Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  Based on the report of the goings-on in Kashmir submitted to the CWC by Nehru, it was decided that a fact-finding mission be sent to Kashmir under the leadership of Patel and Maulana Azad. The Congress resolution was sent to Hari Singh. The Maharaja responded that he would allow only Patel, and that only in his personal capacity, to come to Kashmir and study the situation. The leaders of the Kashmir National Conference, headed by Sheikh Abdullah, were anxious for Nehru to visit Kashmir, but Hari Singh adamantly refused to allow this. Gandhi wrote to Mountbatten to ask whether Hari Singh would allow him or Patel to visit instead of Nehru: 'Panditji was with me. I gave him the purport of the conversation about Kashmir. I share his anxiety that the matter brooks no delay. For him it is one of personal honour. I have simply undertaken to replace him to the best of my ability. I would like to free him from anxiety in this matter'. Mountbatten wrote to Hari Singh, advising him to agree to allow Gandhi to visit Kashmir. The Maharaja refused to pay heed to the viceroy. On 11 July Gandhi wrote again to the viceroy: 'I am still without any news from Kashmir. If I was not bound by any promise made to you, of course I would not want any permission to go to Kashmir. I would simply go as any private person.'

  By the last week of June, Nehru was thoroughly disgusted by the tactics employed by Hari Singh and his prime minister, Pandit Ramchandra Kak. He declared that he would go to Kashmir at the invitation of the people of Kashmir, disregarding Hari Singh's wishes. This precipitated matters and Kak hastily wrote to Mountbatten that, under the circumstances, they were now willing to allow Gandhi to visit Kashmir. Gandhi finally left for Kashmir on 30 July and reached Srinagar on the afternoon of 1 August. In the evening he was taken out for a drive around the capital, which had been lit up to celebrate the restoration of Gilgit to Kashmir, an area administered by the governor general through the Political Department. On seeing the area lit up Gandhi remarked, A great mistake. They should have taken this opportunity immediately to proclaim autonomy for Gilgit within Kashmir.' Almost hundred per cent Muslim in its population, Gilgit was a hotbed of separatist seditious activity promoted and pampered by the Political Department's regime. With characteristic foresight, Gandhi recognised in the unqualified inclusion of Gilgit in Kashmir the seeds of future trouble.

  Gandhi stayed in Srinagar for two days. During this time he met the prime minister and the Maharaja, and had a series of interviews with leaders and workers of the National Conference. On the evening of 3 August, after driving down a dusty road through the crowded bazaar, Gandhi visited the Abdullah residence where he met Begum Abdullah who had arranged a lavish tea reception in his honour. 'India will be free on 15 August, what of Kashmir?' a deputation of political workers asked him at Jammu. 'That will depend on the people of Kashmir,' Gandhi replied. They also wanted to know whether Kashmir should join the Union or Pakistan. 'That again,' answered Gandhi, 'should be decided by the will of the Kashmiris.'

  After his morning prayers, he resumed the journey to Rawalpindi, stopping briefly at the Wah refugee camp on the way. There were about 9,000 refugees from Rawalpindi and the surrounding area in the camp on the day of his visit. The situation of the refugees was indeed horrific. Gandhi visited the Panja Saheb gurdwara on his way back. It had been attacked twice by Muslim mobs during the disturbances. Sikh defenders had managed, to repel both the attacks, but they were perturbed about the safety of their shrines in West Punjab. They wanted eastern Punjab to be declared a Sikh state. Gandhi told them that it was unworthy of them to even harbour such ideas. He said, 'I would like every Sikh to be a defender of his faith. I want you to shed all fear about the future and to rely on the plighted word of the Muslim leaders, God is the judge, and the world which is His creation, will judge the Muslim leaders, not according to their pledges and promises, but according to their deeds and those of their followers.' The refugees at Wah camp wanted Gandhi to stay with them till 15 August, but due to pressing engagements he could not. He said he would leave with them instead, as hostage, Dr. Sushila Nayyar, who was like a daughter to him. If anything untoward happened to them, she would be the first to die.

