For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Ahimsa and Mahatma Gandhi -XXIII

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net;

dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Mailing Address- C- 29, Swaraj Nagar, Panki, Kanpur- 208020, Uttar Pradesh, India

Ahimsa and Mahatma Gandhi -XXIII

Let us understand that there is a kind of poison in the atmosphere. How are we to fight it? Whether the number of those who shout these slogans is 50 to 500, we may not ignore them. We must try to discover their grievance. We may not treat them with contempt, if we are believers in ahimsa. No argumentum ad hominem will do. It is no answer to say that they are mercenaries, for you may be sure that not any and everyone who is offered a train fare and a wage would consent to come here. They must to an extent believe in their mission. Therefore let not the cries anger you. Let none of you think of drowning those cries in the cry of “Mahatma Gandhiji Ki Jai”. You have done well in not shouting counted slogans. You have thereby sterilized theirs, and very little mischief has been done. If the forbearance is based on ahimsa, I am sure they will ultimately be still. 1

People of other countries make huge sacrifices in retaining their independence. If we pin our faith on ahimsa we will not have to spend crores of rupees nor sacrifice millions of people for our independence. Till my death, I will talk of no other means of achieving independence. I would repeat the programme that I have laid before the country. Women can take more effective part than men in achieving independence through ahimsa Women as much as men must work side by side for the country’s independence. Whether in charkha or removal of untouchability, they must not lag behind men. From times immemorial, in India it had been the duty of women to spin. Even today women spin more than men. If charkha be the sole weapon for winning swaraj then women can certainly contribute more than men towards the country’s independence. 2

Painfully the answer came in Malikanda. The Sangh has to explore the possibilities of ahimsa in all walks of life. It has to find out whether in reality the activities known as constructive have vital connection with, or are inevitable consequences of, the application of ahimsa to national life. Ahimsa in theory no one knows. It is as indefinable as God. But in its working we get glimpses of it as we have glimpses of the Almightily in His working amongst and through us. It is the function of the Sangh to apply their mind as scientists to this laborious task. 3

I have a horror of ‘isms’, especially when they are attached to proper names. Even if all that you say of me is true, it does not make a new sect. My effort is to avoid not only new sects but even to do away with old and superfluous ones. Ahimsa abhors sects. Ahimsa is a unifying force. It discovers unity in diversity. All that you say is derivable from ahimsa. To bring into being a new cult is repugnant to ahimsa, to the very experiment I am making. Thus you will, I hope, see that there is no room for ‘Gandhism. 4 Is there any necessary connection between village crafts like spinning, etc., and ahimsa? If there is, what is the nature of that connection? (3) What are the crafts which cannot be carried on without ahimsa? And what are the ones in which violence is unavoidable? Or is there no such distinction? (4) Does India have any special gift in regard to ahimsa? 5 I am not often guilty of working beyond my strength. I mean ahimsa does not permit working beyond limits. One who knows no limits knows no ahimsa. I too have my shortcomings. 6

An alternative occurs to me. I should be freed from the burden of my connection with you and you go ahead. I will keep myself in reserve. If necessary I may join later. I may be a broken reed and may land you into unexpected troubles. I might not begin the movement for an indefinite length of time, and I might stop it abruptly. However much you may agree with me, your ahimsa does not go as far as mine. And if after twenty years of practice of it I have not been able to win the affection and trust of the Mussalmans, my ahimsa must be of a very poor quality indeed. Why not then let me further examine myself, and make further researches in non-violence. 7 At Malikanda we reduced the size and scope of the Gandhi Seva Sangh and turned it into an institute for carrying out experimental research into the principles for which the Sangh stands, as for instance, truth, ahimsa, khadi, and their interrelation ship. I have said that there is a vital connection between khadi and ahimsa. But I have not fully proved it. My reason follows my heart. Without the latter it would go astray. 8

A correspondent says now that civil disobedience is in the air, I must once more, even at the risk of repeating myself, summarize in a single article my argument showing that there is a vital connection between the charkha, swaraj and ahimsa. I gladly make the attempt. The spinning-wheel represents to me the hope of the masses. The masses lost their freedom, such as it was, with the loss of the charkha. The charkha supplemented the agriculture of the villagers and gave it dignity. It was the friend and solace of the widow. It kept the villagers from idleness. For the charkha included all the anterior and posterior industries ginning, carding, warping, sizing, dyeing and weaving. These in their turn kept the village carpenter and the blacksmith busy. The charkha enabled the seven hundred thousand villages to become self-contained. With the exit of the charkha went the other village industries, such as the oil-press. Nothing took the place of these industries. Therefore the villages were drained of their varied occupations and their creative talent and what little wealth these brought them. The analogy of the other countries in which too village handicrafts were destroyed will not serve us because, whereas the villagers there had some compensating advantages, India’s villagers had practically none. The industrialized countries of the West were exploiting other nations.

