Freedom\'s Battle - Mahatma Gandhi
LAWYERS' PRACTICE
I come now to the second objection of Mr. Kasturiranga Iyengar with
reference to the suspension by lawyers of their practice. Milk is good
in itself but it comes absolutely poisonous immediately a little bit of
arsenic is added to it. Law courts are similarly good when justice is
distilled through them on behalf of a Sovereign power which wants to do
justice to its people. Law courts are one of the greatest symbols of
power and in the battle of non-co-operation, you may not leave law
courts untouched and claim to offer non-co-operation, but if you will
read that objection carefully, you will find in that objection the great
fear that the lawyers will not respond to the call that the country
makes upon them, and it is just there that the beauty of
non-co-operation comes in. If one lawyer alone suspends practice, it is
so much to the good of the country and so if we are sure to deprive the
Government of the power that it possess through its law courts, whether
one lawyer takes it up or many, we must adopt that step.
GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
He objects also to the plan of boycotting Government schools. I can only
say what I have said with reference to lawyers that if we mean
non-co-operation, we may not receive any favours from the Government, no
matter how advantageous by themselves they may be. In a great struggle
like this, it is not open to us to count how many schools will respond
and how many parents will respond and just as a geometrical problem is
difficult, because it does not admit of easy proof, so also because a
certain stage in national evolution is difficult, you may not avoid that
step without making the whole of the evolution a farce.
* * * * *
We have had a great lesson in non-co-operation and co-operation. We had
a lesson in non-co-operation when some young men began to fight there
and it is a dangerous weapon. I have not the slightest doubt about it.
One man with a determined will to non-co-operate can disturb a whole
meeting and we had a physical demonstration of it to night but ours is
non-violent, non-co-operation in which there can be no mistake
whatsoever in the fundamental conditions are observed. If
non-co-operation fails, it will not be for want of any inherent strength
in it, but it will fall because there is no response to it, or because
people have not sufficiently grasped its simple principles. You had also
a practical demonstration of co-operation just now; that heavy chair
went over the heads of so many people, because all wanted to lift their
little hand to move that chair away from them and so was that heavier
dome also removed from our sight by co-operation of man, woman and
child. Everybody believes and knows that this Government of our exists
only by the co-operation of the people and not by the force of arms it
can wield and everyman with a sense of logic will tell you that the
converse of that also is equally true that Government cannot stand if
this co-operation on which it exists is withdrawn. Difficulties
undoubtedly there are, we have hitherto learned how to sacrifice our
voice and make speeches. We must also learn to sacrifice ease, money,
comfort and that, we may learn form the Englishmen themselves. Every one
who has studied English history knows that we are now engaged in a
battle with a nation which is capable of great sacrifice and the three
hundred millions of India cannot make their mark upon the world, or gain
their self-respect without an adequate measure of sacrifice.
BOYCOTT OF BRITISH GOODS
Our friend has suggested the boycott of British or foreign goods.
Boycott of all foreign goods is another name for Swadeshi. He thinks
that there will be a greater response in the boycott of all foreign
goods. With the experience of years behind me and with an intimate
knowledge of the mercantile classes, I venture to tell you that boycott
of foreign goods, or boycott of merely British goods is more
impracticable than any of the stops I have suggested. Whereas in all the
steps that I have ventured to suggest there is practically no sacrifice
of money involved, in the boycott of British or foreign goods you are
inviting your merchant princes to sacrifice their millions. It has got
to be done, but it is an exceedingly low process. The same may be said
of the steps that I have ventured to suggest, I know, but boycott of
goods in conceived as a punishment and the punishment is only effective
when it is inflicted. What I have ventured to suggest is not a
punishment, but the performance of a sacred duty, a measure of
self-denial from ourselves, and therefore it is effective from its very
inception when it is undertaken even by one man and a substantial duty
performed even by one single man lays the foundation of nations liberty.
