MAHATMA

Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Volume 1 [1869-1920]

He is the One Luminous, Creator of All, Mahatma, Always in the hearts of the people enshrined, Revealed through Loot, Intuition, and Thought, Whoever knows Him, Immortal becomes.

By: D. G. Tendulkar

Illustrations collected and arranged by: Vithalbhai K. Jhaveri

Foreword by: Jawaharlal Nehru

First Edition: 15th August 1951

Printed & Published by:

The Publications Division

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting

Government of India, Patiala House

New Delhi 110 001

Foreword

NEARLY three and a half years have gone by since Gandhiji passed away. The manner of his death was the culmination and perfect climax to an astonishing career. Even during his life innumerable stories and legends had grown around him, and now he seems almost a legendary figure, one in the great line of India's sages and heroes and wise men. A new generation grows up to whom he is almost a name, a great name to be revered, but nevertheless a name. Within a few more years there will not be many left who have come in personal contact with him and had experience of that vivid, virile and magnificent personality. The legend will grow and take many shapes, sometimes with little truth in it. Succeeding generations will remember him and pay honour to him. As is India's way, we shall add him to our pantheon and celebrate the day of his birth and the day of his passing away. We shall shout jai when his name is mentioned and perhaps feel a little elated in the process and that we have done our duty to him.

What gods there are, I know not and am not concerned about them. But there are certain rare qualities which raise a man above the common herd and appear to make him as made of different clay. The long story of humanity can be considered from many points of view; it is a story of the advance and growth of man and the spirit of man, it is also a story full of agony and tragedy. It is a story of masses of men and women in ferment and in movement, and it is also the story of great and outstanding personalities who have given content and shape to that movement of masses.

In that story Gandhi occupies and will occupy a pre-eminent place. We are too near him to judge him correctly. Some of us came into intimate contact with him and were influenced by that dominating and very lovable personality. We miss him terribly now for he had become a part of our own lives. With us the personal factor is so strong that it comes in the way of a correct appraisal. Others, who did not know him so intimately, cannot perhaps have full realization of the living fire that was in this man of peace and humility. So both these groups lack proper perspective or knowledge. Whether that perspective will come in later years when the problems and conflicts of today are matters for the historian, I do not know. But I have no doubt that in the distant, as in the near future, this towering personality will stand out and compel homage. It may be that the message which he embodied will be understood and acted upon more in later years than it is today. That message was not confined to a particular country or a community. Whatever truth there was in it was a truth applicable to all countries and to humanity as a whole. He may have stressed certain aspects of it in relation to the India of his day, and those particular aspects may cease to have much significance as times and conditions change. The kernel of that message was, however, not confined to time or space. And if this is so, then it will endure and grow in the understanding of man.

He brought freedom to India and in that process he taught us many things which were important for us at the moment. He told us to shed fear and hatred, and of unity and equality and brotherhood, and of raising those who had been suppressed, and of the dignity of labour and of the supremacy of things of the spirit. Above all, he spoke and wrote unceasingly of truth in relation to all our activities. He repeated that Truth was to him God and God was Truth. Scholars may raise their eyebrows, and philosophers and cynics repeat the old question: what is Truth? Few of us dare to answer that question with any assurance and it may be that the answer itself is many-sided and our limited intelligence cannot grasp the whole. But, however limited the functioning of our minds may be or our capacity for intuition, each one of us must, I suppose, have some limited idea of truth, as he sees it. Will he act upto it, regardless of consequences, and not compromise with what he himself considers an aberration from it? Will he even in seareh of a right goal compromise with the means to attain it? Will he subordinate means to ends?

It is easy to frame this question, rather rhetorically, as if there was only one answer. But life is terribly complicated and the choices it offers are never simple. Perhaps, to some extent, an individual, leading his individual and rather isolated life, may endeavour with some success to answer that question for himself. But where he is concerned not only with his own actions but with those of many others, when fate or circumstance has put him in a position of moulding and directing others, what then is he to do? How is a leader of men to function? If he is a leader, he must lead and not merely follow the dictates of the crowd, though some modern conceptions of the functioning of democracy would lead one to think that he must bow down to the largest number. If he does so, then he is no leader and he cannot take others far along the right path of human progress. If he acts singly, according to his own lights, he cuts himself off from the very persons whom he is trying to lead. If he brings himself down to the same level of understanding as others, then he has lowered himself, been untrue to his own ideal, and compromised that truth. And once such compromises begin, there is no end to them and the path is slippery. What then is he to do? It is not enough for him to perceive truth or some aspect of it. He must succeed in making others perceive it also.

The average leader of men, especially in a democratic society, has continually to adapt himself to his environment and to choose what he considers the lesser evil. Some adaptation is inevitable. But as this process goes on, occasions arise when that adaptation imperils the basic ideal and objective. I suppose there is no clear answer to this question and each individual and each generation will have to find its own answer.

The amazing thing about Gandhi was that he adhered, in all its fullness, to his ideals, his conception of truth, and yet he did succeed in moulding and moving enormous masses of human beings. He was not inflexible. He was very much alive to the necessities of the moment, and he adapted himself to changing circumstances. But all these adaptations were about seeondary matters. In regard to the basic things he was inflexible and firm as a rock. There was no compromise in hirn with what he considered evil. He moulded a whole generation and more and raised them above themselves, for the time being at least. That was a tremendous achievement.

Does that achievement endure? It brought results which undoubtedly endure. And yet it brings some reaction in its train also. For people, compelled by some circumstance, to raise themselves above their normal level, are apt to sink back even to a lower level than previously. We see today something like that happening. We saw that reaction in the tragedy of Gandhi's own assassination. What is worse is the general lowering of standards, when Gandhi's whole life was devoted to the raising of these very standards. Perhaps this is a temporary phase and people will recover from it and find themselves again. I have no doubt that, deep in the consciousness of India, the basic teachings of Gandhi will endure and will afl'cct our national life.

No man can write a real life of Gandhi, unless he is as big as Gandhi. So we can expect to have no real and fully adequate life of this man. Difficult as it is to write a life of Gandhi, this task becomes far more difficult because his life has become an intimate part of India's life for half a century or more. Yet it may be that if many attempt to write his life, they may succeed in throwing light on some aspects of this unique career and also give others some understanding of this memorable period of India's history.

Tendulkar has laboured for many years over this book. He told me about it during Gandhiji's lifetime and I remember his consulting Gandhiji a few months before his death. Anyone can see that this work has involved great and devoted labour for many long years. It brings together more facts and data about Gandhi than any book that I know. It is immaterial whether we agree with any interpretation or opinion of the author. We are given here a mass of evidence and we can form our own opinions. Therefore, I consider this book to be of great value as a record not only of the life of a man supreme in his generation, but also of a period of India's history which has intrinsic importance of its own. We live today in a world torn with hatred and violence and fear and passion, and the shadow of war hangs heavily over us all. Gandhi told us to cast away our fear and passion and to keep away from hatred and violence. His voice may not be heard by many in the tumult and shouting of today, but it will have to be heard and understood some time or other, if this world is to survive in any civilized form.

People will write the life of Gandhi and they will discuss and criticize him and his theories and activities. But to some of us he will remain something apart from theory—a radiant and beloved figure who ennobled and gave some significance to our petty lives, and whose passing away has left us with a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. Many pictures rise in my mind of this man, whose eyes were often full of laughter and yet were pools of infinite sadness. But the picture that is dominant and most significant is as I saw him Marching, staff in hand, to Dandi on the Salt March in 1930. Here was the pilgrim on his quest of Truth, quiet, peaceful, determined and fearless, who would continue that quest and pilgrimage, regardless of consequences.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Pahalgam, Kashmir

June 30, 1951

Preface to the New Edition

THE FIRST edition of this work was published almost a decade ago. In the introduction to the first edition, reproduced elsewhere, the "autobiography" of this work is related at some length. The first edition is out of print and it has become a rare item for book collectors. In this completely revised edition I have made many corrections and additions in the light of new material published in the five volumes of Mahadev Desai's diary, in Pyarelal's Last Phase, and in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. I have also consulted many other sources including the exhaustive reports and contemporary press cuttings preserved by the various Provincial Governments during the British regime.

After careful scrutiny of photostats of the original documents relating to the South African period of Gandhiji'* early life, I have taken the liberty of revising some dates given in Gandhiji's South African Struggle and My Experiments with Truth, for example, those concerning the birth of the Natal Indian Congress and the first publication of Hind Swaraj, etc. Some of these revisions I had discussed with Gandhiji during his life time and he was most co-operative in my researeh work. During the time of storm and stress, Gandhiji found no time to consult original documents and he had to depend on his memory. In the interest of historical accuracy, the author must, as far as possible, consult the original documents. I have tried to make my work as accurate as possible and I hope that it will be reliable source material for many years to come.

I am grateful to Jawaharlal Nehru for taking active interest in my work and its publication.

My thanks are also due to Anu Bandyopadhyaya for her collaboration with me in the revision work.

For some unavoidable reasons and also for keeping the price as low as possible, the number of illustrations have been reduced to the minimum. I am thankful to the Publications Division for their hearty co-operation in bringing out this revised edition.

D. G. TENDULKAR                              "Ekanta", Bombay, October 1960

Introduction to the First Edition

I CANNOT trace the origin of this book bccause it has written itself and it reflects the times in which I and my generation have grown. It is a dream-world from which I have not emerged. Gandhiji and his story are present all the time before my mind's eye. He is moving among us and talking to us, as he did only a few years ago. His death is but a small incident; he courted it and defied it many a time. It is only the finale to a majestic symphony.

When I look back, the death of Tilak and the national mourning come to my mind, with a vivid picture of Gandhiji leading the people, the very next day, to hcroic heights. The first of August, 1920, is fixed deeply in the subconscious, though it was just the beginning of a great drama, developing almost without a flaw. I was then only ten years old.

I was drawn into the whirlwind of revolution like the millions. It was a queer revolution, defying the Government in the open, in which the whole nation participated, pitting indomitable will against brute force. The mind became at oncc free, and defied starvation and death, and followed the great leader wherever he wanted us to go. It was not merely hero-worship but consciousness of strength, with which he imbued the people to break the shacklcs of their enslaved minds.

There were ups and downs in the nation's progress, but no stagnation. Gandhiji knew no defeat and inspired the people to March along a path never trodden before.

The present work is a simple narration of the events through which we have lived. It is a history of the last fifty years or so with Gandhiji in the foreground. There is no attempt either at moralization or dramatization of these exciting times. I have tried to tell the story faithfully and, as far as possible, in the words of Gandhiji, who noi only took the leading part in the movement but wrote the best commentary on it.

I never knew that I would undertake this work, although I was eager for many years to examine what Gandhiji did to mould the new thought. In the beginning I was a devotee, then a critic, and am now an impartial admirer. I belong to no particular school of thought, and have had no time, so far, to give my undivided attention to his philosophy as such. I did not always agree with him, but with his all-embracing life and his courage of conviction he has attracted me much more than any other historical figure.

I remember those early years when I read Young India with avidity and looked forward to the next issue. For thirty years, Gandhiji fed the minds of thousands and moulded the people's character imperceptibly. With perfect co-ordination between his activities and his writings and speeches, he set a supreme example for the people to follow, though they did not always do so intelligently. Today, it may seem that his influence has vanished and that he alone was his follower. But how can the seeds of great thoughts prove so barren?

Fortunately for India, Gandhiji lived long and led an intensely active life. It touched almost every phase of the nation's activity. His contacts were varied and his experiences unique. He made a gift of his wisdom to the world through his writings and speeches, illustrated by his actions. Einstein wrote: " Generations to come, it may be, will scaree believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."

I had the good fortune of receiving Gandhiji's co-operation in completing this work, which involved many years of researeh and took six years to write. Some of the important speeches and writings were revised by Gandhiji himself for this book. Historical facts have been checked from the original sources as well as from some of Gandhiji's close colleagues. The Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan have been an important source of material, and I am greatly indebted to Mahadev Desai and Pyarelal.

To make the work authentic and detailed, I have consulted daily newspapers of the last fifty years. All available literature, in several Indian and foreign languages, has been made use of and the chaff sifted from the grain. In doubtful cases my final authority was Gandhiji himself. When I met him last on January 22, 1948, we discussed the smallest details—the format of the biography, type, illustrations, standardization of spelling, quotation-marks and even hyphens. He took keen interest in my work, and always gave me his gracious co-operation.

I have also drawn upon important and not easily available letters in the custody of men close to Gandhiji and in private collections. In seareh of material I visited the important places associated with Gandhiji's name. And still I feel that mine is but a humble attempt to depict the life of one who has left behind treasure which is scattered and not yet made available to researeh students. I only hope that the material collected by me will be of use to future generations.

The work that I undertook many years ago has not always been smooth- sailing. There has been abundant co-operation, and some non-co-opera- tion too. But Gandhiji being my chief guide I have been able to achieve something. I must mention here that we have yet to cultivate an appreciation of historical works. It was a painful experience to be told by some of Gandhiji's colleagues that they had destroyed his letters. Even big libraries in India do not possess files of Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan.

Mine has been a strenuous task, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it, although I sometimes feel that it should have been undertaken by someone else. I am temperamentally not made for historical works. The artist in me remains not altogether satisfied. I have, however, chosen to stick to facts and eschewed material, however interesting, when there was the slightest doubt about its authenticity.

In completing the eight volumes of the present work, I have received help and co-operation from several friends and sympathizers. First, I am indebted to my friend, the late YusufJ. Mehcrally, who supplied me with books for over twenty years and goaded me to write, while I was interested only in reading. I may also reveal here that the seeds of this book were sown in the Nasik jail where we were both detained in 1940, although it was scareely realized by either of us then.

In the jail I met another friend, R. R. Diwakar, who took keen interest in my work and has made possible its publication in the present form. As an underground Congress worker in 1942-5, he actively collaborated with me in bringing out the seventy-fifth birthday volume, Gandhiji. He then suggested that I should write a full-length biography of Gandhiji. Having made that suggestion, he was keen on seeing the eight volumes come out as early as possible. It is no exaggeration to say that he has taken greater interest in this work than in his own books.

The story of the publication of this work deserves a chapter by itself, but this is not the place for it. I can only mention that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru offered his active co-operation from the very inception of the idea. He has been a source of strength to me for many years and has taken personal interest in the publication of this biography. He also helped me in getting valuable material, and permitted me to use important letters in his possession. And, above everything, he has put his faith in me, which means so much for a sensitive person.

My chief co-worker in the present venture is Vithalbhai K. Jhaveri, my friend and colleague for the last twelve years. We have been together in several cultural activities. He made the seventy-fifth birthday volume on Gandhiji a beautiful production. In this work, he is not only responsible for the collcction of rare illustrations and documents, for the fly-leaf and the jackct, but has also not spared himself in getting material for my researeh work. He gave me access to his excellent library of Gandhian literature. By embellishing his work with apt illustrations, he has made it doubly interesting and informative. The illustrations form a vital part of what is a documentary work, and he has shown zeal and taste in collccting them. In designing the jacket and the fly-leaf Vithalbhai has received cooperation from S. Dasgupta.

I am solely responsible for the text as well as for the structure of the book. I am aware of some of its defccts which could perhaps have been avoided in more suitable circumstances. My friend and co-worker on the seventy-fifth birthday volume, M. Chalapathi Rau, went through the whole manuscript and helped me in chiselling it. He treated my work as his own and devoted to it several months of his very busy time.

My manuscript was also read by my friend, N. G. Jog, who has helped me in other ways. Some part of the manuscript was read by my friends, Yusuf J. Meherally, Rammanohar I.ohia and Frank Moraes, and they gave me encouragement all the time.

For four years, my friend and colleague, Anu Bandyopadhyaya, has given me assistance in revising the manuscript. She has all through stood by me, and has treated my work as her own, for which I am grateful. She has assisted me in reading the proofs and has given me valuable help in avoiding typographical errors. Her able assistance has saved me from extra strain in preparing the glossary and the index.

Foremost among those who rendered spontaneous help from the very beginning to Vithalbhai and myself is Sumati Morarjee. She seeured material for the book, and has helped us in several ways as few could have. She completely identified herself with the work and has made valuable contribution to it.

My old colleague and friend, Mridula Sarabhai, gave me assistance in contacting people and visiting places in connection with my work.

My two friends, Dr. N. R. Parulekar and Baburao Patel, freed me from economic worry to enable me to concentrate upon my labour of love.

Jivanjibhai D. Desai, on behalf of the Navajivan Trust, has rendered help by furnishing some material and by permitting the reproduction of Gandhiji's writings, the copyright material of the trust. For this I am thankful to the Navajivan Trust.

Acknowledgement is due to Visva-Bharati for permitting the use of the Gandhi-Tagore correspondence and some illustrations.

Nirmal Kumar Bosc, Gandhiji's seeretary at Noakhali, furnished for the book some material. He also kindly went through the chapter on Noakhali. Manu Gandhi, U. M. D. Thakersey, Girdhari Kripalani and Samaldas Gandhi lent us some material. Dr. Manibhai Trivcdi, C. M. Trivcdi, D. R. D. Wadia, Kusumbehn Desai, Shivlal, and Kanu Gandhi have lent us photographs.

Among those who actively helped in seeuring material are R. G. Soman, Narendra Dcva, D. S. Bakhlc, Soli Batliwala, Khimjibhai Patel, Balkoba Bhavc, Ratilal Shcth, V. C. Mashruwala and N. R. Phatak. R. K. Prabhu and G. N. Dhawan lent me their files of Toung India and Harijan and put at my disposal other Gandhian literature. Usha Mehta translated a couple of articles by Gandhiji from Gujarati into English.

My thanks are due to the custodians of the Servants of India Society's Library in Poona, Sabarmati Ashram, Kashi Vidyapith, the Government Record Library and the Royal Asiatic Society's Library in Bombay, the A.-I.C.C's Library in Allahabad, the Tolstoy Museum at Yasnaya Polyana.

In typing the manuscript which involved tremendous labour, I had the willing help of Bhaskar and Anant Avasare. M. V. Ganesh and C. V. Natesan also gave help.

Central Camera Co., Continental Photo Stores, Premier Offset Works, Provincial Industrial Co-operative Association, L. N. Renu, Pundlik Katgadc, U. S. Mohan Rao, P. D. Tandon, Sitaram Gunthey, Harnarain Singh, Vidyutkumar V. Munshi, Champaklal C. Shah, V. N. Raiji, C. C. Shah, K. Nagcsh Rao, S. A. Aycr, Giridhari, and M. O. Mathai gave their co-operation. Our thanks to J. Mistri for the silk screen printing on the book's cloth cover.

The responsibility of publication has fallen on my shoulders and that of my colleague, Vithalbhai K. Jhaveri. This has been made possible by the donations given as loan to us by the following persons, to whom we are indebted:

The late Mr. Dhirajlal B. Desai, Mrs. Sushila Rani Baburao Patel, Mr. J. M. Cooper, Mr. M. N. Kulkarni, Mr. K. H. Kabbur, Mr. P. N. Kaul, Mr. Ramnath Potdar, Mr. Jchangir P. Patel, Mr. Pratap Dialdas, Messrs. Amulakh Amichand & Co., Crown Spinning & Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Bhaidas Maganlal & Co., N. M. Tripathi Ltd., Mafatlal Gagalbhai & Co., and the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram.

Mr. S. K. Patil has helped us in the arduous task of raising the money.

Our special thanks are due to Mr. J. C. Jain, General Manager of Bennett, Coleman & Co., Ltd., who has taken keen interest in the publication and has given all necessary facilities. We are also thankful to the workers of the Times of India Press for their hearty co-operation.

Our thanks are due to several other friends, in India and abroad, who have given us their ungrudging co-operation in the publication of the biography of one who belongs to the whole world.

D. G. T.

Plassey to Amritsar

MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI was born twelve years after the Revolt of 1857, a last fierce effort to drive out the foreigner. When Lord Dalhousie left India in 1856 British rule had been established, directly or indirectly, over the whole of India. In May 1857 it was suddenly challenged by the revolt known in text-books as the Indian Mutiny, and the issue was decided by June 1858. The revolt brought forth among others the inspiring figure of Rani Laxmibai ofjhansi who died fighting on the battlefield.

The foundations of British domination were laid at Plasscy in 1757. Abroad a series of inventions in the industrial field found Britain ripe for industrial revolution in 1770. To make it a success she needed an expanding market and cash capital which prostrate India meekly provided. The East India Company looted Bengal to fill its coffers. India's ruinous condition was demonstrated by a famine in Bengal in 1770 in which ten million people died. Yet land revenue was increased and rigorously collected. By 1813 the company's monopoly of the Indian trade had been terminated and a new policy of exploitation begun. It was designed to expand the Indian market for British manufactures and to increase India's production of raw materials for the benefit of British industry. The tremendous stream of wealth that flowed from India to England during this time gave the impetus to English industrialism that turned her from a protection to a free trade country, and made her, for a time, the greatest manufacturing country in the world. The result in India was terrible poverty and recurring famines. In the name of free trade British products were allowed free entry into the country whils tariffs were raised high against Indian goods entering England. In 1787 the exports of Dacca muslin to England amounted to three million rupees; in 1817 they ceased altogether. By 1850 India who for centuries had exported cotton goods to the whole world was importing one-fourth of Britain's cotton textile exports.

Mill cloth from England destroyed the handloom industry in India and machine-made yarn wiped out the Indian spinners. The basis of the traditional Indian economy in which farming was supplemented by cottage industry was thus destroyed Millions of artisans and craftsmen were forced to fall back on agriculture as their sole means of subsistence and survival. Between 1770 and 1900, in 130 years, there were twenty-two famines. Millions of people died of starvation and the survivors had not much strength left to resist the evils of foreign domination. Lord Bentinck, the Governor-General, reported in 1834 that "the misery hardly finds a parallel in the history of commerce. The bones of the cotton weavers are bleaching the plains of India." The impoverished nation, however, rose heroically in revolt.

The Revolt of 1857 threw everything in confusion and its suppression was followed by the abolition of the East India Company and by the assumption of the government of the country by the British sovereign. By the Act for the Better Government of India passed in August 1858, the authority of the directors and of the Board of Control was transferred to the Seeretary of State responsible as a member of the cabinet to Parliament. In November 1858 Lord Canning, now styled Viceroy as well as Governor-General, formally announced the change through a Royal Proclamation: "VVe hold ourselves bound to the natives of our Indian territories by the same obligation of duties which bind us to all our other subjects. In their prosperity will be our strength; in their contentment our seeurity; and in their gratitude our best reward."

A new chapter in the relationship between Britain and India began with tighter fetters on the prostrate nation. The factor of distance lost much of its force when in 1865 it became possible to telegraph from England to India by cable, when in 1869 the Suez Canal was opened, and when a new network of railways, roads and telegraphs spread in India.

For many years the proclamation acted like a balm and Indian leaders vied with one another in their loyalty to the British crown. But regarding the pledge of equal status for all British subjects, Lord Lytton, who was the Viceroy from 1876 to 1880, in a confidential letter to the Seeretary of State for India, wrote, "We all know that these claims and expectations never can or will be fulfilled." One Indian entered the Indian Civil Service in 1864, three more in 1871. As late as 1913 over eighty percent of the highest and best paid posts in the civil service as a whole were still in British hands. In Britain public interest in India, excited for a time by the 1857 rebellion, was dying down. Only on rare occasions could Indian policy be made an issue in party warfare, for the leaders on both sides were agreed that self- government for India was not yet practical politics. Disraeli, for example, presented Queen Victoria with the imperial title in 1876 in order, as he said, to show the world thai "the Parliament of England has resolved to uphold the Empire of India." John Bright, in every way Disraeli's opposite, was as convinced as any Tory that the attainment of India's freedom would be a matter of "generations".

In spite of impoverishment and frustration, public-spirited leaders tried to infuse a new life into the prostrate nation and India threw up a great figure like Ram Mohun Roy.

Ram Mohun Roy, who was born in 1772, laid the foundation of public life in Bengal. Well versed in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic, he preached against idolatry and superstition. He began learning English privately at the age of twenty-four for there were no English schools then. He learnt Greek, Latin and Hebrew to discover the sources of religion and culture of the West. He also took interest in the sciences. In 1815 he started an agitation against suttee, went to the burning grounds and persuaded people to desist from this cruel custom. The rite was abolished in December 1828. To popularize his views Ram Mohun Roy brought out a bilingual Bengali-English weekly, Sambad Kaumudi> in 1821 and Mirat-ul-Akhbary a Persian weekly, in 1822. These journals were perhaps the first to be conducted by an Indian. Ram Mohun Roy's journalistic activities were intimately conncctcd with his reform movements. He was bitterly opposed by the orthodox seetions but he also had staunch supporters, among them the Tagore family which played a great role later in the renaissance in Bengal. He wrote text-books in Bengali on grammar, geography, astronomy and geometry. On his suggestion, the Ilindu College was opened at Calcutta in 1824 to introduce western education. He founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 to wean the Hindus from the evils of pernicious conventions. It was also meant to be a meeting-ground of all seets who wished to unite for divine worship. In 1830 he left for England to represent the grievances of Akbar Shah II, the titular Emperor of Delhi. For this purpose he was invested with the title of Raja and given a seal of office by the emperor. On his voyage to England, even though he was feeble in health, he insisted on visiting a French ship, which was anchored in Capetown harbour. He wished to pay homage from his motherland to France, who had raised aloft the banner of revolution for "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". After a five months' voyage he arrived in England in April 1831. At William IV's coronation a seat was assigned to him among the ambassadors of free countries. He took keen interest in the great agitation over the Reform Bill of 1832. He observed: "The struggles are not between reformers and anti- reformers but liberty and oppression throughout the world." He visited Paris in 1832 and was received with the highest honours. He was present in England for the first sitting of the reformed Parliament. He took up the cause of Indian political reform, advocated the separation of judicial and executive functions and was the first Indian to go to England to give evidence before a parliamentary committee. Raja Ram Mohun Roy, the father of modern India, wished to visit America but died unexpectedly at Bristol in September 1833.

Another great figure of the time was Sir Sycd Ahmed Khan, a great scholar and educationist, born in 1817. As a result of the Revolt of 1857 the Muslims suffered more than the Hindus from the vindictive attitude of the British. Syed Ahmed Khan, though then serving as a subordinate judge, pointed out that one great cause of the revolt was that the Government had no contact with the people and, therefore, were oblivious to the feelings and the conditions of the masses. He declared: "Had the Indians been represented in the councils the grievances of the people would have been communicated from time to time to their rulers."

Belonging to a family of high position and repute in Mogul days, he joined the lower ranks of the civil scrvice in 1837 and steadily rose till he reached the highest position so far reached by an Indian, membership of the Governor-General's Legislative Council. His influence within his community was great and his notable service to it was in the held of education. He worked to reconcile oriental learning with western literature and science. From 1858 right up to his death in 1898, he dominated Muslim public life in India. He opposed the idea of the Muslims joining hands with the Indian National Congress though he felt the justice of the Congress demands. He advised his community to eschew politics and to devote its energies to education. In 1876 he founded the Muslim College at Aligarh. Ten years later he initiated the Muslim Educational Conference. "Reason alone is a sufficient guide," was his motto for education. He believed that the Hindus and Muslims were the two eyes of India.

It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that western political ideas manifested themselves in India. In 1851, the British Indian Association in Bengal and, in 1852, the Bombay Association were started. The leading figures of the Bombay Association were Dadabhai Naoroji and the famous jurist, Vishvanath Narayan Mandlik. As a protest against favouritism to Lancashire goods, Mandlik appeared in the Bombay Legislative Council in the homespun country cloth now known as khaddar, and said it was his political protest. In the south, public life was inaugurated by Hindu started in 1878. M. Vceraraghavachariar, Rangiah Naidu, G. Subramania Iyer and N. Subbarau, the founders of Hindu, laid the foundation of political organization through the Mahajan Sabha in 1884.

The offshoot of the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal was the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay, founded in 1867. Professor R. G. Bhandarkar, Justice Ranade and Sir Narayan Chandavarkar joined it and worked for social reform. Mahadcv Govind Ranade, born in 1842, was not only an eminent judge but a historian, economist and ardent social reformer. His disciple, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, once said of him: "For about thirty years, he represented our highest thought and our highest aspiration."

Social reform was the hardest task in India. People deprived of their worldly possessions stuck fast to their agelong social customs. In 1840 a seeret organization, Paramahansa Mandal, was founded in Bombay. Its creed was to destroy caste and communal barriers. It advocated widow marriage and deprecated idol worship. A new member had to drink milk from a common vessel and cat bread. The society's branches spread outside Bombay and counted among its members some Muslims and Christians. It strictly enjoined seerecy as there was fear of ostracism. The society came to an end in i8fio as a result of indiscreet publicity of its existence and of the members' names.

People like Bhandarkar, Telang, Ranade and Agarkar working openly for social reforms had to face the music. In 1890 fifty prominent Brahmins of Poona including Ranade and Tilak were invited to a gathering of missionaries. Tea and biscuits were served. When this news leaked out Ranade and Tilak were excommunicated. They had to bow to public agitation and perform the purification ceremony.

Solid political and social work in Maharashtra was done by the Sarvajanik Sabha, started in 1870 by Gancsh Vasudcv Joshi. He propagated swadeshi and spun yarn daily for his own wear; he opened swadeshi shops and by his own example converted people to the swadeshi creed. His intellectual inspiration came from Ranade who also worked for the Sarvajanik Sabha till 1895 when it was captured by Tilak. During 1880-1 Chiplunkar, Agarkar and Tilak started the New English School, the English weekly Mahratta, and the Marathi weekly fCesari to prepare the people for national service. The triumvirate rose rapidly to prominence. In 1896 as a result of the unbridgeable gulf between Tilak's extremist school and Ranade's moderate school of thought, the Dcccan Sabha was inaugurated by Ranade and his pupil Gokhale.

After Ram Mohun Roy, Dadabhai Naoroji, who was bom in Bombay in 1825, occupicd the most significant position. He was the founder in India and in England of more than thirty institutions. In the teeth of opposition Dadabhai laid the foundation of women's education in Bombay in 1849. In 1851 he started a Gujarati journal, Rast Goftar, as the organ of progressive views on social, religious and educational reforms. The first Indian to be a professor, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the Elphinstonc College in Bombay in 1854. Next year he accepted the offer to join the commercial firm of the Camas in London as he was "desirous of seeing an intimate connection established between England and India" and "particularly to provide home for young Indians so that they might freely go to England and compete for the Indian Civil Service and other services." Dadabhai, however, resigned his partnership in 1858 because he could not persuade himself to pocket earnings derived from dealings in opium, wine and spirits which led to the ruin of thousands. Dadabhai worked as Professor of Gujarati in University College, London, and actively participated in several institutions. Dadabhai founded in i860 what is now known as the East India Association. He bccame an unofficial ambassador for India and worked for her in every field. In 1874 he was appointed a minister in the Baroda state and in 1885 he was nominated an additional member of the Bombay Legislative Council. He was elected a Member of Parliament in 1892, the first Indian so elected. His greatest gift to posterity was Poverty and un-British Rule in India, published in 1901. He presided thrice over the Indian National Congress. In 1904 he attended the International Socialist Congress at Amsterdam representing the people of India. 'The delegates leapt to their feet and stood uncovered before him in solemn silence to mark their respect for India's representative. On hearing Dadabhai, the Amsterdam Congress passed a resolution that it "brands Great Britain with the mark of shame for its treatment of India". The Grand Old Man of India died in 1917 at the age of ninety-two.

Besides persons and institutions, the Indian newspapers played an important role in those early formative years. They helped the people to understand the problems of different provinces, thus created a sort of brotherhood, and became a powerful medium for the political education of the people. In Madras, Hindu, in Maharashtra, Kesari and Mahratta and in Bengal, Amrita Bazar Patrika came into being. When in 1878 the Vernacular Press Act was passed, Patrika to escape the consequences was changed from a Bengali-English into an English paper overnight. The press of the time was a national tribune and newspapers like Kesari were read eagerly in groups, even in the villages.

The scholarly literature of 1850-1900 had the greatest influence in kindling self-respect in the nation. The great orientalists, Rajendralal Mitra, Bhandarkar and Tilak probed into the hoary wisdom of the East and showed to the world that originality and scholarship were not the monopoly of the West. William Jones, Edwin Arnold, Max Miiller and other savants interpreted India to the West. Besides the literature on philosophy and religion, India produced original historical works which influenced the political life of the country. Romesh Chunder Dutt, Ranade and Dadabhai revealed through their scholarly books the real condition of India's dumb millions. The foundation of Indian economics was laid by Ranade. Sir Asutosh Mookeijee transformed the Calcutta University from a mere examining body to one of the greatest teaching universities in the East, manned and controlled by Indian scholars. He encouraged researeh in all branches of learning. In science India first attracted the attention of the world in the early years of the twentieth century through the researehes of Jagadish Chunder Bose, C. V. Raman, and the great mathematician Ramanujan. In the art world Bengal did the pioneering work. E. B. Havell, Principal of the Calcutta School of Art, popularized Indian art through his brilliant books. Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy through his scholarly and inspiring writings on art guided the taste of new India. In literature Bankim Chandra Chattcrjcc, Tagore and Iqbal gave India a new ideology and inspiration. Bankim's "Bandc Mataram" and Iqbal's "Hindostan Hamara" were the battle hymns which resounded throughout India.

Another factor which contributed to the new life was the renaissance in the religious field. The first religious movement of the nineteenth century was started by Ram Mohun Roy and came to be known as the Brahmo Samaj. His work was continued by Debendranath Tagore and Keshub Chunder Sen, by the former on the lines of pure Hinduism and by the latter on Christian lines. In Bombay the Prarthana Samaj was founded to carry on the same work. The Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 in Bombay and in 1877 in Lahore by Swami Dayanand Saraswati on ancient Vcdic principles. Its cry was "Back to the Vedas". It exercised a great influence upon his disciplined and self-sacrificing followers. The Thcosophical Society under Mrs. Annie Besant rendered valuable service to the revival. The most picturesque figure was Swami Vivekananda, the disciplc of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. From Cape Comorin to Almora, he exhorted the youth of India to arise and conquer the world with their spirituality. In 1885 the Anjuman-c-Himayat-ul-Islam was founded in Lahore to arouse new interest in the Muslim religion, to combat Christian missions, and to open Urdu schools.

The use of religious fervour for political organization was first made in Maharashtra. The Ganapati festival was inaugurated by Tilak in 1894. Volunteers were trained in the art of fencing with sticks. Tiie students joined in hundreds. Lectures, processions and singing of patriotic songs were the main features of the festival. In 1893 Tilak also inaugurated the Shivaji festival and it became a platform for preaching nationalism. Tagore and Aurobindo supported the movement for honouring the memory of Shivaji in Bengal. In 1904 Tagore wrote the poem "Shivaji Utsab" and read it at the Calcutta Town Hall. Similar to the Ganapati festival there was the Kali festival in Bengal. The British Government strongly suspected the motive behind such celebrations and used all means to suppress them.

The political unrest had received a great incentive from the costly durbar held at Delhi in 1877. The princes and nobles flocked to it from far-flung parts of the country in great pomp. It occurred to Indian leaders who witnessed the Delhi celebrations that "if the princes and the nobles in the land could afford to form a pageant for the glorification of an autocratic Viceroy, why could not the people be gathered together to invite themselves to restrain by constitutional means and methods the spirit of autocratic rule?"

In Calcutta the Indian Association held a National Conference in 1883. It was at this conference that Surendranaih Banerjea, referring to the Delhi assemblage exhorted the audience to unite and organize themselves for the country's cause. Calcutta's lead was followed by Madras, where after the Thcosophical Convention of 1884, seventeen distinguished persons including Dadabhai Naoroji, K. T. Telang, Surendranath Banerjea and S. Subramania Iyer, decided to begin "a national movement for the saving of the motherland." In March 1885 it was decided to hold a meeting of representatives from all parts of India during the next Christmas. This can be said to be the origin of the Indian National Congress, "the origin of a Native Parliament," the foundation of which marks the most important event in the political history of India. Poona was considered the most central and, therefore, suitable place.Therefore following circular was issued:

"A conference of the Indian National Union will be held at Poona from the 25th to the 31st December 1885.

"The conference will be composed of delegates—leading politicians well acquainted with the English language—from all parts of the Bengal, Bombay and Madras Presidencies.

"The direct objects of the confcrcnce will be: (1) to enable all the most earnest labourers in the cause of national progress to become personally known to each other; (2) to discuss and decide upon the political operations to be undertaken during the ensuing year.

"Indirectly this conference will form the germ of a native parliament and, if properly conducted, will constitute in a few years an unanswerable reply to the assertion that India is still wholly unfit for any form of representative institutions. The first conference will decide whether the next shall be again held at Poona or whether, following the precedent of the British Association, the conferences shall be held year by year at different important centres."

The first meeting did not, however, take place at Poona, for, only a few days before Christmas, some sporadic cases of cholera occurred and the conference, now called the Congress, was moved to Bombay. The historic session of the first Congress began on December 28, 1885, in the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College on the Gowalia Tank Road, Bombay. There seventy-two representatives who elected themselves as delegates met and discussed the programme, while another thirty or so attended as friends, being as Government servants precluded from acting as representatives in a political gathering, among whom the most noteworthy were Justice Ranade and Professor R. G. Bhandarkar. Among those who participated were Dadabhai Naoroji, Phcrozcshah Mehta, K. T. Tclang, D. E. Wacha, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, N. G. Chandavarkar, S. Subramania Iyer, M. Veeraraghavachariar, Narendranath Sen. The first voices heard were those of A. O. Hume, S. Subramania Iyer and Tclang who proposed, seeonded and supported the election of the first Congress President, W. C. Bonnerjce, an eminent Indian Christian lawyer from Bengal.

The Congress programme was concerned with both the pace and the method of constitutional progress. As to pace it declared that a step beyond that taken in 1861 was now overdue. The nine resolutions of the first National Congress marked the beginning of the formulation of India's demands. The first resolution asked for a Royal Commission to inquire into the working of the Indian administration. The second asked for the abolition of the India Council. The third dealt with the defects of the Legislative Councils in which all the members were then nominated and asked for the admission of elected members. The fourth prayed for simultaneous examinations for the I.C.S. and the raising of the age of candidates. The fifth and sixth dealt with the increasingly excessive military expenditure. The seventh protested against the annexation of Upper Burma and its proposed incorporation with India. The eighth resolution ordered the sending of the Congress resolutions to political associations, to be discussed and passed all over the country by political bodies and public meetings. The final resolution fixed the next Congress at Calcutta on December 28, 1886.

After three days' labour, the Congress concludcd with a vote of thanks to the president, followed by three cheers for Hume, which the "Father of the Congress" ever since received at every Congress session until his death in 1912. There was an outburst of loyal demonstration when Hume called for "three times three cheers for Her Majesty the Queen Empress".

The resolutions of the first Congress were drafted at a private meeting held at the residence of Principal Wordsworth of the Elphinstone College and attended by other officials who included Sir William Weddcrburn, Justice Ranade and others. The background of the Congress as given by W. C. Bonnerjec is: "Mr. A. O. Hume, C. B. had in 1884 conceived the idea that it would be of great advantage to the country if leading Indian politicians could be brought together once a year to discuss social matters and be upon friendly footing with one another. He did not desire that politics should form part of their discussion, for, there were recognized political bodies in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and other parts of India, and he thought these bodies might suffer in importance if, when Indian politicians from different parts of the country came together, they discussed politics. His idea further was that the Governor of the province where the politicians met should be asked to preside over their deliberations, and that thereby great cordiality should be established between the official classes and the non-official Indian politicians. Full of these ideas he saw the noble marquis when he went to Simla early in 1885. Lord Dufferin took great interest in the matter. He said there was no body of persons in this country who performed the functions which Her Majesty's opposition did in England. It would be very desirable in their interest as well as the interest of the ruled that Indian politicians should meet yearly and point out to the Government in what respects the administration was defective and how it could be improved, and he added that an assembly such as he proposed should not be presided over by the local Governor for in his presence the people might not like to speak out their minds. Leading politicians in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and other parts of the country unanimously accepted Lord Dufferin's scheme and proceeded to give effect to it. Lord Dufferin had made it a condition with Mr. Hume that his name in connection with the scheme of the Congress should not be divulged so long as he remained in the country, and his condition was faithfully maintained and none but the men consulted by- Mr. Hume knew anything about the matter."

Hume, a retired member of Indian Civil Service, had evidence that political discontent was going underground. He had come into possession of information supplied to the heads of some Hindu religious seets and orders by their disciples presaging a mass outburst. There were agrarian riots in the Bombay part of the Deccan led by Vasudcv Balvant Phadke. Not that an organized mutiny was ahead, but that the people felt a sense of hopelessness and wonted to do something. "A sudden violent outbreak of sporadic crime, murden of obnoxious persons, robbery of bankers, acts really of lawlessness which by a due coalescence of forces might any day develop into a national revolt." Hume thereupon resolved to open a safety-valve for this unrest and the Congress was such an outlet.

The first Congress was composed of self-appointed leaders, the second of elected delegates. In those early days any association of any kind, or any public meeting, might elect a delegate. In this way 500 delegates were elected for the second Congress of whom 434 actually registered their names and credentials as present. The delegates began to stream into Calcutta and the meeting of the Congress was held on December 28, 188G, in the Town Hall, packed to its limit. The famous scholar Dr. Rajendralal Mitra welcomed the delegates and visitors. Tagore composed special songs for the occasion and recited the opening song: "Assembled are we today at the call of the Mother." He sang "Bande Mataram" to his own tune. Dadabhai Naoroji, who presided, drew attention to the refusal of the Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the working of the Indian administration. He laid stress on the poverty of India and urged that it was "the right as well as the duty of this Congress to set forth its convictions, both as to this widespread destitution and the primary steps needed for its alleviation". In his opening address, the president pointed out that the Congress was a purely political body, and, while he was himself profoundly alive to the necessity of social reforms, he held that the National Congress should deal only with political matters on which Indians were united.

Among the acquisitions that year were Surendranath Banerjea and Madan Mohan Malaviya. W. C. Bonnerjce, who presided at the first session, spoke thus at the second: "It is under the civilizing rule of the Queen and the people of England that we meet here together, hindered by none, freely allowed to speak our minds, without the least fear or hesitation. Such a thing is possible under British rule, and under British rule only." The representatives of the British rule could scareely quarrel with such filial piety. One of the most active founders of the movement was a British ex-official, Hume, and for several years it was backed by such British partisans as George Yule and later Sir William Weddcrburn and Sir Henry Cotton.

The usual invitations sent to the Viceroy's household were returned on the ground that officials could not attend a political assemblage. The Congress session was prolonged for four days. At the close of the session, Lord Dufferin received a deputation headed by the Congress President.

They were received as "distinguished visitors to the capital". He also invited them to a garden party, carefully explaining that he did not invite them as representatives of the people.

The third Congress held at Madras in December 1887 evoked still greater enthusiasm and the number of delegates rose to over Goo of whom 250 hailed from outside the Madras Presidency. It was in Madras that for the first time a special pavilion was constructed for the meeting of the Congress. The President of the Congress was Badrudin Tyabji, a distinguished member of the Bombay bar. Some 3,000 spectators witnessed the session. The Governor of Madras received the delegates at Government House, sumptuous refreshments were provided and the Governor's band was in attendance.

At the fourth session of the Congress held at Allahabad in 1888, a complete changc was witnessed in the official attitude towards the movement. In the course of his farewell speech in 1888, Dufferin, disturbed by the growing self-assurance of Congress demands, thought fit to describe its adherents as a "microscopic minority" of the multitudinous Indian people. Efforts were made to prevent the Congress session being held at Allahabad. The development of the Congress activities during the year was unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands of pamphlets and leaflets were distributed, hundreds of men took a direct part in the elections of delegates. About 1,500 delegates were elected of whom 1,248 attended the Allahabad session. George Yule was elected president.

The first president was an Indian Christian, the seeond and the sixth Parsis, the third a Muslim, the fourth and fifth Englishmen. Only at the seventh session a Hindu presided for the first time over the Congress. During the first thirteen years of its existence, more than ten thousand delegates travelled at their own expense, not seldom for thousands of miles, in order to be present at the Congress sessions. This was undertaken often at the risk of officials' disapproval; for the National Congress soon fell under suspicion as "disloyal". India had found her voice; she was realizing herself as a nation.

Year after year the Congress met and increasingly became a national platform for the progressive forces in the land. But it was not until 1905 that it acquired the character of a real mass movement. A new life burst forth in the country in the years 1905-9 and it gave birth to two new schools of nationalism, distinguished for their faith in self-reliant and independent action.

The difference between the two new schools—the extremists and the revolutionaries, as they came to be called—was one of method only. The extremists believed in political agitation and national reconstruction through the boycott of British goods and British institutions such as Government offices, courts and schools, arid through swadeshi and the setting up of national, indigenous institutions like national schools and panchayats. The other school believed in western revolutionary methods, in terrorism and political assassination, in dacoities and the use of the pistol and bomb. But both believed in a free, independent India restored to her ancient glory and prosperity.

A number of factors combined to give rise to the new orientation in politics. The inspired leadership of Mazzini and Garibaldi in Italy attracted a good deal of attention in India. The life and works of Mazzini were made available in many Indian languages. The feeling of inferiority and helplessness of the East against the West began to decrease when the victory of japan over Russia in 1905 was hailed in India as "the dawn of a new era for the whole of Asia". The new hopes were strengthened by accounts of the new movements for national uplift and freedom in Egypt, Persia, Turkey and Russia.

More effective than the influence of external events was the ruthless policy of Curzon and later of Minto. The amended Indian Official Secrets Act of 1904 made punishable newspaper criticism "likely to bring the Government or constituted authority into suspicion or contempt". The same year Curzon carried through the Indian Universities Act, which produced bitterness among leaders of Indian opinion. It was meant to impose bureaucratic fetters on colleges and schools. Unpopular as were these measures and Curzon's utterances, the partition of Bengal was the cause of the greatest discontent in India. It aroused the unanimous opposition of all creeds and classes of Indian people. It was interpreted as a subtle attack upon the growing solidarity of nationalist forces in Bengal. The partition was also designed to drive a wedge between the Hindus and the Muslims. Curzon proceeded to East Bengal and there at large meetings of Muslims explained to them that his object in partitioning Bengal was not only to relieve the Bengal administration but to create a Muslim province, where Islam could be predominant and its followers in the ascendency. Many prominent Muslims opposed it. Speaking at the Congress of 1906, Nawabzada Atikullah Khan openly declared: "I may tell you at once that it is not correct that the Muslims of East Bengal are in favour of the partition of Bengal. The real fact is that it is only a few leading Muslims who for their own purpose supported the measure."

The country was in a mood to stand unitedly behind Bengal. In 1896 plague made its first appearance, and famine also broke out. The following year India was affected by famine, plague, earthquake, war and repression. In the language of Ranade it appeared as if the seven plagues had been let loose upon India. In 1897 over four million people were receiving relief, and mortality was very high. The Government machinery for relief and remission of revenue was moving slowly. Tilak organized voluntary help for the suffering people and tried to prevent forcible realization of land dues from the poor peasants. In Kesari he wrote: "Will you, when the Queen desires that none should die, when the Governor declares that all should live and the Secretary of State is prepared to go in for debt if necessary—will you kill yourself by timidity and starvation? If you have money to pay the Government, pay them by all means. But if you have not, will you sell your things away only to avoid the supposed wrath of subordinate government officers? Can you not be bold, even when in the grip of death?"

There were terrible hardships and sufferings. And to accentuate them, bubonic plague broke out. In Poona sanitary measures were carried out by white soldiers with rigour. The city was divided into compartments under military guard, and British soldiers entered the houses to examine men, women and children. The people were infuriated. On the night of the Queen's birthday, June 22, 1897, an I.C.S. officer in charge of these measures, Mr. Rand, and his companion, Lt. Aycrst, were shot dead by the Chaphekar brothers. The authorities embarked on a campaign of repression. Tilak and other publicists were prosecuted for sedition and sentenced. Tilak was asked to admit in court that the article for which he was being prosecuted was not written by him. Tilak declined and said: "There comes a stage in our lives when we are not the sole master of ourselves but must act as the representatives of our fcllowmen." A new definition of the word "disaffection" occurring in seetion 124-A was given by the trying judge, namely, that it meant "absence of affection" and Tilak was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for eighteen months.

There were protests all over the country and funds raised for the defence of Tilak. Tagore took a leading part in it. Max Muller pleaded for mercy: "My interest in Tilak is that of a Sanskrit scholar." The imprisonment of a political leader was in 1897 the first incident of its kind in India. Tilak gave a death-blow to arm-chair leadership, and became "Lokamanya", "respected by the people".

There was a famine again during 1897-1900. Yet out of a revenue over which the people of India had no control, at least £20,000,000 a year were earmarked to be spent in England in the shape of interest on loans, pensions and similar items. To add to the discontent Curzon followed the policy of exclusion of Indians from higher posts in the government of the country. Speaking on the budget proposals of 1904, he stipulated that "the highest rank of civil employment in India must as a general rule be held by Englishmen for the reason that they possess, partly by heredity, partly by upbringing, partly by education, the knowledge of the principles of government, the habits of mind, the vigour of character, which are essential for the task."

Addressing the convocation of the Calcutta University in 1905, Curzon declared that "truth took a high place in the moral codes of the West before it had been similarly honoured in the East, where craftiness and diplomatic will have always been held in much repute." He citcd according to his light the Indian epics praising "successful deception practiced with honest men". He warned Bengalis against their eloquence. "All I say to you is, do not presume on this talent." He concludcd his spccch by denying that there was such a thing as "any Indian nation".

India's self-rcspcct was still further wounded by the ill-treatment of Indians abroad, especially in South Africa. Gokhale stated in the Imperial Legislative Council that "no single question of the time has evoked more bitter feelings than the continued ill-treatment of Indians in South Africa." Gandhi, a young and unknown barrister, was fighting on that front with his new weapon of satyagraha, which attracted the attention and sympathy of all seetions of the people in India.

Not only was the partition agitation started in 1905 but in that year was also raised the standard of revolt in the Congress by the younger men under "Lai, Bal, Pal"—Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bepin Chandra Pal. They won their psychological victory by calling the method of petitioning Parliament, "mendicancy". Tilak's slogan, "Swaraj is my birthright, and I will have it", echoed throughout India.

The previous year a deputation under the leadership of the Congress President, Sir Henry Cotton, waited upon the Viceroy with the resolutions of the Congress. Lord Curzon refused to receive the deputation and characterized Congress activities as the mere letting off of "gas". As a result Gokhale and Lajpat Rai were deputed to England to place the Indian grievances before the British public. Congressmen had cherished a strong faith in Britain's sense of justice. Since 1889 the British Committee of the Congress was established in London. In 1893 a British Parliamentary Committee was organized to interest members of the House of Commons in Indian affairs. A weekly journal India was started in London in 1890 to furnish correct information on Indian questions to the British M.P.s and the British public.

Gokhale and Lajpat Rai toured all over England, meeting important persons, making contacts and addressing public meetings. But they returned to India disillusioned. Lajpat Rai declared that Britain was too busy with her own affairs to do anything for India, that the British press was not willing to champion Indian aspirations, that it was hard to get a hearing in England and that Indians would have to depend on themselves to win their freedom.

The message of Lajpat Rai went to the hearts of young Indians assembled at the Congress session of Benares in December 1905. The partition of Bengal had by then become an accomplished fact and the swadeshi movement, including the boycott of British goods, had begun in Bengal. Gokhale, President of the Congress, approved of the boycott as a political weapon. But the older men were not ripe for the new message and there was fear of a split. There was a strong difference over the first resolution welcoming their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales. The Bengal delegates threatened opposition in the open Congress. But a compromise was reached and the split was avoided. An open conference in the Congress camp was held by the younger delegates—an inaugural meeting of the new party, the Nationalist or the Extremist Party. Here Tilak preached passive resistance and outlined the programme of national reconstruction which was adopted by the new nationalist school and put into practice.

The scheme for the partition of Bengal was promulgated in a Government resolution dated July 19, 1905, and it came into force on October 16 defying strong opposition throughout India.

The resolution was followed by unprecedented agitation. Public meetings were held all over Bengal to protest against the proposed partition and a spirited demonstration was organized in Calcutta Town Hall on August 7, 1905. It was felt that mere protest was futile. A boycott pledge was drafted and Surendranath Banerjea appealed to the people to sign it: "I hereby pledge myself to abstain from the purchase of all English-made goods for at least a year from this date, so help me God." A national fund was opened at a crowded meeting on October 16, which had been proclaimed as a day of mourning and Rs. 50,000 were collected on the spot. The swadeshi and the boycott movement was adopted throughout the country. That "even the public women of Dacca and Narayanganj took the so-called swadeshi vow and joined the general movement against the use of foreign articles" was admitted by the Collector of Dacca in his official report. The Indian imports of Manchester pieccgoods went down considerably. Over Rs. i,3oo,ooo were raised and the old cotton mill at Scrampur was purchased, extended and renamed Banga-Laxini Mill. The Bengal National Bank was started to finance Indian enterprise. Students attended anti-partition meetings, took boycott and swadeshi vows, sang "Bande Mataram" and made it their common salutation. They enrolled themselves as volunteers for national service and picketed foreign cloth shops. The swadeshi meetings were broken up by force. Many leaders were harassed and accused of sedition. The singing of "Bande Mataram" in public places was declared illegal. The gagging of public expression prompted widespread discontent which helped the growth of the terrorist movement.

During the partition days Tagore came down from the ivory tower and threw himself into the movement. The poet advocated constructive non- co-operation. He composed patriotic songs and addressed large gatherings of students. Leading a memorable procession through the streets of Calcutta, he sang: "Are you so mighty as to cut asunder the bond forged by Providence?" His stirring songs inspired the youth of Bengal and were on lips of every Bengali.

The Government launched upon a policy of crafty favouritism to the Muslims. "Of two wives the Muslim was the favourite," said a high official. The support of Nawab Salimullah Khan of Dacca, who had considered the partition at first an undesirable arrangement, was won over by the grant of a loan of £100,000 at a low rate of interest. As a result of the Government policy of fomenting dissension between the two communities, Hindu-Muslim riots were rampant. Lives were lost, temples were deseerated, shops plundered, Hindu widows carricd off and raped. In the Comilla Rioting Case the judge openly favoured the Muslims.

The Congress of 1908, held at Calcutta, was a landmark in the history of the Indian national movement. The old spell had been broken at last and leaders now spoke out their minds freely. Dadabhai Naoroji, President of the Congress, proclaimed the ideal of "swaraj" for the people of India. The word swaraj, the mantra of new aspirations, was uttered for the first time from the Congress platform. "Self-government is the only and chief remedy. Be united, persevere and achieve self-government so that the millions now perishing by poverty, famine and plague, and the scores of millions that are starving on scanty subsistence may be saved, and India may once more occupy her proud position of yore, among the greatest and civilized nations of the West." The resolutions passed on swadeshi, boycott, and national education were regarded as satisfactory by the new party led by Tilak. The Moderates led by Pherozeshah Mehta held that the Congress went too far and it was on their attempt to get the resolutions modified that a split took p'.acc in 1907 at the Surat session.

During 1906-8 the Nationalist Party grew steadily in strength. One of the leaders of the new party was Aurobindo Ghosc who appeared like a meteor and worked for four years before he retired as an ascetic to Pondi- chcrry in 1910. His influence was considerable and his literary activity through Bandc Mataram and Karmqyogin was remarkable. He was prosccutcd twice and was kept in jail for about a year in 1908. The third proseeution was launched against him in 1910 but he had already withdrawn from British territory. His literary work inspired many young men to sacrifice their lives. His philosophical and cultural writings still remain unequalled for insight, scholarship and grace.

The passing of the Seditious Meetings Act and the Indian Newspapers Act in 1908 brought the work of public propaganda almost to a standstill. For certain articles in the kesari, Lokamanya Tilak, now aged fifty-two, was sentenced in 1908 to six years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000. Tilak, addressing the judge, declared: "In spite of the verdict of the jury, I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of things; and it may be the will of Providence that the cause which I represent should prosper more by my sufferings than by my remaining free." There was nation-wide protest against the inhuman sentence inflicted on the most popular and revered leader of the people. The students absented themselves from schools and colleges. There were hartals and the textile workers of Bombay struck work for six days. It was the first political strike of the workers in India.

Thanks to this repression, the revolutionary party in Bengal received wide sympathy and grew steadily. The party had ramifications in towns and villages. The initiated members were given a regular course of study in the Gita, the writings of Swami Vivekananda, the lives of Mazzini and Garibaldi and literature on the uses and manufacture of bombs and other deadly weapons. The revolutionary party was modelled upon the Russian and Italian seeret societies, and acts of terrorism figured prominently in its programme.

Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chunder attempted the daring murder of Mr. Kingsford, the Judge of Muzzafarpur, in April 1908, but instead two innocent English women fell victims. Khudiram was arrested, tried and sent to the gallows. The revolutionists did not take this lying down.

The approver Gosain was shot dead in jail in September. Two months later the sub-inspector of police who had arrested Khudiram was also assassinated. In February 1909 the public prosecutor who had acted in both the Alipore and Gosain murder cases was shot dead while leaving the High Court buildings, where he was attending the hearing of the appeal in the Alipore case. This was a proof of the organizational strength and the fearlessness of the revolutionaries.

During 1906-10 the revolutionaries were active not only in Bengal but in other places as well. V. D. Savarkar from Poona and Shyamji Krishna Varma directed from London and Paris the revolutionary movement in Maharashtra and other places. Savarkar's brother, Ganesh, was sentenced to transportation for life in 1909 on a charge of publishing revolutionary poems. News of the heavy sentences inflicted on the revolutionaries created a deep impression on young Indians in London. One of them, Madanlal Dhingra, decided "to shed English blood as a humble protest against the inhuman transportations and hangings of Indian youths" and on July 1, 1909, he shot Sir W. Curzon Wyllie. Savarkar was arrested in 1910 in London and sent to Bombay. On the way he escaped at Marseilles but was re-arrested. Later he was tried and sentenced to transportation for life, and confined in the Andamans.

No Viceroy made his power and influence more deeply felt than Lord Curaon. In November 1905 Lord Morley left India, and Lord Minto succeeded him. In June 1906 Lord Morley, Seeretary of State for India, wrote to Lord Minto: "Every body warns a new spirit is growing and spreading over India—'You cannot go on governing in the same spirit; you have got to deal with the Congress party and Congress principles, whatever you may think of them. Be sure that before long the Muslims will throw in their lot with the Congressmen against you,' and so forth." The Moderates pinned their hopes on Lord Morley. Whilst the Government of India were following a policy of ruthless repression against the Extremists, they were evolving a strategy to rally the Moderates, the Muslims, the landlords and the princes to their side. On November 2, 1908, the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's Proclamation, King Edward VII sent a message to the princcs and people of India foreshadowing political reforms. On December 17, Lord Morley placed reforms proposals before Parliament. The Indian National Congress which met at Madras, shown of its left wing, gave a hearty welcome to the Morley-Minto scheme. It became the Indian Councils Act, 1909, on May 15, and was put into force on November 15. Much water flowed down the bridges during 1908-9. The halting reforms were criticized even by Moderates. This Pandora's box had a history behind it.

A Muslim deputation headed by the Aga Khan presented to Lord Minto an address on Octobcr 1, 1906. It was a long document, and it made two important demands on behalf of the Muslim community. First, that "the position accorded to the Muslim community in any kind of representation, direct or indirect, and in all other ways affecting their status and influence, should be commensurate not merely with their numerical strength, but also with the practical importance and the value of the contributions which they make to the defence of the empire" and with due regard to "the position they occupied in India a little more than a hundred years ago". Seeondly, in the proposed reforms they should be given the right of sending their own representatives themselves through separate communal electorates. It was an open seeret that the deputation was a "command performance", as Maulana Mahomed Ali later called it. Lord Minto in his reply accepted the position taken up by the deputation. He said, "I am as firmly convinccd as I believe you to be, that any electoral representation in India would be doomed to mischievous failure which aimed at granting a personal enfranchisement regardless of the beliefs and traditions of the communities composing the population of this continent."

The All-India Muslim League was formally founded in December 1906 at Dacca where Muslims from the various provinces had assembled in connection with the Muslim Educational Conference. The first resolution, moved by the Nawab of Dacca, stated the objective of the League: "(a) To promote, among the Musalmans of India, feelings of loyalty to the British Government, to remove any misconccption that may arise as to the intention of Government with regard to any of the measures, (b) To protect and advance the political rights and interests of the Musalmans of India and to respectfully represent their needs and aspirations to the Government, (c) To prevent the rise among the Musalmans of India, of any feeling of hostility towards other communities without prejudice to the other aforementioned objects of the League." Its constitution was framed in December 1907 at Karachi and was ratified in 1908 at Lucknow. According to the constitution of the League there was a permanent president who was the Aga Khan till 1914, when he resigned owing to a radical change being made in the creed of the League that year.

The grudging and halting reforms came into existence as a result of political agitation in the country. They were always a sop and never a willing surrender of power. Even John Stuart Mill took it for granted that India was not one of "the dependencies whose population is in a sufficiently advanced state to be fitted for representative government". The Councils Act of 1892, thirty years after the Act of 1861, was the result of agitation continually made by the Congress. By this act the number of councillors was increased and provision was made for the nomination of some members on the recommendation of statutory local bodies, universities and chambers of commerce, though the principle of election was not recognized in explicit terms. The right of interpellation was given, but without the right of supplementary questions. Councils could discuss the budget in general terms but no motion of reduction was allowed, neither could members move resolutions. The Morlcy-Minto Reforms of 1909 were a step in the conciliation of Indian opinion by the British Government. The reforms revealed only British tactics to sidetrack the main issue of freedom.

In November 1910 Lord Hardingc succcedcd Lord Minto. On December 12, 1911 an Imperial Durbar was held in Delhi and the Emperor, George V, was present. The transfer of the scat of the Government of India from Calcutta to the ancient capital of Delhi was effected. The partition of Bengal was annulled.

Neither the reforms nor repressive legislations of 1910-11 were able to stop terrorist activities in India. At the time of the state entry of Lord Hardinge into the new capital in December 1912, while the Viceregal elephant passed through Chandni Chowk a bomb was thrown at it. The bomb exploded and killed one of the Viceroy's attendants, wounded some others and caused slight injuries to Lord Hardinge.

The revolutionary movement reached its apex during 1913-16 both in Bengal and the Punjab. War broke out in 1914. During 1915 daring dacoitics and attempts on the lives of Government officials were made by the terrorists and some of them proved fatal. These activities continued unabated till 1917. The revolutionaries believed that England's difficulty was their country's opportunity. Some Indian revolutionaries in Europe gathered together in Berlin to help England's enemies but the German defeat put an end to outside help.

The revolutionary movement in the Punjab was reinforced by the return of Sikh emigrants from America. They were harassed in Canada by all sorts of new restrictions. The Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamer chartered by a wealthy Sikh, sailed from Hong Kong in April 1914 with 351 Sikhs and 21 Punjabi Muslims. But they had to return to India as the Canadians refused them the right to land. On their return to India in September 1914 there was trouble in store for them. It embittered the feelings of the Sikhs against the British Government. The propaganda of the Ghadar Party increased in intensity during 1914-15 and attempts were made to spread disaffection in the Indian army and these partially succeeded.

The pan-Islamic movement had gathered strength in India during the Turko-Italian and Balkan wars of 1911—13. The leaders of the movement were Shaukat Ali and Mahomed Ali and Maulana Zafar Ali Khan. They resented the attitude adopted by Britain towards Turkey. Subscriptions were raised in 1912 for the Indian Red Crescent and young Dr. M. A. Ansari and others went to Turkey to give medical relief. When the war broke out the Ali brothers and Zafar Ali Khan were interned in their home towns for the duration of the war.

In 1912 Abul Kalam, a young man of twenty-four, started an Urdu paper Al Hilal, and selected Azad as his pen-name. His powerful pen and scholarship revolutionized Muslim opinion and brought the community nearer to the Congress. Al Hilal had a circulation of 11,000 within six months of its founding and reached 26,000 during the war.

As a result of hostile attitude of Great Britain towards Turkey, there was rapprochcment between the Muslims and the Congress. A new constitution was adopted at the annual session of the All-India Muslim League in March 1913. It was under these conditions that at the Karachi Congress of 1913 the Hindus and Muslims closcd their ranks and the Congress placed on record "its appreciation of the adoption by the All-India Muslim League of the idea of self-government for India". The Congress endorsed the plea of the League for harmonious co-operation between the two communities.

In 1915 the sessions of the Congress and the League were simultaneously held in Bombay. Mohammad Ali Jinnah was mainly responsible for this orientation. The League session was attended by the Congress leaders. It was resolved that the Congress and Muslim League should co-operate together in formulating a common scheme of post-war reforms and press for its adoption by the Government. Committees were appointed by the Congress and the League for this purpose. A joint scheme of reforms was formulated, and the Hindu-Muslim question was settled by agreement on a scheme of special representation for the Muslims in the Indian legislatures. It was enthusiastically approved by both the Congress and the League at their annual sessions in December 1916 at Lucknow and came to be known as the Congress-League Scheme. Another feature of this Congress was a compromise between the Moderates and the Extremists. But the compromise lasted for only two years and the Moderates, now calling themselves Liberals, walked out of the Congress.

From 1916 onwards Gandhi appeared on the Indian political horizon as an increasingly significant factor. He returned to India in January 1915. He was well known for his satyagraha struggle in South Africa. As far back as 1910, Tolstoy commended Gandhi's new weapon and declared that passive resistance is a question of greatest importance, not only for India, but for the whole of humanity." In 1917 Gandhi championed with success the plantation labourers in Champaran and later he stood up for the peasantry of Kheda. He was still very loyal to the British and helped the Government in recruiting for the war.

India waited after the war for a change of heart on the part of the British Government. Instead she received the Rowlatt Act. The people as a whole resented it. In April 1919 innocent unarmed people were massacred in Amritsar by General Dyer. This outrage wounded India's pride and she rose in revolt against foreign domination. If at Plasscy the foundations of British domination were laid, at Amritsar they were shaken. Gandhi stated that Jallianwala Bagh was only the beginning: "We must be prepared to contemplate with equanimity not a thousand murders of innocent men and women, but many thousands before we attain a status in the world that shall not be surpassed by any nation. We hope, therefore, that all concerned will take rather than lose heart and treat hanging as an ordinary affair of life."

In December 1919 the Congress was held at Amritsar. No decision was arrived at by this Congress because the result of the inquiries regarding the Punjab atrocities was awaited. There was Tilak, the courageous hero and idol of the people, attending his last Congress. There was Gandhi who was soon to lead the country to heroic heights.

In May 1920 the findings of the Hunter Committee were published. Before the results of the investigation could be released, th" Government passed an Indemnity Act to protect officials.

Gandhi was profoundly shocked. On August 1, 1920 he gave the signal for the campaign with his famous letter to the Viceroy: "I can retain neither respect nor affection for a government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immorality." On the eve of the launching of satyagraha, Tilak passed away and Gandhi movingly said: "My strongest bulwark is gone."

Lakhs of people in Bombay participated in the funeral procession of Lokamanya Tilak. Everyone shed tears of sorrow and affection and there was one question in the minds of all: "Who will take Tilak's place?"

01. Birth of Gandhi (1869)

Two GREAT arehitects of a new era, who have not only moulded the destinies of their nations but have given a new turn to human history itself, were born about the same time—Gandhi and Lenin.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the city of Porbandar in Kathiawad, otherwise known as Sudamapuri. Porbandar was surrounded by solid high walls against which the Sea of Oman splashed. The houses were built chiefly of white and soft stone quarried in the neighbourhood. In time, these soft stone buildings hardening under exposure, became like solid blocks of marble fitted to endure for ages. The distant Barda Hills kept guard over the "White City".

The chief occupation of the people of Porbandar, the capital of the principality of Porbandar, has been business. An enterprising and sturdy people, at home on the sea, they have traded from early times with the coast towns of Arabia and Africa. The town was the anccstral home of the Gandhis and they were originally grocers. But grandfather and father of Mohandas had been prime ministers in several Kathiawad stales. In this service they had acquired a reputation for loyalty, ability and character, rare qualities in state officials.

Uttamchand Gandhi, the grandfather of Mohandas, rose from the lowest rung of the ladder to be Dewan of Porbandar. Once Uttamchand concealed a poor grocer who had incurred the displeasure of the maharani- regent. He would not surrender the poor victim and, therefore, the state soldiers shelled his house. The marks of the cannon balls were visible for years. Uttamchand crossed the Barda Hills to seek refuge in Junagadh. There he saluted the nawab with his left hand. Asked for an explanation, he said: "The right hand is already pledged to Porbandar."

Karamchand alias Kaba Gandhi succeeded his lather, Uttamchand, as the Dewan of Porbandar at the age of twenty-five. He fell foul of the assistant political agent who was an Englishman. The Englishman spoke insultingly of his maharaja and Karamchand dared to dispute with him. He was arrested and detained for a few hours under a tree, but Karamchand did not yield. Like his father, Karamchand was a man of principle and had no love for money. He had read only up to the vernacular fifth standard and was ignorant of geography and history but he had rich experience of practical affairs. He was once even a member of Rajasthanic Court—now extinct—an influential body for settling disputes between chiefs and their fellow clansmen. The Gandhi clan played an important part in the political life of Porbandar. As a child Mohandas used to learn by heart the family pedigree, with all its ramifications and offshoots.

Karamchand Gandhi had been three times a widower before he married his last wife Putlibai aged fifteen when he was forty. He had two daughters by his first and second marriages. Putlibai bore him a daughter and three sons—Raliatbchn, Laxmidas, Karsandas, and Mohandas. She was deeply religious and possessed a strong personality. She would take the hardest vows without flinching. During the four months of Chalurmas Putlibai lived on one meal a day and fasted on every alternate day. Not a day passed without her visiting the haveliy the Vaishnava temple. Mohandas often went with her to the temple, but its glitter and pomp never appealed to him. She had strong common sense and was consulted by the widowed mother of the Thakore Saheb on matters of state. Often Mohandas would accompany her to the court and listen to the discussions of his mother on affairs of state. Her influence, more than any other, formed the character of Mohandas. He inherited his intense religious outlook from his mother.

02. Early Tears (1875-1888)

MOHANDAS passed his childhood in Porbandar and there he attended an elementary school. He was a mediocre student but punctual. It was with some difficulty that he got through the multiplication tables. As a boy, he was very kind, playful and obstinate.

He was about seven years old when his father had to leave Porbandar service and move with his family to Rajkot, where he soon became dewan. There Mohandas was put into a primary school. Soon after, he was betrothed to Kasturbai, without having been informed about it. Her father, a Porbandar merchant named Gokuldas Makanji, and Karamchand Gandhi were great friends. Kasturbai and Mohandas were of about the same age. She was never at any school.

When Mohandas was eight years old, a durbar was held at Delhi on January 1, 1877 and Lord Lytton proclaimed to the princes and the people of India that Queen Victoria had assumed the title of Empress of India. On behalf of the Empress the Viceroy declared: "You the natives of India, whatever your race and whatever your creed, have a recognized claim to share largely with your English fellow subjects according to your capacity for the task, in the administration of the country you inhabit."

Rajkot which had been growing in importance since it was chosen to be the headquarters of the Political Agency of India Government was one of the few towns in Kathiawad in those days to possess a high school, a fact which made it possible for young Mohandas to receive a better education than might otherwise have been his lot.

Mohandas entered the Alfred High School at Rajkot when he was twelve. He attended the school in dhoti, long coat and a skull cap, which was soon replaced by a Kathiawadi turban. At the age of twelve, he was married to Kasturbai. It did not mean to him anything more than the prospect of good clothes to wear, drum beating, marriage processions, rich dinners, and a strange girl to play with. The custom of early marriage was prevalent in India at that time. It was purely a question of the eiders' convenience and economy. Karamchand Gandhi was sixty years old and wanted to see his youngest son married along with the elder son during his lifetime and have a glimpse at a grandson before closing his eyes. The marriage was performed at Porbandar with great pomp and eclat. Mohandas lost no time in assuming the authority of a husband. Though he dared not speak to his wife in the presence of the ciders, he tried to boss over her movements.

As a result of the marriage Mohandas lost one year at school, but packed two years' study in one. He was never a brilliant student but would do his lessons diligently to avoid the teacher's scolding. As a rule he had a distaste for any reading beyond school books. English was the medium of study from the fourth standard onward and at first he found it difficult. He did not like memorizing and he was, therefore, weak in Sanskrit. Geometry he liked because there success depended on reasoning. At the high school he had a fairly good career and never resorted to copying nor allowed himself to be prompted even by his teacher. He very jealously guarded his own character. The least blemish drew tears from his eyes.

Shravana Pitribhakti Nataka, a play about Shravana's devotion to his blind parents, which Mohandas once happened to read, impressed him intensely. "Here is an example for me to copy," he said to himself. The melting tune of the agonized laments of the parents over Shravana's death Mohandas often practised on a concertina which his father had presented him. Just about this time he happened to see a play, Harishchandra, which captured his heart. "Why should not all be truthful like Harishchandra?" asked Mohandas himself constantly.

He disliked school sports and never took part in cricket or football before they were made compulsory. His shyness was one of the reasons for his aloofness. But he had formed a habit of taking long walks. He regarded sports and good handwriting as not a necessary part of education. Gymnastics at school Mohandas avoided because he wanted to nurse his ailing father. Since then nursing became a lifelong passion with him.

While still in the fourth standard, soon after his marriage, Mohandas met Sheikh Mehtab, a class-mate and friend of his elder brother, who led him astray. He associated with him to reform him, in spite of the warnings from his mother and his wife regarding the new companion's character. A close friendship developed between them and they even photographed themselves together, though it was a new thing then. A wave of reform was sweeping over Rajkot and Mohandas went through a short spell of religious crisis. He broke one Hindu custom after another. He became an atheist. He had heard that many respectable people in Rajkot were eating meat and drinking wine. Many of his teachers and some high school boys were supposed to be participating in this reform secretly. "Behold the mighty Englishman! He rules the Indian small; because being a meat- eater, he is five cubits tall!" was a popular doggerel amongst schoolboys. "If the whole country took to meat-eating the English could be overcome," thought Mohandas. The national sentiment appealed to him. The Gandhi family was resolutely opposed to meat-eating, therefore, young Mohandas in company with the new friend chose a secret place for the experiment. "It would seem a live goat were bleating inside me," was his first reaction after eating meat. As a duty he persisted in the experiment of meat-eating for about a year, but had no more than half a dozen of such dinners. Knowing that this would shock his parents, and not liking the idea of telling falsehood, meat was abjured by him. "When they are no more and when I have found my freedom, I will eat meat openly," he thought.

The same friend led Mohandas once to a brothel but out of disgust he left it. During this period he took to smoking also. To buy bidis, he began stealing coppers from the servant's pockct money. Once he stole a bit of gold to contribute towards the expenses of his and brother's meat dinners but out of remorse he resolved to confess the deed to his father in writing with a request for adequate punishment. He gave a pledge that he would never steal again. He resented the idea of smoking in secret and wanted in sheer disgust to commit suicide in a temple but courage failed him. He abandoned smoking for ever. His devotion to truth was unfailing, perhaps due to the good influence of honest parents and the absence of corporal punishment.

There is another story of his childhood. A feast was given at his house, and one of the guests was a young man who had been invited by Mohandas himself. The principal dish was mangoes. By mistake this friend did not receive the usual summons to participate in the dinner. As a penance for this failure in courtesy, the boy often did not eat any more mangoes that season, fond as he was of them, and though both his father and his friend tried to persuade him that such self-denial was not called for.

His early years coincided with the period of the revival of Hinduism through the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj. Swami Dayanand, a son of Kathiawad, was then at the height of his fame. Anti-untouchability campaign was spreading.

A scavenger named Uka, an untouchable, used to attend the house of the Gandhis for cleaning latrines. Mohandas was forbidden to touch the scavenger but though he was hardly twelve years old would tell his mother that untouchability was not sanctioned by religion. "How can that be when in the Ramayana one regarded nowadays as an untouchable took Rama across the Ganges in his boat?" he argued.

During five long years of his father's illness Mohandas nursed him and listened to his discussions with Muslim and Pansi friends on their rcspcctivc faiths. He listened to the Ramayana of Tulsidas, "the greatest book in all devotional literature", which was daily read to Karamchand Gandhi, and thus developed a taste for religious books of all faiths. In later years he became deeply influenced by Christian religion, but as a boy it was the only religion towards which he felt antipathy. "Surely, thought I, a religion that compelled one to eat beef, drink liquor and change one's clothes did not deserve the name."

At the age of sixteen Mohandas lost his 63-year-old father, who was then a pensioner of Rajkot state. Soon after Kasturbai bore a baby but it died within three or four days.

In November 1887 Mohandas appeared for the matriculation examination from the Ahmedabad centre and passed. He joined the Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, but found the studies difficult and at the end of the first term he returned home.

A family friend suggested that Mohandas should proceed to England and become a barrister. "The times are changed," he argued. "And none of you can expect to succeed to your father's gadi without having had a proper education." Mohandas jumped at the idea of going abroad but his mother did not like separation from him. To put him off she suggested that lie should first consult his uncle, who was at Porbandar. Mohandas travelled all alone 120 miles by bullock cart and on camel-back and he reached his destination on the fourth day. "It is your mother's permission that really matters," said the uncle to evade direct co-operation in the irreligious act of a visit to England.

Mohandas wanted to qualify for the medical profession but his elder brother opposed it. "We Vaishnavas should have nothing to do with the dissection of dead bodies," he said. The family had not enough funds to send Mohandas abroad for studies in law but the loving brother promised to find £666 somehow. Mohandas tried for a state scholarship but failed. The mother was still unwilling but Mohandas having solemnly promised not to touch meat, wine and women, she gave her consent. It was then an uncommon thing for a young man of Rajkot to go to England. The high school gave a send-off in the old pupil's honour. Mohandas could scareely stammer a few words of thanks.

He left for Bombay leaving mother and wife with a baby of a few months behind. So far no one from his caste had gone abroad and, therefore, a general meeting of the caste people was called and he was summoned to appear before them. "In the opinion of the caste, your proposal to go to England is not proper," they warned. "I cannot alter my resolve to go to England," he replied firmly. "I think the caste should not interfere in the matter."

"This boy shall be treated as an outcaste from today. Whoever helps him or goes to see him off at the dock shall be punishable with a fine of one rupee and four annas,'' was the solemn verdict of the caste people. Mohandas remained unperturbed.

03. Student in London (1838-1891)

IN COMPANY with a Junagadh lawyer, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aged nineteen, sailed from Bombay on September 4, 1888, reaching London at the end of the month. He carried with him four letters of introduction to Dr. P. J. Mehta, Mr. Dalpatrarn Shukla, the great cricketer Prince Ranjitsinhji, and the most precious one to Dadabhai Naoroji. Actually the Maharashtrian friend who gave the note had never known Dadabhai personally. But he thought it might induce the shy Mohandas to meet the easily acccssible Dadabhai who had recently presided over the second Congress held at Calcutta in 1886.

On the steamer, young Gandhi wore a black suit. Most of the time he confined himself to his cabin and for a couple of days being shy he ate food there. He touched no meat or wine on the journey and his meals consisted only of sweets and fruits which he had brought with him. He even securcd a certificate from a fellow passenger that he ate no meat on the steamer. During the long voyage he visited Aden, Port Said, Brindsi, Malta and Gibralter. He stepped ashore in London in white flannels, the only person wearing such clothes. It was pretty cold. All the events he recorded in his diary and continued this practice almost throughout his life.

Dr. P. J. Mehta, a friend of the Gandhi family, came to see him on the day of his arrival in London at the Victoria Hotel. Gandhi was intrigued to see his silken top hat and out of curiosity passed his hand over it in the wrong way and disturbed the fur. Immediately Dr. Mehta gave him the first lesson in European etiquette: "Do not touch other people's things. Do not ask questions as we do in India at first acquaintance; do not talk loudly. Never address people as 'Sir' whilst speaking to them as we do in India, only servants and subordinates address their master that way."

Gandhi found everything around him strange; he would continually think of his home and country. "I was quite dazzled by the splendour of the hotel. I had never in my life seen such a pomp. There was all over electric lights." A use of the lift intrigued him. On the fourth day of his arrival he shifted from the hotel, which had cost him one pound a day, to less expensive quarters in a boarding-house kept by an English landlady. There he starved himself because he would not touch non-vegetarian diet and the other preparations he found tasteless. To changc him,a friend tried to read with him Bentham's Theory of Utility but he could hardly follow it. "These abstruse things are beyond me," he said. "I admit it is necessary to eat meat. But I cannot break my vow." Young Gandhi was subjected to new temptations and much social pressure, against which he had to defend his oath to his mother.

Like most Indian students, he, in the beginning, maintained silence in England regarding his child marriage. Rut when he found that a lady friend was trying to arrange an engagement with him with a young lady, he wrote confessing that he was a husband and a father. He was fully forgiven by both ladies.

He had not yet started upon regular studies and spent some time every day reading Daily Telegraph, Daily News and Pall Mall Gazette. This must have been quite an experience for him as he never had read newspapers in India. The novel feature of Daily Telegraph was photographs and travel stories by Sir Edwin Arnold. Authors like George Bernard Shaw were associated with Pall Mall Gazette.

In one of his wanderings in the town in seareh of vegetarian dishes, Gandhi came across a queer restaurant which not only served vegetarian diet but propagated it through literature. He bought here Salt's Plea Jor Vegetarianism which created in him interest in dietetics. "I read Salt's book from cover to cover and was very much impressed by it. From the date of reading this book, [ may claim to have become a vegetarian by choice. I blessed the day on which I had taken the vow before my mother. I had all along abstained from meat in the interests of truth and of the vow I had taken, but had wished at the same time that every Indian should be a meat-cater, and had looked forward to being one myself freely and openly some day, and to enlisting others in the cause. The choice was now made in favour of vegetarianism, the spread of which henceforward became my mission." He came in contact with those who were regarded as pillars of vegetarianism, and began his own experiments in dietetics. He now stopped taking sweets and condiments and gave up tea and coffee as a rule, and substituted cocoa. He gave up starehy foods at one time, living on bread and fruit alone at another, and once living on cheese, milk and eggs.

Many awkward occasions arose owing to the food fads of Gandhi and, therefore, he made an earr.est attempt to become an English gentleman by t«7ing to cultivate other accomplishments. He went in for well-tailored suits, bought even a top hat and a ten-pound evening suit made in Bond Street, spent a good deal of time standing before a mirror parting his straight hair and arranging a tie. He took six lessons in dancing but could not follow rhythm. To cultivate taste for western music he tried to learn to play on the violin but failed. He took lessons in French and elocution but went to sleep in reciting Pitt's speech. In about three months' time he, after aspiring to be an English gentleman, chose to convert himself into a serious student.

The period of infatuation was not unrelieved by a certain amount of self-introspection on the part of Gandhi. He kept an account of every farthing he spent and kept strict watch over his way of living. To simplify life further he rented a room and cooked his own breakfast and supper which was simply oatmeal porridge and cocoa. He now lived on seventeen shillings a week. He avoided conveyances and went on foot everywhere. A couple of times he saw dramas. He joined the London Vegetarian Socicty in 1890 and soon found himself on its executive committee. He helped to design its badge. Full of zeal, he started a vegetarian club in his own locality, Bayswatcr. He became its seeretary and invited Sir Edwin Arnold to be the vice-president. But in a short time he shifted his residence, and the club soon closed down. Through the cult of vegetarianism Gandhi came in contact with many interesting persons who had to do with new movements in England—socialism, anarehism, atheism, theo sophy and birth control. He contributed nine articles on Hindu customs and diet to the magazine, Vegetarian. "The vegetarian movement will indirectly aid India politically also, inasmuch as the English vegetarians will more readily sympathize with the Indian aspirations'," he thought.

