For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Harijan Service 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

Harijan Service and Mahatma Gandhi

I like Tandonji suggestion the best. Your field is literature and service to the cause of Hindi. If while doing this you can also do Harijan service, you will have done all. I do not see any reason for reviving Patit Bandhu. At the present moment our conduct is the best form of propaganda. There are so many newspapers; your articles will always find a place in them. 1 Let me point out your fault which is not the one you regard as such. Your fault lies in being too greedy. “Bapu is working for the Harijans, so I must do that too.” Keep away from what Bapu has taken up and stick to what you were already doing. That too was service and consumed all your time. “Better one’s own duty, bereft of merit, than another’s well-performed.” You should be satisfied with whatever falls to your lot. Greed even for good works is to be eschewed. “Excess is to be avoided in every matter.” You can give up Harijan service even now. You wish to work for your “Bapu”, don’t you? Bapu will be fully satisfied with khadi work alone. Your attempt to do both jobs will deprive you of both as the body will be unable to stand the strain. Khadi work involves sufficient Harijan service; be content with this. You have to be above attachment. Greed is another name for attachment, this is my reading. If you do not concur, forget it. “Do as you wish.” As you always do well you can never come to grief. God is ever with you, He will never forsake you. 2

Bhai Shankerlal and Thakkar Bapa write that apart from the temple-entry, you are also declining to help to other activities of Harijan service. I did not, and still do not, expect this of you. Others may find fault with me as a Vaishnava, but surely you would not join them. My ideas about Harijan service are not new. Someday, you will yourself admit that my ideas are in keeping with Vaishnava dharma. However, I will let that pass for now. Do not bring into Gujarat the conflict prevailing elsewhere. I am entitled to ask this much of you. Bhai Mangaldas gave me this right and you acknowledge it. Therefore, I urge you to contribute what you can to the Fund. 3 Experience at the Ashram would enable you to come in touch with the variety of workers and the manner in which Harijan service is being organized. I mention nothing as to your remuneration because, if I understand you rightly, you want nothing more than what may be needed for the sustenance of the body. That may be fixed up after you have had your time at the Ashram. If, therefore, you retain the opinion you expressed to me here, please come to Poona as early as you can. Everything else can then be fixed up. 4

I came to know through the temple-entry agitation. And I was taking interest in her work for the removal of untouchability. Meantime a friend brought rumours to me about her character. I straightway put the substance of the rumours before her and invited her to come and see me if I was to take Harijan service from her. She came without hesitation. She will be with me for a few days longer. She tells me that you know her. 5 Let every organization for the service of Harijans introspect itself in the light of the criticism I have condensed and the suggestions I have made. I know that the correspondent has painted the picture as black as he could. He has refused to see the bright side. I know something of Harijan service done by caste men in the different Provinces. I know that there is a bright side to the work of the organizations referred to by my correspondent, but it was unnecessary for me to give the bright side. It will take care of itself, if the organizations will take care of the dark side of the picture. Most organizations have a capacity for self-deception. There is a tendency towards self-glorification. The Harijan exists for the sake of giving due prominence, therefore, to every bit of criticism that can be levelled against us by Harijan critics. 6

The field of social service is as wide as India itself, but it may not be an exaggeration to say that the centre of it is Harijan service; for, in serving the Harijans, the worker will meet with every conceivable social problem in a concentrated form and he will have to possess the best qualities. 7 My fitness to think about anything except what relates to Harijan service seems to be fast leaving me. To think about other things or to do anything or speak about anything else has become painful to me. I am going through painful experiences which I find impossible to describe. Even if I wished to describe them, I have no time to do so but no more of this now. I feel perfectly at ease in pouring out my heart to you. I believe you have the capacity to respond to such things. If you have followed all I have said and wish to give the letter to others to read, I will have no objection. If you feel that what I have written is strange, keep the letter with you after reading it. I will explain it if we meet some day. What I have said is nothing mysterious. It is easy enough to understand, but it gives a glimpse into what agony one, who unswervingly follows the path of dharma, has to endure. I do feel that if someone who has not associated himself with my life were to read this, it would do much harm. 8