India is herself an exploited country. Hence, if the villagers are to come into their own, the most natural thing that suggests itself is the revival of the charkha and all it means. This revival cannot take place without an army of selfless Indians of intelligence and patriotism working with a single mind in the villages to spread the message of the charkha and bring a ray of hope and light into their lusterless eyes. This is a mighty effort at cooperation and adult education of the correct type. It brings about a silent and sure revolution like the silent but sure and life-giving revolution of the charkha. Twenty years’ experience of charkha work has convinced me of the correctness of the argument here advanced by me. The charkha has served the poor Muslims and Hindus in almost an equal measure. Nearly five crores of rupees have been put into the pockets of these lakhs of village artisans without fuss and tomtomming. Hence I say without hesitation that the charkha must lead us to swaraj in terms of the masses belonging to all faiths. The charkha restores the villages to their rightful place and abolishes distinctions between high and low. But the charkha cannot bring swaraj, in fact it will not move, unless the nation has faith in non-violence. It is not exciting enough. Patriots yearning for freedom are apt to look down upon the charkha. They will look in vain to find it in history books. Lovers of liberty are fired with the zeal to fight and banish the foreign ruler. They impute all the vices to him and see none in themselves.

They cite instances of countries having gained their freedom through seas of blood. The charkha devoid of violence seems an utterly tame affair. In 1919 the lovers of the liberty of India were introduced to non-violence as the only and sure means to swaraj and to the charkha as a symbol of non-violence. The charkha found its proud place on the national flag in 1921. But non-violence had not gone deep into the heart of India, and so the charkha never came into its own. It will never come into its own unless the vast body of Congressmen develops a living faith in non-violence. When they do so they will, without needing any argument, discover for themselves that there is no other symbol of non-violence than the charkha, and that without its universalization there will be no visible expression of non-violence. It is common ground that without non-violence there can be no nonviolent disobedience. My argument may be false, my data may be faulty. But, holding the views I do, let me proclaim that without fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by me I simply cannot declare civil disobedience. 9

I do regard death sentence as contrary to ahimsa. Only he takes life who gives it. All punishment is repugnant to ahimsa. Under a State governed according to the principles of ahimsa, therefore, a murdered would be sent to a penitentiary and there given every chance of reforming himself. All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such. 10 Ahimsa requires non-possession, both mental and physical, and truth requires silence, if this is accepted, it will become easy to distinguish between violent and non-violent actions in all important matters. I find your case about going to Ghogha rather weak. All athletes would endure the hardships you mention. I do not believe, from what you describe, that any very great shock is being given to reason. But the truth will soon be known. We will know how much those who attended benefited. I have spent myself in training people in ahimsa but I have not wholly succeeded in cultivating it myself or in helping others to cultivate it. 11

Whatever we do should be inspired by ahimsa. Whomsoever you speak to, speak with affection. I shall tell you what your duty is. It is for you to act accordingly. Consult me about rules. Ask me to make new rules. But relieve me of the rest. My sadhana will be disturbed if I am saddled with day-do-day management. 12 You are doing good work. Literacy drive and many such things are by-products of the big reform, perhaps the biggest of modern times. As to the drunkards they must be treated as diseased person entitled to our sympathy and service. You should, therefore, reason with them when they are sober, and take even the beating, if any, with good grace. I do not rule out court proceedings, but they will be evidence of want of enough ahimsa in you. But you cannot go against your nature. If you do not evoke response from them to your wooing, your work must not be held up because of the obstruction referred to by you. Recourse to legal proceedings is then indicated. But you must make all honest effort before you go to law. 13