The bar examinations did not require much study and Gandhi wanted to utilize his time in taking some literary degree. Oxford or Cambridge was beyond him because it meant a longer stay and more expenses. He decided to appear for the London Matriculation. It meant hard work but much addition to his general knowledge and Gandhi took to his studies seriously. He passed in French, English and chemistry but failed in Latin. In his second attempt, within six months, he chose heat and light instead of chemistry in the science group and passed in June 1890.

Towards the close of 1889 Gandhi came across two theosophists, in whose company he read the Gita for the first time. They were reading Arnold's translation, The Song Celestial, and they invited Gandhi to read the original with them. It made a deep impression on his mind. Soon after he read Arnold's Light of Asia, with even greater interest, and it whetted his appetite for studying the lives and teachings of other religious teachers. The theosophist friends introduced him to Madame Blavatsky and Mrs. Annie Besant. The reading of theosophist literature stimulated in him the desire to study Hinduism but he could not be induced to join the Theosophical Society.

About the same time Dr. Josiah Oldfield, editor of the Vegetarian and a room-mate, becoming interested in Gandhi's religious views, attempted to combat what he believed to be false in them, and to bring him over to the Christian faith. At his request Gandhi read the Bible. He liked only the New Testament, especially the Sermon on the Mount. He attended service at some ehurchcs, and heard famous preachers like Spurgcon and Farrar, and especially Dr. Parker to whose service in the City Temple he went again and again. Religion became a new thing to him; his outlook was broadened. He tried to unify the teachings of the Gita, the Sermon on the Mount, and The Light of Asia.

Gandhi got interested in atheism too, as Bradlaugh was then its chief advocate. Atheism had no effect on him but Bradlaugh he revered. The "member for India", as Bradlaugh was known for his interest in Indian affairs, died in January 1891. Gandhi along with several British celebrities attended Bradlaugh's funeral. "For atheists like Bradlaugh, truth held the same place as God for others," observed Gandhi.

There was in London the dockers' strike in 1889. Gandhi in company with an Indian friend went to Cardinal Manning to congratulate him for helping the strikers.

Dadabhai was in London at the time. In 1890 he started India, a journal for the discussion of Indian affairs, which influenced the young Indian students in Great Britain, who then numbered about two hundred. He often addressed meetings at the Indian Association. Gandhi once mustered courage at one of these meetings to present to Dadabhai the note of introduction. "You can come and have my advice whenever you like," Dadabhai told him.

There was an exhibition in Paris in 1890 with the newly erected Eiffel Tower attracting wide attention. Tolstoy was the chief among those who disparaged it. The controversy ercated great interest and Gandhi went to see the Eiffel Tower himself. He was impressed by its dimensions but found nothing artistic about it which could contribute to the beauty of the exhibition. He was greatly impressed by the ancient churches in Paris and especially the construction of Notre Dame and the elaborate decoration of the interior with its beautiful sculptures. He stayed seven days in the French capital.

Gandhi was admitted at the Inner Temple on November 6, 1888. To appear for the bar examination he had to stay three years in England. "Keeping terms" meant attending at least six dinners in a term, sumptuous dinners costing about three shillings each. All ate and drank the good commons but Gandhi ate only bread, boiled potatoes and cabbage. He was in great demand because two bottles of wine were allowed to each group of four and he did not drink. The examinations were easy but unlike others Gandhi studied all the text-books and read Roman Law in Latin. He invested much money in the books. It took him nine months of hard labour to read Broom's Common Law, "a big but interesting volume". Snell's Equity was to him "full of interest, but a bit hard to understand". Leading Cases by White and Tudor was "full of interest and instruction". He read also Real Property by Williams and Edward, and Personal Property by Goodeve. Maync's Hindu Ixiw he read with "unflagging interest". His reading was mostly confined to text-books.

He passed his examinations and was called to the bar on June 10, 1891, and was enrolled in the High Court the next day.

Gandhi's three years' stay in England was eventful. Those were the years of great intellectual activity and unhindered freedom of thought and speech. The country as a whole had become a living university. There was tolerance for every school of thought. New ideas were preached and practised as never before or after in the history of England. Independent Labour Party was formed in 1887. The Fabian Socicty under the able leadership of Sydney Webb and Bernard Shaw was popularizing socialism and scientific thought. The first volume of Das Kapital by Karl Marx had just appeared in English in 1887 and was accepted as the Bible of the working class. In 1889 Fabian Essays was published by Bernard Shaw. Darwin's epoch-making Descent of Man which had been published in 1871 was being discussed. Kropctkin's Mutual Aid was appearing serially in the Nineteenth Century and Krcpotkin himself was propagating his ideas in England. Ruskin and William Morris created new interest in the art world. Arnold's Light of Asia and The Song Celestial won many friends for India. Learned bodies throughout Great Britain invited Max Muller to deliver lectures on Indian philosophy and religion. Where formerly fifty people attended these academic lectures, now as many as 1,400 flocked to hear the wisdom of the East.

While Gandhi was in London, the fourth Congress at Allahabad in 1888 and the fifth Congress at Bombay in 1889 were presided over by two distinguished Englishmen, George Yule and Sir William Weddcrburn. At the fifth Congress, Bradlaugh who had come all the way from England had declared: "Born of the people, trusted by the people, I will die for the people and I know no geographical or race limitations."

On the eve of his departure for India, Gandhi invited his vegetarian friends to dinner in Holborn Restaurant and arranged with the manager to provide a strictly vegetarian meal. This was a new experiment for a non-vegetarian restaurant. He was called upon to make a speech but as on previous occasions he miserably failed. "I thank you, gentlemen, for having kindly responded to my invitation," Gandhi said and abruptly sat down. The London Vegetarian published a full-page interview along with his photograph.

Gandhi felt that "next to India, I would rather live in London than in any other place in the world." In the Vegetarian he wrote: "So much attached was I to London and its environments; for who would not be? London with its teaching institutions, public galleries, museums, theatres, vast commerce, public parks, and vegetarian restaurants, is a fit place for a student and a traveller, a trader and a 'faddist'—as a vegetarian would be called by his opponents. Thus it was not without deep regret that I left dear London. At the same time I was glad because I was to see my friends and relations in India after such a long time."

Gandhi sailed for India on June 12, 1891.

04. Briefless Barrister ( 1891-1893 )

M. K. GANDHI, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, reached Bombay in July 1891. His arrival home was shadowed by a great sorrow; his dearest mother was dead. His elder brother, who had come to receive him in Bombay, revealed the sad news now though the mother had died while he was in London. Gandhi was dazed but gave no outward expression. He stayed with Dr. P.J. Mehta, who had received him in London. And during this stay he came in contact with an amazing personality, Rajchandra Ravjibhai, a poet, and a jeweller by profession. He had a wonderful memory and faculty to attend to several things simultaneously. Deeply religious and well versed in Hindu philosophy, he impressed Gandhi intensely. Rajchandra was a Jain youth, of nearly the same age as Gandhi and came also from Kathiawad. Though he died at the early age of thirty-three, he profoundly influenced many people, and did much to create a new spirit among the Jains of Gujarat with his idealism, and his belief in a good life as the most essential part of religion. Of him Gandhi observed: "Indeed, I put him much higher than Tolstoy in religious perception. Both Rajchandra and Tolstoy have lived as they have preached."

Gandhi's elder brother took him directly from Bombay to Nasik to perform the purificatory ceremony to assuage the wrath of his community. On his return to Rajkot he was duly received back into religious communion with the members of his caste. Meanwhile the leaders of his caste in Bombay and Porbandar had excommunicated him.

At Rajkot Gandhi started educating the family children according to his new ideas. His own son was about four years old. He introduced oatmeal porridge and cocoa and banished tea and coffee which had recently made intrusion in his house. He taught physical exercise and dressed the children in the European style.

The household expense went up and to meet it Gandhi left for Bombay to establish practice, gain experience of courts and study Indian Law. He was hardly twenty-two and was inexperienced. The leading lawyers of his time were ex-presidents of the Congress, Justice Badrudin Tyabji and Sir Phcrozcshah Mehta.

Gandhi lived in the Girgaum area and he walked a couple of miles to the High Court daily to hear cases. He rented a house and employed a cook, who though a Brahmin was ignorant and dirty. Gandhi did not treat his cook as a servant but shared the work with him and tried to teach him cleanliness.

In course of time a small case came to him but the young barrister lost his nerve and told his client to engage another lawyer. After this incident he did not go to the court again. He applied for the post of a part-time school teacher, but not being a graduate he was refused. Though he was inexperienced in conducting cases, he found out that he was good at drafting memorials. But not finding enough work in Bombay he left for Rajkot within six months.

At Rajkot Gandhi drafted applications and memorials and earned on an average Rs. 300 a month. Against his principles he had to pay here a percentage of these fees to vakils who briefed him. His brother was a petty vakil at Rajkot and on his pleading Gandhi acquiesced.

Compromise in principles soon landed honest Gandhi in troubles. Once Gandhi went to see the British Political Agent to disabuse his prejudice against his elder brother, who had been secretary and adviser to the Rana Saheb of Porbandar before this prince was installed on the gadi. Gandhi had a nodding acquaintance with the English gentleman when he was on leave in England. The sahib gave the Indian barrister a cold reception and asked his peon to use "just enough force" to eject him, an experience for Gandhi just returning from friendly England. He wanted to proceed against the sahib but Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, who happened to be in Rajkot, warned: "Such experiences are the common experience of many vakils and barristers. He is still fresh from England and does not know British officers. If he would earn something and have an easy time here, let him tear up the note and pocket the insult. Tell him he has yet to know life."

Soon Gandhi found Rajkot too hot for him; the quarrel with the sahib stood in the way of his practice. Petty intrigues between Kathiawad states and intrigues of officers for power were the order of the day. How to remain unscathed in this vicious atmosphere was a problem to him.

Unexpectedly an offer came to him on behalf of Dada Abdulla & Co. to proceed to South Africa to instruct their counsel in a big case. His services were secured for one year on promise of a first class return fare and a sum of £105, all found. The opportunity of visiting a new country and having a new experience was a godsend to yonng Gandhi, who was struggling against odds for about two years in India.

In April 1893 Gandhi sailed for South Africa.

05. Unwelcome Visitor ( 1893-1894 )

GANDHI wanted to travel in first class but for some reason or other he was squeezed into an officer's cabin. During over a month's voyage, the captain initiated him in chess and on the way took him for sightseeing at Lamu and Zanzibar. The steamer reached Durban at the close of May 1893. Gandhi was dressed in a frock-coat, a black professional turban, a stiff collar and tie and wore smart shoes. Inside the shirt he wore the Vaishnava necklace of tulasi beads, a sacred gift from his mother.

He was received at the quay by Abdulla Sheth, his first client in South Africa. Before he landed he observed that the Indians were held in scant respcct by the whites.

Within a week of his arrival Gandhi visited the Durban court. The magistrate asked him to take off his turban which he refused and left the court prompdy. He wrote to the press about the incident and received unexpected advertisement. Some newspapers described him as an "unwelcome visitor".

During 1890-1 some 150,000 Indian emigrants were settled in South Africa, most of them having taken up their residence in Natal. "Semi- barbarous Asiatics, or persons belonging to the uncivilized races of Asia'* was the description of Indians in the statute books. It was at the persistent request of the Natal Government that the Government of India had permitted in 1860 indentured labour to emigrate there.

To his great sorrow Gandhi soon discovered that the Indians were sharply divided into different groups. The Parsi clerks would call themselves Persians and the Muslim merchants preferred to call themselves Arabs. The white-collared Hindus were neither here nor there. These three classes had some social intercourse but the fourth class consisting of labourers by far the largest had none but business relations with the superior class. The poorest class consisted of Tamil, Telugu and North Indian indentured and free labourers; by religion they were Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. Englishmen called them "coolies", and as the majority of Indians belonged to the labouring class, all Indians were called "coolies" or "sammis". The merchants were known as "coolie merchants". Gandhi was called a "coolie barrister".

After a week in Durban Gandhi left for Pretoria where the case for which he was engaged needed his presence. It was not an easy journey. At Maritzburg, the capital of Natal, Gandhi was ordered by a railway official to shift to the van compartment though he had held a first-class ticket. Gandhi having refused to comply with the unjust order, a constable was brought to push him out bag and baggage. The train steamed away and Gandhi was left to shiver in the dark waiting-room all night. This experience changed the course of his life. "There was a white man in the room. I was afraid of him. What was my duty, I asked myself. Should I go back to India, or should I go forward, with God as my helper, and face whatever was in store for me? I decided to stay and suffer. My active non-violence began from that date."

The following day Gandhi spent with the Indian merchants in Maritz- burg who tried to comfort him by narrating their own hardships. He sent a long telegram of complaint to the general manager of the railway but the official justified the conduct of the railway authorities.

By the evening train he travelled in a reserved berth reaching Charles- town in the morning. From there he had to travel by a stage-coach, which halted en route at Standerton for the night. On the way to Standerton, the "coolie barrister" was asked to sit next to the coachman and the leader of the coach sat with the white passengers inside. When the coach reached Pardekoph at about three, the leader who wanted to enjoy the fresh air and a smoke took a piece of dirty sackcloth from the driver, spread it on the footboard and told Gandhi, "Sammi, you sit on this, I want to sit near the driver." Gandhi refused to sit at his feet but was prepared to sit inside. The man began to box Gandhi's ears and tried to drag him down. Gandhi held on to the rail, when another heavy blow nearly knocked him down. Passengers interfered much to the guard's disgust. "Let the poor beggar alone," they said, and the man threatening to "do for him" at the next stage desisted. At Standerton, a small village, the coach was changed, and the rest of the journey was finished without any incident, Gandhi reaching Johannesburg next night.

That night, the utterly ignorant new-comer drove to the Grand Hotel, where, of course, there was "no room" for him. Gandhi spent the night at a friendly Muslim merchant's place. The merchant laughed over the hotel incident and said: "Only we can live in a land like this, because, for making money we do not mind pocketing insults. This country is not for men like you." Next day Gandhi took a train to Pretoria reaching there at about eight on a Sunday evening. An American Negro helped him to find a shelter in Johnston's Family Hotel for one night.

Next morning Gandhi called on the attorney, Mr. Baker, who received him warmly and told him: "We have no work for you here as barrister, for we have engaged the best counsel. I shall take your assistance only to the extent of getting necessary information." Mr. Baker besides being an attorney was a staunch lay preacher. He fixed Gandhi in a poor baker's lodging as a boarder at thirty-five shillings a week. In the company of some friends Gandhi was invited to attend prayers every day in Mr. Baker's private church which Gandhi did. Mr. Baker gave Gandhi some Christian literature including the Bible. He had a desire to see Gandhi embrace Christianity.

In the very first week Gandhi with the help of Tyeb Haji Khan Muhammad called a meeting of all the Indians in Pretoria for a talk to their condition in the Transvaal. This first meeting was mainly attended by Memon merchants, though there was a sprinkling of Hindus as well. The Hindu population in Pretoria was very small indeed.

Gandhi spoke about observing truthfulness even in business. He told them that their responsibility to be truthful was all the greater in a foreign land, because the conduct of a few Indians was the measure of that of the millions of their fellow-countrymen. He asked them to pay more attention to public hygiene and laid great stress upon the ncccssity of forgetting all distinctions such as Hindus, Musalmans, Parsis, Christians, Gujaratis, Madrasis, Punjabis and so on. He suggested the formation of an association to make representations to the authorities concerned, on behalf of the Indian settlers, and offered to place at its disposal as much of his time and service as was possible. His homely chat at this meeting was the first public speech in his life. He was then twenty-five years old.

Gandhi noted that very few amongst his audience knew English. He advised those who had leisure to learn English which would be useful to them and undertook to teach a class or to instruct personally individuals desiring to learn the language. Three young men expressed their desire to learn on condition that he went to their places to teach them. Of these, two were Muslims, one of them a barber and the other a clerk and the third was a Hindu, a petty shopkeeper. Gandhi taught them for eight months and they made just enough progress useful in their trade.

In future Gandhi held such meetings regularly, once every month. His stay in Pretoria enabled him to make a deep study of the social, economic and political conditions of the Indians in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, a study which was to be of great service to him and to the Indian settlers.

In the Orange Free State the Indians were deprived of all their rights by a special law enacted in 1888. They could stay there only as waiters in hotels or pursue some other such menial calling. The traders were driven out with a nominal compensation. A stringent enactment was passed in the Transvaal in 1885. Under the amended law of 1886 all Indians were compelled to pay a poll tax of £3 as fee for entry into the Transvaal. They might not own land except in the locations set apart for them. They had no franchise, under the laws for the coloured people, which were also applied to Indians. They might not move out of doors after 9 o'clock at night without a permit.

Gandhi often used to go out for a walk with an English friend and rarely got home before ten at night. Gandhi received a letter from the state attorney authorizing him to be out of doors at all times without police interference. But once, before President Kruger's house, a police patrol, without giving Gandhi any warning, pushed him and kicked him into the street. An English friend who happened to pass by advised Gandhi to proceed against the man. But Gandhi emphatically said, <4I have made it a rule not to go to court in respect of any personal grievance." The incident deepened his feeling for the Indian settlers and his mind now became more and more occupied with the question as to how this state of things might be improved. studied different faiths. He attended the Wellington Convention for three da

Besides the little public activity he was doing and discussed Christianity with many delegates. There was strong effort on their part to convert Gandhi to Christianity but he saw no reason for changing his religion, though he was not quite satisfied with it. As the Christian friends were endeavouring to convert him, even so were the Muslim friends. He expressed his difficulties in a letter to Rajchandra. In order to clear his thought he corresponded also with other persons in India and England in whom he had faith. He read the Koran. The book that impressed him most was Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You. He later wrote: "I was at that time a believer in violence. Its reading cured me of my scepticism and made a firm believer in ahimsa." His studies carried him in a direction unthought of by the Christian friends. He read, "quite eighty" books within a year.

Here in Pretoria, the religious spirit within him became a living force, and here too he acquired a good knowledge of legal practice, and gained confidence that he should not after all fail as a lawyer. Dada Abdulla's suit against Tyeb Sheth was for £40,000 and arising as it did out of business transactions, it was full of intricacies in accounts. Both the parties had engaged able attorneys and counsels. Gandhi sifted facts for the attorney and took a keen interest in the case. He read all the papers pertaining to the transactions, made a fair study of book-keeping, and improved his capacity for translation by having to tianslate the correspondence which was for the most part in Gujarati. He made a thorough study of law and acquired a complete grasp of the case. His guiding principle now was "facts are three-fourths of the law." He saw that the litigation, if it were persisted in, would ruin the plaintiff and the defendant and, therefore, persuaded Tyeb Sheth and Dada Abdulla to accept arbitration. Both were happy over the result, and both rose in public estimation. Gandhi as a lawyer tried to unite parties riven as under, and generally succeeded.

At the close of 1893 Gandhi was again in Durban, intending to leave for India, but at a farewell party given by his clients he saw Natal Mercury, and discovered that the Government was about to introduce a bill to disfranchise Indians. He also saw that this was likely to be the precursor of other disabling bills. He brought this at once to the notice of his compatriots, and urged them to take concerted action, pointing out that if protests were not at once made and the legislation opposed, nothing could prevent their ultimate extinction. The Indians were startled. Abdulla Sheth said: "What can we understand in these matters? We can only understand things that affect our trade. As you know, all our trade in the Orange Free State has been swept away. We agitated about it, but in vain. We are after all lame men, being unlettered. Our eyes and ears are the European attorneys here."

Gandhi said to Abdulla Sheth: "The bill is the first nail into our coffin. It strikes at the root of our self-respect." One of the guests told Gandhi: "You cancel your passage by this boat, stay here a month longer, and we will fight as you direct us." All the others chimed in: "Indeed, indeed, Abdulla Sheth, you must detain Gandhi Bhai." Abdulla Sheth said: "Let us all persuade him to stay on. What about his fees?"

It pained Gandhi and he broke in: "Fees are out of the question. There can be no fees for public work. I can stay, if at all, as a servant. I am prepared to stay a month longer. There is one thing however. Though you need not pay me anything, work of the nature we contemplate cannot be done without some funds to start with. It is clear that one man is not enough for this work. Many must come forward to help him."

And a chorus of voices was heard: "Allah is great and merciful. Money will come in. Men there are as many as you need. You please consent to stay, and all will be well."

Gandhi quickly worked out a programme and made up his mind to stay on for a month.

06. Dawn Over The Dark Land ( 1894-1896 )

IMMEDIATELY after the farewell dinner, Gandhi in company with the influential people of Durban hurried to the house of Dada Abdulla. The same night Gandhi drew up a petition to be presented to the Natal Legislative Assembly. Till 1894 Indians had been enjoying the franchise equally with the Europeans. Under the general Franchise Law of the Natal Colony any adult male, being a British subject, was placed on the voters' list, who possessed immovable property worth £50 or paid an annual rent of £10. There were in Natal only 250 such voters from the Indian community as against nearly 10,000 European voters. And now an attempt was made to take away on racial grounds even this franchise.

Gandhi drew up the petition, "forcibly, moderately and well." A committee was appointed at once with Haji Adam, an influential Indian merchant, as chairman, and a telegram was sent in his name to the speaker of the assembly requesting him to postpone further discussion of the bill. A similar telegram was sent to the Premier of Natal. The bill had already passed, or was about to pass, its second reading. That the Indians had expressed no opposition to the stringent bill was urged as proof of their unfitness for the franchise. As a result of the telegram, further reading of the bill was postponed for two days.

That petition dated June 28, 1894 was the first ever sent by the Indians to a South African legislature.

Young people who never before had done any public work were drawn into the work. For the first time a good number of Christian youths were brought together. The volunteers with knowledge of English and several others sat up the whole night to make copies of the petition. Merchant volunteers went out in their own carriages to obtain signatures. All this had to be done during night. The newspapers published the petition next day with favourable comments. It created an impression in the assembly. The bill, however, was passed.

Gandhi kept Dadabhai Naoroji informed of the events in South Africa. He humbly wrote: "I am yet inexperienced and young and, therefore, quite liable to make mistakes. The responsibility undertaken is quite out of proportion to my ability. You will, therefore, oblige me very greatly if you will kindly direct and guide me and make necessary suggestions which shall be received as from a father to his child."

This was the South African Indians' first experience of such agitation, and a new thrill of enthusiasm passed through the community. It brought home to them the conviction that the community was one and indivisible. Now it was decided to send a monster petition to Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for Colonies. Gandhi read all the literature available on the subject. His argument was: "We had a right to the franchise in Natal, as we had a kind of franchise in India. It was expedient to retain it, as the Indian population capable of using the franchise was very small."

It was not a light task to secure a large number of signatures from the whole of the province. Meetings were held every day and more and more persons attended them. The requisite funds were raised. Many volunteers helped in preparing copies, securing signatures and similar work without any remuneration. The descendants of ex-indentured Indians joined the movement with alacrity. Within one month the memorial dated July 17, 1894 with ten thousand signatures was forwarded to Lord Ripon, requesting him to recommend Her Majesty the Queen to veto the measure. A thousand copies had been printed for distribution. This intense agitation acquainted the people in India for the first time with conditions in Natal. Even The Times supported the claims of the Indians.

Gandhi asked the Indian community to allow him to return home. But they argued: "Who knows whether the Colonial Secretary will return a favourable reply to our memorial? You have witnessed our enthusiasm. We are willing and ready to work. We have funds too. But for want of a guide, what little has been done will go for nothing." Gandhi saw the logic of the argument but he told them plainly about his own difficulties. He would not stay at public expense and, according to his idea of those days, he believed that he could not add to the credit of the community, unless he lived in a style usual for barristers, which meant nothing less than £300 a year. He said that he was prepared to stay if the principal traders among them could give him legal work and retainers for it beforehand, first for one year on probation. Gandhi's suggestion was accepted by twenty merchants.

Gandhi applied for admission as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Natal. The Natal Law Socicty opposed the application on the sole ground of colour bar, but the Senior Court overruled the objection and Gandhi was enrolled as an advocate. After taking the oath, Gandhi was admonished by the Chief Justice to take off his turban and submit to the rules of the court with regard to the dress to be worn by practising barristers. He acquiesced in the demand to preserve his strength for fighting bigger battles. The opposition of the Natal Law Socicty brought him further prominence. Newspaper comments were in his favour and accuscd the law society of jealousy.

Practice as a lawyer was for him a subordinate occupation; his main object was public work. The despatch of the petition was not sufficient in itself, so Gandhi proposed the formation of a permanent organization to watch the interests of the Indians. Gandhi had read about the Indian National Congress though he had never attended its session. The recent Indian National Congress held at Lahore in 1893 was presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji who had come specially from London for that purpose. Gandhi admired Dadabhai and through him the Congress. He wished to popularize the name and, therefore, he recommended the Natal Indians to call their organization the Natal Indian Congress.

On August 22, 1894 the Natal Indian Congress came into being and Dada Abdulla's spacious residence was packed to the full on that day. Mr. Abdulla Haji Adam was elected president and Gandhi was elected honorary secretary. There was this difference between the Indian Congress and the Natal Congress, that the latter organization worked throughout the year and those who paid at least £3 annually were admitted to membership. There were only two persons who paid £24 yearly. Gandhi paid £12 per year. About 200 members—Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians—were enrolled in one month. The well-to-do merchants went even to far-off villages for enrolling new members. In some cases persuasion was necessary but it was a sort of political training and made the people acquainted with the facts of the situation. A meeting of the Congress was held at least once a month, when detailed accounts were presented and adopted. The members asked various questions and fresh subjects were considered.

News came that Lord Ripon had disallowed the Disfranchising Bill, and this redoubled the zeal of the community. The question of internal improvement was taken up by Gandhi and at the Natal Congress meetings, lectures were given on subjects such as domestic sanitation, personal hygiene, the necessity of having separate accommodation for residential and business purposes and the need for well-to-do traders to live in a style befitting their position. The proceedings were conducted in Gujarati, the language of the predominant Memon community. Under the auspices of the Natal Congress, Natal Indian Educational Association was formed for the benefit of young Indians, who, being the children of ex-indentured labourers, were born in Natal and spoke English. Its members paid a nominal fee. The chief objects of the association were to provide a meeting- place fox these youths, to create in them a love for the motherland and to give them general information. The members met regularly, and spoke or read papers on different subjects.

Another feature of the Natal Congress work was to acquaint the British community in South Africa and the people in India with the real conditions in the colony. Gandhi wrote two pamphlets, The Indian Franchise: An Appeal to Every Briton in South Africa and An Open Letter. They were widely circulated. Gandhi insisted on truth and discouraged exaggeration, drew the attention of the Indian community to their own shortcomings. The newspapers were supplied with as much information as was possible and anti-Indian propaganda was counteracted.

There were organizations similar to the Natal Indian Congress in the Transvaal and Capetown. Their constitutions were different but the activities of all the three bodies were identical.

Although the Natal Indian Congress had some colonial-born Indians and the clerical class as its members, the unskilled wage-earners and the indentured labourers were outside its pale. But an opportunity offered itself to Gandhi to know intimately the indentured labour within four months of his starting legal practice. A Tamil man in tattered clothes, head-gear in hand, with two front teeth broken and his mouth bleeding stood before the young barrister. Gandhi was shocked to see this spectacle and persuaded him to put his turban on and behave like an equal. This was a new experience to the poor slave. Balasundaram, as this visitor was called, was serving his indenture under a well-known European resident of Durban. His master beat the helpless worker till he bled. Gandhi sent for a doctor to secure a certificate and took the injured man to a magistrate. It was not Gandhi's intention to get the employer punished but he wanted Balasundaram to be released from him. Like the slave, the indentured labourer was the property of his master. Gandhi succeeded in transferring him to some one else. Balasundaram's case reached the cars of every indentured labourer as far as Madras and Gandhi came to be recognized as their friend. They called him Bhai. A regular stream of indentured labourers began to pour into his office, and thus Gandhi got the opportunity to know their sorrows intimately. What impelled him, however, to make a deep study of their conditions was the campaign for bringing the ex-indentured labourers under special heavy taxation.

During the year 1894 the Natal Government sought to impose an annual tax of £25 on the ex-indentured Indians. The reason for this new bill was that the white traders were nervous of the skill and intelligence of the Indians. W'hcn the whites first welcomed the Indians in i860, they had looked forward to improving their agriculture by the industry of the imported Indian labourers after the five-year term of their indentures had expired. But the Indians gave more than had been expected of them. They introduced a number of Indian varieties and made it possible with their skill to grow the local varieties cheaper. Nor did their enterprise stop at agriculture; they entered trade. Many Indians raised themselves from the status of labourers to that of owners of land and houses. Their prosperity sowed the seed of antagonism, and the difference of religion and the way of living fanned it. This antagonism found its expression in the Disfranchising Bill and another bill imposing a tax on ex-indentured Indians.

As the Natal Government had to secure the permission of the Government of India for this purpose according to the terms of the indenture contract, the colonists sent their representatives to India to bring pressure on Lord Elgin, the Viceroy, to agree to it. He considered £25 exhorbitant and finally agreed to a tax of £3. This cruel impost, as Gokhale pointed out, caused enormous suffering, "resulted in breaking up families, and driving men to crime and women to a life of shame." It required a long and fierce campaign by Gandhi to abolish it.

Gandhi's public activities went hand in hand with his spiritual progress. The Christian friends in Pretoria did not forget him when he settled in Natal. In Durban, Spenccr Walter, the head of the South Africa General Mission, found him out, and Gandhi soon became almost a member of his family. This friendship kept alive his interest in religion. His religious correspondence with Rajchandra continued. Though Gandhi had little leisure, he read Hindu scriptures and practised some yogic exercises but did not make much headway. He studied Max Mailer's India—What can it teach us? and the translation of the Upanishads. He read living's Life of Mahomed and Carlylc's panegyric on the Prophet, books which raised Mahomed in his estimation. He also read The Savings of Sarathustra and studied Tolstoy's works. The Gospel in Brief and other essays by Tolstoy made a deep impression on him.

During this period he attended the Weslcyan Church every Sunday in company with his Christian friends. The church did not make a favourable impression on Gandhi and soon he gave up attending the service. But he did not cut himself off from Christian literature, especially the Bible. He became an agent for distribution of literature of the Esoteric Christian Union and the London Vegetarian Society.

As a result of Gandhi's intensive public activities and propaganda, the conditions of the Indians in South Africa bccame known in India. The Indian National Congress held in Madras in December 1894, under the presidentship of Alfred Webb, M.P., passed the first resolution on South Africa: "This Congress earnestly entreats Her Majesty's Government to grant the prayer of Her Majesty's Indian subjects, resident in the South African Colonics, by vetoing the bill of the Colonial Government disfranchising them." The next Congress held in Poona in 1895 put on record its solemn protest against the disabilities sought to be imposed on Indian settlers in South Africa and it hoped that "the British Government and the Government of India will come forward to guard the interests of these settles? in the same spirit in which they have always interfered, whenever the interests of their British-born subjects have been at stake."

Gandhi had now been three years in South Africa and had established a good reputation and a fairly good practice. On June 5, 1896 he sailed for India to fetch his wife and children.

07. Indian Interlude ( 1896 )

IT TOOK a month for Gandhi to reach India. During the voyage he began learning Tamil and Urdu along with an English officer. With another officer he played chess for one hour daily. He devoted many hours to writing his pamphlet on the plight of the Indians in South Africa. The pleasant voyage ended with the beautiful view of the Hooghly.

From Calcutta Gandhi started on his journey to Rajkot. The train stopped at Allahabad for forty-five minutes. He utilized the interval for a drive through the town but missing the train, he decided to start work there and then. He had heard a good deal about the Pioneer and had an impression that it sided with the colonials. Gandhi made up his mind to see the editor of the Pioneer and discuss with him South African affairs. Editor Chesney gave him a patient hearing and promised to notice in his paper anything that he might write.

From Allahabad Gandhi went to Rajkot. On August 14, 1896 The Grievances of the British Indians in South Africa, a pamphlet in green cover, hence to be known afterwards as the Green Pamphlet, was published. Ten thousand copies were printed and they were despatched to all the journals and Indian leaden. Gandhi collected the children in his locality for the work and invited their co-operation in exchange for African postal stamps. Pioneer was the first to notice the pamphlet editorially. It was an appeal to the Indian public on behalf of 100,000 Indians in South Africa. "Every word of every statement in the pamphlet," affirmed Gandhi, "can be established beyond the shadow of a doubt." Detailed notes on the grievances were published a month later.

A short and highly coloured summary was cabled by Reuters to Natal: "September 14. A pamphlet published in India declares that the Indians in Natal are rubbed and assaulted, and treated like beasts, and are unable to obtain redress. The Times of India advocates an inquiry into these allegations." It displeased the whites in South Africa.

During his stay at Rajkot plague broke out, and there was panic all around. Gandhi offered his services to the state to look into the method of sanitation and as a member of the plague committee he visited every locality. He laid chief emphasis on the cleanliness of latrines and made every effort to improve them. He found the upper class people putting obstacles in the way of improvement but he was successful with the poorer classes. The plague committee had to inspect the untouchables' quarters also, but only one member of the committee was ready to accompany him. Gandhi was happily surprised to see these quarters, the cleanest in the city.

Gandhi was also a member of the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Committee at Rajkot. The first thing he did was to teach the children of his family the British national anthem which he had heard at every meeting he attended in Natal. Another thing he did was to plant a tree that was allotted to him. But he soon discovered humbug behind the celebrations and he now devoted all his energies to educate public opinion on the South African question.

In Bombay lie met Ranade and Badrudin Tyabji and acquainted them with conditions in South Africa. They advised him to see Pherozeshah Mehta because as officials they could not arrange meetings and participate in political affairs. On their advice Gandhi met Pherozcshah Mehta. On September 26 a public meeting was arranged in the hall of Sir Cowasji Jehangir Institute where Pherozcshah Mehta presided, the first meeting of its kind in Gandhi's experience, where he made his first public speech in India. On the advice of Pherozeshah Mehta, Gandhi had written down his speech. He was nervous and he had to give his speech to D. E. Wacha to read. The audience was electrified; Pherozcshah Mehta too liked the speech. The concluding part of Gandhi's appeal was: "We are hemmed in on all sides in South Africa. We have a right to appeal to you and now the responsibility will rest to a very great extent on your shoulders, if the yoke of oppression is not removed from our necks. Being under it, we can only cry out in anguish. It is for you, our elder and freer brethren, to remove it, and I am sure \vc shall not have cried in vain."

From Bombay Gandhi went to Poona on October 11. First he met Lokamanya Tilak, the idol of Maharashtra. Tilak promised Gandhi every help but told him to secure a non-party man as president. He suggested the name of the great savant, Dr. Bhandarkar. Next Gandhi met Gokhale on the Fergusson College grounds. Gokhale gave him an affectionate welcome and Gandhi was immediately attracted to him. He also approved Bhandarkar's name as president. Dr. Bhandarkar received Gandhi like a loving father. He told Gandhi: "Any one will tell you that I do not take part in politics. But I cannot refuse you. Your case is so strong, and your industry is so admirable, that I cannot decline to take part in your meeting." Gandhi's mission in Poona was a success.

Gandhi next proceeded to Madras, the home of Balasundaram, and had the most enthusiastic audience in India. At the close of the meeting, on October 26, there was a regular run on the Green Pamphlet. Gandhi had to bring out a revised edition of 4,000 copies. In Madras he got generous help from G. Parameshvaram Pillay, the editor of Madras Standard, and G. Subramania Iyer of Hindu.

From Madras Gandhi proceeded to Calcutta, where he stayed in the Great Eastern Hotel for he knew no one there. Surendranath Banerjee was the first whom Gandhi met in Calcutta. He said: "I am afraid people will not take interest in your work. As you know our difficulties here are by no means few." Gandhi had no luck also in the offices of Amrita Bazar Patrika and Bangabasi. He saw the editors of other papers. He was well received by the editors of Statesman and Englishman. Mr. Saunders, the editor of Englishman, placed his office and his journal at Gandhi's disposal, after subjecting him to a searching examination. He allowed him even the liberty of making any changes he liked in the editorial on South Africa.

Before Gandhi could arrange a public meeting in Calcutta, he received an urgent telegram from Natal on November 12: "Parliament opens January return soon." Gandhi wrote to the newspapers the reason for his leaving Calcutta abruptly and left for Bombay to catch the earliest steamer for Natal. Gandhi addressed a meeting in Poona on November 16 with Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar presiding. The address consisted chiefly of extracts from the Green Pamphlet. The meeting passed a resolution moved by Tilak, sympathizing with the Indian settlers in South Africa and authorizing a committee composed of Dr. Bhandarkar, Tilak, Gokhale and six others to submit a memorial to the Government of India on the disabilities imposed on the Indians.

On November 30, 1896 Gandhi set sail by S. S. Courland, a second time for South Africa, with Kasturbai and their two sons along with the only son of his widowed sister.

08. The Whites Beat Gandhi ( 1896-1899 )

THIS WAS Gandhi's first voyage with his wife and children. He believed then that in order to look civilized, the dress and manners of an Indian must approximate to the European standard and thus only he could have a standing necessary to serve the community. He, therefore, decided to change his family's mode of dress. Accordingly Kasturbai wore the Parsi sari and the boys the Parsi coats and trousers, for the Parsis were then regarded as the most civilized people amongst the Indians. The Gandhi family wore shoes and stockings and adopted the use of knives and forks, much to their discomfort.

The steamer cast anchor off Durban on December 18, 1896. Another steamer also berthed there the same day. The two vessels were at once quarantined by the health officer. The yellow flag was kept flying far beyond the usual time-limit, although there was no disease on board.

The simultaneous arrival of these two steamers carrying six hundred passengers lent colour to the rumours already afloat that Gandhi had plans to settle more Indians in South Africa. Meanwhile arrangements were maturing in Durban, and a big demonstration was organized with the object of preventing the Indians from landing. The following notice appeared in the Natal Advertiser on December 30, above the signature of Mr. Harry Sparks, chairman of a preliminary meeting and one of Her Majesty's commissioned officers: "Wanted, every man in Durban to attend a meeting to be held on 4th January 1897, at eight o'clock, for the purpose of arranging a demonstration to proceed to the Point and protest against the landing of the Asiatics." About 2,000 people, mostly of the artisan class, attended the meeting in the Town Hall. The speeches made it clcar that Gandhi was the supreme object of reprobation and that the assembled citizens were ready to adopt force to accomplish their object.

Durban was in a fermen: of excitement. Preparations were carried forward, and arrangements made, including a list of men who were willing to use force and the appointment of captains to lead them. The terrified resident Indians expected an outbreak of mob violence at any moment.

Meanwhile the steamers had been detained in quarantine, and letters of complaint remained unanswered. Now the threats began to be addressed to the Indian passengers: "If you do not go back, you will surely be pushed into the sea. But if you consent to return, you may even get your passage money back." A laconic reply was given: "Passengers decline to go back." Gandhi constantly moved amongst the stranded passengers and cheered them up. All of them kept calm and courageous. To kill time games were arranged for the passengers. On the Christmas day the captain invited the saloon passengers to dinner. Gandhi spoke on the western civilization based on force and said that the Natal whites were probably the fruit of it. At last at the end of twenty-five days, on January 13, 1897, the ships were permitted to enter the harbour, and orders permitting the passengers to land were passed.

Mr. Harry Escombe, the Attorney-General, pulled alongside the S. S. Courland in a rowing-boat. He said: "Captain, I want you to inform your passengers that they are as safe under the Natal Government laws, as if they were in their own native villages." Having sent a similar communication to the other steamer, Mr. Escombe pulled ashore to address the crowd. He persuaded them that they had done all that was needful and commanded them, in the name of the Queen, to disperse. He promised that an early session of parliament would deal with the matter. The anti- Indian demonstration of about 5,000 whites melted away.

Soon all the passengers landed in a ferry-boat. A message, however, reached Gandhi, advising him not to land with the others, but to wait until night. This advice Gandhi was willing to accept. But shortly afterwards, Mr. Laughton, the legal adviser of the agent company, came on board and proposed that Gandhi should go ashore with him in order that "Mr. Gandhi should not speak into Durban like a thief in the night, but that he should face the music like a man and like a political leader." They consulted the captain, and accepting the sole responsibility for the act, Gandhi decided to face the shore at once. Kasturbai and the children were sent separately and reached the residence of Parsee Rustomji, a wealthy Indian friend. As soon as Gandhi landed he was rccognized by some boys and the alarm was given. They shouted "Gandhi, Gandhi", "Thrash him", "Surround him". There was a very big crowd at the landing-stage which became threatening. Laughton engaged a rickshaw, but the people frightened the rickshaw boy out of his life, and he took to his heels. As Gandhi and Laughton went ahead, the crowd continued to swell, until it became impossible to proceed any further. In the confusion and hustling, Laughton was torn away, and stones, fish and rotten eggs began to fall around Gandhi. Some one snatched away his turban, whilst others began to batter and kick him. He fainted and caught hold of the front railings of a house, and stood there to get his breath. But they came upon him boxing and battering.

Mrs. Alexander, the wife of the police superintendent, who knew Gandhi, happened to be passing by. She opened her parasol to keep off the flying missiles and stood between the crowd and Gandhi. This checked the fury of the mob. Meanwhile an Indian boy had run for the police, shouting that the crowd was killing Gandhi, and at the critical moment some constables appeared. The policc superintendent offered an asylum in the police station to Gandhi, but he gratefully declined the offer. "They are sure to quieten down when they realize their mistake," he remarked. "I have trust in their sense of fairness." Escorted by the police he arrived without further harm at Rustomji's place. Gandhi had bruises all over and he was being attended to by the ship's doctor who happened to be there. Gandhi's friends and family were anxiously looking at him.

The night was approaching. The whites surrounded Rustomji's house. "We must have Gandhi," yelled the crowd. The police superintendent sent Gandhi a message: "If you would save your friend's home and property and also your family, you should escape from the home in disguise, as I suggest." As suggested by the superintendent, Gandhi put on the uniform of an Indian constable and wore on his head a deep, metal basin hidden under a turban. Two detectives accompanied him, one of them disguised as an Indian merchant, his face painted to resemble that of an Indian. They reached a neighbouring shop by a by-lane and made their way through the gunny bags piled in the godown, jumped fences and reached the same police station where Gandhi was offered refuge a short time earlier. Meanwhile the police superintendent kept the crowd amused by singing the tune, "Hang old Gandhi on.the sour apple tree!" When the news of his escape was broken the crowd dispersed in a mixed mood of anger and laughter.

Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, cabled asking the Natal Government to prosecute Gandhi's assailants. Gandhi told the Natal Government: "I do not want to proseeute anyone. I do not hold the assailants to blame. They were given to understand that I had made exaggerated statements in India about the whites in Natal, and calumniated them. The leaders, and if you will permit me to say, you are to blame. I do not want to bring anyone to book. I am sure that when the truth becomes known they will be sorry for their conduct."

The storm soon blew over. The press declared Gandhi to be innocent and condemned the mob. In three or four days he went to his house and settled down again.

Two bills were introduced in the Natal Legislative Assembly, one of them calculated to affect the Indian trader adversely, and the other to impose a stringent restriction on Indian immigration.

Gandhi's public work increased considerably. The community became more alive to their sense of duty. The bills were translated into Indian languages; their implications were fully explained. The Indians appealed to the Colonial Seeretary without any effect, and the bills became law.

Gandhi appealed on behalf of the Natal Indian Congress for bigger membership and funds. He wanted to secure a permanent fund for the Congress, and carry on its work out of the interest.

In Durban Gandhi had a little house in a pleasant suburb and it was suitably furnished. The food was simple, but as he used to invite English friends and Indian co-workers, the house expense was fairly high. He had a servant and a cook. Having set up his household and directed that his children should dress and behave according to English custom, his next problem was their education. European schools were unsatisfactory, as the children could be admitted only as a favour, and he was disinclined to send them to missionary schools. He engaged an English governess and himself gave the children lessons in their mother tongue, Gujarati.

A change was coming fast on Gandhi. He had started on a life of case and comfort but it was shortlived. A period of introspection dawned and his life gradually became simpler. To bring down the house expense, he started washing his own clothes. He bought a book on washing, studied the art and taught it to Kasturbai. He threw off his dependence on the barber also; he purchased a pair of clippers and cut his hair before the mirror.

Office clerks, among whom were Hindus and Christians, often stayed with Gandhi. The chamber-pots were cleaned individually. A Christian clerk, born of panchama parents, who was a new-comer, was not aware of his duty. Sometimes Kasturbai managed the pots of others, but to clean one used by an untouchable seemed to her to be the limit. One day she was descending the ladder, pot in hand, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Far from being satisfied by her merely carrying the pot, Gandhi wanted her to do it cheerfully. He got angry with her, caught her by the hand and dragged her to the gate. "Have you no shame?" she asked. "Where am I to go?"

The question of doing some concrete act of service had been constantly agitating Gandhi's mind. When once a leper came to his door, he offered him shelter, dressed his wounds, and began to look after him. Later he sent him to a hospital. Gandhi longed for more humanitarian work of a permanent nature and so he daily worked a few hours in a small hospital in ascertaining the patients' complaints, laying the facts before the doctor and dispensing the prescriptions. It brought him in closer touch with the suffering Indians, most of them, indentured labourers.

Gandhi had two sons born in South Africa, and his experience in the hospital was useful in rearing them up. He studied Advice to a Mother, nursed his babies aud served as a midwife at the birth of his last son. He did not desire any more children and began to strive after self-control.

He educated his compatriots to take interest in the happenings in India. They sent handsome contribution to India for famine relief.

Gandhi's recent mission to India bore fruit. The Calcutta Congress of 1896 passed a resolution protesting against the disabilities of the Indians in South Africa. The resolution was repeated the following year.

09. On The Battlefield ( 1899-1901 )

THE BOER WAR broke out in October 1899. Events followed one another quickly. The British army was thrust back into Ladysmith on October 30. In November telegraphic communication with the town was interrupted and the railway line was cut. On November 10 the Boers occupied Colenso and they took several prisoners among whom was Mr. Winston Churchill. Intense excitement prevailed in Durban. It helped to draw together all seetions of the community and all those who were willing to go to the front were invested with heroism.

Although Gandhi's sympathies were all with the Boers, he then believed, that he had yet no right, in such cases, to enforce any individual conviction. His loyalty to the empire drove him to side with the British in the teeth of opposition from some of his countrymen. Gandhi felt that if he demanded rights as a British citizen, it was also his duty, as such, to participate in the dcfencc of the empire. So he collected together a corps of 1,100 strong, with nearly forty leaders. About 300 were free Indians and the rest indentured. The Indian Ambulance Corps was formed with the help of Dr. Booth, who gave them training in first aid.

Gandhi declared: "We do not know how to handle arms. It is not our fault; it is perhaps our misfortune that we cannot, but it may be there are other duties no less important to be performed, and no matter of what description they may be, we would consider it a privilege to be called upon to perform them. The motive underlying this humble offer is to endeavour to prove that, in common with other subjects of the Queen Empress in South Africa, the Indians too are ready to do duty for their sovereign on the battlefield. The ofTcr is meant to be an earnest of India's loyalty."

Even some socialists in Great Britain shared Gandhi's views. Bernard Shaw in a Fabian pamphlet observed that in the interests of civilization a great power must govern and that though the gold-fields ought to be internationalized, "the British Empire is the only available substitute for a world federation."

The British in the beginning refused to accept Gandhi's help. In his repeated attempts to render help, Gandhi was told: "You Indians know nothing of war. You would only be a drag on the army; you would have to be taken care of, instead of being a help to us." The common sneer prevailed that "if danger threatened the colony, the Indians would run away." The reverses of the war modified the Government attitude.

Briton and Boer were locked in a deadly struggle and everyone was needed. Gandhi's help was accepted at the end of 1899. The rank and file of the Indian Ambulance Corps received the ordinary bearer's pay. The leaders gave their services free. The Indian merchants supplied the stores and uniforms. On several occasions the Indians had to March twenty to twenty-five miles, bearing the wounded on stretchers. Gandhi was in charge of one of these parties and when General Woodgate fell, the dying man was consigned to Gandhi's care. Gandhi helped to carry the sufferer from the field hospital to the base hospital, about thirty miles, through the heat and the dust, fearful lest the wounded general should die before they could reach the camp.

With the British succcsses in February 1900, the Indian Ambulance Corps, after its two months of splendid work, was disbanded. The war was not yet over and the Government stated that in case of need the Indians' services would be utilized. The Boers finally surrendered in May ipo2. The British papers praised the services of the Indian Ambulance Corps and published laudatory rhymes with the refrain, "We are sons of the empire after all."

General Buller mentioned with appreciation the work of the ambulance corps in his despatch, and Gandhi along with other leaders was awarded a war medal. Everyone believed that the Indians' grievances were now sure to be redressed.

It was a new experience for the Indians, whose manhood was strengthened by the sense of having done their duty by their adopted country. But another lesson of this war was not lost upon the Indians, and particularly upon their leader. The Boers, who were a mere handful of people compared with the British, had defied the might of a great empire and had shown signal bravery, determination and self-sacrifice. Moreover, that spirit was displayed not by men only but by women and children. The brave Boer women took part even in fighting, and when they could not do that they encouraged their husbands and sons to fight and die for their country and their independence. Women and children suffered hardships, but would not ask their men to stop the struggle. The Boer War was to Gandhi a great experience which left its marks upon him and something to mould his character.

In India the Boer War made little impression on the nationalist opinion. People were going through famines and were in a state of despair. The fifteenth Congress, held at Lucknow in December 1899, was presided over by Romesh ChunderDutt. The Congress referred to the plight of the Indians in South Africa.

The Congress held at Lahore in 1900 passed a new resolution on the South African question. It took into consideration the fact that the British had annexed the Transvaal in September 1900. The Congress pointed out that now the British were in a position to redress the disabilities of the Indians as the Transvaal was no more a Boer colony. The Boers had not taken kindly to the Indian settlers. Lord Lansdowne, Secretary of State for War and ex-Viceroy of India, had after the Boer War, assured a Sheffield audience that of all the misdeeds of the Boers, none filled him with so much resentment as their treatment of the British Indians in the Transvaal.

Upon his release from the Indian Ambulance Corps, Gandhi continued his public duties, one of the most important of which was to persuade his countrymen to meet the charge of slovenly habits to cleanliness of their residence and surroundings. A plague outbreak was feared, and house-to-house visits were made, at the request of the city fathers, asking for Indian co-operation in preventive measures.

Gandhi had stayed in South Africa six years instead of one month as originally intended and he now requested his co-workers to relieve him. He was afraid that his main job in South Africa now might become money- making. Friends in India were pressing him to return and he felt that he should be of more service in India. With great reluctance his request was accepted on condition that he should return, if, within a year, the community should need him.

There were farewell meetings in several places in Natal and costly gifts were presented to Gandhi in silver, gold and diamonds. One of them was a gold necklace worth fifty guineas, meant for Kasturbai. Gandhi decided not to keep these gifts. But the decision was not easy:

"The evening I was presented with the bulk of these things I had a sleepless night. I walked up and down my room deeply agitated, but I could find no solution. It was difficult for me to forgo the gifts worth hundreds, it was more difficult to keep them. And even if I could keep them what about my children? What about my wife? They were being trained to a life of service, and to an understanding that service was its own reward. I had no costly ornaments in the house, we had been fast simplifying our life. How then could we afford to have gold watches? How could we afford to wear gold chains and diamond rings? Even then I was exhorting people to conquer the infatuation for jewellery. What was I now to do with the jewellery that had come upon me? I decided that I could not keep these things. I drafted a letter, creating a trust of them in favour of the community and appointing Parsee Rustomji and others trustees. In the morning I held a consultation with my wife and children and finally got rid of the heavy incubus.

"I knew that I should have some difficulty in persuading my wife, and I was sure that I should have none so far as the children were concerned. So I decided to constitute them my attorneys. The children readily agreed to my proposal. 'We do not need these costly presents, we must return them to the community, and should we ever need them, we could easily purchase them,' they said.

"I was delighted. 'Then you will plead with your mother, won't you?' I asked them.

“‘Certainly,' said they. 'That is our business. She does not need to wear the ornaments. She would want to keep them for us, and if we don't want them, why should she not agree to part with them?'

"But it was easier said than done.

“‘You may not need them,' said my wife.’Your children may not need them. Cajoled, they will dance to your tunc. I can understand your not permitting me to wear them. But what about my daughters-in-law? They will be sure to need them. And who knows what will happen tomorrow? I would be the last person to part with gifts so lovingly given.' And thus the torrent of argument went on, reinforced in the end by tears. But the children were adamant. And I was unmoved.

"I mildly put in: 'The children have yet to get married. We do not want'to see them married young. When they are grown up, they can take care of themselves. And surely we shall not have for our sons' brides who are fond of ornaments. And if after all, we need to provide them with ornaments, I am there. You will ask me then.'

“I Ask you? I know you by this time. You deprived me of my ornaments; you would not leave me in peace with them. Fancy you offering to get ornaments for the daughters-in-law! You who are trying to make sadhus of my boys from today. No, the ornaments will not be returned. And pray, what right have you to my necklace?'

" 'But,' i rejoined, 'is the necklace given you for your service or for my service?'

" 'I agree. But service rendered by you is as good as rendered by me. I have toiled and moiled for you day and night. Is that no service? You forced all and sundry on me, making me weep bitter tears, and I slaved for them.'

"These were pointed thrusts, and some of them went home. But I was determined to return the ornaments. I somehow succeeded in extorting a consent from her. The gifts received in 1896 and 1901 were all returned. A trust-deed was prepared, and they were deposited with a bank to be used for the service of the community, according to my wishes or those of the trustees."

The Natal Indians bathed him "with the nectar of love". With heavy heart Gandhi with his family left for India towards the close of 1901.

10. Visit To The Congress ( 1901-1902 )

GANDHI reached Bombay on December 19, 1901, just in time to pay his first visit to the seventeenth Indian National Congress, held at Calcutta. Gandhi, dressed in a Parsi coat and trousers, travelled in the same train as Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and D. E. Wacha, the president elect. When Gandhi went to see Sir Phrrrozeshah in his saloon, he said: "Gandhi, it seems nothing can be done for you. Of course we will pass the resolution you want. But what rights have we in our own cour.tr)'?" Gandhi was not prepared for this reply.

In Calcutta Gandhi was put up with Tilak and other delegates in the Ripon College. Gandhi offered his services to the Congress authorities and did some clerical work. He gave some object-lessons to the Congress volunteers, by cleaning the latrines and verandas, but no volunteer would join him.

Calcutta welcomed the Congress in a great pavilion erected in Beadon Square. The whole square offered a brilliant scene, the first Industrial Exhibition having its own separate pavilion and both looking gay with flags. The Congress pavilion was decorated with coloured foliage, plants and palms and was lighted by electricity. Congress session commenced on December 23. After the president's procession had made its slow way through the crowd, a song specially composed for the occasion was sung in a chorus.

The Congress President began his address with a touching tribute to Ranade who had died leaving behind him a noble memory. He then spoke gratefully of the late Queen Empress. After an allusion to the new King Emperor, the president turned to the subject of famine. From the long address of 40,000 words only a few passages were read.

Gandhi was taken to a meeting of the Subjects Committee by Gokhale. Thanks to him, Gandhi moved a resolution as "a petitioner on behalf of the hundred thousand British Indians in South Africa". He was given only five minutes to speak upon it. He decided not to read his prepared speech but speak extempore. But before he could speak sufficiently on the subject, the bell rang and he sat down with a sad heart. In those days there was hardly any difference between visitors and delegates. Every one raised his hand and all resolutions were passed unanimously.

During the three-day session of the Congress Gandhi came in closer contact with Gokhale, Tilak, Surendranath Baneijea and other leaders. The president, Mr. Wacha, found Gandhi "very good, very active, bursting with enthusiasm". Gandhi however, was disappointed with the Congress. He observed that there was little regard for economy of energy; English occupied a prominent place even in Congress affairs and this hurt him. The Congress arrangements he found haphazard and volunteers lacking in any training. "The Congress would meet three days every year, and then go to sleep."

After the Congress was over Gandhi stayed on in Calcutta for a month as he wanted to meet the Chamber of Commerce and various people in connection with the work in South Africa.

For the first few days he stayed at the India Club. Lord Curzon had his durbar about this time in Calcutta. Gandhi found rajas and maharajas putting on trousers "befitting the khansamas" and shining boots on the durbar day "instead of their usual fine Bengalee dhotis and shirts". When he asked one of them the reason for this change, the reply was: "We are Lord Curzon's khansamas. If I were to absent myself from the levee I should have to suffer the consequences. If I were to attend it in my usual dress, it would be an offence."

The rest of his stay in Calcutta was with Gokhale, who acquainted him with the Indian leaders. Often Gokhale used to speak to him about Ranade, with great feeling. He introduced him to Dr. P. C. Ray, who lived next door and was a frequent visitor. Gandhi was highly impressed by the simple life of the scientist, who earned Rs. 800 per month but kept only Rs. 40 for himself and devoted the balance to public purposes.

He had a crowded programme in Calcutta. He walked long distances to meet people. The prominent persons he met were Kalicharan Banerji, Justice Sarada Mitra, Sir Gurudas Banerji and Sister Nivedita.

Gandhi divided his day between seeing the leading people and studying the religious and public institutions of Calcutta. One day he went to Debendranath Tagore, but as no interviews with him were allowed then, he could not see him. However, he was welcomed to a celebration held at his residence by the Brahmo Samaj. Having seen much of the Brahmo Samaj, he wanted to meet Swami Vivekananda. With great enthusiasm he went to Belur Math but was disappointed to be told that the swami was lying ill and could not be seen.

On his visit to the temple of Kali, Gandhi was shocked to see rows of beggars, some crippled and some sturdy, pestering the visitors for alms. He was opposed to giving alms to sturdy beggars. Near the temple he saw flowing rivers of blood of goats which were slaughtered to appease the goddess Kali. The horrible sight haunted him for days.

He paid a short visit to Burma, his first visit to the land of the phoongyis. He was impressed by the independence and the spirit of Burmese women, but was pained by the idleness of the men. The pagodas were neglected and the phoongyis lazy. In Rangoon he was greatly disappointed to see "the Indians help the Europeans to exploit the Burmese."

Before settling down Gandhi had thought of making a tour through India travelling third class to acquaint himself with the wretched conditions of the lower class passengers. Gokhale first laughed at the idea of his third-class travel but equipped him with a tiffin box filled with sweets and puris. Gandhi purchased a canvas bag worth twelve annas, and got a long coat made of coarse Indian wool. The bag was to carry* the woollen coat, a dhoti, a towel and a shirt. He had a blanket as well and a water jug. Gokhale saw him off at the Howrah station.

Gandhi decided to halt at Benares, Agra, Jaipur and Palanpur on the way to Rajkot. He stayed for one day in each of these cities putting up in dharmashalas or with pandes like the ordinary pilgrims. His total expense amounted to thirty-one rupees including the train fare. In travelling third he mostly preferred ordinary to the mail trains. "Educated men should make a point of travelling third class and reforming the habits of the people, as also of never letting the railway authorities rest in peace by sending in complaints wherever necessary," was Gandhi's motto. From 1902 onwards he mosdy travelled third. .

He reached Benares in the morning and selected the cleanest host from the numerous Brahmins who surrounded him at the station. The panda made preparations for Gandhi's ablution in the proper orthodox manner, for which Gandhi paid a rupee and four annas. After taking bath in the Ganges, he went to the Kashi Vishwanath temple for darshan, through a narrow, slippery and dirty lane. The atmosphere in the temple repelled him. He offered a pie as a dakshina to the pestering priest, who swore at him and said, "This insult will take you straight to hell."

Next he went to meet Mrs. Besant, who was convalescing, and said, "I only wanted to pay my respects. I am thankful that you have been good enough to receive me in spite of your indifferent health." So saying he took leave of her.

Gandhi stayed at Rajkot and practised there for a few months. In the beginning he was rather nervous but he won a case on the original side in Jamnagar and gained some confidence. He wanted to stay in Rajkot longer but his friends did not want him to vegetate there. Also Gokhale was anxious that he should settle in Bombay, practise at the bar and help him in the Congress work. Gandhi left Rajkot in the middle of 1902. In Bombay he took chambers in Payne Gilbert and Sayani's officcs in fort, and a house in Girgaum. It looked as though he had settled down.

Scareely had Gandhi moved into his new house, when his second son, Manilal, had a severe attack of typhoid, combined with pneumonia and signs of delirium. A Parsi doctor prescribed eggs and chickcn broth, but Gandhi would not consent. He said: "There should be a limit even to the means of keeping ourselves alive; religion as I understand it does not permit the use of meat or eggs for me or mine even on occasions like this, and I must, therefore, take the risk that you say is likely." Gandhi began to give Manilal hip baths according to Kuhne, and kept him on orange juice mixed with water for three days. The temperature persisted and now Gandhi was rather nervous. But he stuck to hydropathy and gave Manilal a wet sheet pack and covered him with two blankets. The experiment at first seemed to fail but in the end resulted in Manilal's recovery. Gandhi shifted from the damp and ill-lighted residence in Girgaum to a bungalow in Santa Cruz.

Gandhi prospered in his profession better than he expected, though he had not yet succeeded in securing any work in the High Court. Like other fresh barristers he regularly attended the hearing of the cases in the High Court, and used the law library. He made fresh acquaintances. During these days Gokhale dropped in at his chambers twice or thrice every week, often in company with friends whom he wanted Gandhi to meet.

Unexpectedly one day Gandhi received a cable from South Africa: "Chamberlain expected here. Please return immediately." According to his promise, Gandhi gave up the chambers and prepared to start for South Africa. He had an idea that the work in South Africa would keep him engaged for a year or so, and, therefore, retained the bungalow and left his wife and children behind. But he took with him four or five youths, one of whom was Maganlal. The Gandhis were a big family and he wanted the youths to leave the trodden path, venture abroad and be self-reliant

Gandhi sailed for Natal in December 1902.

11. Back To Africa ( 1903 )

WHILE Gandhi was on the high seas, the Indian Congress was held for the first time at Ahmedabad in December 1902. It began at an earlier date than in previous years because of the coronation durbar of Edward VII, which was to be held on January x, in Delhi. Under Surendranath Bancrjea's presidentship this Congress passed a new resolution on South Africa: "In view of the admitted loyalty of these Indian settlers and the help rendered by them during the war, as well as the invaluable help rendered by India to the British Empire at the most critical time, the Congress fervently prays that the Government of India will be pleased to take the nccessary practical steps to secure a just, equitable, and liberal treatment of the Indian settlers in South Africa."

Any Indian could at any time enter the Transvaal before the Boer War. But in 1901, after the British occupation, every Indian had to apply for a permit to the newly created Asiatic Department the object of which was to segregate the Indians from the whites. Gandhi on his arrival secured his permit through the good offices of his old friend, Mr. Alexander, the Police Superintendent of Durban.

Gandhi now wanted to contact Chamberlain, the purpose for which he had hurried to South Africa. Mr. Chamberlain who had come to win the hearts of Englishmen and Boers gave a cold shoulder to the Natal Indian deputation. "You know," he said to Gandhi, "the Imperial Government have litte control over self-governing colonies."

From Natal Gandhi hastened to Pretoria, reaching there on January 1, 1903. He had to prepare the ease for Indians there as well and submit it to Mr. Chamberlain. The Pretoria officers had planned to keep Gandhi out somehow and they were rather puzzled to find him there already. They wanted to prosecute him under the Peace Preservation Ordinance which provided that any one entering the Transvaal without a permit should be liable to arrest and imprisonment. The officers in charge were some of the adventurers who had accompanied the army from India to South Africa during the Boer War.

When the Asiatic Department learnt that Gandhi had securcd a proper permit, they attempted to obstruct his work under some other pretext. An officer hailing from Ceylon summoned Gandhi to see him. No seat was offered and Gandhi was bluntly asked the reason of his entry into the Transvaal. When Gandhi said that at the request of his countrymen he had come to help them, the officer told Gandhi: "The permit you hold now was given you by mistake. You must go back. You shall not wait on Mr. Chamberlain. It is for the protection of the Indians here that the Asiatic Department has been especially crcatcd."

The chief of the Asiatic Department wrote to the effect that Gandhi's name was omitted from the deputation list as Gandhi already had seen Mr. Chamberlain in Durban. Gandhi pocketed the insult and persuaded the community leaders to represent their case as he did not want Indians' claim to go by default.

The Indians trusted Gandhi implicitly, and any attempt to ignore him made them the more suspicious of the officials. This time he required no persuasion to prolong his stay in South Africa though the presentation of the case which was his main work was now over. He decided to remain in the Transvaal and fight the battle against the colour bar.

He applied for admission to the law court in April, and was enrolled as a duly qualified attorney of the Transvaal Supreme Court. Johannesburg had the largest population of Indians and was, therefore, well suited for him to settle in.

Gandhi set up his office in the legal quarters of Johannesburg. He lived with utmost simplicity in a single room next to his office. The walls of his office were adorned with four pictures. The wall over his desk held the beautiful head of Christ. "I love to have it there," Gandhi used to remark to his friends. "I see it each time I raise my eyes from my desk." The other three walls bore the pictures of Ranade, Mrs. Besant and W. W. Hunter, the author of well-known hooks on India, who upheld the rights of the Indians in South Africa in The Times. At his home there was a picture of his father and a large photograph of Dadabhai Naoroji.

The Indian objective was now defined. Asiatic Department regarded Indians as alien to the spirit of British citizenship. Gandhi's aim was the incorporation of the Indian community as a useful part of the Transvaal and the recognition of its members as "true citizens of the empire".

The Indians were nearly all pre-war residents of the Transvaal. They held permits from the defunct Dutch Government, for which they had to pay a statutory fee of £3 to £25, or else they were recognized as having a right to reside here by virtue of possessing Peace Preservation Ordinance permits. It was to win justice and citizenship for them that Gandhi directed all his energy, and founded the Transvaal British Indian Association, of which, until his final return to India, he was the honorary seeretary and legal adviser.

Johannesburg was the stronghold of dishonest officers. Instead of protecting the Indians, the Chinese and others, these officers were extorting money from them. Gandhi received complaints every day and he was determined to stamp out the evil. The Indians and Chinese helped him to collect evidence. As soon as he gathered a fair amount of it he approached the police commissioner, who issued warrants against two officers. They were tried, and although strong evidence was presented against them, the white jury declared them not guilty and acquitted them. But both were cashiered and the Asiatic Department became comparatively clean.

Gandhi's outlook towards life went through quick changes. During his first sojourn in South Africa Gandhi had been under Christian influence and now he made friends with the Thcosophists of Johannesburg. He had religious discussions with them every day. He started reading Viveka- nanda's Raja Toga, Patanjali's Toga Sutras, and the Gita. He committed to memory two or three Gita verses during his morning ablution by referring to the Gita verses stuck on the wall opposite. Thus he committed to memory eighteen chapters of the Gita, which became his "dictionary of daily reference". Words like aparigraha (non-possession) and samabhava (equability) gripped him. Gandhi understood the Gita teaching of non- possession to mean that those who desired salvation should act like the trustee who though having control over great possessions regards not an iota of it as his own. Non-possession and equability to him presupposed "a changc of heart, a change of attitude."

Gandhi allowed the insurance policy of Rs. 10,000 to lapse, the policy which he had taken when he had recently established himself in Bombay. He wrote to his brother, Laxmidas, that he had always offered him all his savings up to that moment, but henceforth the brother should expect nothing from him. For "all future savings, if any, would be utilized for the benefit of the community." His brother Laxmidas was extremely annoyed and stopped communication with him.

Along with his spiritual progress, Gandhi's passion for vegetarianism as a mission increased. He assisted two shortlived vegetarian restaurants in Johannesburg financially. Once he lent one thousand pounds from a deposit of his client to support a restaurant started by his theosophist friend, but it failed and Gandhi made good the client's loss.

With the growing simplicity of his life, his dislike for medicines steadily increased. He used to be troubled with constipation and frequent headaches, and tried to keep himself fit with occasional laxatives and a well- regulated diet. He used to have three meals and afternoon tea and enjoyed many delicacies. About this time read of a "No Breakfast Association" in Manchester. He argued that as he never got up before six or seven, breakfast was superfluous and gave it up. The headache disappeared, but constipation persisted.

He came across Just's book Return to Nature, dealing with earth treatment. Just also advocated fresh fruit and nuts as the natural diet of man. Gandhi began applying to his abdomen a bandage of clean earth moistened with cold water and spread like a poultice on fine linen. This he did at bedtime, removing it when he got up. It proved a radical cure.

In spite of Gandhi's varied preoccupations, much of his time was still devoted to legal practice. In Johannesburg he employed four clerks, and yet they could not cope with his work. He had to do his own typewriting because the clerks were poor at English. At last with great difficulty he secured the services of Miss Dick, a girl typist, on £17. ios. per month. She managed public funds amounting to thousands of pounds. After her marriage, her place was taken by Miss Schlesin, a seventeen-year girl, who helped Gandhi a good deal for many years. She refused to draw more than £10 a month and took the keenest interest in his activities.

The year 1903 marked the beginning of the great discontent in India. The impending partition of Bengal threw a dark cloud over the Congress which met at Madras in December. Lai Mohan Ghosh, the president, turned to the sore subject of Lord Curzon's Delhi Durbar: "If even half of the vast sum spent in connection with the Delhi Durbar had been made over for the purposes of famine relief, it might have been the means of saving millions of men, women and children from death by starvation." Then he referred to the burden of military extravagance, maladministration of justice, the physical ill-treatment of Indians by the Europeans and the impossibility of obtaining redress. This year's resolution on the colonies said: "This Congress views with grave concern and regrets the hard lot of His Majesty's Indian subjects living in the British Colonies in South Africa, Australia and elsewhere, the great hardships and disabilities to which they are subjected by the Colonial Governments, and the consequent degradation of their status and right as subjects of the King, protests against the treatment of Indians by the colonies as backward and uncivilized races."

12. Indian Opinion ( 1904 )

THE EARLY part of 1904 was marked by unusual rain. For seventeen days the clouds hung low over Johannesburg, and the rain soaked the city. Then the plague appeared, but for some time the municipal authorities were unable to diagnose the disease. Gandhi from his experience in India was confident that these scattered cases were actually cases of deadly pneumonic plague. Under the insanitary conditions prevailing on the old locations, which he said were due to the neglect of the municipality, he predicted a severe attack and reported his conviction to the authorities. The municipality remained indifferent.

On March 18 Gandhi received information that the Indians were being brought in the Indian location, from the mines, in numbers, dying or dead, stricken with this terrible disease. At once Gandhi cycled to the location, took the matter ir.to his own hands. With five Indian volunteers he broke open an empty store, converted it into a hospital, and collected twenty-three patients from different stands. The Indian community held a mass meeting and subscribed funds.

Early on the morning of the 19th the old custom-house was provided by the municipal council as a temporary hospital, and the Indians were left to cleanse and fit it up as best they could. Some thirty men volunteered for the work, and the patients were kept there. The municipality lent the services of a nurse, who came with brandy and hospital equipment. She asked Gandhi to take brandy for precaution but he had no faith in its beneficial effects even for the patients. With the permission of Dr. Godfrey, who was in charge of the hospital, Gandhi put three patients under the earth treatment, applying wet earth bandages to their heads and chests. Two of these were saved. The other twenty died in the godown. The nurse soon had an attack and immediately died. Gandhi helped the authorities in getting the local population to vacatc their houses and live under canvas for over three weeks in an open plain, and then to set fire to the location.

A little before the appearance of the plague, a proposal came to Gandhi to take over a weekly. A printing-press was already at work in Durban under the direction of Mr. Madanjit, a Bombay schoolmaster. Gandhi had contributed a large portion of its cost. This printing-press was now available. Mansukhlal Nazar, an undergraduate but a trained journalist who offered his services free, became the first editor of Indian Opinion. It was understood that Gandhi should contribute certain funds and write regularly for the English columns. The weekly was published in English, Tamil, Gujarati and Hindi. The enterprise was necessary but it proved to be costly. During the first year Gandhi had to put in £2,000 from his own income, and it became necessary for him either to close the press or to assume the entire charge himself. He decided upon the latter course.

He put his friend, Mr. Albert West, in charge of Indian Opinion. Mr. West found the financial side of the press hopeless and reported it to Gandhi, who immediately left for Durban.

Mr. Polak, who had come to see Gandhi off at the Johannesburg station, gave him Ruskin's Unto This Last to read during the twenty-four-hour journey. This was the first book by Ruskin Gandhi had ever read. The train reached Durban in the evening. His mind was gripped by the book and he could not get sleep that night. He discovered some of his deepest convictions reflected in this book, published in 1862.

The teachings of the bock as grasped by Gandhi were: That the good of the individual is contained in the good of all; that a lawyer's work has the same value as the barber's, inasmuch as all have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work; that a life of labour, that is, the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman, is the life worth living.

Gandhi arose with the dawn, ready to translate these newlv-imbibcd ideas into practice.

That day he paid a flying visit to his cousins at Tongaat. He saw their store, but what attracted him most was the acre of garden ground at the back where some fruit trees were planted. These looked so beautiful, and the possibilities of the land appeared to be so great, that he felt that his cousins were wasting their time in the store when so much work and so much beauty lay around them. Gandhi thought: "They simply employed labour to cultivate the garden and it was done poorly. Why could they not labour themselves and do it well? Surely such a dream might be realized."

Gandhi talked over the affair with Mr. West, and proposed that Indian Opinion should be removed to a farm, on which every one should labour, drawing the same living wage, and attend to the press work in the spare time. Mr. West approved of the proposal, and £3 was laid down as the monthly allowance per head, irrespective of colour or nationality.

13. Phoenix Settlement ( 1904 )

GANDHI did not take long to put the ideas of Unto This Last into practice. Within ten days he purchased for £1,000 a hundred acres of land, containing a fine little spring, a dilapidated cottage and plenty of fruit trees, some of which bore mangoes and oranges. The plot was fourteen miles from Durban, and two and a half miles from Phoenix station. The Phoenix Settlement thus came into being in the middle of the year 1904.

The newly purchased fallow land, which was uninhabited and thickly overgrown with wild grass, was infested with snakes. At first Gandhi and his co-workers lived under canvas. He took with him to Phoenix those relations and friends who had come from India with him and were now doing business and one of them was Maganlal Gandhi,

Parsee Rustomji, a rich Parsi friend, placed at the pioneers' disposal old corrugated iron sheets and building material, with which they started work. Within a month, with the help of Indian carpenters and masons, who had worked with Gandhi in the Boer War, a structure, seventy-five feet long and fifty feet wide, was erected to accommodatc the press. And in the short space of the eighteen months of its existence, Indian Opinion was transferred from Durban to Phoenix.

An oil-engine was installed for working the press. But Gandhi had thought that hand power would be more in keeping with an atmosphere where agricultural work was to be done by hand and a wheel mechanism was, therefore, kept. Indian Opinion was reduced to foolscap size, so that in case of emergency copies of the journal could be struck off on a treadle.

On the first night the engine refused to work. A mechanic and Mr. West came in despair to Gandhi to break the news. Gandhi immediately woke up the carpenters, who were sleeping on the premises, and put them to work on the wheel. Gandhi worked along with the carpenters, all the rest joined turn by turn, and they worked till seven in the morning. There was still a good deal to finish but the machine now started working as soon as it was touched and the copies were despatched in time. The first number of Indian Opinion was printed on the treadle machine in one sheet only on the due date, December 24, 1904. This enterprise ensured regularity of the paper and created self-reliance in the Phoenix workers. For some time the use of the engine was deliberately given up and the press was worked with hand power only.

In the initial stages all the settlers had to keep late hours before the day of publication. Every one, young and old, had to help in folding the sheets and despatching them. Though there were regular paid compositors, every member of the settlement learnt the tedious work of type-setting. Gandhi tried his hand at it. Maganlal mastered type-setting and quickly learnt all the other branches of press-work.

The settlers of Phoenix were divided into two classes, the "schemers" and the paid workers. The "schemers" had to make a living by manual labour. They were given three acres each round the press. No land was fenced in and paths and narrow roads divided one holding from another. The original idea was to build mud huts thatched with straw or small brick houses, such as would become small peasants. But due to lack of funds, structures of corrugated iron were erected by the settlers. If any member vacated his house or holding, it was not sold but passed to another member. The original members comprised a small group of Indian and European idealists. The colony was to be as far as possible self-supporting and life's material requirements were to be reduced to a minimum.

Beyond the settlement no buildings were to be seen except a few small Zulu farm huts about two miles away. Between the settlement and the railway station was a big sugar estate covering thousands of acres. Apart from a miserable little general stbre, a short distance from the railway station, there was no shopping convenience and all the articles had to be procured from Durban.

Within a couple of months eight dwellings built of corrugated iron with rough wooden supports were ready. Gandhi's quarters were no different from the others, except that they were larger. They consisted of one big room, which served as a living and dining-room, two small bedrooms, a small kitchen and a primitive bathroom. The fittings of the bathroom were ingenious. A good-sized hole was made in the iron roof, a garden watering-can was balanced on a piece of wood and to the watering-can was attached a piece of cord. One could get a shower-bath by standing under the hole and pulling the cord. On the roof of Gandhi's bungalow, which was flat, a simple kind of adjustable windscreen was fixed up, and this served to shield the roof-sleepers from the wind. The roof was always used by Gandhi during the dry season as a sleeping-place.

The sanitary arrangements on the estate were primitive, caeh bungalow having its own little shelter, where a bucket system was installed, and each householder was responsible personally for the emptying of the bucket at a particular place set aside for the purpose.

Indian Opinion was published weekly. Its editor was still Mr. Nazar who worked for the paper from Durban, because he did not wish to shift to Phoenix. To reduce the expense and facilitate press-work, the paper was printed only in English and Gujarati, and the Hindi and Tamil seetions were dropped. The object of the paper was "to bring the European and Indian subjects of King Edward closer together; to educate the public opinion; to remove causes for misunderstanding; to put before the Indians their own blemishes; and to show them the path of duty while they insisted on securing their right."

Gandhi had hardly settled down at Phoenix when he had to leave the newly constructed nest and go to Johannesburg. He could not afford to leave the work there unattended for any length of time.

In December 1904 the Indian Congress was held in Bombay. Sir Henry Cotton, the president, suggested that a deputation should be sent from India to bring the country's grievances before the British candidates and electors as the general election was approaching in Great Britain. Tilak supporting the president urged that there should be a permanent political mission in England.

This Congress recorded its emphatic protest against the threatened enforcement, in an aggressive form, of the anti-Indian legislation of the late Boer Government of the Transvaal by the British Government. Sir Henry Cotton said: "The British rulers of the Transvaal have applied themselves with British vigour and precision to the task of enforcing Boer law. In dealing with Indian colonists, their little finger has been thicker than Mr. Kruger's loins, and where he had whips, they have chastised with scorpions."

14. Back To Johannesburg ( 1905 )

GANDHI could not cope with his legal work single-handed and he invited Mr. Polak and Mr. Ritch, a Scotch theosophist, to join him. He had the reputation, among both professional colleagues and his clients, of being a very sound lawyer, and was held in the highest esteem by the courts. An expert cross-examiner, Gandhi seldom failed to break down a dishonest witness. He was, however, equally strict with his own clients and it was a part of agreement with them that if at any stage of the court proceedings, he discovered that they had deceived him, he would immediately throw away his brief. Gandhi always advised his clients to settle with their opponents out of court. At Natal his average monthly practice was about £150; in the Transvaal it was more than £300. Where poor people were concerned, he charged them low fees or did not charge at all. He made it a practice never to issue a letter of demand against a client who made a default in payment of fees due to him and refused to invoke the powers of the court on his own behalf.

For the last two years he had worked hard resisting the inroads of the Asiatic Department in the Transvaal. This he did in the court as well as through the columns of Indian Opinion. His activities increased considerably and he gave up all hope of returning to India in the near future. Kasturbai and the children arrived at the beginning of 1905.

Gandhi's new residence in Johannesburg was situated in a fairly good middle-class neighbourhood, on the outskirts of the town. It was a double- storied, detached, eight-room structure of the villa type, surrounded by a garden, and having an open space in front. The household consisted of Gandhi, Kasturbai and three sons—Manilal aged ten, Ramdas aged eight and Devadas aged five. Polak and an Indian ward also lived with Gandhi. Within the next few months Mrs. Polak and Mrs. West joined their husbands. Gandhi was known as "Bapu" to his large family. His colleagues affectionately called him "Bhai".

Apart from Kasturbai, the household wore European clothes. Gandhi wore an easy lounge suit of a neat patterned material, a faint blue stripe on a darker background being rather a favourite with him, a stiff collar and tie, a black professional turban, and smart shoes and socks.

The tendency towards simplicity begun at Phoenix now influenced the Johannesburg home. Gandhi introduced as much simplicity as possible in a barrister's house. The liking for doing physical labour increased. He purchased an American hand-mill for £7. Every morning at 6.30, all the male members of the household assembled for grinding wheat—all bread being made at home. The grinding took about thirty minutes. Other exercise took the form of skipping, at which Gandhi was an adept.

His office in Johannesburg was about six miles from his house. For some time he used to cycle but soon he gave it up and walked the whole distance. He never used a rickshaw as he disliked the idea of men being used as brutes. He left his house at 7.30 in the morning without any breakfast, reaching his office at 9, then opened letters and dictated replies to Miss Schlesin till about 10.30, when he went to court. He lunched at one. The meal consisted of dried and fresh fruits and taking one full hour, as his assistants and a number of friends were generally there to partake of his hospitality and conversation. He left office after 5, reached home at about 7 and had his dinner with the large family. The dinner consisted of two courses. Various kinds of vegetable dishes were served as the first course, accompanicd by a lentil dish, hard-baked wholemeal bread and nut butter, and various little dishes of raw salad. The seeond coursc would be a milk dish and raw fruit. After this, a kind of cereal coffee or lemonade, hot or cold according to the season, rounded off the meal. Dinner-time was generally passed in light conversation, jests and wit.

After dinner the family members used to sit together whilst Gandhi intoned a couple of verses from the Gita, and Polak would read the English equivalent from Edwin Arnold's The Song Celestial. Gandhi explained the difficult passages and a general discussion followed. When the guests were present, the philosophies of different schools would be compared and mystic experiences dwelt upon.

Gandhi now tried to become as self-reliant as possible. On the boat bringing the family to South Africa, one of his sons had broken his arm. Instead of taking him to a qualified doctor Gandhi treated the wound daily with a clean earth poultice. Within a month the wound was completely healed and his faith in earth treatment was strengthened. He tried his treatment in cases of wounds, fevers, dyspepsia, jaundice and other complaints, with great success on most occasions. Some of his clients and even strangers had faith in his treatment.

As a part of education Gandhi expected his children to assist in grinding corn and cleaning the closet. He had made no arrangement for private tuition for his children, nor were they sent to any school. He used to get them to walk with him every day to the office and back home. And during these long walks he tried to instruct them by conversation strictly in Gujarati. Having English friends in the family and because of their stay in an English-speaking country, the children learnt to speak and write English with fair ease.

Although Gandhi was well setded in Johannesburg, he along with his intimate co-workers wanted to shift to Phoenix and work there on the field. Therefore, he thought that he should get his bachelor friends married as early as possible, as they wanted to become farmers. By the end of 1905 he got most of his workers married and encouraged and helped the Indian colleagues to send for their families from home.

Gandhi's philosophy of life was mirrored in his long speech delivered at the Thcosophical Lodge of Johannesburg. He said emphatically that he had come to the conclusion that theosophy was Hinduism in theory and that Hinduism was theosophy in practice. There were many admirable works in thcosophical literature which one might read with the greatest profit, but it appeared to him that too much stress had been laid upon mental and intellectual studies, upon argument, upon the development of occult powers, and that the central idea of theosophy, the brotherhood of mankind and the moral growth of man had been lost sight of in these. He did not wish to suggest that such studies had no place in a man's life, but he thought that they should follow and not precede, the absolutely certain course which was necessary for every life. There were certain maxims of life which they had to weave into their very being, before they could at all follow the great scriptures.

