INTRODUCTION
The constructive programme may
otherwise and more fittingly be called construction of Poorna Swaraj or
complete Independence by truthful and non-violent means.
Effort for construction of,
Independence so called through violent and, therefore, necessarily untruthful
means we know only too painfully. Look at the daily destruction of property,
life, and truth in the present war.
Complete Independence through
truth and non-violence means the independence of every unit, 'be it the
humblest of the nation, without distinction of race, colour or creed. This
independence is never exclusive. It is, therefore, wholly compatible with
interdependence within or without. Practice will always fall short of the
theory ,even as the drawn line falls short of the theoretical line of. Euclid.
Therefore, complete Independence will be complete .only to the extent of our
approach in practice to truth and non-violence.
Let the reader mentally plan out
the whole of the constructive programme, ,and he will agree with me that, if it
could be successfully worked out, the 'end of it would be the Independence we
want. Has not Mr. Amery said that an . agreement between the major parties,
translated in my language, any agreement after communal unity which is only one
item in the constructive programme, will be respected? We need not question his
sincerity, for, if such unity is honestly, i.e., non-violently, attained, it
will in itself contain the power to compel acceptance of the agreed demand.
On the other hand there. it is no
such thing as an imaginary or even 'perfect definition of Independence through
violence'."For it presupposes only ascendancy of that party of the nation
which makes the most effective use of violence. In it perfect equality,
economic or otherwise, is inconceivable.
But for my purpose, which is to
convince the reader of the necessity of following out the constructive
programme in the non-violent effort, the acceptance of my argument about the
ineffectiveness of violence for 'the attainment of independence is not
required. The reader is welcome to the belief that Independence of the humblest
unit is possible under the scheme of violence, if this effort enables him also
to admit it is a certainty through the complete execution of the programme by
the nation.
Let us now examine the items.
COMMUNAL UNITY
Everybody is agreed about the
necessity of this unity. But everybody does not know that unity does not mean
political unity which may be imposed. It means an unbreakable heart unity. The
first thing essential for achieving such unity is for every Congressman,
whatever his religion may be, to represent, in his own person Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, Zoroastrian, Jew, etc., shortly, every Hindu and non-Hindu. He has
to feel his identity with everyone of the millions of the inhabitants of
Hiridustan. In order to realize this, every Congressman will cultivate personal
friendship with persons representing faiths other than his own. He should have
the same regard for the other faiths as he has for his own.
In such a happy state of things.
there would be no disgraceful cry at the stations such as "Hindu
water" and "Muslim water" or "Hindu tea" and
"Muslim tea". There would be no separate rooms or pots for Hindus and
non- Hindus in schools and colleges, no communal schools, colleges and
hospitals. The beginning of such a revolution has to be made by Congressmen
without any political motive behind! the correct conduct. Political unity will
be its natural fruit.
We have long been accustomed to
think that power comes only through Legislative Assemblies, I have regarded this
belief as a grave error brought about by inertia or hypnotism. A superficial
study of British history has made us think that all power percolates to the
people from parliaments. The truth is that power resides in the people and it
is entrusted for the time being to those whom they may choose as their
representatives. Parliaments have no power or even existence independently of
the people. It has been my effort for the last twenty-one years to convince the
people of this simple truth. Civil Disobedience is the storehouse of power.
Imagine a whole people unwilling to conform to the laws of the legislative, and
prepared to suffer the consequences of non-compliance! They will bring the
whole legislative and executive machinery to a standstill. The police and the
military are of us to coerce minorities however powerful they may be. But no
police or military coercion can bend the resolute will of a people who are out
for suffering to the uttermost.
And parliamentary procedure is
good only when it's members are willing to conform to the will of the majority.
In other words. it is fairly effective only among compatibles.
Here in India we have been
pretending to work the parliamentary system under separate electorates which
have created artificial incompatibles. Living unity can never come out of these
artificial entities being brought together on a common platform. Such
legislatures may function. But they can only be a platform for wrangling and
sharing the crumbs of power that may fall from rulers whoever they may be.
These rule with a rod of iron, and prevent the opposing elements from flying at
one another's throats. I hold the emergence of complete Independence to be an
impossibility out of such a disgrace.
Though I hold such strong views,
I have come to the conclusion that so long as there are undesirable candidates
for elective bodies, Congress should put up candidates in order to prevent
reactionaries from entering such bodies.
REMOVAL OF UNTOUCHABILITY
At this time of the day it is
unnecessary to dilate upon the necessity of the removal of this blot and curse
upon Hinduism. Congressmen have certainly done much in this matter. But I am
sorry to have to say that many Congressmen have looked upon this item as a mere
political necessity and not something indispensable, so far as Hindus are
concerned, for the very existence of Hinduism. If Hindu Congressmen take up the
cause for its own sake, they will influence the so- called Sanatanis far more
extensively than they have hitherto done. They should approach them not in a
militant spirit but, as befits their non-violence, in a spirit of friendliness.