CONCLUSION
I am most anxious for my nation, for my Mussalman brethren also, to
understand that if they want to vindicate national honour or the honour
of Islam, it will be vindicated without a shadow of doubt, not be
conceiving a punishment or a series of punishments, but by an adequate
measure of self-sacrifice. I wish to speak of all our leaders in terms
of the greatest respect, but whatever respect we wish to pay them may
not stop or arrest the progress of the country, and I am most anxious
that the country at this very critical period of its history should make
its choice. The choice clearly does not lie before you and me in
wresting by force of arms the sceptre form the British nation, but the
choice lies in suffering this double wrong of the Khilafat and the
Punjab, in pocketing humiliation and in accepting national emasculation
or vindication of India's honour by sacrifice to-day by every man, woman
and child and those who feel convinced of the rightness of things, we
should make that choice to-night. So, citizens of Trichinopoly, you may
not wait for the whole of India but you can enforce the first step of
non-co-operation and begin your operations even from to-morrow, if you
have not done so already. You can surrender all your titles to-morrow
all the lawyers may surrender their practice to-morrow; those who cannot
sustain body and soul by any other means can be easily supported by the
Khilafat Committee, if they will give their whole time and attention to
the work of that Committee and if the layers will kindly do that, you
will find that there is no difficulty in settling your disputes by
private arbitration. You can nationalise your schools from to-morrow if
you have got the will and the determination. It is difficult, I know,
when only a few of you think these things. It is as easy as we are
sitting here when the whole of this vast audience is of one mind and as
it was easy for you to carry that chair so is it easy for you to enforce
this programme from to-morrow if you have one will, one determination
and love for your country, love for the honour of your country and
religion. (Loud and prolonged cheers.)
SPEECH AT CALICUT
Mr. Chairman and friends.--On behalf of my brother Shaukut Ali and
myself I wish to thank you most sincerely for the warm welcome you have
extended to us. Before I begin to explain the purpose of our mission I
have to give you the information that Pir Mahboob Shah who was being
tried in Sindh for sedition has been sentenced to two years' simple
imprisonment. I do not know exactly what the offence was with which the
Pir was charged. I do not know whether the words attributed to him were
ever spoken by him. But I do know that the Pirsaheb declined to offer
any defence and with perfect resignation he has accepted his penalty.
For me it is a matter of sincere pleasure that the Pirsaheb who
exercises great influence over his followers has understood the spirit
of the struggle upon which we have embarked. It is not by resisting the
authority of Government that we expect to succeed in the great task
before us. But I do expect that we shall succeed if we understand the
spirit of non-co-operation. The Lieutenant-Governor of Burma himself has
told us that the British retain their hold on India not by the force of
arms but by the force of co-operation of the people. Thus he has given
us the remedy for any wrong that the Government may do to the people,
whether knowingly or unknowingly. And so long as we co-operate with the
Government, so long as we support that Government, we become to that
extent sharers in the wrong. I admit that in ordinary circumstances a
wise subject will tolerate the wrongs of a Government, but a wise
subject never tolerates a wrong that a Government imposes on the
declared will of a people. And I venture to submit to this great meeting
that the Government of India and the Imperial Government have done a
double wrong to India, and if we are a nation of self-respecting people
conscious of its dignity, conscious of its right, it is not just and
proper that we should stand the double humiliation that the Government
has heaped upon us. By shaping and by becoming a predominant partner in
the peace terms imposed on the helpless Sultan of Turkey, the Imperial
Government have intentionally flouted the cherished sentiment of the
Mussalman subjects of the Empire. The present Prime Minister gave a
deliberate pledge after consultation with his colleagues when it was
necessary for him to conciliate the Mussalmans of India. I claim to have
studied this Khilafat question in a special manner. I claim to
understand the Mussalman feeling on the Khilafat question and I am here
to declare for the tenth time that on the Khilafat matter the Government
has wounded the Mussalman sentiment as they had never done before. And I
say without fear of contradiction that if the Mussalmans of India had
not exercised great self-restraint and if there was not the gospel of
non-co-operation preached to them and if they had not accepted it, there
would have been bloodshed in India by this time. I am free to confess
that spilling of blood would not have availed their cause. But a man
who is in a state of rage whose heart has become lacerated does not
count the cost of his action. So much for the Khilafat wrong.
