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
The failure of these parts of the programme is now practically admitted
and they are now pushed into the background. It would be better if, in
revising the programme in the next Session of the Congress, these limbs,
which have ceased to function or respond to the laws of our growth, are
boldly amputated. In any event, they make clear the necessity of a
revision, so as to render the programme more effective, elastic and
practical.
Enter the Councils
The fight requires to be carried on in manifold ways. Some may carry it
in the Councils, face to face with the officials. Why cannot
"Non-Co-operation," in its proper sense, be practised in the Councils?
Sir P. M. Mehta, when he left the Council Hall with his colleagues on a
memorable occasion when he, face to face with the then home member,
mercilessly uncloacked the preposterous pretensions of the bureaucracy,
was fighting with weapons and a spirit which many Non-Co-operators of
the true and accredited brand may envy in these days. If
Non-Co-operation is an _attitude_ of the mind, as its eminent author
conceives it, and not so much a programme or a creed, a Council Hall is
as fitting a place for its display as a mass meeting in a Marwadi
Vidyalaya. The spirit resides in the mind and is independent of the
environment. It is no ground to say that, often times, the environment
frightens a weakling, for we do not build our doctrines only on the
possibility of men being weak and timid.
N.C.O. Concession
We have already departed from the original rigor of our programme in
this behalf. A Non-Co-operator can now compete at Municipal elections.
He can offer advice to Government in or outside private interviews.
Non-co-operator papers do report the proceedings of the Legislative
Bodies, comment on them, and suggest remedies for the benefit of the
Government. Scarcely a non-Co-operator now-a-days speaks without
referring to gubernatorial utterances and orders in Council. He comments
on the policies of Government, suggesting remedies as he goes on with
his comments. Several lawyers in Bombay, who are still in practice, are
now allowed to occupy prominent places as speakers at Non-Co-operation
meetings. This is as it should be, for we cannot afford to ignore or
despise, in the stinted state as our resources, the co-operation of any
honest workers, prepared to make a sacrifice commensurate with his
capacity. This is all done now silently and as a concession. My plea is
for making the programme so wide, elastic and natural, as to turn these
concessions into acknowledged rights. The Congress Creed calls upon us
to obtain Swaraj by all legitimate and peaceful means. All weapons, all
avenues of work and all manner of public workers are enjoined on us, for
the attainment of the common end. Why set up ascetic standards,
unpractical tests, and unnatural bans, which may often let in the
dishonest but keep out the honest man, whose co-operation, even with a
difference, is often worth loving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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