Freedom\'s Battle - Mahatma Gandhi
IS IT UNCONSTITUTIONAL?
I have been told that non-co-operation is unconstitutional. I venture to
deny that it is unconstitutional. On the contrary, I hold that
non-co-operation is a just and religious doctrine; it is the inherent
right of every human being and it is perfectly constitutional. A great
lover of the British Empire has said that under the British constitution
even a successful rebellion is perfectly constitutional and he quotes
historical instances, which I cannot deny, in support of his claim. I
do not claim any constitutionality for a rebellion successful or
otherwise, so long as that rebellion means in the ordinary sense of the
term, what it does mean namely wresting justice by violent means. On the
contrary, I have said it repeatedly to my countrymen that violence
whatever end it may serve in Europe, will never serve us in India. My
brother and friend Shaukat Ali believes in methods of violence; and if
it was in his power to draw the sword against the British Empire, I know
that he has got the courage of a man and he has got also the wisdom to
see that he should offer that battle to the British Empire. But because
he recognises as a true soldier that means of violence are not open to
India, he sides with me accepting my humble assistance and pledges his
word that so long as I am with him and so long as he believes in the
doctrine, so long will he not harbour even the idea of violence against
any single Englishman or any single man on earth. I am here to tell you
that he has been as true as his word and has kept it religiously. I am
here to bear witness that he has been following out this plan of
non-violent Non-co-operation to the very letter and I am asking India to
follow this non-violent non-co-operation. I tell you that there is not a
better soldier living in our ranks in British India than Shaukat Ali.
When the time for the drawing of the sword comes, if it ever comes, you
will find him drawing that sword and you will find me retiring to the
jungles of Hindustan. As soon as India accepts the doctrine of the
sword, my life as an Indian is finished. It is because I believe in a
mission special to India and it is because I believe that the ancients
of India after centuries of experience have found out that the true
thing for any human being on earth is not justice based on violence but
justice based on sacrifice of self, justice based on Yagna and
Kurbani,--I cling to that doctrine and I shall cling to it for ever,--it
is for that reason I tell you that whilst my friend believes also in the
doctrine of violence and has adopted the doctrine of non-violence as a
weapon of the weak, I believe in the doctrine of non-violence as a
weapon of the strongest. I believe that a man is the strongest soldier
for daring to die unarmed with his breast bare before the enemy. So much
for the non-violent part of non-co-operation. I therefore, venture to
suggest to my learned countrymen that so long as the doctrine of
non-co-operation remains non-violent, so long there is nothing
unconstitutional in that doctrine.
I ask further, is it unconstitutional for me to say to the British
Government 'I refuse to serve you?' Is it unconstitutional for our
worthy Chairman to return with every respect all the titles that he has
ever held from the Government? Is it unconstitutional for any parent to
withdraw his children from a Government or aided school? Is it
unconstitutional for a lawyer to say 'I shall no longer support the arm
of the law so long as that arm of law is used not to raise me but to
debase me'? Is it unconstitutional for a civil servant or for a judge to
say, 'I refuse to serve a Government which does not wish to respect the
wishes of the whole people?' I ask, is it unconstitutional for a
policeman or for a soldier to tender his resignation when he knows that
he is called to serve a Government which traduces his own countrymen? Is
it unconstitutional for me to go to the 'krishan,' to the agriculturist,
and say to him 'it is not wise for you to pay any taxes if these taxes
are used by the Government not to raise you but to weaken you?' I hold
and I venture to submit, that there is nothing unconstitutional in it.
