government  to  suspend 
the  revenue  oolleotion  till  the  ensuing  year.  As  however 
Government  has  not  acceded  to  our  prayer,  we,  the  under- 
signed, hereby  solemnly  declare  that  we  shall  not  pay 
the  full  or  remaining  revenue,  hut  we  will  let  the 
Government  take  such  legal  steps  as  they  may  think  fit 
to  ooUeot  the  same  and  we  shall  gladly  suffer  all  the 
ooDseguenoes  of  our  refusal  to  pay.  We  shall  allow  our 
lands  to  be  confiscated,  but  we  shall  nol>,  of  our  own 
accord,  pay    anything    and    thereby  lose  our  self-respect 


200  XHB   EMBA   QUBg^IION 

and  pro7a  ourselves  wrong.  If  Gavernmenb  decide'  ts 
suspaod  the  seoond  iasbalmeat  of  iha  revenae  trhroughonb 
the  diatrioti,  tbose  amongati  ua  wbo  are  ia  a  position  to 
pay,  will  pay  the  whole  or  tbe  balanoe  of  the  revenue  as 
may  be  dae.  Tbe  reaaon  wby  tbose  of  as  wbo  have  the 
money  to  pay  and  still  do  noli,  ia  that  if  they  do  tbe 
poorer  might  in  paaio  sell  their  things  or  borrow  to  pay 
and  thereby  suffer. 

Under  the  oicaamatanoas  we  believe  it  is  the  duty  of 
those  who  are  able  to  pay  to  protect  tbe  poor. 


STATEMENT  ON  THE  KAIRA  DISTRESS 
ifr.  Gandhi  sent  to  the  Press  the  following  statement 
en  the  Kaira  distress  under  date  28th  March,  1918  i — 

In  tbe  Dtstritjb  of  Kaira  the  crops  for  the  -year  1917-. 
18  have,  by  oocnaaon  admission,  prayed  a. partial  failnre. 
Under  the  Revenue  rales  if  the  oropj  are  under  lour 
annas,  tbe  cultivators  are  entitled  to  full  suspension  of 
the  Revenue  assessment  for  the  year;  if  the  oropa  are 
under  sis  annas,  half  the  amount  pf  aaseasmept  is 
suspended,  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  tbe  Gavernments  have 
been,  pleased  Co  grant  full  susosnsion  with  regard  to  one 
village  oat  of  nearly  600,  and  balf-aasoansiaa  in  tbe 
ease  of  over  103  villages.  It  is  olaimsd  on  behalf  of  tbe 
ryots  that  tbe  suspension  is  not  at  all  adequate  to  the 
actuality.  The  Government  contend  that  in  tbe  vast 
majority  of  villages  crops  have  been  over  six  annas.  The 
only  question,  therefore,  at  issue  is,  whether  the  crops 
have  been  under  four  annas  or  six  annas,  as  tbe  case  may 
be,  or  over  tbe  latter  figure.  Government  valuation  is  in 
the  first  instance  made  by  the  Titlatia  assisted  by  the 
ohiefman  of  the  villages  ooDoerned.     As  a  rule  no  check 


STATEMENT  ON   THE    KilRA   DISTRESS  201 

■on     thair    figuraa     ia     ootasidered    neoessary,    for    ib    is 

■only  during  partial    tailura    of    oropa    thati    Gbvernnaenli 

valuation  of  oropa    may    have    to    be    ohalleagad.     The 

Talabis  are    aa    a    olaaa    obseqaious,   uaaorupuloua    and 

tyrannical.     The  ohief  msQ  ara    aspsoiaily    aalaobad    for 

their  dooililiy.     Tne  Talati'a  ooa  aioa  la  Q*(iural!y  bo  ool- 

'leob  full  aaaesanaant  aa  prom  ably  aa  poaaibie.     Wa  goma- 

ciuaea  read   aoooanta  of    aaaidaous    TAlatla    having    bean 

awarded    pagraaa'   for  making  fall  ooUaaliioa,   In  applying 

bo  bhe  Talatia  bhe  adjaobivaa  I  have  given,    I  wiah  bo   oaali 

ho  refldobiona  on  bhem  aa  man,  I'  merely    aiiaiia    the  faat« 

The    Talatia    ara    nob    born  ;    bhay    ar0  made  ;   and  rant- 

-ooileobora  all  bhe  world    over   have  to  aulbivabe  a  dalldae- 

neas  wibhoub  wbiob  ebay  oauld  nob  'do  bbeir  work  bo  the 

-Babiefaobion  of  bhair  maaberg,      lb  ia  impoaaible  for  me  bo 

-reproduoe  bhe  graphic    daaoripbion    given  by  bhe    ryoca  of 

^be  recent  oollecbora  which    the  Talatia  chiefly  are.     My 

purpoae  in  dealing  with   tba  Talatia    ia  bo  ahow  bhab  the 

'Govarnmenb'a    valuabion    of  the  crops    ia    derived  in  the 

£rat  instanoa  from  bha  taloted  aouroe  and    ia  preaumably 

'biasaed  againab  bhe  ryoba.     Aa  againat  their  valuation  we 

-have  the    univeraal    teabimony    of    ryota,    high  and   low, 

-flome  of   whom    are    man    of    poaition    and    oonaiderabla 

wealbh    who    have   a  reputabion    bo    loae  and    who  have 

nobbing    to  gain  by    esaggerabioos    esoepb  bha  odium    of 

Talabia    and  possibly  higher  officials.     I  wish  to  state  at 

-bnoe    that  behind    bbia    movamenb    there    ia  no  desire  to 

diaoredit  the  Government,  or  an  individual  official.     Toe 

movement  is  intended  bo  assert  the    right  of  tba  people 

to  be    effectively  beard  In  matters  concerning  bbemselves. 

lb  ia  known  to  the  public  thab  bha  Hon'bIa  Mr,  G,K, 
Farekb  and    Mr.  V.  J,  Patel   invibed  and  assisted  by  the 


THE    KAIEA    QUB8TI0N 

'Gnjarat  Sabha  oairied  on  investigatiions,  aa  also  MessraK 
Deed  bar,  Joabi  and  Tbakkar  of  tbe  Servants  of  India. 
Society.  Tfareir  investigation  was  necessarily  prelioaiBairy 
and  brief  and  therefore  oonfiaed  to  a  few  villages  only. 
But  tbe  result  of  their  enquiry  went  to  show  that  ihe- 
orops  in  the  majority  of  oases  was  under  four  annas.  As 
their  investigation,  not  being  extensive  enough,  was  oap-^ 
able  of  being  ohallenged,  and  it  was  ohallenged,  I  under- 
took a  full  inquiry  with  tbe  asaistanoe  of  over  20  capable,, 
ezperienoed,  and  impartial  naen  of  influence  and  status.  P 
f)epsonally  visited  over  50  villages  and  met  aa  many  men- 
in  the  villages  as  I  could,  inspected  in  these  villages  most- 
of  the  fields  belonging  to  them  and  after  a  searching  cross- 
examination  of  tbe  villagers,  came  to  the  conclusion  tfbat 
their  crops  were  under  four  annas.  I  found  that  ao^ODg 
the  men  who  surrounded  me,  there  were  preaeat  those- 
who  were  ready  to  check  lexaggeratiooa  and  wild  state- 
mentB,  Men  knew  what  was  at  stake  if  they  departed- 
from  tbe  truth.  As  to  the  '  Babi '  crops  and  the  still 
standing  '  Kharif '  orops,  I  was  able  by  the  evidence  of 
my  own  eyea  to  check  the  statements  of  the  agriculturists.. 
Tbe  methods  adopted  by  my  co-workers  were  exactly  the 
eame.  In  this  manner  nearly  four  hundred  villagers  were- 
examined,  and  with  bat  a  few  exceptions,  crops  were 
found  to  be  under  four  annas,  and  only  in  three  cases 
tbey  were  found  to  be  over  six  annas.  Tbe  method  adop- 
ted by  us  was,  so  far  aa  the  '  Kbarif '  cropa  were  oon-- 
oerned,  to  ascertain  tbe  actual  yield  of  (he  whole  of  tbe 
orops  of  individual  villages  and  tbe  posaible  yield  of  the 
same  village  in  a  normal  year.  Assuming  the  truth  of 
tbe  statements  made  by  them,'  this  is  admittedly  an 
absolute  teat,  and  any  other  method  that  would  bring 
about    the  aame  reeult   muat  be   rejected  aa  untrue   and 


STATEMENT  ON   TtiB    KAIBA   DIBTBESS  203: 

nneoientifio;  and,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  all  prob-^ 
ability  of  exaggeration    was    avoided  in  tbe  above-named 
inveBtigfttion.     As   to   the  standing  '  Rabi  '   orops,   there 
waB  the  eye  estimate    and  it  was    tested   by  the  method 
above  mentioned.     The   Government   matbod  is  an    eye- 
estimate  and  therefore  a  matter  largely   of  guess-work. 
It  is  moreover  open  to   fandameotal  objeotions  which   I 
have  endeavoured  to  set  forth  in  a  letter  to  the  Colleotor 
of  the  Distriob.     I  requested  him   to  treat  Vadthal — a 
wellknown    and    ordinarily    well-to-do    village    of    the- 
District    with    the    railway    line    passing     by    it    and 
which    is    near  a  trade  centre — as    a     test  case,  and    T 
suggested  that  if  the  orops  were  in  that  village  proved  to 
be  under  four  annas,  as  I    bold  tbey    were,    it   might  be- 
assumed  that  in  tbe  othbr  villages  less  fortunately  situat- 
ed, crops  were  not  likely  to  be  more  than  four  aoDap.     I 
have  added  to  my  request  a  suggestion  that  I   should  he- 
permitted  to  he  presenti  at   the   inquiry.     He    made    the- 
inquiry,  but  rejected    my    suggestion,    and    therefore   it- 
proved  to  be  one-sided,     The  Colleotor  has  made  an  ela- 
borate report  on  the  orops  of  that  village,    which   in   my 
opinion  I   have    successfully    oballenged,     The- original 
Government  valuation,  I  understand,  was  twelve  annas< 
tbe  Collector's  minimum  vaintion  Is  seven  annae.    If  the- 
probabiy  wrong  methods  of  valuation  to    which    I    have^ 
drawn  attention  and  which  have   been    adopted    by  the 
Collector  are  allowed  for,  tbe   valuation  according  to  his 
own  reckoning  would  come  under   sis  annas  and  accord* 
ing  to  the   agriculturists  it  would  be  under  four  annas^ 
Both  the  report  and  my  answer  are  too  technical    to   be- 
of  value  to  the  public,     Biit  I   have   suggested    that,  as 
both  the  Government  and  agriculturists  hold  themselves^ 
in  the  right,    if  the   Government   have   any    regard    for 


"204  THE   KA-IRA   QUESTION 

popular  opinioD,  they  shoald  appoiat  an  impartial 
oommilikee  of  inquiry  with  the  oultivatorB'  representa- 
tices  upon  it,  or  graoefully  aocept  the  popular  view.   The 

'OoTeromeDb  have  rejeoted  both  the .  suggestiona  and 
insiab  uvaa  applying  ooeroive  measures  for  the  oollootion 
of  revenue.-  It  may  be  mentioned  that  these  measareB 
have  never  been  totally  suspended  and  in  many  oases 
the  ryota  have  paid  simply  under  preasure.  The  Talatia 
have  taken  away  cattle,  and  have  returned  them  only 
after  the  payment  of  assessment.  In  one  oaae,  I  witness- 

-ed  a  painful  incident : — A  man  having  hia  miloh  buffalo 
taken  away  from  him,  and  it  waa  only  on  my  happening 
to  go  to  the  village  that  the  buffalo  was  released  ;  this 
buffalo  was  the  mosl;  valuable  property  the  man  poaaeas- 
ed  and  a  source  of  daily  bread  for  him.  Scorea  of.  snob 
oaaea  have  already  happened   and    many    more    will   no 

-doubt  happen  hereafter  if  the  publio  opinion  is  not  rang- 
ed on  ibe  side  of  the  people,  Every  means  of  seeking 
redress  by  prayer  haa  been  eshauated.  Interviews  with 
the  Golleotor,  the  Commissioner  and  His  Esoellenoy 
faave  taken  plaoe.  The  fiaal  suggestion  that  was  made 
is  this  ; — Although  in  the  majority  of  oases  people  are 
entitled  to  full    suspension,    half    suspension    should    be 

-granted  throughout  the  District,  except  for  the  villages 
which  show,  by  common  consent,  crops  over  sis    annas. 

'.Such  a  gracious  concession  may  be  accompanied  by  a 
declaration  that  the  Government  would  espect  those 
who  have  ready  means  voluntarily  to  pay  up  the  dues, 
we  the  workers    on    our    part    undertaking    to   persuade 

•^euoh  people  to  pay  up  the  Government  dues,  This  will 
leave  only  the  poorest  people  untouched.  I  venture  to 
fubmit  that  acceptance  of  this  suggestion  can  only  bring 

■  credit  and  strength  to  the    Government.     Basistanoe   of 


BIATEMENT  ON  THE  EAIBA   DISTRESS  20^ 

popular  will  oan  only  prodaoe  disoontenti  which    in    the 
o&aa  of  faar-sfiriakaD  peasantry  suoh  aa  o(  Kaira  oan  only 
fiad  an  undargrouncl  passage  and  thna  demoraliae    them.' 
The  presenli  movement  ia    an   attempli  bo  gab  oub  of  8uob< 
a  falsa  poaitioD,  huoiiliabing  alike    for   the   Government) 
and     the     people.     And     how    do     the     Government 
propoae     to       aaaerb      their       poaibion      and     so-oalied^ 
preabiga  ?     Taey  have    a  '  Bevenua    Code  '   giving    tbem 
anlitnibed  powers  witboub    a  right   of  appeal  to  the  ryots, 
againab  the  decisions  of  tibe   Bsvenaa  Authoribiee.    Eser- 
oiaas  of  theae  powers  in  a  case  like  the  one  before    us   in*' 
whioh  the    ryota  are   fighting    for    a    principle     and    the^ 
aubhoritiea  (or  preatige,  would  be  a  proatibubion  of  jostioe,. 
of  a  disavowal  of  all  fair-play.     These  powers  are: — 

(1)  Bight  of  aammary  eseoubion. 

(2)  Bight  of  ezaobing  a  qaarber  of  the  asseessmenb 
as  panisbmenb. 

(3)  Bighb  of  oonfisoabion-of  land,  nob  merely  'Bayat- 
wari'  bab  even  'Inami'  or  Saaadia,'  and  the  right  of 
keeping  a  man  under  hajat. 

Those    remadiea    may    be    applied  singly  or   all    to- 
gather,    and    unbelievable    though    ib    may    aeem  to    the 
public,  ib  may  be  menbioned  bbai:   nobioes  of  the    applica— 
bion  of  all  tbesa  remedies  bat  the  last  have    been  issued  ,„ 
Thus  a  man    owning    two  hundred  acres  of  land  In    per-- 
pebuiby  and    valued    ab    thousands    of  rupees,    paying    a 
small  asseasmenb  rate,  may  at    the  will  of  the    authority 
lose  the  whole  of  it,  because  for  the   sake  of  principle  he- 
reapectfaily  refuses    voluntarily    to    pay  the    asaesemenb 
himself,  and  is  prepared  meekly  but  under  sirong  protest 
to  penalties  that  may  ba    infiioted    by  law.     Surely   vin-- 
diobive  oonfiscation  of   property    ought  not  to  be  the    re- 
ward for   orderly  disobedienos  whioh  properly  handled^ 


■206,  ,XHB    KAJIRA   QUESTION,,.,  ..,.,1-. 

oan  only    resalb  io  P'Og'^aa    all  roand,  and  ip:({g4,vii)g  ,tl^ 
-<j07eramenli  a  bold^aad  a  frank   peasaabry  wibh  a  will  pL 
its  owD.  r; 

I  ventiure  tio  invite  the  press  and  bhe  pQblio  to  aBsist 
these  oaltivHiiors' of  Kaira  who  have  dare^  tci  euter  ap)a 
;fighti  for  wte^b  they  oonsider  ia  jast.and  ugfat.  Let  tha 
public  remember  this' also  that^'  nopreoedentally  sevjere 
plague  has  deoimated  the  pqpalation  of  Kaira, ;  !^eople 
are  living  outside  their  faomes  in  speoislly  prepared, 
thatohed  cottages  at  oonsiderable  expenses  to  (hemselvea^ 
In  some  villages  mortality  has  been  tremendpus.  Prioea 
are  ruling  high  on  which  owiog  to  the  failure  of  oropa 
they  can  but  take  little  advantage  and  have  to  suffer  all 
the  disadvantages  thereof.  It  is  not  money  they  want, 
so  much  as  the  voice  of  a  strong,  unanimous  and  em- 
phatic public  opinion. 


EEPLY  TO  THE  COMMISSIONER. 
Mr,    Gandhi  wrote  from   I^adiad  under  date  T5ih 
April,  the  following  reply   to  the.Oommissioner's  address^ 
■to  the  cultivators  to   desist  from  following  Mr,   Gandhi's 
lead  in  regard   to  the  vow  of  Passive   Besistanoe.'    The 
Commissioner's  exhortations  to  the  agricultuiiats  amount- 
ed to  a  threat   detailing  the  consequences  of  non-payment 
■  ef  revenues.     Mr.  Oa^dhi  replied  as  follows: — 

The  pablioatioa  of  the  summary  of  the  Comm  a- 
aiouer's  Gaja.rati  address  to  the  Kaira  oultivatora  necessi- 
tates a  reply  in  justice  to  the  latter  as  alao  the  workers, 
I  have  before  me  a  varbatim  report  of  'the  speech. 
;Iii  is  more  direac  than  the  summary  in  the  laying  down 
of  the  Government  policy.  The  Gommisaioner's  position 
.'ia  that  the    revenue  authorities'    deciaion  regarding   aua- 


BBPLT  TO  X^E)  OpMHISf  IfONBB  20? 

■pension  ia  fiaal:  They  may  and  do  reoeive  and  bear  oom- 
^lainba  frooa  the  ryota  bat  the  fiaaliby  of  their  deoiaiozi 
cannot  be  qaeationed.     This  ia  the  eras  of    struggle.     It 
ia  ooDtended  on  behalf  of  the  ryota  that  where  there  are, 
ip  matters  oi  admtnistrative  orders,  sharp   diffarenaea  a{ 
'OpiDioD  between    looal  offio^ials    and  them   the  points    of 
:^£ferenoes  are  and  ought  to  ba  referred  to  an    impartial 
oommittee  of   inquiry.     This,  it  ia   held,  oonatitutes    the 
«trength  of  tha  British  ooostitution.  Tae   Commiasioner 
faaa  on  prinoipla  rejected  this  position  and  invited  a  oriaia, 
And  he  baa  made  suoh    a  fetish  of  it  that  he    armed  him- 
self beforehand  with  a  letter  from  Lord  Wiilingdon  to  the 
'effect  that  even  he  should  not  interfere  with  the  Gbmmia- 
«ioner's  deoiaion.    He  brings    in  the' war  to  defend    his 
position  and  abjures  the  ryots  and  me  to  deaist  fropa    our 
«aase  at  thia  time  of  peril  to  tha  Empire.     Bat  I  venture 
to  auggest  that  the  Cammiaaioner's  attitude  oonatitutes  a 
^eril  far  graver  than  the  G-arman  peril,  and  I  am  aerving 
the  Empire  in  trying  to    deliver  it  from  thia    peril  ,,from 
within.     There  ia    no  mistaking    the  faot    that  India  ia 
waking  up  from  ita  long  aleep.     The  Byota  do   not    need 
to  ba  literate  to  appreciate  their  rights  and    their  duties. 
They  have  but  to  realise  their  invulnerable  power  and  no 
'Government,  however  strong,  can  stand  against  their  will. 
The  Kaira   ryota  are  solving  an  imperial   problem  of  the 
first  magnitude  in  India.     They  will  show  that   it  is  im- 
possible to  govern  men  without  their  oonsent.     Onoe  the 
Oivil  Service  realises  6his  position,  it  will  supply  to  India 
ttuly    civil  servants  who     will    be  the    bulwark  of   the 
people's  righta.     To-day  the  Oivil  Sarvioe  rule    is    a  rule 
of    fear.     The   Kaira   Eyot   is   fighting    for    the    rule  of 
love.  It  is  the  Oommissionar  who  has  produoad  the  crisis. 
Jt  waa,  as  it  is  now,  hia  duty  to  placate  the  people  wbea 


208  THE  KAIRA  QUK8TI0N 

be  Baw  that)  they  held  a  different  view,  The  revenue  of 
India  will  be  do  more  in  danger  because  a  GommiBsioner 
yields  to  the  popular  demands  and  grants  oonoession^ 
than  the  administiratioD  of  justioe  was  in  danger  when' 
Mrs.  Ma>  brick  was  reprieved  p&rely  in  obedience  to  the- 
popular  will,  or  the  Empire  was  in  danger  beoauBe  a- 
corner  of  a  moFque  in  Gawnpore  was  replaced  in 
obedience  to  the  same  demand.  Had  I  hesitated  to  advise' 
bbe  people  to  stand  firm  against  the  GommiBBioner's- 
refusal  to  listen  to  their  prayer,  instead  of  taking  the  open- 
and  healthy  course  it  has  taken,  their  discontent  would 
have  burrowed  under  and  bred  ill-will.  That  son  is  a. 
true  so'n  of  bis  father  who  rather  than  harbour  ill-wilt 
Bgamst  him,  frankly  but  respectfully  tells  him  all  he  feels 
and  equally  respectfiilly  resists  him,  if  he  cannot  trutb.- 
lully  obey  bis  commands.  I  apply  the  same  law  to  the 
relations  between  the  Government  and  the  people.  There 
cannot  be  seasons  when  a  man  must  suspend  his  con» 
science.  But  just  as  a  wise  father  will  quickly  agree 
with  his  son  and  not  incour  his  ill-will,  especially  if  the 
family  was  in  danger  from  without,  even  so  a  wise 
Government  will  quickly  agree  with  the  ryots  rather 
than  incur  their  displeasure.  War  cannot  be  permitted 
to  give  a  license  to  the  offioials  to  exact  obedience  to  their 
orders,  even  though  the  ryots  may  consider  them  to  ba 
onreasoDable  and  unjust. 

The  Commissioner  steels  the  hearts  of  the  ryots  for 
continuing  their  course  by  telling  them  that  for  arevenUa. 
of  four  lakhs  of  rupees  he  will  for  ever  confiscate  over  a 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  worth  over  three 
orores  of  ruiees,  and  for  ever  dbclara  the  holders,  their 
wives  and  children  unworthy  of  holding  any  lands  in 
Eaira,     He   coneiders   the    ryots  to  be   misguided  and 


BBPLY  TO  THE  COMMISSIONEB  209 

ooDtumaoioua   in  the   same  breabh.     These  are    solemn 
\7ord8 : — • 

Do  not  be  undec  the  impreeBiou  that  out  matnlatdarB  and  our 
Talatis  will  realiae  the  assessment  by  attaohing  and  selling  yont 
movable  property.  We  are  not  goiog  to  trouble  ourBelveB  bo  much. 
Oar  officers'  time  is  valuable.  Only  by  your  bringing  in  the  moniee 
Bhall  the  treasutiea  be  filled.  This  is  no  threat.  You  take  it  from  me 
that  parents  never  threaten  their  children.  They  only  advise.  But 
if  you  do  not  pay  the  dues,  your  lands  will  be  oonfisoated,  Many 
people  say  that  this  will  not  happen.  But  I  say  it  will.  1  have  no 
need  to  take  a  vow.  I  shall  prove  that  I  mean  what  I  say.  The 
lands  of  those  who  do  not  pay  'will  be  oonfisoated.  Those  who  are 
oonlumaoioua  will  get  no  l»nds  in  future.  Government  do  not  want 
their  names  on  their  Records  of  Bights.  Those  who  go  out  shall 
never  be  admitted  again," 

I  hold  tba6  ib  is  the  sacred  duty  of  every  loyal  oitizen 
to  fight  unto  death  againsli  suah  a  spirit  of  vindiotivenesa 
and  tyraDDy,  The  Gatnmissioaer  has  done  the  Ahmeda- 
bad  sbrikera  and  me  a  ornal  wrong,  in  saying  that  the 
sbrikera  knowingly  broke  their  vow,  He  was  present  at 
the  meeting  where  the  sebblemaab  was  declared.  He  may 
hold  that  bhe  strikers  had  broken  their  vow  (though  his 
speech  at  the  meebiog  produced  a  oonbrary  impression) 
bub  there  is  nothing  to  shoj?  thab  the  strikers  knowingly 
broke  their  row,  Oa  the  oonbrary  ib  was  entirely  kept 
by  their  resuming  their  work  on  their  getting  for  the 
first  day  wages  demanded  by  them,  and  the  final  decision 
US  to  wagea  being  referred  bo  arbitrabian.  The  sbrikers 
bad  suggesbed  arbibrabion 'whic'i  bhe  mill-owners  had 
rejected,  Their  sbraggle  in  it3  esaenoe  was  for  a  thirby- 
five  per  cant,  increase  in  their  wages  or  such  increase  as 
an  arbibration  board  may  decida.  And  bbis  is  whab  they 
have  got.  The  hib  ab  bhe  strikers  and  me  is,  I  regret  to 
have  bo  say,  a  hit  below  the  belt. 


U 


THE  MEANING  OF  THE  COVENANT 
On  the  20th  Aprii,  Mr.  Oandhi  in  company  of  Mrs. 
Gandhi,  Messrs.  Manu  Subedar,   V.  J.  Fatel  and  others 
visited    three    villages,     viz.,     Kasar,    Ajarpura    and 
Samarkha  in  Anand  Taluka. 

At  Ajarpura  which  was  visited  by  the  Mamlatdar  of 
the  Taluha  only  two  days  bach' and  where  he  had  taken 
great  pains  to  explain  to  the  people  why  they  should  now 
pay  up  the  revenue  without  any  further  delay,  but  where 
all  efforts  had  proved  fruitless,  a  meeting  of  about  a  thou-- 
sand  men  and  three  hundred  ladies  was  held-  Here 
Mr,  Gandhi  delivered  a  long  address.     He  said : — 

Firsk  of  all' I  wanb  to  talk  to  you  alibble  aboufi 
the  Mamlalidac'a  visili.  The  Mamlatdar  told  you  that 
the  oovanant  must  ba  observed.  Bat  ha  misinterpreted 
the  maaning  of  the  aovenant.  Ha  told  you  that  your 
forefathers  had  entered  into  a  covenant  vrith  the  Govern- 
ment to  pay  a  oertain  assessmaat  for  the  lands  in  their 
possession,  Now  let  us  sea  as  to  what  kind  of  oovanant  our 
forefathers  had  entered  into.  Oar  ancient  law  oovanant  ia 
that  we  should  give  to  our  king  one-fourth  of  the  grains 
that  grow  in  our  fields.  It  maant  that  whenever  our  oropa 
failed  wa  had  to  pay  nothing.  The  present  Government 
have  changed  this  law  and  forces  up  to  pay  in  money.  I 
do  not  know  whether  it  has  gained  thereby.  Perhaps 
they  may  have.  Bat  remember  well  that  this  is  our 
ancient  law,  and  you  hava  takan  the  vow  in  aooordanoa 
with  it.  And  again  it  is  tha  Government  law  that  if  the 
crops  are  under  four  annas,  the  collection  of  revenue  must 
be  suspended  till  tha  next  year.  This  year  you  sinoerely 
believe  that  your  crops  are  under  four  annas  and  thara- 


REPLY  TO  KA'IRA  PRESS  NOTE  211 

tore  your  revenue  nauat  be  suspended.  The  Government 
flay  bbat  it  is  not  your  right,  but  it  is  only  a  graoe  that 
^t  suspends  revenue  till  the  next  year.  Let  me  declare 
to  yoa  that  it  is  no  graoa  on  the  part  of  Governmanb,  but 
it  ia  your  right.  And  if  it  is  a  graoe  GovernmeDb 
•flannob  show  it  at  its  sweet  will." 

Ha  then  pointed  out  that  the  real  signifiaanoe  of  the 
struggle  lay  in  the  fact  that  it  would  revive  the  old  village 
Tapublios.  The  key  of  village  self-government  lay  in  the 
'-assertion  of  publio  opinion.  Ha  than  exhorted  them  to 
<ba  fearless.  Ha  than  said  that  Satyagraha  maot 
pervade  through  ail  their  life.  <<:'< 


BEPLY  TO  K4IEA  PRESS  NOTE 
Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  sent  the  following  reply  to  the 
^ress  note  issued  by  the  Bombay  Govermnent  in   the  first 
yieeh  of  May,  1918,  on  the  situation  in  the  Kaira  District, 
The   G^vernmant  prass  note  on  the  Kaira  trouble  is 
ramarkabla  for  the  sins  both  of  omission  and  oommisaion. 
As  to  the  paragraph    devoted  to   Maaars,    Parekh's    and 
^atel's  investigations,    I    wish  only    to  aay    that  at  the 
tntqrviaw  with  His  Esoallanoy  the    Governor,    the  GodS- 
-•miasionar  ohallangad  tha  aoouraoy  of  thair  atatamaata.    I 
immediately   suggastad   tha  appointmant  of  a  oommittaa 
of  inquiry.  Surely,  it  wa-i  tha  moat  proper  thing  that  the 
■Governm'ant  oOnld  have  donsi  and-tha"  whol&'of  the    un- 
seemly  exeoatioDS,  tha  removal  of  tha  oultiyabora' miloh 
oattle  and  their  ornaments,  the  oonfisoation  ordara,  oould 
faave  baen  avoided.  lastead,  as  tha  preas  note  says,    they 
^posted  a  Oolleotor  '  of  long  experienoe.'     What   oQuJd,  h|a 
-do  ?  Tha  best  of  offioiala  have  to  move  in  a  vioious  .^irgl^, 
They  have  lio  carry  ou*!  tha  traditions  of  a^seryioe    vyhioh 


312  THE  KAIRA   QUESTION 

has  made  of  prestige  a  fetish  and  whioh  coDaidera  itself 
to  ba  almost  infallible,  and  rarely  admits  its  mlataikes. 

With  referenoe  to  the  investigation  by  Mr.  Devdhar 
and  his  co-workers,  the  press  noiie  leaves  on  the  reader 
the  ioaprassion  that  the  Gooacaissioner  had  responded  to 
their  saggestious.  At  the  interview  at  whioh  I  was  pre- 
sent be  ohallenged  the  report  they  had  submitted  to  him 
and  said  disbinotly  that  whatever  relief  he  granted  would 
not  ba  granted  beoausa  of  tha  report  whioh  ha  said  in 
Bubstauce  was  not  true  so  far  aa  it  contained  any  new 
things  and  was  not  new  in  so  far  as  it  oontained  any 
true  Btatementa, 

I  cannot  weary  the  public  with  the  tragedy  in  th» 
Mfttar  Taluka.  In  certain  villages  of  tha  Taluka  which  are 
affected  by  the  irrigation  canals  they  have  a  double  grie- 
vance :  (l)  the  ordinary  failure  of  crops  by  reason  of 
the  esoassive  rainfall,  and  (2)  the  total  destrubion  of  crops 
by  reason  of  overfljodiag,  la  tha  second  case,  they  are 
entisled  to  full  remission.  So  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  many 
oases  it  baa  nob  been  granted. 

It)  is  not  correct  to  aay  that  the  Servants  of  India 
Siciety  stopped  investigation  in  tha  Thasra  Taluka  be- 
oausa there  was  no  case  for  inquiry  but  because  they 
deemed  it  uaneoesaary,  so  their  report  says,  aa  I  had  de- 
cided to  inquire  into  the  crops  of  almost  every  village, 

MR.   GANDHI'S  OHALIiBNGB   NOT  ACOEPIBD 

Tba  press  note  is  less  than  fair  in  calling  my  method 
of  inquiry  'Utopian.'  I  do  adhere  to  my  contention  thalh 
if  the  cultivators'  statements  may  ba  relied  upon,  my  me- 
ihod  cannot  bub  yiald  absolutely  reliable  results.  Who 
flhould  know  batter  than  the  cultivator  himself  the  yield 
of  ia  oropa  ?  I  refuse  to  believe  that   lakha  of   men  oould 


KEPL7  TO  K4JBA  PRESS  NOTE  213; 

"oonapira  bo  bell  an  untruiih  whan  there  was  no  greab  gain 

in  View,  and  aufifaring,    a  oartainliy.     It  is  impossible   for 

thousands  of  man  bo  laarn  by  heart  figures  as  to  the  yield, 

—actual  and  probable— of  over  tan  crops  30  that  the  total 

in    each    oase  would    give  leas  than  a  four-anna    crop.  I 

contend    that  my  method  contains   automatic   safeguards 

against  deception.  Moreover  I  had  challenged  the  official 

annawari  alike  of  hharif  and  rahi  crops.    When  I  did  so 

the  rabi  oropa  were  still  standing.  I  had,    therefore,  sug- 

igested    tnat    they    could  out    the  rabi  oropa  and  test  the 

yield  and  thua  find  the  true  annawari,  I   had    suggested 

this  apeoially  of  Yadthal.     My  argument  was  that  if  the 

oulfeivatora'  annawari  of  such  rabi  crops  waa  found  to  ba 

•oorreot  and  the  offioiaU'  wrong,  it  was  not   improper  to 

infer  that  the  cultivatoca'  valuations  regarding  the  kharif 

crops    ware  also  right.     My   o£fer  waa  not    accepted.     I 

<may  add  that  I  had    naked  to  be  allowed  to    be    present 

when  the  oolleotor  visited  Vadthal  which  waa  taken  as  a 

iieat  village.     This  request  was  also  not  acceded  to. 

Tbe  note  is  misleading  inasmuch  as  it  states  that  in 
-arriving  at  my  annawari,  I  have  not  taken  into  account 
the  rabi  oropa  or  the  cotton  crops,  I  have  taken  these 
crops  into  account,  I  have  aimply  questioned  the  logic  of 
the  official  system,  The  reaaon  ia  obvious.  If  out  of  a 
•^population  of  one  thousand  men,  only  two  hundred  men 
igraw  rabi  cropai  it  would  ba  highly  unjust  to  the  eight . 
hundred  men  to  force  up  their  annawari  if  without  the 
rabi  crops  their  crops  showed  only  four  annas  or 
^tinder- 

GROSS  INAOOUBAOIES 

I  am  surprised  at  the  gross  inacouraoies  in  the  para- 
;grapb  devoted  to  the  crops  in  Limbasi,     In  the  first  ins- 


214  IHK  K&IBA   QUESIION 

tanoe  I  was  not  preBeoti  nhen  tho  offioial  inquiry  was 
made,  and  in  (be  seaond  instaooe  tbe  wbeati,  w  hiob  \» 
valued  ab  Bs,  13,445,  inoluded  wbeab  also  from  tiwa 
neigbbouring  villages  so  tbab  oul)  of  tbe  orops  esiiimated' 
ab  Bb-  13,445,  three  assessments  had  to  be  paid.  And 
what  are  Bsr  13,445  in  a  population  of  eighteen  hundred 
men  ?  For  the  matter  of  that,  I  am  prepared  to  admit 
that  the  Limbaai  people  had  a  rloe  crop  whioh  too  gave 
tbem  as  many  rupees.  At  the  rate  of  forty  rupees  per 
head  per  year  to  feed  a  man  the  Limbasi  people  would  re- 
quire Bi.  72,000  for  their  food  alone.  It  may  interest 
the  publio  to  know  that  aooording  to  the  cfQoial  annawari„ 
the  Limbasi  wheat  alone  should  have  beeo> 
B^.  83,021-  This  figure  has  been  supplied  to  me  by  the- 
oolleotor.  To  demonstrate  the  reoklessnees  with  whjoh 
the  press  note  has  been  prepared,  I  may  add  that  if  the. 
Limbasi  people  are  to  be  believed,  the  whole  of  the  wheat" 
orop  was  on  the  threshing  floor.  Aooording  to  their 
statements,  nearly  one-third  was  foreign  wheat.  The 
Limbasi  wheat,  therefore,  would  be  under  Bs.  9,000.  Tbe- 
offioial  annawari  is  ten  annas.  Now  aooording  to  ths' 
actual  yield  the  wheat  annawari  of  Limbasi  was  11  annas 
as  against  the  offioial  ten  annas.  Moreover,  a  maund  of 
wheat  per  Yigha  is  required  as  seed  and  the  Limbasi 
cultivators  had  3,000  (Bs.  3  per  maund  equals  Ba.  9,000) 
maunda  of  wheat  on  1,965  Vighas,  i.e.,  the  wheat  orop 
was  a  trifle  over  the  seed.  Lastly,  whilst  the  crop  wa8< 
under  harvest,  I  had  offered  to  the  collector  to  go  over  io- 
Limbasi  myself  and  to  have  it  weighed  so  that  there-- 
might  be  no  question  of  the  aoouraoy  or  otherwise  of  the- 
cultivators'  statements.  But  the  collector  did  not  aocepb. 
my  offer.  Therefore,  I  hold  that  the  ouUivators'  figures^ 
inuBt  be  accepted  as  true. 


REPLY  TO  KlIRA  PRESS  NOTE  215 

ADVOCACY  OF  PASSIVE  BESISTANOE 
Merely  feo  show  how  hopslasaly  misleading  (he  press 
note  is  I  may  sbate  thali  the  Gajarati  Sabha  did  no*  pass 
a  resolution  advising  passive  raaiatanoa.  Nor  that  16 
would  have  shirked  it  but  I  felt  myself  that  passive  re- 
sistance should  not  be  the  subjaot  of  a  resolution  in  a 
Sabha,  whose  oonstitntion  was  governed  by  the  rule  of 
majority  and  so  the  Gujarat  Sabha's  resolution  left  it 
open  to  individual  members  to  follow  their  own  bent  of 
mind.  It  is  true  that  most  of  the  active  members  of  the 
Sabha  are  engaged  in  the  Kaira  trouble. 

t  must  repudiate  totally  the  insinuation  that  I 
dissuaded  payment  by  people  who  wished  to  pay.  The 
figures  given  in  the  press  note  showing  the  oolleotion  in 
the  different  Talukas,  if  t^y  prove  anything,  prove  that 
the  hand  of  the  law  has  hit  them  hard  and  that  the  fears 
of  the  Bavanis  and  the  Talatia  have  proved  too  strong. for 
them.  When  after  oonfisoation  and  sales  under  ezeontion 
the  Government  show  a  clean  bill  and  no  arrears,  will  they 
contend  that  there  was  no  ease  for  relief  or  inquiry? 

I  admit  that  the  suspension  is  granted  as  a  matter  of 
grace  and  not  as  a  matter  of  right  enforceable  by  law,  but 
the  concession  is  not  based  on  caprice,  but  is  regulated 
by  properly  defined  rnlesi  and  the  Government  do  noti 
contend  that  if  the  crops  had  been  under  four  annas  they 
could  have  withheld  suspension.  The  sole  point  through- 
out has  been  the  diffareuoe  as  to  annawari.  If  it  is  true 
that  in  granting  concessions  the  Government  take  into 
account  also  other  circumstances,  e>  g>,  in  the  words  of 
the  press  note,  the  general  eoononiic  situation,  suspen- 
sion is  doubly  necessary  this  year  because  of  the  plague 
and  high  prices.  The  collector  told  me  definitely  that  he 
could  not  take  this  last  into   account,     Se  could  grant 


213  IHK  EAIBA  QHEStlON 

saspension  only  under  tha  rules  wliioh  bad  referenoa  only 
to  oropa  and  nobbing  else. 

I  6bink  I  hava  shown  enough  hara  to  warrant  a 
oommibiea  of  inquiry  and  I  suboaib  ihatii  as  a  mabber  of 
prinoiple,  id  would  be  worbh  whila  granting  bha  inquiry 
avan  if  one  oulbivabor  remaina  wibh  an  arraar  against  bim, 
baaausa  tbara  is  nothing  found  to  attaoh  and  tha  Govern- 
ment  might  be  relaotanb  to  sell  his  lands.  The  peoDia 
hava'ohallanged  tha'aoouraay  of  lalabia'  figures ;  in  soma 
oasas  bhara  are  Talatia  thamaelves  ready  to  oome  forward 
to  ahow  that  the?  ware  asked  to  pub  up  bhe  annawari 
found  by  bhem.  Bat  if  tha  inquiry  is  now  held  to  be 
unneaaasary,  why  do  tha  Govarnmanb  nob  granb  suapan- 
sion,  aapaoially  whan  admibtedly  thara  is  only  a  amall 
number  lafb  to  oolleot  from  and  more  eapeoially  when 
if  suapension  is  gran!iad  wall-bo-do  aulbivators  are  ready 
to  pay, 

lb  is  evidenb  now  bhab  Goyarnmaut  have  surrendered 
the  question'of  prinoipla  for  whiah  tha  Gommiasionar  baa 
stood. 

VICEROY'S    CALL  FOR  CONCORD 

The  Vioaroy  has  appealed  for  tha  sinking  of  domestio 
dififerenoes.  la  tha  appeal  oon&nad  only  to  tha  ryots  or 
may  the  ofSoials  also  yield  to  the  popular  will  whan  the 
popular  demand  is  not  immoral  or  unjuab  and  bhua  pro- 
duce oontentment? 

If  diatress  means  atarvabion,  I  admib  bhab  bha  Eaira 
people  are  not  starving,  Bat  if  sale  of  goods  to  pay 
assessment  or  bo  buy  grain  for  food  be  an  indioatioa 
of  distress  tbara  is  enough  of  it  in  bhe  distriob.  I  am 
prepared  to  show  that  hundreds  have  paid  their  assess- 
ment either  by  incurring  debts  or  by  selling  their  trees, 
oatbia  or  other  valuables.     The  most  grievous  omission 


END  OF  THE  KAIRA  SIBUGQLB  SIT 

■in  liha  preaa  note,  however,  is  that  of  Iha  faob  thab 
-oollaoliiona  are  being  made  in  a  vindioMva  spirit.  Tha 
cultivators  are  being  taught  a  lesson  for  their  oontumaoy 
flo  oallad.  They  are  under  threat  to  loaa  their  lands 
worth  3  ororea  of  rupaaa  for  an  aaaesamant  of  4  lakhs  of 
rupees,  In  mapy  oaaea  a  quarter  of  the  aaaeasmant  has 
i)aan  exaoiiad  as  a  penalty.  Is  thefa  not  in  tha  abova 
narrative  room  for  a  doubt  that  tha  oESaiala  may  be  ia 
iha  wrong  ? 

END  OF  THE  KAIEA  STRUGGLE 
The  following  is  the  translation  of  a  manifesto'issued 

in  Qujarati  to  the  people  of  Kaira  by  Messrs.  M.K.  Gandhi 

and  Vallabhhhai  J.  Patel  : — 

Tha  struggle  that  tha  people  of  tha  Diatriot  of  Kaira 

entered  upon  on  the  22ad  of  Maroh  last,  has  oonie  to  an 

end,     Tha  people  took  tha  following  vow  on  that  day  : — 

"  Our  village  has  bad  orops  under  {out  annas.  We  therefore 
Tequeated  the  Government  to  postpone  oollection  to  the  next  year, 
but  they  did  not  do  bo.  We  the  undersigned  therefore  solemnly 
4eolare  that  we  shall  not  pay  the  assessment  for  the  year  nhethec 
it  be  wholly  or  in  part.  We  shall  undergo  all  the  sufferings  that 
may  result  from  suoh  refraining.  We  shall  also  allow  our  lands  to 
be  oonfisoated  should  they  do  so,  But  we  shall  not  by  voluntary 
payment  allow  ourselves  to  be  regarded  as  liars  and  thus  lose  out 
^self -respect.  If  the^Government  would  graciously  postpone  for  all 
the  remaining  villages  collection  of  the  balance  of  the  revenue,  we, 
who  can  aSord  it,  would  be  prepared  to  pay  up  revenue  whether  it 
b,e  in  full  or  in  part.  The  rerison  why  the  well-to-do  amongst  ua 
would  not  par  is  that  if  they  do,  the  needy  ones  would  out  of  fright 
sell  their  chattels,  or  incur  debts  and  pay  the  revenue  and  thus 
.suffer.  We  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  well-to-do  to  protect 
.the  needy  against  such  a  plight," 

Tha  meaning  of  this   vow  is   that  tha  GovernDaenb 

•suspending  oolleotion  of  the   revenue  from  the   poor,  tha 

v7ell-to-do  should  pay   the  asseasmanb  due  by  tham.  The 

Mamlatdar  of  Nadiad  at  UttarsandB,'on  tha  3rd  of  June, 

issued  suoh  orders,  whareupon  tha  people  of  Utteraanda 


218  THE   KAIRA   QUESTION 

■who  oould  afiford,   ware  advised  to  pay  up-     Paymentsh 
have  already  oommeDoed  there. 

On  the  foregoing  order  having  been  passed  at  Utter- 
Banda  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Collector  stating  that 
if  orders  like  the  one  in  Ubtersanda  were  passed  every- 
vrbere  the  struggle  would  oome  to  an  end,  and  it  would 
be  possible  to  inform  His  Esoelleacy  the  Governor. on  the 
lOth  instant — the  day  of  the  sitting  of  the  Frovinoial 
War  Gonferenoe — that  the  domeatio  di£ferenoa  in  Kaira 
was  settled.  The  Golleotor  has  replied  to  the  effeot  that 
the  order  like  the  one  in  Uttersanda  is  applicable  to  the 
whole  district.  Thus  the  peoples'  prayer  has  at  last  been 
granted.  The  Collector  has  also  stated  in  reply  to  a^ 
query  about  Ghothai  orders  that  the  orders  will  not  be 
enforced  against  those  who  may  voluntarily  pay  upi  Oar 
thanks  are  due  to  the  Collector  for  this  conoession. 
AN  END  WITHOUT  GRACE 

We  are  obliged  to  say  with  sorrow  that  although  the> 
struggle  has  oome  to  an  end  it  is  an  end  without  grace^ 
It  lacks  dignity.  The  above  orders  have  not  been  passed 
either  with  generosity  or  with  the  heart  in  them.  It  very 
much  looks  as  if  the  orders  have  bean  passed  with  the- 
greatest  reluctance.     The  Collector  says  : — 

"  Orders  were  issued  to  all  mamlatdars  on  the  25th  April  that 
no  pressure  should  be  put  on  those  unable  to  pay.  Their  attention 
was  again  drawn  to  these  orders  in  a  proper  ciroular  issued  by  ma- 
on  the  33ad  of  M<^y  and  to  ensure  that  proper  efieot  was  given  to 
them.  The  mamlatdars  were  advised  to  divide  the  defaulters  in- 
eaoh  village  into  two  classes,  those  who  oould  pay  and  those  who 
were  unable  to  pay  on  aooount  of  poverty," 

If  this  was  so  why  were  these  orders  not  published 
to  the  people  ?  Had  they  known  them  on  the  25th  April 
what  sufferings  would  they  not  have  been  saved  from. 
The  expenses  that  were  unnecessarily  incurred  by  the 
Government  in   engaging  the   officials  of   the   district  in^ 


END  OP  THE  KllKA  STRUGGLE  ^IW" 

efleobing  exaoufcions  would  have  been  saved,  Wheraver  tha 
BBaeaamant  was  unoollaotaa  bha    paopla  lived    with  their 
Uvea  in    their   handa.     They  haVa  liveiJ  away  from  their 
homea  to    avoid  attaohmenlia.     They    have  not  had  even 
enough   food.      The    woman   have    auffared    what    they 
ought  not  to  have.     At  timaa,  they  have  baen  obliged  to 
put  up  with  inaalta  from  insolent    Oirola  loapeotors,  and 
lo  helplessly   watoh    their  miloh  buffallqaa    taken    away 
from  them.    They  have  paid  Ghothai  fioea,  and  had  they 
known  the  foregoing  orders  they  would  have  been  saved  • 
all  the  misariea.     The  offiaiala  kaaw  that  thia  relief  for 
the  poor  waa  tha  orus  of  the  struggle,  The  Gommiaaioner 
would  not  svan  look  at  this  diffiaulty,   Many  letters  were 
addressed  to  him  but  he  remained  unbending.     Ha  aaid  ^ 
"  Individual  relief  oannot  be  granted,  it  is  not  the  law." 
Now  the  Colleotor  says  :  "  The  orders  of  April  25,  ao  far  - 
as  it  related  to  patting  pressure  on  thoae  who  were  really  - 
unable  to  pay  on  account  of  poverty,  were  merely  a   re- 
Bbabemant  of  what  are  publioly  kaown  to  ba  the  standing - 
ordera  of  Government  on  that'subjaot."     If  this  is  really - 
true  the   people  have   saffarad  deliberately  and    through 
sheer  obstinacy  !  At  the  tima  of  going  to  Dalbi  Mr.  Gandhi - 
wrote  to  tha  Commissioner  requesting  him  to  grant  or  bo 
issue  orders   bo  tha    above  effaot   so  thab  the  good    news 
could  be  given  to  His  Eseallanoy  the  Vioeroy,  The  Com-- 
missioner  gave  no  heed  to  the  reqaeat, 

OPPIOIAL'S   OBSTINACY 
"  We  are  moved  by  the  sufEatings  of  the  people,  we  perceive  ouc- 
mistake  and  in  order  to  plaoate  the  people  we  ace  now  prepared  to- 
grant  individual  relief,"  the  officialg  oould  have  generously  said  all 
this  and  endeared  themselves  to  the  people  but  they  have  obstinately- 
avoided  this  method  (of  .wiqning  (hem  over).    And  even  now  relief 
has  been  granted  in  a  niggardly  manner,  involuntarily  and  without 
admission  of  any  mistake.     It  is  eveu  claimed  that  what  has  novr 
been  granted  is  nothing  new.     And  hence  we  say  that  there  is  little, 
graae  in  the  settlement. 


2^0  THE  K4IRA  QUBSTIQN 

The   ofiSoiala  have   failed  (o  be   popniar  beoansa   of 
their  obaliinaay,  beoausa  of  bheir  mialiaken  belief  (hafi  they 
should   never  admili  being   in   tha  wrong  and  beoaaae   of 
their  having  made  id  a  fetiah  thab  ib  ahonid  never  be  said 
of  them  bhab  bhey  had  yielded    bo    anybhing  like  popular 
agibation.     lb  grievea  ua  bo  offer  bhia  oribioism,     Bab  we 
have  permitbed  ouraelvea  bo  do  ao  aa  their  friends. 
A  TRIBUTE   TO  KAIRA   PEOPLE 
Bub  though  bha  ofQoial  abtibnde  ia  thua  uhsabiafaobory, 
our  prayer  haa  been  granbed  and  ib  ia  our  dubjr  bo  aooepb 
the  oonoeaaion  wibh  thankfuloeaa.     Now,  there  ia  only  3 
ver  oenb-  of  tha  asaeaamenb  remaining  unpaid,     Ib  waa  a 
poioi;   of   honour   wibh  us  bill  now   bo   refuse    payment. 
<]oadibiona   having    materially    albered    ib    is  a  poinb   of 
honour  for  a  Sabyagrahi  to  pay  up  tha  aaeessmenb,  Thosa- 
i!7ho  can  afford  ahould  pay  without  causing  the  Govern" 
menb  bhe  alighbeat'broubla  and  bhus  show  that,  whan  there 
is  no  oonfliot  between  tha  diotatea  of  oonaoieaoa  and  fhoaa 
-of  man-made   law  they    are    able  to  oompal  anybody    bo 
-obey  the  law  of  bhe  land.     A  Sabyagrahi    sometimes  ap- 
pears momentarily    to  disobey  laws  and  bhe    oonatitubed 
-authority,  only  to  prove  in  bhe  end  hia  regard  for  bobh. 

In  making  a  lisb  of  bhoae  who  are  uoabla  bo  pay  we 
should  apply  a  besb  so  rigid  bhab  no  one  oan  ohallenge  our 
'fading.  Those  whose  inoapaoiby  for  paymenb  is  at  all  in 
doubb  should  oonaider  it  their  duty  bo  pay.  The  final 
-deoiaion  aa  bo  the  inaapaoity  for  payment  will  rest  wibh 
the  aubhoritiesi  but  we  believe  that  the  judgment  of  the 
<i)aopIa  will  have  its  full  weight. 

HONOUR  OP   A   SATYAGRAHI 
By  bbeir  courage  tha  people  of  Kaira  have  drawn  tha 
-attention   of   bhe   whole  of  India.     Daring   tha   laat  sis 
•asontha  bhey  have  had  fall  tasta  of  bha  fruita  of  observing 


XHB  l^ASX  FHASS  2M 

truth,  faatlesanea.  uaity,  dataroainaliion  and  aelt-aaorifioa. 
We  hopa  thab  they  will  aiiiU  futbhar  oalbivaba  bheaa  great 
qualibies,  will  mova  forward  in  tha  path  of  progresa,  acd 
ahad  luafcra  on  the  nama  of  the  Motherland.  lb  is  our  firm- 
belief  that  the  people  of  K»ira  have  truly  aarvad  their  owo 
oauaa,  aa  well  as  the  oausa  of  Svraraj  and  the  Ecnpira. 
May  God  bleas  you. 


THE  LAST  PHASE 

The  6atyagraha  Campaign  in  Kaira  was  thus  practi- 
cally over.  Several  meetings  were  held,  some  to  greet  the- 
Batyagrahis  released  from  jail,  some  to  celebrate  the  victory- 
of  the  campaign  and  several  more  to  do  honour  to  Mr. 
Gandhi  for  his  wise  and  courageous  lead.  At  the  meeting- 
of  the  27th  July  at  Nadiad,  Mr.  Gandhi  thus  welcomed 
those  who  were  released  from  the  j ail '.^ 

We  stand  on  the  threaholl  of  a  twilight — whether 
.morning  or  evening  twilight  we  know  not,  One  is  follow- 
ed by  the  night,  the  other  heralda  the  dawn.  If  we  waut^ 
to  aee  the  dawning  day  after  tha  twilight  and  not  the- 
mournful  night,  it  bahovas  every  one  of  us  who  are  Home 
Bulera  to  realise  the  truth  ai  thia  juaoture,  to  ataudfor  ilh 
againat  any  odda  and  to  preach  and  praotiae  it  at  any  cost 
unfiinohiugly,  Oaly  will  tha  oorreob  praotioe  of  truth  en- 
title them  to  the  name  of  Home  Bulers. 

It  happened  that  some  one  who  preceded  had  said  in- 
the 'Course  of  his  speech  that  he  ivas  the  disciple  of 
Mr.  Pandya  who,  in  turn,  was  the  disciple  of  Mahatma 
Gandhi.  Almost  the  whole  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  address  ivas  irt 
answer  to  this  statement.    He  said  : — 

Aa  the  fate  would  have  it,  it  happana  that  with    my 
Incger  stay  and  inoreasing  familiarity  in  India,  the  uaea-^ 


:222  THB  EAIKi  QUKSIION 

viable  name  of  "  Gam  "  is  baing  given  me.  Soma  do 
faaaitafia  to  voluateer  for  others  and  balk  of  them  aa 
disoiples.  Bab  I  may  give  them  a  warning,  I  am 
insensible  that  bhis  warning  aarriaa  wibh  ib  a  sense 
eelf-eateem,  bub  even  ab  the  risk  of  baing  sbylad  ooncei 
I  would  give  bhe  warning,  I  say  bhab  ib  is  nob  within 
to  ba  anybody's  "Guru."  I  have  always  and  Will  ain 
-disclaim  this  bitle,  I,  who  am  in  searoh  of  a  spiri 
<3rarui  how  oan  I  arrogabe  bo  myself  bhe  bibia  of  a  Ga 
I  oannob  even  bhink  of  baing  anybody's  polibioal  gart 
the  Bsnsa.  bhab  I  applied  the  berm  bp.bha  laba  Mr,  Gokh 
tot  I  am  bub  an  infanb  in  polibios.  Another  bhing  is  t 
I  would  be  in&nibely  pained  to  find  one  who  oalls  him 
my  disoipla  going  astray,  or  falling  sborb  of  my  expe 
tions  and  I  want  to  spare  myself  that  pain,  I,  theref 
ask  you  bo  bhink  a  million  bimes  before  you  prooead  bo 
that  you  are  anybody's  disoipla.  Oar  whole  life  is 
an  experimant  and  our  skill  lias  in  always  keeping 
grain  from  bhe  ohaff.  I  wish  you  all  bo  join  ma  in  I 
greab  esperiment,  not  as  disoiples  but  as  my  brothers  i 
sisters,  regarding  me  if  you  choose,  as  your  elder  broti 
To  be  a  guru  I  must  ba  myself  flawlessly  perfect,  whic 
can  never  claim  to  be.  (Speaking  of  Mr.  Mohanlnl  Fan( 
the  Mahbma  said:]  The'.honourifor  the  victory  balongi 
Mr.  Fandya  in  a  special  aanse.  I  am  everywhere  be 
regarded  aa  one  living  in  bheElyaian  haighbs  of  parfacbni 
aa  one  by  profession  a  Sabyagrahi,  and  aa  standing  ap 
from  all,  oapabla  of  conceiving  anything  and  aohiav 
anybhing.  No  one  bherefore  ventures  bo  emulaba  my  i 
ample.  Bab  Mr.  Mohanlal  Fandya  was  abill  a  novice 
the  trade,  he  began  his  study  of '  Satyagraha  early  in 
«ampaigo  and  has  now  won  his  degree  of  tha  Maabat 
Arts.     His  inflaenoe,  therefore,  told  on  all   and  ha  co 


THE  LAST  EHA8B  -2.23 

infeofi  maQy  others  with  his  oourage  and  lova  of  trabh. 
Conolading,  tha  Mahatma  said  that  Satyagraha  had 
maltitudinoas  applioabioDa  and  ona  oould  not  oall  himssH 
a  real  Satyagrahi  unless  ha  had  vealiaed  all  of  them. 

The  meeting  in  Nadiad  was  called  for  the  special 
purpose  of  doing  honour  to  Mr,  Oandhi,  On  receiving  the 
address  Mr-  Oandhi  spoke  to  this  effect  :— 

I  am   gratefal  to  you  for  the  address  of  honour  yon 
tiave  given  ma.  Bat  a  servant  of  tha  people  oanaot  aooapt 
ifaonoars.     Ha  is  supposed  to  have  oonaaorated  his  all    to 
ithe  people  and  I  oould  but  conseorate  all  that  you  have 
•given  me   to  youi     One  who  has  made  "sarvica  "  his  re- 
ligion, aannot  lust  for  honour;  tha  moment  ha  does  so, 
he  is  lost.     I  hava  saan  that   soma  are   inspired  by   tha 
lust  of  help  while  some  by  the  lust  of  fame.     The  lust  of 
help  is  sordid  enough,  but  that  of  fame  is  even  more  so. 
ICha  misdeeds   of  tha  latter  leads   a  man  into  one   mora 
<wiakad  than  thosa  into  whioh  tha  former  does,     I  thera- 
iora  beseech  you  that  if  you  want  really  to  do  me  honour) 
do   not  please  giva  ma  a   showar  bath  of  addresses   and 
honours.     Tha   bast  way   to   honour    ma    is    to    do  my 
iiehest   and   to  carry  my  principles   into  praotioe.     And 
what,  forsooth,  have  I  done    in    this  campaign  ?    If  any- 
thing,   I  can  only  claim  the  clevernass  that  is  necessary 
for  a  commander  in  picking   out   man  for  his  campaign. 
I  was  clever  enough  in  doing  that,  but  there  too  I  should 
not   hava   achieved   anything    if  you  had  nob    acquitted 
yourselves   well.     The   choice  of  my  lieutenant,    I   may 
here   add,    was    particularly    happy.      I  will    say    thati 
without     tha     help     of     Mr.    V.  J.  I'atel,     we     could 
not    hava    won    tha    campaign.      Ha  had    a    splendid 
praotica,    ha  had    his    municipal     work  to   do,   but    ha 
renounced  it  all  and  threw  himself  in  tha  campaign.  Bub 


224  THE  K4IBA  QUESTION 

before  I  close,  I  musb'give  my  tribute  of  praise  to  those 
who  deserve  it  more  than  all  the  restj  and  whose  names 
will  probably  never  adorn  your  honours  list.  First  and 
foremost  I  place  the  sweeper  in  the  Ananthashram,  wba 
has  rendered  me  a  service  which  is  service  in  the  higheet 
sense  of  the  term,  aud  for  which  I  can  never  express  ade-; 
guate  gratefulness-  Next  come  the  children  of  the  Ashram^ 
who  have  ungrudgingly  without  auy  sense  of  reward 
served  me,  looked  after  me  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
the  night,  and  thus  rendered  a  service  of  which  vakils 
and  barristers  are  incapable. 


EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES. 


THE  DUTIES  OF  BEITISH  CITIZENSHIP, 

The  following  statement  made  by  Mr.  Gandhi  at  the 
time  of  the  troubles  in  the  Transva-al  explains  his  atti- 
tude towards  law  and  legislators  and  enunciates  the 
duties  of  true  British  citizenship  : — 

I  consider  myself  a  lover    of  the   British  Empire,  a 
citizen  (though  voteless)  of  the    Transvaal,   prepared  to 
take  my  full  share  in  promoting  the   general  well-being 
of  the  country.     And  I  claim    it  to  be    perfectly  honour- 
able and  consistent  with  the  above   profession   to  advise 
my    countrymen   not    to    submit   to  the  Asiatic  Act,  as 
being  derogatory  to  their  manhood  and  offensive  to  their 
religion.     And  I  claim,  too,   that  the   method  of  passive 
resistance  adopted  to  combat  the  mischief  is  the  clearest 
and   safest,    because,   if  the    cause  is    not   true,  it  is  the 
resisters,  and  they    alone,   who   suffer.     I  am  perfectly 
aware  of  the  danger  to  good   government,  in    a  country 
inhabited  by  many  races  unequally  developed,  when  an 
honest  citizen   advises   resistanco    to  a  law  of  the  land. 
But  I  refuse  to  believe  in  the  infalKbility  of  legislators. 
I  do  believe  that  they  are   not  always    guided  by  gene- 
rous  or    even    just    sentiments    in    their   dealings  with 
unrepresented  classes.     I  venture  to  say  that  if  passive 
resistance    is  generally   accepted,   it    will    once   and  for 
ever  avoid  the   contingency  of  a   terrible    death-struggle 
and    bloodshed    in    the   event    (not   impossible)   of   the 
natives  being   exasperated    by   a    stupid  mistake  of  our 
legislators. 
15 


226  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES. 

It  has  been  said  that  those  who  do  not  like  the  law 
may  leave  the  country.  This  is  all  very  well,  spoken 
from  a  cushioned  chair,  but  it  is  neither  possible  nor 
becoming  for  men  to  leave  their  homes  because  they  do 
:not  subscribe  to  certain  laws  enacted  against  them.  The 
Uitlanders  of  the  Boer  regime  complained  of  harsh 
Jaws ;  they,  too,  were  told  that  if  they  did  not  like 
•them,  they  could  retire  from  the  country.  Are  Indians, 
who  are  fighting  for  their  self-respect,  to  slink  away 
from  the  country  for  fear  of  suffering  imprisonment  or 
worse  ?  If  I  could  help  it,  nothing  would  remove 
Indians  from  the  country  save  brute  force.  It  is  no  part 
■of  a  citizen's  duty  to  pay  blind  obedience  to  the  laws 
imposed  on  him.  And  if  my  countrymen  believe  in  God 
and  the  existence  of  the  soul,  then,  while  they  may 
admit  that  their  bodies  belong  to  the  state  to  be 
imprisoned  and  deported,  their  minds,  their  wills,  and 
iheir  souls  must  ever  remain  free  like  the  birds  of  the 
air,  and  are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  swiftest  arrow. 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  SOUL. 


The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  letter  of  the 
London  correspondent  of  the  "  Amrita  Bazaar  Patrika" 
summarising  an  address  delivered  by  Mr.  Gandhi  before 
the  Members  of  the  Emerson  Club  and  of  the  Hampstead 
Branch  of  the  Peace  and  Arbitration  Society  whilst  in 
London. 

Mr.  Gandhi  turned  to  India,  and  spoke  with 
enthusiasm  of  Rama,  the  victim  of  the  machinations  of 
a  woman,  choosing  fourteen  years'  exile  rather  than 
surrender ;  other  Orientals  were  mentioned,  and  then, 
through    the    Doukhabors    of    to-day,    he  brought   the 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  SOUL  227 

thoughts  of  the  audience  to  the  soul  resistance  of  Indians- 
versus  brute  force  in  south  Africa.  He  insisted  that  it 
was  completely  a  mistake  to  believe  that  Indians  were 
incapable  of  lengthened  resistance  for  a  principle  ;  in 
their  fearlessness  of  suffering  they  were  second  to  none 
in  the  world.  Passive  resistance  had  been  called  a 
weapon  of  the  weak,  but  Mr.  Gandhi  maintained  that  it 
required  courage  higher  than  that  of  a  soldier  on  the 
battlefield,  which  was  often  the  impulse  of  the  moment ; 
for  passive  resistance  was  continuous  and  sustained  :  it 
meant  physical  suffering.  Some  people  were  inclined 
to  think  it  too  difficult  to  be  carried  out  to-day,  but  those 
who  held  that  idea  were  not  moved  by  true  courage— 
Again  referring  to  Oriental  teaching,  Mr.  Gandhi  said 
that  the  teaching  of  the  "  Lord's  Song"  was,  from  the 
beginning,  the  necessity  of  fearlessness.  He  touched  on 
the  question  of  physical  force  while  insisting  that  it . 
was  not  thought  of  by  Indians  in  the  Transvaal.  He  does 
does  not  want  to  share  in  liberty  for  India  that  is 
gained  by  violence  and  bloodshed,  and  insists  that  no 
country  is  so  capable  as  India  f  or  wielding  soul  force. 
Mr.  Gandhi  did  not  approve  of  the  militant  tactics  of 
the  suffragettes  for  the  reason  that  they  were  meeting 
body  force  with  body  force,  and  not  using  the  higher 
power  of  soul  force  .•  violence  begot  violence.  He  main- 
tained, too,  that  the  association  of  Britain  and  India — 
must  be  a  mutual  benefit,  ■  if  India — eschewing 
violence — did  not  depart  from  her  proud  position  of  be- 
ing the  giver  and  the  teacher  of  religion.  "If  the  world 
believes  in  the  existence  of  the  soul."  He  said  in  con- 
clusion, "it  must  be  recognised  that  soul  force  is  better 
than  body  force  :  it  is  the  sacred  principle  of  love  which 
moves  mountains.     On  us  is  the  responsibility  of  living 


2^8  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

out  this  sacred  law  ;  we  are  not  concerned  with  results," 
Mr.  Gandhi  protested  against  the  mad  rush  of  to- 
daVj  and,  instead  of  blessing  the,  means  by  which 
modern  science  has  made  this  mad  rush  possible,  that 
is,  railways,  motors,  telegraph,  telephone,  and  even  ther 
coming  flying  machines,  he  declared  that  they  were- 
diverting  man's  thoughts  from  the  main  purpose  of  life  ; 
bodily  comfort  stood  before  soul  growth  ;  man  had  no 
time  to-day  even  to  know  himself  ;  he  preferred  a  news- 
paper or  sport  or  other  things  rather  than  to  be  left 
alone  with  himself  for  thought.  He  claimed  Ruskin  as- 
on  his  side  in  this  expression  of  protest  against  th^ 
drive  and  hurry  of  modern  civilisation.  He  did  not 
describe  this  development  of  material  science  as  ex- 
clusively British,  'but  he  considered  that  its  effect  in 
India  had  been  baneful  in  many  ways.  He  instanced 
the  desecration  of  India's  holy  places,  which  he  said, 
were  no  longer  holy,  because  the  fatal  facility  of 
locomotion  had  brought  to  those  places  people  whose 
only  aim  was  to  defraud  the  unsophisticated :  such 
people,  in  the  olden  days  when  pilgrimages  meant  long 
and  wearisome  walking  through  jungles,  crossing  rivers,. 
and  encountering  many  dangers,  had  not  the  stamina  to 
reach  the  goal.  Pilgrimages  in  those  days  could  only 
be  undertaken  by  the  cream  of  society,  but  they  came 
to  know  each  other  ;  the  aim  of  the  holy  places  was  to- 
make  India  holy.  Plague  and  famine,  which  existed  in 
pre-British  days,  were  local  then  ;  to-day,  rapid  locomo- 
tion had  caused  them  to  spread.  To  avoid  the  calamity 
which  intense  materialism  must  bring,  Mr.  Gandhi 
urged  that  india  should  go  back  to  her  former  holiness 
which  is  not  yet  lost.  The  contact  with  the  West  has 
awakened  her  from  the    lethargy    into   which   she    had" 


A  PLEA  FOR  THE  SOUL  229 

Stink  :  the  new  spirit,  if  properly  directed,  would  bring 
blesssing  to  both  nations  and  to  the  world.  If  India 
adopted  Western  modern  civilisation  as  Japan  had  done, 
there  must  be  perpetual  conflict  and  grasping  between 
Briton  and  Indian.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  India's  ancient 
civilisation  can  withstand  this  latest  assault,  as  it  has 
withstood  so  many  before,  and  be,  as  of  old,  the  reli- 
gious teacher,  the  spiritual  guide,  then  there  would  be 
no  impassable  barrier  between  East  and  West.  Some 
circumstances  exist,  said  Mr.  Gandhi,  which  we  cannot 
Understand ;  but  the  main  purpose  of  life  is  'to  live 
rightly,  think  rightly,  act  rightly ;  the  soul  must 
languis[h  when  we  give  all  our  thought  to  the  body. 


ON  ANARCHICAL  CRIMES. 


rhe  following  is  the  summary  of  an  adclress 
delivered  at  the  Students*  Hall,  Gollege  Square,  Calcutta, 
in  March  1915  wtth  the  Hon,  Mr.  Lyon  in  the  chair. 

Though  it  was  the  command  of  his  Guru,  the  late 
Mr.  Gokhale  that  Mr.  Gandhi,  during  his  stay  here 
'should  keep  his  ears  open. but  his  mouth  shut,  he  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  addressing  the  meeting.  It 
was  the  opinion  of  the  speaker  as  well  as  his  departed 
Guru  that  politics  should  not  be  a  sealed  book  to  the 
-Student  community  ;  for  he  saw  no  reason  why  student 
should  not  study  and  take  part  in  politics.  He  went,  the 
length  of  saying  that  politics  should  not  be  divorced 
from  religion.  They  would  agree  with  him  as  well  as 
their  teachers,  professors  and  the  worthy  Chairman  that 
literary  education  is  of  no  value,  if  it  is  not  able  to  build 
up  a  sound  character.  Could  it  be  said  that  the  students 
or  the  public    men  in  this  country  are  entirely  fearless  ? 


230  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

This  question  engaged  the  speaker's  serious  attention 
although  he  was  in  exile.  He  understood  what   political 
dacoity  or  political  assassination    was.     He   had    given 
the  subject  his  most  careful   attention  and  he  came    to 
the  conclusion   that  some  of  the  students  of  his  country 
were  fired  no   doubt  with  zeal  in  their  minds    and   with 
love  for  their  motherland,  but  they  did  not    know   how 
they  should  love    her    best.      He   believed   that   some 
of   them  resorted    to   nefarious     means,    because   they 
did  Hot   work   in  the    fear  of  God  but    in  the   fear   of 
man.     He  was  there  to  tell    them    that    if    he  was   for 
sedition,  he  must  speak  out  sedition  and    think  loudly 
and  take  the  consequence.     If  he  did  so,  it  would  clear 
the    atmosphere    of    any   taint    of   hypocrisy.      If   the 
students,  who  are  the  hopes  of  India,  nay,  perhaps  of  the 
Empire,  did  not  work  in  the  fear  of  God,  but  in  the  fear 
of  man,  in  the  fear  of  the   authorities — the  Government 
whether  it  is  represented  by  the  British  or  an  indigenous 
body,  the  results  would  prove  disastrous  to  the  country. 
They  should  always  keep  their   minds  open,  regardless 
of  what  the  consequence    would   be  ;  youths  who   have 
resorted  to  dacoities  and  assassinations,  were    misguided 
youths    with   whom   they   should   have   absolutely  no 
connection.      They   should   consider   those    persons  as 
enemies   to  themselves   and  to    their  country.     But    he 
did  not  for  a  moment  suggest  that  they  should  hate  those 
people.    The  speaker  was  not  a  believer  in  Government 
he  would  not  have  any  Government.     He  believes  that 
Government   is  the    best  that    governs  the    least.    But 
whatever  his  personal  views  were,  he  must    say  that 
misguided  zeal  that  resorts  to  dacoities  and  assassinations 
cannot  be  productive  of  any  good.     These   dacoities  and 
assassinations  are  absolutely  a    foreign  growth  in  India* 


ON  ANARCHICAL  CRIMES  281 

They  cannot  take  root  here  and  cannot  be  a  permanent 
institution  here.  History  proves  that  assassinations 
have  done  no  good.  The  religion  of  this  country,  the 
Hindu  religion  is  abstention  from  "himsa,"  tha.t  is  taking 
animal  life.  That  is,  he  believes  the  guiding  principle 
of  all  religions.  The  Hindu  religion  says  that  even  the 
evil-doer  should  not  be  hated.  It  says  that  nobody  has 
any  right  to  kill  even  the  evil  doer.  These  assassina- 
tions are  a  western  institution  and  the  speaker  warned 
his  hearers  against  these  western  methods  and  western 
evils.  What  have  they  done  in  the  western  world  ? 
If  the  youths  imitated  them  and  believed  that  they 
could  do  the  slightest  good  to  India  they  were  totally 
mistaken.  He  would  not  discuss  what  Government  was 
best  for  India,  whether  the  British  Government  or  the 
Government  that  existed  before,  though  he  believed 
that  there  was  a  great  deal  of  room  for  improvement  in 
the  British  Government.  But  he  would  advise  his 
young  friends  to  be  fearless,  sincere  and  be  guided  by 
the  principle  of  religion.  If  they  had  a  programme  for 
the  country,  let  them  place  it  openly  before  the  public. 
The  speaker  concluded  the  address  with  an  appeal  to 
the  young  men  present,  to  be  religious  and  be  guided  by 
a  spirit  of  religion  and  morality.  If  they  were  prepared 
to  die,  the  speaker  was  prepared  to  die  with  them.  He 
would  be  ready  to  accept  their  guidance.  But  if  they 
wanted  to  terrorise  the  country,  he  should  rise  against 
them. 


LOYALTY  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE. 


At  the  annual  gathering  of  the  Madras  Law  Dinner 
in  April  1915,  Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  was  specially  invited 
to  propose  the  toast  of  the  British  Empire.  The  Hon'ble 
Mr.  Gorbet,  the  Advocate-General,  in  doing  so  referred  to 
Mr.  Gandhi  as  a  very  distinguished  stranger,  a  stranger 
in  the  sense  that  they  had  not  known  him  long,  but  one 
whose  name  they  were  all  familiar  with.  Mr.  Gandhi 
was  a  member  of  the  profession,  though  he  had  not  lately 
practised.  Mr.  Gandhi,  he  continued,  was  about  to  pro- 
pose the  toast  of  the  British  Empire,  for  the  consolida- 
tion of  which  he  had  laboured  strenuously,  with  absolute 
self-devotion  for  many  years.     Mr.  Gandhi  said  : — 

During  my  three  months'  tour  in  India,,  as  also  in 
South  Africa,  I  have  been  so  often  questioned  how  I,  a 
determined  opponent  of  modern  civilization  and  an 
avowed  patriot,  could  reconcile. myself  to  loyalty  of  the 
British  Empire  of  which  India  was  such  a  large  part ; 
how  it  was  possible  for  me  to  find  it  consistent  that 
India  and  England  could  work  together  for  mutual 
benefit.  It  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  this  evening 
at  this  great  and  important  gathering,  to  re-declare  my 
loyalty  to  this  British  Empire,  and  my  loyalty  is  based 
upon  very  selfish  grounds.  As  a  passive  resistor  I  dis- 
covered that  a  passive  resister  has  to  make  good  his 
claim  to  passive  resistance,  no  matter  under  what  cir- 
cumstances he  finds  himself,  and  I  discovered  that  the 
British  Empire  had  certain  ideals  with  which  I  have 
fallen  in  love,  and  one  of  those  ideals  is  that  every  sub- 
ject of  the  British  Empire  has  the  freest  scope  possible 


LOYALTY  TO  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE  233 

for  his  energies  and  honour  and  whatever  he  thinks  is 
due  to  his  conscience.  I  think  that  this  is  true  of  the 
British  Empire,  as  it  is  not  true  of  any  other  Govern- 
ment. (Applause.)  I  feel,  as  you  here  perhaps  know, 
that  I  am  no  lover  of  any  Government  and  I  have  more 
than  one  said  that  that  .Government  is  best  which 
governs  least.  And  I  have  found  that  it  is  possible  for 
me  to  be  governed  least  under  the  British  Empire.  Hence 
my  loyalty  to  the^^British  Empire,     fLoud  applause). 


ADVICE  TO  STUDENTS. 

Mr.  Gandhi  delivered  the  following  speech  at  the 
y.  M.  0.  A.  in  reply  to  the  Madras  Stndents'  address  on 
April  27.  1915,  the  Hon.  Mr.  V.  S.  Snnivasa  Sastri 
presiding. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Dear  Friends, — Madras  as  well- 
nigh  exhausted  the  English  .vocabulary  in  using  adjec- 
tives of  virtue  with  reference  to  my  wife  and  myself,  and, 
if  I  may  be  called  upon  to  give  an  opinion  as  to  where  I 
have  been  smothered  with  kindness,  love  and  attention,  I 
would  have  to  say :  it  is  Madras.-  (Applause).  But  as 
I  have  said  so  often,  I  believed  it  of  Madras.  So  it  is  no 
wonder  to  me  that  you  are  lavishing  all  these  kindnesses 
with  unparalleled  generosity,  and  now  the  worthy  pfe- 
sident  of  the  Servants  of  India  Society — under  which 
society  I  am  going  through  a  period  of  probation — has, 
if  I  may  say  so,  capped  it  all.  Am  I  worthy  of  these 
things  ?  My-  answer  from  the  innermost  recesses  of  my 
heart  is  an  emphatic  "  No."  But  I  have  come  to  India 
to  become  worthy  of  every  adjective  that  you  may  use, 
and  all  my  life  will  certainly  be  dedicated  to  prove 
worthy  of  them,  if  I  am  to  be  a  worthy  servant. 


234  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

And  so  it  is  that  you  have  sung  that  beautiful 
national  song,  on  hearing  which  all  of  us  sprang  to  our 
feet.  The  poet  has  lavished  all  the  adjectives  that  he 
possibly  coirld  to  describe  Mother  India.  He  describes 
Mother  India  as  sweet  smiling,  sweet-speaking,  fragrant, 
all-powerful,  all  good,  truthful,  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,  land  having  ripe  fields,  fruits  and  grains, 
land  inhabited  by  a  race  of  men  of  whom  we  have  only 
a  picture  in  the  great  Golden  Age.  He  pictures  to  us  a^ 
land  which  shall  embrace  in  its  possession  the  whole  of 
the  world,  the  whole  of  humanity  by  the  might  or 
right  not  of  physical  power  but  of  soul-power.  Can  we 
sing  that  hymn  ?  I  ask  myself,  "  can  I,  by  any  right, 
spring  to  my  feet  when  I  listen  to  that  song."  The 
poet  no  doubt  gave  us  a  picture  for  our  realisation,  the 
words  of  which  simply  remain  prophetic,  and  it  is  for 
you,  the  hope  of  India,  to  realise  every  word  that  the 
poet  has  said  in  describing  this  motherland  of  ours.  TO' 
day,  I  feel  that  these  adjectives  are  very  largely  mis- 
placed in  his  description  of  the  motherland,  and  it  is^ 
for  you  and  for  me  to  make  good  the  claim  that  the  poet 
has  advanced  on  behalf  of  his  motherland. 

THE    REAL   EDUCATION. 

You,  the  students  of  Madras,  as  well  as  the  students^ 
all  over  India — are  you  receiving  an  education  which 
will  make  you  worthy  to  realise  that  ideal  and  which 
will  draw  the  best  out  of  you,  or  is  it  an  education  which 
has  become  a  factory  for  making  Government  employees- 
or  clerks  in  commercial  offices  ?  Is  the  goal  of  the  educa- 
tion that  you  are  receiving  that  of  mere  employment 
whether  in  the  Government  departments  or  other 
departments  ?  If  that  be  the  goal  of  your  Education,  if 
that  is  the  goal    that  you  have   set  before   yourselves,  I 


ADVICE   TO.  STUDENTS  235 

feel  and  I  fear  that  the  vision  which  the  poet  pictured  for 
himself  is  far  from  being  realised.  As  you  have  heard 
me  say  perhaps,  or  as  you  have  read,  I  am  and  I  have 
been  a  determined  opponent  of  modern  civilisation.  I 
want  you  to  turn  your.eyes  to-day  upon  what  is  going  on 
in  Europe  and  if  you  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
Europe  is  to-day  groaning  under  the  heels  of  the  modern 
civilization  then  you  and  your  elders  will  have  to  think 
twice  before  you  can  emulate  that  civilisation  in  our 
Motherland.  But  I  have  been  told,  "  How  can  we  help 
it,  seeing  that  our  rulers  bring  that  culture  to  our 
Motherland."  Do  not  make  any  mistake  about  it  at  all.  I 
do  not  for  ope  moment  believe  that  it  is  for  any  rulers  to 
bring  that  culture  to  you,  unless  you  are  prepared  to 
accept  it,  and  if  it  be  that  the  rulers  bring  that  culture 
before  us  I  think  that  we  have  forces  within  ourselves  to 
enable  us  to  reject  that  culture  without  having  to  reject 
the  rulers  themselves.  (Applause).  I  have  said  on  many 
a  platform  thai  the  British  race  is  with  us.  I  decline  to 
go  into  the  reasons  why  that  race  is  with  us,  but  I  do 
believe  that  it  is  possible  for  India  if  she  would  but 
live  upto  the  traditions  of  the  sages  of  whom  you  have 
heard  from  ftur  worthy  president,  to  transmit  a  message 
through  this  great  race,  a  message  not  of  physical 
might,  but  a  message  of  love.  And  'then,  it  will  be 
your  privilege  to  conquer  the  conquerors  not  by  shed- 
ding blood  but  by  sheer  force  of  spiritual  predominence. 
When  I  consider  what  is  going  ou  to-day  in  India,  I 
think*  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  say  what  our  opinion  is  in 
connection  with  the  political  assassinations  and  political 
dacoities.  I  feel  that  these  are  purely  a  foreign  impor- 
tation which  cannot  take  root  in  this  land.  But  you 
the  student   world   have    to   beware,   lest   mentally   or 


236  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

morally  you  give  one  thought  of  approval  to  this 
kind  of  terrorism.  I,  as  a  passive  resister,  will 
give  you  another  thing  very  substantial  for  it. 
Terrorise  yourself ;  search  within  ;  by  all  means  resist 
tyranny  wherever  you  find  it  ;  by  all  means  resist  en- 
croachment upon  your  liberty,  but  not  by  shedding  the 
blood  of  the  tyrant.  That  is  not  what  is  taught  by  otir 
religion.  Our  religion  is  based  upon  ahimsa,  which  in 
its  active,  form  is  nothing  but  Love,  love  not  only  td 
your  neighbours,  not  only  to  your  friends  but  love  even 
to  those  who  may  be  your  enemies. 

One  word  more  in  connection  with  the  same  thing  I 
think  that  if  we  were  to  practise  truth,  to  practise 
ahimsa  we  must  immediately  see  that  we  also  pratiSie 
fearlessness.  If  our  rulers  are  doing  what  in  our  opinion 
is  wrong,  and  if  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  let  them  hear  our 
advice,  even  though  it  may  be  considered  sedition,  I  urge 
you  to  speak  sedition — but  at  your  peril,  you  must  be 
prepared  to  suffer  the  consequences.  And  when  you  are 
ready  to  suffer  the  consequences  and  not  hit  below  ttfie 
belt,  then  I  think  you  will  have  made  good  your  right 
to   have  your  advice  heard  even  by  the  Government, 

RIGHTS  AND    DUTIES. 

I  ally  myself  with  the  British  Government,  because 
I  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  claim  equal  part- 
nership with  every  subject  of  the  British  Empire.  1 
to-day  claim  that  equal  partnership,  I  do  not  belong  to 
a  subject  race.  I  do  not  call  myself  a  member  of  a 
subject  race.  But  there  is  this  thing  :  it  is  not  for  the 
British  Governors  to  give  you;  it  is  for  you  to  take 
the  thing.  I  want  and  I  can  take  the  thing.  That  I 
want  only  by  discharging  my  obligations.  Max 
Muller  has  told  us, — we  need  not  go   to  Max    Mnller  to 


ADVICE  TO  STUDENTS  237 

interpret  our  own  religion — but    he    says,   our  religion 
consists  in  four  letters  "D-u-t-y"   and   not    in    the   five 
letters  "R-i-g-h-t".     And  if  you  believe  that  all  that  we 
want    can    go  from    a    letter  discharge    of  our    duty, 
then   think   always  of   your   duty   and    fighting  along 
those  lines  ;  you  will   have  no  fear  of  any  man,  you  will 
fear  only  God.    That  is  the  message   that  my   master — ' 
if  I  may  say  so.  your  master  too — Mr.  Gokhale  has  given 
to  us.  What  is  that  message  then  ?   It  is  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Servants   of   India   Society  and    that  is   the- 
message  by  which  I  wish  to  be  guided  in  my  life.     The 
message    is  to   spiritualise    the   political    life    and   the 
political  institutions  of  the  country.     We  must   immedi- 
ately  set    about    realising    its   practice.    The  students- 
cannot  be  away  from  politics.    Politics  is  as  essential  to- 
them   as   religion.     Politics   cannot   be   divorced  from 
religion.     My    views   may    not  be   acceptable    to    you, 
I  know.     All  the  same,    I    can    only  give  you    what   is- 
stirrin''   me   to    my      very    depths.     On  the   authority 
of  my    experiences    in  South    Africa  1    claim  that    your 
countrymen  who  had  not  that  modern    culture  but   who' 
had    that    strength   of   the    Rishis   of   old,   who    have- 
inherited    the   tapascharya   performed   by    the  Rishis,. 
without  having   known    a  single  word  of   English  lite-- 
rature   and    without   knowing   anything   whatsoever  of 
the  present   modern   culture,   they  were   able  to  rise  to 
their  full  height.     And.  what  has  been   possible  for  the 
uneducated  and   illiterate   countrymen  of    ours  in  Soutfr 
Africa  is  ten  times  possible  for  you  and  for.  me  to-day  in 
this  sacred  land   of   ours.     May    that  be  your  privilege: 
and  may  that  be  my  privilege.    (Applause.) 


POLITICS  AND  THE  PEOPLE. 


Mr.  and  Mrs,  Gandhi  on  their  way  to  Tranquebar 
arrived  at  Mayavaram  on  the  22nd  May,  1915,  and  they 
werr-  presented  with  an  address  by  the  citizens  of  tht 
town.     In  the  course  of  his   reply,    Mr.  Gandhi  said  : — 

It  was  quite  by  accident  that  I  had  the  great 
pleasure  of  receiving  an  address  from, my  '  Panchama 
brethren,  and  there,  they  said  that^they  were  without 
convenience  tor  drinking  water,  they  were  without  con- 
venience for  living  supplies,  and  they  could  not  buy  or 
hold  land.  It  was  difficult  for  them  even  to  approach 
Courts.  Probably,  the  last  is  due  to  their  fear,  but  a 
lear  certainly  not  due  to  themselves,  and  who  is  then 
responsible  for  this  state  of  things  ?  Do  we  propose  to 
perpetuate  this  state  of  things  ?  Is  it  a  part  of  Hindu- 
ism ?  I  do  not  know.  I  have  now  to  learn  what 
Hinduism  really  is.  In  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
stndy  Hinduism  outside  India,  I  have  felt  that  it  is  no 
part  of  real  Hinduism  to  have  in  its  hold  a  mass  of 
people  whom  I  would  call  "  untouchables."  If  it  was 
proved  to  ms  that  this  is  an  essential  part  of  Hinduism, 
I  for  one  would  declare  myself  an  open  rebel  against 
Hinduism  ilself.     (Hear,  hear.) 

Are  the  Brahmins  in  Mayavaram  equal  minded  to- 
wards the  Pariah  and  will  they  tell  me,  if  they  are  so 
equal  minded,  that  others  will  not  follow  ?  Even  if 
they  say  that  they  are  prepared  to  do  so  but  others  will 
not  follow,  I  shall  have  to  disbelieve  them  until  I  have 
revised  my  notions  of  Hinduism.  If  the  Brahmins 
themselves  consider  they  are    holding   high  position  by 


POLITICS   AND   THE    PEOPLE  239 

penance  and  austerity,  then  they  have  themselves  much 
to  learn,  then  they  will  be  the  people  who  have  cursed 
and  ruined  the  land. 

My  friend,  the  Chairman,  has  asked  me  the  ques- 
tion whether  it  is  true  that  I  am  at  war  with  my  leaders. 
I  say  that  I  am  not  at  war  with  my  leaders.  I  seem  to 
be  at  war  with  my  leaders  because  many  things  I  have 
heard  seem  to  be  inconsistent  with  my  notions  of  self- 
respect  and  with  self  respect  to  my  Motherland.  I  feel 
that  they  are  probably  not  discharging  the  sacred  trust 
they  have  taken  upon  their  shoulders  ;  but  I  am  sure  I 
am  studying  or  endeavouring  to  take  wisdom  from  them, 
but  I  failed  to  take  that  wisdom.  It  may  be  that  I  am 
incompetent  and  unfit  to  follow  them.  If  so,  I  shall 
revise  my  ideas.  Still  I  am  in  a  position  to  say  that  I 
seem  to  be  at  war  with  my  leaders.  Whatever  they  do 
or  whatever  they  say  does  not  somehow  or  other  appeal 
to  me.  The  major  part  of  what  they  say  does  not  seem 
to  be  appealing  to  me. 

I  find  here  words  of  welcome  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. I  find  in  the  Congress  programme  a  Resolution 
on  Swadeshi.  If  you  hold  that  you  are  Swadeshi  and 
yet  print  these  in  English,  then  I  am  not  Swadeshi.  To 
me  it  seems  that  it  is  inconsistent.  I  have  nothing  to 
say  against  the  English  language.  But  I  do  say  that, 
if  you  kill  the  vernaculars  and  raise  the  English  lan- 
guage on  the  tomb  of  the  vernaculars  (hear,  hear),  then 
you  are  not  favouring  Swadeshi  in  the  right  sense  of  the 
term.  If  you  feel  that  I  do  not  know  Tamil,  you  should 
pardon  me,  you  should  execuse  me  and  teach  me  and 
ask  me  to  leafn  Tamil  and  I  having  your  welcome  in 
that  beautiful  language,  if  you  translate  it  to  me,  then 
I  should  think   you  are  performing  some  part   of  the 


240  EARLIER     INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

programme.     Then   only   I   should   think   I    am   being 
taught  Swadeshi. 

I  asked  when  we  were  passing  through  Mayavaram 
whether    there    have    been   any    handlooms    here   and 
whether  there  were  handloom-weavers  here.  I  was  told 
thai  there  were  50  handlooms  in  Mayavaram.  What  were 
they  engaged  in  ?  They  were  engaged  chiefly  in  prepar- 
ing "  Sarees"  for   our  women.     Then  is   Swadeshi  to  be 
confined   only   to  the  women  ?  It  is   to    be  only  in  their 
keeping  ?  I    do   not  find    that    our    friends,   the    male 
population,  also   have  their  stuff  prepared  for  them  by 
these  weavers  and  through  their  handlooms,   (u  voice  r 
there  are  1,000  hondlooms  here,).  There  are,  I  understand 
one  thousand  handlooms.    So  much  the    worse  for  the 
leaders  !  Loud  applause.)   If  these    one  thousand    hand- 
looms  are  kept  chiefly  in  attending  to  the  wants  of  our 
women,  double  this  supply  of  our  handlooms  and  you 
will  have  all  your  wants  supplied  by  our  own    weavers 
and  there  will  be  no  poverty  in  the  land.    I  ask  you  and 
ask  our  friend  the  President  how  far  he  is  indebted  to 
foreign   goods  for  .his  outfit    and  if  he  can  tell  me  that 
he  has    tried  his  utmost   and  still  has  failed   to  outfit 
himself   or   rather   to   fit    himself   out    with    Swadeshi 
clothing  and  therefore  he  has  got  this  stuff,   I  shall  sit 
at  his  feet  and  learn  a  lesson.     What  I  have  been   able 
to  learn  today    is   that   it  is  entirely    possible    for   me, 
without  any  extra   cost,  to   fit    myself    with   Swadeshi 
clothing.     How  am  I  to  learn  through  those  who  move 
or  who  are  supposed  to  be  movers  in  the  Congress,-  the 
secret  of  the  Resolution  ?  I  sit  at  the  feet  of  my  leaders,  I 
sit  at  the  feet  of   the  Mayavaram    people  'and  let   them 
reveal  the   mystery,  give  me  the  secret  of  the  meaning, 
teach    me  how    I  should   behave    myself   and    tell    me 


THE  REWARD  OF  PUBLIC  LIFE  241 

whether  it  is  a  part  of  the  National  movement  that 
should  drive  off  those  who  are  without  dwellings,  why 
cry  for  water  and  that  I  should  reject  the  advances  of 
those  who  cry  for  food.  These  are  the  questions  which 
I  ask  my  friend  here.  Since  I  am  saying  something 
against  you,  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  still  enjoy  or 
retain  the  affection  of  the  student  population  and 
whether  I  shall  still  retain  the  blessing  of  my  leaders.  I 
ask  you  to  have  a  large  heart  and  give  me  a  little  corner 
in  it.  I  shall  try  to  steal  into  that  corner.  If  you  would 
be  kind  enough  to  teach  me  wisdom,  I  shall  learn  wisdom 
in  all  humility  and  in  all  earnestness.  I  am  praying  for 
it  and  I  am  asking  for  it.  If  you  cannot  teach  me,  I  again 
declare  myself   at  war   with    my  leaders.  (Loud  cheers.) 


THE  REWARD  OF   PUBLIC  LIFE. 

In  reply  to  the  citizens'  address  at  Bangalore 
presented  in  May  1915,  Mr.  Gandhi  made  the  following 
speech  : — 

I  did  not  want  to  be  dragged  in  the  carriage.  There 
is  a  meaning  in  that.  Let  us  not  spoil  our  public  men  by 
dragging  them.  Let  them  work  silently.  We  should  not 
encourage  tTie  thought,  that  one  has  to  work,  because  one 
will  be  honoured  similarly.  Let  public  men  feel  that 
they  will  be  stoned,  they  will  be  neglected  and  let  them 
still  love  the  country  ;  for  service  is  its  own  reward.  A 
charge  has  been  brought  against  us  that  we  as  a  nation 
are  too  demonstrative  and  lack  businesslike  methods.  We 
plead  guilty  to  the  charge.  Are  we  to  copy  modern 
activities  or  are  we  to  copy  the  ancient  civilisation  which 
has  survived  so  many  shocks  ?  You  and  I  have  to  act  on 
the  political  platform  ffom  a  spiritual  side  and  if  this  is 
16 


242  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

done,  we  should  then  conquer  the  conquerors.  The  day 
will  dawn  then,  when  we  can  consider  an  Englishman 
as  a  fellow-citizen.  (Cheers).  That  day  will  shortly 
come  ;  but  it  my  be  difficult  to  conceive  when.  I  have 
had  signal  opportunities  of  associating  myself  with 
Englishmen  of  character,  devotion,  nobility  and  in- 
fluence. I  can  assure  you  that  the  present  wave  of 
activity  is  passing  away  and  a  new  civilisation  is  com- 
ing shortly  which  will  be  a  nobler  one.  India  is  a 
great  dependency  and  Mysore  is  a  great  Native  State, 
It  must  be  possible  for  you  to  transmit  this  message  to 
British  Governors  and  to  British  statesmen;  the  mes- 
sage is  "Establish  a  Ram  Rajya  in  Mysore  and  have 
as  your  minister  a  Vasishta  who  will  command 
obedience."  (Prolonged  cheers.)  Then  my  fellow- 
countrymen,  you  can  dictate  terms  to  the  conqueror, 
(Prolonged  cheers.) 


THREE  SPEECHES   ON  GOKHALE 
I.    UNVEILING  MR.   GOKHALE'S  PORTRAIT 


The  following  is  the  speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Gdndhi 
at  Bangalore  in  unveiling  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Gokhale  in 
May,  1915. 

My  dear  countrymen,— Before  I  perform  this  cere- 
mony to  which  you  have  called  me,  I  wish  to  say  this 
to  you  that  you  have  given  me  a  great  opportunity  or 
rather  a  privilege  on  this  great  occasion.  I  saw  in  the 
recitation, — the  beautiful  recitation  that  was  given  tO' 
me,-^that  God  is  with  them  whose  garment  was.  dusty 
and  tattered.  My  thoughts  immediately  went  to  the 
end  of  my  garment  ;  I  examined  and  found  that  it  is  not 
dusty  and  it  is  not    tattered  ;    it   is   fairly   spotless   and 


SPEECHES    ON    GOKHALE  243 

clean.  God  is  not  in  me.  There  are  other  conditions 
attached ;  but  in  these  conditions  too  I  may  fail ;  and 
you,  my  dear  countrymen,  may  also  fail  ;  and  if  we  do 
tend  this  well,  we  should  not  dishonour  the  memory  of 
one  whose  portrait  you  have  asked  me  to  unveil  this 
morning.  I  have  declared  myself  his  disciple  in  .  the 
political  field  and  I  have  him  as  my  Raja  Guru;  and 
this  I  claim  on  behalf  of  the  Indian  people.  It  was  in 
1896  that  I  made  this  declaration,  and  I  do  not  regret 
having  made  the  choice. 

Mr.  Gokhale  taught  me  that  the  dream  of  every 
Indian  who  claims  to  love  his  country,  should  be  not  to 
glorify  in  language  but  to  spiritualise  the  political  life 
of  the  country  and  the  political  institutions  of  the 
country.  He  inspired  my  life  and  is  still  i  nspiring  ;  and 
in  that  I  wish  to  purify  myself  and  spiritualise  myself. 
I  have  dedicated  myself  to  that  ideal.  I  may  fail,  and 
to  what  extent  I  may  fail,  I  call  myself  to  that  extent 
an  unwort  hy  disciple  of  my  master. 

SPIRITUALISING   THE  POLITICAt  LIFE 

What  is  the  meaning  of  spiritualising  the  political 
life  of  the  country  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  spiritual- 
ising myself  ?  That  question  has  come  before  me  often 
and  often  and  to  you  it  may  seem  one  thing,  to  me  it 
may  seem  another  thing  ;  it  may  mean  different  things 
to  the  different  members  of  the  Servants  of  India 
Society  itself.  It  shows  much  difficulty  and  it  sho\ys 
the  difficulties,  of  all  those  who  want  to  love  their 
country,  who  want  to  serve  their  country  and  who  want 
to  honour  their  country.  I  think  the  political  life  must 
be  an  echo  of  private  life  and  that  there  cannot  be  any 
divorce  between  the  two. 


244  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

I  was  by  the  side  of  that  saintly  politician  to  the  end 
of  his  life  and  I  found  no  ego  in  him.  I  ask  you,  members 
•of  the  Social  Service  League,  if  there  is  no  ego  in  you, 
If  he  wanted  to  shine,  if  he  wanted  to  shine  in  the 
political  field  of  his  country,  he  did  so  not  in  order  that 
he  might  gain  public  applause,  but  in  order  that  his 
■country  may  gain.  He  developed  every  particular 
faculty  in  him,  not  in  order  to  win  the  praise  of  the 
■world  for  himself,  but  in  order  that  his  country  might 
^ain.  He  did  not  seek  public  applause,  but  it  was 
showered  upon  him,  it  was  thrust  upon  him  ;  he  wanted 
that  his  country  might  gain  and  that  was  his  great 
Inspiration. 

There  are  many  things  for  wliich  India  is  blamed, 
^ery  rightly,  and  if  you  should  add  one  more  to  our 
failures  the  blame  will  descend  not  only  on  you  but  also 
«n  me  for  having  participated  in  to-day's  functions.  But 
I  have  great  faith  in  my  countr  ymen. 

You  ask  me  to  unveil  this  portrait  to-day,  and  I  will 
■do  so  in  all  sincerity  and  that  should  be  the  end  of  your 
life.    (Loud  and  continued  applause.) 


II.  THE  LATE  MR.  GOKHALE. 


The  following  is  the  text  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  speech  in 
seconding  the  Resolution  on  Mr,  Gokhale  at  the  15th 
Bombay  Provincial  Conference  held  at  Poona  on  10th 
•and  11th  July  1915. 

Mr.  President,  Brothers  and  Sisters, — Perhaps  it  is 
impudent  on  my  part  to  add  anything  to  the  feeling 
words  that  have  been  spoken  by  Mrs.  Ranade.  The  fact 
that  she  is  the  widow  of  the  master's  master  adds  solem- 
nity to  the  proceedings,  which  I  can  only  mar  by  any 


SPEECHES  ON  GOKHALE  245 

remarks  I  may  make.  But,  claiming  as  I  do  to  be  one  of 
Mr.  Gokhale's  disciples,  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  say  a 
few  words  which  are  personal  tit-bits.  It  was  on  board 
the  Oronprinz  some  years  ago  that  I  found  myself  in  the 
master's  company  together  with  a  common  friend,  Mr. 
Kallenbach,  a  German.  (Laughter.)  Let  me  say  that  all 
Germans  are  not  fiends ;  nor  are  all  German  soldiers 
fiends.  Mr.  Kallenbach  is  a  German  and  a  soldier,  but  I 
feel  that  no  purer-minded  person  to-day  walks  the  earth 
in  Europe  than  Mr.  Kallenbach.  (Hear,  hear.)  He  was 
accepted  as  a  worthy  companion  by  Mr.  Gokhale,  who 
used  to  play  with  him  the  game  of  coits.  Mr.  Gokhale 
had  just  then,  during  the  voyage  from  England  to 
Capetown,  picked  up  that  game,  and  he  very  nearly 
gave  Mr.  Kallenbach  a  beating  in  the  game.  (Laughter). 
I  fancy  that  was  a  drawn  game  between  them ; 
and,  let  me  add,  Mr.  Kallenbach,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  is  one  of  the  cleverest  players  of  coits  in 
South  Africa.  Just  after  that  we  had  our  meals 
at  which  Mr.  Gokhale  was  talking  to  me  with  re- 
ference to  the  result  of  the  game.  He  thought  I  never 
indulged  in  such  sports  and  that  I  was  against  them.  He 
expostulated  with  me  in  kind  words  and  said,  "Do  you 
know  why  I  want  to  enter  into  such  competition  with 
Europeans  ?  I  certainly  want  to  do  at  least  as  much  as 
they  can  do,  for  the  sake  of  our  country.  (Hear,  hear.) 
It  is  said,  rightly  or  wrongly,  that  we  are  inferior  people 
in  many  matters,  and  so  far  as  I  can  do  it" — and  this  he 
said  in  all  humility — "I  certainly  want  to  show  that  we 
are  at  least  their  equals,  if  not  their  superiors."  That 
was  one  incident.  On  board  the  same  steamer  we  were 
engaged  in  a  hot  discussion  in  connection  with  our 
dear    motherland,     and    he    was     mapping     out     for 


246  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

me,  as  a  father  would  for  his  child,  a  programme 
that  I  was  to  follow  in  India  if  I  ever  happened  to 
see  the  motherland  again,  and  in  connection  there- 
with there  was  one  thing  he  said  : — "We  lack  in 
India  character ;  we  want  religious  zeal  in  the 
political  field."  Shall  we  then  follow  the  spirit  of 
the  master  with  the  same  thoroughness  and  the  same 
religious  zeal,  so  that  we  can  safely  teach  a  child  poli- 
tics ?  One  of  his  missions  in  life,  1  think,  was  to  incul- 
cate the  lesson  that  whatever  we  do,  we  should  do  with 
thoroughness.  This  it  is  not  possible  for  us  mortals  to 
imitate  in  any  degree  of  perfection.  Whatever  he  did, 
he  did  with  a  religious  zeal  ;  that  was  the  secret  of  his 
success.  He  did  not  wear  his  religion  on  his  sleeves  ; 
lie  lived  it.  Whatever  he  touched,  he  purified  ;  where- 
ever  he  went,  he  recreated  an  atmosphere  around  him 
which  was  fragrant|  When  he  came  to  South  Africa 
he  electrified  the  people  there  not  only  by  his  magnifi- 
cent eloquence  but  by  the  sincerity  of  his  character 
and  by  the  religious  devotion  with  which  he  worked. 
What  was  that  devotion  ?  Ailing  though  he  was, 
he  was  awake  the  whole  night  practically  when 
we  was  to  have  seen  General  Smuts;  he  did' so  in 
order  to  prepare  the  case  for  his  countrymen  with  a 
thoroughness  that  surprised  the  Leader  of  the  Boer 
Government.  What  was  the  result  ?  The  result  was 
that  he  got  the  promise  from  the  South  African  Govern- 
ment that  the  £3  tax  would  be  gone  in  a  few  years,  and 
the  £3  tax  is  no  more.  (Cheers.)  It  is  no  more  there 
to  grind  down  so  many  thousands  of  our  countrymen. 
Mr.  Gokhale  is  dead,  but  it  is  possible  for  you  and  for 
me  to  make  his  spirit  live  in  us  and  through  us.  (Hear, 
hear).     We  are  about  to  pass  resolutions    which  would 


SPEECHES   ON    GOKHALE  247 

expect  us,  the  chosen  representatives,  it,  or  may  be,  the 
-self-elected  representatives  of  the  people  to  do  certain 
things.  Shall  we  discharge  our  trust  with  the  master's 
devotion?  The  people  we  represent  will  base  their 
verdict  not  upon  our  speeches  but  upon  our  actions,  and 
-how  shall  we  act  ?  We  have  a  right  to  pass  this  resolu- 
tion if  we  act  in  the  spirit  of  the' master. 

;  III.    GOKHALE'S  SERVICES  TO  INDIA 


In  unveiling  the  portrait  of  Gohhale  at  th^  Khalih- 
dina  Hall,  Karachi,  on  Tuesday  the  29th  February, 
1916,  Mr.  Gandhi  spoke  as  follows  : — 

In    Hyderabad,  Sind,  also,   I  was  asked   to  unveil  a 
-portrait  of  Mr.  Gokhale  ;  and  there  I  put  to  myself  and 
to  those  present  a  question  which  I  put  to  myself  and  to 
you  now.     That  question  is  :    What  right  have  I  to  un- 
veil the  portrait  of  Mr.  Gokhale  and  what  right  have  you 
to  join  in  the  ceremony  ?   Of  course  to  unveil  a  portrait 
or  to  join  in  it  is  nothing  great  or  important  in  itself.   But 
the  question  really  involved  in    the   ceremony  is  impor- 
tant viz.,  axe  your  hearts  and   is  my  heart  in  reality  so 
much  moved  as    to   copy   the    glorious   example   of  the 
great  man  ?  The  function  will   have  no  real  significance 
unless  we  follow  in  his  footsteps.     And  if  we  do  follow 
him  we  shall  be  able  to  achieve  a  great  deal.    Of  course 
it   is   not  possible   for  all  of   us    to   achieve  what  Mr. 
Gokhale  did  in  the  Imperial  Legislative   Council.    But 
the  way  in  which  he  served  the  Motherland,  the  whole- 
hearted devotion  with    which    he   did  it    day  and  night 
without  ceasing — all  this  it  is  in  our  power   to  do  as  the 
great   one  did.     And    I  hope   that  when  yon  leave  this   . 
hall  you  will  bear  in  mind  to  follow  him  and  thus  give 


248  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

expression  to  your  regard  for  hita.  You  know  that  the 
best  achievement  of  Mr.  Gokhale  according  to  him- 
self was  the  establishment  of  the  Servants  of  India 
Society.  This  great  institution  he  has  left  behind  him  ; 
and  it  lies  with  us  to  support  it  and  continue  its  npble 
work.  It  would  be  best  if  we  could  join  the  Society. 
But  that  will  involve  the  question  of  our  being  fit  for  it. 
But  if  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  join  the  Society,  we 
can  all  do  the  next  best  thing  viz,  render  pecuniary  aid 
and  swell  the  funds  of  the.  Society.  A  great  deal  of 
money  has  been  collected  in  the  Bombay  Presidency  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  Mr.  Gokhale  ;  but  so  far 
nothing  has  been  done  in  Karachi,  Hyderabad  and  other 
parts  of  Bind.  Hence  to-day  on  this  occasion  you  should 
all  make  up  your  minds  to  do  something  in  this  connec- 
tion. In  Bombay,  Rs.  30,000  have  been  collected  for  the 
erection  of  Mr.  Gokhale 's  statue.  Besides  that,  money 
has  been  collected  for  placing  the  Servants  of  India 
Society  on  a  sound  financial  basis.  For  this  purpose  a 
lakh  of  rupees  are  required.  That  amount  has  not  yet 
been  collected.  In  fact,  Rs.  75,000  has  been  collected 
and  Rs.  25,000  still  remains  to  be  subscribed.  Karachi 
and  Hyderabad  could  easily  do  that  and  collect  the 
balance.  I  do  not  msan  to  say  that  you  should  neces- 
sarily contribute  that  amount .  You  may  do  what  your 
hearts  move  you  to  do  ;  what  I  say  is  that  if  your  hearts 
are  really  moved,  you  may  render  monetary  help  to  the 
Servants  of  India  Society.  That  will  be  the  true  test  of 
your  regard  for  Mr.  Gokhale  and  the  best  way  of 
perpetuating  the  memory  of  the  great  man  who  lived 
and  who  died  for  the  Motherland.  (Loud  applause). 


HINDU  UNIVERSITY  SPEECH. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  speech  delivered 
on  Feb.  4th  19  \  6,  on  the  occasion  of  the  opening  of  the 
Benares  Hindu  University,  The  speech  was  edited  by 
Mr.  Gandhi.  "  In  editing  the  speech  "  he  wrote,  "  I  have 
merely  removed  some  of  the  verbiage  which  in  cold  print 
would  make  the  speech  bad  reading^' 

Friends,  I  wish  to  tender  my  humble  apology  for  the 
long  delay  that  took  place  before  I  am  able  to  reach  this 
place.  And  you  will  readily  accept  the  apology  when  V 
tell  you  that  I  am  not  responsible  for  the  delay  nor  is- 
any  human  agency  responsible  for  it.  (Laughter)v  The 
fact'  is  that  I  am  like  an  animal">on  show,  and  my 
keepers  in  their  over-kindness  always  manage  to  neg- 
lect a  necessary  chapter  in  this  life,  and  that  is  pure- 
accident.  In  this  case,  they  did  not  provide  for  the- 
series  of  accidents  that  happened  to  us — to  me,  keepers, 
and  my  carriers.     Hence  this  delay. 

Friends,  under  the  influence  of  the  matchless- 
eloquence  of  the  lady  (Mrs.  Besant)  who  has  just 
sat  down,  pray,  do  not  believe  that  our  University 
has  become  a  finished  product,  and  that  all  the  youngs 
men  who  are  to  come  to  the  University,  that  has.  yet 
to  rise  and  come  into  existence,  have  also  come  and" 
returned  from  it  finished  citizens  of  a  great  empire. 
Do  not  go  away  with  any  such  impression,  an4  if  you,- 
the  student  world  to  which  my  remarks  are  sup- 
posed to  be  addressed  this  evening,  consider  for  one 
moment  that  the  spiritual  life,  for  which  this  coun- 
try is  noted  and  for  which  this   country   has  no   rival,- 


250  ^ARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

■can  be  transmitted  through  the  lip,  pray,  believe  me 
you  are  wrong.  You  will  never  be  able  merely  through 
the  lip,  to  give  the  message  that  India,  I  hope  will  one 
.day  deliver  to  the  world.  I  myself  have  been  "  fed  up" 
with  speeches  and  lectures.  I  accept  the  lectures  that 
have  been  delivered  here  during  the  last  two  days  from 
this  category,  because  they  were  necessary.  But  I  do 
venture  to  suggest  to  you  that  we  have  now  reached  al- 
most the  end  of  our  resources  in  speech-making, 
and  it  is  not  enough  that  our  ears  are  feasted,  that  our 
eyes  are  feasted,  but  it  is  necessary  that  our  hearts 
have  got  to  be  touched  and  that  our  hands  and  feet 
have  got  to  be  moved.  We  have  been  told  during 
the  last  two  days  how  necessary  it  is,  if  we  are  to 
retain  our  hold  upon  the  simplicity  of  Indian  charac- 
ter that  our  hands  and  feet  should  move  in  unison 
with  our  hearts.  But  this  is  only  by  way  of  pre- 
face. I  wanted  to  say  it  is  a  matter  of  deep  humiliation 
and  shame  for  us  that  I  am  compelled  this  evening  under 
the  shadow  of  this  great  college,  in  this  sacred  city,  to 
address  my  countrymen  in  a  language  that  is  foreign  to 
me.  I  know  that  if  I  was  appointed  an  examiner,  to 
examine  all  those  who  have  been  attending  during  these 
two  days  this  series  of  lectures,  most  of  those  who  might 
be  examined  upon  these  lectures  would  fail.  And  why? 
Because  they  have  not  been  touched,  I  was  present  at 
the  sessions  of  the  great  Congress  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber. There  was  a  much  vaster  audience,  and  will  you 
believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  the  only  speeches  that 
touched  that  huge  audience  in  Bombay  were  the 
speeches  that  were  delivered  in  Hindustani  ?  In  Bombay, 
mind  you,  not  in  Benares  where  everybody  speaks  Hindi, 
But  between  the  varnaculars  of  the  Bombay  Presidency 


HINDU    UNIVERSITY   SPEECH  251 

on  the  OHe  hand,  and  Hindi  on  the  other,  no  such  great 
dividing  line  exists  as  there  does  between  English  and 
the  sister  languages  of  India  ;  and  the  Congress  audi- 
ence was  better  able  to  follow  the  speakers  in  Hindi.  I 
am  hoping  that  this  University  will  see  to  it  that  the 
youths  who  come  to  it  will  receive  their  iustruction 
through  the  medium  of  their  vernaculars.  Our  langu- 
age is  the  reflection  of  ourselves,and  if  you  tell  me  that 
bur  languages  are  too  poor  to  express  the  best  thought, 
then  I  say  that  the  sooner  we  are  wiped  out  of  exis- 
tence the  better  for  us.  Is  there  a  man  who  dreams 
that  English  can  ever  become  the  national  language  of 
India  ?  (Cries  of  "  Never"),  Why  this  handicap  on  the 
nation  ?  Just  consider  for  one  moment  what  an  un- 
equal race  our  lads  have  to  run  with  every  English 
lad.  I  had  the  privilege  of  a  close  conversation  with 
some  ,Poona  professors.  They  assured  me  that  every 
Indian  youth,  because  he  reached  his  knowledge  through 
the  English  language,  lost  at  least  six  precious  years  of 
life.  Multiply  that  by  the  number  of  students  turned 
out  by  our  schools  and  colleges,  and  find  out  for  your- 
selves how  many  thousand  years  have  been  lost  to  the 
nation.  The  charge  against  us  is  that  we  have  no 
initiative.  How  can  we  have  any  if  we  are  to  devote  the 
precious  years  of  our  life  to  the  mastery  of  a  foreign 
tongue  ?  We  fail  in  this  attempt  also.  Was  it  possible 
for  any  speaker  yesterday  and  to-day  to  impress  his 
audience  as  was  possible  for  Mr.  Higginbotham  ?  It  was 
not  the  fault  of  the  previous  speakers  that  they  could 
not  engage  the  audience,  They  had  more  than 
substance  enough  for  us  in  their  addresses.  But  their 
addresses  could  not  go  home  to  us.  I  have  heard  it 
said  that  after  all  it  is  English-educated  India    which  is 


252  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES 

leading  and'which  is  doing  all  the  thing  for  the  nation^ 
It  would  be  monstrous  if  it  were  otherwise.  The  only 
education  we  receive  is  English  education.  Surely  we 
must  show  something  for  it.  But  suppose  that  we  had 
been  receiving  during  the  past  fifty  years  education 
through  our  vernaculars,  what  should  we  have  to-day  ? 
We  should  have  to-day  a  free  India,  we  should  have 
our  educated  men,  not  as  if  they  were  foreigners  in  their 
own  land  but  speaking  to  the  heart  of  the  nation;  they 
would  be  working  amongst  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and 
whatever  they  would  have  gained  during  the  past  5£X 
years  would  be  a  heritage  for  the  nation.  (Applause), 
To-day  even  our  wives  are  not  the  sharers  in  our  best 
thought.  Look  at  Professor  Bose  and  Professor  Ray 
and  their  brilliant  re-searches.  Is  it  not  a  shame  that 
their  researches  are  not  the  common  property  of  th& 
masses  ? 

Let  us  now  turn  to  another  subject. 

The  Congress  has  passed  a  resolution  about  self- 
government,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  All-India. 
Congreis  Committee  and  the  Moslem  League  will  do- 
their  duty  and  come  forward  with  some  tangible  sugges- 
tions. But  I,  for  one,  must  frankly  confess  that  I  am. 
not  so  much  interested  in  what  they  will  be  able  to 
produce  as  I  am  interested  in  anything  that  the  student 
world  is  going  to  produce  or  the  masses  are  going  to 
produce.  No  paper  contribution  will  ever  give  us  self- 
government.  No  amount  of  speeches  will  ever  make 
us  fit  for  self-government.  It  is  only  our  conduct  that 
will  fit  us  for  it.  (Applause).  And  how  are  we  trying 
to  govern  ourselves  ?  I  want  to  think  audibly'"  this 
evening.  I  do  not  want  to  make  a  speech  and  if  you 
find  me   this  evening  speaking   without   reserve,  pray. 


HINDU  UNIVERSITY  SPEECH  253 

consider  that  you  are  only  sharing  the  thoughts  of  a 
man  who  allows  himself  to  think  audibly,  and  if  you 
think  that  I  seem  to  transgress  the  limits  that  courtesy 
imposes  upon'  me,  pardon  me  for  the  liberty  I  may 
be  taking.  I  visited  the  Viswanath  temple  last  even- 
ing, and  as  I  was  walking  through  those  lanes,  these 
were  the  thoughts  that  touched  me.  If  a  stranger  drop- 
ped from  above  on  to  this  great  temple,  and  he  had  to 
.consider  what  we  as  Hindus  were  would  he  not  be 
justified  in  condemning  us  ?  Is  not  this  great  temple  a 
a  reflection  of  our  own  character  ?  I  speak  feelinglyj 
as  a  Hindu.  Is  it  right  that  the  lanes  of  our  sacred 
temple  should  be  as  dirty  as  they  are  ?  The  houses 
round  about  are  built  anyhow.  The  lanes  are  tortuous 
And  narrow.  If  even  our  temples  are  not  models  of 
roominess  and  cleanliness,  what  can  our  self-govern- 
ment be  ?  Shall  our  temples  be  abodes  of  holiness, 
cleanliness  and-  peace  as  soon  as  the  English  have 
retired  from  India,  either  of  their  own  pleasure  or  by 
complusion,  bag  and  baggage  ? 

I  entirely  agree  with  the  president  of  the  Congress 
that  before  we  thinlc  of  self-government,  we  shall  have 
to  do  the  necessary  plodding.  In  every  city  there  are  two 
xlivisions,  the  cantonment  and  the  city  proper.  The  city 
mostly  is  a  stinking  den.  But  we  are  a  people  unused 
to  city  life.  But  if  we  want  city  life,  we  cannot  repro- 
duce the  easy  going  hamlet  life.  It  is  not  comforting 
to  think  that  people  walk  about  the  streets  of  Indian 
Bombay  under  the  perpetual  fear  of  dwellers  in  the 
storeyed  buildings  spitting  upon  them.  I  do  a  great  deal 
of  Railway  travelling,  I  observe  the  difficulty  of  third 
class  passengers.  But  the  Railway  Administration 
is    by    no  .means    to   blame   for   all    their    hard   lot. 


254  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

We  do  not  know  the  elementary  laws  of  cleanliness. 
We  spit  anywhere  on  the  carriage  floor,  irrespective 
of  the  thought  that  it  is  often  used  as  sleeping 
space.  We  do  not  trouble  ourselves  as"  to  how  we 
use  it ;  the  result  is  indescribable  filth  in  the  com- 
partment.  The  so-called  better  class  passengers  over- 
awe their  less  fortunate  brethren.  Among  them  I 
have  seen  the  students  world  also.  Sometimes  they  be- 
have no  better.  They  can  speak  English  and  they  have 
worn  Norfolk  jackets  and  therefore  claim  the  right  to- 
force  their  way  in  and  command  seating  accommodation. 
I  have  turned  the  searchlight  all  over,  and  as  you  have 
given  me  the  privilege  of  speaking  to  ygu  I  am  laying  my 
heart  bare.  Surely  we  must  set  these  things  right  in  our 
progress  towards  self-government.  I  now  introduce  j'ou- 
to  another  scene.  His  Highness  the  Maharajah  who- 
presided  yesterday  over  our  deliberations  spoke  about  the 
poverty  of  India.  Other  speakers  laid  great  stress  upon  it 
But  what  did  we  witness  in  the  great  pandal  in  which' 
the  foundation  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Viceroy. 
Certainly  a  most  gorgeous  show,  an  exhibition  of  jewel- 
lery which  made  a  splendid  feast  for  the  eyes  of  the- 
greatest  jeweller  who  chose  to  come  from  Paris.  I  com- 
pare with  the  richly  bedecked  noblemen  the  millions  of 
the  poor.  And  I  feel  like  saying  to  these  noblemen,. 
"  There  is  no  salvation  for  India  unless  yon  strip- 
yourselves  of  this  jewellery  and  hold  it  in  trust  for 
your  countrymen  in  India.''  (Hear,  hear  and  applause.) 
I  am  sure  it  is  not  the  desire  of  the  King-Emperor 
or  Lord  Hardinge  that  in  order  to  show  the 
trnest  loyalty  to  our  King-Emperor,  it  is  necessary 
for  us  to  ransack  our  jewellery-boxes  and  to  appear' 
bedecked    from  top   to   toe.     I     would  uftdertake,    at 


HINDU    UNIVERSITY    SPEECH  255- 

the  peril  of  my  life,  to  bring  to  you  a  message  from- 
King  George  himself  that  he  expects  nothing  of  the  kind. 
Sir,  whenever  I  hear  of  a  great  palace  rising  in  any  great 
city  of  India,  be  it  in  British  India  or  be  it  in  India  which 
is  ruled  by  our  great  chiefs,  I  become  jealous  at  once,  and 
I  say  "Oh,  it  is  the  money  that  has  come  from  the  agricul- 
turists." Over  75  per  cent,  of  the  population  are  agri' 
culturists  and  Mr.  Higginbotham  told  us  last  night  in 
his  own  felicitous  language,  that  they  are  the  men  who- 
grow  two  blades  of  grass  in  the  place  of  one,  But  there- 
cannot  be  much  spirit  of  self-government  about  us  if  we 
take  away  or  allow  others  to  take  away  from  them' 
almost  the  whole  of  the  results  of  their  labour.  Our 
salvation  can  only  come  through  the  farmer.  Neither 
the  lawyers,  nor  the  doctors,  not  the  rich  landlords 
are  going  to  secure  it. 

Now,  last  but  not  the  least,  it  is  my  bounden  duty' 
to  refer  to  what  agitated  our  minds  during  these  two  or' 
three  days.  All  of  us  have  had  many  anxious  moments 
while  the  Viceroy  was  going  through  the  streets  of 
Benares.  There  were  detectives  stationed  in  many  places  r 
We  were  horrified.  We  asked  ourselves,  "  Why  this 
distrust  ?  Is  it  not  better  that  even  Lord  Hardinge  should 
die  than  live  a  living  death  ?  But  a  representative  of  a 
mighty  sovereign  may  not.  He  might  find  it  necessary 
even  to  live  a  living  death.  But  why  was  it  necessary  to 
impose  these  detectives  on  us  ?  We  may  foam,  we  may 
fret,  we  may  resent  but  let  us  not  forget  that  India  of  to- 
day in  her  impatience  has  produced  an  army  of  anarchists. 
I  myself  am  an  anarchist,  but  of  anbther  type.  But  there 
is  a  class  of  anarchists  amongst  us,  and  if  I  was  able  to 
reach  this  class,  I  would  say  to  them  that  their  anarchism- 
bas  no  room  in  India,  if  India  is  to  conquer  the  conqueror 


256  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

It  is  a  sign  of  fear.  If  we  trust  and  fear  God,  we  shall 
have  to  fear  co  one,  not  Maharaj  ahs,  not  Viceroys,  not 
the  detectives,  not  even  King  George.  I  honour  the 
anarchist  for  his  love  of  the  country.  I  honour  him  for 
his  bravery  in  being  willing  to  die  for  his  country ;  but  I 
ask  him — Is  killing  honourable  ?  Is  the  dagger 
of  an  assassin  a  fit  precursor  of  an  honourable  death  ? 
I  deny  it.  There  is  n'o  warrant  for  such  methods  in 
any  scriptures.  If  I  found  it  necessary  for  the  salvation 
of  India  that  the  English  should  retire,  that  they 
should  be  driven  out,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  declare 
that  they  would  have  to  go,  and  I  hope  I  would 
be  prepared  to  die  in  defence  ftf  that  belief.  That 
would,  in  my  opinion,  be  an  honourable  deaths 
The  bomb-thrower  creates  secret  plots,  is  afraid  to 
come  out  into  the  open,  and  when  caught  pays  the 
penalty  of  misdirected  zeal.  I  have  been  told  :  ''  Had 
we  not  done  this,  had  some  people  not  thrown  bombs 
we  should  never  have  gained  what  we  have  got  with 
reference  to  the  partition  movement."  (Mrs.  Besant : 
Please  stop  it).  This  was  what  I  said  in  Bengal  when 
Mr.  Lyon  presided  at  the  meeting.  I  think  what  I  am 
saying  is  necessary.  If  I  am  told  to  stop  I  shall  obey 
(Turning  to  the  Chairman)  I  await  your  orders.  If  you 
consider  that  by  my  speaking  as  I  am,  I  am  not  serv  - 
ing  the  country  and  the  empire  I  shall  certainly 
stop.  (Cries  of  "  Go  on.").  (The  Chairman  .—Please 
explain  your  object).  I  am  explaining  my  object,  I 
am  simply  (Another  interruption).  My  friends,  please 
do  not  resent  this  interruption.  If  Mrs.  Besant  this 
evening  suggests  that  I  should  stop  she  does  so  because 
she  loves  India  so  well,  and  she  considers  that  I  am 
erring  in  thinking   audibly  before  you  young  men.     But 


HINDU     UNIVERSITY    SPEECH  257 

even  so,  I  simply  say  this  that  I  want  to  purge  India 
of  this  atmosphere  of  suspicion  on  either  side,  if  we 
are  to  reach  our  goal,  we  should  have  an  empire 
which  is  to  be  based  upon  mutual  love  and  mutual 
trust.  Is  it  not  better  that  we  talk  under  the  shadow 
of  this  college  than  that  we  should  be  talking  irrespon- 
sibly iu  our  homes  ?.  I  consider  that  it  is  much  better 
that  we  talk  these  things  openly.  I  have  done  so  with 
excellent  results  before  now.  I  know  that  there  is 
nothing  that  the  students  are  not  discussing.  There  is 
nothing  that  the  students  do  not  know.  I  am  therefore 
turning  the  searchlight  towards  ourselves.  I  hold  the 
name  of  my  country  so  dear  to  me  that  I  exchange 
these  thoughts  with  you,  and  submit  to  you  that  there 
is  no  room  for  anarchism  in  India.  Let  us  frankly  and 
openly  say  whatever  we  want  to  say  to  our  rulers,  and 
face  the  consequences  if  what  we  have  to  say  does  not 
please  them.  But  let  us  not  abuse.  I  was  talking  the 
other  day  to  a  member  of  the  much-abused  Civil  Service. 
I  have  not  very  much  in  common  with  the  members  of 
that  Service,  but  I  could  not  help  admiring  the  manner 
in  which  he  was  speaking  to  me.  He  said:  "Mr.  Gandhi, 
do  you  for  one  mbment  suppose  that  all  wa.  Civil 
Servants,  are  a  bad  lot,  that  we  want  to  oppress  the 
people  whom  we  have  come  to  govern  .'"'  'No,'  I  said. 
'•  Then  if  you  get  an  opportunity  put  in  a  word  for 
the  much-abused  Civil  Service  ?"  And  I  am  here 
to  put  in  that  word.  Yes;  many  members  of  the  Indian 
Civil  Service  are  most  decidedly  overbearing  ;  they 
are  tyrannical,  at  times  thoughtless.  Many  other 
adjectives  may  be  used.  I  grant  allthese  things  and  I 
grant  also  that  after  having  lived  in  India  for  a  certain 
number  of  years  some  of  them  become  somewhat 
17 


.258  EARLIER    INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

(degraded.  But  what  does  that  signify  ?  They  were 
igentlemeu  before  they  came  here,  and  if  they  have 
lost  soms  of  the  moral  fibre,  it  is  a.  reflection  upon  our- 
■selvesi  (Cries  of "  No".)  Just  think  out  for  your- 
selves, if  a  man  who  was  good  yesterday  has  be- 
■GOtne  bad  after  having  come  in  contact  with  me,  is  he 
•responsible  that  he  has  deterierated  or  am  I  ?  The 
atmosphere  of  sycophancy  and  falsity  that  surrounds 
ithem  on  their  coming  to  India  demoralises  them,  as  it 
-would  many  of  us.  It  is  well  to  take  the  blame  some- 
times. If  we  are  to  receive  self-government,  we  shall 
ihave  to  take  it.  We  shall  never  be  granted  self-govern- 
iment,  Look  at  tbe  history  of  the  British  Empire  and 
the  British  nation  ;  freedom-loving  as  it  is,  it  will  not  be 
.a  party  to  give  freedom  to  a  people  who  will  not  take  it 
•themselves.  Learn  your  lesson  if  you  wish  to  from  the 
IBoer  War.  Those  who  were  enemies  of  that  empire 
only  aifew  years  ago  have  now  become  friends. 


[At  this  point  there  was  an  interruption  and  there 
■was  a  movement  on  the  platform  to  leave  ;  the  speech 
•therefore  ended  here  abruptly.] 


THE  BENARES  INCIDENT. 


The  following  coinmunicatton  was  made  to  the  Press 
'by  Mr,  M.  K.  Gandhi,  describing  the  circumstanees  under 
which  his  speech  at  the  opening  ceremony  of  the  Hindu 
'University,  Benares,  was  interrupted. 

Mrs.  Besant's  reference  in  New  India  and  certain 
'Other  references  to  the  Benares  incident  perhaps  render 
it  necessary  for  me  to  return  to  the  subject,  however 
disinchned  I  may  be    to  do  so.    Mrs.  Besant   denies  my 


THE  BENARES  INCIDENT  259 

Statement  wtth  refereace  to  her  whispering  to  the 
Princes.  I  can  only  say  that  if  I  can  trust  my  eyes  land 
my  ears,  I  must  adhere  to  the  statement  I  have  made. 
She  occupied  a  seat  on  the  left  of  the  semi -circle  on 
either  side  of  the  Maharaja  of  Darbhanga,  who  occu- 
pied the  chair,  and  there  was  at  least  one  Prince,  per- 
haps there  were  tw^o,  who  were  sitting  on  her  side- 
Whilst  I  was  speaking,  Mrs.  Besaint  was  almost  behind 
me.  When  the  Maharaja  rose  Mrs.  Besant  had  also 
risen.  I  had  ceased  speaking'  before  the  Rajahs  actually 
kft  the  platform.  I  gently  suggested  to  her  that  she 
might  have  refrained  from  interrupting,  but  that,  if  she 
disapproved  of  the  speech  after  it  was  finished,  she 
could  have  then  dissociated  herself  from  my  sentiments. 
But  she,  with  some  degree  of  warmth,  cried,  "How 
could  we  sit  still  when  you  were  compromising  every 
one  of  us  on  the  platform  ?  You  ought  not  to  have  made 
the  remarks  you  did."  This  answer  of  Mrs.  Besant's 
does  not  quite  tally  with  her  solicitude  for  me,  which 
alone,  according  to  her  version  of  the  incident,  promoted 
her  to  interrupt  the  speech.  I  suggest  that  if  she  merely 
meant  to  protect  me  she  could  have  passed  a  nore  round 
or  whispered  into  my  ears  her  advice.  And,  again,  if  it 
was  for  my  protection,  why  was  it  necessary  for  her  to 
rise  with  the  Princes  and  to  leave  the  hall  as  I  held 
she  did  along  with  them  ? 

So  far  as  my  remarks  are  concerned,  I  am  yet  unable 
to  know  what  it  was  in  my  speech  that  seems  to  her  to 
be  open  to  such  exception  as  to  warrant  her  interruption. 
After  referring  to  the  Viceregal  visit  and  the  necessary 
precautions,  that  were  taken  for  the  Vitieroy's  safety,  I 
showed  that  aii  assassin's  death  was  anything  but  an 
honorable  death,  and  said  that  anarchism  was  opposed 


260  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

to  our  Sastras  and  had  no  place  in  India.  I  said  then: 
where  there  was  honourable  death  it  would  go  down  to 
history  as  men  who  died  for  their  conviction.  But  when- 
a  bomb-thrower  died,  secretly  plotting  all  sorts  of 
things,  what  could  he  gain  ?  I  then  went  on  to  state 
and  dealt  with  the  fallacy  that,  had  not  bomb-throwera 
thrown  bombs,  we  should  never  have  gained  what  we 
did  with  reference  to  the  Partition  Movement.  It  was 
at  about  this  stage  that  Mrs.  Besant  appealed  to  thfr 
chair  to  stop  me.  Personally,  I  shall  desire  a  publica- 
tion of  the  whole  of  my  speech  whose  trend  was  a 
sufficient  warrant  for  showing  that  I  could  not  possibly 
incite  the  students  to  deeds  of  violence.  Indeed  it  was 
conceived  in  order  to  carry  on  a  rigorous  self-exami- 
nation. 

I  began  by  saying' that  it  was  a  humiliation  for  the 
audience  and  myself  that  I  should  have  to  speak  in 
English.  I  said  that  English  having  been  the  medium 
of  instruction,  it  had  done  a  tremendous  injury  to  the 
country,  and  I  conceive  I  showed  successfully  that,  had 
we  received  training  during  the  past  50  years  in  higher 
thought  in  our  own  vernaculars,  we  should  be  to-day 
within  reach  of  our  goal.  I  then  referred_  to  the  Self- 
government  Resolution  passed  at  the  Congress  and 
showed  that  whilst  the  All-India  Congress  Commitee 
and  the  All-India  Moslem  League  would  be  drawing  up 
tlieir  paper  about  the  future  constitution,  their  duty 
was  to  fit  themselves  by  their  own  action  for  self- 
government.  And  in  order  to  show  how  short  we  fall 
of  our  duty  1  drew  attention  to  the  dirty  condition  of 
the  labyrinth  of*  lanes  surrounding  the  great  temple  of 
Kasi-Viswanath  and  the  recently  erected  palatial  buil- 
dings without  any  conception  as   to  the   straightness  or- 


THE   BENARES   INCIDENT  261 

the  width  of  the  streets.  I  then  took  the  audience  to 
the  gorgeous  scene  that  was  enacted  on  the  dais 
of  laying  of  the  foundation  and  suggested  that 
if  a  stranger  not  knowing  anything  about  Indian 
life  had  visited  the  scene  he  would  have  gone 
away  under  the  false  impression  that  India  was  one  of 
the  richest  countries  in  the  world,  such  was  the  display 
of  jewellery  worn  by  our  noblemen.  And  turning  to  the 
Maharajahs  and  the  Rajahs  I  humourously  suggested 
that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  hold  those  treasures  in 
trust  for  the  nation  before  we  could  realise  our  ideals, 
and  I  cited  the  action  of  the  Japanese  noblemen  who 
considered  it  a  glorious  privilege,  even  though  there  was 
no  necessity  for  them,  to  dispossess  themselves  of 
treasures  and  land  which  were  handed  to  them  from 
generation  to  generarion.  I  then  asked  the  audience 'to. 
consider  the  humiliating  spectacle  of  the  Viceroy's 
person  having  to  be  protected  from  ourselves  when  he 
was  our  honoured  guest.  And  I  was  endeavouring  to 
show  that  the  blame  for  these  precautions  was  also  on 
ourselves  in  that  they  were  rendered  necessary  because 
of  the  introduction  of  organised  assassination  in  India, 
Thus  I  was  endeavouring  to  show  on  the  one  hand  how- 
the  students  could  usefully  occupy  themselves  in  assist- 
ing to  rid  society  of  its  proved  defects,  and  on  the  other, 
to  wean  themselves  even  in  thought  from  methods  of 
violence. 

I  claim  that  with  twenty  years'  experience  of  pub- 
lic life  in  the  course  of  which  I  have  had  to  address 
on  scores  of  occasions  turbulent  audiences,  I  have  some 
experience  of  feelmg  the  pulse  of  my  audience.  I  was 
following  closely  how  the  speech  was  being  taken,  and 
I  certainly  did  not  notice  that   the   student   world   was 


262  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

being  adversely  affected.  Indeed  some  of  them  came  to 
me  the  followi'ng  morning  and  told  me  that  they  per- 
fectly understood  my  remarks,  which  had' gone  home. 
One  of  tiiem,  a  keen  debater,  even  subjected  me  to  cross- 
examination  and  seemed  to  feel  convinced  by  a  further 
development  of  the  argument  such  as  I  had  advanced 
in  the  course  of  my  speech.  Indeed  I  have  spoken 
now  to  thousands  of  students  and  others  of  my  country* 
men  throghout  South  Africa^  England'  and  India  and 
by  precisely  the  arguments  that  I  used  that  evening  I 
claim  to  have  weaned  many  from  their  approval  of 
anarchical  methods. 

Finally,  I  observe  that  Mr.  S.  S.  Setlur,  of  Bombay^ 
■whc  has  written  on  the  incident  to  Hiu'dti  in  do  friendly 
mood  towards  me  and  who,  I  think,  in  some  respects- 
totally  and  unfairly  has  endeavoured  to  tear  me  to  pieces 
and  who  was  an  eye-withess  to  the  proceedings  gives 
a  version  different  ftfom  Mrs.  Beaant's.  He  thinks  that 
the  general  impression  was  not  that  I  wasj  encouraging^ 
the  anarchists  but  I  was  playing  the  role  of  an  apologist 
for  the  civilian  bureaucrat.  The  whole  of  Mr.  Setlur'a 
attack  Upon  me  shows  that  if  he  is  right,  I  was  certainly 
not  guilty  of  any  incitement  to  violence  and  that  oflfeTice 
consisted  in  my  reference  to  jewellery,  etc. 

In  order  that  the  fullest  justice  might  be  done  both 
to  Mrs.  Besant  and  myself,  I  would  make  the  following 
suggestion.  She  says  that  she  does  not  propose  to 
defend  herself  by  quoting  the  sentence  which  drew  the 
Princes  away  and  that  would  be  playing  into  the 
enemies'  hand.  According  to  her  previous  statement 
my  speech  is  already  in  the  bands  of  detectives,  so  that 
so  far  as  my  safety  is  concerned,  her  forbearance  is  not 
going  to  be  of  the    slightest    use.     Would  it   not  there- 


THE  BENAEES  INCIDENT  263 

f©je  be  better  that  she  should  either  publish  a  verbatimi 
report,  if  she  has  it,  or  reproduce  such  sentiments  iin 
my  speech  as,  in  her  opinion,  necessitated  her  interrup- 
tion aaMi  the  Princes'  withdrawal. 

I  will  therefore  conclude  this  statement  by  repeat- 
ing what  I  have  said  before  :  that,  but  for  Mrs.  Besant's 
interruption,  I  would  have  concluded  my  speech  in  a 
few  miijutra  and  no  possible  misconception  about  my 
views  on  anarchism  would  have  arisen. 

REPLY  TO  KARACHI  ADDRESS. 


In  reply  to  the  veelcome  address  presented  by  the 
Citizens'  Ansoeiation,  Karachi;  on  February  29,  1916,. 
Mr.  Gandhi  spoht  in  Hindi  to  the  following  effeet : — 

I  am  grateful  to  you  all  for  this  address  and  for 
wiat  you  have  done  in  connection  with  my  visit  and! 
for  ibfi  trouble  you  have  taken  therefor.  I  hg;ve  bee» 
travelling  in  various  parts  of  India  ;  and  in  the  course 
of  my  travels  I  have  been  struck  with  the  facl  that 
throughout  Indi«  th«  hearts  of  the  people  are  in  a  special! 
degree  drawn  towards  me.  All  brothers  of  Hindustan, 
without  distinction  of  creed  or  caste,  have  been  showingf 
this  attachment.  But  I  feel  convinced  that  this  remark- 
able attachment  to  me  is  meant  not  for  me  but  as  a  fitting 
tribute  of  admiration  to  all  those  noble  brothers  and 
sisters  of  ours  in  South  Africa  who  underwent  cuch 
immense  troubles  and  sacrifices,  including  incarceration' 
m  jails,  for  the  service  of  the  Motherland.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly this  consideration  which  leads  you  to  be  sO' 
very  kind  to  me.  It  was  they  who  won  the  struggle,, 
and  it  was  by  reason  of  their  unflinching  determination 
to"  do  or  die'  that  so  much  was  achieved.  Hence  I  take 


264  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES. 

it  that  whatever  tribute  is  paid  to  me  is   in  reality  and 
in  truth  paid  to  them. 

In  the  course  of  my  tour  in  India  I  have  been  parti- 
cularly struck  with  one  thing  and  that  is  the  awakening 
of  the  Indian  people.  A  new  hope  has  filled  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  hope  that  something  is  going  to  happen 
which  will  raise  the  Motherland  to  a  higher  status. 
But  side  by  side  with  this  spirit  of  hope  I  also  had 
amongst  my  countrymen  awe  not  only  of  the  Govern' 
ment  but  also  of  heads  of  castes  and  the  priestly  class. 
As  a  result  of  this  we  are  afraid  to  speak  out  what  is  in 
us.  3o  long  as  this  spirit  remains,  there  will  be  and 
there  can  be,  no  true  progress.  You  know  that  at  the 
last  session  of  the  Congress  a  resolution  was  passed 
about  self-government.  For  the  attainment  of  that  ideal 
you  and  I,  all  of  us,  must  work  and  persevere.  In  per- 
suance  of  that  resolution  the  committees  of  the  Congress 
and  the  Moslem  League  will  soon  meet  together  ;  and 
they  will  decide  what  they  think  proper.  But  the 
attainment  of  self-government  depends  not  on  their 
saying  or  doing  anything  but  upon  what  you  and  I  do. 
Here  in  Karachi  commerce  is  predominent  and  there 
are  many  big  merchants.  To  them  I  wish  to  address 
a  few  words.  It  is  a  misapprehension  to  think  that 
th3re  is  no  scope  in  commerce  for  serving  the  mother- 
country.  If  they  are  inspired  by  the  spirit  of 
truth,  merchants  can  be  immensely  useful  to  the 
country.  The  salvation  of  our  country,  remember,  is 
not  in  the  hands  of  others  but  of  ourselves,  and  more  in 
the  hands  of  merchants  in  some  respects  than  the 
educated  people ;  for  I  strongly  feel  that  so  long  as 
there  is  no  swedeshism,  there  can  be  no  self-government 
(hear,  hear,)  ;  and  for  the   spread  of  swadeshism  Indian 


REPLY   TO   KARACHI    ADDRESS  265 

merchants  are  in  a  position  to  do  a  very  great  deal.  The 
swadeshi  wave  passed  through  the  country  at  one  time. 
But  I  understand  that  the  movement  had  collapsed 
largely  because  Indian  merchants  bad  palmed  on  foreign 
goods  as  swadeshi  articles.  By  Indian  merchants  being 
honest  and  straight-forward  in  their  business,  they  could 
achieve  a  great  deal  for  the  regeneration  and  uplift  of 
of  the  country.  Hence  merchants  should  faithfully 
observe  what  Hindus  call  Dharma  and  Muhammadans 
call  Iman  in  their  business  transactions.  Then  shall 
India  be  uplifted.  I  appeal  to  you  that  in  this  potent 
way  can  you  be  serviceable  to  the  country.  Karachi  is 
a  big  and  important  city — the  fourth  important  city  and 
port  in  India.  It  possesses  many  big  and  rich  mer- 
chants. I  hope  they  will  brood  over  this  suggestion, 
for  it  rests  very  largely  with  the  merchants  to  do  last- 
ing good  or  lasting  harm  to  the  country.  In  South 
Africa  our  merchants  rendered  valuable  help  in  the 
struggle;  and  yet  because  some  of  them  weakened,  the 
struggle  was  prolonged  somewhat.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
educated  classes  to  mix  freely  with  Indian  merchants 
and  the  poor  classes.  Then  will  our  journey  to  the 
common  and  cherished  goal  be  less  irksome.  (Prolonged 
applause.) 


THE  GURUKULA 


The  following  is  an  account  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  speech 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  Gurukula,  as  written  out  by 
himself: — 

I  propose  to  reproduce  only  as  much  of  it  as  in  my 
opinion  is  worth  placing  on  record  with  additions  where 
they  may  be   found   necessary.     The   speech,  it  may  be 


266  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

observed,    was    delivered  in    Hindii     Aftec   tbamkingr 
Mahatoiaji  Mnnshii  Ram  for   his   great  kindness   t®  my 
boys  to  'Whom    he  gaive   sheiter   cm   two  occasions  and' 
acted  as  father  to  them  and  af tea?  stating  that  the  time 
for  action  had  arrived  rather  than   for   speeches,  I  prO'' 
ceeded  : — 'I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude   to  the  Arya  Samaj, 
I  have   often    derived   inspiration  from   its  activity.     I 
have  noticed  among  the  members   cxf.  the   Samaj  mucfe 
self-sacrifiae.    During    my    travels    in   India    I    came 
across  many    Arya   Samajists   who   were  doing   exceK' 
lent  work  for   the   country.     I   am,   therefore,  grateful 
to  Mahatmaji    that    I  am   enabled  to  be   in  your  midst^ 
At    the    same   time   it  is   biit   fair   to   s;late   that  I  am 
frankly   a     Samatanist.     For     me     Hinduism    is    all- 
sufficing.     Every  variety  of  belief  finds  protection  under 
its  ample  fold.  And  though  the  Arya  Samajists  and  the 
Sikhs  and    the   Brahmo   Samajists   may   choose   to  be 
classed  differently  from  the  Hindus,   I    have   no   doubt 
that  at  no  distant    futuire   they   wiJI  be  all    merged   in 
Hinduism  and  find  in  it    their  fulness.     Hinduism    like 
e^very  other  human  institution  has  its  drawbacks  and  its 
defects.     Here  is  ample  scope  for  any   worker  to  strive 
for  reform,  but  there  ie  little  cause  for  succession, 

SPIRIT  OF   FEARLESSNESS 

Throughout  my  travels  I  have  been  asked  about 
the  immediate  need  for  India.  And  perhaps  I  would 
not  do  better  than  repeat  this  afternoon  the 
answer  I  have  given  elsewhere.  In  general  terms 
a  proper  religious  spirit  is  the  greatest  and  most 
immediate  need.  But  I  know  that  this  is  too  general 
an  answer  to  satisfy  anybody.  And  it  is  an 
answer  true  for  all  time.  What,  therefore,  I  desire 
to   say    is   that    owing   to   the   religious    spirit    being 


THE  GURUKULA  267 

dormant  in  Us,  we  are  living  in  a  state  of  per- 
petual fear.  We  fear  the  temporal  as  well  as  the 
spiritual  authority.  We  dare  not  speak  out  our  minds 
before  our  priests  and  our  Panditsi  We  stand  in  awe  of 
theitempwiral  power.  lam  sure  that  in  so  doing  we  do 
a  disservice  to  them  and  us.  Neither  the  spiritual 
teachers  nor  our  political  governors  could  possibly  desire 
that  we  should  hide  the  truth  from  them.  Lord  Willing- 
don  speaking  to  a  Bombay  audience  has  been  saying 
recentl-y  that  he  had  observed  that  we  hesitated  to  say 
'  DO '  when  we  realty  meant  it  and  advised  his  audi- 
ence to  cultivate  a  fearless  spirit.  Of  course,  fearless- 
ness should  never  mean  want  of  due  respect  or  regard 
for  the  feelings  of  others.  In  my  humble  opinion  fear- 
lessness is  the  first  thing  indispensable  before  we  could 
achieve  anything  permanent  and  real.  This  quahty  is 
unattainable  without  'xeFgious  consciousness.  Let  us 
fear  God  and  we  s'hall  cease  to  fear  man.  If  we  grasp 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  divinity  within  us  which  wit- 
nessess  everything  we  think  or  do  and  which  protects 
UB  and  guddes  us  along  the  true  path,  it  is  clear  that  we 
shall  cease  to  have  any  other  fear  on  the  face  of  the 
earth  save  the  fear  of  God.  Loyalty  to  the  Governor 
of  governors  sifpersedes  all  other  loyalty  and  gives  an 
intelligent  basis  to  the  latter. 

MEANING  OF    SWADESHI 

And  when  we  have  sufficiently  cultivated  this 
spirit-  of  fearlessneess,  we  shall  see  that  there  is- 
no  salvation  for  us  without  true  Swadeshi,  not  the 
Swadeshi  which  can  be  conveniently  put  off.  Swadeshr 
for  me  has  a  deeper  meaning.  I  would  like  us 
to  apply  it  in  our  religions,  political  and  econo- 
mic   life.     It   is     not     therefore     merely     confined    to- 


^68  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

wearing   on   occasions   a    Swadashi     cloth.    That   we 
have  to  do   for   all    time    not   out   of   a  spirit  of   jeal- 
ousy or  revenge,   but   because   it   is   a    duty    we   owe 
to  our  dear  country.    We  commit  a    breach  of    the 
Swadeshi  spirit  certainly  if  we  wear  foreign-made  cloth 
but  we  do   so  also  if  we  adopt  the  foreign    cut.    Surely 
ihe  style   of   our   dress  has   some   correspondence  with 
our   environment.     In   elegance  and   tastefulness   it  is 
immeasurably  superior  to  the   trousers  and  the   jacket. 
An   Indian  wearing   a  shirt   flowing   over   his  pyjamas 
with  a  waist  coat  on  it    without  a  necktie  and   its   flaps 
hanging  loose  behind  is  not   a  very  gracefull   spectacle. 
Swadeshi    in    religion    teaches    one    to    measure    the 
glorious   past   and   re-enact   it    in    the   present   genera- 
tion.    The   pandemonium  that  is   going   on   in    Europe 
shows  that  modern  civilization   represents  forces  of  evil 
and  darkness  whereas   the    ancient  «.e.,   Indian  civiliza- 
tion, represents  in  its  essence  the  divine  force.     Modern 
civilization  is    chiefly   materialistic   as   ours    is  chiefly 
spiritual.     Modern    civilization   occupies   itself   in   the 
investigation  of    the   laws   of  matter   and    employs  the 
human  ingenuity  in  inventing    or    discovering  means  of 
production  and  weapons  of   destruction  ;   ours  is  chiefly 
occupied  in  exploring  spiritual  laws.    Our    Shastras  lay 
down  unequivocally  that  a  proper  observance   of  truth, 
chastity,  scrupulous  regard  for  all  life,   abstention  from 
coveting  others'   possessions   and   refusal  to  hoard  an/- 
thing   but   what   is   necessary   for   our    daily    wants  is 
indispensable  for  a  right  life  ;  that  without  it  a  know- 
ledge of  the  divine   element   is   an    impossibility.     Our 
civilization  tells  us  with  daring  certainty  that  a  proper 
and   perfect    cultivation    of     the    quality    of    ahimsa 
which  in  its  active   form   means   purest    love   and  pity, 


THE    GURUKULA  209 

brings  the  whole  world  to  our  feet.  The  author  of  this 
discovery  gives  a  wealth  of  illustration,  which  carries- 
conviction  with  it. 

THF    DOCTRINE    OF    AHIMSA 

Examine  its  result  in  the  political  life.  There  is  no 
gift  so  valued  by  our  Shastra,  as  the  gift  of  life.  Consider 
what  our  relations  would  be  with  our  rulers  if  we  gaver 
absolute  security  of  life  to  them.  If  they  could  but  feel 
that  no  matter  what  we  might  feel  about  their  acts,  we 
would  hold  their  bodies  as  sacred  as  our  own,  there 
would  immediately  spring  up  an  atmosphere  of  mutual 
trust  and  there  would  be  such  frankness  on  eitheir  sider 
as  to  pave  the  way  for  an  honourable  and  just  solution 
of  many  problems  that  worry  us  to-day.  It  should  be  re- 
membered  that  in  practising  ahimsa  there  need  not  be 
any  reciprocation,  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  in  its  final 
stages  it  commands  reciprocation.  Many  of  us  believe 
and  I  am  one  of  them,  that  through  our  civilization  we 
have  a  message  to  deliver  to  the  world.  I  tender  my 
loyalty  to  the  British  Government  quite  selfishly.  I 
would  like  to  use  the  British  race  for  transmitting  this 
mighty  message  of  ahimsa  to  the  whole  world.  But 
that  can  only  be  done  when  we  have  conquered  our  so- 
'  called  conquerors  and  you,  my  Arya  Samaj  friends,  are 
perhaps  specially  elected  for  this  mission.  You  claim 
to  examine  our  scriptures  critically.  You  take  nothing 
for  granted  and  you  claim  not  to  fear  to  reduce  your 
belief  to  practice.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any  room 
for  trifling  with  or  limiting  the  doctrine  of  ahimsa. 
You  dare  then  to  reduce  it  to  practice  regardless  of 
immediate  consequences  which  would  certainly  test  the 
strength  of  your  convictions.  You  would  not  only 
have  procured   salvation  for    India,    but    you    would 


270  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

have  rendered  the  noblest  service  that  a  man  can 
render  to  humanity — a  service  moreover  which  y6u 
would  rightly  assert,  the  great  Swami  was  boHi  for. 
This  Swadeshi  is  to  becorisidered  as  a  very  active  force 
to  be  ceaselessly  employed  with  an  ever-increasing 
vigilance,  searching  sslf-examination.  It  is  not  meant 
for  the  lazy,  but  it  is  essentially  meant  for  them  who 
would  gladly  lay  down  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  truth. 
It  is  possible  to  dilate  upon  several  other  phases  of 
Swadestii,  but  I  think  I  have  said  enough  to  enable  you 
to  understand  what  I  mean.  I  only  hope  that  you  who 
represent  a  school  of  reformers  in  India  will  not  reject 
what  I  have  said,  without  a  thorough  examination. 
And  if  my  word  has  commended  itself  to  you,  your  past 
record  entitles  me  to  expect  you  to  enforce  in  your  own 
lives  the  things  of  eternity  about  which  I  have  ventur- 
ed to  speak  to  you  this  after-noon  and  cover  the  whole 
of  India  with  your  activity. 

WORK  OF  THE  ARYA  SAMA] 

In  concluding  my  report  of  the  above  speech,  I 
would  like  to  state  what  I  did  not  in  speaking  to  that 
great  audience  and  it  is  this.  I  have  now  twice  visited 
the  Gurukula.  In  spite  of  some  vital  differences  with 
my  brethren  of  the  Arya  Samaj,  I  have  a  sneaking 
regard  for  them,  and  it,  and  perhaps  the  best  result  of 
the  activity  of  the  Acya  Samaj  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
establishment  and  the  conduct  of  the  Gurukula.  Though 
it  depends  for  its  vitality  entirely  upon  the  inspiring 
presence  of  Mahatmaji  Munshiram,  it  is  truly  a  national 
and  self-governing  and  self-governed  institution.  It  is 
totally  independent  of  Government  aid  or  patronage; 
Its  war  chest  is  filled  not  out  of  monies  received  from  the 
privileged  few,  but  from  the  poor  many  who  make  it  a 


THE   GURUKULA.  271 

point  of  honor  from  year  to  year  to  make  a  pilgrimage 
to  Kangri  and  willingly  give  their  mite  for  mainitainJDg 
this  National  CoUege.  Here  at  every  anniversary  a 
huge  crowd  gathers  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
handled,  housed  and  fed  evinces  no  mean  power  of 
OrFganisation.  But  the  most  wonderful  thing  about,it  all  is 
that  the  crowd  consisting  of  about  ten  thousand  men, 
women  and  children,  is  imanaged  without  the  assistance 
^f  a  single  policeman  and  without  any  fuss  or  semblance 
of  force,  the  only  f®rce  that  subsists  between  the  crowd 
and  the  managers  of  the  institution  is  that  of  love  and 
mutual  esteem.  Fourteen  years  are  nothing  in  the  life  of 
a  big  institution  like  this.  What  the  collegiates  who 
have  been  just  turned  out  during  the  last  two  or  three 
years  will  be  able  to  show,  remains  to  be  seen.  The 
public  will  not  and  cannot  judge  men  or  institutions 
«xcept  through  the  results  that  they  show.  It  makes  no 
allowance  for  failures.  It  is  a  most  exacting  judge.  The 
iinal  appeal  of  the  Gurukula  as  of  all  popular  institu- 
tions must  be  to  this  judge  Great  responsibility  there- 
fore rests  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  students  who  hav« 
been  discharged  from  the  College  and  who  have  entered 
-upon  the  thorny  path  of  life.  Let  them  beware.  Mean- 
while those  who  are  wallwishers  of  this  great  experi- 
ment may  derive  satisfaction  from  the  fact  that  we 
have  it  as  an  indisputable  rule  of  life,  that  as  the  tree 
is  so  will  the  fruit  be.  -The  tree  looks  lovely  enough. 
JHe  who  waters  it  is  a  noble  soul.  Why  worry  about 
-what  the  fruit  is  likely  to  be  V 

INDUSTRIAL  TRAINING 

As  a  lover  of  the  Gurukula,  I  may  be  permitted 
to  offer  one  or  two  suggestions  to  the  coinmitte  and  the 
parents.     The  Gurukula  boys  need  a  thorough  industrial 


272  EARLIER    INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

training  if  they  are  to  become  self-reliant  and  self- 
supporting.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  our  country  in  which 
85  per  cent,  of  the  population  is  agricultural  and  perhaps 
10  per  cent,  occupied  in  supplying  the  wants  of  the  pea- 
santry, it  must  be  part  of  the  training  of  every  youth 
that  he.  has  a  fair  pratical  knowledge  of  agriculture  and 
.hand-weaving.  He  v/ill  lose  nothing  if  he  knows  a  proper 
use  of  tools,  can  saw  a  piece  of  board  straight  and  build 
a  wall  that  will  not  come  down  through  a  faulty  hand- 
ling of  the  plumber's  line.  A  boy  who  is  thus  equipped 
will  never  feel  helpless  in  battling  with  the  world 
and  never  be  in  want  of  employment.  A  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  as  well  as  the  art 
of  rearing  children  should  also  form  a  necessary  part 
of  the  Gurukula  lads.  The  sanitary  arrangements  at  the 
fair  left  much  to  be  desired.  The  plague  of  flies  told 
its  own  tale.  These  irrepressible  sanitary  inspectors  in- 
cessantly warned  us  that  in  point  of  sanitation  all  was 
not  well  with  us.  They  plainly  suggested  that  the  re- 
mains of  our  food  and  excreta  need  to  be  properly  buried. 
It  seemed  to  me  to  be  such  a  pity  that  a  golden  oppor- 
tunity was  being  missed  of  giving  to  the  annual  visitors 
practical  lessons  on  sanitation.  But  the  work  must 
begin  with  the  boys.  Then  the  management  would 
have  at  the  anuuiil  gathering  three  hundred  practical 
sanitary  teachers.  Last  but  not  least  let  the  parents 
and  the  commitee  not  spoil  their  lads  by  making  them 
ape  European  dress,  or  modern  luxuries.  These  will 
hinder  them  in  their  after  life  and  are  antagonistic  to 
Bramacharya.  They  have  enough  to  fight  against  in 
the  evil  inclinations  common  to  us  all.  Let  us  not 
make  their  fight  more  diflScult  'by  adding  to  their  temp- 
tations. 


SWADESHI 


The  following  is  an.  address  delivered  before  the 
Missionary  Conference,  Madras,  on  the  14-th  February, 
1916. 

It  was  not  without  great  dififtdence  that  I  under- 
took to  speak  to  you  at  all.  And  I  was  hard  put  to  it 
in  the  selection  of  my  subject.  I  have  chosen  a  very 
delicate  and  difficult  subject.  It  is  delicate  because  of 
the  peculiar  views  I  hold  upon  Swadeshi,  and  it  is 
difficult  because  I  have  not  that  command  of  language 
which  is  necessary  for  giving  adequate  expression  to 
my  thoughts.  I  know  that  I  may  rely  upon  your,  in- 
dulgence for  the  many  shortcomings  you  will  no  doubt 
find  in  my  address,  the  more  so  when  I  tell  you  that 
there  is  nothing  in  what  I  am  about  to  say  that  I  am 
not  either  already  practising  or  am  not  preparing  to 
practise  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  It  encourages  me 
to  observe  that  last  month  you  devoted  a  week  to 
prayer  in  the  place  of  an  address.  I  have  earnest- 
ly prayed  that  what  I  am  about  to  say  may  bear  fruit 
and  I  know  that  you  will  bless  my  word  with  a  similar 
prayer. 

After  much  thinking  I  have  arrived  at  a  definition 
of  Swadeshi  that,  perhaps,  best  illustrates  my  meaning, 
Swadeshi  is  that  sprit  in  us  which  restricts  us  to  the 
use  and  service  of  our  immediate  surroundings  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  more  remote.  Thus,  as  for  religion,  in 
order  to  satisfy  the  requirements  ot  the  definition,  I  must 
restrict  myself  to  my  ancestral  religion.  That  is  the 
use  of  my  immediate  religious  surrounding.  If  I  find  it 
16 


274  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

defective,  I  should  serve  it  by  purging  it  of  its  defects. 
In  the  domain  of  politics  I  should  make  use  of  the 
indigenous  institutions  and  serve  them  by  curing  them 
of  their  proved  defects.  In  that  of  economics  I  should 
use  only  things  that  are  produced  by  my  immediate 
neighbours  and  serve  those  industries  by  making  them 
efficient  and  complete  where  they  might  be  found  want- 
ing. It  is  suggested  that  such  Swadeshi,  if  reduced  to 
practice,  will  lead  to  the  millennium.  And,  as  we  do 
not  abandon  our  pursuit  after  the  millennium,  because 
we  do  not  expect  quite  to  reach  it  within  our  times,  so 
may  we  not  abandon  Swadeshi  even  though  it  may  not 
be  fully  attained  for  generations  to  come. 

Let  us  briefly  examine  the  three  branches  of 
Swadeshi  as  sketched  above.  Hinduism  has  become 
a  conservative  religion  and,  therefore,  a  mighty  force 
because  of  the  Swadeshi  spirit  underlying  it.  It 
is  the  most  tolerant  because  it  is  non-proselytising^ 
and  it  is  as  capable  of  expansion  to-day  as  it  has 
been  found  to  be  in  the  past.  It  has  succeeded  not 
in  driving  oat,"  as  I  think  it  has  been  erroneously 
held,  but  in  absorbing  Buddhism.  By  reason  of  the 
Swadeshi  spirit,  a  Hindu  refuses  to  change  his  reli- 
gion, not  necessarily  because  he  considers  it  to  be  the 
best,  but  because  he  knows  that  he  can  complement  it 
by  introducing  reforms.  And  what  I  have  said  about 
Hinduism  is,  I  suppose,  true  of  the  other  great  faiths  of 
the  world,  only  it  is  held  that  it  is  specially  so  in  the 
case  of  Hinduism.  But  here  comes  the  point  I  am 
labouring  to  reach.  If  there  is  any  substance  in  what 
I  have  said,  will  not  the  great  missionary  bodies  of 
India,  to  whom  she  owes  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for 
what  they  have  done  and  are  doing,   do  still    better  and 


SWADESHI  275 

serve  the  spirit  of  Christianity  better  by  dropping  the 
goal  of  proselytising  while  conti  nuing  their  philanthro- 
pic work?  1  hope  you  will  not  consider  this  to  be  an  im- 
pertinence on  my  part.  I  make  the  suggestion  in  all 
sincerity  and  with  due  humility.  Moreover  I  have  some 
claim  upon  your  attention.  I  have  endeavoured  to  study 
the  Bible,  I  consider  it  as  part  of  my  scriptures.  The 
spirit  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  competes  almost  on 
equal  terms  with  the  Bhagavad  Gita  for  the  domination 
of  my  heart.  I  yield  to  no  Christian  in  the  strength  of 
devotion  with  which  I  si'ng  "  Lead  kindly  light  "  and 
several  other  inspired  hymns  of  a  similar  nature,  I 
have  come  under  the  influence  of  noted  Christian  mis- 
sionaries belonging  to  different  denominations.  And  I 
enjoy  to  this  day  the  privilege  of  friendship  with  some 
of  them.  You  will  perhaps,  therefore,  allow  that  I  have 
offered  the  above  suggestion  not  as  a  biased  Hindu,  but 
as  a  humble  and  impartial  student  of  religion  with  great 
leanings  towards  Christianity.  May  it  not  be  that  ''  Go 
ye  unto  all  the  world"  message  has  been  somewhat 
narrowly  interpreted  and  the  spirit  of  it  missed  ?  It  will 
not  be  denied,  I  speak  from  experience,  that  many  of  the 
conversions  are  only  so-called.  In  some  cases  the  appeal 
has  gone  not  to  the  heart  but  to  the  stomach.  And  in 
every  case  a  conversion  leaves  a  sore  behind  it  which, 
I  venture  to  think,  is  avoidable.  Quoting  again  from 
experience,  a  new  birth,  a  change  of  heart,  is  perfectly 
possible  in  every  one  of  the  great  faiths.  I  know  I  am 
now  treading  upon  thin  ice.  But  I  do  not  apologise  in 
closing  this  part  of  my  subject,  for  saying  that  the 
frightful  outrage  that  is  just  going  on  in  Europe,  per- 
haps shows  that  the  message  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, the  Son  of   Peace,  had   been  little   understood  in 


-276  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

Europe,  and  that  light  upon  it   may  have  to  be  thrown 
from, the  East- 

I  have  sought  your  help  in  religious  matters,  which 
it  is  yours  to  give  in  a  special  sense.  But  I  make  bold 
to  seek  it  even  in  political  matters.  I  do  not  believe 
that  religion  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics.  The  latter 
divorced  from  religion  is  like  a  corpse  only  fit  to  be 
"buried.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  your  own  silent  manner, 
you  influence  politics  not  a  little.  And  I  feel  that,  if  the 
attempt  to  separate  politics  from  religion  had  not  been 
made  as  it  is  even  now  made,  they  would  not  have 
Regenerated  as  they  often  appear  to  have  done.  No 
one  considers  that  the  political  life  of  the  country  is  in 
a  happy  state.  Following  out  the  Swadeshi  spirit, 
I  observe  the  indigenous  institutions  and  the  village 
panchayats  hold  ms.  India  is  really  a  republican 
country,  and  it  is  because  it  is  that,  that  it  has  survived 
■every  shock  hitherto  delivered.  Princes  and  poten- 
tates, whether  they  were  Indian  born  or  foreigners, 
have  hardly  touched  the  vast  masses  except  for  collec- 
ting revenue.  The  latter  in  their  turn  seem  to  have 
rendered  unto  Caesar  what'  was  Caesar's  and  for  the  rest 
have  done  much  as  they  have  liked.  The  vast  organis- 
ation of  caste  answered  not  only  the  religious  wants  of  the 
community,  but  it  answered  to  its  political  needs.  The 
villagers  managed  their  internal  affairs  through  the  caste 
system,  and  through  it  they  dealt  with  any  oppression 
from  the  ruling  power  or  powers.  It  is  not  possible  to 
•deny  of  a  nation  that  was  capable  of  producing  the 
'Caste  system  its  wonderful  power  of  organisation.  One 
had  but  to  attend  the  great  Kumbha  Mela  at  Hardwar 
fest  year  to  know  how  skilful  that  organisation  must 
have  been,  which  without  any  seeming   effort  was  able 


SWADESHI  27T 

effectively  to  cater  for  more  than  a  million  pilgrims. 
Yet'  it  is'  the'  fashion  to  say  that  we  lack  organising^ 
ability.  This  is  true,  I  Tear,  io  a  certain  extent,  of 
those  who  have  been'  nurtured  in  the  new  traditions.. 
We  Tiave  laboured  u'nder^a  terrible  handicap  owing  to- 
an  almost  fatal  departure  from  the  Swadeshi  s^rit. 
We,  the  educated  classes,  have  received  our  educationi 
through  a  foreign  tongue.  We  have  therefore  not 
reacted  upon  the'  masses.  We  want  to  irepresent  the 
masses,  but  we  fail.  They  recognise  us  not  much  more 
than  they  recognise  the  English  officers.  Their  heairts 
are  an  open  book  to  neither.  Theii:  aspirations  are  not 
ours.  Hence  there  is  a  break.  And  you  witness  hot  iri 
reality  failure  to  organise  but  want  of  correspondence 
between  the  representatives  and  the  represented.  If 
during  the  last  fifty  years  we  had  been  educated 
through  the  vernaculars,  bur  elders  and  our  servants 
and  our  neighbours  would  have  partaken  of  our  know- 
ledge ;  the  discoveries  of  a  Bose  or  a  Ray  would  have 
been  househould  treasures  as  are  the  Ramayan  and  the 
Mahabharat.  As  it  is,  so  far  as  the  masses  are  con- 
cerned, those  great  discoveries  might  as  well  have 
been  made  by  foreigners.  Had  instruction  in  all  the 
branches 'of  learning  been  given  through  the  verna- 
culars, I  make  bold  to  say  that  they  would  have  been 
enriched  wonderfully.' The  question  of  village  sanitation 
etc.,  would  have  been  solved  long  ago.  The  village 
panchayats  would  be  now  a  living  force  in  a  special 
way,  and  India  would  almost  be  enjoying  self-govern- 
ment suited  to  its  requirements  and  would  have  been 
spared  the  humiliating  spectacle  of  organised  assassi- 
nation on  its  sacred  soil.  It  is  not  too  late  to  mend.  And 
you  can  help  if  you  will,  as  no  other  body  or  bodies  can. 


278  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

And  now  for  the  last  division   of  Swadeshi.   Much 
of;the  deep  poverty  of  the  masses   is  due   to  the  rninons 
departure  from  Swadeshi  in  the  economic  and  industrial 
life.     If  not  an  article   of   commerce  had    been  brought 
from  outside  India,  she  would  be    to-day    a  land  flowing 
with  milk  and  honey.  But  that  was  not  to  be.  We  were 
greedy  and  so  was   England.    The  connection  between 
England  and  India  was  based  clearly  upon  an  error.  But 
she  does  not  remain  in  India  in  error.    It  is  her  declared 
policy  that  India  is  to  be  held  in  trust  for  her  people.  If 
this   be   true,   Lancashire    must   stand   aside.     And  if 
the  Swadeshi    doctrine  is  a  sound   doctrine,    Lancashire 
can  stand   aside  without  hurt,  though  it  may   sustain  a 
shock  for  the   time  being,    I  think    of   Swadeshi  not  as 
a  boycott  movement   undertaken  by  way  of  revenge.     I 
conceive  it  as  a  religious  principle  to  be  followed  by  all. 
I   am    no   economist,   but    I    have    read    some  treatises 
which   show  that   England  could  easily    become  a  self- 
sustained   country,  growing  all  the    produce   she  needs. 
This   may    be    an   utterly   ridiculous    proposition,   and 
perhaps   the   best   proof  that  it   cannot  be  true ,   is  that 
England   is  one  of   the  largest  importers   in    the  world. 
But   India  cannot    live    for    Lancashire    or   any    other 
country  before  she  is  able  to  live  for  herself.    And   she 
can  live  for  herself  only  if  she    produces  and  is    helped 
to  produce    everything    for   her    requirements    within 
her  own  borders.    She  need  not  be,  she  ought  not  to  be, 
drawn  into  the  vertex  of  mad  and    ruinous   competition 
•which  breeds  fratricide,  jealousy    and  many  other  evils. 
But  who  is  to  stop  her  great  millionairies  from  entering 
into  the  world  competition  ?     Certainly  not    legislation. 
Force  of  public  opinion,  proper  education,  however,  can 
do  a  great  deal  in  the  desired  direction.    The  hand-loom 


SWADESHI  279 

industry  is  in  a  dying  condition.  I  took  special  care 
during  my  wanderings  last  year  to  see  as  many  weavers 
as  possible,  and  my  heart  ached  to  find  how  they  had 
lost,  how  families  had  retired  from  this  once  flourishing 
and  honourable  occupation.  If  we  follow  the  Swadeshi 
doctrine,  it  would  be  your  duty  and  mine  to  find  out 
neighbours  who  can  supply  our  wants  and  to  teach 
them  to  supply  them  where  they  do  not  know  how 
to  proceed,  assuming  that  there  are  neighbours  who 
are  in  want  of  healthy  occupation.  Then  every  village 
of  India  will  almost  be  a  self-supporting  and  self- 
contained  unit,  exchanging  only  such  necessary  com- 
modities with  other  villages  where  they  are  not 
locally  producible.  This  may  all  sound  nonsensi- 
cal. Well,  India  is  a  country  of  nonsense.  It  is  non- 
sensical to  parch  one's  throat  with  thirst  when  a  kindly 
Mahomedan  is  ready  to  offer  pure  water  to  drink.  And 
yet  thousands  of  Hindus  would  rather  die  of  thirst  than 
drink  water  from  a  Mahomedan  household.  These  non- 
sensical men  can  also,  once  they  are  convinced  that 
their  religion  demands  that  they  should  wear  garments 
manufactured  in  India  only  and  eat  food  only  grown  in 
India,  decline  to  wear  any  other  clothing  or  eat  any 
other  food.  Lord  Curzon  set  the  fashion  for  tea-drinking. 
And  that  pernicious  drug  now  bids  fair  to  overwhelm 
the  nation.  It  has  already  undermined  the  digestive 
apparatus  of  hundreds  of  t  housands  of  men  and  women 
and  constitutes .  an  additional  tax  upon  their 
slender  purses.  Lord  Hardinge  can  set  the  fashion  for 
Swadeshi,  and  almost  the  whole  of  India  forswear 
foreign  goods.  There  is  a  verse  in  the  Bhagavat  Gita, 
which,  freely  rendered,  means,  masses  follow  the  classes. 
It  is  easy  to  undo  the  evil  if  the  thinking  portion  of  the 


280  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

community  were  to  take  the  Swadeshi  vow  even  though 
it  may,  for  a  time,  cause  considera'KIe  inconvenience."  I 
hate"  legislati ve'intei-f Sreh'cel  i'ii '^'any ' department'  of  life. 
At' best  it  i5  the  lesser  eVllV  But  I'  Would  folerate,  wel- 
come, indeed,' plead  for  a  stiifF  prdtectiv^'^dut^  upon 
foreign  goods.  Natal,"  a '  British  colony,  protected  its 
sugar  by  taxing  thfe  sugat  that  came  frbin  another  Bri- 
tish colony,  Maufitius.  England  '  has  sinned  iaga:inst 
India  by  forcing  free  tirade  upon  her.  It  may  have  been 
food  for  her,  but  it  has  been  poison  for  this  countfy. 

''  I-t  has  of  ten  been  utgecflliat  India  cannot  adopt 
Swadeshi  in  the  economic  life  at  any  rate.  'Those  who 
aidi^ance  this  objetfibn  do  not  look  upon  Swadeshi  as  a 
rule  of  life.  With  them  it'is  a  mere  patriotic  effort  nOt 
to  be  made  if  it  involved  any  self-denia!l.  '  Swkdeslii,  as 
defined  here,  is  a  religioiis  discipline  to  be  undergone  in 
utter  disregard  of  the  physical  discomfort  it  iria^  cause 
to  indiv'idiials.  'Under  its  s^ell  the  de'privati'bn  of  ai  'pib 
or  a' needle,  because  these  are^riot''mariufactur'^B  iii  India', 
need  cause  no  terror.  A  Swadeshist  will  learn  to  d& 
without  'hundreds  of  things  'virhlch  to-day  he  considers 
necessary.  Moreover,  those  who  disrfai&s  Swadeshi  from 
their  rninds  by  arguiug  the  impossible,' forget  that  Swa- 
deshi, aft'et  all,  is  a  goal  to  be'  reached  by  steady  effort. 
And  we  would  'be  rtiaki'ng  for  the  goal  even  if  we 
confined  Swadeshi  to  a  givfen  set  'df  articles  allowing 
ourselves  as  a  temporary  measure  to  use  such  things  as 
might, not  be  procuraWe  iff  the  country. 

There  now  remains  for  me  to  consider  one  more  ob- 
jection that  has  been  raised  against  Swadeshi.  The  objec- 
tors consider  it  to  be  a  most  selfish  doctrine  without  any 
warrant  in  the  civilized  code  of  morahty.  'With  them  to 
practice  Swadeshi    is  to  revert  to    barbarism.     I -cannot 


SWADESHI  281 

ent^r  into  a  detailed  analysis  of  the  proposition.  But  1 
would  urge  tliat  Swadeshi  is  tlie  o^nly  doctrine  consistent 
with  the  law  of  humility  and  love.  It  is  arrogance  to 
thinlc  of  laliinc^ing  out  to  serve  the  whole  of  India  when 
1  aril  hardly  able  to  serve  even  my  own  fartiily.  It  were 
better  to  concentrate  my  effort  upon  the  family  and  con- 
sider that  through  therii  I  was  serving  the  whole  nation! 
and,  if  you  will,  the  whole  qf  humanity.  This  is  humility 
and  it  is  love.  The  motive  will  determine  the  quality  of 
the  act.  I  may  serve  my  family  regardless  of  the  suffer- 
ings' I  may  cause  to  others.  'As  for  instance,  I  may  accept 
an  employment  wljich  enables  me  to  extort  money  from; 
people,  I  enrich  myself  thereby  and  then  satisfy 
many  unlawful  demands  of  the  familyl  '  Here  I  am  nei- 
ther serving  the  family  nor  the  State.  Or  I  may  recog- 
iofse  ttat  God  has  given  me  hards  and  feet  only  to  work 
with  for  my  sus'ten^nce  and  for  thai 'of  those  who  may 
be  dependent  upoii'mel  i'would  ttieri  at  once  simplify 
my  life  and  th^l  of  those  whom  I  can  directly  reacji.  In 
this  instance  f  would  have  served  the  family  without 
causing  injury  to  anyone  else.  Supposing  that  every 
one  followed  this  mode  of  life,  we  should  have  at  once 
an  ideal  state'.  Ail 'Will  not  reach  'that  state  at  th& 
same  tini^.  But  those  of  us  who,  realising  its  truth,- 
erifofce  it'  inpiractice  wiir  clearly  anticipate  and  acceler- 
ate the  coming  of  that  happy  day.'  Under  this  plan 
of  life,  in  seeming  to  serve  India  '  to  the  exclusion  oif 
every  other  counfy,  I  do  not  harm  any  other  cbuntry» 
My  pattiotisin  is'' both  exclusive  and  inclusive.  It  is^ 
exclusive  in^he  sense  that  in  all  humility  I  confine  my 
attention  to  the  land  of  my  biirth,  but  it  is  inclukive  in 
the  sense  that  niy  service  is  not  of  a  competitive  or 
antagonistic    nature.     Sic  utere  tuo  ut  alienutn   non  la 


^82  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

is  not  merely  a  legal  maxim,  but  it  is  a  grand  doctrine 
of  life.  It  is  the  key  to  a  proper  practice  of  Ahimsa  or 
Jove,  It  is  for  you,  the  custodians  of  a  great  faith,  to 
^et  the  fashion  and  show,  by  your  preaching,  sanctified 
by  practice,  that  patriotism  based  on  hatred  "  killeth  " 
and  that  patriotism  based  on  love  ''  giveth  life." 


AHIMSA 


The  following  letter  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  M.  K» 
Gandhi  appeared  in  The  Modern  Review,  for  October, 
1916, 

There  seems  to  be  no  historical  wari;ant  for  the 
belief  that  an  exaggerated  practice  of  Ahimsa  synchroni- 
sed with  our  becoming  bereft  of  manly  virtues,  During 
the  past  1,500  years  we  have,  as  a  nation,  given  ample 
proof  of  physical  courage,  but  we  have  been  torn  by 
internal  dissensions  and  have  been  dominated  by  love 
of  self  instead  of  love  of  country.  We  have,  that  is  to 
say,  been  swayed  by  the  spirit  of  irreligion  rather  than 
xjf  religion. 

I  do  not  know  how  far  the  charge  of  unmanliness 
can  be  made  good  against  the  Jains,  I  hold  no  brief 
for  them.  By  birth  I  am  a  Vaishnavite,  and  was  taught 
Ahimsa  in  my  childhood.  I  have  derived  much  reli- 
gious benefit  from  Jain  religious  works  as  I  have  from 
scriptures  of  the  other  great  faiths  of  the  world.  I  owe 
much  to  the  living  company  of  the  deceased  philosopher, 
Rajachand  Kavi,  who  was  a  Jain  by  birth.  Thus, 
though  my  views  on  Ahimsa  are  a  result  of  my  study  of 
most  of  the  faiths  of  the  world,  they  are  now  no  longer 
dependent  upon  the  authority  of  these  works.  They  are 
a  part  of  my  life,  and,  if  I  suddenly  discovered  that  the 


AHIMSA  283 

Teligious  books  read  by  me  bore  a  diflferent  interpreta- 
tion from  the  one  I  had  learnt  to  give  them,  I  should 
still  hold  to  the  view  of  Ahimsa  as  I  am  about  to  set 
forth  here. 

Our  Shastras  seem  to  teach  that  a  man  who  really 
practises  Ahimsa  in  its  fulness  has  the  world  at  hi's 
feet ;  h(j  so  affects  his  surroundings  that  even  the  snakes 
and  other  venomous  reptiles  do  him  no  harm.  This  is 
said  to  have  been  the  experience  of  St.  Francis  of 
Assisi. 

In  its  negative  form  it  means  not  injuring  any 
living  being  whether  by  body  or  mind.  It  may  not, 
therefore,  hurt  the  person  of  any  wrong-doer,  or  bear 
any  ill-will  to  him  and  so  cause  him  mental  suffering. 
This  statement  does  not  cover  suffering  caused  to 
the  wrong-doer  by  natural  acts  of  mine  which  do 
not  proceed  from  ill-will.  It,  therefore,  does  not 
prevent  me  from  withdrawing  from  his  presence  a 
child  whom  he,  we  shall  imagine,  is  about  to  strike. 
Indeed,  the  proper  practice  of  Ahimsa  requires  me 
to  withdraw  the  intended  victim  from  the  wrong-doer, 
if  I  am,  in  any  way  whatsoever,  the  guardian  of 
such  a  child.  It  was,  therefore,  most  proper  for  the 
passive  resisters  of  South  Africa  to  have  resisted  the 
evil  that  the  Union  Government  sought  to  do  to  them. 
They  bore  no  ill-will  to  it.  They  showed  this  by  helping 
the  Government  whenever  it  needed  their  help.  Their 
resisiMnce  consisted  of  disobedience  of  the  orders  of  the 
Government,  even,  to  the  extent  of  suffering  death  at  their 
hands.  Ahimsa  requires  deliberate  self-suffering,  not  a 
deliberate  injuring  of  the  supposed  wrong-doer. 

In  its  positive  form,  Ahimsa  means  the  largest  love, 
the  greatest  charity.     J  f  I  am  a  follower  of    Ahimsa,   I 


284  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES 

must  love  my  enemy.  I  must  apply  the  same  rules  to- 
the  wrong-doer  who  is  my  enemy  or  a  stranger  to  me, 
as  I  would'^io  my  wrong-doing  father  or  son.  TTiiis  active 
Ahimsaneceessarily  inclutles  trut'h  and  fearlessness.  As 
man  cannot  deceive  the  loved  one,  he  does  not  fear  or 
frighten  him  or  her.  Gift  of  life  is  the  greatest  oi  all 
gifts;  a  man  who  gives  it  in  reality,  disarms  all 
hostility.  He  has  pa^ed  the  way  for  an  honourable 
understanding.  And  none  w\\o  his  himself  subject 
to  fear  can  bestow  that  gift.  He  must,  therefore,  be 
himself  fearless.  A  man  cannot  then  practice  Ahimsa 
and  be  a  coward  at  the  same  time.  The  practice  of 
Ahimsa  calls  forth  the  greatest  courage.  It  is  the  most 
soldierly  of  a  soldier's  virtues.  General  Gordon  has- 
been  represented  in  a  famous  statue  as  bearing  only  a 
stick.  This  takes  us  far  on  the  road  to  Ahimsa.  But 
a  soldier,  who  needs  the  protection  of  ev»n  a  stick,  is  to 
that  extent  so  much  the  less  a  soldier.  He  is  the  true 
soldier  who  knows  how  to  die  and  stand  his  ground  in 
the  midst  of  a  hail  of  bullets.  Such'a  one  was  Amba- 
rish,  who  stood  his  ground  without  lifting  a  finger 
though  Durvasa  did  his  worst.  The  Moors  -wjio  were 
being  pounded  by  the  French  gunners  and  who  rushed 
to  the  guns'  mouths  with  '  Allah  '  on  their  lips,  showed 
much  the  same  type  of  courage,  Only  theirs  was  the- 
courage  of  desperation.  Ambarisha's  was  due  to  love. 
Yet  the  Moorish  valour,  readiness  to  die,  conquered  the 
gunners.  They  frantically  wayed  their  hats,  ceased 
firing,  and  greeted  their  erstwhile  enemies  as  comrades. 
And  so  the  Soiith  African  passive  resisters  in  their 
thousands  were  ready  to  die  rather  than  sell  their 
honour  for  a  little  personal  ease.  This  was  Ahimsa  in 
its    active    form.     It    never   barters   away   honour.    A. 


AHIMSA  285 

ielpless  girl  in  the  hands  of  a  follower  of  Ahimsa  finds 
better  and  surer  protection  than  in  the  hands  of  one  who 
is  prepared  to  defend  her  only  to  the  point  to  which 
his  weapons  would  carry  him.  The  tyrant,  in  the  first 
instance,  will  have  to  walk  to  his  victim  over  the 
-dead  body  of  her  defender  ;  in  the  second,  he  has  but 
to  overpower  the  defender;  for  it  is  assumed  that  the 
-cannon  of  propriety  in  the  second  instance  will  be  satis- 
fied when  the  defender  has  fought  to  the  extent  of  his 
physical  valour.  In  the  first  instance,  as  the  defender 
has  matched  his  very  soul  against  the  mere  body  of  the 
tyrant,  the  odds  are  that  the  soul  in  the  latter  will  be 
awakened,  and  the  girl  would  stand  an  infinitely  greater 
chance  of  her  honour  being  protected  than  in  any  other 
conceivable  circumstance,  barring  of  course,  that  of  her 
own  personal  courage. 

If  we  ara  unmanly  to-day,   we  are  so,  not  because  we 

-do  not  know  how  to  strike,  but  because   we  fear  to  die. 

He  is  no  follower  of   Mahavira,  the  apostle  of  Jairiism, 

or  of  Buddha  or  of  the  Vedas,  who,  being  afraid  to  die, 

takes  flight  before  any  danger,  real  or  imaginary,  all  the 

while  wishing  that   somebody  else    would  remove  the 

•danger  by   destroying  the   person  causing  it.     He    is  no 

follower  of  Ahimsa  who  does  not  care  a  straw  if  he  kills 

a  man  by  inches   by   deceiving   him   in   trade,   or  who 

would  protect  by  force  of  arms  a  few  cows  and  make 

away  with  the  butcher  or  who,  in  order  to  do  a  supposed 

good  to    his   country,  does  not   mind   killing  off  a  fe'w 

•officials.     All  these  are  actuated    by  hatred,    cowardice 

,and  fear.  Here  the    love   of  the  cow  or   the  country  is  a 

vague  thing  intended  to  satisfy  one's  vanity,  or  soothe  a 

:stinging  conscience. 

Ahimsa  truly  understood,   is  in  my  humble   opinion  a 


286  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES 

panacea  for  all  evils  mundane  and  extra-mundane.  We 
can  never  overdo  it.  Just  at  present  we  are  not  doing 
it  at  all.  Ahimasa  does  not  displace  the  practice 
of  other  virtues,  but  renders  their  practice  im- 
peratively necessary  before  it  can  be  practised  even  in 
its  rudiments.  Mahavira  and  Buddha  were  soldiers,  and 
so  was  Tolstoy.  Only  they  saw  deeper  and  truer  into 
their  profession,  and  found  the  secret  of  a  true,  happy, 
honourable  and  godly  life.  Let  us  be  joint  sharers  with 
these  teachers,  and  this  land  of  ours  will  once  more  be 
the  adode  of  Gods. 


ENCONOMIC  vs.  MORAL  PROGRESS 

The  following  is  a  lecture  delivered  by  Mr.  Gandhi 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Muir  Central  College  Economic 
Society,  held  at  Allahabad,  on  Friday,  22nd  December, 
1916. 

Does  economic  progress  clash  with  real  progress? 
By  economic  progress,  I  take  it,  we  mean  material 
advancement  without  limit,  and  by  real  progress  we 
mean  moral  progress,  'which  again  is,  the  same  thing 
as  progress  of  the  permanent  element  in  us.  The 
subject  may  therefore  be  stated  thus  ;  Does  not  moral 
progress  increase  in  the  same  proportion  as  material 
progress?  I  know  that  this  is  a  wider  proposition 
than  the  one  before  us.  But  I  venture  to  think  that  we 
always  mean  the  large  one  even  when  we  lay  down  the 
smaller.  For  we  know  enough  of  science  to  realize 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  perfect  rest  or  repose  in 
this  visible  universe  of  ours.  If,  therefore,  material 
progress  does   not   clash    with    moral    progress,  it  must 


ECONOMIC  VS.  MORAL  PROGRESS  287" 

necessarily  advance  the  latter.  Nor  can  we  be  satisfied 
with  the  clumsy  way  in  which  sometimes  those  whc 
cannot  defend  the  large  proposition  put  their  case.  They 
seem  to  be  obsessed  with  the  concrete  case  of  thirty 
millions  of  India,  stated  by  the  late  Sir  William  Wilson 
Hunter  to  be  living  on  one  meal  a  day.  They  say  that, 
before  we  can  think  or  talk  of  their  moral  welfare, 
we  must  satisfy  their  daily  wants.  With  these  they 
say,  material  progrees  spells  moral  progress.  And  then 
is  taken  a  sudden  jump  ;  what  is  true  of  thirty  millions 
is  true  of  the  universe.  They  forget  that  hard 
cases  make  bad  law.  I  need  hardly  say  to  you  how 
ludicrously  absurd' this  deduction  would-be.  No  one- 
has  ever  suggested  that  grinding  pauperism  can 
lead  to  anything  else  than  moral  degradation.  Every 
human  being  has  a  right  to  live  and  therefore  to  find 
the  wherewithal  to  feed  himself  and  where  necessary  tO' 
clothe  and  house  himself.  But  for  this  very  simple 
performance  we  need  no  assistance  from  economists  or 
their  laws.. 

'  Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow  '  is  an  injunction 
which  finds  an  echo  in  almost  all  the  religious  scriptures 
of  the  world.  In  well-ordered  society  the  securing  of 
one's  livelihood  should  be  and  is  found  to  be  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world.  Indeed,  the  test  of  orderliness  in  a 
country  is  not  the  number  of  milionares  it  owns,  but 
the  absence  of  starvation  among  its  masses.  The  only 
statement  that  has  to  be  examined  is,  whether  it  can  be 
laid  down  as  a  law  of  universal  appUcation  that 
material  advancement  means  moral  progress. 

Now  let  us  take  a  few  illustrations.  Rome  suffered 
a  moral  fall  when  it  attained  high  material  affluence. 
So  did  Egypt  and  so  perhaps   most    countries   of  which 


288  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

-we  have  any  historical  record.  The.  descendants  and 
jcinsmen  of  the  royal  and  divine  Krishna  too  fell  when 
they  were  rolling  in  riches.  We  do  not  deny  tp  the 
Rockefellers  and  the  Carnegies  possession  of  an  ordinary 
measure  of  morality  but  we  gladly  judge  them  indul- 
gently. I  mean  that  we  do  not  even  expect  them  to 
satisfy  the  highest  standard  of  morality.  With  them 
material  gain  has  not  necessarily  meant  moral  gain.  In 
South  Africa,  where  I  had  the  privilege  of  associating 
with  thousands  of  our  countrymen  on  most  intimate 
terms,  I  observed  almost  invariably  that  the  greater 
the  possession  of  riches,  the  greater  was  their  moral 
turpitude.  Our  rich  men,  to  say  the  least,  did  not 
advance  the  moral  struggle  of  passive  resistance 
as  did  the  poor.  The  rich  men's  sense  of  self  respect 
was  not  so  much  injured  as  that  of  the  poorest.  If 
I  were  not  afraid  of  treading  on  dangerous  ground,  I 
would  even  come  nearer  home  and  show  how  that 
■possession  of  riches  has  been  a  hindrance  to  real  growth, 
I  venture  to  think  that  the  scriptures  of  the  world  are 
far  safer  and  sounder  treatises  on  laws  of  economics 
than  many  of  the  modern  text-books.  The  question  we 
are  asking  ourselves  this  evening  is  tiot  a  new  one.  It 
was  addressed  of  Jesus  two  thousand  years  ago.  St. 
Mark  has  vividly  described  the  scene.  Jesus  is  in  his 
solemn  mood.  He  is  earnest.  He  talks  of  eternity.  He 
knows  the  world  about  him.  He  is  himself  the  greatest 
economist  of  his  time.  He  succeeded  in  economising  time 
and  space — he  transcended  them.  It  is  to  him  at  his  best 
that  one  comes  running,  kneels  down,  and  asks;  'Good 
Master,  what  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life  ? 
And  Jesus  said  unto  him  ;  '  Why  callest  thou  me  good  ?' 
There  is  none  good  but  one,  that  is  God.    Thou  knowest 


ECONOMIC  VS.  MORAL  PROGRESS  289 

the  commandments.  Do  not  commit  adultery,  Do  not 
kill,  Do  not  steal,  Do  not  bear  false  witness,  Defraud 
not,  Honour  thy  father  and  mother.'  And  he  answered 
and  said  unto  him  ;  '  Master,  all  these  have  I  observed 
from  my  youth.'  Then  Jesus  beholding  him  loved  him 
and  said  unto  him  ;  '  One  thing  thou  lackest.  Go  thy 
way,  sell  whatever  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor, 
and  thou  shall  have  treasure  in  heaven — come,  take 
up  the  cross  and  follow  me.'  And  he  was  sad  at  that 
saying  and  went  away  grieved — for  be  had  great 
possession.  And  Jesus  looked  round  about  and  said 
unto  his  disciple  :  '  How  hardly  shall  they  •  that 
have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God'  And 
the  disciples  were  astonished  at  his  words.  But  Jesus 
answereth  again  and  said  unto  them,  '  Children,  how 
hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  easier  for  a  camel-  to  go 
through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  !.'  Here  you  have  an  eternal 
rule  of  life  stated  in  the  noblest  words  the  English 
language  is  capable  of  producing.  But  the  disciples 
nodded  unbelief  as  we  do  even  to  this  day.  To  him,  they 
said  as  we  say  to-day  :  'But  look  how  the  law  fails  in 
practice.  If  we  sell  all  and  have  nothing,  we  shall 
have  nothing  to  eat.  We  must  have  money  or  we 
cannot  even  be  reasonably  moral.'  So  they  state  their 
case  thus  : — And  they  were  astonished  out  of  measure, 
saying  among  themselves  :  '  Who  then  can  be  saved.' 
And  Jesus  looking  upon  them  said  ;  'With  men  it  is 
impossible,  but  not  with  God,  for  with  God,  all  things  are 
possible.'  Then  Peter  began  to  say  unto  him  ;  'Lo,  we 
have  left  all,  and  have  followed  thee.'  And  Jesus  ans- 
wered and  said  :  'Verily  I  say  unto  you  there  is  no  man 
19 


290  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

that  has  left  house  or  brethren  or  sisters,  or  father  or 
mother,  or  wife  or  children  ftr  lanJs  for  my  sake  and 
Gospel's  but  he  shall  receive  one  hundredfold,  now  in 
this  time  houses  and  brethren  and  sisters  and  mothers 
and  children  and  land,  and  in  the  world  to  come,  eternal 
life.  But  many  that  are  first  shall  be  last  and  the 
last,  first.'  You  have  here  the  result  or  rewaid,  if  you 
.prefer  the  term,  of  following  the  law.  I  have  not  taken 
the  trouble  of  copying  similar  passages  .from  the  other 
non-Hindu  scriptures  and  I  will  not  insult  you  by 
quoting,  in  support  of  the  law  stated  by  Jesus,  passages 
from  the  writings  and  sayings  of  our  own  sages,  passages 
«ven  stron^jer,  if  possible,  than  the  Biblical  extracts 
I  have  drawn  your  attention  to.  Perhaps  the  strongest 
■of  all  the  testimonies  in  favour  of  the  affirmative 
answer  to  the  question  before  us  are  the  lives  of  the 
.greatest  teachers  of  the  world.  Jesus,  Mahomed, 
Buddha,  Nanak,  Kabir,  Chaitanya,  Shankara,  Dayanand, 
Ramkrishna  were  men  who  exercised  an  immense 
influence  over,  and  moulded  the  character  of,  thousands 
of  man.  The  world  is  the  richer  for  their  having  lived 
in  it.  And  they  were  all  men  who  deliberately  embraced 
poverty  as  their  lot. 

