For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Mangaldas Pakvasa 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

Mangaldas Pakvasa and Mahatma Gandhi

Mangaldas Pakvasa, solicitor; President, Bombay Legislative Council, 1937-47; became Governor of Central Provinces and Berar in 1947; helped in drawing up the Trust Deed for the original Nature Cure Trust in 1945. Dhirubhai told me that you had to get yourself operated upon for hernia. All of us felt worried on hearing this. Dhirubhai said that you had become quite weak. Write and give full details. May God restore your strength soon. 1 Kumarappa tells me that you have given up earning money for good and have resolved to devote the rest of your life to service. May you remain loyal to your noble resolve! Such self-sacrifices are certainly needed. I suppose our forefathers must have had a similar motive in entering the vanaprastha. I hope to receive an exhaustive note from you regarding the Nariman affair. After all you were the President. 2

I only knew from a newspaper yesterday, as we were nearing Kalyan Junction, of the wrath that has descended on you. However, God’s wrath is in fact an expression of His kindness. He takes back what He had given. I don’t wish, therefore, to offer you any condolences. On the contrary, I want a promise from you that you will not lose fortitude. May this loss increase your devotion to service. 3 I got your letter too late to be able to send you my blessings on the 3rd. You did not give either your son’s or his bride’s name. The marriage celebration must have passed off without any trouble. Please convey my blessings to both. May both of them devote themselves to service and may God grant them long lives. 4 Don’t you think I have beaten you? You were only able to sign, but I have been able to write two lines also. 5

Both are useful. I hope to reach there on the 9th. I shall return at the earliest on the 10th. If you can get time while I am there, please do come and see me. Otherwise write to me at Sevagram and ask for power of attorney of any kind you need. It is a matter of satisfaction that your health is improving, though slowly. 6 Amritlal must declare how he got possession of the papers? I have had a discussion with Bapa. Hope you are in excellent health. 7 It was of course my fault that I misunderstood what you said. I beg your forgiveness for that. However, though my misunderstanding you two may be pardonable, whose forgiveness am I to ask for having taken interest in your story of a theft and the remarks I made on hearing the report? It has relieved me somewhat to know that Jinnah Saheb has punished me fairly well for that. But for me this punishment is not enough. The alternating improvement and worsening in your health is not a good sign. Please do take care. 8

You are needlessly alarmed. There is no question of my doing anything. However, Bapa and you may try to convince me that I have done nothing wrong. For my part, I see my error clearly enough. But I will be glad if it can be proved an illusion. May not your sensitive heart be the cause of the repeated set-backs in your health? Harden your heart. 9 I hope your health is perfectly all right. I am enclosing herewith the Trust-deed of the Nature Cure Clinic. The necessary changes are already included in it. But I am having them typed separately and enclosed herewith. Incorporate them in the Trust-deed and get it signed by the Trustees who are present. Ghanshyamdas will sign it when he comes here. The changes in the aims were not covered by the talk I had with Ghanshyamdas. So I have taken his permission. If you want to see it, I shall send it. I would like to get this Trust-deed translated into Hindi and feel that it would be better if it is registered in Hindi. If you cannot get it translated there, then send it to me after finalizing it. I shall get it translated. I would appreciate it if you did not take so long over it as I did. 10