When a man desired to qualify in any science, he had first of all to pass an entrance examination, but they seemed to think that when they took up a religious book, no previous preparation in any other direction was necessary, but that they could read these scriptures untaught and interpret them for themselves; and that attitude of mind was considered to be real independence of spirit. In his opinion, it was nothing but sheer licence taken with things of which they had not the slightest knowledge. They were told in all the Hindu scriptures that before they could even handle these venerable books, they must cultivate absolutely pure and truthful lives, they must learn to control their passions which took them away from the central point.

The mind had been likened to an intoxicated monkey, and so it was. If they were to analyse their minds, they would find that they had very little reason to think ill of others, and would begin to think ill of themselves ; for they would find that they harboured within themselves robbers and murderers—terms used by them so glibly in connection with others. He wished that they would recognize a limitation in regard to their studies, and that such limitation, instead of hampering their activity, would further their strength and enable them to soar higher.

He did not think it at all a part of their life to extend its scope, but thought it their duty to intensify it both with reference to their studies and to their activities; for if a man concentrated his attention on a particular thing or idea in life, he was likely to make much better use of himself and of his opportunities than if he divided his attention between this, that and the next thing.

Hindu sages had told them that to live the life, no matter how hampered it might be, no matter with what limitations, was infinitely superior to having a mental grasp of things divine.

They had taught them that until one by one and step by step, they had woven these things into their lives, they would not be able to have a grasp of the whole of the divine teaching; and so he urged them that if they wanted to live the real life, it was not to be lived in that hall, it was not to be lived in thcosophical libraries, but it was to be lived in the world around them, in the real practice of the little teaching that they might have been able to grasp.

In India the year was marked by the founding of the Servants of India Socicty on June 12 by Gokhale, whom Gandhi respected most among Indian leaders. In the original preamble to the constitution of the socicty, Gokhale wrote:

"For some time past the conviction has been forcing it-self on many earnest and thoughtful minds that a stage has been reached in the work of nation-building in India when, for further progress, the devoted labours of a specially trained agency applying itself to the task in a true missionary spirit are required. The work that has been accomplished so far has indeed been of the highest value. The growth during the last fifty years of a feeling of common traditions and ties, common hopes and aspirations, and even common disabilities, has been most striking. The fact that we are Indians first, and Hindus, Muslims, Parsis or Christians afterwards, is being realized in a steadily increasing measure, and the idea of a united and renovated India Marching onwards to a place among the nations of the world worthy of her great past, is definitely accepted creed of those who form the brain of the community—the educated classes of the country. A creditable beginning has already been made in matters of education and of local self-government; and all classes of the people are slowly but steadily coming under the influence of liberal ideas. The claims of public life are every day receiving wider recognition, and attachment to the land of our birth is growing into a strong and deeply cherished passion of the heart. The annual meetings of congresses and conferences, the work of public bodies and associations, the writings in the columns of the Indian press—all bear witness to the new life that is coursing in the veins of the people. The results achieved so far are undoubtedly most gratifying, but they only mean that the jungle has been cleared and the foundations laid. The great work of rearing the superstructure has yet to be taken in hand, and the situation demands on the part of workers devotion and sacrificcs proportionate to the magnitude of the task.

"The Servants of India Society has been established to meet in some measure those requirements of the situation. Its members frankly accept the British connection as ordained, in the inscrutable dispensation of Providence, for India's good. Self-government within the empire for their country and a higher life generally for their countrymen is their goal. This goal, they recognize, cannot be attained without years of earnest and patient effort and sacrifices worthy of the cause. Much of the work must be directed towards building up in the country a higher type of character and capacity than is generally available at present, and the advance can only be slow. Moreover, the path is beset with great difficulties; there will be constant temptation to turn back; bitter disappointment will repeatedly try the faith of those who have put their hand to the work. But the weary toil can have but one end, if only the workers grow not fainthearted on the way. One essential condition of success in this work is that a sufficient number of our countrymen must now come forward to devote themselves to the cause in the spirit in which religious work is undertaken. Public life must be spiritualized. Love of country must so fill the heart that all else shall appear as of little moment by its side. A fervent patriotism which rejoices at every opportunity of sacrifice for the motherland, a dauntless heart which refuses to be turned back from its object by difficulty or danger, a deep faith in the purpose of Providence which nothing can shake—equipped with these, the worker must start on his. mission and reverently seek the joy which comes of spending oneself in the service of one's country.

"The Servants of India Society will train men prepared to devote their lives to the cause of the country in a religious spirit, and will seek to promote by all constitutional means, the national interests of the Indian people. Its members will dircct their efforts, principally, towards (i) creating among the people by example and by precept, a deep and passionate love of the motherland, seeking its highest fulfilment in service and sacrifice; (2) organizing the work of political education and agitation, basing it on a careful study of public questions and strengthening generally the public life of the country; (3) promoting relations of cordial goodwill and co-operation among the different communities; (4) assisting educational movements, especially those for the education of women, the education of backward classes and industrial and scientific education; (5) helping forward the industrial development of the country; and (6) the elevation of the depressed classes. The headquarters of the society will be at Poona, where it will maintain a home for its members and attached to it, a library for the study of subjects bearing on its work."

These noble objectives and aims of the Servants of India Society were to Gandhi the message by which he wished to be guided in his life. He looked forward to joining the society on his arrival in India. Meanwhile he made his plans to train workers on the Phoenix Settlement, who would sacrifice their all to uphold Indians' honour in South Africa.

In Benares the Indian National Congress met under the presidentship of Gokhale in December 1905. Gokhale remarked that he was called to take charge of the vessel of the National Congress with rocks ahead and angry waves beating around, and invoked the divine guidance. Referring to the partition of Bengal, Gokhale denounced it as 'a cruel wrong’ and indignantly flung back Lord Curzon's false assertion that the agitation was "manufactured", declaring that nothing more intense, widespread and spontaneous had ever been seen in Indian political agitation.

Speaking of the swadeshi movement, Gokhale observed:

"The devotion to the motherland, which is enshrined in the highest swadeshi, is an influence so profound and so passionate that its very thought thrills and its actual touch lifts one out of oneself. India needs today above everything else that the gospel of this devotion should be preached to high and low, to prince and to peasant, in town and in hamlet, till the service of the motherland becomes with us as overwhelming a passion as it is in Japan."

This Congress appointed Gokhale as its delegate to urge its pressing proposals on the authorities in England.

The Congress again placed on record its sense of deep regret that the British Indians should continue to be subjected to harassing and degrading restrictions in South Africa.

15. Zulu Rebellion And After ( 1906 )

IN APRIL 1906 the so-called Zulu rebellion broke out. At Gandhi's suggestion the Natal Congress made an offer to the Governor to raise an Indian Ambulance Corps for service with the troops. Gandhi had doubts about the "rebellion" itself, but he believed that the British Empire existed for the welfare of the world.

In June, owing to the uncertainty of the political situation, Gandhi decided to break up his home at Johannesburg and take his family to Natal. On reaching Durban, he found that the offer of the Indian Ambulance Corps was accepted. Gandhi at once sent his family to the Phoenix Settlement and collected twenty-four volunteers consisting of nineteen ex- indentured men, one Pathan and four Gujaratis. The chief medical officer appointed Gandhi to the temporary rank of sergeant-major. The Indian Ambulance Corps received the uniforms from the Government and was hurriedly despatched to the front.

On reaching the scene of "rebellion", Gandhi realized that it was in fact a no-tax campaign. His sympathies now were with the Zulus and the main work of the Indian Ambulance Corps, to his delight, was to be the nursing of the wounded rebels. Gandhi and his men were attached to a swift moving column of mounted infantry and they had to follow it on foot, sometimes forty miles a day, with stretchers on their shoulders. The wounded Zulus in charge of Gandhi were not wounded in battle but were innocent villagers, who were flogged severely, on being suspected of their participation in the "rebellion".

The Zulu "rebellion" was an eye-opener to Gandhi. He saw the naked atrocities of the whites against the sons of the soil. The whites flogged the Zulus, but they were unwilling to nurse their festering wounds and also did not favour the Indian corps attending them. The Zulus were grateful to the Indians for having come to their help. Besides the ambulance work, Gandhi had to compound and dispense prescriptions for the white soldiers, the work he used to do in Dr. Booth's little hospital.

The "rebellion" ended by July. The Indian Ambulance Corps was on active service for nearly six weeks. Its work was mentioned in despatches. Each member was awarded a medal especially struck for the occasion.

Marching through the hills and dales of Zululand, Gandhi often fell into deep thought. Two ideas which had been floating in his mind became fixed: An aspirant after a life exclusively devoted to service must lead a life of celibacy and he must accept voluntary poverty.

Gandhi's letter dated May 27, 1906 addressed to Laxmidas Gandhi, the 'respected brother", mirrored his mind faithfully.

"I have your letter of the 17th April. I do not know what to say. You are prejudiced against me. There is no remedy against prejudice. I am helpless. I can only reply to your letter in full.

"(1) I have no idea of separating from you; (2) I claim nothing there; (3) I do not claim anything as mine; (4) All that I have is being utilized for public purposes; ('j) It is available to relations who devote themselves to public work; (5) I could have satisfied your desire for money if I had not dedicated my all for public use.

"I have never said that I have done much for brothers or other relations. I gave them all that I could save; and this I have mentioned not out of pride, and only to friends.

"Rest assured that I will cheerfully assume the burden of supporting the family in ease you pass away before me. You need have no fear on that score.

"I am not now in a position to send you money as you desire.

"It is well if Harilal is married; it is also well if he is not. For the present at any rate I have ceased to think of him as a son.

"I am willing to go to India to attend Mani's wedding if at all possible. But I cannot give you any idea of my present condition. I am so hard pressed for time that I scarecly know what to do. Please cable the date of marriage, so that if at all possible I might hold myself in readiness to go.

"I might perhaps inform you that I am in debt to Revashankarbhai.

"You may repudiate me, but still I will be to you what I have always been.

"I do not remember that I expressed a desire to separate from you when I was there. But even if I did, my mind is now quite clear, my aspirations are higher and I have no desire for worldly enjoyments of any type whatever.

"I am engaged in my present activities, as I look upon them, as essential to life. If I have to face death while thus engaged, I shall face it with equanimity. I am now a stranger to fear.

"I like those who are pure in heart. Young Kalyandas, Jagmohandas's son, is like Prahlad in spirit. He is, therefore, dearer to me than one who is a son because so born."

On his arrival at Phoenix from the front Gandhi discusscd the vow of brahmacharya with his intimate co-workers and conveyed his resolution to Kasturbai. Thus brahmacharya which Gandhi had been observing "willy-nilly" since 1900 was sealed with a vow in the middle of 1906.

Gandhi's stay at the Phoenix Settlement was short. Letters and cables requesting him to proceed to the Transvaal at once had poured in, even while he was at the front. His presence in Johannesburg was essential, so he shifted there, leaving his family members behind at Phoenix.

In Johannesburg Gandhi took a small house in a distant suburb and put into it the absolute minimum of furniture. Here were no carpets to cover the bare deal boards of the floor, no curtains for the windows, only some yellow blinds to maintain privacy. The house faced a big stretch of empty land. There were two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and an extra room for the servants which was occupied by a young Indian worker. Soon the Polaks came to stay with him.

There was no servant in the house, so every one shared in the housework. The breakfast consisted of fruits and brown bread and nut butter, and each one prepared what he wanted for himself. During this period Gandhi's experiments in dietetics were many. For some months cooking was done without the addition of salt or any condiments. For some time sugar was not used, so as to avoid the use of a product of indentured labour. Then there was a period of nearly all uncooked food served with olive oil. These experiments were undertaken after long discussions on the food values, their effect upon the human body and their moral qualities. For a time a dish of raw chopped onions, as blood-purifier, formed part of a dinner meal, but soon it was dropped because Gandhi regarded it as a physical stimulant. Milk too, he thought, induced the passions and it was abandoned for some time.

A crisis in the life of the Indian community was imminent and now rarely was Gandhi at home before midnight. He used to tramp six miles after fifteen hours of hard work to reach his place of refuge. The bus service was there but it was meant only for the whites. Some of his co-workers would tramp with him to continue discussing ways and means of dealing with the new situation. On his return home the discussions continued. Late at night when all were worn out, rugs would be spread along the passage in his house for visitors to sleep.

On August 22 the Transvaal Government Gazette Extraordinary published a new ordinance affecting the interests of the Indian settlers. It enjoined that every Indian "coolie", Arab and Turk of eight years or upwards, entitled to reside in the Transvaal, must register his or her name with the Registrar of Asiatics and take out a certificate of registration. It meant noting down important marks of identification upon the applicant's person, and also the finger and thumb impression. Any Indian failing to comply with the regulation before a certain date forfeited his right of residence in the Transvaal, and was liable to be fined £100 or imprisoned for three months and even deported at the discretion of the court. The certificate of registration issued to an applicant had to be produced whenever and wherever he was required to do so by any police officer. The police officers could enter private houses to inspcct certificates. Refusal to produce certificate or to supply such particulars or means of identification as may be prescribed by the regulation would be also held to be an offence, for which the person refusing could be fined or sent to prison.

Gandhi was convinced that if the ordinance was passed and the Indians meekly accepted it, it would spell absolute ruin for compatriots in South Africa. For the benefit of the large readers of Indian Opinion, he translated the draft ordinance in Gujarati. Next he called a conference of the leading Indians to whom he explained the ordinance word by word. All present resolved to agitate publicly against it.

On behalf of the British Indian Association a deputation led by Gandhi waited upon the Colonial Secretary, who in a formal reply vouchsafed that the Government would consider its suggestions. On September 4 the bill was introduced in the assembly.

On September 11 a mass meeting of Indians was held at the Jewish Empire Theatre in Johannesburg. About 3,000 delegates hailing from various parts of the Transvaal were present. Abdul Gani, chairman of the Transvaal association, presided. The most important among the resolutions passed by the assembly was the famous Fourth Resolution, by which the Indians resolved not to submit to the ordinance and to suffer all the penalties attaching to such non-submission.

Supporting the resolution Gandhi solemnly observed: "By some critics, it might be thought that there is a defect in the chain of our reasoning because we ask for redress of our grievances and then immediately threaten to go to jail if our prayers are not granted. We are not holding out a threat. It is merely a question of one ounce of practice which is worth whole tons of speeches and writings. Every adjective used by us is justified by the occasion and if I could find a stronger adjective I would use it. I have studied the whole of the anti-Asiatic legislative acts throughout South Africa but have never come across anything like this present ordinance. I feel that we have done the right thing in taking this step. In all our actions in this respect, we are full of loyalty. I know my countrymen. I know I can trust them and I know also that when occasion requires a heroic step to be taken, every man amongst us would take it. There is only one course open to me, namely, to die, but not to submit to the law, even if everyone else were to hold back, leaving me alone. I am confident that I should never violate my pledge."

For the benefit of the motley crowd the business of the meeting was conducted in Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. At the conclusion of the speeches, all present, standing with upraised hands, took a solemn oath with God as witness not to submit to the ordinance if it became law.

The workers continued their activities unabated. Meetings were held everywhere and pledges of resistance were taken. The principal topic of discussion in Indian Opinion now was the Black Ordinance. No one knew how to name the new movement. Gandhi called it "passive resistance".

Gandhi first approached the Government with memorials. The Legislative Council deleted the clause affecting the women but the rest of the ordinance was passed practically in the shape in which it was drafted.

The Indian community still adhered to the resolution to exhaust all appropriate constitutional remedies in the first instance. The Transvaal was yet a crown colony, so that the Imperial Government was responsible for it? legislation as well as its administration. Therefore, on the suggestion of Gandhi, the Indian community decided to send a deputation to England. Individual pledges on the Fourth Resolution from leading Indians were obtained as a sanction behind the deputation. The necessary funds were soon raised and the deputation, consisting of Mr. H. O. Ali and Gandhi, left for England on October 3.

At a farewell meeting Gandhi said: "We shall of course try our best, but there is little chance of our prayer being granted. We, therefore, must mainly rely upon the Fourth Resolution. We shall explain our case to all our friends in England. You too will do your duty by not submitting to registration. Money must be collected to carry on the movement and what is more important still, the Hindus and the Muslims must be absolutely united."

16. Mission to London ( 1906 )

GANDHI reached London on October 20, 1906, and soon he set to work. The memorial to be submitted to Lord Elgin, Seeretary of State for the Colonics, had been drafted on the steamer.

Gandhi met Dadabhai Naoroji and through him the British Committee of the Indian National Congress. He acquainted them with the South African problems. Next he met Sir Manchcrji Bhownaggree and Sir Lcpcl Griffin, a former British administrator in India and for many years chairman of the East India Association in London. Sir Lepel was opposed to the political movements that were current in India but he was prepared to help Gandhi.

On November 8 the deputation headed by Sir Lepel and consisting, besides Gandhi and Mr. H. O. Ali, of Lord Stanley, Sir George Birdwood, Mr. J. D. Rees, Sir Henry Cotton, Mr. Harold Cox, Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir M. Bhownaggree, waited upon Lord Elgin. Summarizing the provisions of the ordinance, Sir Lepel said: "Indeed, with the exception of the Russian legislation against the Jews there is no legislation comparable to this on the continent and in England. If we wanted a similar case, we shall have to go back to the time of the Plantagenets."

Gandhi followed him and urged that the British Indians ought to be treated as British subjects. He concludcd by saying that the least that was due to the British Indian community was to appoint a commission which would consider the principle involved, the adequacy of the existing and the necessity for further legislation. Lord Elgin expressed his sympathy, referred to his own difficulties and promised to do all he could.

The same deputation met Mr. Morley, Secretary of State for India, who also declared his sympathy. Gandhi next interviewed the Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell Banncrman. Sir William Weddcrburn was instrumental in calling a meeting of about hundred members of the Committee of the House of Commons for Indian Affairs to meet Gandhi.

Gandhi remained in England for about six weeks and utilized every single minute of his stay. Punctilious in keeping the accounts of the deputation, he preserved even such trifling receipts as for the money spent on the steamer upon soda.

Indian students helped Gandhi in many ways—the writing of addresses or the fixing of stamps or the posting of letters. An English friend named Mr. Symonds who worked for him selflessly was at the typewriter till twelve or one o'clock every night.

The Times was good enough to publish Gandhi's letter. The editor of Daily News wrote a very strong leading article in favour of Indians after Gandhi had convinced him of the righteousness of Indian cause. Tribune, Morning Leader and South Africa interviewed him. Barring these, the other journals were either indifferent or hostile.

Before Gandhi left England, he gave a breakfast at the Cecil Hotel, where he was staying, to the friends who had helped the deputation. It was on this occasion that the South Africa British India Committee was formed, with Sir Mancherji Bhownaggree as its chairman and Mr. Ritch as seeretary, to take charge of publicity.

Gandhi sailed for South Africa in December.

While he was on the sea, declaration was made that "Lord Elgin is unable, without further consideration, to advise His Majesty the King that the Transvaal Asiatic Ordinance shall be brought into operation." It was also declared that the provisions of the ordinance would not be proceeded with. To this extent Gandhi's mission was a success. The Liberal Government did not like to soil their record by sanctioning an odious measure, especially when they knew that the Transvaal Government could get the needful done after attaining responsible government shortly.

The year 1906 was momentous in the history of India. Over the question of the partition of Bengal the people had been roused. The Congress met in Calcutta in December to register its protest. Dadabhai, the president, moved to anger by Lord Curzon's regime, declared that Indians should claim swaraj as their political goal. The term swaraj, which was used for the first time from the Congress platform, electrified the atmosphere. The huge audience of 20,000 people leapt up and echoed "swaraj". Dadabhai, now eighty-two years old, was too feeble to read the whole speech, so Gokhale read it for him, a masterly speech, charged with emotion and backed by facts and figures. Dadabhai had laid a special stress on Hindu- Muslim unity, which he pointed out was essential for India's progress.

Besides swaraj, this Congress popularized "Bande Mataram". It was sung for the first time in a Congress session, by the girls' choir, the audience standing.

On the resolution of the boycott of British goods, Ambika Charan Mazumdar and Bepin Chandra Pal spoke movingly. Gokhale declared that the boycott movement marking the resentment of the people against the partition of Bengal "was and is legitimate". Another resolution said that the time had come to organize national education on national lines and under national control. On the swadeshi resolution, Tilak and Lajpat Rai spoke forcefully.

The Calcutta Congress registered a strong protest against the treatment of the Indians in South Africa.

17. Birth of Satyagraha ( 1907 )

GANDHI'S mission to England delayed the evil day only for a while. On January 1, 1907 the Transvaal and the Orange Colonies were granted self-government. The first session of the Transvaal Parliament passed an act which was an exact copy of the 1906 ordinance. The act was rushed through all its stages at a single sitting on March 21, 1907. It received the royal assent in May.

The act was to take effect from July 1, and Indians were required to register under it by July 31. Gandhi, in welcoming the challenge, said: "We must congratulate the Transvaal Government for the courage of their convictions. If we are conscious of the mark of slavery the act will put on us, we will meet it and refuse to submit to it. The brave rulers, who know the value of action rather than of any speech, can only respond to bravery and practical action."

The Transvaal Government was preparing to throw the dog's collar on the Indians' necks, while the Indians were getting ready to resist it. Gandhi wrote letters to friends in England and in India, keeping them informed of the new situation. Dadabhai regularly got a weekly letter from him.

The Transvaal British Indian Association had a large membership but Gandhi did not want to involve it directly in the new struggle. He, therefore, founded the Passive Resistance Association, which attracted many members. Under its auspices public meetings were held in the open with a view to attract more people and to minimize the expenditure. At every meeting the political situation was explained and the oaths of resistance were administered afresh.

The Government planned to carry out the registration, district by district. Imagining that Pretoria was "notoriously the weakest spot in the organization of the Indians", tlicy opened a permit office there on July 1, and notified to the Indians to register themselves within a month.

The Indian pickets went from house to house and explained to the people the meaning of the registration. "Anything like compulsion is contrary to the spirit of our struggle," said Gandhi. "We want to be free from the yoke of the Registration Act and do not want to exchange it for any other." The whole of Pretoria was placarded with posters: "Boycott the permit office—By going to gaol we do not resist but suffer for our common good and self-respect—Loyalty to the King demands loyalty to the King of Kings—Indians, be free !The boycott was complete and only about 100 persons out of a population of 1,500 registered themselves.

The permit offices were opened, one after another, in all the Indian localities—Germiston, Pietersburg, Krugersdorp, Volksrust, Johannesburg and elsewhere. But the results were dismal. The Indian community had decided openly to picket each and every permit office. The volunteers were posted on the roads leading thereto and they warned weak-kneed Indians against the trap hid for them. Volunteers were provided with badges and were strictly instructed not to be impolite to any Indian taking out a permit. They must ask him his name, but if he refused to give it they must on no account be rude or violent. To every Indian going to the permit officc, the volunteers were to hand a printed paper detailing the injuries which submission to the Black Act would involve and explain what was written in it. The volunteers were expected to take the thrashing from the police peacefully and to surrender gladly if the police arrested them. Every party of pickets had a captain. All who were above the age of twelve could be enrolled as pickcts. But not one was taken who was unknown to the local workers.

On July 31, the last day for registration, a mass meeting of Indians was convened at Pretoria. In the open grounds of a mosque 2,000 Indians met to register their protest. Delegates from all over the Transvaal, representing 13,000 Indians, were present. There was a small platform with a table and few chairs on it to accommodate the chairman, the speaker and a number of friends, the audience sitting on the ground. Yusuf Ismail Mian, acting chairman of the British Association, presided. Mr. William Hosken who was sent by General Botha to address the meeting said: "The Indians have done al! they could and have acquitted themselves like men. But now that their opposition has failed, and the law has been passed, the community must prove their loyalty and love of peace by submitting to it. General Smuts will carefully look in any representations you make suggesting minor changes in the regulations framed in virtue of the Registration Act. I know that the Transvaal Government are firm regarding this law. To resist it will be to dash your head against a wall." Gandhi translated Hoskcn's spccch to the audience but put them on their guard on his own behalf: "If we submit to the law there is no guarantee that this legislation will be final. The natural consequences of such legislation would be segregation in locations and finally expulsion from the country."

General Smuts said that "if resistance of Indians leads to unpleasant results, they will have or.ly themselves and their leaders to blame." He further warned that any Indian who had not registered himself after the date of expiration of the registration, would be put across the border. No trade licences would be issued unless registration took place, and the result would be that all Indian stores would be closcd. "The Government have made up their mind to make this a white man's country, and however difficult the task before us in this direction, we have put out our foot down and would keep it there," declared General Smuts.

No threats, however, could induce the Indians and the Chinese to register themselves. A certain firm in Johannesburg of wholesale provision merchandise, having a large Chinese clientele, informed them that unless they registered themselves, further credits would be stopped. The clients replied by asking the total amount of the debit entries against their names, promised immediate payment and threatened complete boycott. This brought round the firm, which expressed apologies. An Indian firm of Petersburg, pressed by a European wholesale house in Durban to comply with the provision of the act, indignantly cancelled their order.

The Government extended the time-limit by one month; that too was further extended by another month and yet on November 30, the last day fixed for the purpose, only 511 persons out of a population of over 13,000 had submitted to registration.

Indian Opinion played an important part in awakening the Indians in South Africa. In the beginning it accepted advertisements and the press did some job work. But Gandhi decided slowly to dispense with them and used the press and the paper solely to propagate his views. The subscription was raised but the number of subscribers rose from 1,200 to 3,500. The weekly reachcd the readers on Sunday morning and was read in groups. It soon became the organ of the struggle and was read by Government officials diligently to watch Gandhi's moves.

As the struggle advanced Gandhi found the name "passive resistance" inadequate to express its real meaning. It also appeared to him "shameful" that the Indian struggle should be known only by an English name. A small prize was, therefore, announced in the Indian Opinion to be awarded to the reader who invented the best designation for the new struggle. Maganlal Gandhi suggested the word "sadagraha", meaning "firmness in a good cause". Gandhi liked the word but as it did not fully represent the whole idea, he changed it to "satyagraha", "the force which is born of truth and love or non-violence".

In the meanwhile the Immigration Bill, which was duly passed, received the royal assent on December 26. Believing that most of the opposition to registration was "engineered" by Gandhi and "his henchmen", General Smuts decided to prosecute the leaders and see what effect their conviction had upon the Indian community.

In Christmas Week, on Friday morning, December 27, Gandhi received a telephone message from the commissioner of police for the Transvaal asking him to call at the Marlborough House. On arriving there, he was informed that arrests had been ordered of himself and twenty-four others, one of them being Mr. Quinn, the leader of the Chinese. Gandhi promised that all would appear before the respective magistrates at ten next morning and the commissioner accepted his word.

On Friday evening a packed meeting of the Indians was held to discuss the new phase of the struggle. There were about 1,000 people present.

Mr. Eisop Mian, chairman of the Transvaal British Indian Association, presided, and amongst those who participated in the meeting were Gandhi and his fellow prisoners on parole.

Gandhi said that when he read the announcement with reference to Immigration Restriction Act that morning, the first thing that voluntarily came to his lips was that Lord Elgin had put an undue strain on Indian loyalty. Lord Elgin, an ex-Viceroy of India, had forgotten altogether Indian tradition. When he advised His Majesty to sanction this legislation, he forgot altogether that he was a trustee for the millions of India. He forgot altogether that India was today on the brink of a departure which had been unknown in Indian annals. India has never been revolutionary, but today they found that the revolutionary spirit had crept into the minds of some Indians. It would be a bad day for India when the forcible revolutionary spirit gained a substantial footing, but he could not help saying that Lord Elgin had sown the seed. If this had been confined to the student world it would probably never grow in Indian soil, but he found today that the merchant, who did not know a word of English, was steeped in the new spirit with reference to the Asiatic Act. He did not conceal from himself the fact that he had been instrumental in educating his countrymen with reference to the act and its evil. He felt proud of the fact that he had taken so much part in the matter. But he coupled with the statement that his thoughts had been their thoughts, and in expressing them he had, if anything, moderated them. It was for this reason that he expressed the feeling that Lord Elgin had put an undue strain on Indian loyalty by sanctioning this Immigration Restriction Act. That act, to his mind, was a barbarous act. It was the savage act of a civilized government, of a Government that dared to call itself Christian. If Jesus Christ came to Johannesburg and Pretoria and examined the hearts of General Botha, General Smuts and the others, the speaker thought, Christ would notice something strange, something quite strange to the Christian spirit.

Gandhi recognized that in proceeding under the act, General Smuts had selected those men who had been in the public eye, and had not laid his hands on the poor people. And he had not the slightest doubt that if those men who had to appear before the magistrate were imprisoned or deported, those who remained behind would be firm in opposition to the Registration Act. But this Registration Act gave powers which would press hardly on the poor husbands. They might be taken away from their families, and he instanced the case of Naidu who had acted brilliantly throughout the campaign. He had a wife and five children who had been in the colony for five years. What was to happen if he were deported, and who was going to take care of his wife and children? He could not find a single section in the act which was to protect the families of those deported. What was it the Government wanted to do? Why had they not the honesty to tell the Indians they were not wanted in the country? And why this indirect method of enforcing their power? He had called some seetions of the act savage and he said they were only worthy of an uncivilized government. If those powers were so used and if all of them were deported or imprisoned, that were an honour for them rather than they should forsake their solemn obligations and bid good-bye to their manhood and self-respect only because they were earning a few miserable pence or pounds..He would never be sorry for the advice he had given them, and he also said, with reference to their fifteen months' fight, that it was well done. This was a legislation which no self-respecting man could accept.

It seemed to him that they had come to the parting of the ways. The Imperial Government must hesitate if they meant to retain their hold on the people of India through their affections and not at the point of the bayonet. England might have to choose between India and the colonies. It might not be today or tomorrow, but he felt the seeds had been sown by Lord Elgin's action. It had not been possible for him to choose soft words when he found the Asiatic Act with the Immigration Registration Act superadded.

On December 28 Gandhi and his colleagues attended the court. They were asked whether they held duly issued registration certificates and upon receiving replies in the negative, they were all promptly arrested and charged in that they were in the Transvaal without a registration certificate issued under the act.

Mr. M. K. Gandhi, Attorney, Barrister-at-Law of the Inner Temple, Honorary Secretary of the British Indian Association of the Transvaal, was the first of the accused to be dealt with.

Superintendent Mr. Vernon said that the accused was an Asiatic over sixteen years of age, resident in the Transvaal. That morning he called on Gandhi to produce his registration certificate, but the latter failed to do so and said he had not got one.

Gandhi asked no questions but went into the witness-box prepared to make a statement. He wished to say why he had not submitted to the humiliating law, the Registration Act.

Mr. Jordan (magistrate); I don't think that has anything to do with it. The law is there, and you have disobeyed it. I don't want any political speeches made.

Gandhi: I don't want to make any political speeches.

Jordan: The question is have you registered or not? If you have not registered, there is an end of the case. If you have any explanation to offer as regards the order I am going to make, that is another story. There is the law, which has been passed by the Transvaal legislature and sanctioned, by the Imperial Government. All I have to do and all I can do is to administer that law as it stands.

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

Jordan: All I have to deal with is legal evidence. What you want to say, I suppose, is that you do not approve of the law and you conscientiously resist it.

Gandhi: That is perfectly true.

Jordan: I will take the evidence, if you say you conscientiously object to the law.

Gandhi was proceeding to state when he came to the Transvaal and other things when Mr. Jordan said he did not see how that affected the case. He asked the indulgence of the court for five minutes but Mr. Jordan refused to grant it. "You have defied the law," he bluntly said.

Gandhi: Very well, Sir, then I have nothing to say.

Mr. Jordan, in giving his decision, remarked that the Government was extremely lenient and yet it appeared that none of these people had registered. He had no wish to be harsh in the matter and he did not intend to adopt the suggestion of the prosecutor in regard to the forty-eight hours' notice to quit. "When an individual set himself up against the will of the state, the state was stronger than the individual, and the individual suffered, and not the state," he said.

Gandhi, interrupting the magistrate, asked him to make the order for forty-eight hours, or for even a shorter period. The magistrate angrily said, "If that is the case, I would be the last person to disappoint you. Leave the colony within forty-eight hours. That is my order."

One by one, the other accused were tried. Gandhi had advised all his colleagues to plead not guilty, so that the court could hear from their lips what they had to say. All the accused were ordered to leave the Transvaal within two days in some cases and within a fortnight in others.

At the conclusion of the court proceedings, Gandhi addressed a large gathering of Indians, Chinese and Europeans on the open space of the Government Square: "We are going on with the struggle, no matter what happens to me or to any one else. If God's message came to me that I had erred, I would be the first to acknowledge my fault and beg your forgiveness. But I do not think that I would ever receive that message. It is better to leave the colony than lose our self-respect and honour. This is a religious struggle and we shall fight to the bitter end."

Meetings were held in Gcrmiston, Pretoria and several other places, and congratulations were offered by Gandhi to the Government for making arrests: "It seems to me that we have come to the parting of the ways. England might have to choose between India and the colonies. God is with us and so long as our cause is good, I do not mind a bit what powers the Government are given or how savagely those powers are used."

18. Prison Experience ( 1908 )

ON JANUARY 10, 1908 Gandhi and others who attended court for sentence pleaded guilty to the charge of disobeying the order to leave the colony within the time-limit.

In a short statement to the court Gandhi said that no distinction should be made between his case and of those who were to follow. He had just received a message from Pretoria that his colleagues had been sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour in addition to a heavy fine. "If these men had committed an offence, I had committed a greater offence," pleaded Gandhi. He, therefore, asked the magistrate to impose upon him the heaviest penalty. The magistrate sentenced Gandhi to two months' simple imprisonment.

There were hundreds of Indians as well as members of the bar present in the court. Gandhi felt a little embarrassed that he was standing as an accused in the very court where he had often appeared as counsel. The uneasy feeling soon disappeared, and he considered "the role of a political prisoner far more honourable than that of a lawyer". He was removed in a police van to Johannesburg jail. This was his first prison experience.

As soon as Gandhi was removed from the court, the Indians took out a procession with black flags. The police fell upon them and some were flogged. Indians continued the struggle. On January 14 Thambi Naidu, the chief picket and a brave satyagrahi, and Mr. Quinn, the president of the Chinese Association, joined Gandhi. By January 29, 155 passive resisters—many of them hawkers—hailing from different parts of India and belonging to different castes and creeds, courted imprisonment.

In South Africa only two classes of convicts were rccognized, the whites and the blacks. Gandhi and his many associates were first kept in a Negro ward, which could accommodatc only fifty-one prisoners. When their number rose to 151, the governor pitched tents outside to accommodate the passive resisters. The prisoners undergoing simple imprisonment had the right to wear their private clothing. But the satyagrahis decided to don the prison garbs, and to obey all jail regulations which did not wound their religious feelings or self-respect. Gandhi set an example by putting on clothes assigned to Negro convicts.

According to the jail regulations, in the first week, an Indian got in the morning 12 ounces of "mealic pap" without sugar or ghee; at noon, 4 ounces of rice and an ounce of ghee; in the evening, for five days, 12 ounces of "mealie pap"; for three days, 12 ounces of boiled beans and salt. The scale was modelled on the dietary of the kafirs. In the second week, and thenceforward, for two days boiled potatoes and for two days cabbages or pumpkin, or some such vegetable was given along with maize flour. Those who took meat were given meat with vegetables on Sunday. For spices nothing else besides salt was served and sugar was never given. Gandhi was prepared to eat the jail ration but he considered it improper to make others share such unsuitable diet. Within a fortnight he brought about some change in the jail diet—bread instead of pap and the permission for the Indians to cook their own food. Some of the jail restrictions he considered wholesome and stuck to them when freed. After release he stopped taking tea, and finished his last meal before sunset.

Only the white convicts got a bedstead, tooth-brush, towel and also a handkerchief, not the Indians. The Chinese were treated even worse than the Indians, but Gandhi got them placed on the same level as the Indians. The governor allowed the passive resistcrs the use of a table and writing materials. Gandhi had Carlyle's studies on Burns, Johnson and Scott, Bacon's Essays, the writings of Tolstoy, Ruskin and Socratcs. Many of these he read and reread. In the morning he used to read the Gita, and at noon, mostly the Koran in English translation. In the evening he taught the Bible to a Chinese Christian, who wanted to learn English. He had started translating a book by Carlyle and another by Ruskin in Gujarati, but the early release left the work unfinished. Every morning he along with his friends went through voluntary drill.

There were protests in India and England against the imprisonment of the passive resisters. General Smuts held constant cabinet meetings and after a fortnight he sent Mr. Albert Cartwright, editor of Transvaal leader, to interview Gandhi with terms of settlement. The draft proposed that the Indians should register voluntarily, and not under any law, and the details to be entered in the certificates should be settled by the Government with the Indian community. It was also proposed that if the majority of the Indians underwent voluntary registration, the Government should repeal the Black Act and take steps to legalize the voluntary registration. Gandhi who was given a blank chcque by his lieutenants suggested certain alterations in the draft, but Ceneral Smuts was not in a mood to listen.

On January 30 the superintendent of police at Johannesburg escorted Gandhi to meet General Smuts in Pretoria. The train was stopped at Fountain Halt, and Gandhi entered a closed carriage and drove to the Government Buildings. General Smuts told Gandhi that he was set free and his proposals were acceptable to the Government.

Gandhi who had no money on him borrowed some from General Smuts's seeretary for the railway fare. He returned by 7.45 p.m. train for Johannesburg arriving at the station at 9 p.m. Straight from there he drove to the mosque grounds, where shortly after midnight he addressed a gathering of one thousand Indians. "The responsibility of the community is largely enhanced by this settlement," he observed. "We must register voluntarily to show that we do not intend to bring a single Indian into the Transvaal surreptitiously or by fraud."

As soon as Gandhi finished his speech, a Pathan greeted him with a volley of questions: "It was you who told us that the fingerprints were required only from criminals. It was you who said that the struggle centred round the fingerprints. How does all that fit in with your attitude today?" Gandhi explained: "It would be sin in virtue of the Black Act to give even our signatures, not to talk of fingerprints. But circumstances have now changed. If you require me to salute you by force and if I submit to you, I will have damned myself in the eyes of the public and in your eyes as well as in my own. But if I of my own accord salute you as a brother or fellow man, that evinces my humility and gentlemanliness."

The Pathan bluntly told Gandhi: "We have heard that you have betrayed the community and sold it to General Smuts for £15,000. We will never give the fingerprints nor allow others to do so. I swear with Allah as my witness, that I will kill the man who takes the lead in applying for registration."

Gandhi pointed out that the fingerprints would not be demanded from those who had sworn not to give them. And he promised all possible help to any Pathan or other who wished to register without giving fingerprints. He then remarked: "I do not like the threat of death which the friend has held out. I also believe that one may not swear to kill another in the name of the Most High. However, as the principal party responsible for this settlement and as a servant of the community, it is my clear duty to take the lead in giving fingerprints, and I pray to God that He graciously permits me so to do. To die by the hand of a brother, rather than by disease or in such other way, cannot be for me a matter for sorrow. And if even in such a case I am free from the thoughts of anger or hatred against my assailant, I know that that will redound to my eternal welfare, and even the assailant will later on realize my perfect innocence."

There were about fifty Pathans staying in the Transvaal and some of them were Gandhi's clients. They had fully participated in the struggle and none of them had submitted to the Black Act. But it was easy to mislead them, an unsophisticated and credulous race.

Gandhi reached home at 3 a.m. He surrendered himself to the prison authorities at 7 and within an hour, with the rest of his fellow convicts, he received his formal discharge on January 31. The Indian community welcomed them at the jail gate and all proceeded to the place of meeting where the released prisoners were received with gusto.

Shortly after 9.45 a.m. on Monday, February 10, 1908 Gandhi and his colleagues left his office, which was also the office of the Satyagraha Association to take the certificates of registration. Eight Pathans led by powerfully built Mir Alam followed them. As soon as they approached the Registration office, Mir Alam asked Gandhi what he intended to do. "I propose to take out a certificate of registration giving the ten fingerprints," replied Gandhi. "If you go with me, I will first get you a certificate, with an impression only of the two thumbs, then I will take one for myself, giving the fingerprints."

As soon as Gandhi finished the sentence Mir Alam hit him with a heavy stick. An eyewitness said: "The stick missed the spinal chord. But Gandhi at oncc fainted with the words He Rama on his lips. Gandhi in falling struck his head against a jagged stone with the result that the upper lip and check were badly laccratcd, and a tooth was loosened, whilst his forehead just above the eye struck another stone and the third stone just missed the eye itself." Mir Alam and his associates gave him more blows and kicks, some of which were warded off by Essop Mian and Thambi Naidu.

The noise attracted some whites to the scene. Mir Alam and his companions fled but were caught by the Europeans and handed over to the police. Gandhi was picked up and carried into a European's private officc. When he regained consciousness, Rev. Joseph Doke took him to his house in a carriage and a doctor was called in. Meanwhile Gandhi asked the registration officer to bring the papers and allow him to register at once. The officer asked him to take rest but Gandhi said: "I am pledged to take out the first certificate if I am alive and if it is acccptable to God. It is, therefore, I insist upon the papers being brought here and now."

The papers being brought in, Gandhi gave the ten fingerprints from the sick-bed. The sight brought tears to the eyes of the official.

Dr. Thwaitcs, who attended on Gandhi, stitched the wounds in the cheek and the upper lip. He prescribed some medicine to be applied to the ribs, enjoined silence upon him so long as the stitches were not removed, and advised him to take complete rest for a week or so and not to undertake any physical strain for two months.

From the sick-bed the first thing Gandhi did was to wire to the Attorney General that he did not hold Mir Alam and others guilty for the assault committed on him, and to request that they should be released. In a short message to the community, he said: "I hope to take up my duty shortly. Those who have committed the act did not know what they were doing. They thought that what I was doing was wrong. They have had their redress in the only manner they knew. I request, therefore, that no steps to be taken against them. Seeing that the assault was committed by a Musalman, or Musalmans, the Hindus might probably feel hurt. Rather let the blood spilt today cement the two communities indissolubly. Assault or no assault, my advice remains the same. The large majority of Asiatics ought to give the fingerprints. The promise of repeal of the act against voluntary registration having been given, it is the sacred duty of every good Indian to help the Government and the colony to the uttermost."

Gandhi's prayer not to prosecute Mir Alam was not granted. The Europeans insisted that the Pathans who had assaulted Gandhi should be brought to book. Mir Alam and one of his companions were sentenced to three months' hard labour.

Rev. Doke, his wife and daughter attended on Gandhi as if he belonged to their family. The Indians, from the humble hawker, basket in hand, with dirty clothes and dusty boots right up to the richest merchant, were welcomed to Dokc's house when they called on Gandhi. Only a year back Dokc had come to know Gandhi. They soon became friends and Dokc openly helped the Indians and once acted as the editor of Indian Opinion. He was the first to write a biography of Gandhi in 1909.

After ten days' stay with Doke, Gandhi feeling fairly well moved to Mr. Polak's residence in the suburb. Here during the early days of his convalrscenee, he developed the power which he afterwards retained, of being able to fall asleep while at work just where he sat and after a very few moments to awaken refreshed.

The Gandhi family living at Phoenix could not afford to visit him in Johannesburg. Their monetary condition was rather unsatisfactory and, therefore, on recovery Gandhi went to see them at Phoenix, but he did not stay there long.

In the month of April, as soon as Gandhi recovered sufficiently, he threw himself into public work. He was often on the move between the Transvaal and Natal to seek the support and enlist the sympathies of the Natal Indians. He took the first opportunity to visit Durban and called a public meeting there. When the meeting was over a Pathan rushed to the platform with a big stick. But Gandhi's life was saved by the presence of mind of his colleagues.

Henceforward his co-workers prevailed upon Gandhi to keep a bodyguard. One of the self-appointed guards was a trained boxer, Mr. Jack Moodaley, a Natal-born Tamilian. He kept watch while Gandhi slept in the open at the Phoenix Settlement.

From Phoenix Gandhi contributed a series of articles to Indian Opinion and effectively won over a majority of the Indians to his point of view. By May 9, the last day for voluntary registration, some 8,000 applications were received out of which 6,000 were approved and passed.

The Indians thus had fulfilled their part of the settlement. Pretoria News praised them for their readiness in carrying out the pledge. Gandhi now called upon Government to do their share and to repeal the Asiatic Law Amendment Act and to legalize the registrations in a manner acceptable to the Asiatics.

19. Breach of Faith ( 1908 )

INSTEAD OF repealing the Black Act, General Smuts took a fresh step forward. He maintained the old act on the statute book and introduced a new measure, validating the voluntary registrations and the certificates issued subsequent to the date fixed under the act, taking the holders of the voluntary registration certificates out of its operation and making further provision for the registration of the Asiatics. Thus there came into force two concurrent laws with one and the same object, and freshly arriving Indians as well as later applicants for the registration were still subject to the Black Act.

General Smuts declared: "I made no promise to Mr. Gandhi, either on the 30th January or on the 3rd February 1908, that Act No. 2 of 1907 would be repealed." Gandhi challenged General Smuts to produce the original note. The challenge was not accepted, but a long correspondence followed.

On May 25, 1908 Gandhi was informed of General Smuts's intention to legalize voluntary registration under the act. On the following day leaders of the Indian community applied for a return of their applications for voluntary registration. Gandhi stated: "Some of my countrymen tell me and perhaps with some justification that I did not take them into confidence when I approached General Smuts on the strength of the letter that was placed before me in the jail yard. I am responsible because I had too great faith in the statesmanship of General Smuts, in his honesty and integrity. The passive resistance movement has been undertaken only to give rights for the whole of the Asiatics and not for a chosen few."

Satyagraha was now made to embrace the Immigration Act as well. Sorabji Shapurji, a Parsi friend of Gandhi and resident of Charlcstown in Natal, was selected to offer passive resistance. He entered the Transvaal, having previously informed the Government of his intention to test his right to remain in the country under the Immigrants' Restriction Act.

Sorabji went to Johannesburg and informed the police superintendent about his arrival. After ten days he received a summons to appear before the court on July 8. Gandhi defended Sorabji and asked for his discharge on the ground that the summons were defective. Gandhi contended that Sorabji was not a prohibited immigrant under the Immigrants' Restriction Act as he had shown that he had sufficient means and educational attainments. The court upheld Gandhi's contention and discharged Sorabji who, however, was immediately told to appear before the court on July 10.

The magistrate ordered Sorabji to leave the Transvaal within seven days but Sorabji refused to comply saying that he did not intend to quit. On July 20 the magistrate sentenced him to one month's imprisonment with hard labour.

Gandhi told the Transvaal Government that "if the Asiatic Act is not repealed in terms of the settlement, and if Government's decision to that effect is not communicated before a specific date, the certificates collected by the Indians will be burnt, and we shall humbly take the consequences." The Indian leaders requested the Registrar of Asiatics that their applications for voluntary registration should be returned as, owing to the breach of the agreement, they wanted to withdraw them. As the documents were not returned, suits were filed in the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court decided that the Asiatics had no right to recall voluntary registration applications.

Gandhi appealed to his countrymen publicly to burn their registration certificates. But before taking this extreme step it was decided to keep the door open for compromise and at the same time to communicate to the Government the intensity of Indian feeling. With this object in view, Indian leaders started to trade as hawkers without licences. About one hundred Indians were arrested, tried, fined, and on their refusal to pay fine, imprisoned. When the Transvaal Government found it inconvenient to send to prison hundreds of passive resisters, they gave no option of imprisonment to the Indians, whose goods were sold and their fines recovered. Some poor hawkers were deported to India but Gandhi arranged help and agitation for them through G. A. Natesan of Madras.

Gandhi complained to General Smuts on July 21, that while many of the rank and file of the passive resisters were suffering imprisonment, he himself, the chief inspirer of their acts, was still at large. "Is it courageous to leave me alone and to harass poor Indians?" he asked.

As a mark of respect towards the hawkers in jail, the Indian business throughout the Transvaal was suspended on July 23. This was the first hartal organized by Gandhi.

"Weekly Diary" in Indian Opinion kept its readers well informed about current events. The ultimatum was to expire on the same day that the new Asiatic Bill was to be carried through the legislature. A meeting had been called some two hours after the expiry of the time-limit to perform the public ceremony of burning these certificates. On Sunday, August 16, a public meeting was held at four in the evening on the grounds of the Hamidia Mosque in Johannesburg. A cauldron of the largest size available had been requisitioned for burning the certificates. As the business of the meeting was about to commence, a volunteer arrived on a bicycle with a telegram from the Government announcing their inability to change their policy. The news was read to the assembled Indians, who greeted it with continuous loud cheers.

Addressing the meeting, Gandhi gave details of the various stages of the protracted negotiations. He said: "If there is any Indian who has handed his certificate to be burnt but wants it to be returned to him, let him step forward and have it. Merely burning the certificate is no crime, and will not enable those who court imprisonment to win it. By burning the certificates we declare our solemn resolution never to submit to the Black Act and divest ourselves of the power of even showing the certificates. I would advise you to ponder over all these considerations and only then to take the plunge proposed by me today."

Mir Alam, who had just been released from jail, was also present at this meeting. He announced that he had done wrong to Gandhi Bhai, and handed his original certificate to be burnt, as he had not taken a voluntary certificate. Gandhi clasped his hand, pressed it with joy, and assured him that he had never harboured in his mind any resentment against him.

Gandhi received upwards of 2,000 certificates to be burnt. These were all thrown into the cauldron, saturated with paraffin and set ablaze by Essop Mian, the chairman of the meeting. The audience rose to their feet and made the place resound with the echoes of their continuous cheers during the burning. Some of those who had still withheld their certificates brought them in numbers to the platform, and these too were consigned to the flames. This was the first bonfire in Gandhi's political career, which a British journal compared with that of the Boston Tea Party.

The intensity of the Indian feeling forced General Smuts to call Gandhi on August 18, to confer with the Government. As a result of breakdown of the negotiations, a second mass meeting was held on August 23 and more certificates were burnt.

The Indians had taken fresh steps to test the act. There were several Indians in Natal who possessed ancient rights of domicile in the Transvaal. They had also some knowledge of English. Big tracers like Sheth Daud Mohamed and Parsee Rustomji decided to enter the Transvaal. When the satyagrahis arrived on the frontiers of the Transvaal 011 August 18, they were arrested, and after having been warned they were deported without trial. But when they re-entered the Transvaal on August 31 and finally on September 8, they were sentenced to a fine of £50 or three months' imprisonment with hard labour. They cheerfully elected to go to jail.

The Transvaal Indians were in high spirits. If they could not compel the release of their Natal compatriots, they decided to share their imprisonment. Some began to hawk without licence, resulting in many arrests in Johannesburg. Natal Indians followed Daud Mohamed's example. Jails began to be filled, "invaders" from Natal getting three months and the Transvaal hawkers anything from four days to three months.

Gandhi was arrested second time with fifteen others on September 29. On Octobcr 15 he was sentenced to pay a fine of £25 or to go to jail with hard labour for two months. Gandhi preferred imprisonment, feeling himself "the happiest man in the Transvaal". The magistrate observed: "I very much regret to see Mr. Gandhi, an officer of this court and of the Supreme Court, in this present position. Mr. Gandhi may feel otherwise, looking at the situation in the light that he is suffering for his country. But I can only view it from another point of view."

Gandhi's crime was that, in returning from Natal, he was not able to show his certificate, which he had burnt with the rest. He had refused to give his thumb-print as a means of identification which would have meant acquiescence in the act. He was removed to Volksrust prison and was drafted to work in digging earth, attired in the prison garb. He was also given the job of a sweeper for some time. There were about 250 passive resisters in different jails of the Transvaal at this time. From Volksrust Gandhi sent a message to his people: "Keep absolutely firm to the end. Suffering is our remedy. Victory is certain."

On October 16 a meeting was held in London to protest against the imprisonment of Gandhi. Sir M. Bhownaggree was in the chair and Lajpat Rai, Savarkar, Khaparde, Bepin Chandra Pal and Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy participated.

On Sunday, October 27, Gandhi was transferred from Volksrust to Johannesburg. When he reached the railway station, dressed in convict clothes, marked all over with the broad arrow, he was Marched under guard through the streets, before sundown, carrying his bundles as any convict would. In the jail he was lodged in a ward of dangerous convicts, where he had to keep himself awake all night. For two days he was brought to the court as a witness, handcuffed.

In a letter dated November 9, Gandhi wrote to Kasturbai from prison: "I have received West's telegram about your illness. I feel heart-broken, but I cannot come to look after you. I have sacrificed all in the satyagraha struggle. I can come out only if I pay a fine and that is not to be done. You must not lose heart. If you regulate your diet, you will certainly get well. But even if it is my fate to lose you, then all that I can say is that it will not be something bad for you to die in separation while I am alive. I love you so much that even if you are dead you will always be alive to me. I repeat, what I have told you that I shall never marry again. You should depart with faith in God. Such death will also be in accordance with satyagraha. My struggle is not merely political; it is also a righteous struggle and is, therefore, entirely pure. In it life or death do not make any difference. I have the hope that you will go through everything with the same view in mind. That is what I ask of you."

Immediately after his release, at the beginning of December, Gandhi started attending to his legal and political work in Johannesburg. On December 10, Kasturbai, who had frequent haemorrhage for the last three months, underwent an operation in Durban. The doctor told Gandhi on telephone about the patient's serious condition. Gandhi took the next train for Durban and was pained to hear that the doctor had given beef tea to Kasturbai. He immediately removed her, who was mere skin and bone, to the Phoenix Settlement in drizzling rain.

At Phoenix Gandhi put Kasturbai under his own hydropathic treatment. She had again begun getting haemorrhage. He entreated her to give up salt and pulses. Kasturbai had not much faith in his remedies and she challenged him to give up those articles. "You are mistaken," he said. "If I was ailing and the doctor advised me to give up these or any other articles, I should unhesitatingly do so. But there! Without any medical advice, I give up salt and pulses for one year, whether you do so or not."

Kasturbai was shocked. She pleaded with Gandhi to take back the vow and promised to abstain from salt and pulses. He would not retract "a vow seriously taken". He said, "It will be a test for me, and a moral support to you in carrying out your resolve." The restriction on salt he continued for ten years, as he believed it to be unnecessary for vegetarians.

Gandhi now scareely left Kasturbai's side. He fed her at intervals with lemon juice, and no other food or drink of any kind was given to her. Then, gradually, fruit and milk were added, and lastly vegetables without condiments, and cereals. And without a single relapse, Kasturbai slowly returned to health. Her recovery from pernicious anxmia at that time was almost in the nature of a miracle, for it was looked upon as one of the fatal diseases. Doctors had given up hopes, but Gandhi cured her.

As in South Africa, so in India, the year 1908 was a momentous one. In the wake of intense nationalist activity there followed ruthless repression, which the Madras Congress strongly deprecated.

The Congress passed the following resolution on South Africa: "It views with the greatest indignation the harsh and humiliating and cruel treatment to which the British Indians, even of the highest respectability and position, have been subjected to by the British colonics in South Africa, and expresses its alarm at the likelihood of such treatment resulting in far-reaching consequences of a mischievous character calculated to cause great injury to the best interests of the British Empire."

20. To London Again ( 1909 )

THE STRUGGLE continued with unabated vigour. On January 15, 1909 Gandhi on his return to the Transvaal was ordered by the police officer at Volksrust to produce his registration certificate and to give means of identification. Failing to do this, he was arrested and brought before the magistrate who ordered his removal from the colony. He was accordingly "removed" and released at the border, a quarter of a mile away. But he returned almost immediately. He was re-arrested but not charged. He was released on his own recognizance and proceeded to Johannesburg.

On February 25 Gandhi and seven others were sentenced at Volksrust for refusing to produce certificates of registration and to give fingerprints, to a fine of £50 or to undergo three months' imprisonment with hard labour. All went to jail. Addressing the court, Gandhi said: "I consider myself the greatest offender in the Asiatic struggle, if the conduct that I am pursuing is held to be reprehensible. I ask you to impose on me the highest penalty."

Gandhi was released on the morning of May 24 from the Pretoria jail. About a hundred Indians gathered there to greet him with bouquets and garlands, and at the head of these Gandhi Marched to a mosque, where he addressed a meeting. "Whether our members be large or small," he said, "I earnestly pray God to give us strength to carry the burden until we have reached the goal.”

Arrests, imprisonment, and deportations became the order of the day. The imprisonment, release, re-arrest and re-imprisonment of Gandhi did not check the onward March of the movement.

Each time Gandhi returned from prison some indefinable growth had taken place in him. He got an opportunity this time to study about thirty books which comprised English, Hindi, Gujarati, Sanskrit, and Tamil works. He read Mazzini, Ruskin, Tolstoy, Emerson, Thoreau, Carlyle and others. He studied Mar.usmriti, Patanjal Toga Darshan the Upanishads, the Gita and the Bible. He studied and read Tamil books to show his "sincere gratefulness to the Tamils who had done so much in the struggle which no other Indian community did".

Gandhi's observations on courting jail were:

"The one view is why one should go to jail and there submit oneself to all personal restraints... Far better to pay up the fine than to be thus incarcerated. May God spare His creatures from such sufferings in jail. 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 in the interests and good name of one's country and religion. There, there is very little of that misery which he has usually to undergo in daily life. There, he has to carry out the orders of one warder only, whereas in daily life he is obliged to carry out the behests of great many more. In the jail he has no anxiety to eam his daily bread and to prepare his meals. The government see to all that. They also look after his health for which he has to pay nothing. He gets enough work to exercise his body. He is freed from all his vicious habits. His soul is thus free. He has plenty of time at his disposal to pray to God. His body is restrained, but not his soul. He learns to be more regular in his habits. Those who keep his body in restraint, look after it. Taking this view of jail life, he feels himself quite a free being. If any misfortune comes 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 sure to be convinced that even jail life can be attended with blessings. It solely rests with individuals and their mental attitude to make it one of blessings or otherwise. I trust, however, that the readers of my experience of life in the Transvaal jail will be convinccd that the real road to ultimate happiness lies in going to jail and undergoing sufferings and privations there in the interest of one's country 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 he was confined, made of solid stone, two or three feet thick, and the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, he said to himself thus:

" ‘I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through before they could 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 of 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 every compliment there was a blunder; for they thought that my chief desire was to stand the other side of the stone wall. I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door on my meditations, which followed them out again without let or hindrance, and they were really all that was dangerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at 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 it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it and pitied it.' "

After release, Gandhi took up the fight with added vigour. He seldom got more than about four hours' sleep, and every minute of his waking hours was occupied with anxious thought and work. In an interview to Afatal Mercury, he said: "The Indians have gone through the struggle for- the last two years and over 2,000 have gone through the prisons of the Transvaal, that is to say nearly one-third of the actual resident Indian population of the Transvaal. The Government consider that it will be possible to starve us into submission. But I believe that we have amongst ourselves a very large and sufficient number of people to carry on the struggle, in the face of all odds."

The Indian merchants did not lag behind. Mr. A. M. Cachalia, the chairman of the British Indian Association, in calling upon his creditors to take charge of his assets, stated: "Now Indian merchants have to face voluntary poverty, enforced poverty or disgrace. They have no desire to enrich, what is to them, an unjust Government, at the expense of their creditors or themselves. They have no desire to face disgrace. They must, therefore, for the present, cease to be merchants and return the goods they have to their creditors, if any, or otherwise close down their stores."

The Government realized that they could not subdue the satyagrahis. There were storms and lulls but both the parties had somewhat weakened. The question of the future policy, which had been insistent for some time past, became doubly so, in view of the prospective union of the South African colonies. General Botha and General Smuts were expected in London shortly. Gandhi suggested that an Indian deputation should visit London, as he hoped that there at least " British would view the imperial question from an imperial rather than a parochial point of view."

Gandhi and Sheth Haji Habib, a Memon merchant from Porbandar, left Capetown on deputation on June 23, reaching London on July 10. Gandhi was now a changed man. On his journey to England he wrote: "Truth to tell, I rather prefer jail life than a first-class cabin in this steamer. Here we are more attended to than babies. We are spoiled with eating. The innumerable servants leave us no room for physical exertion. I am almost tired of perpetually washing my hands and keeping them clean. They were far better in Pretoria jail. Alas! I cannot pray here with the same depth, earnestness and devotion. This is the literal truth. Where there is pomp, where there is glitter, ease and pleasure, there you cannot remain an humble and faithful servant of God."

The Indian deputation failed to make any impression on the British bureaucrats. General Smuts and General Botha were already there. Gandhi worked hard and met many British journalists and Members of Parliament but with little effect. Gandhi frankly confessed: "The more I see of them, the more am I tired of calling on persons considered to be great. It is all a thankless and fruitless task. Everyone seems to be wrapt in his own thoughts. Those in power have scareely any sense of justice for its own sake. They care for maintaining and magnifying their position. Had it been a question of justice, pure and simple, it would have been decided long ago. To drudge in this way, to waste one whole precious day in trying to see at most one or two persons, to spend money on all this, goes against the grain of a satyagrahi. Far better to go to jail and suffer. If our demand is granted, it would be more on account of the hardships endured by those who have gone to jail than as a result of the Iabours of the deputation; and if we fail, the reason would clearly be that we have not suffered enough."

Lord Ampthill conveyed to Gandhi a message from General Botha. The message was also an indication of British policy: "General Botha is willing to grant your minor demands. But lie is not ready to repeal the Asiatic Act or to amend the Immigrants' Restriction Act. lie also refuses to remove the colour bar which has been set up in the law of the land. General Smuts is of the same mind as General Botha, and this is their final offer. If you ask for more you will only be inviting trouble for yourself as well as for your people."

Sheth Haji Habib said in Gujarati: "I do not like the community to suffer any more. The party I represent constitutes the majority of the community, and it holds the major portion of the community's wealth."

Gandhi translated Sheth Haji Ilabib's sentences word by word to Lord Ampthill and then on behalf of the satyagrahis he said: "My colleague is right when he says that he represents a numerically and financially stronger section. The Indians for whom I speak are comparatively poor and inferior in numbers, but they are resolute unto death. They are fighting not only for practical relief but for principle as well. We have an idea of General Botha's might, but we attach still greater weight to our pledge, and we are ready to face the worst in the act of abiding by it. We will be patient in the confidence that if we stick to our solemn resolution, God, in whose name we have made it, will see to its fulfilment."

It was during this visit to England that Gandhi met the leaders of the suffragette campaign. He took keen interest in all their work, and learnt much of the value and methods of passive resistance from some of the British women. In particular, he thought highly of Mrs. Pankhurst and Mrs. Despord. He expressed regret that a militant seetion should have been active and resorted to methods of violence. "They have their own weapon. Why should they copy the evil ways of men?"

He wore in London the conventional dress of an English gentleman: a silk hat, well-cut coat, smart shoes and socks, and for dress occasions he donned starehed shirt and collar, tail-coat and waist-coat. He stayed at the Westminster Palace Hotel, catering for good middle-class clientele and visiting politicians from overseas.

Just as he loved offering hospitality in South Africa, so too he loved to offer it in London. The hospitality was of the simplest kind. Often a dozen friends and visitors would meet by invitation in his private sitting- room at lunch-time. The table in the centre, normally covered with a velvet cloth, would now be covered with newspapers and piles of oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, and a big bag of unshelled peanuts would be put ready. Gandhi would ring for the smartly dressed waiter, and order tea and toast for those who desired it. Then all would set to work, eating, talking and laughing.

Gandhi stayed in London for about four months. His arrival in England was preceded by the murder of Sir Curzon WyJIie by Madanlal Dhingra on July 1. At the police court Dhingra claimed that it was his right as a patriot to commit this deed, and later at the Old Bailey he denied the right of the Lord Chief Justice to pass sentence on him. Dhingra, from the dock, boldly stated: "I admit the other day I attempted to shed English blood as an humble revenge for the inhuman hangings and deportations of patriotic Indian youths. In this attempt I have consulted none but my own conscience. I have conspired with none but my own duty. I believe that a nation held down by foreign bayonets is in a perpetual state of war, since often baale is rendered impossible to a disarmed race. I attacked by surprise; since guns were denied me, I drew my pistoi and fired. As a Hindu I felt that wrong to my country is an insult to God. Her cause is the cause of Shri Rama, her service is the service of Shri Krishna. Poor in wealth and intellect, a son like myself has nothing else to offer to the mother but his own blood, and so I have sacrificed the same on her altar. The lesson required in India at present is to how to die, and the only way to teach it is by dying ourselves. Therefore, I die, and glory in my martyrdom."

Fearlessly Dhingra reiterated his faith and he concluded his speech by saying: "My only prayer to God is may I be reborn of the same Mother, and may I re-die in the same sacred cause till the cause is successful and she stands free for the good of humanity and to the glorv of God." His last words were "Bande Mataram".

Dhingja's speech made a deep impression. Mr. Wintion Churchill, Under-secretary for the Colonies, remarked, "the finest ever made in the name of patriotism".

During this sojourn Gandhi came in contact with well-known Indian terrorists in London. They tried to persuade him to drop Non-violence. He steadily refused and sought to convert them to ahimsa and satyagraha. Their bravery impressed him, but he felt that their zeal was misguided. Referring to Dhingra's deed he observed: "Those who believe that India has gained by Dhingra's act and other similar acts in India make a serious mistake. Dhingra was a patriot, but his love was blind. He gave his body in a wrong way, its result can only be mischievous."

Gandhi looked to Tolstoy for inspiration. He wrote to Tolstoy for the first time during his stay in London. Inhis reply to this letter, Tolstoy showed the liveliest sympathy for his Indian disciple: "I have just received your most interesting letter, which has given me great pleasure. God help our dear brothers and co-workers in the Transvaal, the same struggle of the tender against the harsh, of meekness and love against pride and violence, is every year making itself more and more felt among us here also, especially in one of the very sharpest of the conflicts of the religious law with the worldly laws in refusals to military service. Such refusals are becoming ever more and more frequent. I greet you fraternally and am glad to have intercourse with you."

On November 13, Gandhi left London disappointed but with grim determination to fight to the bitter end the battle of satyagraha.

21. Hind Swaraj ( 1909 )

DURING HIS London sojourn, Gandhi began to think deeply about India's home rule. There he sought out Indians of all shades of political opinion, nationalists, constitutionalists and terrorists. While he debated with them, his own political views were taking shape. Some of the tenets, which later formed the core of his book, Hind Swaraj, found their first expression in his letter addressed to Lord Ampthill on October 9, 1909.

Gandhi wrote that impatience with the British rule was widespread in India as was Indian hatred of the British. The partisans of violence were gaining ground. Against this, repression would be futile. Yet he feared that "British rulers will not give liberally, and in time. The British people seem to be obsessed by the demon of commercial selfishness. The fault is not of men but of the system . . . India is exploited in the interests of foreign capitalists. The true remedy lies in England discarding modern civilization... which is a negation of the spirit of Christianity."

"But this is a large order," he said. "The railways, machineries, and the corresponding increase of indulgent habits are the true badge of slavery of the Indian people, as they are of the Europeans. I, therefore, have no quarrel with the rulers. I have every quarrel with their methods. To me the rise of cities like Calcutta and Bombay is a matter of sorrow rather than congratulations. India has lost in having broken up a part of her village system. Holding these views, I share the national spirit, but I totally dissent from the methods, whether of the Extremists or of the Moderates, for either party relies on violence ultimately. Violent methods must mean an acceptance of modern civilization, and, therefore, of the same ruinous composition we notice here, and the consequent destruction of morality. I should be uninterested in the fact as to who rules. I should expect rulers to rule according to my wish, otherwise I cease to help them to rule me. I become a passive resister against the rulers."

During his return voyage to South Africa on board S.S. Kildonan Castle, Gandhi wrote in Gujarati his famous 30,000 word book, Hind Swaraj, or Indian Home Rule, in 1909. He worked day and night over the manuscript, from November 13 to November 22, and wrote it on the steamer's stationery, in all 271 pages. About fifty pages he wrote with the left hand, bccause his right hand was exhausted.

Gandhi was perturbed by the terrorist tendencies spreading among his compatriots. He felt that violence was no remedy for India's ills, and that India's civilization required the use of a different and higher weapon for self-protection. He wrote Hind Swaraj in answer to the Indian school of violence and its prototype in South Africa: "The satyagraha of South Afiica was still an infant hardly two years old. But it had developed sufficiently to write of it with some degree of confidence." In the words of its author. Hind Swaraj teaches "the gospel of love in place of that of hate. It replaces violence with self-sacrifice. It pits soul force against brute force."

Hind Swaraj is a severe condemnation of "modern civilization". It is divided into twenty chapters, dealing with swaraj, civilization, lawyers, doctors, machinery, education, passive resistance, etc. It deals with practical questions in an original way. It is written in dialogue form, in perfect Gandhian style—terse, simple and logical. It is a faithful record of conversations he had with workers, one of whom was an avowed terrorist.

In Hind Swaraj there is a chapter in which a comparison has been made between Italy and India; and there the fundamentals of Gandhi's conception of swaraj are clearly stated:

"If you believe that, because Italians rule Italy, the Italian nation is happy, you are groping in darkness. Mazzini has shown conclusively that Italy did not become free. Victor Emmanuel gave one meaning to the expression; Mazzini gave another. According to Emmanuel, Cavour and even Garibaldi, Italy meant the King of Italy and his henchmen. According to Mazzini, it meant the whole of the Italian people, that is, its agriculturists. Emmanuel was only its servant. The Italy of Mazzini still remains in a state of slavery. The working classes in that land are still unhappy. They, therefore, indulge in assassination, rise in revolt, and rebellion on their part is always expected. What substantial gain did Italy obtain after the withdrawal of the Austrian troops? The gain was only nominal. The condition of the people in general still remains the same. I am sure you do not wish to reproduce such a condition in India. I believe that you want the millions of India to be happy, not that you want the reins of government in your hands. If that be so, we have to consider only one thing: how can the millions obtain self-rule? You will admit that people under several Indian princes are being ground down. The latter mercilessly crush them. Their tyranny is greater than that of the English and, if you want such tyranny in India, then we shall never agree. My patriotism does not teachinc that I am to allow people to be crushed under the heel of Indian princes, if only the English retire. If I have the power, I should resist the tyranny of Indian princes just as much as that of the English. By patriotism I mean the welfare of the whole people, and if I could secure it at the hands of the English, I should bow down my head to them. If any Englishman dedicated his life to securing the freedom of India, resisting tyranny and serving the land, I should gladly welcome that Englishman as an Indian. It is swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves. Such swaraj has to be experienced by each one for himself. What others get for me is not swaraj but foreign rule."

On means and ends, he wrote: "The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree; and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree. I am not likely to obtain the result flowing from the worship of God by laying myself prostrate before Satan. If, therefore, anyone were to say, 'I want to worship God; it does not matter that I do so by means of Satan,' it would be set down as ignorant folly. We reap exactly as we sow."

In a letter to a friend in India, Gandhi summarized Hind Swaraj:

"1. There is 110 impassable barrier between East and West.

"2. There is 110 such thing as western or European civilization, but there is a modern civilization which is purely material.

"3. The people of Europe, before they were touched by modern civilization, had much in common with the people of the East; anyhow the people of India, and even today the Europeans who are not touchcd by modern civilization, are far better able to mix with Indians than the offspring of that civilization.

"4. It is not the British people who are ruling India, but it is modem civilization, through its railways, telegraph, telephone, and almost eve: y invention which has been claimed to be a triumph of civilization.

"5. Bombay, Calcutta, and the other chief cities of India are the real plague-spots.

"6. If British rule were replaced tomorrow by Indian rule based on modern methods, India would be no better, except that she would be able 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.

"7. East and West can really meet when the West has thrown overboard modern civilization, almost in its entirety. They can also scertirigly meet when East has also adopted modern civilization, but that meeting would be an armed truce, even as it is between, say, Germany and England, both of which nations are living in the Hall of Death in order to avoid being devoured, the one by the other.

"8. It is 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 locomotion, is to attempt the impossible.

"9. Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth.

"10. Medical science is concentrated essence of black magic. Quackery is infinitely preferable to what passes for high medical skill as such.

"11. Hospitals are the instruments that the Devil has been using for his own purpose, in order to keep his hold 0n his kingdom. They perpetuate vice, misery and degradation and real slavery. I was entirely of the track when I considered that I should rcceive a medical training. It would be sinful for me in any way whatsoever to take part in the abominations that go 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 she has learnt during the past fifty years or so. The railways, telegraphs, hospitals, lawyers, doctors, and such like have all to go, and the so-called upper classes have to learn to live consciously and religiously and deliberately the simple life of a peasant knowing it to be a life giving true happiness.

"13. India should wear no machinc-made clothing whether it comes out of European mills or Indian mills.

"14. England can help India to do this and then she will have justified her hold on India. There seems to be many in England today who think likewise.

"15. There was true wisdom in the sages of old having so regulated society as to limit the material conditions of the people: the rude plough of perhaps five thousand years ago is the plough of the husbandman today. Therein lies salvation. People live long under such conditions, in comparative peace much greater than Europe has enjoyed after having taken up modern activity, and I feel that every enlightened man, certainly every Englishman, 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 such a 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 rest, if we are in the right, must follow. The theory is there; our 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. Every time 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 do not fear the logical result on that basis. The visiting of England is bad, and any communication between South Africa and India by means of ocean greyhounds is also bad and so on. You and I can, and may outgrow these things in our present bodies, but the chief thing is to put our theory right. You will be seeing there all sorts and conditions of men. I, therefore, feel that I should no longer withhold from you what I call the progressive step I have taken mentally. If you agree with me, then it will be your duty to tell the revolutionaries and everybody else that the freedom they want, or they think they want, is not to be obtained by killing people or doing violence, but by setting themselves right and by becoming and remaining truly Indian. Then the British rulers will be servants and no masters. They will be trustees, and not tyrants, and they will live in perfect peace 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 sufficient self-abnegation and abstemiousness, they can make themselves free this very moment, and when we have arrived in India at the simplicity which is still ours largely and which was ours entirely until a few years ago, it will still be possible for the best Indians and the best Europeans to see one another throughout the length and breadth of India and act as the leaven. When there was no rapid locomotion, teachers and preachers went on foot, from one end of the country to the other, braving all dangers, not for recouping their health, though all that followed from their tramps, but for the sake of humanity. Then were Benares and other places of pilgrimage, the holy cities, whereas today they are an abomination.

"You will recollect you used to rate me for talking to my children in Gujarati. I now feel more and more convinced that I was absolutely right in refusing to talk to them in English. Fancy a Gujarati writing to another Gujarati in English, which, as you would properly remark, he mispronounces, and writes ungrammatically. I should certainly never commit the ludicrous blunders in writing Gujarati that I do in writing or speaking English. I think that when I speak in English to an Indian or a foreigner, I in a measure unlearn the language. If I want to learn it well, and if I want to attune my car to it, I can only do so by talking to an Englishman and by listening to an Englishman speaking."

Hind Swaraj appeared serially in Indian Opinion. Later it was published in book form, to be proscribed in 1910, by the Bombay Government. In answer to this action, Gandhi published the English translation entitled Indian Home Rule. When Gokhale read it, he thought it so crude and hastily conceived that he prophesied that Gandhi himself would destroy the book after spending a year in India.

Hind Swaraj is the quintessence of Gandhi's ideas. It was written when he was forty. Some years later, he observed: "Except for withdrawing the word 'prostitute' used in connection with the British Parliament which annoyed an English lady, 1 wish to make no changc at all."

"Whilst the views expressed in Hind Swaraj are held by me," he said, "I have but endeavoured humbly to follow Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, Emerson and other writers, besides the masters of Indian philosophy. Tolstoy has been one of my teachers for a number of years."

Gandhi sent a copy of Hind Swaraj for Tolstoy's perusal. Tolstoy wrote: "I have read your book with great interest, for I consider the question there dealt with—passive resistance—to be of very great importance, not only for India, but for the whole of humanity."

22.  India Backs Gandhi ( 1909 )

GANDHI'S mission to London bore no fruit. Replying to a question in the House of Lords, on November 17, 1909, Lord Crewe, Secretary of State for India, remarked: "The spokesmen for the Indians have put their case with skill and fairness. The Transvaal ministers were willing to meet the majority of difficulties. There remains, however, the theoretical grievance that the Transvaal was shutting out the Asiatics. We cannot thwart the policy of self-governing colonies."

In India, the people heard of the homes broken and the families ruined in the struggle. Fathers and sons sometimes had gone to jail simultaneously, leaving poor mothers and wives to maintain themselves by hawking fruit and vegetables. Merchants, who had never undergone physical exertion, had been breaking stones or doing scavengers' work in the Transvaal jails, wretchedly fed and scantily dressed in the chill winter.

Gokhale, addressing a meeting in Bombay, gave the following graphic description: "You will see that the first part of this resolution is practically identical with a resolution which was adopted in this very hall at the beginning of last year by a public meeting presided over by the Aga Khan. The position today is far worse than it was when the last meeting was held. Again out of about 8,000 men in the Transvaal 7,500 were engaged in the struggle. Today the total Indian population in that colony has dropped to less than 6,000; and though most of these are in deep sympathy with the struggle and are helping it financially and in other ways, the brunt of the prosecution is being borne by a brave band of about 500 Indians, led by the indomitable Gandhi, a man of tremendous spiritual power, one who is made of the stuff of which great heroes and martyrs are made. Those who will speak to the second resolution will tell you what dreadful hardships and sufferings have been endured by the passive resisters for the cause. Briefly 2,500 sentences, mostly of hard labour have been inflicted. About a thousand persons have been absolutely ruined and a thousand more have left the colony. The struggle, however, has continued unabated to the present day. The first thing we have to realize is that Mr. Gandhi and our other countrymen in the Transvaal are fighting not for themselves but for the honour and the future interests of our motherland. Look at the splendid manner in which the whole movement has been managed. The Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, all hold together as one man. Surely a man who can achieve this must represent a great moral force, and must not be lightly judged. I am sure, we all think that Mr. Gandhi is perfectly justified in resorting to passive resistance when all other means of redress failed. I am sure, if any or us had been in the Transvaal during these days we should have been proud to range ourselves under Mr. Gandhi's banner and work with him and suffer with him in the great cause."

As Gandhi set foot in Capetown on November 30, he received a cable from London that Ratanji Jamshedji Tata, the great Indian industrialist, had given Rs. 25,000 to the satyagraha fund. The imprisonment of over 3,000 Indians, the deportation of more than 200 passive resisters, and the infliction of untold sufferings upon hundreds of families were intensely felt in India. Thousands of rupees were collected for relief of those rendered destitute in the struggle. Even the Indian princes began to show lively interest in the passive resistance.

Gandhi was now widely known in India. Bengal Provincial Congress Committee suggested his name for the presidentship of the forthcoming Indian National Congress. Mr. Natesan, editor of Indian Review, cabled for a message and in response, Gandhi wrote:

'i do not know that I am at all competent to send any message. At the present moment I am unable to think of anything but the task immediately before me, the struggle that is going on in the Transvaal. I hope our countrymen throughout India realize that it is national in its aim, in that it has been undertaken to save India's honour. I may be wrong, but I have not hesitated publicly to remark that it is the greatest struggle of modern times, because it is the purest as well as in its goal as in its methods. Violence in any shape or form is entirely eschewed. Satyagrahis believe that self-suffering is the only true and effective means to procure lasting reforms. They hold that loyalty to an earthly sovereign or an earthly constitution is subordinate to loyalty to God and His constitution.

"I venture to suggest that a struggle such as this is worthy of occupying the best, if not indeed the exclusive, attention of the Congress. If it be not impertinent, I would like to distinguish between this and other items on the programme of the Congress. The opposition to the laws or the policy with which the other items deal does not involve any material suffering. The Congress activity consists in a mental attitude without corresponding action. May I also suggest that in pondering over and concentrating our attention upon passive resistance, we would perchance find out that for the many ills we suffer from in India passive resistance is an infallible panacea. It is worthy of careful study and I am sure it will be found that it is the only weapon that is suited to the genius of our people and our land, which is the nursery of the most ancient religions and has very little to learn from modern civilization—a civilization based on violence of the blackest type, largely a negation of the divine in man, and which is rushing headlong to its own ruin."

On December 22 Gandhi and six others were permitted to enter the Transvaal without arrest, to placate the forthcoming Indian Congress.

Transvaal leader wrote: "The Indian National Congress meets at Lahore on Monday. It is expected that there will be a large majority in favour of giving Lord Morlcy's reforms a fair working trial. The only chance of the Extremists scoring a victory lies in their being irritated by treatment of their fellow-countrymen in the colony."

The Indian National Congress was held at Lahore in late December. Gokhale moved a resolution on the South African situation and paid a glowing tribute to Gandhi: "After the immortal part which Mr. Gandhi has played in the South African affair I must say it will not be possible for any Indian, at any time, here or in any other assembly of Indians, to mention his name without deep emotion or pride. (Here the huge Congress gathering rose to its feet and accorded three hearty cheers for Gandhi) Gentlemen, it is one of the privileges of my life that I know Mr. Gandhi intimately and I can tell you that a purer, a nobler, a braver and a more exalted spirit has never moved on this earth. Mr. Gandhi is one of those men, who living an austerely simple life themselves and devoted to all the highest principles of love to their fellow beings and to truth and justice, touch the eyes of their weaker brethren as with magic and give them a new vision. He is a man, who may be well described as a man among men, a hero among heroes, a patriot amongst patriots, and we may well say that in him Indian humanity at the present time has really readied its high watermark."

Mr. Natesan spoke movingly on South Africa. The audience frantically responded and showered notes and gold. Women tore off their rings and bangles and Rs. 18,000 were collcctcd on the spot. For the first time Gandhi's name was mentioned in the official resolution of the Congress. It called upon Indians of whatever racc or creed to help the satyagrahis unstintedly with funds.

President Malaviya cabled Gandhi: "Congress deeply appreciates and admires the heroic struggle of the brethren, urges continuance and promises the utmost support Cabling funds. Have cabled Botha to grant relief."

On January 10, 1910 Ratan Tata wrote to Gandhi from Bombay: "My warm appreciation of the noble struggle our countrymen are waging and I am gratified to find that the beginning thus made by me (Rs. 25,000 in donation) has been followed up, though not quite well as I would have wished. I need hardly add that I shall watch the progress of the struggle with great interest and sincerely hope that these brave efforts for the vindication and upholding of the country's honour and dignity will soon be crowned with the success they deserve." The Nizam of Hyderabad subscribed Rs. 2,500 to the fund, Ratan Tata gave another Rs. 25,000, Mr. J. B. Petit sent £400.

The All-India Muslim League held at Delhi referred to the martyrdom of Indians in South Africa. The Aga Khan collected Rs. 3,000 on the spot for the Passive Rcsistance Relief Fund.

In the first week of March 1910, the Durban platform presented a scene of animation. Nearly 300 Indians were present with garlands to see the resisters off. The salyagrahis travelled third class, and the authorities provided them with special compartments. From Natal, men led by Gandhi crossed the border unchallenged arriving in Johannesburg. On the way they were met by local Indians. The satyagrahis commenced hawking and courted arrest. They were deported to Natal. "I do not know," Gandhi said, "why the Government do not arrest me."

In a letter to Gokhale, dated April 25, Gandhi gave a balance-sheet of the situation: "In answer to my cable of the 6th December last, you cabled inquiring what funds were required, and in my replying cable I stated as follows: 'Present requirements a thousand pounds. Expect imprisonment before end of month. Much more required later.' On the same day I wrote to you how the funds are being dealt with. In that letter I told you that the debt incurred in conducting Phoenix by me personally was paid out of the amount received from you. This covers over £1,200. I gave you also the approximate summary of monthly expenses: Office here £50; Office in London £40; Indian Opinion £50; Distressed families £25.

