Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  The British government's declaration of 6 December raised a life and death issue for Assam and the NWFP If the Congress accepted the Mission's interpretation of the grouping clauses, Assam, where the Hindus and Congress constituted the majority, and NWFP, where an elected Congress government was in place, would pass into the control of the Muslim League government in Bengal and in Punjab which were both wedded to Pakistan. On the other hand, if they refused to abide by the decision of the Congress, it would be construed as a betrayal of the Congress, and would wreck the Constituent Assembly and thereby play into the hands of the Muslim League. As always, whenever they were caught in a bind, the Congress leaders ran to Gandhi for advice. This time they wished to bring him back to New Delhi to assist in the negotiations where they found themselves hemmed in by an ever tightening ring of steel. Gandhi's advice was clear. Rightly or wrongly, the Congress had come to the decision that it would stand by the decision of the federal court. It had to play the game even against heavily loaded dice and lose if necessary. 'The decision of the Federal Court will go against the Congress interpretation of Grouping as far as I can make out, for the simple reason that the British Cabinet says it has got legal advice which upholds their decision. The Federal Court is the creation of the British. It is a packed Court.

  'No one can force Assam to do what it does not want to do. It should lodge its protest, retire from the Constituent Assembly, and frame its own constitution as an autonomous unit. Not only a Province but even a single individual can rebel against the Congress and by doing so serve it, assuming that the individual or the Province is in the right. I have done so myself. That would be the kind of Satyagraha against the Congress for the good of the Congress.... For the independence of India it is the only condition. Each unit must be able to decide and act for itself'. But if Assam and the NWFP kept out of the section, the Muslim League would not come into the Constituent Assembly. And if, inspite of the League's boycott the Congress went ahead and framed a constitution for an independent India, HMG would not take any notice of it and the Constitution would remain a dead letter.

  Nehru and his party continued to hold consultations with Gandhi and tried their best to convince him to return to Delhi with them, but he was firm in his decision. An entry in his diary on 30 December 1946 mentions: 'Jawaharlal had about ten minutes talk before leaving. It was to the effect that I ought to be with them at Delhi.' In a note to Nehru, he wrote: 'Your affection is extraordinary and so natural! Come again, when you wish, or send someone who understands you and will faithfully interpret my reactions ... when in your opinion consultation is necessary and you cannot come. Nor is it seemly that you should often run to me even though I claim to be like a father to you, having no less love towards you than Motilalji. Do not depart from the spirit of the draft you showed me yesterday. Somehow or other I feel that my judgement about the communal problem and the political situation is true. I have no doubt now about the wisdom of what I had said in Delhi when the Working Committee accepted the Cabinet Mission's statement. This does not mean that what was done by the Working Committee should not have been done. On the contrary, I had completely associated myself with all that the Working Committee did. I could not support with reason what I had felt so vaguely. This time it is quite different. My reason wholly supports my heart. I notice daily verification. So, I suggest frequent consultations with an old, tired servant of the Nation'.

  On the morning of 30 December, at half past seven, Nehru and the accompanying party left Srirampur. Gandhi walked with them to the extent of his daily morning walk. Nehru and his group walked upto the nearest village, Madhupur, which was connected by a metal road and from there they were ferried to Feni aerodrome by jeep. Addressing the press on his return, Nehru remarked: 'It is always a pleasure and an inspiration to meet this young man of seventy-seven. We always feel a little younger and stronger after meeting him and the burdens we carry seem a little lighter.'

  As the last day of 1946 dawned, Gandhi began to feel restless again. He felt that he had achieved all that he could by staying at Srirampur. To spread the hope of Srirampur to other areas of Noakhali, he would have to launch the next phase of his campaign for peace. He wrote to Patel about the darkness that seemed to engulf him in Noakhali: 'I am being tested through and through. My truth and ahimsa are being tested in a balance more delicate than any a pearl merchant ever used.... Truth and ahimsa are perfect. They can never fail. But I, their exponent, may. This much I do hope that before that happens, merciful God will take me away from this world and send a worthier instrument to carry out His will.... Do not call me away from here. If I myself run away from here like a coward, defeated, it may be my fate, not India's fault. But I have no such fear. I am out to do or die....'

  Gandhi was still perturbed by the recent outbreak of hostilities between Patel and Nehru at such a crucial juncture. In another letter to Patel, after Nehru's visit, Gandhi wrote: 'I heard many complaints against you.... Your speeches are inflammatory and made to please the crowd; you have left behind all distinction between violence and nonviolence; you are teaching the people to meet sword by sword; you miss no opportunity to insult the League in session and out of session. All this is harmful if true. They say, you talk about sticking to office. That again is very jarring, if it is true. Whatever I have heard I have passed on to you for your consideration. This is a very delicate time. If we deviate from the straight path by ever so little, we are done for. There is not that unison in the Working Committee that there should be. Root out corruption—you know how to do so. Send some trustworthy and intelligent person, if you think fit, to explain things to me and understand my mind. There is no need whatever for you to come yourself. You are no longer physically fit to run about. You seem to take no care of your health; that is bad'.

  Patel's hurt was evident in his reply: 'I have your letter. It has pained me. Naturally you have written on the basis of the reports that you have received and the complaints that you have heard. The complaints are false of course but some of them do not even make sense. The charge that I want to stick to office is a pure concoction. Only, I was opposed to Jawahar's hurling idle threats of resigning from the Interim Government. They damaged the prestige of the Congress and have a demoralising effect on the services. We should take a firm decision to resign first. Repetition of empty threats has lost us the Viceroy's respect and now he regards our threats of resignation as nothing but bluff. It took me not a moment to offer my resignation when the Viceroy demanded the surrender of my portfolio. It was no bluff and it had a very salutary effect. What interest have I in sticking to office? I am bed-ridden. I would feel happy and relieved to be a free man once more.... I cannot understand how you could lend ear to such a complaint.

  'Not even any Leaguer has said that I insult the League time and again. It is news to me that my speeches are made with an eye to the gallery. It is my habit to tell people the bitterest truths. At the time of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny, I condemned the disturbances unsparingly and without mincing words even though it displeased many at the time.... The remark about meeting sword by the sword has been torn out of a long passage and presented out of context. If there are divisions in the Working Committee, they are not today's growth. They have been there for a long time. At present, on the contrary, there is a very large measure of accord in most matters. If any of my collegues has complained to you about me I should like to know. None of them has said anything to me. The confidential reports which the Bengal Government and the Governor of Bengal are sending regarding your continued stay in Bengal are very bad. They wish to push you out from there'.

  Pyarelal writes: 'Sardar's reply was perfect so far as it went. The charge of personal ambition was beneath contempt. But Gandhiji's worry was deeper. True, the Sardar did not want office for himself. But obviously prized it for the power it gave to the Congress. If the Sardar had shared his belief that "non-violence is the mightiest force" on earth, he would have prized more highly his formidable role as the Sardar of B
ardoli than that of the Minister for Home Affairs in the Interim Government. In the crises that confronted them, what was needed was not fighting courage but the courage of calm, self-confident strength, and self-possesion that is proof against all panic or provocation and which goes forth to the opponent as love to heal, to disarm and to conquer. This could not be inculcated by argument; it could only be communicated by direct experience. In his next letter to Sardar Patel, Gandhiji expressed only his concern about Sardar's health: "Your health makes me feel anxious. You must get well. There is yet so much to do.... The situation here is delicate. Watch what happens here. I am still groping but there is no despair in me".