I  should  not  have  laboured  my  point  as  I  have 
done,  if  I  did  not  believe  that,  in  so  far  as  we  have  made 
the  modem  materialistic  craze  our  goal,  so  far  are  we 
going  down  hill  in  the  path  of  progress.  I  hold  that  eco- 
nomic progress  in  the  sense  I  have  put  it  is  antagonisict 
to  real  progress.  Hence  the  ancient  ideal  has  been  the 
limitation  of  activities  promoting  wealth.  This  does 
not  put  an  end  to  all  material  ambition.  We  should 
■still  have,  an  we  have  always  had,  in  our  midst  people 
who  make  the  pursuit  of  wealth  their    aim  in  life.     But 


ECONOMIC  VS.    MORAL   PROGRESS  .291 

we  have  always  recognised  that  it   is  a   fall    from   the 
ideal.     It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to   know    that   the   weal- 
thiest among  us  have  often    felt  that  to   have  remained 
voluntarily  poor  would    have    been   a  higher   state   for 
them.     That  you  cannot  serve  God  and   Mammon  is  an 
economic  truth  of  the  highest  value.   We  have  to  make 
our  choice.     Western  nations  are  to-day  groaning  under 
the '  heal    of    the   monster   god  of   materialism.     Their 
moral  growth  has  become  stunted.     They  measure  their 
progress     in    £.  s.  d.     American     wealth    has   become 
the      standard.       She    is     the    envy     of    the     other 
nations.     1     have    heard     many    of    our    countrymen 
say   that  we     will   gain    American    wealth    but   avoid 
its    methods.     I     venture    to     suggest     that    such   an 
attempt,   if    it   were    made,    is   foredoomed  to    failure. 
We     cannot    be  'wise,     temperate   and     furious'   in   a 
moment.     I   would  have   our    leaders   teach   us   to   be 
morally  supreme  in  the   world.     This  land  of  ours  was 
once,  we   are  told,    the   abode   of    the   Gods.     It  is  not 
possible  to   conceive  Gods    inhabiting  a  land    which  is 
made  hideous  by  the  smoke  and  the  din  of  mill  chimneys 
and   factories  and    whose    roadways    are  traversed  by 
rushing  engines,    dragging  numerous  cars  crowded  with 
men  who   know  not  for    the   most    part  what   they  are 
after,  who  are  often  absent-minded,  and  whose  tempers 
do  not    improve   by    being    uncomfortably   packed  like 
sardines  in  boxes    and  finding   themselves  in  the   midst 
of  utter  strangers,    who  would  oust    them  if   they  could 
and  whom  they    would,   in  their  turn,  oust  similarly.     I 
refer    to  these    things    because    they    are    held    to   be 
symbolical  of  material    progress.     But  they   add  not  an 
atom  to  our  happiness.  This  is  what  Wallace,  the  great 
scientist,  has  said  as  his  deliberate  judgment : — 


292  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

In  the  earliast  records  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the 
past,  we  find  ample  indications  that  general  ethical  considerations 
and  conceptions,  the  accepted  standard  of  morality,  and  the  con- 
duct resulting  from  these,  were  in  no  degree  inferior  to  those  which 
prevail  to-day. 

In  a  series  of  chapters  he  then  proceeds  to  examine 
the  position  of  the  English  nation  under  the  advance  in 
wealth  it  has  made  :  He  says  :  '  This  rapid  growth  of 
wealth  and  increase  of  our  power  over  Nature  put  too 
great  a  strain  upon  our  crude  civilisation,  on  our 
superficial  Christianity,  and  it  was  accompanied  by 
various  forms  of  social  immorality  almost  as  amazing 
and  unprecedented.'  He  then  shows  how  factories 
have  risen  on  the  corpses  of  men,  women  and  children, 
how,  as  the  country  has  rapidly  advanced  in  riches,  it 
has  gone  down  in  morality.  He  shows  this  by  dealing 
with  insanitation,  life-destroying  trades,  adulteration, 
bribery  and  gambling.  He  shows  how  with  the  advance 
of  wealth,  justice  has  become  immoral,_  deaths  from' 
alcoholism  and  suicide  have  increased,  the  average  of 
premature  bir:hs,  and  congenital  defects  has  increased 
and  prostitution  has  become  an  institution.  He  con- 
cludes his  examination  by  these  pregnant  remarks  : — 

"  The  proceedings  of  the  divorce  courts  show  other  aspects 
of  the  result  of  v/ealth  and  leisure,  while  a  friend  who  had  been  at 
good  deal  in  London  society  assured  me  that,  both  in  country 
houses  and  in  London,  various  kinds  of  orgies  were  occasionally  to 
be  met  with,  which  would  hardly  have  been  surpassed  in  the 
period  of  the  most  dissolute  emperors.  Of  war,  too,  I  need  say 
nothing.  It  has  always  been  more  or  less  chronic  since  the  rise  of 
the  Roman  Empire  ;  but  there  is  now  undoubtedly  a  disinclination 
for  war  among  all  civilized  peoples.  Yet  the  vast  burden  of 
armaments  taken  together  with  the  most  pious  declarations  in 
favour  of  peace,  must  be  held  to  show  an  almost  total  absence  of 
morality  as  a  guiding    principle  among  the  governing  classes." 

Under  the  British  aegis  we  have  learnt  much,  but 
it  is  my  firm  belief  that  there  is  little  to  gain  from 
Britain  in  intrinsic  morality,  that  if  we   are  not  careful. 


THE    MORAL  BASIS    OF   CO-OPERATION      293 

we  shall  introduce  all  the  vices  that  she  has  been  a 
prey  to  owing  to  the  disease  of  materialism.  We  can 
profit  by  that  connection  only  if  we  keep  our  civiliza- 
tion, and  our  morals  straight,  i.e.,  if,  instead  of  boasting 
of  the  glorious  past,  we  express  the  ancien  t  moral  glory 
in  our  own  lives  and  let  our  lives  bear  witness  to  out 
boast.  Then  we  shall  benefit  her  and  ourselves.  If 
we  copy  her  because  she  provides  us  with  rulerSj  both 
they  and  we  shall  suffer  degradation ,  We  need  not' 
be  afraid  of  ideals  or  of  reducing  them  to  practice^ 
even  to  the  uttermost.  Ours  will  only  then  be  a  truly 
spiritual  nation  when  we  shall  show  more  truth  than 
gold,  greater  fearlessness  than  pomp  of  power  and 
wealth,  greater  charity  than  love  of  self.  If  we  will- 
but  clean  our  houses,  our  palaces  and  temples  of  the- 
attributes  of  wealth  and  show  in  them  the  atributes  of 
morality,  we  can  offer  battle  to  any  combinations  of 
hostile  forces  without  having  to  carry  the  burden  of  a 
heavy  militia.  Let  us  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousnes,  and  the  irrevocable  promise  is 
that  everything  will  be  added  unto  us.  These  are  real 
economics.  May  you  and  I  treasure  them  and  enfotce 
them  in  our  daily  life.- 


THE  MORAL  BASIS   OF  CO-OPERATION 


The  following  is  a  paper  contributed  to  the  Bombay. 
Provincial  Go-operative  Conference  held  on  17 th  Septem- 
ber, 1917. 

The  only  claim  I  have  on  your  indulgence  is  that 
some  months  ago  I  attended  with  Mr.  Ewbank  a 
meeting  of  mill-hands  to  whom  he  wanted  to  explain 
the  principles   ot   co-operation;     The   chawl   in  which 


294  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

they  were  living,  was    as  filthy   as   it   well   could  be» 
Recent  rains   had  made    matters   wotse.     And    I   must 
frankly  confess  that,  had  it  not  been  for  Mr.  EwbankV 
great  zeal  for  the  cause  he  has  made  his   oWn,   I  should 
have  shirked  the  task.    But  there  we   we^re,  seated  on 
a  fairly  worn  out  charpai,  surrounded   by  men,   women 
and  children.    Mr.  Ewbank  opened  fire  on  a  man  wha 
had  put  himself  forward  and  who    wore   not   a  particu- 
larly innocdbt  countenance.     After  he  bad  engaged  him 
and  the  other  people  about  hdm  in  Gujarati  conversation^ 
he  wanted  me  to  speak   to   the   people.     Owing  to  the 
suspicious  looks  of  tte  man  who  was  first  spoken  to,   I 
naturally  pressed  home  the  moralities  of  co-operation.  I 
fancy  that  Mr.  Ewbank  rather  liked  the  manner  in  which 
I  handled  the  subject.  Hence,  I  believe,  his  kind  invita- 
tion to  me  to  tax  your  patience  for  a  few  moments  upon 
a  consideration  of  co-operation  from  a  moral  standpoint* 
My  knowledge  of  the  technicality  of  co-operation  is 
next  to  nothing.     My  brother,  Devadhar,  has  made  the 
subject  his  own.    Whatever  he  does,  naturally  attracts 
me  and  predisposes  me  to  think  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing good  in  it  and  the    handling    of  it  must    be  fairly 
difficult.  Mr.  Ewbank  very  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal 
some  literature  too  on  the   subject.     And  I  have  had  an 
unique  opportunity    of    watching  the  efifect  of  some   co- 
operative effort  in  Champaran.  I  have  gone  through  Mr. 
Ewbank's  ten  main  points  which  are  like  the  Command- 
ments, and  I  have  gone  through  the  twelve  points  Of  Mr, 
Collins  of  Behar,    which    remind  me  of  the  law  of  the 
Twelve  Tables.    There  are  so-called  agricultural  banks 
in  Champaran.  They  were  to  me  disappointing  effonts,  if 
they  were  meant  to  be  demonstrations   of  the  success  of 
co-operation.     On  the  other  hand,  there  is  quiet  work  in 


THE   MORAL   BASIS   OF   CO-OPERATION       295 

the  same  direction  being  done  by  Mr.  Hodge,  a  mission- 
ary whose  efforts  are  leaving  their  impress  on  those 
who  come  in  contact'  with  him.  Mr.  Hodge  is  a  co- 
operative enthusiast  and  probably  considers  that  the 
result  which  he  sees  flowing  from  his  efforts  are  due  to 
the  working  of  co-operation.  I,  who  was  able  to  watch 
the  efforts,  had  no  hesitation  in  inferring  that  the 
personal  equation  counted  for  success  in  the  one  and 
failure  in  the  other  instance. 

I  am  an  enthusiast  myself,  cut  twenty-five 
years  of  experimenting  and  experience  have  made 
me  a  cautious  and  discriminating  enthusiast.  Workers 
in  a  cause  necessarily,  though  quite  unconciously, 
exaggerate  its  merits  and  often  succeed  in  turning 
its  very  defects  into  advantages.  In  spite  oi  my 
caution  I  cotisider  the  little  institution  I  am  con- 
ducting in  Ahmedabad  as  the  finest  thing  in  the 
world..  It  alone  gives  me  sufficient  inspiration.  Cri- 
tics tell  me  thai  it  represents  a  soulless  soul-force  and 
that  its  severe  discipline  has  made  it  merely  mechanical. 
I  suppose  both — the  critics  and  I — are  wrong.  It  is,  at 
best,  a  humble  attempt  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the 
nation  a  home  where  men  and  women  may  have  scope 
for  free  and  unfettered  development  of  character,  in 
keeping  with  the  national  genius,  and,  if  its  controllers 
do  not  take  care,  the  discipline  that  is  the  foundation  of 
character  may  frustrate  the  very  end  in  view.  I  would 
venture,  therefore,  to  warn  enthusiasts  in  co-operation 
against  entertaining  false  hopes. 

With  Sir  Daniel  Hamilton  it  has  become  a  religion. 
On  the  13th  January  last,  he  addressed  the  students  of 
the  Scottish  Churches  College  and,  in  orderto  point  a 
moral,  he  instanced    Scotland's  poverty  of  two  hundred 


296  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

years  ago  and  showed  how  that  great  country  was  raised 
from  a  condition  of  poverty  to  plenty.  "  There  were  two 
powers,  which  raised  her — the  Scottish  Church  and  the 
Scottish  banks.  The  Church  manufactured  the  men  and 
the  banks  manufactured  the  money  to  give  the  men  a 
start  in  life.  .  .  .  The  Church  disciplined  the  nation 
in  the  fear  of  God  which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom  and 
in  the  parish  schools  of  the  Church  the  children  learned 
that  the  chief  end  of  man's  life  was  to  glorify  God  and 
to  enjoy  Him  for  ever.  Men  were  trained  to  believe 
in  God  and  in  themselves,  and  on  the  trustworthy 
character  so  created  the  Scottish  banking  system 
was  built."  Sir  Daniel  then  shows  that  it  was 
possible  to  build  up  the  marvellous  Scottish 
banking  system  only  on  the  character  so  built. 
So  far  there  can  only  be  perfect  agreement  with 
Sir  Daniel,  for  that  '  without  character  there 
is  no  co-operation'  is  a  sound  maxim.  But  he 
would  have  us  go  much  further.  He  thus  waxes 
eloquent  on  co-operation  :  "  Whatever  may  be  your 
day-dreams  of  India's  future,  never  forget  this  that  it  is 
to  weld  India  into  one,  and  so  enable  her  to  take  her 
rightful  place  in  the  world,  that  the  British  Government 
is  here  ;  and  the  welding  hammer  in  the  band  of  the 
Government  is  the  co-operative  movement."  In  his 
opinion  it  is  the  panacea  of  all  the  evils  that  afflict  India 
at  the  present  moment.  In  its  extended  sense  it  can 
justify  the  claim  on  one  condition  which  need  not  be 
mentioned  here  ;  in  the  limited  sense  in  which  Sir  Daniel 
has  used  it,  1  venture  to  think,  it  is  an  enthusiast's 
exaggeration.  Mark  his  peroration  :  "  Credit,  which  is 
only  Trust  and  Faith,  is  becoming  more  and  more  the 
money  power  of  the  world,  and  in  the  parchment  bullet 


THE  MORAL  BASIS  OF  CO-OPERATION         297 

into  which  is  impressed  the  faith  which  removes  moun- 
tains, India  will  Jfind  victory  and  peace."  Here  there 
is  evident  confusion  of  thought.  The  credit  which  is 
becoming  the  money  power  of  the  world  has  little  moral 
basis  and  is  not  a  synonym  for  Trust  or  Faith,  which  are 
purely  moral  qualities.  After  twenfy  years'  experience 
of  hundreds  of  men,  who  had  dealings  with  banks  in 
South  Africa,  the  opinion  I  had  so  often  heard  expressed 
has  become  firmly  rooted  in  me,  that  the  greater  the 
rascal  the  greater  the  credit  he  enjoys  with  his  banks. 
The  banks  do  not  pry  into  bis  moral  character  :  they 
are  satisfied  that  he  meets  his  overdrafts  and  pro- 
missory notes  punctually.  The  credit  system  has 
encircled  this  beautiful  globe  of  ours  like  a  serpent's  coil, 
and  if  we  do  not  mind,  it  bids  fair  to  crush  us  out 
■of  breath.  I  have  witnessed  the  ruin  of  many  a 
home  through  the  system,  and  it  has  made  no 
difference  whether  the  credit  was  labelled  co-operative 
or  otherwise.  The  deadly  coil  has  made  possible  the 
devastating  spectacle  in  Europe,  which  we  are  helpless 
ly  looking  on.  It  was  perhaps  never  so  true  as  it  is  to- 
day that,  as  in  law  so  in  w^r,  the  longest  purse  finally 
wins.  I  have  ventured  to  give  prominence  to  the  cur- 
rent belief  about  credit  system  in  order  to  emphasise  the 
point  that  the  co-operative  movement  will  be  a  blessing 
to  India  only  to  the  extent  that  it  is  a  moral  movement 
str'ctly  directed, by  men  fired  with  religious  fervour.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  co-operation  should  be  confined 
to  men  wishing  to  be  morally  right,  but  failing  to  do  so, 
because  of  grinding  poverty  or  of  the  grip  of  the 
Mahajan.  Facility  for  obtaining  loans  at  fair  rates  will 
not  make  immoral  men  moral.  But  the  wisdom  of  the 
Estate  or  philanthropists  demands  that  they  should  help 


298  ^      EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

on  the  onward  path,  men  struggling  to  bs  good. 

Too  often  do  we  believe  that  material  prosperity- 
means  moral  growth.  It  is  necessary  that  a  movement 
which  is  fraught  with  so  much  good  to  India  should  not 
degenerate  into  one  for  merely  advancing  cheap  loans.- 
I  was  therefore  delighted  to  read  the  recommendation 
in  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Co-operation  in  India, 
that  "  they  wish  clearly  to  express  their  opinion  that  it 
is  to  true  co-operation  alone,  that  is,  to  a  co-operation- 
which  recognizes  the  moral  aspect  of  the  question  that 
Government  must  look  for  the  amelioration  of  the- 
mass^s  and  not  to  a  pseudo-co-operative  edifice,  how- 
ever imposing,  which  is  built  in  ignorance  of  co-operative- 
principles.  "  With  this  standard  before  us,  we  will  not 
measure  the  success  of  the  movement  by  the  number  of 
co-operative  societies  formed,  bat  by  the  moral  condi^ 
tion  of  the  co-operators.  The  registrars  will,  in 
that  event,  ensure  the  moral  growth  of  existing 
societies  before  multiplying  them.  And  the  Govern- 
ment will  make  their  promotion  conditional,  not 
upon  the  number  of  societies  they  have  registered,  but 
the  moral  success  of  the  existing  institutions.  This  will 
mean  tracing  the  course  of  every  pie  lent  to  the  members.- 
Those  responsible  for  the  proper  conduct  of  co-operative 
societies  will  see  to  it  that  the  money  advanced  does  not 
find  its  way  into  the  toddy-seller's  bill  or  into  the  pockets 
of  the  keepers  of  gambling  dens.  I  would  excuse  the 
capacity  of  the  Mahajan  if  it  has  succeeded  in  keeping 
the  gambling  die  or  toddy  from  the  ryot's  home. 

A  word  perhaps  about  the  Mahajan  will  not  be  out 
of  place.  Co-operation  is  not  a  new  device.  The  ryots 
co-operate  to  drum  out  monkeys  or  birds  that  destroy 
their     crops.      They    co-operate     to  use    a    common 


THE  MORAL  BASK  OF  CO-OPERATION         299 

thrashing  floor .  I  have  found  them  co-operate  to  protect 
their  cattle  to  the  extent  of  their  devoting  the  best  land 
lor  the  grazing  of  their  cattle.  And  they  have  been 
found  co-operating  against  a  particularly  rapacious 
Ma  ha  Jan.  Doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  succees 
of  co-operation  because  of  the  tightness  of  the  Mahajan's- 
hold  on  the  ryots.  I  dp  not  share  the  fears.  The 
mightiest  Mahajan  must,  if  he  represent  an  evil  force^ 
bend  before  co-operation,  conceived  as  an  essentially 
moral  movement.  But  my  limited  experience  of  the 
Mahajan  of  Champaran  has  made  me  revise  the  accepted 
opinion  about  his  '  blighting  influence.'  I  have  found 
him  to  be  not  always  relentless,  not  always  exacting  of 
the  last  pie.  He  sometimes  serves  his  clients  in  many 
ways  and  even  comes  to  their  rescue  in  the  hour  of  their 
distress.  My  observation  is  so  limited  that  I  dare  not 
draw  any  conclusions  from  it,  but  I  respectfully 
enquire  whether  it  is  not  possible  to  make  a  serious 
eflfort  to  draw  out  the  good  in  the  Mahajan 
and  help  him  or  induce  him  to  throw  oat  the 
evil  in  him.  May  he  not  be  induced  to  join  the  army 
of  co-operation,  or  has  experience  proved  that  he  is 
past  praying  for  ? 

I  note  that  the  movement  takes  note  of  all  indi- 
genous industries.  I  beg  publicly  to  express  my  grati- 
tude to  Government  for  helping  me  in  my  humble 
effort  to  improve  the  lot  of  the  weaver.  The  experi- 
ment I  am  conducting  shows  that  there  is  a  vast  field 
for  work  in  this  direction.  No  well-wisher  of  India,  no 
patriot  dare  look  upon  the  impending  destruction  of  thff 
hand-loom  weaver  with  equanimity.'  As  Dr.  Mann  has 
stated,  this  industry  used  to  supply  the  peasant  with 
an   additional    source   of    livelihood    and    an  insuranc 


300  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

against  famine.  Every  Registrar  who  will  nurse 
back  to  life  this  important  and  graceful  industry 
will  earn  the  gratitude  of  India.  My  humble  effort 
consists  firstly  in  making  researches  as  to  the  possibi- 
lities of  simple  reforms  in  the  orthodox  hand-looms, 
secondly,  in  weaning  the  educated  youth  from  the 
craving  for  Government  or  other  services  and  the  feeling 
that  education  renders  him  unfit  for  independent  occupa- 
tion and  inducing  him  to  take  to  weaving  as  a  calling  as 
honourable  as  that  of  a  barrister  or  a  doctor,  and  thirdly 
by  helping  those  weavers  who  have  abandoned  thair 
occupation  to  revert  to  it.  I  will  not  weary  the 
audience  with  any  statement  on  the  first  two  parts  of  the 
experiment.  The  third  may  be  allowed  a  few  sentences 
as  it  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  subject  before  us.  I 
was  able  to  enter  upon  it  only  six  months  ago.  Five 
families  that  had  left  off  the  calling  have  reverted 
to  it  and  they  are  doing,  a  prosperous  business. 
The  Ashram  supplies  them  at  their  door  with 
the  yarn  thejf^  need ;  its  volunteers  take  delivery  of 
the  cloth  woven,  paying  them  cash  at  the  market 
rate.  The  Ashram  merely  loses  interest  on  the  loan 
advanced  for  the  yarn.  It  has  as  yet  suffered  no  loss 
and  is  able  to  restrict  its  loss  to  a  minimum  by  limiting 
the  loan  to  a  particular  figure.  All  future  transactions 
are  strictly  cash.  We  are  able  to  command  a  ready 
sale  for  the  cloth  received.  The  loss  of  interest,  there- 
fore, on  the  transaction  is  negligible.  I  would  like  the 
audience  to  note  its  purely  moral  character  from  start 
to  finish.  The  Ashram  depends  for  its  existence  on 
such  help  as /riends  render  it.  We,  therefore,  can 
have  no  warrant  for  charging  interest.  The  weavers 
ould    not  be    saddled    with    it.     Whole  families  that 


THIRD  CLASS   IN  INDIAN  RAILWAYS  301 

were  breaking  to  pieces  are  put  together  again.  The- 
use  of  the  loan  is  pre-determined.  And  we,  the  middle- 
men, being  volunteers,  obtain  the  privilege  of  entering" 
into  the  lives  of  these  families,  I  hope,  for  their  and 
our  betterment.  We  cannot  lift  them  without  being 
lifted  ourselves.  This  last  relationship  has  not  yet 
been  developed,  but  we  hope,  at  an  early  date,  to  take 
in  hand  the  education  too  of  these  families  and  not 
rest  satisfied  till  we  have  touched  them  at  every  point.- 
This  is  not  too  ambitious  a  dream.  God  willing,  it  will 
be  a  reality  some  day.  I  have  ventured  to  dilate  upon- 
the  small  experiment  to  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  co- 
operation to  present  it  to  others  for  imitation.  Let  us- 
be-  sure  of  our  ideal.  We  shall  ever  fail  to  realize  it, 
but  we  should  never  cease  to  strive  for  it.  Then  there- 
need  be  no  fear  of  "  co  operation  of  scoundrels  "  that 
Ruskin  so  rightly  dreaded. 


THIRD  CLASS  IN  INDIAN  RAILWAYS. 


The  following  communication  was  made  by  Mr.- 
Gandhi  to  the  Press  from  Ranchi,  on  Sept.  25,  1917. 

I  have  now  been  in  India  for  over  two  years  and  a 
half  after  my  return  from  South  Africa.  Over  one 
quarter  of  that  time  I  have  passed  on  the  Indian 
trains  travelling  third  class  by  clioice.  I  haVe 
travelled  up  north  as  far  as  Lahore,  down  south  up 
to  Tranquebar,  and  from  Karachi  to  Calcutta.  Having 
resorted  to  third  class  travelling,  among  other  reasons, 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  conditions  under 
which  this  class  of  passengers  travel,  I  have  naturally 
made  as  critical  observations  as  I  could.  I  have 
fairly    covered  the  majority   of  railway  systems  during. 


302  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

this  period.  Now  and  then  I  have  entered  into 
correspondence  with  the  management  of  the  different 
railways  about  the  defects  that  have  come  under  my 
notice.  But  I  think  that  the  time  has  come  when  I 
should  invite  the  press  and  the  public  to  join  in  a 
crusade  agaiiist  a  grievance  which  has  too  long  re- 
mained unredressed,  though  much  of  it  is  capable  of 
redress  without  great  difficulty. 

On  the  12th  -  instant  I  booked  at  Bombay  for 
Madras  by  the  mail  train  and  paid  Rs  13-9.  It  was 
labelled  to  carry  22  passengers.  These  could  only  have 
seating  accommodation.  There  were  no  bunks  in  this 
carriage  whereon  passengers  could  lie  with  any  degree 
of  safety  or  comfort.  There  were  two  nights  to  be 
passed  in  this  train  before  reaching  Madras.  If  not 
more  than  22  passengers  found  their  way  into  my 
carriage  before  we  reached  Poona,  it  was  because  the 
bolder  ones  kept  the  others  at  bay.  With  the  exception 
of  two  or  three  insistent  passengers,  all  had  to  find  their 
sleep  being  seated  all  the  time.  After  reaching  Raichur 
the  pressure  became  unbearable.  The  rush  of  passengers 
could  not  be  stayed.  The  fighters  among  us  found  the 
task  almost  beyond  them.  The  guards  or  other  railway 
servants  came  in  only  to  push  in  more  passengers. 

A  defiant  Memon  merchant  protested  against  this 
packing  of  passengers  Kke  sardines.  In  vain  did  he  say 
that  this  was  his  fifth  night  on  the  train.  The  guard 
insulted  him  and  referred  him  to  the  management  at  the 
tei minus.  There  were  during  this  night  as  many  as  35 
passengers  in  the  carriage  during  the  greater  part  of  it. 
Some  lay  on  the  f^oor  in  the  midst  of  dirt  and  some  had 
to  keep  standing.  A  free  fight  was,  at  one  tims,  avoided 
only  by  the  intervention  of  some  of  the  older  passengers 


THIRD   CLASS   IN    INDIAN    RAILWAYS        303 

■who  did  not  want  to  add  to  the   discomfort  by  an  exhi- 
bition of  temper, 

.On  the  way  passengers  got  for  tea  tannin-water 
with  filthy  sugar  and  a  whitish  looking  liquid  miscalled 
milk  which  gave  this  water  a  muddy  appearance.  I  can 
vouch  for  the  appearance,  but  I  cite  the  testimony  of 
ihe  passengers  as  to  the  taste. 

Not  during  the  whole  of  the  journey  was  the  com- 
partment once  swept  or  cleaned.  The  result  was  that 
every  time  you  walked  on  the  floor  or  rather  cut  your 
"way  through  the  passengers  seated  on  the  floor,  you 
waded  through  dirt. 

The  closet  was  also  not  cleaned  during  the  journey 
and  there  was  no  water  in  the  water  tank. 

Refreshments  sold  to  the  passengers  were  dirty- 
lo  oking,  handed  by  dirtier  hands,  coming  out  of  filthy 
T  eceptacles^  and  weighed  in  equally  unattractive  scales. 
These  were  previously  sampled  by  millions  of  flies.  I 
asked  some  of  the  passengers  who  went  in  for  these 
dainties  to  give  their  opinion.  Many  of  them  used 
choice  expressions  as  to  the  quality  but  were  satisfied 
to  state  that  they  were  helpless  in  the  matter;  they  had 
to  take  things  as  they  came. 

On  reaching  the  station  I  found  that  the  ghariwala 
would  not  take  me  unless  I  paid  the  fare  he  wanted. 
I  mildly  protested  and  told  him  I  -would  pay  him  the 
-authorized  fare.  I  had  to  turn  passive  resister  before  I 
could  be  taken.  I  simply  told  him  he  would  have  to 
pull  me  out  of  the  ghari  or  call  the  policeman. 

The  return  journey  was  performed  in  no  better 
manner.  The  carriage  was  packed  already  and  but  for  a 
friend's  intervention  I  could  not  have  been  able  to  secure 
>even  a  seat.     My  admission  was  certainly   beyond  the 


304  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

authorised  number.  This  compartment  was  constructed 
to  carry  9  passengers  but  it  had  constantly  12  in  it.  At 
one  place  an  important  railway  servant  swore  at  a 
protestant,  threatened  to  strike  him  and  locked  the  door 
over  the  passengers  whfim  he  had  with  difficulty- 
squeezed  in.  To  this  compartment  there  was  a  closet 
falsely  so  called.  It  was  designed  as  a  European  closet 
but  could  hardly  be  used  as  such.  There  was  a  pipe  in 
it  but  no  water,  and  I  say  without  fear  of  challenge- 
that  it  was  pestilentially  dirty. 

The  compartment  itself  was  evil  looking.  Dirt 
was  lying  thick  upon  the  wood  work  and  I  do  not  know 
that  it  had  ever  seen  soap  or  water. 

The  compartment  had  an  exceptional  assortment  of 
passengers.  There  were  three  stalwart  Punjabi  Maho- 
medans,  two  refined  Tamilians  and  two  Mahomedan 
merchants  who  joined  us  later:  The  merchants  related 
the  bribes  they  had  to  give  to  procure  comfort.  One  of 
the  Punjabis  had  already  travelled  three  nights  and! 
was  weary  and  fatigued.  But  he  could  not  stretch  him- 
self. He  said  he  had  sat  the  whole  day  at  the  Central 
Station  watching  passengers  giving  bribe  to  procure- 
their  tickets.  Another  said  he  had  himself  to  pay  Rs.  5' 
before  he  could  get  his  ticket  and  his  seat.  These  three 
men  were  bound  for  Ludhiana  and  had  still  more  nights. 
of  travel  in  store  for  them. 

What  I  have  described  is  not  exceptionaf  but  nor- 
mal. I  have  got  down  at  Raichur,  Dhond,  Sonepur, 
Chakradharpur,  Purulia,  Asansol  and  other  junction' 
stations  and  been  at  the  '  Mosafirkhanas  '  attached  tO' 
these  Stations.  They  are  discreditable  looking  places 
where  there  is  no  order,  no  cleanliness  but  utter  confusion 
and  horrible  din  and  noice.  Passengers  have  no  benches- 


THIRD    CLASS   ON    INDIAN    RAILWAYS  305 

or  not  enough  to  sit  on.  They  squat  on  dirty  floors  and 
eat  dirty  food.  They  are  permitted  to  throw  the  leav- 
ings of  their  food  and  spit  where  they  like,  sit  how  they 
like  and  smoke  everywhere.  The  closets  attached  to 
these  places  defy  description.  ,  I  have  not  the  power 
adequately  to  describe  them  without  committing  a 
breach  ot  the  laws  of  decent  speech.  Disinfecting 
powder,  ashes  or  disinfecting  fluids  are  unknown.  The 
army  of  flies  buzzing  about  them  warns  you  against 
their  use.  But  a  third-class  traveller  is  dnmb  and 
helpless.  He  does  not  want  to  complain  even  though 
to  go  to  these  places  may  be  to  court  death.  I  know 
passengers  who  fast  while  they  are  travelling  just  ill 
order  to  lessen  the  misery  of  their  life  in  the  trains.  At 
Sonepur  fjies  having  failed,  wasps  have  come  forth  to 
warn  the  public  and  the  authorities,  but  yet  to  no  pur- 
posSi  At  the  Imperial  Capital  a  certain  third  class 
booking  ofiice  is  a  Black-Hole  fit  only   to   be  destroyed. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  plague  has  become  endemic 
in  India  ?  Any  other  result  is  impossible  where  passen- 
gers always  leave  some  dirt  where  they  go  and  take 
more  on  leaving  ? 

On  Indian  trains  alone  passengers  smoke  with  im- 
punity in  all  carriages  irrespective  of  the  presence  of 
the  fair  sex  and  irrespective  of  the  protest  of  non- 
smokers.  And  this,  notwithstanding  a  bye-law  which 
prevents  a  passenger  from^  smoking  without  the  per- 
mission of^  his  fellows  in  the  compartment  which  is  not 
allotted  to  smokers. 

The  existence    of  the  awful  war  cannot  be  allowed 

to    stand   in  the    way  of  the  removal   of    this   gigantic 

evil.     War    can  be  no  warrant  for   tolerating  dirt  and 

overcrowding.     One  could  understand  an  entire  stoppage 

20 


306  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES, 

of  passenger  traffic  in  a  crisis  like  this,  but  never  a 
continuation  or  accentuation  of  insanitation  and  condi- 
tions that  must  undermine  health  and  morality. 

Compare  the  lot  of  the  first  class  passengers  with 
that  of  the  third  class*  In  the  Madras  case  the  first 
•class  fare  is  over  five  times  as  much  as  the  third  class 
fare.  Coes  the  third  class  passenger  get  one-fifth,  even 
■one-tenth,  of  the  comforts  of  his  first  class  fellow  ?  It 
is  but  simple  justice  to  claim  that  some  relative  propor- 
tion be  observed  between  the  cost  and  comfort. 

It  is  a  known  fact  that  the  third  class  traffic  pays 
for  the  ever-increasing  luxuries  of  first  and  second  class 
travelling.  Surely  a  third  class  passenger  is  entitled  at 
least  to  the  bare  necessities  of  life 

In  neglecting  the  third  class  passengers,  opportunity 
of  giving  a  splendid  education  to  millions  in  orderliness, 
sanitation,  decent  composite  life  and  cultivation  of  simple 
and  clean  tastes  is  being  lost.  Instead  of  receiving  an 
•object  lesson  in  these  matters  third  class  passengers  have 
their  sense  of  decency  and  cleanliness  blunted  during 
their  travelling  experience. 

Among  the  many  suggestions  that  can  be  made  for 
dealing  with  the  evil  here  described,  I  would  respect- 
fully include  this  :  let  the  people  in  high  places,  the 
Viceroy,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  the  Rajas,  Maha- 
rajas, the  Imperial  Councillors  and  others,  who  generally 
travel  in  superior  classes,  without  previous  warning, 
go  through  the  experiences  now  and  then  of  third  class 
travelling.  We  would  then  soon  see  a  remarkable 
•change  in  the  conditions  of  third  class  travelling  and 
the  uncomplaining  millions  will  get  some  return  for 
the  fares  they  pay  under  the  e>:pectation  of  being  carried 
irom  place  to  place  with  ordinary  creature  comforts. 


VERNACULARS  AS  MEDIA  OF  INSTRUCTION 


TAs  following  introduction  was  written  by  Mr.  M.  K. 
■Gandhi  to  Dr.  P.  J.  Mehta's  "  Self -Government  Series." 
Pamphlet  No.  1,  entitled  "  Vernaculars  as  Media  of 
Instruction  in  Indian  Schools  and  OoUeges." 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Dr.  Mehta's  labour  of  love 
-will  receive  the  serious  attention  of  English  educated 
India.  The  following  pages  were  written  by  him  for  the 
Vedanta  Kesari  of  Madras  and  are  now  printed  in  theii- 
present  form  for  circulation  throughout  India.  The  ques- 
tion of  vernaculars  as  media  of  instruction  is  Of  national 
importance  ;  neglect  of  the  vernaculars  means  national 
suicide.  One  hears  many  protagonists  of  the  English 
language  being  continued  as  the  medium  of  ins- 
truction pointing  to  the  fact  that  english  Educated- 
Indians  are  the  sole  custodians  of  public  and 
patriotic  work.  It  would  be  monstrous  if  it  were 
not  so.  For  the  only  education  given  in  this  country 
is  through  the  English  language.  The  fact,  however, 
is  that  the  results  are  not  at  all  proportionate  to 
the  time  we  give  to  our  education.  We  have  not  reacted 
on  the  masses.  But  I  must  not  anticipate  Dr.  Mehta.  He 
iis  in  earnest.  He  writes  feelingly.  He  has  examined  the 
pros  and  cons  and  collected  a  mass  of  evidence  in  support 
,of  his  arguments.  The  latest  pronouncement  on  the  sub' 
jeet  is  that  of  the  Viceroy.  Whilst  His  Excellency  is 
unable  to  offer  a  solution,  he  is  keenly  alive  to  the 
necessity  of  impaftmg  instruction  in  our  schools 
through  the  vernaculars.  The  Jews  of  Middle 
and   Eastern   Europe,   who  are  scattered  in  all   parts 


308  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

of  the  wory,  finding  it  necessary  to  have  a  common 
tongue  for  mutual  intercourse,  have  raised  Yiddish 
to  the  status  of  a  language,  and  have  succeeded 
in  translating  into  Yiddish  the  best  books  to  be 
found  in  the  world's  literature.  Even  they  could  not 
satisfy  the  soul's  yearning  through  the  many  foreign 
tongues  of  which  they  are  masters  ;  nor  did  the  learned 
few  among  them  wish  to  tax  the  masses  of  the  Jewish- 
population  with  having  to  learn  a  foreign  language 
before  they  could  realise  their  dignity.  So  they  have 
enriched  what  was  at  one  time  looked  upon  as  a  mere 
jargon — ^but  what  the  Jewish  children  learnt  from  theif 
mothers — by  taking  special  pains  to  translate  into  it  the 
best  thought  of  the  world.  This  is  a  truly  marvellous 
work.  It  has  been  done  during  the  present  generation^ 
and  Webster's  Dictionary  defines  it  as  a  polyglot  jargon 
used  for  inter-communication  by  Jews  from  different 
nations. 

But  a  Jew  of  Middle  and  Eastern  Europe  would  feel 
insulted  if  his  mother-tongue  were  now  so  described.  If 
these  Jewish  scholars  have  succeeded ,  within  a  genera- 
tion, in  giving  their  masses  a  language  of  which  they 
may  feel  proud,  surely  it  should  be  an  easy  task  for  us  to 
supply  the  needs  of  our  own  vernaculars  which  are  cul- 
tured languages.  South  Africa  teaches  us  the  same  lesson. 
There  was  a  duel  there  between  the  Taal,  a  corrupt  form 
of  Dutch,  and  English.  The  Boer  mothers  and  the  Boer 
fathers  were  determined  that  they  would  not  let  their 
children,  with  whom  they  in  their  infancy  talked  in  the 
Taal,  be  weighed  down  with  having  to  receive  instruc- 
tion through  English.  The  case  for  English  here  was  a 
strong  one.  It  had  able  pleaders  for  it.  But  English 
had    to    yield    before    Boer    patriotism.     It    may     be 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  309 

observed  that  they  rejected  even  the  High  Dutch. 
The  school  masters,  therefore,  who  are  accustomed 
to  speak  the  published  Dutch  of  Europe,  are  com- 
pelled to  teach  the  easier  Taal.  And  literature  of  an 
excellent  character  is  at  the  present  moment  growing 
up  in  South  Africa  in  the  Taal,  which  was  only  a 
few  years  ago,  the  common  medium  of  speech  between 
simple  but  brave  rustics.  If  we  have  lost  faith  in  our 
vernaculars,  it  is  a  sign  of  want  of  faith  in  ourselves  ; 
it  is  the  surest  sign  of  decay.  And  no  scheme  of  self- 
•government,  however  benevolently  or  generously  it 
may  be  bestowed  upon  us,  will  ever  make  us  a  self- 
governing  nation,  if  we  have  no  respect  for  the  lan- 
guages our  mothers  speak. 


SOCIAL  SERVICE 


At  the  anniversary  celebration  of  the  Social  Service 
Leagur,  held  in  Madras  on  February  10,  1916,  Mr 
Gandhi  delivered  an  address  on  "  Social  Service,  "  Mrs, 
Whitehead  presided.     He  said  : 

I  have  been  asked  this  evening  to  speak  to  you 
Bbout  social  service.  If  this  evening  you  find  that  I 
am  not  able  to  do  sufficient  justice  to  this  great  audience 
you  will  ascribe  it  to  so  many  engagements  that  1  has- 
tily and  unthinkingly  accepted.  It  was  my  desire  that 
I  should  have  at  least  a  few  moments  to  think  out  what 
I  shall  have  to  say  to  you  but  it  was  not  to  be.  How- 
ever, as  our  Chair  Lady  has  said,  it  was  work  we  want 
and  not  speeches.  I  am  aware  that  you  will  have  lost 
very  little,  if  anything  at  all,  if  you  find  at  the  end  of 
this  evening's  talk  that  you  have  hstened  to  very  little. 

Friends,  for  Social  Service  as  for  any  other  service 


310  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

oji  the  face  of  the  earth,  there  is  one  condition  indispens- 
able namely,  qualifications,  and  proper  qualifications,  oq 
the  part  of  those  who  want  to  render  social  service  or  any 
other  service.  So  we  shall  ask  ourselves  this  evening 
whether  those  of  us  who  are  already  engaged  in  this  kind 
of  service  and  others  who  have  aspired  to  render  the 
service  possess  these  necessary  qualifications.  Because 
you  will  agree  with  nie  that  in  social  service  if  they 
can  mendimatters  they  cag  also  spoil  matters  and  in 
trying  to  do  service  however  well-intentioned  that 
service  might  be,  if  they  are  not  qualified  for  that 
service  they  will  be  rendering  not  service  but  disservicfir 
What  are  these  qualifications  ? 

Imagine  why  I  must  repeat  to  you  almost  the  quali- 
fications that  I  described  this  morning  to  the  students 
in  the  Young  Mens'  Christian  Association  'Hall.  Be- 
catuse  they  are  ol  universal  application  and  they  are 
necessary  for  any  class  of  work,  much  more  so  in  social 
service  at  this  time  of  the  day  in  our  national  life  in  our 
dear  country.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  require  truth  in 
one  hand  and  fearlessness  in  the  other  hand.  Unless  we 
carry  the  torchlight  we  -shall  not  see  the  step  in  front 
of  us  and  unless  we  carry  the  quality  of  fearlessness  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  give  the  message  that  we  might 
want  to  give.  Unless  we  have  this  fearlessness  I  feel 
sure  that  when  that  supreme  final  test  comes  we  shall 
be  found  wanting.  Then  I  ask  you  to  ask  yourselves 
whether  those  of  you  who  are  engaged  in  this  service 
and  those  of  you  who  want  hereafter  to  be  engaged  in 
this  service  have  these  two  qualities.  Let  me  remind  you 
also  that  these  qualities  may  be  trained  in  us  in  a 
manner  detrimental  to  ourselves  and  in  a  manner  detri- 
mental to  those  with    whom    we  may  come  in   contact. 


SOCIAL    SERVICE  311 

This  is  a  dangerous  statement  almost  to  make,  as  if  truth 
eonld  be  ever  so  handkdj  and  in  making  that  statement 
I  would  like  you  also  to  consider  that  truth  comes  not  as 
truth  but  only  as  truth  so-called.  In  the  inimitable 
book  Ramayana  we  find  that  Indrajit  and  Lakshman, 
his  opponent,  possessed  the  same  qualities.  But  Laksh- 
man's  life  was  guided  by  principle,  based  upon  religion 
while  Indrajit's  principle  was  based  upon  irreligion,  and 
we  find  what  Indarajit  possessed  was  mere  dross  and 
what  Lakshman  possessed  was  of  great  assistance  not 
OE'ly  to  the  side  on  whose  behalt  he  was  fighting  but 
he  has  left  a  treasure  for  us  to  value.  What  iw^s  that 
additional  quality  he  possessed?  So,  I  hold  that  life 
without  religion  is  life  without  principle,  that  life  with- 
out principle  is  like  a  ship  without  a  rudder.  Just  as 
our  ship  without  rudder,  the  helmsman  plying  at  it,  is 
tossed  about  from  place  to  place  and  never  reaches  its 
destination,  so  will  a  man  without  the  heart-grasp  of 
religion  whirl  without  ever  reaching  his  destined  goal. 
So,  I  suggest  to  every  social  servant  that  he  must  not 
run  away  with  the  idea  that  he  will  serve  his  whole 
countrymen  unless  he  has  got  these  two  qualities  duly 
sanctified  by  religion  and  by  a  life  divinely'guided. 

After  paying  a  glowing  tribute  to  the  Madras 
Social  Service  League  for  its  work  in  certain  Pariah 
villages  in  the  city  he  went  on  to  say  :— 

It  is  no  use  white-washing  those  needs  which  we 
know  everyday  stare  us  in  the  face.  It  is  not  enough 
that  we  clear  out  the  villages  which  are  occupied  by  our 
Pariah  brethern.  They  are  amenable  to  reason  and 
persuasion.  Shall  we  have  to  say  that  the  so-called 
higher  classes  are  not  equally  amenable  to  reason  and  to 
persuasion  and  to  hygienic  laws  which  are  indispensable 


312  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

in  order  to  live  a  city-life.  We  may  do  many  things 
with  immunity  but  when  we  immediately  transfer  our- 
selves to  crowded  streets  where  we  have  hardly  air  to 
breathe,  the  life  becomes  changed,  and  we  have  to  obey 
another  set  of  laws  which  immediately  come  into  being. 
Do  we  do  that  ?  It  is  no  use  saddling  the  municipality 
with  the  responsibilities  for  the  condition  in  which  we 
find  not  only  the  central  parts  of  Madras  but  the  cent- 
ral parts  of  every  city  of  importance  in  '  India,  and  I  feel 
no  municipality  in  the  world  will  be  able  to  over-ride 
the  habits  of  a  class  of  people  handed  to  them  fron\ 
generation  to  generation.  It  can  be  done  only  by  such  - 
bodies  as  Social  Service  Leagues.  If  we  pulsate  with  a 
new  life,  a  new  vision  shall  open  before  us  in  the  near 
future,  I  think  that  these  are  the  signs  which  will  be 
an  indication  to  show  that  we  are  pulsating  with  a  new 
life,  which  is  going  to  be  a  proper  life,  which  will  add 
dignity  to  our  nationality  and  which  will  carry  the 
banner  of  progress  forward.  I,  therefore,  suggest  that 
it  is  a  question  of  sanitary  reform  in  these  big  cities, 
which  will  be  a  hopeless  task  if  we  expect  our  munici- 
palities to  do  this  unaided  by  this  voluntary  work.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  absolve  the  municipalities  from  their 
own  responsibilities.  I  think  there  is  a  great  deal  yet 
to  be  done  in  the  municipalities.  Only  the  other  day  I 
read  with  a  great  degree  of  pain  a  report  about  the 
proceedings  of  the  Bombay  Municipality,  and  the 
deplorable  fact  in  it  is  that  a  large  part  of  the  time  of 
the  Municipality  was  devoted  to  talking  over  trifles 
while  they  neglected  matters  of  great  moment.  After 
all,  I  shall  say  that  they  will  be  able  to  do  very  little 
in  as  much  as  there  is  a  demand  for  their  work  on  the 
people  themselves. 


SOCIAL    SERVICE  313 

Here  Mr.  Gandhi  instanced,  two  cases  where  the 
Social  Service  League  had  been  of  immense  help  to  the 
Municipality  in- improving  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
town,  by  changing  the  habits  of  the  people,  which  had 
become  a  part  of  their  being.  He  observed  that  some 
officials  might  consider  that  they  could  force  an  unwil- 
ling people  to  do  many  things,  but  he  held  to  that 
celebrated  saying  that  it  was  far  better  that  people 
should  often  remain  drunkards  than  that  they  should 
become  sober  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 

Mr.  Gandhi  then  recounted  some  of  his  experiences 
in  a  temple  at  Kasi  (Benares) — the  wretched  lanes  sur- 
rounding it,  the  dirt  to  be  witnessed  near  the  sanctuary, 
the  disorderly  crowd  and  the  avaricious  priest.  These 
evils  in  the  temples,  he  said  had  to  be  removed  by  Social 
Service  Leagues.  For  making  it  possible  for  students  to 
fight  these  conditions,  the  educational  system  had  to  be  • 
revolutionised.  Now-a-days  they  were  Agoing  out  of 
their  schools  as  utter  strangers  to  their  ancestral  tradi- 
tions and  with  fatigued  brains,  able  to  work  no  longer. 
They  had  to  revolutionise  that  system.  ,  '■ 

Finally,  he  preferred  to'  the  railway  services  and 
the  conditions  under  which  third  class  passengers  I 'tra- 
velled. To  do  social  service  among  the  passengers 'and 
instil  better  habits  of  sanitation  among  them,  the  social 
servants  must  not  go  to  them  in  a  foreign  costume, 
speaking  a  foreign  tongue.  They  might  issuefpamph- 
lets  to  them  or  give  instructive  lessons,  and  so  on. 


TRUE  PATRIOTISM 


The  following  report  of  a  conservation  which  a» 
interviewer  had  with  Mr.  Gandhi  contains  his  views  on 
a  varied  of  subjects  of  national  interest  :— 

*'  We  have  lost  ^'  he  said, "  much  of  our  self-respect, 
on  account  of  being  too  much  Europeanised.  We  think 
and  speak  in  English.  Thereby,  we  impoverish  our 
vernaculars,  and  estrange  the  feelings  of  the  masses.  A 
knowledge  of  English  is  not  essential  to  the  service  of^ 
our  Motherland," 

Turning  to  caste,  he  said "  caste  is  the  great 
power  and  secret  of  Hinduism." 

Asked  where  he  would  stay,  Mr.  Gandhi  replied: 
"  Great  pressure  is  brought  down  on  me  to  settle  in 
Bengal :  but  I  hav  e  a  great  capital  iti  the  store  of  my 
knowledge  in  Guzerat  and  I  get  letters  from  there." 

"  Vernacular  literature  is  important;  I  want  to 
have  a  library  of  all  books.  I  invite  friends  for  finaH' 
cial  aid  to  form  libraries  and  locate  them." 

"  Modern  civilisation  is  a  curse  in  Europe  as  alsa 
in  India.  War  is  the  direct  result  of  modern  civilisa- 
tion, everyone  of  the  Powers  was  making  preparations 
for  war." 

"  Passive  resistance  is  a  great  moral  force,  meant 
for  the  weak,  also  for  the  strong.  Soul-force  depends 
on  itself.  Ideals  must  work  in  practice,  otherwise  they 
are  not  potent.    Modern  civilisation  is  a  brute  force." 

It  is  one  thing  to  know  the  ideal  and  another  thing 
to  practise  it.  That  will  ensure  greater  dicipline,  which 
means  a  greater  service   and  greater  service    means 


TRUE    PATRIOTISM  515 

greater  gaio  to  Goveniment.  Passive  resistance  is  a 
highly  aggressive  tjiing.  The  attribute  of  soul  is  rest- 
lessness ;  there  is  room  far  every  phase  of  thought. 

"  Money,  land  and  women  are  the  sources  of  evil' 
aad  evil  has  to  be  counteracted.  I  need  not  possess  land, 
nor  a  woman,  nor  money  to  satisfy  my  luxuries.  I  do 
not  want  to  be  unhinged  merely  because  others  are 
unhinged.  If  ideals  are  practised,  there  will  be  less 
room  for  mischievous  activities.  Public  life  has  to  be 
moulded." 

"  Every  current  has  to  change  its  course.  There 
are  one  and  a  half  million  sadhus  and  if  every  sadhiu  did 
his  duty,  India  could  achieve  much.  Jagat  Gura 
Sankaracharya  does  not  deserve  that  appellation  be- 
cause he  has  no  more  force  in  him:'' 

Malicious  material  activity  is  no  good.  It  finds  out 
means  to  multiply  one's  luxuries.  Intense  gross  modem- 
activity  should  not  be  imposed  on  Indian  institutions, 
which  have  to  be  remodelled  on  ideals  taken  from  Hindu- 
ism .  VirtQe  as  understood  in  India  is  not  understood  in 
foreign  lands.  Dasaratha  is  considered  a  fool  in  foreign 
lands,  for  his  having  kept  his  promise  to  his  wife.  India 
says  a  promise  is  a  promise.  That  is  a  good  ideal.  Mate- 
rial activity  is  mischievous.  "  Truth  shall  conquer  in 
the  end." 

"  Emigration  does  no  good  to  the  country  from 
which  people  emigrate.  Emigrants  do  not  return  better 
moral  men.  The  whole  thing  is  against  Hinduism. 
Temples  do  not  flourish.  There  are  no  opportunities 
for  ceremonial  functions.  Priests  do  not  come,  and  at 
times  they  are  merely  men  of  straw,  immigrants  play 
much  mischief  and  corrupt  society.  It  is  not  enterprise. 
They  may  earn  more  money  easily  in  those  parts,  which 


316  EARLIER     INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

means  that  they  do  not  want  to  toil  and  remain  straight 
in  the  methods  of  earning.  Immigrants  are  not  happier 
and  have  more  material  wants." 

Questioned  about  the  Theosophical  Society  Mr. 
Gandhi  said :  "  There  is  a  good  deal  of  good  in  the 
Theosophical  Society,  irrespective  of  individuals.  It 
has  stimulated  ideas  and  thoughts." 

THE  SATYAGRHASHRAMA 


This  Address  was  delivered  in  the  Y,M.  O.A,  Audi- 
torium, Madras,  on  the  I6th  February  1916,  the  Hon. 
Rev.  G.  Pittendrigh,  of  the  Madras  Christian  College, 
presiding : — 

To  many  of  the  students  who  came  here  last  year 
to  converse  with  me,  I  said  I  was  about  to  establish  an 
institution — Ashrama — somewhere  in  India,  and  it  is 
about  that  place  that  I  am  going  to  talk  to  you  this 
morning.  I  feel  and  I,  have  felt,  during  the  whole  of 
my  public  life,  that  what  we  need,  what  any  nation 
needs,  but  we  perhaps  of  all  the  nations  of  the  world 
need  just  now  is  nothing  else  and  nothing  less  than 
<:haracter-building.  And  this  is  the  view  propounded 
by  that  great  patriot,  Mr.  Gokhale  (cheers),  As  you 
know  in  many  of  his  speeches,  he  used  to  say  that  we 
would  get  nothing,  we  would  deserve  nothing  unless  we 
had  character  to  back  what  we  wished  for.  Hence  his 
founding  of  that  great  body,  the  Servants  of  India 
Society.  And  as  yon  know,  in  the  prospectus  that  has 
been  issued  in  connection  with  the  Society,  Mr.  Gokhale 
has  deliberately  stated  that  it  was  necessary  to 
spiritualise  the  political  life  of  the  country.  You 
know  also  that   he  used   to  say  so  often  that   our  aver- 


THE  SATYAGRHASHRAMA  317 

age  was  less  than  the  average  of  so  many  European 
nations.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  statement  by 
him  whom,  with  pride,  I  consider  to  be  my  political 
Guru,  has  really  foundation  in  fact,  but  I  do  believe 
that  there  is  much  to  be  said  to  justify  it  in  so  far  as 
educated  India  is  concerned ;  not  because  we,  the 
educated  portion  of  the  community,  have  blundered, 
but  because  we  have  been  creatures  of  circumstances. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  this  is  the  maxim  of  life  which 
I  have  accepted,  namely,  that  no  work  done  by  any 
man,  no  matter  how  great  he  is,  will  really  prosper 
unless  he  has  religious  backing.  But  what  is  religion  ? 
The  question  will  be  immediately  asked.  I  for  one, 
would  answer :  Not  the  religion  which  you  will  get 
after  reading  all  the  scriptures  of  the  world;  it  is  not 
really  a  grasp  by  the  braiu,  but  it  is  a  heart-grasp.  It 
is  a  thing  which  is  not  alien  to  us,  but  it  is  a  thing 
which  has  to  be  evolved  out  of  us.  It  is  always  within 
us,  with  some  consciously  so ;  with  the  others  quite 
unconsciously.  But  it  is  there  ;  and  whether  .  we  wake 
up  this  religions  instinct  in  us  through  outside  assistance 
or  by  inward  growth,  no  matter  how  it  is  done,  it  has 
got  to  be  done  if  we  want  to  do  anything  in  the  right 
manner  and  anything  that  is  going  to  persist. 

Our  Scriptures  have  laid  down  certain  rules  as 
maxims  of  life  and  as  axioms  which  we  have  to 
take  for  granted  as  self-demonstrated  truths.  The 
Shastras  tell  us  that  without  living,  according  to  these 
maxims,  we  are  incapable  even  of  having  a  reasonable 
perception  of  relgion.  Believing  in  these  implicity  for 
all  these  long  years  and  having  actually  endeavoured  to 
reduce  to  practice  these  injunctions  of  the  Shastras,  1 
have  deemed  it  necessary  to  seek  the  association  of  those 


318  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

•who  think  with  me,  in  founding  this  institution.  And  1 
shall  venture  this  morning  to  place  before  you  the  rules 
that  have  been  drawn  up  and  that  have  to  be  observed 
by  every  one  who  seeks  to  be  a  member  of  that 
Ashram. 

Five  of  these  are  known  as  Yamas  and  the  first 
and  the  foremost  is, 

THE  VOW  OF  TRUTH. 

Not  truth  simply  as  we  ordinarily  understand  it, 
that  as  far  as  possible,  vre  ought  not  to  resort  to  a  lidj 
that  is  to  say,  not  truth  which  merely  answers  the  say- 
ing, "  Honesty  is  the  best  policy"— ^implying  that  if  it  is 
not  the  best  policy,  we  may  depart  from  it.  Bot  here 
-truth  as  it  is  conceived,  means  that  we  have  to  rule  our 
life  by  this  law  of  Truth  at  any  cost.  And  in  order  to 
satisfy  the  definition  I  have  drawn  upon  the  celebrated 
illustration  of  the  life  of  Prahlad.  For  the  sake  of 
truth,  he  dared  to  oppose  his  own  father,  and  he  defend- 
ed himself,  not  by  retaliation,  by  paying  his  father  back 
in  his  own  coin,  but  in  defence  of  Truth, 'as  he  knew  it; 
he  was  prepared  to  die  without  caring  to  return  the 
blows  that  he  had  received  from  his  father  or  from 
those  who  were  charged  with  his  father's  instruc- 
tions. Not  only  that :  he  would  not  in  any  way 
even  parry  the  blows  :  on  the  contrary,  with  a  smile 
on  his  lips,  he  underwent  the  innumerable  tortures 
to  which  he  was  subjected,  with  the  result  that,  at 
last.  Truth  rose  triumphant;  not  that  Prahlad  suffered 
the  tortures  because  he  knew  that  some  day  or  other 
in  his  very  life-time  he  would  be  able  to  demonstrate 
the  infallibility  of  the  Law  of  Truth.  That  fact  was 
there  ;  but  if  he  had  died  in  the  midst  of  tortures,  he 
would  still  have  adhered   to  Truth.    That  is  the  Truth 


THE   SATYAGRHASHRAMA  319 

which  I  would  like  to  follow.    There  was    an   incident 
I  noticed  yesterday.     It  was   a   trifling   incident,    but  I 
think  these  trifling  incidents  are'  like  straws  which 
show  which  way  the  wind  is  blowing.  The  incident  was 
this  :  I  was  talking  to  a   friend  who   wanted    to  talk  to 
me  aside,   and  we  were  engaged  in   a  private  conver- 
sation,   A  third  friend  dropped  in,  and  be  politely  ask'ed 
"whether  he  was  intruding.     The  friend   to  whom  I  was 
talking  said  :  "Oh,  no,  there  is   nothing   private  here," 
I  felt  taken  aback  a   little,  because,   as   I    was   taken 
aside,  I  knew  that  so  far   as  this  friend  was   concerned, 
the   conversation    was   private.     But    he   immediately, 
•out  of  politeness,  I    would   call  it   overpoliteness,  said, 
there   was   no   private   conversation   and    that  he  (the 
third  friend)  could  join.     I  suggest  to  you   that  this  is  a 
•departure  from  my  definition  of  Truth.   I  think  that  the 
-friend  should  have,  in  the  gentlest  manner  possible,  but 
:StilI  openly  and  frankly,  said ;    "  Yes,  just    now,  as  you 
rroperly  say,  you  would  be   intruding,"  without  giving 
the  slightest  offence  to  the  person   if  he  was   himself  a 
:gentleman — ^and  we  are  bound  to  consider  every  body  to 
be  a  gentleman  unless  he  proves  to  be  otherwise.  But  I 
may  be  told  that  the  incident,  after  all,  proves  the  genti- 
lity of  the  nation.     I  think  that   it  is    over-proving  the 
case.     If  we  continue  to  say   these  things  out   of  polite- 
ness, we  really  become  a   nation  of  hypocrites.     I  recall 
a.    conversation   I    had    with   an   English   friend.     He 
was  comparatively    a  stranger.    He  is  a  Principal  of 
a  College   and   has   been   in   India  for  several    years. 
He    was    comparing    notes    with    me,   and   he    asked 
me    whether   I    would    admit    that    we,  unlike    most 
Englishmen,    would  not  dare  to  say  "No"  when    it  was 
"No"  that  we  meant.  And  I  must  confess  I  immediately 


320  EARLIER     INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

said  "Yes";  I  agreed -with  that  statement: — We 
do  hesitate  to  say  "  No  "  frankly  and  boldly,  when  we 
want  to  pay  due  regard  to  the  Sentiments  of  the  person 
whom  we  are  addressing.  In  our  Ashrama  we  make  it 
a  rule  that  we  must  say  "  No"  when  we  mean  "  No," 
regardless  of  consequences.  This  then  is  the  first  rule. 
Tfien  we  come  to  the 

DOCTRINE   OF   AHIMSA 

Literally  speaking,  Ahimsa  means  non-killing.  But 
to  me  it  has  a  world  of  meaning  and  takes  me  into 
realms  much  higher,  infinitely  higher,  than  the  realm  to 
which  I  would  go,  if  I  merely  understood  by  Ahimsa 
non-killing.  Ahimsa  really  means  that  you  may  not 
offend  anybody,you  may  not  harbour  an  uncharitable 
thought  even  in  connection  with  one  who  may<:onsider 
himself  to  be  your  enemy.  Pray  notice  the  guarded 
nature  of  this  thought  ;  I  do  not  say  "  whom  you  con- 
sider to  be  your  enemy  '',  but  "  who  may  consider  him- 
self to  be  your  enemy.''  For  one  who  follows  the 
doctrine  of  Ahimsa  there  is  no  room  for  an  enemy  ;  he 
denies  the  existence  of  an  enemy.  But  there  are  people 
who  consider  themselves  to  be  his  enemies,  and  he 
cannot  help  that  circumstance.  So,  it  is  held  that 
we  may  not  harbour  an  evil  thought  even  in  connec- 
tion with  such  persons.  If  we  return  blow  for  blow, 
we  depart  from  the  doctrine  of  Ahimsa.  But  I  go 
further.  If  we  resent  a  friend's  •  action  or  the  so- 
called  enemy's  action,  we  still  fall  short  of  this  doctrine. 
But  when  I  say,  we  should  not  resent,  1  do  not  say 
that  we  should  acquiesce :  but  by  resenting  I  mean 
wishing  thaf  some  harm  should  be  done  to  the  enemy,  or 
that  he  should  be  put  out  of  the  way,  not  even  by  any 
action  of  ours,   but   by   the   action  of   somebody  else, 


XHE   SATYAGRHASHRAMA  321 

or,   say,    by   Divine  agency.     If  we  harbour  even   this 
thought,  vre  depart  from  this  doctrine  of  Ahimsa.   Those 
who    join   the    Ashrama    have    to  literally  accept  that 
meaning.     That   does   not  mean  that    we  practise   that 
doctrine    in    its  entirety.     Far  from  it.     It  is   an    ideal 
which  we  have  to  reach,  and  it  is  an  ideal  to  be  reached 
even  at  this  very  moment,  if  we  are  capable  of  doing  so. 
But    it  is  not  a  proposition  in  geometry  to  be    learnt  by 
'heart ;  it  is  not  even    like   solving    difficult  problems  in 
higher  mathematics  ;    it  is  infinitely   more  difficult  than 
solving    those  problems.     Many  of  you  have  burnt   the 
midnight  oil  in  solving  those  problems.     If  you  want  to 
follow   out   this   doctrine,  you  will    have   to   do   much 
more  than   burn  the    midnight   oil.    You  will   have  to 
pass    many  a  sleepless    night,    and  go   through   many  a 
mental  torture  and   agony  before  you  can   reach,   before 
you  can  even  be  within  measurable  distance  of  this  goal. 
It  is  the  goal  and  nothing  less  than  that,  you  and  I  have 
to  reach,  if  we  want  to  understand  what  a  religious   life 
means,     I  will  not  say  much  more  on  this  doctrine  than 
this  :  that  a  man  who   believes  in    the   efficacy   of   this 
doctrine  finds  in  the  ultimate  stage,  when  he   is  about  to 
reach  the  goal,  the  whole  world  at    his   feet, — not   that 
he  wants  the  whole  world  at  his  feet,  but  it  must  be  so. 
If  you  express  your    love — Ahimsa — in  such  a    manner 
that  it  impresses    itself    indelibly    upon    your    so-called 
enemy,  he    must  return    that    love.     Another  thought 
which  comes  out  of  this   is  that,    under  this   rule,  there 
is  no  room  for    organised  assassinations,  and  there  is  no 
room  for  murders  even    openly  committed,  and   there  is 
no   room  for    any  violence    even   for    the.  sake   of  your 
country,  and  even  for  guarding   the  honour   of  preciogs 
ones  that    maybe  under  your  charge.    After"  all,  that 
21 


322  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

would  be  a  poor  defence  of, the  honour.  This  doctrine 
of  Ahimsa  tells  us  that  we  may  guard  the  honour  of 
those  who  are  under  our  charge  by  delivering  ourselves 
into  the  hands  of  the  man  who  would  commit  the 
sacrilege.  And  that  requires  far  greater  physical  and 
mental  courage  than  the  delivering  of  blows.  You  may 
have  some  degree  of  physical  power, — I  do  not  say 
courage — and  you  may  use  that  power.  But  after 
that  is  expended,  what  happens  ?  The  other  man 
is  filled  with  wrath  and  indignation,  and  you  have 
made  him  more  angry  by  matching  your  violence  against 
his  ;  and  when  he  has  done  you  to  death,  the  rest  of  his 
violence  is  delivered  against  your  charge.  But  if  you 
do  not  retaliate,  but  stand  your  ground,  between  your 
charge  and  the  opponent,  simply  receiving  the  blows 
without  retaliating,  what  happens  ?  I  give  you  my 
promise  that  the  whole  of  the  violence  will  be  ex- 
pended on  you,  and  your  charge  will  be  left  unscath- 
ed. Under  this  plan  of  life  there  is  no  conception  of 
patriotism  which  justifies  .such  wars  as  yon  witness  to- 
day in  Europe.     Then  there  is 

THE  VOW  OF  CELIBACY 

Those  who  want  to  perform  national  service,  or 
those  who  Vv'ant  to  have  a  glimpse  of  the  real  religions 
life,  must  lead  a  celibate  life,  no  matter  if  married  or 
unmarried.  Marriage  but  brings  a  woman  closer  to- 
gether with  the  man,  and  they  become  friends  in  a 
special  sense,  never  to  be  parted  either  in  this  life  or  in 
the  lives  that  are  to  come.  But  I  do  not  think  that,  in 
our  conception  of  marriage,  our  lusts  should  necessarily 
enter.  Be  that  as  it  may,  this  is  what  is  placed  before 
those  who  come  to  the  Ashratna,  I  do  not  deal  with 
that  at  any  length.    Then  we  have 


THE    SATYAGRHASHRAMA  323 

THE  VOW  OF  CONTROL  OF  THE  PALATE 
A  man  who  wants  to  control  his  animal  passions 
easily  does  so  if  he  controls  his  palate.  I  fear  this  is  one 
of  the  most  difScult  vows  to  follow  I  am  just  now 
coming  after  having  inspected  the  Victoria  Hostel.  I 
saw  there  not  to  my  dismay,  though  it  should  be  to  my 
dismay ;  but  I  am  used  to  it  now.  that  there  are  so 
many  kitchens,  not  kitchens  that  are  established  in 
order  to  serve  caste  restrictions,  but  kitchens  that  have 
become  necessary  in  order  that  people  can  have  the 
condiments,  and  the  exact  weight  of  the  condiments  to 
which  they  are  used  in  the  respective  places  from 
which  they  have  come.  And  therefore  we  find  that  for 
the  Brahmans  themselves  there  are  different  compart- 
ments and  different  kitchens  catering  for  the  delicate 
tastes  of  all  these  different  groups.  I  suggest  to  you 
that  this  is  simply  slavery  to  the  palate,  rather 
than  mastery  over  it.  I  may  say  this:  unless  we 
take  our  minds  off  from  this  habit,  and  unless  we 
shut  our  eyes  to  the  tea  shops  and  coffee  shops 
and  all  these  kitchens,  and  unless  we  are  satisfied  with 
foods  that  are  necessary  for  the  proper  maintenance  of 
our  physical  health,  and  unless  we  are  prepared  to  rid 
ourselves  of  stimulating,  heating  and  exciting  condi- 
ments that  we  mix  with  our  food,  we  will  certainly  not 
be  able  to  control  the  over-abundant,  unnecessary,  and 
exciting  stimulation  that  we  may  have.  If  we  do  not 
do  that,  the  result  naturally  is,  that  we  abuse  ourselves 
and  we  abuse  even  the  sacred  trust  given  to  us,  and  we 
become  less  than  animals  and  brutes,  eating,  drinking 
and  indulging  in  passions  we  share  in  common  with  the 
animals  ;  but  have  you  ever  seen  a  horse  or  a  cow  in- 
dulging in  the  abuse  of  the   palate  as  we  do.'      Do  you"I 


324  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

suppose  that  it  is  a  sign  of  civilization,  a  sign  of  real 
life  that  we  should  multiply  our  eatables  so  far  that  we 
■do  not  even  know  where  we  are ;  and  seek  dishes  until 
at  last  we  have  become  absolutely  mad  and  run  after 
the  newspaper  sheets  which  give  us  advertisements 
about  these  dishes  ?  Then  we  have 

THE    vow   OF   NON-THIEVING. 

1  suggest  that  we  are  thieves  in  a  way.  If  I  take 
anything  that  I  do  not  need  for  my  own  immediate  use, 
and  keep  it,  I  thieve  it  from  somebody  else.  I  venture  to 
suggest  that  it  is  the  fundamental  law  of  Nature,  with- 
out exception,  that  Nature  produces  enough  for  our 
wants  from  day  to-day,  and  if  only  everybody  took  enough 
for  himself  and  nothing  more,  there  would  be  no 
pauperism  in  this  world,  there  would  be  no  man  dying 
■of  starvation  in  this  world.  But  so  long  as  we  have 
got  this  inequality  so  long  we  are  thieving.  I  am  no 
socialist  and  I  do  not  want  to  dispossess  those  who  have 
got  possessions  ;  but  I  do  say  that,  personally,  those  of 
lis  who  want  to  see  light  out  of  darkness  have  to  follow 
this  rule.  I  do  not  want  to  dispossess  anybody.  I  should 
then  be  departing  from  the  rule  of  Ahimsa,  If  somebody 
•else  possesses  more  than  I  do,  let  him.  But  so  far  as 
my  own  life  has  to  be  regulated,  I  do  say  that  I  darfc 
not  possess  anything  which'^  I  do  not  want.  In  India 
we  have  got  three  millions- of  people  having  to  be 
satisfied  with  one  meal  a  day,  and  that  meal  consisting 
-of  a  chapatti  containing  no  fat  in  it,  and  a  pinch  of 
salt.  You  and  I  have  no  right  to  any  thing  that 
we  really  have  until  these  three  millions  are  clothed 
and  fed/  better.  You  and  I,  v/ho  ought  to  know^ 
better,  must  adjust  our  wants,  and  even  undergo  volun- 
tary starvation,   in  order    that  they  may  be   nursed,  fed 


THE  SATYAGRHASHRAMA  3^5 

and  clothed.  Then  there  is  the  vow  of  non-possession 
w-hich  follows  as  a  iiiatter  of  course.  Then  I  go  to 
THE  vow  OF  SWADESHI. 
The  vow  of  Swadeshi  is  a  necessary  vow.But  you  are 
conversant  with  the  Swadeshi  life  and  the  Swadeshi 
spirit.  I  suggest  to  you  we  are  departing  from  one  of  the 
sacred  laws  of  our  being  when  we  leave  our  neighbour 
and  go  out  somewhere  else  in  order  to  satisfy  our  wants. 
If  a  man  comes  from  Bombay  here  and  offers  you  wares, 
you  are  not  justified  in  supporting  the  Bombay  merchant 
or  trader  so  long  as  you  have  got  a  merchant  at  your 
very  door,  born  and  bred  in  Madras.  That  is  my  view 
of  Swadeshi.  In  your  village-barber,  you  are  bound  to 
support  him  to  the  exclusion  of  the  finished  barber  who 
may  come  to  you  from  Madras.  If  you  find  it  necessary 
that  your  village  barber  should  reach  the  attainments 
of  the  barber  from  Madras  you  may  train  him  to  that. 
Send  him  to  Madras  by  all  means,  if  you  wish,  in  order 
that  he  may  learn  his  calling.  Until  you  do  that, 
you  are  not  justified  in  going  to  another  barber. 
That  is  Swadeshi.  So,  when  we  find  that  there  are 
many  things  that  we  cannot  get  in  India,  we  must 
try  to  do  without  them.  We  may  have  to  do 
without  many  things  which  we  may  consider  necessary; 
but  believe  me,  when  you  have  that  frame  of 
mind,  you  will  find  a  great  burden  taken  off  your 
shoulders,  even  as  the  Pilgrim  did  in  that  inimitable 
book,  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  There  came  a  time  when 
the  mighty  burden  that  the  Pilgrim  was  carrying  on  his 
shoulders  unconsciously  dropped  from  him,  and  he  felt  a 
freer  man  than  he  was  when  he  started  on  the  journey. 
So  will  you  feel  freer  men  than  you  are  now,  immediately 
you  adopt  this  Swadeshi  life.     We  have  also 


326  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

THE  VOW  OF  FEARLESSNESS. 
I  found,  throughout  my  wanderings  in  India,  that 
India,  educated  India,  is  seized  with  a  paralysing  fear.  We 
may  not  open  our  lips  in  public ;  we  may  not  declare  our 
confirmed  opinions  in  public :  we  may  talk  about  them 
secretly ;  and  we  may  do  anything  we  like  within  the  four 
walls  of  our  house, — but  those  are  not  for  public  con- 
sumption. If  we  had  taken  a  vow  of  silence  I  would 
have  nothing  to  say.  When  we  open  our  lips  in  public, 
we  say  things  which  we  do  not  really  believe  in.  I  do 
not  know  whether  this  is  not  the  experience  of  almost 
every  public  man  who  speaks  in  India.  I  then  suggest 
to  you  that  there  is  only  one  Being,  if  Being  is  the 
proper  term  to  be  used,  whom  we  have  to  fear,  and  that 
is  God.  When  we  fear  God,  we  shall  fear  no  man,  no 
matter  how  high-placed  he  may  be.  And  if  you 
want  to  follow  the  vow  of  truth  in  any  shape  or 
form,  fearlessness  is  the  necessary  consequence.  And  so 
you  find,  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  fearlessness  is  dfec- 
lared  as  the  first  essential  quality  of  a  Brahmin.  We 
fear  consequence,  and  therefore  we  are  afraid  to  tell  the 
Truth.  A  man  who  fears  God  will  certainly  not  fear 
any  earthly  consequence.  Before  we  can  aspire  to  the 
poskion  of  understanding  what  religion  is,  and  before 
we  can  aspire  to  the  position  of  guiding  the  destinies  of 
India,  do  you  not  see  that  we  should  adopt  this  habit 
of  fearlessness  ?  Or  shall  we  over-awe  our  countrymen, 
even  as  we  are  over-awed  ?  We  thus  see  how  important 
this  "  fearlessne  ss'"  now  is.     And  we  have  also 

THE  vow  REGARDING  THE  UNTOUCHABLES. 

There  is  an  ineffaceable  blot  that  Hinduism  to-day 
carries  with  it.  I  have  declined  to  believe  that  it  has 
been  handed  to  us  from  immemorial  times.     I  think  that 


THE  SATYAGRHASHRAMA  327 

this  miserable,  wretched,  enslaving  spirit  of  "  untouch" 
ableness"  must  have  come  to  us  when  we  were  in  the 
cycle  of  our  lives,  at  our  lowest  ebb,  and  that  evil  has 
«till  stuck  to  us  and  it  still  remains  with  us.  It  is,  to  my 
mind,  a  curse  that  has  come  to  us,  and  as  long  as  that 
curse  remains  with  us,  so  long  I  think  we  are  bound  to 
consider  that  every  affliction  that  we  labour  under  in  this 
sacred  land  is  a  fit  and  proper  punishment  for  this  great 
and  indelible  crime  that  we  are  committing.  That  any 
person  should  be  considered  untouchable  because  of  his 
calling  passes  one's  comprehension ;  and  you,  the 
Student  world,  who  receive  all  this  modern  education,  if 
you  become  a  party  to  this  crime,  it  were  better  that 
you  received  no  education  whatsoever. 

Of  course,  we  are  labouring  under  a  very  heavy 
handicap.  Although  you  may  realise  that  there  cannot 
be  a  single  human  being  on  this  earth  who  should  be 
considered  to  be  untouchable,  you  cannot  react  upon 
your  families,  you  cannot  react  upon  your  surroundings, 
'because  all  your  thought  is  conceived  in  a  foreign 
tongue,  and  all  your  energy  is  devoted  to  that.  And  so 
we  have  also  introduced  a*  rule  in  this  Ashrama  :  that 
we  shall  receive  our 

EDUCATION   THROUGH   THE    VERNACULA!RS.^<.i.- 

In  Europe  every  cultured  man  learns,  not  only  his 
language,  but  also  other  languages,  certainly  three  or 
four.  And  even  as  they  do  in  Europe,  in  order  to  solve 
the  problem  of  language  in  India,  we,  in  this  Ashrama, 
make  it  a  point  to  learn  as  many  Indian  vernaculars  as 
we  possibly  can.  And  I  assure  you  that  the  trouble  of 
learning  these  languages  is  nothing  compared  to  the 
trouble  that  we  have  to  take  in  mastering  the  English 
langMage.  We  never  master  the  English  langaage  :  with 


328  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

some  exceptions  it  has  not  been  possible  for  us  to  do  so;; 
We  can  never  express  ourselves  as  clearly  as  we  can  in 
our  own  mother  tongue.  How  dare  we  rub  out  of  our 
memoiry  all  the  years  of  our  infancy  ?  But  that  is 
precisely  .what  we  do  when  we  commence  our  higher 
life,  as  we  call  it,  through  the  medium  of  a  foreign  ton- 
gue. This  creates  a  breach  in  our  lifg  for  bringing 
which,  we  shall  have  to  pay  dearly  and  heavily.  And  you 
will  see  now  the  connection  between  these  two  things,— 
education  and  untouchableness — this  persistance  of  the 
spirit  of  untouchableness  even  at  this  time  of  the  day  in 
spite  of  the  spread  of  knowledge  and  education.  Educa- 
tion has  enabled  us  to  see  the  horrible  crime.  But  we 
are  seized  with  fear  also  and  therefore,  we  cannot  take 
this  doctrine  to  our  homes.  And  we  have  got  a  super- 
stitious veneration  for  our  family  traditions  and  for  the 
members  of  our  family.  You  say,  "  My  parents  will  die 
if  I  tell  them  that  I,  at  least,  can  no  longer  partake  of 
his  crime."  I  say  that  Prahlad  never  considered  that 
his  father  would  die  if  he  pronounced  the  sacred 
syllables  of  the  name  of  Vishnu.  On  the  cqntrary,  he 
made  the  whole  of  that  household  ring,  from  one  corner 
to  another,  by  repeating  that  name  even  in  the 
sacred  presence  of  his  father.  And  so  you  and  I  may 
do  this  thing  in  the  sacred  presence  of  our  parents. 
If,  after  receiving  this  rude  shock,  some  of  them  expire, 
I  think  that  would  be  no  calamity.  It  may  be  that 
some  rude  shocks  of  the  kind  mig^t  have  to  be  deli- 
vered. So  long  as  we  persist  in  these  things  which 
have  been  handed  down  to  us  for  generations,  these  in- 
cidents may  happen.  But  there  is  a  higher  law  of 
Nature,  and  in  due  obedience  to  that  higher  law,  my 
parents  and  myself  should  make  that  sacrifice. 


THE  SATYAGKHASHRAMA  329 

AND  THEN  WE  FOLLOW  HAND-WEAVING. 

You  may  ask  :  "Why  should  we  use  our  hands  ?" 
asd  say  "the  manual  work  has  got  to  be  done  by  those 
who  are  illiterate.  I  can  only  occupy  myself  with  read- 
ing literature  and  political  essays."  I  think  we  have  to 
realise  the  dignity  of  labour.  If  a  barber  or  shoe-maker 
attends  a  college,  he  ought  not  to  abandon  the  profes- 
sion of  barber  or  shoe-maker.  I  consider  that  a  barber's 
profession  is  just  as  good  as  the  profession  of  medicine. 

Last  of  all,  when  you  have  conformed  to  these  rules, 
think   that   then,   and   not   till    then,  you  may  come  to 

POLITICS 

and  dabble  in  them  to  your  heart's  content,  and  certaini- 
ly  you  will  then  never  go  wrong.  Politics,  divorced  of 
religion,  has  absolutely  no  meaning.  If  the  student- 
world  crowd  the  political  platforms  of  this  country, 
to  my  mind,  it  is  not  necessarily  a  healthy  sign  of 
national  growth  ;  but  that  does  not  mean  that  you,  in 
your  student  life,  ought  not  to  study  politics.  Politics 
are  a  part  of  our  being  ;  we  ought  to  understand  our 
national  institutions,  and  we  ought  to  understand 
our  national  growth  and  all  those  things.  We  may 
do  it  from  our  infancy.  So,  in  our  Ashrama,  every 
child  is  taught  to  understand  the  political  institutions 
of  our  country,  and  to  know  how  the  country  is  vibrat- 
ing with  new  emotions,  with  new  aspirations,  with 
a  new  life.  But  we  want  also  the  steady  light,  the  in- 
fallible light,  of  religious  faith,  not  a  faith  which 
merely  appeals  to  the  intelligence,,  but  a  faith  which  is 
indelibly  inscribed  on  the  heart.  First,  we  want  to 
realise  that  religious  consciousness,  and  immediately  we 
have  done  that,  I  think  the  whole  department  of  life  is 
open  to  JHS,  and  it  should  then  be  a   sacred    privilege  of 


330  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

students  and  everybody  to  partake  of  that  whole  life, 
so  that,  when  they  grow  to  manhood  and  when  they 
leave  their  colleges,  they  may  do  so  as  men  properly 
equipped  to  battle  with  life.  To-day  what  happens  is 
this :  much  of  the  political  life  is  confined  to  student 
life  ;  immediately  the  students  Iteave  their  colleges  and 
cease  to  be  students,  they  sink  into  oblivion,  they  seek 
miserable  employments,  carrying  miserable  emoluments, 
rising  no  higher  in  their  aspirations,  knowing  nothing 
of  God,  knowing  nothing  of  fresh  air  or  bright  light 
and  nothing  of  that  real  vigorous  independence  that 
comes  out  of  obedience  to  these  laws  that  I  have  ven- 
tured to  place  before  you. 


INDIAN  MERCHANTS 


Mr.  Gandhi  was  entertained  by  the  merchants  of 
Broach  during  his  visit  to  the  city  and  presented  with  an 
address  of  welcome.  Mr,  Gandhi  replied  to  the  address 
in  the  following  terms  : — 

Merchant  always  have  the  spirit  of  adventiure, 
intellect  and  wealth,  as  without  these  qualities  their 
business  cannot  go  on.  But  now  they  must  have  the 
fervour  of  patriotism  in  them.  Patriotism  is  necessary 
even  for  religion.  If  the  spirit  of  patriotism  is  awakened 
through  religious  fervour,  then  that  patriotism  will 
shine  out  brilliantly.  So  it  is  necessary  that  patriotism 
should  be  roused  in  the  mercantile  community. 

The  merchants  take  more  part  in  public  affairs  now- 
a-days  than  before.  When  merchants  take  to  politics 
through  patriotism,  Swaraj  is  as  good  as  obtained. 
Some  of  you  might  be  wondering  how  we  can  get 
Swaraj.    I  lay   my    hand  on  my    heart   and  say   that, 


INDIAN    MERCHANTS  331 

■when  the  merchant  class  understands  the  sprit  of 
patriotism,  then  only  can  we  get  Swaraj  quickly. 
Swaraj  then  will  be  quite  a  natural  thing. 

Amongst  the  various  keys  which  will  unlock  Swaraj 
to  us,  the  Swadeshi  Vow  is  the  golden  one.  It  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  merchants  to  compel  the  observance  of  the 
Swadeshi  Vow  in  the  country,  and  this  is  an  adventure 
which  can  be  popularised  by  the  merchants.  I  humbly 
request  you  to  undertake  this  adventure,  and  then  you 
will  see  what  wonders  you  can  do. 

This  being  so,  I  have  to  say  with  regret  that  it  is 
the  merchant  class  which  has  brought  ruin  to  the 
Swadeshi  practice,  and  the  Swadeshi  moveinent  in  this 
country.  Complaints  have  lately  risen  in  Bengal  about 
the  increase  of  rates,  and  one  of  them  is  against  Gujarat. 
It  is  complained  there  that  the  prices  of  Dhotis  have 
been  abnormally  increased  aud  Dhotis  go  from  Gujarat. 
No  one  wants  you  not  to  earn  money,  but  it  must  be 
earned  righteously  and  not  be  ill-gotton.  Merchants 
must  earn  money  by  fair  means.  Unfair  means  must 
never  be  used. 

Continuing,  Mr.  Gandhi  said  :  India's  strength  lies 
with  the  merchant  class.  So  much  does  not  lie  even 
with  the  army.  Trade  is  the  cause  of  war,  and  the 
merchant  class  has  the  key  of  war  in  their  hands. 
Merchants  raise  the  money  and  the  army  is  raised  on 
the  strength  of  it.  The  power  of  England  and  Germany 
rests  on  thier  trading  class.  A  country's  prosperity 
depends  upon  its  mercantile  community,  I  consider  it 
as  a  sign  of  good  luck  that  I  should  receive  an  address 
from  the  merchant  class.  Whenever  I  remember 
Broach,  I  will  enquire  if  the  merchants  who  have 
given  me  an  address  this  day  have  righteous  faith  and 


332  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

patriotism.  If  I  receive  a  disappointing  reply,  I  will- 
think  that  merely  a  wave  of  giving  addresses  had: 
come  over  India  and  that   I  had  a  share  in  it. 


NATIONAL  DRESS 


Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  /allowing  reply  to  Mr.  Irwin's 
criticism  of  his  dress  in  the  "  Pioneer  ' '  during  the 
Ohamparan  enquiry. 

I  have  hitherto  successfully  resisted  to  temptation^ 
of  either  answering  your  or  Mr.  Irwin's  criticism  of  the 
humble  work  1  am  doing  in  Champaran.  Nor  am  I 
going  to  succumb  now  except  with  regard  to  a  matter 
which  Mr.  Irwin  has  thought  fit  to  dwell  upon  and 
about  which  he  has  not  even  taken  the  trouble  of  being, 
correctly  informed.  I  refer  to  his  remarks  on  my 
manner  of  dressing. 

My  "familiarity  with  the  minor  amenities  of 
western  civilisation  "  has  taught  me  to  respect  my 
national  costume,  and  it  may  interest  Mr.  Irwin  to  know 
that  the  dress  I  wear  in  Champaran  is  the  dress  L 
have  always  worn  in  India  except  that  for  a  very  short 
period  in  India  I  fell  an  easy  prey  in  common  with  the 
rest  of  my  countrymen  to  the  wearing  of  semi-European 
dress  in  the  courts  and  elsewhere  outside  Kathiawar.  I 
appeared  before  the  Kathiawar  courts  now  21  years  ago 
in  precisely  the  dress  I  wear  in  Champaran. 

One  change  I  have  made  and  it  is  that,  having  taken- 
to  the  occupation  of  weaving  and  agriculture  and  having 
taken  the  vow  of  Swadeshi,  my  clothing  is  now  entirely 
hand-woven  and  hand-sewn  and  made  by  me  or  my  fellow 
workers.  Mr.  Irwiiv's  letter  suggests  that  I  appear  before- 
the  ryots  in  a   dress  I  have   temporarily   and   specially 


NATIONAL   DRESS  3J3 

adopted  in  Champaran  to  produce  an  efFecti  The  fact 
is  that  I  wear  the  national  dress  because  it  it  the  most 
natural  and  the  most  becoming  for  an  Indian.  I  believe 
that  our  copying  of  the  European  dress  is  a  sign  of  our 
degradation,  humiliation  and  our  weakness,  and  that  we 
are  committing  a  national  sin  in  discarding  a  dress  which 
is  best  suited  to  the  Indian  climate  and  which,  for  its 
simplicity,  art  and  cheapness,  is  not  to  be  beaten  on  the 
face  of  the  earth  and  which  answers  hygienic  require- 
ments. Had  it  not  been  for  a  false  pride  and  equally 
false  notions  of  prestige,  Englishmen  here  would  long 
ago  have  adopted  the  Indian  costume.  I  may  mention 
incidentally  that  I  do  not  go  about  Champaran  bare 
headed.  I  do  avoid  shoes  for  sacred  reasons.  But  I  find 
too  that  it  is  more  natural  and  healthier  to  avoid  them 
whenever  possible. 

I  am  sorry  to  inform  Mr.  Irwin  and  your  readers  that 
my  esteemed  friend  Babu  Brijakishore  Prasad,  the  "  ex- 
Hon.  Member  of  Council,"  still  remains  unregenerate 
and  retains  the  provincial  cap  and  never  walks  barefoot 
and  "  kicks  up"  a  terrible  noise  even  in  the  house  we 
are  living  in  by  wearing  wooden  sandals.  He  has  still  not 
the  courage,  inspite  of  most  admirable  contact  with  me, 
to  discard  his  semi-anglicised  dress  and  whenever  he  goes 
to  see  officials  he  puts  his  legs  into  the  bifurcated 
garment  and  on  his  own  admission  tortures  himself  by 
cramping  his  feet  in  inelastic  shoes.  I  cannot  induce  him 
to  believe  that  his  clients  won't  desert  him  and  the 
courts  won't  punish  him  if  he  wore  his  more  becoming 
and  less  expensive  dhoti.  I  invite  you  and  Mr.  Irwin  not 
to  believe  the  "stories"  that  the  latter  hears  about  me 
and  my  friends,  but  to  join  me  in  the  crusade  against 
■educated  Indians  abandoning  their   manners,  habits   and 


334  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

customs  which  are  not  proved  to  be  bad  or  harmfuU 
Finally  I  venture  to  warn  you  and  Mr.  Irwin  that  you 
and  he  will  ill-serve  the  cause  both  of  you  consider  is- 
in  danger  by  reason  of  my  presence  in  Champaran  if  you- 
continue,  as  you  have  done,  to  base  your  strictures  on 
unproved  facts.  I  ask  you  to  accept  my  assurance  that 
I  should  deem  myself  unworthy  of  the  friendship  and 
confidence  of  hundreds  of  my  English  ftiends  and  associ- 
ates— not  all  of  them  fellow-cranks — if  in  similar 
circumstances  I  acted  towards  them  differently  from  my 
own  countrymen. 


THE  HINDU-MAHOMEDAN  PROBLEM. 


The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  Gujarati  letter 
addressed  by  Mr,  Gandhi,  to  a  Mahomedan  corres- 
pondent : 

I  never  realise  any  distinction  between  a  Hindu  and 
a  Mahomedan.  To  my  mind,  both  are  sons  of  Mother 
India.  I  know  that  Hindus  are  in  a  numerical  majority, 
and  that  they  are  believed  to  be  more  advanced  in  know- 
ledge and  education.  Accordingly,  they  should  be  glad 
to  give  way  so  much  the  more  to  their  Mahomedan 
brethren.  As  a  man  of  truth,  I  honestly  believe  that 
Hindus  should  yield  up  to  the  Mahomedans  what  the 
latter  desire,  and  that  they  should  rejoice  in  so  doing- 
We  can  expect  unity  only  if  such  mutual  large-hearted- 
ness  is  displayed.  When  the  Hindus  and  Mahomedans 
act  towards  each  other  as  blood-brothers,  then  alone  can 
there  be  unity,  then  only  can  we  hope  for  the  dawn  of 
India. 


GUJARAT  EDUCATIONAL  CONFERENCE 


The  following  is  the  Presidential  address  to  the 
Second  Gujarat  Educational  Conference  held  at  Broach 
in  October  20,  1917,  specially  translated  for  the  "  Indian 
Review" 

EDUCATIOV  THROUGH  THE  VERNACULARS 

The  Gujarat  Education  League  that  has  called  us 
together  has  set  before  it  three  objects  : 

(1)  To  cultivate  and  express  public  opinion  on 
matters  of  education. 

(2)  To  carry  on  sustained  agitation  on  educational 
questions. 

(3)  To  take  all  practical  steps  for  the  spread  of 
education  in   Gujarat. 

I  shall  endeavour  to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  place 
before  you  my  thoughts  on  these  objects  and  the  conclu- 
sions I  have  arrived  at. 

It  must  be  clear  enough  to  everybody  that  our  first 
business  is  to  consider  and  form  an  opinion  about  the 
.medium  of  instruction.  Without  fixing  the  medium  all 
our  other  efforts  are  likely  to  be  fruitless.  To  go  on 
educating  our  children  without  determining  the  medium 
is  like  an  attempt  to  build  without  a  foundation. 

Opinion  seems  to  be  divided  on  the  matter.  One 
party  claim  that  instruction  ought  to  be  imparted 
through  the  vernacular  (Gujarati  in  this  province,'.  The 
other  will  have  English  as  the  medium.  Both  are  guided 
by  pure  motives.  Both  are  lovers  of  their  country.  But 
good  intentions  alone  are  not  sufficient  for  reaching  a 
goal.     It  is  world-wide  experience  that  good   intentions 


336  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

X)ften  take  a  man  to  a  bad  place.  It  is,  therefore,  our 
duty  to  examine  on  their  merits  the  contentions  of  both 
the  parties  and,  if  possible,  to  arrive  at  a  final  and 
unanimous  conclusion  on  this  great  -question.  That  it  is 
gresLt  no  one  can  doubt.  We  cannot,  therefore,  give  too 
■much  consideration  to  it. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  question  which  affects  the  whole 
of  India.  But  every  Presidency  or  Province  can  come 
to  an  independent  conclusion.  It  is  in  no  way  essential 
that,  before  Gujarat  may  move,  all  the  other  parts  of 
India  should  arrive  at  a  unanimous  decision. 

We  shall,  however,  be  better  able  to  solve  our  diffi- 
culties by  glancing  at  similar  movements  in  other  pro- 
vinces. When  the  heart  of  Bengal,  at  the  time  of  the 
Partition,  was  throbbing  with  the  Swadeshi  spirit,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  impart  all  instruction  through 
Bengali.  A  National  College  was  established.  Rupees 
poured  in.  But  the  experiment  proved  barren.  It  is 
my  humble  belief  that  the  organisers  of  the  movement 
had  no  faith  in  the  experiment.  The  teachers  fared  no 
better.  The  educate.d  class  of  Bengal  seemed  to  dote 
upon  English.  It  has  been  suggested  that  it  is  the 
Bengali's  command  over  the  English  language  that  has  • 
promoted  the  growth  of  Bengali  literature.  Facts  do 
not  support  the  view.  Sir  Rabindranath  Tagore's 
wonderful  hold  on  Bengali  is  not  due  to  his  command 
of  the  English  language.  His  marvellous  Bengali  is 
dependent  upon  his  love  of  the  mother  tongue. 
"Gitanjali"  was  first  written  in  Bengali.  The  great 
poet  uses  only  Bengali  speech  in  Bengal.  The 
speech  that  he  recently  delivered  in  Calcutta  on  the 
present  situation  was  in  Bengali.  Leading  men  and 
women  of  Bengal    were  among    the  audience.     Some  of 


GUJARAT  EDUCATIONAL  CONFERENCE       337 

them  told  me  that  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  by  a  ceaseless 
flow  of  language,  he  kept  the  audience  spell-bound.  He 
has  not  derived  his  thoughts  from  English  literature. 
He  claims  that  he  has  received  them  from  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  soil.  He  has  drunk  them  from  the 
ypanishads.  The  Indian  sky  has  showered  them  upon 
him.  And  I  understand  that  the  position  of  the  other 
Bengali  writers  is  very  similar  to  the  poet's. 

When  Mahatma  Munshiramji,  majestic  as  the 
Himalayas,  delivers  his  addresses  in  charming  Hirdi 
the  audience  composed  of  men,  women  and  children 
listen  to  him  and  understand  his  message.  His  know- 
ledge of  English  he  reserves  for  his  English  friends.  He 
does  not  translate  English  thought  into  Hindi. 

It  is  said  of  the  Hon.  Pandit  Madan  Mohan 
Malaviaji,  who,  thcugh  a  hcuseholder,  has,  for  the 
sake  of  India,  dedicated  himself  entirely  to  the  country, 
that  his  English  speech  is  silvery.  His  silvery 
eloquence  compels  Viceregal  attention.  But  if  his  Eng- 
lish speech  is  silvery,  his  Hindi  speech  shines  golden 
like  the  waters  of  the  Ganges  under  the  sunbeams,  as 
they  descend  from  the  Mansarovar. 

These  three  speakers  do  not  owe  their  power  to 
their  English  knowledge,  but  to  their  love  of  the  ver- 
naculars. The  services  rendered  by  the  late  Swami 
Dayanand  to  Hindi  owe  nothing  to  the  English  langu- 
age. Nor  did  English  play  any  part  in  the  contributions 
of  Tukaram  and  Ramdas  to  Marathi  literature.  The 
English  language  can  receive  no  credit  for  the  growth 
in  Gujarati  literature  i  from  Premanard's  pen  as  of 
Shamal  Chat's  and  quite  recently  of  Dalpatram. 

The  foregoing  illustrations  seem  to  afford  sufficient 
proof  that  love  of,  and  faith  in,  the  vernaculars,  rather 
22 


338  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

tlian    a  knowledge   of   English   are   necessary  for  their 
expansion. 

We  shall  arrive  at  the   same  conclusion  when  we 
consider    how    languages    grow.     They  are  a  reflectiou 
lof    the    character   of   the   people   who  use  them.     One 
Tv'ho  knows  the   dialects   of  the  Zulus  of   South  Africa 
inows  their  manners  and  customs.     The  character  of  a 
language   depends   upon    the   qualities  and  acts   of  the 
people.     We  shold    unhesitatingly   infer  that  a   nation 
■could    not   possess    warlike,    kind  hearted  and    truthful 
people,      if      its     language     contained     no  expressions 
denoting     these    qualities.     And     we   should     fail    to 
make    that    language   assimilate    such    expressions   by 
borrowing    them    from    another   language   and   forcing 
them    into    its     dictionary,     nor    will    such     spurious 
importation    make    warriors    of   those    who   use    that 
speech,     You    cannot    get    steel    out    of   a    piece     of 
ordinary    iron,  but   you  can    make  effective  use  of  rusty 
steel,  by  ridding  it  of  its  rust.     We  have  long    laboured 
tinder  servility    and  our   vernaculars   abound  in   servile 
expressions,  The  English  language  is  probably  unrival- 
led in    its    vocabulary    of   nautical    terms.     But  if  an 
enterprising  Gujarati  presented  Gujarat  with  a  transla- 
tion of  those  terms,  he    would  add  nothing  to  the  langu- 
age and    we   should    be  none  the  wiser    for    his  effort. 
And  if  we    took  up  the    calling  of  sailors   and  provided 
■ourselves  with    shipyards  and   even  a  navy,    we  should 
automatically    have    terms   which    would    adequately 
express  our  activity  in  this   direction.    The  late  Rev.  J- 
Taylor  gave   the  same    opinion    in  his   Gujarati  Gram* 
mar.     He  says  :  "  One   sometimes  hears  people   asking 
^whether    Gujarati  may  be    considered   a    complete    or 
an    incomplete    language.     There    is    a   proverb,  '  As 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE        339 

the  king,  so  his  subjects  ;  as  the  teacher,  so  the 
papil.'  Similarly  it  can  ba  said, '  As  the  speaker,  so  the 
language. '  Shamalbhatt  and  other  poets  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  obsessed  with  an  idea  of  the  incomplete- 
ness of  Gujarati  when  they  expressed  their  different 
thoughts,  but  they  so  coined  new  expressions  and 
manipulated  the  old  that  their  thoughts  became  current 
jn  the  language. 

"  In  one  respect  all  languages  are  incomplete.  Man's 
reason  is  limited  and  language  fails  him  when  he  begins 
to  talk  of  God  and  Eternity.  Human  reason  controls 
human  speech.  It  is,  therefore,  limited,  to  the  extent 
that  reason  itself  is  limited,  and  in  that  sense  all  langu- 
ages are  incomplete.  The  ordinary  rule  regarding  ■ 
language  is  that  a  language  takes  shape  in  accordance 
with  the  thoughts  of  its  wielders.  If  they  are  sensible, 
their  language  is  full  of  sense,  and  it  becomes 
nonsense  when  foolish  people  speak  it.  There  is  an 
[English  proverb,  "  A  bad  carpenter  quarrels  with  his 
tools."  Those  who  quarrel  with  a  language  are  often 
like  the  bad  carpenter.  To  those  who  have  to  deal  with 
the  English  language  and  its  literature,  the  Gujarati 
language  may  appear  incomplete  for  the  simple  reason 
that  translation  from  English  into  Gujarati  is  difficult. 
The  fault  is  not  in  the  language  but  in  the  people  be- 
fore whom  the  translation  is  placed.  They  are  not  used 
to  new  words,  new  subjects  and  new  manipulations 
of  their  language.  The  speaker,  therefore,  is  taken 
aback.  How  shall  a  singer  sing  before  a  deaf  man?  And 
how  can  a  writer  deliver  his  soul  until  his  readers 
have  developed  a  capacity  for  weighing  the  new  with 
.the  old  and  sifting  the  good  from  the  bad. 

"Again  some  translators  seem  to  think  that  Gujarat 


340  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

they  have  imbibed  with  their  mother's  milk,  and 
they  have  learnt  English  at  school,  and  that  they, 
therefore,  have  become  mastors  of  two  languages,  anJ 
need  not  take  up  Gujarati  as  a  study.  But  attainment  of 
perfection  in  one's  mother  tongue  is  more  difficult  than 
effort  spent  in  learning  a  foreign  tongue.  An  examina- 
tion of  the  works  of  Shamalbhatt  and  other  poets  will 
reveal  endless  effort  in  every  line.  To  one  indisposed; 
to  undergo  mental  strain,  Gujarati  will  appear 
incomplete.  But  it  will  cease  to  so  appear  after  a 
proper  effort.  If  the  worker  is  lazy,  the  language  will 
fail  him.  It  will  yield  ample  results  to  an  industrious 
man.  It  will  be  found  to  be  capable  even  of  ornament- 
ation. Who  dare  be  little  Gujarati,  a  member  of  the 
Aryan  family,  a  daughter  of  Sanskrit,  a  sister  of  many 
noble  tongues  ?  May  God  bless  it  and  may  there  be  in  it 
to  the  end  of  time,  good  literature,  sound  knowledge  and 
expression  of  true  religion.  And  may  God  bless  the 
speech  and  may  we  hear  its  praise  from  the  mothera 
and  the  scholars  of  Gujarat." 

Thus  we  see  that  it  was  neither  the  imperfection  of 
Bengali  speech,  nor  impropriety  of  the  effort  that  was 
responsible  for  the  failure  of  the  movement  in  Bengal 
to  impart  instruction  through  Bengali.  We  have  con- 
sidered the  question  of  incompleteness.  Impropriety  of 
the  effort  cannot  be  inferred  from  an  examination  of  the 
movement.  It  may  be  that  the  workers  in  the  cause 
lacked  fitness  or  faith. 

In  the  north,  though  Hindi  is  being  developed,  real 
effort  to  make  it  a  medium  seems  to  have  been  confined 
only  to  the  Arya  Samajists.  The  experiment  continues 
in  the  Gurukuls. 

In  the  Presidency  of  Madras   the   movement   com- 


GUARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE        341 

menced  only  a  few  years  ago.  There  is  greater  intensity 
pf  purpose  among  the  Telugus  than  among  the  Tamils. 
English  has  acquired  such  a  hold  of  the  literary  class 
among  the  Tamils  that  they  have  not  the  energy 
-even  to  conduct  their  proceedings  in  Tamil,  The 
English  language  has  not  affected  the  Telugus  to  that 
extent.  They  therefore,  make  greater  use  of  Telugu. 
They  are  not  only  making  an  attempt  to  make  Telugu 
ihe  medium  of  instruction  ;  they  are  heading  a  move- 
ment to  repartition  India  on  a  linguistic  basis.  And 
though  the  propagation  of  this  idea  was  commenced 
^nly  recently,  the  work  is  being  handled  with  so  much 
energy  that  they  are  likely  to  see  results  within  a  short 
-time.  There  are  many  rocks  in  their  way.  But  the 
.leaders  of  the  movement  have  impressed  me  with  their 
ability  to  break  them  down. 

In  the  Deccan  the  movement  goes  ahead.  That  good 
soul  Prof.  Karve  is  the  leader  of  the  movement.  Mr. 
Naik  is  working  in  the  same  direction.  Private  institu- 
iions  are  engaged  in  the  experiment.  Prof.  Bijapurkar, 
has,  after  great  labour,  succeeded  in  reviving  his  experi- 
ment and  we  shall  see  it  in  a  i  short  t'me  crystallised 
into  a  school.  He  had^devised  a  scheme  for  preparing 
text-books.  Some  have  been  printed  and  some  are  ready 
for  print.  The  teachers  in  that  institution-  never  bet- 
rayed want  of  faith  in  their  cause.  Had  the  institution 
not  been  closed  down,  so  far  "as  Marathi  is  concerned 
the  question  of  imparting  all  instruction  through  it 
would  have  been  solved.  •♦       ,       '' 

We  learn  from  an  article  in  a  local  magazine  by  Rao 
Bahadur  Hargovindas  Kantawala  that  a  movement  for 
making  Gujarati  the  medium  of  instruction  has  alre'ady 
heea  made  in  Gujarat.  Prof.  Ga  jgar  and  the'^late  Diwan 


342  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

Bahadur  Manibhai  Jushbhai  initiated  it.  It  remains  for 
us  to  consider  whether  we  shall  water  the  seed  sown  by^ 
them.  I  feel  that  every  moment's  delay  means  so  much 
harm  done  to  us.  In  receiving  education  through  English 
at  least  sixteen  years  are  required.  Many  experienced, 
teachers  have  given  it  as  their  opinion  that  the  same 
subjects  can  be  taught  through  the  vernaculars  in  ten 
years'  time.  Thus  by  saving  six  years  of  their  lives^ 
for  thousands  of  our  children  we  might  save  thousands 
of  years  for  the  nation. 

The  strain  of  receiving  instruction  through  a 
foreign  medium  is  intolerable.  Our  children  alone  can. 
bear  it,  but  they  have  to  pay  for  it.  They  become  unfit 
for  bearing  any  other  strain.  For  this  reason  our 
graduates  are  mostly  without  stamina,  weak,  devoid  of 
energy,  diseased  and  mere  imitators.  Originality,  re- 
search, adventure,  ceaseless  effort,  courage,  dauntless- 
ness  and  such  other  qualities  have  become  atrophied. 
We  are  thus  incapacitated  for  undertaking  new  enter- 
prises, and  we  are  unable  to  carry  them  through  if 
we  undertake  any.  Some  who  can  give  proof  of  such 
qualities  die  an  untimely  death.  An  English  writer 
had  said  that  the  non-Europeans  are  the  blotting-sheets 
of  European  civilisation.  What  ever  truth  there  may 
be  in  this  cryptic  statement,  it  is  not  due  to  the  natural 
unfitness  of  the  Asiatics.  It  is  the  unfitness  of  the 
medium  of  instruction  which  is  responsible  for  the 
result.  The  Zulus  of  South  Africa  are  otherwise  inter- 
prising,  powerfully  built  and  men  of  character.  They 
a!re  not  hampered  by  child-marriages  and  such  other 
defects.  And  yet  the  position  of  their  educated  class  is 
the  same  as  ours.  With  them  the  medium  of  instruc- 
tion is  Dutch,  They  easily  obtain  command  over  Dutch; 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE      343 

as  we  do  over  English,  and  like  us  they  too  on  comple- 
tion of  their  education  loose  their  energy  and  for  the 
most  part  become  imitators.  Originality  leaves  them 
along  with  the  mother-tongue.  We  the  English- 
educated  class  are  unfit  to  ascertain  the  true  measure  of 
the  harm  done  by  the  unnatural  system. .  We  should 
get  some  idea  of  it  if  we  realised  how  little  we  have 
reacted  upon  the  masses.  The  outspoken  views  on 
education  that  our  parents  sometimes  give  vent  to  are 
thought-compelling.  We  dote  upon  our  Boses  and 
Roys.  Had  our  people  been  educated  through  their 
vernaculars  during  the  last  fifty  years,  I  am  sure  that 
the  presence  in  our  midst  of  a  Bose  or  a  Roy  would  not 
have  filled  us  with  astonishment. 

Leaving  aside  for  the  moment  the  question  of 
propriety  or  otherwise  of  the  direction  that  Japanese 
energy  has  taken,  Japanese  enterprise  must  amaze 
us.  The  national  awakening  there  has  taken  place 
through  their  national  language,  and  so  there  is  a  fresh- 
ness about  every  activity  of  theirs.  They  are  teaching 
their  teachers.  They  have  falsified  the  blotting-sheet 
smile.  Education  has  stimulated  national  life,  and  the 
world  watches  dumbstruck  Japan's  activities.  The 
harm  done  to  national  life  by  the  medium  being  a 
foreign  tongue  is  immeasurable. 

The  correspondence  that  should  exist  between  the 
school  training  and  the  character  imbibed  with  the  mo- 
ther's milk  and  the  training  received  through  her  sweet 
speech  is  absent  when  the  school  training  is  given 
through  a  foreign  tongue.  However  pure  may  be  his 
motives,  he  who  thus  snaps  the  cord  that  should  bind 
the  school-life  and  the  home-life  is  an  enemy  of  the 
nation.    We  are    traitors  to  our  mothers  by   remaining 


344  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

under  such  a  system.  The  harm  done  goes  much  further; 
A  gulf  has  bean  created  between  the  educated  classes 
and  the  uneducated  masses.  The  latter  do  not  know  us. 
We  do  not  know  the  former.  They  consider  us  to  be 
'  Saheblog.'  They  are  afraid  of  us.  They  do  not  trust 
us.  If  such  a  state  of  things  were  to  continue  for  any 
length  of  time,  a  time  may  come  for  Lord  Curzon's 
charge  to  be  true,  viz.,  that  the  literary  classes  do  not 
represent  the  masses. 

Fortunately  the  educated  class  seems  to  be  waking 
up  from  its  trance.  They  experience  the  difficulty  of 
contact  with  the  masses.  How  can  they  infect  the  masses 
with  their  own  enthusiasm  for  the  national  cause  ?  They 
cannot  do  so  through  English.  They  have  not  enough 
ability  or  none  for  doing  so  through  Gujarati.  They  find 
it  extremely  difficult  to  put  their  thoughts  into  Gujarati. 
I  often  hear  opinion  expressed  about  this  difficulty. 
Owing  to  the  barrier  thus  created  the  flow  of  national 
life  suffers  impediment. 

Macaulay's  object  in  giving  preference  to  the  Eng- 
lish language  over  the  vernaculars  was  pure.  He  had 
a  contempt  for  our  literature.  It  affected  us  and  we  for- 
got ourselves  and  just  as  a  pupil  often  outdoes  the  teacher 
so  was  the  case  with  us.  Macaulay  thought  that  we 
would  be  instrumental  in  spreading  western  civilisation 
among  the  masses.  His  plan  was  that  some  of  us  would 
learn  English,  form  our  character  and  spread  the  new 
thought  among  the  millions.  (It  is  not  necessary  here 
to  consider  the  soundness  of  this  vew.  We  are  merely 
examining  the  question  of  the  medium.)  We,  on  the 
other  hand,  discovered  in  English  education  a  medium 
for  obtaining  wealth  and  we  gave  that  use  of  it  predo- 
minance.    Some   of  us   found   in    it  a   stimulus   for  our 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE      345 

patriotism.  So  the  original  intention  went  into  the  back- 
ground, and  the  English  language  spread  beyond  the 
limit  set  by  Macaulay.     We  have  lost  thereby. 

Had  we   the  reins  of  Government  in  our    hands  we 
-would  have  soon  detected  the  error.    We  could  not  have 
abandoned  the   vernaculars.    The  governing  class  has 
not  been  able  to  do  so.     Many  perhaps  do  not  know  that 
the  language  of  our   courts  is  considered  to  be  Gujarati. 
The   Government    have   to    have     the    Acts    of    the 
legislature  translated  in  Gujarati.  The  official  addresses 
delivered  at  Darbar  gatherings  are  translated  there  and 
then.  We  see  Gujarati  and  other  vernaculars   used  side 
by  side  with  English  in  currency  notes.  The  mathemati- 
cal   knowledge   required    of  the    surveyors   is   difficult 
enfiugh.    But  Revenue  work  would  have  been  too  costly, 
had  surveyors  been  required  to  know  English.      Special 
terms    have,  therefore   been  coined   for  the  use   of  sur- 
veyors.    They  excite  pleasurable  wonder.    If  we  had  a 
■trae  love  for  our  venaculars  we  could  even  now    make  . 
use   of  some    of  the   means   at   our   disposal    for   their 
spread.     If  the  pleader   were  to   begin   to  make  use  of 
the   Gujarati   language  in   the  courts  they    would  save 
their  clients  much  money,  and  the  latter  will  gain  some 
necessary    knowledge   of   the    laws   of  'the    land,    and 
will    begin    to     appreciate   their    rights.     Interpreters' 
fees    would  be  saved,    and   legal  terms    would    become 
current   in    the   language.     It    is  true  the  pleaders  will 
have  to   make  some  effort  for  the   attainment   of   this 
happy  result.     I  am  sure,  nay,  I  speak  from  experience, 
that    their  clients  will  lose  nothing   thereby.     There  is 
no  occasion  to  fear  that  arguments  advanced  in  Gujarati 
will  have  less  weight.     Collectors  and  other  officials  are 
expected  to   know  Gujarati.     But  by   our   superstitious 


346  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

regard  for  English  we  allow  their  knowledge  to  become- 
rusty. 

It  has  been  argued  that  the  use  we  made  of  English 
for  attainment  of  wealth,  and  for  stimulating  patriotism 
was  quite  proper.  The  agument  however,  has  no 
bearing  on  the  question  before  us.  We  shall  bow  to- 
those  who  learn  English  for  the  sake  of  gaining  wealth 
or  for  serving  the  country  otherwise.  But  we  would' 
surely  not  make  English  the  medium  on  that  account. 
My  only  object  in  referring  to  such  a  use  of  the  English^ 
language  was  to  show  that  it  continued  its  abuse  as  a 
medium  of  instruction  and  thus  produced  an  untoward' 
result.  Some  contend  that  only  English-knowing; 
Indians  have  been  fired  with  the  patriotic  spirit.  The 
past  few  months  have  shown  us  something  quite^ 
different.  But  even  if  we  were  to  admit  that  claim  on 
behalf  of  English,  we  could  say  that  the  others  never 
had  an  opportunity.  Patriotism  of  the  English-educated' 
class  has  not  proved  infectious,  whereas  a  truly  patriotic 
spirit  ought  to  be  t?,ll-pervading. 

It  has  been  stated  that  the  foregoing  arguments,  no 
matter  how  strong  they  may  be  in  themselves,  are  im- 
practicable. "  It  is  a  matter  for  sorrow  that  other 
branches  of  learning  should  suffer  for  the  sake  of 
English.  It  is  certainly  undesirable  that  we  should 
suffer  an  undue  mental  strain  in  the  act  of  gaining  com- 
mand over  the  English  language.  It  is,  however,  my 
humble  opinion  that  there  is  no  escape  for  us  from  hav- 
ing to  bear  this  hardship,  regard  being  had  to  the  fact  of 
our  relationship  with  the  English  language,  and  to  find; 
out  a  way.  These  are  not  the  views  of  an  ordinary 
writer.  They  are  owned  by  one  who  occupies  a  front 
rank  among  the  Gujarati  men  of  letters.     He  is  a  lover 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE        347 

of  Gujarati.  We  are  bound  to  pay  heed  to  whatever 
Prof.  Dhruva  writes.  Few  of  us  have  the  experience 
he  has.  He  has  rendered  great  service  to  the  cause  of 
Gujarati  literature  and  education.  He  has  a  perfect 
right  to  advise  and  to  criticise.  In  the  circumstances  one 
like  me  has  to  pause.  Again  the  views  above  express- 
ed are  shared  with  Prof.  Dhruva  by  several  prota- 
gonists of  the  English  language.  Prof.  Dhruva  has 
stated  them  in  dignified  language.  And  it  is  our  duty 
to  treat  them  with  respect.  My  own  position  is  still 
more  delicate.  I  have  been  trying  an  experiment  in 
national  education  under  his  advice  and  gnidance.  In 
that  institution  Gujarati  is  the  medium  of  instruction. 
Enjoying  such  an  mtimate  relation  with  Prof.  Dhruva  I 
hesitate  to  offer  anything  by  way  of  criticism  of  his 
views.  Fortunately,  Prof.  Dhruva  regards  both 
systems,  the  one  wherein  English  is  the  medium  and 
the  other  in  which  the  mother  tongue  is  the  medium,  in 
the  nature  of  experiment  ;  he  has  expressed  no  final 
opinion  on  either.  My  hesitation  about  criticising  his 
views  is  lessened  on  that  account.  It  seems  to  me  that 
we  lay  too  much  stress  on  our  peculiar  relationship 
with  the  English  language.  I  knoVv  that  I  may  not 
with  perfect  freedom  deal  with  this  subject  from  this 
platform.  But  it  is  not  improper  even  for  those  who 
cannot  handle  political  subjects  to  consider  the  follow- 
ing proposition.  The  English  connection  subsists  solely 
for  the  benefit  of  India,  On  no  other  basis  can  it  be 
defended.  English  statesmen  thdmselves  have  admit- 
ted that  the  idea  that  one  nation  should  rule  another 
is  intolerable,  undesirable  and  harmful  for  both.  This 
proposition  is  accepted  as  a  maxim  beyond  challenge  in 
quarters   where  it  is   considered     from    an    altruistic 


348  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

Standpoint.  If  then  both  the  rulers  and  the  nation  are 
satisfied  that  the  mental  calibre  of  the  nation  suffers  by 
reason  of  English  being  the  medium,  the  system  ought 
to  be  altered  without  a  moment's  delay.  It  would  be  a 
demonstration  of  our  manliness  to  remove  obstacles 
however  great  in  our  path,  and  if  this  view  be  accepted, 
those  like  Prof.  Dhruva  who  admit  the  harm  done  to 
our  mental  calibre  do  not  stand  in  need  of  any  other 
argument. 

I  do  riot  consider  it  necessary  to  give  any  thought 
-to  the  possibility  of  our  knowledge  of  English  suffering 
by  reason  of  t  he  Vernacular  occupying  its  place.  It  is 
my  humble  belief  that  not  only  is  it  unnecessary  for  all 
■educated  Indians  to  acquire  command  over  English,  but 
that  it  is  equally  unnecessary  to  induce  a  taste  for 
acquiring  such  command. 

Some  Indians  will  undoubtedly  have  to  learn 
English.  Prof.  Dhruva  has  examined  the  question 
with  a  lofty  purpose  only.  But  examining  from  all 
points  we  would  find  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  two 
classes  to  know  English  : — 

d)  Those  patriots  who  have  a  capacity  for  lear- 
ning languages,  who  have  time  at  their  disposal  and 
who  are  desirous  of  exploring  the  English  literature 
and  placing  the  results  before  the  nation,  or  those  who 
wish  to  make  use  of  the  English  language  for  the  sake 
of  coming  in  touch  with  the  rulers. 

(2)  Those  who  wish  to  make  use  of  their  know- 
ledge of  English  for  the  sake  of  acquiring  wealth. 

There  is  not  only  no  harm  in  treating  English  as  an 
joptional  subject,  and  giving  these  two  classes  of  candi- 
dates the  best  training  in  it,  but  it  is  even  necessary  to 
secure  for  them  every  convenience.    In  such   a  scheme 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE       349 

the  mother-tongue  will  still  remain  the  medium.  Prof. 
Dhruva  fears  that  if  we  do  not  receive  all  instruction 
through  English,  but  leafn  it  as  a  foreign  language,  it 
will  share  the  fate  of  Persian,  Sanskrit  and  other  lan- 
guages. With  due  respect  I  must  say  that  there  is  a 
hiatus  in  this  reasoni!^.  Many  Englishmen,  although 
they  receive  their  training  through  English  possess  a 
high  knowledge  of  French  and  are 'able  to  use  it  fully  for 
all  their  purposes.  There  are  men  in  India  who  although 
they  have  received  their  training  through  English  have 
acquired  no  mean  command  over  French  and  other  lan- 
guages. The  fact  is  that  when  English  occupies  its  pro- 
per place  and  the  vernaculars  receive  their  due,  our 
minds  which  are  to-day  imprisoned  will  be  set  free  and 
our  brains  though  cultivated  and  trained,  and  yet  being 
fresh  will  not  feel  the  weight  of  having  to  learn  English 
as  a  language.  And,  it  is  my  belief  that  English  thu& 
learnt  will  be  better  than  our  English  of  to  day.  And 
our  intellects  being  active,  we  should  make  more  effec- 
tive use  of  our  English  knowledge.  Weighing  the  pros 
and  cons,  therefore,  this  seems  to  be  the  way  that  will 
satisfy  many  ends. 

When  we  receive  our  education  through  tjie  mother-- 
tongue,  we  should  observe  a  different  atmosphere  in  our 
homes.     At  present  we  are  unable  to    make  our    wives 
co-partners  with  us.    They  know  little  of  our   activity.- 
Our  parents  do  not  know  what  we  learn.    If  we  receive 
instruction  through  the  mother-tongue  we  should  easily 
make  our  washermen,  our  barbers,  and  our  bhangis,  par- 
takers of  the  high  knowledge  we  might   have  gained.  In 
England  one  discusses  high  politics  with  barbers  while- 
having  a  shave.     We  are  unable   to  do  so  even    in  our 
family  circle,  not  because  the  members  of  the  family  or 


350  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

the  barbers  are  ignorant  people.  Their  intellect  is  as 
well-trained  as  that  of  the  English  barber.  We  are  able 
to  discuss  intelligently  withtljem  the  events  of  "  Maha- 
bharata,"  "  Ramayana"  and  of  our  holy  places.  For 
the  national  training  flows  in  that  direction.  But  we 
are  unable  to  take  home  what  we  receive  in  our  schools. 
We  cannot  reproduce  before  the  family  circle  what  we 
have  learnt  through  the  English  language. 

At   the    present   moment   the   proceedings   of  our 
"Legislative  Councils  are  conducted  in  English.  In  many 
other  institutions  the  same  state  of  things  prevails.  We 
are,  therefore,   in  the   position    of  a   miser   who   buries 
underground  all  his  riches.  We  fare  no  better  in  our  law 
courts.    Judges   often  address  words   of  wisdom      The 
court  going  public  is   always    eager   to  hear  what  the 
Judges    have   to   say     But   they   know  no  more  than 
the  dry  decisions  of  the    Judges.    They   do   not   even 
:understand  their  counsels'  addresses.    Doctors  receiving 
diplomas  in  Medical    Colleges  treat   their   patients   no 
better.     They  are  unable  to  give  necessary   instructions 
to  their'patients.  They  often  do  not  know  the  vernacular 
names  of  the  dififerent  members  of  the  body.    Their  con- 
nection, therefore,  with  their  patients,  as  a  rule,  does  not 
travel  beyond  the  writing  of  prescriptions.  It  is  brought 
up  as  a  charge  against  us  that  through  our  thoughtless- 
ness we  allow  the  water  that  flows  from  the   mountain- 
tops  during  the  rainy  season  to  goto  waste,  and  similar- 
ly treat  valuable   manure    worth  lakhs   of  rupees   and 
get   disease     in    the    bargfain.     In    the    same   manner 
being   crushed   under    the   weight   of  having  to   learn 
English  and    through   want  of   far-sightedness    we   are 
unable  to    give  to   the   nation   what  it   should   receive 
At    our    hands,     There    is     no     exaggeration    in    this 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL  CONFERENCE      351 

•Statement.  It  is  an  expression  of  the  feelings  that  are 
Taging  within  me.  We  shall  have  to  pay  dearly  for  our 
continuous  disregard  of  the  mother-tongue.  The  nation 
has  suffered  much  by  reason  of  it.  It  is  the  first  duty 
of  the  learned  class  now  to  deliver  the  nation  from  the 
:agony. 

There  can  be  no  limit  to  the  scope  of  a  language  in 

which  Narasingh  Mehta  sang.     Nandshanker  wrote  his 

Karangkelo,  which  has  produced  a  race   of  writers  like 

Navalram,    Narmadashanker,   Manilal,    Malabari  and 

others  ;  in  which  the  late  Raychandkavi  carried  on  his 

soul-lifting  discourses,  which  the  Hindus,   Mahomedans 

.and  Parsis  claim  to  speak  and  can  serve   if  they  will  ; 

which  has  produced  a  race  of  holy  sages  ;   which  owns 

.among  its  votaries  millionaires  ;  which  has  been  spoken 

by  sailors  who  have    ventured  abroad  ;  and   in    which 

the  Barda  hills  still  bear  witness  to  the  valouroas  deeds 

of  Mulu  Manek  and  Jodha  Manek.  What    else    can  the 

•Gujaratis    achieve    if    they    decline   to   receive   their 

training  through   that   language  ?    It  grieves  one  even 

to  have  to    consider  the  question. 

In  closing  this  subject  I  would  invite  your  attention 
to  the  pamphlets  published  by  Dr.  Pranjiwandas  Mehta, 
of  which  a  Gujarati  translation  is  now  out.  I  ask  you  to 
read  them.  You  will  find  therein  a  collection  of  opinions 
in  support  of  the  views  herein  expressed. 

If  it  is  deemed  advisable  to  make  the  mother-tongue 
the  media  of  instruction,  \t  is  necessary  to  examine  the 
steps  to  be  taken  for  achieving  the  end.  I  propose  to  re- 
<:ount  them,  without  going  into  the  argument  in  sup- 
port : — 

(1)  The  English-knowing  Gujaratis  should  never,  in 
their  mutual  intercourse,  make  use  of  English. 


352  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

(2)  Those  who  are  competent  both  in  English  and 
Gujarati,  should  translate  useful  English  works  into 
Gujarati. 

(3)  Education  Leagues  should  have  text-books  pre- 
pared. 

(4)  Moneyed  men  should  establish  schools  in 
various  places  in  which  Gujarati  should  be  the  medium. 

(5)  Alongside  of  the  foregoing  activity,  conferences 
and  leagues  should  petition  the  Government  and  pray 
that  the  medium  should  be  Gujarati  in  Government 
schools,  that  proceedings  in  the  Law  Courts  and  Coun- 
cils and  all  public  activities  should  be  in  Gujarati,  that 
public  services  should  be  open  to  all,  without  invidious 
distinctions  in  favour  of  those  who  know  English,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  qualifications  of  applicants  for 
the  post  for  which  they  may  apply,  and  that  schools 
should  Be  established  where  aspirants  for  public  oflSces 
may  receive  training  through  Gujarati. 

There  is  a  difficulty  about  the  foregoing  sugges- 
tions. In  the  councils  there  are  members  who  speak 
in  Marathi,  Sindhi,  Gujarati  and  even  Kanarese.  This- 
is  a  serious  difficulty,  but  not  insurmountable.  The 
Telugus  have  already  commenced  a  discussion  of  the 
question,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  re- distribution 
of  provinces  will  have  to  take  place  on  a  linguistic 
basis.  Till  then  every  member  should  have  the  right 
to  address  his  remarks  in  Hindi  or  in  his  own  ver- 
nacular. If  this  suggestion  appears  laughable,  I  would 
state  in  all  humility  that  many  suggestions  have  at  first 
sight  so  appeared.  As  I  hold  the  view  that  our  progress 
depends  upon  a  correct  determination  of  the  medium  of 
instruction,  my  suggestion  appears  to  me  to  have 
much  substance  in  it.    If  my   suggestion  were   adopted 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE        353 

the  vernaculars  will  gain  in  influence,  and  when  they 
acquire  State  recognition,  they  are  likely  to  sht^  merits 
beyond  our  imagination.         ♦  •         ♦ 

THE    NATIONAL    LANGUAGE    FOR   INDIA 

It  behoves  us  to  devote  attention  to  a  consideration 
of  a  national  language,  as  we  have  done  to  that  of  the 
medium  of  instruction.  If  English  is  to  become  a 
national  language,  at  cught  to  be  treated  as  a  compulsory 
subject.  Can  English  become  the  national  language  ? 
Some  learned  patriots  contend  that  even  to  raise  the 
question  betrays  ignorance.  In  their  opinion  English 
already  occupies  that  place.  His  pxcellency  the  Viceroy 
in  his  recent  utterance  has  merely  expressed  a  hope  that 
English  will  occupy  that  place.  His  enthusiasm  does  not 
take  him  as  far  as  that  of  the  former.  He  Excellency 
believes  that  English  will  day  after  day  command  a  lar- 
ger place,  will  permeate  the  family  circle,  and  at  last  rise 
to  the  status  of  a  national  language.  A  superficial  con- 
sideration will  support  the  viceregal  contention.  The 
condition  of  our  educated  classes  gives  one  the  impres- 
sion that  all  our  activities  would  come  to  a  stand  still  if 
we  stop  the  use  of  English.  Ard  yet  deeper  thought 
will  show  that  English  can  never  and  ought  not  to  be- 
come the  national  language  of  India.  What  is  the  test 
of  a  national  language  ? 

(1)  For  the  official  class  it  should  be  ^sy  to  learn, 

(2)  The  religious,  CO  mmercial  ard  political  acti- 
vity throughout  India  should  be  possible  in  that 
language, 

(3)  It  should  be  the  speech  of  the  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  India. 

(4)  For  the  whole  of  the  country  it  should  be 
easy  to  learn. 

38 


354  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

(5)  In  considering  the  question,  weight  ought  not 
to  be  put  upon  momentary  or  shortlived  conditions. 

The  English  language  does  not  fulfil  any  of  the 
-conditions  above  named.  The  first  ought  to  have  been 
the  last,  but  I  have  purposely  given  it  the  first  place, 
because  that  condition  alone  gives  the  appearance  of 
being  applicable  to  the  English  language.  But  upon 
further  consideration  we  should  find  that  for  the  officials 
even  at  the  present  moment  it  is  not  an  easy  language  to 
learn.  In  our  scheme  of  administration,  it  is  assumed 
that  the  number  of  English  officials  will  progressively 
decrease,  so  that  in  tUe  end  only  the  Viceroy  and  others 
-whom  one  may  count  on  one's  finger-tips  will  be  English. 
The  majority  are  of  Indian  nationality  to-day,  and  their 
number  must  increase. 

And  everyone  will  admit  that  for  them  English  is 
more  difficult  to  be  learnt  than  any  Indian  language. 
Upon  an  examination  of  the  second  condition,  we  find 
that  until  the  public  at  large  can  speak  English,  religious 
activity  through  that  tongue  is  an  impossibility.  And 
a  spread  of  English  to  that  extent  among  the  masses 
seems  also  impossible. 

English  cannot  satisfy  the  third  condition  because 
the  majority  in  India  do  not  speak  it. 

The  fourth,  too,  cannot  be  satisfied  by  English 
because  it  is  not  an  easy  language  to  learn  for  the  whole 
of  India. 

Considering  the  last  condition  we  observe  that  the 
position  that  English  occupies  to-day  is  momentary. 
The  permanent  condition  is  that  there  will  be  little 
necessity  for  English  in  the  national  affairs.  It  will  cer- 
tainly be  required  for  imperial  affairs.  That,  therefore, 
it  will  be  an  imperial  language,  the  language   of   diplo- 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL    CONFERENCE      353 

•macy,  is  a  different  question.  On  that  purpose  its  know- 
ledge is  a  necessity.  We  are  not  jealous  of  English.  All 
that  is  contended  for  is  that  it  ought  not  to  be  allowed 
to  go  beyond  its  proper  sphere.  And  as  it  will  be  the 
imperial  language,  we  shall  compel  our  Malaviyajis, 
our  Shastriars  and  our  Banerjeas  to  learn  it.  And  we 
shall  feel  assured  that  they  will  advertise  the  greatness 
of  India  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  But  English  can- 
not become  the  national  language  of  India.  To  give  it 
that  place  is  like  an  attempt  to  introduce  Esperanto.  In 
my  opinion  it  is  unmanly  even  to  think  that  English 
can  become  our  national  langu  age.  The  attempt  to  in- 
troduce Esperanto  merely  betrays  ignorance  Then 
which  is  the  language  that  satisfies  all  the  five  condi- 
tions V  We  shall  be  obliged  to  admit  that  Hindi  satisfies 
all  those  conditions. 

I  call  that  language  Hindi  which  Hindus  and 
Mahomedans  in  the  North  speak  and  write,  either  in  the 
Devanagari  or  the  Urdu  character.  Exception  has  beep 
taken  to  his  definition.  It  seems  to  be  argued  that 
Hindi  and  Urdu  are  different  languages.  This  is  not  a 
valid  argument.  In  the  Northern  parts  of  India 
Musalmans  and  Hindus  speak  the  same  language.  The 
literate  classes  have  created  a  division.  The  learned 
Hindus  have  Sanskritised  Hindi.  The  Musalmans, 
therefore,  cannot  understand  it.  The  Moslems  of 
Lucknow  have  Persianised  their  speech  and  made  it 
unintelligible  to  the  Hindus.  These  represent  two 
excesses  of  the  same  language.  They  find  no  common 
piece  in  the  speech  of  the  massess.  I  have  lived  in 
the  North.  I  have  freely  mixed  with  Hindus  and 
Mahomedans,  and  although  I  have  .but  a  poor  know- 
ledge of  Hindi,  I    have   never    found  any   difficulty   in 


356  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

holding  communion  with  them.  Call  the  language  of 
the  North  what  yon  will,  Urdu  or  Kiudi,  it  is  the 
same.  If  you  write  it  in  the  Urdu  character  you  may 
know  it  as  Urdu.  Write  the  same  thing  in  the  Nagiri 
character  and  it  is  Hindi. 

There,  therefore,  remains  a  difference  about  the 
script.  For  the  time  being  Mahomedan  children  will 
certainly  write  in  the  Urdu  character  and  Hindus  will 
mostly  write  in  the  Devangari.  I  say  mostly,  because 
thousands  of  Hindus  use  the  Urdu  character  and  some 
do  not  even  know  the  Nagari  character.  But  when 
Hindus  and  Mahomedans  come  to  regard  one  another 
without  suspicion,  when  the  causes  begetting  suspicion 
are  removed,  that  script  which  has  greater  vitality  wilt 
be  more  universally  used  and,  therefore,  become  the 
national  script.  Meanwhile  those  Hindus  and  Maho- 
medans who  desire  to  write  their  petitions  in  the  Urdu 
character  should  be  free  to  do  so,  and  should  have  the- 
right  of  having  them  accepted  at  the  seat  of  National 
Government. 

There  is  not  another  language  capable  of  competing 
with  Hindi  in  satisfying  the  five  conditions.  BengaH 
comes  next  to  Hindi.  But  the  Bengalis  themselves- 
make  use  of  Hindi  outside  Bengal.  No  one  wonders 
to  see  a  Hindi-speaking  man  making  use  of  Hindi,  no 
matter  where  he  goes.  Hindu  preachers  and  Maho- 
medan Moulvis  deliver  their  religious  discourses 
throughout  India  in  Hindi  and  Urdu  and  even  the 
illiterate  masses  follow  them.  Even  the  unlettered 
Gujafrati  going  to  the  North  attempts  to  use  a  few 
Hindi  words,  whereas  a  gatekeeper  from  the  North  dec- 
lines to  speak  in  Gujarati  even  to  his  employer,  who 
has  on  that  account  to  speak  to  him    in    broken    Hindi.- 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL     CONFERENCE      357 

T  have  heard  Hindi  spoken  even  in  the  Dravid  country. 
It  is  not  true  to  say  that  in  Madras  one  can  go  on  with 
English.  Even  there  I  have  employed  Hindi  with 
effect.  In  the  trains  I  have  heard  Madras  passengers 
undoubtedly  use  Hindi.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
Mahomedans  throughout  India  speak  Urdu  and  they 
are  to  be  found  in  large  numbers  in  every  Province. 
Thus  Hindi  is  destined  to  be  the  national  language. 
We  have  made  use  of  it  as  such  in  times  gone  by. 
The  rise  of  Urdu  itself  is  dbe  to  that  fact.  The 
Mahomedan  kings  were  unable  to  make  Persian  or 
Arabic  the  national  language.  They  accepted  the  Hindi 
Grammer,  but  employed  the  Urdu  character  and  Persian 
words  in  their  speeches.  They  could  not,  however, 
carry  on  their  intercourse  with  the  masses  through  a 
foreign  tongue.  All  this  is  not  unknown  to  the  English. 
Those  who  know  anything  of  the  sepoys  know  that  for 
them  military  terms  have  had  to  be  prepared  in  Hindi 
or  Urdu. 

Thus  we  see  that  Hindi  alone  can  become  the 
national  language.  It  presents  some  diflSculty  in  the 
case  of  the  learned  classes  in  Madras,  For  men  from 
the  Deccan,  Gujarat,  Sind  and  Bengal  it  is  easy  enough. 
In  a  few  months  they  can  acquire  sufficient  command 
over  Hindi  to  enable  them  to  carry  on  national  inter- 
course in  that  tongue.  It  is  not  so  for  the  Tamils.  The 
Dravidian  languages  are  distinct  from  .their  Sanskrit 
sister  in  structure  and  grammar.  The  only  thing  com- 
mon to  the  two  groups  is  their  Sanskrit  vocabulary  to 
an  extent.  But  the  difficulty  is  con  fined  to  the  learned 
class  alone.  We  have  a  rig  ht  to  appeal  to  their  pat- 
riotic spirit  and  expect  them  to  put  forth  sufficient  effort 
jn  order  to  learn  Hindi.     For  in  future  when  Hindi  has 


358  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

received  State  recognition,  it  will  be"  introduced  as  a 
compulsory  language  in  Madras  as  in  other  Provinces, 
aad  intercourse  between  Madras  and  them  will  then  in- 
crease. English  has  not  permeated  the  Dravidian  masses. 
Hindi,  however,  will  take  no  time.  The  Telugus 
are  making  an  effort  in  that  direction  even  now.  If 
this  Conference  can  come  to  an  unanimous  conclusion 
as  to  a  national  language,  it  will  be  necessary  to  devise 
means  to  attain  that  end.  Those  which  have  been 
.suggested  in  connection  with  media  of  instruction  are 
with  necessary  changes  applicable  to  this  question. 
The  activity  in  making  Gujarati  the  medium  of  instruc- 
tion will  be  confined  to  Guzarat  alone,  but  the  whole  of 
India  can  take  part  in  the  movement  regarding  the- 
national  language.         *         *         * 

DEFECTS  IN  OUR  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM. 

We  have  considered  the  qHestion  of  the  media  of 
instruction,  of  the  national  language,  and  of  the  place 
that  English  should  occupy.  We  have  now  to  consider 
whether  there  are  any  defects  in  the  scheme  of  edu- 
cation imparted  in  our  schools  and  colleges. 

There  is  no  difference  of  opinion  in  this  matter.  The 
Government  and  public  opinion  alike  have  condemned 
the  present  system,  but  there  are  wide  differences  as  to 
what  should  be  omitted  and  what  should  be  adopted.  I 
am  not  equipped  for  an  examination  of  these  differences, 
but  I  shall  have  the  temerity  to  submit  to  this  confer- 
ence my  thoughts  on  the  modern  system  of  education. 

Education  cannot  be  said  to  fall  within  my  pro- 
vince. I  have,  therefore,  some  hesitation  in  dwelling 
upon  it.  I  am  myself  ever  prepared  to  put  down  and 
be  impatient  of  those  men  and  women  who  travelling 
outside  their  provinces  discourse  upon  those    for  which 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL    CONFERENCE        359' 

they  are  not  fitted.  It  is  but  meet  that  a  lawyer  should 
resent  the  attempt  of  a  physician  to  discourse  upon  law. 
Nor  has  a  man  who  has  no  experience  of  educational 
matters  any  right  to  offer  criticism- thereon.  It  is,, 
therefore,  necessary  for  me  to  briefly  mention  my 
qualifications. 

I  began  to  think  about  the  modern  system  of  edu- 
cation 25  years  ago.  The  training  of  my  children  and 
those  of  my  brothers  and  sisters  came  into  my  hands. 
Realising  the  defects  of  the  system  obtaining  in  our 
schools,  I  began  experiments  on  my  own  children.  I  even 
moved  them  myself.  My  discontent  remained  the  same 
even  when  I  went  to  South  Africa.  Circumstances  com- 
pelled me  to  think  still  more  deeply.  For  a  long  time 
I  had  the  management  of  the  Indian  Educational  Associa- 
tion of  Natal  in  my  hands.  My  boys  have  not  received 
a  public  school  training.  My  eldest  son  witnessed 
the  vicissitudes  that  I'have  passed  through.  Having 
despaired  of  me,  he  joined  the  educational  institutions 
in  Ahmedabad.  It  has  not  appeared  to  me  that  he  has 
gained  much  thereby.  It  is  my  belief  that  those  whom 
I  have  kept  away  from  public  schools  have  lost  nothing, 
but  have  received  good  training.  I  have  noticed  defects 
in  that  training.  They  were  inevitable.  The  boys 
began  to  be  brought  up  in  the  initial  stages  of  my 
experiments,  and  whilst  the  different  links  belong 
to  the  same  chain  that  was  hammered  into  shape 
from  time  to  time,  the  boys  had  to  pass  through  these 
different  stages.  At  the  time  of  the  Passive  Resistance 
struggle,  over  fifty  boys  were  being  educated  under  me. 
The  constitution  of  the  school  was  largely  shaped  by 
ms.  It  was  unconnected  with  any  other  institution  or 
with  the    Government    standard.     I   am    conducting  a 


360  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES. 

similar  experiment  here.  A  national  institution  has 
been  in  existence  for  the  last  five  months  and  has 
received  the  blessings  of  Prof.  Dhruva  and  other  learn- 
ed men  of  Gujarat.  The  ex-Professor  Shah  of  the 
Gujarat  College  is  its  Principal.  He  has  been  trained 
Under  Prof.  Gajjar.  He  has  as  his  co-workers  other 
lovers  of  Gujarati.  I  am  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
schema  of  this  institution.  But  all  the  teachers  con- 
nected with  it  have  approved  of  it  and  they  have 
dedicated  their  lives  to  the  work,  receiving  only  mainte- 
nance money.  Owing  to  circumstances  beyond  ray 
control,  I  am  unable  personally  to  take  part  in  the 
tuition,  but  my  heart  is  ever  in  it.  My  experiment  there- 
fore, though  it  is  all  that  of  an  amateur,  is  not  devoid 
of  thought  and  I  ask  you  to  bear  it  in  mind  while  yon 
consider  my  criticism  of  modern  education. 

I  have  always  felt  that  the  scheme  of  education  in 
India  has  taken  no  account  of  the  family  system.  It  was 
perhaps  natural  that,  in  framing  it,  our  wants  were,  not 
thought  of.  Macaulay  treated  our  literaturewith  con- 
tempt and  considered  us  a  superstitious  people.  The 
framsrs  of  the  educational  policy  were  mostly  ignorant  of 
our  religion,  some  even  deemed  it  to  be  irreligion.  The 
scriptures  were  believed  to  be  a  bundle  of  superstitions, 
our  civilisation  was  considered  to  be  fall  of  defects.  We 
being  a  fallen  natio  i,  it  was  assumed  that  our  organis- 
ation must  be  peculiarly  defuctive  and  so  not  withstand- 
ing pure  intentions  a  faulty  structure  was  raised.  For 
building  a  n3W  sciians  the  'framers  naturally  took  count 
of  the  nearest  conditions.  The  Governors  would  want 
the  h3lp  of  the  lawyers,  p  hysfcians, clerks.  We  would 
want  the  new  knowledge.  These  ideas  controlled  the 
scheme.     Text  books  were,  therefore,  prepared    in  utter 


GUJARAT   EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE         361 

disregard  of  our  social  system,  and  according  to  an 
English  proverb,  the  cart  was  put  before  the  horse. 
Malabari  has  stated  that  if  we  want  to  teach  our 
<:hildren  History  and  Geography  we  must  first  give 
them  a  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  home.  I  re- 
member that  it  was  my  lot  to  have  to  memorise  the 
English  counties.  And  a  subject  which  is  deeply  inte- 
resting was  rendered  dry  as  dust  for  me.  In  history 
there  was  nothing  to  enthral  my  attention.  It  ought  to 
be  a  means  to  fire  the  patriotic  spirit  of  young  lads.  I 
•found  no  cause  for  patriotism  in  learning  history  iu  our 
schools.     I  had  to  imbibe  it  from  other  books. 

In  the  teaching  of  Arithmetic  and  kindred  subjects, 
indigenous  methods  have  received  little  or  no  attention; 
They  have  been  almost  abandoned  and  we  have  lost 
the  cunning  of  our  forefathers  which  they  possessed  in 
mental  arithmetic. 

The  teaching  of  Science  is  dry.  Pupils  can  make 
no  practical  use  of  it.  Astronomy  which  can  be  taught 
by  observing  the  sky  is  given  to  the  pupils  from  text- 
books. I  have  not  known  a  scholar  being  able  to  analyse 
a  drop  of  water,  after  leaving  school. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  teaching  of 
Hygiene  is  a  farce.  We  do  not  know  at  the  end  of  60 
years'  training  how  to  save  ourselves  from  plague  and 
Buch  other  diseases.  It  is  in  our  opinion  the  greatest  re- 
flection upon  our  educational  system  that  our  doctors 
have  not  been  able  to  rid  the  country  of  these  diseases. 
I  have  visited  hundreds  of  homes  but  have  hardly  seen 
a  house  in  which  rules  of  hygiene  were  observed.  I 
doubt  very  much  if  our  graduates  know  how  to  treat 
snake-bites,  etc.  Had  our  doctors  been  able  to  receive 
their  training  in  medicine  in  their  childhood,  they  would 


362  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES. 

not  occupy  the  pitiable  position  that  they  do.  This  isr 
a  terrible  result  of  our  educational  system.  All  the 
other  parts  of  the  world  have  been  able  to  banish 
plague  from  their  midst.  Here  it  has  found  a  home  and 
thousands  die  before  their  time,  and  if  it  be  pleaded 
that  poverty  is  the  cause,  the  Department  of  Education 
has  to  answer  why  there  should  be  any  poverty  after 
50  years  of  education. 

We  might  now  consider  the  subjects  which  are  al- 
together neglected.  Character  should  be  the  thief  aim 
of  education.  It  passes  my  comprehension  how  it  can  be 
built  without  religion.  We  shall  soon  find  out  that  we 
are  neither  here  nor  there.  It  is  not  possible  for  me  to 
dilate  on  this  delicate  subject.  I  have  met  hundreds  of 
teachers.  They  have  related  their  experiences  with  a 
sigh.  This  Conference  has  to  give  deep  thought  to  it. 
If  the  scholars  lost  their  characters  they  could  have 
lost  everything. 

In  this  country  85  to  90  per  cent,  of  the  population 
is  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits.  We  can,  therefore 
never  know  too  much  of  agriculture.  But  there  is  na 
place  for  agricultural  training  even  in  our  High  Schools.- 
A  catastrophe  like  this  is  possible  only  in  India,  The 
art  of  hand-weaving  is  fast  dying.  It  was  the  agricul- 
turist's occupation  during  his  leisure.  There  is  no  provi- 
sion for  the  teaching  of  that  art  in  our  syllabus.  Our 
education  simply  produces  a  political  class,  and  even  a 
goldsmith,  blacksmith  or  a  shoemaker  who  is  entrapped 
in  our  schools  is  turned  out  a  political.  We  should  surely 
desire  that  all  should  receive  what  is  good  education. 
But  if  all  at  the  end  of  their  education  in  our  schools 
and  colleges  become  politicals  ? — 

There  is  no  provision  for  military   training.     It   is- 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE       363 

no  matter  of  great  grief  to  me.  I  have  considered  it  a 
boon  received  by  chance,  but'  the  nation  wants^to  know 
the  use  of  arms.  And  those  who  want  to,  should  have 
the  opportunity.  The  matter,  however,  seems  to  have 
been    clean  forgotton. 

Music  has  found  no  place.  We  have  lost  all  notion 
of  what  a  tremendous  effect  it  has  on  men.  Had  we 
known  it,  we  would  have  strained  every  nerve  to  make 
our  children  learn  the  art.  The  Vedjc  chant  seems  to  re- 
cognise its  effect.  Sweet  music  calms  the  fever  of  the 
soul.  Often  we  notice  disturbances  ib  largely  attended 
meetings.  The  sound  of  some  national  rhyme  rising  in 
tune  from  a  thousand  breasts  can  easily  still  such  distur- 
bances. It  is  no  insignificant  matter  to  have  our  children 
singing  with  one  voice  soul-stirring,  vitalising  national 
songs.  That  sailors  and  other  labouring  classes  go 
through  their  heavy  task  to  the  tune  of  some  rhythmic 
expression  is  an  instance  of  the  power  of  music.  I  have 
known  English  friends  forgetting  their  cold  by  rolling 
out  some  of  their  favourite  tunes.  The  singing  of 
dramatic  songs,  anyhow,  without  reference  to  timeliness 
and  thumping  on  harmoniums  and  concertinas  harm  our 
children.  If  they  were  to  receive  methodical  musical 
training,  they  would  not  waste  their  time  singing  so 
called  songs  out  of  tune.  Bbys  will  abhor  questionable 
songs  even  as  a  good  musician  will  never  sing  out  of 
tune  and  out  of  season.  Music  is  a  factor  in  national 
awakening,  a,nd  it  should  be  provided  for.  The  opinion 
of  Dr.  Ananda  Coomaraswami  on  this  subject  is  worthy 
of  study. 

Gymnastics  and  body-training  in  general  have 
had  no  serious  attention  given  to  them.  Tennis,  cricket 
and  football  have  replaced  national  games.  The  former,. 


364  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

it  may  be  admitted,  are  games  full  of  interest,  but  if 
everything  western  had  not  captivated  us,  we  should 
not  have  abandoned  equally  interesting  but  inexpensive 
national  games,  such  as  Gedidudo,  Mot  dandia,  Khogho, 
Magmatli,  Nadtutu,  Kharopai,  Navnagli,  Sat  tali  and  so 
on.  Our  gymnastics  which  exercise  every  limb  of  the 
body  and  our  Kusti  grounds  have  almost  disappeared. 
If  anything  western  is  worthy  of  being  copied  it  is  cer- 
tainly the  western  drill .  An  English  friend  rightly  re- 
marked that  we  did  dot  know  how  to  walk.  We  have  no 
notion  of  marching  in  step  in  large  bodies.  We  are  not 
trained  to  march  noiselessly,  in  an  orderly  manner  in  step, 
in  twos  or  fours,  m  directions  varying  from  time  to  time. 
Nor  need  it  be  supposed  that  -drilling  is  useful  for 
military  purposes  only.  It  is  required  for  many  acts  of 
benevolence,  e.g.,  there  is  a  fire  drill,  there  is  a  drill 
for  helping  the  drowned  to  come  to  life,  and  there  is  a 
stretcher  drill.  Thus  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  in  our 
schools  national  games,  national  gymnastics  and  the 
western  drill. 

Female  education  fares  no  better  than  male  educa- 
tion. In  framing  the  scheme  of  female  education,  no 
thought  has  been  given  to  the  Indian  conception  of  rela- 
tionship between  husband  and  wife,  and  the  place  an 
Indian  woman  occupies  in  society. 

Much  of  the  primary  education  may  be  common  to 
both  the  sexes.  But  beyond  that  there  is  little  that  is 
common.  Nature  has  made  the  two  different,  and  a  dis- 
tinction is  necessary  in  framing  a  scheme  of  education  for 
the  two  sexes.  Both  are  equal,  but  the  sphere  of  work  is 
defined  for  each.  Woman  has  the  right  to  the  queenship 
of  the  home.  Man  is  the  controller  of  outside  manage- 
ment.    He  is  the  bread-winner,    woman    husbands   the 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE      365 

resources  of  the  family  and  distributes  them.  Woman  is 
her  infant's  nurse,  she  is  its  maker,  on  her  depends  the 
child's  character,  she  is  the  child's  first  teacher,  thus  she 
is  the  mother  of  the  nation.  Man  is  not  its  father.  After 
a  time  the  father's  influence  over  his  son  begins  to  wane. 
The  mother  never  allows  it  to  slip  away  from  herself. 
Even  when  we  reach  manhood  we  play  like  children 
with  our  mothers.  We  are  unable  to  retain  that  relation- 
ship with  our  fathers.  If  then  the  vocation  of  the  two 
are  naturally  and  properly  distinct,  there  is  no  occasion 
to  arrange  for  an  independent  earning  of  livelihood  by 
women  in  general.  Where  women  are  obliged  to  be 
telegraphists,  typists  and  compositors,  there  is  a  break 
in  well  ordered  society.  A  nation  that  has  adopted  such- 
a  scheme  has,  in  my  opinion,  come  to  the  end  of  its 
resources,  and  has  begun  to  live  oh  its  capital. 

Thus  it  is  wrong  on  the  one  hand  to  keep  our 
women  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  degradation.  It  is  a 
sign  of  weakness,  and  it  is  tyrannical  to  impose  men's 
work  on  her.  After  cb-education  for  some  years,  a 
different  scheme  for  girls  is  necessary.  They  ought  to 
have  a  knowledge  of  the  managment  of  the  home,  of  re- 
gulating the  life  during  the  child-bearing  period  and  the 
upbringing  of  children,  etc.  To  formulate  such  a  scheme 
is  a  difficult  task.  This  is  a  new  subject  in  the  depart- 
ment of  education.  In  order  to  explore  the  unbeaten 
track,  women  of  character  and  learning  and  men  of 
experience  should  be  entrusted  with  the  task  of  devising, 
a  scheme  of  female  education.  Such  a  committee  will 
try  to  devise  means  for  the  education  of  our  girls.  But 
we  have  numerous  girls  who  are  married  during  girlhood.^ 
The  number  is  increasing.  These  girls  disappear  from 
the  education   stage  after  marriage.     I  venture   to  copy 


366  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

below  the  views  I  have  expressed  on  this  phase  of 
female  education  in  my  preface  to  the  first  number  of 
the  Bhaginee  Samaj  series  : 

"  The    provision  of  education  for    unmarried   girls 
■does  not  solve  the  problem  of  female  education.     Thou- 
sands of  girls  at  the  age  of  12  become    victims  of  child- 
marriage  and  disappear  from  view.  They  become  mother. 
So  long  as  we  have  not  got  rid  of  this  cruel  wrong,  hus- 
bands will    have  to   become  their  wives'   teachers.     In 
the  fitness  of  husbands  for  this  task  lies    high  hope  for 
the  nation.  All  endeavour  for  the  national  uplift  is  vain 
so  long   as  instead   of   becoming   our   companions,   our 
better    halves   and   partners   in  our   joys  and   sorrows, 
our   wives  remain    our  cooks    and   objects  of  our   lust. 
Some  treat  their   wives  as  if   they   were  beasts.    Some 
Sanskrit   text  and  a   celebrated   verse  of   Tulsidas  are 
respoBsible     for     this     deplorable     state      of     things. 
Tulsidas    has    said    that    beast^; -fools,    Sudras     and 
women   are  fit  to    receive   bodily   punishment.     I  am  a 
devotee   of   Tulsidas.     But  my   worship   is   not   blind. 
Either  the  couplet  is  apocryphal,    or  Tulsidas  following 
the  popular   current  has    thoughtlessly   written   it    oflF. 
With  reference  to  Sanskrit    expressions,  we  are  haunted 
by  the  superstitious    belief  that   everything   Sanskrit  is 
scriptural  !  It  is   our   duty    to   purge   ourselves   of  the 
superstition   and  uproftt  the  habit  of   considering  women 
as  our  inferiors.     Their    is  another   body  of  men  who  in 
pursuit   of    their    passions    decorate  their   wives  from 
period    to   period  'during    twenty-four    hours   even    as 
we    decorate    our    idols.'    We    must    shake    ourselves 
free  of  this  idolatry.     Then    at  last   they  will   be  what 
Uma  was   to    Shankara,  Sita   to    Rama,  Damayanti  to 
Nala,  they  will  be  our  companions,  they    will  discourse 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE      367 

ivith  us  on  equal  terms,  they  will  appreciate  our 
sentiments,  they  will  nurse  them,  they  would  by  their 
marvellous  intuitive  powers  understand  our  business 
worries  as  by  magic,  share  them  with  us  and  give  us  the 
soothing  peace  of  the  home.  Then  but  not  till  then  is 
-our  regeneration  possible.  To  attain  to  that  lofty  status 
through  girl-schools  is  highly  improbable  for  a  long 
time*  So  long  as  we  are  destined  to  groan  under  the 
shackles  of  child-marriages,  so  long  will  husbands  have 
to  become  teachers  of  their  child- wives.  It  is  not 
tuition  in  the  alphabet  only  that  is  here  contemplated. 
-Step  by  step  th'ey  have  to  be  initiated  in  political  and 
social  subjects  and  literary  training  is  not  indispensable 
ior  imparting  such  knowledge  to  them.  Husbands  who 
aspire  after  the  position  of  teachers  will  have  to  alter 
their  conduct  towards  their  wives.  If  husbands  were 
to  observe  Brahmacharya  so  long  as  their  wives  have. 
not  reached  maturity  and  are  receiving  their  education 
under  them,  had  we  not  been  paralysed  by  inertia,  we 
would  never  impose  the  burden  of  motherhood  upon  a 
girl  of  12  or  15.  We  would  shudder  even  to  think  of 
any  such  possibility. 

It  is  well  that  classes  are  opened  for  married  wo- 
men and  that  lectures  are  given  for  them.  Those  who 
are  engaged  in  this  kind  of  activities  are  entitled  to 
-credit.  But  it  appears  that  until  husbands  discharge  the 
duty  incumbent  on  them,  we  are  not  likely  to  obtain 
great  results.  Upon  reflection  this  would  appear  to  be 
a  self  evident  truth.'' 

Wherever  we  look,  we  observe  imposing  structures 
upon  weak  foundation.  Those  who  are  selected  as 
teachers  for  primary  schools  may,  for  the  sake  of 
xourtesy,  be  so  called.     In   reality,   however,  it  is  an 


368  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

abuse  of  terms  to  call  such  men  teachers.  A  scholar's- 
childhood  is  the  most  important  period  of  life.  Know- 
ledge received  during  that  period  is  "  never  forgotten. 
And  it  is  during  this  period  that  they  are  helped  the 
least,  and  they  are  shoved  into  any  so-called  school. 

In  my  opinion,  if  in  this  country,  instead  of  devoting 
our  pecuniary  resources  to  ornamenting  our  schools  and 
colleges  beyond  the  capacity  of  this  poor  country,  we 
were  to  devote  them  to  imparting  primary  education 
under  teachers  who' are  well  trained,  upright  and  sobered 
by  age,  in  hygienic  conditions,  we  should  in  a  short  time 
have  tangible  results.  Even  if  the"  salaries  of  the 
teachers  in  primary  schools  were  doubled,  we  could  not 
obtain  the  desired  results.  Paltry  changes  are  not  enough 
to  secure  important  results.  It  is  necessary  to  alter  the 
framework  of  primary  education.  I  know  that  this  is  a 
difficult  subject.  There  are  many  pitfalls  ahead,  but  its 
solution  ought  not  to  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  Gujarat 
Education  League.  It  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  stated 
that  their  is  no  intention  here  of  finding  fault  with, 
primary  school  teachers  individually.  That  they  are 
able  beyond  their  capacity  to  show  us  results,  is  a  proof 
of  the  stability  of  our  grand  civilisation.  If  the  same 
teachers  wer£  properly  fitted  and  encouraged,  they 
could  show  us  undreamt-of  results. 

It  is,  perhaps,  improper  for  me  to  say  anything 
about  the  question  of  compulsory  education.  My 
experience  is  limited.  I  find  it  hard  to  reconcile 
myself  to  any  compulsion  being  imposed  on  the  nation. 
The  thought,  therefore,  of  putting  an  additional 
burden  in  the  shape  of  cumpulsory  education  worries 
me.  It  appears  to  be  more  in  keeping  with  the  times 
to  experiment  in  free  and    voluntary   education.     Until 


GUJARAT  EDUCATIONAL  CONFERENCE        b69 

we  have  come  out  of  the  com  pulsion  stage  as  the 
rule  of  life,  to  make  education  compulsory  seems  to 
me  to  be  fraught  with  many  dangers.  The  experience 
gained  by  the  Baroda  Government  may  help  us  in 
considering  this  subject.  The  results  of  my  examin- 
ation of  the  Baroda  system  have  been  so  far  unfavour- 
able. But  no  weight  can  be  attached  to  them  as  my 
examination  was  wholly  superficial.  I  take  it  for  grant- 
ed that  the  delegates  assembled  here,  will  be  able  to 
throw  helpful  light  on  the  subject. 

It  is  certain  that  the  golden  way  to  remove  the  de- 
fects enumerated  by  me  is  not  through  petitioning. 
Great  changes  are  not  suddenly  made  by  Governments. 
Such  enterprises  are  possible  only  by  the  initiative  of 
the  leaders  of  a  nation.  Under  the  Bcitish  Constitution 
voluntary  national  effort  has  a  recognised  place.  Ages 
will  pass  away  before  we  achieve  our  aims,  if  we 
depended  solely  upon  Government  initiative.  As  in 
England  so  in  India,  we  have  to  lead  the  way  for  the 
Government  by  making  experiments  ourselves.  Those 
who  detect  short-comings  in  our  educational  system  can 
make  the  Government  remove  them  by  themselves 
making  experiments  and  showing  the  way.  Numerous 
private  institutions  should  be  established  in  order  to 
bring  about  such  a  consummation.  There  is  one  big 
obstacle  in  our  path.  We  are  enamoured  of  '  degrees.' 
The  very  life  seems  to  hang  upon  passing  an  exami- 
nation and  obtaining  a  degree.  It  sucks  the  nation's 
life-blood.  We  forget  that '  degrees  '  are  required  only 
by  can  didates  for  Government  service.  But  Government 
service  is  not  a  foundation  for  national  life.  We  see, 
moreover,  that  wealth  can  be  acquired  without  Govern- 
ment service.  Educated  men  can,  by  their  enterprise, 
24 


370  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

acquire  wealth  even  as  illiterate  men  do  by  their  clever- 
ness. If  the  educated  class  became  free  from  the  paralyse 
ing  fear  of  their  unfitness  for  business,  they  should  surely 
have  as  much  capacity  as  the  illiterate  class.  If,  there- 
fore, we  become  free  from  the  bondage  of  'degrees,'  many 
private  institutions  could  be  carried  on.  No  Goverment 
can  possibly  take  charge  of  the  whole  of  a  nation's  edu- 
cation. In  America  private  enterprise  is  the  predomi- 
nant factor  in  education.  In  England  numerous  schools 
and  colleges  are  conducted  by  private  enterprise.  They 
issue  their  own  certificates.  Herculean  efiforts  must  be 
made  in  order  to  put  national  education  on  a  firm  found- 
ation. Money,  mind,  body  and  soul  must  be  dedicated  to 
it.  We  have  not  much  to  learn  from  America.  But 
there  is  certainly  one  thing  which  we  can  copy  from 
that  country.  Great  educational  schemes  are  propound- 
ed and  managed  by  gigantic- trusts.  Millionaires  have 
given  off  their  millions  to  them.  They  support  many  a 
private  school.  These  trusts  have  not  only  untold 
wealth  at  their  disposal,  but  command  also  the  services 
of  able-bodied,  patriotic  and  learned  men,  who  inspect 
and  protect  national  institutions  and  give  financial  assist- 
ance, where  necessary.  Any  institution  conformmg  to 
the  conditions  of  these  trusts  is  entitled  to  financial 
help.  Through  these  trusts  even  the  elderly  peasant  of 
America  has  brought  to  his  door  the  results  of  the  latest 
experiments  in  agriculture.  Gujarat  is  capable  of  sup- 
porting some  such  scheme.  It  has  wealth,  it  has  learn- 
ing, and  the  religious  instinct  has  not  yet  died  out. 
Children  are  thirsting  for  education.  If  we  can  but 
initiate  the  desired  reform,  we  could,  by  our  success,  com- 
mand Government  action.  One  act  actually  accomplish- 
ed will  be  far  more  forcible  than  thousands  of  petitions. . 


GUJARAT    EDUCATIONAL   CONFERENCE        371 

The  foregoing  suggestions  have  involved  aa 
examination  of  the  other  two  objects  of  the  Gujarat 
Education  League.  The  establishment  of  a  trust  such 
as  I  have  described  is  a  continuous  agitation  for  the 
spread  of  education  and  a  practical  step  towards  it. 

But  to  do  that  is  like  doing  the  only  best.  It  could 
not,  therefore,  be  easy.  Both  Government  and  million- 
aires can  be  wakened  into  life  only  by  coaxing.  Tapasya 
is  the  only  means  to  do  it.  It  is  the  first  and  the  best 
step  in  religion.  And  I  assume  that  the  Gujarat  Educa- 
tion League  is  an  incarnati  on  of  Tapasya.  Money  will  be 
showered  upon  the  League  when  its  secretaries  and  mem- 
bers are  found  to  be  embodiments  of  selflessness  and 
learning.  Wealth  is  always  shy.  There  are  reasons  for 
such  shyness.  If,  therefore,  we  want  to  coax  wealthy 
men,  we  shall  have  to  prove  our  fitness.  But  although  we 
require  money,  it  is  not  necessary  to  attach  undue  impor- 
tance to  that  need.  He  who  wishes  to  impart  national 
education  can,  if  he  is  not  equipped  for  it,  do  so  by 
labouring  and  getting  the  necessary  training  and  having 
thus  qualified  himself  will,  sitting  under  the  shadow  of  a 
tree,  distribute  knowledge  freely  to  those  who  want  it. 
He  is  a  Brahmin,  indeed,  and  this  dharma  can  be  prac- 
tised by  every  one  who  wishes  it.  Both  wealth  and 
power  will  bow  to  such  a  one.  I  hope  and  pray  to  God 
that  the  Gujarat  Education  League  will  have  immove- 
able faith  in  itself. 

The  way  to  Swaraj  lies  t  hrcugh  education.  Political 
leaders  may  wait  on  Mr.  Montagu.  The  political  field 
may  not  be  open  to  this  Conference.  But  all  endeavour 
will  be  useless  without  true  education.  The  field  of 
education  is  a  speciality  of  this  Conference.  And  if  we 
achieve  success  in  that  direction,  it  means  success  all 
.over. 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE 


The  following  is  an  English  translation  of  Mr^ 
Gandhi's  Presidential  Address  to  the  First  Gujarat  Poli- 
tical Conference  held  at  Godhra,  on  November  3,  1917. 

Brothers  and  Sisters,  I  am  thankful  to  you  all  for 
the  exalted  position  to  which  you  have  called  me.  I  am 
but  a  baby  of  two  years  and  a  half  in  Indian  politics.  I 
cannot  trade,  here,  on  my  experience  in  South  Africa.  I 
know  that  acceptance  of  the  position  is  to  a  certain 
extent  an  impertinence.  And  yet  I  have  been  unable  to 
resist  the  pressure  your  over-whelming  affection  has 
exerted  upon  me. 

I  am  conscious  of  my  responsibility.  This  Confer- 
ence is  the  first  of  its  kind  in  Gujarat.  The  time  is  most 
critical  for  the  whole  of  India.  The  empire  is  labouring 
under  a  strain  never  before  experienced.  My  views  do 
not  quite  take  the  general  course.  I  feel  that  some  of 
them  run  in  the  opposite  direction.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, I  can  hardly  claim  this  privileged  position. 
The  president  of  a  meeting  is  usually  its  spokesman.  I 
cannot  pretend  to  lay  any  such  claim .  It  is  your  kind- 
ness that  gives  me  such  a  unique  opportunity  of  placing 
my  thoughts  before  the  Guj  arat  public.  I  do  not  see 
anything  wrong  in  these  views  being  subjected  to 
criticism,  dissent,  and  even  emphatic  protest.  I  would 
like  them  to  be  freely  discussed.  I  will  only  say  with 
regard  to  them  that  they  were  not  formed  to-day  or 
yesterday.  But  they  were  formed  years  ago.  I  am 
enamoured  of  them,  and  my  Indian  experience  of  two 
years  and  a  half  has  not  altered  them. 


GUJARAT   POLITICAL   CONFERlgNCE  373 

I  congratulate  the  originators  of  the  proposal  to 
liold  this  Conference  as  also  those  friends  who  have 
reduced  it  to  practice.  It  is  a  most  important  event  for 
■<5ujarat.  It  is  possible  for  us  to  make  it  yield  most 
important  results.  This  conference  is  in  the  nature  of  a 
foundation,  and  if  it  is  well  and  truely  laid,  we  need  have 
no  anxiety  as  to  the  superstructure.  Being  the  first 
-progenitor,  its  responsibility  is  great.  I  pray  that  God 
will  bless  us  with  wisdom  and  that  our  deliberations 
will  benefit  the  people. 

This  is  a  political  conference.  Let  us  pause  a 
moment  over  the  word  'political.'  It  is,  as  a  rule,  used 
in  a  restricted  sense,  but  I  believe  it  is  better  to  give  it 
a  wider  meaning.  If  the  work  of  such  a  conference  were 
:to  be  confined  to  a  consideration  of  the  relations  between 
the  rulers  and  the  ruled,  it  would  not  only  be  incomplete, 
but  we  should  even  fail  to  have  an  adequate  conception 
of  those  relations.  For  instance  the  question  of  Mhcwra 
flowers  is  of  great  importance  for  a  part  of  Gujarat.  If 
it  is  considered  merely  as  a  question  between  the 
Government  and  the  people,  it  might  lead  to  an  unto- 
ward end,  or  even  to  one  n  ever  desired  by  u?.  If  we 
considered  the  genesis  of  the  law  on  Mhowra  flowers 
and  also  appreciated  our  duty  in  the  matter,  we  would, 
very  probably,  succeed  sooner  in  our  fight  with  Govern- 
ment than  otherwise,  and  we  would  easily  discover  the 
"key  to  successful  agitation.  You  will  more  clearly 
perceive  my  interpretation  of  the  word  '  political '  in 
the  light  of  the  views  now  being  laid  before  you. 

Conferences  do  not,  as  a  rule,  after  the  end  of  their 
deliberations,  appear  to  leave  behind  them  an  executive 
body,  and  even  when  such  a  body  is  appointed,  it  is,  to 
use  the  language  of  the  late  Mr.  Gokhale,    composed  of 


a74        '         -EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

men  who  are  amateurs.  What  is  wanted  in  order  ta 
give  effect  to  the  resolutions  of  swch  conferences  is  men 
who  would  make  it  their  business  to  do  so.  If  such 
men  come  forward  in  great  num  bers,  then  and  then  only 
will  such  conferences  be  a  credit  to  the  country  and 
produce  lasting  results.  At  present  there  is  much 
waste  of  energy.  It  is  desirable  that  there  were  many- 
institutions  of  the  type  of  the  Servants  of  India  Society. 
Only  when  men  fired  with  the  belief  that  service  i» 
the  highest  religion,  come  forward  in  great  numbers, 
only  then  could  we  hope  to  see  great  results.  Fortuna- 
tely, the  religious  spirit  still  binds  India,  and  if  during 
the  present  age  the  service  of  the  motherland  becomes 
the  end  of  religion,  men  and  women  of  religion  in  large: 
numbers  would  take  part  in  our  public  life,  When 
sages  and  saints  take  up  this  work,  India  will  easily 
achieve  her  cherished  aims.  At  all  events  it  is  incumbent 
on  us  that  for  the  purposes  of  this  conference  we  formed 
an  executive  committee  whose  business,  it  would  be,  to 
enforce  its  resolutions. 

The  sound  of  Swaraj  pervades  the  Indian^ir.  It 
is  due  to  Mrs.  Besant  that  Swaraj  is  on  the  lips  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women.  What  wa3 
unknown  to  men  and  women  only  two  years  ago,  has, 
by  her  consummate  tact  and  her  indefatigable  efforts, 
become  common  property  for  them.  There  cannot  be 
the  slightest  doubt  that  her  name  will  take  the  first 
rank  in  history  among  those  who  inspired  us  with  the 
hope  that  Swaraj  was  attainable  at  no  distant  date» 
Swaraj  was,  and  is,  the  goal  of  the  Congress.  The 
idea  did  not  originate  with  her.  But  the  credit  of 
presenting  it  to  us  as  an  easily  attainable  goal  belongs 
to  that  lady  alone.     For    that    we    could  hardly  thank 


GUJARAT    POLITICAL   CONFERENCE  375 

her  enough.  By  releasing  her  and  her  associates, 
Messrs.  Arundale  and  Wadia,  Governmeut  have  laid  us 
under  an  obligation,  and  at  the  same  time  acknowledged 
the  just  and  reasonable  nature  of  the  agitation  for 
Swaraj.  It  is  desirable  that  Government  should  extend 
the  same  generosity  towards  our  brothers,  Mahomed  Ali 
and  Shaukat  Ali,  It  is  no  use  discussing  the  appositeness 
or  otherwise  of  what  Sir  William  Vincent  has  said 
about  them.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Government 
will  accede  to  the  peoples'  desire  for  their  release  and 
thus  make  them  responsible  for  any  improper  result 
that  might  flow  from  their  release.  Such  clemency  will 
make  them  all  the  more  grateful  to  the  Government* 
The  act  of  generosity  will  be  incomplete  so  long  as 
these  brothers  are  not  released.  The  grant  of  freedom 
to  the  brothers  will  gladden  the  peoples'  hearts  and 
endear  the  Government  to  them. 

Mr.  Montagu  will  shortly  be  in  our  midst.  The 
work  of  taking  signatures  to  the  petition  to  be  submit- 
ted to  him  is  going  on  apace.  The  chief  object  of  this 
petition  is  to  educate  the  people  about  Swaraj.  To  say 
that  a  knowledge  of  letters  is  essential  to  obtain  Swaraj 
betrays  ignorance  of  history.  A  knowledge  of  letters  is 
not  necessary  to  inculcate  among  people  the  idea  that 
we  ought  to  manage  our  own  afTairs.  What  is  essential  is 
the  grasp  of  such  an  idea.  People  have  to  desire  Swaraj. 
Hundreds  of  unlettered  kings  have  ruled  kingdoms  in  an 
eflfective  manner.  To  see  how  far  such  an  idea  exists 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  to  try  to  create  it  where  it 
is  absent,  is  the  object  of  this  petition.  It  is  desirable  that 
millions  of  men  and  women  should  sign  it  intelligently. 
That  such  a  largely  signed  petition  will  have  its  due 
weight  with  Mr.  Montagu  is  its  natural  result. 


375  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

No  one  has  the  right  to  alter  the  scheme  of  reforms 
approved  by  the  Congress  and  the  Moslem  League,  and 
one  need  not,  therefore,  go  into  the  merits  thereof. 
For  our  present  purposes,  we  have  to  understand 
thoroughly  the  scheme  formulated  most  thoughtfully  by 
our  leaders  and  to  faithfully  do  the  things  necessary  to 
get  it  accepted  and  enforced. 

This  scheme  is  not  Swaraj,  but  is  a  great  step 
towards  Swaraj .  Some  English  critics  tell  us  that  we 
have  no  right  to  enjoy  Swaraj,  because  the  class  that 
demands  it  is  incapable  of  defending  India ;  "  Is  the 
defence  of  India  to  rest  with  the  English  alone,  "  they 
ask,  "  and  are  the  reins  of  Government  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  Indians  ?  Now  this  is  a  question  which 
excites  both  laughter  and  sorrow.  It  is  laughable, 
because  our  English  friends  fancy  that  they  are  not  of  us, 
whilst  our  plan  of  Swaraj  is  based  upon  retention 
of  the  British  connection.  We  do  not  expect  the  English 
settlers  to  leave  this  country.  They  will  be  our  part- 
ners in  Swaraj.  And  they  need  not  grumble  if  in  such 
a  scheme  the  burden  of  the  defence  of  the  country  falls 
on  them.  They  are,  however,  hasty  in  assuming  that 
we  shall  not  do  our  share  of  defending  the  country. 
When  India  decides  upon  qualifying  herself  for  the  act 
of  soldiering,  she  will  attain  to  it  in  no  time.  We 
have  but  to  harden  our  feelings  to  be  able  to  strike.  To 
cultivate  a  hardened  feeling  does  not  take  ages.  It 
grows  like  weeds.  The  question  has  also  its  tragic 
side,  because  it  puts  us  in  mind  of  the  fact  that  Govern- 
ment have  up  to  now  debarred  us  from  military  train- 
ing. Had  they  been  so  minded  they  would  have  had  at 
their  disposal  to-day,  from  among  the  educated  classes, 
an    army  of   trained   soldiers .     Government    have    to 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  377 

accept  a  larger  measure  of  blame  than  the  educated 
Classes  for  the  latter  having  taken  little  part  in  the 
war.  Had  the  Government  policy  been  shaped  different- 
ly from  the  very  commeiiGement,  they  would  have 
to-day  an  unconquerable  army.  But  let  no  one  be 
blamed  for  the  present  situation.  At  the  time  British 
Tule  was  established,  it  was  considered  to  be  a  wise 
policy  for  the  governance  of  crores  of  men  to  deprive 
them  of  arms  and  military  training.  But  it  is  never 
too  late  to  m  end,  and  both  the  rulers  arid  the  ruled  must 
immediately  repair  the  omission 

In  offering  these  views  I  have  assumed  the  pro- 
priety of  the  current  trend  of  thought.  To  me,  however, 
it  does  not  appear  to  be  tending  altogether  in  the  right 
direction.  Our  agitation  is  based  on  the  Western  model. 
The  Swaraj  we  desire  is  of  a  Western  type.  As  a  result 
of  it,  India  will  have  to  enter  into  competition  with  the 
Western  nations.  Many  believe  that  there  is  no  escape 
from  it.  I  do  not  think  so.  I  cannot  forget  that 
India  is  not  Europe,  India  is  not  Japan,  India  is  not 
China,  The  divine  word  that  '  India  alone  is  the 
land  of  Karma  '  (Action),  the  rest  is  the  land  of  Bhoga 
(Enjoyment),  is  indelibly  imprinted  on  my  mind.  I  feel 
that  India's  mission  is  different  from  that  of  the  others. 
India  is  fitted  for  the  religious  supremacy  of  the  world. 
There  is  no  parallel  in  the  world  for  the  process  of 
purification  that  this  country  has  voluntarily  undergone. 
India  is  less  in  need  of  steel  weapons,  it  has  fought  with 
■divine  weapons  ;  it  can  still  do  so.  Other  nations  have 
been  votaries  of  brute  force.  The  terrible  war  going  on 
in  Europe  furnishes  a  forcible  -illustration  of  the  truth. 
India  can  win  all  by  soul-force.  History  supplies  numer- 
ous instances  to  prove  that   brute   force   is  as   nothing 


378  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

before  soul-force.  Pqets  have  sung  about  it  and  Seers- 
have  described  their  experiences.  A  thirty-year  old 
Hercules  behaves  like  a  lamb  before  his  eighty-year  old 
father.  This  is  an  instance  of  love-force.  Love  is 
Atman  :  it  is  its  attribute.  If  we  have  faith  enough  we 
can  wield  that  force  over  the  whole  world.  Religion 
having  lost  its  hold  on  us,  we  are  without  an  anchor  ta 
keep  us  firm  amidst  the  storm  of  modern  civilisation, 
and  are  therefore  being  tossed  to  and  fro.  Enough,  how- 
ever, of  this,  for  the  present.  I  shall  return  to  it  at  a 
later  stage. 

In  spite  of  my  views  being  as  I  have  just  described 
them,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  take  part  in  the  Swaraj  move- 
ment, for  India  is  being    governed  in    accordance  witb 
the  Western  system    and  even    the   Government  admit 
that  the    British    Parliament    presents    the  best   type- 
of  that    system.     Without    parliamentary  government, 
we  should  be  nowhere.     Mrs.   Besant  is  only  too  true 
when  she  says  that  we  shall    soon   be  facing   a  hunger- 
strike,  if  we  do  not  have    Home  Rule.     I    do  not  want 
to    go    into    statistics.     The   evidence    of  my    eyes   is- 
enough  for  me.     Poverty  in  India   is  deepening   day  by 
day.     No  other   result  is  possible.     A   country  that  ex- 
ports its  raw  produce    and  imports  it  after  it  has  under- 
gone manufacturing  processes,  a  country  that  in  spite  of 
growing  its  own  cotton,    has  to  pay  crores  of  rupees  for 
its  imported   cloth,  cannot  be   otherwise   than  poor.     It- 
can  only  be    said  of  a   poor  country    that  its   people  are 
spendthrifts,  because  they  ungrudgingly  spend  money  in- 
marriage  and  such  other  cermonies.     It  must  be  a. terri- 
bly poor  country  that    cannot  afford  to  spend  enough  in 
carrying  out  improvements  for  stamping  out   epidemics 
like  the  plague.     The  poverty  of  a  country  must  contin- 


GUJARAT   POLITICAL    CONFfiREMCE  379' 

uously  grow  when  the  salaries  of  its  highlyipaid  oiBcials 
are.  spent  outside  it.   '  Surely  it  must  be  India's   keen 
poverty  that  compels  its  people,  during  cold  weather 
for   want  of  woollen  clothing,   to  burn   their  precious 
manure,  in  order  to  warm  themselves.    Throughout  my 
wanderings  in  India  I  have  rarely  seen   a  buoyant  face. 
The  middle  classes  are  groaning  under   the   weight   of 
awful  distress.     For   the  lowest  order  there  is  no  hope^^ 
They  do  not  know  a  bright  day.     It  is  a  pure   fiction  to 
say  that  India's  riches  are  buried  under  ground,  or  are 
to  be  found  in  her  ornaments.    What  there  is  of  such 
riches  is  of  no  consequence.     The   nation's  expenditure^ 
has  increased,    not   so    its   income.    Government  have- 
not  deliberately  brought    about    this  state  of  things,     f 
believe  that  their  intentions  are  pure.  It  is  their  honest 
opinion  that  the   nation's    prosperity   is   daily  growing. 
Their   faith   in    their    Blue   Books   is   immovable.     It 
is  only  too  true   that  statistics   can   be   made  to  prove- 
anything.     The   economists    deduce   India's   prosperity 
from     statistics.       People    like     me    who    appreciate- 
the  popular  way  of  examining  figures  shake  their  heads^ 
over  bluebook    statistics.     If   the  gods   were  to     come- 
down  and  testify   otherwise,    I  would  insist  on  saying 
that  I  see  India  growing  poorer. 

What  then  would  our  Parliament  do  ?  When  we 
have  it,  we  would  have  a  right  to  commit  blunders  and' 
to  correct  them.  In  the  early  stages  we  are  bound  tO' 
make  blunders.  But  we  being  children  of  the  soil, 
won't  lose  time  in  setting  ourselves  right.  We  shall, 
therefore,  soon  find  out  remedies  against  poverty. 
Then  our  existence  won't  be  dependent  on  Lancashire 
goods.  Then  we  shall  not  be  found  spending  untoli 
riches  on    Imperial    Delhi.     It   will,  then,   bear  some 


380  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

•correspondence  to  the  peasant  cottage.  There  wi-H  be 
some  proportion  observed  between  that  cottage  and  our 
Parliament  House.  The  nation  to-day  is  in  a  helpless 
condition,  it  does  not  possess  even  the  right  to  err.  tie 
who  has  no  right  to  err  can  never  go  forward.  The 
.history  of  the  Commons  is  a  history  of  blunders.  Man, 
isays  an  Arabian  proverb,  is  error  personified.  Freedom 
io  err  and  the  duty  of  correcting  errors  is  one  definition 
of  Swaraj.  And  such  Swaraj  lies  in  Parliament. 
That  Parliament  we  need  to-day.  We  are  fitted  for  it 
to-day.  We  shall,  therefore,  get  it  on  demand.  It  rests 
with  us  to  define  '  to-day.',  Swaraj  is  not  to  be  attain- 
ed through  an  appeal  to  the  British  democracy.  The 
English  nation  cannot  appreciate  such  an  appeal.  Its 
reply  will  be ;— "  We  never  sought  outside  help  to 
obtain  Swaraj.  We  have  received  it  through  our  own 
ability.  You  have  not  received  it,  because  you  are 
unfit.  When  you  are  fit  for  it,  nobody  can  withhold  it 
from  you."  How  then  shall  we  fit  ourselves  for  it  ? 
We  have  to  demand  Swaraj  from  our  own  democracy. 
■Our  appeal  must  be  to  it.  When  the  peasantry  of 
India  understand  what  Swaraj  is,  the  demand  will  be- 
come irresistible.  The  late  Sir  W.W.  Hunter  used  to 
say  that  in  the  British  system,  victory  on  the. battlefield 
was  the  shortest  cut  to  success.  If  educated  India 
■could  have  taken  its  full  share  in  the  war,- 1  am  tertain 
that  we  would  not  only  have  reached  our  goal  already, 
but  the  manner  of  the  grant  would  have  been  altogether 
unique.  We  often  refer  to  the  fact  that  many  sepoys 
of  Hindustan  have  lost  their  lives  on  the  battle-fields  of 
France  and  Mesopotamia.  It  is  not  possible  for  the 
educated  classes  to  claim  the  credit  for  this  event.  It  is 
not  patriotism  that  had  prompted  those  sepoys  to  go    to 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  381 

the  battlefield.  They  know  nothing   of  Swaraj.  At  the- 
end  of  the  war  they  will   not    ask    for  it.     They    have 
gone  to  demonstrate  that  they  are  faithful    to   the   salt 
they  eat.     In  asking  for  Swaraj;    I   feel  that   it   is   not 
possible  for  us  to  bring  into  account  their  services.   The' 
only  thing  we  can  say  is  that  we  may  not  be  considered' 
blameworthy  for  our  inability  to   take   a    large   active- 
part  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 

That  we  have  been  loyal  at  a  time  of  stress  is  no 
test  of  fitness  for  Swaraj.  Loyalty  is  no  merit.  It  is  a 
necessity  of  citizenship  all  the  world  over.  That 
loyalty  can  be  no  passport  to  Swaraj  is  a  self-demons- 
trated maxim.  Our  fitness  lies  in  that  we  now  keenly 
desire  Swaraj,  and  in  the  conviction  we  have  reached" 
that  bureaucracy,  although  it  has  served  India  with 
pure  intentions,  has  had  its  day.  And  this  kind  of  fit-^ 
ness  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  Without  Swaraj 
there  is  now  no  possibility  of  peace  in  India. 

But  if  we  confine  our  activities  for  advancing 
Swaraj  only  to  holding  meetings,  the  nation  is  likely  to 
suffer  harm.  Meetings  and  speeches  have  their  own 
place  and  time.     Bui  they  cannot  make  a  Nation. 

In  a  nation  fired  with  Swaraj-zeal  we  shall  observe 
an  awakening  in  all  departments  of  life.  The  first  step- 
to  Swaraj  lies  in  the  Individual.  The  great  truth,  'As 
with  the  Individual  so  with  the  Universe,'  is  applicable 
here  as  elsewhere.  If  we  are  ever  torn  by  conflict  from 
within,  if  we  are  ever  going  asti;ay,  and  if  instead  of 
ruling  our  passions  we  allow  them  to  rule  us,  Swaraj 
can  have  no  meaning  for  us.  Government  of  self,  then, 
is  primary  education  in  the  school  of  Swaraj, 

Then  the  Family.  If  dissensions  reign  supreme  in 
our  families,  if  brothers  fight  among  themselves,  if  joint-. 


:382  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

families,  i.e.,  families  enjoying  Self-government,  become 
divided  throughjamily  quarrels,  and  if  we  are  anfit 
even  for  such  restricted  Swaraj,  how  can  we  be 
considered  fit  for  the  larger  Swaraj  ? 

Now  for  the  Caste.  If  caste-fellows  become  jealous 
of  one  another,  if  the  castes  cannot  regulate  their  affairs 
in  an  orderly  manner,  if  the  elders  want  to  usurp  power, ' 
if  the  members  become  self-opinionated  and  thus  show 
their  unfitness  for  tribal  Self-government,  how  can  they 
he-fit  for  national  Self-government  ? 

After  caste  the  City  Life  If  we  cannot  regulate 
-the  affairs  of  our  cities,  if  our  streets  are  not  kept  clean, 
if  our  homes  are  dilapidated  and  if  our  roads  are  crook-  , 
ed,  if  we  cannot  command  the  services  of  selfless 
-citizens  for  civic  government,  and  those  who  are  in 
-charge  of  affairs  are  neglectful  or  selfish,  how  sball  we 
claim  larger  powers?  The  way  to  national  life  lies 
through  the  cities.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  linger 
a  little  longer  on  civic  government. 

The  plague  has  found   a    home    in  India.     Cholera 
has  been  always   with    us.     Malaria    takes   an  annual 
.t:oll   of    thousands.    The    plague    has  been   driven  out 
from  every  other   part  of   the    world.     Glasgow    drove 
it    out   as    soon    as    it    entered    it.     In  Johannesburg 
it   could   appear   but    once.     Its   municipality  made  a 
great  effort  and  stamped  it  out  within  a  month,  whereas 
we  are  able  to  produce  little  impression  upon    it.      We 
cannot  blame  the  Government  for  this    state  of    things. 
In  reality  we  cannot    make  our  poverty  answerable  for 
it.  None  can  interfere  with  us  in  the  prosecution  of  any 
remedies  that  we  might  wish  to  adopt.  Ahmedabad,  for 
instance,    cannot    evade     responsibility     by     pleading 
poverty.     I  fear  that  in  respect  of  the   plague  we   must 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  383 

shoulder  the  whole  responsibility.  It  is  a  matter  of 
wonderment  that  when  the  plague  is  working  havoc  in 
our  rural  quarters,  cantonments,  as  a  rule,  remain  free. 
Reasons  for  such  immunity  are  obvious.  In  the  canton- 
ments the  atmosphere  is  pure,  houses  detached,  roads  are 
wide  and  clean,  the  sanitary  habits  of  the  residents  are 
■except!  onally  sound.  Whereas  ours  are  as  unhygienic  as 
they  well  could  be.  Our  closets  are  pestilentially  dirty. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  our  population  go  barefoot,  people 
spit  anywhere,  perfrom  natural  functions  anywhere  and 
are  obliged  to  walk  along  roads  and  paths  thus  dirtied. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  the  plague  has  found  a  home  in  our 
midst. 

Unless  we  alter  the  conditions  of  our  cities,  rid  our- 
selves of  dirty  habits,  and  reform  our  castes,  Swaraj  for 
us  can  have  no  value. 

It  will  not  be  considered  out  of  place  here  to  refer 
to  the  condition  of  the  so-called  untouchables.  The 
result  of  considering  the  most  useful  members  of  society 
as  unworthy' of  being  even  touched  by  us,  has  been  that 
we  let  them  clean  only  a  part  of  our  closets.  In  the 
name  of  religion  we  ourselves  would  not  clean  the 
remainder,  for  fear  of  pollution,  and  so,  in  spite  of 
personal  cleanliness,  a  portion  of  our  houses  remains  the 
dirtiest  in  the  world,  with  the  result  that  we  are  brought 
up  in  an  atmosphere  which  is-  laden  with  disease  germs. 
We  were  safe  so  long  as  we  kept  to  our  villages.  But 
in  the  cities  we  ever  commit  suicide  by  reason  of  our 
insanitary  h^bjts- 

Where  many  die  before  their  death  there  is  every 
probability  that  people  are  devoid  of  both  religion  and 
its  practice,  I  believe  that  it  ought  not  to  be  beyond  us 
to  banish  the  plague  from  India,   and  if  we  could  do  so^ 


384  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

we  shall  have  increased  our  fitness  for  Swaraj,  as  i(r 
could  not  be  by  agitation,  no  matter  howsoever  great.- 
This  is  a  question  meriting  the  serious  consideration  of 
our  Doctors  and  Vaidyas. 

Our  sacred  Dakorji  is  our  next  door  neighbour.  I 
have  visited  that  holy  place.  Its  unholiness  is  limit- 
less. I  consider  myself  a  devout  Vaishnavite.  I  claim, 
therefore,  a  special  privilege  of  criticising  the  condition 
of  Dakorji.  The  insanitation  of  that  place  is  so  great, 
that  one  used  to  hygienic  conditions  can  hardly  bear  to 
pass  even  twenty-four  hours  there.  The  pilgrims  are 
permitted  to  pollute  the  tank  and  the  streets  as  they 
choose.  The  keepers  of  the  idol  quarrel  among  them- 
selves, and  to  add  insult  to  injury,  a  receiver  has  been 
appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  jewellery  and  costly 
robes  of  the  idol.  It  is  our  clear  duty  to  set  this  wrong 
right.  How  shall  we,  Gujaratis,  bent  on  attaining 
Swaraj,  discharge  ourselves  in  its  army,  if  we  cannot 
sweep  our  houses  clean  ? 

