Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  At last Gandhiji said in a husky voice: "My God asks me, 'Where do you stand?' I am deeply pained. Is this the reality of the peace that was established on 15th August?"

  'Minutes later the police chief and his officers came in and took charge of the situation. They appealed to Gandhiji to retire. In an aside, I requested them not to use force against the rowdies knowing how it would effect Gandhiji. After a time they succeeded in getting the building cleared of the crowd.

  'Gandhiji called Charu and me to him and said: "My resolve to go to Noakhali collapses after this. You will agree I cannot leave for Noakhali or for that matter for anywhere else in the circumstances. I would like you to think it over and then tell me. I do not know what God has in store for me next. But Noakhali seems to be just now out of the question."

  'Hardly had this talk finished when Dr. Prafulla Ghosh, the Chief Minister, arrived. He asked Gandhiji, "Shall we arrest Hindu Mahasabha leaders?"

  'Gandhiji: "No. Instead, you should put upon them the burden and responsibility of maintaining the peace. Ask them whether they want peace or fighting. Tell them you want their cooperation and wait for their reply."

  'It was half past twelve when Gandhiji went to bed. But the crowd outside lingered on in the streets till long after that. Ultimately the police had to use tear gas to disperse it. By the time quiet was fully restored. It was half past one in the morning. Not till two o'clock could everyone go to sleep'.

  The news of the night's happenings swept through the city like wild fire. From early in the morning a continuous stream of anxious visitors poured into Hydari Mansion. Charu Choudhuri and Pyarelal feared a very serious reaction in Noakhali if Calcutta erupted. They decided to approach the Hindu Mahasabha leaders and plead with them for their cooperation.

  They met Hindu Mahasabha leader and Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherji first. They informed him that if the minority community in Noakhali, or for that matter in the whole of East Bengal, was not to be exposed to an incalculable risk, the situation in Calcutta would have to be immediately brought under control. Dr. Mukherji listened to them with great attention. In the end he said: 'I shall certainly issue an appeal and do anything beside that you might suggest.' He asked them to return in an hour when he would be ready with his statement. The two then went to the other Hindu Mahasabha leader N.C. Chatterji's residence, but were unable to meet him. They returned to Dr. Mukherji's home, where he assured them that he would try and convince Chatterji and handed to them his statement. When Choudhuri and Pyarelal returned to Hydari Mansion, they found Gandhi writing a letter to Dr. Mukherji, asking him if it was not time that he issued an appeal to the Hindus of Calcutta. Gandhi's face lit up when Pyarelal handed him Dr. Mukherji's draft statement. With some minor changes it was released to the press the next day: 'The continuance of peaceful conditions in West Bengal and East Bengal is essential for peace in India. Calcutta is the key to the situation. If it is at peace, it must influence East Bengal. Peace in the whole of Bengal must again affect the whole of the Punjab. The majority community in Bengal must realise, the senseless oppression of innocent members of the minority community does not pay and creates a vicious circle which one cannot cut through. The unity efforts of leaders of the communities must see to this'.

  At about two in the afternoon, news came in that a violent communal conflagration had broken out simultaneously in several parts of the city. Fresh reports of incidents poured in every few minutes. Gandhi wrote to Patel on the deteriorating conditions: 'Preparation for a fight are today in evidence everywhere. I have just returned after seeing the corpses of two' Muslims. I have heard that conflagration has burst out at many places. What was regarded as the "Calcutta Miracle" has turned out to be a nine days' wonder. I am pondering what my duty is in the circumstances. I am writing this almost at 6 p.m. This letter will leave with tomorrow's post. I shall, therefore, be able to add a postscript to it. There is a wire from Jawaharlal that I should proceed to the Punjab. How can I go now? I am searching deep within myself. In that silence helps'.