"In your letter replying to mine you were good enough to inform me that the expenses were in order.

"In view of the certainty of prolongation of the struggle yet for some considerable time, it is necessary for me to give you a resume of receipts and expenditure, and of the events to date. The monies obtained to date since December last are: Bombay £4,253. 3s. 4d.; Rangoon £750; London £135. 8j. id.; Mozambique£50; Zanzibar £59. 3*. 6d.; Lorenzo Marques £11. 12s. Natal £8. I6J. ; Local £1. 7s. yd. Total £5,269. xoi. 7d.

"The Bombay fund is divided into two parts—£3,914. 10s. has been sent to be used for carrying on the struggle generally, and £338. 135 4d. has been earmarked for relief of distress among the passive resisters or their dependents. These instructions have been closely followed. Remittances from Rangoon as also from London have, like the earmarked fund from Bombay, been devoted to the relief of distress only.

"Your letter, also Mr. Petit's, have left the expenditure to my discretion, and I have considered it best to avail myself of that latitude. The funds are banked to a separate account, called the Passive Resistance Relief Fund account, in the Natal Bank, Johannesburg. So far as the bank is concerned, I alone operate upon them. No special and formal committee has been organized, nor are the funds treated as part of the British Indian Association account. The British Indian Association covers a wider range than that of passive resistance. Disbursements are made in consultation with or subject to the approval of Mr. Cachalia, who is the president of the British Indian Association, and other passive resisters.

"The Phoenix debt represented a personal debt incurred by me from the European friends and clients by reason of the necessity of having to continue Indian Opinion under somewhat adverse circumstances and at a loss in the interest of the struggle. I have devoted to the continuance of Indian Opinion and the establishment of Phoenix all my earnings during my last stay in South Africa, that is, nearly £5,000. I derive no pecuniary benefit from Phoenix, the support of my family and myself being found by a European friend. Those Europeans and Indians who are my co-workers at Phoenix receive as a rule only what they need, and are practically under a vow of poverty. Certain alterations have been made in the management of Phoenix, which I am glad to be able to say have so far enabled the continuance of the paper without the monthly assistance referred to in my letter. The committee in London is being financed on a most economic basis. I have to make the same remarks in connection with the offices here. The expenditure to the 20th instant is as follows:

"Local expenses £374. iis.8d.; London office £175. 15s.; Relief to distress £449. 11s. iid.; Distress Fund £50; Indian Opinion debt £1,200. Total £2,249.

"This leaves a balance of £3,019. 12s. The monthly expenses for relieving distress have, however, as you see, gone forward, and whereas in the month of December only £25 was paid, 011 the present basis it comes to nearly £160 per month, over fifty families receiving support. Local expenses, besides the carrying on of the office here, include travelling expenses of passive resisters from Durban, etc., as also cables and such other disbursements. The above expenditure covers a period of four months and a half. Excluding the relief expenditure and the item for the Indian Opinion debt, the average monthly expense is nearly £133. The expenses for supporting distressed families are bound to increase as time passes. I, therefore, put them down at £200 per month. The average monthly expense then may be put down at £333. The balance of £3,019.12s. may thus be exhausted about the month of January next.

"Nearly £50 is being paid towards rent due by the families in distress. We have, therefore, been considering the advisability of removing them to a farm, where women as well as men could do something to earn a living, and where we should probably be able to save half of what is now being paid for relief. There was the difficulty about a capital outlay on a farm. Mr. Cachalia, others who were out of gaol, and I were even prepared to risk that outlay in the hope of being able to sell the farm, if necessary, at the close of the struggle, but a large outlay will probably not be required, as a European friend has offered to buy a farm and place it at the disposal of the passive resisters during the continuance of the struggle free of charge. This very generous offer has been almost accepted and by the time this letter is in your hands we may have seeured a suitable farm in which all the distressed families and I should be living together on the farm.

"The expenses detailed above take no note of relief that is being granted privately by individuals.

"The estimate I gave you of active passive resisters, I now see, was an underestimate and many whom I did not consider would come forward are now either serving imprisonment or have been deported. The authorities have been of late very active on effecting arrests, particularly of the brave Tamils than whom no Indians have done better in connection with the struggle. These brave men have time after time courted imprisonment. There are over thirty at present at the Diepkloof jail, which is a penal settlement, in which the regulations are more severe than in the other prisons of the Transvaal. Nearly sixty have been deported by the Umhlott and over thirty may be deported any day, orders for deportations having been already made. I cannot write about these deportations with sufficient restraint. All these men are domiciled in the Transvaal; some of them are domiciled also in Natal; some again have a right to enter Natal, being able to pass the education test imposed under immigration law of that colony. Some are mere lad born in the Transvaal or other parts of South Africa, and many have left behind them families that have been reared in this country. I come into constant touch with the brave wives, sisters or mothers of the deported men. I once asked them whether they would like to go with the deported to India, and they indignantly remarked: 'How can we? We were brought to this country as children, and we do not know anybody in India. We would rather perish here than go to India, which is a foreign land to us.' However regrettable this attitude of mind may be from a national standpoint, the fact remains that these men and women are rooted to the South African soil. Many of these men before the struggle commenced earned a decent living. Some of them had stores, some were trolley contractors, and others were hawkers, cigar-makers, waiters, etc., the employees earning a minimum wage of £6 and a maximum of £15, whereas the trolley contractors and others who followed an independent calling earned as much as from £20 to £30 per month. All these are now reduced to poverty, and their families receive from the Passive Resistance Fund the barest sustenance money.

"I may mention for your information that it was stated at one time by the Union Government that those who were voluntarily registered in the Transvaal, as many of these deported men are, were not deported at all, and that those who were domiciled in parts of South Africa other than the Transvaal were deported to such parts and not to India. Both these declarations have been falsified, the excuse given being that these men refuse to supply identification particulars and to prove domicile. The first excuse is invalid, because the refusal to supply identification particulars is itself a criminal offence, and these men seeing that they were voluntarily registered could have beer, proceeded against under the special section that deals with refusal to supply the identification particulars. There was no occasion to treat them as unregistered Indians, and thus deport them. The second excuse is equally invalid in that those who were entitled to enter Natal stated that they were domiciled there and those who had a knowledge of a European language did not need to bring forward any proof. In my opinion, the fact is that, having failed to break the proud spirit of the brave Tamils, the Asiatic Department has now embarked upon a plan of extermination and of taxing our pecuniary resources to the uttermost. Be that as it may, I think that I am quite correct in assuring you and through you the public in India that neither these men, nor their wives, mothers nor sisters, as the case may be, are likely to succumb in any appreciable measure.

"I hope that the motherland will not rest so long as the insult offered to her in the Transvaal legislation that we are fighting has not been removed, and that we shall continue to receive the support that has hitherto been extended to us."

23. Tolstoy Farm ( 1910 )

ON MAY 30, 1910 Hermann Kallenbach, a rich German arehitect and a close friend of Gandhi, offered the use of his farm for passive resisters and their indigent families. The use of a farm of 1,100 acrcs was given free of any rent or charge. Gandhi and Kallenbach named it after Tolstoy.

The Tolstoy Farm was nearly two miles long and a three-quarter mile broad. Upon the farm, there were nearly one thousand fruit-bearing trees and a small house. During the season oranges, apricots and plums grew in abundance. Water was supplied from two wells as well as a spring. The nearest railway station, Lawley, was about one mile from the farm, and Johannesburg twenty-one miles. Gandhi and Kallenbach now decided to build houses on the farm to accommodate the passive resisters. On June 4 some satvagrahis came to work and live on the farm.

The settlers hailed from Gujarat, Tamil Nad, Andhra and North India. There were Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians among them. About forty of them were young men, two or three old men, five women, and thirty children of whom five were girls.

The food offered no difficulty because the settlers realized the absurdity of separate kitchens. Gandhi was prepared even to provide meat to those who wanted it. But the Muslims and Christians readily agreed to live on vegetarian diet. The Christian women were given charge of the cooking department and Gandhi and others assisted them. The food was to be the simplest possible and the time as well as the number of meals were fixed. There was one single kitchen, and all dined in a single row. Everyone did his own cleaning. The common pots were cleaned by different parties by turns. Drink and smoking were totally prohibited.

The building work was planned by Kallenbach. A European mason taught the settlers stonework. A Gujarati carpenter volunteered his services free of charge and brought other carpenters to work at reduced rates. The settlers did all the unskilled labour. Thambi Naidu was in charge of sanitation and marketing for which he had to go to Johannesburg.

For about two months the settlers lived in tents while the buildings were under construction. The timber was brought ready made in all sizes required, which the carpenters cut to measure. There were not many doors or windows to be prepared. The structures were all of corrugated iron and did not take long to raise. The men's quarters were separate from the women's. Even the married men were separated from their wives and were to remain celibate while staying at Tolstoy Farm.

The settlers worked harder on the farm than in the prisons. It was obligatory on all, young and old, who were not engaged in the kitchen, to give some time to gardening and to look after the fruit trees. Everyone had to go to Johannesburg on some errand or other. The rule followed was that only on the community business could one go there by rail and then too travel third class. Any one who wanted a pleasure trip had to go on foot, and carry home-made provisions consisting of home-baked bread made from coarse wheat flour ground at home, home-made marmalade and groundnut butter. The general practice was that the sojourner rose at two in the night and started at half past two. It took on an average six to seven hours to reach Johannesburg and Kallenbach generally joined the trampers with his favourite haversack.

The rules of hygiene were strictly enforced on the farm. All rubbish was buried in the trenches sunk for the purpose. No water was permitted to be thrown on the roads and all waste water was collected in buckets to use for watering trees. Leavings of food and vegetable refuse were utilized as manure. A square pit was sunk near the quarters to receive the night-soil which was fully covered with excavated earth.

To make the families self-supporting, small industries were started on Tolstoy Farm. Kallenbach learnt the art of making sandals in a German Catholic monastery and taught it to Gandhi who in his turn taught it to other settlers. Now they started making sandals and sold them to friends. Another industry introduced by Kallenbach was carpentry producing all manner of things large and small from benches to boxes.

A school was started in June for the youngsters. The classes were held only in the afternoon from two to five, as the settlers were engaged on hard physical labour in the morning. Gandhi and Kallenbach, assisted by some young men, worked as teachers. Religious instruction was given by Gandhi, who wrote out the fundamental doctrines of Hinduism and studied books on Islam and Zoroastrianism. He taught his pupils to respect all religions and to live together like blood brothers. On the basis of his lectures he wrote Niti Dhaima or Ethical Religion published in 1912.

The heterogeneous class that fell to Gandhi's lot contained pupils of all ages, from boys and girls of about seven years of age to young men of twenty and young girls of twelve. He divided the class into two sections, the Gujarati section to be taught through the medium of Gujarati and the rest through English. The Tamil and Telugu children knew their mother tongue or English and a little Dutch. As the principal part of the teaching, he followed the method of narrating or reading to his pupils interesting stories. He taught them a little Tamil and Urdu. General knowledge of history, geography and arithmetic was not neglected. Sanskrit was taught to Hindu children. Writing was also taught, and so were some bhajans, which formed part of their prayers. No text-books were used in this school. In education he gave the first place to the culture of the heart or the building of character. Corporal punishment was strictly forbidden. Gandhi believed that the training of the spirit was only possible through the exercise of the spirit. And "the exercise of the spirit entirely depended on the life and character of the teacher." Only on one occasion Gandhi punished a pupil with a ruler, trembling as he strurk the errant pupil.

His experiment of co-education on Tolstoy Farm was a daring one. He sent young boys reputed to be mischievous and the innocent young girls to bathe at the same spot at the same time. He fully explained the duty of self-restraint to his pupils. The bathers went in a body and solitude was always avoided and he usually was present at the spring.

Gandhi slept in an open veranda, and the boys and girls would spread themselves around him. There was no cot on the farm; all slept on the floor. For bed everyone was given two blankets, one for spreading and the other for covering purposes, and a wooden pillow. The experiment made from a belief that boys and twirls could thus live together without harm did not always work very smoothly.

Life on the farm was simplified as much as it was humanly possible. Men shaved and cut the hair of one another. All the settlers had become labourers and, therefore, put on the labourer's dress in European style— working men's trousers and shirts, which were imitated from prisoner's uniform. The dress was made out of coarse blue cloth, and was stitched by women settlers.

There were three meals a day. Settlers had bread and wheaten "coffee" at six in the morning, rice, dal and vegetable at eleven, and wheat pap and milk, or bread and "coffee" at half past five in the evening. The food was served in a kind of bowl supplied to prisoners in jail. The spoons were made on the farm out of wood. After the evening meal, all settlers chanted prayers at about seven. They sang bhajans and sometimes heard passages from the Ramayana or books on Islam. The bhajans were in English, Hindi and Gujarati. Everyone retired at nine in the night.

Many observed the Ekadashi fast on the farm, and some kept Chaturmas. To keep company with the Muslim inmates the rest had only one meal a day in the evening during the Ramzan days. All assisted each other in their respective religious observances. The fasts were also considered an aid in self-restraint.

Although the farm was away from the city, not even the commonest drugs against the possible attacks of illness were kept there. In those days Gandhi's faith in nature cure was complete; fortunately there was not a single case of illness on the farm which called for a doctor's help. He made several experiments in nature cure and healed even a case of asthma of an old man. His faith in nature cure was infectious and stray patients also used to visit the Tolstoy Farm, to get treated by him.

Tolstoy Farm was infested with snakes. Gandhi believed that it was a sin to kill them. Kallenbach made a study of different types of snakes and taught the settlers how to recognize venomous ones. There was another German inmate by name Albrecht who even played with snakes and thus influenced others to shed their fear.

Gandhi was anxious to devote the maximum of time to the satyagraha struggle which, according to him, depended largely on purity in thought, word and deed. In 1910 he stopped his legal practicc amounting to five to six thousand pounds a year and most of his savings were spent in the public cause. The Phoenix Settlement alone cost him £5,000. He snapped all ties in order to live the life of the prosecuted Indians, to share their trials. He espoused poverty and was, therefore, led to make further changes in his mode of living.

There was on the Tolstoy Farm ebb and flow of satyagrahis, some of whom were expecting to go to prison, while others had been released from it. By July there was respite for the satyagrahis. Mr. Winston Churchill, the Home Secretary, announced in the House of Commons that "all persons imprisoned as passive resisters or suffragists should be relieved of unnecessary degradation."

24. Tolstoy-Gandhi ( 1910 )

Tolstoy had long been interested in India, her social development and struggle against the British, her philosophy and religion. In 1908 he had written an epistolary article, "A letter to a Hindu", addressed to an Indian revolutionary, in which he opposed the policy of violent resistance to aggression that had resulted in the extraordinary paradox of the enslavement of India's millions by a handful of English. "If the people of India are enslaved by violence, it is only because they themselves live and have lived by violence and do not recognize the eternal law inherent in humanity."

This article was widely publicized and attracted Gandhi who correctly understood its implicit message of civil disobedience and passive resistance. And when he first wrote to Tolstoy in 1909, it was to inform him of the satyagraha struggle that he was conducting in Soudi Africa. "I have," he wrote, "who am an utter stranger to you, taken the liberty of addressing this communication in the interests of truth, and in order to have your advice on problems, the solution of which you have made your life-work." Tolstoy hastened to reply that the letter gave him great joy, and he encouraged Gandhi's activities.

Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy his second letter from London to engage his active interest in the struggle of the Indians in the Transvaal, "the greatest of modern times, inasmuch as it has been idealized both as to the goal as also the methods adopted to reach the goal... If it succeeds, it is highly likely to serve as an example to the millions in India and to people in other parts of the world who may be downtrodden." Gandhi also sent his biography written by Doke for Tolstoy's perusal.

More letters were exchanged between Gandhi and Tolstoy in 1910. Gandhi sent him his book, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule which Tolstoy read and warmly praised. On April 20 Tolstoy made the following note in his diary: "In the evening read Gandhi about civilization; wonderful." The next day he wrote: "Read book about Gandhi. Very important. I should write to him."

To a friend, Tolstoy wrote: "Gandhi is very close to us. He has read my writings, translated into Indian language my 'Letter to a Hindu’. He requests my opinion on his book. I want to write to him in detail. Will you translate such a letter for me?"

Gandhi again wrote to Tolstoy on August 15. In his diary Tolstoy wrote on September 6: "Good news from the Transvaal about the colony of passive resisters." At this time Tolstoy was in very low spirits due to the strained relationship with his wife; also his physical condition was not too good. Nevertheless Tolstoy answered Gandhi's letter on the very day he received it. Tolstoy's long letter, dated September 7, 1910 was delayed in transit and reached Gandhi only a few weeks before Tolstoy's death. The following is a translation from the Russian original:

"I received your journal, and was pleased to learn all contained therein concerning the passive resisters; and I felt like telling you all the thoughts which that reading called up to me.

"The longer I live, and especially now, when I vividly feel the nearness of death, I want to tell others what I feel so particularly clearly and what to my mind is of great importance, namely, that which is called 'passive resistance', but which is in reality nothing else than the teaching of love uncorrupted by false interpretations. That love, which is the striving for the union of human souls and the activity derived from it, is the highest and only law of human life; and in the depth of his soul every human being—as we most clearly see in children—feels and knows this; he knows this until he is enlangled by the false teachings of the world. This law was proclaimed by all—by the Indian as by the Chinese, Hebrew, Greek and Roman sages of the world. I think this law was most clearly expressed by Christ, who plainly said, 'In love alone is all the law and the prophets.'

"But, foreseeing the corruption to which this law may be subject, he straightway pointed out the danger of its corruption, which is natural to people who live in worldly interests—the danger, namely, which justifies the defence of those interests by the use of force, or, as he said, 'with blows to answer blows, by force to take back things usurped,' etc. He knew, as every sensible man must know, that the use of force is incompatible with love as the fundamental law of life; that as soon as violence is permitted, in whichever case it may be, the insufficicncy of the law of love is acknowledged, and by this the very law of love is denied. The whole Christian civilization, so brilliant outwardly, grew up on this self-evident and strange misunderstanding and contradiction, sometimes conscious but mostly unconscious.

"In reality, as soon as force was admitted into love, there was no more love; there could be no love as the law of life; and as there was no law of love, there was no law at all except violence, the power of the strongest. So lived Christian humanity for nineteen centuries. It is true that in all times people were guided by violence in arranging their lives.

"The difference betwpen the Christian nations and all other nations is only that in the Christian world the law of love was expressed clearly and definitely, whereas it was not so expressed in any other religious teaching, and that the people of the Christian world have solemnly accepted this law, whilst at the same time they have permitted violence, and built their lives on violence; and that is why the whole life of the Christian peoples is a continuous contradiction between that which they profess and the principles on which they order their lives—a contradiction between love accepted as the law of life and violence which is recognized and praised, acknowledged even as a necessity in different phases of life, such as the power of rulers, courts, and armies. This contradiction always grew with the development of the people of the Christian world, and lately, it reached the ultimate stage.

"The question now evidently stands thus: either to admit that we do not recognize any Christian teaching at all, arranging our lives only by power of the stronger, or that all our compulsory taxes, court and police establishments but mainly our armies, must be abolished.

"This year, in spring, at a scripture examination in a girls' high school at Moscow, the teacher and the bishop present asked the girls questions on the Commandments, and especially on the sixth, Thou shalt not kill.' After a correct answer the bishop generally put another question, whether killing was always in all eases forbidden by God's law, and the unhappy young ladies were forced by previous instruction to say, 'Not always’— that killing was permitted in war and in execution of the criminals. Still, when one of these unfortunate young ladies—what I am telling is not an invention, but a fact told me by an eyewitness—after her first examination was asked the usual question, if killing were always sinful, she became agitated, and blushing decisively answered, 'Always'; and to all the usual sophisms of the bishop she answered with decided conviction, that killing always was forbidden in the Old Testament and not only killing was forbidden by Christ, but even every wrong against a brother. Notwithstanding all his grandeur and art of speech, the bishop became silent and the girl remained victorious.

"Yes, we can talk in our newspapers of the progress of aviation, of the complicated diplomatic relations, of different clubs and conventions, of unions of different kinds, of so-called productions of art, and keep silent about what that young lady said. But it cannot be passed over in silence, because it is felt, more or less dimly, but always felt, by every man in the Christian world. Socialism, communism, anarehism, the Salvation Army, increasing crime, unemployment, the growing insane luxury of the rich and misery of the poor, the alarmingly increasing number of suicides—all these are the signs of that internal contradiction which must be solved and cannot remain unsolved. And they must be solved in the sense of acknowledging the law of love and denying violence.

"Therefore, your activity in the Transvaal, as it seems to us, at this end of the world, is the most essential work, the most important of all the work now being done in the world, wherein not only the nations of the Christian, but of all the world, will unavoidably take part.

"I think that you will be pleased to know that here in Russia this activity is also fast developing in the way of refusals to serve in the army, the number of which increases from year to year. However insignificant is the number of our people who are passive resisters in Russia who refuse to serve in the army, these and the others can boldly say that God is with them. And God is more powerful than man.

"In acknowledging Christianity even in that corrupt form in which it is professed amongst the Christian nations, and at the same time in acknowledging the necessity of armies and armament for killing on the greatest scale in wars, there is such a clcar clamouring contradiction that it must sooner or later, possibly very soon, inevitably reveal itself and annihilate either the professing of the Christian religion, which is indispensable in keeping up these forces, or the existence of armies and all the violence kept up by them, which is not less necessary for power. This contradiction is felt by all governments, by your British as well as by our Russian Governments, and out of a general feeling of self-preservation the perseeution by then—as seen in Russia and in the journal sent by you—against such anti- government activity, as those above-mentioned, is carried on with more energy than against any other form of opposition. The governments know where their chief danger lies, and they vigilantly guard in this question, not only their interests, but the question: To be or not to be?"

When Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910 Indian Opinion wrote:

"Of the late Count Tolstoy, we can only write with reverencc. He was to us more than one of the greatest men of the age. We have endeavoured, so far as possible, to follow his teaching. The end of his bodily life but put the final touch to the work of humanity that he, in his own inimitable manner, inaugurated. Tolstoy is not dead; he lives through the lives of his innumerable followers throughout the world. We firmly believe that, as time rolls on, his teaching will more and more permeate mankind. Though a devout Christian, he truly interpreted not only Christianity, but he likewise gave a realistic presentation of the substance underlying the great world religion, and he has shown, how present-day civilization based as it is on brute force, is a negative of divinity in man and how, before man can realize his manhood, he must substitute brute force by love in all his actions in the daily work of life. Perhaps his letter to Mr. Gandhi, which we reproduce on the first page, was one of the last, if not the last, writings from his pen. In it he almost foreshadowed his dissolution and it must be a matter of great encouragement and melancholy satisfaction to Indian passive resisters that the sage of Yasnaya Polyana considered the Transvaal struggle to be one of world-wide importance."

25. Lull Before The Storm ( 1911 )

TOLSTOY FARM was a great blessing to the satyagrahis. It proved to be a training-ground and a refuge for the passice resisters. Gandhi directed his activities from there and his selfless leadership inspired the Asiatics in South Africa.

In January 1911 Mr. Quinn, who was unlawfully deported to Ceylon, returned to the Transvaal. On January 13 he went to Tolstoy Farm to consult Gandhi. On January 19 he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for not possessing the registration certificate.

India continued to take interest in South African affairs but Gandhi was not satisfied with the stand the Indian press took on the indenture question. Indian Opinion of February 25 pointed out: "We have examined our Indian exchanges with great care, in order that we may be able to give our readers a useful summary of our Indian contemporaries' comments on the action taken by the Governor-General-in-Council to stop the further recruitment of Indian labour for South Africa. Rut we must confess that we are greatly disappointed at the manner in which the Indian press has dealt with the matter. There appears almost universally a spirit of deep exultation that the Government of India have adopted retaliatory measures against South Africa. Many journals, too, have pointed out how universal in India is the cry of an inadequate labour supply. What does this mean? Nothing more we fear than the regard is heed first to the requirements of the employer, and afterwards, if at all, to the needs of labour. The indenture system is a lasting shame and humiliation to the motherland. Indentured labour is a moral blight, whether it obtains in Fiji, Assam or Natal. We urge India's public men to bend their efforts towards making a speedy end of it."

A year previously, Gokhale in his speech in the Imperial Council, had demanded that the recruitment of the indentured labour in British India for the Colony of Natal be forthwith prohibited. The India Government accepted the resolution and made strong representations to Downing Street. Meanwhile Lord Ampthill and the South African Committee agitated successfully on behalf of the Indians and influenced the Imperial Government to send a despatch in October 1910 to the Union Government, recommending the repeal of Act 2 of 1907. It demanded the removal of the racial bar and the substitution for the latter of the Indian suggestion of non-racial legislation, modified by administrative differentiation effectively limiting future Indian immigration in the Union to a minimum number annually of highly educated men.

The Union Government chose to bend for the time being. They were anxious to placate the Indians till the coronation festival in June 1911. The colonial legislators drafted a new bill published on February 25, 1911. Gandhi wrote: "The bill is evidently designed to satisfy passive resisters, and over a year's experience after his famous despatch to Lord Crewe, declining to recognize legal equality between Europeans and Indians in South Africa, has evidently taught General Smuts that he cannot safely violate the traditions of the British Empire. But the working of the bill does not carry out the design of its authors. It is highly satisfactory that Act 2 of 1907 is to be repealed. The exclusion of Asiatics is to be brought about not by naming and specifically prohibiting the entry of such people but by subjecting them to a rigorous education test. In almost all other respects the measure is highly unsatisfactory. It takes away without the slightest reason the rights of the Cape and the Natal Asiatics which they have hitherto enjoyed without interference. The Union Government undertake to satisfy the demands of the Transvaal passive resisters if the Imperial Government permit the Union Parliament to legislate against the Asiatics residing in the Cape and the Natal provinces."

The bill evoked strong opposition on the part of the fanatic members of the Union Parliament who took exception to General Smuts's declaration that "as a limited member of Asiatics would be allowed, under the bill, to enter the Union, every year, there could be no limitation of their right to travel about or settle in any part of the Union territory." The die-hards wanted to provide for the complete prevention of the entry of the Asiatics into their province. Gandhi emphatically declared that "there can be no playing with the snake of racial legislation. The virus of racial legislation in the Orange Free State will speedily attack the whole Union."

Telegrams and letters were exchanged between General Smuts and Gandhi and the Provisional Settlement of 1911 was arrived at.

With deep relief Gandhi wrote in the Indian Opinion dated May 27: "A provisional settlement of the Asiatic trouble in the Transvaal has at last been reached, and the Indians and Chinese of the Transvaal are free to resume their ordinary occupations, at least for eight months. General Smuts's pledge being redeemed, passive resistance will undoubtedly cease on the question that gave rise to it. If, however, some new anti-Asiatic legislation equally offensive is introduced, it may be affirmed with reasonable certainty that South Africa will witness fresh passive resistance."

On June 1 satyagrahis were released and the Indians believed that the peaceful end of the bitter struggle was now assured. The Star wrote: "Mr. Gandhi, who had already arranged for his legal practice to be taken over by Mr. Ritch, would pass from public life, retire to his farm in Natal in order to come in closer contact with the Tolstoyan philosophy."

On June 5 the Pretoria Passive Resisters' XI played a football match at Johannesburg against the passive resisters of the Golden City. The company that gathered was large and Gandhi took the opportunity to say a few words on the recent struggle. There was no bitterness and he still remained a friend of the empire. The Indians throughout the Union sent their loyal greetings to the sovereigns on coronation day.

In Indian Opinion of June 24, Gandhi wrote: "It may seem somewhat anomalous to a stranger why and how British Indians of South Africa should tender their loyalty to the throne and rejoice over the crowning of the sovereigns in whose dominions they do not even enjoy the ordinary civil rights of orderly men. British sovereigns represent, in theory, purity and equality of justice. Bridsh statesmen make an honest attempt to realize the ideals. That they often fail miserably in doing so is too true but irrelevant to the issue before us. The British monarehy is limited and rightly so under the existing circumstances... Those who then are content to remain under the British flag, ought to, without doing any violence to their conscience, tender their loyalty to the sovereign, for the time being, of these mighty dominions, although, like us, they may be labouring under severe liabilities. In tendering our loyalty, we but show our devotion to the ideals just referred to; our loyalty is an earnest of our desire to realize those ideals."

Indians in South Africa, however, boycotted the official celebration. "The Indians could join the official celebration only if they were allowed to do so on terms of equality with the Europeans," said Gandhi.

After the coronation a fresh Immigration Bill was introduced in the Union Parliament. The bill was in some respects better than the first but as it did not fulfil the promise made by General Smuts, it was resented by the Indians. It was dropped for the time being and the period of the provisional settlement was extended by one year. It was hoped that during the impending visit of Gokhale, a formula acceptable to all would be discovered.

The case of the Indians in South Africa was put before the Congress in Calcutta in 1911 by Sorabji Shapurji, one of the passive resisters who had been to jail eight times and was going back immediately in case he was wanted again. The Congress congratulated Gandhi and the Transvaal Indian community "upon the repeal of the anti-Asiatic legislation of the province regarding registration and immigration". It also asked the Government, "in the highest national interest", to abolish and to prohibit the further recruitment of Indian labour under contract of indenture, "whether for service at home or abroad".

26. Gokhale’s Visit ( 1912 )

LIFE ON Tolstoy Farm was quiet as the struggle had been suspended. The settlers were enjoying themselves in the fruit garden away from the din and roar of the cities.

As a keen student of Indian affairs, Gandhi studied books and newspapers. He read of the inhuman treatment accorded to cows in Calcutta in extracting the last drop of milk from them. He discussed it with Kallenbach and both decided to give up milk and restrict themselves to a diet of olive oil and fresh and dried fruit—raw groundnuts, bananas, dates and lemons. They eschewed cooked food as well. During these experiments Gandhi would easily walk forty miles a day, and once, to test his capacity, he walked fifty-five miles. To Gandhi the Tolstoy Farm was a centre of spiritual purification and penance for the final campaign". In September 1912 Gandhi gave away all he had and made a trust of the Phoenix farm "to follow and promote the ideals set forth by Tolstoy and Ruskin in their lives and works". The property was worth £5,130 4s. 5d.

Gandhi was all along in communication with Gokhale and wanted him to visit South Africa. In 1911, while Gokhale was in England, he told the Secretary of State for India of his intention to proceed to South Africa and acquaint himself with the facts of the case at first hand. He approved of Gokhale's mission and informed the Union Government of his position. This assured Gokhale every facility on the journey and official co-opera- tion in South Africa.

Gokhale reached Capetown on October 22, 1912. It was a great event in South African history. It was the first time that a distinguished Indian national figure had come in direct contact with the European leaders on their own soil. Gokhale was hailed as "the Coolie King", and large crowds gathered wherever he went. The Union Government offered the distinguished guest their hospitality and placed the state railway saloon at his disposal. The whites vied with Indians in welcoming "the Tolstoy of India". Mr. Runciman of the Immigration Department was deputed to escort him throughout the tour. Every public meeting organized for his reception was presided over by the mayor of the place.

At Capetown Gokhale was received by hundreds of Indians with tears of gratefulness. A mammoth possession was taken out, headed by fifty carriages, a carriage –and-four carrying the distinguished guest. He was greeted everywhere with shouts of ‘Bande Mataram’. A public meeting was held, attended by a very large number of Indians and Europeans, and Gokhale won their hearts by his eloquent speech. On the way to Johannesburg he stopped at Klerksdorp and was received enthusiastically by the Indians. As he had to stop and attend meetings at two more intermediate stations he travelled by a special train.

On the platform of Johannesburg railway station a dais was specially erected for the occasion and covered with rich carpets. Along with other Europeans there was present the Mayor of Johannesburg who placed his car at Gokhale's disposal during his stay in the city. The civic address was engraved on a solid heart-shaped plate of gold from the Rand mounted on Rhodesian teak. The plate represented a map of India and Ceylon and was flanked on either side by two gold tablets, one bearing an illustration of the Taj Mahal and the other a typical Indian scene.

Gokhale was put up in a neat house, owned by Kallenbach, on a hill-top five miles away from Johannesburg. A specious office was hired in the city for Gokhale to receive the visitors; there was a private chamber for him, a drawing-room and a waiting-room for visitors. He was introduced to many distinguished citizens. A private meeting of leading Europeans was organized so as to give him a thorough understanding of their standpoint. A banquet was also held in his honour to which 400 persons were invited including about 150 Europeans. The Indians were admitted by tickets, costing a guinea each, to meet the expenses of the banquet. The menu was purely vegetarian and there were no wines either. The cooking was done by the volunteers and the Indian Christians did the culinary arrangements. It was a novel experience for the whites of South Africa to sit at dinner with so many Indians at the same table in a public place. To this gathering Gokhale addressed his most important speech in South Africa—clear, firm and urbane.

In Johannesburg a mass meeting was held for the benefit of the Indians. Gandhi requested Gokhale to speak in Marathi as there were several Konkani Muslims and some Maharashtrian Hindus among the audience. When Gandhi said that he would translate his Marathi speech into Hindi, Gokhale burst into laughter and remarked: "I have quite fathomed your knowledge of Hindi, an accomplishment upon which you cannot exactly be congratulated. But now you propose to translate Marathi into Hindi. May I know where you acquired such knowledge of Marathi?" Gandhi replied: "What is true of my Hindustani is equally true of my Marathi. I cannot speak a single word of Marathi, but I am confident of gathering the purport of your Marathi speech on a subject with which I am quite familiar. In any case you will see that I do not misinterpret you to the people." Gokhale fell in with Gandhi's suggestion, and from Johannesburg right up to Zanzibar he always spoke Marathi at similar meetings and Gandhi served as interpreter. On the whole Gokhale was gratified by the results of the experiment and Gandhi was pleased that an Indian language was given its due place at least in South Africa.

Gokhale visited Natal and then proceeded to Pretoria where he was a guest of the Union Government. As he was to meet there the ministers, including General Botha and General Smuts, he asked Gandhi to prepare for him a summary of the Indians' history in the four colonics. He kept himself and others awake the whole night, posted himself fully on every point, and thus prepared himself to meet the South African politicians.

His interview with the ministers on November 15 lasted for about two hours and when he returned, he remarked, "Gandhi, you must return to India in a year. Everything has been settled. The Black Act will be repealed. The racial bar will be removed from the immigration law. The £3 tax will be abolished." But Gandhi had his fears. He told Gokhale: "You don't know the ministers as I do. I am not as hopeful in the matter as you are. It is enough for me that you have obtained this undertaking from the ministers. The promise given to you will serve as a proof of the justice of our demands and will re-double our fighting spirit if it comes to fighting at all. But I don't think I can return to India in a year and before many more Indians have gone to jail."

Gokhale lived on Tolstoy Farm from 2nd to 4th of November. He had been put up in Kallenbach's room and a cot was brought specially for him. Gandhi and Kallenbach attended on Gokhale from the moment of his landing to that of his departure. Gandhi constituted himself his personal attendant and private secretary, and he nursed and cookcd for him and patiently ironed his scarf with his own hands.

Giving his parting message to the Indian settlers at the Pretoria Town Hall on November 15, Gokhale said: "Always remember that your future is largely in your hands. I pray to God that such a struggle as you found it necessary to wage in the Transvaal during the last three years may not have to be waged again. But if it has to be resumed, or if you have to enter struggles of like nature for justice denied or injustice forced on you, remember that the issue will largely turn on the character you show, on your capacity for combined action, on your readiness to suffer and sacrifice in a just cause. India will no doubt be behind you. Her passionate sympathy, her heart, her hopes will be with you. Nay, all that is best in this empire, all that is best in the civilized world, will wish you success. But the main endeavour to have your wrongs righted shall have to be yours. Remember that you are entitled to have the Indian problem in this country solved on right lines. And in such right solution are involved not merely your present worldly interests, but your dignity and self-respect, the honour and good name of your motherland."

In his address immediately after landing in Bombay, Gokhale said: "Only those who have come in personal contact with Mr. Gandhi as he is now, can realize 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 power to turn ordinary men around him into heroes and martyrs. During the recent passive resistance struggle in the Transvaal—would you believe it—2,700 sentences of imprisonment were borne by our countrymen there under the guidance of Mr. Gandhi to uphold the honour of their country. Some of the men among them were very substantial persons, some were small traders, but the bulk of them were poor and 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 that had wrought the transformation, thus illustrating the great power which the spirit of man can exercise over human minds and even over physical surroundings. In all my life I have known only two men who affected me spiritually in the manner that Mr. Gandhi does—our great patriareh, Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji, and my late master, Mr. Ranade—men before whom not only are we ashamed of doing anything unworthy, but in whose presence our very minds are afraid of thinking anything that is unworthy. The Indian cause in South Africa has really been built up by Mr. Gandhi. Without self, and without stain, he has fought his great fight for this country during a period now of twenty years and India owes an immense debt of gratitude to him. He has sacrificed himself utterly in the service of the cause. He had a splendid practice at the bar, making as much as five to six thousand pounds a year, which is considered to be very good income for a lawyer in South Africa. But he has given all that up and he lives now on three pounds a month like the poorest man in the street. One most striking fact about him is that though he has waged this great struggle so ceaselessly, his mind is absolutely free from all bitterness against Europeans. And in my tour nothing warmed my heart more than to see the universal esteem in which the European community holds Mr. Gandhi. At every gathering the leading Europeans, when they came 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 course of the struggle, they honoured him as a man."

27. The Great Struggle ( 1913 )

AFTER THE release of satyagrahis from jail, in 1913, Gandhi removed his school from the Tolstoy Farm to the Phoenix Settlement.

Since its inception, Phoenix had undergone much change. Some of the old settlers had gone and new ones were installed. The plots of land were better cultivated, some kind of hedges had been planted, and nearly all the settlers grew a considerable portion of their own vegetables. Salads and flowers of a fine variety were cultivated and pineapples grew from their own prickly tops. One or two of the houses had been enlarged and now had more furniture in them and attractive curtains at the windows. A large one-roomed building had been erected and fitted for a schoolroom. There were now about fourteen children, between the ages of five and seventeen, boys and girls, attending the school.

Gandhi attached much importance to the training of the character of his pupils. The boys were adolescent and he had to study their developing sex life. He thought a lot about it and procured a number of books including What a Young Boy ought to know. His experiments in influencing the children in self-restraint did not run always smoothly.

Gandhi's large living-room was the meeting-place of the community. Here, every Sunday evening, all the members gathered together for a kind of religious service—an interesting blend of East and West. One or two of the English members played the organ and Gandhi joined in the musical part of the service, thoroughly enjoying the hymn-book, specially arranged for the service, containing some eighteen hymns taken from all sources, and printed and bound at the Phoenix Press. Usually Gandhi opened the proceedings with a reading from the Gita, and would also read passages from the New Testament. His favourite hymns were "Take my life, and let it be con secrated," and "Lead, Kindly Light".

By the middle of 1913, Gandhi intended to return to India if passive resistance was not revived. But on January 18 Indian Opinion reported: "The Government bid fair to bring about a revival of passive resistance which we had hoped would not be necessary. We understand that the Government are not keeping their promise regarding those British Indians who, in terms of the settlement, should be given rights of residence in the Transvaal or the Union as the case may be."

While the promise of the repeal of the £3 tax was recanted and while the fate of the Provisional Settlement was hanging in the balance, a judgement was delivered in the Supreme Court which added fuel to the smouldering fire. Hassan Esop of Port Elizabeth had visited India in 1908 and married Bai Mariam. He returned in 1909 without her but again in 1912 went to India to fetch her. On his return with her to South Africa, the immigration officer refused to allow her to land and ordered that she should go back to India. The application of the husband for an order restraining the Government from deporting his wife to India was refused by the Supreme Court on March 14, 1913.

Gandhi wrote to the Government, asking them whether they agreed to the Searle judgement and whether, if the judge was right in interpreting it, they would amend the law so as to recognie the validity of the Indian marriages conseerated according to the religious customs of the parties and recognized as legal in India. The Union Government could not see their way to comply with Gandhi's request.

Gandhi took a strong view of the case in Indian Opinion, dated March 22: "The whole question was whether a wife married by Mohammedan custom was a wife within the meaning of the Immigration Act. His Lordship held that the application must be refused as the marriage did not satisfy the requirements of the Immigration Law. The case was admitted to be a test ease and judgement has been given against an individual... The meaning of the judgement is that every Hindu and Mohammedan wife is in South Africa illegally, and, therefore, at the mercy of the Government, whose grace alone can enable her to remain in the country. It is indeed a very serious question for passive resistors to consider whether they ought not to include in their requirements a redress of this unthought of, but intolerable grievance."

On March 30 a mass meeting of the Indians was held at the Hamidia Islamic Society's Hall, Johannesburg, to protest against Justice Searle's pronouncement in the ease of Bai Mariam. "It will become the bounden duty of the Indian community, for the protection of its womanhood and its honour, to adopt passive resistance." declared Gandhi.

The new Immigration Bill was published in the Union Gazette Extraordinary on April 12. It thoroughly disappointed Gandhi. He observed: "The bill is worse than its predecessor and fails in material respects to give effect to the Provisional Settlement. The bill confirms the suspicion that the Government only want to give us what they must, that they wish ill even to those who have established rights in the Union, and that by hook or by crook, they want to compass our ruin. In carrying this ruthless policy they have gone as far as thev dare. If the Immigration Bill becomes law, it will whittle away some of our cherished and existing rights and make our position insecure, as it already is, doubly so. Unless the Government yield and amend the bill materially, passive resistance must revive and with it, all the old miseries and sorrows and sufferings. Houses re-established must be broken up. We must learn the lesson again of finding pleasure in pain."

In the first week of May the Transvaal Indian Women's Association sent a telegram to the Minister of the Interior stating that they would offer passive resistance, and in common with the male members of the community suffer imprisonment rather than suffer the indignity to which the Searle judgement subjected them.

In Indian Opinion, dated May 3, Gandhi wrote: "In spite of the bill being rushed forward a stage further, we imagine that it will never reach the third reading stage. But it is well for passive resisters to keep themselves in readiness. It is to be hoped that, if struggle is revived, the impending third campaign will be the purest, the last and the most brilliant of all. We share the belief with Thoreau, that one true passive resister is enough to win a victory for right. Right is on our side. It could not be on the side of the Government that had no regard for their sacred pledges. And we have many true passive resisters. We would all fail to satisfy the definition of an ideal passive resister, but we feel sure that the community contains many who would approach the ideal as nearly as is possible for mortals to do. On such rests great duty."

In June the Immigrants' Regulation Bill was passed. Undismayed Gandhi opened fresh negotiations for compromise. On September 13 he announced in Indian Opinion that the negotiations had proved abortive: "The Union Government evidently invite passive resistance, and they should have it. A settlement without a settlement spirit is no settlement. The Government are not actuated by any friendliness towards Indians. It is, therefore, as well that there is no settlement. It is much better to have an open fight than a patched-up truce. The fight, this time, must be for altering the spirit of the Government and the European population of South Africa. And the result can only be attained by prolonged and bitter suffering that must melt the hearts alike of the Government and of the predominant partner. May the community have the strength and the faith to go through the fire."

Discussing his plans in Indian Opinion of September 20, Gandhi wrote: "The passive resistance, this time, will be comparatively an easy matter, as it will extend to all the provinces of the Union—not that the sufferings will be less—indeed they are likely to be greater, but to court imprisonment will be easier. Hitherto, passive resisters have challenged arrest by crossing the Transvaal border. That is how, the present struggle, too, has been commenced. We may, on this question of crossing of the border, at oncc say this method of resistance coes not mean that we are asking for a breaking of the provincial boundaries. On the contrary, as soon as this reason for the struggle ceases, those who will have crosscd the borders of different provinces will return to the province of their domicile. Passive resisters are not fighting—dare not fight—for personal and individual rights."

He further added: "But the crossing is an expensive business. Those who feel inclined to take an active part in the campaign can in a quiet and dignified manner court arrest by hawking or trading without licences, or if they have their licences, without showing them. They should, in each ease, inform the police or the court that it is not their intention thus to break the law but that, until there is a settlement with the Government, they propose not to assist the authorities in carrying out the laws of the land which have no moral or natural but an artificial basis. This is not a struggle of a day. Each one can think out for himself how he can best court arrest. Time and experience will show the right way if we have the will to suffer for the sake of our own and our country's honour."

Revival of the struggle meant extension of the programme to Gandhi. "If the community must suffer, it is better that it does so for all the serious and well-understood grievances."

The terrible sufferings through which the Indian community had gone in the previous struggle—the financial loss alone amounted to fifty lakhs of rupees—hardly gave hopes that the recruitment would be extensive. Gandhi stated: "This would be our third campaign and I have no doubt that it would be the most brilliant of all. We wish to deceive neither ourselves nor the Government. It is plain that in the impending struggle we cannot count upon hundreds going to jail. But what we might lack in numbers would be made up for by the earnestness and the unconquerable will of the few. No country in the world can afford to place all its children at the same time on the field. Ours is an army of peace. But whether we have five hundred or fifty or five or even one true passive rcsistcr on the field, victory is ours."

Before the struggle was started, the Government were informed that passive resistance would be continued so long as "racial bar disfigures the Immigration Act; the rights existing prior to the passing of the act are not restored and maintained; the status of women married in South Africa is not seeured; and generally so long as the spirit of generosity and justice does not pervade the administration of the existing laws."

When Kasturbai heard about the new marriage law, she was incensed and said to Gandhi: "Then I am not your wife, according to the laws of the country." Gandhi answered that that was so and added that their children were not their heirs. Kasturbai said, "Let us then go to India." He said that that would be cowardly and would not solve the difficulty. "Could I not, then, join the struggle and be imprisoned myself?" she asked. He told her she could, but it was not a small matter. Her health was not good, she had not known that sort of hardship and it would be disgraceful if after her joining the struggle, she weakened. But Kasturbai was not to be awed. The other women at Phoenix also joined her.

The Phoenix satyagrahis, who were only awaiting Gandhi's instructions, entrained on September 15 at Durban for Volksrust. They went by the Kafir Mail, all travelling third class and taking with them only the most necessary articles. Although only the intimate friends were informed, nearly a hundred Indians, representing all classes, saw them off at the Central Station. On reaching Volksrust the parly was stopped by the immigration officer. The party would not give any information. Only one of them acted as interpreter and spokesman for all, and he courteously informed the officer that although lie and his companions did not wish to embarrass the officers in any way, it was part of their campaign not to disclose their full names for the time being or to furnish any means of identifying themselves.

On request, the spokesman made the following statement on the next day: "I, on behalf of the party travelling with me, make this declaration that I am travelling with a party of twelve men and four women and we are entering the Transvaal now without any documentary reasons and other test required by the present law, being practically passive resisters, against the said law. Further that we, being passive resisters, refuse to recognize any of the provisions of the existing law."

The authorities at Volksrust had no accommodation for all the passive resisters at the police station; they were, therefore, asked to find shelter at the houses of their friends. They were summoned on September 18 and charged under the new act as prohibited immigrants. On September 22 the whole party was deported to the Natal border. The deportation was carried out by pushing the deportees beyond the line midway in a shallow stream. The satyagrahis recrossed; they were arrested and taken straightway to the charge office. Ten of them were sentenced to three months' imprisonment and six, including four women, to one month's imprisonment with hard labour. Kasturbai was one of them.

Gandhi kept the names of the satyagrahis seeret until they were safely lodged in jail; there was the risk of the Government leaving them alone. Besides, at the last moment, if they flinched, their prominence might damage the cause seriously they sought to advance.

Gandhi left Durban for the Transvaal on September 25, by the Kafir Mail. He was seen off by a large number of friends. His four companions were arrested at Volksrust but the officer would not arrest Gandhi. On September 27 he arrived at Johannesburg and the next day he addressed a large meeting. On September 29 well-known passive resisters including Gandhi's son, Manilal, went out early morning hawking, with heavily laden baskets on their heads. On the first day there was no arrest but the next day they were arrestee and sentenced to seven days' hard labour.

Not only could women now be not prevented from joining the struggle but Gandhi decided even to invite them along with tin- men. He had first invited the women from the Tolstoy Farm and they were only too glad to enter the struggle. One of them was pregnant, while six of them had young babies in arms. They were with one exception all Tamilians.

As it was an offence to enter the Transvaal from Natal without a permit, it was equally an offence to enter Natal from the Transvaal. Gandhi's strategy was that if the women satyagrahis were arrested upon entering Natal, well and good. But if they were not arrested, it was arranged that they should proceed to and post themselves at Neweastle, the coal-mining centre in Natal, and advise the indentured labourers there to go on strike. The women resisters' mother tongue was Tamil, and the majority of the labourers on the co?'fields hailed from the Madras Presidency and spoke Tamil or Telugu.

The women resistcrs who had been disappointed in the Transvaal now entered Natal but were not arrested for entering the province without permits. They, therefore, proceeded to Neweastle and set about their work according to plan with immediate results. The labourers were touched to the quick and more than three thousand indentured Indians at the coalmines struck work on October 17.

The Government could no longer leave the women satyagrahis free to pursue their activities. On October 21 they were sentenced to imprisonment for three months and were kept in the same prison as the Phoenix party. Bai Fatma Mehtab and her mother were the first Muslim women satyagrahis to be sent to prison.

The women showed exceptional bravery. They were innocent of legal technicalities, and many of them had no idea of country, their patriotism being based only upon faith. Some of them were illiterate and could not read papers. But they knew that the Indians' honour was at stake. Their going to jail was "a cry of agony and prayer offered from the bottom of their hearts". They were all kept in Maritzburg jail where they were harassed. Their food was of the worst and they were given laundry work as their jail task. No food was permitted to be given them from outside.

The women's imprisonment had its effect on the labourers of Neweastle. They struck work and entered the city in succeeding batches. As soon as Gandhi received the news he left Phoenix for Newcastle.

The strikers brought quite a host of complaints to Gandhi. Their lights and water were stopped and their household chattels were thrown out. Notices to quit were given to many as they used to live in tenements built by the owners. Some of them were even thrashed.

Gandhi's problem was not an easy one. Money had not yet started coming from India. The Indian traders were mortally afraid and not at all ready to help the resisters publicly, as they had trading relations with coal-owners. This time Gandhi did not even stay with them. He stayed with a middle-class Tamilian Christian, Mr. D. M. Lazarus, who owned a small plot of land and a house consisting of two or three rooms. Gandhi's host belonged to a family of indentured labourers and had deep sympathy for the Indian miners. He not only sheltered Gandhi and the women satyagrahis but devoted his all to the cause. His house now was converted into a caravanserai. Men would come and go at all times and the kitchen fire knew no rest day and night.

Gandhi told the labourers that they should take it that their strike was to last for all time and leave the quarters provided by their masters. He asked them to sell such of their goods as could find a purchaser. The rest they should leave in their quarters. Gandhi asked them to join him with nothing but their wearing apparel and their blankets. He promised to live and have his meals with them so long as the strike lasted. Only on these conditions was he prepared to lead them. Any intimidation was strictly discouraged.

All the workers joined Gandhi and there was a continuous stream of "pilgrims" who "retired from household life to the houseless one" along with their wives and children with bundles of clothes upon their heads.

28. The Epic March ( 1913 )

FOR A FORTNIGHT after the commencement of the strike in Neweastle, the situation was uncertain. The Government were waging a war of nerves and showed no intention of arresting the strikers or their leaders.

"How am I to them house and feed them," thought Gandhi. Keeping hundreds of people inactive was undesirable. There seemed a way out. Why not turn these pilgrims of faith into soldiers of satyagraha? Why not take this army into the Transvaal and see them deposited in jails or settled at Tolstoy Farm? But the strength of the army was now 5,000, there was no money for railway fare and the Transvaal border was distant. Gandhi decided to March on foot. Only those who were disabled in limb were to be taken by rail.

While the preparations were being made, Gandhi received an invitation to meet the coal-owners and he went to Durban. They wanted Gandhi to advise the strikers to return to work but he declined to do so and, instead, asked the coal-owners to intervene on behalf of the workers and get the £3 tax repealed.

When Gandhi returned to Newcastle he found that more labourers had joined his army and still more were pouring in from all directions. He told them about the threats held out by the coal-owners and pictured before them the risks. The miners had their wives and children with them but none of them would go back to the mines and asked Gandhi not to be anxious about them as they were inured to all hardships.

Six thousand labourers were informed one evening that they were to March early next morning and the rules to be observed on the March were read to them. There was to be a daily ration of only a pound and a half of bread and an ounce of sugar for each soldier. None of the "invaders" was to keep any more clothes than necessary and none was to touch any one's property on the way. They were to welcome arrest, bear patiently with abuse, and even flogging. Gandhi also announced the names of those who should successively lead the "army" in place of him. His experience of the Boer War and the Zulu "rebellion" stood him in good stead now.

On October 28, 1913 the long caravan started on its March and safely reached Charlestown, a small border town, some thirty-six miles from Neweastle, where only the women and children could be lodged. The rest camped in the open and did their own scavenging and sweeping. Kallenbach was already in Charlestown and so were Miss Schlesin, P. K. Naidu and Albert Christopher.

More labourers arrived from Neweastle. The kitchen was active all the twenty-four hours, as hungry men would arrive at any time of the day or night. The ration consisted of rice and dal. Gandhi was the leader among cooks and assumed the thankless task of serving the food. There was either too much water in dal or the food was insufficiently cooked, but the army ate it without complaint. There was no indiscipline, no display of temper.

An eyewitness observed: "I found Mr. Gandhi in an evil-smelling back yard of a tin shanty at Charlestown. Before him was a rough deal table and at his side were twelve sacks containing 500 loaves of bread. Clad only in his shirt and trousers, Mr. Gandhi, with incredible rapidity, cut the loaves into three-inch hunks, filled it with sugar from the bowl at his elbow, and passed them on to the waiting queue of Indians, who were admitted to the yard in batches of twelve. And all the while he explained his plan of campaign to me in perfect and cultured English."

The strike was in full swing and the stream of labourers still continued by rail and road. Two women with grim courage reached Charlestown though their little ones died on the way. One of the children died of exposure on the March and the other fell down from the arms of its mother while she was crossing a stream and was drowned. But the brave mothers refused to be dejected and one of them said: "We must not pine for the dead who will not come back to us for all our pining. It is the living for whom we must work."

From the camp Gandhi telegraphed to the Government that the Marchers could be arrested at Charlestown itself before reaching the Transvaal border. He also assured the Government that if they repealed the £3 tax, the strike would be called off and the indentured labourers would return to work, as he did not want them to join the general struggle for the rest of the Indians' grievances.

There was no reply for a week. Fresh instructions were issued to the army. They were to trudge twenty to twenty-four miles a day for eight days till they reached Tolstoy Farm or were arrested on the way. Kallen- bach had made all necessary arrangements to settle them on the farm. The idea was to construct mud huts with the help of the Marchers themselves and to stop there till the struggle was over and in the meanwhile to maintain themselves by working on the farm.

When all the preparations for the March were completed, Gandhi made one more attempt towards settlement. "General Smuts will have nothing to do with you. You may do just as you please." Gandhi now decided to March on the next day.

Gandhi had made better preparations this time. He carried a small, improvised medical chest and some instruments which a layman like himself could also handle. But the chest was to be carried bodily as there was to be no conveyance with the pilgrims. As they proposed to encamp every day near some village, the smallest quantity of drugs was carried in the chest, hardly sufficient for a hundred persons. Gandhi depended for drugs and food on the villages. A large European bakery willingly contracted to supply bread at cach and every halting place. The arrangement ran smoothly because even the railway officials willingly co-operated in delivering the bread in time. The budget for the March was £250 a day. Gokhale had planned to send £2,000 a month for six months.

On November 6, at 6.30 a.m., 2,037 men, 127 women and 57 children offered prayers and began the March "in the name of God". These Marchers consisted of either coal-miners or workers on sugar plantations, some free and others indentured. Some were in western dress but most were in loin-cloth.

There was a small spruit one mile from Charlestown cutting Natal from the Transvaal. Mounted police were on duty at the border. Gandhi went up to them instructing the Marchers to cross over when he signalled. But while he was still talking to the policemen, the mass of cheering, shouting Indians, in their ragged clothes, made a rush and crossed into Volksrust, on the other side of the border. The police surrounded them, but the surging multitude was not easy to control. The police had no intention of arresting them. Gandhi pacified the Marchers and got them to arrange themselves in a regular row. In a few minutes there was order and the March into the Transvaal began.

As the long procession spreading along the road for a distance of three miles passed through the streets of Volksrust, the Europeans who had threatened violence only two days ago gave no trouble. Some said they would shoot the Indians if they entered the Transvaal and Kallenbach who attended the stormy meeting to reason with Europeans was booed. However, the non-violent soldiers passed through the place in peace.

Sunday Post wrote: "The pilgrims whom Mr. Gandhi is guiding are an exceedingly picturesque crcw. To the eye, they appear most meagre, indeed, emaciated; their legs are mere sticks, but the way they are Marching on the starvation rations provided shows them to be particularly hardy. Of the two thousand, some 1,500 walk together in a fairly compact body, the rest following in little groups of stragglers within two or three miles. Mr. Gandhi is looked upon with absolute veneration and is habitually addressed as Bapu."

About eight miles from Volksrust, the Marchers stopped for the night at Palmford. They reached there at five in the evening. They took their scanty rations of bread and sugar and spread themselves in the open air. Some talked, some sang bhajans. But some of the women, who had carried their children in their arms, were exhausted and had to be left behind as lodgers with an Indian shopkeeper, who promised to send them to Tolstoy Farm if the Marchers were permitted to go there, and to their homes if they were arrested.

As the night advanced, all noises ceased and Gandhi was preparing to retire. Now he saw a European coming lantern in hand. He brought a warrant of arrest and Gandhi surrendered himself to the European officer, having left instructions with Naidu, a co-worker: at daybreak they must regularly resume the March; the March would commence before sunrise and when it was time for them to halt and get rations, he must break to them the news of arrest; if the pilgrims were arrested, they must allow themselves to be arrested; otherwise they must continue the March onwards according to plan.

Gandhi was taken to Volksrust in a train and brought before the court the next morning. But the public proseeutor asked for a remand until the 14th as he was not ready with the evidence. Gandhi was released on bail of £50, and he motored down to rejoin the Marchers, in the company of Kallenbach and a special correspondent of Transvaal Leader.

According to plan the March continued in the morning and Gandhi rejoined them. The Indian storekeepers at Standerton presented the Marchers with some tins of marmalade, and the distribution, therefore, took more time than usual. Meanwhile the magistrate came and stood by Gandhi's side who was serving the food. As soon as the distribution was over, Gandhi was told that he was a prisoner. Gandhi asked his followers to continue the March and then left with the magistrate.

On November 8 the magistrate took Gandhi to the court which was still in session. There he found that five of his co-workers including Naidu had also been arrested. Gandhi applied for remand and bail and he was released on his own recognizance of £50 and the case was remanded till the 21st. The Indian traders had kept a carriage ready for Gandhi and rejoined the Marchers before they had proceeded hardly three miles.

The Marchers were now near Johannesburg. The whole March was divided into eight stages. Thus far everything had gone according to plan and now only four days' March was to be completed. The spirit of the Marchers rose and the Government were getting anxious.

Gokhale desired by cable that Polak should go to India and help him in placing the facts before the Indian and Imperial Governments. On November 9 Polak went to Teakworth to take leave of Gandhi.

It was about three in the afternoon. Gandhi and Polak were walking at the head of the Marchers. While they were in the midst of consultation and had nearly done with it, a Cape cart came and stopped before them. Mr. Chamney, the principal immigration officer of the Transvaal, and a police officer took Gandhi aside and told him that he was under arrest. Gandhi asked Polak to assume charge and go with the Marchers. Gandhi proceeded to ask the Marchers to keep peace but the officer stopped him from speaking and ordered the driver to drive the cart away at full speed.

Gandhi was arrested on November 9 for the third time in four days and was taken to Greylingstad, and from there via Balfour to Heidelberg, where he passed the night. Polak assumed the leadership and the Marchers resumed their March. They halted for the night at Greylingstad where they were met by Cachalia and Bhayat who had come to know that arrangements were complete for arresting the whole body of Marchers. About 9 in the morning of November 10, the Marchers reached Balfour, thirteen miles away, in three hours and found three special trains drawn up to deport them to Natal. The Marchers were obstinate and asked for Gandhi to be called. They promised to place themselves under arrest and to board the trains if "Gandhi Bhai" advised them to that effect. But Polak and Cachalia persuaded them to surrender themselves and entrain peacefully, and they ultimately obeyed.

About 2,000 humble heroes, without homes, without jobs and now without their leader, had to suffer great hardships on the way and when they reached Natal, they were proseeutcd and sent to jail.

Polak was arrested in Charlestown whilst waiting for the corridor train. Kallenbach was also arrested and was confined in Volksrust jail, along with Polak.

Gandhi knew nothing of what transpired after he was separated from the Marchers. He asked for a remand once more and requested that either the Government should arrest the Marchers or else he should be permitted to see them safe to Tolstoy Farm. This time the magistrate did not comply with his request.

On November 11 Gandhi was prosecuted on three charges before the Magistrate of Dundee. The court was crowded with Indians and Europeans. Advocate Godfrey appeared for Gandhi. The prosccutor read the seetion and left the matter in the hands of the magistrate. Gandhi's counsel stated that he was under an obligation to the defendant not to plead in mitigation in any way whatsoever. He was, therefore, only expressing the desire of the defendant when he stated that the magistrate had a duty to perform and should, therefore, not hesitate to impose the highest sentence upon the prisoner if he felt that the circumstances of the case justified it.

With the permission of the court, Gandhi made the following statement: "As a member of the profession, and being an old resident of Natal, I think that injustice to myself and the public, I state that the counts against me are of such a nature that I take the responsibility imposed upon me, for I believe that the demonstration for which these people were taken out of the colony was one of a worthy object. I had nothing against the employers, and regret that in this campaign serious losses are being caused to them. I also feel that I was in honour bound, in view of the position of things between Mr. Smuts and Mr. Gokhale, to produce a striking demonstration. I was aware of the miseries caused to the women and babies in arms. I feel that I have only done my duty in advising my countrymen, and it is my duty to advise them again, that, until the tax is removed, to leave work and subsist upon rations obtained by charity. I am certain that without suffering it is not possible for them to get their grievances remedied."

Gandhi having pleaded guilty, the magistrate sentenced him to pay a fine of £60 or to nine months' rigorous imprisonment under the Natal Indenture Law. "I elect to go to jail," said Gandhi. His parting message to the strikers was: "No cessation of the strike without repeal of the £3 tax. The Government, having imprisoned me, can gracefully make a declaration regarding the repeal."

The imprisonment of Gandhi acted like a signal and 20,000 labourers in Natal struck work. The news of the strike and arrest spread everywhere and thousands of labourers spontaneously came out on the south coast of Natal, from Durban to Isiping, as well as on the north coast.

The Government now followed a policy of blood and iron. Mounted military policemen chased the strikers, but they refused to be cowed down. The authorities resorted to firing and the strikers bravely faced it. Their bravery evoked sympathy even from the whites. In Durban, the Social Democratic Party passed a resolution expressing their entire sympathy "with the Indian workers in their present struggle for the repeal of the obnoxious and useless £$ tax, and endorse their action of withholding their labour as the only means left to them to that end."

Gandhi was still to stand his second trial. On November 13 he was removed to Volksrust jail where Kallenbach and Polak were lodged. He appeared before the court on November 14. The police found it difficult to secure witnesses. The charge was proved against Gandhi by witnesses furnished by himself.

But who would testify against Kallenbach and Polak? It was decided that Gandhi should aid the crown as Kallenbach and Polak did not wish that the cases should be protracted for the lack of evidence. Accordingly Gandhi provided the evidence against Kallenbach and appeared as witness against Polak. The proceedings against Gandhi were completed on November 14, against Kallenbach on the 15th and against Polak on the 17th, and the magistrate passed sentence of three months* imprisonment on each of them.

Gandhi passed a few days in company of his friends and new prisoners came every day with news from outside. The Government now decided to separate Kallenbach, Polak and Gandhi and send them away from Volksrust. Gandhi was taken to Bloemfontcin, where no one could see him. He was the only Indian prisoner there, the rest being Europeans and Negroes.

While Gandhi and thousands of his followers were rotting in jails, the people in India, under the guidance of Gokhale, continued to render all possible assistance to the passive resisters. It fell to Lord Hardingc's lot to express the unanimous sentiment of India when, giving his blessings in November to the mission of Gokhale, he voiced "the sympathy of India deep and burning and not only of India but all lovers of India like myself for their compatriots in South Africa in their resistance to invidious and unjust laws".

The British press showed increasing sympathy with the Indians' cause, The Times declaring that the March of the Indian labourers, must live in memory as one of the most remarkable manifestations in the history of the spirit of passive resistance.

The Secretary of State for India too became active, and the Union Government, anxious to save their face, appointed on December 11 a commission, with Justice Sir W. Solomon as its chairman, to inquire into the causes of the Natal Indian strike. The commission called upon the Government of India to give evidence on their behalf and recommended the release of Gandhi.

Gandhi who was released on December 18 expressed his dissatisfaction at the personnel of the inquiry commission. The Indian community was not represented; besides two notoriously anti-Indian colonials were appointed to sit in judgement on the Indians. Gandhi decided to boycott the commission.

The shooting of the innocent labourers during the strike deeply pained Gandhi. He imposed on himself a triple vow ofself-suflering to be observed until the £3 tax was abolished: to adopt the labourer's dress, no headdress but only a loin-cloth and a kurta; to walk barefoot; to have only one meal during the day.

At a meeting held under the auspices of the Natal Indian Associations, Gandhi declared that no matter whether shooting was justified or not, the fact was that they were shot, and those bullets shot him through the heart also. He felt that he should go into mourning at least for a period which should be co-extensive with the end of the struggle and that he should accept some mourning not only inwardly but outwardly as well, as a humble example to his fellow-countrymen. He said that if the Government did not remove the just grievances of the Indians, then on the first day of the New Year, "all of us should be ready again to suffer battle, again to suffer imprisonment and March out."

..The Indian National Congress at Karachi in December 1913 expressed "its warm and grateful appreciation of the heroic struggle carried on by Mr. Gandhi and his co-workers" and called upon the people of India, of all classes and creed, to continue to supply them with funds.

In a letter to Gandhi, Tagore referred to the struggle in South Africa as the "steep ascent of manhood, not through the bloody path of violence but that of dignified patience and hcroic self-renunciation".

29. Adieu, South Africa (1914 )

GOKHALE, hearing that a fresh March was under contemplation, sent a long cablegram to Gandhi, stating that such a step would land Lord Hardinge and himself in an awkward position. He strongly advised that the March should be given up. Andrews and Pearson, the emissaries of Gokhale, arrived in South Africa on January 2, 1914. Andrews appealed to Gandhi to give consideration to Gokhale’s feelings, since Gokhale was on his sick-bed. Consideration for him was never absent from Gandhi's mind, but he said: "How could we go back upon our pledged word?" The leaders held a conference and finally reached a decision that the boycott of the commission must stand at any cost, if more members were not co-opted to it.

Gandhi sent a long cablegram to Gokhale costing £100 with a request to show it also to Lord Hardinge. Gandhi argued that the entire struggle had been built upon a foundation of pledges, which were taken after mature deliberation. He wished, therefore, that Gokhale should advise that the pledge of boycott of the commission should not be broken: "We desire and be speak the assistance of elders as well as big men, and are glad when we get it. But whether or not such assistance is forthcoming, we are humbly of opinion that pledges must ever be scrupulously kept." He requested Gokhale to support and bless the satyagrahis in such observance.

Gokhale did not agree with Gandhi, but their friendship endured. He wired to Lord Hardinge on the matter. The Viceroy, while strongly upholding the Indian cause, was at variance with Gandhi as to the course to pursue. It was Gokhale’s task to bring about agreement. The Viceroy at last sent Sir Benjamin Robertson to South Africa to plead on behalf of the Indian settlers.

Gokhale’s interest and sympathy brought generous help from India. Among the prominent contributors to the South African Resistance Fund were the Thakore and the Rani Saheb of Gondal, the Nizam, the Gaekwar and other Indian princcs. Ramsay MacDonald and Valentine Chirol contributed to the fund. To Gokhale, Chirol wrote: "Few Englishmen who take a genuine interest in the welfare of India and have faith in the value of the British connection both for India and the empire can fail to have been moved by the statement you made in Bombay."

Gandhi went to Pretoria with Andrews to meet General Smuts. At this time there was a general strike of the European employees of the Union railways and it made the position of the Government extremely difficult.

Gandhi decided to drop the idea of the intended March at such a critical juncture as he did not wish to embarrass the Government. The decision created a favourable impression. Lord Ampthill cabled his congratulations to Gandhi for being considerate even to his bitter opponent.

General Smuts was impressed by "the self-imposed limits of courtesy and chivalry". His seeretary jocularly said to Gandhi: "I do not like your people, and do not care to assist them at all. But what am I to do? You help us in our day of need. How can we lay hands upon you? I often wish you took to violence like the English strikers, and then we would know at once how to dispose of you."

Natal Mercury imputed motives to Gandhi for his decision to postpone the March: "The mass of the local Indian community could not be relied upon to join in the resuscitation of a form of conflict which recoiled most injuriously upon the Indians themselves." There were also other inferences. To this Gandhi replied that the journal was wrongly informed if it considered that the mass of the local Indian community were not to be relied upon to join the March: "On the contrary the difficulty today is even to delay it. My co-workers and I have been obliged to send special messengers and to issue special leaflets in order to advise the people that the March must be postponed for the time being. I admit that speculation as to whether the mass of the local Indian community will or will not join the March is fruitless, because this will be, if it has to be, put to the test at no distant date." In a letter to the editor of Natal Mercuryy Gandhi wrote:

"The chief reason for trespassing upon your courtesy is to inform the South African public through your columns that whilst the great National Congress that has just closed its session at Karachi was fully justified in asking, and was bound to ask, for full citizen rights throughout the British Dominions for all the King's subjects, irrespective of caste, colour or creed, and whilst they may not and ought not to be bound by local considerations, we in South Africa have repeatedly made it clear that, as sane people, we are bound to limit our ambition by local circumstances, we are bound to rccognize the widespread prejudice however unjustified it may be and, having done so, we have declared and I venture to re- declare through your columns that my co-workcrs and I shall not be a party to any agitation which has for its object the free and unrestricted immigration of the 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, be 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, by otherwise educating the public opinion, and by the Indian community so acquitting itself in the discharge of all the obligations that flow from citizenship of the British Empire as to have these rights given to them as a matter of course. Meanwhile, so far as my advice counts for anything, I can only suggest that the efforts of the Indian community should be concentrated upon gaining 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 we are a people that cherishes its honour and self- respect as dearly as any people on earth."

Gandhi's strong but correct attitude made an impression on General Smuts. The recent campaign of passive resistance opened the eyes of the white community and they showed eagerness for an early settlement.

Gandhi's first interview with General Smuts in Pretoria was short as he was preoccupied with the railway strike, which was so serious in nature, that the Union Government had declared martial law. General Smuts now did not ride the same high horse as he did before. "We have decided to grant your demand, but for this we must have a recommendation from the commission," he said and pleaded with Gandhi not to organize any active propaganda to prevent any one who wished to give evidence from doing so, and suggested that he should suspend satyagraha in the interval. "I believe that by so doing you will be serving your own interests as well as giving me a respite," he added.

Gandhi, on the whole, was inclined to receive General Smuts's suggestions favourably. Letters were exchanged between Gandhi and Smuts, placing on record the agreement arrived at as a result of a number of interviews. Meanwhile, Sir Benjamin Robertson, the Viceroy's representative, arrived in Pretoria. But his attitude was that cf the usual English official, and he bullied the Indians instead of helping them.

On January 21, 1914, a provisional agreement was arrived at between General Smuts and Gandhi and the satyagraha was suspended for the last time. The satyagrahis were released gradually. Men as well as women prisoners lived under extremely hard conditions and they were treated no better than* criminals. Among the satyagrahis who succumbed to jail hardships were Harbatsingh, aged seventy-five, and Valliamma, a young girl only sixteen years old. Harbatsingh died in Durban jail. Valliamma succumbed within a few days of her release, having been in jail for two months. She had been convicted along with her mother.

Valliamma was a young brave girl. When Gandhi saw her confined to bed with a fatal fever, he asked: "Valliamma, do you not repent of your having gone to jail?" She said: "Repent? I am even now ready to go to jail again if I am arrested." "But what if it results in your death?" asked Gandhi. Valliamma said: "I do not mind it. Who would not love to die for one's motherland?"

Condolence meetings were held and the Indians resolved to erect the "Valliamma Hall" to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of this brave daughter of India. Gandhi said: "She built her temple of service with her own hands, and her glorious image has a niche even now reserved for it in many a heart. And the name of Valliamma will live in the South African satyagraha as long as India lives."

In the light of the previous breach of trust on the part of Genera! Smuts, it was very difficult to persuade the Indians to endorse the provisional agreement, known as the Smuts-Gandhi Agreement of 1914. "No matter how often a satyagrahi is betrayed, he will repose his trust in the adveisary so long as there are no cogent ground* for distrust," said Gandhi. Meetings were held in various places and Gandhi was at last able to persuade the Indians to approve of the terms of the agreement.

Meanwhile the inquiry commission set to work. Only a few witnesses on behalf of 'he Indians appeared before it. Sir Benjamin Robertson tried to induce many to tender evidence but failed. The boycott of the commission shortened its work and the report was published at once. The commission strongly criticized the Indians for withholding their assistance and dismissed the charges of misbehaviour against the white soldiers. But it recommended compliance without delay with all the demands of the Indian community—the repeal of the £3 tax and the validation of Indian marriages, and the grant of some trifling concession in addition. The report of the Solomon Inquiry Commission, 011 the whole, was favourable to the Indians as predicted by General Smuts.

The Union Government accepted all the suggestions of the Solomon Inquiry Commission and embodied them in the Indians' Relief Bill. The bill abolishing the £3 tax, legalizing in South Africa all marriages deemed legal in India, and making a domicile certificate bearing the holder's thumb-print sufficient evidence of right to enter the Union, was passed by sixty against twenty-four votes on June 26. 1914. It was the first South African legislation calculated to redress grievances of the Indian settlers. Administrative measures which did not come under the Indians' Relief Bill were settled by correspondence between General Smuts and Gandhi, as for example, safeguarding the right of entry of the educated Indians' into South Africa and permitting an existing wife or wives to join their husbands in the Union.

General Smuts, in his letter of June 30, said : "With regard to administration of existing laws, it has been and will continue to be the desire of the Government to see that they are administered in a just manner and with due regard to vested rights."

To this Gandhi replied: "The passing of the Indians' Relief Bill and this correspondence have finally closed the satyagraha struggle which commenced in September 1906, and which to the Indian community cost much physical suffering and pecuniary loss, and to the Government much anxious thought and consideration."

Gandhi's public activities had fully occupied his time but he was looking forward to return to India as quickly as possible and nurse ailing Laxmidas, his elder brother. Laxmidas died long before he reached India. In a letter to Kallenbach, Gandhi expressed his innermost thoughts:

"The greatest grief imaginable has befallen me. My brother died yesterday, I suppose simply thinking up to his last breath of me. What a passionate wish it was on his part to meet me. I was hurrying everything on so that I could go to India with the quickest despatch and Hill down at his feet and nurse him. But it was not to be. Now I must go to a family of widows with my poor self as the head. You who do not know the Indian patriarehal cause do not quite realize what this may mean. Anyway my desire to get to India is keener than ever. And yet who knows? I doubt very much whether I shall ever realize that desire. However, I must prepare for the pilgrimage and then leave it calmly in the hands of Him who wields the almighty power. These shocks make in me still more intense fearlessness of death. Why should the event agitate one! The grief itself has a selfish touch about it. It is no calamity that my brother is dead if I am ready to meet death and consider it as the supreme and welcome crisis in life. It is because we fear death so much for ourselves that we shed tears over the deaths of others. How can I who know the body to be perishable and soul to be imperishable mourn over the separation of body from soul? But it is a condition attached to a real belief and consoling doctrine. He who believes in it must not pamper the body but must be its ruler. He must regulate his wants so as to make it serve the dweller within and not allow the body to master him. Not to grieve over the death of others is to accept a state almost of perpetual grief. For this connection between body and soul is itself grievous.

"These are the thoughts that rule me just now. I shall not write another letter just now. This has written itself."

Another shock was in store for Gandhi. At Phoenix, two students were guilty of misbehaviour with a twenty-year-old girl. When Gandhi received this news, he hurried from Johannesburg to Phoenix in company of Kallenbach. Gandhi felt that the only way the guilty parties could be made to realize his distress and the depth of their own fall was for him to do some penance. So he imposed upon himself a fast for seven days and a vow to have only one meal a day for a period of four months and half. Kallenbach tried to dissuade him but he failed.

The girl in question fasted with Gandhi, took off all her jewellery, put on the garb of mourning and had her hair cropped short as a sign of guilt and remorse.

Soon after, a similar incident, in which his son was involved, compelled Gandhi again to undertake another fast for fourteen days.

As a result of these fasts, Gandhi's health was in a delicate state. But his public activities were in full swing as before. At the conclusion of the struggle in 1914, Gokhale, who was ailing in London, had sent instructions to Gandhi to return home via London.

Gandhi felt that his mission in South Africa was over and decided to say adieu to his compatriots. The farewell ceremonies—banquets, meetings, presents and addresses—occupied a fortnight. Even the South African papers paid ungrudging tribute to him. Many distinguished colonials too joined in the celebrations. On July 18, the day of his departure, Gandhi and Kasturbai were entertained at the Town Hall of Durban, and the gathering was presided over by the mayor. Congratulations were received from the Bishop of Natal, General Botha and General Smuts. All this kindness overwhelmed Gandhi. He movingly referred to the help given to him by the Europeans and .added that he would always retain the most sacred memories of South Africa.

But he would not take any crcdit to himself for the triumph in South Africa: "If I merit any approbation, how much more those behind, who went into the battle with simple faith, with no thought of appreciation!" Here, he referred to the martyrdom of Harbatsingh, Narayanaswamy, Nagappan and Valliamma.

"One of the reasons for my departure to India," said Gandhi, "is still further to realize, as I already do in part, my own imperfection as a passive rcsistcr and then to try to perfect myself, for I believe that it is in India that the nearest approach to perfection is most possible."

General Smuts later referred to the memories of those eventful years on Gandhi's seventieth birthday: "It was my fate to be the antagonist of a man for whom even then I had the highest respect. His activities at that time were very trying to me. For him everything went according to plan. For me, the defender of law and order, there was the usual trying situation, the odium of carrying out a law which had not strong public support, and finally the discomfiture when the law had to be repealed. For him it was a successful coup. Nor was the personal touch wanting. In jail he had prepared for me a pair of sandals which he presented to me when he was set free. I have worn these sandals for many a summer since then, even though I may feel that I am not worthy to stand in the shoes of so great a man."

Gilbert Murray wrote about Gandhi in Ilibberl Journal of 1914:

"Persons 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 determined to do what he believes to be right. He is a dangerous and uncomfortable enemy, because his body which you can always conquer, gives you so little purchase upon his soul."

30. World War ( 1914 )

ON JULY I8, 1914 Gandhi, accompanied by Kasturbai and Kallenbach, sailed for England as a third-class passenger. It was a pleasant voyage, as the steamer had provided him with ample facilities including a diet of nuts and fruit.

One day Gandhi persuaded Kallenbach to throw his seven-pound worth binocular into the sea. According to Gandhi, this possession, which the German friend valued so intensely, was not in keeping with the ideal of simplicity that they aspired to reach.

He was looking forward to a short period of rest, after his recent fast. He used to stroll on deck to get a little exercise but that exhausted him. At Madeira Gandhi heard that war was imminent and on August 4, two days before he reached London, war broke out.

On arrival in London Gandhi learnt that Gokhale had been stranded in Paris where he had gone for reasons of health. Communications between Paris and London were cut off and, therefore, it was not certain when Gokhale would return. Now he made up his mind not to return to India till he met Gokhale but meanwhile to find ways and means of helping the British Empire during the critical days of the war.

A deputation of the Indian National Congress consisting of Bhupendra- nath Basu, Jinnah, Lajpat Rai and three others happened to be in London in connection with the proposed reform of the Indian council. As soon as war was declared, they along with other prominent Indians addressed a letter to the Seeretary of State for India for submission to the King: "We have not the slightest doubt that, as on previous occasions, when the British forces were engaged in defending the interests of the empire, so on the present, the princes and peoples of India will readily and willingly co-operate to the best of their ability."

On August 8 a reception was given to Gandhi at Cecil Hotel by his British and Indian admirers. Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Jinnah and Sarojini Naidu paid tributes to the hero of the South African struggle. Letters of regret for their unavoidable absence were received from the Premier, Seeretary of State for India, Gladstone, Curzon, Ampthill, Harris, Keir Hardie, Ramsay MacDonald and Gokhale. Gandhi, returning thanks, referred to the great crisis and hoped his Indian friends would "think imperially in the best sense of the word and do their duty".

Soon Gandhi held a conference with some of the Indian students and, in consultation with them, a meeting of Indian residents in Great Britain and Ireland was called and he placed his views before them. There was strong opposition from those who felt that that was the hour for making a bold declaration of the Indian demand. Gandhi pleaded that England's need should not be turned into India's opportunity.

The following letter dated August 14, signed by Gandhi, Kasturbai and some fifty Indians, was sent to the Secretary of State for India:

"It was thought desirable by many of us that during the crisis that has overtaken the empire and whilst many Englishmen, leaving their ordinary vocations in life, are responding to the imperial call, those Indians 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 the resident Indian population, the undersigned sent a circular letter to as many Indians in the United Kingdom as could be approached during the thirty-eight hours that the organizers gave themselves. The response has been generous and prompt, in the opinion of the undersigned representatives of His Majesty's subjects from the Indian Empire at present residing in the different parts of the United Kingdom.

"On behalf of ourselves whose names appear on the list appended hereto, we beg to offer our services to the authorities. We venture to trust that the Rt. Hon. the Marquis of Crewe will approve of our offer and seeure its acceptance by the proper authority. We would respectfully emphasize the fact that the one dominant idea guiding us is that of rendering such humble assistance as we may be considered capable of performing, as an earnest of our desire to share the responsibilities of membership of the great empire if we would share its privileges."

Lord Crewe, the Secretary of State for India, accepted the offer after some hesitation. Along with eighty volunteers Gandhi took a six weeks' course in first aid. Indian women volunteers including Kasturbai and Mrs. Sarojini Naidu undertook to make clothes for the soldiers.

Though Gandhi took part in the war as a matter of duty, he had to offer "miniature satyagraha" against the high-handedness of the commanding officer who tried to boss over Indians in all matters and over their heads appointed English students as their section leaders. Gandhi strongly protested against this procedure and after many conferences and much correspondence with the authorities, a compromise was arrived at and things moved more smoothly.

Gandhi's health was delicate but he began to take part in the drill, often walking to the appointed place, about two miles from his residence. This resulted in pleurisy but even in this condition he went to a week-end camp and attended to the complaints of the Indian volunteers.

Gokhale returned to London by October. Gandhi and Kallenbach often visited him and talked about the war. Gokhale showed much interest in Gandhi's health. He was distressed to know that his obstinate disciple, in spite of pleurisy, was carrying on dietetic experiments. Gandhi's diet then mainly consisted of groundnuts, ripe and unripe bananas, lemon, olive oil, tomatoes and grapes. He completely eschewed milk, cereals, pulses and other things. Dr. Jivraj Nlchta treated him and was pressing him to resume milk diet and cereals without success. As the matter reached Gokhale’s cars, he tried to persuade Gandhi to take whatever the doctor prescribed for his health. After much discussion with Kallenbach, Gandhi now agreed to accept the doctor's advice except for milk and meat. But soon he went back to fruits and nuts after Gokhale left England.

