My Days With Gandhi Nirmalkumar Bose

MY DAYS WITH
GANDHI
BY
NIRMAL KUMAR BOSE
CALCUTIA
N ISH A N~A
1953
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PREFACE
Many years ago, I planned to write four books on

Gandhi. The first was to be a book of collections from his
English writings which would serve as an epitome of his
tho~ghts on various subjects ; the second was to give an
outline of his economic and political ideas, while tracing
their evolution ; the third, on his personality and on the
actual manner of his execution of ideas into practice, and
the fourth, a critical account of the various satyagraha
movements which have occurred, from time to time, on the
Indian soil.
The first two books have already been published, while
the third is now being placed before the public. I do not
know if the fourth project will ever materialize, although
such a study, undertaken in" the manner in which the
General Staff of an Army examines critically the effect of
new arms or of new t:J.ctics on the course of campaigns,
seems to me to be most essential for an understanding of
the potentialities of satyagraha in which unarmed, common
people try to establish their will through non~violence
instead of violence. It is necessary to examine how the new
technique works in relation to conflicts centering round
social, economic or political disabilities ; and how also it
works under the leadership of a genius like Gandhi or in·
dependent of it. Such an undertaking would necessitate
extensive travels across the whole of India, and a freedom
from haste and from care which can hardly be afforded
under the present limitations of my duties in the University.
In any case, even if the contemplated series closes down
with the present volume, I do hope, the three books will
collectively serve to present a more or less integrated picture
of Gandhi as a man and of his ideas.
iv PREFACE
Many may not perhaps agree with the analysis presented

here or on the emphasis laid upon different aspects of
Gandhi's life or thoughts, but my humble submission is that
I have spared no pains in order to make the study as objective
as possible.
The publication of this book has a curious history ; and
it is with a great deal of hesitation that ! have finally dtcided
to relate the story in brief. My manuscript was finished in
1950, two years after Gandhiji's assasination. Then it was
submitted to the Navajivan Publishing House for publication.
The Managing Trustee referred the book for criticism to
the late Shri Kishorlal Mashruwala. In course of a lengthy
review, the latter said, 'The publication of this speculative
psycho-analysis of Bapu and some of his associates can be
justified if it will (provided based on accepted facts) help
the cause of the nation or humanity in any way.. Then
the analysis and its publication must contribute something
positive to advance his works and influence, or to correct
the persons concerned. Otherwise it is an idle speculation
which does not lead anybody anywhere. Bapu cannot be
corrected of his errors if any, as he is no longer alive. His
associates cannot benefit by publication. They might resent
it. No two men's cases beir..g alike, the world too cannot
profit by N. Babu's dissection of Bapu. Of course, it might
encourage similar speculative writers to discuss these matters
for centuries to come, and fiction writers to produce cari-
catures of Bapu and his associates.'
The Managing Trustee in forwarding the above criti-
cism added, ' I am of opinion that you be better advised to
leave out of the book Bapu's experiments in sex or Brahma-
charya and reconstitute the book to sav about Bapu's great
work in Noakhali.'
When the Navajivan Publishing House could not thus
publish the book in its existing form, I applied for permission
PREFACE v
to print it on my own account ; as I held that an account
of Gandhiji's personality could not be left out of the story
of the most important phase of his political career. The
reply came, 'Your letter of 6th June 1951 asking for per~
mission from the Navajivan to include some of their copy~
right material in your projected book. The question would
have been a simple one, but for the views we hold regarding
the use of the material. Holding these views as we do,
I find it impossible to allow the publication of that material.'
At about the same time, personal requests were received
by me from very high quarters in the country to desist from
any public treatment of such a controversial matter, parti-
cularly when, as one letter said, 'there are so many people
who might be only too eager to exploit for their base per~
sonal ends what they care so little to understand.'
I have waited for nearly three years, during which the
manuscript was submitted to numerous friends and pub-
lishers for their considered opinion. Some expressed the fear
that the book may give rise to misunderstanding; while
others held that it gave a more or less understandable expla~
nation about some of the views and actions of Gandhiji.
I have thought long and reverently over the whole
question, and have ultimately come to the conclusion that
the possibility of misunderstanding alone should not deter
one from expressing a view which one believes to be true
or near-truth. It is natural that .the explanation that I have
tried to present does not cover all aspects of Gandhiji's great
character. By drawing particular attention to one aspect,
it may even have done injustice to the wholeness of that
character. But, I believe, a view of the Himalayas from one
particular point of view does not lose merit just because it
does not show the whole mountain from all possible angles
at the same point of time. Perhaps that is never possible.
And that has been the reason why I have ventured to print
vi PREFAClt
the book on my own responsibility in spite of grave risks ol

one kind or another. My only strength has been the appre-
ciation and encouragement of friends who have seen nothing
wrong in the book and have done their best in helping me
to communicate this particular study of Gandhiji to the
reading public. To them, my gratefulness goes forth in an
abundant measure.
Nirmal Kumar Bose
37A Bosepara Lane,

Calcutta-3.
22nd January, 1953.
CONTENTS
Preface by the Author iii

Introduction 1
I. THE FIRST INTERVIEW 9
II. AT DELANG IN ORISSA '. 14
III. THE INTERVIEW AT SooPUR IN 1945 19
IV. CoNGREss WoRKERs' MEETING IN SooPm,
JANUARY, 1946 25
v. GANDHIJI's AllRIVAL IN SoD PUR IN Ocraam,
1946 31
VI. HAPPENINGS IN BIHAR '. 39
VII. ON THE WAY TO NoAKHALI 43
VIII. KAZIRKHIL 48
IX. CIRCUMSPEcriON AND A CALL POR CoUB.AaE .. 55
X. THE DAILY RouND 78
XI. DAYS FULL OF QAB.K.NESS 91
XII. THE DARKNESS DEEPENS .. 109
XIII. A FRIEND's PARTING .. 131
XIV. THE PILGRIMAGE .. 138
XV. INTERNAL STRAIN .. 154
XVI. THE FIRsT FoRTNIGHT IN Bxau .. 161
XVII. TILL WE MEET AGAIN '. .. 170
XVIII. AN ExcURsioN IN PsYCH()L()QT .. 189
XIX. DARK CLOUDS OVER BENGAL 208
XX. DAB.K.ER CLOUDS OVER INDIA .. 215
XXI. ON A VISIT To BENGAL's CAPITAL .. .. 223
XXII. CRisis IN NoN-VIOLENCE .. 240
Vlll CONTENTS
XXIII. BENGAL CALLING AGAIN .. 254

XXIV. BuiLDING UP FREE INDIA .. 264
XXV. THE FAsT .. 272
XXVI. MARTYRDOM . . 288
Appendix A. Condition of Noakhali in May> 1947 . . 293

Appendix B. "Congress Position" by M. K. Gandhi . . 305
Appendix: C. "Last Will and Testament" of Mahatma
Gandhi . . 307
Index . . 311
INTHODUCTION
The book deals with the last phase of Mahatma Gandhi's
life which began with his journey from Delhi to Bengal in
October 1946 and ended with his martyrdom in January 1948.
In many respects, this period stands out as the most critical,
and certainly the most dramatic, phase of Gandhi's great and
eventful life.
It was during this period that two climaxes were reached
simultaneously in his life ; one in the personal, spiritual
sphere, and the other in the sphere of his public and political
relations. Although the two might seem to be unrelated,
yet there was an underlying bond between the two. Indeed,
Gandhi himself held that neither man's life nor his mind
was capable of division into water-tight compartments ; all
parts acted and reacted upon one another.
Gandhi realized even while he was quite young that, in
order to become a fitter instrument of human service, the
sensual aspects of his being had to be brought under full
restraint. There happened to be some accidents of personal
history which also accentuated his desire for self-repression ;
but the demands of the ideal which he served naturally
called for the same kind of sacrifice, so that service itself
might be shorn of the taint of self.
In his endeavour to subordinate the lower elements of
human nature, in order to follow more fully the discipline
known as brahmaclzarya, Gandhi adopted a curious mental
attitude which, though rare, is one of the established modes
of the subordination of sex among spiritual aspirants in
India. It was by becoming a woman that he tried to
circumvent one of the most powerful and disturbing elements
which belong to our biological existence. In his own case,
the identification did not however reach the same measure
MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
of intensity which was in evidence in the case of the saint

Shree Ramakrishna ; but the feminine attitude developed as
an important trait in his character ever since he began his
practice of brahmac/zarya. And, as the identification was
never complete, the desire to examine how far it had advanced
at any point of time, remained a permanent necessity with
him.
Gandhi felt more at home in dealing with the special
problems which belong to womankind. He apotheosized
womanhood ; so much so that he finally came to the con-
clusion that progress in civilization consisted in the introduc-
tion into it of a larger measure of the love and self-sacrifice
which woman, the mother of man, best represented in her
own person. Women on their part drew readily near him,
for they i.nstinctivdy recognized in him one of their own
kind. Their intimate association helped to strengthen those
elements of non-violence of which he held them to be
natural representatives; while such occasions were also utilized
by him for examining how far his own iuentification had
become complete.
This spiritual necessity of association with women and
of constant self-examination by means of a technique
reminiscent of the Tantras was, however, not appreciated by
some of Gandhi's closest associates ; and one of the painful
climaxes which belong to the period under review lay in the
fact that he was deprived of the inner companionship of
some who had been a help and support to him in the past.
This was so in spite of the fact that the non-co-operation of
the latter was of a limited character. Yet, the 'separation
seemed to have exercised a profound influence upon the
sensitive soul of Gandhi. In a communication sent to some
members of the Navajivan Trust, an organization specifically
constructed for the propagation of his own ideas, he went so
.far as to say that, if the Trust could 'conscientiously take
INTRODUCTION j
his help in the conduct of the Navajivan papers, ,then he

would resume the task of editing them ' from Noakhali.
Otherwise, he would refrain, but would not misunderstand
those who saw differently from him. It w.as an extraordinary
offer of self~effacement, coming as it did from a man who
held a unique position of leadership in the country.
About two months after this event, there developed
another tragedy in the larger sphere of Gandhi's relations
with the leaders of the Indian National Congress, in which
he responded in approximately the same manner as he had
done in the case described above. Gandhi was opposed to
the division of India into a predominantly Hindu and Muslim
territory on the ground that this was going to be no solution
of the communal problem. In his own way, he plodded on,
trying to create, in his little corner of work in Noakhali and
Bihar, a condition of social justice and religious toleration to
form the basis of political unity. Without this, he held, the
non~violence of the Hindus was not likely to have any
.appeal to the fanatically inflamed and ignorant mass of
Muslim ·peasants. And without such unity, the chances of
the final liberation of India through a last act of satyagraha
would suffer from uncertainty of success. But the communal
riots broke out in such quick succession in different portions
of India and with such mounting debasement o[ the popular
character, that they threatened to undo all the work of
decades past. The need of a quick remedy was so urgently
felt by the leaders of the Indian National Congress that they
lost both the faith and the strength to work out Gandhi's
long~tem1 programme. They confessed with great humility
that they did not see how non~violence was going to lead
the country out of the present impasse. Therefore, when the
plan of agreed. partition, coupled with the promise of ready
transference of power, was offered to India by Lord
Mountbatten, they saw in it an opportunity of escaping
4 MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
from the present intolerable position. The unending violence

of mob rule could, at least, be subordinated by the organized
violence of the State, in spite of the fact that the country
was going to be divided into two. In this, the national
leaders were both sincere and wise from their own point of
view.*
But they were evidently mistaken in imagining that the
war of independence had come to an end, for they failed to
recognize in the riots and the proposal of division itself the
last phase of the rear-guard action of British Power in re-
treat. Moreover, the act of choosing between two violences
definitely implied that the path of organized non-violence
was now forsaken, and there was nothing left to distinguish
India from other nations of t_he world, who were themselves
almost overwhelmed by the problem of national defence
through modern armaments.
It is not unnatural, therefore, that Gandhi was overcome
by an intense feeling of loneliness. When the Working
Committee of the Indian National Congress decided,
apparently against his advice, to accept the British offer, he
suppressed himself so completely that, at the momentous
session of the All India Congress Committee called to ratify
that Resolution, he advised the House not to divide itself,
but stand by the Working Committee in its present decision ;
while he gave credit to the existing leadership for ' all the
achievements of the Congress hitherto,' although in point of
fact many of them happened to be no more than Gandhi's
own creation. Perhaps his feeling was that the Congress, in
its present form, could no longer serve as an instrument of
• On the 15th of January 194~, Gandhi himself justified Vallabhai Patel
by saying, 'When power descended on him, he saw that he could no longer
successfully apply the method of non-violence which he used to wield with
signal success. I have made the discovery that what I and the people with
me termed non-violence was not the genuine article but a weak copy known
as passive resistance. Naturally, passive resi!>tance can avail nothing to a
ruler'.
INTRODUCTION
organized non-violence which dared to bring about lastjng

peace in the world; and therefore he wanted to leave the
organization undivided and strong so that it could, at least,
be of some service to those who were launching upon a new
career of administration in India.
An eventuality like this had arisen previously in 1940,
when the Indian National Congress had made a provisional
offer of helping Great Britain in the prosecution of the war.
On that occasion, Gandhi had asked the Congress to declare
unequivocally that it proposed to eschew the use of
armaments in order to protect its just rights, and thus lay
the foundation of lasting peace in the whole world. President
Abul Kal;:tm Azad had said on the occasion, ' We had not
the courage to declare that we shall organize a State in this
country without an armed force."" If we did it would be
wrong on our part. Mahatma Gandhi has to give the
message of non-violence to the world and, therefore, it is his
duty to propagate it ; but we have to consider our position
as the representatives of the Indian Nation meeting in the
Indian National Congress. The Indian National Congress
is a political organization pledged to win the political
independence of the country. It is not an institution for
organizing world peace.' On another occasion early in 1942,
when the same question cropped up again, Gandhi said,
'Non-violence has brought us nearer to Swaraj as never
before. We dare not exchange it even for Swaraj. For
Swaraj thp.s got will be no true Swaraj. The question is not
what we will do after Swaraj. It is whether under given
conditions we can give up non-violence to win Swaraj.
Again, do you expect to win real Independence by abandon-
ing non-violence ? Independence for me means the Indepen-
dence of the humblest and poorest amongst us. It cannot
be obtained by joining the war.'
It is likely, in the opinion of the present writer, that the
failure of faith in collective non-violence in the face of the

Hindu-Muslim riots in 1946 was not the solitary cause of
Gandhi's feeling of loneliness, although that might have been
the principal cause. The subtle pain of the non-co-operation
of those who had been entrusted with the propagation of
his ideas was responsible, to a certain extent, in aggravating
that feeling of loneliness.
That apart, shortly after the partition of India, it became
gradtdly evident that Gandhi was not quite satisfied with
the working of the Congress Government in Free India ; and
occasional! y he gave public expression to the feeling in his
after-prayer speeches. On the 26th of January 1948, he said,
'This day, 26th January, is Independence Day. This observ-
ance was quite appropriate when we were fighting for
Independence we had not seen or handled. Now ! We have
handled it and seem to be disillusioned. At least, I am, even
if you are not. What arc we celebrating today ? Surely not
our disillusionment. We are entitled to celebrate the hope
that the worst is over and that we arc on the road to showing
the lowliest of the villager that it means his freedom from
serfdom and that he is the salt of the Indian earth. Let us
not defer the hope and make the heart sick.' On another
occasion he said, with a tinge of sorrow, 'There was a time
when India listened to him. Today he was a back number.
He was told that he had no place in the new order, where
they wanted machines, navy, air force and what not. He
could never be party to that. If they could have the courage
to say that they woufd retain freedom with the help of the
same force with which they had won it, he was their man.
His physical incapacity and his depression would vanish in a
moment.'
Five months of unhampered Congress rule was, in the
opinion of Gandhi, obvious! y enough for the Congress to
establish its bona fides in respect of its desire to bring about
INTRODUCTION j
full economic liberation for the masses ; but he had not

found the results very encouraging. The turning point
seemed to have been reached on Independence Day, the 26th
of January, when we suddenly find him awakened to a new
sense of personal responsibility. On the following day, he
wrote an article entitled 'Congress Position,' in which he
said, ' The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet
to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These
freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they
are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular.' In another
letter of instruction written three days after, he said,' Though
split into two, India having attained political independence
through means devised by the Indian National Congress, the
Congress in its present shape or form, i.e. as a propaganda
vehicle and parliamentary machine, has outlived its use. It
has still to attain social, moral and economic independence
in terms of the seven hundred thousand villages as distin-
guished from its towns.'*
The use of the term 'seven hundred thousand villages '
carried a very special significance. It meant that Gandhi
refused to draw a line of demarcation between the two parts
of the country which 'had been split into two'. He wanted
economic and social liberation for the entire land which he
had served all his life, irrespective of whether it now formed
two States or one. This was the task to which he wanted
to dedicate himself anew ; and, for this purpose, he also
suggested radical changes in the Congress constitution so that
it could be forged into an instrument for the final liberation
through non-violent means. But the Fates had apparently
willed otherwise in so far as his active participation in the
present task was concerned.
All that India could actually bestow upon Mahatma
Gandhi during the days when he battled valiantly against
• See Appendix for last two articles written by Gandhi.
his own sense of frustration, and was on the point of winning

back his erstwhile strength, was nothing more than personal
adoration and love, but shorn of the desire to experi~nt
with the ideas and methods which alone gave a significance
to his life. Politically, he had become virtually isolated
through our new-found love for State power ; and this
isolation was unfortunately sometimes also accompanied by
popular misunderstanding. And when the misunderstanding
became acute, India did the worst that it could do, and we
assassinated the Master. But the tragedy was that just when
we thought that we had become victorious by putting an end
to his life, that life came back, through the very martyrdom,
into the full glory of its social significance. Our supreme
blow brought about our own utter defeat.
This is the story which is related in the following pages :
the tragedy of a great soul, how it hungered for the company
of men and kept itself tied to their common joys and
sorrows, of his daily ministration on behalf of love and
mutual understanding between warring human communities,
of his intense e.ffort to discover a new way of winning free-
dom through which even the lowliest could vindicate their
will in a just cause, of his great solitude on the deprivation
of organizational support, and finally of his emergence into
greater power through martyrdom when the body was shed
and he became the embodiment of an Idea.
Perhaps some parts of this introduction will remain
obscure ; the fault is however mine, for I have to write in a
language which is not my own. But I hope that when the
reader goes through the story of the greatest phase of
Gandhi's great life, as it expressed itself during the last year
of his existence on earth, much of what I have tried to say
but which has remained unsaid will reveal itself clearly
before his mind's eye.
I. THE ] 1 1RST INTERVIE\V
When I come to thin.k of it, it appears strange that the
two friends who were instrumental in introducing me to
Gandhi are both now languishing in gaol, while the third
who brought me into closer contact with him later on, has
herself left the fold of politics and gone back to what was
her primary interest in life, viz., Art.
In 1934, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan of the North-West
Frontier Province was in gaol when his son Khan Abdul Ghani
Khan returned from the United States after training in sugar
manufacture. Ghani did not know where to go to, for the
house of the Khans at Utmanzai had been taken possession
of by the British Government. So he sought refuge at
S:mtinikctan in Bengal where he was enrolled as a student
under Principal Nandalal Bose in the Kalabhavan or Art
School and lived under the guardianship of my friend Prof.
K. R. Kripalani. It was in Kripalani's hostel that I often
used to meet Ghani; and, later on, when the senior Khan
Sahib came to Bolpur in the last week of August 1934, in
order to meet his son, I had a chance of coming into close
contact with this celebrated leader of the Pathans.
The Congress session was to take place about two months
after in Bombay. Abdul Ghaffar Khan extended to Kripalani
an invitation to be his guest on the occasion. I accompanied
the latter to Bombay and then left for a few weeks in
photographing temples in the south of the province. Then
I joined Kripalani again and together we proceeded to
Wardha on the 8th of November 1934. The Khan family
had already left for Wardha in company with Gandhiji.*
We reached the place on the 9th of November 1934, and
• ' Ji ' is a suffix 'Which takes the place of Mr. in Hindustani. J,t is more
respectful and intimate than the latter.
were accommodated as guests in Jamnalal Bajaj's house,

which is not very far from the railway station.
That same day Khan Sahib had an appointment with
Gandhi in the afternoon ; and he very kindly asked me to
come with him to meet Mahatmaji, with whom I had never
had the opportunity of coming into personal contact before.
While at Santiniketan Khan Sahib had an occasion to visit
a small school in the untouchables' quarters at Bolpur where
I used to live ; and while introducing me he said that I was
a Congress worker engaged in constructive work among the
untouchable castes.
It was about half-past four when we were ushered into
a room at the top of the Mahila Ashram or Womens'
Institute in Wardha, where Gandhiji had taken up his
residence ever since his abandonment of Sabarmati Ashram.
Sevagram had not yet come into being, and he occupied a
clean and spacious room with a broad terrace in front in the
upper storey of a brick-built building.
When we entered the room, we found Gandhiji seated
behind a small desk near the southern end, close to a door
which opened into a terrace. A spotlessly clean white sheet
of handspun and handwoven khadi was spread over a durrie
which covered almost t]:le whole of the floor. The small desk
in front had some paper and writing materials neatly arranged
upon it. There did not seem to be many men about.
Pyarclal, his secretary, was there, and a few women workers
were also in attendance. What impressed me at the first
glance was the perfect cleanliness and the almost ascetic
simplicity of the furnishings of the room.
The time of interview had been fixed outside the usual
hours reserved for that purpose. When all of us had seated
ourselves in a semi-circle, Gandhiji opened the conversation.
It appeared that there had arisen some difference between
Ghani and his father. Abdul Ghaffar Khan had recently
THE FIRST INTERVIEW 11
started a political journal in the Pushtu language which was

his mother tongue. He was naturally anxious to enlist
Ghani's active support in the new enterprise, for his son had
already earned a reputation as a good writer in Pushtu, and
educated men were very rare in the Frontier. While stating
his case, the elder Khan Sahib said that he did not expect
his son to serve .as a soldier, but why should he not employ
such talents as he had in the service of his uneducated
countrymen ? Ghani was however reluctant and frankly
confessed he had no interest in politics and preferred to work
in a factory, be independent, and spend his spare time in the
pursuit of Art.
Gandhiji sat listening in silence, and when the two had
finished, he turned to Kripalani and asked him what opinion
Ghani's Principal held about him. Kripalani reported that
the former had a favourable opinion about his talents but
Ghani was never serious in his work but flirted with it.
Gandhiji broke into a merry laughter and said, ' Ha ! Ha !
see that he does not flirt with anything else.' I never
imagined Gandhiji could joke in this manner ; but when he
did, all of us joined in the laughter and the serious atmos-
phere of the room was appreciably dispelled.
Gandhiji now turned towards Abdul Ghaffar Khan and
spoke in a more serious vein. He was of opinion that when
God had endowed Ghani with talents in Art, we had no
right to harness him to any other pprpose. All we could do
was to help him in his own growth, and therefore if Ghani
promised to spend some time every year in Santiniketan, he
would gladly find work for. him in a factory. Kripalani now
added that the Principal had also said that Ghani had a
special talent for sculpture, and as he personally knew
nothing of carving, Ghani could more profitably seek instruc-
tion elsewhere. Gandhiji however broke in and said, ' No,
no. Nandalal knows the poetry of sculpture, and Ghani must

imbibe it from him.'
Abdul Ghaflar Khan sat listening in silence and when
Gandhiji pronounced his final judgement he took it with
calmness, like the good soldier that he ever has been. What
however appeared surprising to me was the tenderness with
which Gandhiji treated the case of an artist in distress. In
the midst of the political tension through which the country
was passing in 1934, he had perhaps the right to call even
an artist to soldier's duty. For had he not once written to
the poet Rabindranath Tagore many years ago that a poet
should lay down his lyre when the house is in flames and
associate himself in work with the famishing millions of his
countrymen?
When Ghani's case was thus over, Gandhiji turned to me
and asked me to 'say something about myself'. It was an
embarrassing question, but I succeeded in briefly recounting
my antecedents. Then he said that Khan Sahib had
informed him how I wanted to discuss a few questions with
him. I then handed over to him four questions which had
been brought in writing. He went through them carefully,
and as none of the questions was of a private nature, asked
me if he could discuss them in the present company. Of
course, there was no ground for objection, and so he started
his discourse. The report of the interview was subsequently
corrected by him and then published in The Modern Review
of October 1935. It was subsequently reprinted with some
notes in the second edition of my Studies in Gandhism.
That same evening, we went out for a walk with
Gandhiji. In spite of the fact that he was slightly bent by
age, and put on loose sandals on his feet, Gandhiji could
walk very fast indeed. We accompanied him across the dark-
coloured, bare fields for over a mile when he turned back
home. But as he did so, we noticed that he picked up a few
THE l'ffiST INTERVIEW 13
pieces of stone which lay strewn in the midst of the fields.

Khan Sahib and others diu the same, and, on the latter's
aJvice, I also picked up as big a block as I could comfortably
carry. When we reacheJ the Mahila Ashram, every one of
us deposited his loaJ on a heap which had already grown
to a respectable size at a certain point in the garden.
The fact was, the Ashram was a little way off from the
main metalled roaJ, and one had to walk along a sticky,
muddy path in the rains to reach it. Some engineer had
been called, but his estimate had been too high for the
Ashram. So Gandhiji had proceeded in his own direct
manner to deal with the problem of road-building. He had
promiseJ to collect all necessary road-metal in the course of
a few months and this, he expected, would reduce the cost
of the road to a considerable extent. Thus, every morning
and evening's walk was meant not only for keeping the
inmates of the Ashram fit, but it w.as also to add to the
'wealth' of the establishment in a very different way.
In Gandhi's opinion, there seemed to be no problem,
however great, in whose solution the smallest individual
could not contribute his mite. InJeed, he had the genius
of discovering indiviJual solutions in the most ingenious
ways. His idea was, if we coulJ multiply the number of
dutiful individuals by many, that would lead to the solution
of a problem, however massive it might appear at first
sight to be.
II. AT DEljANG IN ORISSA
This was my first interview with Gandhi and naturally
I felt very grateful to the friends who had made the visit
to W ardha possible. Several years passed by and there was
no further occasion to come in contact with him except
through letters which were also few and far between. One
of these letters, however, may perhaps be quoted here as it
illustrates Gandhi's attitude towards others in a very
characteristic rnanner. In February 1935, I had written two
articles in the Co11gress Socialist, entitled 'Is Gandhi a
nationalist ?' The opinion had been expressed that he was,
after all, more of an internationalist, and more intimately
tied to the poor peoples' cause to be a 'nationalist', in the
usual sense of the term. But for the sake of India's freedom,
there had come about an alliance between the radical Gandhi
and the nationalist forces ; and the prediction was made
that as Gandhi became more and more radical in action, the
nationalist forces would tend to drop away from his company.
Copies of these two articles were despatched to Gandhi
who wrote back from W ardha on the 11th of March 1935 :
'Dear Nirmal Babu,
I have your note as also two numbers of ' Congress
Socialist' containing your articles which you will be glad to
know I bad already seen, Masani having brought them to
my notice and given me the two copies.
'I should not say that any of the articles contains an
exposition of Varnashram or Non-violence but in so far as
you have touched upon either, I can say that you have given
a fairly correct representation of the two doctrines as I have
known them. As to the rest of the articles, whilst you have
made an endeavour to be fair to me, there are several things
in them on which I do not agree that they are accurate. I
AT DELANG IN ORISSA 15
don't think they correctly set forth the true state of things.
This is, however, of no importance. It is enough that you
have made your best endeavour to examine my position in
an impartial spirit.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.'
The reader will pardon me if, by way of digression, I

speak for a moment about myself, for I am constrained to
do so in the interest of the matter which follows immediately
after.
,My primary interest in life has always been Science.
But fpolitical conflicts have also drawn me in, now and then,
even when there was no compulsion in it, as in the case of
satyagraha. But having been in the thick of it, I often
observed that the interest of many workers in satyagraha
was not very deep. They were more interested in dealing
hard blows on the imperial system which had brought our
country to the verge of ruin than in the conversion of the
British opponent. There were perhaps few in Bengal who
subscribed to the revolutionary import of Gandhi's political
method or of his decentralized economic system ; and there-
fore that cause was losing by default. Men felt enthusiastic
when the battle raged full and strong ; but when it came to
preparation or to a reconstruction of India's rural economy
through revolutionary constructive activity, the latter fizzled
down into dead routine which knew no expansion. On
account of these observations, I had gradually drawn myself
away in 1935 from either political or constructive activity
and devoted myself to the propagation of the ideas for which
Gandhi seemed to stand.
Besides thus doing what little I could, I had also decided
to meet the members of the Gandhi Seva Sangh in order to
induce that organization to take up work in the intellectual

sphere as part of their normal duties. The Sangh was formed
of a band of the best workers from all over India, devoted
entirely to Gandhi's Constructive Programme ; and there
seemed to be no reason, why they should not extend their
activities into the ideological field.
With this end in view I made contacts with several
members of the Sangh in Bengal but things did not prove
helpful enough. An unexpected opportunity presented itself
through the good offices of Satish Chandra Dasgupta in the
year 1938. In that year, during the months of January and
February, I was on tour in the province of Orissa in connec~
tion with some archxological work. The annual gathering
of the Gandhi Sev::.t Sangh was to take place at a small village
named Delang in the district of Puri. At the suggestion of
Satish Balm* the Secretary extended an .invitation to me to
visit the Conference ; Satish Babu had already advised me
to form personal contact with members of the Sangh and
discuss my plans with them.
The Conference at Delang was held in the fourth week
of March 1938. Numerous workers flocked to the village
from all parts of India ; and through the courtesy of
Gopabandhu Chaudhuri, who was the Chairman of the
Reception Committee, I was permitted to approach the
members of the Sangh and discuss my projects with them.
Kishorlal Mashruwala, J. B. Kripalani, Haribhau Upadhyay
and others welcomed the idea ; but everyone said, it would
not be possible for the Sangh to undertake propaganda work
officially, as Gandhi himself was not in favour of such activity.
He would rather welcome the activities of the members to
speak for themselves ; this however did not prevent individual
members from undertaking propaganda work on their own
• ' Babu ' is the usual substimte for ' Mr.' in the case of Hindus in
Bengal and ' Sahib ' for Mussuhnans.
AT DELANG IN ORISSA 17
responsibility. A few members of the Sangh looked on
ideological re-armament as an unnecessary task, for, as one
of them openly remarked, he had no faith in intellect or
intellectuals.
As it was thus not possible for the Sangh to undertake
intellectual work officially, I addressed a letter to the President
conveying my suggestions in a practical form. My earnest
request was that the Executive Committee should apply
their mind to the letter before throwing out the proposal.
It should be pointed out that I had no locus standi in the
Sangh; I was only a visitor, and had thus no right of hearing
except what might be extended through the courtesy of the
members.
The proposals laid down in my letter dated Delang, the
27th of March 193H were as follows :
(1) Collection of Gandhiji's writings in some central
place.
(2) Issue of booklets containing a critical edition of
Gandhiji's writings on specific questions ; each booklet being
devoted to one particular topic like " Zamindars and Tenants,"
" Khadi," " Hindu-Muslim relations" and so on.
(3) Translation of these booklets by members of the
Sangh into provincial languages and publication in the form
of vernacular booklets. If such publication did not prove
economically feasible, then arrangements were to be made
with some prominent periodical to publish the translation
as a series of articles.
The letter was handed over to the Secretary, and a few
hours afterwards Gopabandhu Chaudhuri conveyed to me
the happy news that the letter had reached the hands of
Gandhiji himself and he had approved of the general idea.
There was consequently going to be an official resolution to
that effect. A short while after, in the open session, I was
delighted to find that a sub-committee was going to be set
2
up for the purpose of popularizing the ideas which formed

the basis of the Gandhi Seva Sangh, as well as for the
exchange of experiences between members of the Sangh,
scattered all over India. The sub-committee, as far as I
remember, was formed of Kaka Kalelkar and Dada Dharma-
dhikari. This body, soon after, started the Hindustani
periodical entitled Sarvodaya, of which complimentary copies
were sent to me for a long while afterwards.
My object in attending the Conference was thus partly
fulfilled. Although there was no occasion for me to meet
Gandhiji in person at Delang, yet a close acquaintance with
experienced workers devoted to non-violence, and drawn
from all parts of InJia, was itself of inestimable value.
Those precious interviews had, however, reinforced me in the
belief that primacy should be given to Ideas before one could
carry out even Action satisfactorily, otherwise action tended
to degenerate into dead routine. It gave me one more justi-
fication for shunning political, or even constructive organiza-
tion, in favour of service in the .fielJ of intellect, towards
which I felt drawn both by inclination as well as by training.
III. rrHE INTERVIEW AT SODPUR IN 1945
Just as the Khan family had introduced me to Gandhi,
so they had also been instrumental in introducing me to a
celebrated musician in Bombay, named Khurshed A. D.
Naoroji. She was grand-daughter of the late Dadabhai
Naoroji and had spent many years of her life in Paris in
quest of Art. Khurshed was an artist by temperament and
training, but had felt some void in her life which she pro-
ceeded to fill by serving in the cause for which Gandhi stood.
She had once been sent to the North-West Frontier, among
Pathan tribesmen across the border in order to plead with
them on behalf of peace. It had been a brave and hazardous
adventure for a lone woman; but she had come back
triumphant, perhaps not so much objectively as subjectively.
She had returned to Gandhi, confirmed in the belief that
non-violence did succeed in opening the gates of understand-
ing even in the hardest of hearts, through the shock of sur-
prise, if only the non-violence was militant and brave enough.
It was about the middle of May 1942, that Khurshed
came to Bengal on a very special mission. Netaji Subhas
Chandra Bose was then broadcasting from some station in
Europe to the people of India. Rangoon had fallen, and the
air-port of Chittagong had been bombed by Japanese raiders.
Khurshed proceeded to Chittagong in order to find out how
the people would react in case the British withdrew and
Netaji arrived with the Japanese forces. After her return
from Chittagong she came into contact with various political
parties in Calcutta in order to find out how they would react,
in case Gandhi launched a movement for implementing the
Congress's demand to the British for quitting India.
During this mission of Khurshed we became friends;
so that when three years afterwards, I came back home from
detention one of the first letters which welcomed me 'back

to the larger prison' was from her pen. The sufferings of
Bengal during the Quit-India Movement of 1942 had indeed
been very severe. Midnapore had been subjected to brutal
repression, which had however failed to break the strength
of the Jatiya Sarkar (National Government) even in 1944.
In the famine again, more than three and perhaps as many
as five millions of men, women and children had lost their
lives ; although the official estimate put it down at a very
low figure (1'5 million). Gandhi was anxious to visit Bengal
personally, as well as some other parts of India. He was
due towards the end of the year, and Khurshed wrote a
letter to me from Bombay on 3-10-1945, in which she
said:
' I have sent your letter (of the 26th) on to Gandhiji.
I hope you will see as much of him as you can. If he asks
you to stay with him for a short time, do so.'
This was followed by a letter from Rajkumari Amrit
Kaur dated, Poona 5-10-1945:
'Khurshedbehn has sent your letter to her to Gandhiji.
He wishes me to write and tell you that you must certainly
come and see him on his arrival in Calcutta which will be
D. V. in the first week in November.'
Khurshed wrote again to me from Delhi on the 15th
of October 1945, where she was serving under the I. N. A.
Defence Committee, appointed by the All India Congress
Committee:
'Bapu* will be coming soon to Bengal and I trust you
will be able to move about with him. I am very anxious that
you should be with him for some time at least.'
Gandhiji actually arrived in Calcutta on the 2nd of
December 1945. He put up as usual at the Khadi Pratisthan
• ' Bapu ' literally means 'father.' It was applied affectionately by
many to Gandhiji.
INTERVIEW AT SODPUR 21
in Sodpur, which is about 10 miles from the city. Some of
us were already there, as Satish Dasgupta uniformly drew
upon our services as volunteers to cope with the additional
work which Gandhiji's visit meant for his institution.
Soon after Gandhiji arrived and had his rest, there was
a meeting of the Rashtrabhasha Parishad (Institute of
National Language) in his room. When this was over and
he was taking rest, a friend of mine approached him for an
autograph. The ;mtograph was to be on a book entitled
Selections from Gandhi which I had compiled in 1934.
Gandhiji asked my friend if he knew me; and, when he
learnt that I was already there, he immediately sent for me.
I came, and, without further ado, he told me how Khurshed
had asked him to recruit me within the fold. But, in r.eturn,
I asked Gandhiji, what sort of work he proposed to assign
to me. 'Why? There is so much of sweeper's work at
Sevagram ! ' I said, it was no use trying to frighten me that
way but asked seriously what he proposed to do with me.
For, as I told him, I was made for reading and writing ; and,
if I was in Sevagram, his own workers would feel, here was
a man who did nothing but pore over books, while I would
feel, here were men who did nothing but spin. So why
should he tempt me to return the compliment in this
fashion ? Gandhiji laughed heartily, but then said that I
should take a little time to think and see him again on
the following day.
Thus on the 3rd of December 1945, I reached Sodpur
once more, and handed over the following letter to Gandhiji :
Bapuji,
I am grateful you have asked me to be with you and
to be one of you. Khurshed has perhaps placed my case in
better light than it should. 1
Let me therefore place my own case before you. By
profession and inclination, I am a scientist; and many years
of my life have been spent in fundamental scientific research.

That is my first love.
But beyond that, I recognize my social debts and social
obligations. There, it is your writings which have opened
up a new life for me. Ever since 1921, I have tried to do
what little I can in the way of national service. But since
1932, I have specially taken up the task of reading all your
writings carefully, and explaining your teachings through
books anJ articles in English and Bengali. This in itself is
a fairly heavy task and I devote all possible time to it, for it
gives me a sense of social fulfilment.
But for this work, I require a kind of detachment which
would not be possible in the midst of the heavy round of
activities as at Wardha.
I would also pray that you will let me be, for the
present, in Calcutta, so that the revised manuscript of Studies
in Gandhism and Selections from Gandhi may be got ready
by the time you leave Bengal.
Yours affectionately,
N. K. B.
To this he replied as follows :

Sodpur, 3-12-45.
Dear Nirmal Babu,
Your sweet letter. You will do exactly as you please.
In order to interpret my writings, you should be for
some time in Wardha when it is fairly cool.
Yours
Bapu.
I learnt later on from Pyarelal that a copy of this letter

had been immediately posted to Khurshed Naoroji. The
former also told me how Gandhiji wished to speak to me
once more on the following afternoon. The interview was
INl'ERVIEW AT SODPUR 23
to take place during meal-time short! y before he left for the
prayer meeting in the evening.
So, on the 4th of December 1945, I had my second inter-
view with Gandhiji in the southern verandah of the room
which he occupied at Sodpur. The interview began at 4-15
and lasted till 4-50 p.m.
As Pyarelal was busy elsewhere, a brief report of the
interview was prepared by me and handed over to him for
record. It is published below in its original form, with
certain verbal alterations.
Ga12dhiji: You not only make a collection of my writ-
ings but also try to interpret them. For this, it is necessary
that one should actually see me at work and not merely
gather from my writings. If you remain with me and also
travel with me, you may observe many things which will
help you to understand me better.
I shall give you an example. In Midnapore, my food
VV!as once served in the house of the Raja of Narajole in a
gold plate. Although it was against my principle to use a
gold plate, yet for fear of creating a scene, I quietly took
my meals. Similarly, once while I was travelling a fellow
passenger saw me eating grapes. He was under the impres-
sion that I took only six-pice worth of food every day. So
he criticized me for not living up to my ideal of complete
identification with the poor. I thanked him and told him
that he should advertise my weakness. Indeed, ideal and
practice often departed from one another.
It is thus necessr.Iry for a man who wishes to understand
an idea, to know also how it actual1y works out in practice.
Swami-, who was in South Mrica, once complained
to me that personally I was all right but the people round
me were false. In reply I told him that I could not be better
than those with whom I worked. We were collectively
trying to put into practice a common ideal and if we turned
to be no better than what we were, then the fault lay in its

presentation. For that, no one could be held responsible
except myself.
So you must not only observe me at work, but also see
the institutions and men through whom I am working. See
them when I am there and also when I am away, and try
to find out how the ideal actually works out in practice.
I often ask myself, will these go to pieces when I am no
longer there ?
Romain Rolland did not meet me before he wrote my
life, but such men are rare.
N.: But, Gandhiji, Rolland missed the creative side
of your revolution, your Constructive Programme for build-
ing up a new life. He put undue emphasis on the destruc-
tive aspect of satyagraha. Of course, he was right in hi~
estimation of the courage and heroism which went to make
a satyagrahi.
Gandhiji: Yes, you are partly right. That is why,
Rolland wanted to come to India in order to see things for
himself. But that was not to be.
So you see why I am anxious that anyone who really
wants to understand an ideal, should also observe how it
actually works out in life.
What struck me most during the interview was the

'
detachment with which Gandhiji spoke about his own life,
his aspirations as well as his achievements ; and that with
someone of whom he knew almost nothing.
The interview thus became one of the most treasured
experiences of my life. It is astonishing how he said that,
a man is best represented, not by the highest flights of
thought which he reaches at rare moments, but by the
actual measure of the ideals which he is able to weave into
the texture of his daily life.
IV. CONGR}~SS WORKERS' MEETING
IN SODPUR, JANUARY 1946
Gandhiji left Sodpur on the 18th of December for
Santiniketan. From there he proceeded to the district of
Midnapore, returning once again to Sodpur on the 5th where
a political workers' meeting was to be held on the 5th and
6th of January 1946. More than seven hundred Congress
workers and journalists gathered together from different
parts of Bengal, and the questions which they wanted to
discuss were of a widely varied nature. Satish Dasgupta
entrusted me with the task of going through the numerous
questions and putting them into shape before submission
to G::mdhiji. An authorized report of the proceedings was
drawn up by Pyarelal and was published in the Calcutta
papers on the 12th of January 1946.
Among the various questions discussed, there was one
dealing with the theory of trusteeship in which I was speci·
ally interested.
Q. In many parts of Bengal, the cultivators are
Muslims and the proprietors Hindus. Recently in some
places, the Muslim tillers have refused to till the land under
Hindu owners. What should the Hindu owners do under
the circumstances?
A. Gandhiji replying said that the views he was
going to express were strictly his own. As they all knew he
was not even a four.anna'*' Congress member and therefore
he could not speak as a Congressman. He spoke only in his
personal capacity as a satyagrahi.
Although the question had been posed in a communal
setting, the real cleavage as he saw it was not communal
• The :mnual subscription of the Indian National Congress was four•
.annas or one-fourth of a rupee in those days.
but economic. In Bengal the cultivators might be Muslim

and the proprietors Hindu, but in Andhra both the culti-
vators and proprietors were Hindus and yet the same con-
flict was in evidence in some parts. His views, continued
Gandhiji, on the ownership of land were well known. The
only rightful owner of the land was he who tilled it.
The present proprietors were morally entitled to holJ
land only if they became trustees for it. If the cultivators
of the fields of a proprietor, who had become a trustee,
refused to till the land for him, he would not sue them or
seek otherwise to coerce them. He would leave them alone
and try to earn his livelihood independently by his honest
industry. If he has been discharging his function as trustee
honestly, they would come to him before long in contrition
and seek his guidance and help. For, he would use his
privilege, not to fill his pockets by the exploitation of the
labourers, but teach the latter co-operation and organization so
as to increase their produce and generally ameliorate their
condition. This would mean that the proprietor must him-
self become a cultivator 'par excellence.'
A proprietor who regarded his property merely as a
means of satisfying his lusts was not its owner, but its slave.
The proprietors of land in Bengal had, therefore, only to
adopt his ideal of trusteeship and their troubles would end.
When Gandhiji had gone thus far, I took up a small

ptece of paper and sent him some more questions on the
dais.
Q. Would the trustee's property be passed on to his

children by inheritance ?
A. A proprietor who holds his property as a trust
will not pass it on to his children by inheritance unless the
latter in their turn become trustees and make good their
CONGRESS WORKERS' MEETING 27
claim as such. If they are not prepared for it, he should
create a trust of his property.
It is demoralizing for an able-bodied young man to live
like a parasite on unearned income. A father should incul-
cate in his children the appreciation of the dignity of labour
and teach them to earn their bread by their honest industry.
But this- did not seem to be satisfactory to me ; for,

private ownership was hardly touched by the kind of trustee-
ship which Gandhiji described that afternoon. As early as
1931 and 1934, Gandhiji had spoken about confiscation of
property without compensation if it came into conflict with
the best interests of the nation. He had also expressly
stated in 1937, that, personally, he did not believe in inheri-
tance. And I, therefore, asked myself why should he not
be equally unequivocal in the present meeting.
So on the 7th of January 1946, I addressed a long and
perhaps pedantic letter to him on the subject. Gandhiji
read it with interest but remarked that there was some con-
fusion in my mind ; and if he got the opportunity in future,
he would clarify the points raised in the letter. That oppor-
tunity actually came in February 1947 in the district of
Noakhali, when he went back very nearly to a logically
radical position. But, in the meanwhile, the letter which
I adressed to him is reproduced below :
Bapuji,
Your answer yesterday regarding the inheritance of a
trustee's property did not satisfy me, and I have a quarrel
with you on that score.
I am attaching along with this letter your former
writings on the subject ; the relevant portions being marked
in red on pages 3, 9, 25, 26 etc. Let me now argue my case.
You said yesterday that if cultivators or workmen re-
fused to work under a proprietor, he should, on no account,

force them to work but would depend on his own strength
and God for his food. You also said that within a short
time, the cultivators would return to him and beg him for
his services. Now, this presumes that the man was not a
mere proprietor, but had talents of which the peasants stood
in need. Perhaps he had expert knowledge or some organi~
zing ability which helped the peasants to raise better
crops or earn more from their labours through his help
than otherwise. For such service, the talented man has
every moral right to ask for wages, or a commission, as you
say. This is perfectly natural, as it is also natural for him
to train his own son in such a mani1er that the latter may
develop his talents in turn and employ them in the service
of society.
But after having given his son the necessary training,
why did you say yesterday, that you would not mind if the
trustee handed over the property to the son ? There is no
harm in a man having faith in his son. But, if as you have
said elsewhere, 'the only heir of a trustee is the public,' why
should not the property pass on to the community on the
death of the man?
There is also a point of law involved in the matter of
transfer. If the rich man of today has really become a
trustee after inner conversion, then, for him morally, the
'ownership' has .1lready passed on to the community. He can
no longer retain the right of disposal over that property on
his death, unless. the community specifically invests him with
that authority. But even if the community takes the latter
course, then he should choose the best man for the purpose
rather than think of providing for his son in the first
instance.
Personally, I believe, the property ought to belong to
the State ; or better still, to some voluntary organization like
CONGRESS WORKERS' MEE'I1NG 29
a village commune or a municipality, or an organization

like the All India Spinners' Association which is communally
owned and run, not for profit but for public welfare alone.
In the future society of your dreams, talented persons
will be allowed to earn more than less talented ones ; nobody
can have any quarrel over natural inequalities between man
and man. The man who has earned more may even be
allowed to spend more on himself than others, but within
limits. But that would create very little disturbance in a
society in which no man suffers from want of work and in
which equality is the goal. But the right of transfer of
unused portions of wealth should, under no circumstances,
be l.eft to the will of a private person. For it is this which
lies at the root of the organization of capitalism. Capital-
ism has some good points in its favour, and so have numerous
rich men individually. But today, social organization has
reached a point when many of the good things which a
rich man used to do, can be done much more efficiently by
public institutions, based not on force but on voluntary
association. That prevents many of the evils of capitalism.
Thus, the good of society need not be left any longer to the
caprices of those in whose hands money accumulates, not
always on account of their personal ability but through the
accident of birth. At the same time, such organizations
tend to develop the initiative and public sense of a very
large number of men and women, if they are worked in
the right spirit. That in itself is a very desirable thing.
And, in order to create the organizations referred to
above, one of the requisites is that the present law of in-
heritance should be substantially modified, if not done away
with altogether, so that money may be found for financing
the numerous democratic institutions referred to above. Of
course, this can be done in progressive stages, as new insti-
tutions gradually take the place of old ones now run under
private enterprise. The present method of inheritance will

be a misfit in the non-violent society of your conception.
Will you not allow me to share with you the assurance
that the final extinction of private property, in the sense
outlined above, is the natural corollary of non-violence and
of the theory of trusteeship ? Of course, the new order has
to be brought into being by conversion of the privileged
classes of today, either by their own effort, or by means of
the non-violent non-co-operation of those on whom they
depend for the making and retention of wealth ; that much
is absolutely common ground. But I am asking you just
now only about the logical implication of non-violence and
not how much of it can be immediately brought into
practice.
N.K. B.
V. G-ANDHI,JI'S ARRIVAL IN SODPUR
IN OCTOBER 1946
It is now past history how the Muslim League consis-
tently demanded that the Congress should recognize its
exclusive right to represent the Muslims of India, who formed
a completely separate nation from the Hindus. Through
the long train of tortuous negotiations between the Congress
and the League, or between M. A. Jinnah and Gandhiji,
this point was however never conceded to by those who
believed in nationalism ; logically it could never be done.
The farthest limit of concession was reached in the proposed
formula of C. Rajagopalachari ;* but even this had been found
entirely unsatisfactory by Jinnah. According to him, the
sovereignty which the Formula promised was no more than
in name; there were so many limiting clauses that, unless
the Muslim League was assured that the Formula was open
to modification, it was no use placing it before the League
for consideration at all.
" The Rajaji Formula (luly 8, 1944).
Basis for terms of settlement between the Indian National Congres9
and the All-India Muslim League to which Gandhiji and Mr. Jinnah agree
and which they will endeavour respectively to get the Congress and the
League to approve :
(I) Subject to the terms set out below as regards the Constitution
for Free India, the Muslim League endorses the Indian demand for
Independence and will co-operate with the Congress in the formation of
a Provisional Interim Government for the transitional period.
(2) After the termination of the War, a commission shall be appointed
for demarcating contiguous districts in the North-West and East of India,
wherein the Muslim population is in absolute majority. In the areas thus
demarcated, a plebiscite of all the inhabitants held on the basis of adult
suffrage or other practicable franchise shall ultimately decide the issue of
separation from Hindustan. If the majority decide in favour of forming
a sovereign State separate from Hindustan such decision shall be given effect
to, without prejudice to the right of districts on the border to choose to
ioin either State.
(3) It will be open to all parties to advocate their points of view
.before the plebisd te is held.
( 4) In the event of separation, mutual agreements shall be entered
When negotiations thus failed, i.e. when the nation-

alists of India refused to accept the two-nation theory, the
League decided to launch something which went by the title
of 'Direct Action'.* The 16th of Aut,rust 1946 was set apart
for the proposed action. It was declared as a public holiday
by the League Government of Bengal; and on that day,
communal riots broke out on an unprecedented scale in the
city of Calcutta. The offensive began from the side of
Muslim mobs ; but, within a few hours, the Hindus, who
rightly or wrongly felt that the Government was entirely
apathetic or had abdicated in favour of the rowdy elements,
also struck back. The resistance stiffened in the course of
the next three days ; and, in the meanwhile, Calcutta saw
the murder of several thousand men, women and children.
The worst part of it was that people did not engage in open
combat, it was the defenceless minority within each quarter
of the town which was actually done brutally to death.
Sensitive people lost their sensitiveness and became bruta-
lized in the atmosphere of insecurity which prevailed on
account of the virtual collapse of civilized government.
The mutual slaughter continued for some weeks, the
virulence abated, but the distrust and repugnance which
had come into being in course of the brutalities, poisoned
the roots of human relationship. And men began to air
the view openly that Hindus and Muslims were so different
from one another that it was not possible for them to live
side by side.
Strategically, the Muslim League had thus gained a
into for safeguarding Defence and Commerce and Communications and for
other essential purposes.
(5) Any transfer of population shall only be on an absolutely voluntary
basis.
(6) These tel'ms shall be binding only in case of transfer by British
of full power and responsibility for the Government of India.
• For a full account see Gopal Das Khosla : Stern Reckoning. Bhawnani
and Sons, New Delhi.
ARRIVAL IN SODPtJ:a 33
political point, they had virtually forced the general public
into a position unacceptable to the leaders of the Indian
National Congress. Although the Battle of Calcutta might
not have proved decisive, enthusiastic followers of the two-
nation theory felt that the war had to be carried on further
and a decisive victory gained at some other advantageous
point in Bengal.
Noakhali is a district in Bengal in which the population
is 18% Hindu and 827a Muslim. The landed proprietors
are mostly Hindu and collectively they own about three-
fourths of the land. Noakhali is also a renowned centre of
orthodox Islam. It is the district which sends out most of
the Muslim divines and priests to the rest of Bengal ; and
these divines had consistently propagated the political ideas
of the League. All through the League Government in
Bengal, for about ten years, Noakhali had also been the
seat of peasant discontent. The revision of Tenancy Laws
as well as the new arrangements made for the repayment
of peasants' debts initiated by the League Government had
considerably weakened the economic strength of the pro-
pertied classes of Bengal ; and many of the landholders had
been compelled to migrate to the towns, where they now
invested their capital in banking, insurance or trade instead
of investing it any further in land or unprotected usury.
This was the economic position of the district. Geo-
graphically, it is one of the estuarian districts, where com-
munication for a large part of the year is by means of water-
ways. And in October 1946, when most of the land was
still under water, enthusiastic Muslim leaders of the district
struck a heavy blow upon local Hindu inhabitants. The actual
onslaught began on the night of the lOth, during the cele-
bration of the Lakshmi Puja, when the Goddess of Pros-
perity is worshipped by the Hindu people. The outside
world was however kept completely in the dark about the
3
events for over a week, for the Government succeeded in

blacking out all news. The first news however leaked
through to the Press on the 17th of October ; and almost
simultaneously, Satish Chandra Dasgupta received a telegram
from Gandhiji in Delhi, instructing him to send a batch of
volunteers into the interior of Noakhali in order to find out
what the actual state of affairs was.
There was a small group meeting in the office of the
Khadi Pratisthan in College Square, Calcutta, on the 18th,
where we learnt that a band of volunteers had already left
in the morninJ and more were to proceed on the following
day. Satish Babu also told us that Gandhiji was due in
Sodpur within a very short time ; and personally for the
next few days, I was entrusted with the task of reading up
all papers in order to prepare what might be termed a case
against the Government of Bengal in connection with the
Hindu-Muslim disturbances.
Gandhiji reached Sodpur at 5-30 p.m. on the 29th of
October 1946.
The Governor of the Province at that time was Sir
Frederick Burrows and H. S. Suhrawardy was the Chief
Minister. It was a League Ministry which was in charge
of the Government of Bengal.
Soon after Gandhiji reached Sodpur, streams of people
began to interview him and acquaint him with local condi-
tions. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, Annada Chaudhuri~
Surendra Mohan Ghosh, Kiran Sankar Roy were all there.
Satin Sen of Barisal had also come with a constructive pro-
posal ; he intended to gather together such men from all
political parties as believed in non-violence, and who would
risk facing the angry Hindu and Muslim mobs all over
Calcutta. His idea was that such people should tour the
riot-affected parts of the city, and by tactful propaganda,
counteract the ugly feeling of communalism which had
ARRIVAL IN SODPUR 35
reared its head and which well-nigh threatened to break out
in the form of riots in other parts of the province as well.
Gandhiji heard everyone in detail ; he wanted to gather
the actual facts before committing himself to any particular
line of action. On the 30th of October 1946, there was an
invitation from the Governor, whom he saw on the same
day.* And while he was returning past one of the predomi-
nantly Muslim qu,arters of Calcutta an iron ring was hurled
at his car, which fortunately did not hurt anybody but flew
past between the passengers seated within. The riots indeed
had once more broken out in Calcutta by about the 26th ;
and this mild attack on Gandhiji's car was no more than
what had almost become the rule of the Jay. It was not
directed, in any case, against Gandhiji in person.
My work in Sodpur continued as before. In the mean-
while, I had to interview some refugees from Noakhali in
various camps in Calcutta and gather from eye-witnesses as
much information as possible regarding the actual events in
connection with the riots. Summaries or statements were
placed before Gandhiji by Satish Babu almost every day.
On the 4th of November 1946, there was an additional duty
assigned to me. The morning papers had to be read
out to Gandhiji. Pyarelal, Sushila Nayyar, Kanu Gandhi
and many others had come in company with Gandhiji. But
as they did not know Bengali, and most of the other
Bengali volunteers had already left for Noakhali, a part of
the work naturally fell to my lot. There was never any
:personal talk between Gandhiji and myself during these
days, all was purely official and business-like. But I did not
fail to notice one thing. Gandhiji looked worried, he was
reserved, and sometimes he was not in the best of moods.
Several weeks afterwards, when we were together in
Noakhali in the lonely camp of Srirampur, he told me the
• The authorized report is given in the Hariian, 10-11-1946, p., 394.
story of his meeting .with Governor Burrows. Sir Frederick

had asked for a personal interview with him, because he
had been told that Gandhiji was an admirer of the well-
known Labour leader, George Lansbury, while Sir Frederick
happened to be a close friend of his. Gandhiji accepted the
personal invitation ; but after the usual cordialities, the
Governor asked him what he could do in order to restore
peace in Bengal. Gandhiji had promptly replied that the
British Governor could do nothing. He could only quit in
terms of the British Government's proposal as early as
possible. If anything had to be done, it could only be done
through the Chief Minister who was the elected represen-
tative of the people. The Governor remarked that no one
else had, so far, said the same thing to him. Gandhiji's
reply was, that this was however constitutionally the only
right position.
Major General Roy Bucher, who was then Chief of the
Eastern Command of the Army in India, also met Gandhiji
at Government House. To his offer of military aid,
Gandhiji's reply had been, if the Chief Minister needed such
service he would undoubtedly call for it ; but then the
military would have to function completely under the civil
administration. There could be no question of the abdica-
tion of a popular government in favour of the military.
H. S. Suhrawardy, the head of the League Government
in Bengal, saw Gandhiji on several occasions, and pleaded
with him to delay his visit to Noakhali until conditions had
become more settled there. He also said, there was con-
siderable exaggeration in the reports. But Gandhiji wanted
to reach the scene as early as possible and see things for
himself before deciding upon any particular course of action.
He was clear however ~jth regard to one thing, the popu-
larly elected Ministry held the primary responsibility of
restoration of peace ; and he was never tired of impressing
ARRIVAL IN SODPUR 37
this upon members of the G<>vernment who came to pay
him a visit. They had to be effective and even-handed in
their administration of justice.
The Congress in Bengal, as well as those who believed
in Gandhiji's ideas, had however failed in the communal
riots. The challenge of communalism which threatened to
sweep aside the sense of nationalism, was there in an intense
form before them. They did not, or perhaps could not,
think of any plan of non-violent action ~hich might prove
effective. There was a prevailing feeling of helplessness
before the magnitude of the forces of evil which were
stalking the land ; and perhaps all this left Gandhiji in a
lonely, and, may be, also in a slightly disturbed frame of
mind.
Hitherto, I had never come close enough to Gandhiji.
All the past interviews had been, more or less, drawing room
affairs ; so that the vision of him, as a man living his life
from day to day had been beyond my purview in the pa~t.
But the events of 1946 gave me an opportunity of coming
closer to him, and to those who kept him company. On
the 4th of November 1946, one of Gandhiji's secretaries was
away on some business in Calcutta. The prayer meeting
was held in the afternoon, and as an authorized report had
to be immediately handed over to the Press, Satish Babu
~sked me to prepare it. I did so, and, as usual, submitted
it to Gandhiji for correction. He listened to my reading
and suggested some alterations.
Next day, i.e. on the 5th of November 1946, Gandhiji
had asked Satish Babu to entrust me with the task of
reporting. But owing to some preoccupation of mine, Satish
Babu had not been able to communicate the order to me
in time. Sushila Nayyar was in Sodpur that evening; and
naturally, I did not prepare the report of my own accord.
Towards evening, somebody spotted me in the crowd and
told me how anxiously Satish Babu was looking for me. I

hastened to his room, and then together we proceeded to
Gandhiji's room. Gandhiji did not, at first, notice me, as I
was standing on the door-step while Satish Babu was just
inside the room. To my very great surprise, he broke into
a temper and rebuked the latter for the kind of volunteer
he had posted for special duties. The high voice went on
for perhaps more than a couple of minutes, when Gandhiji
suddenly noticed my presence. He told me, that now that
I had heard everything I should go back to my duties without
fail.
Somehow, it was a rather painful experience for me,
for no one had actually assigned that task to me. The
work had been undertaken on the previous evening only
because of the absence of a secretary. But anyway, I met
Sushila Nayyar immediately after and found her actually
engaged in the preparation of the controversial report. I
asked her, if I was still expected to do anything about it.
She went for instructions to Gandhiji, and I believe, the
matter was dropped there.
VI. HAPPli;NINGS IN BIHAR
While Gandhiji was still in Sodpur, news reached
that riots had broken out in a most virulent form in Bihar.
There the sufferers were Muslim, and the Government was
in the hands of the Congress Party. A report in the
Morning News, an organ of the Muslim League, stated that
the number of persons killed was of the order of hundreds
of thousands. In the official report published in February
1947 by the Bihar Provincial Muslim League, it was stated
that the orgy of violence actually started on 25th of October
1946, which was celebrated as the Noakhali Day. There
were killings in Chapra on that date, but the height was
reached in the first week of November 1946, by which time
about fifty thousand Muslims had been done to death. This
was later found to be an exaggeration, the actual number of
people killed having been in the neighbourhood of 7,000.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Abdur Rab Nishtar and other
members of the Central Government rushed to Bihar from
Delhi, and, in order to secure correct information, Gandhiji
sent a wire through the Chief Minister of Bengal to
Jawaharlal to the following effect:
'Mornitzg News reports butchery by Hindus of Muslim
passengers. Muslims fleeing from mob fury and Premier
countenancing. Wire particulars.'
Jawaharlal sent the following reply:

'Report in Morning News grossly exaggerated and vague.
Government here doing its utmost, but situation tense and
grave in many places. Am staying on here with Nishtar.
Vallabhai and Liaquat Ali going on to Delhi.'
There is one little thing to which the attention of the
reader should be drawn in this connection, if it is only to
MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
illustrate how cautious Gandhiji was in the verification of

every item of significant news. On the 6th of November
1946, under his instruction, I addressed the following letter
to Sardar Vallabhai Patel :
Dear Sardarji,
Mahatma Gandhi wishes to draw your attention to the
following news published in the Hindusthan Standard o£
5~11~19-16 : "Allahabad, November 3rd.-' We warned the
Viceroy that if Bengal outrages were not stopped, Bihar
might start trouble which might be followed by the whole
of India and the situation then would get entirely out of
control. So far as Bihar is concerned, our fears materialised.'
"Thus observed Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Home Member,
Interim Government, to some persons who met him and
other members of the Interim Government, at Bamrauli
Aerodrome en rout~ to Calcutta."
The reply came:

'I have given no such interview or information to any~
body at Allahabad or Bamrauli Aerodrome en route to
Calcutta ; nor have I seen the report in the Press. This is
an absolutely false report, and I do not know how it happened
to appear in that paper.'
In the post~prayer speech at Sodpur on the 4th of
November 1946, Gandhiji referred to the telegram exchanged
between him and Jawaharlal and went on to say,
' The Congress belongs to the people, the Muslim League
belongs to our Muslim brothers and sisters. If Congressmen
fail to protect Mussalmans where the Congress is in power,
then what is the use of the Congress Premier ? Similarly,
if in a League Province, the League Premier cannot afford
protection to the Hindus, then why is the League Premier
there at all ? If either of them have to take the aid of the
HAPPENINGS IN BIHAR 41
military in order to protect the Muslim or Hindu minority
in their respective provinces, then it only means that none
of them actually exercises any control over the general popu-
lation when a moment of crisis comes. If that is so, it only
means that both of us are inviting the British to retain their
sovereignty over India. This is a matter over which each one
of us should ponder deeply.'*
On the 6th of November 1946, Gandhiji issued an appeal
to Bihar, in which he said,
.... I must confess that although I have been in
Calcutta for over a week, I do not know the magnitude of
the Bengal tragedy. Though Bihar calls me, I must not
interrupt my programme for Noakhali. And is counter-
communalism any answe_r to the communalism of which
Congressmen have accused the Muslim League ? Is it
Nationalism to seek barbarously to crush the fourteen per
cent of the Muslims in Bihar ?
.... The misdeeds of Bihari Hindus may justify
Qaid-c-Azam** Jinnah's taunt that the Congress is a Hindu
organization in spite of its boast that it has in its ranks a
few Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and others. Bihari
Hindus are in honour bound to regard the minority Muslims
as their brethren requiring protection, equal with the vast
majority of Hindus.
' I regard myself as a part of you. Your affection has
compelled that loyalty in me. And since I claim to have
better appreciation than you seem to have shown of what
Bihari Hindus should do, I cannot rest till I have done some
measure of penance.
'Predominantly for reasons of health, I had put myself
on the lowest diet possible soon after my reaching Calcutta.
• Hari;an, 17-11-1946, p. -402.

•• Qaid-e-Aza.m, 'the great leader •, a title given fondly by the Mussal-
mans to Jinnah.
The diet now continues as a penance after the knowledge

of the Bihar tragedy. The low diet will become a fast unto
death, if the erring Biharis have not turned over a new
leaf ........ '*
With regard to the fast, Pyarebl reported, later on, that
Gandhiji had written to Jawaharlal in a letter dated the 5th
of November :
'The news from Bihar has shaken me. My own duty
seems to me to be ckar .... If even half of what one hears
is true, it shows that Bihar has forgotten humanity.· To
blame it all on the goondas (rowdies) would be untruth.
Although I have striven hard to avert a fast, I can do so no
longer ...... My inner voice tells me, ' Y:ou may not live to
be a witness to this senseless slaughter. If people refuse to
see what is clear as daylight and pay no heed to what you
say, does it not mean that your day is over ? ' The logic of
the argument is driving me irresistibly towards a fast .... In
any event you will go on with your work without a moment's
thought about my possible death and leave me in God's good
care. No worry allowed.'**
• Harijan, 10-11-1946, p. 392.

•• Harijan, 17-11-1946, p. 403.
VII. ON THE WAY TO NOAKHALI
And thus, with a heavy heart, under the restricted dj_~;:t
which he had already imposed upon himself by way of
penance, Gandhiji left Sodpur for Noakhali on the 6th of
November 1946. The Government of Bengal had provided
a special train fitted with a microphone for Gandhiji and
his party. The train left Sodpur Station at about eleven in
the morning.
The train reached Kushtia at about twelve. There was
an immense crowd at the station, and as Gandhiji stepped
on to the open door to speak over the microphone, the
crowd quickly settled down to silence. Satish Babu had been
straining himself too much for the last few weeks. It was
usual for him to translate Gandhiji's Hindustani speeches
into Bengali. But as he felt slightly indisposed and had a
hoarse voice, the work was done by me. We reached
Goalundo at about three in the afternoon. The Government
had kept ready a special steamer, the S. S. Kiwi, for carrying
the party 80 miles down the river to Chandpur, where he was
to entrain for Chaumuhani in the district of Noakhali. The
translation at Goalundo was undertaken once more by Satish
Babu as he felt better by that time.
Portions of the speeches delivered in Kushtia and
Goalundo are given below. It should be pointed out that the
official reports were actually drawn up by Sushila Nayyar.
Kushtia Station : 1220 a.m., 6-11-1946.

Gandhiji addressed a fairly large gathering at the rail-
way station at Kushtia. He said that when he first heard
about happenings in Noakhali, he felt that his place was no
longer in Delhi but in the former place. His relation with
Bengal dated back to a distant past. Those were great days
MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
when Deshbandhu Das was alive, and he toured Bengal in his

company. In those days, there was brotherhood between
Hindus and Mussulmans, and both shared equally in the
K,pilafat and Non-co-operation Movements. Then, large
numbers of Mussulmans were also members of the Congress.
Gandhiji then said that he was merely a servant of God.
Today, Bengal had touched his heart deeply, and his duty
was to wipe away the tears of his suffering sisters. His body
was in God's hands, and it was for Him to decide how the
body was going to be used for service.
He had met the Chief Minister of Bengal and many
other Mussulman friends, each one of whom had assured
him that he did not want this ugly war to continue. The
Government had made special arrangements so that he might
move about freely and see things for himself. He would
be able to say what his duty was only when the truth became
clear to him.
He confessed that he had perhaps served Bihar more than
Bengal. His heart was sick at the thought that the Hindus
of Bihar had given way to madness. This madness must be
shed before people could live in peace. It was futile to think
that peace could be established only when one's antagonist
was overwhelmed by superior violence. With all her arma-
ments, Europe is no nearer peace in spite of her experience
of two devastating wars. Gandhiji ended by saying that
nation must learn to live with nation as a brother lives with
his brother before peace can hold its sway over the world.
Goa/undo Ghat, 3 p.m., 6-11-1946.

Addressing a gathering on the river bank at Goalundo
from the deck of the steamer, Gandhiji told the audience that
he had come to Bengal not for one day or one week but for
as long as his services were needed in the province. He
would like to travel from village to village as far as his body
ON THE WAY TO NOAKHALI 45
would permit. His intention was to visit every village, if
possible, which had suffered from the riots.
Gandhiji warned the audience against believing that he
had come to set one community against another. As a boy,
he had among his friends, Parsis and Mussulmans. He had
gone to South Africa in oMer to serve a client who was also
a Mussulman. His intimacy with the Ali brothers in the
days of the Khilafat Movement was well known. That did
not mean, one was to sacrifice a principle for the sake of
unity. 'Let us pray', he said, 'that the Hindus and Mussul-
mans of Bengal should become one in heart. But to be of
one heart does not mean that all of them should be converted
to a common religion.'
His object in coming to Noakhali was to ask the Hindus
never to run away from their homes even if they happened
to be in a microscopic minority. They should try to live with
the Mussulmans where they were. Both had been nourished
by the same corn which grew in the fields and both had
quenched their thirst with water from the same river. Even
if their brother came to slay them, they should refuse to
run away, but make every effort to live with him in peace,
without sacrificing honour.
As the steamer left the port of Goalundo at half past

three, and I got ready my reports of the speeches, there
was a call from Gandhiji's cabin. He was alone, and after
he had heard my report, he handed over to me another which
had been prepared by Sushila Nayyar, for comparison.
Gandhiji said, as I was a professor, I should correct Sushila's
report where necessary. On going through the other report,
I returned it to him with the remark, 'Dr. Nayyar's report
is more correct ; mine contains a little of my own thoughts
as well.' Gandhiji said, ' Yes, I have had the same feeling
about your report.'
Chandpur was reached in the evening, when deputations

of Muslim Lcaguen as well as of Congressmen came to see
Gandhiji. There were separate meetings on board the ship,
of which reports were published by Pyarclal.* We left
Chandpur by train at about ten on the following morning.
Huge crowds of men and women came to see Gandhiji at
almost every station, but at Laksam Junction, he had to
address the mcetipg because many of the people were actually
evacuees from the riot-stricken villages.** Chaumuhani was
reached after one, when Gandhiji was taken to the house of
Jogendranath Majumdar, where his headquarters had been
fixed for the time being. The camp of the Congress workers
was ncar by ; and numerous volunteers belonging to the
Khadi Pratisthan, the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee,
the Abhoy Ashram and the Revolutionary Socialist Party of
India were also there, working in unison.
Gandhiji's speech on the 7th was rendered into Bengali
at the prayer meeting by Satish Babu. Sushila Nayyar and
Pyarclal \\•ere to be with Gandhiji all the time, while the
volunteers who had already been working there for the last
few days could draw up necessary reports and the like. So,
I felt, my presence was no longer necessary. And after having
consulted Satish Babu and his wife, I decided to leave for
Calcutta on the following day. There was no definite work
assigned to me, nor had Gandhiji decided upon any particular
course of action. Relief operations were already in good
hands. So, although, Satish Babu wanted me to be with
him for any emergency, Mrs. Dasgupta agreed that there was
immediately nothing for me to do and I might as well leave.
In case of necessity, I could immediately be sent for from
Calcutta.
Thus, on the 8th of November 1946, I left Chaumuhani
• Harijan, 24-11-1946, p. 431 and 1-12-1946, p. 424.
u Harijan, 24-11-1946, p. 409.
ON THE WAY TO NOAKHALI 47
by the afternoon train for Calcutta. Two days were spent
on the way in Rajbari, so that Calcutta was actually reached
on the 11th, and I went back to my duties in the University
on the 12th of November 1946.
There was one interesting episode which should be
related here before the present chapter is brought to a close.
Rumour had it that when the riots started in Noakhali7 the
Muslim Superintendent of Police played some part in en-
couraging the rowdies by his complete inactivity. Some even
went so far as to say that his co-operation was not always
passive but active at times. Shortly before Gandhiji left for
the prayer meeting on the 7th, E. F. Mcinerny, the District
Magistrate, came to pay him a visit. As both emerged from
the room, they found Abdullah Sahib, the Superintendent of
Police, seated upon a bench near by. Abdullah Sahib stood up
and the Magistrate introduced him to Gandhiji, who said
with a laugh, ' Aha, so you are the Superintendent of Police.
People say that you are a wicked person. Is that really so ? '
Abdullah Sahib naturally felt very embarrassed at the
question; but Gandhiji said to him, 'Now come along with
me.' And so all of them proceeded to the prayer ground
which was about a hundred yards away.
VIII. KAZIRKHIL
Gandhiji stayed in Chaumuhani from the 7th to the 9th
of November 1946, when he moved on to a village named
Dattapara. In the meanwhile, he had begun to visit the
affected villages in company with government officials for
evidence of the wanton destruction of life and property to
which the country had been subjected. Non-official arrange-
ments were immediately undertaken in order to ascertain the
number of persons killed and houses burnt or property
destroyed ; and it transpired that the number of persons who
had lost their lives was in the neighbourhood of three
hundred, while more than tm thousand families had been
left homeless. The loss to property actually ran to several
crores of rupees. One of the Press representatives who was
with us, had been in Singapore during and after its fall at the
hands of the Japanese. His opinion was that the damage to
property which had resulted from man's hands here was
more frightful in appearance and certainly more extensive
than anything he had witnessed in Singapore.
But, in spite of the magnitude of material damage,
Gandhiji was more concerned about the political implications
of the riots. Later on, he told me one day that he knew, in
any war, brutalities were bound to take place ; war was
a brutal thing. He was therefore not so much concerned
about the actual casualities or the extent of material damage,
but in discovering the political intentions working behind
the move and the way of combating them successfully.
In the meanwhile, he wrote a letter on the 12th of
November 1946 from Dattapa~a, and a messenger delivered
it to me by hand in Calcutta on the 14th. The letter ran :
KAZIRKHIL 49
12-11-46.
Dear Nirmal,
You went away suddenly without seeing me. I was under
the impression that you were with Satish Babu and there~
fore me to the end. Hemprabha Devi says you would come
if I needed you. I do need you for any work that may be
assigned to you by me directly or through Satish Babu. If
you are agreeable, please come without delay.
Yours,
Bapu.
The train for Noakhali was on the following morning,

and I reached Chaumuhani in the afternoon of the 16th.
Gandhiji had already left Dattapara for another place named
Kazirkhil on the 14th ; and so, on the 17th, I reported
myself at Kazirkhil to Satish Chandra Dasgupta. Amritlal
Thakkar was also there, and when I went to pay my respects
to him he congratulated me on my very good luck. But I
was yet unaware as to what this meant.
Then on the following morning (18th), I presented
myself to Gandhiji in his room. It was Monday, and hence
his day of silence. When he saw me, he wrote out in pencil
on two thin sheets of paper :
' I want you if you can and will to be with me wherever
I go and stay while I am in Bengal. The idea is that I
should be alone only with you as my companion and inter~
preter. This you should do only if you can sever your
connection with the University and would care to risk
death, starvation etc. Satish Babu knows all about my
design. You will know from him.
'Secondly, I want you to collect from Dawn, Azad,
Morning News and Star of India all the telling extracts
from Qaid.-e-Azam's and other League leaders' writings and
4
speeches and put them in chronological order giving under

each extract dates and origin.
'These two you can do simultaneously.'
After having read the note, I replied, 'The University
releases me for your service as long as you are in Bengal.
As for the rest, all I can say is that I shall try to fulfil
your conditions ; more than that I can hardly say.'
Next morning, on the 19th, Gandhiji interrogated me
on my position in the University, what salary I drew, if I
was married or had any dependents, i£ the University
would grant me leave, and so on. I told him, there was
nothing to prevent me from joining him on this score. But,
my position was, I Jid not sec any reason for severing my
connection with the University ; I could take leave without
pay for an indefinite period, and some leave with pay was
already due to me which I could avail of for the time
being. Gandhiji did not insist upon my resignation from
the University. But there was a more serious difficulty
about which I needed a little time to think.
It transpired that Gandhiji's idea was to leave behind
him all his old companions, each of whom was to be
placed in charge of a rural centre. And he was to go forth
alone to live among the Muslim peasants in order to win
their heart and induce them to make it possible for the
evacuees to return home and live in safety and honour.
But as it was physically impossible for Gandhiji to live all
by himself, he wanted to take one Bengali-speaking volun-
teer with him. As all the other volunteers had already
taken up posts, and I was the only one who was still free, the
choice had naturally fallen upon me. There was another
worker, named Parasuram, a Tamil Brahmin from Malabar,
who had been serving Gandhiji for the last two years as a
stenographer. Gandhiji also wanted Parasuram. to be with
him.
KAZIRKHIL 51
This was the position. I asked Parasuram if he knew
how to conduct the morning and evening services. He said,
he had never done so but would not mind learning. Next
morning, therefore, I sent the following letter to Gandhiji
through the hand of one who was in attendance upon him
at the time.
Kazirkhil, 20-11-1946.
Bapu,
Now that you have asked me to be with you, it is
necessary that I should place my limitations before you so
that I may not cause you any disappointment in future.
Personally, I have never prayed ; but, in private life, I
frequently try to relate my day's little work to the things
which I hold dear in life. If anything comes in the way,
I try to weed it out by conscious effort ; but that is hardly
prayer on any account.
So, when I try to join the early mornin~ and evening
prayers, I enjoy the two minutes' silence, and keep silent for
the rest of the while. The community prayer has, so far, not
touched my emotion; but I sometimes like keeping company
with my friends when they pray and feel great things in the
depth of their soul. That companionship may be physical,
but I like it all the same.
If I am therefore alone with you in Srirampur, some
arrangement has to be made for the community prayer, for
I would be useless for that purpose. This I should place
before you for full consideration.
Yours obediently,
Nirmal.
This was handed over to Gandhiji early in the morning,

and it was on the same day that he was to leave for Srirampur
on what has been picturesquely described by Pyarelal as
\
'A Venture in Faith.'* Gandhiji read the letter, called me and

said in Hindustani, that he found nothing objectionable in
it; for people like me had previously lived with him. In
community prayers, there would naturally be people who
held such views. And he also told me that he would have
further talk on this subject if there was an opportunity in
future.
And so we left the house of Kashi Pundit in Kazirkhil
at 11-37 a.m. on the 20th and took a boat for Srirampur,
which was about four miles away. There were two boats.
In one of them, a bed had been prepared for Gandhiji. Sati~h
Babu and others were with him, while I boarded the second
one in which boxes and sundry other articles had been loaded.
It took us more than two and a half hours to cover the
distance of four miles, for the canal was choked tight in
many places with water hyacinth and the boat had to be
punted all along. We reached the landing place at about
two, from where the camp was only a furlong away.
In course of the journey, Gandhiji drafted a statement,
which was handed over for despatch to Satish Babu. It is
reproduced below in full:
'I find myself in the midst of exaggeration and falsity.
I am unable to discover the truth. There is terrible mutual
distrust. Oldest friendships have snapped. Truth and
AhimJa by which I swear and which have to my knowledge
sustained me for sixty years, seem to fail to show the
attributes I ascribed to them.
'To test them or better, to test myself, I am going to
a village called Shrirampore, cutting myself away from those
who have been with me all these years, and who have made
life easy for me. I am taking Prof. Nirmal Kumar Bose as
my Bengali teacher and interpreter and Shri Parsuram, who
• Harijan, 24-11-1946, p. 412.

KAZIRKHIL 53
has been my most devoted, selfless and silent stenographer.
'The other workers, whom I have brought with me will
each distribute themselves in other villages of Noakhali to
do the work of peace, if it is at all possible, between the two
commumtles. They are, unfortunately, all non-Bengalis
except little Abha. They will, therefore, be accompanied by
one Bengali worker each as teacher and interpreter, even like
Prof. N. K. Bose will be to me.
' Distribution work and selection work will be done
by Sri Satish Chandra Dasgupta of the Khadi Pratisthan.
My ideal is to live in a local Muslim League family, but I
sec that I must not wait for that happy day. I must mean-
while establish such contacts with the Muslims as I can in
their own villages. They should guarantee at the cost of their
lives if need be, the safety of the returning Hindu refugees.
I am sorry to have to confess that without some such thing
it seems to me difficult to induce them to return to their
villages.
'From all accounts received by me, life is not as yet
smooth and safe for the minority community in the villages.
They, therefore, prefer to live as exiles from their own
homes, crops, plantations and surroundings, and live on in-
adequate and ill-balanced doles.
'Many friends from outside Bengal have written to me
to allow them to come for peace work, but I have strongly
dissuaded them from commg. I would love to let them
come if and when I see light through this impenetrable
darkness.
' In the meantime, both Pyarelal and I have decided to
suspend all other activities in the shape of correspondence,
includin-g the heavy work of the H-arijan and the allied
weeklies. I have asked Shri Kishorlal, Shri Kakasaheb,
Shri Vinoba and Shri Narahari Parikh to edit the weeklies
jointly and severally. Pyarelal and I may, if our work per-
mits, send stray contributions from our respective villages.

Correspondence will be attended to from Sevagram.
'How long this suspense will last, is more than I can
say. This much, however, I can. I do not propose to
leave East Bengal till I am satisfied that mutual trust has
been established between the two communities and the two
have resumed the even tenor of their life in their villages.
Without this there is neither Pakistan nor Hindustan-only
slavery awaits India, torn asunder by mutual strife and en,
grossed in barbarity.
' No one need at present be disturbed about my low diet.
On receipt of the following wire from Dr. Rajendra Prasad :
Letter received. Have already wired quiet. There
have been no incidents for a week now. Situation satis,
factory. Most earnest! y desire resumption of normal
diet. Myself going Delhi 19th.,
I resumed goat's milk from yesterday and propo~e to revert
to normJ.l diet as early as the system permits. The future
is in God's keeping.'
IX. Cl~CUMSPEC1'ION AND A CALL
FOR COURAGE
Thus life began in the village of Srirampi.lr. Ever since
Gandhiji had returned to the shores of India in 1915, I do
not think there was ever a period when he was physically
so alone. All his tried workers who had spent the best part
of their lives in making things easier for him, or in the
execution of his ideas, had been sent away; and to me it
appeared that Gandhiji was bent upon putting up with as
much inconvenience as possible, if thereby he could somehow
gain access into the hearts of the Muslim peasantry of
Noakhali. Indeed, in a private letter to one of his relatives,
dated 5-12-1946, Gandhiji wrote with reference to Abha
Gandhi who had been, for the p:1st few ye:J.rs, responsible for
looking after his physical comforts, 'She was extremely sorry
to leave me. But duty lay that way. So I have kept her
away from me. I must own that I was getting accustomed
to her service almost as a matter of habit. But a habit of
taking service from a particular individual is inconsistent
with hard austerity.'*
An interesting conversation took place between Gandhiji
and myself shortly after we arrived at the village, and he had
taken a little amount of rest. He called me as I was
arranging things and asked me if I did not at all believe in
God. I confess.ed that the problem whether God existed or
not, or what was the primal cause of the Universe, had never
seriously come into my life. I did not concern myself with
the question of such ultimates.
'Don't you believe in anything ?', he asked.
I said, 'Yes, as a scientist, I do believe in truth. For, in
the laboratory or in our scientific investigation, we undoubted-
• Harijan, 5-1-1947, p. 476.
ly try to discover the truth by observation and experiment.

Unless we believe that there is something worth striving
for, why should we engage in the chase at all ? Truth may
be like a carrot dangling before a donkey's nose, but it is
there .all the same.'
Gandhiji said, ' That will do' ; and from that day
onwards, never for once did he ask me any further question
on the subject, nor try to interfere with my belief in any way
whatsoever.
The house where we had put up consisted of a few
detached huts made of wooden frames, with walls as well
as thatches of galvanized iron sheets. The floor was mud,
and the custom here is to besmear it every morning with a
paste of cow-dung which cakes over and leaves the floor hard
and clean. Gandhiji occupied a spacious hut in the centre
of a courtyard, surrounded on all sides by thick groves of
areca and coco-nut. There were other huts near by, only
one having been completely destroyed and burnt during the
disturbances. Several large tanks also existed within the
compound of the house. The inmates belonged to one of
the most ancient and respectable families of Noakhali ;
indeed, they were descended from one of the twelve feudal
chiefs who had successfully defied the Muslim conquerors
centuries ago and set up independent principalities in
Bengal.
During the disturbances, most of the inmates had taken
refuge elsewhere; but when Gandhiji came and settled down
in their home) they began to return in small numbers. Sus-
picion and a feeling of insecurity had gone too deep during
the disturbances to be eradicated at one stroke even if it
were under the magic spell of Gandhiji's presence. The
courage to face reality and to build up life anew had to be
instilled through infinite patience, and naturally it required
CIRCUMSPECTION AND A CALL FOR COURAGE 57
some considerable time and a change of attitude on the
part of the Mussulmans.
From now onwards, I propose to present the reader with
my personal diary as it was kept from day to day. The
prayer meetings were held at various places, of which duly
authorized reports were wired every day through the Press
representatives who had their own establishment within the
same compound. The interested reader will find the prayer
reports published in the Harijan from the issue of the 5th
of January 1947 onwards.
Srirampur, Wednesday, 20-11-46:

Anukul Chakraverty, whose entire homestead has been
burnt, was one of the first to greet Gandhiji in Srirampur.
The latter enquired of him, how many Hindus still lived in
the village. He wished to visit the Muslim inhabitants of
the village one by one in their own homes. Ismail Khondkar,
a Muslim farmer who lives near by, welcomed him and said,
it was Khuda's will which had brought such an evil day
upon the land. Gandhiji corrected him by saying that it was
true, circumstances could only be changed through the grace
of God, but then every one had to perform his duty. God
could only work through men. He had personally come to
this village in order to perform his portion of duty.
Maulvi W aliullah Kari, another resident of the village,
came a short while afterwards. To him, Gandhiji said in
addition that his purpose was to bring sweetness where
bitterness prevailed among men, in so far as lay within his
power.
Swami Bodhananda of the Pravartak Sangha Relief
Centre at Ramganj then saw Gandhiji. The latter enquired
about Motilal Roy's health, who is the founder of the Sangha;
particularly, if his eyesight had improved now, for he
remembered that it was failing some time ago.
The prayer meeting was held at five in an open space

within the compound. About a thousand people attended.
While the meeting was in progress, Minister Shamsuddin
Ahmed arrived there with Abdul Hakim, M.L.A. of Lakshmi-
pur, Fazlur Rahman, M.L.A. of Begumganj, Hamiduddin,
M.L.A. of Pabna, who is a Parliamentary Secretary, along
with some local Muslim gentlemen. The Minister spoke for
about half an hour after G:mdhiji. He described the
Government's attitude towards the miscreants and towards
the riot-affected people and exhorted the Muslim inhabitants
to invite their neighbours back home.
When the pnyer was over, the ministerial party had a
private interview in Ganclhiji's room where the Govern-
ments' proposal for forming peace committees was discussed.
Manoranjan Chaudhuri, a resident of the district and an
important official of the Hindu Mahasabha, was present near
by. He was also invited to join the discussion. But his
opinion was that, unless the Government rounded up the
bad characters first, the peace committees would fail to
inspire confidence.
During the debate between Manoranjan Babu and the
ministerial party, angry words were exchanged. Gandhiji in-
tervened and said, 'I have heard all that has been said with
some amount of pain.' He advised Manoranjan Babu not to
insist on making the suggested arrest a condition precedent
to the formation of the peace committees. The appeal for
peace from the Minister had a ring of truth about it, and
it would be wise to place trust in it. Let the peace committees
be formed, and then they might be entrusted with the task
of naming the miscreants, when the proper authorities could
be relied upon to bring them to book.
Manoranjan Babu had no objection to playing the game
according to Gandhiji's advice. It was then decided that the
Minister should meet local Hindu and Muslim leaders at
ClRCUMSPEC110N AND A CALL FOR COURAGE 59
3 p.m. on the 22nd, when a common plan of action would
be chalked out and intensive propaganda initiated by both
official and non-official agencies.
The Government's present proposal is that there should
be an equal number of Hindu and Muslim representatives
on the peace committees, with a Government official as
chairman. The Muslim members are to be nominated by
the Hindus.
During the evening walk, when I was alone with him,
Gandhiji enquired about the local economic situation. I
told him how the Hindus are financially the stronger com-
munity. In course of the second World War, the Muslim
peasant had earned some money, while a new Muslim middle
class had also come into being under the patronage of the
Muslim League Government. The latter were trying to step
into the shoes of the Hindu middle class. It was not a
simple case of an exploited class trying to do away completely
with exploitation. One middle class was trying to oust
another, through an alliance with the exploited on the score
of religious and cultural unity. If the Hindus have to live
here, the fundamental economic relation h,as to be set right.
Gandhiji agreed ; but said that, u'nder the existing circum·
stances in Noakhali, this is not the problem to which we
should address ourselves ; it would create divisions as in
Bihar.
What did he refer to in Bihar ? Is it his intention to
keep the various classes united at the present moment ? His:
intention of liquidating all class interests through non-
violent non-co-operation and substituting the primacy of mass
interest has been made abundantly clear and has never been
clouded either in his vision or expression.
Srirampur, Thursday, 21-11-46 :

Gandhiji had promised to visit Maulvi Waliullah Kari's
60 MY DAYS WITH GANDHl
house at 7-30 in the morning during his usual walk. But

as it started drizzling, he took his constitutional walk within
the room, and I hastened to the Maulvi Sahib's house to
inform him that Gandhiji was not coming.
The only important interview which took place today
was with a batch of Hindu political workers of the district.
The party consisted of Manoranjan Chaudhuri, Naliniranjan
Mitra, Pratul Chaudhuri, Anukul Chakraverty and a few
others. The following is my original report of the meeting,
but it was never corrected by Gandhiji.
The gentlemen had come to discuss certain demands
which had to be satisfied before the peace committees could, in
their opinion, function effectively. Gandhiji listened carefully
to Manoranjan Babu who was the spokesman of the party
and then said, *'Your proposal that these demands should
be satisfied before the peace committees can be formed,
virtually means a summary rejection of the peace ofler. This
will only succeed in embittering feelings still further. The
Government ofler should be accepted on grounds of expedi-
ency. I do not however plead for peace at any price, certainly
not at the price of honour. Let us Get on the square, and
let us put them in the wrong. It was exactly in this way
that Indians were able to gain the silent sympathy of a
large number of Europeans in South Africa. If, after a fair
trial, the committees are found unworkable, you can come
out with your honour in tact. That sense of honour will
give you a courage which no man can beat.'
Speaking ahout the plan of posting two workers (one
Hindu and another Muslim, . nominated by the Muslim
League) in each village, ~ndhiji said, 'If I succeed cent
per cent in my own plan, then conditions will improve. But
of this, there does not seem to be any prospect at the present
moment. Yet, as a man of hope, I continue to hope against
• Not revised by Gandhiji.
hope. In the present case, I confess through bitter experience
that there is no sign of change of heart, but certainly there
has been a change of plan. Considerations of expediency
demand that the proposal should therefore be accepted.' He
also added that hitherto our non-violence had been non-
violence of the weak ; but now that we had to apply it
against a section of our own countrymen instead of against
the British, it had to be non-violence of the strong.
The demands were now examined one by one. In place
of the demand that certain Muslim officers should be replaced
by Hindu officers, Gandhiji remarked that it was unreason-
able and a communal demand. ' While putting forward such
a proposal, you should ask yourself if the Muslims of Bihar
can reasonably make a similar demand. In my opinion, the
present demand is absurd and I would personally never
countenance it. You can, of course, substitute in its place,
"impartial officers in place of biassed ones" ; that would be
fair.'
Then there was a demand for the removal of the Superin-
tendent of Police. Gandhiji was also against it. In his
opinion, the guilt lay elsewhere. The Chief Minister's wishes
might have been carried out by this officer, for he could not
obviously act on his own initiative. Someone remarked that
Abdullah Sahib was a man without consCience. Gandhiji
immediately replied, 'I have yet to see a Police Superinten-
dent who has a conscience'. Then, with regard to the Chief
Minister's responsibility, he said, 'Mr. Suhrawardy was per-
haps the fulcrum. He wanted to show the whole world
what he was capable of doing. But he over-reached
himself.'
Someone then pointed out to Gandhiji that the Ministry
in Bihar had employed Muslim armed soldiers to quell the
disturbances, the suggestion being that this was for the
appeasement of the Muslims. Gandhiji was clearly of
opinion that such a thing, if true, was surely a sign of

weakness.
The last point raised was in connection with the Hindu
members of the peace committees. Manoranjan Chaudhuri
pleaded for postponement, as most of the leading Hindus
had left the district and only poor weavtrs, blacksmiths or
farmers remained behind. 1£ these were to be on the com~
mittees, they would be no match for the more intelligent
and educated Mussulman representatives. Gandhiji said
with some warmth that if many had fled, leaving neighbours
to their own fate, they did not deserve to be called leaders.
The seats would have to be occupied by barbers, washermen
and the like, who were as much interested in the preserva-
tion of their life and property as the rich. lt was not un~
likely that they might submit to the influence of Muslim
members. But the risk had to be run if true democracy was
to be evolved. 'In all preliminary steps in democracy, we
have to run tremendous risks.' G:mdhiji then referred to
the history of democracy in England, and expressed his
admiration for the manner in which the common people of
England had fought every inch of the ground for the pre~
servation of their rights ; and in this connection he mentioned
the name of Wat Tyler.
Srirampur, Friday, 22-11-46:

Ever since the 22nd of February 1943, when Kasturba
Gandhi laid down her life in prison, the twenty-second of
each month has been observed as a monthly day of remem-
brance for her .., The whole of the Gita is recited during the
early morning prayer.
Gandhiji himself read the first three chapters and then
it was continued by Parasuram, myself and Anukul Chakra-
verty who had arrived early to join the prayer. Gandhiji
finished with the last chapter. Anukul Babu's reading was
CffiCUMSPECTION AND A CALL FOR COURAGE 63
very hurried, and his pronunciation of Sanskrit was also of
a poor quality. When the prayer was over, Gandhiji called
all of us together and related h~w the monthly observance
had begun in gaol at the suggestion of Sushila Nayyar. Then,
in a tone full of deep feeling he proceeded, (; I do not know
if the departed soul knows what is happening here. 1 do
not know, but I believe that in some way this reading may
be of some good to them. It is, at least, good for our own
soul. Sanskrit is difficult. Therefore I have taken sufficient
pains to learn the pronunciation correctly. Pundits in Kashi
or Srirangam read it in a wonderful way; I do not pretend
to do it as well as they do. But you must learn both the
meaning as well as the correct pronunciation before I permit
you to read the Gita any more on a similar occasion. I
would far rather that we should keep silent than read it in
the present fashion.
'Never slur over a thing. In that case, you succeed in
deceiving no one but yourself.'
During the morning walk at 7-35 a.m., Gandhiji visited
the house of Maul vi W aliullah Kari. He enquired in detail
about the population of the village. Altogether, there are
1,450 Mussulmans and 650 Hindus. Among the Mussulmans,
there is one matriculate, while four or five have passed the
Middle Vernacular Examination. An equal number can
read English. Altogether forty to fifty adults are literate,
while the number of boys attending school is 160. About a
thousand can read the Koran, but only two or three can
follow its meaning. Gandhiji was in Maulvi Sahib's house
for a quarter of an hour, and while on his way home he
remarked, ' You see how deplorable is the condition of both
the Hindus and the Mussulmans. It is awful how both are
kept in darkness about the meaning of their scriptures.'
The meeting for the formation of peace committees was
scheduled at three in the afternoon at Ramganj. Minister
Shamsuddin Ahmed was responsible for making arrange-

ments for transport; but his agent arrived in Srirampur
with a boat at 4 p.m., three hours too late. We reached
Ramganj at 5-45 p.m. The m.eeting of representatives of the
fifteen Union Boards which constitute the Ramganj Thana,
was held in Shamsuddin Ahmed's tent, and it proceeded till
9-30 p.m. Gandhiji spoke for a few minutes, Satish Babu
rendered it into Bengali, and we reached home at 11-40 p.m.
Srirampur, Saturday, 23-11-1946:

The morning prayer was conducted entirely by Gandhiji;
he read out the third, fourth and fifth chapters of the Gita
and asked us to follow the pronunciation carefully with
books before us. Instead of the usual music, he himself read
out the English hymn, '0 God ! Our help in ages past.'
At 7-30 a.m. he went out for a walk and paid a visit
to Chhota Maulvi Sahib. The village schoolmaster was also
present. Gandhiji rdated the tale of a Hafiz, one who
knew the whole of the Koran by heart, but who did not
understand the meaning of the verses. Then he remarked,
if people had known the true meaning of their scriptures,
happenings like those of Noakhali could never have taken
place. .
Among today's vegetables, there was a dhttnd~l (Luffa
Aegyptica), which, we did not know, was bitter. Gandhiji
felt sick, and took an internal wash at 1 p.m. before starting
for the meeting at Ghandipur which we did at 2-50 p.m.
Sailen Chatterji, the representative of the United Press, who
has practically become a member of Gandhiji's household,
was in the same boat with us. After we had gone some
distance, Gandhiji felt very sick and had to be taken to the
paddy-fields. He became s0 exhausted that I proposed he
should return home with Sailen Babu, while I should pro-
ceed to Chandipur with a written message from him. But
he refused to go back. After having taken some rest in the
boat, he said, he was feeling better, and remarked moreover
that the indisposition was a punishment for his own sin
(yah meri guna ki saza hai) ; and now that the body had
expelled the bitter stuH and penance had been done, he felt
relieved and must proceed to the meeting, for a promise should
never be broken.
We reached Chandipur at 5 p.m. The meeting continued
till 8-15 p.m., for several other speakers also addressed the
meeting and there was a recess for the Muslim prayer at sun-
down. We returned home at 11 p.m.
In the meeting, Sushila Nayyar was present, so was
Satish Babu. And as both of them began to take notes when
Gandhiji started his address, I naturally refrained. My
position, as I had taken it, was that of a locum tenens. After
the meeting Dr. Nayyar left her report with Parasuram for
correction. When Gandhiji was presented with that report
on the following morning, he felt irritated and said that I
should not have neglected my duty.
A substantial portion of the report is given below in
Gandhiji's corrected form :
' Several speakers addressed the audience yesterday ;
Gandhiji was the last to speak.
'His advice to them was that all must help the work
of the peace committees that had been formed and strengthen
its hands. They had heard the speeches of Minister Sham-
suddin Sahib, the Parliamentary Secretary Hamiduddin
Sahib and others. They had .requested the evacuees to
return to their villages and had assured them that they
would guarantee their safety and honour. They should
Jaccept the assurance. They might say, all this was mere
talk; they had been deceived before. It was beneath one's
dignity to distrust a man's word without sufficient reason.
If all Muslims were li.ars, Islam coul~ not be a true religion.
5
But his knowledge of history contradicted such a theory.

' Here were elected Muslims who were running the
government of the Province, who gave them their word of
honour. They would not be silent witnesses to the repetition
of shameful deeds. His advice to the Hindus was to believe
their word and give them a trial. This did not mean there
would not be a single bad Mussulman left in East Bengal.
There were good and bad men amongst all communities.
Dishonourable conduct would break any ministry or orga-
nization in the end.
'Shamsuddin Sahib had told them plainly that Pakistan
could not be achieved by cruel deeds. It was clear to him
as daylight that if they kept quarrelling amongst themselves,
a third power was bound to rule over them. Whether it
was the British or the Allied Powers, it made no difference ;
they would remain slaves.
' If they wanted real peace, there was no other way
except to have mutual trust and confidence. Bihar, they said,
had avenged Noakhali. Supposing the Muslims of East
Bengal or the Muslims all over India made up their minds
to avenge Bihar, where would India be ?
' The speaker then referred to a letter that had been
handed to him during the meeting. It was said that in
Chandipur, the damage amounted to a crore of rupees and
it should be compensated. He did not know whether it was
a crore or a lac, but the Government was bound to do what
it could in such matters. Where the houses had been burnt
and destroyed, the Government was, he understood, raising
new ones. If there were any difficulties, if they were harassed
in any way after return, they should place their complaints
before the peace committees.
' Then it was said in the letter that the Chief Minister's
speeches breathed fire. God alone knew the hearts of men.
He could not say whether Suhrawardy Sahib was a good man
or bad. But he knew that he had been elected by the voters.
The Hindus and the Muslims had to live under his Govern~
ment, just as those in Bihar had to be under the Congress
Government. If the people did not like a particular Govern~
ment, the electorate could chan,.ge it. It was in their power
to do so.
' Then there was a request that the military must stay
on. According to the present Constitution the military had
to act under the orders of the Ministry. That was democracy.
When the Ministers themselves were offering to become
their soldiers, why should they ask for military help ?
'After all, if the worst came to the worst, they could
only lose their lives. Only, they must do so as brave men
and women. By running away from East Bengal, they would
become worse cowards. He could never wish that for any~
body. If all Hindus were bad, Hinduism must be bad. If
all Muslims were bad, Islam must be so. But neither Hindu~
ism nor lslam was bad. Christ had said that he alone was
Jii.s disciple, who did His work, not he who merely called
Him, "Lord, Lord." That applied to all religions.
' If Shamsuddin Sahib and his companions did not mean
what they said, they would know. He, for one, did not wish
to be a living witness to such a tragedy.'*
Srirampur, Sunday, 24~11~ 1946:

Sarat Chandra Bose arrived in Srirampur at about 7 in
the morning. He was accompanied by Chapala Kanta
Bhattacharya, Editor of the Ananda Bazar Patrika, Debnath
Das, Captain Razvi, Lieutenant Samson of the Indian National
Army of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and another local
friend. The interview lasted for two hours. The report
was prepared by me, but only the first two paragraphs were
• See Hari;an, 8-1-1947, p. 432.

corrected by Gandhiji. It was not meant for publication in

its present form, but a version was prepared by Pyarelal to
serve as the leading article in the Harijan.*
Sarat Babu questioned Gandhiji about his immediate
plans. Gandhiji replied that he was going to remain in East
Bengal until he was satisfied that every single Hindu had
found freedom of growth (i.e. live life freely). There was
then some discussion on the peace proposal emanating from
the side of the Government. Gandhiji's advice was that we
should act boldly and on the square. Sarat Babu questioned
if it was yet time for peace, should we not rather prepare
for war ? Without hesitation, Gandhiji replied that it must
be peace for which we should work, but failing that it might
be war. The world would then know who was really in the
wrong. But peace must be with honour. ' Today,' continued
Gandhiji, ' I say peace must also be safety for your riches
and the honour of your women.' Sarat Bahu saw Gandhiji's
point and agreed. Then he remarked, the Muslim League
could never have joined the Interim Government without the
backing of the British Cabinet. Gandhiji assented.
Sarat Babu had met the Chief Minister in Calcutta and
had suggested to him that both should go and really do
something in Noakhali; then people would gain some con-
fidence and peace committees might function properly. It
was premature to set them up under present conditions.
The Ministers had lately been talking well, but there was yet
no sign of change of heart. Gandhiji said, 'That may be ;
but it is wise to trust.' Even in the village of Srirampur,
he remarked, there was good response, but he was not hllild-
ing upon that.
nsarat Babu then spoke about the panic from which
Hindus were suffering, and described some of the things he
• Harijan, 12-1-1947, entitled 'At Shrirampur '.
•• From here onwards the report was not revised by Gandhiji.
had personally learnt after coming here, the crime against

women as well as the monstrous cruelty to which people had
degraded themselves. Gandhiji corrected him by saying that
we must look at the original fault and need not be concerned
so much about consequential developments. These lay,
firstly, in the declaration of the 16th of August 1946 as a
holiday, and, secondly, in the forcible conversion of non~
Muslims. Forcible conversion was the worst thing imagin-
able ; and all that had taken place in Noakhali could be
traced to this original sin. It was not impossible that the
idea might have emanated from the highest quarters in the
League command, the political intention being to free a
portion of India from non-Muslims, and if possible even to
place India itself under Islamic domination as in Mughal
times.*
What had however pained him most was that people
here did not take a change of religion as seriously as
they should. Personally, he had grown from toleration to
equal respect for all religions ; but this matter of forced con-
version was sickening to him. Conversion was good if it
came from within ; but what had happened was very far from
that. If people degraded themselves in this manner out of
fear, then they cut the very root of their life.
Sarat Babu remarked that the Ministers had been saying
all along that the Press reports were full of exaggeration, but
after having seen things for themselves, they should hesitate
to say so again. Gandhiji said that there had been un-
doubtedly an exaggeration in the number of men murdered;
but when the facts themselves were of an exaggerated
character, no embellishment was called for. The duty of
journalists, he proceeded, should be to serve a cause, rather
than to li_!le their own pockets.
• Here Gandhiji made a personal reference to ]innah when he said
that the latter 'had become like a maniac pursuing an unreal dream ',
70 MY DAl'S Wll'H GANDHI
Chapa\a Kanta 'Bhattacharya now raised the question of

the rescue of women and the difficulty with which women
workers were being confronted in this task. Gandhiji's
advice w.as that we should not call for military or police aid
at all for this purpose. ' W c should be consistent all
along the line. Democracy, if it is good in Bihar, ought to
be so in Bengal too. I must, therefore, go to the popularly
elected ministers, for they constitute my military. If they
fail, the necessary public opinion must be created against
them. One must learn also the art of self-defmce, and there
is no question of violence or non-violence here.'
Chapala Babu now raised a further question. Why
could not the Interim Government intervene as in Bihar ?
Pandit Jawaharlal had threatened to hurl bombs from the
.air if rioting continu<::d ; was he not speaking as the Vice-
President ? Gandhiji's remark was that it was not right for
Jawaharlal to have spoken in this manner, he should have
acted more as a Congressman than as Vice-President. Al-
though Gandhiji himself was the author of the idea of
acceptance (of the invitation by the British Government to
the Congress to join the Interim Government), yet he must
confess that the Congress had not yet got power, it was
acting as an usurper of power.
Chapala Babu then referred to the widespread feeling in
Bengal that this Province was being sacrificed for the sake
of India's independence. Gandhiji immediately replied, 'But
then Bengal has always been in the forefront. Where else
in India could you get the intellect of Bengal : who else
could produce a Rabindranath or a P. C. Roy ? And then
there were the Chittagong Armoury Raid people. I met one
of them recently, but told him that the type of courage which
Bengal is expected to show today is of a higher order than
that which she had shown before. If Bengal, at this critical
juncture, plays the game, the whole of India is saved. That
is why I have become a Bengali today. All my old loves,
including Uruli*, have been left behind.
'Today, Noakhali lies bereft of its best men. It is there-
fore time for the common man to rise and take the place
of leadership.' Gandhiji continued that he was not going
to shed a single tear at what had already happened ; his task
was to march forward.
During the morning walk, in which Sarat Babu and his
party joined, Gandhiji explained to him how he proposed to
set up one brave Hindu and one brave Mussulman in every
riot-torn village, who would be expected to defend even at
the cost of their life, the life, property and honour of the
inhabitants. But as he was beginning to feel that Muslim
workers would not be forthcoming, he would have to carry
on with Hindu workers alone.
In reply to the last question as to what Bengal was expect-
ed to do at the present juncture, Gandhiji said that, above
everything else, it should work for the rcmov:1l of untouch-
ability, root and branch. Without this reform, Hinduism
could never rise.
Sarat Babu left with his party at about 9 a.m.
Gandhiji started his 24-hour silence earlier than usual so
that he might be able to address the meeting on the follow-
ing afternoon at prayer time. Today's speech was written
out in Hindustani and handed over to the Press after transla-
tion and correction. During prayer, Sailen Chattcrji sang a
Bengali song, while Parasuram conducted the service as
usual. Only 36 persons attended the prayer meeting.
Gandhiji is feeling much better today, and went to bed
early, at about 8 p.m. Twice during the whole day, I heard
• Uruli-Kanc~n in Poona District where Gandhiji had established a

clinic for evolving a cheap system of nature-cure within easy reach of the
poor.
him muttering to himself, 'Kya kamn? Kya karun? ',

' What should I do ? What should I do ? '
Srirampur, Monday, 25-11-1946:

As it was his day of silence, Gandhiji did not pay visit
to any Muslim housl:' during his morning walk.
We started at 5 p.m. for the Thana Peace Committee
meeting at Ramganj ami reached there at 7. Shamsuddin
Ahmed had not yet arrived, and we haLl to wait for another
45 minutes. The meeting actually began at 7-50 p.m., and
when it was over we started home at 10 p.m. reaching
Srirampur at 12-10 p.m.
Gandhiji spoke in Hindustani. He said, 'Brothers, I had
no desire to speak to you tonight, for, as you see, my voice
is still very weak. Let me hope that your work will proceed
well.
' But there are indications that trouble is brewing even
now. I have just received a wire from Sandwip and some
more complaints which tenJ to show that all is not well. I
am handing them over to Shamsuddin Sahib for enquiry and
necessary action, if the reports prove true.
'With regard to the peace committees formed in villages,
a complaint has reached me that some of the Muslim members
on the committees arc not reliable. The Hindus stand in fear
of them but have not the cdurage to speak out openly. But
unless they muster such courage, and if wrong people are left
there, the committees will not be able to command con-
fidence. What we really want is the right sort of person.
My suggestion is that if two good and brave men, one a
Hindu and another a Mussulman, take the responsibility of
preventing mischief even at the cost of their life, that would
be enough. Why should there be eagerness for entering the
committees ? It is not a place for acquiring position or
'
honour but a place of service, and if anyone really wishes to
serve, he can as well remain outside as on the committee.
'It was only in order to serve the cause of Islam that
the Muslims are being called to join the committees. The most
important task is to restore the confidence among the Hindus
that they would be able to pursue their religious practices
in freedom. Mr. Akl?-il Dutta has lately sent me a cheque
for Rs. 850/- and a letter stating that 200 pairs of conch-shell
bangles and a pound of vermilion had been despatched to
Noakhali.* These are for distribution among women who
had suffered during the riots. The best part of the presents
is that they were collected by eleven Muslim gentlemen and
one Englishman. I have met women who put on the
vermilion mark indoors but wipe it off when they
stir out in public. Such fear has to be removed by the
Muslims. It is not a question of giving money aid, but of
restoring confidence by respect shown to the culture of
others. I will ask my Mussulman friends to treat this as
their sacred duty. The Prophet once advised Mussulmans
to consider the Jewish places of worship to be as pure as their
own, and offer it the same protection. It is the duty of the
Mussulmans of today to assure the same freedom to their
Hindu neighbours. Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah has said that every
Muslim must show by his conduct that not a single non-
Muslim need be afraid of him, the latter would be guaranteed
safety and protection. For, thus alone can the Mussulmans
command honour and respect.'
Srirampur, Tuesday, 26-11-1946:

Gandhiji started on his morning walk and visited Ismail
Khondkar's house where a child has been laid up with kala-
• A Hindu woman uses these auspicious symbols as a mark of her
wifehood. During the riots, the vermilivn marks were forcibly wiped away,
the bangles broken, when the women had to su!lmit to conversion and
worse.
azar for the last seven months. He has decided to do some-

thing for the child's treatment.
Some members of the Communist Party and of the
Studmts' Federation saw Gandhiji by appointment at
8-20 a.m. As he sat basking in the sun outside his room,
they reported that people apprehended fresh trouble on the
9th of December when the Constituent Assembly was to
begin vmrk. They had gone to Hamiduddin Ahmed for
assurance, but had been advised by him to wait for the direc-
tion of the League High Command in this connection. The
friends suggested that Gandhiji should convene an all-parties'
meeting in the district and co-ordinate the work run severally
by various organizations.
In reply, Gandhiji stated that he was personally cast
in a difTerent mould ; when he had no confidence in a parti-
cular step, he never undertook it. Under the present circum-
stances, he did not think that the step suggested by the
friends would be of any use. Personally, he was trying to
have everything done through the Ministry. He had also
undertaken a programme here, all by himself, and this was
without the co-operation of the tallest in Bengal. The Hindu
population in Bengal could co-operate by utterly forgetting
caste, not as mere lip-profession but in actual practice. They
had also to purge themselves of all fear. For, it is only
when a man's heart is free from fear, that the flower of
religion can find a place in it. Finally, he added, 'I don't
want to retire from Bengal as a defeated coward. I would
like to die here, if need be, in the hands of an assassin. But
I don't want to court such death.'
Sushila Nayyar came in the afternoon. She was indis-

posed, and although Gandhiji asked her to stay on, she left
for Changirgaon. Gandhiji is in a strained mood today.
In course of an interview today, someone asked him, why
CIRCUMSPECTION AND A CALL 110R COURAGE 75
he was keen on burying himself in one village. His reply
was, a wise gardener tries to raise up one seedling properly
instead of sowing broadcast, and then he is able to discover
the exact conditions under which the plant will thrive.
The conversation with some friends who had come on
behalf of the Gita Press of Gorakhpur had more than an
usual interest. They came with an offer of blankets worth
a lac of rupees for distribution among the evacuees. But
Gandhiji wished them to hold back the gift for the present.
He said, it was the duty of the Government to provide warm
covering, and it was within the rights of the evacuees to
press their demand. If the Government failed, and
confessed that it had not resources enough, then only could
private organizations step in to help the evacuees. Unless
the people were conscious of their political rights and knew
how to act in a crisis, democracy can never be built up.
The conversation then shifted to another interesting
matter. Gandhiji had apparently noticed that I had lost
a little weight. This was due to nothing more than irregu-
larity of meals, which ~-esultl:d from the uncertainty of our
programme. Curiously enough, he questioned me, if I ate
fish. I replied that I was not a vegetarian but had not so
far taken either fish or meat in Noakhali.
'Do not members of the family here take fish ?', he
asked.
' Yes, they do. But we are living here with you, and
Parasuram is a vegetarian. If I leave him for taking my meals
elsewhere, it won't even look nice.'
Then he advised me to take more milk and fruits. One
of the friends then put the question,
' But Bapuji, is it not violence to eat fish ?'
' Fish is a common food in Bengal, it is a land of water ;
so where is the harm ?'
. ' Bapuji, does that not mean destruction of life ?'
Gandhiji replied, ' Yes it does ; but it means less harm

than what people inflict on others by selling adulterated
food.'
Srirampttr, Friday, 29-11-1946:

This morning, as I was attending him during bath,
Gandhiji began to take some personal interest in me. He
questioned me about my work in the University.
Some contractor came on behalf of the Government, and
set up a tube-well in the courtyard south of Gandhiji's room.
It is difficult to secure clean water, it has to be fetched from
some distance. The pump would therefore save us a lot of
going to and fro.
A letter was addressed by me to Surendramohan Ghosh,
Vice-President of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee,
in which I drew his attention to the fact that Ministers
Suhrawardy, Goffran and Shamsuddin Ahmed had com-
plained to Gandhiji that the number of persons killed or con-
verted or women abducted, as given in the former's Press
statement, was considerably above the mark. Gandhiji wanted
him to send relevant cuttings from the Press ; and, if there
was exaggeration, it was proper to admit the fact, otherwise
to take the responsibility of proving its correctness.