The  inconsideration  of  the  state  of  education  in  our 
cities  also  fills  us  with  despondency.  It  is  up  to  us  to 
provide  by  private  effort  for  the  education  of  the  masses. 
But  our  gaze  is  fixed  upon  Government,  whilst  our 
children  are  starving  for    want  of  education. 

In  the  cities  the  drink-evil  is  on  the  increase,  tea- 
shops  are  multiplying,  gambling  is  rampant.  If  we 
cannot  remedy  these  evils  how  should  we  attain  Swaraj 
whose  meaning  is  government  of  ourselves  ? 

We  have  reached  a  time  when  we  and  our  children 
are  likely  to  be  deprived  of  our  milk-supply.  Dairies  in 
Gujarat  are .  doing  us  infinite  harm.  They  Buy  out 
practically  the  whole  milk-supply  and  sell  its  products, 
butter,  cheese   etc,   in  a   wider  market.     How   can  a- 


GUJARAT   POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  385 

nation  whose  nourishment  is  chiefly  derived  from  milk 
allow  this  important  article  of  food  to  be  thus  exploited  ? 
How  can  men  be  heedless  of  the  national  health,  a|id 
think  of  enriching  themselves,  by  such  an  improper  use 
■of  this  article  of  diet  ?  Milk  and  its  products  are  of  such 
paramount  value  to  the  nation  that  they  deserve  to  be 
■controlled  by  the  municipalities.  What  are  we  doing 
about   them  ? 

I  have  just  returned  from  the  scene  of  Bakr-Id 
-riots.  For  an  insignificant  cause,  the  two  communities 
-quarrelled,  mischievous  men  took  advantage  of  it,  and  a 
mere    spark   became   a    blaze.     We   were   found  to  be 

helpless.     We  have  been    obliged  to  depend  only  upon 
■Government  assistance.     This  is  a  significant  illustration 

of  the  condition  I  am  trying  to  describe. 

It  will  not  be  inopportune  to  dwell  for  a  moment  on 
the  question  of  cow-protection.  It  is  an  important  ques- 
•tion.  And  yet  it  is  entrusted  to  the  so-called  cow-pro- 
tection societies.  The  protection  of  cows  is  an  old 
'Custom.  It  has  originated  in  the  necessity  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  country,.  Protection  of  its  cows  is  incumbent 
upon  a  country,  73  per  cent,  of  whose  population  lives 
upon  agriculture,  and  uses  only  bullocks  for  it.  In  such 
a  country  even  meat-eaters  should  abstain  from  beef- 
eating.  These  natural  causes  should  be  enough  justifi- 
cation for  not  killing  cows.  But  here  we  have  to  face  a 
peculiar  situation.  The  chief  meaning  of  cow-protection 
seems  to  be  to  prevent  cows  from  going  into  the  hands 
<of  our  Mussalman  brethren,  and  being  used  as  food. 
The  governing  class  seem  to  need  beef.  In  their  behalf 
thousands  of  cows  are  slaughtered  daily.  We  take  no 
steps  to  prevent  the  slaughter.  We  hardly  make  any 
attempt  to  prevent  the  cruel  torture  of  cows  by  certain 
25 


386  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

Hindu  dairies  of  Calcutta,  which  subject  them  to  cer- 
tain  indescribable  practices  and  make  them  yield  the 
last  drop  of  milk.  In  Gujarat  Hindu  drivers  use  spiked 
sticks  to  goad  bullocks  into  action.  We  say  nothing 
about  it.  The  bullocks  of  our  cities  are  to  be  seen  in  a 
pitiable  condition.  Indeed,  protection  of  the  cow  and  her 
progeny  is  a  very  great  problem.  With  us  it  has  de- 
generated into  a  pretext  for  quarrelling  with  the  Maho- 
medans,  and  we  have  thus  contributed  to  a  further 
slaughter  of  cow  s.  It  is  not  religion,  but  want  of  it,  to- 
kill  aMahomedan  brother  who  declines  to  part  with  his 
cow.  I  feel  sure  that  if  we  were  to  negotiate  with  our 
Mussalman  brothers  upon  a  basis,  of  love,  they  will 
appreciate  the  peculiar  condition  of  India  and  readily 
co-operate  with  us  in  the  protection  of  cows.  By  cour- 
tesy and  even  by  Satyagraha  we  can  engage  them  in 
that  mission.  But  in  order  to  be  able  to  do  this,  we 
shall  have  to  understand  the  question  in  its  true  bear- 
ing. We  shall  have  to  prepare  rather  to  die  than  to 
kill.  But  we  shall  be  able  to  do  this  only  when  we 
understand  the  real  value  of  the  cow  and  have  pure 
love  for  her.  Many  ends  will  be  automatically  served 
in  achieving  this  one  end.  Hindus  and  Mahomedans 
will  li-ve  in  peace,  milk  and  its  products  will  be  avail- 
able in  a  pure  condition  and  will  be  cheaper  than  now, 
and  our  bullocks  will  become  the  envy  of  the  world.  By 
real  tapasya  it  is  possible  for  us  to  stop  cow  slaughter 
whether  by  the  English,  Mahomedans  or  Hindus.  This 
one  act  will  bring    Swaraj  many    a  step  nearer. 

Many  of  the  foregoiiig  problems  belong  to  Munici- 
pal Government.  We  can,  therefore,  clearly  see  that 
National  Government  is  dependent  upon  purity  of  th& 
government  of  our  cities . 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL   CONFERENCE  387 

It  will  not  be  considered  an  improper  statement  to 
say  that  the  Swadeshi  movement  is  in  an  insane  condi- 
tion. We  do  not  realise  that  Swaraj  is  almost  wholly 
obtainable  through  Swadeshi.  If  we  have  no  regard  for 
our  respective  vernaculars,  if  we  dislike  our  clothes,  if 
our  dress  repels  us,  if  we  are  ashamed  to  wear  the  sacred 
Shikha,  if  our  food  is  distasteful  to  us,  our  climate  is  not 
good  enough,  our  people  uncouth  and  unfit  for  our  comp- 
any, our  civilisation  faulty  and  the  foreign  attractive,  in 
short,  if  ev  erything  native  is  bad  and  everything  foreign 
pleasing  to  us,  I  should  not  know  what  Swaraj  can 
mean  for  us.  If  everything  foreign  is  to  be  adopted, 
surely  it  will  be  necessary  for  us  to  continue  long  under 
foreign  tutelage,  because  foreign  civilisation  has  not 
permeated  the  masses,  It  seems  to  me  that,  before  we 
can  appreciate  Swaraj,  we  should  have  not  only  love 
but  passion,  for  Swadeshi.  Every  one  of  our  acts  should 
bear  the  Swadeshi  stamp.  Swaraj  can  only  be  built 
upon  the  assumption  that  most  of  what  is  national  is  on 
the  whole  sound.  If  the  view  here  put  forth  be  correct, 
the  Swadeshi  movement  ought  to  be  carried  on  vigor- 
ously. Every  country  that  has  carried  on  the  Swaraj 
movement  has  fully  appreciated  the  Swadeshi  spirit, 
The  Scotch  Highlanders  hold  on  to  their  kilts  even  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives.  We  humorously  call  the  High- 
landers the  'petticoat  brigade.'  But  the  whole  world 
testifies  to  the  strength  that  lies  behind  that  petticoat 
and  the  Highlanders  of  Scotland  will  not  abandon 
it,  even  though  it  is  an  inconvenient  dress,  and  an 
easy  target  for  the  enemy.  The  object  in  developing 
the  foregoing  argument  is  not  that  we  should  treasure 
our  faults,  but  that  what  is  national,  even  though 
comparatively  less  agreeable  should  be  adhered  to,  and. 


388  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

"that  what  is  foreign  should  be  avoided,  though  it  may 
be  more  agreeable  than  our  own.  That  which  is  want- 
ing in  our  civilisation  can  be  supplied  by  proper  effort 
on  our  part.  I  do  hope  that  the  Swadeshi  spirit  will 
'possess  every  member  in  this  assembly,  and  that  we 
would  carry  out  the  Swadeshi  vow  in  spite  of  great 
■difficulties  and  inconvenience.  Then  Swaraj  will  be 
■easy  of  attainment. 

The  foregoing  illustrations  go  to  show  that  our 
movement  should  be  twofold.  We  may  petition  the 
•Government,  we  may  agitate  in  the  Imperial  Council 
for  our  rights,  but  for  a  real  awakening  of  the  people, 
internal  activity  is  more  important.  There  is  likelihood 
of  hypocrisy  and  selfishness  tainting  external  activity. 
There  is  less  danger  of  such  a  catastrophe  in  the 
internal  activity.  Not  only  will  external  activity, 
without  being  balanced  by  the  internal,  lack  grace,  but 
it  is  likely  to  be  barren  of  results.  It  is  not  my 
■contention  that  we  Tiave  no  internal  activity  at  all,  but 
I  submit  that  we  do  not  lay  enough  stress  upon  it. 

One  sometimes  hears  it  said,  'Let  us  get  the  govern- 
ment of  India  in  our  own  hands,  and  every  thing  will 
be  all  right .'  There  could  be  no  greater  superstition 
than  this.  No  nation  has  thus  gained  its  independence. 
The  splendour  of  the  spring  is  reflected  in  every  tree, 
the  whole  earth  is  then  filled  with  the  freshness  of 
youth.  Similarly  when  the  Swaraj  spirit  has  really 
permeated  society,  a  stranger  suddenly  come  upon  us 
will  observe  energy  in  every  walk  of  life,  he  will  find 
national  servants  engaged,  each  according  to  his  own 
abilities,  in  a  variety  of  public  activities. 

If  we  admit  that  our  progress  has  not  been  what  it 
jnight  i^ave  been,  we  shall  have  to   admit  two    reasons 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  389 

for  it.  We  have  kept  our  women  strangers  to  theses 
activities  of  ours,  and  have  thus  brought  about  paraly- 
sis of  half  the  national  limb.  The  nation  walks  with 
one  leg  only.  All  its  work  appears  to  be  onl-y  half  or 
incompletely  done.  Moreover,  the  learnedi  sectiom 
having  received  its  education,  through  a  foreign  tongue^ 
has  become  enervated  and  it  is  unable  to  give  th& 
nation  the  benefit  of  such  ability  as  it  possesses.  I  nee<fi 
not  reiterate  my  views  on  this  subject,  as  I  have 
elaborated  them  in  my  address  delivered  before  th» 
Gujarat  Educational  Conference,  It  is  a  wise  decision,, 
that  of  conducting  the  proceedings  of  this  Conference  in; 
Gujarati,  and  I  hope  that  all  Gujaratis  will  adhere  to- 
the  determination  and  resist  every  temptation  to  alter  it». 

The  educated  class,  lovers  of  Swaraj,  must  freely 
mix  with  the  masses.  We  dare  not  reject  a  single 
member  of  the  community.  We  shall  make  progress 
only  if  we  carry  all  with  us.  Had,  the  educated  class 
identified  itself  with  the  masses,  Bakr-Id  riots  would 
have  been  an  impossibility. 

Before  coming  to  the  last  topic,  it  remains  for  me 
to  refer  to  Qertain  events  as  a  matter  of  duty  and-  tO' 
make  one  or  two  suggestions.  Every  year  the  god  of 
death  exacts  his  tdll  from  among  our  leaders,  I  do  not; 
intend  to  mention  all  such  occasions  of  sorrow .  But  it 
isr  impossible  to  omit  reference  to  the  Grand  Old  Maa 
of  India.  Who  am  I  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  service- 
rendered  to  the  country  by  the  deceased  patriot  ?  I  have 
only  sat  at  his  feet.  I  paid  my  respects  to  him  when  I 
went  to  London  as  a  mere  lad.  I  was  privileged  tO' 
carry  with  me  a  note  of  introduction  to  him,  and  from 
the  moment  of  presentation  I  became  his  worshipper. 
Dadabhai's    flawless  and   uninterrupted   service   to  the. 


390  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

country,  his  impartiality,  his  spotless  character,  will 
always  furnish  India  with  an  ideal  servant  of  his  coun- 
try. May  God  give  him  peace  !  May  He  grant  his 
family  and  the  Nation  the  ability  to  bear  the  loss  \  It 
is  possible  for  us  to  immortalise  him,  by  making  his 
character  our  own,  by  copying  his  manner  of  service 
and  by  enthroning  him  for  ever  in  our  hearts.  May  the 
great  soul  of  Dadabhai  watch  over  our  deliberations  ! 

It  is  our  duty  to  express  our  thanks  to  His  Excel- 
lency the  Viceroy  for  having  announced  the  decision  of 
the  government  of  India  to  abolish  what  is  known  as 
the  Viramgam  customs.  This  step  should  have  been 
taken  earlier.  The  nation  was  groaning  under  the  weight 
of  this  impost.  Many  have  lost  their  calling  by 
reason  of  it.  It  has  caused  much  suffering  to  many  a 
woman.  The  decision  has  not  yet  been  reduced  to 
practice.     It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  soon  be. 

I  have  submitted  through  the  Press  my  experiences 
about  the  hardships  of  third  class  railway  travellers. 
They  are,  indeed,  intolerable.  The  people  of  India  are 
docile,  they  have  received  training  in  silent  suffering. 
Thousands,  therefore,  put  up  with  the  hardships  and 
they  remain  unredressed.  There  is  merit  in  such  suffer- 
ing. But  it  must  have  its  limits.  Submission  out  of 
"weakness  is  unmanliness .  That  we  tamely  put  up  with 
the  hardships  of  railway  travelling  is  probably  proof  of 
our  unmanliness.  These  hardships  are  twofold.  They  are 
due  to  the  remissness  of  railway  administration  as  also 
that  of  the  travelling-public.  The  remedies  are  also, 
-therefore,  twofold.  Where  the  railway  administration  is 
to  blame,  complaints  should  be  addressed  to  it,  even  in 
Gujarati.  The  matter  should  be  ventilated  in  the  press. 
Where  the  public  are  to  blame,  the  knowing    travellers 


GUJARAT   POLITICAL   CONFERENCE  391 

•should  enlighten  [their  ignorant  companions,  as  to  their 
carelessness  and  dirty  habits.  Volunteers  are  required 
for  this  purpose.  Every  one  can  do  his  share,  according 
to  his  ability,  and  the  leading  men  might,  in  order  to 
appreciate  the  difficulties  of  third  class  travelling,  re- 
sort to  it  from  time  to  time,  without  making  themselves 
known,  and  bring  their  experiences  to  the  notice  of  the 
administration.  If  these  remedies  are  adopted,  we  should, 
in  a  short  time  see  great  changes. 

An  inter-departmental  committee  recently  sat  in 
London  to  consider  certain  measures  about  the  supply  of 
indentured  labour  to  Fiji  and  the  other  sister  islands. 
The  Report  of  that  committee  has  been  published  and 
the  Government  of  India  have  invited  the  opinion  of  the 
public  upon  it.  I  need  not  dwell  at  length  upon  the 
matter  as  I  have  [submitted  my  views  already  through 
the  press.  I  'have  given  it  as  my'opinion  that  the  re- 
commendations of  the  committee,  if  adopted,  will  result 
in  a  kind  of  indenture.  We  can  therefore  only  come  to 
one  conclusion.  We  can  have  no  desire  to  see  our 
labouring  classes  emigrating  under  bondage  in  any 
shape  or  form.  There  is  no  need  for  such  emigration. 
The  law  of  indenture  should  be  totally  Tabolished. 
It  is'no  part  of  our  I  duty -to  provide 'facilities  for  the 
Colonies.  ''    ■-  ^ 

I  now  reach  the  concluding  topic.  There  lare  two 
methods  of  attaining  desired  end :  Truthful  and 
Truthless,  In  our  scriptures  they  have  been  described 
respectively  as  divine  and  devilish.  In  the  path  of 
Satyagraha  there  is  >  always  | unflinching  adherence  'to 
Truth,  It  is  never  to  be  forsaken  on  any  account,  not 
even  for  the  sake  of  one's  country.  The  final  triumph  of 
Truth  is  always   assumed  [for  the    divine   method.     Its 


392  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

votary  does  not  abandou  it,  even  though  at  times  the- 
path  seems  impenetrable  and  beset  with  difficulties  and 
dangers,  and  a  departure  however  slight  from  that 
straight  "path  may  appear  full  of  promise.  His  faith 
even  then  shines  resplendent  like  the  midday  sun  and 
he  does  not  despond.  With  truth  for  sword,  he  needs- 
neither  steel  nor  gunpowder.  He  conquers  the  enemy 
by  the  force  of  the  soul,  which  is  Love.  Its  test  is  not 
to  be  found  among  friends.  There  is  neither  newness,. 
nor  merit  nor  yet  effort  in  a  friend  loving  a  friend.  It 
is  tested  truly  when  it  is  bestowed  on  the  so-called 
enemy  ;  it  then  becomes  a  virtue,  there  is  eflFort  in  it,  it 
is  an  act  of  manliness  and  real  bravery.  We  can  adopt 
this  method  towards  the  Government  and  doing  so,  we 
should  be  in  a  position  to  appreciate  their  beneficial 
activities  and  with  greater  ease  correct  their  errors  be- 
cause we  should  draw  attention  to  them  not  in  anger 
but  in  Love.  Love  does  not  act  through  fear.  There 
can,  therefore,  be  no  weakness  in  its  expression,  A  coward 
is  incapable  of  exhibiting  Love,  it  is  the  prerogative  of 
the  brave.  Following  this  method  we  shall  not  look  upon^ 
all  Governmental  activity  with  suspicion,  we  shall  not 
ascribe  bad  motives  to  them.  And  our  examination  of 
their  actions,  being  directed  by  Love,  will  be  unerring, 
and  is  bound,  therefore,  to  carry  conviction  with  them. 

Love  has  its  strugglies.  In  the  intoxication  of  power,, 
man  often  fails  to  detect  his  mistakes.  When  that 
happens  a  Passive  Resist er  does  not  sit  still.  He- 
suffers.  He  disobeys  the  ruler's  laws  and  orders  in  a 
civil  manner,  and  willingly  incurs  hardships  caused  by 
such  disobedience,  [e.g.,  imprisonment  and  gallows.]; 
Thus  is  the  soul  disciplined.  Here  there  is  no  waste  of 
energy,  and  any  untoward    results    of    such  respectful 


GUJARAT  POLITICAL  CONFERENCE  39? 

disobedience  are  suffered  merely  by  him   and  his   com- 
panions.   A  Passive  Resister  is  not  at  sixes  and  sevens 
with  those    in  power    but  the  latter   willingly  yield   to- 
him.  They  know  that  thecp  cannot  effectively  exercise  force 
agaitfst  the  Passive  Resister,     Without  his   concurrence 
they  cannot  make  him  do  their  will.     And  this  is  the  fulV 
fruition  of  Swaraj,  because   in  it  is   complete   indepen- 
dence.    It  need   not   be   taken   for   granted,    that   such 
decorous  resistance  is  possible  only   in    respect   of  civi- 
lised rulers.     Even  a  heart  of  flint  will  melt  in  front  of 
a  Sre  kindled  by  the  power  of  the    soul.    Even  a  Nero 
becomes  a  lamb  when    he  faces  Love.     This  is  no  exag- 
geration.    It  is  as  true  as  an  algebraical  equation.  This 
Satyagraba  is  India's  special  weapon.  It  has  had  others 
but  Satyagraha  has  commanded  greater  attention.     It  is- 
omnipresent,  and  is    capable  of   being  used    at  all  times 
and   under   all    circumstances.     It   does   not    require  a 
Congress  license.    He  who  knows  its  power  cannot  help- 
using  it.     Even  as  the  eye-lashes  automatically  protect 
the  eyes,  so  does  Satyagraha  when  kindled  automatical- 
ly protect  the  freedom  of  the  Soul, 

But  truthlessness  has  opposite  attributes.  The- 
terrible  war  going  on  in  Europe  is  a  case  in  point. 
Why  should  a  nation's  cause  be  considered-  right  and' 
another's  wrong  because  it  overpowers  the  latter  by 
sheer  brute  force  ?  The  strong  are  often  seen  preying 
upon  the  weak.  The  wrongness  of  the  latter's  cause  is 
not  to  be  inferred  from  their  defeat  in  a  trial  of  brute 
strength,  nor  is  the  rightness  of  the  strong  to  be  inferred 
from  their  success  in  such  a  trial.  The  wielder  of  brute 
force  does  not  scruple  about  the  means  to  be  used. 
He  does  not  question'  the  propriety  of  means,  if  he 
can    somehow     achieve     his    purpose.      This    is    not 


394  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

Dharma,  it  is  Adharmaj  In  Dharma,  there  cannot  be 
a  particle  of  untruth,  cruelty  or  the  taking  of  life.  The 
measure  of  Dharma  is  the  measure  of  love,  kindness, 
truth.  Heaven  itself  is  no  acceptable  exchange  for 
them.  Swaraj  itself  is  useless  at  the  sacrifice  of  Truth. 
Sacrifice  of  Truth  is  the  foundation  of  a  nation's  destruc- 
tion. The  believer  in  brute  force  becomes  impatient 
aijd  desires  the  death  of  -the  so-called  enemy.  There 
can  be  but  one  result  of  such  an  activity.  Hatred 
increases.  The  defeated  party  vows  vengeance,  and 
simply  bides  his  time.  Thus  does  the  spirit  of  revenge 
descend  from  father  to  son.  It  is  much  to  be  wished 
that  India  may  not  give  predominance  to  the  worship 
of  brute  force.  If  the  members  of  this  assembly  will 
deliberately  accept  Satyagraha,  in  laying  down  its  own 
programme,  they  will  reach  their  goal  all  the  easier  for 
it.  They  may  have  to  face  disappointment  in  the  initial 
stages.  They  may  not  see  results  for  a  time.  But 
Satyagraha  will  triumph  in  the  end.  The  brute-force- 
man  like  the  oilman's  ox  moves  in  a  circle.  It  is  a 
motion,  but  it  is  not  progress.  Whereas  the  votary  of 
Truth  force  ever  moves  forward. 

A  superficial  critic  reading  the  foregoing  is  likely 
to  conclude  that  the  views  herein  expressed  are  mutual- 
ly destructive.  On  the  one  hand  I  appeal  to  the  Govern- 
ment to  give  military  training  to  the  people.  On  the 
other  I  put  Satyagraha  on  the  pedestal.  Surely  there 
can  be  no  room  for  the  use  of  arms  in  Satyagraha,  nor  is 
there  any.  But  military  training  is  intended  for  those 
who  do  not  believe  in  Satyagraha.  That  the  whole  of 
India  will  ever  accept  Satyagraha  is  beyond  my  imagin- 
ation. Not  to  defend  the  weak  is  an  entirely  effeminate 
idea,  everywhere  to  be  rejected.    In  order  to  protect  our 


GUJARAT    POLITICAL   CONFERENCE  395 

innocent  sister  from  the  brutal  designs  of  a  man  we  ought 
to  offer  ourselves  a  willing  sacrifice  and  by  the  force  of 
Love  conquer  the  brute  in  the  man.  But  if  we  have  not 
attained  that  power,  we  would  certainly  use  up  all  our 
bodily  strength  in  order  to  frustrate  those  designs.  The 
votaries  of  soul-force  and  brute-force  are  both  sdldiers. 
The  latter,  bereft  of  his  arms,  acknowledges  defeat,  the 
former  does  not  know  what  defeat  is.  He  does  not  de- 
pend upon  the  perishable  body  and  its  weapons,  but  he 
derives  his  strength  from  the  unconquerable  and  im- 
mortal soul.  The  thing  outside  the  two  is  not  a  man, 
for  he  does  not  recognise  the  Dweller  within  him.  If 
he  did,  he  would  not  take  fright  and  run  away  from 
danger.  Like  a  miser  trying  to  save  his  flesh,  he 
loses  all,  he  does  not  know  how  to  die.  But  the 
armoured  soldier  always  has  death  by  him  as  a  com- ' 
paiiion.  There  is  hope  of  his  becoming  a  Passive 
Resister,  and  one  has  a  right  to  hope  that  India, 
the  holy  land  of  the  gods,  will  ever  give  the  predomi- 
nant place  to  the  divine  force,  rather  than  to  the 
brute  force.  Might  is  right,  is  a  formula  which,  let  us 
hope,  will  never  find  acceptance  in  India.  Her  formula 
is,  Truth  alone  conquers. 

Upon  reflection,  we  find  that  we  can  employ  Satya- 
graha  even  for  social  reform.  We  can  rid  ourselves  of 
many  defects  in  our  social  institutions.  We  can  settle 
the  Hindu-Mohammedan  problem,  and  we  can  deal  with 
political  questions.  It  is  well  that  for  the  sake  of  facili- 
tating progress  we  divide  our  activities  according  to  the 
subjects  handled.  But  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that 
all  are  inter-related.  It  is  not  true  to  say  that  neither 
religion  nor  social  reform  has  anything  to  do  with  poli- 
tics.    The  result  obtained  by  bringing  religion  into  play 


396  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

in  the  consideration  of  political  subjects  will  be  different 
from  that  obtained  without  it.  The  Hindus  can  ill  afford 
ta neglect  56  lakhs  of  ignorant  Sadhus  in  considering; 
political  matters.  Our  Mussalman  brethren  cannot  lose 
sight  of  their  Fakeers.  In  advancing  political  progress 
the  condition  of  our  widows  and  child  marriages  must 
have  their  proper  place,  and  the  purdah  must  tax 
Mussalman  wit.  Nor  can  we,  Hindus  and  Muhammedans, 
in  considering  politics,  shut  our  eyes  to  scores  of 
questions  that  arise  between  us. 

Indeed  our  difficulties  are  like  the  Himalayas.  But 
we  have  equally  powerful  means  at  our  disposal  for 
removing  them.  We  are  children  of  an  ancient  nation.- 
We  have  witnessed  the- burial  of  civilizations,  those  of 
Rome,  Greece,  and  Egypt.  Our  cvilization  abides  even 
as  the  ocean  in  spite  of  its  ebbs  and  flows.  We  have 
all  we  need  to  keep  ourselves  independent.  V/e  have- 
the  mountains  that  kiss  the  sky,  we  have  the  mighty 
rivers.  We  have  the  matchless  beauties  of  nature 
and  we  have  handed  down  to  us  a  heritage  of  deeds- 
o£  valour.  This  country  is  the  treasure-house  of 
tapasya.  In  this  country  alone  do  people  be- 
longing to  different  religions  live  together  in  amity. 
In  this  country  alone  do  all  the  gods  receive 
their  due  measure  of  worship.  We  shall  disgrace  our 
heritage,  and  our  connection  with  the  British  nation, 
will  be  vain,  if  in  spite  of  such  splendid  equipment,  by 
some  unique  effort,  we  do  not  conquer  our  conquerors. 
The  English  nation  is  full  of  adventure,  the  religiouft 
spirit  guides  it,  it  has  unquenchable  faith  in  itself,  it  is. 
a  nation  of  great  soldiers,  it  treasures  its  independence, 
but  it  has  given  the  place  of  honour  to  its  commerical 
instinct,    it    has    not   always   narrowly    examined    the- 


ADDRESS  TO   SOCIAL    SERVICE   CONFERENCE      397 

means  adopted  for  seeking  wealth.  It  worships  modern 
civilisation.  The  ancient  ideals  have  lost  their  hold 
upon  it.  If  therefore,  instead  of  imitating  that  nation, 
we  do  not  forget  our  past,  we  have  real  regard 
for  our  civilisation,  we  have  firm  faith  in  its  supremacy, 
we  shall  be  able  to  make  a  proper  use  of  our  connection 
with  the  British  nation,  and  make  it  beneficial  to 
ourselves,  to  them  and  to  the  whole  world.  I  pray 
to  the  Almighty  that  this  assembly  taking  its  full  share 
•of  this  great  work  may  shed  lustre  upon  itself,  upon 
Gujarat,  and  upon  the  whole  of  Bharatavarsha. 


ADDRESS  TO  SOCIAL  SERVICE 
CONFERENCE 


Mr.  Gandhi  delivered  the  following  address  as 
President  of  the  First  All-India  Sovial  Service  Oon- 
Jerenoe  held  at  Calcutta  on  December  27,  1917. 

Friends,  I  thank  you  for  the  honour  you  have  con- 
ferred upon  me.  I  was  totally  unprepared  for  the  in- 
vitation to  preside  over  the  deliberations  of  this 
assembly.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  fitted  for  the  task. 
Having  fixed  views  about  the  use  of  Hindi  at  national 
gatherings,  I  am  always  disinclined  to  speak  in  English. 
And  I  felt  that  the  time  was  not  ripe  for  me  to  ask  to  be 
allowed  to  deliver  the  Presidential  Speech  in  Hindi. 
Moreover  I  have  not  much  faith  in  conferences.  Social 
Service  to  be  effective  has  to  be  rendered  without  noise. 
It  is  best  performed  when  'the  left  hand  knoweth  not 
what  the  right  is  doing.  Sir  Gibbie's  work  told  because 
nobody  knew  it.  He  could  not  be  spoiled  by  praise  or, 
held  back  by  blame.  Would  that  our  service  were  of 
this   nature.    Holding  such    views   it  was  not   without 


398  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

considerable  hesitation  and  misgivings  that  I  obeyed  the 
summons  of  the  Reception  Committee.  You  will,  there- 
fore, pardon  me  if  you  find  in  me  a  candid  critic  rather 
than  an  enthusiast  carrying  the  qpnference  to  its  goal 
with  confidence  and  assurance. 

It  seems  to  me  then  that  I  cannot  do  better  than 
draw  attention  to  some  branches  of  Social  Service 
which  we  have  hitherto  more  or  less  ignored. 

The  greatest  service  we  can  render  society  is  to  free 
ourselves  and  it  from  the  superstitious  regard  we  have 
learnt  to  pay  to  the  learning  of  the  English  language.  It 
is  the  medium  of  instruction  in  our  schools  and  colleges. 
It  is  becoming  the  lingua  franca  of  the  country.  Our 
best  thoughts  are  expressed  in  it.  Lord  Chelmsford 
hopes  that  it  will  soon  take  the'  place  of  the  mother 
tongue  ii)  high  families.  This  belief  in  the  necessity 
of  English  training  has  enslaved  us.  It  has  unfitted  us 
for  true  national  service.  Were  it  not  for  force  of  habit, 
we  could  not  fail  to  see  that,  by  reason  of  English  being 
the  medium  of  instruction,  our  intellect  has  been 
segregated,  we  have  been  isolated  from  the  masses, 
the  best  mind  of  the  nation  has  become  gagged  and  the 
masses  have  not  received  the  benefit  of  the  new  ideas  ^ 
we  have  received.  We  have  been  engaged  these  past 
sixty  years  in  memorising  strange  words  and  their 
pronunciation  instead  of  assimilating  facts.  In  the  place 
of  building  upon  the  foundation,  the  training  received 
from  our  parents,  we  have  almost  unlearnt  it.  There 
is  no  parallel  to  this  in  History.  It  is  a  national 
tragedy.  The  first  and  the  greatest  Social  Service  we 
can  render  is  to  revert  to  our  vernaculars,  to  restore 
Hindi  to  its  natural  place  as  the  National  Language 
and  begin  carrying  on   all   our  provincial  proceedings 


ADDRESS  TO  SOCIAL  SERVICE  CONFERENCE    399 

in  our  respective  vernaculars  and  national  proceedings 
in  Hindi.  We  ought  not  to  rest  till  our  schools 
and  colleges  give  us  instruction  through  the  verna- 
culars. It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  even  for  the 
sake  of  our  English  friends  to  have  to  speak  in  English. 
Every  English  Civil  and  Military  Officer  has  to  know 
Hindi.  Most  English  merchants  learn  it  because  they 
need  it  for  their  business.  The  da/  must  soon  come 
when  our  legislatures  will  debate  national  aflfairs  in  the 
vernaculars  or  Hindi  as  the  case  may  be.  Hitherto  the 
masses  have  been  strangers  to  their  proceedings.  The 
vernacular  papers  have  tried  to  undo  the  mischief  a  little. 
But  the  task  was  beyond  them.  The  Patrika  reserves  its 
biting  sarcasm,  the  Bengalee  its  learning  for  ears  tuned 
to  English.  In  this  ancient  land  of  cultured  thinkeirs 
the  presence  in  our  midst  of  a  Tagore  or  a  Bose  or  a 
Ray  ought  not  to  excite  wonder.  Yet  the  painful  fact 
is  that  there  are  so  few  of  them.  You  will  forgive  me 
if  I  have  carried  too  long  on  a  subject  whicli,  in  your 
opinion,  may  hardly  be  treated  as  an  item  of  Social 
Service.  I  have  however  taken  the  liberty  of  mention- 
ing the  matter  prominently  as  it  is  my  conviction  that 
all  national  activity  suffers  materially  owing  to  this 
radical  defect  in  our  system  of  education. 

Coming  to  more  familiar  items  of  Social  Service, 
the  list  is  appalling.  I  shall  select  only  those  of 'which 
I  have  any  knowledge. 

Work  in  times  of  sporadic  distress  such  as  famine 
and  floods  is  no  doubt  necessary  and  most  praiseworthy. 
But  it  produces  no  permanent  results.  There  are  fields 
of  Social  Service  in  which  there  may  be  no  renown  but 
which  may  yield  lasting  results. 

In  1914  choleraj  fevers  and  plague  together  claimed 


400  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

4,649,663   victims.      If     so    many   had    died     fighting 
on   the   battlefield  during  the   war  that  is  at  present 
^devastating  Europe,  we   would  have  covered  ourselves 
with    glory    and    lovers    of    Swaraj    would    need    no 
further   argument   in    support  of  their  cause.     As  it  is, 
4,639,663    have    died    a    lingering    death    unmourned 
and  their  dying    has    brought   us   nothing  but  discredit. 
A   distinguished   Englishman    said  the    other  day  that 
Englishmen  did  all   the   thinking    for    us  whilst  we  sat 
supine.     He  added  that  most   Englishmen   basing  their 
.opinions   on   their   English    experience    presented    im- 
possible or  costly  remedies  for   the    evils  they  investi- 
gated.   There   is  much   truth   in  the   above  statement. 
In  other  countries  reformers  have   successfully  grappled 
with  epidemics.     Here  Englishmen  have  tried  and  fail- 
ed.    They  have  thought   along    western    lines  ignoring 
the    vast    differences,    climatic    and     other,    between 
Europe  and  India.     Our   doctors    and   physicians  have 
practically  done  nothing.     I  am  sure   that   half-a-dozen 
^medical  men  of  the  front  rank    dedicating    their  lives  to 
the  work  of  eradicating  the    triple    curse  would  succeed 
where  Englishmen  have   failed.     I   venture  to  suggest 
that  the  way    lies    not    through    finding   out  cures  but 
through  finding  or  rather  applying  preventive  methods. 
J  prefer  to  use  the   participle  '  applying '  for    I  have  it 
.on    the    aforementioned    authority    that    to    drive  out 
plague    (and   I  add   cholera    and    malaria)  is  absurdly 
simple.    There  is  no  conflict    of  opinion   as  to    the  pre- 
ventive   methods.     We    simply    do    not    apply  them. 
We  have  made  up  our  minds    that   the  masses  will  not 
adopt  them.  There  could  be  no  greater  calumny  uttered 
against     them.     If    we    would  but    stoop    to  conquer, 
they  can   be   easily   conquered.     The   truth    is  that  we 


ADDRESS   TO   SOCIAL   SERVICE  CONFERENCE      401 

•expect  the  Government  to  do  the  work.  In  my  opinion, 
in  this  matter,  the  Government  cannot  lead  ;  they  can 
follow  and  help  if   we   could    lead.     Here,    then,   there 

lis  work  enough  for  our  doctors  and  an  army  of  workers 
to  help  them.  I  note  that  you  in  Bengal  are  work- 
ing somewhat  in  this  direction.  I  may  state  that  a 
small    but    earnest    band    of    volunteers    are  at    the 

■present  moment, engaged  in  doin^  such  work  in  Chami- 
paran.  They  are  posted  in  different  villages.  There 
they  teach  the  village  children,  they  give  medical  aid 
to  the  sick  and  they  give  practical  lessons  in  hygiene  to 
the  village  folk  by  cleaning  their  wells  and  roads  and 
showing  them  how  to  treat  human  excreta.  Nothing  can 
yet  be  predicted  an  to  results  as  the  experiment  is  in  its 
infancy.  This  Conference  may  usefully  appoint  a  com- 
-mittee  of  doctors  who  would  study  rural  conditions  on  the 
;spot  and  draw  up  a  course  of  instructions  for  the 
-guidance  of  workers  and  of  the  people  at    large. 

Nothing  perhaps  affords  such  splendid  facility  to 
every  worker,  wholetime  or  otherwise,  for  effective 
service  as  the  relief  of  agony  through  which  the  3rd 
class  railway  passengers  are  passing.  I  feel  keenly  about 
this  grievance  not  because  I  am  in  it  but  I  have  gone  to 
it  as  I  have  felt  keenly  about  -it.  This  matter  affects 
jnillions  of  our  poor  and  middle  class  countrymen.  This 
helpless  toleration  of  every  inconvenience  and  insult  is 
visibly  deteriorating  the  nation  even  as  the  cruel  treat- 
ment to  which  we  have  subjected  the  so-called  depressed' 
classes  has  made  them  indifferent  to  the  laws  of  personal 
-cleanliness  and  the  very  idea  of  self-respect.  What 
else  but  downright  degradation  can  await  those  who 
have  to  make  a  scramble  always  like  mad  animals  for 
rseats  in  a  miserable  compartment,  who  have  to  swear 
26 


402  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES 

and  curse  before  they  can  speak  through  the  window  in 
order    to  get  standing   room,  who  have    to   wallow    in 
dirt  during   their   journey,  who  are   served   their   food 
like  dogs  and  eat  it    like  thena,    who  have   ever  to  bend 
before  those  who  are  physically  stronger  than  they  and 
who  being  packed  like   sardines  in,  compartments  have 
to  get  such  sleep   as  they   can  in  a   sitting   posture   for 
nights  together.  Railway  servants  swear  at  them,  cheat 
them.  On  the  Howrah-Lahore  service  our  friends  from 
Kabul  fill  to  the  brim  the   cup   of   the   misery   of   the 
third    class    travellers.     They    become    lords    of    the 
compartments  they  enter.     It   is   not    possible   for  any 
one  to  resist  them.     They  swear  at  you  on  the  slightest" 
pretext,  exhaust  the  whole  of  the   obscene   vocabulary 
of  the  Hindi  language,     They  do   not  hesitate  to   bela- 
bour you    if   you   retort   or   in   any    way   oppose  them. 
They  usurp  the  best  seats  and  insist  on  stretching  them- 
selves full  length  even  in   crowded    compartment.     Na 
compartment  is  deemed  too  crowded  for   them  to    enter. 
The  travellers  patiently  bear   all  their   awful   imperti-- 
nence  out  of  sheer  helplessness.    They    would,   if   they 
could,  knock  down  the  man  who  dared  to  swear  at  them 
as  do  these  Kabulis.    But  they  are  physically  no  match 
for  the  Kabulis   and   every    Kabuli   considers   himself 
more  than  a  match  for  any   number  of   travellers   from- 
the    plains.      This    is   not    right.     The    effect   of  this 
terrorising    on   the   national    character    cannot    but   be 
debasing.     We  the  educated  few  ought    to   deliver  the 
travelling  public     from     this      scourge     or     for  ever 
renounce  our  claim  to  speak  on   its  behalf   or  to    guide' 
it.     I  believe  the  Kabulis    to    be  amenable    to  reason.- 
They  are  a  God-fearing  people.     If  you  know  their  lan- 
guage, you  can  successfully  appeal   to  their  good  sense.. 


ADDRESS  TO   SOCIAL  SERVICE  CONFERENCE    .403 

But  they  are  spoilt  children  of  nature.  Cowards  among 
us  have  used  their  undoubted  physical  strength  for  our 
nefarious  purposes.  And  they  have  now  come  to  think 
that  they  can  treat  poor  people  as  they  choose  and  cou" 
sider  themselves  above  the  law  of  the  land.  Here  is 
work  enough  for  Social  Service.  Volunteers  for  this 
class  of  work  can  board  trains  and  educate  the  people  to 
a  sense  of  their  duty,  call  in  guards  and  other  officials 
in  order  to  remove  over-crowding,  see  that  passengers 
leave  and  board  trains  without  a  scramble.  It  is  clear 
that  until  the  Kabulis  can  be  patiently  taught  to  be- 
have themselves,  they  ought  to  have  a  compartment 
all  to  themselves  and  they  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to 
enter  any  other  compartment.  With  the  exception  of 
providing  additional  plant,  every  one  of  the  other  evils 
attendant  on  railway  travelling  ought  to  be  immediately 
redressed.  It  is  no  answer  that  we  have  suffered  -the 
wrong  so  long.  Prescriptive  rights  cannot  accrue  to 
wrongs. 

No  less  important  is  the  problem  of  the  depressed 
classes.  To  lift  them  from  the  position  to  which  Hindu 
society  has  reduced  them  is  to  remove  a  big  blot  on 
Hinduism.  The  present  treatment  of  these  classes  is  a 
sin  against  religion  and  humanity. 

But  the  work  requires  service  of  the  highest  order. 
We  shall  make  little  headway  by  merely  :^'thowing 
schools  at  them.  We  must  change  the  attitude  of  the 
masses  and  orthodoxy.  I  have  already  shown  that  we 
have  cut  ourselves  adrift  from  both.  We  do  not  react 
on  them.  We  can  do  so  only  if  we  speak  to  them  in 
their  own  language,  An  anglicised  India  cannot  speak 
to  them  With  effect.  If  we  believe  in  Hinduism  we 
must  approach  them  in  the   Hindu  fashion.     We  must 


404        EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

do  tapasya  and  keep  our  Hinduism  undefiled.  Pure 
and  enlightened  orthodoxy  must  be  matched  against 
superstitious  and  ignorant  orthodoxy.  To  restore  to 
their  proper  status  a  fifth  of  our  total  population  is  a 
task  worthy  of  any  Social  Service  organisation. 

The  bustees  of  Calcutta  and  the  chawls  of  Bombay 
ibadly  demand  the  devoted  services  of  hundreds  of 
social  workers.  They  send  our  infants  to  an  early 
grave  and  promote  vice,  degradation  and  filth. 

Apart  from  the  fundamental  evil  arising  out  of  our 
defective  system    of    education    I    have  hitherto  dealt 
with  evils  calling  for  service  among  the   masses.    The 
classes    perhaps    demand    no    less    attention  than  the 
masses  i    It  is  my    opinion    that  all   evils  like  diseases 
are  symptoms  of  the  same  evil  or  disease.    They  appear 
various    by    being    refracted    through  different  media. 
The    root    evil    is    loss-  of    true    spirituality  brought 
about    through    causes,    I   cannot    examine,    from  this 
platform.    We  have  lost  the    robust   faith   of  our  fore- 
fathers in  the  absolute  efficacy  of  Saiya  (truth)  Ahimsa 
{love)  and  Brahmacharya  (Self-restraint.)  We  certainly 
believe  in  them  to  an  extent.     They  are  the  best  policy 
but  we  may  deviate  from  them  if  our  untrained  reason, 
suggests  deviation.     We  have  not  faith    enough  to  feel 
that   though   the   present    outlook   seems   black,  if  we 
follow   the   dictates    of   truth   or   love  or  exercise  self- 
restraint,    the   ultimate    result    must    be   sound.    Men 
whose  spiritual  vision  has[  become   blurred   mostly  look 
to  the   present  rather    than   conserve   the   future  good. 
He  will  render  the  greatest  social   service   who  vviil  re-' 
instate  us  in  our  ancient   spirituality.     But  humble  men 
that  we  are,  it  is  enough  (or  us  if  we  recognise   the  loss 
and  by  such  ways  as  are   open  to  us   prepare  the  way- 


ADDRESS  TO   SOCIAL    SERVICE   CONFERENCE   405 

for  the  man  who  will  infect  us  with  his  power  and 
enable  us  to  feel  clearly  through  the  heart,  things  we, 
are  to-day  unable  to  perceive  through  our  reason. 

Looking  then  at  the  classes  I  find  that  our  Rajahs 
and  Maharajahs  squander  their  resources  after  so  called 
useless  sport  and  drink,  I  was  told  the  other  day  that 
the  cocaine  habit  was  sapping  the  nation's  manhood 
and  that  like  the  drink  habit  it  was  on  the  increase  and 
in  its  effect  more  deadly  than  drink.  It  is  impossible 
for  a  social  worker  to  blind  himself  to  the  evil.  We 
dare  not  ape  the  West.  We  are  a  nation  that  has  lo&t 
its  prestige  and  its  self-respect.  Whilst  a  tenth  of  our 
population  is  living  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  we  have 
no  time  for  indulging  ourselves.  What  the  West  may 
do  with  impunity  is  like  in  our  case  to  prove  our  ruin. 
The  evils  that  are  corroding  the  higher  strata  of  society 
are  difficult  for  an  ordinary  worker  to  tackle.  They 
have  acquired  a  certain  degree  of  respectability.  But 
they  ought  not  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  this  Con- 
ference. 

Equally  important  is  the  question  of  the  status  of 
women  both  Hindu  and  Mahomedan.  Are  they  or  are 
they  not  to  play  their  full  part  in  the  plain  of  regenera- 
tion alongside  of  their  husband  ?  They  must  be  enfran- 
chised. They  can  no  longer  be  treated  either  as  dolls, 
or  slaves  without  the  social  body  remaining  in  a  condi- 
tion of  social  paralysis.  And  here  again  I  would  venture 
to  suggest  to  the  reformer  that  the  way  to  women's 
freedom  is  not  through  education  but  through  the 
change  of  attitude  on  the  part  of  men  and  corresponding 
action.  Education  is  necessary  but  it  must  follow  the 
freedom.  We  dare  not  wait  for  literary  education  to 
restore  our  womanhood  to  its  proper  state.  Even  without 


406  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES. 

literary  education  our  women  are  as  cultured  as  any  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  The  remedy  largely  lies  in  the 
hands  of  husbands; 

It  makes  my  blood  boil  as  I  wander  through  the 
country  and  watch  lifeless  and  fleshless  oxen  with  their 
ribs  sticking  through  their  skins,  carrying  loads  or 
ploughing  our  fields.  To  improve:the  breed  of  our  cattle, 
to  rescue  them  from  the  cruelty  practised  on  them  by 
their  cow-worshipping  masters  and  to  isave  them  from 
the^slaughter  house  is  to  solve  half  the  problem  of  our 

pfeverty We    have   to     educate  the    people   to    a 

humane  use  of  their  cattle  and  plead  with  the  Govern- 
ment to  conserve  the  pasture  land  of  the  country. 
Protection  of  the  cow  is  an  economic  necessity.  It 
can  not  be  brought  about  by  force.  It  can  only 
be  achieved  by  an  appeal  to  the  finer  feelings  of 
our  English  friends  and  our  Mahomedan  countrymen  t6 
save  the  cow  from  the  slaughter-house.  This  question 
involves  the  overhauling  of  the  management  of  our 
Pinjrapoles  and  cow-protection  societies.  A  proper 
solution  of  this  very  difficult  problem  means  establish- 
ment of  perfect  concord  between  Hindus  and  Maho- 
m^ans  and  an  end  of  Bakr-id  riots, 

I  have  glanced  at  the  literature  kindly  furnished  at 
my  request  by  the  several  Leagues  who  are  rendering 
admirable  Social  Service.  I  note  that  some  have  inclu- 
ded in  their  programme  many  of  the  items  mentioned 
by  me.  All  the  Leagues  are  non-sectarian  and  they  have 
as  their  members  the  most  distinguished  men  and 
women  in  the  land.  The  possibilities  for  services  of  a 
far  reaching  character  are  therefore  great.  But  if  the 
work  is  to  leave  its  impress  on  the  nation,  we  must  have 
workers    who   are  prepared,  in  Mr.   Gokhale's  words,—' 


THE  PROTECTION   OF  THE    COW  407 

-to  dedicate  their  lives    to    the    cause.    Give  me  such 
workers  and  I  promise  they  will  rid  the  land  of  all  the 
-evils  that  afflict  it. 


THE  PROTECTION  OF  THE  COW. 


Mr.  Gandhi  published    the   following   reply  in  the 
''Statesman''  of  January  19,  1918  to   Mr.  Irwin's  attack 
on  Mr.  and   Mrs.   Gandhi   in   the   columns   of  the  same 
Journal : — 

Mr.  Irwin's  latest  letter  published  in  your  issue 
of  the  12th  instant  compels  me  to  court  the  hospitality 
•of  your  columns.  So  long  as  your  correspondent  con 
fined  himself  to  matters  directly  affecting  himself,  his 
misrepresentations  did  not  much  matter,  as  the  real 
facts  were  as  much  within  the  knowledge  of  the 
Government  and  those  who  are  concerned  with  the 
agrarian  question  in  Champaran,  as  within  mine.  But 
in  the  letter  under  notice,  he  has  travelled  outside  his 
jurisdiction  as  it  were,  and  unc  hivalrously  attacked  one 
of  the  most  innocent  women  walking  on  the  face  of 
the  earth  (and  this  I  say  alt  hough  she  happens  to  be 
my  wife)  and  has  unpardonably  referred  to  a  question 
■of  the  greatest  moment,  I  mean,  the  cow-protection 
question,  without  taking  the  precaution  as  behoves  a 
gentleman  of  ascertaining  facts  at  first  hand. 

My  address  to  the  Gau-rakshini  Sabha  he  could 
have  easily  obtained  upon  application  to  me.  This  at 
least  was  due  to  me  as  between  man  and  man.  Your 
correspondent  accuses  me  of  '  making  a  united  attack 
, on  saheb  log  {theit  landlords)  who  slaughter  and  eat 
cows  daily.'  This  pre-supposes  that  I  was  addressing 
a  comparatively  microscopic    audience   of  the  planters' 


408  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

riyats.     The  fact  is  that  the  audience  was  composed' 
chiefly  of  the  non-raiyat   class.  ,  But   I    had   in  mind  a 
much  bigger  audience,  and  not  merely  the  few  thousand' 
hearers  before  me.     I    spoke   under  a   full  sense  of  my 
responsibility.    The   question    of   cow-protection    is,  iu 
my  opinion,  as  laFge  as  the  Empire  to  which  Mr.  Irwin 
and  I  belong.     I  know  that  he  is  the   proud  father  of  a. 
young  lad  of  24,  who  has  received  by  his  gallantry  the 
unique  honour    of  a   Colonelcy  at    his  age.     Mr,  Irwin 
can,  if  he  will,  obtalt  a  greater   honour   for    himself  by- 
studying  the  cow  question  and  taking  his   full   share  in 
its  solution.     He  will,  I  promise,  be   then   much  better- 
occupied,  than  when  is' dashing   off    his   misrepresenta- 
tions to  be  published    in   the  press,   and    most  tmneces-- 
sarily  preparing  to  bring  2,200  cases  against  his  tenants 
for  the  sake  of  deriving     the    questionable    pleasure  of 
deeming  me  responsible  for  those  cases. 

I  said  at  the  meeting  that  the  Hitadus  had    no  war- 
rant for  resenting  the  slaughter  of  cows  by  their  Maho- 
medan  brethren  who  kill  them  from  religious  conviction,, 
so  long  as  they  themselves  were  a    party    to  the  killing- 
by  inches  of  thousands  of  cattle  who  were  horribly  ill- 
treated  by  their  Hindu  owners,   to  the  drinking  of  milk- 
drawn  from  cows  in  the    inhuman   dairies   of   Calcutta, 
and  so  long  as  they  calmly  contemplated   the  slaughter 
of  thousands  of  cattle  in    the    slaughter  houses  of  India, 
for  providing  beef   for    the   European  or  Christian  resi- 
dents of  India.     I  suggested  that  the  first   step  towards- 
procuring  full  protection  for  cows  was   to  put  their  own 
house  in  order  by  securing  absolute   immunity  from  ill- 
treatment   of   their   cattle    by    Hindus  themselves,  and 
then  to  appeal  to  the  Europeans   to   abstain   from  beef- 
eating  whilst  resident   in    India,  or   at  least   to  procure 


-SHE    PROTECTION   OF   THE   COW  409" 

beef  from  outside  India.     I  ^dded  that  in  no   case  could 
the   cow   protection    propaganda,  if  it  was  to  be  based 
upon  religious  conviction,  tolerate  a  sacrifice  of->Maho- 
medans  for  the  sake  of  saving  cows,    that  the  religious 
method  of  securing  protection  from  Christians  and  Maho- 
medans  alike  was  for  Hindus  to  offer  themselves  a  wil- 
ling sacrifice  of   sufficient   magnitude  to  draw   out   the 
merciful  nature  of  Christians  and  Mahomedans.    Right- 
ly or  wrongly  worship  of   the   aow  is   ingrained   in  the' 
Hindu  nature  and  I  see  no  escape    from  a  most  bigotted- 
and    sanguinary    strife    over    this    question    between 
Christians     and    Mahomedans    on  the    one   hand   and 
Hindus  on  the  other  except  in  the  fullest  recognition  and 
practice   by   the    Hindus    of   the   religion   of   ahimsa, 
which  it  is  my  self-imposed  and    humble  mission  in  life 
to  preach.     Let  the   truth   be   faced.    It   must   not   be 
supposed   that    Hindus   feel     nothing   about    the   cow- 
slaughter  going  on  for  the  European.  I  know  that  their' 
wrath  is  to-day  being  buried  under   the  awe  inspired  by 
the  English  rule.     But  there  is  not  a  Hindu  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  India    who    does   not   expect' 
one  day   to   free    his    land    from    cow-slaughter.     But 
contrary   to   the   genius  of    Hiuduism  as  I  know  it,    he- 
would  not  mind   forcing  even  at  the  point  of  the  sword 
either  the  Christian  or  the  Mahomedan  to  abandon  cow- 
slaughter.     I  wish  to  play  my  humble  part   in  prevent- 
ing such  a  catastrophe  and  I  thank  Mr.  Irwin  for  having 
provided   me   with  an  opportunity   of    inviting  him  and' 
your  readers    to  help  me   in  my   onerous  mission.     The 
mission  may  fail  to  prevent  cow -slaughter.     But  there 
is  no   reason   why   by  patient   plodding  and   consistent 
practice  it  should  not   succeed  in  showing  the   folly,  the 
stupidity  and  the  inhumanity  of  committing  the  crime  of 


410  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

iilling  a  fellow  human  being  for  the  sake  of  saving  a 
fellow  animal. 

So  much  on  behalf  of  the  innocent  cow.  A  word 
only  for  my  innocent  wife  who  will  never  even  know  the 
wrong  your  correspondent  has  done  her.  If  Mr.  Irwin 
would  enjoy  the  honour  of  being  introduced  to  her  he 
will  soon  find  out  that  Mrs.  Gandhi  is  a  simple  woman 
almost  unlettered,  who  knows  nothing  of  the  two  bazaars 
mentioned  by  him,  even  as  I  knew  nothing  of  them  until 
ver3r recently  and  sometime  after  the  establishment  of 
the  rival  bazaar  referred  to  by  Mr.  Irwin.  He  will 
then  further  assure  himself  that  Mrs.  Gandhi  has  had 
no  hand  in  its  establishment  and  is  totally  incapable  of 
managing  such  a  bazaar.  Lastly  he  will  at  once  learn 
that  Mrs.  Gandhi's  time  is  occupied  in  cooking  for  and 
serving  the  teachers  conducting  the  school  established 
in  the  dehat  in  question,  in  distributing  medical  relief 
and  in  moving  amongst  the  women  of  the  dehat  with  a 
view  to  giving  them  an  idea  of  simple  hygiene.  Mrs. 
Gandhi,  I  may  add,  has  not  learnt  the  art  of  making 
speeches  or  addressing  letters  to  the  press. 

As  to  the  rest  of  the  letter,  the  less  said  the  better. 
It  is  so  full  of  palpable  mis-representations  that  it  is 
difficult  to  deal  with  them  with  sufficient  self-restraint.  I 
can  only  say  that  I  am  trying  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
to  fulfil  the  obligation,  I  hold  myself  under,  of  promo- 
ting good- will  between  planters  and  the  raiyats,  and  if  I 
fail  it  would  not  be  due  to  want  of  efforts  on  my  part, 
but  it  would  be  largely,  if  not  entirely,  due  to  the 
mischievous  propaganda  Mr.  Irwin  is  carrying  on  openly 
and  some  others  sub  rosa  in  Champaran  in  order  to 
nullify  the  effect  of  the  report  published  by  the 
Agrarian  Committee,  which  was  brought  into  being  not 


ON  WOMANHOOD  411 

as  Mr.  Irwin  falsely  suggests  at  my  request  but  by  the 
agitation  carried  on,  as  your  files  would  demonstrate,  by 
Mr.  Irwin  and  his  friends  of  .the  Anglo-Indian 
Association.  If  he  is  wise,  he  will  abide  by  his  written 
word,  voluntarily  and  after  full  discussion  and  delibera- 
tion, given  by  him  at  Ranchi.- 


ON  WOMANHOOD 


The  annual  gathering  of  the  Bombay  Bhagini 
Samaj  was  held  on  Wednesday,  February  20,  1918,  at 
the  Morarji  Gokuldas  Hall,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr, 
M,  K.  Gandhi,  The  ajmual  report  of  the  Santa)  having 
been  read  by  the  General  Secretary,  the  President 
distributed  prizes  to  the  pupils  of  the  female  classes, 
and  delivered  a  very  informing  address  on  the  education 
■of -women,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said  :— - 

It  is  necessary  to  understand  what  we  mean  when 
we  talk  of  the  regeneration  of  women;  It  presupposes 
degeneration  and  if  that  is  so  we  should  further  consider 
what  led  to  it  and  how.  It  is  our  primary  duty  to  have 
some  very  hard  thinking  on  these  points.  In  travelling 
all  over  India,  I  have  come  to  realize  that  all  the 
existing  agitation  is  confined  to  an  infinitesimal  section 
of  our  people  who  are  really  a  mere  speck  in  the  vast 
firmament.  Crores  of  people  of  both  the  sexes  live  in 
absolute  ignorance  of  this  agitation.  Full  eighty-five 
per  cent  of  the  people  of  this  country  pass  their 
innocent  days  in  a  state  of  total  detachment  from  what 
is  going  on  around  them.  These  men  and  women 
ignorant  as  they  are  do  their  "bit"  in  life  well  and 
properly.    Both  have  the  same  education  or  rather  the 


412  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

absence  of  education.  Both  are  helping  each  other  as- 
they  ought  to  do.  If  their  lives  are  in  any  sense  incom- 
plete, the  cause  can  be  traced  to  the  incompleteness  of 
the  lives  of  the  remaining  fifteen  per  cent.  If  my 
sisters  of  the  Bhagini  Samaj  will  make  a  close  study  of 
the  lives  of  these  85  per  cent  of  our  people,  it  will 
provide  them  ample  material  for  an  excellent  pro- 
gramme of  work  for  the  Samaj. 

MAN     MADE    SOCIAL   LAWS. 

In  the  cfesevations  that  I  am  going  to  make,  I  will 
confine  myself  to  the  15  per  cent,  abovementioned  and; 
even  then  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  discuss  the  disabili" 
ties  that  are  common  both  to  men  and  women.  The 
point  for  as  to  consider  is  the  regeneration  of  our  women 
relatively  to  our  men.  Legislation  has  been  mostly  the. 
handi-work  of  men ;  and  man  has  not  always  been- 
fair  and  discriminate  in  performing  that  self-appointed; 
task.  The  largest  part  of  our  effect  in  promoting  the 
regeneration  of  women  should  be  directed  towards 
removing  those  blemishes  which  are  represented  ini 
our  Shastras  as  the  necessary  and  ingrained  charac- 
teristic of  women.  Who  will  attempt  this  and  how  ? 
In  my  humble  opinion  in  order  to  make  the  attempt, 
we  will  have  to  produce  women  pure,  firm  and  self- 
controlled  as  Sita,  Damayanti  and  Draupadi.  If  we 
do  produce  them  such  modern  sisters  will  receive  the 
same  homage  from  Hindu  society  as  is  being  paid  to- 
their  prototypes  of  yore.  Their  words  will  have  the 
'same  authority  as  the  Shastras.  We  will  feel  ashamed' 
of  the  stray  reflections  on  them  in  our  Smritis  and  will 
soon  forget  them.  Such  revolutions  have  occurred  in 
Hinduism  in  the  past  and  will  still  take  place  in  the 
future,  leading  to  the  stability  of  our    faith.     I  pray    ta 


ON    WOMANHOOD  413 

<jod  t  hat  this  Association  might  soon   produce    such 
■women  as  I  have  described  above. 

PLACE   OF  LITERARY  EDUCATION 

We  have   now    discussed   the   root    cause    of   the 

■degeneration  of  our   women    and    have   considered   the 

ideals  by  the  realization  of  which  the  present  conditions 

of  our  women  can  be  improved.    The  number  of  women 

who  can  realize  those  ideals   will    be   necessarily   very 

iew  and  therefore,  we  will  now  consider  what    ordinary 

women  can  accomplish  if  they  would  try.     Their    first 

attempt  should  be    directed   towards   awakening  in  the 

minds   of   as   many   women  as   possible  a  proper  sense 

•of   their    present    condition.      I   am   not  among    those 

who  believe   that  such   an    effort  can  be  made  through 

literary  education  only.     To  work  on   that  basis    would 

be   to    postpone    indefinitely    the    accomplishment    of 

-our  aims ;   I    have    experienced    at    every   step   that 

it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  wait  so  long.    We  can  bring 

home  to  our  women  the  sad  realities  of  their  present  con- 

dition    without   in  the  first   instance  giving    them    any 

literary  education.     Woman -.is  the   companion  pf  man 

gifted  with  equal  mental   capacities.     She  has  the  right 

to  participate  in  very  minutest  detail  in  the  activities  of 

man  and  she  has   an  equal  right  of  freedom  and  •  liberty 

with    him.     She   is  entitled    to  a  supreme  place   in  her 

■own  sphere  of  activity  as  man    is  in  his.    This  ought  to 

be  the  natural  condition  of.  thing  and  not  as  a  result  only 

of  learning   to  read  and  writf .     By    sheer    force   of  a 

vicious   custom  even  the  most   ignorant  and   v/orthless 

men    have  been   enjoying  a   superiority   over    women 

which  they  do  not  deserve  and  ought  not  to  have.  Many 

of  our  movements  stop  halfway  because  of  the  condition 

-of    our   women.    Much  of  our    work   does  not   yield 


414  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

appropriate  results  ;  our  lot  is  like  that  of  the  penny- 
wise  and  pound  foolish  trader  who  does  not  employ 
enough  capital  in  his  business. 

FAULTY   SYSTEM   OF   EDUCATION. 
But  although   much  good  and  useful  work  can  be 
done  without  a  knowledge  of   reading  and  writing  yet  it 
is  my  firm  belief  that  you   cannot  always   do  without  a- 
knowledge    thereof.     It   develops    and   sharpens   one's 
intellect  and    it   stimulates  our  power  of  doing  good.     I 
have  never  placed  an  unnecessarily  high  value  on  the- 
knowledge  of  reading  and  writing.    I  am  only  attempting 
to  assign  its  proper  place  to  it.  I  have  pointed   out  from 
time  to  time  that  there  is    no   justification   for    men  to- 
deprive  women  or  to  deny  to   them   equal  rights  on  the 
ground  of  -their    illiteracy ;  but   education   is    essential 
for  enabling  women  to  uphold  these   natural    rights,  to- 
improve    them   and   to   spread    them ;  again    the    true 
knowledge  of  self  is  unattainable    by  the    millions  who- 
are    without    such    education.     Many   a  book  is  full  of 
innocent  pleasure  and  this  will  be  denied   to  us  without 
education.     It  is  no  exaggeration   to    say  that  a  human 
being   without   education   is    not    far  removed  from  an 
animal.    Education,  therefore,    is  necessary  for  women 
as  it  is -for  men.    Not   that  the   methods  of  education- 
should   be   identical    in   both   cases.     In  the  first  place= 
our  state  system  of  education  is  full  of  error  and  product- 
ive of  harm  in  many  respects.     It  should  be   eschewed; 
by  men   and   women   alike.    Even  if  it  were  free  from 
its  present  blemishes  I  would  not  regard  it  as  proper  for 
women  from  all  points  of  view.     Man    and   woman  are 
of  equal  rank  but  they  are  not   identical.    They  are   a 
peerless  pair  being  supplementary  to  one  another  ;  each 
helps  the  other  so  what  without  the  one   the  existence 


ON  WOMANHOOD  415' 

of  the  other  cannot  be  conceived,  and  therefore  it 
follows  as  a  necessary  corollary  from  these  facts  that 
anything  that  will  impair  the  status  of  either  of  them 
will  involve  the  equal  ruin  of  them  both.  In  framing; 
any  scheme  of  women's  education  this  cardinal  truth 
must  be  constantly  kept  in  mind.  Man  is  supreme  in' 
the  outward  activities  of  a  married  pair  and  therefore  it 
is  in  the  fitness  of  things  that  he  should  have  a  greater 
knowledge  thereof.  On  the  other  hand  home  life  is- 
entirely  the  sphere  of  woman  and  therefore  in  domestic 
affairs,  in  the  upbringing  and  education  of  children^ 
women  ought  to  have  more  knowledge.  Not  that 
knowledge  should-  be  divided  into  watertight  compart- 
ments or  that  some  branches  of  knowledge  should  be- 
closed  to  any  one ;  but  unless  courses  of  instruction 
are  based  on  a  discriminating  appreciation  of  these 
basic  principles  the  fullest  life  of  man  and  woman  cannot 
be  developed. 

IS   EDUCATION    NECESSARY  ? 

I  should  say  a  word  or  two  as  to  whether  English 
education  is  or  is  not  necessary  for  our  women.  I  haver 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
our  lives  neither  our  men  nor  our  women  need  neces- 
sarily have  any  knowledge  of  English.  True, English 
is  necessary  for  making  a  living  and  for  active  associa- 
tion in  our  political  movements.  I  do  not  believe  itt 
women  working  for  a  living  or  undertaking  commercial: 
enterprizes.  The  few  women  who  may  require  or 
desire  to  have  English  education  can  very  easily  have 
their  way  by  joining  the  schools  for  men.  To  introduce 
English  education  in  schools  meant  for  women  could 
only  lead  to  prolong  our  helplessness.  I  have  often 
read  and  heard  people  saying  that  the  rich  treasures  of 


-416  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

English  literature  should  be  opened  alike  to  men  and 
women,  I  submit  in  all  humility  that  there  is  some 
misapprehension  in  assuming  such  an  attitude.  No  one 
intends  to  closs  these  treasures  against  women  while 
keeping  them  open  for  men.  There  is  none  on  earth 
able  to  prevent  you  from  studying  the  literature  of  the 
whole  world  if  you  are  fond  of  literary  tastes.  But  when 
courses  of  education  have  been  framed  with  the  needs  of 
a  particular  society  in  view,  you  cannot  supply  the  re- 
quirements of  the  few  who  have  cultivated  a  literary 
taste.  In  asking  our  men  and  women  to  spend  less  time 
in  the  study  of  English  than  they  are  doing  now,  my  ob- 
ject is  not  to  deprive  them  of  the  pleasure  which  they 
are  likely  to  derive  from  it,  but  I  hold  that  the  same 
pleasure  can  be  obtained  at  less  cost  and  trouble  it  we 
ifollow  a  more  natural  method.  The  world  is  full  of 
many  a  gem  of  priceless  beauty  ;  but  then  these  gems 
are  not  all  of  English  setting.  Other  languages  can 
well  boast  of  productions  of  similar  excellence ;  all 
these  should  be  made  available  for  our  common  people 
and  that  can  only  be  done  if  our  own  learned  men  will 
undertake  to  translate  them  for  us  in  our  own 
languages. 

UNSPEAKABLE    SIN   OF    CHILD   MARRIAGE, 

Merely  to  have  outlined  a  scheme  of  education  as 
above  is  not  to  have  removed  the  bane  of  child  marri- 
age from  our  society  or  to  have  conferred  on  our  women 
an  equality  of  rights.  Let  us  now  consider  the  case  of 
our  girls  who  disappear,  so  to  say,  from  view,  after 
marriage.  They  are  not  likely  to  return  to  our  schools. 
Conscious  of  the  unspeakable  and  unthinkable  sin  of 
the  child  marriage  of  their  daughters,  their  mothers 
cannot  think  of  educating  them  or  of  otherwise  making 


ON    WOMANHOOD  417 

their  dry  life  a  cheerful  one.  The  man  who  marries  a 
young  girl  does  not  do  so  out  of  any  altruistic  motives 
but  through  sheer  lust.  Who  is  to  rescue  these  girls  ? 
A  proper  answer  to  this  question  will  also  be  a  solu- 
tion of  the  woman's  problem.  The  answer  is  albeit 
difficult,  but  it  is  only  one.  There  is  of  course  none 
to  champion  her  cause  but  her  husband.  It  is  useless  to 
expect  a  child-wife  to  be  able  to  bring  round  the  man 
who  has  married  her.  The  difficult  work  must,  there- 
fore, for  the  present  at  least  be  left  to  man.  If  I  could, 
I  would  take  a  census  of  child  wives  and  wi41-find  the 
friends  as  well  as"  through  moral  and  polite  exhortations 
I  wiSr  attempt,  to  bring  home  to  them  the  enormity  of 
their  crime  in  linking  their  fortunes  witrh  child  wives 
and  will  warn  them  that  there  is  no  expiation  for  that 
sin  unless  and  until  they  have  by  education  made  their 
wives  fit  not  only  to  bear  children  but  also  to  bring  them 
up  properly  and  unless  in  the  meantime  they  live  a  life 
■of  absolute  celibacy. 

QUIET  AND  UNOBTR  USIVE  WORK  NEEDED. 

Thus,  there  are  m=iny  fruitful  fields  of  activity 
before  the  members  of  the  Bhagini  Samaj  for  devoting 
their  energies  to.  The  field  for  work  is  so  vast  that  if 
resolute  application  is  brought  to  bear  thereon  the 
wider  movements  -for  reform  may  for  the  present 
be  left  to  themselves  and  great  service  can  be  done  to 
the  cause  of  Home  Rule  without  so  much  as  even  a 
verbal  reference  to  it.  When  printing  presses  were 
non-existent  and  scope  for  speech-making  very  limited, 
when  one  could  hardly  travel  twenty-four  miles 
in  the  course  of  a  day  instead  of  a  thousand  miles 
as  now,'  we  had  only  one  agency  for  propagating 
our  ideals  and  that  was  our  'Acts'  ;  and  acts  had 
27 


418  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

immense  potency.  We  are  now  rushing  to  and  from 
with  the  velocity  of  air,  delivering  speeches,  writing 
newspaper  articles  and  yet  we  fall  short  of  our  accom- 
plishments and  the  cry  of  despair  fills  the  air.  I,  for  one^ 
am  of  opinion  that  as  in  old  days  our  acts  will  have  a 
more  powerful  influence  on  the  public  than  any  number 
of  speeches  and  writing.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  to  your 
Association  that  its  members  should  give  prominence  to- 
quiet  and  unobtrusive  work  in  whatever  it  does. 


PLEA  FOR  HINDI 


Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  press 
under  date,  Indore,  March  3,  1918  soon  after  the  conclu-r 
sion  of  the  Hindi  Sahitya  Sammelan  : — 

At  the  Hindi  Sahitya  Sammelan  just  closing  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  the  Hon'ble  Rai  Bahadur  Bishen 
Dutta  Shukla,  Rai  Bahadur  Saryoo  Prasad,  Babu  Shiva- 
Prasad  Gupta,  Babu  Purushottan  Das  Tandon,  Babu. 
Gauri  Shanker  Prasad,  Pandit  Venkatesha  Narayan 
Tiwari  and  myself,  were  appointed  as  a  speial  committee 
to  give  effect  to  certain  fesolutions  ol  the  Sammelan. 
One  of  the  instructions  given  to  the  committee  is  to  find- 
out  six  Tamil  and  Telugu  youths  of  promise  and  good- 
character  who  would  undertake  to  learn  Hindi  with  a- 
view  to  ultimately  becoming  missionaries  for  the  pro- 
pagation of  Hindi  among  the  Tamil  and  the  Telugu 
people.  It  has  been  proposed  to  locate  them  either  at 
Allahabad  or  at  Benares,  and  to  teach  them  Hindi, 
Expenses  of  their  board  and  lodging  as  well  as  instruc- 
tion will  be  paid  for  by  the  committee.  It  is  expected  that 
the  course  will  not  take  longer  than  a  year  at  the- 
most  and  as  soon  as  they  have  attained  a  certain  standard 


PLEA   FOR   HINDI  419 

of  knowledge  of  Hindi  they  would  be  entrusted  with  the 
missionary  work,  that  is,  the  work  of  teaching  Hindi  tO' 
the  Tamil  or  the  Telugti  people  as  the  case  may  be, 
for  which  they  would  get  a  salary  to  maintain  them- 
selves suitably.  The  Committee  will  guarantee  such  ser- 
vice for  at  least  a  period  of  three  years,  and  will  expect 
applicants  to  enter  into  a  contract  with  the  Committee  to 
render  the  stipulated  service  faithfully  and  well  for  that 
period.  The  Committee  expects  that  the  services  of 
these  youths  will  be  indefinitely  prolonged  and  that  they 
will  be  able  to  serve  themselves  as  well  as  the  country. 
The  desire  of  the  Committee  is  to  offer  liberal  payment 
and  expect  in  return  absolute  faithfulness  and  steadfast- 
ness. I  trust  that  you  agree  with  the  Sammelan  that 
Hindi  and  Hindi  alone,  whether  in  Sanskrit  form  or  as 
Urdu,  can  become  the  language  of  intercourse  between 
the  different  provinces.  It  is  already  that  amongst 
the  Muhammadans  all  over  India,  as  also  amongst  the 
Hindus  except  in  the  Madras  Presidency.  I  exclude 
the  English  educated  Indians  who  have  made  English, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  much  to  the  detriment  of 
the  country,  the  language  of  mutual  intercourse.  If 
we  are  to  realise  the  Swaraj  ideal  we  must  find  a 
common  language  that  can  be  easily  learnt  and  that 
can  be  understood  by  the  vast  masses.  X^is  has  always 
been  Hindi  or  Urdu  and  is  so  even  now  as  I  can 
say  from  personal  experience,  I  have  faith  enough  in 
the  patriotism,  selflessness  and  the  sagacity  of  the. 
people  of  the  Madras  Presidency  to  know  that  those 
who  at  all  want  to  render  national  service  or  to  come 
in  touch  with  the  pther  Provinces,  Will  undergo  the 
sacrifice,  if  it  is  one,  of  learing  Hindi.  I  suggest  that 
they  should  consider  it  a  privilege  to  be  able  to  learn  a 


420  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

langiAge  that  will  enable  them  to  enter  into  the  hearts 
of  millions  of  their  countrymen.  The  proposal  set 
•forth  is  a  temporary  make-shift.  An  agitation  of  great 
potency  must  arise  in  the  country  that  would  comp&l 
the  educational  authorities  to  introduce  Hindi  as  the 
second  language  in  the  public  schools.  But  it  was 
Sfelt  by  the  Sammelan  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
popularising  Hindi  in  the  Madras  Presidency.  Hence 
the  above-mentioned  proposal  which,  I  hope,  you  will 
be  able  to  commend  to  your  readers.  I  may  add  that 
the  Committee  proposes  to  send  Hindi  teachers  to  the 
Tamil  as  also  to  the  Andhra  districts  in  order  to  teach 
Hindi  free  of  charge  to  those  who  would  care  to  learn 
lit.  I  hope  that  many  will  take  advantage  of  the  pro- 
fered  tuition.  Those  youths  who  wish  to  apply  for  the 
training  above-mentioned  should  do  so  under  cover 
addressed  to  me  care  of  Hindi  Sahitya  Sammelan, 
Allahabad,  before  the  end  of  April. 


THE  AHMEDABAD  MILL  HANDS 


When  the  mill  hands  at  Ahmedahad  uent  on 
■strike  Mr.  Gandhi  was  requisitioned  to  settle  the 
dispute  bettveen  the  mill  owners  and  the  workmen. 
Mr,  G»ndht  'was  guidtng  the  labourers  to  a 
successful  settlement  of  their  wages  when  some  of 
them  betrayed  a  sense  of  weakness  and  despair, 
and  demoralisation  was  apprehended.  At  a  critical  stage 
in  the  crisis  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Miss  Anasuyabai  took  the 
vow  of  fast.  Thi,-  extereme  action  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Gandhi  was  disquieting  to  friends  and  provoked  some 
bitter  commeytts  from  the  unfriendly.  In  the  following 
statement  issued  from  Nadiad  under  date,   March   27, 


THH    AHMEDABAD    liiLL    HANDS  411 

i918,  Mr.  Gandhi  exjilains  the  circumstances  whkk 
necessitated  this  action  ;^ 

Perhaps  I  owe  an  explanation  to  the  public  with 
regard  to  my  recent  fast.  Some  friends  consider  the 
action  to  have  been  silly,  others,  cowardly  and  some 
bthers  still  worse.  In  my  opinion  I  would  have  been 
untrue  to  my  Maker  and  to  the  cause  I  was  espftusing 
if  I  had  acted  otherwise. 

When  over  a  month  ago  I  reached  Bombay  I  was 
told  that  Ahmedabad  millhands  had  threatened  a  strike 
and  violence  if  the  bonus  that  was  given  to  them 
during  the  plague  was  withdrawn.  I  was  asked  to 
intervene  and  I  consented. 

Owing  to  the  plague  the  men  were  getting  as  much 
as  70  per  cent,  bonus  since  August  last.  An  attempt  to 
recall  that  bonus  had  resulted  in  grave  dissatisfaction 
among  the  labourers.  When  it  was  almost  too  late,  the 
millowners  offered  in  the  place  of  the  plague  bonus 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  high  prices  a  rise  of  20  per 
cent.  The  labourers  were  unsatisfied.  The  matter 
was  referred  to  arbitration,  Mr.  Chatfield,  the  Collec- 
tor being  the  Umpire.  The  men  in  some  mills 
however  struck  work.  The  owners  thinking  that  they 
had  done  so  without  just  cause  withdrew  from 
the  arbitration,  and  declared  a  general  lockout  to  be 
continued  till  the  labourers  were  exhausted  into  accept- 
ing the  20  per  cent,  increase  they  had  offered.  Messrs. 
Shankerlal  Banker,  V.  J.  Patel  and  I  the  arbitrators- 
apponted  on  behalf  of  the  labourers,  thought  that  they 
were  to  be  demoralised  if  we  did  not  act  promptly  and 
decisively.  We,  therefore,  investigated  the  question  of 
increase,  we  sought  the  millowners'  assistance,  They 
would  not  give    it.     Their  one    purpose  was  to  organise 


422  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

themselves  into  a  combination  that  could  fight  a  similar 
combination  of  their  employees.     One  -sided    technically 
though  our  investigation  was,  we    endeavoured    to  exa- 
mine the  millowuers'  side,  and   came    to  the   conclusion 
that  35  per  cent,  increase  was  fair.      Before  announcing 
the  figure  to  the  mill  hands  W3  informed    the  employers 
of  the  result  of  our  inquiry  and  told  them  that  we  would 
correct  ourselves  if  they    could  show    any    error.     The 
latter  wouO  not  co-operate.     They    sent  a  reply   saying 
as  much,  but  they  pointed  out  in   it  that   the  rate  of  in- 
crease granted  by  the  Government  as   also   the  employ- 
ers in  Bombay  was   much    less   than    the   one  contem- 
plated by  us.     I   felt   that    the    addendum    was   beside 
the  point,  and  at  a  huge  mseting  ana  oanced35  per  cent, 
for. the  millhands'   acceptance.     Be    it   noted  that    the 
plague  bonus  amounted   to  70  per  cent,  of   their   wages 
and  they  had  declared  their   intention    of  accepting   not 
less  than  50  per   cent,    as    high   prices    increase.   They 
were  now  called  upon  to  accept    the   mean ^  finding   the 
mean   was   quite   an   accident   between  the   millowners 
20  per   cent,   and    their   own  50  per    cent.     After  some 
grumbling,  the  meeting  accepted  the  35  per  cent,  increase 
it  always  being   understood,  that    they  would   recognise 
at  the  same  time  the  principle  of    arbitration    whenever 
the  millowners  did  so.  From  that  time  forward,  i.e,,  day 
after  day  thousands  of  people   gathered    together   under 
the  shade  of  a  tree  outside  the  city  walls,  people  walking 
long  distances  in    many   cases   and   solemnly   repeated 
their  determination  in  the"  name   of    God   not   to   accept 
anything  less  than    35  per   cent.     No  pecuniary    assist- 
ance was  given  them.     It  is  easy  enough    to  understand 
tTiat  many  must  suffer  from  the  pangs  of  starvation  and 
that  they  could  not,  while  they    were    without  employ- 


THE    AHMEDABAD   MILL  HANDS  423 

-ment,  get  any  credit.  We,  who  were  helping  them,, 
came,  on  the  other  hand  to  the  conclusion  that  we 
would  only  spoil  them  if  we  collected  public  funds 
and  utilised  them  for  feeding  them  unless  the  able- 
bodied  amongst  them  were  ready  to  perform  bread- 
labour.  It  was  a  difficult  task  to  persuade  men  who 
had  worked  at  machines  to  shoulder  baskets  of  sand  or 
bricks.  They  came,  but  they  did  so  grudgingly.  The 
millowners  hardened  their  hearts.  They  were  equally 
■determined  not  to  go  beyond  20  per  cent,  and  they 
appointed  emissaries  to  persuade  the  men  to  give  in. 
Even  during  the  early  part  of  the  lockout,  whilst  we 
had  declined  to  help  those  who  would  not  work  we  had 
assured  them  that  we  would  feed  and  clothe  ourselves 
after  feeding  and  clothing  them.  Twenty  two  days  had 
passed  by  ;  hunger  and  the  Millowners'  emissaries  were 
producing  their  effect  and  Satan  was  whispering  to  the 
men  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  God  on  earth  who 
would  help  them  and  that  vows  were  dodges  resorted 
to  by  weaklings.  One  mo  rning  instead  of  an  eager  and 
enthusiastic  crowd  of  5  to  10  thou  sard  men  with  deter- 
mination written  on  their  faces,  I  met  a  body  of  about 
2,000  men  with  despair  written  on  their  faces.  We  had 
just  heard  that  millhands  living  in  a  particular  chowl 
had  declined  to  attend  the  meeting,  were  preparing  to 
go  to  work  and  accept  20  per  cent,  increase  and  were 
taunting  os  (I  think  very  properly)  that  it  was  very 
well  for  us  who  had  motors  at  our  disposal  and  plenty 
of  food,  to  attend  their  meetings  and  advise  staunch- 
ness even  unto  death.  What  jWas  I  to  do  ?  I 
held  the  cause  to  be  just.  I  believe  in  God  as 
J  believe  that  I  am  writing  this  letter.  I  believe  in  the 
necessity  of  the,  performance  of  "one's  promises"  at 


424  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

all  costs.  I  knew  that  the  men  before  us  were  God- 
fearing men,  but  that  the  long-drawn  out  lockout  or 
strike  was  putting  an  undue  strain  upon  them.  I  had 
the  knowledge  before  me  that  during  my  extensive 
travels  in  India,  hundreds  of  people  were  found  who  as 
readily  broke  their  promises  as  they  made  them.  I 
knew,  too,  that  the  best  of  us  have  but  a  vague  and. 
indistinct  belief  in  soul-force  and  in  God.  I  felt  that  it 
was  a  sacred  moment  for  me,  my  failh  was  on  the 
anvil,  and  I  had  no  hesitation  in  rising  and  declaring  to 
the  men  that  a  breach  of  their  vow  so  solemnly  taken 
was  unendurable  by  me  and  that  I  would  not  take  any 
food  until  they  had  the  35  pef  cent,  increase  given 
or  until  they  had  fallen.  A  meeting  that  was  up- 
to  now  unlike  the  former  meetings  totally  unres- 
ponsive, worked  up  as  if  by  magic.  Tears  trickled  down 
the  cheeks  of  every  one  of  them  and  man  after  man  rose 
up  saying  that  they  would  never  go  to  the  mills  unless 
they  got  the  increase,  and  that  they  would  go  about  the 
city  and  steel  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  not  attended 
the  meeting.  It  was  a  privilege  to  witness  the  demons- 
tration of  the  efficacy  of  truth  and  love.  Every  one  im- 
mediately realised  that  the  protecting  power  of  God  was 
as  much  with  us  to-day  as  it  used  to  be  in  the  days  of 
yore.  I  am  not  sorry  for  the  vow,  but  with  the  belief 
that  I  have.  I  would  have  been  unworthy  of  the  truth 
undertaken  by  me  if  i  had  done  anything  less.  Before 
I  took  the  vow,  I  knew  that  there  were  serious  defects 
about  it.  For  me  to  take  such  a  vow  in  order  to 
aflfect  in  any  shape  or  form  the  decision  of  the 
millowners  would  be  a  cowardly  injustice  done 
to  them,  and  that  I  would  so  prove  myself  unfit 
for    the     friendship    which     I    had    the    privilege   of 


THE   AHMEDABAD   MILL   HANDS  425 

enjoying  with  some  of  them.  I  knew  that  I  ran  the 
risk  of  being  misunderstood.  I  coald  not  prevent  my 
fast  from  afifecting  my  decision.  Their  knowledge 
moreover  put  a  responsibility  on  me  which  I  was  ill 
able  to  bear.  From  now  I  disabled  myself  from  gain- 
ing concessions  for  the  men  which  ordinarily  in  a  strug- 
gle such  as  this  I  would  be  entirely  justified  in  securing. 
I  knew,  too,  that  I  would  have  to  be  satisfied  with  the 
minimum  I  could  get  from  the  millowners  and  with  a 
fulfilment  of  the  letter  of  the  men's  vow  rather  than 
its  spirit  and  so  hath  it  happened.  I  put  the  defects- 
of  my  vow  in  one  scale  and  the  merits  of  it  in  the 
other.  There  are"  hardly  any  acts  of  human  beings  which 
are  free  from  all  taint.  Mine,  I  know,  was  exceptionally 
tainted,  but  rather  the  ignominy  of  haying  unworthily 
compromised  by  my  vow,  the  position  and  indepen- 
dence of  the  millowners,  than  that  it  should  be  said  by 
posterity  that  10,000  men  ■  had  suddenly  broken  a  vow 
which  they  had  for  over  twenty  days  solemnly  taken 
and  repeated  in  the  name  of  God.  I  am  fully  convinced 
that  no  body  of  men  can  make  themselves  into  a  nation 
or  perform  great  tasks  unless  they  become  as  true  as 
steel  and  unless  their  promises  come  to  be  regarded  by 
the  world  like  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians, 
inflexible,  and  unbreakable,  and  whatever  may  be  the 
verdict  of  friends,  so  far  as  I  can  think  at  present,  on 
given  occasions,  I  should  not  hesitate  in  future  torepea  t 
the  humble  performance  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty 
of  describing  in  rhis  communication. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  letter  without  mentioning  two 
names  of  whom  India  has  every  reason  to  be  proud.  The 
millowners  were  represented  by  Mr.  Ambalal  Sarabhai 
who  is  a  gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the  term.    He  is  a 


42$  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

man  of  great  culture  and  equally  great  abilities,  He  adds 
to  these  qualities  a  resolute  will.  The  millhands  were 
represented  by  his  sister  Anusuyabai.  She  possesses  a 
heart  of  gold.  She  is  full  of  pity  for  the  poor.  The 
mill  bands  adore  her.  Her  word  is  law  with  them.  I 
have  not  known  a  struggle  fought  with  so  little  bitter- 
ness and  such  courtesy  on  either  side.  This  happy 
result  is  principally  due  to  the  connection  with  it  of 
Mr.   Ambalal  Sarabbai  and  Anusuyabai. 


A  LETTER  TO  THE  VICEROY 


Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
H.  B.  the  Viceroy,  Lord  Chelmsford,  soon  after  the  Delhi 
War  Conference  : — 

Sir,  as  you  are  aware,  after  careful  consideration,  I 
felt  constrained  to  convey  to  Your  Excellency  that  I 
could  not  attend  the  Conference  for  reasons  stated  in  the 
letter  of  the  26th  instant  (April),  but,  after  the  inter- 
view, you  were  good  enough  to  grant  me,  I  persuaded 
myself  to  join  it,  if  for  no  other  cause  than  certainly 
out  of  my  great  regard  for  yourself.  One  of  my  reasons 
for  abstension  and  perhaps  the  strongest,  was  that  Lok. 
Tilak,  Mrs.  Besant  and  the  Ali  brothers,  whom  1  regard 
as  among  the  most  powerful  leaders  of  public  opinion, 
were  not  invited  to  the  Conference.  I  still  feel  that  it 
was  a  grave  blunder  not  to  have  asked  them,  and  I 
respectfully  suggest  that  that  blunder  might  be  possibly 
repaired  if  these  leaders  were  invited  to  assist  the 
Government  by  giving  it  the  benefit  of  their  advice  at 
the  Provincial  Conferences,  which,  I  understand,  are  to 
follow.  I  venture  to  submit  that  no  Government  can 
afford  to  disregard  the  leaders,  who  represent  the    large 


A  LETTER  TO  THE  VICEROY        427 

masses  of  the  people  as  these  do,  even  though  they  may 
hold  views  fundamentally  different.  At  the  same  time 
it  gives  me  pleasure  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  views  of 
all  parties  were  permitted  to  be  freely  expressed  at  the 
Committees  of  the  Conference.  For  my  part,  I  purposely 
refrained  from  stating  my  views  at  the  Committee  at 
■which  I  had  the  honour  of  serving,  or  at  the  Confer- 
ence itself.  I  felt  that  I  could  best  serve  the  objects  of 
the  Conference  by  simply  tendering  my  support  to  the 
resolutions  submitted  to  it,  and  this  I  have  done  without 
any  reservation.  I  hope  to  translate  the  spoken  word 
into  action  as  early  as  the  Government  can  see  its  way 
-to  accept  my  offer,  which  I  am  submitting  siftiultane- 
ously  herewith  in  a  separate  letter. 

I  recognise  that  in  the  hour  of  its  danger  we  must 
give,  as  we  have  decided  to  give  ungrudging  and  un- 
equivocal support  to  the  Empire  of  which  we  aspire  in 
the  near  future  to  be  partners  in  the  same  sense  as  the 
Dominions  Overseas.  But  it  is  the  simple  truth  that 
our  response  is  due  to  the  expectation  that  our  goal  will 
be  reached  all  the  more  speedily.  On  that  account,  even 
as  performance  of  duty  automati  rally  confers  a  corres. 
ponding  right,  people  are  entitled  to  believe  that  the 
imminent  reforms  alluded  to  in  your  speech  will 
embody  the  main  general  principles  of  the  Congress- 
League  scheme,  and  I  am  sure  that  it  is  this  faith 
which  has  enabled  many  members  of  the  Confer- 
ence to  tender  to  the  Government  their  full-hearted 
co-operation.  If  I  could  make  my  countrymen  re- 
trace their  steps,  I  would  make  them  withdraw 
all  the  Congress  resolutions  and  not  whisper 
•"  Home  Rule  "  or  "  Responsible  Government  "  during 
the   pendency  of    the  War.     I  would    make  India   offer 


428  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

all  her  able-bodied  sons  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  Empire  at  its- 
critical  moment  and  I  know  that  India,  by  this  very  act,- 
would  become  the  most  favoured  partner  in  the  Empire 
and    racial  distinctions   would   become    a  thing  of   the 
past.     But  practically  the  whole  of   educated  India  has 
decided  to  take  a  less  effective  course,  and  it  is  no  longer 
possible    to  say   that  educated   India   does  not   exercise 
auy  influence  on   tRe  masses.     I  have  been  coming  into 
most    intimate   touch   with  the   raiyats   ever  since    my 
return   from     South   Africa    to   India,   and   I   wish   to- 
assure      you     that   the    desire     for      Home-Rule    has 
widely    penetrated    them.    I    was    present   at  the  ses- 
sions of  the   last    Congress   and  I  was    a    party    to  the 
resolution   that   full    Responsible    Government  should 
be  granted  to  British  India    within   a  period  to  be  fixed 
definitely  by  a  Parliamentary   Statute.     I  admit  that  it 
is  a  bold  step  to  take,  but  I   feel  sure    that  nothing  less.- 
than  a  definite  vision  of  Home-Rule  to  be  realised  in  the 
shortest  possible  time  will  satisfy  the  Indian  people.     I 
know    that   there  are   many    in    India  who   consider  nO' 
sacrifice  is  too   great  in  order   to  achieve   the    end,  and 
they  are  wakeful   enough  to   realise  that   they  must  be 
equally  prepared  to  sacrifice  themselves  for  the  Empire 
in    which  they    hope   and    desire  to   reach   their   final 
status.     It   follows"  then  that    we   can   but   accelerate 
our    journey    to     the    goal    by    silently    and    simply 
devoting    ourselves   heart    and   soul    to    the    work    of 
delivering   the   Empire    from   the   threatening   danger. 
It    will    be    a   national   suicide   not    to    recognise   this 
elementary    truth.     We     must    perceive    that     if    we 
serve   to  save    the  Empire,  we  have   in  that   very   act 
secured  Home  Rule 

Whilst,  therefore,  it  is  clear  to  me    that  we  should 


A  LETTER  TO  THE  VICEROY       429 

give  to  the  Empire  every  available  man  for  its  defence, 
I  fear  that  I  cannot  say  the  same  thing  about  the  finan- 
cial assistance;  My  intimate  intercourse  with  the 
Taiyats  convinces  me  that  India  has  already  donated  to 
the  Impetjfal  Exchequer  beyond  her  capacity.  I  know 
that,  in  making  this  statement,  I  am  voicing  the  opinion 
of  the  majority  of  my  countrymen. 

The  Conference  means  forme,  and  I  believe  for 
many  of  us,  a  definite  step  in  the  consecration  of  our 
lives  to  the  common  cause,  but  ours  is  a  peculiar 
position.  We  are  to  day  outside  the  partnership.  Ours 
is  a  consecration  based  on  hope  of  better  future.  I 
should  be  untrue  to  you  and  to  my  country  if  I  did  not 
clearly  and  unequivocally  tell  you  what  that  hope  is. 
I  do  not  bargain  for  its  fulfilment,  but  you  should  know 
that  disappointment  of  hope  means  disillusion.  There 
is  one  thing  I  may  not  omit.  You  have  appealed  to  us 
to  sink  domestic  differences.  If  appeal  involves  the 
toleration  of  tyranny  and  wrong-doings  on  the  part  of 
officials,  I  am  powerless  to  respond.  I  shall  resist 
organised  tyranny  to  the  uttermost.  The  appeal  must 
be  tp  the  officials  Ihat  they  do  not  ill-treat  a 
single  soul,  and  that  they  consult  and  respect  popular 
opinion  as  never  before.  In  Champaran  by  resisting 
an  age-long  tyranny,  I  have  shown  the  ultimate 
sovereinty  of  British  justice.  In  Kaira  a  population 
that  was  cursing  the  Government  now  feels  that  it, 
and  not  the  Government,  is  the  power  when  it  is 
prepared  to  suffer  for  the  truth  it  represents.  It  is, 
therefore,  losing  its  bitterness  and  is  saying  to  itself 
that  the  Government  must  be  a  Government  for  people, 
for  it  tolerates  orderly  and  respectful  disobedience  where 
injustice  is  felt.     Thus   Champaran  aud  Kaira  affairs 


430  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

are  my  direct,  definite  ar.d  special  contribution  to  the 
War.  Ask  me  to  suspend  my  activities  in  that  direc- 
tion and  you  ask  me  to  suspend  my  life.  If  I  could" 
popularise  the  use  of  soul-force,  which  is  but  another 
name  for  love-force  in  place  of  brute  force,  I  know 
that  I  could  present  you  with  an  India  that  could  defy 
the  whole  world  to  its  worst.  In  season  and  out  of 
season,  therefore,  I  shall  discipline  myself  to  express  in 
my  life  this  eternal  law  of  suffering,  and  present  it  for 
acceptance  to  those  who  care,  and  if  I  take  part  in  any' 
other  activity,  the  motive  is  two  show  the  matchless 
superiority  of  that  law. 

Lastly,  I  would  like  you  to  ask  His  Majesty's 
Ministers  to  give  definite  assurance  about  Muhammadan 
States.  I  am  sure  you  knew  that  every  Muhammadan 
is  deeply  interested  in  them.  As  a  Hindu,  I  cannot  be 
indifferent  to  their  cause.  Their  sorrows  must  be  our 
sorrows.  In  the  most  scrupulous  regard  for  the  rights 
of  those  States  and  for  the  Muslim  sentiment  as  to  the 
places  of  worship  and  your  just  and  timely  treatment 
of  Indian  claim  to  Home  Rule  lies  the  safety  of  the 
Empire.  I  write  this,  because  I  love  the  English  Nation 
and  I  wish  to  evoke  in  every  Indian  the  loyalty  of 
Englishman. 


RECRUITING  FOR  THE  WAR 


The  following   is   the  translation    of  Mr.   M.    K.- 
Gandhi's address,  delivered  at  a  meeting  in  the  District 
of  Kaira  in  July  1918. 

Sisters  and  Brothers  of  Kaira  ; — You  have  just 
come  successful  out  of  a  glorious  Satyagraha  campaign, 
You  have,  during  it,  given  such  evidence  of  fearlessness. 


RECRUITING   FOR   THE   WAR  431 

tact    and   other  virtues   that  I  venture   to   advise   and 
urge  yoQ  to  undertake  a  still  greater  campaign. 

You  have  successfully  demonstrated  how  you  can 
resist  Government  with  civility,  and  how  you  can 
retain  your  own  respect  without  hurting  theirs.  I  now 
place  before  you  an  opportunity  of  proving  that  you 
bear  no  hostility  to  Government  in  spite  of  your 
strenuous  fight  with  them. 

You  are  all  Home  Rulers,,  some  of  you  are  members 
of  Home  Rule  Leagues.     One  meaning  of  Home  rule  is 
that  we  should  become  ^ar/wers  o/iAc  Empire.     To-day 
we   are  a  subject    people      We   do   not   enjoy     all  the 
rights  of   Englishmen.     We  are  not    to-day   partners  of 
the  Empire  as  are  Canada,  South  Africa  and  Australia, 
We  are  a  dependency.     We  want  the  rights  of  English- 
men, and  we  aspire  to  as  much   partners  of  the  Empire 
as  the    Dominions   overseas.     We    wish   for    the  time 
when  we  may  aspire  to  the    Viceregal  office.     To  bring 
such  a    state  of  things,  we   should   have  the   ability  to 
defend  ourselves,  that  is  the  ability  to  bear  arms  and  to 
use  them.     As  long   as  we  have  to  look  to  the  English- 
men for  our  defence,  as  long  as  we  are  not  free  from  the 
military,  sO  long  we  cannot  be  regarded  as  equal  partners- 
with    Englishmen.     It,  therefore,   behoves   us  to  learn 
the  use  of   arms   and  to  acquire  the   ability   to  defend 
oursel  ves.     //  we   want  to  learn  the   use  of  arms  with 
the  greatest  possible  despatch,  it  is  our  duty  to  enlist 
ourselves  in  the  Army. 

There  can  be  no  friendship  between  the  brave  and 
the  efifeminate.  We  are  regarded  as  a  cowardly  people. 
If  we  want  to  become  free  from  that  reproach,  we 
should  learn  the  use  of  arms. 

Partnership   in  the    Empire   is    our  definite  goal. 


432  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

We  should  suffer  to  the  utmost  of  our  ability  and  even 

lay    down    our    lives    to    defend   the  Empire.     If    the 

Empire  perishes,  with  it  perish  our  cherished  aspira- 
tions. 

WAVS  AND    MEANS  OK  SWARAJ. 

The  easiest  and  the  straightest  way,  therefore,  to  win 
Swarajya  is  to  participate  in  the  defence  of  the  Empire. 
It  is  not  within  our  power  to  give  much  money. 
Moreover,  it  is  not  money  that  will  win  the  war.  Only 
an  inexhaustible  army  can  do  it.  That  army,  India  can 
supply.  If  the  Empire  wins  mainly  with  the  help  of 
our  army,  it  is  obvious  that  we  would  secure  the  righst 
we   want. 

Some  will  say  that  if  we  do  not  secure  those  rights 
just  row,  we  would  be  cheated  of  them  afterwards.  The 
power  acquired  in  defending  the  Empire  will  be  the 
power  that  can  secure  those  rights.  Rights  won  by 
making  an  opportunity  of  the  Empire's  weakness  are 
likely  to  be  lost  when  the  Empire  gains  its  strength. 
We  cannot  be  partners  of  the  Empire  by  embarrassing 
it.  Embarrassment  in  its  hour  of  crisis  will  not  avail  to 
secure  the  rights  we  needs  must  win  by  serving  it.  To 
distrust  the  statesmen  of  the  Empire  is  to  distrust  our 
own  strength,  it  is  a  sign  of  our  own  weakness.  We 
should  not  depend  for  our  rights  on  the  goodness  or  the 
weakness  of  the  statesmen.  We  should  depend  on  our 
fitness,  our  strength.  The  Native  States  are  helping 
the  empire  and  they  are  getting  their  reward.  The 
rich  are  rendering  full  financial  assistance  to  Govern- 
ment and  they  are  likewise  getting  their  reward.  The 
assistance  in  either  case  is  rendered  conditionally.  The 
sepoys  are  rendering  their  services  for  their  salt  and  for 
their  livelihood.     They  get  their    livelihood,  and  pzeris 


RECRUITING    FOR   THE    WAR  433 

and  honours  in  addition.  All  these  classes  are  a  part 
of  us,  but  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  Home  rulers,  their 
goal  is  not  Home  Rule.  The  help  they  render  is  not 
consecrated  to  the  country. 

If  we  seek  to  win  Swarajya  in  a  spirit  of  hosti- 
lity, it  is  possible  for  the  Imperial  statesmen  to  use 
these  three  forces  against  us  and  defeat  us.  If 
we  want  Swarajya,  it  is  our  duty  to  help  the  Empire 
and  we  shall,  undoubtedly,  get  the  reward  of  their 
help.  If  our  motive  is  honest.  Government  will  behave 
honestly  with  us.  Assuming  for  a  moment  that  they 
will  not  do  so,  our  honesty  should  make  us  confident 
of  our  success.  It  is  not  a  mark  of  greatnessito  return 
goodness  for  goodness  only.  Greatness  lies  in  returning 
good  for  evil. 

VALID  OBJECTIONS. 
Government  do  not  give  us  commissions  in  the 
Army  ;  they  do  not  repeal  the  Arms  Act ;  they  do  not 
open  schools  for  military  training.  How  can  we  then  co- 
operate with  them  ?  These  are  valid  objections.  In  not 
granting  reforms  in  these  matters,  Government  are  mak- 
ing a  serious  blunder.  The  English  nation  has  performed 
several  acts  of  virtue.  For  these,  God's  grace  be  with  it. 
But  the  heinous  sin  perpetrated  by  the  English  adminis- 
trators in  the  name  of  that  nation  will  undo  the  effect  of 
these  acts  of  virtue,  if  they  do  not  take  care  betimes.  If 
the  worst  happens  to  India,  which  may  God  forbid,  and 
she  passes  into  the  hands  of  some  other  nation,  India's 
piteous  cry  will  make  England  hang  her  head  in  shame 
before  the  world,  and  curses  will  descend  upon  her  for 
having  emasculated  a  nation  of  thirty  crores.  I  believe 
the  statesmen  of  England  have  realised  this,  and  they 
have  taken  the  warning;  but  they  are  unable  to  alter 


434  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES 

all  of  a  sudden  the  situation  created  by  themselves. 
Every  Englishman  upon  entering  India  is  trained  to 
despise  us,  to  regard  himself  as  our  superior  and  to 
maintain  a  spirit  of  isolation  from  us.  They  imbibe 
these  characteristics  from  their  Indian  atmosphere. 
The  •  finer  spirits  try  to  get  themselves  rid  of  this 
atmosphere  and  endeavour  to  do  likewise  with  the  rank 
and  file,  but  their  effort  does  not  bear  immediate  fruit. 
If  there  were  no  crisis  for  the  Empire,  we  should  be 
fighting  against  this  domineering  spirit.  But  to  sit 
still  at  this  crisis,  waiting  for  commissions,  etc.,  is  like 
cutting  the  nose  to  spite  the  face<  It  may  happen  per- 
chance that  we  may  idle  away  our  time  waiting  for 
commissions  till  the  opportunity  to  help  the  Empire 
may  be  gone. 

Even  if  Government  desire  to  obstruct  us  in 
enlisting  in  the  army  and  rendering  other  help,  by 
refusing  us  commissions,  or  by  delay  in  giving  them,  it 
is  my  firm  belief  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  insist 
upon  joining  the  army. 

THE  NEED  FOR  MEN. 
Government  at  present  want  five  lakhs  of  men  for 
the  army.  This  number  they  are  sure  to  raise  some 
way  or  the  other.  If  we  supply  this  number,  we  would 
cover  ourselves  with  glory,  we  would  be  rendering  true 
service  and  the  reports  that  we  often  hear  of  improper 
recruitment  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past.  It  is  no  small 
thing  to  have  the  whole  work  of  recruiting  in  our  hands. 
If  the  Government  have  no  trust  in  us,  if  their  inten- 
tions are  not  pure,  they  would  not  raise  recruits 
through  our  agency. 

The  foregoing  argument  will  show  that  by  enlisting 
in  the  army  we  help  the  Empire,  we   qusilify  ourselves 


RECRUITING   FOR    THE   WAR  435 

for  Swarajya,  we  learn  to  defend  India  and  to  a  certain 
extent,  regain  our  lost  manhood.  I  admit  it  is  because 
•of  my  faith  in  the  English  nation  that  I  can  advise  as  I 
am  doing,  I  believe  that,  though  this  nation  has  done 
India  much  harm,  to  retain  connection  with  that  nation 
is  to  our  advantage.  Their  virtues  seem  to  me  to  out- 
weigh their  vices.  It  is  miserable  to  remain  in  subjec- 
tion to  that  nation.  The  Englishmen  have  the  great  vice 
of  depriving  a  subject  nation  of  its  self-respect,  but 
they  have  also  the  virtue  of  treating  their  equals  with 
due  respect  and  of  loyalty  towards  them.  We  have 
seen  that  they  have  many  times  helped  those  groaning 
Tinder  the  tyranny  of  others.  In  partnership  with  them 
we  have  to  give  and  receive  a  great  many  things  to 
and  from  each  other  and  our  connection  with  them, 
based  on  that  relationship  is  likely  to  benefit  the  world.' 
If  such  was  not  my  faith  and  if  I  thought  it  desirable 
to  become  absolutely  independent  of  that  nation,  I 
would  not  only  not  advise  co-operation  but  would 
<;ertainly  advise  people  to  rebel  and  by  paying  the 
penalty  of  the  rebellion,  awaken  the  people.  We  are 
;not  in  a  position  to-day  to  stand  on  our  own  legs 
xinaided  and  alone.  I  believe  that  our  good  lies  in 
becoming  and  remaining  equal  partners  of  the  Empire 
and  I  have  seen  it  throughtout  India  that  all  Home 
Rulers  are  of  the  same  belief. 

APPEAL  TO   KAIRA   AND   GUJARAT. 

I  expect  from  Kaira  and  Gujarat  not  500  or  700 
recruits  but  thousands.  If  Gujarat  wants  to  wipe  her- 
self free  of  the  reproach  of  "  effeminate  Gujarat  ",  she 
should  be  prepared  to  contribute  thousands  of  sepoys. 
These  must  include  the  educated  classes,  the  Pattidars, 
the  Dharalas,  Vaghris  and  all,  and  I  hope  they  will  fight 


436  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

side  by  side  as  comrades.  Unless  the  educated  classes  or 
the  '  elite  '  of  the  community  take  the  lead,  it  is  idle  to 
expect  the  other  classes  to  come  forward.  I  believe 
that  those  from  the  educated  classes  are  above  the 
prescribed  age,  but  are  able-bodied,  may  enlist  them- 
selves. Their  services  will  be  utilised,  if  not  for 
actual  fighting,  for  many  other  purposes  accessory 
thereto,  and  for  treating  and  nursing  the  sepoys.  I 
hope  also  that  those  who  have  grown-up  sons  will  not 
hesitate  to  send  them  as  recruits.  To  sacrifice  sons  in 
the  war  ought  to  be  a  cause  not  of  pain,  but  of  pleasure 
to  brave  men.  Sacrifice  of  sons  at  the  crisis  will  be 
sacrifice  for  Swarajya. 

To  you,  my  sisters,  I  request  that  you  will  not  be 
startled  by  this  appeal,  but  will  accord  it  a  hearty 
welcome.  It  contains  the  key  to  your  protection  and 
your  honour. 

There  are  600  villages  in  the  Kaira  Districts 
Every  village  has  on  an  average  a  population  of  over 
1,000.  If  every  village  gave  at  least  twenty  men  the 
Kaira  District  would  be  able  to  raise  an  army  of  12,000 
men.  The  population  of  the  whole  district  is  seven 
lakhs  and  this  number  will  then  work  out  at  17  per 
cent. — a  rate  which  is  lower  than  the  death-rate.  If 
we  are  not  prepared  to  make  even  this  sacrifice  for  the 
Empire  and  Swarajya,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  are  regard- 
ed as  unworthy  of  it.  If  every  village  gives  at  least 
twenty  men  they  will  return  from  the  war  and  be 
the  living  bulwarks  of  their  village.  If  they  fall 
on  the  battle-field,  they  will  immortalise  themselves^ 
their  villages  and  their  country,  and  twenty  fresh  men 
will  follow  suit  and  offer  themselves  for  national 
defence. 


THE  MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD    SCHEME        437 

If  we  mean  to  do  this,  we  have  no  time  to  lose.  I 
wish  the'  names  of  the  fittest  and  the  strongest  in  every 
village  will  be  seledted  and  sent  up.  I  ask  this  of  you, 
brothers  and  sisters.  To  explain  things  to  you,  and  to 
clear  the  many  questions  that  will  arise,  meetings  will 
be  held  in  important  villages.  Volunteers  will  also  be 
sent  out. 


THE  MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD  SCHEME 

On  the  publication  of  the  "  Report  on  Oonstitutional 
Reforms  "  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  Mr.  ®.  S.  Montagu  and  H.  3. 
Lord  Ohelmsford,  Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  following  letter 
[dated,  July  18,  1918)  to  the  Hon,  [now  the  Rt.  Hon,  Mr. 
V.  S.  Srinivasa  Sastri,  who  had  invited  him  to  give  an 
expression  of  his  views  on  the  subject  for  publication  in 
the  "  Servant  of  India.'*    Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  : — 

After  all,  our  standard  of  measurement  must  be  the 
Congress-League  scheme.  Crude  though  it  is,  I  think 
that  we  should  with  all  the  vehemence  and  skill,  that 
we  can  command,  press  for  the  incorporation  into  it  of 
the  essentials  of  our  own. 

DOCTRINE  OF  COMPARTMENTS. 
I  would,  therefore,  for  instance,  ask  for  the 
rejection  of  the  doctrine  of  compartments.  I  very  much 
fear  that  the  dual  system  in  the  Provinces  will 
be  fatal  to  the  success  of  the  experiment  and  as 
it  may  be  only  the  success  of  the  experiment  that 
can  take  us  to  the  next  and  I  hope  the  final  stage. 
We  cannot  be  too  insistent  that  the  idea  of  reservatioa 
should  be  dropped.  One  cannot  help  noticing  an 
unfortunate  suspicion  of  our   intentions  regarding  tha 


438  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

purely    British  as  distinguished  from  the  purely  Indian 
interests.     Hence,  there  is  to  be    seen  in    the  scheme 
elaborate    reservations  on    behalf 'of   these   interests. 
I    think  that   more    than    anything   else  it  is  neces- 
sary to  have  an  honest,  frank  and  straightforward  under- 
standing about  these  interests  and  for  me  personally  this 
is  of  much  greater  importance  than  any  legislative  feat 
that  British  talent  alone  or  a  combination  of  British  and 
Indian  talent  may  be  capable  of  performing.    I  would 
certainly,  in  as  courteous  terms  as  possible,  but   equally 
emphatic  say  that  these  interests  will  be  held  subservient 
to  those  of  India  as  a  whole  and  that  therefore  they  are 
certainly  in  jeopardy  in  so  far  as  they  may  be  inconsis- 
tent with  the  general  advance  of  India.  Thus,  if  I  had  my 
way,  I  would  cut  down  the  military  expenditure.  I  would 
protect   local    industries  by  heavily   taxing  goods   that 
compete  against  products  of  our  industries  and  I  would 
reduce  to  a  minimum  the  British  element  in  our  services, 
retaining  only  those  that  may  be  needed  for  our  instruc- 
tion and  guidance.    I  do  not  think  that  they  had  or  have 
any  claim  upon  our  attention,  save  by  right  of  conquest. 
That  claim  must  clearly  go  by  the  board  as  soon  as  we 
have  awakened  to  a  consciousness  of  our  national  exis- 
tence and  possess  the   strength  to  vindicate  our  right  to 
t^ie  restoration  of  what  we  have  lost.    To  their   credit 
let  it  be   said  that  they  do  not  themselves  advance  any 
claim  by  right  of  conquest.    One  can  readily  join  in  the 
tribute  of  praise  bestowed  upon  the  Indian  Civil  Service 
for  their  proficiency,  devotion  to  duty  and  great  organi- 
sing ability.    So  far  as  material  reward  is  concerned  that 
service  has  been  more  than   handsomely   paid  and  our 
gratitude  otherwise  can  be  best  expressed  by  assimilating 
their  virtues  ourselves. 


THE    MONTAGU-CHELMSFORD    SCHEME  439 

PRESENT  TOP-HEAVY  ADMINISTRATION. 
No  scheme  of  reform  can  possibly  benefit  India  that 
does  not  recognise  that  the  present  administration  is 
top'heavy  and  ruinously  expensive  and  for  me  even  law, 
order  and  good  government  would  be  too  dearly 
purchased  if  the  price  to  be  paid  for  it  is  to  be  the 
grinding  poverty  of  the  masses.  The  watchword  of  our 
reform  councils  will  have  to  be,  not  the  increase  of 
taxation  for  the  growing  needs  of  a  growing  country, 
but  a  decrease  of  financial  burdens  that  are  sapping  the 
foundation  itself  of  organic  growth.  If  this  fundamental 
fact  is  recognised,  there  need  be  no  suspicion  of  our 
motives  and  1  think  I  am  perfectly  safe  in  asserting  that 
in  every  other  respect  British  interests  will  be  as  secure 
in  Indian  hands  as  they  are  in  their  own. 

INDIANS   IN    CIVIL   SERVICE. 

It  follows  from  what  I  have  said  above  that  we 
must  respectfully  press  for  the  Congress- League  claim 
for  the  immediate  granting  to  Indians  of  50  per  cent,  of 
the  higher  posts  in  the  Civil  Service. 


THE  ROWLATT  BILLS  &  SATYAGRAHA 


During  the  debate  on  the  Rowlatt  Bills  in  the  Im- 
perial Legislative  Council  in  1919  Mr,  Gandhi  toured 
round  the  country  organising  an  effective  opposition  to 
the  passing  of  the  Bills.  Despairing  of  the  efficacy  of 
mere  Non-official  opposition  in  the  Council,  Mr.  Gandhi 
inaugurated  what  is  known  as  the  Satyagraha  Movement 
as  the  only  legitimate  weapon  in  the  hands  of  the  people, 
to  make  their  opposition  felt .  In  this  conner.tion  he  pub- 
lished several  contributions  and  spoke  on  many  occasions. 
An  attempt  is  made  in  the  following  pages  to  record  them 
in  the  order  of  dates. 


MANIFESTO  TO  THE  PRESS 


[/»  commending  the  Satyagraha  Pledge,  Mr.  M.  K, 
Gandhi  wrote  to  the  Press  under  date,  February  28, 
1919  :— ] 

The  step  taken  is  probably  the  most  tnomentous  in 
the  history  of  India.  I  give  my  assurance  that  it  has 
not  been  hastily  taken.  Personally  I  have  passed  many 
sleepless  nights  over  it.  I  have  endeavoured  duly  to 
appreciate  Government's  position,  but  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  any  justification  for  the  extraordinary 
Bills.  I  have  read  the  Rowlatt  Committee's  Report.  I 
have  gone  through  the  narrative  with  admiration.  Its 
reading  has  driven  me  to  conclusions  just  the  opposite 
of  the  Committee's.  I  should  conclude  from  the  report 
that  secret  violence  is  confined  to  isolated  and  very 
small  parts  of  India,  and  to  a  microscopic  body  of 
people.     The  existence  of  such  men  is  truly  a  danger  to 


THE  ROWLATT  BILLS  AND  SATYAGRAHA    441 

society.  But  the  passing  of  the  Bills,  designed  to  afifect 
the  whole  of  India  and  its  people  and  arming  the  Govern- 
ment with  powers  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  situation 
sought  to  be  dealt  with,  is  a  greater  danger.  The 
Committee  ignore  the  historical  fact  that  the  millions  in 
India  are  by  nature  the  gentlest  on  earth. 

Now  lookat  the  setting  of  the  Bills.  Their  introduc- 
tion is  accompanied  by  certain  assurances  given  by  the 
Viceroy  regarding  the  Civil  Service  and  the  British 
commercial  interests.  Many  of  us  are  iilled  with  the 
greatest  misgivings  about  the  Viceregal  utterance.  I 
frankly  confess  I  do  not  understand  its  full  scope  and 
intention.  If  it  means  that  the  Civil  Service  and  the 
British  commercial  interests  are  to  be  held  superior  to 
those  of  India  and  its  political  and  commercial  require, 
ments,  no  Indian  can  accept  the  doctrine.  It  can  but  end 
in  a  fratricidal  struggle  within  the  Empire.  Reforms 
may  or  may  not  come.  The  need  of  the  moment  is  a 
proper  and  just  understanding  upon  this  vital  issue.  No 
tinkering  with  it  will  produce  real  satisfaction.  Let  the 
great  Civil  Service  Corporation  understand  that  it  can 
remain  in  India  only  as  its  trustee  and  servant,  not  in 
name,  but  in  deed,  and  let  the  British  commercial 
houses  understand  that  they  can  remain  in  India  only 
to  supplement  her  requirements,  and  not  to  destroy 
indigenous  art,  trade  and  manufacture,  and  you  have  two 
measures  to  replace  the  Rowlatt  Bills. 

It  will  be  now  easy  to  see  why  I  consider  the  Bills 
to  be  an  unmistakable  symptom  of  a  deep-seated  disease 
in  the  governing  body.  It  needs,  therefore,  to  be  drastic- 
ally treated.  Subterranean  violence  will  be  the  remedy 
applied  by  impetuous,  hot-beaded  youths  who  will  have 
grown  impatient  of  the  spirit  underlying  the  Bills  and  the 


442  EARLIER   INDIAN   SPEECHES. 

circumstances  attending  their  introduction.  The  Bills 
must  intensify  the  hatred  and  ill-will  against  the  State  of 
which  the  deeds  of  violence  are  undoubtedly  an  evidence. 
The  Indian  covenanters,  by  their  determination  to  under- 
go every  form  of  suffering  make  an  irresistible  appeal  to' 
the  Government,  towards  which  they  bear  no  ill-will, 
and  provide  to  the  believers  in  the  efficacy  of  violence, 
as  a  means  of  securing  redress  of  grievances  with  an 
infallible  remedy,  and  withal  a  remedy  that  blesses  those 
that  use  it  and  also  those  against  whom  it  is  used.  If 
the  convenanters  know  the  use  of  this  remedy,  I  fear  no 
ill  from  it,  I  have  no  business  to  doubt  their  ability 
They  must  ascertain  whether  the  disease  is  sufficiently 
great  to  justify  the  strong  remedy  and  whether  all 
milder  ones  have  been  tried.  They  have  convinced  them- 
selves that  the  disease  is  serious  enough,  and  that  milder 
measures  have  utterly  failed.  The  rest  lies  in  the  lap 
of  the  gods. 

THE  PLEDGE 
Being  conscientiously  of  opinion  thai  the  Bills  known 
as  the  Indian  Criminal  Law  {Amendment)  Bill  No,  1 
of  1919,  and  the  Criminal  Law  {Emergency  Powers)  Bill 
No.  11  of  1919,  are  unjust,  subversive  of  the  principle  of 
liberty  and  justice,  and  destructive  of  the  elementary 
rights  of  individuals  on  which  the  safety  of  the  com' 
munity  as  a  whole  aud  the  Stctte  itself  is  based,  we 
solemnly  affirm  that  in  the  event  of  these  Bills  becoming 
law  until  they  are  withdrawn,  we  shall  refuse  civilly  to 
obey  these  laws  and  such  other  laws  as  a  committee  to  be 
hereafter  appointed  may  think  fit  and  further  affirm 
that  in  this  struggle  we  will  faithfully  follow  truth  and 
refrain  from  violence  to  life,  person  or  property. 


SPEECH  AT  ALLAHABAD 


[Mr.  M.  K,  Gandhi  in  his  speech  at  Allahabad  on 
the  llth.  March,  explained  the  Saty a gr aha  Pledge  as 
follows : — "] 

It  behoves  every  one  who  wishes  to  take  the  Satya- 
graha  Pledge  to  seriously  consider  all  its  factors  before 
taking  it.  It  is  necessary  to  understand  the  principles  of 
Satyagraha,  to  understand  the  main  features  of  the  Bills 
known  as  the  Rowlatt  Bills  and  to  be  satisfied  that  they 
are  so  objectionable  as  to  warrant  the  very  powerful 
remedy  of  Satyagraha  being  applied  and,  finally,  to  be 
convinced  of  one's  ability  to  undergo  every  form  of  bodily 
suffering  so  that  the  soul  may  be  set  free  and  be  under 
no  fear  from  any  human  being  or  institution.  Once  in  it, 
there  is  no  looking  back. 

Therefore  there  is  no  conception  of  defeat  in  Staya" 
grab.  A  Satyagrahi  fights  even  unto  death.  It  is  thus 
not  an  easy  thing  for  everybody  to  enter  upon  it.  It 
therefore  behoves  a  Stayagrahi  to  be  tolerant  of  those 
who  do  not  join  him.  In  reading  reports  of  Satyagraha. 
meetings  I  often  notice  that  ridicule  is  poured  upon  those 
who  do  not  join  our  movement.  This  is  entirely  against 
the  spirit  of  the  Pledge.  In  Satyagraha  we  expect  ta 
win  over  out  opponents  by  self-suffering  i.e  ,  by  love. 
The  process  whereby  we  hope  to  reach  our  goal  is 
by  so  conducting  ourselves  as  gradually  and  in  an 
unperceived  manner  to  disarm  all  opposition.  Oppo- 
nents as  a  rule  expect  irritation,  even  violence  from 
one  another  when  both  parties  are  equally  matched.. 
But  when    Satyagraha  comes  into  play   the  expecta- 


444  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

tion  is  transformed  into  agreeable  surprise  in  the 
mind  of  the  party  towards  whom  Satyagraha  is  address- 
ed till  at  last  he  relents  and  recalls  the  act  which 
necessitated  Satyagraha.  I  venture  to  promise  that  if 
we  act  up  to  our  Pledge  day  after  day,  the  atmosphere 
around  us  will  be  purified  and  those  who  differ  from  us 
from  honest  motives,  as  I  verily  believe  they  do,  will 
perceive  that  their  alarm  was  unjustified.  The  vio- 
lationists  wherever  they  may  be  will  realise  that  they 
have  in  Satyagraha  a  far  more  potent  instrument  for 
achieving  reform  than  violence  whether  secret  or  open 
and  that  it  gives  them  enough  work  for  their  inex- 
haustible energy.  And  the  Government  will  have  no 
case  left  in  defence  of  their  measures  if  as  a  result  of 
-our  activity  the  cult  of  violence  is  notably  on  the  wane 
if  it  has  not  entirely  died  out.  I  hope  therefore  that  at 
Satyagraha  meetings  we  shall  have  no  cries  of  shame, 
and  no  language  betraying  irritation  or  impatience  either 
against  the  Government  or  our  countrymen  who  differ 
from  us  and  some  of  whom  have  for  years  been  devoting 
themselves  to  the  country's  cause  according  to  the  best 
of  their  ability. 


SPEECH  AT  BOMBAY 


[  At  the  Bombay  meeting  against  the  Rowlatt  Bills 
on  I'ith  March,  Mr.  M.  K.  Oandhi's  speech  which  was  in 
i^ujarati  was  read  out  by  his  secretary.  The  speech  ra  n 
as  follows  : — ] 

I  am  sorry  that  owing  to  my  illness,  I  am  unable  to 
speak  to  you  myself  and  have  to  have  my  remarks  read 
to  you.  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  Sanyasi  Shrad- 
dhanandji  is  gracing  the  audience  to-day  by  his  presence. 


SPEECH    AT  BOMBAY  445 

He  is  better  known  to  us  as  Mahatma  Munshiramji, 
the  Governor  of  Gurnkul,  His  joining  our  army  is  a 
source  of  strength  to  us.  Many  of  you  have  perhaps 
been  keenly  following  the  proceedings  of  the  Viceregal 
Council.  Bill  No.  2  is  being  steamrolled  by  means  of 
the  OflScial  majority  of  the  Government  and  in  the 
teeth  of  the  unanimous  opposition  from  the  Non-Official' 
members.  I  deem  it  to  be  an  insult  to  the  latter,  and 
through  them  to  the  whole  of  India.  Satyagraha  has 
become  necessary  as  much  i  to  ensure  respect  for  duly 
expressed  public  opinion,  as  to  have  the  mischievous 
Bills  withdrawn.  Grave  responsibility  rests  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  Satyagrahis  though,  as  I  have  so  often 
said,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  defeat  in  Satyagraha,  it 
does  not  mean  that  victory  can  be  achieved  withr 
out  Satyagrahis  to  fight  for  it,  i.e.,  to  suffer  for  it.. 
The  use  of  this  matchless  force  is  comparatively 
a  novelty.  It  is  not  the  same  thing  as  Passive 
Resistance  which  has  been  conceived  to  be  a  weapon 
that  can  be  wielded  most  effectively  only  by  the 
strongest  minded,  and  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  six 
hundred  men  and  women  who  in  this  Presidency  hav& 
signed  the  Pledge  are  more  than  enough  for  our  purpose,, 
if  they  have  strong  wills  and  invincible  faith  in  their 
mission,  and  that  is  in  the  power  of  truth  to  conquer 
untruth  which  Satyagrahis  believe  the  Bills  represent. 
I  use  the  word  '  untruth  '  in  its  widest  sense.  We  may 
expect  often  to  be  told — as  we  have  been  told  already  by 
Sir  William  Vincent — that  the  Government  will  not 
yield  to  any  threat  of  Passive  Resistance.  Satyagraha. 
is  not  a  threat,  it  is  a  fact ;  and  even  such  a  mighty 
Government  as  the  Government  of  India  will  have  to, 
yield  if  we  are  true  to  our  Pledge.     For  the    Pledge   is. 


4-46  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

not  a  small  thing.  It  means  a  change  of  heart.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  introduce  the  religious  spirit  into  politics. 
We  may  no  longer  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  tit  for  tat  : 
we  may  not  meet  hatred  by  hatred,  violence  by 
violence,  evil  by  evil ;  but  we  have  to  make  a 
continuous  and  persistent  effort  to  return  good  for 
evil.  It  is  of  no  consequence  that  I  give  utterance  to 
these  sentiments.  Every  Satyagrahi  has  to  live  up  to 
them.  It  is  a  difficult  task,  but  with  the  help  of  God 
nothing  is  impossible.    (Loud  Cheers.) 


SPEECH  AT  MADRAS. 


[At  the  meeting  held  at  the  Madras  Beach  on  the 
I8th  March,  Mr.  Gandhi,  in  responding  to  the  welcome, 
said : — ] 

You  will  forgive  me  for  saying  the  few  words  that 
I  want  to  say  just  now  sitting  in  the  chair.'  I  am  under 
strict  medical  orders  not  to  exert  myself,  having  got  a 
weak  heart.  I  am,  therefore,  compelled  to  have  some 
assistance  and  to  get  my  remarks  read  to  you.  But 
before  I  call  upon  Mr.  Desai  to  read  my  remarks,  I  wish 
to  say  one  word  to  you.  Beware  before  you  sign  the 
Pledge.  But  if  you  do,  you  will  see  to  it  that  you  shall 
never  undo  the  Pledge  you  have  singed.  May  God  help 
you  and  me  in  carrying  out  the  Pledge. 

[Mr,  Desai,  after  a  few  words  of  introduction,  read 
the  following  message  : — ] 

I  regret  that  owing  to  heart  weakness  I  am  unable 
to  speak  to  you  personally.  You  have  no  doubt  attended 
many  meetings,  but  those  that  you  have  been  attending 
®f  late  are  different  from  the  others  in  that  at  the 
meetings  to    which   I   have  referred  some   immediate 


SPEECH    AT   MADRAS  447 

tangible  action,  some  immediate  definite  sacrifice  has 
been  demanded  of  you  for  the  purpose  of  averting  a 
serious  calamity  that  has  overtaken  us  in  the  shape  of 
what  are  known  as  the  Rowlatt  Bills.  One  of  them 
Bill  No.  I,  has  undergone  material  alterations  and  its 
farther  consideration  has  been  postponed.  Inspite, 
however,  of  the  alteration,  it  is  mischievous  enough 
to  demand  opposition.  The  Second  Bill  has  pro- 
bably at  this  very  moment  been  finally  passed  by 
that  Council,  for  in  reality  you  can  hardly  call  the 
Bill  as  having  been  passed  by  that  august  body 
when  all  its  non  official  members  unanimously  and 
in  strong  language  opposed  it.  The  Bills  require  to 
be  resisted  not  only  because  they  are  in  themselves  bad, 
but  also  because  Government  who  are  responsible  for 
their  introduction  have  seen  fit  practically  to  ignore 
public  opinion  and  some  of  its  members  have  made  it  a 
boast  that  they  can  so  ignore  that  opinion.  So  far  it  is 
common  cause  between  the  different  schools  of  thought 
in  the  country.  I  have,  however,  after  much  prayerful 
consideration,  and  after  very  careful  examination  of 
the  Government's  standpoint,  pledged  myself  to  offer 
Satyagraha  against  the  Bills,  and  invited  all  men  and 
women  who  think  and  feel  with  me  to  do  likewise. 
Some  of  our  countrymen,  including  those  who  are 
among  the  best  of  the  leaders,  have  uttered  a  note 
of  warning,  and  even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that 
this  Satyagraha  movement  is  against  the  best  interests 
of  the  country.  I  have  naturally  the  highest  regard 
for  them  and  their  opinion.  I  have  worked-under  some 
of  them.  I  was  a  babe  when  Sir  Dinshaw  Wacha 
and  Babu  Surendranath  Bannerji  were  among  the 
accepted    leaders    of    public    opinion    in   India.    Mr. 


448  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

Sastriar    is   a    politician    who   has     dedicated   his    all 
to   the     country's    cause.     His  ; sincerity,    his    probity 
are  all  his  own.     He  will  yield  to  no  one  in  the  love  of 
the  country.      There  is  a   sacred   and   indissdluble    tie 
binding  me  to  him. "  My    upbringing   draws  me   to  the 
signatiories  of  the  two  Manifestoes.    It  is  not,  therefore, 
without  the  grearest  grief  and  much  searching  of   heart 
•that  I  have  to  place  myself  in  opposition  to  their  wishes. 
But  there  are   times   when   you   have  to  obey    a   call 
which  is  the  highest  of  all,  i.e.,  the  voice  of   conscience 
even  though  such  obedience  may  cost  many  a  bitter  tear, 
nay  even  more,    separation   from  friends,  from  family, 
from  the  state  to  which  you  may  belong,  from  all  that  you 
have  held  as  dear  as  life  itself.  For  this  obedience  is  the 
law  of  our  being.  I  have  no  further  and  other  defence  to 
offer  for  my  conduct.     My  regard  for   the  signatories  to 
the  Manifesto    remains  undiminished,^and   my     faith  in 
the   eificiency   of   Satyagraha   is  so  great   that   I   feel 
that  if.  those  who  have  taken  the  Pledge  will  be  true  to 
it,  we   shall  be   able  to   show  to   them  that   they   will 
find   when  we    have   come  to  the   end  of   this   struggle 
that  there  was  no  cause  for  alarm  or  misgivings.   There 
is,  I  know,   resentment   felt  even   by  some  Satyagrahis 
over  the  Manifestoes.    I  would  warn  Satyagrahis  that 
such   resentment    is .  against   the   spirit  of  Satyagraha. 
I  would   personally   welcome   an    honest  expression  of 
difference  of  opinion  from  any  quarter  and  more  so  from 
friends  because  it    puts  us   on  our   guard.     There  is  too 
much  recrimination,  innuendo  and  insinuation  in  our  pub- 
lic life,  and  if  the  Satyagraha  movement  purges  it  of  this 
grave  defect,  as  it  ought  to,  it   will  be  a  very  desirable 
by — product.    I  wish  further  to  suggest  to  Satyagrahis 
that  any  resentment  of  the  two  Manifestoes  would  be 


SPEECH    AT    MADRAS  449 

but  a  sign  of  weakness  on  our  part.  Every  movement, 
and  Satyagraha  most  of  all,  must  depend  upon  its  own 
inherent  strength,  but  not  upon  the  weakness  or  silence 
of  its  critics. 

Let  us,  therefore,  see   wherein    lies  the  strength  of 
Satyagraha.  As  the  name  implies  it  is  in  an  insistence  on 
truth  which  dynamically  expressed  means  love  ;  and  by 
the  law  of  love  we  are  required  not  to  return  hatred  for 
hatred,  violence  for  violonce  but  to  return  good  for  evil. 
As    Shrima4i    Sarojini    Devi   told   you    yesterday    the 
strength  lies  in    a  definite  recognition  of  the  tiue  religi- 
ous spirit  and  action  corresponding  to  it,  and   when  once 
you  introduce  the  religious   element   in    politics,  you  re- 
volutionise the  whole  of   your   political   outlook.     You 
achieve  reform  then  not  by  imposing  suffering  on  those 
who  resist  it,   but  by  taking   the   suffering   upon  your- 
selves and  so  in  this  movement  we  hope  by  the  intensity 
of  our  sufferings  to   affect  and   alter    the  Government's 
resolution  not  to  withdraw  these  objectionable  Bills.    It 
has,  however,  been  suggested  that  the  Government  will 
leave  the  handful  of  Satyagrahis  severely  alone  and  not 
make  martyrs  of   them.     But  there   is  here,  in  my  hum- 
ble opinion,  bad  logic  and  an   unwarranted  assumption 
of    fact.     If    Satyagrahis   are   left  alone,    they    have 
won    a     complete    victory,    because    they    will    have 
succeeded  in  disregarding   the  Rowlatt   Bills  and  even 
other  laws  of  the    country,   and  in   having  thus  shown 
that  a  civil  disobedience  of  a  Government  is   held  per- 
fectly harmless.  I  regard  the  statement  as  an  unwarrant- 
ed assumption   of  fact,    because    it    contemplates   the 
restriction  of  the  movement  only  to  a  handful  of  men  and 
women.  My  experience  of  Satyagraha  leads  me  to  believe 
that  it  is  such  a  potent  force  that,   once  set  in  motion,  it 
39 


450  EARLIER   INDIAN  SPEECHES 

ever  spreads  till  at  last  it  becomes  a  dominant  factor  in 
the  community  in  whicb  it  is  brought  into  play,  and  if  it 
"so  spreads,  no  Government  can  neglect  it.  Either  it  must 
yield  to  it  or  imprison  the  workers  in  the'  movement. 
But  I  have  no  desire  to  argue.  As  the  English  proverb 
says,  the  proof  of  the  pudding  lies  in  the  eating.  The 
movement,  for  better  or  for  worse,  has  been  launched. 
We  shall  be  judged  not  by  our  words,  but  solely  by  our 
deeds.  It  is,  therefore,  not  enough  that  we  sign  the 
Pledge.  Our  sigtiing  it  is  but  an  earnest  of  oUr  determina- 
tion to  act  up  to  it,  and  if  all  who  sign  the  Pledge,  act 
according  to  it,  I  make  bold  to  promise  that  we  shall 
bring  about  the  withdrawal, of  the  two  Bills  and  neither 
the  Government  nor  our  critics  will  have  a  word  to  say 
against  us,  The  cause  is  great,  the  remedy  is  equally 
great  ;  let  us  prove  worthy  of  them  both. 

.  APPEAL  TO  THE  VICEROY 


A  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Madras  was 
held  on  March  20,  1919,  at  the  Beach  opposite  the 
Presidency  College,  Madras,  to  appeal  to  the  Viceroy  to 
•withhold  his  assent  to  the  Rowlatt  Act  and  to  convey  to 
Mr.  M.  K,. Gandhi  their  profound  and  respectful  thanks 
for  the  trouble  he  had  taken  to  visit  Madras  in  order  to 
strengthen  the^  Satyagraha,  movement.  Mr.  M.  K, 
Gandhi  did  net  attend  owing  to  ill-health.  Mr.  Desai 
read  the  following  message  from  Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi. 

Friends. — This  afternoon  I  propose  to  deal  with 
some  of  the  objections  that  have  been  raised  against 
Satyagraha.  After  saying  that  it  was  a  matter  of  regret 
that  men  like  myself  "  should  have  embarked  on 
this   movement,"   Sir  Wm.     Vincent,  in    winding    up 


APPEAL  TO    THE  VICEROY  451 

the  debate  oh  Bill  No.  2,  said,  "  they  could  only  hope 
that  (the  Satyagraha)  would  not  materialise.  Mr. 
-Gandhi  might  exercise  great  self-restraint  in  actioUj 
but  there  would  be  other  young  hot-headed  men 
who  might  be  led  into  violence  which  could  not 
but  end  in  disaster.  Yielding  t-o  this  threat,  how- 
ever, would  be  tantamount  to  complete  abolition  of 
the  authority  of  the  Governor-General-in-Council." 
If  Sir  William's  fear  as  to  violence  is  realised,  it 
would  undoubtedly  be  a  disaster.  It  is  for  every 
Satyagrahi  to  guard  against  that  danger.  I  enter- 
tain no  such  fear  because  our  creed  requires  us 
to  eschew  all  violence  and  to  resort  to  truth  and 
self-suffering,  as  the  only  weapons  in  our  armoury 
Indeed  the  Satyagraha  movement  is,  among  other 
things,  an  invitation  to  those  who  belive  in  the  efficiency 
of  violence  for  redress  of  grievances  to  jom  our  ranks 
and  honestly  to  follow  our  methods.  I  have  suggested 
elsewhere  that  what  the  Rowlatt  Bills  are  intended 
to  do  and  what  I  verily  believe  they  are  bound  to  fail 
in  achieving  is  exactly  what  the  Satyagraha  movement 
is  pre-eminently  capable  of  achieving.  By  demons- 
trating to  the  party  of  violence  the  infallible  power 
of  Satyagraha  and  by  giving  them  ample  sc&pe  for 
their  inexhaustible  energy,  we  hope  to  wean  that  party 
from  the  suicidal  method  of  violence.  What  can  be 
more  potent  than  an  absolute  statement,  accompanied 
by  corresponding  action,  presented  in  the  clearest 
terms  possible  that  violence  is  never  necessary  tor  the 
purpose  of  securing  reforms  ?  Sir  William  says  that 
the  movement  has  great  potentialities  of  evil.  The  Hon. 
Pandit  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya  is  said  to  have  retorted, 
"  and   also  of  good."    I  would  venture  to  improve  upon 


4S2  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

the  retort  by  saying,  "  only  of  good."  It  constitutes  an 
attempt  to  revolutionize  politics  and  to  restore  moral  force 
to  its  original  station.  After  all,  the  Government  do  not 
believe  in  an  entire  avoidance  of  .violence  »a,  physical 
force.  The  message  of  the  West,  which  the  Government 
of  India,  I  presume,  represent,  is  succinctly  put  by  Presi- 
dent Wilson  in  his  speech  delivered  to  the  Peace  Con- 
ference at  the  time  of  introducing  the  League  of  Nations 
Covenant.  "  Armed  force  is  in  the  background  in  this 
programme,  but  it  is  in  the  background,  and  if  the  moral 
force  of  the  world  will  not  suffice,  physical  force  of  the 
world  shall."  We  hope  to  reverse  the  process,  and  by 
our  action  show  that  physical  force  is  nothing  compared 
to  the  moral  force,  and  that  moral  force  never  fails.  It 
is  my  firm  belief  that  this  is  the  fundamental  diflFerence 
between  modern  civilisation  and  the  ancient  of  which 
India,  fallen  though  it  is,  I  venture  to  claim,  is  a  living 
representative.  We,  her  educated  children,  seem  to  have 
lost  faith  in  this — the  grandest  doctrine  of  life.  If  we 
could  but  restore  that  faith  in  the  supremacy  of  Moral 
Force  we  shall  have  made  a  priceless  contribution  to 
the  British  Empire,  and  we  shall,  without  fail,  obtain 
the  reforms  we  desire  and  to  which  we  may  be  entitled. 
Entertaining  such  views  it  is  not  difficult  for  me  to 
answer  Sir  William's  second  fear  as  to  the  complete 
abolition  of  the  authority  of  the  Governor-General-in- 
Council.  This  movement  is  undoubtedly  designed, 
effectively  to  prove  to  the  Government  that  its  authority 
is  finally  dependant  upon  the  will  of  the  people  and  not 
upon  force  of  arms,  especially  when  that  will  is  express^ 
ed  iu  terms  of  Satyagraha.  To  yield  to  a  clear  moral 
force  cannot  but  enhance  the  prestige  and  the  dignity 
of  the  yielder. 


APPEAL   TO   THE   VICEROY  455 

It  is  to  such  a  movement  that  every  man  and 
woman  in  this  great  country  is  invited,  but  a  movement 
that  is  intended  to  produce  fai'«reaching  results,  and 
which  depends,  for  success,  on  the  purity  and  the 
capacity  for  self -suffering  of  those  who  are  engaged 
in  it,  can  only  be  joined  after  a  searching  and  prayerful 
self-examination.  I  may  not  too  often  give  the  warning 
I  have  given  at  Satyagraha  meetings  that  everyone 
should  think  a  thousand  times  before  coming  to  it,  but 
having  come  to  it  he  must  remain  in  it,  cost  what  it 
may.  A  friend  came  to  me  yesterday,  and  told  me  that 
he  did  not  know  that  it  meant  all  that  was  ex- 
plained at  a  gathering  of  a  few  Satyagrahi  friends 
and  wanted  to  withdraw.  I  told  him  that  he  could 
certainly  do  so  if  he  had  signed  without  understand- 
ing the  full  consequences  of  the  pledge.  And  t 
would  ask  everyone  who  did  not  understand  the  pledge 
as  it  has  been  explained  at  various  meetings  to  copy 
this  example.  It  is  not  numbers  so  much  as  quality 
that  we  want.  Let  me  therefore  note  down  the  qualities 
required  of  a  Satyagrahi.  He  must  follow  truth  at  any 
cost  and  in  all  circumstances.  He  must  make  a  cons 
tinuous  effort  to  love  his  opponents.  He  must  be 
prepared  to  go  through  every  form  of  suffering,  whether 
imposed  upon  him  by  the  Government  which  he  is 
civilly  resisting  for  the  time  being,  or  only  those  who 
may  differ  from  him.  This  movement  is  thus  a  process 
of  purification  and  penance.  Believe  me  that,  if  we  go 
through  it  in  the  right  spirit,  all  this  fears  expressed  by 
the  Government  and  some  of  our  friends  will  be  proved 
to  be  groundless  and  we  will  not  only  see  the  Rowlatt 
Bills  withdrawn,  but  the  country  will  recognise  in 
Satyagraha  a  powerful  and  religious  weapon  for  secar- 
ing  reforms  and  redress  of  legitimate  grievances. 


THE  SATYAGRAHA  DAY 


Afr.  M.  K.  Gandhi  published    the  following  under 
date,  2'ird  March,  during  his  stay  in  Madras  -. — 

Satyagraha,   as   I  have   endeavoured  to  explain  at 
several  meetings,  is  essentially  a   religious    movement. 
It  is  a  process  of   purification  and  penance.     It  seeks  to 
secure  reforms  or  redress  of  grievances  by  self-suffering. 
I  therefore  venture  to  suggest   that  the   second  Sunday 
after  the  publication  of   the   Viceregal   assent    to    Bill 
No.  2  of    1919    (i.e.,  6th    April)   mky  be  observed  as  a_ 
day  of  humiliation  and    Prayer.     As   there  must  be   an 
effective     public   demonstration    in   keeping     with   the 
character  of  the  observance,  I  beg  to  advise  as  follows  : 
(i)  A  twenty-four  hours' fast,  counting  from  the  last 
meal  on    the  preceding  night,  should  be  ob- 
served by  all  adults,  unless  prevented   from 
so  doing    by    consideration    of    religion    or 
health.     The    fast  is  not  to   be   regarded,  in 
any  shape  or  form,  in  the  nature  of  a  hunger- 
strike,    or  as   designed  to   put   any   pressure 
upon  the  Government.    It  is  to  be  regarded, 
for  all  Satyagrahis,  as  the   necessary  discip- 
line   to    lit    them   for   civil    disobedisnce 
contemplated   in   their  Pledge,   and    for  al  I 
others,  as  some  slight  token  of  the  intensity 
of  their  wftnnded  feelings, 
(ii)  All  work,    except  such  as   may  be  necessary  in 
the  public  interest,  should  be  suspended  for 
the  day.    Markets  and  other  business  places 
should  be     closed.    Employees     who    are 


SA-TYAQBAHA   DAY  I.N    MADRAS  45$ 


required  to  work  even  on  Sundays  may  pnly 
suspend  work  after  obtaining  previous  leave. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  recommend  these  two  sugges- 
tions for  adoption  by  public  servants.  For  though^it  is 
unquestionably  the  right  thing  for  them  not  to  take  part 
in  political  discussion  and  gatherings,  in  my  opinion 
they  have  an  undoubted  right  to  express,  upon  vital 
matters,  their  feelings  ip  the  very  limited  manner  herein 
suggested. 

(iii)  Public   meetings  should  be  held  on  that  day  in 
parts   of   India,    not   excluding   villages,  at 
which    resoultions     praying    for    the    with- 
drawal   of    the    two    measures   should    be 
passed. 
If  my  advice  is   deemed    worthy  of  acceptance,  the 
responsibility  will  lie  in  the  first  instance,  on  the  various 
Satyagraha  Associations,   for  undertaking  the  necessary 
work  of  organisation,   but  all   other   associations  will,  I 
hope,     join    hands    in    making    this    demonstration   a 
success. 


SATYAGRAHA  DAY  IN  MADRAS 


Under  the  auspices  of  Madras  Satyagraha  Sabha, 
a  public  meeting  was  held  at  the  Triplicane  Beach  on 
30fh  March  to  explain  the  message  ofMr.M.  K.  Gandhi 
for  the  observance  of  the  Satyagraha  Day  : — 

I  "am  sorry  that  I  shall  not  be  with  you  for  this 
evening's  meeting,  as  I  must  take  the  train  for  Bezwada 
in  order  to  keep  my,  engagement  with  our  Andhra 
friends.  But  before  my  departure,  I  would  like  to 
reduce  to  writing  my  impressions  of  the  tour  through 
the  southern  part  of  the  Presidency,  which  I  have  jnst 


466  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

completed,  and  to   answer  some    criticism  and  some 
doubts  that  have  been  offered  by  friends. 

I  have  visited  Tanjore,  Trichnopoly,  Madura,  Tuti- 
corin  and  Negapatam  ;  and  taking  the  lowest  estimate, 
the  people  addressed  must  have  been  not  less  than  thirty 
thousand.  Those  who  have  a  right  to  give  us  warnings, 
to  express  misgivings  and  who  have  just  asgreat  a  love 
of  the  Motherland  as  we  claim  to  have,  have  feared  the 
danger  that,  however  well-meaning  we  may  be,  and 
however  anxious  we  may  be  to  avoid  violence,  the 
people  who  may  join  the  movement  under  an  enthusias- 
tic impulse  may  not  be  able  to  exercise  sufficient  self- 
control  and  break  out  into  violence,  resulting  in  needless 
loss  of  life,  and,  what  is  more,  injury  tb  the  National 
cause.  After  embarking  upon  the  movement,  I  began 
addressing  meetings  at  Delhi.  I  passed  then  through 
Lucknow,  Allahabad,  Bombay,  and  thence  to  Madras. 
My  experience  of  all  these  meetings  shows  that  the 
advent  of  Satyagraha  has  already  altered  the  spirit 
of  those  who  attend  the  Stayagraha  meetings.  In- 
Lucknow,  upon  an  innocent  remark  by  the  chairman  as 
to  the  Manifesto  signed  by  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Imperial  Legislative  Council  disapproving  of 
our  movement,  the  audience  cried  out  '  shame,  shame !' 
I  drew  their  attention  to  the  fact  that  Satyagrahis 
and  those  who  attended  Satyagraha  meetings  should 
not  use  such  expressions  and  that,  the  speeches  at  our 
meetings  ought  not  to  be  punctuated  with  either  marks 
of  disapproval  or  of  approval.  The  audience  immediately 
understood  the  spirit  of  my  remarks  and  never  afterwards 
made  any  demonstration  of  their  opinion.  In  the  towns 
of  this  Presidency  as  elsewhere,  whilst  it  is  true  that  the 
large  crowds  have  refrained  from  any  noisy  demonstra- 


SATYAGRAHA   DAY    IN    MADRAS  457 

tion  out  of  regard  for  my  health,  they  have  fully  under- 
stood the   necessity  of    refraining  from  it  on   the  higher 
ground.    The  leaders  in  the  movement   have  also  fully 
understood     the    necessity    for     self-restraint.    These 
experiences  of  mine  fill  me  with  the  greatest    hope  for 
the  future.  I  never  had  any  apprehensions  of  the  danger 
our   friends   feared   and   the   various   meetings   I  have 
■described   confirm   my  optimism  but    I  would   venture 
further  to  state  that^vsry   precaution  that  is    humanly 
possible   is  being  and  will   be  taken  to   avert   any  such 
•danger.     It  is  for  that   reason  that   our  Pledge   commits 
the   signatories    to  a  breach  of  those  laws   that  may  be 
selected  for  the  purpose  by  a  Committee  of  Satyagrahis> 
and  I  am   glad  that   our  Sind    friends    have   understood 
their  Pledge  and  obeyed  the  prohibition  of  the  Hyderabad 
Commissioner  of  Police  to  hold  their  inoffensive  proces- 
sion, for  it  is  no  part  of  the  present  movement    to  break 
all    the  laws   of  the    land  the   breach   of  which    is   not 
inconsistent"  with  the  Pledge.     A  Satyagrahi  is  nothing 
if  not    instinctively  law-abiding,  and  it  is  his  law-abiding 
nature  which  exacts  from  him  implicit  obedience  to  the 
highest   law    that    is   the    voice   of  conscience    whicti 
over-rides  all  other  laws.    His  civil  disobedience  even  o' 
■certain  laws  is  only  seeming    disobedience.     Every  law 
gives  the  subject  an  option    either  to  obey  (he   primary 
sanction  or  the  secondary,  and  I  venture  to  suggest  that 
the  Satyagrahi  by  inviting  the  secondary  sanction  obeys 
the  law.    He  does  not  act  like  the  ordinary  offender  who 
not  only  commits  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  land  whether 
^ood  or  bad  but  wishes  to  avoid  the  congequences  of  that 
breach.     It  will  seem,  therefore,   that  every  ^thing  that 
prudence  may  dictate   has  been   done    to    avoid    any 
untoward  results.    Some  friends  have  said  :  "  We  under- 


458.  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

Stand  your  breach  of  the  Rowlatt  legislation  but  as  a 
Satyagrahi  there  is  nothing  for  you  in  it  to  break.  How 
can  you  however  break  the  other  laws  which  you  have 
hitherto  obeyed  and  which  may  also  be  good  !"  So  far 
as  good  laws  are  concerned,  that  is,  laws  which  lay 
down  moral  principles,  the  Satyagrahi  may  not  break 
them  and  their  breach  is  not  contempleted  under  the 
Pledge.  But  the  other  laws  are  neither  good  nor  bad, 
moral  or  immoral.  They  may  be  »seful  or  may  even  be 
harmful.  Those  laws,  one  obeys  for  the  supposed  good 
Government  of  the  country.  Such  laws  are  laws  made 
for  the  purpose  of  revenue,  or  political  laws  creating 
statutory  offences.  Those  laws  enable  the  Government 
to  continue  its  power.  When  therefore  a  Government 
goes  wrong  to  the  extent  of  hurting  the  National  fibre 
itself,  as  does  the  Rowlatt  Legislation,  it  becomes  the 
right  of  the  subject,  indeed  it  is  his  duty,  to  withdraw 
his  obedience  to  such  laws  to  the  extent  it  may  be 
required  in  order  to  bend  the  Government  to  the  National 
will.  A  doubt  has  been  e.vpressed  during  my  tour 
and  my  friends  have  written  to  me  as  to  the  validity 
in  terms  of  Satyagraha  of  the  entrustment  of  the 
selection  of  the  laws  for  breach  to  a  Committee.  For  it 
js  argued  that  it  amounts  to  a  surrender  of  one's  cons- 
cieijce  to.  leave  such  selection  toothers.  This  doubt 
misunderstands  the  Pledge.  A  signatory  of  the  Pledge 
undertakes,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  to  break  if  neces- 
sary all  the  laws  which  it  would  be  lawful  for  the 
Satyagrahi  to  break.  It  is  not  however  obligatory  on 
him  to  break  all  such  laws.  He  can  therefore  perfectly 
conscientiously  leave  the  selection  of  the  laws  to  be 
broken  to  the  judgment  of  those  who  are  experts  in, the 
matter  and  who  in  their  turn  are   necessarily   subject  to 


satyagraha  day  in  madras  459 

the  limitations  imposed  by  the  Pledge,  The  worst  that 
can  happen  to  any  signatory  is  that  the  selection  may 
not  be  exhaustive  enough  for  him. 

I  have  been  told  that  I  am  diverting  the  attention 
of  the  country  from  the  one  and  only  thing  that  matters, 
namely,  the  forthcoming  reforms.  In  my  opinion  the 
Rowlatt  Legislation,  in  spite  of  the  amendments  which, 
as  the  Select  Committee  very  properly  says,  does  not 
affect  its  principles,  blocks  the  way  to  progress  and 
therefore  to  attainment  of  substantial  reforms.  To  my 
mind  the  first  thing  needful  is  to  claim  a  frank  and  full 
recognition  of  the  principle  that  public  opinion  properly 
expressed  shall  be  respected  by  the  Government.  I  am 
no  believer  in  the  doctrine  that  the  same  power  can  at 
the  same  time  trust  and  distrust,  grant  liberty  and 
repress  it.  I  have  a-  right  to  interpret  the  coming  re- 
forms by  the  light  that  the  Rowlatt  Legislation  throws 
upon  them,  and  I  make  bold  to  promise  that  if  we  do 
not  gather  sufficient  force  to  remove  from  our  path  this 
great  obstacle  in  the  shape  of  the  Rowlatt  legislation, 
we  shall  find  the  reforms  to  be  a  whitened  sepulchre^ 
Yet  another  objection  to  answer.  Some  friends  have 
argued  :  "  Your  Satyagraha  movement  only  accentuates, 
the  fear  we  have  of  the  onrush  of  Bolshevism."  The 
fact,  however,  is  that,  if  anything  can  possibly  prevent 
this  calamity  descending  upon  our  country,  it  is  Satya- 
giraha.  Bolshevism  is  the  necessary  result  of  modern 
materialistic  civilisation.  Its  insensate  worship  of  mat- 
ter has  given  rise  to  a  school  which  has  been  brought 
up  to  look  upon  materialistic^  advancement  as  the  goal 
and  which  has  lost  all  touch  with  the  final  things  of 
life.  Self-indulgence  is  the  Bolshevic  creed;  self-res- 
traint is  the  Satyagraha  creed.    If  I  can  but  induce  the 


460  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

Nation  to  accept  Satyagraha  if  only  as  a  predominant 
factor  in  life,  whether  social  or  political,  we  need  have 
no  fear  of  the  Bolshevic  propaganda.  In  asking  the 
Nation  to  accept  Satyagraha,  I  am  asking  for  the 
introduction  in  reality  of  nothing  new.  I  have  coined  a 
new  word  for  an  ancient  law  that  has  hitherto  mainly 
governed  our  lives,  and  I  do  prophesy  that  if  we  disobey 
the  law  of  the  final  supremacy  of  the  spirit  over  matter, 
of  liberty  and  love  over  brute  force,  in  a  few  years  time 
we  shall  have  Bolshevism  rampant  in  this  land  which 
was  once  so  holy. 


MESSAGE  TO  SATYAGRAHIS 


On  April  Z,  1919,  Mr.  M.  K .  Gandhi  sent  the  f oh 
lowing  message  from  Bombay  to  Mr.  S.  Kasturiranga 
Iyengar,  Editor  of  the  Hindu,  Madras  : — 

Just  arrived;  having  missed  connection  at  Secun- 
derabad. 

Regarding  the  meeting  at  Delhi,  I  hope  that  the 
Delhi  Tragedy  will  make  Satyagrahis  steel  their  hearts 
and  the  waverers  to  reconsider  their  position.  I  have 
no  shadow  of  doubt  that,  by  remaining  true  to  the 
Pledge,  we  shall  not  only  secure  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Rowlatt  Legislation,  but  we  shall  kill  the  spirit  of 
terrorism  lying  behind. 

I  hope  the  speeches  on  Sunday,  the  6th  April,  will 
be  free  from  anger  or  unworthy  passion.  The  cause 
is  too  great  and  sacred  to  be  damaged  by  exhibition 
of  passion.  We  have  no  right  to  cry  out  against  suffer- 
ings self-invited.  Undoubtedly  there  should  be  no 
•coercion  for  the  suspension  of  business  or  for  fast. 


THE  DELHI  INCIDENT 


Mr.  M.    K.  Gandhi  sent  the  following  letter  to  the 
Press  from  Bombay  under  date  ^ih  April,  1919  : — 

It  is  alleged  against  the  Delhi  people  assembled  at 
the  Delhi  Railway  Station  (1)  that  s-me  of  them  were 
trying  to  coerce  sweetmeat  sellers  into  closing  their 
stalls  ;  (2)  that  some  were  forcibly  preventing  people 
from  plying  tramcars  and  other  vehicles  ;  (3)  that  some 
of  them  threw  brickbats  ;  (4)  that  the  whole  crowd  that 
marched  to  the  Station  demanded  the  release  of  men 
who  were  said  to  be  coercers  and  who  were  for  that 
reason  arrested  at  the  instance  of  the  Railway  authori- 
ties ;  (5)  that  the  crowd  declined  to  disperse  when  the 
Magistrate  gave  orders  to  disperse.  I  have  read  Sanyasi 
Swami  Shradhanandji's  account  of  the  tragedy.  I  am 
bound  to  accept  it  as  true,  unless  it  is  authoritatively  . 
proved  to  be  otherwise  and  his  account  seems  to  me  to 
deny  the  allegations,  1,  2  and  3.  But  assuming  the 
truth  of  all  allegations  it  does  appear  to  me  that  the 
local  authorities  in  Delhi  have  made  use  of  a  Nasmyth 
hammer  to  crush  a  fly.  On  their  action,  however,  in 
firing  on  the  crowd,  I  shall  seek  another  opportunity  of 
saying  more.  My  purpose  in  writing  this  letter  is  merely 
to  issue  a  note  of  warning  to  all  Satyagrahis.  I  would, 
therefore,  like  to  observe  that  the  conduct  described 
in  the  allegations  1  to  4,  if  true,  would  be  inconsistent 
with  the  Satyagraha  Pledge.  The  conduct  described  in 
allegations  can  be  consistent  with  the  Pledge,  but  if  he 
allegation  is  true,  the  conduct  was  premature,  because 
the  Committee   contemplated   in   the   Pledge,  has  not 


462  EARLIER  INDIAN   SPEECHES 

decided  upon  the  disobedience  of  orders  that  may-  be 
issued  by  the  Magistrates  under  the  Riot  Act.  I  am 
anxious  to  make  it  as  clear,  as  I  can  that  in  this  move- 
ment no  pressure  can  be  put  upon  people  who  do  not 
wish  to  accept  our  suggestions  and  advice,  the  move- 
ment being  essentially  one  to  secure  the  greatest  freedom 
ior  all  Satyagrahis,  cannot  forcibly  demand  release  of 
those  who  might  be  arrested,  whether  justly  or  unjustly. 
The  essence  of  the  Pledge  is  to  invite  imprisonment  and 
until  the  Committee  decides  upon  the  breach  of  the 
Riot  Act,  it  is  the  duty  of  Satyagrahis  to  obey,  without 
making  the  slightest  ado,  Magisterial  orders  to  disperse, 
etc.,  and  thus  to  demonstrate  their  law-abiding  nature.  I 
hope  that  the  next  Sunday  at  Satyagraha  meetings,  all 
speeches  will  be  free  from  passion,  anger  or  resentment. 
The  movement  depends  for  its  success  entirely  upon 
perfect  self-possession,  self-restraint,  absolute  adherence 
to  truth  and  unlimited  capacity  for  self-suffering  Before 
closing  this  letter,  I  would  add  that,  in  opposing  the 
Rowlatt  Legislation,  Satyagrahis  are  resisting  the  spirit 
of  terrorism  which  lies  behind  it  and  of  which  it  is  a 
moft  glaring  symptom.  The  Delhi  tragedy  imposes  an 
added  responsibility  upon  Satyagrahis  of  steeling  their 
hearts  and  going  on  with  their  struggle  until  the  Row- 
latt Legislation  is  withdrawn. 


MESSAGE  TO  MADRAS  SATYAGRAHIS 


The  following  message  from  Mr.  M.  K,  Gandhi  was 
read  at  the  great  meeting  in  Madras  held  on  the 
Satyagraha  Day  on  (jth  April : — 

I  do  hope  that  the  Presidency  that  produced  beauti- 
ful Valliamma,  Nagappan,  Narayanaswami  and  so  many 


MESSAGE   TO   THE  BOMBAY  CITIZENS  .463 

Others  of  your  Presidency  with'  whom  I  was  privileged 
to  work  in  South  Africa  will  not  quail  in  the  presence 
of  sacrifice  demanded  of  us  all.  I  am  convinced  that 
reforms  will  be  of  no  avail,  unless  our  would-be  partnei's 
respect  us.  And  we  know  that  they  only  respect  those 
who  are  capable  of  sacrificing  for  ideals,  as  themselves. 
See  how  unstintingly  they  poured  out  treasure  and  blood 
during  the  War.  Ours  is  a  nobler  cause  and  out  means 
infinitely  superior,  in  that  we  refrain  from  shedding 
blood,  other  than  our  ov/n. 


MESSAGE  TO  THE  BOMBAY  CITIZENS 

At  the  Saiyagraha  Demonstrations  in  Bombay  on 
6th  April,  Mr.  M.  K,  Gandhi  referred  to  the  Delhi 
incident  and  pointed  out  : — 

We  have  two  authoritative  versions  of  the  episode^ 
One  was  Swami  Shradhanandji's  stating  the  peoples' 
version,  and  the  other  was  Government's,  justifying 
the  action  of  the  local  authorities.  The  two  did  not  tally; 
they  diflfered  as  to  some  main  partipulars.  An  impartial 
observer  will  regard  both  as  partial  statements.  I  beg 
of  the  popular  party  to  assume  for  purposes  of  criticism 
the  truth  of  the  official  narrative,  but  there  are  remark- 
able gaps  in  it  amounting  to  the  evasion  of  charges 
made  against  the  local  authorities  by  Sanyasi  Shradha- 
nandji.  His  statement  was  the  first  in  the  field,  and  he 
was  on  the  scene  immediately  after  the  shooting  incident 
near  the  Railway  Station.  If  the  Government  have 
sought  the  co-operation  of  the  National  Leaders  lo 
regulate  the  crowd,  there  would  not  have  been  any  need 
for  the  display  or  use  of  military  force.  Even  if  the 
official  version  was  correct,  there  was  no  justification  to 


464  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

fire  on  the  innocent  people.    The  people  were  entirely 
unarmed,  and'at  the  worst  what  would  they  have  done  ? 
In  any  other  place  but  India,  the  Police  would  have  been 
deemed    sufficient  to   meet  an   emergency   of  the   Delhi 
type,    armed   with    nothing    more    than    batons      He 
related    how   in    1917.    at   Durban,  a    mob  of    6,000 
Europeans    bent   upon    lynching    an    innocent    victim 
threatened  the  destruction  of  property  worth  £  20,  000, 
including   the  lives  of  nearly   twenty  men,  women   and 
children,   and  a  dozen  Police,  though  they  would    have 
been  justified  in  calling  Military  aid,  contended  with  the 
crowd  themselves  and  succeeded  in  peacefully  dispersing 
it.    The  Delhi  crowd  had  no   such  intention  of   hurting 
any  body.  It  threatened  to  do  nothing  except,  as  alleged, 
it    refused  to    disperse.     The    authorities    could    have 
peacefully    regulated  the  crowd;    nsteadthey   followed 
the    customary    practice  of  calling  the  Military  on    the 
slightest    pretext.     He  did  not   want  to    labour  on    the 
point.    It  was  enough  the  crowd  hurt  nobody  and  were 
neither  overawed  nor  infuriated.     It  was  a    remarkable 
incident  that  the  people  were  sufficiently  firm  and   self- 
possessed   to    hold  a    mass    meeting    of    40,000   after 
the    shooting     incidents,    and    it    coverd    the     Delhi 
people   with  glory.    He   has  always  emphasised  that 
the    people   who    took    part   in  the    struggle    against 
the   Rowlatt  Act  will  be   self-possessed  and    peaceful, 
but    he  has   never  said   that  .the  people   will  not  have 
to  sufFer.     Mr.  Gandhi  further  said  that  to  the  satyagra- 
his  such  sufFeringf  must  be  welcome.     The  sterner  they 
were  the  better.    They    have  undertaken  to  suffer  unto 
death.     Sanyasi  Shradhanandji  has  wired  sayinsr  that  4 
Mahommadans  and  5  Hindus  have  so  far  died,  and  that 
about   20,  people    were  missing  and  1 3    persons    were  in 


MESSAGE   TO   THE  BOMBAY   CITIZENS       465 

the  hospital,  being  badly  wounded.  For  Satyagrahis  it 
was  not  a  bad  beginning.  No  country  had  ever  risen, 
no  nation  had  ever  been  made  without  sacrifice,  and  we 
were  trying  an  experiment  of  building  up  ourselves  by 
self-sacrifice  without  resorting  to  violence  in  any  shape 
or  form.  That  was  a  Satyagrahi.  From  Satyagraha 
standpoint  the  people  s  case  in  Delhi  was  weak,  in  that 
the  crowd  refused  to  disperse  when  asked  to  do  so,  and 
demanded  the  release  of  the  two  arrested  men.  Both 
acts  were  wrong.  It  was  arrest  and  imprisonment 
they  sought  for  by  resorting  to  civil  disobedience.  In 
this  movement  it  was  open  to  Satyagrahis  to '^disobey 
only  those  laws  which  are  selected  by  the  Committee 
contemplated  in  the  Pledge.  Before  being  able  to  offer 
effective  civil  disobedience,  we  must  acquire  habits  of 
discipline,  self-control  and  qualities  of  leadership  and 
obedience.  Till  these  qualities  were  developed  and  till 
the  spirit  of  Satyagraha  has  permeated  large  bodies  of 
men  and  women,  Mr.  Gandhi  said  he  had  advised  that 
only  such  laws  as  can  be  individually  disobeyed  should 
be  selected  for  disobedience,  as,  while  disobeying  certain 
selected  laws,  it  was  incumbent  on  the  people,  to  show 
their  law-abiding  character  by  respecting  all  the  other 
laws. 


30 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  PROHIBITED  LITERATURE 


The  Satyagraha  Committee  advised  that,  for  the 
time  being,  laws' regarding  prohibited  literature  and  re- 
gistration of  Nevaspapers  may  be  civilly  disobeyed. 
Accordingly  Mr.  Gandhi,  President,  and  Secretaries  of 
the  Satyagraha  Sabha,  Bombay,  issued  on  April  7,  the 
following  notice  to  organise,  regulate  and  control  the  sale 
of  these  publications  : — 

Satyagrahis  should  receive  copies  of  prohibited 
literature  for  distribution.  A  limited  number  of  copies 
can  be  had  from  the  Secretaries  of  the  Satyagraha 
Sabha.  Satyagrahis  should,  so  far  as  possible,  write 
their  names  and  addresses  as  sellers  so  that  they  may 
be  traced  easily  when  wanted  by  the  Government  for 
prosecution.  Naturally  there  can  be  no  question  of 
secret  sale  of  this  literature.  At  the  same  time,  there 
should  be  no  forwardness  either  in  distributing  it.  It 
is  open  to  Satyagrahis  to  form  small  groups  of  men  and 
women  to  whom  they  may  read  this  class  of  literature. 
The  object  in  selecting  prohibited  literature  is  not 
merely  to  commit  a  civil  breach  of  the  law  regarding  it 
but  it  is  also  to  supply  people  with  clean  literature  of  a 
high  moral  value.  It  is  expected  that  the  Government 
■will  confiscate  such,  Satyagrahis  have  to  be  as  independ- 
ent of  finance  as  possible.  When  therefore  copies  are 
confiscated,  Satyagrahis  are  requested  to  make  copies  of 
prohibited  literature  themselves  or  by  securing  the  assist- 
ance of  willing  friends  and  to  make  use  of  it  until  it  is 
confiscated  by  giving  readings  to  the  people  from  it.    It 


DISTRIBUTION   OF   PROHIBITED  LITERATURE   467 

is  Stated  that  such  readings  would  amount  to  dissemin- 
ation of  prohibited  literature.  When  whole  copies  are 
exhausted  by  dissemination  or  confiscation,  Satyagrahis 
may  continue  civil  disobedience  by  writing  out  and 
distributing  extracts  from  accessible  books. 

CIRCULATI>TG    UNREGISTERED    NEWSPAPERS 

Regarding  the  civil  breach  of  the  law  governing  the 
publication  of  newspapers,  the  idea  is  to  publish  in  every 
Satyagraha  centre  a  written  newspaper  without  register- 
ing it.  It  need  not  occupy  more  than  one  side  of  half  a 
foolscap.  When  such  a  newspaper  is  edited,  it  will  be 
found  how  difficult  it  is  to  fill  up  half  a  sheet.  It  is  a 
well  known  fact  that  a  vast  majority  of  newspapers 
contain  much  padding.  Further,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  newspaper  articles  written  under  the  terror  of 
the  very  strict  newspaper  law  have  a  double  mean- 
ing. A  Satyagrahi  for  whom  punishments  provided 
by  law  have  lost  all  terror  can  give  only  in 
an  unregistered  newspaper  his  thoughts  and  opinion 
unhampered  by  any  other  consideration  than  that 
of  his  own  conscience.  His  newspaper,  therefore,  if 
otherwise  well  edited,  can  become  a  most  powerful 
vehicle  for  transmitting  pure  ideas  in  a  concise  manner, 
and  there  need  be  no  fear  of  inability  to  circulate  a 
hand-written  newspaper,  for  it  will  be  the  duty  of  those 
who  may  receive  the  first  copies  to  recopy  till  at  last 
•the  process  of  multiplication  is  made  to  cover  if  neces- 
-sary  the  whole  of  the  masses  of  India  and  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  we  have  in  India  the  tradition. of  impart- 
ing instruction  by  oral  teaching. 


MESSAGE  AFTER  ARREST 


Mr.  Gtindhi  was  arrested  at  Kosi  on  his  way  to> 
Delhi  on  the  morning  of  the  IQth  April  and  served  ■with 
an  order  not  to  enter  the  Punjab  and  the  District  of  Delhi 
and  to  restrict  himself  to  the  Bombay  Presidency.  The 
officer  serving  the  order  treated  him  most  politely,  assur- 
ing  him  it  would  be  his  most  painful  duty  to  arrest' 
him,,  if  he  elected  to  disobey,  but  that  there  would  be  no' 
ill-will  between  them.  Mr.  Gandhi  smilingly  said  that 
he  must  elect  to  disobey  as  it  was  his  duty,  and  that  ther 
officer  ought  also  to  do  what  was  his  duty,  Mr.  Gandhi 
then  dictated  the  following  message  to  Mr.  Desai,  his 
Secretary,  laying  special  emphasis  on  his  oral  message 
that  none  shall  resent  his  arrest  or  do  anything  tainted 
with  untruth  or  violence  which  is  sure  to  draw  the  sacred 
cause.     The  message  reads  : — 

To  my  countrymen.  It  is  a  matter  of  the  highest 
satisfaction  to  me,  as  I  hope  to  you,  that  I  have  received 
an  order  from  the  Punjab  Government  not  to  enter  that 
Province  and  another  from  the  Delhi  Government  not 
to  enter  Delhi,  while  an  order  of  the  Government  of 
India  has  been  served  on  me  immediately  after  which, 
restricts  me  to  Bombay.  I  had  no  hesitation  in  saying: 
to  the  officer,  who  served  the  order  on  me,  that  I  was 
bound  in  virtue  of  the  pledge  to  disregard  it,  which  I 
have  done,  and  I  shall  presently  find  myself  a  free  man, 
my  body  being  taken  by  them  in  their  custody.  It  was 
galling  to  me  to  remain  free  whilst  the  Rowlatt  Legis- 
lation disfigured  the  Statute  Book.  My  arrest  makes 
me  free.     It  now   remains   for  you   to    do  your  duty 


MESSAGE   AFTER   ARREST  46? 

which  IS  clearly  stated  in  the  Satyagraha  Pledge. 
Follow  it,  and  you  will  find  it  will  be  your 
Kamadhenu.  I  hope  there  will  be  no  resentment  about 
my  arrest.  I  have  received  what  I  was  seeking  either 
withdrawal  of  the  Rowlatt  Legislation  or  imprison- 
ment. A  departure  from  truth  by  a  hair's  breadth,  or 
violence  committed  against  anybody,  whether  English- 
man or  Indian,  will  surely  damn  the  great  cause  the 
Satyagrahis  are  handling.  I  hope  the  Hindu-Musiim 
unity,  which  seems  now  to  have  taken  firm  hold  of  the 
people,  will  become  a  reality  and  I  feel  convinced  that 
it  will  only  be  a  reality  if  the  suggestions  I  have 
ventured  to  make  in  my  communication  to  tjie  Press 
are  carried  out.  The  responsibility  of  the  Hindus 
in  the  matter  is  greater  than  that  of  Muhamma- 
^ans,  they  being  in  a  minority  and  I  hope  they  will 
^lischarge  their  responsibility  in  the  manner  worthy 
oi  their  country.  I  have  also  made  certain  sugges- 
tions regarding  the  proposal  of  the  Swadeshi  vow. 
Now  I  commend  them  to  your  serious  attention  and  you 
-will  find  that,  as  your  ideas  of  Satyagraha  become 
matured,  the  Hindu-Muslim  unity  is  but  part  of  Satya- 
graha. Finally  it  is  my  firm  belief  that  we  shall  obtain 
salvation  only  through  suffering  and  not  by  reforms 
dropping  on  us  from  England,  no  matter  how  unstintingly 
they  might  be  granted.  The  English  are  a  great  Nation, 
Ibut  the  weaker  also  go  to  the  wall  if  they  come  in  contact 
.with  them.  When  they  are  themselves  courageous  they 
have  borne  untold  sufferings  and  they  only  respond  to 
courage  and  sufferings  and  partnership  with  them  is 
■only  possible  after  we  have  developed  an  indomitable 
<:ourage  and  a  faculty  for  unlimited  suffering.  There 
is  a  fundamental   difference   between  their  civilisation 


470  EARLIER     INDIAN     SPEECHES. 

and  ours.  They  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  violence 
or  brute  force  as  the  final  arbiter.  My  reading- 
of  our  civilisation  is  that  we  are  expected  to  believe 
in  Soul  Force  or  Moral  Force  as  the  final  arbiter  and 
this  is  Satyagraha.  We  are  groaning  under  sufferings 
which  we  would  avoid  if  we  could,  because  we  have 
swerved  from  the  path  laid  down  for  us  by  our  ancient 
civilisation.  I  hope  that  the'  Hindus,  Muhammadans,. 
Sifths,  Parsis,  Christians,  Jews  and  all  who  are  born  in 
India  or  who  made  India  their  land  of  adoption  will 
fully  participate  in  these  National  observances  and  I 
hope  too  that  women  will  take  therein  as  full  a  share 
as  the  men. 


THE  "  SATYAGRAHI  " 


The  unregistered  newspaper,  the  "Satyagrahi'*,  which 
Mr.  Gandhi  as  Editor  brought  out  in  Bombay  on  the  1th 
April  in  defiance  of  the  Press  Act,  was  only  a  small 
sheet  of  paper  sold  for  one  pice.  It  stated  among  other 
things  :  "  The  editor  is  liable  at  any  moment  to  be 
arrested,  and  it  is  impossible,  to  ensure  the  continuity  of 
publication  until  India  is  in  a  happy  position  of  supply- 
ing editors  enough  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  are 
arrested.  It  is  not  our  intention  to  break  for  all  time  the 
laws  governing  the  publication  of  newspapers-  This 
paper  will,  therefore,  exist  so  long  only  as  the  Rowlatt 
Legislation  is  not  withdrawn."  It  also  contained  the. 
following  instruction  to  Satyagrahis  : — 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  expect  to  be  arrested  at 
any  moment.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  bear  in  mind 
that,  if  any  one  is  arrested,  he  should,  without  causing 
any  difficulty,  allow  hjmself  to  be  arrested,  and,   if  sum- 


SATYAGRA.HA    AND  DURAGRAHA  471 

moned  to  appear  before  a  Court,  he  should  do  so.  No 
defence  should  be  offered  and  no  pleaders  engaged  in  the 
matter.  If  a  fine  is  imposed  with  the  alternative  of 
imprisonment,  the  imprisonment  should  be  accepted.  If 
only  fine  is  imposed,  it  ought  not  to  be  paid;  but  his  pro- 
perty, if  he  has  any,  should  be  allowed  to  be  sold.  There 
should  be  no  demonstration  of  grief  or  otherwise  made 
by  the  remaining  Stayagrahis  by  reason  of  the  arrest  and 
■imprisonment  of  their  domrade.  It  cannot  be  too  often 
repeated  that  we  court  imprisonment,  andwe  may  not 
complain  of  it,  when  we  actually  receive  it.  When  once 
imprisone'di  it  is  our  duty  to  conform  to  all  prison 
regulations,  as  prison  reform  is  no  part  of  our  campaign 
at  the  present  moment.  A  Satyagrahi  may  not  resort 
to  surreptitious  practices.  All  that  the  Satyagrahis  do, 
can  only  and  must  be  done  openly. 

SATYAGRAHA  AND  DURAGRAHA. 


Mr.  Gandhi  arrived  in,  Bombay,  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  l\th  April,  having  been  prevented  from  entering  the 
Provinces  of  Punjab  and  Delhi.  An  order  was  soon 
after  served  on  him  reqviiring  him  to  confi^s  his  activi- 
ties within  the  limits,,  of  the  Bombay  Presidency. 
.Having  heard  of  the  ripfs  and  the  gonsequent  bloodshed 
■in  different  places,  J}e  caused  the  following  message  to 
be  read  at  all  the  meetings  that  evening:— 

I  have  not  been  able  to  understand  the  cause  of  so 
much  excitement  a«d  disturbance ..  that  followed  my 
.detention.  It  is  not  Satyagraha.  It  is  worse  than 
Duragrttba,  .Those  who  join  Satyagraha  demonstra- 
tions were  boujnd  pne.aud  all   to  refrain  at, all   hazard 


472  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

from   violence,   not   to  throw    stones  or  in   any   way 
whatever  to  injure  anybody. 

But  in  Bombay,  we  have  been  throwing  stones.  We 
have  obstructed  tramcars  by  putting  obstacles  in  the 
way.  This  is  not  Satyagraha.  We  have  demanded  the 
release  of  about  50  men  who  had  been  arrested  for 
deeds  of  violence.  Our  duty  is  chiefly  to  get  ourselves 
arrested.  It  is  breach  of  religions  duty  to  endeavour  to 
secure  the  release  of  those  who  have  committed  deeds 
of  violence.  We  are  not,  therefore,  justified  on  any 
grounds  whatever  in  demanding  the  release  of  those 
who  have  been  arrested.  I  have  been  asked  whether 
a  Satyagrahi  is  responsible  for  the  results  that 
follow  from  that  movement.  I  have  replied  that  they 
are.  I  therefore  suggest  that  if  we  cannot  conduct 
this  movement  without  the  slightest  violence  from 
our  side,  the  movement  might  have  to  be  abandoned 
or  it  may  be  necessary  to  give  it  a  difiTerent  and  still 
more  restricted  shape.  It  may  be  necessary  to  go  even 
further.  The  time  may  come  for  me  to  offer  Satya- 
graha against  ourselves.  I  would  not  deem  it  a  disgrace 
that  we  die.  I  shall  be  pained  to  hear  of  the  death  of 
a  Satyagrahi,  but  I  shall  consider  it  to  be  the  proper 
sacrifice  given  for  the  sake  of  struggle.  But  if  those 
who  are  not  Satyagrahis  who  shall  not  have  joined 
the  movement,  who  are  even  against  the  movement* 
received  any  injury  at  all,  every  Satyagrahi  will  be 
responsible  for  that  sinful  injury.  My  responsibility 
will  be  a  million  times  heavier.  I  have  embarked 
upon  the  struggle  with  a  due  sense  of  responsibility. 

I  have  just  heard  that  some  English  gentlemen 
have  been  injured.  Some  may  even  have  died  from  such 
injuries.     If  so,  it  would  be  a  great  blot  on  Satyagraha. 


SPEECH    AT  AHMEDABAD  473 

For  me,  Englishmen  too,  are  our  brethren-  We  can 
have  nothing  against  them  and  for  me,  since  such  as  I 
have  described,  are  simply  unbearable,  but  I  know  how 
to  offer  Satyagraha  against  ourselves.  As  against  our- 
selves, what  kind  of  Satyagraha  can  I  offer  ?  I  do  not 
see  what  penance  I  can  offer  excepting  that  it  is  for  me 
to  fast  and  if  need  be,  by  so  doing,  to  give  up  this  body 
and  thus  prove  the  truth  of  Satyagraha.  I  appeal  to 
you  to  peacefully  disperse  and  to  refrain  from  acts  that 
may,  in  any  way,  bring  disgrace  upon  the  people  of 
Bombay. 


SPEECH  AT  AHMEDABAD. 


The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  speech  of  Mr. 
•Gandhi  delivered  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of 
Ahntedahad  held  at  his  Ashram,  Sabarmati,  on  Monday, 
ihe  Uth  April,  1919  :— 

Brothers. — I  mean  to  address  myself  mainly  .to 
■you.  Brothers,  the  events  that  have  happened  in 
•course  of  the  last  few  days  have  been  most  disgraceful 
to  Ahmedabad,  and  as  all  these  things  have  happened 
in  my  name,  I  am  ashamed  of  them,  and  those  who 
jhave  been  responsible  for  them  have  thereby  not 
honoured  me  but  disgraced  me.  A  rapier  run  through 
my  body  could  hardly  have  pained  me  more.  I  have 
said  times  without  number  that  Satyagraha  admits  of  no 
violence,  no  pillage,  no  incendiarism  ;  and  still  in  the 
name  of  Satyagraha  we  burnt  down  buildings,  forcibly 
captured  weapons,  extorted  money,  stopped  trains,  cut 
off  telegraph  wires,  killed  innocent  people  and  plundered 
■shops  and  private  houses.  If  deeds  such  as  these  could 
save  me  from  the  prison  house  or  the  scaffold,  I  should 


474  EARLIER    INDIAN   SPEECHES 

not  like  to  be  so  saved.  I  do  wish  to  say  in  all  earnest- 
ness that  violence  has  not  secured  my  discharge.  A 
most  brutal  rumour  was  set  afloat  that  Anasuya  Bai  was 
arrested.  The  crowds  Were  infuriated  all  the  more,  and 
disturbance  increased.  -You  have  thereby  disgraced 
Anasuya  Bai  and,  under  the  cloak  of  her  arrest,  heinous 
deeds  have  been  done. 

These  deeds  have  not  benefited  the  people  in  any 
way.  They  have  done  nothing  but  harm.  The 
buildings  buriit  down  were  public  property  and 
they  will  naturally  be  rebuilt  at  our  expense.  The 
loss  due  to  the  shops  remaining  closed  is  also  our 
loss.  The  terrorism  prevailing  in  the  city  due  to 
Martial  Law  is  also  the  result  of  this  violence. 
It  has  been  said  that  many  innocent  lives  have  been  lost 
as  a  result  of  the  operation  of  Martial  Law.  If  this  is 
a  fact,  then  for  that  too,  the  deeds  described  above  are 
responsible.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  events  that 
have  happened  have  done  nothing  but  harm  to  us, 
Moreover  they  have  most  seriously  damaged  the  Satya- 
graha  movement.  Had  an  entirely  peaceful  agitation 
followed  my  arrest,  the  Rowlatt  Act  would  have  been 
out  or  on  the  point  of  being  out  of  the  Statute  Book  to- 
day. It  should  not  be  a  matter  for  surprise  if  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Act  is  now  delayed.  When  I  was  released' 
on  Fiiday  my  plan  was  to  start  for  Delhi  again  on 
Saturday  to  seek  re-arrest,  and  that  would  have  been  an- 
accession  of  strength  to  the  movement.  Now,  instead  of 
going  to  Dslhi,  it  remains  to  me  to  offer  Satyagraha 
against  our  own  people,  and  as  it  is  my  determination  toi 
offer  Satyagraha  even  uuto  death  for  securing  the  with- 
drawal- of  the  Rowlatt  legislation,  I  think  the  occasion 
has  arrived  wh-en  I  should  offer  Satyagraha  against  our- 


SPEECH  AT   AHMEDABAD  475 

selves  for  the  violence  that  has  occurred.  And  I  shall  do 
so  at  the  sacrifice  of  my  body,  so  long  as  we  do  not  keep 
perfect  peace  and  cease  from  violence  to  person  and  pro- 
perty. How  can  I  seek  imprisonment  unless  I  have 
absolate  confidence  that  we  shall  no  longer  be  guility  of 
such  errors  !  Those  desirous  of  joining  the  Satyagraha. 
movement  or  of  helping  it  must  entirely  abstain  from 
violence.  They  may  not  resort  to, violence  even  on  my 
being  rearrested  or  on  some  sflch  events  happening- 
Englishmen  and  women  have  been  compelled  to  leave 
their  homes  and  confine  themselves  to  places  of 
protection  in  Shahi  Bag,  because  their  trust  in  our 
harmlessness  has  received  a  rude  shock.  A  little 
thinking  should  convince  us  that  this  is  a  matter  of 
humiliation  for  us  all.  The  'sooner  this  state  of 
things  stops  the  better  for  us.  They  are  our  brethren 
and  it  is  our  duty  to  inspire  them  with  the  belief  that 
their  persons  are  as  sacred  to  us  as  our  own  and  this  is 
what  we  call  Abhayadan,  the  first  requisite  of  true  reli- 
gion.     Satyagraha  without  this  is  Duragraha. 

There  are  two  distinct  duties  now  before  us.  One 
is  that  we  should  firmly  resolve  upon  refraining  from 
all  violence,  and  the  other  is  that  we  should  repent  and. 
do  penance  for  our  sins.  So  long  as  we  don't  repent  and. 
do  not  realise  our  errors  and  make  an  open  confession  of 
them,  we  shall  not  truly  change  our  course.  The  first 
step  is  that  those  of  us  who  have  captured  weapons 
should  surrender  them.  To  show  that  we  are  really 
penitent  we  will  contribute  each  of  us  not  less  than 
eight  annas  towards  helping  the  families  of  those  who 
have  been  killed  by  our  acts.  Though  no  amount  of 
money  contribution  can  altogether  undo  the  results- 
of     the    furious    deeds   of    the    past    few    days,    our 


476  EARLIER    INDIAN    SPEECHES 

contribution   will   be    a   slight    token    of    our    repen- 
tencS.     I  hope  and   pray    that   no  one   will    evade  this 
contribution   on  the  plea   that   he  has    had  no  part  in 
those  wicked   acts.     For  if  such  as    those  who  were  no 
party  to  these  daeds   had  all  courageously  and  bravely 
gone   forward  to  put    down   the   lawlessness,   the  mob 
would   have   been   checked   in  their  career  and   would 
have    immediately    realised    the    wickedness   of    their 
.doings.    I   venture   to  say  that,  if   instead   of   giving 
money  to  the  mob  out  of  fear,  we  had  rushed  out    to 
protect  buildings  and  to  save  the   innocent  without  fear 
of  death,  we  could   have  succeeded  in  so  doing.    Unless 
we   have  this   sort   of  courage,  mischief  makers   will 
always  try  to  intimidate  us   into  participating  in   their 
misdeeds.  Fear  of  death  makes  us  devoid  both  of  valour 
and  religion.    For  want  of  valour  is  want  of  religi- 
ous faith.     And  having  done   little  to  stop  the  violence 
we  have   been   all  participators  in  the   sins  that   have 
been  committed.    And  we  ought,  therefore,  to  contribute 
■our  mite  as  a  mark  of  our  repentence.     Each  group  can 
■collect  its  own  contributions  and  send  them   on  to  me 
through   its  collectors.    I    would   also  advise,    if  it  is 
possible  for  you,  to  observe  a  twenty-four  hour's  fast  in 
•slight  expiation  of  these  sins.    This  fast   should  be  ob- 
served in  private  and  there  is  no   need  for  crowds  to  go 
to  the  bathing  ghats. 

I  have  thus  far  drawn  attention  to  what  appears  to 
be  your  duty.  I  must  now  consider  my  own.  My  res- 
ponsibility is  a  million  times  greater  than  yours.  I  have 
placed  Satyagraha  before  people  for  their  acceptance, 
and  I  have  lived  in  your  midst  for  four  years.  I  have  also 
jgiven  some  contribution  to  the  special  service  of  Ahmeda- 
bad.  Its  citizens  are  not  quite  unfamiliar  with  my  views. 


SPEECH   AT   AHMEDAFAD  477 

It  is  alleged  that  I  have   without  proper  considera- 
tion persuaded    thousands  to  join  the  movement.     That 
allegation  is,  I  admit,  true  to  a   certain  extent,  but  to  a 
certain  extent  only.    It  is  open  to  anybody   to  say  that 
but  for   the    Satyagraha  campaign,  there    would  not 
have    been   this   violence.     For    this,  I   have  already 
done  a  penance,  to  my  mind  an  unendurable  one  namely, 
that  I  have  had  to  postpone  my  visit  to  Delhi  to  seek 
rearrest    and  I   have  also  been    obliged    to  suggest  a 
temporary   restriction  of  Satyagraha  to  a  limited  field- 
This  has  been  more   painful  to  me  than  a  wound    but 
this  penance  is  not  enough,  and  I  have,  therefore,  decided 
to  fast  for  three  days,  i.e.,   72  hours.     I  hope  my  fast 
will  pain  no  one.     I  believe   a  seventy-two  hours'  fast 
is  easier  for  me  than  a  twenty-four  hours'  fast  for  yoUr 
And  I  have  imposed   on    me  a  discipline  Which  I   can 
bear.     If  you  really  feel  pity  for  the  suffering  that  wilJ 
be  caused  to  me,  I  request  that  that  pity  should  always- 
restrain  you  from  ever  again  being  party  to  the  criminal 
acts  of    which    I  have    complained.    Take  it   from   me 
that  we  are  not  going  to  win  Swarajya  or  benefit   our 
countryin  the  least   by -violence   and    terrorism.     lam 
of  opinion   that  if  we   have  to    wade  through  violence 
to  obtain  Swarajya  and  if  a  redress  of  grievances  were 
to   be   only   possible  by    means    of    ill    will    for  and 
slaughter  of  English  men,  I,  for  one,  would  do  without 
that  Swarajya  and  without  a  redress  of  those  grievances^ 
For  me  life  would   not  be    worth   living  if  Ahmedabad 
continues  to  countenance  violence  in  the  name  of  truth. 
The  poet  has  called  Gujarat    the  "  Garvi"  (Great  and 
Glorious)  Gujarat.     The  Ahmedabad,  its  capital,  is  the 
residence  of  many  religious  Hindus  and  Muhammadans- 
Deeds  of  public  violence  in  a  city  like  this  is   like  an 


478  EARLIER  INDIAN  SPEECHES 

ocean  being  on  fire.  Who  can  quench  that  fire  ?  I  can 
only  offer  myself  as  a  sacrifice  to  be  burnt  in  that  fire, 
and  I  therefore  ask  you  all  to  help  in  the  attainment 
of  the  result  that  I  desire  out  of  my  fast.  May  the 
love  that  lured  you  into  unworthy  acts  awaken  you  to 
a  sense  of  the  reality,  and  if  that  love  does  continue 
to  animate  you,  beware  that  I  may  not  have  to  fast 
myself  to  death. 

It  seems  that  the  deeds  I  have  complained  of  have 
been  done  in  an  organised  manner.  There  seems  to  be 
a  definite  design  about  them,  and  lam  sure  that  there 
must  be  some  educated  and  clever  man  or  men  behind 
them.  They  may  be  educated,  but  their  education  has 
not  enlightened  them.  You  have  been  misled  into  doing 
these  deeds  by  such  people.  I  advise  yon  never  to  be 
so  misguided',  and  I  would  ask  them  seriously  to  re- 
consider their  views.  To  them  and  you  I  commend  my 
book  "  Hind  Swarajya"  which,  as  I  understand,  may  be 
printed  and  published  without  infringing  the  law 
thereby. 

Among  the  mill-hands,  the  spinners  have  been  on 
strike  for  some  days.  I  advise  tWem  to  resume  work  im- 
mediately and  to  a^k  for  increase  if  they  want  any,  only 
after  resuming  work,  and  in  a  reasonable  manner.  To 
resort  to  the  use  of  force  to  get  any  increase  is  suicidal. 
1  would  specially  advise  all  mill-hands  to  altogether 
eschew  violence.  It  is  their  interest  to  do  so  and  I 
remind  them  of  the  promises  made  to  Anasuya  Bai  and 
me  that  they  would  ever  refrain  from  violence,  I  hope 
that  all  will  now  resume  work. 


TEMPORARy SUSPENSION  OF  THE 
MOVEMENT. 


The  following  speech  advising  temporary  suspension 
of  the  Satyagraha  movement  was  made  by  Mr.  Gandhi 
at  Bombay  on  the  \?>th  April : — 

It  is  not  without  sorrow  I  feel  compelled  to  advise 
the  temporary  suspension  pf  civil  disobedience.  I  give 
this  advice  not  because  I  have  less  faith  now  iri  its 
efficacy  but  because  I  haye,  if  possible,  greater  faith 
than  before.  It  is  my  perception  of  the  law  of  Satya- 
graha which  impels  me  to  suggest  the  suspension.  I 
am  sorry  when  I  embarked  upon  a  mass  movement,  I 
underrated  the  forces  of  evil  and  I  must  now  pause  and 
consider  how  best  to  meet  the  situation.  But  whilst 
doing  so,  I  wish  to  say  that  from  a  careful  examination 
of  the  tragedy  at  Ahmedabad  and  Viramgaum,  I  am 
convinced  that  Satyagraha  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
violence  of  the  mob  and  that  many  swarmed  round  the 
banner  of  mischief  raised  by  the  mob  largely  because  of 
their  affection  for  Anasuya  Bai  and  myself.  ,  Had  the 
Government  in  an  unwise  manner  not  prevented  me  from 
snterirg  Delhi  and  so  compelled  me  to  disobey  their 
orders,  I  feel  certain  that  Ahmedabad  and  Viram^um 
would  have  remained  free  from  the  horrors  of  the  last 
week.  In  other  words  Satyagraha  hfs  neither  been  the 
cause  nor  the  occasion  of  the  upheaval.  If  anything, 
the  presence  of  Satyagraha  has  acted  as  a  check  ever 
so  slight  upon  the  perviously  existing  lawless  elements. 