  After a lot of deliberation and meeting with a few delegations, Gandhi knew what he was going to do. He sipped on a glass of hot water mixed with glucose, and dictated the statement announcing his decision. When Rajaji came to meet him at ten that night, Gandhi showed him the draft statement. After reading it Rajaji commented, 'You don't expect me to approve of your proposed step?' He was referring to Gandhi's decision to launch a fast against the violence. Together they discussed the issue threadbare. Rajaji advised him to watch the situation for a while, but Gandhi had made his decision. He said, 'The fast has to be now or never. It will be too late afterwards. The minority community cannot be left in a perilous condition. My fast has to be preventive if it is to be of any good. I know I shall be able to tackle the Punjab too if I can control Calcutta. But if I falter now, the conflagration may spread, and soon I can see clearly, two or three Powers will be upon us and thus will end our short-lived dream of independence'.

  It was past eleven when Rajaji left with the final statement and it was released to the press the same night. After referring to the disturbances at Hydari Mansion on the night of 31 August, it went on to state: 'What is the lesson of the incident? It is clear to me that if India is to retain her dearly won independence, all men and women must completely forget lynch law. What was attempted was an indifferent imitation of it. There is no way of keeping the peace in Calcutta or elsewhere if the elementary rule of civilised society is not observed. The recognition of the golden rule of never taking the law into one's own hands has no exceptions.

  'From the very first day of peace, that is August 14th last, I have been saying that the peace might only be a temporary lull. There was no miracle. Will the foreboding prove true and will Calcutta again lapse into the law of the jungle? Let us hope not, let us pray to the Almighty that He will touch our hearts and ward off the recurrence of insanity.

  'Since this was written, some of the places which were safe till yesterday, 31st August, have suddenly become unsafe. Several deaths have taken place. I saw two bodies of very poor Muslims.... I have told the friends who saw me, what their duty is. What part am I to play in order to stop it? The Sikhs and the Hindus must not forget what the East Punjab has done during these few days. Now the Muslims in the West Punjab have begun the mad career. It is said that the Sikhs and the Hindus, of Calcutta, are enraged over the Punjab happenings.... Now that the Calcutta bubble seems to have burst, with what face can I go to the Punjab? The weapon which has hitherto proved infallible for me is fasting. To put an appearance before a yelling crowd does not always work. It certainly did not last night. What my word in person cannot do, my fast may. It may touch the hearts of all warring elements in the Punjab to end only if and when sanity returns to Calcutta. I shall, as usual, permit myself to add salt and sodabicarb to the water I may wish to drink during the fast. If the people of Calcutta wish me to proceed to the Punjab and help the people there, they have to enable me to break the fast as early as may be'.

  After Rajaji left to release the statement to the press, Gandhi woke up Abha and Manu and informed them that, from 8.15 that evening he had commenced a fast which would last as long as there was communal violence raging in the city. 'This will be "do or die". Either there will be peace or I shall be dead. On you two is going to rest the responsibility of looking after me during the fast. You should eat and take rest as usual. If you do not keep yourself fit, you will not be able to do justice to your duty.'

  The communal frenzy that had gripped the city did not spare Gandhian peace workers either. Gandhi had demanded the ultimate sacrifice from his workers: in their efforts to establish peace, two of them did. Sachin Mitra was a thirty-eight-year-old arts graduate from Calcutta University. He was a seasoned satyagrahi and a dedicated Khadi worker. In Noakhali he had won admiration by his fearlessness and dedication while working with Thakker Bappa in the Gandhi Peace Mission. On 1 September, on hearing of the conflagration in the city, Sachin met
with some Hindu and Muslim friends and decided to intervene in the riots in an effort to stop them. They headed for the Nakhoda Mosque area which was reported to be one of the most dangerous spots in the city. At the crossing of Chitpur Road and Canning Street, the group was surrounded and accosted by a hostile Muslim mob. The Hindus were segregated and beaten up. Sachin was repeatedly stabbed in the chest and abdomen. The police finally managed to rescue them, but Sachin's condition was serious and he succumbed to his injuries even before he could be taken to a hospital.