During bath, Gandhiji once more asked me some per-
sonal questions. I related to him my experience in con-
structive work in Bolpur and how I had been drawn into
political movements now and then. I told him how scien-
tific research was my true vocation (Swadharma), while
serving in the political campaign, even when it was by
intellect, was no more than an emergency duty (Apad-
dharma). Then he said to me,
You have drank up all that I have written (Tumne· to
CIRCUMSPECTION AND A CALL FOR COURAGE. 77
mera lekh ghont kar pee gaya). But it is necessary that
you should observe me at work so that you can understand
me better. I have called you to my side. You must examine
carefully if it was dictated by self-interest. Self-interest may
be of two kinds, one is entirely personal, the other is in
relation to what one stands for. Even if I call you
for help in the: execution of my idc:as, it would be selfishness
in a subtle form. Examine my motives carefully. I do not
wish to keep you tied to me selfishly, although you may be
bound to me by a promise. You need not forsake the path
which you have chosen, for any selfish purpose of mine.'
But Gandhiji probably had forgotten that I had actually
given him no promise.
Sushila Nayyar was due at 8 in the morning, but she
failed to turn up. So, with a letter from Gandhiji I started
at 11-30 a.m. for her camp at Changirgaon and came back
with her at 3 in the afternoon.
An American lady married to an Indian who has been
working at a relief centre in the district of Tipperah near
by, paid a visit to our camp today and brought with her
vermilion and conch-shell bangles for presentation to the
Hindu women here. Gandhiji advised her to deposit the
presents in the centre at Kazirkhil. She then asked Gandhiji,
what his plan was. The latter replied that he had yet no
fixed plan. A short while before the lady left, she once
more asked Gandhiji, how she could help in his mission.
Gandhiji was in a slightly irritated frame of mind and
curtly replied, 'Yiou can't do anything except save me every
minute I'
X. 'l'H~ DAILY HOUND
Gandhiji stayed in Srirampur from the 20th of November
1946 to the 1st of January 1947, i.e. for 43 nights. This was
his longest stay at any particular place in Bengal ; and, in
spite of the fn:yuency of visitors or of the numerous political
problems with which he was occupied during this period,
and in spite of the suspense through which he was personally
passing, he did gain ,a certain amount of physical rest. The
climate of this part of the country is damp, the soil
remains wet even in January and the sky is thus entirely
free from dust. Gandhiji used to suffer frequently from
catarrh as it was difficult for him to put up with the damp
climate of East Bengal.
Let us now describe how he passed the whole day, what
food he ate or how much exercise he took, how he used to
cope with such a large amount of work from day to day;
as, I believe, there will be many readers who may feel
interested in this aspect of Gandhiji's personal life.
When Gandhiji was in Noakhali, the current time was
one hour in 1advance of the Indian Standard Time, but the
following routine has been drawn up according to the latter
scale for convenience of comparison.
Gandhiji generally awoke at 4 a.m. in the morning. A
twig used to be kept immersed in a small bottle of water
for his tooth-brush ; its forepart was beaten previously into
the form of a brush, while a p,art of the lower half was split .
for some length to serve as a tongue-scraper later on. While If
brushing, some powder was also used by him. This was pre-
pared from charcoal usually made from the shells of almonds
or walnuts which had been eaten earlier. This was ground
into fine powder and mixed with a little amount of salt.
Several bottles of water were kept ready at his bedside, and
THE DAILY ROUND 79
while Gandhiji brushed his teeth-actually his gums, because
ht had no teeth-he held an old iron bowl on his lap.
Prayer started immediately after. The prayer began
with the recitation of a Buddhist formula in Japanese, and
some reading of Sanskrit verses. This was followed by a
hymn, which was usually in Bengali. Gujarati or J!nglish
hymns were also sung or recited on special occasions. At
the end of the hymn, the name of God was chanted for a
few minutes when Gandhiji used to keep time by clapping
his hands. When the recital w;as over, a few chapters of the
Blzagabad Gita were read. The reading was so arranged that
the eighteen chapters of the Gita were completed in the course
of one week. It was only on the 22nd of every month that the
whole of the Gita was recited ; this being in memory of his
wife who had laid down her life in gaol on the 22nd of
February 1943. The order of reading ran as follows :-Friday,
first and second chapters ; Saturday, third, fourth and fifth
chapters ; Sunday, sixth, seventh and eighth chapters ;
Monday, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth chapters; Tues-
day, thirteenth, fourteenth ~and fifteenth chapters ; W ednes-
day, sixteenth and seventeenth chapters; Thursday, the
eighteenth chapter. During the reading of the Gita,
Gandhiji used to lie dowrl. once more in bed. He listened
to the reading in silence ; but when there was a mistake in
pronunciation, or a line was dropped, he never failed to
correct the reader promptly.
When the prayer was over, i.e. at about 4-30 a.m., the
mosquito curtain was removed, and a kerosene lamp placed
"'on a stool upon his bed. His day of work thus began. One
of us used to 'prepare some hot water for him. This was
mixed with three dessert-spoonfuls of honey and five grains
of baking soda. Gandhiji used to sip the water as hot as he
could bear, by means of a wooden spoon. Then he sat for
his Bengali lesson, with which the day's work actually began.
Every morning, he used to spend some time in writing the

Bengali alphabet from memory. Sometimes he also took a
few lines of dictation from one of us. The book which he
personally preferred was a primer in which Bengali was
printed side by side with the Devanagri alphabet:. He never
missed- a single day's lesson. Even when the pressure of
work was high, it was his rule to spend at least .five minutes
over his Bengali lesson. He was a believer in absolute
regularity of practice. What however impressed me most
was that, even when he could spend no more than .five
minutes for the purpose, the work was gone through without
any haste whatsoever. When the watch told him, the time
was over, he folded his papers neatly, and passed on to the
next item of work in an unhurried manner. Sometimes,
Gandhiji spent as much as .fifteen minutes over his Bengali
lesson. Then he ~at down with his correspondence.
At 5 a.m. a glass of fruit juice was served to him.
This was usually orange juice or the juice of some other
lime like mosambi mixed with an ounce of fresh lime juice.
If there was not enough of it, we sometimes added freshly
expelled pineapple juice with it ; but Gandhiji never objected
to this strange concoction. Manu Gandhi, his grand-
daughter, used to remark that Gandhiji had no sense of
smell.
Gandhiji continued his correspondence or writing till
6-30 a.m. when he prepared for his morning walk. The
winter of Noakhali is very mild, but because the air is wet,
one feels the chill much more than in a dry place. Yet,
during the walk, he used to cover his body with a very thin
cotton sheet, so that the sun's rays might play freely upon
his body. Gandhiji covered not much more than a mile
during his morning walk. He used to carry a bamboo stick,
about St feet long. Noakhali is covered by numerous canals,
and one has to cross over slender wooden bridges every now
THE DAILY ROUND 81
and then. There was one small bridge like that, not more
th:an 6 feet long near our camp, and Gandhiji tried to walk
over it unaided every day. The bridge was a collection of
round stems of areca palm laid side by side ; while Gandhiji's
leather sandals were aln:ady wet from the dew which had
collected' on the grass. So, he used to slip frequently ; but
this never deterred him from trying to cross the bridge un-
aided. There were other, and longer bridges too, nnd while
climbing one of them, one day he slipped, and had to save
himself by leaning against one of his assistants.
During the walk, Gandhiji was accompanied frequently
by visitors, and the time was then passed in conversation.
The road along which he used to take his walk every morn-
ing, carried him by the side of a school for Muslim boys and
girls, where they sat in the sun as they recited verses from
the Koran in a sing-song manner. Gandhiji sometimes stood
near the school and listened to the boys' recitation with
interest. Sometimes on his way back home, he paid a visit
to some Muslim peasant ; and if there was a sick child or
any other patient in the house, he not only spent some time
in advising the members of the household as to how to take
care of the patient but also made adequate arrangements for
their treatment, if the family agreed.
On the 2nd of December 1946, Gandhiji thus came across
a child suffering from fever and constipation in Ismail
Khondkar's house; he decided to administer enema to the
patient himself. His argument was, as we had plenty of
work on hand, he would attend to the patient personally.
But we prevailed upon him to rely on us, and the instruc-
tions which he wrote down for us make curious reading
today. It reveals an obscure part of his personal character,
as well as the meticulous care with which he addressed him-
self to the details of every little piece of work. The day
6
was Monday, and therefore Gandhiji's day of silence, hence

his instructions were all written on small slips of paper.
1. ' You understand what is meant. Mag. Sulph. to one

patient, enema to another.
' When he comes here I shall give the enema.'
But Khondkar Sahib hesitated to carry the child to our
camp ; so the next instruction was,
2. 'ln the morning, i.e. now, if he has not eaten any-
thing. I shall bring the enema here and give it. The only
thing is that there should be clean hot water.'
3. 'When will the child be ready ?
Then we shall come here at 2 o'clock. If he prefers it
can be given to-morrow morning.'
4. ' This old man requires an ointment for his skin
dise.ase. The ointment will come.'
When we had prevailed upon him to allow us to ad-
minister the enema, he wrote,
5. 'The water should be no warmer than the finger
can bear. Take ten ounces of such water and mix in it 2
tea-spoonfuls of clean salt, stir well. The enema should be
gently administered so that water may be retained for a
while. 'When it has acted and the water is expelled,
administer an equal quantity of cold water without salt or
anything else. Examine the stool each time .to see whether
any worm is expellcu. If the 2nd quantity is not expelled
in a few minutes, you may leave the patient asking the
..
inmates to examine the stool and report upon the condition
of the stool.
'The patient should be given every night until further
instructions 1 a dram of Ajben seeds (Carum Copticum-
N.K.B.) properly cleaned.
' Smear the nozzle with vaseline to ensure easy insertion.
Boil it after to sterilize it.'
THE DAILY ROUND 83
Gandhiji returned home from his morning walk a little
before 9. Before entering the room, he used to leave the
leather sandals outside and put on wooden ones instead. The
former had to be scraped clean of the mud which had col-
lected upon it, and then left in the sun to dry.
Occasionally, we forgot about it, and found that the sandals
had bent over from being too long in the sun. Then it had
to be straightened before Gandhiji once more needed it
in the afternoon.
On returning from the morning walk, Gandhiji pre-
pared for his bath. He had to be massaged for about an
hour every day in the sun before taking his bath. One ounce
of mustard oil mixed with an equal quantity of fresh lime
juice was used for this purpose. Gandhiji used to lie com-
pletely uncovered upon a table in the courtyard, a portion of
which was screened off, and an umbrella was stuck into one
of the walls to protect his head and face from the direct
rays of the sun.
While the body was being massaged, he used to read
some book for about quarter of an hour, after which he
went to sleep for about half an hour, when we proceeded to
m..1ssage the feet and legs gently. After the nap, he used to
turn over on his back, when the rest of the massage was
gone through.
Gandhiji used to shave on alternate days. This was
done in Noakhali by means of a safety razor. He was very
thrifty in the use of his blades, and would not allow us to
throw one away unless it had becowe hopelessly blunt. We
used to do the shaving for him ; but every time, he rubbed
his hand over the beard and felt that some part was not
clean enough, he would take the razor himself and go on
shaving, until he had succeeded in convincing himself that
things were b~tter. On several occasions, I distinctly re-
membf:r, he drew blood from a wart on his chin before the
shaving seemed satisfactory enough. So, what I used to do

subsequently w.as, to change the blade as soon as it became
slightly dull, and this, without consulting him. And he
never objected even when he came to learn about it ; he
made trouble only when we asked his opinion about the
blade.
One day, shortly after Christmas, there was a funny
incident when some presents had been sent to our camp by
memb.:rs of the Friends' Service Unit. Among these was a
tube of shaving cream. One day I tried this cream instead
of the usual soap on Gandhiji. I have forgotten to mention
that this used to be an ordinary bath soap and applied to
the chin without a brush. When I used the cream instead of
the soap, and rubbed it over the face with water, the shaving
did not turn out very good. Either the blade was old or I
had not lathered his beard long enough. Gandhiji asked me
what it was, and when I told him that it was the new
cream and I had not found it satisfactory, with a merry
twinkle in his eyes, he said, 'That's just as it should be ! '
The bath in Noakhali was always in hot water which
was mixed with cold until Gandhiji felt it was of the right
temperature. During the bath, he used no soap, but rubbed
off all the oil with a towel. The feet were daily cleaned with
a piece of pumice stone. One day, this was left behind, by
mistake, at one of the camps, while Gandhiji was on his
march from village to village. And then poor Manu Gandhi
had to run all the way back to the last station before she
succeeded in recovering it. The pumice stone had been
presented to Gandhiji by Mirabehn, and had seen continuous
service for the last twentyfive years. It was too precious a
thing to be lost through carelessness.*
Gandhiji used to bathe his spectacles also every day.
• Manu Gandhi : Bapu-My Mother, p. 25-27.

THE DAILY ROUND 85
When the bath was over, he put on clean sheets, and
stepped across the courtyard into his room. What impressed
me about the bath was that the massage, or even the cleaning
of the oil had to be undergone in exactly the same manner
every day; first, one part of the body, then another, following
one another in invariable succession.
It took about an hour to finish the bath, so that it was
over by about 10 a.m. when he prepared for his breakfast.
The food which Gandhiji ate varied considerably from
time to time.* While he was in Sodpur in December 1945,
the daily meal consisted of the following :-
5-30 a.m.-16 ounces of orange or mosambi juice.

7 a.m.-16 ounces of goat's milk and 8 ounces of fruit
JUlCC.
12 p.m.-16 ounces of goat's milk boiled down to 4
ounces. Boiled vegetables 8 ounces. Raw
vegetables, like tomatoes, carrots etc. 8
ounces; salad of green leaves like palong or
coriander 2 ounces.
2 p.m.-A glass of milk from a green coco-nut.
5 p.m.-16 ounces of goat's milk boiled down to 4
ounces, 10 ounces of dates boiled in milk, a
small quantity of fruits, including coco-nut.
But in Noakhali, his diet contained less milk and a little
more cooked food. The midday meal in Noakhali consisted
of 8 ounces of goat's milk, mixed with 1 ounce of fresh lime
juice. About an equal quantity of vegetables, including
green leaves, were passed through a grater, and then con·
verted into a paste by means of a metate and muller. This
lump, along with the milk, were placed in two pots in a
steam cooker and boiled without the addition of any salt,
·• For other lists see Bapu's letters to Mira (1924-48), p. 176, 243,
269, 271.
sugar or oil. Before eating the boiled vegetables, Gandhiji

used to sprinkle several spoonfuls of yeast powder upon it,
when he proceeded to eat the vegetable with the help of a
spoon or fork. If the vegetable lump was too big for him,
he used to set aside a little for us before starting his meals.
But we took good care never to eat the stuff in his presence,
which we did only after it had been made passable by the
addition of salt, spices and some amount of cooking oil.
Besides these two articles, Gandhiji also took during his
midday meal, one whole grape fruit, over which a few tea
spoonfuls of glucose were sprinkled. This was followed by
a small quantity of fruits like papaya or a few cashew nuts
which had been previously roasted, but without salt. Thin
strips of raw radish were also added at times to the dessert.
After some weeks had passed in Noakhali, and the effect
of the milklcss diet _which Gandhiji had imposed upon him-
self by way of penance for Bihar, had passed off, he added a
few pieces of thin bread to the menu. These wtre prepared
by kneading together 5 ounces of flour with 5 grains of
baking soda and 2~ grains of salt, to which was added a small
quantity of clarified butter prepared from goat's milk. The
dough was rolled into thin sheets which were baked on an
iron pan, when they became crisp like biscuits. Gandhiji ate
.a~ many as he liked, and then left the rest for us.
At 12 a.m. he sipped the milk of a green coco-nut, by
means of a glass pipe, after which the nut was opened and
the scraped pulp served in a saucer.
At 3-30 p.m. Gandhiji took his last meal for the day~
shortly before starting for the public prayer at 4. This meal
consisted of 8 ounces of milk, but without any lime juice
in it, boiled vegetables, as in his breakfast, and a fair
quantity of fruits like papaya and some nuts.
Gandhiji used to take his meals very slowly. He had
a full set of false denture which was used only at meal-time~
THE DAILY ROUND 87
and he took plenty of time for mastication. While he was
at his meals, we used to read out letters to him at Srirampur.
Some of these letters were answered by us on his behalf ;
others were dictated by him, and had to be typewritten
before signature, while a few were retained for answering
in his own hand.
After breakfast, Gandhiji used to sleep for a short while.
During his stay in Noakhali, he used to lie upon his bed near
the window with legs stretched out into the sun. In this
position, we used to massage his feet with a small amount of
clarified butter. This was necessary because his feet were
usually cold and the skin used to crack from poor circulation.
When the massage was over, the feet had to be wiped clean
with a piece of cloth. One day, as he lay asleep, and as I
did not want to disturb him, some portion of the fat re-
mained over between the toes. When he woke up and
discovered this, he proceeded to clean the inside of the toes
himself. He then asked me not to hesitate to perform my
duty thoroughly even though I might awaken him in the
process.
When the siesta was over, Gandhiji sat with his corres-
pondence. This work went on till 12 p.m. when, as already
mentioned, the milk of a green coco-nut was served to him.
Then, he used to lie- down with a mud-pack upon his
abdomen for half an hour. Gandhiji was a patient of chronic
amoebiasis ; he had also high blood-pressure, and his veins
used to stand out in the temples almost all the time. He
therefore took every precaution to keep the body in perfect
working condition, and the daily mud-pack was part of that
routine treatment. Sometimes, he used to . apply another
cold mud poultice on the forehead which occasionally used
to stretch down to well over the eyes. This comforted his
tired eyes and gave him a much-needed rest.
Two in the afternoon, was the time fixed £or his daily
MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
round of spinning. The wheel was set up and he used to

spin half-a-hank, i.e. about 430 yards every day. While
Gandhiji sat spinning, we used to read out the daily papers
to him, because the post arrived in Noakhali not earlier than
midday. We used to read out from the papers the head-lines
of the columns .anJ when he wanted to listen to any parti-
cular item, we read it out to him.
From about this time onwards, till the moment he sat
for his last meal in the day, was also the time fixed for
interviews. Intimate co-workers like Kaka Kalelkar or
Sushila Pai could come in .at any time ; hut for others, we
had to fix appointments and distribute the time in
accordance with the importance of the subject concerned. So
many had to be accommodated that the time allowed to
each was always of the briefest possible duration.
Some persons used to come only for having a darshatz*
of Gandhiji. With his permission, we used to allow groups
of such visitors into the room even while he was at work
on the spinning wheel or at his correspondence. Gandhiji
used to return their salutation, and now and then ask a few
questions if he was in a mood to do so ; and then they
departed. But some used to stare at him from outside the
door or peep through the window out of sheer curiosity.
He disliked this intensely and called into the room anybody
whom he happeneJ to notice in this state. One day, at
Srirampur, a group of men and women had come on such
a visit while he was at work. He had asked them to come
into the room, but as they did not unJerstand his
Hindustani they stayed on where they were and continued
to stare at him from behind the door. Parasuram and I
were both away at the time. So when I came into the
room a little while later on, Gandhiji asked me if I had
• ' Sight' or 'Vision '. Pilgrims who go to a shrine have a darshan
or ceremonial view of the idol.
THE DAILY ROUND 89
spoken to the group standing outside ; and when I told him,
I would do so presently, he asked me, 'Are they observing
my asinine qualities?.'
Gandhiji's interviews continued till 3.30 p.m., when he
sat for meals.
After this he left for the daily prayer meeting. The
latter started at 4 p.m. and continued for an hour or more.
After prayer, he used to take his evening walk. H the
prayer ground was some distance away, the walk to and
for served as his constitutional. When he returned home,
he once more sat down to work, on his bed, amidst his
multitude of files and papers. In Noakhali, this was the
time also when he wished to be left alone and did not
need our services, until the moment when he decided to
retire. The time for retirement was at about 8-30 p.m. at
Noakhali. While he went into the bath-room before retire-
ment, the bed had to be cleared of all papers and
writing materials, and made ready for the night. The bedding
consisted of a cotton mattress and two pillows. The cover
consisted of two or more shawls of wool. Gandhiji's per-
sonal mosquito curtain was of a special design. For the sake
of economy, somebody had prepared a curtain, more or less,
in the form of a low alpine tent. There were two ends, to
which strings had to be attached instead of the usual four
corners. This curtain was in use in Sodpur in 1945 ; but at
Noakhali, we secured an ordinary rectangular curtain locally
for Gandhiji's use ; as far as I can remember, he had given
his own away to one of his workers who was without a
curtain.
As Gandhiji prepared to go to bed, we had to keep
every little thing that he might require in the night or early
in the morning in its proper place. The twig had to be
thrashed and split for his toothbrush and kept immersed in
a wine-mouthed bottle in exactly the same height of water ;
other bottles of water and the iron bowl had to be kept in

their scheduled _positions ; for, as Gandhiji used to remark,
he did not wish to waste a single moment's time in hunting
about for anything. And last of all, the pocket watch, with
the alarm set at 4 a.m. had to be kept under his pillow.
Gandhiji went to bed at 8-30 p.m. and was soon fast
asleep. He usually awoke at 4 a.m., but there were nights
when he drafted replies to letters or issued instructions even
at 2 a.m.
But this was naturally on very rare occasions.
XI. DAYS 1!1 UI~L 0}1-, DARKN:BJSS
Srirampur, Sunday, 1-12-1946:
Gandhiji passed a quiet day. The weekly silence began
before prayer time. The weekly market here is on Sunday,
when people attend the bazaar at Sonapur. So there were few
people during prayer and the written speech was also
dispensed with.
Some villagers arrived from the refugee camp at
Mashimpur. There is yet water in the fields, and when
Gandhiji was told that it would take about 3} hours to
reach the place on foot, he remarked that, when the .fields
became dry he might have to undertake a tour on foot
through the affected parts of the district. This was first
said in answer to a question asked by Sailen Chatterji.
Krishnadas who acted as GanJhiji's secretary in 1921
had an exclusive interview, of which he prepared a report
and sent it to us for filing on the 6th. A portion of the
report, written in the form of a letter to a friend, is given
below:
'As desired by you, I saw Gandhiji at Srirampur in

Noakhali on the 1st instant. He gave me an exclusive in-
terview for more than an hour and a half when he discussed
the situation in the disturbed areas of Noakhali and
Tipperah from various points of view. . . . . . The problem
of the Hindu minority of Noakhali and Tipperah is not an
isolated problem but has its all-India implication. He has
asked the Bengal Government some crucial questions, on
the reply of which will depend his future course of action.
If the Bengal Government are sincere when they declare
that they are anxious about the welfare of the Hindus of
East Bengal, lthey should give a definite proof "'t>f their
sincerity by giving distressed Hindus adequate relief and

compensation for the loss sustained by them. If the Govern-
ment are anxious about peace, they should quickly re-establish
a peaceful condition in which even a single, poor, helpless
Hindu widow living in a remote and inaccessible village will
be able to carry on unmolested her peaceful life and observe
the practices of her religion uninterrupted by members of
the majority community. If he finds total removal of
the Hindus from these disturbt:d districts unavoidable, he
will himself lead them to saft:r zones and arrange to establish
them there.'

Early in the morning, Gandhiji went on his usual
walk. Now-a-days he does not need our help any longer
while crossing the small bridge over the culvert, his legs
have become more steady.
Shortly after bath, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh and Mihirlal
Chatterji had a long interview with him on the problem of
rehabilitation of refugees. There was also some consultation
on the Constituent Assembly. Gandhiji expressed the desire
that the meeting of the Working Committee of the Indian
National Congress might be held in Comilla so that he might
attend. A letter to this effect to the Congress President,
Acharya J. B. Kripalani, is being carried by Prafulla Babu.
In the afternoon, Amiya Chakraverty arrived here along
with Mae Alexandre of the Friends' Service Unit and Prof.
Stuart Nelson of the Howard University of Washington.
While speaking to Prof. Nelson, Gandhiji repeated his fami-
liar view that for those who were in need, God appeared in
the form of bread and of clothes. During prayer, Prof. Nelson
read out the hymn, 'Oh God ! Our help in ages past.' In
his speech, Gandhiji explained the meaning of the verses in
Hindustani.
DAYS FULL OF DARKNESS 93
A very important letter was written today to the Premier
of Bengal. It is reproduced below:
'Having waited for some time for the return of

Shamsuddin Sahib as he had led me to expect, I write
this to you and that in English in order the better to
enable you to deal with the matter referred to herein.
' 1. Somehow or other the committees that were

being formed do not appear to be functioning properly.
As yet they have failed to inspire confidence.
'2. In spite of all my efforts exodus continues and
very few persons have returned to their villages. They say
the guilty parties arc still at large, some find a place on
the peace committees, that sporadic cases of murder and
arson still continue, that abducted women have not all been
returned, that forcibly converted persons have not all
returned, that burnt houses are not being rebuilt and
generally the atmosphere of good will is lacking. How far
these charges are true or can be proved I do not know.
'My object just now is to bring these to your notice.
It might be that a summary impartial inquiry is necessary
to restore confidence.
' 3. Restrictions are being placed on volunteers irres~
pective of the organisations to which they belong. I can
understand illegal activities being restricted, but no other
restriction would be advisable.
'4. Adequate food and warm clothing and fit habita·
tion is surely necessary while there are bonafide refugees.
To deny these amenities would create suspicion and defeat
the purpose of sending them back to their villages. I am
of opinion that if the Government are unable to provide
adequate food and clothing, facility should be readily given
to benevoknt persons to supply them.
' 5. As I write this the following letter has reached-

(Here followed a letter from a worker dated 1-12-1946).
'6. Another letter says : (Here was a letter conveying
news about the situation in Hime Char).'
In the afternoon a note was dictatcJ on the Constituent
Assembly for the Working Committee. This is to be sent
through Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. Unfortunately, while I
was taking down the dictation, there was some noise outside,
the burnt hut ncar by was being dismantled, and the iron
sheets creaked louJI y as they were being unloosened. I
missed Gamlhiji's worJs now and then, and he became
irritateJ. The last three lines of the draft were later written
down by Gandhiji in his own hand. The instruction, as
given to the Working Committee, ran as follows:
' I am quite clear that if there is a boycott by the

Muslim League of the Constituent Assembly, it should not
meet under the Cabinet Mission's statement of 16th May.
It clearly contemplates the co-operation of two major parties,
viz. the Congress and the League. Tiu:refore, if one of
them proclaims a boycott, the Constituent Assembly cannot
meet with propriety under that paper. If the Government
convene the Constituent Assembly in spite of the boycott,
they can legitimately do so under some other statement
which they can draw up in consultation with the Congress.
It should never be forgotten that however powerful the
Congress has become, Constituent Assembly as contemplated
today can only meet by action of the British Government.
'Even if the Constituent Assembly meets in spite of-
the boycott, but with the willing co-operation of the British
Government, it will be under the visible or invisible protec-
tion of the British forces, whether Indian or European. In
my opinion, we shall never reach a satisfactory constitution
under these circumstances. Whether we own it or no our
weakness will be felt by the whole world. '
'It may be said that not to meet as a Constituent
Assembly under these circumstances will amount to a
surrender to Q. A. Jinnah or the Muslim League. I do not
mind the charge because the waiver will not be an act of
weakness, it will be an act of Congress strength because it
would be due to the logic of facts.
' If ~e have attained a certain degree of status and
strength to warrant us in convening our own Constituent
Assembly irrespective of the British Government,·it will be
a proper thing. We will have then to seek the c<roperation
of the Muslim League and all the parties including the
Princes, and the Constituent Assembly can meet at a favour-
able place even if some do not join. Thus it may be only
the Congress Provinces plus Princes who may care to join.
I think this would be dignified and wholly consistent with
facts.'
This instruction was despatched on the 4th by a
messenger to Prafulla Babu.

Amiya Chakraverty had stayed for the night with us.
He joined the early morning prayer and during the morning
walk had an important interview with Gandhiji. The report
was corrected by the latter and then typed. Amiya Babu
left at half-past two in the afternoon. A paragraph from
the report is given below :
' Some of us who brought to Gandhiji our reports based
on recent experiences in the villages, wanted his advice with
regard to the technique of approaching wrong-doers so that
their resistance could be dissolved. The difficulty with
callous perpetrators of crime was that they were not only
unrepentant but defiant and even jubilant about their mis-

deeds. Gandhiji replied, " Yes, they have their own reason
to be jubilant, and the only way to meet their attitude is
not to succumb to it but to live in their midst and retain
one's sense of truth. Goodness must be joined with
knowledge, mere goodness is not of much use...... I am
groping for light-! am surrounded by darkness-but I
must act or refrain as guided by truth. I find that I have
not the patience and the technique needed in these tragic
circumstances ; suffering and evil often overwhelm me and
I stew in my own juice. Therefore, I have told my friends
that they should bear with me, and work or refrain, guided
by the wisdom v;rhich is now utterly demanded of us. This
darkness will break and if I see light, even those will who
created the tragedy of recent communalism in Bengal".'
Srirampur, Thursday, 5-12-1946 :

Nirmal Chandra Chattcrji and Debendranath Mukherjee,
President and Secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, Naren
Bose, brother of Suren Bose, the first victim of Noakhali, and
a few others had a 45-minute interview when the Mahasabha's
project of segregating the Hindu population in Noakhali
for purposes of safety was discussed. Gandhiji argued
against it and said that it would be an unworkable proposi-
tion. 'Put yourself in Mr. Suhrawardy's shoes ; do you think
he would favour it, or even the Muslim residents of Noakhali?
For it would be interpreted as a preparation for war. But if
you believe that this alone is the only workable scheme, you
can go ahead with it.
'For myself, the path is different. I have become a
Bengali to all intents and purposes. Today Nirmal Babu
is my ear and is indispensable, but when I learn enough
Bengali, he will be free to go.' Then he explained his own
plan, how he had already posted one worker in each
village, with a Bengali interpreter where necessary, in order
to ' steel the hearts of the inhabitants.'
It did not matter if there was only one or many Hindus
in a village ; his prescription was that they should stick to
their posts and even face death, if necessary, with courage
and willingness. If they lived in clusters, it would really
mean accepting the Muslim League's mischievous two-nation
theory. Then he added, 'If there has to be migration at all,
it must be complete.' He then proceeded to say, ' I am not
going to he a willing party to Pakistan. Even if I fail to
prevent it and all Hindus go away, I shall still remain here ;
and shall not make a single change in my religious practice.'
Nirmal Babu remarked that no one had taken to this
advice so far, as the scheme was beyond the strength of the
average individual. Gandhiji replied, ' If some could die
like this, the few shall become many. I am not a visionary
as I am generally supposed to be:. I am an idealist, hut I
claim to be a practical idealist.' Then he continued, 'I
have been born a Hindu and I shall die a Hindu, a Sanatani
Hindu. If there is salvation for me, it must be as a Hindu.
Hinduism absorbs the best in other religions, and there is
scope for expansion in it.'
Nirmal Bahu thanked him for his kindness in thus
taking up the case of Bengal. Gandhiji immediately replied
that it was no kindness; and if it was, it was kindness to
himself. 'My own doctrine was failing. I don't want to
die a failure hut as a successful man. But it may be that I
may die a failure.'
While taking his bath, Gandhiji said to me that he

might have to stay here for several years (varson tak rahana
hoga), unless, of course, they killed him. He was· prepared
for that, but believed that neither Suhrawardy nor Jinnah
7
wanted his death; for the latter knew that Gandhi was
after :all a friend of Mussulmans.
The conversation drifted to the murder of Mahasay
Rajpal, Bholanath Sen and Swami Shraddhananda by Muslim
fanatics and Gandhiji expressed his surprise that the
murderers had been looked upon as martyrs even by men like
Fazli Hassan, Muhammad Iqbal or Begum Shah Nawaz's
father. Incidentally, he said that if he was assassinated,
India, and perhaps also the world, would not forgive the
Muslim League.
While I was reading out my typescript of Selectwns

from Gandhi to him in the afternoon, we came to the
passage, ' Non-violence in the very nature of things is of
no assistance in the defence of m-gotten gains and immoral
acts.' I asked him, what he meant by 'ill-gotten gaim' ;
did it incluJe the accumulation of capital ? Without
hesitation he replied, the accumulation of capital could
never take place without exploitation, that was his firm
conviction.
Two letters from the Chief Minister came through a

special messenger. Its reply was drafted by Gandhiji at
night, and I was asked to see if any point had been left
unanswered or not.

During the morning walk, Gandhiji paid a visit to the
house of Rajendra Nath who is a weaver by caste, and made
detailed enquiries about his earning, whether he uses hand-
spun yarn, and so on.
While I was massaging him with oil before bath, our
conversation drifted to Ruskin, Tolstoy and Rabindranath.
I told him how once Rabindranath had expressed the opinion
that Jawaharlal was a truer representative of modern India

than Gandhiji. Gandhiji did not agree, and said that
Jawaharlal himself would not substantiate that opinion.
Jawaharlal was by taste, training and everything else an
Englishman, but he had an Indian heart. On the other
hand, he personally claimed to be a true representative of
the Indian people.
English friends had often told him that he was carrying
on the work of John Ruskin and also of Tolstoy. Tolstoy
had written letters to him and English friends had also
given him credit for what they believed were his merits.
When I asked him if all those letters had been preserved
or not, he said that they had mostly been destroyed, there
was hardly a place where he could keep them, for he was
always moving from place to place. Moreover, the
letters had become unnecessary for his own sake ; it was
enough that his life should speak for itself. But he realized
after their destruction that they might have been preserved
for the use of others.

Rani Chanda, the artist, had written a letter to me
from Santiniketan in which she sought Gandhiji's permission
to come and serve as a volunteer in our camp. When I
told him about this during massage in the morning, he asked
me to write back that she should not come. For he was
yet extremely uncertain about his own plans and should
therefore not add to his encumbrances. He said, 'Never
in my life has the path been so uncertain and so dim
before me. If Suhrawardy Sahib had believed half of what
I said, and of which I meant everything, a road would have
opened up before me. But today my intelligence is beaten
( mera dimag har jata hai). I do not know how to deal
with him. All will depend upon the reaction from the
other side; in a few day's time I hope, I shall know what

to do.' I heard him muttering to himself several times
during the day, 'What should I do ! What should I do !
(Kya k_arun? Kya karun ?)'
He advised me to lighten our luggage as far as possible
so that the proposed tour could be undertaken as soon as
the ground was sufficiently dry. As all such arrangements
are in charge of Satish Babu, I sent a letter to his wife
conveying GanJhiji's wishes as expressed today.

During the morning walk, Gandhiji asked me about
the difference between u and oo when added to letters, for
they looked so much alike in Bengali. I explained to him
how the two differed.
Arabinda Bose, a nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra
Bose, came with a friend of his and had an interview while
Gandhiji was taking his meals. This continued till 1. p.m.
in the afternoon. Arabinda Babu was carrying on relief
work and had seen the Relief Commissioner. Gandhiji
dealt with the problem as a whole and explained that we
should proceed in such a manner that the Government
might be put in the wrong and the struggle lifted to the
necessary political plane. Whatever steps had to be taken,
whether it was relief or migration, should be taken only
after the Government had been made to confess that they
were unable to do anything more for the sufferers, or had
failed to restrain the rowdy Muslim elements. If, in the
meantime, which he hoped would not be more than a week
or so, a few of the sufferers died of exposure, he was hard-
hearted enough (main nirday hun) not to be deflected from
his course by such events. The whole struggle had to be lifted
to the political plane ; mere humanitarian relief was not
enough, for it would fail to touch the root of the problem.
Gandhiji advised Arabinda Babu to demand ' adequate
relief ' from the Relief Commissioner ' till we can advise the
people safely to go back to their homes.' Such advice could
not be given at the present moment. He spoke with passion
against the timidity and cowardice of our people and related
a few instances which had come to his notice.
In the afternoon, as he was spinning, a number of
people came to see him from Hajiganj. They related how
both the Hindu and Muslim merchants had combined there
to maintain peace during the riots, but the feeling between
the two communities had not yet become normal. When
Gandhiji heard this, he remarked that when snakes and
other animals are washed away by a flood, both take shelter
in the same tree and forget their enmity. What had
happened in Hajiganj was no better than this.
The Government has offered Rs. 250/~ to each family

for building huts. Volunteers have been asked to prepare an
independent estimate of the actual minimum cost. Two
volunteers from Chandipur Relief Camp reported today that
the lowest cost would be between five and six hundred
rupees. Another volunteer came from A. V. Thakkar's camp
where Abha Gandhi has been posted. Gandhiji wrote
down replies to their letters and asked me to send some old
newspapers for them to read.
The old lady of the house, whom we all call Pishima
(aunt), suffered from a bad fit of asthma last night. She
ca.t;ne in the afternoon with a bowl of water and entreated
Gandhiji to touch the water with his ·finger when she would
drink it. When I explained what she wanted, Gandhiji
asked Parasuram to boil some water for her and advised
Pishima to drink nothing but tepid water all through the
day. He did not believe in this kind of magical cure nor
in blind faith. But Pishima was not to be put off so easily.
So, in the end, Gandhiji had to touch the water in the bowl
with his clean finger tip, and Pishima went back, happy in
the thought that this water would act as a remedy for all her
ailments.

Deobhankar, Shridhar Purshottam Limaye and Rai Baj-
rang Bahadur, Raja of Bhadri in Partabgarh U P., came with
lttters from A.charya Kripalani, Mridula Sarabhai and Ram
Manohar Lohia. There was a long interview in course of
which Gandhiji said that he had never come against such
a dead wall in his life.
*When Deobhankar asked him as to how the Muslim
masses could be won over and unified under the Congress,
and if this could not be achieved best through some form of
economic struggle along class lines, Gandhiji replied that, so
far, such a plan had not succeeded in respect of the people
whose communal sentiment had proved too strong. What
we had to do was to prevent the Congress from turning into
a Hindu communal organization. Anyone who had made
India his home should be protected by the Congress. Hindus
should never think that Hindustan belonged exclusively to
them (wah unka bapka nahi hai). The Parsis had come
centuries ago, and the Syrian Christians were Christians ever
since the time of St. Thomas. Every one of them had to be
treated as an Indian enjoying the same rights as any other
Indian.
Congressmen should not however approach Muslims in a
spirit of appeasement or flattery (khushamad). Although
something like that had been done, and it might even be
justifiably said that he himself had partly been responsible for
such an attitude, yet, his eyes were now open and he held that
• Not revised by Gandhiji.

it had been unwise to do so. It was by safeguarding every

person's legitimate interests that Congressmen could prove
their genuine love for nationalism. Gandhiji did not mind
even if the Congress were manned by Hindus alone. If its
members placed the cause of the whole nation above every-
thing else, then their idealism would ultimately triumph over
communalism.
What the Hindus or Mussulmans had exhibited so far
in Bengal or Bihar was violence mixed with cowardice ; there
was no element of bravery in it. To those who did not
believe in non-violence, he could hypothetically suggest a
more civilized form of revenge than what they had actually
been guilty of. Supposing there were a Government in Bihar
which believed in violence and not in non-violence, they
could have written to the Government in Bengal after the
Calcutta riots, 'Now, here are the inhabitants of this pro-
vince who have returned from Calcutta. They have become
furious and arc bent upon taking revenge on the 14% of
Mussulmans in Bihar. But we will prevent them from doing
so, if we can. In the meanwhile, you should do everything
to stop the riot which is even now going on in Bengal.'
Along with sending such a letter to the Muslim League
Government in Bengal, the Government of Bihar should
have kept the Muslims b£ Bihar informed about their efforts.
If conditions in Bengal did not improve, they could have
notified the Bengal Government that unless the Bihar Mus-
lims left the province for Bengal within, say, eight days, they
would have to send the latter forcibly over to Bengal rather
than allow them to be butchered in Bihar. And when the
eight days had passed, they might have taken necessary steps
for evacuating the Muslims of Bihar.
It is quite likely that the Muslims of Bihar would have
refused to move and declared that they were with the Con-
gress rather than with the League in the policy that the
latter had been pursuing in Bengal. That would have meant

a victory for the Congress not only in Bihar but in all those
provinces where the government was run by the Congress.
Such action, though fully violent, would have been
better than that to which Bihar had lowered herself today.
Violence, when cowardly, only served to degrade and did not
yield the desired political result.
Gandhiji lastly said that today he was seeking for a non-
violent solution for his own sake alone. For the time being,
he had given up searching for a non-violent remedy applic-
able to the masses. He had yet to see if non-violence would
prove successful in the present crisis or not. He expected
that things would take a definite turn one way or the other
within two months and not remain uncertain as they were
at the present moment.

Gandhiji has been practising the Bengali alphabet
regularly and has been trying to read simple words from a
Hindi-Bengali self-instructor. He asked me the meaning of
a few words. He also expressed the desire that I should con-
verse with him in Bengali and not in Hindi or English,
so that he can learn the language more quickly.
He said that Bengali can be easily understood as there are
so many Sanskrit words in it. Moreover, as verbs and nouns
do not change gender, Bengali becomes an easier language
to learn.
During prayer, Gandhiji announced for the first time in
public how he had lately been contemplating a walking tour
through the villages. His body had become shaky, and
difficult bridges had to be crossed in this country of rivers
and canals. If the call of God and His service required him
to brave these physical obstacles, he would have to do so,
however great the risk. If he hesitated, God would not for-
give him but rather do without his services.
Srirampur, Thursday, 12-12-1946.:

A correspondent named Jagneswar Ghosh has sent a
letter from Chinsurah in which he proposes that Bengal
should be partitioned, because, after all, the culture of the
Hindus and Muslims of this province are incompatible with
one another. As far as I know, this is the first time that the
question of partition has been directly addressed to Gandhiji.
He had already expressed himself strongly against the segre-
gation of Hindus in conversation with N. C. Chatterji on
the 5th, as that would amount to the acceptance of the mis-
chievous two-nation theory. In accordance with his instruc-
tion, I drafted a reply. Gandhiji skipped through it and
said that I should boil it down considerably. Then he told
me how, while editing the Young India, he used to advise
his contributors in t,he following terms: 'Boil down', 'Boil
down', 'Boil it down again'; and he had found that a piece
of writing always improved after such treatment.
Some portion of the reply is quoted below:
' Your suggestion is that people of the same culture
should be brought together in a common territory and
placed under a common government. Of course, for
administrative purposes, men have to be divided into groups.
This is best done on economic grounds or on the basis of
linguistic unity. What Gandhiji objects to is the redistribu-
tion of population on the basis of religion. That would mean
an admission that people of different faiths cannot
live on friendly terms within the same State. The Muslim
League has suggested a similar remedy for the present Hindu-
Muslim tension, when the minority who remain over in each
province will be held as hostages for the good behaviour of
the majority in the neighbouring province. This would
amount to an armed truce and .not peace on terms of

equality, friendship and mutual trust. To cut up India into
specifically religious zones, and then redistribute population
to fit in with such an artificial scheme would, in Gandhiji's
opinion, be monstrous. For it will cut across many of the
linguistic, cultural and fundamental ~onds of co-operation
which have held together our people in the past.'
Another significant letter was despatched today to
Ramanimohan Sen Sharma, a physician in the affected town
of Sandwip in Noakhali.
'Gandhiji can only ask an evacuee to return to his house
if he can do so with full reliance upon God. Those who do
not feel the necessary confidence in themselves, can certainly
not be advised to return.
'Gandhiji keenly feels that any word from his mouth
cannot bring courage to anyone ; and he would not therefore
advise any person to return home by relying upon such a
frail reed. If one can put faith in God, let him return.'

Gandhiji confidentially told me that his body was be-
coming weaker and weaker (gir jata ·hai) 1 so he was not
quite sure how far he would be able to undertake the journey
on foot. But when the resolve had once been taken, there
was no turning back. So far, every one who came on a visit
had been asked to leave the camp before night. Usually no
arrangements were made for their meals. But today he
asked me to make arrangements for the lodging and board-
ing of visitors. A friend had promised to supply all our
Wlants, and the necessary utensils would come. The food
offered to guests should be no more than bread or khichri
and some vegetables. He then continued to say that even
at Phoenix in South Africa, whenever he was there, the place
soon became converted into a traveller's inn.
He also asked me to refrain from telling anybody about
his physical weakness, particularly to Pyarclal and Sushila
Nayyar. But he had already written something to this effect
iil his personal diary, which was in Gujarati, and which his
associates were in the habit of reading when they came here.
While I was massaging him with oil, he felt chilly and
said, 'My body has indeed become very sensitive and weak;
you should warm the oil slightly from tomorrow.' During
bath, he said almost to himself, ' I have not yet developed
detachment to a sufficient extent. The happenings in Noa~
khali succeed in upsetting me ; for there are moments when
my heart gives way to anxiety (fil<r) and anger (rosh). I
have been trying hard to befriend the Mussulmans ; let us
see what comes out of it.'

Niranjan Singh Gill, a Sikh leader, had an exclusive
interview with Gandhiji. He brought a draft of instruc~
tions for members of the Shanti League who have been
posted here. Gandhiji added several lines to the instructions,
from which extracts are presented below.
In one place he added the following sentence: 'G. gave
his approval only when he understood from me (Niranjan
Singh Gill, over whose signature the instructions were being
issued-N. K. B.) that I had seen our Premier Suhrawardy
Sahib and that he had no objection to our working in East
Bengal.'
At another place the draft stated, ' All work must be
based on the principle of ' Love and Courage.' Remind them
that violence is horrible and retarding, but used in self-
defence and honour or for a righteous purpose, is justified.'
Gandhiji changed the last line to ' but may be used in self~
defence.'
Then the draft proceeded, ' Cowardice is worst. Our
108 MY DAYS WITH GANDffi
workers must be judged by personal character and example.'

Here Gandhiji added in his own hand, ' It is not open to O'LJ!
workers to use violence even in self-defence. Their defence
consists in cheerfully facing death.'
XII. THE DARKNESS DEEPENS
At 3.20 in the morning, I heard Gandhiji talking aloud
to Sushila Nayyar who had stayed over for the night with
us. His voice seemed worried.
Some time after prayer, while I was conversing at the
door of my cottage with a few .friends, suddenly all of us
heard a deeply anguished cry proceeding from the main
room. It was Gandhiji's voice, and then we heard the sound
of two loud slaps given on someone's body. The cry then
sank down into a heavy sob. Wc were all amazed beyond
measure and looked at one another. I ran towards the room,
and when I reached the doorstep, I saw Gandhiji sitting
upon his bed with his back reclining upon the wall, while
his eyes were closed and tears were streaming down his face.
Sushila was standing ncar by on the floor. Her face was
also bathed in tears, but as she bent forward and tried to say
something to Gandhiji, he waved her aside with a strong
movement of his arms. This happened more than once.
I did not enter the room but returned to my own and
decided that Gandhiji should be left in peace for the rest of
the day. The day however proved fairly heavy, for some
important matters had to be attended to. But to all those
who carne, I said that Gandhiji was feeling very much indis-
posed and it would be best if everyone took as little time as
possible.
Gandhiji had already written a letter to Dr. Sarvapalli
Radhakrishnan, the Vice-Chancellor of the Hindu University,
which was handed over to Ornprakash. Sucheta Kripalani
had brought a letter from the Congress President; this had
naturally to be attended to. Krishnadas had come with a
few volunteers engaged in relief work in Camilla. A
nationalist Muslim gentleman named Azizur Rahman Kari

also came with a suggestion that some nationalist Muslim
leader like Hossain Ahmed Madni should be invited to
Noakhali for addressing the Muslims and weaning them
from the suicidal influence of the Muslim League.
Gandhiji remarked that such an invitation from him
was likely to be misunderstood. As things stood, the work
here had to be conducted through the help of the League
Ministry. It was true, there were numerous difficulties. If
Madni Sahib came here he would naturally proclaim that
what had happened in Noakhali was contrary to the teachings
of Islam, and the League Ministry were to blame. Then,
Suhrawardy would say that Gandhi invites people into
Noakhali who are inimical to him. As it was, work had to
be carried on here in spite of numerous difficulties. He did
not want to add to them, because he had yet to try for
success through constitutional means.
Asaf Ali, who has been chosen to represent India in the
United States, came from Calcutta for advice before leaving
the country. Gandhiji spoke to him about the Constituent
Assembly, how it should frame a constitution for those pro-
vinces and native states which voluntarily wished to join and
how no one should be brought under it by compulsion.
The evening walk was taken underneath the open shed
where prayers are held. Sushila Nayyar and Sucheta Kripalani
were with Gandhiji while he conversed with Asaf Ali during
the walk.
Among letters written today, there was one addressed to
Sarat Chandra Bose. Just after the early morning prayer,
Gandhiji asked me to write a letter in Bengali to Sarat Babu ;
he had noticed in the newspapers yesterday that Sarat Babu
was ill. So this is what he asked me to write.
'Gandhiji is very anxious on your account, and wishes
THE DARKNESS DEEPENS 111
to learn everything about the present course of treatment, and
also if there has been any improvement in your condition.
'He said further that it would not do for you to fall ill
like this. When one has taken upon himself the responsibility
of serving the country's cause, one has also to master the art
of keeping oneself in a workable and healthy condition.
However heavy the burden of duties may be, the daily routine
for maintaining the body in good order must never be
broken. Otherwise one's work is likely to be interrupted.
' He would thank you also for news about Mrs. Bose.'
On the p_revious day, a letter breathing the deepest of
affection had similarly been sent to Haridas Mitra and his
ailing wife Bela. Haridas Mitra had been conviclcd to death
for alleged conspiracy with the Japanese during the last
war. His wife Bela is Netaji Subhas Bose's niece, and his
life had been saved through Gandhiji's intervention.
Haridas Babu had recently been set free, and a letter
was sent to him by me on behalf of Gandhiji saying
that the latter felt very happy on his release and also on the
release of his other friends. He might come when he con-
veniently could. On hearing that Bela was ailing, he hoped
that, now that her husband had been set free and her anxiety
was over, Bela would recover quickly.

During massage, Gandhiji said that he had finished
reading the typed copy of Selections from Gandhi and
wished me to write in the preface how long I had taken
to do the work. But this is something which I am not
prepared to do.
While on the subject, conversation drifted to the
services rendered by Rev. Joseph Doke to the cause of satya-
graha in South Africa. Rev. Doke's biography of Gandhiji is
one of the best that I have read, and I remarked in this connec-
tion that most books on his life were uncritical and con~
taincd more effusion than analysis. He usually was
painted in high colours. A myth had been created round
him, and he was depicted as a man without the traits which
belong to common human beings. The result has been
that the practic~.: of non-violence itself has suffered con-
siderably in India. Men readily take shelter under the view
that while non-violence is good for superhuman beings like
Gandhiji, it is beyond the reach of the average individual.
Gandhiji listened in silence, but expressed no remark.
I noticed that Ganclhiji has been slightly absent-minded
throughout the day. He sent a long letter to Sushila Nayyar.
Srirampur, Tlum·day, 19-12-1946:

This was a very heavy day for Gandhiji. In the morning,
Kularanjan Mukherji arrived from Calcutta. He is in charge
of the hydro-therapy section of the Marwari Relief Society's
Hospital ; and, as Gandhiji takes a keen interest in nature-
cure mcthuds, the Society has sent him here for a short time.
Omprakash Gupta conversed with Gandhiji for several
hours during the day, and several times the latter had to re-
mind him that he was feeling exhausted. Omprakash Babu
wanted to discuss some personal matters with him. At one
time, I heard Gandhiji plainly asking him if he had come to
dedicate himself wholly to village work here. The real !est
was this : Was he prepared to continue the work even if
Gandhiji were not there? If not, then he had evidently come
because the latter's presence provided a wrt of intoxication
(nesha). It was not his business to provide such sop for
anyone.
Others also came on interviews which were unnecessarily
prolonged and left Gandhiji in an exhausted condition. Some
of these interviews could not be prevented by me as the
workers were old associates who had come from long distances.
Manu Gandhi, daughter of Jaisukhlal Gandhi, Gandhiji's

nephew, arrived in Srirampur today.
At prayer time, Gandhiji felt too tired to make
any speech.
The news had gont: round that he was about to begin
a tour on foot through the affected villages of Noakhali and
Tipperah, and therefore several Press representatives and
photographers arrived here today. I met them in a private
conference and communicated to them the following instruc-
tions from Gandhiji:
1. They should seek the permission of the villagers
before staying anywhere. They should not be a burden to
anyone.
2. They should help one another and share news
without reserve.
3. They would not be allowed to accompany him in
the walking tour, as Gandhiji did not want to travel with
a large retinue.
4. He wished that the correspondents should make
independent observation in the surrounding villages and try
to find out if evacuees were returning home or not, and
what was the effect of Gandhiji's presence on Muslim
villagers.
At1 important letter was sent today to the Secretary

of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee. Already
on the 29th of last month, I had written to the Vice-
President of the same body to make a public ~tatement to
the effect that the number of persons killed was much
lower than what had appeared in the Press in October. The
latter had said in a contemporary public statement that the
figure was nearly five thousand. But detailed enquiries had
shown that it was no more than three hundred, although
that was not the worst part of the disturbances.. The cause
8
of this exaggeration was easily understandab!t. If there

were ten members in a family, and if only one had been
murdered when the disturbances took place, then those who
survived, escaped in different directions. And when they
reached places of safety, each looked upon himself as the
sole survivor and gave a high figure for those who had been
killed. There was thus a multiplication of error. Now that
the real facts were very nearly known, Gandhiji was anxious
that the truth should be publicly stated. The V'~.:e-Presidcnt
of the Congress Committee however felt otherwise. He
wrote back to say that the figures in his October statement
had been des:.;·~i.x:J as approximate. Gandhiji had called for
the necessary Press cuttings from the Secretary. After going
through them, I wrote to him under authority that it was
true the figures were approximate, but there was nothing in
the statement to indicate, by way of {aution, that there might
have also been error in the collection of data. A public
worker of the Vice-President's standing had to be much more
careful in respect of every word in a public utterance.
In the morning, while I was administering hi.> daily bath,

Gandhiji spoke to me of his own accord about the happen-
ings of thr. 17th. Ever since that day, no word had passed
on this subject between him and me.
He wi ~hed to learn from me as well as from Parasuram
'if Sushila Nayyar had fallen in our estimation' (Tumhare
nazar me gir gai hai ?), on account of that day's incident.
I said, I could speak for myself, not for Parasuram. She had
undoubtedly fallen, and the reason was this. No person
however great had the right to disturb him as Sushila had
apparently done. Gandhiji then said, 'Supposing she did so
with a good intention, perhaps to help me in my own work?
She may have been suggesting certain steps even for my sake,
not for her own ; even then, would you say she was wrong ?'
I said, ' Yes, even then. If she felt that you were con-
templating a wrong step, she might have offered her sugges-
tions and then left you free to decide.'
Gandhiji said, 'She is against my plan of tour on foot in
the present condition of my health. She thinks that, at
least, one old companion who knows all about my personal
needs should accompany me, and she offered her own services.
She suggested that it would not he safe to depend on new
workers like you and Parasuram, who know so little about
my physical requirements.'
I said, ' If I had been in her position, I would have placed
my views fully before you and left you free to decide. If
the decision had not been favourable, I would have waited
patient I y until you discovered your error.'
After I spoke, Gandhiji repeated the substance of my
views in his own langua~e in order to make sure that he had
understood me rightly.