I propose to take you for a minute to the Punjab, the northern end of
India. And what have both Governments done for the Punjab? I am free to
confess again that the crowds in Amritsar went mad for a moment. They
were goaded to madness by a wicked administration. But no madness on the
part of a people can justify the shedding of innocent blood, and what
have they paid for it? I venture to submit that no civilised Government
could ever have made the people pay the penalty and retribution that
they have paid. Innocent men were tried through mock-tribunals and
imprisoned for life. Amnesty granted to them after; I count of no
consequence. Innocent, unarmed men, who knew nothing of what was to
happen, were butchered in cold blood without the slightest notice.
Modesty of women in Manianwalla, women who had done no wrong to any
individual, was outraged by insolent officers. I want you to understand
what I mean by outrage of their modesty. Their veils were opened with
his stick by an officer. Men who were declared to be utterly innocent by
the Hunter Committee were made to crawl on their bellies. And all these
wrongs totally undeserved remain unavenged. If it was the duty of the
Government of India to punish those who were guilty of incendiarism and
murder, as I hold it was their duty, it was doubly their duty to punish
officers who insulted and oppressed innocent people. But in the face of
these official wrongs we have the debate in the house of lords
supporting official terrorism, it is this double wrong, the affront to
Islam and the injury to the manhood of the Punjab, that we feel bound to
wipe out by non-co-operation. We have prayed, petitioned, agitated, we
have passed resolutions. Mr. Mahomed Ali supported by his friends is now
waiting on the British public. He has pleaded the cause of Islam in a
most manful manner, but his pleading has fallen on deaf ears and we have
his word for it that whilst France and Italy have shown great sympathy
for the cause of Islam, it is the British Ministers who have shown no
sympathy. This shows which way the British Ministers and the present
holders of office in India mean to deal by the people. There is no
goodwill, there is no desire to placate the people of India. The people
of India must therefore have a remedy to redress the double wrong. The
method of the west is violence. Wherever the people of the west have
felt a wrong either justly or unjustly, they have rebelled and shed
blood. As I have said in my letter to the Viceroy of India, half of
India does not believe in the remedy of violence. The other half is too
weak to offer it. But the whole of India is deeply hurt and stirred by
this wrong, and it is for that reason that I have suggested to the
people of India the remedy of non-co-operation. I consider it perfectly
harmless, absolutely constitutional and yet perfectly efficacious. It is
a remedy in which, if it is properly adopted, victory is certain, and it
is the age-old remedy of self-sacrifice. Are the Mussalmans of India who
feel the great wrong done to Islam ready to make an adequate
self-sacrifice? All the scriptures of the world teach us that there can
be no compromise between justice and injustice. Co-operation on the part
of a justice-loving man with an unjust man is a crime. And if we desire
to compel this great Government to the will of the people, as we must,
we must adopt this great remedy of non-co-operation. And if the
Mussalmans of India offer non-co-operation to Government in order to
secure justice in the Khilafat matter, I believe it is duty of the
Hindus to help them so long as their moans are just. I consider the
eternal friendship between the Hindus and Mussalmans is more important
than the British connection. I would prefer any day anarchy and chaos in
India to an armed peace brought about by the bayonet between the Hindus
and Mussalmans. I have therefore ventured to suggest to my Hindu
brethren that if they wanted to live at peace with Mussalmans, there is
an opportunity which is not going to recur for the next hundred years.
