Freedom's Battle - Mahatma Gandhi
That on which a foreign government truly rests whatever may be the
illusions on their or our part is not the strength of its armed forces,
but our own co-operation. Actual service on the part of one generation,
and educational preparation for future service on the part of the next
generation are the two main branches of this co-operation of slaves in
the perpetuation of slavery. The boycott of government service and the
law-courts is aimed at the first, the boycott of government controlled
schools is to stop the second. If either the one or the other of these
two branches of co-operation is withdrawn in sufficient measure, there
will be an automatic and perfectly peaceful change from slavery
to liberty.
The beat preparation for any one who desires to take part in the great
battle now going on is a silent study of the writings and speeches
collected herein, and proposed to be completed in a supplementary volume
to be soon issued.
C. RAJAGOPALACHAR
II. THE KHILAFAT
WHY I HAVE JOINED THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
An esteemed South African friend who is at present living in England has
written to me a letter from which I make the following excerpts:--
"You will doubtless remember having met me in South Africa at the
time when the Rev. J.J. Doke was assisting you in your campaign there
and I subsequently returned to England deeply impressed with the
rightness of your attitude in that country. During the months before
war I wrote and lectured and spoke on your behalf in several places
which I do not regret. Since returning from military service,
however, I have noticed from the papers that you appear to be
adopting a more militant attitude... I notice a report in "The Times"
that you are assisting and countenancing a union between the Hindus
and Moslems with a view of embarrassing England and the Allied Powers
in the matter of the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire or the
ejection of the Turkish Government from Constantinople. Knowing as I
do your sense of justice and your humane instincts I feel that I am
entitled, in view of the humble part that I have taken to promote
your interests on this side, to ask you whether this latter report is
correct. I cannot believe that you have wrongly countenanced a
movement to place the cruel and unjust despotism of the Stamboul
Government above the interests of humanity, for if any country has
crippled these interests in the East it has surely been Turkey. I am
personally familiar with the conditions in Syria and Armenia and I
can only suppose that if the report, which "The Times" has published
is correct, you have thrown to one side, your moral responsibilities
and allied yourself with one of the prevailing anarchies. However,
until I hear that this is not your attitude I cannot prejudice my
mind. Perhaps you will do me the favour of sending me a reply."
I have sent a reply to the writer. But as the views expressed in the
quotation are likely to be shared by many of my English friends and as I
do not wish, if I can possibly help it, to forfeit their friendship or
their esteem I shall endeavour to state my position as clearly as I can
on the Khilafat question. The letter shows what risk public men run
through irresponsible journalism. I have not seen _The Times_ report,
referred to by my friend. But it is evident that the report has made the
writer to suspect my alliance with "the prevailing anarchies" and to
think that I have "thrown to one side" my "moral responsibilities."
It is just my sense of moral responsibilities which has made me take up
the Khilafat question and to identify myself entirely with the
Mahomedans. It is perfectly true that I am assisting and countenancing
the union between Hindus and Muslims, but certainly not with "a view of
embarrassing England and the Allied Powers in the matter of the
dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire," it is contrary to my creed to
embarrass governments or anybody else. This does not how ever mean that
certain acts of mine may not result in embarrassment. But I should not
hold myself responsible for having caused embarrassment when I resist
the wrong of a wrong-doer by refusing assistance in his wrong-doing. On
the Khilafat question I refuse to be party to a broken pledge. Mr. Lloyd
George's solemn declaration is practically the whole of the case for
Indian Mahomedans and when that case is fortified by scriptural
authority it becomes unanswerable. Moreover, it is incorrect to say that
I have "allied myself to one of the prevailing anarchies" or that I have
wrongly countenanced the movement to place the cruel and unjust
despotism of the Stamboul Government above the interests of humanity.
