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For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Gandhian Scholar

Gandhi Research Foundation, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09415777229, 094055338

E-mail- dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com;dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net

 

 

Speech of Mahatma Gandhi in Indore

 

 

Mahatma Gandhi went to Indore and gave a speech there. Mahatma Gandhi spoke, “Our most venerable and selfless leader Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya has not found it possible to attend this conference. I had requested him to come if he could and he promised to do so. But though he has not been able to come he has sent us a letter. I was sure that in case he did not come, he would send a letter stating his views, and it would be possible for me to read it out to you. I have received the letter today. I had asked the reception committee to secure views of scholars on two questions in regard to Hindi. Panditji in his letter has replied to these two questions. The question of language presents a big and indeed a very important problem. Even if all the leaders were to devote themselves entirely to this task turning away from everything else, they well may. If on the other hand, we were to regard it as of secondary importance only and to direct our attention away from it then all the enthusiasm which people now feel for it and the keen interest they are taking in it at present would be in vain.

Language is like our mother. In fact I have no real interest in this sort of a conference. It will be a three days’ pageant after which we shall disperse, go away to our respective places and forget all that we said or heard.  What are needed are the urge and the resolve to do things. The president’s speech cannot give you that urge. It is something which you have to create for yourselves. One of the charges made against us is that our language lacks spirit. Where there is no knowledge there is no spirit. We have neither the urge to know nor to do things. It is only when we acquire dynamic energy that our people and our language also will acquire it. We cannot get the freedom we want through a foreign language for the simple reason that we are not able to use it effectively. I am pleased to know that in Indore you carry on all your dealings through Hindi. But excuse me please the letter I have received from your Chief Minister is in English. The people of Indore perhaps do not know but I will tell them that here the courts entertain petitions written in English. I ask why it should be so in Indore. I admit that this movement the movement for the adoption of Hindi cannot yet succeed in British India, but there is no reason why it should not succeed in the Indian States. The educated classes, as Pandit Malaviyaji has pointed out in his letter, have unfortunately fallen under the spell of English and have developed a distaste for their own mother tongue,. The milk one gets from the former is adulterated with water and contaminated with poison, while that from the latter is pure.

It is impossible to make any advance without this pure milk. But a blind person cannot see and a slave does not know how to break his fetters. We have been living under the spell of the English now for the past fifty years.  In the result our people have remained steeped in ignorance. The conference must give special attention to this part of the problem. We should see that within a year conditions are created when not a word of English will be heard in any of our political or social conferences, in the Congress, in the provincial assemblies and the like. Let us abandon the use of English entirely. English has attained the position of a universal language. But that is because the English have spread and established themselves throughout the world. As soon as they lose that position, English will shrink in its extent. We should no more neglect and thus destroy our own language. The English insist on speaking their mother tongue and using it for all their purposes. Let us do the same and thus raise Hindi to the high status of a national language. Only thus shall we discharge our duty to it. Now I will read out my written speech. You have done me great honour in conferring on me the presidentship of this conference. I know only too well that from the point of view of the knowledge of Hindi, my qualifications for this honour are almost nil. The only thing which may be said to qualify me for it is my boundless love of Hindi.

 I hope that I would always be able to pass this test of love. The extent of a particular literature can only be reckoned on the basis of the region where that language is spoken. If the region of Hindi remains confined to the Northern part of India, the extent of its literature must remain limited. But in case it becomes a national language, the expanse of its literature will become as wide as the country. If we want that high-souled men from the East and the West, from the North and the South, should come to take a dip in the sea of this language, it is obvious that the sea must acquire sufficient importance. Therefore the place of Hindi from the point of view of developing a national literature needs to be considered. It is necessary to give some thought to the definition of the Hindi language. I have often said that Hindi is that language which is spoken in the North by both Hindus and Muslims and which is written either in the Nagari or the Persian script. This Hindi is neither too Sanskritized nor too Persianized.

The sweetness which I find in the village Hindi is found neither in the speech of the Muslims of Lucknow nor in that of the Hindu pundits of Prayag. The language which is easily understood by the masses is the best. All can easily follow the village Hindi. The source of the river of language lies in the Himalayas of the people. It will always be so. The Ganga is arising with the village Hindi which will flow on forever, while the Sanskritized and Persianized Hindi will dry up and fade away, as does a rivulet springing from a small hillock. The distinction made between Hindus and Muslims is unreal. The same unreality is found in the distinction between Hindi and Urdu. It is unnecessary for Hindus to reject Persian words and for Muslims to reject Sanskrit words from their speech. A harmonious blend of the two will be as beautiful as the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna and last forever. I hope that we will not waste our energy and weaken our strength by entering into the Hindi-Urdu controversy. There is, no doubt, difficulty in regard to script. As things are, Muslims will patronize the Arabic script, while Hindus will mostly use the Nagari script. Both scripts will therefore have to be accorded their due places. Officials must know both scripts. There is no difficulty in this. In the end, the script which is the easier of the two will prevail.