  Smritish Bannerjee, also in his late thirties, was a dedicated peace worker. On hearing that a peace procession was under attack, he rushed to their rescue. What transpired is not known but when the procession came under attack, eyewitnesses later reported that they saw Smritish escorting a group of girls to safety. They claimed that his shirt was drenched in blood. Later when his body was identified in the morgue, the cause of death was stated to be 'Loss of blood due to five deep stab wounds on the chest and abdomen'. Gandhi refused to mourn their deaths. In a message to Angshu Rani Mitra, Sachin's young wife, he wrote in Hindi: 'Pyarelalji has just given me the news that your husband who was mortally stabbed in the course of protecting others has succumbed to his wounds today. Do not let this be an occasion for sorrow but only for joy. Sachin has become immortal. You must not grieve but lose yourself in service in emulation of him'.

  Gandhi informed Patel on 2 September: 'Since writing to you yesterday, a lot more news has come. A number of people have come and seen me. I was already pondering within me as to what my duty was. The news that I received clinched the issue for me. I decided to undertake a fast. It commenced at 8.15 last evening. Rajaji came last night. I patiently listened to all he had to say. He exhausted all the resources of his logic. But none of his arguments went down with me. Let no-one be perturbed. Perturbation won't help. If the leaders are sincere, the killing will stop and the fast end, and if the killing continues what use is my life? If I cannot prevent people from running amok, what else is left for me to do? If God wants to take work from this body he will enter into people's hearts, bring them round to sanity and sustain my body. In his name alone was my fast undertaken. May God sustain and protect you all. In this conflagration others will not be able to help much'. To Nehru he wrote: 'I would have started for Lahore today but for the flare up in Calcutta. If the fury did not abate, my going to the Punjab would be of no avail. I would have no self-confidence. If the Calcutta friendship was wrong, how could I hope to affect the situation in the Punjab? Therefore my departure from Calcutta depends solely upon the result of the Calcutta fast. Don't be distressed or angry over the fast'.

  The morning of 2 September dawned over a burning Calcutta. Although peace brigades had started patrolling the streets of the city, violence, arson, looting and murder continued unabated. A medical check up by the naturopath Dr. Dinshaw Mehta showed that Gandhi's heartbeat was erratic. The doctor advised him to drink a minimum of four lbs. of water daily. 'I shall try,' Gandhi replied. 'But if Ram's name is in my heart, I should not need even the help of water. You see how peaceful I am today. Before this I could hardly sleep even at night.'

  Gandhi followed his well laid down routine and slowly sipped eight ounces of plain hot water, which took him an hour. This time, he started weakening at a much faster rate. By afternoon he displayed symptoms of growing weakness, his voice sank to a barely audible whisper. At half past one, after resting for about an hour, he again drank eight ounces of hot water. At noon a co-worker brought news that there was large-scale looting and gunfire in Zacharia Street. Armed police had entered a mosque and were harassing Muslims who had taken refuge there. The distant sounds of firing could be heard through the afternoon.

  Professor Nirmal Bose, who had served as Gandhi's interpreter in Noakhali, had been to meet nationalist leader Sarat Bose. The report he brought back claimed that the disturbances were largely the work of Sikhs and Biharis, and the Bengalis had now joined in the large scale looting and arson. A hotel owned by a Muslim had been set on fire near the Sealdah Railway Station. At places there were reports of the police slackening in their duties. According to Sarat Bose, the violence was not the work of ordinary hooligans. It seemed be strategically planned and executed with the guidance and support of organisations like the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha. The chief minister, Dr. Prafulla Ghosh, blamed the disturbances on the Sikhs. He suggested that an all-party meeting should be called immediately to formulate measures required to curb the present disturbances and normalise the situation as fast as possible. Meanwhile, he was getting Gandhi's statement printed in Hindi, Urdu and Bengali; these would then be distributed widely in the city and its surroundings.

  Sometime later, Sarat Bose came to see Gandhi. Ever since Gandhi had withdrawn his support for Bose's proposal for a united sovereign Bengal, the latter had nursed a grievance against him. This was their first meeting since Gandhi had come to Calcutta. Laughingly Gandhi said that it took a fast on his part for Bose to visit him.

  Bose replied saying, 'I had a feeling that you no more cared for me. But I will not tax your strength. Are you permitted to talk?'

