MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI BOMBAY SECRET ABSTRACT 1915 Page 26, Para. 41 (a)(b). (a) Bombay, January 11th.—The Bombay Chronicle, dated the 11th instant has an account of the reception given to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and of an interview with him on his arrival from England by the mail of the 9th (January) idem. Gandhi receives numerous letters, inviting him to private receptions, but I hear that he has declined them all with the exception of two public ones. It is said that he intends paying Bal Gangadhar Tilak visit. SPEECH AT PUBLIC RECEPTION, BOMBAY January 12, 1915 A public reception was accorded by the elite of Bombay to Gandhiji and Shrimati Kasturba Gandhi at Mount Petit, on January 12, 1915, over 600 distinguished citizens being present, including Europeans. The Hon. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta,1 who presided, warmly welcomed the guests of the evening. Replying to the toast, Mr. Gandhi said that he did not know that the right word, would come to him to express the feelings that had stirred within him that afternoon. He had felt that he would be more at home in his own Motherland than he used to be in South Africa among their own countrymen. But during the three days that they had passed in Bombay, they had felt—and the thought he was voicing the feelings of his wife, too—that they were much more at home among those indentured Indians, who were the truest heroes of India. They felt that they were indeed in strange company here in Bombay, and that reminded him of one thing said to him by a great Englishman, namely, that duty would be merited (sic) at the last. In what he had done, he had done nothing beyond his duty and it remained to be seen how far he had succeeded in doing his duty. That was not a mere lip expression but he asked them to believe sincerely that these were his feelings. He felt all that his political leaders had done for him, all that Sir Pherozeshah Mehta had done for him and he could recall many an incident when he, i.e. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, had cheered him up while he was a young briefless barrister in his disappointments. He had had the honour of receiving instruction, guidance, and advice from many other distinguished countrymen of his own, and would he not be ungrateful if he 1(1845-1915). One of the founders of the Indian National Congress, its President in 1890 and 1909; vide Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 1, p. 386. 2 INTERVIEV WITH GANDHI ON ARRIVAL FROM ENGLAND [1915 did not do what they told him to do? He had paid his respects to the Grand Old Man of India Mr. Dadabhoy Naoroji1 that morning. His life was an inspiration to him and in that connection he dared not leave out one name, that of his guide—at least his political leader, the Hon. Mr. Gokhale, (Cheers). His life was more than an inspiration to him. Mr. Gokhale had been to him more than a brother. He also must not omit to mention the deep debt that he owed to all his countrymen, let alone the memory of his revered parents, who taught him to respect them and through them the whole country. They were paying these regards to them, who were but poor creatures, while the real heroes were the indentured labourers. He wished to remind them of the indentured Indian that staggered him in jail. When he met that Indian, he did not know what inspired the latter to go to jail, and what inspired him to utter the words he did utter. He told the Indian that there was no occasion for him to go there and that he had never advised such of his countrymen as Harbat Singh2 to go there. But that old Indian said that he could not restrain himself from going there when he saw his poor brothers and sisters go there for the honour of the country. How could he leave himself out he asked, and added that he wanted to die there. They were alive and he was dead. That man was the hero and there were many of his type. If he had lived and come out to India, they would not have noticed him, perhaps he too would not have noticed him. All honour was due to the memory of Harbat Singh. They had also honoured Mrs. Gandhi as the wife of the great Gandhi. He had no knowledge of the great Gandhi, but he could say that she could tell them more about the sufferings of women who rushed with babies to jail and who had now joined the majority than he could. In conclusion, Mr. Gandhi appealed to them to accept the services of himself and his wife for, he said they had come to render such service as God would enable them to do. They had not