And so far as the Harijans are concerned, every Hindu should make common cause
with them and befriend them in their awful isolation-such isolation as perhaps
the world has never seen in the monstrous immensity one witnesses in India. I
know from experience how difficult the task is. But it is part of the task of
building the edifice of Swaraj. And the road to Swaraj is steep and narrow.
There are many slippery ascents and. many deep chasms. They have all to be
negotiated with unfaltering step before we can reach the summit and breathe the
fresh air of freedom.
PROHIBITION
Although like communal
unity"prohibition" and removal of untouchability prohibition has been
on the Congress programme since 1920, Congressmen have not taken the interest
they might have taken in this very vital social and moral reform. If we are to
reach our goal through non-violent effort, we may not leave to the future
government the fate of lakhs of men and women who are labouring under the curse
of intoxicants and narcotics.
Medical men can make a most
effective contribution towards the removal of this evil. They have to discover
ways of weaning the drunkard and the opium-addict from the curse.
Women and students have a special
opportunity in advancing this reform. By many acts of loving service they can
acquire on addicts a hold which will compel them to listen to the appeal to
give up the evil habit.
Congress committees can open
recreation booths where the tired labourer will rest his limbs, get healthy and
cheap refreshments, find suitable games. All this work is fascinating and
uplifting. The non-violent approach to Swaraj is a novel approach. In it old
values give place to new. In the violent way such reforms may find no place.
Believers in. that way, in their impatience and, shall I say, ignorance, put
off such things to the day of deliverance. They forget that lasting and healthy
deliverance comes from within, i.e. from self-purification. Constructive
workers make legal prohibit- ion easy and successful even if they do not pave
the way for it.
Khadi
Khadi is a controversial subject.
Many people think that in advocating khadi I am sailing against a headwind and
am sure to sink the ship of Swaraj and that I am taking the country to the dark
ages. I do not propose to argue the case for khadi in this brief survey. I have
argued It sufficiently elsewhere. Here I want to show what every Congressman,
and for that matter every Indian, can do to advance the cause of khadi. It
connotes the beginning of economic freedom arid equality of all in the country.
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating."Let everyone try, and he
or she will find out for himself or herself the truth of what I am saying.
Khadi must be taken with all its implications. It means a wholesale Swadeshi
mentality, a determination to find all the necessaries of life in India and
that too through the labour and intellect of the villagers. That means a
reversal of the existing process. That is to say that, instead of half a dozen
cities of India and Great Britain living on the exploitation and the ruin of
the 7,00,000 villages of India, the latter will be largely self-contained, and
will voluntarily serve the cities of India and even the outside world in so far
as it benefits both the parties.
This needs a revolutionary change
in the mentality and tastes of many. Easy though the non-violent way is in many
respects, it is very difficult in many others. It vitally touches the life of
every single Indian, makes him feel aglow with the possession of a power that
has lain hidden within himself, and makes him proud of his identity with every
drop of the ocean of Indian humanity. This non-violence is not the inanity for
which we have mistaken it through all these long ages; it is the most potent
force as yet known to mankind and on which its very existence is dependent It
is that force which I have tried to present to the Congress and through it to
the world. Khadi to me is the. symbol of unity of Indian humanity, of its
economic freedom and equality and, therefore, ultimately, in the poetic
expression of Jawaharlal Nehru, "the livery of India's freedom".
Moreover, khadi mentality means
decentralization of the production and distribution of the 'necessaries of
life. Therefore, the formula so far evolved is, every village to produce all
its necessaries and a certain percentage in addition for the requirements of
the cities.
Heavy industries will need be
centralized and nationalized. But they will occupy the least pans of the vast
national activity which will mainly be in the villages.
Having explained the implications
of khadi, I must indicate what Congressmen can and should do towards its
promotion. Production of khadi includes cotton growing, picking, ginning,
cleaning, carding, slivering, spinning, sizing, dyeing, preparing the warp
and" the woof, weaving, and washing. These, with the exception of dyeing,
are essential processes. Every one of them can be effectively handled in the
villages and is being so handled in many villages throughout India which the
A.I.S.A is covering. According to the latest report the following are the
interesting figures:
2,75,146 villagers, including
19,645 Harijans and 57,378 Muslims, scattered in at least 13,451 villages,
received, as spinners, weavers, etc., Rs. 34,85,609 in 1940. The spinners were
largely women.
Yet the work done is only
one-hundredth part of what could be done if Congressmen honestly took up the
khadi programme. Since the wanton destruction of this central village industry
and the allied handicrafts, intelligence and brightness have fled from the
villages, leaving them inane, lustreless, and reduced almost to the state of
their ill-kept cattle.
If Congressmen will be true to
their Congress call in respect of khadi, they will carry out the instructions of
the A I.S.A issued from time to time as to the part they can play in khadi
planning. Only a few broad rules can be laid down here:
1. Every family with a plot of
ground can grow cotton at least for family use. Cotton growing is easy process.
In Bihar the cultivators were by law compelled to grow indigo on 3/20 of their
cultivable land. This Was in the interest of the foreign indigo planter. Why
cannot we grow cotton voluntarily for the nation on a certain portion of our
land? The reader will note that decentralization commences from the beginning
of the khadi processes. Today cotton crop is centralized and has to be sent to
distant parts of India. Before the war it used to be sent principally to
Britain and Japan. It was and still is a money crop and, therefore, subject to
the fluctuations of the market. Under the khadi scheme cotton- growing becomes
free from this uncertainty and gamble. The grower grows what he needs. The
farmer needs to know that his first business is to grow for his my need. When
he does that, he will reduce the chance of a low market ruining him.
2. Every spinner would buy-if he
has not his own-enough cotton for ginning, which he can easily do without the
hand-ginning roller frame. He can gin his own portion with a board and an iron
rolling pin. Where this is considered impractical hand ginned cotton should be
bought and carded. Carding for self can be done well on a tiny bow without much
effort. The greater the decentralization of labour, the simpler and cheaper the
tools. The slivers made, the process of spinning commences. I strongly
recommend the dhanush takli. I have used it frequently. My speed on it is
almost the same as on the wheel. I draw a finer thread and the strength and
evenness of the yarn are greater on the dhanush takli than on the wheel. This
may not, however, hold good for all. My emphasis on the dhanush takli is based
on the fact that it is more easily made, is cheaper than and does not require
frequent repairs like the wheel. Unless one knows how to make the two mats and
to adjust them when they slip or to put the wheel right when it refuses to
work, the wheel has often to lie idle. Moreover, if the millions take to
spinning at once, as they well may have to, the dhanush takli, being the
instrument most easily made and handled, is the only tool that can meet the
demand. It is more easily made even than the simple takli. The best, easiest
and cheapest way is to make it oneself. Indeed one ought to learn how to handle
and make simple tools. Imagine the unifying and educative effect of the whole
nation simultaneously taking part in the processes up to spinning! Consider the
leveling effect of the bond of common labour between the rich and the poor!
Yarn thus produced may be used in
three ways: by presenting it to the A.I.S.A. for the sake of the poor, by
having it woven for personal use, or by getting as much khadi for it as it can
buy. It is clear enough that the finer and better the yarn the greater will be
its value. If Congressmen will put their heart into the work, they will make
improvements in the tools and make many discoveries. In our ,country there has
been a divorce between labour and intelligence. The result has been stagnation.
If there is an indissoluble marriage between the two, and that in the manner
here suggested, the resultant good will be inestimable.
In this scheme of nation-wide
spinning as a sacrifice, I do not expect the average man or woman to give more
than one hour daily to this work.
OTHER VILLAGE INDUSTRIES
These stand on a different
footing from khadi: There is not much scope for voluntary labour in them. Each
industry will take the labour of only a certain number of hands. These
industries come in as a hand-maid to khadi. They cannot exist without khadi,
and khadi will be robbed of its dignity without them. Village economy cannot be
complete without the essential village industries such as hand-grinding, hand-
pounding, soap-making, paper-making, match-making, tanning, oil-pressing, etc.
Congressmen can interest them- selves in these and. if they are villagers or
will settle down in villages, they will give these industries a new life and a
new dress. All should make it a point of honour to use only village articles
whenever and wherever available. Given the demand there is no doubt that most of
our wants can be supplied from our villages. When we have become
village-minded, we will not want imitations of the West or machine-made
products, but we will develop a true national taste in keeping with the vision
of a new India in which pauperism, starvation and idleness will be unknown.
VILLAGE SANITATION
Divorce between intelligence and
labour has resulted in criminal negligence of the villages. And so, instead of
having graceful hamlets dotting the land, we have dung-heaps. The approach to
many villages is not a refreshing experience. Often one would like to shut
one's eyes and stuff one's nose; such is the surrounding dirt and offending
smell. If the majority of Congressmen were derived from our villages, as they
should be, they should be able to make our villages models of cleanliness in
every sense of the word. But they have never considered it their duty to
identify themselves with the villagers in their daily lives. A sense of
national or social sanitation is not a virtue among us. We may take a kind of a
bath, but we do not mind dirtying the well or the tank or the river by whose
side or in which we perform ablutions. I regard this defect as a great vice
which is responsible for the disgraceful state of our villages and the sacred
banks of the sacred rivers and for the diseases that spring from insanitation.