  Gandhi said, 'I have to, at least in the pursuance of the object for which I am fasting.'

  Bose said, 'I have always been opposed to Partition. I have never made any secret of my views. I am a frank man. I did not come before because, as I have already said, I had a feeling that you had not much use for me.'

  Gandhi went on to say, 'Representatives of all groups and parties have come and asked me why I did not send for you. Some of them said, they had a suspicion that the Forward Bloc [founded by Sarat Bose's younger brother Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose] people were behind the disturbances. I told them that Sarat Bose knows that my door is always open to him. He will come whenever he thinks fit.' Gandhi's remark hurt Bose; he said, 'In your prayer address you said I was spending money like water, in corrupt practices.'

  To that Gandhi said, 'Was it not then your clear duty to come to me and clear my doubts—if they were ill founded? It is the privilege of friendship to speak out one's mind unreservedly without the fear of being misunderstood. Otherwise what is friendship worth? Even your Suhrawardy [also well known for spendthrift habits] has said you spend money like water. But if you had a grievance on that score, why did you not contradict it publicly? Or you could have written to me. I would have then either explained to you what I meant, or you would have removed the misconception under which I was labouring. I would have then withdrawn my remarks. That was what true friendship demanded.' Bose then told him to let bygones be bygones and asked Gandhi what were his complaints against the Forward Bloc.

  Gandhi said, 'The Hindu Mahasabha people say Forward Bloc people are behind this holocaust. I owe it to you to place their allegation before you.'

  Sarat Bose replied, 'You may believe it if you like. But I tell you, a number of Hindu Mahasabha people are behind this business. It is they who are inciting the Sikhs by telling them that it is unmanly on their part to passively look on while the Punjab is burning. The Sikhs were asked to wear bangles in place of their kada. I could even mention names.'

  Gandhi told Bose that mutual recrimination would lead them nowhere. He added that his fast was an appeal to people to make them introspect, and it was time they realised that they could not carry on much longer with the help of the police and the military.

  Referring to Gandhi's remark about the police and the military, which was endorsed by Suhrawardy, Bose said, 'The deterioration in Bengal set in with the introduction by Suhrawardy of armed forces from the Punjab. Does he now want the British?' Gandhi ignored the jibe against Suhrawardy. He explained, 'No, he did not say the British. He only said mixed. But there I have a bone to pick with him too. If the hearts of our volunteers could be cleansed, peace would immediately return. For that, cleansing of the hearts on the part of the leaders is necessary. Then alone will they be able to give the masses a clear lead. This is today lacking. You should first declare what you stand
for and then back it by appropriate personal example. If in the course of it some top ranking leaders are killed. I will not grieve.... Peace processions by themselves will be an empty show if the basic honesty of intention on the part of the leaders and the rank-and-file workers is not there. If such a volunteer organisation wedded to nonviolence and ready to make the supreme sacrifice for the achievement of unity and peace begins functioning, I will not mind if the entire police force in the city is withdrawn. And if in the result the whole Calcutta swims in blood, it will not dismay me. For it will be willing offering of innocent blood. I know how to tackle such a situation.... I shall be content if I get honest and whole-hearted cooperation of you all in this work. We shall then be able to control the situation in the Punjab too.'

  Gandhi went on to say, 'I had the authorities withdraw the armed police guard that was posted at my residence. Unfortunately, it has again come back. I have suffered it to remain not for mine but Suhrawardy's sake. He feels nervous. If on the night of the 31 st August, he had not luckily gone out to get ready for the journey to Noakhali, who knows what would have happened to him, and consequently to me? I have often asked why there should be any further trouble now that the League and Jinnah have got what they wanted. If only Jinnah had accepted my offer embodied in the Rajaji formula, all this could have been avoided. I was prepared to go even further. If after the British had quitted, the collective wisdom and statesmanship of India were still unable to achieve a peaceful solution, I would have invited the Muslim League to take charge of the Government. The Congress Ministers would have made way for them if I had asked them to. Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel had told me that they would carry out my orders if I took over command.'