The End of the Indian National Congress

This below via gandhi-manibhavan.org
Also found in Volume 98 of"The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (Electronic Book), New Delhi, Publications Division Government of India, 1999, 98 volumes".
Footnotes from the Electronic Book appear at the bottom of this post.

Articles By Gandhi
His Last Will And Testament
January 29, 1948

This constitution was drafted by Gandhiji for the Congress on the eve of his assassination. His intention was to show how the Congress which was till now mainly concerned with achieving political independence might convert itself into an association for the Service of the People (Lok Sevak Sangh), and work for the establishment of a nonviolent society.

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NEW DELHIJanuary 29, 1948

Though split into two, India having attained political independence through means devised by the Indian National Congress, the Congress in its present shape and form, i.e., as a propaganda vehicle and parliamentary machine, has outlived its use. India 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 ascendency of 'civil over military power is bound to take place in India's progress towards its democratic goat 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 organization and flower into a Lok Sevak Sangh under the following 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 contiguous 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. 

Parallel groups of two hundred panchayats shall continue to be formed till they ,cover. the whole of India, each succeeding group of panchayats electing a second grade leader after the manner of the first. All second grade leaders shall serve jointly for the whole of India and severally for their respective areas. The second grade leader may elect, whenever they deem necessary, from among them- selves a chief who will, during pleasure, regulate and command all the groups.

(As the final formation of provinces or districts is still in state of flux, no attempt has been made to divide this group of servants into provincial or District Councils, and jurisdiction over the whole of India has been vested in the group or groups that may have been formed at any time. It should be noted that this body of servants derive their authority or power from service ungrudgingly and wisely done to their master, the whole of India).

1. Every worker shall be a habitual wearer of khadi made from self-spun yarn or certified by the A.l.S.A. and must be a teetotaller. If a Hindu, he must have abjured untouchability in any shape or form in his own person or in his family and must be a believer in the ideal of inter-communal unity, equal respect and regard 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 enroll 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 Nai Talim, in accordance with the policy laid down by the Hindustani Talimi Sangh.

8. He shall see that those whose names are missing on the statutory voters rolls 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 performance of duty.

The Sangh shall affiliate the. following autonomous bodies:

1. A.I.S.A. (All-India Spinners Association)

2. A.I.V.I.A. (All-India Village Industries Association)

3. Hindustani Talimi Sangh (Society for Basic Education)

4. Harijan Sevak Sangh (Society for service' of "untouchables")

5. Goseva Sangh (Society for Cow-protection and Improvement)

FINANCE

The Sangh shall raise finances for the fulfillment of its mission, from among the villagers and others, special stress being laid on collection of the poor man's pice.

- Harijan, 15-2.1948

Footnotes from the Electronic Version:
Acharya Jugal Kishore, General Secretary of A. I. C. C., released this draft to the Press on February 7, with the note: “As something has already appeared in the Press . . . regarding the proposals which Mahatmaji had made concerning changes in the Congress constitution I am releasing the full draft as was handed to me on the fateful forenoon of 30th January. . . .”

This appeared in Harijan under the title “His Last Will and Testament”.

In his article “The Fateful Friday”, in Harijan, Pyarelal writes: “The whole of the 29th had been so cram-full with work that at the end of the day Gandhiji felt utterly fagged out. “My head is reeling. And yet I must finish this,” he remarked to Abha, pointing to the draft constitution for the Congress which he had undertaken to prepare, and then, “I am afraid I shall have to keep late hours.”

The next morning Gandhiji revised the draft and gave it to Pyarelal to “go through it carefully”. He added: “Fill in any gaps in thought that there might be. I wrote it under a heavy strain.” When Pyarelal took the revised draft to him he “went through the additions and alterations point by point with his characteristic thoroughness and removed an error in calculation that had crept in in regard to the number of panchayats.”

Gandhi on exemplars of simplicity

{original post here}

In Harijan of July 17, 1937, Mahatma Gandhi wrote about what he hoped for from the Congress ministries that were assuming office in the various provincial governments.  Excerpt {highlights added}

Then the personal behaviour of Ministers. How will Congress Ministers discharge themselves? Their Chief, the Presidentt of the Congress, travels third class. Will they travel first? The President is satisfied with a coarse khadi dhoti, Kurta and waistcoat. Will the Ministers require the Western style and expenditure on Western scale? Congressmen have for the past seventeen years disciplined themselves in rigorous simplicity. The nation will expect the Ministers to introduce simplicity in the administration of their Provinces. They will not be ashamed of it, they will be proud of it. We are the poorest nation on earth, many millions living in semi-starvation. Its representatives dare not live in a style and manner out of all correspondence with their electors. The Englishmen coming as conquerors and rulers set up a standard of living which took no account whatsoever of the helpless conquered. If the Ministers will simply refrain from copying the Governors and the secured Civil Service, they will have shown the marked contrast that exists between the Congress mentality and theirs. Truly there can be no partnership between them and us even as there can be none between a giant and a dwarf.