  On 1 January 1947, Gandhi announced that he would be leaving the following day. 'Those who had once looked upon him with suspicion and distrust, now come here with reverence and gratitude. These are some of the indications that Gandhiji's ethical approach to the bitter problem is working at a slow but steady pace', read a press despatch from Srirampur. A local Muslim was reported to have said, after a visit to Gandhi's prayer meeting, 'We have great regard for Gandhiji and we want him to stay on here.' A remark made at a press briefing by Shaheed Suhrawardy was even more significant, 'I hope Mahatma Gandhi will suceed in his mission not merely in Bengal but also in other parts of India.' Early on 2 January, Gandhi broke camp. Hindus and Muslims alike stood and watched Gandhi pass. Superintendent of Police, Abdullah, who had developed a deep attachment for Gandhi, accompanied him from Srirampur to Chandipur. He had assigned a party of twenty military-police armed with guns to provide security for Gandhi. Gandhi sent out a message that no one was to walk with him. He wanted to be by himself.

  Chandipur was three miles away from Srirampur and Gandhi reached there at 8.50 in the morning. On reaching there, Gandhi requested Abdullah to remove the armed guards accompanying him saying, 'I appreciate the vigilence with which the Bengal government is trying to protect me but I need no other protection save God's.'

  Gandhi stayed in Chandipur for five days. Those who had left their homes to escape death were now returning in large numbers. Speaking at a prayer meeting he said he likened his mission in Noakhali to a pilgrimage. It was during his time in Noakhali that Gandhi's prodigal son, Harilal, re-established contact with his father. Gandhi wrote to him: 'How delighted I shall be to find that you have turned over a new leaf. Just think of the affection I have lavished upon you! Mine is an arduous pilgrimage. I invite you to join in it if you can.... If you purify yourself, no matter where you are, you will have fully shared it'. He concluded by reaffirming his faith in the theory that spiritual rebirth is inevitably reflected in one's physical renovation. He wrote, 'Take it on the authority of the Bhagvata that you will then also cease to look prematurely old as at present'.

  Gandhi now realised that he would have to reach out to every corner of the devastated areas of Bengal. He had to replicate what happened in Srirampur and the only way he could do this was to embark on a walking expedition. For the next two months, the seventy-seven-year-old would walk, part of it barefoot, covering a distance of 116 miles and visiting 48 villages in two stages. He started on the morning of 7 January 1947. After his morning rituals were over, he inquired if all his instructions for the march had been carried out. At exactly at half past seven, Gandhi was bid farewell by his followers who sang Tagore's 'Aekla chalo re...'

  The route Gandhi followed was through very scenic landscape. After an hour and a half the party reached Mashimpur, their halt for the day. Satish Chandra Das had designed a portable hut made with panels of split bamboo, cane and grass. The hut had shelves for books and utensils and two small cubicles attached to the hut had a provision for a toilet and massage room. Gandhi took one look at it and pronounced it to be 'palatial'. He instructed that the cabin be utilised as a travelling dispensary for the poor. 'I can make myself comfortable anywhere and everywhere. If there is no-one to receive me under his roof, I shall be happy to rest under the hospitable shade of a tree,' he told Gupta.

  The next morning there was a chill in the air as Gandhi left for his next destination, Fatehpur. As Manu applied oil to his feet she discovered that his soles had cuts and were bleeding. Gandhi's host in Fatehpur, Maulvi Ibrahim, was a remarkable person. He was a committed social reformer and had, for the past fifty years, tried to change the attitudes of the local Muslims. He was working towards abolition of any job from being labelled as 'low class work'.

  When Gandhi returned from his evening prayer meeting he was surprised to find Hariram, G.D. Birla's domestic helper, there. Hariram used to cook Gandhi's meals and attend to him when he stayed at Birla House in New Delhi. Concerned about his well-being, Ghanshyam Das Birla had sent Hariram to serve Gandhi in Noakhali. Gandhi promptly sent him back.

