Question Box and Mahatma Gandhi- I

[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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Question Box and Mahatma Gandhi- I

 

 

In spite of my weekly warning, correspondence continues to be almost as heavy as before. I have no time to go through it all. Pyarelal puts before me those letters which he thinks I must see. I have therefore suggested to him that he should prepare from the mass of correspondence questions which he may consider to be of general importance and I should deal with them from week to week. I hope that the correspondents and the readers will appreciate the effort.

Q. Your Constituent Assembly will be elected by a vast majority of illiterate and ignorant voters who would vote for one side or another because that side is led by persons who cry slogans palatable to them. In such circumstances would not the decision of the Assembly be a farce, a tyranny of numbers? Why cannot you settle by a discussion in the Press, or on the platform or in a private conference?

A. There is risk always in every big experiment, but in my opinion it is the least in the proposed method. Underlying the proposal is the faith that the majority of candidates will be enlightened and selfless workers. In that case the elections will be concentrated political education on a stupendous scale. There is no question of tyranny of numbers. There is undoubtedly the risk of ignorant voters being betrayed into a wrong choice. Nevertheless the decision will be the verdict of the people. Discussion in the Press and on the platform cannot replace the elective method. The decision of a private conference will represent only those who compose it. What is wanted is not necessarily a wise but a representative decision. Today many societies claim to speak in the name of the masses. When the Constituent Assembly comes into being, it will silence all voices and be the sole instrument voicing the opinion of the nation.

Q. Is not Subhas Babu right when he ascribes to the High Command, including of course you, the reformist and the liberal tendency?

A. Of course he is right. Dadabhai was a great reformist. Gokhale was a great liberal; and so was Pherozeshah Metha, the uncrowned king of the Bombay Presidency. So too was Surendranath Banerjee. They were in their days the nation’s tribunes. We are their heirs. We would not have been if they had not been. What Subhas Babu in his impatience to go forward forgets is that it is possible for men like me to compete with him in the love of the land in spite of our having reformist and liberal tendencies. But I have told him he has youth before him and he must have the dash of youth. He is not held down by me or anybody else. He is not the man to be so held. It is his own prudence that holds him and in that way he is as much reformist and liberal as I am. Only I with my age know it, and he in his youth is blind to the good that is in him. Let my correspondents rest assured that, in spite of our different outlooks and in spite of the Congress ban on him, when he leads in non-violent battle they will find me following him, as I shall find him following me, if I overtake him. But I must live in the hope that we shall gain our common end without another fight.

Q. You say millions are unarmed and unused to wielding arms. But what is the difficulty, when India is free, in training the whole nation in the use of arms by means of universal conscription?

A. Of course in theory there is nothing to prevent the training by universal conscription. Only I think that the people of this land would not take to arms easily even though conscription may be resorted to. In any event arming of the millions, or even a few, is outside my province. It is repugnant to me. But what I would conscript is productive labour skilled and unskilled. This, I hold, would be the easiest and the most effective method of organizing society on a peaceful footing.

Q. The Independence pledge regarding khadi and village industries has been variously interpreted. What is one to do? What is the meaning of ‘regular spinning’, ‘habitual use of khadi’ and of ‘village products’? Is it enough for me to fulfil the pledge, or does it applies to my family? What am I to do if I cannot afford to buy khadi for the whole family?

A. The Independence pledge has been made optional this time. The papers report that it has been taken by lakhs of men and women. I hope the reports are true. My own barometer is khadi sales. The pledge can be taken even now. I admit that it is capable of yielding various interpretations. But so are the Vedas. The authoritative interpretation can be given only by the Rashtrapati; I do not propose to give you my own. You should be your own interpreter. Remember, where there’s a will there’s a way. Of course it is better if your whole family takes the pledge. But you are not your brother’s keeper. So far as your purse is concerned, see if your wardrobe admits of reduced clothing whilst many millions go about in rags. I have a suspicion that many of my questioners have superfluous things which they consider necessary for appearances. Appearances are not for those who want to sacrifice themselves for their own and their country’s freedom. I have also suggested that those who cannot pay the full price of khadi can get it almost at mill price if they will spin their own yarn. Lastly, you need not take the pledge now. You can take it when you have prepared yourself for it. What is most needed is uttermost sincerity. Letters like yours fill me with hope. I can raise an indomitable army out of sincere men and women who are willing to come under discipline.

