APPENDIX XVIBEHAR AND ORISSAThe Speech of the Hon. Mr. Macpherson, Member of Government, at the meeting of the Legislative Council Patna,24th January 1922Sir, I desire to intervene at this stage of the debate, because I think it is proper that the House should know what the facts of the situation are before they make speeches and commit themselves to views which I hope they will be prepared to change after they know what the facts of the situation really are. I must ask your indulgence, if I find that what I have to say on this important occasion will take me beyond the usual time limits.This is not the first occasion on which the Government of Behar and Orissa have explained to the public their attitude towards the non-co-operation movement and their reasons for the action taken on the 10th December last, which forms the subject of this Resolution. As the council is well aware, His Excellency the Governor received, a few days after that date, an influential deputation of Council Members and explained to them under what circumstances Government had been forced in defence of the public safety to take action under the criminal Law Amendment Act. An account of that deputation was published in all the newspapers which are commonly read in this Province and I trust it has been carefully perused by all the members of Council. I shall be pardoned if, when I come to discuss the expediency of action taken by Government, I go over again the ground covered by the communique which was issued on that occasion.What was the position with which the Local Government were faced in the beginning of that month? During the past twelve months they have seen these associations growing in number and boldness, spreading unrest throughout the public life of the Province, poisoning and confusing the minds of simple people, interfering with liberty of action, and not infrequently having to resort to force in order to compel obedience to their mandates. I have here a long list of cases in which persuasion was supplemented by force, sometimes force of a very disgraceful kind but I will not worry the Council by citing instances. This Province was not alone in these experiences, the organization of a volunteer revolutionary army was proceeding apace in neighbouring provinces also. The danger was being gradually realized by the Government of India and by other Local Governments, and before the end of November action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act had been taken by the Governments of the Punjab, the United Provinces Delhi, Bengal, and Assam. The Government of Bihar and Orissa stayed their hand till further inaction would have been criminal folly. The two circumstances which brought matters to a head in this province werethe immediate imminence of the introduction of the civil disobedience movement, particularly in the Tirhut Division, and,the intensive preparations which were being made to organize a hostilehartalin Patna City against the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on the 22nd and 23rd December. I know that certain local non-co-operation leaders have denied that there was any intention to start the civil disobedience movement within the Province during the month of December or even up to the present date, and we have been told that the PatnaHartalwas a spontaneous movement on the part of the citizens. I think the Council will not be deceived by either of these assurances. After all Government had to follow the evidence at their disposal. There is one well-known leaderof the local non-co-operation camp, called Mr. Dip Narayan Singh. At a meeting held at Bhagalpur on the 16th November this gentleman outlined the programme which the leaders intended to follow. According to him a notice calling upon Government to grantSwarajwithin seven days would first be served upon the chief civil officer present in the locality selected for civil disobedience, subsequently the residents of the particular locality would be directed to disobey all orders and laws of Government and to refuse to pay taxes, register documents, etc. At the same time police stations and courts would be surrounded and the officials told to deposit their uniforms and other badges of offices. Thereafter police stations and courts would be treated asSwarajproperty. On the top of this declaration of policy, the Local Government had information that the first experiment would be made with the Basantpur police station in the Chapra District. Now this has been denied by the Congress party but the intention was an open secret. I was told about it after our last session by a member of this Council, who shall be nameless, and apart from our police reports, we had it on the authority of theMotherlanddated the 26th November, that Chapra had been selected as the first object of attack. This is what theMotherlandof November 29th, 1921, says. The heading is—"Civil Disobedience in Behar."And the message runs:"A meeting of the Provincial Congress Committee was held at Patna on Sunday last. 33 delegates were elected for the coming session of the Indian National Congress at Ahmadabad. It was also resolved upon to form a volunteer corps in pursuance of the resolution of the All India Working Committee. The matter of selecting a suitable area for preparing it for Civil Disobedience was referred to the Provincial Working Committee which met on Monday last and decided in favour of Chapra in preference to theclaims of Katra Thana in the district of Muzaffarpur, which were backed up by Muhammad Shafi."TheMotherlandis a local organ of the revolutionary party and the property of Mr. Mazharul Haqq, who is the one of the shining lights in that camp, and presumably is in the confidance of the party. We know also from the public press that the previous volunteer associations, our old friends, the 'Khilafat' the 'Congress' and the 'Swaraj' volunteers were to be replaced by a new organization to be called the "National Volunteers" and we knew from our own reports that the particular name to be affected by the new organization of non-violent volunteers in Behar was theQaumi Sebak Dal. Perhaps members of this Council would like to know something about the organization of this BeharSebak Dal. This is what we heard about its organization.Each squad was to consist of 20 volunteers. 