As  regards  events  in  the  Punjab,  it  is  admitted  that 
they  are  unconnected  with  the  Satyagraha  movement. 
In  the  course  of  the  Satyagraha  struggle  in  South 
Africa  several  thousands  of  inteiitured  Indians  had 
struck  work.  This  was  Satyagraha  strike  and,  there- 
fore, entirely  peaceful  and  voluntary.  Whilst  the 
strike  was  going  on,  a  strike  of  European  miners, 
railway  employees,  etc.,  was  declared.  Overtures 
were  made  to  me  to  make  common  cause  with  the 
European  strikers.  As  a  Satyagrahi  I  did  not  require 
a  moment's  consideration  to  decline  to  do  so.  I  went 
further)  and  for  fear  of  our  strike  being  classed  with  the 


480  EARLIER   INDIAN    SPEECHES 

strike  of  the  Europeans  in  which  methods  of  violence  and 
use  of  arms  found  a  prominent  place  ours  was  suspended 
and  Salyagraha  from  that  moment  came  to  be  recog- 
nised by  the  Europeans  of  South  Africa  as  an  honourable 
and  honest  movement ;  in  the  words  of  General  Smuts, 
a  constitutional  movement.  I  can  do  no  less  at  the 
present  critical  moment.  I  would  be  untrue  to  Satya- 
graha  if  I  allowed  it  by  any  action  of  mine  to  be  used 
as  an  occasion  for  feeding  violence,  for  embittering  rela- 
tions between  the  English  and  the  Indians.  Our 
Saiyagraha  must,  therefore,  now  consist  in  ceaselessly 
helping  the  authorities  in  all  the  ways  available  to  us 
as  Satyagrahis  to  restore  order  and  to  curb  lawlessness. 
We  can  turn  the  tragedies  going  on  before  us  to  good 
account  if  we  could  but  succeed  in  gaining  the  adherence 
of  the  masses  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Saiyagraha.  Salyagraha  is  like  a  banian  tree  with  in- 
numerable '  branches.  Civil  disobedience  is  one  such 
branch.  Satyn  (truth)  and  Ahimsa  (non-violence) 
together  make  the  parent  trunk  from  which  all  innumer- 
able branches  shoot  out.  We  have  found  by  bitter 
experience  that  whilst  in  an  atmosphere  of  lawlessness 
civil  disobedience  found  ready  acceptance,  Satya  (truth) 
and  Ahimsa  (non-violence)  from  which  alone  civil 
disobedience  can  worthily  spring,  have  commanded 
little  or  no  respect.  Ours  then  is  a  herculian  task,  but 
we  may  not  shirk  it.  We  must  fearlessly  spread 
thexloctrine  of  Satya  and  ahimsa  and  then  and  not  till 
then,  shall  we  be  able  to  undertake  mass  Satyagraha. 
My  attitude  towards  the  Rowlatt  legislation  remains 
unchanged.  Indeed,  I  do  feel  that  the  Rowlatt  legis- 
lation is  one  of  the  many  causes  of  the  present  unrest. 
But  in  a  surcharged  atmosphere  I  must  refrain  from 
examining  these  causes.  The  main  and  only  purpose  of 
this  letter  is  to  advise  all  Satyagrahis  to  temporarily 
suspend  civil  disobedience,  to  give  Government  effec- 
tive co-operation  in  restoring  order  and  by  preaching 
and  practice  to  gain  adherence  to  the  fundamental 
principles  mentioned  above. 


NON-CO-OPERATION. 


THE  PUNJAB   &  KHILAFAT   WRONGS. 

[In  a  public  letter  dated  the  21st  July,  1919,  Mr.  Gandhi  an- 
nounced that  in  response  to  the  warnings  conveyed  to  him  by  the- 
Government  of  India  and  H.  E.  the  Governor  of  Bombay  that  the- 
resumption  of  civil  disobedience  was  likely  to  be  attended  with 
serious  consequences  to  public  security  and  in  response  to  the  urgent 
pressure  brought  on  him  by  Moderate  leaders  all  over  the  country  and 
some  extremist  colleagues,  he  decided  not  to  resume  civil  resistence 
fearing  a  recrudescence  of  mob  violence.  But  though  further  resis- 
tance was  suspended,  the  course  of  events  inevitably  fed  the 
rancour  of  the  people.  The  disturbances  which  began  in  March 
at  Delhi  had  spread  to  Lahore  and  Amritsar  by  the  lOth  April,  wher& 
Martial  Law  was  proclaimed  on  the  15th.  Three  other  districts  subse- 
quently came  under  the  military  regime.  The  tragedy  of  Jullian- 
wallah  Bagh  where  an  unarmed  and  defenceless  crowd  were- 
ruthlessly  massacred  by  General  Dyer  rankled  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  as  an  unwarrantable  barbarity.  Slowly  again  the  cruelties 
and  indignities  of  the  Martial  law  regime  with  its  crawling  orders- 
and  thundering  sentences  for  trivial  offences,  eked  out  and  fed  the 
flames  of  popular  indignation.  Meanwhile  another  specific  grievance 
was  added  to  the  already  long  list.  Nearly  a  year  had  elapsei 
since  the  declaration  of  Armistice  in  November  1918  and  the  treaty 
with  Turkey  was  yet  in  the  making,  British  opinion  was  supposed 
to  be  inimical  to  Turkey  and  the  anxiety  of  Indian  Muslims  increas- 
ed with  the  delay  in  the  settlement.  It  was  widely  feared  that  the 
Allies  wanted  to  deal  a  heavy  blow  on  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Sultan  over  Muslim  peoples.  The  dismemberment  of  the  Empire  of 
the  Khalifa  is  a  thing  unthinkable  to  the  Muslim  world.  An  Indian 
Khilafat  movement  was  set  on  foot  in  which,  somewhat  to  the 
embarrassment  of  many,  Mr.  Gandhi,  who  was  already  leading 
India  in  the  Rowlatt  and  Punjab  agitations,  plunged  with  all  the 
ardour  of  conviction.  Thus  the  Punjab  wrongs  and  the  Khilafat 
question  were  the  mainstay  of  a  great  agitation  under  the  lead    of 

31 


482  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Mr.  Gandhi,  assisted  by  the  Congress,  the  Muslim  League,  the 
Khilafat  Conference  and  their  many  subsidiary  organisations  all  over 
the  country.  But  the  peculiarity  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  lead  was  in  his 
methods  which  were  altogether  novel  in  the  history  of  agitations 
here  or  elsewhere.  We  shall  have  many  occasions  to  refer  to  the 
Non-co-Operation  movement  and  his  innumerable  speeches  thereon , 
but'  webgin  with  the  cardinal  features  in  Mr.  Gandhi's  programme, 
which  are  fasting,  prayer  and  hartals ;  Writing  on  October  4, 
1919  in  his   Young  India,  Mr.  Gandhi  observed  : — ] 

In  spite  of  the  Herculean  efforts  made  by  the  Punjab 
Government  to  crush  the  Spirit  of  the  people,  prayer  and 
fasting  and  hartal  are  institutions  as  old  as  the  hills  and 
cannot  be  stopped.  Two  illuminating  abstracts  from  the 
bulky  volumes  published  by  the  Government  and  containing 
a  record  of  sentences  inflicted  by  Martial  Law  Commissions 
and  Summary  Courts  show  although  dimly  what  has  happen- 
ed during  the  past  few  months  to  the  people  of  the  Punjab. 
The  leading  cases  examined  by  me  have  shaken  my  faith 
in  the  justice  of  these  sentences.  The  sentence  of  stripes 
is  beyond  recall  as  are  the  i8  death  sentences.  Who  will 
answer  for  them  if  they  are  proved  to  have  been  unjustly 
pronounced  ? 

But  sentences  or  no  sentences,  the  spirit  of  the  people 
is  unbreakable.  The  Moslem  Conference  of  Lucknow  has 
proclaimed  Friday,  the  17th  instant,  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  The  preliminaries  will  be  presently  arranged.  The 
day  is  to  be  called  the  Khalif  ate  day.  Mr.  Andrews'  letter 
shows  clearly  what  the  Khalifate  question  is  and  how  just 
is  the  case  of  the  Muhamedans.  He  agrees  with  the 
Suggestion  I  have  ventured  to  make,»J0.  that,  if  justice 
cannot  be  obtained  for  Turkey,  Mr.  Montagu  and  Lord 
Chelmsford  must  resign.  But  better  than  resignation,  better 
than  protests  are  the  prayers  of  the  just.  I  therefore 
welcome  the  Lucknow  resolution.  Prayer  expresses  the  soul's 


THE  PUNJAB  &  KHILAFAT  WRONGS        483 

longing  and  fasting  sets  the  soul  free  for  efficacious  prayer. 
In  my  opinion,  a  naMonal  fast  and  national  prayer  should  be 
acco'mpanied  by  suspension  of  business.     I  therefore   with- 
out hesitation  advise  suspension  of  business  provided   it   is 
carried  out  with  calmness  and  dignity   and  provided  it   is 
-entirely  volunta/yt     Those  who  are  required  for    necessary 
work  such  as  hospital,  sanitation,  off-loading  of  steamers  etc., 
■should  not  be  entitled   to  suspend   work.    And   I  suggest 
that  on  this  day  of  fast  there  are  no  processions,  no   meet- 
ings.   People   should  remain   indoors  and   devote   them- 
■selves  entirely  to  prayer. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  it  is  the   bounden   duty   of 

"the  Hindus  and  other  religious  denominations  to  associate 

4;hemselves  with   their  Muhamedan   brethren.    It   is   ths 

.-Surest  and  simplest  method  of  bringing  about   the  Hindu- 

Muhamedan  unity.    It   is  the  privilege  of  friendship   to 

•extend  the  hand  of  fellowship  and  adversity  is  the  crucible 

in  which  friendship  is  tested.     Let  millions  of  Hindus  show 

to    the    Muhomedans  that  they   are   one  with   them   in 

^sorrow. 

I  would  respectfully  urge   the   Government  to  make 

Common  cause  with  the  people  and  encourage  and  regulate 

5ihis  peaceful  exhibition  of  their  feelings.    Let   the   people 

mot  think  that  Government  will  put  any   obstacles   directly 

or  indirectly  in  their  way. 

I  would  urge  the  modern  generation  not  to  regard 
-fasting  and  prayer  with  scepticism  or  distrust.  The  greatest 
teachers  of  the  world  have  derived  extraordinary  powers  for 
the  good  of  humanity  and  attained  clarity  of  vision  through 
-fasting  and  prayer.  Much  of  this  discipline  runs  to  waste, 
-because  instead  of  being  a  matter  of  the  heart,  it  is  often 
resorted  to  for  stage  effect.  I  would  therefore  warn  the 
-bodies  of  this  movement  against  any  such  suicidal  manoeu- 


484  NON-CO-OPERATION 

vring.  Let  them  have  a  living  faith  in  what  they  urge  or 
let  them  drop  it.  We  are  now  beginning  to  attract  millions- 
of  our  countrymen.  We  shall  deserve  their  curses  if  we- 
consciously  lead  them  astray.  Whether  Hindus  or  Muhame- 
dans,  we  have  all  got  the  religious  spirit  in  us.  Let  it  not^ 
be  underniined  by  our  playing  at  religion, 


THE  AMRITSAR  APPEALS. 

[Before  the  end  of  the  year,  Indian  opinion  was  greatly  exas- 
perated by  the  evidence  of  General  Dyer  and  other  Martial  Law  ad- 
ministrators before  the  Hunter  Committee  which  began  the  enquiry  - 
about  the  end  of  October.  The  evidence  of  the  Military  oflficers  shock- 
ed the  sentiments  of  the  public  which  were  horrified  by  the  revelations'' 
of  cruelty  and  heartlessness.   When  the  Congress  met  at  Amritsar, . 
the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  feeling  ran  high  and  the  President,  Pandit 
Motilal  Nehru,  drew  up  a  lengthy  indictment  against  the  Government. 
Just  before  the  day  of  the  session  the  political  prisoners  were  released, 
as  the  effect  of  a  Royal  Proclamation   and  Mr.  Gandhi  exercised   a- 
sobering  influence  over  the  Congress  and  even  moved  a  resolution 
condemning   mob  excesses  though  under  provocation.    But  soon 
after   the   Congress,    when    he  found  that   the   fate  of  the    other' 
prisoners  was  decreed  byi  the  Privy  Council's    dismissal  of  their 
appeals  without  further  trial,  he  wrote  to  the  press  earnestly  urging,, 
justice  ior  the  victims  of  Martial  Law : — ] 

So  these   appeals  have   been  dismissed  in  spite  of   the, 
ad.vocacy  of  the  best  counsel  that  were  obtainable.  The  Privy 
Council    has   confirmed  lawless  procedure.     I  must  confess 
that  the  judgment   does    not   come    upon    me   quite   as, a, 
surprise  though  the  remarks  of  the  judges  as  Sir  Simon  was 
developing  as  arguments  on   behalf  of  the   appellants,   led. 
one  to  expect  a  favourable  verdict.     My  opinion  based  upOHj 
a  study  of  political  cases  is  that  the  judgments  even  of  the- 
highest   Tribunals  are  not   unaffected   by    subtle   political 


THE   AMRITSAR    APPEALS  485 

•considerations.     The  most  elaborate   precautions  taken   to 

prbcufe  a  purely  judicial  mind  must  break  down  at  critical 

moments.    The    Privy   Council    cannot  be    free  from   the 

limitations  of  all  human  institutions  which  are  good  enough 

•only  for  normal  conditions.     The  consequences  of  a  decision 

■favourable  to  the   people  would  have  exposad    the   Indian 

'Government  to  indescribable  discredit  from  which  it  would 

have    been  difficult  to  free  itself  for  a  generation. 

Its  political  significance  can  be  gauged  from  the  fact 
that,  as  soon  as  the  news  was  received  in  Lahore  all  the 
preparations  that  were  made  to  accord  a  fitting  welcome  to 
Xala  Lajpat  Rai  were  immediately  cancelled  and  the  capital 
•of  the  Punjab  was  reported  to  be  in  deep  mourning. 
■Deeper  discredit,  therefore,  now  attaches  to  the  Government 
I  by  reason  of  the  judgment,  because  rightly  or  wrongly  the 
popular  opinion  will  be  that  there  is  no  justice  under  the 
•British  constitution  when  large  political  or  racial  considera- 
tions are  involved. 

There  is  only  one  way  to  avoid  the  catastrophe.  The 
rhuman  and  especially  the  Indian  mind  quickly  responds  to 
:generosity.  I  hope  thaf,  without  the  necessity  of  aa 
agitation  or  petitions,  the  Punjab  Government  or  the  Central 
'Government  will  Immediately  cancel  the  death  sentences 
-and.  if  at  aH  possible,  simultaneously  set  the  appellants 
■free. 

This  is  requbed  by  two  considerations,  each  equally 
important.  The  first  is  that  of  restoring  public  confidence 
which  I  have  already  mentioned.  The  second  is  fulfilment 
of  the  Royal  Proclamation  to  the  letter.  That  great  political 
document  orders  the  release  oi-all  the  political  offenders 
■who  may  not  by  their  ielea.se  prove  a  danger  to  society.  No 
one  can  possibly  suggest  that  the  twenty-one  appellants 
•will,  if  they  are  set  free,  in  any   shape  or  form  constitute  a 


486  NON-CO-OPERATION 

danger  to  society.  They  never  had  committed  any  crimes^ 
before.  Most  of  them  were  regarded  as  respectable  and 
orderly  citizens.  They  were  not  known  to  belong  to  a.ny 
revolutionary  society.  If  they  committed  any  crimes  at  alU. 
they  were  committed  only  under  the  impulse  of  the  moment 
and  under  what  to  them  was  grave  provocation.  Moreover,, 
the  public  believe  that  the  majority  of  the  convictions  by 
the  Martial  Law  Tribunals  were  unsupported  by  any  good 
evidence.  I,  therefore,  hope  that  the  Government,  which 
have  So  far  been  doing  well  in  discharging  political- 
offenders  even  when  they  were  caught  in  the  act,  will  not 
hesitate  to  release  these  appellants,  and  thus  earn  the  good 
will  of  the  whole  of  India.  It  is  an  act  of  generosity  done- 
in  the  hour  of  triumph  which  is  the  most  effective.  And  in. 
the  popular  opinion  this  dismissal  of  the  appeal  h^s  been- 
regarded  as  a  triumph  for  the  Government. 

1  would  respectfully  plead  with  the  Punjab  friends  not 
to  lose  heart.  We  must  calmly  prepare  ourselves  for  the 
worst.  If  the  convictions  are  good,  if  the  men  convicted 
have  been  guilty  of  murders  or  incitements  to  murder,  why 
/should  they  escape  punishment  ?  If  they  have  not  com- 
mitted these  crimes  as  we  believe  most  at  least  have  not,. 
why  should  we  escape  the  usual  fate  of  all  who  are  trying- 
to  rise  a  step  higher  ?  Why  should  we  fear  the  sacrifice  if 
we  would  rise  ?  No  nations  have  ever  risen  without  sacrifici?^ 
and  sacrifice  can  only  be  spoken  of  in  connection  witli 
innocence  and  not  with  crime. 


THE  KHILAFAT  QUESTION. 

[In  the  first  week  of  Maich,  1920,  Mr.  Gandhi  issued  the  followin|r 
manifesto  regarding  the  Khilafat  question.  In  this  manifesto  Mr- 
Gandhi  enunciated  the  duty  of  the  Muslims,  as  indeed  o  f  all  India. 
in  case  the  agitation  should  fail  to  secure  the  redress  of  the  Khila- 
fat  wrong.]  /    - 

The  Khalifat  question  has  now  becume  a  question  of; 
questions.  I(  has  become  an  imperial  question  of  the  first 
magnitude.  ,    , 

,  The  great  prpUtes  of  England  and  the  Mohammedan 
leaders  combined,  have  brought  the  ques'ion  to  the  force. 
The  prelates  threw  down  the  challe.igc.  The  Muslim 
leaders  have  taken  it  up. 

I  trust  t^e  Hindus  will  realise  that  the  Khilafat 
question  overshadows  the-Reforms  and  everything  else. 

If  the  Muslim  claim  was  unjust,  apart  from  the 
Muslim  scriptures,  one  might  hesitate  to  support  it 
merely  on  scriptural  authority.  But,  when  a  just  claim  is 
supported  by, scriptures  it  becomes  i-rresistible. . 

Briefly  put  the  claim  is  that  tlje  I'u^^s  sliould  retain 
European  Turkey  subject  to  full  guarantees  for  the  protec- 
tion of  non-Muslim  races  under  ilie  Turkish  Empire  and 
that  the  Sultan  should  control  the  Holy  places  of  Islam  ,^d 
shQuld  have  suzerainty  over  Jazirat-ul-Aras  i.e.,  Arabia  as 
defined  by  the  Moslem  savants,  subject  to  self-gtoverning 
rights  being  given  to  theAra,bs  if  they  so, desire.  This  was 
what  was,  promised  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  and  this  was  what 
Lord  Hardinge  ,had  contemplated.  The  Mohammedan 
soldiers  would  not.  have  fought  to  deprjve  Turkey  of  her 
ppssessions.  To  deprjve./the  Khalif;  of  ,,tivis.  Suzerainty  is 
to  reduce  the  Khilafat  to  a  nullity. 


488  NON-CO-OPERATION 

To  restore  to  Turkey,  subject  to  necessary  guarantees, 
what  was  hers  before  war,  is  a  Christian  solution.  To 
wrest  any  of  her  possessions  from  her  for  the  sake  of 
punishing  her  is  a  gunpowder  solution.  _  The  Allies  or 
England  in  the  hour  of  her  triumph  must  be  scrupulously 
just.  To  reduce  the  Turks  to  impotence  would  be  not  only 
unjust,  it  would  be  a  breach  of  solemn  declarations  and 
promises.  It  is  to  be  wished  that  the  Viceroy  will  take  his 
courage  in  both  his  hands  and  place  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  Khilafat  agitation  as  Lord  Hardingfe  did  at  the  time 
of  the  South  African  "  Passive  Resistance  "  struggle  and 
thus  like  his  predecessor  give  a  ciear  and  emphatic 
direction  to  an  agitation  which  under  impulsive  or  faulty 
leadership  may  lead  to  disastrous  consequences. 

But  the  situation  rests  more  with  us,  Hindus  and, 
Mohammedans,  than  with  the  Viceroy  and  sill  more 
with  the  Moslem  leaders  than  with  the  Hindus  or 
the    Viceroy. 

There  are  signs  already  of  impatience  on  the  j  art  of 
Muslim  friends  and  impatience  may  any  day  be  reduced  lo 
madness  and  the  latter  must  inevitably  lead  to  violence. 
And  I  wish  I  could  persuade  ever)  one  to  see  that  violence 
is  suicide. 

Supposing  the  Muslim  demands  are  not  granted  by  the 
Allies  or  say  England  t  I  see  no  hin  g  but  hope  in  Mr. 
Montagu's  brave  defence  of  the  Muslim  position  and  Mi- 
Lloyd  George's  interpretation  of  his  own  declilration.  True/ 
the  latter  is  halting  but  he  can  secure  full  justice  undeF'-i 
it.  But  we  must  suppose  the  worst  and  expect  and  striven- 
for  the  best.    How  to  strive  is  the  question.  i. 

What  we  may  not  do  is  clear  enough. 

(i;     There  should  be  no  violence    in  thought,    speech 
or  deed. 


THE  KHILAFAT    QUESTION  489 

(2)  Therefore  there  should  be  no  boycott  of  British 
•goods  by  way  of  revenge  or  punishment.  Boycott,  in  n»y 
opinion  is  a  form  of  violence.  Moreover  even  if  it  were 
-desirable  it  is  totally  impracticable. 

(3)  There  should  be  no  rest  till  the  minimum  is  achieved, 
(l)  There   should   be  no   mixing    up    of     other    ques- 
tions with  the  Khilafat,  e.  g.,  the  Egyptian  question. 

Let  us  See  what  must  be  done: — 

'     (i) The  cessation  of  business  on  the    19th  instant  and 

-ekpresfion  of  the  minimun  demands  by  means  of  one  single 

rraohitioti.  ^ 

I  ■  This  is  a  necessary  first  step  provided  that  the  "hartal" 

^s  labsolutfely  voluntary  and  the  employees  are  not   asked  tx* 

leave  their  work  unless  they  receive  permisston  from   ih^ir 

eiiiployers.     I   would  strongly    urge   that   the   mill-hands 

-should  be  left  untouched,  i  The  further  proviso  is  thatthere 

should  t>e'  no  violence  accompanying  the  "hartal."      I  have 

-often  been  told  that'  the    C.  I.  D's     sometimes     provoke 

violence.     I  do  not  believe  i«    it   as  a    great  charge.     But 

even  if  it  be  true,  our  discipline  should  make  it  Impossible. 

Our  success  depends  solely  on  our   ability   tO'  control,  guide 

and- discipline  the  masses. 

Now  a  word  as  to  what  may  be  done,   if   the   demands 

.arenot  granted.    The  barbarous  method  is  warfare  open  or 

secret.  This  must  be  ruled  out  if  only  because  if  is  imprac- 

ticalde:     IfIcould:but   persuade  everyone  that  it  is  always 

-  badr^we  should  gain  all  lawful   ends   much   quicker.  .  The 

power  that  an  individual  or  a  nation<  f orswearrag :  violence 

genera'es,  is  d  power  thai:  is   irresistible.     But  •my-  argu- 

Tnent    to-day     against    violence      is    basefd    upon    pure 

-expediency, 

Non-co-peration  is  thenffQ;e  the  only  remedy  left  open 
Tto  us.    It  is  the  cleatest  remedy  as  it  is  the  most  eMtcMti^ 


490  NON-CO-OPERATION 

when  it  is  absolutely  free  frcm  all  violence.  It  becomes  a. 
duty  Tthen  co-0(.eration  means  degradation  or  humiliatioa 
or  an  injury  to  one's'  cherished  religious  sentiments,  Eng- 
land cannot  expect  a  meek  submission  by  us  to  an  unjust 
usurpation  of  rights  which  to  Mussalmans  means  matters 
of  life  and  death.  We  may,  therefore,  begin  at  the  top  as- 
also  the  bottom.  Those  who  are  holding  offices  of  honour 
or  emoluments  ought  to  give  them  up.  Those  who  belong; 
to  the  menial  services  under  the  Government  should  da 
likewise.  Non-co-operation  does  not  apply  to  service  under 
private  individuals.  I  cannot  approve  of  the  threat  ot 
ostracism  againft  those  who  do  not  adopt  the  remedy  of 
Kon-LO-opeiation.  It  is  only  a  voluntary  wirhdravval  which- 
is  effective.  For,  voluntary  withdrawal  alone  is  a  test  oi 
popular  feeling  and  dissatisfaction.  Advice  to  the  soldier 
to  refuse  to  serve  is  premature.  It  is  the  last,  not  the  first 
step,  We  should  be  entitled  to  take  that  step  when  the 
Viceroy,  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Premier  desert  us.^ 
Moreover,  every  step  in  withdrawing  co-operation  has  to  te 
taken  with  the  greatest  deliberation.  We  must  proceed, 
slowly  so  as  to  ensure  the  retention  oi  self.control  under 
the  fiercest  heat. 

Many  look  upon  the  Calcutta  resolutions  with  the  deep- 
est ^al  aim.  They  scent  in  them  a  preparation  for  violence.. 
I  do  not  look  upon  them  in  that  light,  though  1  do  not 
approve  of  the  tone  of  some  of  them.  I  have  already  men- 
tioned those  whose  subject  matter  I  dislike. 

"Can  Hindus  accept  all  the  resolutions.?"  is  the  ques- 
tion addressed  :by  some.  I  can  only  speak  for  myself.  I  will 
coroperale^  whole-heartedly,  with  the  Muslim  friends  in  the. 
prosecution  of  their  just  demand  so  long  as  they  act  with' 
sufficient  restraint  and  so  long  as  I  feel  sure  that  they  da 
not  wish  Xo  resort   to  or  countenance  violence.'    I  should. 


WHY  I  HAVE  JOINED  THE  KHILAFAT  MOVEMENT  49  i 

cease  to  co-operate  and  advice  every  Hindu  and  for  that 
matter  every  one  else  to  cease  to  co-operate,  the  moment 
there  was  violence  actually  done,  advised  or' countenanced. 
I  would,  therefore,  urge  upon  all  speakers  the  exercise  of 
the  greatest  restraint  under  the  greatest  provocation.  There 
is  certainly  of  victory  if  firmness  is  combined  with  gentle- 
ness. The  cause  is  doomed  if  anger,  hatred,  ill-will,  reck- 
lessness, and  finally  violence  are  to  reign  supreme.  I  shall 
resist  them  all  my  life  even  if  1  should  alone.  My 
goal  is  friendship  with  the  world  and  I  can  combine  the 
greatest  love  with  the  greatest  opposition  to  wropg. 


WHY  I  HAVE  JOINED  THE  KHILAFAT 
MOVEMENT. 

[Mr.  Gandhi's  wholehearted  espousal  of  the  Khilafat  cause  was- 
the  subject  of  considerable  discussion  in  the  early  stages  cf  the 
movement.  In  answer  to  ncmerous  letters  frcm  his  countrjmen  and. 
from  abroad,  Mr.  Gandhi  explained  in  an  article  in  bis  Young. 
India,  of  April  28,  1920,  the  reason  why  he  joined  the  Khilafat- 
movement: — ] 

An  esteemed  South  African  fiiend  who  is  at  present 
living  in  England  has  written  to  me  a  letter  from  which  I 
make  the  following  excerpts  : — 

"  You  will  doubtless  remember  having  met  me  in  South  Africa- 
at  the  tine  when  the  Bev.  J,  J,  Doke  was  assisting  you  in  your 
campaign  there  and  I  subsequently  returned  to  England  deeply  im- 
.pressed  with  the  rightness  of  your  attitude  in  that  country.  During, 
the  months  before  war  I  wrote  and  lectured  and  spoke  on  your  be- 
.Jhalf.  in  several  places  which  1  do  not  regret.  Sinee  returning  from 
ntilitary  service,  however,  I  have  noticed  from  the  papers  that  you 

appear  to  be  adopting  a"  more  militant  attitude I   notice  a 

report  in  the  T/fwes  tliat  you  are  assisting  and  countenancing  a. 
anion- between  tiie  Hindus  and  Moslems' with  a  view    of  embarrass- 


AQ2  NON-CO-OPERATION 

jng  England  and  the  Allied  Powers  in  the  matter  of  the  dismember- 
ment of  the  Ottoman  Empire  or  the  ejection  of  the  Turkish  Govern  • 
ment  from  Constantinople.  Knowing  as  I  do  your  sense  of  justice 
-  and  your  humane  instincts  I  feel  that  I  am  entitled,  in  view  of  the 
humble  part  that  I  have  taken  to  promote  your  interests  on  this  side. 
Tto  ask  you  whether  this  latter  report  is  correct.  1  cannot,  believe 
that  you  have  wrongly  countenanced  a  movement  to  place  the  cruel 
and  unjust  despotism  of  the  Stamboul  Government  above  the  inter- 
ests of  humanity,  for  if  any  country  has  crippled  these  interests  in 
the  East  it  has  surely  been  Turkey.  I  am  personally  familiar  wiOi 
the  conditions  in  Syria  and  Armenia  and  I  can  only  suppose  that  if 
the  report  which  the  Times  has  published  is  correct,  you  have 
thrown  to  one  side,  your  moral  responsibilities  and  allied  yourself 
with  one  of  the  prevailing  anarchies.  However,  until  I  hear  that  this 
is  not  your  attitude,  I  cannot  prejudice  my  mind.  Perhaps  you  will 
do  me  the  favour  of  sending  me  a  reply." 

I  have  sent  a  reply  to  the  writer.     But    as   the   views 

•expressed  in  the  quotation  are  likely  to  be  shared  by  many 

.-of  mv  English  friends  and  as  I  do  not  wish,  if  I  can  possibly 

help  it,  to  forefeit  their  friendship  or  their    esteem,    I  shall 

-«ndeaVour  to  state  my    position    as   cleatly   as   I   can    on 

the  Khilafat  question.      The  letter  shows  what  risk    public 

■men  run  through  irresponsible  journalism.  I  have  not  seen 

the    Times  report  referred  to   by  my  friend.  But  it  is  evident 

that  the  report  has  made  the  writer  to  suspect  my  alliance 

■with  "  the  prevailing  anarchies  "     and  to  think  that  I  have 

-"  thrown  to  one  side  "  my  "  moral  responsibilities."- 

It  is  just  my  sense  of  moral  responsibilities  whicl\  has 
-made  me  take  up  the  Khilafat  question  and  to  identity 
myself  entirely  with  the  Mahomedans.  It  is  perfectly  true 
'that  I  am  assisting  and  countenancing  the  union  bet<reen 
IJindus  and  Muslims,  bilt  cJertainly  not  with  "  a  view  df 
embarrassing  England  and  the  Allied  Powers  in  the  matter 
of  the  dismemtierment  of  the  Ottoman  Empire."  It  is  con- 
trary; to  my  creed  to  embarrass  governments  or  anybody  else. 


WHY  I  HAVE  JOINED  THE  KHILAfXt  MOVEMENT  495. 

This  does  not  however  mean  that  certain  acts  of  mine  may 
not  result  in  embarrassment.     But  I  should  not  hold  myself 
responsible  for  having  caused  embarrassment  when  I  resist 
the  wrong  of  a  wrong-doer  by   refusing   assistance   in    his 
Wrong-doing.     Gn   the  Khilafat  question    I    refuse   to    be 
party  to  a   bioken   pledge.    Mr.   Lloyd    George's   solemn 
declaration  is  practically  the  whole  of  the   case  for   Indian 
Mahomedans  and  when  that  case  is  fortified    by   scriptural 
authority  it  becomes  unanswerable.     Moreover,  it  is  -  incor- 
rect to    say    that  I  have   "  allied   myself  to   one    of   the- 
prevailing  anarchies"'or  that  I. have  "wrongly  countenanced 
the  movement  to  place  the  cruel  and  unjust  despotism   of- 
the  Stamboul  Government  above  the  interests  of  humanity."" 
In.  the    whole    of  the   Mahomedan    demand    there   is  no- 
insistance    on    the  retention   of  the   so-called  unjust  des- 
potism of  the   Stamboul  Government ;  on  the  contrary  the 
Mahomedans   have  accepted  the   principle   of  taking  full 
guarantees   from  that   Government  for  the  protection     of 
non-Muslim  minorities.    I  do  not   know  how  far  the  condi- 
tion ot  Armenia  and  Syria  may  be  considered   as    anarchy, 
and  how  far  the  Turkish  Government  may  be  held  respon- 
sible for  it.    I  much  Suspect   that   the   reports  from  these- 
quarters  .  are   much   exaggerated  and   that   the    European 
powers  are  themselves  in  a  measure  responsible   for  what- 
misrule  there  may  be  in  Armenia  and  Syria.    But  I  am   in. 
no    way  interested   in   supporting   Turkish   or   any   other 
anarchy.  The  Allied  Powers  can  easily  prevent  it  by  means 
oth  er  than  that  of  ending  Turkish  rule   or   dismembering 
and  weakening  the  Ottoman  Empire.    The  Allied  Powers 
ar€  not  dealing  with  a  new  situation.     If  Turkey  was  to  be 
partitioned,  the   position   should   have  been  made  clqar  at 
the  ripommencement   of  the  war.    There  woul^   then  have 
be  en  no  question  of  a  broken  pledge.    As  it  is,  no  Indian 


494  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Mihotnedan  has  any  regard  for  the  promises  of  British 
TVTinisters.  In  his  opinion,  the  cry  agiinst  Turkey  is  that  of 
Christianity  vs.  Islam  with  England  as  the  leader  in  the  cry- 
The  latest  cablegram  from  Mr.  Mahamed  Ali  strengthens 
the  impression,  for  he  says  that  unlike  as  in  England  his 
deputation  is  receiving  much  support  from  the  French 
Oovernment  and  the  people. 

Thus,  if  it  is  true,  as  I  hoU  it  is  true   that   the   Indian 
Mussalmans  have  a  cause  that  is  just  andj  is  supported    by 
scriptural  authority,  then  for  the  Hindus  not  to  support  them 
to  the  utmost  would  be  a  cowardly  breach-  of  brotherhood 
and  they  would  forfeit  all  claim  to  consideration    from   their 
Mahomedan  countrymen.     As  a   public-server,  therefore,  I 
would  be  unworthy  of  the  positioa  I  claim,  if  I  did  not  sup- 
port Indian  Mussalmans  in  their  struggle   to   maintain  the 
Khilafat  in  accordance  with  their  religious  belief.     I  believe 
that  in  supporting  them  I  am  rendering  a  service    to   the 
Empire,  because  by  assisting  my  Mahomedan    countrymen 
to  give  a  disciplined  expression    to  their  sentiment,  it  be- 
<:omes  possible  to  make  the  agitation  tharoughly    orderly 
and  even  successful. 


CONGRESS  REPORT  ON  THE  PUNJAB 

DISORDERS. 

« 

[The  Report  of  the  Com  nUsioaers  appointed  by  the  Sab-Com- 
-mittee  of  the  Congress  in  Nov.  1919  to  enquire  into  the  Punjab 
disorders  together  with  the  evidence  taken  by  them  was  published  ia 
May  1920.  The  Report  was  signed  by  M.  K.  Giudhi,  C.  R.  Das, 
Abbas  Tyabji  and  M.R.  Jayakar  who  had  examined  over  1,700  cases 
and  selected  about  650  statements  for  publication!  The  inclusion  of 
Mr.  Gandhi's  name  among  the  Com  nissioners-  was  accepted  by  all 
as  a  guarantee  for  accuracy.    The  report  bears  the  impress  of  Mr 


■Congress  report  on  the  Punjab  disorders  49^ 

GandM's  hands  and  though  it  was  the  joint  production  of  all  tha 
Gommissionersit  was  at  once  conceded  that  Mr.Gmdhi's  share  alike 
in  the  examiaatioa  and  sitting  of  evidence  and  in  drawing  the  con- 
clusions was  considerable.  As  Mr.  Gindhi  has  stood  by  the  findings 
■of  his  committee  we  may  here  reproduce  the  more  important  portions 
of  theTleport.] 

We  have  bseti  oblige  J  in  places  to  use  strong  languige, 
but  we  have  used  every  adjective  with  due  delibaralion. 
If  anything,  we  have  understated  the  case  against  the  Pjh- 
j^b, Government.  We  recognise  we  have  not  right  to  ex- 
pect an  impossible  standard  of  correctness  from  the 
•Government.  In  times  of  excitement  and  difficulty,  atiy 
•officer  is  prone  to  make  mistakes  in  spite  of  bsst  inten- 
tions. We  recognise,  too,  that  when  the  country  is  on  the 
«ve  of  important  changes  being  introduced  in  the  adminis- 
tration, and  the  Sovereign  has  made  an  appeal  to  officials ' 
and  the  people  for  co-operation,  we  should  say  nothing 
that  may  be  calculated  to  retard  progress. 

But  we  feel  that  it  is  not  possible  to  ignore  the  acts  of 
atrocious  injustice  on  a  wholesale  scale  by  responsible 
■officers,  as  it  would  not  be  possible,  no  matter  how  bright 
the  future  might  be,  to  ignore  criminal  acts  of  the  people. 
In  our  opinion,  it  is  more  necessary  now  than  ever  before, 
that  official  wrong  should  be  purged  as  well  as  the  peoples. 
The  task  of  working  the  reforms  and  miking  India  realise 
her  goal  in  the  quickest  time  possible  would  well  nigh  be  im- 
possible if  both  the  people  and  the  offi  ;ials  did  not  approach 
it  with  clean  hands  and  clean  minds.  If,  therefore,  we  re- 
commend that  the  officials  who  have  erred  should  be 
brought  to  justice,  we  do  so,  not  in  a  vindicti^  spirit,  bat  in 
■order  that  the  administration  of  the  country  may  become 
purified  of  corruption  and  injustice.  Whilst  therefore,  we 
believe  that  the  mob  excesses  in  Auritsar  and  elsewhere 


496  NON-CO-OPERATION: 

were  wrong  and  deserving  of  condemnation,  we  are  equally 
Sure  the  popular  misdeeds  have  been  more  than  punish^di 
by  the  action  of  the  authorities. 

We  believe,  had  Mr.  Candhi  not  been  arrested  whilst  he- 
he  was  on  his  \\ay  to  Delhi  and  the  Punjab  and  had  Kitch- 
lew  and  Satyapal  not  been  arrested  and  deported,  innocent 
English  lives  would  have  been  saved  and  valuable  property, 
including  Christian  churches,  not  destroyed.  These  two 
acts  of.  the  Punjab  Government  were  uncalled  for  andi 
served  like  m  atches  applied  to  material  rendered  inflam- 
mable by  previous  processes. 

In  examining  in  detail  the  events  in  different   districts  ofc 
the  Punjab,  we  have  refrained  from  saying  anything  regard- 
ing the  Government  of  India.  It  is    impossible,  however,  to 
ignore  or  slur  over  the  inaction,  if  not  active  participations 
of  the  Central    Government  in  oflBcial  action.    The  Viceroy 
never  took    the  trouble   to   examine   the  people's  case.  He 
ignored  the  telegrams  and   letters  from   individuals  and 
public  bodies.  He  endorsed  the  action  of  the  Punjab  Govern- 
ment without  enquiry,  and  clothed  the  officials  with  indem 
nityin  indecent  haste.  He  never  went  to  the  Punjab  to  make 
a  personal  enquiry,  even  after  the  occuirences.  He  ought  to 
have  known,  at  least  in  May,  everything  that  various  official 
witnesses  have    admitted,  and  yet  he  failed  to    inform    the 
public  or  the  Imperial  Government  of  the  full  nature  of  the 
Jallianwala    Bagh    massacre  or  the   subsequent  acts  done- 
under  Martial  law.  He  became  a  party  to  preventing  even 
a  noble  and  .well-known  English   Christian  of  unimpeach- 
able veracity,  in  the  person  of  Mr.    Andrews,  from  proceed- 
ing to  the  Punjab  whilst  he  was  on  his  way,  not  to  inflame 
passions,   but   simply  to   fijid  out  the  truth.    He  allowed 
Mr.  Thompson,  Chief   Secretary,  Punjab  Government,"  Vo 
indulge  in  distortion  of  facts  and  to  insult  Pundit  Madan^ 


CONGRESS  REPORT  ON  THE  PUNJAB  DISORDERS  497 

Mohan  Ma laviya  whose  statements  made  in  the  Coundl 
have  almost  all  now  been  proved  to  be  true  out  of  the 
mouths  of  official  witnesses  themselves.  He  expressed  such> 
a  callous  indifference  to  popular  feelings  and  betrayed  such, 
criminal  want  of  imagination  that  he  would  not  postpone 
death  sentences  pronounced  by  the  Martial  Law  tribunal, 
except  after  he  was  forced  to  do  50  by  the  Secretary  of  State- 
for  India.  iHe  seems  to  have  closed  his  heart  against  further 
light  by  shutting  out  questions  by- a  responsible  member  of 
the  Council  like  Pundit  Madan  Mohan  Malaviya.  He 
would  not  visit  the  Punjab  for  local  inquiry.  We  refrain  from, 
criticising  his  attitude  over  the  Rowlatt  agitation.  But  a 
sense  of  public  safety  forbids  us  to  ignore  His  Excellency's 
inability  to  appreciate  and  deal  with- the  situation  in  April. 
Whilst,  therefore,  we  do  not  think  His  Excellency  has  wil- 
fully neglected  the  interests  of  those  who  were  entrusted  to 
his  charge,  by  His  Majesty,  we  regret  to  say  that  H.  E. 
Lord  Chelmsford  has  proved  himself  incapable  of  holding: 
the  high  office  to  which  he  was  called,  and  we  are  of  opinion 
that  His  Excellency  should  be  re-called. 

We  summarise  below  our  other  conclusions  -.-^ 
The  people  of  the  Punjab  were  incensed  against  Sir 
M.  O'Dwyer's  administration  by  reason  of  his  studied  con- 
tempt and  distrust  of  the  educated  classes,  and  by  the  tea- 
son  of  the  cruel  and  compulsory  methods  adopted  during 
the  war  for  obtaining  recruits  and  monetary  contributions 
and  by  his  suppression  of  public  opinion,  by  gagging  the 
local  press  and  shutting  out  Nationalist  newspapers  from 
outside  the  Punjab. 

The  Rowlatt  agitation  disturbed  the  public   mind  and 

shocked  confidence    in    the  gocdwill  of   the  Government. 

This  was  shaded  by  the  Punjab  in  a  fuller  measure,  perhaps, 

than  el  sewhere,  because  of  the  use  made  by  Sir  Michael 

32 


'498  NON-CO-OPERATION 

G'Dvyer  of  the  Defence  of   Iidia    Act  for    piirpSses      of 
stifling  public  movements. 

The  Satyagraha  movement  and  hartal,  which  was 
designed  as  a  precursor  of  it,  whilst  they  vitalised  the  whole 
country  into  activity,  saved  it  from  more  awful  and  more 
widespread  calamities  by  restraining  violent  tendencies 
and  passions  of  the  people. 

The  Rowlatt  agitation  wa?  not  conceived  in  an  anti- 
British  spirit  and  the  Sityagrahi  move-nint  wa?  conce  ived 
and  conducted  in  a  spirit  entirely  free  fro  n  ill-will  and  vio- 
lence. There  was  no  conspiracy  to  overthrow  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  Punjib. 

The  arrest  and  internment  of  M'.  Gindhi  aid  the 
arrests  and  deportations  of  Kitchlew  and  Satyapal  were  un- 
justitiable  and  were  the  only  direct  cause  of  the  hysterical 
popular  excitement. 

Mob  violence,  which  began  at  Amritsar,  was  directly 
due  to  the  firing  at  the  Railway  overbridge  and  the  sight 
of  dead  and  wounded,  at  a  time  when  the  excitement  had 
reached  white  heat. . 

Whatever  the  cause  of  provocation,  the  mobe  excesses 
are  deeply  to  be  regretted  and  condemned. 

So  far  as  the  facts  are  publicly  knonrn,  no  reasobaWe 
cause  has  been  sho^rn  to  justify  the  introduction  of  martial 
law. 

In  each  case  mirtial  law  was  proclaimed  after  order 
had  been  completely  restored. 

Even  if  it  be  held  that  the  iniroduction  of  martial  law 
was  a  State  necessity,  it  was  unduly  prolonged. 

Most  of  the  measures  taken  under  martial  law  in  all 
the  five  districts  were  unnecessary,  cruel,  oppressive  and 
in  utter  disregard  of  the  feelings  of  the  people  affected  by 
them. 


CONGEIESS  REPORT  QN  THE  PUNJAB  DISORDERS  49? 

In  LahorCj  Akalgrah,  Ratnnagar,  GujerSt,  Jaillalpar, 
Jattan,  Lyallf^ur  and  Sheikhupura,  there  were  no  mob  ex- 
cesses worthy  of  the  name. 
.  ,  The  JalUanwalla  Bigh  massacre  was  calculated  piece 
of  iiibumanity  towards  utterly  innocent  and  uairmed  men 
'including  children,  and  unparralleled  for  its  ferocity  in  the 
history 'of  modern  British  administration. 

Martial  law  tribunals  and  summary  courts  were  made 
the  means  of  harassing^, Innocent  people  and  resulted  in  aa 
abortion  of  justice  on  a  wide  scale,  and  under  the  name  of 
j-ustice  caused  moral  and  material  suffering  to  hundreds'  of 
men  and  women. 

The  crawling  order  and  other  fancy  punishments  were 
•unworthy  of  a  civilised  administration,  and  were  symp- 
tomaUc  of  the  moral  degradation,  of  their  inventors. 

The  imposition  of  indemnity  and  of  punitive  police  at 
■various  places,  notwithstanding  the  exemplary  and  vindic- 
tive punishments  meted  out  throughnearly  two  long  montiis 
'to  innocent  men  and  the  exaction  of  fines  and  illegal  im- 
,positions,  were  uncalled  for,  unjust  and  added  injury. 

r  The  corruption  and  bribery  that    took    place    during 
Tuartial  law  form  a    separate    chapter  of   grievance   whicli* 
-cottld   have   bsen   easily   avjided    under    a     sympathetic 
administration. 

The  measures  necessary  for  redressing  the  wrong  done 
tp  the  people  for  the  purification  of  the  administration  and 
-for  preventing  repetition  in  future  of  ofGcial  lawlessness  are 
— ^a)  The  repeal  of  the  Rowlatt  Act,  (b)  Relieving  Sir 
"Michael. O'Dwyer  of  any  responsible  ofHoe  under  the  crown  (c) 
Relieving  General  Dyer,  Colonel  Johnson,  Colonel  O'Brie  n, 
Mr.  Bosworth  Smith,  Sri  Ram  Sud  and  Malik  Sahib  K  han 
of,  any  position  of  responsibility  under  the  Crown  (b)  Local 
ijjiquiry  ipto  the  corrupt  practices  of  minor  officials,  whose 


500  NON-CO'OPERATION 

names  have  been  mentioned  in  the  statements  publishecB 
by  us  and  their  dismissal,  on  proof  of  their  guilt,  (e)  Recall 
of  the  Viceroy,  (f)  Refund  of  fines  collected  from  the  peo- 
ple who-  were '  convicted  by  specral  tribunals  and  summary 
courts,  remission  of  all  indemnity  imposed  on  the  cities- 
affected  and  refund  thereof  where  it  has  already  .been- 
collected,  and  the- removal  of  punitive  police.  ■  ~ - 

it  is  our  deliberate  opinion  that  Sir  Michael  O'Diyyer, 
General  Dyer,  Colonel  Johnsouj  iColonel  O'Brien,  Mr. 
Bosworth  Smithy  Sri  Ram  Sud  and  Malik  Sahib  Khan 
have  been  guilty  of  such  illegalities  that  they  deserve  to  be- 
impeached,  but  we  purposely  refrain  from  advising  any 
such  course,  because  we  believe  India  can  only  gain  by 
waiving  this  right.  Future  purity  will  be  sufficiently  guaran- 
teed by  the  dismissal  of  the  officials  concerned. 

We  believe  Colonel  Macrse  and  Captain  Doveton  have 
failed  equally  with  Colonel  O'Brien  and  others  to  cairy 
out  their  trust,  but  we  have  purposely  refrained  from, 
advising  any  public  action  against  them,  as;  unlike  others 
mentioned  by  us,  these  two  officers  were  inexperienced, 
and  their  brutality  was  not  so  studied  and  calculated  as 
that  of   experienced'  officers.  :  ' 


THE  PUNJAB  DISORDER :  A  PERSONAL 

STATEMENT.  ^ 

[The  Repqrt  of  the  .Commissioners  appointed  by  thfr  Punjab  - 
Sub-Committee  of  the  Indian  National  Congress  contains  a.  special 
note  on  Satyagraha.  from  the  pen  ot  Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi.  The  Qom- 
■Dissioners  discuss  how  iair  Satyagraha  was'  responsible  for  violent 
excesses  in  the  Piinjab.  Mr.  Gandhi,  as  thepioneer  and  the  su{)rlme 
«xpon«nt  of  the  movement,  here  expounds  the  methods  and"  'lh& 
efficacyof  "The  Law  of-Love"  as  the  governing- law  of  life,  as  touch 


PUNJAB  DISORDER  :  A  PERSONAL  STATEMENT  501 

ia  the  home  as  in  the  l&oader  and  more  complex  relations  of 
natioQal  and  international  affairs  : — ]  ,  ,      ,  .  - 

;For  the  past  thirty  years  I  have  been  preaching,  and 
practising  Satyagraha.  The  principles  of  "  SatJ^£^graha," 
■asl  know  it  to-day,  constitute  a  gradual  evolution, 
i.'ij  The  term  '  Satyagraha '  was  coined  by  me  in  South 
Africa  to  express  the  force  that  the  Indians  there  used  ■  for 
iidteight  years,  and  it  was  coined  in  order  to.  disiinguish  it 
f  rotn  the  movement,  then  going  on  in  the  United  Kingdom 
aud  South  Africa  under  the  name  of  Passive  Resistance. 

:Jts  root  meaning  is  ',;holding  on  to  truth';  lience. 
Truth-force.  I  have  also  called  it  Love-force  or  Soul -force. 
In.  the,  application  of  "  Satyagraha  "  I  discovered  in  tjie  ear- 
Ueskstages  that  pursuit  of  truth  did  not  aimit  of.  violence 
being  inflicted  on  one's  oppcnfent  but  that  he  ttiust  be  weaned 
#om  error  by  patience  and  sympathy.  .  For  what  appears 
tobe  truth  to  the  one  may  appear'  to  be  error  to  the  other. 
And  patience  means  self-suffering.  Sd .  the  doctrine  came 
to  mean  vitulicatton  of  truth  not  by  infliction'^of  suffering  on 
the  opponent,  but  one's  own  self. 

"Satyagraha"  dififers  from  Passive  Resistance  as  the 
North  Pole  from  the  South.  The  latter  has  been  conceived 
as  a  weapon  of  the  weak  and  does  iiot  exclude  the  use  of 
physical  force  or  violence  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  one's 
end  ;  whereas  the  former  has  been  conceiived  as  a  weapon 
of  the  strongest  and  excludes  the  usei of  violence  in  any 
shape  or  form. 

<  When  Daniel  disregarded  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and 
Persians  which  offended  his  conscience  and  meekly  suffer- 
ed the  punishment  for  his  disobedience,  he  offered  'Satya- 
jijfaha' in  its  purest  form.  Socrates  would  not  refrain  .from 
preaching  what  he  knew  to  be  thetruth  to  the  Athenian 
youth,  and  bravely  suffered  the  punishment  of  death.  He 


502  NON-CO-OPERATION 

was,  in  this  case,  a  'Satyagrahi.'  Prahlad  distegardeS  i he- 
orders  of  his  father  because-he  considered  them  to  be  re- 
pugnant to  his  ronscience.  He  uncomplainingly  and  cheer- 
fully bore  the  tortures  to  which  he  was  subjected  .  at  the- 
instanceof  his  father.  Mirabai,  who  is  said  to  have  offended' 
her  husband  by  following  her  own  conscience,  was  content 
to  live  in  separation  from  him  and  bore  with  quiet  dignity 
and  resignation  all  the  injuries  that  are  said  to  have  been- 
-dore  to  her  in  order  to  bend  her  to-her  husband's  will.  Both' 
Prahlad  and  Mirabai  practised  "Satyagraha."  It  must  be- 
remembered,  that  neither  Daniel  nor  Socrates,  neither 
Prahlad  nor  Mirabai  had  any  ill-will  to-wards  their  prase- 
cutors.  Daniel  and  Socrates  are  regarded  as  having  been- 
model  citizens  of  the  States  to  which  they  belonged,  Prahladi' 
a  model  son,  Mirabai  a  model  wife. 

This  doctrine  of  'Satyagraha'  is  not  new  ;  it  is     merely- 
an  extension  cf  the  rule  of  domestic  life   to    the  political'^. 
Family    disputes   and    differences    are    generally   settled 
according  to  the  law  of  love.    The  injured  member   has  so- 
much  regard  for  the  others  that  he  suffers  injury    for   the- 
Sake  of  his  principles  without  retaliating  and  without  being; 
angry  with  those  who  differ  from  him.    And    as  repression- 
of  anger,  sell-suffering  are  difficult   processes,  he  does  not 
dignify   trifles   into    principles,  but,   in  all  non-essentials,: 
readily  agrees  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  thus  contrives^ 
to  gain  the  maximum  ot  peace  for  himself  without  disturbing 
that  of  the  others.    Thus  his  action,  whether  he  resists  or 
resigns,  is  always  calculated  to  promote  the  common  welfare- 
of  the  family. '  It  is  this  law  of  love  which,  silently  but  surely,. 
"governs  the  family  for  the  most  part  throughout  the  Civilized' 
world.  ? 

I  feel  that  nations  cannot  be  one   in   reality  nor   cit>,. 
their  activities  be  conducive  to' the   common   good  of    ther 


PUNJAB  DISORDER  :  A  PERSONAL  STATEMENT   503 

wJiole  hum  anity,  unless  there  is  this  definite  recognition 
and  acceptance  of  the  law  of  the  family  in  national  and  in- 
ternational affairs,  in  other  words;  on  thepolitical  platform. 
Nations  can  be  called  civilized,  only  to  the  extent  that  they 
obey  this  law. 

This  1  aw  of  love  is  nothing  but  a  law  of  truth.  Without 
truth  there  is  no  love  ;  without  truth  it  may  be  affection,  as 
for  one's  count  ry  to  the  injury  of  others  ,-  or  infatuation,  as 
erf  a  young  man  for  a, girl;  or  love  may  be  unreasoning  and 
blind,,  as  of  ignorant  parents  for  their  children.  Love  tran- 
sicends  all  animality  and  is  never  partial.  'Satyagraha'  has, 
therefore,  been  described  as  a  coin,  on  whose  face  you  read 
love  and  on  the  reverse  you  read  truth.  It  is  a  coin  current 
everywhere  and  has  indefinable  value. 

•  Satyagraha'  is  self-dependent.  It  does  not  require 
the  assent  of  the  opponent  before  it  can  be  brought  into 
play.  Indeed  it  shines  out  most  when  the  opponent  resists. 
It  is,  therefore,  irresistible.  A  'Satyagrahi'  does  not  know 
what  defeat  is,  for  he  fights  for  truth  without  being,  exhaust-' 
ed.  Death  in  the  fight  is  a  deliverance,  and  prison,  a  gate- 
way to  liberty. 

it  is  called  also  soul-force,  because  a  definite  recogni^ 
tion  of  the  soul  within  is  a  necessity,  if  a  '  Satyagrahi'  is 
to  believe  that  death  does  not  mean  cessation  ofithe  struggle, 
but  a  culmination.  The  body  is  merely  a  vehicle  for 
self-expression  ;  and  he  gladlj  gi^es  upihe  bcdj,  when  its 
<;xistence  is  an  obstruction  in  the  way  of  the  opponent 
seeing  the  truth,  for  which  the  '  Satyagrahi'  stands.  He 
glyes  up  the  body  in  the  certain  faith  that,  if  ,anyth[rg 
wi>iild  change  his  opponent's  view,  a  willing  sacrifice  of, his 
body  must  do  so.  And  with  the  knowledge  that  the  soul 
survives  the  body,  be  is  rot  impatient  to  see  the  triumph 
of  truth  in.  the  present  bcdy.    Indeed,  victory  lies  in   the 


304  NON-eO-OPERATION 

ability  to  4ie  in  the  attempt  to  make  the  opponent  see  tbe 
truth  which  the  '  Sityagrahi'  for,  the  time  being    expresses., 

And  as  a  '  Satj^agrahi'  never  injures  his  opponent  ariti 
always  appeals, -either  to  his  reason  by  gentle  argument,  or 
his  heart  by  the  sacrifice  <jf  self,  'Sa!yagraha'  is  twice  bless- 
ed, it  blfesses'him  who  practises  it,  and  him  against  whom 
it -is  practised.  •  :1  - 

It  has,  however,  been  objecteJ  that '•  Satyagraha,,' as. 
we  conceive  it,  can  hepractised  only  by  a  select  few-.-  My 
experience  proves  the  contrary.  O.ice  its  simple  princi-? 
pies — adherence  to  truth  and  insistence  upon  it  by  self?, 
-suffering — are  understood,  anybody  can  practise  it.  It  is 
as  difficult  or  as  easy  to  practiss  as  any  other ;  virtue.  It  is 
as  little  necessary  for,  its  practice  that  everyone  should 
understand  the  whole  philosophy  of  it,  as  it  is  for  the 
practice  of  total  abstinence. 

After  all,  no  one  disputes  the  necessity  of  insisting  on 
truth  as  one  sees  it.  And  it  is. easy  enough,  to  understand 
that  it  is  vulgar  to  attempt  to  compel  the  opponent  to  its 
acceptance  by  jising , brute  force;  it  is  discreditable  to  submit 
to  error  because  argument  has  failed  to  convince,  and  that 
the  only  true  and  honourable  course  is  not  to  submit  to  it 
even  at  the.cost  of  one's  life*  Then  only  can  the  world  be 
purgisd-of  error,  if  it  ever  can  be  altogether.  There  care 
beno  compromise  with  error  where  it  hurts  the  vital  be- 
ing.; -  .    ,  '-..-Of. 

.  Bat,  on  the  political  field,  the  struggle  on  behalf  of -th^ 
people  mostly  consists  in  opposing  error  in  the  shapetiof 
unjust  Utws.  ,  When  you  have  failed  to  ■  bring  the,  err(a>. 
home  to^the  lawgiver  by  way  of  petitions  and  the  like,  -.the- 
only  remedy  open  to  yoa,i  if  you  da  not  wish  to  submits  ta 
it,  is  to  compel  him  to  retrace,  his  ;  steps  ,by '  sufifeflng  in 
_yflur  own  person,  Le,,  that  is  by.  inviting  the  penalty  for  the 


PUNJAB  DISORDER  :  A  PERSONAL  STATEMENT  505 

breach  of  the  law.  Hence,  '  Satyagraha'  largely  appears  to 
ihe ^blic  as  civil  disobedience  or  civil  resistance.  It  is 
civil  in  the  sense  that  it  is  not  criminal. 
■■  The  criminal,  i  e.  the  ordinary  law-breaker  bre  aks  the 
law  surreptitiously  and  tries  to  void  the  penalty  ;  not  so 
the  civil  resister.  He  ever  obeys  the  laws  of  the  State  to 
which  he  belongs,  not  out  of  fear  of  the  sanctions,  but  be^ 
cause  he  considers  them  to  be  good  for  the  welfare  of  society, 
Bdt  there  come  occasions;  ■  generally  rare,  when  he  con- 
siders certain  laws  to  be  so  unjust  as  to  render  obedience 
to  them  a  dishonour,  he  then  openly  and  civilly  breaks 
them  and  quietly  suffers  the  penally  for  their  breach  And 
ift  order  to  register  his  protest  against  the  action  of  the  law- 
giver, it  is  open  to  him  to  withdraw  his  co-opexation  from 
the  State  by  disobeying  such  other  laws  whose  breach  does 
not  invole  moral  turpitude.  In  my  opinion,  the  beauty  and 
efficacy  of  '  Saiyagraha'  are  so  great  and  the  doctrine  so 
-simple  that  it  can  be  preached  even  to  children.  It  was 
preached  by  me  to  thousands  of  men,  women  and  children, 
commonly  callled  indentured  Indians,  with  excellent  results. 

-'-»   '  ROWLATT   BtLiLS. 

Ji  When  the  Rowlatt  Bills  were  published  I  felt  that  they 
were  so  restrictive  of  human  liberty  thatthey.must  be  resist- 
ed,-, to  the  utmost.  I  observed,  too,  that  the  opposition  to 
t'belm  was  universal  among  Indians.  I  submit  that  no  State-, 
however  despotic,  has  the  right  to  enact  laws  whtch  are  re- 
puguant  to  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  much  less  a  govern- 
ment guided"  by  constitutional 'usage and  precedent,  such 
-as.' the  Indian  Government.  I  felr^  too,  that  the  oncoming 
a:gitatioH  needed  a  definite  direction  if  it  was  neither  to 
collapse  nor  to  run  into  violeftt  channels.         • 

I  ventured  therefore  to  preseht  &tyagra'h4"  to  thC' coan<- 
tiy,  emphasising  its  civil  resistance  aSpect.    And  as    it  •  is 


506.  NON-CO-OPERATION 

purely  an  inward  and  purifying  tonic  I  suggested  the  obser- 
vance of  fast,  prayer  and  suspension  of  all  work  for  one  day, 
April  6.  There  was  a  magnificent  response  throughout  the- 
length  and  bieadth  of. India,  even  in  little  villages,  although 
there  was  no  organisation  and  no  great  previous  prepa- 
ration. 1  he  idea  was  given  to  the  public  as  soon  as  it  was- 
conceived.  On  April  6  there  was  no  violence  used  by  the- 
people  and  no  collision  wiih  the  police  worth  naming.  The- 
hartal  was  purely  voluntary  and  spontaneous. 
1  HE  "  Akrkst." 
The  observance  of  April  6  was  to  be  followed  by  civif 
disobedience.  For  that  purpose  the  Committee  of  the  Sat- 
yagraha  Sabha  had  selected  certain  laws  for  disobedience. 
And  we  commerced  the  distribution  of  prohibited  literature 
of  a  pel  fectly  healthy  type,  e.g.,  a  pamphlet  written  by  me 
on  Home  Rule,  a  translation  of  Ruskin's  "Unto  this  Last," 
and  "Defence  and  Death  of  Socrates." 

But  there  is  ro  doubt  that  April  6  found  India  vitalised 
as  never  before.  The  people  who  were  fear-stricken  ceased  • 
to  fear  authority.  Moreover,  hitherto,  the  masses  had  lain 
inert.  The  leaders  had  not  really  acted  upon  them.  They 
were  undisciplined.  They  had  found  a  new  force,  but  they 
did  not  know  what  it  was  and  how  to  use  it.  ' 

At  Delhi  the  leaders  found  it   difficult  to   restrain    the- 
very  large  number  of  people  who  had    remained    unmoved 
before.     At  Amritsar   Mr.   Satyapal    was    anxious    that    L 
should  go  there  and  show  to  the  people  the  peaceful  nature 
of  Satyagraha.   Swami  Shraddhanandji  from  Delhi  and  Dr. 
Satyapal  from  Amritsar    wrote    to    me  asking  me  to  go  to 
their  respective  places  for  pacifying  the  people   and  for, ex- 
plaining  to  them  the  ijature  of   Satyagraha.     I   had    never 
been  to  Amritsar,  and  for  that  matter  to  the  Punjab,  befpfe- 
These  two  messages  were  seen  by  the  authorities   and  they- 


HOW  TO  WORK  NON-C6-OPfeRATION  507 

knew  that' I  was  invited  to  both  the  places  for  peaceful  pur- 
poses. 

I  left  Bombay  for  Delhi  and  the  Punjab  on  April  8  and 
had  telegraphed  to  Dr.  Satyapal,  whdin  1  hiad  never  met 
before,  to  meet  me  at  Delhi.  But  after  passing  Muttra  T 
was  served  with  an  order  prohibiting  me  from  entering  the- 
province  of  Delhi.  I  felt  that  I  was  bound  to  disregard  this- 
order,  and  I  proceeded  on  my  jouiney.  At  Palwal  I  was- 
served  with  an  order  prohibiting  me  fiorti  entering  the- 
Punjab  and  confine  me  to  the  Bombay  Presidency.  And  t 
was  arrested  by  a  party  of  police  and  taken  off  the  train  at 
that  station.  The  Superintendent  of  the  Police  who  arrest- 
ed me  acted  jvith  every  courtesy.  I  was  taken  to  Muttra. 
by  the  first  available  train  and  thence  by  goods  train  earlv 
in  the  morning  to  Siwai  MadhupUr,  where  I  joined  the 
Bombay  mail  from  Peshawar  and  was  taken  charge'  of  by 
Superintendent  Bowrirg.  I  was  discharged  at  Bombay  on^ 
April  10. 

But  the  people  at  Ahmedabad  and  Viramgauni   and  in 
Gujei at  generally  had  heard  of  my    arrest.    They   became- 
fufibus,  shops  were  closed,  crowds  gathered,  and    murder, 
arson,  pillage,  wire-cutting,  and  attempt  at  deiailment    fol- 
lowed. 

HOW  TO  WORK  NON-CO-OPERATION, 

,    [Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  following  article   iii  Young     Iw4i<r,. 
BJay.  5. 1920:—] 

Perhaps    the   best   way    of  answering  the    fears  and 

crificism  as  to  non-cd-operation  is  to  elaborate   more  fiilly 

the  scheme  of  non-co-operation.  The  critics  seem  to  ima- 

giiie  that  the  organisers  propose  to  give  effect  to  the  whole- 

^heme  at   once.   The  fact  however  is  that  the  organisers 


-508  NON-CO-OPERATION 

have. fixed  definite,  progressive  four  stages.  The  first  is  the 
giving  up  of  titles  and  resignation  of  honorary  posts.  ..4| 
there  is  no  response  or  if  the  response  received  is  not  effect- 
ive, recourse  will  be  had  to  the  secondjStage.  The,  seicpnii 
sta,ge  involves  much,  previous  arrangement.  Certainly  notj^ 
single  servant  will  be, called  out  unless  he  is  either  ,cap.a.b,le 
of  supporting  himself  and  his  dependants  or  the  Khil^fjkt 
■Committee  is  able  to  bear  the  burden.  All  the  classes  of 
■servants  will  not  be  called  out  atonce  and  never  will  any 
pressure  be  put  upon  a  single  servant  to  withdraw  himself 
from  the  Government  service.  Nor  will  a  sitigle  private  em- 
ployee be,  touched  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  move- 
ment is  not  anti-English.  It  is  not  even  anti-Government. 
Cp-operation  is  to  b3  withdrawn  because  the  people  must 
not  be  party  to  a  wrong — i  broken  pledge — i  violation  of 
a  deep  religious  sentiment.  Naturally,  the  movement  wijl 
Tecei"e  a  check,  if  there  is  any  undue  influence  brought  ,tp 
bear  upon  any  Government  servant  or  if  any  violence  is 
iised  or  countenanced  by  any  member  of  the  Khilafat  Com- 
mittee. The  second  stage  must  be  entirely  successful,  if  the 
response  is  at  all  on  an  adequate  scale.  For  no  Government 
:: — ^much  less  the  Indian  Government ^can  subsist  if  the 
people  cease  to  serve  it.  The  withdrawal  therefore  of  the 
,police  and  the  military — the  third  stage — is  a  distant  goal. 
The  organisers  however  wanted  to  be  fair,  open  and  above 
suspicion.  They  did  not  want  to  keep  back  from  their 
Government  or  the  public  a  single  step  they  had  in  con- 
templation even  as  a  remote  contigency.  The  fourth  i.e, 
suspension  of  taxes  is  still  more  remote.  The  organisers 
recognise  that  suspension  of  general  taxation  is  fraught 
with  the  greatest  danger.  It  is  likely  to  bring  sensitive 
classes  in  conSct  with  the  policfe.  They  are  therefore,  not 
likely  to  embark    upon   it,  unless   they  can  do  so  with  the 


HOW  TO  WORK  NON^eO-OPERATION        509 

Assurance  that  there  will  be  no  viqlence  offered  by  the 
pieople. 
'■■'■'  I  admit,  as  I  have  already  done,  that  non-co-operatioh 
is'not  unattended  with  risk,  but  the  risk  of  supineness  in 
thif  face  of  a  grave  issue"  is  iftfintfely  greater  than  the- 
da,h|;er  of  violence  ensuing  from  organizing  non-co-opera- 
tibn!  To  do  nothing  is  to  invite  violence  fcr  a  certainty. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  pass  resoltttions  or  writfe  articles 
condemning  non-co-operation.  But  it  is  no  easy  task  to 
restrain  the  fury  of  a  people  incensed  by  a  deep  sense  of 
wiHBhg;.  'I  urge  those  who  talk  or  work  against  non-co-opera- 
tion to  descend  from  their  chairs  and  go  down  to  the  people, 
lestttt  their  feelings  and  write,  if  they  have  the  heartj  against 
iibii^o-Operation.  They  will  find,  as  I  have  found,  that 
tiiie  only  way  to  avoid  violence  is  to  enable  them  to'  give- 
siich  expression  to  their  feelings  as  to  compel  redress.  I. 
Save  found  nothing  save  non-co-operation.  It  is  logiGalandi 
h'afttiless.  It  is  the  inherent  right  of  a  subject  to  refuse  to 
^Sist  a  Government  that  will  not  listen  to  him. 

Non-co-operation  as  a  voluntary  movement    can    only 
Sneteed,  if  the  feeling  is  genuine  and  strong   enough  'to 
rtkke  people  suffer  to  the  utmost.     If  the  religious   senti- 
diiht  of  the  Mahomedans  is  deeply  hurt  and  if  the  Hindus 
entertain  neighbourly  regard  towards  th«ir  Muslim  brethren, 
tWey  WHI  both    count    no  cost  too  great  for  achieving   the- 
^d.   N&iJ-cb-operation  will  not  only  be  an  effective  remedy, 
bBt*ill  also  be  an   effective  test   of   the    sincerity  of  the 
Maslim  claim  and  the  Hindu  prbfession  of  friendship. 
'  •  '   There  is  however  One  formidable  argument   urged  '  by 
frtfett'ds  agaiiist  my  joining  the  Khilafat  movement.    They 
Siy't^iat  itill  becomes  me,  a  friend  of  the  English  and'  an 
skdmlr^r  of  the  British  constitutiop,  to  join  hands  with  thosfr 
#Ho  are  fo-dTay  filled  with  nothing    but  illwill  against  the^ 


-510  NON-GO-OPERATION 

English,  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  confess  that  the  ordinary 
TMohamedan  entertains  to-day  no  affection  for  Englishmen, 
He  considers,  not  without  some  cause,  that  they  have  not 
played  the  game.  But  if  I  am  friendly  towards  Englishmen, 
J  am  no  less  so  towards  my  country  aen,  the  Mohpmedans. 
_And  as  sujh  they  have  a  greater,  claim  upon  my  attention 
than  Englishmen.  My  personal  religion  however  enables 
me  to  serve  my  countrymen  without  hurting  Englishmen 
■or  for  that  matter  anybody  else.  What  I  am  not  prepare^ 
to  do  to  my  blood  brother  I  would  not  do  to  an  Englishmen. 
1  woulcL  not  injure  him  to  gain  a  kingdom.  But  I  would 
withdraw  co-operation  from  him  if  it  became  necessary,  as 
I  had  withdrawn  from  my  own, brother  (now  deceased)  when 
it  became  necessary.  I  serve  the  Empire  by  refusing  to 
partake  in  its  wrong.  William  Stead  offered  public  prayers 
"for  British  reverses  at  the  time  of  the  Boer  wa  r  because  he 
considered  that  the  nation  to  which  he  belonged  was  en- 
::gaged  in  an  unrighteours  war.  The  present  Prime  Minis- 
ter risked  his  life  in  opposing  that  war  and  did  everything 
Jie  could  to  obstruct  his  own  Government  in  its  prosecution. 
And  to-day  if  I  have  thrown  in  my  lot  with  the  Mohome- 
dans  a  large  number  of  whom  bear  no  friendly  feelings  to- 
wards the  British,  I  have  done  so  frankly  as  a  friend  of  the 
British  and  with  the  object  of  gaining  justice  and  of  thereby 
-showing  the  capacity  of  the  British  constitutio  n  to  respond 
to  every  honest  determination  when  it  is  coupled  with 
suffering.  I  hope  by  my 'alliance' with  the  Mohomedans 
to  achieve  a  three-fold  end — to  obtain  justice  in  the  face  of 
odcls  with  the  method  of  Satyagraha  and  to  show  its  eflScacy 
over  all  other  methods,  to  secure  Muhomedan  friendship 
-for  the  Hindus  and  thereby  internal  peace  also,  and  last  but 
not  least  to  transform  ill-will  into  affection  for  the  British 
and  their  constitution  which  in  Spite  of  its  imperfections  has 


OPEN  LEtTER  TO  LORD  CHELMSFORD   Sll 

-weathered  many  a  storm.  I  may  fail  in  achieving  any  of  the 
•ends.  I  can  but  attempt.  God  alone  can  grant  success. 
It  will  not  be  denied  that  the  ends  are  all  worthy.  I  invite 
Hindus  and  Englishmen  to  join  me  in  a  full-hearted  man- 
ner in  shoiildepirig  the  burden  the  Mahomed ans  of  India 
are  carrying.  Their  is  admittedily  a  just  fight.  The 
Viceroy,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Miharaji  of  Bikaner 
and  Lord  Sinha  have  testified  to  it.  Time  has  arrived  to 
make  good  the  testimony.  People  with  a  just  cause  are 
never  satisfied  with  a  mere  protest.  They  have  been  known 
to  die  for  it.  Are  a  high-spirited  people,  the  Mahomedans, 
expected  to  do  lessf 


OPEN  LETFER  TO  LORD  CHELMSFORD. 

[The  Turkish  Peace  Treaty  was  handed  to  the  Ottoman  .Delega- 
tion on  the  11th  May  1920  at  Paris  and  the  terms  of  that  treaty  were 
published  in  India  on  the  14th  with  a*  message  from  H.  E.the 
'Viceroy  to  the  Muslim  people  of  India.  According  to  the  proposals 
Turkey  was  to  be  dismembered  and  Constantinople  alone 
was  saved  for  -the  Sultan  to  whom  only  a  fringe  of  territory  was 
conceded  fol  the  defence  of  his  Capital.  The  actual  terms  were  a 
totalviolationof  the  promises  (Llpyd  George's  pledge]  not  to  de- 
prive Turkey  "of  the  rich  and  renowned  lands  of  Asia  Minor  and 
Thrace."  In  reply  to  the  Viceroy's  massage  of  sympathy, 
;Mr.  Gandhi  invited  His  Excellency  to  lead  the  agitation: — ] 

Your  Excellency,  As  one  who  has  enjoyed  a  certain 
measure  of  your  Excellency's  confidence  and  as  one  who 
<;laims  to  be  a  devoted  well-wisher  of  the  British  Empire,  I 
owe  it  to  your  Excellency,  and  through  your  Excellency 
10  His  Majesty's  ministers,  to  explain  my  coanection  with, 
and  ray  conduct  in  the  Khilafat  question. 

At  the  very  earliest  stags  of  the  war,  even  whfilejt  was 
lin  London    organising    ths  Indian    Volunteer   Ambulance 


512  NON-CO-OPERATIQN 

Corps,  I  began  to  interest  myself  in  the  Khilafat   question^ 
I  perceived   how  deeply   moved  the    Mussalman  world    in 
London  was,  when  Turkey  decided  to  throw  in    her  lot  with. 
Germany.     On  my  arrival  in   January  of  1915  I  found  the 
same  anxiousness  and  earnestness  among  the    Mussalmans 
with  whom  I  came  in  contact.  Their  anxiety  became  intense- 
when  the  information  about  the  secret  treaties   leaked  out. 
Distrust  of  Briiish  intentions  tilled  their  minds  and  despair 
took  possession  of  them.  Even   at  that   moment  I  advised 
my  Mussalman    friends    not  to  give  way  to  despair  but  to 
express'their  fears  and  their  hopes  in  a  disciplined  manner. 
It  will  be  admitted  that  the  whole  of  the  Mussalman  India 
has  behaved  in  a  singularly  restrained  manner  during  the 
past  five  years  and  that  the  leaders  have  been  able  to  keep 
the  turbulent  sections  of  their  community  under    complete- 
control.  ' 

Moslems  Shocked. 

The  pe  ace  terms'  and  your  ExCeIlency*s  defence  of 
them  have  given  the  Mussalmans  of  India  a  shock  from 
which  it  will  be  diflScult  for  them  to  recover.  The  terms 
violate  the  ministerial  pledlgesand  utterly  disregard  Mussal- 
man sentiment.  I  consider  that,  as  a  staunch  Hindu  wishing^ 
to  livfe  on  terms  of  the  closest  friendship  with  my  Mussal- 
man countrymen,  I  should  be  an  unworthy  son  of  India  If 
I  did  not  stand  by  them  in  their  hour  of  trial.  In  my  hum- 
ble opinion,  their  cause  is  just.  They  claim  that  Turkey 
must  not  be  punished,  if  their  sentiment  is  to  be  respected. 
Muslim  soldiers  did  not  fight  to  inflict  punishment  on  their 
own  Khalifa  or  to  deprive  him  of  his  territories.  The 
Mussalman  attitude  has  been  consistent  throughout  these 

five  years. 

My    duty   to   the  Empire  to  which  I  owe  my  loyalty 
requires   me  to  lesist  the  cruel  violence  that  has  been  doner 


OPEN  LETTER  TO  LORD  CHELMSFORD  51 3 

to  the  Mussalman  sentiment  so  f&r  as  I  am  aware.  Mussal- 
nian  and  Hindus  have,   as   a  whole,  lost  faith  in  British 
justice  arid  honour.  The  report  of  the  majority  of  the  Hurt- 
ter  Committee^  your    Excellency's  des{>atch  thereon  and 
Mr.  Montagu's  reply  have  only  aggravated  the  distrust. 
The  Only  Course. 
In  these   circumstances  the  only  course  open  to    onie- 
like  me  is- either  in    despair  to  sever  all    connection  with 
British|rule  or,  if  I  still  retained  faith  in  the  inherent  superior- 
ity of  the   British  constitution  to  all  others  at  present- in 
vogue,  to  adopt  such  means  as  will  rectify  the  wrong  doiie- 
and  thus  restore  confidence.    I  have  not   lost  faith  in  such 
superiority  and  I  am  iiot  without  hope  that   somehow    or 
other    justice  will  yet  be  rendered,  if  we  show  the  requisite 
capacity    for    suffering.     Indeed  my    conception    of  that 
constitution  is  that  it  helps  only  those  who  are  ready  to  help^ 
themselves.    I  don't  believe  that  it  protects   the  weak.    It 
g^ives  free  scope  to  the  strong    to   maintain  their  strength 
and  develop  it.    The  weak  under  it  go  to  the  wall. 

.  It  is  then,because  I  believe  in  the  British  constitutiQn,that 
I  have  advised  my  Mussalman  friends  to  withdraw  their  sup- 
port from  your  Excellency's  Government  and  the  Hindus  to 
jOjn  them  should  the  peace  terms  not  be  revised  in  accordance 
with  the  solemen  pledges  of  ministers  and  the  Muslim  senti- 
ment.Three  courses  were  open  to  the  Mahommedans  in  order 
to  mark  their  emphatic  disapproval  of  the  utter  injustice  to 
which  His  Majesty's  ministers  have  become  a  party,  if  they 
have  not  actually    been   the  prime  perpetrators  of  it.     They 

are : 

1.  To  resort  to  violence. 

2.  To  advise  emigration  on  a  wholesale  scale. 

3.  Not  to  be  a  party  to  the  injustice  by  ceasing 
to  co-operate  with  the  Government. 

33 


514  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Non-go-operation. 

Your  Excellency  must  be  aware  that  there  Iras  a  time 
when  the  boldest,  though  also  the  most  thoughtless  among 
the  Mussalmans  favoured  violence  and  that  Hijrat  (emigra- 
tion) has  not  yet  ceased  to  be  the  battle-cry.  I  venture 
to  claim  that  I  have  succeeded  by  patient  reasoning  in  wean- 
ing the  party  of  violence  from  its  ways.  I  confees  that 
I  did  not — I  did  not  attempt  to — succeed  in  weaning  them 
violence  on  moral  grounds  but  purely  on  utilitarian  grounds. 
The  result  for  the  time  being  at  any  rate  has  however  been 
to  stop  violence.  The  school  of  Hijrat  has  received  a  check 
if  it  has  not  stopped  its  activity  entirely.  I  hold  that  no 
repression  could  have  prevented  a  violent  erruption,  if  the 
people  had  not  presented  to  them  a  form  of  direct  action 
involving  considerable  sacrifice  and  ensuring  success  if  such 
direct  action  wa5  largely  taken  up  by  the  public.  Non-co- 
operation was  the  only  dignified  and  constitutional  form  of 
such  direct  action.  For  it  is  the  right  recog^iised  from 
times  immemorial  of  the  subject  to  refuse  to  assist  a  ruler 
who  misrules. 

Atthe  same  time  I  admit  that  non-co-operation  practis- 
ed by  the  mass  of  people  is  attended  with  graye  risks.  But 
inacrisis  such  as  has  overtaken  the  Mussalmans  of  India,  no 
step  that  is  unattended  with  large  risks  can  possibly  bring 
about  the  desired  change.  Not  to  run  some  risks  will  be  to 
court   much   greater  risks,  if  not  virtuil  destruction  of  law 

and  order. 

But  there  is  yet  an  escape  from  non-co-operation .  The 
Mussalman  representation  has  requested  your  Excellency  to 
lead  the  agitation  yourself  as  did  your  distinguished  pre- 
decessor at  the  time  of  the  South  African  trouble.  But  if  you 
cannot  see  your  way  to  do  so,  non-co-operation  becomes  a 
dire  necessity.    I  hope  your  Excellency  will  give  those  who 


POLITICAL  FREEMASONRY  515 

^ave  accepted  my  advice  and  myself  the  credit  for  being 
■actuated  by  nothing  less  than  a  stern  sense  of  duty. 
I  have  the  honour  to  remain. 
Your  Excellency's obdt.  servant, 
^"  <Si.)  M.    K.    Gandhi. 

Laburnum  Roadi 

Gamdevi,  Bombay. 

22nd  June  iq20. 

POLirjCAL  FREEMASONJIY. 

tThe  Report  of  the  Hunter  ComtaUtee  together  with  the  Gavera- 
-ment  of  India's  Despatch  was  published  on  the  3rd  May,  1920,  ttnd 
the  Secretary  of  State's  reply  followed  on  the  26th.  As  was  expected 
itbe  Indian  members  of  the  Committee  submitted  a  separate  Report, 
ithe  Hon.  Sti:.  Shafi  writing  a  strong  dissenting  minute  to  theCfovera- 
'meni  of  India's  despatch.  Mr.  Montagu  in  his  Despatch  comdemned 
the  severity  of  the  martial  law  administration  and  the  excesses  of  Gea 
X>yer^s  action  at  Jullianwallah  Bagh  and  laid  down  in  unmis- 
^tabable  terms  the  principle  which  ought  to  govern  the  policy  of  His 
^Majesty's  Government  in  similar  cases  in  the  future.  Mr.  Gandhi, 
disappointed  at  and  stung  by  the  injustice  of  the  Government  threw 
out  the  challenge  that "  a  scandal  of  this  magnitiida  cannot  be 
tolerated  by  the  nation,  if  it  is  to  preserve  its  self-respect  and 
Jjecome  a  free  partner  in  the  Empire."  He  wrote  in  Young  India, 
.dated  the  9th  June,  1920:—] 

Freemasonry  is  a  secret  brotherhood  which  has,  more 
'byits  Secret  and  iron  ruleSithan  by  its  service  to  hunaiity, 
obtained  a  hold  upon  some  of  the  best  minds.  Similarly 
'there  seems  to  be  some  secret  code  of  conduct  governing 
■the  official  class  in  India  before  which  the  flower  of  the 
:great  British  nation  fall  prostrate  and  uaconsciously  bjcome 
instruments  of  injustice  which  as  private  individuals 
they  would  be  ashamed  of  perpetrating.  In  no  other  way 
is  it  possible  for  one  to  understand  the  majority  report  of 
the  Hunter  Committee,  the  despatch  of  the  Government  of 


516  NON-CO-OPERATION 

India  and  the  reply  thereto  of  the  Secretary  of  State  fOF- 
India.    In  spite  of  the  energetic  protests  of  a  section  of  the> 
Press  to  the  personnel  of  the  committee,  it  might  be   said 
that  on  the   whole  the   public  were  prepared  to  trust  i  t ; 
especially  as  it  contained  three  Indian  members  who  could  i 
fairly  be  claimed  to  be  independent.    The  first  rude  shock 
to  this  confidence   was  delivered   by  the   refusal  of  Lord 
Hunter's  Committee  to  accept  the  very  moderate  and  reason- 
able demand  of  the  Congress  Committe  that  the  imprisoned 
Punjab  leaders  might  be  be  allowed  to  appear  before  it  to-- 
instruct  counsel.    Any    doubt    that    might    have    been 
left  in    the  mind  of  any     person   has      been     dispelled  i 
by     the    report  of    the   majority    of    that     committee. - 
The    result    has    justified  the  attitude  of  the  Congress 
Commitee.    The    evidence  collected    by    it    shows  what 
Lord  Hunt  er's  Committee  purposely  denied  itself. 

The  minority  report  stands  out  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert. - 
The  Indian  members  deserve  the   congratulation   of    their 
countrymen  for  having  dated  to  do  their  duty   in    the  face^^- 
ofTieavy  odds.    I  wish  that  they  had    refused  to   associate- 
themselves  even  in  a  modified  manner  with    the  condem-  • 
nation  of  the  civil  disobedience  form  of  Satyagraha.    The  ■ 
defiant  spirit  of  the  Delhi  mob  on  the  30th  March,  1919,  can  . 
hardly  be  used  for  condemning    a    great   spiritual   move- 
ment   whirh    is  admittedly  and.  manifestly    intended  to- 
restrain  the    violent    tendencies  of  mobs  and    to.  replace 
criminal  lawlessness   by    civil  disobedience    of  authority,:,- 
when  it  has  forfeited  all  title  to  respect.  On  the  30th  March 
civil  disobedience  had  not  even  been  started.  Almost  every.- . 
great  popular  demonstration  has  been  hitherto  attended^  all; 
the  world  over  by  a    certain   amount   of  lawlessness.     The - 
demonstration  of  30th  March  and  6th  April  could  have-teen 
held  under  any' other  aegis  as  under  that   of   Satyagrah.:    I, 


POLITICAL  FREEMASONRY  517 

thold  that,  without  the  advent  of  the  spirit   of  civility  and 
'Orderliness,  the  disobedience    would  have   taken   a   much 

more  violent  fdrm  than  it  did  even  at  Delhi.    It  was  onlf 

the  wonderfully  quick  acceptance  by  the  people  of  the  prin- 
•^iple  of  Satyagrah  that  effectively  checked  rthe  spread  of 
-violence  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  India.:  And 
■even  to-day  it  is  not  the  memory  of  the  blask  barbirity  of 
-  -General  Dyer  that  is  keepine;  the    undoubted  resMessness 

3mong  the  people  from  breaking;  forth  into  violence.  The 
..hold  that  Satyagrah  has  gained  on  the  people—rit  m  ly  be 
•«ven  against  their  will — is  curbing  the  forces  of  disorder 
-and  violence.  But  I  must  not  detain  the  reader  on  a  defence 
■  of  Satyagrah  against  unjust  attacks.  If  it  has  gained  a  foot- 
.hold  in  India,  it  will  survive  much  fiercer  attacks  than  the 
■one  made  by  the  majority  of  the  Hunter  Committee  and 
-somewhat  supported  by  the    minority;    Had   the   majority 

report  been  defective  only  in  this  direction  and  correct  in 
•every  other  there  would  have  been  nothing  but  praise   fo» 

•  it.     After  all  Satyagrah  is  a    new   experiment   in  .political 
field.    And  a  hasty  attributing  to  it  of  any  popular  disorder 

^would  have  been  pardonable. 

The  universally  pronounced  adverse  judgment  upon  the 

r  report  and  the  despatches  rests  upon  far  more  painful  rever 

lations.     Look  at  the  manifestly  laboured  defence  of  every 

•  official  act  of  inhumanity  except  where  condemnation  could 
mot  be  avoided  through  the  impudent  admissions  made  by 

the  actors  themselves ;  look  at  the  special  pleading  intro- 
'duced  to  defend  General  Dyer  even  against  himself  ;  look 
^ at  the  vain  glorification  of  Sir  Michael  O'D^ryer  although 
>it  was  his  spirit  that  actuated  every  act  of  criminality  on 
-Jthe  part  of  the  subordinates ;  look  at  the  deliberate  refusal 
vto  examine  his  wild  career  before  the  events  of  .\pril.     His 

4icts  were  an  open  book  of  which  the  committee  ought  to 


518  KON-CO-OPERATION 

have  laten  judicipl  notice.  Instead  of- accepting  everyi- 
thing  that  the  officials  had  to  say,  the  CoiiiiEittee's  obvious^ 
duty  was  to  tax  itself  to  find  out  the  leal  cause  of  the' 
disorders;  It  ought  to  have  goi-e  out  of  its  way  to  se  ifeh- 
out  the  inwardness  of  the  events.  Instead  of  patiently  gclng- 
bebind  the  hard  crust  of  official  documents,  the  Commitee^ 
allowed  itself  to  I  e  guided  with  criminaf  laziness  bjri 
mere  official  evidence.  The  report  and;  the  despa»cheSi  in. 
iny  humble  opinion,  constitute  an  attempt  to  condone  cfficial 
lawlessness.  The  cautious  and  half-hearted  condemnation- 
pronounced  upon  General  Dyer's  massacre  and  the  notori- 
ous crawling  order  only  deepens  the  disappointment  of  the- 
reader  as  he  gees  through  page  after  page  of  thiiily  dis- 
guised cfficial  whitewash.  I  need,  however,  scarcely  attempt 
any  elaborate  exmamination  of  the  report  or  the  despatch^s- 
which  have  been  so  justly  censured  by  the  whole  nationaL 
press  whether  of  the  mcderale  or  the  extremist  hue.  The 
point  to  consider  is  how  to  break  down  !his  secret — be  the- 
secrecy  ever  so  unconscious — conspiracy  to  uphold  official} 
iniquity.  A  scandal  of  this  magnitude  cannot  be  tolerated. 
by  the  nation,  if  it  is  to  preserve  its  self-respect  and  becomes 
a  free  partrer  in  the  Empire.  7  he  All- India  Congress  Com- 
mittee has  resolved  upon  convening  a  special  session  of  the- 
Congress  for  the  purpose  of  considering,  among  other  things^ 
the  situation  arising  from  the  report.  In  my  opinion  the 
time  has  arrived  when  we  must  cease  to  rely  upon  mere- 
petition  to  Pailiamer.t  for  effective  action.  Petitions  will 
have  value,  when  the  nation  has  behind  it  the  power  to- 
enforce  its  will.  What  power  then  have  we.'  When  wej.- 
are  firmly  of  opinion  that  giave  wrong  has  been  done  us 
ard  when  after  an  appeal  to  the  highest  authority  we  faiR 
to  feoiire  redress,  there  must  be  some  power  availabTe"  to- 
«s    for     undoing    the    wrong.     It    is    true    that    in  ther 


POLITIGAL  FREEMASONRY  519 

vast  majority  of  cases  it  is  the  duty  of  a  subject  to 
submit  to  wrongs  on  failure  of  the  usual  procedure, 
so  long  as  they  do  not  affect  his  vital  being.  But 
every  vainn  and  every  in^iYidu^  ba^  ^kP^  right  ^nd 
it  is  their  duty,  to  rise  against;  an  intoleraUe  wrong.  I 
do  not  believe  in  armed  risings.  They  are  a  remedy  worse 
than  the  disease  sought  to  be  cured.  They  are  a  token  'bf 
the  spirit,  of  revenge  and  impatienqe  anS  anger.  The 
method  Qf  vioIeqcB  cannot  do  good  in  the  long  run.  Wit- 
jness  t^e  effect  of  the  arqied  rising  of  the  allied  powers 
against  Germany.  IlaYB  they  not  becQme  even  like  the 
Germans,  a?  the  1^'jter  have  been  depicted  to  us  by  themi' 
,,  We  have,  a  better  igethod.  Unlike  that  of  violence  it 
certainly  inyolves  the  exercise  gf  restraint  and  patience  ; 
but  it  requires  also  resoluteness  of  will.  Ttiis  method  is  to 
tefuse Jq  bep^r^y,  to  the  yrxtmg.  No  tyrant  has  ev&r  yet 
succeeded  ^n  hi^  purpose  without  parrying  the  victim  with 
him,  it  may  be,  as  it  often  i^,  by  force.  Most  people  choose 
rather  to  yield  tathe  will  of  the  tyrant  than  to  suflfer  for 
the  consequence  of  retiscence.  Hence  does  terrorism  fofjn 
part  qf  the  stQck-ii>-t'adeo.(  the  tyrgnt.'  Sut  we  h^ve  in- 
stances in  hjstory  where  terrgrismhas  failed  to  impose  the 
terrorist's  will  upoiv  his  victipi-  India  has  the  choice  be- 
fQre  her  now.  If  then  the  acts  of  the  Punjab  Government 
be  an  insufferable  wrong,  if  the  report  of  "Lord  Hunter's 
Commitee  and  the  two  despatches  be  a  greater  wroqg  by 
reason  of  their  grievous  condonation  of  these  acts,  it  is 
clear  that  W(B  must  refuse  to  submit  to  this  ofBcjal  vioF^c^ 
Appeal  the  Parliament  by  all  means  itnecess'ay  but  if  the 
i>arliament  fa.ils  us  an  d  if  we  are  worthy  to  call  ourse,lves 
a  nation,  we  must  refuse  to  uphold  the  Government  by 
Vithdrawjng  co-opcrgitiw  from  it. 


COURTS  AND  SCHOOLS 

[Eves,  before  the  special  Congres  Mr.  Gandhi  had  enunciated 
his  scheoie  of  noa-co-aperation  and  began  his  agitation  in  the  press 
■and  platform  urging  his  countrymen  to  follow  the  various  terms  in 
Ms  programme.  In  the  Young  India,  in  August  1920,  Mr, 
Gandhi  laid  special  stress  on  the  need  for  boycotting  courts  and 
schools.    He  wrote: — ] 

The  Non-Co-operation  C  jtnmitee  has  included,  in  the 
first  stage,  boycott  of  law-courts  by  lawyers  and  df  Govern- 
ment schools  and  colleges  by  parents  or  scholars  as  the  c  ase 
may  be.  I  know  that  it  is  only  my  reputation  as  a  worker 
and  fighter,  which  has  saved  me  from  an  open  chargfe  of 
lunacy  for  having  given  the  advice  about  boycott  of  courts 
and  schools. 

I  venture  however  to  claim  some  method  about  my 
madness.  It  does  not  require  much  reflection  to  see  that  it 
is  through  courts  that  a  government  establishes  its  author- 
ity and  it  is  through  sshopis  that  it  manufactures  clerks  and 
other  employees.  They  are  both  healthy  institutio  ns  when 
the  government  in  charge  of  them  is  on  the  whole  just. 
They  are  death-traps  when  the  government  is  unjus  t. 
First  as  to  Lawyers. 

No  newspaper  has  combated  my  views  on  non-co- 
bp'eration  with  so  much  pertinacity  and  ability  as  the  Allaha- 
bad Z«a<i«r.  It  has  ridiculed  my  views  on  lawyers  expressed 
in  my  booklet,  Indian  Home  Rule,'  written  by  me  in  1908* 
1  adhere  to  the  views  then  expressed.  And  if  I  find  time! 
hope  to  elaborate  them  in  these  columns.  But  I  refrain  from 
«o  doing  for  th?  time  being  as  my  special  views  have  no- 
nhing  to  do  with  my  advice  on  the  necessity  of  lawyers  sus- 
pending practice.  I  submit  that  national  hon- co-op  eratioh 
a-equires  suspension  of  their  practice  by  lawyers.    Perhaps 


COURTS  AND  SCHOOLS  521 

mo  one  co-operates  with  a  government  more  than  lawyers 
through  Its  law-courts.  Lawyers  interpret  laws  to  the 
people  and  thus  support  authority.  It  is  for  that  reason  that 
"*ey  are  styled  officers  of  the  court.  They  may  be  called 
ftortorary  offife  holdhers.  It  is  said  that  it  is  the  lawyers  who 
hzve  put  up  the  most  stubborn  fight  against  the  Govern- 
ment. This  is  no  doubt  partly  true.  But  that  does  not  undo 
the  mischief  that  is  inherent  in  the  profession.  So  when 
-the  nation  wishes  to  paralyse  the  Government,  that  profes- 
sion, if  it  wishes  to  help  the  nation  to  bend  the  Gqvernmept 
to  its  will,  must  suspend  practice.  But  say  the  critics,  the 
Government  will  be  too  pleased,  if  the  pleaders  and  barriST 
ters  fell  into  the  trap  laid  by  me.  I  do  not  believe  it.  What 
-is  true  In  ordinary  times  is  not  true  in  extraordinary  times  • 
In  normal  times  the  Government  may  resent  fierce  criticism 
of  their  manners  and  methods  by  lawyers,  but  in  the  face 
of  fierce  action  they  would  be  loath  to  part  with  a  single 
lawyer's  support  through  his  practice  in  the  courts  . 

MoreoveTj  in  my  scheme,    suspension  does  not  mean 
-stagnation.    The  lawyers  are  not  to    stipend  practice  and 
enj^  rest.    They  will  be  expected  to  induce  their   clients 
to  boycott  Courts.    They  will  improvise  arbitration-boards 
>in  order  to  settle  disputes.    A  liation,  that  is  bent  on  forcing 
justice  from  an  unwilling  government,  has  little  tim»  for  eng- 
;a^ing  in  mutual  quarrels.  This  truth  t-be.lawyers  will  be  ex- 
pected to-bfTnghome  to  thei]>'£ilents.    The  reader,?,  may  not 
'know  that  many  of  the  most  noted  lawyers  of   England  sus- 
pended iheir  work  during  the  late  war.    The  lawyers,  then, 
iupon  temporarily  leaving  their  profession,  became   whole- 
time-workers  instead  of  being    workers   Only  during  their 
-recreation  hours.    Real  politics  are  not  a  game.    The  late 
IVf  r.    Gokhale  used  to  deplore  that  we  had  not  gone  beyond 
-Ireating  politics  as  a  pastime.    We  have  no  notion    as  to 


522  NON'CO-QPERATIDN 

honv  miich  the  country  bft$rlo»tb^  reason  of  ewnateur*  hiavr- 

ingmanagedi  its  battles  with   the    sexious^inintled,   trainee^ 
and  wholetime«wQrki»g  biirewcraGy. 

The  crities  then  argjie  that  the  lawyers  will  staire,  it 
they  leave  their  profession.    This-   cannot    be  said  of  it  he 
profession.    They  do   at    times    suspend  work  for  visitiqgp; 
£urope  or  otherwise.      Of   those    who   live  from  hand    to 

mouthj  if  fh^  are  honest  meD,  each  local  Khilaf at  Gam ■•- 
miltee  can  pay  them  an  honorarium  against- full  time  service.! 
Laatiy/forMahomedan  lawyers,  it  h^  t)een  suggested. 
that,  if  they  stop  their  practice,  Hindus  will  take  it  up.  I  am 
hoping  Hindus  will  atleast  show  the  negative  courage  of  not 
touching  their  Muslim  brethFen's  clients,  even  if  thpy  do  not 
Suspend  their  own  practice.    But  I  am  sure  no  reUgiausly 

minded  Musulman  will  be  found  to^say  that  they  can  carry 
on  the  fight  only  if  (he,  Hindu  stand  side  by  side  with  them^ 
in  sacrifice;    If  the  Hindus  do  as  they;  must,  it    will  be  tO' 
their  honour  and -for  the  common. good  of  both.    But    the 
Musulmans  muSi  go  forward  w;hether  the  Hindus  join  them 
or  not.    If  it  is  a  matter  of  life  and  death  with    them,  thoyo 
must  not  count  the  cost.    No  cost:  isrtoo  hi;avy  for.  the  pre- 
servation of  one's  honour,  especially  religious  honour.  Only 
they  will  sacrifice'  whai  cannot  abstain.    Forced  sacrifice  is- 
no  sacrifice.     It  will  not  last.    A  movement  lacks  sincerity 
wheii  it  is  supported  by  unwilling  workers  under   pressure.. 
The  Khilafat movement  will  become   an   irresistible  force,. 
when  ei^ery  Musalman  treats  the  peace  terms  as  an  indi.; 
vidual  wrong.    No  man  waits  for  others'!  help  or  sacrifi,9p  in, 
matters  of  private  personal  wrong.  He  seeks  help  no  doub(«: 
but  his  battle  against  the  wrong  goes  on  whether   he  gainS' 
help  or  not.    If  he  has  justice  on  his  side,  the  divine  law  isi 
(hat  he  does  get  kelp.    God  is  the  help  of    the   helpless. 
When  the  Pandava  brothers  were  miable  to  help  Dr^upadi^ 


COURTS  AND  SCHQCtt-S  523. 

Cod  came  toithe  rescae.and  saved  hcTr  honour.  The  Pn^b«t 
was  hell  ed  ty  GcAwfcen  he  fetmed  to  be  fors&ken  by  men 

Now  FOR    THK  Schools. 

M  leal  that  if  we  have  not  the  courage   to,  snspead  the 
edrucatJon:of  cur  children,  we  do  rot    dejsei've  to   wm   the 
battle,      ,  r 

The  first  -stage:  jQcludes  -rMmnrntioiu  ot  honours  or 
fovour^.  As  a  matter  of  fact  noi  government  bestows,  favours^ 
without  taking  more  than  the  favours  are  worth.  It  would  be 
a  bad  and  pxtravagant  government  which  '  threw  away  its- 
favours.  In  a  government  broad-based  upon  a, people's  will,, 
we  give  our  lives  to  secure  a  trinket  which  is  a  symbool  pt 
service.  Under  an  unjust  goverf iment  which  defies  a  pei^Ie's- 
wiH,  rich  Jagirs  become  a  sign  of  servitude  and.  dishonour.. 
Thus  coBsideaed,  the  schools  must  be  given  up  without  a 
mement's  thought. 

Fof  me  the  whale  scheme  of  non-co-operation  i^,- 
ainengothrer  things,  a  test  of  the  intensity  apd  extent  p^ 
our  feelir.g.  Are  vie  geijuine  .''  Ate  vie  prepared  to, suffer  ?; 
It  has  been  said  that  we  may  not  expect  much  response 
from  title-holders,  for  they  have  never  ts^sen  part  in  nation- 
al affairs  and  have  bought  their  ,  honours  at  t,go  great  a. 
price  easily  to  sacrifice  them.  I  make  a  present  of  the- 
argument  to  the  objectors,  and  ask.  what  about  the  parents 
of  schcol-children  and  the  gtown  up  college-students.^ 
I  hey  have  no  such  intimate  connection  with  the  Govern- 
ment as  the  title-boldeis.  Do  they  or  do  they- ngt  feel- 
enough  to  enable  them  to  sacrifice  the  schquUng  f 

But  I  conter.d   that  there  is:  no    Sacrifice  involved  iih< 

■  emptying  thef  schools.-   We  must  be  specially  unfit  tor  non- 

co-Of  eration  if  vife  are  so  helpless  as  to  be  iinble  to-  manage- 

cw  own  education  in  t6tal  independence  of  the  Government.,: 


524  NON-CO-OPERATION 

-Every  village  should  manage  the  education  of  its  own 
children.  I  would  not  diepend  upon  Government  aid.  If 
there  is  a  real  awakening  the  schooling  need  not  be  interrupt- 
ed.for  a  single  day.  The  very  school-masters  who  are  now 
conducting  Government  schools,  if  they  are  good  enough  to 
resign  their  office,  could  take  charge  of  national  schools  and 
teach  our  children  the  things  they  need,  and  not  make  of 
the  majority  of  them  indifferent  clerks.  I  do  look  to  the 
Aligarh  College  to  give  the  lead  in  this  matter.  The  moral 
effect  created  by  the  emptying  of  our  Madrassas  will  be 
tremendous.  I  doubt  i^ot  that  the  Hindu  parents  and 
scholars  would  not  fail  ,to  copy  their  Musulman  brethren. 

Indeed  what  could  be  grander  education  than  that  the 
parents  and  scholars  should  put  religious  sentiment  before 
a  knowledge  of  letters^  If  therefore  no  arrangement  could 
he  immediately  made  for  the  literary  instruction  of  youths 
who  might  be  withdrawn,  it  wouH  be  most  profitable  train- 
ing for  thiem  to  be  able  to  work  ds  volunteers  for  the  cause 
which  may  necessitate  their  withdrawal  from  Gavernment 
schools.  For  as  in  tht  case  of  the  lawyers,  so  in  the  case  of 
boys,  my  notion  of  withdrawal  does  not  mean  an  idolent  life . 
The  withdrawing  boys  will,  each  according  to  his  worth,  be 
expected  to  take  their  share  in  the  agitation. 


'  SPEECH  AT  MADRAS. 

[Addressing  a  huge  concourse  of  people  of  all  classes  numberiog 
over  50,000,  assembled  on  the  Beach  opposite  to  the  Presidency 
College,  Madras,  on  the  12th  August,  1920,  Mr.  Grandhi  outlined  his 
l^on-Co-operation  scheme  and  sketched  the  programme  of  work 
•before  the  country.    He  said : — ] 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Friends,-^Like  last  year,  I  have  to 
^sk  your  forgiveness  that  I  shojld  have  to  speak  bsing 
seated.    Whilst  my  voice  has  become  stroiger  than  it  was 


SPEECH  AT  MADRAS  525- 

last  year,  my  body  is  still  weak;  4nd  if  I  were  to  attenSpt 
to  speak  to  you  standing,  I  could  not  hold  on  for  very  many 
minutes  before  the  whole  frame  would  shake.  I  hope^. 
therefore,  that  you  will  grant  me  permission  to  speak 
seated.  I  have  sat  here  to  address  you  on  a  most  import- 
ant question,  probably  a  question  whose  importance  we  have 
not  measured  up  to  now. 

LOKAMAYNA  TiLAK. 

But   before  I  approach    that    question  on  this  dear  old' 
beach  of  Madras,  you    will  expect  me — you  will  want  me^— 
to  offer  my  tribute  to  the  great  departed,  Lokamanya  Tilak 
Mabaraj  (Loud  and    prolonged    cheers).    I  would  ask  this 
great  assembly  to  listen  to  me  in  silence.    I  have    come  to  - 
make  an    appeal  to  your    hearts    and  to  your  reason  and  I 
could  not  do  so  unless  you  were  i!nrepared  to  listen  to  what- 
ever 1  have  to  say  in  absolute    silence.     I  wish  to  offer  my 
tribute  to  the  departed  patriot  and  I  think  that  I  cannot  do 
better  than  say  that  his  death,   as  his  life,  h  as  poured  new 
vigour  into  the  country.     If  you  were  present  as  I  was  pre-  - 
sent  at  that  great  funeral  procession,  you  would  realise  withi 
me  the  meaning  of  my    words.     Mr.  Tilak    lived    for    h's 
country.     The    inspiration  of  his  life  was    freedom  for  his 
country    which    he  called    Swaraj :  the  inspiration  of  Bis 
death-bed    was  also    freedom  for  his  country.     And  it  was 
that     which    gave    him    such  marvellous    hold  upon  his 
countrymen  ;  it  was  that  which  commanded  the  adoration 
not  of  a  few  chosen   Indians   belonging  to  the  upper  strata- 
of  society  but  of  millions  of  his  countrymen.     His  life    was 
one  long   sustained  piece  of  self-sacrifice.     He  began  that 
life  of  discipline  and  self-sacrifice  in  1879  ^"<^  ^^  continued 
that  life  up  to  the  ead  of  his  day,    and   that  was  the  secret 
of  his  hold  upon  his   country.     He  not  only  knew  what  he, 


J26  NON-CO-OPERATION 

•wanted  for  his  country  but  also  how  to  live  for  his  count  ly 
and  how  to  die  for  his  Country.  I  hope  then  that  whatever 
I  say  this  evening  to  this  vast  miss  of  people,  will  bear 
fruit  in  that  same  sacrifice  for  which  the  life  of  Lokamanya 
Tilak  Maharaj  stands.  His  life^  if  it  teaches  us  anythiog- 
whatsoever,  teaches  one  supreme  lesson  :  that  if  we  want  ta 
do  anything  whatsoever  for  our  country,  we  can  do  so  not 
by  speeches,  however  grand,  eloquent  and  convincing  they 
may  be,  but  only  by  sacrifice  at  the  bick  of  every  word  and 
at  the  back  of  every  act  of  our  life.  I  have  come  to  ask 
everyone  of  you  whether  you  are  ready  and  willing  to  giv e 
sufficiently  for  your  country's  sake,  for  your  country 's 
honour  and  for  religion,  I  have  boundless  faith  in  you, 
the  citizens  of  Madras,  and  the  people  of  this  great 
presidency,  a  faith  which  I  began  to  cultivate  in  the 
year  1893  when  I  first  made  acquaintance  with  the  Tamil 
labourers  in  South  Africa;  and  I  hope  that,  in  theSfe  hours 
of  our  trial,  this  province  will  not  be  second  to  any 
other  in  -India;  and  that  it  will  lead  in  this  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  and  will  translate  every  word  into  action. 

Need  for  NaN-Oo-opERATiON 

What  is  this  non-co-operation,  about  which  you  have 
heard  much,  and  why  do  we  want  to  offer  this  non-co- 
operation ?  I  wish  to  go  for  the  time  being  into  the  why. 
There  are  two  things  before  this  country  :  the  first  and 
the  foremost  is  the  Khilafat  question.  On  thip  the  heart 
of  the  Mussalmans  of  India  has  become  lascerated.  British 
pledges  given  after  the  greatest  deliberation  by  the  Prime 
Minister  of  England  in  the  name  of  the  English  nation, 
have  been  dragged  into  the  mire.  The  promises  given  to 
Moslem  India  on  the  strength  of  which  the  consideration 
that  was  excepted  by  the    British    nation  was  exacted,  have 


speech;  at  madras  $2? 

been  bioken,   and  the  great    religioi}.  of ;  Islam   lias  .been 
placed  in  danger..   The    Mussalmans   hold — andlventur« 
xq  think  they  rightly  hold — that,  so  long  as  British  proinises 
'teniain.  unfulfilled,    so    long  is  it  impossible  for  them  to 
tpnder    whole-hearted   fealty   and    loyalty  to.  the    British 
connection ;    and    if   it   is  to  be  a  choice   for  a  devout 
Mussalman  between  loyalty  to  the  British    connection  and 
loyalty  to  his  Code  and    Pnaip'hett,    he   will   not   require  a 
second  to    make    his    choice, — and    he  has    declared  his 
<:hoice.    The     Mussalmans    say    frankly,     openly     and 
honourably  to    the    whole  world    that,    if    the    British 
Mittisters    and     the    British    nation    do    not    fulfil    the 
pledges  given    to  them  and  do  not   wish  to  regard   with 
respect   the  sentiments  of  70  millions  of  the  inhabitants 
of    India    who    profess    the    faith  of    Islam,   it    will    be 
impossible,  for    them    to  retain    Islamic    loylaty.     It  is  a 
question,  then,  for  the  rest  of  the  Indian  population  to  con- 
sider whether  they  want  to  perform  a  neighbourly  duty  by 
'their  Mussalman    countrymen,  and  if  they  do,   they    have 
•a-n  opportunity  of  a  lifetime  which    will  not  occur  for    ano- 
ther hundred  years,  to  show  their  good- will,  fellowship  and 
friendship   and  to  prove  what  they    have  been    saying  for 
all  these  long  years  that  the    Mussalman  is  the  broth  er  of 
the  Hindu.     If  the  Hindu  regards  that    before  thfe  co  nnec- 
tion  with  the  British  nation    comes  his  natural    connection 
with  his  Moslem  brother,  then  I  say  to  you  that,  if  you  find 
that  the  Moslem  claim  is  just,  that  it  is    based  upon    real 
Sentiment,  and  that  at  its  background  is  this  great  religious 
ieelmg,  you  cannot  do  othewise  than   help  the  Mussalmans 
through  and  through,  so  long    as  their  cause    remains  just 
and  the  means  for  attaining  the  end    remains  equ illy    just, 
honourable  and  free  from    harm  to  India.    These  are     the 
plain  conditions  which  the  Indian  Musalmans  have  accep  ted 


528  NON-CO-OPERATION 

and  it  was  when  they  saw  that  they  could  accept  the- 
profer  red  aid  of  the  Hindus,  that  they  could  always  justify 
the  cause  and  the  means  before  the  whole  world,  that  they 
decided  to  accept  the  preferred  hand  of  fellowship.  It  is" 
then  for  Hindus  and  Mahamadans  to  offer  a  united  front  to 
the  whole  of  the  Christaian  powers  of  Europe  and  tell  therr^ 
that  weak  as  India  is.  India  has  still  got  the  capacity  of^ 
preserving  her  self-respect,  she  still  know;  How  to  die  for 
her  religion  and  for  her  self-respect. 

That  is  the  Khilafat  in  a  nut-shell ;  but  you  have  alsa 
got  the  Punjab.    The    Punjab    has  wounded  the  heart    of 
India  as  no  other  question  has  for    the  past   century.     I  do 
not  exclude  from  my  calculation  the  Mutiny  of  1857.  What- 
ever hardships  India  had  to  suffer  during  the    Mutiny,  the- 
insult  that  was  attempted  to  be  offered  to  her  during  the 
passage  of  the  Rowlatt  legislation  and  that  which  was  offer- 
ed ^fte  r  its  passage    were    unparalled  in  Indian    history. 
It  is   because  you  want  justice  from  the  British  nation  in 
connection  with  the  Punjab    atrocities  yOu  have  to  devise- 
ways  and  means  as  to  how  you  can    get  this  justice.     The- 
House  of  Commons,  the  House  of  Lords,  Mr.  Montagu,  the 
Vicer  oy  of  India,  every  one  of  them  knows  what  the  feeling" 
of  India  is  on  this    Khilafat    question  and    on  that  of  the 
Punjab  ;  the  debates  in  both  the  Houses  of  parliament,  the- 
action  of  Mr.    Montagu    ar.d  that  of    the    Viceroy    have 
demonstrated  to  you  completely  that    they  are  not  willing- 
to  give  the  justice  which  is  India's    due  and    which    she- 
deman  ds.     I  suggest    that   our  leaders  have  got  to  find  a 
way  out  of  this  great  difficulty  and  unless    we   have   made 
ourselves   even  with   the  British  rulers  in    India  and  unless' 
we  have  gained  a  measure  of  self-respect    at    the  hands  of 
the  British  rulers  in  India,  no  connection,  and  no    friendly 
intercourse  is    possible  between  them  and  ourselves.     I, 


SPEECH  AT  MADRAS- 


^2^ 


tiHreiort,  venture  to  suggest  this    beautiful    unanswerable 
method  of   non-co-operation.  --    :'• 

Is  IT  Unconstitutional  ? 
'I  have  been  told  that  non-co-operation  is  unconstitu- 
tional. I  venture  to  deny  that  it  is  unconstitu'ional.  On 
the  contrary,  I  hold  that  non-co-operation  is  a  just  and 
religious  doctrine  ;  it  is  the  inherent  right  of  every  human 
bein^  and  it  is  perfectly  constitutional.  A  great  lover  of  the 
British  Empire  has  said  that  under  the  British  constitution, 
even  a  successful  rebellion  is  perfectly  constitutional  and  he 
quotes  historical  instances,  which  I  cannot  deny,  in  suppprt 
rf  his  claim.  I  do  riot  claiir.  any  constitutionality  for  a 
rebellion  successful  or  otherwise^  so  long  as  that  rebellion 
m^ans  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  what  it  does  iheanj 
namely,  wresting  justice  by  violent  means.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  have  said  it  repeatedly  to  my  countrymen  that 
violence,  whatever  end  it  may  serve  in  Europe,  will  never 
strve  us  in  India.  My  brother  and  friend  Shaukat  Ali 
believes  in  methods  of  violence  ;  and  if  it  was  in  his  power 
to  draw  the  sword  against  the  British  Empire,  I  know  that 
he  has  got  the  courage  of  a  man  and  he  has  got  also  the 
wisdom  to  see  that  he  should  offer  that  battle  to  the  British 
Empire.  But  because  he  recognises  as  a  true  soldier  that 
means  of  violence  a  re  not  open  to  India,  he  sides  with  me 
accepting  my  humble  assistance  and  pledges  his  word  that 
so  long  as  I  am  with  him  and  so  long  as  he  believes  in  the 
doctrine,  so  long  will  he  not  harbour  even  the  idea  of 
violence  against  any  single  Englishman  or  any  single  man 
on  earth.  I  am  here  to  tell  you  that  he  has  been  as  true  as 
his  word  and  has  kept  it  religiously,  I  am  here  to  bear 
witness  that  he  has  been  follo^ying  out  this  *  plan  of  non- 
violent non-co-operation  to  the  very  letter  and  I  am  asking 
ladiato  follow  this  non-violent  non-co-operation,  j  tell 
34 


530t  NON-CO-OPERATIQN 

you  that  there  is  not  a  better  soldier  living  in  our  r^nks  io- 
British  India  than   Shaukat  Ali.     When  the  time  for  the 
drawing    of    the   sword    comes,    if  it   ^ver   comes,  you 
will  find     him  drawing  that   sword  and  you  will     find  me 
retiring  to  the  jungles  of  Hiniustan.     As  soon  as  India 
accepts  the  doctrine  of  the  sword,  my  life  as  an  Indian  is 
finished.  It  is  because  I  believe  in  a  mission  special  to  India 
and  it  is  because  I  balieve thai;  the   ancients  of  India,  after. 
ce«turies  of  experience  hive  found  out  that    the  true  thing 
for  any    human  being   on  eirth    is  not    justice    bised    on 
violence  but  justice  bised  oa  sacrifice  of  self,   justice  based 
on  Ya^na  and   Kurbani.-r-I  Cling  to  thtt  dictrine    and    I 
shall  cling  to  it  for   ever, — ii  is   for  that  reason   I  tell    you 
that  whilst    my    friend   believes  also    in  the    doctrine    of 
•violence  and  has  adopted  the  doctrine  of  non-violence  as  a 
weapon  of  the  weak,   I  believe  in  the   doctrine  of   non-vio-- _, 
lence  as  a  weapon  of  the  strongest.   I  believe   that  a  man  is 
the  strongest    sjldier  for  daring  to  die   unarn;ied  with   hijs., 
breast  bare    before    the  enemy.     Sj    much     for  the    non^r, 
violent   part  of  non-co\)peration,     I  therefore,  venture  to 
suggest  to   my  learned   countrymen  ,that,  so    long  as    the 
doctrine  of  non-co-operation  remains   non-violent,  so  long 
there  is  nothing  un-constituitional  in  the  doctrine. 

I  ask  further,  is  it  unconstitutlonil  f  jr  me  to  siy  to 
the  British  Government  '  I  refuse  to  serve  you  .''  Is  it 
unconstitutional  for  our  worthy  chairman  to  return  with 
every  respect  all  the  titles  that  he  his  ever  hell  from  the 
Government .'  Is  it  unconstitutional  for  any  parent  (o 
withdraw  his  children  from  a  Givernment  or  aided  sch  pol  f 
Is  it  unconstitutional  f  Jr  a  lawyer  to  say  '  I  sl>  all  np  longer 
support  the  arm  of  the  law  so  Ipng  ais  that  arm  of  law  is 
used-njtto  raise  me  but  to  debase  me  f  Is  it  uncon^tittt^. 
tional  tor  a  civil  servant  or  for  a  jndge  to  Sf^y,    '  J  refuse    to 


SPEECH  AT  MAPRA§  531 

-serve  a  Government    which  does  not  wish    to  respect ;  the 
wishes  of  the  whole  people  ?'    I  ask,  is  it   unconstitutional 
"for  a  policeman  or   for  a  soldier  to  tender  bis    resignation 
when  he  knows  that  he  is  called  to  sferve  a   Government 
which  traduces  its  own  countrymen  ?  Is  it   unconstitutional 
■for  me  to  go  to  the  '  krishan,'   to  the  agrrcalturist,   and  say 
tO'him  '  it  is   not  wise  for  you  to   p&y  any   taxes,  if  these 
taxes  are  used  by  the  Government  ifiot  to  raise  you   but  to 
weaken  you  T     I  hold  and  I  venture  tb  submit,   thit  there 
is  nothing  unconstitutional  in  it.  What  is  more,  I  hive  done 
•every  one  of  these  things  in  my  life  and    nobody  has  queS" 
'tioned  the  constitutional   character  of   it,     1  was  in   Kaira 
■working  in  the   midst  of  7    lakhs   of  agriculturists.     They 
had  all  suspended  the   payment  of  taxes  and    the  whole  ol 
Todia  was  at  one  with  me.    Noboiy  considered   that  it  was 
unconstitutidnal.  .  I  submit  that  in  the  whole  plan    of  non,- 
co-operation,  there  is  nothing  unconstitutional.'    But  I  do 
venture  to  suggest  that  it  will  be  highly  unconstitutictnal  ia 
the  midst    of   this  unconstitutional   Government, — in    the 
midst  of  a  nation  which   has  built  up   its  magnificent    con- 
stitution,— for  the  people  of  India  to  become   weak  and  to 
<;rawl  on  their  belly — it  will  be  highly   unconstitutional  for 
the  people  of  India  to  pocket  every  insult  that   is  offered  to 
them  ;  it  is  highly   unconstitutional   for  the  70  millions   of 
Mohamadans  of  India  to  submit  to  a  violent  wrong  done  to 
their  religion  ;  it  is  highly  unconstitutional  for  the    whole 
of    India     to    sit   still    and    co-operate  with    an    unjust 
■Government  which   has   trodden  under  its  feet  the  honour 
of  the  Punjab,  I  say  to  my  countrymen  so  long  as.you  have 
a  sense  of  honour  and  so  long  as    you  wish   to  remain    the    ' 
-descendants .  and   defenders  of  the    noble,  traditions    th^t 
have  been  handed  to  you  for  generations  after  generations, 
it  is  unconstitutional  for  you  not  to   non-co-operate  aad  un^ 


532  NON-CO-OPERATION 

constitutional  for  you  to  co-operate  with  a  Government' 
which  has  became  so  unjust  as  our  Government  has 
become.  I  am  not  anti-English ;  I  am  not  anti-British'; 
I  am  not  anti-any  Government ;  but  I  am  anti -untruth — 
anti-humbug  and  anti-injustice.  So  long  as  the  Govern^ 
ment  spells  injustice,  it  may  regard  me  as  its  enemy> 
implacable  enemy.  I  had  hoped  at  the  Congress  at 
Amritsar — I  am  speaking  God's  truth  before  you — when 
I  pleaded  on  bended  kneess  before  some  of  you  for  co-opera- 
tion with  the  Government,  I  had  full  hope  that  the  British 
Ministers  who  are  wise  as  a  rule,  would  placate  the  Mussal- 
man  sentiment,  that  they  would  do  full  justice  in  the  matter 
of  the  Punjab  atrocities  ■;  and  therefore,  I  said  : — let  us 
return  good-will  to  the  hand  of  fellowship  that  has  been  ex- 
tended to  us,  which  I  then  believed  was  extended^ 
to  us  through  the  Royal  Proclamation.  It  was  on 
that  account  that  I  pleaded  for  co-operation.  But  to-day 
that  faith  having  gone  and  obliterated  by  the  acts 
of  the  British  Ministers,  I  am  here  to  plead  not  for  futile 
obstruction  in  the  Legislative  Council  but  for  real  substan- 
tial non-co-operation  which  would  paralyse  the  mightiest 
Government  on  earth.  That  is  what  I  stand  for  to-day. 
Until  we  have  wrung  Justice,  and  until  we  having  wrung 
our  self-respect  from  unwilling  hands  and  from  un- 
willing pens  there  can  be  no-co-operation.  Our  Shastras 
say  and  I  say  so  with  the  greatest  deference,  to  all 
the  greatest  religious  preceptors  of  India  but  without- 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  our  Shastras  teach  us  that  there 
shall  be  no -co-operation  between  injustice,  and  justice, 
between  an  unjust  man  and  a  justice-loving  man,  between 
truth  and  untruth .  Co-operation  is  a  duty  only  so  long  as 
Government  protects  your  honour,  and  non-co-operation  is 
an  equal  duty  when  the  Government,  instead  of  protecting. 


SPEECH  AT  MADRAS  53^ 

■robsyouof  your  honour.    That  is  the  doctrine    of   non-co- 
-Operation. 

NON-Co-OPERATIQN  &   THE  SPECIAL  CONGRESS 

I  have  been  told  that  I    should    have    waited    for   the 
JetTaration  of  the  special  Congress   which    is   the    mouth- 
.piece  of  the   whole   nafcion.     I  know  that  it  is  the   mouth- 
.  ptece  of  the  whole  nation.  If  it  was  for  me,  indi  vidual  Gandhi, 
to    wait,   1   would   have  waited   for   eternity.     But   I   had 
in  my  hands  a  sacred  trust.  I  was  advising    my  Mussalman 
■countrymen  and  for  the  time  being  I  hold  their  honour  in  my 
Jiands.  I  dare  not  ask  them  to  wait  for  any  verdi  ct     but  the 
■  verdict  of  their  own  Conscience.  Do  you  suppose  that  Mussal- 
-mans  can  eat  their  own  words,  can  withdraw  from  the  honour- 
-able  position  they  have  taken  up  ?  If  perchance — and  God 
forbid  that  it  should  happen—the  Special  Congress  decides 
-against  them,  I    would  still    advise  my    countrymen,    the 
-Mussilmans  to  stand  single  handed   and  fight  rather  than 
■yield  to  the    attempted    dishonour  to  their    religion.    It  is 
therefore  given  to  the  Mussalmans  to  go  to  the  C  ongress  on 
^bended  kne?s  and  plead  for  support.  But  suppo  rt,  or  no  sup- 
port. It  was  not  possible  for  them  to  wait  far  the  Congress  to 
>give  them  the  lead.   They  had  to  choose  between  futile  vio- 
Jence,  drawing  of  the  naked  sword  and  peaceful  non-violent 
-but  effective  non'Co-operation,    and  they  have  made  their 
choice-.    I  venture  further  to  say  to  you  that  if  there  is  any 
'body  of  men  who  feel  as  I  do,  the  sacred  character  of  non- 
-co-operation,  it  is  for  you  and  me  not  to  wait     for  the  Con- 
gress but  to  act  and  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  Congress 
to  give  any  other  verdict.     After  all  what  is  the  Congress/ 
The  Congress  is  the  collected  voice  of  individuals  who  form 
it,  and  if  the  individuals  go  to  the  Congress  with  a    united 
voice,  that  will  be  the  verdict  you  will  gain  from    the  Con- 
r^ress.  But  if  we  go  to  the  Congress  with  no  opinion  because 


554  NON-CO-QPERATION 

■vre^  have  none  or  because  we  are  afraid  to  express  it,  then 
naturally  we  await  the  verdict  of  the  Congress.  To  those  iHio 
are  unable  to  make  up  their  mind  I  say,  l)y  all  means  wait. 
But  for  those  who  have  seen  the  clear  light  as  they  see  the 
lights  in  front  ofthem,  for  them,  to  wait  is  a  sin.  The  Con- 
gress does  not  expect  you  to  wait  but  it  expects'you  to  act  so 
that  the  Congress  can  guage  properly- the  national  feeling. 
So  ninch  for  the  Congress. 

Boycott  of  the  Councils. 
Among  the  details  of  non-co-operation  I  have  placed 
in  the  foremost  rank  the  boycott  of  the  councils.  Friends 
have  quarrelled  with  me  for  the  use  of  the  word  boycott, 
-because  I  have  disapproved — as  I  disapprove  even  now— ^ 
bcycott  of  British  gcods  or  aiy  goods  for  that  matter.  But 
there,  bcycott  has  its  own  meaning  and  here  boycott  has 
its  own  meaning.  I  not  only  do  not  disapprove  but 
apprcve  of  the  boycott  of  the  the  councils  that  are  going  to 

be  formed  next  year.   And  why    do  I  do  it  ?  The  people 

the  masses, — require  frcm  us,  the  leaders,  a  clear  lead. 
They  do  not  want  any  equivocation  from  us.  The  sugges- 
tion that  we  should  seek  election  and  then  refuse  to  take  the 
eath  of  allegiance,  would  only  make  the  ration  distrust  the 
leaders.  It  is  not  a  clear  lead  to  the  nation.  So  Isayto 
you,  my  countrymen,  not  to  fall  into  this  trap.  We  shall 
sell  our  country  by  adopting  the  method  of  seeking  election 
and  then  not.laking  the  cath  of  allegiance.  We  may  find 
it  d  fficult,  ard  I  frai  kly  tcnfess  to  you  that  I  have  not 
that  trust  in  so  many  Indians  making  that  declaration  and 
standing  by  it.  To-day  I  suggest  to  those  who  horestly 
hold  the  view— pit's,  that  we  should  seek  election  and  then 
refuse  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance— I  suggest  to  them 
that  they  will  fall  into  a  trap  which  they  are  preparing  for 
themselves  and  for  the  nation.    That  is  my  view.    I  hojd 


SPEidH  At  MADRAS  535 

that  if  we  wdnt  to  give  the  nation  the  clearest  possible  lead, 
and  if  we  watit  nOt  to  play  with   this  gteat  nation,  we  must 
make  it  clear  to  this  nation  that  tre  cannot  take  any  favours, 
no  matter,  how  gteat  they  may  be,  so  long  as  those  favours 
are  accompanied  by  ah  ihjustice,  a  double  wrong  done  to 
India  not  yet    redressed.    The    first    indispensable    thing 
before  we  can  receive  any   favours  from   them  is  that  they 
should  redress  this  double  wrong.  There  is  a  Greek  proverb 
which  used  to  say   "  Beware  of    the  Greeks  but  especially 
beware  of  them   when  they    bring  gifts    to  you."    To-day 
from  those  ministers   who  are  bent  upon  fjerpetuatiiig  the 
wrong  to  Islam  and  to   the  Punjab  I  say  we  cannot  accept 
gifts  but  we  should  be  doubly  careful  lest  we  may  not  fall 
into  the  trap  that  they   may   have   devised.    I  thwefore 
Suggest  ihat    we    must    not  coquet    with  the    council  and 
must  riot  have  anything  whatsoever  to  do  with  ihem.    I  am 
told  that  if  we,   who  represent  the  national  Sentiment,  do 
not  seek  election,  the  Moderates  who  do  not  represent  that 
sentiment  will.     I  do  not  agree.     I  do  not  know  what  the 
Moderates  represent  and  1  do  not   know  what  the    Nationa- 
lists represent.     I  kiiow'that  there  are  good  sheep  and  black 
sheep  aJnongst  the  Moderates;     I  know  that  there  are  good 
sheep  and  black  sheep   amongst  ihe  Nationalists.     I  knOw 
that  many  Moderates  hold  honestly  the  view  that  it  is  a  sin 
to  resort  to  non-co-operation.    I  respectfully  agree  to  differ- 
from  them.     I  do  say  to  them    also  that  they  will  fall   into- 
a  trap  which  they  will   have  devised   if  they  seek  eleciion.  A 
But  that  does   not  affect   my   situation.     If  I    feel   in   ijiy  V  ^/^ 
heart  of  hearts  that  I   ought  not   to  go  to  the  councils,  I  \   ^ 
ought  at .  least   to  abide   by  this  decision  and   it  does   not    |     \^ 
matter  if  ninety-nine  other  countrymen  seek  election.  That''^  U  ^ 
is  the  only  way    in  which  public  work  can   be  done,  and       '  (<. 
public  opinion  cati    be  built.    'That    is  the    only    way    in     '    }> 


'  V' 


556  non-go-operation 

which. reforms  can  be  achieved  and  religion  can  be 
conserved.  If  it  is  a  question-  of  religioiys  ^honqur, 
whether.  I  am  one  or  among  many  I  must  stapd;  upon 
my  doctrine..  Even  if  I  shoulddie  inthe,(atten;ipt,  if 
is  worth  dying  for,  tlian  that  I  should  liwe  an.d  ,^enjf 
my  own  docirine.  ,1  suggest  that  it  will  bje  wrong  on  the 
part  of  any  one  to  seek  ejection  to,jt,hese  ppu7pils,,.,„.If  once 
we  feel  that  we  cannot  co-operate  with  this.  ,l^OTernmeiit, 
we  have  to  commence  from  the,  top.,  We  ar,?,  |t,he  natural 
leaders  of  the  people  and  we  haveacquirei  the  right  an4 
the  power  to  gqLto  the  nation  and  speak  to  Jt  with  the 
voice  of  non-co-operation.  I  therefore  do  suggest, ,  t>»at  it 
is  inconsistent  with  non-co-operation,  to  seek  election  to  the 
Councils  on  any  terms  whatsoever.  ;.!(''■ 

Lawyers  and  l^oijrTCo-OPSRATiON 
_  I  have  suggested  an  ither  difficult   matter    m.,  th3,t 
the'  lawyers  should  suspend  th^ir  .practice.  ,  ..^ow.  should' 
I  do  otherwise  kno,wing  so  well  how  th?!,  Goyernmsn,tp  h^j^ 
always  beep  able  .1,9  retain  this  power  through   the.   instru* 
mientality  of  lawyers.     It    js    perfectly  tru.^  that  Jt   is, .the  ^ 
lawyers  of  to-day  who  are  leading  us,  who    are  fighting  the 
^country 's  battles,  but  when  it  comes  to  a  matter    pf  action 
agaipst  the  Government,  when  it  comes  to  a  matter  of  para-  - 
lysing    the  activity  of  the  ,,G,oyeTnnient  I  know ,  fhsit   tlfP  • 
Government  always  looks,   to  the    lawyers,,  however  fine  - 
fighters  they  may  have  been,  to  preserve  thejr  digpity  and 
their  self-respect. ,  I  therefore  suggest  to.  my  layjc^r^^riends 
that  it  is  their  duty  to  suspend  their  practice  and,  to -show 
16  the  Government  that  they  -wijl  no    longer    retain   their 
ofiSces,  because  lawyers   are  considered    to    be  honorary 
officers  of  the  courts   and   therefore  subject  to    their   dis^ 
cipUnary  jurisdiction.    They  mi^stno  longer   retain   these 
honorary  offices  if  they    want^  to    withdraw."  co-operation 


SPEECH  AT  MADRAS  537 

^roih  Government.  But  what  will  happen  to  law  ani  order? 
"We  shall  evolve  law  and  order  through  the  instrumentality 
jot  these  very  lawyers.  We  shall  promote  arbitration  courts 
.^i^d  dispence  justice,  pure,  simple,  home-made  jus  tice,  swa- 
deshl  jttstiee,  to  our  countrymen.  That  is  what  susp  ension 
•of.  practice  means. 

Parents  and    non-co-operation. 

I  have  suggested  yet  another  difficulcy — -to  withd  raw  our 
•.children  from  the  Government  schools  and  to  ask  collegiate 
students  to    withdraw  from   the  College    and   to   empty 
Government,  aided  schools.  ,  How  could  1  do  otherwise  .'I 
want  to  guage  the    national    sentiment.    1  want   to  know 
whether  the  Mohmedans  feel  deeply.     If  they   feel   deeply 
they  will  understand  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,   that    it    is 
not  right  for  them  to  receive  schooling  from  a  Government 
in  ^hich  they  have  lost  all  faith  ;   and  whibh  they  do  not 
trust  at  all.  How  can  I,  if  I  do  not  want  to  help  this  Govern- 
ment, receive  any  help  from  that  Government.   1  think  that 
the  schools  and  colleges  are    factories  for  making    clerks 
and   Government  servants.     I  would   not   help   this  great        \     V 
-factory  for   manufacturing  clerks  and  servants  if  I  want  to 
-withdraw  co-operation  from  that  Government.    Look  at  it 
-from    any  point  of  view  you  like.  It  is  not  possible  for  y  ou 
to  send  your  children  to  the  schools  and  still  believe   in  the 
doctrine  of  npn-co-peration.. 

The  Duty  OF  Title  Holders. 

I  have  gone  further.  I  have  suggested  thaf  our  title 
holders  should  give  up  their  titles.  How  can  they  hold  on 
to  the  titles  and  honours  bestowed  by  this  Government  f, 
They  were  at  one  time  badges  of  honour  when  we  believed 
-that  natiotial  honour  was  safe  in  their  hands.  But  now 
-they  are  no  longer  badges  of  honour  but  badges  of  dis- 
■Jionour  and  disgrace  when  we  really  believe  that  we  cannot 


538  NON-dO-dPERATION 

got' jostic*  from  this  Government.    Every  title  holder  holds^ 
his  titles  and  honours  as  trustee  for  the  nation    and  in  this 
first    step  in  the    withdrawal    of    co-operation    from    the- 
Governmiiit  they  should  sutrender  their    titles  without  a- 
moment'S   cosideration.  I    suggest    to    my     Mahomedan 
countrymen  that,  if  they  fail  in  this  primary  duty  they  will 
<%rtainly  fail  in   non-co-operation  unless  the  masses  them- 
selves reject  the  classes  and  take    up    non-co-operation  in 
their  own  hands  and  are  able  to  fight   that    battle  even  as' 
the       men  '■     of      the    French    Revolution      were      able 
to  take  the  reins  of  Government  in  their  own  hands  leaving 
aiside  the  leaders  and  marched  to  the  banner  of  victory.     I' 
want  no  revolution.     I  want  ordered  progress.     I  want  no 
disordered  order.     1  want  no  chaos.     I  want    real  order  to 
be   evolved  cut  of  this  chaos  which  is  misrepresented  to  me 
as  order.     If  it  is  order  established  by  a  tyrant  in  order  to 
get  hold  of  the  tyrannical  reins  of  Government  I  say  that 
it  is  no  order  for    me  but  it    is  disorder.    I  want  to  evoh'e 
justice  Out  of  this  injustice.    Therefore    I  suggest  to    you- 
the   passive  non-co-operation.     If  we    would  only    realise- 
the  secret  of  this  peaceful  and    infallible  doctrine  you  will 
know  and  ycu  will  find  that  ycu    will  not  want  to  use  even 
an  angry  word    when  they    lift  the  sword  at  you    and  you 
will  not  want  even  to  lift  your  little  finger,  let  alone  a  stick 

or  a  sword. 

A  Service  to  the  Empire. 

You  may  consider  that  I  have  spoken  these  words  in 
anger  because  I  have  considered  the  ways  of  this  Govern- 
ment immoral,, unjust,  debasing  and  untruthful.  I  use 
these  adjectives  with  the  greatest  deliberation.  I  have 
used  them  for  my  own  true  brother  with  whom  I  was 
engaged  in  a  -battle  of  non-co-operation  for  full  1 3  years  and^ 
although  the  ashes  cover  the    remains  of  my  brother  I  tell 


Speech  at  madras  539 

you  that  I  used  to  t6ll  him  that  he  was  uhjtist'  when   his 
plans  were  based  upon  immoral  foundation.    I  used  to  fell 
him   that  he  did  not  stand  for  truth.    There  was  ho  anger 
in  me.    I  told  him  this   home  truth  because  I  loved   him. 
In  the  same  manner,   I  tell  the  British  people  that  I  love 
them,  and  that  I  wai^t  their   association  but  I  want  that 
.asf  ociation  on  condiiiBis  ■:well  •fUtSjjfdT^  fewant  my   self- 
respect  and  I  want  u^axhsolutt^quaji^i^with  them.     If  I 
cannot  gain  that  equatie^irom-iheBritishj people  I  do  not 
want  that  British   confifectioh.-   If  I  have  td  let  the  British 
people  go  and   impbit  temporary   disorder  and  dislocation 
of  national  business,  I  will  favour  that  disorder   and  dislo- 
cation than  that  I  should  have  injustice  from  the   hands  of^ 
a  gieat  nation  .'uch  as  the   British   nation.     You  will  find. 
that  by  the  time  the  whole  chapter  is  closed  that  the   sue-- 
cessors  of  Mr.  Montagu  will   give     me     the     credit       for 
having  rendered  the  most  distinguished  service  that  I  have 
yet  rendered  to  the  Empire,  in  having  offered  this  noii-co- 
operation  and  in  having  suggested  the  boycott,  not  of   His 
Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales,   but  of    boycott  of  a; 
visit  engineered  by  the  Government  in  order  to  tighten  its 
hold  on  the   national  neck.     I  will  not   allow  it  even  if   I 
stand  alone,  if  I  cannot  persuade  this  nation  not  to  welcotne 
that  visit  but  will  boycott   that  visit   with  all  the  power    ar- 
my command.     It  is  for  that  reason   I  stand  before  you  and' 
implore  you  to  offer  this  religious   battle,   but  it  is   not  a 
battle  offered  to  you  by  a  visionary  or  a  saint.  I  deny  being; 
a  visionary.    I  do  not  accept  the  claim  of  saintliness.  I  am. 
of  the  earth,  earthy,  a  common  gardener  man  as    much   a? 
any  ofie  of  you,  probably  much  more  than  you  are.     I  am 
prone  to  as  many  weaknesses  as  you  are.    But  I  have  seen 
the  world.    I  have    lived    in    the  world  with   my   eyes 
open.    I  have  gone  through   the  most  fiery  ordeals    that 


^40  NON-CO-OPERATION 

have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  min.     I  have   gone   through  this 
discipline.    I  have  understood  the  secret  of  my  own  sacred 
Hinduism,  I  have  learnt  the  lesson   that  non-co-operation 
is  the  duty  not  merely  of  the  saint   but   it   is   the  duty   of 
every  ordinary  citizen,  who  not  knowing  much,  not  caring 
to  know  much,  but  wants  to  perform  his  ordinary  household 
functions.    The  people  of  Europe  teach  even  their   masseSj 
the  poor  people,  the  doctrine  of  the  sword.     But  the  Rishis 
of  India,  those  who  have  held  the  traditions  of   India,  have 
preached  to  the  masses  of  India  the   doctrine,    not   of  the 
sword,  not  of  violence  but   of  suffering,    of  self-suffering. 
And  unless  you  and  I  are  prepared  to  go  through    this  pri- 
mary lesson,  we  are  not  ready  even  to  offer  the    sword  and 
"that  is  the  lesson  my  brother  Shaukat  Ali  has    imbil}ed  to 
teach  and  that  is  why  he  to-day  accepts  my  advice  tendered 
to    him    in    all   prayerfulness  and    in  all     humility     and 
says  'long  live    non-co-operation.'     Please   remember    that 
even    in    England  the    little     children     were     withdraii;^ 
"from     the    schools ;     and     colleges    in    Cambridge   and 
•Oxford   were  closed.    Lawyers  had    left    their   desks  and 
were  fighting  in  the  trenches.     I  do  not   present  to  you  the 
trenches  but  I  do  ask  you  to    go  through  the  sa  orifice   that 
the    men,  women    and  the    brave    lads    of  England    went 
through.     Remember  that  you  are    offering  battle  to  a  na- 
tion which  is  saturated  with  the    spirit    of  sacrifice    when- 
ever the  occasion  arises.     Remember   that    the  little   band 
of  Boers  offered  stubborn  resistance  to  a  mighty  nation.  But 
their  lawyers  had  left  their  desks.  Their  mothers  had  with- 
drawn their  children  from  the  schools  and  colleges  and  the 
children  had  become  the  volunteers  of  the  nation.     I  have 
seen    them  with  these  naked  eyes  ot  mine.     I    am  asking 
my  countrymen    in    India    to  follow     no    other     gospel 
than    the    gcspel    of  selfsacrifice  which   precedes    every 


SPEECH  AT   MADRAS  54t 

battle.  Whether  you  belong  to  the  school  of  violence  or 
non-violence  you  will  still  have  to  go  through  the  fire  of 
sacrifice,  and  of  discipline.  May  God  grant  you,  may  God 
grant  our  leaders,  the  wisdom,  the  courage  and  the  true: 
knowledge  to  lead  the  nation  to  its  cherished  goal>  May 
God  grant  the  people  of  India  the  right  path,  the  true 
vision  and  the  ability  and  the  courage  to  follow  this  path,. 
difficult  and  yet  easy,  of  sacrifice. 


SPEECH  AT  THE  SPECIAL  CONGRESS. 
[After  a  prolonged  tour  round  the  country  addressing  Iarge> 
masses  of  people  on  the  non-co-operation  programme,  Mr.  Gandhi 
reac^ied  Calcutta  in  the  first  week  of  September  to  attend  the  Special 
Congress  on  the  4th  to  which  the  country  had  been  looking  forwards 
for  a   difinite  lead    on  the   two  issues  viz.,  the  Punjab  and  the- 
Khilafat.    Already  Mr.   Gandhi  had  prepared  the  large  mass  of 
those   likely  to  attend  the  session,  to  vote  for  his  programme.    But 
the  leaders  in  different  provinces  were  by  no  means  convinced,  of, 
the  soundness     of  Mr.  Gandhi's   scheme.    Lala  Lajput  Rai,  th^^ 
President  of    the  Session  and  Mr.  C.  R.  Das  who  subsequently 
became    ardent  'followers   of   Mr..  Gandhi,  stood  out  against  his 
programme  and^assisted  by  Mr.  B.C.  Pal,  opposed  Mr.  Gandhi. 
But  Mr.  Gandhi  carried  the  day  and  his  lead  was  followed  in  the. 
Moslem    League  and  the  Ehilafat  Conference  as  well.    The  resolu- 
tion ran  as  follows . — 

'  *'In  view  of  the  fact  that  on  the  Khilafat  question  both  the  Indian 
and  imperial  Governments  have  signally  failed  in  their  duty  towards, 
the  Mussalmans  of  India,  and  the  Prime  Minister  has  deliberately 
broken  his  pledged  word  given  to  them  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  no  n- Moslem  Indian  in  every  legitimate  manner  to  assist  his 
Mussulman  brother  in  this  attempt  to  remove  the  religious  calamity 
that  has  overtaken^him : 

And  in  view^  of  the  fact  ithat  in  the  matter  of  the  events 
ol  the  April  of  19l9  both  the  said  Governments  have  grossly 
neglected  or  failed  to  protect  the  innocent  people  of  the  Punjab 
and  punish  officers  guilty  of  nnsoldierly  and  barbarous  behaviour 


342  NONrCO-OPERATION 

towatds  them  and  have  exonerated  Sir  Michael  O'Dwyec  who 
proved  himself  directly  or  indirectly  responsible  for  the. 
most  of  the  official  crimes  and  callous  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
people  placed  under  his  administration,  and  that  the  debate  in  the 
House  of  Lords  betrayed  a  woeful  lack  of  sympathy  with  this  people 
'  of  India  and  showed  virtual  support  of  the  systematic  terrorism  and 
f rightfulness  adopted  in  the  Punjab  and  t'lat  the  latest  Viceregal 
pronouncement  is  proof  of  entire  absence  of  repentance  in  the 
matters  of  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  : 

This  Congress  is  of  opinion  that  there  can  be  no  contentment 

"in  India  without  redress  of  the  two  aforementioned  wrongs  and  that 
the  only  effectual  means  to  vindicate  national  honour  and  to  prevent 
a  repetitioB  of  similar  wrongs  in  future  is  the  establishment  of 
Swarajya.  This  Congress  is  further  of  opinion  that  there  is  no 
course  left  open   for   the  people  of  India  but  to  approve  of  and 

.  adopt  the  policy  of  progressive  non-violent  non-co-operation  until 
the  said  wrongs  are  righted  and  Swarajya  is  established. 

And  inasmuch  as  a  beginning  should  be  made  by  the  classes 
who  have  hitherto  moulded  and  represented  opinion  and  inasmuch 
as  Government  consolidates  its  power  through?  titles  and  honours 
bestowed  on  the  people,  through  schools  controlled  by  it,  its  law 
courts  and  its  legislative  councils,  attd  inasmuch  as  it  is  desirable 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  movement  to  take  the  minim  jm  risk  and 
to  call  for  the  least  sacrifice  compatible  with  the  attainment  of  tbe 

.  desired  objecii,  this  Congress  earnestly  advises— 

fir)  Surrender  of  titles  and  honorary  offices  and  resignation 

'  from  nominated  seats  in  local  bodies; 

(6)  refusal  to  attend  Government  Levees,  Durbars,  and  other 
official  and  semi-official  functions  held   by  Government  officials  or 

'  in  their  honour; 

■(c)  gradual  withdrawal  of  children  from  Schools  and  Colleges 
owned,  aided  or  controlled  by  Government    and  in  place  of    such 
schools  and   colleges   establishment  of   Natioi^     Schools    and 
■  Colleges  in  the  various  Provinces  ;  ' 

|<0  gradual  jboycott  of  British  Courts  hf  Uwyiirs  and  UtigOinto 
-and  establishnient  of  private  arbitration  cavitt^  loy  th«lr  aid  fo  jr  the 
settlement  of  private  disputes, 


SPEECH  AT,  THB  SPECIAL  CONGRESS      543  , 

(e)  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  military,  clerical  aii4   labaurisg    : 
classes  to  offer  themselves  as  recruits  for  service  ia   Mesopotatn  ia  ; 

[})  withdrawal  by  candidates  of  their  candidature  for  electioa 
to  the  Reformed  Councils  and  refusal  on  the;  part  of  the    voters  to 
vote  for  any  candidate  who  may,  despite  the  Congress  advice,    offer 
kimself  for  election  ; 

(g)  The  boycott  of  foreign  goods; 

And  inasmuch  as   non-co-operation  has  been  conceived  as    a 
measure  of  discipline  and  self-sacrifice  without  which  no  nation  can 
make  real  progress,  and  inasmuch  as  an  opportunity  should  be 
:eivenin  the  very  first  stage  of  non-co-operation   to   every   man 
woman   and  child,  for  such  disciplitie     and    self-sacrifice,    this 
Congress  advises  adoption  of    Swadeshi  in    piecegoods  on  a  vast 
scale,  and  inasmuch  as  the  existing    mills  of  India  with   indi- 
genous capital  and  control  do  not  manufacture  sufficient  yarn    and 
.sufficient  cloth  for  the  requirements  of  the  nation,  and  are  not  likely 
to  do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come,  this  Congress  advises  ,  immed  iate 
timulation  of  further  manufacture  on  a   large    scale  by  means   eli 
.reviving  hand-spinning  in  every  home  and  handwearing    on    the 
part  of  the  millions  of  weavers  who  have  abandoned  their  ancient 
.and  honourable  calling  for  want  of  encouragement."   ' 

[In  moving  their  resolution  Mr.  Gandhi  said  :] 
I  am  aware,  more  than  aware,  of  the  gra«e .  responsi- 
bility that    rests  on    my  shoulders    in  being    privileged  ^o 
Biove  this   resolution    before    this  great  assembly.     I  am 
aware  that  my  difificulties,  as  also  yotirs,  increase  \\  you  are 
able  to    adopt  this  resolution.     I  am  also  aware    that  t^ 
adoption  of  any  resolution  will  mark   a  definite  change  ir» 
the  policy  which  the  country  has  hitherto    adopted  for. the 
vindication  of  the  rights  that  belong  to  it,  and    its  honour. 
I  am  aware  that  a  large  number  of  Our  leaders  who  have 
given  the  time  and  attention  to  the  affairs  of   my  mptheir- 
land,  which  I  have  npt  been  abft  tp  give,  are  ranged  against 
me.  They  think  it  a  duty  to  resist  tjie  policy  of,  reyplufiqn-. 


544"-  NON-CO-OPERATIOfJ 

isiirg  the  Gove  rnment  policy  at  any  cost.  Knowing  tWs  E 
stand  before  ycu  in  fear  of  God  and  a  sense  of  duty  to  put 
this  before  you  for  your  hearty  acceptance. 

I  ask  you  to  dismiss  me,  for  the  time  being,  from  your 
consideration.     I  have  been   charged  of  saintliness  arid  a^ 
desire  for   dictatorship.   I  venture  to  say  that  I  do  not  stand 
before  you   either  as  a  saint  or  a  candidate  for  dictatorship^ 
I. Stand  beforeyou  to  present  to  you  the  results  of  my  rhany 
years'  pract  ical  experience  in  non-co-operation.   I  deny  the- 
cllarge  that  it  is  a  new  thing  in  the  country.      It  has  been 
accepted  at  hundreds  of  meetings  attended  by  thousaiids  oi 
iiien,  and  has  been  placed  in  working  order  since  the  first 
of  August  by  the  Mussalmars,  and   many  of  the  things  in 
the  programme  are  being  enforced  in  a  more  or  less  intense- 
form.     I  ask  you  again  to  dismiss  personalities  in  the  con- 
sideration of    this    important    question,  and  bring  to  bear 
patie  nt  and  calm  judgment  on  it.    But  a  mere   acceptance 
of  the   resolution  does  not   end  the  work.    Every  individual 
has  to  enforcethe  items  of  the  resolution  in  so  far  as  they  > 
apply  to  him.     I  beseech  you  to  give  me  a  patient  hearing. 
I  ask  you  neither  to  c)ap  nor  to  hiss.     I  do  not  mind  them 
so  far   as  lam  concerned,  but  clapping  hinders   the  flow  ol 
thought, clapping  and  hissing  hinder    the  process  of  corres- 
pondence between  a  Speaker   and  his  audience.     You  will 
not  h  iss  out  of  the  stage  -any  single  speaker.    For  non-co- 
oper ation  is  a  measure  of  discipline  and  sacrifice  and  it  de- 
mands patience  and  respect  for  opposite  views.  And  unless 
we  were  able  to  evolve  a  spirit  of  mutual  toleration  for  dia- 
metrically opposite  views,  non-co-operation  is  an  impossi- 
bility.    Non-co-operation  in    an   angry    atmosphere  is  an 
impossibility.    1  have  leaint  through  bitter  experience  the 
cne  supreme   lesson  to   conserve  my   anger,  and  as  heat 
conserved  is  transmuted  into  energy,  even  so  our  anger 


SPEECH  AT  THE  SPECIAL  CONGRESS        545 

controlled  can  be  transmuted  into  a  power  whiplican  move 
the  world.  To  those  who  have  been  attending  the  Con- 
gress, as  brothers  in  arms,  I  ask  what  can  be  better  disci- 
I^me  than  that  which  we  should  exercise  between  our- 
selves. 

I  have  been  told  that  I  have  been  doing  nothing  but 
wreckage  and  that  by  bringing  forward  the  resolatiori,  I  am. 
breaking  up  the  political  life  of  the  country.  The  Congress 
IS  not  a  party  organisation.  It  ought  to  provide  a  platform 
lor  all  shadeSL of  opinions,  and  a  minority  need  not  leave 
this  organisation,  but  may  look  forward  to  translate  itself 
into  a  majority,  in  course  of  time,  if  its  opinion  commended 
itself  to  the  country.  Only  let  no  man  in  the  name  of  the 
Congress  advocate  a  policy  with  has  been  condemned  by 
the  Congress.  And  if  you  condemn  my  policy,  I  shall  not 
go  away  from  the  Corigress,  but  shall  plead  with  them  tO' 
convert  the  minority  into  a  majority. 

There  are  no  two  opinions  as  to  the  wrong  done  to  the 
Khilafat. .  Mussalmans  cannot  remain  as  honourable  men 
and  follow  their  Prophet  if  they  do  not  vindicate  their 
iionour  at  any  cost.  The  Punjab  has  been  cruelly,  biiutally 
treated,  and  inasmuch  as  one  man  in.  the  Punjab  was  .made 
to  crawl  on  his  belly,  the  whole  of  India  crawled  on  her 
belly,  and  if  we  are  worthy  sons  and  daughters  of  India,  we 
should  be  pledged  to  remove  these  wrongs.,  It  is  in  order 
to  remove  these  wrongs  that  the  country  is  agitating  itself. 
But  we  have  not  been  able  to  bend  the  Government  to  our 
will.  We  cannot  rest  satisfied  with  a  mere  expression  of 
angry  feeling.  You  could  not  have  heard  a  more  passionate 
denunciation  of  the  JRunjab  wrongs  than  in  the  pages  of  the 
Presidential  address.  If  the  Congress  cannot  wring  justice 
from  unwilling  hands, Jiow  can  it  vindicate  its  existence  and 
its  honour  f  How  can  it  do  so  if  it  cannot  enforce  clear 
35 


546  NON-CO-OPERATION 

repentence,  before  receiving  a  single  gift,  however  rich, 
-from  those  blood-stained  hands. 

1  have  therefore  placed  before  you  my  scheme  of  non- 
-co-operation  to  achieve  this  end  and  vrant  you  to  reject  any 
other  scheme,  unless  you    have    deliberately    come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  a  better  scheme  than  mine.    If  there  is 
a  suflicient  response  to  my  sclieme,  I  make  bold  to  reiterate 
my  statement  that  you  can  gain  Swarajya  in  the  course  of  a 
j^ear.     Not  the  passing  of  the  resolution  will  bring  Swarajya 
but  the  enforcement  pf  the  resolution  from  day  to-day    in  a 
progressive  manner,  due  regard  being  had  to  the  conditions 
in  the  country.  There  is  another  remedy  before  the  country 
and    that  is  drawing     of  the    sword.     If  that  was  possible 
India  would  not  have  listened  to  the  gospel  of  non-co-opera- 
tion.    I  want  to  suggest  to  you  that,  even  if  you  want  to  ar- 
rest injustice  by  methods  of  violence,  discipline   and   self- 
sacrifice    are    necessary.     I     have    not   known  of  a  war 
gained     by     a    rabble,     but     I     have     known     of    wars 
gained    by     disciplined    armies     and     if    you    want  to 
give    battle    to     the    British   Government    and     to    the 
combined    power     of    Europe,    we     nrnst     train     oursel- 
ves in    discipline    and    self-sacrifice.     I    confess    I  have 
become  inpatient.    I  have  seen  that  we  deserve  Swarajya 
to-day,  biit  we  have  not  got  the  spirit,  of  national  sacrifice. 
We  have  evolved  this  spirit  in  domestic  affairs,  and  I  have 
come  to  ask  you  to  extend  it  to  other  affairs.     I  have  been 
travelling  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  country  to  sec 
whether  the  country  has  evolved  the  nationalspiiit,  whether 
at  the  altar  of  the  nation  it  is  ready  to  dedicate  its  riches, 
.  children,  its  all,  if  it  is  ready  to  make  the    initiatory    sacri- 
fice.   Is  the  country   ready  ?    Are  the  title    holders  ready 
.iq  spirender  their  titles  ?  Are  parents  ready  to  sacrifice  the 
literary  education  of  their  child  rein  for  the  sake    of  the 
rountry  ?    The  schools  and  colleges  are  really  a  factory  for 


SPEECH  AT  THE  SPECIAL  CONGRESS        547 

'turning  out  clerks  for  Government.  If  the  parents  are  not 
Tcady  for  the  sacrifice,  if  title-holders  not  ready,  Svarajya 
^js  very  nearly  an  impossibility.  No  nation  being  under 
another  nation  can  accept  gifts  and  kicks  at  the  responsibi- 
lity attaching  to  those  gifts,  imposed  by  the.  conquering 
4)ation.  Immediately  the  conquered  country  realised  in- 
■«ttnctively  that  any  gift  which  might  come  to  it  is  not  for 
the  benefit  of  the  conquered,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  con- 
queror, that  moment  it  should  reject  every  form  of  voluntary 
assistance  to  him.  These  are  the  fundamental  essentials  of 
success  in  the  struggle  for  the  independence  for  the  coun- 
try, whether  within  the  Empire  or  without  the  Empire.  I 
hold  a  real  substantial  unity  between  Hindus  and  Mussal- 
mans  infinitely  superior  to  the  British  connection  and  if  I 
had  to  make  a  choice  between  that  unity  and  the  British 
-connection  I  would  have  the  first  and  reject  the  other.  If 
J  had  to  choose  between  the  honour  of  the  Punjab,  anarchy, 
neglect  of  education,  shutting  oat  of  all  legislative  activity, 
-and  British  connection,  I  would  choose  the  honour  of  the 
Tunjab  and  all  it  meant,  even  anarchy,  shutting  out  of  all 
-schools  etc,  without  slightest  hesitation. 

If  you  have  the  same  feeling  burning  in  you  as  in  me 
'for  the  honour  of  Islam  and  the  Punjab,  then  you  will 
unreservedly  accept  my  resolution. 

I  now  come  to  the  burning  topic  viz.  the  boycott  of  the 
councils.  Sharpest  difFerences  of  opinion  existed  regarding 
this  and  if  the  house  has  to  divide  on  it,  it  must  divide  on 
•one  issue  »/"».  whether  Swarajya  has  to  be  gained  through 
the  councils  or  without  the  councils.  If  we  utterly  distrust 
the  British  Government  and  we  know  that  they  are  utterly 
>unrepehtant,  how  can  you  believe  that  the  councils  will  leack 
■to  Swai'ajya  and  not  tighten  the  British  hold  oti  India  f 


548  NON-CO-OPERATION 

I  n  ow  come  to  Swadeshi.  The  boycott  of  foreigit 
goods  is  included  in  the  lesolution.  You  have  got  here,-f 
confess,  an  anomaly  for  which  I  am  not  originally  respon- 
sible. But  I  have  consented  to  it.  I  will  not  go  into  the 
history  of  how  it  found  a  place  into  the  resolution,  ot  which 
the  essence  is  discipline  and  self-sacrifiCe.  Swadeshi  means 
permanent  boycott  of  foreign^  goods.  It  is  therefore  a 
matter  of  redundancy.  But  I  have  taken  it  in,  because  1. 
could  not  reject  it  as  a  matter  of  conscience.  I  know,  how- 
ever, it  is  a  physical  impossibility.  So  long  as  we  have  ta- 
rely  on  the  pins  and  needles — figurative  and  literal  both — 
we  cannot  bring  about  a  complete  boycott  of  foreign  goods.. 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  this  clause  mars  the  musical  har- 
mony, if  I  may  claim  it  without  vanity,  of  the  programme. 
I  feel  that  those  words  do  mar  the  symmetry  of  the  pro- 
gramme. But  I  am  not  here  for  symmetry  of  the  pro- 
gramme as  for  its  workability. 

I  again  ask  you  not  to  be  influenced  by  personality. 
Reject  out  of  your  consideration  any  service  that  I  have- 
done.  Two  things  only  I  claim.  Laborious  industry,  great 
thought  behind  any  programme,  and  unflinching  deter^ 
mination  to  bring  it  about.  You  may  take  only  thoser 
things  from  me,  and  bring  them  to  bear  on  any  programme- 
that  you  adopt. 


SWARAJ  IN  ONE  YEAR. 

[Since  tbfi  Special  Congress  at  Calcutta,  Mr.  Gandhi  constantly 
referred  to  the  possibility  of  obtaining  Swaraj  in  one  year.  Th« 
period  was  extended  to  the  end  of  Dec.  1921  and  Mr.  Gandhi,  in  his 
writings  and  speeches  during  this  period,  spolte  and  wrote  with  the- 
fervour  of  faith.  Even  in  the  last  week  of  December  he  never 
showed  any  wavering  of  faith.  In  reply  to  his  critics  who  could' 
not  believe  in  the  practicability  of  achieving  Swaraj  inside  the  year,, 
Mr.   Gandhi  wrote  in  Young  India  in  October,  1920  :] 


SWARAJ  IN  ONE  YEAR  549 

Much  laughter  has  been  indulged  in  at  my  expense  for 
bavlng  told  the  Congress  audience  at  Calcutta  that,  if  there 
=was  sufficient  response  to  my  programme  of  Non-Co-opera- 
tion,  Svaraj  would  be  attained  in  one  year.  Some  have 
Ignored  my  condition  and  laughed  because  of  the  impOSs  i- 
bility  of  getting  Swaraj  anyhow  within  one  year.  Others 
have  spelt  the  "  if  "  in  capitals  and  suggested  that  if  "  ifs  " 
^ere  permissible  in  argument,  any  absurdity  could  be  proved 
to  be  a  possibility.  My  proposition,  however,  is  based  on  a 
mathematical  calculation.  And  I  venture  to  say  that  true 
Swaraj  is  a  practical  impossibility  without  due  fulfilment  of 
my  conditions.  Swaraj  means  a  state  such  that  we  can 
maintain  our  separate  existence  without  the  presence  of  the 
English.  If  it  is  to  be  a  partnership,  it  must  bs  a  partner- 
ship at  will.  There  can  be  no  Swaraj  without  our  feeling 
tind  being  the  equals  of  Englishmen.  To-day  we  feel  that 
■we  are  dependent  upon  them  for  our  internal  and  external 
-security,  for' an  armed  peace  between  the  Hindus  and  the 
Mussulmans,  for  our  education  and  for  the  supply  of  daily 
wants,  nay,  even  for  the  settlement  of  our  religiouS.squabbles, 
The  Rajahs  are  dependent  upon  the  British  for  their  powers 
^nd  the  millionaires  for  their  millions.  The  British  know 
our  helplessness  and  Sir  Thomas  Holland  cracks  jokes 
-quite  legitimately  at  the  expense  of  Non-0 o -op  erationists; 
To  get  Swaraj  then  is  to  get  rid  of  our  helplessness.  The 
problem  is  no  doubt  stupendous,  even  as  it  is  for  the  fabled 
Hioa  who,  having  been  brought  up  in  the  company  of  goats, 
-found  it  impossible  to  feel  that  he  was  a  lion.  As  Tolstoy 
used  to  put  it,  mankind  often  laboured  under  hypnotism. 
■Under  its  Spell  continuously  we  feel  the  feeling  of  helpless- 
ness. The  British  themselves  cannot  be  expected  to  help 
•us  out  of  it.  On  the  contrary,  they  din  into  our  ears  that 
we  shall  be  fit  to  govern  ourselves  only  by  slow  educative 
processes.    The  Times  suggested  that,  if  we  boy  cott  the 


550  NON-CO-OPERATION 

cduncils*  we    shall   lose  the    opportunity  of  a  training    iit> 
Swaraj.    I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many  who  believer 
what  the  Times   says.    It  even    resorts    to    falsehood.     It 
audaciously  says  that  Lord  Milner's  Mission  listened  to  the 
Egyptians  only  when  they  were  ready  to  lift  the  boycott  of' 
the  Egyptian  Council.    For  me  the  only  training   iii  Swaraj^ 
we  need  is  the  ability  to  defend  ourselves  against  the  whole- 
world  and  to  live  our  natural  life  in   perfect  freedom   even 
though  it  may  be  full  of  defects.    Good  government  is  no- 
substitute  for  self-government.    The  Afghans   have  a  bad 
government,  but  it  is  self-government.    I  envy  them.    The- 
Japanese  learnt  the  art  through  a  sea  of  blood.     And  if  we- 
to-day  had.  the  power  to   drive  out  the  English  by  superior 
brute  force,  we  would  be  counted  their  superiors,  and  in  spit'e- 
ef  our    inexperience   in  debating  at  the  Council  table  or  in. 
holding  executive   offices,  we  would   be  held    fit  to  governf 
ourselves.    For   brute  force   is  the  only  test  the  West   has 
hitherto    recognised.    The    Germans    were    defeated    not 
because  they  were  necessarily  in  the  wrong,  but  because  the.- 
Allied  Powers  were  found  to  possess  greater  brute  strength' 
In  the  end,  therefor^,    India  must    either  learn  the   art  ot 
war  which  the  British  will  not  teach  her,  or  she  must  follow 
her  own  way  of  discipline  and  self-sacrifice  through  Non-Co— 
operation.     It  is  as  amazing  as  it   is  humiliating  that   lesEr- 
than  one  hundred  thousand    white  men  should  be  able   to 
rule  three  hundred  and  fifteen  million  Indians.    They  do  so ' 
somewhat  undoubtedly  by  force  but  more  by,  securing  our 
co-operation  in  a  thousand  ways  and  making  us  more  andi 
jnore  helpless  and  dependent  on  them  as  time  goes  forward. 
Let  us  not  mistake  reformed  councils,  more  law  courts  and' 
even  governorships   for  real  freedom  or  power.    They   are 
but  subtler  methods  of  emasculation.    The  British  cannot^ 
jule  us  by  mere   fprce.    And  so  they  resort  to  all  means,i 
iionouiable  and/Bishonourable,  in  order  to  retain  their  holda 


SWARAJ  IN  ONE  YEAR  551 

on  India.  Th  ey  want  India's  billions  and  they  want  India's 
man-power  for  their  imperialistic  greed.  If  we  refuse  to 
supply  them  with  men  and  money,  we  achieve  our  goal, 
namely,  Swaraj,  equality,  manliness.  * 

The  cup  of  our  humiliation  was  filled  during  the  closing 
scenes  in  the  Viceregal  Council.  Mr.  Shastri  could  not  move 
his  resolution  on  the  Punjab.  The  Indian  victims  of 
Jallianwala  received  Ks.  1250,  the  English  victims  of  mob 
frenzy  received  lacs.  The  officials  who  were  guilty  of 
crimes  against  those  whose  servants  they  were,  were  repri- 
manded. And  the  councillors  were  satisfied^  If  India  were 
powerful,  India  would  not  have  stood  this  addition  of  insult 
to  her  injury. 

I  do  not  blame  the  British.  If  we  were  weak  in  numbers, 
as  they  are,we  too  would  perhaps  have  resorted  to  the  same 
methods  as  they  are  now  employing.  Terrorism  and 
deception  are  weapons  not  of  the  strong  but  of  the  weak. 
The,  British  are  weak  in  numbers,  we  are  weak  in  spite  of 
our  numbers.  The  result  is  that  each  is  dragging  the  other 
down.  It. is  common  experience  that  Englishmen  lose  in 
character  after  residence  in  India  and  that  Indians  lose  in 
courage  and  manliness  by  contact  with  Englishmen.  This 
process  of  weakening  is  good  neither  for  us,  two  nations, 
nor  for  the  world. 

But  if  we  Indians  take  care  of  ourselves,  the  English 
and  the  rest  of  the  world  would  take  care  of  themselves. 
Our  contribution  to  the  world's  progress  must  therefore  con- 
sist in  setting  our  own  house  in  order. 

Training  in  arms  for  the  present  is  out  of  the  question. 
I  go  a  step      further  and    believe  that     India  has  a  better 
mission  for  the  world.    It  is  within  her  power  to  show    that 
she  can  achieve  her  destiny  by  puie  self-sacrifice,  i.e.,  self- 
purification.    This  can  be  done  only  by  Non-Co-operatiOn 


552  NON-CO-OPERATION 

And  Non-Co-operation  is  possible  only  when  those  who  com- 
menced to  co-operate  begin  the  process  of  withdrawal.  If  we 
can  but  free  ourselves  from  the  threefold  Maya  of  Govern- 
ment-controlled schools,  Government  law  courts  and 
legislative  councils,  and  truly  control  our  own  education, 
regulate  our  disputes,  and  be  indifferent  to  their  legislation, 
■we  are  ready  to  govern  ourselves,  and  we  are  only  then  ready 
to  ask  the  Government  servants,  whether  civil  or 
military,  to  resign,  and  the  taxpayers  to  suspend  payment 
of  taxes. 

And  is  it  such  an  impracticable  proposition  to  expect 
parents  to  withdraw  their  children  from  schools  and  colleges 
and  establish  their  own  institutions,  or  to  ask  lawyers 
to  suspend  their  practice  and  devote  their  whole  time  and 
attention  to  national  service  against  payment,  where  neces- 
sary, of  their  maintenance  or  to  ask  candidates  for  councils 
not  to  enter  councils  and  lend  their  passive  or  active  assist- 
ance to  the  legislative  machinery  through  which  all  control 
is^excercised.The  movement  of  Non-Co-operation  is  nothing 
but  an  attempt  to  Isolate  the  brute  force  of  the  British  from 
all  the  trappings  under  which  it  is  hidden  and  to  show  that 
brute  force  by  itself  cannot  for  one  single  moment  hold 
India. 

But  I  frankly  confess  that,  until  the  three  conditions 
mentioned  by  me  are  fulfilled,  there  is  no  Swaraj.  We  may 
not  go  on  taking  our  college  degrees,  taking  thousands  of 
rupees  monthly  from  clients  for  cases  which  can  be  finished 
in  five  minutes,  and  taking  the  keenest  delight  in  wasting 
the  national  time  on  the  council  floor,  and  still  expect  to 
gain  national  self-respect. 

The  last,  though  not  the  least,  important  part  of  th^ 
Maya  still  remains  to  be  considered.  That  is  Swadeshi. 
Had  we  not  abandoned  Swadeshi,  we  need  not  have  been  in 
the  present  fallen  state.  If  we  would  get  rid  of  the  economic 


TO  EVERY  ENGLISHMAN  IN  INDIA         5^ 

-slavery,  we  must  manufacture  our  own  cloth.and  at  the 
present  moment  only  by  hand-spinning  and  hand- 
weaving.  ^ 

All  this  means  discipline,  self-denial,  self-sa'crlfice, 
orgknising  ability,   confidence,  and  courage.    If   we    show 

"this  in  one  year  among  the  classes    that  to-day  count,    and 

-make  public  opinion,  we  certainly  gain  Swaraj  within  one 
year.     If  I  am  told  that  even  we  who  lead  have  not    these 

-qualities  In  us,  there  certainly  will  never  be  Swaraj  for  India 
bur  then  we  shall  have  no  right  to  blame   the  English  for 

-what  they  are  doing.    Our  salvation  and  its  time  are  solely 

■dependent  upon  us. 


TO  EVERY  ENGLISHMAN  IN  INDIA. 

[Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  following  two  open  letters  in  the  pages 
■oi  his  Young  India.  Like  every  one  of  his  articles,  they  were  widely 
reproduced  in  the  press.  The  letters  deal  with  all  the  topics  connect- 
•  ed  with  the  Non-Co-operation  movement.  The  first  was  written 
-  in  October  1920  and  the  second  in  July  1921 :] 

I 

iDear  Friend, 

I  wish  that  every  Englishman    will  see  this   appeal  and 

:  give  thoughtful  attention  to  it.. 

Let  me  introduce  myself  to  you.  In  my  humble  opin- 
ion, no  Indian  has  co-operated  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment more  than  I  have  for  an  unbrolsen  period  of  twenty- 
nine  years  of  public  life  in  the  face  of  circumstances  that 
might  well  have  turned  any  other  man  into  a  rebel.    I  ask 

■you  to  believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  my  co-operation  was 
not  based  on  the  fear  of  the  punishments  provided  by  your 
laws  or  any  other  selfish  motives.  It  was  free  and  voluntary 

-co-bperation  based  on  the  belief  that  the  sum  total  of  the 
British  Government  was  for  the  benefit  of  India,    I  put  my 


554  NON-CO-OPERATION 

life  in  peril  four  times  for  the  sake  of  the    Empire, — at  the- 
time  of  the  Boer  war  when  I  was  in  charge  of    the   Ambu- 
lance corps  wliose  work  was  mentioned  in  General  Bullef 's< 
despatches,  at  the  time  of  the  Zulu  revolt  in  Natal  when  I 
was  in  charge  of  a  similar  corps,  at  the  time  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  late  war  when    I  raised   an  Ambulance- 
corps  and  as  a  lesult  of  the  strenuous  training  had  a  severe- 
attack  of  pleuiisy,  ar.d  lastly,  in  fulfilment  of    my  promise- 
to  Lord    Chelmsford  at  the    War  Conference    in    Delhi,  L 
threw    myself  in    such  an    active    recruiting    campaign  in 
Kaira  District  involving   long  and  trying  marches,    that  I 
had  an  attack  of  dysentery  which  proved    almost  fatal.     L 
did  all  this  in  the  full    belief  that  acts  such  as    mine  m  ust 
gain  for  my  country   an  equal    status  in    the  Empire.     SO' 
last  December  I  pleaded  hard  for  a  trustful  co-operation.  Ik 
fully  believed  that  Mr.Lloyd  George  would  redeem  his  pro- 
mise to  the   Mussalmans  and    that  the    revelations    of  the- 
of  the  official   atrocities    in  the  Punjab   would  secure    full 
repa  ration  for   the   Punjabis.    But    the   treachery  of  Mr^ 
Lloy  d  George  snd  its  appreciation  by  you,  and  the   condo- 
nation of  the  Punjab  atrocities  have   completely   shattered 
my    faith  in  the  good   intentions  of  the  Government   and 
the  nation  which  is  supporting  it. 

But  though  my  faith  in  your  good  intentions  is  gone,. 
I  re  cognise  your  bravery  and  I  know  that  what  you  will  not 
yield  to  justice  and  reason,  you  will  gladly  yield  to  bravery.. 

See  what  this  Empire  means  to  India: — 

Exploitation  of  India's  resources  for  the  benefit  of 
Great  Britain, 

An  ever-increasing  military  expenditure,  and  a  :civil 
service  the  most  expensive  in  the  world. 

Extravagant  working  of  every  department  in  utter  dis- 
regard of  India's  poverty, 


TO  EVERY  ENGLISHMAN  IK  INDIA  'S^S- 

Disarmament  and  consequent  emasculation  of  a  whole- 
nation  lest  an  armed  nation  might  imperil  the  lives  of  a- 
bandful  of  you  in  our  midst, 

TraiBc  in  intoxicating  liquors  and  drugs  for  the  purpose- 
of  sustaining  a  top  heavy  administration, 

Progressively   representative    legislation  in    order  to- 
suppress  an  evergrowing  agitation  seeking  to  give  expression 
lo  a  nation's  agony. 

Degrading  treatment  of  Indians  residing  in  your 
dominions,  and 

You  have  shown  total  disregard  of  our  feelings  by- 
glorifying  the  Punjab  administration  and  flouting  the- 
Mussalman  sentiment. 

I  know  you  would  not  mind  if  we  could  fight  and  wrest 
the  sceptre  from  your  hand's.  You  know  that  we  are- 
powerless  to  do  that,  for  you  have  ensured  our  .  incapacity 
to  fight  in  open  and  honourable  battle.  Bravery  on  the- 
battlefield  is  thus  impossible  for  us.  Bravery  of  the  soul  stills 
remains  open  to  us.  I  know  you  will  respond  to  that  also. 
I  am  engaged  in  evoking  that  bravery.  Non-co-operation- 
means  nothing  less  than  training  in  self-sacrifice.  Why 
should  we  co-operate  with  you  when  we  know  that  by  your 
administration  of  this  great  country  we  are  being  daily  en- 
slaved in  an  increasing  degree.  This  response  of  the  people- 
to  my  appeal  is  not  due  to  my  personality.  I  would  like 
you  to  dismiss  me,  and  for  that  matter  the  Ali  Brothers  too,. 
from  your  consideration.  My  personality  will  fail  to  evoke 
any  response  to  anti- Muslim  cry  if  I  were  foolish  .enoughs 
to  raise  it,  as  the  maigic  name  of  the  Ali  Brothers  would  fail.. 
to  inspire  the  Mussalmans  with  enthusiasm  if  they  were- 
madly  to  raise  in  anti-Hindu  cry.  People  flock  in  their' 
thousands  to  listen  to  us  because  we  to-day  represent  voice 
of  a  nation  groaning  under  iron  heels.  The  Ali  Brothers- 
were   your    friends  as  I  was,    and    still  am.    My  religiotk 


-^556  NON-CO-OPERATION 

■forbids  me  to  bear  any  ill-will  towards  you.  I  would  not 
raise  my  hand  against  you  even  if  I  had  the  power.  I  expect 
to  conquer  you  only  by  my  suffering.  The  All  Brothers 
will  certainly  draw  the  sword,  if  they  could,  in  defence  of 
their  religion  and  their  country.    But  they  and  I  have  made 

■common  cause  with  the  people  of  India  in  their  attempt 
to  voice  their  feelings  and  to  find  a  remedy  for  their 
distress. 

You  are  in  search  of  a  remedy  to  suppress  this  rising 

•  ebullition  of  national  feeling.  I  venture  to  suggest  to  you 
that  the  only  way  to  suppress  it  is  to  remove  the  causes. 
You  have  yet  the  power.  You  can  repent  of  the  wrongs 
done  to  Indians.  You  can  compel  Mr.  Lloyd  George  to 
redeem  his  promises.  I  assure  you  he  has  kept  many  escape 
doors.  You  can  compel  the  Viceroy  to  retire  in  favour  of  a 
better  one,  you    can  revise    your  ideas    about  Sir    Michael 

-O'Dwyer  and  General  Dyer.  You  can  compel  the  Govern- 
ment to  summon  a  conference  of  the  recognised  leaders  of 
the  people,  duly  elected  by  them  and  representing  all 
shades  of  opinion  so  as  to  devise  means  for  granting  Swaraj 
in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  people  of  India. 

But  this  you  cannot  do  unless  you  consider  every 
Indian  to  be  in  reality  your  equal  and  brother.  I  ask  for 
no  patronage,  I  merely  point  out  to  you,  as  a  friend,  an 
honourable  solution  of  a  grave  problem.  The  other  solution, 
namely  repression,  is  open  to  yOu.     I  prophesy    that  it  will 

-fail.    It  has  begun  already.    The  Government  has  already 

imprisoned  two  brave  men  of  Panipat  for  holding  and 
■expressing  their  opinions  freely.    Another  is  on  his  trial  in 

Xahore  for  having  expressed  similar  opinions.  One  in  the 
Oudh  District  is  already  imprisoned.  Another  awaits 
judgment.    You  should  know  what  is  going  on  in  your  midst. 

-K^ur  propaganda  is  being  carried  on  in  anticipation  of  re- 

gpression.    I  invite  you  respectfully  to  choose  the  better  way 


TO  EVERY  ENGLISHMAN  IN  INDIA  557" 

and  make  common  cause  with  the  people  of  lodia  whose 
salt  you  are  eating.  To  seek  to  thwart  their  aspirations  is 
disloyalty  to  the  country. 

I  am. 

Your  faithful  friend, 

M.  K.  GANDHI. 

II 

Dear  friend,— This  is  the  second  time  I  venture  to 
-address  you.  I  know,  that  most  of  you  detest  Non-Co- 
operation.  But  I  would  invite  you  to  isolate  two  of  my 
activities  from  the  rest,  if  you  can  give  me  credit  for 
honesty. 

I  cannot  prove  my  honesty,  if  you  do  not  feel  it. 
Some  of  my  Indian  friends  charge  me  with  camouflage, 
when  I  say  we  need  not  hate  Englishmen,  whilst  we  may 
hate  the  system  they  have  established.  I  am  trying  to 
show  themi  that  one  may  detest  the  wickedness  of  a  brother 
without  hating  him.  Jesus  denounced  the  wickedness  of 
the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees,  but  he  did  not  hate  them. 
He  did  not  enunciate  this  law  of  love  for  the  man  and  hate 
for  the  evil  in  him  for  himself  only,  but  he  taught  the 
doctrine  for  universal  practice.  Indeed,  I  find  it  in  all  tht 
scriptures  of  the  world. 

I  claim  to  be  a  fairly  accurate  student  of  human  nature 
and  vivisector  of  my  own  failings.     I  have  discovered,  that 
man  is  superior  to  the  system  he    propounds.     And   so   I " 
feci,  that  you  as  an  individual  are  infinitely  better    than  the- 
System    you    have    evolved  as  a  corporation.    Each  one  of  - 
my    countrymen  in  Amritsar  on  that  fateful  loth  of  April 
was  better  than  the  crowd  of  which  he  was  a  member.    He, 
as  a  man,    would    have    declined  to  kill    those    innocent 
English  bank  managers.    But  in  that  crowd,  many  a  man 
forgot  himself.  •  Hence  it  is,  that  an   Englishman  iiioffiCt- 


558  NON-CO-OPERATION 

is  different  from  an  Englishman  outside.  Similar!;  an 
Englishman  in  India  is  different  from  an  Englishman  in 
England.    Here  in   India,  you  belong  to  a  system  that  is 

-vile    beyond    description.    It  is  possible,  therefore,  for  me 

'to  condemn   the   system   in  the  strongest   terms,   without 

-considering  you  to  be  bad  and  without  imputing  bad 
motives  to  every  Englishman.  You  are  as  much  slaves  of 
the  system  as  we  are.  I  want  you,  therefore,  to  reciprocate, 
and  not  impute  to  me  motives  which  you  cannot  read  in 
the  written  word. .  I  give  you  the  whple  of  my  motive  when 

I  tell  you,  that  I  am   impatient  to  end   or   mend  a  system, 

-which  has  made  India  subservient  to  a  handful  of  you  and 
which  has  made  Englishmen  feel  secure  only  ill'  the  shadow 
of  the  forts  and  the  guns  that  obtrude    themselves  on  one's 

-.notice  in  India.  It  is  a  degrading  spectacle  for  you  and 
for  us.     Our  corporate  life  is  based  on  mutual  distrust   and 

-fear.  This,  you  will  admit,  is  unmanly.  A  system  that  is 
responsible  for  such  a  state  of  things,  is  necessarily  Satanic. 
You  should  be  able  to  live  in  India  as  an  integral  part  of  its 

jieople  and  not  always  as  foreign  exploiters.  One  thousand 
Indian  lives    against  one  English    life  is  a  doctrine  of  dark 

-despair,  and  yet  believe  me,  it  was  enunciated  in  1919  hy 
the  highest  of  you  ip  the  land. 

I  almost    feel    tempted  to  invite  you  to  join  me  in 
destroying  a  system  that,  has  dragged   both  you  and    us 

-down.  But  I  feel  1  cannot  as  yet  do  so.  We  have  not 
shown  ourselves  earnest,  self-sacrificing  and  self-restrained 

•enough  for  that  consummation. 

But  1  do  ask  you  to  help  us  in  the  boycott  of  foreign 
doth  and Jn  the  anti-drink  campaign. 

The  Lancashire    cloth,   as    English    historians    have 

-shoffn,  w:as.  forced  upon   India,  and  her  own  world-famed 

-unanufactures  vfere  deliberately  and  systematically  ruined, 
l^dia  is,  therefore,  at  thje  mercy  not  only  of  Lancashire  but 


TO  EVERY  ENGLISHMAN  IN  INDIA  559 

also  of  Japan,  France,  and  America.  Just  see  what  this 
has  meant  to  India.  We  send  out  of  India  every  year  sixty 
<:rores  (more  or  less)  rf^iupees  for  cloth.  We  grow  enough 
•cotton  for  our  own  cloth.  Is  it  not  madness  to  send  cotton 
•outside  India,  and  have  it  manufactured  into  cloth  there 
and  shipped  to  us  T  Was  it  right  to  reduce  India  to  such  s 
helpless  state  f 

A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  we  manufactured  all 
•Our  cloth.  Our  women  spun  fine  yarn  in  their  own  cottages, 
-and  supplemented  the  earnings  of  their  husbands.  Th« 
village  weavers  wove  that  yarn.  It  was  an  indispensable 
part  of  national  economy  in  a  vast  agricultural  country  like 
ours.  It  enabled  us  in  a  most  natural  manner  to  utilise  our 
leisure.  Tosday  our  women  have  lost  the  cunning  of  their 
hands,  and.  the  enforced  idleness  of  millions  has  impoverish- 
ed.the  land.  Many  weavers  have  become  sweepers. 
Some  have  taken  to  the  profession  of  hired  soldiers.  Half 
the  race  of  artistic  weavers  has  died  out,  and  the  other  lialf 
is  weaving  imported  foreign  yarn  for  want  of  finer  hand- 
spun  yarn.  j 

You  will  perhaps  now  "understand  what  boycott  of 
-foreign  cloth  means  to  India..  It  is  not  devised  as  a 
punishment.  If  the  Government  were  to-day  to  redress  the 
Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs  and  consent  to  Indja 
attaining  immediate  Swaraj,  the  boycott  movement  must 
still  continue.  Swaraj  means  at  least  the  power  to  conserve 
Indian  industries  that  are  vital- to  the  economic  existence 
-of  the  nation,  and  to  prohibit  such  imports  as  may  interfere 
with  such  existence.  Agriculture  and  hand-spinning  are 
the  two  lungs  of  the  national  bady.  They  must  be  protected 
against  consumption  at  any  cost, 

;Tbis  m^ter  does  not  admit  of  any  waiting.  The 
interests  of  tbi:.  foreign  manufacturet^  and  the  Indian 
importers  CiMnf>A^  ^  considered,  when' the  whole  nation  is 


560  NON-CO-OPERATION 

starving  for  want  of  a  large  productive  occupation  ancillar}r 
to  agriculture. 

You  will  not  mistake  this  for  a  movement  of  general 
boycott  of  foreign  goods.  India  does  not  wish  to  shut 
herself  .  out  of  international  commerce.  Things  other  than^: 
cloth  which  can  be  better  made  outside  India,  she  must 
gratefully  receive  upon  terms  advantageous,  to  the  con- 
tracting parties.  Nothing  can  be  forced  upon  her.  But  L 
do  not  wish  to  peep  into  the  future.  1  am  certainly  hOpfngr 
that  before  long  it  would  be  possible  for  India  to  co-operat^ 
with  England  on  equal  terms.  Then  will  be  the  time  for 
examining  trade  relations.  For  the  time  being,  1  bespeak- 
your  help  in  bringing  about  a  boycott  of  foreign  cloth. 

Of  similar  and  equal  importance  is  the  campaign 
against  drink.  The  liquor  shops  are  an  insufferable  curse^ 
imposed  upon  society.  There  never  was  so  much  awaken- 
ing among  the  people  as  now,  upon  this  question.  I  admit 
that  here,  it  is  the  Indian  ministers  who  can  help  more- 
than  you  can.  But  1  would  like  you  to  speak  out  your 
mind  clearly  on  the  question.  Under  every  system  of" 
government  total  prohibition,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  will  be 
insisted  upon  by  the  nation.  You  can  assist  the  growth  of 
the  ever-rising  agitation  by  throwing  in  the  weight  of  your 
influence  on  the  side  of  the  nation. 

I  am, 

Your  faithful  friend, 

M.  K.  Gandhi. 


THE  CREED  OF  THE  CONGRESS 

[Mti  Gandhi,  in  moving  his  resolution  on  the  creed  of  Sie 
<k)ngress  at  the  Nagpur  session  in  December  1920,  said  :^ 

The  resolution  which  1  have  the  honour  to  move  is  as 
iollows;  "  The  object  of  the  Indian  National  Congreiss  is 
4he  attainment  of  Swarajya  by  the  people  of  India  by  all 
4egitimate  and  peaceful  means." 

There  are    only  two  kinds   of    objections,  so  far  as  2 

>iinderstand,  that  will  be  advanced  from  this  platform.   One 

is  that  we  may  not  to-day  think  of    dissolving  the    British 

•^Qnnection,     What  I  say  is  that.it  is  derogatory  to  nationai 

idignity  to  think  of  the  permanence  of  British  connection  at 

•ajiy  cost,   ^We  are  labouring  under  a  grievous  wrong,  whicfa 

it  is  the  personal  duty  of    every    Indian    to  get  redr^sed. 

Tl?is  British  Government  not   only    refuses   to  redress   the 

'Wrong,  but  it  refuses  to    acknowledge    its  mistake  tihd    so 

Uong  as  it  retains  its  attitude,  it  |s  not  possible  for  us  to  say 

-all  that  we  want  to  be  or  all  that  we  want  to  get,   retaining 

IBritish  connection.     No  matter  what  difficulties  be    in  our 

j)at1it  we  must  make  the  clearest  possible  declaration  to  the 

-world  and  to  the  whole  of  India,  that  we   may   not  possibly 

%ave  British  connection,  if  the  British   people   wilt   not   do 

this  elementary  justice.    I  do  not,  for  one  moment,'SBggest 

that  we  want  to    end    the    connection    at    all    costs;    an-i 

■conditioiially.    If  the  British  coiinection  is  for  the  advsiiice^ 

;inent  of  India,  we  do  notvant  to    destroy   it.    But  if  it   is 

qnconsistent  with  our   national   self-respect  tbefi   it  is  our 

Ibounden  duty  to  destroy  it.    -There  is  room  in  this  resolii- 

<tion  for  both— those  who  believe  that,  by  retaining   British. 

iconncction,  we  can  purify  ourselves    and  purify   Britisk 

■    3«  "         ■" 


562  NON-CO-OPERATION 

people,  and  those  who  have   no  belief.    As  for   instance;. 
tate  the  extreme  case  of  Mr.  Andrews,    He  says  all   hope- 
for  India  is  gone  for  keeping   the  British  connection.    He 
sajrs  there  must  be  complete  severance — complete  indepen- 
dence^     There  is  room  enough  in  this  creed  for    a  man  like 
Mr.  Andrews  also.     Take  another  illustration,  a  man  like 
myself  or  my  brother  Shaukat  Ali.    There  is   certainly  no 
room  for  us,  if  we  have  eternally  to    subscribe  to   the  doc-r 
trine,  whether  these  wrongs  are  redressed  or  not,    we   shgll 
have  to  evolve  ourselves  within  the  British  Empire:  there  is- 
no  room   for   me   in  that  creed.    Therefore  this  creed  is- 
elastic  enough  to  take  in  both  shades  of  opinions  and   the 
British  people  will  have  to  beware  that,  if  they  do    not  waijf 
to  do  justice,  it  will  be  the  bounden  duty  of  every  Indiaftto- 
destroy  the  Empire. 