  Gandhi boarded his train at Rawalpindi. He intended to travel across the Gangetic plains of North India to Patna, onto Calcutta and then hopefully to Noakhali. Halting at Lahore en route he wrote from Mrs. Rameshwari Nehru's residence to Patel on 6 August 1947: A lot of useful work has been done in the Wah camp. People ought not to be removed from there. You ought to take up this matter with the Pakistan Government. Rawalpindi should again have a Hindu-Sikh population. You should see my speech at Panja Saheb and Wah camp. I have made the suggestion there. I have left Sushila behind in Wah camp. I felt it to be necessary. It cheered up the people. They are in a panic. I see no reason for it'. He also sent a report on his visit to Kashmir to Nehru to be shared with Patel: 'No public prayer was held on the day of arrival but I appeared before them twice or thrice and said that I could not make any public speech, not because there was any prohibition but because I had promised to myself that if I was to make my visit devoid of political significance insofar as it was possible, I must not address public meetings. The Prime Minister told me that he had no objection whatsoever to public prayers. Consequently, public prayers were held during the two days following in Srinagar and the third in Jammu.

  'During the two interviews with the Prime Minister I told him about his unpopularity among the people. He wrote to the Maharaja that on a sign from him he would gladly resign. The Maharaja had sent a message that the Maharaja and the Maharani were anxious to see me. I met them; the heir-apparent with his leg in plaster was also present. Both admitted that with the lapse of the British Paramountcy the true Paramountcy of the people of Kashmir would commence. However much they might wish to join the Union, they would have to make the choice in accordance with the wishes of the people. How that could be determined was not discussed at that interview.

  'Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi was most sanguine that the result of the free vote of the people, whether on the adult franchise or on the existing register, would be in favour of Kashmir joining the Union provided of course that Sheikh Abdullah and his co-prisoners were released, all bans were removed and the present Prime Minister was not in Power. Probably he echoed the general sentiment. I studied the Amritsar treaty properly called the "sale deed". I presume it lapses on the 15th instant. To whom does the State revert? Does it not go to the people?' In a letter to Patel he wrote: 'He [the Maharaja] wishes to remove Kak.... The only question [before him] is how.... In my opinion the Kashmir problem can be solved.'

  Gandhi's mere presence in the Punjab and Kashmir had a positive effect on the communal situation; attacks had stopped, arson and violence had been halted, giving the persecuted population great relief. Gandhi reached Patna on the morning of 8 August and spent the entire day meeting Congress leaders and the Bihar ministers. That evening, at the prayer meeting, he asked the people of Bihar to observe 15 August by praying, fasting and sacrificial spinning. 'The charkha has made Bihar. Even today Bihar leads in spinning. Heaven forbid that Bihar should reduce to ashes all that it has achieved so far.' After his prayer meeting he rushed to the station to board the train for Calcutta. At a small wayside halt, the crowd was frenetically enthusiastic. Manu and Abha immediately saw the danger of the situation going out of control and resulting in a tragedy. They started rhythmically clapping their hands and chanting the Ramdhun, which finally soothed the mob.

  When Gandhi arrived in Calcutta on 9 August, the political scenario had undergone a change. On 3 July, after Bengal had decided in favour of its own partition, a separate Cabinet had been sworn in for West Bengal headed by the leader of the West Bengal Assembly Congress party, Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. In advocating a unified sovereign Bengal, Suhrawardy had upset his Central leadership which had retaliated by selecting Khwaja Nazimuddin as the chief minister designate for East Bengal. The existing Muslim League Cabinet remained in actual administrative charge of the various portfolios for the whole of Bengal till 15 August, but its decisions w
ere applicable only to East Bengal; any decision affecting West Bengal had to be approved by the West Bengal Cabinet.