The work in Srirampur was becoming heavier and heavier
every day. So, when Manu joined us permanently, both
Parasuram and myself felt greatly relieved. She has taken
charge of the hath and much of the cooking, wit:h the result
that we can devote more time to office work.
When I reached Gandhiji's room even before 4 in the
morning, I heard him talking to Manu in a low voice in his
own bed, where she had gone to sleep at night. Mter
prayer, Gandhiji called me .md said that I should get ready
a report on recent happening5 in Noakhali. Things looked
as if he would have to engage in a battle with the League
Government in Bengal. He admitted that the non-violence
which the who)e country had so far evinced was non-
violence of the weak. But he had cherished the hope that
people would realize from experience that the non-violent
method was more effective than violence in actual practice.

This expectation had, however, not materialized. The path
which henceforth lay before him was the path which could
only be trodden by the brave. Gandhiji mentioned the name
of Jesus Christ, and said that Jesus was the 'Prince of passive
resisters'. Indeed, there was no passivity in Him and His
whole life was an epic of intensely heroic action.
Referring to Manu, he said, that he had been telling her
how he personally felt that he had reached the end of one
chapter in his old life and a new one was about to begin.
He was thinking of a bold and original experiment, whose
'heat will be great'. And only those who realized this, and
were prepared to remain at their posts, should be with him.
Manu would look after his personal needs, while one
more worker would be needed to deal with the Urdu corres-
pondence and that would complete his nt:w staff.
During bath, I said to Gandhiji, ' You h:lVc drawn me

into your company and given me many liberties. If you
pardon me, may I ask you a question ? Did you slap Sushila
the other day ?', for I had not been able to gtt over the
painful recollection of the two sharp sounds which had
proceeded from within the room.
Gandhiji's face wore a sad smile and he said, 'No, I
did not beat her, I beat my own forehead. \Vhen I was
twentyfive years old, I once beat my own son; but that was
the last time.
'Sushila is a gifted girl, and is of service to me in many
ways. When she learnt about my proposed jomuey on foot,
she began to argue against it. We had been talking ever
since 2.30 in the night. I explained to her how my mission
was going to take me to a lonesome journey through the
Muslim villages. Muslims had been taught to regard me
as an arch-enemy of Islam. If I was to overcome that feeling,
I could only do so by entering into their midst in the most
unprotected condition possible. I would have to depend upon
them completely for all my needs and they would be free to do
with me what they liked. But she was insistent that some
old companion who knew about my personal requirements
should be in my company. Then I grew impatient. If I
could not convince one like her, who has known me for
years, that the step was right, how could I hop~ to convince
others ? And I beat my own forehead as I wept.'
During midday, as Gandhiji lay resting with a mud-pack

over his forehead and his closed eyes, a French journalist came
along and sought an intervtew. I spoke to Gandhiji about
him, when he agreed to givl: him a few minuter.. He how-
ever asked me to explain to the visitor why he was lying
down, and if he was prepared to meet him in that condition
and not take it as an insult.
When Raymond Cartier entered the room and was
announced, Gandhiji greeted the former with a ' Comment
allez-vouz ?' Cartier was agreeably surprised and replied in
French. Gandhiji broke into a hearty laughter and said that
that was all the French which he remembered. He had
read French at school but haJ managed to forget all of it.
When Cartier intwduced himself by saying that he was
a journalist by profession and came from Paris, Gandhiji
told him how he was an admirer of Les Miserabtes, and how
Valjean still appeared to him 'in an unfading light.' The
picture of Valjean crawling through the drains of Paris came
back to him. He had himself visited Paris, and while
returning from the Round Table Conference had wanted to
find lodging in the poorest quarters. But this had not been
possible. He had however ~een the slums, and it was humi-
liating to see the picture of poverty in the heart of a city
which claimed to lead the world.
Cartier asked him wlnt he thought about the present

condition of Europe. Gandhiji said that he fdt miserable
about it; for the last war ha:.i apparently failed to disillusion
men with regard to violence. ' If this dependence upon
violence continues, the worlci will end by destr'llying itself.'
'Would you advise us, Europeans, to follow non-violence;
we who arc the children of violence ?'
Gandhiji replied that if Europe did not change its path,
humanity was faced only by the prospect of destruction.
But even in Europe, there was an undercurrent of thought
which was against war.
Cartier then asked him, how could France survive if it
did not defend herself against the Germans ? Gandhiji
retorted by saying that the Maginot Line had failed in its
purpose. Cartier remarked that the fault was not in the
principle but in some technical imperfection. 'Yes,' Gandhiji
quickly replied, 'that is what I mean. Unless you can beat
Hitler by superior violence, you cannot obtain victory. But
then Hitlerism wins. That can be liquidated only by some-
thing which is its opposite m character, not bv superiority
of arms.'

This being Kasturba Day, Gandhiji was up at 2.30 a.m.
and worked till prayer time. Prayer began at 4.15 a.m.
Sushila Nayyar, Manu Gandhi and Parasuram did the
reading of the Bhagabad Gita. While this was going on,
Pyarelal dropped in with an English friend. Sushila left at
about ten.
The Provincial Muslim League of Bihar has sent a
printed report of the riots in that province. I went through
a substantial portion of it before Gandhiji's bath, while he
has already finished reading the report. Later on, he told
me that even if half of what was written in that report
were true, and if the Congress Ministers of Bihar had

actually concealed anything from him, then it meant that
the ~nd of his life had been reached ( meri zindagi chali
gai). He would, in that case, have to go to Bihar and fast
unto death. He had already lived a long life and had done
more than an average man's share of work; it did not matter
if the time had come for him to depart.
I argued with him that as Jawaharlal Nehru was
coming soon, there should be no hurry, for he would get all
the facts in a few days' time. But Gandhiji was restless. He
said, the visit was yet a week away, and that was a long
way off. The Muslim League had made conditions hot, and
the iron must be struck while it was yet hot. The Congress
Ministers of Bihar ought to have taken up the challenge of
the League immediately; but they were procrastinating.
He then said that if he left for Bihar, it would mean a
great blow to Noakhali. 'I do not know', he continued,
'what the Hindus will do then. Even if it comes to whole-
sale migration, let them do it. My place is now in Bihar.
I shall go there practically as a representative of the Muslim~
to find out the truth.'
Today, I received a touching letter from Sushila

Nayyar in which she tried to explain, from her own point of
view, what had happened in the morning of the 17th. The
letter is reproduced below in part :
'At night while reading Bapu's diary I read "I had a
curious dream". I casually asked him what it was. He
did not say and I kept quiet.
'At three o'clock the next morning, I woke up with
the noise of Bapu jumping in bed. He said he was very
cold and was taking exercise to warm up. . Mter that, he
asked me if I was awake and started telling me of his
curious dream. Mter the dream he started explaining how
his present step was a tapascharya (penance) for him, and

how he was going through inconveniences. On the previous
day, I had remarked that God did and would send him
helpers in whatever he did ...... In a short note I asked him
if I would be allowed to come with him. I mentioned that
what he had said about tapascharya and what I had said
about God sending him hdp were not contradictory and
tried to explain it. He answered with irritation that he had
tried to explain things to me but had not succeeded ..
I could see that he was getting worked up. So ...... I walked
away. Suddenly I heard him slap his forehead. I rushed
back and stopped him ..... .
'I am completely unnerveJ ...... I came yesterday with
great trepidation. Bapu had asked me to come for Gita ....
He again raiseJ the topic this morning anJ I found that my
self-control has not returned as yet.'
Sushila had left Srirampur in the morning in tears.

Early in the morning, at 5 o'clock, Gandhiji handed a
note to me. It was Monday, his day of silence. He had
written, ' I do not know what God is doing to me or through
me. If you have the time and inclination I would like you
to walk to Sushila at daybreak and return after passing some
6me with her and learning all about her requirements and
her health. You can give her the whole of our conversation
about her without reserve. The rest you will know from
her if she cares to tell you. You can show this to her if
you wish. If you propose to shoulder this burden, you will
act as the spirit moves you. Don't work beyond your
capacity.'
I made ready to go. In the meanwhile, Arun Datta a
volunteer had come from the Nandigram refugee camp where
c;ut of 1,800 evacuees, Government rations had been stopped
for 300. The Government were trying to force the evacuees

to return home. Gandhiji gave them the following instruc-
tion, 'I do not want them to hunger strike at present. Let
there be a full cause ready for such a strike. The question
therefore is, are those who get their rations prepared to share
with those (300) what they get? If they are, these should
take their share while the matter is being prosecuted.'
The party then left for Nandigram in order to carry out
Gandhiji's instructions.
I started for Changirgaon where Sushila is posted at
7.30 a.m. with some fruits for her and returned at eleven.

A telegram came from Jawaharlal Nehru in which he
said that he woul~ reach Srirampur on the 27th evening.
Members of the Friends' Service Unit have sent a bag of
Christmas presents to us. The bag contained cigarettes,
playing cards, a pair of canvas slippers, a towel, soap etc.
Gandhiji seemed to be in a happy and playful mood today.
He asked us to spread our gifts on the mat and then started
distributing them among the volunteers here and elsewhere.
The packet of cigarettes was a problem ; but then suddenly
Gandhiji asked me to keep it for Jawaharlal Nehru.
Rabindramohan Sengupta, Trailokya Chakraverty,
Ananta De, Santimoy Dutt and Pratul Chaudhuri of the
Revolutionary Socialist Party of India paid a visit to Gandhiji
<!nd wished to place their services at his disposal. Trailokya
Babu confessed that, so far, all of us had failed to find a way
out of the terrible fear which held the common man in its
grip. It was time therefore to try Gandhiji's method of
instilling courage before the country could earn its right to
freedom.
Another visitor named Sisir Kumar Ghosh presented a
purse of a hundred rupees to Gandhiji and asked him how
courage could be instilled in the heart of the common man

without, at the same time, antagonizing the Muslims.
Gandhiji advised him to experiment along the pure non-
violent way. He said, any organization along lines of violence
would succeed in creating a race for armaments even if it
were on a small scale. This would prove disastrous for India
in the end. Bengal had tried the method of violence for a
long while. The bravery of the revolutionaries was beyond
question, but it had failed to instil courage in the mind of
the common man. But although the non-violence of the
past twenty-five years had been of an indifferent quality, yet
nobody could deny that it had succeeded in elevating the
character of the whole nation to a certain extent. The only
way he could suggest was organization along non-violent lines.
The Muslim League seems to be carrying on a systematic
campaign for driving Gandhiji out of Noakhali. A post
card reached us today from the 'Office of the Feni Sub-
divisional Muslim League', which contained a copy of the
resolution passed by that body. It said, 'It is appreciated
that Mr. Gandhi's presence in Bihar is much more useful
than at Noakhali where the situation is normal. He is
therefore requested to leave for Bihar.' Gandhiji wrote back
in reply:
Gentlemen,
I have just received your post card scribbled out in ink
and thank you for your advice. I am unable to follow your
advice which is definitely based on ignorance of facts. In
the first place, I know that the situation is not normal here
and that in so far as I can contribute to the Bihar problem
I have to inform you that such influence as I have on Bihar
can be and is being efficiently exercised from Srirampur.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
Srirampur, Thursday, 26-12-1946:
The Secretary of the Ramganj Relief Committee came
to report that very bad rice was being issued to the refugees
that day, and many had refused to accept rations. When
samples of the rice were produced, Gandhiji asked the old
lady of the house, our 'Pishima ', to cook it and give us her
opinion. The latter did so, and when we tried to eat the
rice we found it impossible, for many of the grains were
rotten and black. A sample had, in the meanwhile, been
sent for examination to the Superintendent of the Government
Auxiliary Hospital at Rarnganj, from where the report came
that it was 'quite unfit for human consumption'. Gandhiji
then expressed his opinion that if all the rice supplied was
of this character, it had to be refused. There was no question
of hunger strike ; the refugees should approach the authorities
concerned, try to find what their difficulties were and then
demand a supply of rice which could be eaten. Even if the
Government failed to supply sufficient rice of good quality,
then the refugees should accept as much of it as available,
provided it sufficed to keep body and soul together, and give
the Government a chance of mending matters within a
fortnight. But if things did not improve, then there would
be valid reason for protest in the form of complete refusal
of rations.

The following letter was handed over to me for immediate
despatch to Calcutta :
Dear Hamiduddin Sahib,

Nirmal Babu read to me your writing in the Azad o£
the 14th instant. It staggered me and I asked him kindly
to give me its literal translation. I£ there is any incorrectness
you will please send me your correction. I say it staggered
me, because you had left an impression on me that you had

entirely realised my sincerity and my usefulness not merely
for the Hindu inhabitants of the district but equally for the
Muslim inhabitants. Assuming the accuracy of the transla-
tion, your article is an indictment against me. Indeed, most
of us were under the impres~ion that while Shamsuddin Sahib
was leaving for a few days to meet the Chief Minister, you
would be staying behind to continue his work and help the
peace committees that were just then being formed. But
the next day, I learned with sorrow that owing to some
affiiction of your eyes you had to leave abruptly with
Shamsuddin Sahib. What had happened in the meanwhile
to warrant what I have called your indictment I do not
know. Why do you in common with many advisers advise
me to leave Noakhali and go to Bihar or somewhere else ?
I h:we not come to East Bengal to hold an enquiry. I
have come to make my humble contribution to a lasting
and heart peace between the two communities. I think that
I made this statement during the speeches I had made in
your presence. Why then the sudden change betrayed by
the article in question ? Do you not think that after the
exuberant regard you showed for me, I had the right to
expect from you a friendly and personal enquiry from me
to inform me of the change and giving the grounds for the
change ? Perhaps on reflection, you will discover in your
very article valid reason for my longing to be in Noakhali
in preference to Bihar. How can I test the efficacy and
soundness of my dhimsa except in a place where even the
loudest protestations of trust in my professions can be so
short-lived as in your case ?
You are right when you say, 'In Mr. Gandhi's opinion,
the condition in Noakhali is not yet such that Hindus can
shoulder the responsibility of returning to their homes'.
I have chapter and verse to show why the Hindu refugees
who proved themselves deficient in personal courage are
reluctant to go back to their homes. The peace committees
which you left in the process of formation are not in working
order.
The Ministers and Parhamentary Secretaries would not
return to their work of seeing the committees doing their
duty. I urge you for the sake of the League Ministry in
whose efficiency and goodness I am at least as much interested
as you ever can be. Believe me, I have not come to East
Bengal for the purpose of finding fault with the League. I
have come in order to induce it by my conduct to shed its
complacency and give solid work for the sake of itself and
India. For I believe that if you and I can produce in Bengal
the right atmosphere, the whole of India will follow.
You say again, 'If he (Gandhi) had issued a statement
about the real nature of the happenings, perhaps the atmos~
phere would have cleared to a large extent. His silence with
reference to this matter raises suspicion in the minds of
many'. Why this insinuation when the fact stares you in
the face that I am not in a position to speak in praise of
what has been and is being done on behalf of the Bengal
Government ? If you will care to study the thing, you will
appreciate restraint instead of coaxing me to speak.
You are again right when you say, 'Mr. Gandhi does
not wish to leave for Bihar'. But your reasons for reluctance
are wholly wrong. 'My· trusted Bihalii followers' have
indeed kept me informed of the happenings there. The
information they give is wholly contrary to what you
believe. In common with all, the Bihar Government deplore
the tragic happenings. But they claim that they have
acquired control over the turbulent elements and are strain~
ing every nerve to give satisfaction to the affiicted.
It will not serve the cause of peace if I went to Bihar
and found the Bihar Muslim League's report to be largely
imaginary and the Bihar Government's conduct substantially

honourable, humane and just. I am not anxious to give
them a certificate of good conduct as I am to give you, much
though you may not want it. My spare diet and contem-
plated fast, you know well, were against the Bihar misdoings.
I could not take such a step in the matter of Noakhali mis-
doings. It pains me to think that you a seasoned lawyer
should not see the obvious.
I assure you that I am not guilty of 'importing
numberless volunteers from outside to serve his (mine)
object'. In the first place, I have not imported numberless
volunteers. In the second place, my object is not what you
have been pleased to insinuate in the same paragraph. Let
me tell you that for the fulfilment of my object, I do not
need any volunteers here except myself. If you really think
that their presence is a menace to the peace of Noakhali,
the Government have but to say that they arc a danger and
to serve a notice on them to quit, and I assure you that
without a murmur they would leave this district. From
this undertaking, I and one of my company, whose name I
need not disclose at this stage, are excepted. You will be
astonished to learn that, dear as they are all to me, and
valuable as I count their services to the nation, I told them
in this mission of mine, I had no need to have any associate
with me, for the quickest way to fruition required no pro-
tection or co-operation save what God sent. Such is my
conception of the working of ahimsa. I hope that before
the Government takes the adumbrated action they will
depute an officer of their choice or trust to find out from
me or them the kind of work they are doing. Their life is
an open book. There is nothing hidden or underground
about their activities.
Permit me to give you my impression that your writing
bristles with unprovable and reckless statements without
regard to facts. I have noticed only some of them.
As it is, my letter has become much longer than I had
sketched in my mind but as I proceeded I could not shorten
it if 1 was to give you some conception of my deep grief. If
you will know more, I suggest to you that you should take
the trouble of coming to me and 1~ssing with me half an
hour or so and cross-examine me on the charges you have
framed against me.
This letter is not an open letter as yours is. I have
written only for you, cherishing the hope that it may per-
haps :appeal to you as coming from a well-wisher open to
conviction.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
I left Srirampur for Ramganj early in the morning and

handed over the above letter to the Deputy Superintendent
of Police for despatch to Calcutta. Then I went to the
officer in charge of relief and rations. We went together
with a few representatives of the public to inspect the bags
of rice in the godown. The public representatives were
invited to choose the lowest grade of broken rice which
could be accepted as an emergency measure for the current
fortnight. The Officer was prepared to supply that grade
of rice as far as possible from his stock and supplement it
with wheat flour. It appears the matter will be set right soon.
While I was away, Parasuram approached Gandhiji and

unburdened his mind on certain private .rtlatters. It will
be remembered that Gandhiji had asked for his opinion
regarding the happenings of the 17th morning just as he
had done from me.
Jawaharlal Nehru, Acharya Kripalani, Sucheta Kripalani,

Shankarrao Deo and Mridula Sarabhai arrived between half-

past eleven and half-past twelve at night.
Srirampur, 28th to 30th December 1946:

Crowds have been gathering ever since early mornmg
and special arrangements have been made for regulating
them. Jawaharlal Nehru and the rest sat in conference with
Gandhiji till eleven. They left at 12.45 and came back again
at 2. The conference continued till prayer time. Prayer had
been arranged in the grounds of the school. The crowd was
fairly big for these parts. Gandhiji spoke on the ideals of
the Indian National Congress and how it differed from the
ideals of the Muslim League and the Hindu Mahasabha.
Jawaharlal, Kripalani and others left Srirampur after
seven on the 30th. They proceeded to Madhupur on foot,
from where jeeps carried them to Feni, the airport.
During these three days, the Congress leaders held long
discussions with Gandhiji. I kept myself away for most
part of the time, as Pyarelal had come and was in attendance.
On one occasion when I was in the room for a short while,
I heard Jawaharlal saying, 'There is now a Hindu political
India just as they have made a Muslim political India.' He
further said with emphasis thai almost everyone, including
Gandhiji and himself, had been forced almost into a com-
munal position. I heard Kripalani flinging back, 'What are
you talking ! You know in your heart of hearts, we are not
communal. Then why should you talk like that ? '
After discussion with the leaders, Gandhiji prepared an
instruction for the Working Committee. This was typed by
me instead of Parasuram and copies handed over to Jawahar-
lal Nehru and others.
Gandhiji wrote :
' During its unbroken career of sixty years the Congress
has been invariably .and progressively representative of all the
communities-Hindus, Muslims, and others. It has been also
progressively representative of the masses. That it has always
had a number of hypocrites is but an ode to these two among
its many virtues. If those who represent these two virtues
are found to be in a hopeless minority, they should lodge
their protest and leave the Congress and influence public
opinion from outside. Then only will they be true servants
of the nation. Therefore at this critical period I hold it to
be necessary for the Working Committee to give the proper,
unequivocal lead to the Congress by laying down these pro--
positions :-
1. It is now perhaps late to cry off the Constituent
Assembly though I hold it still to be the best course to make
the Congress position absolute! y clear.
2. The second best is to accept the Cabinet Mission
Statement with the joint interpretation of it between
themselves and Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah.
3. It must be clearly undt:rstood that it is open to any
Congress individual or unit to declare his group's or pro-
vince's secession from the Congress stand, which the Congress
should be free to accept whilst still openly guiding the
seceding element. This will be in accordance with the
Cabinet's position that they will not compel any group or
province.
'The result of this would be that the members of Section
A would prepare a full constitution in terms of the Cabinet
Mission's Statement and B and C Sections would have to
frame what they can in spite of the seceders as at present
conceived. Assam in the east and Frontier Province in the
west, the Sikhs in the Punjab and may be Baluchistan.
'It may be that the British Government will recognise or
set up another Constituent Assembly. If they do, they will
damn themselves for ever. Th~y are bound when a constitu-
9
tion is framed in terms of the Cabinet Mission's stand to

leave the rest to fate, every vestige of British authority being
wiped out and British soldiers retiring from India never to
return.
' This position of the Congress is in no way to be inter-
preted as playing completely into Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah's
hands. And if this he considers to be what he meant, the
Congress will be thanked by the world for giving Qaid-e-Azam
Jinnah a universally acceptable and inoffensive formula for
his Pakistan. The Congress dare not shirk the right thing
because it completely coincides with his creed.
'The Constitution will he for whole India. 'It ·will
have to contain a specific clause showing in what way it
will be open to the boycotters to avail themselves of the
Constitution '.
XIII. A FRIEND'S PARTING
Yesterday, when I was away fro II}.. the camp, Parasuram
had spoken for an hour with Gandhiji on a certain private
question. He had also told Gandhiji that I held a similar
view to his own, but had refrained from giving expression
to it because I did not, in any way, 'wish to disturb him in
the work he had undertaken for the sake of Bengal'. At
"even in the evening, Gandhiji therefore sent for me and
asked me if Parasuram's report w,as correct. We were
together till 8-30. I began to speak as usual in Hindi, but
with Gandhiji's permission soon slipped into English.
The following is a revised translation of my Bengali diary
of that date.
I said to Gandhiji, I have deep reverence for you from a

particular point of view. I have always looked upon you
as one of the great pathfinders in human history. Men have
been groping fur ages past for some effective means of
bringing about social change without recourse to violence.
You me one of the pioneers in this respect. For many years
I have read your writings with care and have formed a
more or less concrete picture of your thoughts on the subject.
I have also tried to observe how it works out in collective
practice in which common men are involved.
There are in Bengal numerous workers who try to
follow your teachings. They spin regularly, practise all
kinds of austerities in personal life, but, instead of being able
to conduct experiments in collective non-violence, often settle
down into an individualistic practice of a set of non-violent
rituals. They thus lose all effectiveness in the social or
political field.
Those who thus practise austerities have not often taken

to it because it is necessary in the pursuit of an ideal ; but,
in at least some cases, it springs from a mere love of austeri-
ties, or from the desire of finding favour in your eyes. As
such, the austerity and humility which they exhibit before
you become false. Repression docs good only when it is a
joyous enterprise undertaken for a noble cause. But under
the above circumstances, the end becomes vague and over-
shadowed by the means ; with the result that such persons
try to find compensation through other channels. A morbid
hankering after fame and public approval may step in, or the
personality may begin to crack under a load which nobody
called upon it to bear. Thus, your love for asceticism results
in an injury to the personality of those who do not know
how to preserve a sense of social responsibility, which you
personally never lose sight of.
Secondly, I have seen you lose temper and become
sentimental at times ; and have felt drawn closer to you on
that account. If you had been completely free from all
weaknesses, I would have perhaps revered you from a distance
but would never have felt drawn close to you as I do today.
Parasuram has a complaint against the way in which
you deal with different workers, how you seem to have
personal preferences and fail to chastise when necessary. He
has made this a cause of complaint against you. I do not
do so. I have looked upon thi~ part of your life as a neces-
sary element of play to save you from the influence of the
cold and barren atmosphere in which you have to work in
the rest of your life. If you had tried to root out every
trace of softness from your character and even succeeded
in doing so, you would have become more distant from us
from the human point of view. So, when you hold the
reins a little loose, and give way to anger, for instance, I
do not look upon it as a matter for complaint.
A FRIEND's PARTING 133
But there is another side of the picture too.

There are many women, who, when they are in love,
try to convert their object of love into a plaything. Some-
times they deal hard blows upon the object and sometimes
they invite similar blows in return. There is a secret satis-
faction in such play and in exclusive possession. That is
an expression of our sexual instinct.
Among the women who are associated with you in
social work, I have observed an attitude bordering on this
kind. When women love men in normal life, a part of their
rsychological hunger is satisfieJ by the pleasure which they
derive in the physical field. But when women pay their
homage of love to you, there can be no such satisfaction,
with the result that when they come close to you personally,
their mind becomes slightly warped. Of course, all of us
are neurotics to a more or less extent. But the effect of
your contact has an undoubtedly dangerous influence upon
some of your associates, whether male or female.
Parasuram is a simple, str.aightforward man. He has
told you from his own point of view what he considers
wrong. Although I do not share his opinion about right
or wrong, yet I felt sympathy for his point of view.
Gandhiji listened in silence and when I had finished

said, 'Your hint is that- should be sent away from here'.
Of course, that was never my intention although that was
an important item in Parasuram's demands.
Parasuram broke in by saying that whatever Gandhiji's
attitude may be, as a common man he would say that
he should give no occasion for any one to misunder-
stand him. If reflections were cast on Gandhiji's personal
character, the cause for which he stood would itself suffer.
This was something he could not bear personally. While
at school, he had once come to blows with mates when
134 MY DAYS WITii GANDHI
they had cast aspersions against Gandhiji's character. More-

over, had he- not himself promised to his co-workers in
Sevagram that he would keep women workers away from
his immediate company ?
In explaining his position, Gandhiji said that it was
indeed true that he permitted women workers to use his
bed, this being undertaken as a spiritual experiment at times.
Even if there were no trace of passion in him of which he
was conscious, it was not unlikely that a residue might be
left over, and that would make trouble for the girls who
took part in his experiment. He had asked them if, even
unconsciously, he had been responsible for evoking the least
shade of evil sentiment in their heart. This 'experiment',
as he called it, had been objected to by distinguished
co-workers like Narahari (Parekh) and Kishorlal (Mashru-
wala) ; and one of their grounds of complaint had been
based on the possible repercussions which the example of a
responsible leader like him might have upon other people.
When Gandhiji .finished his personal explanation, I
ended by saying that unless I had known how great he was,
and unless I had a purely objective attitude towards his life,
I might have given way to sentimentality and subscribed to
some of the charges laid against him by Parasuram.
Gandhiji then asked me to help Parasuram in framing
his complaints in writing.

Parasuram typed out an enormous letter running over
ten foolscap pages, in which he expressed his views with
great clarity and suggested certain changes in our life here.
As this was the last day of our stay at Srirampur, I
got up at two and wrote out my personal diary which has
been quoted under yesterday's date. A pretty large amount
of correspondence had accumulated, and all through the
day, I tried to clear up the arrears of work.
Charu ~handra Chaudhuri of the Khadi Pratisthan
came with a statement of accounts in which it appeared
that more than one .hac of rupees had been subscribed by
the public for Gandhiji's work in Noakhali. The expenses
incurred up to date, amounted to a little over Rs. 8,000/-
in .all. This had been advanced by the K.hadi Pratisthan of
Sodpur. Gandhiji did not wish to burden the Khadi
Pratisthan with these expenses and made arrangements for
repaying the advance out of the sum contributed by the
public.
Chandipur, Thursday, 2-1-1947:

Early in the morning about a dozen volunteers arrived
in order to carry all our belongings to the next halting
station at Chandipur. All the things had already been made
up into packages.
Just before Gandhiji left, the members of the household
gathered together and bade him farewell. We started at
7-30 a.m., and as Gandhiji walked across the paddy fields
recently_laid bare after the harvest had been gathered in,
he halted for a few minutes at the residence of the
Chakraverty family in the southern extremity of Srirampur.
In that house, not a single hut had been left standing by
the miscreants. Chandipur was reached at about 9 a.m.,
although the distance was no more than 3 miles.
The day was spent in arranging our things at the
residence of the Mazumdars. Prayer was held in the open
space north of the tank at 4-30 p.m. Gandhiji took his
meals after this, and then proceeded towards Changirgaon
where Sushila Nayyar is posted.
Before leaving Srirampur, Gandhiji had written a reply
to Parasuram's letter, in which he said:
' I have read your letter with great care. I began it at
3 a.m., finished reading it at 4 a.m. It contains half-truths

which are dangerous. You wronged me, the parties you
mention, yourself and the cause by suppressing from them
.and me your opinion about them.
' I cannot concede your demands. The other points you
raise do not make much appc:tl to me.
' Since such is your opinion and there is a conflict of
ideals and you yourself wish to be relieved, you are at
liberty to leave me today. That will be honourable and
truthful. I like your frankness and boldness. My regard
for your ability as a typist and shorthand writer remains
undiminished and I was looking forward to taking a hand
in bringing out your other qualities. I am sorry that it
cannot be.
'My advice to you is that you should confer with
Pyarelalji and Sushilabehn. You should take Kanubhai's
guidance in shaping your future. I shall always be interested
in your future and shall be glad to hear from you when you
feel like writing to me. Finally let me tell you that you
are at liberty to publish whatever wrong you have noticed
in me and my surroundings. Needless to say you can take
what money you need to cover your expenses'.
A few days later, Gandhiji perhaps did an injustice to

Parasuram, when in a letter to another friend, he wrote,
'Parasuram has left ...... because he did not believe in my
ideals.. . . . . . The immediate cause I think was that Manu
shared the same bed with me. He thought that it was
improper not because, as he said, there was anything wrong
with me or Manu, because he knew that she was in the
place of grand-daughter to me, but because it would be a
bad example for young men, for example, like himself ..... .
I believe that everybody in the camp knows that Manu is
sharing my cot and, in any case, I do not want to do any-
thing in secrecy. I am not advertising the thing. It is a
sacred thing to me. But those who want to see everything
W!rong about me are at liberty at any time they like to
advertise the fact and give it what colour they like.'
This was completely unfair to Parasuram, because
Parasuram's complaint as summarised in my own diary
or in his subsequent letter was quite different and it was
inspired by the deepest of loyalty to the cause for which
Gandhiji stood. Only, his point of view was the point of
view of the common man; he did not realize how contact
with men and women on a common level might be a spirit~
ual need for G.andhiji. My belief is that while writing
the above letter, Gandhiji did ilot perhaps have Parasuram's
letter before him and was evid:ntly reporting from memory,
which did not serve him right at least on this particular
occasiOn.
XIV. THE PILGRIMAGE
After his stay at Srirampur for nearly a month and a
half, Gandhiji began to feel that the next step which he
should take was to try and live among the Muslim peasants
in their own villages and convince them by his friendly acts
that he was as much concerned about their welfare as of the
Hindus. His original ide:a was to set forth on a walking
tour unaccompanied by any of his companions and depend
upon what help might actually be given to him by the
villagers themselves. But as this was likely to be too
uncertain in character, it w.as decided that he should travel
on foot from village to village, meet people in their own
homes and in his prayer meetings, and see what came out
of it ultimately.
With this end in view, he left Chandipur on the 7th
of January 1947, to encamp at one village for one night and
carry with him his message of peace and goodwill amon~
men. During the early morning prayer on that day,
Gandhiji asked Manu to sing his favourite Gujarati hymn
entitled V ais'hnat' jana to tene kahiye : 'The true Vaishnav
is he who feels the sufferings of others'. He also said that
the word Vaishnav should be replaced by Muslim, lsai (i.e.
c;hristian) now and then during the chorus. As the little
gr'Oup sang, we suddenly heard Gandhiji himself joining the
chorus from within his curtained bed. The pitch of his
voice was low, but the tune was quite correct. His voice
could be heard above our own.
A few days before Gandhiji thus started on his tour on
foot, he had received a letter from Sarojini Naidu who had
come to Santiniketan in Bengal, but had left without even
trying to meet him, for it was Gandhiji's express desire that
he should be left alone as far as possible.
THE PILGRIMAGE 139
Sarojini Devi wrote :
26-12-1946 "UTTARAYAN"
Santiniketan, Bengal.
This i§ not a letter, it is an affirmation of love and
faith. Had it been possible I should have tried to reach you
if only for a moment. You will I know approve of my leav-
ing Bengal without even making the effort. I neither need
to see you nor speak with you, because you dwell in my
vision and your message sings itself to the world through
my heart.
Beloved Pilgrim, setting out on your pilgrimage of love
and hope, " Go with God " in the beautiful Spanish phrase.
I have no fear for you - only faith in your mission.
Sarojini.
Many weeks afterwards, when Gandhiji discovered this
letter among his old papers, he forthwith wanted to destroy
it, but I held him back and begged the leiter from him. He
agreed, but on condition, it would never be published ; for,
as he said, the letter was no more than praise for his work,
which he did not need. But I took it away from him with
the assurance that it would not be published during his life-
time without permission.
This act of Gandhiji reminded me of what he had once
said with reference to his old correspondence. He had
destroyed many letters in South Africa, because when
he depended upon the opinion of others in order to assure
himself about the rightness of his path, it was like depend·
ing upon an adventitious aid. Truth had to stand on its own
strength ; and so he had burnt the letters just as he had
removed many an impediment which had likewise come in
his way.
The pilgrimage which Gandhiji thus undertook, carried

him from village to village where he met Hindu men and
women and also some Muslims, who, on the whole, avoided

his prayer meetings except in certain localities. Gandhiji's
advice to the Hindus uniformly was that they should purify
their own hearts of fear and prejudice, and alro set right
their social and economic relations with others ; for only
could this internal purification give them adequate courage,
as well as the moral right, to live amidst a people who now
considered them to be their exploiters and enemies.
The Hindus had, first of all, to remove the taint of
untouchability, and to this end, he advised every woman to
have her food and drink consecrated by the touch of a so--
called untouchable before she partook of her meals everyday.
This was the least penance we could do for having sinned
against one section of our brethren. In the same manner,
he advised them to fraternize with Muslim women and
rescue them from the thraldom of the purdah. For, as he
said, true purdah resided in the heart and had little to do
with its external observance. If half of a population
remained paralysed through an ignorant and evil custom, how
could we ever aspire to be free and great ?
In a speech on the 4th of January, he said that he had

not come to talk to the people of politics, nor to weaken
the influence of the Muslim League and increase that of the
Congress, but in order to talk to them of little things in
their daily life. Ever since he had come to India thirty years
ago, he had been telling people of these common, little things
which, if properly attended to, would change the face of the
land and create a heaven out of the pttiable condition in
which we found ourselves living today.
Even to the evacuees, Gandhiji's message was uniformly
one of courage and fortitude. He.... said that he held very
strong views on the question of charity and thought that it
was wrong both to accept as well as to o.ffer a free gift to
'l'HE PILGRIMAGE 141
anyone. If the evacuees got into the habit of dependence

on public charity, it would prove disastrous in the end. They
might, of course, ask the Government to provide them with
manual work of one kind or another against the food which
was being provided for them, but it was below human dignity
to accept any aid without labouring for it.
On the 8th of February 1947, when there was a proposal
for closing down refugee camps, Gandhiji woke up at night
and wrote the following letter to the Magistrate of the
district :
' This is the letter I promised you when you were good
enough to see me yesterday.
'I am quite clear that you should not abruptly stop
rations until due notice (at least one month) of their stop-
page is given to the refugees that they will be stopped unless
one of the specified items of work is done by them against
the rations which should be adequate and medically fit for
consumption. The items should include :
( 1) Road construction or road repair for at least two
hours per day, Sundays excluded.
(2) Removal of water hyacinth for the same period as
in ( 1) under supervision.
(3) House building on their own vacated land for the
same period as in (1), with material and tools supplied by
the Government.
(4) Village reconstruction for the same period as in (1).
(5) Cleaning of tanks for the same period as in (1).
( 6) Hand-spinning for four hours per day, cotton and
wheel or takli being supplied by the Government ; spinning
to include ginning, carding or tunai or punai.
(7) Weaving for the same period as in (6), tools and
accessories and yarn, double-twisted in the case of hand·spun,
being supplied by the Government.
(8) Dhenki husking, same period as m (1), dhenkis

being supplied by the Government.
(9) Oil-pressing out of cocoanut or seeds supplied
by the Government.
(10) Any other village craft chosen by the Government
or refugees approved by the Government for the period as in
(1) or (6) as the case may be.
' Efficient working of the foregoing is wholly dependent
upon a well-thought-out scheme capably managed by the
Government. This is no famine measure. It is conceived
wholly in the spirit of the maxim, no labour no food.
' No breakdown in transport or other Government machi-
nery should stop the supply of rations to the helpless
unfortunate sufferers.
' I would suggest that refugees who are not willing or
otherwise incapable may be supplied rations against payment
at fixed rates.
' The time for ploughing for the next crop is soon ebbing
away. Therefore agricultural implements, bullocks and seeds
have to be supplied at once or disaster may have to be faced.
' This was written at 2 a.m., and has not been seen by
Shri Satish Chandra Das Gupta of Khadi Pratisthan. I
would suggest your seeing and consulting him, since I am
wholly ignorant of local conditions.'
To the refugees, he said again that it did not matter if
their homes had been burnt or property looted, so long as
they had the will to face the calamity with courage and deter-
mination. They should build up their lives anew on the
foundation of their own labour. The refugees should bravely
face the reality and learn some craft by which they could
earn their bread and maintain their families. Those who did
not labour but lived on the toils of others were thieves. No
one was free from the obligation of voluntary labour in order
to support himself.
THE PILGRIMAGE 143
One might feel tempted to ask, what could a few indivi-

dufls do ? The answer was that even if a few began to do
the right thing, their example would prove infectious and
spread among the rest. If 4D crores of small bits of wood were
tied together, it would be enough to build a bridge over
which the mightiest army could pass. Similarly, if in India,
forty crores of men developed new bonds of sympathy and
mutual aid, they would be able to build up a new life in
which every man, woman and child would prosper. The fear
of hard work and of sudden calamities being thus removed,
they would march a long way towards freedom. Then it
would be said that their adversity had been converted into a
gateway of freedom and prosperity.
Another day, his advice was with reference to the inhabi-
tants of the district who had left their hoii!.es for better pros-
pect in towns. They had received education and had become
educators, doctors, engineers or traders. But what did the
common villager gain from them, although they were the
people who really paid for that type of education ? He
therefore wished that all villagers who had left for the towns
should spend some weeks every year in serving their more
unhappy brothers and sisters in the villages. The engineer
~hould come and teach the people how to make cheap and
healthy homes, how to clean the tanks and keep the roads
in good repair, with resources within the command of the
villagers themselves. The doctor should tell the people what
to eat and how to avoi9 disease. And if everyone thus repaid
his debt to those who were their very own, then the poor
Muslims would no longer look upon them as men belonging
to a different faith, but as friends whose presence enriched
their lives instead of rendering them poorer.
One evening, the question was asked of him if the tech·
nique of non.violence could be employed for the defence of all
kinds of property, whether morally or immorally acquired.
The question arose because, in November, he had said in an

interview with Sarat Chandra Bose that the Government '•l
should guarantee the safety of life, honour and also of the
possessions of the Hindus. His answer was clear and he said
that a moral weapon could only be employed in a moral
cause, not elsewhere. The actual report is given below :
'Q. Is it possible to defend by means of non-violence
anything which can only be gained through violence?
A. It followed from what he had said above that what
was gained by violence could not only not be defended by
non-violence, but the latter required the abandonment of ill-
gotten gains.
Q. Is the accumulation of capital possible except
through violence whether open or tacit ?
A. Such accumulation by private persons was impossible
except through violent means, but accumulation by the State
in a non-violent society was not only possible, it was desir-
able and inevitable.
Q. Whether a man accumulates material or moral wealth
he does so only through the help or co-operation of other
members of society. Has he then the moral right to use any
of it mainly for personal advantage ?
A. The answer was an emphatic No.'
The implication of this brief answer was that anybody
who lived in Noakhali, not on the goodwill of the common
people but .by dependence on exploitation, could not employ
the instrument of non-violence for his own protection. He
could do so pari passu with a transformation of his relations
with his neighbours. Courage was needed for such
a daring enterprise. This courage was moral. · But physi-
cal courage was no less needed by the men and women in
Noakhali, if they wished to live here in safety and honour,
even if they did not belong to the exploiting class.
On the 1st of February 1947, Gandhiji wrote in reply to
THE PILGRIMAGE 145
the request of a friend who had asked him to send a
'trainer' :
Dear--,
I have no such trainer you ask for. My work lies in the
opposite direction. Non~violent defence is the supreme self~
defence, being infallible. No trainer is required for the pur~
pose. And in this part of the country self~dcfcnce through
some kind of arms is suicidal. Anyway, I am the wrong
person to look for the purpose.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
This point came out very well at a place called Jagatpur

on the lOth of January 1947. There was a women's meeting
in the afternoon when Gandhiji spoke to the audience
about courage and the need of never surrendering one's
honour even on pain of death. A gruesome sight was
encountered at this meeting. A lady who had become slightly
demented had come to attend the meeting. Her husband
had been murdered during the disturbances along with
several others, and then the bodies had been buried by
the Muslims. She had recovered one long bone of her
husband's body from the grave and carried this thing with
her as she came to meet Gandhiji.
When the meeting was over, Gandhiji asked me to
record the statements of some of the women who had been
carried away during the disturbances. There was one brave
girl who gave her whole story without reserve for Gandhiji's
. sake. What surprised me most was that the women of the
Muslim household where she had been taken, seemed to have
enjoyed the sight of a helpless woman being dragged into
their midst. They had spoken encouragingly to the girl and
10
asked her to become one of themselves, instead of exercising

any control on their own men-folk.
On the following morning, I went to see the mother of
this girl in the house of a neighbour. Their own home lay
deserted after having been burnt. For some time past, the
girl's mother had been trying to arrange the marriage of her
daughter with a young man, and it was this man who had
given the family shdter after the disaster. On questioning
the mother, I learnt that there would be no difficulty about
the marriage of her daughter in spite of what had taken
place. The difficulty lay with regard to their house, which
had to be all built up before they could think of the marriage
ceremony.
With the mother's permission I then took the girl to
the deserted home. On reaching the site, we saw nothing
but denuded plinths and a few pieces of charred wood strewn
here and there. The iron sheets had all been carried away
by Muslim villagers. The place where two of her brothers
J1ad been thrown into the fire after murder lay beside the
w:alk in the garden, and there I picked up charred bits of
bone from among the charcoal. The girl described to me how
the rioters came, what they did and so on ; and then I put
her the following question. Would she be able to come back
here and live once more in the midst of scenes she could
never forget ? The girl remained silent for a little while,
and then, with her eyes fixed in gaze on the distant fields,
she calmly said, 'Ycs, I can. What can they do to me now ?
They have done all that was in their power to do, and if
they come again, perhaps I shall know how to save myself
by dying'.
Weeks afterwards, I asked myself, where did this woman
gain the strength which she displayed ? She had come in
contact with Gandhiji only once and had heard from him
how a woman should lay down her life rather than surrender
THE PILGRIMAGE 147
her honour. But could that speech have produced the courage
which I witnessed on that winter morning ? Personally,
I would love to answer the question in a different
manner. This unhappy girl was however fortunate in one
respect. In spite of her accident, she had not forfeited the
respect of one whom she loved ; and it was perhaps this love,
more than anything else, which gave her the courage to face
the future bravely in spite of the fact that her past had been
filled with sorrow and suffering.
Gandhiji's call for courage for the sake of re-ordering
<me's life as a preliminary step in the practice of non-violence,
did not seem to bear much fruit. Perhaps the time at the
disposal of the sufferers was too short, perhaps the claim
upon their courage, whether physical or moral, was too great.
Yet, Gandhiji hoped that if a few were forthcoming, the
few in time would become many.
On the 1st of March 1947, someone asked him :
Q. Those who have lost their dear ones, or the homes
which they built up through years of patient labour, find it
extremely difficult to forgive and forget. How can they get
over this feeling and look upon the community. from which
the miscreants came with a feeling of brotherliness ?
A. The one way to forget and forgive was to contem-
plate Bihar which had done much worse than Noakhali and
Tipperah. Did they want Muslims to take dire vengeance
for the Hindu atrocities there? They could not. From this
they should learn to forget and forgive, if they did not wish
to descend to the lowest depths of barbarity.
They must not harbour inferiority complex. They should
be brave. And forgiveness was an attribute and adornment
of bravery. Let them be truly brave. Bravery refused to
strike, it would suffer all infliction with patient cheerfulness.
That would be the truest way of disarming opposition.
In the meanwhile, the economic boycott of Hindus by

Muslims with which Gandhiji first became acquainted from
some fishermen at Jayag on the 29th of January 1947, began
to mount in intensity. It not only affected the landowning
Hindus but poor peasants, fishermen and artisans as well.
The condition became rather acute by about the middle of
February 1947, when scores of people reported to him instances
of such boycott from many parts of the district. At Raipur on
the 6th of February, he said that he had heard of the boycott
before. But he uniformly asked people to ignore such events
if they were isolated instances. If however they were on an
extensive scale, it was the Government's duty to deal with
the situation.
If, unfortunately, boycott became also the policy of the
Government, it would be a serious matter. He could only
think non-violently. If the Government, under such cir-
cumstances, gave proper compensation, he would probably.
advise acceptance by the Hindus. He could not think out
there and then the pros and the cons. If, on the other hand,
they resorted to no compensation, he would advise people to
stand their ground and refuse to leave their homesteads even
on pain of death. He however hoped that no Government
would be mad enough to subscribe to the policy of boycott
whether with or without compensation. Those who belonged
to the land for ages could not be removed from their home-
steads for the simple reason that they found themselves in a
minority. It was intolerable.
On the 19th of February 1947, the question was raised
again at Birampur.
Q. You have advised evacuation if the majority become
irrevocably hostile. But you have also maintained that a
truly non-violent man should never give up the hope of con-
verting his opponent by love. Under these circumstances,
how can a non-violent man accept defeat and leave his home?
THE PILGRIMAGE 149
A. In answer, Gandhiji said, it was perfectly correct that
a non-violent man would not move out of his place. For
such a one, there would be no question of compensation. He
would simply die at his post and prove that his presence was
not a danger to the State or the community.
He knew however that the Hindus of Noakhali made no
such pretension. They were simple folks who loved the world
and wanted to live in peace and safety. Such persons would
consult their honour if the Government honourably offered
them compensation in onh:r to see the majority living in
peace. If the mere presence of Hindus irritated Muslims who
were the majority community, he would consider it to be the
duty of the Government to offer compensation, as it would
be of the Government in Hindu majority provinces to offer
compensation to the Muslims if their presence irritated the
majority community.
But whilst he examined and admitted the possibility of
evacuation, his experience of all India told him that Hindus
and Muslims knew how to live at peace. He declined to
believe that people had said goodbye to their senses so as to
make it impossible for them to live at peace with each other
as they had done for generations. For he believed with the
late Poet Iqbal that the Hindus and Muslims who had lived
together long under the shadow of the mighty Himalayas
and had drunk the waters of the Ganges and the Jamuna
had a unique message for the world.
Whatever might have been the result of Gandhiji's
appeal to the Hindus, his appeal to the common Muslims
seemed to bear even less fruit.
On the evening of the 17th of February, a Muslim divine
named Khalilur Rahman paid a visit to Gandhiji at a village
called Devipur. It was reported that this divine had been
responsible for the conversion of a large number of Hindus
during the disturbances. When Gandhiji asked him if this

was true, the divine said that the conversion should not be
taken seriously, it was a dodge adopted to save the life of
the Hindus. Gandhiji asked him if it was any good saving
one's life (jan) by sacrificing one's faith (iman) ? It would
have been much better if, as a religious preceptor, he had
taught the Hindus to lay down their lives for their faith,
rather than give it up through fear. The divine continued
to argue that such false conversion for saving one's life had
the sanction of religion, when Gandhiji grew impatient and,
in an almost angry tone said, if ever he met God, he would
ask Him why a man with such views had ever been made
a religious preceptor. The divine became silent, and after
an exchange of courtesies, left.
In the meanwhile, Muslim opposition to Gandhiji's con~
tinued presence in Noakhali became still more acute. Begin-
ning from the Chief Minister of Bengal down to the lowliest
educated and politically conscious Muslim in Nmkhali,
everyone demanded that Gandhiji should go to Bihar and
take up the cause of the Muslim sufferers there if he were
to prove his claim of impartiality.
Indeed, on the 14th of January 1947, Gandhiji had
written the following letter to H. S. Suhrawardy :
'Sardar Niranjan Singh Gill had told me of all the talk
he had with you. He says whilst you do not mind his men
working in Noakhali, you would doubt his bona fides until
he with his men worked in Bihar just as assiduously as in
Noakhali. In the circumstances, I have told him that he
should first go to Bihar and work there and, in order to be
able to do so effectively, he would take from you a note of
recommendation to the leader in Bihar of the League Party.
Unless he is so armed, I have told him, his work might, from
the League point of view, fall flat. I added that he should
keep himself in touch with you regarding the work there.
THE PILGRIMAGE 151
' As to his work in Noakhali, I have told him that,
regard being paid to your views as interpreted by the Sardar,
he should withdraw his men from Noakhali unless you
approved of his work in Noakhali. It is not enough that you
tolerate his men's work but it should have your written
approval. His men can only be here as accepted friends of
both Hindus and Muslims. I cannot entertain them on any
other term. I have told him too that he should find financial
support not from private sources including funds at my dis-
posal but he should, in order to be above board, depend upon
0pen public support. Therefore, I have suggtsted to him
that, if you approve of his activity here, you should subscribe
to his appeal even if it be a token rupee. But there may be
difficulty in this of which I could have no knowledge even
though you might approve of his activity in Noakhali.'
On the 8th of February 1947, Gandhiji wrote to Niranjan
Singh Gill on the subject of Bihar :
Dear Sardarji,
I have your letter and enclosures. The Chief Minister's
letter seems to meet the case. You will now go to Patna
and see what the League members have to show and meet
the members of the Ministry. Please do not fail to see
Dr. Mahmud, Prof. Bari and the other Muslim Minister.
Make written notes of what they say. Test accurately what
the refugees are getting in the way of food and clothing.
Examine the conditions of the sanitation of the refugee
camps. Thus you will be able to prepare a fairly exhaustive
report. Do not make any statement to the Press. Do not
be in a hurry to return, nor take unnecessary time over the
work.
Hazara business is a sorry affair.• I have not reached
the bottom yet. But of this when we meet.
• Hazara district in the North-West Frontier where extensive anti-Hindu
riots had broken out.
Things here are not as they should be. That too later.
Yours,
Bapu.
The opposition to Gandhiji's stay in Noakhali began to

take a vulgar turn towards the end of February 1947. The
roads over which he walked from village to village were
deliberately dirtied every day, while Muslim audiences began
to boycott his meetings more persistently. Gandhiji tried to
bear all this with calmness and patience. For he held
stubbornly to the view that it would never be right for him
to surrender his own love for men even if they were erring.
The anxiety and anger which occasionally assailed him in the
earlier days of Noakhali were replaced by an active and a
deeper concern for the Muslim community wherever it
was subjected to suffering.
He was exactly in this mental state, when one day a
messenger arrived with a letter from his friend Syed Mahmud,
Congress Minister of Bihar, who thought that his presence
in that province would do real good to the suffering Muslim
minority there. This confirmed an earlier message from
Niranjan Singh Gill who had written to say that the progress
of rehabilitation in Bihar was not proceeding satisfactorily.
It did not therefore take more than a few minutes for
Gandhiji to decide that the tour in Noakhali and Tipperah
should be interrupted for work in Bihar. He sent an urgent
telegram to the Chief Minister of that province, and even
before a reply came, it was decided that he should proceed
to Patna, accompanied by Manu Gandhi, Deo Prakash,
Muhammad Ahmad Hunar, the Urdu Secretary, and myself.
Volunteers like Ajit De who had been looking after
Gandhiji's personal requirements or those who had originally
accompanied him from DeJhi were not permitted to leave
THE PILGRIMAGE 153
their posts of duty. When it came to Ajit De, I explained
to Gandhiji how helpful he had proved himself to be, and how,
if he were with us, we would at least be free on one account.
But Gandhiji insisted that he would do with whatever help
came to him in Bihar and would put up with personal incon-
veniences if necessary rather than increase his entourage. So
Ajit was left behind.
XV. INTERNAL STRAIN
The reader will remember how Parasuram left after a:
difference of opinion with Gandhiji. But the matter for
which he left, did not die with his departure. Fresh objec-
tions poured in, and this time it was from some of Gandhiji's
closest and most respected co-workers.
The fact that some women workers were in company
with Gandhiji and were even allowed to use his bed, seems
to have been objected to by the latter ; and, therefore, on the
1st of February, at a village called Amishapara, Gandhiji
himself raised the question in his prayer meeting. He stated
that he was in the midst of so much suspicion and distrust
that he did not want his innocent acts to be misrepresented.
He had his graml-daughter with him. She shared the same
bed with him. The Prophet had discounted eunuchs who
became such by an operation. He welcomed eunuchs made
such through prayer by God. His was that aspiration. It
was in the spirit of God's eunuch that he had approached
what he considered was his duty. He felt constrained how-
ever to refer to this very personal matter because he did not
like small talks, whispers and innuendoes. They would not
expect him to go into the why and wherefore of his action.
All they needed to know was that it was an integral part of the
Yajna or sacrifice which he was performing. And he invited
them to bless the effort. He knew that his action had ex-
cited criticism even among his friends. But a duty could not
be shirked even for the sake of most intimate friends.
While translating the speech into Bengali, I left out the
portion summarized above ; there were other more important
matters in the rest of his speech. But as we were walking
back home, Gandhiji said to me that he ' did not like my
omission', it had displeased him. I did not however reply
INTERNAL STRAIN 155
but decided to place my views before him in writing, as I
had done previously in the first week of January.
On the 3rd of February 1947, he referred to the same
question once more in his prayer meeting. He said that what
he had said about his private life was not for blind imitation.
He never claimed to have extraordinary powers. What he
did was for all to do if they conformed to the conditions
observed by him. If that was not done those who pretended
to imitate his practice were doomed to perdition. What he
was doing was undoubtedly dangerous, but it ceased to be
so if the conditions were rigidly observed.
Satish Chandra Mukherji of Banaras, the founder of
the Dawn Society, was one of the men whom Gandhiji held
in high esteem. On the day he made his first reference in
the public meeting, Gandhiji also wrote to Satish Babu a
letter, towards the last part of which the following paragraph
appeared: 'And now I put before you a poser. A young
girl ( 19) who is in the place of grand-daughter to me by
relation shares the same bed with me, not for any animal
satisfaction but for (to me) valid moral reasons. She claims
to be free from the passion that a girl of her age generally
has and I claim to be a practised brahmachari. Do you see
anything bad or unjustifiable in this juxtaposition ? I ask
the question because some of my intimate associates hold
it to be wholly unjustified and even a breach of brahmacharya.
I hold a totally opposite view. As you are an experienced
man and as I have regard for your opinion, I put you .the
question. You may take your own time to answer the
question. You are in no way bound to answer it, if you don't
wish to.'
On the following day, Gandhiji despatched the following
telegram to Kishorlal Mashruwala at the Harijan Ashram,
Sabarmati : 'Your letter. See public statement made yester-
day. Writing. Bapu.'
Here let me give below a small portion of my personal

diary once again.
Sadhurkhil, Tuesday, 4~2~1947:

There were a large number of interviews on this day.
Gandhiji gave more than half an hour to a retired official of
the Postal Department in explaining certain nature~cure
methods for an old ailment of his. This solicitude for any~
<>ne suffering physically or mentally, is an important charac~
teristic of Gandhiji ; he seems to take an almost motherly
interest in anyone who is ailing and seeks his help.
But my experience during the present week has been that
this attitude occasionally makes him indulgent towards some
of his associates. He puts them under severe spiritual strain,
and then, in a fit of exaggerated tenderness, even becomes
party to causing injury to others for the sake of his beloved
ones. This has been worrying me for some time past, for a
recent case has cropped up in relation to one of the volunteers
serving here. In fact, I had to draw his attention to this
event one day.
A careful perusal of the letter quoted below will show,
with what tender care he addresses himself to the personal
problems of those who come close to him. Incidentally, it
also proves to men like us, how, after a life of prolonged
brahmacharya, he has become incapable of understanding the
problems of love or sex as they exist in the common human
plane.
7~2~1947
Chi. Nirmal Babu,
I never succeeded in writing to you on your first personal
letter. The second on B's relation with A now comes. I
must undertake this second today. I sent your letter to A,
you left it open for me to do so. My loyalty to him demanded
that J should.
INTERNAL STRAIN 157
B has led you into doing an injustice to A. I discussed
it with her. She saw the truth of it. A's love is wholly
free from animal passion. I have called it poetic. It is not
a perfect adjective but I can .find no better. He loved once
a girl with the same passion with which he loves B. In
either case, it was philanthropic. The .first came in a flash,.
the second took practically two years to discover. He thought
he would give B the best of him in point of education. In
his opinion both cases went wrong because of my initial aver-
sion. In the .first, I relented when as A thinks it was too
late. In the second, it is almost too late. The .first girl is
married. He is entitled to hope till B is married elsewhere,
if she is. So far as B knows herself, it is a sealed book. Now
mark the beauty of it. A says so long as B does not change
her mind, she will be as sister or daughter to him and would
never make any other advances to her. B believes this assur-
ance, what she objects to is his shadowing her as she calls it.
If he does not get B as wife, he will never think of
making love to another woman. He is too pure to think of
any such thing. If you accept my analysis, you will render
justice to A and lead B aright.
I do wish you could see that in non-violent conduct,
whether individual or universal, there is an indissoluble con-
nection between private, personal life and public. You may
be as generous and charitable as you like in judging men, but
you cannot overlook private deflections from the right con-
duct. If you are convinced about this proposition, you should
pursue my connection with Manu and if you find a flaw, try
to show it to me.
I have written in order to save your time and to let you
think: But I shall welcome discussion, if you like it.
Asirbad.
Bapu.
It was late at night on the 9th of February 1947 that

two telegrams reached Gandhiji from our headquarters at
Kazirkhil. One of them ran as follows :
'Your letter first instant. We relinquish charge Harijan
papers and corresponJence. Charge against Jaisukhlal with-
drawn in second letter on learning our misunderstanding.
Writing. Kishorlal Narahari.'
To this and to another, Gandhiji sent the following
replies:
' Kishorlal, Harijan Ashram, Sabarmati. Sorry your
decision. You are entitled. Regard it hasty. Any case, you
will render necessary help till new arrangement made. Wired
Jivanji. Bapu.'
Wire to Jivanji D. Desai :
'Similar wire recciveJ from Kishorlalbhai. Sorry, but
helpless. Sure they will give necessary help till new arrange-
ment made. You are a Trust. You and trustees have to
decide whether my help can be taken conduct Navajivan
papers. I shall not misunderstand any of you dissociate from
my activities. If you and Trust conscientiously desire my
association I shall resume editing from here. Show this trus-
tees, others and wire. Bapu.'
On the 14th of February, Sudhir Ghose came to see

Gandhiji with a number of letters from Delhi. Gandhiji
had a long conversation with him. The fact of his breach
with old and respected friends, seems to be hanging heavily
on his mind, though he hard Iy gives any expression to it. But
during the conversation with Sudhir Babu, I heard him say :
'Even if my nearest and dearest leave me, I do not want
to be cowed down. I do not want to prove a coward.'
Physical courage of a very high order, he said, was even to
be found among ruffians. The courage which made a man
risk public disapproval when he felt that he was right, was
INTERNAL STRAIN 159
undoubtedly of a superior order. The work in Noakhali was
the most difficult he had undertaken in life. He then
continued, ' 1 do not want to die a discredited or defeated
man. So I have kept one loophole, I have said that I would
rather die in Noakhali than go back a defeated man. I do
not want to die by inches, as a paralytic for example. An
assassin's knife may put an end to my life, but what I would
welcome is that I shall breathe my last even in the midst of
work. But I do not know what God has in store for me. I
am trying to reach the state described in the Gita. I get
impatient and worried when I am confronted with silly argu-
ments, but I have no right to be angry on that account. Why
should 1 get worried about it either ? I sometimes flare up
in anger. This should not be so. I am afraid, I am yet far
from the state of sthita prajna.'*
On the same evening, in course of his speech after prayer,
Gandhiji quoted the following saying of the Prophet
Muhammad, 'Be in the world like a traveller, or like a passer
on, and reckon yourself as of the dead.' He commented,
how good it would be if all regarded themselves as of the
dead. They knew that death might overtake them any
moment. What a fine preparation for the event if all became
as dead.
In the last week of February, while we were having some

rest at Haim Char, a letter arrived from Kishorlal Mashru-
wala. Gandhiji called me to his presence and said how
differences had developed between him and some of his
closest associates. He referred to Manu's practice of sleeping
with him and asked for my opinion regarding the question
raised by his friends. Naturally I needed some time to gather
• The condition of the man who has completely mastered himself, as

deseribod in the Bhagabad Gita, II. 54-72, a text which was read daily morn-
ing and evening in Gandhiji's prayers.
all the facts. Manu translated K. G. Mashruwala's letter to

me as the original was in Gujarati. The main charge seemed
to have been that Gandhiji was obviously suffering from a
sense of self-delusion in regard to his relation with the oppo-
site sex. Manu then related to me the details of what
Gandhiji described as his prayog or experiment or self-
examination.
But, of this, later.
In the meanwhile, preparations were made for leaving
the camp at Haim Char. This was done on the 2nd of March
1947, when we left by jeep for the steamer station at Chand-
pur. The road all along was lined by eager crowds of men
and women.
At Chandpur, we boarded a special steamer offered by
the Steamer Company for Gandhiji's service. But the latter
insisted on our payment of the regular fare to the authorities.
So we purchased two first-class and hJlf a dozen second-class
tickets from the Company's agent who was on board with
us and left Chandpur the same evening.
XVI. THE FIRST FORTNIGHT IN BIHAR
The train by which we travelled from Calcutta reached
Fatwah station near Patna early in the morning and Professor
Abdul Bari, the President of the Provincial Congress Com-
mittee, Srikrishna Sinha, the Chief Minister, and others wel-
comed Gandhiji on the platform. As soon as Gandhiji saw
Bari Sahib, he laughed and said, ' How is it that you are still
alive!' (Kya abhi tak zinde hain ?), for Professor Bari is a
Muss ulman.
Gandhiji was then driven in a car straight to Patna while
we proceeded with the luggage by train. At Patna we were
all accommodated in the palatial residence of Syed Mahmud
on the bank of the Ganges. The whole day was passed in
company with Rajendra Prasad and the Congress Ministers.
When Gandhiji learnt that Abdul Aziz, an influential leader
belonging to the Muslim League, was ailing in bed, he paid
a visit to the latter.
The prayer meeting was held in the lawn which is close
by. But the crowds were so heavy and so unorganized that
the car could proceed to the prayer ground only with the
greatest difficulty. At the end of pmyer, Gandhiji refused
to take the car and decided to walk back home. The crowds
became almost unmanageable and plenty of time was taken
in reaching Mahmud Sahib's residence. Gandhiji had a talk
with Prof. Bari about this and said that henceforth he would
not use the car while going to the prayer ground and
Congress volunteers must work and bring order among the
crowd.
Prayer meetings were held in the lawn from the 5th to
the 11th, while the whole of each day was mostly passed
in listening to Muslim sufferers and their complaints or in
conference with Rajendra Babu and the Ministers of the
11
province. & the speeches were in Hindi and I had no need

of translating them as I used to do in Noakhali, I had only
to prepare the prayer reports and have them revised by
Gand.b.iji for the Press. Mridula Sarabhai took charge of the
interviews while Deo Prakash and Hunar looked after most
of the correspondence in Hindi and Umu. My work thus
became light, and I asked Gandhiji what I should do now.
I suggested, at the same time, that there was one thing to
which I could devote myself ; I could meet different political
parties in Patna and gather from them independent accounts
and opinions regarding the riots and allied questions.
Gandhiji agreed readily, and for the next few days, I met the
Provincial Secretary of the <;:ommunist Party of India, the
Royists, prominent members of the Bengali community in
Bihar like P. R. Das and P. K. Sen, and also a number of
high Government officials. Reports of these conversations
were submitted duly every day.
During prayer, the main burden of Gandhiji's speech
was that the people of Bihar should fed sorry for what they
had done by way of reprisal against innocent Muslims for
what some of their misguided co-religionists had done in
Noakhali. This was not only cowardly but also suicidal for
the whole nation. Gandhiji wanted them to return all the
looted property, to restore such abducted women as were
still alive, and, last of all, to show real repentance by con~
tributing their mite and actively helping in the rehabilita-
tion of the Muslim evacuees.
Extracts from some of his speeches delivered during this
week will illustrate how his mind was working at the time.
He knew that what the Hindus of Bihar had done to-
wards their Muslim brethren was infinitely worse than what
Noakhali had done. He hoped that they had done and
were doing all the reparation possible, and that was, in mag~
nitude, as great as the crime. The Congress, which rightfully
THE FmST FORTNIGHT IN BIHAR 163
daimed to represent the whole of India, had to make itself
responsible for the misdeeds of all communities and classes.
He was grieved to find that there were thoughtless
Hindus in all parts of India who falsely hugged the belief
that Bihar had arrested the growth of lawlessness that was
to be witnessed in Noakhali. It was a cowardly thing for a
man to believe that barbarity could ever protect a civiliza-
tion or a religion or defend freedom. The way to make
reprisals for Noakhali was to learn how not to copy the
barbarous deeds such as Noakhali had proved itself capable
of, but to return barbarism by manliness, which consisted in
daring to die without a thought of reparation and without
in any way compromising one's honour.
Gandhiji expressed his surprise that he had received a
telegram warning him that he must not condemn Hindus
in Bihar, for what they had done was purely from a sense
of duty. He had no hesitation in saying that the writer did
no good to India or to Hinduism by issuing the warning.
He spoke as a Hindu having a living faith in his own religion
and he claimed to be a better Hindu for claiming to be a
good Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew, as he was a Hindu.
And he invited every one of his audience to feel likewise. As
such, he felt that he would forfeit his claim to be a Hindu
if he bolstered up the wrong-doing of fellow Hindus or any
other fellow being.
On the 12th a~ Patna City, he said, ' Should we forget
our humanity and return blow for blow? If some mis-
directed individual took it into his head to desecrate a temple
or break idols, should a Hindu in return desecrate a mosque
on that account ? Did it in any way help to protect the
temple or to save the cause of Hinduism?' Personally, said
Gandhiji, he was as much an idol worshipper as an idol
breaker, and he sugges~ed that the whole of the audience
whethC'r Hindu, Muslim or other were also so, whether they
admitted it or not. He knew mankind thirsted for symbol-

ism. Were not musjids or churches in reality the same as
mandirs ? God resided everywhere, no less in stock or stone
than in a single hair on the body of men. But men associated
sacredness with particular places ~nd things more than with
others. Such sentiment was worthy of respect when it did
not mean restriction of like freedom in others. To every
Hindu and Mussulman, Gandhiji's advice was that if there
was compulsion anywhere, they should gently but firmly
refuse to submit to force. Personally, he himself would hug
an idol and lay down his life to protect it {ather than brook
any restriction upon his freedom of worship.
Gamlhiji referred one day to a certain letter he had
received from a very frank and honest friend. The latter
had reminded him that the efforts for religious toleration
that he had been making were all in vain ; for, after all, the
quarrel between the Hindus and the Mussulmans was not
on account of religious difference but was essentially political
in origin; religion had only been made to serve as a label
for political distinctions. The friend had expressed the
opinion that it was 3 tussle between United India on the
one hand and of India Divided on the other.
Gandhiji confessed he did not yet know what the full
meaning of dividing India was. But what he wanted to
impress upon the audience was that, supposing it were only
a so-called political struggle, did it mean that all rules of
decency and of morals should be thrown to the winds ?
Human conflicts divorced from ethical considerations could
only lead to the use of the atom bomb where every trace
of humanity is held completely in abeyance. If there are
honest differences, could they not agree to settle their
differences decently and in a comradely spirit ? If they failed,
only slavery of an unredeemable character could await them
at the end of the road.
THE FIRST FORTNIGHT IN BIHAR 165
As an instance of non-violent resistance, Gandhiji
referred another day to the question of Pakistan. He said
that if some one asked him under threat of violence to admit
such a claim, he should not immediately rush to return the
violence thus offered. In all humility, he would ask the
aggressor what was really meant by the demand and, if he
were really satisfied that it was something worth striving
for, then he would have no hesitation in proclaiming from
the house-top that the demand was just and had to be
admitted by every one concerned. But if the demand was
backed by force, then the only course open to the non-violent
man was to offer non-violent resistance against it as long as
he was not convinced of its justice. Such resistance required
courage of a superior order to that needed in violent warfare.
The true meaning of non-resistance had often been mis-
understood or even distorted. It never implied that the non-
violent man should bend before the violence of the aggressor.
While not returning the latter's violence by violence, he
should refuse to submit to the latter's illegitimate demand
even to the point of death. That was the true meaning of
non-violence.
If we returned blow for blow between ourselves at a
moment when the British nation out of a ~trong sense of
reality had decided to quit India, we would orily succeed
in tearing up our motherland into bits which went by the
name of Hindustan and Pakistan, Brahminist:an and Acchu-
tistan (Land of the Brahmins and Land of the Untouch-
ables). What more madness could there be than what had
taken pLace in Bengal and Bihar, or what was taking place
even then in the Punjab or the Frontier Province ?
Sometimes, in these speeches, Gandhiji spoke not to men
collectively, in political terms, but his appeal was directed
towards the individual ; and then his speeches touched the
166 MY DAYS WITII GANDHI
heart of the audience more readily and gave rise to a new

sense of personal responsibility.
Thus, in a written speech on his day of silence on the
9th, he said that with those who had been guilty, he would
plead for repentance and for discovering themselves. While
for those who had not personally participated in the shame-
ful killings, his advice was that they should purify their own
thoughts. When thoughts are not pure, one's actions can
never be purified. Pure action can never come from imita-
tion. If one tries to become good by merely imitating the
good conduct of others, such conduct never succeeds in
radiating any influence upon others, because it is after all
not the true stuff. But one whose heart has become really
pure along with his actions, can at once sense the true
character of the thoughts which influence the behaviour of
his neighbours. When thought and action have both become
pure, there can be no repetition of the deeds which have
marred the fair face of Bihar. But the world never pro-
gresses in a straight line. The thoughts and actions of men
never follow a parallel and uniform course. For all men,
these two can never be completely purified at any single
point of time.
'Therefore I would wish to indicate to you tonight only
that ideal of duty which workers should keep before them-
selves. If workers are available in sufficient numbers, they
should .first explain clearly to the miscreants the full conse-
quences of their misdeeds. It should be explained to the
wrong-doers that such deeds can never be of any good to
them personally nor can it serve the cause of Hinduism or
of the country in general. It should be explained to them
that they have not been able to harm those whom they
intended. They should also be induced to come forward
and make an open breast of their misdeeds before the public.
They should also restore looted property and abducted women
to the proper quarters.
'A change of heart can never be brought about by law,
it can only be effected through inner conversion. When that
is accomplished then there is no longer any need of compul-
sive laws.
· 'I had asked you to help in the relief of Muslim brothers
and sisters who have suffered during the last riots. Yesterday
you did not come prepared for that purpose. I expect of you
today to contribute your mite in this noble cause.'
From the 9th onwards, collections began to be made for
relief and rehabilitation of the sufferers. One day he referred
to a question whether Muslims had contributed similarly for
relief in Noakhali. It was indeed true, he said in reply, that
little had come to him from that quarter. But the reason,
he believed, had been that he was now looked upon as the
Enemy No. One, rather than a friend by the majority of
the Muslim community in India. Yet, even in Comilla,
there had been a case when some Muslim and Christian
friends had contributed more than Rs. 800 along with a
parcel of conch-shell bangles and vermilion for distribution
among Hindu women from whom such ceremonial marks
had been forcibly removed during the disturbances~ #
Incidentally, on the 7th of March 1947, Gandhiji said
that he had been seriously thinking if he should not march
from village to village as he had done in Noakhali, so that
what little power his thoughts contained might be conveyed
directly to the most distant villager who had done a wrong
to his brother Mussulman.
And thus began his new programme, in which, with
headquarters in Patna, he went everyday to some village to
hold his prayer meeting in the evening. His body WlaS too
tired, and the crowds of Bihar too unmanageable for him to
undertake a walking tour through the affected parts of the
province. The prayer meetings were accordingly held from

after the 9th in different villages within several miles of
Patna. The crowds swelled as the days rolled by, and the
Government also made good arrangements for regulating
them. Loudspeakers were fitted in generous numbers every-
where, while strongly built platforms were set up from which
Gandhiji addressed the meetings. There used to be a shade
on the top, all the sides being kept open, so that he could be
seen in full from every quarter. At the end of the meeting,
he used to sit at the edge of the platform and receive contri-
butions personally while volunteers moved about among the
crowd to make further collections. The fact that most people
wanted to place their little contribution in Gandhiji's own
hands made it difficult for us to control the crowd when the
meeting was over, for everyone tried to push his way to the
dais; and this was always dangerous.
On the lOth, Gandhiji paid a ' courtesy ' call to the British
Governor of the province. He referred to the visit in his
prayer speech and said he could not go to the Governor
expecting any favours or solaces. He could expect services
or favours only from the Ministers who were representatives
of the people.
~art' Abdul Ghaffar Khan had joined us in Patna, and
on the 16th of March, he made an impassioned appeal to
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs to realize the consequences of
the present fratricidal war. He confessed he did not yet see
any light through the dark clouds which had spread from
Calcutta and Noakhali to Bihar and then to the Punjab and
the Frontier Province. The spectre which loomed before him
was of India burning. He asked all to ponder over its
terrible consequences. Pakistan, he said, could be established
through love or non-violence. He did not know if it were
possible to do so through force ; but if it were, then it could
not be lasting or of any good. It was the duty of every one,
he held1 to change the poisoned atmosphere of the country
through love, to prepare the country for enjoying the fruits
of real freedom in peace and amity.
On the 17th, we started for a village named Masaurhi
by train. We reached there in the afternoon, and after
inspecting the damaged houses of the Mussulman inhabitants,
Gandhiji held his prayer meeting in a spacious lawn. He
stayed at Masaurhi for three days and then returned to Patna
to continue his tour in other villages.
For some time past, I had been asking for his permission
to leave. He was however reluctant to let me go, but in
the end I left on the 18th of March 1947 by the afternoon
train for Patna, from where I proceeded once more to my
work in the University of Calcutta.
XVII. TILL WE MEET AGAIN
The events which led to this parting were of a rather
painful character. Yet they have to be recounted as faithfully
as possible, because they throw an unexpected light on some
corners of Gandhiji's personality as well as on his relation
with those who lived and worked with him.
The reader will remember that although our original
party during Gandhiji's pilgrimage in Noakhali had consisted
of Parasuram and myself, Parasuram had left and Manu had
taken his place. She had come partly because she
wanted to serve Bapu, and partly also because he wished
her to come. The other co-workers of Gandhiji like Kanu
and Abba Gandhi, Pyarelal, Sushila Nayyar and others had
each been posted in one village or another and had been
ordered to be at their posts till the fruition of the peace
mission. Pyarclal's brother Deo Prakash had joined us later
on, not on Gandhiji's invitation but on his own ; and he
continued to be of help in dealing with interviews and part
of the correspondence. For dealing with Urdu correspon-
dence, there was no capable assistant after Pyarelal's departure.
Pandit Sunderlal of Allahabad had suggested to Gandhiji the
name of Muhammad Ahmad Hunar, a young writer who
knew both Hindi and Urdu very well, and Hunar accordingly
had become a member of our party towards the latter part
of Gandhiji's stay in Noakhali.
While we were leaving Noakhali, th~ reader may perhaps
remember that a volunteer named Ajit De, who looked after
Gandhiji's personal requirements along with Manu, was left
behind, as Gandhiji said that he would manage to do with
whatever help came to him in Bihar. In Bihar, the Govern-
ment had made more than adequate arrangements for
secretarial work. There were plenty of stenographers and
TILL WE MEET AGAIN 171
clerks, as well as volunteers to look after the personal require-
ments of the camp.
Five days after we reached Patna, the feeling began to
grow upon me that there was little to which I could devote
myself exclusively for Gandhiji's sake. One member of our
party whom I shall call R began to take more and more
interest in secretarial work, and at Gandhiji's suggestion, he
began to learn from me how I used to keep indexes of letters,
interviews and events. Card-indexing is no difficult job, and
R did not take very much time in learning the method ;
yet, he did commit a few mistakes now and then as all
apprentices usually do. There was nothing to worry about
that ; and I tried patiently to pass on more and more work
to him. But in course of my five months stay with Gandhiji, I
felt occasionally that he had a tende!" corner for various
persons in his heart. And for those for whom he had a
feeling of tenderness, he often went to J].reat lengths to keep
them pleased.
In fact, a great friend of Gandhiii once wrote to me
explaining how he looked after the personal needs of those
who worked with him and whom he loved. Thus he wrote:
' If you accept that X must stay with Bapu, then all those
conditions which will keep him " efficient " must be fulfilled.
And that is how so many things come in train, whether
they be good lights, torches, fountain pens, stationery ..... .
or now and then some children or kitten to play with. Bapu
has strength of mind enough not to feel helpless by being
deprived of any associate or thing of comfort. He can raise
new associates and improvise new means. But X would
break down. He (the latter) needs props both in men and
materials'.
Now this is a point which had been worrying me for
some time past. Why should a fountain pen or, for that
matter, a kitten or a human being be sacrificed for the sake
of one man, particularly if the kitten or the pen or the person

in question does not feel an eagerness for being so offered ?
Gandhiji might not force the person into a bout of self-
sacrifice, but why should he or any of his companions
encourage anyone to be such a sacrifice for the sake of another,
who, in turn, might thus be maintained at a level of effi-
ciency for, Gandhiji's service ?
Men and women undoubtedly do things of this kind in
life. Women with a motherly feeling for those whom they
love, may find recourse to such an action justifiable ; but I
had somehow gathered from Gandhiji's writings that he
was above this tender care for people. He had, of course,
every right to be tender to whomsoever he liked, and to any
degree that suited him; but somehow it hurt me some-
where. I felt, it was subordinating a human being to a
purpose not :determined 'independently by the person
concerned. "
And so, on the 11th of March in Patna, I conveyed to
Gandhiji the desire to be relieved of my duties by the end
of the m,onth. This I told him while I was shaving him in
the morning; and I also reminded him that he had said in
Noakhali that his entourage would consist merely of those
who were indispensable. But now, he had allowed more
persons to be with us than were actually needed ; and the
reason was not always their indispensaoility. He defended
himself by saying that he did not ask anyone to come, but
took only such help as carne along. I retorted by saying that,
rat Noakhali, he had been very strict and had once said to
Manu that he was going to turn a new leaf in his life in
this most difficult enterprise of his, but that strength was
not in evidence consistently all along. Why should he
display a softness even when the political mission in which
he was engaged suffered to some extent thereby? For these
personal preoccupations sometimes wasted his time and left
TILL WE MEET AGAiN 173
his temper in a none too balanced condi.tion all through the
day.
In the meanwhile, the breach between him and some of
his co-workers had remained unbridged. And, in order to
discuss matters, Swami Anand and Kedar Nathji came to
Bihar on the 14th of March 1947. Their discussion was
entirely private, and continued through the 15th and the
16th when they left. On the 15th and the 16th;, both
of these old associates of Gandhiji also tried to ascertain
from me what views I held with regard to the question
on which differences had developed between them and the
latter. I placed my viewpoint orally before them, and
also wrote out a letter for communication to other friends.
All this had become necessary because Gandhiji had
said to Kedar Nathji and Swami Anand that his views
regarding brahmacharya were of an unorthodox kind ; he
had been partly influenced by the writings of some Western
writers on this subject, and also that his immediate personal
associates did not see anything wrong in his acts. The last
was .a reference to me, and that was the reason why the two
friends from Gujarat had wanted to ascertain my views on
the subject.
A substantial portion of that letter is reproduced below
after necessary changes :
Patna, 16-.3--1947
My dear-,
Swami Anand and Nathji have heard from me my re-
action to the problems they came to discuss with Gandhiji.
They are also carrying copies of three letters which will
help to make my position clear. Swami Anand asked me
this morning if he could say to his friends that I disapproved
of Gandhiji's action. It is with reference to this question
that I should try to make my position clear. Hence this
letter.
Swami Anand told me in the morning that during the

discussion last night, Gandhiji had said to Nathji that his
ideas on brahmacharya were not of the orthodox kind, and
they had been modified by his long contact with the West.
This was an agreeable surprise to me ; as I personally belong
to a rather unorthodox frame of mind. Yet the surprise
was there, because from a ser~ous study of Gandhiji's writings
I had formed the opinion, which was perhaps not unjustified,
that he represented a hard, puritanic form of self~discipline,
something which we usually associate with media:val Christian
ascetics or Jain recluses.
So, when I first learnt in detail about Gandhiji's prayog
or experiment, I felt genuinely surprised. I was informed
that he sometimes asked women to share his bed and even
the cover which he used, and then tried to ascertain if even
the least trace of sensual feeling had been evoked in himself
or his companion. Personally, I would never tempt myself
like that ; nor would my respect for woman's personality
permit me to treat her as an instrument of an experiment
undertaken only for my own sake.
But when I learnt about this technique of self~examina~
tion employed by Gandhiji, I felt that I had discovered
the reason why some regarded Gandhiji as their private
possession ; this feeling often leading them to a kind of
emotional unbalance. The behaviour of A, B or C, for
instance, is no proof of healthy psychological relationship.
Whatever may be the value of the prayog in Gandhiji's own
case, it does leave a mark of injury on the personality of
others who are not of the same -moral stature as he himself
is, and for whom sharing in Gandhiji's experiment is no
spiritual necessity.
This has been the reason why I have sometime'i spoken
or written strongly to Gandhiji on the subject of repression
and its effects upon those who come under his influence
either in private or in public life. But', you will see, this
charge is quite different from the one tu which you or your
friends subscribe. This is also the reason why I have drawn
a distinction in the case of Manu, whose relation to Gandhiji
is of a completely different order.
I hope my position is quite clea:. But if it is not,
please do not hesitate to write.
Yours sincerely,
Nirmal Kumar Bose.
Post-script. Even with regard to the 'experiment', I would
stand by Gandhiji, if-
( 1) the other party were a willing agent, voluntarily
entering into the experiment with a knowledge of
the possible consequences upon her own personality;
(2) and the public knew about the experiment and
expressed their mind over it.
The second is otherwise unnecessary, but has only been
called for because Gandhiji himself invited public opinion
on this subject twice in his prayer speeches in Noakhali.
He expected the public to express an opinion even when
they did not know the entire details of the situation. But,
even if after knowing everything, the public thought that
Gandhiji was in the wrong, while he considered himself to
be right, I would stand by him.
After Swami Anand and Kedar Narhji left on the 16th,
I placed before Gandhiji a copy of the letter written for
them along with the post-script which I wanted to post.
It was Monday, the 17th, his day of silence. So he wrote
to me on a slip of paper :
' You may post it if you wish. There are errors of facts
in the letter. There are other defecto; to which I would
draw your attention. I would therefore advise you to wait
till you have seen my opinion. But do iust as you please.'
This post-script was therefore actually posted by me
only on the 21st from Tipperah district, while the original

letter had been carried by hand by Swami Anand.
As we left by train for Masaurhi on a three days' tour,
the crowd kept swelling round the train. But amidst all
the noise and disturbances created by the crowd, many of
whom stepped upon the footboard to have a view of
Gandhiji, he sat calmly near the window, busy writing on
slips of used paper. When the writing was over, he handed
over the slips to me, and I found it was a letter meant for
me. It is given below with the personal names of persons
suppressed :
Chi. Nirmal Babu,
Your letter is full of inaccuracies and unwarranted
assumptions. I had asked you to discuss the thing with me.
You could not do it. The result is bad. I do not mind
what opinion you hold, only it must be well fortified.
You should have ascertained my views from me before
accepting second-hand evidence however honest it might be.
I go beyond the orthodox view as we know it. My
definition does not admit of laxity. I do not call that
brahmacharya that means not to touch a woman. What I
do today is nothing new for me. So f:1r as I know myself,
I hold today the same view I held when about 45 years ago
I took the vow. Without the vow in England as a student,
I freely mixed with women and yet I called myself a
brahmachari for the period of my residence there. For me,
brahmacharya is that thought and practice which puts you
in touch with the Infinite and takes you to His presence.
In that sense Dayanand Saraswati was not. Most certainly
I am not. But I am trying to reach that state and in accord~
ance with my belief, I have made substantial progress in
that direction.
I have not become modern at all in the same sense
you seem to mean. I am as ancient as can be imagined and
hope to remain so to the end of my life. If this displeases
you, I cannot help it. Let me appear to you and others as
naked as I can.
You have not done justice to A, B or C. You do not
know them fully. Have you any right to judge them before·
you have taken the trouble of knowi11g them as fully as
possible ? That you may not want to or that you have no
time, I would appreciate. But that very fact should prevent
you from passing judgement on them.
I am amazed at your assumption that my experiment
implied any assumption of woman's inferiority. She would
be, if I looked upon. her with lust with or without her
consent. I have believed in woman's perfect equality with
man. My wife was 'inferior' when she was the instrument
of my lust. She ceased to be that when she lay with me
naked as my sister. If she and I were :1ot lustfully agitated
in our minds and bodies, the contact raised both of us.
Should there be difference if it is not my wife, as she
once was, but some other sister ? I do hope you will acquit
me of having .any lustful designs upon women or girls who
have been naked with me. A or B's hysteria had nothing
to do with my experiment, I hope. They were before the
experiment what they are today, if they have not less of it.
The distinction between Manu and c.thers is meaningless
for our discus;ion. That she is my grand-daughter may
exempt me from criticism. But I do not want that
advantage.
'Experiment' or prayog is an ill-chosen word. I have
used it. It differs from the present• in the sense that the
one could be stopped by me, the other being dharma could
not be. Now comes the stop.
• The knotty question, namely, whether Manu should be allowed to

use his bed or not in contrast to his self-examination, which was considered
part of his religious or spiritual practice or tlharma.
12
That I should take the public in my confidence before

I do anything new is novel to me. In the present case there
is nothing new.
Bapu.
After having received the letter, I began to frame an

answer in mind. In the meanwhile, I told Gandhiji that I
might have to leave him earlier than by the end of the month.
He asked me in writing : ' When must you go ? There is
no immediate hurry, is there ? Let us wait till the 3 days'
tour is over.' That same night, I asked GandhiJl a few que~
tions regarding facts connected with the suuject of my letter.
I also arranged my few things m a small package, tor the
feeling grew upon me that the time had come for me to
depart.
On Tuesday the 18th, while I was shaving him, I had a
long conversation with him bearing on the subject, and later
on, I wrote out my views in the form of a letter which I
handed over to him. A portinn of that letter is reproduced
below:
Masaurhi, 18-3-1947
Bapuji,
After rece1vmg your letter written yesterday in the..
train, I had about an hour's talk with you in which I tried
to refute the charge against me that I had formed judgement
hastily without giving A or others any chance of presenting
their case fully.
If you please refer to my letter of the 2nd of January
1947, you will find in line 14 that I have connected by impli-
cation X with you in your experiment. It was just because
of that that last night I first ascertained from you if she had
had any connection with the experiment, and you replied in
the affirmative. I had a suspicion when she told me some
time ago tha~ she had had nothing to do with your prayog
that she was screening facts, may be even from herself. And
when it came to that, where was the point in trying to
gather more facts from her by direct interrogation ?
Personally, I have practised the Freudian technique of
dream analysis on myself and have derived immense benefit,
as it has helped to bring to the surface submerged desires
which had been causing trouble, and thus helped me to deal
with them satisfactorily. That method was inapplicable in
the case of X. As her conscious and unconscious thoughts
were beyond direct approach, I had to depend on outside
observation of behaviour, which I did.
And, as I told you in the January letter, my charge
against her was that she had become nearly neurotic and had
been taking away a considerable portion of your time when
all your services were needed almost exclusively in the national
cause. Thus I based my judgement on personal observation
of behaviour. I admit it was not wholly adequate. But then,
I was sitting in no public judgement over her, and also wanted
no more than to prevent her from wasting your time over
personal matters. I was encouraged to do so particularly
because every time she was with you, you were left in a
disturbed frame of mind which definitely interfered with
your capacity for work. All that I want to tell you is that I
did not base my judgement on ' second-hand' evidence ; but
on another type of observation, which is valid to the extent
it goes.
It was likewise in the case of A. I do not ascribe any
impure motive to him. But if his love for B is of the poetic
variety, why should he need B's physical presence even within
several miles of himself ? I have not yet been able to reconcile
myself to the belief that A's first love in life is village-work
and all else takes second place. If I had been in A's position,
I would have returned to some place of rest, taken time to
180 MY DAYS WITH GANDID
discover myself, settled down as a householder after marriage

and tried to do no more than what I was honestly capable
of. But if the need of my service to the country were so
urgent that I could not afford that pleasure to myself, I
would have swallowed the bitter pill in a sporting spirit,
tried to develop my devotion to work and left it at that.
But you must not take any of this as an indictment
a.gainst either X or A. It only means that we poor mortals
are often motivated and carried away by unconscious desires
in directions other than those to which we consciously
subscribe.
In your own case, I have observed that you try to defend
your close associates in discussions regarding them, rather
than place the cause of reality above everything else. It is
perfectly natural for a man to place his loyalty to comrades
above many other things, but then I expected more than a
gentleman's behaviour from you.
Now for a personal matter. Bapuji, you originally called
me to service under you while you were in Bengal. The
University gladly granted me indefinite leave so long as you
needed my services. But the interest of my students has also
been suffering. When I have to choose between the amount
of service I can render to you here in Bihar and for science
in the University, I would place the latter first. But if it
had been in Bengal, I would have sacrificed the latter interest,
because I would then have known that so far as translating
your speeches into Bengali was concerned, I would have been
more useful than most of your other assistants. But now that
you are in Bihar, men like Pyarelalji or others would be in
their elements with their mastery over Hindustani and their
undoubtedly great ability for secretarial work.. So I would
love to make room for anyone whom you may choose.
When once more you are in Bengal and feel the need of
my services, the University will gladly grant me leave for

service under you without hesitation.
Hence my plan is to leave for Calcutta even tonight if
you do not object.
N.K.B.
To this he replied :
Chi. Nirmal Babu,

If Y.ou must leave today I must not stand between you
and your duty as you conceive it. You have made me so
used to you that I shall miss you. Pyarelal I cannot have
just now. He must be in his place. If you leave today, I
suppose you have arranged to hand over all papers in perfect
order. The only one who can take charge is Deo.
Your explanation does not give me satisfaction. But
I must not argue. If you want me to do so, I could do it
through correspondence which perhaps better suits your
nature. Of course you are at liberty to discuss the whole of
me and my writings with anybody you like. This applies
equally to the three letters. I simply drew your attention to
what appeared to be hasty decisions and that too in order
to see as much perfection in you as possible.
' Haste is waste.'
Bapu's blessings.
At a quarter to three in the afternoon I bade good-bye

to Bapu with the words, ' Bapuji, I have always been a
wanderer like this in life.' He blessed me and said, ' You
have taken your decision in haste.' And so I left for the
train which was to take me to Patna and thence to Calcutta.
On the 19th of March 1947, Gandhiji wrote to Satish
Chandra Dasgupta from Patna :
Chi. Satish Babu,

I must dictate this to save time. The dictation can only
be in English because Rangaswamy is not an efficient
Hindustani writer.
The first thing is to give you the sad news that Nirmal
Babu abruptly left yesterday. He had prepared me for the
news two days ago. He was wanted by his University. He
had some private work too. And so he was to leave. But
he suddenly took it into his head to leave yesterday. I had
not the heart to detain him and what he thought was his
dharma at the time.
Kaka Sahib wrote to me three days ago that he would
like me to have Bishen by my side. I was thinking what to
do and though I know that he could not in any way be a
substitute for Nirmal Babu, the latter's absence has made me
come to a hurried decision that if Bishen is not wanted by
you he should join me.
I am here touring Patna district and looking at the
awful scenes of destruction wrought by human beings gone
mad. I had hoped that I would be able, at the outside, in a
fortnight to go back to Noakhali and its velvety earth and
soft grass.
I very much fear that I must now do Noakhali work
from here as I had flattered myself while in Noakhali that I
was doing Bihar work. Having come here I see how vitally
necessary it was for me to come. I do not know that I won't
have to undertake pilgrimage on foot here also. Probably I
shall not be able to do so on foot. But everything is in the
lap of God.
· It is quite clear to me that, whatever be my fate, you
should all, including the Sevagram party, stick to your posts.
Bapu's blessings.
TILL VVE ~EET AGAIN 183
On the same day, Gandhiji wrote me the following

letter from a village named Bir :
Bir, 19~3~1947
Chi. Nirmal Babu,
Now that you are gone, I must say I did not like your
abrupt departure. Manu was disturbed and Y asked if she
had been the cause of your sudden departure. I told her,
I did not think so ; but there was an uncertain ring about
my 'no.' If you went without any other cause than the
call from the University, I have nothing to say.
What is Freudian philosophy ? I have not read any
writing of his. One friend, himself a Professor and follower
of Freud, discussed his writings for a brief moment. You
are the second.
I do not want to emphasize my impression that you
jump to hasty conclusions. You ought to know the three
more fully. You are not just to them.
Have you in the light of my letter and discussion
accepted my position that I am not guilty of modernity ?
If you hold on to the view you have expressed in your letter
to K, you owe it to me to explain your standpoint and enable
me to understand myself more fully than I do.
Bapu's blessings:
To this I replied from Calcutta on the 6th of April :
Calcutta, 5th/6th April, 1947.
B.apuji,
I have returned to Calcutta only this evening. Your
letter dated the 19th of March was awaiting me here, as my
sister did not know when and where I might be. So please
pardon me for the delay. In this letter I shall try to confine
myself to one question only, viz. why I came away. The
others raised by you, like the philosophy of Freud, I shall
reserve for future treatment.
It is perfectly natural that you should not like my

abrupt departure, nor have I myself felt very happy about it.
Let me now state the reasons why I left.
1. On the 18th of November 1946, you wrote to me
at Kazirkhil, 'I want you, if you can and will, to be with
me wherever I go and stay while I am in Bengal. The idea
is that I should be alone with you as my companion and
interpreter ........ '
On 20-12-1946, while I was massaging you, you said that
during the early hours of the morning, you had been telling
.Manu how your old life had ended and a new chapter had
begun. You were going to conduct a new experiment in non-
violence of the brave, for hitherto the non-violence displayed
by the nation or in evidence in the institutions built up
under your inspiration had only reflected non-violence of the
weak.
Under these circumstances, I determined to serve to the
best of my ability in this new experiment, and although my
scientific work has always been very dear to me, I decided
to hold it back for the time being so as to serve the present
cause without any interference from my old self.
2. But I began to feel uneasy in Srirarnpur soon after
the 17th of December when the incident took place in which
Dr. Sushila Nayyar was involved. She used to come fre-
quently, maybe generally on account of her patients. But each
time she came, we found you no longer in an unrufiled or
happy state, and fits of impatience used to be often in evidence.
They might never have reached a high pitch, but they were
there all the same.
3. A also came quite often. I have no grouse against
him and can have none. But when I found he needed B's
love even when she was clearly unwilling, and that you were
personally also trying to convince her of the genuineness and
disinterested character of his love in the face of her clear
refusal, I could not like it either. I asked myself, why should
you involve yourself in such a task when other and more
.urgent matters were awaiting your attention ? You know
how our arrears of work often mounted high and you were
worried at the files which were growing fatter every day.
4. With regard to Z also I should say that she was
not always disinterested in her relations with you. If she
had placed the work of Hindu-Muslim unity above every-
thing else, why could she not have subordinated her interest
in who was and who was not serving you? Did she not
succeed in ruffling your temper even at Haim Char ? If her
case had been one of single-minded devotion to unselfish
service, what reason was there for you to be ruffled or even
angry with her at times ?
5. The developments noted in paras 2, 3, 4 above
showed me that your past associations were clearly pursuing
you without remission. They do so in the case of every man.
Most people succumb to them. You did not ; yet you were
not as relentless in severing the old ties as you had led me to
expect from the letter quoted in para 1.
6. When we reached Bihar, you could naturally feel
that things were not running as smoothly as they should have
done. One day I suggested certain changes to you. In my
opinion, Deo Prakash, in spite of all his goodness and sincerity,
was clearly a liability rather than an asset. Hunar had been
entrusted with part of your cooking, but it would have been
better if he had been left absolutely free to work only at your
reports in Hindi and Urdu and the task of tackling such
correspondence as he could manage. And when I referred
the matter of Deo Prakash to you, you said that your claim
was that you never called anybody to your help but managed
to work with those whom God sent, as best as you could.
Yet this was only partly true, for did you not ask peopl~;
also to go away? Let me remind you of the case of Ajit
who served splendidly in the kitchen and left every one of

us free on one account. You were insistent in his case that
he should be left behind, and you would manage witt&
such help as might be vouchsafed to you in Bihar. That
was all right ; but then one expected the same spirit in other
instances also. In the case of R, I felt clearly that you placed
personal considerations above the interest of the work on
hand. I did what I could by bringing things to your notice ;
but beyond that I could not go. I was myself working as
your secretary, and the suspicion might be there that I was
trying to get rid of someone ostensibly on account of his
inefficiency. So it was not possible for me to press the point,
although I knew work was suffering and you also felt the
same about it.
7. The fact is that these small but significant sencs
of events led me to believe that you did not want to cut
yourself away from your old moorings as much as I had been
led to expect. I saw your strength come back in flashes when
you rose to heights no one else has reached in our national
life. But the fact also remained that you permitted yourself
to be weak in respect of particular persons. Hence I did not
f~el the same joy in work, however heavy it might be, as I
had experienced in Noakhali.
8. When my mind was thus wavering, and faith shakea
in your statement that a completely new chapter had opened
in your life, I tried to find out clearly what my duty was.
For one brief moment, the temptation came to me th3t
in spite of what had happened, I should remain with you in
these momentous days of our national history. Perhaps the
temptation came from the desire to share in reflected glory.
Immediately I felt ashamed of myself and said, 'Here you
are losing faith in what was described as the great venture.
The experiment in non-violence of the brave Gandhiji pro-
mised you in Noakhali has been eclipsed for the time being,.
and yet you wish to remain for considerations other than the
original one. It is a shame that you should stick to Gandhiji
for the sake of fame.' There I was, and I had to quit, because
the wanderer in me would not allow me to build a house
like that for myself.
9. As soon as my faith in your ability or perhaps desir~
to shake off the old completely and be true to the bold future
was weakened, the scales in my judgement turned in favour
of my scientific work in the University. In the meanwhile,
I had received a letter from the University that work was
suffering on account of my absence. I would have put up
with that if the call for adventure in non-violence had not
dimmed. But now I clearly felt that the quality or quantity
of work I was doing in Bihar was less than what I would
be able to put in at the University. Hence I came away on
that ground.
Besides that, there was also some amount of personal
work awaiting me here. 'While I felt that I was doing little
effective work in Bihar, this gained in weight just as the
University work had also done, and for the same reason. So
altogether, I decided to come away.
10. I have now placed before you everything without
reserve. My services are still at your command. And if you
fed you need them, all that you have to do is to write to
Syamaprasad Babu who is the President of our Board of
Studies. I do not wish to sever my connection permanently
with the University, except for reasons which call for such a
sacrifice. But then please call me only if you feel you have
cut asunder your old moorings for the sake of adventure
in a new life altogether, as you wrote to me and as you
spoke to Manu on the fateful day when YOIJ asked her to
think b~fore she took the .final plunge.
· Yours affectionately,
Nirmal.
The reply came about a week afterw:trds :
On the train,
13447
Chi. Nirmal Babu,
Your letter is frank. It does you credit on that account,
but it makes me sad.
On your own showing, you were le:;s than truthful.
Had you shown the requisite courage and spoken out, I
would not have let you go so abruptly as you did.
I see that I have lost caste with you. I must not
defend myself. If we ever meet and if you would discuss
what I consider to be your hasty judgement, we shall talk.
My Bengali continues, though slowly. Love.
Bapu.
XVIII. AN EXCURSION IN PSYCHOLOGY
The separation which thus took place between Gandhiji
and myself were, as the reader will have observed, on grounds
other than those which had led to his breach with etther
Parasuram or some of his intimate co-workers in Sevagram.
The questions raised by the latter had been two" One was :
barring the needs of nursing in illness or other occasions of
helplessness, may one needlessly appear in ~ nude condition
before man or woman, if one does not belong to a society
in which nakedness is customary ? Secondly, should people
of opposite sexes share the same bed, assuming that they
were not husband and wife, or people openly living as such?
After the events of March 1947, although Gandhiji was
in the midst of the devastation in Bihar and although
threatening clouds were already breaking upon the political
horizon of India, he felt it his duty to explain clearly his
views on brahmacharya. This led to a curious series of
articles in the Harijan of June 8, 1947 ('How did I begin
it ?'), June 15, 1947 ('Walls of Protection'), June 22, 1947
('Who and where is God ? '), June 29, 1947 ('Towards
Realization'), July 6, 1947 ('A Perplexity') on the practice
of continence. Readers did not know why ~uch a series
suddenly appeared in the midst of intensely political articles,
but the roots lay in one of the most critiqal events of
Gandhiji's personal life when he had to differ from those
whom he respected greatly for their independence of
opmton.
There are many who were close to Gandhiji and who
knew about these happenings, but who, out of a fear of
misrepresenting him, have thought it wise to leave out
this portion of his life from any crit1dal consideration at all.
But the present writer has always felt that such an attitude
is not justified. Perhaps away at the back of our minds

there is a lurking belief that what Gandhiji did was not
right ; and, in an apparent effort of avoiding injustice to
his greatness, we may perhaps decide to draw a veil over
certain events of which we have personal knowledge. But
this can only be achieved by sacrificing what I believe to be
one of the most important keys to an understanding of
this unique personality of our age.
Even if we fail to approve of certain things, that is no
justification for sitting in judgement over them and deciding,
according to the stature of our small minds, what should
or should not be said about Gandhiji. We can only bear
testimony to what we have witnessed ; and, in a spirit of
utter truthfulness, describe it with the utmost fidelity possible.
Perhaps we may be pardoned if we put our own construc-
tion upon events ; but then the facts and the opinions must
be clearly distinguishable from one another ; so that when
our age has passed away and many of the values for which
we stand have been relegated to the lumber heap of history,
men may have the means of knowing all that is possible
about a man who once stood towering like a mountain above
those who lived beside him.
As I left Gandhiji in Bihar, I wandered for weeks from
place to place, and constantly pondered over the experiences
of my five month's lonely but very intimate association
with Gandhiji. It gradually dawned upon me that although
I had felt hurt by his overshadowing concern for the private
welfare of individuals which occasionally led him to allow
these concerns to interfere with his larger public interests,
it had been wrong on my part to have expected an absolute
abandon for any particular aspect ,of life at the cost of more
humble ones. He was not like a star in heaven by which
men guide their pathway in life and which professes neither
love nor hatred for those who tread upon the earth with
AN EXCURSION IN PSYCHOLOOY 191
their weary footsteps. He was more like a giant banytan
tree which rears its head high in the heavens, but which, at
the same time, spreads its branches in all directions, and
from those branches it throws down newer roots to grip
the earth once more in its embrace. This symbol of the
tree, I felt, was more characteristic of the life of Gandhi than
.anything else. He stood in daily need of a contact with the
earth of humanity from which he had sprung, and the sap
of life which was thus gathered coursed through his veins
and kept him evergreen. He would have been nothing
without these roots which he dug into the earth ; the barren-
ness of the titanic battles which he waged against political
or social evils of tremendous magnitude would have other-
wise dried up the sap of life which flowed within him. A
mere voyage in high heavens would have meant for him an
utterness of selfish indulgence from which his mind recoiled
in horror. The earth with its lowly creatures was as much
part of Truth for him as the high heavens with their
immaculate dustlessness.
And when I gradually realized the truth of this, I
appreciated the need which he felt for his sacred bath in
the stream of earth-bound human life. I felt also how he
was justified in his own way even while violently differing
in either thought or action from his most trusted and loving
comrades, who were undoubtedly right from their own point
of view.
This led me to enquire closely into the origin of
Gandhiji's character and whatever little I achieved in this
respect, is being presented here for what it may be worth.
The point which we should never permit ourselves to
forget is that even when Gandhiji's associates failed to
approve of certain things connected with him, yet the latter
consistently held that his relation with members of the other
sex was something' sacred', and though he did not 'advertise'
192 MY DAYS WITII GAN.IJHI
it, there w.as no 'secrecy' about it either. On 3--2-1947,

again, Gandhiji had said, ' What he was doing was not for
blind imitation. It was undoubtedly dangerous, but it
ceased to be so if the conditions were rigidly observed'.
Why then should we draw a veil over them even when we
try to understand the uniqueness of Gandhiji's personality ?
A bias never helps one to understand, even when it springs
from a feeling of worshipfulness for one's object of study.
It is better perhaps to err than not attempt at all, or
start by censoring with the help of values which have mostly
been picked up by us without question from the market
place.
One can perhaps make the best attempt to understand
Gandhiji's attitude towards womankind by a consideration
of his relation with his mother. It is well known what a
deep influence this devoutly religious woman exercised over
her son in his boyhood days. The love for saintliness, for
hard vows and an unflinching adherence to them even in
the midst of severe trials, in other words, a heroic devotion
to high ideals, were all apparently imbibed by Gandhiji
from the example of his mother's life. For these very traits
in his mother's character had evoked the deepest ttdmiration
within his soul while he was yet very young. •
It is also well known that before he started on a voyage
for studies in England, it was at the instance of his mother
that Gandhiji took a solemn vow before a Jain monk
saying that he would never touch 'wine, women and meat'.
It was only then that he could secure the blessings of his
mother in undertaking a journey which was still considered
taboo for members of his caste...
Besides this, Gandhiji's relations with his wife whom
he had married even at the age of thrrteen also exercised c1
• Autobiography-2nd edition 1950, pp. 12-13.
•• Ibid, p. 56.
AN EXCURSION IN PSYCHOLOGY 193
profound influence upon his life and opinions on the question
of sex. An event of very great significance had taken place
during the illness of his father when he was sixteen years
of age. A little while before his father breathed his last,
Gandhiji had retired to his own room where his wife lay
.asleep. Within a few minutes, a servant knocked at the
door to announce that his father was no more. In profound
sorrow he wrote later on how deeply ashamed and miserable
he felt. He ran ~o his father's room. He saw that if
' animal passion had not blinded him, he should have been
spared the torture of separation from his father during his
last moment'. Commenting on the event, he wrote again:
'This shame of carnal desire even at the critical hour of
my father's death .... is a blot I have never been able to efface
or forget, and I have always thought that, although my
devotion to my parents knew no bounds and I would have
given up anything for it, yet it was weighed and found
unpardonably wanting because my mind was at the same
moment in the grip of lust. I have therefore always regarded
myself as a lustful, though a faithful husband. It took me
long to get free from the shackles of lust, and I had to pass
through ordeals before I could overcome it.'
It was in the year 1906, when he was 37 years of age,
that he took the vow of continence or brahmacharya. Ever
since that date, his relation with members of the other sex
was progressively' purified' and he felt that he was becoming
a fitter instrument for the practice of the highest virtues of
non-violence. We may be permitted to assume that the
repression of the sexual instinct was not only a means to a
lofty end, bUt it was also the penance 'which Gandhiji
voluntarily imposed upon himself for having proved untrue
to his father during the last moments of his life.
Long afterwards, the question of Gandhiji's relationship
with the other sex came up for some amount of hostile
criticism ; and, in order to ·explain his stand, he wrote

several articles and also made some public statements, a
few of which bear reproduction and analysis. In the Harijan
of September 21, 1935, there was an article entitlrci
'A Renunciation ', which is reproduced below in full.
'In 1891 after my return from England I virtually took

charge of the children of the family and i~troduced the
habit of walking with them-boys and girls-putting my
hands on their shoulders. They were my brother's children.
The practice continued even after they grew old. With the
extension of the family, it gradually grew to proportions
sufficient to attract attention.
' I was unconscious of doing any wrong, so far as I
can recollect, till some years ago at Sabarmati an inmate of
the Ashram told me that my practice, when extended to
grown-up girls and women, offended the accepted notions
of decency. But after discussion with the inmates it was
continued. Recently two co-workers who came to Wardha
suggested that the practice was likely to set a bad example
to others and that I should discontinue it on that account.
Their argument did not appeal to me. Nevertheless I did
not want to ignore the friends' warning. I, therefore,
referred it for examination and advice to five inmates of
the Ashram. Whilst it was taking shape a decisive event
took place. It was brought to my notice that a bright
university student was taking all sorts of liberties in private
with a girl who was under his influence, on the plea that he
loved her like his own sister and could not restrain himself
from some physical demonstration of it. He resented the
slightest suggestion of impurity. Could I mention what
the youth had been doing, the reader would unhesitatingly
pronounce the liberties taken by him as impure. When I
read the correspondence, I and those who saw it came to
the conclusion that either the young man was a consummate
hypocrite or was self-deluded.
'Anyway the discovery set me athinking. I recalled the
warning of the two co-workers and asked myself how I
would feel if I found the young man was using my practice
in his defence. I may mention that the girl who is the
victim of the youth's attention, although she regards him
as absolutely pure and brotherly, does not like them, even
protests against them, but is too weak to resist his action.
The self-introspection induced by the event resulted, within
two or three days of the reading of the correspondence, in
the renunciation of the practice, and I announced it to the.
inmates of the Wardha Ashram on the 12th instant. It
was not without a pang that I came to the decision. Never
has an impure thought entered my being during or owing
to the practice. My act has always been open. I believe
that my act was that of a parent and had enabled the numer-
ous girls under my guidance and wardship to give their
confidences which perhaps no 011e else enjoyed in the same
measure. • Whilst I do not believe in a brahmacharya which
ever requires a wall of protection against the touch of the
opposite sex and will fail if exposed to the least temptation,
I am not unaware of the dangers attendant upon the freedom
I have taken.
'The discovery quoted by me has, therefore, prompted
me to renounce the practice, however pure it may have bee.n
in itself. Every act of mine is scrutinized by thousands of
men and women, as I am conducting an experiment requir-
ing ceaseless vigilance. I must avoid doing things which
may require a reasoned defence. My example was never
meant to be followed by all and sundry. The young man's
case has come upon me as a warning. I have taken it in
• Italics, present author's.

the hope that my renunciation will set right those who

may have erred whether under the influence of my example
or without it. Innocent youth is a priceless possession not
to be squandered away for the sake of a momentary excite-
ment, miscalled pleasure. And let the weak girls like the
one in this picture be strong enough to resist the approaches,
though they may be declared to be innocent, of young men
who are either knaves or who do not know what they .are
doing.'
If anybody questioned Gandhiji's purity in respect of
sex, he could fly into an anger ; and an article written almost
in an angry m~d appeared in the Harijan of November 4,
1939. It was entitled 'My Life', and is reproduced below :
'The following from its Allahabad correspondent
appears in Tile Bombay Chronicle:
" Startling revelations have come to light regardin;.;
what has been going round the House of Commons about
Gandhiji. It is reported that Mr. Edward Thompson, the
British historian who visited Allahabad recently, threw some
light on the curious mentality prevailing in England. Mr.
Thompson, who met some political leaders here, is reported
to have told them three things going round the House of
Commons regarding Gandhiji :
1. Gandhiji was for unconditional co-operation with
the British Government.
2. Gandhiji could still influence the Congress.
3. There were various stories about Gandhiji's sensual
life, it being the impression that Gandhlji had ceased to be
a saint.
Impressions about Gandhiji's 'sensual life •, it appeared
to Mr. Thompson, were based on some Marathi pape:s. He
spoke about them, I understand, to Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru,
who repudiated them. He spoke about them to Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru and Mr. P. N. Sapru also, who strongly
1·epudiated them.
It appears Mr. Thompson, before leaving England, had
seen several members of the House of Commons. Mr.
Thompson, before leaving Allahabad, sent a letter to Mr.
Greenwood, M.P., on the suggestion of Pandit Nehru point-
ing out that the stories regarding Gandhiji were absolutely
baseless."
'Mr. Thompson was good enough to visit Segaon. He
confirmed the report as substantially correct.
'The "unconditional co-operation" is dealt with in
another note.
'The country will presently know the influence I have
over the Congress.
' The third charge needs clearing. Two days ago I
received a letter signed by four or five Gujaratis sending me
a newspaper whose one mission seems to be to paint me as
black as it is possible for any person to be painted. According
to its headline it is a paper devoted to " the organization of
Hindus". The charges against me are mostly taken from
my confessions and distorted from their setting. Among
many other charges, the charge of sensuality is most marked.
My brahmacharya is said to be a cloak to hide my sensuality.
Poor Dr. Sushila Nayar has been dragged before the public
gaze for the crime of giving me massage and medicated
baths, the two things for which she is the best qualified
among those who surround me. The curious may be
informed that there is no privacy about these operations
which take over 1t hours and during which I often go off
to sleep but during which I also transact business with
Mahadev, Pyarelal or other co-workers.
' The charges to my knowledge began with my active
campaign against untouchability. This was when it was
included in the Congress programme and I began to address
crowds on the subject and insisted on having Harijans at

meetings and in the Ashram. It was then that some S:ma-
tanists, * who used to help me and befriend me, broke with
me and began a campaign of vilification. Later, a very highly
placed Englishman joined the chorus. He picked out my
freedom with women and showed up my ' saintliness' as
sinfulness. In this chorus there were also one or two well-
known Indians. During the Round Table Conference
American journals indulged in cruel caricatures of me.
Mirabai who used to look after me was the target of their
attack. As far as I could understand Mr. Thompson, who
knows the gentlemen who have been bchinJ these charges,
my letters to Prernabcn Kantak, who is a member of the
Sabarmati Ashram, have also been used to prove my depra-
vity. She is a graduate and worker of proved merit. She
used to ask questions relating to brahmacharya and other
topics. I sent her full replies. She thought they might be
of general use and she published them with my permission.
I hold them to be absolutely innocent and pure.
'Hitherto I have ignored these charges. But Mr. Thomp-
son's talks about them and the importunity of the Gujarati
correspondents, who say the indictment sent by therp is but
a sample of what is being said about me, impel me to
repudiate them. I have no secrets of my own in this life. I
have owned my weaknesses. If I were sensually inclined, I
would have the courage to make the confession. It was when
I developed detestation of sensual connection even with my
own wife and had sufficiently tested myself that I took the
vow of brahmacharya in 1906, and that for the sake of better
dedication to the service of the country. From that day
began my open life. I do not remember having ever slept
or remained with my own wife or other women with closed
• Sanatanists or orthodox Hindus.

