Hamdard and 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

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Hamdard and Mahatma Gandhi 

 

 

Consider the Comrade, the Hamdard as you’re own or my own. You are going there, thinking that they come first and Navajivan and Young India after them. The key to Hindu-Muslim unity, that is to swaraj, lies, it seems to me, in the sincere humility and tact that you will show. Do not even think of returning from Delhi in a hurry. 1 India is like a bird whose wings are the Hindus and the Mussalmans. But the wings have become palsied and therefore disabled the bird from soaring high in the air and breathing the pure bracing air of freedom. Surely to leave us thus paralyzed is not the essence of Hinduism or of Islam. Is it the religion for the Hindus to weaken the Mussalmans and vice versa for the one to refuse to help the other? Should religion be a destructive force destroying freedom and all that is best and noblest in man? The Comrade and the Hamdard have been resuscitated to tell the Hindus and the Mussalmans that the only condition on which unity and freedom are possible is mutual toleration amongst all who call themselves Indians, be they Hindus, Mussalmans, Christians, Parsis, Jews or what not. In reviving his papers, Comrade and Hamdard, Maulana Mahomed Ali is certainly taking upon his shoulders a great responsibility. But he is a god-fearing man, his trust is in God and God makes clear what to us may be impenetrable darkness.

I, therefore, add prayer to his that his mission may be blessed with success, that he may always have the right word for all, friend and foe, that he and his assistants may write nothing in anger or haste and that every word in Comrade and Hamdard may be a power for the good of our country and through it of humanity and that his papers may be the promoters of peace and goodwill among the people in this land professing different faiths.  I have lost no occasion for advertising friendship of heart that exists between the Ali Brothers and me. They claim to be, as they are, pucka Mussalmans and I claim to be a pucka Hindu. That fact has proved no bar to the real affection and perfect trust between us and if it is possible for such friendship to exist between some Mussalmans and some Hindus, we may deduce by a simple rule of arithmetic that it must be equally possible for millions of Hindus and millions of Mussalmans if only they will it. This friendship the Comrade and the Hamdard will, I am confident, seek to promote in every way and chiefly by presenting what is best and noblest in Islam. May God grant them speedy success and grant it in full measure. 2

I know of no non-co-operation which is devoid of love, nor do I even wish to know it. I have no other panacea for India’s independence, for the protection of Hinduism or Islam, for Hindu- Muslim unity and for the abolition of untouchability. I believe that it is impossible to end hatred with hatred. And one of the reasons why I always put forward the spinning-wheel is its underlying peacefulness. Maulana Mahomed Ali has collected maxims in praise of the spinning-wheel from the literature of Islam and published them in his Hamdard. Readers will find their translations in this Navajivan and should reflect upon them. 3

Neither the Brothers nor anyone else in the house suspended their work even for a moment. Maulana Mahomed Ali did not stop writing. He continued to issue instructions regarding Hamdard and Comrade. Maulana Shaukat Ali did not stop his work even for a single day. He had to visit Muzaffarnagar the very next day. He punctually fulfilled that appointment. I had to go to Ramjas College that very day. Even though the time coincided with the hour of the funeral, they did not allow me to cancel this engagement. They sent me away after assuring me that they would send for me to act as a pall-bearer before taking her remains to the burial ground. All this suggests devotion to duty, courtesy and faith in God. I have heard all this said of Tilak Maharaj. Whatever the nature of the sad news that he received, it made no difference to his daily routine. I have frequently come across such devotion to duty among Englishmen. It is not an exaggeration to say that without such patience one is not fit to be called a human being. 4

 

References:

 

1. Letter to Anandanand, September 8, 1924
2. Hindi Navajivan, 2-11-1924
3. Navajivan, 23-11-1924 
4. Navajivan, 30-11-1924