Collected Works/Volume 16/Speech At Gujarati Political Conference I (3rd November 1917)

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SPEECH AT GUJARATI POLITICAL CONFERENCE-I[1]
[GODHRA,]
November 3, 1917
Lokamanya B. G. Tilak[2] having arrived late for the opening session, Gandhiji remarked:,
I am not responsible for his being late. We demand swaraj. If one does not mind arriving late by three-quarters of an hour at a conference summoned for the purpose, one should not mind if swaraj too comes correspondingly late.
Gandhiji then read his speech.[3]
BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
I am thankful to you all for the exalted position to which you have called me. I am but a baby of two years and a half in Indian politics.[4] I cannot trade here on my experience in South Africa. I know that, in these circumstances, acceptance of the position is to a certain extent an impertinence. I have accepted it, all the samc, unable to resist the pressure of your overwhelming affection.
I am conscious of my responsibility. This Conference is the first of its kind in Gujarat. The time is most critical for the whole of India. The Empire is labouring under a strain never before experienced. My views do not quite take the general course. I feel that some of them run in the opposite direction. Under the circumstances, I am hardly qualified for this privileged position. The president of a meeting is usually its spokesman. I cannot pretend to lay any such claim. It is your kindness that gives me such a unique opportunityof placing my thoughts before the Gujarat public. I do not see anything wrong in these views being subjected to criticism, dissent and even emphatic protest. I would like them to be freely discussed. I will only say with regard to them that they were not formed today or yesterday. But they were formed years ago. I am enamoured of them, and my Indian experience of two years and a half has not altered them.
I congratulate the originators of the proposal to hold this conference as also those friends who have given practical shape to it. It is a most important event for Gujarat. It is possible for us to make it yield very valuable results. This conference is in the nature of a foundation, and if it is well and truly laid, we need have no anxiety as to the superstructure. Being in the nature of a foundation, it carries a heavy responsibility. I pray that God may bless us with wisdom and that our deliberations will benefit the people.
This is a political conference. Let us pause a moment over the word “political”. It is, as a rule, used in a restricted sense, but I believe it is better to give it a wider meaning. If the work of such a conference were to be confined to a consideration of the relations between the rulers and the ruled, it would not only be incomplete, but we should even fail to have an adequate conception of those relations. For instance, the question of mahwa flowers[5] is of great importance for a part of Gujarat. If it is considered merely as a question between the Government and the people, it might have unhappy consequences or we might fail in our aim. If we considered the genesis of the law on mahwa flowers and also appreciated our duty as individuals in this matter, we would, very probably, succeed sooner in our fight with the Government than otherwise and easily discover the key to successful agitation. You will more clearly perceive my interpretation of the word “political” in the light of the views I shall place before you.
Conferences do not, as a rule at the end of their deliberations, leave behind them an executive body, and even when such a body is[6]appointed,itis,to use thelanguageofthelateMr. Gokhale, composed of men who are amateurs; What we need is men who would make it their business to give effect to the resolutions of such conferences. If such men come forward in great numbers, then and then only will such conferences be a credit to the country and produce lasting results. At present there is much waste of energy. It is desirable that there should be many institutions of the type of the Servants of India Society. Only when men, fired with the belief that service is the highest religion, come forward in great numbers, could we hope to see great results. Fortunately, India is richly endowed with the religious spirit, and if it is realized that in the present age service of the motherland is the best religion, religiously inclined men and women would take part in public life in larger numbers. When sages and saints take up this work, I believe India will achieve her cherished aims quite easily. At all events, it is incumbent on us that, for the purposes of this conference, we form an executive committee whose business it would be to enforce its resolutions.
The air in the country is thick with cries of swaraj. It is due to Mrs. Besant[7] that swaraj is on the lips of hundreds of thousands of men and women. What was unknown to most men and women only two years ago, has, by her consummate tact and her indefatigable efforts, become common property for them. There cannot be the slightest doubt that her name will take the first rank in history among those who inspired us with the hope that swaraj was attainable at no distant date. Swaraj was, and is, the goal of the Congress. The idea did not originate with her.[8] But the credit of presenting it to us as a goal realizable in the immediate future belongs to that lady alone. For that we could hardly thank her enough. By releasing her and her associates, Messrs Arun dale[9] and Wadia[10],[11] Government havelaid us underan obligation, and at
the same time acknowledged the just and reasonable nature of the agitation for swaraj.[12] It is to be wished that the Government extend the same generosity towards our brothers, Mahomed Ali[13] and Shaukat Ali[14]. It is not necessary to inquire how much of what Sir William Vincent[15] has said about them needs to be looked into. It is to be hoped that the Government will accede to the people’s desire for their release and leave it to them to see that no untoward results follow. This will place the people under a still greater obligation. The act of generosity will be incomplete so long as these brothers are not released. The grant of freedom to the brothers will gladden the people’s hearts and endear the Government to them.[16]
Mr. Montagu will shortly be in our midst. The work of taking signatures to the petition[17] to be submitted to him is going on apace. The chief object of this petition is to educate the people about swaraj. To say that literacy is essential for achieving swaraj betrays ignorance of history. It is not necessary for the purpose of inculcating among people the idea that we ought to manage our own affairs. What is essential is the idea, the desire itself. Hundreds of unlettered kings have ruled kingdoms with great success. To see how far such an idea exists in the minds of the people and to try to create it where it is absent is the object of this petition. It is desirable that millions of men and women should sign it with the fullest understanding of what it means. That such a largely signed petition will naturally have its due weight with Mr. Montagu is its natural result.