You have sent the draft quite promptly and I have sent it to Dr. Dinshaw Mehta for his perusal. As regards the Managing Trustee, I think it would be better to adhere to the original draft which I have already sent. For the intention in that regard is that as long as he is alive and in a fit condition, he himself should remain the Managing Trustee. It is for this purpose that we are taking all this trouble. The third clause should remain as revised by you. It would be bothersome to send it to Allahabad for having it translated into Hindustani. Supposing we had it translated into Gujarati? 11 I am sending herewith the Dinshah Trust-deed. After examining it, translate it only into English. I will not burden you just now with making a Hindi translation. If you approve of the contents, make other documents in the mother tongue or in the national language. I have been giving you a good deal of trouble. I cannot help it. 12 Many Provincial governments permit the sale of cloth under licences. They have now amended the terms. A copy of the amendment introduced by the C. P. Government is enclosed. In my view a product like khadi cannot be, ought not to be, licensed. A leading counsel in South Africa with a flourishing practice had told me that one must proceed on the assumption that every tangible wrong had a remedy in law and search for it, assured that it would be found. This had appealed to me very much, and I had always relied on it in my work in South Africa and succeeded in finding the remedies. I believe the principle is true in India, too. I have not read all the laws, but I feel that a law which applies to a mill-owner worth millions cannot apply to khadi. If you see the definition of a ‘dealer’, you will observe that it must include ‘business’. There is no trace of ‘business’ in khadi, for all processes relating to it merely ensure a livelihood to those who make a living through khadi. I have alluded to this argument merely as a suggestion to you. You will also see that the Government is empowered to grant exemption to anybody. This is not a matter of law, as yet. I draw your attention to it. You may write to Jajuji for any further information which you cannot get locally. What I want you to do is this. Consult anybody whom you wish to and then write to the Government yourself, or request the counsel whom you consult to do so. If, however, you feel that whatever representation is to be made should be addressed by Jajuji as Secretary, we shall do that. Send copies to Jajuji and me of any correspondence that you have. And if you decide to write to the Government directly from there, send the letter after showing the draft to me. I still cherish the belief that I may be able to suggest some improvements. We should write immediately to the Provincial Government or to the Central Government, whichever you decide. I have already addressed a communication to the Central Government as President of the Charkha Sangh. A copy is enclosed. I have even received an acknowledgement of the letter. The copy is only for your information for the present. We do not wish to give publicity to this matter in newspapers just now or let everybody know about it. Probably you know that by adopting such a procedure I had been able to save the Charkha Sangh during Linlithgow’s tenure. Let us see what happens this time. I am entrusting this important task to you relying on the assurance you have given to me that you intend to use your ability and prestige as a lawyer, not for money but entirely for public service. And that is what you have been doing for some time. Isn’t that the best way for everybody to use their talents? If you want any further information, please write to me. The matter is urgent, since they have already started issuing licences. I forgot about one thing. Khadi is facing a special danger, namely, the U. P. Government’s objection to our practice of demanding yarn worth some pice from the buyers for khadi worth every rupee. The objection seems to me ridiculous and harmful from every point of view. However, please consider along with the other issue whether such an objection can be sustained in law. In my view this is a secondary matter and can be easily dealt with. The chief thing is that khadi must not be considered as falling within the scope of the licensing law. We have even stores which sell less than 1,000 rupees worth of khadi every month. To require a licence for sale of khadi is to put a restraint over the production of khadi, i. e., over the poor. 13

I see you are working at great speed. I on my part am doing what I can from here. I have gone through Motilal’s and your opinion. I agree with it. But there is one thing neither of you appear to have considered. The words are: “one should not refuse to sell [khadi] which is worth buying”. Now the question is which khadi should be considered “worth buying”. One might say that the khadi which had been produced according to the conditions laid down by me was “worth buying”. Isn’t that so? Why can’t I say that I will sell my khadi only to the person who pays me the highest price for it? This gives rise to many more questions but I do not wish to discuss them. They are irrelevant at the moment. But I have been forced to write this because it is not irrelevant to point out the snag which I notice and which prevents me from publishing your views. So if it can be put right, I would of course like to get it done, so that it can be published. But if there is something wrong in my way of thinking, I should not proceed with it for the moment. I hope to reach there by the morning train on the 19th. Sardar and others will be with me. I shall leave for Wardha on the 20th evening now about Munshi. I did not like the article you showed me which appeared in the Chronicle. I found malice in it. Munshi had come here on business of his own. I asked him about it. He showed me the mistakes in the article and there were other defects also. Even if Jawaharlal had sent a message, Munshi did not get it. Afterwards Jawaharlal also came and when I asked him he said that he did not have the slightest recollection of having sent a message. He might have told somebody to send one but it was of no value. The gist of this is that there is very little truth in newspapers and they are full of falsehood. If a man acts believing in their veracity he must lose. I certainly do not wish to see you lose. 14

I have your opinions. It was good that you sent copies of the opinions to Jajuji. I shall now see what can be done. 15 I am sending you the draft of the Trust Deed of the Panchgani property and all the details of the auction sale carried through the High Court. The rest you will be able to obtain from the High Court itself. And whatever you cannot get now, you will be able to get from there when it is available. If, however, I can supply anything, please let me know. The Trust Deed must be in Gujarati or Marathi or Hindustani and if it is in Hindustani, it should be in Nagari and Urdu scripts but not in English. We have adopted this as our policy. Afterwards you will have to show to Mavalankar the final draft which emerges. Shantilal insists that this should be done. I hope you are keeping good health. Observe the rules. 16 I do not like your falling ill again and again. There is no hurry about the Trust work. Do it at your leisure. 17

Reference: