Jodhpur Tragedy – Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

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- [e-mail];

[e-mail]

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

 

 

Jodhpur Tragedy – Mahatma Gandhi

 

As I had feared, Jodhpur Satyagraha has taken a serious and ugly turn. Heaps of papers have come in. From these I gather that arrests are multiplying. Lathi charges are a daily occurrence. Official circulars have been issued prohibiting the use of private premises by satyagrahis. In fact all the worst things that were experienced during the Satyagraha campaigns in British India are being repeated in Jodhpur. Only in Jodhpur they are being done far from the public gaze and a first-class tragedy may pass unnoticed and may be buried like many such that have been buried and are being buried even today. The cause of all these troubles is one and so is the remedy. Till it is successfully applied, the painful drama will continue in some shape or form. The British Government cannot escape blame and responsibility for every such happening in the States. It is bound by treaty obligation to protect the people of the States from inhumanities such as those going on in Jodhpur in the name of law and order. The prisoners have no respite even behind the prison bars.

The food is bad, usual facilities are denied to them. By way of protest Shri Jai Narayan Vyas has undertaken hunger-strike till the grievances are redressed or unto death. If he has to die, the death will be upon those who are primarily responsible for the grievances which compel hunger-strikes unto death. Dr. Dwarkanath Kachru has sent an instructive note on Jodhpur from which I take the following for public information: The direct authority of the Jodhpur Government extends over 17% of the total area of the State; the remaining area about 83% is owned by the Jagirdars, about 1,300 in number. These Jagirdars are mostly autonomous internally and pay fixed tributes to the Maharaja. For a long time now the Political Department has been controlling the affairs in Jodhpur. Thrice during this century the State passed under the direct control and supervision of the Political Department. At present Englishmen a large number of them occupy prominent positions in the State. The Prime Minister is also a retired British official. Apart from the British officials, other non-State subject elements also predominate in the State administration. There is thus a “Mulki Movement” which is becoming stronger day by day. There is also a very strong rivalry between the different castes, Rajputs, Brahmins, etc., which is very often exploited by the government to play one against the other or to prevent the Lok Parishad from growing stronger. The Marwar Lok Parishad, formed in 1938, became, during the course of these four years, a tremendous force in Jodhpur. Because of the general political backwardness of the Rajputana States, a more advanced mass movement in Jodhpur was destined to lead the vanguard of the popular movement in the whole of Rajputana.

An All-Rajputana Political Conference was also announced to be held in Jodhpur in March 1940. The mass awakening in Rajputana caused grave anxiety to the Political Department and the Jodhpur Government was instructed to act promptly. The Jodhpur Government therefore declared the Lok Parishad illegal and put all its prominent men in jails. Mass arrests, followed by terrible repression, ended in a compromise with the Government. Marwar Lok Parishad began its constructive work once again and soon came to be recognized by all the people in Marwar, both in the Khalsa and jagiri territories. The Parishad contested the Municipal elections and emerged as the majority party in the Board. Its leader became the chairman. Since the war began the governments of Indian States have changed their attitude towards popular movements. The war had in fact provided an excuse to suppress civil liberties and check the growth of popular forces. In Jodhpur, where the Political Department has a hand in shaping the policy of the government, Prime Minister Sir Donald Field set to work according to the instructions from above. Funds had to be procured for war and the whole State had to be put on war footing. Money had largely to be procured from the Jagirdars, who must in turn be protected against the popular movement in the Jagirs led by the Lok Parishad. The State Government thus assumed an attitude of neutrality towards the Jagirs and allowed the Jagirdars to squeeze even the last drop of blood from their subjects. But the Lok Parishad could not ignore the grievances and demands of the masses of Marwar living in Jagirs. The Parishad did not want the abolition of the Jagirs, but it certainly wanted the betterment of the people of Jagirs. Repeated requests were made to the Government to intervene and secure a just and a humane treatment for the tenants in Jagirs, but unfortunately the Government chose to act differently.

They encouraged the Jagirdars and suppressed the Lok Parishad workers. Briefly stated the conditions in Jagirs are: (a) the tenants demand regular latai (allocation of the shares of the Jagirdars and their tenants). But the Jagirdars would not arrange to do it regularly and often evaded with the result that the tenants suffered, (b) the tenants also want the abolition of such cases which have been declared illegal in the courts of the States. The Government of Jodhpur repeatedly refused to come to the help of the tenants and even refused to stop the exaction of such cases which were declared illegal in their own courts of law. The Government went a step further and encouraged the Jagirdars themselves to take up cudgels against the Lok Parishad. Thus when the Jagirdars beat and victimized and even burnt the houses of the Parishad workers the government refused to intervene.  

 

Reference:

 

Harijan, 21-6-1942