Lest Congressmen should think that they have a monopoly of simplicity and that they erred in 1920 in doing away with the trousers and the chair, let me cite the examples of Aboobaker and Omar. Rama and Krishna are prehistoric names. I may not use these names as examples. History tells us of Pratap and Shivaji living in uttermost simplicity. But opinion may be divided as to what they did when they had power. There is no division of opinion about the Prophet, Aboobaker and Omar. They had the riches of the world at their feet. It will be difficult to find a historical parallel to match their rigorous life. Omar would not brook the idea of his lieutenants in distant provinces using anything but coarse cloth and coarse flour. The Congress Ministers, if they will retain the simplicity and economy they have inherited since 1920, will save thousands of rupees, will give hope to the poor and probably change the tone of the Services. It is hardly necessary for me to point out that simplicity does not mean shoddiness. There is a beauty and an art in simplicity which he who runs may see. It does not require money to be neat, clean and dignified. Pomp and pageantry are often synonymous with vulgarity.

Mahatma Gandhi on the use of Indian Armed Forces - 1

The following is from "Slender was the Thread" (1969) by Lt. Gen. L.P. Sen.  Sen, then a Colonel,  was sent to Kashmir as acting Brigadier in command of the 161 Infantry Brigade to fill in for the wounded Brigadier Katoch.  Per Col. Bhaskar Sarkar, "Outstanding Victories of the Indian Army",  Brigadier Sen led his forces to a decisive victory at Shalateng, November 7, 1947.

The battle of Shalateng was one of the most decisive battles ever fought by the Indian Army. It totally changed the tide of battle in the Kashmir Valley. It completely removed the threat to Srinagar and led to recapture of most of the territories lost to the Raiders in the initial days of the conflict.

....

Shalateng was the first decisive victory of the Indian Army after independence. But the principles of war namely concentration, offensive action and surprise that were employed successfully in this battle by Brigadier Sen have contributed to the success of many battles. Years will go by. New weapon systems will be introduced. Firepower on the battlefield will grow. New battle drills and tactics may be evolved. But these fundamental principles of war remain relevant today and will continue to do so in the future. It is a battle that deserves to be studied by all aspiring generals.

 L.P. Sen writes:

As I was leaving General Russell's house {in Delhi, after briefing Russell on the appointment as acting Brigadier}, I received a message to the effect that Brigadier Thapar would be awaiting me at the southern entrance to South Block of the Secretariat.   When I arrived he informed me that Mahatma Gandhi wished to see me and be given an intelligence briefing.  We drove to his residence and I told him everything that was known to us.   He listened most intently and when I finished and asked whether he had any questions he would like answered, he replied, "No, no questions."

After a few seconds of silence, he continued: "Wars are a curse on humanity.  They are so utterly senseless.  They bring nothing but suffering and destruction."

As a soldier and one about to be engaged in battle in a matter of hours, I was at a loss to know what to say, and eventually asked him: "What do I do in Kashmir?"

Mahatma Gandhi smiled and said: "You're going in to protect innocent people, and to save them from suffering and their property from destruction.   To achieve that you must naturally make full use of every means at your disposal."

It was the last time I was to see him alive.

Gandhi on Christianity

Nowadays, Mahatma Gandhi's views on religion are considered to be responsible for Partition, responsible for many of India's ills, and so on.  In particular, Gandhi is considered by the modern mind as impossibly naive about Christianity and Islam.

I came across this in V.B. Kher's compilation of Gandhiana:

11. IS RELIGIOUS UNITY POSSIBLE?
(From "Weekly Letter" — by M. D.)

Sir Chandrashekharan Venkata Raman came up the hill one afternoon with Professor Rahm from Switzerland, a reputed biologist.

"He has discovered," said Chandrashekharan introducing him, "an insect that can live without food and water for 12 years, and has come to India for further researches in Biology."

"When you discover the secret at the back of it," said Gandhiji, "please pass it on to me."
 
"But," said the biologist, "I am a scientist and a monk also, and when I decided to come to pay my respect to you, I thought of asking you a question or two. May I do so?"

"With pleasure," said Gandhiji.

Dr. Rahm was perplexed by the many warring creeds in the world and wondered if there was no way of ending the conflict.

"It depends on Christians," said Gandhiji, "if only they would make up their minds to unite with the others! But they will not do so. Their solution is universal acceptance of Christianity as they believe it. An English friend has been at me for the past thirty years trying to persuade me that there is nothing but damnation in Hinduism and that I must accept Christianity. When I was in jail I got, from separate sources, no less than three copies of the Life of Sister Therese, in the hope that I should follow her example and accept Jesus as the only begotten son of God and my Saviour. I read the book prayerfully but I could not accept even St. Therese's testimony for myself. I must say I have an open mind, if indeed at this stage and age of my life I can be said to have an open mind on this question. Anyway I claim to have an open mind in this sense that if things were to happen to me as they did to Saul before he became Paul, I should not hesitate to be converted"

"But today I rebel against orthodox Christianity, as I am convinced that it has distorted the message of Jesus. He was an Asiatic whose message was delivered through many media and when it had the backing of a Roman Emperor it became an imperialist faith as it remains to this day. Of course there are noble but rare exceptions like Andrews and Elwin. But the general trend is as I have indicated."

