THE COLLECTED WORKS of MAHATMA GANDHI 1 in 1917, I Was Able to Tell You That in the First 2 Years of the War We Had 2 Raised 124,000 Combatants
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
1. CONGRESS REPORT ON THE PUNJAB DISORDERS1 CHAPTER I THE PUNJAB (HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL) Historically the Punjab may be considered the most important province of India. It was here that the Aryas of Vedic times first made their home. It was here that the hymns of the Rig Veda were first chanted. It was to this province, at the great University of Taxila, that seekers after knowledge flocked from various parts of the world. It was in this province that the Pandus and the Kurus, the great heroes of the Mahabharata, fought out their great battles. It was here that Osiris, King of Egypt, first touched Indian soil and Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, who at the head of her vast armies tried her fortune for the dominion of India, suffered a crushing defeat. The Scythians and Tartars and Persians had to measure swords with the sons of the Punjab in their attempts to penetrate into India. It was in this province that Alexander the Great, though victorious, for the first time met a foe, under King Porus, who shattered his dream of a world-wide dominion. 1 Authorship of this Report, the full title of which reads Report of the Commis- sioners oppointed by the Punjab Sub-committee of the Indian National Congress, and which was published on March 25, 1920, has been attributed to Gandhiji on the basis of the following evidence : (I)”The responsibility of organizing the work of the Committee devolved on me, and as the privilege of conducting the inquiry in the largest number of places fell to my lot, I got a rare opportunity. The task of drafting the report of this Committee was also entrusted to me. This reprot, prepared as it was solely with a view to bringing out the truth and nothing but the truth, will enable the reader to see. .” An Autobiography, Part V, Ch. XXXV. (ii) a.”Whole day spent in discussing Gandhi’s draft Report.” The Story of My Life by M. R. Jayakar, Vol. I, p. 322. b.”The Report was drawn up by Gandhi, with assistance from me.” Ibid. c.”Gandhi made the first draft of the Report in a quiet little room.” Ibid. d.”By that time, Das, Motilal and Tyabji had dropped out, and Gandhi and myself worked hard on the publication of the Report.”. (iii) Letters produced in this volume which Gandhiji wrote to Jayakar during March 1920. The Report was published in two volumes, Volume I consisting of the Report and Volume II consisting of Evidence. Here, only Volume I has been reproduced. VOL. 20 : 25 MARCH, 1920 - JUNE, 1920 1 The Punjab proper is the land watered by the five rivers, the Sutlej, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum, from which it derives its name. It is situated in the north-west of India, and is bounded on the north by a portion of the Himalayas and Kashmir, on the west by the Indus, on the south by Sind and Rajputana, and on the east by the river Jamna. The present area of the Punjab is 135, 773 square miles, out of which a little less than 100,000 square miles is directly under British rule, the rest being ruled by Indian princes and chiefs. The population in 1911 was slightly less than 20 millions. The province used to be much larger before, but in 1901 it was partitioned and a new province, now called the North-West Frontier Province, was carved out of it. Another slice was taken off in 1912, when the Capital of the British Indian Empire was shifted to Delhi, and the city of Delhi and a part of the surrounding territory were constituted into a distinct province. The Punjab is inhabited mostly by Hindus, Mohammedans and 1 Sikhs. The Sikhs have their home in the Punjab and number about 32 million. The chief occupation of the people is agriculture, but other industries are making headway and a considerable number of factories worked by steam have sprung up in various towns of the Punjab. The Punjab supplies the flower of the British Indian Army. During the late War1 the contribution of the Punjab to the army was the largest of all provinces of India. Among the fighting classes the Sikhs hold the foremost place and Rajputs and Jats come next. The Rajputs and Jats of the western and southern parts are mostly Mussulmans and those of the eastern and northern parts are Hindus. The Jats of the Central Punjab are mostly Sikhs. We give in Sir Michael O’Dwyer’s2 own words the Punjab’s war contribution in men. Speaking on the 7th April last, Sir Michael