Now if you believe in cultivating non-violence of the brave, you will do so much more quickly than I, and you will leave me behind.’ This applies to every one of you. In South Africa I was the first to learn shoe-making and so I taught it to others. But those others soon left me behind. It was because I was a true teacher. Now if I am a true teacher of ahimsa, I am sure you will soon leave behind your teacher. If that does not happen, it will only mean that I was an unfit teacher. But if my teaching fructifies, there will be teachers of ahimsa in every home. 14 No one knows my imperfections better than I, but what little power I possess is derived from my ahimsa. What is it but my ahimsa that draws thousands of women to me in fearless confidence? But neither you nor I can trade on our capital. We have to be up and doing every moment of our lives and go forward in our sadhana. We have to live and move and have our being in ahimsa, even as Hitler does in himsa. It is the faith and perseverance and single-mindedness with which he has perfected his weapons of destruction that commands my admiration. That he uses them as a monster is immaterial for our purpose. We have to bring to bear the same single-mindedness and perseverance in evolving our ahimsa. Hitler is awake all the 24 hours of the day in perfecting his sadhana. He wins because he pays the price. His inventions surprise his enemies. But it is his single-minded devotion to his purpose that should be the object of our admiration and emulation. Although he works all his waking hours, his intellect is unclouded and unerring. Are our intellects unclouded and unerring? A mere belief in ahimsa or the charkha will not do. It should be intelligent and creative. If intellect plays a large part in the field of violence, I hold that it plays a larger part in the field of non-violence. With this he referred to the work of Richard Gregg in this direction, and described how the latter had come to the conclusion that spinning as a symbol of non-violence is good enough not only for India but for the world. Continuing he said: The Working Committee’s decision was simply an echo of the atmosphere around them. My decision could not be its echo for ahimsa is my special sadhana, not that of the Congress. I congratulate the members on their honesty and their courage, though I am sorry for myself that I could not inspire them with confidence in our creed and in my leadership. We have now to show that we have faith in the non-violence of the brave. It does not mean the development of the capacity to go to jail. It means increasing faith in the potency of constructive work to bring about swaraj, and in constructive work being a vital part of the programme of ahimsa. 15

It certainly violates truth and in being uncharitable towards others we violate ahimsa too. We who tread the path of ahimsa should take each step with great care. It is not that I am unaware of his faults. Maybe you are justified in finding him curt in this particular instance but to believe that he is always so betrays lack of charity on your part. Shall we not take into account the circumstances under which this co-worker has been brought up and educated, the difficulties he has had to face and the efforts he had to make to reach the present position? Shall we judge him by this one manifest shortcoming of his? What a beautiful word the English language has for love -’charity’. It connotes compassion too. And compassion should be an integral part of our ahimsa. 16

Even that fear had himsa. Love and fear cannot co-exist. There was pride even in your fear. But for all this I am to blame. My ahimsa is imperfect and that is why my surroundings are not saturated with ahimsa. Sevagram is to me a laboratory for ahimsa. If my experiment here were successful and I could find a solution for the little problems that confront me here, I am sure the same formula would provide me a solution for the bigger issues that today face us in the country. That is why I am so reluctant to leave Sevagram. It is my laboratory for Satyagraha. It is there that I expect to discover the key to India’s independence, not in Simla or New Delhi. I sometimes feel like taking shelter in flight, not to seek cloistered peace, but in the stillness of utter isolation to know myself, to see where I stand, to catch more effectively the faint whispering of the ‘still small voice within’. Then alone would my experiment in ahimsa be complete. 17

The other field is the exercise of ahimsa in internal disturbances Hindus-Muslim riots and the like. We have not been able to show visible success in the exercise of ahimsa in this field. What then should the Congressmen do when internal chaos is so imminent? Will they return blow for blow, or will they cheerfully bend their heads to receive violent blows? The answer to this is not as easy as we might think. Instead of going into the intricacies, I should say that Congressmen should try to save the situation by laying down their lives, not by taking any. He who meets death without striking a blow fulfils his duty cent per cent. The result is in God’s hands. But it is clear that this non-violence is not the non-violence of the weak. It does not give one the joy of jail-going. One can have that joy and also cover thereby the ill-will one harbors in his breast against the Government. One can also non-co-operate with the Government. But where swords, knives, lathis and stones are freely used, what is a man to do single-handed? Is it possible for one to receive these deadly blows with ill-will in one’s heart? It is clear that it is impossible to do so, unless one is saturated with charity. It is only he who feels one with his opponent that can receive his blows as though they were so many flowers. Even one such man, if God favours him, can do the work of a thousand; it requires soul force moral courage of the highest type. The man or woman who can display this non-violence of the brave can easily stand against external invasion. This is the third field for the exercise of non-violence. The Congress Working Committee was of opinion that, while it might be possible for us to exercise ahimsa in internal disturbances, India has not the strength to exercise ahimsa against the invasion of a foreign foe.