The pleurisy persisted, and Gandhi consulted Dr. Allinson, who treated diseases by dietetic modification. The doctor put Gandhi on plain brown bread, raw vegetables such as beet, radish, onion and other tubers and greens, and also fresh fruit, mainly oranges. Owing to weak condition he could not long persist in the experiment and now he was permitted to have groundnut butter or olive oil and take cooked vegetables with rice.

For many days Gandhi was obliged to keep mostly in bed. Mr. Roberts, Undcr-secretary of State, visited Gandhi and said: "I would strongly advise you to get back to India for it is only there that you can be completely cured. If, after your recovery, you should find the war still going on, you will have many opportunities there of rendering help. As it is, I do not regard what you have already done as by any means a mean contribution."

Owing to deterioration in his condition and relapses in Kasturbai's health, Gandhi accepted Mr. Roberts' advicc and began to make preparations to return to India.

Kallenbach who had accompanied Gandhi to England, with a view to going to India, unfortunately could not secure his passport being a German. To Gandhi's request, Lord Hardingc cabled: "Regret Government of India not prepared to take any such risk." It was a shock to Gandhi and Kallenbach. They looked forward to meet again which they did some twenty years later in India. But never again could they stay together. Hermann Kallenbach died in South Africa in 1945.

Gandhi and Kasturbai were entertained at a farewell reception at the Westminster Palace Hotel, prior to their departure for India. In the course of his reply Gandhi observed: "My wife and myself are returning to the motherland with our work unaccomplished and broken health, but I wish nevertheless, to use the language of hope. I had pleaded hard with Mr. Roberts that some place should be found for me, but my health has not permitted and the doctors have been obdurate. I have uot resigned from the corps. If in my motherland I should be restored to strength, and hostilities still continue, I intend to come back, directly the summons reach me. As for my work in South Africa, it has been purely a matter of duty and carries no merit with it and my only aspiration on my return to the motherland is to do my duty. I have been practically an exile for twenty-five years and my friend and master Mr. Gokhale has warned me not to speak of Indian questions as India is a foreign land to me. But the India of my imagination is an India unrivalled in the world, an India where the spiritual treasures are to be found. And it is my dream and hope that the connection between India and England might be a source of spiritual comfort and uplifting to the whole world at large."

On December 19 Gandhi and Kasturbai sailed for India as seeond-class passengers because a third-class passage was not available on P. & O. steamers. Gandhi embarked the steamer with bandaged ribs in adhesive plaster.

Conditions in India at the time of Gandhi's return were disheartening. A hush had fallen over the country. From all sides came the question, "What shall we do next?"

After six long years of exile Tilak, who had not received the benefit either of the Delhi Durbar or that of normal remission, was at long last seeretly brought from Mandalay and liberated in front of his residence in Poona, at midnight, on June 17, 1914. At a welcome meeting held on June 21, the Lokamanya said: "When after six years' absence, I return home and begin to renew my acquaintance with the world, I find myself in the position of Rip Van Winkle. I was kept by the authorities in such a rigorous seelusion that it seemed that they desired that I should forget the world and be forgotten by it. However, I have not forgotten the people, and I am glad to notice that the people have not forgotten me. I can only assure the public that separation for six long years could not diminish my love for them and that I am willing and ready to serve in the same manner and in the same relation and in the same capacity which belonged to me six years before, though it may be, I shall have to modify the course a little."

Mrs. Besant had gone to England to advocate Home Rule for India. Her mission in England failed but she returned to India to agitate for Home Rule. "The price of India's loyalty is India's freedom" was her motto and Lajpat Rai and Jinnah supported her.

When the war broke out all parties, with the exception of the terrorist group, declared their support and loyalty to the British Empire. "At such a crisis," observed Tilak, "it is the duty of every Indian, be he great or small, rich or poor, to support and assist His Majesty's Government to the best of his ability."

Mrs. Besant thought this to be a most opportune moment for bringing together the Moderates arid the Extremists. However, the negotiations for a compromise among Congressmen resulted in a temporary failure. Two great leaders of all-India repute—Tilak and Gokhale—were pitted against each other in a bitter controversy. The Moderates were afraid that Tilak would capture the Congress and advocate Home Rule for India. Sir Phcrozcshah Mehta stood against the admission of Tilak with his "firebrands" into the Congress camp.

The Congress met in Madras in December 1914. The pavilion was decorated with the portraits of their Imperial Majesties and the Royal Arms. When the Governor of Madras, Lord Pcntland, paid a visit to the Congress, he was greeted with cheers.

The Congress passed a resolution expressing loyalty to the throne and laid stress on equal rights of citizenship as well as the enrolment, "without distinction of race or class", of "citizen-soldiers of the empire". The pride of the nation in its troops in the firing-line was warmly expressed.

Mrs. Besant declared: "India does not chaffer with the blood of her sons and the proud tears of her daughters in exchange for so much liberty, so much right. India claims the right, as a nation, to justice among the peoples of the empire. India asked for this before the war. India will ask for it after the war, but not as a reward but as a right does she ask for it. On that there must be no mistake."

The Congress placed on record "its warm appreciation of, and admiration for, the heroic endeavours of Mr. Gandhi and his followers, and their unparalleled sacrifice and suffering in their struggle for the maintenance of the self-respect of India and the redress of Indian grievances."

Gandhi missed the Congress as he was still on the high seas. Before he readied India, the party headed by Maganlal which had started from Phoenix had arrived. According to his original plan, Gandhi was to have preceded them, but his pro-occupation in England upset all his calculations. He wanted the Phoenixitcs to lead the life they had led at Phoenix, lie, therefore, sought the help of Andrews for accommodating them together in a congenial place. They were first put in the Gurukul at Kangri, where Swami Shraddhanand treated them with generosity. Then they were put in the Santinikctan ashram, where Tagore showered upon them hospitality and affection. In a letter to Gandhi, the poet wrote:

"That you could think of my school as the right and the likely place where your Phoenix boys could take shelter when they are in India has given me real pleasure—and that pleasure has been greatly enhanced when I saw those dear boys in that place. We all feel that their influence will be of great value to our boys and I hope that they in their turn will gain something which will make their stay in Santiniketan fruitful. I write this letter to thank you for allowing your boys to become our boys as well and thus form a living link in the sadhana of both of our lives."

31. Return Of The Hero ( 1915 )

GANDHI landed in Bombay on January 9, 1915. The Indian leaders met him on the steamer upon its arrival, and his landing took place, by the permission of the authorities, at the Apollo Bunder—an honour shared with Royalty, by the Viceroys and India's most distinguished sons. He was met on board by a deputation consisting of Narottam Morarji, J. B. Petit, B. G. Horniman and others. At the quay he was received by hundreds of people. It had been proposed that there should be a public reception at the Apollo Bunder and that subsequently Gandhi and Kasturbai should be taken in procession. But the authorities did not look with favour on this proposal and arrangements for the reception had to be modified.

As soon as Gandhi touched. Indian soil, he took to swadeshi dress— a Kathiawadi cloak, turban and dhoti, all made of Indian mill cloth. His arrival was widely publicized. In a press interview, he observed: "For the present as Mr. Gokhale has very properly pointed out, I having been out of India for so long, have no business to form any definite conclusion about matters essentially Indian, and that I should pass some time here, as an observer and a student. This I have promised to do, and I hope to carry out my promise."

Gandhi stayed at Santa Cruz in Revashankar Jhaveri's house. Though he was living in a suburb of Bombay, the journalists would not leave him alone. "I propose to remain in India and serve the motherland for the rest of my days," said Gandhi. The receptions in Bombay were numerous, and they gave an opportunity to Gandhi to express his new ideas. There was always something unusual about them.

On January 12 a big gathering met to honour Gandhi and Kasturbai. Every community in the city was represented. Over six hundred of the elite of Bombay had accepted the invitation and two hundred more people had smuggled themselves into Jehangir Petit's house. In those palatial surroundings of dazzling splendour, Gandhi, in his Kathiawadi dress, looked a complete misfit. Sir Pherozeshah Melita said that he did not think it was necessary for him to tell the audience anything about the life and work of Gandhi. For the last few years the whole country had resounded with the tale of his great deeds, his courage and his great moral qualities, his labours and his sufferings in the cause of the Indians in South Africa, in enabling them to assert and maintain their self-respect and their honour. They were, therefore, all proud of Mr. Gandhi and he would take leave to say, they were prouder still of Mrs. Gandhi. There was no more pathetic thing in the whole campaign which Mr. Gandhi waged in South Africa than the incident of Kasturbai insisting upon standing shoulder to shoulder with him in the fight and the sufferings and privations he was prepared to undergo. Mr. Gandhi had already told them that he meant to devote the rest of his life to Indian work here. Mr. Gandhi had shown that he would combine the greatest qualities of courage and heroism with the greatest loyalty, and at this time, it was no small thing to think that his exertions had brought about such a state of things that the Indians in South Africa could stand side by side with them, in their expressions of enthusiastic and devoted loyalty to the British Crown.

Replying to the speech Gandhi said that he had felt that he would be more at home in his own motherland than he used to be in South Africa, among his own countrymen. But during the three days that they had passed in Bombay, they had felt—and he thought he was voicing the feelings of his wife too—that they had been much more at home among those indentured Indians, who were the truest heroes of India. They felt that they were indeed in strange company in the city of Bombay.

The burden of Gandhi's replies at most receptions was that the people had honoured Kasturbai, "as the wife of the great Gandhi." He, however, had no knowledge of "the great Gandhi". Hitherto, he said, the people in India had known nothing of his failures. All the news that they had received related to his successes. Here the people would now see them in the naked light, and would see their faults, and anticipating such faults and failures, he asked the people to overlook them, and with that appeal, he said, he, as a humble servant, would commence the service of the motherland.

The Gujarati community gave a special reception to Gandhi. Jinnah delivered a welcome speech in English. Most of the other speeches were also in English, but Gandhi expressed his thanks in Gujarati, declaring his "partiality for Gujarati and Hindustani" and entering his protest against the use of English in a Gujarati gathering.

The Governor of Bombay, Lord VVillingdon, expressed his keen desire to Gokhale to meet Gandhi. Gandhi saw him before leaving the city. After the usual inquiries, the Governor said: "I ask one thing of you. I would like you to come and see me whenever you propose to take any steps concerning Government." Gandhi replied: "I can very easily give the promise, inasmuch as it is my rule, as a satyagrahi, to understand the viewpoint of the party I propose to deal with, and to try to agree with him, as far as may be possible."

The Governor thanked Gandhi and urged: "You may come to me whenever you like, and you will see that my Government do not wilfully do anything wrong."

Gandhi then left for Poena to see Gokhale. He spent sometime at the Servants of India Society where he was given a party, with fruits and nuts, by Gokhale on January 13. Gokhale was very keen that Gandhi should join the society. So was Gandhi himself. But the members felt that as there was a difference between his ideals and methods of work and theirs, it might not be proper for him to join the society immediately. "I am hoping that they will accept you, but if they don't, you will not for a moment think that they are lacking in respect or love for you," said Gokhale. "They are hesitating to take any risk, lest their high regard for you should be jeopardized. But whether you are formally admitted as a member or not, I am going to look upon you as one."

Gandhi signalized his entry as a probationer of the Servants of India Society by starting one morning the work of cleaning the latrines of the society's colony. This was not liked by many of the society's associates and Gokhale persuaded him to abandon that work.

Gokhalc took Gandhi under his protection. As soon as Gandhi mentioned to him his desire to found an ashram and settle there with his Phoenix inmates, Gokhale made an offer: "Whatever may be the result of your talks with the members, you must look to me for the expenses of the ashram, which I will regard as my own." Gokhale asked a colleague to open an account for Gandhi in the society's books, and to give him whatever he might require for the ashram and for public expenses. Gandhi later wrote: "Sir Pherozcshah Mehta had seemed to me like the Himalayas, Lokamanya Tilak like the ocean. But Gokhale was as the Ganges. The Himalayas was unscalable, and one could not easily launch forth on the sea, but the Ganges invited one to its bosom."

At the end of January Gandhi went to Rajkot and Porbandar to meet his relatives. At Wadhwan, an intermediate railway station, Motilal, a noted public worker and a tailor by profession, met him, and acquainted him with the hardships the railway passengers had to undergo, as a result of the notorious Viramgam customs.

"Are you prepared to go to jail?" Gandhi asked abruptly. "We will certainly go to jail, provided you lead us," replied Motilal. "As Kathia- wadis, we have the first right on you, of course we do not mean to detain you now, but you must promise to halt here on your return journey. You may trust us to respond as soon as you summon us."

Wherever Gandhi roamed about in Kathiawad, he heard complaints about the Viramgam customs cordon. He collected and read the literature available on the subject, convinced himself that the complaints were genuine, and opened correspondence with the Bombay Government. "If it had been in our hands, we should have removed the cordon long ago," replied the Governor. "You should approach the Government of India." The private secretary to the Governor deplored Gandhi's reference to the launching of the satyagraha in a speech which he had delivered at Bagasra, in Kathiawad. "This was no threat," remonstrated Gandhi. "It was educating the people. It is my duty to place before the people all the legitimate remedies for grievances. A nation that wants to come into its own ought to know all the ways and means to freedom. Usually they include violence as the last remedy. Satyagraha, on the other hand, is an absolutely non-violent weapon. I regard it as my duty to explain its practice and its limitations to the people. I have no' doubt that the British Government is a powerful government, but I have no doubt also that satyagraha is a sovereign remedy."

Gandhi communicated with the Government of India but got no reply beyond an acknowledgement. It was only when he had an occasion to meet Lord Chelmsford, later in 1917, that redress could be had. Within a few days of this interview, the Viramgam customs cordon was removed.

From Rajkot, Gandhi proceeded to Bolpur to meet his Phoenix disciples and his friends. He and Kasturbai arrived at Santiniketan on February 17, but missed Tagore, who was then on tour. The poet was to return soon. In a letter to Andrews he wrote: "I hope that Mahatma and Mrs. Gandhi have arrived in Bolpur."

In reply to the address presented by the teachers and students, Gandhi said: "The delight I feel today, I have never experienced before. Though Rabindranath, the Gurudcv, is not present here, yet we feel his presence in our hearts. I am particularly happy to find that you have arranged for the reception in the Indian manner. We were received with great pomp in Bombay, but there was nothing in it to make us happy. For there the western modes had been carefully imitated. We shall move to our goal in the manner of the East, not in the manner of the West, for we are of the East. We shall grow up in the beautiful manners and customs of India and, true to her spirit, make friends with nations having different ideals. Indeed, through her oriental culture India will establish friendly relations with the eastern and western worlds. Today I have become very thick with this ashram in Bengal, I am no stranger to you. I also liked the distant Africa, bccause the Indians there have not given up their national habits and customs."

At Santiniketan Gandhi met some of his future colleagues—Kaka Kalelkar and Chintaman Shastri, who taught Sanskrit here. The presence of Andrews and Pearson helped Gandhi to mix with the students and teachers. For a change he introduced self-help and convinced the inmates of the necessity of cooking their food themselves.

Gandhi had hardly stayed two days at Santiniketan, when he received from Poona a telegram intimating Gokhale's death. An immediate meeting was called to express grief. "I set out to find a true hero and I found only one in the whole of India," observed Gandhi. "That hero was Gokhale." As a sign of mourning, he decided to remain barefoot for a year. After the meeting, Gandhi, along with Kasturbai and Maganlal, started for Poona.

On his arrival in Poona, on February 22, Gandhi straight went to the headquarters of the Servants of India Society. He once again expressed his desire to join the society. "Whilst Gokhale was there I did not have to seek admission as a member," he thought. Now that he was gone, Gandhi was thrown on his own resources, and he felt that it was his duty to seek admission. That, he thought, would please Gokhale’s spirit. The members of the society were divided. One section favoured Gandhi's admission, and the other was strongly against it. The members dispersed after a prolonged discussion, the final decision being postponed to a later date: "After much deliberations it has been decided, owing to certain differences of views, at Mr. Gandhi's own request and conformably to Mr. Gokhale’s intention, that he should tour round the country for one year under Rule 17 of the constitution, before the question of his joining the Servants of India Society should be finally settled."

With such a sharp division amongst the members of the society, Gandhi preferred to withdraw his application for admission. "Therein I thought lay my loyalty to the society and Gokhale." He wrote to Srinivasa Sastri, the president of the society, asking him not to hold the adjourned meeting at all. "The withdrawal of my application made me truly a member of the society," thought Gandhi.

To gain a first-hand picture of India, Gandhi travelled third, dressed like a poor passenger. He discarded cumbrous cloak and white scarf, and wore a shirt, a dhoti and put on a cheap Kashmiri cap. On the way to Rangoon he halted at Calcutta, where he was a guest of Bhupcndranath Basu. The host had to readjust the menu to suit Gandhi who was then a strict fruitarian.

In Calcutta Gandhi addressed the students. He said that though it was the command of Gokhale that, during that year, he should keep his ears open but his mouth shut, he could not resist the temptation of addressing the students. He observed that politics should not be a sealed book to the student community, but politics should not be divorced from religion. He knew that some of the students of his country were fired, no doubt, 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 not work in the fear of God but in the fear of man. He was there to tell them that if he were for sedition, he must speak out sedition and think loudly, and take the consequences. If the young men had a programme for the country, let them place it openly before the public. He concluded his address with a appeal to the youth to be religious and be guided by a spirit of religion and morality. He would be prepared to accept their guidance and was prepared to die with them. But if they wanted to terrorize the country, he would rise against them.

Gandhi sailed for Rangoon as a deck passenger. The two days' voyage was an ordeal to him and he complained of dirt and discomfort to the authorities. He found some improvement on his return journey.

On March 6 Gandhi visited Santiniketan for the second time, where Tagore welcomed him in person.

The Kumbha Mela, a fair held at Hardwar once every twelve years, fell in 1915. Gandhi was not anxious to attend it, but he very much wanted to meet Mahatma Munshiram, later known as Swami Shraddhanand. The Servants of India Society had deputed a volunteer corps under Pandit Kunzru for service at the Kumbha Mela. The Phoenix party led by Maganlal was there to assist them and Gandhi joined his party.

At Hardwar Gandhi came to observe more of the pilgrims' hypocrisy and slovenliness than of their piety. Even the so-called sadhus belonged to the same category'. Spectacles such as the five-footed cow, meant to exploit the ignorant of their money, revolted him. He wanted to impose some act of self-denial on himself for the iniquity prevailing there and for the lavish entertainment extended to him by the Indian hosts. He, therefore, decided to restrict his diet to five varieties of food, condiments included, and to have his final meal before sunset.

Gandhi went to Gurukul to meet Mahatma Munshiram. There he held discussions with the teachers about the necessity of introducing industrial training in their school. The acquaintance soon ripened into friendship.

From Gurukul, he made a pilgrimage to the Lakshman Jhula, a hanging bridge over the Ganges, on foot in two stages. Many sanyasis met him on the way. One of them was particularly attracted towards Gandhi. He was pained to miss the shikha on Gandhi's head and the sacred thread about his neck. The sanyasi pointed out that those two external symbols of Hinduism every Hindu ought to wear.

As a Vaishnava Gandhi had worn the shikha but on the eve of his going to England, he got rid of it. He did so not to look "a barbarian in the eyes of the Englishmen". Gandhi, therefore, promised the sanyasi to wear the shikha, as he had discarded it "from a false sense of shame". But the sacred thread, he would not consent to wear, "when countless Hindus can go without it and yet remain Hindus."

He was charmed with the natural scenery of the Himalayas. "I bowed my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature, and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifestations of nature with a religious significance." He was pained to see such beauty- spots being deseerated by the descendants of the great seers. It filled him with agony to see people performing natural functions on the thoroughfares and river banks, when they could easily have gone a little further away from public haunts.

The modern iron suspension bridge over the Ganges, instead of the fine rope bridge of Lakshman Jhula, was not to his liking: "The iron bridge is entirely out of place in such surroundings and mars their beauty." He was disappointed to see nothing but a number of "shabby-looking sheds of galvanized iron sheets" across the bridge.

In April Gandhi arrived in Madras, accompanied by Kasturbai. The two alighted from a third-class compartment with a bundle of clothes as though they were a family of poor peasants. On the platform a strong contingent of leading citizens garlanded them and the crowd cheered him heartily. Natesan was his host. When Gandhi and Kasturbai were shown their apartments furnished with what seemed to the host the minimum requisites of decent accommodation—two cots, a chair, table and desk— Gandhi asked for the removal of these emblems of luxury. He preferred the bare unfurnished rooms.

The citizens of Madras gathered to do honour to him at the Victoria Hall on April 21. Natcsan, seeretary of the Indian South Africa League, read the civic address: "In the ample roll of those that have served this common motherland of ours, few can rival and none can excel you in the record of the things accomplished. You embody to the present generation the godliness and profound wisdom of the saint. Mrs. Gandhi is to us the incarnation of wifely virtue, living for her husband and following him like a shadow in plenty and poverty, in joy and tribulation, at home, in jail, and on the March."

Replying to the address, Gandhi observed :

"If one-tenth of the language that has been used in this address is deserved by us, what language do you propose to use for those who have lost their lives and, therefore, finished their work, on behalf of your suffering countrymen in South Africa? What language do you propose to use for Nagappan, Narayanaswamy, lads of seventeen or eighteen years, who braved in simple faith all the trials, all the sufferings, and all the indignities for the sake of the honour of the motherland? What language do you propose to use with reference to Valiiamma, a sweet girl of sixteen years, who was discharged from the Maritzburg prison, skin and bone, suffering from fever to which she succumbcd after about a month's time? You have said that I inspired those great men and women, but I cannot accept that proposition. It was they, the simple-minded folk, who worked away in faith, never expecting the slightest reward, who inspired me to the proper level, and who compelled 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. It is my misfortune that I and my wife have been obliged to work in the limelight, and you have magnified out of all proportion this little work we have been able to do.

"They deserve the crown which you would seek to impose upon us. These young men deserve all the adjectives that you have so affectionately, but blindly, lavished upon us. It was not only the Hindus who struggled, but there were Muslims, Parsis and Christians, and almost every part of India was represented in the struggle. They realized the common danger, and they realized also what their destiny was as Indians, and it was they, and they alone, who matched the soul force against the physical force."

Gandhi gave his candid views on every occasion. Proposing the toast of the British Empire at the Madras Law Dinner, he said: "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. I feel, as you here perhaps know, that I am no lover of any government and I have more than oncc 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."

On April 27 Gandhi addressed the students at the Y.M.C.A., Srinivasa Sastri occupying the chair:

"Madras has wellnigh exhausted the English vocabulary in using the adjectives 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. But as I have said so often, I believed it of Madras. So it is no wonder that you are lavishing all these kindnesses with unparalleled generosity, and now the worthy president 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 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 able to be a worthy servant.

"And so it is that you have sung that beautiful national song, on hearing of which all of us sprang to our feet. The poet has lavished all the adjectives that he possibly could 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 of light, not of physical power but of soul power. Can we sing that hymn? I asked 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 realization, the words of which simply remain prophetic, and it is for you, the hope of India, to realize every word that the poet has said in describing this motherland of ours. Today I feel that these adjectives are very largely misplaced 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.

"You, the students of Madras, as well as the students all over India, are you receiving an education 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 education that you are receiving mere services, 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 feel and I fear, that the vision that the poet pictured for himself is far from being realized. As you have heard me say, perhaps, or as you have read, I am and I have been a determined opponent of modern civilization. I want you to turn your eyes today upon what is going on in Europe, and if you have come to the conclusion that Europe is today groaning under the heels of that modern civilization, then you and your elders will have to think twice before you can emulate that civilization 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 one 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. I have said on many a platform that 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 up to the traditions of the sages of whom you have heard from our 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 shedding blood but by sheer force of spiritual predominance. When I consider what is going on today in India, I think it is necessary for us to say what our opinion is in connection with the political assassinations and political dacoitics. I feel that these are purely a foreign importation which cannot take root in this land. But you, the student world, have to beware, lest mentally or 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. Terrorize yourself; seareh within; by all means resist tyranny wherever you find it; by all means resist encroachment upon your liberty, but not by shedding the blood of the tyrant. That is not what is taught by our religion. Our religion is based upon ahimsa, which in its active form is nothing but love, love not only to our neighbours, not only to our friends, but love even to those who may be our 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 practise 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 the belt, then I think you will have made good your right to have your advice heard even by the Government.

"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 today claim that equal partnership. I do not belong to a subject race, I do not call myself 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 Mtiller has told us—we need not go to Max MUller to 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 flow from a better 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 constitution of the Servants of India Socicty and that is the message by which I wish to be guided in my life. The message is to spiritualize the political life and the political institutions of the country. We must immediately set about realizing it in practice. Then 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 stirring me to my very depths. On the authority of my experiences in South Africa I claim that your countrymen who had not that modern culture, but who had that strength of the ruhis of old, who have inherited the tapascharya performed by the rishis, without having known a single word of English literature and without having known 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 South Africa is ten times possible for you and for me today in this sacred land of ours. May that be your privilege and may that be my privilege!"

Gandhi and Kasturbai went to Adyar to meet Mrs. Besant. She wrote in her diary: "They visited one of our panchama schools. Gandhi inspected our press with a trained eye. We had our party under the great banyan tree. Over two hundred guests were present, and we were all very happy."

Gandhi travelled for a month in South India. Wherever he went he was received with great enthusiasm. He used no soft words. He battered at the citadel of orthodoxy. At Mayavaram, he delivered a sensational speech: "It was quite by accident that I had the great pleasure of receiving an address from my panchama brethren, and then they said that they were without convenience for drinking water, they were without convenience 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 fear 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 part of Hinduism? I do not know. I have now to learn what Hinduism really is. In so far as I have been able to study Hinduism outside India, I have felt that it is no part of real Hinduism to have in its fold a mass of people whom I would call untouchables. If it was proved to me that this is an essential part of Hinduism, I for one would dcclare myself an open rebel against Hinduism itself."

Gandhi remarked that he did not agree much with the leaders of the country: "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. Whatever they do, or whatever they say, does not somehow or other appeal to me... I find here words of welcome in the English language. I find in the Congress programme a resolution on swadeshi. If you hold you are swadeshi and yet print these in English, then I am not swadeshi. To me it seems inconsistent. I have nothing to say against the English language. But I do say that, if you kill the vernaculars and raise the English language on the tomb of the vernaculars, then you are not favouring swadeshi in the right sense of the term. If you feel that I don't know Tamil, you should pardon me and teach me and ask me to learn 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 Congress programme. Then only I should think I am being taught true swadeshi."

Gandhi concluded his speech by referring to the thousand handlooms, which produced only saris for women. "Is swadeshi to be confined only to the women?" he asked and appealed to the residents of Mayavaram to double this supply of handboms: "You will have all your wants supplied by our own weavers and there will be no poverty in the land." He did not spare either the chairman cr the audience: "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 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."

At Bangalore, he was dragged in a stately carriage. "Let us not spoil our public men by dragging them," he implored. "Let them work silently. We should not encourage the 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."

At the Social Conference in Nellore, Gandhi said: "Gokhale’s life, his message, his words, his methods, have been to me a guiding star, and they will still remain an important guide; and we can best revere his memory by translating some part of his life into our own. My life is dedicated to that, and I appeal to you, my countrymen, not to spoil us, not to isolate us in the service, not to overrate what we have done in South Africa. Let me make this humble appeal. Let what is done in South Africa be buried there. It is impossible to stand here upon any reputation we may have built in South Africa. You will spoil us for two reasons. We may lose our heads, and so be lost to the country. The other is that you may raise enormous expectations about us and disappointment may at last be the result."

He travelled widely in South India. He went out of his way to see two widows whose husbands had been shot during the South African struggle. In Madras Presidency Gandhi felt inwardly that he was with his former colleagues in South Africa. His words flowed naturally and he seemed to bear the key to his future programme.

32. Satyagraha Ashram ( 1915 )

SEVERAL provinces claimed Gandhi. Swami Shraddhanand wanted him to settle in Hardvar. Friends in Calcutta strongly recommended Vaidya- nathadham. Rajso: claimed him. Some friends pressed him to settle down in Ahmedabad tnd they volunteered to help him in every possible way. Being a Gujarati, his choice fell on the nerve-centre of Gujarat.

Ahmedabad was a suitable place for his activities in many ways. As his chief programme was swadeshi and as Ahmedabad was an ancient centre of handloom weaving, it was likely to be the most favourable field for the revival of cottage industry. He thought he could influence the people most through his mother tongue, Gujarati. A no less important consideration was the monetary help offered. Ahmedabad being the richest trading centre in Gujarat, Gandhi thought its wealthy citizens could be easily induced to help a new activity.

Gandhi did not want to be vague about his plans and principles. He made it clear to his friends that he would take the first opportunity of admitting an untouchable to his institution. He decided to found a settlement like the one in South Africa to train workers. A barrister friend, Jivanlal Desai, offered to le: his one-storied bungalow in Kochrab, a small village near Ahmedabad, and Gandhi hired it.

On May 25, 1915 an ashram was founded at Kochrab. Gandhi's friends had suggested him several names, such as "Sevashram" and "Tapovan". Gandhi decided to call it "Satyagraha Ashram" as conveying both his goal and method of service. "Our creed is devotion to truth, and our business is the search for an insistence on truth." There were in all about twenty-five men and women as inmates of the ashram, among whom thirteen were Tamilians and the rest came from different parts of India. All lived as one family and had their meals in a common kitchen. They were divided into three categories—managers, candidates and students. The object of the ashram was service of the motherland. It was considered essential to observe the vows of truth, ahimsa, celibacy, non-stealing, etc. Gandhi explained the vows thus:

The vow of truth: It is r.ot enough that one ordinarily does not resort to untruth; one ought to know that no deception may be practised even for the good of the country, that truth may require opposition to one's parents and elders. Consider the celebrated example of Prahlad.

The vow of ahimsa: It is not enough not to take the life of any living being. The follower of this vow may not hurt even those whom he believes to be unjust; he may not be angry with them, he must love 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 conquer the tyrant by love, he will not carry out the tyrant's will but he will suffer punishment even unto death for disobeying his will until the tyrant himself is conquered.

The vow of celibacy: It is wellnigh impossible to observe the foregoing two vows unless celibacy is also observed; for this vow it is not enough 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 carnal mind regarding his wife, but considering her as his lifelong friend, will establish with her the relationship of perfect purity.

Control of the palate: Until one has overcome the pleasures of the palate it is difficult to observe the foregoing vows, more especially that of celibacy. Control of the palate is, therefore, treated as a separate observance. One desirous of serving the country will believe that eating is necessary only for sustaining the body; he will, therefore, daily regulate and purify his diet and will either gradually or immediately, in accordance with his ability, leave off such foods as may tend to stimulate animal passions or are otherwise unnecessary.

The vow of non-stealing: It is not enough not to steal what is commonly considered as other men's property. It is theft, if we use articles which we do not really need. Nature provides from day to day just enough and no more for our daily needs.

The vow of non-possession: It is not enough not to possess and keep much, but it is necessary not to keep anything which may not be absolutely necessary for our bodily wants; thus if one can do without chairs, one should do so. The follower of this vow will, therefore, by constantly thinking thereover, simplify his life.

Swadeshi and fearlessness are a logical corollary to the foregoing ashram observances:

Swadeshi: It is inconsistent with truth to use articles about which, or about whose makers, there is a possibility of deception. Therefore, for instance, a votary of truth will not use articles manufactured in the mills of Manchester, Germany or India, for he does not know that there is no deception about them. Moreover, labourers suffer much in the mills. Use of fire in the mills eauscs enormous destruction of life besides killing labourers before their time. Foreign goods and goods made by means of complicated 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 of non-stealing and non-possession. We wear foreign goods in- prcference to simple goods made by our own handlooms, because custom attributes greater beauty to them. Artificial beautifying of the body is a hindrance 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 clothing to the exclusion of even buttons, foreign cuts, etc., and so will swadeshi be applied to every department of life.

"He who is acted upon by fear can hardly follow truth orahimsa," said Gandhi. "Managers will, therefore, endeavour to be free from the fear of kings, people, caste, families, thieves, robbers, ferocious animals, such as, tigers, and even death. A truly fearless man will defend himself against others by truth force or soul force."

Instructions at the ashram were given in an Indian language. Gandhi affirmed: "It is the belief of the managers that no nation can make real progress by abandoning its own languages; they will, therefore, train themselves through the medium of their respective vernaculars, and as they desire to be on terms of intimacy with their brethren from all parts of India, they will learn the chief Indian language, and as Sanskrit is the key to all the Indian languages, they will learn that also."

In a country where the tendency of the people was to look down upon manual labour, Gandhi started educating the teachers first. "Managers believe that body labour is a duty imposed by nature upon mankind. We may, therefore, resort to bodily labour alone for our sustenance, and use our mental and spiritual powers for the common good only, and as the largest percentage in the world lives upon agriculture, the managers will devote some part of their time to working on the land; and when such is not possible, perform some other bodily labour. One of the chief causes of poverty in the land is the virtual disappearance of spinning wheels and handlooms. The managers will, therefore, make a great effort to revive this industry by working upon handlooms themselves."

No one could occupy the status of a manager until he took the vows of the ashram. Even the candidates were expected to conform to the ashram observances, though they had not to take the vows. Both boys and girls, above the age of four yean, were admitted as students, but the parents had to surrender all control over their children. The students were taught to observe the vows. They were taught the principles of religion, agriculture, handloom weaving and literature. Literary knowledge was imparted through the vernaculars. The curriculum included subjects like history, geography, mathematics and economics. Learning of Sanskrit, Hindi and at least one Dravidian language was made obligatory. Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Tclugu characters were taught. English was considered a seeond language. The full course of education was planned to last ten years. Every effort was made from the beginning not to ask oneself, "What shall I do for my maintenance if and when I become an independent man?"

On reaching the age of majority, pupils were given the option of taking the ashram vows or retiring from the ashram. Children were not permitted to visit their parents until the whole course of study was completed.

As a rule, the simplest and a uniform style of clothing was worn by all. Meals, which were served thrice, were extremely simple. Chillies were excluded altogether; no condiments were used, except salt, pepper and turmeric. Milk and its products, "being often a cause of tuberculosis, and having the same stimulating qualities as meat," were sparingly used, if at all. But dried and fresh fruits were liberally supplied. The rules of dietetics and hygiene were taught at length, and were practised.

There was no vacation and no holidays. But during two days in a week the ordinary routine was altered, and students had some leisure to attend to their private work. During three montlis in a year, those whose health permitted were given a chance to travel, mostly on foot.

Children were not admitted without being thoroughly examined as to their moral and mental condition. No fees were charged against either the students or candidates, but parents or members themselves were expected to contribute as much as they could afford towards the expenses of the ashram. The sympathizers helped to run the asiiram by donations.

Visitors were allowed but they were requested, during their stay, to observe the ashram rules. Parents of the inmates were welcome, but they were expected to bring with theni their bedding and eating utensils.

The ashram had been in existence only a few months when Gandhi was put to an unexpected test. He received a letter from Amritlal Thakkar, saying that a humble and honest untouchable family was desirous of joining the ashram. After consulting his colleagues, Gandhi decided to accept the untouchable family, provided all its members were ready to abide by the rules of the ashram. The family consisted of Dudabhai, who had been a teacher in Bombay, his wife Danibehn, and their daughter Laxmi. They all agreed to abide by the rules and were accepted.

Their admission created a flutter amongst the sympathizers. The very first difficulty was with regard to the use of the well. The man in charge of the water-lift started looking at the ashramites as if they were untouchables. He objected that drops of water from the ashramites buckets wouid pollute him. So he took to swearing at them and molesting Dudabhai.

Gandhi found himself on trial. He told every inmate to put up with the abuse at all cost. Here satyagraha resulted in a victory and the man became ashamed and ceased to bother them. All monetary help, however, was stopped. There were rumours of social boycott but Gandhi was now determined to stick to Ahmedabad and, if necessary, to shift the ashram to the untouchables' quarters and to live by manual labour.

Soon the Satyagraha Ashram funds ran out. To Gandhi's great surprise, some rich man one day drew up his car near the ashram quarters and told him that he wanted to give some, money. When Gandhi said he would welcome it, the stranger brought on the next day Rs. 13,000, placed the donation in Gandhi's hands and left. The anonymous donor was Mr. Ambalal Sarabhai, a millowner.

The monetary crisis was now over for a year at least. There were also some internal frictions over the untouchable family but Gandhi won the battle. Kasturbai and Maganlal Gandhi had some scruples in living with the untouchables. Things came to such a pass that Kasturbai should either observe the ashram rules or else leave the ashram. But the argument that a woman in following in her husband's footsteps incurs no sin appealed to her and she quieted down. Maganlal went to Madras for six months in order to ponder over the situation and to learn more of weaving.

The history of the handbom experiment in the Satyagraha Ashram is vividly narrated by Maganlal Gandhi:

"The first experiment was started in the Satyagraha Ashram in 1915. For about ten months, we used to weave only khadi. Then those who had returned with an experience of weaving obtained outside, began to weave broader and finer cloth, established fly-shuttle looms of the Madras type, and began sizing yarn after the Madras fashion. But it was all amateur work and it could not come to the level of the work of those born to the profession. We began to experience difficulties in weaving. We had not yet produced cloth suitable for women. One of the ashram sisters was in the need of a garment. It was not easy to obtain a hand-woven one in the market. She expected that she would be permitted to have a mill-woven one, but she was disillusioned. She was told, 'Weave what you require or do without it.' This curt reply disappointed her, and hurt her husband. But the disappointment and hurt were momentary. The beneficent rebuke had the desired effect. The husband went to the city and obtained twisted fine yarn such as would need no sizing, and began weaving out of it cloth of fifty inchcs width. The experiment was successful and this gave a fillip to the enterprise. At the end of 1916 there were three country looms and three fly-shuttle looms working in the ashram. On the Indian new year day, we began to take stock of work done during the past year. Our work was mainly weaving and the work at the end of fifteen months was not very creditable. It was, therefore, resolved that, before the close of new year, every one should learn enough to be capable to weave cloth, sufficient for himself. And every one bent his energies in the direction. In about six months' time four fly-shuttle looms were added. There were thus ten looms, in all, working at that time. We used to work nearly eight hours during the day. Mr. Gandhi himself used to work nearly over four hours on the loom. Three fly-shuttle looms used to turn out cloth of forty- five to fifty inches width and each turned out three to five yards of such cloth at the end of the day. Cloth of smaller breadth could be turned out at the rate of a yard per hour. That is to say, most of us began to turn out work earning in the market a daily wage of eight to twelve annas."

While the experimental work of weaving was thus going on apace, hand- spinning came to be introduced. The birth of khadi is vividly depicted by Gandhi in the following words:

"The beginnings of the khadi movement had been more and more occupying my attention. I do not remember to have seen a handloom or spinning wheel till the year 1909, when I described it in my booklet Hind Swaraj as the panacea for India's growing pauperism. In that booklet I assume that anything that helped India to get rid of the grinding poverty of her masses would in the same process establish swaraj. Even in 1915, when I returned to India from South Africa, I had not actually seen a spinning wheel. When the Satyagraha Ashram at Sabarmati was founded we introduced a few handlooms there. But no sooner had we done tills than we were hard up against another difficulty. All of us belonged either to the liberal professions or to business; none of us was an artisan. We needed a weaving expert to teach us how to weave before we could work looms. One was at last obtained from Palanpur, but he did not communicate to us the whole of his art. Maganlal Gandhi, however, was not the one to be easily baffled. Possessed of a natural gift for mechanics, he was able fully to master the art before long, and gradually several new weavers were trained up in the ashram.

"The object that was set before us was to be able to clothe ourselves entirely in cloth manufactured by ourselves. We, therefore, discarded the use of mill-woven cloth made from Indian yarn. The adoption of this practice brought us a world of experience. It enabled us to know from direct contact the living conditions among the weavers, the extent of their production, the handicaps in the way of their obtaining their yarn supply, the manner in which they were being made victims of fraud, and their ever-growing indebtedness. We were not in a position immediately to manufacture the cloth we needed. So the time slipped by, and my impatience increased. I piled every chance visitor, who was likely to have any information about hand-spinning, with questions about the art. It had been confined to women. If there was some stray spinner still surviving, in some obscure corner, only a member of that sex was likely to find out her whereabouts.

"In the year 1917 I was taken by my Gujarati friends to preside at the Broach Educational Conference. It was here that I discovered that remarkable lady, Gangabchn Majmudar. She was a widow, but her enterprising spirit knew no bounds. Her education, in the acccpted sense of the term, was not much. But in courage and common sense she easily surpassed the general run of our educated women. She had already got rid of the curse of untouchability, and fearlessly moved among and served the suppressed classes. She had means of her own, and her needs were few. She had a well-seasoned constitution and went about everywhere without an escort. She felt quite at home on horseback. I came to know her more intimately at the Godhra conference. To her I poured out my grief about the charkha, and she lightened my burden by a promise to proseeute an earnest and incessant seareh for the spinning wheel.

"At last, after no end of wandering in Gujarat, Gangabehn found the spinning wheel in Vijapur in the Baroda state. Quite a number of people there had spinning wheels in their homes, but had long since consigned them to the lofts as useless lumber. They expressed to Gangabehn their readiness to resume spinning, if some one promised to provide them with a regular supply of slivers and to buy the yarn spun by them. Gangabehn communicated the joyful news to me. The providing of slivers was found to be a difficult task. On mentioning the thing to Umar Sobani, however, he solved the difficulty by immediately undertaking to send a sufficient supply of slivers from his mill. I sent to Gangabehn the slivers received from Umar Sobani, and soon yarn began to pour in at such a rate that it became quite a problem how to cope with it.

"I felt ill at ease continuously receiving slivers from him. Moreover, it seemed to me to be fundamentally wrong to use mill slivers. So I suggested to Gangabehn to find carders who could supply slivers. She confidently undertook the task, and engaged a carder who was prepared to card cotton. He demanded thirty-live rupees per month. I considered no price too high at the time. She trained a few youngsters to make slivers out of the carded cotton. Gangabchn's enterprise thus prospered beyond expectation. She found out weavers to weave the yarn that was spun in Vijapur, and soon Vijapur khadi gained a name for itself.

"While these developments were taking place in Vijapur, the spinning wheel gained a rapid footing in the ashram. Maganlal Gandhi, by bringing to bear all his splendid mechanical talent on the wheel, made many improvements in it. Wheels and their accessories began to be manufactured at the ashram. The first piece of khadi manufactured in the ashram cost seventeen annas per yard. I did not hesitate to commend this very coarse khadi at that price to friends, who willingly paid the amount.

"I am, therefore, concentrating my attention on the production of khadi. I swear by this form of swadeshi because through it I can provide work to the semi-starved, semi-employed women of India. My idea is to get these women to spin yarn, and to clothc the people of India with khadi woven out of it. I do not know how far this movement is going to succeed. At present it is only beginning. But I have full faith in it."

33. Before The Year Ends ( 1915 )

ON JUNE 3, 1915, in the King's birthday honours, the Kaiser-i-Hind inedal was conferred on Gandhi for his public services. Another Indian who was honoured was Rabindranath Tagore; he was knighted.

The war in Europe was not going well for the allies. The Government of India tried to smother political agitation. The Defence of India Act of 1915 provided for special powers for the more speedy trials of political offences. Internment orders were served upon the Ali brothers, Maulana Azad and Hasrat Mohani. Political leaders were shadowed by the police. There was outwardly all quiet on the political front.

Gandhi made no political speeches during the year but he gave expression to his views on social reforms. On Octobcr 28 he began his campaign against indentured labour by delivering the first of the series of public lectures in Bombay.

Tilak was also not very active on the political field at that time. He was keen on studying the situation as he had been an exile for six long years. In the middle of 1915 he published the epoch-making commentary on the Gita. Some 5,000 copies of the book were sold out within a week of its publication though not more than one copy was sold to a person at a time. Tilak made it a book of action.

In December the Congress met in Bombay under dark clouds. There were rumours and alarra regarding the drift of the war. The Congress had lost during the year three of its able leaders - Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Henry Cotton. The death of Keir Hardic, who in and outside the House of Commons rendered invaluable services to India, was also deeply felt.

Sir S. P. Sinha, who had been a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, presided over the Congress. His address provoked considerable controversy over his remark that even if the English nation were willing to make an immediate gift of full self-government, he doubted whether the boon would be worth having as such. He described India as a patient whose fractured limbs were in splints.

On the initiative of Surendranath Banerjea, the Congress adopted a resolution affirming that the time had now arrived to introduce full measures of reform towards the attainment of self-government, by liberalizing the system of government, so as to seeure to the people an effective control over it, by the introduction of provincial autonomy, including financial independence; the expansion of the legislative councils, so as to make them truly and adequately representative of all sections of the people, and to give them effective control over the acts of the executive government; the reconstruction of the various executive councils and establishment of similar councils in the provinces where they did not exist; the reform or abolition of the council of Secretary of State for India; and a liberal measure of local self-government. The resolution authorized the Congress to frame a scheme of reform. Mrs. Besant, who seconded the resolution, described it "as perhaps the most momentous that had ever been laid before the Congress during thirty years of its splendid existence."

Tilak and Gandhi were in the background. Lokamanva, who should have been the president of the Congress, was kept out by an unfortunate combination of forces. Gandhi could not be elected to the Subjects Committee and, therefore, he was nominated to the committee by the Congress President.

One achievement of the Bombay session was that the constitution of the Congress was suitably altered so as to throw the doors of entry practically open to the Extremists. The delegates were allowed to be elected by a meeting convened under the auspices of any association "which is of not less than two years' standing on December 31, 1915 and which has for one of its objects the attainment of self-government within the British Empire by constitutional means." Tilak forthwith publicly announced the willingness of his party to re-enter the Congress through the partially opened door. There was now a prospect of a united Congress.

For the last three years there was awakening in the Muslims of India. Maulana Shibli, a scholar and patriot, and a friend and colleague of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, had begun to wield a decisive influence over Muslim thought. The Young Turk Movement led by Envar Pasha had its influence in India. New stars were rising in the firmament. The young Abul Kalam Azad, born in Mecca in i838 of a distinguished scholarly family formerly attached to the Mogul court of Akbar, launched his paper Al Hilal which at once caught the imagination of the Urdu-speaking world. Azad and Mahomed Ali through their journals brought about a radical change in Muslim politics.

A change was coming over in Aligarh too. Due to the administrative friction between the secretary of the Muslim League and Mr. Arehibald, the principal of the college, the Aga Khan got its office transferred from Aligarh to Lucknow. The transfer terminated the domination of European principals over the political activities of the Muslims.

The year 1912 marked the beginning of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's activities among the Pathans. Born in 1890 in the village of Utmanzai in Peshawar district, the Khan commenced his activities as an educationist at the age of twenty-two and soon came under the influence of the Haji Saheb ofTurangzai. He associated himself fully with Haji Saheb's work of imparting religious education to the villagers.

Since 1913 Hindu-Muslim relations had begun to improve. The Muslim League adopted a new constitution, with the objective as "the promotion among Indians of loyalty to the British Crown, the protection of the rights of the Muslims and without detriment to the foregoing objects, the attainment of the system of self-government suitable to India". This was too much for the old school of the Aga Khan. Jinnah, still an outsider, gave his informal support. Muslim League session of 1914 was attended by Dr. Ansari, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and Hakim Ajmal Khan. The Aga Khan tendered his resignation as the permanent president of the League. This session laid special emphasis on the need of a closer rapprochement between the two communities. The outbreak of war radicalized Muslim opinion as never before.

The year 1915 was a landmark in the political history of India. For the first time the League and the Congress held their sessions at the same time in Bombay. A large number of Congress leaders, among them Surendranath Baneijea, Pandit Malaviya, D. E. Wacha, Mrs. Besant, B. G. Horniman, Mrs. Naidu and Gandhi attended the session of the Muslim League. The nationalist Muslims had at last triumphed and the League asserted its emancipation from its old policy. In pursuance of the resolution of Jinnah, the Muslim League set up a committee to draft, in consultation with the Congress, a scheme of reform for India.

34. First Plunge ( 1916 )

IN FEBRUARY 1916 the time of duration of Gandhi's promise not to express views on the political situation expired. It was a queer coincidence that Pandit Malaviya invited Gandhi to speak on the occasion of the opening of the Benares Hindu University. Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy, had come specially to lay the foundation-stone of the university. To protect his life stringent precautions were taken by the police. They were omnipresent and all houses along the route were guarded. Benares was, so to say, in a state of siege.

Eminent persons from all over India had come. Many of them delivered addresses. On February 4 it was Gandhi's turn to address the audience, mostly consisting of impressionable youths. A galaxy of princes, bedecked and bejewelled, were sitting on the dais. The Maharaja of Darbhanga was in the chair.

Gandhi who was clad in a short, coarse dhoti and Kathiawadi cloak and turban rose to speak. Excessive police precautions and the luxury round him hurt him deeply. Turning to the audience, he said that he wanted to think audibly, speak without reserve:

"I wish to tender my humble apology for the long delay that took place before I was able to reach this place. And you will readily accept the apology when I tell you that I am not responsible for the delay nor is any human agency responsible for it. The fact is that I am like an animal on show, and my keepers in their overkindness always manage to neglect 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 Mrs. Besant who has just sat down, pray, do not believe that our university has become a finished product, and that all the young 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, and if you, the student world to which my remarks are supposed to be addressed this evening, consider for one moment that the spiritual life, for which this country is noted and for which this country has no rival, 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 except the lectures that have been delivered here during the last two day's from this category, because they are necessary. But I do venture to suggest to you that we have now reached almost 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 character that our hands and feet should move in unison with our hearts. But this is only by way of preface. 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 were 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 December. There was a much vaster audience, and will you believe me when I tell you that the only speeches that touched the 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 vernaculars of the Bombay Presidency on the one 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 audience 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 instruction through the medium of their vernaculars. Our language is the reflection of ourselves, and if you tell me that our languages are too poor to express the best thought, then say that the sooner we are wiped out of existence the better for us. Is there a man who dreams that English can ever become the national language of India? Why this handicap on the nation? Just consider for one moment what an unequal race our lads have to run with every English lad.

"I had the privilege of a close conversation with some Poona professor*. They assured me that every Indian youth, because he reached his knowledge through 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 yourselves 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 today to impress his audicncc 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 tha: after ail it is English-educated India which is leading and which is doing all the things 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 today? We should have today 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 fifty years would be a heritage for the nation. Today even our wives are not the sharers in our best thought. Look at Professor Bose and Professor Ray and their brilliant researches. Is it not a shame that their researehes are not the common property of the masses?

"Let us now turn to another subject.

"The Congress has passed a resolution about self-government, and I have no doubt that the Indian Congress Committee and the Muslim League will do their duty and come forward with some tangible suggestions. 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. 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, 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 Kashi Vishwanath temple last evening, and as I was walking through those lanes, these were the thoughts that touched me. If a stranger dropped 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 reflection of our own character? I speak feelingly, 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-government 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 compulsion, bag and baggage?

"I entirely agree with the President of the Congress that before we think of self-government, we shall have to do the necessary plodding. In every city there are two divisions, 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 reproduce 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. 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 compartment. The so-called better class passengers overawe their less fortunate brethren. Among them I have seen the student world also, sometimes they behave 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 you, I am laying my heart bare. Surely we must set these things right in our progress towards self-government. I now introduce you to another scene. His Highness the Maharaja 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 jewellery, which made a splendid feast for the eyes of the greatest jeweller who chose to come from Paris. I compare 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 you strip yourselves of this jewellery and hold it in trust for your countrymen in India.' I am sure it is not the desire of the King- Emperor or Lord Hardinge that in order to show the truest 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 undertake, at 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 say, Oh, it is the money that has come from the agriculturists.' Over seventy-five per cent of the population are agriculturists 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, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it.

"Now, last but not 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. We were horrified. We asked ourselves, 'Why this distrust?' Is it not better that even Lord Hardingc 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 today in her impatience has produced an army of anarehists. I myself am an anarehist, but of another type. But there is a class of anarehists amongst us, and if I was able to reach this class, I would say to them that their anarehism has no room in India, if India is to conquer the conqueror. It is a sign of fear. If we trust and fear God, we shall have to fear no one, not the maharajas, not the Viceroys, not the detectives, not even King George.

"I honour the anarehist 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 no 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 of that belief. That would, in my opinion, be an honourable death. The bomb-thrower crcatcs 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 serving the country and the empire I shall certainly stop. (The cries of ' Go on ! *) (The chairman : * Please, explain your 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 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 irresponsibly in 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 anarehism 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 ine. He said: 'Mr. Gandhi, do you for one moment suppose that all we, 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 all these things and I grant also that after having lived in India for a certain number of years some of them become somewhat degraded. But what does that signify? They were gentlemen before they came here, and if they have lost some of the moral fibre, it is a reflection upon ourselves.

"Just think out for yourselves, if a man who was good yesterday has become bad after having come in contact with me, is he responsible that he has deteriorated or am I? The atmosphere of sycophancy and falsity that surrounds them on their coming to India demoralizes them, as it would many of us. It is well to take the blame sometimes. If we are to receive self-government, we shall have to take it. We shall never be granted self-government. Look at the 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 Boer War. Those who were enemies of that empire only a few years ago have now become friends..."

At this point there was an interruption and movement on the platform to leave. The speech, therefore, ended abruptly. There was great confusion and clamour. Now even the president left. Gandhi remarked to a friend: "I have seen audiences going away from boredom; I have seen speakers made to sit down; but I have never seen the president himself abandon the meeting."

Late that night, the police commissioner wrote out an order for the immediate externment of Gandhi from Benares. Pandit Malaviya persuaded the police commissioner to withdraw the order but Gandhi left Benares the next morning.

Mrs. Besant strongly condemned Gandhi's speech. Gandhi remarked: "I claim that with twenty years' experience of public life in the course of which I have had to address on scores of occasions turbulent audiences, I have some experience of feeling 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 being adversely affected. But for Mrs. Besant's interruption, I would have concluded my speech in a few minutes and no possible misconception about my views on anarehism would have arisen."

Gandhi went to Poona to speak on Gokhale’s death anniversary, and wherever he went, he recolected the loving memories of his master. He addressed meetings in Hardwar, Karachi and Madras. He spoke in Hindi wherever it was possible and pleaded fervently for swadeshi.

On February 14 Gandhi delivered his "final word" on swadeshi before the Missionary Conference at Madras:

"Swadeshi is that spirit 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 of the definition, I must restrict myself to my ancestral religion, that is, the use of my immediate religious surrounding. If I find it defective, I should serve it by purging it of all 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 economic* 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 wanting. It is suggested that such swadeshi, if reduced to practice, will lead to 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 . ..

"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. I feel, if the attempt to separate politics from religion had not been made as it is even now made, they would not have degenerated 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 me. India is really a republican country, and it is because it is that that it has survived every shock hitherto delivered. Princes and potentates, whether they were Indian-born or foreigners, have hardly touchcd the vast masses except for collecting 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 organization of caste answered not only to 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 from the caste system its wonderful power of organization ...

"We have laboured under a terrible handicap owing to an almost fatal departure from the swadeshi spirit. We, the educated classes, have received our education through a foreign tongue. We have, therefore, not reacted upon the masses. We want to represent the masses, but we fail. They recognize us not much more than they recognize the English officers. Their hearts are an open book to neither. Their aspirations are not ours. Hence there is a break. And you witness not in reality failure to organize but want of correspondence between the representatives and the represented. If during the last fifty years we had been educated through the vernaculars, our elders and our servants and our neighbours would have partaken of our knowledge; the discoveries of a Bose or a Ray would have been household treasures as are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. As it is, so far as the masses are concerned, those great discoveries might as well have been made by foreigners. Had instruction in all the branches of learning been given through the vernaculars, 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-government suited to its requirements, and would have been spared the humiliating spectacle of organized assassination on its sacred soil. It is not too late to mend ...

"Much of the deep poverty of the masses is due to the ruinous departure from swadeshi in the economic and industrial life. If not an article of commerce had been brought from outside India, she would be today a land flowing with milk ar.d 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.

"This may all sound nonsensical. Well, India is a country of nonsense. It is nonsensical to pareh one's throat with thirst when a kindly Musalman is ready to offer pure water to drink. And yet thousands of Hindus would rather die of thirst than drink water from a Muslim household. These nonsensical 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 cat 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 thousands of men and women and constitutes an additional tax upon their slender purses. Lord Hardingc can set the fashion for swadeshi, and almost the whole of India will forswear foreign goods. There is a verse in the Gita which, freely rendered, means: masses follow the classcs. It is easy to undo the evil if the thinking portion of the community were to take the swadeshi vow, even though it may for a time cause considerable inconvenience . . .

"It has often been urged that India cannot adopt swadeshi in the economic life at any rate. Those who advance this objection do not look upon swadeshi as a rule of'.ife. With them it is a mere patriotic effort not to be made if it involved any self-denial. Swadeshi, as defined here, is a religious discipline to be undergone in utter disregard of the physical discomfort it may cause to individuals. Under its spell the deprivation of a pin or needle, because these are not manufactured in India, need cause no terror. A swadeshist will learn to do without hundreds of things which today he considers necessary. Moreover, those who dismiss swadeshi from their minds by arguing the impossible, forget that swadeshi, after all, is a goal to be reached by steady effort. Swadeshi is the only doctrine consistent with the law of humility and love."

35. Congress-League Pact ( 1916 )

THERE WERE a number of conferences during the econd half of 1916. There was a new wave of political life in the country under the leadership of Tilak, Mrs. Besant and Jinnah.

Tilak had as yet no place in the Congress, for under the compromise reached at the Bombay session, he had to wait one year before he could influence that august body. Tilak, therefore, fell back upon his idea of a Home Rule League, which he started in April 1916, six months before Mrs. Besant started hers. "Mr. Tilak formed one and I the other, on the ground that some people loved him and hated me, and others hated him and loved me; hence working-togcther-separately was the best policy," wrote Mrs. Besant. Though Tilak's Home Rule League accepted the creed of the National Congress, and even Srinivasa Sastri was pleased with it, the Government looked on his activities with great suspicion.

On May 1, a Provincial Political Conference was held at Belgaum, at which Tilak moved a compromise resolution pleading for co-ordination between the Extremists and the Moderates. Gandhi attended the conference and spoke in Hindi. Me stood for a genuine compromise but added: "If they passed the resolution in the idea that after joining the Congress they would drive away the opponents in it, neither the Congress nor the Extremists would gain anything nor the country." Gandhi affirmed that he himself was neither a Moderate nor an Extremist.

The Government wanted to silence Tilak. They picked up three of his speeches delivered at Belgaum and Ahmadnagar to prosecute him. Mr. Binning, in opening the case on May 7 before the district magistrate of Poona, did not hesitate to call Tilak's declarations of loyalty as a mere cloak to defend himself from the clutches of law. The magistrate was of opinion that Tilak "wanted to disaffcct his audience towards the Government". Under section 108 of Cr. P. Code, he directed Tilak to enter into a bond for good behaviour for one year for a sum of Rs. 20,000 in his own recognizance and in two securities of Rs. 10,000 each.

This decision was, however, reversed by the High Court within the next few months. With Government repression, Tilak's popularity increased. On his sixty-first birthday, on July 23, he was honoured by the whole nation. A purse of one lakh of rupees given by the people was accepted by Tilak in trust to spend it in a constitutional way for national work after adding his own quota to it. The memories of storm and suffering rather than those of comparative happiness rose before his mind's eye.

In the middle of the year the Congress and Muslim League were busy in framing a joint scheme of constitutional reform. It aimed at rapid and complete subordination of executive authority to elected elements in the council. Discussions were held at Allahabad in April at the residence of Motilal Nehru, a member of the committee. The proposals tentatively drawn up at Allahabad were considered in Calcutta at a joint meeting of the A.I.C.C. and the Council of the Muslim League, and a Hindu- Muslim settlement was reached.

In Octobcr a provincial conference was held under the chairmanship of Jinnah at Ahmedabad to support the constitutional reforms suggested by the Congress and the League. Tilak, who attended the confcrcnce and received a warm reception, supported the main resolution. Gandhi moved a resolution demanding safeguards in relation to the Defence of India Act. Moral and Material Progress and Condition of India, a Government publication, observed:

"The question of Hindu-Muslim relations is one of imperial interest, biu it has a special local interest for the Presidency of Bombay, as it was when the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League met in Bombay in December 1915 that the Hindu-Muslim entente fust began to take shape; it was greatly strengthened by the Provincial Conference held at Ahmedabad in Octobcr 1916, where Mr. M. A. Jinnah, at that time president elect of the ensuing meeting of the Muslim League, presided over a conference of the Hindu Congress party which had been hitherto exclusively Hindu. The Ahmedabad conference was of considerable importance as being the first regular Congress gathering in which the extremist Hindu politicians had taken part since they succded from the Congress when it broke up in disorder at Surat in December 1907. The year, in short, witnessed a coalition of the leading political parties which aim at a greater measure of self-government and a very considerable accession of strength to the more advanced sections of these political bodies, both Hindu and Muslim."

The Lucknow Congress held in December was historic in many respects. The president said: "If the united Congress was buried nine years ago in the debris of the old French Garden at Sural, it was reborn that day in the Kaiserbagh at Lucknow. Both the wings of the Indian national party had come together and had realized their true position and responsibility."

It was apparent that the war had released entirely new forces in the country. The outlook of the Moderates had broadened and the Extremists did not want to be left outside the deliberations of the Congress. Bepin Chandra Pal, Tilak, Mrs. Besant had all come to attend the Congress session. Tilak succeeded in securing from the Bombay Presidency a vast majority of his followers as delegates to the Lucknow session.

The Congress was presided over by Ambika Charan Mazumdar. In his address, the president stated that the bureaucracy which now ruled the country was despotism condensed. The people, however, had completely outgrown this system and a new spirit had arisen in the country. Whether it was called visionary, or impatient idealism, the spirit was the manifestation of a democratic force which was transforming the destinies of an old world to a new order or things. Under the pressure of this irresistible force, time-honoured kingdoms were crumbling to pieces, and hereditary monarehs of ancient and even celestial origin were quietly taking their exit without shedding a tear or a drop of blood. Old ideas were changing faster than some could realize and it was no fault of the Indian people if they were unable to reconcile themselves to a patriarehal or a parental form of government. The present Government, whatever its claim for the maintenance of an orderly administration might be, had become an anachronism. It might make a people perfectly happy but it could not make them resourceful, or even contented, self-reliant and manly in their life and conduct.

President Mazumdar's address struck once more the note of swaraj which Dadabhai had struck in Calcutta ten years ago. The resolution on self-government said: "That, having regard to the fact that the great communities of India are the inheritors of ancient civilization, and have shown great capacity for government and administration, and to the progress in education and public spirit made by them during a century of British rule, and having regard to the fact that the present system of government does not satisfy the legitimate aspirations of the people and has become unsuited to the existing conditions and requirements, the Congress is of the opinion that the time has come when His Majesty the King-Emperor should be pleased to issue a proclamation announcing that it is the aim and intention of British policy to confer self-government on India at an early date; that this Congress demands that a definite step should be taken towards self-government by granting the reforms contained in the scheme prepared by the All-India Congress Committee and adopted by the All- India Muslim League; and that, in the construction of the Empire, India shall be lifted from the position of dependency to that of an equal partner in the empire along with the self-governing dominions."

The leaders of the Congress and the Muslim League came to an agreement, known thereafter as the "Lucknow Pact". The Congress conceded separate Muslim electorates. They were even to be introduced in the Punjab and the Central Provinces where they had not hitherto existed. Seats, moreover, in the councils were allotted to those electorates on a generous scale. Muslim "weightage" was also to be raised substantially above its present level. The Muslim representation in Bengal was raised from ten to forty per cent, in the Punjab from twenty-five to fifty per cent. And in the other provinces the Muslims were to obtain many more seats than they had at present or would have on the population basis. Muslim strength at the centre was similarly increased by the allotment of one-third of the elections to the council to separate Muslim constituencies. Muslims yielded in return, to the abandonment of their existing right to vote in general as well as separate electorates.

The cardinal points of the Congress-League scheme may be summarized thus: (1) The provinces should be freed as much as possible from central control in administration and finance. (2) Four-fifths of the central and provincial legislative councils should be elected. (3) Not less than half the members of the central and provincial governments should be elected by the elected members of their respective legislative councils. (4) The Governments, central and provincial, should be bound to act in accordance with the resolutions passed by their legislative councils unless they were vetoed by the Governor-General or Governors and, in the event, if the resolutions were passed again after an interval of not less than one year, it should in any case be put into effect. (5) Foreign affairs and defence should be left to the control of the central government without any interference by the legislature. (6) India should have the same status as the dominions in any inter-imperial system, and the relations of the Secretary of State for India with the Government of India should be similar to those of the Colonial Secretary with the Governments of the Dominions.

The country was expecting a big political advance. The Congress at Lucknow was largely attended. There were 2,301 delegates, besides a large number of visitors, who filled the spacious pandal to its utmost capacity. The Congress sat for four days and passed resolutions on various subjects.

After nine long years of absence, Tilak joined his old comrades at the Lucknow Congress. When he stood to address the huge gathering, he was greeted with an unprecedented ovation. He remarked: "I am not foolish enough to think that this reception is given to my humble self. It is given, if I rightly understand, to the principles for which I have been fighting, principles which have been embodied in the resolution I have the honour to support. I am glad to say that I have lived these ten years to see that we are going to put our voice and our shoulders together to push on the scheme of self-government. We are now united in every way in the United Provinces."

Hailing the Lucknow Pact, Tilak observed: "It has been said that we, Hindus, have yielded too much to our Muslim brethren. I am sure, I represent the sense of the Hindu community all over India when I say that we could not have yielded too much. I would not care if the rights of the self-government are granted to the Muslim community only. I would not care if they are granted to the Rajputs. I would not care if they are granted to the lower classes of the Hindu population. Then the fight will not be triangular, as at present it is."

Tilak differed only on one point. He emphasized that it was necessary that the succeeding instalments of self-government should be definitely determined and announced together with the time-limit for complete realization of all our aspirations. He tried his best to press the inclusion of this limit in the resolution on self-government. But the stalwarts did not favour this view and for the sake of unity Tilak dropped the matter. For the same reason he allowed his scheme of a small and compact Congress executive to be shelved.

Tilak wanted the Congress to call upon the Home Rule League and other public associations to carry on continuously a vigorous propaganda. The Moderates allowed the resolution to be passed with great reluctance. Even Jinnah and Pandit Malaviya voted against it.

The Congress passed a resolution dealing with the relation between the Indian ryot and the European planters in north Bihar and urging the desirability of a mixed committee of officials and non-officials to inquire into the causes of the agrarian troubles.

There was unprecedented fraternization of Hindus and Muslims during the Congress week. The practice of holding the sessions of the Congress and the Muslim League in the same city and the same time was continued at Lucknow. Congress leaders reciprocated the honour done to them by the Leaguers at their meeting by attending in large numbers. The League President, Jinnah, said: "The main principles on which the first all-India Muslim political organization was based was the retention of the Muslim communal individuality strong and unimpaired in any constitutional readjustment that might be made in India in all the course of its political evolution. The creed has grown and broadened with the growth of the political life and thought in the community. In its general outlook and ideal as regards the future the All-India Muslim League stands abreast of the Indian National Congress and is ready to participate in any patriotic efforts for the advancement of the country as a whole."

36. Real Economics ( 1916 )

GANDHI distinguished himself from others not only in politics and social reforms but economics. His speech delivered on December 22, 1916 at the Muir College Economics Society in Allahabad was memorable:

"When I accepted Mr. Kapil Deva Malaviya's invit lion to speak to you upon the subject of this evening, I was painfully conscious of my limitations. You are an Economics Society. You have chosen distinguished specialists for the subjects included in your syllabus tor this year and the next. I seem to be the only speaker ill-fitted for the task set before him. Frankly and truly, I know little of economics, as you naturally understand them. Only the other day, sitting at an evening meal, a civilian friend deluged me with a series of questions on my crankisms. As he proceeded in his cross-examination, I being a willing victim, he found no difficulty in discovering my gross ignorance of the matters. I appeared to him to be handling with a cocksureness worthy only of a man who knows not that he knows not. To his horror and even indignation, I suppose, he found that I had not even read books on economics by such well-known authorities as Mill, Marshall, Adam Smith, and a host of such other authors. In despair, he ended by advising me to read these books before experimenting in matters economic at the expense of trusting friends. For there come to us moments in life when about some things we need no proof from without. A little voice within us tells us, 'You are on the right track, turn neither to your left nor right, but keep to the straight and narrow way.' With such help we March forward, slowly in deed, but surely and steadily. That is my position.

"It may be satisfactory enough for me, but it can in no way answer the requirements of a society such as yours. Still it was no use my struggling against Mr. Kapil Deva Malaviya. I know that he was intent upon having me to engage your attention for one of your evenings. Perhaps you will treat my intrusion as a welcome diversion from the trodden path. An occasional fast after a series of sumptuous feasts is often a necessity. And as with the body, so, I imagine, is the case with the reason . . .

"Before I take to the field of my experience and experiments it is perhaps best to have a mutual understanding about the title of this evening's address: 'Does Economic Progress clash with Real Progress?' By economic progress, 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 the 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 larger one even when we lay down the smaller. For we know enough of science to realize that there is no such thing as pcrfcct rest or repose in this visible universe of ours. If, therefore, material progress does not clash with moral progress it must necessarily advance the latter. Nor can we be satisfied with the clumsy way in which sometimes those who cannot defend the larger 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 per day. They say that before we can think or talk of their moral welfare we must satisfy their daily wants. With them, they say, material progress 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 millionaires it owns, but of 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 application that material advancement means moral advancement.

"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 we have any historical record. The descendants and kinsmen of the royal and divine Krishna too fell when they were rolling in riches. We do not deny to the Rockefellers and the Carnegics possession of an ordinary measure of morality, but we gladly judge them indulgently. 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 was not afraid of trading on dangerous ground, I would even come nearer home and show you that the possession of riches had 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 modern text-books. The question we are asking ourselves is not a new one. It was addressed to Jesus two thousand yean 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 great economist of his time. He succeeded in economizing time and space; he transcended tncm. 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 the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honour thy father and mother.' 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 shalt have treasure in heaven; come, take up the Cross and follow me.' And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about and said unto his disciples: 'How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God.' And the disciplcs were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again and saith 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.'

"There you have an eternal rule of life stated in the noblest words the English language is capable of producing. But the disciplcs nodded unbelief as we do even to this day. To him they said as we say today: 'But look how the law fails in practice. If we sell all and have nothing, we shall have nothing to eat. We must have some money or we cannot even be reasonably moral.' So they state their case thus. And they were astonished out of measures saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved?' And Jesus looking upon them saith, '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 answered and said: 'Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that has left house or brethren or sisters, or father or mother, or wife or children, or lands for my sake and the gospels but he shall receive a 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 reward, 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 even stronger if possible than the Biblical extracts, I have drawn your attention to. Perhaps, the strongest of all the testimonies in favour of an affirmative answer to the questions before are the lives of the greatest teachers of the world. Jesus, Mahomed, Buddha, Nanak, Kabir, Chaitanya, Shankar, Dayanand, Ramakrishna were men who exercised an immense influence over, and moulded the character of thousands of men. 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 modern materialistic craze our goal, in so far are we going downhill in the path of progress. Hence the ancient ideal has been limitation of activities promoting wealth. This does not put an end to all material ambition. We should still have, as we have had, in our midst people who make the pursuit of wealth their aim in life. But we have always recognized that it is a fall from the ideal. It is a beautiful thing to know that the wealthiest among us often own that to have remained voluntarily poor would have been a higher state for them.

"You cannot serve God and Mammon is an economic truth of the highest value. We have to make our choice. Western nations are groaning under the heels of the monster—God of materialism. Their moral growth has become stunted. They today measure their progress in pounds, shillings, and pence. American wealth has become the standard. She is the envy of other nations. I 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 to 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 chimncys and whose roadways are traversed by screeching and puffing engines, dragging numerous cars loaded with men mostly who know not 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. Here is what Wallace, the great scientist, has said as his deliberate judgement: 'In the earliest records which have come down to us from the past, we find ample indications that general ethical conceptions, the accepted standard of morality, and the conduct resulting from these were in no degree inferior to those which prevail today.' 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 civilization and 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 in wealth, justice has become immoral, how deaths from alcoholism, and suicide has increased, how the average of premature births and congenital defects have increased, and how prostitution has become an institution. He concludes his examination by these pregnant remarks: 'The proceedings of the divorce courts show other aspects of the result of wealth and leisure, while a friend who had been a 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 Rome 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 if we are not careful, 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 civilization and our morals straight, that is, if instead" of boasting of the glorious past we express the ancient moral glory in our own lives and let our lives bear witness to our past. Then we shall benefit her and ourselves. If we copy her bccause she provides us with rulers, 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 attributes of morality, one can offer battle to any combination of hostile forces, without having to carry the burden of a heavy militia. Let us seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and the irrevocable promise is that everything will be added unto us. These are real economics. May you and I treasure them and enforce them in our daily life."

37. Champaran ( 1917 )

FOR TWO long years Gandhi had travelled extensively and had done some speech-making. Now he launched upon activities connected with labour, the class which had fought so well in South Africa. It was but natural that he should tackle the problem of the indentured labour first.

The poor, ignorant labourers were enticed away to the British colonies to work under an indenture for five years or so. The system of exporting labourers from India on the indenture basis had come into existence as a result of the abolition of slavery in 1833. The planters in the British Crown Colonies hit upon the indenture system as a substitute for slavery. During the period of contract, the labourers were bound to work for their foreign employers and could not leave them, however hard and unsatisfactory- the conditions of life might prove to be. Their hardships were known throughout India. The Indian leaders protested against the shameful custom year after year in the councils, in the Congress session and in public meetings. But it seemed all in vain.

In March 1916, Malaviya moved a resolution in the Imperial Legislative Council for the abolition of the indenture system. In accepting the motion, Lord Hardingc, the Viceroy, announced that he had "obtained from His Majesty's Government the promise of the abolition of the system in due course". Gandhi felt that such a vague assurance against a long-standing, intolerable grievance was highly unsatisfactory and wondered whether this might be a fit subject for resorting to a satyagraha.

In the meantime the Viceroy had explained that "essential abolition" meant abolition "within such reasonable time as will allow alternative arrangement being introduced". The next Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, did not believe even in vague assurance. So in February 1917, when Pandit Malaviya asked for leave to introduce the bill once more, the Viceroy bluntly refused it. Gandhi thought it was time for him to tour the country for an all-India agitation.

Before launching the campaign, Gandhi applied for an interview with the Viceroy, which was immediately granted. Lord Chelmsford promised to be helpful but would give no definite assurance. Gandhi began his tour from Bombay. On February 9, 1917, a meeting was convened under the auspiccs of the Imperial Citizenship Association to condemn the inhuman system of indentured labour. A resolution was framed by it demanding abolition of the system by the 31st May 1917 and it was passed at public meetings throughout India.

Gandhi visited Karachi, Calcutta and other places to address enthusiastic public meetings. He used to travel alone shadowed by the police. The fellow passengers used to take him to be a sadhu and protest against the harassment of a harmless man. It was difficult for Gandhi to pacify them. He had not then received "the stamp of mahatmaship", though the shout of that name was quite common where people knew him.

Simultaneously with Gandhi's agitation, a women's deputation consisting of Lady Tata, Mrs. Petit, Dilshau Begum and other prominent ladies waited upon the Viceroy who gave them an encouraging reply. Public agitation and preparedness for satyagraha compelled the Viceroy to stop the indenture emigration from India on April 12. Though the ban was meant for the duration of war, the indenture system was altogether abolished on January 1, 1920. It was as long ago as 1894 when Gandhi drafted the first petition protesting against the indenture system and then had hoped that this semi-slavery would some day be brought to an end.

There was another obnoxious system of labour prevailing on the plantations in India. Gandhi had seen packets of indigo, but did not know that it was grown and manufactured at great hardships by thousands of helpless agriculturists. The woes of indigo cultivators Gandhi first heard at the Congress session in 1916. Rajkumar Shukla, an agriculturist from Bihar, who was filled with a passion "to wash away the stain of indigo", caught hold of Gandhi at Lucknow. He even had insisted that a friend of labourers in South Africa should move the resolution from the Congress platform. Gandhi would not do it because he was not well posted with facts. "I can give no opinion without seeing the condition," he replied. But he promised that he would include Champaran in his tour and give it a day or two. Shukla followed Gandhi from place to place till at last he got a fixed day from him to visit Champaran. Gandhi had not heard of the place and he did not know its geographical position.

Champaran is situated in the north-western corner of Bihar. The biggest river in that district is the Ganclak, which in the olden times flowed right through the middle of the district. The Gandak has changed its course but traces of its old course are still there in the shape of lakes, about forty in number in the whole district. Many of these are deep but their water is not drinkable. It was used in indigo factories many of which were constructed on the banks of these lakes.

There are only two towns in Champaran—Motihari, which is the headquarters of the district, and Bettiah—and 2,841 villages. And out of two million population, ninety-eight per cent inhabit the rural areas. Like other districts of Bihar there is preponderance of Hindus in Champaran. Bhojpuri, a dialect of Hindi, is used by Hindus and Muslims as well.

Indigo cultivation in Champaran went back to a couple of centuries. In the earlier days all lessees were Indian and they had been there from before 1793. Later on, the Europeans captured the indigo and sugarcane cultivation and slowly they spread their net all over Champaran district. The poor agriculturists were cheated, cajoled and cocreed into agreeing to grow indigo on their lands.

Gandhi, who had gone to Calcutta to attend the meeting of the All- India Congress Committee, started on April 9, 1917 with Shukla and arrived in Patna on the morning of April 10. Shukla took him straight to the house of Rajendra Prasad. In the absence of the host, who was in Puri, his servant, not knowing who Gandhi was, treated him as an ordinary visitor. Gandhi stopped for a while at Rajcndra Prasad's house, but Mazharal Haque, a co-student of his in London and ex-President of the Muslim League, took him to his place.

The same evening Gandhi accoxnpanied by Rajkumar Shukla started for Muzaffarpur, reaching there at ten in the night. J. B. Kripalani, who was at that time a professor in the MuzafTarpur Government College was present at the station with some of his students to receive Gandhi, with whom he had been in correspondence but had never met before. A large number of people who had come to receive Gandhi at the station offered him arati and dragged his carriage.

Gandhi stayed with Kripalani in his hostel that night. In the morning some lawyers called on Gar.dhi and took him to the house of Gaya Babu.

Brajkishore Babu now arrived from Darbhanga and Rajendra Prasad from Puri. Both of them practised law. Their humility, simplicity and goodness impressed Gandhi.

The lawyer politicians of Bihar used to console themselves by taking up the cases of the poor tenants and thought that they were thus helping the poor, though they took fees from them. The standard of barristers' fees and vakils' charges in Bengal and Bihar staggered Gandhi. The usual charge of a barrister ran into four figures.

Having studied the eases of the indigo workers, Gandhi told the lawyer friends that recourse to courts in such eases was useless. He wanted the ryots first to get rid of fear. "We cannot sit still until we have driven lin- kathia out of Bihar," said Gandhi. "I had thought that I should be able to leave from here in two days, but I now realize that the work might take even two years. I am prepared to give that time, if necessary."

Gandhi told the lawyer friends that their assistance was needed but he had no use of their legal knowledge. "I want clerical assistance and help in interpretation," he said. "It may be necessary to face imprisonment, but much as I would love you to run that risk, you would go only so far as you feel yourselves capable of going. Even turning yourselves into clcrks and giving up your profession for an indefinite period is no small thing. I find it difficult to understand local dialect of Hindi, and I shall not be able to read papers written in Kaithi or Urdu. I shall want you to translate them for me. We cannot afford to pay you for this work. It should be done for love and out of a spirit of service."

The vakils were first taken aback, but they said they would do as much as they could. The idea of accommodating oneself to imprisonment was a novel thing to them. But that, too, they said, they would try their best to assimilate.

On April 11, Gar.dhi visited Mr. Wilson, the secretary of the Planters' Association, and explained to him the object of his mission. The secretary promised Gandhi to give such assistance as he would be able to render in his personal capacity but he said that he could not take any responsibility on behalf of the association. He added that Gandhi was an outsider and had no business to come between the planters and their tenants.

The same evening a number of lawyers of MuzafTarpur came to meet Gandhi. One of them pressed him to proceed to Champaran immediately, to which he agreed. On April 12 Gandhi sent intimation of his arrival to Mr. Morshead, the Commissioner of the Tirhut division, and asked for an appointment to meet him.

The commissioner granted an interview on April 13 but expressed his disapproval of Gandhi's visit to Bihar and inquired who had brought him there. He assured Gandhi that inquiry was being made on behalf of the Government and advised him to quit Champaran. Gandhi told him that he had been receiving letters from the people for a long time complaining about the conditions of the indigo workers and, therefore, he wanted to see the conditions with his own eyes.

On his return from the commissioner's bungalow, Gandhi asked some prominent Congressmen to give a letter to the effect that they requested him to hold an inquiry in Champaran. Along with the letter he sent an intimation to the commissioner saying that he had come to find the truth with regard to the relations between the planters and the ryots. He further added that all he wanted was peace with honour.

Gandhi cautioned his co-workers that there was every likelihood of the Government stopping him from proceeding further and that he might have to go to jail earlier than he had expected. He added it would be best that the arrest should take place in Motihari or if possible in Bettiah.

In the evening of April 14, Gandhi visited a neighbouring village. He entered the huts of some poor peasants and talked to little children and women. When he was leaving the village he remarked that India would get swaraj only when the condition of these people improved. At night he had talks with the co-workers. He narrated to them his experiences in South Africa and the readiness of the people there to court imprisonment. But he said that he would not get men in Bihar to sacrifice everything at once.

The news of Gandhi's arrival had reached all over Champaran and a large number of tenants came all the way to Muzaffarpur. Gandhi heard their complaints and studied such documents as he could get. The reports he received were so harrowing that Gandhi's resolve to visit Champaran was becoming firmer and firmer.

On April 15, Gandhi accompanied by two local interpreters, Dharanidhar and Ramnavmi Prasad, started by the midday train for Motihari. As he was expecting arrest any moment he had kept his things, except a few necessary articles, separately in a trunk. A number of people saw him off. On the way, at every station hundreds of tenants had assembled to greet him. He reached Motihari at three and went straight to Gorakh Prasad's house, which was besieged by a large crowd to have his darshan.

On April 16 at nine in the morning, Gandhi and his two interpreters started for Jasaulipatti on an elephant, a common means of communication in Bihar. Gandhi was not used to riding an elephant and the strong west wind was blowing dust and sand. The sun was hot and the journey was extremely uncomfortable. Gandhi discussed on the way the purdah system in Bihar. He observed: "It is not my desire that our women should adopt the western mode of living; but we must realize what harm this pernicious system does to their health and in how many ways they are deprived of the privilege of helping their husbands."

By noon they had covered nine miles and reached Chandrahia. It was one of the villages that fed the Motihari Factory. While Gandhi was having a talk with a passerby, who explained the real conditions in the village, a policc sub-inspector on bicycle appeared on the scene. He told Gandhi that the collector had sent his compliments. Gandhi requested the police officer to arrange for a conveyance and told his companions to proceed at once to the original destination and to do the work there. "I was expecting that something of this sort would happen," he remarked. The sub-inspector brought a bullock cart and Gandhi started in it for Motihari, while his two companions proceeded to Jasaulipatti.

On the way the police sub-inspector asked Gandhi to leave the cart and take to an ekka. When they had gone a short distance, the deputy superintendent of police was seen coming in a tandem and Gandhi was taken from the ekka to the tandem. And when they had gone a little further he showed a notice dated April 16 to Gandhi, who quietly read it. The order asked Gandhi to abstain from remaining in the district of Champaran, which he was required to leave by the next available train. To the notice was annexed a copy of a letter from the commissioner addressed to the district magistrate of Champaran: "It was doubtful whether the intervention of a stranger in the middle of the treatment of our case would not prove an embarrassment. I have the honour to request you to direct him to leave Champaran at once if he should appear."