This brings me to soap. For cleaning the body, as I told you when you were with me, no soap was required. Clean water and a rough towel is all that is necessary for keeping the body quite fit. For washing the hair there is nothing to approach the soap-nut. It is to be had all over India. A few nuts soaked overnight and then well mashed with hand in the water produces soap suds with which you can clean the hair perfectly. But I have an easier method. You have abandoned everything for the Harijan service and for self-purification. Hence, you are, to all intents and purposes, sannyasins. Therefore you have to remove the hair from your head and have a close crop almost amounting to a shave. Mira has that. Tens of thousands of widows have that crop. If you can easily let your hair go, I need not prescribe elaborate things for keeping your hair in a clean condition. I do not want to press for the crop. I do not know what attraction your hair has for you. Much as I would like every girl in the Ashram to have her hair cropped, I have been able to persuade only a few. If you have the same partiality for your hair as these Ashram girls have, I have nothing to say. But if you would let your hair go as easily as you pare your nails, then I would say: Get hold of the closest barber, get him to wash his hands and his scissors in hot water and get him to take off your hair. If he has not the clippers, then let him do so with the ordinary scissors. It won’t be as close a crop as I would like, but it would be close enough to save you all the anxiety about your hair and it would save you also a great deal of time. If you do not want your hair to be cropped, I must write to you in my next letter what you should do to keep it clean without having to resort to soap. Remember that millions in this country do not know what soap is. Again, in asking you practically to do without soap, I am asking you to do something I have not succeeded in inducing all the Ashram people to do. 9

It was good of you to have seen N. and to have written to me about her. I heard from her also at the same time that I heard from you and I decided at once to ask her to come away to Poona. I can see that she won’t be able to do the Harijan service there all alone. The companions whom you name cannot be called in to help her. Perhaps you do not know all about her life. Her past life has not been quite straight. She has turned over, I hope, a new leaf. She is under that definite promise. It is therefore better for her not to have any of her old companions, however good workers they might have been. There is nothing secret about this. She has owned up her past to all who should have known it. Probably she will have left by the time this reaches you. If she has not, you will kindly hand the accompanying letter to her, and, if she will leave for Poona, but R. cannot and does not advance 3rd class fare for her and her boy, you will kindly do it for me and I will see that you are repaid the loan. 10

I am quite sure that those who are excommunicated for doing Harijan service should bear the suffering meekly and you will find that the opposition Will subside. I have already dealt with the subject fairly fully in the pages of the Harijan which you should read. 11 I would prefer that even others devoted to Harijan service do not enter the temples where Harijans are not allowed. This is more difficult than the former undertaking, it may involve breach of peace and some propaganda ought to precede picketing. Talk over this matter too and write to me again. Also, who can organize this work? We must first have a picture of it before I start writing about it in the papers. 12 I would therefore strongly advise you to give up all sentimentality, to become a practical man and give yourself truly to Harijan service, whereas you were before now merely playing at it. 13

The yajna of Harijan service that has been commenced can never end. Even the death from fasting of thousands of savarna Hindus will not be too much in my opinion. There is little possibility of my writing but you may continue to do so. 14 But whether I succeed or not I see no peace for myself except in fasting. I am convinced that that is what God wills me to do. If in the course of the tapasya I succumb I shall understand—and so must people understand—that my work is finished, and my responsibility is over. That will be no occasion for grief and sorrowing. And what can be more fortunate for me as well as for the cause of Harijan service if I give up my life in that cause? If the tapasya is consummated without any obstacle it will add to my self-confidence and give me further strength for service. In either case it will become clear that the work of Harijan Sevak Sangh is a religious one, that for caste Hindus it is in the nature of repentance and that those who are not pure have no place in this work. 15

Harijan service is a duty the caste Hindus owe to themselves. It is a part of the penance they must do for the wrongs they have done to their own kith and kin. I can well understand the indignant repudiation by some of the Harijans. Let me hope that it is not yet too late for the vast majority to accept the penance. The numerous messages I have received from them leave no room for doubting such an acceptance. 16 Your question about your future is too curious. You have hardly yet commenced your training, in my opinion. After all it is the trainers who have to give the certificate that you have been sufficiently trained. You would not give it yourself. When you are sufficiently trained you will find your work cut out for you, and of course you are being trained for Harijan service. What shape that service will take, it is difficult to say now, but before you can do that you have got to be well-versed in Hindi, well-versed in all the processes through which cotton goes before being turned into cloth. I have mentioned only two things, but there are many other things which you should know in order to be able to render Harijan service efficiently. 17

As I think over the past, I am not sorry for having taken the fast. Though I suffered bodily pain and discomfort, there was indescribable peace within. I have enjoyed peace during all my fasts but never so much as in this. Perhaps, the reason was that there was nothing to look forward to. In the previous fasts there was some tangible expectation. In this there was nothing tangible to expect. There was undoubtedly faith that it must lead to purification of self and others and that workers would know that true Harijan service was impossible without inward purity. This, however, is a result that could not be measured or known in a tangible manner. I had, therefore, withdrawn within myself. 18 If the Bengali Harijan does not pay itself you will not hesitate to withdraw it. It should be issued only if it is wanted by the public. You may reduce the cost of production to the lowest limit possible but if even then you cannot get enough subscribers it is clear that there is no demand for it. Harijan service does not depend upon such propaganda. This work has to be deeper and intenser rather than extensive. The intensity will insure the extent. 19

If Amala wishes to do some Harijan service, she may do so. If Jamnalalji agrees to take responsibility for N., she may go to Wardha. I cannot think of the other problems that may be there just now. I don’t say anything about Duncan because he is after all a man. Moreover he belongs to this place. He can easily be accommodated for Harijan service. 20 My activities react upon one another. Therefore if I excluded other activities my Harijan service would itself suffer. Then again I could not all the twenty-four hours of the day be doing Harijan work. That is an impossible thing; and if it was suggested that I could give up prison life which the civil disobedience movement implied, for the sake of Harijan work, it means that I should give up a life principle. Therefore I can only render this service to the best of my ability and consistently with the principles that govern my life. 21 If these few are true men and women, I am certain that they will multiply into millions. Meanwhile the remaining Congressmen will engage in various other constructive activities of the Congress such as Harijan service, communal unity, khadi production and distribution, total prohibition, boycott of foreign cloth and other goods that compete with indigenous manufactures or are otherwise detrimental to the interests of the nation, the manufacture of new goods, the improvement of the methods of indigenous manufacture, and in this connection development or resuscitation of village industries, improvement of agriculture and cattle-breeding, organization of labour unions, not for political exploitation but for the betterment of the condition of workers and improvement in the relations between capital and labour. In fact, no branch of national activity may be left untouched by the Congress. This will be possible if we will get rid of the very wrong idea that there is no other Congress activity save that of civil resistance or that the latter blocks all other activities. This will be true, perhaps when there is mass civil disobedience and the campaign has to be swift and sharp. But till that time is reached, due importance must be given to every one of nation-building activities and none should be neglected. Civil resisters represent the non-violent army of the nation. And just as every citizen cannot be a soldier on the active list, every citizen cannot be a civil resister on the active list. And if a soldier may not consider he a superior being because he fights at the risk of his life for his nation much less may a civil resister will undergoes sufferings for the sake of his nation. Those outside the rank of fighters are equally important limbs of their nation if they regard themselves as national servants dedicating their talents for the nation’s welfare, and not engaging in any activity, private or public, that may be in conflict with the national interest. 22

They are all qualifying themselves for Harijan service. I am, therefore, arranging, if possible, to send them to Wardha, where they will continue their work. 23 The third is this: I have four Europeans under training for Harijan service. They were at the Sabarmati Ashram. They are Miss Mary Barr, N. Devi, Dr. Margarete Spiegel and Mr. Duncan Green lees. They have been sent to Wardha where they would be in unfamiliar surroundings. N. Devi and Dr. Spiegel are comparative strangers to India and otherwise require delicate attention. I should like to be able to write to them and to Sjt. Vinoba who is in charge of Wardha Ashram and who is to look after them. The strain of deprivation of this work is becoming unbearable. If therefore I cannot have the permission by noon next Wednesday, I must deny myself all nourishment from that time, save water and salts. That is the only way I can fulfil my vow and also relieve myself somewhat of the strain mentioned above. I do not want the proposed suspension of nourishment in any way to act as a pressure on the Government. Life ceases to interest me if I may not do Harijan service without let or hindrance. As I have made it clear in my previous correspondence, and as the Government of India have admitted permission to render that service is implied in the Yeravda Pact to which the British Government is a consenting party, in so far as its consent was necessary. Therefore I do indeed want the permission, but only if the Government believes that justice demands it and not because I propose to deprive myself of food if it is not granted. That deprivation is intended purely for my consolation. 24

God’s ways are inscrutable! The most unexpected event of my life has happened. I have been used to the most unexpected things in the course of a very long public life, but this is the most unexpected of all. What is now in store for me? How I shall use this life out of prison, I do not know. But I must say this that whether in prison or outside prison, Harijan service will be always after my heart and will be the breath of life for me, more precious than the daily bread. I can live for some days at least without the daily bread, but I cannot live without Harijan service for one single minute. It is a constant prayer to the Almighty that this blot of untouchability may be removed in its entirety foam Hinduism and that the millions of caste Hindus may see the Sun of Truth which shines upon us, if we would only remove the scales from our eyes, as I have repeatedly said in these columns. My life is a dedication to this cause and I shall consider no penance too great for the vindication of this Truth. 25

True, while I was in Poona I did attend the informal conference and held frequent conversations with political co-workers on the subject of civil disobedience. There was no secret about it and I am not ashamed of it. Civil disobedience is an integral part of my life. But the fact is that the bulk of my time was not given to civil disobedience work. As a matter of fact, in view of the advice I tendered to the conference, it was not necessary. Then when I went to Ahmadabad, people may think that the sacrificing of the Ashram must have occupied a tremendous amount of my time, but I am again able to say that tremendous amount of my time was taken up with Harijan service. 26 I have read in the Harijanbandhu of the 27th August an article by you in which you say, “I can live some days at least without the daily bread, but I cannot live without Harijan service for one single minute.” I have observed an exaggeration of expression in many of your writings. People are often confused by utterances like this. If every moment of your life is occupied in Harijan service, how can you find time for other activities? You cannot serve two masters at one and the same time. I realize that for your life is an indivisible whole and your various activities are only different phases of it. But the masses cannot comprehend this thing. They would naturally infer from the foregoing sentence that you are going to devote the rest of your life to Harijan service. But that is incorrect, for you will no doubt take up other activities also as occasion arises. This exaggeration of expression has, I believe, even in the past created confusion in people’s minds. Therefore, if you keep more sense of proportion in your speech and writing, chances of misunderstanding could be reduced to a minimum. I have written this out of regard for you and ask to be forgiven if I am found guilty of presumption. It is not clear to me whether the correspondent is himself confounded by my ‘exaggeration’ or whether he represents the confusion of others only. I should be pained, if it is true that many are confounded by my writings. For I believe I have a keen sense of proportion. As a worshipper of Truth I must eschew all exaggeration. What I have written about Harijan service is, I believe, literally true. But Harijan service does not exclude all other service. One can devote oneself simultaneously to several things which are connected with one another.

What I have said of Harijan service can, for instance, with equal truth be said of the service of Daridranarayana also, for that service is not inconsistent with the service of the Harijans. Human life is not mechanical. To every one of us there are things as dear as life itself, and one can say that life would be impossible without them. The measure of the truthfulness of such statements would depend on the intensity of one’s devotion to the causes espoused. While in the case of some people separation from a cause claimed to be dear as life itself will not kill them, with others such a separation will be nothing less than a sentence of death. But it would be wrong to take such devotion to imply that outward activity connected with the object of devotion must go on from moment to moment. It certainly does imply that outward action must be taken whenever occasion demands it. The seed we sow in the ground does not sprout immediately, but if it is not dead, it grows every minute, though we see it as a plant or tree only after many days or months. The process of growth we see in the physical world we should expect to see in the mental and spiritual world also. The truth of my statement about Harijan service can be measured, if at all, only after my death. The full measure is known only to the all-knowing God. For He alone knows our intentions. I can, therefore, try to satisfy the correspondent, and others who think like him, only by repeating that there is no exaggeration in my claim that Harijan service is the breath of my life and that, therefore, I cannot live for one moment without it. 27