Q. How do you connect the wheel with swaraj? We were producing our own khadi when we lost our freedom. A. We did not then know the priceless of the charkha. Now that we know it, we must restore it to its honoured place in our homes. Supposing people who have their rifles with them lose both their freedom and their rifles, will it be proper for them to resist the counsel of a wise man who might rise in their midst and advise them to rearm themselves, with the knowledge added to the rearmament that they were foolish in easily surrendering their rifles? I verily believe that we cannot gain or retain our freedom by non-violent means unless we realize the necessity and the dignity of reviving the charkha with all its implications.

Q. I am a poor man employed in a mill. I am in a great fix. Whenever I go out, the sight of a fair face overwhelms me. I lose all self-control. I sometimes fear that I might be betrayed into indecorous behaviour. I once thought of committing suicide. But my good wife saved me. She suggested that I should take her with me whenever I stirred out of the house. The plan has worked but it is not always practicable. In desperation I often think that I should pluck out my offending eyes. But the consideration for my wife has deterred me. You are a man of God. Can’t you suggest a remedy?

A. You are honest and frank. You should know that there are many people in the same plight as you are. This lusting with the eye is a common disease. It is on the increase. It has even attained a kind of respectability. This, however, should be no consolation to you. You have a brave wife. You dare not be unfaithful to her. And lusting after another woman is the height of unfaithfulness. It reduces marriage to a mockery. You should resolutely fight against the enemy. Treasure the thought that all other women are like blood-sisters to you. Give up the lewd literature, cinemas and lewd pictures that disfigure the Press. Walk with your eyes fixed to the earth; and whilst you are doing so pray to the God within that He may cleanse your heart, and believe that He will deliver you from the curse. If necessary, wear thickly smoked glasses. You will find in them a first-class external aid. There is really nothing to admire in the big cities with their oppressive hugeness and congestion and the same noises, and the same faces day in and day out. If we were not victims of the mighty force of inertia, our senses would sicken over the repetition of the same ugly phenomenon. In the daytime bury yourself in the duty before you, and at night do a little bit of star-gazing with the aid of a simple astronomical guide, and you have before your eyes a spectacle which no cinema in the world can provide; and, it may be, you will one day find God peeping through the myriads of stars, and if you attune yourself to the divine nightly manifestation, you will hear the soft and soothing music of the spheres. Try this every night and your eyes will act right and your heart will be sound. May God bless you?

Q. I can quite understand your emphasis on the exclusive use of certified khadi. But certified khadi is dear. The result is that while on the one hand there are thousands of people who are too poor to purchase certified khadi, on the other there are thousands of spinners whom the A. I. S. A. cannot give employment on account of the standard wage. Would it not be advisable under the circumstances to employ the surplus spinners on a lower wage, pool the standard-wage and the non-standard-wage khadi, and thus at one stroke provide cheap khadi to the poor consumer and employment to the needy spinner?

A. This is a good question. The executive of the A. I. S. A. is wide awake. Every effect of the arbitrary rise in the spinners’ wages is being watched. The question of pooling has not escaped attention. Every effort is being made to keep prices within reach of the buyers. Selfish purveyors of uncertified khadi and the gullible or indifferent public are the greatest obstacle. The A. I. S. A. has to cut its difficult way through these obstacles.

Q. You have claimed the Congress members to be the spokesmen of the poor, toiling millions of India. How can you expect the representatives of the poorest, who must themselves be likewise poor, to pay the delegate’s fee of Rs. 5? Does it then mean that the poor millions must choose their representatives from among the monied class? Is this your ideal of democracy?

A. My ideal of democracy is quite sound. Without the delegate’s fee the Congress cannot work. The fee also acts as some check on fraud. Every delegate has a large constituency. If the delegate is a bona-fide choice of the voters, they should find the delegate’s fee and expenses. If the voters paid one pice per head for the expenses of their delegate, it would be possible for the poorest delegate to represent them. The fact is that the Congress is neither sufficiently democratic nor representative. There is too much wire pulling and maneuvering for seizing power rather than doing service. Congressmen have gone in for vastness at the expense of depth. The result is that we are skating on dangerously thin ice.