Gandhi on his arrival at Motihari sent a reply to the magistrate: "Out of a sense of public responsibility I feel it to be my duty to say that I am unable to leave the district but if it so pleases the authorities, I shall submit to the order by suffering the penalty of disobedience. My desire is purely and simply for a genuine seareh for knowledge. And this I shall continue to satisfy so long as I am left free."

Gandhi kept awake the whole night writing letters and giving necessary instructions to Babu Brajkishore Prasad. He prepared also a plan for the guidance of those who were to carry on the work in his absence.

Telegrams were pouring in from all parts of India. Mazharal Haque wired his readiness to start, if required. Malaviya expressed his willingness to come, leaving the Hindu University work. Rajendra Prasad was asked to come at once with volunteers. Andrews joined the party, and went to see the collector, but could not meet him.

On April 17 a large number of tenants came to Motihari and their statements were being recorded. The police sub-inspector arrived on the scene and began to note down the names of those who were present there. Gandhi continued his work unperturbed.

The work of recording the statements of tenants went on the whole day. When no summons was received till the evening, Gandhi intimated the magistrate his intention of visiting a village sixteen miles from Motihari. He also informed the magistrate that as he did not intend doing anything seeretly, it would be better if a police officer accompanied him. The magistrate wrote back saying that he would be charged with an offence under seetion 188 I.P.C., that a summons would be issued against him, and that he hoped that Gandhi would not leave Motihari.

Shortly the summons came calling upon Gandhi to appear before the subdivisional officer on April 18. Gandhi further discussed the situation with his co-workers. He asked them, "What will you do after I am sent to jail?" The workers were at a loss. The discussion continued the whole night. Gandhi prepared a statement to be read before the court. He also wrote letters to the secretary of the Planters' Association and the commissioner in which he recounted the grievances of the tenants and suggested remedies. He gave instructions to his secretary that these and some other letters should be posted only after his imprisonment.

The eyes of the country were now turned towards Champaran. By twelve noon, April 18, Gandhi was preparing himself to go to jail for the sake of the poor and oppressed labourers of Bihar. The work of recording statements was stopped that day and the tenants were informed that this work would commence again on the following day. At quarter past twelve Gandhi, accompanied by two interpreters, started in a carriage for the court. His companions told him that they had decided to follow him to jail. Gandhi said with joy, "Now I know we shall succeed."

Although no information had been given to the tenants about the new development, the news had somehow reached even the distant villages and several thousand peasants had assembled in the court compound. When Gandhi entered the court room, he was followed by about 2,000 men who, in their anxiety to get in, broke the glass-panes of the doors. The magistrate ordered Gandhi to get in the mokhtiar's library and sent for armed police to prevent the people from entering the court room.

Gandhi was brought into the court room. The Government pleader was ready with law books to face the barrister. He tried to presi the magistrate to postpone the case. But Gandhi intervened and requested the magistrate not to postpone the case, as he wanted to plead guilty to having disobeyed the order to leave Champaran and read a brief statement:

"With the permission of the court I would like to make a brief statement showing why I have taken a very serious step of seemingly disobeying the order made under seetion [44 of Cr. P.C. In my humble opinion it is a question of difference of opinion between the local administration and myself. I have entered the country with motives of rendering humanitarian and national service. I have done so in response to a pressing invitation to come and help the ryots, who urge they are not being fairly treated by the indigo planters. I could not render any help without studying the problem. I have, therefore, come to study it with the assistance, if possible, of the administration and the planters. I have no other motive and cannot believe that my coming can in any way disturb public peace and cause loss of life. I claim to have considerable cxpcrience in such matters. The administration, however, have thought differently. I fully appreciate their difficulty and admit, too, that they can only proceed upon information they receive. As a law-abiding citizen my first instinct would be, as it was, to obey the order served upon me. But I would not do so without doing violence to my sense of duty to those for whom I came. I feel that I could just now serve them only by remaining in their midst. I could not, therefore, voluntarily retire. Amidst this conflict of duty I could only throw the responsibility of removing me on the administration. I am fully conscious of the fact that a person, holding in the public life of India a position such as I do, has to be most careful in setting examples. It is my firm belief that in the complex constitution under which we are living the only safe and honourable course for a self-respecting man is, in the circumstances such as face me, to do what I have decided to do, that is, to submit without protest to the penalty of disobedience.

"I venture to make this statement not in any way in extenuation 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 lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience."

The order under seetion 144 in this case was wholly illegal. The magistrate could not make up his mind what to do next. He repeatedly asked Gandhi if he pleaded guilty. Gandhi replied, "I have said whatever I have to say in my statement." The magistrate told him that that did not contain a clear plea of guilty. "I do not wish to waste the time of the court and I plead guilty," said Gandhi. "If you leave the district now and promise not to return, the ease against you would be withdrawn," the magistrate- said. "That cannot be," replied Gandhi. "Not to speak of this time alone, I shall make Champaran my home even after my return from jail."

The magistrate was at a loss and said that the matter required consideration and that he would pass orders at 3 o'clock. The trial had taken only half an hour and Gandhi returned to his lodgings, and wired full details to the Viceroy, to friends in Patna, as also to Pandit Malaviya and others.

Gandhi appeared before the magistrate shortly before 3 o'clock. The magistrate told him that he would pass orders on April 21, but he would release him in the meantime on a bail of Rs. 100. Gandhi said he had no bailor and could not offer bail. The magistrate offered to release him on his personal recognizance. Gandhi returned to his lodgings and sent information to his friends and newspapers, but requested them not to start any agitation in the press until the Government orders were known.

Meanwhile Mazharal Haque, Brajkishore Babu, Anugraha Narayan, Shambu Saran, Rajendra Prasad and Polak arrived in Motihari. They held consultations and decided that in ease Gandhi was jailed, Haque and Brajkishore should take the lead. And if they were removed others should continue the work.

From April 19 onwards, batches after batches of tenants began to pour in, and Gandhi and his party recorded their statements from 6.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. every day. Before putting anything on paper the tenants were cross-examined so that nothing false should appear in their statements. To help in this work a number of volunteers had arrived and a house had to be rented to lodge them.

Before Gandhi could receive the sentence, the magistrate sent a written message on April 20 that the Lt.-Governor had ordered the case against Gandhi to be withdrawn. The collector wrote to Gandhi saying that he was at liberty to conduct the proposed inquiry and that he might count on whatever help he needed from the officials.

On April 22 Gandhi started for Bettiah. The people cheered him and showered flowers on him. The Bettiah platform was so overcrowded that the train had to be stopped some way ofr to avoid accident. When Gandhi got down from a third-class compartment and entered a carriage, people unharnessed the horses to pull the carriage themselves but Gandhi would not allow it.

On April 23 he saw Mr. Lewis, the subdivisional magistrate of Bettiah, and Mr. Whitty, the manager of the Bettiah Raj. On the following day, Gandhi and Brajkishore paid a visit to Laukaria. There Gandhi talked to the villagers and inquired about their wages. Mr. Lewis, who never before had met the people, visited the place where the statements were being recorded. The tenants fearlessly talked of their grievances. Gandhi spent two days in the village, and on the evening of April 25 he came back all the way walking from Laukaria to Bettiah.

Early in the morning of April 27, Gandhi and his party started on foot from Narkatiaganj station for Murali Bharahwa. They managed to reach Rajkumar Shukla's village by 10 o'clock. Gandhi found Shukla's house in dilapidated condition. It had been looted by the agents of the factory owners. A number of villagers gave evidence which Gandhi recorded. At night the party rested in the village of Bclwa and the next morning they returned to Bettiah.

Gandhi had recorded full statements of thousands of tenants. The local authorities were very much upset and thought that their prestige would go down. The Bihar workers were apprehensive that the Government would try to destroy the records and possibly extern all the leaders from Champaran under the Defence of India Act. The discussions continued till late at night. The same evening, on April 28, Mr. Lewis sent a copy of a report which he was submitting to the Government for Gandhi's perusal. Gandhi returned the report with his note the same night.

On May 1 Gandhi, accompanied by Brajkishore Babu, went to Motihari. The next day he held a meeting of planters but nothing came out of it. On May 3 after seeing the district magistrate and the settlement officer, he returned to Betuah.

The European community in Bihar tried to influence the Government. The local officers sent highly coloured reports. The planters sent a deputation to the authorities asking them to stop Gandhi's inquiry. Gandhi was telegraphically informed by the Chief Seeretary to the Government that he should meet Mr. W. Maude on May 10 in Patna.

Mr. Maude insisted that Gandhi should ask all his assistants to leave Champaran. Gandhi refused to comply with this request but agreed to submit a report of his inquiry as soon as possible and change the method of inquiry. On May 11 Gandhi returned to Bettiah and on the following day a report comprising the main heads of grievances of the tenants was prepared and copics of it were sent to Mr. Maude, the district officers, the manager of the Bettiah Raj, the seeretary of the Planters' Association, and the Indian leaders.

In about 2,250 words Gandhi wrote a masterly survey of Champaran struggle. Nearly 4,000 ryots had been examined and their statements taken after careful cross-examination. Several villages had been visited and many judgements of the courts were minutely studied.

Some of the charges made by Gandhi were: "The ryots always have fought against it and have only yielded to force. They have not received adequate consideration for the services. When, however, owing to the introduction of synthetic indigo the price of the local product fell they devised a means of saddling the losses upon the ryots. Where the ryots could not find cash, hand-notes and mortgage deeds were made for payment in instalments bearing interest at twelve per cent per annum. Under the tinkathia system the ryot has been obliged to give his best land for the landlord's crops, in some cases the land in the front of his house has been so used, he has been obliged to give his best time and energy also to it so that very little time has been left to him for growing his own crops—his means of livelihood. Cart-hire sattas have been forcibly taken from the ryots for supplying carts to the factories on hire insufficient even to cover the usual outlay. Inadequate wages have been paid to the ryots where labour has been impressed and even boys of tender age have been made to work against their will. Ploughs of the ryots have been impressed and detained by the factories for days together for ploughing factory lands for a trifling consideration and at a time when they required them for cultivating their own lands. Dasturi has been taken by the notoriously ill-paid factory amlas out of the wages received by the labourers often amounting to the fifth of their daily wages and also out of the hire paid for the carts. In some villages the chamars have been forced to give up to the factories the hides of the dead cattle belonging to the ryots. Illegal fines, often of heavy amounts, have been imposed by factories upon ryots who have proved unbending. Among the other methods adopted to bend the ryots to their will, the planters have impounded the ryots' cattle, posted peons in their houses, withdrawn from them barbers', dhobis', carpenters' and smiths' services, have prevented the use of village wells and pasture lands by ploughing up the pathway and the lands just in front of or behind their homesteads, have brought or promoted civil suits or criminal complaints against them and resorted to actual physical force and wrongful confinements. The planters have successfully used the institutions of the country to enforce their will against the ryots and have not hesitated to supplement them by taking the law in their own hands. The result has been that the ryots have shown an abject helplessness, such as I have not witnessed in any part of India where I have travelled. I am aware, too, that there are some Indian zamindars who are open to the charges made above. Relief is sought for in their cases as in those of the planters. Whilst there can be no doubt that the latter have inherited a vicious system, they with their trained minds and superior position have rendered it to an exact science, so that the ryots would not only have been unable to raise their heads above water but would have sunk deeper still had not the Government granted some protection. But that protection has been meagre and pro wokingly slow and has often come too late to be appreciated by the ryots. Grievances have been set forth which are not likely to be disputed. And they are so serious as to require an immediate relief."

In conclusion, Gandhi added: "I have no desire to hurt the planters' feeling. I have received every courtesy from them. Believing as I do that ryots are labouring under a grievous wrong from which they ought to be freed immediately, I have dealt as calmly as is possible for me to do so, with the system which the planters are working. I have entered upon my mission in the hope that they as Englishmen born to enjoy the fullest personal liberty and freedom, will not be grudging the ryots of Champaran the same measure of liberty and freedom."'

On the upper floor of the dharmashala of Hazarimal at Bettiah there was a small room which Gandhi had made his residence. His assistants stayed on the ground floor where they used to record the statements. The number of tenants visiting the place used to be so large that the outer door had to be closed. Only those tenants used to be taken to Gandhi whose statements required his attention. However, many tenants would not like to leave the place without seeing Gandhi. The gate was, therefore, kept open every afternoon and they were allowed to go up to the extensive roof of the dharmashala.

Gandhi's popularity disturbed the planters. They tried to slander him and his co-workers through the newspapers. Gandhi occasionally sent all available information to the Government officials and kept the prominent leaders of the country informed of what was happening in Champaran. At the same time not one of these bulletins or any of the facts mentioned therein was ever allowed to be published in newspapers.

On receipt of Gandhi's report, the Government called for reports from the district officers, the settlement officer and the planters before June 30. Meanwhile the planters tried their best to malign the ryots. An inspired press report said that a part of the Olaha Factory had been burnt, causing a loss of several thousands to the owner and that the planters suspected it to be a case of inccndiarism. Vested interests left no stone unturned.

The manager of Dhokraha Factory invited Gandhi to see his plantation. On May 16 Gandhi visited Dhokraha accompanied by Rajendra Prasad and Professor Kripalani.

Three hundred tenants met Gandhi in an orchard in the presence of the manager and the subdivisional magistrate. The manager introduced to Gandhi a ryot who said: "All the people are perfectly happy under the factory and they get all kinds of advantage." Here the rest of the tenants began to shout, "This man is a traitor; sahib had tutored him."

Gandhi announced to the assembled tenants that he had been informed by the manager that they had taken the hunda settlements willingly and if they did not like the zerait land they were at liberty to surrender it. No sooner had he said this than all the tenants said in one voice, "We surrender the zerait lands, we don't want them; let the sahib cultivate what he can on them."

The manager interrupted and indignandy shouted, "If they do not like this I would make them grow indigo." Gandhi smiled and said, "Just a minute ago you had said that hunda settlement had no connection whatsoever with indigo and that by cultivating the zerait lands you would be able to make more profit than you were now getting. In those circum- stanccs it is a matter both of profit and good name to you if you take back these lands and release the tenants from what they evidently consider to be a burden."

Boldly the tenants now began to complain even against the subdivisional magistrate. After the sahibs had left, Gandhi asked his assistants to take down the names of those who wished to surrender their hunda lands. The work was finished after many hours of labour and Gandhi and his party reached Bettiah at about nine in the night.

Dhokraha and Lohcria were two adjoining factories under the same management. On May 17 the tenants from these factories came to Bettiah to surrender their hunda lands. Gandhi wrote a letter to the manager detailing all that had happened and sent the list of tenants who wanted to surrender their lands. Within two days, about 500 ryots surrendered their lands with the crops standing on them.

There were several attempts on the part of the planters to create trouble and hinder the inquiry work. On May 20 Gandhi stated: "It is a well- known fact that the desire of the planters is that my friends and I should not carry on our work. I can only say that nothing but physical force from the Government or an absolute guarantee that the admitted or proverbial wrongs of the ryots are to stop for ever, can possibly remove us from the district. What I have seen of the condition of the ryots is sufficient to convince me that if we withdraw at this stage, we would stand condemned before man and God and, what is more important of all, we would never be able to forgive ourselves." Gandhi concluded the statement assuring the planters of the peaceful nature of his mission and asking for such help as the authorities could vouchsafe against the planters' intimidation.

Gandhi was summoned by Sir Edward Gait, the Lt.-Governor, to see him at Ranchi on June 4. His colleagues feared that possibly he might not be allowed to return from Ranchi. They discusscd the future plan of action if that came to pass.

Patna began to throb with activity. A conference of workers was held and it was decided that if any action was taken against Gandhi, either Haque or Malaviya should take the charge of the work in Champaran. Correspondence with the leaders was started. Gandhi and Brajkishore Babu left for Ranchi, while Malaviya who had specially come to Patna returned to Allahabad.

On the eve of Gandhi's interview with the Lt.-Governor, the Pioneer published a long letter written by Mr. Irwin, the manager of the Motihari Factory: "Mr. Gandhi, I believe, is a well-intentioned philanthropist but he is a crank and fanatic and is too utterly obsessed with his partial success in South Africa and his belief that he has been ordained by the Providence to be a rightcr of wrongs." The letter further made a frontal attack on Gandhi's co-workcrs: "What do these people care for ryots save to make use of them for their own purpose?" It was also alleged that Gandhi was being made a cat's paw "by Home Rule politicians, who hope to demonstrate on this for them a happy hunting-ground of Champaran, that the officials and non-officials go hand in hand to oppress the population and so prove that the district and incidentally all India is being misgoverned under the British raj."

Gandhi's men had all taken their respective places by June 4 to meet any contingency and were every minute expecting news from Ranchi. On the morning of June 5 a telegram from Gandhi arrived saying, "Today's interview satisfactory, meeting again tomorrow." For three days he had long interviews with Sir Edward Gait and the members of his Executive Council, as a result of which it was decided that an inquiry committee should be appointed and that Gandhi should be one of its members. On the morning of June 7 Gandhi, accompanied by Kasturbai, Devadas and Brajkishore, arrived at Patna, reaching Bettiah the next day.

On June 13 the Government announced the appointment of a committee of inquiry, with Mr. F. G. Sly, the Commissioner of the Central Provinces, as its president. The committee was to meet by about July 15 and complete their labours within three months.

Before the commencement of the committee work, Gandhi decided to pay a visit to Bombay and his assistants also were given a short holiday. The recording of the statements of the tenants was stopped from June 12. Till then more than 8,000 statements of the tenants had been recorded. More and more tenants began to arrive but they were told that no more statements were to be recorded and their grievances would be considered by the committee. However, the statements began to pour in by post.

During his absence of about a fortnight, the Bihar workers studied the documents and prepared ground for his work on the official committee. Gandhi, accompanied by Dr. Deva of the Servants of India Society, returned to Motihari on June 28.

Gandhi devoted a week to study the accumulated evidence. On July 5 he left Motihari, reaching Ranchi on the 7th. The committee met on July xi, and decided to hold its sittings at Bettiah, Motihari and other places from July 17.

Gandhi's inclusion in the committee had raised high hopes in the minds of the ryots and a large crowd came to Bettiah. By July 16 no less than ten thousand tenants had assembled. All members were busy with the committee work but Gandhi made it a point to come out in the afternoon and meet the eager villagers. In a short speech he explained to them that the committee was appointed to redress their grievances, that they should not go in large numbers to the meeting-place of the committee, and if they had to make any complaint they should do so before his assistants.

On July 17 examination of the witnesses commenced at Bettiah. On behalf of the planters Mr. Kennedy, a well-known lawyer of Muzaffarpur, was watching the proceedings. Gandhi's assistants and the tenants were admitted to the committee on tickets. Mr. Sweeny, the settlement officer, was the first witness and his examination took the whole day. On July 18 the manager of the Bettiah Raj and an official were examined. On the following day Rajkumar Shukla put forward the case of the tenants. There were in all five sittings at Bettiah.

The sixth sitting of the inquiry committee was held at Motihari on July 25. There, too, the tenants came in large numbers. After two sittings the committee members returned to Bettiah.

By August 14 the last evidence was recorded at Bettiah. Gandhi placed before the committee the statements of a number of tenants and a great many judgements of courts. The work of the committee for the time being came to a close, and the next sitting was fixed some time late in September. Gandhi started for Ahmedabad on August 16, leaving Rajendra Prasad in charge of the work in Champaran.

On September 22 Gandhi returned to Ranchi. After prolonged discussions the members of the committee signed a unanimous report on October 3. The Government published their resolution on October 18, accepting almost all the recommendations of the inquiry committee. The Champaran Agrarian Bill introduced by Mr. Maude on November 29 was passed and became an act within a few months.

From Ranchi Gandhi returned to Champaran and stayed there till October 12. From there he went to Bombay, handing over the charge of tenants to the Bihar leaders.

His work in Champaran still remained unfinished. It was his opinion that one of the main reasons of the sufferings of the poor tenants was their ignorance. He issued a public appeal inviting voluntary teachers. Baba- saheb Soman and Pundlik from Karnatak, Avantikabai Gokhale from Bombay, Anandibai Vaishampayan and Shankarrao Deo from Poona offered their services. Gandhi also brought Chhotelal, Surendranath and Devadas from the ashram to help in the work. About this time Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh with their wives cast in their lot with Gandhi, and Kasturbai also joined the contingent.

On November 8 Gandhi arrived in Champaran from Bombay with his volunteers. The first school was opened on November 14 in a village of the Bettiah Raj, about twenty miles cast of Motihari. Within a week a second school was opened in a village forty miles north-west of Bettiah. A sadhu offered a rent-free land of a temple for the school which was opened on November 20 in a straw hut erected for the purpose. Soman, Kasturbai and Dr. Deva touk charge of this school. Within the next three weeks, a third school was opened at Madhubani which was conducted by Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, and Kripalani.

About these village schools, Gandhi wrote thus: "In the schools I am opening, children under the age of twelve only are admitted. The idea is to get hold of as many children as possible and to give them an all-round education, a good knowledge of Hindi or Urdu and, through that medium, of arithmetic and rudiments of history and geography, a knowledge of simple scientific principles and some industrial training. No cut and dried syllabus has yet been prepared because I am going on an unbeaten track. I look upon our present system with horror and distrust. Instead of developing the moral and mental faculties of the little children it dwarfs them. In my experiment, whilst I shall draw upon what is good in it, I shall endeavour to avoid the defects of the present system. The chief thing aimed at is contact of children with men and women of culture and unimpeachable moral character. That to me is education. Literary training is to be used merely as a means to that end. The industrial training is to be designed for the boys and the girls who may come to us for an additional means of livelihood. It is not intended that on completing their education they should leave their hereditary occupation but make use of the knowledge acquired in the school to refine agriculture and agricultural life. Our teachers will also touch the lives of grown-up people and, if at all possible, penetrate the purdah. Instruction will be given to grown-up people in hygiene and about the advantages of joint action, for the promotion of communal welfare, such as, the making of village roads proper, the sinking of wells, etc. And as no school will be manned by teachers who are not men or women of good training, we propose to give free medical aid as far as possible."

About 140 children were being taught at the Barharwa village school. Here weaving was taught and people were trained in the art of corporate action by making them keep their huts, wells, roads and villages clean. The parents were taught to keep their children clean and tidy.

The Bhitharwa school was situated in a locality where once complete ignorance prevailed. The number of children here never exceeded forty. The climate of the place was extremely unhealthy. Dr. Deva gave the villagers practical lessons in hygiene and elementary medicine and treated the patients.

These village schools were run most economically. One of the conditions was that the villagers should provide the teachers with board or lodging. The villagers willingly contributed grain and other raw produce. Medical relief was a simple affair. Castor oil, quinine and sulphur ointment were the only drugs provided to the volunteers. No patient was permitted to take home any medicine but he was treated on the premises of the school. Dr. Deva used to visit each centre on the fixed days. A number of people availed themselves of the medical aid. Sanitation was a difficult proposition. The people were not prepared to do anything themselves. Even the field labourers were not ready to do their own scavenging. But Gandhi's men were not the persons to lose heart. They swept the roads, cleaned out the wells, filled up the pools, and persuaded the villagers to raise volunteers from amongst themselves.

Gandhi asked Kasturbai to inquire why the village women did not wash their clothes. When she spoke to them about it, one woman took Kasturbai into her hut and said: "Look now, there is no box or cupboard here containing other clothes. The sari I am wearing is the only one I have. How am I to wash it? Tell Mahatmaji to get me another sari, and I shall then promise to bathe and put on clean clothes every day." In those days a male labourer's wage did not exceed ten pice, a female's did not exceed six and a child's three.

In imparting knowledge to the poor villagers, Gandhi wanted the cooperation of the planters. But it was not to be so. They even put obstacles and the schools had to be opened away from the factories. But even then the planters frowned upon Gandhi's activities. Bhitharwa School, soon after its inauguration, was set on fire. In no time did the workers succeed in erecting a new structure, carrying bricks on their own heads. Gandhi used to visit the schools by turn and suggest improvements in them. After six months of work, the first batch of volunteers was replaced by a new one. In Champaran, where the great sages in olden times used to do penance, Gandhi realized the mission of his life and forged a weapon "by which India could be made free".

38. New Spirit ( 1917 )

THE BEST part of 1917 was passed by Gandhi in Champaran. But he had to attend to several other things besides. In the middle of the year plague broke out in Kochrab, where his ashram was situated. The environment was not to Gandhi's liking. He wanted the ashram at a safe distance both from town and village, and yet at a manageable distance from either. The plague, Gandhi felt, was sufficient notice to quit Kochrab. With the help of a merchant friend, he secured in June a suitable land on the bank of the Sabarmati river. Its vicinity to the Sabarmati jail was for Gandhi a special attraction.

There was no building on the land and no tree. Its situation and its solitude were inviting. Ashram inmates decided to start by living under canvas and having a tin shed for a kitchen till permanent houses were built. The extensive plot of ground measuring about twenty acres which had been a waste land was infested with snakes. The general rule was not to kill them. The ashram was managed by Maganlal as Gandhi was pre-occupicd with national problems.

Mrs. Besant, Tilak and Gandhi were in great prominence. The political slogan everywhere was Home Rule. New life began to pulsate.

Tilak toured extensively and delivered inspiring speeches in Calcutta, Delhi, Mathura, Nagpur, Akola, God lira, Surat, Dhulia, Sholapur and other places. His message was: "Be prepared to say that you are a Home Ruler. Say that you must liave it and I dare say when you are ready, you will get it. I believe by that faith you will be able to realize your object within a year or two." Tilak went to the masses, spoke to the students, workers and peasants.

In March 1917 the Government of India issued a circular to local governments outlining the policy to be pursued with regard to the Home Rule agitation. Students were prohibited from attending meetings where Home Rule was likely to be propagated. The authorities exaggerated the nature of Indian demands, deprecated them in strong language, enjoined on the people abstension from all political agitation and launched repressive measures.

Next to Maharashtra, Madras was the most active province and Mrs. Besant was the spirit behind it. The great Irish woman, with her eloquence and spirited writings in New India, gave a trumpet call for Home Rule. Her journal came under the wrath of the Madras bureaucracy. She fought back. The Government helped the Justice Party in South India, consisting mostly of non-Brahmin landlords and rich merchants, which declared itself against Home Rule, supported the British autocracy and began an attack on all who stood for the Congress ideal.

On June 16 Lord Pentland, the Governor of Madras, tried to gag the Home Rule movement by an order of internment on Mrs. Besant and her co-workers. There was a country-wide agitation against the internment order and contrary to the expectations of the bureaucracy, the Home Rule agitation prospered.

The words "Home Rule" were chosen as a short popular cry, marking the fact that the struggle was not for separation from Great Britain but for liberty within the empire. It was a common demand of the Extremists as well as the Moderates, of the Congress and of the Muslim League. There was no hindrance to the war effort. On the contrary the leaders asked the citizens to help Britain. Tilak appealed to the people to join the army: "We need the protection of England even as a matter of pure self-interest. This is the keynote to which the song of Home Rule must be tuned; you must not forget that it is the connection with England and the education she gave that has given rise to the ambitions that fill your hearts today."

A joint meeting of the All-India Congress Committee and the Council of the Muslim League was convened on July 28. A small deputation consisting of Jinnah, Sastri, Sapru and Wazir Hassan was appointed to proceed to England, to explain and to promote the scheme of reform adopted at Lucknow. It also asked for an authoritative pronouncement "pledging the Imperial Government in unequivocal terms to the policy of making India a self-governing member of the British Empire". Tilak's voice reigned supreme at the joint session.

The joint meeting wanted to plan a campaign of passive resistance in order to secure the release of the Home Rule internees as also of the Ali brothers and Maulana Azad. Tilak disagreed with all those who sought to bring about the release of Mrs. Besant merely by prayers and petitions. "If we want to prove how keenly we feel for her," he said, "let us elect her president of the coming Congress."

World events and the tempo in India brought the Government round. 'I'hc Mesopotamian campaign went wrong, and Mr. Austen Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for India, was mercilessly criticized by Montagu for the muddle which had resulted from an inadequate supply of men and materials from India. Montagu characterized the India Government as "far too wooden, far too iron, far too inelastic and far too antediluvian to subserve iis purposes in modern times". The result was Chamberlain's resignation and Montagu's appointment as Secretary of State for India. Shortly after assuming office, Montagu made the following pronouncement on August 20, 1917:

"The policy of His Majesty's Government, with which the Government of India are in a complete accord, is that of the increasing association of Indians in every branch of administration, and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire. They have decided that substantial steps should be taken in this direction as soon as possible.

"I would add that progress in this policy can only be achieved by successive stages. The British Government and the Government of India, on whom the responsibility lies for the welfare and the advancement of the Indian peoples, must be the judges of the time and the measure of each advance and they must be guided by the co-operation received from those on whom new opportunities of service will thus be conferred, and by the extent to which it is found that confidence can be reposed in their sense of responsibility. Ample opportunity will be offered for public discussion of the proposals which will be submitted in due course to Parliament."

In pursuance of the new policy, Mrs. Besant and her associates were released in September. On October 6 a joint meeting of the All-India Congress Committee and the Council of the Muslim League was held at Allahabad and it was decided to send an all-India deputation to the Viceroy and the Secretary of State with a representation in support of the Congress-League Scheme. On November 26 the deputation consisting of, among others, Tilak, Gandhi, Jinnah, Sapru, Motilal Nehru, waited on Lord Chelmsford and Mr. Montagu, the first Secretary of State to pay a visit to India.

If there was any leader in India whose programme of work was not altered by Montagu's announcement and his visit to India, it was Tilak. He continued awakening the people to the importance of the Congress-League demand. On November 27 Tilak had a long interview with Montagu. Of Tilak, Montagu wrote in his diary: "He is at the moment probably the most powerful in India, and he has in his power, if he chooses, to help materially in war effort."

Though Gandhi had no share in drafting the Congress-League scheme he greatly popularized it in Gujarat by securing for it thousands of signatures and it was presented in the form of a petition to Montagu. He had insisted that signatures were only to be taken after careful explanation of the scope and the meaning of the scheme.

In November the Gujarat Political Conference met at Godhra under the presidentship of Gandhi. The commencement of the proceedings had to be slightly delayed until the arrival of Tilak. Gandhi spoke a few apologetic words for the delay, for which, he said, he was not responsible, and humorously added that they were asking Home Rule and it should not matter to them if they got it forty-five minutes later. He would not spare even Tilak for unpunctuality.

The first resolution stated: "We hereby express our fealty to our King- Emperor." Gandhi read the resolution and tore it up. "It would be vulgar to pass such a resolution," he remarked. "So long as we do not rebel, we must be taken to be loyal. If any questions are asked as to why no loyalty resolution was brought before the conference, tell them frankly, that it was all Gandhi's doing."

Tilak delivered a stirring speech in Marathi. Home Rule was his theme. He said: "The great claim of the bureaucracy is that it has made India prosperous. I would fain concede it, but the facts are against it. During their hundred years' work in India, I want to know what the bureaucracy has done to train the people industrially and otherwise and make them self-reliant." Tilak referred to Dadabhai's indictment of British rule and paid a warm tribute to the great work of the deceased patriot. He referred to the reverses of the allies and said : "What was wanted was that India's heart should be touched. Until that was done, it was not possible to expect great help from India. The people wanted self-government not only for their benefit but for the sake of the empire."

"In any struggle or crisis," Tilak observed, "a contented self-governing India was the greatest and the surest asset of the empire. A strong wave of democracy is passing all the world over and even the British Government have hailed the Russian Revolution as the first great triumph of the present war. Lord Sydenham's contention that we in India take advantage of Britain's troubles to agitate for self-government is false. We had already been agitating for self-government for more than thirty years. All over the world self-government is on the anvil, and India alone cannot be expected to sit still."

Tilak was the most dominating figure at the Calcutta Congress held in late December. His party comprised five hundred Nationalist delegates and they took with them the petition signed by over a million citizens in support of the demand for Home Rule. Tilak had voluntarily renounced the presidentship of the Congress and had himself sponsored Mrs. Besant as president. Tagore warmly supported the candidature of Mrs. Besant for the presidentship against the opposition of the Moderates. The poet attended the Congress session on the first day and recited "India's Prayer". He introduced also cultural programme during the Congress week by- staging The Post Office, which was attended by Tilak, Mrs. Besant, Gandhi and other prominent leaders.

Mrs. Besant's address was an elaborate thesis on self government. She observed: "India today stands erect, no suppliant people; her hand is stretched out to Britain in friendship, not in subservience; in co-operation, not in obedience. The war that has entered on its fourth year has for its true object the destruction of autocracy and the establishment of the god- given right to self-rule and self-development of every nation. Autocracy and bureaucracy must perish utterly in East and West."

The momentous session was attended by 4,967 delegates and about 5,000 visitors including 400 women. Although largely dominated by the Extremists, the session passed a resolution that "This Congress, speaking on behalf of the united people of India, begs respectfully to convey to His Majesty the King-Emperor their deep loyally and profound attachment to the throne, their unswerving allegiance to the British connection, and their firm resolve to stand by the empire at all hazards and at all costs."

Tilak piloted the Congress skilfully. The Montagu declaration had in a sense created a great confusion in the leaders' minds. Tilak suggested that until the Government scheme of reforms was published, the Congress should stick to the Lucknow Pact, which had received the unanimous support of the people. He argued that there was time enough to decide, after the Government published their report on the constitutional reforms, whether the Congress-League schcme should be modified or not. Another step was the insertion of a time-limit in the resolution on swaraj, for which Tilak had tried in vain at the Lucknow Congress. The discussion on the self-government resolution lasted for five houis with ten speakers among whom were Surendranath Banerjea, Jinnah, Jayakar, Bepin Chandra Pal, Malaviya and Dr. Ansari.

After recording the grief of the nation at the death of Dadabhai Naoroji and India's loyalty to the throne and welcome to Montagu, the Congress proceeded to ask for the release of the internees. Tilak moved the resolution on the release of the Ali brothers and Maulana Azad.

The Congress policy of abstention with regard to socio-religious questions was modified this year. The Congress adopted a definite resolution urging upon the people of India the necessity, justice and righteousness of removing all disabilities imposed by custom upon the Scheduled Castes.

The Muslim League session was held in Calcutta simultaneously with the Congress. In his presidential address, the Raja of Mahamudabad said : "The interests of the country are paramount. We need not tarry to argue whether we are Muslims first or Indians. The fact is that we are both, and to us the question of precedence has no meaning. The Muslim League has inculcated in the Muslims a spirit of sacrifice for this country as much for their religion."

39. With Peasants And Workers (1918 )

SOON AFTER the Congress session, Gandhi proceeded to Champaran to resume the constructive work. But he had to leave it to others and rush back to Ahmedabad in February 1918, in response to an appeal made by Anasuyabchn on behalf of the textile workers.

During the latter half of 1917 Ahmedabad was visited by plague of a virulent type. Just by way of inducement to stay and work, the millowners had been giving for some months to their weavers a daily bonus of twelve annas to a rupee over and above their daily wages of which the monthly average was Rs. 23. When the plague was over, the employers attempted to withdraw the bonus, though the prices of commodities had gone up considerably. Gandhi was in a delicate situation. Rich men of Ahmedabad used to contribute towards the expenses of the ashram. Shcth Arnbalal Sarabhai, who led the fray on behalf of the millowners of Ahmedabad, had friendly relations with Gandhi. The saving grace was that Anasuyabchn was pitted against her brother, Ambalal Sarabhai, and had stoutly espoused the workers' cause.

The dispute was referred to arbitration, Gandhi, Shankarlal Banker, and Vallabhbhai Patcl, acting as the representatives of the weavers, and Sheth Ambalal Sarabhai together with Jagabhai and Chandulal Chiman- lal representing the millowners. Mr. Chatfield, the collector, was chosen to act as umpire. But before the committee could commence its work, the unwilling millowners declared a lock-out on February 22, in which they persisted till March 11. When they opened the mills, it was the turn of the weavers to go on strike. They wanted fifty per cent increase in their wages. But the millowners had offered the small increment of twenty per cent, pointing out that in Bombay the weavers' monthly average did not exceed Ks. 28. Gandhi, alter careful investigation, thought thirty-five percent to be a reasonable mean and persuaded the weavers to accept it. Workers agreed, but the millowners remained adamant.

Gandhi now proceeded to launch a struggle on behalf of the workers. But before he led them, he requested Shankarlal Banker to inquire into their living conditions.

To lead the strike successfully, Gandhi evolved a new method and lie laid down these conditions: never to resort to violence; never to molest blacklegs; never to depend on alms; and to remain firm, no matter how long the strike continued, and to earn bread, during the strike, by any other honest labour.

The labourers pledged themselves at a general meeting rot to resume work until either their terms were accepted or the millownus agreed to refer the dispute to arbitration. Gandhi held daily meetings of the workers under the shade of a tree on the bank of the Sabarmati, and issued leaflets. The workers attended the meetings in their thousands, and he reminded them of their pledge and of their duty to maintain peace and self-respect. The workers daily paraded the streets of Ahmedabad in peaceful processions, carrying their banner bearing the inscription "Ek Tek", "keep the pledge."

The strike situation began to grow critical. Gandhi would not allow the weavers to degrade themselves by seeking maintenance out of charity. But to provide work for thousands of people was not easy. For the first two weeks the workers showed courage and self-restraint and daily held big meetings. But at last they began to show signs of flagging. Gandhi was afraid of an outbreak of rowdyism on their part thus losing their cause. Attendance at the daily meetings also began to dwindle, and despondency and despair were writ large on the faces of those who did attend.

During the strike Gandhi consulted the millowncrs from time to time and entreated them to do justice by the labourers. "We have our pledge too," they said. "Our relations with the labourers are those of parents and children. How can we brook the interference of a third party? Where is the room for arbitration?"

Events took a new turn on March 12, when the lock-out was ended and it was announced that the mills would be open to all those workers who were prepared to accept an increase of twenty per cent. Gandhi wanted the workers to stand by their pledge.

"Twenty-two days," in Gandhi's words, "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." The burden of the weavers' grumbling was: "It is all right for Gandhi Saheb to Iwcture us to fight unto death. But we have to starve."

In mid-March it was at a workers' meeting, while Gandhi was still groping, an idea occurred to him. "Let us both starve," he said, "in trying to keep your vows." Spontaneously these words came to his lips: "Unless the strikers rallv and continue the strike till a settlement is reached or till they leave the mills altogether, I will not touch any food."

The strikers were not prepared for these words. They said: "Not you, but we shall fast. It would be monstrous if yo i were to fast. Please forgive us for our lapse, we will now remain faithful to our pledge to the end."

"There is no need for you to fast," said Gandhi. "It would be enough if you could remain true to your pledge. As you know we are without funds, and we do not want to continue our strike by living on public charity. You should, therefore, try to eke out a bare existence by some kind of labour, so that you may be able to remain unconcerned, no matter how long the strike may continue. As for my fast, it will be broken only after the strike is settled."

Vallabhbhai Patel tried in vain to find employment for the strikers under the Ahmedabad municipality. Maganlal suggested that some of the strikers could work for filling the foundation of the weaving school in the ashram. Anasuyabchn led the way with a basket on her head and soon an endless stream of labourers carrying baskets of sand could be seen issuing out of the hollow of the river-bed.

Gandhi tried to set the millowners at case: "There is not the slightest necessity for you to withdraw from your position." They received Gandhi's words coolly, and even flung keen, delicate bits of sareasm at him.

Anasuyabchn and a number of strikers shared the fast with Gandhi on the first day. But he dissuaded them from continuing it further. The fast electrified the textile workers and restored their morale. The millowners, too, were touched. At the end of three days, arbitration was agreed to and Gandhi broke his fast. The employers celebrated the occasion by distributing sweets among the labourers, and a settlement was reached on March 19. At the meeting held under the very tree where the pledge had been taken, both the millowners and the commissioner were present to cclcbrate the settlement. The commissioner advised the strikers: "You should always act as Mr. Gandhi advises you."

No breathing time was in store for Gandhi. Hardly was the weavers' strike over, when he had to attend to the gricvanccs of the peasants in the Kheda district.

A condition approaching famine had arisen in the Kheda district owing to a widespread failure of crops. The patidars of Kheda were considering the question of getting the revenue assessment for the year suspended. Amritlal Thakkar, G. K. Deodhar and N. M. Joshi of the Servants of India Society had already inquired into and reported the matter to the commissioner before Gandhi gave any definite advice to the cultivators. Mohanlal Pandya and Shankarlal Parikh had thrown themselves into the fight. Vithalbhai Patel set up an agitation in the Bombay Legislative Council and more than one deputation had wailed upon the Governor in that connection.

The cultivators' demand was so moderate as to make out a strong case for its acceptance. Under the land revenue rules, if the crops were four annas or under, the cultivators could claim full suspension of the revenue assessment for the year. According to the official figures, the crop was said to be over four annas. The contention of the cultivators, on the other hand, was that it was less than four annas.

Gandhi personally visited over fifty villages and met as many men there as he could, inspected the fields belonging to them and after a searching cross-examination of the villagers, came to the conclusion that their crops were under four annas. He suggested that an impartial inquiry committee should be appointed. The Government turned down the suggestion, and insisted upon applying coercive measures for the collection of revenue. The final suggestion that Gandhi made was that although, in the majority of eases, people were entitled to full suspension, half suspension should be granted throughout the district, except for the villages which showed, by common conscnt, crops over six annas.

As the Government refused to grant the reasonable demand, Gandhi advised the patidars to resort to satyagraha on March 22, 1918.

Besides the volunteers of Kheda district, Gandhi's principal workers in this struggle were Vallabhbhai Patel, Shankarlal Banker, Anasuyabchn, Indulal Yajnik and Mahadev Desai. Gandhi fixed up his headquarters at the Nadiad Ananthashram.

The satyagrahis solemnly declared: "Knowing the crops of our villages are less than four annas, we requested the Government to suspend the collection of revenue assessment till the ensuing year, but the Government has not acceded to our prayer. Therefore, we, the undersigned, hereby solemnly declare, that we shall not, of our own accord, pay to the Government the full or the remaining revenue for the year. We shall let the Government take whatever legal steps it may think, and gladly suffer the consequences of our non-payment. We shall rather let our lands be forfeited, than that by voluntary payment we should allow our case to be considered false or should compromise our self-respect. Should the Government, however, agree to suspend collection of the second instalment of the assessment throughout the district, such amongst us as are in a position to pay will pay up the whole or the balance of the revenue that may be due. The reason why those who are able to pay still withhold payment is that if they pay up, the poorer ryots may in a panic sell their chattels or incur debts to pay their dues, and thereby bring suffering upon themselves. In these circumstanccs, we feel that for the sake of the poor, it is the duty even of those who can afford to pay to withhold payment of their assessment." The number of satyagrahis rose to over 2,000.

The commissioner blamed Gandhi for having inaugurated the movement at a time when the war was entering a critical stage. On April 15 Gandhi replied:

"The commissioner has invited a crisis. And he has made such a fetish of it that he armed himself beforehand with a letter from Lord Willingdon to the effect that even he should not interfere with the commissioner's decision. He brings in the war to defend his position and abjures the ryots and me to desist from our cause at this time of peril to the empire. But I venture to suggest the commissioner's attitude constitutes a peril far greater than the German peril, and I am serving the empire in trying to deliver it from this peril from within. There is no mistaking the fact that India is waking up from its long sleep. The ryots do not need to be literate to appreciate their rights and their duties. They have but to realize their invulnerable power and no Government, however strong, can stand against their will. The Kheda ryots are solving an imperial problem of the first magnitude in India. They will show that it is impossible to govern without their consent. War cannot be permitted to give a licence to the officials to exact obedience to their orders, even though the ryots may consider them to be unreasonable and unjust."

The commissioner gave a threat of confiscation of lands: "Those who are contumacious, will get no lands in the future. Government does not want their names on their records of rights. Those who go out shall never be admitted again."

In the initial stage, the Government did not take strong action. But as the peasants' firmness showed no signs of wavering, the authorities resorted to coercion. The officials sold their cattle and seized whatever movables they could lay hands on. Penalty notices were served, and standing crops were attached. This unnerved the peasants, some of whom paid up their dues, while others desired to place safe movables in the way of the officials so that they might attach them to realize the dues.

With a view to steeling the hearts of the peasants who were frightened, Gandhi advised the people to remove the crop of onion from a field, which had been wrongly attached. Mohanlal Pandya volunteered to remove the crop from the field and in this seven or eight men joined him. They were convicted and sentenced. The peasants besieged the court on the day of hearing. A procession csccrted the satyagrahi convicts to jail, and on that day Mohanlal Pandya earned from the people the honoured title of "Dungli Chor", "onion thief".

After about four months' struggle, the campaign came to an unexpected end. The mamlatdar of the Nadiad taluk sent Gandhi a word that if the well-to-do patidars paid up, the poorer ones would be granted suspension. The collector informed Gandhi that the orders declaring suspension in terms of the mamlatdar's letter had already been issued.

Gandhi accepted the conditions of the Government. The people's pledge had been fulfilled as it had the same objects. Meetings were held, some to greet the satyagrahis released from jail, sonic to celcbratc the victory and many more to do honour to Gandhi. At a meeting held on July 27 Gandhi, welcoming the released satyagrahis, said: "We stand on the threshold of a twilight—whether morning or evening we know not. One is followed by the night, the other heralds the dawn. If we want to see the dawning day after the twilight and not the mournful night, it behoves every one of us who are Home Rulers to realize the truth at this juncture, to stand for it against any odds and to preach and practise it at any cost unflinchingly. Only will the correct practice and truth entitle us to the name of Home Rulers."

In reply to an address on July 29 Gandhi said: "A servant of the people cannot accept honours. One who has made service his religion, cannot lust for honour; the moment he does so, he is lost. I, therefore, beseech you that if you want really to do me honour, do not give me a shower-bath of addresses and honours. The best way to honour me is to do iny behest and to carry my principles into practice."

"And what, forsooth, have I done in this campaign?" he asked. "If anything, I can only claim the cleverness that is necessary for a commander in picking out men for his campaign. I was clever enough in doing that, but there too I should not have achieved anything if you had not acquitted yourselves well. I will say that without the help of Vallabhbhai Patel, we should not have won the campaign. He had a splendid practice, he had his municipal work to do, but he renounced it all and threw himself in the campaign. But before I close, I must give my tribute of praise to those who deserve it more than all the rest and whose names probably will never adorn your honour's list—the sweeper in the Anathashram and the children of the ashram who have ungrudgingly served me."

40. Recruiting Sergeant ( 1918 )

GANDHI interested himself in several nation-building activities and expressed his views with fervour. Swadeshi was a burning passion with him. He constantly wrote and spoke advocating swadeshi in language, dress and thinking. "We commit a breach," said Gandhi, "of the swadeshi spirit certainly if we wear foreign-made cloth, but we do so also if we adopt the foreign cut. Surely the style of our dress has some correspondence with our environment. In elegance and tastefulness it is immeasurably superior to the trousers and the jacket. A11 Indian wearing a shirt flowing over his pyjamas with a waist coat on it without a necktic and its flaps hanging loose behind is not a very graceful spectacle."

He strongly rccoinmendcd Hindi as the national language: "There is not another language capable of competing with Hindi. Bengali 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 Muslim maulvis deliver their religious discourses throughout India in Hindi and Urdu, and even the illiterate masses follow them. Even the unlettered Gujarati going to the north attempts to use a few Hindi words, whereas a gate-keeper from the north declines to speak in Gujarati even to his employer, who has on that account to speak to him in broken Hindi. I have heard Hindi spoken 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 use Hindi. It is worthy of note that Muslims throughout India speak Urdu and they are to be found 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 due to that fact. The Muslim kings were unable to make Persian or Arabic the national language of India. They accepted the Hindi grammar, but employed the Urdu script and Persian words in their speeches."

Dealing with the question of script, Gandhi said: "For the time being Muslim children will certainly write in the Urdu character, and Hindus will mostly write in Devanagari script. I say mostly, because thousands of Hindus use the Urdu character and some do not even know Devanagari. But when the Hindus and Muslims come to regard one another without suspicion, when the causes begetting suspicion are removed, the script which has greater vitality will be more universally used, and, therefore, become the national script."

Gandhi believed in swaraj through intensive social reform. He wanted women to work shoulder to shoulder with men. Addressing the annual gathering of the Bhagini Samaj in Bombay, he observed: "Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to participate in every 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 things and not as result only of learning to read and write. By sheer force of vicious system, even the most ignorant and worthless men have been enjoying a superiority over women which they do not deserve and ought r.ot to have. Many of our movements stop half way because of the condition of our women. Much of our work does not yield appropriate results; our lot is like that of the penny-wise and pound- foolish trader who does not employ enough capital in his business."

He found time to agitate on behalf of poor passengers: "I have now been in India for over two years after my return from South Africa. Over one quarter of that time I have passed on the Indian trains travelling third class by choice. I have travelled up north as far as Lahore, down south up to Tranqucbar, 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 many critical observations as I could. I think that the time has come when I should invite the press and the public to join in a crusadc against a.gricvance which has too long remained unredressed."

"In neglecting the third class passengers," Gandhi further commented, "an opportunity of giving a splendid education to millions in orderliness, sanitation, decent composite life and cultivation of simple and clean tastes is being lost." Among the many suggestions that he made, were: "Let the people in high places, the Viceroy, the commander-in-chief, the rajas, maharajas, 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."

On April 17, the Private Seeretary to the Viceroy wrote to the Home Member: "H.E. the Viceroy asks me to invite urgently an expression of your opinion whether it would or would not be a good thing to ask Mr. Gandhi to come up and see the Viceroy. It seems possible that his restless activities might be diverted into a useful channel, whereas if he is left to his dcviccs, his movements and energies always seem to make for trouble." The Home Member replied: "I notice that Mr. Gandhi is anxious to be employed on war service in Mesopotamia or France, and if he could be sent out to Mesopotamia in any capacity, it would save a lot of trouble."

Gandhi was invited by Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy, to attend the War Conference at Delhi at the end of April. Gandhi responded to the invitation, but had objections to taking part in the conference, the principal one being the exclusion from it of the leaders like Tilak, Mrs. Besant and the Ali brothers. On reaching Delhi, Gandhi addressed a letter explaining his hesitation to take part in the conference. The Viceroy called Gandhi for a discussion and told him that if he agreed that the empire had been, on the whole, a power for good, he should assist the British during the critical year. The Viceroy pleaded: "You may raise whatever moral issues you like and challenge us as much as you please after the conclusion of the war, not today."

During the conference, the Viceroy requested Gandhi to support the resolution on recruiting. Gandhi insisted that he should be permitted to speak in Hindustani and the Viceroy agreed. He spoke but one sentence to this effect: "With a full sense of my responsibility I beg to support the resolution."

The war conference over, Gandhi wrote a letter to the Viceroy stating what the people expected of him. The letter had to be sent to Simla where the Viceroy had gone immediately after the conference. The letter had for Gandhi great significance and sending it by post was not to his liking. He elected Rev. Ireland of the Cambridge Mission to hand it personally at the Viceregal Lodge.

With the Viceroy's consent, Gandhi's letter of April 30 was published:

"I recognize 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 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 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 Government their full-hearted co-operation. If I could make my countrymen retrace their steps, I would make the in withdraw all the Congress resolutions and not whisper 'Home Rule' or 'Responsible Government' during the pendency of the war. I would make India offer 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 any influence on the masses. I have been coming into most intimate touch with the ryots 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 session 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 realized 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 realize 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 accclcratc 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 recognize 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 ryots convince me that India has already donated to the imperial 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 for me, 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 today 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 wrongdoings on the part of officials, I am powerless to respond. I shall resist organized tyranny to the uttermost. The appeal must be to the officials that they do not ill-treat a single soul and that they consult and respect popular opinion as never before. In Champaran by resisting an agelong tyranny, I have shown the ultimate sovereignty of British justice. In Kheda 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 the people, for it tolerates orderly and respectful disobedience where injustice felt. Thus Champaran and Kheda affairs are my direct, definite and special contribution to the war. Ask me to suspend my activities in that direction and you ask me to suspend my life. If I could popularize 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 to show the matchless superiority of that law.

"Lastly, I would like you to ask His Majesty's ministers to give definite assurance about Muslim states. I am sure you know that every Muslim is deeply interested in them. As a Hindu, I can not be indifferent to their cause. Their sorrows must be our sorrows. In the most serupulous regard lor the rights of those states and for the Muslim sentiment as to the place, 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 Englishmen."

On June 10 a war conference was held in Bombay under the chairmanship of the Governor, Lord Willingdon. He inflicted on his audience a severe sermon on Home Rulers whose bona fides he called into question. Tilak was called upon to speak but was not allowed to make a mention of Home Rule and he walked out along with Jinnah, Korniman, Kelkar and Karandikar who also were interrupted by the Governor at the mention of Home Rule.

Gandhi presided at a public meeting held in Bombay on June 16 to protest against the Governor's behaviour at the conference. He condemned Lord Willingdon's gratuitous insult to the Home Rulers. The Governor's behaviour, he remarked, was illiberal and reproachable. To offer such an affront to Tilak is to ruin the cause of war. But he impressed upon the people the necessity of helping Britain in her crisis.

Tilak made a spirited speech on the occasion: "The Government calls us insincere, but I have a good deal of proof that the charges are more true of the Government thtn of us, and who will help the Government if the possibility is clear that after the war the fetters on the country would be tightened and not relaxed! If the Government promise to appoint Indians in high places in the army, I undertake immediately to obtain 5,000 recruits and if I don't succeed I will pay a penalty of Rs. 100 for each failure and I am prepared to place Rs. 50,000 in the hands of Gandhi as a guarantee for this offer."

On June 23 Gandhi issued an appeal from Nadiad to the people of Kheda in particular and on Gujarat in general:

"If 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 effiminatc. We are regarded as a cowardly people. If we want to become free from the reproach, we should learn the use of arms. The easiest and straightest way, therefore, to win swaraj is to participate in the defence of the empire. If the empire perishes, with it perish our cherished aspirations. Some say that if we do not seeure rights just now, we would be chcated afterwards. The power acquired in defending the empire will be the power that can sccurc those rights."

Gandhi called upon the people to flock to his banner in thousands: "There are 6oo villages in (he Kheda district and every village has on an average a population of over 1,000. If every village gave at least twenty men, the Kheda 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 about seventeen 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 swaraj, 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 battlefield, then they will immortalize themselves, their villages and their country, and twenty fresh men will follow suit and offer themselves for the national defence."

He thought that the people of Kheda would listen to him and join the army. The bitter experience they had had of the officials was still fresh in their minds. Whereas during the satyagraha campaign they readily offered their carts free of charge and two volunteers came forth when one was needed, it was difficult now to get a cart even on hire, to say nothing of volunteers. Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel decided to do their journeys on foot and trudged about twenty miles a day. They carried their food in their satchels and slept in dharmashalas. Their work was so unpopular that nobody cared to contact them except at the public meetings.

Gandhi held meetings at different places. People would come to hear him but hardly one or two would offer themselves as recruits. "You are a votary of ahimsa, how can you ask us to take up arms?" they asked pointedly. "What good have Government done for India to deserve our co-operation?"

In a letter addressed to Mrs. Besant, dated July 4, Gandhi wrote:

"I search New India in vain for an emphatic declaration from you in favour of unconditional recruiting. Surely it must be plain that if every Home Rule Leaguer became an active recruiting depot we would ensure the passing of the Congress-League scheme with only such modifications as we may agree to. I think this is the time when we must give the people the lead and not await their opinion. I would like to see you with your old fire growing the stronger in face of opposition. If we supplied recruits we should dictate terms. But if we wait for the terms the war may close, India may remain without a real military training and we should be face to face with a military dictatorship. This is taking the most selfish view of the situation and self-interest suggests that the course I have ventured to place before the country is the only effective course."

On the same day, he wrote to Jinnah:

"I do wish you would make an emphatic declaration regarding recruitment. Can you not see that if every Home Rule Leaguer became a potent recruiting agency whilst at the same time fighting for constitutional rights we should ensure the passing of the Congress-League scheme, with only such modifications, if any, that we may agree to? We would then speak far more effectively than do today. 'Seek ye first the recruiting oflice and everything will be added unto you.' We must give the lead to the people and not think how the people will take what we say. What I ask for is an emphatic declaration, not a halting one."

Gandhi issued leaflets asking the people to enlist as recruits. But he also said hard words which the commissioner disliked: "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to the Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn."

During the strenuous work of recruiting Gandhi very nearly ruined his health. His food principally consisted of groundnuts, bananas and lemons. Hard work coupled with this uncooked food resulted in severe dysentery. In Nadiad, his illness took ascrious turn and he had thirty to forty motions in twenty-four hours.

Tilak wrote to Gandhi an anxious letter requesting him to attend the Congress session. In reply, Gandhi wrote on August 25:

"I am thankful for your sympathies. It is natural that you are worried about my health. By the grace of God, I am now better. But for some days I shall not be able to leave my bed. The pain was severe. Now it has subsided.

"I do not intend to attend the Congress session. Also I do not intend to attend the Moderates' Conference. I know that my views differ from those of both. This I have already told you. I believe that we can render a great service to India by devoting ourselves to the work of recruitment and taking lakhs of people with us. Mrs. Besant and you do not agree with my view. I also know that the Moderates will not be keen on joining this work. This is one thing. The seeond thing is we should accept the principle of the Montagu-Chelmsford schcme and clearly state whatever changes we want to propose. And we should fight to death to get those changes accepted. It is obvious that the Moderates will not accept this idea. And even if Mrs. Besant and you accept this idea, you will not fight in the manner I want to fight. Mrs. Besant has said that she is not a satyagrahi. You have accepted satyagraha as the weapon of the weak. I do not want to be under illusion. So also I do not want to create agitation in the Congress, parting company with you two. And I have this faith that if my penance is perfect, you and Mrs. Besant will accept my principle. I can have patience.

"I do not like in the least that the Moderates and the Extremists should try to unite forsaking their principles. There are two parties in the country.

I do not think that there would be any harm in putting the opinion of both the parties clearly before the Government and the people."

In a letter to Surendranath Banerjea, he wrote:

"I have your telegram redirected from Ahmedabad where I am at present engaged in recruiting. A visit to Calcutta means at least a week simply in going and coming back. If I am to do my work at all satisfactorily, it is impossible for me to absent myself for such a long time, and at the present moment I care not do so, for I have just heard from the Government that they have acceded to my proposals to open a training depot in Gujarat and to form a Gujarat company. You will agree that I cannot leave this work.

"But even if I could have come, I do not know that I would have rendered much assistance. I hold strong and probably peculiar views not shared by many of the leaders. I implicitly believe that if we were to devote our attention exclusively to recruiting we should gain full responsible Government in a year's time, if not sooner. And instead of allowing our utterly ignorant countrymen to enlist nolens volens, we should get an army of Home Rulers who would be willing soldiers with the knowledge that they will be soldiering for the sake of country. I do not at the same time believe that we should declare our opinion about the Montagu- Chelmsford scheme in unequivocal terms; we should fix the minimum of our demands and seek to enforce them at all costs. I consider the scheme to be good in its conception. It requires much modification. We should have no difficulty in arriving at a unanimous conclusion. I should like a parly in the country that would be simply pledged to these two propositions, helping the Government on the one hand in the prosecution of the war, and enforcing the national demand on the other.

"I do not believe that at a critical moment like this we should be satisfied with a patchcd-up truce between the so-called Extremists and the so- called Moderates, each giving up a little in favour of the other. I should like a clear enunciation of the policy of each group or party and naturally those who by the intrinsic merit of their ease and ceaseless agitation make themselves a power in the land will carry the day before the House of Commons."

Soon Gandhi was removed to the Sabarmati ashram. Here he tried on himself hydropathy which gave some relief but it was a hard task to build up the body. Medical advisers asked him to take meat broth or eggs, but he would not consent.

One night Gandhi gave up himself to despair. He felt that he was at the death's door and sent for Anasuyabehn, who brought Dr. Kanuga to attend to him. The doctor said that it was a case of nervous breakdown but assured him that there was no danger. Gandhi, however, could not get rid of the feeling that the end was near and began to devote all waking hours to listening to the Gita. He was prostrate and watching the body slowly wearing away. Vallabhbhai brought the news that Germany had been defeated and that the commissioner had sent word that recruiting was no longer necessary. It was a great relief to Gandhi.

The second half of November Gandhi spent at Mathenn, a hill-station, and in mid-December he arrived in Bombay for medical treatment. There was no remedy cxcept milk to rebuild the body. His vow not to take milk came in the way. With the experts' advice he experimented with mung water, almond-milk and mewhra oil as substitutes for milk. Bui there was no result and he became weaker. Kasturbai now insisted that his vow referred only to cow's milk or buffalo's milk; he had had only these two animals in mind. She, therefore, suggested that he could take goat's milk. As he wanted to live, Gandhi "somehow beguiled" himself into emphasizing the letter of the vow and decided to take goat's milk. On January 21, 1919 Dr. Dalai performed on him a successful operation for fissures. His health gradually began to improve and he learnt and practised spinning during convalescence in Bombay. "The wheel hummed merrily and had no small share in restoring me to health," he observed.

His participation in the war was an enigma to many of his friends and admirers. He explained his point of view some years later:

"No doubt it was a mixed motive that prompted me to participate in the war. Two things I can recall. Though as an individual I was opposed to war, I had no status for offering effective non-violent resistance. Nonviolent resistance can only follow some real disinterested service, some heart expression of love. For instance, I would have no status to resist a savage offering animal sacrifice until he could recognize in me his friend through some loving act of mine or other means. I do not sit in judgement upon the world for its many misdeeds. Being imperfect myself and needing toleration and charity, I tolerate the world's imperfections till I find or create an opportunity for fruitful expostulation. I felt that if by sufficient service I could attain the power and the confidence to resist the empire's wars and its warlike preparations, it would be a good thing for me who was seeking to enforce non-violence in my own life to test the extent to which it was possible among the masses.

"The other motive was to qualify for swaraj through the good offices of the statesmen of the empire. I could not thus qualify myself except through serving the empire in its life and death struggle. It must be understood that I am writing of my mentality in 1914 when I was a believer in the empire and its willing ability to help India in her battle for freedom. Had I been the non-violent rebel that I am today, I should certainly not have helped but through every effort open to non-violence I should have attempted to defeat its purpose.

"My opposition to and disbelief in war was as strong then as it is today. But we have to recognize that there are many things in the world which we do although we may be against doing them. I am as much opposed to taking the life of the lowest creature alive as I am to war. But I continually take such life hoping some day to attain the ability to do without this fratricide. To entitle me, in spite of it, to be called a votary of non-violence, my attempt must be honest, strenuous and unceasing. The conception of moksha, absolution from the need to have an embodied existence, is based upon the necessity of perfected men and women being completely nonviolent. Possession of a body like every other possession necessitates some violence, be it ever so little. The fact is that the path of duty is not always easy to discern amidst claims seeming to conflict one with the other."

41. Eve Of Peace ( 1918 )

THOUGH THE war did not touch India, its effects were in evidence. The expectations of the people ran high. There was a militant spirit in the country which was manifesting itself in many ways.

The Montagu-Chelmsford Report came out in July 1918. The report created a big stir in India and proved a veritable apple of discord. The Moderates were taken in by the scheme. They said: "Extremists who do not mean well to Government must be separated from those who do." There was a plan to win over some of the Moderate leaders. According to Mr. Montagu, "there was a proposal, the twenty-seventh proposal, in favour of a new organization of Indians, assisted every way by the Government, for propaganda on behalf of our proposals and to send a delegation to England and to assist us."

The Extremists left no doubt in Montagu's mind as to what exactly they wanted. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report was described by Tilak as "a good report with a useless scheme". C. R. Das anticipated the failure of diarehy and wanted real responsible government in five years and promise of it at once. Mrs. Besant held that "the political reforms indicated in the report were unworthy of England to give and India to take."

Montagu had secured the support of Surendranath Banerjca. Bhupen- dranath Basu told Montagu that he thought the Congress would pass a resolution accepting it, leaving all his amendments to subsequent negotiation "so as not to provide their enemies with a handle for saying that they had been captious." Gandhi said: "The scheme deserves sympathetic handling rather than summary rejection. Fight unconditionally unto death with Britain for victory, and agitate simultaneously also unto death, if we must, for the reforms that we deserve."

The differences among the Congressmen had become acute over the scheme. A special Congress met under the presidentship of Syed Hasan Imam in Bombay on August 29, 1918, to discuss the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. Wacha, Surendranath Banerjca, Bhupcndranath Basu, Ambika Charan Mazumdar absented themselves from the Congress session. After four days' discussion the Congress reaffirmed the principles of reform contained in the resolutions relating to self-government adopted in the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League held at Lucknow in December 1916 and at Calcutta in December 1917, and declared that "nothing less than self-government within the empire can satisfy the Indian people, and by enabling it to take its rightful place as a free and self-governing nation in the British Commonwealth, strengthen the connection between Great Britain and India."

This Congress affirmed: "The people of India are fit for responsible government, and repudiate the assumption to the contrary contained in the report on Indian constitutional reforms."

The fourth resolution contained comprehensive suggestions: "The Government of India shall have undivided administrative authority on matters direclly concerning pcace, tranquillity and dcfencc of the country, subject to the following:

"That the statute to be passed by Parliament should include the declaration of the rights of the people of India as British citizens.

"(a) That all Indian subjects of his Majesty and all the subjects naturalized or resident in India are equal before the law, and there shall be no penal or administrative law in force in this country, whether substantive or procedural, of a discriminative character.

"(b) That no Indian subject of His Majesty shall be liable to suffer in liberty, life, property, or in respect of free speech or writing, or the right of association, except under sentence of lawful and open trial.

"(c) That every Indian subject shall be entitled to bear arms subject to the purchase of a licence, as in Great Britain, and that right shall not be taken away save by sentence of an ordinary court ofjustice.

"(d) That the press shall be free and that no licence or security shall be demanded on the registration of a press or a newspaper.

"(e) That corporal punishment shall not be inflicted on any Indian subject of His Majesty, save under-conditions applying equally to all other British subjects."

After setting forth these fundamental rights, a fifth resolution was passed concerning the reform proposals as they stood in the Montagu-Chelmsford Report: "That this Congress appreciates the earnest attempt on the part of the Right Honourable die Secretary of State and His Excellency the Viceroy to inaugurate a system of responsible government in India, but while it recognizes that some of the proposals constitute an advance on the present conditions in some directions, it is of opinion that the proposals as a whole are disappointing and unsatisfactory."

The Congress was of opinion that simultaneous advance was indispensable both in the provinces and at the centre. It also proposed drastic alterations in the control exercised by Parliament through the Secretary of State. Fiscal autonomy was demanded as an inherent right of the Indian people, and in the Central Legislature the Council of State was to be abolished, as also the India Council in London. The idea underlying the proposals was to make the new constitution as democratic as possible.

The special Congress session, which looked at one time like leading to a schism on the question of reforms, passed off smoothly. The resolution on the reform scheme was moved by Pandit Malaviya in a masterly speech.

Tilak, Bepin Chandra Pal, Motilal Nehru and M. R. Jayakar spoke very enthusiastically for the resolution. Mrs. Besant wound up the discussion amidst cheers and applause.

The Moderates who refused to attend the Congress held a conference of their own in Bombay on November 1, under the presidentship of Surendranath Banerjea. It was styled the "All-India Conference of the Moderate Party" which became the nucleus of the National Liberal Federation of India.

The popularity of the Congress was so great that the Moderates had to proclaim that their new organization was in continuation of the Congress tradition. C. Y. Chintamani stated: " Those who may criticize and taunt us for having stayed away from the Special Congress, well may be asked whether we are faithful or we are wanting in fidelity to the traditions and the policy of the Congress when we are here with a senior president of the Congress as chairman of the reception committee, when the proposition before you has been moved by another ex-president, and supported by a third ex-president of the Congress." Surendranath Banerjca remarked that "the Congress in the hands of its latest masters, had ceased to be representative of the sentiments and principles before which national rivalries disappear."

The Moderates' conference passed a resolution welcoming the reform proposals as constituting an advance on the present conditions both as regards the Government of India and the provincial governments and also a real and substantial step towards the progressive realization of the "responsible government" in the provinces. The Moderates suggested some minor changes to the proposals and appointed a committee to elect a deputation to procccd to England in order to urge on the British statesmen and the British public "the wisdom and necessity of supporting the Montagu-Chelmsford reform scheme."

Tilak and Mrs. Besant had decided to send their own Home Rule deputations to England to counter anti-India propaganda. Within a short period of three weeks Tilak delivered lectures at about thirty places and collected Rs. 200,000 for the deputation. He travelled one thousand miles by motor car and an equal distance by railway. He always preferred to have small contributions from many to a big donation from one rich man: "I should like to have sixty-four pice from as many persons instead of one rupee from one." At the age of sixty-one he did not hesitate to undertake a long tour through the dangerous seas when the war was on. In April Tilak and his colleagues were to start on their mission to England, but their passports were cancelled on instructions from the War Cabinet.

In the meanwhile Tilak's defamation suit against Sir Valentine Chirol was hanging fire; finding that it could not reasonably be postponed, the Government permitted Tilak to proceed to England. He was, however, gagged and was required to give a pledge that he would not address any meetings while in England. Tilak left for England in September. The first thing he did there was to get his undertaking to remain silent cancelled. He, however, did not appear on the public platform for some time, as he did not want to prejudice is case in the court against Chirol. He started reorganizing the British India Committee and the management of India. He cultivated the friendship of the Labour leaders, subscribed to the funds of the Labour Party and gave a cheque for £2,000 to help turn the weekly Herald into a daily newspaper. He met many intellectuals, among whom were Bernard Shaw and Sydney Webb. He did his best to educate the British public through his writings and speeches. In the general election of 1918, he was busy drawing the attention of Britain to the problems of India. He was denied a passport to visit Paris but he sent a memorandum to the President of the Peace Conference, explaining the limitations of the Montagu-Chelmsford scheme and urging the application of the principle of self-determination to the people of India.

The Government feared and hated Tilak. They tried hard to paint him black. The Sedition Committee Report appeared within a week of the Montagu-Chelmsford Report. A commission had been appointed by the Government of India to investigate the question of sedition and it was presided over by Mr. Justice Rowlatt. The recommendations contained certain proposals for imprisoning and interning revolutionary suspects on the order of a judicial board without open trial. Tilak was given a very prominent place in the report and his activities were shown to foster and encourage revolutionary activities.

Contrary to the expectations of the Government, Tilak's popularity increased. While on his way to England, lie was elected president of the forthcoming Congress. In his absence, the Congress was held at Delhi in December, with Pandit Malaviya as the president.

The Delhi session revealed a more resolute spirit and a new determination. Its departure from the traditional effusive "loyalty resolutions" was significant of a change in the Congress mentality.

One of the first resolutions was on the Rowlatt Report. "The recommendation of the Rowlatt Committee if given effect to will interfere with the fundamental rights of the Indian people."

The resolution on self-determination was a new departure in the history of the Congress:

"In view of the pronouncements of President Wilson, Mr. Lloyd George, and other statesmen, that to ensure the future peace of the world, the principle of self-determination should be applied to all progressive nations, this Congress claims the recognition of India by the British Parliament and by the Peace Conference as one of the progressive nations to whom the principle of self-determination should be applied.

"As a practical application of the principle in India, the first step should be the removal of the hindrance to free discussion, and, therefore, the immediate repeal of all laws, regulations, and ordinances restricting the free discussion of political questions; and further, the abolition of the laws, regulations and ordinances which confer on the executive the power to arrest, detain, extern or imprison any British subject in India outside the proccss of ordinary civil or criminal law and the assimilation of the law of sedition to that of England, and finally the passing of an act of Parliament which will establish at an early date complete responsible government in India. And when complete responsible government shall be thus established, the final authority in all internal affairs shall be the supreme legislative assembly as voicing the will of the Indian nation."

In order to make this good, the Congress urged: "India should be represented by an elected representative, or representatives, to the same extent as the self-governing dominions at any conference that may be held to deliberate on or settle the terms of peace or reconstruction. In view of the shortness of time, and in anticipation of this request being acceded to by His Majesty's Government, this Congress elects, as its representatives Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, M. K. Gandhi and Syed Hasan Imam."

The absence of Tilak and Gandhi at the Delhi session of the Congress was deeply felt. Tilak was busy fighting his case against Sir Valentine Chirol, and Gandhi was bed-ridden.

42. Emergence Of Gandhi ( 1919 )

THE CESSATION of hostilities in Europe did not lead to peace but to a struggle of one imperialism against another to capture markets and dominate the world. The promises of self-determination were empty words. The conflict between oppressor and the oppressed deepened.

Great Britain with her far-flung colonies was faced with revolts unprecedented in its history. Ireland under the lead of Sinn Fein gave a tough fight. There was revolt in Egypt. The covetous arms of Britain stretched as far as China, and there was trouble too. Britain, America, France and Japan sent their armies to crush the infant Soviet state.

The year 1919 was one of the most fateful years in the history of India. All sections of the people were ready for action. Peasants were suffering acutely from the rise in prices. Industrial workers were resentful at the appalling conditions under which they had to labour and the beginning of the year saw an unprecedented outbreak of strikes. Muslims were angry with the treatment meted out by Britain to the defeated Caliph, and the extremist clement in the Congress was resentful of broken promises.

The Government of India, realizing their unpopularity, tried to gag the voice of revolt. The notorious Rowlatt Bills, embodying the recommendations of the Sedition Committee, made their appearance in February 1919. One was a temporary measure, intended to deal with the situation arising from the expiry of the Defence of India Rules. The second bill was meant to make a permanent change in the criminal law of the land. The possession of a seditious document, with mere intention to publish or circulate it, was to be made punishable with imprisonment.

The two bills were introduced in the Imperial Legislative Council on February 6. Recommendations of the Rowlatt Committee's report, which Gandhi happened to read while he was convalescing in Ahmedabad, startled him. He first mentioned his apprehensions to Vallabhbhai Patcl. "What can we do?" Vallabhbhai asked. Gandhi said: "If even a handful of men can be found to sign the pledge of resistance, and the proposed measure is passed into law in defiance of it, we ought to offer satyagraha at once. If I was not laid up like this, I should give battle against it all alone, and expect others to follow suit."

Soon after a small conference consisting of Vallabhbhai Patel, Mrs. Naidu, Horniman, Umar Sobani, Shankarlal Banker and Indulal Yajnik was held at the Sabarmati ashram. A satyagraha pledge was drafted by Gandhi and was signed on February 24, 1919, by all present. It said:

"Being conscientiously of opinion that the bills known as the Indian Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill No. I of 1919 and the Criminal Law (Emergency Powers) Bill No. II of 1919 are unjust, subversive of the principles of liberty and justice and destructive 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 becoming 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 we further affirm that in this struggle, we will faithfully follow truth and refrain from violence to life, person or property."

Gandhi described these bills as "an unmistakable symptom of a deep- seated disease in the governing body". Commenting or. The satyagraha pledge, he wrote:

"The step taken is probably the most momentous 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 its 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 society. But the passing of the bills, designed to affect the whole of India and its people and arming the Government with powers out of all proportion to the situation sought to be dealt with, is a greater danger. The committee utterly ignores the historical fact that the millions in India are by nature the gentlest on earth.

"Now look at the setting of the bills. Their introduction is accompanied by certain assurances given by the Viceroy regarding the civil service and the British commercial interests. Many of us are filled 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 British commercial interests are to he held superior to those of India and its political and commercial requirements, no Indian can accept the doctrine. It can but end in a fratricidal struggle within the empire.

"The 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 ana not to destroy indigenous art, trade and manufacture, and you hive two measures to replace the Rowlatt Bills.

"They, I promise, will successfully deal with any conspiracy against the state. Sir George Lowndes simply added fuel to the fire when he flouted public opinion. He has forgotten his Indian history or he would have known that the Government he represents has before now surrendered its own considered opinion to the force of public opinion.

"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 drastically treated. Subterranean violence will be the remedy applied by impetuous, hot-headed youths who will have grown impatient of the spirit underlying the bills and the 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 undergo 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 eflicacy 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 covenanters 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 themselves that the disease is serious enough, and that milder measures have utterly failed. The rest lies in the lap of the gods."

To inaugurate the new movement Gandhi started a Satyagraha Sabha in Bombay, consisting of Mrs. Naidu, Horniman, Jamnadas Dwarkadas, L. R. Tairsee, Shankarlal Banker, Vallabhbhai Patel and many others. The work of getting signatories to the pledge proceeded briskly, as many as 1,200 persons enlisting their names within a fortnight. Enthusiastic meetings began to be held everywhere. The pledge was signed by a large number of people and bulletins were issued regularly.

The Satyagraha Sabha issued the following statement in March:

"The committee contemplated by the satyagraha pledge has advised that for the time being laws regarding prohibited literature and registration of newspapers may be civilly disobeyed.

"With reference to prohibited literature the committee has selected the following prohibited works for dissemination: Hind Swaraj by M. K. Gandhi; Sarvodaya or Univeral Dawn by M. K. Gandhi (being a paraphrase of Unto This Last); The Story of a Satyagrahi by M. K. Gandhi (being a paraphrase of the Defence and Death of Socrates by Plato); The Life and Address of Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Printed at the International Printing Press, Phoenix).

"In making this selection, the committee has been guided by the following considerations: (1) To cause as little disturbance as possible among the governors and the governed; (2) Until satyagrahis have become seasoned, disciplined and capable of handling delicately organized movements, to select such laws only as can be disobeyed individually;

(3) To select, as a first step, laws that have evoked popular disapproval and that from the satyagraha standpoint are the most open to attack;

(4) To select laws whose civil breach would constitute an education for the people, showing them a clear way out of the difficulties that lie in the path of honest men desiring to do public work;

(5) Regarding prohibited literature, to select such books and pamphlets as are not inconsistent with satyagraha, and which are, therefore, of a clean type and which do not, either directly or indirectly, approve of or encourage violence."

Gandhi now occupicd a prominent position in public life. The issue of the forthcoming reforms receded in the background and the Rowlatt Bills became the target of criticism.

While on the one hand the agitation against the Rowlatt Committee's report gathered volume and intensity, on the other, the Government grew more and more determined to give effect to its'recoinmendations. In March the Criminal Law (Emergency Powers) Bill was passed, in spite of the united opposition of all elected Indian members. Its repressive nature and sinister provisions were forcibly denounced by Jinnah in a speech supporting amendment moved in the council by Vithalbhai Patel to the effect that "consideration of the bills be deferred till six months have elapsed—after the expiry of the term of office of this Legislative Council". In a spirited speech Srinivasa Sastri commented: "A bad law once passed is not always used against the bad. In times of panic, to which all alien governments are unfortunately far too liable, I have known governments to lose their heads. The possession in the hands of the executive of powers of this drastic nature will not hurt only the wicked; and there will be such a lowering of spirit that all talk of responsible government will be mere mockery. You may enlarge the councils but the men that will fill the councils will be toadies, timid men, and the bureaucracy will reign unchecked under the outward forms of a democratic government. . . The agitation is there. I wish to assure my official colleagues that none of us has had yet a share in this business. But, if our appeals fall flat, if the act goes through, I do not believe there is anyone here who would be doing his duty if he did not join the agitation." But neither the earnestness of Sastri, nor the eloquence of Banerjea, nor the merciless logic of Jinnah was of any avail.

Gandhi attended the proceedings of India's central legislature for the first and last time on the occasion of the debate on this bill. From the gallery he saw Lord Chelmsford listen to the eloquent words of Sastri. Gandhi had addressed letters to the Viceroy to dissuade him from forcing the obnoxious bilk through the legislature. Many leaders were present in Delhi to influence the Government to desist from taking steps which would wound the self-respect of the nation as a whole. But it was useless.

Bill No. II had not yet been gazetted as an act. Gandhi was in weak condition, but he decided to take a strenuous journey in March when he received an invitation from Madras. Though the invitation came ovr the signature of Kasturi Ranga Iyanger, the man behind the move was C. Rajagopalachari who had left Salem to settle down to legal practice in Madras, to take a more active part in public life. Gandhi accompanied by Mahadev Desai went to Madras and stayed with Rajagopalachari.

They daily discussed plans for the fight against the Government, but beyond the holding of meetings Gandhi could not then think of any other programme: "I felt myself at a loss to discover how to offer civil disobedience against the Rowlatt Bill if it was finally passed into law. One could disobey it, if the Government gave the opportunity for it. Failing that, could we civilly disobey other laws? And if so, where was the line to be drawn?"

Kasturi Ranga Iyanger called together a small conference of leaders to thrash out a plan. Vijayaraghavachari suggested that Gandhi should draw up a comprehensive manual of the science of satyagraha. Gandhi felt the task to be beyond his capacity, and he confessed as much to him.

While these consultations were still going on, the Bill No. II had been published as an act on March 18. That night Gandhi fell asleep while thinking over the question. Towards the small hours of the morning he awoke somewhat earlier than usual. He was still in the twilight condition between sleep and consciousness, then suddenly an idea broke upon him. In the early morning he unfolded his plan to Rajagopalachari:

"The idea came to me Inst night in a dream, that we should call upon the country to observe a general hartal. Satyagraha is a process of self- puiification, and ours is a sacred fight, and it seems to me to be in the fitness of things that it should be commenced with an act of self-purification. Let all the people of India, therefore, suspend their business on that day and observe the day as one for fasting and prayer. The Musal- mans may not fast for more than one day; so the duration of the fast should be twenty-four hours. It is very difficult to say whether all the provinces would respond to this appeal of ours or not, but I feel fairly sure of Bombay, Madras, Bihar and Sind. I think we should have every reason to feel satisfied even if all these places observe the hartal fittingly."

On March 18 Gandhi addressed a large meeting on the Madras beach. He spoke a few words sitting in the chair as he had been advised by his doctors not to exert himself with his weak heart. Before asking Mahadev Desai to read the speech, Gandhi said to the eager audience:

"Beware before you sign the pledge. But if you do, you will see to it that you shall never undo the pledge you have signed. May God help you and me in carrying out the pledge."

The written speech was then read out by Mahadev Desai:

"I regret that owing to heart weakness I am unable to speak to you personally. You have attended many meetings, but those that you have been attending oflate are different from the others in that at the meetings to which I have referred some immediate 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 further consideration has been postponed. In spite of the alteration, it is mischievous erough to demand opposition. Bill No. II has probably 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 careful examination of the Government's standpoint, pledged myself to offer satyagraha against these bill;, 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 ingard for them and their opinion. I have worked under some of them. I was a babe when Sir Oinsha Wacha and Surendranath Banerjea were among the accepted leaders of public opinion in India. Mr. Sastri 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 indissoluble to binding me to him. My upbringing draws me to the signatories of the two manifestoes. It is not, therefore, without the greatest 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, 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 efficacy 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 public life, and if 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 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 violence, but to return good for evil. As Sarojini Devi told you yesterday, the strength lies in a definite recognition of the true religious spirit and action corresponding to it, and when once you introduce the religious element in politics, you revolutionize 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 yourselves 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 humble opinion, bad logic and an unwarranted assumption of fact. If satyagrahis are left alone, they have won a complete victory, bccause 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 perfectly harmless. I regard the statement as an unwarranted 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 oncc set in motion it ever spreads, till at last it becomes a dominant factor in the community in which 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 signing it is but an earnest of our determination 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 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."

On March 23 Gandhi called upon the people of India to mobilize in thousands and convince the Government of what they were to cxpect in the near future:

"Satyagraha, as I have endeavoured to explain at several meetings, is essentially 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 Yiceregal assent to Bill No. II of 1919 may 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:

"1. A twenty-four hours' fast, counting from the last meal on the preceding night, should be observed 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 discipline to fit them for civil disobedience, contemplated in their pledge, and for all others, as some slight token of the intensity of their wounded feelings.