No one has the right to alter the scheme of reforms[18] approved by the Congress and the Moslem League, and one need not, therefore, go into the merits thereof. For our present purposes, we have to understand thoroughly the scheme formulated most thoughtfully by our leaders and, putting our faith in them, do whatever is necessary to get it implemented.
This scheme is not swaraj, but is a great step towards swaraj. Some English critics tell us that we are not fit to enjoy swaraj, because the class that demands it is incapable of defending India. “Is the defence of India to rest with the British alone?” they ask, “and are the reins of Government to be in the hands of the Indians ?” Now this is a question which is both amusing and painful. It is amusing because our British friends fancy that they are not of us, whilst our plan of swaraj is based upon retention of the British connection. We do not want the Englishmen who have settled here to leave this country. They will be our partners in swaraj. And they will have nothing to complain about if, in such a scheme, the burden of the defence of the country falls on them. They are, however, hasty in assuming that we shall not do our share of defending the country. When India decides to acquire military strength, she will attain it in no time. We have but to harden our feelings to be able to strike. To cultivate a hardened feeling does not take ages. It grows like weeds. The question is painful, because it puts in mind the fact that the Government have up to now debarred us from military training. Had they been so minded, they would have had at their disposal today, from among the educated classes, quite a large army. Government have to accept a larger measure of blame than the educated classes for the latter having taken little part in the War. Had the Government policy been shaped differently from the very beginning, they would have today an unconquerable army. But let no one be blamed for the present situation. At the time the British rule was established, it was considered a wise policy for the governance of crores of men to deprive them of arms and military training. But it is never too late to mend, and both the rulers and the ruled must immediately repair the omission.
In offering these views I have assumed the propriety of the current trend of thought. To me, however, it does not appear to be tending altogether in the right direction. Our agitation is based on the Western model. The swaraj we desire is of a Western type. As a result of it, India will have to enter into competition with the Western nations. Many believe that there is no escape from this. I do not think so. I cannot forget that India is not Europe, India is not Japan, India is not China. The divine word that “India alone is the land of karma[19], the rest is the land of bhoga (enjoyment),” is indelibly imprinted on my mind. I feel that India’s mission is different from that of other countries. India is fitted for the religious supremacy of the world. There is no parallel in the world for the tapascharya that this country has voluntarily gone through. India has little use for steel weapons; it has fought with divine weapons; it can still do so. Other nations have been votaries of brute force. The terrible war going on in Europe furnishes an irrefutable proof of this. India can conquer all by soul- force. History supplies numerous instances to prove that brute force is nothing before soul-force. Poets have sung of this and men of wisdom have said so. A thirty-year-old youth behaves like a lamb before his eighty-year-old father. This is an instance of love-force. Love is atman[20]: it is the very property of atman. If we have faith enough, we can wield that force over the whole world. Religion having lost its hold on us, we are without an anchor to keep us firm amidst the storm of modern civilization, and are, therefore, being tossed to and fro. I shall return to this idea at a later stage.
These views of mine notwithstanding, I have joined the swaraj movement, for India is being governed at present under a modern system. The Government themselves believe that the “Parliament” is the best form of that system. Without such a parliament, we should have neither the modern nor the ancient form. Mrs. Besant is only too true when she says that we shall soon be facing a hunger-strike, if we do not have Home Rule. I do not want to go into statistics. The evidence of my eyes is enough for me. Poverty in India is deepening day by day. No other result is possible. A country that exports its raw produce and imports it back as finished goods, a country which, though growing its own cotton, has to pay crores of rupees to outsiders for its cloth, cannot be otherwise than poor. A country, in which it is considered extravagance to spend on marriages, etc., can only be described as poor. It must be a terribly poor country that cannot afford to spend enough in carrying out improvements for stamping out epidemics like the plague. In a country whose officials spend most of their earnings outside, the people are bound to grow poorer day by day. What are we to say of the poverty of a country whose people, during cold weather, burn their precious manure for want of woollen clothing in order to warm themselves? Throughout my wanderings in India I have rarely, seen a face exuding strength and joy. The middle classes are groaning under the weight of awful distress. The lowest orders have nothing but the earth below and the sky above. They do not know a bright day. It is pure fiction to say that India’s riches are buried underground, or are to be found in her ornaments. What there is of such riches is of no consequence. The nation’s expenditure has increased, not so its income. Government have not deliberately brought about this state of things. I believe that their intentions are sincere. It is their honest opinion that the nation’s prosperity is daily growing. Their faith in their Blue-books is immovable. It is only too true that statistics can be made to prove anything. The economists deduce India’s prosperity from statistics. People like me who follow rough and ready ways of reckoning shake their heads over Blue-book statistics. If the gods were to come down and testify otherwise, I would insist on saying that I see India growing poorer.