What is more, I have done every one of these things in my life and
nobody has questioned the constitutional character of it. I was in Kaira
working in the midst of 7 lakhs of agriculturists. They had all
suspended the payment of taxes and the whole of India was at one with
me. Nobody considered that it was unconstitutional. I submit that in the
whole plan of non-co-operation, there is nothing unconstitutional. But
I do venture to suggest that it will be highly unconstitutional in the
midst of this unconstitutional Government,--in the midst of a nation
which has built up its magnificent constitution,--for the people of
India to become weak and to crawl on their belly--it will be highly
unconstitutional for the people of India to pocket every insult that is
offered to them; it is highly unconstitutional for the 70 millions of
Mohamedans of India to submit to a violent wrong done to their religion;
it is highly unconstitutional for the whole of India to sit still and
co-operate with an unjust Government which has trodden under its feet
the honour of the Punjab. I say to my countrymen so long as you have a
sense of honour and so long as you wish to remain the descendants and
defenders of the noble traditions that have been handed to you for
generations after generations, it is unconstitutional for you not to
non-co-operate and unconstitutional for you to co-operate with a
Government which has become so unjust as our Government has become. I am
not anti-English; I am not anti-British; I am not anti any Government;
but I am anti-untruth--anti-humbug and anti-injustice. So long as the
Government spells injustice, it may regard me as its enemy, implacable
enemy. I had hoped at the Congress at Amritsar--I am speaking God's
truth before you--when I pleaded on bended knees before some of you for
co-operation with the Government. I had full hope that the British
ministers who are wise, as a rule, would placate the Mussalman sentiment
that they would do full justice in the matter of the Punjab atrocities;
and therefore, I said:--let us return good-will to the hand of
fellowship that has been extended to us, which I then believed was
extended to us through the Royal Proclamation. It was on that account
that I pleaded for co-operation. But to-day that faith having gone and
obliterated by the acts of the British ministers, I am here to plead not
for futile obstruction in the Legislative council but for real
substantial non-co-operation which would paralyse the mightiest
Government on earth. That is what I stand for to-day. Until we have
wrung justice, and until we have wrung our self-respect from unwilling
hands and from unwilling pens there can be no co-operation. Our Shastras
say and I say so with the greatest deference to all the greatest
religious preceptors of India but without fear of contradiction, that
our Shastras teach us that there shall be no co-operation between
injustice and justice, between an unjust man and a justice-loving man,
between truth and untruth. Co-operation is a duty only so long as
Government protects your honour, and non-co-operation is an equal duty
when the Government instead of protecting robs you of your honour. That
is the doctrine of non-co-operation.
NON-CO-OPERATION AND THE SPECIAL CONGRESS
I have been told that I should have waited for the declaration of the
special Congress which is the mouth piece of the whole nation. I know
that it is the mouthpiece of the whole nation. If it was for me,
individual Gandhi, to wait, I would have waited for eternity. But I had
in my hands a sacred trust. I was advising my Mussalman countrymen and
for the time being I hold their honour in my hands. I dare not ask them
to wait for any verdict but the verdict of their own Conscience. Do you
suppose that Mussalmans can eat their own words, can withdraw from the
honourable position they have taken up? If perchance--and God forbid
that it should happen--the Special Congress decides against them, I
would still advise my countrymen the Mussalmans to stand single handed
and fight rather than yield to the attempted dishonour to their
religion. It is therefore given to the Mussalmans to go to the Congress
on bended knees and plead for support. But support or no support, it was
not possible for them to wait for the Congress to give them the lead.
They had to choose between futile violence, drawing of the naked sword
and peaceful non-violent but effective non-co-operation, and they have
made their choice. I venture further to say to you that if there is any
body of men who feel as I do, the sacred character of non-co-operation,
it is for you and me not to wait for the Congress but to act and to make
it impossible for the Congress to give any other verdict. After all what
is the Congress? The Congress is the collected voice of individuals who
form it, and if the individuals go to the Congress with a united voice,
that will be the verdict you will gain from the Congress. But if we go
to the Congress with no opinion because we have none or because we are
afraid to express it, then naturally we wait the verdict of the
Congress. To those who are unable to make up their mind I say by all
means wait. But for those who have seen the clear light as they see the
lights in front of them, for them to wait is a sin. The Congress does
not expect you to wait but it expects you to act so that the Congress
can gauge properly the national feeling. So much for the Congress.