NEW OR BASIC EDUCATION
This is a new subject. But the
members of the Working Committee felt so much interested in it that they gave a
charter to the organisers of the Hindustani Talimi Sangh which has been
functioning since the Haripura session. This is a big field of work for many
Congressmen. This education is meant to transform village children into model
villagers. It is principally designed for them. The inspiration for it has come
from the villages. Congressmen who want to build up the' structure of Swaraj
from its very foundation dare not neglect the children. Foreign rule has
unconsciously, though none the less surely, begun with the children in the
field of education. Primary education is a farce designed without regard to the
wants of the India of the villages and for that Ipatter even of the cities.
Basic education links the children, whether of the cities or the villages, to
all that is best and lasting in India. It develops both the body and the mind,
and keeps the child rooted to the soil with a glorious vision of the future in
the realization .of which he or she begins to take his or her share from the
very commencement of his or her career in school. Congressmen would find it of
absorbing interest benefiting themselves equally with the children with whom
they come in contact: Let those who wish, put themselves in touch with the
Secretary of the Sangh at Sevagram.
ADULT EDUCATION
This has been woefully neglected
by Congressmen. Where they have not neglected it, they have been satisfied with
teaching illiterates to read and write. If I had charge of adult education, I
should begin with opening the minds of the adult pupils to the greatness and
vastness of their country. The villager's India is contained in his village. If
he goes to another village, he talks of his own village as his home. Hindustan
is for him a geographical term. We have no notion I of the ignorance prevailing
in the villages. The villagers know nothing of foreign rule and its evils. What
little knowledge they have picked up fills them with the awe the foreigner
inspires. The result is the dread and hatred of the foreigner and his rule.
They do not know how to get rid of it. They do not know that the foreigner's
presence is due to their own weaknesses and their ignorance of the power they
possess to rid themselves of the foreign rule. My adult education means,
therefore, first, true political education of the adult by word of mouth.
Seeing that this will be mapped out, it can be given without fear. I imagine
that it is too late in the day for authority to interfere with this type of
education; but if there is interference, there must be a fight for this
elementary right without which there can be no Swaraj. Of course, in all I have
written, openness has been assumed. Non-violence abhors fear and, therefore,
secrecy. Side by side with the education by the mouth will be the literary
education. This is itself a specialty. Many methods are being tried in order to
shorten the period of education. A temporary or permanent board of experts may
be appointed by the Working Committee to give shape to the idea here
adumbrat'1d and guide the workers. I admit that what I have said in this
paragraph only points the way but does not tell the average Congressman how to
go about it. Nor is every Congressman fitted for this highly special work. But
Congressmen who are teachers should find no difficulty in laying down a course
in keeping with the suggestions made herein.
WOMEN
I have included service of women
in the constructive programme, for though Satyagraha has automatically brought
India's women out from their darkness, as nothing else could have in such an
incredibly short space of time, Congressmen have not felt the call to see that
women became equal partners in the fight for Swaraj. They have not realized
that woman must be the true helpmate of man in the mission of service. Woman
has been suppressed under custom and law for which man was responsible and in
the shaping of which she had no hand. In a plan of life based on non-violence,
woman has as much right to shape her own destiny as man has to shape his. But
as every right in a non-violent society proceeds from the previous performance
of a duty, it follows that rules of social conduct must be framed by mutual
cooperation and consultation. They can never be imposed from outside. Men have
not realized this truth in its fullness in their behavior towards women. They
have considered themselves to be lords and masters of women instead of
considering them as their friends and co-workers. It is the privilege of
Congressmen to give the women of India a lifting hand. Women are in the
position somewhat of the slave of old who did not know that he could or ever
had to be free. And when freedom came, for the moment he felt helpless. Women
have been taught to regard themselves as slaves of men. It is up to Congressmen
to see that they enable them to realize their full status and play their part
as equals of men.
This revolution is easy, if the
mind is made up. Let Congressmen begin with their own homes. Wives should not
be dolls and objects of indulgence, but should be treated as honoured comrades
in common service. To this end those who have not received a liberal education
should receive such instruction as is possible from their husbands. The same
observation applies, with the necessary changes, to mothers and daughters.
It is hardly necessary to point
out that I have given a one- sided picture of the helpless state of India's
women. I am quite conscious of the fact that in the villages generally they
hold their own with their men folk and in some respects even rule them. But to
the impartial outsider the legal and customary status of woman is bad enough
throughout and demands radical alteration.
EDUCATION IN HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Having given a place to village
sanitation, the question may be asked why give a separate place to education in
health and hygiene? It might have been bracketed with sanitation, but I did not
wish to interfere with the items. Mention of mere sanitation is not enough to
include health and hygiene. The art of keeping one's health and the knowledge
of hygiene is by itself a separate subject of study and corresponding practice.