I  want  just  now  to  wind'  up  my  remarks  with  a  personal 
appeal,  drawing  your  attention  to  an  object  lesson   that  was- 
presented  in    the   Bengal    camp    yesterday.     If    you  want 
$waraj,  you  have  got  a  demonstration  of  how  to  get  Swaraj. - 
There  was  a  little    bit  of  skirmish,  a  little  bit  of  squabble, 
and  a  Utile  bit  of   difference  in   the  Bengal  camp,  as   there 
will  always  be  differences  so  long  as  the  world  lasts.  I  have 
known  differences  between  husband  and  wife,  because  I  am. 
still  a  husband  ;  I  have  noticed  differences  between  pirents- 
and  children,  because  I  am  still  a  father   of  four  boys,  and< 
they  are  all  strong  enough  to   destroy  their  father  so  far  as- 
bodily  struggle  is  concerned;  I  possess  that  varied  experience-  . 
of  husband  and  parent  ;   I  know  that  we  shair  always   have- 
squabbles,  we  shall  always  have   differences  but  the  lesson 
that  I  want  to    draw  your    attention  to    is  that    I  had    the- 
honour  and  privilege  of  addressing  both  the  parties.    They 
^ve  Ine  their  andivided  attention,  and  wfiat  is  more  they 
Stowed  their  attachment,  their  affection  and  their  fellowship- 


THE  CREED  OF  TJfE  CONGRESS  563 

for  me  b};  accepting  the  humble  advice  that  I  had  the 
lionouf  of:  tendering  to  them,  and  I  told  them  I  am  not  here 
to  distribute  justice  that  can  be  awarded  only  (hrgugh  our 
worthy  president.  But  I  ask  you  notto  go  to  the  president,. 
jrou>need  not  worry  hiin>.  It  you  are  strong,  if  you  a'& 
brave,  if  you  are  intent  upon  getting  Swaraj,  and  .if-  ypu> 
ieaUy>  want  to  revise  the  creed,  then  you  will  bottle  up  your 
rage,  you-  will  bottle  up  all  the  feelings  of  injustice  :that 
may  rankle  in  your  hearts  and  forget  these  things  here 
under  this  very  roof  and  I  told  them  to  forget  their  djSereiri- 
ces,  to  forget  the  wrongs.  I  don't  want  to.  tell  you  or  go 
into  the  history  of  that  incident.  Probably  most  of  yoa 
know.  I  simply  want  to  invite  your  attention  to  the  fact. 
I  don't  say  they  have  settled  up  their  differences.  I  hope 
they  have,  but  I  do  know  that  they  undertook  to  forget  the 
differences.  •  They  undertook^  not  to  worry  the  ,  President, 
they  undertook  not  to  make  any  demonstration  here  or  in 
the  Subjects  Committee.  All  honour  to  those  who  listened 
to  th4t  advice. 

roniy  wanted  my  Bengali  friends  and  all  the  other 
friends  who  have  come  to  this  great  assembly  with  a  fixed 
determination  to  seek  nothing  but  the  settlement  of  their  , 
coiiiirry,  to  seek  nothing  but  the  advancement  of  their 
respective  rights,  to  seek  nothing  but  the  conservation  of 
the  national  honour.  I  appeal  to  every  one  of  you  to 
copy  the  example  set  by  those  who  felt  aggrieved  and  who 
felt  that  their  heads  were  broken.  I  know,  before  we  have 
done  with  this  great  battle  on  which  we  have  embarked  at 
the  special  sessions  of  the  Congress,  we  have  to  go  probably,, 
possibly  through  a  sea  of  blood,  but  let  it  not  be  said  of  us 
or  any  one  of  us  that  we  are  guilty  of  shedding  blood,  but 
let  it  be  said  by  geilerationsyet  to  be  born  that  we  suffered, 
that  we  shed  not    somebody's    blood  but  our  own,  and  so 


564  NON-CO-OPERATION 

r  hare  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  1  do  not  want  to  shdv 
much  sympathy  for  those  who  had  their  heads  broken  or 
who  were  said  to  be  even  in  danger  of  losing  their  lives. 
What  does  it  matter  ?  It  is  much  better  to  die  at  the 
hands,  at  least,  of  our  own  countrymen.  What  is  there  to 
revenge  ourselves  about  or  upon.  So  I  ask  everyone  of 
you  that,  if  at  any  time  there  is  blood-boiling  within  you 
against  some  fellow  countrymen  of  yours,  even  though  he 
may  be  in  the  employ  of  Government,  even  though  he  may 
be  in  the  Secret  Service,  you  will  take  care  not  to  be 
offended  and  not  to  return  blow  for  blow.  Understand 
that  the  very  moment  you  return  the  blow  from  the  detec- 
tive, your  cause  is  lost.  This  is  your  non-violent  campaign. 
And  so  I  ask  everyone  of  you  not  to  retaliate  but  to  bottle 
«p  all  your  rage,  to  dismiss  your  rage  from  you  and  you 
will  rise  graver  men:  I  am  here  to  congratulate  those  who 
have  restrained  themselves  from  going  to  the  President  and 
bringing  the  dispute  before  him. 

Therefore  1  appeal  to  those  who  feel  aggrieved  to  feel 
that  they  have  done  the  right  thing  in  forgetting  it  and  if 
they  have  not  foraoiten  I  ask  them  to  try  to  forget  the 
thing  ;  and  thai  is  the  object  lesson  to  which  1  wanted  to 
draw  yotir  attention  if  you  want  to  carry  this  resolution. 
Do  not  carry  this  resolution  pnly  by  an  acclamation  for 
this  resolution,  but  I  want  you  to  accompany  the  carrying 
out  of  this  resolution  with  a  faith  and  resolve  which  noth- 
ing on  earth  can  move.  That  you  are  intent  upon  getting 
Swaraj  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  and  that  you  are 
intent  upon  getting  Swaraj  by  means  that  are  legitimate, 
that  are  honourable  and  by  means  that  are  non-violent, 
that  are  pacefiil,  you  have  resolved  upon,  so  far  you  can 
say  to  day.  We  cannot  give  battle  to  this  Qoverntnent  by 
means  of  steel,  but  we  can  give  battle  by  exercising,  what 


APPEAL -TO  YOUNG  BENGAL      565 

I  have  so  often  called.  "  soul  force  "  and  soul  force  is  not 
the  prerogative  of  one  man  or  a  Sanyasi  or  even  a  sorcalled 
saint.  Soul  force  is  the  prerogative  of  every  human  being, 
female  or  male,  and  tberefoie  I  ask  my  countiymen,  if 
they  want  to  accept  this  resolution,  to  accept  it  with  that 
firm  determination  and  to  undei stand  that  it  is  inaugurated 
under  such  good  and  favourable  auspices  as  I  hav«  des- 
cribed to  you. 

I;i  my  humble  opinion,  the  Congress  will  have  done 
the  Tightest  thing,  if  it  unanimously  adopts  this  resolution. 
May  Gcd  grant  that  you  will  paSs  this  resolution  unani- 
mously may  Gcd  grant  that  you  will  also  have  the  courage 
and  the  ability  to  carry  out  the  rtsolution  and  that  within 
one  year. 

APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  BENGAL. 

i  [Soon  after  the  Congress,  Mr.  Gandhi  and  theAli  Brothers 
made  an  extensive  tourcf  the  country  appealing  to  the  students  to 
give  up  their  .schrols  and  colleges  and  jbiii  the  ranks  of  non-co- 
operatcrs.  At  Ali^arh  and  Benares  great  efforts  were  hiade  to  call 
away  <he  students  fn  m  the  Muslim  and  Hindu  Universities,  if  they 
could  not  aationalise  them.  They  were  not  quite  successful  though 
a  few  joined  the  Congn  ss,  but  in  Bt  ngal,  at  the  instance  of  Messrs. 
C>  R.  Das  and  Jitendralal  Banerjea,  a.  large  number  of  students 
flocked  to  their  standard  and  deserted  the  schoc.Is.  It  was  such 
appeals  as  the  following  that  enthused  the  youth  of  Bengal  who 
created  a  profound  sensation  by  throviing  themselves  in  their  thoti- 
saiids  at  the  steps  of  the  Calcutta  University  Hall,  thatihe  few  tvho 
did  attend  the  examination  had  to  do  so  by  walking  over  their  bodies. 
Mt.  Gandhi  later  reproved  such  ofostn:ctive  methods  but  he  wrote 
this  appeal  early  in  January  1921 : — ] 

Dear  Young  Friends:- 

I  have  just     read  an  acroiint  of  your    response  to  the 
ration's   call.     It  does  credit  to  you  and  to  Bergal.    I, had 


566  NON-CO-OPERATION 

expected  no  less.  I  certainly  expfect  'still  thbte.  Bengal 
has  great  intelligence.  It  has  a  greater  heart,  it  has  more 
than  its  share  of  the  spiritual  heritage  for  which  our  coun- 
try 'is  Specially  noted.  You  havt  more  ibiagination,  mbfe 
faith,  and  more  emotion  than  the  rest  of  India.  You  havie 
falsified  the  calumny  of  cowardice  on  more  occasions  than 
one.  There  is,  therefore,  no  reason  why  Bengal  should  n&t 
lead  now  as  it  ha^  done  before  now.  '  < 

You  have  taken  the  step,  you  will  not 'riecede.  You 
had  ample  time  to  think.  You  have  paused,  you  have  coh- 
Sidiered.  You  held  the  Congress  that  delivered  to  ihe  na- 
tion the  message  cf  Non-Co-'opef atibn  i:e.oi  self- purification, 
self-sacrifice,  courage,  and  hope.  The  Nagpur  Congress 
ratified,  clarified,  and  amplified  the  first  declaration.  Jt  was 
redelivered  in  the  midst  of  strife,  doubt,  and  disunion.  It 
■was  redelivered  in  thie  midst  of  joy,  acclamation,  and  practi- 
cally perfect  unanimity.  It  was  open  to  you  to  refuse,  or 
to  hesitate  or  to  respond.  You  have  chosen  the  better, 
through,  from  a  wordly  wise  stand  point,  less  cautious  waiy. 
You  dare  not  go  back  without  hurting  .yourselves  and  the 
caiise. 

But  for  the  evil  spell  that  the  existing  system  of 
government  and,  most  of  all,  this  western  education  has 
cast  upon  us,  the  question  will  not  be  considered  as  open  to 
argument.  Can  the  brave  Arabs  retain  their  independence 
and  yet  be  schooled  under  the  aegis  of  those  who  would 
hold  them  under  bonflage  f  They  will  laugh  at  a  person 
who  dared  to  ask  them  to  go  to  schools  that  may  be  eista- 
biished  by  their  invaders.  Is  the  ease  different  or  if  it  is 
different,  is  it  not  stronger  in  Our  case  when  we  are  called 
upon  to  give  up  schools  conducted  under  the  aegis  of-k 
gdvernmerit  which,  rightly  or  wrongly,  we  seek  to  bend  to 
cur  Will  or  destroy  .' 


APPEAL  TO  YOUNG  BEJ^GAL      567 

We  cannot  get  5z«a>"a;  if  not  one  class  in  the  country 
^s  prepared  to  work  and  sacrifice  for  it.  The  Government, 
■will  yield  not  to  the  logic  pf  words.  It  knows  no  logic  bat 
"t  hat  of  brave  and  true  deeds. 

Bravery    of  the    sword  they    know.     And  they  liave 
made  themselves  proof  against  its  use  by  us.  Many  of  them' 
■will  welcome  violence  on  our  part.     They    are  unconquer- 
able in  the  art  of  meeting  and   suppressing  violence.    We 
propose,  therefore,  to  sterilise  their  power  qf  iriflicing  vio- 
'lence  by  our  non-violence.    Violence  dies  when  it  ceases  to 
-evoke     response      from    its     object.     Non-violence      is. 
the     corner-stone    of      the    edifice      of    Noh-Co-opera- 
tion.     You    will,    therefpre,      not    be    hasty    or    over- 
zealous     in    your    dealings    with    those    who    m?y  not 
see    eye    to    eye    with    you.     Intolerance  is  a    species 
of     violence  ,and    therefore  against    our    creed.    Non- 
■violent      Non^Co-operation     is     an     object     lesson    in 
democracy.     The    moment    we    are   able  to   ensure  non- 
violence,   even   under  circumstances  the  most  provpkihg 
that   moment   we   have    achieved    our  end,  because  that 
ris    the    moment    when   we   can    offer  complete  Non-Co- 
operation. 

I  ask  you  not  to  be  frightened  at  the  proposition  pist 
"■stated.  People  do  not  move  in  arithmetical  progression, 
not  even  in  geometrical  progression.  They  have  bec» 
«known  to  perish  in  a  day :  they  have  been  known  to  rise  in 
a  day.  Is  it  such  a  difficult  thing  for- India  to  realise  that 
thirty  crores  of  human  beings  have  but  to  feel  their  strength 
-and  they  can  be  free  without  having  to  use  it  f  As  we  had 
not  regained  national  consciousness,  the  rulers  have 
hitherto  played  us  against  one  another.  We  have  to  refuse 
to  do  so,  and  we  are  masters,  not  they. 


568  NGN-CO-OPERATION 

Non-Gor-operation  deals  first  with  those  sensitive  classes^ 
upon  whom  the  government  has  acted  so  successfully  ancb 
who  have  been  lured  Into  the  trap  consciously  or  unconsci<- 
ously  as  the  schoolgoing  youths  have  been. 

When  we  come  to  think  about  it,  the  sacrifice  required 
is  infinitesimal  for  individuals  because  the  whole  is  distribut- 
ed among  so  many  of  us.  For  what  is  your  sacrifice .'  Td» 
suspend  your  literary  studies  for  one  year  or  till  Swaraj  is^ 
established.  If  I  could  infect  the  whole  of  the  student 
frorld  with  my  faith,  I  know  that  suspension  of  studies  need^ 
not  extend  even  to  a  year. 

And  in  the  place  of  your  suspended  studies  I  would* 
urge  you  to  Study  the  methods  of  bringing  ajiout  Swaraj  as- 
quietly  as  possible  even  within  the  year  of  grace.  I  present 
you  with  the  SPINNING  WHEEL  and  suggest  to  you  that 
on  k  depends  India's  economic  salvation. 

^at  you  are  at  liberty  to  reject  it  if  you  wish  and  go  to- 
the  college  that  has  been  promised  to  you  by  Mr.  Das.. 
Most  of  your  fellow-students  in  ithe  National  Oolleg*^ 
at  Gujarat  have  undertaken  to  give  at  least  four  hours: 
to  spinning  everyday.  It  Is  no  sacrifice  to  learn  a. 
beautiful  art  and  to  be  able  to  clothe  the  naked  at  the  same- 
time. 

You  have  done  your  duty  by  withdrawing  from  Govern- 
ment colleges,  I  have  only  showed  you  the  easiest: 
and  the  most  profitable  way  of  devoting  the  time  at  your 
disposal. 

May  God  give  you  strength  and  courage  to  sustain  yqgu 
ib  your  determination. 

:Your  well-wisher, 
*  M.  K.  GandhL 


OPEN  LETTER  TO  THE  DUKE  OF  CONNAUGHT. 

[Ilr.  Gandhi  addressed  the  foUovting  open  letter  to   H.  R.  H^ 
the  Du^e  of  Connaught  in  the  first  week  of  February  1921 :— ] 

Sir,— Your  Royal  Highness  must  have  heard  a  great, 
deal  about  Non  Co-operation,  Non-Go-operationists,  andn 
their  methods  and  incidentally  of  me,  its  humble  author. - 
I  fear  that  the  infoimation  given  Your  Royal  Highness" 
must  have  been  in  its  nature  ore-sided.  I  owe  it  to  you,  to^ 
my  frier  ds  and  tnyself  that  I  should  place  before  you  what 
I  conceive  to  be  the  scope  of  Non-Co-opeTation,  as  followed 
not  oAly  by  ire,  but  my  clofest  associates,  such  as  Messrs.. 
Shaukat  Ali  and  Mahomed  Ali. 

For  me  it  is  ro  joy  ar.d  pleasure  to  be  actively^ 
associated  in  the  boycott  of  Your  Royal  Highness'  visit.  1 
have  te'it'ercd  loyal,  voluntary  assistance  to  Government  for 
an  unbicken  period  cf  r  early  30  years  in  the  full  belief  that 
through  tiiat  lay  the  path  Of  freedom  for  my  country.  It- 
was  iheiefore,  no  slight  thing  for  me  to  suggest  to'  my 
ccunti}  men  that  we  should  take  no  pan  in  welcoming  Your 
Ro}al  Highness.  Not  one  among  us  has  anything  against 
)pu  as  an  English  gentkmen.  We  hold  your  person  as- 
sacred  as  that  of  a  dearest  friei.d.  I  do  not  know  any  of 
iry  ftier.ds  who  would  not  guaid  it  with  his  life  if  he  found. 
it  in  danger. 

We  aie  not  at  war  with  individual  Erglishmer.  We 
seek  not  to  destroy  English  life.  We  do  desire  10  destroy 
the  system  that  has  emasculated  cur  countiy  in  bpdy,  mind 
ard  scul.  We  are  detei mired  to  battle  niih  all  our  might 
against  that  in  Ergli&h  nature  which  has  made  O'Dwyerism^ 


370  NON-CO-OPERATION 

and  Dyeristn  possible  in  the  Punjab  and  has  resultecl  in  a 
wanton  aSront  upon  Islam,  a  faith  professed  by  seven  crores 
of  your  countrymen.  We  consider  it  inconsistent  with  our 
self-respect  any  longer  to  brook  the  spirit  of  superiority 
-and  dominance  which  has  systematically  ignored  and  dis- 
regarded the  sentiments  of  thirty  crores  of  innocent  people 
of  India  on  many  a  vital  matter.  It  lis  humiliating  to  us. 
Jt  cannot  be  a  matter  of  pride  to  you  that  thirty  crores  of 
Indians  should  live  day  in  and  day  out  in  fear  of  their  Iive$ 
irom  one  hundred  thousand  Englishmen. and,  therefore,  be 
-under  subjection'to  them. 

Your  Royal  Highness  has  come,  not  to  end  the 
system  I  described,  but  to  sustain  it  by  upholding  its  pres- 
tige. Your  first  pronouncement  was  a  laudation  of  Lord 
Willingdon.  I  have  the  privilege  of  knowing  him-  I 
believe  him  to  be  an  honest,  amiable  gentleman,  who  will 
mot  willingly  hurt  even, a  fly,  but  he  certainly  failed  as  a 
Tuler.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  guided  by  those  whose 
interest  it  was  to  support  their  power.  He  is  not  reading 
the  mind  ot  the.  Dravidian  province.  Here  in  Bengal  you 
are  issuing  a  certificate  of  merit  to  a  Governor  who  is  again 
froip  all  I  have  heard  an  estimable  gentleman,  but  he 
Icnows  nothing  of  the  heart  of  Bengal,  and  its  yearnings. 
Bengal  is  not  Calcutta,  Fort  William  and  the  palaces  of 
Calcutta  represent  an  insolent  exploitation  of  the  un- 
tnurmuring  and  highly  cultured  peasantry  of  this  fair 
province. 

The  Non-Co-operationists  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  must  not  be  deceived  by  the  reforms  that  tinker 
with  the  problem  of  India's  distress  and  humiliation,  nor 
must  they  be  impatient  and  angry.  We  must  not  in  our 
impatient  anger  resort  to  stupid  violence.  We  freely  admfit 
that  we  must  take  our  due  share  of  blame  for  the  ejtisting 


OPEN  LETTER  TO  THE  DUKE  OF  CONNAUGHT  S7I 

^tate.    It  is  not  so  mdch  British  guns  thSit   ittc  r6spohSLbl« 
-for  our  sub}«ction  as  our  voluntary  co-operal5on.    ,i 

Our  non-participation  in  a  hearty  welcome  to  Yoar 
Royal  Highness  is  thus  in  lio  sense  a  demonstration  against 
your  high  personage,  but  it  is  against  the  system  you  come 
to  uphold.  I  know  individual  Englishmen  cannot,  even  if 
they  will,  alter  the  English  nature  all  of  a  sudden.  If  we 
•would  be  the  equals  of  Englishmen  we  must  cast  off  fear. 
'We  must  learn  to  be  self-reliant  and  independent  of  schools, 
courts,  protection  and  patronage  of  a  Government  we  seek 
-to  end  if  it  will  not  mend. 

.Hence  this  non-violent  Non-Co-operation.  I  know  we 
"have  not  all  yet  become  non-violent  in  speech  and  deed,  but 
the  results  so  far  achieved  have,  I  assure  Your  Royal  High- 
ness, been  amazing.  The  people  have  understood  the 
■Secret  and  value  of  non-violence  as  they  have  never  done 
before.  He  who  will  may  see  that  this  is  a  religious,  puri- 
fying movement.  We  are  leaving  off  drink.  We  are  trying 
to  rid  India  of  the  curse  of  untouchability.  We  are  trying 
to  throw  off  foreign  tinsel  splendour  and  by  reverting  to  the 
spinning  wheel  reviving  the  ancient  and  poetic  simplicity  of 
life.  We  hope  thereby  to  sterilize  the  existing  ha-mful 
institutions. 

I  ask  Yeur  Royal  Highness  as  an  Englishman  to  study 
this  movement  and  its  possibilities  for  the  Empire  and  the 
-world.  We  are  at  war  with -nothing -that,  is  good  in  the 
-world,  in  protecting  Islam  in  the  manner  we  are,  we  are 
protecting  all  religions;  in  protecting  the  honour  of  India  . 
-we  are  protecting  the  honour  of  humanity.  For  out  means 
are  hurtful  to  none.  We  desire  to  live  on  terms  of  friend- 
ship with  Englishmen,  but  that  friendship  must  be  friend- 
-ship  of  equals  both  in  theory  and  in  practice,  and  we  must 
•continue  to  non-co- operate,  i.  e.,  to  purify  ourselves  till  the 


5^2  NON-CO-<>PERATIOI* 

goal  is  achieved.  I  ask  Your  Royal  Highness,  and  through- 
you  every  Englishman^  to  appreciate  the  viev>point  of  Non- 
Co-operation: 

I  beg  to  remain, 
Your  Royal  Highness'  faithful  servant^ 
M.K.  Gandhi. 


THE  NEED  FOR  HUMILITY." 

The  spirit  of  non-violence  necessarily  leads  to  humility. 
Non-violence  means  reliance  on  God,  the  Rock  of  Ages.  If 
«e  would  seek  His  aid,  we  must  approach  Him  with  a^ 
ifaumble  and  a  contrite  heart.  Non-coroperationists  may 
iiot  trade  upon  their  amazing  success  to  the  Cungress,  We 
must  act,  even  as  the  mango  tree  which  droops  as  it  bears 
fruit.  Its  grandeur  lies  in  its  majestic  lowliness.  But  one 
hears  of  non- co-operationists  being  insolent  and  intolerant 
in  their  behaviour  towards  those  who  differfrom  them,  I 
know  that  they  will  lose  all  their  majesty  and  glory,  if  they 
betray  any  inflation.  Whilst  we  may  not  be  dissatisfied 
with  the  progress  made  so  far,  we  have  little  to  our  credit 
to  make  us  feel  proud.  We  have  to  sacrifice  much  more 
than  we  have  done  to  justify  pride,  much  less  elation. 
Thousands,  who  flocked  to  the  Congress  pandal,  have 
undoubtedly  given  their  intelligent  assent  to  the  doctrine 
but  few  have  followed  it  out  in  practice.  Leaving  aside  the 
pleaders,  how  many  parents  have  withdrawn  their  children 
from  schocjls  /  How  many  of  those  who  reg>istered  their 
vote  in  favour  of  non-co-operation  have  taken  to  hand- 
spinning  or  discarded  the  use  of  all  foreign  cloth  f 

Non-co-operation  is  not  a  movement  of  brag,  bluster, 
or  bluff,  It  is  a  test  of  our  sincerity.  It  requires  solid  and 
-silent  felf-sacrifice.  It  challenges  our  honesty  and  our 
capacity  for  national  work.  It  is  a  movement  that  aims  at 
translating  ideas  into  action.  And  the  more  we  do,,  the 
more  we  find  that  much  more    most  be  done  ihan  we  had 

*    Young  India,    February,  1921. 


574  NON-CO-OPERATION 

expected.     And  this    thought  of    our    imperfection   must 
make  us  humble. 

A  non-GO^operjitionist  strives  to  compel  attention  an<S 
to  set  an  example  not  by  his  violence  but  by  his  unobtrusive 
humility.  He  alloflfS  bis  solid  action  to  speak  for  his  creed, 
iiis  strength  lies  in  his  reljance  ppon  the  correctness  of  his 
position.  And  the  conviction  qI  it  grows  most  in  his 
opponent  when  he  least  interposes  his  speech  between  his 
act  ion  and  his  opponent,  Speecht  Specially  when  it  is 
liearfy,  betrays  want  of  confidence  and  it  makes  one's 
opponent  sceptical!  about  the  reality  of  the  act  itself- 
Humility  therefore  is  the  key  to  quick  success.  I  hope 
that  every  non-co-opera'.ionist  will  recognise  the  necessity 
of  being  humble  and  self-restraiJted.  It  i^ because  so  little 
is  really  required  to  be  done  and  because  all  of  that  little 
depends  entirely  upon  ourselves  that  I  havei  ventured. the 
Belief  that  Swaraj  is  attainable  in  less  ■ 'than  one 
yeai-h'-  '*'■'    "'■  

STRIKES."     ' 
Strikes  are  tl^e  order  of  the  day.    They  are  a  symptom 
of  the     existing    utirest.     AU    kinds  of    vague-  ideas  are 
floating  in  the  ajr.     A  vague  hope  inspires   all,   and  great 
will  be  the    dis-appointipent    if  that  vague   hope   does  hot 
take  definite  shape.    The   labour  world   in    India,  as  else- 
where, IS  at  tlie  mercy  of  those  who  setup  as  advisers  and 
guides.     The   latter   are  not  always   scrupulous,    and  not 
always  wise  even  whentheyafe  scrupulous.  The  labourers 
iie  dissatisfied  with  their  lot.     They  have  every   reason  for 
dissatisfaction.    7  hey    are    being    taught,    and  justly,  to 
iegaid  themselves  as'  being  chiefly  testranfjental  in  enrich- 

*    Young  India,     February,  1921.  •   . 


STRIKES  57S 

ing'  their  employers.  And  so  it  requires  little  effort  to 
make  them  lay  down  their  tools.  The  political  situation 
too  is  beginning  to  affect  the  labourers  of  Ittdia.'  And:: 
there  are  not  wanting  labour  leaders  who  consider  that 
Strikes  may  be  engineered  for  pontical  purposes. 

In  my   opinion,  it  will  be  a  most  serious  mistaketO' 
make    use   of  labour   strikes  for   such  a  purpose.     I  don't 
deny  that  such  strikes  can  serve  political  ends.     But    they 
do  not  fall  within  the  plan  of  non-violenc  Non-co-operaiion. 
It  does  not  require  much  effort  of  the  intellect  to  perceive 
that  it  is  a  most  dangerous  thing  to  make   political  use  of 
labour  until  labourers  understand  the  political  condition    o^ 
the  country  and  are  prepared  to  work  for  the  common  good^ 
This  is  hardly  "to  be  expected  of  them  all  of  a  sudden  and 
until  they  have  bettered  their  own  condition  so  as  to  enable- 
them  to  keep  body  and  soul  together  in  a    decent    manner. 
The  greatest  political  contribution,  therefore,  that  labourers 
can    make  is  to  improve   their  own   condition,    to  become 
better    Informed,  to   insist  on    their    rights,    and    even  io 
demand  proper  use  by  their  employers  of  the  manufactures- 
ih  which    they    have  had   such  an   important  hand.     The 
proper  evolution,  therefore,   would  be   for  the  labourers  to 
raise  themselves  to  the  status  of  part  proprietors.    Strikes, 
therefore,  for  the  present  should   only   take  place  for  the- 
direct  betterment  of  the  labourers' lot,  and,  when  they  have 
acquired  the  spirit  of  patriotism  for  the  regulation  of  prices 
of  the  manufactures. 

The  conditions  of  a  successful  strike  are  simple.    And; 
when  they  are  fulfilled  a  strike  need  never  fail. 

( J)    The  cause  of  the  strike  must  be  just. 
(2)    There  should  be  practical    unanimity  among  the- 
strilcers. 


576  NON-CO-OPERATION 

(3)  There  should  be  no  violeice  ussd  agiinst  non- 
-strikers,  .    ,(.- 

(4)  Strikers  should  be  able  to  maintain  themselves 
-during  the  strike  period  without  failiiig  back  upon  Union 
funds  and  should  therefore  occupy  themsebes  in  some 
useful  and  productive  temporary  occu.jation. 

(5)  A  strike  is  no  remedy  ^wlien  there  is  enough 
other  labjur  to  replace  strikers.  In  that  case  in  the  event 
of  unjust  treatinent  or  inadequate  vrages  or  the  like, 
resignation  is  the  remedy, 

(6)  Successful  strikes  have  taken  place  even  when, 
all  the  above  conditions  have  not  been  fulAUed,  but  that 
merely  proves  that  the  employees  were  weak  an!  had  a 
guilty  conscience.  We  oflen  make;  terrible  mistakes  by 
copying  b^d  examples.  The  safest  thing,  is  not  to  copy 
examples  of  which  we  have  rarely  complete  ktiowledge  but. 
to  follow  the  conditions  which  we  I^noy  and  recognise  to  bi 
essential,  for  success. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  well  wisher  of  the  cquntry,  if 
we  are  to  attain  Swaraj  during  the  year,  not  to  precipitate 
any  action  that  may  even  by  a  day  retard  the  fulfilment  of 
ihe  great  national  purpose. 


British  Fres$,  Madras. 


THE  MALEGAON  INCIDENT. 


[Writing  in  Young  India  Mr.  Gandhi  deplored  the 
misbehaviour  of  Non-Co-operators  who  took  part  in  the 
fray  in  Malegaon  in  the  first  week  of  May  1921.] 

If  the  facts  reported  in  the  press  are  substantially 
correct,  Malegaon  Non-Co-operators  have  been  false  to 
their  creed,  their  faith,  and  their  country.  They  have 
put  back  the  hands  of  the  clock  of  progress.  Non- 
violence is  the  rock  on  which  the  whole  structure  of 
Non-Co-operation  is  built.  Take  that  away  and  every 
act  of  renunciation  comes  to  naught,  as  artificial  fruit  is 
no  more  than  a  showy  nothing.  The  murder  of  the  men 
who  were  evidently  doing  their  duty  was,  if  the  report 
is  correct,  deliberate.  It  was  a  cowardly  attack.  Cer- 
tain men  wilfully  broke  the  law,  and  invited  punish- 
ment. 

There  could  be  no  justification  for  resentment  of 
such  imprisonment.  Those  who  commit  violence  of 
the  Malegaon  type  are  the  real  oo-bperators  with  the 
Government.  The  latter  will  gladly  lose  a  few  officers 
if  thereby  they  could  kill  Non-Co-operation.  A  few 
more  such  murders  and  we  shall  forfeit  the  sympathy  of 
the  masses.  I  am  convinced  that  the  people  will  not 
tolerate  violence  on  our  part.  They  are  by  nature 
peaceful  and  they  have  welcomed  Non-Cd-operation 
because  it  is  deliberately  non-violent. 

What   must   we   do  then  ?    We    must  ceaslessly 

preach  against  violence  alike  in  public  and   in   private. 

We  must  not  show   any   sympathy   to   the   evil-doers. 

We  must  advise  the  men  who  have  taken   part    in    the 

37 


578  NON-CO-OPERATIOK 

murders  to  surrender  themselves  if  they  are  at  all 
repentant.  The  workers  must  be  doubly  careful  io 
their  talks.  They  must  cease  to  talk  of  the  evil  of 
the  Government  and  the  officials,  whether  European 
or  Indian.  Bluster  must  give  place  to  the  work  of 
building  up  put  before  the  nation  by  the  Congress, 
We  must  be  patient  if  there  is  no  response  to  the  de- 
mand for  men,  money  and  munitions.  All  police 
orders '  must  be  strictly  obeyed.  There  should  be  no 
processions  or  hartals  when  known  workers  are  pro- 
secuted or  imprisoned.  If  we  welcome  imprisonments 
of  innocent  men,  as  we  must,  we  ought  to  cultivate 
innocence  and  congratulate  ourselves  when  we  are 
punished  for  holding  opinions,  or  for  doing  things 
that  we  consider  it  our  duty  to  do  i.e.,  for  spinning,- 
or  collecting  funds,  or  getting  names  for  the  Congress 
register.  There  should  be  no  civil  disobedience.  We 
have  undertaken  to  stand  the  gravest  provocation  and 
remain  non-violent.  Let  us  be  careful  lest  the  hour  of 
our  triumph  be,  by  our  folly,  the  hour  of  our  defeat  and 
humiliation. 

[Reverting  to  (he  same  subject  in  a  subsequent  issue 
of  his  paper,  Mr.  Gandhi  wrote: — ] 

I  observe  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  minimise  the 
guilt  of  the  Non-Co-operators  at  Malegaon.  No 
amount  of  provocation  by  the  Sub-Inspector  could 
possibly  justify  retaliation  by  the  Non-Co-operalors» 
I  am  not  examining  the  case  from  the  legal  stand- 
point. I  am  concerned  only  with  the  Non-Co-opera- 
tor's. He  is  bound  under  his  oath  not  to  retaliate  even 
under  the  gravest  provocation. 

[But  what  should  Non-Go- operators  do  in  the  event 
that  ttwy  of  its  leaders   were    arrested  ?    Should  hartals 


THE    SIMLA   VISIT  579 

a'nd  other  demonstrations  follow  as  a  matter  of  course  ? 
Mr.  Gandhi  was  explicit : — ] 

I  would  ask  the  public  who  are  interested  in  the 
Khilafat  or  Swaraj,  religiously  to  refrain  frorn  all 
demonstrations  over  the  arrest  or  imprisonment  of  even 
their  dearest  leaders.  I  would  hold  it  no  honour  to  me 
for  the  public  to  proclaim  a  hartal  or  hojd  meetings  if 
I  was  arrested  or  Maulana  Shaukat  Ali  ;^for  that  matter. 
I  would  welcome  and  expect  in  any  such  event  a  com- 
plete immediate  boycott  of  all  foreign  cloth,  a  more 
energetic  adoption  of  the  spinning  wheel,  a  more  vigo. 
rous  collection  on  behalf  of  the  Tilak  Swaraj  Fund  and 
a  flooding  of  Congress  offices  for  registration  as  mem- 
bers. I  would  certainly  expect  the  emptying  of  Govern- 
ment schools  and  colleges  and  more  suspensions  of 
practice  by  lawyers.  Killing  officers  and  burning  build- 
ings will  not  only  retard  the  advent  of  Swaraj  and  the 
righting  of  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs,  but  are 
likely  to  lead  to  utter  demoralisation  of  the  nation.  We 
must  therefore  scrupulously  avoid  all  occasions  which 
would  excite  ttie  passions  of  the  mob  and  lead  them 
into  undesirable  or  criminal  conduct. 


THE   SIMLA    VISIT. 


[Soon  after  Lord  Reading  arrived  in  India,  an 
interview  was  arranged  by  Pandit  Malaviya  between  the 
new  Viceroy  and  Mr.  Gandhi.  The  interview,  which 
lasted  many  hours,  took  place  at  Simla  in  May  1921, 
Much  speculation  was  rife  as  to  the  result  of  the  inter- 
view and  Mr.  Gc(ndhi  explained  the  circumstances  and 
the  results  of  the  interview  in  an  article  in .  Young-  India 
under  the  title  "  The  Simla  Visit," 


580  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Many  are  asking  why  I  waited  upon  His  Excellency 
the  Viceroy.  Some  inquire  why  the  author  of  Non-Co- 
operation  should  seek  to  see  the  Viceroy.  All  want 
to  know  the  result  of  the  interview.  I  like  the  rigorous 
scrutiny  of  the  Non-Co-operators,  who  more  than  Caesar's 
wife  must  be  abtive  suspicion.  Non-Co-operation  is 
self-reliance.  We  want  to  establish  Swaraj,  not  obtain 
it  from  others.  Then  why  approach  a  Viceroy  ?  This  is 
all  good,  so  far  as  it  goes.  And  I  should  be  a  bad 
representative  of  our  cause,  if  I  went  to  anybody  to  ask 
for  Swaraj.  I  have  had  the  hardihood  to  say  that 
Swaraj  could  not  be  granted  even  by  God.  We  would 
have  to  earn  it  ourselves.  Swaraj  from  its  very  nature 
is  not  in  the  giving  of  anybody. 

But  we  want  the  world  with  us  in  our  battle  for 
freedom,  we  want  the  good-will  of  every  body.  Our 
cause,  we  claim,  is  based  upon  pure  justice.  There  are 
certain  things  we  want  Englishmen  to  surrender.  All 
these  things  need  mutual  discussion  and  mutual  under- 
standihg.  Non-Co-operation  is  the  most  potent  instru- 
ment for  creating  world  opinion  in  our  favour.  So  long 
as  we  protested  and  co-operated,  the  world  did  not 
understand  us.  The  erstwhile  lion  of  Bengal  in  his  early 
days  used  to  relate  the  story  of  Englishmen,  who  asked 
him  how  many  broken  heads  there, were  in  India, 
if  things  were  really  so  bad,  as  now  represented  them  to 
be.  That  was  the  way  John  Bull  understood  best. 
The  other  question  the  world  has  undoubtedly  been 
asking  is :  If  things  are  really  so  bad,  why  do  we  co- 
operate with  the  Government  in  so  pauperising  and 
humiliating  us  ?  Now  the  world  understands  our  atti- 
tude, no,  matter  how  weakly  we  may  enforce  it  in 
practice.     The  world  is  now  curious  to  know  what  ails 


THE   SIMLA   VISIT  581 

us.  The  Viceroy  represents  a  big  world.  His  Excel- 
lency wanted  to  know  why  I,  with  whom  co-operation 
was  an  article  of  faith,  had  Non-Co-operated  There 
must  be  something  wrong  with  the  Government  or  me. 
And  so  His  Excellency  mentioned  to  Pandit  Mala- 
viyaji  and  to  Mr.  Andrews  that  he  would  like  to  see 
me  and  hear  my  views.  I  went  to  see  the  Panditji 
because  he  was  anxious  to  meet  me.  I  hold  him  in 
such  high  regard  that  I  would  not  think  even  if  he  was 
well  and  I  could  help  it,  of  letting  him  come  to  me. 
As  it  was,  he  was  too  weak  to  travel  to  me.  It  was 
my  duty  to  go  to  him.  And  when  I  heard  the  purport 
of  his  conversation  with  His  Excellency,  I  did  not 
require  any  persuasion  to  prompt  me  to  ask  for  an 
appointment  if  His  Excellency  wished  to  hear  my  views. 
I  have  devoted  so  much  space  to  the  reason  for  my 
seeking  an  appointment,  for  I  wanted  to  make  clear  the 
limits  and  the  meaning  of  Non-Co-operafion. 

It  is  directed  not  against  men  but  against  measures. 
It  is  not  directed  aga^inst  the  Governors,  but  against  the 
system  they  administer.  The  roots  of  Non-Co-opera- 
tion  lie  not  in  hatred  but  in  justice,  if  not  in  love.  Glad- 
stone used  to  draw  a  sharp  distinction  between  bad 
actions  and  bad  men.  He  was  accused  of  discourtesy 
for  using  some  very  strong  expressions  about  the  arts  of 
his  opponents.  He  put  up  the  defence  that  he  would 
have  failed  in  his  duty  if  he  had  not  characterised  their 
actions  as  they  deserved  to  be,  but  he  did  not  therefore 
mean  to  convey  that  his  opponents  deserved  the  epithets 
he  had  used  about  their  acts.  As  a  youth,  when  I  heard 
this  defence,  I  could  not  appreciate  it.  Now  with  years 
of  experience  and  use,  I  understand  how  true  it  was.  I 
have  found  some  of  the  truest  of  my    friends  capable  of 


S82  NON-qO-OPERATlON 

indefensible  acts.  For  me  there  are  few  truer  men  than 
v.  S.  Srinivas  Shastriar,  but  his  actions  confound  me- 
I  do  not  think  he  loves  me  less  because  he  believes  that 
I  am  leading  India  down  to  the  abyss. 

And  so  I  hope,  this  great  movement  of  Non-Co- 
operation has  made  it  clear  to  thousands,  as  it  has  to 
me,  that  whilst  we  may  attack  measures  and  systems' 
we  may  not,  must  not,  attack  men.  Imperfect  ourselves, 
we  must  be  tender  towards  others  and  be  slow  to  impute 
motives. 

I  therefore  gladly  seized  the  opportunity  of  waiting 
upon  His  Excellency  and  of  assuring  him  that  ours  was 
a  religious  movement  designed  to  purge  Indian  political 
life  of  corruption,  deceit,  terrorism  and  the  incubus  of 
white  superiority. 

The  reader  must  not  be  too  curious.  He  must  not 
believe  the  so-called  'reports'  in  the  press.  The  veil 
must  remain  drawn  over  the  details  of  the  conversation 
between  the  Viceroy  and  myself.  But  I  may  assure 
him  that  I  explained,  as  fully  as  I  knew  how  the  three 
claims— the  Khilafat,  the  Punjab,  and  Swaraj,  and 
gave  him  the  genesis  of  Non-Co-operation  His 
Excellency  heard  me  patiently, courteously  and  attentive- 
ly. He  appeared  to  me  be  anxious  to  do  only  the  right 
thing.  We  had  afull  discussion  of  the  burning  topics  as 
between  man  and  man.  We  discussed  the  question  of  non- 
violence, and  it  appeared  tome  to  be  common  cause 
between  us.  Of  that  I  may  have  to  write  more  fully  later. 

But  beyotid  saying  that  we  were  able  to  understand 
each  other;  I  am  unable  to  say  that  there  was  more 
in  the  interwiew.  Some  may  think  with  me  that  a 
mutual  understanding  is  in  itself  no  small  gain.  Then, 
in  that  sense,  the  interview  was  a  distinct  success. 


THE    SIMLA  VISIT  583 

But  at  the  end  of  all  the  long  discusions,  I  am 
more  than  ever  convinced  that  our  salvation  rests  solely 
upon  our  own  effort.  His  Excellency  can  only  help 
or  hinder.  I  am  sanguine  enough  to  think  that  he  will 
help. 

We  must  redouble  our  efforts  to  go  through  our 
programme.  It  is  clearly  as  follows  :  (1)  Removal  of 
tmtouchability,  (2)  removal  of  the  drink  curse,  (3) 
ceaseless  introduction  of  the  spinning  wheel  and  the 
ceaseless  production  of  Khaddar  leading  to  an  almost, 
complete  boycott  of  foreign  cloth,  (4)  registration  of 
Congress  members,  and  (5)  collection  of  Tilak  Swaraj 
Fund. 

No  fierce  propaganda  is  necessary  for  solidifying 
Hindu-Muslim  unity  and  producing  a  still  more  non- 
violent atmosphere. 

I  have  put  untouchability  in  the  forefront  because 
I  observe  a  certain  remissness  about  it.  Hindu  Non- 
Co-operators  may  not  be  indifferent  about  it.  We  may 
be  able  to  right  the  Kbilafat  wrong  but  we  can  never 
«each  Swaraj,  with  the  poison  of  untouchability  corrod- 
ing the  Hindti  part  of  the  national  body.  Swaraj  is  a 
meaningless  term,  if  we  desire  to  keep  a  fifth  of  India 
-under  perpetual  subjection,  and  deliberately  deny  to 
them  the  fruits  of  national  culture.  We  are  seeking 
the  aid  of  God  in  this  great  purification  movement,  but 
we  deny  to  the  most  deserving  among  His  creatures  the 
rights  of  humanity.  Inhuman  cursives,  we  may  not 
plead  before  the  Throne  for  deliverance  from  the  in- 
humanity of  others. 

I  put  drink  second,  as  I  feel  that  God  has  sent  the 
movement  to  us  unsought.  The  greatest  storm  rages 
round  it.     The  drink  movement   is  fraught  with  the 


584  NON-CO-OPERATION 

greatest  danger  of  violence.  Bat  so  long  as  this  Gov- 
ernment persists  in  keeping  the  drink  shops  open,  so 
long  must  we  persist  in  sleeplessly  warning  our  erring 
couutrymen  against  polluting  their  lips  with  drink. 

The  third  place  is  assigned  to  the  spining  wheel 
though  for  me  it  is  equally  important  with  the  first  two. 
If  we  produce  an  effective  boycott  of  foreign  cloth  during 
this  year  we  shall  have  shown  cohesion,  eflFfirt,  con- 
centration, earnestness,  a  spirit  of  nationality  that  must 
enable  us  to  establish  Swaraj. 

Membership  of  the  Congress  is  essential  for  the 
immense  organisation  required  for  dotting  the  country 
with  the  spinning  wheels  and  for  the  manufacture  and 
distribution  of  Khaddar  and  for  dispelling  the  fear  that 
membership  of  the  Congress  may  be  regarded  as  a  crime 
by  the  Government. 

The  fifth  item,  the  Tilak  Swaraj  Fund  perpetuates 
the  memory  of  the  soul  of  Swaraj,  and  supplies  us  with, 
the  sinews  of  war. 

We  ate  under  promise  to  ourselves  to  collect  one 
crore  rupees,  register  one  crore  members  and  introduce 
twenty  lacs  of  spinning  wheels  in  our  homes  by  the- 
30th  June.  We  shall  postpone  the  attainment  of  our 
goal,  if  we  fail  to  carry  out  the  programme  evolved  at  a 
largely  attended  meeting  of  the  All-India  Congress 
Committee,  and  arrived  at  after  full  consideration  and 
debate. 


THE  ALI  BROTHERS'  APOLOGY. 


[After  the  Gandhi-Reading  interview,  the  Alt 
Brothers  issued  a  statement  at  thi  instance  of  Mr,  Gan- 
dhi—a statement  in  which  they  regretted  their  occasional 
lapse  into  excessive  language  and  promised  to  refrain 
from  writing  or  speaking  in  any  manner  likely  to  pro' 
voke  violence.  This  "  definite  result  of  the  interview  " 
was  claimed  as  a  victory  for  the  Government.  Others 
claimed  that  ii  was  a  victory  for  Mr,  Gandhi  who  ex- 
plained thut  it  was  no  apology  or  undertaking  to  the 
Government  but  a  reassertion  of  the  principle  of  non- 
violence to  which  the  AH  Brothers  had  subscribed.  It 
was  a  statemetit  to  the  public  irrespective  of  what  the 
Government  might  or  might  not  do  with  them.  In 
answer  to  criticisms  agatnst  his  advice  to  the  Brothers, 
Mr.  Gandhi  stoutly  defended  his  action,  and  praised  the: 
Brothers'  attitude.  He  wrote  in  Young  India  of  June 
15,  ]921:— ] 

Tfae  Ali  Brothers'  apology  still  continues  to  tax 
people's  minds.  I  continue  to  receive  letters  expostulat- 
ing with  me  for  having  gone  to  the  Viceroy  at  all. 
Some  consider  that  I  have  bungled  the  whole  afl'air, 
others  blame  the  Brothers  for  having  for  once 
weakened,  and  that  in  deference  to  me.  I  know  that 
in  a  short  while  the  storm  will  blow  over.  For,  in- 
spite  of  all  I  have  heard  and  read,  I  feel  that  I  did' 
the  right  thing  in  responding  to  the  Viceroy's  wish  to 
know  my  views.  It  would  have  been  wrong  on  my 
part  to  have  waited  for  a  formal  written  invitation 
from  His  Excellency.     I  feel,  too,  that  I  gave  the   best 


585  NON-CO-OPERA.TION 

advice  possible  in  the  interests  of  Islam  and  India,  when 
I  asked  the  Brothers  to  mate  the  statement  issued  by 
them.  The  Ali  Brothers  have  showed  humility  and 
courage  of  a  high  order  in  making  the  statement.  They 
iiave  shown  that  they  are  capable  of  sacrificing  their 
pride  and  their  all  for  the  sake  of  their  faith  and 
country.  They  have  served  the  cause  by  making  the 
statement,  as  they  would  have  injured  it  by  declining 
to  make  it. 

In  spite  of  all  that  conviction  in  me,  I  am  not 
surprised  at  the  remonstrances  I  am  receiving.  They  but 
■show  that  the  methods  now  being  pursued  are  new,  that 
the  country  will  not  surrender  a  title  of  its  just  demands, 
and  for  their  satisfaction,  it  wishes  to  rely  purely  upon 
its  own  strength. 

I  give  below  the  relevant  parts  of  the  strongest 
argument  in  condemnation  of  my  advice  and  its  accept- 
ance by  the  Brothers.  The  letter,  moreover,  is  written 
by  one  of  the  greatest  among  the  Non-Co-operators.  It 
is  not  written  for  publication  at  all.  But  I  know  the 
writer  will  not  mind  my  sharing;  it  with  the  reader.  For 
I  have  no  doubt  that  he  represents  the  sentiments  of 
several  thoughtful  Non-Co-operators.  It  is  my  humble 
duty  to  discuss  the  issues  arising  from  the  incident,  and 
the  implications  of  Non-Co-operation.  It  is  only  by 
patient  reasoning,  that  I  hope  to  be  able  to  demonstrate 
the  truth,  the  beauty  and  the  reasonableness  of  Non- 
Co-operation.     Here  then  are  the  extracts  : — 

'■  The  statement  of  the  Brothers,  taken  by  itself 
and  read  without  reference  to  what  has  preceded  arid 
followed  it,  is  a  manly  enough  document.  If  in  the 
heat  of  the  moment  they  have  said  things  which,  they 
fflow  find,  may  reasonably  be  taken  to    have  a   tendency 


THE   ALI    BROTHERS'    APOLOGY  587 

to  incite  to  violence,  they  have,  in  publishing  their 
regret,  taken  the  only  honourable  course  open  to 
public  men  of  thsir  position.  I  should  also  have  been 
prepared  to  justify  the  undertaking  they  have  given 
for  the  futufe,  had  that  undertaking  been  address- 
ed to  those  of  their  co-workers,  who,  unlike  themselves, 
do  not  believe  in  the  cult  of  violence  in  any  circum- 
stances whatever-  But  the  general  words  'public  assur- 
ance and  promise  to  all  who  may  reqnire  it'  cannot  in 
the  circumstances  leave  any  one  in  a  doubt  as  to  the 
particular  party,  who  did  require  such  'assurance  and 
promise'  and  at  whose  bidding  it  was  given.  The  Vice- 
roy's speech  has  now  made  it  perfectly  clear,  and  we 
have  the  indisputable  fact  that  the  leader  of  the  N.-C- 
O.  movement  has  been  treating  with  the  Government, 
and  has  secured  the  suspension  of  the  prosecution  of  the 
Brothers,  by  inducing  them  to  give  a  public  apology  and 
an  undertaking. 

"In  this  view  of  the  case, — and  I  fail  to  see  what 
other  view  is  possible — very  serious  questions  affecting 
the  whole  movement  arise  for  consideration.  Indeed  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  whole  principle  of  Non-Co-opera- 
tion  has  been  given  away. 

"I  am  not  one  of  those  who  fight  shy  of  the  very 
name  of  Government,  nor  of  those  who  look  upon  an 
eventual  settlement  with  the  Government  as  the  only 
means  of  obtaining  redresss  of  our  wrongs  and  establish- 
ing Swaraj.  I  believe  in  what  you  have  constantly 
taught,  viz.,  that  the  achievement  of  Swaraj  rests 
entirely  and  solely  with  us.  At  the  same  time,  I  do  not 
nor  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  do  you,  exclude  the  possibility 
of  a  settlement  with  the  Government  under  proper  con- 
ditions.   Such  settlement,   however,  can  only  relate  to 


588  NON-CO-OPERATION 

principles,  and  can  have  mothing  to  do  with  the  coti 
venience  or  safety  of  individuals.  In  a  body  of  co- 
workers, you  cannot  make  distinctions  between  man  and 
man,  and  the  humblest  of  them  is  entitled  to  the  same 
ptotection  at  the  hands  of  the  leaders  as  the  most  pro- 
minent. Scores,  if  not  hundreds  of  our  men  have 
willingly  gone  to  gaol  for  using  language  far  less  strong 
than  that  indulged  by  the  Brothers.  Some  at  least  of 
these  could  easily  have  been  saved  by  giving  a  similar 
apology  and  undertaking,  and  yet  it  never  occurred  to 
any  one  to  advise  them  to  do  so.  On  the  contrary,  their 
action  was  applauded  by  the  leaders  and  the  whole  of 
the  Non-Co-operationist  press.  Th?  case,  which  more 
forcibly  than  any  other  comes  to  my  mind  at  the 
moment,  is  that  of  Hamid  Ahmad,  who  has  recently 
been  sentenced  at  Allahabad  to  transportation  for  life 
a,nd  forfeiture  of  property.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this 
man  should  not  be  saved.'  I  find  Maulana  Muhammad 
Ali  pays  him  a  high  tribute  in  his  Bombay  speech  of 
the  30th  May.  What  consolation  this  tribute  will  bring 
to  Hamid  Ahmad  from  a  man  similary  situated  who  has 
saved  himself  by  an  apology  and  an  undertaking,  I 
cannot  say.  Then  there  are  so  many  others  rotting  in 
gaol  who  have  committed  no  offence,  and  a  great  many 
more  already  picked  out  for  the  same  fate.  Is  it  enough 
for  us  to  send  them~T3s?-good  wishes  from  the  safe  posi- 
tions we  ourselves  enjoy  ? 

"The  Viceroy  in  his  speech  has  made  it  clear,  that 
the  only  definite  result  of  the  several  interviews  you 
had  with  him,  is  the  apology  and  the  undertaking  from 
the  Brothers.  You  have  also  made  it  quite  clear  in 
your  subsequent  speeches,  that  our  campaign  is  to  go  on 
unabated.      It    seems    that    no    point    involving  any 


THE   ALT    BROTHERS'    APOLOGY  589 

principle  has  been  settled,  except  what  needed  no 
negotiatin?;  on  either  side,  viz.,  that  there  is  to 
be  no  incitement  to  violence,  I  do  not  say  that 
in  this  state  of  things  there  should  have  been  no 
treating  with  the  Government,  though  much  can  be 
said  in  support  of  that  vievy  When  it  was  found  that 
the  game  had  to  be  played  out,  it  would  have  been 
quite  legitimate  for  two  such  honorable  adversaries  as 
yourself  and  Lord  Reading  to  agree  to  the  rules  of  the 
game,  so  as  to  avoid  foul .  play  on  either  side.  These 
rules  would  of  course  apply  to  all  who  took  part  in  the 
game,  and  not  to  certain  favoured  individuals  only.  The 
most  essential  thing  was  to  agree  upon  the  weapons  to 
be  used.  While  certain  local  Governments  profess  to 
meet  propaganda  by  propaganda,  they  are  really*  using 
repression  of  the  worst  type.  Many  other  similar  points 
would,  in  my  opinion,  be  proper  subjects  of  discussion, 
even  when  no  agreement  could  be  arrived  at  on  the 
main  issue. 

"I  hope  you  will  not  misunderstand  me.  I  yjpld  to 
none  in  my  admiration  of  the  sacrifices  made  by  the 
Brothers,  and  consider  it  a  high  privilege  to  have  their 
personal  friendfhip.  What  has  been  preying  upon  my 
mind  for  some  time  past  is,  that  we,  who  are  directly 
responsible  for  many  of  our  workers  going  to  gaol  and 
sufifering  other  hardships,  are  ourselves  practically  im- 
mune.. For  example,  the  Government  could  not  possibly 
have  devised  any  form  of  punishment,  which  would 
cause  some  of  us  more  pain  and  mental  suffering,  than 
sending  innocent  boys  to  gaol  for  distributing  leaflets, 
while  the  author  remained  free.  I  think  the  time  has 
come,  when  the  leaders  should  welcome  the  opportunity 
to  suflFer,  and  stoutly  decline  all  offers  of  escape.    It   is 


590  NON'CO-OPERATION 

in  this  view  of  the  case  that  I  have  taken  exception  to 
the  action  of  the  Ali  Brothers.  Personally  I  love 
them." 

The  letter  breathes  nobility  and  courage.  And 
those  very  qualities  have  led  to  a  misapprehension  of 
the  situation.  The  unfortunate  utterance  of  the  V.iceroy 
is  responsible  for  the  misunderstanding. 

The  apology  of  the  Brothers  is  not  made  to  the 
Government.  It  is  addressed  and  tendered  to  friends, 
who  drew  their  attention  -to  their  speeches.  It  was 
certainly  not  given  "  at  the  bidding  of  the  Viceroy.' 
I  betray  no  confidencs,  when  I  say  that  it  was  not  even 
suggested  by  him.  As  soon  as  I  saw  the  speeches, I 
stated,  in  order  to  prove  the  bona  fides  of  the  Brot  hers 
and  the  entirely  non-violent  character  of  the  Movement, 
that  I  would  invite  them  to  rnake  a  statement.  There 
was  no  question  of  bargainmg  for  their  freedom. 
Having  had  my  attention  drawn  to  their  speeches,  I 
could  not  possibly  allow  them  to  go  to  gaol  (if  I  could 
prevent  it)  on  the  ground  of  proved  inciteinent  to  violence, 
I  have  given  the  same  advice  lo  all  the  accused,  and 
told  them  that  if  their  speeches  were  violent,  they 
should  certainly  express  regret.  A  Non-Co-operator 
tould  not  do  otherwise.  Had  the  Brothers  been  charged- 
before  a  Court  of  Law,  I  would  have  advised  them  to 
apologise  to  the  Court  for  some  of  the  passages  in  their 
speeches,  which,  in  my  opinion,  were  capable  of  being 
interpreted  to  mean  incitement  to  violence.  It  is  not 
enough  for  a  Non-Co-operator  not  to  mean  violence  ; 
it  is  necessary  that  his  speech  must  not  be  capable 
of  a  contrary  interpretation  by  reasonable  men. 
We  must  be  above  suspicion.  The  success  of  the  move- 
ment depends  upon  its  retaining    its    absolute  purity. 


THE   ALI    BROTHERS'   APOLOGY  59t 

I  therefore  suggest  to  the  writer  and  to  those  who  may- 
think  like  him,  that  the  ■  whole  principle  of  Nou-Co- 
operation  has  not  only  been  given  away  as  the  writer' 
contends;  but  its  non-violent  character  has  been  com- 
pletely vindicated  by  the  Brothers'  apology,  and  the 
case  therefore  greatly  strengthened. 

What,  however,  is  galling  to  the  writer,  is  that 
whilst  the  Brothers  have  remained  free,  the  lesser  lights- 
are  in  prison  for  having  spoken  less  strongly  than  they. 

That  very  fact  shows  the  real  char?icter  of  Non-- 
Cooperation.  A  Non-Co-operator  may  not  bargain  for 
personal  safety.  It  was  open  to  me  to  bargain  for  the 
liberty  of  the  others.  Then  I  would  have  given  away 
the  whole  case  for  ■  Non-Co-operafion.  I  did  not  bargair> 
even  for  the  Brothers'  liberty.  I  stated  in  the  clearest 
possible  terms,  that  no  matter  what  the  Government 
did,  it  would  be  my  duty  on  meeting  the  Brothers  t& 
advise  them  to  make  the  statement  to  save  their  honour. 

We  must  '  play  the  game,'  whether  the  Govern- 
ment reciprocate  or  not.  Indeed,  I  for  one  do- 
not  expect  the  Government  to  pay  the  game. 
It  was,  when  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
was  no  honour  about  the  Government,  that  I  non-co- 
operated. Lord  Reading  may  wish,  does  wish  to  do 
right  and  justice.  But  he  will  not  be  permitted  to.  If 
the  Government  were  honorable,  they  would  have  set 
free  all  the  prisoners,  as  soon  as  they  decided  not  to- 
prosecute  the  Ali  Brothers.  If  the  Government  were 
honorable,  they  would  not  have  caught  youths  and  put- 
them  in  prison,  whilst  they  left  Pandit  Motilal  Nehru, 
the  arch-offender,  free.  If  the  Government  were 
honorable,  they  would  not  countenance  bogus  Leagues 
of   Peace.     If  the  Government  were   honourable,  they. 


592  NON-CO-OPERATIOiN 

would  have  long  ago  repented  for  their  heinous  deeds, 
«Ven  as  we  have  for  every  crime  committed  by  our 
people  in  Amritsar,  Kasur,  Viramgam,  Ahmedabad, 
and  recently  in  Malegaon.  I  entertain  no  false  hopes  or 
misgivings  about  the  Government.  If  the  Govern- 
ment were  to-morrow  to  arrest  the  Ali  Brothers,  I 
would  still  justify  the  apology,  The  have  acted  on  the 
square,  and  we  must  all  do  likewise.  Indeed,  inas- 
much as  the  Government  are  still  arresting  people  for 
.disaflection,  they  are  arresting  the  Ali  Brothers. 

The  writer  is,  again,  not  taking  a  oorrect  view  of 
Non-Co-operation  in  thinking  that  Non-Co-operators, 
who  are  in  gaol,  are  less  fortunate  than  we  who  are 
outside.  For  me,  solitary  confinement  in  a  prison  cell, 
without  any  breach  on  my  part  of  the  code  of  Non-Co- 
operation, or  private  or  public  morals,  will  be  freedom. 
For  me,  the  whole  of  India  is  a  prison,  even  as'  the 
master's  house  is  to  his  slave  ;  a  slave  to  be  free  must 
continuously  rise  against  his  slavery,  and  be  locked  up 
in  his  master's  cell  for  his  rebellion.  The  cell-door  is 
the  door  to  freedom.  I  feel  no  pity  for  those  who  are 
suffering  hardships  in  the  gaols  of  the  Government. 
Innocence  under  an  evil  Government  must  ever  rejoice 
on  the  scaffold.  It  was  the  easiest  thing  for  the 
Brothers  to  have  rejected  my  advice,  and  embraced  the 
opportunity  of  joining  their  comrades  in  the  gaols,  I 
may  inform  the  reader  that,  when  during  the  last  stage 
of  the  South  African  straggle,  I  was  arrested,  my  wife 
and  all  friends  heaved  a  sigh  of^relief.  It  was  in  the 
prisons  of  South  Africa,  that  I  had  leisure  and  peace 
from  strife  and  struggle. 

It  is  perhaps  now  clear,  why  the  Non-Co-operation 
prisoners  may  not  make  any  statement  to  gain  their 
freedom. 


VIOLENCE   AND  NON-VIOLENCE. 


-,  1 

[At  the  time  of  the    Moplah    outbreak    in   August 

1021,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  in  Assam.  Within  a  week  of  the 
outbreak,  Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Young 
India  unde/  the  heading,  "  The  Two  Incompatibles." 

Violence  and  non-violence  are  two  incompatible  forces 
destractive  of  each  other.     Non-violence  for  its  success 
therefore  needs  an  entirely  non-violent  atmosphere.  The 
Moplah  outbreak    has    disturbed  the    atmosphere,    as 
nothing  else  has  since  the  inauguration  of  Non-Co-oper- 
ation.    I  am  writing  this  at  Sylhet  on  the  29th  August- 
By  the  time  it   is  in  print,  much  more  information  will 
have  reached  the  public.     I  have  orfly  a  hazy  notion  of 
what  has  happened.     I   have  seen  only  three  issues  of 
daily  papers  containing  the  Associated    Press  messages. 
One  cannot  help   noting  the    careful  editing  these  mes- 
sages  have  undergone.     But  it  is  clear  that  Moplahs 
have  succeeded  in  taking  half-a-dozen  lives  and   have 
given  already  a    few  hundred.     Malabar  is  under  mar- 
tial law.    The  reprisals  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
are   still    to   follow.     The   braver    the   insurgents,  the 
sterner   the    punishment.     Such  is  the  law  of  Govern- 
ments.    And  I  would  not  have  minded  the  loss  of   ten 
times  as  many  lives  as  the  Moplahs  must  have  lost,  if 
only    they   had    remained  strictly   non-violent.    They 
would  then  have  brought  Swaraj  nearest.    It  is  any  day 
worth  all  the  price  we  can  pay   in   our  own  lives.    For 
the  Moplahs   it    would  have  meant  too  the  immediate 
redress  of  the  Khilafat  wrong.    God  wants  the  purest 
sacrifice.    Our  blood  must  not   contain   the  germs  of 
88 


594  NON-CO-OPERATION 

anger  or  hate.  It  it  not  a  sacrifice  freely  given  that 
exacts  a  price.  The  Moplahs  have  demanded  a  price. 
The  sacrifice  has  lost  much  of  its  nobility.  Now  it  will 
be  said,  that  the  Moplahs  have  received  well-merited 
punishment. 

There  would  have  been  no  martial  law  if  only  the 
Moplahs  had  died.  And  if  there  had  been,  it  would  have 
been  thrice  welcome.  It  would  have  ended  the  system 
of  Government  which  is  decimating  the  land. 

Of  course  now-a-days  it  is  the  fashion  to  make 
Non-Co-operation  responsible  for  every  aflSction, 
whether  it  is  a  famine,  a  coolie  exodus  or  a  Moplah 
rising.  It  is  the  finest  tribute  that  can  be  paid  to  the 
universality  of  Non-Co-operation.  But  nothing  has  been 
produced  by  the  Madras  Government  in  support  of  the 
charge. 

*■  Our  own  duty  is  clear.  Non-Co-operators  must 
wasft  their  hands  clean  of  all  complicity,  We  must  not 
betray  any  mental  or  secret  approval  of  the  Moplahs. 
"We  must  see  clearly,  that  it  would  be  dishonourable 
for  us  to  show  any  approval  of  the  violence.  We  must 
search  for  no  extenuating  circumstance.  We  have 
chosen  a  rigid  standard  for  ourselves  and  by  that  we 
must  abide.  We  have  undertaken  to  do  no  violence 
even  under  the  most  provoking  circumstances.  Indeed 
we  anticipate  the  gravest  provocation  as  our  final  test. 
The  misguided  Moplahs  have  therefore  rendered  a 
distinct  disservice  to  the  sacred  cause  of  Islam  and 
Swaraj. 

We  may  plead,  as  indeed  we  must,  if  we  have  acted 
honestly,  that  in  spite  of  our  eflforts  we  have  not  been 
able  to  bring  under  check  and  discipline  all  the  turbul- 
ent  sections    of  the    community.     The    choice   for  the 


VIOLENCE  ANDSnON-VIOBENCE  696 

f^eople  lies  between  the'  |gentle  and  self-imposed  rnle  of 
non-violence  and  Non-Co-operation,  and  the  iron  rule  of 
the  Goverpment.  The  latter  is  now  demonstrating  its 
power  and  ability  to  counteract  all  the  forces  of  violence 
by  its  superior  and  trained  violence.  We  have  no 
answer,  if  we  cannot  show  that  we  have  greater  in- 
fluence over  the  people.  We  must  be  able  quite  clearly 
to  see  for  ourselves  and  show  to  the  people,  that  display 
of  force  by  us  against  that  of  the  Government  is  like  a 
child  attempting  with  a  straw  to  stop  the  current. 

I  am  painfully  aware  of  the  fact,  that  we  have  not 
as  a  people  yet  arrived  at  the  settled  conviction  that 
India  cannot  attain  immediate  Swaraj  except  through 
con»plete  non-violence. o  We  do  not  even  see  that 
Hindu  Muslim  unity  must  vanish  under  the  strain  of 
violence.  What  is  at  the  back  of  our  mutual 
distrust,  if  it  is  not  the  fear  of  each  other's  violence  ? 
And  Swaraj  without  real  heart-unity  is  an  inconceivable 
proposition. 

What  is  it  that  hinders  attainmeat  of  Swaraj,  if  it 
is  not  fear  of  violence  ?  Are  we  not  deterred  simply 
through  that  fear,  from  taking  all  our  steps  at  once  ? 
Can  we  not,  if  we  can  be  sure  of  non-violence,  issue  to- 
day an  ultimatum  to  the  Government  either  to  co-operate 
with  us  or  to  go  ?  Do  not  the  Moderates  keep  aloof, 
mainly  because  they  distrust  our  ability  to  create  a 
non-violent  atmosphere  ?  Their  timidity  will  derive 
nurture  from  the  Moplah  outbreak. 

What  then  must  we  do  ?  Certainly  not  feel  des- 
pondent. We  must  go  forward  with  greater  zeal, 
greater  hope,  because  of  greater  faith  in  our  means.  We 
must  persevere  in  the  process  of  conversion  of  the  most 
ignorant  of   our  conntrymen  to  the  doctrine    of  non- 


596  NON-CO-OPERATION 

violence  as  an  indispensable  means  as  well  for  redressing 
tke  Khilafat  wrong  as  for  attaining  Swaraj. 

The  Moplahs  are  among  the  bravest  iq.  the  land. 
They  are  God-fearing.  Their  bravery  must  be  trans- 
farmed  into  purest  gold.  I  feel  sure,  that  once  they 
realse  the  necessity  of  non-violence  for  the  defence  of 
the  faith  for  which  they  have  hitherto  taken  life,  thay 
will  follow  it  without  flinching.  Here  is  the  testimony 
given  to  Moplah  valour  by  the  writer  in  in  the  "Imperial 
Gazetteer  of  India  "  :  "  The  one  constant  alement  is  a 
desperate  fanaticism;  surrender  is  unknown;  the  martyrs 
are  consecrated  before  they  go  out  and  hymned  after 
death  !"  Such  courage  is  worthy  of  a  better  treatment. 
The  Government  dealt  with  it  by  passing,  years  ago,  a 
special  act  against  them.  It  has  already  set  its  machi- 
nery in  motion  for-the  present  trouble.  The  Moplahs 
will  no  doubt  die  cheerfully.  I  wonder  if  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  transmute  their  courage  into  the  noble  courage 
of  non-violence.  It  may  be  impossible  to  achieve  the 
miraclfs  through  human  effort.  But  God  is  noted  for  His 
miracles.  Many  consider  that  attainment  of  Swaraj 
this  year,  if  it  is  realised,  must  be  counted  a  miracle.  It 
has  got  to  be  preceded  by  a  miraculous  conversion  of 
India,  not  excluding  its  bravest  sons,  to  the  doctrine  of 
non-violence  at  least,  in  its  restricted  scope,  i.e.,  as  an 
indispensable  condition  for  securing  India's  freedom. 


APPEAL  TO  THE  WOMEN  OF  INDIA. 


[The  following  appeal  addressed  to  the   women  of 
India  appeared  in  Young  India  of  August  11,  1921.] 
Dear  Sisters, 

The  All-India  Congress  Committee  has  come  to  a 
momentous  decision  in  fixing  the  30th  September  next 
as  the  final  date  for  completing  the  boycott  of  foreign 
cloth  begun  by  the  sacrificial  fire  lit  on  the  31st  July 
in  Bombay  in  memory  of  Lokamanya  Tilak.  I  was 
accorded  the  privilege  of  setting  fire  to  the  huge  pile 
containing  costly  saris  and  other  dresses  which  you 
have  hitherto  considered  fine  and  beautiful.  I  feel  that 
it  was  right  and  wise  on  the  part  of  the  sisters  who 
gave  their  costly  clothing.  Its  destruction  was  the 
most  economical  use  you  could  have  made  of  it,  even 
as  destruction  of  plague-infected  articles  is  their  most 
eccHiomical  and  best  uise.  It  was  a  necessary  surgical 
operation  designed  to  avert  more  serious  complaints  in 
the  body  politic. 

The  women  of  India  have  during,  the  past  twelve 
months  worked  wonders  on  behalf  of  the  motherland. 
Yoa  have  silently  worked  away  as  angels  of  mercy. 
You  have  parted  with  your  cash  and  your  fine  jewellery* 
You  have  wandered  from  house  to  house  to  make  collec- 
tions. Some  of  you  have  even  assisted  in  picketing. 
Some  of  you  who  were  used  to  fine  dresses  of  variegated 
colours  and  had  a  number  of  chaiiges  during  the  day, 
have  now  adopted  the  white  and  spotless  but  heavy 
Khadi  sadi  reminding  one  of  a  woman's  innate  purity^ 
You  have  done  all  this  for  tbe.sake    of  India,  for    the 


598  NON-CO-OPERATION 

sake  of  the  Khilafat,  for  the  sake  of  the  Punjab.  There 
is  no  guilt  about  your  word  or  work.  Yours  is  the 
purest  sacrifice  untainted  by  anger  or  hate.  Let  me 
confess  to  you  that  your  spontaneous  and  loving  res- 
ponse alll]over  India  has  convinced  me  that  God  is  with 
us.  No  otherTproof  of  our  struggle  being  one  of  seM- 
purification  is  needed  than  that  lacs  of  India's  women 
are  actively  helping  it. 

Having  given  much,  more  is  now  required  of  yon. 
Men  bore  the  principal  share  of  the  subscriptions  to 
the  Tilak  Swara^j  Fund.  But  completion  of  the  Swadeshi 
programme  is  possible  only  if  you  give  the  largest 
share.  Boycott  is  impossible,  unless  you  will  surrender 
the  whole  of  your  foreign  clothing.  So  long  as  the  taste 
ptersists,  so  long  is  complete  renunciation  impossible. 
And  boycott  means  complete  renundation.  We  must 
be  prepared  to  be  satisfied  with  such  cloth  as  India 
can  produce,  even  as  we  are  thankfully  content  with 
such  children  as  God  gives  ue.  I  have  not  known  a 
mother  throwing  away  her  baby  even  though  it  may 
appear  ugly  to  an  outsider.  So  should  it  be  with  the 
patriotic  women  of  India  about  Indian  manufactures. 
And  for  you  only  handspun  and  handwoven  can  be 
regarded  as  Indian  manufactures.  During  the  transition 
stage  yon  can  only  get  coarse  Khadi  in  abundance.  You 
may  add  sill  the  art  to  it  that  your  taste  allows  or 
requires.  And  if  you  will  be  satisfied  with  coarse  Khadt 
for  a  few  months,  India  need  not  despair  of  seeing  a 
revival  o^the  fine  rich  and  coloured  garments  of  old 
which  were  once  the  envy  and  the  despair  of  the 
world.  I  assure  you  that  a  six  months'  course  of 
self-denial  will  show  you  that  what  we  to-day  regard 
as    artistic    is    only    falsely    so,    and    that    true    art 


APPEAL  TO  THE  WOMEN  OF  INDIA     599 

• 

takes  note  not  merely  of  form  but  also  of  what  lies  be- 
hind. There  is  an  art  that  killj  and  an  art  that  gives 
life.  The  fine  fabric  that  we  have  imported  from  the 
West  or  the  far  East  has  literally  killed  millions  of  our 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  delivered  thousands  of  our 
dear  sisters  to  a  life  of  shame.  True  art  must  be 
evidence  of  happiness,  contentment  and  purity  of  its 
authors.  And  if  you  will  have  such  art  revived  in  our 
midst,  the  use  of  Khadi  is  obligatory  on  the  best  of  you 
at  the  present  moment. 

And  not  only  is  the  use  of  Khadi  necessary  for  the 
success  of  the  Swadeshi  programme  but  it  is  imperative 
for  every  one  of  you  to. spin  during  your  leisure  hours. 
I  have  suggested  to  boys  and  men  also  that  they  should 
spin.  Thousands  of  them,  I  know,  are  spinning  daily. 
But  the  main  burden  of  spinning  must,  as  of  old,  fall  on 
your  shoulders.  Two  hundred  years  ago  the  women  of 
India  spun  not  only  for  home  demand  but  also  for  foreign 
lands.  They  spun  not  merely  coarse- counts  but  the 
finest  that  the  world  has  ever  spun.  No  machine  has 
yet  reached  the  fineness  of  the  yarn  spun  by  our  ances- 
tors. If  then  we  are  to  cope  with  the  demand  for  Khadi 
during  the  two  months  and  afterwards,  you  must  form 
spinning  clubs,  institute  spinning  competitions  and  flood 
the  Indian  market  with  handspun  yarn.  For  this  pur- 
pose some  of  you  have  to  become  experts  in  spinning, 
carding  and  adjusting  the  spinning-wheels.  This  means 
ceaseless  toil.  You  will  not  look  upon  spinning  as  a 
means  of  livelihood.  For  the  middle  class  it  should 
supplement  the  income  of  the  family,  and  for  very 
poor  women,  it  is  undoubtedly  a  means  of  livelihood. 
The  spinning-wheel  Should  be  as  it  was  the  widows' 
loving  companion.     But  for   you  who  will  read  this 


600  NON-CO-OPERATION 

» 

appeal,  it  is  presented  as  a  diity,  as  Dhartna.  If  all 
the  well-to-do  women  of  India  were  to  spin  a  certain 
quantity  daily,  they  would  make  yarn  cheap  and  bring 
about  much  more  quickly  than  otherwise  the  required 
fineness. 

The  economic  and  the  moral  salvation  of  India  thus 
rests  mainly  with  you.  The  future  of  India  lies  on  your 
knees,  for  you  will  nurture  the  future  generation.  You 
can  bring  up  the  children  of  India  to  become  simple, 
God-fearing  and  brave  men  and  women,  or  you  can  coddle 
them  to  be  weaklings  unfit  to  brave  the  storms  of  life 
and  used  to  foreign  fineries  which  they  would  find  it 
difficult  in  after  life  to  discard.  The  next  few  weeks 
will  show  of  what  stuff  the  women  of  India  are  made* 
I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  your  choice. 
The  destiny  of  India  is  far  safer  in  your  hands  than  in 
the  hands  of  a  Government  that  has  so  exploited  India's 
reiBources  that  she  has  lost  faith  in  herself.  At  every 
one  of  women's  meetings,  I  have  asked  for  your  bless- 
ings for  the  national  effort,  and  I  have  done  so  in  the 
belief  that  you  are  pure,  simple  and  godly  enough  to 
give  them  with  effect.  You  can  ensure  the  fruitfulness 
of  your  blessings  by  giving  up  your  foreign  cloth  and 
during  your  spare  hours  ceaselessly  spinning  for  the 
nation. 

I  remain, 
Your  devoted  brother, 
M.  K.  GANDHI. 


THE  ARREST  OF  THE   ALI  BROTHERS. 
Appeal  to  the  Mussalmans  of  India. 

[The  Alt  Brothers  were  arrested  63;  order  0/  the 
Bombay  Government  in  the  third  week  of  September 
1921.  Mr.  Gandhi  addressed  the  following  open  letter 
*o  the  Mussalmans  of  India  through  the  columns  of 
Young  India,] 

Dear  Countrymen: — Whilst  the  arrest  of  Moulanas 
Shaukat  AH  and  Mahomed  AH  has  touched  every  Indian 
heart,  I  know  what  it  has  meant  to  you .  The  brave 
brothers  are  staunch  lovers  of  their  coiuntry,  but  they 
are  Mussalmans  first  and  everything  .  else  after,  and  it 
must  be  so  with  every  religiously  minded  man.  The 
Brothers  have,  for  years  past,  represented  all  that  is 
best  and  noblest  in  Islam.  No  two  Mussalmans  have 
done  more  than  they  to  raise  the  status  of  Islam  in  India. 
They  have  promoted  the  cause  of  the  Khilafat  as  no 
two  other  Mussalmans  of  India  have.  For  they  have 
been  true  and  they  dared  to  tell  what  they  felt  even  in 
their  internment  in  Chiudwara.  Their  long  internment 
did  not  demoralise  or  weaken  them.  They  came  out  just 
as  brave  as  they  went  in* 

And  since  their  discharge  from  internment  they 
have  shown  themselves  true  nationalists  and  you  have 
taken  pride  in  their  being  so. 

The  Brothers  have,  by  their  simplicity,  humility 
and  inexhaustible  energy,  fired  the  imagination  of  the 
masses  as  no  other  Mussalman  has. 

All  these  quaHties  have  endeared  thlem  to  you. 
You  regard  them  as  your  ideal  men.    You  are,  therefore 


602  NON-CO-OPERATION 

sorry  for  their  separation  from  you.  Many,  besides  you> 
miss  their  genial  faces.  For  me  they  had  become  in- 
separable. I  seem  to  be  without  my  arms.  For 
anything  connected  with  Massalmans,  Shaukat 
Ali  was  my  guide  and  friend.  He  never  once 
misled  me.  His  judgment  was  sound  and  unerring  in 
most  cases.  With  the  Brothers  among  us,  I  felt  safe 
about  Hindu-Muslim  unity  whose  work  they  understood 
as  few  of  us  have. 

But  whilst  we  all  miss  them,  we  must  not  give 
way  to  grief  or  dejection.  We  must  learn,  each  one  of 
us,  to  stand  alone.  God  only  is  our  infallible  and 
eternal  Guide. 

To  be  dejected  is  not  only  not  to  have  known  the 
Brothers,  but  it  is,  if  I  may  _  venture  to  say  so,  not  to 
know  what  religio'n  is. 

For  do  we  not  learn  in  all  religions  that  the  spirit 
of  the  dear  ones  abides  with  us  even  when  they  physic- 
ally leave  us.  Not  only  is  the  spirit  of  the  Brothers 
with  us,  but  they  are  serving  better  by  their  suffering 
than  if  they  were  in  our  midst  giving  us  some  of  their 
courage,  hope  and  energy.  The  secret  of  non-violence 
and  non-co-operation,  lies  in.  our  realising  that  it  is 
through  suffering  that  we  are  to  attain  our  goal.  What 
is  the  renunciation  of  titles,  councils,  law  courts  and 
schools,  but  a  njeasure,  very  slight  indeed,  of  sufferings 
That  preliminary  renunciation  is  a  prelude  to  the 
larger  suffering — the  hardships  of  a  gaol  life  and  even 
t^e  final  consummation  on  the  gallows — if  need  be. 
The  more  we  suflfer  and  the  more  of  us  suffer,  the 
nearer  we  are  to  our  cherished  goa^. 

The  earlier  and  the  more  clearly  we  recognise  that 
it  is  not  big  meetings   and  demonstrations  that  wovldi 


THE  ARREST  OF  THE  ALI  BROTHERS  603 

give  us  victory  but  quiet  suffering,  the  earlier  and  more 
pertain  will  be  our  victory. 

I  have  made  your  cause  my  own  because  I  believe 
it  to  be  just.  Khilafat,  I  have  understood  from  your 
best  men,  is  an  ideal.  You  are  not  fighting  to  sustain 
any  wrong  or  even  misrule.  You  are  backing  the  Turks 
because  they  represent  the  gentlemen  of  Europe,  and 
because  the  European,  and  especially  the  English,  preju- 
dice against  them  is  not  because  the  Turks  are  worse 
than  others  as  men,  but  because  they  are  Mussalmans 
and  v/ill  not  assimilate  the  modern  spirit  of  exploitation 
of  weaker  people  and  their  lands.  In  fighting  for  the 
Turks  you  are  fighting  to  raise  the  dignity  and  the- 
purity  of  your  own  faith. 

You  have,  naturally,  therefore,  chosen  pure  methods, 
to  attain  yddr  end.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  both 
Mussalmans  and  Hindus  have  lost  much  in  moral 
stamina.  Both  of  us  have  become  poor  representatives 
of  our  respective  faiths.  Instead  of  each  one  of  us 
becoming  a  true  child  of  God,  we' expect  others  to  live 
our  religion  and  even  to.  die  for  us.  But  we  have  now 
chosen  a  method  that  compels  us  to  turn,  each  one  of  us, 
our  face  towards  God.  Non-co-operation  presumes  that 
our  opponent  with  whom  we  non-co-operate  resorts, 
to  methods  which  are  as  questionable  as  the  purpose 
he  seeks  to  fulfil  by  such  methods.  We  shall,  therefore, 
find  favour  in  the  sight  of  God  only  by  choosing 
methods  which  are  different  in  kind  from  those  of 
our  opponents.  This  is  a  big  claim  we  have  made  for 
ourselves,  and  we  can  attain  success,  within  the  short 
time  appointed  by  us,  only  if  our  methods  are  in  reality 
radically  different  from  thbse  of  the  Government.. 
flihcb,  the  foundation  of  our  movement  rests  on  complete- 


«©4  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Bon-violence  whereas  violence  is  the  final  refuge  of  the 
Government.  And  as  no  energy  can  be  created  without 
resistance,  our  non-resistance  to  Government  violence 
must  bring  the  latter  to  a  standstill.  But  our  non- 
violence, to  be  true,  must  be  in  werd,  thought  and  deed. 
It  makes  no  difference  that  with  you  non-violence  is  an 
expedience.  Whilst  it  lasts,  you  cannot  consistently, 
with  your  pledge,  harboMr  designs  of  violence.  On  the 
■contrary,  we  must  have  implicit  faith  in  our  programme 
■of  non-violence  which  presupposes  perfect  accord 
between  thought,  word  and  deed.  I  would  like  every 
Mussalman  to  realise,  whilst  the  occasion  for  anger 
is  the  greatest,  that  by  non-violence  alone -can  we  gain 
complete  victory  even  during  this  year. 

Nor  is  non-violence  a  visionary  programm,e.  Just 
imagine  what  the  united  resolve  of  seven  crores  of 
Mussalmans  (not  to  count  the  Hindus)  must  mean. 
■Should  we  not  have  succeeded  already,  if  all  the  titled 
men  had  given  up  their  titles,  all  the  lawyers  had 
suspended  their  practice  and  all  the  schoolboys  had  left 
their  schools  and  all  had  boycotted  Councils  ?  But 
we  must  recognise  that  with  many  of  us,  flesh  has 
proved  too  weak.  Seven  crores  are  called  Mussalmans 
and  twenty  two  crores  are  called  Hindus,  but  only  a 
few  are  true  Mussalmans  or  true  Hindus.  Therefore, 
if  we  have  not  gained  our  purpose,  the  cause  lies  within 
lis.  And  if  ours  is,  as  we  claim  it  is,  a  religious  struggle, 
we  dare  not  become  impatient,  save  with  ourselves,  not 
even  against  one  another. 

The  Brothers,  I  am  satisfied,  are  as  innocent  as  I 
claim  I  am  of  incitement  to  violence.  Theirs,"  therefore, 
is  a  spotless  offering.  They  have  done  all  in  their 
|)ower  for  Islam  and  their  country.    Now, "if  the  Khila- 


THE  ARREST  OF  THE  ALI  BROTHERS  605 

fat  or  the  Punjab  wrongs  are  not  redressed  and  Swaraj 
is  not  established  dkring  this  year,  the  fault  will  be 
yours  and  mjne.  We  must  remain  non-violent  but  we 
must  not  be  passive.  We  must  repeat  the  formula  of 
the  Brothers  regarding  the  duty  of  soldiers  and  invite 
imprisonment.  We  need  not  think  that  the  struggle 
cannot  go  on  without  even  the  best  of  us.  If  it  cannot> 
we  are  neither  fit  for  Swaraj  nor  for  redressing  the 
Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs.  We  must  declare 
team  a  thousand  platforms  that  it  is  sinful  for  ^y  Mus- 
salman  or  Hindu  to  serve  the  existing  Government 
whether  as  soldier  or  in  any  capacity  whatsover. 

Above  all  we  must  concentrate  on  complete  boy- 
cott of  foreign  cloth  whether  British,  Japanese 
American  of  French,  or  any  other,  and  begin,  if  we 
have  not  already  done  so,  to  introduce  spinning-wheels 
and  handlooms  in  our  own  homes  and  manufacture  all 
the  cloth  we  need.  This  will  be  at  once  a  test  of  our 
belief  on  nonviolence  for  our  country's  freedom  and  for 
saving  the  Khilafat.  It  will  be  a  test  also  of  Hindu- 
Muslim  unity,  and  it  will  be  a  universal  test  of  our 
faith  in  our  own  programme.  I  repeat  my  convictiou 
that  we  can  achieve  our  full  purpose,  within  one  month, 
of  a  compuete  boycott  of  foreign  cloth.  For  we  are 
then  in  a  position,  having  confidence  in  our  ability  to 
control  forces  of  violence,  to  offer  civil  disobedience,  if 
it  is  at  all  found  necessary. 

I  can,  therefore,  find  no  balm  for  the  deep  wounds 
inflicted  upon  yOu  by  the  Government  other  than  non- 
violence translated  into  action  by  boycott  of  fereign 
cloth  and  mrnufacture  of  cloth  in  our  own  homes. 

I  am, 
Your  friend  and  comrade, 
M.  K.  Gandhi. 


MANIFESTO  ON   FREEDOM  OF   OPINION. 

[The  Government  of  Bombay  in  a  communique 
■dated  the  ISth  September  1921,  explained  their  reasons 
for  prosetuting  the  Ali  Brothers.  Mr.  Gandhi,  Mrs: 
Sarojini  Naidu,  Messrs.  Motilal  Nehru,  N.  C.  Kelkar, 
S.  E.  Stokes,  Lajpat  Rai,  Ajmal  Khan  and  about  50 
others  issued  the  following  manifesto  on  Ath  Octobir  : — 1 

In  view  of  the  prosecution  of  the  Ali  Brothers  and 
others  for  the  reasons  stated  in  the  Government  of 
Bombay  communique,  dated  the  15th  September,  1921, 
we,  the  undersigned^  speaking  in  our  individual  capacity 
■desire  to  state  that  it  is  the  inherent  right  of  every  one 
to  express  his  opinion  without  restraint  about  the 
propriety  of  citizens  offering  their  services  to,  or  remain- 
ing in  the  employ  of  the  Government,  whether  in  the 
Civil  or  the  Military  department. 

We,  the  undersigned,  state  it  as  our  opinion  that  it 
is  contrary  to  national  dignity  for  any  Indian  to  serve  as 
a  civilian,  and  more  especially  as  a  soldier,  under  a 
system  of  Government  which  has  brought  about  India's 
economic,  moral  and  political  degradation  and  which  has 
used  the  soldiers  and  the  police  for  repressing  national 
aspirations,  as  for  instance  at  the  time  of  the  Rowlatt 
Act  agitation,  and  which  has  used  the  soldiers  for 
crushing  the  liberty  of  the  Arabs,  the  Egyptians,  the 
Turks,  and  other  nations  who  have  done  no  harm  to 
India. 

We  are  also  of  opinion  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
Indian  soldier  and  civilian  to  sever  his  connection  with 
the  Government  and  find  some  other  means  of  livelihood 


THE  GREAT  SENTINEL. 
Reply  to  Rabindranath  Tagore. 


[In  the  October  (1921)  number  of  the  Modern. 
Review,  Rabindranath  Tagore  wrote  an  article  "  The 
{Jail  of  Truth  "  criticising  some  features  of  the  non-co- 
operation movement,  Mr,  Gandhi  replied  to  the 
criticism  in  the  Young  India  of  the  \Zth  October. \ 

The  Bard  of  Shantiniketan  has  contributed  to  tha 
Modern  Review  a  brilliant  essay  on  the  present  move- 
ment. It  is  a  series  of  word  pictures  which  he  alone 
can  paint.  It  is  an  eloquent  protest  against  authority, 
slave  mentality  or  whatever  descriplion  one  gives  of 
blind  acceptance  of  a  passing  mania  whether  out  of 
fear  or  hope.  It  is  a  welcome  and  wholesome  reminder 
to  all  workers,  that  we  must  not  be  impatient 
we  must  not  impose  authority,  no  matter  how 
great.  The  Poet  tells  as  summarily  to  reject 
anything  and  everything  that  does  not  appeal 
to  our  reason  or  heart.  If  we  would  gain  Swaraj,  we 
must  stand  for  Truth  as  we  know  it  at  any  cost.  A  re- 
former who  is  enraged  because  his  message  is  not  accep- 
ted must  retire  to  the  forest  to  learn  how  to  watch,  wait 
and  pray.  With  all  this  one  must  heartily  agree,  and 
the  Poet  deserves  the  thanks  of  his  countrymen  for 
standing  up  for  Truth  and  Reason.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  our  last  state  will  be  worse  than  our  first, 
if  we  surrender  our  reason  into  somebody's  keeping. 
And  I  would  feel  extremely  sorry  to  discover, 
that  the  country  had  unthinkingly  and  blindly 
followed   all  I  had  said  or  done.    I  am  quite  conscionS 


608  NOK-CO-OPERATION 

of  the  fact  that  blind  surrender  to  love  is  often  more 
mischievous  than  a  forced  surrender  to  the  lash  of  the 
tyrant.  There  is  hope  for  the  slave  of  the  brute,  none 
for  that  of  love.  Love  is  needed  to  strengthen  the 
weak,  love  becomes  tyrannical  when  it  exacts  obedience 
from  an  unbeliever.  To  mutter  a  "  mantra  "  without 
knowing  its  value  is  unmanly. .  It  is  good,  therefore, 
that  the  Poet  has  invited  all  who  are  slavishly  mimick- 
ing the  call  of  the  "  charkha  "  boldly  to  declare  their 
revolt.  Hie  essay  serves  as  a  warning  to  us  all  who  in 
our  impatience  are  betrayed  into  intolerance  or  even 
violence  against  those  who  differ  from  us  :  I  regard 
the  Poet  as  a  sentinel  warning  us  against  the  approach 
of  enemies  called  Bigotry,  Lethargy,  Intolerance,  Ig- 
norance, Inertia  and  other  members  of  that  brood. 

But  whilst  I  agree  with  all  that  the  Poet  has  said 
as  to  the  necessity  of  watchfulness  lest  we  cease  to  think, 
I  must  not  be  understood  to  endorse  the  proposition  that 
there  is  any  such  blind  obedience  on  a  large  scale  in 
the  country  to-day.  I  have  again  and  again  appealed  to 
reason,  and  let  me  assure  him  that,  if  happily  the  coun- 
try has  come  to  believe  in  the  spinning-wheel  as  the 
giver  of  plenty,  it  has  done  so  after  laborious  thinking, 
after  great  hesitation.  I  am  not  sure,  that  even  now 
educated  India  has  assimilated  the  truth  underlying  the 
"  charka."  He  must  not  mistake  the  surface  dirt  for  the 
substance  underneath.  Let  him  go  deeper  and  see  for 
himself,  whether  the  "  charka"  has  been  accepted  from 
blind  faith  or  from  reasoned  necessity. 

I  do  indeed  ask  the  Poet  and  the  sage  to  spin  the 
wheel  as  a  sacrament.  When  there  is  war,  the  poet 
lays  down  the  lyre,  the  lawyer  his  law  reports,  the 
school  boy  his  books.    The  Poet  will  sing  the  true  note 


THE  GREAT    SENTINEL  609 

after  the  war  is  over,  the  lawyer  will  have  occasion  to 
go  to  his  law  books  when  people  have  time  to  fight 
among  themselves.  When  a  house  is  on  firej  all  the.  in- 
mates go  out,  and  each  one  takes  up  a  bucket  to  quench 
the  fire.  When  all  about  me  are  dying  for  want  of 
food,  the  only  occupation  permissible  to  me  is  to  feed 
the  hungry.  It  is  my  conviction  that  India  is  a  house 
on  fire,  because  its  manhood  is  being  daily  scorched,  it 
is  dying  of  hunger  because  it  has  no  work  to  buy  food 
with.  Khulna  is  starving  not  because  the  people  cannot 
work  but  because  they  have  no  work.  The  Ceded  Dis- 
tricts are  passing  successively  through  a  fourth  famine, 
Orissa  is  a  land  suffering  from  chronic  famines.  Our 
cities  are  not  India.  India  lives  in  her  seven  and  a  half 
lacs  of  villages,  and  the  cities  live  upon  the  villages, 
They  do  not  bring  their  wealth  from  other  countries. 
The  city  people  are  brokers  and  commission  agents  for 
the  big  houses  of  Europe,  America  and  Japan .  The  cities 
have  co-operated  with  the  latter  in  the  bleeding  process 
that  has  gone  on  for  the  past  two  hundred  years.  It  is 
my  belief,  based  on  experience,  that  India  is  daily  grow- 
ing poorer.  The  circulation  about  her  feet  and  legs  has 
almost  stopped.  And  if  we  do  not  take  care,  she  w-ill 
collapse  altogether. 

To  a  people  famishing  and  idle,  the  only  acceptable 
form  in  which  God  can  dare  appear  is  work  and  promise 
of  food  as  wages.  God  created  man  to  work  for  his 
food,  and  said  that  those  who  ate  without  work  were 
thieves.  Eighty  per  cent,  of  India  are  compulsorily 
thieves  half  the  year.  Is  it  any  wonder,  if  India  has 
become  one  vast  prison  ?  Hunger  is  the  argument 
that  is  driving  India  to  the  spinning  wheel.  The  call 
of  the  spinning  wheel  is  the  noblest  of  all,  because  it  is 
39 


610  NON-CO-OPERATION 

the  call  of  love.  And  love  is  Swaraj.  The  spinning, 
wheel  will  'curb  the  mind'  when  time  spent  on  necessary 
physical  labour  can  be  said  to  do  so.  We  must  think  of 
the  millions  who  are  to-day  less  than  animals,  who  are 
almost  in  a  dying  state.  The  spinning  wheel  is  the 
reviving  draught  for  millions  of  our  dying  countrymen 
and  countrywomen.  'Why  should  I,  who  have  no  need  to 
work  for  food,  spin'?  may  be  the  question  asked.  Be- 
cause I  am  eating  what  does  not  belong  to  me.  I  am 
living  on  the  spoliation  of  my  countrymen.  Trace  the 
course  of  every  pice  that  finds  its  way  into  your  pocket, 
and  you  will  realise  the  truth  of  what  I  write.  Swaraj 
has  no  meaning  for  the  millions  if  they  do  not  know  how 
to  employ  their  enforced  idleness.  The  attainment  of 
this  Swaraj  is  possible  within  a  short  time,  and  it  is  so 
possible  only  by  the  revival  of  the  spinning  wheel. 

I  do  want  growth,  I  do  want  self-determination,  I 
do  want  freedom,  but  I  want  all  these  for  the  soul.  I 
■doubt  if  the  steel  age  is  an  advance  upon  the  flint  age. 
I  am  indifferent.  It  is  the  evolution  of  the  soul  to  which 
the  intellect  and  all  our  faculties  have  to  be  devoted.  I 
have  no  difficulty  in  imagining  the  possibility  of  a  man 
armoured  after  the  modern  style  making  some  lasting 
and  new  discovery  for  mankind,  but  I  have  less  difficulty 
in  imagining  the  possibility  of  a  man  having  nothing  but 
abit  of  flint  and  a  nail  for  lighting  his  path  or  his  match- 
lock ever  singing  new  hymns  of  praise  and  delivering  to 
an  aching  world  a  message  of  peace  and  goodwill  upon 
earth.  A  plea  for  the  spinning  wheel  is  a  plea  for  re- 
cognising the  dignity  of  labour 

I  claim  that  in  losing  the  spinning  wheel  we  lost 
our  left  lung.  We  are,  therefore,  iufferiug  from  gallo- 
ping consumption.     The  restoration  of  the  wheel  arrests 


THE   GREAT   SENTINEL  611 

■the  progress  of  the  fell  disease.  There  are  certain  things 
"which  all  must  do  in  all  climes.  The  spinning  wheel 
is  the  thing  which  all  must  turn  in  the  Indian  clime  for 
the  transition  stage  at  any  rate  and  the  vasf  majority 
must  for  all  time. 

It   was   our    love   of  foreign  cloth  that  ousted  the 

wheel  from  its  position  of  dignity.     Therefore  I  consider 

it    a  sin  to  wear  foreign  cloth.     I  must  confess  that  I  do 

not  draw  a  sharp  or  any  distinction  between  economics 

and  ethics.     Economics  that   hurt  the  moral  well-being 

-of  an  individual   or  a  nation  are  immoral  and  therefore 

sinfnl.     Thus   the  economics  that  permit  one  country  to 

prey   upon  another  are  immoral.    It  is  sinful  to  buy  and 

use  articles  made  by  sweated  labour.     It  is  sinfu!  to  eat 

American  wheat  and  let  my  neighbour,  the  grain  dealer, 

•starve  for  want  of  custom.     Similarly  it  is  sinful  for  me 

to  wear  the  latest  finery  of  Regent  Street,  when  I  know 

■that   if  I   had  but  worn  the  things  woven  by  the  neigh- 

Ijouring  spinners  and  weavers,  that  would  have  clothed 

sae,  and  fed  and  clothed  them.     On  the  knowledge  of  my 

sin  bursting  upon  me,  I  must  consign  the  foreign  garments 

:to   the    flames    and  thus  purify  myself,  and  thenceforth 

rest   content   with   the   rough   '•  Khadi "    made  by  my 

aieighbours.     On  knowing  that  my  neighbours  may  not, 

having   given    up   the    occupation,   take   kindly  to  the 

spinning   wheel,   I    must   take    it   up  myself  and   thus 

make  it  popular. 

I  venture  to  suggest  to  the  Poet,  that  the  clothes 
1  ask  him  to  burn  must  be  and  are  his.  If  they  had  to 
his  knowledge  belonged  to  the  poor  or  the  ill-clad,  he 
would  long  ago  have  restored  to  the  poor  what  was 
theirs.  In  burning  my  foreign  clothes  I  burn  my  shame. 
S  must  refuse  to  insult  the  nakedby  giving  them  clothes 


612  NON-CO-OPERATION 

they  do  not  need,  instead  of  giving  them  work  which 
they  sorely  need.  I  will  not  commit  ithe  sin  of  becoming- 
their  patron,  but  on  learning  that  I  had  assisted  in 
impoveris"hing  them,  I  wotild  give  them  a  privileged" 
position  and  give  them  neither  crumbs  nor  cast  off 
clothing,  but  the  best  of  my  food  and  clothes  and' 
associate  myself  with  them  in  work. 

Nor  is  the  scheme  of  Non-co-operation  or  Swadeshi' 
an  exclusive   doctrine.     My  modesty  has  prevented  me 
from  declaring  from  the  house  top  that  the  message  of 
Non-Co'operation,     non-violence    and   Swa,deshi    is    a 
message   to   the  world.     It  must  fall  flat,  if  it  does  not 
bear  fruit  in  the  soil  where  it  has  been  delivered.    At 
the  present  moment  India  has  nothing  to  share  with  the 
world  save  her  degradation,  pauperism  and  plagues.    Is 
it    her    ancient    Shastras  that  we  should  send  to  the 
world  ?    Well,  they  are  printed  in  many  editions,  and 
an  incredulous  and  idolatrous  world  refuses  to  look  at 
them,  becauseiwe,ithe  heirs  and  custodians,  do  not  live- 
them.     Before  therefore  I  can  think  of  sharing  with  the 
world,   I  must  possess.     Our  non-co-operation  is  neither 
with   the    English   nor    with   the   West.     Our  non-co- 
operation  is  with  the  system  the  English  have  establish- 
ed,  with    the   material   civilisation   and    its   attendant 
greed   and  exploitation  of  the  weak.    Our  non-co-opera- 
tion   is   a   retirement   within   ourselves.     Our    non-co- 
operation  is   a   refusal  to  co-operate  with  the  English 
administrators    on   their   own  terms.    We  say  to  them, 
t  Come  and  co-operate  with  us  on  our  terms,  and  it  will 
be     well     for     us,    for    you    and    the    world.'    We 
must    refuse -[to'^ibe   lifted  off  our  feet.     A  drowning 
man  cannot  save  others.    In   order  to  be  fit  to  save 
others  we  must  try  to  save  ourselves.     Indian  national 


THE   GREAT   SENTINEL  613 

lism  is  not  exclusive,  nor  aggressive,  nor  destructive. 
It  is  health-giving,  religious  and  therefore  hunaanitarian. 
India  must  learn  to  live  before  she  can  aspire  to  die  for 
humanity.  The  mice  which  helplessly  find  themselves 
between  the  cat's  teeth  acquire  no  merit  from  their 
-enforced  sacrifice.  True  to  his  poetical  instinct  the  Poet 
lives  for  the  morrow  and  would  have  us  do  likewise. 
He  presents  to  our  admiring  gaze  the  beautiful  picture 
of  the  birds  early  in  the  morning  singing  hymns  of 
praise  as  they  soar  into  the  sky.  These  birds  had  their 
day's  food  and  soared  with  rested  wings  in  whose  veins 
new  blood  had  fiown  during  the  previous  night.  But 
I  have  had  the  pain  of  watching  birds  who  for  want  of 
strength  could  not  be  coaxed  even  into  a  flutter  of  their 
■wings.  The  human  bird  under  the  Indian  sky  gets 
lip  weaker  than  when  he  pretended  to  retire.  For 
millions  it  is  an  eternal  i  vigil  or  an  eternal  trance. 
It  is  an  indescribably  painful  state  which  has  to  be 
experienced  to  be  realised.  I  have  found  it  impossible 
to  soothe  suffering-patients  with  a  song  from  Kabir. 
The  hungry  millions  ask  for  one  poem,  invigorating 
iood.  They  cannot  be  given  it.  They  must  earn  it. 
And  they  can  earn  only  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 


HONOUR  THE  PRINCE 


[It  was  announced  that  H.  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  wales  was  to 
arrive  in  India  in  November  17  and  great  preparations  were  made- 
by  Government  to  give  the  Royal  visitor  a  fitting  reception.  Writ-- 
ing  in  Young  India  of  October  27,  Mr.  Gandhi  urged  his  country- 
men to  boycott  the  Prince's  visit.  With  no  illwill  against  the  Prince 
as  man.  The  people  were  asked  to  dissociate  themselves  from  all 
functions  and  festivities  arranged  in  his  honour  by  the  Government. 
Mr.  Gandhi  wrote ; — ] 

The    reader   must   not    be    surprised    at   the   title 
of   this    writing.      Supposing   that  the    Prince   was    a 
blood  brother  in   a  high   place,  supposing   that  he  was 
to   be  exploited  by  neighbours  for  their  own  base    ends,, 
supposing  further   that    he    was   in  the   hands   of    my 
neighbours,    that  my  voice  could  not    effectively   reach- 
him    and  that  he  was  being  brought   to  my  village   by 
the   said  neighbours,   would  I  not  honour    him   best   by 
dissociating   myself  from  all  the  ceremonial  that   might. 
be  arranged  in  his  'honour'  in  the  process  of  exploitation 
and  by  letting  him  know  by  every  means  at  my  disposal 
that  he  was   being  exploited?  Would  I  not  be  a  traitor 
to  him  if  I  did  not    warn  him  against   entering  the   trap' 
prepared  for  him  by  my  neighbours? 

I  have  no  manner  of  doubt  that  the  Prince's  visit 
is  being  exploited  for  advertising  the  'benign'  British- 
rule  in  India,  It  is  a  crime  against  us  if  His  Royal 
Highness  is  being  brought  for  personal  pleasure  and  sport 
when  India  is  seething  with  discontent,  when  the  masses- 
are  saturated  with  disaffection  towards  the  system  under 
which  they  are  governed,  when  famine  is  raging  in 
Khulna  and   the  Ceded   Districts  and  when  an   armed 


HONOUR  THE   PRINCE  615 

conflict  is  raging  in  .Malabar :  it  is  a  crime  against  India 
to  spend  millions  of  rupees  on  a  mere  show  when 
millions  of  men  are  living  in  a  state  of  chronic  starva' 
tion.  Eight  lacs  of  rupees  have  been  voted  away  by 
the  Bombay  Council  alone  for  the  pageant. 

The  visit  is  being  heralded  by  repression  in  the 
land.  In  Sindh  over  fifty  six  non-co-operators  are  in 
gaol.  Some  of  the  bravest  of  Musalmans  are  being 
tried  for  holding  certain- opinions.  Nineteen  Bengal 
workers  have  been  just  imprisoned  including  Mr. 
Sen  Gupta,  the  leading  Barrister  of  the  place.  A 
Musalman  Pir  and  three  other  selflesswbrkers  are 
already  in  gaol  for  a  similiar  'crime'.  Several  leaders 
of  Karnatak  are  also  imprisoned,  and  now  its  chief 
man  is  on  trial  for  saying  what  I  have  said 
repeatedly  in  these  columns  and  what  Congressmen 
have  been  saying  all  over  during  the  past  twelve 
months.  Several  leaders  of  the  Central  Provinces  have 
been  similarly  deprived  of  their  liberty.  A  most 
popular  doctor,  Dr  Paranjpye,  a  man  universally 
respected  for  his  selflessness,  is  suffering  rigorous 
imprisonn:ent  like  a  common  felon.  I  have  by  no  means 
exhausted  the  list  of  imprisonments  of  non-co-operators. 
Whether  they  are  a  test  of  real  crime  or  an  answer  to 
growing  disaffection,  the  Prince's  visit  is,  to  say  the 
least,  most  inopportune.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
people  do  not  want  His  Royal  Highness  to  visit  India  at 
the  present  juncture.  They  have  expressed  their 
opinion  in  no  uncertain  terms.  They  have  declared 
that  Bombay  should  observe  Hartal  on  the  day  of  his 
landing  at  Bombay.  It  is  a  clear  imposition  upon  the 
people  to  bring  the  Prince  in  the  teeth  of  their 
opposition. 


616  NON-CO-OPERATION 

What  are  we  to  do  in  the  circumstances?  We  must 
organise  a  complete  boycott  of  all  functions  held  in  the 
Prince's  honour.  We  must  religiously  refrain  from 
attending  charities,  fetes  or  fireworks  organised  for  the 
purpose.  We  must  refuse  to  illuminate  or  to  send  our 
children  to  see  the  organised  illuminations.  To  this  end 
we  must  publish  leaflets  by  the  million  and  distribute 
them  amongst  the  people  telling  them  what  their  duty 
in  the  matter  is  and  it  would  be  true  honour  done  to  the 
Prince  if  Bombay  on  the  day  of  his  landing  wears  the 
appearance   of  a  deserted  city. 

But  we  must  isolate  the   Prince    from    the   person. 
We  have  no  ill-will  against   the    Prince   as    man.     He 
probably   knows   nothing  of   the  feeling   in     India,    he 
probably   knows   nothing   about     repression.     Equally 
probably  he  is  ignorant  of  '  the   fact    that   the    Punjab 
wound  is    still    bleeding,   that    the   treachery  towards 
India  in  the  matter  of  the  Khilafa't  is    still  rankling   in 
every  Indian  breast,  and  that  on  the  Government's   own 
admission  the  reformed  councils  contain  members    who, 
though  nominally  elected,  do  not  in  any  sense   represent 
even  the  few  lacs  who  are  on    the  electoral    rolls.    To 
do  or  to  attempt  to  do  any  harm  to   the    psrson   of   the 
Prince  would  be  not   only   cruel  and   inhuman,   but    it 
would  be  on  our  part  a  piece  of  treachery    towards  our- 
selves and  him,  for  we   have   voluntarily   pledged   our- 
selves to  be   and   remain    non-violent.     Any   injury   or 
insult  to  the  Prince  by  us  will  be  a  greater   wrong   done 
by  us  to  Islam  and  India  than  any    the   English    have 
done.    They  know  no  better.     We  can  lay  no  such  claim 
to  ignorance,  we  have  with  our  eyes    open   and    before 
God  and  man  promised   not  to   hurt  a    single   individual 
in  any  way  connected  with  the  system  we  are  straining 


THE   BOMBAY    RIOTS  617 

««very  nerve  to  desiroy.  It  must  therefore  be  our  duty 
to  take  every  precaution  to  protect  his  person  as  our 
own  from  all  harm. 

In  spite  of  all  our  effort,  we  know  that  there  will 
be  some  who  would  want  to  take  part  in  the  vorious 
functions  from  fear  or  hope  or  choice.  They  have  *^s 
much  right  to  do  what  they  like  as  we  have  to  do  what 
we  like.  That  is  the  test  of  the  freedom  we  wish  to 
have  and  enjoy.  Let  us,  whilst  we  are  being  subjected 
by  an  insolent  bureaucracy  to  a  severe  irritation.exercise 
the  greatest  restraint.  And  if  we  can  exhibit  our  firm 
res6lve  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  by  dissociating 
•ourselves  from  its  pageant  at  the  same  time  that  we 
show  forbearance  towards  those  who  differ  from  us,  we 
would  advance  our  cause  in  a  most  effective  manner. 


THE  BOMBAY  RIOTS. 
I.    THE  STATEMENT. 


\_H.  R.  H.  the  Prince  of  Wales  arrived  in  Bom- 
bay on  the  17th  November.  Non-Co-opefators  all 
over  the  country  had  organised  what  are  known  as 
'hartals,'  closing  of  shops  and  suspending  all  work, 
and  boycotting  the  Prince.  In  Bombay  such  acti- 
vities resulted  in  a  great  riot  in  which  all  parties 
suffered  owing  to  the  hooliganism  of  the  mischievous 
elements  in  the  mob  who  violated  Mr.  Gandhi's 
injunctions  to  be  nonviolent  and  brought  about  a 
terrible  riot.  Mr.  Gandhi  was  then  in  Bombay  and 
after  witnessing  the  scene  of  the  tragedy,  wrote 
some  of   the  most  stirring   letters  which,    coupled 


618  NON  CO-OPERATION 

with   the  exertions  of  men  of  all  parties,  restorecT 
peace  in  the  city.    The  followitt f  is  the  text  of  Mr. 
Gandhi's  first  statement  :] 

The  reputation  of  Bombay,  the  hope  of  iny  dreams,, 
was   being  stained  yesterday  even  whilst  in  my  simpli- 
cify    I    was    congratulating  her  citizens  upon  their  non- 
violence  in    the   face   of   grave   provocation.     For  the  ■ 
volunteers    with  their  Captain  were  arrested  during  the- 
previous   night  for  pasting  posters  under  authority  on' 
private    property.     The    posters   advised  the  people  to- 
boycott    the    welcome    to    the    Prince.     They     were 
destroyed.     The  Swaraj  Sabha's  office  was  mysteriously 
entered   into   and   the   unused   posters,   so    far  as  I  am 
aware  not  declared  unlawful,  were  also  removed.    The 
Prince's  visit  itself  and  the  circumstances  attending  the 
ceremonials  arranged  and  the  public  money  wasted  for 
the   manufacture   of  a  welcome  to  His  Eoyal  Highness 
constituted   an  unbearable  provocation.     And  yet  Bom- 
bay has  remained  self-restrained.    This,  I  thought,  was 
a  matter  for  congratulation.     The  burning  of  the  pile  of 
foreign    cloth  was  an  eloquent  counter  demonstration  to 
the  interested  official  demonstration.     Little  did  I  know 
that,   at   the   very   time    that    the  Prince  was  passing 
through   the   decorated    route    and    the   pile  of  foreign 
cloth   was  burning  in  another  part  of  the  city,  the  mill- 
hands   were   in    criminal   disobedience  of  the  wishes  of 
their   masters  emptying    them,  first   one  and  then  the 
others,  by  force,  that  a  swelling  mob  was  molesting  the 
peaceful  passengers  in  the  tramcars  and  holding  up  the 
tram   traffic,   that    it  was  forcibly  depriving  those  that 
were    wearing    foreign     caps    of    their      headdresses 
and    pelting   inoffensive    Europeans.     As   the  day  went- 
up,  the  fufy  of  the  mob,  now  intoxicated  with  its  initial 


THE   BOMBAY   RIOTS  61^ 

success,  rose  also.     They  burnt  tramcars  and  a  motor, 
smashed  liquor  shops  and  burnt  two. 

Details  of  Outbreak. 

I  heard  of  the  outbreak  at  about  one  o'clock.  I 
motored  with  some  friends  to  the  area  of  disturbances 
and  heard  the  most  painful  and  the  most  humliating 
story  of  molestation  of  Parsi  sisters.  Some  few  were 
assaulted  and  even  had  their  saris  torn  from  them.  No 
one  among  a  crowd  of  over  fifteen  hundred  who  had 
surrounded  my  car,  denied  the  charge  as  a  Parsi  with 
hot  rage  and  quivering  lips  was  with  the  greatest 
deliberation  narrating  the  story.  An  elderly  Parsi  gentle- 
man said  ;   "  Please  save  us  from  the  mob  rule." 

This  news  of  the  rough  handling  of  Parsi  sisters 
pierced  me  like  a  dart.  I  felt  that  my  sisters  or 
daughters  had  been  hurt  by  a  violent  mob.  Yes,  some 
Parsis  had  joined  the  welcome.  They  had  a  right  to 
hold  their  own  view,  free  of  molestation.  There  can  be 
no  coercion  in  Swaraj.  The  Moplah  fanatic  who  forcibly 
converts  a  Hindu  believes  that  he  is  acquiring  religious 
merit.  A  Non-Co-operator  or  his  associate  who  uses 
coercion  has  no  apology   whatsoever  for  his  criminality. 

As  I  reached  the  two  tanks  I  found,  too,  a  liquor 
shop  smashed  and  two  policemen  badly  wounded 
and  lying  unconscious  on  cots  without  anybody 
caring  for  them.  I  alighted.  Immediately  the  crowd 
surrounded  me  and  yelled  "  Mahatma  Gandhiki-jai  ". 
That  sound  usually  grates  on  my  ears,  but  it  has  grated 
never  so  much  as  it  did  yesterday,  when  the  crowd, 
unmindful  of  the  two  sick  brethren,  choked  me  with  the 
shout  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  I  rebuked  them  and 
they  were  silent.  Water  was  brought  for  the  two 
wounded  men,  »I   requested   two  of  my  companions  arid. 


620  NON-CO-OPERATION 

■some  from  the  crowd  to  take  the  dying  policemen  to  the 
Hospital. 

I  proceeded  then  to  the  scene,  a  little  further  up, 
-where  I  saw  a  fire  rising,  There  were  two  tram  cars 
which  were  burnt  by  the  crowd.  On  returning  I  wit- 
nessed a  burning  motor  car.  I  appealed  to  the  crowd  to 
disperse,  told  them  that  they  had  damaged  the  cause  of 
the  Khilafat,  the  Punjab  and  Swaraj.  I  returned  sick  at 
heart  and  in  a  chastened  mood. 

At  about  5  a  few  brave  Hindu  young  men  came  to 
report  that  in  Bhindi  Bazar  the  crowd  was  molesting 
every  passer-by  who  had  a  foreign  cap  on  and  even  seri- 
<3usly  beating  him  if  he  refused  to  give  up  his  cap. 
A  brave  old  Parsi  who  defied  the  crowd  and  would  not 
give  up  his  pugree  was  badly  handled.  Moulana  Azad 
Sobhani  and  I  went  to  Bhindi  Bazar  and  reasoned  with 
the  crowd.  We  told  them  that  they  were  denyinrg  their 
religion  by  hurting  innocent  men.  The  crowd  made  a 
show  of  dispersing.  The  police  were  there,  but  they 
were  excee,dingly  restrained.  We  went  further  on  and 
retracing  our  steps  found  to  our  horror  a  liquor  shop  on 
fire;  even  the  fire  brigade  was  obstructed  in  its  work. 
T-hanks  to  the  efforts  of  Pandit  Nekiram  Kharan  and 
others,  the  inmates  of  the  shop  were  able  to  come  out. 

Nature  of  the  Crowd. 
The  crowd  did  not  consist  of  hooligans  only  or  boys. 
It  was  not  an  unintelligent  crowd.  They  were  not  all 
mill-hands.  It  was  essentially  a  mixed  crov/d,  unprepared 
and  unwilling  to  listen  to  anybody.  For  the  moment  it 
had  lost  its  head  and  it  was  not  a  crowd,  but  several 
crowds  numbering  in  all  less  than  twenty  thousand.  It 
•was  bent  upon  mischief  and  destruction* 


THE   BOMBAY   RIOTS  621 

I  heard  that  there  was  firing  resulting  in  deaths 
and  that  in  the  Anglo-Indian  quarters  every  one  who 
passed  with  khadder  on  came  in  for  hard  Beating  if  he  did 
not  put  off  his  khadder  cap  or  shirt.  I  heard  that  many 
were  seriously  injured.  I  am  writing  this  in  the  midst 
of  six  Hindu  and  Musalman  workers  who  have  just 
come  in  with  broken  heads  and  bleeding  and  one  with 
a  broken  nasal  bone  and  another  lacerated  wounds  and  in 
danger  of  losing  his  life.  They  went  tb  Parel  led  by 
Maulana.Azad  Sobhani  and  Moazzam  Ali  to  pacify  the 
mill  hands,  who,  it  was  reported,  were  holding  up  the 
tram  cars  there.  The  workers,  however,  were  enabled 
to  proceed  to  their  destination.  They  returned  with- 
their  bleedings  to  speak  for  themselves. 
Civil  Disobedience. 

Thus  the  hope  of  reviving  mass  civil  disobedience- 
has  once  more  been  dashed,  in  my  opinion,  to  pieces.  The 
atmosphere  for  mass  civil  disobedience  is  absent.  It  is 
not  enough  that  such  an  atmoshere  is  to  be  found  in 
Bardoli  and  therefore  it  may  go  on  side  by  side  with  the- 
violence  in  Bombay.  This  is  impossible.  Neither 
Bardoli  nor  Bombay  can  be  treated  as  separate,  uncon- 
pected  units.  They  are  parts  of  one  great  indivisible 
whole.  It  was  possible  to  isolate  Malabar  ;  it  was  also 
possible  to  disregard  Malegaon,  But  it  is  not  possible  to 
ignore  Bombay.  Non-Co-operators  cannot  escape  liabi- 
lity. It  is  true  that  Non -Co- operators  were  ceaselessly 
remonstrating  everywhere  with  the  people  at  considera 
ble  risk  to  themselves  to  arrest  or  stop  the  mischief  and 
that  they  are  responsible  for  saving  many  precious 
lives,  But  that  is  not  enough  for  launching  oHt  on  civil 
disobedience  or  to  discharge  them  from  liability  for  the 
violence  that  has  taken  place.    We  claim   to  have  esta- 


■621  NON-COOPERATION 

blished  a  peaceful  atmosphere,  i.e.,  to  have  attained  by 
our  non-violence  sufficient  control  over  the  people  to  keep 
their  violence  under  check.  We  have  failed  when  we 
•ought  to  have  succeeded,  for  yesterday  was  a  day  of  our 
trial.  We  were  under  our  pledge  bound  to  protect  the 
person  of  the  Prince  from  any  harm  or  insult  and  we 
broke  that  pledge  inasmuch  as  any  one  of  us  insulted  or 
injured  a  single  European  or  any  other  who  took  part  in 
the  welcome  to  the  Prince.  They  were  as  much 
entitled  to  take  part  in  the  welcome  as  we  were  to 
refrain. 

Nor  can  I  shirk  my  own  personal  responsibility.  I 
am  more  instrumental  than  any  other  in  bringing  into 
being  the  spirit  of  revolt,  I  find  myself  not  fully  capable 
of  controlling  and  disciplining  that  spirit.  I  must  do  pen- 
ajice  for  it.  For  me  the  struggle  is  essentially  religious.  I 
believe  in  fasting  and  prayer  and  I  propose  henceforth 
to  observe  every  Monday  a  24  hour's  fast  till  Swaraj  is 
obtained. 

The  Working  Committee  will  have  to  devote  its 
attention  to  the  situation  and  consider  in  the  light  there- 
of, whether  mass  civil  disobedience  can  be  at  all 
encouraged,  unti  1  we  have  ■  obtained  complete  ^control 
over  the  masses.  I  have  personally  (*Ome  deliberately 
to  the  conclusion  that  mass  civil  disobedience  cannot  be 
started  for  the  present.  I  confess  my  inability  to  conduct 
a  campaign  of  Civil  disobedience  to  a  successful  issue 
unless  a  completely  non- violent  spirit  is  generated  among 
the  people. 

I  am  sorry  for  the  conclusion.  It  is  a  humiliating 
confession  of  my  incapacity,  but  I  know  that  I  shall 
appear  more  pleasing  to  my  Maker  by  being  what  I  am 
.instead  of  appearing  to  be  what  I  am  not.  If  I  can  have 


MESSAGE   TO   THE  CITIZENS   OF   BOMBAY    623 

Tiothing  to  do  with  the  organised  violence  of  the  Govern- 
-tneht,  I  can  have  less  to   do  with   the   unorganised  vio- 
lence of  the  people.     I  would   prefer  to  be   cursed  bet- 
ween the  two. 


II.— MESSAGE  TO  THE  CITIZENS  OF  BOMBAY. 


Shocked  at  the  riot  and  bloodshed  that  he 
■vjitnessed  in  Bombay,  Mr.  Gandhi  issued  the  follow- 
ing appeal  to  the  men  and  women  of  Bombay  on 
-the  morning  of  the  19lh  November. 

Men  and  Women  of  Bombay, — It  is  not  possible  to 
•describe  the  agony  I  hijive  suffered  during  the  past  two 
days.  I  am  writing  this  now  at  3-30  A,M.  in  perfect 
peace.  After  2  hours  of  prayer  and  meditation  I  have 
foundiit.  I  must  refuse  to  eat  or  drink  anything  but  water, 
till  the  Hindus  and  Mahomedans  of  Bombay  have  made 
ipeace  with  the  Parsis,  Christians  and  Jews  and  till  Non- 
Co-operators  have  made  peace  with  co-operators.  The 
Swaraj  that  I  have  witnessed  during  the  last  two  days 
has  stunk  in  my  nostrils.  Hindu-Muslim  unity  had  been 
a  menace  to  the  handful  of  Parsis,  Christians, and  Jews. 
The  non-violence  of  the  Non-Co-operators  has  been  worse 
than  violence  of  co-operators.  For  with  non-violence 
-on  our  lips  we  have  terrorised  those  who  have  differed 
from  us  and  in  so  doing  v/e  have  denied  our  God.  There 
is  only  one  God  for  us  all  whether  we  find  him  through 
-Koran,  Bible,  Zend  Avesta,  'lalmud  or  Gita,  and  he  is 
-.the  God  of  Truth  and  Love. 

I  have  no  interest  in  living  save  for  this  faith  in 
ane.  I  cannot  hate  the  Englishman  or  anyone  else.  I 
Jiave  spoken  and  written  much  against  his  institutions, 
especially  the   one    he    has  set   up   in    India.     I    shall" 


624  NON-CO-OPERATION 

continue  to  do  so  if  I  live;  but  we  must  not  mistake  my 
condemnation  of  the  system   for  the  man.     My   religioir 
required  me  to  love   him  as   I  love   myself.     I    wouU 
deny  God  if  I  did  not  attempt  to  prove  it  at  this  critical 
moment.     And  the  Parsis — I  have  meant    every  word  L 
have  said  about  them,     Hindus  and  Mussalmans  would 
be  unworthy  of  freedom  if  they  do  not  defend  them  and 
their  honour  with  their  lives.    They  have  only  recently 
proved   their   liberality    and    friendship.    Mussalmaus- 
are     specially    beholden    to    them,    for   Parsis    have, 
compared    to    their   numbers,   given    more    than  they 
themselves   to   the    Khilafat    funds.      I    cannot    face 
again   the  appealing   eyes  of   Parsi   men   and   women 
that    I  saw   on  the    17th    inst.,  as    I  passed   through 
them,  unless  Hindus  and    Mussalmans    have   expressed 
full  and  free  repentance,  nor    can    I   face    Mr,   Andrews 
when  he  returns  from  East  Africa,  if   we  have   done  no- 
reparation   to     Indian-born     Christians   v/hom    we   are 
bound  to  protect  as  our  own   brothers   and   sisters.    We 
may  not  think  of  what  they  in  self-defence   or   by   way 
of  reprisals  have  done   to   some    of   us.    You   can   see 
quite  clearly  that  I  must   do   the  utmost   reparation  ta 
this  handful  of  men  and  women,   who   have     been   the- 
victims  of  forces  that    have   come    into  being    largely 
through  my  instrumentality.     I  invite  every  Hindu  and 
Mussalman  to  do  likewise,  but  I  do  not  want    anyone   to 
fast,  which  is   only   good  when   it  comes  in  answer  to 
prayer  and  as  a  felt  yearning  of  the  soul.  I  invite  every 
Hindu  and  Mussalman  to  retire  to  his  home  and  ask  God 
for  forgiveness  and  to  befriend  the  injured  communities- 
from  the  bottom  of   their    hearts.    I    invite  my  fellow 
■workers  not   to   waste   a  word   of    sympathy  on   me, 
I  need  or   deserve   none.     But  I   invite   them    to  make: 


MESSAGE    TO    THE  CITIZENS    OF   BOMBAY        625 

ceaseless  effort  to  regain  control  over  the  turbulent 
elements.  This  is  a  terribly  true  struggle.  There  is  no 
room  for  sham  or  humbug  in  it.  Before  we  can  make 
any  further  progress  without  struggle  we  must  cleanse 
our  hearts, 

Oue  special  word  to  my  Mussalman  brothers.  I 
have  approached  Khilafat  as  a  sacred  cause.  I  have 
striven  for  Hindu-Muslim  unity  because  India  cannot 
Jive  free  without  it,  and  because  we  would  both  deny 
God  if  we  considered  one  another  as  natural  enemies.  I 
have  thrown  myself  into  the  arms  of  the  Ali  brothers^ 
because  1  believe  them  to  be  true  and  God-fearing  men. 
The  Mussalmans  have  to  my  knowledge  played  a  leading 
part  during  the  two  days  of  carnage.  It  has  deeply  hurt 
me.  I  ask  every  Mussalman  worker  to  rise  to  his  full 
height  to  realise  his  duty  to  his  faith  and  see  that  the 
carnage  stops.  May  God  bless  everyone  of  us  with 
wisdom  and  courage  to  do  the  right  at  any  cost ! 

I  am,  Your  Servant,  M.  K,  Gandhi. 


III.    APPEAL  TO  THE  HOOLIGANS  OF  BOMBAY. 


\Mr.  Gandhi  issued  another  appeal,  this  time  to  the 
Hooligans  of  Bombay  who  brought  about  the  terrible 
scenes  of  murder.  The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the 
appeal  which  was  circulated  broadcast  in  all  vernaculars 
on  Nov.  21.] 

To  Hooligans  of  Bombay. — The  most  terrible  mis- 
take I  have  made  is  that  I  thought  non-co-operators  had 
acquired  influence  over  you,  and  that  you  had  understood 
the  relative  value  of  political  wisdom  of  non-violence 
though  not  the  moral  necessity  of  it.  I  had  thought 
that  you  had  sufficiently  understood  the  interests  of  your 
country  not  to  meddle  with  the  movement  to  its  detri- 
40 


626  NON-CO-OPERATION 

ment  and  that,  therefore,  you  would  have  wisdom  enougii 
iict  to  give  way  to  your  worst  passions,  but  it  cuts  me  to 
the  quick  to  find  that  you  have  used  mass  awakening 
ifor  your  own  lust  for  plunder,  rapine  and  even  indulging 
in  your  worst  animal  appetite.  Whether  you  call  your- 
self a  Hirdu,  Mahomedan,  Parsi,  Christian  or  Jew,  you 
have  ceirtainly  failed  to  consider  even  your  own  religi- 
ous interests.  Some  of  my  friends  would,  I  know,  accuse 
me  of  ignorance  of  human  nature.  If  I  believed  the 
charge,  I  would  plead  guilty  and  retire  from  human 
assemblies  and  return  only  after  acquiring  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  but  I  know  that  I  had  no  difficulty  in 
controlling  even  Indian,  hooligans  in  South  Africa.  I 
was  able  because  I  had  succeeded  in  approaching  them 
through  co-workers  where  I  had  no  personal  contact 
with  them.  In  your  case,  I  see  we  haye  failed  to  reach 
you.  I  do  not  believe  you  to  be  incapaple  of  responding 
to  the  noble  call  of  religion  and  country.  See  what  you 
have  done.  Hindu-Mussalman  hooligans  have  violated 
the  sanctity  of  Parsi  temples,  and  they  have  exposed 
their  own  to  similar  risk  from  the  wrath  of  Parsi  hooli- 
gans. Because  some  Farsis  have  chosen  to  partake  in 
the  welcome  to  the  Prince,  Hindu  and  Mussalman  hooli- 
gans have  roughly  handled  every  Pairsi  they  have  met- 
I'he  result  has  been  that  Parsi  hooligans  are  less  to 
blame.  Hindu  and  Mussalman  hooligans  have  rudely, 
roughly  and  insolently  removed  foreign  clothes  worn  by 
some  Parsis  and  Christians,  forgetting  that  not  all 
Hindus  and  all  Mussalmans,  nor  by  any  means  even  a 
majority  of  them  have  religioiisly  discarded  the  iise  of 
foreign  clothes.  Parsi  and  Christian  dobligans  are, 
therefore,  interfering  with  Hindu  and  Mussalman 
wearers  of  Khaddar. 


APPEAL   TO    THE    HOOLIGANS   OF    BOMBAY      627 

Thus,  we  are  all  moving  in  a  vicious  circle  and 
the  country  suffers.  I  write  this  not  to  blame,  but  to 
^warn  you  and  to  confess  that  we  have  grievously 
iieglected  you.  I  am  doing  penance  in  one  way,  other 
worker*  are  doing  in  another  way.  Messrs.  Azad 
Sobhani,  Jaykar,  Jamnadas,  Mitha,  Sathe,  Moazam  Ali 
and  many  others  have  been  risking  their  lives  in  bring- 
ing under  control  this  unfortunate  ebullition.  Srimati 
Sarojini  Naidu  has  fearlessly  gone  in  your  midst  to  rea- 
son with  you,  and  to  appeal  to  you.  Our  work  in  your 
midst  has  only  just  begun.  Will  you  not  give  us  a 
chance  by  stopping  the  mad  process  of  retaliation  ? 
Hindus  and  Mussalmans  should  be  ashamed  to  take 
reprisals  against  the  Parsis  or  Christians.  The  latter 
must  know  it  to  be  suicidal  to  battle  against  the  Hindu 
and  Mussalman  ferocity  by  brute  strength.  The  result 
is  they  must  seek  assistance  of  an  .alien  Government, 
d.e.,  sell  their  freedom.  Surely  the  best  course  for  them 
is  to  realise  their  nationality  and  believe  that  reasoning 
Hindus  and  Mussalmans  must  and  will  protect  the. 
interests  of  the  minorities  before  their  own.  Anyway, 
.the  problem  before  Bombay  is  to  ensure  absolute  protec- 
tion of  the  minorities  and  acquisition  of  control  over  the 
jrowdy  element,  and  I  shall  trust  that  you,  hooligans  of 
Bombay,  will  now  restrain  your  hand  and  give  a  chance 
to  the  workers  who  are  desirous  of  serving  you.  May* 
God  help  you.— I  am,  your  friend,    M.  K.  Gandhi. 


lY.— APPEAL  TO  HIS  CO-WORKERS. 

[Late  on  the  22nd  evening,   Mr.  Gandhi  issued  thff 
following  manifesto  to  his  co-workers  : — ] 

Comrades, — The  past   few   days    had   been  a  fiery 
ordeal  for  me,  and  God  is  to  be  thanked   that  some  of  us- 
had  not  been  found  wanting.    The  broken    heads  before- 
me  and  the  dead  bodies  of  which  I   have  heard  from  an 
unimpeachable  authority,  are  sufficient  evidence  of  the- 
fact.     Workers  have  lost  their  limbs,  or  their   lives,  or 
have  sufi'ered  bruises  in  the  act  of  preserving  peace,  of 
weaning    mad   countrymen   from   their    wrath.     These 
deaths  and  injuries   show  that,  in  spite   of  the   error  of 
many  of  our  countrymen,  some  of  us  are  prepared  to  die 
for  the  attainment  of  our  goal.    If  all  of  us  had  imbibed 
the  spirit  of  non-violence,  or  if  some  had,  and  others  had 
remained  passive,  no  blood  need  have  been   spilt,  but  it 
was  not  to  be.    Some  must,  therefore,  voluntarily  give 
their  blood  in   order  that   a  bloodless   atmosphere  may 
be  created,  so  long   as   there    are  people   weak   enough 
to  seek   the  aid   of   those   who    have   superior  skill  or 
means  for  doing   it.     And  that   is  why   the  Parsis   and 
Christians  sought   and  received   assistance  of   the  Gov- 
ernment, so  that  the  Government  openly   took  sides  and 
armed  and  aided  the    latter  in   retaliatory   madness  and 
criminally  neglected  to  protect  a  single  life  among  those- 
who,  though   undoubtedly   guilty  in   the  first  instance, 
were    victims   of    unparadonable   wrath    of  the  Parsis, 
Christians    and    Jews.    The    Government    have   thus 
appeared  in  their  nakedness  as  party  doing  violence  not 
merely  to  preserve  the  peace  but  to  sustain  aggressive 


APPEAL  TO  THE  CO-WORKERS  629^ 

violence  of  its  injured  supporters.  The  police  and  mili- 
tary looked  on  with  callous  indifference,  whilst  the 
Christians  in  their  justifiable  indignation  deprived  inno- 
cent 'men  of  their  white  cap,  and  hammered  those 
who  would  not  surrender  them,  or  whilst  the  Parsis 
assaulted  or  shot  not  in  self-defence,  but  because  the 
victims  happened  to  be  Hindus  or  Mussalmans,  or  non- 
co-operators.  I  can  excuse  the  aggrieved  Parsis  or 
Christians,  but  can  find  no  excuse  for  the  military  and 
:police  for  taking  sides.  So  the  task  before  the  workers 
is  to  take  the  blow  from  the  Government,  and  our  erring 
countrymen.  This  is  the  only  way  open  to  us  of  steri". 
lizing  the  forces  of  violence.  The  way  to  immediate 
swaraj  lies  through  our  gaining  control  over  the  forces 
of  violence,  and  that  not  by  greater  violence,  but  by 
moral  influence.  We  must  see  as  clearly  as  daylight 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  be  trained  and  armed  for 
violence  if  active  enugh  for  displacing  the  existing 
•Government. 

Some  people  imagine  that  after  all  we  would  not 
liave  better  advertised  our  indignation  against  the  wel- 
come to  the  Prince  of  Wales  than  by  letting  loose  the 
mob  frenzy  on  the  fateful  17th.  The  reasoning  betrays 
at  once  ignorance  and  weakness — ignorance  of  the  fact 
that  our  goal  was  not  injury  to  the  welcome,  and 
weakness  because  we  still  hanker  after  advertising  our 
•strength  to  others  instead  of  being  satisfied  with  the 
conciousness  of  its  possession. 

I  wish  I  could  convince  everyone  that  we  have 
jnaterially  retarded  our  progress  to  our  triple  goal.  But 
all  is  not  lost  if  the  workers  realise  and  act  up  to 
their  responsibility.  We  must  secure  the  full  co- 
uoperation  of  the  rowdies  of  Bombay.      We  must    know 


630  NON-CO-OPERATION 

the  millhands..  They  must  either  work  for  Goverment 
or  for  Its  ».e.,  for  violence  or  against  it.  Ther? 
is  no  middle  way.  They  must  not  interfere  with  us. 
Either  they  must  be  amenable  to  our  love  or  helplessly 
submit  it  tc  the  bayonet.  They  must  not  seek  shelter 
under  the  banner  of  non-violence  for  the  purpose  of 
doing  violence.  And  in  order  to  carry  our  message  tcr 
them  we  must  reach  every  millhand  individually  and 
let  him  understand  and  appreciate  the  struggle. 

Similarly  we  must  reach  the  rowdy  elements,  be 
friend  them  and  help  them  to  understand  the  religious 
character  of  the  struggle.  We  must  neither  neglect  them 
nor  pander  to  them.  We  must  become  true  servants.  The 
pe|ice  that  we  are^ aiming  at  is  not  a  patched  up  peace. 
We  must  have  fair  guarantees  of  its  continuance  without 
the  aid  of  Government,  and  son^etimes,  even  in  spite,  of 
its  activity  to  the  contrary.  There  must  be  a  heart  union 
between  the  Hindus,  Mussalmans,  Parsis,  Christians  and 
Jews.  The  three  latter  communities  may  and  will 
distrust  the  other  two.  The  recent  occurrences  must 
strenghthen  that  distrust.  We  must  go  out  of  our  way 
to  conquer  their  distrust.  We  must  not  molest  them  if 
they  do  not  become  non-co-operators,  or  do  not  adopt 
Swadeshi  or  white  khaddar  cap,  which  has  become  its- 
symbol.  We  must  not  be  irritated  against  them  even  if 
they  side  with  the  Government  on  every  occasion.  We^ 
have  to  make  them  ours  by  loving  service. 

This  is  the  necessity  of  the  situation.  The  alterna- 
tive is  a  civil  war  and  a  civil  war  with  a  third  party- 
consolidating  itself  by  siding  now  with  one  and  then 
with  the  other,  must  be  held  an  impossibility  for  the^ 
near  future.  And  what  is  true  of  smaller  communities- 
is  also  true  of  co-operators.    We  must  not  be   impatient 


APPEAL  TO   THE   CO-WORKERS  631 

with  or  intolerant  to  them.  We  are  bound  to  recognise 
their  freedom  to  co-operate  with  the  Government  if  w& 
claim  freedom  to  non-co-operate.  What  would  we  have 
felt  if  we  are  in  a  minority,  and  co-operators  being  a 
majority,  had  used  violence  against  us.  Non-co-oper- 
atiop  and  non-violence  is  the  mftst  expeditious  method 
known  in  the  world  of  winning  our  opponents.  And 
our  struggle  consists  in  winning  our  opponents,  including 
the  Englishmen,  over  to  our  side.  We  can  only  do  so 
by  being  free  from  ill-will  against  the  weakest  or  strong- 
est of  them,  and  that  we  can  only  do  by  being  prepared 
to  die  for  truth  within  us  and  not  by  killing  those  who 
do  not  see  the  truth  we  enunciate,  I  am  your  grateful 
comrade. — M,  K.  Gandhi" 

Y.    PEACE  AT  LAST 


{Mr.  Gandhi  broke  his  fast  in  the  midst  of  a  gather' 
ing  of  co-operators,  non-co-operators,  Hindus,  Musal" 
tnans.  Christians  and  Parsis.  There  were  speeches  of 
goodwill  by  a  representative  of  each  community.  The 
members  of  the  Working  Committee  were  also  present, 
Mr.  Gandhi  made  a  statement  in  Gujarati  before  break- 
ing his  fast.     The  following  is  its  translation  ; — ] 

Friends, 

It  delights  my  heart  to  see  Hindus,  Musalmans, 
Parsis  and  Christians  met  together  in  this  little 
assembly.  I  hope  that  our  frugal  fruit-repast  of  this 
morning  will  be  a  sign  of  our  permanent  friendship. 
Though  a  born  optimist,  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of 
building  castles  in  the  air.  This  meeting  therefore 
cannot  deceive  me.  We  shall  be  able  to  realize  the 
hope  of  permanent  friendship  between   all  communities. 


632  NON-CO-OPERATION 

only  if  we  who  have  assembled  together  will  incessantly 
strive  to  build  it  up.     I  am   breaking   my  fast  upon  the 
strength  of  your  assurances.    I  have  not  been  unmindful 
of  the  affection    with  which    innumerable   friends  have 
surrounded    me  during    these  four    days.     I  shall   ever 
remain   grateful  to   them.     Being    drawn  by  them  I  am 
plunging   into    this  stormy   ocean  out   of  the    haven  of 
peace  in  which  I  have  been  -  during  these    few  days-     I 
assure  you  that,  in  spite  of  the  tales  of  misery  that  have 
been  poured  into  my  ears,  I  have  enjoyed  peace  because 
of  a  hungry   stomach-     I  know    that  I   cannot    enjoy  it 
after  breaking  the  fast.  I  am  too  human  not  to  be  touched 
by  the  sorrows  of  others,  and  when  I  find  no  remedy  for 
alleviating  them,  my  human  nature  so  agitates  me  that 
I  pine    to  embrace    death  like  a    long-lost  dear   friend. 
Therefore  I  warn  all    the  friends  here  that  if  real  peace 
is  not  established  in  Bombay  and  if   disturbances  break 
out  again  and  if  as  a  result  they  find  me  driven  to  a  still 
severer  ordeal,  they  must  not   be  surprised    or  troubled. 
If  they  have  any    doubt  about   peace  having   been  esta- 
blished, if  each  community  has  still  bitterness  of  feeling 
and  suspicion  and  if   we  are  all   not  prepared   to  forget 
and    forgive  past    wrongs,  I  would    much   rather    that 
they  did   not  press    me  to  break   the  fast.     Such    a  res- 
traint I  would  regard  as  a  test  of  true  friendship. 

I  Venture  to  saddle  special  responsibility  upon 
Hindus  and  Musalmans.  The  majority  of  them  are 
non-co-operators.  Non-violence  is  the  creed  they  have 
accepted  for  the  time  being.  They  have  the  strength  of 
numbers.  They  can  stand  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  smaller  communities  without  Government  aid.  If, 
therefore,  they  will  remain  friendly  and  charitable  to- 
wards the  smaller  communities,  all  will  be  well.     I  will 


THE    MORAL   ISSUE  6^33 

beseech  the  Parsis,  the  Christians  and  the  Jews  to  bear 
in  mind  the  new  awakening  in  India.  They  will  see 
many-coloured  waters  in  the  ocean  of  Hindu  and  Musal- 
man  humanity.  They  will  see  dirty  waters  on  the  shore. 
1  would  ask  them  to  bear  with  their  Hindu  or  Musal- 
man  neighbours  who  may  misbehave  with  them  and 
immediately  report  to  the  Hindu  and  Musalman  leaders 
through  their  own  leaders  with  a  view  to  getting  justice. 
Indeed  I  am  hoping  that  as  a  result  of  the  unfortunate 
-discord  a  Mahajan  will  come  into  being  for  the  disposal 
-of  all  inter-racial  disputes. 

The  value  of  this  assembly  in  my  opinion  consists 
in  the  fact  that  worshippers  of  the  same  one'  God  we 
.are  enabled  to  partake  of  this  harmless  repast  together 
in  spite  of  our  differences  of  opinion.  We  have  not 
-assembled  with  the  object  ^to-day  of  reducing  such 
differences,  certainly  not  of  surrendering  a  single 
■principle  we  may  hold  dear,  but  we  have  met  in  order 
to  demonstrate  that  we  can  remain  true  to  our  principles 
and  yet  also  remain  free  from  ill-will  towards  one 
:another. 

May  God  bless  our  eifort. 


YI.— THE  MORAL  ISSUE. 


[Mr.  Gandhi,  writing  in  Young  India  of  Dec.  24, 
J)ointed  out  the  lesson  of  the  tragedy  and  wrote  on  the 
moral  issue  before  the  country."] 

As  soon  as  we  lose  the  moral  basis,  we  cease  to  be 
religious.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  religion  overriding 
■morality.  Man  for  instance  cannot  be  untruthful,  cruel 
or  incontinent  and  claim  to  have  God  on  his  side.  In 
Bombay  the  sympathisers   of  non-co-operation  lost  their 


634  NON-CO-OPERATION 

moral  balance.    They  were  enraged  against  the   Parsis^ 
and  the  Christians  who  took  part  in  the   welcome  to  the- 
Prince  and  sought   to    'teach  them  a  lesson'.     They 
invited   reprisals  and  got  them.     It  became  after   the 
17th  a  game  of  seesaw    in    which  no  one   really   gained, 
and  everybody  lost. 

Swaraj  does  not  lie  that  way.    India  does  not  want 
Bolshevism.     The   people   are   too    peaceful   to  stand 
anarchy.     They   will   bow   the  knee  to  any  one  who  • 
restores   so-called   order.     Let   us  recognise   the  Indian 
phychology.     We   need   not   stop   to   inquire    whether ' 
such  hankering  after    peace   is  a  virtue  or  a  vice.    The 
average   Musalman  of  India  is  quite   different   from  the - 
average   Musalman    of  the    other  parts   of  the   world. 
His   Indian    associations    have  made  him   more   docile  • 
than    his    co-religionists   outside    India.     He    will    not 
stand   tangible  insecurity *of  life  and   property   for   any 
length   of  time.    The    Hindu   is,   proverbially,    almost 
contemptibly   mild.    The  Parsi  and  the  Christian   love - 
peace   more  than  strife.     Indeed  we  have  almost   made  ■ 
religion   subservient  to  peace.  This   mentality  is  at  once 
our  weakness  and  our  strength. 

Let    us    nurse    the  better,  the    religious    part    of 
of  this    mentality  nf  ours.     '  Let  there  be  no  compul-  - 
sion  in   religion.'     Is  it  not  religion  with  us  to  observe 
Swadeshi    and    therefore    wear    Khadi  ?    But    if    the  - 
religion    of    others    does   not    require   them   to    adopt 
Swadeshi,  we    may  not   compel  them.     We   broke   the 
universal  law  restated  in  the  Quran.     And  the  law  does 
not  mean  that  there  may  be  compulsion  in  other  matters, - 
The  verse   means  that,  if  it  is  bad  to  use   compulsion  in 
religion  about  which  we  have  definite   convictions,  it  is 
worse  to  resort  to  it  in  matters  of  less  moment. 


THE   MORAL    ISSUE  6J5 

We  can  only  therefore  argue  and  reason  with  our 
opponents.  The  extreme  to  which  we  may  go  is  non^ 
violent  non-co-operation  with  them  even  as  with  the 
Government.  But  we  may  not  non-co-operate  witb 
them  in  private  life,  for  we  do  not  non-co-operate  with 
the  men  composing  the  Goverment.  We  are  non-co-opera- 
ting with  the  system  they  administer.  We  decline  to- 
render  official  service  to  Sir  George  Lloyd  the  Governor, 
we  dare  not  withold  social  service  from  Sir  George 
Lloyd,  the  Englishman. 

The  mischief,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  began  among  the 
Hindus  and  the  Musalmans  themselves.  There  was- 
spcial  persecution,  there  was  coercion.  I  must  confess- 
that  I  did  not  always  condemn  it  as  strongly  as  I  might 
have.  I  might  have  dissociated  myself  from  the  move- 
ment  when  it  became  at  all  general.  We  soon  mended 
our  ways,  we  became  more  tolerant  but  the  subtle- 
coercion  was  there-  I  passed  it  by  as  I  thought  it  would- 
die  a  natural  death.  I  saw  in  Bombay  that  it  had  not.  It 
assumed  a  virulent  form  on  the  17th. 

We  damaged  the  Khilafat  cause  and  with  it  that  of 
the  Punjab  and  Swaraj.  We  must  retrace  our  steps  and 
scrupulously  insure  minorities  against  the  least  molest- 
ation. If  the  Christian  wishes  to  wear  the  European  hat 
and  unmentionables,  he  must  be  free  to  do  so.  If  a 
iParsi  wishes  to  stick  to  his  Fenta,  he  has  every  right  to 
do  so.  If  they  both  see  their  safety  in  associating  them- 
selves with  the  novernment,  we  may  only  wean  themr 
from  their  error  by  appealing  to  their  reason,  not  by 
breaking  their  heads.  The  greater  the  coercion  we 
use,  the  greater  the  security  we  give  to  the  Govern- 
ment if  only  because  the  latter  has  more  effective 
weapons  of  coercion   than  we   have.     For  us  to   resort 


•636  NON-CO-OPERATION 

to  greater  cordon  than  the  Government  will  be  to  make 
India  more  slave  than  she  is  now. 

Swaraj  is  freedom  for  every  one,  the  smallest 
among  us,  to  do  as  he  likes  without  any  physical  inter- 
nerence  with  his  liberty.  Non-violent  non-co-operation 
is  the  method  whereby  we  cultivate  the  freest  public 
opinion  and  get  it  enforced.  When  there  is  complete 
freedom  of  opinion,  that  of  the  majority  must  prevail. 
If  we  are  in  a  minority,  we  can  prove  worthy  of  our 
religion  by  remaining  true  to  it  in  the  fact  of  coercion. 
The  Prophet  submitted  to  the  coercion  of  the  majority 
^nd  remained  true  to  his  faith.  And  when  he  found 
himself  in  a  majority  he  declared  to  his  followers  that 
there  should  be  no  compulsion  in  religion.  Let  us  not 
Again  either  by  verbal  or  physical  violenc'e  depart  from 
the  injunction,  and  by  our  own  folly  further  cut  back 
the  hands  of  the  clock  of  progress. 


CIVIL  DISOBEDIENCE. 


[Though  the  author  of  the  Civil  Disobedience  move- 
ment in  India,  Mr.  Gandhi  was  always  alive  to  its 
dangers.  He  therefore  insisted  that  his  conditions  should 
be  fulfilled  in  toto  before  any  Talul^a  could  embark  on  a 
campaign  of  Civil  Disobedience.  He  was  always  very 
sautious  in  permitting  Civil  Disobedience  as  will  be  seen 
from  the  following  article  in  Young  India.  He  restrain- 
ed at  a  certain  stage,  the  majority  of  the  Congress  Com- 
mittee from  a  rushing  and  perilous  programme.^ 

Civil  disobedience  was  on  the  lips  of  every  one  of 
the  members  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee.  Not 
having  really  over  tried  it,  every  one  appeared  to  be 
enamoured  of    it    from    a    mistaken    belief    in  it    as  a 


CIVIL    DISOBEDIENCE  637 

soverign  remedy  for  present  day  ills.  I  feel  sure  that 
it  can  be  made  such  if  we  can  produge  the  necessary 
atmosphere  for  it.  For  individuals  there  always  is  that 
atmosphere  except  when  their  civil  disobedience  is- 
certain  to  lead  to  bloodshed.  I  discovered  this  exception, 
during  the  Satyagraha  days.  But  even  so  a  call  may; 
come  which  one  dare  not  neglect,  cost  it  what  it  may^ 
I  can  clearly  see  that  time  is  coming  to  me  when  I  must 
refuse  obedience  to  every  single  State-made-law  even 
though  there  may  be  a  certainty  of  bloodshed.  When 
neglect  of  the  call  means  a  denial  of  God,  civil  disobe- 
dience becomes  a  peremptory  duty. 

Mass  civil  disobedience  stands  on  a  different  footing. 
It  can  only  be  tried  in  a  calm    atmosphere.     It  must  be 
the  calmness  of  strength  not   weakness,   knowledge  not 
ignorance.     Individual    civil    disobedience    may  be  and: 
often  is  vicarious.     Mass  civil  disobedience   may  be  and' 
often  is  selfish    in    the    sense  that    individuals    expect- 
personal  gain  from  their    disobedience.     Thus  in  South 
Africa,  Kallenbach  and   Polak    offered  vicarious    civil' 
disobedience.     They  had    nothing  to    gain.    Thousands- 
offered  it  because    they    expected    personal  gain  also  in. 
the  shape  say  of  the    removal    of  the    annual    poll-tax 
levied  upon    ex-indentured    men    and  their    wives  and. 
grown  up  children.    It  is  sufficient  in  mass   civil  disobe- 
dience if  the  resisters    understand    the     working  of  the- 
doctrine. 

It  was  in  a  practically  uninhabited  tract  of  country, 
that  I  was  arrested  in  South  Africa  when  I  was 
marching  into  prohibited  area  with  over  two  to  three 
thousand  men  and  some  women.  The  company  included 
several  Pathans  and  others  who  were  able  bodied  men.. 
It  was  the  greatest  testimony  of  merit  the  Government 


■€38  NON-CO-OPERATION 

of  South  Africa  gave  to  the  movement.  They  know' 
that  we  were  as  harmless  as  we  were  determined.  It 
was  easy  enough  for  that  body  of  mea  to  cut 
to  pieces  those  who  airested  me.  It  would  have 
-not  only  been  a  most  cowardly  thing  to  do,  but' 
it  I  would  have  been  a  treacherous  breach  of  their 
-own  pledge,  and  it  would  have  meant  ruin  to  ths 
struggle  for  freedom  and  the  forcible  deportation  of 
■every  Indian  from  South  Africa.  But  the  men  were  no 
rabble.  They  were  disciplined  soldiers  and  all  the 
better  for  being  unarmed.  Though  1  was  to  inform 
them,  they  did  not  disperse,  nor  did  they  turn  back. 
They  marched  on  to  their  destination  till  they  were 
-every  one  of  them  arrested  and  imprisoned.  So  far  as  I 
am  aware,  this  was  one  instance  of  discipline  and  non- 
violence for  which  there  is  no  parallel  in  history. 
Without  such  restraint  I  see  no  hope  of  successful  mass 
civil  disobedience  here. 

■We  must  dismiss  the  idea  of  overawing  the 
Government  by  huge  demonstrations  every  time  some 
■one  is  arrested.  On  the  contrary  we  must  treat  arrest  as 
the  normalcondition  of  the  life  of  a  non-co- operator.  For 
•we  must  seek  arrest  and  imprisonment  as  a  soldier  who 
goes  to  a  battle  to  seek  death.  We  expect  to  bear 
down  the  opposition  of  the  Government  by  courting  and 
not  by  avoiding  imprisonment  even  though  it  be  by 
•showing  our  supposed  readiness  to  be  arrested  and 
imprisoned.  Civil  disobedience  then  emphatically 
jneans  our  desire  to  surrender  to  a  single  unarnied 
j;oliceman.  Our  triumph  consists  in  thousands  being 
Jed  to  the  prisons  like  lambs  to  the  slaughter  house.  If 
the  lambs  of  the  world  had  been  willingly  led  they  had 
jong  ago  saved  themselves  from   tie    butcher's  -knife; 


CIVIL    DISOBEDIENCE  639 

Oar  triumph  consists  again  in  being  imprisoned  for  no 
■wrong  whatever.  The  greater  our  innocence,  the 
greater  our  strength  and  the  swifter  our  victory. 

As  it  is,  this  Government  is  cowardly.  We  are  afraid 
-of  imprisonment.  The  Government  takes  advantage  of 
our  fear  of  gaols.  If  only  our  men  and  women  welcome 
gaols  as  health-resorts,  we  will  cease  to  worry  about 
the  dear  ones'put  in  gaols  which  our  countrymen  in 
South  Africa  need  to  nickname,  His  Majesty's  Hotels. 

We  have  too  long  been  mentally  disobedient  to  the 

laws  of  the  State  and  have  too  of  ten'surreptiously  evaded 

:them,  to  be  fired  all  of  a  sudden   for  civil   disobedience. 

Disobedience  to  be  civil  has  to  be  open  and  non-violent. 

Complete  civil  disobedience  is  a  state  of  peaceful 
rebellion — a  refusal  to  obey  every  single  State-made 
Jaw,  It  is  certainly  more  dangerous  than  an  armed 
rebellion.  For  it  can  never  be  down  if  the  civil  re- 
sisters  are  prepared  to  face  extreme  hardship.  It  is 
based  upon  an  implicit  belief  in  the  absolute  efficacy 
of  innocent  sufTering.  By  noiselessly  going  to  prison  a 
civil  resister  ensures  a  calm  atmosphere.  The  wrongdoer 
wearies  of  wrong-doing  in  the  absence  of  resistance. 
AH  pleasure  is  lost  when  the  victim  betrays  no  resi- 
stance. A  full  grasp  of  the  conditions  of  successful  civil 
rresistance  is  necessary  at  least  on  the  pan  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  before  we  can  launch  out  on  an 
enterprise  of  such  magnitude.  The  quickest  remedies 
-are  always  fraught  with  the  greatest  danger  and  require 
the  utmost  skill  in  handling  them.  It  is  my  firm 
•conviction  that  if  we  bring  about  a  successful  boycott 
of  foreign  cloth  we  shall  have  produced  an  atmosphere 
that  would  enable  us  to  inaugurate  civil  disobedience  on 
.a  scale  that  no  Government  can  resist.  I  would  therefore 


640  NON-CO-OPERATION 

urge  patience  and  determined  concentration  on  Swadeshi 
upon  those  who  are  impatient  to  embark  on  mass  civil 
disobedience. 

THE  MOPLAH  OUTBREAK. 

[Mr,  Gandhi  addressed  the  following  appeal  to  the- 
Liberals  on  Nov.  21  \ — ] 

Friends, — We  are  so  preoccupied  with  our  affairs- 
that  the  events  in  Malabar  hardly  attract  the  attention 
they  deserve.  The  ending  of  the  trouble  has  become- 
a  matter  of  great  urgency.  It  is  one  of  simple  humanity. 
Be  the  Moplahs  ever  so  bad,  they  deserve  to  be  treated' 
as  human  beings.  Their  wives  and  children  demand' 
our  sympathy.  Nor  are  they  all  bad  and  yet  there  can- 
be  no  doubt  that  many  innocent  men  must  have  been 
adjudged  guilty.  Forcible  conversions  are  terrible  but 
Moplah  bravery  must  command  admiration.  These- 
Malabaris  are  not  fighting  for  the  love  of  it.  They  are 
fighting  for  what  they  consider  as  religion  and  in  a 
manner  they  consider  themselves  religious.  A  vast  majo- 
rity of  them  have  nothing  personal  to  gain  by  continu- 
ing their  defiance.  Their  sin  is  not  of  deliberation  but 
of  ignorance.  If  we  permit  the  extermination  of  such 
brave  people,  it  will  be  remembered  against  us  and' 
will  be  accounted  as  Indian  cowardice. 

I  make  bold  to  say  that,  had  Mr.  Yakub  Hassan- 
been  allowed  to  go  to  Malabar,  had  I  not  been  warned^ 
against  entering  Malabar,  had  Mussamans  of  real  in- 
terest been  invited  to  go,  the  long-drawnout-agony 
could  have  been  obviated,  but  it  is  not  yet  too  late. 
The  sword  has  been  tried  for  three  months  and  it  has- 
failed  to  answer  its  purpose.    It  has  not  bent  the  proud 


THE   MOPLAH    OUTBREAK  641 

Moplah  nor  has  it  saved  Hindus  from  his  depredation 
and  lust,  the  sword  has  merely  prevented  the  Moplas 
from  overrunning  the  whole  of  Madras  Presidency.  It 
has  exhibited  no  protective  power.  I  am  sure  you  will 
not  plead  incapacity.  It  is  true  that  police  and  military 
are  not  transferred  subjects,  but  you  cannot  escape  moraJ 
responsibility.  You  are  supporting  the  policy  of  Govern- 
ment regarding  Malabar. 

Nor,  I  hope,  will  you  retort  by  blaming  the  Non- 
Co  operators.  They  cannot  admit  any  responsibility  for 
the  trouble  at  all,  unless  all  agitation  is  to  be  held 
blameworthy.  I  admit,  however,  that  non-co-operators 
were  not  able  to  reach  their  message  to  the  Moplah 
homes.  That  would  be  reason  for  more,  not  less  agitation, 
but  I  have  not  taken  my  pen  to  argue  av/ay  tha  Non-Co- 
operator's  blame. 

I  ask  you  to  consider  the  broad  humanities  of  the 
question,  compel  the  Government  to  suspend  hostilities, 
issue  promise  of  freedom  for  past  depredations  upon  the 
undertaking  to  surrender  and  to  permit  Non  Co-opera(ors 
to  enter  Malabar  to  persuade  Moplahs  to  surrender. 

I  know  the  last  suggestion  means  giving  of  impor- 
tance to  Non-Co-operators.  Surely  you  do  not  doubt 
their  number.  As  to  their  influence,  if  you  do,  you 
should  find  other  means  of  dealing,  with  the  trouble  than 
that  of  extermination.  I  am  merely  concerned  with  the 
termination  of  the  shameful  inhumanity  proceeding  in 
Malabar  with  both  Liberals  and  Non-Co-operators  as 
helpless  witnesses.  I  have  chosen  to  address  this  letter 
not  to  the  Government  but  to  you,  because  the  Govern- 
ment could  not  have  taken  the  inhuman  course  of 
destruction  without  your  moral  support.  I  beseech  you 
to  give  heed  to  my  prayer  as  of  a  dear  friend. 
il 


REPLY  TO  LORD  RONALDSHAY 


[The  harial  organised  by  ooa-co-operators  in  connection  with 
the  Prince's  visit  was  more  or  less  successful  in  many  places.  It 
was  alleged  that  by  intimidation  and  otherwise,  the  hartal  in 
Calcutta  on  the  day  of  the  Prince's  landing  in  Bombay  was  pheno- 
menally complete.  The  Bengal  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  the 
Anglo-Indian  press  took  an  alarmist  view  of  the  situation  and  ex- 
pressed grave  indignation  against  the  passivity  of  the  Government. 
With  a  view  to  suppress  the  activity  of  the  Congress  in  this  direc- 
tion Government- resuscitated  partll  of  the  Criminal  Law  Amend- 
ment Act  which  was  then  literally  under  a  sentence  of  death.  When, 
volunteering  was  declared  unlawful  Congress  leaders  took  up  the 
challenge  and  called  on  the  people  to  disobey  the  order  and  seek 
imprisonment  in  their  thousands.  Hen  like  Messrs  C.  R  Das  in 
Calcutta  and  Motilal  Nehru  in  Allahabad  openly  defied  the  order 
and  canvassed  volunteers  in  total  disregard  of  legal  consequences. 
They  sought  imprisonment  and  called  on  their  countrymen  to 
follow  them  to  prison.  The  situation  was  grave.  It  was  then  that 
Pandit  Madan  Mohan  Malavya,  Sir  P.  C.  Ray  and  others  thought 
that  the  time  had  come  when  they  should  step  into  the  breach  and 
try  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  Government  and  non- 
co-operators.  With  this  view  Pandit  Madan  Mohan  and  others 
interviewed  leading  non-co-operators  and  those  in  authority. 
Lord  Ronaldshay,  in  his  speech  at  the  Legislative  Council  referred 
to  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and  defined  the  firm  attitude  of 
Government.  Replying  to  His  Excellency,  Mr.  Gandhi  made  the 
following  statement  on  the  2 1st  December,  1921.] 

I  have  read  Lord  Ronaldshay's  speech  in  the 
Bengal  Legislative  Council.  Whilst  I  appreciate  the 
note  of  conciliation  about  it,  I  cannot  help  saying  that  it 
is  most  misleading.  I  do  not  want  to  criticise  those 
parts  of  the  speech  which  lend  themselves  to  criticism. 
I  simply  want  to  say  that  the  present  situation  is  entire- 
Jy  his   own    and   the  Viceroy's   doing.     In  spite  of   mjr 


KEPLY    TO    LORD    RONALDSHAY  643 

strong  desire  to  avoid  suspecting  the  Government  of 
India  and  the  Local  Government  of  a  wish  to  precipitate 
a.  conflict  with  the  people,  up  to  now  all  that  I  have 
heard  and  read  leads  me  to  the  conclusion  that  my 
■suspicion  is  justified.  Whilst  I  do  not  wish  to  deny 
ithe  existence  of  some  sort  of  pressure,  even  intimidation 
on  the  part  of  individuals,  I  do  wish  emphatically  to 
>deny  that  in  connection  with  the  phenomenal  hartal  on 
the  17th  November  in  Calcutta,  there  was  any  intimida- 
tion, organised  or  initiated  by  or  on  behalf  of  the  Local 
■Congress  or  the  Khilafat  Committes,  On  the  contrary, 
J  am  certain  that  the  influence  exerted  by  both  these 
bodies  was  in  the  direction  of  avoiding  all  intimidation. 
Moral  pressure  there  certainly  was  and  will  always  be 
<in  all  big  movements,  but  it  must  be  clear  to  the  sim- 
j)lest  understanding  that  a  complete  hartal  such  as 
■Calcutta  witnessed  on  the  17th  November  would  be  an 
impossibility  by  mere  intimidation.  But  assume  that  there 
was  intimidation.  Was  there  any  reason  for  disbanding 
Volunteer  Corps,  prohibiting  public  meetings  and 
•enforcing  laws  which  are  under  promise  of  repeal?  Why 
Jias  no  attempt  been  made  to  prove  a  single  case  of 
intimidation?  It  grieves  me  to  have  to  say  the  Governor 
•of  Bengal  has  brought  in  the  discovery  of  sword  or 
.sword-sticks  in  one  place  in  Calcutta  to  discredit  large 
public  organisations.  Who  intimidated  the  people  into 
.observing  a  complete  hartal  in  Allahabad  after  all  the 
leaders  were  arrested  and  in  spite  of  the  reported  undue 
uoffcial  pressure  that  was  exercised  upon  shop-keepers 
jind  gharivallas  at  that  place  ?  Again  His  Lordship 
^ays,  "If  we  are  to  assume  that  this  development 
jiieans  there  is  genuine  desire  to  bring  about  improve- 
jiient  there  must  be  a  favourable  atmosphere.     In  other 


fi44  NON-CO-OPERATION 

words,  it  will  be  generally  agreed  that  there  must  be  an? 
essential  preliminary  to  any  possible  conference.  If 
responsible  leaders,  of  non-co-opieration  now  come  for- 
ward with  definite  assurance  that  this  is  the  correct 
interpretation  I  should  then  say  we  were  in  sight  of 
such  a  change  of  circumstances  as  would  justify  Gov- 
ernment in  reconsidering  the  position.  But  words 
must  be  backed  by  deeds.  If  I  were  satisfied  only  that 
there  was  general  desire  for  the  conference  and  that 
responsible  non-co-operation  leaders  were  prepared  tO' 
take  action,  then  I  stould  be  prepared  to  recommend  my 
Government  to  take  steps  in  consonance  with  the- 
altered  situation."  This  is  highly  misleading.  If 
wherever  words  ''non-co-operation  leaders"  occur,  the 
word  "Government"  were  put  in  and  if  the  whole  of 
the  statement  came  from  a  non-co-operator  it  would  re- 
present the  correct  situation.  Non  co-operators  have 
really  to  do  nothing,  for  they  have  precipitated  nothing. 
They  are  over-cautioas.  The  disturbance  in  Bombay  was 
allowed  to  override  their  keen  desire  to  take  up  aggres- 
sive Civil  Disobedince  but  in  the  present  circum- 
stances the  phrase  "Civil  Disobedience"  is  really  a 
misnomer.  What  non-co-operators  are  doing  to-day,  L 
claim,  every  co-operator  would  do  tomorrow  under 
similar  circumtances.  When  the  Government  of  India 
or  the  Local  Governments  attempt  to  make  our  political 
existence  or  agitation,  no  matter  how  peaceful,  an  utter 
impossibility,  may  we  not  resist  such  attempt  by  every 
lawful  means  at  our  disposal?  I  cannot  immagine  any- 
thing more  lawful  or  more  natural  than  that  we 
should  continue  our  volunteer  orgaisations  purging  them 
of  every  tendency  to  become  violent  and  continue  also 
to  hold  public  meetings  taking  the  consequences  of  sucb 


REPLY  TO  LORD  RONALDSHAY       645 

■s,  step.  Is  it  no  proof  of  the  law  abiding  instinct  of 
hundreds  of  young  men  and  old  men  that  they  have 
■meekly,  without  offering  any  defence  and  without 
■complaining,  accepted  imprisonment  for  having  dared 
to  exercise  their  elementary  rights  in  the  face  of  Govern- 
iment  persecution?  And  so  it  is  the  Government  which  is 
to  prove  its  genuine  desire  for  a  conference  and  an  ulti- 
;mate  settlement.  It  is  the  Government  which  has  to 
arrest  the  fatal  course  along  which  repression  is  taking  it. 
It  is  the  Government  that  is  to  prove  to  non-co-operators 
its  bona  fides  before  it  can  expect  them  to  take  part  in 
any  conference.  When  the  Government  do3s  that,  it 
will  find  that  there  is  an  absolutely  peaceful  atmosphere. 
Non-co-operation,  when  the  Government  is  not  resisting 
anything  except  violence,  is  a  most  harmless  thing. 
There  is  really  nothing  for  us  to  suspend.  We  cannot 
be  expected,  until  there  is  actual  settlement  or  guarantee 
of  settlement,  to  ask  schoolboys  to  return  to  Govern- 
ment schools  or  lawyers  to.  resume  practice  or  public 
men  to  become  candidates  for  the  Coucils  or  title-holders 
to  ask  for  return  of  titles.  In  the  nature  of  things,  it  is 
therefore  clear  that  non-co-opeators  have  to  do  nothing. 
Speaking  personally  I  can  certainly  say  that  if  there  is 
is  a  genuine  desire  for  a  conference,  I  would  be  the  last 
person  to  advise  precipitating  aggressive  Civil  Disobe- 
Sience,  which  certainly  it  is  my  intention  to  do 
immediately  I  am  entirely  satisfied  that  the  people  have 
understood  the  secret  of  non-violence  ;  and  let  me  say 
.the  last  ten  days''  events  have  shown  that  the  people 
seem  clearly  to  understand  its  inestimable  value.  If 
then  the  G(jvernment  recognises  that  non-co-operators 
mean  business  and  intend  to  suffer  limitlessly  for  the 
attainment  of   their   goal,  let  the  Government  uncondi- 


646  NON-CO-OPERATION 

tioually  retrace  its  steps,  cancel  the  notifications  about 
disbandment  of  volunteer  organisations  and  prohibitiotr 
of  public  meetings  and  release  all  those  men  in  the 
different  provinces  who  have  been  arrested  and  senten- 
ced for  so-called  Civil  Disobedience  or  for  any  other' 
purpose  given  under  the  definition  of  non-co-operatioir 
but  excluding  acts  of  violence,  actual  or  intended.  Let 
the  Government  come  down  with  a  heavy  hand  oir 
every  act  of  violence  or  incitement  to  it,  but  we  must 
claim  the  right  for  all  time  of  expressing  our  opinions- 
freely  and  educating  public  opinion  by  every  legitimate- 
and  non-violent  means.  It  is  therefore  the  Government 
who  have  really  to  undo  the  grave  wrong  they  have~ 
perpetrated  and  they  can  have  the  conference  they  wish* 
in  a  favourable  atmosphere.  Let  me  also  say  that  so- 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  want  no  conference  to  consider 
the  ways  and  means  of  dealing  with  non-co-operation. 
The  only  conference  that  can  at  all  avail  at  this  stage- 
is  a  conference  called  to  deal  with  the  causes  of  the- 
present  discontent,  namely,  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab- 
wrongs  and  Swaraj.  Any  conference  again  which  can' 
usefully  sit  at  the  present  stage  must  be  a  conference- 
that  is  really  representative  and  not  a  conference  to 
which  only  those  whom  the  Government  desire  are: 
invited. 


THE  ROUND  TABLE  CONFERENCE. 


[A  Deputation  headed  by  Pandit  Madan  Mohan 
Malaviya  waited  on  His.  Excellency  the  Viceroy  at  Cal- 
cutta on  December  21  and  requested  His  Excellency  to 
call  a  Round  Tahiti  Conference  of  representatives  of 
people  of  all  shades  Of  opinion  with  a  view  to  bring 
about  a  final  settlement.  Lord  Reading  replied  at  some 
length  and  defined  the  attitude  of  the  Government.  He 
regretted  that  "  it  is  impossible  even  to  consider  the  con- 
vening of  a  conference  if  agitation  in  open  and  avowed 
defiance  of  law  is  meanwhile  to  be  continued."  Mr. 
Gandhi's  refusal  to  call  off  the  hartal  in  connection  with 
H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales'  visit  to  Calcutta  on  Decem- 
ber 24,  apparently  stiffened  the  attitude  of  the  Govern- 
ment. Interviewed  by  the  Associated  Press,  Mr.  Gandhi 
made  the  following  statement  regarding  the  Viceroy's 
reply  to  the  Deputation  : — ] 

I  must  confess  that  I  have  read  the  Viceregal 
utterance  with  deep  pain,  I  was  totally  unprepared 
for  what  I  must  respectfully  call  his  mischievous 
misrepresentation  of  the  attitude  of  the  Congress  and 
the  Khilafat  organisations  in  connection  with  the  visit 
of  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of  Wales.  Every  reso- 
lution passed  by  either  organisation  and  every  speaker 
has  laid  the  greatest  stress  upon  the  fact  that  there 
was  no  question  of  showing  the  slightest  ill-will  against 
the  Prince  or  exposing  him  to  any  affront.  The  boycott 
■  was  purely  a  question  of  principle  and  directed  against 
what  we  have  held  to  be  unscrupulous  methods  of 
bureaucracy.    I  have  always  held,  as  I  hold  even  now, 


648  NON-CO-OPERATION 

that  the  Prince  has  been  brought  to  India  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  hold  of  the  Civil  Service  corporation 
which  has  brought  India  into  a  state  of  abject  pauperism 
and  political  serfdom.  If  I  am  proved  to  be  wrong  in 
my  supposition  that  the  visit  has  that  sinister  meaning, 
I  shall  gladly  apologise. 

It  is  equally    unfortunate    for  the   Viceroy    to  say 
that  the  boycott  of  the  welcome  means  an  affront  to  the 
British  people.     His  Excellency  does   not   realise  what 
grievous  wrong  he  is  doing  to  his  own  people  by  confus- 
ing them  with  the  British  administrators  in  India.  Does 
he  wish  India  to  infer  that    the    British   administrators 
here  represent  the    British    people    and  that  agitation 
-directed  against  their  methods    is   an   agitation   against 
the   British   people  ?    And    if    such   is  the   Viceregal 
contentio;]  and  if  to   conduct  a   vigorous   and   effective 
agitation  against    the  methods   of   bureaucracy  and    to 
describe  them  in  their  true   colours  is  an  affront   to  the 
British  people,  then  I  am  afraid   I    must  plead  guilty. 
But  then  I  must  also  say  in   all  humility,    the   Viceroy 
has   entirely   misread     and    misunderstood     the  great 
national  awakening  that   is  taking    place    in    India.     I 
repeat  for  the  thousandth    time  that   it    is   not   hostile 
to  any  nation  or  any  body  of  men  but   it   is  deliberately 
aimed  at  the  system  under  which  Government  of   India 
is  being  to-day  conducted,  and  I  promise  that  no  threats 
and  no  enforcement   of  threats   by  the   Viceroy  or  any 
body  of  men  will  strangle  that  agitation  or  send  to  rest 
that  awakening. 

I  have  said  in  my  reply  to  Lord  Ronaldshay's 
speech  that  we  have  not  taken  the  offensive.  We  are 
not  the  aggressors,    we  have  not   got  to  stop   any  single 


THE    ROUND   TABLE   CONFERENCE  649 

activity.  It  is  the  Government  that  is  to  stop  its 
aggravatingly  ofifensive  activity  aimed  not  at  violence 
but  a  lawful,  disciplined,  stem  ^but  absolualy  non- 
violent agitation.  It  is  for  the  Government  of  India 
and  for  it  alone  to  bring  about  a  peaceful  atmosphere,  if 
it  so  desires.  It  has  hurled  a  bomb  shell  in  the  midst 
of  material  rendered  inflammable  by  its  own  action  and 
wonders  that  the  material  is  still  not  inflammable 
enough  to  explode.  The  immediate  issue  is  not  now 
the  rpdress  of  the  three  wrongs  ;  the  immediate  issue 
is  the  right  of  holding  public  meetings  and  the  right  of 
forming  associations  for  peaceful  purpose.  And  in 
vindicating  this  right  we  are  fighting  the  battle  not 
merely  on  behalf  of  non-co-operators  but  we  are  fighting 
the  battle  for  all  schools  of  politics.  It  is  the  condition 
of  any  organic  growth,  and  I  see  in  the  Viceregal 
pronouncement  an  insistence  upon  submission  to  a 
contrary  doctrine  which  an  erstwhile  exponent  of  the 
law  of  liberty  has  seen  fit  to  lay  down  upon  finding 
himself  in  an  atmosphere  where  there  is  little  regard 
ior  law  and  order  on  the  part  of  those  very  men  who 
are  supposed  to  be  custodians  of  law  and  order.  I  have 
only  to  point  to  the  unprovoked  assaults  being  committed 
not  in  isolated  cases,  not  in  one  place,  but  in  Bengal,  in 
the  Punjab,  in  Delhi  and  in  the  United  Provinces.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  as  repression  goes  on  in  its  mad 
career,  the  reign  of  terrorism  will  ever  take  the  whole 
of  this  unhappy  land.  But  whether  the  campaign  is 
conducted  on  civilised  or  uncivilised  lines,  so  far  as  I  can 
see,  there  is  only  one  way  open  to  non-co  operators, 
indeed  I  contend,  even  to  the  people  of  India.  On  this 
question  of  the  right  of  holding  public  meetings  and 
forming   associations   there   can    be    no    yielding.     We 


650  NON-CO-OPERATION 

have  burnt  our  boats  and  we  must  sail  onward  till  tha*-"- 
primary  right  of  human  beings  is  vindicated. 

Let  me  make  my  own  position  clear.  I  am  most 
anxious,  for  a  settlement.  I  want  a  Round  Table- 
Conference.  I  want  our  position  to  be  clearly  known' 
by  everybody  who  wants  to  understand  it.  I  impose  no^ 
conditions  but  when  conditions  are  imposed  upon  me- 
prior  to  the  holding  of  a  conference,  I  must  be  allowed' 
to  examine  those  conditions,  and  if  I  find  that  they  are 
suicidal,  I  must  be  excused  if  I  don't  accept  them.  The- 
amount  of  tension  that  is  created  can  be  regulated  solely- 
by  the  Government  of  India,  for  the  offensive  has  beea< 
taken  by  that  Government. 


THE  AHMEDABAD  CONGRESS  SPEECH. 


The  Ahmedabad  Congress  of  December,  1921,  was 
abov3  all  a  Gandhi  Session.  The  President-elect,  Mr.  G.. 
R.  Das,  was  in  prison  and  so  were  many  other  leaders 
besides.  Hakim  Ajmal  Khan  was  elected  to  take  the 
chair  and  the  proceedings  were  all  in  Hindi  and  Guja- 
rati.  Mr,  Gandhi  was  invested  with  full  dictatorial 
powers  by  the  Congress  and  the  central  resolution  of  the- 
session,  which  he  moved,  ran  as  follows  : 

"  This  Congress,  whilst  requiring  the  ordinary 
machinery  to  remain  intact  and  to  be  utilised  in  the 
ordinary  manner  whenever  feasible,  hereby  appoints, 
until  further  instructions,  Mahatma  Gandhi  as  the  sole- 
executive  authority  of  the  Congress  and  invests  him  with- 
the  full  power  to  convene  a  special  session  of  the 
Congress  or  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee  or  the- 
Working  Committee  and  also  with  the  power  to  appoint 
a  successor  in  emergency. 


THE    AHMEDABAD    CONGRESS   SPEECH        651 

•'  This  Congress  hereby  confers  upon  the  said  suc- 
cessor and  all  subsequent  successors  appointed  in  turn- 
by  their  predecessors,  all  his  aforesaid  powers, 
provided  that  nothing  in  this  resolution  shall  be 
deemed  to  authorise  Mahatma  Candhi  or  any  of  the- 
aforesaid  successors  to  conclude  any  terms  of  peace- 
with  the  Goverment  of  India  or  the  British  Govern' 
ntent  without  the  previous  sanction  of  the  All-Indicr 
Congress  Committee,  to  be  finally  ratified  by  the  Congress 
specially  convened  for  the  purpose,  and  provided  also- 
thaf  the  present  creed  of  the  Congress  shall  in  no  case  he- 
altered  hy  Mahatma  Gandhi  or;  his  successor  except 
with  the  leave  of  the  Congress  first  obtained,"  The- 
following  is  the  full  text  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  speech  : — ] 

,  I  shall  hope,  if  I  can  at  all  avoid  it,  not  to  take 
even  the  30  minutes  that  Hakim  Sahib  has  allotted  ta- 
me. And  I  do  not  propose,  if  I  can  help  it  to  take  all 
that  time,  because  I  feel  that  the  resolution  explains 
itself.  If  at  the  end  of  15  months'  incessant  activity, 
you,  the  delegates  assembled  in  this  Congress  do  not 
know  your  own  minds,  I  am  positive  that  I  cannot 
possibly  carry  conviction  to  you  even  in  a  two  hours'' 
speech  and,  what  is  more,  if  I  could  carry  conviction 
to  you  to-day  because  of  my  speech,  I  am  afraid  I  would?. 
lose  all  faith  in  my  countrymen,  because  it  would' 
demonstrate  their  incapacity  to  observe  things  and". 
events,  it  would  demonstrate  their  incapacity  to  think: 
coherently,  because  I  submit  there  is  absolutely  nothings 
new  in  this  resolution  that  we  have  not  been  doing  all' 
this  time,  that  we  have  not  been  thinking  all  this  timeV 
There  is  absolutety  nothing  new  in  this  resolution  which' 
is  at  all  startling.  Those  of  you  who  have  followed" 
the  proceedings  from  month  to  month  of  the-  Working! 


■652  NON-CO-OPERATION 

-Committee  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee  for 
two  months  or  for  three  months  and  have  studied 
the  resolutions  can  but  come  to  one  conclusion  that 
this  resolution  is  absolutely  the  natural  result  of 
the  national  activities  during  the  past  15  months. 
And  if  you  have  at  all  followed  the  course,  the 
downward  course,  that  the  repression  policy  of  the 
Government  has  been  taking,  you  can  only  come  to  the  ' 
conclusion  that  the  Subjects  Committee  has  come  to 
through  this  resolution,  that  the  only  answer  that  a  self- 
respecting  nation  can  return  to  the  Viceregal  pronounce- 
ments and  to  the  repression  that  is  overtaking  this  land 
is  the  course  mapped  out  in  this  resolution. 

I  am  not  going  to  take  the  time  of  our  English 
knowing  friends  over  the  religious  subtleties  of  the 
pledge  that  the  volunteers  have  to  take.  I  wish  to 
confine  my  remark  on  that  subject  to  Hindustani.  But 
I  want  this  assembly  to  understand  the  bearing  of  this 
resolution.  This  resolution  means  that  we  have 
grown  the  stage  of  helplessness  and  depend- 
ence upon  anybody.  This  resolution  means  that  the 
nation  through  its  representatives  is  determined 
to  have  its  own  way  without  the  assistance  of  any  single 
human  being  on  earth,  excfept  from  God  above 
(applause).  This  resolution,  whilst  it  shows  the  indomi- 
table courage  and  the  determination  of  the  nation  to 
vindicate  its  rights  and  to  be  able  to  stare  the  world  in 
the  face,  also  says  in  all  humility  to  the  Government, 
"  No  matter  what  you  do,  no  matter  how  yoa  repress 
us,  we  shall  one  day  wring  the  reluctant  repentence 
.from  you  and  we  warn  you  to  think  betime,  take  care 
what  you  are  doing  and  see  that  you  do  not  make  300 
millions  of  India  your  eternal  enemy." 


THE   AHMEDABAD    CONGRESS   SPEECH"  653- 

This  resolution,  if  the  Government  sincerely  wants 
an  open  door,  leaves  the  door  wide  open  for  the  Govern- 
ment. If  Moderate  friends  wish  to  rally  round  the 
standard  of  the  Khilafat,  round  the  standard  of  the 
liberties  of  the  Punjab  and  therefore  of  India,  if  this 
Government  is  sincerely  anxious  to  do  justice  and  no- 
thing but  justice,  if  Lord  Reading  has  really  come  to 
India  to  do  justice  and  nothing  less — and  we  want 
nothing  more — if  he  is  really  anixous  to  do  all  those 
things,  then  I  inform  him  from  this  platform,  with  God 
as  my  witness,  with  all  the  earnestness  that  I  can 
command  that  he  has  got  an  open  door  in  this  resolution 
if  he  means  well,  but  the  door  is  closed  in  his  face  if  he 
means  ill.  There  is  every  chance  for  him  to  hold  a  Round 
Table  Conference,  but  it  must  be  a  real  Conference.  If  he 
wants  a  Conference  at  a  table  where  only  equals  are  to 
sit  and  where  there  is  not  to  be  a  single  beggar,  then 
there  is  an  open  door  and  that  door  will  always  remain 
open  no,  matter  how  many  people  go  to  their  graves,  no 
matter  what  wild  career  this  repression  is  to  go  through. 
So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  if  I  can  take  the  nation 
with  me,  I  inform  him,  again  that  the  door  will  always 
remain  wide  open. 

There  is  nothing  in  this  resolution  which  any  one 
who  has  modesty  and  humility  need  be  ashamed  of. 
This  resolution  is  not  an  arrogant  challenge  to  any 
body,  but  this  is  a  challenge  to  an  authority  that  is 
enthroned  on  arrogance.  It  is  a  challenge  to  the 
authority  which  disregards  the  considered  opinion  of 
millions  of  thinking  human  beings.  It  is  an  humble 
challenge  and  an  irrevocable  challenge  to  authority 
which,  in  order  to  save  itself,  wants  to  crush  freedom  of 
opinion,  freedom  of  forming  associations,  the  two  lungs 


^54  NON-CO-OPERATION 

that  are  absolutely  necessary  for  a  man  to  breathe  the 
oxygen  of  liberty.  And  if  there  is  any  authority  in  this 
•country  that  wants  to  crub  the  freedom  of  speech  and 
freedom  of  association.  I  want  to  be  able  to  say,  in 
your  name,  from  this  platform,  that  that  authority  will 
perish  and  that  authority  will  have  to  repent  before  an 
Jndia  that  is  steeled  with  high  courage,  noble  purpose 
.and  determination  till  every  man  and  woman  who  chose 
to  call  themselves  Indians  are  blotted  otit  of  the  earth, 
■It  combines  courage  and  humility.  God  only  knows,  if 
J  could  possibly  have  advised  you  to  go  to  the  Round 
Table  Conference,  if  I  could  possibiy  have  advised  you 
not  to  undertake  this  resolution  of  civil  disobedience, 
I  would  have  done  so.  I  am  a  man  of  peace.  I  believe 
in  peace.  But  I  do  not  want  peace  at  any  price.  I  do 
jaot  want  the  peace  that  you  find  in  stone.  I  do  not  want 
the  peace  that  you  find  in  grain.  But  I  do  want  that 
.peace  which  you  find  embedded  in  the  human  breast, 
which  is  exposed  to  the  arrows  of  a  whole  world  but 
which  is  protected  from  all  harm  by  the  Almighty 
Power  of  the  Almighty  God. 

I  do  not  want  to  take  any  more  time  of  the 
■  delegates,  I  do  not  want  to  say  a  word  more .  I  do  not 
■want  to  insult  your  intelligence  by  saying  a  word  more 
jn  connexion  with  this  resolution  in  English. 


THE  INDEPENDENCE  RESOLUTION. 


[Mr.  Hasrat  Mohani,  President  of  the  Moslem 
X.eague,  opposed  Mr.  Gandhi's  resolution  in  the  Congress 
and  brought  in  various  amendments  which  sought  to 
lay  down  the  object  of  the  Congress  as  the  attainment  of 
complete  independence,  free  from  all  foreign  control, 
Mr.  Gandhi  opposed  all  the  amendments  and  spoke  as 
Jollows  in  defence  of  his  own  resolution : — ] 

Friends,  I    have  said  only    a  few  words    (in  Hindi) 

ia    connecxion    with  the    proposition    of   Mr.    Hasrat 

Mohani.  All  I    want   to   say  to  you  in    English   is  that 

proposition   and  the  manner,   the    levity,   with  which 

that  proposition  has  been  taken  up  by  so    many  of   you, 

■or  some  of  you,  I  hope,  has  grieved  me.    It  has  grieved 

-me,   because    it  shows    a    lack   of    responsibility.     As 

:responsible  men  and  women  we   should  go  back  to  the 

ways  of  Nagpur  and  Calcutta  and  we  should  remember 

what  we  did  only  an  hour  ago.     An  hour  ago  we  passed 

a  resolution  which  actually  contemplates  a  final  settle- 

imeut    of    the    Khilafat    and   the   Punjab    wrongs  and 

transference    of    the    power    from  the    hands    of    the 

bureaucracy   into   the    hands   of   the   people  by  certain 

-definite  means.    Are  you  going  to  rub  the  whole  of  that 

'Condition  from  the  mind  by  raising   a  false  issue  and  by 

throwing   a   bombshell    in  the    midst    of    the    Indian 

atmosphere.    I  hope  that  those  of  you  who  have  voted 

ifor  the  previous  resolution  \vill .  think,  fifty   times  before 

.taking  up  this  resolution  and  voting    for  it  with    levity. 

We  shall  be  charged  by  the   thinking  portion  of  the 

-world  that  we   did  not  know  really  where  we  are.     Let 


656  NON-CO-OPERATION 

US  not  be  charged  with  that  and  let  us  understand  our 
limitations.  Let  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  have  absolute 
indissoluble  unity.  Who  is  here  who  can  say  to-day 
with  confidence,  "  Yes,  Hindu-Muslim  unity  has  become 
and  has  become  an"  indissoluble  factor  of  Indian 
nationalism."  Who  is  here  who  can  tell  me  that  the 
Parsees  and  the  Sikhs  and  the  Christians  and  the  Jews 
and  the  untouchables,  about  whom  you  heard  this 
afternoon,  who  is  here,  I  ask,  who  will  tell  me  that 
those  very  people  will  not  rise  against  any  such  idea  ? 

Think,  therefore,  fifty  times  before  you  take  a 
step  which  will  redound  not  to  your  credit,  not  ta 
your  advantage,  but  which  may  cause  irreparable 
injury.  Let  us  first  of  all  gather  up  our  strength,, 
let  us  first  of  all  sound  our  -own  depths,  but  let 
us  not  go  into  waters  whose  depths  we  do  not 
know  and  this  proposition  of  Mr.  Hasrat  Mohanr 
lands  you  to  a  depth  unfathomable.  I  ask  you  in  ali 
confidence  that  you  will  reject  that  proposition  if  you 
believe  in  the  proposition  that  you  passed  only  an  hour 
ago.  The  proposition  now  before  you  robs  away  the 
whole  of  the  effect  of  the  proposition  that  you  passed  a- 
moment  ago.  Are  creeds  such  simple  things  like  clothes 
which  a  man  can  change  at  will  and  put  on  at  will  ? 
Creeds  are  such  for  which  people  live  for  ages  and 
ages.  Are  you  going  to  change  your  creed  which,  with, 
all  deliberations  and  after  great  debates  in  Nagpur 
you  accepted.  There  was  no  limitation  of  one  year 
when  you  accepted  that  creed.  It  is  an  extensive  creed,. 
It  takes  in  all  the  weakest  and  the  strongest  and  you 
will  deny  yourselves  the  privilege  of  clothing  the 
weakest  among  yourselves  with  protection  if  you  accept 
this  limited  creed  of  Maulana  Hasrat  Mohani,  which 
does  not  admit  the  weakest  of  your  brethren,  I  there- 
fore ask  you  in  all  confidence  to  reject  this  proposition. 


THE  BOMBAY  CONFERENCE. 


[A  conference  of  representatives  of  various  shades 
of  political  opinion  convened  by  Pandit  Malaviya, 
Mr.  Jinnah,  and  others  assembled  at  Bombay  on  the 
14-th  January,  1922,  with  Sir  0.  Sankaran  Nair,  in  the 
"Ohair,  On  the  second  day  Sir  Sankaran  withdrew  and 
Sir  M.  Visveswarya  took  up  his  place.  Over  two-hundred 
■leading  men  from  different  provinces  attended,  Mr. 
Gandhi  was  present  throughout  and  though  he  refused 
to  he  officially  connected  with  the  resolutions  he  took 
part  in  the  debates  and  helped  the  conference  in  fram- 
ing the  resolutions  which  were  also  ratified  by  the  Con- 
gress Working  Committee.  The  following  account  of  the 
Conference  by  Mr.  Gandhi  himself  is  taken  from  '  Young 
India'  of  January,  1919.] 

The  Conferences  was  both  a  success  and  a  failure. 
It  was  a  success  in  that  it  showed  an  earnest  desire  on 
the  part  of  those  who  attended  to  secure  a  peaceful 
■solution  of  the  present  trouble,  and  in  that  it  brought 
tinder  one  roof  people  possessing  divergent  views.  It 
was  a  failure  in  that,  though  certain  resolutions  have 
been  adopted,  the  Conference  did  not  leave  on  my  mind 
the  impression  that  those  who  assembled  together  as  a 
whole  realised  the  gravity  of  the  real  issue.  The  mind 
of  the  Conference  seemed  to  be  centred  more  on  a  Round 
Table  Conference  than  upon  asserting  the  popular  right 
of  free  speech,  free  association  and  free  press  which  are 
more  than  a  round  table  conference.  I  had  expected  on 
the  part  of  the  independents  to  declare  their  firm 
attitude  that  no  matter  how  much  they  might  differ 
12 


658  NON-CO-OPERATION 

regarding  the  method  of  Non-Co-operation,  the  freedom 
of  the  people  was  a  common  heritage  and  that  the 
assertion  of  that  right  was  three-fourths  of  Swaraj  ; 
that  therefore  they  would  defend  that  right  even  with 
civil  disobedience,  if  need  be. 

However,  as  the  attention  of  the  Conference  could 
not  be  rivetted  on  that  point  but  on  a  Round  Table 
Conference,  the  discussion  turned  upon  the  essentials  of 
■such  a  conference. 

My  own  position  was  clear.  I  would  attend  any 
conference  as  an  individual,  without  any  conditions. 
My  purpose  as  a  reformer  is  to  convert  people  to  the 
view  I  hold  to  be  right  and  therefore  to  see  everybody 
who  would  care  to  listen  to  me.  But  when  I  was  asked 
to  mention  the  conditions  necessary  for  an  atmosphere 
favourable  for  a  successful  conference,  I  had  to  press- 
some  certain  conditions.  And  I  must  own  that  the 
Resolutions  Committee  approached  my  viewpoint  with 
the  greatest  sympathy  and  showed  every  anxiety  to 
accommodate  me.  But  side  by  side  with  this,  I  observed 
an  admirable  disposition  on  its  part  to  consider  the 
Government's  difficulties.  Indeed  the  Government's  case 
could  not  have  been  better  presented,  if  it  had  been 
directly  and  officially  represented  in  the  Conference. 