"2. 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 required to work even on Sunday may only suspend work after obtaining previous leave from their employers.

"I do not hesitate to recommend these two suggestions 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 in the very limited manner herein suggested.

"3. Public meetings should be held on that day in all parts of India, not excluding villages, at which resolutions praying for the withdrawal 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 organization, but all other associations will, I hope, join hands in making this demonstration a complete success."

The date of the hartal was originally fixed for March 30, but it was subsequently changed to April 6.

To prepare the ground for the hartal in South India, Gandhi addressed meetings in Tanjore, Trichinopoly, Tulicorin and Ncgapatam. He was hardly able to read his speeches, his heart was weak. His message was: "I have no doubt that what was possible for Valliamma, Nagappan, Narayanaswamy and Ahmed Mahomed is possible for every one of you today. I ask you in the name of these satyagrahis to follow in their footsteps, sign the satyagraha pledge and repeal the legislation."

Speaking in Madras on March 30, he said: "Some friends have argued, our satyagraha movement only accentuates the fear we have of the onrush of Bolshevism. The fact, however, is that if anything can possibly prevent this possibility, it is satyagraha. Bolshevism is the necessary result of materialistic civilization. Its insensate worship of matter 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. 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 rampart in this land which was once so holy."

A week before April 6, Delhi, mistaking the date, had observed hartal on Sunday, March 30. Swami Shraddhanand, the great leader of the Arya Samaj, addressed a huge audience in the famous Jumma Masjid of Delhi. The police and military tried to disperse a mammoth procession and shot at it, killing some people. Swami Shraddhanand, tall and stately in his sanyasin's garb, faced with bared chest the bayonets of Gurkhas in the Chandni Chowk. India was thrilled by the incident.

After these happenings, Gandhi was called to Delhi by the local leaders. He agreed to proceed there after the hartal of April 6. He reached Bombay on April 3, having received a wire from Shankarlal Banker to be present there for the inauguration of satyagraha.

On the morning of April 6 the citizens of Bombay with Gandhi in their midst flocked in their thousands to Chowpati for a bath in the sea, after which they moved slowly in an impressive procession. The procession included women and children in large numbers.

During the day Gandhi made several speeches and poignantly referred to the Delhi happenings: "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 covered the Delhi people with glory. I have always emphasized that the people who took part in the struggle against the Rowlatt Act will be self-possessed and peaceful, but I have never said that the people will not have to sufTer. To the satyagrahis such suffering must be welcome. Swami Shraddhanand has wired to me saying that four Muslims and five Hindus have so far died, and that about twenty people were missing and thirteen persons were in the hospital, being badly wounded. For the satyagrahis it was not a bad beginning. No country had ever risen, no nation had ever been made, without an experiment of self-sacrifice."

The hartal in Bombay was a complete success. Full preparation had been made for starting the movement. It was decided that civil disobedience might be offered in respect of such laws only as easily lent themselves to being disobeyed by the masses. Gandhi suggested the sale of proscribed literature. Gandhi's Hind Swaraj and Sarvodaya, which had been already proscribed, were handy for this purpose.

Gandhi and Mrs. Naidu went out in cars to sell the books. All the copies were soon sold out. People willingly paid more than trie published price of the book which was four annas. As high as Rs. 50 were paid to Gandhi for one copy. The intending purchasers were told that they were liable to be arrested and imprisoned for possessing the proscribed literature. But they had shed all fear of jail-going.

An unregistered weekly, Satyagraha "edited by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhiwas published every Monday at 10 a.m. and sold for one pice. In the first issue dated April 7, 1919, Gandhi wrote: "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 registering it. It need not occupy more than one side of half a fool scap. 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 meaning. 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 handwritten newspaper; for it will be the duty of those who may receive the first copics to re-copy till at last the proccss of multiplication is made to cover, if necessary, the whole of the masses of India, and it must not be forgotten that we have in India the tradition of imparting instruction by oral teaching."

Regarding the distribution, Gandhi added: "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 literatature is not merely to commit civil brcach 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 literature. Satyagrahis have to be as independent of finance as possible. When, therefore, the copies are confiscated, satyagrahis are requested to make copics of the prohibited literature themselves or by securing the assistance of willing friends and to make use of it until it is confiscated by giving readings to the people from it. It is stated that such readings would amount to dissemination of prohibited literature. When whole copics are exhausted by dissemination or confiscation, satyagrahis may continue civil disobedience by writing out and distributing extracts from accessible books."

On April 8 Gandhi accompanicd by Mahadev Dcsai started for Delhi and Amritsar. On reaching Mathura, Gandhi first heard echoes about his probable arrest. Before the train had reached Palwal, a way-side railway station, Gandhi was served with a written order to the effect that he was prohibited from entering the Punjab and Delhi, as his presence there was "likely to result in a disturbance of peace". He was asked by the police to get down from the train. Gandhi refused to do so saying, "I want to go to the Punjab in response to a pressing invitation, not to foment unrest but to allay it."

At Palwal, on April 9, Gandhi was taken out of the train and put under police custody. Shortly he was made to enter a third-class carriage of a train coming from Delhi, the police party accompanying. On reaching Mathura he was taken to the police barracks. Early at four the next morning he was woke up and put in a goods train that was going towards Bombay. At noon he was again made to get down at Sawai Madhopur. Mr. Bowring, inspector of police, who arrived by the mail train from Lahore, now took charge of Gandhi. He was put in a first-class compartment and was requested by the officer to return to Bombay and not to cross the frontier of the Punjab. Gandhi said that he was not prepared of his own accord to go back to Bombay. At Surat Gandhi was made over to the charge of another police officer. "You are now free," the officer told him when the train reached Bombay on April 11.

Gandhi's message from Palwal, conveyed by Mahadev Desai, was: "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 later 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 legislation disfigured the statute book. My arrest makes me free. It now remains for you to do your duty, 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 imprisonment. A departure from truth by a hair's breadth, or violence committed against anybody, whether Englishman or Indian, will surely damn great cause the satyagrahis are handling. I hope the Hindu-Muslim 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 the press are carried out. The responsibility of the Hindus in the matter is greater than that of Muslims, they being in a minority, and I hope they will discharge their responsibility in the manner worthy of their country. I have also made certain suggestions 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 a part of satyagraha. 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, but 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—partnership with them is only possible after we have developed an indomitable courage and a faculty for unlimited suffering. There is a fundamental difference between their civilization and ours. They believe in the doctrine of violence or brute force as final arbiter. My reading of our civilization is that we are expected to believe in soul force or moral forcc 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 civilization. I hope that the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, 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 news of Gandhi's arrest had incensed the people. Scarecly had he reached Bombay, when Umar Sobani and Anasuyabehn contacted him and asked him to motor to Pydhuni at once, as a violent outbreak was apprehended every minute there. On seeing Gandhi the people went mad with joy. A procession was immediately formed, and the sky was rent with shouts of "Bandc Mataram" and "Allah-O-Akbar". As the procession emerged out of the Abdul Rahaman Street and was about to proceed towards the Crawford Market, it suddenly found itself confronted by a body of mounted police, who had arrived there to prevent it from proceeding further in the direction of the Fort. The crowd was densely packed. The officer in charge of the mounted police gave the order to disperse the crowd, and at once the mounted police party charged upon it brandishing their lances as they went. The ranks of the people were soon broken, and they were thrown into utter confusion. Some got trampled underfoot, others were badly mauled and crushed. The lancers blindly cut their way through the crowd. The horsemen and the people were mixed together in mad confusion.

Gandhi's car was allowed to procced. He went to the Policc Commissioner's ofiicc to complain about the conduct of the policc. The policc commissioner, Mr. Griffith, defended the policc action saying, "I have no doubt about your intentions, but the people will not understand them." They argued at length. Ultimately the commissioner said, "But suppose you were convinced that your teaching had been lost on the people, what would you do?"

Gandhi emphatically replied, "I should suspend civil disobedience if I were so convinced."

Here another oflicer interrupted and remarked: "Do you know what is happening in Ahmedabad and what has happened in Amritsar? People have everywhere gone nearly mad. The telegraph wires have been cut in some places. I put it to you that the responsibility for all these disturbances lies on you."

Gandhi took leave of the police commissioner saying that he intended to address a meeting at Chowpati. On the historic sands Gandhi spoke to a large audience on the duty of non-violence and on the limitations of satyagraha:

"I have not been able to understand the cause of so much excitcment and disturbance that followed my detention. It is not satyagraha. It is worse than dutagraha. Those who join satyagraha demonstrations were bound one and all to refrain at all hazard 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 traincars by putting obstacles in the way. This is not satyagraha. We have demanded the release ofabout fifty men who had been arrested for deeds of violence. Our duty is chiefly to get ourselves arrested. It is breach of religious duty to endeavour to seeure 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 different and still more restricted shape. It may be necessary to go even further. The time may coinc 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 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 have even died from such injuries. If so, it would be a great blot on satyagraha. For me, Englishmen too are our brethren. We can have nothing against them and scenes such as I have described are simply unbearable, but I know how to offer satyagraha against ourselves. As against ourselves 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 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."

Events Marched rapidly. There was great cxcitcment in Ahmedabad. There were rumours of Anasuyabehn's arrest, which led to serious clashes. The textile workers were fired at several times and military proclamation was issued on the morning of April 12.

On April 13 Gandhi arrived in Ahmedabad and he was allowed to help in restoring order. He addressed a huge meeting near the ashram on April 14. He upbraided the people for their violence and declared a three days' penitential fast for himself and appealed to them to observe a similar fast for one day:

"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 those things have happened in my name I am ashamed of them, and those who have 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 not like to be so saved. I do wish to say in all earnestness that violence has not secured my discharge. A most brutal rumour was set afloat that Anasuyabehn was arrested. The crowds were infuriated all the more, and disturbance increased. You have thereby disgraced Anasuyabchn and under the cloak ofher arrest heinous deeds have been done.

"These deeds have not benefited the people in any way. They have done nothing but harm. The buildings burnt 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 satyagraha 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 today. It should not be a matter for surprise if the withdrawal of the act is now delayed. When I was released on Friday, my plan was to start for Delhi again on Saturday to seek re-arrest, and that would have been as accession of strength to the movement. Now, instead of going to Delhi, it remains to me to offer satyagraha against our own people, and as it is my determination to offer satyagraha even unto death for seeuring the withdrawal of the Rowlatt legislation, I think the occasion has arrived when I should offer satyagraha against ourselves 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 property. How can I seek imprisonment unless I have absolute confidence that we shall no longer be guilty 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 re-arrested or on some such 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 religion. 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 do not repent and do not realize 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 contribution will be a slight token of our repentance. 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 deeds had all courageously and bravely gone forward to put down lawlessness, the mob would have been checked in their career and would have immediately realized 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 religious 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 repentance. 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 hours' fast in slight expiration of these sins. This fast should be observed 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 iny own. My responsibility is a million times greater than yours. I have placed satyagraha before people for their acccptance, and I have lived in your midst for four years. I have also given some contribution to the special service of Ahmedabad. Its citizens are not quite unfamiliar with my views.

"It is alleged that I have without proper consideration 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 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 decided to fast for three days, that is, seventy-two 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. If you feel pity for the suffering that will 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 swaraj or benefit our country in the least by violence and terrorism. I am of opinion that if we have to wade through violence to obtain swaraj and if a redress of grievances were to be only possible by means of ill will for and slaughter of Englishmen, I would do without that swaraj 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. Ahmedabad, its capital, is the residence of many religious Hindus and Muslims. Deeds of public violence in a city like this is like an 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 organized manner. There seems to be a definite design about them, and I am 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 you never to be so misguided, and I would ask them seriously to reconsider their views. To them and you I commend my book Hind Swaraj 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 them to resume work immediately and to ask for increase, if they want any only after resuming work, and in a reasonable manner. To resort to me of force to get any increase is suicidal. I would specially advise all mill-hands to altogether eschew violence. It is in their interest to do so and I remind them of the promises made to Anasuyabehn and me that they would ever refrain from violence. I hope that all will now resume work."

Gandhi's address had an immediate effect. The disturbances came to an end in Ahmedabad and the military pioclamation was withdrawn.

The Government publication, India 1919, gave a summary of Gandhi's emergence in Indian politics:

"Mr. Gandhi is generally considered a Tolstoyan of high ideals and complete selflessness. Since his stand on behalf of the Indians in South Africa, he has commanded among his countrymen all the traditional reverence with which the East envelops a religious leader of acknowledged asceticism. In his case he possesses the added strength that his admirers are not confined to any religious seet. Since he took up his residence in Ahmedabad, he has been actively concerned in social work of varied kinds. His readiness to take up the cudgels on behalf of any individual or class whom he regards as being oppressed has endeared him to the mass of his countrymen. In ease of the urban and rural population of many parts of the Bombay Presidency his influence is unquestioned, and he is regarded with revcrence for which 'adoration' is scareely too strong a word."

43. Jallianwala Bagh ( 1919 )

THE WEEK following Sunday, April 6, 1919, was marked by unprecedented enthusiasm everywhere. Here and there, acts of violence were noticeable, and the Government stepped in with severe measures of repression.

In the Punjab all was peaceful. Meetings were held at Amritsar and Lahore. The hartal was observed successfully and peacefully all over the province on April 6. At Amritsar hartal was also observed on March 30. Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Lt.-Governor, was determined to prevent the people getting Congress-minded. The celebration of the Ramnavami festival, with a huge procession and fraternization among the Hindus and the Muslims, passed ofr peacefully on April 9. On the morning of April 10, Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Kitchlew were removed in a car to a dharmashala, and the local authorities made military and police preparations to prevent the people entering the civil station. Their deportation and internment was ordered under the Defence of India Act.

At noon, April 10, the news of the leaders' arrest spread in the city of Amritsar. Hartal was declared and the people Marched in a procession towards the residence of the deputy commissioner to demand the release of Dr. Satyapal and Dr. Kitchlew. The procession was checked at the railway level-crossing and was forced back towards the city. The unarmed people were fired at twice and many were killed. The crowd became infuriated and violent and took its mad revenge by killing five or six Englishmen, sitting in their offices, and burning their bank buildings. Some public buildings were burnt and telegraph wires were cut. Troops were rushed into the city and quiet was restored.

On April 11 there was an impressive funeral procession which passed off quietly. The same evening, General Dyer arrived and took command of the troops in the city. The following day many arrests were made and a proclamation was issued prohibiting all gatherings and meetings in Amritsar. The proclamation which was in English was not even read in many parts of the city.

On April 12 a meeting was announced, to be held at 4.30 p.m. next day in the Jallianwala Bagh. General Dyer took no measures to prevent the holding of the meeting but decided to reach the place soon after the meeting had begun with armoured cars and troops, and without giving any warning, ordered the troops to fire till the ammunition was exhausted.

Sir Valentine Chirol has described the scene thus:

"One cannot possibly realize the frightfulncss of it until one has actually looked upon on the Jallianwala Bagh—once a garden, but in modern times a waste space frequently used for fairs and public meetings, about the size perhaps of Trafalgar Square, and closed in almost entirely by walls above which rise the backs of native houses facing into the congested streets of the city. I entered by the same narrow lane by which General Dyer entered with about fifty rifles. I stood on the same rising ground on which he stood, when without a word of warning, he opened fire at about hundred yards' range upon a dense crowd, collected mainly in the lower and more distant part of the enclosure around a platform from which speeches were being delivered. The crowd was estimated by him at 6,000, by others at 10,000 and more, practically unarmed, and all quite defenceless. The panic-stricken multitude broke at once, but for ten consecutive minutes he kept up a merciless fusillade—in all 1,650 rounds—on that seething mass of humanity, caught like rats in trap, vainly rushing for the few narrow exits or lying flat on the ground to escape the rain of bullets, which he personally directed to the points where the crowd was the thickest. The 'targets', to use his own word, were good, and when at the end of those ten minutes, having almost exhausted his ammunition, he Marched his men off by the way they came. He had killed, according to the official figures wrung out of Government mouths later, 379, and he left about 200 wounded on the ground, for whom, again to use his own word, he did not consider it his 'job' to take the slightest thought."

The word Amritsar became a synonym for massacre. Bad as this was, there were other and even more shameful deeds all over the Punjab.

On April 13 the Lt.-Governor of the Punjab requested the Viceroy to direct him to suspend function of ordinary criminal courts in Amritsar and Lahore districts, to establish martial law therein and to direct trials of offenders under the Regulation of 1804, by courts martial. The request was granted on April 15. Martial law soon descended all over the province. It was cut off from the rest of India by a rigid censorship; hardly any news was allowed to go and it was very difficult for people to enter or leave the province. Martial law was withdrawn on June 11, except on the railway lands. It was finally withdrawn on August 25. Slowly after months of agonized suspense, the curtain lifted and the horrible truth was known.

Speaking as the president of the All-India Moderates Conference, Sir P. S. Sivaswamy Aiyar summed up the horrors of Dyer regime:

"The wholesale slaughter of hundreds of unarmed men at Jallianwala Bagh without giving the crowd an opportunity to disperse, the indifference of General Dyer to the condition of hundreds of people who were wounded in the firing of machine-guns into crowds who had dispersed and taken to their heels, the flogging of men in public, the order compelling thousands of students to walk sixteen miles a day for roll-calls, the arrest and detention of 500 students and professors, the compelling of school children of five to seven to attend parade to salute the flag, the order imposing upon owners of property the responsibility for the safety of the martial-law posters stuck on their properties, the flogging of a marriage party, the censorship of mails, the closure of the Badshahi mosque for six weeks, the arrest and detention of people without any substantial reason especially of people who had rendered service to the state, the flogging of six of the biggest boys in the Islamia School simply bccause they happened to be schoolboys and big boys, the construction of an open cage for the confinement of arrested persons, the invention of novel punishments like the crawling order, the skipping order, the handcuffing and roping together of persons and keeping them in open trucks for fifteen hours, the use of aeroplanes and Lewis guns against unarmed citizens, the taking of hostages and the confiscation and destruction of property for the purpose of securing the attendance of absentees, the handcuffing of Hindus and Muslims in pairs with the object of demonstrating the conscquences of Hindu- Muslim unity, the cutting off of electric and water supplies from Indian houses, the removal of fans from Indian houses and giving them for use to Europeans, the commandeering of all vehicles owned by Indians and giving them to Europeans for use, the feverish disposal of cases with the object of forestalling the termination of martial law, are some of the many incidents of the administration of martial law which created a reign of terror in the Punjab and have shocked the public."

Gandhi was shocked by the atrocities heaped by the Government all over India. But he was more unnerved by the violent spirit shown by the people. Many eminent Indians felt that the ground under them was giving way. On April 12 Rabindranath Tagore wrote to Gandhi, imploring him to go slow and ponder:

"Power in all its forms is irrational—it is like the horse that drags the carriage blindfold. The moral element in it is only represented in the man who drives the horse. Passive resistance is a force which is not necessarily moral in itself; it can be used against truth as well as for it. The danger inherent in all force grows stronger when it is likely to gain success, for then it becomes temptation.

"I know your teaching is to fight against evil by the help of the good. But such a fight is for heroes and not for men led by impulses of the moment. Evil on one side naturally begets evil on the other, injustice leading to violence and insult to vengefulness. Unfortunately, such a force has already been started, and either through panic or through wrath, our authorities have shown us their claws whose sure effect is to drive some of us into the seeret path of resentment and others into utter demoralization.

"In this crisis you, as a great leader of men, have stood among us to proclaim your faith in the ideal which you know to be that of India—the ideal which is both against the cowardliness of hidden revenge and the cowed submissiveness of the terror-stricken. You have said, as Lord Buddha has done in his time and for all time to come: 'Conquer anger by power of non-anger and evil by the power of good.'

"This power of good must prove its truth and strength by its fearlessness, by its refusal to accept any imposition which depends for its success upon its power to produce frightfulness and is not ashamed to use its machine of destruction to terrorize a population completely disarmed. We must know that moral conquest does not consist in success, that failure does not deprive it of its dignity and worth. Those who believe in spiritual life know that to stand against wrong which has overwhelming material power behind it is victory itself—it is the victory of the active faith in the ideal in the teeth of evident defeat.

"I have always felt, and said accordingly, that the great gift of freedom can never come to a people through charity. We must win it before we can own it. India's opportunity for winning it will come to her when she can prove that she is morally superior to the people who rule by their strength of conquest. She must willingly accept her penance of suffering, the suffering which is the crown of the great. Armed with her utter faith in goodness, she must stand unabashed before the arrogance that scoffs at the power of spirit.

"And you have come to your motherland in the time of her need to remind her of her mission, to lead her in the true path of conquest, to purge her present-day politics of its feebleness, which imagines that ii has gained its purpose when it struts in the borrowed feathers of diplomatic dishonesty.

"This is why I pray most fervently that nothing that tends to weaken our spiritual freedom may intrude into our Marching line, that martyrdom for its cause of truth may never degenerate into fanaticism for mere verbal forms, descending into the self-deception that hides itself behind sacred aims."

Gandhi was thinking on similar lines. When he saw the actual state of things at Nadiad and heard reports of the happenings in Kheda, it suddenly dawned upon him that he had committed a grave error in calling the people to launch upon civil disobedience prematurely: "A satyagrahi obeys the laws of society intelligently and of his own free will, because he considers it to be his duty to do so. It is only when a person has thus obeyed the laws of society scrupulously that he is in a position to judge as to which particular deeds are good and just, and which unjust and iniquitous. Only then does the right accrue to him of the civil disobedience of certain laws in well-defined circumstances. My error lay in my failure to observe this necessary limitation. I had called upon the people to launch upon civil disobedience before they had thus qualified themselves for it, and this mistake of mine seemed to me to be of a Himalayan magnitude."

Gandhi reached Bombay, raised through the Satyagraha Sabha a corps of volunteers, and with their help, commenced the work of explaining the people the meaning and inner significance of satyagraha. This was principally done through leaflets. He found it difficult to interest people in the peaceful side of satyagraha. He realized that the progress of the training in civil disobedience was a slow process and, therefore, advised temporary suspension of the movement on April 18:

"It is not without sorrow I feel compelled to advise the temporary suspension of civil disobedience. I give this advice not because I have less faith now in its efficacy but because I have, if possible, greater faith than before. It is my perception of the law of satyagraha 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 Viramgam 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 Anasuyabchn and myself. Had the Government in an unwise manner not prevented me from entering Delhi and so compelled me to disobey their orders, I feel certain that Ahmedabad and Viramgam would have remained free from the horrors of the last week. In other words satyagraha has 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 previously 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 indentured Indians had struck work. This was a satyagraha strike and, therefore, 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 take 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 strike of Europeans in which methods of violence and use of arms found a prominent place, ours was suspended, and satyagraha from that moment came to be recognized 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 satyagraha if I allowed it by any action of mine to be used as an occasion for feeding violence, for embittering relations between the English and the Indians. Our satyagraha 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 satyagraha. Satyagraha is like a banyan tree with innumerable branches. Civil disobedience is one such branch. Satya and ahimsa together make the parent trunk from which all innumerable branches shoot out. We have found by bitter experience that whilst in an atmosphere of lawlessness civil disobedience found ready acceptance, satya and ahimsa from which alone civil disobedience can worthily spring, have commanded little or no respect. Ours then is a Herculean task, but we may not shirk it. We must fearlessly spread the doctrine of satya and ahimsa and then, 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 legislation 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 the civil disobedience, to give the Government effective co-operation in restoring order, and by preaching and practice to gain adherence to the principles mentioned above."

The All-India Congress Committee was held on April 20 to demand an inquiry into the Punjab wrongs. Gandhi was pressed to proceed to the Punjab immediately in disregard of consequences. Gandhi wrote and also telegraphed to the Viceroy asking for permission in vain. "If I proceeded without the necessary permission, I should not be allowed to cross the boundary of the Punjab, and should be left to what satisfaction I could have from civil disobedience," thought Gandhi. He did not see around him the kind of peaceful atmosphere that he wanted, and, therefore, decided to drop the idea of proceeding to the Punjab for the time being.

In a letter dated May 11, Gandhi wrote to the Private Secretary to the Viceroy: "I need hardly assure you that the whole of my weight will be thrown absolutely on the side of preserving peace. The Viceroy has a right to rely upon my doing nothing less. But my weight will be absolutely nothing if I received no support from the Government. The support to need is a satisfactory declaration on the Mohammedan question and the withdrawal of the Rowlatt Act. If it is possible to give this support, I feel you could have, without a shadow of doubt, a contented India."

While Gandhi declared his readiness to assist restore normal conditions, Lord Chelmsford published a Government resolution conveying his intention, in the plainest terms, to employ all available force to suppress the national movement.

There was general resentment in India against the injustice and cruelty inflicted on the Punjab. The national protest was voiced by Rabindranath Tagore who renounced his knighthood and condemned the atrocitics in a letter to the Viceroy, dated May 30. He came down to Calcutta from Shillong, where he was recuperating his health, and failing to persuade the political leaders to convene a public meeting of protest, he resolved to take action. Tagore wrote to Lord Chelmsford:

"The enormity of the measures taken by the Government of the Punjab for quelling some local disturbances has, with a rude shock, revealed to our minds the helplessness of our position as British subjects in India. The disproportionate severity of the punishments inflicted upon the unfortunate people and the methods of carrying them out, we are convinced, are without parallel in the history of civilized governments, barring some conspicuous exceptions, recent or remote. Considering that such treatment has been meted out to a population, disarmed and resourceless, by a power which has the most terribly efficient organization for destruction of human lives, we must strongly assert that it can claim no political expediency, far less moral justification. The accounts of the insults and sufferings undergone by our brothers in the Punjab have trickled through the gagged silence, reaching every corner of India, and the universal agony of indignation roused in the hearts of the people has been ignored by our rulers—possibly congratulating themselves for imparting what they imagine as salutary lessons. Knowing that our appeals have been vain and the passion of vengeance is blinding the noble vision of statesmanship of our Government, which could so easily afford to be magnanimous, as befitting its physical strength and moral tradition, the very least that I can do for my country is to take all consequences upon myself in giving voice to the protest of the millions of my countrymen, surprised to a dumb anguish of terror. The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I, for my part, wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of those countrymen who, for their so-called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings. And these are the reasons which have painfully compelled me to ask Your Excellency, with due deference and regret, to relieve me of my title of knighthood which I had the honour to accept from His Majesty the King at the hand of your predecessor for whose nobleness of heart I still entertain great admiration."

The A.I.C.C. meeting, at Allahabad on June 8, demanded inquiry into the martial-law atrocitics in the Punjab. A committee was appointed to arrange for the conduct of an inquiry into the Punjab occurrences, to take all necessary proceedings in India or England in relation thereto and to collect funds for the purpose. A cable was sent to the Premier, the Secretary of State for India and Lord Sinha, asking for the suspension of the execution of all sentences passed under martial law, pending the proposed inquiry.

Gandhi felt that he would better serve "the country and the Government and those Punjabi leaders" by the suspension of civil resistance. He made a statement on July 21: "The Government of India has given me, through His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, a grave warning that the resumption of civil disobedience is likely to be attended with serious consequences to public seeurity. This warning has been reinforced by His Excellency the Governor himself at the interviews to which I was summoned. In response to these warnings and to the urgent desire publicly expressed by Dewan Bahadur Govind Raghava Aiyar, Sir Narayan Chandavarkar and several editors, I have, after deep consideration, decided not to resume civil resistance for the time being. I may add that several prominent friends belonging to what is called the Extremist Party have given me the same advice on the sole ground of their fear of a recrudescence of violence on the part of those who might not have understood the doctrine of civil resistance. When, in common with most other satyagrahis, I came to the conclusion that the time was ripe for the resumption of civil resistance as part of satyagraha I sent a respectful letter to this Excellency the Viceroy, advising him of my intention so to do anil urging that the Rowlatt legislation should be withdrawn, that an early declaration be made as to the appointment of a strong and impartial committee to investigate the Punjab disturbances, with power to revise the sentences passed. I have been assured that the committee of inquiry such as I have urged for is in the process of being appointed. With these indications of goodwill, it would be unwise on my part not to listen to the warning given by the Government. Indeed, my acceptance of the Government's advice is a further demonstration of the nature of civil resistance. A civil resister never seeks to embarrass the Government."

But he warned: "If my occasional resistance be a lighted match, the Rowlatt legislation and the persistence in retaining it on the statute book is a thousand matches scattered throughout India. The only way to avoid civil resistance altogether is to withdraw that legislation. '

In pursuance of the Congress resolution Swami Shraddhanand, Motilai Nehru and Malaviya proceeded to the Punjab in July to hold inquiry.

The Govcrnment of India announced in October the personnel of the commission of inquiry with Lord Justice Hunter as its chairman. Out of eight members, three were Indians: namely, Sir Sultan Ahmed, Sir Chimanlal Sctalvad and Pandit Jagal Narain. Simultaneously, the Government also introduced and passed an indemnity bill, based upon the assurance given to the officers that they should be protected and indemnified against anything that they might do in establishing law and order.

The composition of this commission was strongly objected to by the Congress leaders. Malaviya, in the Viceroy's Legislative Council, raised the important issue that the inquiry commission should not have been appointed by the Government of India, since the Government themselves were the accused party.

44. Young India ( 1919 )

TALES OF rank injustice and oppression came pouring in daily from the Punjab. B. G. Horniman, editor of Bombay Chronicle, who was writing fiery articles, was suddenly whisked away to England and Bombay Chronicle and its press were placed under official censorship. As a result of these developments Gandhi was asked by the directors of Bombay ChronicIe to take up the responsibility of that paper. But before he could do so, the journal had to be suspended due to drastic action by the Government.

Jamnadas Dwarkadas, Umar Sobani and Shankarlal Banker, who were connected with Bombay Chronicle, were controlling Young India also. They suggested, that in view of the suppression of Bombay Chionicle, Gandhi should take up the editorship of Young India and further, that in order to fill the gap left by the former, Young India should be converted from a weekly into a bi-weekly journal. Gandhi readily accepted the suggestion. Besides the English journal, Gandhi was keen on conducting a paper in Gujarati. The opportunity offered itself and Navajivan, a Gujarati monthly, managed by Indulal Yajnik, Umar Sobani and Shankarlal Banker, was placed at Gandhi's disposal. He converted it into a weekly.

Meantime, Bombay Chronicle was resuscitated. Young India was, therefore, reverted to its original weekly issue. To have published the two weekly issue from two different places would have been very inconvenient to Gandhi. As Navajivan was already being published from Ahmedabad, Young India was shifted there at Gandhi's suggestion. He wanted to express his views untrammelled and, therefore, he set up in Ahmedabad his own press.

Under the full control of Gandhi, Navajivan first appeared on October 7, 1919 and a day later Young India followed. Gandhi was the editor of the two journals, Mahadev De.sai publisher and Shankarlal Banker printer. Gandhi now commenccd the work of educating the public in satyagraha. The journals were priced at one anna a copy and were soon read in the farthest corners of India, sometimes in groups. At one time the circulation of each of these journals reached 40,000. Gandhi's articles were rcproduccd in almost all the newspapers in India.

In the first issue of Young India, dated Wednesday, Octobcr 8, J 919, Gandhi struck a new note. The front page opened with the article, "No Security":

"As Navajivan was having considerable difficulty about printing and as arrangements were being made to print Young India in Ahmedabad, the Manohar Press of Ahmedabad has now been purchased and it is rechristcned 'Navajivan Press.' Three declarations had, therefore, to be made, one in connection with the printing press, the second in connection with the transfer of Navajivan to the new press and third for the transfer of young India to that press. Navajivan, when it became a weekly, was subjected to a security of Rs. 500. Young India escaped security, because the printer was also the keeper of the press where it was published. The press in Bombay was itself under seeurity. It, therefore, was a question how Young India and Navajivan would fare as also the press itself, but after mature consideration the district magistrate neither imposed any security on the keeper of the press nor on the publishers of the respective papers. Where security makes no difference to a journalist, a waiver really enhances his sense of responsibility. So long, therefore, as the objectionable features of the Press Act continue to disfigure it, exemption from security, whilst it is creditable for the Government, it can hardly be matter for congratulation for the controllers of any particular organ so exempted."

The second note picked up an interesting incident in the council and showed the necessity of using Indian languages in the assemblies:

"The Honourable Mr. Sinha whilst he was speaking on the Indemnity Bill was led into a confusion of terms. He was pulled up by Sir George Lowndes, and His Excellency the President defended Mr. Sinha saying it was a slip of the tongue. Mr. Sinha then made these frank and dignified remarks: 'It is hard for Your Excellency to realize what our difficulties are in speaking a foreign tongue in this council. We are apt to make mistakes.' This is only too true. We are apt to make mistakes in our own mother tongue. But they are never so ludicrous as when we attempt to speak in a foreign tongue. Professor Jadunath Sarkar has remarked that our having to speak and think in English puts a strain upon us from which we never fully recover. The remedy for the evil is that we must begin self-government by introducing our own speech in our assemblies— provincial vernaculars in the provincial legislatures, and Hindustani, a resultant of Hindi and Urdu, in the Imperial Council. We cannot make a better beginning than by adopting the change in the Congress and the conferences. In adopting English as the medium at these gatherings we have done a positive disservice to the masses who have but a vague idea of the proceedings of these annual gatherings. By persisting to conduct them in English we have actually put obstacles in the way of the masses getting political education. I imagine what would have happened if we had during the thirty-five years' existence of the National Congress deliberated in Hindustani instead of English which is understood only by a microscopic minority of our countrymen."

On the second page appeared Gandhi's editorial, "To the Subscribers and the Readers":

"Young India from this week enters upon a new stage. It bccame a bi-weekly when Mr. Horniman was deported and The Chronicle was strangled. Ever since the Chronicle's rebirth, the syndicate and I have been considering the advisability of reverting to the weekly issue. Conversion of Navajivan into a weekly and its coming under my charge has hastened the decision. The burden of conducting a bi-weekly and a weekly is too great a strain on me and a weekly Young India will now serve almost as well as a bi-weekly. The annual subscription will now be Rs. 4 instead of Rs. 8 and the price of single copy will be one anna instead of two, without postage. Subscribers may either have the balance due to this changc returned to them or the amount may be credited to the next year's account. Those subscribers who be dissatisfied with the changc can have the proportionate payment refunded to them on application.

"The headquarters of Young India have been transferred to Ahmedabad for better management, and in order to enable me to devote some time to the Satyagraha Ashram which due to my continued absence from it was being somewhat neglected by me. Moreover, it was obviously uneconomical in every respect to edit two papers at two different places. This deprives of the privilege of being with Bombay friends as much as I have lately been. But I hope they will forgive me, if the new arrangement results, as I hope it will, in greater service to the country. Young India has hitherto been chiefly occupied in dealing with the Punjab affairs. But one may reasonably hope that the cloud will lift in the near future.

"What will Young India then present to its readers? I frankly confess that to me editing a newspaper in English is no pleasure. I feel that in occupying myself with that work, I am not making the best use of my time and but for the Madras Presidency, I should now leave the work of editing Young India. It is true that I should at times like to make my views in matters of general interest known to the Government. But I do not need to control a newspaper merely for that purpose.

"The editing of Navajivan has been a perfect revelation to me. Whilst Young India has little more than 1,200 subscribers, Navajivan has 12,000. The number would leap to 20,000 if we would but get printers to print that number. It shows that a vernacular newspaper is a felt want. I am proud to think that I have numerous readers among farmers and workers. They make India. Their poverty is India's curse and crime. Their prosperity alone can make India a country fit to live in. They represent nearly eighty per cent of India's population. The English journals touch but the fringe of the occan of India's population.

"Whilst, therefore, I hold it to be the duty of every English-knowing Indian to translate the best of the English thought in the vernaculars for the benefit of the masses, I recognize that for a few years to come, until we have accepted Hindustani as the common medium among the cultured classes and until Hindustani becomes compulsory in our schools as a second language, educated India, especially in the Madras Presidency, must be addressed in English. But I will not be a party to editing a newspaper that does not pay its way. Young India cannot pay its way unless it has at least 2,500 paying subscribers. I must appeal to my Tamil friends to see to it that the requisite number of subscribers is found, if they wish to see Young India continued.

"The more so now, because the proprietors of Young India have decided to give up all advertisements. I know that they have not been entirely, if at all, converted to my view that a newspaper ought to be conductcd without advertisements. But they are willing to let me make the experiment. I invite those who wish to see Young India free from the curse of advertisements to help me to make the venture a success. The Gujarati Navajivan has already demonstrated the possibility of conducting a newspaper without advertisements soiling its pages. What a financial gain it would be to the contrary, if there was for each province only one advertising medium—not a newspaper—containing innocent unvarnished notices of things useful for the public. But for our criminal indifference, we would decline to pay the huge indirect taxation by way of mischievous advertisements. Some readers who are interested in the purity of journalism recently sent me a most indecent advertisement extracted from a well* known newspaper. I have refused to soil the pages ofNavajivan by reproducing it. But anyone turning to the advertisement sheets of even leading journals can verify the aptness of my criticism.

"A word as to the policy of Young India. Apart from its duty of drawing attention to injustices to individuals, it will devote its attention to constructive satyagraha as also sometimes cleansing satyagraha. Cleansing satyagraha is a civil resistance where resistance becomes a duty to remove a persistent and degrading injustice such as the Rowlatt Act."

On page four appeared a report of Gandhi's views on social service:

"The speaker at one time thought that the social service was best known and organized in Europe. Experience had taught him otherwise. He was of opinion that nowhere was social service treated so much a religious duty as in India. He instanced the marvellous manner in which the Kumbha at Hardwar was organized. The Himalayas were a standing testimony to our organizing ability, and our instinct for social service. Thousands of pilgrims who aseended the Himalayas up to Jamnotri were catered for without difficulty in a spirit of service and not of commercial gain. The matchless caste organization was an instance of vast social service organization. The late Sir W. W. Hunter used to say that India was remarkable for the absence of any need of the Poor Law. Castes regulated service in the event of disease, death and poverty. He did not wish to glorify caste. He recognized its defects and its excesses, as it at present existed. He merely mentioned it as an illustration to prove his proposition that social service was recognized in India as a duty. Unfortunately most of our old institutions had petrified. His point was that the old institutions and methods should be studied, revivified, and organized in so far as it may be necessary to suit new conditions. We were likely to go wrong if we rejected the old without due examination."

In Navajivan Gandhi had begun a series of articles on the condition of Indian agriculturists and the means of its amelioration. In the first article he gave a vivid picture of the agriculturists as he had seen it in Kheda, Champaran and Madras. In the seeond he considered the problem of village improvement. For the benefit of English readers its translation appeared in Young India:

"Mr. Lionel Curtis's description of an-Indian village as a collection of insanitary dwellings constructed in a dunghill is not much exaggerated. In fact more pathetic details could be added to those given by him. There should be some system about the structure of well-ordered village, there should be some order about the village lanes, and the roads should be so scrupulously clean, in this land of crorcs of barefooted pedestrians, that nobody need hesitate in walking or even sleeping in the streets. The lanes should be macadamized and have gutters for letting out water. The temples and mosques should be kept so beautifully clean, that the visitors should feel an air of tranquil holiness about them. The village should, as far as possible, be full of shady trees and fruit trees in and about them. It should have a dharmashala, a school and a small dispensary. Washing and privy arrangements should be such as may not contaminate the air, water and roads of the village. There was a time when the Indian village satisfied most of these conditions. Every village should be self- sufficient so far as its needs of food and clothing are concerned, and should be capable to defend itself against robbers, dacoits or wild animals. An ideal village should approximate to the description I have given here. Only such villages could be called self-governing and if all Indian villages could come up to the ideal, India would be free from most of its worries.

"It is not only not impossible to bring about this stale of things, it is not a very difficult affair either. There are about 700,000 villages in India, so that the average population of a village is 400. In fact there are numerous villages with less than a population of 1,000. And it is my firm belief that these small units are easily capable of being well-ordered and organized. For this no speech-making is necessary, nor is there any need of legislative councils or legislation. One thing only is essential, and, that is, a small number of selfless workers—men and women. They can by their example and spirit of service get the requisite improvements made. It is not that they should give their twenty-four hours to the work. In spite of their working for their livelihood, they can bring their spirit of service to bear on the villagers. Nor need they be very highly educated. Even without a knowledge of letters, one can work for village improvement. There is no fear of Government or state interference, nor is there any very great need of their co-operation. If every village could have a few good volunteer workers, very necessary work of improvement and reform would be possible all over India without much ado, or without any vigorous agitation. Only a little sustained effort would bring about unexpected results. The reader will see that money too will not be very essential either, for this work. The need, and the paramount need is for selflessness, a religious spirit. It is my experience that this is the easiest way of improving the condition of agriculturists. No village or individual need wait for another's lead in work in this direction. Any man or woman inspired with a spirit of selfless service can immediately set off working, and in so doing he fully serves his country."

45. Amritsar Congress ( 1919 )

GANDHI'S request to visit the Punjab was granted at last by the Viceroy. On October 17, 1919, he joined the leaders who were there and plunged himself in the work with energy and thoroughness. Though this was his first visit to the Punjab, Gandhi's presence brought back confidence among the people. Gandhi and Congress leaders made a request to the Hunter Committee: "That the leaders should be released pending inquiry of the committee; one of the two revision judges should be from outside the Punjab; the revision judges should have power to receive and call further evidence where they think necessary." As these suggestions were rejected by the Government, the Congress sub-committee in Lahore decided to withdraw their co-operation from the Hunter Committee. The Congress undertook a separate inquiry by a committee composed of Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, C. R. Das, Fazlul Huq and Abbas Tyabji, with K. Santanam as seeretary. But soon after, Nehru, having been elected president of the forthcoming Congress, resigned from the committee, Jayakar taking his place.

The main responsibility for organizing the work of inquiry committee devolved on Gandhi. In the course of the inquiry he visited several villages and thus got an opportunity of observing at close quarters the people of the Punjab. Wherever he went the villagers came flocking and laid before him heaps of hand-spun yarn.

The task of drafting the inquiry committee report was also entrusted to Gandhi. Not a single statement, regarding the validity of which there was the slightest room for doubt, was permitted to appear in the report. Not a single statement made in the report was ever disproved.

The Congress inquiry committee's work in the Punjab had just commenced, when Gandhi received a letter requesting him to preside over a joint conference of Hindus and Muslims that was to meet in Delhi and deliberate on the Khilafat question. Among the signatories were Hakim Ajmal Khan and Asaf Ali. Swami Shraddhanand was closely connected with the conference.

Presiding over the All-India Khilafat Conference on November 24, Gandhi addressed the audience in Urdu:

"It ought not to appear strange for the Hindus to be on the same platform as the Muslims in a matter that specially and solely affects the Muslims. After all, the test of friendship is true assistance in adversity and whatever we are, Hindus, Parsis, Christians or Jews, if we wish to live as one nation, surely the interest of any of us must be the interest of all. The only deciding consideration can be the justicc of a particular cause. The Prime Minister of England and a whole host of distinguished ex-officials are witnesses to the justicc of the Muslim cause. We talk of the Hindu- Muslim unity. It would be an empty phrase if the Hindus hold aloof from the Muslims when their vital interests were at stake. Some have suggested that we Hindus can assist our Muslim countrymen only on conditions. Conditional assistance is like adulterated cement which does not bind. The only question, therefore, is how to help. The Khilafat conference has come to the decision not to participate in the coming peace celebrations. I think that is a proper decision. Peace celebrations can have 110 meaning for India whilst a vital part of the peace affecting one-fourth of India's population remains undeclared. Eight crorcs of Muslims are deeply interested in the peace terms affecting Khilafat. It is improper to ask them to celebrate peace while the fate of Khilafat hangs in the balance. To ask India to celebrate peace whilst the Khilafat question remains unsettled is like expecting France to celebrate peace pending the settlement of Alsace-Lorraine. That Turkey is outside India does not affect the comparison. England is as much a Muslim and Hindu power as it is a Christian power and if India be a partner in the empire then Muslim sentiment deserves as much placating as any other. It would, therefore, be the most seeming thing for the Viceroy to postpone the imperial peace celebrations pending a satisfactory settlement of the Khilafat question.

"It is a question which indeed affects the honour of England—the pledged word of the Prime Minister. What are riches, power, and military renown worth if that honour becomes sullied? I was, therefore, deeply pained to see the telegraphic summary of the Prime Minister's speech, which seemed unnecessarily to wound the Muslim susceptibility, and to forecast a settlement of the Khilafat question in contradiction of his own solemn word given with due deliberation and at a time when that word steadied the Muslim loyalty and possibly stimulated recruiting among the warlike Muslims. I shall still hope that wiser counsels will prevail and justicc done to the Muslim claim. Should, however, the worst happen, the Khilafat Committee last night decided to advise Muslims to withdraw corperation from the Government. I was privileged to be present at both the subjects committee and the general meetings. I take the liberty of warning the Government of the solemnity of the occasion and the seriousness of the decision. I know that withdrawal of co-operation is a grave thing. It requires ability to suffer. I know too that it is the right of the citizen to withdraw his co-operation from the state when that co-operation means his degradation. It is a tangible form of showing one's displeasure at the acts of one's Government.

"One may, therefore, hope that the Imperial Government will recognize the gravity of the situation. But from non-co-operation to boycott is a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous.

"The committee took last night a decision by a majority of votes in favour of boycott of British goods if the Khilafat question was not satisfactorily settled. Boycott is a form of revenge and talking of its being able to help us to secure a just solution we have to create a world opinion. I venture to suggest to my Muslim friends that they will not create a world opinion in their favour by proclaiming boycott of British goods, and in practice it is bound to break down. The suggested boycott is a confession of weakness. You want strength, not weakness, to be able successfully to deal with all the questions. I hope that the Khilafat Committee will retrace its steps, and after mature consideration cancel the boycott resolution. In tackling this big question calmness, patience and the strictest adherence to facts are needed. It is not enough that there is no violence. Indeed a violent speech is often as injurious as a violent deed. And I am sure that you will not spoil a cause that is just and sacred by any hasty word or action.

"It remains for me to examine a position suggested by some friends. It has been contended that the Punjab grievance too is a good reason for refraining from the peace celebrations. I differ from that view. However grievous the wrong done in the Punjab, it is after all a domestic affair and it would show on our part a want of sense of proportion to bring in the Punjab grievance to justify our non-co-operation in the imperial celebration. The Punjab grievance does not arise out of the peace terms as does the Khilafat question. We must isolate the Khilafat question if we wish to give it its proper place and value. In my opinion it is not open to us to refuse to share the peace celebrations on grounds other than those arise directly out of the peace and that touch the vital parts of our national existence. The Khilafat question alone satisfies these two tests.

"Asaf Ali, the seeretary of the conferencc, has intimated in the papers circulated by him that the goraksha—cow protection—problem and the Punjab matter will also be considered. I submit that the Hindus may not open the goraksha question here. The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too unconditional assistance. It is the duty of Hindus, if they see the justice of the Muslim cause, to render co-operation. If the Muslims feel themselves bound to spare the Hindus' feelings and stop cow- killing they may do so, no matter whether Hindus co-operate with them or not. Though, therefore, I yield to no Hindu in my worship of the cow, I do not want to make the stopping of cow-killing a condition precedent to co-operation. Unconditional co-operation means the protection of the cow. As regards the Punjab matter too, I venture to differ from many of you. They may have deeply distressed others. I will not, however, say that can distress anyone more deeply than they do me, and yet I think that we cannot bring in here the Punjab grievance. We cannot say that the Punjab wrong is unredressed. The Hunter Committee is still at work. Our own committee is equally busy. The Khilafat question is a serious one, and needs immediate remedies. We must isolate it, if we wish to give it its proper place and value."

Maulana Abdul Ban, proposing a vote of thanks, remarked: "Mahatma Gandhi may say anything as regards the bringing in of the goraksha question. That does credit to him and to our Hindu brethren. But the Muslims' honour would be at stake if they forget the co-operation of the Hindus. I for my part will say that we - hould stop cow-killing, irrespective of their co-operation because we are children of the same soil. As a maulvi I say that in voluntarily stopping cow-killing we shall not offend against the canons of our religion. Nothing has so helped the Hindu-Muslim unity as the Hindus' co-operation with us on the question of the Khilafat."

This was the first occasion when Gandhi delivered an argumentative speech in Urdu before an audience mainly composed of learned Muslims of the north. He was faced with a very critical audience to whom he had to explain and bring home his viewpoint. Maulana Hasrat Mohani had insisted on the boycott of British goods and he was Gandhi's chief opponent. "We want something that will produce an immediate effect on the British. Let your boycott cf foreign cloth stand, we do not mind it, but give us something quicker, and speedier in addition," said the maulana.

While Gandhi was listening to Maulana Hasrat Mohani, he felt that something new over and above boycott of foreign cloth, would be necessary. "An immediate boycott of foreign cloth seemed to me also to be a clear impossibility at that time. I did not then know that we would, if we liked, produce enough khadi for all our clothing requirements; this was only a later discovery. On the other hand, I knew even then, that if we depended on the mills alone for effecting the boycott of foreign cloth, we should be betrayed." Gandhi was still in this dilemma when Hasrat Mohani concluded his stirring specch.

Gandhi was handicapped for want of suitable Hindi or Urdu words for the new idea. At last he described it by the word "non-co-operation", an expression that he used for the first time on this occasion. He observed later: "As the maulana was delivering his speeeh, it seemed to me, that it was vain for him to talk about effective resistance to a Government, with which he was co-operating in more than one thing, if resort to arms was impossible or undesirable. The only true resistance to the Government, it therefore seemed to me, was to cease to co-operate with it. Thus I arrived at the word non-co-operation. I had not then a clear idea of all its manifold implications. I, therefore, did not enter into details."

Gandhi thought thus: "The Muslims have adopted a very important resolution. If the peace terms are unfavourable to them—which may God forbid—they will stop all co-operation with Government. It is an inalienable right of the people thus to withhold co-operation. We are bound not to retain Government titles and honours, or to continue in Government service. If Government should betray us in a great cause like the Khilafat, we could not do otherwise than non-co-operate. We are, therefore, entitled to non-co-operate with Government in case of a betrayal."

But months passed before the word non-co-operation became current. For the time being it was lost in the proceedings of the conference. It took some time for its re-discovery.

On the eve of the annual session of the Congress at Amritsar, Gandhi wrote on "Swaraj in Swadeshi" in Young India of December 10:

"The much-talked-of Reforms Bill will become the law of the land within a few days and in due course the new legislatures will take the place of the old. I have refrained from expressing an opinion on the report of the joint committee for I do not feel sufficiently interested in it. It is not possible to be enthused over a thing which when analysed means little for the people. So far, therefore, as the reform scheme is concerned I would simply urge that we should take the fullest advantage of it and loyally work to make it a success. That it ii an improvement upon the original measure is admitted by all.

"But the real reform that India needs is swadeshi.The immediate problem before us is not how to run the government of the country, but how to feed and clothe ourselves. In 1910 we sent sixty crores of rupees out of India for buying cloth. If we continue to purchase foreign cloth at that rate, we deprive the Indian weaver and spinner of that amount from year to year without giving him or her any other work in exchange. No wonder a tenth at least of the population is cruelly half-starved and the majority of the rest underfed. The reform scheme, no matter how liberal it is, will not help to solve the problem in the immediate future. But swadeshi can solve it now.

"The Punjab has made the solution still clearer to me. God be thanked that the beautiful women of the Punjab have not yet lost the cunning of their fingers. High or low they still know the art. They have not yet burnt their spinning wheels as many Gujarati women have done... Our forefathers were able to clothe themselves with little effort and with perfect comfort without having to buy from the foreign markets.

"This beautiful art—and yet so simple—is in danger of being lost if we do not wake up betimes. The Punjab gives proofs of its possibilities. But the Punjab too is fast losing her hold of it. It means greater poverty in our homes and greater idleness. The women who have ceased to spin are not utilizing their time in any other or better manner than gossiping.

"But one thing is needful to undo the mischief. If every educated Indian will realize his clear primary duty, he will straightway present the women of his household with a spinning wheel and provide the facilities for learning the art of spinning. Millions of yards of yarn can be produced from day to day. And if every educated Indian will condescend to wear the cloth produced from such yarn, he will support and assist in rebuilding the only possible cottage industry of India.

"Without the cottage industry the Indian peasant is doomed. He cannot maintain himself from the produce of the land only. He needs a supplementary industry. Spinning is the easiest, the cheapest and the host.

"I know this means a revolution in our mental outlook. And it is because it is a revolution that I claim that the way to swaraj lies through swadeshi. A nation that can save sixty crores of rupees per year and distribute that large sum among its spinners and weavers in their own homes will have acquired powers of organization and industry that must enable it to do everything else necessary for its organic growth."

The Congress held in the last week on December in Amritsar was for many people a place of pilgrimage. Jalianwala Bagh was visited during the Congress week by thousands of delegates and visitors. Some touched the blood-stained earth with their foreheads, some took away with them a little of that earth to be preserved as a sacred treasure. Some smeared their foreheads with it.

No great decision was arrived at by this Congress because the result of the inquiries was awaited. But it was evident that a new spirit prevailed. There was now a mass character about the Congress. The proceedings were conducted mainly in Hindustani. The Moderates or the Liberals, as they were now calling themselves, refused to join the Congress though the president was keen on seeing them back. They chose to meet in Calcutta. Their eyes were 011 the new reforms that were imminent.

There was Lokamanya Tilak attending his last Congress. When he returned in November from England, he said: "I wish I had been in Bombay when Gandhi began satyagraha. I would have borne difficulties with him and undergone the hardship. I am angry with Gandhi for that."

There was Gandhi. There came also to the Congress, straight from prison, many leaders who had been involved in cases during the martial-law days and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment but now amnestied. Most of the prisoners were released before the Congress commenced, some while the session was still in progress. The Ali brothers too arrived there straight from prison. When they entered the Congress pandal, the vast assembly rose as one man to greet them. They walked up to the dais, bowing profoundly to Tilak and other leaders. Mahomed Ali appearing on the platform said that he came from Chhindwara jail with a return ticket. Swami Shraddhanand called for three chccrs for the Ali brothers, and Hindu-Muslim unity.

On the eve of the Congress session, the British Government, in order to calm the atmosphere, hurried the Reforms Bill through the Parliament and a Royal Proclamation signifying His Majesty's assent to the bill was issued on December 24. "It is my earnest desire at this time that, so far as possible, any trace of bitterness between my people and those who are responsible for my Government should be obliterated. A new era is opening," said the Royal Proclamation.

The Congress session was attended by 8,000 delegates including 1,500 peasants. Over 30,000 visitors were present on the occasion. In his presidential address, Pandit Motilal Nehru observed that they were assembled at Amritsar in deep mourning for the cruel murder of hundreds of their brothers. He was himself the chief mourner, he said. He appealed to the British people to do the right thing by India: "It is for England to learn the lesson and put an end to conditions which permit these occurrences in her own dominions. If our lives and honour are to remain at the mercyof an irresponsible executive and military, if the ordinary rights of human beings are denied to us, then all talk of reform is a mockery."

The Congress thanked the King-Emperor for his proclamation and welcomed the announcement of the Princc of Wales's proposed visit to India.

The resolution on Jallianwala Bagh was moderate in tone: "In view of the fact that neither the Hunter Committee, nor the Congress Committee, has finished its examination of witnesses yet, having regard to the coldblooded, calculated massacre of innocent men and children—an act without parallel in modern times—the Congress urges upon the Government of India, and the Secretary of State, that, as a preliminary to legal proceedings being taken agair.st him, General Dyer, should be immediately relieved of his command. This Congress desires to place it on record that, in its opinion, the Government of India and the Punjab Government must in any event be held responsible for the inexcusable delay in placing an authoritative statement of the massacrc of the Jallianwala Bagh before the public and His Majesty's Government."

There was a unanimous demand that Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the Lt.- Governor of the Punjab, should be relieved of his immediate duties as a member of the army commission. The demand was also made for the recall of the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford, "in view of the fact that he had completely forfeited the confidence of the people of this country."

A committee was appointed to devise the best method of perpetuating the memory of the dead, to have a proper scheme of trust prepared, and to collect subscriptions for that purpose, and it was decided that the site known as Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar should be acquired for the nation, and be used as a memorial to perpetuate the memory of those who were killed or wounded during the massacre.

True to his conviction, Gandhi moved a resolution blaming also the people: "Real manliness consists in not retaliating even when under a shower of bullets, to suffer evil patiently and with the opposition of good. That is the spirit of real heroes. That is why I want you to condemn the excess of mobs. I am glad that I have been the instrument in exhorting you to do this deed of penance. I warn you to appreciate the solemnity of the proposition. The whole key to future work lies in your recognizing the eternal truth underlying the resolution. Do not return madness with madness; return madness with sanity."

Tilak was chivalrous enough not to interfere with the passing of this resolution. But Gandhi had a thick wall of opposition to face when he spoke on the reforms resolution.

During the session there was measuring of strength between the rapidly vanishing old guard of politicians, whose ranks were by this time reinforced by Mrs. Besant's acccssion to them, and the new nationalists. The resolution on the reforms placed before the Congress session was Das's draft as approved by the Subjects Committee. Das and Tilak wanted to characterize the proposed reforms as "inadequate, unsatisfactory and disappointing". Pandit Malaviya and Gandhi wanted to work reforms on the basis of offering co-operation to the extent to which the Government co-opcrated with the people.

The reforms resolution was moved by Das; Gandhi, who proposed an amendment, which included deletion of the word 'disappointing', said:

"I do believe that what we are getting falls far short of the Congress ideals. My amendment also means that we may not say these reforms are disappointing, disappointing in the sense in which that word is used. Here I suggest to you that if a man comes to me and disappoints me, I do not co-operate with him. If I get a sour loaf I reject it, I do not take it. But if I get a loaf which is not enough, which has not sufficient condiments in it, I shall use it, I shall add condiments to it and shall take a bit. Therefore, my amendment means nothing more and nothing less than that we should stare the situation in the face as it exists before the country today and if Tilak Maharaj tells you that we are going to make use of the Reforms Act as he must, and as he already told Mr. Montagu, as lie has told the country that we are going to take the fullest advantage of the reforms, then I say, be true to yourself, be true to the country and tell the country that you are going to do it. But if you want to say, after having gone there, you will put any obstruction, say that also. But on the question of propriety and obstruction, I say, Indian culture demands that we shall trust one who extends a hand of fellowship. The Indian culture demands trust and full trust, and if you are sufficiently manly you shall not be afraid of the future, but face the future in a manly manner and say, 'All right, Mr. Montagu, all right, all officials of the bureaucracy, we are going to trust you. We shall put you in a corner and when you resist us and when you resist the advance of the country, then we say, you do so at your peril!' That is the manly attitude that I suggest."

Gandhi then suggested that they should co-operate by accepting the reforms, and not say one thing when they mean another.

The idea of having to differ from Tilak and Das was unbearable to him. The need for unity induced Tilak, Das and Gandhi to arrive at a compromise and the final form taken by the reforms resolution read thus:

"This Congress (1) reiterates its declaration of last year for full responsible government and repudiates all assumptions to the contrary; (2) adheres to the resolutions passed at the Delhi Congress regarding constitutional reforms and is of opinion that the Reforms Act is inadequate, unsatisfactory and disappointing; (3) urges that Parliament should take early step to establish full responsible government in India in accordance with the principle of self-determination; (4) trusts that, so far as may be possible, the people will so work the reforms as to seeure an early establishment of full responsible government and (5) offers its thanks to the Rt. Hon. E. S. Montagu for his labouis in connection with the reforms."

The Amritsar Congress passed fifty resolutions which embraced a wide variety of topics. The Congress appointed a sub-committee to consider the whole constitution of the Congress. Gandhi, who was to be the author of the new constitution, wanted collaboration of Tilak and Das; but owing to pressure of work they were not able to work with him. Instead N. C. Kelkar and I. B. Sen, the lieutenants of Tilak and Das, were elected to collaborate with Gandhi.

The resolution on swadeshi recommended the revival of ancicnt industry of hand-spinning and hand-weaving.

The Congress, the Muslim League, the Khilafat, and tin- Jamiat-ul-Ulema, all held their sessions simultaneously at Amritsar. Hakim Ajmal Khan was the President of the Muslim League. The Muslim League, besides passing resolutions protesting against the Amritsar massacre and the proposed dismemberment of Turkey, adopted a resolution on reforms on the lines adopted by the Congress.

Though Gandhi's presence was felt and the people shouted "Mahatma Gandhi-ki-jai", he said: "I do not consider my participation in Congress proceedings at Amritsar as my real entrance into the Congress politics. My attendance at the previous Congress sessions was nothing more perhaps than an annual renewal of allegiance to the Congress. I never felt on these occasions, that I had any other work cut out for me except that of a mere private, nor did I desire more."

46. Khilafat Agitation ( 1920 )

ON JANUARY 9, 1920 Gandhi appeared before the Disorders Inquiry Committee at Ahmedabad presided over by Lord Hunter.

"I take it, Mr. Gandhi, that you are the author of the satyagraha movement," began Lord Hunter.

Gandhi said, "Yes, Sir."

Lord Hunter: Will you explain it briefly?

Gandhi: It is a movement intended to replace methods of violence and a movement based entirely upon truth. It is, as I have conceived it, an extension of the domestic law in the political field and my experience has led me to the conclusion that that movement and that alone can rid India of the possibility of violence spreading throughout the length and breadth of the land, for the redress of grievances.

Lord Hunter: It was adopted by you in connection with the opposition to the Rowlatt Act. And in that connection you asked the people to sign the satyagraha pledge.

Gandhi: Yes, Sir.

Lord Hunter: Was it your intention to enlist as many men as possible in the movement?

Gandhi: Yes, consistently with the principle of truth and non-violence. If I got a million men ready to act according to those principles, I would not mind enlisting them all

Lord Hunter: Is it not a movement essentially antagonistic to the Government because you substitute the determination of the Satyagraha Committee for the will of the Government?

Gandhi: That is not the spirit in which the movement has been understood by the people.

Lord Hunter: I ask you to look at it from the point of view of the Government. If you were a Governor yourself, what would you say to a movement that was started with the object of breaking those laws which your committee determined?

Gandhi: That would not be stating the whole case of the satyagraha doctrine. If I were in charge of the Government and brought face to face with a body who, entirely in seareh of truth, were determined to seek redress from unjust laws without inflicting violence, I would welcome it and would consider that they were the best constitutionalists, and as a Governor I would take them by my side as advisers who would keep me on the right path.

Lord Hunter: People differ as to the justice or injustice of the particular laws.

Gandhi: That is the main reason why violence is eliminated and a satyagrahi gives his opponent the same right of independence and feelings of liberty that he reserves to himself and he will fight by inflicting injuries on his person.

Lord Hunter: I was looking at it from the point of view of the continu- ancc of Government. Would it be possible to continue the Government if you had set up against the Government a body of men who would not accept Government view view of an independent committee?

Gandhi: I have found from my experience that it was possible to do so during the eight years of continuous struggle in South Africa. I found General Smuts, who went through the whole of that campaign, at the end of it saying that if all conducted themselves as the satyagrahis had done, they should have nothing to fear.

Lord Hunter: I understand your vow contemplates breaking of laws which a committee may decide.

Gandhi: Yes, my Lord. I want to make it clear to the committee that that part of the vow was meant to be a restraint on individual liberty. As I intended to make it a mass movement, I thought the constitution of some such committee as we had appointed was necessary, so that no man should become a law unto himself, and, therefore, we conceived the plan that the committee would be able to show what laws might be broken.

Lord Hunter: We hear that doctors differ and even satyagrahis must differ.

Gandhi: Yes, I found it so to my cost.

Lord Hunter: Supposing a satyagrahi was satisfied that a particular law was a just law and that the committee did not obey this law, what is a satyagrahi to do?

Gandhi: He is not bound to disobey that law. We had such satyagrahis in abundance.

Lord Hunter: Is it not rather a dangerous campaign?

Gandhi: If you will conceive the campaign as designed in order to rid the country of violence, then you will share with me the same concern for it. I think that at any cost a movement of this character should live in the country in a purified state.

Lord Hunter: By your satyagraha pledge are you not binding a man's conscience?

Gandhi: Not according to my interpretation of it. If my interpretation of the pledge is found to be incorrect, I shall mend my error if I have to start the movement again.

Lord Hunter: No, no. I do not pretend to advise you.

Sir Chimanlal Sctalvad cross-examined Gandhi thinking that he would corner him by means of legalistic legerdemain.

Sir Chimanlal: Your satyagraha doctrine, so far as I understand it, involves the pursuit of truth and in that pursuit you invite suffering on yourself and do not cause violence to anybody else.

Gandhi: Yes, Sir.

Sir Chimanlal: However honestly a man may strive in his seareh for truth, his notions of truth may be different from the notions of others. Who then is to determine the truth?

Gandhi: The individual himself would determine that.

Sir Chimanlal: Different individuals would have different views as to truth. Would that not lead to confusion?

Gandhi: I do not think so.

Sir Chimanlal: Honestly striving after truth differs in every case.

Gandhi: That is why the non-violence part was a necessary corollary. Without that there would be confusion and worse.

Sir Chimanlal: Must no: the person wanting to pursue truth be of high moral and intellectual equipment?

Gandhi: No. It would be impossible to expect that from every one. If A has evolved a truth by his own efforts with B, C and others are to accept, I should not require them to have the equipment of A.

Sir Chimanlal: Then it comes to this that a man comes to a decision and others of lower intellectual and moral equipment would have to blindly follow him.

Gandhi: Not blindly. All I wish to urge is that each individual unless he wants to carry on his pursuit of truth independently needs to follow someone who has determined truth.

Sir Chimanlal Sctalvad added: Your scheme involves the determination of truth by people of high moral and intellectual equipment, and a large number of people rr.ay follow them blindly being themselves unable to arrive at similar conclusions by reason of their lower intellectual equipment.

Gandhi: I would exact from them nothing more than I would expect from an ordinary being.

Sir Chimanlal: You said you do not consider yourself a perfect satya- grahi yet. The large mass of people are then even less so.

Gandhi: No. I do not consider myself as an extraordinary man. There may be people more capable of determining truth than myself. Forty thousand Indians in South Africa, totally uncultured, came to the conclusion that they could be satyagrahis, and if I could take you through those thrilling scenes in the Transvaal you will be surprised to hear what restraint your countrymen in South Africa exhibited.

Sir Chimanlal: But they were all unanimous.

Gandhi: I have more solidity of opinion here than in Africa.

Sir Chimanlal: But there you had a clear-cut issue, not here.

Gandhi: Here, too, we have a clear-cut issue, the Rowlatt Act.

Sir Chimanlal: Does not suffering and going on suffering require extraordinary self-control?

Gandhi: No. No extraordinary self-control is required. Every mother suffers. Your countrymen, I submit, have got such a control and they have exhibited that in a very large measure.

From Ahmedabad Gandhi proceeded to Delhi in connection with the Khilafat question, over which the minds of the Indian Muslims were very- much agitated. In the peace terms there were proposals curtailing the temporal powers of the Caliph, who was the Sultan of Turkey. Muslims considered this as against their religion and as a breach of promise on the part of the British Government.

Around Gandhi new forces were gathering. The Ulema felt that the Muslim divines of India whose collective power and influence had been shattered after the Revolt of 1857 should again come together. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad entered the field, with his profound learning, his matchless powers of eloquence and persuasion and his modern outlook. He had been released from internment about that time. More than any other Muslim leader, though he was the youngest of them all, he was a tower of strength to Gandhi.

Of this momentous Khilafat meeting in Delhi and the events which led to non-co-operation, Maulana Azad observed:

"I happened to meet Gandhiji for the first time in Delhi on January 18, 1920. All Hindu and Muslim leaders had assembled there in order to wait in deputation upon the Viceroy and place before Government the sentiments of the Indian Muslims with regard to Turkey. Lokamanya Tilak, too, was in Delhi. As a member of the deputation, I had already put my signature on the memorial to be submitted to the Viccroy. But I could not bring myself to consent to go to the Government House. Maulana Mahomed Ali and other friends were insistent that I should join the deputation, but my feeling was that the deputation could not serve any useful purpose.

"The deputation did wait on the Viceroy, however, and as was but to be expected, with little result. The only assurance that the Viceroy gave was that, if it was decided to send the deputation to London the Government of India would provide all the facilities. It was thereupon decided that Maulana Mahomed Ali should lead the deputation. He was ready to go. But another question now arose: whether the Muslims should be content merely with sending this deputation or whether there was anything more to be done. I was of the opinion that these old methods of begging, petitioning, waiting in deputation and so on could not be of much avail. We had to try to find some means of exerting direct pressure. But most people fought shy of this line of thinking. They had no constructive suggestion to offer, but were ready to pick holes, if anything concrete was proposed.

"The matter was discusscd for six long hours in Hakim Ajmal Khan's drawing-room, but without any result. Gandhiji thereupon proposed that a sub-committee of two or three people should be appointed to decide the matter in consultation with him. Their decision would then be placed before the bigger committee. Hakim Saheb and I were selected to form this sub-committee. We accompanied Gandhiji to Principal Rudra's house and were closeted with him for three hours. It was here that non-co-operation was conceived. Gandhiji placed before us a detailed programme, and I had no difficulty in agreeing with him in every detail. It was quite clear to me that there was no other effective or correct line of action than this.

"The next day, the members of the deputation met again and Gandhiji explained to them his proposal. There was still hesitancy on their part. Maulanas Abdul Bari, Mahomed Ali and Shaukat Ali could not yet make up their minds and wanted time. Hakim Saheb, however, gave me his full support. About this time the Khilafat Conference was being held in -Meerut, so Gandhiji and I proceeded from Delhi to Mecrut, and the non- co-operation programme was placed before the public for the first time at this conference. The second Khilafat Conference was thereafter held towards the end of February in Calcutta under my presidentship, and I recommended in my presidential address the same programme of non-co- operation for the acceptance of the Muslims."

The Khilafat question came more and more to the fore. Lloyd George's rejoinder to the Khilafat deputation led by Mahomed Ali on March 17 angered the Muslims. He stated that while Turkey was to be allowed to exercise temporal sway over the Turkish lands, she would be shorn of her imperial possessions. These terms meant that the Sultan of Turkey would cease to be the Caliph of the Islamic world. This struck at the root of the Khilafat sentiment in India and March 19 was fixed as a day of national mourning—a day of fasting and prayer and general hartal.

Gandhi's plan of action was clearly embodied in his historic statement dated March 10:

"The Khilafat has now become a question of questions...Now a word as to what may.be done if the demands are not granted. The barbarous method is warfare, open or secret. This must be ruled out, if only because it is impracticable. If I could but persuade every one that it is always bad, we should gain all lawful ends much quicker. The power that an individual or a nation forswearing violence can generate, is a power that is irresistible. But my argument today against violence is based upon pure expediency, its utter futility. Non-co-operation is, therefore, the only remedy left open to us. It is the clearest remedy, as it is the most effective, when it is absolutely free from all violence. It becomes a duty when co-operation means degradation or humiliation, or an injury to one's cherished religious sentiment. England cannot expect a meek submission by us to an unjust usurpation of rights which to Muslims mean a matter of life and death. We may, therefore, begin at the top as well as the bottom. Those who are holding offices of honour or emoluments ought to give them up. Those who belong to the menial services under Government should do likewise. Non-co-operation does not apply to service under private individuals. I cannot approve of the threat of ostracism against those who do not adopt the remedy of non-co-operation. It is a voluntary withdrawal alone that is a test of popular feeling and dissatisfaction. Advice to the soldiers to refuse to serve is premature. It is the last, not the first step. We should be entitled to take that step when the Viccroy, the Seeretary of State and the Premier leave us. Every step withdrawing cooperation has to be taken with the greatest deliberation. We must proceed slowly so as to ensure retention of self-control under the fiercest heat."

March 19, the day of protest, was a great success and passed off peacefully. Gandhi, moving a historic resolution at the Khilafat meeting held in Bombay, said:

"Our resolution divides itself into four parts. The first part consists of a protest and a prayer. It protests against violent and irresponsible agitation set up in England in connection with the Khilafat question, and appeals to the ministers and other statesmen to dissociate themselves from this agitation and reassure us of the fellow-feeling of the people of the United Kingdom by securing an honourable settlement consistent with the just religious sentiments of the Muslims of India. The seeond part warns those conccrncd that an adverse solution is likely to eventuate in complete withdrawal of co-operation from the Government and will put an undue strain upon Indian loyalty, and if such a step unfortunately becomes a necessity there is likely to be excitcment. The third part of the resolution warns the people in the most emphatic language against violence of specch or deed and gives it as the opinion of this great meeting that any exercise of violence is calculated to injure the sacred cause and to do irreparable harm. So far the resolution is a joint transaction between the Hindus, Muslims and others to whom this great land is their mother country or their adopted home.

"And it commits the joint movement to a policy of non-violence in the course of the struggle. But Muslims have special Koranic obligations in which Hindus may or may not join. They, therefore, reserve to themselves the right, in the event of the failure of non-co-operation cum non-violence, in order to enforce justice, to resort to all such methods as may be enjoined by the Islamic scriptures. I venture heartily to associate myself with this resolution. I consider the resolution to be thoroughly respectful and moderate in tone. I see on the platform Shias and Sunnis, Hindus and Parsis, all joined together in respectful demonstration. Complete closure of the great Hindu cloth market and Hindu houses is an eloquent testimony of Hindu agreement with the Muslim demand. The unholy agitation set up in London has evoked an outburst of feeling in India which will never die until justice is done. It is a matter of painful surprise that even Lord Curzon, with all his knowledge and experience of India, should have allied himself with the ignorant agitation.

"There is, however, a silver lining to the cloud that has gathered overhead. Mr. Montagu has been our uncompromising advocate. Mr. Lloyd George has at last reaffirmed his memorable declaration though in a somewhat halting form. I believe that the Government of India are pressing forward our claim with great firmness. The Anglo-Indian press has not been hostile. The Times of India and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce have even warmly espoused our cause. The resolution invites all Englishmen to rally round the banner of truth and vindicate British honour and the pledged word of the British Premier. I yield to no one in my loyalty to the British connection, but I must refuse to buy that loyalty at the price of honour and at the sacrifice of the deeply seated religious sentiments of one scction of my countrymen. A loyalty that sells its soul is worth nothing, and if in spite of the acknowledged service of Indian soldiers, both Hindu and Muslim, during the late war, the promises made by the British statesmen are broken, the reasons that evoke the loyalty of India will have ccascd to exist. I do not lose hope, but if the hope is disappointed and the worst happens, God alone knows what will happen to this fair land of ours. We know this that there will be neither peace nor rest for the Government or the people, until the wrong is righted and the feeling of eight crorcs of Muslims are duly respectcd.

"I hope it is unnecessary to show why it is obligatory on Hindus to March side by side with their Muslim countrymen. So long as the means and the end are honourable, I can imagine no better cement for perpetually binding us both than our complete association with Muslims. But in a cause so sacred as this, there can be, there should be, no violence either of speech or of deed. We must conquer not by hate but by love. I admit the difficulty of loving the unjust, but victory consists not in Marching along a smooth surface but in conquering obstacles, in a resolute and undaunted way. And in a just and sacred cause, firmness of purpose and unconquerable will are the least qualities required of us. Moreover, violence can only damage this great cause. It may creatc a sensation but we shall never reach the goal through a series of sensations. The non-violence clause of the resolution, therefore, definitely recognizes the wisdom of self-restraint and enjoins upon all speakers to refrain from making wild or exaggerated speeches, which can only lead to bloodshed, ruthless repression and humiliation of both the Government and the people. But the Muslims want to play a perfectly honourable game.

"They wish to reserve or suppress nothing. Some of them have, therefore, insisted upon the insertion of a proviso to the resolution, meaning, that if non-violence fails, they are at liberty to resort to the other methods enjoined upon them by the Koran, and these are that when their religion is assailed, they should leave the country in which it is assailed or war against the assailant. And so the resolution undoubtedly foreshadows, in the most honourable and unmistakable manner, the stages through which this great movement will pass, the last stage being a bloody revolution. God forbid that this country should have to pass through such a revolution and all its horrors but the feeling on this Khilafat question runs so high and goes so deep that an unjust solution may, if peaceful means fail, land this country in a revolutionary movement, the like of which we have not seen before, and if it comes responsibility will rest with Englishmen, the Hindus and the timid Muslims. If Englishmen will only rccognize the existence of the deep feeling and a necessity of the just decision, all would be well. If the Hindus will understand the neighbourly duty and actively co-operate with the Muslims, they can, by united and perfectly peaceful effort, force a just solution. Timid Muslims by shedding their timidity at this critical moment of their history will also prevent bloodshed by letting the party of violence to understand that there are no deserters of the flag of Islam. If then, revolution is to be our lot, it will come through sheer despair staring honest, high-soulcd Muslims in the face and giving them a feeling of being neglectcd by Englishmen, Hindus and their co-religionists. I hope, therefore, that the whole of India will unite in a prayer to the Almighty and in a cry of justice that shall not be denied. I venture finally to hope, that the Government will not anticipate revolution by thoughtless and angry repression. They will recognize that India is no longer an infant and that the Indians have the same feelings that actuate Englishmen in similar circumstances."

Events followed each other with lightning speed. Hakim Ajmal Khan, a celebrated physician and a popular leader renounced Government titles: "As a humble Muslim, I have decided to relieve myself of all honours conferred upon me by the Government and I return herewith the gold medal of Kaiscr-i-Hind together with the two silver medals of the Coronation Durbar of England and India, and, henceforward, I give up the title of Haziq-ul-Mulk." It was a prelude to general withdrawal of co-operation with the British Government.

It was in the midst of an atmosphere charged with intense unrest that the Congress report on the Punjab atrocities was published on March 25. The report was written by Gandhi who worked on it day and night for a fortnight, confined to the Sabarmati ashram.

The time was ripe for united action. In memory of the Amritsar happenings, the week, from April 6 to April 13, was observed as a National Week. The main request made all over India on April 6 was that the Rowlatt Act should be repealed. Gandhi declared in Bombay that if the act were not repealed before the inauguration of the reforms, the demand made on them for co-operation would be futile, and he, for one, would find the situation such as to make remaining with the empire impossible. "We must be prepared to contemplate with equanimity not a thousand murders of innocent men and women but many thousands, before we attain a status in the world that shall not be surpassed by any nation. We hope, therefore, that all concerned will take rather than lose heart, and treat hanging as an ordinary affair of life," he solemnly declared.

Tilak now at the height of his popularity did not entirely share Gandhi's views. The politics advocated by the two leaders was put forth in their manifestoes, published in the third week of April. Gandhi had just then accepted the presidentship of the All-India Home Rule League from which Mrs. Besant seeeded, and lie published a statement in doing so. Tilak had published a manifesto enunciating his policy in relation to the new reforms. Gandhi stated:

"It is a distinct departure from the even tenor of my life for me to belong to an organization that is purely and frankly political. But, after careful deliberation with friends, I have joined the All-India Home Rule League and accepted the olficc of its president. Some friends whom I consulted told me that I should not join any political organization and that, if I did, I would lose the position of splendid isolation I enjoy at present. I confess that this caution had considerable weight with me. At the same time, I felt that if I was accepted by the league, as I was, I should be wrong in not identifying myself with an organization that I could utilize for the advancement of cause in which I had specialized, and the methods which, experience has shown me, are attended with quicker and better results than those that are usually adopted. Before joining the league, I endeavoured to ascertain the opinion of those who were outside the presidency and with whom I had not the privilege to come in such close contact as with co-workers in the Bombay Presidency. The causes referred to by me are swadeshi, Hindu-Muslim unity with special reference to Khilafat, the acccptancc of Hindustani as the lingua franca, and a linguistic redistribution of the provinces. I would engage the league, if I can carry the members with me, in these activities so that they occupy the largest part of the nation's time and attention.

"I freely confess that reforms take a secondary place in any scheme of national reorganization. For I feel that the activities chosen by me, if they could but absorb national energy, would bring about all the reforms that the most ardent extremist can ever desire, and so far as the desirability of getting full self-government can be best accelcrated by developing the activities that I have mentioned. I keep them in the forefront of the national programme. I shall not treat the All-India Home Rule League as a party organization in any sense of the term. I belong to no party and I wish to belong to none hereafter. I am aware that the constitution of the league requires it to help the Congress, but I do not consider the Congress as a party organization, even as the British Parliament, though it contains all parties, and has one party or other dominating it from time to time, is not a party organization. I shall venture to hope that all parties will cherish the Congress as a national organization providing a platform for all parties to appeal to the nation, with a view to moulding its policy and I would endeavour so to mould the policy of the league as to make the Congress retain its no-party national character.

0This brings me to my methods. I believe that it is possible to introduce uncompromising truth and honesty in the political life of the country. Whilst I would not expect the league to follow me in my civil disobedience methods, I would strain every nerve to make truth and non-violence accepted in all our national activities. Then we shall cease to fear or distrust Government and their measures. I do not wish, however, to develop the theme any further, but I would rather let time solve the many questions that must arise from the bold statement I have here made. My purpose just now is not to demonstrate the propriety of my action or the truth of the policy herein adumbrated but to take members of the league into my confidence and to invite their criticism of the programme therein set forth, and any suggestion they may wish to make for the advancement and the welfare of the league."

Tilak's programme as stated in his manifesto was:

"The Congress Democratic Party, as the name denotes, is a party animated by feelings of unswerving loyalty to the Congress and faith in democracy. It believes in the potency of democratic doctrines for the solution of Indian problems, and regards the extension of education and political franchise as two of its best weapons. It advocates the removal of all civic, secular, or social disabilities based on caste or custom. It believes in religious toleration, the sacredness of one's religion to oneself and the right and duty of the state to protect it against aggression. This party supports the claim of the Muslims for the solution of the Khilafat question according to Muslim dogmas and beliefs and the tenets of the Koran.

"This party believes in the integration or federation of India in the British Commonwealth for the advancement of the cause of humanity and the brotherhood of mankind, but demands autonomy for India and equal status as a sister state with ever)' partner in the British Commonwealth, including Great Britain. It insists upon equal citizenship for the Indians throughout the commonwealth and effective retaliation whenever it is denied. It welcomes the League of Nations as an instrument for enforcing the peace of the world, the integrity of states, the freedom and honour of nations and nationalities, and for ending the exploitation of one country by another."

Tilak, while not oblivious of the iniquitous terms sought to be imposed on Turkey and the inhuman atrocitics perpetrated in the Punjab, wanted to absorb all the energy roused over these episodes and direct it in the path opened out by the Reforms Act. Gandhi, who originally wanted to cooperate in the working of the reforms, found how antagonistic to his moral sense would be such a move so long as the Punjab and the Khilafat issues remained unsatisfactorily settled. While, therefore, Tilak sought to concentrate the nation's attention on council entry, Gandhi became more and more indifferent to the working of the reforms and found no peace until the Khilafat and the Punjab questions were settled.

The hour of Turkey's trial was slowly approaching. The question now was as to when the movement should be started, whether immediately or after the peace terms were officially known. The sub-committee appointed by the All-India Khilafat Committee, consisting of Gandhi, Shaukat Ali and Azad, unanimously resolved to wait for the official declaration.

A Gazette of India Extraordinary announced on May 14 the peace terms presented by the allies to Turkey. The Viceroy recognized that the terms were such as must cause pain to the Muslims of India, but asked them to brace themselves to bear with patience and resignation the misfortunes of their Turkish co-religionists. The publication of the proposed peace terms caused the deepest indignation, and synchronizing as it did with the publication of the Hunter Committee Report, intense resentment vyas roused throughout India at what was regarded in every way as a "whitewashing" report.

The All-India Khilafat Committee met in Bombay to deliberate upon Gandhi's non-co-operation programme and adopted it on May 28, as the only means left now to the Muslims.

The meeting of the A.I.C.C. was convened at Benares on May 30. The Punjab atrocities and glaring deficiencies of the Reforms Act were added to the Khilafat demand. Gandhi proposed that as a protest against the Turkish peace treaty and the decision of the Government in regard to the Punjab, as indicated in the Hunter Committee Report, the Congress should recommend a programme of non-co-operation to the country without any further delay.