  Calcutta had never quite returned to a state of normalcy since the Great Calcutta Killings of August 1946. Bitter memories of the brutality of the Muslim League's Direct Action Day had embittered relations between the two communities. Additionally, because the partition plan gave government servants the freedom to choose which dominion they wanted to join and all Muslim policemen and officials had opted for Pakistan, Hindus had been appointed in their place, further disturbing the Muslim population. Soon after his arrival at Sodepore Ashram, Dr. Ghosh went to meet Gandhi and briefed him about the situation. That evening Gandhi said that he would not hold an inquiry into what had happened under the Muslim League ministry; he was more concerned with what his friend Ghosh's ministry was doing. If the Muslims of Calcutta were living in terror, it was a severe reflection on the Congress ministry. 'The Government must hold itself responsible also for the acts of the criminals. I will not be a living witness of India's reversion to slavery, which will be her lot, if the Hindu-Muslim quarrel continues, but my spirit will weep over the tragedy even from beyond the grave. My prayer is that God will spare us that calamity.' Announcing his decision to postpone his departure for Noakhali, Gandhi remarked that it was unthinkable that under a government well-versed in the art of administration, the majority could for even one moment be permitted to coerce the minority. He had been told that, now that the Congress ministry was in power, the Hindu police and officers had become partial in the administration of justice, and were doing what the Muslim police and officers were alleged to have done before. He was loath to believe it. 'If this wretched spirit of communalism enters the police force, the prospect is bleak indeed'.

  Suhrawardy, who was in Karachi and was to have stopped for a couple of days in New Delhi, heard that Gandhi was in Calcutta en route to Noakhali; Suhrawardy decided to skip his trip to Delhi and visit Calcutta instead. On 11 August he called upon Gandhi at Sodepore Ashram and said that it would be unfitting on his part to leave Calcutta while the city was burning. Gandhi said he was willing to stay if Suhrawardy was prepared to work with him in restoring peace. Gandhi suggested that they live together under the same roof in the disturbed areas, unprotected by the police or the military, and meet people. If Suhrawardy accepted the offer, Gandhi said, he would postpone his trip to Noakhali indefinitely and remain in Calcutta as long as necessary. Gandhi told Suhrawardy to take his time, sleep over it, consult his aged father and his daughter, and then inform him of his decision.

  The Suhrawardy of 1947 was a chastened man; different from the one who had stormed out of Gandhi's room and termed a similar offer 'mad' just three months back. The next afternoon Mohammad Usman informed Gandhi that Suhrawardy had accepted his suggestion. At the evening prayer meeting Gandhi announced his decision of extending his stay in Calcutta. He added that he had been warned not to trust Suhrawardy. But he would trust and would expect to be trusted. Gandhi wrote to Patel on 13 August, informing him of his decision: 'I have got stuck here and am now going to undertake a grave risk. Suhrawardy and I are going from today to stay together in a Muslim quarter. The future will reveal itself. Keep close watch. I shall continue to write'.

  The very vigilant and forthright Patel had been observing the goings-on in Calcutta and expressed his concern in a letter: 'So you have got detained in Calcutta and that to in a quarter which is a veritable shambles and a notorious den of gangsters and hooligans. And in what choice company too! It is a terrible risk. But more than that, will your health stand the strain? I am afraid; it must be terribly filthy there. Keep me posted about yourself.

  Gandhi always intimated all the members of his extended family of any major decision or assignment. On the 13th, the day's post contained several handwritten letters informing people about his mission in Calcutta; work carried on till 1.30 in the afternoon that day. Gandhi had sent word to Suhrawardy that he would be starting from Sodepore for his new residence in Beliaghata exactly at half past two in the afternoon, and so he should arrive in time to accompany him. Gandhi, ever the stickler for punctuality, left his room at exactly 2.28 pm, took his seat next to the driver, and at 2.30 the car sped off towards Beliaghata.

  Hydari Mansion was an old abandoned Muslim house in Beliaghata, an indescribably filthy locality of Calcutta. In the past twelve hours, however, an effort had been made to clean it up. The ramshackle building was open on all sides to the crowds that had begun to gather ever since word had spread about its new occupant. There was only one bathroom, which was used indiscriminately by hundreds of people, including the police on duty and Gandhi's visitors. Three rooms had been cleared for Gandhi and his party—one for him, one for his baggage and for members of his party to stay in and the third to be used as his office.