"There was held the other day in Bombay a parliament of religions. Now a positive bar to a real parliament of religions is the refusal to accept an equal basis and a mutual regard for one another's faith. We must not forget that it is a parliament of religions, and not of a few religious- minded men. Did Christianity enter the parliament on a par with the others? When they do not do so openly, they secretly criticize us for our having many gods, forgetting that they have also many gods'."

Dr. Rahm was not perhaps prepared for this reply. He made no answer. He put another question in reply. "If we cannot unite, can't we fight atheism which seems to be so much on the increase?"

Sir C. V. Raman who was sitting all this while as a passive listener now put in: "I shall answer your question. If there is a God we must look for Him in the universe. If He is not there, He is not worth looking for. I am being looked upon in various quarters as an atheist, but I am not. The growing discoveries in the science of astronomy and physics seem to me to be further and further revelations of God. Mahatmaji, religions cannot unite. Science offers the best opportunity for a complete fellowship. All men of science are brothers."

"What about the converse?" said Gandhiji. "All who are not men of science are not brothers?"

The distinguished physicist saw the joke and said: 'But all can become men of science."

Then said Gandhiji, "You will have to present a Kalma of science as Islam presents one."

"Science," said Sir C. V. Raman, "is nothing but a search for truth—truth not only in the physical world, but in the world of logic, psychology, behaviour and so on. The virtue of a truly scientific frame of mind is the readiness to reject what is false and untrue. It proclaims from the house-tops that there is no virtue in sticking to untruth. I think the latest biological discovery is that there is no fundamental cleavage between the life of man and the life of the lower creation and that salvation lies in the perfection of the biological instinct for the perpetuation of race—the instinct to sacrifice the individual for the sake of the species."

Several years ago a great religious-minded scientist, Dr. Henry Drummond, an F.R.S. like Sir C. V. Raman, had said the same thing in his book, The Natural Law in the Spiritual World. And does not the Gita teach the same thing? Does it not proclaim that with sacrifice God created man, and enjoined upon him sacrifice as the only means whereby to seek to grow?

Harijan,30-5-'36, p. 121 at p. 122

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My comment: in the very end, 'sacrifice' is mangled, conjoining two very different senses of the word, that too, translating 'yajna' as sacrifice. 



 

Gandhi on Hitler

"Hitler is not a bad man" - allegedly Gandhi wrote this;  the earliest reference that I can find to it dates to 1960:

The electronic version of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi has this as Gandhi's May 1940 letter to Linlithgow:

Gandhi had written this on November 20, 1938, that if there was ever a justifiable war it would be war against Germany to prevent the persecution of Jews.

A rich collection of books, however, claims that Gandhi wrote this, e.g.,

Rashtrapita

"Rashtrapita" or "Rashtra pita" translates to "Father of the Nation".  Somewhere along his career, Mahatma Gandhi acquired that appellation.

Per a 2012 article in the Hindustan Times, a ten-year old girl, under RTI (Right to Information) asked the government when Gandhi acquired "Father of the Nation" status,  and the government archivists were flummoxed.

Who named Mahatma Gandhi 'father of nation'? Govt foxed
April 4, 2012

A Lucknow girl's simple query to know if Mahatma Gandhi was ever conferred the title of 'The Father of The Nation' has come a cropper.

From the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to the ministry of home affairs (MHA) no one seems to really know the answer to the 10-year-old's question.

They coolly forwarded the RTI plea of class VI student Aishwarya Parashar to the National Archives of India (NAI), the body that claims to be the repository of the non-current records of the Government of India. Surprisingly, the NAI, after a hectic search in their records, was unable to find the desired information and requested Aishwarya to come and search for it in NAI's public records and library material herself.

Jayaprabha Ravindran, assistant director of archives and chief public information officer (CPIO) wrote back in a letter dated March 26: "As per search among public records in the National Archives of India, there are no specific documents on the information sought by you."

The maintainers of Gandhiana credit Subhas Chandra Bose:

...it was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who first addressed him as such in his condolence message to the Mahatma on the demise of Kasturba.

Ba and Bapu had been interned at Aga Khan Palace, Pune in the wake of the Quit India Movement. It was while serving the prison term Kasturba passed away on 22 February, 1944.

Concerned about Gandhiji, Netaji sent the following message to the Mahatma on Azad Hind Radio, Rangoon on 4th June, 1944.

"...........Nobody would be more happy than ourselves if by any chance our countrymen at home should succeed in liberating themselves through their own efforts or by any chance, the British Government accepts your `Quit India' resolution and gives effect to it. We are, however proceeding on the assumption that neither of the above is possible and that a struggle is inevitable.

Father of our Nation in this holy war for India's liberation, we ask for your blessings and good wishes".

Note that this is after the death of Kasturba Gandhi.  But Women in the Indian National Movement: Unseen Faces and Unheard Voices, 1930-42, by Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert (2006), mentions an article in the Hindi magazine Saraswati: Devidutt Shukla, Rashtra Mata Kasturba, Saraswati, September 1938.  "Rashtra Mata" translates to "Mother of the Nation".

This suggests that Mahatma Gandhi got this appellation earlier than 1944.

Note also that people called Gandhi "Bapu" or "Bapuji" - "father" - an honorific for an elderly man; and it might be an easy observation someone made that a nation calls him "father".

On sources - 1

"Mountbatten : A Biography" by Philip Ziegler (published in 1985) contains this passage about when Viceroy Mountbatten first met Mahatma Gandhi.

(Chapter 29, The End of Unified India, pages 369-370)

It did not take Mountbatten long to conclude that Gandhi was committed to the concept of a united India and that any step in the direction of partition would be resolutely opposed.   It was with this in view that on 1 April Gandhi put forward a plan which he had aired from time to time in the past; that Jinnah be invited to form an interim central government.  Congress, said Gandhi, should be prepared to accept government by the Muslim League if by so doing they could ensure the unity of their country.   Mountbatten, encountering the idea for the first time, found it bold, imaginative, splendidly far-fetched.   He saw in it, as he had seen in Habbakuk, the iceberg aircraft-carrier, the appeal of the outrageous yet remotely feasible.   In his staff meeting he described the proposal as 'undoubtedly mad, except for the fact that Gandhi's amazing personal influence...might induce Congress to accept it' (in the final record the word 'mad' was watered down to 'wild'). [33]

[33] Viceroy's Staff Meeting, 5 April 1947. Transfer of Power, Vol. X, p 124.  Early draft on BA D15.

Here, BA = Broadland Archives.

In this case "mad" to "wild" does not change much.  It does raise the question though, about how much the official record has been edited. 

Just in case you didn't know how the story turned out:

The plan never had the remotest chance of success.  All Mountbatten's advisers told him that such an administration would be unworkable, and the Congress leadership rejected it with alacrity.  

How historians manufacture history

An incident in the careers of Jinnah and Gandhi serves to illustrate how historians manufacture their narratives.  I've written about it before (here) but now have a more complete contemporary source, and so am bringing it  up again.

On January 14, 1915, the Gujarati community in Bombay held a meeting to felicitate Gandhi and his wife, recently returned from South Africa.  Jinnah presided over the meeting.

The most complete contemporary account of the meeting that I have (from the newspaper Bombay Chronicle) is here.  Note that Jinnah ended his speech with the problem of Hindu-Muslim unity, and Gandhi began by saying that while in South Africa "Gujarati" was associated with Hindus only and not Parsis and Muslims, here he was glad a Muslim was a member, and presiding.

Click here for the Bombay Chronicle version (via Riaz Ahmed) 
(Note: Riaz Ahmed, in his introduction to Volume 2, cites the above as saying, "[Gandhi] thanked Jinnah for presiding over "a [sic] Hindu gathering".)

Click here for Wolpert's version.

(excerpt) Had he meant to be malicious rather than his usual ingenuous self, Gandhi could not have contrived a more cleverly patronizing barb, for he was not actually insulting Jinnah, after all, just informing every one of his minority religious identity.

Click here for Jaswant Singh's version.

(excerpt) At their very first meeting, at the Gurjar Sabha in January 1915, convened to felicitate Gandhi upon his return from South Africa, in response to a welcome speech, with Jinnah presiding, Gandhi had somewhat accommodatingly said he was ‘glad to find a Muslim not only belonging to his own region’s sabha but chairing it.’ Gandhi had singled out Jinnah as a Muslim, though, neither in appearance or in conduct was Jinnah anywhere near to being any of the stereotypes of the religious identity ascribed by Gandhi. Jinnah, on the other hand, was far more fulsome in his praise......This, too, was all right but then, needlessly, he thanked Jinnah for presiding over a Hindu gathering. This was an ungracious and discouraging response to Jinnah’s warm welcome and had a dampening effect.

The CWMG (electronic) with Gandhi's speech.

You be the judge, are either Wolpert or Jaswant Singh justified in what they wrote?

_____

PS:

Wolpert wrote in that same passage:

The Mahatma's ambulance corps had sailed for France without its founder after he had a slight nervous breakdown in London and decided to return home to India instead, thus prolonging his life by some three decades.

As per Robert Payne, The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi, “Gandhi was ill with pleurisy in London”.  Gandhi, in a January 9, 1915 interview with the Bombay Chronicle, (CWMG (electronic), Volume 14, #269)

Unfortunately, however, I was suffering from pleurisy, and the Commanding Officers in charge of the various sections would not listen to my going to any of the hospitals. Meanwhile, Mrs. Gandhi had a relapse of an old malady, and the Under-Secretary of State for India, on hearing this, immediately wrote to me saying that, after all, my work, so far as the organisation of the corps was concerned, was finished, and that as both of us were ill. we should at once return to India. Hence it is that we are here before our time. 

Earlier, (CWMG (electronic) Volume 14, #241)) from London, Gandhi wrote to Maganlal Gandhi:

 I am still confined to bed and shall be so, it seems, for another ten days at least….

Gandhi’s letter to Herman Kallenbach,  January 22, 1915 (CWMG (electronic), Volume 14, #281) –

Pleurisy has become chronic. It is not very painful but it necessitates great care. …. Blood continues to come up while coughing…

Only by March 2, 1915, could Gandhi write to D.B. Shukla (CWMG (electronic), Volume 14, #316) –

My health is fairly good. There is still pain in my ribs but Dr.Dev said that there was no pleurisy now.