Q. I have a difficulty with you. You are out to conquer the whole world with love. How is it you could not conquer your own son? You believe in the doctrine of beginning with yourself. Why not begin with your son? There is no such thing as an irredeemably bad boy. I am sure you will succeed if you try.

A. You are right. But I have admitted my limitations. Complete non-violence, i.e., complete love, never fails. You may also know that I have not despaired of my son regaining his sanity. Superficially I seem to have hardened my heart. But my prayer for his reformation has never ceased. I believed in its efficacy and I have patience.

Q. In a book entitled published by the Arya Sahitya Mandal Ltd., Ajmer, on page 30, I have come across the following statement which you are alleged to have made during your recent tour of the Frontier Province : “The Pathan raiders have two kinds of needs, the physical, viz., those relating to food, clothing and shelter, and the sexual. The Hindus, therefore, ought to offer them all their property and womenfolk so that they might be satiated and give up their raiding habits.” On page 31 of the same pamphlet it is stated that at the instance of Sir Akbar Hydari you wrote to the Vice-Chancellor of the Nagpur University not to admit to his University the students who had been rusticated from the Osmania University for singing Vandemataram. But the latter gave you a snub by retorting: “I am the Vice-Chancellor of the University, not you; I know my duty,” and gave admission to the students in question. If these facts are true, they are a serious reflection on you. What have you to say in reply?

A. My answer is that every one of the statements is a malicious falsehood. I know that there is a campaign of lying propaganda going on against me. It grieves me, however, to find that an Arya Samaj publication should propagate such untruths. There is a bhajan in the Ashram Bhajanavali in which we pray for those that detract us or I can say in the Biblical language: “Father forgives them for they know not what they do.” The pity is that these friends of whom you write know what they are doing. My prayer goes out for them also. Lies have never hurt those against whom they are uttered. They do hurt those who utter them and they often confound society. The writer has libeled the Pathan and Sir Akbar. Badshah Khan, the servant of God, is a Pathan. Sir Akbar is not so simple as to expect me to do what is attributed to him.

Q. In your article “Sindh Tragedy” you have advised the oppressed Hindus of Sindh to perform hijrat if they cannot protect their honour and Self-respect by remaining in Sindh. Where do you expect them to go? Who will provide them the wherewithal in their place of refuge? May I further ask you if the remedy of hijrat is meant for the Hindus only? Why do not you advise hijrat to the Mussalmans in the Congress provinces who complain so loudly of ‘oppression’? As it is you have given them weight age in provinces in which they are in a minority and a statutory majority in the Punjab where they are numerically superior.

A. My advice to migrate is for all who feel oppressed and cannot live without loss of self-respect in a particular place. If the Muslims where they are in a minority were really oppressed and they sought my advice, I should give them the same advice that I have given to the Sindh Hindus. But as a general rule they are capable of holding their own even when they are in a minority. I have already told the Sindhis that, if they have the bravery to defend themselves even though they are a handful, they should not leave the places where they are settled. My advice is meant for those who, though they are conscious of self-respect, lack the strength that comes from nonviolence or the capacity to return blow for blow.

The question what the refugees should do after migration is surely secondary. A few thousand of them can be easily absorbed in a vast country like India. Sindhis are enterprising. They are scattered all over the world. I hardly think any public appeal will be necessary. Let them know that there are refugees from Limbdi who are bravely and silently bearing their exile. A keen sense of honour turns every privation into a joy. But perhaps migration will be unnecessary. I see signs of Muslim leaders realizing their responsibility and making arrangements to create among the Hindus concerned a sense of security. If this happens, it would be as it should be. The question of my befriending the Ali Brothers is surely irrelevant to the great issue I have raised. I am not sorry for anything I have done in connection with communal unity. I should repeat the same thing under similar circumstances. Neither community has lost by the unity of the Khilafat days, temporary though it unfortunately proved to be. You are wrong in holding me responsible for the communal decision. It has nothing to commend itself to any community except the solid fact that we are living under it and that we have not yet found an agreed formula to replace it.

 

Reference:

Harijan, 3-2-1940