The truth of my statement about Harijan service can be measured, if at all, only after my death. The full measure is known only to the all-knowing God. For He alone knows our intentions. I can, therefore, try to satisfy the correspondent, and others who think like him, only by repeating that there is no exaggeration in my claim that Harijan service is the breath of my life and that, therefore, I cannot live for one moment without it. 28 I cannot be a willing party to an undignified cat-and-mouse game if Government has any such thing in contemplation. Therefore, when and if I am arrested again and denied Harijan service, I would not hesitate, if I had the inner urge, to undertake a fast to the finish which would not be broken even if Government released me, as they did on August 23 last, when the danger point had been reached. I would, therefore, be guilty of disloyalty to my creed, if I attempted to put greater restraint on myself than I have adumbrated in this statement If the Government leave me free, I propose to devote this period to Harijan service and if possible to such constructive activities as my health may permit. 29

It may be that the parties charged by my correspondent have not erred. Let us hope that they have not. But I know that such errors have occurred before now. Let the incident described here serve as a warning to all workers. It furnishes, in my opinion, a clear case for fasting. Harijan service is no sinecure; it is a movement for bringing about a revolutionary change in the mentality of millions of human beings. It is like walking on the edge of a sword and, therefore, requires the greatest vigilance over self on the part of the workers. 30 As to the khadi service, the correspondent’s complaint is wholly unjustified. Those who are engaged in khadi service may not very well be expected to give their time to Harijan service. But I know that the vast majority of them have no untouchability in their breasts and that they never miss an opportunity of rendering whatever personal service they can to Harijans. There is no bar to taking Harijans in Khadi service. Lastly I may state that several thousand Harijan families are being supported through the khadi organizations dotted over the whole country. 31

If you, the students who have assembled here, have followed me so far and understood the implications of this mission of mine, you will soon extend the help I want from you. Many students have written to me asking what part they can take in helping this movement. It is a surprise to me that students are obliged to ask this question. The field is so vast and near you that you need not ask the question as to what you may do and what you may not. It is not political question. It may become one, but for you and me, for the time being, it is not connected with politics. My life is governed by religion. I have said that even my politics are derived from my religion. I never lost sight of the principle that governs my life when I began dabbling in politics. As this is a humanitarian campaign, students must devote a part of their spare time, if not the whole, to the service of thousands of Harijans. By giving me this magnificent purse you have certainly equalled the brightest records of students’ meetings which I have addressed in my many peregrinations throughout the length and breadth of India. But I want much more from you. I have found that, if I get many helpers who can give their spare time, much work can be done.

This work cannot be done by hired labour. With hired labour we cannot go to Harijan quarters and sweep their roads, enter their houses and wash their children. I have described in the columns of the Harijan what students can do. A Harijan teacher has shown what a Herculean task it is for him to tackle. Even wild children are better than Harijan children. Wild children are not sunk in utter degradation, as the Harijan children are, nor do they live in such filthy surroundings. This problem cannot be tackled by hired labour. No amount of money can enable me to do hired labour. No amount of money can enable me to do this. It must be your prerogative. It is an acid test of the education received by you in schools and colleges. Your worth will not be measured by your ability to make faultless English speeches. Your worth will be measured by the service you render to the poor and not by Government posts worth Rs. 60 or Rs. 600 that you may have got. I wish you would do this work in the spirit I suggest. I have not met a single student who has said that he cannot spare one hour per day. If you write your diary from day to day, you will find that you waste many a precious hour in the 365 days of the year. If you want to turn your education to good account, you will turn your attention to this work while this hurricane campaign lasts. Erstwhile students are serving Harijans within a radius of 5 miles round about Wardha. They are doing good silent work; therefore, you do not know them. I invite you to see their work. It is hard but pleasurable. It will give you joy, greater than your cricket or tennis. I have repeatedly said that money will come if I have real, intelligent, honest workers. As a boy of 18 I began my education in begging. I have seen that money can be found easily if we have the right kind of workers. Money alone will never satisfy me. I would ask you to pledge yourselves to devote a definite number of spare hours to Harijan service. As you, Mr. President, have said, I am a dreamer. I am indeed a practical dreamer. My dreams are not airy nothings. I want to convert my dreams into realities as far as possible. Therefore, I must hasten to auction the gifts I have received from you. 32

