Gandhi and AnarchySankaran Nair, C. (Chettur), Sir
History
Gandhi and Anarchy
Sankaran Nair, C. (Chettur), Sir
Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948 -- Political and social views; India -- Politics and government -- 1919-1947
If they use force then they abandon the weapon of
non-violence. Mr. Gandhi and his followers, are agreed that physical
force is now out of the question on ground, according to Mr. Gandhi,
that we will be crushed. I cannot help thinking that when we take this
aspect of the matter along with others already mentioned that Mr. Gandhi
himself does not consider this as any effective step towards the
attainment of the 'Parliamentary Swaraj,' but only to attain his
"Spiritual Swaraj." This explains what he is so fond of reiterating that
when Lajpatrai, Motilal Nehru, and C. R. Das and others were arrested
and went to Jail without complaint, or resistance denying the
jurisdiction of the courts, in pursuance of the policy of non-violent
non-co-operation, though Parliamentary Swaraj was not attained, the
spiritual 'Swaraj' of which he was in search has been attained to his
intense satisfaction. If he had advocated abstention from schools,
boycott of Councils and Courts, non-violence as a means of attaining his
(spiritual) Swaraj, giving up Punjab Khilafat and Parliamentary Home
Rule, no one would perhaps have any right to complain, and it would have
been a straightforward and honest course. But he has adopted underhand
methods which appear to me, unless a satisfactory explanation is given,
little short of dishonest and fraudulent.
But it may be asked whether anybody would have accepted a policy of
non-violent non-co-operation in the circumstances of the case unless
there was some reasonable prospect of success within any measurable
time. Here we come to the most sinister aspect of the matter. In moving
his resolution on non-co-operation in the National Congress held at
Calcutta in September 1920, he said, "If there is sufficient response to
my scheme I make bold to reiterate my statement that you can gain
Swarajya in the course of an year" and he laid down certain conditions,
the more important of which have been mentioned. That period has been
extended subsequently by a few months. Even that extended period has
elapsed. When charged with his failure to attain Parliamentary Swaraj
within the period asked for by him he had effrontery to state that the
conditions mentioned by him have not been complied with. A political
leader has no right to put forward before the country any scheme under
conditions which he has no reasonable belief of being likely to be
complied with. Did he honestly believe that those conditions named by
him would be complied with and Parliamentary Swaraj obtained within the
time mentioned by him? Looking to the nature of the conditions I do not
think he believed that they would be complied with, not only in one year
but at any time; and even if complied with I have no doubt he did not
believe that Swaraj would come though he might assert the contrary. He
put the lure forward simply for the purpose of persuading the Congress
to make an important change in the policy which the country had hitherto
adopted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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