O’Dwyer said : I have spoken so often about the War and the Punjab’s share in it during the last year that I need say but little today. We started the War with 100,000 men in the Army. 1 World War I, 1914-18 2 Lt. -Governor of the Punjab, 1913-19 2 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 1 In 1917, I was able to tell you that in the first 2 years of the War we had 2 raised 124,000 combatants. In the next year we raised over 127,000 and a year ago the total was over a quarter of a million. We were then in the most critical stage of the War and in response to His Majesty’s August Message and the Premier’s appeal, I asked the province to raise another 200,000 men including 180,000 fighting men within a year. Many people thought that was an extravagant demand. Those people did not know the spirit of the Punjab. April and May 1918 were the harvest months and we advisedly did not push recruiting. But 21,000 men were enrolled. From June to September the recruiting campaign was carried on everywhere with great enthusiasm, and in those four months 78,000 men or over 19,500 per month joined the colours. In October, owing to the influenza epidemic, the number dropped to 14,426 and in November, when we were about to make a fresh effort, our enemies collapsed and hostilities came to an end, and the number fell to 6,313, but in six months, from June to November, we had raised 99,000 men, or half of the total promised, and in the eight months, April to November, our total was 121,000 men, including 1,00,000 combatants. If the need had continued, we should have completed our quota of 200,000. As it is, we can claim to have raised about 360,000 combatants during the four years of War, or more than half the total raised in the Indian Empire, excluding, of course, the splendid contribution from our gallant neighbours and allies in Nepal. The distribution of the 355,000 combatants by main religions and tribes is roughly as follows : MOHAMMEDANS 1,20,00 Pathans 5,000 Mohammedans from North & Central Punjab, commonly known as Punjabi Mohammedans 1,36,000 Mohammedans from South Punjab 25,000 Kashmiris 1,500 Other Mohammedans 2,500 SIKHS 90,000 HINDUS 90,000 VOL. 20 : 25 MARCH, 1920 - JUNE, 1920 3 Jats 30,000 Dogras 24,000 Other Rajputs 10,000 Ahirs 10,000 Gujars 6,000 Gaur Brahmins 5,000 All others 5,000 PUNJABI CHRISTIANS 4,000 The Mohammedans forming 5/9th of the population, gave 48 per cent of 1 the recruits, Hindus with 3/9th of the population, furnished th, while the 4 1 Sikhs, though only 1/9th of the population, also furnished th. 4 As I said last year the fighting men were drawn almost exclusively, and the non-combatants mainly, from the rural population, both for Army and even in the Indian Defence Force; the townsfolk made but a slight response to the call for men, though they helped generously in the War Loan. But most of the rural Hindus did splendidly in recruiting and their proportionate recruitment, though much below of the Sikhs, is nearly equal to that of the Punjabi Mohammedans. The administration of the Punjab is carried on by a Lieutenant- Governor, who has a Legislative Council under him—the members of which are partly elected and partly nominated. The capital of the Punjab is and has always been at Lahore, which is a big town with a population of about 250,000, situated at a distance of about 1,200 miles from Calcutta, 300 miles from Delhi, 784 miles from Karachi, and 1,162 miles from Bombay. The province is divided into 5 divisions under Commissioners, comprising 28 Districts under Deputy Commissioners or Collectors, viz., Ambala Division comprising the eastern part of the Punjab including Simla, the summer headquarters of the Government of India; Jullundur, including the mountainous and sub-mountainous parts; Lahore, the central parts; Rawalpindi, the north-western; and Multan, the western part of the Punjab. CHAPTER II SIR MICHAEL O’DWYER’S ADMINISTRATION Gentlemen, I have often been criticized for dwelling on the achievements 4 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI of the Punjab in season and out of season. But my pride in the province is based on no narrow parochial spirit. I have spent 15 years away from it, during which I have seen many other parts of India. I might indeed say, much have I seen and known, cities, men and manners, climates, councils, governments. But nowhere did I find the same qualities as the Punjab can show, from the prince’s palace down to the peasant’s hut. I found I could meet the Punjabi, whatever his class or condition, as man to man without suspicion or mistrust.