In the whole of the Mahomedan demand there is no insistance on the
retention of the so-called unjust despotism of the Stamboul Government;
on the contrary the Mahomedans have accepted the principle of taking
full guarantees from that Government for the protection of non-Muslim
minorities. I do not know how far the condition of Armenia and Syria may
be considered an 'anarchy' and how far the Turkish Government may be
held responsible for it. I much suspect that the reports from these
quarters are much exaggerated and that the European powers are
themselves in a measure responsible for what misrule there may be in
Armenia and Syria. But I am in no way interested in supporting Turkish
or any other anarchy. The Allied Powers can easily prevent it by means
other than that of ending Turkish rule or dismembering and weakening the
Ottoman Empire. The Allied Powers are not dealing with a new situation.
If Turkey was to be partitioned, the position should have been made
clear at the commencement of the war. There would then have been no
question of a broken pledge. As it is, no Indian Mahomedan has any
regard for the promises of British Ministers. In his opinion, the cry
against Turkey is that of Christianity _vs._ Islam with England as the
louder in the cry. The latest cablegram from Mr. Mahomed Ali strengthens
the impression, for he says that unlike as in England his deputation is
receiving much support from the French Government and the people.
Thus, if it is true, as I hold it is true that the Indian Mussalmans
have a cause that is just and is supported by scriptural authority, then
for the Hindus not to support them to the utmost would be a cowardly
breach of brotherhood and they would forfeit all claim to consideration
from their Mahomedan countrymen. As a public-server therefore, I would
be unworthy of the position I claim, if I did not support Indian
Mussalmans in their struggle to maintain the Khilafat in accordance with
their religious belief. I believe that in supporting them I am rendering
a service to the Empire, because by assisting my Mahomedan countrymen to
give a disciplined expression to their sentiment it becomes possible to
make the agitation thoroughly, orderly and even successful.
THE TURKISH TREATY
The Turkish treaty will be out on the 10th of May. It is stated to
provide for the internationalisation of the Straits, the occupation of
Gallipoli by the Allies, the maintenance of Allied contingents in
Constantinople and the appointment of a Commission of Control over
Turkish finances. The San Remo Conference has entrusted Britain with
Mandates for Mesopotamia and Palestine and France with the Mandate for
Syria. As regards Smyrna the accounts so far received inform that
Turkish suzerainty over Smyrna will be indicated by the fact that the
population will not be entitled to send delegates to the Greek
Parliament but at the end of five years local Smyrna Parliament will
have the right of voting in favour of union with Greece and in such an
event Turkish suzerainty will cease. Turkish suzerainty will be confined
to the area within the Chatalja lines. With regard to Emir Foisul's
position there is no news except that the Mandates of Britain and France
transform his military title into a civil title.
* * * * *
We have given above the terms of the Turkish treaty as indicated in
Router's messages. These reports are incomplete and all of them are not
equally authenticated. But if these terms are true, they are a challenge
to the Muslim demands. Turkish Sovereignty is confined to the Chatalja
lines. This means that the Big Three of the Supreme Council have cut off
Thrace from Turkish dominions. This is a distinct breach of the pledge
given by one of these Three, _viz._, the Premier of the British Empire.
To remain within the Chatalja lines and, we are afraid, as a dependent
of the Allies, is for the Sultan a humiliating position inconsistent
with the Koranic injunctions. Such a restricted position of the Turks is
virtually a success of the bag and baggage school.
It is not yet known how the Supreme Council disposed of the rich and
renowned lands of Asia Minor. If Mr. Lloyd George's views recently
expressed in this respect have received the Allies' sanction--it is
probable--nothing less than a common control is expected. The decision
in the case of Smyrna will be satisfying to none, though the Allies seem
to have made by their arrangement a skillful attempt to please all the
parties concerned. Mr. Lloyd George, in his reply to the Khilafat
Deputation, had talked about the careful investigations by an impartial
committee and had added; "The great majority of the population
undoubtedly prefer Greek rule to Turkish rule, so I understand" But the
decision postpones to carry out his understanding till a period of
five years.
* * * * *
When we come to the question of mandates, the Allied Powers' motives
come out more distinctly. The Arabs' claim of independence was used as a
difficulty against keeping Turkish Sovereignty. This was defended in the
of self-determination and by pointing out parallels of Transylvania and
other provinces. When the final moment came, the Allies have ventured to
divide the spoils amongst themselves. Britain is given the mandate over
Mesopotamia and Palestine and France has the mandate over Syria. The
Arab delegation complains in their note lately issued expressing their
disappointment at the Supreme Council's decision with regard to the
Arab liberated countries, which, it declares, is contrary to the
principle of self-determination.