AN EXCURSION IN PSYCHOL<X>Y 199
doors except for the occasions referred to in my writings in
Young India and Navajivan. Those were black nights with
me. But as I have said repeatedly God has saved me in spite
of myself. I claim no credit of any virtue that I may possess.
He is for me the Giver of all good and has saved me for His
serv1ce.
'From that day when I began brahmacharya our freedom
began. My wife became a free woman, free from my autho-
rity as her lord and master, and I became free from my slavery
to my own appetite which she had to satisfy. No other
woman had any attraction for me in the same sense that my
wife had. I was too loyal to her as husband and too loyal
to the vow I had taken before my mother to be slave to any
other woman. But the manner in which my brahmacharya
came to me irresistibly drew me to woman as the mother of
1ntfln. She became too sacred for sexual love. And so every
woman at once became sister or daughter to me.* I had
enough women about me at Phoenix. Several of them were
my own relations whom I had enticed to South Africa.
Others were co-workers' wives or relatives. Among these
were the Wests and other Englishmen. The Wests included
West, his sister, his wife, and his mother-in-law who had
become the Granny of the little settlement.
'As has been my wont, I could not keep the new good
thing to myself. So I presented brahmacharya for the accept-
ance of all the settlers. All approved of it. And some took
it up and remained true to the ideal. My brahmacharya
knew nothing of the orthodox laws governing its observance.
I framed my own rules as occasion necessitated. But I have
never believed that all contact with woman was to be shunned
for the due observance of brahmacharya. That restraint
which demands abstention from all contact, no matter how
innocent, with the opposite sex is a forced growth, having
little or no vital value. Therefore natural contacts for

service were never restrained. And I found myself enioying
the confidences of many sisters, European and Indian, in
South Africa. And when I invited the Indian sisters in South
Africa to join the civil resistance movement, I found myself
one of them. I discovered that I was specially fitted to serve
womankind.* To cut the (for me enthralling) story short,
my return to India found me in no time one with India's
women. The easy access I had to their hearts was an agree-
able revelation to me. Muslim sisters never kept purdah
before me even as they did not in South Africa. I sleep in
the Ashram surrounded by women for they feel safe with
me in every respect. It should be remembered that there is
no privacy in the Segaon Ashram.
'If I were sexually attracted towards women, I have
courage enough, even at this time of life, to become a poly-
gamist. I do not believe in free love-secret or open. Free
open love I have looked upon as dog's love. Secret love is
besides cowardly.
' Sanatanist Hindus may abhor my non-violence. I
know many of them think that Hindus will become cowards
if they remain under my influence. I know of no man having
become a coward under my influence. They may decry my
non-violence as much as they like. But they ill serve them-
selves or Hinduism by indulgence in palpable lies.'
It is interesting to observe in this connection how
Gandhiji regarded the slightest trace of sexual excitement
on his own part as a fall from the vow of brahmacharya,••
and how he considered public confession as the proper means
of punishing himself for the lapse and also of relief from the
feeling of sin which oppressed him. During a convalescence
• Italics, ·present author's.
•• The reader will recall how Gandhiji once said that his aspiration
was to become ' a eunuch not through operation but to be made such
through prayer to God' (Prayer meeting, 1-2-1947).
in 1936, there was an occasion when, while asleep, he had felt

momentarily excited. This forthwith led to a confession
entitled" Nothing without grace" in the Harijan of February
29, 1936, a part of which is being quoted below.
He wrote:
'I have been trying to follow Brahmacharya consciously
and deliberately since 1899. My definition of it is purity not
merely of body but of both speech and thought also. With
the exception of what must be regarded as one lapse, I can
recall no instance during more than thirty~six years' constant
and conscious effort, of mental disturbance such as I experi-
enced during this illness. I was disgusted with myself. The
moment the feeling came I acquainted my attendants and
the medical friends with my condition. They could give me
no help. I expected none. I broke loose after the experience
from the rigid rest that was imposed upon me. The con-
fession of the wretched experience brought much relief to
me. I felt as if a great load had been raised from over me.
It enabled me to pull myself together before any harm could
be done. But what of the Gita ? Its teaching is clear and
precise. A mind that is once hooked to the Star of Stars
becomes incorruptible. How far I must be from Him, He
alone knows. Thank God my much vaunted Mahatmaship
has never fooled me. But this enforced rest has humbled me
as never before. It has brought to the surface my limitations
and imperfections. But I am not so much ashamed of them,
as I should be of hiding them from the public. My faith in
the message of the Gita is as bright as ever. Unwearied cease-
less effort is the price that must be paid for turning that
faith into rich infallible experience. But the same Gita says
without any equivocation that the experience is not to be
had without divine grace. We should develop swelled heads
if Divinity had not made that ample reservation.'
This violent reaction against any physical manifestation of
202 MY DAYS WI'IH GANDHI
.
sex and his psychological effort to become as pure as his
mother, led Gandhiji into a profoundly significant attitude
in public life.
He was the fashioner of the instrument of non-violence
in public life. All social evils need remedies ; and the remedy
can be either violent or non-violent. The essence of violence
consists in inflicting punishment upon the wrong-doer, which
may eventually lead to his destruction if he does not correct
himself. The essence of non-violence, on the other hand,
consists in resisting the evil of the wrong-doer so that he is
forced to shower punishment upon the non-violent man for
his resistance or non-co-operation with evil. If the latter does
not bend, then his heroic suffering in a just cause is likely
to evoke respect for him in the heart of the wrong-doer, and
the process of conversion begins. If it fails, the non-violent
man takes more drastic steps, intensifies his non-co-operation,
invites more suffering ; and eventually this may lead to his
own destruction in contrast to the destruction of the evil-
doer under violence. The way of non-violence thus becomes
the way of heroic self-suffering in which the fighter never
surrenders his respect for the personality of the opponent,
and aims at his conversion rather than destruction. He tries
to bring about a cessation of evil even with the co-operation
of the erstwhile wrong-doer.
This deep respect for human personality coupled with
infinite capacity for self-suffering was regarded by Gandhiji
as a characteristic specifically associated with the nature of
woman.
In 1940, he wrote :
'My contribution to the great problem lies in my pre-
senting for acceptance truth and ahimsa in every walk of
life, whether for individuals or nations. I have hugged the
hope that in this woman will be the unquestioned leader and,
having thus found her place in human evolution, will shed
her inferiority complex.
' I have suggested that woman is the incarnation of
ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite love, which again means in-
finite capacity for suffering. Who but woman, the mother
of man,* shows this capacity in the largest measure? She
shows it as she carries the infant and feeds it during nine
months and derives joy in the suffering involved. What can
beat the suffering caused by the pangs of labour ? But she
forgets them in the joy of creation. Who again suffers daily
so that her babe may wax from day to day ? Let her
transfer that love to the whole of humanity, let her forget
she ever was or can be the object of man's lust. And she will
occupy her proud position by the side of man as his mother,
maker and silent leader. It is given to her to teach the art
of peace to the warring world thirsting for that nectar*.
She can become the leaJer in Satyagraha which does
not require the learning that books give but does require a
stout heart that comes from suffering and faith.'**
'Woman is more fitted than man to make explorations
and take action in ahimsa. For the courage of self-sacrifice
woman is anyday superior to man as I believe man is to
woman for the courage of the brute.'***
It follows from all this that, according to Gandhi, pro-

gress in civilization consisted in the introduction into human
life and social institutions of a larger measure of the law of
love or self-suffering which woman represented best in her
own person. This was a profoundly transformed projection
on the broad canvas of social life of an attitude which had
come into being in the pri~acy of his personal life.

•• Harijan, 24-2-1940, p. '13.
••• Harijan, 5·11-1938, p. 317.
In private life, too, Gandhiji's relationship with indivi-

duals was deepened and modified in the same direction in
which it moved in public. Thus we read in Manu Gandhi's
Bapu-My Motlzer, how he said to her :
' Have I not become your mother ? I have been a father
to many but only to you I am a mother. A father does pay
attention to the bringing up of his children but the real
education of a girl comes from mother.' (p. 3).
' Ever since then,' writes Manu Gandhi, ' Bapu began to
bring me up just as a mother would bring up her own
daughter of 14 or 15. A girl of that age is generally near her
mother and her development requires the company of her
mother. Bapu also began taking interest in the minutest
details of my life, such as my food, attire, my sickness, my
visits and companions, my studies, right down to whether I
thoroughly washed my hair every week and he continued to
do so till his last moment.' (p. 8).
Gandhiji used to sleep under the open sky or in an open
room if the weather happened to be cold. There was no
privacy about him because other men and women also slept
near him and some even on the same bed. At an age border-
ing on eighty, his circulation became poor, his feet had to
be massaged every day with clarified butter, otherwise it
tended to crack. On cold nights, he had occasional tremors
which were difficult to control. These fits might continue
for several minutes, and then it was the practice of his
attendants to hold him tightly clasped to their bodies so as
to restore warmth to his shivering frame.
On other occasions, too, Gandhiji's body might have come
in contact with other persons; and it is curious that he tried
to ascertain from them if any impure feeling had, even
momentarily, assailed their minds. It was his belief that if
he was not wholly free from sensualism, it would not fail to
evoke a kindred feeling in those who attended him. He
held firmly that if his mind was completely free from lust,
such an experience would spiritually prove elevating to both
parties. He made a reference to this in his letter to me dated
the 17th of March 1947.
Personally, I have had the feeling that the question
which he asked those who shared in his ' experiment ' was
whether they did not feel the same about him as they felt
in respect of their mother. In such experiments,. sex, which
had so long acted as a barrier to that complete identification
which exists between a mother and child, was laid low and
the experimenter became free to enter upon a new relation-
ship with men and women which was completely 'pure,'
and therefore spiritually elevating.
Gandhi's concern about the private, personal life of
individuals, whether men or women, sprang from the same
attitude of mind. This domestic concern had repelled me
originally and made me leave him for the time being ; but
it was a deep, spiritual attitude on his part which was the
by-product of his attempt to conquer sex by becoming a
woman. The intense concern which he evinced in the lives
of men and women, and his ceaseless efforts at manipulating
them, whether in the case of individuals or of communities,
is therefore comparable to the manipulating technique exer-
cised by Leonardo da Vinci after the sublimation of his sexual
impulse. Only, in the case of Leonardo da Vinci, it was exer-
cised in respect of physical material, while in the case of
Gandhi, it was in respect of human lives whether in the
private or the public sphere.
Saints have lived in India who have been able= to rise above
the impulse of sex by identifying themselves with those
belonging to the opposite sex. In the case of the mystic
Shree Ramakrishna, it is said that this psychological identi-
fication reached such a high degree that somatic changes
followed, and discharges of blood through the pores of the
skin appeared periodically during one phase of his life, as in

the case of women.*
But Gandhi, even within the secret recesses of. his
heart, never gave himself up to such an absolute abandon to
an intensity of feeling. He was less of an introvert, more
closely bound to the world of sense~experience to develop
such total exclusiveness of certain experiences as we observe
in the case of Shree Ramakrishna. The bridge which held
him on to the world of common men remained unbroken till
the end of his days. If he had given way to an abandon as
in the case of Sh,ree Ramakrishna, we would have lost a
leader of men, and the world would probably have been
poorer thereby.
In spite of that, this mothe;~cult of Gandhi's boyhood
days remained throughout his life a very strong element in
his philosophy, and he tried to enlist men and women in pri~
vate as well as in public life to his cult of purity, love and self~
suffering. This mission of civilization, which was Gandhi's
greatest contribution to modern life, was thus, in the last
analysis, an external projection on the larger canvas of the
world's life of the saintliness which was embodied in that
noble woman who shone like a pole star over her son's great
life.
This projection again had become possible only because
the son was a genius of action and organization and retained
to the end of his days the deep influence he had imbibed
from the West during the formative period of his life. A
typical Indian, without Gandhi's history of Western con~
tact, would have given way to individual exclusiveness. He
would undoubtedly have risen higher in the spiritual plane
than Gandhi, but would have done so by the sacrifice of his
• Shree Shree Ramakrishna Lee/apraianga, SaelhaJc. Bhova, Six,th Edition,
B.S. 1344, pp. 216, 250, 259, Z61, 266, 352.
beneficial personal influence upon the lowlier lives of his
fellow men.
The above analysis does not however mean in any way
that Gandhi's cult of non~violence can be dismissed as the
idle fancy of a private individual. The world has profited
immensely by the physical investigations of Leonardo da
Vinci even though they sprang from the humble depths of
his personal history. In a similar manner, although the
origin of Gandhi's desire to purify and civilize mankind
lay within the depths of his personal relationship with his
mother, or to certain events of his boyhood days, yet the
objective result does not lose any value thereby. His gift to
mankind in the shape of a civilized form of collective action
in satyagraha as a substitute for warfare, which is helplessly
looked upon as the last instrument for the resolution
of conflicts of interest in human society, will have to . be
experimented upon and judged on its own merits and not
dismissed on account of its humble, personal origin.
XIX. DARK CLOUDS OVER BENGAL
The pilgrimage in Bihar continued as before. In the
meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nthru had called an Inter~Asian
Relations Conference in Delhi which was to be held there on
the 1st of April 1947. Gandhiji's presence was mdispensable,
so he left Bihar by train on the 30th of March 1947. The
reason why he went to Delhi w:as given by him during his
visit to the Conference on the .first day. In answer to a
question with regard to his views on the proposed Asian
Institute, he said :
'The question is certainly very nice. Let me confess my
ignorance. I have really to apologize to you. Pandit Nehru
had asked me long before this Conference was scheduled to
take place whether it would be possible for me to attend it.
It has proved to be a much more important conference than
it was expected to be. I was obliged to say at that time
that I was very sorry and would not be able to come. When
Lord Mountbatten, the new Viceroy, invited me to meet him,
however, I could not say "No." It would have been foreign
to my nature to do so. The Viceroy had already told me
that the credit of bringing me to Delhi during the Asian
Conference was really his. And I told the Viceroy: "I am
your prisoner. But I am also Pandit Nehru's prisoner, for,
after all, he is your Vice~Presi.dent." '*'
In course of his speech after prayer he said on the same
day, that the Asian Conference was a big thing and their
jewel, Jawaharlal, was very beloved of the delegates because
of his love for them and his dream of a United Asia. Only,
however, if India was true to her traditions could she be
worthy of the role she ought to play. It would be cruel to
• Hariian, 20-4-1947, p. 113.

DARK CLOUDS OVER BENGAL 209
spoil Jawaharlal's dream of a United Asia by internal strife
in this land.
It should be recalled here that, as a reaction against the
attitude of the Muslim League, Hindu communalism was
also becoming more and more insurgent and almost every
evening at Delhi someone or other in the audience used to
protest against the recital of verses from the Koran which
was a regular feature of Gandhiji's prayers. On the 3rd,
Gandhiji therefore made a pointed reference to this and said
that ' he would ask those who were against his holding the
prayer meeting not to come or if they did, they should come
by themselves and kill him if they wanted to. Even if he
was killed, Gandhiji said, he would not give up repeating
the names of Rama and Rahim, which meant to him the
same God. With these names on his lips he would die cheer-
fully. If he refrained from repeating the names of R:una
and Rahim, how could he, Gandhiji asked, face the Hindus
of Noakhali and the Muslims of Bihar ? '*
Riots of a very serious character had, in the meanwhile,
started in different portions of India; and even while Gandhiji
was in Delhi, the new Viceroy persuaded him as well as
Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah to J;ign a joint statement to the follow-
ing effect:
'We deeply deplore the recent acts of lawlessness and
violence that have brought the utmost disgrace on the fair
name of India and the greatest misery to innocent people,
irrespective of who were the aggressors and who were the
victims.
' We denounce for all time the use of force to achieve
political ends, and we call upon all the communities of India,
to whatever persuasion they may belong, not only to refrain
• Hariitm, 20-4-1947, p. lltl.

14
from all acts of violence and disorder, but also to avoid both
in speech and writing, any incitement to such acts.'
M.A. Jinnah M. K. Gandhi

15. 4. '47
Gandhiji returned to Bihar on the 14th of the month and

on the same evening made a reference to the disturbing news
from Noakhali. There was an exchange of telegrams between
him and co-workers in Bengal which was released for the
Press. The correspondence was also published in the Hari;an
of 20-4-1947 under the heading 'About Noakhali '. It ran :
'Gandhiji received the following wires about the Noa-
khali situation to which he has sent the following repliell :
Shri Satish Chandra Dasgupta in his wire dated Ram-
ganj, April 2 says :
"This is a quick post information. I have sent the follow-
ing telegram to the District Magistrate, Police Superinten-
dent and Chief Minister.
" There have been five cases of arson between March 23
and yesterday. Yesterday's case happened at Mohammadpur
in Ramganj Thana. It was an attempt to burn alive three
families consisting of twenty-one persons male, female,
children of the house who for safety slept all in one room.
This room was fastened from outside and this thatched hut
and other huts of the house simultaneously set on fire. The
inmates escaped by breaking through mat wall.''
In another telegram dated Ramganj, April 5, Shri Das-
gupta says:
" I have sent the following telegram to the Chief Minister
and local authorities :
' Have to bring your notice another case of arson last
night April 4, at Changirgaon near Ramganj Thana where
also like the last case the inmate Haralal Bhowmik found
himself locked from outside in his sleeping room while all

structures including sleeping room were burning. Thank
God, Haralal could escape by cutting open corner of stout
reed wall of his corrugated sheds. Request you think over
these gruesome attempts of burning alive the Hindus and
shape Government policy by shaking off inactivity.'"
Gandhiji's reply to the above wires :
" All your precise but painful wires also from Haran
Babu. Case seems to be for exodus or perishing in flames of
fanaticism. Hope ·you will not advise my commg to advise
on choice. Hold council with workers and act promptly."
Shri Haranchandra Ghosh Choudhury, M.L.A. (Bengal)
in his wire dated Chaumuhani (Noakhali), April 6 says :
"Rehabilitation in Noakhali is becoming increasingly
difficult. Lawlessness, theft, burglary, house-breaking, night
raids, burning of houses, hay-stacks, becoming common.
" Ploughing of fields in some areas obstructed. In about
five hundred cases involving loot, arson, murder, final reports
submitted on plea of non-availability sufficient evidence which
under present circumstances can be had from riot victims
alone. Absconders and culprits moving freely reported hold-
ing meeting now. People suspect foul play in original cases
as all Hindu officers in charge of affected T hanas transferred.
Those officers who have timely submitted charge sheets
against good number of offenders also transferred. Proceed-
ings drawn against officers who attempted quell riots or
arrested large number of culprits of whom ninety per cent
now bailed out. More than hundred counter cases against
workers. Hindu police and army staff are seriously enquired
into and in some cases summoned or otherwise harassed."
Gandhiji's reply to the above wire :
"If what you say is true, clear case for exodus or perish-
ing in the flames of madness and fanaticism. Consult Satish
Babu and act unitedly."
Gandhiji has sent the following wire to the Chief

Minister, Bengal, Mr. H. S. Suhrawardy:
"I continue receive doleful wires about increasing law-
lessness Noakhali. I suggest prompt attention wires of
Satish Chandra Dasgupta and prompt action. Am publish-
ing wires."*
On the 18th or April 1947, a personal letter was also
written to the Chief Minister of Bengal which is reproduced
below:
Patna, 18-4-1947
Dear Friend,
Many thanks for your letter of the 9th instant.
I cannot endorse your insinuations, I have never sub-
scribed to hush-hush policy. Publication of false news I hold
to be a crime against humanity. If true news gives rise to
conflagration there is something wrong with society and its
leaders.
I began publishing the wires received from Noakhali
when I despaired of getting a hearing from you and when
living outside Noakhali, I felt helpless. Probably my presence
in Noakhali would have made no difference in the situation.
Only I would have derived satisfaction from the fact that I
was in Noakhali sharing the trials of its people and my co-
workers.
It surprises me that you should discount the statements
of facts supplied by Shri Satish Chandra Dasgupta. The
culprits may never be traced but the facts of arson and loot
could not he disputed, nor could the community from which
the culprits are derived be disputed.
The rulers whether democrats or autocrats, whether
foreign or indigenous, forfeit the right to rule when they
• Harijan, 20-4-1947, p. 115.

fail to deal properly with crimes even when the cul_Rrits are
able to defy detection.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
On the 7th of May 1947, the Chief Minister of Bengal

issued a statement to the Press in course of whi.::h he said :
' It is perhaps natural, after what has taken place, that
the minority community should take alarm at the slightest
incident. It is a matter of regret that there are organizations
working there that consider it their duty to spread alarm and
to keep people in a ferment of fear and panic, as unsettled
conditions help them in their political game.
' I deprecate the ease with which reports of alleged
oppression by Muslims are accepted as true even by well-
meaning people working there, and worse still are circulated
m the form of leaflets amongst Hindus increasing their panic
and their fear, except of course amongst those who know
that the reports are not founded on facts. These reports are
also passed on to the local authorities who have investigated
them and found most of them to be false, some exaggerated,
some twisted and only a few based on facts.
'Unfortunately, therefore, due largely to the activities
of well-meaning or ill-meaning organizations or volunteers of
the Hindu persuasion in Noakhali, there is still apprehen-
sion amongst the Hindus which I must consider genuine, but
based on very slender foundations. To the extent that these
organizations give encouragement to Hindus to induce them
to return and settle in the land of their birth, I value their
services and their co-operation, but I must condemn the
activities of those that propagate and keep alive hatred and
suspicion, and even if they do not go the length of framing
cases as alleged by Muslims, their activities have had a very
unfortunate effect on rehabilitation as they have kept up

the tension.'
lt was by a stroke of luck that we were able to secure
about this time another version from the side of the Govern~
ment with regard to the situation in Noakhali. A.report dated
the 13th of May 1947 had emanated from the office of the
Commissioner, Chittagong Division, and it was addressed to
the Home Department of the Government of Bengal. It is
reproduced in the appendix in full, and gives at least an
honest picture of the situation which public statements from
the Government never succeeded in doing.
XX. DARKER CLOUDS OVER INDIA
In the meanwhile the communal situation in the North-
West Frontier had worsened considerably; and everywhere
there was talk of partitioning the country into two. Gandhiji
had returned to Bihar from Delhi on the 14th of April but
had to hasten back to the capital after a fortnight's stay.
In his post-prayer speech on the 1st of May 1947 in Delhi, he
referred to the violence that was taking place in the Frontier
Province, in the Punjab and in other places. The audience
might well ask, he said, why in spite of the joint appeal by
Qaid-c-Azam Jinnah and himself for peace in the country and
the declaration in the appeal that use of force should be
eschewed for all time for gaining political ends, the appeal
seemed to have been entirely defeated in practice.
In his opinion, the honour both of the Viceroy who was
instrumental in bringing about the joint appeal and of
Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah was involved in the failure of the
appeal. He held that it was not open to Jinnah Sahib to
plead that his followers did not list,en to his (Jinnah Sahib's)
appeal. That would be cutting the whole ground from under
his feet because he was the undisputed President of the All
India Muslim League which claimed to represent the vast
bulk of the Muslim population of India. Where was the
authority of the League, if the Muslims resorted to violence
for gaining the political aim which was summed up in the
word Pakistan ? Was the British Government to yield to
the force of arms rather than the force of reason ?
The speaker had expressed his doubts as to the wisdom
of issuing the joint appeal unless it was certain that it meant
for both the signatories all that the words thereof conveyed.•
• Hariian, 11-5-1947, p. 147.

On the following evening he said again :

' Was Pakistan to be seized by terrorism such as they
seemed to be witnessing in the Frontier Province, in the
Punjab, in Sindh and elsewhere ?
' People had suggested that everything would be alright
and non-Muslims in the Muslim majority provinces would be
put on absolute equality with the Muslims if not specially
favoured as against them. He suggested that it was an
impossible dream. If the Muslims were taught otherwise
while Pakistan was not established they could not be expected
to behave better after Pakistan had become a settled fact.
It was up to Qaid-c-Azam and his lieutenants to inspire trust
in the minds of the minorities in the provinces or parts which
were designed for Pakistan. Then there would be no longer
fear of Pakistan-cum-Partition.'*
On the 6th of May, Gandhiji had a fairly long interview
with Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah to which he made a reference on
the 7th when he said that the conversations were carried on
in a friendly spirit even though there could never be agree-
ment between them on the question of the division of India.
He could not bear the thought of it and so long as he was con-
vinced that it was wrong, he could not possibly put his signa-
ture to the scheme. He held that it was not only bad for
the Hindus but equally so for the Muslims.** To an inter-
viewer in Delhi Gandhiji said, ' Can you describe Pakistan
to me ? I have tried to understand what it is and have
failed. And if the Punjab and Bengal today are hall-marks
of Pakistan, then it can never exist.' His own view regard-
ing the division of India had not undergone any change. He
stood for a United India as .firmly as ever and as he said more
than once to friends, ' The ultimate decision of division or
partition of provinces and all such matters are for the people
• Harijan, ll-5-1947, p. 148.
•• Harijan, 18-5-1947, p. 155.
DARKER CLOUDS OVER INDIA 217
to settle among themselves after the British have withdrawn
their power:•
On the 5th of May, D.oon Campbell, Reuters' special
correspondent in New Delhi, put a certain question to
Gandhiji. The question and reply were both published in
the Harijan of 18th May, 1947 (p. 156).
Q. Is the communal division of India inevitable ?
Will such division solve the communal problem ?
A. Personally, I have always said No, and I say No even
now to both these questions.
In answer to another question regarding the British
Government's resolve to withdraw all vestiges of British rule
in India by the end of June 1947, Gandhiji said again :
'I have never appreciated the argument that the British
want so many months to get ready to leave. During this
time all parties will look to the British Cabinet and the
Viceroy. We have not defeated the British by force of arms.
It has been a victory for India by moral force. Assuming,
of course, that every word of what has been said is meant
to be carried out, then the British decision
\
will go down in
history as the noblest act of the British Nation. That being
so, the thirteen months' stay of the British power and British
arms is really a hindrance rather than a help, because every-
body looks for help to the great military machine they have
brought into being. That happened in Bengal, in Bihar, in
the Punjab, and in the North-West Frontier Province. The
Hindus and Muslims said in turn : " Let us have the British
troops". It is a humiliating spectacle. I have often said
before but it does not suffer in value through repetition
because every time I repeat it, it gains force : the British will
have to take the risk of leaving India to chao~ or anarchy.
This is so because there has been no Home Rule ; it has been
imposed on the people. And, when you voluntprily remooe
• Harijan, 18-5-1947, p. 153.
that rule there might be no rule in the initial stute. It might

have come about if we had gained victory by the force of
arms.* The communal feuds you see here are, in my opinion,
partly due to the presence of the British, If the British were
not here, we would still go through the fire no doubt, but
that Jire would purify us.'**
In the meanwhile the communal position had worsened
in Noakhali ; and workers began to feel that Gandhiji's
presence was necessary either for the purpose of winding up
the existing organization or transferring the mtire respon·
sibility of such work as was still being carried on upon per-
manent residents of the district. The Government of
Bengal could not legitimately raise any objection against such
an arrangement as they could with regard t'J workers or
organizations from other parts of Bengal.
The controversy referred to between t_he Bengal Govern·
ment and workers of the Gandhi Camp in Noakhali con·
tinued as indicated in the previous chapter ; and so finally
Gandhiji decided to pay a brief visit to Calcutta in order to
meet the Chief Minister personally and see what could be
done in order to improve the present situation
Accordingly, he felt Delhi on the 8th of May ; and even
while in the train, he finished a very important letter to the
British Viceroy, which was despatched by har.d when the
letter was completed. _On a close perusal, it appears clear how
desperately Gandhiji was trying to keep the British completely
out of the proposed partition of the country .
The Jetter ran :
On the train to Patna,
8-5-1947
Dear Friend,
It strikes me that I should summarise what I said and
•• Harijan, 18-5-1947, p. 156.
wanted to say and left unfinished for want of time, at our
last Sunday's meeting.
Whatever may be said to the contrary, it would be a
blunder of first magnitude for the British to be party in any
way whatsoever to the division of India. If it has to come,
let it come after the British withdrawal, as a result of under-
standing between the parties or an armed conflict which
according to Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah is taboo. Protection of
minorities can be guaranteed by establishing a court of arbi-
tration in the event of difference of opinion among contend-
ing parties.
2. Meanwhile the Interim Government should be com-
posed either of Congressmen or those whose names the
Congress chooses or of Muslim League men or those whom
the League chooses. The dual control of today lacking team
work and team spirit is harmful for the country. The parties
exhaust themselves in the effort to retain their seats and to
placate you. Want of team spirit demoralises the Govern-
ment and imperils the integrity of the services so essential
for good and efficient government.
3. Referendum at this stage in the Frontier (or any
province for that matter) is a dangerous thing in itself. You
have to deal with the material that faces you. In any case
nothing should or can be done over Dr. Khan Sahib's head
as Premier. Note that this paragraph is relevant only if
division is at all to be countenanced.
4. I feel sure that partition of the Punjab and Bengal
is wrong in every case and a needless irritant for the League.
This as well as all innovations can come after the British
withdrawal not before, except always for mutual agreement.
Whilst the British Power is functioning in Indb, it must be
held principally responsible for the preservation of peace in
the country. That machine seems to be cracking under the
existing strain which is caused by the raising of various
hopes that cannot or must not be fulfilled. These have no

place during the remaining thirteen months. This period
can be most profitably shortened if the minds of all were
focussed on the sole task of withdrawal. You and you alone
can do it to the exclusion of all other activity so far as the
British occupation is concerned.
5. Your task as undisputed master of naval warfare,
great as it was, was nothing compared to what you are called
to do now. The single-mindedness and clarity that gave you
success are much more required in this work.
6. If you are not to leave a legacy of chaos behind,
you have to make your choice and leave the government of
the whole of India including the States to one party. The
Constituent Assembly has to provide for the governance even
of that part of India which is not represented by the Muslim
League or some States.
7. Non-partition of the Punjab and Bengal does not
mean that the minorities in these Provinces are to be neglected.
In both the Provinces they are large and powerful enough
to arrest and demand attention. If the popular Governments
cannot placate them the Governors should during the
interregnum actively interfere.
8. The intransmissibility of paramountcy is a v1c10us
doctrine if it means that they can become sovereign and a
menace for Independent India. All the power wherever
exercised by the British in India must automatically descend
to it~ successor. Thus the people of the States become as
much part of Independent India as the people of British
India. The present Princes are puppets created or tolerated
for the upkeep and prestige of the British power. The un-
checked powers exercised by them over their people is prob-
ably the worst blot on the British Crown. The Princes
under the new regime can exercise only such powers as
trustees can and as can be given to them by the Constituent
Assembly. It follows that they cannot maintain private
armies or arms factories. Such ability and statecraft as they
possess must be at the disposal of the Republic and must be
used for the good of their people and the people as a whole.
I have merely stated what should be done with the States.
It is not for me to show in this letter how this can be done.
9. Similarly difficult but not so batHing is the question
of the Civil Service. Its members should be taught from now
to accommodate themselves to the new regime They may
not be partisans taking sides. The slightest trace of com-
munalism among them should be severely deal.t with. The
English element in it should know that they owe loyalty to
the new regime rather than to the old and therefore to
Great Britain. The habit of regarding themselves as rulers
and therefore superiors must give place to the spirit of true
service of the people.
11
10. I had a very pleasant two hours and three quarters

with Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah on Tuesday last. We talked
about the joint statement on non-violence. He was agreeably
emphatic over his belief in non-violence. He has reiterated
it in the Press statement which was drafted by him.
11. We did talk about Pakistan and partition. I told
him that my opposition to Pakistan persisted :1s before and
suggested that in view of his declaration of faith in non-
violence he should try to convert his opponents by reasoning
with them and not by show of force. He was, however, quite
firm that the question of Pakistan was not open to discussion.
Logically, for a believer in non-violence, nothing, not even
the existence of God, could be outside its scope.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur saw the first eight paragraphs,
the purport of which she was to give to Pandit Nehru with
whom I was to send you this letter. But, I could not .finish
it in New Delhi. I finished it on the train.
I hope you and Her Excdlency are enjoying your hard~
earned rest.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
To
H. E. The Viceroy,
Simla.
XXI. ON A VISI'r '11 0 BENGAL'S CAPITAL
Some of us met Gandhiji at Burdwan Station which is
about sixty miles from Calcutta and acquainted him with
conditions prevailing in Bengal. There was a consultation
on the problem of rehabilitation in Noakhali. A number of
questions had been kept ready to which Gandhiji dictated
answers one by one in the train. A few of them are repro-
duced below :
Q. The Government are at present unable to supply

requisite material for building purposes ; should a non-
official organization now take up this task ?
A. In my opinion the task of rehabilitation is entirely
Governments' work. If a private agency takes up any
financial responsibility it would be a dangerous thing. For
it would carry with it the implication that those who have
been rehabilitated by private financial help would also be
defended privately. I hold this to be impossible ; and unwise,
if not impossible. .
It should be our endeavour to induce local Muslims to
help the evacuees in rehabilitation when Government aid is
inadequate. But if neither the former nor the Government
prove helpful, no non-official organization should or can
undertake the task for reasons given above.
Q. Many cases are being withdrawn by the police
after enquiry as evidence is reported to be lacking ; we have
heard of more than 600 of such cases. Should these be
reopened and a legal committee set up for the purpose ?
The Noakhali District Relief, Rehabilitation, Rescue Com-
mittee has a legal branch. But it is not active. Should
Satish Babu try to take up this work with the help of the
N.D.R.R.R.C.?
A. I think this we must not do on any account. The

legal committee must work efficiently and effectively. It
does not fall within our province. Our province is to teach
the people to help themselves even up to the point of defence
against Government or other oppression ; that is the meaning
of ' Do or Die.'
Q. Rice now sells at Rs. 25/- a maund. The
Government have stopped selling rice to riot-affected people
at controlled rate. If we store rice and sell at controlled rate
it will require a capital of 20 lacs of rupees. Should we
undertake this work ?
A. I think in dangerous areas such as Noakhali we
must not supply rice through private agency. I would far
rather that after a clear statement the people trek to safer
parts and in doing so they get all the help necessary, financial
or other.
It is strange but true that every difficulty that faces
us in Noakhali is present in Bihar almost to the same exknt
as in Noakhali. Rnlization of this fact should make us
think furiously and enable us to deal with the Noakhali
problem clearly and bravely. We should on no account
countenance any lethargy, falsehood, cowardliness or selfish-
ness on the part of the refugees.
Sarat Chandra Bose saw Gandhiji after his arrival in

Sodpur.
Shortly after his arrival, one of the first things
which Gandhiji did was to correct a reply by Satish Babu to
H. S. Suhrawardy's letters received some time ago. It is
reproduced below :
' I have your two letters of the 27th and 28th April. I
thank you for the instructions that you have issued.
'I certainly agree with you that volunteers should not
circulate reports of incidents which are founded on panic.
ON A VISIT TO BENGAL's CAPITAL 225
No such instance has come under my notice. As for Dinalipi,
it is a circular letter designed to be circulated only among
workers and friends who are kept informed of corporate
activity. It rigorously eschews all but authentic reports.
None of your officials has complained of any exaggeration.
' Nothing will please me better than to be able to say
that there is such general help from the local Muslims as to
dispel all fear and suspicion from the Hindu mind. I am
sorry to say such is not as yet the case.
'You have asked me to contact Maulana .Fazlul Karim
and Maulvi Mujibar Rahman. I shall try to contact them
when they come back. Nobody wishes that inuocent people
should be victimized.
' Regarding complaints against volunteers I would suggest
that every instance of misbehaviour should be exposed and
dealt with under the law. As for those who :ue under the
discipline of Kazirkhil, I can give the assurance that any
specific complaint shall be dealt with immediately. We are
here to serve, not to hinder the cause of peace.
'You have advised me to speak to the Muslims not as
potential enemies but as friends. The Muslims to me are
part of ourselves. I do not and cannot look upon them as
potential enemies.
'You have in your letter to Gandhiji attributed to me
the saying that " all the crime and lawlessness which Noakhali
is witnessing today is directed against the Hindus". I do
not think I ever made any such statement. I must have been
misrepresented.'
On the 9th, Gandhiji said at the prayer meeting at Sodpur
that he had not expected to come to Calcutta but when he
had reports from friends about events in Calcutta, he thought
that he should go to Calcutta and put in his work in pursuit
of the same object that had taken him to Noakhali and then
to Bihar.
15
226 MY DAYS Wim GANDHI
They saw before them Gurudev's (Rabindranath Tagore)

portrait with floral decorations. For 9th May was Gurudev's
birthday. That was why they had two hymm from Guru-
dev's pen sung to them. Great men never died and it was
up to them to keep them immortal by continuing the work
they had commenced. The second was most aj>posite at the
moment when Hindus and Muslims were fighting. The
purport of the hymn was that God should take them from
darkness unto light, from untruth unto truth and from
misery unto bliss indefinable. This was the mantra with
which he had armed Deenabandhu* Andrews and Pearson
when he permitted them to proceed to South Africa. These
two were among the best of Gurudev's numerous devotees
throughout the world.
It was a good thing that Q. A. Jinnah's words uttered to
the Pathan deputation that had waited on him were to the
same tune. They should read those words for themselves.
If all followed the advice, India would truly become a unique
land of real peace. They knew that he was joint signatory
to the document on non-violence. That at once imposed on
him the duty of fasting unto death if either Hindus or
Muslims descended to the level of savages or beasts. Let the
Hindus of Bihar and Muslims of Noakhali remember the
fact. He had earned the right to fast by the service which
he had and was still rendering to the Mussulmans of India.
The British were surely going to quit India. If we had
any difference between ourselves let us make it completely
our own affair and not approach the British for a settlement,
.for the latter had no duty except to quit at the earliest possible
moment.
• A title lovingly given to the Rev. C. F. Andrews, which meant 'Friend

of the lowly and oppresacl'.
ON A VISIT TO BENGAL'S CAPITAL 227
Sodpur, Saturday, 10~5-1947:
There is considerable agitation in Bengal on the question
of partition. Most people are of opinion that if then: is to be
a partition of India, Bengal should also be divided in order
to save those portions of it where Hindus are in a majority.
A new proposal has recently been sponsored by some
members of the Muslim League and Sarat Chandra Bose's
name is also being associated with the scheme. This is a
tripartite division of India into India, Pakistan and a United
Sovereign Bengal. Sarat Babu had apparently spoken about
this scheme to Gandhiji ; and in order to discuss all sides of
the question, he brought Abu! Hashem, M.L.A., the Secretary
of the Provincial Muslim League to Sodpur in the afternoon.
Abul Hashem talked with Gandhiji for about an hour and
a half, while Sarat Babu sat silent throughout the interview.
Hashem Sahib opened his case by stating that Bengalis

were after all Bengalis whether Hindu or Muslim. They
had a common language, a common culture and did not wish
to be ruled by Pakistanis who lived a thousand miles away.
Gandhiji said, ' But haven't we been so long ruled by people
who live seven thousand m!les away ?'
' Yes,' said Hashem Sahib, ' but then that would mean
that Pakistanis of the West would rule over us in Bengal.'
' But supposing they do not rule over you, :md you wish
to form a voluntary alliance with Pakistan because you
have a common religion which both of you wish to propagate
throughout the world, then where is the objection ?'
' But, then, you are talking of Pan-Islamism.'
1
Gandhiji said, 'Yes I am. Perhaps you do not know how
deep the Muslim feeling about it is. I had evidence of that
even while I was a student in England many years ago. What
is then your objection to a voluntary federation of diifcrent
countries professing the same religion ? '
Hashem Sahib did not reply.

Then Gandhiji asked me to bring a Bengali primer
which he had been reading lately. There were two of them,
one of which was by a Muslim author. When this was
brought, Gandhiji proceeded to tell Hashem Sahib that, to
all intents and purposes, he was trying to become a Bengali.
He found hardly any difference between the language of a
Bengali Hindu and a Bengali Muslim. Bengal was the only
province in India where common Muslims did not under~
stand Urdu. His intention in learning the Bengali language
was to be able to read Gurudev 's poem:; in the original, for
from them he received the message of the Upanishads which
lay at the root (Jf the culture of the whole of India.
Hashem Sahib said that every Bengali looked upon
Rabindranath with the highest veneration, and in this,
Muslims were one with Hindus. That was the chief
reason why Bengali Muslims did not want Bengal to be
broken up into two.
Gandhiji then said quietly, 'It is the spirit of the Upani~
shads which binds Rabindranath to the whote of Indian
culture. Does not Bengal derive her deepest culture from
what is the priceless heirloom of all India ? If that is so,
and Bengal wishes to enter into voluntary ass::>ciation with
the rest of India, what would you say about that ? '
Hashem Sahib had no reply for this question either.
Gandhiji then said, ' You have not really made up your
mind about Pakistan. Please think about it once more, and
then we shall discuss the new proposal.'
During the evening prayer Gandhiji dealt with two

questions, one of which related to the burning problem of
the day.
Q. Could partition of Bengal be avoided in view of
the rising Hindu opinion in its favour ?
ON A VISIT TO BENGAL'S CAPITAL 229
A. Gandhiji recognized the force of that opinion. He
was not in a position to pronounce an opinion. But he
could say without fear of contradiction that if partition came
about, the Muslim majority would be responsible for it and,
what was more, the Muslim Government that was in power.
If he were the Prime Minister of Bengal, he would plead
with his Hindu brethren to forget the past. He would say
to them that he was as much a Bengali as they were.
Difference in religion could not part the two. Both spoke
the same language, both had inherited the same culture. All
that was Bengal was common to both, of which both should
be equally proud.
If the Chief Minister could possibly take up this
attitude, the speaker would undertake to go with him from
place to place and reason with Hindu audiences. He made
bold to say that there would not be a Hindu opponent left
of the unity of Bengal, the unity for which Hindus and
Muslims* had fought together so valiantly and undone the
' settled fact ' of so powerful a Viceroy as Lord Curzon. If
he were Janab Suhrawardy, he would invite the Hindus to
partition his body before they thought of partitioning Bengal.
If he had that sturdy love for Bengal and Bengalis, whether
he was a Hindu or a Mussulman, that lbve would melt the
stoniest Hindu heart. As it was, fear and suspicion had
seized the Hindu mind. He could not forget Noakhali or
even Calcutta, if all he heard was true, as it was equally true
of the Muslim mind in Bihar. And he had not hesitated to
tell the Hindus (of Bihar) that they should remove all
suspicion and fear from the Muslim mind. He believed in
the sovereign rule of the Law of Love which made no distinc-
tions of race, colour, caste or creed and he was glad that he
had in Q. A. Jinnah a powerful partner in the belief which
was no secret from the world.
• This is not historically true.-N.K.B.
Sodpur, Su1}day, 11-5-1947:

H. S. Suhrawardy paid a visit to Gandhiji at Sodpur.
He is the chief sponsor of the United Sovereign Bengal
scheme and he drew a rosy picture of the proposal before
Gandhiji. After listening to his advocacy Gandhiji said that
a new Bengal could not be born in utter disregard of the
past. When the past was so full of wrong~, how could
people believe in the sincerity of the new proposal unless
past wrongs were set right ? Suhrawardy Sahib broke into
an eloquent defence of his Government. He said, it had
been wholly impartial and equal justice had betn meted out
to all ; otherwise how could it have the support of a large
number of Hindus ? Gandhiji expressed the opinion that
this was no different from the argument of British imperi-
alists.
A friend of mine, who had been one of the worst
sufferers in Calcutta, so far as loss of property in the riots
was concerned, had written a letter in which he described
the utter incompetence of the Government and the veiled
connivance of police officers in encouraging Muslim rioters.
Gandhiji had read this letter earlier in the day and asked
me now to hand it over to the Chief Minister. The latter
went through it attd said, 'Yes, it is a bad cast:. But I am
sure you realize that this is an exception'.
Then with Gandhiji's permission, I placed before
Suhrawardy Sahib another case of murder in which the
Police had not taken up any enquiry even when seven days
had passed, ;although the case had been given wide
publicity in the Papers. It was the murder of Prof. Jadunath
Sarkar's son, and a European missionary who had adminis-
tered first aid to the victim had said to a friend of mine that
the Police had not yet turned up to him for enquiry.
Suhrawardy Sahib tried to bypass the charge against his
Government by saying, 'Do you know, there are more than
half a dozen versions of that event ? One even accuses me
of complicity in the murder'. Gandhiji had been silently
listening to our conversation. He now broke in by saying,
' Yes, you are responsible not only for that murder but for
every life lost in Bengal, whether Hindu or Muslim'.
Suhrawardy Sahib was perhaps taken aback, but he
immediately retorted by saying, 'No, it is you who are
responsible for it, for you have denied justice to the
Mussulmans '.
I have rarely seen Gandhiji lose his temper in public.
For one moment he flared up and said, ' Don't talk rot l '
But immediately he became restrained and calmed down.•
At the prayer meeting that evening there was a veiled

reference to the proposals which were being discussed with
Sarat Babu and H. S. Suhrawardy.
Q. You have advised us to work for :m undivided
Bengal. But car1 there be an undivided Bengal with a
divided India ?
• Readers may perhaps feel interested in learning what the actual situation
in Bengal was in those days. The prevailing feeling was that, quite apart
from the mutual killing of Hindus and Muslims, the Government had also
unleashed forces for the preservation of 'law and order •, which resulted
occasionally in wanton brutality. In proof of this, one statement which
was submitted to Gandhiji, is reproduced below. On local enquiry the state-
ment was found to be correct.
'Statement of Narendranath Nag of 13/1/1, Beniato1a Lane, Calcutta,
dated 14-5-1947.
'On 29th April, '47 when I was returning from my evening walk (at
about 6 p.m.), with my grand-daughter (3 years) in my lap, I was caught
hold of by some armed policemen at the front of my door and was beaten
severely and fell down unconscious.
'My daughter Padmaba:ti Nag (19) who came to open the door, was
chased by them (policemen), but she was able to close the 2nd door.
' The armed policemen then broke the said door and going ups,tairs
fired at my daughter.
'She had a shot on her left thigh, she is now undergoing treatment at
the Calcutta Medical College Hospital.' It remains to be said that the
girl expired shortly after her father paid a visit to Gandbiji.
A. .The answer was that if what he had said was well

understood it followed that nothing could happen without
the joint wish of both Hindus and Muslims. If a third
party was not to decide their fate it could be only decided
by their joint will. If the distant event unfortunately did
come to pass, the joint and free will of Hindu and Muslim
Bengalis would decide which to join.
Sodpur, Monday, 12-5-1947:

Suhrawardy Sahib came in the evening in order to plead
once more the case for a United Sovereign Bengal. He
confessed that the chief obstacle was that no Hindu would
listen to him today ; he found it hard to prove the utter
sincerity of his proposal.
Gandhiji suddenly made a sporting offer to him. He
said, he would act as Suhrawardy's secretary, live under the
same roof with him and see to it that the Hindus at least
gave him a patient hearing. Was he prepared to accept
the offer?
Suhrawardy Sahib said nothing and bade him good
bye. As I reached him up to his motor car, he muttered
almost to himself, ' What a mad offer I I have to think
ten times before I can fathom its implications'.
When he left, I reported the matter to Gandhiji.
Gandhiji immediately took up his pen and on two old
slips of paper wrote down the following :
I recognise the seriousness of the position in Bengal in

the matter of partition. If you arc absolutely sincere in
your professions and would disabuse me of all the suspicion
against you and if you would always retain Bengal for the
Bengalis-Hindus and Mussulmans-in tact by non-violent
means, I am quite willing to act as your honorary private
se.cre.tar'i and li'le under -,our roof til\ Hmdu~ and M.u':~\im.\
begin to live as brothers that they are.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
I typed out the letter at once, and tried to contact

Suhrawardy Sahib over the phone at his residence. But he
did not return till very late at night. So I went to him
early on the following morning in order to deliver the
letter to him.
Sodpur, Tu~sday, 13-5-1947:

A very important interview*' took place between
Syamaprasad Mookerjee and Gandhiji today. Syarnaprasad
Babu had heard that the scheme for United Sovereign
Bengal had received Gandhiji's blessin;s, so he had come to
ascertain the truth of the report. Gandhiji replied that he
had not yet made up his mind about it but was trying to
find out what the proposal really meant. Then he asked
Syamaprasad Babu for his own opinion on the scheme.
Syamaprasad Babu began by saying that although
Mr. Suhrawardy was apparently its author, it was really being
sponsored by British commercial interests in Bengal. If
Bengal were partitioned, it would create serious difficulties
for the jute industry, for the mills would be in West Bengal
and the i'aw materials in another State. Moreover, he said
that the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, had"' personally asked
him to give the proposal careful consideration.
Gandhiji said, 'So your objection is on account of its
parentage I No, I want you to criticize the scheme on
merits.'
Then Syamaprasad Babu proceeded to say that although
• Not corrected by Gandhiji.