We are the cause of the degradation to which the Harijans are reduced. We must spend money if the wrong is to be redressed. He who will give to the cause will gain. We may not be satisfied; therefore, with giving out of superfluous cash, we have to give even if we have to stint ourselves. Some of us will have to give our all for Harijan service. 33 Workers desire further elucidation than I have already given in these columns as to the mode of using the donations that are being received during the Harijan tour. I have conferred with Thakkar Bapa on the point and I can announce definitely that not less than 75 per cent will be used for Harijan service in the places where they are received, provided that a satisfactory budget is presented and the Central Board approves of it. Indeed, even the full amount will be surrendered wherever it is found necessary to do so. The only thing, therefore, to do is for workers in each centre to prepare businesslike schemes and produce honest and industrious persons for the due execution of the schemes, and the money will be forthwith coming as soon as needed. There is no desire to lock up the donations or to deflect them without cause from the places where they are collected. It is intended to keep a certain portion for the Central Board, but there, too, not for overhead charges, but for constructive work directly handled by it. 34

I am thankful to the friend for giving me the benefit of his experience. It is a most difficult task to keep a big organization like the Servants of Untouchables Society with branches all over India free of all self-seekers and time-servers. I have discussed the subject fully with Seth Ghanshyamdas and Thakkar Bapa. I know that they are both anxious to keep the organization as pure as possible. Personally I can do no more. It was because of my utter helplessness that I undertook the fast of 21 days. On discovering impurities amongst Harijan servants, I saw that it was no use merely writing about impurities. I was searching for a way out of the difficulty. The reader should believe me when I tell him that the fast was the last thing in the world that I was thinking of, but as I have described in these pages, it came to me all of a sudden and gave me great relief. I know that it did much good. But, how far could the fast of a single mortal go? Hence it was that I developed the idea of a chain of such purificatory fasts. The idea has by no means been dropped. It comes to me again and again. But it does not admit of a mechanical organization.

Several coworkers are ready to inaugurate or take part in the chain after it is inaugurated, but I have not yet found the way to begin it. The proper way will have to come to me or to the co-workers before the chain can be begun. Meanwhile I can only reiterate my conviction that untouchability will not be removed root and branch except through the service of men and women who take it up for its own sake and in a religious spirit. Unless we have a fair number of such servants throughout the length and breadth of India, we will never succeed in changing the hearts of millions of human beings. The savarna Hindus are at one end, Harijans at the other, and the evil custom of ages, which has assumed the dignity of religious tenet, will not be uprooted without penance and purification. Whilst it gladdens my heart that thousands of people flock to the meetings that are being held in towns and villages and that they willingly give their pices as a token of their approval of the movement, I am painfully conscious of the fact that, if the thousands were suddenly called upon to enforce in their own lives what they seem to approve by their attendance at these meetings, they would fail to respond, not from want of will, but from sheer inability. I have discovered this again and again amongst my closest associates who have frankly confessed their inability to enforce immediately in their conduct what they knew was the right thing and what they knew had to be done immediately. They had to put up a brave fight against their traditional repugnance.