The  result  was  a  compromise.  The  withdrawal  of 
notification  and  the  discharge  of  prisoners  coming  under 
the  notifications  and  of  the  fatwa  prisoners,  ».e.,  the 
Ali  Brothers  and  others  who  have  been  convicted  in 
respect  of  the  fatwas  regarding  military  service,  was 
common  cause.  The  Committee  saw  the  force  of  the 
suggestions  that  the  distress  warrants  should  be  dis- 
charged, the  fines  imposed  upon  the  Press,  etc.,  should 
be  refunded  and  that  the  prisoners  convicted  for  non- 


THE   BOMBAY   CONFERENCE  659^ 

violent  or  otherwise  innocent  activities  under  cover  of 
the  ordinary  laws  should  be  discharged  upon  the  proof 
of  their  non-vi6lence.  'For  this  purpose  I  had  suggested 
the  committee  appointed  by  the  conference.  But  on  the 
Resolutions  Committee  showing  that  it  would  be  difficult 
for  the  Government  to  accept  such  an  uncontrolled 
recommendation,  I  agreed  to  the  principle  of  arbitration 
now  imported  in  the  resolution.  The  second  compromise 
is  regarding  picketing.  My  suggestion  was  that  in  the 
event  of  the  round  table  conference  being  decided 
upon,  Non-Co-operation  activities  of  a  hostile  nature 
should  be  suspended  and  that  all  picketing  except 
bona  fide  peaceful  picketing  should  also  be  sus- 
pended, pending  result  of  the  conference.  As  the 
implications  of  hostile  activities  appeared  to  me  to 
be  too  dangerous  to  be  acceptable,  I  hastily  withdrew 
my  own  wording  and  gladly  threw  over  even  bona  fide 
peaceful  picketing,  much  though  I  regretted  it,  I  felt 
that  the  friends  interested  in  liquor  picketing  for  the 
sake  of  temperance  would  not  mind  the  temporary 
sacrifice. 

I  agreed  too  to  advise  the  Working  Committee*  to 
postpone  general  mass  civil  disobedience  contemplated 
by  the  Congress  to  the  31st  instant  in  order  to  enable 
the  Committee  and  the  Conference  to  enter  into  negotia- 
tions with  the  Government.  This,  I  felt,  was  essential 
to  show  our  bona  fides.  We  could  not  take  up  new 
offensives  whilst  negotiations  for  a  conference  were 
being  conducted  by  responsible  men.  I  further  under- 
took to  advise  the  Committee,  in  the  event  of  the  pro- 
posed conference  coming  off,  to  stop  all  harals  pending^ 
the  conference.  This  I  hold  to  be,  inevitable.  Harals 
are  a  demonstration  against  bureaucracy.     We  cannot 


660  NON-CO-OPERATION 

continue  them,  if  we  are  conferring  with  them  for  peace. 
Workers  will  bear  in  mind  that  as  yet  no  activity  of 
the  Congress  stops  save  general' civil  disobedience.  On 
the  contrary,  enlistment  of  volunteers  and  Swadeshi 
propaganda  must  continue  without  abatement.  Liquor 
shop  picketing  may  continue  where  it  is  absolutely 
peaceful.  It  should  certainly  continue  where  notices 
unnecessarily  prohibiting  picketing  have  been  issued.  So 
may  picketing  continue  regarding  schools  or  foreign 
•clotb  shops.  But  whilst  all  our  activities  should  be 
zealously  continued,  there  should  be  the  greatest  res- 
traint exercised  and  every  trace  of  violence  or  dis- 
courtesy avoided.  When  restraint  .and  courtesy  are 
added  to  strength,  the  latter  becomes  irresistible.  Civil 
disobedience  being  an  indefeasible  right,  the  prepara- 
tions for  it  will  continue  even  if  the  conference  comes 
off.  And  the  preparations  for  civil  disobedience  consist 
in  : — 

1,  the  enlistment  of  volunteers, 

2,  the  propaganda  of  Swadeshi, 

3,  the  removal  of  untouchability, 

•  4.     the  training  in   non-violence  in   word,  deed  and 
thought, 

5.  unity  between  diverse  creeds  and  classes. 
I  hear  that  many  are  enrolled  as  volunteers  iu 
various  parts  of  India,  although  they  do  nftt  wear  Khadi, 
do  not  believe  in  complete  non-violence,  or,  if  they  are 
Hindus,  do  not  believe  in  untouchability  as  a  crime 
against  humanity.  I  cannot  too  often  warn  the  people 
that  every  deviation  from  our  own  rules  retards  our 
progress.  It  is  the  qua.lity  of  our  work  which  will  place 
God  and  not  quantity.  Not  all  the  lip  Mussulmans  and 
the  lip  Hindus  will  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Islam 


THE    BOMBAY   CONFERENCE  561 

is  no  stronger  than  the  best  Mussulman.  Thousands  o  f 
nominal  followers  of  Hinduism  believe  their  faith  and' 
discredit  it.  One  true  and  perfect  follower  of  Hinduism' 
is  enough  to  protect  it  for  all  time  and  against  the  whole 
world.  Similarly,  one  true  and  perfect  Non-Co-operator 
is  any  day  better  than  a  million  Non-Co-operators  so 
called.  The  best  preparation  for  civil  disobedience  is 
to  cultivate  civility,  that  is  truth  and  non-violence, 
amongst  ourselves  and  our  surroundings. 

In  order  that  all  may  approach  the  round  table 
conference  with  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Congress 
demands,  I  laid  all  our  cards  on  the  table  and  reiteratedi 
the  claims  regarding  the  Khilafat,  the  Punjab  andl 
Swaraj.    Let  me  repeat  them  here : 

(1)  So  far  as  I  can  write  from  memory,  full 
restoration  to  the  Turks  of  Constantinople,  Adrianople, 
Anatolia  including  Symrna  and  Thrace,  Complete 
withdrawal  of  non-Muslim  influence  from  Arabia,. 
Mesopotamia,  Palestine  and  Syria  and  therefore  with- 
drawal of  British  troops  whether  English  or  Indian  from 
these  territories. 

(2)  Full  enforcement  of  the  report  of  the  Congress 
Sub-committee  and  therefore  the  stopping  of  the  pensions 
of  Sir  Michael  O'Dwyer,  General  Dyer  and  other 
officers  named  in  the  report  for  dismissal. 

(3)  Swaraj  means,  in  the  event  of  the  foregoing; 
demands  being  granted,  full  dominion  status.  The 
scheme  of  such  Swaraj  should  be  framed  by  represen- 
tatives duly  elected  in  terms  of  the  Congress  constitution. 
That  means  four  anna  franchise.  Every  Indian  adult, 
male  or  female,  paying  four  annas  and  signing  the 
Congress  creed,  will  be  entitled  to  be  placed  on  the 
electoral  roll.    These  electors  would  elect  delegates  who 


662  NON-CO-OPERATION 

would  frame  the  Swaraj  constitution.  This  shall  be 
:given  effect  to  without  any  change  by  the  British 
Parliament. 

If  tie  Congress  programme  is  so  cut  and  dried, 
where  is  the  necessity  for  a  conference? — asks  the 
-critic.     I  hold  that  there  is  and  there  always  will  be. 

The  method  of  execution  of  the  demands  has  to  be 
considered.  The  Government  may  have  a  reasonable 
and  a  convincing  answer  on  the  claims.  The  Congress- 
inen  have  fixed  their  minimum,  but  the  fixing  of  the 
minimum  means  no  more  than  confidence  in  the  justice 
of  one's  cause.  It  farther  means  that  there  is  no  room 
for  bargaining.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  appeal  to 
one's  weakness  or  incapacity.  The  appeal  can  only  be 
addressed  to  reason.  If  the  Viceroy  summons  the  confer- 
ence it  means  either  that  he  recognises  the  justice  of  the 
claims  or  hopes  to  satisfy  the  Congressmen,  among 
others,  of  the  injustice  thereof.  He  must  be  confident 
of  the  justice  of  his  proposals  for  a  rejection  or  redac- 
tion of  the  claim.  That  is  my  meaning  of  a  meeting  of 
equals  who  eliminate  the  idea  of  force,  and  instantly 
shift  their  ground  as  they  appreciate  the  injustice  of 
their  position-  I  assure  His  Excellency  the  Viceroy  and 
everybody  concerned  that  the  Congressmen  or  Non-Co- 
operators  are  as  reasonable  beings  as  may  be  found  on 
earth  or  in  India.  They  have  every  incentive  to  be  so 
for  theirs  is  the  duty  of  suflfering  as  a  result  of  rejection 
of  any  just  oflFer. 

1  have  heard  it  urged  that  on  the  Khilafat  the 
Imperial  Government  is  powerless.  I  should  like  to  be 
convinced  of  this.  In  that  case  and  if  the  Imperial 
Government  make  common  cause  with  the  Mussulmans 
of  India,  I  should  be  quite  satisfied  and  take  the  chance 


THE   BOMBAY   CONFERENCE  663 

with  the  Imperial  Government's  genuine  assistance  of 
convincing  the  other  powers  of  the  justice  of  the 
Khilafat  claim.  And  even  when  the  claim  is  admitted 
much  requires  to  be  discussed  regarding  the  exedu- 
tion. 

Similarly  regarding  the  Punjab.  The  principle 
being  granted,  the  details  have  to  be  settled.  Legal 
difficulties  have  been  urged  about  stopping  the  pensions 
to  the  dismissed  officials.  The  reader  may  not  know 
that  Maulana  Shaukat  Ali's  pension  (I  suppose  he 
occupied  the  same  status  as  Sir  Michael  O'Dwyer)  was 
stopped  without  any  inquiry  or  previous  notice  to  him. 
I  believe  that  service  regulations  do  provide  for  remov- 
ing officers  and  officials  from  the  pensions  list  on  proof 
of  gross  neglect  of  duty  or  disloyal  service.  Anyway, 
let  the  Government  prove  a  case  for  refusal  to  grant  the 
Punjab  demand  save  the  plea  of  the  past  services  of 
these  officials.  I  must  refuse  to  weigh  their  service  to 
the  Empire  against  their  disservice  to  India,  assuming 
the  possibility  of  two  such  things  co-existing. 

Swaraj  scheme  is  undoubtedly  a  matter  on  which 
there  will  be  as  many  minds  as  there  are  men  and 
women.  And  it  is  eminently  a  thing  to  be  debated  in  a 
conference,  But  here  again  there  must  be  a  clean 
mind  and  no  mental  reservations.  India's  freedom 
must  be  the  supreme  interest  in  every  body's  mind. 
There  should  be  no  obstruction  such  as  the  preoccupa- 
tion of  the  British  elector  or  the  indifference  of  the 
House  of  Commons  or  the  hostility  of  the  House  of 
Lords.  No  lover  of  India  can  possibly  take  into 
account  these  extraneous  matters.  The  only  question 
to  consider  will  be  is  India  ready  for  what  she  wants  ? 
Or  does  she  ask  like  a  child  for  food  she  has  no  stomach 


664  NON-CO-OPERATION 

for  ?  That  can  be   determined  not  by   outsiders    but  by 
Indians  themselves. 

From  that  standpoint,  I  do  consider  the  idea  of  th& 
conference  for  devising  a  scheme  of  full  Swaraj  pre- 
mature. India  has  not  yet  incontestably  proved  her 
strength.  Her  suffering  is  great  indeed,  but  nothing 
and  not  prolonged  enough  for  the  object  in  view.  She- 
has  to  go  through  greater  discipline,  I  was  punctili- 
ously careful  not  to  make  Non-Co-operators  party  to  the 
conference  resolutions,  because  we  are  still  so  weak. 
When  India  has  evolved  disciplined  strength.  I  would 
knock  myself  at  the  Viceregal  door  for  a  conference, 
and  I  know  that  the  Viceroy  will  gladly  embrace  the 
opportunity  whether  he  be  an  eminent  lawyer  or  a  dis- 
tinguished militarist.  I  do  not  approach  directly 
because  I  *m  conscious  of  our  weakness.  But  being 
humble  I  make  it  clear  through  Moderate  or  other 
friends  that  I  would  miss  not  a  single  opportunity  of 
having  honest  conferences  or  consultations.  And  so  I 
have  notjiesitated  to  advise  Non-Co-operators  thankful- 
ly to  meet  the  Independents  and  place  our  services  at 
their  disposal  to  make  such  use  of  them  as  they  may 
deem  fit.  And  if  the  Viceroy  or  a  party  desires  a  con- 
ference, it  would  be  foolish  for  Non-Co-operators  not  tO' 
respond.  The  case  of  Non-Co-operators  depends  for 
success  on  cultivation  of  public  opinion  and  public  sup- 
port. They  have  no  other  force  to  back  them.  If  they 
forfeit  public  opinion  they  have  lost  the  voice  of  God 
for  the  time  being. 

For  the  manner  of  preparing  the  scheme  too  I 
have  simply  suggested  what  appears  to  me  to  be  a 
most  feasible  method.  The  All-India  Congress  Com- 
mittee  has  not    considered  it  nor   has  the   Working 


THE   BOMBAY   CONFERENCE  665 

Committee.  The  adoption  of  the  Congress  franchise  is 
my  own  suggestion.  But  what  I  have  laid  down  as 
the  guiding  principle  is  really  unassailable.  The  scheme 
of  Swaraj  is  that  scheme  which  popular  representatives 
frame.  What  happens  then  to  the  experts  in  adminis- 
tration and  others  who  may  not  be  popularly  elected  ? 
In  my  opinion,  they  also  should  attend  and  have  the 
vote  even',  but  they  must  necessarily  be  in  a  minority. 
They  must  expect  to  influence  the  majority  by  a  cons- 
tant appeal  to  the  logic  of  facts.  Given  mutual  trust 
and  mutual  respect,  a  round  table  conference  cannot  bu  t 
result  in  a  satisfactory  and  honourable  peace. 

The  abrupt  withdrawal  of   Sir  Sankaran  Nair  was 
an  unfortunate  incident.  In  my  opinion,  he  had  nothing 
to  do  with  my,  or  later,  with  Mr.  Jinah's  opinions,  '  As 
Speaker,  especially,  he  was    exempt   from  any  implied 
or    express    identification    with    anybody's   views.     I 
cannot    help   feeling   that  Sir    Sankaran  erred   in  the 
conception  of  his  duty  as  speaker.     But  as  we   progress 
towards    democracy,    we    must    be  prepared  even  for. 
such  erroneous  exercise  of  independence.    I  congratulate 
Sir  Sankaran  Nair  upon  his  boldly  exercising    his  inde- 
pendence, which  I  have  not  hesitated  to  call  cussedness 
in  private  conversation   and  upon   the  independefnce  of 
the     Committee    in    not   suffering   a   nervous   collapse 
but     quietly    electing     Sir    Visveswarya    and    voting 
thanks  to  the  retiring  Speaker  for  the  services  rendered. 


LETTER  TO  H.  E.  THE  VICEROY. 


The  Inauguration  of  Civil  Disobedience 
IN  Bardolt. 

[While  negotiations  were  going  on  between  the 
representatives  of  the  Malaviya  Conference  and 
H.  E.  the  Viceroy,  Mr.  Gandhi  addressed  the 
following  open  letter  to  Lord  Reading.  The  letter 
was  in  effect  an  ultimatum  and  the  efforts  of  the 
Conference  ended  in  failure.] 

To  His  Excellency  the  Viceroy,  Delhi. 

Sir, 

Bardoli  is  a  small -Tehsil  in  the  Surat  District  in 
the  Bombay  Presidency,  having  a  population  of  about 
87,000  all  told. 

On  the  29th  ultimo,  it  decided  under  the  Presidency 
of  Mr.  Vithalbhai  Patel  to  embark  ou  Mass  Civil 
Disobedience,  having  proved  its  fitness  for  it  in  terms  of 
the  iresolution  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee 
which  met  at  Delhi  during  the  first  week  of  November 
last.  But  as  I  am,  perhaps,  chiefly  responsible  for 
Bardoli's  decision,  I  owe  it  to  your  Excellency  and  the 
public  to  explain  the  situation  under  which  the  decision 
has  been  taken. 

It  was  intended  undsr  the  resolution  of  the  All- 
India  Congress  Committee  before  referred  too  to  make 
Bardoli  the  first  unit  for  Mass  Civil  Disobedience  in 
order  to  mark  the  national  revolt  against  the  Government 
ior  its  consistently  criminal  refusal  to  appreciate  India's 
resolve  regarding  the  Khilafat,  the  Punjab  and  Swaraj. 


LETTER   TO   H.    E.   THE   VICEROY  667 

Then  followed  the  unfortunate  and  regrettable  riots 
on  the  r/th  November  last  in  Bombay  resulting  in  the 
postponement  of  the  step  contemplated  by  Bardoli. 

Meantime  repression  of  a  virulent  type  has  taken 
place  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Government  of  India, 
in  Bengal,  Assam,  the  United  Provinces,  the  Punjab, 
the  Province  of  Delhi  and  in  a  way  in  Bihar  and  Orissa 
and  elsewhere.  I  know  that  you  have  objected  to  the 
use  of  the  word  ''  repression"  for  describing  the  action 
of  the  authorities  in  these  Provinces.  In  my  opinion, 
when  an  action  is  taken  which  is  in  excess  of  the 
requirements  of  the  situation,  it  is  undoubtedly  rep- 
ression. The  looting  of  property,  assaults  on  innocent 
people,  brutal  treatment  of  the  prisoners  in  jaiis, 
including  flogging,  can  in  no  sense  be  described  as  legal, 
civilized  or  in  any  way  necessary.  This  official  law- 
lessness cannot  be  described  by  any  other  term  but 
lawless  repression. 

Intimidation  by  Non-Co-operators  or  their  sympathi- 
sers to  a  certain  extent  in  connection  with  hartals  and 
picketing-  may  be  admitted,  but  in  no  case  can  it  be 
held  to  justify  the  wholesale  suppression  of  peaceful 
volunteering  or  equally  peaceful  public  meetings  under  a 
distorted  use  of  an  extraordinary  law  which  was  passed 
in  order  to  deal  with  activities  which  were  manifestly 
violent  bijth  in  intention  and  action,  nor  is  it  possible  to 
■designate  as  otherwise  than  repression  action  taken 
against  innocept  people  under  what  has  appeared  to 
many  of  us  as  an  illegal  use  of  the  ordinary  law  nor 
again  can  the  administrative  interference  with  the 
liberty  of  the  Press  under  a  law  that  is  under  promise 
of  repeal  be  regarded  as  anything  but  repression. 

The  immediate  task  before  the   country,  therefore. 


668  NON-CO-OPERATION 

is  to  rescue  from  paralysis   freedom  of  speech,  freedomi 
of  association  and  freedom  of  Press. 

In- the  present  mood  of  the  Government  of  India, 
and  in  the  present  unprepared  state  of  the  country  in 
respect  of  complete  control  of  the  forces  of  violence, 
Noh-Co-operators  were  unwilling  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  Malaviya  Conference  whose  object  was  to 
induce.  Your  Excellency  to  convene  a  Round  Table 
Conference.  But  as  I  was  anxious  to  avoid  all  avoid- 
able suffering,  I  had  no  hesitation  in  advising  the 
Working  Committee  of  the  Congress  to  accept  the  re- 
commendations of  that  Conference. 

Although,  in  my  opinion,  the  terms  were  quite  in 
keeping  with  your  own  requirements,  as  I  understood 
them  through  your  Calcutta  speech  and  otherwise,  you 
have  summarily  rejected  the  proposal. 

In  the  circumstances,   there    is  nothing  before    the- 
country   but    to  adopt    some   non-violent    method    for 
the    enforcement   of    its    demands,    including   the   ele- 
mentary  rights   of  free    speech,   free     association   and' 
free    Press.    In   my  humble   opinion,  the  recent  events 
are  a   clear   departure   from   the   civilized    policy    laid 
down   by   Your    Excellency   at   the  time  of  the   gener- 
ous,  manly     and   unconditional     apology    of     the   Ali 
Brothers,  viz.,  that   the   Government   of   India    should 
not   interfere   with   the   activities  of   Non-Co-cperation 
so    long  as   they    remained    non-violent    in     word  and' 
deed.     Had   the    Government  policy  remained  neutral 
and   allowed    public   opinion     to   ripen     and    have  its 
full   effect,    it   would    have    been   possible  to    advise- 
postponement   of   the     adoption     of     Civil    Disobedi- 
ence of  an   aggressive .  type     till    ^he    Congress    had. 
acquired   fuller  control  over    the  forces    of    violence- 


LETTER   TO    H.    E,    THE   VICEROY  669 

in  the  country  and  enforced  greater  discipline  among 
the  millions  of  its  adherents.  But  the  lawless  repres- 
sion (in  a  way  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  this 
unfortunate  country)  has  made  immediate  adoption  of 
mass  Civil  Disobedience,  an  imperative  duty.  The 
Working  Committee  of  the  Congress  has  restricted  it 
only  to  certain  areas  to  be  selected  by  me  from  time  to 
time  and  at  present  it  is  confined  only  to  Bardoli.  I 
may  under  said  authority  give  my  consent  at  once  in 
respect  of  a  group  of  100  villages  in  Guntur  in  the 
Madras  Presidency,  provided  they  can  strictly  conform 
to  the  conditions  of  non-violence,  unity  among  different 
classes,  the  adoption  and  manufacture  of  handspun 
Khaddar  and  untouchability. 

But  before  the  people  of  Bardoli  actually  com- 
mence mass  Civil  Disobedience,  I  would  respectfully 
urge  you  as  the  head  of  the  Government  of  India  finally 
to  revise  your  policy  and  set  free  all  the  Non-Co-operating 
prisoners  who  are  convicted  or  uncler  trial  for  non- 
violent activities  and  declare  in  clear  terms  the  policy 
of  absolute  non-interference  with  all  non-violent  acti- 
vities in  the  country  whether  they  be  regarding  the  re" 
dress  of  the  Khilafat  or  the  Punjab  wrongs  or  Swaraj  or 
any  other  purpose  and  even  though  they  fall  within  the 
repressive  sections  of  the  Penal  Code  or  the  Criminal 
Procedure  Code  or  other  repressive  laws,  subject  always 
to  the  condition  of  non-violence.  I  would  further  urge 
you  to  free  the  Press  from  all  administrative  control 
and  restore  all  the  fines  and  forfeitures  recently  imposed. 
In  thus  urging  I  am  asking  Your  Excellency  to  do  what 
is  to-day  being  done  in  every  country  which  is  deemed 
to  be  under  civilized  Government.  If  you  can  see  your 
way  to  make  the  necessary   declaration  within  seven 


670  NON-CO-OPERATION 

days  of  the  date  of  publication  of  this  manifesto,  I 
shall  be  prepared  to  advise  postponement  of  Civil  Dis- 
obedience of  an  aggressive  character  till  the  imprisoned 
workers,  have  after  their  discharge  reviewed  the  whole 
situation  and  considered  the  position  de  novo.  If  the 
Government  make  the  requested  declaration,  I  shall 
regard  it  as  an  honest  desire  on  its  part  to  give  effect  to 
public  opinion  and  shall,  therefore,  have  no  hesitation  in 
advising  the  country  to  bs  engaged  in  further  moulding 
the  public  opinion  without  violent  retraint  from  either 
side  and  trust  to  its  working  to  secure  the  fulfilment 
of  its  unalterable  demands,  Aggressive  Civil  Disobe- 
dience in  that  case  will  be  taken  up  only  when  the 
Government  departs  from  its  policy  of  strictest  neutral- 
ity or  refuses  to  yield  to  the  clearly  expressed  opinion 
of  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  India. 

REPLY  TO  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  INDIA. 


[The  Government  of  India  in  a  Communique  published  on  the 
6th  February  in  reply  to  Mr.  Gandhi's  letter,  repudiated  his 
assertions  and  urged  that  the  issue  before  the  country  was  no 
longer  between  this  or  that  programme  of  political  advance,  but 
between  lawlessness  with  all  its  consequences  on  the  one 
hand  and  the  maintenance  of  those  principles  which  lie  at  the  root 
of  all  civilised  Governments.  Mr.  Gandhi  in  a  further  rejoinder 
issued  on  the  very  next  day  pointed  out  that  the  choice  before  the 
people  was  mass  civil  disobedience  with  all  its  undoubted  dangers 
and  lawless  repression  of  the  lawful  activities  of  the  people.  The 
following  is  the  full  text  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  rejoinder.] 

I  have  very  carefully  read  the  Government's  reply 
to  my  letter.  I  confess  that  I  was"  totally  unprepared 
for  such  an  evasion  of  the  realities  of  the  case  as  ths 
reply  betrays. 


REPLY  TO    GOVERNMENT   OF  INDIA  671 

I  will  lake  the  very  first  repudiation.  The  reply- 
says  they  (the  Govt.)  emphatically  repudiate  the 
statement  that  they  have  embarked  on  a  policy  of  law- 
less repression  and  also  the  suggestion  that  the  present 
campaign  of  civil  disobedience  has  been  forced  on  the 
Non-Co-operation  party  in  order  to  secure  the  elemen- 
tary rights  of  free  association,  free  speech  and  free 
press.  Even  a  cursory  glance  at  my  letter  would  show 
that  whilst  civil  disobedience  was  authorised  by  the 
All-India  Congress  Committe  meeting  held  on  the  4th 
November  at  Delhi,  it  had  not  commenced.  I  have 
made  it  clear  in  my  letter  that  the  contemplated  mass 
civil  disobedience  was  indefinitely  postponed  on 
account  of  the  regrettable  events  of  the  17th  November 
in  Bombay.  That  decision  was  duly  published  and  it 
is  within  the  knowledge  of  the  Government  as  also  the 
public  that  herculean  efforts  were  being  made  to  combat 
the  still  lingering  violent  tendency  amongst  the  people.. 
It  is  also  within  the  knowledge  of  the  Government  and 
the  public  that  a  special  form  of  pledge  was  devised 
to  be  signed  by  volunteers  with  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  keeping  out  all  but  men  of  proved 
character.  The  primary  object  of  these  volunteers'  asso- 
ciations was  to  inculcate  amongst  the  masses  the  lessons 
of  non-violence  and  to  keep  the  peace  at  all  Non-Co- 
operation functions.  Unfortunately  the  Government  of 
India  lost  its  head  completely  over  the  Bombay  events 
and,  perhaps,  still  more  over  the  very  complete  hartal 
on  the  same  date  at  Calcutta.  I  do  not  wish  to  deny 
that  there  might  have  been  some  intimidation  practiced- 
in  Calcutta,  but  it  was  not,  I  venture  to  submit,  the  fact 
of  intimidation,  but  the  irritatiou  caused  by  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  hartal  that  maddened  the  Government 


672  NON-CO-OPERATION 

•of  India  as  also  the  Government  of  Bengal,  Repression 
there  was  even  before  that  time,  but  nothing  was  said 
or  done  in  connection  with  it.  But  the  repression  that 
came  in  the  wake  of  the  notifications  proclaiming  the 
Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act  for  the  purpose  of 
.dealing  with  volunteers'  associations  and  the  Seditions 
Meetings  Act  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with  public 
meetings  held  by  Non-Co-opertors,  came  upon  the  Non- 
Co-operation  community  as   a  bombshell. 

I    repeat,   then,   that   these   notifications   and    the 

-arrests   of    Deshbandu    Chittaranjan  Das  and   Maulana 

Abul   Kalam    Asid    in    Bengal,    the   arrest  of   Pandit 

Motilal  Nehru  and  his   co-workers  in   the  U.  P.  and  of 

Lala  Lajput  Rai  and  his  party   in  the   Punjab  made   it 

absolutely    necessary  to   take  up,  not   yet    aggressive 

civil  disobedience,  but  only  defensive  civil  disobedience, 

otherwise    described   as   passive   resistance.     Even  Sir 

Hormusji  Wadia  was   obliged    to   declare  that,   if   the 

Bombay  Government  followed  the  precedents  set  by  the 

•Governments   of   Bengal,   U.  P.  and    the    Punjab,    he 

would  be  bound  to   resist  such   notifications,    that  is,  to 

•enrol  himself  as  a  volunteer  or  to  attend  public  meetings 

in  defiance  of  Government   order  to  the  contrary.     It  is 

thus  clear  that  a  case   has  been    completely  made  out 

for  civil  disobedience,  unless  the  Government  revised  its 

.policy    which   has    resulted  in  the    stopping  .of  public 

meetings,  public  associations  and  the   Non-Co-operation 

press   in  many  parts  of  India. 

Now  for  the  statement  that  the  Government  have 
embarked  on  a  policy  of  lawless  repression  instead  of  an 
ample  expression  of  regret  and  apology  for  the  barbarous 
deeds  that  have  been  committed  by  officers  in  the  name 
of  Jaw    and  order.    I  regret  to  find  in   the  Government 


REPLY  TO  GOVERNMENT    OF  INDIA  673 

reply  a  categorical  denial  of  any  lawless  repression.  In 
this  connection  I  urge  the  public  and  Government,  care- 
fully to  consider  the  following  facts  whose  substance  is 
beyond  challenge  :  —  (l)  official  shooting  at  Entally  in 
Calcutta  and  the  callous  treatment  even  of  a  corpse  (2) 
The  admitted  brutality  of  the  civil  guards(3)  The  for- 
cible dispersal  of  a  meeting  at  Dacca  and  the  dragging  of 
innocent  men  by  their  legs  although  they  had  given  no 
ofifence  or  cause  whatsoever  (4)  Similar  treatment  of 
volunteers  in  Aligarh  (5)  The  conclusive  (in  my 
opinion)  findings  of  the  committee  presided  over  by 
Dr.  Gokhul  Chand  about  the  brutal  and  uncalled 
for  assaults  upon  volunteers  and  the  public  in  Lahore 
(6)  The  wicked  and  inhuman  treatment  of  volunteers 
and  the  public  at  Jullundur  (7)  The  shooting  of 
a  boy  at  Dehra  Dun  and  the  cruelly  forcible 
dispersal  of  a  public  meeting  of  that  place  (8)  The 
looting  admitted  by  the  Bihar  Government  of  villages 
by  an  officer  and  his  company  without  any  permission 
whatsoever,  from  any  one,  but,  as  stated  by  Non-co- 
operators,  at  the  invitation  of  a  planter,  assaults  upon 
volunteers  and  Ihe  burning  of  Khaddar  and  papers 
belonging  to  the  Congress  at  Sonepur  (9)  The  midnight 
searches  and  arrests  in  the  Congress  and  Khilafat 
offices. 

I  have  merely  given  a  sample  of  the  many  infalli- 
ble proofs  of  official  lawlessness  and  barbarism.  I  have 
mentioned  not  even  a  tithe  of  what  is  happening  all 
over  the  country.  I  wish  to  state,  without  fear  J  of 
successful  contradiction,  that  the  scale  on  which  this 
lawlessness  had  gone  on  in  so  many  provinces  of  India 
puts  into  shade  the  inhumanities  that  were  practised  in 
the.  Punjab,  if  we  except  the  crawling  order  and  the 
43 


67i  NON-CO-OPERATION 

massacre  at  Jallianwallabagh.  It  is  my;  certain  convic- 
tion that  the  massacre  at  Jallianwallabagh  was  a  clean 
transaction  compared  to  the  unclean  transactions  des- 
cribed above,  and  the  pity  of  it  is  that,  because  people 
are  not  shot  or  butchered,  the  tortures  through  which 
hundreds  of  inoffensive  men  have  gone  through  do  not 
produce  a  sufficient  effect  to  turn  everybody's  face 
against  this  Government. 

But  as  if  this  warfare  against    innocence    was    not 
enough  the  reins  are  being  tightened  in  the  jails.     We 
know  nothing  of  what  is  happening  to-day  in   Karachi 
jail,  to  a  solitary  prisoner  in  the  Sabarmati   jail  and  to 
a  batch  in  the  Benares  jail,  all  of  whom  are  as  innocent 
as  I  claim  to  be    myself.    Their   crime  consists  in  their 
constituting  themselves  the  trustees  of  national   honour 
and  dignity.     I  am  hoping  that  these  proud  and  defiant 
spirits   will    not  be  sent    into    submission   masquerad- 
ing in  the  official  garb.     I  deny  the  right  of  the  authori- 
ties to  insist  on  high-souled  men  appearing  before    them 
almost  naked  or  paying  any  obsequeous  respect   to  them 
by  way  of  salaming  with    open  palms  brought  together, 
or  reciting  to    the   intonation  of   "  Sarkarike-Jai '.    No 
god-fearing    man    will    do    the    latter    even  if  he  has 
to  be  kept  standing  in  his  stock  for  days  and  nights,  as 
a  Bengal  schoolmaster    is   reported   to    have   been   for 
the  sake  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature. 

I  trust  that  Lord  Reading  and  his  draftsmen  do 
not  know  the  facts  that  I  have  adduced  or  are  being 
carried  away  by  their  belief  in  the  infallibility  of  their 
emplojees.  I  refuse  to  beliewe  in  the  statements  which 
the  public  regards  as  God's  truth.  If  there  is  the 
slightest  exagijeratioa  in  th3  statements  that  1  have 
njade,  1  shall  as  publicly  withdraw  them  and  apologise 


REPLY  TO  GOVERNMENT  OF   INDIA  675 

^or  them  as  I  am  making  them  now,  but,  as  it  is,  I 
-undertake  to  prove  the  substance  of  every  one  of  these 
xharges  if  not  the  very  letter  and  much  more  of  them, 
before  any  impartial  tribunal  of  men  or  women  uncon- 
nected with  the  Government.  I  invite  Pandit  Malavi- 
yaji  and  those  who  are  performing  the  thankless  task  of 
securing  a  round  table  conference  to  form  an  impartial 
commission  to  investigate  these  charges  by  which  I 
stand  or  fall. 

It  is  the  physical  and  brutal  ill-treatment  of  huma- 
nity which  has  made  many  of  my  co-workers  and 
myself  impatient  of  life  itself  and  in  the  face  of  these 
things  I  don't  wi&h  to  take  public  time  by  dealing  in 
-detail  what  I  mean  by  abuse  of  the  common  law  of  the 
-country  but  I  cannot  help  correcting  the  mis-impression 
which  is  likely  to  be  created  in  connection  with  the 
jBombay  disorders,  disgraceful  and  deplorable  as  they 
were.  Let  it  be  remembered  that,  of  the  persons 
-who  lost  their  lives,  over  45  were  Non-Co  operators  or 
their  sympathisers,  the  hooligans,  and  of  the  400  wound- 
=«d,  to  be  absolutely  on  the  safe  side,  over  350  were  also 
-derived  from  the  same  class.  I  do  not  complain  ;  the 
Co-operators,  the  Non-Co-operators  and  the  friendly 
liooligans  got  what  they  deserved :  they  began  the 
.violence  and  they  reaped  the  reward.  Let  it  also  not 
be  forgotten  that,  with  all  deference  to  the  Bombay 
^Government,  it  was  Non-Co-operators,  ably  assisted  by 
Independents  and  Co-operators,  who  brought  peace  out 
joi  that  chaos  of  the  two  days  following  the  fateful 
.17th. 

I  must  totally  deny  the  imputation  that  the  appli- 
xation  of  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act  was  confined 
.to  associations   the  majority  of  the  members  of'  which 


676  NON-CO-OPERATION 

had  habitually  indulged  in  violence  and  intimidation.- 
The  prisons  of  India  to-day  hold  some  of  the  most  in- 
offensive men  and  hardly  any  who  are  convicted  under 
the  law.  Abundant  proof  can  be  produced  in  support  of 
this  statement  as  also  of  the  statement  of  the  fact  that 
almost  wherever  meetings  have  been  broken  up,  there- 
was  actDally  no  risk  of  violence. 

The  Government  of  India  deny  that  the  Viceroy 
has  laid  down  upon  the  apology  of  the  Ali  Brothers  the- 
civilised  policy  of  noninterference  with  the  non-violent 
activities  of  Non-Co-operators.  I  am  extremely  sorry" 
for  this  repudiation.  The  very  part  of  the  communique- 
reproduced  in  the  reply  is  in  my  opinion  sufficient 
proof  that  the  Government  did  not  intend  to  interfere- 
with  such  activities.  The  Government  did  not  wish  to- 
be  inferred  that  speeches  promoting  disaffection  of  a- 
less  violent  character  were  not  an  offence  against  the 
law.  I  have  never  stated  that  breach  of  any  law  was 
not  to  be  an  offence  against  it,  but  I  have  stated,  as  I 
repeat  now,  that  it  was  not  the  intention  of  the  Govern- 
ment then  to  prosecute  for  non-violent  activities 
although  they  might  amount  to  a  technical  breach  of 
the  law. 

As  to  the  conditions  of  the  conference  the  Govern- 
ment reply  evidently  omits  to  mention  the  two  words- 
"  and  otherwise"  after  the  words  "  Calcutta  speech''  in 
my  letter.  I  repeat  that  the  terms  "  I  would  gather  fro:n 
the  Calcutta  speech  and  otherwise  "  were  nearly  the 
same  that  were  mentioned  in  the  resolutions  of  the 
Malaviya  Conference.  What  are  called  the  unlawful 
activities  of  the  N.  C.  O.  party,  being  a  reply  to  the  no- 
tifications of  the  Government,  would  have  ceased 
automatically   with  the  withdrawal    of    those   notificar- 


REPLY  TO  GOVERNMENT  OF    INDIA  677 

-tions,  because  the  formation  of  volunteer  corps  and 
-public  meetings  would  not  be  unlawful  activities  after 
the  withdrawal  of  the  offending  notification.  Even 
while  the  negotiations  were  going  on  in  Calcutta,  the 
■discharge  ot  Fatwa  prisoners  was  asked  for  and  I  can 
only  repeat  what  I  have  said  elsewhere  that,  if  it  is 
disloyal  to  say  that  military  service  under  the  existing 
system  of  Government  is  a  sin  against  God  and  humanity, 
i  fear  that  such  disloyalty  must  continue. 

The  Government  communique  does  me  a  cruel 
wrong  imputing  to  me  a  desire  that  the  proposed  round 
table  conference  should  be  called  merely  to  register  my 
decrees.  I  did  state,  in  order  to  avoid  any  misunder- 
standing the  Congress  demands,  as  I  felt  I  was  in  duty 
bound,  in  as  clear  terms  as  possible.  No  Congressman 
.could  approach  any  conference  without  making  his 
position  clear.  I  accepted  the  ordinary  courtesy  of  not 
<;onsidering  me  or  any  Congressmen  to  be  impervious  ^ 
reason  or  argument.  It  is  open  to  anybody  to  convince 
.me  that  the  demands  of  the  Congress  regarding  the 
Khilafat,  the  Punjab  and  Swaraj  are  wrong  or  unreason- 
able and  I  would  certainly  retrace  my  steps  and,  so  far 
as  I  am  concerned,  rectify  the  wrong.  The  Govern- 
ment of  India  know  that  such  has  been  always  my 
attitude. 

The  comriiunique,  strangely  enough,  says  that  the 
demands  set  forth  in  my  manifesto  are  even  larger  than 
those  of  the  Working  Committee.  I  claim  that  they 
iall  far  below  the  demands  of  the  Working  Committee, 
ifor  what  I  now  ask  against  the  total  suspension  of 
-Civil  Disobedience  of  an  aggressive  character  is  merely 
the  stoppage  of  ruthless  repression,  the  release  of 
iprisoners  convicted  under  it  and  a  clear  declaration  of 


■€•78  NON-CO-OPERATION 

policy.     The    demands    of    the    Working    Committee- 
included  a  round   table  conference.    In   my    manifesto' 
I  have  not  asked  for  a  Round  Table  Conference   at  allr 
It  is  true  that  this  wanting  of  a  Round  Table  Conference 
does  not   proceed   from    any  expediency,  but   it   is  a- 
confession  of  present  weakness.    I  freely  recognise  that, 
unless  India  becomes  saturated  with  the   spirit   of    non- 
violence and  generates  disciplined  strength  that  can  only- 
come  from  non-violence,  she  cannot  enforce  her  demands- 
and   it    is   for    that  reason  that  I  now  consider  that  the 
first   thing   for   the   people  to  do  is  to  secure  a  reversal 
of  this  mad  repression   and   then    to   concentrate    upon' 
more  complete  organisation  and  more  construction.  And 
here  again  the    communique   does    me   an  injustice-  by 
merely  slating  that  Civil  Disobedience   of  an  aggressive 
character  will   be   postponed   until   the   opportunity    is- 
given  to  the  imprisoned  leaders   of  reviewing  the  whole 
situation  after  their  discharge  and  by  conveniently  omit- 
ting to  mention  the   following   conclusion   of  my   letter. 
"If  the  Government  make   the    requested   declaration  I,/ 
shall  regard  it  as  an  honest    desire   on  its    part  to  give 
effect  to  public    opinion    and   shall    therefore    have   no 
hesitation  in    advising   the   country   to   be   engaged   in^ 
further  moulding  public   opinion    without   violent   rest- 
raint from  either  side  and  trust  to   its  working  to  secu  re- 
the  fulfilment  of  its  unalterable   demands.  Aggressive 
Civil  Disobedience  in  that  case  will  be    taken  up    only 
when  the  Government  departs  from  its  policy  of  strict- 
est neutrality  or  refuse  to  yield  to  the  clearly  expressed' 
opinion  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  of  India." 

I  venture  to  claim  extreme  reasonableness  and 
moderation  for  the  above  presentation  of  the- 
case.    The  alternative  before  the   people,   therefore,  is 


THE    CRIME  OF    CHAURI    CHAURA  679 

not,  as  the  communique  concludes,  between  "  law- 
lessness with  all  its  disastrous  consequences  on  the  one 
hand  and  on  the  otl\erthe  maintenance  of  those  principles 
which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  civilised  Governments' 
Mass  Civil  Disobedience,  it  adds,  is  fraught  with  such 
danger  to  the  State  that  it  must  be  met  with  "  sierness 
and  severity'".'  The  choice  before  the  people  is  mass 
civil  disobedience  with  all  its  undoubted  dangers  and 
lawless  repression  of  the  lawful  activities  of  the  poeple. 
I  hold  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  body  of  self-respecting 
men  for  fear  of  unknown  dangers  to  sit  still  and  do 
nothing  effective  when  looting  of  property  and  assaulting 
■of  innocent  men  arcgoing  on  all  over  the  country  in  the 
name  of  law  and  order. 


THE  CRIME  OF  CHAURI  CHAURA. 


[While  i^fr.  Gandhi  was  about  to  inaugurate  Mass  Civil 
Disobedience  in  Bardoli,  there  occurreda  terrible  tragedy  at  Chauri 
Chaura  on  the  I4th  February  when  an  infuriated-mob,  including 
some  volunteers  also,  attacked  the  thana,  burnt  down  the  building 
and  beat  to  death  no  less  than  twenty  two  policemen.  Some  con- 
stables and  cha,ukidars  were  l;terally  burnt  to  death  and  the  whole 
place  was  under  mobocracy.  Mr.  Gandhi  took  this  occurence  as  a 
third  warning  to  suspend  civil  disobedience  and  the  Bardoli 
programme  was  accordingly  given  np.  On  the  11th  the  Working 
Committee  met  at  Bardoli  and  resolved  to  suspend  all  offensive 
action  including  even  picketing  and  processioas.  The  country  was 
to  confine  itself  to  the  constructive  programme  of  Kbaddar  manu- 
facture The  Working  Committee  advised  the  stopg^ge  of  all 
activities  designed  to  court  imprisonment.  Commenting  on  the 
tragedy  of  Chauri  Chaura  and  the  Bardoli  decisions,  Mr.  Gandhi 
wrote  in  Young  India  of  February  6tb,  1922  :] 

God  has  been  abundantly  kind  to  me.  He  has 
warned  me  the  third  time  that  there  is  not  as  yet  in 
India  that  truthful  and   non-violent  atmosphere  which 


680  NON-CO-OPERATION 

and  which  alone  can  justify  mass  disobedience  which 
can  be  at  all  described  as  civil  which  means  gentle, 
truthful,  humble, •  knowing,  wilful  yet  loving,  never 
criminal  and  hateful. 

He  warned  main  1919  when  the  Rowlatt  Act 
agitation  was  started,  Ahmedabad,  Viramgam,  and 
Kheda  erred ;  Amritsar  and  Kasiir  erred.  I  retraced 
my  steps,  called  it  a  Himalayan  miscalculation,  humbled 
myself  before  God  and  man,  and  stopped  not  merely 
mass  civil  disobedience  but  even  my  own  which  I  knew 
was  intended  to  be  civil  and  non-violent. 

The  next  time  it  was  through  the  events  of  Bombay 
that  God  gave  a  terrific  warning.  He  made  me  eyewit- 
ness of  the  deeds  of  the  Bombay  mob  on  the  17th 
November.  The  mob  acted  in  the  interest  of  non-co-^ 
operation.  I  announced  my  intention  to  stop  the  mass 
civil  disobedience  which  was  to  be  immediately  started 
in  Bardoli.  The  humiliation  was  greater  than  in  1919. 
But  it  did  me  good.  I  am  sure  that  the  nation  gained 
by  the  stopping.  India  stood  for  truth  and  non-violence 
by  the  suspension. 

But  the   bitterest   humiUation    was   still   to  corns. 
Madras  did  give  the  warning,  but  I  heeded  it  not.    But 
God  spoke   clearly   through   Chauri  Chaura.     I  under- 
stand that  the  constables   who  were  so  brutally  hacked 
to  death  had  given  much  provocation.    They  had    even 
gone  back  upon    the  word   just  given  by    the  Inspector 
that  they  'would  not  be  molested,  but  when  the    proces- 
sion had  passed  the  stragglers  were  interfered  with  and 
abused  by   the  constables.    The   former   cried  out    for 
help.    The  mob  returned.     The  constables  opened   fire. 
The  little  ammunition  they  had  was  eifhausted  and  they 
retired  to  the  Thana  for  safety.   The  mob,  my  informant 


THE    CRIME    OF   CHAURI    CHAURA  681 

■tells  me,  therefore  set  fire  to  the  Thana.  The  self- 
imprisoned  constables  had  to  come  out  for  dear  life  and 
as  they  did  so,  •  they  were  backed  to  pieces  and  the 
mangled  remains  were  thrown  into  the  raging  flames. 

It  is  claimed  that  no  non-co-operation  volunteer  had 
a. hand  in  the  brutality  and   that  the    mob  had  not  only 
the  immediate  provocation    but  they    had  also   general 
knowledge  of  the  high-handed  tyranny    of  the   police  in 
that  district.     No  provocation    can  possibly   justify  the 
brutal  murder  of  men  who    had   been    rendered  defence- 
(less  and  whp  had  virtually   thrown   themselves    on  the 
mercy  of  the  mob.     And  when  Indian    claims  to  be  non- 
violent and  hopes  to  mount  the  throne  of  liberty  through 
non-violent  means,  mob- violence  even  in  answer  to  grave 
provocation  is  a  bad  augury.     Suppose  the  '  nonviolent' 
disobedience  of  Bardoli  v/as  permitted  by  God  to  succeed, 
the  Government  had  abdicated  in  favour   of  the  victors 
of  Bardoli,  who  would    control  the  unruly  element  that 
-must  be  expected    to    perpetrate   inhumanity   upon   due 
-provocation  ?     Non-violent  attainment   of   self-Govern- 
ment  presupposes  a  non-violent  control  over  the  violent 
elements  in  the  country.     Non-violent   non-co-operators 
can    only     succeed      when   they     have     succeeded    in 
attaining     control      over      the      hooligans     of     India, 
in  other  words,  when  the  latter  also  have  learnt  patriot- 
ically   or   religiously   to   refrain     from    their     violent 
-activities,  at  least  whilst  the    campaign  of  non-co-opera- 
tion is   going    on.    The    tragedy   at   Chaura,    therefore, 
roused  me  thoroughly. 

'But  what  about  your  manifesto  to  the  Viceroy 
^and  your  rejoinder  to  his  reply  ?'  spoke  the  voice  of 
tSatan.  It  was  the  bitterest  cup  of  humiliation  to  drink. 
-'Surely  it. is  cowardly  to  withdraw   the   next    day    after 


682  NON-CO-OPERATION 

pompous  threat  to  the  Government  and  promises  to  the- 
people  of  Bardoli'  Thus  Satan's  invitation   was  to  deny 
Truth  and  therefore   Religion,   to   deny   God    Himself^. 
I    put   my    doubts   and   troubles    before   the    Working 
Committee  and  other  associates   whom  I  found  near  me- 
They  did  not  all  agree  with   me  at  first.  Some  of   them 
probably  do  not   even  now  agree   with  me.     But  never 
has  a  man  been  blessed,  perhaps,  with   colleagues   and 
associates  so  considerate  and   forgiving  as  I  have.  They 
understood    my   difficulty    and    patiently   followed  my 
argument.     The  result  is  before  the  public  in  the  shape 
of  the  resolutions  ol  the  Working   Committee.  The  dras- 
tic reversal  of   practically   the  whble  of  the  aggressive 
programme   may   be  politically   unsound    and   unwise, 
but  there  is    no  doubt  that  it    is  religiously  sound,  and* 
I  venture   to  assure  the   doubters  that  the  country  will" 
have  gained  by  my  humiliation  and   confession  of  error.. 

The  only  virtue  I  want  to  claim  is  Truth  and  Non- 
violence. I  lay  no  claim  to  superhuman  powers.  I 
want  none.  I  wear  the  same  corruptible  flesh  that  the- 
weakest  of  my  fellow  beings  wears  and  am  therefore  as 
liable  to  err  as  any.  My  services  have  many  limitations,.' 
but  God  has  up  to  now  blessed  them  in  spite  of  the 
imperfections. 

For  confession  of  error  is  like  a  broom  that  sweeps- 
away  dirt  and  leaves   the   surface   cleaner  than  before, 
I  feel  stronger  for  my  confession.     And  the  cause    must' 
prosper  for  the  retracing.     Never  has   man  reached  his- 
destination  by  persistence  in  deviation  from  the  straight 
path. 

It  has  been  urged  that  Chauri  Chaura  cannot  affect 
Bardoli.  There  is  danger,  it  is  argued,  only  if  Bardoli 
is  weak  enough  to  be  swayed  by  Chauri  Chaura  and  isr- 


THE    CRIME    OF    CHAURI    CHAURA  685 

betrayed  into  violence.  I  have  no  doubt  whatsoever 
on  that  account.  The  people  of  Bardoli  are  in  my  opinion- 
the  most  peaceful  in  India.  But  Bardoli  is  but  a  speck 
on  the  map  of  India,  Its  effort  cannot  succeed  unless- 
there  is  perfect  co-operation  from  the  other  parts. 
Bardoli's  disobedience  will  be  civil  only  when  the  other 
parts  of  India  remain  non-violent.  Just  as  the  addition 
of  a  grain  of  arsenic  to  a  pot  of  milk  renders  it  unfit  as- 
food  so  will  the  civility  of  Bardoli  prove  unacceptable 
by  the  addition  of  the  deadly  poison  from  Chauri  Cbaura.. 
The  latter  represents  India  as  much  as  Bardoli. 

Chauri  Chaura  is  after  all  an  aggravated  symptom^ 
I  have  never  imagined  that  there  has  been  no  violence, 
mental  or  physical,  in  the  places  where  repression  is- 
going  on.  Only  I  have  believed,  I  still  believe  and  the 
pages  of  Young  India  amply  prove,  that  the  repression  is- 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  insignificant  popular  violence- 
in  the  areas  of  repression.  The  determined  holding  of 
meetings  in  prohibited  areas  I  do  not  call  violence. 
The  violence  I  am  referring  to  is  the  throwing. 
of  brickbats  or  intimidation  and  coercion  practised  in 
stray  cases.  As  a  matter  of  fact  in  civil  disobedience- 
there  should  he  no  excitement.  Civil  disobedience  is  a. 
preparation  for  mute  suffering.  Its  effect  is  marvellous 
though  unperceived  and  gentle.  But  I  regarded 
certain  amount  of  excitement  as  inevitable,  certain: 
amount  of  unintended  violence  even  pardonable,  2.6.,  I 
did  not  consider  civil  disobedience  impossible  in  some' 
what  imperfect  conditions.  Under  perfect  conditions- 
disobedience  when  civil  is  hardly  felt.  But  the  present 
movement  is  admittedly  a  dangerous  experiment  under 
lairly  adverse  conditions. 

The  tragedy  of  Chauri  Chaura  is  really  the  index 


€84  NON-CO-OPERATION 

:finger.  It  shows  the  way  India  may  easily  go,  if  drastic 
precautions  be  not  taken.  If  we  are  not  to  evolve 
violence  out  of  non-violence,  it  is  quite  clear  that  we 
must  hastily  retrace  our  steps  and  re-establish  an 
atmosphere  of  peace,  re-arrange  our  programme  and 
not  think  of  starting  mass  civil  disobedience  until  we 
are  sure  of  peace  being  started  and  in  spite  of  Govern- 
ment provocation.  We  must  be  sure  of  unauthorised 
portions  not  starting  mass  civil  disobedience. 

As  it  is,  the  Congress  organisation  is  still  im- 
perfect .  and  its  instructions  are  still  perfunctorily 
carried  but.  We  have  riot  established  Congress 
■Committees  in  every  one  of  the  villages.  Where 
we  have,  tbey  are  not  perfectly  amenable  to  our 
instructions.  We  have  not  probably  more  than  one 
crore  of  members  on  the  roll.  We  are  in  the  middle 
of  February,  yet  not  many  have  paid  the  annual  four 
annas  subscription  for  the  current  year.  Volunteers  are 
-indifferently  enrolled.  They  do  not  conform  to  all  the 
■conditions  of  their  pledge.  They  do  not  even  wear 
hand-spun  and  hand-woven  khaddar.  All  the  Hindu 
volunteers  have  not  yet  purged  themselves  of  the  sin  of 
untouchability.  All  are  not  free  from  the  taint  of 
violence.  Not  by  their  imprisonment  are  we  going  to 
-win  Swaraj  or  serve  the  holy  cause  of  the  Khilaiat  or 
attain  the  ability  to  etop  payment  to  faithless  servants- 
Some  of  us  err  in  spite  of  ourselves.  But  some  others 
among  us  sin  wilfully.  They  join  volunteer  corps  well 
knowing  that  they  are  not  and  do  not  intend  to  remain 
non-violent.  We  are  thus  uiltruthful  even  as  we  hold 
the  Government  tobe  untruthful.  We  dare  not  enter 
the  kingdom  of  Liberty  with  mere  lip  homage  to  Truth 
and  Non-violence. 


THE    CRIME   OF   CHAUKI    CHAURA  685 

Suspension  of  mass  civil  disobedience  and  sub- 
sidence of  excitement  are  necessary  for  further  progress,, 
indeed,  indispensable  to  prevent  further  retrogression. 
I  hope,  therefore,  that  by  suspension  every  Congress- 
man or  woman  will  not  only  feel  disappointed  but.  he 
or  she  will  feel  relieved  of  the  burden  of  unreality 
and  of  national  sin. 

Let  the  opponent  glory  in  our  humiliation  or  so- 
called  defeat.  It  is  better  to  be  charged  with  cowardice 
and  weakness  than  to  be  guilty  of  our  oath  and  sin 
against  God.  It  is  million  times  better  to  appear 
untrue  before  the  world  than  to   he    untrue  to  ourselves^ 

And  so,  for  me  the  suspension  of  mass  civil  dis- 
obedience and  other  minor  activities  that  were  calculatedi 
to  keep  up  excitement  is  not  enough  penance  for  my 
having  been  the  instrument,  howsoever  involuntary,  of 
the  brutal  violence  by  the  people  at    Chauri  Chaura. 

I  must  undergo  personal  cleansing.  I  must  become 
a  fitter  instrument  able  to  register  the  slightest  variation' 
in  the  moral  atmosphere  about  me.  My  prayers  must 
have  much  deeper  truth  and  humility  about  them  than^ 
they  evidence.  And  for  me  there  is  nothing  so  helpful 
and  cleansing  as  a  fast  accompanied  by  the  necessary 
mental  co-operation. 

I  know  that  the  mental  attitude  is  everything. 
Just  as  a  prayer  may  be  merely  a  mechanical  intonation 
as  ot  a  bird,  so  may  a  fast  be  a  mere  mechanical 
torture  of  the  flesh.  Such  mechanical'  contrivances 
are  valueless  for  the  purpose  intended.  Again 
just  as  a  mechanical  chant  may  result  in  the  modula- 
tion of  voice,  a  mechnical  fast  may  result  in  purifying: 
the  body.    Neither  will  touch  the    soul  within. 

But  a  fast  undertaken  for  fuller  self-expression,  for 


686  NON-CO-OPERATION 

attainment  of  the  spirit's  supremacy  over  the  flesh,  is  a 
most  powerful  factor  in  one's  evolution.  After  deep 
consideration,  therefore,  I  am  imposing  on  myself  a  five 
<3ays'  continuous  fast  permitting  myself  water.  It  com- 
menced on  Sunday  evening,  it  ends  on  Friday  evening. 
This  i3  the  least  I  must  do, 

I  have  taken  into  consideration  the  All-India  Con- 
gress Committee  meeting  in  front  of  me.  I  have  in  mind 
the  anxious  pain  even  the  days'  fast  will  cause  many 
friends  ;  but  I  can  no'  longer  postpone  the  penance  nor 
lessen  it. 

I  urge  co-workers  not  to  copy  my  example.  The 
motive  in  their  case  will  be  lacking.  They  are  not  the 
-originafirs  of  civil  disobedience.  I  am  in  the  unhappy 
position  of  a  surgeon  proved  skilless  to  deal  with  an  ad- 
mittedly dangerous  case.  I  must  either  abdicate  or 
acquire  greater  skill.  Whilst  the  personal  penance  is  not 
•only  necessary  but  obligatory  on  me,  the  exemplary  self- 
restraint  prescribed  by  the  Working  Committee  is  surely 
sufficient  penance  for  every  one  else.  It  is  no  small 
-penance  and  if  sincerely  carried  out,  it  can  become 
infinitely  more  real  and  better  than  fasting.  What  can 
lae  richer  and  more  fruitful  than  a  greater  fulfilment  of 
the  vow  of  non-violence  in  thought,  word,  and  deed  or 
the  spread  of  that  spirit  ?  It  will  be  more  than  food  for 
me  during  the  week  to  observe  that  comrades  are  all 
-silently  and  without  idle  discussion  engaged  in  fulfilling 
the  constructive  programme  sketched  by  the  Working 
•Committee,  in  enlisting  Congress  members  after  making 
sure  that  they  understand  the  Congress  creed  of  truth 
and  non-violence  for  the  attainment  of  Swaraj,  in 
daily  and  religiously  spinning  for  a  fixed  time;  in 
introducing   thj   wheel   of    prosperity   and   freedom  in 


THE   CRIMB   OF    CHAURI    CHAURA  687 

■«very  home,  in  visiting  '  untouchable  '  homes  and 
-finding  out  their  wants,  in  inducing  national  schools  to 
-receive  '  untouchable '  children,  in  organising  social 
service  specially  designed  to  find  a  common  platform 
-for  every  variety  of  man  and  woman,  and  in  visiting 
-the  homes  which  the  drink  curse  is  desolating, 
in  establishing  real  Panchayats  and  in  organising 
-national  schools  on  a  proper  footing.  Ths  workers  will 
•be  better  engaged  in  these  activities  than  in  fasting.  I 
hope,  therefore,  that  no  one  will  join  me  in  fasting, 
-either  through  false  sympathy  or  an  ignorant  conception 
-of  the  spiritual  value  of  fasting. 

All  fasting  and  all  penance  must  as  far  as  possible 
be  secret.  But  my  fasting  is  both  a  penance  and  a 
punishment,  and  a  punishment  has  to  be  public.  It 
is  penance  for  me  and  punishment  for  those  whom 
I  try  to  serve,  for  whom  I  love  to  live  and  would 
equally  love  to  die.  They  have  unintentionally  sinned 
against  the  laws  of  the  Congress  though  they  were 
•sympathisers  if  not  actually  connected  with  it,  Probably 
Ihey  hacked  the  constables  their  countrymep  and  fellow 
beings  with  my  name  on  their  lips.  The  only  way 
Jove  puni3hes  is  by  sufTering.  I  cannot  even  wish  them 
to  be  arrested.  But  I  would  let  them  know  that  I 
would  suffer  for  their  breach  of  the  Congress  creed.  I 
would  advise  those  who  fee)  guilty  and  repentant  to 
hand  themselves  voluntarily  to  the  Government  for 
punishment  and  make  a  clean  confession.  I  hope  that 
the  workers  in  the  Gorakhpur  district  will  leave  no 
stone  unturned  to  find  out  the  evildoers  and  urge  them 
to  deliver  themselves  into  custody.  But  whether  the 
murderers  accept  my  advice  or  not,  I  would  like 
Ihem  to    know    that    they    have    seriously    interfered 


688  NoN-CO-OPERATlON 

with  Swaraj  operations,  that  in  being  the  cause  of  the- 
postponement  of  the  movement  in  Bardoli,  thejr 
have  injured  the  very  cause  they  probably  intended  to 
serve.  I  would  like  them  to  know,  too,  'that  this  move- 
ment is  not  a  cloak  or  a  preparation  for  violence.  I 
would,  at  any  rate,  suffer  every  humiliation,  every 
torture,  absolute  ostracism  and  death  itself  to  prevent 
the  movement  from  becoming  violent  or  a  precursor  of 
violence.  I  make  my  penance  public  also  because  I  am. 
now  denying  myself  the  opportunity  of  sharing  their  lot 
with  the  prisoners.  The  immediate  issue  has  again- 
shifted,  we  can  no  longer  press  for  the  withdrawal 
of  notification,  or  discharge  of  prisoners.  They  and  we 
must  suffer  for  the  crime  of  Chauri  Chaura.  The 
incident  proves,  whether  we  wish  it  or  no,  the  unity  of 
life.  All,  including  even  the  administrators,  must 
suffer.  Chauri  Chaura  must  stiffen  the  Government^ 
must  still  further  corrupt  the  police,  and  the  reprisals 
that  will  follow  must  further  demoralise  the  people.. 
The  suspension  and  he  penance  will  take  us  back  to 
the  position  we  occupied  before  the  tragedy.  By 
strict  discipline  and  purification  we  regain  the  mpral; 
confidence  required  for  demanding  the  withdrawal 
of  notifications  and  the  discharge  of  prisoners. 

If  we  learn  the  full  lesson  of  the  tragedy,  we  can- 
turn  the  curse  into  a  blessing.  By  becoming  truthful 
and  non-violent,  both  in  spirit  and  deed,  and  by  making 
the  swadeshi  i.e.,  the  khaddar  programme  complete,  we 
can  establish  full  Swaraj  and  redress  the  Khilafat  and 
the  Punjab  wrongs  without  a  single  person  having  to- 
offer  civil  disobedience. 


IN  DEFENCE  OF  THE  BARDOLI  DECISIONS. 


[The  suspensioa  of  maiss  civil  disobedience  in  Bardoli,  which 
was  recommended  by  the  Working  Committee  at  the  instance  of 
Mr.  Gandhi,  was  resented  by  some  of  his  colleagues  and  followers. 
In  reply  to  correspondants  who-  attacked  him,  he  wrote  as  follows 
in  Young  India  of  February,  23rd.] 

A  friend   from    Lahore    without  giving  his    name 
sends  me  the  following  thundering  note  : — 

"  On  Tuesday  the  14th    I  read  the  Tribune  and  the 
resolutions  therein,  passed  at  the  emergency  meeting  of 
the     All-India      Congress    Working    Committee.     On 
Monday    when  I    came  from  my  office  I  heard  a   flying 
rumour   that  Mahatmaji  had  postponed  the  date  of   the 
mass  civil  disobedience,  but  at  that  time  I  thought    the 
news  devoid  of  foundation.     After  a  short  time  a   friend 
of  mine  hawked  me  at  my  house  and  we  went  to  bazaar. 
His  face  was  somewhat  sadder   than  usual.     I  enquired 
of  him  the  reason  of  his  sadness.     He  said  he  was  utter- 
ly  disgusted    and   so  gave    up    the    idea  of    following 
this  movement.  Mahatmaji  was  going  to  give  up  the  lead 
of  this  movement  and  at  the  same  time  he    had  advised 
all  the  Provincial  Congress  Committees  not  to  enrol  any 
more  volunteers.     No  picketing   propaganda   should  be 
undertaken" as  long  as   the  special    session    of   the  All- 
India  Congress  Committee  had  not  confirmed  what  to  do 
further. 

"The   people   aje   of   this   opinion   that   you  have 

turned  your  face   and'  become  fickle-minded.     They  will 

co-operate  with  the-Government  without  any  hesitation 

and  join    the  ceremony    of   His    Royal    Highness    the 

4d 


690  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Prince  of  Wales.     Soma  say  that  they  will  not  observe 
hartal  and  will  accord  a  hearty  reception  at  Lahore. 

"Some  merchants  are  under  the  impression  that  yea 
have  removed  all  the  restrictions  from  all  liquor  shops 
and  videski  cloth. 

'■Truly  speaking,  each  and  every  one  in  Lahore 
city  is  holding  meeting  in  the  bazaar  as  well  as  in  the 
house,  and  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  will  say  boldly  that 
they  are  condemning  the  action  of  the  All-India  Con- 
gress Committee. 

"I  now  for  my  sake  ask  you  these  questions. 

'•(1)  Will  you  now  give  up  the  lead  of  this  move- 
ment ?  If  so,  why  ? 

"(2)  Will  you  be  good  enough  to  let  me  know 
why  you  have  given  such  instructions  to  all  Provincial 
Congress  Committees  ?  Have  you  given  an  opportunity 
to  Pandit  Malaviya  for  a  Round  Table  Conference  for 
a  settlement,  or  has  Pandit  Malaviya  agreed  to  embrace 
your  movement  in  case  the  Government  has  not  turned 
true  to  its  words  ? 

"  (3)  Grant  a  compromise  is  arranged  and  the 
Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs  are  redressed  and  in 
the  case  of  Swaraj  the  Government  may  only  extend 
the  reforms,  will  you  be  satisfied  with  that  or  continue 
your  activities  till  you  have  got  the  full  dommion 
status  ? 

"(4)  Suppose  no  decision  is  arrived  at.  Will 
Pan-.iit  Malaviya  and  all  others  w  ho  are  connected  with 
this  conference  come  to  your  side  or  will  their  fate 
remain  in  the  balance  jusi  as  now  ? 

"  (5j  In  case  no  decision  is  arrived  at,  will  you  give 
up  the  idea  of  civil  disobedience,  ii  there  is  danger  of 
violence. 


SN   DEFENCE    OF    THE    BARDOLI    DECISIONS        691 

"  (6)  Is  your,  intention  now  to  disband  the  present 
volunteer  corps  and  enlist  those  who  know  spinning 
and  wear  handspun  and  handwoven  khaddar  ? 

*'  (7)  Suppose  violence  has  made  appearance  when 
-you  have  started  your  mass  civil  disobedience,  wliat 
will  you  do  at  that  time  ?  Will  you  stop  your  activities 
-at  the  very  moment  ?" 

There  is  much  more  criticism  in  this    letter    than  I 
have  reproduced.  The  writer  tells  me  that  the  people  are 
:so  disgusted  that  they  now  threaten  to  become  co-opera- 
tors and  are  of  opinion  that  I  have  sold  Lala  Lajpat  Rai, 
the  Deshabandhu    Chitta  Ranjan  Das,  Pandit   Motilal 
INehru,  the  Ali  Brothers  and  others,  and  tells  me  that  if  I 
^ive  up  the  leadership  there  are  thousands  who  will  leave 
this  world  by  committing  suicide.  I  may  assure  the  citienzs 
•of  Lahore  in  particular  and  Punjabis  in  general  that  I  do 
mot  believe  what  is  said  of  them.   I  used  to  receive  such 
letters  even  during  the  Martial  Law  days  because  of  the 
^suspension  of  civil  disobedience,  but  I  discounted  all  the 
news  and  on  my   reaching    the    Punjab    in    October,  I 
ifound  that  I  was  right   in  my   analysis  of  the   Punjab 
mind   and    I   discovered     that    there    was    no   one    to 
challenge  the  propriety  of  my  act.  I  feel  still  more  con- 
fident of  the  correctness   of  the  decision  of  the  Working 
'Committee,  but  if  it  is  found  that  the  country  repudiates 
iiny  action  I  shall  not  mind  it.  I  can  but  do  my  duty.     A 
leader  is  useless  when  he   acts    against  the    promptings 
of  his  own   Conscience,    surrounded  as    he   must  be   by 
people  holding  all  kinds  of  views.     He  will  drift  like  an 
.anchorless  ^hip  if  he  has    not   the    inner  voice    to-hold 
him  firm  and  guide  him.     Above  all,    I  can    easily  put 
■up  with  the  denial  of  the  world,    but   any  denial  by  me 
-of  my  God  is  unthinkable,   and  if  I   did  not  give  at  this 


692  NON-C8-OPEKATION 

critical  period  of  the  struggle  the  advice  that  I  have,  IT 
would  -be   denying   both    God    and    Truth.    The  tele- 
grams and  letters  I  am  receiving    from    all  parts  of  the- 
country  thanking  me  for  my    decision — telegrams   from 
both    non-co-operators    and    co-operators— confirm    my 
belief  that  the  country  appreciates  the  decision  and  that 
the  Lahore  writer  has  given  undue  prominence  to  some 
heated  bazaar  talk  which  was  bound  to  take  place  after 
the  Bardoli  decision  which  all  of  a  sudden  disturbed  all 
previous  calculations.     I  can   understand    the   effect    of 
the  first  shock,  but  I  am  also  sure  that  when  the  people 
begin  to  analyse  the  implications  of   non-violence,    they 
will  come  to    no    other    conclusion    than    that    of  the- 
Working  Committee. 

And  now  for  the  questions  of  the  correspondent  : 

(1)  I  am  not  likely  to  give  up  the  lead  of  the- 
movement  unless  I  have  a  clear  indication  that  the 
people  want  me  to.  One  method  of  giving  that  indica- 
tion is  an  adverse  vote  of  the  Working  Committe  or  the 
All-India  Congress  Committee. 

(2)  I  assure  the  public  that  Pandit  Malaviyaji   had' 
absolutely  no  hand   in   shaping  "my   decision.     I    have 
often  yielded  to  Panditji,  and  it  is  always  a  pleasure  for 
me  to  yield  to  him  whenever   I  can  and  always  painful 
to  differ  from  one  who  has  an  unrivalled  record  of  public 
service  and  who  is  sacrifice  personified.     But   so   far  as- 
the  decision  of  suspension  is  concerned,  I  arrived    at   it 
on  my  reading  the  detailed  report  of  the  Chauri   Chaura. 
tragedy   in   the    Chronicle.      It    was    in    Bardoli    that 
telegrams  were  sent  convening  the  Working  Committee 
meeting  and  it  was  in  Bardoli  that  1  sent  a  let'.er  to  the- 
members  of  the  Working  Committee  advising  them    of 
jny    desire    to    suspend    civil     disobedience.    I     went 


IN     DEFENCE    OF   THE    BARDOLI    DECISIONS         693 

thereafter  to  Bombay  at  the  instance  of  Panditji  who 
together  with  the  other  friends  of  the  Malaviya  Con- 
ference undoubtedly  wished  to  plead  with  me  for  a 
■suspension  and  who  were  agreeably  surprised  when  I  told 
them  that  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  my  mind  was  made 
up,  but  that  had  kept  it  open  so  that  I  could  discuss 
the  point  thoroughly  with  the  members  of  the  Working 
Committee.  The  suspension  has  no  reference  to  a  round 
table  conference  or  to  any  settlement.  In  mf  opinion,  a 
round  table  conference  is  bound  to  prove  fruitless.  It 
requires  a  much  stronger  Viceroy  than  Lord  Reading 
has  proved  to  be  to  perceive  the  situation  in  the  country 
and  then  to  describe  it  correctly.  I  certainly  feel  that 
Pandit  Malaviyaji  has  already  come  into  the  movement. 
It  is  not  possible  for  him  to  keep  away  from  the  Congress 
or  from  danger,  bu,t  the  Bardoli  decision  was  arrived  at 
purely  on  its  merits  and  I  could  not  have  been  shaken 
■from  the  original  purpose  had  I  not  been  unnerved  by 
-the  Chauri  Chaura  tragedy  which  was  the  last  straw. 

(3)  Nothing  short  of  a  full  Dominion  status  is  likely 
to  satisfy  me  personally  and  nothing  short  of  complete 
severance  will  satisfy  me  if  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab 
^wrongs  remain  unredressed,  but  the  exact  form  does  not 
.depend  upon  me.  I  have  no  clear-cut  scheme.  It  has 
ito  be  evolved  by  the  people's  representatives. 

(4)  At  the  present  moment  there  is  no  question  of  a 
•settlement.  Therefore,  the  question  as  to  what  Panditji 
and  all  others  will  do  is  premature  if  not  irrelevant. 
'Bnt  assuming  that  Panditji  holds  any  conference  and 
that  its  resolutions  are  ignored  by  the  Government, 
Panditji  and  others  will   act  as  ail   self-respecting  men 

.•do  in  such  circumstanges. 

(5)  I  can  never  give  up  the    idea  of  civil  disobe- 


694  NON-CO-OPERATION 

dience,  no  matter  What  danger  there  is  of  violence,  but 
I  shall  certainly,  give  up  the  idea  of  starting  mass 
civil  disobedience  so  long  as  there  is  a  certain  danger 
of  violence.  Individual  civil  disobedience  stands  on  a. 
different  footing. 

(6)  There  is  no  question  of  disbanding  any  Volunteer 
Corps,  but  tha  names  of  those  who  do  not  conform  to- 
the  Congress  pledge  have  certainly  to  be  removed  fromi 
the  list  if    we  are  to  be  honest. 

(7)  If  we  have  understood  the  essential  parts  of 
non-violence,  we  can  but  come  to  one  conclusion,  that 
any  eruption  of  widespread  violence — and  I  call  the- 
Chauri  Chaura  tragedy  widespread  for  the  purpose — 
automatically  stops  mass  civil  disobedience.  That 
many  other  parts  of  the  country  have  nobly  responded 
to  the  spirit  of  non-violence  is  good,  but  it  is  not  good 
enough  to  continue  mass  civil  disobedience  even  as  a 
most  peaceful  meeting  is  disturbed  if  one  man  obstructs- 
or  commits  violence.  Mass  civil  disobedience  for 
becoming  successful  requires  a  non-violent  environments 
The  reason  for  restricting  it  to  one  single  &qall  area  is 
to  prevent  violence  elsewhere.  It,  therefore,  means- 
that  mass  civil  disobediece  in  a  particular  area  is- 
possible  when  the  other  areas  passively  co-operate  by- 
remaining  non-violent. 


THE  DELHI  RESOLUTIONS. 

[The  All-India  Congress  Committee  met  at  Delhi  on  the  25th 
February  and  passed  resolutions  'with  important  mcdifications  on 
the  Bardoli  decisions  of  the  Working  Committee.  .JTr.  Gandhi 
explains  in  the>  following  article  in  Young  India  of  March 
2,1922,  how  the  Bardoli  programma  came  to  be  modified.] 

The  session  just  past  of  Ihe  All-India  Congress 
Committee  was  in  some  respects  more  memorable  than 
the  Congress.  There  is  so  much  under-current  of  vio- 
lence,  both  conscious  and  unconscious,  that  I  was 
actually  and  literally  praying  for  a  disastrous  defeat.  I 
have  always  been  in  a  minority.  The  reader  does  not 
know  that  in  South  Africa  I  started  with  practical 
unanimity,  reached  a  minority  of  sixty-four  and  even 
sixteen  and  went  up  again  to  a  huge  majority.  The 
best  and  the  most  solid  work  was  done  in  the  wilderness 
of  minority. 

[The  following  resolution  was  passed  on  the  25th  February 
at  the  session  of  the  Ali-India  Congress  Committee  held  at 
Delhi  :- 

The  All-Tndia  Congress  Committee  having  carefully  considered 
the  resolutions  passed  by  the  Working  Committee  at  its  meeting 
held  at  Bardoli  on  the  11th  and  12th  instant,  confirms  the  said 
resolutions  with  the  modifications  noted  therein  and  further 
I  resolves  that  individual  Civil  Disobedience  whether  of  a  defensive 
or  aggressive  character  may  be  commenced  in  respect  of  particular 
places  or  particular  laws  at  the  instance  of  and  upon  permission 
being  granted  therefor  by  the  respective  Provincial  Committee  ; 
provided  that  such  Civil  Disobedience  shall  not  be  permitted 
unless  all  the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  Congress  or  the 
All-India  Congress  Committee  or  the  Working  Committee  are 
strictly  fulfilled. 

Reports   having    been  received    from  various   quarters   that 


696  NON-CO-OPERATION 

I  know  that  the  only  thing  that  the  Government 
dread  is  this  huge  majority  I  seem  to  command.  They 
little  know  that  I  dread  it  even  more  than  they.  I 
have  become  literally  sick  of  the  adoration  of  the 
unthinking  multitude.  I  would  feel  certain  of  my 
ground,  if  I  was  spat  upon  by  them.  Then  there 
would  be  no  need  for  confession  of  Himalayan  and 
other  miscalculations,  no  retracing,  no  re-arranging. 

But  it  was  not  to  be. 

picketing  regarding  foreign  cloth  is  as  necessary  as  liquor-picket- 
ing, the  AU-India  Congress  Committee  authorises  such  picketing 
of  a  bona  fide  character  on  the  same  terms  as  liqiior-pickiting 
mentioneJ  in  the  Bardoli  resolutions. 

The  All-India  Congress  Committee  wishes  it  to  be  under- 
stood   that    the    resolutions  of  the   Working   Committee  do  no 
mean  any  abandonment  of  the  original  Coi'ress  pfo»ramnso£ 
non-co-operation  or  permanent  abandonment  of  Mass  Civil  Dis- 
obedience but  considers  that  an  atmosphere  of  necessary  mass  non- 
violence can  be  established  by  the  workers  concentrating   upon  the 
constructive  programme  framed  by  the   Working  Committee  at 
Bardoli. 

The  AU-India  Congress  Committee  holds  Civil  Disobedience 
to  be  the  right  and  duty  of  the  people  to  be   exercised   and  per- . 
formed    whenever  the   State   opposes    the    declared  will  of  the 
people. 

Note  :— Individual  Civil  Disobedience  is  disobedience  of 
orders  or  laws  by  a  single  individual  or  an  ascertained  number  or 
group  of  individuals.  Therefore  a  prohibited  public  meeting 
where  admission  is  regulated  by  tickets  and  to  which  no  unauthor- 
ised admission  is  allowed,  is  an  instance  of  Individual  Civil  Dis- 
obedience, whereas  a  prohibited  meeting  to  which  the  general 
public  is  admitted  without  any' restriction  is  an  instance  of  Mass 
Civil  Disobedience.  Such  Civil  ^^Disobedience  is  defensive  whan 
a  prohibited  public  me3ting  is  held  for  conducting  a  normal  acti- 
vity although  it  may  result  in  arrest.  It  would  be  aggressive  if  it 
is  held  not  for  any  normal  activity  but  merely  for  the  -purpose  of 
cpurting  arrest  and  imprisonment. 


THE    DELHI    RESOLUTIONS  697 

A  friend  warned  me  against  exploiting  my  dictator- 
ship. He  little  knew  that  I  had  never  once  used  it, 
lif  only  because  the  legal  occasion  had  not  yet  arisen 
for  its  use.  The  '  dictatorship' accrues  to  me  only 
when  the  ordinary  Congress  machinery  is  rendered 
mnworkable  by  the  Government. 

Far  from  my  consciously  or  unconsciously  exploit- 
ing my  '  dictatorship',  I  have  begun  to  wonder  if  I  am 
not  unconsciously  allowing  myself  to  be  '  exploited'. 
1  confess  that  I  h^ve  a  dread  of  it  such  as  I  never  had 
before.  My  only  safety  lies  in  my  shamelessness.  I 
'have  warned  my  friends  of  the  Committee  that  I  am 
incorrigible.  I  shall  continue  to  confess  blunders  each 
time  the  people  commit  them.  The  only  tyrant  I 
-accept  in  this  world  is  the  '  still  small  voice'  within. 
And  even  though  I  have  to  face  the  prospect  of  a 
^minority  of  one,  I  humbly  believe  I  have  the  courage 
to  be  in  such  a  hopeless  minority.  That  to  me  is  the 
■only  truthful  position. 

But  I  am  a  sadder  and  I  hope  a  wiser  man  to-day. 
€  see  that  our  non-violence  is  skin-deep.  We  are  burn- 
ing with  indignation.  The  Government  is  feeding  it  by 
its  insensate  acts.  It  seems  almost  as  if  the  Govern- 
ment wants  to  see  this  land  covered  with  murder,  arson 
:and  rapine,  in  order  to  be  able  once  more  to  claim 
exclusive  ability  to  put  them  down. 

This  non-violence  therefore  seems  to  be  due  merely 
to  our  helplessness.     It  almost    appears    as  if   we    are 
-nursing  in  our  bosoms   the    desire  to    take    revenge  the 
■first  time  we  get  the  oj)portunity. 

Can  true  voluntary  non-violence  come  out  of  this 
seeming  forced  non-violence  of  the  weak  ?  Is  it  not  a 
futile  experiment  I  am   conducting?   What  if,  when  the 


698  NON-CO-OPERATION 

fury  bursts,  not  a  man,  woman  or  child  is  safe  and  every 
man's  hand  is  raised  against  his  fellow  being  ?  Of  what 
avail  is  it  then  if  I  fast  myself  ,to  death  in  the  event  of 
such  a  catastrophe  coming  to  pass  ? 

What  is  the  alternative  ?  To  lie  and  say  that  what 
I  know  to  be  evil,  is  good?  To  say  that  true  and 
voluntary  co-operation  will  come  out  of  false  and  forced' 
co-operation  is  to  say  that  light  will  result  from  dark- 
ness. 

Co-operation  with  the  Government  is  as  much  a 
weakness  and  a  sin  as  alliance  with  suspended  violence. 

The  difficulty  is  almost  insurmountable.  Hence 
with  the  growing  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  this  non- 
violence is  merely  superficial,  I  must  continually  make 
mistakes  and  retrace,  even  as  a  man  wading  his  way 
through  a  tractless  forest  must  continually  stop,  retrace, 
stumble,  be  hurt  and  even  bleed. 

I  was  prepared  for  a  certain  amount  of  depression, 
dis-appointment  and  resentment,  but  I  confess  I  was 
totally  unprepared  for  the  hurricane  of  opposition.  It 
became  clear  to  me  that  the  workers  were  in  no  mood 
to  do  any  serious  work  of  construction.  The  construct- 
ive programme  lent  no  enchantment.  They  were  not 
a  social  reform  associatioii.  They  could  not  wrest 
power  from  the  Government  by  such  humdrum  reform 
work.  They  wanted  to  deliver  "  non-violent '  blows '. 
All  this  appeared  so  thoroughly  unreal.  They  would  not 
stop  to  think  that  even  if  they  could  defeat  the  Govern- 
ment by  a  childish  display  of  rage,  they  could  not  con- 
duct the  Government  of  the  country  for  a  single  day 
without  serious  and  laborious  organisation  and  construc- 
tion. 

We   must  not  go  to  gaol,  'as  Mahomed  Ali   woult} 


THE     DELHI    RESOLUTIONS  699' 

say,  'on  a  false  issije  '.    It  is  not  any  imprisonment  that 
■will   lead  to  Swaraj.     It  is  not   every  disobedience    that 
will    fire  us    with  the  spirit  of  obedience  and  discipline. 
Jails  are   no  gate-way    to  liberty   for  the   confirmed' 
criminal.     They   are  temples  of  liberty  only  for   those 
who    are    innocence      personified.    The    execution    of 
Socrates    made   immortality   a    living   reality  for  us, — 
not  so  the  execation  of  countless  murderers.  There^is  no- 
warrant  for   supposing  that  we  can  steal  Swaraj  by  the 
imprisonment  of  thousands  of  nominally. non-violent  men 
with  hatred,  ill-will  and  violence  raging  in  their  breasts.. 
It'  would  be   otherwise    if    we    were  fighting    with 
arms,  giving  and  receiving  blow  for  blow.  The  imprison- 
ment of  those  who  may  be  caught  intimidating,  assault- 
ing   and      murdering    will     certainly    embarrass     the 
Government   and  when   they    are    tired,  they    would  as 
elsewhere   yield.      But   such    is    not   our   fight    to-day. 
Let  us  be    trsthful.     If  it  is  through  '  show    of   force  ' 
that    we     wish     to    gain     Swaraj,    let    us     drop     non- 
violence   aud     offer     such      violence   as    we    may.    It 
would   be    a    manly,    honest   and  sober    attitude     an. 
attitude  the  world  has  been  used  to  for  ages  past.     No 
one    can    then   accuse    us    of    the    terrible    charge  of 
hypocricy. 

But  the  majority  will  not  listen  to  me  in  spite  of 
all  my  warnings  and  passionate  plea  for  rejecting  my 
resolution,  if  they  did  not  believe  in  non-violence  as 
indispensable  for  the  attainmentof  our  goal.  They  accepted 
it  without  a  single  material  change.  I  would  ask  them, 
therefore  to  realise  their  responsibility.  They  are  now 
bound  not  to  rush  to  civil  disobedience  but  to  settle  dowa 
to  the  quiet  work  of  construction.  I  would  urge  them 
to  be  indifferent  to   the  clamour  for  immediate    action* 


700  NON-CO-OPERATIGN 

The  immediate  action  is  not  courting/imprisonment,  nor 
eveti  free  speech  and  free  association  or  free  pen,  but 
self-purification,  introspection,  quiet  organisation.  We 
have  lost  our  foothold.  If  we  do  not  take  care,  we  are 
likely  to  be  drowned  in  "the  waters  whose  depth  we  do 
tiot  know. 

It  is  no  use  thinking  of  the  prisoners.  When  I 
heard  of  Chauri  Chaura  I  sacrificed  them  as  the  first 
penitential  act.  They  have  gone  to  jail  to  be  released 
only  by  the  strength  of  the  people,  indeed  the  hope 
-was  the  Swaraj  Parliament's  first  act  would  be  to  open 
the  prison  gates.  God  had  decreed  otherwise.  We  who 
are  outside  have  tried  and  failed.  The  prisoners  can 
now  only  gain  by  serving  the  full  term  of  their  imprison- 
ment. Those  who  went  under  false  pretences,  or 
under  any  mis-apprehension  of  under  mistaken  under- 
standing of  the  movement  can  come  out  by  apologising 
ard  by  petitioning.  The  movement  will  be  all  the 
stronger  for  the  purging.  The  stoutest  hearts  will 
Tejoice  in  the  opportunity  of  unexpectedly  greater 
suffering.  Though  thousands  of  Russians  have  '  rotted' 
in  the  Russian  prisons  for  years  and  years,  that  un- 
happy people  are  not  yet  free.  Liberty  is  a  jilt  most 
difficult  to  woo  and  please.  We  have  shown  the 
power  of  suffering.  But  we  have  not  suffered  enough. 
If  the  people  in  general  keep  passively  non-violent  and 
if  only  a  few  are  actively,  honestly  and  knowingly  non- 
violent in  intent,  word  and  deed,  we  can  reach  the  goal 
in  quickest  time  with  the  least  suffering.  But  we  shall 
indefinitely  postpone  the  attainment,  if  we  send  to 
iprison  men  who  harbour  violence   in  their  breasts. 

Therefore  the  duty  of  the  majority  in   their  respect- 
ive provinces  is  to  face  taunts,   insults   and  if    need  be 


THE  DELHI    RESOLUTIONS  701 

depletion  in  their  ranks  but  determinedly  to  pursue  their 
goal  without  swerving  an  inch.  The  authorities  mistak- 
ing our  suspension  for  weakness  may  resort  to  still  greater 
oppresson.  We  should  submit  to  it.  We  should  even 
abandon  defensive  civil  disobedience  and  concentrate  all 
our  energy  on  the  tasteless  but  health-giving  economic 
and  social  reform.  We  should  bend  down  on  our  knees 
and  assure  the  moderates  that  they  need  fear  no  harm 
from  us.  We  should  assure  the  Zamindars  that  we  have- 
no  ill-will  against  them. 

The  average  Englishman  is    haughty,  he   does   not 
understand   us,  he    considers    himself  to   be  a   superior 
being.     He  thinks  that  he  is  born  to  rule  us.     He  relies 
upon  his  forts  or  his  gun  to  protect  himself.  He  despises- 
u:-.  He  wants  to  compel  co-operation  ».«.,  slavery.  Even 
him  we    have  to  conquer,   not  by  bending  the  knee,  but 
remaining   aloof   from    him,  but   at    the  sametime   not 
hating  him  nor  hurting  him.     It  is   cowardly  to    molest 
him.  If  we   simply   refuse    to   regard   ourselves  as   his- 
slaves  and   pay    homage    to    him,    we    have   done  our 
duty.     A  mouse   can   only    shun    the   cat.     He   cannot 
treat    with    her    till    she    has   filed   the   points   of  her 
claws  and  teeth.     At    the   same   time    we    must    show 
every  attention  to  those  few  Englishmen  who  are  trying 
to   cure    themselves   and    fellow   Englishmen   of    the 
disease  of  race  superiority. 

The  minority  has  different  ideals.  It  does  not  believe 
in  the  programme.  Is  it  not  right  and  patriotic  for  them 
to  form  a  new  party  and  a  new  organisation  ?  They  will 
then  truly  educate  the  country.  Those  who  do  not 
believe  in  the  creed  should  surely  retire  from  the 
•Congress,  Even  a  national  organisation  must  have  a 
creed.     One,  for  instance,  who     does  not  believe  in. 


702  NON-CO-OPERATION 

:Swaraj  has  no  place  in  the  Congress.  I  submit  that 
even  so  has  one  who  does  not  believe  in  "peaceful  and 
legitimate  means' no  place  in  the  Congress.  A  Congress- 
man may  not  believe  in  non-co-operation  and  still  remain 

:in  it  but  he  cannot   believe  in  violencai  and  untruth  and 

:StiIl  be  a  Congressman.  I  was  therefore  deeply  hurt  when 
I  found  opposition  to  the  note  in  the  resolution  about 
the  creed  and  still  more  when  I  found  opposition  to    my 

■paraphrase  of  the  two  adjectives  'peaceful'  and 
'legitimate'  into  *non-violent'  and  'truthful'  respectively. 

1  had  reasons  for  the  paraphrase.  I  was  seriously  told 
that  the  creed  did  not  insift  upon  non-violence  and 
truth  as  the  indispensable  means  for  the  attainment  of 
Swaraj.  1  agreed  to  remove  the  paraphrase  in  order  to 
avoid  a  painful 'discussion    but    I  felt    that   truth  was 

stabbed. 

I  am  sure  that  those  who  raised  this  opposition  are 
;as  patriotic  as  I  claim  to  be,  they  are  as  eager  for  Swaraj 
as  every  other  Congressman.  But  I  do  say  that  the 
-patriotic  spirit  demands  their  loyal  and  strict  adherence 
Tto  non-violence  and  truth  and  that  if  they  do  not  believe 
in  them  they  should  retire  from  the  Congress  orga- 
nisation. 

Is  it  not  national  economy  to  let  all  the  ideals  be 
:sharply  defined  and  to  work  independently  of  one 
another?  That  then  which  is  most  popular  will  win  the 
day.  If  we  are  going  to  evolve  the  real  spirit  of  demo- 
cracy,  we    shall  not    do  so   by  obstruction    but    by 

.abstention. 

The  session  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee 
was  a  forcible  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  we  are 
jetarding  the  country's  progress  towards  Swaraj 
-and  not  the  Government.  Every  mistake  of  the  Govern- 
ment helps.    Every  neglect  of  duty  on  our  part  hinders. 


REPLY  TO  CRITICS. 

If  the  Pardoli  decisions  offended  a  few  zealous  followers  of 
IMr.  Gandhi,  the  Delhi  resolutions  were  condemned  by  a  large 
section  of  the  public.  Congressmen  were  uncomfortable  at  the 
sudden  and  incessant  changes  of  programme.  Doubts  as  to  the 
validity  'of  the  principles  of  non-violence  were  openly  discussed, 
tsome  adhering  to  it  as  a  mere  policy  and  as  policy,  liable  to  change. 
To  these  Air.  Gandhi  replied: — ] 

I  am  sorry  that  I  find  a  nervous  fear  among  some 
Hindus  and  Mahomedans  that  I  am  undermining  their 
faith  and  that  I  am  even  doing  irreparable  harm  to 
India  by  my  uncompromising  preaching  of  non-violence. 
They  seem  almost  to  imply  that  violence  is  their  creed. 
I  touch  a  tender  spot  if  I  talk  about  extreme  non-violence 
jn  their  presence.  They  confound  me  with  texts  from 
the  Mahabharata  and  the  Koran  eulogising  or  permit- 
ting violence.  Of  the  Mahabharata  I  can  write  without 
■jestraint;  but  the  most  devout  Mahomedau  will  not, 
J  hope,  deny  me  the  privilege  of  understanding 
the  message  of  the  Prophet.  I  make  bold  to  say 
that  violence  is  the  creed  of  no  religion  and  that 
whereas  non-violence  in  most  cases  is  obligatory  in 
.all,  violence  is  merely  permissible  in  some  cases.  But 
I  have  not  put  before  India  the  final  form  of  non- 
violence. The  non-violence  that  I  have  preached  from 
■Congress  platforms  is  non-violence  as  a  policy.  But  even 
•policies  require  honest  adherence  in  thought,  word  and 
•deed.  If  I  believe  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy,  surely 
whilst  I  so  believe,  I  must  be  honest  in  thought,  word 
.and  deed ;  otherwise  I  become  an  imposter.  Noa- 
■"violence   being  a   policy    means   that   it  can    upon    due 


704  NON-CO-OPERATION 

notice  be    given    up  when   it  proves  unsuccessful  or  in- 
effective.    But  simple  morality    demands   that  whilst  a- 
particular  policy  is  pursued,  it  must  be  pursued  with  all 
one's    heart.     It  is  simple  policy   to  march  along  a  cer-^ 
tain    route,   but    the    soldier    who   marches   with    an- 
unsteady  step  along  that  route  is  liable  to  be  summarily 
dismissed.    I  become  therefore  incredulous  when  people- 
talk  to  me  sceptically  about    non-violence  or   are  seize(E 
with  fright  at   the  very   mention  of   the  word  non-vio- 
lence.    If  they  do  not  believe   in  the  expedient   of  non- 
violence, they  must  denounce  it  but  not  claim  to  believe 
in    the   expedient   when   their    heart   resists   it.     How 
disastrous  it  would  be  if,  not  believing  in  violence  even- 
as  an   expedient,  I  joined,    say,   a    violence   party   and 
approached  a  gun  with   a  perturbed    heart !  The   reader" 
will  believe  me  when  I  say  that  I  have  the  capacity  for 
killing  a  fly.     But  I  do  not  believe  in  killing,  even  flies.^ 
Now  suppose  I  joined  an  expedition  for  fly-killing  as  an 
expedient.     Will  I  not   be   expected   before   being  per- 
mitted to  join  the    expedition    to  use   all   the   available 
engines   of  destruction    whilst   I  remained   in  the   army 
of  fly  killers?  If  those    who   are  in   the   Congress  and 
the    Khilafat    Committees    will   perceive    this  simple 
truth,  we  shall   certainly    either    finish    the   struggle 
this -year   to   a   successful   end    or  be   so   sick  of  non- 
violence  as   to   give   up   the   pretention   and  set  about 
devising  some  other  programme. 

I  hold  that  Swami  Shraddhanandji  has  been 
needlessly  criticised  for  the  proposition  he  intended  to 
move.  His  argument  is  absolutely  honest.  He  thinks 
that  we  as  a  body  do  not  really  believe  in  non-violence 
even  as  a  policy.  Therefore  we  shall  never  fulfil  the 
programme  of  non-violence.    Therefore,  he   says,  let  us- 


REPLY    TO   CRITICS  705 

go  to  the  Councils  and  get  what  crumbs  '  we  may.  He 
was  trying  to  show  the  unreality  of  the  position  of 
those  who  believe  in  the  policy"  with  their  lips  whefreas 
they  are  looking  forwaird  to  violence  for  final  dfeliver- 
ance.  I  do  say  that'  if  Congressmen  do  not  fully  believe 
in  the  policy,  they  are  doing  an  injury  to  the  country  by 
pretending  to  follow  it.  If  violence  is  to  be  the  basis  of 
future  Government,'  the  Councillors  are  undoubtedly 
the  wisest.  For' it  4s  through  the  Councils  t  hat  by'the 
same  devices  by  which  the  present  administrators  rule 
us,  the  Councilors  hope  to  seize  powei:  from,  the 
former's  hands.  I  have  little  doubt  that  those  who  nurse 
violence  in  their  bosoms  will  find  no  benefit  from  the 
lip  profession  of  non-violence.  I  urge,  therefore,  with 
all  the  vehemence  at  my  command  that  those  who  do 
not  believe  in  non-violence  should  secede  from  the 
Congress  and  from  non-co-operation  and  prepare  to  seek 
election  or  re-join  law  courts  or  Government  colleges 
as  the  case  may  be.  Let  there  be  no  manner  of  doubt 
hat  Swaraj  established  by  nou-violeht  means  will  be 
diflFerent  in  kind  from  the  Swaraj  that  can  be  established 
by  armed  rebellion.  Police  and  punishments  there  will 
be  even  under  such  Swaraj.  But  there  would  be  no 
room  for  brutalities  such  as  we  witness  to-day  both  on 
the  part  of  the  people  and  the  Government.  And 
those,  whether  they  call  themselves  Hindus  or  Mussul- 
mans, who  do  not  fully  believe  in  the  policy  of 
non-violence,  should  abandon  both  non-co-operation  and 
non-violence. 

For  me,  I  am  positive   that   neither   in  the    Koran 

nor  in  the  Mahabbarata  there  is  any    sanction    for    and 

apprbval' of  tiie  triumph  of  violence.     Though  there  is 

repulsion  enough   in   Nature,   she   lives   by   attraction, 

49 


705  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Mutual  love  enables  Nature  to  persist  Man  does  not 
live  by  destruction.  Self-love  compels  regard  for  others. 
Nations  cohere  because  there  is  mutual  regard  among 
the  individuals  composing  them.  Some  day  we  muse 
extend  the  national  law  to  the  universe,  even  as 
we  have  extended  the  family  law  to  form  uatious — 
a  larger  family.  God  has  ordained  that  India  should  be 
such  a  nation.  For  so  far  as  reason  can  perceive,  India 
cannot  become  free  by  armed  rebellion  for  generations. 
India  can  become  free  by  refraining  from  national 
violence.  India  has  now  become  tired  of  rule  based 
upon  violence.  That  to  me  is  the  message  of  the  plains. 
The  people  of  the  plains  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  put 
up  an  organised  armed  fight.  And  thuy  must  become 
free,  for  they  want  freedom.  Taey  have  realised  that 
power  seized  by  violence  will  only  result  in  their 
greaier  grinding. 

Such  at  any  rate  is  the  reasoning  that  has  given 
birth  to  the  policy,  not  the  dharma,  of  non-violence. 
And  even  as  a  Mussulman  or  a  Hindu  believing  in 
violence  applies  the  creed  of  non-violence  in  his  family, 
so  are  both  called  upon  without  question  to  apply  the 
policy  of  non-violence  in  their  mutual  relntion  and  in 
their  relation  to  other  races  and  classes  not  excluding 
Englishmen.  Those  who  do  not  believe  iu  this  policy 
and  do  not  wish  to  live  up  to  it  in  full,  retard  the 
movement  by  remaining  in  it; 

L  is  thus  clear  what  I  would  like  the  Frcvincis.,! 
organisations  to  do.  They  must  not  for  the  present 
disobey  the  Government  orders  eo  far  as  it  is  at  all 
possible.  They  must  not,  before  they  have  searched 
their  hearts,  take  fbrward  action  but  bring  about  an 
ab=oHltely  calm  atmosphere.     i\p,  unprisonment  courted 


REPLY   TO    CRITICS  707 

in  anger  has  availed  us  auything.  I  agree  with  the 
Mussulman  view  which  is  also  the  Hindu  view  that 
there  is  no  imprisonment  for  the  sake  of  it.  All  imprison- 
ment to  be  useful  has  to  bs  courted  for  religion  or 
■country  and  that  by  men  and  women  clad  in  khaddar 
and  without  anger  or  violence  in  their  hearts.  If  thd 
provinces  have  no  such  men  and  women,  they  should 
not  embark  on  civil  disobedience  at  all. 

Hence  it  is  that  the  constructive  programme  has 
laeen  framed.  It  will  steady  and  calm  us.  It  will 
-wake  our  organising  spirit,  it  will  make  us  indus- 
trious, it  will  render  us  fit  for  Swaraj,  it  will  cool 
■our  blood.  We  shall  be  spat  upon,  laughed  at,  sworn 
,at,  may  be  even  kicked  and  cursed.  We  must  put 
;up  with  it  all  inasmuch  as  we  have  harboured  anger 
in  our  breasts  even  though  we  have  been  under  the 
ipledge  of  non-violence  I  must  frankly  state  that  unless 
we  can  retrieve  our  steps  deliberately,  cultivate  non- 
violence and  manufacture  khaddar,  we  cannot  render 
effective  help  to  the  Khilafat,  we  cannot  get  redress  of 
.the  Punjab  wrong,  nor  can  we  attain  Swaraj.  My 
leadership  is  perfectly  useless  if  I  cannot  convince 
<;o-worker3  and  the  public  of  the  absolute  and  immediate 
necessity  of  vigorously  prosecuting  the  constructive- 
programme. 

We  must  know  wiiether  we  can  got  a  crore  men 
and  women  in  all  India  who  believe  in  the  attainment  of 
Swaraj  by.peaceful  t.  e,  nonviolent  and  legitimate  «'.  e. 
truthful  means. 

We  must  get  money  for  the  prosecution  of  Swade- 
;shi  and  we  will  know  how  many  people  there  are  in 
India  who  are  willing  honestly  to  pay  one  rupee  out  of 
■every  hundred  of  their  past  year's  income    to   the  Tilak 


708  NON-CO-OPERATION 

Memorial  Swaraj  Fund,    This  subscription  the  Commit- 
tee expects  from  Congressmen  and  sympathisers. 

We  must  spend  money  like  water  in  introducing  the 
spinning  wheel  in  every  home,  in  the  manufacture  and 
the  distribution  of  khaddar  wherever  required. 

Surely  we  have  long  neglected  the  '  untouchable' 
brother.  He  has  slaved  for  us  too  long.  We  must  now 
serve  him. 

Our  liqiior  picketing  has  done  some  good  but 
not  substantial.  Not  till  we  pierce  the  home  of  the 
drunkard  shall  we  make  any  real  advance.  We  must 
know  why  he  drinks  ;  but  we  can  substitute  for  it. 
We  must  have  a  census  of  all  the  drunkards  of  India. 

Social  Service  Department  has  been  looked  at 
with  the  utmost  contempt.  If  the  non-co-operation 
movement  is  not  malicious,  that  department  is  a  neces- 
sity. We  want  to  render  alike  to  friend  and  foe  service 
in  times  of  distress.  We  are  thereby  able  to  keep 
our  relations  sweet  with  all  inspite  of  cur  political 
.aloofness. 

Social  service  and  temperarxe  reform  were  laughed 
at  as  part  of  the  struggle  for  Swaraj.  It  was  a  painful 
exhibition  of  ignorance  of  the  essentials  of  Swaraj.  I 
claim  that  human  mind  cr  human  society  is  not  divided; 
into  water-tight  compartments  called  social,  political 
and  religious.  All  act  and  react  upon  one  another.  What 
is  more,  the  vast  majority  of  Hindus  and  Mussulmans 
have  joined  the  struggle  believing  it  to  be  religious. 
The  masses  have  come  in  because  they  want  to  save  the 
Khilafat  and  the  cow.  Deprive  the  Mussaiman  of  the 
hope  of  helping  the  Khilafat  and  he  will  shun  the 
Congress  ;  tell  the  Hindu  he  cannot  save  the  cow  if  he 
joins    the  Congress,  he   will    to   a   man    leave  \U    Ta 


REPLY   TO    CRITICS  709 

laugh  at  moral  reform  aud  social  service  is  to  laugh  at 
Swaraj,  the  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab. 

Even  the  organisation  of  schools  was  laughed  at. 
Let  us  see  what  it  means.  We  have  demolished  the 
prestige  of  Government  schools.  It  was  perhaps  neces- 
sary in  1920  to  do  the  picketing  and  certainly  not  to 
mind  the  boys  being  neglected,  but  it  would  be  criminal 
any  longer  to  picket  Government  schools  or  to  neglect 
National  institutions.  We  can  now  only  draw  more 
boys  and  girls  by  putting  existing  National  schools  on  a 
better  footing.  They  have  the  advantage  of  being  in 
institutions  where  they  breathe  free  dir  and  where  they 
are  not  shadowed.  But  the  advantage  of  scientific 
training  in  carding,  hand-spinning  and  hand-weaving 
and  of  having  intellectual  training  in  keeping  with  the 
requirements  of  the  country  must  be  added.  We  shall 
show  by  successful  experiment  the  superiority  of  training 
in  National  schools  and  colleges. 

Even  the  Panchayats  came  in  for  ridicule.  Little 
did  the  critics  realise  that  the  masses  in  many  parts  of 
India  had  ceased  to  resort  to  law  courts.  If  we  do  not 
organise  honest  Panchayats,  they  will  certainly  go  back 
to  the  existing  law  courts. 

Nor  is  a  single  step  devoid  of  vast  political  results. 
Adequate  manufacture  and  universal  use  of  khaddar 
means  a  permanent  boycott  of  foreign  cloth  and 
automatic  distribution  of  sixty  crores  of  rupees  annually 
among  the  poor  people.  Permanent  disappearance 
of  the  drink  and  the  opium  evils  mean  an  annual  saving 
of  seventeen  crores  to  the  people  and  a  diminution  of 
that  revenue  for  the  Government.  Constructive  effort 
for  the  untouchables  means  the  addition  to  the  Congress 
ranks   of  six  crores  of  men   and   women   who  will  for 


710  NON-CO-OPERATION 

ever  be  bound  to  the  Congress.  Social  Service  Depart- 
ment, if  it  becomes  a  live  thing,  will  restore  the- 
strained  relations  that  exist  to  day  among  co-operators 
(whether  Indian  or  En^^lish)  and  non-co-operators.  To- 
work  the  full  constructive  programme  therefore  is  to- 
achieve  all  we  want.  To  fail  in  fulfilling  the 
programme  is  to  postpone  all  possibitity  of  effective 
civil  disobedience. 

Several    Mussulman     friends    have    said,    "  Your 
programme  is  good  for   Swaraj  but  it  is  too   slow  to  be 
good  enough    for  saving   the    Khilafat.     The    Khilafat 
question  will  be  solved   in  a  few  months   and  whatever 
can  be  done  must  be   done  now."    Let  us   examine  the 
question.    The   cause   of  the    Khilafat,   thank    God,  is 
safe  in  the  hands  of   Gazi  Mustafa  Kamal  Pasha.     He 
has   retrieved    the    prestige     of  the    Khilafat    as   no 
Mussalman  of  modern  times  has  done.     India  has  in  my 
opinion  helped  not  much  by  her  money  though  that  has 
meant   something,  but   by  Hindu-Muslim  tmity   and  by 
telling  the  Government  in   the  plainest   terms    possible 
that  India  will    have   nothing  to  do   with  the    Govern- 
ment and  will  declare  complete  independence  if  England 
persists   in  her  anti-Turk   policy    and   exploits   India's 
resources  against  the  Turks.     The   greater  the  strength 
in  that  declaration  the   greater  becomes  the   prestige  of 
Islam  and  the   greater   the   power   of   Mustafa    Kamal 
Pasha.       Some    people    think    that    mere    temporary 
enbarrassment  of  the    Government  by  a   few   thousand 
men,    irrespective   of  qualification,   going  to    jail,  will 
make  the  Government ^yield  to  our  wishes.    Let  us  not 
underrate   the   power  of  the   Government,     I  am  sure 
that  the  Government   does  possess  as  yet  the   power  to 
crush  the  spirit  of   violence.    And   it  is   nothing  but 


REPLY  TO   CRITICS  5^1 1 

violence  to  go  to  jail  anyhow.  It  is  the  suffering  of  the 
pure  and  God-fearing  which  will  tell,  not  the  bluster  of 
the  rabble.  The  purer  India  becomes,  the  stronger  she 
biecomep.  Purity  is  the  only  weapon  of  the  weak  in  body. 
The  strong  in  body  in  their  insolence  often  mobilise 
their  'hard  fibre"and  seek  to  usurp  the  very  function  of 
the  Almighty.  But  when  that '  hard  fibre  '  comes  in 
contact  not  with  its  like  but  with  the  exact  opposite,  it 
has  nothing  to  ■vsrork  against.  A  solid  body  can  only 
move  on  and  against  another  solid  body.  You  cannot 
build  castles  in  the  air.  Therefore,  the  impatient 
Mussalmans  must  see  the  obvious  truth  that  the  little 
disorganised  bluster  of  the  rabble,  whether  it  expresses 
itself  by  going  to  jail  or  by  burning  buildings  or  by 
making  noisy  demonstrations,  will  be  no  match  for  the 
organised  insolence  of  the  'hard  fibre'  of  the  'most  deter- 
mined people  in  the  world'.  This  terrific  insolence  can 
only  be  met  by  the  utter  humility  of  the  pure  and  the 
meek.  God  helps  the  helpless,  not  those  who  believe 
they  can  do  somethmg.  Every  page  of  the  Koran  teaches 
me,  a  non-Muslim,  this  supreme  lesson.  Every  sura  of 
Koran  begins  in  the  name  of  God  the  Compassionate 
and  the  Merciful .  Let  us  therefore  be  strong  in  soul 
though  weak  in  body. 

If  the  Mussalmans  believe  in  the  policy  of  non- 
violence, they  must  give  it  a  fair  trial  and  they  will 
not  have  given  it  any  trial  at  all  if  they  harbour  anger 
i>.  violence  in  their  breasts. 

As  it  is,  by  our  bluster,  by  intimidation,  by  show  of 
force,  by  violent  picketing,  we  shall  estrange  more  men 
than  intimidate  into  co-operation  with  us.  And  how 
can  we  dare  seek  co-operatiOn  by  compulsion  when  we 
have  refused  to  be  coerced  into  co-operation   with   the 


712  NON-CO-OPERA.TION 

Government  ?  Must  we  not  observe  the  same  law    that 
we  expect  others  to  observe  tpwairds  us  ? 

If  the  Treaty'  of  Sevres  is  not  revised  to  our 
satisfaction,  it  is  not  finished,  The  virtue  lies' in  Ttidia's 
determination  not  to  be  satisfied  with  anything  less 
than  her  demands.'  After  all  Mustafa  Eamal  may 
insist  upon  the  settlement  of  the  Juzurut-ul-Arab. 
We  must  continue  the  fight  sb  long  as  it  is  not 
returned  intact  to  the  Mussulmans.  If  the  Mussal' 
mans  consider  that  they  can  gain  their  end  by 
force'  of  arms,  let  them  secede  from  the  non-violent 
alliance  by  all  means.  But  if  they  know  that  they 
cannot,  let  them  carry  it  out  in  thought,  word  and 
deed  and  they  will  find  that  there  is  no  surer  or 
quicker  remedy  for  assuaging  their  grief  and  redressing 
the  Khijafat  wrong.  '  ■ 

Some  friends  argue  that  in  order  to  continue  the 
struggle,  the  people  need  some  stimulant.  No  person 
or  nation  can  be  kept  alive  merely  upon  stimulants. 
We  have  had  much  too  much  of  it  latterly.  And 
the  antidote  now  is  a  depressant.  If  therefore  depres- 
sion follows  the  cessation  of  all  aggressive  acti- 
vities and  people  forsake  us,  it  would  not  only 
not  hinder  our  cause  but  help  it.  Then  we  shall  not 
have  to  shoulder  the  responsibility  for  a  Chauri  Chaura. 
Then  we  could  go  forward  with  a  steady  step  without 
any  danger  of  having  to  look  back.  If  however  we  can 
survive  the  depression  and  keep  the  people  with  us,  we 
shall  have  positive  proof  that  the  people  have  caught 
the  message  of  non-violence  and  that  the  people 
are  as  capable  of  doing  constructive  work  as  they  have 
shown  themselves   capable  of  doing,  destructive   work. 


REPLY   TO    CRITICS  713 

Whatever  the  result,  the  present  excitement  must  be 
-abated  at  any  cost. 

I  have  carefully  read  Mr.  Kelkar's  article  in  the 
■"  Mahratta  "  criticising  the  Bardoli  resolutions.  I 
.acknowledge  the  gentle  and  considerate  manner  with 
which  he  has  handled  me.  I  wish  I  could  persuade  him 
.and  many  who  think  like  Mr.  Kelkar  that  what  he  calls 
,a  somersault  was  an  inevitable  operation."  Consistency 
iis  a  desirable  quality,  but  it  becomes  a  '  hobgoblin  ' 
■when  it  refuses  to  see  facts.  I  have  known  dispositions 
-of  armies  changed  from  hour  to  hour.  Once  during  the 
.Zulu  revolt  we  were  all  asleep.  We  bad  definite  orders 
for  the  morrow.  But  suddenly  at  about  midnight  we 
were  awakened  and  ordered  to  retire  behind  bags  of 
;graiu  which  served  as  protecting  walls  because  the 
enemy  was  reported  to  be  creeping  up  the  hill 
on  which  we  had  encamped.  In  another  hour  it  was 
Tinderstood  that  it  was  a  false  alarm  and  we  were 
permitted  to  retire  to  our  tents.  All  the  '  somersaults  ' 
were  necessary  changes.  Remedies  vary  with  the  vari- 
ation in  diagnosis.  The  same  physician  one  day  detects 
■malaria  and  gives  a  large  dose  of  quinine,  detects 
typhoid  the  next  and  stops  all  medicine  and  orders  care- 
ful nursing  and  fasting,  later  detects  consumption  and 
orders  change  and  solid  food.  Is  the  physician  caprici- 
ous or  cautious  and  honest  ? 

Without  being  untruthful  and  indifferent  if  not 
stupid,  I  could  not  do  what  Mr.  Kelkar  suggests  I  should 
have  done  at  the  time  of  the  Bombay  Conference.  It 
-would  have  been  untruthful  to  have  yielded  to  the 
Moderate  friends  beyond  what  was  conceded,  as  the 
Indian  sky  appeared  to  me  to  be  clear  blue  and  promised 
to  remain  so.     My  diagnosis  may  be  blamed  but  not  my 


714  NON-CO-OPERATION 

decision    based    on    the    then    diagnosis,    nor    could  I 
possibly  conceal  the  demands  especially  in  the  teith    of 
the  Viceregal  declaration  at  Calcutta  that  nothing   was- 
to   be   expected    in    the    matters  of    the  Khilafat   and', 
the  Punjab    and  that  as    the    reforms    had   only    just 
been  granted  no  advance  was  to  be   expected.     I  would 
have  been  unfair  to  the  Viceroy  as  also  to  the  Moderate 
friends  if  I  had  not  said  that  our  demands  were  emph  atic 
and    clear  cut.    To    have  then   suspended    mass     civil; 
disobedience  would  have  been  a  weakness.     But  Chauri^ 
Chaura  darkened   the    horizon  and    I  discovered   a  new 
diagnosis.     It  would   have  been   idiotic  on    my  part  not 
to  have  declared  in  the  clearest  possible    language  that: 
the    patient    required   a   drastic   change   of   treatment.- 
Not  to  have  suspended  after  Chauri  Chaura  would  have 
been  unpardonable  weakness.    I  assure   the   reader  that 
Bardoli's   unpreparedness    had   nothing   to  do  with  the 
decision.     For  Bardoli  in  my  opinion  was   quite  able  to 
give  battle.     I  have  stated  several  times  in  the  column 
of   Young  India   and    Nava  Jivan   that    I    considered' 
Bardoli  to  be  quite  ready  for  the  fray. 

The  fact  is  that  the  critics  do  not  realise  the  impli- 
cations of  civil  disobedience.  They  seem  unconsciously 
to  ignore  the  potent  adjective  '  civil.' 

The  more  I  think  of  the  Bardoli  decision  and  the- 
more  I  rehearse  the  debates  ^nd  the  talks  at  Delhi,  the- 
more  convinced  I  am  of  the'  correctness  of  the  decision 
and  of  the  necessity  of  Provinces  stopping  all  offensive- 
activities  for  the  time  being  even  at  the  risk  of  being' 
considered  weak  and  forfeiting  popular  applause  aud^ 
support. 

A  correspondent   from    Lahore  writes    under  date,. 
3rd  March : — 


REPLY   TO    CRITICS  715 

"  So  far  as  the  facts  about  '  Bardoli  decision '  have 
come  to  light,  it  appears  the  decision  was  arrived  at 
either  under  the  influsnce  of  Pundit  Malaviya  or  under 
some  far  fetched  notions  of  non-violence  In  the  for- 
mer case  the  act  is  most  unworthy,  and  in  the  latter  it 
is  most  unwise.  Is  not  the  ideal  of  the  Congress  Swaraj 
and  not  Non-violence?  People  have  imbibed  non- 
violence generally,  which  surely  must  do  for  the  Con- 
gress purpose.  How  the  breaches  like  those  at  Bombay 
and  Gorakhpur  can  make  ths  engine  come  to  a  standstill 
I  cannot  understand.  And  if  M.  Paul  Richard  is  true 
as  to  your  aspirations  of  a  World  Leader  through  non- 
violence even  at  the  cost  of  Indian  interest,  it  is  surely 
unbecoming  and,  excuse  me  to  say,  dishonest. 

"  And  have  you  realised  the  effects  of  this  sudden 
standstill  ?  Mr.  Montagu's  threat  comes  for  that,  Lord 
■Reading  and  his  Government  are  harder  to  us  than 
even  before.  It  had  almost  yielded.  As  to  the  public, 
there  is  a  general  distrust  prevailing  among  the  classes 
and  the  masses.  Surely  it  is  difficult  to  make  men  play 
things  of  the  hour  and  their  disgust  and  disappointment 
show  how  the  fight  was  carried  on  in  right  earnest. 
Don't  you  perceive  that  it  is  a'  shock  and  that  two  such 
shocks  must  enervate  the  combatants  altogether  ? 

"Besides,  I  have  heard  the  responsible  Mussalmans 
talk  of  withdrawing  co-operation  even  from  the  Hindus, 
The  fight  is  religious  with  them.  It  is  the  '  Jehad  ',  I 
should  say.  God's  Command  and  the  Prophet's  is  no 
joke  to  start  and  to  stop  the  '  Jehad  '  at  will.  If  the 
Hindus  should  retire,  they  say  they  must  devise  their 
own  course.  Will  you  take  care  to  ease  one  heart  that 
feels  uneasy  on  this  account  ?  " 

It  is  impossible    to  withhold    sympathy    from    th& 


716  NON-CO-OPERATION 

■writer.     His  letter  is  typical  of  the  attitude  I  saw  re- 
flected in  Delhi,     I  have   already  given    the   assurance 
that  Pundit  Malaviyaji    had  nothing   to    do   with   the 
Bardoli  decision.     Nor  have  any  '  far-fetched  notions  of 
non-violence  '  anything  to  do  with  it.     The  correspond- 
■ent's   letter  is  the  best  justification    for  it.     To  me  the 
Bardoli  decision  is  the  logical  outcome  of    the  national 
pledge  of  limited   non-violence.     I  entirely   endorse  the 
•opinion  that  Swaraj  is  the  nation's  goal, not  non-violence. 
It   is  true   that   my   goal  is  as  much    Swaraj    as  non- 
violence, because  I    hold   Swaraj    for  the    masses  to  be 
unattainable  save  through   uon-violence.     But    have   I 
not  repeatedly  said  in  these  columns  that   I  would  have 
India    become   free   even  by    violence  rather  than    that 
she  should  remain    in    bondage  ?  In   slavery   she    is   a 
helpless  partner  in  the  violence  of  the  slave-holder.     It 
is  however  true  that  I  could  not  take  part  in   a   violent 
attempt  at  deliverance  if  only  because  I  do   not  believe 
in  the  possibility  of  success  by    violence.     I  cannot  pull 
the  trigger   against  my   worst    enemy.    If  I  succeed  in 
convincing  the  world   of  the   supremacy  of  the    law   of 
non-violence  and  the  futility  of  violence  for  the  progress 
of  mankind,  the  correspondent  will  find  that  India    will 
have  automatically  gained  her  end.    But  I  freely  confess 
my  utter  inability  to  do  so  without  first  convincing  India 
that  she  can  be  free   only  by   non-violent    and   truthful 
means  and  no  other. 

I  must  further  confess  that  what  Mr.  Montagu 
-or  Lord  Reading  would  think  of  the  decision  did 
not  concern  me  and  therefore  their  threats  do 
not  perturb  or  affect  me.  Nor  should  they  affect 
any  non-co-operator.  He  burnt  his  boats  when  he 
•embarked  upon  his    mission.     But  this  I    know    that  if 


REPLY   TO   CRITICS  1\7 

India  becomes  non-violent  ■  in  intent,  word  and  deed, 
even  the  hearts  of  Mr.  Montagu-  and  Lord  Reading  will 
be  changed.  As  it  is,  marvellous  though  our  progress 
has  been  in  non-violent  action,  our  hearts  and  our  speech 
have  not  become  non-violent.  Mr.  Montagu  and  Lord 
Reading  do  not  believe  in  the  sincerity  cf  our  profession 
nor  in  the  possibility  of  sincere  workers  succeeding  in 
creating  a  truly  non-violent  atmosphere.  What  is  there- 
fore required  is  more  and  yet  more  non-violence  ''  in 
intent,  word  and  deed." 

As  for  the  people,  I  have  little  doubt  that  they  will 
survive  the  purifying  shock.  I  regard  the  present  depres- 
sion as  a  prelude  to  steady  progress.  But  should  it 
prove  otherwise,  the  truth  of  the  Bardoli  decision 
cannot  be  denied.  It  stands  independent  of  public 
approval.  God  is,  even  though  the  whole  world  deny 
Him.  Truth  stands,  even  if  there  be  no  public  support. 
It  is  self-sustained. 

I  should  be  sorry,  indeed,  if  responsible  Mussalmans 
will  not  see  the  obvious  corollaries  of  non-violence.  In 
my  opinion  the  fight  is  as- religious  with  Hindus  as  with 
Mussalmans.  I  agree  that -ours  is  a  spiritual 'Jehad.' 
But  a  'Jehad,  has,  like  all  other  wars,  its  strict  restric- 
tions and  limitations.  The  Hindus  and  Mussalmans 
sail  in  the  same  boat.  The  dissatisfaction  is  common 
to  both  and  it  is  open  to  both  to  dissolve  partnership 
with  each  other.  Either  or  both  -  may  also  depose  me 
from  generalship.  It  is  purely  a  partnership  at  wilL 
Finally  I  assure  the  correspondent  that  when  I  find  that 
I  cannot  carry'  conviction  home  to  the-  people,  I  shall 
Withdraw  from  the  command  myself. 

I  invite  the  reader  to  study  the  leading  article  of 
the  week  on   non-violence.    The  article   became  fairly 


■718  NON-CO-OPERATION 

lorg  even  with  a  discuss!  in   of  the  main  principles.     I 

did  not  therefore  discuss   the  important  side  issues  in  it 

but  reserved  them  for  the  Notes. 

Such  for  instance  are  the  questions  : — 

(1;  When  can  even  individual  civil  disobedience  be 

resumed  ? 

(2)  What  kind  of  violence  will  stop  civil  disobedi- 
■erxe  ;' 

(3)  Is  there  room  for  self-defence  in  the  limited 
conception  of  non-violence  ? 

(4)  Supposing  the  Mussalmans  or  the  Hindus 
secede,  can  a  non-violent  campaign  be  carried  on  by  one 
■community  alone  ? 

(5)  Supposing  Hindus  and  Mussalmans  both  reject 
me,  what  would  become  of  my  preaching  ? 

I  shall  take  the  questions  seriatim.  Civil  disobedi- 
ence, even  individual  civil  disobedience— requires,  a 
tranquil  atmosphere.  It  must  not  bs  commenced  till  the 
workers  have  assimilated  the  spirit  of  non-violence  and 
have  procured  a  certificate  of  merit  from  the  co-operators 
whether  English  or  Indian,  i.e.,  till  they  have  really 
ceased  to  think  ill  of  them.  The  surest  test  will  be 
when  our  meetings  are  purged  of  intolerance  and  our 
writings  of  bitterness.  Another  necsssary  test  will  be 
our  serious  handling  of  the  constructive  programme.  If 
Ave  cannot  seitle  down  to  it,  to  me  it  will  be  proof 
positive  of  our  ilisbelief  in  the  capacity  of  non-violence 
to  achieve  the  purpose. 

It  is  not  every  kind  of  violence  that  will  stop 
civil  disobedience.  I  shouH  not  be  drSmayed  by  family 
feuds  even  though  they  may  be  sanguinary.  Nor  will 
the  violence  of  robbers  baffle  me  though  they  would  be 
to  me  an  indication  of  the  absence  of  general  purilica- 


REPLY   TO    CRITICS  719 

iio".  It  is- political  violence  which  must  stop  civil 
disobedience.  Chauri  Chaura  was  an  instance  of  political 
violence.  It  arose  from  a  political  demonstration  which 
we  should  have'  avoided  if  we  were  not  capable  of 
conducting  it  absolutely  peacefully.  I  d.d  not  allow 
Malabar  and  Malegaon  to  interrupt  our  course,  because 
the  Moplahs  were  a  special  people  and  they  had  not 
•come  under  the  influence  of  non-violence  to  any  appreci- 
able extent.  Malegaon  is  more  difKcult,  but  there  is 
-clear  evidence  that  the  chief  non-cooperators  had  tried 
their  best  to  prevent  the  murders.  Nor  was  mass  civil 
disobedience  imminent  at  the  time.  It  could  not  interrupt 
individual  civil  disobedience  elsewhere. 

The  non-co-operator's  pledge  does  not  exclude  the 
right  of  private  self-defence.  Non-co-operators  are  under 
prohibition  as  to  political  violence.  Those,  therefore, 
with  whom  non-co-operation  is  not  their  final  creed,  are 
certainly  free  to  defend  themselves  or  their  dependents 
and  wards  against  their  assailants.  But  they  may  not 
defend  themselves  again%t  the  police  acting  in  discharge 
of  their  duties  ->vhether  assumed  or  authorised.  Thus 
there  was  no  right  of  self-defence  under  the  pledge 
£gainst  Collectors  who  have,  1  hold,  illegally  belaboured 
volunteers. 

If  one  of  ihe  b'g  communities  secede  from  the 
■compact  of  non-violence,  I  admit  that  it  is  m05t  difficult, 
though  certainly  not  impossible,  for  one  party  only  to 
carry  en  the  struggle.  That  party  will  need  to  have  an 
invulnerable  faith  in  the  policy  of  non-violence.  Eut 
if  one  community  does  realise  that  India  cannot  gain 
Swaraj  for  generations  through  violent  means,  it  can, 
by  i-.s  consistently  non-violent  i.e.,  loving  conduct,  bring 
round  all  the  opposing  parties  to  its  side. 


720  NON-eo-OPERATION 

If  both  the  parties  reject  me,  I  should  keep  my 
peace  just  as  ever  and  most  decidedly  carry  on  my 
propaganda  of  non-violence.  I  should  then  not  be 
restricted  as  I  am  now.  Then  I  should  be  enforcing  my 
creed  as  to-day  I  seem  to  be  enforcing  only  the  policy. 


A  DIVINE  WARNING  * 
If  a  person  commits  a  mistake  for    the  first  time  he 
is  excused  ;  only  the  generous    public   forgives    in  him 
the   repetition    of   the  error.     But    if  he  is   responsible 
even    on   a    third   occasion    for  the   same    mistake,  the- 
public  leaves  him  E-evetely  alone.     If  a  man  is  deceived 
once  or  twice,  he  is    thought  a   simpleton  but  if  is  ever 
being  deceived,  he    is 'rightly   condemned  a  fool.     Mass- 
Civil    Disobedience   at   Bardoli  has    passed    off    as  a 
dream.     God  thought  it  fit  in    His    supreme  wisdom  to 
dispose  of   rny  plans  just  at  the  moment  when  I  thought 
that   Mass    Civil    Disobedience   could   be   commenced. 
There  is  nothing  strange  in  this.    In  the  Ramayana  we 
see  that  Rama  was  banished  to 'the  wild   forests    when 
all  was  ready  for  his     coronation.    That    has   a    lesson 
for  us.     We  understand  the    true    meaning   of    Swaraj' 
only  when  we  readily  recognise   the  unreality  of  things 
which  we  had    all  along    thought    to   be   too  true.     It 
seems  to  me    that   the   attempt   made   to   win    Swaraj 
is   Swaraj     itself.     The     faster     we     run  towards     it, 
the  longer    seems  to  be    the    distance    to  be  traversed. 
The    same    is   the    case   with    all   ideals.     When   one 
goes  in  pursuit  of  truth,  he  finds  that  it  is  always  eluding 
his  grasp  because  he  sees  now  and    then   that    what  he 
once  thought  too  true  is  no  more  than    a   fond   illusion. 
The  righteous  man  is   always    humble.     He    recognises 
•  From  the  Kavjivan,  January  1922. 


A   DIVINE  WARNING  721 

his  shortcomings  day  by  day.  A  Brahmacbari  who 
seeks  true  Brahmacharyatn,  feels  too  often  that  the 
longing  after  wordly  pleasures  is  still  in  him,  making 
the  attainment  of  his  ideal  almost  impossible.  He  who 
seeks  "Moksha"  or  deliverance  experiences  a  similar 
feeling.  All  this,  explains  the  great  "Nathi." .  The 
sages  who  retired  for  ^a^as  to  the  mountains  and  forests 
found  themselves  confronted  with  the  "Nathi."  Some  of 
the  Maharishis  had  probably  a  glimpse  of  the  truth. 

Swaraj  is  the  attempt  to  win  it. 
I  am  now  convinced  more  firmly  than  ever  that 
Swaraj  lies  in  our  efforts  to  win  it.  Ahmedabad  and 
Viramgaum  committed  excesses.  So  too  did  Amristar 
and  Kasur.  Satyagraha  was  then  pftstponed  because  of 
those  mob  excesses.  Last  November  I  was  eye-witness  to 
the  horrid  outbreak  at  Bombay.  Then  too  Mass  Civil 
Disobedience  was  postponed.  But  the  bitterest  cup  of 
humiliation  was  yet  to  come.  Chaari  Chaura  taught 
me  the  most  valuable  lesson.  1  do  not  know  how  much 
more  is  still  in  store  for  me.  Now  if  people  grow 
impatient  and  consider  me  a  fool,  it  will  not 
be  their  fault.  Why  should  I  meddle  in  their 
affairs,  if  I  had  not  the  capacity  to  understand 
their  true  nature  ?  I  could  not  sit  with  folded  arms 
allowing  things  to  drift.  I  couM  not  but  make  open 
confession  of  error  when  any  occurred.  I  would  prefer 
being  deposed  from  leadership,  to  paying  lip-homage  to 
truth  and  allowing  the  spirit  within  me  to  get  corrupt 
by  the  overpo wearing  weakness  of  the  flesh.  "If  the 
Rana  gets  angry  the  people  will  give  me  shelter,  but 
no  one  can  protect  me  from  God's  wrath  "  is  the  strain 
of  Mirabai's  song  and  this  has  a  moral  for  the  world. 
16 


722  NON-CO-OPERATION 

We  shall  not  court  God's  disfavour.  We  must  pay  heed 
to  His  warnings.  If  we  had  persisted  in  Mass  Civil 
Disobedience  at  Bardoli,  in  spite  of  Gorakhpur, 
there  would  have  resulted  immense  harm  to  the 
public  cause.  We  would  have  thrown  aside  truth  and 
peace.  The  first  condition  to  Mass  Civil  Disobedience 
at  Bardoli  was  perfect  peace  in  the  other  parts  of  the 
country.  Bardoli  would  have  sinned  if  it  had  proceeded 
with  the  campaign  in  violation  of  our  solemn  pledge. 

Keep  Above  Reproach. 

We  need  not  feel  impatient  if  some  people  ask 
whether  such  perfect  peace  is  at  all  attainable.  Those 
who  argue  in  this  strain,  wish  the  abandonment  of 
Satyagraha  and  civility.  We  have  to  keep  above  the 
reproach  of  uncivility.  We  should  constitute  ourselves 
the  trustees  of  India's  honour  and  it  is  incombent 
on  us  to  see  that  no  unrighteous  or  uncivil  action 
is  done  under  cover  of  righteous  or  civil  preten- 
ces. Bardoli  kept  peace  and  I  maintained  it.  Both 
Bardoli  and  myself  have  done  some  service  to  the 
people.  I  think  that  by  recanting  my  error,  I  have 
proved  the  fitness  of  a  true  servant.  I  am  sure  that  the 
people  will  not  lose  strength  but  rise  all  the  better  for 
this  confession.  It  is  very  true  that  God  alone  has 
rescued  us  from  shame.  I  must  have  learnt  a  lesson 
from  Madras  but  I  did  not.  If  a  favourite  of  God  does 
not  take  note  of  His  warning  by  means  of  ordinary 
indications,  the  All-Merciful  warns  him  by  flare 
of  trumpets  and  beat  of  drums  and  if  he  does 
not  wake  up  even  then  He  makes  him  realise  the  truth 
by  thunder-storm.  We  have  by  doing  the  right  thing 
put  an  end  to  imminent  danger. 


A    DIVINE   WARNING  723 

We  had  to  retrace   our   steps  and   we    did  it  in  all 
humility. 

A  man  who  strays  from  his  path  has  to  retrace  his 
^teps  and  arrive  at  the  same  place  from  where  he  missed 
the  way.  We  were  taking  the  downward  path  after 
the  Working  Committee  passed  the  resolution  on  Civil 
Disobedience  but  now  we  are  climbing  up. 
How  LOVE  Punishes, 
But  a  mere  recantation  was  not  enough  for  me.  More 
severe  penance  had  to  be  undergone.  I  was  seized  with 
-an  immense  mental  pain,  the  moment  I  heard  of  the 
■Gorakpur  tragedy.  Bodily  punishment  was  indis- 
pensable to  me.  A  fast  of  five  days  will  not  suffice  to 
make  up  for  all  my  errors.  I  wished  a  fast  of  fourteen 
days,  but  friends  persuaded  me  to  limit  it  to  five.  The 
debtor  who  pays  his  full  debt  in  time  saves  himself 
=from  future  ruin.  There  must  be  no  advertising  of  these 
prayaschittas.  But  there  is  a  reason  for  my  making  it 
public.  The  fast  is  a  penance  for  me  and  punishment 
for  the  culprits  of  Chouri  Chaura.  Love  can  only 
punish  by  suffering.  I  warn  the  public  by  making  my 
fast  known  to  them.  I  have  no  other  option.  If  any 
Non-Co-operator  deceives  me — I  take  the  whole  of 
India  to  be  a  Non-Co-opf rating  body  — let  him  take 
away  my  body.  I  still  believe  that  India  wants  my. 
bodily  existence.  I  warn  the  people  by  torturing  my 
physical  frame  not  to  cheat  me.  If  India  wills  it  let 
her  get  rid  of  me  by  abandoning  non-violence.  But  as 
long  as  she  accepts  my  services  she  must  remain  non- 
violent and  truthful.  If  the  people  will  not  heed  this 
warning,  I  am  determined  to  prolong  this  fast  of  five 
4ays  into  one  of  fifty  and  thus  put  an  end  to  my  life  at 
the  end  of  it. 


724  NON-CO-OPERATIOK 

INDIA    IS    AND    MUST   BE  NON-VIOLENT. 

I  am  writing  this  on  the  third  day  of  my   fast.   My 
heart  tells  me  that  Hindus,   Mussulmans.  Sikhs,    Jews, 
Christians,  Parsis  and   others   can  attain  Swaraj,   serve 
the  Khilafat   and   redress   the    Punjab   wrong  only   by 
truth  and  non-violence.    If  we  abandon  them  we   cannot 
help  others,  not  even  Ghasi  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha    If 
twounequals  compete  the  weaker  must    either  be  killed 
or  subdued.   Even  a  gnani  cannot  change  his    nature   at 
once.  If  the  world  were  to  act  according  to  its  true  nature 
what  can  force  do  ?    I  am    repeating   the  same  old  truth 
that    India   cannot   attain     Swaraj    by   physical   force. 
Even    to    entertain   a   hope   that    physical    force    will 
succeed  amounts    to  violence.     India  is  by  Nature  non- 
violent.    Knowingly  or   unknowingly   she    is  intent   on 
Non-Co-operation   by   means    wholly    non-violent    and 
truthful.     Nobody  imitated    the  people   of    Ahmedabad 
and    Viramgaum  and  none    will  imitate  the  mad   people 
of   Chauri-Chaura.     Though  violence  is    not  in  India's 
nature   it    has     become    a    disease.     Muslapha    Kemal 
Pasha  is  using  the  sword,  because  the  Truks  are  trained 
to  violence  and  have  been  fighting  for  the  last  so  many 
centuries.     But  India  has  been  non-violent  for  thousands 
of    years.     We    need   not    here    discuss    which   nation 
adopted  the  right  course.    There  is  room  for  both   viol- 
ence  and  non-violence   in   this  wide  world  even  as   the 
soul  and  body  find  room  in  life. 

Now  we  must  get  Swaraj  by  the  easiest  and  the 
shortest  method.  India  cannot  change  her  nature  in  a 
moment.  I  am  firmly  of  opinion  that  it  will  take  some 
yugas  to  make  India  free  by  the  sword.  If  the  Indian 
Mussulmans  will  adopt  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha's 
methods,  I  am  sure  they   will  corrupt    Islam.     There  is 


A   DIVINE  WARNING  725 

more  room  for  non-violence  in  Islam.  Self-restraint 
occupies  a  higher  position  than  anger  and  violence. 
India  has  been  adhering  to  truth  and  Ahimsa  for  cen- 
turies. India's  slavery  should  be  preferred  to  her 
attaining  freedom  by  abandoning  truth  and  non- 
violence. Man  cannot  run  to  both  the  poles  at  the 
same  time.  We  now  see  that  Western  methods  are 
violent  whereas  it  is  proved  beyond  the  shadow 
of  a  doubt  that  the  Eastern  method  is  non- 
violent and  righteous.  England  has  now  become  the 
central  point  of  Europe.  India  has  been  the  centre 
of  all  civil  stations  for  centuries.  Yet  the  world 
believes  that  England  wields  power  and  that  India  is 
still  only  a  slave.  Our  attempt  to-day  is  to  get  rid  of 
slave  mentality.  If  India  succeeds  in  the  attempt,  it 
can  only  be  by  means  of  her  ancient  truth  and  non- 
violence. There  is  no  country  in  the  world  which  is 
inferior  to  India  in  physical  prowess.  Even  little 
Afghanistan  can  subdue  her.  With  whose  help  then 
does  India  wish  to  fight  against  England  i  Is  it  with 
the  help  of  Japan  or  Afghanistan  ?  India  will  then 
have  to  accept  serfdom  under  any  one  who  will  help 
her  in  the  fight.  Therefore,  if  India  wants  to  become 
free,  she  can  only  do  so  with  God's  help.  God  loves 
those  who  are  truthful  and  non-violent.  Hence  the 
divine  warning  from  Gorakhpur.  It  teaches  us  to  get 
back,  and  to  be  more  firm  in>  non-violence  if  we  wish 
to  have  our  cherished  desires  accomplished. 


ON  THE  EVE  OF  ARREST. 


IF  I  AM  ARRESTED. 


[For  months  past  the  ramour  ot  Mr.  Gandhi's  inp^ndlng  arrest 
was  in  the  air.  Expecting  the  inevitable  Mr.  Gandi^  had  more 
than  once  written  his  final  message.  But  in  the  first  week  of  March 
the  rumour  became  more  widespread  and  intense.  The  stiffen- 
ning  of  public  opinion  in  England  and  Mr.  Montagu's  threat- 
ening speech  in  defence  of  bis  Indian  policy  in  the  Commons, 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  Secretary  of  State  had  already  sanctioned 
Mr.  Gandhi's  prosecution,  Chauri  Chaura  and,  the  Delhi  decisions 
were  presumably  the  immediate  cause  of  Government's  action  on 
Mr.  Gandhi.  Realising  that  his  arrest  would  not  long  be  deferred, 
Mr.  Gandhi  wrote  the  following  message  in  the  Young  India  of 
March  9:] 

The  rumour  has  been  revived  that  my  arrest  is 
imminent.  It  is  said  to  be  regarded  as  a  mistake  by- 
some  officials  that  I  was  not  arrested  when  I  was  to  be, 
f\e.,  on  the  II th  or  12th  of  February  and  that  the 
Bardoli  decision  ought  not  to  have  been  allowed  to 
affect  the  Government's  programme.  It  is  said,  too, 
that  it  is  now  no  loliger  possible  for  the  Government 
to  withstand  the  ever  rising  agitation  in  London  for 
my  arrest  and  deportation.  T myself  canilot  see  how 
the  Government  can  avoid  arresting  me  if  they  want  a 
permanent  abandonment  of  civil  disobedience  whether 
individual  or  mass. 

I  advised  the  Working  Committee  to  suspend  mass 
civil  disobedience  at  Bardoli  because  that  disobedience 
would  not  have  been  civil,  and  if  I  am  now  advising 
all  provincial  workers  to  suspend  even   individual  civil 


IF  I    AM    ARRESTED  727 

disobedience,  it  is  because  I  know  that  any  disobedience 
at  the  present  stage  will  be  not  civil-but  efiminal.  A 
tranquil  atmosphere  is  an  indispensable  condition  of 
civil  disobedience.  It  is  humiliating  for  me  to  discover 
that  there  is  a  spirit  of  violence  abroad  and  that  the 
Goverrment  of  the  United  Provinces  has  beett obliged 
to  enlist  additional  police  for  avoiding  "a  repetition  of 
Chauri  Chaura.  I  do  not  say  that  all  that  is  claimed 
to  have  happened,  has  happened  but  it  is  impossibJe  to 
ignore-all  the  testimony  that  is  given  in  proof  of  the 
growing  spirit  of  violence  in  some  parts  of  those 
provinces.  In  spite  of  my  political  diflferences  with 
Pundit  Hridayanath  Kunzru,  I  regard  him  to  be  above 
wilful  perversion  of  truth.  I  consider,  him  to  be  one  of 
the  most  capable  among  public  workers.  He  is  not  a 
man  to  be  easily  carried  away.  When,  therefore,  be 
gives  an  opinion  upon  anything,  it  immediately  arrests 
my  attention.  Making  due  allowance  for  the  colouring 
of  his.  judgment  by  reason  of  his  pco-Government  attitude, 
I  am  unable  to  dismiss  his  report  of  ths  Chauri  Chaura 
tragedy  as  unworthy  qf  consideration.  Nor  is  it  possible; 
to  igpore  letters  received  from  Zamindars  and  others 
informing  me  of  the  violent  temperament  and  ignorant 
lawlessness  in  the  United  Provinces.  I  have  before  me 
the  Bareilly  report  signed  by  the  Congress  Secretary. 
Whilst  the  authorities  behaved  like  madmen  and  forgot 
themselves  in  their  fit  of  anger,  we  are  not,  if  that  report 
is  to  be  believed,  without  fault.  The  volunteer  pro- 
cession was  not  a  civil  demonstration.  It  was  insisted 
upon  in  spite  of  a  sharp  division  of  opinion  in  our  own 
ranks.  Though  the  crowds  that  gathered  were  not 
violent,  the  spirit  of  the  demonstration  was  undoubtedly 
violent.     It    was  an   impotent    show  of  force,  wihplly 


728  ON    THE    EVE    OF    ARREST 

unnecessary  for  our  purpose  and  hardly  a  preclude  to 
civil  disobedience.  That  the  authorities  could  have 
handled  the  procession  in  a  (better  spirit,  that  they 
ought  not  to  have  interfered  with  the  Swaraj  flag,  that 
they  ought  not  to  have  objected  to  the  seizure  of  the 
Town  Hall  which  'was  town  property  as  Congress 
offices  in  view 'of  the  fact  that  it  had  been  so  used  for 
some  months  with  the  permission  of  the  Town  Council, 
is  all  very  true.  But  we  have  ceased  to  give  credit  to 
the  authorities  for  common  or  reasonable  sense.  On  the 
contrary,  we  have  set  ourselves  against  them  because 
we  expect  nothing  but  unreason  and  violence  from 
them,  and  knowing  that  the  authorities  would  d.ct  no 
better  than  they  did,  we  should  have  refrained  from  all 
the  previous  irritating  demonstrations.  That  the  U.  P. 
Government  are  making  a  mountain  out  of  a  mole  hill, 
that  they  are  discounting  their  own  provocation  and 
the  provocation  given  by  the  murdered  men  at  Chauri 
Chaura  is  nothing  new.  All  that  I  am  concerned  with 
is  that  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  claim  that  we  have 
given  them  no  handle  whatsoever.  It  is  therefore  as  a 
penance  that  civil  disobedience  has  been  suspended.  But 
if  the  atmosphere  clears  up,  if  the  people  realise  the  full 
value  of  the  adjective  'civil'  and  become  in  reality  non- 
violent both  in  spirit  and  in  deed,  and  if  I  find  that  the 
Government  still  do  not  yield  to  the  people's  will,  I 
shall  certainly  be  the  first  person  to  advocate  individual 
or  mass  civil  disobedience  as  the  case  may  be.  There 
is  no  escape  from  that  duty  without  the  people  wishing 
to  surriender  their  birthright. 

I  doubt  the  sincerity  of  Englishmen  who  are  born 
fighters  when  they  dgclaim  against  civil  disobedience 
as  if  it  was  a  diabolical   crime   to   be  punished  with 


IF    I    AM    ARRESTED  729 

exemplary  severity.  If  they  have  glorified  armed 
rebellions  and  resorted  to  them  on  due  occasions,  why 
are  many  of  them  up  in  arms  against  the  very  idea  of 
civil  resistance  ?  I  can  understand  their  saying  that 
the  attainment  !of  a  non-violent  atmosphere  is  a 
virtual  impossibility  in  India.  1  do  not  believe 
it,  but  I  can  appreciate  such  an  objection.  What 
however  is  beyond  my  comprehension  is  the  dead  set 
made  against  the  very  theory  of  civil  disobedience  as  if 
it  was  something  immoral.  To  expect  me  to  give  up 
the  preaching  of  civil  disobedience  is  to  ask  me  to  give 
up  preaching  peace  which  would  be  tantamount  to 
asking  me  to  commit  suicide. 

I  have  now  been  told  that  the  Government  are 
compassing  the  destruction  of  the  three  weeklies 
which  I  am  conducting,  viz.,  Young  India,  Gujarati 
Nava  Jivan  and  Hindi  Nava  Jivan.  I  hope  that  the 
rumour  has  no  foundation.  I  claim  that  these  three 
journals  are  insistently  preaching  nothing  but  peace  and 
goodwill.  Extraordinary  care  is  taken  to  give  nothing 
but  truth  as  I  find  it,  to  the  reader?.  Every  inadvertent 
inacuracy  is  admitted  and  corrected.  The  circulation  of 
all  the  weeklies  is  daily  growing.  The  conductors  are 
yoluntary  workers,  in  some  cases  taking  no  salary 
whatsoever  and  in  the  others  receiving  mere  mainte- 
nence  money.  Profits  are  all  returned  to  the  subscribers 
dn  some  shape  or  other,  or  are  utilised  for  some  construc- 
tive public  activity  or  other.  I  cannot  say  that  I  shall  not 
feel  a  pang  if  these  journals  cease  to  exjst.  But  it  is  the 
easiest  thing  for  the  Government  to  put  them  out.  The 
publishers  .and  pi  inters  are  all  friends  and  co-workers. 
My  compact  with  them  is  that  the  moment  Government 
«sks  for  security,  that  moment  the  newspapers  must  stop. 


730  ON   THE    EVE    OF    ARREST 

I  am  conducting  them  upon  the  assumption  that  what*- 
ever  view  the  Government  may  take  of  my  activities, 
they  at  least  give  me  credit  for  preaching  through  these- 
newspapers  nothing  but  the  purest  non-voilence  and 
truth  according  to  my  light. 

I  hope,  however,  -that  whether  the  Government 
arrest  me  or  whether  they  stop  by  direct  or  indirect 
means  the  publication  of  the  three  journals,  the  public 
will  remain  unmoved.  It  is  a  matter  of  no  pride  or 
pleasure  to  me  but  one  of  humiliation  that  the  Govern- 
ment refrain  from  arresting  me  for  fear  of  an  outbreak 
of  universal  violence  and  awful  slaughter  that  any  such, 
outbreak  must  involve.  It  would  be  a  sad  commentary 
upon  my  preaching  of,  and  upon  the  Congress  and 
Khilafat  pledge  of,  non-violence i  if  my  incarceration 
was  to  be  a  signal  for  a  storm  all  over  the  country^ 
Siirely,  it  would  be  a  demonstration  of  India's  unreadi- 
ness for  a  peaceful  rebellion.  It  would  be  a  triumph 
for  the  bureaucracy,  and  it  would  be  almost  a  final 
proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  position  taken  up  by  the 
Moderate  friends,  viz,  that  India  can  never  be  prepared 
for  non  violent  disobedience.  I  hope  therefore  that  the 
Congress  and  Khilafat  workers  will  strain  every  nerve 
and  show  that  all  the  fears  entertained  by  the  Govern- 
ment and  their  supporters  were  totally  wrong.  I  promise 
that  such  act  of  self-restraint  will  take  us  many  a  mile 
towards  our  triple  goal. 

There  should  therefore  be  no  hartals,  no  noisy 
demonstrations,  no  processions.  I  would  regard  the 
observance  of  perfect  peace  on  my  arrest  as  a  mark  of 
high  honour  paid  to  me  by  my  countrymen.  What  I 
would  love  to  see,  however,  is  the  constructive  work  of 
the  Congress  going  on  with  clockwork  regularity  and 


IF    I    AM    ARRESTED  731 

the  speed  of  the  Punjab  express.  I  would  love  to  see 
people  who  have  hitherto  kept  back,  voluntarily 
discarding  all  their  foreign  cloth  and  making  a 
bonfire  of  it.  Let  them  fulfil  the  whole  of  the 
constructive  programme  framed  at  Bardoli,  and  they 
will  not  only  release  me  and  other  prisoners,  but  they 
will  also  inaugurate  Swaraj  and  secure  redress  of  the 
Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs.  Let  them  remember 
the  four  pillars  of  Swaraj  :  Non-violence,  Hindu- 
Moslem-Sikh-Parsi-Christian-Jew  unity,  total  removal 
of  untouchability  and  manufacture  of  hand-spun  and 
hand-woven  Khaddar  completely  displacing  foreign 
cloth. 

I  donot  know  that  my  removal  from  their  midst 
will  not  be  a  benefit  to  the  people,  In  the  first  instance 
the  superstition  about  the  possession  of  supernatural 
powers  by  me  will  be  demolished,  .  Secondly,  the  belief 
that  people  have  accepted  the  non  co-operation  pro- 
gramme only  under  my  influence  and  that  they  have  nd 
independent  faith  in  it  will  be  disproved.  Thirdly,  our 
capacity  for  Swaraj  will  be  proved  by  our  ability  to 
conduct  our  acti'v'ities  in  spite  of  the  withdrawal  even  of 
the  originator  of  the  current  programme.  Fourthly  and 
selfishly,  it  will  give  me  a  quiet  and  physical  rest^ 
which  perhaps  I  deserve. 


MESSAGE   TO  CO-WORKERS. 

[In  the  course  of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Genera!  Secretary  of 
the  Congress  a  couple  of  days  before  his  arrest,  Mr.  Gandhi  wrote 
as  follows  . — ] 

You  ask  me  for  my  future  programme.  I  have 
just  sent  you  a  telegram  as  follows  : — 

"  In  Ahmedabad  till  Saturday;  Surat  Sunday; 
Monday;  Bardoli  Tuesday.'' 

But  that  is  '  Government  willing,  '  for  I  have  per- 
sistent rumours  being  thrust  upon  me  that  my  leave  is 
now  more  than  overdue,  and  I  am  also  told  that  I  shall 
be  relieved  of  my  burdens  inside  of  7  days.  Subject, 
therefore,  to  that  happy  contingency,  you  have  the 
foregoing  programme  If  I  am  arrested,  I  look  to  you 
and  all  who  are  out  to  keep  absolute  peace.  It  will  be 
the  best  honour  that  the  country  can  do  me.  Nothing 
would  pain  me  more,  in  whatever  jail  I  may  find 
myself,  than  to  be  informed  by  my  custodians  that  a 
single  head  has  been  broken  by  or  on  behalf  of  non- 
co-operators,  a  single  man  had  been  insulted  or  a  single 
tuilding  damaged.  If  the  people  or  the  workers  have 
at  all  understood  my  message,  they  will  keep  exemplary 
peace.  I  would  certainly  be  delighted  if  in  the  night 
following  my  arrest,  there  was  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  India,  a  bonfire  of  all  foreign  cloth 
voluntarily  surrendered  by  the  people  without  the 
slightest  compulsion  having  been  exercised,  and  a 
fixed  determination  to  use  nothing  but  khaddar,  and 
till  then  in  the  glorious  weather  of  India  to  wear 
nothing   but   a    piece    of    loin-cloth,  and   in    the   case 


MESSAGE    TO   CO-WORKERS  733^ 

of  Mussulmans,  the  minimum  required  by  religious 
obligation.  I  would  certainly  love  to  be  told 
that  there  was  a  phenomenal  demand  for  spinning 
wheels  and  that  all  workers  who  did  not  know  hand- 
spinning  had  commenced  it  in  right  earnest.  The  "more 
I  think  over  our  future  programme,  and  the  more  news 
I  get  about  the  spirit  of  violence  that  has  silently  but 
surely  crept  into  our  ranks,  the  more  convinced  I  am 
that  even  individual  civil  disobedience  would  be  wrong.. 
It  would  be  much  better  to  be  forsaken  by  everybody 
and  to  be  doing  the  right  thing  than  to  be  doing  the 
wrong  thing  for  the  sake  of  boasting  a  large  following... 
Whether  we  are  few  or  whether  we  are  many,  so  long 
as  we  believe  in  the  programme  of  non-violence  there- 
is  no  absolution  from  the  full  constructive  programme. 
Enforce  it  to-day,  and  the  whole  country  is  ready  for 
mass  civil  disobedience  tft-morrow.  Fail  in  the  eflTort,. 
and  you  are  not  ready  even  for  individual  civil  dis* 
obedience.  Nor  is  the  matter  difficult.  If  all  the 
members  of  the  All-India  Congress  Committee  and' 
Provincial  Congress  Committees  are  convinced  of  the 
correctness  of  the  premises  I  have  laid  down, -it  can  be 
done.  The  pity  of  it  is  that  they  are  not  so  convinced.. 
A  policy  is  a  temporary  creed  liable  to  be  changed,  but 
while  it  holds  good  it  has  got  to  be  pursued  with 
apostolic  zeal. 


MESSAGE  TO  KERALA. 


[The  following  message  to  Kerala  was  dictated  by  Mr.  Gandhi 
an  hour  and  a  half  before  his  arrest.  It  was  addressed  to  Mr. 
U.  Gopala  Menon,  Editor  of  "  Naveena  Keralatn".] 

The  only  message  that  I  can  send  in  the  midst  of 
■overwhelming  work  is  for  both  Hindus  and  Moplahs  to 
realise  their  future  responsibility,  not  to  brood  over  the 
past.  How  to  reach  the  Moplahs  as  also  the  class  of 
Hindus  whom  yon  would  want  to  reach  through  your 
newspaper  is  more  than  I  can  say,  but  I  know  that 
Hindus  should  cease  to  be  cowardly.  The  Moplahs 
should  cease  to  be  cruel.  In  other  words,  each  party 
should  become  truly  religious.  According  to  the 
"Sastras  Hinduism  is  certainly  not  the  creed  of  cowards. 
Equally  certainly,  Islam  is  not  the  creed  of  the  cruel- 
The  only  way  the  terrible  problem  before  you  can  be 
solved  is  by  a  few  picked-Hindus  and  Mussulmans 
working  away  in  perfect  unison  and  with  faith  in  their 
mission.  They  ought  not  to  be  baffled  by  absence  of 
results  in  the  initial  stages,  and  if  you  can  get  together 
from  among  your  readers  a  number  of  such  men  and 
women  your  paper  will  have  served  a  noble  purpose. 


AFTER  THE  ARREST 


TfiE  ARREST. 


Mr.  Gandhi  was  arrested  at  the  Satyagralja  Ashram,  Ahmedabad 
■on  Friday  the  10th  March,  for  certain  articles  published  in 
his  Young  India.  On  the  llth  noon  Messrs.  Gandlii  and 
Sankarlal  Banker  the  publisher  were  placed  before  Mr.  Brown, 
Assistant  Magistrate,  the  Court  being  held  in  the  Divisional 
Commissioner's  Office  at  Sahibah.  'Ihe  prosecution  was  conducted 
by  Rao  Bahadur  Girdharilal,  Public  Prosecutor.  The  Superinten- 
dent of  Police,  Ahmedabad,  the  first  witness,  produced  the 
Bombay  Goverment's  authority  to  lodge  a  complaint  for  four 
articles  published  in  Young  India,  dated  the  15th  June,  l92l, 
entitled  "  Disaffection  a  Virtue  ",  dated  the  atth  September, 
"Tampering  with  Loyalty''  dated  the  35th  December,  "The 
Puzzle  and  Its  Solution "  and  dated  the  28rd  February  1922, 
"  bhaking  the  Manes."  Two  formal  police  witnesses  were  then 
produced.    The  accused  declined  to  cross-examine  the  witnesses. 

MR.  GANDHI'S  STATEMENT. 
Mr.  M.  K.  Gandhi,  53,  farmer  and  weaver  by  profes- 
sion, residing  at  Safyagraha  Ashram,  Sabarmati,  said  : 
I  simply  wish  to  state  that  when  the  proper  time 
comes  I  shall  plead  guilty  so  far  as  disaffection  towards 
the  Government  is  concerned.  It  is  quite  true  that  I  am 
the  Editor  of  Young  India  and  that  the  articles  read  in 
my  presence  were  written  by  me  and  the  proprietors 
and  publishers  had  permitted  me  to  control  the  whole 
policy  of  the  paper. 

The  case  then  having  been  committed  to  ihe  Sessions 
Mr.  Gandhi  was  taken  to  the  Sabarmati  Jail  where  he 
was  detained  till  the  hearing  which  was  to  come  off  on 
March  18, 


THE  MESSAGE  OF  THE  CHARKA. 


[^.Irs.  Barojini  Naidu,  who  saw  Mr.  Gandhi  in  jail  on  Saturday 
the  11th  March  brought  the  following  message  to  Bombay  from 
him; — ] 

I  do  not  want  Bombay  to  mourn  over  the  arrest  of 
one  of  its  mute  Secretaries  and  myself  but  to  rejoice 
over  our  rest.  Whilst  I  would  like  an  automatic  res- 
ponse to  all  the  items  of  Non-Co-cperation,  I  would  like 
Bombay  to  concentrate  upon  the  "  charka  and  khaddar." 
The  monied  men  of  Bombay  can  buy  all  the  handspun 
and  handwoven  '  khaddar  '  that  could  be  manufactured 
throughout  India. ..The  Women  of  Bombay,if  they  really 
mean  to  do  their  share  of  work,  should  religiously  spin 
for  a  certain  time  everyday  for  the  sake  of  the  country, 
I  wish  that  no  one  will  think  of  following  us  to  jail.  It 
would  be  criminal  to  court  imprisonment  till  a  complete 
non-violent  atmosphere  is  attained.  One  test  of  such 
atmosphere  will  be  for  us  to  put  the  Englishmen  and 
Moderates  at  ease.  This  can  be  done  only  if  we  have 
good-will  towards  them  in  spite  of  our  differences. 


LETTER  TO  HAKIM  AJMAL  KHAN 


[The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Gandhi  to  Hakim 
Ajmal  Khan  from  the  Sabarmaty  Jail,  dated  the  12th  March,  1922.] 

My  dear  Hakimji, 

Since  my  arrest  this  is  the  first  letter  I  have 
commenced  to  write  after  having  ascertained  that 
under  the  Jail  Rules  I  am  entitled  to  write  as  many 
letters  as  I  like  as  an  under-trial  prisoner.  Of  course 
you  know  that  Mr.  Shankerlal  Banker  is  with  me.  I 
am  happy  that  he  is  with  me.  Every  one  knows  how 
near  he  has  come  to  me — naturally,  therefore,  both  of 
us  are  glad  that  we  have  been  arrested  together. 

I  write  this  to  you  in  your  capacity  as  Chairman 
of  the  Working  Committee  and,  therefore,  leader  of 
both  Hindus  and  Mussulmans  or  better  still,  of  all 
India. 

I  write  to  you  also  as  one  of  the  foremost  leaders 
of  Mussulmans,  but  above  all  I  write  this  to  you  a3  an 
esteemed  friend.  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  knowing 
you  since  1915.  Our  daily  growing  association  has 
enabled  me  to  seize  your  friendship  as  a  treasure.  A 
staunch  Mussulman,  you  have  shown  in  your  own  life 
what  Hindu-Muslim  unity  means. 

We  all  now  realise,  as  we  have  never  before 
realised  that  without  that  unity  we  cannot  attain  our 
freedom,  and  I  make  bold  to  say  that  without  that 
unity  the  Mussulmans  of  India  cannot  render  the 
Khilafat  all  the  aid  they  wish.  Divided,  we  must  ever 
remain  slaves.  This  unity,  therefore,  cannot  be  a  mere 
policy  to  be  discarded  when  it  does  not  suit  us.  We 
4H 


738  ON   THE   EVE    OF    ARREST 

can  discard  it  only  when  we  are  tired  of  Swaraj. 
Hindu-Muslim  unity  must  be  our  creed  to  last  for  all 
time  and  under  all  circumstances. 

■  Nor  must  that  unity  be  a  menace  to  the  minorities 
— the  Pdrsees,  the  Christians,  the  Jews  or  the  powerful 
Sikhs.  If  we  seek  to  crush  any  of  them,  we  shall 
some  day  want  to  fight  each  other. 

1  have  been  drawn  so  close  to  you  chiefly  because 
I  know  that  you  believe  in  Hindu-Muslim  unity  in  the 
full  sense  of  the  term. 

This  unity  in  my  opinion  is  unattainable  without 
our  adopting  non-violence  as  a  firm  pohcy.  I  call  it  a 
policy  because  it  is  limited  to  the  preservation  of  that 
unity.  But  it  follows  that  thirty  crores  of  Hindus 
and  Mussulmans,  united  not  for  a  time  but  for  all  time, 
can  defy  all  the  powers  of  the  world  and  should  con- 
sider it  a  cowardly  act  to  resort  to  violence  in  their 
dealings  with  the  English  administrators.  We  have 
hitherto  feared  them  and  their  guns  in  our  simplicity. 
The  moment  we  realise  our  combined  strength,  we 
shall  consider  it  unmanly  to  fear  them  and,  there- 
fore, ever  to  think  of  striking  them.  Hence  am  I 
anxious  and  impatient  to  persuade  my  countrymen 
to  feel  non-violent,  not  out  of  our  weakness  but 
out  of  our  strength.  But  you  and  I  know  that  we 
have  not  yet  evolved  the  non-violence  of  the  strong 
and  we  have  not  done  so,  because  the  Hindu- 
Muslim  union  has  not  gone  much  beyond  the  stage  of 
policy.  There  is  Still  too  much  mutual  distrust  and 
consequent  fear.  I  am  not  disappointed.  The  progress 
we  have  made  in  that  direction  is  indeed  phenomenal. 
We  seem  to  have  covered  in  eighteen  months'  time  the 
work  of  a  generation.    But  infinitely  more  is  necessary. 


LETTER   TO    HAKIM    AJMAL    KHAN  739 

T^either  the  classes  nor  the  masses  feel  instinctively 
that  our  anion  is  as  necessary  as  the  breath  of  our 
nostrils. 

For  this  consummation  we  must,  it  seems  to  me, 
rely  more  upon  quality  than  quantity.  Given  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  Hindus  and  Mussulmans  with  almost  a 
fanatical  faith  in  everlasting  friendship  between  the 
Hindu  and  the  Mussulmans  of  India,  we  shall  not  be 
lonf;  before  the  unity  permeates  the  masses.  A  few  of 
lis  must  iirst  clearly  understand  that  we  can  make  no 
headway  without  accepting  non-violence  in  thought,  word 
and  deed  for  the  full  realisation  of  our  political  ambi- 
tion. I  would,  therefore,  beseech  you  and  the  members 
of  the  Working  Committee  and  the  All-India  Congress 
Committee  to  see  that  our  ranks  contain  no  workers  who 
do  not  fully  realise  the  essential  truth  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  place  before  you.  A  living  faith  cannot  be 
manufactured  by  the  rule  of  majority. 

To  me  the  visible  symbol  of  All-India  unity  and, 
therefore,  of  the  acceptance  of  non-violence  as  an  in- 
dispensable means  for  the  realisation  of  our  political 
ambition  is  undoubtedly  the  Charka,  i.e.,  khaddar, 
■Only  those  who  believe  in  cultivating  a  non-violent 
spirit  and  eternal  friendship  between  Hindus  and 
Mussulmans  will  daily  and  religiously  spin.  Universal 
hand-spinning  and  the  universal  manufacture  and  use  of 
hand-spun  and  hand-woven  khaddar  will  be  a  substan- 
tial, if  not  absolute,  proof  of  the  real  unity  and  non- 
violence. And  it  will  be  a  recognition  of  a  living 
kinship  with  the  dumb  masses.  Nothing  can  possibly 
unify  and  reviv^ify  India  as  the  acceptance  by  All-India 
of   the    spinning   wheel   as  a    daily    sacrament  and  the 


740  ON    THE    EVE    OF    ARREST 

Whilst,  therefore,  I  '  am  anxious  that  more  title- 
holders  should  give  up  their  titles,  lawyers  law-courts, 
scholars  the  GovermneDt  schools  or  colleges,  the  Coun- 
cillors the  Councils  and  the  soldiers  and  the  civilians, 
their  posts,  I  would  urge  the  nation  to  restrict  its  acti- 
vity in  this  direction  only  to  the  consolidation  of  the 
results  already  achieved  and  to  trust  its  strength  to- 
command  further  abstentions  from  association  with  a 
system  we  are  seeking  to  mend  or  end. 

Moreover,  the  workers    are  too    few.     I  would  not 
waste  a  single  worker    to  day  on  destructive  work  v/hen^ 
we  have  such  an  enormous  amount  of  constructive  work- 
But   perhapfe    the     most    conclusive   argument  against 
devoting  further  time  to    destructive  propaganda  is  the 
fact  that    tl-e  spirit  of    intolerance   which   is   a  form  of 
violence    has  never  been  so  rampant  as  now.    Co-opera- 
tors ai-e    estranged   from  us ;  they   fear   us.     They  say 
that  we  are  establishing  a  worse   bureaucracy  than  the 
existing  one.     We   must  remove   every   cause   for  such 
anxiety.    We  must  go  out    of  our   way    to  win  them  to 
our  side.     We  must   make    Englishmen    safe   from   all 
harm  from  our  side.     I  should   not    have  to   labour  the 
point,  if  it  was  clear  to  every    one  as  it  is  to  you  and  to 
me  that  our  pledge  of  non-violence    implies  utter  humi- 
lity and  goodwill    even   towards  our  bitterest  opponent. 
This  necessary  spirit  will    be   automatically  realised,  if 
only  Indiawil!   devote  her  sole  attention  to  the  work  of 
construction   suggested  by  me. 

I  flatter  myself  with  the  belief  that  my  imprison- 
ment is  quite  enough  for  a  long  time  to  come.  I  believe 
in  all  humility  that  I  have  no  ill-will  against  any  one. 
Some  of  my  friends  would  not  have  to  be  as  non-violent 
as  I  am.     But  we  contemplated  the    imprisonment  of  the 


LETTER   TO    HAKIM   AJMAL    KHAN  741 

most  innocent.  If  I  may  be  allowed  that  claim,  it  is 
clear  that  I  should  not  be  followed  to  prison  by  any- 
body at  all.  We  do  want  to  paralyse  the  Government 
considered  as  a  system,  not  however,  by  intimidation 
but  by  the  irresistible  pressure  of  our  innocence.  In  my 
opinion  it  would  be  intimidation  to  fill  the  jails  anyhow 
And  why  should  more  innocent  men  seek  Jimprisonment 
till  one  considered  to  be  the  most  Jinnocent  has  been 
found  inadequate  for  the  purpose. 

My  caution  against  further  courtingjjof  imprison- 
ment does  not  mean  that  we  are  now  to  shirk  imprison- 
ment. If  the  Government  will  take  away  every  non-viol- 
ent non-co-operator,  I  should  welcome  it.  Only  it  should 
not  be  because  of  our  civil  disobedience,  defensive  or 
aggressive.  Nor,  I  hope,  will  the  country  fret  over 
those  who  are  in  jail.  It  will  do  them  and  the  country 
good  to  serve  the  full  term  of  their  imprisonment.  They 
can  be  fitly  discharged  before  their  time  only  by  an 
act  of  the  Swaraj  Parliament.  And  I  entertain  an 
absolute  conviction  that  universal  adoption  of  khaddar 
is  Swaraj. 

I  have  refrained  from  mentioning  untouchability,  I 
am  sure  every  good  Hindu  believes  that  it  has  got  to  go. 
Its  removal  is  as  necessary  as  the  realisation  of  Hindu 
Muslim  unity. 

I  have  placed  before  you  a  programme  which  is  in 
my  opinion  the  quickest  and  the  best.  No  impatient 
Khilafatist  can  devise  a  better.  May  God  give  you 
health  and  wisdom  to  guide  the  country  to  her  destined 
goal, 

I  am.  Yours  Sincerely,  (Sd)  M.  K.  Gandhi. 


LliTTER  TO  SRIMATI  URMILA  DEVI 


[The  foUonviag,  letter  was  addressed  to  Srimati.  Urmila  Devi, 
Nari  Karma  Mandir,  Calcutta,  from  the  Sabarmati  Jail,  under 
date  the  18th  instant.] 

My  dear  sister, 

You  have  neglected  me  entfrely.  Biit  I  kirow  that 
you  have  done  so  to  save  my  time. 

r  waflt  you  to  devote  the  whole  of  your  time  to 
nothing  but  charka  and  khaddar.  It  is  the  only  visible 
symbol  of  peate,  Ali-India  Unity  and  our  oneness  with 
the  masses  including  the  socaHled  untouchables. 

Please  show  this  to  Basanti  Devi  and  Deshaban- 
dhu.  I  hope  he  is  well  and  strong.  Prisoners  cannot 
afford  to  be  ill. 

You  know    of  course  that  Sharikerlal  Blanker  is  with: 
me. 

With  love  to  you  all. 


INTERVIEW  IN  JAIL, 


[The  B6mbay' Chronicle  ofr  March  14  publisfaed  the  following; 
notes  of  an  interview  with  Mr.  Gandhi  suppHed  by  the  Associated 
Press*  Mx.  Gordhandas  I.  Patel  the  Joint i  Honorary  Secretary 
pf  the  Millowners  Association  and  a  Member  of  the  Ahmedabad 
Mills  Tilak  Swaraj  Fund,  in  his  private  capacity,  put  a  few  queries- 
to  Mr.  Gandhi.] 

N.  C.  O.  Movement. 
Q* — In    case  you  are  convicted   will  the  Non-Cor- 
operation  movement  be  adversely  affected  ? 


INTERVIEW   IN    JAIL  743 

A. — The  words  "In  case"  are  inappropffate.  The 
more  hafsh  the  punishment,  the  more  strong  will  the 
Non-Co-operation  movement  be.  This  is  thy  firm  con- 
viction. 

Q- — After  your  conviction  if  Government  resort  to 
rigorous  repressive  measures,  can  any  district  Or 
tahsil   embark  upon  mass  civil  disobedience? 

A. — Certainly  not.  It  is  my  emphatic  advice  that 
whatever  repressive  measures  Government  may  adopt 
the  people  should  in  no  circumstances  indulge  in  any 
movement  of  mass  civil  disobedience. 

Q — What  should  be  the  next  move  of  the  nation 
now  ? 

A. — The  first  and  foremost  duty  of  the  nation  is  to 
Iceep  perfect  non-violence.  Mutual  ill-will  and  feelings 
of  hatred  among  the  different  sections  of  people  have 
taken  such  a  strong  root  that  constant  effort  to  eradicate 
them  is  absolutely  essential  and  the  Non-Co-operatOrs 
should  take  the  lead,  because  their  number  is  consider- 
able. There  is  a  considerable  lack  of  toleration,  courtesy 
and  forbearance  amongst  Non-Co  operators  and  it  is  my 
firm  belief  that  is  the  sole  reason  why  our  victory  is 
delayed  and  that  I  regard  the  "charkha"  as  the  most 
potent  weapon  to  secure  the  required  peace,  courtesy  etc. 
Hence  I  would  only  advice  that  the.  people  should  become 
immediately  occupied  with  the  'charka"  and  khaddar 
jirepared  therefrom.  No  sooner  could  we  effect  a  com- 
plete boycott  of  foreign  cloth  and  the  use  of  hand-spun 
and  handwoven  "khaddar"  than  Swaraj  is  in  hand  and 
in  consequence  whereof,  the  doors  of  the  jail  would  be 
antomaticalty  laid  open  and  my  companions  and  myself 
would  be  able  to  be  out.  I  anxiously  await  such  an 
auspicious  occasion. 


744  ON   THE   EVE    OF   ARREST 

Q. — What  is  your  opinion  in  regard  to  the  remarks 
made  by  Sir  William  Vincent  against  the  Ali  Brothers  ? 

A. — There  is  nothing  new  in  it.  The  Brothers 
have  given  out  in  the  clearest  terms  what  they  believed 
to  be  true.  This  is  considered  to.  be  their  greatest  fault 
and  I  too  am  committing  similar  faults.  For  the  same 
reason  I  regard  them  both  as  my  real  brothers. 
Mr.  Montagu's  Resignation. 

Q. — Will  India  suffer  any  harm  in  consequence  of 
Mr.  Montagu's  resignation  ? 

A. — I  certainly  do  not  believe  that  there  will  be 
any  harm.  But  Mr.  Montagu  certainly  deserves  credit 
for  what  he  has  done. 

Q. — Is  there  any  logical  connection  between  the 
political  conditions  of  England  and    India  as  present  ? 

A.^ — There  certainly  is  such  a  connection.  If  the 
programme  which  I  have  laid  down  for  India  is  carried 
through,  it  will  produce  a  very  salutary  effect  not  only 
on  the  political  situation  of  England  but  on  that  of  the 
whole  world. 

Q. — What  do  you  think  of  the  coming  Paris 
Conference  ? 

A. — At  present,  I  have  no  high  expectation  from 
that,  as  it  is  my  firm  belief  that  as  long  as  India  does 
not  show  completely  the  miracle  of  "  charkha  "  the 
problem  of  Khilafat  will  not  be  properly  solved. 

Q. — What  are  your  instructions  regarding  the 
harmonious  relations  between  the  mill-hands  and  the 
capitalists  of  the  place,  in  your  absence  ? 

A. — Repose  full  confidence  in  Anusuya  Bahen. 

Q. — What  message  do  you  send  to  the  people  of 
Ahmedabad  ? 

A. — The  people  of  Ahmedabad  should  take  to 
"  Khaddar  ",  preserve  perfect  unity  and  support  the 
current  movement. 


LETTER  TO  MOULANA  ABDUL  BARI. 


[The  following   letter  was  written  by  Mr.  Gandhi  from  the 
Ahmedabad  jail  soon  after  his  arrest.] 

Dear  Maulana  Sahib, 

Just  now  I  am  enjoying  myself  in  my  house  of 
freedom.  Hakinaji  and  other  friends  are  here.  I_feel 
your  absence,  but  that  does  not  much  worry  me 
since  we  had  ample  discussion  at  Ajmer.  I  know 
that  you  will  certainly,  steadily  stick  to  those 
principles  that  formed  the  subject  of  our  talk.  I 
will-  earnestly  request  you  to  avoid  making  any  ■ 
speeches  in  the  public.  Personally  after  deep  thought 
I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  if  there  is  anything 
that  can  serve  an  effective  and  visible  symbol  of  the 
Hindu-Muslim  unity,  it  is  the  adoption  of  charka  and 
pure  khaddar  dress  prepared  from  hand-spun  yarn  by  the 
rank  and  file  of  both  the  communities.  Only  universal 
acceptance  of  this  cult  can  supply  us  with  a  common 
idea  and  afford  a  common  basis  of  action. 

The  use  of  khaddar  cannot  become  universal  until 
both  the  communities  take  to  it.  The  universal  adop- 
tion of  charka  and  khaddar  therefore  would  awaken 
India.  It  will  also  be  a  proof  of  our  capacity  to 
satisfy  all  our  needs.  Ever  since  the  commencement 
of  our  present  struggle  we  have  been  feeling  the 
necessity  of  boycotting  foreign  cloth.  I  venture  to 
suggest  that  when  khaddar  comes  universally  in  use, 
the  boycott  of  foreign  cloth  will  automatically  follow. 
Speaking  for  myself,  charka  and  khaddar  have  a 
special    religious    significance     to    me    because     they 


746  ON   THE    EVE   OF    ARREST 

are  a  symbol  of  kinship  between  the  members  of 
both  the  communities  with  the  hunger  and  disease- 
stricken  pbor.  It  is  by  virtue  of  the  fact  that  our 
movement  can  to-day  be  described  as  moral  and 
economic  as  well  as  political.  So  long  as  we  cannot 
achieve  this  little  thing,  1  feel  certain  success  is 
impossible.  Again  the  khaddar  movement  can  succee  d 
only  when  we  recognise  nbn-violence  as  an  essentia! 
condition  for  the  attainment  of  Swaraj  and  Khilafat 
both.  Therefore  the  khaddar  programme  is  the  only 
effective  and  successful  programme  that  I  can  place 
before  the  country  at  present.  I  was  so  glad  when  you 
told  me  that  you  would  begin  to  spin  regularly  when  I 
be  arrested.  lean  only  say  that  every  man,  woman 
and  child  ought  to  spin  as  a  religious  duty  till  a 
complete  and  permanent  boycott  of  foreign  cloth  is 
effected,  the  Khilafat  and  Punjab  wrongs  satisfactorily 
redressed  and  the  Swaraj  attained.  May  I  entreat  you 
to  use  all  your  influence  for  popularising  Charkha 
among  your  Muslim  brethren. 


MESSAGE  TO  THE  PARSIS. 


[Mr.  Gandhi  addressed    tbe  following   message   to  the  Farsees 
from  the  Sabarmati  Jail  through  Mr.  B.F.  Bharucha  ; — ] 

How  can  I  forget  to  write  to  you  ?  Please  tell  my 
Parsee  sisters  and  brothers  never  to  lose  faith  in  this 
movement.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  up  my 
confidence  in  them.  There  is  no  other  programme  before 
me  than  that  of  khadi  and  charkha,  charkha  and 
khadi.  Hand-spun  yarn  must  be  as  current  among  us 
as  are  small  coins.  To  attain  this  object  we  can  put  on 
no  other  cloth   than  hand-spun  and  hand-woven   khadi  _ 


TRUTH    OF    THE    SPiNNING    WHEEL  7iT 

So    long  as   India  is   not  able   to  do   this  much    Civil 
Disobedience  will  be  futile,   Swaraj  cannot  be  attained, 
and  Khilafat  and  the  Punjab  wrongs  are  impossible  to 
be  righted.     If  this  conviction   is  driven    home  to  you, 
keep  on  turning  out  yarn  and  using  khaddar.  Be  expert 
spinners. 

Bande  Mataram  from  Mohandas. 


TRUTH  OF  THE  SPINNING  WHEEL. 


[The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Gandhi  to  a  devot- 
ed friend.] 

Sabarmati  Jail,  17th  March  1922. 

My  Dear  Child, 

Well,  I  hope  you  were  all  happy  over  the  news  of 
my  arrest.  It  has  given  me  great  joy,  because  it  came- 
just  when  I  had  purified  myself  by  the  Bardoli  penance 
and  was  merely  concentrating  upon  no  experiment,  but 
the  proud  work  of  khaddar  manufacture,  i.e.  hand- 
spinning.  I  would  like  you  to  see  the  truth  of  the 
spinning  wheel-  It  and  it  alone  is  the  visible  outward' 
expression  of  the  inner  feeling  for  humanity.  If  we  feel 
for  the  starving  masses  of  India,  we  must  introduce  the 
spinning-wheel  into  their  homes.  We  must,  therefore, 
become  experts  and  in  order  to  make  them  realise  the 
necessity  of  it  we  must  spin  daily  as  a  sacrement.  If 
you  have  understood  the  secret  of  the  spinning-wheel, 
if  yon  realise  what  is  a  symbol  of  love  of  mankind,  you 
will  engage  in  no  other  outward  activity.  If  many 
people  do  not  follow  you,  you  have  more  leisure  for 
spinning,  carding  or  weaving. 

With  love  to  you  all.     Bapu. 


LETTER  TO  MR.  ANDREWS. 


[The  following  letter  was  addressed  by  Mr.  Gaddhi  to  Mr. 
C  F.  Andrews  from  Sabarmati  Jail,  in  answer  to  a  letter  express- 
ing deep  regret  that  on  account  of  the  railway  strike,  he  was  not 
able  to  leave  his  work  and  go  to  him  before  the  trial  was 
«ver  : — ] 

Sabarmati  Jail,  March  17. 

"  My  dear  Cliarlie,  I  have  just  got  your  letter. 
You  were  quite  right  in  not  leaving  your  work.  You 
should  certainly  go  to  Gurudev,  and  be  with  him  as 
long  as  hs  needs  you.  I  would  certainly  like  your 
^oing  to  the  Ashram  (Sabarmati),  and  staying  there 
a  while,  when  you  are  free.  But  I  woirid  not  expect 
you  to  see  me  in  jail ;  I  am  as  happy  as  a  bird  1  My 
ideal  of  a  jail  life — especially  that  of  a  civil  resister, — 
is  to  be  cut  off  entirely  from  all  connection  with  the 
outside  world.  To  be  allowed  a  visitor  is  a  privilege 
— a  civil  resister  may  neither  seek,  nor  receive,  a  pri- 
vilege. The  religious  value  of  jail  discipline  is 
enhanced  by  renouncing  privileges.  The  forthcoming 
imprisonment  will  be  to  me  more  a  religious  than  a 
political  advantage.  If  it  is  a  sacrifice,  I  want  it  to  be 
the  purest. 

With  love,  Yours,  Mohan, 


THE  GREAT  TRIAL. 


STATEMENT  BEFORE  THE  COURT 


[The  trial  of  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Shankarlal  Banker  took  place  at 
the  Govern^nent  circuit  House-Ahmedabad,  on  Saturday  the  18th 
March  1922  before  Mr.  C.  N.  Broomsfield,  I.  C.  S.  District  and 
Sessions  Judge,  AhmedaJ}ad.  The  trial  opened  at  12  noon,  the 
Honorable  Sir  J.  T.  Strangman,  Advocate  General,  Bombay, 
conducting  the  prosecution.     The  accused  were  undefended. 

The  charges  having  been  read  out,  the  Judge  called  upon  the 
accused  to  plead  to, the  charge.  He  asked  Mr.  Gandhi  whether  he- 
pleaded  guilty  or  claimed  to  be  tried. 

Mr.  Gandhi  :  "  I  plead  guilty  to  all  the  charge?.  I  observe 
that  the  King's  name  has  been  omitted  from  the  charges  and  it  has 
been  properly  omitted." 

The  Judge  :  Mr.  Banker  do  you  plead  guilty  or  do  you  claint 
to  be  tried?" 

Mr.  Banker  : — "  I  plead  guilty." 

The  advocate  general  then  began  to  urge  the  trial.  His 
argument  over,  the  Court  asked  Mr.  Gandhi  : 

"  Mr.  Gandhi  do  you  wish  to  make  a  statement  on  the  question 
of  sentence  ?" 

Mr.  Gandhi  :  "  I  would  like  to  make  a  statement." 

Court  :  "  Could  you  give  it  to  me  in  writing  to  put  it  on 
record  ?" 

Mr.  Gandhi  :  "  I  shall  give  it  as  soon  as.  I  finish  reading 
it."] 

ORAL  STATEMENT. 
[Before  reading  his  written  statement,  Mr.  Gandhi  spoke  a  few 
words  as  introductory  remarks  to  the  whole  statement.  He  said  :] 

Before  I  read  this  statement,  I  would  like  to  state 
that  I  entirely  endorse  the  learned  Advocate-General's 
remarks  in  connection  with  my    humble  'Self.     I   think 


'750  ON    THE    EVE    OF    AKREST 

that  he  was  entirely  fair  to  me  in  all  the  statements 
that  he  has  made,  because  it  is  very  true  and  I  have  no 
desire  whatsoever  to  conceal  from  this  Court  the  fact 
that  to  preach  disaffection  towards  the  existing  system 
•of  Government  has  become  almost' a  passion  with  me. 
And  the  learned  Advocate^General  is  also  entirely  in 
ihe  right  when  he  says  that  my  preaching  of  disafifec- 
"tiou  did  not  commence  with  my  connection  with 
"Young  India"  but  that  it  commenced  much  earlier,  and 
in  the  statement  that  I  am  about  to  read  it  will  be  my 
painful  duty  to  admit  before  this  Court  that  it  commen- 
ced much  earlier  than  the  period  stated  by  the 
Advocate-General.  It  is  the  most  painful  duty  with  me 
but  I  have  to  discharge  that  duty  knowing  the  respon- 
sibility that  rested  upon  my  shoulders. 

And  1  wish  to  endorse  all  the  blame  that  the 
Advocate-General  has  thrown  on  my  shoulders  in 
connection  with  the  Bombay  occurrences,  Madras 
occurrences  and  the  Chouri  Choura  occurrences.  Thinking 
over  these  things  deeply,  and  sleeping  over  them  night 
after  night  and  examining  my  heart  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  dissociate 
myself  from  the  diabolical  crimes  of  Chouri  Choura  or 
the  mad  outrages  of  Bombay.  He  is  quite  right  when 
he  says  that  as  a  man  of  responsibility,  a  man  having 
received  a  fair  share  of  education,  having  had  a  fair 
share  of  experience  of  this  world,  I  should  know  the 
consequences  of  ev  ery  one  of  my  acts.  1  knew  them. 
I  knew  that  I  was  playing  with  fire.  I  ran  the  risk  and 
if  I  was  set  free  I  would  still  do  the  same,  I  would  be 
failing  in  my  duty  if  I  do  not  do  so.  1  have  felt  it  this 
morning  that  I  would  have  failed  in  my  duty  if  I  did  not 
-say  all  what  I  said  here   just  now.    I  wanted   to  avoid 


THE   GREAT    TRIAL  751 

violence.  Non-violence  is  the  first  article  of  my  faith. 
It  is  the  last  article  of  my  faith.  But  I  had  to  make  my 
choice.  I  had  either  to  submit  to  a  system  which  I 
considered  has  done  an  irreparable  harm  to  my  country 
or  incur  the  risk  of  the  mad  fury  of  my  people 
bursting  forth  when  they  understood  the  truth 
from  my  lips.  I  know  that  my  people  have  sometimes 
gone  mad.  ^am  deeply  sorry  for  it ;  and  I  am,  there- 
fore here,  to  submit  not  to  a  light  penalty  but  to  the 
highest  penalty.  I  do  not  ask  for  mercy.  I  do  not  plead 
any  extenuating  act.  I  am  here,  therefore,  to  invite  and 
submit  to  the  highest  penalty  that  can  be  inflicted  upon 
me  for  what  in  law  is  a  deliberate  crime  and  what 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  highest  duty  of  a  citizen.  The 
only  course  open  to  you,  Mr.  Judge,  is,  as  I  am  just  going 
to  say  in  my  statement,  either  to  resign  your  post  or 
inflict  on  me  the  severest  penalty  if  you  believe  that  the 
system  and  law  you  are  assisting  to  administer  are  good 
for  the  people.  I  do  not  expect  that  kind  of  conversion. 
But  by  the  time  I  have  finished  with  my  statement  you 
will,  perhaps,  have  a  glimpse  of  what  is  raging  within 
my  breast  to  run  this  maddest  risk  which  a  sane  man 
can  run. 

WRITTEN  STATEMENT. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  written  state- 
ment which, Mr.  Gandhi  made  before  the  court, 

I  owe  it  perhaps  to  the  Indian  public  and  to  the 
public  in  England  to  placate  which  this,  prosecution  is 
mainly  taken  up  that  I  should  explain  why  from  a 
staunch  loyalist  and  co-operator  I  have  become  an 
uncompromising  disaflfectionist  and  Non-Co-operator.  To 
the  court  too  I   should  say   why  I  plead  guilty  to  the 


752  ON    THE    EVE    OF   ARREST 

charge  of  promoting   disaffection    towards   the  Govern- 
ment established  by  law  in  India. 

My  public  life  began  in  1893  in  South  Africa  in 
troubled  weather.  My  first  contact  with  British  autho- 
rity in  that  country  was  not  of  a  happy  character.  I 
discovered  that  as  a  man  and  an  Indian  I  had  no  rights. 
On  the  contrary  I  discovered  that  I  had  no  rights  as  a 
man  because  I  was  an  Indian. 

•  But  I  was  not  baffled.  I  thought  that  this  treat- 
ment of  Indians  was  an  excrescence  upon  a  system  that 
was  intrinsically  and  mainly  good.  I  gave  the  Govern 
ment  my  voluntary  and  hearty  co-operation,  criticising 
it  fully  where  I  felt  it  was  faulty  but  never  wishing  its 
destruction. 

Consequently   when   the    existence   of  the   Empire 
was  threatened  in  1899  by  the  Boer  challenge.  I  offered 
my  services   to  it,   raised  a  volunteer  ambulance   corps 
and   served  at  several    actions  that   took  place   for  the 
relief  of   Ladysmith.     Similarly   in    1906   at   the   time 
of  the  Zulu  revolt  I  raised   a  stretcher-bearer  party  and 
served  till   the  end  of   the  '  rebellion*.     On  both   these 
occasions  I  received  medals  and  was  even    mentioned  in 
despatches.     For  my  work  in  South  Africa  I  was  given 
by  Lord  Hardinge  a  Kaiser-i-Hind  Gold  Medal.     When 
the  war  broke  out  in  1914  between  England  and  Germany 
I  raised  a  volunteer  ambulance  corps  in  London  consist- 
ing  of  the   then   resident    Indians    in    London,   chiefly 
students.    Its  w6rk  was  acknow ledged  by  the  authorities 
to  be  valuable.     Lastly  in  India  when  a  special  appeal 
was  made  at  the  War   Conference   in  Delhi  in    1917  by 
Lord  Chelmsford  for  recruits,  I  struggled   at  the   cost  at 
my  health  to  raise  a   corps  in  Kheda   and  the   response 
was    being     made    when    the    hostilities    ceased    and 


STATEMENT  BEFORE  THE  COURT     753 

orders  were  received  that  no  more  recruits  wete 
wanted.  In  all  these  efforts  at  service  I  was  actuated 
by  the  belief  th^t  it  was  possible  by  such  ser- 
vices to  gain  a  status  of  full  equality  in  the  Empire  for 
my  countrymen. 

The  first  shock  came  in  the  shape  of  the  Rowlatt 
Act,  a  law  designed  to  rob  the  people  of  all  real  freedom, 
I  felt  called  upon  to  lead  an  intensive  agitation  against 
it.  Then  followed  the  Punjab  horrors  beginning  with 
the  massacre  at  Jallianwala  Bagh  and  culminating 
in  crawling  orders,  public  floggings  and  other  indescrib- 
able humiliations.  I  discovered  too  that  the  plighted 
word  of  the  Prime  Minister  to  the  Mussulmans  of  India 
regarding  the  integrity  of  Turkey  and  the  holy  places  of 
Islam  was  not  likely  to  be  fuliilled.  But  in  spite  of 
the  foreboding  and  the  grave  warnings  of  friends,  at  the 
Amritsar  Congress  in  1919,  I  fought  for  co-operation  and 
working  the  Montagu-Chelmsford  reforms,  hoping  that 
the  Prime  Minister  would  redeem  his  promise  to  the 
Indian  Mussulmans,  that  the  Punjab  wound  would  be 
healed  and  that  the  reforms  inadequate  and  unsatisfac- 
tory though  they  were,  marked  a  new  era  of  hope  in  the 
life  of  India. 

But  all  that  hope  was  shattered.  The  Khilafat 
promise  was  not  to  be  redeemed.  The  Punjab  crime 
was  white-washed  and  most  culprits  went  not  only 
unpunished  but  remained  in  service  and  some  continued 
to  draw  pensions  from  the  Indian  revenue,  and  in  some 
cases  were  even  rewarded.  I  saw  too  that  not  only  did 
the  reforms  not  mark  a  change  of  heart,  but  they  were 
only  a  method  of  further  draining  India  of  her  wealth 
and  of  prolonging  her  servitude. 

I  came  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
4S 


754  THE    GREAT    TRIAL 

British  connection  had  made  India  more  helpless  than 
she  ever  was  before,  politically  and  economically.  A 
disarmed  India  has  no  power  of  resistance  against  any 
aggressor  it  she  wanted  to  engage  in  an  armed  conflict 
with  him.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that  some  of  our 
best  men  consider  that  India  rnust  take  generations 
before  she  can  achieve  the  Dominion  status.  She  has 
become  so  poor  that  she  has  little  power  of  resisting 
famines.  Before  the  British  advent,  India  spun  and 
wove  in  her  millions  of  cottages  just  the  supplement 
she  needed  for  adding  to  her  meagre  agricultural 
resources.  The  cottage  industry,  so  vital  for  India's 
existence,  has  been  ruined  by  incredibly  heartless  and 
inhuman  processes  as  described  by  English  witnesses. 
Little  do  town-dwellers  know  how  the  semi-starved 
masses  of  Indians  are  slowly  sinking  to  lifeless- 
ness.  Little  do  they  know  that  their  miserable 
comfort  represents  the  brokerage  they  get  for  the 
work  they  do  for  the  foreign  exploiter,  that  the  profits 
and  the  brokerage  are  sucked  from  the  masses.  Little 
do  they  realise  that  the  Government  established  by 
law  in  British  India  is  carried  on  for  this  exploitation  of 
the  masses.  No  sophistry,  no  jugglery  in  figures  can 
explain  away  the  evidence  the  skeletons  in  many 
villages  present  to  the  naked  eye.  I  have  no  doubt 
whatsoever  that  both  England  and  the  town-dwellers 
of  India  will  have  to  answer,  if  there  is  a  God  above, 
for  this  crime  against  humanity  which  is  perhaps 
unequalled  in  history.  The  law  itself  in  this  country 
has  been  used  tp  serve  the  foreign  expoliter.  My 
unbiassed  examination  of  the  Punjab  Martial  Law 
cases  has  led  me  to  believe  that  at  least  ninety-five 
per    cent,    of     convictions     were   wholly   bad.     My 


STATEMENT  BEFORE  THE   COURT  755 

experience   of  political  cases   in   India  leads  me  to  the 

conclusion  that  in  nine  out  of  every  ten  the    condemned 

men    were    totally    innocent.     Their     crime   consisted 

in  love  of  their   country.    In  ninety-nine   cases    out   of 

hundred,  justice  has  been  denied  to   Indians  as   against 

Europeans   in    the    Courts   of  India.     This    is  not    an 

exaggerated   picture.     It   is   the   experience  of   almost 

-every  Indian  who    has    had    anything  to  do  with  such 

cases.     In  my  opinion  the   administration    of  the  law   is 

thus  prostituted   consciously   or   unconsciously  for   the 

benefit  of  the  exploiter. 

The  greatest  misfortune  is  that  Englishmen  and 
their  Indian  associates  in  the  administration  of  the 
country  do  not  know  that  they  are  engaged  in  the  crirne 
I  have  attempted  to  describe.  I  am  satisfied  that  many 
English  and  Indian  officials  honestly  believe  that  they 
are  administering  one  of  the  best  systems  devised  in  the 
world  and  that  India  is  making  steady  though  slow 
progress.  They  do  not  know  that  a  subtle  but  effective 
system  of  terrorism  and  an  organised  display  of  force 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  deprivation  of  all  powers  of 
retaliation  or  self-defence  on  the  other  have  emascula- 
ted the  people  and  induced  in  them  the  habit  of 
simulation.  This  awful  habit  has  added  to  the  ignorance 
and  the  self  deception  of  the  administrators.  Section 
124-A  under  which  I  am  happily  charged  is  perhaps 
the  prince  among  the  political  sections  of  the  Indian 
Penal  Code  designed  to  suppress  the  liberty  of 
the  citizen.  Affection  cannot  be  manufactured  or 
regulated  by  law.  If  one  has  no  affection  for 
a  person  or  thing  one  should  be  free  to  give  the 
fullest  expression  to  his  disaffection  so  long  as  he 
does  not   contemplate,   promote   or  incite    to   violence. 