There is no doubt that there ought to be a common language for mutual intercourse between the different parts of India. Once we forget the Hindi-Urdu controversy, we shall realize that for Muslims throughout India Urdu is the lingua franca. This proves that since Moghul times, Hindi or Urdu was well on its way to becoming the national language of India. Even today, there is no language to rival Hindi in this respect. The question of national language becomes quite easy of solution once we give up the Hindi-Urdu controversy. Hindus will have to learn some Persian words while Muslims will have to learn some Sanskrit words. This exchange will enrich and strengthen the Islamic language and provide a very fruitful means for bringing Hindus and Muslims closer together. In fact we have to work so hard for dispelling the present fascination for the English language that we must not raise the Hindu-Urdu controversy. Nor must we fight over the script. Why English cannot become our national language, what harm results from the imposition of English on our people, how our people have suffered and their development has been retarded by the adoption of English as the medium of education. I have dealt with in my speeches at Broach and Bhagalpur.

 I will not therefore repeat myself here. Indeed there is no doubt that Sir Rabindranath Tagore, Smt. Besant, Lokamanya Tilak and other respected and influential persons entertain similar views regarding this question. There will certainly be difficulties in the way of the achievement of our purpose but it will be for this body to tackle them. Lokamanya Tilak has indeed expressed his views in this regard not only in words but also in action by starting a Hindi section in his papers the Kesari and The Mahatma. The views of Bharat ratna Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya on this question are well known. Still, unfortunately, some of our learned leaders hold that for at least some years to come English must remain the national language. We will respectfully request these leaders to consider that this unreasonable attraction for English is causing much hardship to our people, as they get little benefit out of the knowledge of their English-educated countrymen between whom and them a wide gulf has been created through English. It is unnecessary to say that I do not hate the English language.

I myself have benefited from many of the precious gems of the great treasure of English Literature. We have also to acquire knowledge of science and suchlike through the English Language. Knowledge of English is therefore necessary for us. But it is one thing to give it its due place and quite another to make a fetish of it. It is clear that our purpose will not be achieved merely by accepting that Hindi-Urdu should be our national language. We have to consider how we may achieve this goal. The scholars who have graced this assembly by their presence will certainly have something to say on this point. I will make a few suggestions on how we may spread this language. There must first be a handy book--sort of a “Hindi Teacher” which will meet the needs of those who want to learn Hindi. I have seen a small book of this type for those who want to learn Hindi through Bengali. There is one in Marathi also. But I have not seen any such books for other regional languages. This is as easy to do as it is necessary.

I hope that this Sammelan will soon take up this work. Of course, these books should be written by learned and experienced writers. The greatest difficulty will be felt in the case of the Southern languages. No effort whatever in this direction has yet been made there. We must train good Hindi teachers to take up the work. There is a great scarcity of such teachers.  I have secured one such teacher from Prayag through your popular secretary, Bhai Purushottamdas Tandon. Similarly, I have not yet seen a single complete grammar of the Hindi language. Such as exist in English and have been written by foreigners. One of these grammars is by Dr. Kellogg. There must be a good Hindi grammar which can compare favorably with similar grammars of other Indian languages. It is my humble request to scholars who love Hindi to make up this deficiency. In our national Councils Hindi alone should be used. Congress workers and leaders can and should do much in this respect. I would suggest that this Conference should make a request to this effect to the Congress at its next session. In our legislative bodies to the entire proceedings should be conducted through the national language. Our people cannot have training in political affairs so long as this is not done. Our Hindi newspapers are doing something in this respect but the education we want to be imparted to our people cannot be given through translations.

Similarly in our courts to the national and provincial languages must be used. Under the existing set-up people are being deprived of the education which they can easily receive from those who administer justice. The Princes can promote the national language in a way in which the English Government cannot. In the Holkar State, for example, in the Council and in the courts, Hindi and the provincial language alone can be used. The encouragement they thus give to the national language will go a long way in helping it progress. In the schools of this State the entire education from the beginning to the end should be imparted through the mother tongue. In this way our Princes can render much service to the language. I hope that Maharaja Holkar and his officials will take up this work enthusiastically. It will be a sad delusion to think that we can achieve our objective merely through conferences. Single-minded devotion and constant application alone will bring success. Only when hundreds of selfless scholars regard this work as their own can it be accomplished.