The mere intellectual grasp that untouchability is an evil, corroding Hinduism, and that belief in it is tantamount to disbelief in God, His goodness and His Fatherhood, is not enough to destroy the monster. The vicarious penance of the comparatively pure is needed to bring about a change in the hearts of both savarnas and Harijans. A movement, so grand and so pure, so religious and so humanitarian, must not be exploited by anybody for his own end certainly, not for its political consequences. It will be discovered, as the movement progresses that the political approach can only end in accentuating the strife. It can only add to the confusion already existing and add one more, if not many more warring parties, to the existing ones. May God save us and save the movement from such a calamity! So far as the connection of civil resistance with the movement is concerned, I am as emphatic as ever that Congressman who desire to offer active civil resistance should not accept office in the various organizations, and much less can they be used for serving the purpose of civil resistance. Civil resistance is a unique weapon, it does not admit of alloy. It is a weapon of the fearless and, therefore, needs no shelter; but it has to be wielded in the open daylight.

Therefore, whilst Congressmen who are also civil resisters on active service may do, as they are bound to do, such service to the cause as they can, they may not belong to the Servants of Untouchables Society or any of its branches. By holding office in the organizations they will harm both civil resistance and the Harijan cause. It would be like a man going to a temple to pray and using the act of worship for advancing civil resistance. Neither God nor man will be cheated in that manner and, as I have said often enough in these columns, the great reformation of Hinduism will not be brought about, if it is to depend purely upon Congressmen. For, much as I would like to think that every Indian is Congressman, I know that such is not the case. Nor is every Hindu a Congressman, if only because every Harijan is not a Congressman. Therefore, a Harijan organization must in the very nature of things be strictly non-political and non–party and should contain in it both Congressmen and non-Congressmen, office-holding being restricted to those who are not active civil resisters and who will not exploit the office secretly or openly to advance the cause of civil resistance. 35

The Harijan address rightly lays stress upon the desirability that the Harijan purses collected in different parts of Tamil Nad and elsewhere should be utilized for Harijan uplift and that alone. A statement has already been made from more than one platform that not only will the bulk of money collected in districts or provinces be utilized in those provinces or districts, but that the bulk of that money will be utilized only for constructive purposes. And naturally, workers will be expected all over to keep themselves in touch with the opinion and the sentiments of Harijans as to the best manner of using the money for Harijan service. 36

A staunch Congressman as I am, for me, in connection with this Harijan service, there is no Congressman or non-Congressman; and if there is a non-Congressman who is a lover of Harijans and a lover of his religion and has capacity to work, it is the duty of Congressmen to work under him and take directions from him. If Congressmen were to limit Harijan service to them, it is easy enough to see that Hinduism will not be able to purge itself of the taint of untouchability, because thousands who don’t consider themselves Congressmen will remain outside the orbit of that service. Let it, therefore, be remembered by all those who have this cause at heart that, in a movement deeply religious, in a movement of self-purification, there is no room whatsoever for divisions. This movement has no political motive behind it, and the very best manner of our being able to show that there is no political motive behind it is to conserve our energy, bring on the same platform the energy of all those who consider it necessary to purge Hinduism of this sin of untouchability. 37 Such a rule cannot be applied to a caste Hindu or to a responsible Harijan living in the Ashram. And I am firmly of the view that nothing can be forgiven those who are responsible for the management of the Ashram. If moral laxity enters their lives, institutions of Harijan service will perish. 38

Khadi service, village service and Harijan service are all one in reality, though three in name. They are purely humanitarian services with no other aim than that of serving Daridranarayana. Harijans are the most down-trodden among the millions of Daridranarayana. Their service necessarily includes that of all. A cup of water served to a Harijan in the name of God is a cup served to all the neglected ones of humanity. With services so conceived it is wrong to associate ideas of capital and labour. From the unpaid chairmen to the salaried bearers all are servants. The funds belong to the respective trusts. All the servants, whether paid or unpaid, are subject to the rules framed from time to time by the respective boards. Where the whole idea is one of duty, there is no question of privilege. Anyone therefore in these services who think of privileges and rights is doomed some day or other to disappointment. For in these services there is no gradual betterment of the economic condition; on the contrary, there is or there soon will be a progressive renunciation of material advantage. ‘Duty will be merit when debt becomes a donation.’