come to receive big entertainments like that because they did not think they were worthy of such presents. He felt that they would only spoil them if ever by such action a thought crossed their minds that they had done something to deserve such a big tamasha made in their honour. He, however, thanked them on behalf of his wife and himself most sincerely for the great honour done to them that afternoon and he hoped to receive the blessings of the whole country in their endeavour to serve the Motherland. Hitherto, he said, they had known nothing of his failures. All the news that they had received related to his successes. Here they would now see them in the naked light and would see their faults, and anticipating such faults and failures, he asked them to overlook them, and with that appeal, he said, they as humble servants would commence the service of their country. He again thanked them most sincerely for the very great honour done to himself and his wife. [The Bombay Chronicle, 13th January 1915. Collected works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. XIII, p. 5.]. 1(1825-1917), the first Indian to be elected member of the British Parliament in 1893; President of the Indian National Congress thrice, in 1886, K;93 and 1906; author of Poverty and Un- British Rule in India; vide CWMG, Vol. X, p. 313. 2 An old man of 75 from Uttar Pradesh; vide " Speech at Public Reception, Madras", 21st April 1915. 1915] SPEECH AT PUBLIC RECEPTION 3 (b) Bombay, January 11th.—A meeting of the Bombay National Union was held yesterday (10th January)* evening in honour of M. K. Gandhi, B. G. Tilak was invited by S. V, Lalit to attend, but he refused to do so unless Gandhi said he would not object to his doing so. Lalit went back and asked Gandhi who said Tilak would be welcome. Tilak accordingly attended. C. V. Vaidya presided, and amongst others present were Joseph Baptista. M. G. Deshmukh, D. D. Sathe, Y. V. Nene, S. V. Lalit, and others, some 150 in all. The meeting was more or less spontaneous and only decided upon in the morning. SPEECH AT NATIONAL UNION MEETING AT BOMBAY January 13, 1915 At a meeting convened by the Bombay National Union at Hira Baug (Bombay) on the 13th instant to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi, Mr. Tilak 1 was present, though no formal invitation was sent to him. The meeting was attended by about 250 persons, Mr. Tilak addressing the gathering said that they were only doing their duty in honouring Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi, as they had fought for the honour of India in a distant land. He said that India ought to produce more men and women of the self-sacrificing spirit of the honoured guests, and impressed upon the audience that this was the lesson they had to learn from the career of Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Gandhi's speech was colourless and formal; he expressed the gratefulness of the Indians in South Africa to the mother country which contributed lavishly to the fund2 for their relief during the late struggle. He said it was a pleasure to meet Mr. Tilak in Bombay as he fully intended to pay his respects to him when he visited Poona. Mr. Baptista said that it did not matter whom Mr. Gandhi selected as his guru (this refers to a remark made by Mr. Gandhi that Mr. Gokhale was his guru), so long as he always held before him the ideals of honour and self respect, as he had done throughout his life. Both he and Mr. Ali Muhammad Bhimji referred to the gallant conduct of the Indian troops in support of the cause of right in the present war. [CWMG. VOI XIII, P. 7] Bombay Government Police Abstracts, 1915, p. 40, Para 60. Page 40, Para. 60 (a), (b), (c), (d) (a) Bombay, January 19th.—The Bombay National Union convened a meeting of its members to meet Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at the Hira Baug on the 13th instant (January). Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya presided. The following, amongst others, were noticed: Dr. Dinkar Dhondo Sathe, Sitaram Vishnu Lalit. Yeshwant Vishnu-Nene, Joseph Baptista, Bar-at-Law, Ali Muhammad Bhimji, Tapidas Dulabhdas Sanghvi, Kashinath Waman Lele, G. N. Potdar. Dhondiraj Thengari, Dr. Moreshwar Gopal Deshmukh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak Dr. Shridhar Chintaman Jog. *Mr. B. G. Tilak came to Bombay ot; 12th (vide Police Abstract of 1915 ) A meeting of the Bombay National Union was held on 13th to honour Mr. Gandhi. Mr. Tilak attended the meeting. It is, therefore, not possible that a meeting took place on 10th as per Police report.