20 squads would make a companyMaha Dal, in this there would be 400 volunteers. Each squad would be under an officer.Over 20 assistants there would be a higher officer. What he would dictate all the four hundred volunteers would have to observe.The BiharSebak Dal'sduty would be "Revolution" even if they had to sacrifice their lives.And this is what we were told about their plans of campaign:It was first to attack all the police-stations of the district and to take them into their possession, after removing the Inspectors, Jamadars and the Police.When the thana had been taken possession of, then theKachahriwould have to be taken possession of and theHakimswould be removed.Civil disobedience would commence in Chapra District from village Basantpur, in Muzaffarpur from thana Katra, and then Sitamarhi.Such then was the information on which the Local Government had to act. Does the Council still wonder that action of the nature taken was taken? To those who protest that the informationheld by Government was unreliable I can only reply that it has been fully corroborated not only by what has happened in other Provinces and by published documents of the non-co-operation movement but also by what has happened under our very noses in this Province. The non-co-operators say that it was never in contemplation to make an attack on Basantpur police-station on the 10th December. We believe that this particular experiment was nipped to the bud by the Notification of the same date, which found the leaders assembled at Chapra and threw them into consternation. But how do they explain the raids which were actually made at a somewhat later date on the police-station of Sonbarsa, Raghupur and Mahua in the District of Muzaffarpur, or the attempt to picket the Gaya Civil Courts on the opening day after the X'mas holidays, which was only frustrated by the despatch of troops from Patna to Gaya on the previous evening? Were all these fortuitous and accidental? Do all these evidences of intention exist only in the heated imagination of the police? I shall have occasion later to tell the Council what effect these raids have had on the internal condition of the Muzaffarpur District. My present object is only to prove that when the Local Government took action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act on the 10th December, they were fully justified in believing that the civil disobedience movement would be started at a very early date in the Tirhut Division.I do not wish to weary the Council by going into details regarding the Patnahartal. It seemed to Government, and with good reason, that efforts were being made to impose an intolerable tyranny on the citizens of Patna at a time when the representatives of the people, who sit in this Council, had extended to his Royal Highness a most cordial welcome and had voted a special grant to make that welcome worthy of the occasion. The object of the non-co-operators was to substitute for the welcome the same kind of deliberate insult that had been attempted to be offered to the Royal visitor at Benares and Allahabad. Government, I say, would have been open to the gravest reproach if it had made no effort to counteract that mean and wicked project, which was soforeign to the innate hospitality and reverence of the Indian people, and particularly repugnant, one would imagine, to the sturdy loyalty of Bihar. Under this double compulsion then Government decided that the time had come to follow the example of its neighbours. Members of Council know as well as I do what followed. There was, as Government expected there would be, much excitement in the city—the stirring of a hornet nest always has this sort of reaction.Sir, let not this Council be deceived by any cry of repression, by any false appeal for the freedom of association and the freedom of speech. This Government is not out for repression. It has no desire to interfere with political activity or freedom of speech. When Mr. Gandhi and his friends use these phrases, what they mean is license to preach sedition, and liberty to foment rebellion and revolution. Let us see how the system works in practice. I will read to the Council a recent report on condition of the Muzaffarpur District. It is dated the 5th January:—"The Muzaffarpur District still continues to be in very disturbed state particularly the Sitamarhi Subdivision, where it is reported that law and order are decreasing daily and Magistrates are even insulted in their own Courts. The Sitamarhi Sub-jail is said to be practically in a state of mutiny, the prisoners shouting and singing all day until about 10P.M., while on one occasion a warder was rushed and knocked down. Additional police have been asked for this subdivision and are badly required. The Masses in this district are said to have no longer any dread of going to jail owing to the inducements held out to them that they will be treated as political prisoners and fare better than in their own homes. The police have come in for more than their fair share of attention from the non-co-operators during the week and the Superintendent of Police is of opinion that his force has become exasperated almost beyond endurance by the gross insults and abuse that has been heaped upon them."On the 26th December 1921, about 200 volunteers escorted by a large and noisy mob forced their way into the Sonbarsa Thana compound in the Sitamarhi Subdivision, carrying