756  THE   GREAT    TRIAL 

But    the    section    under     which    Mr.    Banker    and  I 
are    charged  is  one    under    which    mere   promotion    of 
disaffection  is   a   crime.     I    have   studied  some   of    the 
cases  tried  under  it,  and  I  know  that  some  of  the  most 
loved  of  India's  patriots  have  been  convicted    under   it. 
I  consider  it  a  privilege  therefore,  to  be  charged    under 
it.     I  have  endeavoured  to  give  in  their  briefest  outline 
the  reasons  for   my    disaffection.     I    have   no    personal 
ill-will    against  any   single    administrator,     much    less 
can  I  have  any  disaffection  towards  the  King's    person. 
But  1  hold  it  to  be  a  virtue   to  be    disaffected  towards  a 
Government  which  in  its  totality  has   done  more    harm 
to  India  than  any  previous  system.     India  is  less  manly 
Under    the    British  rule    than    she    ever    was  before. 
Holding  such  a  belief,  I  consider  it  to  be  a   sin  to     have 
affection  for  the  system.     And  it    has    been    a    precious 
privilege  for  me   to  be  able  to  write    what   I    have    in 
the  various  articles   tendered  in   evidence    against    me. 
In  fact  I  believe  that  I  have   rendered  a  service    to 
India  and  England  by  showing  in    Non-Co-operation  the 
way  out  of  the  unnatural  state  in  which  both  are  living. 
In  my  humble   opinion,   non-co-operation  with  evil  is  as 
much  a  duty  as  is  co-operation  with  good.     But   in    the 
past,  non-co-operation    has  been   deliberately   expressed 
in  violence  to  the  evildoer.  I  am  endeavouring  to  show 
to  my  countrymen     that   violent    non-co-operation  only 
multiplies  evil  and  that  as  evil  can  only  be  sustained  by 
violence,  withdrawal   of   support  of    evil  requires  com- 
plete abstention  from   violence.      Non-violence  implies 
voluntary  submission  to    the  penalty   for    non-co-opera- 
tion with  evil.  I  am  here,  therefore,  to  invite  and  submit 
cheerfully  to  the  highest  penalty  that   can  be    inflicted 
upon  me  for  what  in  law  is  deliberate   crime  and   what 


STATEMENT   BEFORE    THE    COURT  757 

appears  to  me  to  be  the  highest  duty   of  a  citizen.     The 
•only  course  open  to  you,  the  Judge  and  the  Assessors,  is 
either  to  resign  your  posts  and  thus  dissociate  yourselves 
from  evil  if  you  feel  that  the  law  you  are  called  upon  to 
administer  is  an  evil  and  that  in  reality  I  am  innocent,  or 
to  inflict  on  me  the  severest  penalty  if  you  believe  that 
the  system  and»the  law  you  are    assisting  to  administer 
are  good    for   the    people   of   this   country  and  that  my 
activity  is  therefore  injurious  to  the  public  weal. 
THE  JUDGMENT. 
[After   Mr,  Gandhi  had   made  his   statement  Mr, 
Broomfield  the  Sessions  Judge,  pronounced  the  following 
judgmenii] 

Mr.  Gaadhi,  you  have  made  my  task  easy  one  way  by  pleading 
guilty  to  the  charge.  Nevertheless,  what  remains  namely,  the 
determination  of  a  just  sentence  is  perhaps  as  difficult  a  proposition 
as  a  judge  in  this  country  could  have  to  face.  The  law  is  no 
respector  of  per::ons.  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  impossible  to  ignore 
the  fact  that  you  are  in  a  different  category  from  any  person  I 
have  ever  tried  or  am  likely  to  have  to  try.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible to  ignore  the  fact  that  in  the  eyes  of  millions  of  your  country- 
men you  are  a  great  patriot  and  a  great  leader.  Even  those  who 
differ  from  you  in  politics  look  upon  you  as  a  man  of  high  ideals 
and  of  noble  and  even  saintly  life.  I  have  to  deal  with  you  in 
one  character  only.  It  is  not  my  duty  and  I  do  not  presume  to 
judge  or  criticise  you  in  any  other  character.  It  is  ray  duty  to 
judge  you  as  a  man  subject  to  the  law  who  has  by  his  own  admis- 
sion broken  the  law  and  committed,  what  to  an  ordinary  man 
must  appear  to  be,  grave  offences  against  the  State.  I  do  not 
■forget  that  you  have  consistently  preached  against  violence  and 
that  you  have  on  many  occasions,  as  I  am  willing  to  believe,  done 
much  to  prevent  violence.  But  having  regard  to  the  nature  of 
political  teaching  and  the  nature  of  many  of  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed  how  you  could  have  continued  lo  believe  that  violence 
would  not  be  the  inevitable  consequence,  it  passes  my  capacity  to 
understand.  There  are  probably  few  people  in  India  who  do  not 
sincerely  regret  that  you  should  have  made  it  impossible  for  any 
Government  to  leave  you  at  liberty.  But  it  is  so.  I  am  trying  to 
balance  what  is  due  to  you  against  what  appears  to  me  to  be  neces- 
sary in  the  interest  of  the  public,  and  I  propose  in  passing  sentence 
to  follow  the  precedent  of  a  case  in  many  respects  similar  to  this 
ca-e  that  was  decided  some  twelve  years  ago.  I  mean  the  case 
against  Mr.  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak  under  the  same  sectiou.    The 


758  THE   GREAT   TRIAL 

sentence  that  was  passed  upon  him  as  it  finally  stood  was  a  sentence 
of  simple  imprisonment) for  six  years.  You  will  not  consider  it 
unreasonable  I  think,  that  you  should  be  classed  with  Mr.  Tilak, 
That  is  a  sentence  of  two  years'  simple  imprisonment  on  each 
count  of  the  charge,  six  years  in  all  which  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  pass 
upon  you  ;  and  I  should  like  to  say  in  doing  so  that  if  the  course  of 
events  in  India  should  make  it  possible  for  the  Government  ta 
reduce  the  period  and  release  you  no  one  will  be  better  pleased 
than  I. 

MP.  GANDHI'S  REPLY.    * 
[After  the    Judge    had  pronounced    sentence,    Mr. 
Gandhi    saidi\    I   would    say    one     word     since     you 
have    done    me   the    honour    of  recalling  the    trial    of 
the    late   Lokamanya  Bal   Galngadhar    Tilak.     I    just 
want  to  say  that  I  consider   it  to   be  the  proudest  privi- 
lege  and  honour   to  be   associated   with  his  name.     So 
far  as  the   sentence  itself  is   concerned    I  certainly  con- 
sider that  it  is  as  light  as  any  judge  would  inflict   on  me 
and  so   far  as  the   whole   proceedings   are    concerned  I 
must   say    that    I    could    not    have     expected   greater 
courtesy. 


MESSAGE  .TO  THE  COUNTRY. 


[After    sentence-  and",  before      he     left     the   court 
Mr.  Gandhi  asked  the  General  Secretary  of  the  Congress 
who  was  near  him  to  convey  to  the  country  the  following 
messagei] 

"  I  am  delighted  that  heavenly  peace  reigned 
supreme  throughout  the  country  during  the  last  six  days» 
If  it  continues  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  it  is  bound  to 
be  brief  and  illuminating," 


JAIL  LIFE  IN  INDIA 


THE  MEANING  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENTS.* 


[We  have  in  the  early  part  of  the  book  given  Mr.  Gandhi's 
jail  experiences  in  South  Africa.  From  time  to  time  in  the 
columns  of  Young  India  Mr.  Gandhi  referred  to  the  treatment  of 
prisoners  in  Indian  jails  and  as  non-co-operators  soaght  imprison- 
ment in  their  hundreds  in  the  closing  week  of  1921,  Mr  Gandhi 
had  occasion  to  refer  again  and  again  to  jail  discipline  and  the 
way  that  non-co-operators  should  conduct  themselves  within  the 
prison  walls.  The  following  articles  and  notes  were  written  for 
the  guidance  of  his  followers  and  much  interest  centres  on 
the  essay  on  the  "Afodel  Prisoner"  in  view  of  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Gandhi  himself  is  undergoing  his  prison  experience  in  India. 
It  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Gandhi  too  that  when  Devadas  his 
youngest  son  and  Mr.  C.  Rajagopalachari  visited  him  in  the 
Erravada  jail  be  told  them  that  his  prison  life  should  not  be  made 
the  subject  of  discussion  in  the  press.  Having  courted  imprison- 
ment he  would  not  complain  of  the  treatment,  but  quietly  and 
cheerfully  bear  the  sufferings  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Satyagrahi, 
It  was  in  this  spirit  too  that  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Mr.  Andrews 
that  his  ideal  of  a  prison  life  was  to  be  completely  cut  off  from 
the  world  during  the  period  of  incarceration.] 
HUNGER  STRIKE. 
I  cannot  sufficiently  warn  non-co-operation  prisoners 
against  the  danger  of  hastily  embarking  upon  hunger 
strikes  in  their  prison?.  It  cannot  be  justified  as  a 
means  for  removing  irksome  gaol  restrictions.  For  a 
gaol  is  nothing  if  it  does  not  impose  upon  us  restrictions 
which  we  will  not  submit  to  in  ordinary  life.  A  hunger 
strike  would  be  justified  when  inhumanity  is  practised, 
food  issued  which  offends  one's  religious  sense  or  which 
*  Young  India,  Nov.  8,  1921. 


760  JAIL    LIFE   IN    INDIA 

is  unfit  for  human  consumption.  It  would  be  rejected 
when  it  is  offered  in  an  insulting ,  manner.  In  other 
words  it  should  be  rejected  when  acceptance  would 
prove  us  to  be  slaves  of  hunger. 

WHY  SUFFER. 
Let  there  be  no  mistake  about  the  meaning  of  these 
imprisonments.     They  are  not    courted    with  the  object 
of  embarrassing  the  Government,  though  as  a  matter  of 
fact    they    do.    They   are    courted   for  the  sake  of  dis- 
cipline    and     suffering.      They"  are    courted    because 
we    consider     it     to   be  wrong    to    be    free    under    a 
Government  we  hold    to    be    wholly  bad.     No    stone 
should      be     left     unturned     by      us     to     make      the 
Government  realise  that  we  are   in   no   way   amenable 
to  its  control.    And   no   Government  has  yet   tolerated 
such  open  defiance   however  respectful   it    may  be.     It 
might  safely  therefore  be  said  that  if  we  are  yet  outside 
the  prison    walls,   the  cause    lies    as  much    with  us  as 
with  the  Government.     We   are  moving  cautiously   in 
our    corporate    capacity.       We    are    still    voluntarily 
obeying    many   of  its   laws.    There  .was,  for   instance 
nothing  to  prevent  me   from  disregarding    the   Madras 
Government's     order      and    courting    arrest,      but     I 
avoided  it.     There  is    nothing  to   prevent    me  save  my 
prudence  or    vseakness  from   going  without   permission 
into  the   barracks    and  being  arrested  for    trespass,    I 
certainly    believe    the    barracks    to    be    the    nation's 
property, and  not   of  a  Government    which  I    no  longer 
recognise  as   representative  of  the  people.    Thus  there 
is  an  apparent  inconsistency    between  the   statement  on 
the  one    hand  that  it  is   painful   tq   remain    outside  the 
the  prison   walls   under   a   bad    Government   and    this 
deliberate   avoidance  on  the  other   hand  of    arrest  upon 


THE  MEANING  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENTS      761 

grounds  which  are  not  strictly  moral  but  largely 
expedient.  We  thus  avoid  imprisonment,  because 
first  we  think  that  the  nation  is  not  ready  for  complete 
civil  revolt,  secondly  we  think  that  the  atmosphere 
of  voluntary  obedience  and  non-violence  has  not  been 
firmly  established,  and  thirdly  we  have  not  done  any 
constructive  corporate  work  to  inspire  self-confidence. 
We  therefore  refrain  from  ofTering  civil  disobedience 
amounting  to  peaceful  rebellion,  but  court  imprisonment 
merely  in  the  ordinary  pursuit  of  our  programme  and 
in  defence  of  complete  freedom  of  opinion  and  action 
short  of  revolt. 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  our  remaining  outside  the 
gaols  of  a  bad  government  has  to  be  justified  upon  very 
exceptional  grounds,  and  that  our  Swaraj  is  attained 
when  we  are  in  gaol  or  when  we  have  bent  the  Govern- 
ment tb  our  will.  Whether  therefore  the  iGovernment 
feel  embarrassed  or  happy  over  our  incarceration,  the 
only  safe  and  honourable  place  for  us  is  the  prison. 
And  if  this  position  be  accepted,  it  follows  that  ,when 
imprisonment  comes  to  us  in  the  ordinary  discharge  of 
our  duty,  we  must  feel  happy  because  we  feel  stronger, 
because  we  pay  the  price  of  due  preformance  of  duty. 
And  if  exhibition  of  real  strength  is  the  best  propaganda; 
we  must  believe,  that,  every  imprisoii'ment  strengthens 
the  people.and  thus  brings  Swaraj  nearer, 

SOMETHING  STRIKING. 

But  friends  whisper  into  my  ears,  we  must  do 
something  striking  when,  tlie  .prince  comes.  Certainly 
not  for  the  sake  of  impressing  him,  certainly  not  for  the 
sake  of' demonstration.  But  J  would  -  use  the  occasion 
of  his  imposed  visit  for:  stimulating  us  into;  greater 
activity»      That    would    constitute     the    most    glorious 


762  JAIL    LIFE    IN    INDIA 

impression  upon  the  Prince  and  the  world,  because 
we  would  have  made  an  impression  upon  ourselves. 
The  shortest  way  to  Swaraj  lies  through  self- 
impression,  self-expression  and  self-reliance,  both 
corporate  and  individual.  I  would  certainly  love  the 
idea  of  filling  the  gaols  before  the  Prince  arrives, 
but  I  see  no  way  to  it  except  after  very  vigorous 
Swadeshi.  There  is  great  progress  undoubtedly  in 
that  direction,  but  there  is  not  revolutionary  or 
lightning  speed.  Arithmetical  progression  will  not 
answer,  geometrical  progression  is  absolutely  necessary. 
It  is  not  enough  for  us  to  be  washed  by  the  Swadeshi 
spirit,  we  must  be  flooded  with  it.  Then  thpusands  of  us 
involuntarily,  as  if  by  a  common  impulse,  will  march 
forward  to  civil  disobedience.  To-day  we  are  obliged 
very  rightly  to  measure  eyery  step  for  want  of  confidence. 
Indeed  I  do  not  even  feel  sure  that  thousands  of  us  are 
ready  to  suffer  imprisonment,  or  that  we  have  so  far 
understood  the  message  of  non-violence  as  never  to  be 
rufHed  or  goaded  into  violence. 

A  REST  CURE. 

And  prisons  have  lost  their  terror  for  the  people. 
Hatdly  a  non-co-operator  save  in  one  or  two  cases  has 
betrayed  the  slightest  hesitation  to  go  to  gaol.  On  the 
contrary  the  majority  have  regarded  it  as  a  rest  dure. 
Given  an  atmosphere  of  non-violence,  —  a  prime 
necessity, -disappearance  of  fear  of  gaol  and  greater 
activity  by  reasons  of  imprisonments,  and  we  have 
an  ideal  state  for  the  establishment  of  Swaraj. 
THE   LOGICAL   RESULT. 

The  logical  result  of  all  this  reasoning  is  that  we 
must  quickly  organise  ourselves  for  courting  arrests 
wholesale,  and  that  not  rudely,  roughly  or  blusteringl  y, 


WORK   IN   GAOLS  763 

certainly  never  violently,  but  peacefully  quietly, 
courteously,  humbly,  prayerfully,  and  courageously. 
By  the  end  of  December  every  worker  must  find 
himself  in  gaol  unless  he  is  specially  required  •  in  the 
interest  of  the  struggle  not  to  make  the  attempt.  Let 
it  be  remembered,  that  in  civil  disobedience  we 
precipitate  arrests  and  therefore  may  keep  few  outside 
the  attempt. 

REQUISITE  CONDITIONS 
Those  only  can  take  up  civil  disobedience,  who 
•  believe  in  willing  obedience  even  to  irksome  laws  impo- 
sed by  the  state  so  long  as  they  do  not  hurt  their 
conscience  or  religion,  and  are  prepared  equally  will- 
ingly to  suffer  the  penalty  of  civil  disobedience.  Dis- 
obedience to  be  civil  has  to  be  absolutely  non-violent. 
The  underlying  principle  being  the  winning  over  of 
the  opponent  by  suffering,  «.e,,  love. 


WORK  IN  GAOLS* 


An  esteemed  friend  asked  me  whether  now  that  th& 
Government  have  provided  an  opportunity  for  hundredy 
to  find  themselves  imprisoned  and  as  thousands  are 
responding,  will  it  not  be  better  for  the  prisoners  to 
refuse  to  do  any  work  in  the  gaols  at  all?  I  am  afraid 
that  suggestion  comes  from  a  misapprehension  of  the 
moral  position.  We  are  not  out  to  abolish  gaols  as  an 
institution.  Even  under  Swaraj  we  would  have  our 
gaols.  Our  civil  disobedience  therefore  must  not  be 
carried  beyond  the  point  of  breaking  the  unmoral  laws 
of  the  country.  Breach  of  the  laws  to  be  civil  assumes 
*  Young  India,  Dec.  16,  1921. 


764  JAIL   LIFE   IN    INDIA 

the  strictest  and  willing  obedience  to  the  gaol  discipline 
because  disobedience  of  a  particular  rule  assumes  a 
willing  acceptance  of  the  sanction  provided  for  its 
breach.  And  immediately  a  person  quarrels  both  with 
the  rule  and  the  sanction  for  its  breach,  he  ceases  to  be 
civil  and  lends  himself  to  the  precipitation  of  chaos  and 
anarchy.  A  civil  resister  is,  if  one  may  be  permitted 
such  a.  claim  for  him,  a  philanthropist  and  a'  friend  of 
the  state.  An  anarchist  is  an  enemy  of  the  state  and  is 
therefore  a  misanthrope.  I  have  permitted  myself  to 
use  the  language  of  war  because  the  so  called  constitn-  , 
tional  method  has  become  so  utterly  ineffective.  But 
I  hold  the  opinion  firmly  that  civil  disobedience  is  the 
purest  type  of  constitutional  agitation.  Of  course  it 
becomes  degrading  and  despicable  if  its  civil,  ».e,, 
nonviolent  character  is  a  mere  camouflage.  If  the 
honesty  of  non-violence  be  admitted,  there  is  no  warrant 
for  condemnation  even  of  the  fiercest  disobedience 
because  of  the  likelihood  of  its  leading  to  violence.  No 
big  or  swift  movement  can  be  carried  on  without  bold 
risks  and  life  will  not  be  worth  living  if  it  is  not 
attended  with  large  risks.  Does  not  the  history  of  the 
world  show  that  there  would  have  been  no  Romance  in 
life  if  there  had  been  no  risks?  It  is  the  clearest  proof 
of  a  degenerate  atmosphere  that  one  finds  respectable 
people,  leaders  of  society  raising  their  hands  in  horror 
and  indignation  at  the  slightest  approach  of  danger  or 
upon  an  outbreak  of  any  violent  commotion.  We  do 
want  to  drive  out  the  beast  in  man,  but  we  do  not  want 
on  that  account  to  emasculate  him.  And  in  the  process 
of  finding  his  own  status,  the  beast  in  him  is  bound  now 
and  again  to  put  up  his  ugly  appearance.  As  I  have 
often  stated    in  these  pages  what  strikes  me  down  is  not 


WORK    IN    GAOLS  765 

the  sight  of  blood  under  every  conceivable  circumstance^ 
It  is  blood  spilt  by  the  non-co-operator  or  his  supporters 
in  breach  of  his  declared  pledge,  which  paralyses  me 
as  I  know  it  ought  to  paralyse  every  honest  uon  co- 
operator. 

Therefore  to  revert  to  the  original  argument,  as 
civil  resisters  we  are  bound  to  guard  against  universal 
indiscipline.  Gaol  discipline  must  be  submitted  to  until 
gaol  Government  itself  becomes  or  is  felt  to  be  corrupt 
and  immoral.  But  deprivation  of  comfort,  imposition 
of  restriction  and  such  other  inconveniences  do  not 
make  gaol  Government  corrupt.  It  becomes  that 
when  prisoners  are  humiliated  cr  treated  with 
inhumanity  as  when  they  are  kept  in  filthy  dens 
or  are  given  food  unfit  for  human  consumption. 
Indeed,  I  hope  that  the  conduct  of  non-co-opera- 
tors in  the  gaol  will  be  strictly  correct,  dignified  and 
yet  submissive.  We  must  not  regard  gaolers  and 
warders  as  our  enemies  but  as  fellow  human  beings  not 
utterly  devoid  of  the  human  touch.  Our  gentlemanly 
behaviour  is  bound  to  disarm  all  suspicion  or  bitterness. 
I  know  that  this  path  of  discipline  on  the  one  hand  and 
fierce  defiance  on  the  other  is  a  very  difficult  path,  but 
there  is  no  royal  road  to  Swaraj.  The  country  has 
deliberately  chosen  the  narrow  and  the  straight  path. 
Like  a  straight  line  it  is  the  shortest  distance.  But 
even  as  you  require  a  steady  and  experienced  hand  to 
draw  a  straight  line,  so  are  steadiness  of  discipline  and 
firmness  of  purpose  absolutely  necessary  if  we  are  to 
walk  along  the   chosen    path    with  an    unerrriug  step. 

I  am  painfully  conscious  of  the  fact  that  it  is  not 
going  to  be'a  bed  of  roses  for  any  of  the  civil  resisters* 
And  my  head  reels  and  the  heart  throbs    when  I    recall 


766  JAIL    LIFE    IN    INDIA 

the  lives  of  Motilal  Nehru  and  C.  R.  Das  in  their 
palatial  rooms  surrounded  by  numerous  willing 
attendants  and  by  every  comfort  and  convenience  that 
money  can  buy  and  when  I  think  of  what  is  in  store  for 
them  inside  the  cold  •unattractive  prison  walls  where 
they  will  have  to  listen  to  the  clanking  of  the  prisoner's 
chains  in  the  place  of  the  sweet  music  of  their  drawing 
rooms.  But  I  steel  my  heart  with  the  thought  that  it  is 
the  sacrifice  of  just  such  heroes  that  will  usher  in 
Swaraj.  The  noblest  of  South  Africans,  Canadians 
Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  Germans  have  had  to  undergo 
much  greater  sacrifices  than  we  have  mapped  out  for 
ourselves. 


A  MODEL  PRISONER.* 


Should  uon-co-operators  shout  Bande  Mataram 
inside  jail  against  jail  discipline  which  may  excite 
ordinary  prisoners  to  violence,  should  non  co-operators 
go  on  hunger  strike  for  the  improvement  of  food  or  other 
conveniences,  should  they  strike,  work  inside  jails  on 
hartal  days  and  other  days?  Are  non-co-operators  entitled 
to  break  rules  of  jail  discipline  unless  they  affect  their 
conscience  ?  Such  is  the  text  of  a  telegram  I  received 
from  a  non-co  operator  friend  in  Calcutta.  From  another 
part  of  India  when  a  friend,  again  a  non-co-operator, 
heard  of  the  indiscipline  of  non-co-operator  prisoners, 
he  asked  me  to  write  on  the  necessity  of  observing  jail 
discipline.  As  against  this  I  know  prisoners  who  are 
scrupulously  observing  in  a  becoming  spirit  all  the 
discipline  imposed  upon  them. 

It  is  necessary,  when  thousands  are  going  to  jail, 
to  understand  exactly  the  position  a  non*co-operator 
~~  *  Young  India,  Deo.  29,  1921. 


A    MODEL    PRISONER  767 

prisoner  can  take  up  consistently  with  his  pledge  of 
non-violence.  Non-co-operation  when  its  limitations 
are  not  recognised,  becomes  a  licence  instead  of  being 
a  duty  and  therefore  becomes  a  crime.  The  dividing 
line  between  right  and  wrong  is  often  so  thin  as  to 
become  indistinguishable.  But  it  is  a  line  that  is 
breakable  and  unmistakable. 

What  is  then  the  difference  between  those  who 
find  themselves  in  jails  for  being  in  the  right  and 
those  who  are  there  for  being  in  the  wrong  ?.  Both 
wear  often  the  same  dress,  eat  the  same  food  and  are 
subject  outwardly  to  the  same  discipline.  But  whilst  the 
latter  submit  to  discipline  most  unwillingly  and  would 
commit  a  breach  of  it  secretly,  and  even  openly  if  they 
could,  the  former  will  willingly  and  to  the  best  of  their 
ability  conform  to  the  jail  dscipline  and  prove  worthier 
and  more  serviceable  to  their  cause  than  when  they  are 
outside.  We  have  observed  that  the  most  distinguished 
among  the  prisoners  are  of  greater  service  inside  the  jails 
than  outside.  The  coefficient  of  service  is  raised  to  the 
extent  of  the  strictness  with  which  jail  discipline  is 
observed. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  we  are  not  seeking  to 
destroy  jails  as  such.  I  fear  that  we  shall  have  to 
maintain  jails  even  under  Swaraj.  It  will  go  hard  with 
us,  if  we  let  the  real  criminals  understand  that  they 
will  be  set  free  or  be  very  much  better  treated  when 
Swaraj  is  established.  Even  in  reformatories  by  which 
I  would  like  to  replace  every  jail  under  Swaraj, discipline 
will  be  exacted.  Therefore  we  really  retard  the  advent 
of  Swaraj  if  we  encourage  indiscipline.  Indeed  the  swift 
programme  of  Swaraj  has  been  conceived  on  the 
supposition  that  we  being  a  cultured  people   are  capable 


768  JAIL    LIFE    IN    INDIA 

of  evolving  high  discipline  within  a  short  time* 
Indeed  whilst  on  the  one  hand  civil  disobedience 
authorises  disobedience  of  unjust  laws  or  un  moral  laws 
of  a  state  which  one  seeks  to  overthrow,  it  requires 
meek  and  willing  submission  to  the  penalty  of  dis- 
obedience and  therefore-  cheerful  acceptance  of  the  jail 
discipline  and  its  attendant  hardship?. 

It  is  now  therefore  clear  that  a  civil  resister's 
resistance  ceases  and  his  obedience  as  resumed  as  soon 
as  he  is  under  confinement.  In  confinement  he  claims  no 
privileges  because  of  the  civility  of  his  disobedience, 
Inside  the  jail  by  his  exemplary  conduct  he  reforms 
even  the  criminals  surrounding  him,  he  softens  the 
hearts  of  jailors  and  others  in  authority.  Such  meek 
behaviour  springing  from  strength  and  knowledge 
ultimately  dissolves  the  tyranny  of  the  tyrant.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  I  claim  that  voluntary  suflFering  is  the 
quickest  and  the  best  remedy  for  the  removal  of  abuses 
and  injustices. 

It  is  now  manifest  that  shouts  of  Bande  Mataram 
or  any  other  in  breach  of  jail  discipline  are  unlawful 
for  a  non-co-operator  to  indulge  in.  It  is  equally  un- 
lawful for  him  to  commit  a  stealthy  breach  of  jail 
regulations.  A  non-co-operator  will  do  nothing  to 
demoralise  his  felloW  prisoners.  The  only  occasion 
when  he  can  openly  disobey  jail  regulations  or  hunger- 
strike  is  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  humiliate  him  or 
when  the  warders  themselves  break,  as  they  often  do, 
the  rules  for  the  comfort  of  prisoners  or  when  food  that 
is  unfit  for  human  consumption  is  issued  as  it  often  is. 
A  case  for  civil  disobedience  also  arises  when  there  is 
interference  with  any  obligatory  religious  practice. 


PRINTED  AT  THE  INDIA  PRINTING  WORKS,  MADRAS. 


Miscellaneous 


A  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH 

[The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  addressed 
iy'Mr.  Gandhi  to  a  friend  in  India  in  1909  : — ] 

(1)  There  is  no  impaesAble  barrier  between  East  and 
West. 

(2)  There  is  no  such  thing  as  Western  or  Earopean 
civilization,  bat  there  is  a  modern  civilization  which  ia 
purely  material. 

(3)  The  people  of  Earope,  before  they  were  touched 
by  modern  civilization,  had  much  in  ooidmon  with  the 
people  of  the  East ;  anyhow  the  people  of  India,  and  even 
to-day  Europeans  who  are  not  touched  by  modern 
civilization,  are  far  better  able  to  mix  with  Ipdiana  than 
the  offspring  of  that  civilization. 

(4)  It  is  not  the  British  people  who  are  ruling  India i 
bub  it  is  mcdern  civilization,  through  its  railways,  tele- 
graph, telephone)  and  almost  every  invention  which  has 
been  claimed  to  be  a  triumph  of  civilization. 

(5)  Bombay,  Calcutta,  and  the  other  chief  cities  of 
ladia  are  the  real  plague  spota> 

(6)  If  British  rule  were  replaced  to-morrow  by 
Indian  rule  based  on  modern  methods,  India  would  be  no 
better,  except  that  she  would  be  able  then  to  retain  some 
of  the  money  that  is  drained  away  to  England  ;  but  then 
India  would  only  become  a   second   or  fifth    nation  of 

Europe  or  America. 
19 


770  MISCELLANEOUS 

(7)  East  and  West  can  only  really  meet  when  the 
Wesb  has  bbrowa  overboard  modern  oivilizibion,  almost) 
in  its  enbireby,  They  oE^n  also  seemiagly  meet  when  Eisti 
has  also  adopted- modern  oivilization,- bat  that  meeting 
would  be  aa  armed  truoe,  even  as  it  ia  between)  say, 
Germany  and  England,  botb  of  wbiob  nations  are  living 
in  the  Hall  of  Dat^th  in  order  80  avoid  being  devoured  tbe 
one  by.  tbe  other, 

(8)  It  is  simply  impertinence  for  any  man  or  any  body 
of  men  to  begin  or  to  contemplate  reform  of  the  whole 
world.  To  attempt  to  do  so  by  means  of  highly  artificial 
and  speedy  locomotioo,  is  to  attempt  the  impossible,    ■ 

(9)  Increase  of  material  oomfcrts,  it  may  be  gener- 
ally laid  down,  does  not  in  any  way  whatsoever  conduce 
to  moral  growth. 

(10)  Medical  soienoe  is  the  ooncentrated  essence  of 
t))ack  magic.  Qaackery  is  infinitely  preferable  to  what 
passes  for  high  medical  skill. 

(11)  Hospitals  are  the  instruments  that  the  Davil 
baS/been  using  for  his  own  purpose,  in  order  to  keep  bis 
bold  on  bis  kingdom,  They  perpetuate  vice,  misery  and 
degradation  and  real  slavery,  I  was  entirely  off  tbe  track 
whan  I  considered  that  I  should  receive  a  medical  train- 
ing, It  would  ba  sinful  for  me  in  any  way  whatsoever  to 
take  part  in  the  abominations  that  gQ  on  in  the  hospitals. 
If  there  were  no  hospitals  for  venereal  diseases,  or  even 
for  consumptives,  we  should  have  less  consumption,  and 
less  sexual  vice  amongst  us, 

(12)  India's  salvation  consists  in  unlearning  what 
ebe  has  learnt  during  tbe  past  fifty  years.  Tbe  railways, 
telegraphs,  hospitals,  lawyers,  doctors,  and  such  like  have 
all  to  go,  and  tbe  so-called  upper  classes  have  to  learn  to 
live   consciously  •and   religiously    and   deliberately   tba 


A  001fIB!BSSI0H  OP  FilTH  771 

filmplia   peasanUife,  knowing    it    to  be  alifegiviBg   true 
faappindsB. 

(13)  ladia  should  wear  no  DaaohiDe-made  clothing 
whether  it  oonaes  out  of  European  mills  or  Indian  mills. 

(14)  England  can  help  India  to  do  this  and  then 
ehe  will  have  justified  her  hold  on  India.  There  seems 
ia  be  many  in  England  to  day  who  think  likewise, 

(13)  There  was  true  wisdom  in  the  sages  of  old 
'having  so  regulated  society  as  to  limit  the  material  aondi- 
•tioD  of  the  people :  the  rude  plough  of  perhaps  five 
thousand  years  ago  is  the  plough  of  the  husbandman  to- 
day. Therein  lies  salvation.  People  live  long  under  such 
oonditions,  in  comparative  peace  much  greater  than 
>£jurope  has  enjoyed  after  having  taken  up  modern 
activity,  and  I  feel  that  every  enlightened  man,  certainly 
■every  Eaglishman,  may,  if  he  chooses,  learn  this  truth 
and  act  according  to  it. 

It  is  the'  true  spirit  of  passive  resistance  that  has 
■brought  me  to  the  above  almost  definite  conclusions-  As 
a  passive  resister,  I  am  unconcerned  whether  suoh  & 
gigantic  reformation,  shall  I  call  it,  can  be  brought  about 
among  people  who  find  their  satisfaction  from  the  present 
mad  rush,  If  I  realize  the  truth  of  it,  I  should  rejoice 
in  following  it,  and  therefore  I  could  not  wait  until  the 
whole  body  of  people  had  commenced.  All  of  us  who 
think  likewise  have  to  take  the  necessary  step,  and  the 
'Test,  if  we  are  in  the  right,  must  follow.  The  theory  is 
there:  oar  practice  will  have  to  approach  it  as  much  as 
"Possible.  Living  in  the  midst  of  the  rush)  we  may  not  be 
able  to  shake  ourselves  free  from  all  taint-  Everytime 
•I  get  into  a  railway  car  or  use  a  motor-bus,  I  know 
that  I  am  doing  violence  to  my  sense  of  what  is  right.  I 
^0  not  fear  the  logioal  jrSBult  on  that  basic:.  The  visiting  a£ 


772  MISCELLANEOUS 

England  ia  bad,  acd  any  oommnnioation  between  Soatbr 
Afrioa  and  India  by  means  of  ooean-grey-hoands^ 
is  also  bad  and  so  on.  You  and  loan,  and  may  oubgrow 
tbeae  bhinga  in  our  present  bodies,  bat  the  chief  thing  is- 
to  put  our  theory  right.  You  will  be  seeing  there  all  sorts 
and  ooodibiona  of  man,  I,  therefore,  feel  that  I  should  no- 
ioDgar  withhold  from  you  what  I  oall  the  progreaaiva- 
atep  I  have  taken  mentally-  If  you  agree  with  ma,  than 
it  will  be  your  duty  to  tell  the  revolutionaries  and  every- 
body else  that  the  freedom  they  want,  or  they  thiok 
they  want,  is  not  to  be  obtained  by  killing  people  or 
doing  violenoa,  but  by  setting  themselves  right  and  by 
beooming  and  remaining  truly  Indian-  Then  the  Bcitiab 
rulers  will  be  servants  and  not  masters.  They  will  ha 
trustees,  and  not  tyrants,  and  they  will  live  in  perfeob 
paaoe  with  the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  India.  The- 
future,  therefore,  lies  not  with  the  British  race,  but  with 
the  Indians  themselves,  and  if  they  have  suffioient  self- 
abnegation  and  abstemiousness,  they  can  make  them- 
selves free  this  very  moment,  and  when  we  have  arrived 
in  India  at  the  simplioity  which  is  still  ours  largely  and- 
wbioh  was  ours  entirely  until  a  few  years  ago,  it  will  still 
he  poaeibla  for  the  bast  Indians  and  the  beat  Europeans 
to  see  one  another  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
India  and  act  as  the  leaven,  When  there  was  no  rapid- 
looomotion,  teaobers  and  preachers  went  on  foot,  from  one- 
end  of  the  country  to  the  otherj  braving  all  dangers,  not 
for  recruiting  their  health  (though  all  that  followed  from 
their  tramps),  but  for  the  sake  of  humanity.  Then  were 
Banares  and  other  places  of  pilgrimage  the  holy  citiea,- 
vfhareas  today  they  are  an  abomination. 

You  will  reoolleot  you  used  to  rate  me  for  talking  to- 
my  children  in  Gujarati.  I  now  feel  more  and  more  con- 


PASSIVE  BESISTEB8  IN  THE  TOLSTOY  PABM     773 

Tinoed  thai  I  was  absolutely  right  ia  refusing  to  talk  to 
^hem  in  English.  Fanoy  a  Gnjarati  writing  to  another 
"Gnjarati  in  English,  which,  as  you  would  properly  say, 
he  misprononnaes,  and  writes  ungrammatioally-  I  should 
aertainly  never  oommit  the  ludiorous  blun'ders  in  writing 
'Gujarati  that  I  do  in  writing  or  speaking  English.  I 
lihink  that  when  I  speak  in  English  to  an  Indian  or  a 
foreigner,  I  in  a  measure  unlearn  the  language.  IM 
want  to  learn  it  well,  and  if  I  want  to  attune  my  ear  to 
it,  I  oanonly  do  so  by  talking  to  an  Englishman  and  by 
'listening  to  an  Englishman  speaking. 


PASSIVE  EB8ISTEE8  IN  THE    TOLSTOY    lARM 

[Writing  to  a  friend  from  the  Tolstoy  Farm,  where 
he  was  living  with  a  number  of  passive  resisters'  families' 
Mr.  Gandhi  says  touching  manual  labour  : — ] 

I  prepare  the  bread  that  is  required  on  the  farm. 
The  general  opinion  about  it  is  that  it  is  well  made. 
Manilal  and  a  few  others  have  learnt  how  to  prepare  it. 
"We  put  in  no  yeast  and  no  baking  powder.  We  grind 
our  own  wheat.  We  have  just  prepared  some  mar- 
malade from  the  oranges  grown  on  the  farm.  I 
have  also  learnt  how  to  prepare  ooromel  ooifee. 
It  oan  ba  given  as  a  beverage  even  to  babies.  The 
passive  resisters  on  the  farm  hare  given  up  the 
'usa  of  tea  and  coffee,  and  taken  to  ooromel  coffee  pre- 
pared on  the  farm.  It  is  made  from  wheat  which  is  first 
■baked  in  a  certain  way  and  then  ground.  We  intend  to 
sell  our  surplus  production  of  the  above  three  articles  to 
the  public  later  on.  Just  at  present,  we  are  working  as 
4abourera   on  the  construction  work  that   is  going  on  on 


774  HISiCELLSNEOUS 

the   farm,    and   have  not   time    to  prodaoe    mora  of  tha 
artioles  abovemeDtioned  than  we  need  for  ourselves. 


THE  EATIONALE  OE  SUFFERING 

[Mr,  Gandhi  has  explained  the  philosophy  of  Passive 
Besistance  and  the  need  for  suffering  in  the  following: 
terms : — ] 

The  one  view  ia  why  one  should  go  to  jail  and  ther& 
submit  himself  to  all  personal  restraints,  a  plase  where 
be  would  have  to  dress  himself  in  the  coarse  and  ugly 
prison  garb  of  a  felon  and  to  live  upon  non-nutritious  and 
semi-starvation  diet,  where  be  ia  sometimes  kicked  about 
by  jail  offioials,  and  made  to  do  every  kind  of  work 
whether  he  liked  it  or  not,  where  he  has  to  carry  out  the 
behests  of  a  warder  who  ia  no  better  than  hia  bousehdld 
servant,  where  he  ia  not  allowed  to  receive  the  visits  of 
his  friends  and  relatives  and  ia  prohibited  from  writing 
to  them,  where  he  is  denied  almost  the  bare  necessities 
of  life  and  is  sometimes  obliged  to  sleep  in  the  same  cell 
that  is  occupied  by  actual  thieves  and  robbers.  The 
question  is  why  one  should  undergo  such  trials  and 
sufferings.  Better  ia  death  than  life  under  such  oondi* 
tioDS,  Far  better  to  pay  up  the  fine  than  to  be  thus 
incarcerated.  May  God  spare  his  creatures  from  suob 
su£Feringa  in  jaif.  Such  thoughts  make  one  really  a 
coward,  and  being  in  constant  dread  of  a  jail  life,  deter 
him  from  undertaking  to  perform  services  in  the  interests 
of  his  country  which  might  otherwise  prove  very 
valuable. 

The  other  view  is  that  it  would  be  the  height  of  one's 
good  fortune  to  be  in  jail  io  the  interests  and  good  name 


THE  BATiONALB  OP  SUFFERING  77^V 

of  one's  oounliry  and  religion.     There,  there  is  very  liliHa 
of  bhafi  mlBery  which  ha  has  usually  to  undergo  in  daily 
life.     There,  ha  has  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  one  warder 
only,  whereas  in  daily  life  he  is  obliged  to  carry  out   the 
behests  of  a'  great    many    more.     In  the  jail,  be  has  no 
anxiety  to  earn  his  daily  bread  and  to  prepare  his  meaU. 
The  Government  sees  to  ail   that.     It  also  looks  after  his 
health  tor  which  he  has  to  pay  nothing.    Ha  gets  enough 
works  to  exercise  his  body.  Ha  is  freed  from  all  his  vicious 
habits-     His  sotil  is  thus   free.     Ha  has  plenty  of    time 
at  his  disposal  to  pray  to    God.     His  body  is  restrained, 
but  not  bis  sou!,     Ha  learns  to  be   more    regular  in    his 
habits.     Those    who  keep   his    body  in    rastrainb,    look 
after  it.     Taking  this  view  of  jail    life,    he   feels  himself 
quite  a  free  being.     If  any  misfortune  comas    to   him    or 
any  wicked  warder  happens  to  use  any    violence  towards 
him,  he  learns  to  appreciate  and   exercise    patience,   and 
is  pleased  to  have  an  opportunity  of  keeping  control  over 
himself.     Those  who  think  this  way  are  sura  to  be   con- 
vinced that  even  jail  life  can  be  attended  with   blessings. 
It  solely  rests  with  individuals  and  their  mental  attitude 
to  make  it  one  of  blessing   or    otherwise,     I  trust,    how- 
ever, that  the  readers  of    this  my    second  experience    of 
life  in  the  Transvaal  jail  will  be  convinced  that  the    real 
road  to  ultimate  happiness  lies  in  going  to  jail  and  under- 
going sufferings  and  privations    there  in   the  interest   of 
one's  oonntry  and  religion. 

Placed  in  a  similar  position  for  refusing  his  poll-tax, 
the  American  citizen,  Thoreau,  expressed  similar  thoughts 
in  1849.  Seeing  the  walls  of  the  cell  in  which  be  was 
confined,  made  of  solid  stone  two  or  three  feet  thick,  and 
the  door  of  wood  and  iron  a  toot  thick,  be  said  to  him- 
self thus  : — 


776  MISOELIiANBOUS 

"  I  saw  that,  if  there  was  a  wall  of  stona  between  me  and 
my  townsmen,  there  was  a  still  more  difficult  one  to  olimb  or  break 
through  before  they  oould  get  to  be  as  free  as  I  was,  I  did  not 
feel  for  a  moment  confined,  and  the  walls  seemed  a  great  waste  of 
stone  and  mortar,  I  felt  as  if  I  alone  ot  all  my  townsmen  had 
paid  my  tax,  They  plainly  did  not  know  how  to  treat  me,  but 
behaved  like  persons  who  are  underbred,  In  every  threat  and  in 
every  compliment  there  was  a  blunder  ;  for  they  thought  that  my 
chief  desire  was  to  stand  the  other  side  of  the  stona-wall,  J.  oould 
not  but  smile  to  see  how  industriously  they  looked  the  door  on 
my  meditations,  which  followed  them  out  again  without  let  or 
hindrance,  and  tbey  were  nearly  all  that  was  dangerous,  As  they 
oould  not  reaoh  me,  they  had  resolved  to  punish  my  body  ;  just  as 
boys  if  they  cannot  come  to  some  person  against  whom  they  have 
a  spite,  will  abuse  his  dog.  I  saw  that  the  State  was  half-witted, 
that  it  was  timid  as  a  lone  woman  with  her  silver  spoons,  and 
that  it  did  not  know  its  friends  from  its  foes,  and  I  lose  all  my 
remaining  respect  for  it  and  pitied  it." 


THE  THEORY  AND  PEAGTIOE  OE  PASSIVE 
EB8ISTAN0B 

[Mr.  Gandhi  contributed  the  following  paper  to  the 
Golden  Number  of  the  "  Indian  Opinion"  w  1914:— •] 

I  shall  ba  at  leasli  far  av?ay  from  Phoeaix  if  not  actu- 
ally in  the  Motherland,  when  this  commemoration  issue 
is  published.  I  wculd,  however,  leave  behind  ma  my 
innermost  thcughts  upon  that  which  has  made  this 
special  issue  necessary.  Without  passive  rasistanoa 
there  would  have  been  no  richly  illustrated  and  important 
special  issue  of  Indian  Opinion  which  has,  for  the  last 
eleven  years,  in  unpretentious  and  humble  manner, 
endeavoured  to  serve  my  countrymen  and  So^uth  Africa, 
a  period  causing  the  most  critical  stage  that  they  will, 
perhaps,  ever  hive  to  pass  through.  It  marks  the  rise 
and  growth  of  passive  rasistanoa  which  has  attracted 
world-wide  attention. 


:CHE  THBORT  &  PBAOIIOB  OP  PASSIVE  BESISTANOE    777 

The  term  does  nob  fib  (be  activity  of  the  Indian 
oommunity  during  the  past  eight  yeara.  Its  equivalent  in 
the  vernacuiafi  rendered  into  Eaglisb,  means  truth-force. 
I  think  Tolstoy  called  it  also  Soul: Force  or  love-foroe, 
and  so  it  is.  Carried  out  to  its  utmost  limit,  this  force 
Js  independent  of  pecuniary  or  other  material  assistance; 
certainly,  even  in  its  elementary  form,  of  physical  force 
or  violence,  Indeed,  violence  is  the  negation  of  this 
'great  spiritual  force,  which  can  only  be  cultivated  or 
wielded  by  those  who  will  entirely  eschew  violence-  It 
is  a  force  that  may  be  used  by  individuals  as  well  as  by 
communities.  It  may  be  used  as  well  ia  political  as  in 
domestic  affairs.  Its  universal  applicability  ia  a  demons- 
tration of  its  permanence  and  invincibility.  It  can  be 
used  alike  by  men,  woman  and  children,  lb  ia  totally 
untrue  to  say  that  it  ia  a  force  to  be  used  only  by  the 
weak  so  long  as  they  are  not  capable  of  meeting  violence 
by  violence.  This  superstition  arises  from  the  in- 
completeness of  the  English  expression.  It  ia  impossible 
for  those  who  consider  themselves  to  be  weak  to  apply 
this  force.  Only  those  who  realise  that  there  ia  aome- 
thing  in  man  which  is  superior  to  the  brute  nature  in 
him,  and  tbat  the  latter  always  yields  to  it,  can 
effectively  be  passive  resisters.  This  force  is  to  violence 
and,  therefore,  to  all  tyranny,  all  injuatice,  what  light  is 
to  darknesa.  In  poiitioa,  its  use  is  based  upon  the  immu- 
table masim  that  government  of  the  people  is  possible 
only  so  long  as  -  they  consent  either  consciously  or 
unconsciously  to  be  governed.  We  did  nob  want  to  be 
governed  by  the  Asiatic  Act  of  1907  of  the  Transvaal 
and  it  had  to  go  before  this  mighty  force.  Two  courses 
were  open  to  us — to  use  violence  when  we  were  called 
upon  to.Bubmib  bo    the   Aob,  or   to   suffer   the    penalties 


^78  MISOELBANEOUS 

preaoribed  under  the  Aoti,  and  thus  to  draw  out  an* 
exhibit  the  force  of  the  soul  within  ua  for  a  period  long 
enough  to  appeal  to  the  Bympathetio  chord  in  tba 
governors  or  the  law-makers.  Wa  have  taken  long  to 
aohieva  what  wa  set  about  striving  for,  That  was 
beoause  our  passive  resiatanca  was  not  of  the  moab^ 
oomplate  type.  AH  passive  resisters  do  cot  underatani} 
the  full  value  of  the  force,  nor  have  we  men  who  always 
from  oonviotion  refrain  from  violenoei  The  use  of  this- 
foroa  requires  the  adoption  of  poverty,  in  the  sense  that 
we  must  be  indifferent  whether  we  have  the  wherewithal 
to  feed  or  clothe  ourselves.  During  the  past  struggle,  all 
Passive  Eesisters,  if  any  at  all,  ware  not  prepared  to  go 
that  length.  Soma  again  wera  only  passive  reaisters^ 
so-called.  They  oama  without  any  oonviotion,  often  with 
mixed  motives,  less  often  with  impure  motives.  Some  even, 
whilst  engaged  in  the  struggle,  would  gladly  have  resorted 
to  violence  but  for  most  vigilant  supervision.  Thus  it 
was  that  tba  struggle  became  prolonged  ;  for  the  exercise- 
of  tha  purest  soul-force,  in  its  perfect  (ormi  brings  about 
inatantaneous  relief.  For  this  exercise,  prolonged  train-^ 
ing  of  the  individual  soul  is  an  absolute  necessity,  so 
that  a  perfect  passive  resister  has  to  be  almost,  if  not 
entirely,  a  perfect  man.  We  oannot  all  suddenly  beaom» 
such  man,  but,  if  my  proposition  is  correct — as  I  know  it 
to  be  correct, — tha  greater  the  spirit  of  passive  resistanoo 
in  us,  the  better  men  we  will  become.  Its  use,  therefore, 
is,  1  think,  indisputablei  and  it  is  a  force  which,  if  ib 
became  universal,  would  revolutionise  social  ideals  and  do 
away  with  despotisms  and  the  ever-growing  militarism' 
under  which  the  nations  of  the  West  are  groaning  aud 
are  being  almost  crushed  to  death, — that  militarism 
which  promises  to  overwhelm   even  the   nations  of  tha. 


ON  SOUL-POKCS  AND  INDIAN    POLITICS  7T9*"' 

ilSasfe,  If  the  pasii  struggle  h&s  produced  even  a  few 
Indiana  who  would  dedioate  themselvea  to  the  task  of 
beooming  passive  resisters  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible, 
they  would  not  only  have  served  themselves  in  th.e  truesb^ 
sense  of  the  term,  they  would  also  have  served  humanity 
at  large.  Thus  viewed,  passive  resistance  is  the  noblesb 
and  the  best  education.  It  should  come,  not  after  tba 
ordinary  education  in  tetters  of  children,  but  it  should' 
precede  it,  It  will  not  be  denied  that  a  ohild,  before  ife 
begins  to  write  its  alphabet  and  to  gain  worldly  know- 
ledge, should  know  what  the  soul  ie,  what  truth  is,  whab- 
love  is,  what  powers  are  latent  in  the  soul.  It  should  be 
an  essential  of  real  education  that  a  ohild  should  leart» 
that,  in  the  struggle  of  life,  it  can  easily  conquer  hate  by 
love,  untruth  by  truth,  violence  by  self-suffering.  It  was 
because  I  felt  the  forces  of  this  truth,  that,  during  the 
later  part  of  the  struggle,  I  endeavoured,  as  much  as  F 
could,  to  train  the  children  at  Tolstoy  Farm  and  then  at 
Phoenix  along  these  linesi  and  one  of  the  reasons  for  my 
departure  to  India  is  still  further  to  realise,  as  I  already 
do  in  part,  my  own  imperfection  as  a  Passive  Eeeister^ 
and  then  to  try  to  perfect  myself,  for  I  believe  that  it  i»- 
in  India  that  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection  is  mosit 
possible. 


ON  SOUL  FORGE  AND  INDIAN  POLITICS 
[The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  original  irt 
Qujarati   published  during   the   agitation    against    the.- 
internment  of  Mrs,  Besant  and  her  two  colleagues  in  June, 
1917:—] 

The  Eaglish  expression  'Passive  Resistance  '  hardly 
denotes  the  force  about  which  I  propose  to  write,  Bute 
Satyagraha,   *.  e„    Truth-force,    correctly   conveys   tha 


"780  MlS0ELL4NE0nS 

meaning.  Truth-foroo  ia  soul-foroe,  and  is  the  opposite 
«f  the  foroe  of  arena.  The  former  ia  a  purely  religioua 
insbrutnant ;  its  oonsoioua  use  is,  therefore,  possible  only 
in  man  raligioualy  inolinad.  Prahlad,  Mirabai  and  others 
ware  Passive  Basistera  (in  the  sanse  in  whioh  the  exprag- 
«ion  ia  here  used),  At  the  time  of  the  Moroccan  War, 
the  Franoh  guns  were  playing  upon  the  Arabs  of 
Morocco,  Tde  latter  believed  that  they  were  fighting 
^or  their  religion.  They  defied  death  and  with  'Allah' 
on  tbair  lips  rushed  into  the  cannon's  mouth.  There 
was  no  room  left  here  for  them  to  deal  death,  The 
breach  gunners  declined  to  work  their  guns  against  these 
Arabs,  They  threw  up  their  hata  in  the  air,  rushed 
forward  and  with  shouts  of  cheer  embraced  these  brave 
-Arabs.  This  ia  an  illuatration  of  "  Pasaive  Baaistanae  " 
and  it:a  victory.  The  Araba  were  not  oonsoioualy  "Pas- 
sive Besisters."  They  prepared  to  face  death  in  a  fit  of 
itbDzy.  The  spirit  of  love  was  absent  in  them.  A 
"Passive  B^aister"  has  no  spirit  of  envy  in  him,  It  ia 
oot  Anger  that  bids  him  court  Daath.  Bat  it  ia  by 
reason  of  his  ability  to  suffer  that  he  refuses  to  surren- 
der to  the  ao-oalled  enemy  or  the  tyrant.  Thus  a  "  Pas- 
sive Basister  "  has  need  to  have  courage,  forgivanaaa 
and  love.  Imam  Hussain  and  hia  little  band  refused  to 
yield  to  what  to  them  appeared  to  be  an  unjuab  order. 
Tbey  knew  at  the  time  that  Daath  alone  would  be  their 
lot.  If  they  yielded  to  it,  they  felt  that  their  manhood 
and  their  religion  would  be  in  jeopardy.  They,  therefore, 
welcomed  the  embrace  of  Daatb.  Imam  Hussain  pre- 
ferred the  slaughter  in  his  arms  of  his  son  and  nephew,  " 
for  him  and  them  to  suffer  from  thirst,  rather  than  sub- 
ccit  to  what  to  him  appeared  to  be  an  unjust  order.  It 
is  my  belief    that  the  riae  of  Islam  baa  been  due  not   to 


ON  SOUL-FOROB  AND  INDIAN  POLITICS  7S1 

the  aword,  but  to  tha  BaH-immoIaliion  alone  of  tb» 
I*!i>keara  of  Islam.  Thera  ia  little  to  boast  of  in  the 
ability  to  wield  tba  sword.  Wben  the  striker  finds  out 
his  naistaka,  be  understands  the  sinfulness  of  his  aob 
which  now  beoomes  murder  and  has  to  repent  of  his 
folly.  Whereas  he  who  oourts  death  even  though  he- 
might  have  done  so  in  error,  for  him  it  is  sbill  a  victory ,.. 
'Passive  Basistanoe'  is  the  Baligion  of  Abimsa.  It  is, 
therefore,  everywhere  and  always  a  duty  and  is  desirabla. 
Violenoe  is  Himsa  and  has  been  diaoarded  in  all  religions. 
Even  the  devotees  of  matboda  of  violenoe  impose  elabo-^ 
rate  restriotions  upon  their  use.  '  Paasiva  Baaistanoe  ' 
admits  of  no  saoh  limits.  Tt  is  limited  only  by  the 
insuffioiecoy  of  tba  Passive  Baaistar's  strength  to- 
suffer. 

No  one  else  but  a  ''  Passive  Basister"  oan  answer  tha^ 
qaestion  whether  bis"  Passive  Basiatanoe"  ia  lawful  or 
otherwise.  Tha  publia  oan  only  judge  after  the  "  Passive- 
Baaister"  baa  begun  his  work.  Ha  cannot  ba  deterred  by 
publia  displeasure.  His  operations  are  not  founded  upon 
.Arithmetioal  Formulae.  He  may  be  oonaidered  a  olever 
politician  or  a  thoughtful  man  who  commences  bis  so-'cail- 
ed  Pdrsslve  Basistanae  only  after  having  weighed  chancas' 
of'succees  and  failure.  But  he  is  by  no  means  a  "Pasaiva 
Baaister,"     The  former  acts  because  be  muat. 

Both  Soul-force  and  force  of  Arms  are  from  times 
immemorial.  Both  have  received  their  due  meed  of  praise 
in  the  aooapted  religious  literature.  They  respectively  re- 
present Forces  of  Good  and  Evil.  The  Indian  belief  is^ 
that  there  was  in  this  land  a  time  when  the  forces  of 
Good  were  predominant.  That  state  still  remains  our 
ideal.  Europe  furnishes  a  forcible  illustration  of  predo- 
minanoe  of  tha  Forces  of  Evil.  .\. 


?82  .  MISCELLANEOUS : 

Either  of  theae  is  preferable  to  rank  oowardioe.  Nei- 
ther Swaraj  nor  an  awakening  aoaong  ua  ia^poBsibleTCithi- 
oat  resort  to  one  or  the  other.  ''  Swaraj"  is  no  Swaraj 
^bioh  is  gained  without  Aotion.  Saob  Swaraj  ooaid  make 
no  impression  on  the  people.  No  Awakening  is  possible 
-without  the  people  at  large  realising  their  power.  In 
^piie  of  protestations  by  leaders  and  efforts  by  the  Govern- 
mant,  if  they  and  we  do  not  give  "  Passive  Besistanoe" 
■due  pradomiuance,  methods  cf  violence  will  automatioally 
gain  strength.  They  are  like  weeds  ;  they  grow  anyhow 
in  any  soil.  For  a  oultivation  of '' Passive  Besistanoe" 
endeavour  and  courage  form  the  necessary  manure  ;  and 
as  weeds,  if  they  are  not  rooted  out,  overwhelm  a  crop, 
•even  so  will  violenoe  grow  like  weeds,  if  the  ground  is  not 
Ifept  clean  by  self-sacrifice  for  the  growth  of  "  Passive 
Hasistance"  and  violenoe  that  may  have  already  token  root 
be  nob  dealt  with  by  loving  hands.  By  the  method  of 
"  Passive  Besistance"  we  can  wean  from  the  error  of  their 
-ways  the  youths  who  have  become  impatient  of  and  an- 
gered by  what  to  them  appears  to  be  the  Governmental 
2oolum,  and  we  can  strengthen  the  forces  of  good  by  en- 
listing in  favour  of  "  Passive  Besistanoe"  their  heroism, 
their  courage  and  their  power  of  endurance. 

Therefore,  the  sooner  the  spirit  of  "  Passive  Besist- 
ance" pervades  the  atmosphere,  the  better  it  is.  It  will 
bless  both  the  Baj  and  the  Baiyat.  A  Passive  Basiater 
never  wants  to  embarrass  a  Government  or  anybody  else, 
fie  does  not  act  thonghtlesslyi  he  is  never  insolent.  He 
therefore  shuns  boycott,  but  takes  the  Swadeshi  vow  as  a 
part  of  his  religion  and  never  wavers  in  practising  it. 
Fearing  God  alone,  he  is  afraid  of  no  other  power.  Fear 
ot  kings  can  never  make  him  forsake  the  path  of 
-duty. 


ON  SOUL-FOBCB  AND  INDIAN  POLITICS     .     783 

Id  view  of  the  foregoing,  it  is  hardly  neaessary  for  me 
4o  say  that  it  ie  our  duty  to  make  nsa  of ''  Passive  EsBist- 
anoe"  in  order  to   prooure  the  release  of  Mrs.  Basant  and 
her  ooDoradea.  It  is  beside  the  point  whether  one  approves 
of  all  or  any  of  h«r  aots.  I  oertainly  disapprove  of    some 
of  hsr  aots,  Bali  in  my  humble  opinion,  the  Government 
■tiave  grievously  erred  in  interning  them,  and  it  is    an  aot 
■of  iAjastioe.  I  know  that  the  Government    think   other- 
wise. It  is  possible  that  the  publia  are  in  error  in    deair- 
ing  thair  release.  The  Govarnmeab  have  acted  upon  their 
•belief*  How  are  the  publia  to  make  an  effaotive     demon- 
-etration  of  their  wounded  feelings  ?  Petitions  and  the  like 
-are  a  remedy  for  endurable  grievanoes,  Ear  the  unendur- 
able ''Passive  Basistance"  alone  ia  the  remedy.  Only  those 
-who  oonsider  the  wrong  to  beunendurablo  will,  when  the 
-feeling  posaessea  them,  dedicate  themaelves  body  and  soul 
to  the  release  of  Mrs.  Basant.     Saoh  self-surrender  is  the 
most  effective  demonstration  of  a   people's    desire.     And 
before  it  the  mightiest  power  must    bend.     Such    is   my 
-unalterable   faith    in    tha    efficacy  of  soul-force.     People 
may   restrain    the    supreme   demonstration    in    view    of 
Mr.    Montagu's    impending    visit;     Saoh     self-imposed 
restraint  will  be  a  token  of    their   sense    of   justice    and 
their  faith    in  the  Government,  But,  if  the  interned  are 
not  released  befora  his  arrival,  it  will  be  our  duty  to  take 
'-up   the    matchless  foroa  I  hava  endeavoured  to  describe. 
■Ins  use  will  be  a  true   measure   for   the    Governmsnt    of 
the  pain  fait  by  us ;  our  intention  cannot  be  to  irritate  or 
niiarrass  them  ;  in    my    opinion,  adoption    of    Satyagraha 
'iwill  be  a  servioe  to  the  Government. 


EIGHTS  AND  DUTIES  01  LABOUR 

[In  response  to  the  invitation  of  the  Madras  Oentral 
Labour  Board  during  his  visit  to  Madras  in  1920,  Mr, 
Oandhi  addressed  a  monster  meeting  of  the  labourers  at 
the  Beach  opposite  the  High  Court  on  the  question  of  the 
"  Rights  and  Duties  of  Labour."  Mr,  B.  P.  Wadia 
presided  on  the  occasion.    Mr.  Oandhi  said : — ] 

Mr.  ChairmetD  and  Friendsi — Iti  gives  ma  vary  great 
pleasure  to  renew  yonr  aognaintanoe  a  second  time,  I 
think  I  told  you  last  year,  whan  I  had  the  privilege  of 
addre.ssing  some  of  youi  that  I  considered  myself  a  fellow- 
labourer  like  you.  Perhaps  you  are  labourers  nob  by 
ohoioa  bub  by  some  compulsion.  But  I  entertain 
such  a  high  regard  for  labour.  I  entertain  great 
respect  for  the  dignity  of  labour  that  I  have  thrown 
in  my  lot  with  the  labourers  and  for  many;  many  years 
now  I  have  lived  in  their  midst  like  them  labouring  with 
my  hands  and  with  my  feat.  In  labouring  with  your 
bodies  you  are  simply  following  the  law  of  yonr  being, 
and  there  is  not  the  slightesb  reason  for  you  to  feel  dis- 
satisfiad  with  your  lot.  Oa  the  contrary,  I  would  ask 
you  to  regard  yourselves  as  trustees  for  the  nation  for 
which  you  are  labouring.  A  nation  may  do  without  its 
millionaires  and  without  its  capitalists,  but  a  nation 
can  never  do  without  its  labour,  But  there  is  one 
fundamental  distinction  between  your  labour  and  my 
labour.  You  are  labouring  for  soma  one  else.  Bab  I 
consider  that  I  am  labouring  for  myself.  Then  I  am  my 
own  master.  And  in  a  natural  state  wa  should  all  find 
ourselves  our  own  masters.     Bat  such  a  state  of  things 


BIGHTS  AHD  DUTIES  OF  LABOUR  78§ 

oannot  be  reached  in  a  day.  lb  therefore  beoomea  a  very 
serioua  gnestion  for  yon  to  oonsider  how  you  are  to  oon- 
dact  yoarselves  aa  labourers  serving  others.  Just  aa 
there  is  no  shame  in  being  a  labonrer  for  one's  self,  ao 
also  IB  there  no  shame  in  labouring  for  others. 

But  it  beoomea  necessary  bo  find  oat  the  true 
relationahip  between  master  and  servant.  What  are  yonr 
duties  .and  what  are  your  rights  ?  In  is  simple  to  under- 
stand that  yonr  right  is  bo  receive  higher  wages  for  your 
labour.  And  it  is  equally  simple  to  know  that  your  duty 
is  to  work  to  the  beat  of  your  ability  for  the  wages  you 
receive.  And  it  ia  my  univeraal  esparienoe  that  aa  a  rule 
labour  discharges  its  obligations  more  effaatively  and 
more  oonaoientionaly  than  the  master  who  baa  oorreapond' 
ing  obligationa  towards  the  labourers.  It  therefore 
becomes  necessary  for  labour  to  find  out  how  far  labour 
can  impose  its  will  on  the  masters.  If  we  find  that, we 
are  not  adequately  paid  or  houaed,  how  are  we  to  receive 
enough  wages,  and  good  aooommodabion  ?  Who  is  to 
determine  the  standard  of  wages  and  the  standard  of 
comfort  required  by  the  labourers.  The  best  way>  no 
doubt,  is  bbab  you  labourers  understand  your  own  rigbos; 
underaiand  the  method  of  enforcing  your  rights  and  enforce 
them.  But  for  bhat  you  require  a  libtle  previous  training— <■ 
eduoabion.  You  have  been  brought  to  a  central  point 
from  the  various  parts  of  Dba  country  and  find  yourselves 
congregated  together.  Bat  you  find  that  you  are  not 
getting  enough,  you  are  not  properly  housed,  I  therefore 
venture  to  auggeat  to  Mr.  Wadia  and  those  who 
are  leading  yon  and  advising  you  that  their  first 
buainesa  is  to  guide  you  not  by  giving  you  a  know- 
ledge of  leitera  but  of  human  affairs  and  human  relations. 
I  make  this  auggestion  respectfully  and  in  all  hnmiiiby 
60 


786  MISOBLLANBOnS  : 

beoansa  my  survey  cf  labour  [a  India  ia  so  far  as  I  bays 
been  abla  to  undertake  it  and  my  long  experienoe  of  oon* 
ditionB  of  labour  in  South  Africa  lead  me  to  the  oonolu- 
sioD  that  in  a  Urge  majority  of  oases  leaders  oonsider  that 
they    hare   to   give  labour   the   knowledge  of  the  3  B's, 
That  undoubtedly  is  a  neoessity  of  the  case.   Bat  it  is  to  be 
preceded  by  a  proper  knowledge  of  your   own  rights  and 
kbe  way  of  enforoing  them.     And  in    oonduoting  many  a 
strike   I  have    found    that   it   is  possible    to    give    fibis 
fundamental  eduoatibn  to  the  labourers  within  a'  few  days. 
And  that  brings  ma  to  the  aubjaatof  strikes.  Strikers 
are  now  in  the  air  to-day' throughout    the  world    and    on 
the  slightest  pretext  labour  goes  in  for  strikes.     My  own 
experienoa   of   the   last  six  months  is  that  many  strikes 
have    done  liarm  to  labour  rather    than    good.     I    have 
studied    so   far  as  I  oan  the  strikes  in  Bombay,  a  strike 
at  Tata  Iron  Works,  nnd  the   celebrated    strike    of    th& 
railway  labourers  in  the  Fanjab.     There  was  a  failure  in 
all  these  strikes,     Libour  was  not  abla  to  make  good  its 
points  to    the   fullest   extent.     What   was  the   reason  ? 
Labour  was  badly  led.  I  want  you  to  distinguish  between 
two  olasaes  of    leaders.     You  have   leaders  derived  from 
j^ourselves  and  they  are  in  their  turn  advised    and  led  by 
those  who  are  not  themselves  labourers,  but  who    are  in 
sympathy    or    expeoted    to  be  in  sympathy  with  labour. 
Unless  there  is   perfeot    oorrespondenoe    between     these 
three,  there  is  bound  to  be  a  failura.     In  all    these    four 
strikes  that  perfeot  oorrespondenoe  was  lacking,  There  is 
another  substantial  reason  which  I  disoovarad.  Libourars 
look  to    pecuniary    support   from    their  unions  for  their 
maintenance,  No  labour  can  prolong  a  strike  indefiaitely 
so  long  as  labour  depends  on  the  resources  of  its  unions 
and   no  strike   oan   abaolutely  sucoaad  which  oianob  ba 


BIGHTS  AHJ    DUIIBS    OF    LABOUB  787 

Indefinitely  proloage^.  In  all  the  strikes  thati  I  have 
-flver  oonduoted  I  have  laid  down  one  indispensable  rule 
that  labourers  onuat  find  their  own  support.  And 
therein  lies  the  secret  of  suooess  and  therein  consists 
your  education.  You  should  be  able  to  perceive  that, 
if  you  are  able  to  serve  one  master  and  command  a 
particular  wage,  your  labour  must  be  worthy  and  fit  to 
receive  that  wage  anywhere  else.  Strikers  therefore  cannot 
-expect  to  be  idlers  and  succeed.  Your  attempts  must  be 
just.  And  there  should  be  no  pressure  exerted  upon  those 
whom  you  call  "  black  legs."  Any  foroe  of  this  kind 
-exerted  against  your  own  fellow-labourers  is  bound  to 
Teaot  upon  yourselves.  And  I  think  your  advisers  will 
tell  you  that  these  three  conditions  being  fulfilled  no 
strike  need  fail.  But  they  at  once  demonstrate  to  you 
the  necessity' of  thinking  a  hundred  times  before  under- 
taking a  strike.  So  much  for  your  rights  and  the  method 
of  enforcing  them.  But  as  labour  becomes  organised 
strikes  must  be  few  and  far  between.  And  as  your 
mental  and  collective  development  progresses,  you  will 
find  that  the  principle  of  arbitration  replaces  the  principle 
of  strikes  and  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  we  should 
Teach  this  state. 

I  would  now  venture  to  say  a  few  words  in  connec- 
tion with  your  national  responsibility.  Just  as  you 
liave  to  understand  obligations  amongst  ourselves  with 
reference  to  your  own  masters,  so  also  .is  it  necessary  to 
understand  your  obligations  to  the  nation  to  which  you 
ielong.  Then  your  primary  education  is  complete.  If 
~you  sufficiently  realise  the  dignity  of  labour)  you  will 
realise  that  you  have  a  duty  to  discharge  by  your 
country.  You  must -therefore  find  out  -the  affairs  of 
yoxit  countriy  in  the  best   madner   :^on  can.     You   musti 


788  MISCELLANEOUS 

fiod  ouli  without  having  to  wait  for  a  oart  load  of  books. 
Who  ara  your  Governora  and  what  are  your  relations^ 
with  them  ?  What  they  do  to  you  and  what  you  oan 
do  to  them  ?  la  my  humble  opinion,  it  ia  not  poaslbla  for 
you  to  live  your  religion  fully,  until  you  undertake  to 
understand  thaae  thinga  and  my  task  this  afternoon  ia 
finished  if  I  have  atimulated  your  desire  after  a  know- 
ledge of  the  a£faira  of  your  country.  And  I  hope  you 
will  not  rest  oontanted  until  you  have  found  out  through' 
your  adviaera  and  leaders  the  true  affairs  of  this  country. 
I  wish  you  all  the  prosperity  that  you  may  desire  and  I 
hope  that  you  will  diaoharge  yourselves  as  good  oitizens- 
of  thia  country  (loud  applause). 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  SWORD* 

la  thia  age  of  the  rule  of  brute  force,  it  is  almost' 
impoaaible  for  anyone  to  believe  that  anyone  else  could 
possibly  reject  the  law  of  the  final  supremacy  of  brute 
force.  And  so  I  receive  anonymous  letters  advising  ma 
tbat  I  masb  not  interfere  wibh  the  progress  of  non-oo- 
operation  even  though  popular  violence  may  break  out, 
Oiheti  oome  to  me  and  assuming  that  seorelily  I  mast 
ba  plouting  violence,  inquire  when  the  happy  moment 
for  d^diaring'' open  violence  ia  to  arrive.  They  assure  ms 
that  the  Euglish  will  never  yield  to  anything  but  violence 
secret  or  open.  Yet  others,  I  am  informed,  believe  that 
I  am  the  most  rascally  person  living  in  India  because  I 
never  give  out  my  real  intention  and  that  they  have  nob 
a  shadow  of  doubt  that  I  believe  in  Tiolanoe  just  as  much 
as  most  people  do. 

•  From  Yotmg  India,  August  11, 1920. 


THE    DOOTSINE    OP    THE    SWORD  789 

I..  .' 

Saoh  being  the  bold  that  tbe  doobrine  of  the  sword 
^as  on  fcba  majority  of  mankind,  and  as  auooees  of  non- 
«o-operaMon  depends  prinoipally  on  the  absenoe  of 
'Violenoe  daring  its  pendenoy  and  as  my  views  in  this 
matter  B£Feot  the  oonduot  of  a  large  number  of  people,  I 
«m  anxioas  to  state  them  as  clearly  as  possible, 

I  do  believe  that,  where  there  is  only  a  ohoioe  be- 
tween oowardioe  and  violenoe,  I  would  advise  violenoe. 
Thus  when  my  eldest  son  aeked  me  what  he  should  have 
•done,  had  he  been  present  when  I  was  almost  fatally 
asaaullied  in  1908,  whether  be  should  have  run  away 
and  seen  me  killed  or  whether  he  should  have  used  bis 
physioal  force  which  be  could  and  wanted  to  use,  and 
defended  me,  T  told  him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  defend 
me  even  by  using  violenoe.  Hence  it  was  that  I  took 
part  in  the  Boer  War,  the  so-called  Zulu  rebellion  and 
the  late  War.  Hence  also  do  I  advocate  training  Iti 
arms  for  those  who  believe  in  the  method  of  violence. 
I  would  rather  have  India  resort  to  arms  in  order  to 
defend  her  honour  than  that  she  should  in  a  cowardly 
manner  become  or  remain  a  helpless  witness  to  her  own 
'dithononr. 

But  I  believe  that  non-violence  is  infinitely  supe- 
rior to  TiolenoBi  forgiveness  adorns  a  soldier.  Bat 
abstinence  is  forgiveness  only  when  there  istthe  power 
to  punish  ;  ib  is  meaningless  when  it  pretends  to  pro- 
Deed  from  a  helpless  creature.  A  mouse  hardly  forgives 
a  oat  when  it  allows  itself  to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  her> 
I  therefore  appreciate  tbe  sentiment  of  those  who  ory 
out  for  the  condign  punishment  of  General  Dyer  and  his 
ilk.  They  would  tear  him  to  pieces  if  they  could-  Bat 
I  do  not  believe   India  to  be  helpless.     I  do  not  believa 


790  MISOEIiIjANBOnS 

myself  to  ba  a    helpless  oreabure.     Only  I    wanb  to    uaa 
ladia'a  and  my  atreogth  for  a  better  purpose. 

Lat  me  nob  be  misunderstood.  Strength  does  not 
oome  from  physioal  oapaoiby.  lb  oomea  from  an  indo- 
mitable will.  An  average  Zulu  is  anyway  more  than  a 
match  for  an  average  EogMshman  in  bodily  oapacity. 
Bat  he  flees  from  an  English  boy,  heoause  he  fears  the 
boy's  revolver  or  those  who  will  use  it  for  him.  H&. 
fears  death  and  is  nerveleaa  in  spite  of  hia  burl^- 
figure.  We  in  India  may  in  a  moment  realise  that  one 
hundred  tbousaud  English  men  need  not  frighten  three- 
hundred  million  human  beings,  A  definite  forgiveness 
would  therefore  mean  a  definite  reoognition  of  our 
strength.  With  enlightened  forgiveness  must  oome' 
mighty  wave  of  strength  in  us,  which  would  make  it 
impossible  for  a  Dyer  and  a  Frank  Johnson  to  heap 
affront  upon  India's  devoted  head,  It  matters  little  to 
me  that  for  the  moment  I  do  not  drive  my  point  home< 
We  feel  too  downtrodden  not  to  be  angry  and  revenge- 
ful. But  I  must  not  refrain. from  saying  that  India  can 
gain  more  by  waiving  the  right  of  punishment.  We- 
have  better  work  to  doi  a  better  mission  to  deliver  to 
the  world. 

I  am  not  a  visionary.  I  olaim  to  be  a  praotioal' 
idealist.  The  religion  of  non-violence  is  not  meant 
merely  for  tfae  Bishis  and  sainta.  It  is  meant  for  the 
common  people  as  well.  Non-violence  is  the  law  of  our 
speoisa  as  violenoe  is  the  law  of  the  brute.  The  spirit 
lies  dormant  in  the  brube  and  he  knows  no  law  but  that 
of  physioal  might.  The  dignity  of  man  requires  obedi- 
ence to  a  higher  law — to  the  strength  of  the  spirit, 

I  have  therefore  ventured  to  place  before  India  tb» 
ancient  law  of  self-saorifioe.     For   Satyagrah  and  its  off- 


THE    DOCTKINB    0B> :  THE    SWOBD  791 

shooie,  non-oo-oparation  and  oivil  resistanoe,  are  nothing 
but  new  Daoaes  for  the  law  of  suffering.  The  Bishis, 
who  discovered  the  law  of  non-violence  in  the  midet  of 
violence,  were  greater  geniuses  than  Newton,  They 
were  themselves  greater  warriors  than  Wellington. 
Having  thenaselves  known  the  use  of  arousi  they  realised 
their  nselessness  and  taught:  a  weary  world  that  its 
aalvation  lay  not  through  violence  but  through  non- 
violenoe. 

Non-violence  in  its  dynanaio  condition  means  ooor 
scions  suffering-  It  does  not  mean  meek  submission  tq 
the  will  of  the  evil-doer,  but  it  means  the  putting  of  one's 
whole  soul  against  the  will  of  the  tyrant.  Working 
under  this  law  of  our  being,  it  is  possible  for  a  single 
individual  to  defy  the  whole  might  of  an  unjust  empire 
to  save  his  honour,  his  religion,  bis  soul  and  lay  the 
foundation  for  that  empire's  fall  or  its  regeneration. 

And  so  I  am  not  pleading  for  India  to  practise  non- 
violence because  it  is  weak.  I  want  ber  to  practise 
ooD-violeDce  being  cocEoious  of  ber  strength  and  power. 
No  training  in  arms  is  required  for  the  realisation  of  her 
strength.  We  seem  to  need  it  because  we  seem  to  think 
that  We  are  but  a  lump  of  flesh.  I  want  India  to 
recognise  that  she  has  a  soul  that  cannot'  perish  and 
that  can  rise  triumphant  above  every  pbysioa  weakness 
and  defy  ehe  physical  combination  of  a  whole  world. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  Bama,  a  mere  human  being, 
with  his  boat  of  monkeys,  pitting  himself  against  tbe 
insolent  strength  of  ten-beaded  Bavan  surrounded  in 
supposed  safety  by  the  raging  waters  on  all  sfdea  of 
Lanka?  Does  it  not  mean  the  conquest  of  physical 
might  by  spiritual  strength  ?  However,  being  a  practial 
man,    I  do  not  wait  till  India  recognises  thd   practioabi- 


792  MISOBLLANBOUS 

lity  of  the  epiriliual  life  iu  the  polibioal  world.  India 
ooDsiders  herself  to  be  powerlees  and  paralysed  before 
the  maobine-guns,  the  tanks  ani)  the  aeroplanes  of  the 
English.  And  she  takes  up  non-co-operation  ont  of  her 
weakness.  It  must  still  serve  the  sanae  purpose,  naaiely, 
bring  ber  delivery  from  the  crushing  vreighli  of  British 
inioBtice  if  a  suffioient  nnnaber  of  people  practise  it, 

I  isolate  this  non-co-operation  frooa  Sinn  Feinism, 
for,  it  is  so  conceived  as  to  be  inoapable  of  being  offered' 
Bide  by  side  with  violence.  But  I  invite  even  the 
Bohool  of  violence  to  give  this  peaceful  non-co-operation 
a  trial-  It  will  not  fail  through  its  inherent  weaknesa. 
It  may  fail  because  of  poverty  of  response.  Then  will 
be  the  time  for  real  danger,  The  high-souled  men,  who 
are  unable  to  suffer  national  humiliation  any  longer, 
will  want  to  vent  their  wrath.  They  will  take  to 
yiolenoe.  So  far  8S  I  kcow  they  most  perish  withouft 
delivering  themselves  or  their  country  froca  the  wrong. 
If  India  takes  up  the  doctrine  of  the  sword)  she  may 
gain  mcmentary  victory.  Then  India  will  cease  to  be 
the  pride  of  my  heart.  I  am  wedded  to  India  because  I 
owe  my  all  to  her.  I  believe  absolutely  that  she  baa  a 
mission  for  the  world.  She  is  not  to  copy  Europe 
blindly.  India's  acceptance  of  the  doctrine  of  the  sword 
will  be  the  hour  of  my  trial.  I  hope  I  ghaU  not  be 
found  wanting.  My  religion  has  no  geographical  limits. 
If  I  have  a  living  faith  in  it,  it  will  transcend  my  love 
for  India  herself.  My  life  is  dedicated  to  service  of  India 
through  the  religion  of  non-violonoe  which  I  believe  to 
be  the  root  of  Hinduism. 

Meanwhile  I  urge  those  who  distrust  me,  not  to 
disturb  the  even  working  of  the  struggle  that  has  just 
oommenoed   by   inciting   to  violenoe  in  the  belief  that  I 


OUJABAI  NAIIONAli  UNIVKBSIIT  793 

wanti  violenoe.  I  dabeali  seoreoy  as  a  sin,  L3I1  tbena 
give  Don-violenfi  non-00-operaiiion  a  trial  and  they  will 
find  that   I  had    no  mental   reservation    whatsoever, 


THE  GUJAEAT  NATIONAL  UNIVERSITY 

[The  following  is.an  English  version  of  Mr.  Oandhi's 
address  on  the  occasion  of  the  inauguration  of  the  Quzerat 
National  University ', — j 

I  have  been  reaponaible  for  many  important  deeds 
tluring  my  life-time.  I  have  regretted  for  some  while  I 
have  been  proud  of  others.  Bat  I  can  say  without  the 
least  exaggeration  that  the  work  in  hand  this  moment 
can  ba  compared  with  none.  I  take  this  to  be  the  most 
important  not  because  the  couatry  is  going  to  ruins,  as 
some  say,  along  that  path,  but  I  feel  myself  unequal  to 
the  tasli.  This  is  not  what  oourliesy  makes  me  speak 
but  it  is  what  my  cod  science  tells  me,  I  would  not  have 
made  this  preface  had  I  known  that  this  comes  simply  as 
an  educational  problem.  It  is  not  merely  to  impart  learn- 
ling  that  (his  institution  is  started  but  it  is  also  meant  to 
enable  students  to  solve  the  bread  problem,  That  makes 
me  enter  into  comparisons.  I  feel  reeling  as  it  were 
when  I  begin  comparing  this  institution  with  the  Gaz'arab 
College  and  other  Colleges,  To  me  this  appears  great, 
though  some  of  you  may  differ.  Bricks  and  mortar  may 
be  playing  »n  important  part  in  your  comparisons  and  I 
acknowledge  the  superiority  of  the  Guzarat  College  in 
these  respects..  All  along  the  way  I  have  been  thinking 
of  something  which  can  enable  me  to  make  you  set  aside 
these  standards    of  judgment,     I  have   not   been  able  to 


794  MISOKLLAHEOtrS 

find  thai)  something  out  and  henoe  I  find  myself  in  etraitS' 
wherein  I  bad  never  before  fallen  knowingly  or  unknow- 
ingly. I  shall  not  be  able  to  oonvinoe  you  of  things  thag 
I  feel,  How  can  I  oonvinoe  yon  that  this  work  is  great 
notwithstanding  the  defioienoies  lying  therein  ?  But  I 
have  that  faith  and  can  only  wish  that  God  foster  suoh' 
faith  in  you. 

Pbinoipalship 

Not  an  inch  of  the  land  is  ours,  everything  belongs  to 
the  Government,  even  onr  body.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
we  are  masters  of  our  own  souls.  In  such  a  tragic 
state  how  oan  we  wait  for  good  building  and  learned  men?' 
I  would  gladly  offer  the  prinoipalship  to  a  man,  who 
though  a  man  of  little  parts  oan  oonvinoe  me  that  we  have- 
loet  our  souls  and  our  country,  its  valour  and  splendour.  I 
do  not  know  whether  you  would  aooept  him  as  suoh.  And 
so  Mr,  Gidwani  is  here.  He  is  a  man  with  high  aoademio. 
gualifioatioDS  and  bright  University  degrees.  Bat  these 
have  not  dazzled  me.  I  would  like  you  to  obanga  your 
standards  of  judgments  and  make  oharaoter  the  test  ia 
your  new  valuations. 

But  here  we  have  a  holy  place  and  that  is  broughlt- 
about  by  coming  together  of  good  men  from  Maharashtra,. 
Sind  and  Guzerat, 

SlBBLING  CHABAOTBB 
1  would  first  request  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  pre- 
sent here  to  bless  the  movement  and  wish  it  success  Dot 
by  mere  words  but  by  deed,  by  sending  their  sons  and 
daughters  to  the  institution.  India  has  ever  helped  such 
institutions  finanoially,  progress  is  never  stayed  on 
account  of  lack  of  finanoial  support,  But  Ido  helievd  that 
it  is  stayed    for  lack   of  men,    teachers  and    organisers. 


G0JABAT  NAiEIdSAIi  UNIVbrSITT  795 

It  is  only  a  bad  workman  'that  quarrels  with  bis 
tools  and  the  truest  is  be  who  gives  the  beet  with 
what  be:  has.  I  would  tell  the  principal  and  the 
professors  that  only  one  principle  needs  guide  them 
here.  They  are  to,  teach  leseons  of  freedom  not  by 
their  scholarship  but  by  their  sterling  character. 
They  are  to  meet  the  warring  devilish  forces  of  the 
Government  with  their  divine  peaceful  forces.  We  hava 
to  nurse  the  seed  of  freedom  into  a  full-grown  tree  of 
Swaraj.  May  God  justify  my  faith  in  you  !  Ikoow  that 
1  have  not  the  scholarship  which  is  expected  in  a  Chan- 
cellor of  a  University.  But  I  have  my  faith  which  has 
moved  me  to  accept  it.  I  am  prepared  to  live  and  die 
for  this  work ;  and  I  accept  this  high  office  only  because 
I  know  that  the  same  feeiiogs  actuate  you. 

Duty  of  Pabents 

Now  I  turn  to  the  students.  I  consider  it  a  sin  to 
bjame  them,  because  they  are  onq  mirror  in  which  tha-- 
present  situation 'is  bo  faithfully  reflected,  They  are 
simple  things  and  easy  to  read.  If  they  lack  in  yirtoa 
the  fault  is  not  theirs,  but  it  is  that  of  the  parents, 
teachers  and  the  king.  How  do  I  find  fault  with  tba 
king?  "  Yatha-praja  Tatha  B^ja  "  (as  are  the  subjects,, 
BO  is  the  king)  is  equally  true  as  "  Yatha  Baja  Tathfr 
Praja  "  (as  is  the  king  so  are  the  subjects)  for  a  king  is 
a  king  so  long  as  his  authority  is  respected.  People  are 
at  fault  and  their  drawbacks  are  mirrored  in  the  studentsf 
and:faenae  we  must  try  to  reform  parents,  teachers  and 
kings,  Every  home  is  a  university  and  the  parents  are 
the  teachers.  The  parents  iu  India  have  at  present  fore- 
gone this  sacred  duty.  We  have  not  been  able  to  estimate 
foreign  culture  at  its  proper  value.  How  can  we  ezpecb^ 
India  to  riee  with  that  borrowed  culture  ? 


'796  MISOBIiIiANEOnS 

We  inaugurate  this  Uaiverailiy  nob  as  an  eduoational 
Instituiiion  bud  as  a  national  one,  We  inaugurate  it  to 
incnloate  oharaoter  and  oourage  in  students  ;  and  our 
fitness  lot  Swaraj  will  be  rated  by  this  our  suooess. 

Students'  Rbbponsibilities 
This  is  not  tbe  time  for  words  but  for  deeds,  and  I 
bave  oalled  upon  you  to  oontributs  your  quota  to  the 
national  saorifioe.  Now  I  address  myself  to  the  students. 
I  do  not  regard  them  as  mere  students  exempt  from  any 
responsibility.  I  regard  the  students  who  have  joined 
this  institution  as  examples  to  others  and  henoe  fulfilling 
tlia  Qondibions  of  teachers  to  some  extent,  Tbe  Maha- 
vidyalaya  is  founded  on  them;  without  them  it  would 
have  been  an  impossibility.  They  share  its  responsibility 
and  unless  they  realise  this,  all  the  efforts  of  the 
teachers  will  nob  bear  fruits  expected  of  them.  They 
are  to  fully  realise  when  they  have  left  their  colleges  and 
Joined  this.  May  God  pour  into  them  the  strength  to 
disobarge  tbeir  duties  during  this  grim  struggle,  however 
long  it  lasts. 

BiHTHPLAOB    OP   "  N.  C.  0." 

This  strength  of  oonviotion  and  nob  the  sbrength  in 
number  would  make  this  institubion  a  sucoess  and  an 
ideal  bo  bhe  rest  of  India,  It  shall  be  so  not  because  of 
tbe  wealth  of  Guzsrat  or  its  learning  but  because  it  is  the 
birthplace  of  Non-Oo-operation.  The  ground  was  first 
prepared  in  Guzerat  and  the  seed  sown.  It  is  Guzerab 
that  has  suffered  the  birbb-pangs  and  it  is  Guzerat  that 
has  reared  up  tbe  movement.  It  is  nob  vanity  that 
spealss  in  me.  I  do  nob  mean  bo  say  tbab  I  am  the 
author  of  all  this,  I  have  simply  been  a  Bishi,  a  Seer, 
if  a  Bania  like  myself  oan  be  one      I  have   simply  given 


GUJARAT  NATIONAL  UNIVEBSIIT  79r 

the  idea  and  ib  is  worked  oub  by  my  oolleagues,  Their 
faith  is  of  a  superior  type.  I  have  seen  it  by  experienoe 
as  directly  at<  I  see  the  trees  opposite  that  ladia  is  to 
rise  by  non-violent  Non-Oo-operation,  and  even  the  gods 
oannot  oonvinoe  me  otherwise.  But  my  oolleagues  have- 
realised  this  by  imagination,  by  reasoning,  by  faith. 
Individual  esperienoe  is  not  the  only  factor  in  an  action.. 
Faith  and  imagination  do  play  their  part, 

My  colleagues  have  grounded  the  weapon,  and  it» 
effect  cannot  be  fully  realised  at  this  moment  as  it  will 
be  six  months  hence,  But  its  corporate  symbol  is  this 
Mahavidyalaya.  The  chancellor,  the  teachers  and  the 
students  form  the  component  parts  of  the  symbol,  I  am 
an  autumnal  leaf  on  the  tree  that  might  fall  off  at  any 
moment,  the  teaohers  are  the  youcg  sprouts  that  .would 
last  longer  but  fall  off  at  their  proper  time  but  you,  the 
students,  are  the  branches  that  would  put  forth  new 
leaves  to  replace  the  old  ones.  I  request  the  students  t& 
have  the  same  faith  in  teachers  as  they  have  in  me. 
Bat  if  you  fiad  them  lack  in  vitality,  I  wouid  ask  you  to 
burn  them  in  your  fire  of  righteouaaeas.  Such  ia  my 
prayer  to  God  and  that  is  my  blessing  to  the  students. 

In  oonclusioD,  I  pray  to  God  and  I  wiah  you  to  join 
me  in  the  prayer  that  this  Mahavidyalaya  help  us  to 
win  the  freedom  that  would  turn  not  only  this  country, 
but  the  world  into  a  heaven, 


'       INDIAN  MEDICINE 

[Mr.  Oandhi,  in  opening  the  Tibbi  College  at  iDelhi, 
in  the  second  week  of  February,  1921,  said : — ] 

la  order  to  avoid  any  miaintierprefiatioD  of  my  views 
on  medioinei  I  would  orave  your  iodalgenoe  for  a  few 
motnenig  over  a  very  brief  exposiliion  of  ihem.  I  have 
eaid  in  a  book  thab  ia  muoh  criticised  ad  the  present 
moDQenti  thab  bhe  prasenb  praobioe  of  medicine  is  the 
coDoenbrabed  essence  of  black  magic.  I  believe  that  a 
aaalbiplioiby  of  hospibals  is  no  besb  of  oivilisfttion.  lb  ia 
rather  a  ]3ympbom  of  deoay  even  as  a  mulbiplioiby  of 
Pinjrapoles  is  a  sympbom  of  bhe  indifferenoe  bo  bhe  welfare 
of  their  oabble  by  bhe  people  in  whose  midab  they  are 
brought  into  being.  I  hope,  bherefore,  bhab  bhis  College 
will  be  ooncerned  chiefly  with  the  prevention  of  diaeaaea 
rather  than  their  cure.  The  aoieaoa  of  Banibation  ia 
infinitely  more  dnnobling,  though  more  difficult  of 
execution,  than  the  aoienoe  of  healing,  I  regard  the 
present  system  as  black  msgio  because  it  bempba  people 
to  pub  an  undue  importance  on  the  body  and  practically 
ignores  the  spirit  wibhio,  I  would  urge  the  students  and 
Iirofeaaora  of  bhe  College  bo  investigate  the  laws  governing 
the  health  of  the  spirit  and  they  will  find  that  they  will 
yield  startling  results  even  with  reference  to  the  cure  of 
the  body.  The  present  soienoe  at  medicine  is  divorced 
from  religion.  No  man  who  attends  bo  his  daily  Namaj 
or  his  Qayatri  in  bhe  proper  spicib  need  geb  ill.  A  clean 
spirit  must  build  a  clean  body.  I  am  convinced  bbab  the 
inaiii  rulea  of  religious  oonduob  conaerve  bobh  the  apirib 
and  bhe  body,     Lab  me  hope  and  pray  thab  bhia  Callega 


INDIAN  IIBDIOINB  799 

'Will  witneas  a  definite  attemFti  on  (he  park  of  (be  phyei- 
■oiang  to  bring  about  a  reunion  between  (he  body  and  the 
floul.  Modern  medioal  aoienoe  having  ignored  (he  condi- 
tion of  the  permanent  element  in  the  human  system  in 
diagnosing  diseases  has  ignored  the  limitation  that  should 
naturally  exist  regarding  the  field  of  its  ao(ivity.  In  trying 
to  oure  a  body  of  its  disease  it  has  totally  disregarded  the 
-olaims  of  sub-human  creation.  Man  instead  of  being  lord 
«nd  therefore  protector  of  the  lower  animal  kingdom, 
has  become  its  tyrant  and  the  science  of  medicine 
-has  been  probably  his  chief  instruments  for  tyranny. 
"Vivisection  in  my  opinion  is  the  blaokesi  of  all  the  blaok- 
'cst  crimes  that  man  is  at  present  committing  against 
-God  and  His  fair  creation.  We  should  be  able  to  refuse 
to  live  if  the  price  of  living  be  the  torture  of  sentient 
<faeings.  It  all  becomes  us  to  invoke  the  blessings  m  our 
daily  prayers  of  God,  the  Compassionate,  if  we  in  turn 
will  not  praotioe  elementary  compassion  towards  our 
"fellow-creatures.  Would  to  God  that  this  College  found- 
ed by  one  of  the  beat  of  Indian  physicians  will  bear  in 
>mind  the  limitationa  that  God,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
has  set  upon  our  activity.  Having  said  this  much  I 
-would  like  to  pay  my  humble  tribute  to  the  spirit  of 
•leaearoh  that  fires  the  modern  aoientiat.  My  quarrel  is 
-not  against  that  spirit,  my  complaint  is  against  the 
direction  that  the  spirit  has  taken.  It  has  ohiefiy  con- 
cerned itself  with  (he  exploration  of  law  and  methods 
oonduoing  to  (he  merely  ma(erial  advancement'  of  its 
-clientele.  But  I  have  nothing  but  praise  for  the  zeal, 
industry  and  sacrifice  (hat  have  animated  the  modern 
floientists  in  their  pursuit  after  truth.  I  regret  to  have 
to  record  my  opinion  based  on  considerable  experience 
that  our  Hakima  and  Vaida  do  not  exhibit  that  spirit  ia 


8D0  MISOBtiliANBOXTS 

any  mentionable  degree, — tbey  follow  witboai  gaestioB 
formulas,  tbey  oarry  on  little  inTesligatioD.  The  con- 
dition of  indigenous  medioine  ia  truly  deplorable.  Not 
having  kept  abreast  of  modern  researob  their  profesaion 
has  fallen  largely  into  disrepute.  I  am  hoping  that  this 
College  will  try  to  remedy  this  grave  defect  and  restore 
Ayurvedio  and  Unani  medioal  science  to  its  pristine 
glory.  I  am  glad,  therefore,  that  this  institution  has  its 
western  wing.  Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  a  union  of 
the  three  systems  will  result  in  a  harmonious  blending- 
and  in  purgicg  each  of  its  special  defects.  Lastly,  I 
ehall  hope  this  College  will  set  its  face  absolutely  again'sb 
all  quackery,  Western  or  Eastern,  refuse  to  recognise  any 
but  sterling  worth  and  that  it  will  inculcate  among  th)9 
students  the  belief  that  the  profession  of  medioine  is  not^ 
intended  for  earning  fees  but  for  alleviating  pain  and 
suffering.  With  the  prayer  that  God  may  bless  the 
labours  of  its  founder  and  organisers,  I  formally  deolars 
the  Tibbi  College  open. 


HINDUSTANI  AND  ENGLISH* 

I  have  ventured  to  advise  every  student  to  devote 
this  year  of  our  trial  to  the  manufacture  of  yarn  and 
learning  Hindustani,  I  am  thankful  to  the  Calcutta 
students  that  they  have  taken  kindly  to  the  suggestion. 
Bengal  and  Madras  are  the  two  provinces  that  are  cut 
ofi  from  the  rest  cf  India  for  want  of  a  knowledge 
of  Hindustani  on  their  part,  Bengal,  because  of  its 
prejudice   against    learning    any  other  language  of  India, 


*  From  Toung  India,  Feimaiy,  1921. 


HINDUgTANI  AND  ENGLISH  80J 

and  Madras,  beoanse  of  the  difficulty  of  the  Dravidiana 
abont  picking  np  Hindustani.  Ad  average  Bengali  can 
really  learn  Hindustani  in  two  months  if  he  gave  it 
three  hours  per  day  and  a  Dravidian  in  six  months  at 
the  same  rate.  Neither  a  Bengali  nor  a  Dravidian  can 
hope  to  achieve  the  seme  result  with  English  in  the  same 
time.  A  knowledge  of  English  opens  up  intercourse  only 
with  comparatively  few  English-knowing  Indiansi 
whereas  a  passable  knowledge  of  Hindustani  enables  us 
to  hold  intercourse  with  the  largest  number  of  our 
countrymen.  I  do  hope  the  Bengalis  and  the  Dravidians 
will  Gome  to  the  next  Congress  viith  a  workable 
knowledge  of  Hindustac).  Our  great  assembly  oaoDot 
be  a  real  objeot  lesson  to  tho  masses  unless  it  speaks  to 
tbem  in  a  language  which  the  largest  number  can  under- 
staud.  I  appreciate  the  difficulty  with  the  Dravidians, 
but  Dolhicg  is  difficult  before  their  industrious  love  for 
the  Motherland. 

The  Place  op  English 
Alongside  of  my    suggestion  about  Hindustani  has 
been  the   advice    that  the   students    should,  during  the 
transition    period    from    inferiority    to    equality— from 
foreign    domination  to  Swaraj,  from  helpleseceBS  to  self- 
belt — suspend    their   study    of   Ecglieb.     If  we  wish  to 
attain  Swaraj  before  the  next  Cocgress,  we  must  believe 
in    the  poEsibility,  we  must  do  all    tbat  were  capable    of 
doing  for  its  advancement,  and  one  must  do  nothing  tbat 
would  not  advance  it  or  would  actually  retard  it,     Now 
adding  to  our    knowledge  of   Ecgli&b  cannot  accelerate 
our    progress    towards  our   goal  and  it  can    conceivably 
retard   it.      The    latter    calamity    is  a   reality    in  many 
qases,    for    there    jtre    many  who  believe  tbat  we  cannot 
acquire  the  epirit  of  freedom  without   the    tnnsio   of  the 
51 


802  MISCELLANEOUS 

Englieh  worde  riogiog  in  our  ears  and  eoundiDg  through 
our  lipa.  This  ia  an  iafatuatioa,  If  it  were  the  truthi 
Swaraj  would  be  as  diabant  as  the  Greek  Kalenda. 
Eogliab  is  a  language  of  international  oommeroe,  it  ia 
the  language  of  diplomaoy,  and  it  oontaina  many  a  rich 
literary  treasure,  it  gives  us  an  introdnotion  bo  Western 
thought  and  culture.  For  a  few  of  na,  therefore,  a 
knowledge  of  English  is  neoesaary.  They  oan  carry  on 
the  departments  of  national  oommeroe  and  interuatioual 
diplomaoy,  and  for  giving  to  the  nation  the  beat  of 
Weatern  literature,  thought  and  aoienoe.  That  would  be 
the  legitimate  use  of  Eaglish.  Whereas  to-day  English 
has  usurped  the  dearest  place  in  our  hearts  and  dethroned 
our  mother-tongues.  It  is  an  unnatural  place  due  to 
our  unequal  relations  with  Eaglishmen.  The  highest 
development  of  the  Indian  mind  must  be  possible  without 
a  kaowledge  of  Eaglish.  It  is  doing  violence  to  the 
manhood  and  specially  the  womanhood  of  India  to 
encourage  our  boys  and  girls  to  think  that  an  entry  into 
the  best  society  ia  impossible  withcfub  a  knowledge  of 
Eoglisb,  It  is  too  humiliating  a  thought  bo  be  bearable. 
To  get  rid  of  the  infatuation  tor  English  ia  one  of  the 
essentials  of  Swaraj. 


SOCIAL  BOYCOTT* 

Non-Ca-operation  being  a  movement  of  purification 
is  bringing  to  the  surface  all  our  weaknesses  aa  also 
esceasea  of  even  our  strong  points.  Social  boycott  is  an 
age-old  institution.     lb  ia  coeval  with   oaate.     lb   is   the 

•  From  Young  India,  February,  1921. 


SOCIAL  BOYCOTT  803 

one  terrible  eanotion,    exaroiaed    with  great  efifeol.     It  is 
baaed  upon  the  notion  that  a  oonanaunity  is  nob  bound  to 
extend  its  hospitality  or  service  to  an  ex-eommnnioated.  It 
answered  when  every    village    waspa  self-oontained  unit^ 
and  the  oooasions  of  re-o"aloitranoy  were?rare.     But  when 
opinion  is  divided,  as  it  is  to-day,  on  the   naerita  of  Non- 
Go-operation,  when  its  new  applioation  is  having  a  triali 
a   summary    use   of   sooial    boycott    in    order  to  bend  a 
minority  to  the  will  of  the  mojority  is  a  speoies  of  unpar. 
donable  violence.     If  persisted  in,  such   boyooti  is  bound 
to  destroy  the   movement,     Social    boycott  ia    applicable 
and  effective    when    it  is    not   felt  as  a  puniBhment  and 
accepted  by  the  object  of  boycott  as  a    measure    of  disoi- 
Ijliae.     Moreover,    sooial  boycott    to    be    admissible  in  a 
campaign  of    non-violence  must   never    savour  -of  inhu- 
manity.    It  must  be  civilised.  It  must  cause  pain  to  the 
party  using  it,   if    it   causes    inoouveaienoe  to  its  object. 
Thus,  depriving  a  man  of  the  services    of  a  medical  man, 
as  is  reported  to  have  been    done  in   Jbansi,  is  an  act  of 
inhumanity  tantamount  in  the  moral  code  to  an  attempt 
iio  murder.     I  see  no  difference  in  murdering  a  man  and 
withdrawing  medical  aid  from, a  man  who  is  on  the  point 
of  dying.     Even  the  laws  of  war,    I    apprehend,    require 
the  giving  of  medical  relief  to  the^eoemy  in  need  of  it.  To 
deprive    a    man    of   the   use    of    an    only  village-well  is 
notice  to  him  to  quit  that  village.  Surely,  Non-Oo-opera- 
tors  have  acquired  no  right  to  use   that  extreme  pressure 
against  those  who  do  not  see  eye  to  eye'wilh  them.  Im- 
patience and  intolerance  will  surely  kill  this  great  religious 
movement.     We  may  not  make    people  pure  by  compul- 
sion.    Much  less  may    we    compel   them  by    violence  to 
respect  our  opinion.     It  ia  utterly    against   the    spirit  ot 
the  demooraoy  we  want  to  cultivate. 


8Q|  -  MHOBIirfANEOUS , 

There  are  no  doubti  aerions  di£BauIliies  in  onr  way. 
The  temptation  to  resort  to  aooial  boycott  is  irresiBtible 
wbea  a  defendant,  who  submits  to  private  arbitration, 
refuses  to  abide  by  its  award,  Yet  it  is  easy  to  see' that 
the  applioatioQ  of  sooial  boycott  is  more  than  likely  to 
arrest  the  splendid  movement  to  settle  disputes  by  arbi- 
tration whiob,  apart  from  its  use  as  weapon  in  tha 
armoury  of  Non-Co-operation,  is  a  movement  fraught 
with  great  good  to  the  country,  People  will  take  time- 
before  they  aaoommodate  themselves  to  private  arbitra- 
tion Its  very  eimplioity  and  inexpenBiveness  will  repel 
many  people  even  as  plates  jaded  by  spioy  foods  are 
repelled  by  simple  oombinations.  All  awards  will  nob 
always  be  above  suspioion.  We  must  therefore  rely  upon 
khetiotrinsio  merits  of  the  movement  and  the  oorreotness 
of  awards  to  make  itself  felt. 

It  is  muob  to  be  desired  if  we  can  bring  about  a 
complete  voluntary  boycott  of  law  courts.  That  one  eveol) 
can  bring  Swaraj.  But  it  was  never  espeoted  that  we 
would  reach  completion  in  any  single  item  of  Non-Oo- 
oparation.  Public  opinion  has  been  so  far  developed  as  to 
reoognise  the  Courts  as  signs  not  of  our  liberty  but  of  our 
slavery.  It  has  made  it  practically  impossible  for  lawyera 
to  practise  their  profession  and  be  called  popular 
leaders. 

Mon-Coroperation  has  greatly  demolished  the  prestige 
of  Law  Courts  and  to  that  extent,  of  the  Government, 
The  disintegrating  process  is  slowly  but  surely  going  on. 
Its  velocity  will  suffer  diminution  if  violent  methods  are 
adopted  to  hasten  it.  This  government  of  ours  is  armed 
to  the  teeth  to  meet  and  check  forces  of  violence.  It 
jjosseBses  nothing  to  check  the  mighty  forces  of  non- 
yiolenoe.     How  can    a    handful   of   Englishmen   resist  a 


NEITHER   A    SAINT  NOB   A   POLITICIAN  805 

voluntary    expresBion    of   opinion    aoaompaDied   by    the 
■voluntary  self-denial  of  thirty  orores  of  people? 

I  hope,  therefore,  that  Non-Oo- operation  workers 
will  beware  of  the  snares  of  social  boycott.  But  tbe 
alternative  to  social  boycott  is  certainly  not  social 
intercourse.  A  man  who  defies  strong,  clear  public 
opinion  on  a  vital  naatter  is  not  entitled  to  social  amenities 
and  privileges.  We  may  not  take  part  in  bis  social, 
'functions  such  as  marriage  feasts,  we  may  not  receive 
gifts  from  bim.  But  we  dare  not  deny  social  service. 
7he  latter  is  a  duty.  Attendance  at  dinner  parties  and 
the  like  is  a  privilege  which  it  is  optional  to  withhold  or 
«stend.  But  it  would  be  wisdom  to  err  on  tbe  right  side 
and  to  exercise  the  weapon  even  in  the  limited  sense 
described  by  me  on  rare  and  well-defined  ooaasions.  And 
in  every  case  the  user  of  the  weapon  will  use  it  at  hia 
own  risk.  Tne  use  of  it  is  not  as  yet  in  any  form  a  duty. 
No  one  is  entided  to  its  use  if  there  is  any  danger  of 
hurting  the  movement, 


"  NBITHBE  A  SAINT  NOR  A  POLITICIAN*  * 

A  kind  friend  has  sent  me  the  following  cutting 
from  the  April  number  of  the  "  East  and  West :" — 

'  Mr,  Gandhi  has  the  reputation  of  a  saint  bat  it 
/Seems  that  the  politician  in  him  often  dominates  hia 
decisions.  He  has  been  making  great  use  of  hartals  and 
there  can  be  no  gainsaying  that  under  his  direction  harta 
is  becoming  a  powerful  poliliical  weapon  for  uniting  the 
«dnoated  and  the  uneducated  on  a  single  question  of  tha 


*  Fcom  Toung  India. 


806  MISOBLIiANEOUS 

day.  Tha  hartal  is  nob  without  its  disadvantages.  It  is- 
teaohing  direot  aotion,  and  direct  action  however  potent 
does  not  work  for  unity.  Is  Mr,  Gandhi  quite  sure  that 
be  is  Serving  the  highest  behests  of  ahimsa,  harmlessDeas?' 
His  propoBai  to  oommemorate  the  shootiags  at  Jallian- 
'wala  Bagh  is  not  likely  to  promote  concord.  It  is  a 
tragic  inoident  into  which  our  Governmenli  was  betrayed; 
•  but  is  tbe  menaory  of  its  bitUicees  worth  retaiuing  ? 
Can  we  not  commemorate  tbe  event  by  raising  a  temple  of 
peace,  to  help  the  widows  and  orphans,  to  bless  the  souls- 
of  those  who  died  without  knowing  why  ?  The  world  is 
fall  of  politicians  and  pettifoggers  who,  in  the  name  of 
patriotism,  poison  the  inner  sweetness  of  man  and,  as  a- 
result,  we  have  wars  and  feuds  and  suoh  shameless  slaugh- 
ter as  turned  Jallianwaia  Bagh  into  a  shamble.  Shall 
we  not  now  try  for  a  larger  symbiosis  such  as  Buddha 
and  Christ  preached  and  bring  tbe  world  to  breathe  and 
prosper  together  ?  Mr.  Gandhi  seemed  destined  to  be 
tbe  apostle  of  suoh  a  movement,  but  cironmatances  are 
forcing  him  to  seek  the  way  of  raising  resistances  and 
group  unities,  He  may  yet  take  up  the  larger  mission  of 
uniting  tbe  world.' 

I  have  given  the  whole  of  the  quotation.  As  a 
rule  I  do  not  notice  criticism  of  me  or  my  methods 
except  when  thereby  I  acknowledge  a  mistake  or  enforce 
still  farther  the  principles  criticised.  I  have  a  double 
reason  for  noticing  the  extract.  I'or,  not  only  do  I  hope 
further  to  elucidate  the  principles  1  bold  dear,  but  I  want 
to  show  my  regard  for  the  author  of  the  criticism  whom 
I  know  and  whom  I  have  admired  for  many  years  for 
the  singular  beauty  of  his  oharaoter.  The  critic  regrets 
to  see  in  me  a  politician,  whereas  he  expected  me  to  be  a 
fiaiut;     Now  I  think   that  the   word    "saint"    should  ba> 


NEITHER  A  SAINT  NOR  A  POLITICIAN  807 

ruled  ont  of  presenli  life.     lb  is  too  aaored  a   word  to  be 
lightly    applied  to  anybody,  muoh  less  to  one  like  myself 
who   olaima  only    to  be  a   humble  aearoher    after   truth, 
knows  his  limitations,  makes  mistakes,  never  hesitates  to 
admit  them  when  he  makes  them  and   frankly  oonfesses 
that  be,  like  a   soieatist,  is    making    experiments   about 
some  of   the    eternal    varitiea'    of  life,    but   cannot  even 
olaim  to  be  a  soientist   beoanse  he  can  show  no   tangible 
proof   of    soientjfio    aoouraoy   in    his   methods    or   suoh 
tangible   results  of  hia   experiments  as  modern    aoienoe 
demands.       But   though    by    disoiaiming   sainthood    I 
disappoint  the  oritio's  ezpeotations,     I  would  have  him 
give    up    hia  regrets  by    answering  him    that  the  politi- 
cian in  me   has   never    dominated    a    single     daaision 
of  mine,    and  if   I    seem   to    take    part  in    politios,  it  is 
only  because  politics  encircle  ua    to-day  like  the  coil  of  a 
snake  from  which  one  cannot  get  out,  no  matter  how 
much   one  tries,     I  wish  therefore  to  wrestle  with  the 
snake,  as   I  have  been  doing   with   more  or  less   success 
consciously  since  1894,   unconsciously,    as   I  have   now 
discovered,  ever  since  reaching  years  of  discretion.    Quite 
selfishly,  as   I  wish  to   live   in   peace   in    the  midst  of  a 
bellowing  storm  howling   round  me,   I  have  been  experi- 
menting with  myself  and  friends  by  introducing  religion 
into  politios.     Let  me   explain  what   I  mean  by  religion. 
It  is  not  the  Hindu  religion  which  I  certainly  prize  above 
all    other   religions,   but   the    religion  which   transcends 
Hinduism,  which  changes  one's  very  nature,  which  binds 
one  indisaolubly    to   the  truth    within    and  which  never 
purifies.     It  is  the   permanent   element  in  human  nature 
which  counts  no  cost  too  great  in    order  to  find    expres- 
sion   and    which    leaves  the   soul   utterly   restless  until 
it   has  found  itself,    known    its   Maker    and   appreciat- 


808  MISCELLANEOUS 

ed  bhe    true  oorrespondeaoe    between    the    Maker    and 
itself. 

It  was  in  tbat  religious  spirit  that  I  oame  upon 
hartal.  I  wanted  to  show  that  it  is  not  a  knowledge  of 
letters  that  would  give  India  oansoionsness  of  herself)  or 
that  would  find  the  edaoated  together.  The  hartal 
illuminated  the  whole  of  India  as  if  by  magic  on  the  6th 
of  April,  1919.  And  had  it  not  been  for  tba  interruption 
of  the  lObh  of  April  brought  about  by  Satan  whispering 
fear  into  the  ears  of  a  government  oonsoions  of  its  own 
wrong  and  inciting  to  anger  a  people  that  were  prepared 
for  it  by  utter  distrust  of  the  Government,  India  would 
have  risen  to  an  unimaginable  height.  The  hartal  had 
nob  only  been  taken  up  by  the  great  masses  of  people  in 
a  truly  religions  spirit  but  it  was  intended  to  be  a  prelude 
to  a  series  of  direct  actions. 

But  my  critic  deplores  direct  action,  For,  he  aaysi 
"  it  does  not  work  for  unity."  I  join  issue  with  him. 
Never  has  anything  been  done  on  this  earth  without 
direct  action.  I  rejected  the  word  "  passive  resistance," 
because  of  its  insufficiency  and  its  being  interrupted  as 
a  weapon  of  the  weak.  It  was  direct  action  in  South 
Africa  which  told  and  told  so  effectively  that  it  converted 
General  Smuta  to  sanity.  Ha  was  in  1906  iha  mast 
relentless  opponent  of  Indian  aapirations,  In  1914  tia 
took  pride  in  doing  tardy  justice  by  removing  from  tba 
Statute  Book  of  the  Union  a  disgraceful  measure  which, 
in  1909  he  had  told  Lord  Morley,  would  be  never  remov- 
ed, for  ha  then  said  South  Africa  would  never  tolerate 
repeal  of  a  measure  which  was  twice  passed  by  the 
Transvaal  Legislature,  But  what  is  more;  direct  action 
sustained  for  eight  years  left  behind  it  not  only  no  bitter- 
ness, but  the  very  Indians  who  put  up  such  a  atubbora 


NEITHEB  A   SAINT  NOB  A  POLITIOIAN  809' 

iBght  against  Ganeral  SmutiB;  ranged  themaelveB  round 
tiia  banner  in  1915  and  fought  under  him  in  Baat  Africa. 
It  was  direot  aotion  in  Ohamparan  whioh  removed  an  age- 
long grievance.  A  meek  Babmission  when  one  is  chafing 
under  a  disability  or  a  grievance  which  one  would  gladly 
-see  removed,  not  only  does  not  make  for  unity,  but  makes 
the  weak  party  acid,  angry  and  prepares  him  for  an 
opportunity  to  explode.  By  allying  myself  with  the 
weak  party,  by  teaching  him  direot,  firm,  but  harmless 
action,  I  make  him  feal  strong  and  capable  of  defying 
the  physical  might.  He  feels  braced  for  the  struggle 
-regains  confidence  in  himself,  and  knowing  that  the 
remedy  lies  with  bimselfi  ceases  to  harbour  the  spirit  of 
revenge  and  yearns  to  be  satiefied  with  a  redress  of  the 
wrong  he  is  seeking  to  remedy. 

It  is  working  along  the  sama  line  that  I  have 
Tentured  to  suggest  a  memorial  about  Jallianwala  Bagb, 
The  writer  in  East  and  West  has  ascribed  to  me  a 
proposal  which  has  never  once  crossed  my  mind,  He 
thinks  that  I  want  "  to  commemorate  the  shooting  at 
Jallianwala  Bagh."  Nothing  can  be  further  from  my 
thought  than  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  black  deed. 
I  daresay  that,  before  we  have  come  to  our  own,  we 
shall  have  a  repetition  of  the  tragedy  and  I  will  prepare 
the  nation  for  it  by  treasuring  the  memory  of  the  innocent 
dead.  The  widows  and  the  orphans  have  been  and  are 
being  helped  but  we  cannot  "bless  the  souls  of  those  who 
died  without  knowing  why,"  if  we  will  not  acquire  the 
ground  which  has  been  hollowed  by  innocent  blood  and 
there  erect  a  suitable  memorial  for  them.  It  is  not  to 
flerve,  if  I  can  help  it,  as  a  reminder  of  foul  deed  but  it 
sball  serve  as  an  enocuragement  to  the  nation  that  it  is 
tetter   to    die   helpless    and   unarmed    and     as    victims 


810  MISOKLL&NEOnS 

rather  (ban  aa  tyrants,  I  would  hava  (he  future  genera- 
tiona  ramember  that  wa  who  witaassad  the  iDDOoent 
dyiog  did  not  UDgratefulIy  refusa  to  aheriah  their  memory.' 
As  Mra.  Jinnah  truly  remarked  whea  she  gave  bar  mite^ 
to  the  fund,  the  oiemorial  would  at  least  give  us  an 
exouae  for  living,  After  all  it  will  be  the  spirit  in  which 
the  memorial  is  areotad  that  will  deoida  ita  oharaoter. 

What  waa  the  larger  "  symbioaia "  that  Buddha 
and  Christ  preaohed?  Buddha  fearlessly  carried  the  war 
into  the  enemy's  oamp  and  brought  down  on  ita  knaaa 
an  arrogant  priesthood.  Christ  drove  out  the  mooey 
changer  from  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  and  draw  down 
curse  from  Heaven  upon  the  hypocrites  and  the  phariaees. 
Both  were  for  intenaely  direct  action.  But  even  aa 
Buddha  and  Christ  ohaatiaed,  they  ahowed  uomiatakable 
gentleneas  and  love  behind  every  act  of  theira.  They 
would  not  raiaa  a  finger  againat  their  enemies,  but  would 
gladly  aurrender  themaelvea  rather  than  the  truth  for 
whioh  they  lived.  Buddha  would  have  died  reaiating  the 
prieathood,  if  the  majeaty  of  hia  love  had  not  proved  to 
be  equal  to  the  task  of  banding  the  prieathood.  Chriat 
died  on  the  croaa  with  a  orowa  of  thorna  on  'hia  head' 
defying  the  might  of  a  whole  empire.  And  if  I  raiae- 
reaiatanoes  of  a  non-violent  oharaoter,  I  simply  and. 
humbly  follow  in  the  foot-atapa  of  the  great  teachers 
named  by  my  critic. 

Laatly,  the  writer  of  the  paragraph  qnarrela  with< 
my  grouping  unities  and  would  have  me  take  up 
"  the  larger  mission  for  uniting  the  world",  I  onoe  told< 
him  under  a  common  roof  that  I  waa  probably  more 
cosmopolitan  than  he.  I  abide  by  that  espraaaion. 
Unleaa  I  group  unitiea  I  ahall  never  be  able  to  unite  the 
whole    world,     Tolstoy   onoe    aaid  that  if  we  would  bufc 


HINDU  MOSLEM  UNITY  81JL 

lab  off  bha  baoka  of  our  ceighboui'S,  the  world  would  b* 
quite  alrighb  wibhoub  any  furbher  help  from  us.  And  if 
we  oan  only  serve  our  immediata  neighbours  by  ceasing 
to  prey  upon  them,  the  oirole  of  unities  thus  grouped  in 
the  right  fashion  will  ever  grow  in  oiroumferenoe  till  afr 
last  it  is  oonterminus  with  that  of  the  whole  world. 
More  than  that  it  is  nob  given  to  any  man  to  try  or 
achieve.  Yatha  Pinde  tatha  Brahamande  is  'as  true  to- 
day as  ages  ago  when  it  was  first  ubtered  by  an  unkuowtk 
Bisbi. 


HINDU- MOSLEM  UNITY* 

Cow  Protection 
Everybody  knows  bhat  without  unity  betweeI^ 
Hindus  and  Mussulmans,  no  certain  progress  can  be 
made  by  the  nation.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  oemeDb 
binding  the  two  is  yet  loose  and  web.  There  is  stilJ 
mutual  distrust,  The  leaders  have  oome  to  reoognisa 
that  India  oan  make  no  advance  without  both  feeling  the 
need  of  trust  and  common  action,  Bub  bhough  bhere  ia- 
a  vast  change  among  the  masses,  ib  is  still  not  permanent 
quantity.  The  Mussulman  masses  do  not  still  recognise 
the  same  necessity  for  Swaraj  as  the  Hindus  do.  Tha 
Mussulmans  do  not  flock  to  public  meetings  in  the  same 
numbers  as  the  Hindus.  This  process  cannot  be  forced, 
Sufficient  time  has  not  passed  for  the  national  interest 
to  be  awakened  among  bbe  Mussulmans.  Indeed  it  is  a 
marvel,  that  whereas  but  a  year  ago  the  Mussulmans  as  a 
body  hardly    took   any    interest   in  Congress  affairs,  alk 


•  From  Toung  India,  July  28,  1921. 


812  laiSOEIiLASEbUS 

over  India,    bhouaands    have    regisbered    thenoBelves    aa 
membera.     Tbia  in  itaelf  ia  an  imnaenaa  gain, 

Bail  muoti  mora  yali  remaina  to  be  done.  Ill  ia 
eaaaofcially  fcba  work  of  the  Hindua.  Wherever  the 
Maaaulmana  are  atill  found  to  be  apabhetio,  bhey  should 
be  iDvibsd  to  oome  in.  One  often  heara  from  Hindu 
qaartera  the  oomplainb  bbab  Maaaulmana  do  nob  join  the 
Gongreaa  organisation  or  do  nob  pay  to  the  Swaraj 
Eund.  The  natural  queation  ia,  have  bhey  been  invited  ? 
Iq  every  diabriob  Hindua  must  make  apeoial  efforts  to 
draw  out  bhair  Muaaulman  neighboura.  There  wiii  never 
be  real  equaliby  go  long  aa  one  feela  inferior  or  auperior 
to  the  other.  There  is  no  room  for  patronage  among 
tqualai  Mnasulmans  musb  nob  feel  bbe  laok  of  eduoabion 
or  Dumbera  where  they  are  id  a  minority.  Defioienoy  in 
eduoabion  mnab  be  oorreoted  by  taking  education,  To  be 
in  a  minority  ia  often  a  bleaaing,  Superiority  in  nnm- 
bera  baa  frequently  proved  a  hindrance.  lb  ia  obaraober 
that  Qounba  in  the  end.  Bat  I  have  nob  oommenoed  this 
article  to  lay  down  oounaela  of  perfection,  or  bo  abate  bhe 
4]ourae  of  conduct  in  bbe  disbanb  future. 

My  main  purpose  ia  to  think  of  the  immediate  baak 
4yiDg  before  us.  Bakr-Id  will  be  aoon  upon  ua,  What 
are  we  to  do  to  frustrate  the  attempts  that  will  then  by 
•  made  to  foment  quarrels  between  ua — Hindus  and 
Mussulmans  ?  Though  the  aituabion  baa  improved  con- 
eiderably  in  Bihar,  ib  is  not  yeb  free  from  anxiety.  Over- 
zealoua  and  impatient  Hindua  are  trying  to  force 
matters.  They  lead  themselves  an  easy  pray  to  bhe 
machinations  of  mischief-makers  nob  always  prompted 
by  the  Governmenb  side.  Probeobion  of  the  cow  is  bba 
nearest  to  the  Hindu  heart. 


HINDU-MOSLEM  UNITY  813^ 

We  are  tiherefore  apb  to  ^0Be  our  heads '  over  ib,  and- 
bhua  be  unoonsoioualy  inBbrumetifial  in  doing  an  injury 
bo  bbe  very  oauae  we  seelr  to  espouse.  Lst  ua  reooguise 
tbab  our  MuasuImaD  brethren  have  made  great  efforta  to- 
save  the  oow  for  the  sake  of  their  Hindu  brethren.  lb 
would  ba.  a  grave  miatake  to  underrate  them.  Bub 
immediately  we  become  aasertive,  we  make  all  effort  otr 
bbeir  part  nugabory.  We  have  bhroughout  all  bheae  many 
years  pub  up  wibh  oow-alaugbber  either  without  a  mur- 
mur or  under  ineffective  and  violent  probeab.  We  have 
never  bried  to  deserve  self-imposed  restraint  on  the  part 
of  our  Mussulman  oounbrymen  by  going  oub  of  our  way  to 
cultivate  friendly  relations  with  them,  We  have  more  oc 
leas  gratuitously  assumed  the  impossibility  of  the  taEk> 

Bub  we  are  now  making  a  deliberate  and  oonsoious- 
attempt  in  standing  by  their  aide  in  the  hour  of  their- 
need*  Lat  ua  not  spoil  the  good  effect  by  making  our  free 
offering  a  matter  of  bargain*  Friendship  oan  never  be  a 
contract.  It  is  a  status  carrying  no  consideration  with 
it.  Service  is  a  duty,  and  duty  is  a  debt  which  it  is  a  sin 
not  to  discharge  If  we  would  prove  our  friendship,  we 
must  help  our  brethren  whether  they  save  the  cow  or 
nob.  We  throw  the  responsibility  for  their  oonduol  to. 
wards  us  on  their  own  shoulders-  We  dare  not  dictate  it 
bo  bhem  aa  consideration  for  our  help-  Such  help  will  be 
hired  service,  which  the  Mussulmans  cannot  be  blamed  if 
they  summarily  reject,  I  hope,  therefore,  that  the  Hindus 
of  Bihar  and  indeed  all  the  parts  of  India  will  realise  thn 
importance  of  observing  the  sbrioteat  forbearance  no  matter 
what  the  Mussulmans  do  on  Bakr-Id.  We  must  !eav& 
bhem  to  take  what  course  they  choose.  Whab  Hakim 
Ajmal  Khanji  did  in  one  hour  at  Amritsar,  Hindus 
could    not   have   done    by   years   of    effort.     The   oowa 


814  MISCELLANEOUS 

that  Meeers,  Gbotani  and  Kbatri  saved  last  Bakrid  day, 
tbe  Hindu  millionaires  of  Bombay  oould  nob  bave 
saved  if  tbey  bad  given  tbe  wbole  of  tbeir  fortunes*  The 
.greater  tbe  pressure  pub  upon  the  Mussulmans,  the  greater 
must  be  the  slaughter  of  the  oow.  We  must  leave  them 
to  their  own  sense  of  honour  and  duty.  And  we  shall 
iiave  done  the  greatest  service  to  the  oow. 

The  way  to  save  the  oow  is  not  to  kill  or  quarrel 
with  the  Mussulman.  The  way  to  save  the  oow  is  to  die 
in  the  act  of  saving  the  Ehilafat  without  mentioning 
the  oow.  Cow  protaotion  is  a  process  of  purifioation.  lb 
is  tapasya,  i.e.,  self- suffering.  When  we  suffer 
voluntarily  and  therefore  without  expectation  of  reward, 
the  cry  of  suffering  (one  might  say)  literally  ascends  to 
heaven,  and  God  above  hears  it  and  responds.  That  ia 
the  path  of  religion,  and  ib  has  answered  even  if  one 
man  baa  adopted  it  in  its  entirety.  I  make  bold  to  assert 
witboub  fear  of  contradiction,  that  it  is  nob  Hinduism  to 
kUl  a  fellow-man  even  bo  save  the  oow.  Hinduism 
requires  its  votaries  to  immolate  themselves  for  the  sake 
of  their  religion,  i.e.,  for  the  sake  of  saving  the  oow.  The 
question  is  how  many  Hindus  are  ready  without  bargain 
ing  with  the  Mussulmans  to  die  for  them  and  for  their  reli- 
gion ?  If  the  Hindus  can  answer  ib  in  the  religious 
spirit,  they  will  not  only  have  secured  Mussulman  ftiend- 
ebip  for  eternity,  but  they  will  have  saved  the  oow  for 
all  time  from  tbe  Mussulmans.  Let  us  not  swear  even 
hy  the  greatest  among  them.  They  can  but  help.  They 
oaunot  undertake  to  change  the  hearts  of  millions  of  men 
who  have  hitherto  given  no  thought  to  the  feeling  of 
thair  Hindu  neighbours  when  they  slaughter  tbe  cow. 
Bat  God  Almighty  can  in  a  moment  change  them  %Dd 
mjve  them  to  pity.     Prayer  aocompanled  by   adequate 


UMTOUCHABILITI  815 

snffaring  is  a  prayer  of  the  hearb,  Thab  alone  oouuts 
with  God-  To  my  Masaulman  frieads  T  would  Bay  bull 
ODe  word.  They  muat  nob  be  irritabed  by  the  aobs  of 
irresponsible  or  ignoranb  bub  fanabioal  Hindus,  He  who 
exeroises  reabrainb  under  provooabion  wins  bhe  babble. 
Leb  them  know  and  feel  sure  bhab  responsible  Hindus 
«re  not  on  bheir  side  in  bheir  trial  in  any  bargaining 
spirit.  Tbey  are  helping  baoauae  they  know  that  bhe 
Kbilafat  is  a  just  oause,  and  bhab  bo  help  bhem  in  a  good 
cause  is  to  serve  India,  for  they  are  even  as  blood- 
-brobbers,  born  of  the  same  mother — Bharata  Maba. 


UNTOUCHABILITY 

[Mr.  Gandhi  presided  at  the  Suppressed  Classes  Oon- 
ference  held  at  Ahmedabad  on  the  13th  and  14th  May,  1921. 
In  the  course  of  his  speech  on  the  occasion,  he  narrated  a 
fragment  of  his  personal  history.     He  said  : — ] 

I  regard  unbouohabiliby  as  the  greabeat  blot  on 
Hinduism.  This  idea  was  nob  brought  home  bo  me  by 
my  bibber  experienoea  during  bhs  Sonbh  Afrioan  abruggla. 
It  is  not  due  bo  bhe  faob  bhab  I  waa  onoa  an  agnoabio.  It 
ia  equally  wrong  to  think,  aa  soma  people  do,  that  I  have 
taken  my  views  fiom  my  study  of  Christian  religious 
literature.  These  views  date  aa  far  biok  as  the  time 
-when  I  waa  naither  enamoured  of,  nor  was  Bgaainbed 
with  bhe  Bible  or  the  followers  of    the   Bible. 

I  was  hardly  yet  twelve  when  bbia  idea  had  dawned 
•on  me-  A  scavenger  named  Uka,  an  untouohabla,  used 
to  attend  our  houae  for  cleaning  labrines.  Often  I 
^onld  ask  my  mother  why  it  was  wrong  tQ  touch  him, 
why   I  was  forbidden   to    touob  bim.     If  I   aooidenlilsr 


616  MISOBItLANEOUS 

toDohed  Uka  I  was  asked  to  perform  lihe  ablationa. 
and  though  I  natarally  obeyed,  ill  was  nab  without 
amiliDgly  protestiDg  that  antaachability  wasaot  saaoJiioD- 
ed  by  religion,  that  it  was  imposaible  that  it  should  be 
so.  I  waa  a  very  dutiful  and  obedient  ohild  :  and  ao  far 
as  it  waa  oonaiatent  with  reapeot  for  parents.  I  often 
had  luaalea  winb  them  on  this  matter.  I  told  my  mother 
that  ebe  waa  entirely  wroog  in  oonaideriog  phyaioal  oon- 
tact  with  Uka  aa  ainfuL 

While  at  Bohooi,  I  would  ofoen  happen  to  touch 
the  "  untouahablea  ",  and  as  I  never  would  oonaeal  the 
fact  from  my  parents,  my  mother  would  tell  me  that 
the  shortest  out  to  purification  after  the  unholy  tonoh 
waa  to  oancel  the  touch  by  touching  any  Mussulman 
paaaiDg  by,  And  simply  out  of  reverence  aud  regard  for 
my  mother,  I  often  did  ao,  but  never  did  so  believing 
it  to  be  a  religious  obligation.  After  aome  time  we 
shifted  to  Forebander,  where  I  made  my  first  acquaint- 
ance with  Sanskrit-  I  was  not  yet  put  to  an  Ecgliah 
echooli  and  my  brother  and  I  were  placed  in  charge  of  a 
BrahmaUi  who  taught  us  Bam  Baksha  and  Vishnu  Pun- 
jar.  The  text9  "  Jale  Vishnuh  "  "  Sthale  Vishnuh  " 
(there  is  the  Lord  (present)  in  water,  there  ia  the  Lord 
(present)  in  earth)  have  never  gone  out  of  my  memory^ 
A  motherly  old  dame  used  to  live  close  by.  Now  it 
happened  that  I  was  very  timid  then,  and  would  conjure 
up  gfaoata  and  goblins  whenever  the  lights  went  out, 
audit  waa  dark.  The  old- mother,  to  diaabuae  me  of 
fears,  suggeated  that  I  should  mutter  the  Bamaraksha 
testa  whenever  I  waa  afraid,  and  all  evil  spirits  would 
fiy  away-  This  I  did  and,  aa  I  thought,  with  good 
effect.  I  could  never  believe  then  that  there  was  any 
text  ia  the    Bam&raksha   pointing  to   theoontaotof   tfao 


ttMldudHAftlLMY  81t 

'  UDtouohablea  '  as  a  sin,  I  did  not  nnclerBtand  ita 
meaniog  then,  or  underBtood  it  very  imperfectly,  Bub 
I  was  oonfidenii  thad  RamaraJesha,  which  ooald  destroy 
all  fear  of  ghostei  ooald  Dot  be  aouDtenanaiDg  any  such 
bbiog  as  fear  of  aontaal)  with  the  "  aotiouahables." 

The  Bamayana  used  to  be  regularly  read  in  our 
family,  A  Brahmin  called  Ladha  Maharaja  used  to  read 
it.  Ha  was  stricken  with  leprosy,  and  he  was  confident 
that  a  regular  reading  of  the  Bamayana  would  cure  him 
of  leprosy  ;  and,  indeed,  he  was  cured  of  it.  '  How  can 
the  Bamayana,'  I  thought  to  myself,  in  which  one  who 
is  regarded  now- a- days  as  ao  untouchable  took  Bama 
across  the  Gingea  in  his  boat,  oountecaDee  tba  idea  of 
any  humao  baings  being  '  uDtouobablea '  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  '  polluted  ooula  ?'  The  fact  that  wd 
addressed  God  as  the  "purifier  of  the  polluted",  and 
by  similar,  appellations,  shows  that  it  is  a  sin  to  regard 
any  ooe  born  in  Hinduism  as  polluted  or  untouohabla— ^ 
that  it  is  satanio  to  do  so.  I  have  hence  been  never 
tired  of  repeating  that  it  is  a  great  sin.  I  do  not  pretend 
that  thia  thing  had  crystallisad  as  a  conviction  in  ma  at 
the  age  of  twelve,  but  I  do  say  that  I  did  then  regard 
untouchabiLity  as. a  sin.  .  I  narrate  this  atdry  for  the 
information  of  the  Vaishnavas  and  Orthodox  Hindas, 

I  have  always  claimed  to  ba  a  Sanatani  Hindu.  It 
is  not  that  I  am  quite  innocent  of  the  scriptures.  I 
am  not  a  profound  soholar  of  Sanskrit.  I  have  read 
the  Vedas  and  the  Dpanishads  only  in  translati^jos. 
Naturally  therefore  mine  is  not  a  scholarly  study  of 
them.  My  knowledge  of  them  is  in  no  way  profound, 
but  I  have  studied  them  as  I  should  do  as  a  Hindu, 
and  I  claim  lo  iiave  graspecT  their  true  spirit.  By  the 
time  I    had    reached    che  age  of  21,  I    had  studied  other 

sa 


81P  MISOELIiANBOCS 

relfgioDB  also.  There  was  a  time  when  I  was  waver- 
ing betweeu  Hindaisai  and  GhristiaDiby,  When  I  re- 
oovered  my  balance  of  mind,  I  le\b  tbafi  to  me  salvalion 
was  possible  onjy  through  the  Hindu  religion  and  my 
faith  in  Hinduiem  grew  deeper  and  more  enlightened. 

Bat  even  then  I  believed  that  untoacbability  was  do 
part  of  Hinduism  ;  and,  that  if  it  was,  such  Hinduism 
was  not  for  me. 

True  HlDt^uism  does  not  regard  untouohability  as  a 
sin,  I  do  not  want  to  enter  into  any  controversy  regard- 
ing the  interpretation  of  the  Sbasiras.  It  might  be  diffi- 
onlt  for  me  to  establish  my  point  by  quoting  authorities 
from  the  Bhagwat  or  Manusmriti.  But  I  claim  to  have 
understood  the  spirit  of  Hinduism.  Hinduism  has 
sinned  in  giving  sanction  to  untouohability.  It  has 
degraded  us,  made  us  the  pariahs  of  tba  Empire.  Even 
the  Mussulmans  caugbt  the  sinful  contagion  from  us,  and 
in  S.  Africa,  io  E.  Africa  and  in  Canada  the  Mussulmans 
no  less  than  Hindus  came  to  ba  regarded  as  Pariahs. 
All  this  evil  has  resulted  from  the  sin  of  untouohability. 


GOKHALB,  TILAK  AND  MEHTA* 

A  strange  anonymous  letter  has  been  received  by 
me,  admiring  me  for  having  taken  up  a  cause  that  was 
dearest  to  Lokamanya's  heart,  and  telling  ma  that  bis 
spirit  was  residing  in  me  and  that  I  must  prove  a  worthy 
follower  of  his.  The  letter,  moreover,  admonishes  me 
not  to  lose  heart  in  the  prosecution  of  the  Swaraj  pro- 
gramme, and  finishes  off  by    aoousing    me   of  imposture 

*  Fiom  Toung  India,  July  13,  1931, 


GOEHAIiB,  XILAH  AMD  MBHTA  819 

Jin  claiming  to  be   polibically  a  •  disoiple    of   Gokhale.     I 
wish  oorreapondenta    will  throw   off  the  eUvish  habit   of 
writing    anonymously.     We,    who    are    developing    the 
Swaraj  spirit,  must   cultivate  the    courage   of   fearlessly 
speaking  out  our  mind.     The'subjeot-matter  of  the  letter, 
bowever,  being  of  pablio   importanoe,    demands  a     reply, 
1  oaDDOt  olaim  the  honour   of    being  a    follower    of    the 
late  L^kamanya.     I    admire  him   like    millioaa    of    his 
'OOUDtrymen  for  his  indomitable  will,  his     vast    learning, 
his  iove  of  oouotry,  and,  above    all,     the    purity     of    his 
private  life  and  great  sacrifiae.     Of  all  the  men  of  modern 
'times,  be  captivated  most  the  imagination  of  his    people. 
He  breathed  into  us  the  spirit   of  Swarej.     Ko    one    per- 
haps realised  the  evil  of  the   existing  system   of    Govern- 
ment as  Mr.  Tilak  did.     And   in  all    humility  I  claim    to 
■deliver  his  message  to  the  country    as  truly    as    the    best 
-of  his  disoiples.     Bat  I  am  oonsoious  that  my  method  is 
not  Mr.  Tilak's  methods  and    that  is    why  I    have   still 
difficulty  with  some  of  the  Maharashtra    leaders.     Bat  I 
sincerely  think  that  Mr,  Tilak  did  not  disbelieve    in    my 
method.     I  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  his  confidence.     And 
-his  last  word  to  me   in  the    presence    of    several    friends 
was,  just  a  fortnigfan  before  his   death,  that  mine  was   an 
excellent  method  if  the  people    could    be    persuaded    to 
take  to    it.     But  he   said    he  hai    doubts.     I  know    no 
other  method.     I  can    only     hope    that    when  the   final 
'test  comes,  the  country  will  be    proved  to  have    assimil-. 
ated  the  method  of    non-violent    non-co-operation.    Nor 
am  I  unaware  of  my  other    limitations.     I    can   lay     no 
olaim  to  scholarship,     I  bave.not  his  powers  of  organisa- 
tion, I  have  no  compact  disciplined    party    to  lead,  and^ 
Slaving  been  an  exile    for   twenty-three   years,  I  oannok 
«laim  the  experience  that  the   Lokamanya  bad   of  IndU. 


820  MISCEiiLAHEOOS 

Two  things  we  had  in  oommon  to  the  fullest  meKsure— *- 
love  of  country  and  the  steadly  pursuit  of  Swaraj. 
I  can,  thereforei  assure  the  anonymous  writer,  thab 
yielding  to  none  in  my  revereaoe  for  the  memory  of  tha 
deceased,  I  will  march  aide  by  side  with  the  foremost  of 
the  Lokamanya's  disciples  in  the  pursuit  of  Swaraj.  I 
know  that  the  only  offeriog  acceptable  to  him  is  tbo 
quickest  attainment  of  Swaraj  by  India.  That  and  nothing 
else  can  give  his  spirit  peace. 

Disoipleship,  however,  is  a  sacred  personal  matter.  I 
fall  at  Dadabhai'a  feet  in  1883,  but  he  seemed  to  be  too 
far  away  from  ma.  I  could  be  as  son  to  him,  not  disciple.. 
A  disciple  is  more  than  a  son.  Blscipleship  is  a  second 
birth.  It  is  a  voluntary  surrender.  In  1896  I  met 
almost  all  the  known  leaders  of  India  in  connection  with 
my  South  Atrioan  mission.  Justice  Banade  awqd  me.  I 
could  hardly  talk  in  his  presence.  Badruddin  Tayahjt 
fathered  me,  and  asked  me  to  be  guided  by  Banade  and 
Fherozashab.  The  latter  became  a  patron.  His  will 
had  to  be  law.  You  must  address  a  public  meeting  oq 
the  26ih  September,  and  you  must  be  punctual.'  I  obeyed^ 
Oa  the  25Sih  evening  I  was  to  wait  on  him,  I  did- 

'  Have  you  written  out  your  speech  ?'  be  inquired. 

'No.   Sir.' 

'  That  won't  do,  young  man.  Can  you  write  it  out- 
to-night  ?' 

'  Munshi,  you  must  go  to  Mr,  Gandhi  and  reoeiva 
the  manuscript  from  him.  It  mrst  be  printed  over-night 
and  you  must  send  me  a  copy-'  Taming  to  me,  he  added. 
,'  Gandhi,  you  must  not  write  a  long  speech,  you  do  nob 
know  Bombay  audiences  cannot  stand  long  addresses.'  1 
bowed. 


GOKHALB,  TILAK  AND  MEHTA  831 

The  lion  of  Bombay  taught  mo  to  take  orders.  He 
«6id  not  make  ma  his  disciple.  Ha  did  not  even  try. 

I  went  thenoa  to  Poona.  I  waa  an  ntter  stranger. 
My  host  first  look  me  to  Mr.  Tiiak.  I  met  him  aurround* 
€d  by  hia  oompaniona.  Ha  iiatened,  and  said,  '  We  must 
arrange  a  meeting  for  you.  But  perhaps  you  do  not 
know,  that  we  have  unfortunately  two  parties.  You  must 
give  us  a  non-party  man  as  ohairman.  Will  you  see  Dr. 
JBhandarkar  ?' I  oonaented  and  retired.  I  have  no  firm 
impression  of  Mr.  Tilak,  exoapt  to  recall  that  lie  shook 
oS  my  nervousness  by  hia  affaotionate  familiarity.  I 
'Went  thenoa,  I  think,  to  Gokhale,  and  then  to  Dr,  fihan- 
darkar.  The  latter  greeted  mei  as  a  teacher  of  hia   pupil. 

'You  aeem  to  be  an  earneat  and  enthuaiaatio  young 
<man.  Many  people  do  not  come  to  see  me  at  this  the 
•bottest  part  of  the  day.  I  never  noW'a-daya  attend 
oublio  meetings.  But  you  have  recited  such  a  pathetic 
'etory  that  I  must  make  an  exaeption  in  your  favour.' 

I  worshipped  the  venerable  doctor  with  his  wiaa 
iface.  Bat  I  could  not  find  for  him  a  place  on  that  little 
throne.  It  was  atill  unoccupied.  I  bad  many  heroes 
but  no  king. 

it  was  diiferent  with  Gokhale,  I  cannot  say  why.  I 
tuet  him  at  hia  quarters  on  the  college  ground.  It  was 
like  meeting  an  old  friend,  or  better  atill,  a  mother  after 
■&  long  aeparation.  Hia  gentle  face  put  ma  at  ease  in  a 
moment.  Hia  minute  inquiries  about  myself  and  my 
doinga  in  South  Africa  at  once  enshrined  him  in  my 
4iearfe.  And  aa  I  parted  from  him,  I  said  to  myself,  'You 
are  my  man'i  And  from  that  moment  Gokhale  never 
lost  sight  of  me.  In  1901  on  my  aeoond  return  from 
South  Africa,  we  came  closer  still.  He  simply  'took  ma 
in  hand,'  and  began  to  fashion   me.     He  waa   conoerned 


822  MISOBLLAMBOnS 

abonti  how  I  spoka,  dressedi  walked  and  ate.  My  mother 
was  not  more  Boiioitoas  about  me  than  Gokhale.  There 
was,  80  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  reserve  between  us.  It- 
was  really  a  oass  of  love  at  first  sight,  and  it  stood  the 
severest  strain  in  1913.  He  seemed  to  me  all  I  wanted 
as  a  political  worker — pure  as  crystal,  gentle  as  a  lamb., 
brave  as  a  lion  and  obivalrous  to  a  fault.  It  does  not 
matter  to  me  that  he  may  not  have  been  any  of  theae. 
things.  It  was  enough  for  mei  that  I  oould  discover  na 
fault  in  him  to  cavil  at.  Ha  was  and  remains  for  me  ths- 
moat  perfect  man  on  the  political  field.  Not  thereforei. 
thaf>-we  had  no  differences.  We  differed  even  in  1901  in 
our  views  on  social  oustoms,  e.  g.,  widow  re-marriage. 
We  disoovered  differenoes  in  our  estimate  of  western 
oivilization.  He  frankly  differed  from  me  in  my  extreme- 
views  on  non-violence.  Bat  these  differences  mattered 
neither  to  him  nor  to  me.  Nothing  oou'.d  put  us  as- 
under. It  were  blasphemous  to  oonjacture  what  would 
have  happened  if  he  wera  alive  to-day.  I  know  that  I 
would  have  been  working  under  him.  I  have  made  this 
confession,  because  the  anonymous  letter  hurt  me,  when 
it  accused  me  of  imposture  about  my  political  disciple- 
ship.  Had  I  been  remiss  in  my  acknowledgment  to  him 
who  is  now  dumb  ?  I  thought,  I  must  declare  my 
faithfulness  to  Gokhale,  especially  when  I  seemed  to  b» 
living  in  a  camp  which  the  Indian  world  calls  oppoaite,^ 


THE  FEAR  OF  DEATH  * 

I  have  been  oolleoting  deaoriptioD  of  Swaraj,  Ooa 
of  these  would  be  Swaraj  ia  the  abandonmeati  of  the  fear 
of  death.  A  nation  whioh  allows  itself  to  be  iuflaeuoed 
by  the  fear  of  death  cannot  attain  S.varaj  and  oannofe 
retain  it  if  somehow    attained. 

English  people  aarry  their  lives  in  their  pockets, 
^rabs  and  Pathana  consider  death  as  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  ailment,  they  never  weep  when  a  relation 
dies.  Boer  vromen  are  perfectly  innocent  of  (his  fear. 
In  the  Boer  war,  thonsanda  of  young  Boer  women  became' 
widowed.  They  never  oared.  It  did  not  matter  in  the 
least  if  the  husband  or  the  son  was  lost,  it  was  enough, 
and  mora  than  enough,  that  the  country's  honour  was 
safe.  What  bdoted  (he  husband  if  the  country  was  en- 
slaved ?  It  was  infinitely  batter  to  bury  a  son's  mortal 
remains  and  to  cherish  his  immortal  memory  than  to 
bring  him  up  as  a  serf.  Thus  did  the  Boer  women  steel 
(heir  hearts  and  cheerfully  give  up  their  darlings  to  the 
angle  of  Death. 

The  people  I  have  mentioned  kill  and  get  killed- 
But  what  of  (hose  who  do  not  kill  but  are  only  ready  to 
die  themselves  ?  Such  people  become  the  objects  of  a 
world's  adoration,    They  are  the  salt  of  the  earth. 

The  Eaglish  and  the  Germans  fought  one  another; 
they  killed  and  got  killed.  The  result  Is  that  animosities 
have  increased.  There  is  no  end  of  unrest,  and  (he 
present  condition  of  Europe  is  pitiful.  There  is  more  of 
deceit,  and  each  is  anxious  to  circumvent  the  rest, 

)|c  Translated  {rom  the   Oujaraii  Navajivan,  Oct.,  19S1. 


824  MISCIiLLANEOnS 

Ball  fearlessDess  whiah  wa  ace  oulbivatiog  ia  of  a 
nobler  and  purer  order  and  ib  is  therefore  lihab  we  hope  to 
achieve  a  signal  victory  within  a  very  shorli  time. 

When  WQ  attain  Swaraj  many  of  ua  will  have  given 
up  the  fear  of  death  or  else  we  shall  not  have  attained 
Swaraj,  Till  now  mostly  young  boys  have  died  in  the. 
cause,  Those  who  died  in  Aligarh  were  all  below  twenty- 
one, .  No  one  knew  who  they  were,  If  Government 
resort  to  firing  now  1  am  hoping  that  aoma  men  of  the 
first  rank  will  have  the  opportunity  of  offeriog  up  the« 
supreme  saorifioe. 

Why  should  we  be  upset  when  children  or  young 
men  or  old  men  die  ?  Not  a  moment  passes  when  soma 
one  ia  not  born  or  is  not  dead  in  thin  world.  We  should 
feel  the  stupidity  of  rejoicing  in  a  birth  and  lamenting  a 
death,  Tboae  who  believe  in  the  soul — aud  what  Hindu, 
Mussulman  or  Parsi  ia  there  who  does  not  ? — know  that 
the  soul  never  dies.  The  soula  of  the  li-viug  as  well  aa  of 
the  dead  are  all  one.  The  eternal  processes  of  creation 
and  destruotioD  are  going  on  oeaseleaaly,  Tnere  ia  nothing 
in  it  for  which,  we  might  give  ourselves  up  to  joy  or 
sorrow.  Even  if  we  extend  the  idea  of  relationship  only 
to  our  countrymen  and  take  all  the  births  in  the  country 
aa  taking  place  in  our  owa  family,  how  many  births  shall 
we  celebralie?  If  wa  weep  foe  all  the  lieatha  in  our 
country  the  teara  in  our  eyea  wjuld  never  dry,  This  train 
of  thought  ahould  help  ua  to  get  rid  of  all  fear  of  death. 

India,  they  Bay,  ia  a  nation  of  philoaophers ;  and  wa 
have  not  been   un  trilling  to  appropriate  the  compliment. 
Still  hardly  any  other   nation  becomes  so  helpless  in  fihe- 
face  of    death  aa  we    do.  And   in    ladia    again  no    other-, 
community   perhapa  betray  ao  much  of  thia  helplessness 
B8  the   Hindiisi    A  aingle   birth  ia   enough    for  us"  to  be 


beaide^  ouraelvas  with  ludicrous  joyfulnees,  A  de^tb  makes 

us  iudatga  id  orgies  of  loud  lameotation  whioh    oondemn 

(be  oeigbbourhood  to  BleepleasDesa  for  the  eight.     If  we 

wish  to  attain  Swaraj,  and  if   having  attained  it  we  wish 

to   make   it   something    to   be    proud    of    we    perfectly 

I 
reuoQDoe  this  unseemly  sight. 

And  what  ia  imprisonment  to  the  man  who  ia  fear^ 
Issa  of  death  itself  ?  If  the  reader  will  beatow  a  little 
thought  upon  the  matter,  ha  will  find  that  if  Swaraj  ia 
delayed,  it  ia  delayed  beoaase  we  are  not  prepared  calmly 
to  meet  death  and  inoonvenienoes  less  than  death. 

As  larger  and  larger  numbers  of  innocent  men  come 
out  to  welcome  death,  their  sacrifice  will  become  the 
f)otent  instrument  for  the  salvation  of  all  others  ;  and 
there  will  be  a  minimum  of  suffering.  Suffering  cheer- 
fully endured  ceases  to  be  suffering  and  ia  transmuted 
into  an  ineffable  joy.  The  man  who  fliea  from  auffaring 
is  the  victim  of  endlaaa  tribulation  before  it  had  come  to 
him,  and  ia  half  dead  when  it  does  come,  Bat  one  who 
is  cheerfully  ready  for  anything  and  everything  thai; 
Domeai  escapes  all  pain,  bis  cheerfulness  acts  as  an 
aDssathetio. 

I  have  been  led  to  write  about  this  subject  because 
we  have  got  to  envisage  even  death  if  we  will  have 
Swaraj  this  very  year.  One  who  is  previously  prepared 
often  escapes  accident  and  this  may  well  ba  the  case 
with  us.  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  Swadeghi  oonsti'. 
tntea  this  preparation.  When  once  Swadeshi  ia  a  success 
neither  this  Government  nor  any  one  else  will  feel  the 
neoeaaity  of  putting  us  to  any  further  test. 

Still  it  ia  best  not  to  neglect  any  contingency  what- 
ever. Poasession  x>f  power  makea  men  blind  and  deaf, 
ibey  cannot   see  tlsings  vs;hidh  Are  under  thejr  very  nosei 


826  MISOBElaANEOtraJ-- 

and  oannofi  hear  (bings  whioh  invade  their  ears.  There- 
is  thus  DO  knowing  what  (bis  power- intoxioated  Govern- 
tnenb  may  nob  do.  So  it  seemed  to  me  that  patriotic  men 
ongbt  to  be  prepared  for  death,  imprisonment  and  similar- 
eventualities. 

The  brave  meet  death  with  a  smile  on  their  lips,  but- 
they  are  oiroumspeot  all  the  same.  There  is  no  room, 
for  foolhardiness  in  this  non-violent  war.  We  do  not 
propose  to  go  to  gaol  cr  to  die  by  an  immoral  aot.  Wa 
must  mount  the  gallows  while  resisting  the  oppressive- 
laws  of  this  Government. 


HINDUISM* 


la  dealing  with  the  problem  of  untouobability  during: 
the  Madras  tour,  I  have  asserted  my  olaim  to  being  a 
Sanataoi  Hindu  with  greater  emphasis  than  bitiherto,  and 
yet  there  are  things  whioh  are  commonly  done  in  the 
name  of  Hinduism,  whioh  I  disregard.  I  have  no  desire 
to  be  called  a  Sanatani  Hindu  or  any  other  if  I  am  not 
suoh.  And  I  have  certainly  no  desire  to  steal  in  a  reform 
or  an  abuse  under  cover  of  a  great  faith. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  for  me  once  for  all  distinotly 
to  give  my  meaning  of  Sanatani  Hinduism.  The  wotd- 
Sanatana  I  use  in  its  natural  sense. 

I  eall  myself  a  Santani  Hindui  because — 

(l)  I   believe  in    the   VedaSi    tba   Upanishads,    the- 

Puranas  and  all  that  goes  by  the  name  Hindu  scriptures, 

and  therefore  in  avataras  and  re- birth, 

*  From  Young  India,  Oot.  12,  1931. 


HiNDmjM^  82r 

(2)  I  boliavo  in  the  Varnashrama  Dharma,  in  a  genea 
in  my  opinion,  atriotly  Vedio  bud  nod  in  ita  prQgenb 
popular  and  oruda  Bsnse. 

(3)  I  baliava  in  tha  proteobion  of  tbaoow  in  iba  much 
larger  sense  bhan  the  popular. 

(4)  I  do  not  diabalieva  in  idol-worahip. 

The  reader  will  noba  that  I  have  purposely  refrained' 
froDQ  uaing  tfas  word  divine  origin  in  referenoe  to  the 
Vedaa  or  any  other  aoripturea.  For  I  do  not  believe  in 
the  exclusive  divinity  of  the  Vedaa.  I  believe  the  Bible» 
the  Koran,  and  the  Zand  Avesta  to  be  aa  muoh  divinely 
inspired  as  the  Vedaa.  My  belief  in  the  Hindu  scriptures 
does  not  require  me  to  accept  every  word  and  every  varaa 
aa  divinely  inspired.  Nor  do  I  claim  to  have  any  first- 
hand knowledge  of  these  wonderful  books.  But  J  do 
claim  to  know  and  feel  the  truths  of  tbaeaeenbial  teaching 
of  the  scriptures.  I  decline  to  be  bound  by  any  interpre- 
tation, however  learned  it  may  be,  if  it  is  repugnant  to 
reason  or  moral  sense,  I  do  most  emphatically  repudiate 
the  olaim  (if  they  advance  any  such)  of  the  present 
Shankaracbaryas  and  Shasbris  to  give  a  correct  inberpre*^ 
tation  of  the  Hindu  scriptures.  Oa  the  contrary,  I 
believe  that  our  present  knowledge  of  these  books  is  in 
a  most  chaotic  atata.  I  believe  implioibly  in  the  Hindu 
aphorism,  that  no  one  truly  knows  the  Shasbras  who  has 
nob  attained  perfection  in  lanoaanaa  {Ahirma),  Tirahb 
Watya)  and  Selfoontrol  {Brahmaotiarya)  and  who  ha» 
not  renounced  all  acquisition  or  poasaasion  of  waalbh,  I 
believe  in  the  institution  of  Qarus,  but  in  this  aga 
millions  must  go  without  a  Guru,  because  it  is  a  rare 
thing  to  find  a  oombinabion  of  perfect  purity  and  perfect 
learning.  But  one  need  not  despair  of  ever  knowing  tha 
truth   of  one's   religion,   because   the     fundamentala   ot 


-^38  MISOeXi^ANBOUS 

• 

Hinduism  as  of  every  greafi  religion  are  nnohaogeable, 
and  eaaiiy  understood,  Erery  Hindu  believes  in  God 
and  his  oneness,  in  reblrtb  and  salvaliion.  Bat  that 
which  distinguishes  Hinduism  from  every  other  religion 
is  its  cow  protection,  more  than  its  Varnashram, 
is,  in  my  opinion,  inherent  in  human  nature,  and 
Hinduism  has  simply  reduced  it  to  a  scienoe.  It 
does  attach  to  birth.  A  man  cannot  change  bis 
■varna  by  choice.  Not  -to  abide  by  one's  varna  is  to. 
'disregard  the  law  of  heredity.  The  division,  however, 
into  innumerable  castes  is  an  unwarranted  liberty  taken 
with  the  doctrine.     The  four  divisions  ara  all-sufficing. 

I  do  not  believe  that  inter-dining  or  even  inter- 
marriage neaessarily  deprives  a  man  of  his  status  that 
'his  birth  has  given  him.  The  four  divisions  define  a 
man's  calling,  they  do  not  restrict  or  regulate  social 
intercourse.  The  divisiona  define  duties,  they  confer  no 
privileges.  It  is,  I  hold,  against  the  genius  of  Hinduism 
to  arrogate  to  oneself  a  higher  sta.tus  or  assign  to  another 
a  lower.  All  are  born  to  serve  God's  creation,  a  Brahman 
V7ith  his  knowledge,  a  Kshatriya  with  his  power  of 
protection,  a  Vaishyt^with  his  commercial  ability  and  a 
Sbudra  with  bodily  labour-  This. however  does  not  mean 
that  a  Brahman  for  instance  is  absolved  from  bodily 
labour  or  the  duty  of  protecting  himself  and  others. 
His  birth  makes  a  Brahman  predominantly  a  man  of 
knowledge,  the  fittest  by  heredity  and  training  to  imparfi 
it  to  others.  There  is  nothin'g,  again,  to  prevent  the 
Sbudra  from  acquiring -all  the  knowledge  he  wishes. 
Only,  he  will  best  serve  with  his  body  and  need  not  envy 
others  their  special  qualities  for  service.  But  a  Brahman 
who  claims  superiority  by  right  of  knowledge  falls  and 
iias  no  knowledge.      And  so  with  the  others   who    pride 


HiNbtrrsM  -        '829> 

thenoaelves  upon  their  speoial  qualities.     Varnashrama  is 
Belf-reatraiDb  and  ooDservatiiaD  and  eoonomy  of  eoergy. 

Though,  therefore,  Varnashrama  ia  not  affeoted  by 
inter-dining  or  inter- marriage.  Hindaiam  doea  mosb 
emphatioally  diaoourage  inter-dining  and  inter- naarriaga- 
between  diviaiona.  Hindui'am  reached  the  highest  limit 
of  aelf-reatrainf.  It  ia  undoubtedly  a  religion  of  renuncia- 
tion of  the  flaah  ao  that  the  apirit  may  be  get  fr6e.  It- 
ia  no  part  of  a  Hinda'a  duty  to  dine  with  bia  aon.  And 
by  restricting  hia  ohoioe  of  a  bride  to  a  partioular  groupi 
ha  exeroiaea  rare  self-reatraint,  Hinduism  doea  not 
regard  a  marriage  state  aa  by  any  means  essential  for 
salvation.  Marriage  ia  a  'fall'  even  aa  birth  ia  a  '  fall.' 
Salvation  ia  freedom  from  birth  and  henoe  death  also,. 
Prohibition  against  inter-marriage  and  inter-dining  ia 
eaaential  for  a  rapid  evolution  of  the  souk  But  this  aelf- 
denial  ia  no  teat  of  vafna.  A  Brahman  may  remain  a 
Brahman,  though  he  may  dine  with  hia  Shudra  brother, 
if  be  has  not  left  o&  his  duty  of  service  by  knowledge,  It 
follows  from  what  I  have  aaid  above,  that  reatraint  in 
mattera  of  marriage  and  dicing  ia  not  baaed  upon  notions 
of  auperiority.  A  Hindu  who  refuses  to  dice  with 
anotber  from  a  sense  of  superiority  miarepresenta  his 
Dharma. 

Unfortunately  to-day  Hinduism  seems  to  ooDEist 
merely  in  eating  and  not  eating.  Onee  I  horrified  a  pious 
Hindu  by  taking  toast  at  a  MuasUlm&n'a  house.  I  saw 
that  he  was  pained  to  see  me  pouring  milk  into  a  cup 
handed  by  a  Mussulman  friend,  but  his  anguish  knew  bo 
bounds  when  he  aaw  me  taking  toaat  at  the  Mussulman'a 
handa.  Hinduism  is  in  danger  of  losing  fta  substance  if 
it  resolves  itself  into  a  matter  of  elaborate  rules  as  to 
whai    and    wiih  whom   to  eat.     AbstejaQiousness    frcttt 


€30  ,  MISOBIiLADBOUS 

tntoxioatiag  drinka  and  drugs,  and  from  all  kinds  of 
■foods,  espeoially  meat,  is  undoubtedly  a  great  aid  to  the 
evolution  of  the  spirit,  but  it  is  by  no  means  an  sod  in 
itsalf,  Many  man  eating  meat  and  with  everybody  but 
living  in  the  fear  of  God  is  nearer  bis  freedom  than  a 
man  religiously  abstaining  fi'om  meat  and  many  other 
things,  but  blaspheming  Gad  in  every  one  of  his  aots- 

Ibe  central  faot  of  Hinduism,  however)  is  cow-pro- 
teotioQ.  Gow-proteation  to  me  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  phenomena  in  human  evolution.  It  takes  the 
.human  being  beyond  his  speciea.  The  cow  to  me  means 
the  entire  sub-human  world-  Man  through  tbe  oow  is 
euioiued  to  realise  his  identity  with  all  that  lives.  Why 
the  oow  was  selected  for  apotheosisi  is  obvious  to  me, 
Tne  caw  was  in  India  the  bast  companion.  She  was  the 
:giver  of  plenty.  Not  only  did  she  give  milk,  but  she 
-also  made  agriculture  possible.  Tbe  oow  is  a  poem  of 
pity,  Oae  reads  pity  in  the  gentle  animal.  She  is  the 
mother  to  millions  of  Indian  mankind.  Protection  of  the 
oow  means  protection  of  tbe  whole  dumb  creation  of 
-God,  Tbe  ancient  seer,  whoever  he  was,  began  with  the 
-fiow.  The  appeal  of  the  tower  order  of  creation  is  all  the 
more  forcible  because  it  is  speechless.  Cawproteotion 
is  the  gift  of  Hinduism  to  the  world.  And  Hinduism  will 

■  iiva  BO  long  as  there  ace  Hindus  to  protect  the  oow. 

The  way  to  protect  is  to  die  for   her.     It  is  a  denial 

■  of  Hinduism  and  Ahimsa  to  kill  a  humstn  being  to  protect 
a  oow.     Hindus  are  enjoined  to  protect  the  oow  by  their 

-tapitsya,  by  self-purifiaation,  by  self-Baorifioe.  The  pre- 
Beat  day,  cow-protection  has  degenerated  into  perpetual 
feud  with  the  Mussulmans,  whereas  oow- protection  means 
(lonquering  the  Mussulmans  by  our  love,  A  MusBulman 
.friend  sent  me  some    time    ago     a    book   detailing   the 


HINDUISM  ^&31 

inhumaQiliies    praoiiiaed    by    ua    on    the    aow    aod  her 
progeny.  H.aw  we  bleed  her  to  take    the  last  drop  of  milk 
Jrom  her,  how  we  starve    her    to     emaoiation,     how    we 
ill-traat    tha    oalvaa,    bow     we    deprive    them    of    their 
portion    of    milla,    how  cruelly    we  treat  the  ox  on,  how 
we    oaatrata     them,      how    we     beat     them,     bow    we 
overload    them-  If    they    had    apeeoh  they    would    bear 
witness  to  our  orimes  againat  them  whioh  would   stagger 
the    world.     By    every    aot    of   oruelty  to  our  cattle,  we 
disown    G3d    and    Hiaduiam,    I  do    not   know    that  the 
■oonditioa  of  the  oatcla  in  any  other  part   of   the  world  is 
-as    bad    aa    in    unhappy  India.     We  may  not  blame  the 
Soglishman  for  this.     We  may  not  plead   poverty  in  our 
-defenoa.     Criminal  nagliganaa  ia  the  only    oaasa    of    the 
^miserable  condition  of  our  oattla.  Oar  Panjrapoles,  though 
they  are  an  answer  to  our  instinct  of  mercy,  are  a  clumsy 
-demonstration  of  its  execution.      Instead  of  being    model 
dairy  farms    and    great   proficable    national   iuatitutiong, 
they  are  merely  depots  for  raoeiving  decrepit  cattle. 

Hindus  will  be  judged  not  by  their  tilaks,  not  by 
the  correct  chanting  of  mantras,  not  by  their  pilgrimages, 
not  by  their  most  punctilious  observance  of  caste  rules 
■but  by  their  ability  to  protect  the  cow.  Whilst  professing 
the  religion  of  oow-protaotion,  we  have  enslaved  the  cow 
«nd  her  progeny,  and  have  become  slaves  ourselves. 
In  will  now  be  understood  why  I  consider  myself 
a  Stnataai  Hindu,  I  yield  to  none  in  my  regard  for  the 
eow.  I.  have  made  the  Kbilafat  cauaa  my  own,  becauee 
I  see  that  through  its  preservation  full  protection  can  be 
'Seaured  for  the  cow.  I  do  not  ask  my  Mussulman  friends 
to  save  the  cow  in  consideration  of  my  service.  My 
prayer  asoanda  daily  to  God  Almighty,  that  my  service 
of  a  oausa  I  bold  to  be  jast  may  appear  bo  pleasing    to. 


832  MI^OBfrtiAKfionS 

bim,  that  be  may  ohange  tba  beariia  of  (bs  MnasulDdans,. 
and  fill  libem  with  pity  for  their  Hindu  neighbonra  aod 
makatbem  save  the  auitual  tba  latter  hold  dear  as  life- 
itself. 

I  can  DO  more   deaoribe    my  feeliog    for  Hinduism' 

than    for    my    own  wife,     She  moves    me  aa    no    olber 

woman  in  the  world  oan.     Not  that  she    has  no    faults, 

I  daresay  sbe  has'many  mora    than  I    see    myself.     Bat 

the  feeling  of  an  indiasolable  bond  ia    there,     Even  so  I 

feel  for    and    about    Hinduism   with    all    its  faults    and 

limitations.     Nothing  relates  ma  so  much  as   tba    musiA 

of  the  Gita  or  the  B»mayaoa  by  Tulasidas,  the  only  two 

books  in  Hinduism  I  may  be    said  to  ■  know.     When    I 

fanoied  I  waa  taking  my  last    breath,  the  Gita    was   my' 

solace.  I  know  ..the  viae  that  is  going  on  to-day  in  all  th» 

great  Hindu  shrines,  but  I  love   them  in    spite    of-  their 

aaspeakable  failings.     There  ia  an  interest  which  I    take 

in  them  and  which  I  take  in  no    other.     I  am  a  reformer 

through  and  through*     Bab  my  zaal  never  takes    me   to- 

the  rejection  of  any  of  the  essential  things  of    Hinduism. 

I  have  said  I  do  not  disbelieve  in  idol    worship.     An  idol 

does  not  excite  any  feeling  of    veneration  in    me.     Bat  I 

think  that  idol  worship  is    part  of  human    nature.     Wa 

hanker  after   symbolism.     Why    should     one     be   mora 

composed  in  a  church    than   elaewere   ?  Imagea  are    an 

aid  tO'WOrship,     No  Hindu    considers    an    image  to   be 

God,     I  do  not  consider  idol  worship  a  sin, 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  Hinduism  is  not 
an  exclusive  religion.  In  it  there  is  room  for  the  worahi|> 
of  all  tba  prophets  of  the  world.  It  is  not  a  misaionary 
religion  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  It  has  no 
doubt  absorbed  many  tribes  in  its  fold,  but  tbia  abao-rp-- 
tion  bas- bean  of  an  evolatienary -imperceptible  character.. 


BmsmaMsm  8M 

HiDduiam  tells  everyone  (o'wo.rsbip  God  aooording  liohiSj 
own  faith  or  Dharma,,  and  so  iii  lives  all  peaoe  wibb  eiI'i 
bbe  religions. 

Tbat  being  my  oonoeption  of  Smdiiism,  I  have  never, 
been  able  to  reoonoile  myself  to  untouohability,  I  have 
always  regarded  it  aa  an  exoresoenoe.  It  is  true  that  ..U. 
baa  been  banded  down  to  ua  frooi  generations,  bub  ho  ara 
many  evil  practioea  even  to  this  day,  I  should  Jse 
ashamed  to  tbink  that  dedication  of  girla  to  virtual  pros- 
titution was  a  part  of  Hinduism.  Yet  it  is  practised  by 
Hindus  in  many  pai'ts  of  India,  I  consider  it  positive 
irreligioD  to  saorifioe  goats  to  Kali  and  do  not  consider 
it  a  part  of  Hinduism.  Hinduism  |  is  a  growtb  of 
ages.  The  very  name,  Hinduism,  was  given  to  the, 
religion  of  the  people  of  Hinduethan  by  foreigners. 
There  was  no  doubt  at  one  time  saorifioe  of  animals  was 
offered  in  the  name  of  religion.  But  it  is  not  religion, t 
much  less  is  it  Hindu  religion. 

And  so  also  it  seems  to  me,  that  when  oow-proteotion 
became  an  article  of  faith  wich  our  ancestors,  those  who 
persisted  in  eating  beef  wereexootnmunioated.  The  oivili 
strife  must  have  been  fierce.  Social  boycott  was  applied 
not  only  to  the  recalcitrants,  but  their  sins  were  visitedi 
upon  their  children  also.  The  practice  which  had  pro-; 
bably  its  origin  in  good  intentioos  hardened  into  usage, 
and  even  verses  crept  in  our  sacred  hooka  giving  the 
practice  a.parmaoenoe  wholly  undeserved  and  still  less 
justified.  Whether  my  theory  is  correct  or  nob,  un-. 
touobability  is  repugnant  to  reason  and  to  the  instinct 
of  mercyi  pity  or  love.  A  religion  that  eatablishes  the 
worship  of  the  oow  oannob  possibly  oountenanoe  or  war- 
rant a  cruel  and  inhuman  boyootb  of  human  beings.  And 
I  should  be  oontent  to  be  torn  bo  pieces  rather  than  dis- 
53 


634  MISOBtiLAtlBOUa 

owD  the  auppreesed  olassee,  Hindos  will  certainly  never 
deserve  freedom,  nor  get  iii  if  tbey  allow  their  noble 
religion  to  be 'disgraced  by  bbe  retention  of  the  taint  of 
untonob%bility.  And  as  I  love  Hinduism  dearer  than 
life  itself,  the  taint  has  become  for  me  an  intolerable 
fanrden,  Let  us  not  deny  God  by  denying  to  a  fifth  of 
our  race  the  rigbtof  association  on  an  equal  footing, 

NATIONAL  EDUCATION  * 
So  many  strange  things  have   been  said     about    my 
views  on  national  edaoatioD,  that  it  would    perhaps    not 
fae  out  of  p'ace  to  formulate  them  before  the  public. 

In  my  opinion  the  existing  system  of  education  is 
defective,  apart  from  its  association  with  an  utterly  un- 
just Government,  in  three  most  important   matters : 

(1)  It  is  based  upon  foreign  culture  to  the  almost 
entire  exclusion  of  indigenous    one. 

(2)  It  ignores  the  culture  of  the  heart  and  the 
band,  and  confines  itself  simply  to  the  head, 

(3)  Beal  education  is  impossible  through  a  foreign 
medium. 

Let  us  examine  the  three  defects,'  Almost  from  the 
oommenoement,  the  text-books  deal,  not  with  things  the 
boys  and  the  girls  have  always  to  deal  within  their 
homesi  but  things  to  which  they  are  perfect  strangers. 
U  is  not  through  the  text-bcoks,  that  a  lad  learns  what) 
ia  right  and  what  is  wrong  in  the  home  life.  He  ia 
never  taught  to  have  any  pride  in  bis  surroundings.  The 
higher  he  goes,  the  farther  be  is  removed  from  his  home, 
80  that  at  the  end  of  hie  education  he  becomes  estranged 
from  his  eurrouDdings,  He  feels  no  poetry  about  the 
home  life,  The  village  scenes  are.  ail  a  sealed  book  to 
•  Fiom  Young  India,  / 


NAlIC^AIf  BDUOAXION  83& 

^itD,  His  own  civilization  is  presented  to  him  aa  im- 
'baoile,  barbaroua,  superstitious  and  uselesa  for  all  praoti- 
-oal  parposas,  His  edaoatioo  ia  oaloulated  to  wean 
him  from  his  traditional  oalture.  And  if  the  mass  of 
-eduoated  youths  are  not  entirely  denationaliaedi  it  is 
jjaoause  the  aaaiant  oulture  is  too  deeply  embedded  in 
'them  to  be  altogether  uprooted  even  by  an  education 
-adverse  to  its  growth.  If  I  had  my  way,  I  would  oer- 
■bainly  destroy  the  majority  of  the  present  text-books  and 
cause  to  be  written  test-books  which  have  a  bearing  on 
-aod  oorraspondenoe  with  the  homa  life,  so  that  a  boy,  as 
-he  learns,  may  react  upon  his  immediate  surroundings. 

Secondly,  whatever  may  be  true  of  other  countries, 
in  India  at  any  rate,  where  more  than  eighty  per  oent. 
of  the  population  is  «grioultural  and  another  ten  per 
4)ent.  industrial,  it  is  a  crime  to  make  education  naerely 
literary  and  to  unfit  boys  and  giria  for  manual  work  in 
^fter-life-  Indeed  I  hold  that  as  the  larger  part  of  our 
time  is  devoted  to  labour  for  earning  our  bread,  our 
children  must,  from  their  infancy,  bo  taught  the  dignity 
ot  auoh  labour.  Oar  ohildrea  should  not  be  ao  taught 
as  to  despise  labour.  There  is  no  reason  why  a 
^peasant's  son  afoer  having  gone  to  a  aohool  should  be- 
come useless,  as  he  does  become,  as  an  agricultural 
labourer.  It  is  a  sad  thing  that  our  schoolboys  look  upon 
manual  labour  with  disfavour,  if  not  contempt. 
Moreover,  in  India,  if  we  expect,  aa  we  muat,  every  boy 
^nd  gicl  of  Bohool-goiog  age  to  attend  public  schools, 
we  have  not  the  means  to  fioanoe  education  in 
^ooordaooa  with  the  exiaiing  style,  nor  are  millions 
of  parents  able  to  pay  the  fees  that  are  at  present 
imposed.  EJuoation  to  be  universal  must  therefora 
fca  ;frea.     I   fancy    that   even    under  an    ideal     aysteia 


8^6'  lH80BI.IiAM'B0nS'' 

of  Qovernmenli  wa  aball  not  ba  abla  to  devolia  twO' 
thousand  million  rupees  wbioh  wa  sbould  require  for 
finding  education  for  all  the  obildren  of  sobool-going  age, 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  our  obildren  must  be  made  ta 
pay  in  'labour'  partly  or  wholly  for  the  oost  of  all  iha 
education  tbey  reoeiva.  Saoh  universal  labour  to  be- 
profitable  can  only  be  (bo  my  thinking)  hand-apinning 
aad  hand-weaving.  But  for  the  purposes  of  my  proposi- 
tion, it  is  immaterial  whether  we  have  spinning  or  any- 
other  form  of  labour,  so  long  as  it  can  be  turned  to 
accouDb.  Only,  it  will  be  found  upon  examination,  that 
on  a  practical,  profitable  and  extensive  soale  tbore  is  no 
occupation  other  than  the  prooesses  oonneoted  with  cloth 
production  which  can  be  introduced  in  our  schools- 
throughout  India. 

The  introduction    of    manual    training    will  eerve  a 
double  purpose  in  a  poor  country    like  ours.     It  will  pay 
for    the  education  of   our  children    and    teach  them  an 
occupation  on  which  they  can  fall  back  in  after-life,  if  they 
choose,  for  earning  a   living,     Such  a  system  mast  make 
our   children    self-reliant.     Nothing  will  demoralise  the 
nation  eo  much  as  that  we  sbould  learn  to  despise  labour. 
One  word  only  as   to  the  education  of  the   heart.     I 
do  not  believe  that  this   can    ba  imparted  through  books. 
It  can    only    ba    done    through    the    living    touch  of  the 
teacher,     And  who  are  the  teachers   in  the  primary  and 
even  secondary   schools?    Are   they  men   and   women  of 
faith  and  character  ?  Have  they  themselves  received  the 
education  of  the  heart  ?  Are  they  even  expected  to  lake^ 
oare  of  the  permanent   element    in   the   boys    and  girls 
placed  under  their  charge  ?  Is  not  the  method  of  engaging 
teachers    for    lower    schools    an  effective    bar  against 
character?    Do  the  taaohars  gat  even  a  living  age?  And 


NATIONAL    BDUOATION  837 

"we  know  that  the  (eaohers  of  primary  aohool  are  not 
«eleoted  for  their  patrioMBm.  Tbey  only  oome  who 
•oannot  find  any  other  enaployment. 

Finally,  the  madium  of  inatruotion.  My  views  on 
tbia  point  are  too  well  known  bo  need  re^stating.  The 
<foreiga  medium  has  oaused  brain-fag,  put  an  undue  strain 
upoD  the  n^rve  of  our  ohildr^j  made  them  crammers 
«nd  imitators,  unfitted  bhem  for  original  work  and 
thonght,  and  disabled  them  for  filtrating  their  learning 
lio  the  family  or  the  masees.  The  foreign  medium  haa 
made  our  children  pradtioally  foreigners  in  tfaeir  own 
'land.  So  to  save  onrselvaa  rfom  this  perilous  danger  we 
should  pat  a  stop  to  edaoating  our  boys  and  girls  through 
«  foreign  medium  and  require  all  the  teaobera  and  profes- 
sors on  pain  of  dismissal  to  introduce  the  ohaDga 
forthwith.  I  would  not  wait  for  the  preparation  of  text- 
books. Tney  will  fallow  the  ohange,  It  is  an  evil  that 
■ueedd  a  summary  remedy. 

My  uooom promising  opposition  to  the  foreign  me- 
dium has  resulted  in  an  unwarranted  oharge  being 
'levelled  against  ma  of  being  hostile  to  foreign  culture  or 
the  learning  of  the  English  language.  No  reader  of 
Young  India  could  have  missed  the  statement  often 
made  by  me  in  those  pages  that  I  regard  Boglish  as  the 
language  of  international  oommeroe  and  diplomacy,  and 
therefore  oonaider  its  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  some  of 
Qs  aa  eaaential.  As  it  contains  some  of  the  rioheat 
treasures  of  thought  and  literature,  I  would  certainly 
encourage  ita  careful  study  among  those  who  have 
linguistic  talents  and  etpeot  them  to  translate  thoaa 
-treasures  for  the  nation  in  ita  vernaculars. 

Nothing  can  be    farther  from  my  thought  than  tha| 
we  abould  beooma  exolawvp  oFaFe'oTfiafnaraT    Bat  Ida 


B38  IflSOBIiIi&NEOUS 

raspeotfuHy  ooniend  (had  an  appraoiabioa  ot  other  oul- 
turea  can  filily  follow,  never  preoede,  an  appreoiabion  an^ 
aBsimilatioD  of  our  own.  Ill  is  my  firm  opinion  bhab  no 
oulture  has  breaeures  bo  rioh  aa  otira  baa.  We  have  not 
known  id,  wa  hava  bean  made  even  to  dapreoaba  ibs  value. 
We  hava  almosb  oaaaad  bo  liva  lb.  An  aoademio  graap 
without  praotiaa  behind  ib  is  lika  an  enbalmed  oorpae, 
perbapB  lovely  to  look  at  bub  nobbing  bo  inapira  or 
ennoble.  My  religion  forbids  me  to  belittle  or  disregard 
other  oulbures,  aa  it  insiata  under  pain  of  oivil  auioida< 
upon  imbibing  and  living  my  own. 


FROM  8ATYAGRAHA  TO  NON-CO-OPERATION* 

It  ia  often  my  lot  bo  answer  knotty  queationB  on  all 
aorta  of  topioa  arising  out  of  bbia  great  movement  of 
national  purifioabion,  A  company  of  oollegiate  Don- co- 
operators  aakad  ma  to  define  for  bham  bhe  terms  whioh  I 
have  nsad  as  heading  for  thia  note,  And  even  ab  this 
late  day,  I  was  Barioualy  asked  whether  Satyagrab  did 
not  at  times  warrant  rasiebanoa  by  violenoe,  aa  for  ina- 
tanoa  in  the  oaaa  of  a  sister  whose  virtue  might  be  in 
danger  from  a  daaparado.  I"  ventured  bo  suggesb. 
bbab  ib  was  bhe  oomplebe^b  defence  without  irrr* 
tation,  without  being  rnfflad,  to  interpose  oaeself 
between  tha  victim  and  the  viotimizar,  and  to  face- 
death,  I  added  that  this  (for  the  aasailant)  novel' 
method  of  defence  would,  in  all  probability,  ezhanat  his- 
passion  and  he  will  no  longer  want  bo  ravish  an  innocent 
woman,  bub  would  wanb  to  ilae  from  her  presence  for 
very  shame,  and  bbab,  if  he  did  nob,  the  act  of  personal 
bravery  on  bhe  parb  of  her  brobber  would  steel  her  heart 
ior  pnbbing  up  an  eqnally  brave  defanoa  and  reaisting  the- 

*  From  Toung  India. 


FROM  SatYAQBAHA  TO  NONOO  OPBRATION 

Inat  of  man  turned  brute  for  the  while.  And  1  thonghi 
I  oliaobed  my  argument  by  aaying  tbat  if,  in  spite  of  all 
the  defenoe»  the  unexpeoted  happened,  and  the  phyaioal 
force  of  tihe  tyrant  overpowered  bis  vioSim,  the  disgraoa 
would  not  be  that  of  the  woman  bub  of  her  assailant  and 
chat  both  she  and  her  brother,  who  died  in  the  attempt 
to  defend  her  virtue,  would  stand  well  before  the  Throne 
of  Judgment.  I  do  not  warrant  that  my  argument  con' 
vinoed  my  listener  or  that  is  would  oonvinoe  the  reader. 
The  world  I  know  will  go  on  as  before.  But  it  is  well  al 
this  moment  of  self-examination  to  understand  and 
appreoiate  the  implications  of  the  powerful  movement  of 
Don-violenoe,  All  religions  have  emphasised  the  highest 
ideal^  but  all  have  more  or  less  permitted  departures  as 
so  many  oonoessiona  to  human  weaknesses, 

I  DOW  proceed  to  summarise  the  explanation  I  gave 
of  the  Various  terms.  It  is  beyond  my  oapaoity  to  give 
aoourate  and  terse   definitions. 

Satyasrah,  then,  is  literally  holding  on  to  Truth 
and  it  means,  therefore,  Truth-foroe.  Truth  is  sou' 
or  spirit.'  It  is,  therefore,  known  as  soul-foroa.  It 
excludes  the  use  of  violeooe  because  man  is  not  capable 
of  knowing  the  absolute  truth  and,  therefore,  not  com- 
petent to  puoisb.  The~  word  was  coined  in  South 
Africa  to  distiDguieb  the  noc-violent  resistance  of  the 
Indians  of  Boulh  Africa  from  the  contemporary  '  passive 
lesistanoe  '  of  the  suffragettes  and  otbers,  It  is  not 
conceived  as  a  weapon  of  the  weak. 

Passive  resistance  is  used  in  the  orthodox  English 
sense  and  covers  tbe  suffragette  movement  as  well 
as  tbe  resistance  of  the  Non-conformists.  Passive  re- 
sistance has  been  conceived  and  is  regarded  as  a 
weapon  of  tbe    weak.     Whilst  it   avoids  violence,   being 


840      ■     '  '  MlSOfiLtANBOUa 

bot  open  to  the  weak,  it  doe;  not  exolude  its  nae  if,  io 
the  opinion  of  a  pasBive  resieter,  the  oooasion  demand* 
ib.  However,  it  has  always  been  distinguished  from 
armed  resiatanoe  and  its  applioation  was  at  one  time 
confined  to  Christian  martyrs, 

Civil  Disobedienoe  is  oivil  breach  of  unmoral  stata- 
tory  eniotments.  The  expression  was,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  coined  by  Thoreau  to  signify  his  own  resistance 
to  the  laws  of  a  slave  stund.  Ha  has  left  a  masterly 
treatise  on  the  duty  of  Civil  Disobadiehoe.  But  Tboreau 
was  not  perhaps  an  out  and  out  champion  of  non> 
violecco.  Probably,  alsoi  Thoreau  limited  bis  breach  of 
statutory  laws  to  the  revenue  law,  i.e.,  payment  of  taxea. 
Whereas  the- term  Civil-Disobadienae  as  practised  io  1919 
novnred  a  breach  of  any  stabuliory  and  uomorx,!  law.  It 
signified  the  resister's  outlawry  in  a  oivil,  i.e.,  non-violent 
oianner.  He  invoked  the  sanctions  of  the  law  and 
cheerfully  suffered  imprisonnfi^nt.  It  is  a  branch  of 
Satyagrah. 

Non-oo  operation  i^redomiQantly  implies  with- 
drawing' of  '  bo-operation  from  the  State  -that  in 
the  tion-oo-operator's  view  has  baooma  corrupt  and 
esoludea  Civll-D.sobadienoa  of  the  fierce  type  described 
above.  By  its  very  nature,  Non-oo-operation  is  even 
open  to  children  of  understanding  and  can  be  safely 
fir'ae'trsed  by  the  masses.  Civil  Disobedience  pre  supposes 
tiie  habit  of  willing  obedience  to  laws  without  fear  of 
their  sanctions,  It  can  therefore  be  practised  only  as  a 
last  resort  and  by  a  seUsnc  faw  in  the  first  instance  at 
any  rate.  Nonoc-operation,  too,  like  Civil-Diaobedience 
is  a  branch  of  Satyagrah  which  includes  all  non-violent 
resistance  for  the  vindioation  of  Truth, 


INTE08PECTI0N* 

Oorrf SDondeDtg  have  writtieD  feo  me  in  patheMo 
'langnage  asking  me  noli  to  oommil)  suicide  in  January, 
-ebonld  Swaraj  ba  not  attained  by  tbea  and  aboold  I  find 
txiyself  outiBide  tbe  prison  walls.  I  find  tbat  language 
bull  iaadequately  expresses  one's  thougbb  especially 
when  tbe  tbougbb  ii^self  is  oonfused  or  inoomDlaiet'  My 
writing  in  tbe  Navajivan  was,  I  fancied,  clear  enough. 
Bub  I  observe  that  its  translatioa  bag  been  misunderstood 
fay  many-  The  original  too  baa  not  escaped  the  llragedy 
tbat  has  overtaken  tbe  translation. 

One  great  reason  for  tbe  misunderatanding  lies  in  my 
being  considered  almost  a  purfeot  man.  Friends  who 
^now  my  partiality  for  the  Bbagavad-gita  have  thrown 
relevant  verses  at  me,  and  shown  how  my  threat  to 
-commit  suicide  contradicts  the  teachings  wbioh  I  am 
attempting  to  live.  All  these  mentors  of  mine  seem  to 
forget,  that  I  am  but  a  seeker  after  Truth.  I  claim  to 
•have  found  the  way  to  it,  I  claim  to  be  making  a 
ceaseless  effort  to  find  it.  Bub  I  admit  tbat  I  have  nob 
•yet  found  it.  To  find  Truth  completely  is  to  realise 
oneself  and  one's  destiny,  i-e.,  to  become  perfect.  I  am 
painfully  conscious  of  my  imperfections,  and  therein 
•lies  all  the  strength  I  possess,  because  it  is  a  rare  thing 
for  a  man  to  know  his  own  limitations. 

If  I  was  a  perfect  man,  I  own  I  should  not  feal  the 
■miseries  of  my  neighbours  as  I  do.  As  a  perfect  man 
I  should  take  note  of  them,  prescribe  a  remedy  and 
compel  adoption  by  the  force  of  unchallengeable  Truth 
in  me.     But  as  yet  T  only  see  as  through  a  glass    darkly 


*  From  Young  India, 


842  MISOBIiIiANBOnS 

and  therefore  have  to  oarry  oonviobioD  by  slow  aDC^ 
laborious  prooessei),  aci^  then  too  not  alwaya  wikb< 
euooeas.  That  being  no,  I  would  be  lees  than  bumao  if 
with  all  my  knowledge  of  avoidable  miaery  pervading 
tbe  land  and  of  the  eight  of  mere  ekeletona  under  the 
very  shadow  of  the  Lord  of  ihe  Uoiverse,  I  did  not  feel 
with  and  for  all  tbe  RufFaritig  bat  dumb  millions  of 
India.  The  hope  of  a  steady  decline  in  that  misery 
BUBtaiDS  Die ;  but  suppose  that  with  all  my  eensitiveness 
to  sufferings,  to  pleasure  and  pain,  odd  and  heat  and 
with  all  my  endeavour  to  oarry  the  healing  message  of 
the  spinning  wheel  to  the  heart,  I  have  reached  only  the 
ear  and  never  pierced  tbe  heart,  suppose  further  that 
at  the  end  of  the  year  I'  find  that  tbe  people  are  as- 
soeptioal  as  they  are  to-day  ahouti  the  present  possibility 
of  attainment  of  Swaraj  by  means  of  tbe  peaoeful' 
revolution  of  the  wheel.  Suppose  further,  that  I  find- 
that  all  the  excitement  daring  the  past  twelve  months 
and  more  has  been  only  an  exoitement  and  a  stimulation 
but  no  settled  belief  in  the  programme,  and  lastly  sup* 
pose  that  the  message  of  peace  has  not  penetrated  the 
hearts  of  Englishmen,  should  I  not  doubt  my  tapaaya 
and  feel  my  unworibiness  for  leading  tbe  struggle?  As 
a  true  man,  what  should  I  do  ?  Should  I  not  kneel  down 
ID  all  humility  before  my  Maker  and  ask  Him  to  take- 
away this  useless  body  and  make  me  a  fitter^ instrument 
of  service  ? 

Swaraj  does  consist  in  tbe  change  of  government 
and  its  real  control  by  the  people,  but  that  would  be 
merely  the  form.  The  substance  that  I  am  hankering 
after  is  a  definite  acceptance  of  the  means  and  therefore 
a  real  change  of  heart  on  tbe  part  of  tbe  people.  I 
am  certain    that    it  does  not  require   ages   for   Hindus 


INTBO8PB0TION  Qid- 

to  diaoaird  the  error  of  nntouohability,  for  Hindus  and 
Musaalmana  tio  shad  enmity  and  aooept  hearli  friendship 
aa  an  eternal  faoller  of  national  life,  Jfdr  all  to  adopt  the 
Gharkha  as  the  only  universal  means  of  attaining  India's 
eobnomia  salvation,  and  finally  for  all  to  belieVfi  that 
Ibdia's  freedom  lies  only  throtogh  non>voilenoe  and  no 
other  method.  Definite,  intelligent  and  free  adoption  by 
the  nation  of  this  programme  I  bold  as  the  attainment 
of  th'e  substanoe.  The  symbol,  the  transfer  of  power,  is 
sure  to  foUoWi  even  as  the  seed  truly  laid  must  develop 
into  4  tree. 

The  reader  will  thus  peroelve,  that  what  I  aooident- 
ally  atated  to  friends  for  the  first  time  in  Poona  and  then 
repeated  to  oiihars  was  but  a  oonfssaion  of  my  imper- 
faotiona  and  an  expression  of  my  feeling  of  unwortbinesa 
lot  the  greab  cause  whioh  for  tbe  time  being  I  seem  to  be 
leading.  I  have  enunciated  no  dootrine  of  despair.  On 
the  ooiktrary  I  have  felt  never  so  sanguine  as  I  do  at  the 
time  of  writing  that  we  will  gain  the  substanoa  during 
this  year,  I  have  stated  at  the  same  time  as  a  praotioal 
idealist,  that  I  should  no  more  (eel  worthy  bo  lead  a  oauso 
whioh  I  might  feel  myself  diffident  of  handling,  The 
dootrine  of  labouring  without  attachment  as  mnah  a 
relentless  pursuit  of  truth  as  a  retraoing  after  discovery 
of  error  and  a  renunciation  of  leadership  without  a  pang 
after  diaoovery  of  unworthineas.  I  have  but  shadowed 
forth  my  intense  longing  to  lose  myself  in  tba  Eiiernal 
and  beoome  merely  a  lump  of  clay  in  the  Potter's  divina 
hands  so  that  my  sarvioe  may  beoome  mora  certain 
because  uninterrupted  by  the  baser  self  in  me. 