Gandhi also records the visits of Lady Cecilia Roberts, and also the Under Secretary of State, Charles Roberts, visiting him and advising him to return to India. (The Story of My Experiments with Truth, CWMG(electronic), Volume 44, page 358)

Whilst things were going on in this way, Mr. Roberts one day came to see me and urged me very strongly to go home. ‘You cannot possibly go to Netley in this condition. There is still severer cold ahead of us. I would strongly advise you to get back to India, for it is only there that you can be completely cured. If, after your recovery, you should find the War still going on, you will have many opportunities there of rendering help. As it is, I do not regard what you have already done as by any means a mean contribution.’

I accepted his advice and began to make preparations for returning to India.

I do not yet have any information about the fate of the volunteer nursing corp that Gandhi organized (Wolpert implies that it was decimated, and Gandhi would have perished if he shipped to continental Europe with it.)

----
Jaswant Singh writes:

To receive Gandhi, Jinnah had forsaken attending the Madras Congress meet of 1914.

He does not say where he got this from.  The Congress session in Madras was from December 28-30 of 1914,  and as per this online chronology of Jinnah, he was "elected member of All India Congress Committee at Indian National Congress session Madras" (in absentia?)

Gurjar Sabha, January 14, 1915 from Stanley Wolpert

Stanley Wolpert, "Jinnah of Pakistan" (chapter 3):

"By January of 1915, Jinnah was home.  The Gujarat Society (Gurjar Sabha), which he led, gave a garden party to welcome Gandhi back to India.  The Mahatma's ambulance corps had sailed for France without its founder after he had a slight nervous breakdown in London and decided to return home to India instead, thus prolonging his life by some three decades.  Gandhi's response to Jinnah's urbane welcome was that he was "glad to find a Mahomedan not only belonging to his own region's Sabha, but chairing it."  Had he meant to be malicious rather than his usual ingenuous self, Gandhi could not have contrived a more cleverly patronizing barb, for he was not actually insulting Jinnah, after all, just informing every one of his minority religious identity.  What an odd fact to single out for comment about this multifaceted man, whose dress, behavior, speech and manner totally belied any resemblance to his religious affiliation!  Jinnah, in fact, hoped by his Anglophile appearance and secular wit and wisdom to convince the Hindu majority of his colleagues and countrymen that he was, indeed, as qualified to lead any of their public organizations as Gokhale, or Wedderburn, or Dadabhai.  Yet here, in the first public words Gandhi uttered about him, every one had to note that Jinnah was a "Mahomedan".

Gurjar Sabha, January 14, 1915 from Jaswant Singh

We find this in Jaswant Singh's book - Jinnah : India - Partition - Independence.  Jaswant Singh's reference is "M.K. Gandhi at the Gurjar Sabha reception, Bombay, 14 January 1915, Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, XIII, No. 8., p.9, Publications Division, Ministry of Information, Delhi, 1964."

   The Telegraph of Calcutta has an excerpt of the book, from which I reproduce the following:

Although the families of both Jinnah and Gandhi had once lived just about 40 miles or so apart in Kathiawar (Gujarat), this adjacency of their places of origin did nothing to bring their politics close together. At their very first meeting, at the Gurjar Sabha in January 1915, convened to felicitate Gandhi upon his return from South Africa, in response to a welcome speech, with Jinnah presiding, Gandhi had somewhat accommodatingly said he was ‘glad to find a Muslim not only belonging to his own region’s sabha but chairing it.’ Gandhi had singled out Jinnah as a Muslim, though, neither in appearance or in conduct was Jinnah anywhere near to being any of the stereotypes of the religious identity ascribed by Gandhi. Jinnah, on the other hand, was far more fulsome in his praise.

Gandhi had reached India by boat in January 1915 when many leaders, including Jinnah and Gokhale, went to Bombay to give him an ovatious welcome. By this date Jinnah had already engaged as an all India leader and was committed to attaining his stated goals of unity, not just between the Muslims and the Hindus, Extremists and Moderates, but also among various classes of India. To receive Gandhi, Jinnah had forsaken attending the Madras Congress meet of 1914. Gandhi, upon reaching Bombay, had been warmly welcomed by Jinnah who wanted to enlist his services for the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity. It was because of his popularity and standing that Jinnah had been invited to preside over a garden party given by the Gurjar Sabha, an association of the Gurjar (Gujar) community, arranged to welcome Mr and Mrs Gandhi, on his arrival on 13 January 1915.

In his presidential address, Jinnah ‘welcomed... Mr and Mrs Gandhi, not only on behalf of Bombay but on behalf of the whole of India.’ He impressed upon Gandhi that the greatest problem was ‘to bring about unanimity and co-operation between the two communities so that the demands of India (from Imperial Britain) may be made absolutely unanimously.’ For this he desired ‘that frame of mind, that state, that condition which they had to bring about between the two communities, when most of their problems, he had no doubt, would easily be solved.’ Jinnah went to the extent of saying: ‘Undoubtedly he [Gandhi] would not only become a worthy ornament but also a real worker whose equals there were very few.’ This remark was greatly applauded by a largely Hindu audience, accounts of that meeting report. Gandhi, however, was cautious and somewhat circuitous in his response. He took the plea that he would study all the Indian questions from ‘his own point of view,’ a reasonable enough assertion; also because Gokhale had advised him to study the situation for at least a year before entering politics. This, too, was all right but then, needlessly, he thanked Jinnah for presiding over a Hindu gathering. This was an ungracious and discouraging response to Jinnah’s warm welcome and had a dampening effect.