What then would our Parliament do if we had one? When we have it, we would have a right to commit blunders and to correct them. In the early stages we are bound to make blunders. But, we, being children of the soil, won’t lose time in setting ourselves right. We shall, therefore, soon find out remedies against poverty. Then our existence won’t be dependent on Lancashire goods. Then we shall not be found spending untold riches on building Imperial Delhi. It will, then, be in keeping with the cottages of India. There will be some proportion observed between that cottage and our Parliament House. The nation today is in a helpless condition; it does not possess even the right to err. He who has no right to err can never go forward. The history of the Commons is a history of blunders. Man, says an Arabian proverb, is error personified. The freedom to err and the power to correct errors is one definition of swaraj. Having a parliament means such swaraj.
We ought to have Parliament this very day. We are quite fit for it. We shall, therefore, get it on demand. It rests with us to define “this very day”.
Swaraj is not to be attained through an appeal to the British democracy, the British people. They cannot appreciate such an appeal Its reply will be: “We never sought outside help to obtain swaraj. We achieved it with our own strength. You have not received it because you do not deserve it. When you do, nobody can withhold it from you.”
How then shall we fit ourselves for it? We have to demand swaraj from our own people. Our appeal must be to them. When the peasantry of India understands what swaraj is, the demand will become irresistible.
The late Sir W. W. Hunters[21] said that, in the British system, victory on the battle-field was the shortest way to one’s goal. If educated India had, silently, taken its full share in the present War, I am certain that we would not only have reached our goal already, but the manner of it would have been altogether unique.
We often refer to the fact that many sepoys of Hindustan have lost their lives on the battle-fields of France and Mesopotamia. The educated classes cannot claim the credit for this. They were not sent out by us, nor did they join up through patriotism. They know nothing of swaraj. At the end of the War they will not ask for it. They have gone to demonstrate that they are faithful to the salt they eat. In asking for swaraj, I feel that it is not possible for us to bring into account their services. The only thing we can say is that we are not to blame for not being able to take a big part in the prosecution of the War.
That we have been loyal at a time of stress is no test of fitness for swaraj. Loyalty is no merit. It is a necessity of national existence all the world over. That loyalty can be no passport to swaraj is a self- demonstrated maxim.
Our fitness lies in that we now keenly desire swaraj, and in our clearly realizing that bureaucracy, although it has served India with best intentions, has had its day. And this kind of fitness is sufficient for our purpose. Without swaraj there is now no possibility of peace in India.
But if we confine our activities for advancing swaraj only to holding meetings, the nation is likely to suffer harm. Meetings and speeches have their own place and time. But they cannot make a nation.
In a nation fired with the zeal for swaraj, we should observe an awakening in all departments of life. The first step to swaraj lies in the individual. The great truth, “As with the individual, so with the Universe,” is applicable here as elsewhere. If we are ever torn by conflict from within, if we are ever going astray, and if instead of ruling our passions we allow them to rule us, swaraj can have no meaning for us. Government of self, then, is the first step.
Then the family. If dissensions reign supreme in our families, if brothers fight among themselves, if members of a family cannot live together; if joint families, i.e., families enjoying self-government, become divided through family quarrels, how can we be considered fit for swaraj ?
Now for caste. If caste-fellows become jealous of one another, if the castes cannot manage their affairs in an orderly manner, if the elders claim especial importance, if the members become self- opinionated and thus show their unfitness for self-government in this limited sphere, how can they be fit for national government ?
After caste, the city. If we cannot regulate the affairs of our cities, if our streets are not kept clean, if our homes are dilapidated and if our roads are crooked, if we cannot command the services of selfless citizens for civic government, and those who are in charge of affairs are neglectful or selfish, how shall we claim larger powers?
The way to national life lies through the cities. It is, therefore, necessary to linger a little longer on this subject. The plague has found a home in India.[22] Cholera has been always with us. Malaria takes an annual toll of thousands. The plague has been driven out from every other part of the world. Glasgow stamped it out the moment it made its appearance there. In Johannesburg it could appear but once.[23] Its municipality made a great effort and stamped it out within a month, whereas we are able to do nothing about it. We cannot blame the Government for this state of things. To tell the truth, we cannot even blame it on our poverty. None can stand in our way in any remedies that we may wish to adopt. Ahmedabad, for instance, cannot evade responsibility by pleading poverty. I am afraid that in regard to the plague, we must shoulder the entire responsibility. It is very significant that when the plague is working havoc in our ruralquarters, cantonments as a rule remain free. The reasons are obvious. In the cantonments the air is pure, houses detached, roads are wide and clean and the sanitary habits of the residents wholesome, whereas ours are as unhygienic as they well could be. Our closets are as filthy as hell. In a country in which ninety per cent of the population go barefoot, people spit anywhere and perform natural functions anywhere and we are obliged to walk on roads and paths thus dirtied. It is no wonder that the plague has found a home in our midst.