BOYCOTT OF THE COUNCILS
Among the details of non-co-operation I have placed in the foremost rank
the boycott of the councils. Friends have quarrelled with me for the use
of the word boycott, because I have disapproved--as I disapprove even
now--boycott of British goods or any goods for that matter. But there,
boycott has its own meaning and here boycott has its own meaning. I not
only do not disapprove but approve of the boycott of the councils that
are going to be formed next year. And why do I do it? The people--the
masses,--require from us, the leaders, a clear lead. They do not want
any equivocation from us. The suggestion that we should seek election
and then refuse to take the oath of allegiance, would only make the
nation distrust the leaders. It is not a clear lead to the nation. So I
say to you, my countrymen, not to fall into this trap. We shall sell our
country by adopting the method of seeking election and then not taking
the oath of allegiance. We may find it difficult, and I frankly confess
to you that I have not that trust in so many Indians making that
declaration and standing by it. To-day I suggest to those who honestly
hold the view--_viz_. that we should seek election and then refuse to
take the oath of allegiance--I suggest to them that they will fall into
a trap which they are preparing for themselves and for the nation. That
is my view. I hold that if we want to give the nation the clearest
possible lead, and if we want not to play with this great nation we must
make it clear to this nation that we cannot take any favours, no matter
how great they may be so long as those favours are accompanied by an
injustice a double wrong, done to India not yet redressed. The first
indispensable thing before we can receive any favours from them is that
they should redress this double wrong. There is a Greek proverb which
used to say "Beware of the Greek but especially beware of them when they
bring gifts to you." To-day from those ministers who are bent upon
perpetuating the wrong to Islam and to the Punjab, I say we cannot
accept gifts but we should be doubly careful lest we may not fall into
the trap that they may have devised. I therefore suggest that we must
not coquet with the council and must not have anything whatsoever to do
with them. I am told that if we, who represent the national sentiment do
not seek election, the Moderates who do not represent that sentiment
will. I do not agree. I do not know what the Moderates represent and I
do not know what the Nationalists represent. I know that there are good
sheep and black sheep amongst the Moderates. I know that there are good
sheep and black sheep amongst the Nationalists. I know that many
Moderates hold honestly the view that it is a sin to resort to
non-co-operation. I respectfully agree to differ from them. I do say to
them also that they will fall into a trap which they will have devised
if they seek election. But that does not affect my situation. If I feel
in my heart of hearts that I ought not to go to the councils I ought at
least to abide by this decision and it does not matter if ninety-nine
other countrymen seek election. That is the only way in which public
work can be done, and public opinion can be built. That is the only way
in which reforms can be achieved and religion can be conserved. If it is
a question of religious honour, whether I am one or among many I must
stand upon my doctrine. Even if I should die in the attempt, it is worth
dying for, than that I should live and deny my own doctrine. I suggest
that it will be wrong on the part of any one to seek election to these
Councils. If once we feel that we cannot co-operate with this
Government, we have to commence from the top. We are the natural leaders
of the people and we have acquired the right and the power to go to the
nation and speak to it with the voice of non-co-operation. I therefore
do suggest that it is inconsistent with non-co-operation to seek
election to the Councils on any terms whatsoever.
LAWYERS AND NON-CO-OPERATION
I have suggested another difficult matter, _viz._, that the lawyers
should suspend their practice. How should I do otherwise knowing so well
how the Government had always been able to retain this power through the
instrumentality of lawyers. It is perfectly true that it is the lawyers
of to-day who are leading us, who are fighting the country's battles,
but when it comes to a matter of action against the Government, when it
comes to a matter of paralysing the activity of the Government I know
that the Government always look to the lawyers, however fine fighters
they may have been to preserve their dignity and their self-respect. I
therefore suggest to my lawyer friends that it is their duty to suspend
their practice and to show to the Government that they will no longer
retain their offices, because lawyers are considered to be honorary
officers of the courts and therefore subject to their disciplinary
jurisdiction. They must no longer retain these honorary offices if they
want to withdraw on operation from Government. But what will happen to
law and order? We shall evolve law and order through the instrumentality
of these very lawyers. We shall promote arbitration courts and dispense
justice, pure, simple home-made justice, swadeshi justice to our
countrymen. That is what suspension of practice means.
