VYKOM SATYAGRAHA

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09415777229, 094055338

E-mail- [e-mail];[e-mail]

 

 

VYKOM SATYAGRAHA

 

 

After the last lines on the Vykom affair were written for the last week’s issue, I received a wire from Mr. Pitt, Commissioner of Police, and Travancore. It was then too late to publish in Young India the correspondence between the Commissioner of Police and myself. The reader must, however, have seen the correspondence in the Press. It makes a distinct advance in the reform aimed at. The correspondence shows unmistakably that the Travancore Government favours the reform and that they are also pledged to carry it out at the earliest opportunity. Let no one consider that in agreeing to a referendum or Shastric interpretation I have endangered the reform itself. The present campaign in its inception is based on the assumption that the reform is required by the vast majority of the caste Hindus and that the prohibition against the suppressed classes is not warranted by the genuine Hindu scriptures. For me, therefore, not to have made the proposals would have betrayed woeful lack of resourcefulness. It was the most natural thing for a satyagrahi like me to have made the proposals which, if they had proceeded from the orthodox party, I could not have honestly rejected. Indeed, I make bold to say that my proposals paved the way for the remarkable support the cause received everywhere, save among the very few members of the orthodox party. Had there been real opposition from the majority of caste Hindus, or had there been any doubt as to the Shastric endorsement of the reform, the Satyagraha would have assumed a different shape altogether. It would have been then a movement for a change in the religion rather than the removal of an irreligious custom. Indeed, those who were in immediate charge of the movement never questioned the propriety of my proposals. I could not take any step without consultation with them and without their full concurrence. It now remains for the satyagrahis at Vykom to carry out the letter and the spirit of the agreement and for the caste Hindus to support the movement in the manner promised by them everywhere to ensure the speedy and successful ending of the struggle. The satyagrahis must fulfil the letter by not overstepping the boundary line until a settlement is reached, or a crossing after due notice by me becomes necessary for furthering the object of the agreement. The spirit of it requires gentleness and utmost humility on the part of the satyagrahis.

Their uniform courtesy towards the opponents of reform will break the edge of the opposition. They must regard the Government not as opposed to the reform but as pledged to carry it out at the earliest possible moment. I have not the slightest reason to doubt the word of Her Highness the Maharani Regent or the Dewan or the Commissioner of Police. The conduct of satyagrahis in the Ashram must be in correspondence with their bearing at the boundary-line. The Ashram must be a busy hive in which every member is ever found at his own allotted task. It must be a model of simplicity and sanitation. The members are pledged to the charkha work during all spare moments. The spinning, the carding and the weaving departments admit of considerable improvement. Every inmate should be an expert carder and spinner if everyone cannot also become an expert weaver. The members must insist on spinning and weaving at least the cloth required by them. They should also learn Hindi well. They are or should regard themselves as trustees for the prestige and dignity of Hinduism. Theirs is a fight not to end with the opening of the roads round temples but it should be considered to be the beginning of a glorious struggle for the purity of Hinduism and removal of the abuses that have crept into it. They are not reformers who would take no note of the opposite side or would violate every sentiment of the orthodox people. They would vie with the tallest among the orthodox in purity of conduct and veneration for all that is good and noble in the Shastras. They would not disregard scriptural authority without the deepest thought, and to the end, some of them would even study Sanskrit and explore the possibilities of reform within the four corners of the scriptures. They will not be in hurry, but having fearlessly taken all the steps that they can consistently with their creed of truth and non-violence, will have the patience and the faith of the rishis of old.

For, the opening of the roads is not the final but the first step in the ladder of reform. Temples in general, public wells, public schools must be open to the untouchables equally with the caste Hindus. But that is not the present goal of the satyagrahis. We may not force the pace. The schools are almost all open to the untouchables. The temples and the public wells or tanks are not. Public opinion should be carefully cultivated and the majority should be converted before the reform can be successfully carried out. Meanwhile, the remedy lies in founding temples and digging tanks or wells that would be open to the untouchables and to the other Hindus. I have no doubt that the movement for the removal of untouchability has made tremendous headway. Let us not retard it by indiscretion or over-zeal. Once the idea of pollution by the touch of a person by reason of his birth is gone, the rest is easy and bound to follow.