Unless we alter the conditions in our cities, rid ourselves of our dirty habits and have improved latrines, swaraj can have no value for us.
It will not be out of place here to refer to another matter. We regard men who render us most useful service, Bhangis, as untouchables. The result has been that we let them clean only a part of our closets. In the name of religion, we ourselves would not clean the places for fear of pollution and so, despite our reputation for personal cleanliness, a portion of our houses remains the dirtiest in the world, with the result that we grow up in an air which is laden with disease germs. We were safe so long as we kept to our villages. But in the cities we are ever committing suicide by reason of our insanitary habits.
Where large numbers suffer living death, it is very likely that people know neither true religion nor right action and conduct. I believe that it ought not to be beyond us to banish the plague from India, and if we can do so, we shall have so increased our fitness for swaraj, as it cannot be by any agitation, howsoever powerful. This is a question meriting the serious consideration of our doctors and vaidyas[24].
Not far from here is the holy centre of pilgrimage, Dakor. I have visited it. Its unholiness is limitless. I consider myself a devout Vaishnava[25]. I claim, therefore, a special privilege of criticising the condition of Dakorji. The insanitation of that place is so great that one used to hygienic conditions can hardly bear to pass even twenty-four hours there. The pilgrims pollute the tank and the streets as they choose. The keepers of the shrine quarrel among themselves and, to add insult to injury, a receiver has been appointed to take charge of the jewellery and costly robes of the idol. It is our clear duty to set matters right. How shall we, Gujaratis, out to have swaraj, fare as soldiers in the army fighting for it, if we cannot put our own house in order?
To think of the state of education in our cities also fills us with despair. It is plainly our duty by our own effort to provide education to the masses. But our gaze is fixed upon Government, whilst thousands of children go without education.
In the cities the drink-evil is on the increase, tea-shops are multiplying, gambling is rampant. If we cannot remedy these evils, how can we attain swaraj ? Swaraj means managing our own affairs.
We are approaching a time when we and our children may have to go without milk altogether. Dairies, here in Gujarat, are doing us infinite harm. They buy out practically the whole milk-supply and produce butter, cheese, etc., for sale. How can a nation whose nourishment is chiefly derived from milk permit itself to be deprived of this important article of food? How can men be so selfish as to be heedless of the national health and think of enriching themselves through commercial exploitation of an article of diet ? Milk and its products are of such paramount value to the nation that they deserve to be controlled by the municipalities. What are we doing about them?
I have just returned from the scene of Bakr-i-Id riots. For a trivial cause, the two communities fell out with each other, mischie- vous men joined in the fray and a mere spark became a blaze. We found ourselves helpless. We have been obliged to depend entirely upon Government assistance. This shows how crippled we are.
It will not be inopportune to dwell for a moment on the question of cow-protection. It is an important question. And yet it is left to be solved by cow-protection societies. Protecting the cows seems to be an ancient practice. It originated in the special needs of this country. Protection of its cows is incumbent upon a country 90 per cent. of whose population lives upon agricu-lture and needs bullocks for it. In such a country, even meat-eaters should abstain from beef-eating. These natural causes should be enough justification for not killing cows. But here we have to face a peculiar situation. The chief meaning of cow-protection seems to be to prevent cows from falling into the hands of our Muslim brethren and being used as food. The rulers need beef. On their account thousands of cows are slaughtered daily. We do nothing to prevent this slaughter. We hardly make any attempt to prevent the cruel torture of cows by certain Hindus of Calcutta, who subject them to a practice known as “blowing” and make them yield the last drop of milk. In Gujarat, Hindu cart-drivers use sharp goads to drive bullocks. We say nothing about this. The condition of bullocks in our cities is pitiable. Indeed, protection of the cow and her progeny is a very great problem. By making it a pretext for quarrelling with the Muslims, we have only ensured greater slaughter of cows. It is not religion, but want of it, to kill a Muslim brother in order to save a cow. I feel sure that if we were to discuss the matter with our Muslim brethren in the spirit of love, they also would appreciate the peculiar condition of India and readily co-operate with us in the protection of cows. By courtesy and through satyagraha, we can bring them to join that mission. But, in order to be able to do this, we shall have to understand the question in its true bearing. Instead of killing our brethren, we should be ready to die ourselves. But we shall be able to do this only when we understand the real value of the cow and have pure love for her. Success in this will ensure several things simulta-neously. Hindus and Muslims will live in peace, the cow will be safe, milk and its products will be available in a pure condition and will be cheaper than now, and our bullocks will become the envy of the world. If our tapascharya is pure, we shall succeed in stopping slaughter of cows, whether by the British, Muslims or Hindus. Even this one achievement will bring swaraj nearer.
