1. HINDUSTANI 1 Shri Kakasaheb Kalelkar writes: If the Muslims of the Indian Union affirm their loyalty to the Union, will they accept Hindustani as the national language and learn the Urdu and Nagari scripts? Unless you give your clear opinion on this, the work of the Hindustani Prachar Sabha will become very difficult. Cannot Maulana Azad give his clear opinion on the subject? Kakasaheb says nothing new in his letter. But the subject has acquired added importance at the present juncture. If the Muslims in India owe loyalty to India and have chosen to make it their home of their own free will, it is their duty to learn the two scripts. It is said that the Hindus have no place in Pakistan. So they migrate to the Indian Union. In the event of a war between the Union and Pakistan, the Muslims of the Indian Union should be prepared to fight against Pakistan. It is true that there should be no war between the two dominions. They have to live as friends or die as such. The two will have to work in close co-operation. In spite of being independent of each other, they will have many things in common. If they are enemies, they can have nothing in common. If there is genuine friendship, the people of both the States can be loyal to both. They are both members of the same Commonwealth of nations. How can they become enemies of each other? But that discussion is unnecessary here. The Union must have a common inter provincial speech. I will go a step further and say that if the two States are friends, Hindustani should be the common speech between the two. This does not mean that Urdu and Hindi will cease to exist as distinct forms of speech. They must continue to live and progress. But if the Hindus and the Muslims or rather people of all religions in India are friends, they must accept a common language evolved from Hindi and Urdu. They should learn the two scripts. This will be a test for the Muslims and the Hindus in the Indian Union. It would be wrong to say that if the Muslims of the Union refuse to learn the Nagari script, Hindustani cannot become the national language. Whether the Muslims learn the Nagari script or not, the Hindus and the people of all other religions ought to learn the two scripts. It is possible that in view of the poisoned atmosphere of the 1 The Hindi original of this appeared in Harijan Sevak, 5-10-1947. VOL. 97: 27 SEPTEMBER, 1947 - 5 DECEMBER, 1947 1 day, people may not appreciate this simple proposition. If the Hindus wish to, they can boycott the Urdu script and Urdu words, but they will be the losers thereby. Therefore those engaged in Hindustani Prachar should not weaken in their faith or efforts. I agree that people like Maulana Azad and other prominent Muslims of the Indian Union should be the first to adopt Hindustani and the two scripts. Who will take the lead if not they? Difficult times lie ahead of us. May God guide us aright. NEW DELHI, September 27, 1947 Harijan, 5-10-1947 2. LETTER TO NARANDAS GANDHI September 27, 1947 CHI. NARANDAS, One may say you are now approaching old age. You certainly have my blessings. May you serve the people for many more years. When you are too weak to serve I am not going to wish you the same. Why should you ever become too weak? Blessings from BAPU From a copy of the Gujarati: Pyarelal Papers. Courtesy: Pyarelal 3. LETTER TO PREMA KANTAK September 27, 1947 CHI. PREMA, You have lost your father, but if you think calmly, you will realize that you have gained many fathers in place of one. All who are our seniors in age or superior to us in knowledge should be as fathers to us or, if they are women, mothers. Those who are our equals in age are our brothers and sisters, and our juniors are our sons and daughters. Then the world will never die for us. Why then do you grieve over the passing away of your father? Death, moreover, is man’s true friend. Why then should we be unhappy when our dear ones meet their dearest friend? When our dear ones leave us, we should engross ourselves in service with still greater devotion. Blessings from BAPU From a photostat of the Gujarati: G. N. 10456. Also C. W. 6895. Courtesy: Prema Kantak 2 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 4. LETTER TO SAYED MAHMUD HAD [September 27, 1947 ]1 BAHI SYED MAHMUD HAD, Your letter has been redirected to me by the Navajivan office. It is not necessary to publish it. I had said enough about it at Calcutta. From the Hindi original: Pyarelal Papers. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Courtesy: Beladevi Nayyar and Dr. Sushila Nayyar 5. SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING NEW DELHI, September 27, 1947 BROTHERS AND SISTERS, Shall I tell you who is my special physician? He is good for me and also good for you. My physician today, in my thought, speech and action, is Rama, Ishwar, Rahim. How can He become our physician? We heard a bhajan addressed to the Lord who removes all miseries of mind, body and soul which human beings are subject to. Hence I felt that the best, unfailing remedy is Ramanama. I can suggest no other remedy to those who come to me. Then take some earth and water treatment. I know that one who has Ramanama inscribed in his heart needs neither earth nor water for treatment. If we are destined to live we shall live. If we have to die, let us die. No one can ride two horses at the same time. If I have faith in Ramanama I must remain firm in that. Anyone not doing so will perish. Rama is the saviour. Does the person who has installed God in his heart ever die? This body is transitory. It may be living this moment and may die the next. How then can I be proud of it? It is futile to keep the body alive when the moment of death has arrived. Guru Nanak was a great religious leader. Other Gurus who came after him did write songs of devotion but they mentioned the name of Nanak in the refrain. This is the culture of India. Perhaps such things happen in many other countries. Whatever that may be, I can only talk of the Indian culture. Mirabai was a great devotee. Mira’s name is found at the end of countless bhajans. It was not she who used her name. But Mira’s disciples found great satisfaction in attributing their 1 The letter is written on a sheet of paper on which this date is scribbled. VOL. 97: 27 SEPTEMBER, 1947 - 5 DECEMBER, 1947 3 compositions to her. This is a wonderful thing. It is said that Arjun Dev1 was a great Guru and a great poet. He said: “One may recite Ramanama or Khuda’s praise, one may serve Gosain or Allah”. It is remarkable that this thing occurs in the Granth Saheb. The allegations against the Sikhs today are, if true, a violation of the teachings of Guru Nanak. That is not the way to bring glory to the Granth Saheb. Nor can the Sikhs make any progress that way. Some Sikh friends had a plain talk with me. They told me that Guru Arjun Dev did not doubt the identity of Rama and Rahim or Krishna and Karim. Then they told me that whether one went on pilgrimage or haj it meant one and the same thing. One may perform puja or bow his head, one may worship God in a temple or bend oneself low in the name of God, one may read the Vedas or the Book. The Book meant the Koran. One may dress oneself in blue clothes or in white. The Muslim wears blue clothes and the orthodox Hindu wears white. Then, one may be called a Turk or a Hindu. Turks means Muslims. [Nanak] says that he who truly follows God’s laws knows His secret. If I had the time I would have narrated so many things from the Hindu bhajans and kirtans that you would wonder whether the religious sentiment depicted there belonged to Hinduism or Sikhism. why do we say today that the Muslims have got to leave this country? Why is it said that the plan of settling the Muslims with the Hindus is a mistake and the fourth blunder of the Congress? Whether the Congress implements it or not, it is my plan and if it is a mistake it is my mistake. Others come to me and challenge my being a Mahatma and charge me with ruining Hinduism. But I tell them that what they call my mistake is not a mistake. The real thing is that we are all possessed by a madness today and talk all sorts of things. When we get over that madness, we shall talk sense. That is why I say that what I am saying cannot be a mistake. Those who think I am making a mistake are themselves mistaken. The whole world would blame you if you 1 threw out 42 crore Muslims. Would you then point at what is happening in Pakistan? Because Pakistan is not following its religion should I start teaching the Hindus that they should also give up their religion? I have never learnt such a thing.