Mahatma Gandhi’s Discussion with Workers of Agra

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

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Mahatma Gandhi’s Discussion with Workers of Agra

 

Workers from Agra and the districts who were over 31 in number, met Gandhiji at his residence in an informal gathering...”It is so late in the day and we have so few trained workers for khadi work; what can we do?” they bitterly complained to Gandhiji. Gandhiji, as he proceeded to lay bare his grief to them sharply retorted: Whose fault? By the sheer strength of its size and numbers the U.P. can dictate terms to the whole of India. What is then the meaning of this helplessness which I see before me? A Kripalani from Sind can today come and create in your midst a splendid field for khadi works. Round about you are the specter of starvation and want. Look how people are dying on all sides without anyone to give them even a decent cremation. You have an unlimited opportunity for khadi work before you, if only you knew how to use it. If you believe that the cure for starvation lies in khadi, you will not mind whether you are many or whether you are few. You will forge ahead with your work in the fullness of faith without flagging or looking back. In things like this it is the quality of work that tells in the long run. After reciting his South African experiences he proceeded: You say you have the workers, but I make you a sporting offer. I am prepared to place all my present companions at your disposal. They know carding and spinning. I shall shift for myself without their services, if you think that you need them for teaching you spinning and carding.... “If we send all our best workers into khadi work, “they objected, “it would either mean a complete paralysis of our political activity, or if with the khadi work they carry on their political activity, the latter will jeopardize the former, as in the event of their arrest their khadi work would come to a standstill and the public would lose confidence in the movement.” That shows that you have not yet learnt the A. B. C. of the soldier's art. A soldier never worries as to what shall happen to his work after him, but thinks only of the immediate duty in front of him. Garibaldi never thought about his crops, when he left his farm and his plough in response to the call of duty. General Smuts never paused to think of his splendid practice at the bar or of his still more precious farm when he joined the fight. Botha had a flock of 40 thousand sheep. They did not worry him when he plunged into the life-and death struggle. Neither of these great generals doubted that if their property was seized by the enemy, as in fact it was, it would only be for the time being, and was bound to be ultimately restored to them or their descendants when the fighting was over. Even so ought to be the case with khadi workers. As for the public viewing with distrust an enterprise whose conductors were liable to be marched off to jail for its cause, what is likely to happen is just the reverse. When public opinion is sufficiently roused, far from condemning the jail-going worker, it would be the shirker who would find it morally impossible to stay outside the jail. The last question asked by the workers was as to how they could utilize the services of their womenfolk for the movement. “By freeing them from the incubus of purdah, ”replied Gandhiji and proceeded to describe vividly how the backward condition of the women in the U.P. was due to her subjection by man and how she would respond the moment her disabilities in this respect were removed. 

Reference:

Young India, 26-9-1929