swaraj flag andrepeating the Delhi fatwa. The thana police were told that to remain in Government service was for a Hindu equivalent to eating cow's flesh and for a Muhammadan to eating pig. Later the crowd became more insulting and abusive and though seven of the ringleaders were arrested, the crowd did not disperse until nearly midnight. Following this incident the whole of the thana staff were boycotted, the services of the barber, washermen and even supplies of food were stopped, until the divisional inspector succeeded in intervening."At Raghupur Police-station in the same district, 300 volunteers appeared and told the sub-inspector that on the 1st January they would plant the swaraj flag in the compound and take possession of the police-station. At Mahua Police-station, the Police were also grossly abused and insulted and similar reports have been received by the Superintendent of Police from other police stations in the district."Mention was made in last week's report of a fracas in the Court compound at Hajipur where alms were being distributed to the poor. This was followed on the same day by a parade of 100 Sevak Dal volunteers in front of the Hajipur police-station who shoutedSarkar ki nokri karna haram haiand grossly abused the Police."Reports received from factories also indicate a serious state of unrest in the Mufassal. Mr. G. P. Danby writing from Bowarrah factory mentions that noisy shouting bands of volunteers are moving about the country making themselves a general nuisance and that to all appearance mob law prevails. The Belsand Factory in this district is reported to have been surrounded on the 4th January by a large mob shoutingGandhi ki jai. Europeans and loyal Indians are expressing their disappointment that Government did not continue strong measures against the non-co-operation movement."That is a police report, and lest the Council may think it is highly coloured I will read a shorter note of the Divisional Commissioner, Mr. Scroope, who is a man of sober judgment.Mr. Mansfield, Subdivisional Officer Sitamarhi, came to seeme yesterday before I left for Bankipur. He is a level-headed officer and in no sense an alarmist. He informed me that the police are no longer able to deal with non-co-operators in Sitamarhi town. The latter are practically in possession of the liquor shops which they now picket with impunity. They also haunt the neighbourhood of the Court and create much noise and disorder during the trial to political cases. They ask to be arrested and some of them who have been placed under trial under section 290, Indian Penal Code have been grossly insulting to the Magistrate. The journeys to and from Court of persons under trial for a political offence are made regular occasions for noisy demonstrations and abuse of Government. Mr. Mansfield's considered opinion is that non-co-operators are now entirely out of hand, that the existing police force is quite unequal to the task of keeping them in check and that law and order have practically ceased to exist in Sitamarhi town.The sub-jail can only be described as in a state of mutiny. It is much overcrowded containing about 90 inmates (I am not certain of the exact number; almost all are under trials) and certain influential non-co-operators under trials have been preaching defiance and insubordination to their companions. The result is a total absence of discipline; the undertrials sing and shout at the top of their voices throughout the day and most of the night and any attempts on the part of the warders to enforce order and obedience are wholly ignored.Here is a latter report of the doings of one of these roving bands of whom mention is made in the police report. The Superintendent of Police writes on the 21st January.At the same time I received a telegram from Mr. Gray, Meanchupra."All roads here stopped by volunteers. No carts or servants allowed works. Come if possible, position critical".I left at 2P.M.and arrived Meanchupra at about 3P.M.About 500 yards on the road west of Meanchupra I found some volunteers sitting on a culvert guarding the road. On arrival at the Bungalow I found Mr. and Mrs. Gray and their three childrenabsolutely shut off and isolated by three volunteers. All the Factory work had been stopped as the jamadar peons and coolies were not allowed to enter the factory so that there was no one to cut the sugarcane etc. All carts had been stopped, volunteers cutting the ropes of the bullocks and driving them away. Even the house servants had been stopped from going to the bungalow from their village. There was no bearer, cooksmashalchi,dhobe, garden coolies or evenmurgiwala. Mrs. Grey had to dig up the potatoes in the garden, cook the food, wash up the dishes, etc., and her ayah asked her (as well she might) if it was true that the British Raj was over.Sir, these are the facts which have already compelled Government to post a force of additional police to the Sitamarhi subdivision, and I do not disguise from the Council that they may force us at no distant date to take even sterner measures to preserve the peace of the district, and of other districts that are similarly threatened. If Government find it necessary later to present to Council a bill of costs which will not be at all to their liking, let them thank their non-co-operation friends for the gift.I know we shall be met with the old cry of repression, but in this case it is a stupid cry. No Government of this country wants repression for repression's sake, and least of all the Government of Bihar and Orissa, which includes within its number three distinguished Indians who have never been accused of any lack of political independence. For my own part I claim that no one welcomed more keenly than I did the inauguration of the new reforms era in India. I had the confident hope (and in this matter I speak also