PARENTS AND NON-CO-OPERATION
I have suggested yet another difficulty--to withdraw our children from
the Government schools and to ask collegiate students to withdraw from
the College and to empty Government aided schools. How could I do
otherwise? I want to gauge the national sentiment. I want to know
whether the Mahomodans feel deeply. If they feel deeply they will
understand in the twinkling of an eye, that it is not right for them to
receive schooling from a Government in which they have lost all faith;
and which they do not trust at all. How can I, if I do not want to help
this Government, receive any help from that Government. I think that the
schools and colleges are factories for making clerks and Government
servants. I would not help this great factory for manufacturing clerks
and servants if I want to withdraw co-operation from that Government.
Look at it from any point of view you like. It is not possible for you
to send your children to the schools and still believe in the doctrine
of non-co-operation.
THE DUTY OF TITLE HOLDERS
I have gone further. I have suggested that our title holders should give
up their titles. How can they hold on to the titles and honour bestowed
by the Government? They were at one time badges of honours when we
believed that national honour was safe in their hands. But now they are
no longer badges of honour but badges of dishonour and disgrace when we
really believe that we cannot get justice from this Government. Every
title holder holds his titles and honours as trustee for the nation and
in this first step in the withdrawal of co-operation from the Government
they should surrender their titles without a moment's consideration. I
suggest to my Mahomedan countrymen that if they fail in this primary
duty they will certainly fail in non-co-operation unless the masses
themselves reject the classes and take up non-co-operation in their own
hands and are able to fight that battle even as the men of the French
Revolution were able to take the reins of Government in their own hands
leaving aside the leaders and marched to the banner of victory. I want
no revolution. I want ordered progress. I want no disordered order. I
want no chaos. I want real order to be evolved out of this chaos which
is misrepresented to me as order. If it is order established by a tyrant
in order to get hold of the tyrannical reins of Government I say that it
is no order for me but it is disorder. I want to evolve justice out of
this injustice. Therefore, I suggest to you the passive
non-co-operation. If we would only realise the secret of this peaceful
and infallible doctrine you will know and you will find that you will
not want to use even an angry word when they lift the sword at you and
you will not want even to lift your little finger, let alone a stick
or a sword.
NON-CO-OPERATION--SERVICE TO THE EMPIRE
You may consider that I have spoken these words in anger because I have
considered the ways of this Government immoral, unjust, debasing and
untruthful. I use these adjectives with the greatest deliberation. I
have used them for my own true brother with whom I was engaged in battle
of non-co-operation for full 13 years and although the ashes cover the
remains of my brother I tell you that I used to tell him that he was
unjust when his plans were based upon immoral foundation. I used to tell
him that he did not stand for truth. There was no anger in me, I told
him this home truth because I loved him. In the same manner, I tell the
British people that I love them, and that I want their association but I
want that association on conditions well defined. I want my self-respect
and I want my absolute equality with them. If I cannot gain that
equality from the British people, I do not want that British connection.
If I have to let the British people go and import temporary disorder and
dislocation of national business, I will favour that disorder and
dislocation than that I should have injustice from the hands of a great
nation such as the British nation. You will find that by the time the
whole chapter is closed that the successors of Mr. Montagu will give me
the credit for having rendered the most distinguished service that I
have yet rendered to the Empire, in having offered this non-co-operation
and in having suggest the boycott, not of His Royal Highness the
principle of Wales, but of boycott of a visit engineered by Government
in order to tighten its hold on the national neck. I will not allow it
even if I stand alone, if I cannot persuade this nation not to welcome
that visit but will boycott that visit with all the power at my command.