Duty done is its own reward. Satisfaction there undoubtedly is in these services. But it is that of having done one’s duty. It is true that all have not approached their tasks in the spirit of pure service. Hence there have been exhibitions of distemper now and then in the oldest of the three services. The only way to avoid a repetition of these distempers is to remind ourselves that we are in these services merely to discharge our obligations to Daridranarayana, not to seek privileges. We own no master but Daridranarayana, and if for the time being we own human superiors, we do so voluntarily, well knowing that no organization can be carried on without discipline. Discipline presupposes an organizing head. He is only the first among equals. And being purely a servant, in order to be the head, he has to be the humblest of all his co servants. He is there on sufferance. But whilst he is there, he is entitled to the whole-hearted allegiance and uncomplaining obedience of all the fellow-servants. 39

There has been in Simla for the past five years the Valmiki (Harijan) Young Men’s Association. Its Honorary Director is Pt. C. V. Viswanathan. Its Honorary Secretary is Lala B. Lachman Singh Sabhotra, himself a Valmiki Harijan. It runs during summer a free night-school open to all communities. Of its twenty-one students, eight are caste Hindus. The school has three Harijan teachers teaching all castes. It has also two caste Hindu and Sikh teachers. The Headmaster is a Harijan. The Association gives free medical relief through honorary physicians. There is also a mutual aid fund. Loans are granted at one pice per rupee interest. This means 18 per cent. I regard this as exorbitant. It should be no more than 6 per cent or at the most 8 per cent. That would no doubt mean stricter scrutiny in the giving of loans. This would be all to the good. The course of every rupee given should be traced. The Association also supports a reading-room and sometimes poor stranded Harijans are permitted a shakedown of nights on its premises. I wish the Association every success. 40

Shri Narandas also suggests that one half of the amount collected may be donated to Harijan service work, one-fourth to khadi work and one-fourth to the National School. The suggestion has my approval. A total of Rs. 17,000 has already been donated to Harijan service in this manner. The quantity of yarn spun and the amount of money collected have kept on increasing from year to year. If that happens this year, too, all the three causes will receive increased aid. There is, therefore, no doubt that if the men and women engaged in Harijan and khadi service do their work conscientiously, a substantial sum of money will be collected and greater interest will be created in spinning. 41 I therefore welcome the present occasion. Janakidevi was a godly woman. She passed away a short while ago. The family she left behind is large and well known. Her sons together thought of doing some work of Harijan service in her memory. So they resolved with the concurrence of the directors of this institution to build a prayer hall. I have been entrusted with the pleasant task of laying the foundation of this prayer hall. I lay the foundation-stone in the presence of you all and hope that the prayer hall will be of benefit to the pupils of the institution. I also hope that others also will similarly honour the memory of their dear departed by undertaking work of Harijan service. 42

Along with khadi are the other cottage industries, Harijan service, and other items of constructive work, which, if solidly done will create the strength that political work, so called, cannot. That may preclude the necessity for civil disobedience and will automatically end the Hindu-Muslim tension, abolish untouchability, abolish the squabbles between the ‘leftists’ and the ‘rightists’ and break the chains of slavery. This to my mind is rashtradharma par excellence. 43 But if you have enough time on your hands and you are already doing all the spinning that would satisfy me, and if you are longing to do some additional act of service, I can suggest quite a number of things. For instance, there is Harijan service. Try to enter Harijan's life, go and stay in Harijan quarters, teach them, nurse those who are ill, show them the ways and means of improving their economic condition. All this offers a wide field of work. Thakkar Bapa is now going to spend a lot of time in Bombay. Go and seek his guidance. 44

Experience shows that propaganda among caste Hindus can only be successfully carried out by influential persons whose word carried weight with the general public. Such persons are hard to find. But it is within the capacity of every Harijan worker to carry on mute propaganda. Our caste-Hindu workers are often satisfied with mere uplift work among the Harijans, which is not sufficient. Many workers, while they do not observe untouchability themselves, are unable even to convert their own families. How then can they influence the outside world? Moreover it is my confirmed opinion that every Harijan worker has to make it a point to beg for even one pice for Harijans from those caste Hindus with whom he comes in contact. If all devoted themselves, heart and soul, to this task, very good results would ensue. 45

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