For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Kasturbhai and Mahatma Gandhi

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

Kasturbhai and Mahatma Gandhi

Kasturbhai was a famous industrialist of Ahmadabad. He was owner of Lal group of companies. He was one of the closed associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He played an important role in dispute of mill owners and labourers. He was president of this group also. So far as the Rs. 12,500 are concerned, I am afraid, we shall not get them unless Kasturbhai, who is insistent even to the extent of demanding his own quota back, as he might well do, invites the other donors to do likewise. So far, therefore, as these funds are concerned, the way to work lies in that direction. The ultimate decision will be taken by the mill-owners on side issues and on personal likes and dislikes. These aberrations we shall always have with us and we must suffer them with becoming calmness. 1

I do feel a little hesitant in writing this letter to you but Bhai Ambalal is not here and you do know me a little. I therefore venture to write to you. Enclosed herewith is to Deenabandhu Andrews. Talking about that, I told him that all right, I would beg for money from somewhere. He had in fact asked for ten thousand rupees. Of this, five thousand he wanted for his expenses in Europe. I am not very clear about all this. Whatever it may be, Birla brothers have paid expenses to Kavivar. It seems that that amount will not be enough to accommodate Andrews. As far as possible, I do not want to go out of Gujarat to collect money for Andrews. Can I approach you with a begging bowl? If, for whatever reason, you do not want to give anything, please do not hesitate to say ‘no’. I consider it my duty to go with a begging bowl wherever I can. But it is also my dharma not to feel bad if people refuse to give anything. If you feel like saying ‘no’, please do say so without any hesitation. 2

Perhaps it is quite appropriate that this crèche is being opened by one who calls himself a labourer, though let me confess to you that it was not without some hesitation that I accepted the invitation when it was brought to me by Sheth Kasturbhai, not because I did not like the object, but because I was so preoccupied, and nothing would have pleased me better than that you should have got this function performed by someone more deserving than myself preferably a mill owner. But my regard for Sheth Kasturbhai prevailed and I had to yield. 3 The sentiments about the welfare of the mill-hands that Sheth Kasturbhai has just now uttered before you reflect credit on him and the city of Ahmadabad. Sheth Kasturbhai was delighted with Port Sunlight, and rightly. But Port Sunlight cannot be our ideal. Messrs Lever Bros. represent to my mind the minimum standard that an employer must do for his employees. To do less would be a discredit. But we cannot afford to rest content with that. We must think in terms of our own civilization, and if the picture presented to us in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana of the social conditions prevailing in the ancient times be correct, our ideal would seem to go much farther than Port Sunlight. I have read a lot of literature about Port Sunlight, and I am an ardent admirer of their welfare work, but I maintain that ours is a higher ideal.

In the West there is still a watertight division between the employer and the employees. I know it is impertinent to talk of our ideal, while the curse of untouchability still stalks through the land. But I should be untrue to myself and be failing in my duty to you if I did not place before you what I regard as the highest ideal. The relation between mill-agents and mill-hands ought to be one of father and children or as between blood-brothers. I have often heard the mill-owners of Ahmadabad refer to themselves as ‘masters’ and their employees as their servants. Such loose talk should be out of fashion in a place like Ahmadabad which prides itself on its love of religion and love of ahimsa. For that attitude is a negation of ahimsa, inasmuch as our ideal demands that all our power, all our wealth and all our brains should be devoted solely to the welfare of those who through their own ignorance and our false notions of things are styled labourers or ‘servants’. What I expect of you therefore is that you should hold all your riches as a trust to be used solely in the interests of those who sweat for you, and to whose industry and labour you owe all your position and prosperity. I want you to make your labourers co-partners of your wealth. I do not mean to suggest that unless you legally bind yourselves to do all that, there should be a labour insurrection. The only sanction that I can think of in this connection is of mutual love and regard as between father and son, not of law. If only you make it a rule to respect these mutual obligations of love, there would be an end to all labour disputes; the workers would no longer feel the need for organizing themselves into unions. Under the ideal contemplated by me, there would be nothing left for our Anasuyabehn and Shankerlals to do; their occupation would be gone. But that cannot happen until there is a single mill-hand who does not regard the mill in which he works as his own, who complains of sweating and overwork, and who therefore nurses in his breast nothing but ill will towards his employers and where is the difficulty? 4