Gurjar Sabha, January 14, 1915 from CWMG

Stanley Wolpert & Jaswant Singh cite Volume XIII, page 9 of The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi; however in the electronic version, it is Volume 14, page 342.



276. SPEECH AT GURJAR SABHA RECEPTION, BOMBAY
{footnote: A brief report of this also appeared in Gujarati, 17-1-1915.}
January 14, 1915

A garden party in honour of Gandhiji and Shrimati Kasturba Gandhi was given by members of the Gurjar Sabha, Bombay, on the grounds of Mangaldas House, on January 14, 1915. Messrs M. A. Jinnah, Chairman of the Sabha, who presided on the occasion, and K. M. Munshi having spoken (in English) welcoming the guests, Gandhiji replied as follows:

Mr. Gandhi, who spoke in Gujarati, thanked Mr. Jinnah for presiding at this function and said that while he was in South Africa and anything was said about Gujaratis, it was understood to have a reference to the Hindu community only and Parsis and Mahomedans were not thought of. He was, therefore, glad to find a Mahomedan a member of the Gurjar Sabha and the chairman of that function.

With regard to their words of praise and welcome, he was at a loss to say anything. As he had said so often before, he and his wife had done nothing beyond their duty. He did not wish to repeat the same thing, but he desired to say that he considered all these good feelings and kind words as their blessings and he prayed to God. that those blessings might enable him and his wife faithfully to serve their country. They first intended to study all the Indian questions and then enter upon the service of the country. He had looked upon the Hon. Mr. Gokhale as his guide and leader and he had full confidence in him and he was sure that Mr. Gokhale would not put him on the wrong track. He had visited His Excellency the Governor {Lord Willingdon}   that morning and while thanking him for the honour, he also mentioned the same thing that he was absolutely confident that under the guiding spirit of the Hon. Mr. Gokhale he would be adopting the right course.

Continuing, Mr. Gandhi said that the chairman had referred to the South African question. He had a good deal to say on this subject and he would explain the whole situation in the very near future to the Bombay public and through them to the whole of India. The compromise was satisfactory and he trusted that what had remained to be gained would be gained. The South Africans had now learnt that they could not utterly disregard the Indians or disrespect their feelings.

With regard to the Hindu-Mahomedan question he had much to learn, but he would always keep before his eyes his twenty-one years’ experience in South Africa and he still remembered that one sentence uttered by Sir Syed Ahmed, namely, that the Hindus and Mahomedans were the two eyes of Mother India and if one looked at one end and the other at the other, neither would be able to see anything and that if one was gone, the other would see to that extent only. Both the communities had to bear this in mind in the future.

In conclusion, he thanked them for the great honour done to him and his wife.

The Bombay Chronicle,  15-1-1915

Gurjar Sabha, January 14, 1915 from Riaz Ahmed

 Note: Riaz Ahmed sets the date of the event as January 13.   Jaswant Singh also sets it to January 13.

The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi gives the date as January 14.  The chronology given there is as follows:

January 9: Gandhiji and Kasturba landed at Apollo Bunder, Bombay.
In interview to The Bombay Chronicle and The Times of India, Gandhiji said he would follow Gokhale’s advice and pass some time in India observing and studying.
January 11: Reception at Ghatkopar, Bombay.
January 12: Public reception at Mount Petit, Bombay, Sir
Pherozeshah Mehta presiding.
January 13: Welcome by Bombay National Union at Hirabag. B. G. Tilak and Joseph Baptista attended.
January 14: Gandhiji entertained by Bombay branch of Servants of India Society.
Met Governor of Bombay.
Garden party by Gurjar Sabha, Bombay, M. A. Jinnah presided.

The online Chronology of Gandhi in Bombay also gives the date as January 14. (reproduced at the end of this document).

From

The Works of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Volume II (1913-1916)

Editor: Dr. Riaz Ahmad

MR. AND MRS. GANDHI ENTERTAINED BY GURJAR SABHA – JINNAH ON SOUTH AFRICAN PROBLEMS

13 January 1915 (Bombay Chronicle, 15 January 1915)

Mr. M.K. Gandhi and Mrs. Gandhi were entertained at a garden party, yesterday evening (13-1-1915), in the specious [sic] gardens of Mangaldass House by the members of the Gujar Sabha.  There was a very large and representative gathering and those present included the Hon. Mr. P.D. Pattni.

Mr. K.M. Munshi, in opening the proceedings, said the movement was first started by a single body as a public expression of the feelings of reverence to the admiration for the greatest son of modern Gujarat, but it was gratifying to see that it was whole-heartedly supported by the whole of the Gujerati-speaking community.