In a well-ordered society the citizens know and observe the laws of health and
hygiene. It is established beyond doubt that ignorance and neglect of the laws
of health and hygiene are responsible for the majority of diseases to which
mankind is heir. The very high death rate among us is no doubt due largely to
our gnawing poverty, but it could be mitigated if the people were properly educated
about health and hygiene.
Mens sana in corpore sana is
perhaps the first law for humanity. A healthy mind in a healthy body is
self-evident truth. There is an inevitable connection between mind and body. If
we were in possession of healthy minds, we would shed all violence and,
naturally obeying the laws of health, we would have healthy bodies without an
effort. I hope, therefore, that no Congressman will disregard this item of the
constructive programme. The fundamental laws of health and hygiene are simple
and easily learnt. The difficulty is about their observance. Here are some:
Think the purest thoughts and
banish all idle and impure thoughts.
Breathe the freshest air day and
night.
Establish a balance between
bodily and mental work.
Stand erect, sit erect, and be
neat and clean in everyone of your acts, and let these be an expression of your
inner condition.
Eat to live for service of
fellow-men. Do not live for indulging yourselves. Hence your food must be just
enough to keep your mind and body in good order. Man becomes what he eats.
Your water. food and air must be
clean, and you will not be satisfied with mere personal cleanliness, but you
will infect your surroundings with the same three-fold cleanliness that you
will desire for yourselves.
PROVINCIAL LANGUAGES
Our love of the English language
in preference to our own mother tongue has caused a deep chasm between the
educated and politically-minded classes and the masses. The languages of India
have suffered impoverishment. We flounder when we make the vain attempt to
express abstruse thought in the mother tongue. There are no equivalents for
scientific terms. The result has been disastrous. The masses remain cut off
from the modern mind. We are too near our own times correctly to measure the
disservice caused to India by this neglect of its great languages. It is easy
enough to understand that, unless we undo the mischief, the mass mind must
remain imprisoned. The masses can make no solid contribution to the
construction of Swaraj. It is inherent in Swaraj based on non-violence that
every individual makes his own direct contribution to the Independence
movement. The masses can not do this fully unless they understand every step
with all its implications. This is impossible unless every step is explained in
their own languages.
NATIONAL LANGUAGE
And then for all-India
intercourse we need, from among the Indian stock, a language which the largest
number of people already know and understand and which the others can easily
pick up. This language is indisputably Hindi. It is spoken and understood by
both Hindus and Muslims of the North. It is called Urdu when it is written in
the Urdu character. The Congress, in its famous resolution passed at the
Cawnpore session in 1925, called this all-India speech Hindustani. And since
that time, in theory at least, Hindustani has been the Rashtra Bhasha. I say
'in theory' because even Congressmen have not practised it as they should have.
In 1920 a/ deliberate attempt was begun to recognize the importance of Indian
languages for the political education of the masses, as also of an all India
common speech which politically-minded India could easily speak and which
Congressmen from the different provinces could under- stand at all-India
gatherings of the Congress. Such National language should enable one to
understand and speak both forms of speech and write in both the scripts.
It is hardly necessary to point
out that I have given a one- sided picture of the helpless state of India's
women. I am quite conscious of the fact that in the villages generally they
hold their own with their men folk and in some respects even rule them. But to
the impartial outsider the legal and customary status of woman is bad enough
throughout and demands radical alteration.
I am sorry to have to say that many
Congressmen have failed to carry out that resolution. And so we have, in my
opinion, the shameful spectacle of Congressmen insisting on speaking in English
and compelling others to do likewise for their sakes. The spell that English
has cast on us is not yet broken. Being under it, we are impeding the progress
of India towards her goal. Our love of the masses must be skin-deep, if we will
not take the trouble of spending over learning Hindustani" as many months
as the years we spend over learning English.
ECONOMIC EQUALITY
This last is the master key to
non-violent Independence. Working for economic equality means abolishing the
eternal conflict between capital and labour. It means the leveling down of the
few rich in whose hands is concentrated the bulk of the nation's wealth on the
one hand, and the leveling up of the semi-starved naked millions on the other.
A non-violent system of government is clearly an impossibility so-long as the
wide gulf between the rich and the hungry millions persists. The contrast
between the palaces of New Delhi and the miserable hovels of the poor labouring
class nearby cannot last one day in a free India in which the poor will enjoy
the same power as the richest in the land. A violent and bloody revolution is a
certainty one day unless there is a voluntary abdication of riches and the
power that riches give and sharing them for the common good.