I remember it was a condition that in the administration of the sums contributed by the mill-owners to the Tilak Swaraj Fund, my advice also would be sought. For some time, the workers have not been getting the benefits from that amount which they were getting previously. It is likely that I may have to go to jail after the 11th. If, therefore, you call a meeting to the mill-owners before that date, I may place my views before them and we may discuss how the amount might be utilized. 5 The delay in implementing the resolution of the Swadeshi Sabha to take over the foreign goods lying with the merchants of Ahmadabad seems to me dangerous. Cannot the matter be settled soon? I am writing a letter to somewhat the same effect to Chimanlal also. 6

Very few persons have offered their names to be enrolled as members of the Company set up to send away foreign goods to foreign countries. We are losing our good name by this delay. I have written a letter to this effect to Chimanbhai. I do not consider it sufficient that you have subscribed for the number of its shares falling to your lot. Reply at Borsad. 7 Since you have just risen from the sick-bed, I tried to lighten business with a little humour and that has made the letter long. I, therefore, leave it to you to speak to Kasturbhai. As for Chimanbhai, I also will write to him. 8 I had a talk today with Jamnalalji about the proposed match. He seems to know the family well. He is decidedly of opinion that the family, apart from Kasturbhai of course, is not as well off as they would appear to be. He is even of opinion that they may be actually in want. I thought I should pass this news on to you. He too is anxious that I should let you have his opinion. Personally I remain unaffected by it. But he thinks that Krishna should know it. So far as I can judge, nothing will affect Krishna’s choice unless she has something definite against the young man. And she would be quite right. Kasturbhai is strongly of opinion that Krishna’s choice is good. 9

Kasturbhai did not come as he was preparing to go to Geneva. I told them that wages could not be reduced without evidence to justify such a step; but that, if they were ready to link wages to profits and fix minimum wages, I would agree to whatever relief such an arrangement might give them. They liked this suggestion but told me that it would be difficult to persuade other mill-owners to implement it. That is true, of course. I will see now what can be done. 10 I hope that you will prevent implementation of the Mill-Owners’ Association’s resolution. I will not let the tradition which has been followed for so many years be broken without sufficient reason. 11 I have gone through the papers concerning Gordhanbhai demands. He has no right to ask for the money. Assistance can be given for the labourers’ school in Nadiad but its accounts should be scrutinized and the school should function under the supervision of the Majoor Mahajan and your association. Such is my firm opinion. The correspondence suggests that, according to the resolution passed, a trust-deed should immediately be made. 12

I am sending herewith my draft of the Award. I am still going through the papers. As I read them I find that the mill-owners do not have any case for the cut, and if they have they have not been able to argue it. If you feel that the papers we have received prove their case it is your duty to guide me. I will in any case be receiving your Award, which will contain your arguments also. If I can understand them I will certainly change my decision. I of course take it that in your Award you will not make use of anything that you may know but of which I am ignorant because in that case I will not be able to understand it at all. I may have heard many things from the Labour Association, but what can I do so long as they are not recorded in the files? I write this not by way of warning but just to know your mind because I shall feel unhappy if both of us do not arrive at the same decision. I want to understand your point of view fully but only on the strength of the evidence we have received. I do not understand how you can demand a cut in wages so long as the Delhi settlement is not proved unworkable. So for me the doors are closed. You will realize my difficulties better after reading my Award. If you think it is necessary for you to come here, do come. If you find that it is necessary to send me a telegram, do that. 13

If after reading what you have to say I feel so inclined, I will certainly revise my views. If I find the need of discussion, I will give you trouble. I on my part have not showed my draft to anyone connected with the Labour Association. I thought I might acquaint Shankerlal with it after we had given our Awards. Whether that happens or not, I quite agree with you that if we have to go to the Umpire neither of the parties should divulge anything about our decision till the Award is made public. Please write and inform the parties concerned on behalf of both of us from there. 14 As per our talk I have carefully examined the papers which are to be submitted to the Umpire. I have removed all the papers connected with the three issues. I am sending herewith the list of the papers which will have to be sent to the Umpire. I have also appended to Nos. 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 the latest replies from the Mill owners’ Association. The documents Nos. 10, 11 and 12 are independent notes submitted by the About Association. So far we have not received any reply from the Association. Those notes relate to the discussion held at Wardha. You will see that one of them is a corrigendum. As in the case of the other notes, the copy of this note has also been sent to the Association; so it has to be retained. However, I will not have any objection if you feel that all these three notes should be removed. As far as I am concerned, I have not gone into the merits and demerits of the case. So I do not require noting mistakes or the figures mentioned in the notes in order to arrive at a decision.

