1. LETTER TO AMRIT KAUR LIKANDA February 23, 1940 MY DEAR IDIOT, Though we have hostile slogans1, on the whole, things have gone smooth.One never knows when they may grow worse. The atmosphere is undoubtedly bad. The weather is superb. I am keeping excellent and have regular hours. The b.p. is under control. Radical changeshave been made in the workingand composition of the Sangh.2 This you will have already seen. We are leaving here on Sunday and leaving Calcutta on Tuesday for Patna3. No more today. Mountain of work awaiting me. Your reports about the family there are encouraging. Poonam Chand Ranka4 told me he was going to correspond directly with Balkrishna about Chindwara. Evidently he has done nothing. This is unfortunate. Love to all. BAPU From the original : C.W. 3962. Courtesy : Amrit Kaur. Also G.N. 7271 2. LETTER TO SUSHILA NAYYAR February 23, 1940 CHI. SUSHILA, There is no news from you. How is Parachure Shastri? I have written to Biyaniji at Chhindwada. I hope Balkrishna and Kunverji are able to bear the heat. I am keeping perfectly good health. Blessings from BAPU From the Hindi original: Pyarelal Papers. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Courtesy: Dr. Sushila Nayyar 1 Vide “Speech at Khadi and Village Industries Exhibition”, 20-2-1940 2 Vide “Speech at Gandhi Seva Sangh Meeting—IV”, pp. 22-2-1940 3 For the Congress Working Committee meeting 4 President, Provincial Congress Committee, Nagpur VOL. 78 : 23 FEBRUARY, 1940 - 15 JULY, 1940 1 3. TELEGRAM TO SUSHILA NAYYAR GANDHI SEVA SANGH, February 24, 1940 SUSHILA SEGAON WARDHA TELL VALJIBHAI TAKE MILK TREATMENT WITH REST. BAPU From the original: Pyarelal Papers. Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Courtesy: Dr. Sushila Nayyar 4. LETTER TO MIRABEHN MALIKANDA, February 24, 1940 CHI. MIRA, I have been too busy to write to anybody. I had two cheery letters from you after you reached Hariana. It is good you are at peace with yourself and you found in the Pandit a true friend in need. I am glad too that you are keeping well. The company here too is well. I am asking P[yarelal] to send you cuttings which will give you some idea. We leave here tomorrow, in Calcutta till 27, Patna 28 to 1st at the most. Then Wardha, leaving W. on 9th for Ramgarh1. Prithvi Singh is here. He is going to Ramgarh in advance. He is taking Anand, the Japanese monk, with him. Love. BAPU [PS.] Love to Panditji. From the original : C.W. 6450. Courtesy : Mirabehn. Also G.N. 10045 1 For the Congress session 2 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI 5. TALK WITH WORKERS 1 MALIKANDA, [February 24, 1940]2 All incompatible mixtures are bound to explode.3 You must resolve to act on the square, and whilst you should be prepared to compromise on non-essentials you should never be in the uncomfortable position of having to compromise truth. You should retire from all such positions. That is the essence of compromise. Let service without near or distant objective be your motto. You are surrounded by poverty on all sides. Serve those that are afflicted, whether they are Muslims, Namasudras4 or others. Satyagraha transcends parties and divisions of class and creed. It should permeate the whole of our being and society. There is no question before you of enlisting members for the Congress. Give up all thought of gaining members for the sake of swelling your register. That is power politics. I would rather have no register than blacken it with bogus members. If you will thus become silent workers, even one of you will lead the Congress in the province without being in it. I hope you will not now say, ‘What will happen if the Congress is captured by the opponents ?’ You know the Upanishad precept 5 Enjoy by means of renunciation. Give up the Congress in order to ‘enjoy’ or have it. The moment I set my heart on some kind of capturing I am done for. No manoeuvring to keep your hold on the Congress, no descending from the right path, and you will disarm all opposition. A bogus Congress register can never lead you to swaraj any more than a paper boat can help you to sail across the Padma. Harijan, 9-3-1940 1 Reproduced from Mahadev Desai’s article “Gandhi Seva Sangh—II”. Gandhiji had this talk immediately before he addressed the Bengal Workers’ Conference. Vide the following item. 2 ibid 3According to Mahadev Desai Gandhiji was referring to the disruption in Bengal in spite of a long tradition of educated and self-sacrificing men and women. 