I adhere to my doctrine of
trusteeship in spite of the ridicule that has been poured upon it. It is true
that it is difficult to reach. So is non-violence. But we made up our minds in
1920 to negotiate that steep ascent. We have found it worth the effort. It
involves a daily growing appreciation of the working of non-violence. It is
expected that Congressmen will make a diligent search and reason out for
themselves the why and the wherefore of non-violence. They should ask
themselves how the existing inequalities can be abolished violently or
non-violently. I think we know the violent way. It has not succeeded anywhere.
This non-violent experiment is
still in the making. We have nothing much yet to show by way of demonstration.
It is certain, however, that the method has begun to work though ever so slowly
in the direction of equality. And since nonviolence is a process of conversion,
the conversion, if achieved, must be permanent. A society or a nation
constructed non-violently must be able to, withstand attack upon its structure
from without or within. We have moneyed Congressmen in the organization. They
have to lead the way. This fight provides an opportunity for the closest
heart-searching on the part of every individual Congressman. If ever we are to
achieve equality, the foundation has to be laid now. Those who think that the
major reforms will come after the advent of Swaraj are deceiving themselves as
to the elementary working of non-violent Swaraj. It will not drop from heaven
all of a sudden one fine morning. But it has to be built up brick by brick by
corporate self-effort. We have traveled a fair way in that direction. But a
much longer and weary distance has to be covered before we can behold Swaraj in
its glorious majesty. Every Congressman has to ask himself what he has done
towards the attainment of economic equality.
KISANS
The programme is not exhaustive.
Swaraj is a mighty structure. Eighty crores of hands have to work at building
it. Of these kisans, i.e., the peasantry are the largest part. In fact, being
the bulk of them (probably over 80%) the kisans should be the Congress. But
they are not. When they become conscious of their non-violent strength, no
power on earth can resist them.
They must not be used for power
politics. I consider it to be contrary to the non-violent method. Those who
would know my methods of organizing kisans may profitably study the movement in
Champaran when Satyagraha was tried for the first time in India with the result
all India knows. It became a mass movement which remained wholly non-violent
from start to finish. It affected over twenty lakhs of kisans. The struggle
centered round one specific grievance which was" century old. There had
been several violent revolts to get rid of the grievance. The kisans were
suppressed. The non-violent remedy succeeded in full in six months. The kisans
of Champaran became politically conscious without any direct effort. The
tangible proof they had of the working of non-violence to remove their
grievance drew them to the Congress, and led by Babu Brijkishoreprasad and Babu
Rajendra Prasad they gave a good account of themselves during the past Civil
Disobedience campaigns.
The reader may also profitably
study the kisan movements in Kheda, Bardoli and Borsad. The secret of success
lies in a refusal to exploit the kisans. for political purposes outside their
own personal and .felt grievances. Organization round a specific wrong they
understand. They need no sermons on non-violence. Let them learn to apply
non-violence as an effective remedy which they can understand, and later when
they are told that the method they were applying was non-violent, they readily
recognize it as such.
From these illustrations
Congressmen who care could study how work can be done for and among kisans. I
hold that the method that some Congressmen have followed to organize kisans has
done them no good and has probably harmed them. Anyway they have not used the
non-violent method. Be it said to the credit of some of these workers that they
frankly admit that they do not believe in the non-violent. method. My advice to
such workers would be that they should neither use the Congress name nor work
as Congressmen.
The reader will now understand
why I have refrained from the competition to organize kisans and Labour on an
all-India basis. How I wish that all hands pulled in the same direction! But
perhaps in a huge country like ours it is impossible. Anyway, in non-violence
there is no coercion. Cold reason and demonstration of the working of
non-violence must be trusted to do the work.
In my opinion, like labour, they
should have under the Congress, a department working for their specific
questions.
LABOUR
Ahmedabad Labour Union is a model
for all India to copy. Its basis is non-violence, pure and simple. It has never
had a set-back in its career. It has gone on from strength to strength without
fuss and without show. It has its hospital, its schools for the children of the
mill-hands, its classes for adults, its own printing press and khadi depot, and
its own residential quarters. Almost all the hands are voters and decide the
fate of elections. They came on the voters' list at the instance of the
Provincial Congress Committee. The organization has never taken part in party
politics of the Congress. It influences the municipal policy of the city. It
has to its credit very successful strikes which were wholly non- violent( Mill
owners and labour have governed their relations largely through voluntary
arbitration. If I had my way, I would-regulate all the labour organizations of
India after the Ahmedabad model. It has never sought to intrude itself upon the
all-India Trade Union Congress and has been uninfluenced by that Congress. A
time; I hope, will come when it will be possible for the Trade Union Congress
to accept the Ahmedabad method and have the Ahmedabad organization as part of
the All-India Union. But I am in no hurry. It will come in its, own time.'