Mr. M. A. Jinnah who presided, welcoming the guests of the evening on behalf of the Sabha, said that he considered a great privilege and certainly a very great honour that he should have the opportunity of welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi back to their motherland after the most strenuous and hard labour in South Africa in the cause of the Indians residing there as well as in the cause of India generally.  Mr. Gandhi came back to India after a quarter of a century.  From the very start he had devoted himself to the cause of the Indian community in South Africa and the question of immigration in South Africa.   This question was long one and had a long history but recently, as they were all aware, it had assumed a shape and issue which threatened to destroy the very existence of Indians in South Africa and it was then that Mr. Gandhi led the South African Indian community so to say in a constitutional war and they all knew what trials, what troubles, what sufferings and what sacrifices he had to go through and they all knew that eventually that immediate issue, which threatened the very existence of the Indian community in South Africa, was brought about in a compromise, which seemed to all parties satisfactory, but if he might say so as one who had taken some interest in the question – and he believed he was voicing the feelings of every Indian on that point – the question as settled did not end the other issues of a graver and more important character and those would have to be settled as soon as possible (hear, hear).

Continuing, Mr. Jinnah said that he was sure that they were all very glad to see Mr. Gandhi back among them, but while he (the speaker) was thinking about it and reading in the press as to the future programme of Mr. Gandhi, namely, to devote himself to the cause of the country, it struck him that what a pity it was that there was nobody in South Africa who could take his place, and fight their battle, a bigger battle than the one fought and successfully fought, and therefore it seemed to him that what was their gain was a terrible loss of South Africa so far as the Indians there were concerned.   Of course, Mr. Gandhi know of his movements best and he knew how he should work them.   Personally, he (the speaker) felt that it did not matter where Mr. Gandhi was.  Undoubtedly here he would not only become a worthy ornament, but also a very real worker whose equals there were very few (applause).

He felt sure that he was uttering the sentiments of everyone when he said that Mr. Gandhi deserved the welcome not only of the Gurjar Sabha, not only of Gujerat but of the whole of India.   But while he was praising Mr. Gandhi he did not forget Mrs. Gandhi, who had set an example not only to the womankind of India, but he might say to the womankind of the whole world.   For a woman to stand by her husband, share his trials and sufferings and sacrifices and even to go to jail was model of  womanhood of which any country could well be proud of (applause).

He did not think he was exaggerating when he said that such a son of India and such a daughter of India had not only raised the reputation of India but had vindicated the honour of the great and ancient land.  They had drawn the attention of the whole world and the whole world admired the trials and troubles and sacrifices Mr. and Mrs. Gandhi underwent for the cause of their country and their countrymen (applause).

HINDU –MAHOMEDAN PROBLEM

Continuing Mr. Jinnah said that he had only one word to add.  After the great war that is going on and which has to decide the issue between might and right – and he had no doubt that right will succeed (hear, hear) – questions affecting India will have to be considered and solved and the one word that he might say to Mr. Gandhi was that throughout the whole country, the two sister communities of India – Hindus and Mahomedans – showed themselves unanimous, absolutely one, on the South African question, and he thought that that was the first question and the first occasion on which the two sister communities stood together in absolute union and it had its moral and political effect of the settlement of the question.

That it had its gain was being displaying with by the attitude of India towards the war and the whole of India had stood by the Empire, as one of its members.  It was in that frame of mind, that state, that condition which they had to bring about between the two communities, when most of their problems, he had no doubt, would be easily be solved.

That, he said to Mr, Gandhi, was one problem of all the problems of India – namely, how to bring about unanimity and co-operation between the two communities so that the demands of India may be made absolutely unanimously.  He again welcomed them in the name of the Gurjar Sabha, who took the greatest pride in receiving them that evening. (Applause)

Both the guests were then garlanded.

Mr. Gandhi, who spoke in Gujerati, thanked Mr. Jinnah for presiding at this function and said that while he was in South Africa and anything was said about Gujeratis, it was understood to have a reference to the Hindu community only and Parsis and Mahomedans were not thought of.   He was, therefore, glad to find a Mahomedan a member of the Gurjar Sabha and the chairman of that function.

With regard to their words of praise and welcome, he was at a loss to say anything. As he had said so often before, he and his wife had done nothing beyond their duty.  He did not wish to repeat the same thing but he desired to say that he considered all these good feelings and kind words as their blessings and he prayed to God that those blessings might enable him and his wife in faithfully serving their country.

They first intended to study all the Indian questions and then enter upon the service of the country.  He had looked upon the Hon. Mr. Gokhale as his guide and leader and he had full confidence in him and he was sure that Mr. Gokhale would not put him on the wrong track.   He had visited his Excellency the Governor that morning and while thanking him for the honour he also mentioned the same thing that he was absolutely confident that under the guiding spirit of the Hon. Mr. Gokhale he would be adopting the right course.

Continuing, Mr. Gandhi said that the chairman had referred to the South African question.   He had a good deal to say on the subject and he would explain the whole situation in the very near future to the Bombay public and through them the whole of India.  The compromise was satisfactory and he trusted that what had remained to be gained would be gained.   The South Africans had now learnt that they could not utterly disregard the Indians or disrespect their feelings.

With regard to the Hindu-Mahomedan question he had much to learn, but he would always keep before his eyes his twenty-one years of experience in South Africa and he still remembered that one sentence uttered by Sir Syed Ahmed, namely, that the Hindus and Mahomedans were the two eyes of mother India, and if one looked at one end and the other at the other, neither would be able to see anything, and that if one was gone, the other would see to that extent only.   Both the communities had to bear this in mind in the future.