THE  SPINNING  WHEEL 

[On  February  15th,  1922,  Mr,  Gandhi  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  Sir  Daniel  Hamilton  from  Bardolu] 

Mr.  Hodge  writes  to  me  bo  say  tht,t  yon  would  like 
do  bare  aa  hour's  ohai;  witb  me,  and  ha  baa  gaggestsd 
tbac  I  should  opaa  Dba  ground  wbiob  I  gladJy  do.  I  will 
ooD  taka  up  your  bima  by  trying  bo  inberest  you  in  any 
other  aobivity  of  miaa  exoepb  the  spiDDing  wheel.  01  all 
my  outward  activities,  I  do  believe  that  of  the  spinning 
wheel  is  the  most  permanenb  and  the  mosb  benefioial, 
I  have  abundanb  proof  now  to  support  my  statemenb 
bhab  the  spinning  wheel  will  save  the  problem  of  eoono- 
luio  distress  in  millions  of  India's  homesi  and  ib  oonati' 
tiites  an  effeotive  insuranoe  against  famines. 

You  know  bbe  greab  Soienbisb,  Dr.  P.  G.  Bay,  bub 
you  may  nob  know  that  be  bas  also  become  an  enthu- 
siast on  behalf  of  the  spinning  wheel.  India  does  not 
fieed  to  be  indasbrializsd  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term.  It  bas  7)50,000  villages  soattered  over  a  vast  area 
1,900  miles  long,  1,500  miles  broad.  The  people  are 
footed  to  bbe  soil,  and  the  vast  majority  are  living  a 
haad-bo-mo'jbh  life,  Wuatevar  may  ba  said  to  the  oon- 
trary,  having  travelled  bbroughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land  with  eyes  open,  having  mixed  with  millions, 
there  oaa  be  no  doubt  thab  pauperism  is  growing.  There 
is  DO  doubt  also  tbab  bbe  millions  are  living  in  enforoed 
idleness  for  at  least  4  raontbs  in  the  year.  Agrioulture 
does  not  need  revolutiouAry  obauges.  Ttie  ludiau  peasant 
requires  a  supplementary  industry-  The  most  nabnral  ia 
4ihe    iatroduobioa  of  the    spinning    wheel,    nob  the  baod- 


THE  SPINNING  WHEEL  845» 

loom.     The  latter  oaDoot  be   introdueed  in  every    home, 
whereas    the   former    can,    and  it   used  to    be  bo    even  a 
century  ago.  It  wae  driven  oui  not  by  eoonomio  pressure 
but  by  force    deliberately    used   as  ,oan  be    proved,  from 
authentic    records.     The   reatoration,    therefore,    of    l.ha 
apinnipg  wheel  solves  the  eoonomio    problem  of  India  at- 
a  Stroke.     I  know    that    you    are  a  lover  of    India,    and- 
£bat   you    are   deeply    interested    in   the    economic    and' 
moral    uplift   of    my    country.     I   know     too    that   yoa- 
bave    great    icflaenoe,     I     would    like    to  enlist    it    op 
behalf  of  the  spinning    wheel.     It  is.   the   most   effective' 
force  for  introducing    sucoagefal    Co-operative    Societies^ 
Without  honest  oo-operation   of  the    millions,  the  enter- 
prise can  never  be  successful,  and  as  it  is    already   prov 
ing  a  means  of    weaning  tbousamis  of    women    from  a. 
lifd   of  'shame,    it    is  as  moral  an    insiirument  as    it   i^ 
eoonomio. 

I  hope  you  will  not  allow  yourself  to  be  prejadioed*' 
by  anything  you  might  have  beard  about  my  strange 
views  about  machinery.  I  have  nothing  to  say  against 
the  development  of  any  oi^her  industry  in  India  by 
means  of  machinery,  but  I  do  say  that  to  supply  India 
with  cloth  either  manufaoiured  outside  or  inside  through 
gigantic  Mills  is  an  economic  blunder  of  ibe  first  magni^- 
tude  just  as  it  would  be  to  supply  cheap  bread  through 
huge  bakeries  established  in  the  chief  centres  in  India,, 
and  to  destroy  the  fannily  Stove. 


LOVE,  NOT  HATE 

[7m  a  sense  "  Love,  not  hate  "  is  the  essence  of 
Mr.  Oandhi's  teaching  ;  and  the  following  article  written 
on  receipt  of  a  telegram  announcing  the  arrest  of  Pandit 
Motilal  Nehru  and  others  at  Allahabad  on  December  8, 
contains  the  pith  of  Mr,  Gandhi's  political  philosophy 
and  methods.  As  such  the  book  may  fittingly  end  with 
this  chapter.  "  The  arrest,"  says  Mr,  Oandhi,  "  positively 
filled  me  with  joy,    I  thanked  God  for  it."] 

Bai  my  joy  was  greater  for  tbe  bhoughb,  thab  wbati 
I  bad  feared  would  nob  happen  before  bbe  end  of  bba  year 
hecauBe  of  tbe  ein  of  Bombay  was  now  bappenicg  by 
reason  of  bbe  inDOoenb  suffering  of  bbe  greatesb  and  tbe 
beab  in  tbe  land.  Tbeee  arresta  of  tbe  totally  innooeDb 
is  real  Swaraj.  Now  there  is  no  shame  in  the  Ali 
Brothers  and  their  oompanions  remaining  in  gaol,  India 
bM  not  been  found  undeserving  of     their  immolation. 

Bub  my  joy,  whiob  I  hope  bhonaands  share  with  me, 
is  oondibional  upon  peifeot  peace  being  observed  whilst 
our  leaders  are  one  after  another  baken  away  from  us. 
Victory  is  complete  if  non-violence  reigns  supreme  in  spite 
of  the  arrests;  disastrous  defeat  is  a  certainty  if  we  cannot 
control  all  the  elements  so  as  to  ensure  peace.  We  are  oub 
to  be  billed  without  killing.  We  have  stipulated  to  go  to 
prison  without  feeling  angry  or  injured.  We  musfi  nob 
quarrel  with  the  condition  of  our  own  creating. 

On  the  contrary  our  non-violence  teaches  us  to  love 
our  enemies,  By  non-violent  non-co-operation  we  seek 
to  conquer  the  wrath  of  tbe  English  administrators  and 
their  aapportera.     Wa  muab  love  them    and  pray  to  Goi 


I.QVB  NOT  HATS.  Ht 

4hati  they  tuighti  have  wisdom  to  see  what  appears  to  us 
4)0  be  their  error.  It  mast  be  the  prayer  of  the  strong 
and  not  of  the  weak.  Id  our  strength  maat  we  humble 
-ourselves  before  our  Maker, 

Id  the  moment  of  our  trial  aud  our  triumph  let  me 
-deolare  my  faith.  I  believe  in  loviug  my  enemies,  I 
believe  in  non-violenoe  as  the  only  remedy  open  to 
the  Hindus,  MassuimaDs,  Sikhs,  Farsis,  Christians  and 
.Jews  of  India.  I  believe  in  the  power  of  suffering  to 
melt  the  stoniesb  heare.  The  brunt  of  the  battle  must 
fall  on  the  first  three.  The  last  named  three  are  afraid 
of  the  oombination  of  the  first  three.  We  must  by  our 
honest  oondaot  demonstrate  to  them  that  they  are  our 
kinsmen.  We  must  by  ovd  oonduot  demonstrate  to  every 
JSaglisbman  that  he  is  as  safe  in  °.the  remotest  corner 
of    India  as  he    professes    to   feel  behind  the    maofaine 

.gUD. 

Islam,  Hinduism)  Sikbism,  Cbristianity,  Zoroaa- 
trianism  and  Judaism,  in  fact  religion  is  en  its  trial. 
Either  we  believe  in  God  and  His  righteousness  or  we 
do  not.  My  assooiatioa  with  the  noblest  of  MusBulmans 
.h%3  taught  me  to  see  that  Islam  has  spread  not  by  the 
power  of  the  Bword  but  by  the  prayerful  love  of  an 
unbroken  line  of  its  saints  and  fakirs.  Warrant  there 
.is  in  Islam  for  drawing  the  sword  ;  but  the  oondi- 
tioDS  laid  down  are  bo  strioo  that  they  are  nob 
capable  of  baing  fulfilled  by  everybody,  Where  is  the 
uoerring  general  to  order  Jehad  ?  Whare  Is  the  sufTering, 
the  love  and  the  purifioation  that  rnusB  preoade  the  very 
idea  of  drawing  the  sword  ?  Hindus  are  at  least  as  much 
bound  by  similar  restrictions  as  the  Musaulmana  of  India. 
"The  Sikhs  have  their  reoent  proud  history  to  warn 
4ihem  against    the  use  of   force.     We  are   too    imperfeob. 


tf4@  MIS0ELIiAt«fil6x^ 

too  impure  and  too  selfish  as  yet  to  resorb  to  an  aroaed 
oonfliol)  in  tbe  cause  of  God  as  Sbaukat  Ali  would  aay, 
'Will  a  purified  India  ever  need  to  draw  the  sword?'  And 
it  was  the  definite  process  of  purifioation  we  oommenoad 
last  year  at  Galoutta, 

What  mUBt  we  then  do  ?  Surely  remain  non-violenb- 
and  yet  strccig  enough  to  offer  as  many  willing  viotims- 
as  tbe  GoTernment  may  require  for  imprisonment.  Oar- 
work  must  continue  with  clock-work  regularity.  Eaob 
province  must  elect,  its  own  succession  of  leaders.  Lalajv 
has  set  a  brilliant  example  by  making  all  the  necessary 
arrangements,  Tbe  chairman  and  tbe  secretary  must- 
be  given  in  each  province  emergency  powers.  The- 
exeoutive  committees  must  be  tbe  smallest  possible. 
Every  Congressman  must  be  a  volunteer. 

Whilst  we  must  sot  avoid  arrest  we  must  not 
provoke  it  by  giving  unnecessary  offence. 

We  must  vigorously  prosecute  the  Swadeshi' 
campaign  till  we  are  fully  organised  for  the  manufacture- 
of  ali  tbe  band-spun  Khadi  we  require  and  have  brought 
about  a  complete  boycott  of  foreign  cloth. 

We  must  hold  the  Congress  at  any  oost  in  spite  of 
the  arrest  of  every  one  of  the  leaders  unless  tbe  Govern- 
ment dissolve  it  by  force.  And  if  we  are  neither  cowed 
down  nor  provoked  to  violence  but  are  able  to  continue 
national  work,  we  have  certainly  attained  Swaraj.  For 
no  power  on  earth  can  stop  the  onward  march  of  a- 
peaceful,  detenuined  and  godly  people- 


APPENDIX  I 


I.    Mb.  GANDHI'S  RELIGION  ', 

The  folUwitig  account  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  religious  views  from 
the  pen  of  the  late  Bev.  Joseph  Dolie  brings  cut  clearly  the  essen- 
tials of  Hinduism  as  conceived  by  Mr,  Gandhi :— ^ 

Mr,  Gandhi's  leligioua  viens,  and  his  place  in  the  theologioal 
woild,  have  saluially  been  a  eubjeot  of  much  diecUBEiou  here.  A 
{en  days  ago  I  viaa  told  that  "he  is  a  Buddhist."  Not  long  sinoe 
a  nenspapet  desotibed  him  as  "a  ChristiaD  Mubammadan,"  au  ex- 
ttaotdinaty  mixture  indeed.  Others  imagine  that  he  npiships 
idols,  and  would  be  quite  prepared  to  find  a  shrine  in  big  tffioe.  oc 
discover  the  trunk  of  Gunpatt;  projecting  Irom  among  his  books! 
Not  a  lew  belie'ved  him  to  be  a  Theosophist.  I  question  whether 
■  an;  Bjslem  of  religion  can  absolutely  hold  him.  His  vi^ws  are  too 
oloEely  allied  to  Chriatiaoity  to  be  entirely  Hindu  ;  and  too  deeply 
Eaturated  with  Hindnicm  to  be  oalle^  Chiiatiao,  while  his  sym- 
{iBtbiea  are  so  wide  and  oatholio,  that  one  would  imagine  "he  has 
teacfaed  a  point  where  the  formulae  of  sects  are  meaningless,"' 

One  night,  when  the  house  was  still,  we  argued  out  the 
matter  into  the  morning,  and  these  are  the  results. 

His  oonviotion  is  that  old  Hinduism,  the  Hinduism  of  the 
earliest  leoords,  was  a  pure  faith,  free  from  idolatry  ;  that  the 
spiritual  faith  of  India  has  been  corrupted  by  materialism,  and 
because  of  this  she  has  lost  her  place  in  the  van  of  the  nations  ; 
that,  through  the  ages  God,  pervading  all,  has  manifested  Him- 
self in  difierent  forms,  becoming  incarnate,  for  purposes  of 
salvation,  with  the  object  of  leading  men  back  into  the  right  path. 
The  Oita  makes  Krishna  eay  ; — 

"When  religion  decays  and  when  irreligion  prevails,  then  I 
manilest  myself.  For  the  protection  of  the  good,  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  evil,  for  the  firm  establishment  of  the  dharma  I  am  born 
again  and  again." 

^'But,"  said  I,  "has  Christianity  any  essential  place  in  your 
theologj?"  "It  is  part  of  it,"  he  said,  "Jesus  Christ  is  a  bright  re- 
velation ;  that  he  is  to  me,"  I  replied,  "Not  in  the  sense  you 
mean,"  he  said  frankly,  "I  oannoi  set  him  on  a  solitary  throne 
because  I  believe  God  has  been  incarnate  again  and  again." 

To  him,  a  religion  is  an  intensely  praotioal  thing.  It  underlie^ 
all  action.  The  argument  so  frequently  uaed  against  the  Passive 
Beaiatance  campaign,   that  "it  is  simply  a  political  afiair,  i^iti^ 


2  APFBNDIX 

moral  elements  in  it  but  giving  no  relation  to  celigiou,"  is  to  him 
a  oQDtradiotion  in  terms.  Polities,  morals,  oommeroe,  all  that  has 
to   do   niih  oousoie^oe  muse  be   teligion, 

Naturally,  his  imaginatioa  is  pcofoundly  stirred  by  Che 
"Sermon  on  the  Mount, "~  and  the  idea  of  seltrenunoiatiion  pictured 
there,  as  well  as  in  the  Bhdgavad  Oita  and  The  Light  of  Asia 
wins  his  complete  aesejit.  Self-mastery,  self-surrender,  under  the 
guidanoe  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  are,  in  his  conoeption'of  life,  scepping- 
4tones  to  the  ultimate  goal  of  all— the  goal  of  Buddha,  the  goal  »s 
he  incecpreta  it,  of  John  the  Evangelist — absolute  absorption  o( 
redeemed  Man  in  Gtod. 

I  question  whether  any  religious  oreed  would  be  large  enough 
to  express  his  views,  or  any  Churoh  system  auiple  enough  to  shut 
him  in.  Jew  and.Chtistian,  Hindu,  Mahammadau,  Farsi,  Bud- 
dhist and  CoDfiioian,  all  have  their. places  in  his  heart~as  children 
of  the  same  Father.  "Are  you  then  a  Theosophist 7"  I  asked, 
"No,''  he  said  emphatically,  "  I  am  no£  a  Theosophist.  Xhere  is 
much  in  Theosophy  that  attracts  me,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to 
subscribe  to  the  creed  of  Theoeophists." 

This  breadth  of  sympathy  is,  indeed,  one  note  of  the  Passive 
Kesistanoe  movement.  It  has  bound  together  all  sections  of  the 
Indian  communityi  It  would  be  impossible  to  determine  which 
religious  section  has  done  most  for  its  interests.  Mr.  Gachalia, 
Mr,  Dawad  Muhammad  and  Mr.  Bawazeer  are  followers  of  Islam; 
Mr,  Parsee  Bustomjee  aiid  Mr.  Sorabji  are  Zoroastrians  ;  Mr.  G.P. 
Vyas  and  Mr,  Dhambi  Kaidoo  are  Hindu  leaders.  AH  have  suffered 
imprisonment,  and  all  have  rendered  unstinted  service,  while 
common  suffering  has  drawn  these  and  other  helpers  into  a  brother- 
hood of  sympathy  in  which  differences  of,  creed  are  forgotten. 

An  incident  of  last  August  will  illustrate  this  statement, 
^hen  "the  old  offender,"  Mr.  Thambi  Naidoo,  the  Tamil  leader, 
was  sent  to  prison  for  the  third  time,  to  do  "hard  labour  "  for  a 
fortnight,  Mr,  Gandhi  suggested  that  we  should  visit  the  sick  wife 
together.  I  assented  gladly.  On  our  way  we  were  Joined  by  the 
Moulvie  and  the  Imam  of  the  MoSque,  together^with  the  Jewish 
gentleman.  It  was  a  curious  assembly  which  gathered  to  comfort  the 
little  Hindu  woman  in  her  home — two  Muhammadans,  a  Hindu,  a 
Jew  and  a  Christian,  And  there  she  stood^^  her  eldest  boy  support- 
ing her  and  the  tears  trickling  between  her  flogera.  She  was  within 
a  few  days  of  the  sufierings  of  motherhood.  A'ter  we  had  bent  to- 
gether in  prayer,  the  Moulvie  spoke  a  few  words  of  comfort  in  Urdu, 
and  we  each  followed,  saying  what  we  could  in  our  own  way  to 
give  her  cheer.  It  was  one  of  the  many  glimpses  which  we  have 
lately  had  of  that  divine  love,  whioh  mocks  at  boundaries  of  oreed, 
and  limits  of  race  or  colour.  It  was  a  vision  -of  Mr.  Gandhi's 
ideal. 

Owing,  chiefly  to  his  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  life,  and  of  his 
Views  of  health,  vegetarianism  is  with  him  a  -reUgiotts   principle. 


MB.  (XABDiEIi'SaBELiaiON  'S 

^h«  battle  was  fought  but  in  ohiMhood  under  his  mothec'a  tofla- 
«noe.  Buc  siaoe  chat  time  abstinence  from  all  animal  iaod  has 
))eoome  a  matter  of  strong  oonviotion  with  him,  and  he  pteaohea  it 
z9alously.  When,  in  these  Transvaal  prisons,  the  authorities  per- 
sisted in  cooking  the  orushed  mealies  o(' the  prisoners  iq  animEkl 
iat,  his  followers  preferred  to  starve  rather  than  touch  it, !      ' 

It  is  also  part  of  his  oreed  to  live  simply,  He  believes  that  all 
'luxury  is  wrong.  Be  teaches  that  a  great  deal  of  sickness,  and 
-most  of  the  sins  of  our  day,  may  be  traced  to  this  source.  To  hald 
in  the  flesh  with  a  strong  hand,  to  crucify  it,  to  bring  the  needs  of 
-his  own  life,  Thoreau  and  Tolstoi-like,  within  the  narrowest  limitSi 
are  positive  delights  to  him,  only  to  be  rivalled  by  ihe  joy  of 
guiding  other  lives  into  the  same  path, 

I  write  this  in  the  house  in  which  he  usually  lives  when  in 
Johannesburg,  Yonder  is  the  open  stove — there  ia  the  rolled-up 
jnattress  on  which  be  sleeps.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  life 
less  open  to  the  assaults  of  pride  or  sloth  than  the  life  lived  here. 
Jiverythiag  that  can  minister  to  the  flesh  is  adjured.  Of  all  men, 
Mr.  Q-aadhi  reminds  one  of  "  Furun,  Daas,  "  of.  whom  Kipliug 
writes  ; — "  He  had  used  his  wealth  and  his  power  for  what  he 
^new  both  to  be  worth,  had  taken  honoiir  when  it  came  in  his 
way  ;  he  had  seen  men  and  cities  far  and  near,  and  men  aad'cities 
had  stood  up  and  honoured  him.  Now  he  would  let  these  things 
^0,  as  a  man  drops  the  cloak  he  needs  no  longer,"  This  is  a 
graphic  picture  of  our  friend.  He  simply  does  what  he  believes  to 
be  his  duty,  accepts  every  experience  that  ensues  with  calmneSB, 
takes  honour  if  it  comes,  without  pride  ;  and  then,  "lets  it  go  as  a 
man  drops  the  cloak  he  needs  no  longer,"  should  duty  briog  dis- 
honour. In  the  position  of  "Furun  Bhagat,"  he  would  do  easily 
what  the  Bhagat  did,  and  no  one,  even  now,  would  be  surprised  to 
■see  him  go  forth  at  some  call  which  no  one  else  can  hear,  his 
orntch  under  this  arm,  his  begging  bowl  in  his  hand,  an  antelope 
4kin  flung  around  him,  and  a  smile  of  deep  content  on  his  lips. 

"  That  man  alone  is  wise 

Who  keeps  the  mastery  of  himself,  " 

Mr.  Gandhi  is  not  a  Christian  in  any  orthodox  sense.  Perhaps 
-orthodox  Christianity  has  itself  to  blame  for  this.  There  is  little 
inducement  in  these  Colonies  for  an  Indian  to  recognise  the  Loveli- 
ness of  Christ  under  the  disguise  in  which  Christianity  clothes  the 
Iiord.  What  interest  has  the  Christian  Church  in  Johannesburg. 
'Shown  in  these  thousands  from  India  and  Ohina,'  who  for  years 
have  been  resident  in  our  midst  ?  Practically  none.  Are  they 
■encouraged  to  believe  that  they,  too,  are  soula  for  whom  Christ 
died  ?  By  no  means.  Here  and  there  individual  efforts  have  been 
made,  and^ome  few  Indiana  attend  Christian  places  of  worship, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  have  been  left  severely  alone,  while  the 
4ew  men,  who  have  tried  to  show  that  thre  is  still  a  heart  of  leva 
in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  have  dared  to  speak  a  word  on  behalf  ot 


a  ^ufiei'ing  people,  liave  beeii  subjeated  to  all  manner  of  abuse,  an9^ 
have  been  made  to  Buffer  with  them.     It  is   this    disorepanoy  be(> 
ween  a  beautiful  oteed  and  our  tre::^tmeQt  of  the  Indian  at  the  door, 
whioh  lepela  the  man  who  thinks. 

We  have  failed,  too,  I  believe,  to  realise  the  inwardness  of  this 
Passive  Besistanoe  movement ;  and  the  apparent  indifierenoe  of 
the  Ghurohes  has  been  deeply  felt  by  these  men,  In  reality,  it  is 
not  a  trade  disptite,  nor  is  it  a  political  move  ;  these  are  incidents 
of  the  struggle.  It  is  a  sign  of  the  awakenirg  of  the  Asiatios  to  a 
sense  of  their  manhood,  the  token  that  they  do  not  mean  to  play 
a  servile  or  degraded  part  in  our  Society  ;  it  is  their  claim,  put  for» 
ward  in  suffering,  to  be  treated  by  Christians  in  a  Christian  way. 
This  is  the  wonderful  vision  whioh  Government  and  Churches  alike 
have  failed  to  see. 

Meanwhile,  although,  to  my  thinking,  the  seeker  has  not  yet 
reached  the  goal,  that  wonderful  experience  of  Christ  which  is  thi 
glory  of  the  Christian  faith,  enriching  the  wealthiest  life,  and 
giving  nev;  power  to  the  strong,  Icannot  forget  what  the  Master 
himself  said  : — "Not  everyone  who  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  .shall  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  heaven,  but  be  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father^ 
which  is  in  heaven."    {Prom  Bev.  Ddke'a  Qandhi). 


11.  THE  BULEB  AND  REGULATIONS  OF      i 
8ATYAGBAHA8RAMA  • 

Object 

,.„j''''^,°''i°°'  °'  '•»'s  JiomB  is  to  leatn  how  to   serve    the   n.othet. 
ij»na  ana  to  serve  it, 

Division  e 

•   This   home  is   divided  into  three  classes  ;— Manaeers,  Candi- 
"dates  and  Students,  .  , 

II)  MANAGEBS 

Managers  believe,  that,  in  Order  tp  learn  how  to  serve  the 
oountry,  the  following  obsetvanoea  should  ba  enfoioed  in  their  own 
lives,  and  they  have  been  doing  so  for  some  time. 

1,     THE  Vow  OP  TEDTH 

It  is  not  enough  that  one  ocdin>rilj:  does  not  resort  to.  qq. 
^ruth  ;  one  ought  to  ^now  tJbat  n p. deception  may  be  practised  even 
lor  the  good  o{  the  oountry,  that  Truth  may  require  opposition  to 
-one's  parents  and  elders.     Consider  the  example  of  Prahlad.  ': 

2,    The  Vow  op  ahimsa  (Non-killing) 

It  is  not  enough  not  to  take  the  life  of  any  living  being.  iThe 
iollower  of  this  Vow  may  not  hurt  even  those  whom  he  believes 
to  be  unjust;  he  may  not  be  angry  with  them,  he  must 
ioiB  them  :  thus  he  would  oppose  the  tyranny  whether  of  parents, 
governments  or  others,  but  will  never  hurt  the  tyrant.  The 
follower  of  Truth  and  Ahimsa  will  oonguec  the  tyrant  by  love, 
he  will  not  carry  out  the  tyrant's  will  but  he  will  suffer  punishi, 
ment  even  unto  death  for  disobeying  his  will  until  the  tyrant 
'himself  is  conquered. 

3,    The  Vow  op  Cblibact 

It  is  well  nigh  impossible  to  observe  the  foregoing  two  Vows 
tmlesB  celibacy  is  also  observed  :  iot  this  vow  it  is  not  enougb 
that  one  does  not  look  upon  another  woman  with  a  lustful  eye, 
he  has  so  to  control  his  animal  passions  that  they  will  not  be 
moved  even  in  thought :  if  he  is  married  he  will  not  have  a  car- 
nal mind  regarding  hia  wife  but  eonsidering  her  as  his  life-long 
friend,  will  establish  with  her  the  relationship  of  perfect  purity, 

*  A  translation  of  the  Gujarat!  draft  oonstitution. 


6  APPENDIX  I 

i,  OONTEOL  OP  THE  PALATE 
Until  one  has  overoome  the  pleasutes  of  the  palate  it  is  diffi~ 
oulc  to  observe  the  foregoing  Vows,  more  espeoially  that  of  aeli> 
baoy.  Gan£rdl  of  tlie  Pirate  is:  therefortflireated  as  a  l^eparate- 
obaervaaoe,  One  desiroiis  of  serving. .  the  oountry  vrill  believe 
that  eating  is  necessary  only  for  sustaining  the  body,  he  will, 
therefore,  daily  regulate  and  purify  hia  diet  and  will  either 
gradually  or  immediately  in  adoordanoe  with  his  ability  leave 
off  suoh  foods  as  may  tend  to  stimulate  animal  passions  or  are 
otherwise  unneoessary. 

5,    The  vow  OE*  NON-STBALINa 
It   is  not  enough  not  to  steal  what  is  oommonly  oonsidered  as 
other  men's  property.     It  is  theft  if  we  use  articles   Whidh    we    do- 
iiot  really  need.     Nature  provides  from  day  to  day  just  enough  and 
no  more  for  our  daily  needs, 

6.  THE  VOW  OP  NON-POSSESSION 
It  is  not  enough  not  to  possess  and  keep  much,  but  it  is  neces- 
sary not  to  keep  anything  which  may  not  be  absolutely  necessary 
for  our  bodily  wants:  thus  if  one  can  da  without  chairs,  one  should 
do  so.  The  follower  of  this  vow  will,  therefore,  by  constantly- 
thinking  thereover,  simplify  hia  life. 

BUBSIDIAET  OBSEBVANOBS 
Two  observances  are  reduced  from  the  foregoing, 

'•-'■-    -.-:■    1-,     SWADESHI  ^^ 

,  It  is  inconsistent  with  Truth  to  use  articles  about  which  or 
nboiit  whose  makers  there  is  a  possibility  of  deception,  There- 
fore, for  instance,  a  votttry  of  Truth  will  not  use  articles  manu- 
factured in  the  mills  of  Manchester,  Germany  or'<India,  for  he 
does  not  know  tliat  there  is  no  deception  about  them.  More- 
ov^er  labourers  sufEer  much  in  the  mills.  Useof  fire,  in  the  ibiil» 
causes  enormous  destruction  of  life  besides  killing  labourers  before 
their  time.  Foreign  goods  and  goods  made  by  means  of  com- 
plicated machinery  are,  therefore,  tabooed  to  a  votary  of  Ahimsa. 
Further  reflection  will  show  that  use  of  such  goods  will  involve^ 
a  breach  of  the  vows  cf  nourstealing  and  non-possession.  We 
weaijoreign  goods'  in  preference  to  simple  gboda  made  in  our 
own  hand  looms  because  custom  attributes  greater  beauty  to 
them.  Artificial  beautifying  df  the  body  is  a  hicdracoe  to  a 
Brahmachari  ;  he  will,  therefore,  avoid  the  use  of  any  but 
the  simplest  goods<  Therefore  the  vow  of  Swadeshi  requires  the- 
use  of  simple  and  simply  made  olothing  to  the  exclusion  of 
even  buttons,  foreign  cuts,  etc.,  and  so  will  Swadeshi  be  applied 
to  every  department  oMife. 

2.    Fearlessness 

He    who   is  acted  upon  by  fear  can    hardly    follow    Triitfi  or 
▲himsa.    Managers  will,  the  efore,   endeavour    to    be    free    fronk 


tke  feat  o{  kings,  people,  oaste,  (amilicB,  thieVes,  tobl>eis7  fero- 
cious aoimalB  Buoh  as  tigers  ard  even  death.  A  truly  fearieSa 
.man  will  defend  himself  against  othere  b;  truth-force  o;  soul- 
loroe. 

Vbbnaoulaks  ■   '" 

It  is  the  belief  cf  the  managers  that  no  D'ation  can  make 
real  progress  by  abandoning  itp  own  languages;  they  will, 
therefore,  train  themselves  through  kbo  medium  ol  their  respeo- 
tiye  Ternaoulars  and  as  they  desire  to  be  on  terms  of  intimaoy 
with  their  brethren  from  all  parts  of  India,  ihey  will  learn  the 
chief  Indian  languages,  and  as  Sanskrit'  is  the  key  to  all  the 
Indian  langusges,  they  will  leain  that  also.  ' 

Hand  Labovb 

Managers  believe  that  body  labour  is  a  duty  imposed  by  qature 
upon  mankind.  We  may,  therefore,  resort  to  bodily  labout  alone 
for  our  sustenanoe  and  use  our  mental  and  spiritual  powers  tor  the 
oommon  good  only,  and  as  the  largest  percentage  in  the  world  lives 
upon  agriculture,  managers  will  devote  some  part  of  their  lime  to 
working  on  the  land  :  and  when  suoh  is  uui  possible,  perform  some 
other  bodily  labour, 

HAND  LOOMS  .-     '  : 

Managers  believe  that  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  poverty  in  the 
land  is  the  virtual  disappearance  of  oottou-spinning  wheels  and 
.band  locms.  They  will,  therefore,,  make  a  great  effort  to  revive 
this  industry  by  working  upon  hand  loorns  themselves,' 

POLITICS 

Politics,  eoonomio  progress,  etc,  are  not  considered  to  be  inde-< 

pendent  branches  of  learning  but  that  they  are  all  rooted  in  religion. 

'An  effort  will,   therefore,  be   made   to   learn   Polities,   Economics, 

Social  Reform,  eta.,  in  a  religious   spirit,   and  worl^'iin '-<SQaneotipii 

with  these  matters  will  be  taken  up    by    the  managers  jyith  energy 

tni  devotion. 

(2)  OANDIDATES 

Those  who  are  desirous  of  follcwing  cut  the  foiegoing  pr6' 
gramme  but  are  not  able  immediately  to  take  the  necessary 
vows  may  be  admitted  as  candidates.  It  is  obligatory  upori  them 
to  conform  to  the  observances  referred  to  above,  though  they  do 
not  take  the  vows,  whilst  they  are  in  the  Ashram  and  they  wlTlI 
occupy  the  status  of  managers,  when  they  are  able  to  take  the 
Deoessary  vows, 

(3)  STUDENTS 

1.  Anj  children  whether  boys  ot'giils   from  :fout   years]  and 
upwards  may  be  admitted. 

2.  Parents    will    have    to    surrender   all   control   over  their 
children,  .mhsl 


1  .  i:  APPBMDIX  1 .    c 

3.  Ohildten  may  not  be  permitted  to  visit  their  parents  until 
the  whole  oourse  of  scudy  is  fiaished. 

4.  Students  will  be  tiaght  to  observe  all  the  tows  observable 
by  the  managers. 

5.  Tbey  will  be  caagh'.  prinoiplee  ot  religion,.  agriouUnre, 
hand  loom  weaving  aad  liieraiure, 

6.  Literary  knowledge  will  be  imparted  chrough  the  respeotivs 
vernaculars  of  the  stud^sncs  and  will  inolads  History,  Geography, 
Mathematics,  Econnmios,  eta.,  learning  of  Sanskrit,  Hindi  and  at 
least  one  Dravidian  Vernaoular  is  obligatory, 

7.  English  will  be  taught  as  a  ssoond  language, 

S.  They  will  be  taught  Urdu,  Bengali,  Tamil,  Telugu-  and 
Pevadagiri  oharaoiers, 

9,  Managers  believe  that  the  whole  oourse  will  be  completed 
in  Een  yeitrs.  Upon  reaching  the  age  of  majaricy,  students  will  be 
given  the  option  of  taking  the  vows  referred  to  in  section  1  or  retire 
from  the  Ashram,  if  its  programme  has  not  commended  itself  to 
them. 

'-'  10,     This  option  they  will   exercise   when   no  loager  they  will 
require  the  assistance  of  their  parents  or  other  guardians. 

11.  Every  endeavour  will  be  made  .-o  teach  the  students  from 
the  very  beginning  not  to  have  the  fear,  "  what  shall  I  do  for  my 
maiutenauoe  if  and  when  I  become  an  independent  man." 

12.  Grown  up  persons  also  may  be  admitted  as  students, 

13.  As  a  rule  the  simplest  and  the  same  style  of  olothing  will 
be  worn  by  all. 

14.  Food  will  be  simple.  Chillies  will  be  excluded  altogether 
and  no  oondiments  will  be  used  generally  exsept  salt,  pepper  an3 
turmeric.  Milk  and  its  products  being  a  hindrance  to  a  celebats 
life  and  milk  being  often,  a  cause  of  tuberoulosis,  and  having  the 
same  stimulating  qualities  as  meat  will  be  most  sparingly  used  if  at 
all.  Food  will  be  served  thrice.  In  it  dried  and  fresh  fruits  will  be 
liberally  used.  All  in  the  Ashram  will  be  taught  principles  of 
Hygiene, 

15.  There  will  be  no  vaoation  in  this  Ashram  and  no  holidays 
as  a  rule,  but  daring  Ij  days  per  week  tbe  ordinary  routine  will  be 
altered  and  students  will  bavn  leisure  to  attend  to  their  private 
personal  work, 

16.  During  3  months  in  the  year  those  whose  health  permits 
Will  be  enabled  to  travel  mostly  on  foot  in  the  different  parts  of 
India. 


satyaobahasbama  9 

17.  No  ieea  will  be  charged  either  against  students  or  oandi- 
'daiea  but  parents  or  members  themselves  will  be  expected  to  cod- 
•ttibate  as  much  as  they  can  towards  the  expenses  of  the  Ashram. 

MlSCBLIiANEOUS      1   :_  r 

.  The  management  will  be  gontrolled  solely  by  the  managers. 
TKe  chief  manager  will  control  all  admissions.  The  expenses  of 
oonduoiing  the  Ashram  are  being  met  from  moneys  already  receiv- 
ed by  the  ohief  manager  and  being  received  from  friends  who  are 
more  or  less  believers  in  this  Ashram.  The  Ashram  is  situated  iu 
"2  houses  on  the  banks  of  the  Sabarmatl;  Abmedabad.  It  is  expeot- 
-iadthat  in  a  few  months  aoout  100  accesof  grouud  will  be  acquired 
for  locating  the  Ashram  thereon. 

NOTICE 

Visitors  are  lequpsted  during  their  stay  at  the  Ashram  to 
observe  us  nearly  as  posaible  the  rules  of  the  Ashram.  Every 
endeavour  will  be  made  to  make  them  comfortable  ;  but  tbey  will 
-confer  upon  the  management  a  favour  if  they  will  bring  with  them 
their  bedding  and  eating  utensilii.  Those  parents  who  intend  send- 
ing their  children  to  the  Ashram  are  advised  to  yisit  the  Ashram. 
iNC  children  will  be  admitted  without  being  thoroughly  examined 
«B  to  theii  mental  and  msral  condition.  ,  T. 


III.  THE  MEMOEIAL  TO  MR.  MONTAGU 

The  Qujarat  Sabha  of  Ahmedabad  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
U.K.  Gandhi  devised  an  excellent  idea  of  presenting  a  monster 
petition  to  the  Bight  Hon'ble  Mr.  Montagu,  the  Secretary  of  Stat^ 
for  India,  and  H.  E.  the  Viceroy  in  1917.  supporting  the  Congress- 
League  Scheme  of  Self-Qovernment  for  India.  The  idea  was 
taken  up  by  the  leading  political  organizations  in  India.  The 
following  is  the  English  translation  of  the  Qujarati  petition  :— 

To  the  Rt,  Hod.  Mr.  E.  -S.  Man4agu,  Seoretaiy  of  State  for 
India, 

The  peiicion  oi  the  Bcitish  Subjsocs  of  Gujarat  humbly 
absweth, — 

(1)  The  petilioDers  have  ooDsidered  and  nndeistood  th» 
BwaraiEobeme  prepared  by  the  Connoil  of  the  All-Iadia  MoaleiO' 
League  and  ihe  All-India  GocgreBB  Committee  and  unanimoua- 
ly  adopted  last  year  by  the  Indian  National  Congress  and  the  AIN 
India  Moslem  League, 

(3)  The  petitioners  approve  of  the  scheme. 

(3)  In  the  bumble  opinion  of  the  petitioners,  the  reforras 
proposed  in  the  aforementioned  scheme  are  absolutely  neoessary  in 
the  inteieata  of  India  and  the  Empire, 

(4)  It  is  furtber  the  pelitiooerE.'  bel>f  that  nithout  suoh' 
reforms  India  will  not  witness  the  era  of  true  contentment. 

For  these  reasons  the  petitioners  respectfully  pray  that  yoa 
will  be  pleased  to  give  full  consideration  to  and  accept  the  reform 
proposals  and  thus  rtnder  Buooeasful  your  visit  taken  at  great 
inoonvenienoe  and  fulfil  the  national  hope. 

And  for  this  act  of  kindness,  the  petitioners  shall,  forever,, 
remain  grateful, 

EUDES  FOR  VOLUNTBBBS 

Mr.  Oandhi  also  devised  the  following  rules  for  the  Volunteers 
to  obtain  signature  : — 

1.  In  taking  signatures  to  the  petition,  first  it  must  be  as- 
certained whether  the  person  signing  correctly  understands  the 
scheme  described  in  the  petition  or  not. 

3.  In  order  to  make  people  understand  the  scheme,  it  should 
be  read  out  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  called  together  by  a 
Dotification  prepared  by  the  Sabha.  If,  in  suoh  reading,  the  people 
raise  any   new  question,   which  cannot   be  answered  out   of  the' 


THE  MEMORIAL  10  MR.  MONTAGU  11 

Foieword  thentho  Volunteei;  should  not  deoida  the  point  himaelt 
but  should  refer  it  to  the  ChieJ  of  his  own  Cirole  ;  and  the  ques- 
tioner should  not  be  allowed  Eo  sign  so  long  as  he  has  not  been 
satisfied. 

3.  It  shpuld  be  clearly  kept  i^  mind  that  no  kind  of  ptes- 
sure  18  to  be  used  on  any  inhabitant  of  any  place. 

4.  Care  should  be  taken  that  Government  aorvanta,  as  also 
people  who  are  unable  to  anderscand,  do  not  sign  by  oversight, 

5.  Signatures  should  not  be  taken  from  young  people',  who 
appear  to  be  under  the  age  of  eighteen, 

6.  Bignatures  should  not  be  taken  from  school-going  stu- 
dents livhatevei  their  age  ma;  be. 

7.  There  jis  no  objection  in  taking  signatures  from  any  man 
or  woman  if  the  Volunteer  is  convinced  that  he  or  she  can  under- 
stand the  matter, 

8.  A  man  or  woman  who  is  unable  to  read  or  write,  should 
be  made  to  put  his  or  her  cross  and  an  authentication  of  it  by  a 
well-khown  person  of  the  place  should  be  placed  opposite  the 
oross. 

9.  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  eaofa  signature  is  to  be 
taken  on  two  lorms, 

10.  The  papers  should  be  preserved  without  being  soiled  oc 
otambled. 

.  11.  The  papers  which  are  not  signed  should  at  onoe  be  sent 
10  the  Head  Office  ;  and  a  report  should  at  onoe  be  sent  to  the 
Head  0£Soe  from  the  place  where  a  meeting  baa  been  held  or 
some  attempt  made. 

12,  The  Volunteer  has  no  authority  to  make  any  speech 
on  any  subject  outside  the  scope  of  petition  or  on  any  subjeot 
TSlating  to  but  not  included  in  the  Foreword. 

13,  First  the  inhabitants  of  a  place  should  be  called  together 
and  the  Foreword  read  out  to  them  and  their  Bignatures  taken. 
After  that  as  many  houses  as  can  ;be  practicable  should  be  visited 
and  the  signatures  of  the  rest  of  the  men  and  women  taken.  But 
these  should  be-takeu  only  after  the  Foreword  has  been  explained, 

14,  If  while  visiting  places  or  oalling  together  people,  the 
police  or  any  other  officiala  objept,  the  Volunteer  should  politely 
reply  that  so  long  as  the  He'ad  Office  does  not  direct  the  cessation 
of  work  he  would  have  to  continue  his  work.  If  in  doing  this,  b& 
is  arrested  by  the  police,  he  should  allow  himself  to  be  arrested^ 
but  he  should  not  resist  the  police.  And  if  such  a  thing  happens, 
he  should  at  once  send  a  detailed  report  to  the  Head  Office.  If  peo- 
ple themselves  he'sitaie  to  gather  together  through  the  feat  of  the 
police  or  for  any  other  cause,  the  Volunteer  should  give  up  that 
place  and  should  at  onoe  give  information  of  such  an  occurrence  ta 
tte  Head  Office. 


IV  THE  8WADK3HI  VOW 

The  foUotoing  are  translations  of  Mr,  M,  K,  Gandhi's  two 
■  articles  on  Swadeshi  contributed  to  vernaeular  papers  on  the  day 
previous  to  that  which  was  fixed  for  taking  that  vow  in  Bombay. 
The  English  versions  originally  appeared  in  the  "Bombay 
Chronicle". 


Although  ths  desire  for  Swadeshi  aaimating  a  large  namocr  of 
people  at  thfi  preaeot  momant  is  w^rthr  of  all  praise,  it  seeina  to 
ms  Chikt  chey  have  not  full;  realised  the  difiSealty  in  the  way  b(  its 
observaaoe.  Vows  are  always  takan  oaly  in  respeot  oi  matters 
otherwise  diffionlt  of  aooompIishmeDt.  When  alter  a  series  of 
efiarts  we  fail  la  doing  oercain  thiags,  by  caking  a  vow  lo  do  them 
we  draw  4  onrdoo  round  ourselves,  from  which  we  may  uever  be 
free  and  thus  we  avoid  failures.   Anything  less  than  suoh  inflaxibla 

-  determination  oaunoc  be  called  a  vow.  Ii>  is  not  a  pledge  or  vow 
when  we  say  we  shall  so  far  as  possible  do  certain  aots.  If  hy  saying 
that  we  shall,  so  far  as  we  oan  only  use  Swadeshi  artiolea,  we  oao 
he  deemed  to  have  taken  the  Swadeshi  vow,  then  from  the  Vioeroy 
down  to   the  labouring  man  very  few   people  would   be  found  who 

-  could  not  be  considered  to  have  taken  the  pledge,  but  we  want  to  go 
outside  this  circle  and  aim  at  a  much  higher  goal.  And  there  is  as 
much  difference  between  the  aot  contemplated  by  us  and  the  acts 
above  described  as  there  is  between  a  right  angle  and  all  other 
angles.  And  if  we  decide  to  take  the  Swadeshi  vow  in  this  spirit  it 
is  clear  that  it  is  well  nigh  impossible  to  take  an  all.comprehensive 
vow. 

After  having  given  deep  consideration  to  the  mt'iter  for  a 
number  uf  years,  it  is  saffiaiently  demsnstrated  to  me  that  we  can 
tttWi  the  full  Swadeshi  vow  only  in  respect  of  our  clothing,  whether 
made  of  ootton,  silk  or  wool,  Sven  in  observing  this  vow  we  shall 
have  to  (ace  many  diffi<3uleies  in  the  initial  stages  and  that  is  only 
proper.  By  patronising  foreign  cloth  we  have  oommitted  a  dee^ 
sin.  We  have  abandoned  an  oconpation  which,  in  point  of  import- 
ance, is  second  only  10  agriculture,  and  we  ^.le  fasa  to  lace  with  a 
total  disruption  of  a  calling  tn  which  Kabir  was  born  and  which  ha 
adorned.  One  meaning  of  the  Swadeshi  vow  suggested  by  me  is 
that  in  taking  it  we  desire  to  do  peaanoe  for  our  sins,  that  we  desire 
to  resuscitate  the  almost  lost  art  of  hand-weaving,  and  that  we  are 
determined  to  save  our  Hindustan  orores  of  rupees  which  go  out  ot 
it  annually  in  exchange  for  the  cloth  we  receive.  Such  high  reauUa 
cannot  be  attained  without  difficulties  ;  there  must  be  obstaclea  in 
the  way,  Things    easily  obtained  are  praatioally  ol  no  value,  bat, 


THE   SWADESHI  VOW  13: 

however  aiffionlt  of  otsetvance  that  pledge  may  be,  seme  day  or 
otliet  there  is  no  escape  from  it,  if  we  want  our  country  to  rise  to  its- 
lull  height.  And  we  ebsU  then  acocmplish  the  vow  when  we  BbaU 
deem  it  a  religions  duty  to  use  only  that  cloth  which  is  eniirelF 
produced  m  the  country  and  refrain  from  using  any  another. 

A  Hasty  Gbneealisation 
Friends    tell  me  that    at  the    present    moment  we    have  not- 
enough  Swadeshi  cloth  to  supply  our  wanis  and    that   ihe  txistioe 
mills  are  too  few  for  the  purpose,   Ttis  appears  to  me  to  be  a  haety 
generalisation.     We  pan  hardly  expect  such  good  fortune  as  to  bare 
thirty  orores  of    oOKeuameis  for    Swadeshi.     A  hardened    optimist 
dare  not  expect  more  than  a  few  lalhs  and  I  anticirale  no  difficulty 
in  providing  them  with  Swadeshi  cloth,  but  where  there  is  a  ques- 
tion of  relig. on  there  is  no  room  for  ihoDghts  of    difficulties.     The- 
. general  climate  of  India  is  such  that  we  require  very  little  cloihing. 
It  is  no_ exaggeration  to  say  that   three-fourths  of  the   middle  oJaes 
papulation  use  much  unrecessary  cloihing.     Moreover  nhen  many 
men  take  the  vow  there  would  be'set  up  many  spinnirg  wheels  and 
hand  looms.     India  can    produce  innumerable   weavers.     They  a^e- 
merely  awaiting  encouragement.     Mainly  two  thirgs   are  needful 
viz.,     self-denial  and  honesty.     It  is  self-evident   that   the   coven- 
anter must  possess  these  two  qualities,  but  in  order  to  enable  people 
to  observe  such  a  great  vow  comparatively  easily,  our    merchants- 
also  will  need  to  be  blessed  with  these  qualities,     An  honest  and 
self-denying    meiobant    will    spin    his    yarn    only  from    ludi^n 
r.otton  and  confine  weaving  only  to  sncli  cotton.     He  will  nnW  nfe- 
those  dyes  which  are  made  in  India,     When  a  man  desires  co  do  a- 
ihiLg,  Le  cultivates   the  neccEsary  ability  to  remove  difficulties   in- 
his  path, 

DESTROY  ALIi  FOBBIQN  CljOTHINa 

It  is  not  enough  that  we  manage  if  necessary  with  as  little 
clothing  as  postible,  but  for  a  full  observance  it  is  further  necesfary- 
to destroy  all  foreign  clothingi  in  our  possession.  If  we  are  satiefied' 
that  we  erred  in  making  use  of  foreign  cloth,  that  we  have  done  an 
immense  injury  to  India,  that  we  have  all  but  destroyed  the  race 
of  weavers,  cloth  stained  with  such  sin  is  only  fit  to  be  dcstrryed. 
In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  distinction 
between  Swadeshi  and  Boycott.  Swadeshi  is  a  religious  concep- 
tion. It  is  the  naiural  duty  imposed  upon  every  man.  The  well- 
being  of  people  depends  upon  it  and  the  Swadeshi  vow  cannot  ba 
taken  in  a  punitive  or  revengeful  spirit.  The  Swadeshi  vow  is  not 
derived  from  any  extraneous  happening,  whereas  Boycott  is  s^ 
purely  worldly  and  political  weapon.  It  is  rooted  in  ili-will  and  a 
desire  for  punishment ;  aod  I  can  see  nothing  but  harm  in  the  end 
for  a  nation  that  resorts  to  boycott.  One  who  wishes  to  be  ». 
Satyagrabi  for  ever  oannot  participate  in  any  Boycott  movement 
and  a  perpetual  Satyagraha  is  impossible  without  Swadeshi.  This 
is  the  tBeaning  I  have  undeistood  to  be  given  to  boycott.    It  faas^ 


>i>eeu  suggsBtei  that  we  should  boyooti  British  goods  kill  ihs 
Bowlatt  Ugislalilon  is  withdrawn,  and  thitt  the  bovoott  should 
teimioate  with  the  removal  ot  chat  legislation,     In  suoh  a  soheme 

««{  boyooti  ic  is  open  to  us  to  take  Japanese  or  other  loreiga  goods, 
even  though  they  may  be  rotten.  If  I  must  use  foreign  goods, 
having  politioal  relations  with  Boglaad  I  would  only  take  English 
goods  and  oonsider  such  oonduoc  lo  be  proper, 

Id  prooUimiug  a  boyoott  of  British  goods  we  expose 
ourselves  to  the  oharge  of  desiring  to  punish  the  English, 
but  we  have  no  quarrel  with  them ;  our  quarrel  is  with  the 
'QoTernora,  And,  aooordiog  to  nhe  law  of  Satyagraha,  we  may  not 
harbour  any  illwilleven  against  the  rulers,  and  as  we  may  harbour 
-no  ill-will,  I  oannot  see  the  propriety  of  resorciog  to  Doyoott, 

THB  SWADESHI  PLBDQH 

For  a  complete  obaervanae  of  the  restricted  Swadeshi  vow 
suggested  above,  I  would  advise  the  following  text :  — "  With  God  as 
my  witness.  I  snlemnly  declare  that  from  to-day  I  shall  oonflne 
xnyselfi  for  my  personal  requirements,  to  the  use  of  oloth, 
mauufaotured  in  India  Irom  Indian  ootton,  silk  and  wool ;  and  1 
shall  altogether  abstain  from  using  foreign  olotfa,  and  I  shall 
destroy  all  foreign  oloth  in  my  possession." 

II. 

For  a  proper,  observance  of  the  pledge  it  is  really  neoessary  to 
use  only  handwoven  oloth  made  out  of  handspun  yarn.  Imported 
yarn  even  though  spun  out  of  Indian  ootton  and  woven  in  India  is 
not  Swadeshi  oloth,  We  shall  reach  perfection  only  when  our 
ootton  is  spun  in  India  on  indigenous  spinning  wheels  etn^ 
yarns  so  spun  is  woven  on  simiUrly  made  baud  looms.  '  But  the 
requirements  ol  the  for^gbing  pledge  are  met  it  we  all  only  use 
«lot>h  woven  by  means  of  imported  machinery  from  yarn  spun  from 
, Indian  ootton  by  means  of  similar  maohinery. 

I  may  add  that   the   oovenaotors  to   the   restrioted   Swadeshi 
referred  to  here  will  not  rest  satisfied  with  Swadeshi  clothing  only, 
'^Tbey     will  extend  the  vow  to  all  other  things  as  far  as  possible. 

ENQLISH-OWNED  MILLS 

I  am  told  that  there  are  in  India  English-owned  mills  which 
do  not  admit  Indian  sbareholders.  If  this  information  be  true,  I 
would  QODsid^r  oloth  manufactured  in  such  mills  to  be  foreign 
oloth.  Moreover,  suoh  oloth  bears  the  taint  of  ill-will.  However 
wpll-made  suoh  cloth  may  be  it  should  be  avoided. 

Thousands     of    men    believe    that    by    using    oloth     woven 

in  Indian    mills    they   comply    with   the    requirements    ot  Ithe 

Swadeshi    vow,    The    fact    is    that    most    fine    oloth    is    made 

out    of    foreign    ootton    spun    outside    India,     Therefore    the 

-ogly^  Ba^Bjjoty)n^,,to,    be    derived    from  , the   pse  of  ,puqJi.,sJotji 


THE  swaimsBi.vow  JS; 

IB  that  iE  is'  woven'  in  India.  Jfivsn  on  handlooma  for  every 
£ne  oloih  only  foceign  yarn  is  used.  The  use  of  suoh  olqch  does 
not  amount  to  an  nbserTanos  as  Swadeshi.  To  'nay  so  is  oiniple 
Belf-deoeptioD,  SaCyagcaha,  i.e.,  lusisceuoe  on  brath  is  neoessary 
even  in  Swadeshi.  When  man  will  say,  'we  shall  oonfiue  ourselveB 
tn  pure  Swadeshi  oloth,  evrn  t.hough  wc  may  have  to  remain  satis- 
'fied  wiih  a  mece  loinoloDh,!  anA  wnen  woolen  will  resolutely  say, 
'we  shall  observe  pure  Swadeshi  even  though  we  may  have  to  res- 
triot  ourselves  to  clothing  just  enough  to  satisfy  the  sense  of 
.modesty,'  then  shall  we  be  suooesslul  in  the  obaervanoe  of  the  great 
Swadeshi  vow.  If  a  few  thousand  men  and  women  were  to  take 
the  Swadeshi  vow  in  this  spirit  others  will  try  to  imitate  them  so 
far  as  possible.  They  will  then  begin  to  examine  their  wardrobes 
in  the  light  of  Swadeshi.  Those  who  are  not  attaohed  to  pleasures 
and  personal  adornment,  I  venture  to  say,  oan  give  a  great  impetus 
<to  Swadeshi. 

Key  To  Economic  salvation 

Generally  speaking,  there  are  very  few  villages  in  ludia  without 
■weavers.  From  time  immemorial  we  have  had  village  farmers 
and  village  weavers,  as  we  have  village  carpenters,  shoemakers, 
blaoksmichs,  eto,,  but  our  farmers  have  beoome  poverty-strioken 
«nd  our  weavers  have  patronage  only  from  the  poor  olasses.  By 
supplying  them  with  Indian  ootton  spun  in  India  we  oan  obtain 
the  oloth  we  may  need.  For  the  time  being  ic  may  be  ooarss,  but 
by  oonstant  endeavours  we  oan  get  our  weavers  to  waave  out  fias 
yarn  and  so  doing  we  shall  raise  out  weavers  to  a  better  status,  and 
if  we  would  go  a  step  still  further  we  oan  easily  oross  the  seu  of 
.diffioulties  lying  in  our  path,  We  oan  easily  teaoh  our  women  and 
our  children  to  spin  and  weave  ootton,  and  what  oan  be  purer  than 
•oloth  woven  in  our  own  home  ;  I  say  it  from  my  experience  that 
acting  in  this  way  we  shall  be  saved  from  many  a  hardship,  we 
shall  be  ridding  ourselves  of  many  an  unnecessary  need,  and  out 
life  will  he  one  song  of  joy  'and  "beauty.  I  always  hear  .divine 
voioes  telling  me  in  my  ears  that  suoh  life  was  a  matter  of  faot  once 
in  India  but  even  if  suoh  an  India  be  the  idle  dream  of  the  poet,  it 
4oes  not' matter.  Is  it  not  necessary  to  create  suoh  an  India  now  ? 
Ooea  not  out  purushdrtha  lie  therein  ?  I  have  been  travelling 
throughout  India.  I  cannot  bear  the  heart-rending  cry  of  the 
poor.  The  young  and  old  all  tell  me,  'we  cannot  get  cheap  oloth, 
we  have  not  the  means  wherewith  to  purnhato  dear  cloth.  Every- 
thing is  dear,  provisions,  oloth  and  all.  What  are  we  to  do  ?'  and 
they  have  a  sign  of  despair.  Is  is  my  du.y  to  give  theae  men  a 
•aatisfaototy  reply.  It  is  thff  duty  of  every  servant  of  the  country, 
but  1  am  unable  to  give  a  satisfactory  reply.  It  should  be  intoler- 
able  for  all  ihinking  Indians  that  our  raw  materials  should  be 
exported  to  Europe  and  that  we  have  to  pay  heavy  prices  therefore. 
The  first  and  the  last  remedy  for  this  is  Swadeshi.  We  are  not 
bound  to  sell  our  ootton  to  anybody,  and  when  Hindustan  rings 
■with  the  echoes  of  Swadeshi,  no  produoet  of   ootton  will  sell  it  foe 


16  '       APFBNDIX  1 

its  being  manufaotured  in  foreign  ooantries.  When  Swadeshi  per- 
vades the  country  every  one  will  be  set  a-thinking  why  oottoif 
should  not  be  refiaed  and  spun  and  woven  in  ihe  plaoe  where  it  ia 
produced,  and  when  the  Swadeshi  mantra  resounds  in  every  ear 
millions  of  men  will  have  in  their  hands  the  key  to  the  economic 
salvation  of  India.  Training  for  this  does  not  require  hundreds  of 
years,  When  the  religious  sense  id  awakened  people's  thoughts' 
undergo  a  revolution  in  a  single  moment.  Only  selfiess  sai^rifice  is 
the  sine  qua  non.  The  spirit  of  sacrifice  pervades  the  Indian 
atmosphere  at  the  present  moment,  IE  we  fail  to  preach  Swadeshi 
at  this  supreme  moment  wa  shall  have  to  wring  our  hands  in 
despair.  I  beseech  every  Hindu,  Mussalman,  Sikh,  Parsi,  Chris- 
tian and  Jew,  who  believes  that  he  belongs  to  this  country  to  take 
the  Swadeshi  vow  and  to  »sk  others  also  to  do  likewise.  It  is  my 
humble  belief  that  if  we  cannot  do  even  this  little  for  our  country, 
we  are  born  in  it  in  vain.  Those  who  think  deep  will  see  that  such 
Swadeshi  contains  pura  economics.  I  hope  that  every  man  and 
vromau  will  give  serious  thought  to  my  humble  suggestion.  Imita- 
tion of  English  economics  will  spell  our  ruin. 


APPENDIX  II 


APFBEGIATIONS 


COUNT  Leo  Tolstoy 

"  God  help  out  deai  brothers  and  oo-workera  in  the  Transvaal  ( 
Tbac  same  straggle  ot  the  tender  against  the  harsh  of  meekness 
and  love  against  ptide  and  violenoe,  is  every  year  making  itself 
mote  and  more  felt  here  among  us  also,  espeoially  in  one  of  the 
very  sharpest  of  the  ooDfliots  of  the  religious  law  wiib  the  worldly 
laws,  in  tefaaaU  of  Military  Service.  Such  refusals  are  beooming 
ever  more  and  more  frequent.  I  greet  you  fraternally,  and  am  glad 
to  have  interoonrse  with  you."  *  *  * 

Your  aotivity  in  the  Transva<tl,  as  it  seema  to  us,  at  the  end 
of  the  world,  is  the  most  essential  work,  the  most  important  of 
all  the  work  now  being  done  in  the  world,  and  in  whioh  not 
only  the  naticca  of  the  Christian,  but  of  all  the  world,  will 
unavoidably  take  part,     i Letter  to  Mr,  Qandhi.) 

FBOF.   0ILBEBT  MUBBAY 

Let  me  take  a  present  day  instanne  of  this  battle  between  a 
soul  and  a  Government,  a  very  curious  instanoei  because  it  is 
almost  impossible  without  more  knowledge  than  most  people  in 
England  possess  to  say  who  was  wrong  and  who  right. 

About  the  year  1889  a  young  Indian  student  called  Mohandas 
Karamohand  Gandhi,  came  to  England  to  study  law.  He  was 
rich  and  clever,  of  a  cultivated  family,  gentle  and  modest  in  his 
manner.  He  dressed  and  behaved  like  other  people.  There  was 
•  nothing  particular  about  him  to  show  that  he  had  already  taken  a 
Jain  vow  to  abstain  from  wine,  from  flesh,  and  from  sexual 
intercourse.  He  took  his  degree  and  became  a  successful 
lawyer  in  Bombay,  but  he  cared  more  for  religion  than  lavv. 
Gradually  his  asoetioiem  increased.  He  gave  away  all  his 
money^to  good  causes  except  the  meagrest  allowance.  He  took 
vows  of  poverty,  He  ceased  to  practise  at  the  law  because  his 
religion — a  mysticism  which  seems  to  be  as  closely  related  to 
Christianity  as  it  is  to  any  traditional  Indian  religion— forbade 
him  to  take  part  in  a  eyetem  which  tried  to  do  right  by  violenoe. 
When  I  met  him  in  England  in  19U,  he  ate,  I  believe,  only  rice, 
and  drank  only  water,  and  slept  on  the  floor  :  and  his  wife  who 
seemed  to  be  his  ooE.panion  in  everj thing,  lived  in  the  same  way. 
His  donversaiion  was  that  of  a  cultivated  and  well-read  man 
B 


18  APPENDIX  II 

with  a  certain  indefinable  suggestion  of  saintliness,  His  patrio- 
tism, whioh  is  oombiaed  with  an  enthasiastio  support  of  England 
against  Germany,  is  iatervrovea  wiib  his  religion,  and  aims 
at  the  moral  regeneration  of  India  on  the  lines  of  Indian 
thought,  with  no  barkers  between  one  Indian  and  another,  to 
the  exclusion  as  far  as  possible  of  the  influence  of  the  West 
with  its  indnstrial  slavery,  its  material  civilisation,  its  money- 
worship,  and  its  wars,  (I  am  merely  stating  this  view,  of  course, 
not  either  oriticising  it  or  suggesiing  that  it  is  right.) 

Oriental  peoples,  perhaps  owing  to  causes  connected  with  their 
form  of  ciyilisaiioD,  ate  apt  to  be  eaormoasly  influeaoed  by  great 
saintliness  of  oharaotet  when  they  see  it.  Like  all  great  masses  of 
ignorant  people,  however,  they  need  some  very  plain  and  simple 
test  to  assure  them  that  their  hero  is  really  a  saint  and  not  a 
humbug,  and  the  test  they  habitually  apply  is  that  of  self  denial. 
Take  vows  of  poverty,  live  on  rice  and  water  and  they  will  listen 
to  your  preaching  as  several  of  our  missionaries  have  found  ;  coma 
to  them  eating  and  drinking  and  dressed  in  expensive  European 
clothes — and  they  feel  differently.  It  is  far  from  a  perfect  test,  but 
there  is  something  in  it.  At  any  rate  I  am  told  that  Gandhi's 
iofluence  in  India  is  now  enormous,  almost  equal  to  that  of  his 
friend,  the  late  Mr,  Gokhale. 

And  now  for  the  battle.  In  South  Africa  there  are  some 
150,000  Indians,  chiefly  in  Natal  ;  and  the  South  African  Govern- 
ment, feeling  ihat  the  colour  questioti  in  its  territories  was  quite 
sufficiently  diffieult  already,  determined  to  prevent  the  immigration 
of  any  more  lodians,  and  it  possible  to  expel  those  who  were 
already  there.  This  last  could  not  be  donei  It  violated  a  treaty  : 
it  was  opposed  by  Nital.  where  much  of  the  industry  depended  on 
Indian  labour ;  and  it  was  objected  to  by  Indian  Government 
and  the  Home  Government.  Then  began  a  long  siruggle.  The 
whites  of  South  Africa  determined  to  make  life  in  South  Africa 
undesirable,  if  not  for  all  Indians,  at  least  for  all  Indians  above 
the  coolie  class.  Indians  were  specially  taxed;  were  made  to  register 
in  a  degrading  way  ;  they  were  olaGsed  with  Negroes  ;  their  thumb-, 
prints  were  taken  by  the  police  as  it  they  were  criminals.  If,  owing 
to  the  scruples  of  the  Government,  the  law  was  in  any  case  coo 
lenient,  patriotic  mobs  undertook  to  nemedy  the  defect.  Quite 
early  in  the  struggle  the  Indians  in  South  Africa  asked  Mr,  Gandhi 
to  come  and  help  them.  He  came  as  a  barrister  in  1893  ;  he  was 
forbidden  to  plead,  He  proved  his  right  to  plead  ;  he  won  his  case 
against  the  Asiatic  Exclusion  Act  on  grounds  of  constitutional  law, 
and  returned  to  India.  Gandhi  came  again  in  1895.  He  was 
mobbed  and  nearly  killed  at  Durban.  I  will  not  tell  in  detail  how 
.he  settled  down  eventually  in  South  Africa  as  a  leader  and 
oounseller  to  his  people ;  how  he  found  a  settlement  in  the 
country  outside  Ddcbao,  where  the  workers  should  live  direotly 
on  the  land,   and  all  be  bound  by  a  vow  pi. poverty,    S'or  many 


ABFBBqiAIIONB  19 

jeftta  he  was  engaged  iu  oonstant  pasBive  resistaaoe  to  the 
^ovarnment  and  oonstant  efiorta  to  raise  and  ennoble  the,  in- 
ward life  of  the  Indian  oommnnity,  Dut  he  was  unlike  other 
strikers  or  reaiaters  in  this:  that  mostly  the  resistor  takes 
advantage  of  any  diffioulty  of  the  Government  in  order  to  press 
hia  olaim  the  harder.  Gandhi,  when  the  Government  was  in  any 
^iffioiiny  that  he  thought  serious,  always  relaxed  hia  reeistanoe 
and  ofiered  his  help.  In  1899  oame  the  Boer  War.  Gandhi  im- 
mediately organiaed  an  Indian  Bed  Cross  Unit.  There  was  a 
polpnlar  movement  for  refusing  it  and  tre'»ting  it  as  seditions. 
Bat  it  Was  needed.  The  soldiers  wanted  it.  Is  served  through  the 
"Wa>,  and  was  mentioned  in  despatohea,  and  thanked  publioly  for 
its  skilful  work  and  courage  under  fire.  In  1904  there  was  an 
'0Utbre_ik  of  plague  in  Johannesburg  and  Gandhi  had  private 
hospital  open'fed  before  the  public  authorities  had  begun  to  act. 
In  1906  there  was  »  NitiVe  rebellion  in  Natal  ;  Gandhi  raised 
and  person«lly  led  a  oorps  of  atretoher-bearets,  whose  work  aeems 
to  have  proved  partioalarly  dangerous  and  painful.  Gandhi  was 
thanked  by  the  G-Jvernor  in  Natal  add  ahortly  afterwards  thrown 
•into  jail  in  Johanneaburg, 

Lastly  in  1913  when  he  was  being  repeatedly  imprisoned 
among  criminals  of  the  loweat.  olasa,  and'bis  followers  were  in 
jail  to  the  member  of  2,500  ;  in  the  very  midst  of  the  general 
strike  of  Indians  in  the  Transvaal  and  Natal,  there  occurred  the 
*sudden  and  dangerous  railway  strike  which  endangered  for  the 
time  the  very  existence  of  organised  society  in  South  Africa.  From 
the  ordinary  agitator's  point  of  view  the  game  was  in  Gandhi'a 
hands.  He  had  only  to  strike  hia  hardest.  Instead  he  gave  or- 
der for  his  people  to  resume  work  till  the  Government  should  be 
aafe  again,  I  cannot  say  how  often  he  was  imprisoned,  how  often 
/mobbed  and  assaulted,  or  what  pains  were  taken  to  mortify  and 
humiliate  him  in  public.  But  by  1913  the  Indian  case  had  been 
taken  up  by  Lord  Hardinge  and  the  Government  of  India.  An 
Imperial  Commission  reported  in  his  favour  on  most  of  the  points 
at  iaa'je  and  an  Act  was  passed  according  to .  the  Commission's 
recommendations,  entitled  the  Indian    Belief  Act. 

My  sketch  is  very  imperfect  ;  the  atoiry  forms  an  extraordin- 
ary illustration  oj  a  contest  which  was  won,  or  practically  won, 
by  a  policy  of  doing  no  wrong,  committing  no  violence,  but  simp- 
ly enduring  all  the  punishmenta  the  other  aide  could  inflict  until 
they  become  weary  and  ashamed  of  punishing.  A  battle  of  the 
unaided  human  aoul  against  overwhelming  material  force,  and  it 
ends  by  the  units  of  material  force  gradually  deserting  their  own 
bannera  and  coming  round  to  the  aide  of  the  soul  ! 

Persona  in  power  should  be  very  careful  how  they  deal  with 
a  man  who  cares  nothing  for  sensual  pleasure,  nothing  for  riches, 
nothing  for  comfort  or  praise  or  promotion,  but  is  simply  deter- 
mined  to  do  what  ha  believes  to  be  tight.    He  is  a  dangetoug'  an4 


20  APPENDIX   H 

UDoomfoitable  enemy  beoauEe  his  body,  which  you  oan  alwayg 
oocquer,  gives  you  bo  liUle  purohase  upon  his  eoul.  (Hibbert 
Journal). 

LORD  HABDINGE 

Reoently  youc  aompatciots  in  South  Aftioahave  taken  mattecg 
into  their  own  hands,  by  organising  what  is  called  passive  resist- 
anoe  to  laws  which  ihey  consider  iovidious,  and  unjust,  an  opi- 
niod  which  we  who  watob  their  struggles  from  afar  cannot  but 
ehure.  They  have  violated,  as  they  intended  to  violate,  those 
laws,  with  full  kuowledge  of  the  penalties  involved  and  ready  with 
all  courage  and  patience  to  endure  those  penaliies.  In  all  this 
they  have  ihe  sympathy  of  ladia— dcp  and  burning — and  not 
only  of  India,  but  of  all  those  who,  like  myself,  without  being 
lodians  themselves,  have  feelings  of  sympathy  for  the  people  of 
this  country.     (Speech  at  Madras,  December,  1913.) 

LOBD  AMFTHILL 

Mr.  Gandhi  has  been  denounced  in  this  country,  even  by 
reepotisible  persons,  as  an  ordinary  agitator  ;  there  have  not  even 
been  wanting  suggestions  that  bis  motives  are  those  of  self-interest 
and  pecuniary  profits. 

A  perusal  of  these  pages'(Doke's  Gandhi)  *  ought  to  dispel  any 
such  notions  from  the  mind  of  any  fair  man  who  has  been  miUed 
into  entertaining  them.  And  with  a  better  knowledge  of  the  man,, 
there  must  come  a  better  knowledge  of  the  matter, 


I  have  no  more  earnest  hope  than  that  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his 
fellow-countrymen  may  see  the  aooompliehment  of  that  end,  for 
nbich  they  have  struggled  so  bravely  and  sacrificed  so  much,  be- 
fore ihis  book  is  published.  (From  the  Introduction  to  Rev,. 
Mr,  Doke's  book  "An  Indian  Patriot  in  South  Africa.)" 

The  lord  Bishop  of  Madras 

I  frankly  confess,  though  it  deeply  grieves  me  to  say  it,  that 
I  see  in  Mr.  Gandhi,  the  patient  sufferer  for  the  cause  of  righte- 
ousness and  mercy,  a  truer  representative  of  the  Crucified  Savi- 
our, tban  the  men  who  have  thrown  him  into  prison  and  yet  call 
them8<>lves  by  the  name  of  Christ.  (Loud  applause.)  {Speech 
at  the  ¥.  M.  G.  A.  Auditorium,  December,  1913). 


*  M.  K.  Gandhi  :  An  Indian  Patriot  in  South  Africa,  By  Kev. 
Joseph  Doke;  with  an  Introduction  by  Lord  Amptbill.  Fiioe  Be,  1,. 
G.  A,  Natesan  &  Co.,  Madras. 


APPBBOUTIONS  21 

JJOBD  Gladstone 

■whio^L?!"'^'''.!'"!''"'"'  *  single-minJed  devotion  to  his   oiuse 
rnTd,.n»!      ,1u^  a<3m,taji,„  of  all  who  undersUnd  the  difSouUy 

iion  Committee  at  the  Hotel  Oeeil,  London.  8th  August,  1914]. 
The  Hon.  Mb.  Jameson 
As  fot  Mr.  G*Qdhi,  he  would  leave  behind  him  a.  high  reputa- 
•tion    of    whole-heattedness    of    purpose,  of    healthy  ambition    and 
flelf-saorifioe,    and   of  everything    whioh    an  Englishman  respeeted 

'?  I     To,"?*,^'"^  °'  *  '"*°'    '^''»  farewell  Meeting  at  Durban, 
^uiy,  1914.) 

Indian  Opmion— Booth  Afbica,  1914 

It  has  been  out  lot  to  bid  farewell  to  m»ny  a  friend  during 
the  years  this  journal  has  been  in  existenoe,  but  never  beforo  have 
we  ezperienoed  suob  a  sense  of  loss  as  we  do  at  the  present  moment 
by  the  departure  of  Mr.  Gandhi  and  his  dear  wife  to  India. 
Mr.  Gandhi's  assooiationa  with  this  paper  and  the  Phceiix 
Settlement  have  been  so  intimate  that  we  oannot  trust  ourselves 
to  make  any  lengthy  referenoe  to  his  various  aotivities  on  out 
behalf.  Mr.  Gandhi  is  a  part  of  ourselves  ;  his  life  has  been  out 
We ;  his  ideals  ours.  It  is  not  possible  to  express  in  printed 
words  oar  feelings  on  this  oooasion.  He  has  been  "a  guide,  philoso- 
pher and  friend  "  and,  what  is  muoh  more,  a  brother  in  whom 
we  have  oonfided  out  joys  and  sorrows,  our  hopes  and  fears.  We 
ventuce  to  say  ihat  his  influenoe  npon  us  will  remain  even  though 
his  physioal  body  is  removed  to  a  distanoe.  We  only  hope  that 
out  feeble  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  Indian  oommunity  and  the 
Empire  will  possess  some  spark  of  the  greatness  of  purpose,  noble- 
ness of  mind  and  selflessness  of  cbaraoter  that  have  so  marked 
the  life  of  Mr.  Gandhi.  Mrs.  Gandhi  has  played  the  part  of  both 
mother  and  sister  and  we  shall  ever  remember  her  with  aSeotion 
And  esteem, 

SIB  Henbt  Cotton 

Mr.  Gandhi  had  praotioally  won  the  battle  he  had  been  fight- 
ing and  was  returning  to  India  to  resume,  as  they  all  hoped,  the 
ptaotioe  of  his  profession  under  happier  auspioes  than  it  had  been 
bis  fate  to  enjoy  in  South  Afrioa,  and  to  meet  the  thousands  of  his 
oountrymen  by  whom  his  name  would  never  be  forgotten. 
'(Farewell  in  London), 

MB.  CHABLES  BOBEBTS,  M.P, 

The  work  whioh  Mr.  Gandhi  had  at  heart  was  mainly  aooom- 
flished  as  far  as  South  Afrioa  was  oonoerned,  although  it  might 
remain  to  be  more  completely  fulfilled  in  other  parts  of  the  Empire. 
33  should  like  to  take  the  opportunity  of  thanking  Mr,  Gandhi  foi 


33  A^PBNDli  H 

the  help  he  had  tendered  to  the  ambiilanoe  movement,  and  to 
testify  ta  the  really  exoellent  work  whioh  Indians  were  doing  ii^ 
oonneotion  with  it.  (Hear,  Hear).  It  might  be  that  in  leaving 
Bngland'Mr,  Gandhi  felt  to  some  extent  disappointed  in  the  hope 
of  giving  that  help  which  he  bad  so  willingly  afforded  in  Boutb 
Afrioa  ;  but  the  prospect  lay  before  him  of  more  good  work  in  India, 
(Hear,  Hear).     (Farewell  Meeting  in  London), 

8BNAT0H  W.P,   80HEEINBE 

He  bad  great  pleasure  in  testifying  here  thai  among  the  pure- 
spirited  men  who  worked  for  no  gain,  no  profit,  many  kioks,  but 
with  high  ideals,  tbey  oould  reoommend  themselves  to  Mr.  Gandhi, 
An  unselfish  man,  one  whom,  he  was  proud  to  say,  he  reoognised  as 
a  member  of  the  profession  to  which  he  him£elf  belonged,  and  one 
who  in  any  other  oalling  might  have  made  great  gains.  In  going 
round  with  Mr,  Gandhi  he  believed  Mr,  Gokhale  would  be  intro- 
duced, without  any  bias  and  bitterness,  to  the  problems  in  detail 
which  he  would  have  to  meet,  {Speech  at  the  Cape  Town 
Meeting,  Oct.  S2,  1913,) 

G.  E,   GOEHALE 

Ooly  those  who  have  come  in  personal  contact  with  Mr« 
Gandhi  as  he  is  now,  can  realise  the  wonderful  personality  of  the 
man.  He  is  without  doubt  made  of  the  stuff  of  which  heroes  and 
martyrs  are  made.  Nay  more.  He  has  in  him  the  marvellous 
spiritual  powei;  to  turn  ordinary  men  around  him  into  heroes  and 
martyrs.  Daring  the  recent  passive  resistance  struggle  in  the 
Transvaal — would  you  believe  it  ?— twenty-seven  hundred  sentences 
Of  imprisonment  were  borne  by  our  countrymen  there  under  Mr. 
Gandhi's  guidance  to  uphold  the  honour  of  their  country.  Some  61 
the  men  among  them  were  very  substantial  persons,  some  were 
Small  traders,  but  the  bulk  of  them  were  poor  humble  individuals, 
hawkers,  working  men  and  so  forth,  men  without  education,  men 
not  accustomed  in  their  life  to  think  or  talk  of  their  country.  And 
yet  these  men  braved  the  horrors  of  jail  life  in  the  Transvaal  and 
some  of  them  braved  them  again  and  again  rather  than  submit  to 
degrading  legislation  directed  against  their  country,  Many  homes 
were  broken  in  the  course  of  that  struggle,  many  families  dispersed, 
some  men  at  one  time  wealthy  lost  their  all  and  became  paupers, 
women  and  children  endured  untold  hardships.  But  they  were 
touched  by  Mr,  Gandhi's  spirit  and  that  had  wrought  the  trans- 
formation, thus  illustrating  the  great  power  which  the  spirit  of  man 
can  exercise  over  human  minds  and  even  over  physical  surround- 
ings. In  all  my  life  I  have  known  only  two  men  who  have  affected 
me  spiritually  in  the  manner  that  Mr,  Gandhi  does — out  great 
patriarch,  Mr,  Dadabhai  Naoroji  and  my  late  master,  Mr,  Banade— . 
men  before  whom  not  only  are  we  ashamed  of  doing  anything 
unworthy,  but  in  whose  presence  our  very  minds  are  afraid  pt 
thiuking  anything  that  is  unworthy.     The  Indian  oause  in  South. 


APPKEGIATIOKS  23 

Africa  hae  really  been  built  up  by  Mr.  G»ndhi.  Without  selt  aad 
wimout  stain,  he  has  fought  hia  great  fight  for  this  country  during 
a  period  now  of  twenty  years,  and  India  6wea  an  immeuae  debt  of 
gratitude  to  him.  He  has  saor.fioed  himself  uiteily  in  the  service 
of  the  oause.  He  had  a  splendid  practice  at  the  Bar,  making  aa 
much  as  £5,000  to  £6,000  a  year,  which  is  oonaidered  to 
be  a  very  good  income  for  a  lawyer  in  South  Africa.  But 
he  has  given  all  that  up  and  he  lives  now  on  £3  a  month 
lik»  the  poorest  man  in  the  street.  One  moat  striking  fact 
about  him  is  that,  though  he  has  waged  this  great  straggle  so 
oeaseleasly.his  mind  is  abaolutely  free  from  all  bitterness  againat 
Buropeans.  And  in  my  tour  nothing  warmed  my  heart  more  than 
to  see  the  miiiversal  esteem  in  which  the  European  community  in 
South  Africa,holds  Mr.  Gandhi.  At  every,  gathering,  leading  Euro- 
peans,  when  they  come  to  know  that  Mr.  Gandhi  was  there, 
would  immediately  gather  round  him  anxious  to  shake 
hands  with  him,  making  it  quite  clear  that  though  they 
fought  him  hard  and  tried  to  crush  him  in  the  couree  of 
the  struggle  they  honoured  him  Aa  •  man.  To  my  mind 
Mr.  Gandhi's  leadership  of  the  Indian  cause  in  South  Africa 
is  the  greatest  asset  of  that  cause  and  it  was  an  inestimable 
privilege  to  me  that  he  was  with  me  throughout  my  tour  to  pilot 
me  safely  through  my  diffioultiea,  (Speech  at  the  Bombay  Town 
Ball  Meeting  in  December,  1918  ) 

Rev,  Joseph  Bokk 

It  would  be  di£Qault  to  imagine  a  life  less  open  to  the  assaults' 
of  pride  or  aloth,  than  the  life  Jived  here.  Everything  that  can 
ministerto  the  flesh  is  abjured.  Of  all  men  Mr.  Gandhi  reminds 
one  of  "  Purum  Dass",  of  whom  Eipling  writes  : — "  He  had  used 
his  wealth  and  his  power  for  what  he  knew  both  to  be  worth  :  he 
had  taken  honour  when  it  came  in  hia  way  ;  he  had  seen  men  and 
cities  far  and  near,  and  men  and  cities  had  stood  up  and  honoured 
him.  Now  he  would  let  these  things  go  as  a  man  drops  the  cloak' 
be  needs  no  longer.  This  is  a  graphic  picture  of  our  friend.  ..He 
simply  dees  what  he  believes  to  be  his  duty,  aooepta  every  experi- 
ence that  ensues  with  calmness,  takes  honour' if  it  ooines  without 
pride  :  and  then  lets  it  go  as  a  man  drops  the  cloak  he  needs  no 
longer,"  In  the  position  of  "  Purum  Bhagat,"  he  would  do  easily 
what  the  Bhagat  did  and  no  one  even  now  would  be  surprised  to 
see  him  go  forth  at  some  call  which  no  one  else  can  hear,  his  crutch 
under  arm,  his  begging  bowl  in  his  hand,  an  ajatelope  skin  flung 
around  him,  and  a  smile  of  deep  content  on  bis  lips, 

"  That  man  alone  is  wise 

Who  keeps  the  mastery  of  himself." 

(From  '■  An  Indian  Patriot  in  South  Africa.)", 


94  APPENDIX   II: 

MBS.  ANNIE  BeSANT 

Among  UB,  as  I  write,  is  dnelliog  {cr  brief  space  one  whose 
presenoe  is  a  beuediotioo,  and  whose  feet  sanotify  ever;  house  iato 
which  he  enters — Gandhi,  our  Martyr  and  Saint,  He  too  by 
strange  ways  was  led  into  oiroumstanaeB  in  which  alone  oonld 
flower  all  that  he  brought  with  him  ot  patient,  unwearying  oour- 
age  that  naoght  might  daunt,  UDselfishness  tb'>t  found  its  joy  in 
saorifioe,  enduranoe  so  sweetly  gentle  that  its  power  was  not  readily 
understood.  As  I  stood  for  a  moment  laoiog  him,  baud  clasped  in 
hand,  I  saw  in  him  that  deathleos  Spirit  which  redeems  by  Buffer- 
ing, and  in  death  wins  life  for  others,  one  of  those  marked  out  for 
the  high  service  of  becoming  Saviours  and  Helpers  of  humanity,  I 
who  tread  the  path  of  the  warrior,  not  that  of  the  Saint,  who 
battle  against  Enthroned  Injustice  by  assault,  not  by  meakness,  I 
recognise  in  this  man.  so  frail  aod  yet  so  mighty,  one  of  chose 
whoiie  names  live  in  history  smong  those  of  whom  it  is  said  ;  "  He 
saved  others  :  himself  he  could  not  save".  (New  India). 
Sir  F.  m.  Mbhta 

"  The  whole  country  has  resounded  with  the  tale  of  Mr. 
Gandhi's  great  deeds,  hi«  courage,  his  e;reat  moral  qualities,  his 
labours  and  his  sufferings  in  the  cause  ot  Indians  in  South  Africa. 
So  inng  as  we  have  Indians  like  Mr.  Gandhi  and  Indian  women 
like  ^Trs.  Gandhi  we  need  not  despair  of  oui  country.  They  show 
that  at  the  proper  time  and  as  occasion  may  arise  they  are  possesa- 
ed  of  the  higheso  qualii.iea  of  courage,  htiroism  and  capacity  of 
endurance  and  sufiering."  (At  the  Bombay  Town  Hall  Meeting  in 
December,  1912) 

I  tell  you  what  I  feel  sinoerely  that  there  has  been  no  more 
touching  episode  in  the  whole  history  of  the  campaign  than,  the 
oonversatioD  which  Mrs.  Gaudhi  had  with  her  husband  before  she 
oast  in  her  lot  with  him  in  the  Passive  Resistance  Movement, 
After  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  there  denying  the 
legitimacy  of  Hindu  and  Mahomedan  marriages,  she  asked  him  : 
"Am  I  your  wife  or  not  ?  I  am  not  your  wife  if  this  decision 
Btands,  and  if  I  am  not  your  wife,  I  am  not  a  woman  of  any  trne 
womanhood  in  the  estimation  of  my  own  ses,  and  my  children  are 
illegitimate."  Mr,  Gandhi  must  have  ktiown  what  it  was  to 
expose  tender  women  to  the  hardships  of  the  campaign,  bat  in 
spite  of  his  pleading,  that  brave  lady  decided  to  cast  in  hei  lot 
with  those  men  who  were  fighting  for  the  cause.  History  records 
the  deeds  ot  many  heroines,  and  I  feel  that  Mrs.  Gandhi  will  stand 
as  one  of  the  foremost  heroines  in  the  whole  world.  (Speech  at  the 
Bombay  Town  Ball  Meeting,  Dec.  1913). 

Mrs.  sarojini  naidu 

She  (Mrs.  Gandhi)  sat  by  her  husband's  side  simple  and 
serene  and  dignified  in  the  hour  of  triumph  as  she  had  proved 
herself  simple  and  serene  and  dauntless  in  the  hour  of  trial  and 
tragedy. 


APPBEOUTIONS  ^6 

I  bave  a  vision  too  of  her  brave,  frail,  pain  worn  hand  which 
must  have  held  aloft  ihe  lamp  of  her  oounnry'B  honouc  undimmed 
in  an  alien  land,  working  at  r^ugh  garments  for  wounded  soldiers 
in  another. 

The  great  South  Afrioan  leader  who,  to  quote  Mt.  Gokhale's 
■apt  phrase,  had  moulded  heroes  out  of  olaj,  was  reolining,  a  little 
ill  and  weary,  on  the  floor  eating  his  frugal  meal  ol  nuts  and  fruits 
(which  I  shared)  and  his  wife  was  busy  and  content  as  though  she 
were  a  mare  modest  housewife  absorbed  in  a  hundred  details  of 
-household  setvioe,  ar.d  not  the  world  famed  hernine  of  a  hundred 
noble  sufferings  in  a  nation's  cause.  tFrom  letter  to  Lady  Mekta 
onUrs  Oandhi,  February,  1915  ) 

Dr.   aUBBAMANIA  lYEB 

It  is  a  iifu  every  luaiieut  in  whlcb  from  the  day  on  which  he 
Sethis  foot  on  the  South  Afrioan  soil  to  the  day  on  which  he  left  it, 
deserves  to  be  recorded  in  every  vernacular  of  this  country  in 
chaste  and  impressive  Unguage  nud  distributed  broadcast  so  that 
the  knowledge  thereof  may  extend  to  every  man,  woman  or  child 
-(oheere).  The  work  done  by  him  is  t-uch  as  to  extort  from  the 
historians  of  this  century  admiration.  Great  as  has  been  the  work 
done  by  him,  my  uonviotion  U  that  the  work  he  has  done  ia 
fiimply  a  preparation  to  what  he  is  cfstiDed  to  do  in  the  future 
<(oheers). 

What  is  wanted  in  India  i;^  not  to  much  martial  capacity, 
physical  force,  power  en  threaten  niber  people.  We  want  the 
sonl-force  which  Mr.  Gandhi  is  trying  to  work  up.  Soul-force 
consists  in  a  man  being  prepared  to  undergo  any  physical  or  mental 
suffering,  taking  the  pieo^tution  rVint  he  will  not  lay  a  single  finger 
to  inflict  physical  force  upon  the  other  side.  It  was  that  soul- 
Jotce  that  was  manifested  by  the  Bnuth  African  Indians  and  it  wag 
the  same  foroe  that  should  be  developed  in  this  country.  [Speech 
in  Madras  in  welcoming  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Oandhi,  June,  1915.'} 

Sib  Babindbanath  Tagobe 

The  power  our  fellow-countrymen  have  shown  in  standing  firm 
ior  tbeir  canine  under  B'verest  trials,  fighting  unarmed  against 
fearful  odds,  h*a  given  us  a  firmer  faith  in  the  strength  of  the  God 
that  can  defy  sufferings  and  defeats  at  the  hands  of  physical 
supremaoy,  that  can  make  irs  gains  of  its  losses.  [Letter  to 
Mr,  Oandhi,] 

BAI<  Ganqadhab  Tilas 

The  duty  of  every  patriot  is  to  insist  on  the  oppressions, 
miseries  and  complaints  of  the  people  in  such  a  way  that  they  may 
oompel  the  attention  of  the  Government  and  foroe  them  to  bring 
in  reform.  Mr.  Gaudhi  did  this  duty  very  well,  and  so  he  deserves 
the  honour  and  praise  given  to  him  by  the  public,  IBrom  the 
i'oreword  to  Mr.  Oandhi' a  "  Life  "  in  Marathi.1 


26-  APPENDIX  U 

LALA  LAJPAT  BAI 

Gandhi's  simplioity,  openness,  frankness  and  diceotness  obn> 
found  the  modern  politician,  parliamentarian  And  publioisl.  They 
suspect  him  of  some  deep  design.  Ho  fears  do  one  and  frightens 
no  one.  He  reoognises  no  conventions  except  such  as  are 
absolutely  necessary  not  to  remove  him  from  society  of  men  and 
women.  Ha  recognises  no  masters  and  no  gurus.  He  olaims  no 
cJielaa  though  he  has  many.  He  has  and  pretends  to  no  super- 
natural powers,  though  credulous  people  believe  that  he  is 
endowed  with  them.  He  owns  no  property,  keeps  no  bank- 
aocounts,  makes  no  investments,  yet  makes  no  fass  about  asking 
{or  anything  be  needs.  8uoh  oF  hie  countrymen  as  have  drunk 
deep  from  the  fountains  of  European  history  and  Bmopean 
politics  and  who  have  developed  a  deep  love  for  European  manners 
and  European  culture  neitber  understand  nor  like  him.  In  their 
eyes  he  is  a  barbarian,  a  visionary,  and  a  dreamer.  He  has- 
proDably  something  of  all  these  qualities,  because  he  is  nearest  to 
(he  verities  of  life  and  oan  look  at  things  with  p'ain  eyes  without 
the  glasses  of  civilization  and  sophistry. 

Some  say  he  is  a  nihilist;  others  that  he  is  an  anarchist  ;' 
others  again  that  he  is  a  Tolscoian.  He  is  none  of  these  things. 
He  is  a  plain  Indian  patriot  who  believes  in  Ood,  religion  and  th& 
Scriptures , 

Db.  3.  H.  Holmes 

As  he  moves  from  city  to  city,  crowds  of  thirty  and  even  fifty 
thousand  people  assemble  co  bear  his  words.  As  he  pauses  for  the- 
night  in  a  village,  or  in  the  open  countryside,  great  thrbngs  come 
to  him  as  to  a  holy  shrine.  He  would  seem  to  be  what  the  Indiafis 
regard  him — the  perfect  and  universal  m^in.  In  his  pergonat 
character,  he  is  simple  and  undefiled.  In  his  political  endeavours, 
he  is  as  stern  a  realist  as  lisnin,  working  steadfastly  toward  a  fair 
goal  of  liberation  which  must  be  won.  At  the  same  time,  faowever, 
he  is  an  idealist,  like  Bomain  Bollan'd  living  ever  in  the  pure- 
radiance  of  the  spirit.  When  I  think  of  Bollandi  as  I  have  said,  I 
think  of  Tolstoi.  When  I  think  of  Lenin,  I  think  of  Napoleon. 
But  when  1  think  of  Qandhi,  I  think  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  lives  his 
life ;  he  speaks  his  word  ;  he  sufiers,  strives  and  will  some  day 
nobly  die,  for  His  kingdom  upon  earth. 

Do  you  recall  how  it  is  told  of  Jesus,  that  one  day,  as  be  was 
journeying,  be  heard  bis  disciples  quarrelling,  Aud  he  said, 
"  What  were  ;e  reasoning  on  the  way  ?"  Aud  they  said  they  had 
disputed  who  was  ihe  greatest.  And  Jesus  said,  "  If  any  maa 
would  be  first  among  you,  let  him  be  the  servant  of  all." 


iPi^RtOIATION*  "  27" 

Mr.  w.  W.  Pearson 

■M-  1^^*'°^*'.  ""^^  *■*  °°*'°  personal  opinion  of  the  Indian  le.ader). 
M.  K.  Gandhi,  there  oan  be  no  doubt  that  be  is  a  remarkable  man. 
Kemaikable  because  his  aianoard  of  conduct  and  method  of  action 
are  so  entirely  different  from  those  of  other  Indian  leaders.  States- 
men and  politioians  are  seldom  guided  by  the  motives  which 
compel  Gandhi  to  action,  and  the  very  fact  that  in  him  we  see  a 
man  who  wields  enormous  influence  over  his  countrymen  by  a 
character— the  exaot  antithesis  of  the  ordinary  political  leader — 
gives  to  his  personality  a  peculiar  interest.  One  Governor  of.  a 
British  Province  in  the  East  has  described  him  as  "  a  dangerous 
and  misguided  saint."  Everyone,  whether  fee  or  friend,  agrees  in 
regarding  him  as  a  saint.  And  it  is  because  of  his  evident  eaintli- 
ness  of  character  that  be  has  such  an  unparalleled  icflueuce  in 
India  at  the  present  day, 

Gandhi  has  heen  able  to  unite  people  of  India  as  they  have 
never  before  been  united  not  only  because  of  his  unfaltering  loyalty 
to  a  moral  ideal  and  by  his  austere  and  ascetic  personal  life,  but 
because  the  British  Government  has  itself  fed  fuel  to  the  fires  of 
national  aspiration.  Confronting  the  most  powerful  Empire  in 
existence  stands  one  man,  Gandhi,  who  cares  nothing  for  his  own 
personal  life,  who  is  uncompromising  and  fearless  in  the  application 
of  prinoiples  which  he  has  once  accepted,  and  who  .scorns  any 
longer  to  receive  or  brg'for  favours  from  a  GoveromeDt  which  he 
regards  as  having  "  forfeited  all  title  to  confidence,  respect  or  sup- 
port." He  believes  in  conquering  hate  by  love,  in  the  triumph  of 
tight  over  might,  and  all  the  effort  of  his  public  life  is  directed' 
towards  persuading  the  masses  of  India  of  the  truth  of  this  ideal. 
{The  Asian  Revievi.) 

Mr.  Percival  Landon 

Seated  on  the  floor  in  a  small,  barely. furnished  room,  I  found- 
the  Mahatma,  clad  in  rough,  white  home-spun.     He  turned  up  to 
me,  with  a  smile  of  welcome  the   typical   head  of  the   idealist — the 
skull  well  formed  and  finely   modelled  ;  the   face   narrowing  to  tha 
pointed  chin.     His   eyes  are  deep,    kindly,    and  entirely  same  ;  his 
hair  is  greying,  a  little  over  the  forehead.     He   speaks    gently    and- 
well,  and  in  bis  voice  is  a  note  of  detachment  which  lends  uncanny 
force  to  the  strange  doctrines  that  be  has  given  up  his  life  to  teach. 
One   could  not  imagine   him   ruffled,    hasty,  or   resentful,  not  the- 
least  part  of  the  moral  supremacy  in  his  crusade  is  his  universally- 
known  willingness  to  turn  the  other  check  to  the  smiter.    Pcoin  the- 
first  it  must  be   realised    that   consciously   his  teaching  has   been 
influenced    by  that  of   Christ,   for  whom   his  admiiation  has   long- 
been  the  almost  dominating  feature  of  bis  spiritual    life  and  prob- 
ably the  external  character  of  his  daily   activity  has  been  model!ed»- 
also  upon  Him.    He  made  a  curious  observation  during  our  conver- 
sation,   which  throws  some   light   upon   bis   interpretation   o^  the- 
Galilean   Teacher.     In   answer  to  a  remark  of   mine    ihat   Christ- 


^^  •  APPENDIX   11 

strictly  abataioftd  from  interfering  in  polities,  Mr.  Oandhi  answered, 
I  do  nrit   think  so  but,    if   yon  are  right,  the   less   Christ  in  that 
was  Ha."    {Daily  Telegraph.) 

Col.  J.  c.  Wedgwood,  m.  p. 

One  does  not  feel  it  blaaphennua  to  oompare  him  with  Christ ; 
and  Christ,  too,  one  euspeots,  gave  infinite  trouble  to  reasonable 
and  reapeotable  followers.  Pot  Griadhi  is  a  pbilosophio  auacohiat — 
a  new  edition  of  Tolstoy,  without  Tolstoy's  past  and  a  Tolstoy  who 
has  lung  sinoe  subdued  Nature  and  shrunk  into  simplioity.  {Th» 
Nation.  I 

Mb.  blanch  Watson 

The  West  is  watohiog  the  people  whose  high  privilege  ic  is  to 
the  world  that  the  teiiohings  o!  Jesus  of  Nazareth  are  praoliaable. 
Gandhi  is  a  born  leader,  and  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  people  are 
seoondiog  him.  These  millions  of  men  and  women  are  carrying  the 
"fight  for  independenoe  to  the  high  ground  of  the  spirit,  and  their 
igoal  is  a  free  India.  And  India  freed  by  suoh  methods  will  mean  a 
free  world  !  {The  "  Sinn  Feiner  "  of  New  Tork.) 

BENJAMIN  COLLINS  WOODBURY 

When  shall  there  be  again  revealed  a  Saint, 

A  holy  man,  a  Saviour  of  his  laoe, 

Wnen  shall  the  Christ  once  more  reveal  his  faoe? 

Gautama  left  his  '  bode  without  complaint. 

Till  weary,  hungered,  desolate  and  faint. 

He  sank  beneath  the  bo-tree  with  his  load. 

As  on  the  Path  of  solitude  he  stood  ; 

And  Jesus  died  to  still  the  sinner's  plaint. 

Ijives  there  a  man  as  faithful  to  his  vow  ? 

Mabaima  to  a  bounded  race  of  men  ? 

Aye,  Gaodbi  seeks  his  nation's  soul  to  free  ; 

Unto  the  least.     Ye  do  it  unto  Me  !. 

Hath  Buddha  found  in  peace  Nirvana  now  ; 

Or  doth  a  Christ  walk  on  the  earth  again  ? 

"  Unity,"  Ohieage, 
Mb.  Ben  sfoob,  M.  P. 

Who  and  what  is  this  man  of  whom  it  can  be  said  as  it  was 
'Said  oi  one  of  old  that  even  his  enemies  "  can  find  no  fault  in 
liim  "  ?  His  bittsrest  opponents  unite  in  tributes  to  his  transparent 
sincerity,  moral  courage,  and  spiritual  intensity,  (One  can,  of 
<30urse,  disregard  the  irresponsible  comments  of  certain  members  of 
the  British  Parliament  whose  cloudy  prejudice  obscures  judgment 
— their  remedy  of  "  hang  Gandhi  "  has  just  that  weight  which  a 
-pitiful  bigotry  ensures).  Even  Sir  Valentine  Ghirol,  while  of 
opinion  that  Gandhi  is  "  more  unbalanced,"  suggests  that  be  has 
'"  increased  in  spiritual  stature."    Some  folks  believe  Hahatmaji  ia 


APFBBOIATlbNS  ^9^* 

mad— all  who  know  him  agree  that  be  is  good.  In  this  topsy-tutvy 
world  it  may  well  lie  that  goodnesB   and  honesty  lie  etraogely  neat 
to  madness.     In  an   age  of   false  values   what  ohanoe   has  Bight  ?- 
And  with  Truth  on  the   bobfii^ld  and  Wrong  on  the  throne,  it  is  too 
much  to  ezpeoc   fair   estimates  of   men   and   movements.     Still  to 
(boee  who  have  met  and  talked  with  Gandhi,  who  have  seen  him  in 
a  small  business   meeting  or   holding    vast   multitudes  under  same 
subtler  Bpell  than  mere   oratory  produces  ;    we  have  sat  alone  with 
him  in  the   quiet,    or   seen   the  eager   throng   pressing   around  to 
touch  the  hem  of   his   garment  or  to  knee]  and   touob  his  feet — to 
those  he  seems  to  possess  a  power  graated  to  f£w.     Call  it  madness 
if  you  like,  there  is  a    strength  in    that  frail    body  which  defies  all' 
the  combinations  of  political   expediency  however  higbly-organised 
they  may  be.     Gandhi    has  probably  a   larger    following  than  any 
living  man.     And    it  is  not   the    "  masses  "  only    who    accept   his 
leadership.     He   is  "  Mahatmaji  "    to   intellectuals,    even   highly- 
placed  officers  of  the   Government  exist   who    rroognise  in  him  the- 
compelling  authority  o{   real  character.     The  West  has  produced  a 
Lenin,   strong,   masteriul,   relentless   alike  in   logic  and   method. 
The   East   had  given  birth  to    a  Gandhi,  equnllv  strorg,  tnnsterful 
and  relentless.     Jjut  whilst    the   former  pins  his  faith  on  force,  the 
letter  relias  on    nou-reeisianue.     One    trusts    the    Eword,  the   other- 
trusts  the    spirit.     In  an  pxtraordiniry    manner  thesB    men  appear 
to  luoarnate    those  fundamentally  opposing  fnroes  that — behind  all 
the    surface  sltuggles    of    our    day — are-  fighting    lur    tupiemauy. 
(Farewell  letter  to  the  Press,  Jan,,  1921). 

"D.  P." 

'G.'s,'  genius  lies  in  making  lose  causes  live.  To  bis  disarm- 
ing sweetness  of  a  saint  he  adds  all  the  arts  of  the  advocate.  In 
South  Africa  he  matched  even  General  Smuts.  They  sparred  for 
years  over  Indian  claims  without  quarrelling 

The  key  to  Gandhi  and  Gandhism  is  wrapped  in  his  self- 
revealing  sentence:  '  Most  religious  men  I  have  met  are  politioisna 
in  disguise :  I,  however,  who  wear  the  guise  of  politician,  urn  at 
heart  a  religious  man.'     {The  Daily.Mailt. 

THE  NATION  AND  THE   ATHENEDM 

Mr.  Gandhi  is  a  figure  of  such  significance  that  even  the 
remoteness,  mental  and  physical,  of  India  cannot  obscure  him. 
One  realizes  that  he  is  in  India  what  Tolstoy  was  in  Russia,  a 
personality  which  incarnates  the  characteristic  spiritual  vision  of 
his  race. 


§0  ;,AP?BNi;aX  U; 

Mb.  B,  B,  BTOEEg  I 

At  last  We  bavs  louad  a  MAN,  honest,  fearless,  and  fired  wiih 
true  patriotism — a  inia  whom  the  oommda  people 'trust  and  one 
who  is  able  to  fi(e  them  with  the  fltme  of  bis  own  idealism.  If 
we  Biorjfiae  him  la  our  petty  doabts  aqd'iears,  the  time  will  oome 
when  we  shiiU  deeply  aad  v^ialj  regret  it,  for  suoh  leaders  are  not 
granted  to  a  nation  every  day, 

There  is  no  q^iestioa  as  to  whether  Mahatmaji  ^is  worthy  to 
lead  India;  ii  remains  to.be  seen  if  India  is  Vvortb'y  of  its' great 
'leader,  and  will  loyally  supoort  him  in  his  great  aot  of  f«ith. 

Vincent  Anderson  -' 

All  ladit  ia  at  the  feet  of  M  >h  tndis  Karamehahd  Giadbi. 
Fceaahing  apolicioal  oreed  that  ie  new  to  the  Hindu  and  renew- 
ing Yedio  ideals  of  asoatiaism  aad  saacifioe  in.  his  own  life^  this 
man  his  wiiihih  a  brief  spta  of  months  uoitad  Hindu  and.Muharn- 
m\dan  in  a  oommon  bond  of  fraternity  that  has  not  existed  in 
ladia  smae  she  d*ys  of  Gtasimt.  A  small,  slim,  dark,  qomposed 
m«u  with  <>  tremsndoaj  per3an£v1  mkg'ietism,.a  man  with  t^e 
'uatiriog  6aerg7  of  Roosevell,  the  human  sympathy  of  Dabs  and  the 
philosophy  of  iolatoy,  Gmdhi  has  developed  into  a  foroe  so  potent 
[hat  tha  Eiglish  dare  not  imprison  him.'     {NaHon,  Neio  York), 

Sib  VaiiEstine  Ohibol 

Of  his  etrne^tness  and  stnoerity  no  one  who  listens  to  bim 
san  eotercain  muoh  doabt,  nor  of  his  ohildlike  simplicity  if 'he  oan 
ipBcsuade  himself  that  all  chose  behind  and  beside  him  are  inspir- 
ed by  his  own  idealism. 

With  .a  perfect  onmmind  qf  aooarate  and  luoid  Bngli;^,  and 
,in  a  voioe  as  persuasive  a3  his  whole  manner  is  gentleness  itself, 
he  expUias,  mire  in  pity  (ban  in  anger,  that  India  has  t^t  last  re- 
ooveted  her  own  aiul  thtough  the  fiery  ordeal  which  Hindus  and 
Mahomadans  had  alike  uadergoae  in  the  Punjab  and  the  perfect 
aot  of  faith  whioh  the  '  Khilafat'  meant  for  all  iMahom^dans. 

NJt,  however,  by  violeooa,  but  by  her  unique  '  soul  foroa,' 
would  she  attain  to  '  Swaraj,'  and,  purged  of  the  degrading  in- 
Tfiiieiioes  of  British  rule  and  'Western  civilisation,  return  to  the 
anoieat  wtf  ^  of  Vedio  wisdom,  and  to  the  peace  whioh  was  hers 
before  alien  doinination  divided  and  exploited  her  people. — Times. 

:  Me.  O.F.  ANDREWS 
.  ,  .  In  Mabacma  Qaadhi  we  have  a  voloanio  personality, 
a  moral  geaius  oi  the  first  order,  who  has  revealed  to  us  all  the 
hidden  power  of  a  living  freedom  from  within,  who  has  taught  ua 
to  depend  not  on  any  external  resouroes  but  on  ourselves.  My 
whole  heart  goes  out  to  his  appeal  and  I  have  a  great  hope  that, 
-along  this  path,  independence  will  be  reached  at   last, 

*  Written  Gome  months  before  his  arrest. 


APPBBCUXIONB  -31 

■v    .,•'    ••   •    I  oome.bskok  irom  this  method  ot  doubtful  avolutioo 

160  the  moTB  inoisive  method  of  Mahalttii  Gandhi :  I  oan  Bee  that 
^e  outa  at  the  very  root  of  the  disease.  He  is  like  a  surgeon  pet- 
lormiug  an  operatiou  rather  than  a  physician  administeriDg 
soothing  drugs.  And  as  his  surgeon's  kuife  outs  deep,  we  oan  see 
at  onoe  the  reoovery  of  the  patient   beginning  to  take   place— the 

recovery  of  self-respeot  and   manhood   and   independence 

Such  personalities  as  that  of  Mahatma  Gandhi  which  oan  inspire 
A  whole  nation  ate  rare  indeed  in  human  history. 

BABINDBANATH  TAGOBE 

"The  secret  of  Gandhi's  suQcess  lies  in  bis  dynamic  spiritual 
strength  and  inoessaac  self-saotifiae.  Many  public  men  make 
daorifices  for  selfish  reasons.  It  is  a  sort  of  investment  that  yields 
handsome  dividends,  Gandhi  is  altogether  diSerent,  He  ia 
unique  in  his  nobility.  His  very  life  is  another  name  lor  sacrifice. 
.He  sacrifice  itself, 

"He  covets  no  power,  no  position,  no  weaUh,  no  name  and 
no  fame.  Offer  him  the  throne  o{  all  India,  he  will  refuse  to  sit 
on  it.  biit  wijl  sell  the  jewels  and  distribute  the  money  among 
-the  needy. 

"Give  him  all  the  money  Amerioa  pssaeasee,  and  he  will 
certainly  refuse  to  accept  it,  unless  to  be  given  away  for  a  worthy 
cause  for  the  uplift  of'humaaity. 

"  His  soul  is  perpetually  anxious  to  give  and  he  expects 
absolutely  nothing  in  return — not  even  thanks.  Tnis  is  no  ex- 
aggeration, for  I  know  him  well. 

"He  came  to  our  school  at  Bolpur  and  lived  with  us  for  some 
time.  His  power  of  saorifloe  becomes  all  the  thore  irresistible 
because  it  is  wedded  with. his  paramount  fearlessness, 

"Emperors  and  Maharajas,  guns  and  bayonets,  imprisonments 
and  tortures,  insults  and  injuries,  even  death  itself,  oan  never 
daunt  the  spirit  of  Gandhi. 

"  His  is  a  liberated  soul.  If  any  one  strangles  ms,  I  shall  be 
-crying  for  help  ;  but  if  Gandhi  were  strangled,  I  am  sure  he  would 
not  cry.  He  may  laugh  at  his  strangler ;  and  if  he  has  to  die,  he 
will  die  smiling, 

"His  simplicity  o!  life  is  childlike,  his  adhacence  to  trush  is 
unflinching  ;  his  love  for  mankind  is  positive  and  aggressive.  Ha 
has  what  is  known  aa  the  Oaciai  spirit,  Toe  Ijoger  .1  kaow  from 
the  better  I  like  him.  It  ia  needtes  for  me  to  say  that  this  groat 
man  is  destined  to  play  a  prominent  part  in  miulding  the  future 
of  the  world." 

["  Such  a  great  mtn  deserves  to  bi  better  kwwi  in,  ths  wirld. 
Why  don't  you  makehim  hnown,  you  are  a  wirld-figwe  ?"  asked  thi 
-interviewer,     Tagore  said, ; — ] 


32  APPENDIX   It 

"  How  oan  I  make  him  known  ?    I  am   nothing  compared  to- 

his  lUuminfcU  soul.  And  no  truly  great  tana  hpa  to  be  made  great. 
Ibej  are  great  in  their  own  glory,  and  when  the  world  is  ready 
they  beocme  famous  by  diiit  o!  their  owo  grea:ne3s.  When  the- 
time  oomee  Gandhi  will  be  known,  for  the  world  needs  him  and 
his  meFBage    oi    love,  liberty  and  brotherhood. 

"  The  Boul  of  the  East  has  found  a  wociyhy  symbol  in  Qandhi  ;: 
{or  he  IS  most  elrquenily  proving  thai  man  is  esseaiiaily  a  spiri- 
tual beiLg,  that  he  flourishes  the  best  in  the  realm  of  ibe  moral 
aod  the  spiritual,  and  most  positively  perishes  boih  body  and  soul 
in  the  atmosphere  of  haired  and  gunpowder  smoke.'— f^rom  an. 
inteiview  in  America). 

S.   W.  CLEMES 

is  \  talked  with  Mr,  Gandhi,  I  marvelled  at  the  eimplioity  of 
his  dress,  He  wore  coarse  white  cloth,  with  a  kambal  thrown 
over  his  body  to  protect  Dim  from  the  cold.  A  little  while  cap  was 
his  only  head  oovtriog.  Aa  he  eat  on  the  floor  faoiog  me,  I  asked 
myself,  how  oan  this  little  man,  with  his  thin  face  and  larger 
protruding  ears,  and  quiet  brown  eyes,  be  the  great  Gandhi  about 
whom  I  have  heard  so  much  ?  All  doubts  Were  set  aside,  when  we 
began  to  talk.  I  do  not  agree  with  all  the  methods  that  Mr,  Gandhi 
employs  to  bring  about  the  desired  end  ;  bnt  I  do  want  to  bear 
this  personal  testimony  of  the  man  himself,  Mr,  Gandhi  is  a 
spiritual  man.  He  is  a  thinker.  In  my  short  interview,  I  had 
the  same  heatt-to-heart  fellowship  with  him  as  I  have  had  scores 
of  limes  with  some  of  God's  saints.  I  took  knowledge  that  this 
man  had  been  to  the  source  of  Christian  strength  and  had  learned 
from  (he  great  Christ.  {Indian  Witness.) 

Me.  W.  E. Johnson 

There  is  a  man,  sent  of  God,  who  is  called  the  Mahatma 
Gandhi.  He  comes  to  the  surface  nut  of  that  great  sea  of  human- 
beings  that  compose  the  Empire  of  India,  one-fifth  of  the  people  in 
all  the  world,  As  this  is  written  in  October,  he  is  going  about 
with  no  clothing  except  a  homespun  cloth  wound  around  the  lower 
part  of  his  body  and  partly  covering  his  l°gs.  If  all  the  Indian 
people  had  only  this  much  for  each,  there  would  be  none  left,  Bnd= 
it  would  be  "stealing  "  for  him  to  take  more  than  hia  share.  He- 
rides  third-class  in  the  railway  carriage  set  apart  for  coolies  and 
eats  the  food  on  which  the  meanest  of  human  beings  exist. 

Much  ia  said  regarding  this  man  to  bis  disadvantage.  His 
name  ia  anathema  to  many  wedded  to  the  existing  order  of  things 
— especially  alcoholic  things.  Those  who  attack  him  and  there  are 
many,  such  never  attack  his  sincerity,  his  character  or  his  ability. 
To  themi  he  is  of  the  devil,  because  be  attacks  British  rule  in  hia- 
country.  And  yet,  after  all  has  been  said  that  can  be  said  against 
him,  this  (aot  remains  silhouetted  against  the  sky— in  two  years  bjt 


pure  petBonal  inflaenoe,  he  hag  oaueed  a  greatec  diminution  of  the^ 
use  of  intozioating  liquoca  than  has  been  aoaomplished  by  anyoihft 
man  in  the  history  of  the  world  during  his  life  time. — Christian 
Herald, 

THE  RT.  HON.  V.  8.  8RINIVA8A.  BASIRI 

FoliticB  is  not  eeparable  from  life.  Mr.  Gandhi  would  not. 
oountenanoe  the  separation,  foe  his  great  aim  is  to  strip  life  of  it» 
sophistioation  and  reduoe  it  to  iis  own  nature — simple,  rounded, 
pure.  It  merely  happens  that  for  the  moment  his  activity  is  in  the 
field  of  politios.  It  merely  happens  that  for  the  momeiic  he  ia 
oonftonting  Grovernment  and  daring  its  wrath.  It  merely  happen^! 
that  for  the  moment  his  cry  of  Swaraj  for  India  bas  caught  the 
ear  of  the  world  and  the  world  is  anxious  to  know  what  bis  Swaraj, 
is.  His  real  and  final  objective  is  a  radical  reform  of  human  Icind',' 
His  Gospel  is  "Back  to  Nature."  He  avows  himself  an  implacablet 
enemy  of  Western  Civilisation.  In  his  mighty  war  against  Western 
civilization  Swaraj  for  India  is  but  a  campaign;  The  rules  of  the 
campaign  are  the  rules  of  the  mighty  war  ;  the  weapons  to  be  used, 
in  the  campaign  are  the  weapons  to  be  used  in  the  campaign  of  the 
mighty  war ;  the  virtues  to  be  evoked  by  the  campaign  are  the' 
virtues  which  will  win  the  mighty  war  in  the  end,  The  oardinalt 
rule  of  both,  the  war  and  the  campaign,  ia  non-violence,  Kon-violeuce 
is  of  the  heart  as  well  as  of  the  body.  By  thought,  word  and  act 
you  may  not  injure  your  adversary,  Enemy  in  a  personal  sense  is 
too  strong  a  word  for  his  diotionary,  But  as  the  adversary  does 
not  follow  the  rule  you  will  be  subjected  to  great  suSering  and  loss^ 
Bejoioe  in  the  suffering  and  less  and  Court  them.  If  you  cannot 
rejoioe  in  them,  do  not  avoid  or  complain  against  them.  Love  your 
enemies  ;  it  you  love  them,  pardon  them  and  never  retaliate  against 
them.  Force  is  wrong  and  must  go  under.  The  soul  is  invincible  ; 
leaCD  to  ezetoise  its  full  power.  Hold  to  the  truth  at  all  costs  ; 
Satya  triumphs  in  the  end.  Out  of  ibis  cardinal  rule,  almost 
Icgioally,  proceed  a  number  of  principles  which  will  keep  us  straight, 
in  the  war  and  this  campaign  for  Swaraj,  Since  Western  civiliza- 
tion and  the  existing  system  of  British  Government  have  to  be  got 
rid  of,  we  must  have  nothing  to  do  with  either  offspring  of  Satan  ; 
we  must  out  off  our  connection  with  those  large  and  pcwerini 
institutions  by  which  they  .enslave  us.  These  are  schools,  courts^ 
legislatures.  Withdraw  children  from  scboola,  sue  not  for  justice 
in  courts,  and  avoid  the  fo"'''B-'>o<'''>-  Machinery  being  another 
invention  of  Satan  and  mills  being  the  mainstay  of  British  domina- 
tion  in  India,  boycott  both,  cease  lo  import  foreign  cloth,  and  erect 
a  spindle  in  each  home.  The  moiion  of  the  Charka  bas 
mystic  properties,  its  musio  chasieus  the  soul,  and  its  products 
most  adorn  the  hnmi.n  form,  especially  the  female  form.  These 
orinoiDles  and  courses  of  action  b»ve  more  or  less  permanent 
validitv  beoaute  the  war  agamst  modern  civilizition  must  be  ex- 
pe,oted  to  be  of  indtfinite  duration.     Is  is  a  picked  bony,  however* 

0 


34  APPENDIX   II 

namelf,  the  members  of  the  Satyagrahasrama  in  Ahmedabad — who 
are  engaged  id  this  ezalced  enterprise  and  owe  lifelong  allegianoe 
to  those  priiioiples  and  ooarsea  of  aoiion.  The  numerous  levies 
now  fighting  in  India  under  the  flig  of  nan-oooperation  are 
enrolled  only  for  a  single  campaign  and  w\y  lapse  intq,tbe  oommnn 
grooves  of  lifti  AS  aaou  as  the  British  Givtrnment  lias  tieen  brought 
lo  iM  knees  and  ooiisented  to  t^hange  its  basis.  lu  the  intensive 
operations  of  this  campaign  it  may  become  neoessary  to  resort  to 
divil  disobedience  of  selected  laws  and  uon-paymeni  uf  taxes..  But 
wherever  the  severity  of  the  measures  which  suob  action  may 
provoke  the  authorities  to  adopt,  non-oo-operators  are  precluded 
from  the  slightest  infractiou  uf  the  commandment,  as  to  uuii- 
TioIenoe< 

To  understand  Mr.  Gandhi's  view  of  life,  attention  milst  be 
fixed  on  the  rules  he  has  laid  down  for  the  regulation  of  bis 
^hmedabad  institution.  Its  name,  Satyagrahasrama,  means  the 
hermitage  of  the  determined  practice  of  truth  or  the  abode  of  soul- 
force.  The  Asrama  is  still  small,  Ic  has  had  no  real  chance  uC 
proving  its  vitality,  for  ever  since  its  establishment  other  things 
have  claimed  the  energies  of  its  founder.  But  the  attainment  of 
its  objects  is  oouditioned  by  the  inorease  of  its  numbers  and  the 
^coeptanoe  by  the  community  at  large  of  these  austere  ideals  as  at 
present  exemplified  in  ibe  lives  of  a  fe,T  apostles,  No  eatimate  can 
be  formed  of  the  prospective  inflaenoe  of  the  new  gospel  without 
an  ezaminaiiou  of  its  real  nature. 

Truth  in  the  highest  sense  is  possible  only  where  the  individqal 
enjoys  complete  freedom.  All  forms  of  force  oc  ooerjions  are  thus 
at  once  barred.  Compulsion,  authority,  government,  these  are  an- 
athema marantha  to  one  who  at  bottom  is  a  philsophioal  anarchist. 
In  fact,  he  describes  the  essence  of  his  dootrins  sometimes  as  love. 
Sometimes  as  truth,  sometimes  as  noovioleaoa  (ahimsa),  these 
ftirms  are  in  his  opinion  interchangeable:  For  organized  govern- 
maot  in  the  ideal  world,  is  justifiable.  The  merit  of  the  British 
Government  is  that  it  governs  the  least.  Even  a  family  and  a 
eohool  must  trust  entirely  to  the  power  of  love  and  moral 
reasoning.  Flagrant  misoonduct  he  deals  with  by  himself 
{asting  for  a  certain  number  of  days,  the  guilty  party  being  in- 
variably brought  to  a  st^ie  of  contrition  within  that  period.  Some- 
times ago  he  applied  this  remedy  to  end  a  serious  strike  in  a  mill, 
the  employers  coming  to  reason  for  tear  of  incurring  sin,  Within 
the  last  few  weeka  the  violence  practised  by  some  persons  in 
Bombay  in  the  name  of  non-co-operation  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales'  visit  entailed  this  form  of  eelf-chastisement  on 
his  part,  and  by  all  aooounts  it  had  the  desired  result. 

Nobody  is  entitled  to  possess  more  than  is  absolutely  neoessary 
for  the  moment,  To  hold  in  excess  of  the  need  is  to  be  guilty  of 
theft.  He  and  his  wife  have  given  away  all  their  property-^he 
practised  law  for  many  years  with   sucoess— and  now  own  nothing 


APPRECIATIONS  35 

beyond  the  clothes  tbey  wear  and  a  change  ot  two  and  may  be  a 
<bag  or  box  to  ooutain  these,  The  Asrama  in  Ahmedabad  contains 
'4he  barest  neoessaries. 

Baoh  person  must  supply  his  wants  by  his  own  exertion.  The 
ideal  is  to  grow  the  corn  that  one  oats  and  weave  the  oloth  that 
one  wears  Even  the  brain  worker  is  not  exempt  Irom  ibis  bodiiy 
-labour,  la  fact,  the  spindle  has  grown  to  be  a  letish  wich 
Mr.  Gandhi.  Its  musio  has  a  oharm  lor  him.  He  presoribes  it  for 
all  men  and  women.  Boys  must  prefer  it  to  books,  Lawyers  mu^t 
oast  away  their  briefs  for  it,  Dootors  must  abandon  gtethosaope 
and  take  to  iti 

So  far  its  produots  have  been  ooarse  ;  but  he  asks,  can  a. man 
or  woman  look  more  beautiful  than  in  the  Ehaddar  made  by  him- 
self OT  herself  7  When  a  lady  pupil  of  his  wore  the  first  Sari  of 
her  own  making,  he  surveyed  her  and  pronouaoed  her  divinely 
attraotive.  Without  a  doubc  his  eyes  so  saw  her  and  his  mind  so 
judged  her. 

Control  of  the  senses  is  a  requisite  of  the  fi::st  impoctaaoe.  It 
is  very  bard  and  oan  be  only  very  slow.  But  it  must  be  incessantly 
and  ruthlessly  practised.  Luxuries  are,  of  course,  taboo  Even 
ooilifortB  must  be  steadily  reduced.  The  palate  is  a  particularly 
~venal  sense  and  has  to  be  rigidly  curbed.  Simple  bard  fare  is  a 
condition  of  spiritual  advancement.  Celibacy  is  also  enjoined  on 
the  inmates  of  the  Asrama.  Married  couples  may  not  be  admitted 
unless  they  agree  to  surrender  their  marital  relation  and  adopt 
that  of  brother  and  sister,  I(  Mr.  Gandhi  had  his  way  he  would 
recommend  this  course  to  mankind.  The  resulting  extinction  of 
the  species  has  no  terrors  for  him.  He  merely  aeksi  why  should,  we 
not  all  go  to  a  belter  planet  and  live  on  a  higher  plane  ?  The 
question  would  not  appear  so  fantastic  after  all  to  one  who  believed 
in  the  re-birch  of  souls  according  to  the  law  of  Earma  and  remem- 
bered that  no  person  would  be  a  celibate  except  of  bis  or  her  own 
■free  choice  and  when  the  sex  passion  bad  been  transcended. 

Machinery,  being  one  of  the  most  inseparable  adjanots  of 
■modern  civilization,  must  be  abandoned.  It  is  of  thelringdom  of 
Satan.  Mills  and  factories  where  the  labourer  is  doue  out' of  his 
'humanity,  have  no  place  in  bis  soheme.  The  wealth  tbey  create, 
it  needs  no  saying,  is  an  abomination.  Posts  and  telegraphs  and 
-railways  are  likewise  condemned  and  with  them  goes  the  printing 
press.  He  says  that  every  time  be  himself  uses  one  of  these  instru- 
ments of  oivilisaiion  be  does  so  with  a  pang.  It  would  be  nearly 
as  hard  for  him  to  carry  on  his  work  without  resort  to  them  as  it 
"Would  be  to  escape  from  the  atmosphere  of  the  earth  :  but  perhaps 
the  use  of  evil  might  be  defensible  in  itsown  destruction,  Bipid 
and  easy  means  of  communication  have  but  multiplied  crime  and 
<lisease.  Could  not  man  infer  from  the  fact  of  God  having  given 
'him  legs  that  he  was  not  intended  to  go  farther  than  they  oovld. 
-carry  him.?    What    are    ordinarily  called  the  benefits  of  railway 


3^  aPPENDIX  u 

and    eimilai   tkiogs    are    in    reality  tbe    opposite,  '  being  '  addecl 
eDJojmeniB  or  means  of  graiifyiLg  the  eenBee. 

Medicine  does  not  eeoape  his  judgment  ;  be  calls  it  black 
magio  and  actually  says  it  is  better  to  die  than  be  saved  by  a  drug 
presotibed  by  tbe  doctor.  The  fear  of  immorality  and  unhealthy 
modes  of  life  has  been  materially  vveakened  if  noi  totally  removed 
by  the  hope  of  being  saved  from  the  evil  cocsEquenoes  by  the  help 
of  tbe  doctor,  A  return  to  the  care  of  nature  and  her  eimpla 
Ways  vrould  redeem  mankind. 

These  and  similar  doctrines,  vshiob  appear  harsh  to  the  ordU 
nary  person,  form  the  substance  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  ethics,  Lee  it 
not  be  supposed  that  they  are  logical  abstractions  formulated  for 
the  purposes  of  a  moral  treatise  or  sermon,  and  with  no  intended- 
applioaiion  to  life.  Their  propoiinder  praotiees  tbeih  in  the  spirit- 
and  in  the  letter,  a)id  the  limitations  on  their  praotioe  do  not 
proceed  from  any  tenderness  for  himself  or  his  relatives.  His^ 
renunciation  of  worldly  goods  has  already  been  mentioned.  Ha 
does  not  seek  the  medical  man  in  sickness.  He  eats  hard  fare. 
He  wears  Khaddar  ^oven  by  his  own  hands  and  in  that  dress  and 
barefooted  appears  before  the  Viceroy  of  India.  He  knows  no  fear 
and  shrinks  from  nothing  which  he  advises  others  to  do.  In  fact 
his  love  of  suffering  and  hardship  as  a  means  of  spiritual  progress- 
is  almost  morbid.  His  oomposion  and  tendernees  are  iDftnite  like 
the  opean,  to  use  an  eastern  simile.  The  present  writer  stood  by  aa- 
he  wiped  the  sores  of  a  leper  with  tbe  ends  of  his  own  garment, 
In.feict  it  is  hia  complete  mattery  of  tbe  passions,  bis  realizatioD- 
o{  tbe  ideal  of  a  "  sanyasln"  in  all  the  rigour  of  its  eastern  con- 
ception, which  accounts  for  the  great  hold  he  has  over  the  masses 
of  India  and  has  crowned  him  with  the  title  of  Mahatma  or  the- 
Orsat  Soul. 

Now  to  a  few  other  doctrines  of  a  subordinate  grade.  Curious* 
ly  enough  be  is  a  bpliever  in  the  system  of  caste,  though  the  pride 
of  caste  and  its  exclusiveness  will  receive  no  quarter  from  him. 
Apparently  he  is  convinced  of  its  beneficence,  if  maintained  in  it& 
original  purity,  and  holds  it  to  be  of  the  essence  of  flinduiem.  In 
this  belief,  however,  he  is  not  likely  to  be  followed  by  a  great- 
aectiou  of  his  countrymen,  who  are  anxious  to  restore  their  reli- 
gion to  its  ancient  purity.  But  he  is  at  one  with  them  and  in 
{act  with  the  awakened  conscience  of  India  in  desiring  to  exorciee- 
tbe  demon  of  untouobability.  Millions  of  people  are  held  by 
caste  Hindus  to  be  beneaib  their  I'hysical  touch  and  live  in  condi- 
tions which  are  scarcely  fit  for  buman  beings.  Thtse  he  would 
uplift,  asserting  that  Hinduism  gives  no  kind  of  justification  loi 
the  abuse,  But  his  work,  for  tbe  depressed  classes,  as  they  are 
called,  would  lake  the  form  which  bas  quite  recently  been  given 
to  social  work  of  that  kind,  in  the  West,  He  would  have  the- 
worker  oast  aside  bis  own  status  and  live  the  life  of  the  class  to  be 
iielped,  do  their  work  and  earn  their  vrage,   exactly  as  they  do.  So- 


APPitsoiAilONS  C37 

•oaly  oaa  real  understanding  and  sympatliy  oome,  so  only  oan 
tthat  ooufidenoe  be  angendared  whioh  is  an  esaancial  pre-re4ai«ite 
-of  all  work  of  ameliocatiion. 

His  non-oo-operacioaist  f olloweca  seem  in  places  to.  have 
•mixed  up  his  hnmaaitarian.  work  wiih  politioa  and  so,  stifEared 
a  oheok.  In  the  Hahatma'a  eyes  no  poliiiaal  rights  nill.  be  of 
.the  slightest  use  to  a  oommunicy  which  is  the  prey  of  great  sooi^l 
failings,  and  work  foe  Swaraj  oan  never  reaoh  any  suooess  witli- 
flut  simultiaeous  work  for  groat  soaial  reforms.  But  viplent 
jialitioal  exoicemanc  is  not  a  favourable  oohditiou,  for  euob  an- 
tagonism of  gaverument  and  its  ofSoials  is  only  to  be  expected  to 
the  aotivities  of  hosts  of  young  pioketeers  who  are  pledged  at  the 
«ame  cima  to  embarrass  and  even  destroy  the  ordinary  adminijs- 
■tration. 

The  educational  ideals  of  the  Mahatma  have  not  yet  received  a 
-alear  expression.  To  compulsion  even  of  rudimentary  education,  he 
(nust  be  averse.  The  higher  scienoes  and  arts,  the  specialised  formal 
liistorioal  researob  or  economic  enquiry  with  their  gloriScatiun  of 
machinery  and  wealth  in  its  varied  forms,  will  find  no  room  in  his 
simple  scheme.  Of  the  necessity  of  introducing  one  language  fot 
common  use  in  India  he  has  bean  for  long  a  persistent  advocatei 
-He  has  chosen  Hindi  for  the  place  of  ihJB  lingua  franca.  With 
-tifaaraoteristio  eArneBtness-  he  has  oolleoted  funds  for  the  purpose  of 
spreading  a  knowledge  of^ihis  language  and  has  sent  out  entbusiast- 
io  ceaohars  to  all  parts  of  India,  The  non-co-operation  tutmoil 
may  have  for  the  time  overshadowed,  tihis. activity.  Perhaps,  too, 
the  bulk  of  educational  workers  in  India  has  not  yet  aooepted  the 
;Mahatm<i'8  oonolusions  in  this  regard,  and  for  this  reason  his 
efiorts  on  behalf  of  Hindi  have  not  been  co-ordiqated  with  the 
•educational  work  of  the  country  generally. 

The  writer  of  these  lines  is  not  of  Mt.  G-andhi's  political  follow- 
-ers  or  a  disciple  of  his  in  religion.  But  he  claims  to  have  known 
Jiim  for  some  years  and  to  have  been  a  sympatbetiostudent  of  his 
teachings.  He  has  felt  near  him  the  cbasiening  effects  of  a  great 
personality.  Ha  has  derived  much  strength  from  observing  the 
workings  of  an  iron  will.  Ha  has  learned  from  a  living  example 
somelihing  of  the  nature  of  duty  and  the  worship  due  to  her.  He 
Jiaa  occasionally  caught  some  dim  perception  of  the  great  thiqgs, 
that  lie  hidden  below  the  surface  and  of  the  struggles  and  tribula- 
tions whioh  invest  life  with  its  awe  and  grandeur.  An  ancient 
rBaoskrit  verse  says: — "Do  not  (ell  me  of  holy  waters  or  atone  ima- 
-f  ea  ;  they  may  cleanse  us,  if  they  do,  after  a  long  period.  A  saintly 
■man  purifies  us  at  sight".— Surv«0  Graphic. 


38  rATPENDlX  a 

MR.  H.  8.  L.  POLiK 

LOVE  OF  TEUTH 

If  there  is  one  oharaoterUtio  mora  than  another  that  atati]ps> 
Mr.  Gandhi  as  a  man  amongst  men,  it  is  his  extraordinary  fove  ot 
trui^.  &ls  search  for  it  is  the  one  passion  of  his  lite,  and  every 
aotion  of  his  indicates  the  devotee  o{  this  usually  distant  shrine. 
Whatever  he  says,  even  those  most  hostile  to  him  unhesitatingly 
believe,  as  being  the  truth  80  far  as  he  is  aware  of  it,  and  he  will 
not  hesitate  CO  retract,  publicly  and  immediately,  anything  that 
he  may  have  unwittingly  declared  to  be  a  fact,  but  which  he- 
afterwards  finds  to  be  unwarranted.  His  politioal  opponents  ad- 
mit unqaestioniogly  that  every  aotion  of  his  is  prompted  only  by 
the  most  oonsoientious  and  impersonal  motives.  In  his  legal« 
practice,  whioh  he  long  ago  definitely  abjured  as  an  *'  unclean 
thing,"  he  was  highly  regarded:  hy  his  fellow-praotitiooers  as  an 
able  lawyer  and  ao  honourable  colleague. or  opponent,  and  Magis* 
■trates  and  Judge  alike  paid  careful  attention  to  any  case  that 
Mr.  Gandhi  advocated,  realising  that  it  had  intrinsic  merits  or- 
that  he  sincerely  believed  that  it  had.  He  has  been  known  to 
retire  from  a  case  in  open  Court,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  hearing!, 
having  realised  that  his  client  had  deceived  him,  and  he  never 
accepted  a  case  exoept  on  the  express  understanding  that  he  re- 
served to  himself  the  right  to  withdraw  at  any  stage  if  he  felt  that 
his  client  had  not  dealt  honestly   with  him. 

SELF-SUFFBESSION 

His  self-suppression  and  courtesy  are  universally  recognised 
and,  appreciated.  He  has  scarcely  ever  been  known  to  give  bd^i:;' 
expression  to  his  feelings,  and  then  only  when  moved  by  a  sedae 
of  righteous  indignation:  He  has  never,  during  the  whole  course 
of  hia  public  career,  ooddescended  to  the  use  of  the  average  poli- 
tician's dictionary  of  invectives,  and  his  courtesy  and  urbanity  to- 
wards opponents  arises  from  his  desire  and  ability  to  place  himseir 
in  their' posiuon  before  attacking  it. 

aENEBOBITY 

His  generosity  is  proverbial.  He  never  issued  a  formal 
demand  for  payment  of  a  debt  due  to  him,  oonoeiving  that  his- 
debtor,  if  an  honest  man,  would  pay  when  he  could,  and  if  a  dis- 
honest rhaa,  would  not  be  made  the  more  honest  by  the  nee  of 
legal  compulsion.  Indeed,  in  his  every  aotion,  he  vindicates  his 
hostility  to  the  dooirine  of  foree  and  his  abiding  afieotion  for  that 
of  love  as  a  rule  of  life!  When  be  was  nearly  done  to  dtlath'  by'  & 
fanatioal  Pathan,  in  1908,  he  absolutely  refused  to  charge  his- 
assailant  or  to  give  evidence  against  him.  He  preferred  to  con- 
quer him  by  love,  and  succeeded  ;  for  early  the  following  year  the- 
Pathan,  who  had  been  deported  to  India  because  ha  sturdily  re- 
fused to  comply  with  the   Transvaal   Law,    addressed  a    letter   to- 


APPREGIAIIOKS  ^ 

Mr.  Gandhi  in  whioh  he  assured  the  latter  that  all  hia  sympathies 
ware  with  him,  and  he  would  do  what  he  oould  to  help  the    oause. 

SENSE  OP  PUBLIC  DUTY 

^'-  Gaudhi's  sense  of  public  duty  is  prolouud.  Just  before 
his  first  arrest,  he  received  the  news  that  hia  youngest  child  'was 
desperately  ill,  and  he  was  asked  to  go  to  Phoenix  at  onoe  it  he 
wished  to  save  him.  He  refused,  saying  that  his  greater  duty  lay 
in  Johannesburg,  where  the  community  had  need  of  h'm,  and  his 
child's  hfe  or  deaih  must  be  left  in  God's  hands.  Similarly, 
during  his  second  imprisonment,  he  received  telegraphic  news  ot 
Mrs.  Gandhi's  serious  illness,  and  was  urged  even  by  the  visiting 
Magistrate  to  pay  his  fine  and  so  become  free  to  nurse  her.  Again 
he  refused,  declining  to  be  bound  by  private  ties  when  sueh  action 
would  probably  result  in  weakening  the  community  of  whioh  hA 
was  the  stay  and  the  inspiration.  And  although  after  his  release 
and  his  subsequent  re-arrest,  he  oould  have  secured  indefinite  post'' 
ponement  o{  the  hearing  of  his  case,  so  that  he  might  nurse 
Mrs.  Gandhi  back  to  health  after  a  serious  operation,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  that  the  Transvaal  Government  were  anxious  to  see  him  back 
again  in  gaol,  he  hastened  to  the  Transvaal  from  Natal,  leaving 
Mrs.  Gandhi,  for  aught  be  knew  to  the  contrary,  on  her   deathbed. 


Yet  he  Is  a  devoted  husband  and  father,  and  is  intensely 
attached  to  children.  Indeed,  he  is  never  happier  than  when  with 
little  children.  His  sense  of  duty  was  never  more  strikingly 
demonstrated  than  when  be  set  out,  on  that  fateful  morning  in 
February,  1908,  to  fulfil  his  pledge  lo  the  Transvaal  Government 
that  he  would  undertake  voluntary  registration.  He  knew  that 
owing  to  a  misunderstanding,  whioh  even  his  lucidity  and  per- 
suasiveness oould  not  overcome,  a  small  section  of  the  community 
had  been  renders  i  bitterly  hostile  to  him,  and  that  his  future 
assailant  was  at  that  moment  in  his  office  and  waiting  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  physical  attack,  which  oould  only  be  efieoted  in  the 
open  street.  Mr.  Gandhi  had  no  thought  of  seeking  police  protec- 
tion against  a  compatriot,  but  walked  straight  to  the  Begistration 
Office,  and  on  the  way  the  expected  attack  was  delivered.  Bleeding 
irom  open  wourids  and  in  the  greatest  pain,  he  was  taken  to  the 
Bev  J.J.  Doke's  house,  but  before  he  would  permit  the  doctor  to 
etitoh  up  his  face,  whioh  was  badly  gashed,  he  insisted  upon 
completing  the  form  of  application  for  voluntary  registration  in 
the  presence  of  the  Beeistrar  of  Asiatics,  giving  full  details  as  to 
identity,  like  the  least  of  his  followers— Mr.  Gandhi  has  always 
steadfastly  refused,  either  within  or  outside  of  prison,  to  avail 
himself  of  any  privilege  that  is  not  accorded  to  the  humblest  of 
his  countrymen — and  then  permitted  his  wounds  to  be  sewn  up 
without  availing  himself  of  an  aoEesthetio.  That  same  day,  though 
tossing  feverishly  upon  a  sick- bad,  he  issued  the  following  manifesto 


^  AEPBNXUX  II 

to  the  Indian  ootnmubity,  which  had  for  ihe  moment  been  la&eit 
abaok  by  the  Buddeness  of  the  »tB»uli  aod  by  a  series  of  foolish 
etiore  on  the  part  of  the  rFgisiration  offioiale  ;  — 

"  Those  who  have  committed  the  aot  did  not  know  what  they 
were  doiog.  They  ibougbi  that  1  was  dning  whac  was  wtoog. 
fChe'y  have  had  their  redress  id  the  only  maQner  cbey  know.  I, 
therefore,  request  that  no  steps  be  taken  against  them, 

"  Seeiug  that  the  assault  was  committed  by  a  Mahomedan  or 
Mahomedans,  the  Hmdus  might  probaoly  feel  hurt.  If  so,  ihey 
would  put  themselves  in  the  wrung  before  ibe  world  aod  their 
Maker.  Bather  let  the  blood  f'pilt  today  cement  tbe  two  oom- 
munitiea  ludiseolubly— such  is    my    heartfelt    prayer.     May    Qod 

grant  it  I The  spirit  of  passive  resietanoe  rightly  UDdetstood 

phould  make  the  people  fear  none  and  aothiag  but  God — no 
cowardly  fear,  therefore,  should  deter  the  vast  m»iority  of  sober* 
piinded  Indians  from  doing  their  auiy,  Tbe  promise  of  repeal  of 
the  Act,  against  voluntary  registration,  having  been  given,  it  is 
the  sacred  duty  of  every  true  Indian  to  help  the  Qovernment  and 
the  Colony  to  the  uttermost." 

To  assume  responsibilities,  to  recognise  obligations,  was  always 
Mr.  Gandhi's  main  thought'  in  his  relations  with  the  European 
colonists  of  South  Africa  ;  for  he  knew  that  the  oompletest  rights 
cannot  oe  availed  of  by  uudevelopej  aud  irrespousiole  people,  Henoe 
his  offers,  on  behalf  of  the  community,  of  ambulance  and  stretcher- 
bearer  corps,  his  desire  to  afford  the  Ooveroment  and  Municipal 
authorities  the  utmost  help  at  all  times  lu  ibe  proper  conduct  of 
public  nfiairs  and  the  governance  and  uplifting  of  the  Indian  oum- 
munit'y.  He  always  felt  that  the  only  possible  road  to  progress 
was  by  compelling  the  European  colonists  to  reocgnise  the  real 
Worth  and  sterlingness  of  character  of  his  compacriocs  and  a  deep- 
seited  desire  to  secure  mutual  respect  was  at  the  bottom  of  his 
action  in  advising  his  fellow-countrymen  to  continue  the  struggle 
(or  Ihe  preservation  of  their  manhood, 

Mr,  Gandhi  will  not  hesitate,  when  necessary,  to  set  himself 
against  the  opinion  of  many  of  his  couocrymeo  or  bjldly  to  deulare 
whose  is  the  responsibility  for  any  cecognised  evil.  Indeed  his 
general  attitude  may  be  briefly  summed  up  in  the  fallowing  state- 
ments he  ouce  made  to  the  writer  ;"  Most  religious  men  I  have 
met  are  politicians  in  disguise  ;  I,  however,  who  wear  the  guise  of 
a  politioian,  am  at  heart  a  religious  man," 

HINDU-MUSLIM  BBOTHEBHOOD 

So  far  as  the  Indian  community  itself  was  oonoerned, 
Mr.  Gandhi  had  appointed  for  himself  one  supreme  task — to  bring 
Hindus  and  Mahomedans  together  and  to  make  them  realise 
that  they  were  one  brotherhood  and  sons  of  the  same  Mothecland. 


His  attitude  as  a  Hindu  towards  Mahomedans  is  well  defined 
in  the  iollowing  Utter  addressed  by  him  to  a  Mahomedan 
oocrespondeDt : — 

I  never  realise  any  distinotioa  between  a  Hiudu  and  a 
Mahomedan.     To  my  mind    both  are    sons    of    Mother    India,     1 

maovi  that  Hindus  are  in  a  numerioal  majority  aud  that  they  are 
believed  to  be  mora  advanced  in  knowledge  and  eduoacion.  Aooord- 
iDgly,  they  should  be  glad  to  give  way  so  muoh  the  more  to  their 
Mahomedan  brethren.  As  a  man  of  truth,  I  honestly  believed 
ihat  Hindus  should  yield  up  to  the  Mahomedans  what  the  latter 
desire,  and  they  should  rejoice  in  so  doing.  We  can  ezpeoc  unity 
only  if  suoh  mutual  large-heariedDess  is  displayed.  When  the 
Hindu  and  Mahomedans  act  towards  eaoh  other  as  blood-brothers, 
then  aloue  oan  there  be  unity  ;    then    only    oan    we    hope    for    the 

-dawn  of  India." 

And  as  has  already  besn  seen,  Mr,  Gandhi  is  prepared  to  shed 
his  blood  in  order  that  the  bonds  of  Hindu-Mabomedan  brother- 
■hood  might  be  the  more  firmly  cemented. 

OHIVALKY 

His  chivalry  is  at  once  the  admiracioa  of  his  friends  aud 
JoUowers  and  the  oonfusion  of  enemies.  A  telling  example  of  this 
was  given  when,  in  October.  1908,  together  wish  a  number  of 
compatriots,  be  mas  arrested  and  chxrirged  at  Vulksruet,  the 
TrAHsvatl  border  town.  Mr.  Giodhi  then  gave  tbe  following 
-evidence  o;)  behalf  of  his  feiiow-oountrymen  whom  he  was  defend- 
ing, and  though  he  was  not  called  upon  t^  make  these  admis- 
BioDs :  — 

"  Ho  t  lok  the  sole  responsibilitv  for  having  advised  them  to 
•enter  the  Cilouy.  They  had  largely  been  inflaeaoed  by  his  advice, 
though,  no  doubt,  they  haij  used  their  own  judgment,  he  thought 
that,  in  giving  that  advice,  he  had  consulted  the  beat 
luterests  of  the  State.  He  asked  tbe  accused  to  enter  at  a  public 
-meeting  and  iodividually.  They  probably,  at  that  lime,  had  no 
idea  of  entering  the  Colony,  excfpt,  perhaps,  one  of  them.  He 
would  certainly  admit  that  he  haa  assisted  the  accused  to  enter. 
He  admitted  aiding  and  abetting  them  to  enter  the 
Xranavaal.  He  was  quite  prepared  to  sufier  the  oouaequenoe  of 
his  action,  as  he  always  had  been. 

Later,  when  giving  evidence  on  his  own  behtlf,  he  said  :— 5 

"  In  oonneotiou  with  my  refusal  to  produce  my  registration 
certificate  and  to  give  thumb-impressions  or  fiager-impreasions  ; 
I  think  that  as  an  officer  of  this  Court,  I  owe  an  explanation. . 
There  have  been  difEere'noea  between  the  Government  and  British 
Indians,  whom  I  represent  as  Secretary  of  the  British  Indian 
Aesooiation,  over  the  Asiatic  Act,   Ko,  2    of    1907,  and    after    due 


48  4FPBHQIX4IA 

delibetatioD,  I  took  upon  myself  the  respoiiBibilit;  of  advising  my 
oountrymen  not  to  submit  to  the  primary  obligation  imposed  by 
the  Aot,  but  still,  as  law-abiding  eubjeota  of  the  Btatet  to  aooept 
its  sanctions.  Sightly  or  wrongly,  in  common  with  .other 
Aaiatios,  I  oonsidet  that  the  Aot  in  question,  among  other  things, 
ogende  our  oonsoienoe,  and  the  only  way,  I  thought,  as  I  still' 
thiuk,  ihe  Asiatics  could  show  their  feeling  with  regard  to  it  was 
to  incur  its  penalties.  And  in  pursuance  of  tbac  policy,  I  admit 
that.  I  have  advised  the  accused  who  have  preceded  me  to  refuse 
snbmiesioQ  to  the  Aoi,  as  also  the  Act  36  of  1908,  seeing  that  in 
(he  opinion  of  British  Indians,  full  relief,  that  was  promised  by  the 
Government,  has  not  been  granted.  I  am  now  before  the  Court  to 
suffer  the  penalties  that  may  be  awarded  me." 

And  when  be- was  next  sentencecl,    Mr,    Q-aadhi  made  the  fol' 
lowing  declaration ; — 

"  It  is  my  misfortune  that  I  have  to  appear  before  the  Court 
for  the  same  ofienoe  the  second  time.  I  am  quite  aware  that  my 
offence  is  deliberate  and  wilful,  I  have  honestly  desired  to  examine 
my  conduct  in  the  light  of  past  experience,  and  I  maintain  the 
conclusion  that,  no  matter  what  my  countrymen  do  or  think,  as  a 
citizen  of  the  State  and  as  a  man  v?ho  respects  consaienoe  above 
everything,  I  must  continue  to  incur  the  penalties  so  long  a» 
justioe,  ae  I  conceive  it,  has  not  been  rendered  by  the  State  to  & 
poriibn  of  its  citizens.  I  consider  myself  the  greatest  offender  in 
the  Asiatic  struggle,  it  the  conduct  that  I  am  pursuing  is  held  to 
be  reprehensible,  I,  therefore,  regret  that  I  am  being  tried  under 
a  clause  which  does  not  enable  me  to  aek  for  a  penalty  which  some- 
of  my  fellow-objeotorsMreceivi'd,  but  I  ask  ynn  to  impose  on  me  the 
lightest  penalty." 

Thus,  Mr.  Gandhi  indicated  his  willingness  to  become  a 
passive  resister  even  agairst  his  own  countrymen,  if  need  be,  and 
his  anxiety,  like  the  Greek  hero  who  rushed  into  the  fray  and 
found  death  by  gathering  into  his  own  breast  the  spears  of  the 
enemy,  to  bring  salvation  to  his  people  by  accepting  ihe  fullest 
responsibility  and  the  heaviest  penalties.  Even  whilst  in  gaol,  he 
was  a  passive  resister  ;  for  he  declined  to  eat  the  special  food  pro- 
vided for  him  until  his  Indian  fellnw-prisoners  were  given  a  more 
suitable  diet,  and  be  deliberately  starved  himself  upon  one  wretch- 
ed meal  a  day  for  six  werks,  until  the  auihorities  were  obliged  to- 
promise  a  modified  diet  scale  for  Indian  priscnerp,  a  prrmise  which 
they  later  fulfilled— for  the  worse. 

Mr    Gandhi  put  his  thought  on  the  meaning    of  passive  resist- 
ance concisely  and  in  a  direct  form,  when  be  addressed  ihe  follow- 
ing exhortation  to  the  Transvaal  Tamil  oommuDity  : — 

"Hemember  that  we  are  descendants  of  Frabladand  Sudhanva, 
both  passive,  resisters   of  the   purest   type.     Tbey   disregarded  tha^ 
dictates  even  of  their  parents   when  tbey    were  asked  to  deny  God, 


APPBEOIATIONS  iw^ 

tEhey  euSeced  extreme  torture  rather  than  infliot  sufieribg  on  their 
perBeoutors.     We  in  the    Traogvaal   are  being  oalled  upon  to  deny 
God,  ia  that  we  are  required  to  deny   our  manhood,   go  baok  upon 
our  path,  and  aacept  an   insult   to  our   nation.     Shall  we,    in  the- 
present  orisis,  do  less  than  our  forefathers  ?  " 

HIS  DEEP  SPIRITUALITY 

His  simplioicy  is  extreme.  He  ia  a  devoted  followsr  of  Tolstoy 
and  Buskin  in  their  appeal  for  simplar  life,  and  himself  lives  the 
life  of  an  asoetio,  eating  the  simplest  fruits  of  the  earth,  sleeping, 
of  len  on  a  piece  of  sacking  on  the  bare  earth  in  the  open  air,  and 
he  oarea  nothing  for  personal  appearance.  He  has  reduced  himself 
to  a  ooodition  of  voluntary  poverty,  and  he  has  entirely  abandoned' 
the  praotice  of  law  believing  that  he  cannot  oonsistently  obtain  his 
livelihood  from  a  profession  that  derives  its  sanction  from  physical 
foroe.  He  acknowledges  no  binding  ties  of  kin  or  custom,  but  only 
of  the  obligation  of  his  own  conscience.  Bam  Krishna  tested  hia 
freedom  from  oaste-prejudioe  by  sweeping  out  a  pariah's  but:  with 
his  own  hair,  Mohandas  Gandhi  has  tested  his  by  tending  the 
wounds  of  t\  Babu  savage  with  his  own  hands.  With  him  the 
spirit  of  religion  is  ev&rything^  -  the  world  and  its  opinion 
nothing.  He  does  not  know  how  to  distinguish  Hindu  fromi 
Mahomedan,  Christian  from  infidel.  To  him  all  alike  are 
brotrfaers,  fragments  of  the  Divine,  fellow-spirits  struggling  for 
expression.  All  he  has,  he  gives.  With  him  self-surrSnder  and 
absolute  saorifloe  are  demands  of  his  very  nature.  His  deep  spiri- 
tuality influences  all  around,  so  that  no  man  dares  to  commit  evil 
in  his  presence.  He  lives  in  the  happiness  of  his  friends,  but  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  create  a  condition  of  spiritual  unrest  in  them 
wheti  he  conoeives  it  his  duty  to  point  out  the  right  and  condemn 
the  wrong.  He  cannot  condone  falsehood,  but  he  reproves  and 
rebukes  lovingly.  Indeed,  love  is  his  only  weapon  against  evil.  He 
sees  God  in  every  living  thing,  and  therefore  loves  all  maukind 
and  the  whole  animal  world.  He  is  strictly  vegetarian,  not  because 
of  orthodoxy,  but  because  he  cannot  cause  the  death  of  any 
creature  and  because  he  believes  that  life  is  of  God,  In  faith  he  ia 
probably  nearer  in  touch  with  pure  Jainism  or  Buddhism  than  anj 
other  creed,  though  no  formal  creed  can  really  hold  him.  To  him 
all  is  God,  and  from  that  reality  he  deduces  his  whole  line  of  oon- 
duot.  Pi^haps,  in  this  generation,  India  has  not  produced  such  a 
noble  man— saint,  patriot,  statesman  in  one.  He  lives  for  God 
and  for  India.  His  one  desire  is  to  see  unity  amongst  his  fellow- 
oonntrymen.  His  every  endeavour  in  South  Africa  was  direoted 
tn  showing  the  possibility  bt  Indian  national  unity  and  the  linea 
Upon  which  the  national  edifice  should  be  ooostruoted.  His  win- 
ning manners,  pleasant  smile  and  refreshing  candour  and 
originality  of  thought  and  action  mark  him  out  as  a  leader  of  men. 
But  those  who  know  him  bejt  recognise  in  him  the  religious 
teaoher,  the' indicator  of  God,  the   inspiring   example  of  "  a  pure,'. 


4*  APPENDIX  U 

holy  eoul/'ashe  hae  been  called  by  the  Bev,  F.  B.  Meyer,  the 
modeety,  humility  and  Uuter  self-abnegation  of  whole  life  provide  a 
Ics'ton  for  all  who  have  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear  and  an  understands 
ing  epirit. 

How  he  starved  and'  fasted  and  eosght  to  purify  his  physioal 
na.ure,  is  to  rell  the  story  oi  a  man  to  whom  sell-sufidting  is  a  daily 
joy  and  delight.  And  he  did  not  subdue  his  body  at  the  oast  of  his 
flDiricuality,  as  is  the  habit  of  so  many  self-tormentors,  but  his 
Biul  grew  in  exultation  as  he  felt  himself  free  to  express  his  higher 
catur^  and  to  devote  greater  energy  to  the  service  of  his  country- 
man.  He  has  been  a  true  Bhakta,  a  devotee  of  the  most  earnest 
-and  bumble  type.  Praise  has  always  been  painful  and  distasteful 
-to  him,  though  he  has  been  lavish  of  it  as  regards  his  fellow- 
workers. 

Every  aatlon  of  his  life  has  been  performed  in  the  servibe  of 
■tha',  Divine  Essenoe  that  has  so  profoundly  permeated  his  own 
"beiiig— from  the  grinding  of  wheat  in  his  own  home  to  the  plant- 
ing of  fruit  trees,  the  teaching  of  little  children  and  the  serving 
-of  his  ciuotrymen  at  the  Kumbha  Mela  atHardwar, 

THE  PBRSONAIilTT  OF  THE  MAN 

But  it  is  the  majastio  peisonality  of  the  man  Mohandas 
Gandhi,  that  overshadows  his  comparatively  insignificant  phy- 
sique. One  feels  oneself  in  the  presence  of  a  moral  giant, 
whose  peilai-.d  soul  is  a  oleac,  still  Uke,  in  which  one  sees 
Truth  clearly  mirrored.  His  is  the  meekness  that  has  turned 
away  with  a  thousand  times,  and  that  has  disarmed  oppo- 
nents even  when  most  hostile.  Unarmed  for  war,  he  yet  has 
conquered  peace,  for  his  weapons  have  been  the  age-old  arms  of 
moral  fervour,  oalm  determination,  spiritual  exaltation,  saorifioe 
of  the  lower  selfi  service  of  his  fellowmen,  lowliness,  steadfastness, 
anri  an  overwhelming  love  bestowed  equally  upon  every  living 
thiug.  A  movement  with  such  a  man  at  its  heart  could  not  but 
succeed,  and  so  the  Passive  Besistanoe  struggle  same  to  an  end 
and  freed  its  greatest  exponent  for  still  greater  service  on  a  wider 
stage,  Meanwhile,  he  has  fixed  the  lines  of  growth  of  his 
Dountrymen  in  youth  Africa,  indicated  the  path  and  means  of 
p'tiriutio  development  for  his  countrymen  in  the  Motherland, 
rallied  the  best  of  European  sentiment  to  the  South  African 
Indian  cause,  developed  the  possibilities  of  Passive  Besistanoe,  and 
added  yet  one  more  name  to  the  Golden  Scroll  of  those  who  have 
-deserved  well  of  their  country  and  of  mankind. 

Yet  this  is  not  the  whole  man,  Vou  cannot  say  this  is  he, 
that  18  he.  All  that  you  can  say  with  certainty  is  that  he  is  here, 
he  is  there.  Everywhere  his  influence  reigns,  his  authority  rules, 
his  elusive  personality  pervades  ;  and  this  must  be  so,  for  it  is  true 
-of  all  great  men  that  they  are  inoaloulable,  beyond  definition. 
They  parliake  of  the  nature  of  the  Illimitable  and  the  Eternal  from 


APPBfliqiATIO^S  45- 

irhich  they  have  sprung  and  to  which  they  ara  bound.  With  their 
teeli  ficm-aet  on  earth  and  their  handa  amongst  the  stare,  they  ara 
pointers  of  the  way  to  those  who  searob,  eooouragera  ot  the  laint 
and  weary,  inspirera  of  thoae  breathing  in  deep  draughta  of  hope, 

MB,  K.  NATARAJAN 

The  twoqaestiona  which  made  Mahatma  Gandhi  start  non-oo. 
operation  were  the  Rowlait  Act  and  the  Khilafat,  The  Government 
agree  with  him  in  both.  lo  oocatitutionaily  governed  oonntrieS- 
the  Opposition  Leader,  whose  policy  on  two  suoh'  capital  questions- 
was  accepted  by  Government,  would  as  a  matter  of  course  be" 
put  in  charge  of  ihe  Goveromeni.  A  bureaucracy,  however, 
can  only  imprison  him.  The  bureaucracy  accepts  new  ideas 
when  it  can  no  longer  oppose  them  but  punishes  the  promulgator 
for  disturbing  it.  The  Indian  Government  cannot  tolerate  tali 
poppies.  The  Montagu  reforms  have  not  altered  this  one  bit  and 
that  is  the  ooncluaive  condemnation  ;  my  objection  to  the  system 
is  not  so  much  that  it  has  failed  in  this  or  that  branch  of  ad- 
ministration, but  that  in  its  total  and  ioevitable  incidence  it- 
oondemna  our  soul  to  a  stinted  aimless  life.  The  remedy  is  a  onm- 
plete  ohaoge  of  eystem  to  complete  responsible  Government,  The 
oouversion  of  the  present  system  can  be  carried  out  only  by  a 
plan  steadily. and  preeistently  worked  upon.  Suoh  a  scheme  will 
be  shortly  placed  before  the  country.  Non-co-operation  by  itself 
is  not  enough.  It  is  like  one  who  has  voluntarily  renounced  the 
tise  of  one  of  his  limbs.  We  should  study  the  system  not  only  in 
its  weak  points  but  also  its  strong  ones,  Violence:  is  not  force;. 
ESeotive  strength  always  implies  perfeoi^  non-violence.  The  Mabat- 
ma's  greatest  contribution  to  humanity  is  the  application  which 
he  has  elaborated  of  the  grand  principle  of  ahimsa  to  the  region 
ol  politics. — (After  Mr.  Gandhi's  arrest  ;  in  the  "Bombaj^-- 
Chronicle.") 

MB3.  8AE0JINI  NAIDU 

A  convict  and  a  orimiual  in  the  eyes  of  the  Law  I  Nevertheless 
the  entire  Court  rose  in  an  act  of  spontaneous  homage  when 
Mahatma  Gandhi  entered — a  frail,  serene,  indomitable  figure  in  a. 
ooaree  and  scanty  loinoloth,  aooompanied  by  his  devoted  disciple 
and  fellow-prisoner,  3hankerlal  Banker. 

"  So  you  are  seated  liear  me  to  give  me  your  support  in  case  I 
break  down,"  he  jested,  with  that  ha^py  laugh  of  his  which  seems 
to  hold  all  the  undimmed  radiance  of  the  world's  childhood  in  ita 
depths.  And  looking  round  at  the  hosts  of  familiar  faces  of  men 
and  women  who  bad  travelled  far  tocfier  bim  a  token  of  ibeir  love, 
he  added,     "  This  is  like  a  family  gaiber;rg  and  not  a  law  court."" 

A  thrill  of  mingled  ftar,  pride,Jicpe  ard  anguish  ran  through 
the  crovfded  itall  when  ibe  Jipdee  ro<  k  his  Beat— an  admirable 
judge  deFerving  of  cur  praise  alike  for  his  brave. and  resolute  sense 
of  duly,  his  flawlfSB  courtesy,  his  just  perception  of  a  unique  occa- 
sion and  bis  fine  tribute  to  a  unique  personality. 


46  AFPBNDIX   II 

The  strADge  (rial  proceeded  and  as  I  listened  to  the  immortal 
worda  that  flowed  with  prophetic  fervour  (torn  the  lips  of  my  belov- 
ed master,  my  thoughts  sped  across  the  centuries  to  difierent  land 
and  difterenc  age  when  a  similar  drama  was  enacted  and  another 
divine  and  gentle  teaober  was  oruoified,  for  spreading  a  kindred 
gospel  with  a  kindred  courage.  I  realised  now  that  the  lowly  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  oradled  in  a  manner  furniebed  the  only  true  parallel 
in  history  to  this  sweet  invincible  apostle  of  Indian  liberty  who 
loved  humanity  with  surpassing  compassion  and  to  use  his  own 
beautiful  phrase,  "approached  the  poor  with  the  mind  of  the  poor." 

The  most  epic  event  of  modern  times  ended  quicklyi 

The  pent-up  emotion  of  the  people  burst  in  a  storm  of  sorrow 
as  a  long  slow  procession  moved  cowards  him  in  a  mournful 
pilgrimage  of  farewell,  clinging  to  the  hands  that  had  toiled  so 
incessantly,  bowing  over  the  feet  that  had  journeyed  so  continuously 
in  the  service  of  his  country. 

.In  the  midst  of  all  this  poignant  scene  of  many-voiced  and 
myriad-hearted  grief  he  stood,  untroubled,  in  all  his  transcendent 
implioity,  the  embodied  symbol  of  the  Indian  Nation — its  living 
sacrifice  and  sacrament  in  one. 

They  might  take  him  to  the  utmost  ends  of  the  earth  but  hie 
destinatiou  remains  unchanged  in  tha  hearts  of  his  people  who 
are  both  the  heirs  and  the  stewards  of  his  matchless  dreams  and 
his  matchless  deeds. — [Contributed  to  the  "  Bombay  Ohronicle" 
aoon  after  Mr,  Gandhi's  trial.) 

BABU  DWIJENDRANATH  TAGOKE 

Let  critics  of  Mahatma  Qandhi  then  look  to  history  before 
they  condemn  him  for  crying  to  bring  this  much- belauded  Modern 
Civilisation  down  to  the  common  staicing  point  of  all'grbat  ctvili- 
sations,  We  are  at  dawn  of  a  New  Era,  and  Mahatma  Gandhi  is 
the  one  leader  who  shows  to  us  the  right  path.  He  at  least  is 
watering  the  roots,  while  all  others  who  try  co  keep  alive  the 
Civilisation  of  the  Western  nations  a'.-e  like  foolish  gardeners  who 
lavish  water  on  cbe  withering  leaves  of  a  dying  tree  and  never  think 
of  watering  its  roots. — (Young  India.) 

TBE  GEALLENOE—fhOrnnO'S) 

Here  is  a  man  of  whom  all  those  who  know  him  testify  that 
he  is  singularly  Christ-like,  one  who  has  based  his  whole  position 
upon  the  ultimate  supremacy  of  moral  over  physical  foroe, 
one  ot  whom  the  worse  that  can  be  said  is  ti^at  he  is  a 
visionary  whose  dreams  oould  not,  in  the  present  state  of 
human  society,  be  realised.  Unpractical — "My  Kingdom  is  not 
of  this  world,"  an  agitator — "  He  stirreth  up  the  people" ; 
better  arrested — "  It  is  expedient  that  one  man  should  die  for  the 
people,"    We  have  read,  with  growing  oonviotion  of  the  parallelismi 


APPBSCUXIOtiS      ,  47 

^|he  attempts  of  the  Press  to  justify  out  G-overnment's  action  ;  and 
biiheFto  apart  from  the  mass  and  abuse  which  all  reliable  evidence 
<)f  the  Msthatma's  character  and  actions  shows  to  be  irrelevant, 
have  found  noching  which  could  not  have  been  written  with  equal 
■aoouraoy  by  an  apologias  for  Oiiphaa  or  Pilate.  And  the  result 
t)as  Riven  us  a  shook  the  mnre  unpleasant  because  hecei  also,  it  ia 
not  ihe  parcioular  wickedness  or  failure  of  any  one  individual, 
but  the  unchristian  quality  of  the  whole  system  that  is  revealed  i 
yfe  do  not  believe  that  any  special  persona  are  individually  tq 
blame,  it  is  simply  that  our  accepted  outlook  and  standards  have 
dome  into  ooufliot  with  a  singularly  pure  and  sincere  idealist.  We 
Aave  judged  him,  and,  in  doing  so,  fa^ave  condemned  ourselves. 


THE  NATION  (NEW  YORK) 

Oobsider   the  man.     In  the  space  of  a  few   years   he  has  done 
more  for  his  people   than   any  government   in  centuries.     He   has 
^een  the  bearer  of  new   hope  and  human  dignity    to   the  untouch- 
ables ;   he   has    been    the   weaver   of    bonds  of   unity  between  the 
Moslems  and  Hindus   whom  the   British  would  keep   asunder  ;  bei 
bas   fought   the  liquor  traffic   which   was  debasing    his     people,' 
itnd  the  infamous  opjum  monopoly  by  whicfa,  for  its  own  profit,  the 
British  Government  menaces  not  only  India  but  all  mankind.     He 
has  given   to   revolution    non-violent   instruments    which  promise 
the   release  of   humanity  from  the  seeming   necessity   of  wars   for 
freedom.     He  has  sincerely  preached  love  for  the  enemy.     Not  he, 
but   Lord  Beading  by  his  refusal  to  abandon  repression   prevented 
lihe   proposed  Bound  Table  Conference  which  might  have  furthered 
the  peaceful  settlement  of  grievances.     Bven  on  the  vexed  question; 
of  the   Cabinet,  we    believe  that   Gandhi's  voice   might  have   been] 
potent  in  persuadiog  his   Moslem    friends  to   grant  to  non-Moslemj 
qommunities  the  justice  they   seek   for   themselvesi   And  it  is  this! 
'hope   which   ihe   Briciah     Government    has    almost    shattered — i 
apparently  with  the  consent  of   those   British  liberals   who   would: 
approve  the   deportation  or   imprisonment   of  Gandhi   while    they| 
prattle    his    sainclinees,      Yet   that     hope    is     not    dead     while; 
'Gandhi's  spirit  is  powerful  in  India,    How  long  his  people  will  fol-' 
low  the  way  he  pointed  out  we   do   not   know  ;   already   there   are; 
-signs  of  revolc.     But  this  we  know.     If  the  Indian  pebple,  like  the 
oppressed  of  other  lands,  final);  sake  the  way  of  the  sword,  the  pri-? 
mary  blame  for  the  tragedy  that  will  follow  must  rest  not  on  those 
vjho  have  preached  freedom  and   justice  or  even  on  those  who  seek 
them  by   violence  but  on  these  who   have  made   violence  tlw   very 
^foundation  of  their  continuing  dominion  over  unwilling  subjects. 


M.  K.  GANDHI 

By  REV.  JOSEPH  DOKE 

WITB  A  FOREWORD  BY  LORD  AMPTBILL 

Tbis  is  a  cheap,  popular  edition  of  an  inBpiring  book 
(M.E.  Gandhi  ;  An  Indian  Patriot  in  South  Africa)  written 
bj'  a  great  Chrietian  friend  and  admirer  of  Mr,  Gandhi.  The 
Bev,  Doke,  the  author,  gives  a  vivid  and  penetrating 
analjBis  of  Mr.  Gandhi's  charaoter  illustrated  with  ample 
instances  of  his  doings  in  South  Africa.  The  book  is  cram- 
med with  many  striking  passages  from  hia  utterances  on 
various  subjects,  besides  many  nn  intimate  description  of 
dramatic  incidents  narrated  with  warmth  aqd  colour. 
Price  Be.  1.    To  Subscribers  of  the  "Indian  TJevieM,"  4s.  18. 


HIND  SWARAJ 

OR  THE  INDIAN  HOME  RULE 

By  Mr.  M.  K.  GANDHI 

It  is  certainly  my  good  fortune  that  tbis  booklet  of  mitie 
i8  receiving  wide  attention.  *  ^  *  In  my  opinion  it 
is  a  bock  which  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  a  child.  It 
teaches  the  gospel  of  love  in  the  place  of  that  of  hate.  It 
replaces  violence  with  self-sacrifice.  It  pits  soul  force  against 
brute  force.  It  has  gone  through  several  editions  and  I 
commend  it  to  those  who  would  cara  to  read  it,  I  withdraw 
nothing  except  one  word  >f  it,  and  tliat  in  deference  Co  a 
lady  friend.— (yoMJig  India,   2Sth  January,  1921.) 

A  CHEAP,  POPULAR  EDITION. 
Price  8  As.  To  Subscribers  of  the  "Indian  Review,"  6  As, 


The  INDIAN  PROBLEM 

BY  Mr.  G.  F.  ANDREWS 

INDIAN  INDEPENDENCE 

INDIA  AND  THE  EMPIRE 

LETTERS  ON  NON-CO  OPERATION 

TUE  SWADESHI  MOVEMENT 

NATIONAL  EDUCATION 

THE  DRINK  EVIL 

THE  OPIUM  TRADE  OP  INDIA. 

1^"  All  in  one  volume,  with  a  nice  frontispiece. 

Price  Re.  One 

To  Subscribers  of  the  "Indian  Review,''  As.  12. 

G.  A.  Katesan  &  Co.,  Publishers,  Madras. 


INDEX 


Page 


Page 


Abdul  Bari,  Lettet  to 
Address       lo       indeotured 
lodiaDS 

-Social  Service  Con- 


745 


ferenoe 


r-ihe    Tamil    Com- 
munity 

Advice    10    Soulh    Aitican 

Indians 

Students 

After  the  Aireat 
Ahimsa 

Doctrine  of       269, 

Ahmedabad     Gongiess 

Speech 

Mill  bands 

Speech  at 

Ajmal  Khan,  Letter  to     ... 

-Arrest  of  the 

Alliihabad,  Speech  at 
Amritear  Appeals,  The 
Anarobioal  dimes,  on 
Andcens,  Introduction  by,, 

Letter  to  Mr. 

Apology,  the  All  Brothers'. 


397 

91 

117 
233 
735 
282 
320 


Appeal    to    the   Viceroy  on 

Bowlatt  Hills 
The      Women    of 

India 

Young  Bengal    .. 

Appreciations  appx, 

After  the 

Arrest,  Message  after 

of  the  Ali  Brothers. 

The 


650 
120 
473 
737 
601 
443 
484 
229 
xiii 
748 
S85 

450 

597 
565 
17 
735 
468 
601 
735 


Ar;a  Bamaj,  \rark  of 
the  ...  270 

Attitude  towards  the  assail- 
ants ,,.     54 

B 

Bangalore    Address,    Beply 

to  ...  241 

Bardoli — Civil  Disobedienoe 

in  ...  666 
Decisions,  in  defence 

of  ...  689 

B»rDeB,    Gandhi    and    Sir 

George.  ...  123 

Before  the  Court  in  1907...     50 

In  1913  ...     66 

Beginning  of  the  Struggle, 

The  ...       1 

Behar,  Labour  Trouble  in  193 
Beoarea  Hindu  University 

Speech  ...  249 

Inoident,  The       ..  258 

Bengal,  Appeal  to  Young...  565 
Besant  iMrs.)  and  Gandhi.  258 
Bombay  Conference  ...  657 

Reception  in       ...  110 

Riots  ...  617 

Riots  ;  Appeal     to 

00- workers  ...  628 

Riots:    Appeal    to 

Hoolegans  ...  625 

Riots  ;  Message  to 

the  citizens  ...  828 

Riots,  Moral  Issue.  633* 

Riots  ;    Peace     at 

last  ...  63L 


INDEX 


Page 

Bombay  Riots  :    the   St»te- 
ment  ...  617 

Bpeeoh  ...Hi 

Boycott  of  the  CouDOila    ...  531 
Bciiisli  CuizeDsbip,   Duties 
ot  ...  225 


Cfohslis,  4,  M.  ...  119 

Celibacy,  vow  ot  ...  322 

Champaran  Agrarian  Bill...  195 

Enquiry  ...   193 

Gbaari  Cbaura,    the    crime 

of  ...  679 

Cbelmsford,  Tjetter  to  Ijord.  426 

jOpen  Letter  to    ...  511 

Cbild  Marriage  ...  416 

Citizen    rights     for     South 

African  Indians  ...     77 

Civil  Disobedience  ...  636 

In  Bardoli  ...  666 

—- — ^— Ptepuraiions  for  ...  660 
Civil  Service,  lL4ians  in  ...  439 
Class  Legislation  ...     39 

Colour  Legislation,    Bepeal 

Of  ...     31 

Commission,  Another  S.  A.  129 
Compartments,  Doocrine  of,  437 
Confession  of  Paith,  A  ...  769 
Congress  Committee,  Delhi 

BesolatioDs  ...  695 

Demands  ...  661 

Message  to  the    ...  185 

— — Keporc  on    Punjab 

Disorders  ...  494 

—— Special,  Speech   at 

the,  ...  541 

-r—. — ^ — Speech     (ihmeda- 

bad)  ...  650 

-The Creed  of  the  ...  561. 

Connaught,  Optn   letter   to 

the  Duke  of  ...  569 

Co-operation, Moral  Basis  of.  293 
Counoilsi  Boyoott  of  the   ...  534 


Page- 

Courts  and  Schools  ...  530 

Covenant,  The   Meaning  of 
.  the  ...  210 

Con-protection  ...  811 

Protection  of  the        ...  407 

Creed  of  the  Congress,  the,  561 
Crewe,  Letter  to  Lord  ...  108 
Crime  of  Chauri  Chauta  ...'  679 
Critics,  Reply  to  ...  703 

D 

Death,  the  Fear  of  ...  823 

Delhi  Resolutions,  The  ...  695 
Deputation  to  Lord  Elgin,  43 
; — ^ — ^Belbome  •  ...     30 

Divine  Warning,  A  ...  720 

Docr.rine  of  Ahimsa.        269,  320 

Compartments    ...  437 

The  Sword,  The  ...  788 

Durban,  Farewell  Speech  at.    85 
Duties    of    British  Citizen- 
ship ...  225 
Duiiy  of  Title-holders         ...  537 

E 

Earlier  Indian  Speeches  ...  225 

Bconomio  v.  Moral  Pro- 
gress ...  286 

Education,  Faulty  System 
of  ...  '414 

,  Real  ...  234 

T  h  r  o  u  g  h     the 

Vernaculars.  327,  335 

Educational  Conference, 
Gujarat  ...  335 

System,  Defects  in 

our  ...  358 

Elgin,  Lord,  Deputation  to,     48 

Emigrants,  Indian  and 
European  ...  133 

Emigration,  Indian  Colo- 
nial ...  139 

Empire,  a  Service  to  the  ...  638 


IMDBX 


iif 


PAQB 

End  of   the    Kaica    Stiug- 

g'e  ...  217 

Gnglaod,  Farewell  to        ...  109 
— ' Reoepfcion  in        ...  107 


Farevrel!  Address  at   Vera- 
1am  ...    89 

-^— Speeoh  at  Darbau.     85 

^Speech  at    Joban- 

iiesburg  ...     95 

-To  England         ...  109 

To         Indentured 

Indiana  ...     89 

—  — ^To  South  Afrioa  ...  102 

To  the  Tamil  Com- 

munity  ...     91 

Fearlessness,  Spirit  of      ...  266 

"Vow  ol  ...  326 

Fear  oi  Death,  the  ...   823 

Freedom  of  Opinion,  Mani- 
festo ...  606 
Freemasonry,  Political    ...  51S 


Gains  of  the  Passive  Resist- 

aooe  Struggle                   ...  188 

Gandhi  and  B.M.    Gorges,  61 

' and  Mr.  Irwin     ...  332 

-^— and     Sir      George 

Bvrnea                              ...  123 

Appreoiationsappx.  17 

Mr.,  South  African 

Papers  on                          ...  17 

—— Smuts  Agreement.  125 

Gandhi's    Addreps   to   liord 

Selborne                            ...  32 

— ChaUeage             ...  212 

— — Jail     Experiences, 

Third                                ...  167 

Beligion  appx      ...  1 

Statement            ...  735 

Ultimatum          ...  669 


FAQB 

Genesis  of   Passive  Besist- 

&noe  ...  18> 

GokbaIe«  late  Mr.  ...  211 

-^ Three  Speeches  on.  342 

Tilak  and   Mehta,  818 

Gokhale'a  pbrtiartt,  unveil- 
ing of  ...  3i3 

— Services   to  India  ...  217 

Gorges,    E,    U.    etnd     Mr. 

Gandhi  ...     61 

Govt,  of  India,  Iietter  to  ...  670 
Griat  Sentinel,   The         ...  607 

Trial,  The  ...  749 

Grievances  of  Indian  Settlers 

in  South  Africa  ...       1 

Gujarat   Educational   Gon- 

ferentie  ...  33S 

— Political      Confer- 
ence ...  872 

^ Babha  ...  197 

Gurubula,  The  ...  265 

Guzarat   Nalionnl    Univer- 
sity ...  ...  793 

H 

Handcuffs       ...  ...  171 

Hand-weaving  ...  329 

Hardinge's     Condition     o  f 

Abolition  of  Indenture  ...  136 
HazratMohani'S  Resolution  695 
355 
4  IB 


Hindi  and  Urdu 

Plea  lot 

Hindu-Mihomedan    Pro 

blem  ...  334 

Hindu- Moslem  Unity  ...  811 
Hindu'sra  ...  826 

Hindus  and  Mahomedans...  55 
Hindustani  and  English  ...  800 
Hindu  University  Speech  ;..  249 
Houoar  of  a  Satyagrahi     ...  220 

The  Prince  ...614 

How  to  Work  Ndc-Oo-opera- 

fion  ...  50T 

Hunger  Strike  ...  759 


IV 


INUBZ 


Page 


P  A6B 


"If  lam  Atrested  ...  726 

Imperial   Goofecenae  Reeo- 

iutioDs  ...  149 

lodeoture,     Abolition      of. 
Hardinge's  Condition    ...  136 

■ ■■ — system,    Iniquities 

of  ...  Hi 

IndeDtured    Indians,      Ad- 
dress to  ...     89 

. labour  ...  136 

Independence  BesolutioD ...  6SS 
India,  A  Lesson  to  ...  184 

And  the  Dominions.  131 

Is  and  must  be   non- 
violent ...  724 
Indian  and  European  Emi- 
grants ...  133 

Colonial  Emigration.  139 

Field  Ambulanoe    ...  109 

Imigralion     Amend- 
ment Bill  ...       1 

— Medioine  ...  788 

Merchants  ...  330 

Relief  Aot  ...     83 

Rights  in  the  Trans- 
vaal ...  125 

— — South         African 

League  112,  1-15 

Indians  and  Citizen  Bights,     77 

In  Civil  Service       ...    439 

In  South   Afrioa     ...  132 

In   the  Colonies      ...  131 

Industrial  TraininR  ...   271 

Iniquities  of  the  Indenture 

S^rstem  ...  144 

Interview  in  Jail  ...  742 

-      the       Gandhi — 

Beading  ...  579 

Irwio  3ind  Gandhi  ...  332 

Issue  at  stake,  The  ...     55 


Jaii  Experiences  ...  152 
Experiences    (First)  ...  152 


Jail  Experiences  (Second),   163 

Interview  in  ..  742 

Life  in  India  ...  759 

Pretoria  ...  169 

Jails,  Work  in  ...  763 
Johannesburg  Addrecse      91,  95 

Judgment,  The  ...  757 

K 

Kaira  and  Guzarat,  Appeal 
to  ...  i35 

Distress,  Statement 

on  the  ...  300 

People,  A  Tribute  to  ...  320 

Press  17 ote.  Reply   to...  311 

Question,  The     ...  196 

Reply  to  the    Commis- 
sioner ...  206 

Struggle,  End  of  the...  217 

Struggle,       the       Last 

Phase  ...  221 

The  Situation  in...  Iy6 

Karachi  Address,  Reply  lo...  263 
Kelkar's  Article,  Reply  to...  713 
Khilafat  Demands  ...  661 

Movementi    Why  I 

have  Joined  ...  491 

Question,   the  ...  487 

Wrongs,    the     Punjab 

and  ...  481 


Labour,  Bights  and  Duties 
of  ...  784 

Trouble  in  Behar...   193 

Language  for  India,  National  353 
Last     Phase,      the     Kaira 

Struggle  ...  221 

Lawyers  and  Non-Co-opera- 

tion  ...  536 

Legislation  Class  ...    89 

Lesson,  A,  to  India  ...  184 

Lessons  of  Passive   Resist- 
ance ...    175 


INDBX 


PAGE 

ILebter,  Open,  to  the  Dake  of 
Oonnaught  ...  569 

To        GoTernmaot 

of  India  ...  670 

— — To   Hakim    Ajmal 

Khan  ...  737 

To  H.  E.   the    Viceroy   666 

To  Lord  Chelmeford  ...  426 

To  Lord  Giewe  ...  108 

To  Moulana  Abdul  Hari  745 

— To  Mr.  Andrews         ...  748 

To  Urmila  Devi  ...742 

Xiteraiy  Bduoaiion  ...  413 

Loyalty    to    the     British... 
Empire  ...  233 

M 


Madras       Indian     South... 
Afiioao  League  112, 

Law  Dinner  Speech    ... 

Provinoial   Gonferenoe. 

Reception  in 

Speech  at.  446,  524 

-•Mafaomedans  and  Hindus...     55 

Malaviya  Conference 

<MaleKaon  Incident,  The    ... 
-Manifesto    on  Freedom    of 
Opinion 

To  the  Press 

Marriage  Question,  the     ... 

Maude,  Hon.  Mr, 

Mayavaram,  Speech 

Meaning   of   the  Covenant, 
The 

Imprisonments   ... 

IMedia  of  Instruction, Verna- 
cular 

Mehta,  Gokbale,  Tiluk  and. 

Message,  After  Arrest 

Message  to  Co-workers 

Of  the  Cbarka 

To  Bombay   Citizens. 

To  Kerala 

To  Madras  Satyagrahis 


115 
232 
131 
112 


657 
577 

606 
440 
61 
195 
238 

210 
759 

307 
818 
468 
732 
736 
463 
734 
462 


.. .     >  PAGE 

Message  to  Satyagrahis  ...  46S 

To  the  Congress  ...  180 

To  the  Country  ...  758 

TotheParsis  ...746 

Mill  hands,  Abmedabad  ...  420 

Miscellaneous  ...  769 

Miseiooaiy  Conference  ...  273 

Moplah  Outbreitk  ...  640 
Montagu-Cbelmsford 

Scheme  ...  437 
Memorial   to    Mr. 

appx  ...  10 
Moral  Basis  of  Co-operation,'  293 

N 

Natal    Indian    Association.     73 

Nine  o'clock  Bule  in  ...     13 

Natesan,  G.  A.  113.  115,  131 
National  dress  ...  332 

Language  for   India...  353 

Need  for  Humility,  The    ...  573 

■ Non-Co-operation       ...  526 

Neither  a  Saint  nor  a   Poli- 
tician ...  805 
Nellore     Provincial   Gonfe- 
renoe ...  131 
Nine  O'clock  Bule  in  Natal      13 
Non-Go-operation  ...  481 

and  Lawyers       ...  536 

and   Special     Con- 
gress ...  533 

,  How  to  Work    ...  507 

,  Is  it  Unoonstitn- 

tional  ...  529 

Need  for  ...  526 

Parents  and         ...  537 

Resolution  ...  541 


On  the  Eve  oi.  Arrest        ...  726 
Open  letrer  to  Lord  Chelms- 
ford ...  511 


<n 


iUhkt 


Paok 

OtS.itAi>6b,    f6aoe     Presei- 

tatien  ...     30 

Origia  of  the  Movement  in 
Sooth  Aftioa  ...   ISl 


PAOB:: 

PuDJtkb  Demands  ...  661 

-' Disorder  :  A  Pergonal 

Statement  ...  500 ' 

='^^— Disorders,     GoilgtGBt 

Bepoti  bn  ...  494 


Parents  and  Nfin-Cio-operA- 
tion 

t'arsiS,    Message  to  the     ... 

Passive  Bestetance 

' and  Saiyagraha  ... 

How        the      idea 

Originated     \ 

In  Tolstoy  Farm... 

Lessons  ol 

' Origin       of       the 

Movement  in  S,  A. 

■^ — '^^Bttnggle,  Gains  of 
the 

The  Genesis   of   ... 

■r Theory    and    Ptao- 

tioe  of 

The  Vow  of 

PSteleive  Besisters  in  the 
Tolstoy  Farm 

Pditriocism,  True 

Peace  Preservation  Ordin- 
anoB 

Plea  for  Hindi 

The  Soul,  A 

Politioal  Gonferenoe,  Guja- 
rat 

FfceniSLSonry 

Politics 

And  the  People 

Pretoria  jail 

Pcinoe,  Honour  the 

Prisoner,  A  Model 

Prohibited  L'terature,  Dis- 
tribution of 

Protection  of  the  Cow, 
The 

Public  Life,  Beward  of     ... 

Punjitb  and  Ehilafat  Wrongs. 481 


53» 

filabindranath    T  a  g  o  r  e, 

746 

Beply  to 

607 

179 

Kailway      BeStriotioda     iti 

&01 

Transvaal 

119 

tiitilways,  Third  Class  in... 

SOI 

179 

Bationale  of  Su£Eering,Tbe. 

774 

773 

iSeseption  in  Bombay 

110 

175 

In  England 

In  Maltas 

107 

tia 

181 

Reciprocity  between    India 

and  the  Dominions 

131 

188 

Becrtiiting,  Appeal  to  Kaira 

435 

182 

'-^ — " — For  the  War 

' ■ —  Objections  Answer- 

430 

776 

ed 

433 

199 

ttegifitration      of    Colonred 

Bervsots 

13 

183 

■^^~- Voluntary 

S4 

314 

Beligious   stud^ 

162 

Bepenl  of   Colour  Legislation     3 

30 

Seply  to  Critics 

703 

418 

Kaira  Press-note  ... 

211 

226 

— Karachi  AddteSs  ... 

263: 

LcrdBonaldshay... 

643 

372 

Babin  d  r  a  fl  ft  t  h 

515 

TagBte 

60^ 

329 

-' The  Commissioner 

.206 

238 

Rest  Cure,  A 

762- 

169 

Reward  of  Public  Life 

241 

614 

Bights  and  Duties 

336 

766 

^Of  Labour 

784 

Bobertson,  Sir  Benjamin  ... 

129 

466 

Bonaldsbltt,     Beply     to 

Lord 

642 

407 

Bound  Table  Conference  ... 

647 

241 

Bowlatt    Bills    and    Bfbtyft 

1.481 

graha 

'.  440 

INPWJI 


vi| 


PAQB 

■UqwUH  Billa,  AppeaJ'tp  tbs 
VioBtoy  ,^,  ^5Q 

Bales  and  Regulations  of 
Saiyagrahasrama    Appx.       5 


^^tyagraha  and  Duragraba,  171 
^— and  Passive  Besiat- 

anoe  ...  50J. 

• — • Oomnjittae  ...  466 

-^- Day  ...  454 

—'— Day  iu  Madras    ...  455 

^-" Pledge  ...   442 

and  Rowlatt  Bills.   440 

aacyagrafata  Sabha  ...  466 
Temporary  Suspen- 

8i<¥i  ...  479 
Satyagrahashrama  ...  316 
;  the  Bales  and  Begq- 

jlations  o!  appx,  ...       5 

Si«iyagrahi,  Honour  of  A  ...  220 

The  ...  470 

Satyagcahis,  Message  to    ...  460 
Sohools,  Courts  and  ...  520 

Selborne,  Lord,  Deputation 

tp  ...     30 

Servile,  A|  to  the  Empire...  538 
Seitlement,  the  ...     83 

Should   Indi^np    have    full 

Citizen  Bights  ...     73 

Simla  Visit,  The  ...  579 

Situation  in  Eaira,  the    ...  196 
SmuLs-Gmdhi  Agreement...  125' 

— : Interview  ...     80 

.Social  boycott  ...  802 

Laws.  Man- Made..  412 

Bervioe  ...  309 

Service  Conlereaoe.  397 

Solomoa  Commission)  The,     69 
Soul  force  and  Indian  Poli- 

tios,  on  ...  779 

V.  Physical  force...    180 

gouth  Africa,  Farewell  to  ...  102 
gouth  African  Commission,   129 


Page 

Boucb  Africjan  Indian  Ques- 
tion \       ...       1 

'"' Indians,  44vioe  to.   117 

Special  Congress,  Non-Go- 
operation  and 

Speech  ^t  the 

-■ Ahmedabad 

Allahabad 

Bombay 


Madras.  446, 

The   Special    Con- 
gress • 

Spinning  whe^l 

' Truth  of  the 

Spiritualising    the  Political 
Li/e 

Srinivasa  Sascri,   V.S. 

Statement  before  the  Court. 

StatementSon  the  Eaira  Dis- 
tress 

Oral 

.Written 

Strike,  Hanger 

Strikes 

Students,  Advice  to 

Suppressed   Ulasees   Confer- 
ence, Address  to 

Swadeshi 

Meaning  of 

-Vow  appx 


583 
541 
473 
443 
444 
521 


Vow  of 

Swaraj 

■«=•. — Demands 

In  one  year 

Is  the  Attempt  to  Win  It  721 

Ways  and  Meana        ...  432 


541 
610 

747 

243 
233 
749 

200 
749 
751 
759 
574 
233 

815 
273 
267 
12 
325 
374 
661 
548 


Tagore,  reply  to  Babindra- 
nath  ...  657 

Tamil  Community,  Address 
to  .„     91 

Studies,      My     (Mr. 

Gandhi's)  '   ...  173 


VIII 


INDEX 


FAGB 

Tax,  £  3,  Abolition  of  ..  83 
Temporary    SaspeDBioo     of 

the  Movement  ...  179 

The  Delhi  Inoident  ...  461 

Theory  and  Ptaotioe  of  Pae- 

Bive  BesiBtanoe  ...  776 

"The  Two  iDoompatibleB."  597 
Third  Clasa  in  Indian  Rail- 
ways ...  301 
Three  Speeohes  on  Gokhale.  242 
Trbbi  College,  Delhi  ...  788 
Tilak  ...  525 

And  Mehta,  Gokhale...  818 

Title-holdera,  Duty  of  The.  537 
"  To  Every   EnglJBhman  in 

India  "  553,  557 

TolBtoy       farm,       Passive 

Resistance  in  ...  773 

Top  heavy  Administration.  489 
Trade  Lioenses  Laws  ...  84 
Transvaal, Railway  Restrio- 

tioL'S  in  ...   119 

Tribute  to  Kaira  People   ...  230 
Truce    with    the     Govern- 
ment, A  ...     80 
Truth     of    the      Spinning 

Wheel  ...  747 

Truth,  Vow  of  ...  318 

U 

Unregistered    Newspapers, 

Ciroulating  ...  467 

Untouohability  ...  815 

Unveiling      of      Gokhale'a 
Portrait  ...  242 


Urdu  and  Hindi 
Urmila  Devi,  Letter  to 


FAGB 

...  355- 
...  742 


Vernaculars    as    Media    of 

InstruotioD  ...  SOT' 

Verulam,  Address  at  ...  89 
Vioeroy,  Letter  to  H.  E.  ...  666 
Vioeroy'a  Call  for  Oonoo  rd 

(Be  Kaira  Struggle)  ...  216- 
Violenoe  and  Non-violenoe.  593 
Voluntary  Registration  ...  554 
Vow  of  Celibacy  ...  822. 

Control       of       the.' 

Palate  ...  823 

^Fearlessness  ...  326 

Non-thieving  ...  324 

Passive  Resistance...  199 

Swadeshi  ...  325 

Truth  ...   318 


W 

Warning,  A  Divine  ...  720^ 

War,  Recruiting  for  ...  430 

"What  I  read"  ...  176 

"  Why   I   have   joined   the 

Khilafat  Movement "    ...491 

Bufier  ...   760- 

Womanhood,  on  ...  411 

Women  of  India,  Appeal  to 

the  ...  597 

Work  in  Jail  ,  ...  763- 


INDEX  FEINTED  AT  THE  MODEEN  PEINTIKG  WOBKB,  MADEA&. 


GANDHI :  HIS  LIFE  &  SPEECHES 


Hind  Swar&j  or  Indian  Home  Rule.  By  G^ndhL 
Cheap  popular  Edition.  As.  8.  To  Sub.   '  I.R.''  As.  6. 

M.  K.  Gttndhi  :  A  sketch  of  bis  life  and  career. 
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Gandfai'«  Speeches  and  Writines.  Third  Edition, 
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Question 
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on  inden- 
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Indians 
in  the 
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e  xp  e  r  i- 
enc e s  in 
South. 
Africa, 
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Tiounce- 
m  e  n  t  s 
o  u  the 
C  h  a  m  - 
p  a  r  a  H 
aadKhai- 
ra  affairs, 
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