* * * * *
So what little news has arrived about the Turkish treaty, is uniformly
disquieting. The Moslems have found sufficient ground to honour Russia,
more than the Allies. Russia has recognised the freedom of Khiva and
Bokhara. The Moslem world, as H. M. the Amir of Afghanistan said in his
speech, will feel grateful towards Russia in spite of all the rumours
abroad about its anarchy and disorder, whereas the whole Moslem world
will resent the action of the other European nations who have allied
with each other to carry out a joint coercion and extinction of Turkey
in the name of self-determination and partly in the guise of the
interest of civilization.
* * * * *
The terms of the Turkish treaty are not only a breach of the Premier's
pledge, not only a sin against the principle of self-determination, but
they also show a reckless indifference of the Allied Powers towards the
Koranic injunctions. The terms point out that Mr. Lloyd George's
misinformed ideas of Khilafat have prevailed in the Council. Like Mr.
Lloyd George other statesmen also at San Remo have compared Caliphate
with Popedom and ignored the Koronic idea of associating spiritual
power with temporal power. These misguided statesmen were too much
possessed by haughtiness and so they refused to receive any
enlightenment on the question of Khilafat from the Deputation. They
could have corrected themselves had they heard Mr. Mahomed Ali on this
point. Speaking at the Essex Hall meeting Mr. Mahomed Ali distinguished
between Popedom and Caliphate and clearly explained what Caliphate
means. He said:
"Islam is supernational and not national, the basis of Islamic
sympathy is a common outlook on life and common culture.... And it
has two centres. The personal centre is the island of Arabia. The
Khalifa is the Commander of the Faithful and his orders must be
obeyed by all Muslims so long and so long only, as they are not at
variance with the Commandments of God and the Traditions of the
Prophet. But since there is no lacerating distinction between things
temporal and things spiritual, the Khalifa is something more than a
Pope and cannot be "Vaticanised." But he is also less than a Pope for
he is not infallible. If he persists in un-Islamic conduct we can
depose him. And we have deposed him more than once. But so long as he
orders only that which Islam demands we must support him. He and no
other ruler is the Defender of _our_ faith."
These few words could have removed the mis-undertakings rooted in the
minds of those that at San Remo, if they were in earnest for a just
solution. But Mr. Mahomed Ali's deputation was not given any hearing by
the Peace Conference. They were told that the Peace Conference had
already heard the official delegation of India on this question. But the
wrong notions the Allies still entertain about Caliphate are a
sufficient indication of the effects of the work of this official
delegation. The result of these wrong notions is the present settlement
and this unjust settlement will unsettle the world. They know not
what they do.
TURKISH PEACE TERMS
The question of question to-day is the Khilafat question, otherwise
known as that of the Turkish peace terms. His Excellency the Viceroy
deserves our thanks for receiving the joint deputation even at this late
hour, especially when he was busy preparing to receive the head of the
different provinces. His Excellency must be thanked for the unfailing
courtesy with which he received the deputation and the courteous
language in which his reply was couched. But mere courtesy, valuable as
it is at all times, never so valuable as at this, is not enough at this
critical moment. 'Sweet words butter no parsnips' is a proverb more
applicable to-day than ever before. Behind the courtesy there was the
determination to punish Turkey. Punishment of Turkey is a thing which
Muslim sentiment cannot tolerate for a moment. Muslim soldiers are as
responsible for the result of the war as any others. It was to appease
them that Mr. Asquith said when Turkey decided to join the Central
Powers that the British Government had no designs on Turkey and that His
Majesty's Government would never think of punishing the Sultan for the
misdeeds of the Turkish Committee. Examined by that standard the
Viceregal reply is not only disappointing but it is a fall from truth
and justice.