In conclusion, he [Gandhi] thanked them for the great honour done to him and his wife.

Refreshments were then served and the gathering dispersed after about an hour.

___

From the online Chronology of Gandhi in Bombay

1915

January 9 - 15

           

9th Jan          

Gandhi arrived at 7.30 am by SS Arabia from South Africa via London.

Reception at several places.

Put up at Revashanker Jhaveri's (Santacruz).

Interviewed by Times of India.

Met G. K. Gokhale & V. S. Sastri at Narottam Morarji's house. details.....

           

10th Jan

           

Met relatives in Bazaar Gate street, it was here that Swami Anand first met Gandhi.

Reception by Mulji Ashram (theatre) 'Buddha Deva' was being staged by his troupe.

Addressed by National Union (Hira Baug) which was presided by B. G. Tilak.

11th Jan

           

Meeting at Ghatkopar. Received Golden manacles as a gift.

12th Jan

           

Met Dadabhai Navroji and Dr. Dadi Burjorji. (Dr. Burjorji had attended Gandhi in Durban, South Africa wshen he was attacked by whites.)

Attended party full of pomp and grandeur, hosted by the Petits. details.....

 13th Jan       

Reception given by National Union (Madhav Baug). Tilak was also present.

           

14th Jan

           

Saw Lord Willingdon, the Governor.

Reception given by Gurjar Sabha (Gujarat Association). M. A. Jinnah, in his welcome speech praised Gandhi & Ba of their services in South Africa. details.....

Gandhi on religion and politics

From the Transfer of Power papers, Volume VI, #272

Richard Gardiner Casey, an Australian,  was the Governor of Bengal at the time of this entry.  A number of entries in the Transfer of Power of papers are about Casey-Gandhi talks.

272
Entry in Mr Casey's Diary (Extract)

6 December 1945

The papers today had a paragraph—"Mr Gandhi did not see Mr Casey yesterday".

Some small matters that came out of my talks with M.K.G.

He reminds one a little of a meek edition of W.M.Hughes. {7th Prime Minister of Australia?}

He told me that he claimed to be better acquainted with Christianity than most Christians, better acquainted with Zoroastrianism than most Parsees, and with Islam than most Muslims.

He said that he endeavoured to introduce elements of all the principal religions into his public evening prayers—he had passages in Arabic (drawn from the Koran), passages from Zoroastra in (I think he said) Persian—and "Lead Kindly Light'.

He told me that Jinnah had told him that he (Gandhi) had ruined politics in India, by dragging up a lot of unwholesome elements in Indian life and giving them political prominence—that it was a crime to mix up politics and religion in the way he had done.

He said that the habit in India of wanting to touch his feet ("a very nice habit in itself") was most embarrassing when done by great crowds.

He is very keen about the "Nature Cure", which he is undergoing.

He said that he greatly appreciated my informality and the fact that I had accepted no title.

He says that he is not a learned man and that he has no great gifts.

He clearly has a certain rather feminine streak in him.

He is not very businesslike.

Each night that he came to see me, his departure was remarkable in that probably 150 of our servants (Muslim and Hindu) lined the passage and the entrance to the house, to see him—all salaaming profoundly.

Sita Ram Goel on Gandhi

Via Srinivas Sudhindra:

Sita Ram Goel gives a balanced opinion on Gandhi in "Perversion of India's Political Parlance ".

"The anti-Gandhi nationalists have never tried honestly to face the fact that it was he and not they who had stirred the minds and hearts of Hindu masses. It was he and not they who had mobilized Hindu society to make sacrifices in the service of the motherland. Nor have the denunciations of anti-Gandhi nationalists succeeded in doing the slightest damage to his stature. In fact, his stature has risen higher with the passing of time. He continues to be cherished by Hindu masses as one of the greatest in their history. Reverence for him in the world at large has also continued to grow. He is now regarded as a profound thinker on problems created by an industrial civilisation and a hedonistic culture. Hinduism has gained abroad because Gandhi is known as a great Hindu.

On the other hand it must be admitted that the failure which the Mahatma met vis-a-vis the Muslims was truly of startling proportions. Hindu-Muslim unity was a goal which he had pursued with great dedication throughout his life.
...

Secondly, there must be something very hard in the heart of Islam so that even a man of an oceanic goodwill like Mahatma Gandhi failed to move it. He succeeded with the British by making them feel morally in the wrong. He succeeded with such sections of Hindu society as had nourished some grievances of their own and had tried to turn away from the freedom movement. It was only the Muslims with whom he failed miserably.
...

There is no doubt that Mahatma Gandhi's failure vis-a-vis Muslims was great and has had grievous consequences. But the failure can be attributed to him only in so for as he was at the helm of affairs during that particular period of Indian history. It is highly doubtful if Hindu society would have been able to prevent partition even if there had been no Mahatma Gandhi. On the other hand there is ample evidence that Hindu society would have failed in any case.
...
His mistake about Islam does not diminish the lustre of that language which he spoke with full faith and confidence. On the contrary, his mistake carries a message of its own."