And I venture to assure you that if the Government of India and the
Imperial Government come to know that there is a determination on the
part of the people to redress this double wrong they would not hesitate
to do what is needed. But in the Mussalmans of India will have to take
the lead in the matter. You will have to commence the first stage of
non-co-operation in right earnest. And if you may not help this
Government, you may not receive help from it. Titles which were the
other day titles of honour are to-day in my opinion badges of our
disgrace. We must therefore surrender all titles of honour, all honorary
offices. It will constitute an emphatic demonstration of the disapproval
by the leaders of the people of the acts of the Government. Lawyers must
suspend their practice and must resist the power of the Government which
has chosen to flout public opinion. Nor may we receive instruction from
schools controlled by Government and aided by it. Emptying of the
schools will constitute a demonstration of the will of the middle class
of India. It is far better for the nation even to neglect the literary
instruction of the children than to co-operate with a Government that
has striven to maintain an injustice and untruth on the Khilafat and
Punjab matters. Similarly have I ventured to suggest a complete boycott
of reformed councils. That will be an emphatic declaration of the part
of the representatives of the people that they do not desire to
associate with the Government so long as the two wrongs continue. We
must equally decline to offer ourselves as recruits for the police or
the military. It is impossible for us to go to Mesopotamia or to offer
to police that country or to offer military assistance and to help the
Government in that blood guiltiness. The last plank in the first stage is
Swadeshi. Swadeshi is intended not so much to bring pressure upon the
Government as to demonstrate the capacity for sacrifice on the part of
the men and women of India. When one-fourth of India has its religion at
stake and when the whole of India has its honour at stake, we can be in
no mood to bedeck ourselves with French calico or silks from Japan. We
must resolve to be satisfied with cloth woven by the humble weavers of
India in their own cottages out of yarn spun by their sisters in their
own homes. When a hundred years ago our tastes were not debased and we
were not lured by all the fineries from the foreign countries, we were
satisfied with the cloth produced by the men and women in India, and if
I could but in a moment revolutionize the tastes of India and make it
return to its original simplicity, I assure you that the Gods would
descent to rejoice at the great act of renunciation. That is the first
stage in non-co-operation. I hope it is as easy for you as it is easy
for me to see that if India is capable of taking the first step in
anything like a full measure that step will bring the redress we want. I
therefore do not intend to take you to the other stages of
non-co-operation. I would like you to rivet your attention upon the
plans in the first stage. You will have noticed that but two things are
necessary in going through the first stage: (1) Prefect spirit of
non-violence is indispensable for non-co-operation, (2) only a little
self-sacrifice, I pray to God that He will give the people of India
sufficient courage and wisdom and patience to go through this experiment
of non-co-operation. I think you for the great reception that you have
given us. And I also thank you for the great patience and exemplary
silence with which you have listened to my remarks.
_August_ 1920.
SPEECH AT MANGALORE
Mr. Chairman and friends,--To my brother Shaukat Ali and me it was a
pleasure to go through this beautiful garden of India. The great
reception that you gave us this afternoon, and this great assembly are
most welcome to us, if they are a demonstration of your sympathy with
the cause which you have the honour to represent. I assure you that we
have not undertaken this incessant travelling in order to have
receptions and addresses, no matter how cordial they may be. But we have
undertaken this travelling throughout the length and breadth of this
dear Motherland to place before you the position that faces us to-day.
It is our privilege, as it is our duty, to place that position before
the country and let her make the choice.