What is this British Empire? It is as much Mahomedan and Hindu as it is
Christian. Its religious neutrality is not a virtue, or if it is, it is
a virtue of necessity. Such a mighty Empire could not be held together
on any other terms. British ministers are therefore bound to protect
Mahomedan interests as any other. Indeed as the Muslim rejoinder says,
they are bound to make the cause their own. What is the use of His
Excellency having presented the Muslim claim before the Conference? If
the cause is lost the Mahomedans will be entitled to think that Britain
did not do her duty by them. And the Viceregal reply confirms the view.
When His Excellency says that Turkey must suffer for her having joined
the Central Powers he but expresses the opinion of British ministers.
We hope, therefore, with the framers of the Muslim rejoinder that His
Majesty's ministers will mend the mistakes if any have been committed
and secure a settlement that would satisfy Mahomedan sentiment.
What does the sentiment demand? The preservation of the Khilafat with
such guarantee as may be necessary for the protection of the interests
of the non-Muslim races living under Turkish rule and the Khalif's
control over Arabia and the Holy Places with such arrangement as may be
required for guaranteeing Arab self-rule, should the Arabs desire it. It
is hardly possible to state the claim more fairly than has been done. It
is a claim backed by justice, by the declarations of British ministers
and by the unanimous Hindu and Muslim opinion. It would be midsummer
madness to reject or whittle down a claim so backed.
THE SUZERAINTY OVER ARABIA
"As I told you in my last letter I think Mr. Gandhi has made a
serious mistake in the Kailafat business. The Indian Mahomedans base
their demand on the assertion that their religion requires the
Turkish rule over Arabia: but when they have against them in this
matter, the Arabs themselves, it is impossible to regard the theory
of the Indian Mahomedans as essential to Islam. After all if the
Arabs do not represent Islam, who does? It is as if the German Roman
Catholics made a demand in the name of Roman Catholicism with Rome
and the Italians making a contrary demand. But even if the religion
of the Indian Mahomedans did require that Turkish rule should be
imposed upon the Arabs against their will, one could not, now-a-days,
recognise as a really religious demand, one which required the
continued oppression of one people by another. When an assurance was
given at the beginning of the war to the Indian Mahomedans that the
Mahomedan religion would be respected, that could never have meant
that a temporal sovereignty which violated the principles of
self-determination would be upheld. We could not now stand by and see
the Turks re-conquer the Arabs (for the Arabs would certainly fight
against them) without grossly betraying the Arabs to whom we have
given pledges. It is not true that the Arab hostility to the Turks
was due simply to European suggestion. No doubt, during the war we
availed ourselves of the Arab hostility to the Turks to get another
ally, but the hostility had existed long before the war. The
Non-Turkish Mahomedan subjects of the Sultan in general wanted to get
rid of his rule. It is the Indian Mahomedans who have no experience
of that rule who want to impose it on others. As a matter of fact the
idea of any restoration of Turkish rule in Syria or Arabia, seems so
remote from all possibilities that to discuss it seems like
discussing a restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. I cannot conceive
what series of events could bring it about. The Indian Mahomedans
certainly could not march into Arabia themselves and conquer the
Arabs for the Sultan. And no amount of agitation and trouble in India
would ever induce England to put back Turkish rule in Arabia. In this
matter it is not English Imperialism which the Indian Mahomedans are
up against, but the mass of English Liberal and Humanitarian opinion,
the mass of the better opinion of England, which wants
self-determination to go forward in India. Supposing the Indian
Mahomedans could stir up an agitation so violent in India as to sever
the connection between India and the British Crown, still they would
not be any nearer to their purpose. For to-day they do have
considerable influence on British world-policy. Even if in this
matter of the Turkish question their influence has not been
sufficient to turn the scale against the very heavy weights on the
other side, it has weighed in the scale. But apart from the British
connection, Indian Mahomedans would have no influence at all outside
India. They would not count for more in world politics than the
Mahomedans of China. I think it is likely (apart from the pressure
of America on the other side. I should say certain) that the
influence of the Indian Mahomedans may at any rate avail to keep the
Sultan in Constantinople. But I doubt whether they will gain any
advantage by doing so. For a Turkey cut down to the Turkish parts of
Asia-Minor, Constantinople would be a very inconvenient capital. I
think its inconvenience would more than outweigh the sentimental
gratification of keeping up a phantom of the old Ottoman Empire. But
if the Indian Mahomedans want the Sultan to retain his place in
Constantinople I think the assurances given officially by the Viceroy
in India now binds us to insist on his remaining there and I think he
will remain there in spite of America."