Many of these issues arise out of civic government. We can clearly see from this that our running the Government of India is dependent upon our upright management of civic affairs. It will not be incorrect to say that practically there is no swadeshi movement in the country. We do not realize that this movement almost holds the key to swaraj. If we have no regard for our own language, if we feel aversion to cloth made in our country, if our dress repels us, if we are ashamed to wear the sacred shikha[26], if our food is distasteful to us, even our climate is not good enough, our people uncouth and unfit for our company, our civilization ugly and the foreign attractive, in short, if everything native is bad and everything foreign pleasing to us, I do not know what swaraj can mean for us. If everything foreign is to be adopted, surely it will be necessary for us to continue long under foreign tutelage, for so far foreign ways have touched the masses but little. It seems to me that, before we can appreciate swaraj, we should have not only love but passion for swadeshi. Every act of ours should bear the swadeshi stamp. Swaraj can only be built upon the assumption that most of what is national is, on the whole, sound. If the view here put forth be correct, we should have a big movement in our country for swadeshi. Every country that has carried on a move-ment for swaraj has fully appreciated the swadeshi spirit. Scottish Highlanders hold on to their kilts even at the risk of their lives. We humorously call them the“petticoat brigade”. But the whole world testifies to the strength that lies behind that “petticoat” and the Highlanders of Scotland will not abandon it, even though it is an inconvenient dress, and an easy target for the enemy. I don’t wish to suggest that we should treasure our faults, but that what is national, even though not rich in excellences, should be adhered to, and that what is foreign should be avoided though one may succeed well enough in adopting it. That which is wanting in our civilization can be supplied by proper effort on our part. I do hope that the swadeshi spirit will possess every member in this assembly; if they all take the vow of swadeshi and observe it in the face of any difficulty or inconvenience, swaraj will be easy of attainment.
The foregoing illustrations go to show that our movement should be twofold. We may petition the Government, we may agitate in the Imperial Council for our rights; but for a real awakening of the people, the more important thing is activities directed inwards. There is a possibility of hypocrisy and selfishness tainting activities directed outwards. There is very much less danger of this in activities of the other kind. Not only will the former not be justified unless balanced by the latter, they may even be barren of res-ults. It is not my contention that we have no activities at all directed inward, but I submit that we do not lay enough stress upon them.
One sometimes hears it said, “Let us get the government of India in our own hands; everything will be all right afterwards.” There could be no greater superstition than this. No nation has gained its independence in this manner. The splendour of the spring is reflected in every tree, the whole earth is then filled with the freshness of youth. Similarly, when the spring of swaraj is on us, a stranger suddenly arriving in our midst will observe the freshness of youth in every walk of life and find servants of the people engaged, each according to his own abilities, in all manner of public activities.
If we admit that our progress has not been what it might have been, we should also admit two reasons for this. We have kept our women away from these activities of ours and have thus become victims of a kind of paralysis. The nation walks with one leg only. All its work appears to be only half or incompletely done. Moreover, the educated section, having received its education through a foreign tongue, has become enervated and is unable to give the nation the benefit of such ability as it acquires. I need not reiterate my views on this subject, as I have elaborated them in my address[27] at the Gujarat Educational Conference. It is a wise decision, that of conducting the proceedings of this conference in Gujarati, and I hope that nothing will induce the people of Gujarat to change it.
The educated class, lovers of swaraj, must freely mix with the masses. We dare not turn away from a single section of the community or disown any. We shall make progress only if we carry all with us. Had the educated class identified itself with the masses, Bakr-i-Id riots would have been an impossibility.
Before coming to the last topic, it remains for me to refer to certain events as a matter of duty and to make one or two suggestions.
Every year the god of death exacts his toll from among our leaders. I do not intend to mention the victims claimed by this god all over India during the last 12 months. But it is impossible to omit reference to the sage-like Grand Old Man[28] of India. Who am I to estimate the value of his services to the country ? I am no more than one who sat at his feet. I paid my respects to him when I went to London as a mere lad. I came to revere him from the very moment I waited upon him with a letter of introduction.[29] Dadabh-ai’s flawless and uninterrupted service to the country, his impartia-lity, his spotless character, will always furnish India with an ideal to follow. May God give him peace! May He grant his family and the Nation the ability to bear the loss. We can immortalize him by making his character our own, by copying his manner of service and by enthroning him for ever in our hearts. May the great soul of Dadabhai watch over our deliberations !
It is our duty to express our thanks to His Excellency the Viceroy for having announced the decision of the Government of India to abolish the customs levy on the border [between Saurashtra and British Indian territory] at Viramgam. This step should have been taken earlier. The people were groaning under the weight of this impost. It cost large numbers their trade. It has caused much suffering to many women. The decision does not seem to have been brought into effect. It is to be hoped that it will soon be.