What I regret is that even the provinces which have Hindi for their mother tongue do not seem to show any enthusiasm for its promotion and propagation. The educated classes in these provinces continue to use English for purposes of conversation and correspondence. A friend has written to me that our newspaper proprietors do all their work in English; they keep their accounts, too, in English. Englishmen living in France use their mother tongue in all their dealings. Is it not a pity that we carry on even some of our most important activities in English? It is my humble but firm opinion that unless we give Hindi its national status and the provincial languages their due place in life of the people, all the talk of swaraj is useless. It is my fervent hope and prayed to God almighty that this Sammelan may be an instrument for the solution of this great question confronting India.”1

Mahatma Gandhi spoke, “We often think that changes of the kind that take place in Europe will also occur in India; that when some big transformation comes about, people who know beforehand how to prepare themselves for it win through and those who fail to take account of this are destroyed; that mere movement is progress and that our advancement lies in it. We think that we shall be able to progress through the great discoveries that have been made in the continent of Europe. But this is an illusion. We are inhabitants of a country which has so long survived with its own civilization. Many a civilization of Europe is destroyed, but India, our country, survives as a witness to its own civilization. All scholars agree in testifying that the civilization of India is the same today as it was thousands of years ago. But, now, there is reason to suspect that we no longer have faith in our civilization. Every morning we do our worship and prayer, recite the verses composed by our forbears, but we do not understand their significance. Our faith is turning in another direction. So long as the world goes on, the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas will also continue. The books of almost all the religions say that the war between the gods and Satan goes on forever.

The question is how we are to make our preparations. I have come here to tell you that you should have faith in your civilization and keep to it steadfastly. If you do this, India will one day hold sway over the entire world.  Our leaders say that, in order to fight the West, we have to adopt the ways of the West. But please rest assured that it will mean the end of Indian civilization. India’s face is turned away from your modern trend; that India you do not know. I have travelled much and so come to know the mind of India and I have discovered that it has preserved its faith in its ancient civilization. The swaraj of which we hear will not be achieved the way we are working for it. The Congress-League Scheme, or any other scheme which is even better, will not get us swaraj. We shall get swaraj through the way in which we live our lives. It cannot be had for the asking. We can never gain it through copying Europe. That European civilization is Satanic we see for ourselves. An obvious proof of this is the fierce war that is going on at present. It is so terrible that the Mahabharata War was nothing in comparison. This should be a warning to us and we should remember that our sages have given us the immutable and inviolate principles that our conduct should be godly and that it should be rooted in dharma.

We should follow these principles alone. So long as we do not follow dharma, our wish will not be fulfilled, notwithstanding all the grandiose schemes we may devise. Even if Mr. Montagu offers us swaraj today we can in no way benefit from that swaraj. We must make use of the legacy left us by our rishis and munis. The whole world knows that the tapasya that was practiced in ancient India is found nowhere else. Even if we want an empire for India, we can get it through no other method but that of self378 discipline. We can be certain that once the spirit of discipline comes to pervade our lives, we shall be able to get anything we may want. Truth and non-violence are our goal. Non-violence is the supreme dharma; there is no discovery of greater import than this. So long as we engage in mundane actions, so long as soul and body are together, some violence will continue to occur through our agency. But we must renounce at least the violence that it is possible for us to renounce. We should understand that the less violence a religion permits, the more is the truth contained in it. If we can ensure the deliverance of India, it is only through truth and non-violence.

Lord Willington, the Governor of Bombay, has said that he feels greatly disappointed when he meets Indians for they do not express what is in their minds but only what would be agreeable to him, so that he never knows the real position. Many people have this habit of hiding their own sentiments while in the presence of an important person and suiting their talk to his pleasure. They do not realize how cruelly they deceive themselves and harm the truth. One must say what one feels. It is impertinence to go against one’s reason. One must not hesitate the least to tell what one feels to anyone, be he a Minister of the Government or even a more exalted person. Deal with all with truth and non-violence. Love is a rare herb that makes a friend even of a sworn enemy and this herb grows out of non-violence. What in a dormant state is non-violence becomes love in the waking state. Love destroys ill will. We should love all—whether Englishmen or Muslims. No doubt, we should protect the cow. But we cannot do so by fighting with Muslims. We cannot save the cow by killing Muslims.. We should act only through love; thus alone shall we succeed. So long as we do not have unshakeable faith in truth, love and non-violence, we can make no progress. If we give up these and imitate European civilization, we shall be doomed. I pray to Suryanarayan1 that India may not turn away from her civilization. Be fearless. So long as you live under various kinds of fears, you can never progress, you can never succeed. Please do not forget our ancient civilization. Never give up truth and love. Treat all enemies and friends with love. If you wish to make Hindi the national language, you can do so in a short time through the principles of truth and non-violence.”2

 

References:

 

  1. Speech of Mahatma Gandhi in Indore, March 29, 1918
  2.    Speech on Indian Civilization, March 30, 1918

 

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