This is an extract, from the letter of an Englishman enjoying a position
in Great Britain, to a friend in India. It is a typical letter, sober,
honest, to the point and put in such graceful language that whilst it
challenges you, it commands your respect by its very gracefulness. But
it is just this attitude based upon insufficient or false information
which has ruined many a cause in the British Isles. The superficiality,
the one-sidedness the inaccuracy and often even dishonesty that have
crept into modern journalism, continuously mislead honest men who want
to see nothing but justice done. Then there are always interested
groups whose business it is to serve their ends by means of faul or
food. And the honest Englishman wishing to vote for justice but swayed
by conflicting opinions and dominated by distorted versions, often ends
by becoming an instrument of injustice.
The writer of the letter quoted above has built up convincing argument
on imaginary data. He has successfully shown that the Mahomedan case, as
it has been presented to him, is a rotten case. In India, where it is
not quite easy to distort facts about the Khilafat. English friends
admit the utter justice of the Indian-Mahomedan claim. But they plead
helplessness and tell us that the Government of India and Mr. Montagu
have done all it was humanly possible for them to do. And if now the
judgment goes against Islam, Indian Mahomedans should resign themselves
to it. This extraordinary state of things would not be possible except
under this modern rush and preoccupations of all responsible people.
Let us for a moment examine the case as it has been imagined by the
writer. He suggests that Indian Mahomedans want Turkish rule in Arabia
in spite of the opposition of the Arabs themselves, and that, if the
Arabs do not want Turkish rule, the writer argues, no false religions
sentiment can be permitted to interfere with self-determination of the
Arabs when India herself has been pleading for that very status. Now the
fact is that the Mahomedans, as is known to everybody who has at all
studied the case, have never asked for Turkish rule in Arabia in
opposition to the Arabs. On the contrary, they have said that they have
no intention of resisting Arabian self-government. All they ask for is
Turkish suzerainty over Arabia which would guarantee complete self-rule
for the Arabs. They want Khalif's control of the Holy Places of Islam.
In other words they ask for nothing more than what was guaranteed by Mr.
Lloyd George and on the strength of which guarantee Mahomedan soldiers
split their blood on behalf of the Allied Powers. All the elaborate
argument therefore and the cogent reasoning of the above extract fall to
pieces based as they are upon a case that has never existed. I have
thrown myself heart and soul into this question because British pledges
abstract justice, and religious sentiment coincide. I can conceive the
possibility of a blind and fanatical religious sentiment existing in
opposition to pure justice. I should then resist the former and fight
for the latter. Nor would I insist upon pledges given dishonestly to
support an unjust cause as has happened with England in the case of the
secret treaties. Resistance there becomes not only lawful but obligatory
on the part of a nation that prides itself on its righteousness.
It is unnecessary for me to examine the position imagined by the English
friend, viz., how India would have fared had she been an independent
power. It is unnecessary because Indian Mahomedans, and for that matter
India, are fighting for a cause that is admittedly just; a cause in aid
of which they are invoking the whole-hearted support of the British
people. I would however venture to suggest that this is a cause in which
mere sympathy will not suffice. It is a cause which demands support that
is strong enough to bring about substantial justice.
FURTHER QUESTIONS ANSWERED
I have been overwhelmed with public criticism and private advice and
even anonymous letters telling me exactly what I should do. Some are
impatient that I do not advise immediate and extensive non-co-operation;
others tell me what harm I am doing the country by throwing it knowingly
in a tempest of violence on either side. It is difficult for me to deal
with the whole of the criticism, but I would summarize some of the
objections and endeavour to answer them to the best of my ability. These
are in addition to those I have already answered:--
(1) Turkish claim is immoral or unjust and how can I, a lover of truth
and justice, support it? (2) Even if the claim be just in theory, the
Turk is hopelessly incapable, weak and cruel. He does not deserve any
assistance.