I have submitted through the Press my experiences about the hardships of third-class railway passengers.[30] They are, indeed, past endurance. The people of India are docile and trained in silent suffering. Thousands, therefore, put up with the hardships, but they remain unredressed. There is, indeed, merit in such suffering, but it must have its limits. Submission out of weakness is unmanliness. That we tamely put up with the hardships of railway travelling is a sign of our unmanliness. These hardships are of two kinds, those which are due to the remissness of railway administration and those occasioned by the carelessness of the travelling public. The remedies are also, therefore, twofold. Where the railway administration is to blame, complaints should be addressed to it by everyone who suffers. This may be done even in Gujarati. The matter should be ventilated in the Press. Secondly, where the public are to blame, the wiser among passengers should inculcate manners upon their ignorant companions and enlighten them on their carelessness and dirty habits. This will require volunteers. Everyone can do his share according to his ability,
and leaders might, in order to appreciate the difficulties of third-class travelling, resort to it from time to time without making themselves known and bring their unhappy experiences to the notice of the administration. If these remedies are adopted, we should, in a short time, see great changes.
A committee had been appointed in London to consider certain measures about the supply of indentured labour to Fiji and the other sister islands. The views of that committee have been officially published and the Government of India have invited the opinion of the public upon them. I need not dwell at length upon the matter as I have submitted my views already through the Press. I have given it as my opinion that the recommendations of the committee, if adopted, will result in a kind of indenture. We can, therefore, only come to one conclusion. We do not want to see labourers emigrating under bondage in any shape or form. There is no need for such emigration. The only thing required is a complete repeal of the law of indenture. It is no part of our duty to look to the convenience of the Colonies.
I come now to the last subject. There are two methods of attaining one’s goal. Satyagraha[31] and duragraha[32]. In our scriptures, they have been described, respectively, as divine and devilish modes of action. In satyagraha, there is always unflinching adherence to truth. It is never to be forsaken on any account. Even for the sake of one’s country, it does not permit resort to false-hood. It proceeds on the assumption of the ultimate triumph of truth. A satyagrahi does not abandon his path, even though at times it seems impenetrable and beset with difficulties and dangers, and a slight departure from that straight path may appear full of promise. Even in these circumstances, his faith shines resplendent like the midday sun and he does not despond. With truth for sword, he needs neither a steel sword nor gun- powder. Even an inveterate enemy he conquers by the force of the soul, which is love. Love for a friend is not put to the test. There is nothing surprising in a friend loving a friend; there is no merit in it and it costs no effort. When love is bestowed on the so-called enemy, it is tested, it becomes a virtue and requires an effort, and hence it is an act of manliness and real bravery. We can cultivate such an attitude even towards the Government and, doing so, we shall be able to appre- ciate their beneficial activities and, as for their errors, rather than feel bitter on their account, point them out in love and so get them rectified. Love does not act through fear. Weakness there certainly cannot be. A coward is incapable of bearing love, it is the prerogative of the brave. Looking at everything with love, we shall not regard the Government with suspicion, nor believe that all their actions are inspired with bad motives. And our examination of their actions, being directed by love, will be unerring and is bound, therefore, to carry conviction with them.
Love can fight; often, it is obliged to. In the intoxication of power, man fails to see his error. When that happens, a satyagrahi does not sit still. He suffers. He disobeys the ruler’s orders and his laws in a civil manner, and willingly submits to the penalties of such disobedience, for instance, imprisonment and gallows. Thus is the soul disciplined. In this, one never finds that one’s time has been wasted and, if it is subsequently realized that such respectful disobedience was an error, the consequences are suffered merely by the satyagrahi and his co-workers. In the event, no bitterness develops between the satyagrahi and those in power; the latter, on the contrary, willingly yield to him. They discover that they cannot command the satyagrahi’s obedience. They cannot make him do anything against his will. And this is the consummation of swaraj, because it means complete independence. It need not be assumed that such resistance is possible only against civilized rulers. Even a heart of flint will melt in the fire kindled by the power of the soul. Even a Nero becomes a lamb when he faces love. This is no exaggeration. It is as true as an algebraic equation. This satyagraha is India’s distinctive weapon. It has had others but satyagraha has been in greater use. It is an unfailing source of strength, and is capable of being used at all times and under all circumstances. It requires no stamp of approval from the Congress or any other body. He who knows its power cannot but use it. Even as the eyelashes automatically protect the eyes, so does satyagraha, when kindled, automatically protect the freedom of the soul.