ADIVASIS
The term adivasi, like raniparaj,
is a coined word. Raniparaj stands for kaliparaj (meaning black people, though
their skin is no more black than that of any other). It was coined, I think by
Shri Jugatram. The term adivasi (for Bhils, Gonds, or others variously
described as Hill Tribes or aboriginals) means literally original inhabitants
and was coined, I believe, by Thakkar Bapa.
Service of adivasis is also a
part of the constructive programme. Though they are the sixteenth number in
this programme, they are not the least in point of importance. Our country is
so vast and the races so varied that the best of us cannot know all there is to
know of men and their condition. As one discovers this for oneself, one
realizes how difficult it is to make good our claim: to be one nation, unless
every unit has a living consciousness of. being one with every other.
The adivans are over two crores
in all India. Bapa began work among the Bhils years ago in Gujarat. In about
1940, Shri Balasaheb Kher threw himself with his usual zeal into this
much-needed service in the Thana District. He is now President of the Adivasi
Seva MandaI.'
There are several such other
workers in other parts of India and yet they are too few. Truly, "the
harvest is rich but the labourers are few."Who can deny that all such
service is not merely' humanitarian but solidly national, and brings us nearer
to true independence?
LEPERS
Leper is a word of bad odour.
India is perhaps a home of lepers next only to Central Africa. Yet they are as
much a part of society as the tallest among us. But the tall absorb our
attention though they are least in need of it. The lot of the lepers who are
much in need of attention is studied neglect. I am tempted to call it
heartless, which it certainly is, in terms of non-violence. It is, largely the
missionary who, be it said to his credit, bestows care on him. The only
institution run by an Indian, as a pure labour of love, is by Shri Manohar
Diwan near Wardha. It is working under the inspiration and guidance of Shri
Vinoba Bhave. If India was pulsating with new life, if we were all in earnest
about winning independence in the quickest manner possible by truthful and
non-violent means, there would not be a leper or beggar in India uncared for
and unaccounted for. In this revised edition I am deliberately introducing the
leper as a link in the chain of constructive effort. For, what the leper is in
India, that we are,. if we will but look about us, {or the modern civilized
world. Examine the condition of our brethren across the ocean and the truth of
my remark will be borne home to us.
STUDENTS
I have reserved students to the
last. I have always cultivated close contact with them. They know me and I know
them. They have given me service. Many ex-collegians are my esteemed
co-workers, I know that they are the hope of the future. In the heyday of
non-co-operation they were invited to leave their schools and colleges. Some
professors and students who responded to the congress call have remained
steadfast and gained much for the country and themselves. The call has not been
repeated for there is not the atmosphere for it. But experience has shown that
the lure of the current education, though it is false and unnatural, is too
much for the youth of the country. College education provides a career. It is a
passport for entrance to the charmed circle. Pardonable hunger for knowledge
cannot be satisfied otherwise than by going through the usual rut. They do not
mind the waste of precious years in acquiring knowledge of an utterly foreign
language which takes the place of the mother tongue. The sin of it is never
felt. They and their teachers have made up their minds that the indigenous
languages are useless for gaining access to modern thought and the modern
sciences. I wonder how the Japanese - are faring. For, their education, I
understand, is all given in Japanese. The Chinese General- issimo knows very
little, if anything, of English.
But such as the students are, it
is from these young men and women that the future leaders of the nation are to
rise. Unfortunately they are acted upon, by every variety of influence
Non-violence offers them little attraction. A blow for a blow or two Of one is
an easily understandable proposition. It seems to yield immediate result though
momentary. It is a never-ending trial of brute strength as we see in time of
war among brutes or among human beings. Appreciation of non-violence means
patient research and still more patient and difficult practice. I have not
entered the list of competitors for the students' hand, for the reasons that
have dictated my course about Kisans and Labour. But I am myself a fellow
student, using the word in its broader sense. My university is different from
theirs. They have a standing invitation from me to come to my university and
join me in my search. Here are the terms:
Students must not take part in
party politics. They are students, searchers; not politicians.
They may not resort to political
strikes. They must have their heroes, but their devotion to them is to be shown
by copying the best in their heroes, not by going on strikes, if the heroes are
imprisoned or die or are even sent to the gallows. If their grief is unbearable
and if all the students feel equally, schools or colleges may be closed on such
occasions, with the consent of their principals. If the principals will not
listen, it is open to the students to leave their institutions in becoming
manner till the managers repent and recall them. On no account may they use
coercion against dissentients or against the authorities. They must have the
confidence that, if they are united and dignified. in their conduct, they are
sure to win.
They must all do sacrificial
spinning m a scientific manner. Their tools shall be always neat, clean, and in
good order and condition. If possible, they will learn to make them themselves.
Their yarn will naturally be of the highest quality. They will study the
literature about spinning with all Its economic, social. moral and political
implications....