I have all the papers mentioned in the list ready in case we are fated to go to the Umpire. I have not made any notes, etc., on them, so that those can be sent to the Umpire. However, I do hope that you, independently or with the help of some lawyer friend, have been convinced of the three basic issues I have raised and will be taking effective steps in the direction we had thought of while arranging the papers. Naturally I had to read the papers again but I could do that only very casually. I feel that my decision is as clear as daylight. But that has no meaning. However, if, and only if, you reach the same conclusion, we can save ourselves from going to the Umpire. 15 I take it that you have obtained legal opinion on the basic issues I have raised and that it has gone against me. If it is so, one can easily understand that there is nothing you can do in this connection. The paper No. 2 was of course included on my suggestion but at that time you did not raise any objection. I was not bound in any way and therefore it was my duty to hear the Labour Association. My decision no doubt goes against them but their protest is a part of the representation they have made against us and therefore it must go to the Umpire. I did ask for paper No. 6 and you had no objection to it. I have no objection to dropping Nos. 10 and 11. Both of us had asked for No. 12. We had certainly agreed that the mistakes should be rectified. Therefore in my record I have kept all the papers except Nos. 10 and 11. I can say that I have even used them for arriving at my decision. Paper No. 12 is of no use to me, but as your opinion is based on the merits and demerits of the case I believe it is necessary for you. If there is difference of opinion between us even over this, let it also be decided by the Umpire. As a lot of time has already been taken up we should not delay matters further by prolonging our correspondence. About the Rajnagar mill, my opinion is that Chimanbhai has made a serious mistake. I feel that my decision is correct and therefore it is wrong to change it. Had Chimanbhai allowed us to take the decision regarding the remaining mills, I would have imposed a fine on the workers so that the account would have been squared. We should go deeper into the question of reinstating the workers. I shall try to send my Award with additions and alterations by tomorrow. Kindly arrange to send it along with yours to the Umpire there or wherever he may be. 16

I am enclosing herewith my Award with two extra copies, one for the Labour Association and the other for the Mill-owners’ Association. Please go through the additions and alterations made therein. There is a reference to sub-appendices in the Appendix As desired by you I have dropped sub-appendices and have made a note to that effect in the Appendix. Please see. After writing to you yesterday, I thought about the question at night and while writing this it has occurred to me that greater justice would be done by not recommending payment of arrears of the wages and therefore I am revising the decision. I have only made a recommendation concerning the wages, which you will see. You will also find therein my reasons for not paying the arrears. It is in conformity with my nature. If you had not drawn my attention to it, I would not perhaps have noticed the error in my approach. However, you drove me to hard thinking. I very much wanted to accept your suggestion. You demonstrated your friendship by drawing my attention to my error. Should I thank you for that? Truth will cease to exist in this world if friends do not fulfill their duty of cautioning one another. I hope you have received the telegram I have sent to you. It is good if you are able to act accordingly. It hurts me that hundreds of workers are unemployed. It also pains me that we are not allowed to hear their case. Therefore please do not a waste a single minute. I do not have a copy of the letter to the Umpire. Has he been given fifteen days’ time limit? Whatever it may be, please request the Umpire on behalf of us both that he should give the decision as early as possible even within that time limit. 17

Gulzarilal writes that Motilal Haribhai Mill has come to an agreement with the Labour Association. Shouldn’t we, therefore, withdraw its case from the Umpire? Please do so. If you send me the English translation of my Award, I will go through it. Meanwhile, if I get time, I myself will do the translation and send it. We will send whichever is ready earlier. If possible I will send it today, for while I am writing this it occurs to me that the translation should be sent to him without delay. 18 There are some errors in the translation that you have sent, and considerable liberty has been taken with the second part. If a copy can be got ready, you will get it with this letter. The Umpire should not be given the trouble of coming here in his present delicate state of health. I will, therefore, keep myself ready to go to Poona. While sending him the translation of my Award, I have asked him to give the dates convenient to him. Which dates will suit you? I have been delaying my going to Travancore. I can now cancel that programme and go to Poona on the 7th. 19

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