But duragraha is a force with the opposite attributes. As we saw earlier, the terrible War going on in Europe is a case in point. Why should a nation’s cause be considered right and another’s wrong because it overpowers the latter by sheer brute force? The strong are often seen preying upon the weak. The wrongness of the latter’s cause is not to be inferred from their defeat in a trial of brute strength, nor is the rightness of the strong to be inferred from their success in such a trial. The wielder of brute force does not scruple about the means to be used. He does not question the propriety of means, if he can somehow achieve his purpose. This is not dharma but the opposite of it. In dharma, there can be no room for even a particle of untruth or cruelty, and no injury to life. The measure of dharma is love, compassion, truth. Heaven itself, if attained through sacrifice of these, is to be despised. Swaraj is useless at the sacrifice of truth. Such swaraj will ultimately ruin the people. The man who follows the path of duragraha becomes impatient and wants to kill the so-called enemy. There can be but one result of this. Hatred increases. The defeated party vows vengeance and simply bides its time. The spirit of revenge thus descends from father to son. It is much to be wished that India never gives predominance to this spirit of duragraha. If the members of this assembly deliberately accept satyagraha and chalk out its programme accordingly, they will reach their goal all the more easily for doing so. They may have to face disappointment in the initial stages. They may not see results for a time. But satyagraha will triumph in the end. The duragrahi, like the oilman’s ox, moves in a circle. His movement is only motion but it is not progress. The satyagrahi is ever moving forward.
A superficial critic of my views may find some contradiction in them. On the one hand, I appeal to the Government to give military training to the people. On the other, I put satyagraha on the pedestal. Surely, there can be no room for the use of arms in satyagraha? Of course there is none. But military training is intended for those who do not believe in satyagraha. That the whole of India will ever accept satyagraha is beyond my imagination. A cowardly refusal to defend the nation, or the weak, is ever to be shunned. In order to protect an innocent woman from the brutal design of a man, we ought to offer ourselves a willing sacrifice and by the force of love conquer the brute in the man. Lacking such strength, we should employ all our physical strength to frustrate those designs. The satyagrahi and the duragrahi are both warriors. The latter, bereft of his arms, acknowledges defeat, the former never. He does not depend upon the perishable body and its weapons, but he fights on with the strength of the unconquerable and immortal atman. Anyone who is neither of the two is not a man, for he does not recognize the atman. If he did, he would not take fright and run away from danger. Like a miser his wealth, he tries to save his body and loses all; such a one does not know how to die. But the armoured soldier always has death by him as a companion. There is hope of his becoming one day a satyagrahi. The right thing to hope from India is that this great and holy Aryan land will ever give the predominant place to the divine force and employ the weapon of satyagraha, that it will never accept the supremacy of armed strength. India will never respect the principle of might being right. She will ever reserve her allegiance to the principle: “Truth alone triumphs.”
On reflection, we find that we can employ satyagraha even for social reform. We can rid ourselves of the many defects of our caste system. We can resolve Hindu-Muslim differences and can solve political problems. It is all right that, for the sake of convenience, we speak of these things as separate subjects. But it should never be forgotten that they are all closely inter-related. It is not true to say that neither religion nor social reform has anything to do with politics. The result obtained by bringing religion into play in the field of politics will be different from that obtained otherwise. When thinking of political matters, we cannot ignore 56,000 ignorant sadhus living as wandering mendicants. Our Muslim brethren cannot lose sight of their fakirs. Nor can we be unmindful of the condition of our widows and the custom of child marriage and the Muslims of the custom of purdah. The two communities cannot, likewise, shut their eyes to scores of questions that arise between them.
Indeed, our difficulties are Himalayan. But we have equally potent means at our disposal for overcoming them. We are children of an ancient nation. We have witnessed the burial of civilizations: those of Rome, Greece and Egypt. Our civilization abides even as the ocean in spite of its ebbs and flows. We have all we need to keep ourselves independent. We have great mountains and rivers. We have the matchless beauty of nature, and the sons and daughters of this land have handed down to us a heritage of deeds of valour. This country is the treasure-house of tapascharya. In this country alone do people belonging to different religions live together in amity and the gods of all are venerated. If, despite all this bounty, we fail to work a miracle, bring peace to the world and conquer the British through the play of moral force in our life, we shall have disgraced our heritage. The English nation is full of adventure, the religious spirit guides it, it has unquenchable faith in itself, it is a nation of great soldiers, it treasures its independence; but it has given the place of honour to its commercial instinct, it has not always narrowly examined the means adopted for seeking wealth. It worships modern civilization. The ancient ideals have lost their hold upon it. If, therefore, instead of imitating that nation, we cherish our past and sincerely value our strength, trust firmly in its supremacy, we shall know how to take the best advantage of our connection with the British and so make it profitable to us, to them and to the entire world. I pray to the Almighty that this assembly may play its part in this great work and thereby shed lustre upon itself, upon Gujarat, and upon the whole of India.
[From Gujarati]
Mahatma Gandhini Vicharsrishti

Footnotes

  1. ↑ This was Gandhiji’s presidential address at the first Political Conference to be held in Gujarat. It lasted three days and was largely attended by cultivators, petty traders and small land-holders.