It is for that reason I stand before you and implore you to offer this
religious battle, but it is not a battle offered to you by a visionary
or a saint. I deny being a visionary. I do not accept the claim of
saintliness. I am of the earth, earthy, a common gardener man as much as
any one of you, probably much more than you are. I am prone to as many
weaknesses as you are. But I have seen the world. I have lived in the
world with my eyes open. I have gone through the most fiery ordeals that
have fallen to the lot of man. I have gone through this discipline. I
have understood the secret of my own sacred Hinduism. I have learnt the
lesson that non-co-operation is the duty not merely of the saint but it
is the duty of every ordinary citizen, who not know much, not caring to
know much but wants to perform his ordinary household functions. The
people of Europe touch even their masses, the poor people the doctrine
of the sword. But the Rishis of India, those who have held the tradition
of India have preached to the masses of India this doctrine, not of the
sword, not of violence but of suffering, of self-suffering. And unless
you and I am prepared to go through this primary lesson we are not
ready even to offer the sword and that is the lesson my brother Shaukal
Ali has imbibed to teach and that is why he to-day accepts my advice
tendered to him in all prayerfulness and in all humility and says 'long
live non-co-operation.' Please remember that even in England the little
children were withdrawn from the schools; and colleges in Cambridge and
Oxford were closed. Lawyers had left their desks and were fighting in
the trenches. I do not present to you the trenches but I do ask you to
go through the sacrifice that the men, women and the brave lads of
England went through. Remember that you are offering battle to a nation
which is saturated with their spirit of sacrifice whenever the occasion
arises. Remember that the little band of Boers offered stubborn
resistance to a mighty nation. But their lawyers had left their desks.
Their mothers had withdrawn their children from the schools and colleges
and the children had become the volunteers of the nation, I have seen
them with these naked eyes of mine. I am asking my countrymen in India
to follow no other gospel than the gospel of self-sacrifice which
precedes every battle. Whether you belong to the school of violence or
non-violence you will still have to go through the fire of sacrifice,
and of discipline. May God grant you, may God grant our leaders the
wisdom, the courage and the true knowledge to lead the nation to its
cherished goal. May God grant the people of India the right path, the
true vision and the ability and the courage to follow this path,
difficult and yet easy, of sacrifice.
SPEECH AT TRICHINOPOLY
Mahatma Gandhi made the following speech at Trichinopoly on the 18th
August 1920:--
I think you on behalf of my brother Shaukat Ali and myself for the
magnificent reception that the citizens of Trichinopoly have given to
us. I thank you also for the many addresses that you have been good
enough to present to us, but I must come to business.
It is a great pleasure to me to renew your acquaintance for reasons that
I need not give you. I expect great things from Trichinopoly, Madura and
a few places I could name. I take it that you have read my address on
the Madras Beach on non-co-operation. Without taking up your time in
this great assembly, I wish to deal with one or two matters that arise
out of Mr. S. Kasturiranga Iyongar's speech. He says in effect that I
should have waited for the Congress mandate on Non-co-operation. That
was impossible, because the Mussulmans had and still have a duty,
irrespective of the Hindus, to perform in reference to their own
religion. It was impossible for them to wait for any mandate save the
mandate of their own religion in a matter that vitally concerned the
honour of Islam. It is therefore possible for them only to go to the
Congress on bended knees with a clear cut programme of their own and ask
the Congress to pronounce its blessings upon that programme and if they
are not so fortunate as to secure the blessings of the National Assembly
without meaning any disrespect to that assembly, it is their bounden
duty to go on with their programme, and so it is the duty of every Hindu
who considers his Mussalman brother as a brother who has a just cause
which he wishes to vindicate, to throw in his lot with his Mussalman
brother. Our leader does not quarrel with the principle of
non-co-operation by itself, but he objects to the three principal
details of non-co-operation.
COUNCIL ELECTIONS
He considers that it is our duty to seek election to the Councils and
fight our battle on the floor of the Council hall. I do not deny the
possibility of a fight and a royal fight on the Council floor. We have
done it for the last 35 years, but I venture to suggest to you and to
him, with all due respect, that it is not non-co-operation and it is not
half as successful as non-co-operation can be. You cannot go to a class
of people with a view to convince them by any fight--call it even
obstruction--who have got a settled conviction and a settled policy to
follow. It is in medical language an incompatible mixture out of which
you can gain nothing, but if you totally boycott the Council, you create
a public opinion in the country with reference to the Khilafat wrong and
the Punjab wrong which will become totally irresistible. The first
advantage of going to the Councils must be good-will on the part of the
rulers. It is absolutely lacking. In the place of good-will you have got
nothing but injustice but I must move on.