SATYAGRAHA IN ACTION Indians who had spent nearly all their lives in South Africi Gandhi was able to get assistance for them from South India an appeal was made to the Supreme Court and the deportation system was ruled illegal. Meantime, the satyagraha movement continued, although more slowly as a result of government prosecution of the Indians and the animosity of white people to whom Indian merchants owed money. They demanded immediate payment of the entire sum due. The Indians could not, of course, meet their demands. Freed from jail once again in 1909, Gandhi decided that he must go to England to get more help for the Indians in Africa. He hoped to see English leaders and to place the problems before them, but the visit did little beyond acquainting those leaders with the difficulties Indians faced in Africa. In his nearly half year in Britain Gandhi himself, however, became a little more aware of India’s own position. On his way back to South Africa he wrote his first book. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Written in Gujarati and later translated by himself into English, he wrote it on board the steamer Kildonan Castle. Instead of taking part in the usual shipboard life he used a packet of ship’s stationery and wrote the manuscript in less than ten days, writing with his left hand when his right tired. Hind Swaraj appeared in Indian Opinion in instalments first; the manuscript then was kept by a member of the family. Later, when its value was realized more clearly, it was reproduced in facsimile form. It ran into 275 pages. Only three lines were changed before publication. Forty years later he said he would change only one word. By now all of Gandhi’s own money had been put into the atyagraha movement. Only through donations from supporters 1 India was the family able to escape complete poverty. A significant type of help came from a German architect GANDHI WARRIOR OF NON-VIOLENCE P. D. Tandon is a well-known journalist and author of more than fifteen books, among them Nehru Your Neighbour and Nehru You Don't Know (an NBT publication). He is a member of the U.P. Legislative Council and lives in Allahabad. Roland E. Wolseley is an American university professor, journalist and author. He visited India as a Fulbright lecturer in 1952-53 and headed the Department of Journalism, Nag- pur University. Is the author or co-author of sixteen books, including Journalism in Modern India and Face to Face With India. He is currently Professor of Journalism, School of Journalism, Syracuse University. YOUNG INDIA LIBRARY GANDHI WARRIOR OF NON-VIOLENCE P. D. TANDOl AND ROLAND E. WOLSELE\ NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA New Delhi © P. D. Tandon and Roland E. Wolseley, 1969 Sole distributors in India: INDIA BOOK HOUSE NEW DELHI 1 — MADRAS 2 — HYDERABAD 29 — PATNA BANGALORE 9 — CALCUTTA 16 — BOMBAY 1 PRINTED IN INDIA PUBLISHED BY THE SECRETARY, NATIONAL BOOK TRUST, INDIA, NEW DELHI-16 AND PRINTED AT NATIONAL PRINTINO WORKS, 10, DARYAGANJ, DELHI-6 Dedicated to the present generation of the East and the who may wish to know more about Gandhi FOREWORD Mahatma Gandhi is undoubtedly one of the greatest and most interesting personalities of the world. Though it is now over 21 years since he passed away, books are still being written in different parts of the world throwing some new light on the man or his philosophy or offering a fresh interpretation of his life and work. Perhaps the best guide is his Autobiography but it does not tell the whole story of his life. However, what makes Gandhiji a unique man is his philosophy, a rich blend of the best in every religion and ethical concept. His main contribution to the welfare of mankind is his principle of non-violence—conquest of violence by love and goodwill. Prof. Roland E, Wolseley and Shri P. D. Tandon are well- known journalists and authors of repute, one American and the other Indian, who have put in a lot of labour and research into their present joint venture. I think they have succeeded in their aim of setting Gandhiji in the right perspective in the contemporary world, thereby underlining his relevance not only for our time but also for the future of mankind itself in this nuclear age. I am sure our young boys and girls who could not see this apostle of truth, love and non-violence in flesh will, by reading this book, imbibe the spirit and leam some of the values for which he lived and died. New Delhi B.V. KESKAR September 20, 1969 PREFACE The people of ihc world ask, as one crisis succeeds anoilicr in different parts of the globe, if there is not some other way for human beings to settle their differences than by violence. They want to know if the legalized violence of war and the illegal violence of murder and assault arc to be with us always. The means to carry out human dcslruciion. either in person- to-person encounter or in mass attack from missiles origin- ating thousands of miles away from their victims, have become more and more efficient. Human society, therefore, turns to all experiences and experiments for an answer, if possible, a new answer. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi thought he h.ad an answer. It was the reply given before him by Henry David Thorcau. St. Francis of Assisi, Jesus of Nazareth. William Penn. William Lloyd Garrison, and of some of Gandhi’s contemporaries. Leo Tolstoy, Jane Adams, Remain Rolland, Albert Schweitzer and Toyohiko Kagawa, for instance. All had the same answer but none of them tried to live that answer completely and in modern times, as did Gandhi. Known by many names over the centuries—non-violence, non-resistance, and pacifism arc only a few—this answer generally has been misunderstood. It has come into new prominence, however, in the second quarter of the 20th century. If the power Gandhi believed in is available to man. perhaps he needs to take it more seriously. If it can save hint, maj be he should see how it works. For it did work, in the life of Mohandas Gandhi, and in the lives of many of those around him. It worked in various parts of the world. Perhaps a new look at the life of the small man who led India for so many years with an apparently quixotic idea will give the world a little more X PREFACE courage to try another method of resolving conflict, an old method but one barely used except here and there over the ages. The sense of values of people in one nation is not nfcccs- sarily the same as that of people in another. Once Gandhi kept a large political group waiting while he gave his full attention to an old woman’s story of her troubles. Many of the political bigwigs were irked, but others, more patient beings and better acquainted with Gandhi, observed: “His sense of values might be more true than ours.” The sense of values—the sensitivity—that Mohandas Gandhi always displayed may be what more of the world’s people need today. If they are successfully to find a way to avoid the catas- trophic end of the human race in a new world war or a violent world revolution, be it from the extreme left or the extreme right, the Gandhian way may be the only one that mankind can risk. P. D. TANDON ROLAND E. WOLSELEY CONTENTS Fouewoud %ii Preface ix Chapter I Saint and Dreamer 1 II Mohandas 6 III Mohandas and Kastiirbai . ii IV To England . 14 V Insults in South Africa .. II VI Victory and a New Task . :? VII “Hang Old Gandhi on the Sour Apple Tree" . JO VIII A New Crisis . 34 IX Satyagraha in Action . 39 X Tolstoy Farm .. 45 XI Heroes and Cowards .. 52 XII Incident of the Untouchables .. ff' XIII The Rebel .. ('2 XIV The Jailbird . f'S XV March to the Sea 74 XVI To the Round Table , . 84 XVII Discipline of the Fast 92 XVIII Man of the People . , 9G XIX The Model Village .. ICO XX New War, New Prisons .. 109 XXI Sorrow and War’s End .. 117 XXII Sacrifice to Violence .. 126 XXIII The Spirit Abideth .. 129 Bibliography .. 134 Acknowledgments The authors have relied heavily on Gandhi’s Autobio- graphy and the studies of him by Tendulkar, Pyarelal, Nanda, Fischer and other writers. All important source books are acknowledged in the bibliography. Many Indian documentary and personal sources also have been consulted, as have many persons, close t'o Gandhi during much of his life. Since one of the co-authors, is him- self an Indian residing in India and closely acquainted with many persons who knew the Mahatma and the other co-author an American who has lived in India, it has been possible to check the authenticity of this material. This checking process was much aided by the help of V. Y. Ghorpade, Secretary to the Minister for Infor- mation and Broadcasting of the Government of India at one time, and Jittendra Singh, while he was joint editor of the Allahabad Leader. CHAPTER / SAINT AND DREAMER To SOME people Mohandas Gandhi was a saintly finurc, to others a dangerous fanatic, and to still others an impractical dreamer. All who knew him or of him were aware that he was physically frail but spiritually strong and that he led his country with amazing success. They knew, too, that there was something different about his way of life, his methods of dealing with people.