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
Only three days ago an Urdu manuscript leaflet was found posted up in
the city of which the following is a translation:--
"What are you thinking about only? Just come face to face with your
opponent. Let yourself be cut to pieces, even to death but do not let
any loss come to the Khilafat. Do not look towards Bagdad, neither do
you look towards the Army, but kill your enemy right and left. Do not
let any of your enemy to be left unkilled if you see him, and do not
think that you are alone, because you are being helped by Imam Mehdi,
who is standing in front of you. Call him, just fly a flag in your hand
and cry out Khoda, Khoda, beat a drum in the name of Din Muhammad
throughout the lanes."
APPENDIX XIV
Governor's Warning
_Calcutta, February 11_
Speaking at the Trades Association dinner in Calcutta, Lord Ronaldshay,
the Governor of Bengal, made a lengthy reference to the political
outlook.
It would be the height of unwisdom, said His Excellency, to close one's
eyes to the gravity of the situation with which not only the Government
but society in the widest meaning of that term is now faced. It seems
desirable to call attention to this because there still appear to be
quite a number of people who in spite of all that has happened, in spite
of the resort to violence which has characterised the Non-co-operation
movement in Malabar, Malegaon, Giridih. Aligarh, Bombay and many other
places have not yet grasped the seriousness or the nearness of the
danger, with which the country is threatened.
Take the case of the Non-co-operation volunteers. We are told by some
that we ought to withdraw our notification under the Act of 1908
declaring these volunteer corps to be unlawful association. A
recommendation to that effect has quite recently been made to the
Government by the Legislative Council. It is true that under the
existing constitution, we are still responsible to Parliament for the
maintenance of law and order and though it would no doubt save us much
trouble and anxiety if we were able to transfer the responsibility from
our own shoulders to those of the Legislative Council, we cannot do so.
Nevertheless I have always regarded it as my duty to consider with the
utmost care any recommendations which the Council makes and in this case
I am calling for special reports as to the nature and extent of the
present activities of these volunteers in different parts of the
province in order that I may have the fullest and most up-to-date
information before me.
On the Defensive
In considering the matter in the meanwhile, I would point out to the
public at large something which, judging by the criticism to which we
are subjected, had been overlooked, namely, that from the very beginning
of the Non-co-operation movement right up to the present time, the
Government have been on the defensive. It is the Non-co-operators who
have always attacked and by so doing have compelled the Government to
take up weapons for its defence.
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