Throughout our tour we have received many addresses, but in my humble
opinion no address was more truly worded than the address that was
presented to us at Kasargod. It addressed both of us as 'dear revered
brothers.' I am unable to accept the second adjective 'revered.' The
word 'dear' is dear to me I must confess. But dearer than that is the
expression 'brothers.' The signatories to that address recognized the
true significance of this travel. No blood brothers can possibly be more
intimately related, can possibly be more united in one purpose, one aim
than my brother Shaukat Ali and I. And I considered it a proud privilege
and honour to be addressed as blood brother to Shaukat Ali. The contents
of that address were as equally significant. It stated that in our
united work was represented the essence of the unity between the
Mussalmans and Hindus in India. If we two cannot represent that very
desirable unity, if we two cannot cement the relation between the two
communities, I do not know who can. Then without any rhetoric and
without any flowery language the address went on to describe the
inwardness of the Punjab and the Khilafat struggle; and then in simple
and beautiful language it described the spiritual significance of
Satyagrah and Non-co-operation. This was followed by a frank and simple
promise. Although the signatories to the address realised the momentous
nature of the struggle on which we have embarked, and although they
sympathise with the struggle with their whole heart, they wound up by
saying that even if they could not follow non-co-operation in all its
details, they would do as much as they could to help the struggle. And
lastly, in eloquent, and true language, they said 'if we cannot rise
equal to the occasion it will not be due to want of effort but to want
of ability.' I can desire no better address, no better promise, and if
you, the citizens of Mangalore, can come up to the level of the
signatories, and give us just the assurance that you consider the
struggle to be right and that it commands your entire approval, I am
certain you will make all sacrifice that lies in your power. For we are
face to face with a peril greater than plagues, greater than influenza,
greater than earthquakes and mighty floods, which sometimes overwhelm
this land. These physical calamities can rob us of so many Indian
bodies. But the calamity that has at the present moment overtaken India
touches the religious honour of a fourth of her children and the
self-respect of the whole nation. The Khilafat wrong affects the
Mussalmans of India, and the Punjab calamity very nearly overwhelms the
manhood of India. Shall we in the face of this danger be weak or rise to
our full height. The remedy for both the wrongs is the spiritual solvent
of non-co-operation. I call it a spiritual weapon, because it demands
discipline and sacrifice from us. It demands sacrifice from every
individual irrespective of the rest. And the promise that is behind this
performance of duty, the promise given by every religion that I have
studied is sure and certain. It is that there is no spotless sacrifice
that has been yet offered on earth, which has not carried with it its
absolute adequate reward. It is a spiritual weapon, because it waits for
no mandate from anybody except one's own conscience. It is a spiritual
weapon, because it brings out the best in the nation and it absolutely
satisfies individual honour if a single individual takes it, and it will
satisfy national honour if the whole nation takes it up. And therefore
it is that I have called non-co-operation in opposition to the opinion
of many of my distinguished countrymen and leaders--a weapon that is
infallible and absolutely practicable. It is infallible and practicable,
because it satisfies the demands of individual conscience. God above
cannot, will not expect Maulana Shaukat Ali to do more than he has been
doing, for he has surrendered and placed at the disposal of God whom he
believes to be the Almighty ruler of everyone, he has delivered all in
the service of God. And we stand before the citizens of Mangalore and
ask them to make their choice either to accept this precious gift that
we lay at their feet or to reject it. And after having listened to my
message if you come to the come to the conclusion that you have no other
remedy than non-co-operation for the conservation of Islam and the
honour of India, you will accept that remedy. I ask you not to be
confused by so many bewildering issues that are placed before you, nor
to be shaken from your purpose because you see divided counsels amongst
your leaders. This is one of the necessary limitations of any spiritual
or any other struggle that has ever been fought on this earth. It is
because it comes so suddenly that it confuses the mind if the heart is
not tuned properly. And we would be perfect human beings on this earth
if in all of us was found absolutely perfect correspondence between the
mind and the heart. But those of you who have been following the
newspaper controversy, will find that no matter what division of opinion
exists amongst our journals and leaders there is unanimity that the
remedy is efficacious if it can be kept free from violence, and if it is
adopted on a large scale. I admit the difficulty the virtue however lies
in surmounting it. We cannot possibly combine violence with a spiritual
weapon like non-co-operation. We do not offer spotless sacrifice if we
take the lives of others in offering our own. Absolute freedom from
violence is therefore it condition precedent to non-co-operation. But I
have faith in my country to know that when it has assimilated the
principle of the doctrine In the fullest extent, it will respond to it.
And in no case will India make any headway whatsoever until she has
learnt the lesson of self-sacrifice. Even if this country were to take
up the doctrine of the sword, which God forbid, it will have to learn
the lesson of self-sacrifice. The second difficulty suggested is the
want of solidarity of the nation. I accept it too. But that difficulty I
have already answered by saying that it is a remedy that can be taken up
by individuals for individual and by the nation for national
satisfaction; and therefore even if the whole nation does not take up
non-co-operation, the individual successes, which may be obtained by
individuals taking up non-co-operation will stand to their own credit as
of the nation to which they belong.