4 A Harijan caste from Bengal 5 Ishopanishad, 1 VOL. 78 : 23 FEBRUARY, 1940 - 15 JULY, 1940 3 6. ADDRESS AT BENGAL WORKERS’ CONFERENCE 1 MALIKANDA, February 24, 1940 Gandhiji said that his time was limited and he wanted to say some things to them. The first question that struck him was : What was the meaning of the new manifestation which they were witnessing ? Why did some people cry “Down with Gandhism” ? (Gandhibad Dhansa Hauk).2 Let us understand that there is a kind of poison in the atmosphere. How are we to fight it ? Whether the number of those who shout these slogans is 50 to 500, we may not ignore them. We must try to discover their grievance.We may not treat them with contempt, if we are believers in ahimsa. No argumentum ad hominem will do. It is no answer to say that they are mercenaries, for you may be sure that not any and everyone who is offered a train fare and a wage would consent to come here. They must to an extent believe in their mission.3 They should remember that these people must bear some ill-feeling against certain things. That was why they came. One thing they could understand was that these people wanted to destroy something which they wanted to create. And at the back of their mind is the feeling that ‘Gandhism’ is out to destroy what they hold dear. If that is the case, they may well desire the destruction of Gandhism. When we see the thing in this light we can afford to keep our temper. We will then try to meet and plead with them and assure them that we do notdesire to obstruct their work.4 I do not say that you will immediately win them over, but you will certainly check the spread of the poison. Retaliation is counter poison, and poison breeds more poison. The nectar of love alone can destroy the poison of hate.5 These people were raising cries many times a day but afterwards they became silent of their own accord. It might be if they bore with it in silence their virulence might increase but they must be prepared for eventualities. They would bear in silence not on account of weakness but through patience out of which strength would grow. 1 A conference of about 200 constructive workers of Bengal and volunteers of Malikanda was held in the morning. 2 This paragraph is from Amrita Bazar Patrika. 3 The following paragraph is from Amrita Bazar Patrika. 4 Amrit Bazar Patrika here has : “If they did not offer resistance it might be that they would go away after shouting to their hearts’ content and the poison would not spread.” 5 The following paragraph is from Amrita Bazar Patrika. 4 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI Therefore let not the cries anger you. Let none of you think of drowning those cries in the cry of “Mahatma Gandhiki Jai”.You have done well in not shouting counte slogans. You have thereby sterilized theirs, and very little mischief has been done. If the forbearance is based on ahimsa, I am sure they will ultimately be still.1 Gandhiji advised workers to devote themselves to constructive work and not to try to keep the Congress organization under their control by any means. They must be prepared to leave the Congress if they were hampered in carrying out the constructive work. The service of the Congress did not lie in four-anna membership. There were crores of people who were outside the Congress but they loved and respected the Congress and they served the Congress better than those who were in control of the Congress to secure power and position. Gandhiji said he would say that those who had silently taken to the charkha were serving the country better than those who were inside the Congress but did not constructive work. Therefore I have told you that he who takes up the charkha with a knowledge of its implications serves the Congress cause better than Congressmen.2 He was glad to know that the constructive workers of Bengal had resolved to spin no less than 60,000 yards annually. If they regularly spun for half an hour daily it would not be difficult to spin one lakh yards annually. It was no big thing but out of consideration of self-interest they should do it. The cost of weaving was not much. If they spun they would serve the country. It was better that they took a vow that would give them strength and determination to perform work regularly. If, however, there is the slightest hesitance on your part, I would ask you not to take the pledge but try to do your quota without taking it.3 Though spinning might seem monotonous Gandhiji said that he called charkha “Daridranarayana Annapurna”. If 500 or 1000 people took the vow of doing constructive work, that would provide money for poor weavers.