  An angry mob greeted Gandhi's and a little later, Suhrawardy's cars, and the situation threatened to take an ugly turn. Gandhi sent some members from his party to plead with the demonstrators and ask them to remain peaceful as he was willing to listen to their grievances. The situation has been described in detail by Pyarelal: The demonstration was still going on when Horace Alexander, who had been asked by Gandhiji to come and stay with him at Beliaghata, arrived. The demonstrators tried to stop him too. An Indian friend accompanying Horace tried to reason with the mob. In reply there were even shriller cries of "Gandhi, go back". Finally, they both got out of the car and walked into the house. The shouting continued.

  'Some young men tried to climb in through the window of the room in which Gandhiji was sitting. Members of Gandhiji's party begged them to desist. It was no use. Horace began to shut the windows. This, as he himself afterwards put it, proved to be a "most misguided action". Almost immediately stones were thrown through the glass of the windows and glass was flying in all directions. We then realised that there were wooden shutters and these we closed, though stones were still thrown against them for a time. A press reporter came up to me and said, "Are you hurt?" I said, "No, but there is some glass in my hair!"

  'Presently the representatives of the demonstrators were ushered in to meet Gandhiji. One of them began: "Last year when Direct Action was launched on the Hindus on 16th August, you did not come to our rescue. Now that there has been just little trouble in the Muslim quarters, you have come running to their succour. We don't want you here."

  'Gandhiji: Much water has flown under the bridge since August, 1946. What the Muslims did then was utterly wrong. But what is the use of avenging the year 1946 on 1947? I was on my way to Noakhali where your own kith and kin desired my presence. But I now see that I shall have to serve Noakhali from here. You must understand that I have come here to serve not only Muslims but Hindus, Muslims and all alike.... I am going to put myself under your protection. You are welcome to turn against me and play the opposite role if you so choose. I have nearly reached the end of my life's journey. I have not much farther to go.... I have given the same ultimatum to the Muslims of Noakhali too; I have earned the right. Before there is another outbreak of Muslim madness in Noakhali, they will find me dead. Why cannot you see that by taking this step I have put the burden of the peace of Noakhali on the shoulders of Shaheed Suhrawardy and his friends—including men like Mian Ghulam Sarwar and the rest? This is no small gain.'

  The evening prayer was held inside the compound of Hydari Mansion. Over ten thousand people squeezed into the tiny place. After the prayers Gandhi said, 'From tomorrow, 15 August, we shall be delivered from the bondage of the British rule. But from midnight today, India will be partitioned too. While, therefore, tomorrow will be a day of rejoicing, it will be a day of sorrow as well. It will throw a heavy burden of responsibility upon us. Let us pray to God that he may give us strength to bear it worthily. Let all those Muslims who were forced to flee return to their homes. If two millions of Hindus and Muslims are at daggers drawn with one another in Calcutta, with what face can I go to Noakhali and plead the case of the Hindus with the Muslims there? And i
f the flames of communal strife envelope the whole country, how can our new born freedom survive?'

  Many in the crowd began asking agitatedly for Suhrawardy. Gandhi replied that he had asked him to stay away from the meeting as he wanted to avoid the slightest cause for irritation. He added that, as the crowd had shown supreme tolerance, he would ask Suhrawardy to join them the following day.

  After the prayer, Gandhi returned to his room and sat down to work. A little later, Gandhi appeared at a window overlooking the street. A group of angry young men had gathered there and were raising slogans against Suhrawardy. Gandhi beckoned Suhrawardy to his side and stood there in full view of the crowd, resting one hand tactfully on his shoulder and the other on Manu's shoulder. Someone from the crowd shouted, 'Are you not responsible for the great Calcutta killing?'

  'Yes, it was my responsibility,' Suhrawardy said, owning up for the first time, publicly, to his role in the massacres during Direct Action Day.

  This unequivocal and candid confession of his guilt by one who had never known humility, had a profound effect on the crowd. 'It was a turning point,' Gandhi remarked later. 'It had a cleansing effect. I could sense it.'