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The Way to Communal Harmony THE WAY TO COMMUNAL HARMONY M.K. Gandhi Compiled and Edited by U.R. Rao Foreword by Prof. Humayun Kabir Introduction by Dr. Rajendra Prasad First Edition, January 1963 Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad 380 014 The Way to Communal Harmony | M.K. Gandhi FOREWORD Mahatma Gandhi wrote his autobiography under the title—The Story of My Experiments with Truth. This perhaps strikes the keynote to his life. In all that he said and did, he was continually striving to realize truth for himself and express it to those around him. From one point of view, this was essentially a pragmatic approach and depended on circumstances. That is why one finds many statements in his writings which, taken in isolation, are inconsistent with one another. At the same time, his pragmatic approach to problems was inspired by certain basic and unchanging principles. He clung to his ideals with intense force and passion. We can therefore find a deep underlying unity in all his statements in spite of their superficial inconsistencies. The Way to Communal Harmony is a compilation of Gandhi’s reflections on certain problems which divide mankind. Though they deal immediately with India, their validity extends beyond the circumstances of our country. Everywhere in the world, individuals and groups are divided because of fear, suspicion and hatred. It depends on local conditions whether the division expresses itself along religious, economic, political, caste or colour lines. Whatever be the form, insecurity is perhaps the major cause of individual and social dissensions. A person who is integrated and sure of himself fears none and consequently provokes no fear. We have occasional examples of such heroic individuals, but we have not till now had instances of societies or communities that are fully integrated and therefore fearless. The theme of Gandhi’s teachings is that the individual must rise above fear, jealousy and hate. When such individuals combine themselves into a community, the problem of communal jealousy and discord will disappear. In reading through this selection of Gandhi s writings and speeches, one is struck again and again by the passion and sincerity with which he pleaded the cause of better understanding among individuals and communities. He came to politics from an ethical urge. Quite early in life, he realized that men will not feel secure till the physical causes of conflict—insufficiency of food, shelter and other necessities—have been removed. Neither will they feel secure till the mental and moral strength of the individual has been developed. U. R. Rao has earned our gratitude by collecting in one The Way to Communal Harmony | M.K. Gandhi volume many of the most significant thoughts of Gandhi on the way to achieve individual and social harmony. Throughout his long life, Gandhi worked for toleration based on understanding and respect. He pitted all his strength against the forces of evil let loose on the Indian sub-continent during the critical years when independence was achieved. His whole life was a saga of sacrifice, but perhaps the last six months outshine even the magnificent deeds of his earlier years. He wrote: "I am striving to become the best cement between the two communities. My longing is to be able to cement the two with my blood, if necessary." These words proved prophetic and he laid down his life to establish understanding and respect not only between the two major communities of India but among all communities in this sub-continent and, by implication, among all communities throughout the world. New Delhi, August 15, 1962 The Way to Communal Harmony | M.K. Gandhi INTRODUCTION It was rather at an early stage of his public life in South Africa that Mahatma Gandhi felt the necessity of communal unity. There were people from different parts of India living there and in fact, it was to some extent, an India in miniature, with its differences of language, religion, custom, etc. In the course of his struggle in South Africa, he had to secure the willing co-operation and sacrifice of all Indians residing there. He returned to India with a conviction that, if the struggle for Swaraj had to succeed, it could do so only with the co-operation of all the communities living within this vast sub-continent. Thus, he became keen to establish communal harmony. The principal communal question was one of harmony between Hindus and Musalmans who inhabited this country. Mahatma Gandhi felt that, if Hindu-Muslim unity was established, unity with other communities—which was already there—could easily be strengthened. He never found any serious differences between the Hindus and other minority communities like the Christians and the Sikhs, not to speak of the small community of the Parsis. Naturally, therefore, he turned to the question of Hindu- Muslim unity. Events so happened that they made special joint efforts, particularly of the Hindus and the Muslims, necessary. After the First World War, there was great agitation among the Muslims against the British Government on account of what they considered to be a breach of faith. It was also on account of the attitude which the British Government had taken at the time of the Peace Treaty in disregarding the promises hitherto made concerning the position of the Sultan of Turkey, who was regarded as Khalifa by the Muslims in India and thus, charged with the duty of and clothed with authority for protecting the holy places of Islam. About the same time, the British Government roused to indignation other Indian communities by its attempt to perpetuate the emergency laws which had been passed and enforced with rigour during the War period. This led Mahatma Gandhi to voice the nation's feeling of bitterness and, particularly, forced him to think of Satyagraha against the Government. The tragic massacre of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs collectively at Jalianwalla Bagh and the subsequent atrocities and humiliations, heaped upon members of all communities in the Punjab during he Martial Law days, had created an intense resentment amongst all classes. Thus, when the general resentment of all communities over the Punjab atrocities combined with the resentment of the Muslims The Way to Communal Harmony | M.K. Gandhi on account of the Khilafat wrongs, an agitation of a most intense type was the result. The Hindus as a community took up the question of the Khilafat with the same zeal and vigour as the Muslims, and Mahatma Gandhi seemed to have become the leader of both Hindus and Muslims. He toured throughout the country with the Ali brothers and Muslim leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and many others, and carried the message of resistance to the Government for what came to be known as the Khilafat and the Punjab wrongs. For about a year it seemed almost as if a permanent unity had been achieved. One cause for differences between the Hindus and the Muslims used to be the sacrifice of cows by Muslims on the day of Bakr-Id. In that particular year, the number of cows sacrificed on the day of Bakr-Id was almost negligible as compared with that in the previous years. Mahatma Gandhi was never tired of preaching that the Hindus should leave it to the Muslims to protect the cow, as they (the Hindus) had been doing their best to help the Khilafat. Fraternization became common all over the country. Those amongst the Hindus who did not have faith in Mahatma Gandhi’s policy of unity and the Muslims who did not trust the Hindus seemed to have lost their influence for the time being and were more or less out of action. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of unity, like all of his other ideas, was based on the principle of Ahimsa which teaches us not to give even mental pain to anyone, not to speak of physical injury. He insisted that the Hindus who were in a majority in the country should help the Muslims and should never entertain any idea of enforcing their rights by brute majority, but try to win the hearts of the minority community. The Non-co-operation movement, which had been originally conceived only for the redress of the Khilafat and the Punjab wrongs, was at the Calcutta special session of the Congress enlarged in scope to include also the attainment of Swaraj. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea was that, if the country succeeded in obtaining redress of the Khilafat and the Punjab wrongs through force of public opinion, supported by people’s sacrifices, that itself would be tantamount to obtaining Swaraj—which could not thereafter be held up by the British. But to make the position clear and to make the appeal of the Congress most forcible so far as all communities in India were concerned, he added to its objectives the achievement of Swaraj. As I have said above, everything went on well for about a year. But, probably there were forces working behind the scenes. Hindu-Muslim riots were started on a large scale in Kerala and, in subsequent years, in many places all over the country. The The Way to Communal Harmony | M.K. Gandhi Khilafat movement also lost its motive force when the Khalifa himself was deposed by the Turks. In spite of these setbacks in the early days, however, Mahatma Gandhi remained firm in his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity. In his view it was synonymous with communal unity or unity amongst all the communities of India, and he continued to fight bravely for this unity till the end of his life. When the Hindu-Muslim riots broke out in 1924 and the situation became intolerable to him, he undertook a fast for 21 days—not aimed against any individual or any community—but with a view, as he said, to purifying himself so that his words and his actions could be better understood and appreciated.
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