  2. ↑ Bal Gangadhar Tilak (l856-1920); great Indian political leader, scholar and writers popularly known as ‘Lokamanya’; one of the founders of the Deccan Education Society, Poona and of the newspapers the Kesari and the Mahratta; suffered six years’ deportation for his criticism of the Government; took active part in the Home Rule campaign.
  3. ↑ The translation which follows is reproduced from Speeches and Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, with some changes intended to bring it into closer conformity with the Gujarati original.
  4. ↑ Gandhiji had returned to India on January 9, 1915.
  5. ↑ Used for preparing a sort of country liquor
  6. ↑ Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915); Indian leader. patriot and politician; was associated with the Indian National Congress since its inception. and presided over its Benares session in 1905; founded the Servants of India Society at Poona to train men prepared to dedicate their lives to the cause of the country in a religious spirit; visited South Africa in 1912 at Gandhiji’s invitation.
  7. ↑ Annie Besant (1847-1933); British theosophist, orator and writer; founded the Theosophical Society in 1907; established the Indian Home Rule League in 1916; presided over the Indian National Congress in 1917, edited a daily, New India, and The Commonweal, a weekly; author of
  8. ↑ The Religious Problem in India and other books
  9. ↑ Gandhiji evidently had in mind, Dadabhai Naoroji who, in 1906, first used the word swaraj to define the goal of the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta Session.
  10. ↑ G. S. Arundale was the head of the Society for the Promotion of National Education organized by Annie Besant. He took active part in the Home Rule movement and suffered internment.
  11. ↑ B. P. Wadia organized the Home Rule League and took active part in Home Rule movement.
  12. ↑ Mrs. Besant and her associates had been interned at Coimbatore and Ootacamand on June 15, 1917. They were released on September 16 in pursuance of the new British policy embodied in the Montagu declaration of August 20.
  13. ↑ Editor of The Comrade, an English weekly; was imprisoned, soon after the out-break of World War, for publishing an article entitled “Evacuate Egypt”; along with his brother, he was interned in October 1914; attended the second Round Table Conference in London.
  14. ↑ Editor of Hamdard, suffered internment along with his younger brother, Mahomed Ali.
  15. ↑ Sir William Henry Hoare Vincent; distinguished Indian Civil Servant; Member of the Executive Council of the Governor-General of India, 1917; Member of the India Council, 1923-31
  16. ↑ The Ali brothers were finally released on December 25, 1919, under the amnesty granted by the Royal Proclamation.
  17. ↑ The reference is to the Home-Rule Petition; vide “Petition to E.S.Montagu”, Before 13-9-1917 A memorandum was also presented by a joint Congress-League deputation to Montagu and Lord Chelmsford on November 26; vide Appendix “Congress-League Address”, 26-11-1917.
  18. ↑ This scheme of political reforms was originally drawn up and published, towards the end of 1916, by 19 members of the Imperial Legislative Council. Briefly, it sought to subordinate the Executive to the Legislature. The scheme came up for discussion at the sessions of the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League at Lucknow in December 1916. Elaborated and revised, the scheme, as accepted by both bodies in the wake of the Lucknow Pact, provided for the creation of a non-official majority in the Legislative Councils. Vide “The Congress-League Scheme”,
  19. ↑ Action in pursuance of one’s duty
  20. ↑ The self unidentifiable with any aspect of human individuality, the soul
  21. ↑ Sir William Wilson Hunter (1840-1900); Indian administrator and member of Bri tish Com mitte e of the Ind ian Nat ional Con gress ; vid e Vol . “Sp eech at Lon don Far ewell ”, 29- 11-19 06 and “Letter to Lord Ampthill”, 4-8-1909.
  22. ↑ Plague appeared in a serious form in 1917 and, between July of that year and June 1918, accounted for over 8,00,000 deaths.
  23. ↑ In 1904; vide “Plague in Johannesburg”, 9-4-1904 ,“The Plague”, 2-4-1904 and “History of the Plague in Johannesburg”, 28-10-1905
  24. ↑ Physicians practising Ayurveda, an indigenous system of medicine
  25. ↑ Devotee of Vishnu, one of the Hindu Trinity, and His incarnation, Krishna; a follower of the bhakti or devotional cult
  26. ↑ Tuft of hair at the back of the head kept by orthodox Hindus
  27. ↑ Vide “Speech at Second Gujarat Educational Conference”, 20-10-1917.
  28. ↑ Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917).
  29. ↑ Gandhiji sought his counsel and help during his public life in South Africa. Vide An Autobiography, Part I, Ch. XXV.
  30. ↑ Vide “Letter to the Press on Third Class Travelling on Indian Railways”, 25- 9-1917.
  31. ↑ Literally, “holding to truth”, pursuit of a right cause, a method of political agitation which found expression later in successive civil disobedience campaigns in India.
  32. ↑ Pursuit of a wrong cause or in a manner unworthy of the cause
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