Mr. Suhradardy was now sponsoring the cause of a United

Bengal, yet, once division had taken place, what was there
to prevent this Bengal from seeking voluntary alliance with
Pakistan ? He could surely manipulate a decision of this
kind by means of the majority of Muslim votes.
Gandhiji said, ' But has he not spoken of " mutual
consent " between Hindus and Muslims in the formation
of a separate Bengal ?'
Syamaprasad Babu asked what difference +hat made so
long as the majority of the Legislative Assembly were
Muslims.
Gandhiji replied, 'But a decision by a simple numerical
majority is not "mutual consent". I would i..r1terpret that
term differently. It ought to mean that if a majority of
Hindu members and a majority of Muslim members agree
to form a separate mvereign State, then it comes into being
by "mutual consent", not otherwise. That majority may be
51 :49 or may be fixed at any other figure by mutual dis-
cussion before the agreement is entered into. And if
Suhrawardy has to win the majority of the Hindu members
of the Assembly over to his side, don't you see that the
present communal situation in Bengal will be immediately
changed for the better ?'
Syamaprasad Babu said, ' But supposing Suhrawardy
does succeed in winning over many Hindu m~mbers and a
separate State is formed, then, one day, that State may
federate itself with Pakistan if the decision is by majority
of votes.'
Gandhiji said, ' No. Such a decision should also be by
"mutual consent" as interpreted before separation from
India.'
Syamaprasad Babu then asked what would happen if
the majority of Hindu members wanted to federate with
India and the majority of Muslim members wjth Pakistan.
Gandhiji said, ' Then there would be a partition of
Bengal. But that partition will be brought about by
mutual agreement of the people of Bengal and not by the
British. It is a partition by the British which has to be
prevented at any cost.'
Syamaprasad Babu then asked Gandhiji, ' But can you
contemplate Bengal lying separated from the r:!st of India?'
Gandhiji replied with emotion, ' You :1sk me that
question!'
Finally, Gandhiji said to Syamaprasad Babu that we
should take Mr. Suhrawardy's new proposal at its face value,
even if we may h:lVe no faith in him personally. Preserva-
tion of United Bengal in a United India should not be made
the condition precedent in the present negotiation, that
would defeat one's purpose. Having placed faith on the bona
fide of Mr. Suhrawardy's propos:1l for a United Bengal, we
should work out its logical implications. An admission that
Bengali Hindus and Bengali Mussulmans were one would
really he a severe blow against the two-nation theory of the
League. If therefore Mr. Suhrawardy was prepared to accept
the real meaning of the term' mutual consent', then it would
mean either the end of the League or of Mr. Suhrawardy.
Nearly a fortnight after Gandhiji returned to Patna,

he wrote a letter to Sarat Chandra Bose on the same ques-
tion~ and later on another from Hardwar which bear
reproduction in this connection. Photographic copies of
both these letters were published in Sarat Babu's paper Th.~
Nation on the 11th of June 1949.
Patna, 24-5-1947
My dear Sarat,
I have your note. There is nothing in tht draft stipu-
lating that nothing will be done by mere majority. Every
act of Government must carry with it the co-operation of at

least two-thirds of the Hindu members in the Executive and
the Legislature. There should be an admission that Bengal
has common culture and common mother tongue-Bengali.
Make sure that the Central Muslim League approves of the
proposal notwithstanding reports to the contrary. If your
presence is necessary in Delhi I shall telephone or telegraph.
I propose to discuss the draft with the Working Committee.
Yours,
Bapu.
After the Mountbatten Plan had been accepted by the
Congress and the League on the 3rd of June, of which the
story is told in the following chapter, Gandhiji wrote again :
Hardwar, 21-6-1947
My dear Sarat,
I have a moment to myself here. I use it for writing
two or three overdue letters. This is one to acknowledge
yours of 14th instant.
The way to work for unity I have pointed out when
the geographical is broken.
Hoping you are all well.
Love,
Bapu.
On a careful perusal of the evidence, it is clear how

desperately Gandhiji was trying to deal a blow against the
League's two-nation theory and thus against partition of
the country into two. Responsible political opinion in
Bengal had voted for partition of that province if India was
going to be divided. The Congress and the League had
been brought into an agreement on partition through the
diplomatic intervention of Lord Mountbatten. And one
of those who knew how things were shaping themselves in
high diplomatic quarters therefore put the following ques-
tion to Gandhiji at his prayer meeting on the 13th of May
1947:
Q. When everything at the top goes wrong, can the
goodness of the people at the bottom assert itself against
its mischievous influence ?
A. If the people at the top went wrong, it was cer-
tainly open to and it was the duty of those at the botom to
remove the wrong top even as he would remove an umbrella,
which appeared to be at the top but which was sustained
by him.
Thus Pandit Nehru was at the top but in reality he was
sustained by them. If he went wrong, those at the botom
could remove him without trouble.
Coming nearer home, if they found Suhrawardy Sahib
to be unworthy, they at the bottom could certainly remove
him not by physical force but by the ways he had the honour
of putting before them.* The argument that he was
elected by Muslim voters was beside the point.
It all boiled down to the fact that if the people at the
bottom were ignorant, they would be exploited. Such was
the case with the English. When they realized their
strength and the fact that the bottom sustained the top,
it would be well with them. Therefore he would say that
if the top was wrong, there was something radically wrong
with the bottom.
Let them therefore dispel their ignorant helplessness.
At the prayer meeting, there was some disturbance

from those who thought Gandhiji was in favour of the
United Sovereign Bengal scheme and also those who did not
want the Koran to be recited by him before a Hindu
• That is, by non-violent non.()O.opetation.-N.K.B.

audience. To the former, Gandhiji said at the outset that

the demonstrators need not be afraid of his doing anything
which they did not like. He represented nobody but him-
self. Therefore he could only give advice which they were
to accept or reject. Therefore if Bengal was divided or
united it would be their act.
Sodpur, Wednesday, 14-5-1947:

A massive report was presented to Gandhiji by a number
of journalists containing a detailed description of the riots
which are even now going on in Calcutta, and of the failure
of the Police and the Administration in this connection.
Gandhiji expressed a desire to the Government of Bengal
that he would like to visit the affected parts of Calcutta.
Necessary arrangements were immediately made and
Gandhiji was driven through all the affected quarters· in
company with the acting Chief Minister, Mohammed Ali,
and also important persons like Debendranath Mukherjee,
the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Hindu Mahasabha.
The journey was over fifty miles ; and when Gandhiji
returned home he expressed the opinion to me that there
was exaggeration in the description of damage in the Report.
With regard to one particular quarter in which poor Hindus
lived in huts, the Report said that the houses had been
'razed to the ground'. But Gandhiji had found that they were
still standing, although the doors and windows had been
broken, the earth and bamboo walls partly destroyed and the
huts made completely uninhabitable. But, he said, it was
wrong to describe the huts as having been ' razed to the
ground'. One should never deviate from the truth even by
a hair's breadth.
The prayer meeting was once more held at Sodpur.
Gandhiji said at the outset that he was leaving for Patna
and hoped to go to Delhi after a week and to return to
ON A VISIT 1'0 BENGAL's CAPITAL 239
Calcutta after his work in Delhi was finished. He passed
with the acting Chief Minister two hours in visiting the
scenes of recent disturbances. He could see that the
destruction wa~ small compared to the August disturbances
and hoped that this was the last.
As he was taking his evening walk after prayer, Gandhiji

called me aside and said that I had not yet answered his
letter of the 13th of April 1947. He said, it was necessary
to find out clearly who was mistaken, himself or me. One
should not leave a question like that unattended to on the
score of other important duties. It was no less important to
know oneself more fully. Moreover, if I had any disrespect
for him I would not be able to put in my full service at his
disposal.
Gandhiji left Howrah in the evening, and I returned
home from the station after having seen him off.
XXII. CRISIS IN NON- VIOLENCE
Gandhiji was in Bihar from the 15th to the 24th of May
1947, after which he left again for Delhi. Even while he
was at Sodpur in Bengal, his advice to the people of India
was never to submit to the tyranny of Mr. Jinnah if the
latter insisted upon his pound of flesh. ' Had India,' he asked,
' forgotten the technique of fearless civil disobedience which
had been so successfully employed against the British power ?'•
In Delhi again, he stated clearly that 'if he had his way,
there never would be Pakistan before peace and certainly not
through British intervention.'** Someone invited his opinion
with regard to those nationalists who held that, unless the
Muslim League agreed to the partition of Bengal and the
Punjab, their grounds for the establishment of Pakistan
became illogical and unjust. Gandhiji's reply was, ' If Pakis-
tan is wrong, partition of Bengal and Punjab will not make
it right. Two wrongs will not make one right.'***
Riots of a very violent character had broken out in the
Punjab, while they had become almost a chronic feature of
the life:: of Calcutta. There was wanton bloodshed every-
where, and finally on the 3rd of June 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru
announced that the Working Committee had come to a
decision favourable to the division of India and that it
recommended the Resolution for ratification by representa-
tive assemblies of the people.
Commenting upon the Viceroy's statement on the same
occasion, Gandhiji remarked that ' to yield even an inch to
force was wholly wrong. The Working Committee hold
• HariianJ 1-6-1947, p. 173.

•• HariianJ 8-6-1947, p. 182.
••• Harijan, l-6-l94Z, p. 172.
CRISIS IN NON-VIOLENCE 241
that they had to yield to the force of circumstances. The
vast majority of Congressmen did not want unwilling
partners. Their motto was non-violence and, therefore, no
coercion. Hence, after weighing the pros and cons of the
vital issues at stake they had reluctantly agreed to the
secession from the Union that was being framed of those
parts which had boycotted the Constituent Assembly ...
Gandhiji could not blame the Viceroy for what had happened.
It was the act of the Congress and the League. He (the
Vtceroy) had openly said that he wanted a United India
but was powerless in the face of Congress acceptance, how-
ever reluctantly, of the Muslim position.
'He (Gandhiji) had done his best to get people to stand
by the Cabinet Mission Statement of May 16th but had
failed. But what was his duty and theirs in the face of the
accepted fact ? He was a servant of the Congress because
he was a servant of the country and he could never be dis-
loyal to them . . . . . Referring to the newspaper report that
Gandhiji had differed from the decision of the Working
Committee and that the A.I.C.C. would raise its voice against
it, Gandhiji said that the A.l.C.C. had appointed the
Working Committee and they could not lightly discard its
decision. The Working Committee might make a mistake.
They could punish it by removing it. But they could not
go back upon the decision already taken by it. As for the
people, he would ask them to oppose the Congress only when
it tried to mislead the public deliberately. They knew his
method of resistance. Mter all, he had preached rebellion
against the mighty Sanatanist Hindu stronghold on the sub-
ject of untouchability and the result was quite good. He
might differ from the Working Committee. But having
stated the fact, he would recommend their decision for
16
acceptance. He was of opinion that they could still mend

the situation to a large extent.'•
The emergent meeting of the All India Congress Com-
mittee was held in Delhi on the 14th and 15th of June 1947.
There was strong opposition against the Resolution on the
ground that it was a surrender to Mr. Jinnah's two-nation
theory and so a denial of the very foundation of Indian
nationalism. It was moreover no solution of the communal
problem. Yet, the majority eventually decided in favour of
the Resolution. It is interesting and instructive to study the
reasons set forth in favour of the Resolution, and also the
reason which led Gandhiji to reconcile himself to the
position taken by the A.I.C.C. on the historic occasion.
In course of his speech on the 15th of June, Sardar
:Vallabhai Patel is reported to have said, ·Never in the history
of the Congress before had the A.I.C.C. to take a decision
on such an important issue. He fully appreciated the appre-
hensions of his brothers from Sind and the Punjab. Nobody
liked the division of India and his heart was heavy. But
there were stark realities of which they should take notice.
The choice was whether there should be just one division
or many divisions. The fight today was not against the
• Harijan, 15-6-1947, p. 193.
It is significant, in this connection, to refer to the following report
published in the Harijan of June 22, 1947, which clearly shows how Gandhiji
was beginning to feel and express the idea that he was being left out by
the entire country in his opposition to the vivisection of India. This only
meant, from another point of view, that he did not at the moment feel
oonfident of leading the country in the direction which he thought was
politically the best.
The report ran : ' A correspondent wrote to Gandhiji that he, who
had proclaimed that the vivisection of India would mean a vivisection of
himself, had weakened. The writer had also invited him to lead the
opposition to the proposed division. He coulq not plead guilty .to the taunt.
When he made the statement he was voicing public opinion. But when
public opinion was against him, was he to coerce it ? The writer had also
argued that he had often held that there was to be no compromise with
untruth or eviL The assertion was correct. He made bold to say that if
ooly non-Muslim India was with him, he could show the way to undo the
British. They definitely had no desire to govern this country.
'The May 16th Plan, no doubt, gave them a United
India. But there was a snag. The Plan could not be
executed if one or other party withheld co-operation. The
communal veto which was given to the League would have
arrested our progress at every stage. The majority would
have to stand back and look on and they would have been
unable to do anything in the administration.
'But the position today was different. Now they had
a chance. They could eradicate the plague of communalism,
weightage etc. which existed in no other constitution of the
world. The Congress must face facts. It could not give
way to emotionalism and sentimentality. They must coolly
assess the pros and cons and arrive at a deliberate decision.
Sardar Patel sympathized with the minority in Sind. But
mere sympathy without power was no good. They must
build up strength.
' Sardar Patel denied that the Working Committee
accepted the plan out of fear. They had never known fear.
He deeply regretted the many massacres that had happened.
In one family of thirty, there were only two survivors. Many
were maimed or disabled for life. They had gone through
proposed partition. But he freely .Hirnitted that he had become or was

rather considered a back number ..... .
'Some people have criticized the acceptance of Dominion Status during
the interim period. They went so far as to say that the drama of indepen-
dence was finished once for all. The present Viceroy was more dangerous
than his predecessors who dangled before them the naked sword. He had
tricked the Congress into submission by his persuasive powers. Gandhiji
said that the correspondent had paid a high, though unintended, compli-
ment to the Viceroy and at •the same time belittled ·the intellectual capacity
of the Congress Ministers. Why could not the writer see the obvious ? The
country, i.e., the vocal part of it was with them. They were no fools. They
disliked dismemberment of India as much as any other. But they were the
people's representatives in power. If the writer was in power, things might
not have been different. In any case, it was not dignified to swear at the
Viceroy if the leaders were ill-chosen or if the people were not true to the
country. "As the king so the people" was less true than "As the people
so the king '" (p. 202).
all that. But he was afraid of one thing and that was that
all their toils and hard work these many years should not
go to waste or prove unfruitful. They worked for indepen-
dence and they should see as large a part of this country as
possible become free and strong. Here was a chance for
India to attain her independence. Was she going to throw
it away ? They had now a great opportunity to develop
over three-fourths of India. They had not much time to
waste. Freedom was coming. Congressmen should work
hard to make that freedom a living thing and make India
strong. They must build up industries. They must build
up the army, make it strong and efficient.'*
One of the most significant speeches delivered on the
occasion was the concluding address of the President,
Acharya Kripalani. He said, ' I have been with Gandhiji
for the last thirty years. I joined him in Champaran. I
have never swayed in my loyalty to him. It is not a personal
but a political loyalty. Even when I have differed from him
I have considered his political instinct to be more correct
than my elaborately reasoned attitude. Today also I feel that
he, with his supreme fearlessness, is correct and my stand
is defective. Why then am I not with him ? It is because
I feel that he has as yet found no way of tackling the prob-
lem on a mass basis. When he taught us non-violent non-
co-operation he showed us a definite method which we had
at least mechanically followed. Today he is himself groping
in the dark. He was in Noakhali. His efforts eased the
situation. Now he is in Bihar. The situation is again eased.
But this docs not solve in any way the flare-up in the Punjab.
He says he is solving the problem of Hindu-Muslim unity
for the whole of India in Bihar. May be. But it is difficult
to see how that is being dor.e. There are no definite steps
•indian Annual Regist", 1947, Vol. I, pp. 13.5-0 (adapted).

as in non-violent non-co-operation that lead to the desired
goal.
'And then unfortunately for us today though he can
enunciate policies they have to be in the main carried out
by others and these others are not converted to his way of
thinking.
'It is under these painful circumstances that I have
supported the division of India.'*
Another singular feature of the momentous A.I.C.C.
session was the speech delivered by Gandhiji himself in
support of the Resolution on the 14th of June 1947. Un-
fortunately) no official version of that speech is available and
we have to depend upon the report as published in the Press.
He said that ' his views on the Plan were well known.'
Although ' the House had the right to accept or reject the
Working Committee's decision, they must remember that the
Working Committee as their representative had accepted the
Plan and it was the duty of the A.I.C.C. to stand by them ..
If th\ A.I.C.C. felt so strongly on this point that this Plan
would do injury to the country, then it could reject the Plan.
The consequence of such a rejection would be the finding of
a new set of leaders who would constitute not only the
Congress Working Committee, but would also take charge
of the government. If the opponents of the Resolution could
find such a set of leaders it could then reject the Resolution
if it so felt .... The members of the Working Committee
were old and tried leaders who were responsible for all the
achievements of the Congress hitherto and, in fact, they
formed the backbone of the Congress and it would be un-
wise, if not impossible, to remove them at the present junc-
ture ... The Congress was opposed to Pakistan and he was
one of those who steadfastly opposed the division of India•
.. Ibid., p. 125.
Yet he had come before the A.I.C.C. to urge the acceptance

of the Resolution. Sometimes certain decisions, however un-
palatable they might be, had to be taken.'•
The result of Gandhiji's advocacy was that the opposi-
tion was considerably weakened, and eventually the Work-
ing Committee's Resolution was, as we have already said,
ratified by a large majority.
It soon however began to grow increasingly clear that, in
spite of his valiant effort to defend the Congress leadership and
Democracy, Gandhiji's own views on the question of partition
did not change even aiter the fateful meeting in Delhi. In a
written message to the prayer gathering on the 15th of June
itself, he said, 'One more question has been and is being
asked. If you are so sure that India is going the wrong way,
why do you associate with the wrong-doers ? Why do you
not plough your lonely furrow and have faith that if you
are right, your erstwhile friends and followers will seek you
out ? I regard this as a fair question. I must not attempt
to argue against it. All I can say is that my faith is as strong
as ever. It is quite possible that my technique is faulty.'••
A few days later, he said again, ' The fact that there are
two Indias instead of one was bad enough in itself. Both
had the same status. Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah and the Muslim
League were entitled to claim full credit for bringing about
a state of things which seemed to be impossible only as it
were yesterday. They had undone the solemn declaration
of the Cabinet Mission. They had succeeded in compelling
consent from the Congress and the Sikhs to the division.
The thing that was in itself bad did not become good because
the parties concerned accepted it, no matter that the causes
dictating were different in each case. It was hardly any
comfort that the Qaid-e-Azam did not get all that he wanted.
• Hindusthan Standard, 1.5.6.1947.
•• Harijan, 29-6.1947, p. 209.
The difference was not at all in kind. He wanted a sovereign
State. That he had in the fullest measure.'•
Another month after, while talking to some interviewers,
he remarked, 'The leaders had agreed to partition as the
last resort. They did not feel that they had made a mistake.
Rather than let the whole country go to the dogs, they had
agreed to partition, hoping to give the country a much-needed
rest. He felt differently. He had said that he would rather
let the whole country be reduced to ashes than yield an inch
to violence.'.,. ' It is permissible to say that India had
accepted partition at the point of the bayonet. This settled
fact cannot be unsettled in the same way. The two can
become one only when there is heart unity. The omens to-
day seem to point to the contrary.'•.,.
In one of his after-prayer speeches he said, 'Last evening
I showed why the coming freedom seemed to create no
enthusiasm. This evening I propose to show how we can,
if we will, turn the calamity into a blessing. It will profit
us nothing to brood over the past or to blame this party or
that. Technically, freedom is yet to come a few days hence.
In fact the parties have jointly accepted the situation and
there is no turning back. Only the inscrutable Providence
ran undo what men have agreed to do.
' One easy and ready way is for the Congress and the
League to come together and arrive at a mutual understand-
ing without the intervention of the Viceroy. The League
has to make the first move. I do not at all suggest the un-
doing of Pakistan. Let that be treated as an established
fact beyond dispute or discussion. But they can sit together
in a mud hut large enough to accommodate not more than
ten representatives and undertake not to part till they have
• Hari;an, 13-7-1947, p. 235.

•• !bid., 27-7-1947, p. 253.
••• Ibid., 1().3..1947, p. 272.
reached an agreement. I aare swear that if such an event

occurs, it will be infinitely better than the Bill recognizing
the independence of India cut up into two States enjoying
equal status.
'Neither the Hindus nor the Muslims are happy over
what is happening before their helpless selves. This is .first~
hand evidence unless the Hindus and Muslims who see me
or correspond with me are deceiving me. But-it is a big but
-I seem to be aiming at the impossible. Now that the
British intervention has done the trick, how can the League
be expected to come down to their adversaries and produce
an agreed settlement as between brothers and friends ? ••
It was with some amount of bitterness that he wrote
again, 'Man had the supreme knack of deceiving himself.
The Englishman was supremest among men. He was
quitting because he had discovered that it was wrong on
economic and political grounds to hold India in bondage.
Herein he was quite sincere. It would not be denied, how~
ever, that sincerity was quite consistent with self~deception.
He was self~eceived in that he believed that he could not
leave India to possible anarchy if such was to be India's lot.
He was quite content to leave India as a cockpit between
two organized armies. Before quitting, he was setting the
seal of approval on the policy of playing off one community
against another.'*""
Politically, therefore, it was evident that Gandhiji held
the partition to be the final result of England's policy of
Divide and Rule, as applied to the specific <>ituation in India.
From the strategical point of view, it meant a partial defeat
for the Congress leadership, in so far as they were forced
to apply a closure to the War of Independence, in the hope
that they would gain the power and opportunity to exercise
• Hanlan, 20-7-1947, p. 241.
•• Harijan, 20~7-1947, p. 242.
the authority of the State in order to check any further
progress of the communal canker. Obviously, India had
developed too little staying power to take much punishment;
although the total amount of punishment suffered by her in
course of the riots was negligible in comparison with what
takes place in a war. This attitude stood in sharp contrast
to the calmness displayed by Gandhiji himself, who never
lost sight of the nature of the coming freedom, and who
refused to be hustled into a political settlement which fell
far short of his conception of Swaraj.
As early as 1920, he had warned the nation in the
following terms, ' Before we become a nation possessing an
effective voice in the councils of nations, we must be pre-
pared to contemplate with equanimity, not a thousand
murders of innocent men and women, but many thousands
before we attain a status in the world that shall not be sur-
passed by any nation.'* While advising the Working Com-
mittee in the end of 1946 to reject the Cabinet Mission's
original proposal, he had envisaged the possibility of a
satyagraha movement for the final and complete vindication
of the national will. Referring to that, he said in February
1947, 'India's independence rested with the people and no
outside power. Nor was there any question as to what India
would do if the State Paper was withdrawn. India has been
accustomed to life in the wilderness. Naturally, he could
speak with confidence when the people had only non-violence
in view as a steadfast policy without reservation. If they
thought that they could drive away the English by the sword,
they were vastly mistaken. They did not know the deter-
mination and courage of the English. They would not yield
to the power of the sword. But they could not withstand
the courage of non-violence which disdained to deal death
• Selections jfom GRndhi, 1948, p. 121.

against death. He knew no other power higher than non~

violence. And if they were still without real independence,
it was, he was sure, because the people had not developed
sufficient non-violence.'*
An occasion similar to the present one had developed
in 1940 when Gandhiji had differed from the leaders of the
Congress on the score of non-violence. The Congress wanted
to render help to the English people in the War under certain
conditions. Gandhiji's contention was that this would not
bring freedom to the masses of India, and therefore he
advised the country to devote itself completely to the con-
structive programme instead, as a part of its ' real war effort.'
But there was hardly any response. In one of his· speeches
on that occasion, he therefore said, ' It has been somewhat
justly said that if I am a good general, I must not grumble
about my men. For I must choose them from the material
at my disposal. I plead guilty. But I have qualified my
admission by the adverb 'somewhat', for I laid down the
conditions from the very inception of the programme of
non-violence. My terms were accepted. If from experience
it is found that the terms cannot be worked, I must either
be dismissed or I must retire. I retired but to no purpose.
The bond between Congressmen and me seems to be un-
breakable. They may quarrel with my conditions but they
will not leave me or let me go. They know that however
unskilled a servant I may be, I will neither desert them nor
fail them in the hour of need. And so they try, though
often grumblingly, to fulfil my conditions. I must then on
the one hand adhere to my conditions so long as I have a
living faith in them, and on the other take what I can get
from Congressmen, expecting that if I am true, they will
someday fulfil all my conditions and find themsdves in the
• Ranjan, 2-3-1947, p. 45.

enjoyment of full independence such as has never before
been seen on earth.'*' On that particular occasion, however,
Gandhiji had acted outside the Congress through the initia-
tion of the Individual Civil Disobedience movement. On
the present occasion, he refrained from asserting himself
in a similar manner, although the risks for the entire country
were infinitely greater than on the last occasion.
So, when Gandhiji was once more in Calcutta about
two months after the meeting of the A.I.C.C., I had the
temerity to ask him why he had refused to give the neces-
sary lead to the country when he felt so strongly on the
question of division. As far as I can remembt>r, for there
is no record to this effect in my diary, his ar.s\vcr was that
if every time the Congress committed a mistake, he had to
step in to set it right, then India would never learn the art
of democracy. My feeling, however, was th:1t Gandhiji no
longer relied upon the Congress, in its present shflpe and
form, to serve as his instrument of collective non-violence.
Gandhiji suppressed himself more or less completely and
left the organization free to follow its own course. About
a month after the transference of power tpok place, he went
so far as to prescribe for the Congress a course of action in
accordance with the path which it had independently chosen
for itself. In September 1947, when the tension between India
and Pakistan became acute on the question of aggression in
Kashmir, he said in one of his after-prayer speeches, that
'he had been an opponent of all warfare. But if there was
no other way of securing justice from Pakistan, if Pakistan
persistently refused to see its proved error and continued t(}
minimize it, the Indian Union would have to go to war
against it. War was no joke. No one wanted war. That
way lay destruction. But he could never advise anyone to-
• Seutlies in Gandhitm, 1947, p. 314.

put up with injustice. If all the Hindus were annihilated

for a just cause he would not mind it.
'As for himself, his way was different. He worshipped
God, which was Truth and Ahimsa. There was a time when
India listened to him. Today he was a back number. He
was told that he had no place in the new order, where they
wanted machines, navy, air force and what not. He could
never be party to that. If they could have the courage to
say that they would retain freedom with the help of the
same force with which they had won it, he was their man.
His physical incapacity and his depression would vanish in
a moment.'•
But we are anticipating events. At the moment with
which we are concerned, Gandhiji felt that he should
no longer exercise his personal influence over the
Congress. He had to strike out a new path for himself,
adapt the non-violent technique to the new situation, and
once more make it possible for many men to act together
in the vindication of their just demands. We remember
how, even at Noakhali, he had said on the 9th of December
1946, that for the time being he had given up searching a
non-violent remedy applicable to the masses, he was seeking
a way for his own sake. To an interviewer who thanked
him for his kind interest in Bengal, Gandhiji had promptly
replied that it was no kindness; and if it was, then it was
kindness to himself. 'My own doctrine was failing. I do
not want to die a failure, but as a successful man. But it
may be that I may die a failure' (5-12-1946). On another
occasion, on the 26th of November 1946, he had said that a
wise gardener tries to raise one seedling properly instead of
sowing broadcast, and then he is enabled to discover the
exact conditions under/ which the plant will thrive.
This was apparently the task to which Gandhiji wanted
• Hfl1'i;an, 5-10.1947, p. 362.
to devote himself now that the Congress had brought polit-
ical freedom to the country. Even at Noakhali, a prelimi-
nary vision of the new way had apparently been opened to
him. He had felt and said in February 1947 that a com-
munity which hoped to employ non-violence for purposes
of self-defence must eschew such rights and privileges as
could only be gained by means of violence. Private capital,
social privileges of an exclusive character had to be put an
end to before satyagraha could exercise an effective appeal
upon one's opponent. Now that the Hindus had lost their
all through the riots, he wanted them to seize the oppor-
tunity and turn the calamity into a blessing. He wanted
them, by intelligent and determined effort, to set their lives
in tune with the supreme moral law of bread labour. His
appeal in Noakhali had however fallen upon ears which
were in no mood to listen. But Gandhiji wished to try
again. For he knew that without that preparation, without
the fundamental social and economic revolution attained
through non-violence, the chances of the substitution of
force by satyagraha in the sphere of State operations was
also remote.
Gandhiji thus determined to go into retirement in order
to prepare the ground for a fresh advance in terms of satya-
graha when the time was ripe for it. In one distant sense,
this was comparable to the retreat of the British Army after
the fall of France, when England retired to devote herself to
preparation for the final adv:mce when she was ready.
And thus it was that, shortly before the 15th of August
1947, the people of Bengal once more found Gandhiji in their
own midst.
In the meanwhile, he had paid a brief visit to Kashmir
and the riot-affected portions of the North-West Frontier
Province in the end of July and the beginning of August
1947.
XXIII. BENGAL CALLING AGAIN
On receiving the news that Gandhiji was coming to
Calcutta, I proceeded to Burdwan station on the evening of
the 8th of August 1947. When the train steamed in about
four in the morning of the 9th, I found Gandhiji still fast
asleep while Manu, Sailen and others were already awake.
Manu welcomed me warmly. Gandhiji woke up a few
minutes after the train started again, and asked her what
station had just been passed. Manu said it was Burdwan
and that we were already in Bengal. Then she announced
that I had come. Gandhiji said, ' So we are in Bengal and
Nirmal has come I Naturally, he would.' Then I went
into 4is compartment and paid him my respects.
The train reached Howrah shortly after eight and
we drove straight to the Khadi Pratisthan at Sodpur.
As the partition of Bengal had already become a settled
fact, a ' Shadow Ministry ' under Prafulla Chlndra Ghosh
was already functioning along with the League Ministry
from whom they were to take over charge on the 14th.
H. S. Suhrawardy was still the Chief Minister officially.
Gandhiji passed a busy day. He was anxious to meet
both Suhrawardy Sahib and Khwaja Nazimuddin, the former
Premier of Bengal, for any instruction which they might
wish to give him with regard to East Bengal. In the mean-
while, the British Governor sent him a personal invitation.
So he left for Government House at 3-30 p.m. returning at
5-5 p.m. just five minutes after the scheduled time for prayer.
An officer of the Information Department of the Govern-
ment of India came for some message fr~m him which was
to be published on the momentous 15th. But Gandhiji's reply
was that ' he had run dry '; there was nothing he would like
BENGAL CALLING AGAIN 255
to say. Two more Government officials came again for the
Jame purpose and said that if he did not give any message
to the nation, it would not be good. Gandhiji replied again,
'There is no message at all. If it is bad, let it be so' (Hai
nahi k.oi message, hone do k.harab).
Riots in a bad form had one~ more broken out in
Calcutta. This time, apparently, the initiative had come from
.the Hindus. The latter felt that the power of the League
Ministry was now broken and the police could therefore no
longer encourage the Muslim goondas by their incompetence.
Under the new regime of the Congress, the time had there-
fore come for the Hindus to strike back. This was perhaps
the reason why, on the present occasion, the targets of attack
were certain slums, as in Miabagan or Paikpara, which had
been known to harbour gangs of Muslim goondas in the pre-
vious phase of the riots. Usman Sahib, the former Mayor of
Calcutta, came with another friend to plead with Gandhiji
to save the Muslims of Calcutta before he went to Noakhali.
All these left Gandhiji in a heavily burdened frame of mind.
So he devoted the whole of his address in the prayer
meeting to the local situation. His destination he said was
Noakhali but he had been listening the whole day long to
the woes of Calcutta. Some Muslim friends and even some
Hindus complained that the Hindus seemed to have gone
mad. He was rightly asked before he went to Noakhali to
tarry in Calcutta and pour a pot of water over the raging
fire that was burning. He would love to give his life if
thereby he could contribute towards the quenching of the
mob fury. He would never be able to subscribe to the theory
that the doings in Calcutta were the result of goondaism.
He held that the crude open goondaism was a reflection of
the subtle goondaism they were harbouring within. Hence
it was the duty of the Government to hold themselves res-
ponsible for the acts of the goondas so-called. He hoped that
Calcutta would not present the disgraceful spectacle of hot

goondaism when they were entering upon full responsibility.
Sodpur, Sunday, 10~8~1947:

Usman Sahib came with a representative body of Muslims
in order to request Gandhiji to postpone his departure.
Gandhiji listened to their request and said that Usman Sahib
was taking upon himself a very heavy responsibility. Gandhiji's
intention was to be in Noakhali on the 15th; but if he could
not go there and anything untoward happened~ there would
be no alternative for him except to end his life by fasting.
It was indeed a heavy responsibility ; but Muhammad
Usman took upon himself, and on behalf of the Muslim
League, the responsibility of sending \\'orkers to Noakhali
who would try to maintain absolute peace in that district.
The Congress Ministers of the Government of Bengal
interviewed Gandhiji at 3-30 p.m. One of the questions
which they wanted to discuss was the manner in which the
15th should be celebrated. Gandhiji said, according to him,
the advice could only be for fasting, prayer and a dedication
to the spinning wheel. What else could they do when all
around the country was burning, when people were dying
from lack of food and clothing ? Sab dik jal rahe hain,
bi1Ukhon mar rahe hain, nange mar rahe hain.
The question of the relation between Pakistan and India
was also raised by one of the Ministers. Gandhiji said, ' Each
State should perform its duty properly. If the conduct is
straight, there is likelihood of reunion. But what he wit-
nessed today was a preparation for hostility not for friend-
ship.'
There was an enormous crowd to listen to Gandhiji
during prayer time. Their acclamation was piercing.
Gandhiji had to speak to them for a few minutes to establish
complete quiet if they wanted the prayer and his speech.
The audience responded splendidly and listened m perfect
silence.
He said that though he was to go to Noakhali tomorrow
(Monday), owing to the pressure from many Mmlim friends
who had seen him, he had decided to stay to see if he could
contribute his share in the return of sanity in the premier
city of India. The argument of the Muslim friends went
home. He had at the same time held that if he did not go
to Noakhali and any mishap took place, his life would
become forfeit as he had said already about Bihar. He had
seen the Ministers and others too during the day. He would
see the places where destruction was said to have been
wrought by Hindus. He had also learnt that there were
parts of Calcutta which were inaccessible to Hindus, though
many premises therein used to be occupied by them. Similar
was the case with the Hindu localities. His head hung in
shame to listen to this recital of man's barbarism. He \Votild
love to go to those places and see for himself how much
truth there was in these recitals. He was told that there
were not more than 23% Muslims in Calcutta. It was un-
thinkable that such a minority could coerce the majority
without countenance from or incompetence of authority.
Similarly it ~as unthinkable that in the midst of a Govern-
ment which knew the art of government, the majority could
for one moment be permitted to coerce the minority. He
was also told that what the Muslim police and officials were
alleged to be doing before, now that the Congress Ministry
was in power, the Hindu police and officers were doing.
They had become partial in the administration of justice.
If this wretched spirit of communalism had entered the
police force, the prospect was black indeed. He hoped that
the police would realize the dignity of their profession.
17
258 MY DAYS Willi GANDHI
Sodpur, Monday, 11-8-1947:

Early in the morning, I started for Government House
with a personal letter to the Governor which is reproduced
below.
Sodpur, 11-8-1947
Dear Friend,
What you could not do a big Muslim deputation was
able to do yesterday. And so, I am here at least till to-
morrow. Man is invariably clay in the hands of the Great
Potter.
All my good wishes with you and yours.
Yours sincerely,
M. K. Gandhi.
Later on in the day, a representative of the British Broad-

casting Corporation came with a request for a short message
from Gandhiji which would be broadcast all over the world
on the 15th of August. But Gandhiji sent word through
me that he had nothing to say. When the request was
repeated with the additional remark that it would be broad-
cast in various languages, as the whole world would naturally
expect to hear something from Mahatma Gandhi on the
historic occasion of India's freedom, Gandhiji wrote back on
a slip of paper which had already been used for conveying
other messages to me :
' I must not yield to the temptation. They must forget
that I know English.'
Gandhiji started on a tour round Calcutta at 2-12 p.m.

in company with Prafulla Ghosh, Usman Sahib and others
and came back at 4-17 p.m.
H. S. Suhrawardy came with Usman Sahib at 9-5 p.m. in
the night and left at 11 p.m. The following is a summary
of the conversation which took place between them as
recorded in my diary of even date.
Gandhiji: Do you want to suggest, I should not leave on
Wednesday and pass the whole of my time in bringing
peace to Calcqtta ?
Suhrawardy : Yes.
Gandhiji: I stayed (for these two days in Calcutta) very
much against my will. But Usman Sahib overpowered
me. He made a successful appeal to my heart. He
asked me to see things with my own eyes and do some-
thing to allay the present communal feelings. I would
remain if you and I are prepared to live together. This
is my second offer to you.* We shall have to work as
long as every Hindu and Mussulman in Calcutta does
not safely return to the place where he was before. We
shall continue in our effort till our last breath.
I do not want you to come to a decision immediately.
You should go back home and consult your daughter ; for
the implication of what I mean is that the old Suhrawardy
will have to die and accept the garb of a mendicant
(fakir).**
Sodpur, Tuesday, 12--8-1947:

Usman Sahib arrived at about one in the afternoon with
Mr. Suhrawardy's message stating that the latter had agreed
to Gandhiji's proposal.
Gandhiji wanted Usman Sahib and myself to fix a quarter
for him in Calcutta ; but I excused myself and Satish Babu's
brother Kshitish Babu and his son Arun Dasgupta accom-
panied the ex-Mayor on an exploratory tour and finally fixed
upon a vacant Muslim residence at 150 Beliaghata Main
Road for the new enterprise.
• The first, as the reader will perhaps remember, was made in May, 1947.
•• Suhrawardy Sahib is a widower with an only daughter.
Beliaghata is a predominantly Hindu area ; but the out-

let of this quarter across the canal is commanded by the pre-
dominantly Muslim slum of Miabagan. Miabagan had earned
the unenviable reputation of harbouring a large number of
goondas during the riots. So, a few days back, the young
Hindus of Beliaghata had attacked this bustee with locally
manufactured hand-grenades and a few ~ten guns which had
been procured from soldiers at the end of the last war, and
cleared it of all inhabitants whether good or bad. A short
distance from Bdiaghata there were Maniktala, Kankurgachi,
Ultadanga and other places which had been almost wholly
denuded of Hindus by the depredation of Muslim goondas.
This was thns the place fixed upon by lJsm:m S:.~hib and
Kshitish Babu for Gandhiji's residence. The building be-
longed to an aged Muslim lady and lay beside a match
factory owned hy a Muslim proprietor.
In the prayer meeting, G:mdhiji said th::t the 15th
instant was to be a landmark in India's history. It was the
day when India would be declared frc:: of the foreign yoke.
It was to be an independent n~ltion. He had said how the day
was to be observed. But he \vas probably alone in the view.
Already there was an announcement that the M~1slims of
Calcutta were to observe it as a day of mourning. He hoped
it was not true. No man could be compelled to observe the
day in a P!lrticular manner. It was to be a perfectly voluntary
act. He would ask his Muslim countrymen not to mourn
over the freedom. The present distemper was bound to go.
Vlhat were the Hindus in Pakistan to do ? They should
salute the Pakistan flag, if it meant the freedom and equality
of all in every respect, irrespective of caste, colour or creed.
He then came to another important subject. They knew
that he prolonged his stay in Calcutta by two days at the
instance of Muslim friends. Last night Shaheed Sahib• came
• Shaheed is Mr. Suhcawardy's personal name.
to see him. He suggested that it would be contrary to his
(Gandhiji's) practice to leave Calcutta while it was going
through the horrors of communal strife. Shaheed Sahib
suggested that Gandhiji should prolong his stay in the city
and work until real peace was restored. Gandhiji replied
that Suhrawardy Sahib and he should live under the same
roof in the disturbed parts. It would be best to live unpro-
tected by police or military. In brotherly fashion, they
would approach the people, argue with them and tell them
that now that partition had taken place by agrec-ment, there
was no longer any reason for them to continue the old fight.
The decision of the Boundary Commission was going to be
:mnounced in a day or two, and it was in the fitness of things
that all the parties should abide by the decision in a becom-
ing manner. After all, the parties had appointed an arbitra-
tion tribunal. They were in honour bound to abide by the
award whatever it was.
Gandhiji's proposal to Suhrawardy Sahib was of such
an important nature that the latter could not afford to give
a hasty reply. Gandhiji had therefore asked Shaheed Sahib
to consult his aged father as well as his daughter before
coming to a decision. During the afternoon, Usman Sahib,
the ex-Mayor of Calcutta, had arrived with Shaheed Sahib's
reply stating that the latter had accepted Gandhiji's propo-
sal without reservation. It was now time therefore for the
two friends to choose quarters in the midst of the worst-
affected areas and see what could be done by joint effort.
Gandhiji said that he was warned that Shaheed Sahib
was not to be relied upon. The same thing was said about
him (Gandhiji). He was described as the worst enemy of
Islam. He was supposed to be a consummate hypocrite. God
alone knew men's hearts. He asserted that he spoke and
acted as he believed. He had known Shaheed Sahib since
the days of the Faridpur Conference to which the late
Dashbandhu* had taken him. Nobody had any right to pre-

judge anybody. He would trust as he expected to be trusted.
Both would live under the same roof and have no secrets
from one another. They would together see all visitors.
People should have the courage to speak out the truth under
all circumstances and in the presence of those against whom
it had to be said.
He finally referred to what the common citizen could
do in order to help the cause. They were to bless them in
the mission on which they were embarking.
Beliaghata, Calcutta, Wednesday, 13-8-1947 :

While still at Sodpur, at about one in the afternoon,
Gandhiji said that the step he was taking was like a gamble
and, for him, it was also his last throw. He would observe
carefully how the plan worked. The plan was bound to
succeed if there was no mental reservation on either side ; but
all depended on how Mr. Suhrawardy reacted. His final aim
was to see not only that Hindus and Muslims returned to their
own places and lived together as formerly, but mutual
trust was also restored. Only then could he say that his
object had been fully attained.
We left Sodpur at 2-30 p.m. in a car and reached the
house which had been selected at Beliaghata at 3-5 p.m. A
number of young men had gathered at the gate with black
flags and some posters which said that Gandhiji should
go back and rather settle in a quarter like Kankurgachi or
Ultadanga from where Hindus had been driven away, instead
of coming here to look after Muslim interests. After having
seen Gandhiji settled in his room, I met the crowd and then
went to the house of one important leader of the locality,
where I tried to explain till after ten o'clock in the night what
• C. R. Das, the great nationalist leader.

Gandhiji's purpose in coming here was. When I came back
to Gandhiji's room at half past ten, I found that he had not
yet gone to sleep. He expressed satisfaction at what he had
done in the meanwhile. A number of demonstrators had
approached him and he had argued with them for several
hours. He felt glad that the demonstrators had not merely
the courage to oppose him openly, but also to charge
Mr. Suhrawardy to his face with all that they had to say
against him. Such courage was good ; it was indeed a con-
trast to what he had witnessed in the district of Noakhali
hitherto.
And thus we settled down in our new quarters in the
city of Calcutta.
XXIV. BUILDING UP FREE INDIA
Beliaghata, Thursday, 14-8~1947:
Nirmal Chandra Chatterji, Major Bardhan and some
other members of the Hindu Mahasabha had a long inter-
view with Gandhiji on ·the East Bengal situation. Nirmal
Babu's suggestion was that joint squads of volunteers belong-
ing to the Congress, League and Hindu Mahasabha should
tour the districts in order to restore confidence among the
Hindus in East Bengal.
There was a packed audience during prayer time, which
listened to Gandhiji without the slightest disturbance. He
explained once more the reason for postponement of his visit
to Noakhali and his intention of ~taying in the present pbce.
Let them not think that the parts of Calcutta which were
deserted by their Hindu inhabitants and were occupir.~d by
Muslims were being neglected. They were working for the
peace of the whole of Calcutta and he invited his audience
to believe with them that if Calcutta returned to sanity and
real friendship, then Noakhali and the rest of India would be
safe.
News began to reach our camp towards evening that a
strange thing had started in different parts of Calcutta. For
one whole year, ever since the beginning of the Muslim
League's Direct Action on the 16th of August 1946, Hindus
'and Muslims had strictly avoided one another's company.
Transference of population had taken place, so that Calcutta
had virtually become divided ·into exclusively Hindu and
Muslim zones. But news began to pour in now that
the Hindus and Muslims were both coming out in the streets,
embracing one another and the latter were even inviting
their erstwhile enemies to visit their masjids. It reminded
me personally of what I had read in Eric Maria Remarque's
BUILDING UP FREE INDIA 265
All Quiet on the Western Front, when on Christmas Eve,
the common French and German soldiers came out of
their trenches and forgot, even if it were for a brief moment,
that they were to regard each other as enemies I left in a
jeep and passed through some of the most affc.cted quarters
and witnessed an upsurge of emotional enthusiasm which
somehow rang untrue; for to my mind it was a reaction
against the inhibitions of a war through which the citizens
had been passing for one whole year.
Gandhiji wished to observe the demonstration himself
and he was therefore driven in a closed car as he sat between
two or three passengers, so that people might not recognize
him and out of enthusiasm make it impossible for him to
proceed.
BeliPghata, Friday, 15-8~1947:

Gandhiji had started a onc~day fast in observance of the
day of deliverance of India. The new Governor of this pro-
vince, C. Rajagopalachari, paid him a respectful visit and con-
gratulated him on the 'miracle which he had wrought.' But
Gandhiji replied that he could not be satisfied until Hindus
and Muslims felt safe in one another's company and returned
to their own homes to live as before. Without that change
of heart, there was likelihood of future deterioration in spite
of the present enthusiasm.
At 2, there was an interview with some members of the
Communist Party of India to whom Gandhiji said that
political workers, whether Communist or Socialist, must for-
get today all differences and help to consolidate the freedom
which had been attained. Should we allow it to break into
pieces ? The tragedy was that the strength with which the
country had fought against the British was failing them when
it came to the establishment of Hindu-Muslim unity.
With regard to the celebrations, Gandhiji said, ' I can't

afford to take part in this rejoicing, which is a sorry affair.'
There was then a half-hour interview with some students
of Beliaghata to whom he explained in detail why the fight-
ing must stop now. We had two States now, each of which
was to have both Hindu and Muslim citizens. If that were
so, it meant an enJ of the two-nation theory. Students ought
to think and think well. They should do no wrong. It was
wrong to molest an Indian citizen merely because he pro-
fessed a different religion. Students should do everything
to build up a new State of India which would be everybody's
pride. With regard to the demonstration of fraternization
he said, ' I am not lifted off my feet by these demonstrations
of joy.'
There was a great rush of visitors all through the day ;
and every time a large number gathered in the garden and
the open lawns attached to the house, Gandhiji stepped up
to the window of his room and stood with folded hands
returning the salute of the multitude.
At the prayer meeting to which Gandhiji walked on
foot, the rush was very great. And what could have been
done in five minutes' time took twenty minutes to cover.
Gandhiji referred to Lahore from where sorry tales of rioting
had been reaching him every day and said that if the noble
example of Calcutta were sincere, it would affect the Punjab
and the rest of India. There was also a reference to Chitta-·
gong which was now in Pakistan but where floods had
recently caused severe damages. Were the two portions of
Bengal to treat one another as foreigners ? Nature's floods
were no respector of persons or of political divisions between
man and man. Hindus and Muslims were equally affected
thereby.
On the 16th, Rev. John Kdlas, Principal of the Scottish

Church College, came to see Gandhiji with some members of
his staff. The chief question discussed was the relation between
education and religion. Gandhiji was emphatic in his opinion
that the State being secular, it could never promote denomi-
national education out of public funds. Incidentally he said
that although India had discarded foreign power it had not
discarded foreign influence. 'Although we' have thrown
overboard British political supremacy, we haven't done so
with regard to the cultural one.'
With reference to the task lying before the country, he
said that we must demolish the status whick goondaism had
acquired in course of the last one year and devote ourselves
to the organization of the best in society.
One professor of science asked Gandhiji what scientists
should do if Free India ordered them to produce atom bombs,
for instance. Without a moment's hesitation he replied :
'Resist them unto death. Scientists to be worth the name
should only do like that.'
On the following day, while speaking with an inter-
viewer on the question of rehabilitation, Gandhiji casually
remarked, 'Producing a set of murderers is one thing, to
produce a set of constructive workers who will toil from day
to Jay is another thing.'
On the 18th, a number of Congress workers came from
Khulna. Khulna is a district with Hindu majority and the
Congress workers had hoisted the tricolour flag to celebrate
the 15th of August, because they believed it would naturally
remain a part of India. But the Award of the Boundary
Commission which was announced later, placed Khulna '
within Pakistan. And so the workers had come to ask
Gandhiji what should be done in regard to the Union of
lnclia Flag which had been hoisted there. As it was his day of
silence, he wrote out on a slip of paper, 'There can be no
two opinions. The Union Flag must go, Pakistan must be
hoisted without demur, with joy if possible. Award is award,

good or bad.'
Although Calcutta had become quiet now, yet stray
incidents continued against Muslims in the suburbs of the
city. So Gandhiji paid a visit to Barrackpore on the 18th
and to Kanchrapara on the 19th, where he met a large number
of Hindu and Muslim citizens and argued with them why
they should now wipe off all memories of the past and tn:at
one another with complete equality.
At Kanchrapara there had been police firing in which
several dozens of men had been killed or injured. On the
19th, after his return from a visit to that place, Gandhiji
referred to the matter in his after-prayer speech in Beliaghata
when he warned people against being unduly elated by the
fraternization which they were witnessing. Behind it there
were pointers like Barrackpore, Kanchrapara and other places
he could mention. He would not let them plead excuse or
extenuation. There was neither excuse nor extenuation for
the majority in Pakistan or Hindustan.
And thus, day after day, in numerous interviews as well
as in prayer meetings held in different parts of the city,
Gandhiji told people how to behave and how to live so that
they could become worthy of the new freedom which had
come upon the land.
On the 30th of August, the Ruling Chief of Ranpur in
Orissa paid a visit to Gandhiji in company with his mother.
Ranpur had joined the Indian Union and the Raja Sahib
was anxious to know if the Union would stand by the Princes
after accession. Gandhiji's reply was that the Union would
surely accord to the Princes ' full support in vindicating the
liberty of their subjects.'
On the same evening, Randolph Churchill, son of Winston
Churchill, paid a call in the evening. Mr. Suhrawardy
was also present in the room at the time. One of the ques-
tions which Mr. Churchill asked was, what Gandhiji's ideas

were with regard to the re-union of Pakistan and India.
Gandhiji said that his views on partition were very well
known, and he, even now, considered partition to be a 'sin.'
But whether there would be re-union or not was not for him
to decide. If the people of both States became so friendly
that they voluntarily wished to be one, there would indeed
be nothing like it.
To other visitors he had alre::tdy expressed the opinion
that we in India should immediately create a State which
lived for the poor and meant real freedom for them. And
then the goodness of that State would cross geographical
boundaries and affect the life of the common people m th-::
neighbouring States.*
Syamaprasad Mookerjee, who is now a member of tb::
C:-thinct, came on :1 visit at 3-55 p.m. and was with G::mdhiji
for twenty minutes. He acquainted the latter with recent
developmt·nts in the Punjab, and also how the two Gvvern-
ments had come to an agreement on the transfer of popula-
tion. The Union Government was however under the
impression that the terms of the agreement were not being
duly implemented by the Government of Pakistan.
News poured in almost every day that in comparison with
the recent killings and arsons in the Punjab, the happenings of
• Indeed, it was reported by Amrit Kaur that to a French interviewer

he had said in Delhi in May 1947 that, 'he felt that a socialistic ~tate was
bound to come into being in India. He himself naturally clung to the
hope that future societv in India would be built on non-violence. And
only in that case would sociali~m h e J a penmmen<t way of life '.
(Harijan, 18-5-1947, p. 153.)
He also said on the 4th of July that ' was sorry to have to confess
that he saw no si.r.;n of the Kingdom of G >heing born out of the coming
Dominion Status. . . . Be that as it may, it was open to both the new
States as soon as they framed their comtitutions to declare complete indepen-
dence of the exclusive family of British Dominions and aim at a family of
independent World States which necessarily ruled out all internal armies.
He <:ould not visualize a do)l-in-the-manger policy for India whereby it
would become a menace to world peace, another Japan or Germany calling
Bengal and Bihar paled into utter insignificance. Gandhiji

was therefore urgently needed there in order to restore peace.
Professor Stuart Nelson, who had met Gandhiji in
Srirampur, came on a call before leaving for his University
in Washington. Professor Nelson asked him why it was that
Indians who had more or less successfully gained indepen-
dence through peaceful means were now unable to check the
tide of civil war through the same means ? Gandhiji replied
that it had become clear to him that what he had mistaken
for satyagraha was not more than passive resistance, which
was a weapon of the weak.* Indians harboured ill-will and
anger against their erstwhile rulers, while they pretended to
re~ist them non-violently. Their resistance was, therefore,
inspired by violence and not by a respect for the better
elcm.:nt i.n the English people, which they were trying to
awaken by means of self-suffering.
Now that the latter were voluntarily quitting India, our
apparent non-violence was going to pieces in a moment. The
attitude of violence which we had secretly harboured, in
spite of the restraint imposed by the Indian National Congress,
now recoiled upon us and made us fly at each other'!: throat
when the question of the distribution of power came up.
lf India could discover a way of sublimating the forces of
violence and diverting them along constructive lines whereby
it~elf falsely a democracy. Democracy and the military spirit he held to be a

contradiction in terms. A democrat relied upon the force not of arms his
State could flaunt in the face of the world but on the moral force his State
should put at the disp<>sal of the world. If by India's effort such a world
federation ot free and independent States was brought into being, the hope
of the Kingdom of God, otherwise called Ramarajya, might legitimately be
entertained '. (Harijan, 13-7-1947, p. 23'i.)
• Cf. 'The weak of heart could not claim to ropresent my non-violence
at all. The proper term (for what India has been practising for rhe last
tl1irty years) was passive resistance.. Passive resistance was a preparation
for the active resistance of arms.' (Harijan, 13-7-1947, p. 236.) 'Passive
resistance, unlike non-violence, had no power to change men's hearts. The
consequences they knew but too well. The Swaraj of their dream was far
off.'' (Harijan, 20-7-1947, p. 243.)
differences of interest could be peacefully liquidated through
satyagraha of one kind or another, then it would be a great
day indeed.
Gandhiji then proceeded to say that it was indeed true
that many English friends had warned him that the so-called
non-violence of India was no more than the passivity of the
weak, it was not the non-violence of the stout in heart who
disdained to surrender their sense of human unity even in
the midst of a conflict of interests but continued their effort
to convert the opponent instead of coercing him into sub-
missiOn.
Gandhiji proceeded to say that it was indeed true that
he had all along laboured under an illusion. But he was
never sorry for it. He realized that if his vision had not been
clouded by that illusion, IndiJ. would never have reached the
point which it had done today.
India was now free, and the reality was now clearly
revealed to him. Now that the burden of subjection had been
lifted, all the forces of evil had come to the surface. It was
evidently a healthy sign. But what remained to he done
was to marshall all the forces of good ; so that we could
build a great country which forsook the accustomed method
of violence to settle human disputes, whether it was between
two sections of the same people or between two States. He
had yet faith that India would rise equal to the occasion and
prove to the world that the birth of two new States would
be, not a menace, but a blessing for the rest of mankind. It
was the duty of Free India to perfect the instrument of non-
violence in resolving collective conflicts if its freedom was
going to be really worth while.
XXV. 'l'HE Ji'AST
Things had become normal in the city of Calcutta when
there was a sudden turn for the worse on the 31st of August
1947. We were to leave for Noakhali on the following morn-
ing, and Mr. Suhrawardy who used to be with us at Belia-
ghata had left in the evening for his residence for gathering
certain things which were needed on the joumey.
It was about 10 p.m. when a large crowd of Hindus came
to the house and after having entered the hall where: most
of us used to work during the day hegan to smash to pieces
whatever they could lay their hands upon. The furniture,
window-panes, crockery were all reduced to bits ; ar:d what
the people demanded was the presence of Suhraw:.udy Sahib
with whom, they said, they had an account to settle.
The Commissioner of Police, the Chief Minister Prafulla
Chandra Ghosh came to the scene within a short time and
persuaded the crowd to disperse without any ~· trther unto-
ward incident.
The 1st of September began with ominous portents.
News arrived that anti-Muslim riots had started in Central
Calcutt:1. Some of the poorer people in Miabagan and other
quarters of Beliaghata had already returned to their homes
on the assurance of Gandhiji's presence in their midst. But
on this day, as the news of fresh riots poured in, they felt
nervous and one batch of them boarded a truck belonging to
a Hindu merchant for being escorted to Rajabazar which i~
the nearest Muslim neighbourhood.
Gandhiji advised evacuation if we felt things wert going
to worsen Jmt as the open truck with about thirty passen-
gers sped past our camp and was passing by the side of a ,
graveyard, hand grenades were hurled upon it from the roof
of a building which lay within the gate of the graveyard
THE FAST 273
and two young Muslims were instantly killed. As soon as
we heard the report we rushed to the scene, and Gandhiji
also followed suit in a few minutes' time. His face hardened~
and shortly after we reached back home, he set himself
down to complete a Press statement that he had been pre-
paring in the meanwhile.
He had decided to enter upon a fast for the return of
sanity among the people of Calcutta.
In the meanwhile, some young men of Beliaghata took
me to the deserted bustee of Miabagan where a few old
Muslim men and women, including a patient of tuberculosis,
were still living. The young men said that although a small
batch from among them had erred and hurled the fatal bomb
on the refugee truck, yet they themselves would request
Gandhiji to stop any further evacuation. It was a point of
honour with them, after they had given their word a few
days ago to Gandhiji, to protect the remaining Mus5ulmans
from further harm. And for this purpose they might even
have to use sten guns at night ; only they would request
Gandhiji to advise the Police not to arrest anybody in posses-
sion of unlicensed arms. I listened to them and then reported
the whole matter to Gandhiji. Gandhiji gave a most un-
expected reply. He asked me to tell the young men that
' he was with them. If Prafulla Babu, the Chief Minister,
could not protect the minority with his government forces,
and the young men decided to do so, they deserved his
support.'*
• Long afterwards when I was reporting the incident to a Jewish friend

from the Palestine University, Dr. Walter Zander, he said, he could under~
stand this quite well. For Gandhiji was here not encouraging violence ;
he was trying 1to protect those who were again.~t him from the hand of
his own people. And if violence was condoned for this purpose, it was
no more than cutting off one's own hand to prevent it from doing mis:-
chief. Whether Dr. Zander was right in his judgment or not, the incident
does throw some light on Gandhiji's attiltude towards violence and non-
violence.
18
C. Rajagopalachari, the Governor, came to see Gandhiji