This want of faith has distressed me. I do not believe that the unarmed millions of India cannot exercise ahimsa with success in his wide field. It is for Congressmen to reassure the Sardar, whose faith in ahimsa of the strong has for the moment been shaken, that ahimsa is the only weapon that can suit India in the fields mentioned. Let no one ask, “But what about the martial races in India?” For me that is all the more reason why Congressmen should train themselves to defend their country with a non-violent army. This is an entirely new experiment. But who, save the Congress, is to try it - the Congress which has tried it successfully in one field? It is my unshakable faith that, if we have a sufficient number of non-violent soldiers, we are sure to succeed even in this new field, apart from the saving of the needless waste of crores of rupees. I am therefore hoping that every Gujarati Congressism-man and woman-will declare their adherence to ahimsa and reassure the Sardar that they will never resort to violence. Even if there is sure hope of success in the exercise of violence, they will not prefer it to the exercise of non-violence. We are sure to learn by our mistakes. “We fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, sleep to wake.

Rajaji was the Framer of the Resolution. He was as certain of his position as I was of mine. His persistency, courage and utter humility brought him converts. Sardar Patel was his greatest prize. He would not have even thought of bringing up his resolution if I had chosen to prevent him. But I give my comrades the same credit for earnestness effect to it, the constitution at the centre of a provisional National Government. it declared that “if these measures are adopted, it will enable the Congress to throw in its full weight in the efforts for the effective organization of the Defence of the country.” I had long known that we were drifting away from each other in our outlook upon the political problems that face us. He will not allow me to say that his is a departure from ahimsa. He claims that his very ahimsa has led him to the point which culminated in his resolution. 18

Last week I wrote about three fields for the operation of ahimsa. I propose to invite attention today to the fourth and the best field for the operation of non-violence. This is the family field, in a wider sense than the ordinary. Thus members of an institution should be regarded as a family. Non-violence as between the members of such families should be easy to practise. If that fails, it means that we have not developed the capacity for pure non-violence. For the love we have to practise towards our relatives or colleagues in our family or institution, we have to practise towards our foes, dacoits, etc. If we fail in one case, success in the other is a chimera. We have generally assumed that, though it may not be possible to exercise non-violence in the domestic field, it is possible to do so in the political field. This has proved a pure delusion. We have chosen to describe our methods adopted so far as non-violence, and thus caricatured non-violence itself. If non-violence it was, it was such poor stuff that it proved useless at the critical moment. The alphabet of ahimsa is best learnt in the domestic school, and I can say from experience that, if we secure success there, we are sure to do so everywhere else. For a non-violent person the whole world is one family. He will thus fear none, nor will others fear him. It will be retorted that those who satisfy such a test of nonviolence will be few and far between. It is quite likely, but that is no reply to my proposition. Those who profess to believe in non-violence should know the implications of that belief. And if these scare them away, they are welcome to give up the belief.

Now that the Congress Working Committee has made the position clear, it is necessary that those who claim to believe in non-violence should know what is expected to them. If, as a result, the ranks of the non-violent army thin down, it should not matter. An army, however small, of truly nonviolent soldiers is likely some day to multiply itself. An army of those who are not truly non-violent is never likely to yield any use whether it increases or decreases. Let no one understand from the foregoing that a non-violent army is open only to those who strictly enforce in their lives all the implications of non-violence. It is open to all those who accept the implications and make an ever-increasing endeavour to observe them. There never will be an army of perfectly non-violent people. It will be formed of those who will honestly endeavour to observe non-violence. For the last fifty years I have striven to make my life increasingly non-violent and to inspire my co-workers in the same direction, and I think I have had a fair amount of success. The growing darkness around, far from damping my zeal and dimming my faith, brightens them, and makes the implications of non-violence more clearly visible to me. 19

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