  The next day Gandhi moved to Daspara. A poor Muslim villager had offered to host Gandhi but retracted his invitation at the last moment, fearing the wrath of his fellow Muslim villagers. That evening, less than half a dozen Muslims attended the prayer meeting. Some of them sent word saying that there could be no harmonious relationship between the two communities as long as Gandhi continued to move under armed protection. Gandhi had time and again asked the police and the government to withdraw the armed escort. The government, under the pretext of being concerned about his security, seemed to be sabotaging his efforts to establish peace. Gandhi wrote to Suhrawardy: All my attempts at bringing about real friendship between the two communities must fail so long as I go about fully protected by armed police or military.... The fright of the military keeps them from coming to me and asking all sorts of questions for the resolution of their doubts. I do see some force in their argument.... I do not need it. I even feel embarassed and it certainly interferes with my sadhana. If you think that a firm and unequivocal written absolution from me will solve your difficulty, I would be quite prepared to consider any draft that you may send me for signature. Failing that, I suggest you making a declaration that on a satisfactory assurance being given to you by the Muslims in the area through which I may pass regarding my safety, you will withdraw the escort. If this happens, it will be a dignified procedure. I will certainly appreciate it and it will produce a good effect all round'.

  The next day Gandhi left for Jagatpur where he was to address a meeting of local women. Many of them wept as they narrated their stories. That evening some local Muslims tried to instigate Gandhi by making hateful statements and questioning his motives. Pyarelal writes: As he contemplated the scene around him, once more the feeling came upon him that there was not likely to be an early end of his mission in Noakhali. "The signs are all against it," he remarked. To be able to command heart unity between Hindus and Muslims, he would have to make still further progress'. The next day, 11 January, after waking up at 2 am, Gandhi was kept busy with work till the last moment before his departure for Lamchar. A large group of local Muslims, including women and children, had gathered around the path at the crossing; many of them accompanied Gandhi to Lamchar. He was welcomed warmly even by the Muslims there; they were beginning to understand and appreciate his efforts. At Lamchar Gandhi realised that a major cover-up had taken place immediately after the riots: the local people, politicians and police had all been involued in the riots but the victims did not have the courage to inform the administration.

  The next day Gandhi reached Karpara, where Sushila Pai was running a relief and rehabilitation centre. He advised the workers to begin by providing the people with basic requirements like clean drinking water and, along with Satish Gupta, devised a natural filter, which cost Rs. 50 and was sufficient to provide pure and safe drinking water for twenty-five families. At the next destination, Shahapur, Muslims came out in large numbers to greet Gandhi. The next morning the walk to Bhatialpur took nearly eighty-five minutes with several stops on the way. The local Muslims and Hindus of Bhatialpur had formed a peace committe. The Muslim members had signed a manifesto condemning the barbaric incidents during the riots and had assured their Hindu neighbours of all possible help in rehabilitatio
n. The Muslims appealed to those who had robbed and plundered Hindu homes to return the stolen property to the rightful owners.

  That evening, addressing the prayer meeting, Gandhi spoke on the subject of purdah, which opened him to severe criticism. He asked the women to discard it as an outmoded custom. He was treated with the choicest abuse by Muslim fanatics from as far away as Bombay and Madras. His actions were dubbed as an unwarranted intrusion on the part of an unbeliver, and an attempt to corrupt pure Islamic traditions! The next morning a thick mist shrouded the woods as Gandhi resumed his march. His destination was the hamlet of Narayanpur. Before taking leave of his hosts and the people of Bhatialpur, Gandhi visited the family temple which he had reopened and consecrated the previous day. The next two stops on Gandhi's pilgrimage was Narayanpur, and then Ramdevpur-Dasgharia. Kanu Gandhi had established a relief camp here. Many Muslims gathered along the route to welcome Gandhi.

  A constant demand of some Muslims, ever since Gandhi had arrived in Noakhali, was the immediate release of the perpetrator of the crimes—Mian Ghulam Sarwar—who had been arrested only after a lot of pressure had been put on the government. His henchmen issued 'warnings' to those who had registered complaints against him and instilled a great amount of fear. A delegation of Sarwar's 'deputies', comprising twelve local Muslims, met Gandhi at Ramdevpur; a threat of a violent agitation for his release was cloaked thinly in their petition. However, Gandhi would hear nothing of it.