at 8-15 p.m. and argued with him till half past eleven against
the decision to fast. Rajaji asked Gandhiji, was it because
of his success during the 14th and the 15th of August that
he had become so anxious to see peace restored in Calcutta
through his fast ? What would he have done if he had been
away at Noakhali as planned already ? He should allow
the Government of th..: State some time to bring about
peace.
Gandhiji's reply was that his fast was not the result
of any subtle pride in his own command over the people of
Calcutta. The Government were surely to pursue their own
course of action for the restoration of peace. But should he
remain idle for even twentyfour hours and do nothing in the
meanwhile ? His obvious duty was to go to every citizen of
Calcutta and argue with him until he was convinced that
any attack upon the Muslim community, as such, was wrong.
But as that was physically not possible, he had decided upon
the other alternative of a fast. Then people's heart might
be touched and perhaps his reason would appeal to them
more readily.
The statement which Gandhiji had prepared was
examined in great detail, and then released for the Press.
In the statement, the last but one paragraph stated : ' I
shall, as usual, permit myself to add salt and soda bicarb to
the water I may wish to drink during the fast.' The original
draft ran differently: 'to add salt and soda bicarb and sour
limes to the water I may wish to drink during the fast.'
When Rajaji read the wcrds 'and sour limes', he asked, why
it should be there if Gandhiji's intention was to fast unto
death as an appeal to the heart of the people. Gandhiji
immediately scored through the words, and later on, he said
to me, 'You see, how my weakness did not escape Rajaji's
keen eyes! Indeed, there was evidently a desire in my mind
THE FAST 275
to survive the fast and a hope it would prove fruitful in its
purpose. You are new with me, but Rajaji has known roe
for many years and the departure from truth did not
escape him.'
The statement is now given below in full :
' I regret to have to report to you that last night some
young men brought to the compound a bandaged man. He
was reported to have been attacked by some Muslims. The
Prime Minister had him examined and the report was that
he had no marks of stabbing, which he was said to have
received. The seriousness of the injury, however, is not the
chief point. What I want to emphasize is that these young
men tried to become judges and executioners.
'This was about 10 p.m. Calcutta time, They began to
shout at the top of their voices. My sleep was disturbed but
I tric:d to lie quiet, not knowing what was happening. I
heard the window panes being smashed. I had lying on
either side of me two very brave girls. They would not sleep
but without my knowledge, for my eyes were closed, they
went among the small, crowd and tried to pacify them.
Thank God, the crowd did not do any harm to them. The
old Muslim lady in the house endearingly called Bi Amma
and a young Muslim stood near my matting, I suppose, to
protect me from harm.
' The noise continued to swell. Some had entered the
central hall, and began to knock open the many doors. I
felt that I must get up and face the angry crowd. I stood
at the threshold of one of the doors. Friendly faces
surrounded me and would not let me move forward. My
vow of silence admitted of my breaking it on such occasions
and I broke it and began to appeal to the angry young men
to be quiet. I asked the Bengali grand--daughter-in-law to
translate my few words into Bengali. All to no purpose.
Their ears were closed against reason.
'I clasped my hands in the Hindu fashion. Nothing

doing. More w1ndow panes began to crack. The friendly
ones in the crowd tried to pacify the crowd. There were
police officers. Be it said to their credit that they did not
try to exercise authority. They too clasped their hands in
appeal. A lathi blow missed inc and everybody round me.
A brick aimed at me hurt a Muslim friend standing by.
The two girls would not leave me and held on to me to the
last. Meanwhile the Police Superintendent and his officers
came in. They too did not use force. They appealed to me
to retire. Then there was a chance of their stilling the
young men. After a time the crowd melted.
'What happened outside the compo:.md gate I do not
know except that the police had to use tear gas to disperse
the crowd. Meanwhile, Dr. P. C. Ghosh, Annada Babu and
Dr. Nripen walked in and after some discussion left.
Happily, Shaheed Sahib had gone home to prepare for to-
morrow's proposed departure for Noakhali. In view of the
above ugly incident, which no one could tell where it would
lead to, I could not think of leaving Calcutta for Noakhali.
'What is the lesson of the incident ? It is clear to me
that if India is to retain her dearly-won ind::pendence all
men and women must ~omplctdy forget lynch law. What
was attempted was an indifferent imitation of it. If Muslims
misbehaved, the complainants could, if they would not go to
the ministers, certainly go to me or my friend, Shaheed Sahib.
The same thi.q.g applied to Muslim complainants. There is
no way of keeping the peace in Calcutta or elsewhere if the
elementary rule of civilized society is not observed. Let them
not think of the savagery of the Punjab or outside India.
The recognition of the golden rule of never taking the law
into one's own hands has no exception.
'My Secretary, Dev Prakash, in Patna, wires : "Public
agitated Punjab happenings. Feel statement necessary
THE FAST 277
•
impressing duty of public and the Press." Shri Dev Prakash
is never unduly agitated. There must be some unguarded
word by the Press. If that is so, at this time when we are
sitting on a powder magazine, the Fourth Estate has to be
extra-wise and reticent. Unscrupulousness will act as a
lighted match. I hope every editor and reporter will realize
his duty to the full.
' One thing I must mention. I have an urgent message
calling me to the Punjab. I hear all kinds of rumours about
recrudescence of trouble in Calcutta. I hope they are ex-
aggerated, if not quite baseless. The citizens of Calcutta
have to reassure me that there would be nothing wrong in
Calcutta, and that peace, once restored, will not be broken.
'From the very ficst day of peace, that is August 14th
last, I have been saying that the peace might only be a
temporary lull. There was no miracle. Will the foreboding
prove true and will Calcutta again lapse into the law of the
jungle ? Let us hope not, let us pray to the Almighty that
He will touch our hearts and ward off the recurrence of
insanity.
'Since the foregoing was written, i.e., about 4 o'clock,
during silence, I have come to know fairly well the details
of what has happened in various parts of the city. Some of
the places which were safe yesterday have suddenly become
unsafe. Several deaths have taken place. I saw two bodies
of very poor Muslims. I saw also some wretched-looking
Muslims being carried away to a place of safety. I quite
see that last night's incidents so fully described above, pale
into insignificance before this flare-up. Nothing that I may
do in the way of going about in the open conflagration could
possibly arrest it.
' I have told the friends who saw me in the evening what
their duty is. What part am I to play in order to stop it ?
The Sikhs and the Hindus must not forget what East
Punjab has done during these few days. Now the Muslims •
in the West Punjab have begun the mad career. It is said
that the Sikhs and the Hindus are enraged over the Punjab
happenings.
'1 have adverted above to an urgent call for me to go
to the Punjab. But now that the Calcutta bubble seems to
have burst, with what face can I go to the Punjab ? The
weapon which has hitherto proved infallible for me is fast-
ing. To put an appearance before an yelling crowd does not
always work. It certainly did not last night. What my word
in person cannot do, my fast may. It may touch all the
warring elements in the Punjab if it does in Calcutta. I
therefore, begin fasting from 8-15 to-night to end only if and
when sanity returns to Calcutta. I shall, as usual permit
myself to add salt and soda bicarb to the water I may wish
to drink during the fast.
'If the people of Calcutta wish me to proceed to the
Punjab and help the people there, they have to enable me
to break the fast as early as may be.'
The fast continued for three days and when the necessary
assurance came from important citizens that they were pre-
pared to lay down their lives if necessary for the restoration
of peace in Calcutta, the fast was broken. An account 'Was
prepared by me for the Press and subsequently revised by
Gandhiji. It is also given below in full.
Gandhiji began his fast for allaying the communal
frenzy and restoration of sanity in Calcutta at 8-15 o.m. on
the 1st of September 1947, and broke it at 9-15 p.m. on the
4th instant with a glass of sweet lime juice which Mr. Suhra-
wardy served to him.
It is nec~ssary to go into the history of the fast
in order to prepare the background of the story as to how
and under what circumstance~ it was finally broken.
From the 14th of August till the 31st, peace reigned.
TilE FAST 279
That evening there was a demonstration against Gandhiji's
peace mission. On the following morning communal frenzy
in a very intense form, once more swept over several parts
of the city. There were already indications in the morning
that Gandhiji might fast ; but the final decision was taken
at eleven in the evening when, according to him, friends had
failed to show any satisfactory reason why he should not take
the contemplated step. The last swet:t drink was taken at
7 p.m. He made the provisional decision at 8-15 p.m.
Anyway, the fast was taken and perhaps partly on
account of it and partly also because the common citizen,
who had tasted peace after one year's life in the trenches,
did not want the recrudescence, the riots rapidly cooled down,
so that on the 4th, the Government as well as the public
were able to report to Gandhiji that not one incident
had taken place during the last twentyfour hours. Party
after party came to Gandhiji either with reports or with
promises, and in spite of his weak state, he insisted on talk-
ing in his feeble voice to every batch of interviewers.
Dr. Sunil Bose, the celebrated physician and brother of Netaji
Subhas Bose, came to Gandhiji with a request that he must
take plenty of rest and not talk at all. But Gandhiji told
him he could not exclude relevant talk. Such necessary loss
of energy was inevitable. He was certainly desirous o£ living,
but not at the cost of work that duty demanded. ' I can't
interrupt the work,' he said to Dr. Bose, 'which has made
me fast and which makes me live. If my life ebbs away in
the process, I would feel happy.'
This was at half past eleven in the morning. A few
minutes later a batch of twentyseven citizens belong-
ing to Central Calcutta came to see him. During the com-
munal disturbance of last year, resistance groups had grown
up here and there, and the present party represented such a
group in Central Calcutta, which had become the focus of the
recrudescence on Monday. They had come to see Gandhiji

with the promise that henceforth there would be no more
incidents in their part of the city and he should: therefore,
break his fast now, otherwise all of them would go on
a sympathetic fast with him. Gandhiji argued long with
them, and what he said in substance was this. The present
occasion was not one in which there was scope for a
sympathetic fast. Hindus and Mussulmans had fought for one
whole year, at the tnd of which the major parties had
agreed to divide India into two States. Both had Hindu
and Muslim subjects. It was now time for every one
to create the sense of common citizenship, to rebuild the
land, so that men might taste the fruits of freedom. To this
end all should work. Gandhiji said that if the friends had
come to him ~mly for the sake of saving his life, it was
not worth while.
Referring to the Poona Fast which ended with the
desired amendment of the Communal Award, it was
suggested by some that though the amendment was not to
their desire, they had accepted it for the sake of saving his life.
This was a wholly wrong approach. Such fasts were intende.d
to stir men's conscience and remove mental sluggishness.
Truth could not be sacrificed even for the sake of saving a
life, however precious it might be. Gandhiji, therefore,
warned the present company that they should create real
Hindu-Muslim unity by educating the people into a sense
of common citizenship of the State, where every single man
enjoyed perfect equality of rights which flowed from duty
performed. If they worked with this aim in view and
succeeded after a few days' effort in making the Muslims in
Calcutta feel safe where they now did not, it would be
time for him to break the fast. Gandhiji was clearly of
opinion that although his work was now confined to Calcutta,
yet his one aim with respect to the Hindu-Muslim question
THE FAST 281
was that the solution would be complete only when the
minority: whether in the Indian Union or in Pakistan, felt
perfect! y safe even if they were in the minority of one.
There would be no favoured and no depressed community
anywhere. All should forget their religious affiliations. He
was working in such a manner that the majority community
in each State would go forward and create the necessary
conditions of freedom.
Some one asked him : Was it possible that his fast
would have any effect on the anti-social elements in society ?
Today, i.e., during the present recrudescence, it was this cle- ·
ment which had gained the upper hand. Could their hearts
be converted by Gandhiji's expiation ? Gandhiji's answer
was very clear and emphatic. He said that goondas were
there because we had made them so. During one year of
past anarchy, it was understandable how these elements in
society had gained respectability. But the war between Pakis-
tanis and those for Undivided India had now ended. It was
time for peace-loving citizens to assert themselves and isolate
goondaism. Non-violent non-co-operation was a universal
remedy. Good was self-existent, evil was not. It was like
a parasite living on and round good. It would die of itself
when the support that good gave was withdrawn. The
heart of the anti-social elements may or may not be changed ;
it would be enough if they were made to feel that the better
elements of society were asserting themselves in the interest
of peace.
To the interviewers from Central Calcutta, Gandhiji's
advice, therefore, was that they should desist from a sym-
pathetic fast, contact the oppressed in each quarter,
assure them that they were safe, and rebuild life so that
safety would be a permanent feature of the new State
of India. He would personally have loved to move about
from quarter to quarter in Calcutta in order to place his
views before the various bodies, but his physical condition

would not permit that. If others worked, how could he rest?
He was bound to make his contribution. He felt that it
should be in the_ shape of a fast.
The citizens of Central Calcutta were followed by
others. There came a deputation from the Bar Association
of Calcutta with the promise that its members would do all
that lay within their power to restore peace. Citizens of
Beliaghata, who had a few weeks back looked upon Gandhiji's
peace mission with suspicion, had been electrified by the fast.
They appreciated now the full significance of the mission
and had, with all their energy, set about the task of rehabi-
litating the deserted Muslim bustees. Pressmen who had
met the evacuees who had returned home testified to the
sincerity and solicitude with which those who had driven
them away a few weeks back now tre1tc.:d them. All this
was good ne\\'S for Gandhiji, but yet he did not reach the
point when the fast could be broken.
Towards evening, N. C. Chatterji, President of the
Hindu Mahasabha, Debendra Nath Mukherjee, its Secretary,
Sirdar Niranjan Singh Talib, Sikh Editor of the Desh Darpan,
G. Gilani of the Muslim League, Abdur Rashid
Chowdhury and Mohibur Rahaman of the Pakistan Seamen's
Union came accompanied by some other friends to report on
the quiet and with their request to Gandhiji to end his fast.
Rajaji, the Governor of West Bengal, Acharya Kripalani,
P. C. Ghosh and H. S. Suhrawardy were also there. They
had a long discussion with Gandhiji which left him rather
worn out. Gandhiji heard what they had to say and did
most of the talking. This is what he said :
He said that ever since the 14th of August, although he
had relished the fraternization between the Hindus and
Mussulmans, yet he looked on the ebullition of emotion with
caution and reserve. If the feeling was due entirely to
THE FAST 283
friendship new found, to the sense of brotherhood through
common citizenship newly attained, there would be more
signs of it, e.g., in intensified efforts for rehabilitation. That
sign was lacking. The recrudescence had then come. There-
fore, Gandhiji felt, ht.: must fast. God had at least given
him the capacity to work and die for common peace. If
there were anti-social dements in society, where a rowdy or
a goonda plundered or killed a man, whether Hindu or
Muslim, his fast might not affect him. He knew his limita-
tions. He fasted for the restoration of communal harmony.
The sanity that had been in evidence for the last twentyfour
hours was not enough for him. If the present company
were going to assure him that it was a sincere affair and was
likely to be permanent, he would expect them to give him
something in writing. It must state that supposing Hindu-
Muslim riots broke out once more in Calcutta they assured
him that they would lay down their lives in the attempt
to quell the riots. If they agreed, that would be enough.
They must so work from the next day that real peace and
ccmmon citizenship were created as a feature of Calcutta life,
no matter what happened elsewhere. Communal peace
should be their prime occupation. Their other occupations
or avocations must henceforth occupy a second place.
There was another matter, but that was a condition
which automatically attached itself to the situation. In Bihar,
as in Noakhali, so also in Calcutta, he wanted to tell the
friends who were making themselves responsible for the
termination of his fast, that if communal frenzy broke out in
Calcutta again, Gandhiji might have to go on an irrevocable
fast. The present fast \Vas meant to activize the better,
peace-loving and wise elements in society, to rescue them
from mental sluggishness and make goodness active.
Realizing their responsibility, the friends retired to
another room. Free and frank discussions took place between
them. Suspicions were freely expressed, fears that the signa-

tories might not rise to the height demanded of them were
discussed in an atmosphere of frankness, and finally came
the decision to sign the document with all its implications.
Gandhiji felt glad. He took the signatories at their
word ; prayed that God might give them the courage and
strength to implement their promise in daily life from the
following morning; and with that prayer on his lips, he
broke his fast last night. A heavy responsibility now lies
upon the people of Bengal who have to implement the pro-
mise made sacred in Gandhiji's presence. May we have the
requisite wisdom, strength and perseverence to see it through.
Before breaking the fast, Gandhiji dictated a note which
is reproduced below :
' Before breaking his fast and after prayer which he
always has when he breaks his fast, Gandhiji said a few words
to the signatories of the document, which induced the break-
ing of the three day5' fast, and their friends and co-workers.
'Gandhiji said, he wanted to break the fast as soon as
he legitimately could in view of the work that awaited him
in the Punjab. But the deciding motive was not so much
the written document that they were good enough to give
him, but the confidence that he reposed in them and their
constituents, that they would prove as good as their word
and continue to regard it as their special business to see that
communal peace in Calcutta was never broken. For, he liked
them to think that observance of peace in Noakhali, in the
Punjab or other parts of India would depend upon Calcutta.
He would like them to realize the importance of their
position. He knew that our final refuge was God, who was
the Maker of our destiny. But he used human instruments
for His purpose, if such a mundane word could be attributed
to Divinity. Therefore he w.as breaking his fast in His name
THE FAST 285
and let his friends become instruments in the Maker's hands
to fulfil the purpose upon which they had set their hearts.'
In the meanwhile Calcutta witnessed some of the noblest

deaths that have ever taken place in the city. Sachin Mitra,
Smritish Banerji and some more volunteers had gone forth
among the Muslim elements in the city in order to ask them
not to retaliate even if the Hindus had opened the attack ;
and both of them had laid down their lives at the hand of
misguided Muslim ruffians, without any trace of bitterness.
Sachin's case was particularly tragic. He was accompanied
by a peace-loving band of Muslims whom he had first
collected round him before proceeding to the storm centre
in Zachariah Street. These friends had tried their utmost to
protect Sa chin and t •.vo more Congress volunteers who had
accompanied him. But they had failed, and all of them
had been brought back to the hospital after severe injuries.
Sachin expired on the 3rd of September without a shadow
of regret in his mind.
There was an immensely crowded meeting :1t the Maidan

on the 6th of September 1947, which was organized by the
Corporation of Calcutta.
In course of the speech, Gandhiji referred to the
martyrdom of Sachin Mitra and Smritish Banerjee. He was
not sorry. Such innocent deaths were necessary to keep the
two communities together.
Then referring to his fast, he said that by breaking it
only after one day's absence of strife, on the strength of the
pressure of friends drawn from all communities in Calcutta
and outside, he threw the burden on them of preservation
of peace at the cost of their lives. Let them not be guilty
of having, though unwillingly, brought about his death by
the abrupt end of the fast. What all wanted was not peace
286 lviT DAYS WITH GANDHI
imposed by the Government forces but by themselves. If

unfortunately it was broken, there would be no alternative
but a fast unto death. He could not, like a child, play with
them and each time say, he was going to break his fast if
they resumed sanity. He made that solemn declaration for
Bihar, then for Noakhali and now for Calcutta. As his life
was made, he had no other alternative. If God willed that
he should still do some service, He would bless all with wisdom
to do the right thing in the matter. Consider the consequence
of Calcutta remaining sane. It must mean the automatic
sanity of all Bengal, East and West. It meant also Bihar
and consequently the Punjab where God was sending him,
and if the Punjab came to its senses, the rest of India was
bound to follow. So may GoJ help them all.
Calcutta, Sunday, 7-9-1947:

Gandhiji had his last prayer speech in the compound of
his residence before a crowded audience. He congratulated
them upon their exemplary silence. He congratulated also
the Santi Sena (Soldiers of Peace) upon their useful service
during the past critical days. But the heavier work of sustain-
ing the peace commenced now. They were expected to die
to a .!'nan-men and women-in the attempt to keep the
glorious peace. The soldiering and discipline required by a
man whose weapon was only love was infinitely greater than
that imposed by the sword from without. The other was
evoked from within. The sword which imposed peace
forcibly, deepened the division between the two. In this
mission, those who died were the heroes not the survivors.
Mter the prayer meeting was over, the last act was a
visit to the Leprosy Hospital at Gobra. Addressing the
patients and the staff he said that he considered it wrong
that leprosy should carry more stigma than any other infec-
tious disease. Real stigma in his opinion attached to moral
THE FAST 287
ailments rather than physical ones. The drunkards, the

gamblers and those who suffered from such ailments of
society deserved far more abhorrence than a disease like
leprosy. The members of the asylum had no occasion what-
soever to' feel dejected. The fact that moral lepers were
worse than physical ones was surely a matter of some con-
solation to them. The real consolation lay in their reliance
on God.
This however did not mean that society did not owe a
great duty to lepers in its midst who, after all, were the
outward symbol of society's many blemishes which, being
general, were not noticed. He thought that the abhorrence
which was shown towards lepers was superstition born of
ignorance. This he had learnt during his visits to most of
the leper asylums of India.
Arrangements had been made by the present Chief
Minister, Prafulla Chandra Ghosh, to take Gandhiji by car to
a station outside Calcutta from where he was to board the
train for Delhi. Some were to accompany him to Delhi,
others were to return from the railway station after seeing
him off. I was somehow forgotten by the managers, and
this was indeed govd for me. So, in a moment of quiet
shortly before he left his residence in Beliaghata, I stepped
into his room in order to bid him good-bye. He asked me if I
was not coming; and when I told him that I had apparently
been forgotten and would prefer to salute him not in a
crowd but rather alone, he allowed me to touch his feet for
blessings.
And thus I departed, destined never to meet him again.
XXVI. M.ARTYRDOM
It was the 30th of January, 1948, and shortly after five
o'clock in the evening. I live close by one of the newspaper
offices in Calcutta ; and as I was cycling past the garage of
the Paper, one of the employees suddenly accosted me and
asked me if I had heard the news, Gandhiji had been shot
at. I sped along in my bicycle, and tried to shake off the
news from my mind ; perhaps it was not true,. perhaps it
was like the attempt of about a fortnight ago when a childish
refugee had hurled a bomb. on the prayer ground in Delhi.
But the news gripped my mind and I turned back home.
Within a few minutes' time, the radio announced that
Gandhiji was no more.
The first thought which came to my mind was, who could
the assailant be ? If it were a Mussulman, it would mean
that a mad fury would sweep over India and lead to a blood-
shed whose magnitude it was frightful to contemplate. And
what then ? But then there was no reason why it should
be a Mussulman. Could it be a refugee from the Punjab,
some suffering but ignorant Sikh who could not bear
Gandhiji's daily pleading for sanity, for forgiveness and for
the administration of equal justice to all ? It might be so.
The radio said nothing. It was only when Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru made the announcement that the hand which had
laid Gandhiji low was of a Hindu that I almost heaved a
sigh of relief. After all, it would not plunge the whole
country into the horrors of communal butchery once more !
Perhaps Gandhiji's martyrdom would abate the communal
frenzy if it could do nothing else.
For four months and a half, ever since Gandhiji had left
Calcutta for a visit to West Pakistan, he had every day carried
on his prayer meetings with clock-like regulari'ty. The
MARTYRDOM 289
whole country had been forced into partition through com-
munal bloodshed, and whatever might be said to the contrary,
the western portion of Pakistan had, at least, succeeded il'l
resolving the minority problem by a wholesale migration of
the Sikhs brought about through butchery and barbarism.
The Sikhs had struck back in the East Punjab with equal
vehemence. All these could not easily be forgotten; and,
moreover, the sufferings of the refugees had not yet been
allayl:'d by any well-planned and sympathetic action in the
other provinces of India. The process of !ehabilitation was
proving slow, the suffering of the refugees was like an open
sore which festered and nearly paralysed the Government
of India notwithstanding its most earnest efforts for rehabili-
tation.
Under these circumstances, Gandhiji's daily sermon on
equality of treatment to all Indian citizens fell on ears upon
which his claim began to slacken. It began to be talked
about that if there was an ardent Mussulman anywhere in
India, it was Mahatma Gandhi. He had no word to say
about the Hindu sufferers, all he wanted Indians to do was
that they should be just even to those who had brought
untold suffering and ruination upon millions of innocent
people.
Towards the month of January, Gandhiji's prayer meet-
ings or the speeches which he delivered, gradually failed to
evoke the same enthusiasm as formerly. His voice seemed to
have lost its magic quality. Personally, he had also begun
to feel alone more than ever. In the prayer speeches, he
made references now and then to the Government of India,
how it no longer swore by the spinning wheel or khadi
which had so long been the livery of our freedom, but had
begun to follow the footsteps of the industrialized nations
of the West who themselves did wt know where they were
going. Sometimes he asked himself, had India Free no
19
290 MY DAYS Wfl"H GANDHI
longer any need of him as it had when it was in bondage?

The attendance in the prayer meetings dwindled appre-
ciably. For a class of people it had become a sort of routine
duty to join the prayers every day with their wives and
children. In the meanwhile, Gandhiji's solicitude for suffer-
ing Muslims began to increase appreciably. This was taken
as a sign of appeasement or favouritism, and people allowed
themselves to forget that he never demanded anything for
anybody, whether Muslim or otherwise, which pure justice
did not allow. Nationalist Muslims of India or friendly
Englishmen were known to h:we constantly brought case
after case of Muslim suffering before him for adequate
action ; but this alone could not be held responsible for his
special concern for such sufferers. His nature itself was
such that he always stood by the side of the weaker party.
And now that his own men, the Hindus, were in power
and occasionally were turning aggressor, he felt it was his
double duty to stand by the victims, double because so long
the Muslims had treated him as Enemy Number One. He
was actually behaving like a chivalrous knight who puts up a
brave fight in order to protect a fallen enemy even if it were
at the risk of his own life. The misunderstanding however
continued and ultimately culminated in his assassination at
the hand of one who thought he was serving the cause of
Hinduism thereby.
Whatever else the assassination might have done, it
at once transformed the value of Gandhi's life by converting
him into a martyr. Without knowing why, people all over
India felt instinctively that, whatever his political opinions
may have been, whether one agreed with him or not, it was
undoubtedly wrong to have killed him. And the whole
country was swept by an upsurge of sorrow, the like of
which has hardly been witnessed in the history of our times.
One of the strangest phenomena which struck me very
MARTYRDOM 291
forcibly was the news that more than a dozen men died in
course of the next few weeks because they failed to bear
separation from Gandhi. Not that any of them were per-
sonally known or attached to Gandhi, not that their bodies
were in all cases full of health, but some chord in their lives
snapped when they heard that Gandhi was no more, and
they also laid down their bodies in eternal sleep out of love
for one without whose presence the earth had become too
poor a place for them to live in.
The funeral in Delhi w.as held in great estate ; but the
very thought of the seething multitudes repelled me, and
all that I could do at the fateful moment when the precious
body was placed upon the sacred pyre was to reach the
River Ganges in company with some friends in our own
1
town and sprinkle a few drops of its holy water on our·
head, as is the custom when we salute a sacred river.
For indeed, Gandhi's life had been like the Ganges in
its influence upon the life of India. The land had become
parched and dry and full of the dust of ages. Gandhi had
given abundantly, he had swept the whole of Indian
humanity in an emotional flood when he led the battle in
the political or the social battle-field ; and every movement
of his had not only permeated the country with its life-
giving sap but had also left it enriched by a layer of silt on
which a new-born creative endeavour was bound to blossom
forth if only the gardener knew how to turn it to good
account.
And the river of life which Gandhi represented h.ad its
origin in the heights of the Indian Himalayas. For, in spite
of the fact that he had been nourished by clouds, many of
which had come wafting from distant foreign oceans, yet,
after the raindrops had touched the living soil of his Indian
life, they had been transformed and become completely
Indian in form as well as in content.
292 MY DAYS Wl'IH GANDHI
Gandhi was an intense believer in individualism.

According to him, a good society consisted of good indivi-
duals, and any social change was bound to begin with the
transformation of the individual. The measure of reform
achieved in the outward, objective, social sphere was no more
than a measure and proof of the total and collective indivi-
dual, internal transformation achieved. In this he repre-
sented one of the characteristic trends of Indian thought in
which primacy is given to the individual. And that is the
reason why, whenever he felt alone, when his soul was
engulfed on all sides by a prevailing darkness, he fought
ag-Jinst it the supreme battle on the lonesome field of in-
dividual enterprise. Fasting of one Satyagrahi of the purest
\kind w.as, according to him, enough to bring about the
downfall of an empire or its benign transformation.
Gandhi's lonely effort to replace emotional unbalance
by sanity, to melt the sword in order to build the plough in
India went unheeded in the last days of his life. But that
martyrdom which brought his life to a finale which is com-
parable to the Greek tragedies, acted as the touchstone which
gave a new meaning and new significance to the words
which had so long sounded commonplace or strange in our
heedless ears.
Perhaps the time has not yet come for India to listen to
the voice of sanity which Gandhi preached ; perhaps after
the successes of large-scale mechanical endeavours which cover
the earth with giant factories, we shall hesitate long before
we can restore the individual to the primacy with which
Gandhi's life and even more his death endowed it. Yet
India is blessed because she gave birth to one who became
Gandhi and perhaps blessed .again that, by dealing him the
blow of death, we endowed his life with an added radiance
which shall enrich the heritage of humankind in all ages to
come.
APPENDIX A
Confidential official report about the condition of
Noakhali in May 1947
Office of the Commissioner,
Chittagong Division.
Top Secret
To
P. D. Martyn, C.I.E., O.B.E., I.C.S.,
Additional Secretary to the Government of Bengal,
Home (Political) Department, Calcutta.
Memorandum No. 457;c,
Dated, Chittagong, the 13th May, 1947.
Subject : Noakhali Situation.
Reference your Memo No. 647-PS, dated the 23rd April,
1947. I spent the 27th to the 30th of April in Noakhali and
visited Ramganj, Begamganj and Lakshmipur Thanas. I met
leading Muslims and Hindus of all classes (including office-
bearers of the League, politicians, merchants, agriculturists,
school-masters, doctors, relief workers, volunteers and Presi-
dents and Members of Union Boards and interviewed them
individually except in cases where they specially asked me
to be heard in groups. Before leaving, I received a deputa-
tion of Hindus of all political persuasions and another depu-
tation of Muslims including a non-Leaguer. I also had talks
with the District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police
and the Sub-divisional Officers of Sadar and Feni. I now
give my report.
Analysis of Situation
2. Present Condition :-The situation in Noak.hali
District is complex and has many facets, political, communal,
economic and psychological. To the oasual observer, tht
District seems normal enough. Most of the .fields are green

with aus paddy and jute, and the remainder are being
ploughed. The bazaars and hats are functioning normally
and both Hindus and Muslims may be seen moving about
freely and without any apparent apprehension. Under th{'
surface, however, there is definitely tension, and among
Hindus, a sense of inse<;urity. In many areas in the interior,
away from the more populous centres, this tension manifests
itself in the form of abuse and petty harassment of the Hindu
minority. The harassment is, of course, magnified by the
Hindus, and belittled or denied by the Muslims. In fact,
everywhere one is met by lies and counter-lies and it is not
easy to get at the tJ·uth.
3. T!te Hindus :-The number of Hindus in the District
according to the last census is 4 lacs while the number of
Muslims is 18 lakhs. The ratio of Muslims to Hindus is
therefore nearly 4i : 1. The Hindus, especially bhadraJog
class, had a bad shaking Juring the October disturbanres,
and have not yet recovered their morale. They are apprehen-
sive and suspicious. They do not want to leave the District
because, for most of them, that would mean sacrificing their
all, and though many of them are kept in a state of fe.ar by
open threats and petty persecution and molestation at the
hands of the Muslims, they will not report these cases to the
Thanas or the local officers for fear that if it became known
that they had done so, worse things would befall them. Some-
times, however, they do report them to the local political
relief workers (usually in exaggerated form), but if official
enquiries are then made, they will more often than· not deny
that the incidents they reported ever occurred or that they
brought them to notice. In many cases of this kind, it is
well known that the incidents actually took place and there
are Muslims who know of them and will admit it. All that
the Hindus succeed in doing by adopting this attitude of
APPENDIX 295
secret report and subsequent denial of the facts is to impeach

their own credit. But such is the state of their demoralisa-
tion. The credit of the Hindus has also suffered because, in
some cases, members of their community named in the
F.I.R.'s• Muslims who were not present in the scene of dis-
turbances or who had actually gone out of their way to pro-
tect Hindus. This naturally caused much resentment among
Muslims.
4. The Muslims :-The Muslims of the District may be
divided into three distinct categories. Firstly, there are those
who generally abhor the communal war of nerves that is now
in progress and want to live in peace with their Hindu neigh-
bours as they used to do in the past. Many of this class have
Hindu friends, and gave shelter to, and even protected Hindus
during the disturbances at considerable risk to themselves.
They would do the same again, and they provide a definite
influence for good. Unfortunately, their number is not large.
The majority of Muslims fall in the second category. This
class, while strongly pro-Muslim (League ?), and anxious to
oust the Hindus from their present position in the District,
does not favour violence as a means to attain that end. It
sees no objection, however, to petty persecution of the Hindus,
and if the persecution is somewhat extreme, it is ready to
turn a blind eye to the fact, when not to do so might lead
to unpleasantness or even unpopularity. This section will
give lip service to communal harmony and peace, and will
often be outwardly friendly to Hindus. It will not however
take any part in preventing disturbances or protecting the
Hindus and may, even under the influence of rumour and
the excitement of the hour, take part in disturbances and
encourage others to do so. Many members of Union Boards
belong to this class. The third category is the most danger-
ous. To this class belong those Muslims who, for reasons of
• First ·Information Report lodged in tihe Police Station.-N.K..B.
2.96 MY DAYS WITH GANDHI
religious zeal, economic jealousy or personal enmity, hate the

Hindu and want to see him wiped out. This class would
not ordinarily be powerful, lfut circumstances have combined
to make it so today and it has the advantage of having
attracted to its side the goonda element of the District, which
sees in disturbances the prospect of the easy acquisition of
wealth and power. Many persons who fall in this category
are able, if violent, speakers and can work up a mob into a
state of frenzied anger. To this class belong Abul Kasem
and Ali Akbar, the two most important absconders.
5. The Goonda Problem :-In the last paragraph mention
has been made of goondas. There has been a large addition
to the number of bad characters in recent years. The reason
of this is probably largly economic. In 1911, the area of the
District was computed 1,644 sq. miles and the population
11,74,728, giving a density of 694 persons per square mile.
Today the area of the District is 1,658 sq. miles and the
population 22,17,402, giving a density of 1338 persons per
square mile. The pressure on land must therefore be well-
nigh intolerable, and the inevitable result has been that the
weaklings have gone to the wall and taken to crime. All
parties were agreed that the number of goondas had increased
enormously since the war, and a further accession of strength
has been lent to this class by the gradual return of dis-
gruntled ex-servicemen in the last eighteen months; over
56,000 men of this District joined the services during the
war. They became accustomed to a standard of living
much above that of their village compeers and are disillu-
sioned and discontented now that they have returned and
.find that they cannot maintain that standard. What more
natural than that many of them should take the easy path
of crime, especially when the present disturbed conditions
afford such little chance of detection. These goondas are
no respectors of persons when their need is sufficiently
APPENDIX 297
pressing and many Muslims are uneasy at their growing
strength and increasing depredations. Not a few said
plainly that if their activities remained unchecked, gangster
rule would soon be the order of the day. Their fears are
justified. It is more than possible that the present phase
of communal warfare will be followed by one of goonda
domination in which goondas of both communities will
~ombine to enrich themselves at the expense of the public
generally.
6. Crime :-The growth of the goonda element has
naturally led to an increase of crime in the District. The
extent of this increase can be best shown by the number
of reported cases during the first three months of 1946 and
the first three months of 1947.
Offences 194() 1947
Dac;oity 5 26
Arson 6 43
Robbery 5 12
Murder 4 6
Burglary 436 456
Theft 176 220
Arson of course has always been a common offence to
this District. According to the District Gazetteer, it was
prevalent as far back as 1911, but it has never been as wide-
spread as it is today.
Both local Muslims and the Police have been at pains
to explain that in the increase of crime which has taken
place this year, the Muslims have been sufferers equally with
the Hindus, and that the increase has no communal colour.
This is palpably untrue. Although the Hindus are out-
numbered in the District by 4! : I, the crime took place for
the most part in Hindu houses. In the case of arson, the
number of houses affected in the last eight weeks alone was
3 Hindu to I Muslim. In other words, allowing for the
disproportion in population, the true ratio of Hindu and

Muslim victims was 13! : 1. Similarly in the case of dacoity,
the ratio of houses affected works out to 9 Hindus to 1
Muslim. It is true, of course, that many of the Hindus are
better off than the Muslims, and economically it is there-
fore often more profitable to rob a Hindu house than a
Muslim one, but there is little room for doubt that most of
the arson committed was for communal reason, and that
in many of the other cases, Hindu houses were selected in
preference to Muslim ones because the owners were Hindus
and because for that reason, the offence would be regarded
as venial. The brunt of the crime wave has fallen on them
because they are Hindus and if further argument is needed
to support their contention it will be found in the fact
that during the last eight weeks there have been no less
than five cases involviJJg desecration of Hindu holy places.
7. Hindu p~r.secution :--Apart from being the main
victim of the crime \"Y·ave, the Hindus arc being pers{"cuted
in many more subtle ways. The extent and intensity of
this persecution varies, of course, from area to area, and in
some areas, it is entirely absent. The persecution does not
take the form of economic boycott (though this is still
advocated by the more extreme Muslim leaders), because
the cultivating class cannot afford to allow anv land to go
untilled or to lose the returns which the cultivation of that
land would bring them. \Vhat is happening is that a section
of Muslims is taking advantage of the demoralised condition
of the Hindus to insult, threaten and cow them down into
a state of resigned submission, after which they fatten on
their property and treat them as an inferior race. It is
quite usual for Hindus while moving about to be addressed
as malaun or k.afir. Sometimes they are searched by parties
of Muslims and deprived of anything the latter fancy.
Cases have occurred of Hindus returning to their houses
APPENDIX 299
with their daily bazaar and having their purchases
snatched away ; the removal of cocoanuts and betelnuts
from the gardens of Hindu homesteads is a common occur-
rence, corrugated iron sheets and timber are often taken
from Hindu houses with the frightened consent of the
inmates ; cattle belonging to Hindu households have deve-
loped a habit of freeing themselves from their tethers and
disappearing, the paddy plants of Hindus h.:tve been up-
rooted and thrown away. If an aggrieved Hindu reports
these occurrences to the Thana, his sufferings are increased,
and there have been cases in which such reports had led to
the burning of the victims' huts ; efforts are being miade to
have Hindu-owned cinema houses closed, and although the
vast majority of weavers in the District are Hindus (Naths),
the demands are being made that 50% of the loom licences
should go to Muslims. There is a move to rid the bazaars of
Hindu merchants and one of the larger Hindu merchants
told me that he and many others had been receiving threaten-
ing letters. Long established Hindu shopkeep::!rs are being
ousted from the markets to make way for Muslims. Hindus
who have rebuilt their houses (including even women) have
been told that they will not be allowed to live in them and
that it will be better for them to leave the District. There
is reason to believe that complainants in cases arising out of
the disturbances are being threatened by Muslims and com-
pelled to agree to their cases being compromised. Much of
this persecution is comparatively petty, but it is lawlessness
none the less and it shows that the virus which was injected
into the District before the October disturbances has not yet
been eradicated. The danger now is that the war of nerves
which is in progress may lead to more trouble if positive
steps are not taken to bring it to an end. In some areas,
even an indiscreet speech by an All-India leader, or a persis-
tent rumour of Muslims being persecuted, might at present

be sufficient to start fresh rioting.
This happened in Feni, but is mentioned as being indica-
tive of the state of Muslim feeling.
8. Rehabilitation :-Considering the unsettled state of
the affected Thanas, the progress of rehabilitation has not
been unsatisfactory. According to the figures furnished to
me by the District Relief Officer, 7,710 families have received
house-building grants, and of this number 2,774 families have
been provided with building materials by Government. As
against these figures, .),496 families have rebuilt their homes,
1,519 with materials supplied by the Government and 1,977
with partially burnt materials or materials obtained from
other sources. The District Magistrate states that there is
still a number of fam~lies who have received building mate-
rials from the Government and who will be using them
as they feel sufficiently secure.
Owing presumably to the shortness of building mate-
rials, less than 50% of ~hose who have received house-
building grants have been provided with building materials
by Government. Such materials can only be obtained from
the local market at fantastic prices, and there is no doubt
that if adequate supplies were made available by Government,
the process of rehabilitatit'f. would be accelerated, Stories
have been put about that Hindu families which have been
provided with house-building materials by Government have
sold the materials in the black market. Such cases m'ay have
occurred, and that risk must be taken. In point of fact, I
am assured that the number of such cases is negligible.
Similarly an allegation that is frequently mlade by Muslims
in Noakhali, is that Hindus have been burning their own
houses in order to implicate Muslims and to secure house-
building grants. Such allegations must be heavily discounted.
The morale of the Hindus is too low for them to dare risk
APPENDIX 301
the consequence of such an action, it is most unlikely that

grants made would be sufficient to cover the extent of the
damage .
. An interesting point is that of 22,066 artisans affected by
the disturbances, 17,853 families have received rehabilitation
grants and 13,602 families have now resumed their occupa-
tions. Most of these artisan families are weavers ( cf. para 7),
4,121 agricultural families were affected by the disturbances
and of these 3,275 have returned to their holdings and
resettled.
9. Volunteers :-The number of volunteers in the Dis-
trict does not appear to be large and very few are doing
anything of value in the matter of relief and rehabilitation.
There is a feeling among influential Muslims that most of
these volunteers (including members of the Gandhi Camp)
are not only making no attempt to bring the two communi-
ties together, but are acting in such a way as to keep open
the breach that has existed between them since last October.
There is much truth in this. The members of the Gandhi
Camp and certainly other volunteers seem to be much more
interested in cataloguing the woes of the Hindus .than in
attempting to bring those woes to an end by meeting and
discussing matters with the leading Muslims of the locality
concerned and generally trying to bring about a reconcilia-
tion. There is in fact no contact between those volunteers
and the Muslims and there is a wall of suspicion between
them. Most of the time of the Gandhi Camp is spent in
receiving reports, some directly and some indirectly, from
aggrieved Hindus which, without any form of check or veri-
fication, they either pass on to Government or publish in the
Press. This in itself is irritating to the local people and
serves no useful purpose except that, in the absence of infor-
mation from th.e Police, it may give the District Magistrate
a line of enquiry. The publication of the ' Shanti Mission
Dinalipi ', a cyclostyled news sheet, is particularly harmful

as this paper publishes the most trifling incidents and gives
them a communal colour which may or may not be correct.
There is no doubt that the Gandhi Camp members and other
volunteers are encouraging the Hindus in their distrust of the
administration and their desire to avoid going to the Police
or to the local authorities for the redress of their grievances.
10. The Riot Cases :-One thing which, more than
anything other, had served to increase the demoralisation of
the Hindus and the turbulence and aggressiveness of the
Muslims is the way in which the cases arising out of the
October disturbances have been handled. The figures below
give at a glance the position of these cases as on the 15th
April:
1. Cases started on regular ejahar (deposition) 1529
2. Number of persons involved 1353~
3. Number of persons arrested 1074
4. Number of accused still at large 566
5. Number of persons discharged for want of
evidence 3fJ7
6. Number of persons released on bail 627
7. Number of persons detained in custody 50
8. Number of charge sheets submitted 164
9. Number of final reports submitted 862
The points which stand out from these figures are,
( 1) that out of 1529 cases no less than 862 have remitted in
final reports, and that only 164 in charge sheets ; (2) that
no less than 566 accused are still at large, including several
of the most dangerous ring~leaders, and (3) that out of 677
arrested accused only 50 are now in custody. In the nature
of things, a large number of cases must end in final reports
and the high proportion of such cases would have eased
• This figure is inflated as many persons have been mentioned in more
thu one ~altar.
APPENDIX 303
apprehension to the Hindus and anxiety to the civil adminis-

tration, had all the ring-leaders and those known to have
committed murder been arrested, and had it been that the
cases against these persons wquld be rigorously prosecuted.
This is not the case, a11d the Hindus now feel that the P~lice
are not serious in their attempts to track down the culprits
and bring them to book, while the Muslims, who were told
that they would be immune from prosecution, are confident
that retribution will not overtake them. The two leading
absconders-Abul Kasem and Ali Akbar-are still known to
be visiting the District and even ~olding meetings. In fact,
these men are now giving it that they made a mistake in
the last disturbances by not killing all the Hindus and that
they will not make the same mistake next time. The fact
that they are still at large and are able to make these state-
ments is demoralising the Hindus in one way and the
Muslims in another, and though the bulk of the Muslim
population, either through fear or sympathy, will not give
any information about their movements, there is no doubt
that both these men could have been arrested weeks ago.
The lack of confidence engendered by these aspects of the
situation has been increased by laxity on the part of the
magistracy in releasing persons on bail owing to political
pressure, and the failure of the Police to keep a tag on those
released on bail and press for the cancellation of the bail
bonds of those believed to be interfering with witnesses.
Only three bail bonds have been cancelled up to the end of
30th of April. To anyone in touch with the situation in
the District such a figure is preposterous. If any degree of
confidence is to be restored it is of paramount importance
tliat these matters should be set right.
11. The Police :-A sign of weakness in the Police
Administration is the fact that the Police are not receiving
information of what is going on in the interior of the
MY DAYS WITII GANDHI
District, and they appear to be making no attempt to obtain

such information. The District Intelligence Branch is either
paralysed or intentionally dormant, and the lack of informa-
tion is so remarkable t.hat one cannot but suspect that when
information does come within the grasp of the Police, they
shut their eyes to it. This virtual suppression of information
is embarrassing to the District Magistrate, as it means that
he must use his Relief and other officers to keep him in-
formed of the situation, and even have recourse to the
garbled information supplied by the Gandhi Camp. The
reason for this state of affairs is not clear, that incidents
involving interference with Hindus should be suppressed and
suppression lends colour to the frequently stated opinion of
the Superintendent of Police that conditions in the District
are satisfactory. It was complacency of this kind which led
to the holocaust in October last, and which may yet result
in a repetition of that disaster.
APPENDIX B
CONGRESS POSITION
By M. K. Gandhi
Indian National Congress which is the oldest national
political organization and which has after many battles
fought her non-violent way to freedom cannot be allowed to
die. It can only die with the nation. A living organism
ever grows or it dies. The Congress has won political free-
dom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and
moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political,
if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not
spectacular. All-embracing constructive work evokes the
energy of all the units of the millions.
The Congress has got the preliminary and necessary part
of her freedom. The hardest has yet to come. In its difficult
ascent to democracy, it has inevitably created rotten boroughs
leading to corruption and creation of institutions, popular
and democratic only in name. How to get out of the weedy
and unwieldy growth ?
The Congress must do away with its special register of
members, at no time exceeding one crore, not even then
easily identifiable. It had an unknown register of millions
who could never be wanted. Its register should now be co-
extensive with ali the men and women on the voters' rolls
in the country. The Congress business should be to see that
no faked name gets in and no legitimate name is left out.
On its own register it will have a body of servants of the
nation who would be workers doing the work allotted to
them from time to time.
Unfortunately for the country they will be drawn chiefly
20
for the time being from the city dwellers, most of whom
would be required to work for and in the villages of India.
The ranks must be filled in increasing numbers from villagers.
These servants will be expected to operate upon and
serve the voters registered according to law, in their own
surroundings. Many persons and parties will woo them.
The very best will win. Thus and in no other way can the
Congress regain its fast ebbing unique position in the country.
But yesterday the Congress was unwittingly the servant of
the Nation, it was khu.dai khidmatgar-God's servant. Let
it now proclaim to itself and the world that it is only God's
servant-nothing more, nothing less. If it engages in the
ungainly skirmish for power, it will find one fine morning
that it is no more. Thank God, it is now no longer in sole
possession of the field.
I have only opened the distant scene. If I have the time
and health, I hope to discuss in these columns what the
servants of the Nation can do to raise themselves in the
estimation of their masters, the whole of the adult popula-
tion, male and female. New Delhi, 27-1-'48.
APPENDIX C
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
(of Mahatma Gandhi)

Though split into two, India having attained political
independence through means devised by the Indian National
Congress, the Congress in its presept shape and form, i.e.,
as propaganda vehicle and parliamentary machine, has out-
lived its use. It has still to attain social, moral and economic
independence in terms of its seven hundred thousand villages
as distinguished from its cities and towns. The struggle for
the ascendancy of civil over military power is bound to take
place in India's progress towards its democratic goal. It must
be kept out of unhealthy competition with political parties
and communal bodies. For these and other similar reasons
the A.I.C.C. resolves to disband the existing Congress organi-
zation and Rower into a Lok Sevak Sangh under the follow-
ing rules with power to alter them as occasion may demand.
Every Panchayat of five adult men or women being
villagers or village-minded shall form a unit. Two such con-
tiguous Panchayats shall form a working party under a
leader elected from among themselves.
When there are one hundred such Panchayats, the .fifty
first grade leaders shall elect from among themselves a second
grade leader and so on, the first grade leaders meanwhile
working under the second grade leader and so on. Parallel
groups of two hundred Panchayats shall continue to be
formed till they cover the whole of India, each succeeding
group of Panchayats electing second grade leaders after the
manner of the first. All second grade leaders shall serve
jointly for the whole of India and severally for their respec-
tive areas. The second grade leaders may elect, whenever

they deem necessary, from among themselves a chid who
will, during pleasure, regulate and command all the groups.
(As the final formation of provinces or districts is still
in a state of flux, no attempt has been made to divide this
group of servants into Provincial and District Councils and
jurisdiction over the whole of India has been vested in the
group or groups that may have been formed at any given
time. It should be noted that this body of servants derive
their authority or power from servict:: ungrudgingly and wisely
done to their master, the whole of India.)
1. Every worker shall be a habitual wearer of Khadi
made from sdf-spun yarn or certified by the A.l.S.A. and
must be a teetotaller. If a Hindu, he must have abjured un-
touchability in any shape or form in his own person or in
his family and must be a believer in the ideal of intercom-
munal unity, equal respect and rega:-d for all religions and
equality of opportunity and status for all irrespective of race,
creed or sex.
2. He shall come in personal contact with every villager
within his jurisdiction.
3. He shall enrol and train workers from amongst the
villagers and keep a register of all these.
4. He shall keep a record of his work from day to day.
5. He shall organize the villages so as to make them
self-contained and self-supporting through their agriculture
and handicrafts.
6. He shall educate the village folk in sanitation and
hygiene and take all measures for prevention of ill health
and disease among them.
7. He shall organize the education of the village folk
from birth to death along the lines of Nayce Talim, in
accordance with the policy laid down by the Hindustani
Talimi Sangh.
APPENDIX 309
8. He shall see that those whose names are missing on
the statutory voters' roll are duly entered therein.
9. He shall encourage those who have not yet acquired
the legal qualification, to acquire it for getting the right of
franchise.
10. For the above purposes and others to be added from
time to time, he shall train and fit himself in accordance
with the rules laid down by the Sangh for the due perform-
ance of duty.
The Sangh shall affiliate the following autonomous
bodies:
1. A.I.S.A.
2. A.l.V.I.A.
3. Hindustani Talimi Sangh
4. Harijan Sevak Sangh
5. Goseva Sangh
FINANCE
The Sangh shall raise finances for the fulfilment of its

mission from among the villagers and others, special care
being laid on collection of poor man's pice.
New Delhi, 29-1-'48 M.K.G.

INDEX
Anand, Swami, 173, 175 Kellas, Rev. John. 266
Appeasement policy, 102 Khan, Abdul Ghaffar, 9, 66, 168
Azad, Abut Kalam, 5 Kripa1ani, 92, 102, 128, 224
Banerji, Smritish, 285 Krishnadas, 91, 109
B.B.C., 258 Mashruwala, Kishorlal. 16, 53,
Bose, Sarat Chandra, 67ff., 110, 134, 155, 158, 159, 160
224, 227, 235, 236 Mitra, Sachin, 285
Bhattacharya, Cha'palakanta, 67, Mookerjee, Syamaprasad, 233, 269
69 Mountbatten, Lord, 3, 208, 218ff.
llrahmacharya, 1, 155ff., 173ff.,
Ch. XVIII Mukherjee, Debcndranath, 96, 238
Burrows, Sir Frederick, 36, 254, Muslim League, 31, 32, 39, 69, 97,
258 118. 122. 140. 215
Chakraverty, Amiya, 95 Naidu, Sarojini, 138, 139
Chakravcrty, Anukul, 60, 62 ~ayyar, Sm.hila, .15, 37, 38, 43, 45,
Chatterji, N. C.. 96, 264, 282 63, 65. 74, 77. 109, 112, 114, 116,
Chatterji, Sailen, 64, 71, 91 118. 119. 120, 135
Chaudhuri, Manoranjan, 58, 60 ~aoroji, Khurslwd, 19ff.
Christ, Jesus, 116 Nathji. Kedar, 173. 175
Churchill, Randolph, 268 Navajivan Trmt, 158
Communist Party of India, 74, Nehru. jawaharlal, 39. 42, 46. 70,
162, 265 99, 119. 121, 127, 128, 208
Congres~, 3, 4, 7, 31, 76, 94, 103, Nelson, Prof. Stuart, 92, 270
113, 128, 140, 162, 241 ff. Pakistan, 1(lS, 168, 215ff., Ch.
Constituent Assembly, 94, 129 XXII. Sel~ al~o Partition
Dasgupta, Satish Chandra. 34, 43, Parasuram, SO. 51, 62, 75, 114,
46, 49, 210 115, 118, 127. 131ff.
Defence through non-violence, Parikh, Narahari, 53, 134, 158
107, 108, 144, 145 Partition, 105, 217, 228ff. See also
Democracy, Gandhi on, 62, 67, 70, Pakistan
212 Patel, Vallabhai, 4, 39, 40, 242
Evacuation from East Bengal, 148 Rajagopalachari, C., 265, 274
Evacuees, Advice to, 140 Rajcndra Prasad, 54
Freud, 179, 183 Ramakrishna, 2, 205, .206
Gandhi, Abha, 55, 101 Rolland, Romain, 24
Gandhi, Kanu, 35 Ruskin, 99
Gandhi, Manu, 113. 115, 116, 118, Sel~ctions from Gandhi, 21, 22, 110
138, 159, 160, 187, 204 St~rn Rt>ckoning, 32
Gandhi Seva Sangh, 15 Studi~s in Gandhism, 12, 22
Ghosh, Prafulla Chandra, 92 Suhrawardy, H. S., 34, 36, 93, 99,
Ghosh, Surendramohan, 76, 11J 150, 213, 218, 224, 230ff., 258ff..
Hashem, Abul, 227 278
Jinnah, M. A. or Q.-A., 31, 73, Tolstoy, 99
209, 216 Usman, Md., 255ft'.

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MY DAYS WITH

NIRMAL KUMAR BOSE

Many years ago, I planned to write four books on

Many may not perhaps agree with the analysis presented

the book on my own responsibility in spite of grave risks ol

Nirmal Kumar Bose

37A Bosepara Lane,

Preface by the Author iii

XXIII. BENGAL CALLING AGAIN .. 254

Appendix A. Condition of Noakhali in May> 1947 . . 293

of intensity which was in evidence in the case of the saint

his help in the conduct of the Navajivan papers, ,then he

from the present intolerable position. The unending violence

organized non-violence which dared to bring about lastjng

failure of faith in collective non-violence in the face of the

full economic liberation for the masses ; but he had not

his own sense of frustration, and was on the point of winning

were accommodated as guests in Jamnalal Bajaj's house,

started a political journal in the Pushtu language which was

no. Nandalal knows the poetry of sculpture, and Ghani must

pieces of stone which lay strewn in the midst of the fields.

The reader will pardon me if, by way of digression, I

induce that organization to take up work in the intellectual

up for the purpose of popularizing the ideas which formed

detention one of the first letters which welcomed me 'back

of my life have been spent in fundamental scientific research.

To this he replied as follows :

I learnt later on from Pyarelal that a copy of this letter

to be no better than what we were, then the fault lay in its

What struck me most during the interview was the

but economic. In Bengal the cultivators might be Muslim

When Gandhiji had gone thus far, I took up a small

Q. Would the trustee's property be passed on to his

But this- did not seem to be satisfactory to me ; for,

fused to work under a proprietor, he should, on no account,

a village commune or a municipality, or an organization

private enterprise. The present method of inheritance will

When negotiations thus failed, i.e. when the nation-

events for over a week, for the Government succeeded in

story of his meeting .with Governor Burrows. Sir Frederick

told me how anxiously Satish Babu was looking for me. I

Jawaharlal sent the following reply:

illustrate how cautious Gandhiji was in the verification of

The reply came:

• Hari;an, 17-11-1946, p. -402.

The diet now continues as a penance after the knowledge

• Harijan, 10-11-1946, p. 392.

Kushtia Station : 1220 a.m., 6-11-1946.

when Deshbandhu Das was alive, and he toured Bengal in his

Goa/undo Ghat, 3 p.m., 6-11-1946.

As the steamer left the port of Goalundo at half past

Chandpur was reached in the evening, when deputations

The train for Noakhali was on the following morning,

speeches and put them in chronological order giving under

This was handed over to Gandhiji early in the morning,

'A Venture in Faith.'* Gandhiji read the letter, called me and

• Harijan, 24-11-1946, p. 412.

mits, send stray contributions from our respective villages.

ly try to discover the truth by observation and experiment.