The A.I.C.C. thought that it was not within its compctcncc to accept Gandhi's proposition, as it was opposed to the resolution of the Amritsar Congress relating to the refDrm scheme. It did not at the same time think it right to dispose of the matter without giving the country an opportunity of pronouncing its opinion on it. It unanimously resolved to hold a special session of the Congress in Calcutta later in the year to consider Gandhi's programme.

Tilak did not attend the A.-I.C.C. meeting, but he said that he would obey the decision of the Congress. According to Gandhi, Tilak's attitude towards the non-co-operation struggle was: "I like the programme well enough, but I have my doubts as to the country being with us in the self- denying ordinance which non-co-operation presents to the people. I will do nothing to hinder the progress of the non-co-operation movement. I wish you every succcss, and if you gain the popular ear you will find in me an enthusiastic supporter."

The joint Hindu-Muslim Conference of three hundred influential representatives met at Allahabad on June i. Mrs. Besant, Pandit Malaviya, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Motilal Nehru and others were present at the meeting. Mrs. Besant and Sapru tried to dissuade the Muslims present from the policy of non-co-operation. Other speakers made non-committal speeches. Whilst they all approved of the principle of non-co-operation in theory, the Hindus among them saw many practical difficulties and they feared also complications arising from the Muslims welcoming an Afghan invasion of India. Muslim speakers gave the fullest and frankest assurances that they would fight to a man any invasion from without undertaken with a view to conquer India, but they were equally frank in asserting that any invasion from without undertaken with a view to uphold the prestige of Islam and to vindicate justice would have their full sympathy, if not their actual support.

The conference dispersed without coming to any definite conclusion. It, however, helped Gandhi to estimate the forces arrayed for or against his programme. But he could no longer wait till the Congress pronounced its decision.

The Khilafat committee met in Allahabad on June 9 and unanimously reaffirmed the principle of non-co-operation and appointed an executive committee to lay down and enforce a rigid programme. It was decided to give one month's notice to the Viceroy and then to start the movement under the guidance of Gandhi.

In the tumult of agitation Gandhi stressed the constructive programme. Week after week, in Young India he pleaded for Hindu-Muslim unity, an improved spinning wheel, the use of vernaculars, swadeshi, and khaddar. He participated in the Gujarat Literary Conference and expounded the meaning of literature from the point of view of the masses. He commended the speech of Rabindranath Tagore who also graced the occasion. "The seareh after gold must be subservient to the seareh after God" was the poet's message to commercially-minded Ahmedabad.

Tagore's appreciation of khaddar inspired Gandhi to write the following note in Young India:

"While the swadeshi movement is going forward by leaps and bounds and Muslims are taking it up as enthusiastically as Hindus, it is well to consider the best method of promoting swadeshi. The only way to encourage swadeshi is to manufacture more cloth. Mills cannot grow like mushrooms. We must, therefore, fall back upon hand-woven and hand- spun yarn. Yarn has never perhaps been so dear as it is today and mills are making fabulous profits out of yarn. He, therefore, who hand-spins a yard of yarn, helps its production and cheapens its yarn. I know from personal experience that it is possible to flood the market with hand-spun yarn and hand-woven cloth, if the standard cloth comes to be recognized as fit for wear. This cloth is called khaddar in upper India. It is called khadi in the Bombay Presidency. Thanks to Sarala Devi, she has shown that it is possible to make even saris out of khaddar. She thought that she could best express herself during the National Week by wearing khaddar sari and khaddar blouse. And she did it. She attended parties in her khaddar sari. Friends thought that it was impossible. She falsified all fears and was no less active or less elegant in her khaddar sari than in her finished silk saris. 'If you do not feel awkward in that saii of yours you may go anywhere and to any party and you will find it would be well with you.' It was with some such words Dr. Rabindranath Tagore blessed her when he saw her in her khaddar sari. I relate this sacred incident in order to show that two of the most artistic people of India found nothing inartistic in khaddar. This is the cloth 1 venture to introduce to the eultured families of India, for on its use hangs the immediate success of the swadeshi movement during its infant stage. To me khaddar is any day more artistic than the finest Dacca muslin, for its associations. Khaddar supports today those who were starving. It supports women who have been reclaimed from a life of shame or women who, bccause they would not go out for work, remained idle and quarrelled among themselves for want of occupation. Khaddar, therefore, has a soul about it. It has an individuality about it. Ifour tastes were not debased, we would prefer khaddar to sticky calico even during the summer season."

47. Rising Tide ( 1920 )

GANDHI felt that the storm was brewing, and he did all in his power to break its violence. He meant to prepare the masses for the coming struggle, but they must be trained by a gradual process.

On June 16, 1920, he wrote in Young India on the law of suffering:

"No country has ever risen without being purified through the fire of suffering. The mother suffers so that her child may live. The condition of wheat-growing is that the seed grain should perish. Life comes out of death. Will India rise out of her slavery without fulfilling this eternal law of purification through suffering?

"If my advisers are right, evidently India will realize her destiny without travail. For their chief concern is that the events of April 1919 should not be repeated. They fear non-co-operation because it would involve the sufferings of many. If Hampden had argued thus he would not have withheld payment of ship-money, nor would Wat Tyler have raised the standard of revolt. English and French histories are replete with instances of men continuing their pursuit of the right irrespective of the amount of suffering involved. The actors did not stop to think whether ignorant people would not have involuntarily to suffer. Why should we expect to write our history differently? It is possible if we would, for us to learn from the mistakes of our predecessors to do better, but it is impossible to do away with the law of suffering, which is the one indispensable condition of our being. The way to do better is to avoid, if we can, violence from our side and thus quicken the rate of progress and to introduce greater purity in the methods of suffering. We can, if we will, refrain, in our impatience, from bending the wrongdoer to our will by physical force as Sinn Feiners are doing today or from coercing our neighbours to follow our methods as was done last year by some of us in bringing about hartal. Progress is to be measured by the amount of suffering undergone by the sufferer. The purer the suffering, the greater is the progress. Hence did the sacrifice of Jesus suffice to free a sorrowing world. In his onward March he did not count the cost of suffering entailed upon his neighbours whether it was undergone by them voluntarily or otherwise. Thus did the sufferings of a Harishchandra suffice to re-establish the kingdom of truth. He must have known that his subjects would suffer involuntarily by his abdication. He did not mind because he could not do otherwise than follow truth.

"I have already stated that I do not deplore the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh so much as I deplore the murders of Englishmen and destruction of property by ourselves. The (rightfulness at Amritsar drew away public attention from the greater though slower frightfulness at Lahore where attempt was made to emasculate the inhabitants by slow processes. But before we rise higher we shall have to undergo such processes many more times till they teach us to take up suffering voluntarily and to find joy in it. I am convinced that the Lahorians never deserved the cruel insults that they were subjected to; they never hurt a single Englishman; they never destroyed any property. But a wilful ruler was determined to crush the spirit of a people just trying to throw off his chafing yoke. And if I am told that all this was due to my preaching satyagraha, my answer is that I would preach satyagraha all the more forcibly for that, so long as I have breath left in me, and tell the people that next time they would answer O'Dwycrcan insolence not by opening shops by reason of threats of forcible sales but by allowing the tyrant to do his worst and let him sell their all but their unconquerable souls. Sages of old mortified the flesh so that the spirit within might be set free, so that their trained bodies might be proof against any injury that might be inflicted on them by tyrants seeking to impose their will on them. And if India wishes to revise her ancient wisdom and to avoid the errors of Europe, if India wishes to see the Kingdom of God established on earth instead of that of Satan which has enveloped Europe, then I would urge her sons and daughters not to be deceived by fine phrases, the terrible subtleties that hedge us in, the fears of suffering that India may have to undergo, but to see what is happening today in Europe and from it understand that we must go through suffering even as Europe has gone through, but not the proccss of making others suffer. Germany wanted to dominate Europe and the allies wanted to do likewise by crushing Germany. Europe is no better for Germany's fall. The allies have proved themselves to be just as dcceitful, cruel, greedy and selfish as Germany was or would have been. Germany would have avoided the sanctimonious humbug that one sees associated with the many dealings of the allies.

"The miscalculation that I deplored last year was not in connection with the sufferings imposed upon the people, but about the mistakes made by them and violence done by them owing to their not having sufficiently understood the message of satyagraha. What then is the meaning of non- co-operation in terms of the law of suffering? We must voluntarily put up with the losses and inconveniences that arise from having to withdraw our support from a Government that is ruling against our will. 'Possession of power and riches is a crime under an unjust government, poverty in that case is a virtue,' says Thoreau. It may be that in the transition state we may make mistakes; there may be avoidable suffering. These things are preferable to national emasculation.

"We must refuse to wait for the wrong to be righted till the wrongdoer has been roused to a sense of his iniquity. We must not for fear of ourselves or others having to suffer remain participators in it. But we must combat the wrong by ceasing to assist the wrongdoer directly or indirectly.

"If a father does an injustice, it is the duty of his children to leave the parental roof. If the headmaster of a school conducts his institution on an immoral basis, the pupils must leave the school. If the chairman of a corporation is corrupt, the members thereof must wash their hands clean of his corruption by withdrawing from it; even so if a government does a grave injustice the subject must withdraw co-operation wholly or partially, sufficiently to wean the ruler from his wickedness. In each case conceived by me there is an element of suffering whether mental or physical. Without such suffering it is not possible to attain freedom."

The critics said, "India lias not the strength of purpose and the capacity for sacrifice to achieve such a noble end." Gandhi replied: "They are partly right. India has not these qualities now. Bccause we have not, shall we not evolve them and infcct the nation with them? Is not the attempt worth making? Is any sacrifice too great to gain such a purpose?"

At the end of June a Khilafat representation was sent to the Viceroy signed by prominent leaders including Mazharal Haque, Yakub Hasan, Abdul Bari, Shaukat Ali and Azad: "We have most carefully read the Turkish peace terms, and we consider them to be in direct violation of the religious sentiments of Muslims. We hold that the British Empire which is 'the greatest Muslim power' in the world cannot treat the Turkish Empire which represents the Khilafat, in the same manner that it may treat a defeated enemy. We would, therefore, request Your Excellency and your Government to ask His Majesty's ministers to seeure a revision of the peace terms and tell them that on failure to do so, Your Excellency will make common cause with the people of India. If unfortunately Your Excellency will not adopt our humble suggestion we shall be obliged as from the first of August next to withdraw co-operation from the Government and to ask our co-religionists and Hindu brethren to do likewise."

On June 22 Gandhi appealed to the Viceroy to heed to the just demands of the Muslims:

"As one who has enjoyed a certain measure of Your Excellency's confidence, and as one who claims to be a devoted well-wisher of the British Empire, I owe it to Your Excellency, and through Your Excellency to His Majesty's ministers, to explain my connection with and my conduct in the Khilafat question.

"At the very earliest stage of the war, even whilst I was in London organizing the Indian Volunteer Ambulance Corps, I began to interest myself in the Khilafat question. I perceived how deeply moved the little Musalman world in London was when Turkey decided to throw in her lot with Germany. On my arrival in India in the January of 1915, I found the same anxiousness and earnestness among the Musalmans with whom I came in contact. Their anxiety became intense when the information about the seeret treaties leaked out. Distrust of British intentions filled their minds, and despair took possession of them. Even at that moment I advised my Musalman friends not to give way to despair but to express their fear and their hopes in a disciplined manner. It will be admitted that the whole of Musalman India has behaved in a singularly restrained manner during the past five years, and that the leaders have been able to keep the turbulent seetions of their community under complete control.

"The peace terms and Your Excellency's defence of them have given the Musalmans of India a shock from which it will be difficult for them to recover. The terms violate ministerial pledges and utterly disregard Musalman sentiment. I consider that as a staunch Hindu wishing to live on terms of the closest friendship with my Musalman 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 in the war to inflict punishment on their own Caliph or to deprive him of his territories. The Musalman 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 has been done to the Musalman sentiment. So far as I am aware, Musalmans 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 connection with British rule, or, if I still retained 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 confidence. I have not lost faith in such superiority and I am not 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 do not believe that it protects the weak. It gives 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 constitution that I have advised my Musalman friends to withdraw their support from Your Excellency's Government, and the Hindus to join them, should the peace terms not be revised in accordance with the solemn pledges of ministers and the Muslim sentiment.

"Three courses were open to the Musalmans in order to mark their emphatic disapproval of the utter injustice to which His Majesty's ministers have become 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 party to the injustice by ceasing to co-operate with the Government.

"Your Excellency must be aware that there was a time when the boldest, though the most thoughtless, among the Musalmans favoured violence, and the hijrat (emigration) has not yet ceased to be the battle cry. I venture to claim that I have succeedcd by patient reasoning in weaning the party of violence from its ways. I confess that I did not attempt to succeed in weaning them from 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 cniption, if the people had not had presented to them a form of dircct action involving considerable sacrifice and ensuring success if such dircct action was 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 rccognizcd from times immemorial of the subject to refuse to assist a ruler who misrules.

"At the same time I admit that non-co-operation practised by the mass of people is attended with grave risks. But in a crisis such as has overtaken the Musalmans 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 virtual destructions of law and order.

"But there is yet an escape from non-co-operation. The Muslim representation has requested Your Excellency to lead the agitation yourself, as did your distinguished predecessor at the time of the South African trouble. But if you cannot see your way to do so, and non-co-operation becomes a dire necessity, I hope that you will give those who have accepted my advice and myself the credit for being actuated by nothing less than a stern sense of duty."

Gandhi's appeal to the Viceroy was an expression of his faith in the British people. "Freemasonry is a secret brotherhood which has, more by its secret and iron rules than by its service to humanity, 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 unconsciously become instruments of injustice which, as private individuals, they would be ashamed of perpetrating."

His earnest request to the Viceroy had no effect. On July 7 the Non- co-operation Committee gave instructions as to "how and when to act". In this programme surrender of all titles of honour and honorary offices, boycott of schools and colleges and of law courts and the councils figured prominantly. The committee appealed that "swadeshi must be pushed forward without waiting for the 1st of August, for it is an eternal rule of conduct not to be interrupted even when the settlement arrives."

In the swadeshi programme Gandhi placed the main stress on khaddar. His message had its effect and "the music of the spinning wheel" began to hum all over the land. In one of his lyrical notes, he wrote in Young India dated July 21:

"Slowly but surely the music of perhaps the most ancient machine of India is once more permeating society. Pandit Malaviyaji has stated that he is not going to be satisfied until the ranis and the maharanis of India spin yarn for the nation, and the ranas and the maharanas sit behind the handlooms and weave cloth for the nation. They have the example of Aurangzeb who made his own caps. A greater emperor—Kabir—was himself a weaver and has immortalized the art in his poems. The queens of Europe, before Europe was caught in Satan's trap, spun yarn and considered it a noble calling. The very words, spinster and wife, prove the ancient dignity of the art of spinning and weaving. 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman' also reminds one of the same fact. Well may Panditji hope to persuade the royalty of India to return to the ancient calling of this sacred land of ours. Not on the clattcr of arms depends the revival of her prosperity and true independence. It depends most largely upon re-introduction in every home of the music of the spinning wheel. It gives sweeter music and is more profitable than the execrable harmonium, concertina and accordian.

"Whilst Panditji is endeavouring in his inimitably suave manner to persuade Indian royalty to take up the spinning wheel, Shrimati Sarala Devi Choudhurani, who is herself a member of the Indian nobility, has learnt the art and has thrown herself heart and soul into the movement. She has spoken to the audiences in Amritsar, Ludhiana and elsewhere and has succeeded in enlisting the services, for her spinning committee at Amritsar, of Mrs. Ratanchand and Bugga Chowdhury and the famous Ratan Devi who during the frightful night of the 13th April despite the curfew order of General Dyer sat, all alone in the midst of the hundreds of the dead and dying, with her dead husband's cold head in her lap. I venture to tender my congratulation to these ladies. May they find solace in the music of the spinning wheel and in the thought that they are doing national work. I hope that the other ladies of Amritsar will help Sarala Devi in her efforts and that the men of Amritsar will realize their own duty in the matter. In Bombay the readers are aware that ladies of noted families have already taken up spinning.

"I know that there are friends who laugh at this attempt to revive this great art. They remind me that in these days of mills, sewing-machines or typewriters, only a lunatic can hope to succeed in reviving the rusticated spinning wheel. These friends forget that the needle has not yet given place to the sewing-machine, nor has the hand lost its cunning in spite of the typewriter. There is not the slightest reason why the spinning wheel may not coexist with the spinning mill even as the domestic kitchen coexists with the hotels. Indeed typewriters and sewing-machines may go, but the needle and the reed pen will survive. The mills may suffer destruction. The spinning wheel is a national necessity. I would ask sceptics to go to the many poor homes where the spinning wheel is again supplementing their slender resources and ask the inmates whether the spinning wheel has not brought joy to their homes.

"Thank God, the reward issued by Mr. Revashankar Jagjivan bids fare to bear fruit. In a short time India will possess a renovated spinning wheel—a wonderful invention of a patient Deccan artisan. It is made out of simple materials. There is no great complication about it. It will be cheap and capable of being easily mended. It will give more yarn than the ordinary wheel and is capable of being worked by a five-year-old boy or girl. But whether the new machine proves what it claims to be or it does not, I feci convinccd that the revival of hand-spinning and hand-weaving will make the largest contribution to the economic and moral regeneration of India. The millions must have a simple industry to supplement agriculture. Spinning was the cottage industry years ago and if the millions are to be saved from starvation in their homes, then every village must repossess its own weaver."

In the same issue Gandhi crossed swords with Sapru who dissuaded the Muslims from embarking on non-co-operation. He wrote: "Undoubtedly a cause must be grave to warrant the drastic method of non-co-operation. I do say that affront such as has been put upon Islam cannot be repeated for a century. Islam must rise now or 'be fallen', if not for ever, certainly for a century. And I cannot imagine a graver wrong than the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh and the barbarity that followed it, the whitewash of the Hunter Committee, the despatch of the Government of India, Mr. Montagu's letter upholding the Viceroy and then the Lt.-Governor of the Punjab, the refusal to remove officials who made the lives of the Punjabis a hell during the martial-law period. These acts constitute a complete series of continuing wrongs against India which if India has any sense of honour, she must right at the sacrifice of all the material wealth she possesses. If she does not, she will have bartered her soul for a mess of pottage."

The Khilafat Committee issued instructions to make 1st of August a complete success, though it had not yet given up hopes of seeuring revision of the peace terms. On the other hand hundreds of Muslims had already started on hijrat. The flight of Muslims was growing apace. People broke up their homes and they left for the unknown lands. The movement of hijrat_started in Sind and spread to the North-West Frontier. Peshawar and other Frontier towns were halting stations to push off to Afghanistan. Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his followers joined in the hijrat movement. Many people reached Afghan territory and some even crosscd over to the Soviet Union. In Kabul, Ghaffar Khan met King Amanullah Khan. They agreed that it was futile to run away from one's country. So Ghaffar Khan returned home. During the month of July as many as 18,000 people were on hijrat, but they were discouraged by the Afghan authorities. The eyes of Indian Muslims now turned to their motherland.

The country was getting intensely worked up, and was preparing for a fight. In an articlc entitled "Mr. Montagu on the Khilafat Agitation", Gandhi wrote:

"Mr. Montagu does not like the Khilafat agitation that is daily gathering force. In answer to questions put in the House of Commons, he is reported to have said that whilst he acknowledged that I had rendered distinguished services to the country in the past, he could not look upon my present attitude with equanimity and that it was not to be expected that I could now be treated as leniently as I was during the Rowlatt Act agitation. He added that he had every confidence in the central and local Governments, that they were carefully watching the movement and that they had full power to deal with the situation.

"This statement of Mr. Montagu has been regarded in some quarters as a threat. It has even been considered to be a blank cheque for the Government of India to re-establish the reign of terror if they chose. It is certainly inconsistent with his desire to base the Government on the goodwill of the people. At the same time if the Hunter Committee's finding be true and if I was the cause of the disturbances last year, I was undoubtedly treated with exceptional leniency. I admit too that my activity this year is fraught with greater peril to the empire as it is being conducted to day than was last year's activity. Non-co-operation in itself is more harmless than civil disobedience, but in its effect it is far more dangerous for the Government than civil disobedience. Non-co-operation is not intended so far to paralyse the Government, as to compel justice from it. If it is carried to the extreme point, it can bring the Government to a standstill.

"A friend who has been listening to my speeches once asked me whether I did not come under the sedition section of the Indian Penal Code. Though I had not fully considered it, I told him that very probably I did and that I could not plead 'not guilty' if I was charged under it. For I must admit that I can pretend to no 'affection' for the present Government. And my speeches are intended to create 'disaffection' such that the people might consider it a shame to assist or co-operate with a Government that had forfeited all title to confidence, respect or support.

"I draw no distinction between the Imperial and the Indian Government. The latter has accepted, on the Khilafat, the policy imposed upon it by the former. And in the Punjab case the former has endorsed the policy of terrorism and emasculation of a brave people initiated by the latter. British ministers have broken their pledged word and wantonly wounded the feelings of the seventy million Musalmans of India. Innocent men and women were insulted by the insolent officers of the Punjab Government. Their wrongs not only remain unrighted, but the very officers who so cruelly subjected them to barbarous humiliation retain offic under the Government.

"When at Amritsar last year I pleaded with all the earnestness I could command for co-operation with the Government and for response to the wishes expressed in the Royal Proclamation, I did so because I believed that a new era was about to begin and that the old spirit of fear, distrust and consequent terrorism was about to give place to the new spirit of respect, trust and goodwill. I sincerely believed that the Musalman sentiment would be placated and that the officers that had misbehaved during the martial-law regime in the Punjab would be at least dismissed and the people would be otherwise made to feel that a Government that had always been found quick—and rightly—to punish popular excesses would not fail to punish its agents' misdeeds. But to my amazement and dismay I have discovered that the present representatives of the empire have become dishonest and unscrupulous. They have no real regard for the wishes of the people of India and they count the honour of India as of little consequence.

"I can no longer retain affection for a Government so evilly manned as it is nowadays. And for me, it is humiliating to retain my freedom and be witness to the continuing wrong. Mr. Montagu, however, is certainly right in threatening me with deprivation of my liberty if I persist in endangering the existence of the Government. For that must be the result if my activity bears fruit. My only regret is that inasmuch as Mr. Montagu admits my past services, he might have perceived that there must be something exceptionally bad in the Government if a well-wisher like me could no longer give his affection to it. It was simpler to insist on justice being done to the Musalmans and to the Punjab than to threaten me with punishment so that the injustice might be perpetuated. Indeed I fully expect it will be found that even in promoting disaffection towards an unjust Government I had rendered greater services to the empire than I am already credited with.

"At the present moment, however, the duty of those who approve of my activity is clear. They ought on no account to resent the deprivation of my liberty, should the Government of India deem it to be their duty to take it away. A citizen has no right to resist such restriction imposed in accordance with the laws of the state to which he belongs. Much less have those who sympathize with him. In my case there can be no question of sympathy. For I deliberately oppose the Government to the extent of trying to put its very existence in jeopardy. For my supporters it must be a moment of joy when I am imprisoned. It means only the beginning of success if only the supporters continue the policy for which I stand. If the Government arrest me, they would do so in order to stop the progress of non-co-operation which I preach. It follows that if non-co-operation continued with unabated vigour even after my arrest, the Government must imprison others or grant the people's wish in order to gain their co-operation. Any eruption of violence on the part of the people even under provocation would end in disaster. Whether, therefore, it is I or anyone else who is arrested during the campaign, the first condition of success is that there must be no resentment shown against it. We cannot imperil the very existence of a Government and quarrel with its attempt to save itself by punishing those who place it in danger.'*

On July 28 he reiterated that non-co-operation would be inaugurated on August 1 and as a preparatory measure he instructed that a day of fasting and prayer be observed the day before. He appealed to young men 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 manoeuvring. 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 Muslims, we have all got the religious spirit in us. Let it not be undermined by our playing at religion."

Gandhi gave a clarion call to the nation on July 28: "It is hardly likely that before the 1st August there will be on the part of His Majesty's ministers promise of a revision of the peace terms and the consequent suspension of the inauguration of non-co-operation. The 1st of August next will be as important an event in the history of India as was the 6th of April last year. The 6th of April marked the beginning of the end of the Rowlatt Act. No one can consider that the Rowlatt Act can possibly live in the face of the agitation that has only been suspended—never given up. It must be clear to anyone that the power that wrests justice from an unwilling Government in the matter of the Punjab and the Khilafat will be the power that will secure repeal of the Rowlatt Act. And that power is the power of satyagraha, whether it is known by the name of civil disobedience or non-co-operation." He added:

"Many people dread the advent of non-co-operation, because of the events of last year. They fear madness from the mob and consequent repetition of last year's reprisals almost unsurpassed in their ferocity in the history of modern times. Personally I do not mind governmental fury as I mind mob fury. The latter is a sign of national distemper and, therefore, more difficult to deal with than the former which is confined to a small corporation. It is easier to oust a government that has rendered itself unfit to govern than it is to cure unknown people in a mob of their madness. But great movements cannot be stopped altogether because a government or a people or both go wrong. We learn and profit through our mistakes and failures. No general worth the name gives up a battle because he has suffered reverses, or which is the same thing, made mistakes. And so we must approach non-co-operation with confidcncc and hope. As in the past, the commencement is to be marked by fasting and prayer—a sign of the religious character of the demonstration. There should also be on that day suspension of business, and meetings to pass resolutions praying for revision of the peace terms and justice for the Punjab and inculcating non-co-operation until justice has been done.

"The giving up of titles and honorary posts should also commence from the 1st of August. Doubt has been expressed as to the sufficiency of notice regarding surrender of titles and honorary' posts. It is, however, quickly dispelled by bearing in mind that the 1st of August marks the commencement of the surrender of titles. It is not the only day on which surrender has to take place. Indeed I do not expect a very large response on the first day. A vigorous propaganda will have to be carried on and the message delivered to every title or post holder and the argument presented to him proving the duty of such surrender.

"But the greatest thing in this campaign of non-co-operation is to evolve order, discipline, co-operation among the people, co-ordination among the workers. Effective non-co-operation depends upon complete organization. Thousands of men who have filled meetings throughout the Punjab have convinced me that the people want to withdraw co-operation from the Government but they must know how. Most people do not understand the complicated machinery of the Government. They do not realize that every citizen silently but none the less certainly sustains the government of the day in ways of which he has no knowledge. Every citizen, therefore, renders himself responsible for every act of his government. And it is quite proper to support it so long as the actions of the government are bearable. But when they hurt him and his nation, it becomes his duty to withdraw his support.

"But, as I have said, every citizen does not know how to do so in an orderly manner. Disordcrlincss comes from anger, orderliness out of intelligent resistance. The first condition, therefore, of real success is to ensure absence of violence. Violence done to persons representing the Government or to persons who don't join our rank, that is, the supporters of the Government, means in every case retrogression, in our case, cessation of non-co-operation and useless waste of innocent lives. Those, therefore, who wish to make non-co-operation a success in the quickest possible time will consider it their first duty to see that in their neighbourhood complete order is kept."

The nation impatiently waited for the zero hour—the first of August. Throughout these months of suspense, the people asked, "What is Tilak's attitude?" With regard to the Khilafat, Tilak said: "My idea is that the Muslims themselves should take the initiative in the matter. After full discussion, they must come to a definite decision and it is for the Hindus to support them in whatever decision they would arrive at." He assured Shaukat Ali that if the Muslims offered non-co-operation his party and the Hindus would certainly follow them. He had no final views on the details of non-co-operation including boycott of councils but when Shaukat Ali with Gandhi visited him in Bombay, he said that if the Muslims boycotted the councils he and his party would follow suit.

The position which Tilak occupied in 1920 was the most enviable that any politician had occupied in India. He alone represented not merely the youngest but the oldest generation living. Dadabhai, Ranade, Pherozeshah Mehta and Gokhale were no more. Starting as a conservative, he lived to count the staunchest of reformers amongst his followers. The branded "enemy of the Muslims" was the supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity at Lucknow and his active co-operation was sought by and promised to the leaders of the Khilafat movement. The slogan of swaraj started by him in 1895 was echoed by the Congress of 1906. His no-rent campaign of 1896 formed one of the planks of Gandhi's non-co-operation programme. "The wrecker of the Congress" was its bulwark and chosen president. Dreaded by the Government, hated by the Anglo-Indians, feared by the Moderates, Tilak was the idol of India. Behind him lay stirring memories extending over forty years. Ahead, there was a struggle for which the nation looked forward to Tilak and Gandhi.

On July 23 fell Tilak's sixty-fourth birthday. Congratulations poured in from all over the country. He had just recovered from an attack of malaria when a drive along the sea-shore of Bombay brought him a chill which soon developed into high fever.

From Monday, July 26, his fever took a decidedly serious turn and it developed signs of pneumonia. The whole of Tuesday was a day of anxiety. Friends and relatives gathered to wait upon him. Crowds waited patiently in the street for news, and the bulletins were issued every few hours. On Wednesday his heart began to show signs of weakness. He lost consciousness and became delirious. He continued more or less in that state during the next three days. On Saturday his heart began to show signs of exhaustion and his breathing became hard. At 12.40 in the night, August 1,1920, Lokarnanya Tilak passed away.

From early morning enormous crowds thronged the streets in front of the Sardar Griha. On the balcony the body of Tilak was placed on a raised chair in a sitting posture for the people to have a last glimpse of the Lokarnanya.

Never before in the recent history of India was such nation-wide grief witnessed. The first of August had been fixed for the inauguration of non-co-operation, although the Congress had not accepted the proposal so far. That very morning Gandhi accompanied by Jawaharlal Nehru reached Bombay after a tour in Sind. They joined the mammoth demonstration in which the whole of Bombay's population seemed to pour out to do reverence to the great leader. The funeral procession was very impressive, in which all classes and all communities participated. Tilak was a Brahmin and some of his friends and relatives desired that only Brahmins should lift the bier. When Gandhi came forward and bent low to lift up the bier someone tried to obstruct him. Gandhi stood up for a moment and said, "Public men know no caste." He bent down again and lifted one end of the bier and he was followed by Shaukat Ali and Dr. Kitchlew who shouldered the bier turn by turn along the route to Chowpati. On the route the procession had to stop frequently for people who wanted to offer flowers. A continuous drizzle and the sorrowful tears from the eyes of the spectators painted the gloom darker. At sundown the body of Lokamanya was cremated on a pyre of sandalwood on the sands of Chowpati.

"Who will lead India after Tilak?" people asked.

"My strongest bulwark is gone," said Gandhi. In Young India, he wrote:

"Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak is no more. It is difficult to believe of him as dead. He was so much part of the people. No man of our times had the hold on the masses that Mr. Tilak had. The devotion that he commanded from thousands of his countrymen was extraordinary. He was unquestionably the idol of his people. His word was law among thousands. A giant among men has fallen. The voice of the lion is hushed.

"What was the reason for his hold upon his countrymen? I think the answer is simple. His patriotism was a passion with him. He knew no religion but love of his country. He was a born democrat. He believed in the rule of majority with an intensity that fairly frightened me. But that gave him his hold. He had an iron will which he used for his country. His life was an open book. His tastes were simple. His private life was spotlessly clean. He had dedicated his wonderful talents to his country. No man preached the gospel of the swaraj with the consistency and the insistence of Lokamanya. His countrymen, therefore, implicitly believed him. His courage never failed him. His optimism was irrepressible. Lokamanya had hoped to see swaraj fully established during his lifetime. If he failed, it was not his fault. He certainly brought it nearer by many a year. It is for us, who remain behind, to put forth redoubled effort to make it a reality in the shortest possible time.

"Lokamanya was an implacable foe of the bureaucracy, but this is not to say that he was a hater of Englishmen or English rule. I warn Englishmen against making the mistake of thinking that he was their enemy.

"I had the privilege of listening to an impromptu, learned discourse by him, at the time of the last Calcutta Congress on Hindi being the national language. He had just returned from the Congress pandal. It was a treat to listen to his calm discourse on Hindi. In the course of his address he paid a glpwing tribute to the English for their care of the vernaculars. His English visit, in spite of his sad experience of English juries, made him a staunch believer in British democracy and he even seriously made the amazing suggestion that India should instruct it on the Punjab through the cinematograph. I relate this incident not because I share his belief—for I do not—but in order to show that he entertained no hatred for Englishmen. But he could not and would not put up with an inferior status of India and the empire. He wanted immediate equality which he believed was his country's birthright. And in his struggle for India's freedom he did not spare the Government. In the battle for freedom he gave no quarter and asked for none. I hope that Englishmen will recognize the worth of the man whom India has adored.

"For us, he will go down to the generations yet unborn as a maker of modern India. They will revere his memory as of a man who lived for them and died for them. It is blasphemy to talk of such a man as dead. The permanent essence of him abides with us for ever. Let us erect for the only Lokamanya of India an imperishable monument by weaving into our own lives his bravery, his simplicity, his wonderful industry and his love of his country.

"May God grant his soul peace."

The following articles by Gandhi and an interview with

him were published in Vegetarian, London, in 1891

APPENDIX

Indian Vegetarians

I

INDIA is inhabited by twenty-five millions of people of various castes and creeds. The very common belief among the Englishmen who have not been to India, or who have taken very little interest in Indian matters, is that all the Indians are born vegetarians. Now this is true only in part. Indian people are divided into three main divisions, namely, the Hindus, the Mahometans, and the Parsis.

The Hindus are again divided into four chief castes, namely, the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and the Shudras. Of all these in theory, only the Brahmins and the Vaishyas are pure vegetarians. But in practice almost all the Indians are vegetarians. Some are so voluntarily, and others compulsorily. The latter, though always willing to take, are yet too poor to buy meat. This statement will be borne out by the fact that there are thousands in India who have to live on one pice, a day. These live on bread and sal;, a heavily taxed article; for, even in a poverty- stricken country like India, it will be very difficult if not utterly impossible to get eatable flesh-meat for 1/2d.

The question who are vegetarians in India being disposed of, the natural question will be, what is vegetarianism as practised by them? To begin with, Indian vegetarianism, does not mean the V.E.M. diet. The Indians, that is, the Indian vegetarians, decline to take besides fish, flesh and fowl, eggs, for they argue that to cat an egg is equivalent to killing life; since an egg, if left undisturbed would, prima facie, become a fowl. But, unlike some of the vegetarian extremists here they not only do not abstain from milk and butter, but consider them sacred enough to be used on what are called "fruit days", which occur every fortnight, and which are generally observed by the high-caste Hindus; because, as they put it, they do not kill the cow in taking milk from her. And certainly the milking of a cow, which, by the way has been the subject of painting and poetry, cannot shock the most delicate feelings as would the slaughtering of her. It may be worth mentioning in passant that the cow is an object of worship among the Hindus, and a movement set on foot to prevent the cows from being shipped off for the purposes of slaughter is progressing rapidly.

February 7, 1891

II

INDIAN vegetarians' food generally varies with the part they live in. Thus in Bengal the staple article of food is rice, while in the Bombay Presidency it is wheat.

All the Indians generally—and the grown-up persons particularly, and among them the high-caste Hindus—take two meals a day with a glass or two of water between the meals whenever they feel thirsty. The first meal they take at about 10 a.m., which would correspond to the English dinner, and the seeond meal at about 8 p.m., which would correspond to supper so far as the name goes, though in reality, it is a substantial meal. From the above it will have been seen that there is no breakfast—which seeing that the Indians generally rise at six o'clock, and even as early as four or five o'clock in the morning, they would seem to require—nor the ordinary midday meal. Some of the readers will no doubt wonder how the Indians go about without anything to cat for nine hours after their first meal. This may be explained in two ways, namely, first, the habit is seeond nature. Their religion commands some, and employment or custom compels others to take not more than two meals in one day. Seeondly, the climate of India, which, except in some parts is very hot, will account for the habit. For even in England, it appears that the same quantity of food is not required in summer as in winter. Unlike the English, the Indians do not take each dish separately, but they mix many things together. Among some of the Hindus it is one of the requirements of their religion to mix all their food together. Moreover, every dish is elaborately prepared. In fact they don't believe in plain boiled vegetables, but must have them flavoured with plenty of condiments, for example, pepper, salt, cloves, turmeric, mustard seed, and various other things for which it would be difficult to find English names unless they be those used in medicine.

The first meal consists generally of bread or rather cakes—of which more hereafter—some pulse, for example, peas, haricot beans, ctc., and two or three green vegetables cooked together, or separately, followed by rice and pulse cooked in water, and flavoured with various spices. After this, some take milk and rice, or simply milk, or curdled milk, or even whey, especially in summer.

The seeond meal, that is, the supper consists of much the same things as the first one, but the quantity is less and the vegetables fewer at this meal. Milk is more liberally used at this meal. The reader should be reminded here that this is net the food that the Indians invariably use nor should he think that the above will be the typical dishes all over India and among all classes. Thus, for example, no sweets are mentioned in the specimen meals while they are sure to be used among the well-to-do classes at least once a week. Moreover, while, as said above, wheat preponderates over ricc in the Bombay Presidency, in Bengal rice gets the better of wheat.

So also with regard to the third exception which must prove the rule, the food among the labouring class is different from what is given above. To mention all the varieties would be to fill up volumes and to do so would, it is to be feared, divest the article of all interest.

Butter, or if you please, clarified butter is much more used for culinary purposes than in England or, it may be, even in Europe. And according to a doctor of some authority, if it would do no good, much use of butter, in a hot climate like that of India would do no harm such as it might do in a cold climate like that of England.

It will, perhaps, strike the reader that the fruit, yes the all-important fruit, is sadly conspicuous by its absence in the above-mentioned specimen dishes. Some, among many of the reasons, are that the Indians do not know the proper value of fruit, that the poor people cannot afford to buy good fruit, and that good fruit is not available all over India, except in large ciues. Indeed, there are certain fruits, not to be found here, which are used by all classes in India; but alas, these are used as superficial things, not as food, and no one knows their value chemically, because no one takes the trouble to analyse them.

February 14,1891

III

IN THE previous article "more hereafter" was promised about the cakes. These cakcs are generally made of wheat flour. Wheat is first ground in a handmill—a simple contrivance to reduce the wheat to powder—not a mill requiring machinery. This powdered wheat is passed through a sieve with large holes, so that the coarsest bran is left out. Indeed, among the poor classes it is not passed through the sieve at all. Thus the flour, though not the same as that used by the vegetarians here, is far superior to the ordinary flour that is here used for the much abused white bread. Some clarified butter, butter boiled and passed through a sieve—sometimes a useless process when the butter is quite pure—and then allowed to become cool—say a tcaspoonful to a pound of flour—is mixed with the flour, a sufficient quantity of water is poured on it, and then it is kneaded with the hands until it forms' itself into one homogeneous mass. This lump is divided into small equal parts, each as big as a tangerine. These are rolled into thin circular pieces about six inches in diameter with a wooden stick made specially for the purpose. Each piece is separately and thoroughly baked in a flat dish. It takes from five to seven minutes to bake one cake. This cakc is eaten while hot with butter, and has a very nice flavour. It may be, and is, eaten even quite cold. What meat is to the ordinary Englishman, the cake is to the Indian, be he a vegetarian or a meat-eater, for in India a meat-eater does not in the writer's opinion regard his meat as an absolute necessity, but takes it rather as a side-dish to help him, so to speak, in eating the cakes.

Such in outline, and only in outline, is the ordinary food of a well-to-do Indian vegetarian. Now a question may be asked, "Has not the British rule effected any change in the habits of the Indian people?" So far as the food and drink are concerned, "yes" and "no". "No", because ordinary men and women have stuck to their original food and the number of meals. "Yes", because those who have learnt a little bit of English have picked up English ideas here and there, but this change too—whether it is for the worse or for the better must be left to the reader to judge—is not very perceptible.

The last mentioned class have begun to believe in breakfast which usually consists of a cup or two of tea. Now this brings us to the question of drink. The drinking of tea and coffee, by the so-called cducatcd Indians, chiefly due to the British rule, may be passed over with the briefest noticc. The most that tea and coffcc can do is to cause a little extra expense, and general debility of health when indulged in to excess, but one of the most greatly felt evils of the British rule is the importation of alcohol—that enemy of mankind, that curse of civilization—in some form or another. The measure of the evil wrought by this borrowed habit will be properly gauged by the reader wher. he is told that the enemy has spread throughout the length and breadth of India, in spite of the religious prohibition; for even the touch of a bottle containing alcohol pollutes the Mahomedan, according to his religion, and the religion of the Hindu strictly prohibits the use of alcohol in any form whatever, and yet, alas! the Government, it seems, instead of stopping, are aiding and abetting the spread of alcohol. The poor there, as everywhere, are the greatest sufferers. It is they who spend what little they earn in buying alcohol instead of buying good food and other necessaries. It is that wretched poor man who has to starve his family, who has to break the sacred trust of looking after his children, if any, in order to drink himself into misery and premature death. Here be it said to the credit of Mr. Caine, the ex-Member for Barrow, that he, undaunted, is still carrying on his admirable crusade against the spread of the evil. But what can the energy of one man, however powerful, do against the inaction of the apathetic and dormant Government?

February 21, 1891

IV

AFTER having known who are vegetarians in India, and what they generally eat, the reader will be able to judge from the following facts how hollow and baseless are the arguments advanced by some people regarding the weak constitutions of the vegetarian Hindus.

One thing often said about the Indian vegetarians is, that they are physically very feeble, and that, therefore, vegetarianism is not compatible with bodily strength.

Now, if it can be proved that generally in India the vegetarians are as strong as, if not stronger than the Indian meat-caters, and for that matter even Englishmen, and moreover, that where weakness exists it can be ascribed to many other reasons than that of non-flesh diet, the whole structure on which the above argument is based falls to the ground.

It must at the outset be admitted that the Hindus as a rule are notoriously weak; but an unbiased person—a meat-cater—who knows India and her people even superficially will tell you that there are many other causes incessantly at work to account for the proverbial weakness. One of the most important reasons, if not the most important one, is the wretched custom of infant marriages and its attendant evils. Generally children when they reach the great age of nine are burdened with the fetters of married life. In many cases they are married at a still younger age and in some eases the/ are betrothed while yet unborn. Thus one woman would promise to marry her child if male to another's if female, and vice versa. Of course in the two latter cases consummation does not take place before they are ten or eleven years old. Cases are recorded in which a wife of twelve had a child by a husband of sixteen or seventeen. Will not these marriages tell upon the strongest constitutions?

Now fancy how weak the progeny of such marriages must be. Then look at the cares such a couple have to undergo. Suppose a boy of eleven is married to a girl of about the same age. Thus at a time when the boy should be, and is, ignorant of what it is to be a husband, he has a wife forced on him. He is, of course, attending his school. In addition to the drudgery at school he has his child-wife to look after. He has not actually to maintain her, for in India a son when married does not necessarily separate from his parents unless he be at sixes and sevens with them; but he has to do everything short of that. Then about six years after marriage he has a son, probably he has not yet finished his studies, and he has to think of earning money not only to maintain himself but his wife and child, for he cannot expect lo pass his whole life with his father, and even granting that he may, he should certainly be expected to contribute something towards his wife's and his child's maintenance. Will not the mere knowledge of his duty prey upon his mind and thus undermine his health? Can any one dare to say that this will not shatter a most robust constitution? But one may well argue that if that boy, in the above example, had eaten flesh-meat he would have kept stronger than he did. A reply to such an argument is to be found from those Kshatriya princes who in spite of their meat diet are very weak owing to debauchery.

Then the shepherds in India afford a good example of how strong an Indian vegetarian can be where other opposite agencies are not at work.

An Indian shepherd is a finely built man of Herculean constitution. He with his thick, strong cudgel, would be a match for any ordinary European with his sword. Cases are recorded of shepherds having killed or driven away tigers and lions with their cudgels. "But," said a friend one day, "this is an example of men living in the rude and natural state. In the present highly artificial state of society you require something more than mere cabbage and peas. Your shepherd lacks intelligence, he reads no books, etc., etc." The; one and only answer to this was, and is, that the vegetarian shepherd would be equal to, if not more than a match for a meat-eating shepherd. Thus there is a comparison between a vegetarian of one class and a meat-eater of the same class. It is a comparison between strength and strength, and not between strength and strength plus intelligence, for my attempt for the moment is simply to disprove that Indian vegetarians are physically weak on account of their vegetarianism.

Eat what food you will, it is impossible it seems to make physical and "mental strength go together except, perhaps, in rare cases. The law of compensation will require that what is gained in mental power must be lost in bodily power. A Samson cannot be a Gladstone. And granting the argument that a substitute is required for vegetables in the present state of society, is it conclusively proved that flesh-meat is that substitute?

Then take the case of the Kshatriyas, the so-called warlike race in India. They are, of course, meat-eaters and how few of them there are who have wielded a sword! Far be it from me to say that they, as a race, are very weak. So long as Prithviraj and Bhima and all of their type - not to go to the olden times—are remembered, he will be a fool who would have it believed that they are a weak race. But now it is a sad fact that they have degenerated. The truly warlike people, among others, are the people of the north-western provinces, known as Bhayas. They subsist on wheat, pulse, and greens. They are the guardians of peace, they are largely employed in the native armies.

From the above facts it is easy to see that vegetarianism is not only not injurious, but on the contrary is conducive to bodily strength and that the attributing the Hindu weakness to vegetarianism is simply based on a fallacy.

February 28, 1891

V

WE SAW in the last article that the bodily weakness of the Hindu vegetarians was attributable to other causes than their diet, and also that the shepherds who were vegetarians were as strong as meat-caters. This shepherd being a very good specimen of a vegetarian, we may with profit examine his way of living, but before proceeding further, the reader may be told that what follows does not apply to ali the Indian shepherds. It applies to the shepherds of a certain part of India. Just as the habits of the people in Scotland would be different from those of the people in England, so also would the habits of the people living in one part of India be different from those of the people living in another part.

The Indian shepherd then gets up generally at five o'clock in the morning. The first thing he does, if he is a pious shepherd, is to offer some prayers to his God. Then he does his toilet which consists in washing his mouth and face. I may be allowed here to digress for a while to acquaint the reader with the brush an Indian uses for his teeth. The brush is nothing more than a branch of a thorny tree called babul, one branch is cut up into pieces about a foot long. Of course, all the thorns are removed. The Indian crushes one end of the stick between his faith till it h soft enough to brush his teeth. Thus he makes for himself every- day a new and home-made brush. When he has well brushed his teeth and made them pearl-white, he splits the suck into two, and after bending one part into a curve scrapes his tongue. This process of brushing probably accounts for the strong and beautiful teeth of the average Indian. It is perhaps superfluous to add that he uses no tooth-powder. Old persons when their teeth are not strong enough to crush the stick use a small hammer. The whole process does not take more than twenty-five minutes.

To return to the shepherd, he then takes his breakfast consisting of a thick cakc made of millet—an Anglo-Indian name for bajri, a kind of corn much used in India instead of or in addition to wheat—clarified butter and molasses. At about eight or nine o'clock in the morning he goes to pasture the cattle placed under his superintendence. The place of pasture is generally two or three miles from his town. It is a hilly tract of land studded with a green carpet of luxuriant foliage. Thus he has the unique advantage of enjoying the freshest air with natural scenery thrown in. While the cattle are roaming about, he whiles away his time in singing or talking to his companion who may be his wife, brother or some other relation. At about twelve o'clock he takes his lunch, which he always carries with him. It consists of the ever present cakcs, clarified butter, one vegetable or some pulse, or instead, or in addition, some pickle, and fresh milk directly taken from the cow. Then at about two or three o'clock he not unfrcqucntly takes a nap for about half an hour under some shady tree. This short sleep gives him relief from the heat of the scorching sun. At six he returns home, at seven he has supper, for which he takes some hot cakes, pulse or vegetables, and winds up with rice and milk, or rice and whey. After doing some household business, which often means a pleasant chat with the family members, he goes to bed at ten o'clock. He sleeps either in the open air, or in a hut which is sometimes overcrowded. He resorts to the hut in winter or in the rainy season. It may be worthy of remark that these huts, even though miserable in appearance and often without any windows, are not air-tight. Being constructed in a rude state their doors are made, not as a protection against draughts or wind but against burglars. It cannot, however, be denied that there is much room for improvement in the huts.

Such then is the living of a well-to-do shepherd. His, in many respects, is an ideal mode of life. He is perforce regular in his habits, is out of doors during the greater part of his time, while out he breathes the purest air, has his due amount of exercise, has good and nourishing food and last but not least, is free from many cares which are frequently productive of weak constitutions.

March 7, 1891

Indian Shepherds

THE ONLY flaw that can be found in his mode of living is the paucity of baths. In a hot climate baths are very useful, while a Brahmin would have his bath twice a day, and a Vaishya once a day, a shepherd would have only one bath a week. I shall here again digress to explain the manner in which the Indian takes his baths. Generally he has his baths in the river flowing near his town, but if he is too idle to go to the river, or is afraid of being drowned, or if there is no river near his town, he has his baths at home. There is no bath into which he can plunge. He takes water from a large vessel placed near him with a goblet and pours it over his body, because he believes that the moment you plunge into stagnant water you render it impure, unfit for further use. For the same reason he would not even wash his hands in a basin, but have someone to pour it over his hands or do it himself by holding the goblet between his arms.

But to return, the paucity of the baths does not, it seems, materially affect his health; while it is obvious that if the Brahmin were to go without his baths ever for a day, he would feel very uncomfortable, and if he were to continue not taking them a little longer, he would very soon become ill.

This is, I suppose, an instance of many things which, otherwise inexplicable can be accounted for by habit. Thus while a scavenger, in pursuing his employment keeps good health, any ordinary person trying to do the same will be face to face with death. Death would soon be knocking at the door of a delicately nurtured lord trying to imitate an East-end labourer.

I cannot help here giving a fable or anecdote which is exactly to the point. A king fell in love with a female tooth-brush seller, who was a very Venus in beauty. As might naturally be expected she was ordered to be placed in the king's palace. She was, in fact, placed in the lap of luxury. She had the best food, the best clothes, in short, everything of the best. And lo 1 in proportion to the luxury, her health began to fail. Scores of physicians were in attendance, but all the drugs most regularly administered proved of no avail. Meanwhile a shrewd physician found out the real cause of all the illness. He said that she was possessed by evil spirits. Therefore, in order to satisfy them, he ordered some pieces of old cakes to be set, together with fruit, in each of her many rooms. They were to disappear in as many days as there were rooms, and with them, he said, the illness would disappear. And it was so. Of course the cakes were consumed by the poor queen.

Now this shows the mastery that habit gets over men. So I think the paucity of baths does not greatly harm the shepherd.

The result of this mode of living was partially noticed in the last article, namely, the vegetarian shepherd is physically strong. He is also long-lived. I know a shepherdess who was more than hundred years old in 1888. When I last saw her, her eyesight was very good. Her memory was fresh. She could recollect things that she had seen in her childhood. She could walk with a stick to support her. I hope she is still living.

Besides, the shepherd's figure is symmetrical. It is very rare to see any deformity in him. Without being fierce like a tiger, he is yet strong and brave and as docile as a lamb. Without being awe-inspiring, his stature is commanding. Altogether the Indian shepherd is a very fine specimen of a vegetarian, and will compare very favourably with any meat-eater so far as bodily strength goes.

March 14, 1891

Some Indian Festivals

I

AT THIS Easter time I should have liked to write something on the holidays which correspond to the Easter in point of time; but these holidays with their painful associations not being the greatest Hindu festival may very properly give way to the Diwali holidays which are far superior in importance and grandeur to the former.

Diwali, which may be termed the Hindu Christmas, occurs at the end of the Hindu year, that is, during the month of November. It is both a social and religious holiday. It spreads over nearly a month. The first day of the month of Ashwin—twelfth month of the Hindu year—heralds the approach of the grand festival when the children let ofT their first fireworks. First nine days are called Nava Ratri—nine nights. These days are chiefly marked by garbis. Some twenty or thirty, and even more people form themselves into a large circle, in the centre is placed a huge lamp post tastefully constructed and illuminated all round, in the centre also sits a man with his tabors reciting some popular verses. The people forming the circle repeat the verses, keeping time to them with claps of hands. While repeating the verses they move round the lamp-post at the same time stooping down in a half bending posture. It is very often a great treat to hear these garbis.

It may be remarked that girls—much less women—never take part in them. Of course they may have their own garbis where men would be excluded. In some families the custom of half-fasting prevails. It is sufficient if one member only of the family fasts. The fasting man has only one meal a day, and that, too, in the evening. Moreover, he is not allowed any corn or pulse, but is restricted to fruit, milk, and root vegetables such as potatoes, etc.

The tenth day of the month is called Dussehra, when friends meet and feast one another. It is also customary to make presents of sweets to one's friends, and especially patrons and superiors. Except on the Dussehra holiday all the amusements are carried on at night, while the ordinary daily pursuits are attended to in the day-time. After the Dussehra everything is comparatively quiet for about a fortnight, except that the ladies are making preparations for the approaching grand day, by cooking and baking sweets, cakes, etc., for in India women of the highest class would not mind cooking. In fact, it is an accomplishment which every lady is supposed to possess.

Thus, spending the evenings in feasting and singing, we reach the thirteenth day of the dark half of the month Ashwin. (In India every month is divided into two parts, the dark half and the bright half, the full moon day and the new moon day being starting-points; thus, the day following the full moon day is the first day of the dark half of a month, and so on.) The thirteenth day and the three following days are wholly devoted to amusements and enjoyment. The thirteenth day is called Dhantcrash, that is, the thirteenth day set apart for the worship of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. Rich people collect different kinds of jewels, precious stones, coins, etc., and put them carefully into a box. These they never use for any other purpose than that of worship. Each year an addition is made to this collection. The worship, that is, the external worship—for who, save a select few is there who does not at heart covet, or in other words, worship money—consists in washing the money with water and milk, and then decorating it with flowers and kum-kum, red ochre.

The fourteenth day is called Kali Chaudash; but this day people get up before the break of day, and even the laziest person is required to take a good bath; the mother even compels her little children to take a bath, though it is the winter season. On the night of Kali Chaudash, cemeteries are supposed to be visited by a procession of ghosts. Persons affecting to believe in ghosts would go to these places to see their ghost friends. Timid ones would not stir out of their houses lest they should see a ghost.

March 28, 1891

II

BUT LO! now is the morning of the fifteenth day, Diwali proper. The greatest fireworks are let off on the Diwali day. No one is willing to part with his money on this day. He will neither borrow nor lend. All the purchases are supposed to have been finished the previous day.

You are standing near the corner of a public road. Mark the shepherd trotting onward in his milk-white suit, worn for the first time, with his long beard turned up beside his face and fastened under his turban, singing some broken verses. A herd of cows, with their horns painted red and green and mounted with silver, follows him. Soon after you see a crowd of little maids with small earthen vessels, resting on cushions, placed on their heads. You wonder what those vessels contain. Your doubt is soon solved by that carelcss maid spilling some milk from her vessel. Then observe that big man with white whiskers and a big white turban, with a long reed pen thrust into his turban. He has a long scarf wound round his waist with a silver inkstand adjusted in the scarf. He, you must know, is a great banker. Thus you see different sorts of persons leisurely going along, full of joy and mirth.

The night comes. The streets are resplendent with dazzling illuminations; dazzling indeed to a person who has never seen Regent Street or Oxford Street, but by no means to be compared with the scale on which illuminations carried out at the Crystal Palace, except in large towns like Bombay. Men, women and children wear their best costumes, almost all of various colours, and so form a wonderfully bizarre effect, which harmonizes into kaleidoscopic beauty. This is also the night for worshipping Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning. Merchants start their new ledgers by making the first entry. The officiating priest, the ubiquitous Brahmin mutters some prayers and invokes the goddess. At the end of the worship, the children, who are only too impatient, set the fireworks ablaze; and as this worship generally takes place at a fixed time the streets resound with the popping and fizzing and cracking of fireworks. Pious people then go to the temples, but here too there is nothing to be seen but mirth and glee, dazzling light and splendour.

The following day, that is, the new year's day, is the day of paying and receiving visits. Kitchen fires are put out on this day, so that people cat the cold food which has been previously prepared. But the glutton by no means starves, for there is such profusion that though he cats and cats again there is yet plenty and to spare. Well-to-do classes buy and cook every sort of vegetables, corn and pulse, and taste them all on the new year's day.

The seeond day of the new year is comparatively a quiet day. Kitchen fires are now re-lighted. Light food is generally taken after the heavy meals of the previous days. There is no display of fireworks except by some mischievous children. Illumination too is on a smaller scale. With the seeond day the Diwali holidays are practically over.

Let us see how these holidays afreet society, and how many desirable things people do unwittingly. Generally all the family members try to meet together for the holidays at their place of residence. The husband always tries to get home to his wife again, even though his business may have taken him away the whole of the previous year. The father travels a great distance to meet his children. The son, if abroad, comes back from his school and so a general reunion always takes place. Then all who can afford it have new suits of clothes. Among the richer classes ornaments, too, are ordered especially for the occasion. Even old family quarrels are patchcd up. At any rate a serious attempt is made to do so. Houses are repaired and white-washed. Old furniture, which was lying packed up in a wooden ease, is taken out, cleaned and used for decorating the rooms for the time being. Old debts, if any, are paid up whenever possible. Every one is supposed to buy some new thing, which almost always takes the form of a metallic vessel, or some such thing, for the new year's day. Alms are freely given. Persons not very careful about offering prayers or visiting temples are now doing both.

On holidays no one is to quarrel with or swear at any other—a pernicious habit very much in vogue, particularly among the lower classes. In a word, everything is quiet and joyful. Life, instead of being burdensome, is perfectly enjoyable. It will be easily seen that good and far-reaching consequences cannot fail to flow from such holidays, which some cry down as a relic of superstition and tomfoolery, though in reality they are a boon to mankind, and tend to relieve a great deal the dull monotony of life among the toiling millions.

Though the Diwali holidays are common to the whole of India, the mode of observing them varies in point of details in different parts. Moreover, this is but an imperfect description of the greatest festival of the Hindus. And it must not be supposed that there is no abusing of the holidays. Like every other thing, this festival, too, may have, and probably has, its black side, but that had better be left alone. Certainly the good that it does far outweighs the evil.

April 4, 1891

III

NEXT IN importance to the Diwali holidays are the Holi holidays, which were alluded to in the Vegetarian of the 28th March.

Holi holidays, as will be remembered, correspond to Easter in point of time. Holi takes place on the full moon day of the fifth month, Falgun, of the Hindu year. This is just the spring time. Trees are budding forth. Warm clothes are put off. Light clothes are the fashion. That the spring has come is even more manifest when we have a peep at one of the temples.

The moment you enter a temple, and you must be a Hindu in order to gain admittance thereinto, you smell nothing but sweet flowers. Pious persons are sitting on the steps, making garlands for Thakorji—god. Among the flowers you see beautiful roses, lotus, chamtli, moghra, champa, etc. When the doors are flung open for darshan, you observe the fountains in full play. You enjoy soft and fragrant breezes. Thakorji has worn light costumes of delicate shades. Piles of flowers before him, and garlands round his neck almost hide him from your view. He is swung to and fro. The swing, too, is covcrcd with green leaves sprinkled with fragrant waters.

Outside the temple the sight is not edifying. You here meet with nothing but obscene language during the fortnight preceding the Holi. In small villages it is difficult for ladies to appear without being bespattered with mud. They are the subject of obscene remarks. The same treatment is meted out to men without distinction. People form themselves into small parties. Then one party competes with another in using obscene langiagc and singing obscene songs. All persons, men and children, but not women, take part in these revolting contests.

Indeed, it is not considered bad taste to use obscene words during this season. In places where people are steeped in ignorance they even pelt one another. They paint obscene words on your clothes, and if you wear a white garment and go cut, you are sure to return home with plenty of mud about you. This reaches its climax on the Holi day. Whether you are in the house or out of it, obscene words are jarring on your ears. If you happen to visit a friend, you are sure to be bathed in foul water, or in fragrant water as the ease may be.

In the evening a big pile of wood or dried cow-dung is made and set on fire. These piles are often as high as twenty feet or more. And the pieces of wood used are so thick that the fire is not extinguished for seven or eight days.

On the day following people heat water on these fires and bathe with it. So far I have spoken of the way in which the Holi holidays are abused. It is a relief to be able to say that with the progress of education and civilization such scenes are slowly though surely dying out. But the richer and refined classes use these holidays in a very decent way. Coloured water and fragrant waters take the place of mud. Throwing pails of water is replaced here by a little sprinkling only. Orangc-coloured water is most used during these days. It is made by boiling dried flowers, called kesuda, which have the colour of an orange. Rose-water, too, is used where people can afford it. Friends and relations meet and feast one another, and thus enjoy the spring in merriment.

In many respects the Diwali holidays present a beautiful contrast to the, for the most part, unholy Holi holidays. Diwali holidays begin soon after the monsoon which is also the time of fasting. So the feasting during the Diwali holidays is all the more enjoyable. While the Holi holidays follow the winter which is the time for taking concentrated foods of all sorts. Such foods are left off during the Holi holidays. Obscene language of Holi follows the most sacred songs of the Diwali. Then again people begin to wear winter clothes in the Diwali, while they put these off in the Holi. The Diwali proper takes place on the fifteenth day of the dark half of the month Ashwin and consequently there is much illumination; while on account of the Holi taking place on the full moon day, illumination would be out of place.

April 25,1891

Our Workers

OF THE many who know something of India there are few who have any true conception of the habits and customs, the thoughts and aspirations, the religions in theory and practice of the natives of India. Mr. Gandhi's pen, however, has been active in the pages of this paper in doing something to dispel that ignorance.

There is one point connected with the presence of all Hindus in England which is not generally known, and that is the patient, persistent force of character which has been neccssary to enable them to overcome the enormous difficulties which lie in the way of their coming here.

To enable Englishmen to appreciate these difficulties and so to respect every Hindu who lands upon these shores, and also to point out to Hindus how these difficulties may be overcome, and how they will find vegetarian friends in England, we have asked Mr. Gandhi to reply fully to a few questions.

Mr. Gandhi was first asked what was the reason which first induced him to think of coming over to England and adopting the legal profession.

"In a word, ambition. I matriculated at the Bombay University, in the year 1887. Then I joined the Bhavnagar College, for unless you graduate at the Bombay University you get no status in society. If you want any employment before that, you cannot seeure, unless, of course, you have a very good influence to back you up, a rcspcctablc post, giving a handsome salary. But I found that I would have to spend three years at the least before I could graduate. Moreover, I suffered from constant headaches and nose-bleeding, and this was supposed to be due to the hot climate. And, after all, I could not, even after graduating, expect any very great income. While I was incessantly brooding over these things an old friend of my father's saw and advised me to go to England and take the robe; he, as it were, fanned the fire that was burning within me. I thought to myself, 'If I go to England not only shall I become a barrister—of whom I used to think a great deal—but I shall be able to see England, the land of philosophers and poets, the very centre of civilization.' This gentleman had great influence with my elders, and so he succeeded in persuading them to send me to England.

"This is a very brief statement of my reasons for coming to England, but they by no means represent my present views."

Of course your friends were all delighted at your ambitious purpose?

"Well, not all. There are friends and friends. Those who were my real friends, and of my age, were very glad to hear that I was to go to England. Some were friends, or rather, well-wishers, old in years. These sinccrcly believed that I was going to ruin myself, and that I would be a disgracc to my familysby going to England. Others, however, set up their opposition simply from malice. They had seen some of the barristers who derived fabulous incomes, and they were afraid that I might do the same. Some, again, there were, who thought that I was too young—I am now about twenty-two—or that I should not be able to bear the climate. To cut the matter short, no two persons supported or opposed my coming on the same grounds."

How did you set about carrying out your intendon? Just tell me what were your difficulties, and how you overcame them?

"Even to try to tell you the story of my difficulties would fill up the whole of your valuable paper. It is a tale of misery and woe. The difficulties may well be likened to the head of Ravana—the giant of the seeond great Hindu epic Ramayana, whom Rama the hero fought, and ultimately defeated—which were many, and which were no sooner chopped off than replaced. They may be divided chiefly under four heads, namely, money, consent of my ciders, separation from relations, and castc restrictions.

"First, then, as to money. Though my father was the prime minister of more than one native state, he never hoarded money. He spent all that he earned in charity and the education and the marriages of his children, so we were practically left without much cash. He left some property, and that was all. When asked why he did not collect money and set it aside for his children, he used to say that his children represented his wealth, and if he hoarded much money he would spoil them. So, then, money was no small difficulty in my way. I tried for some state scholarship but failed. At one place I was asked to prove my worth by graduating and then expect it. Experience teaches me that the gentleman who said so was right. Nothing daunted I requested my eldest brother to devote all the money that was left to my education in England.

"Here I cannot help digressing to explain the family system that prevails in India. There, unlike as in England, the children always, if male, and until marriage, if female, live with their parents. What they earn goes to the father, and so also what they lose is a loss to the father. Of course even the male children do separate under exceptional circumstances, for example, in the case of a great quarrel. But these are the exceptions. In the legal language of Maync 'Individual property is the rule in the West. Corporate property is the rule in the East.' So then I have and had no property of my own. Everything was under the control of my brother, and we were all living together.

"To return to the question of money. What little my father could leave for me was in the hands of my brother. It could only be set free subject to his consent. Moreover, that was not enough, so I proposed that the whole capital should be devoted to my education. I ask you if any brother would do so here. There are very few such brothers in India. He was told that I might prove an unworthy brother after imbibing the western ideas, and that the only chancc of regaining the money would be in my returning alive to India, which was very doubtful. But he turned a deaf car to all these reasonable and well-meant warnings. There was one and only one condition attached to the consent to my proposal, namely, that I should get the permission of my mother and my uncle. May many persons have such brothers as mine. I then set about the allotted task, which I can assure you was uphill enough. Fortunately I was the pet of my mother. She had much faith in me, and so I succeedcd in getting over her superstition, but how was I to make her nod consent to a three years' separation? However, by showing the exaggerated advantages of coming to England, I got her to accede, with much reluctance, to my request. Now for the uncle. He was on the point of going to Benares and such other holy places. After three days' incessant persuasion and arguments I could get the following answer from him.

" 'I am going on a pilgrimage. What you say may be right, but how could I willingly say "yes" to your unholy proposal. The only thing I can say is, if your mother does not mind your going I have no right to interfere.'

"This was easily interpreted into 'yes'. Nor were these the only two whom I had to please. In India every one, no matter how remotely con- nected, thinks that he has a right to poke his nose into another's affairs. But when I had exacted—for it was nothing else—acquicscence from the two, the pecuniary difficulties almost disappeared.

"The difficulties under the seeond head are partially discusscd above. You will, perhaps, be astonished to hear that I am married. The marriage took place at the age of twelve. Small blame then to my wife's parents if they thought that they had a right to interfere if only for the sake of their daughter. Who was to look after her? How was she to manage to spend the three years? Of course she was to be looked after by my brother. Poor brother! according to my ideas at that time I should have taken little notice of their legitimate fears and growlings, had it not been that their displeasure would have been reflected on my mother and brother. It was no easy task to sit night after night with my father-in-law and to hear and successfully answer his objections. But then I was the old proverb, 'Patience and perseverance overcome mountains', too well to give way.

"When I had the money and requisite permission I said to myself, 'How am I to persuade myself to separate from all that is dear and near to me?' In India we fight shy of separation. Even when I had to go from home for a few days iny mother would weep. How, then, was I to witness, without being affected, the heart-rending scene. It is impossible for me to describe the tortures that my mind had to suffer. As the day of leave- taking drew near I nearly broke down. But I was wise enough not to say this, even to my closest friends. I knew that my health was failing. Sleeping, waking, drinking, eating, walking, running, reading, I was dreaming and thinking of England and what I would do on that momentous day. At last the day came. On the one hand my mother was hiding her eyes, full of tears, in her hands, but the sobbing was clearly heard. On the other, I was placed among a circle of some fifty friends. 'If I wept they would think me too weak; perhaps they would not allow me to go to England', soliloquized I, therefore, I did not weep, even though my heart was breaking. Last, but not least, came the leave-taking with my wife. It would be contrary to custom for me to see or talk to her in the presence of friends. So I had to see her in a separate room. She, of course, had begun sobbing long before. I went to her and stood like a dumb statue for a moment. I kissed her, and she said, Don't go.' "

June 13, 1891

Mr. Gandhi's Narrative

ON VOUR arrival in England of course you were face to face with the flesh-eating problem, how did you solve it?

"I was overwhelmed with gratuitous advice. Well meaning yet ignorant friends thrust their own opinions into unwilling cars. The majority of them said I could not do without meat in the cold climate. I would catch consumption. Mr. Z went to England and caught it on account of his foolhardincss. Others said I might do without flesh but without wine I could not move. I would be numbed with cold. One went so far as to advise me to take eight bottles of whisky for I should want them after leaving Aden. Another wanted me to smoke, for his friend was obliged to smoke in England. Even medical men, those who had been to England, said the same tale. But as I wanted to come at any price, I replied that I would try my best to avoid all these things, but if they were found to be absolutely necessary I did not know what I should do. I may here mention that my aversion to meat was not so strong then as it is now. I was even betrayed into taking meat about six or seven times at the period when I allowed my friends to think for me. But in the steamer my ideas began to change, I thought I should not take meat on any account. My mother before consenting to my departure exacted a promise from me not to take meat. So I was bound not to take it, if only for the sake of the promise. The fellow passengers in the steamer began to advise us, the friend who was with me and myself, to try it.

"They said I would require it after leaving Aden. When this turned out untrue I was to require it after crossing the Red Sea. On this proving false, a fellow passenger said, The weather has not been severe, but in the Bay of Biscay you will have to choose between death, and meat, and wine.' That crisis too passed away safely. In London, too, I had to hear such remonstrances. For months I did not come across any vegetarian. I passed many anxious days arguing with a friend about the sufficiency of the vegetable diet; but at that time having but little knowledge of arguments other than humanitarian in favour of vegetarianism, I got the worst of it, as the friend scouted the idea of humanity in such discussions. At last I sealed his tongue by telling him I would sooner die than break the promise to my mother. 'Hump,' said he, 'childishness, rank superstition, but since even after coming here you are superstitious enough to believe in such nonsense, I cannot help you any more, I only wish you had not come to England.'

"He never afterwards pressed the point seriously, except perhaps once, though ever since that he took me for little more than a fool. In the meanwhile I remembered once to have passed by a vegetarian restaurant, the 'Porridge Bowl'. I asked a gentleman to direct me there, but instead of reaching there I saw the 'Central' restaurant, and went there and had some porridge for the first time. I did not first enjoy it, but I liked the pic which I had for the second course. It was there that I first bought some vegetarian literature among which was a copy of A Plea for Vegetarianism by H. S. Salt, after reading which I adopted vegetarianism from principle.

"Till then I considered flesh to be a superior diet from scientific point of view. Moreover, it was there that I came to know the existence of the Vegetarian Society of Manchester. But I did not take any active interest in it. I did now and then read the Vegetarian Messenger and that was all. My knowledge of the Vegetarian dates from a year and a half. It was at the International Vegetarian Congress that I may be said to have known the L. V. S. That the congress was sitting I knew by the kind courtesy of Mr. Josiah Oldfield who heard of me from a friend, and was good enough to take me to attend it.

"In conclusion I am bound to say that during my nearly three years' stay in England I have left many things undone, yet I carry one great consolation with me that I shall go back without having taken meat or wine, and that I know from personal experience that there are so many vegetarians in England."

June 20, 1891

The following Utters exchanged between Gandhi and Tolstoy

together with the last letter of Tolstoy quoted in the text,

comprise everything of significance in their correspondence

Westminster Palace Hotel,

4, Victoria Street,

London, S.W.

1st October 1909

Sir,

I take the liberty of inviting your attention to what has been going on in the Transvaal (South Africa) for nearly three years.

There is in that colony a British Indian population of nearly 13,000. These Indians have for several years laboured under the various legal disabilities. The prejudice against colour and in some respect against Asiatics is intense in that colony. It is largely due, so far as the Asiatics are concerned, to trade jealousy. The climax was readied three years ago, with a law which I and many others considered to be degrading and calculated to unman those to whom it was applicable. I felt that submission to law of this nature was inconsistent with the spirit of true religion. I and some of my friends were and still are firm believers in the doctrine of non-resistance to evil. I had the privilege of studying your writings also, which left a deep impression on my mind. The British Indians, before whom the position was fully explained, accepted the advice that we should not submit to the legislation, but that we should suffer imprisonment, or whatever other penalties the law may impose for its breach. The result has been that nearly one-half of the Indian population that was unable to stand the heat of the struggle, to suffer the hardships of imprisonment, have withdrawn from the Transvaal rather than submit to law which they have considered degrading. Of the other half, nearly 2,500 have for conscience's sake allowed themselves to be imprisoned, some as many as five times. The imprisonments have varied from four days to six months; in the majority of cases with hard labour. Many have been financially ruined. At present there are over hundred passive resisters in the Transvaal gaols. Some of these have been very poor men, earning their livelihood from day to day. The result has been that their wives and children have had to be supported out of public contributions, also largely raised from passive resisters. This has put a severe strain upon British Indians, but in my opinion they have risen to the occasion. The struggle still continues and one does not know when the end will come. This, however, some of us at least have seen most clearly, that passive resistance will and can succeed where brute force must fail. We also noticc that in so far as the struggle has been prolonged, it has been due largely to our weakness, and hence to a belief having been engendered in the mind of the Government that we would not be able to stand continued suffering.

Together with a friend, I have come here to see the imperial authorities and to place before them the position, with a view to seeking redress. Passive resisters have recognized that they should have nothing to do with pleading with the Government, but the deputation has come at the instance of the weaker members of the community, and it, therefore, represents their weakness rather than their strength. But in the course of my observation here, I have felt that if a general competition for an essay 011 the Ethics and Efficacy of Passive Resistance were invited, it would popularize the movement and make people think. A friend has raised the question of morality in connexion with the proposed competition. He thinks that such an invitation would be inconsistent with the true spirit of passive resistance, and that it would amount to buying opinion. May I ask you to favour me with your opinion on the subject of morality? And if you consider that there is nothing wrong in inviting contributions, I would ask you also to give me the names of those whom I should specially approach to write upon the subject.

There is one thing more, with reference to which I would trespass upon your time. A copy of your letter addressed to a Hindu on the present unrest in India has been placed in my hands by a friend. On the face of it, it appears to represent your views. It is the intention of my friend, at his own expense, to have 20,00D copics printed and distributed and to have it translated also. We have, however, not been able to secure the original, and we do not feel justified in printing it, unless we are sure of the accuracy of the copy and of the fact that it is your letter. I venture to enclose herewith a copy of the copy, and should esteem it a favour if you kindly let me know whether it is your letter, whether it is an accuratc copy and whether you approve of its publication in the above manner. If you will add anything further to the letter, please do so. I would also venture to make a suggestion. In the concluding paragraph you seem to dissuade the reader from a belief in reincarnation. I do not know whether (if it is not impertinent on my part to mention this) you have specially studied the question. Reincarnation or transmigration is a cherished belief with millions in India, indeed in China also. With many one might almost say it is a matter of experience, no longer a matter of academic acceptance. It explains reasonably the many mysteries of life. With some of the passive resisters who have gone through the gaols of the Transvaal, it has been their solace. My object in writing this is not to convince you of the truth of the doctrine, but to ask you if you will please remove the word "reincarnation" from the other things you have dissuaded your reader from. In the letter in question you have quoted largely from Krishna and given reference to passages. I should thank you to give me the title of the book from which the quotations have been made.

I have wearied you with this letter. I am aware that those who honour you and endeavour to follow you have no right to trespass upon your time, but it is rather their duty to refrain from giving you trouble, so far as possible. I have, however, who am an utter stranger to you, taken the liberty of addressing this communication in the interests of truth, and in order to have your advice on problems, the solution of which you have inadc your life work.

With respects, I remain,

Your obedient servant,

M. K. GANDHI

Yasnaya Polyana

7th October 1909

M. K. GANDHI

I have just received your very interesting letter, which gives me great pleasure. May God help all our dear brothers and co-workers in the Transvaal. This fight between gentleness and brutality, between humility and love, on one side, and conceit and violence on the other, makes itself ever more strongly felt here to us also—especially in the sharp conflicts between religious obligations and the laws of the state—expressed by the conscientious objection to render military service. Such objections are taking place very frequently.

I have written "A letter to a Hindu" and am very pleased to have it translated (into English). The title of the book of Krishna will be communicated to you from Moscow. As regards "re-birth", I, for my part, shall leave out nothing; for, as it appears to me, the belief in a re-birth will never be able to strike such deep roots in and restrain mankind as the belief in the immortality of the soul and the faith in divine truth and love; of course, I would accommodate you, if you so desire, to delete those passages in question. It will give me great pleasure to help your edition. Publication and circulation of my writings, translated into the Indian dialects, can only be a matter of pleasure to me.

The question regarding monetary payment of royalty should not at all be allowed to appear in religious undertakings.

I give my fraternal greetings and am glad to have come into personal contact with you.

LEO TOLSTOY

Westmimter Palace Hotel,

4, Victoria Street,

London, S. W.

11th November 1909

Dear Sir,

I beg to tender my thanks for your registered letter in connection with the letter addressed to a Hindu, and with the matters that I dealt with in my letter to you.

Having heard about your failing health I refrained in order to save you the trouble from sending an acknowledgement, knowing that a written expression of my thanks was asupcrfluous formality, but Mr. Aylmer Maude, whom I have now been able to meet, reassured me that you are keeping good health indeed and that unfailingly and regularly you attend to your correspondence every morning. It was a very gladsome news to me and it encourages me to write to you further about matters which are, I know, of the greatest importance according to your teaching.

I beg to send you herewith a copy of a book written by a friend—an Englishman, who is at present in South Africa, in conncction with my life, in so far it has a bearing on the struggle with which I am so conncctcd, and to which my life is dedicated. As I am very anxious to engage your active interest and sympathy, I thought that it would not be considered by you as out of the way for me to send you the book.

In my opinion, this struggle of the Indians in the Transvaal is the greatest of modern times, inasmuch as it has been idealized both as to the goal as also to the methods adopted to reach the goal. I am not aware of a struggle, in which the participators are not to derive any personal advantage at the end of it and in which fifty per cent of the persons affected have undergone great suffering and trial for the sake of a principle. It has not been possible for me to advertise the struggle as much as I should like. You command, possibly, the widest public today. If you are satisfied as to the facts you will find set forth in Mr. Dokc's book, and if you consider that the conclusions I have arrived at are justified by the facts, may I ask you to use your influence in any manner you think fit to popularize the movement? If it succeeds, it will be not only a tiiumph of religion, love and truth over irreligion, hatred, and falsehood, but it is highly likely to serve as an example to the millions in India and to people in other parts of the world who may be downtrodden, and will certainly go a great way towards breaking up the party of violence, at least in India. If we hold out to the end, as I think we would, I entertain not the slightest doubt as to its ultimate success; and your cncouragcment in the way suggested by you can only strengthen us in our resolve.

The negotiations that are going on for a settlement of the question have practically fallen through, and together with my colleagues I return to South Africa this week and invite imprisonment. I may add that my son has happily joined me in the struggle, and is now undergoing imprisonment with hard labour for six months. This is his fourth imprisonment in the course of the struggle.

If you would be so good as to reply to this letter, may I ask you to address your reply to me a: Johannesburg, S.A. Box 6522. Hoping that this will find you in good health,

I remain,

Your obedient servant,

M. K. GANDHI

Johannesburg, Transvaal,

South Africa

4th April 1910

Dear Sir,

You will recollect my having carricd on correspondence with you whilst I was temporarily in London. As a humble follower of yours, I send you herewith a booklet which I have written. It is my own translation of a Gujarati writing. Curiously enough the original writing has been confiscated by the Government of India. I, therefore, hastened the above publication of the translation. I am most anxious not to worry you, but, if your health permits it and if you can find the time to go through the booklet, needless to say I shall value very highly your criticism of the writing. I am sending also a few copics of your "letter to a Hindu", which you authorized me to publish. It has been translated in one of the Indian languages also.

I am,

Your obedient servant,

M. K. GANDHI

8th May 1910

Dear Friend,

Just now I have received your letter and your book, Indian Home Rule. I have read your book with great interest, because I think the question you have therein dealt with is important not only for Indians, but for the whole of mankind.

I cannot find your first letter, but by discovering your biography by Doke, I happen to know you through that biography which gripped me and it gave me a chance to know and understand you better.

I am not very well at present. So I am unable to write to you on all the questions which are interconnected with your book and also with your activities in general, which I value very much. But I shall write to you as soon as I recover.

Your friend and brother,

LEO TOLSTOY

21-24 Court Chambers,

Johannesburg

15th August 1910

Dear Sir,

I am much obliged to you for your encouraging and cordial letter of the 8th May last. I very much value your general approval of my booklet, Indian Home Rule. And, if you have the time, I shall look forward to your detailed criticism of the work which you have been so good as to promise in your letter.

Mr. Kallenbach has written to you about Tolstoy Farm. Mr. Kallenbach and I have been friends for many years. I may state that he has gone through most of the experiences that you have so graphically described in your work My Confession. No writings have so deeply touched Mr. Kallenbach as yours, and, as a spur to further effort in living up to the ideals held before the world by you, he has taken the liberty, after consultation with me, of naming his farm after you.

Of his generous action in giving the use of the farm for passive resisters, the numbers of Indian Opinion I am sending herewith will give you full information.

I should not have burdened you with these details but for the fact of your taking a personal interest in the passive resistance struggle that is going on in the Transvaal.

I remain,

Your faithful servant,

M. K. GANDHI

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface to the New Edition

Introduction to the First Edition

Plassey to Amritsar

01. Birth of Gandhi (1869)

02. Early Tears (1875-1888)

03. Student in London (1838-1891)

04. Briefless Barrister ( 1891-1893 )

05. Unwelcome Visitor ( 1893-1894 )

06. Dawn Over The Dark Land ( 1894-1896 )

07. Indian Interlude ( 1896 )

08. The Whites Beat Gandhi ( 1896-1899 )

09. On The Battlefield ( 1899-1901 )

10. Visit To The Congress ( 1901-1902 )

11. Back To Africa ( 1903 )

12. Indian Opinion ( 1904 )

13. Phoenix Settlement ( 1904 )

14. Back To Johannesburg ( 1905 )

15. Zulu Rebellion And After ( 1906 )

16. Mission to London ( 1906 )

17. Birth of Satyagraha ( 1907 )

18. Prison Experience ( 1908 )

19. Breach of Faith ( 1908 )

20. To London Again ( 1909 )

21. Hind Swaraj ( 1909 )

22. India Backs Gandhi ( 1909 )

23. Tolstoy Farm ( 1910 )

24. Tolstoy-Gandhi ( 1910 )

25. Lull Before The Storm ( 1911 )

26. Gokhale’s Visit ( 1912 )

27. The Great Struggle ( 1913 )

28. The Epic March ( 1913 )

29. Adieu, South Africa (1914 )

30. World War ( 1914 )

31. Return Of The Hero ( 1915 )

32. Satyagraha Ashram ( 1915 )

33. Before The Year Ends ( 1915 )

34. First Plunge ( 1916 )

35. Congress-League Pact ( 1916 )

36. Real Economics ( 1916 )

37. Champaran ( 1917 )

38. New Spirit ( 1917 )

(Untitled)

39. With Peasants And Workers (1918 )

40. Recruiting Sergeant ( 1918 )

41. Eve Of Peace ( 1918 )

42. Emergence Of Gandhi ( 1919 )

43. Jallianwala Bagh ( 1919 )

44. Young India ( 1919 )

45. Amritsar Congress ( 1919 )

46. Khilafat Agitation ( 1920 )

47. Rising Tide ( 1920 )

APPENDIX