They will be khadi-users all
through and use village products to the exclusion of all analogous things,
foreign or machine-made..
They may not Impose Vande Mataram
or the National Flag on others. "they may wear National Flag buttons on
their own persons but not force others to do the same.
They can enforce the message of
the tricolour nag in their own persons and harbour neither communalism nor
untouchability in their hearts. They will cultivate real friend- ship with
students of other faiths and with Harijans as if they were their own kith and
kin.'
They will make it a point to give
first aid to their injured neighbours and do scavenging and cleaning in the
neighbouring villages and instruct village children and adults.
They will learn the national
language, Hindustani, its present double dress, two forms of speech and two
scripts, so that they may feel at home whether Hindi ,Urdu is spoken and nagari
or urdu script is written.
They will translate into their
own mother tongue every thing new they may learn, and transmit it in their
weekly rounds to the surrounding villages.'
They will do nothing in secret,
they will be above board in all their dealings, they will lead a pure life of
self- restraint shed an fear and be always ready to protect their weak
fellow-students, and ready to quell riots by non-violent conduct at the risk of
their lives. And when the final heat of the struggle comes they will leave
their institutions and, if need be sacrifice themselves for the freedom of
their country.
They will be scrupulously correct
and chivalrous in their behavior towards their girl fellow-students.
For working out the programme I
have sketched for them the students must find time. I know that they waste a
great deal of time in idleness. By strict economy, they can save many hours.
But I do not want to put an undue strain upon any student. I would. therefore,
advise patriotic students to lose one year, not at a stretch but spread it over
their whole study. They will find that one year so given will not be a waste of
time. The effort will add to their equipment, mental, moral and physical, and
they will have made even during their studies it substantial contribution to
the freedom movement.
PLACE OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
I have said in these pages that
Civil Disobedience is not absolutely necessary to win freedom through purely
non-violent effort, if the co-operation of the whole nation is secured in the
constructive programme. But such good luck rarely favours nations or
individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to know the place of Civil Disobedience
in a nation-wide non- violent effort.
it has three definite functions:
It can be effectively offered for
the redress of n local wrong.
It can be offered without regard
to effect, though aimed at a particular wrong or evil, by way of
self-immolation in order to rouse local consciousness or conscience. Such was
the case in Champaran when I offered Civil Disobedience without any regard to
the effect and well knowing that even the people might remain apathetic. That
it proved otherwise may be taken, according to taste, as God's grace or a
stroke of good luck.
In the place of full response to
constructive effort, it can be offered as it was in 1941. Though it was a
contribution to and part of the battle for freedom, it was purposely centered
round a particular issue, i.e. free speech. Civil Disobedience can never be
directed for a general cause such as for Independence. The issue must be
definite and capable of being clearly understood and within the power; of the
opponent to yield. This method properly applied must lead to the final goal.
I have not examined here the full
scope and possibilities of Civil Disobedience. I have touched enough of it to
enable the reader. to understand the connection between the constructive
programme and Civil Disobedience. In the first two cases, no elaborate
constructive programme was or could be necessary. But when Civil Disobedience
is itself devised for the attainment of Independence, previous preparation is
necessary, and it has to be backed by the visible and conscious effort of those
who are engaged in the battle. Civil Disobedience is thus a stimulation for the
fighters and a challenge to the opponent. It should be clear to the reader that
Civil Disobedience in terms of Independence without the co-operation of the
millions by way of constructive effort is mere bravado and worse than useless.
CONCLUSION
This is not a thesis written on
behalf of the Congress or at the instance of the Central Office. It is the outcome
of conversations I had with some co-workers in Sevagram, They had felt the want
of something from my pen showing the connection between constructive programme
and Civil Disobedience and how the former might be worked. I have endeavoured
to supply the want in this pamphlet. It does not purport to be exhaustive, but
it is sufficiently indicative of the way the programme should be worked.
Let not the reader make the
mistake of laughing at any of the items as being part of the movement for
Independence. Many people do many things, big and small, without connecting
them with non-violence or Independence. They have then their limited value as
expected. The same man appearing as a civilian may be of no consequence, but
appearing in his capacity as General he is a big personage, holding the lives
of millions at his mercy. Similarly, thecharkha in the hands of a poor widow
brings a paltry pice to her I in the hands of Jawaharlal it is an instrument of
India's freedom. It is the office which gives the charkha its dignity. It is
the office assigned to the constructive programme which gives it an
irresistible prestige and power..
Such at least is my view. It may
be that of a mad man. If it makes no appeal to the Congressman, I must be
rejected. For my handling of Civil Disobedience without the constructive
programme will be like a paralysed hand attempting to lift a spoon.
Poona, U3-11-1945
M. K. Gandhi