for my hon'ble colleague, Sir Havilland Le Mesurier) that we had before us a great and inspiring task of friendly co-operation with educated Indians, which would at no very distant date place this country in the forefront of the common-wealth of nations. Sir, this great task has for the moment been heavily handicapped and hampered by the poisonous cult of non-co-operation, a cult which has embittered and clouded the political life of India and caused discouragement to all the friends of reform. It has made life aburden and weariness to all ranks of Government officers, to the responsible agents of Government in districts and to the directing staff at headquarters but I have still hope that the better sense of India will prevail and that the clouds will clear away. It is to you, members of the Council, that Government look to give a lead to the public which you represent, in the fight against this great danger which menaces India. The danger is not one which threatens only the officers of Government, professional men, and men of wealth and property. The interests of the common people, the patient cultivators and the toiling workmen, are just as much at stake. It is they who will suffer most, if revolution comes, as the same classes are suffering to-day in Russia where they are perishing in millions as a result of the disintegration of ordered Government. I call therefore upon the representatives of all classes in this assembly to consider what is their duty, their solemn duty, on this occasion. The choice is between the orderly progress of India towards a future of brightest promise and the perilous path of revolution which leads to darkness and death. There is no midway between them. I appeal to you, gentlemen of the Council, to put aside any pre-conceived notions or prepared speeches with which you may have entered this hall to-day and to look at the position in all its naked truth. The question you have to decide for yourself is whether you stand for orderly Government or revolution. I trust that the hon'ble mover himself will realize his responsibility in the light of these remarks and withdraw his resolution now that it has served its purpose of securing a full discussion of the political situation.
The Speech of the Hon. Mr. Macpherson, Member of Government, at the meeting of the Legislative Council Patna,
24th January 1922
Sir, I desire to intervene at this stage of the debate, because I think it is proper that the House should know what the facts of the situation are before they make speeches and commit themselves to views which I hope they will be prepared to change after they know what the facts of the situation really are. I must ask your indulgence, if I find that what I have to say on this important occasion will take me beyond the usual time limits.
This is not the first occasion on which the Government of Behar and Orissa have explained to the public their attitude towards the non-co-operation movement and their reasons for the action taken on the 10th December last, which forms the subject of this Resolution. As the council is well aware, His Excellency the Governor received, a few days after that date, an influential deputation of Council Members and explained to them under what circumstances Government had been forced in defence of the public safety to take action under the criminal Law Amendment Act. An account of that deputation was published in all the newspapers which are commonly read in this Province and I trust it has been carefully perused by all the members of Council. I shall be pardoned if, when I come to discuss the expediency of action taken by Government, I go over again the ground covered by the communique which was issued on that occasion.
What was the position with which the Local Government were faced in the beginning of that month? During the past twelve months they have seen these associations growing in number and boldness, spreading unrest throughout the public life of the Province, poisoning and confusing the minds of simple people, interfering with liberty of action, and not infrequently having to resort to force in order to compel obedience to their mandates. I have here a long list of cases in which persuasion was supplemented by force, sometimes force of a very disgraceful kind but I will not worry the Council by citing instances. This Province was not alone in these experiences, the organization of a volunteer revolutionary army was proceeding apace in neighbouring provinces also. The danger was being gradually realized by the Government of India and by other Local Governments, and before the end of November action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act had been taken by the Governments of the Punjab, the United Provinces Delhi, Bengal, and Assam. The Government of Bihar and Orissa stayed their hand till further inaction would have been criminal folly. The two circumstances which brought matters to a head in this province were
"Civil Disobedience in Behar."
And the message runs:
"A meeting of the Provincial Congress Committee was held at Patna on Sunday last. 33 delegates were elected for the coming session of the Indian National Congress at Ahmadabad. It was also resolved upon to form a volunteer corps in pursuance of the resolution of the All India Working Committee. The matter of selecting a suitable area for preparing it for Civil Disobedience was referred to the Provincial Working Committee which met on Monday last and decided in favour of Chapra in preference to theclaims of Katra Thana in the district of Muzaffarpur, which were backed up by Muhammad Shafi."
TheMotherlandis a local organ of the revolutionary party and the property of Mr. Mazharul Haqq, who is the one of the shining lights in that camp, and presumably is in the confidance of the party. We know also from the public press that the previous volunteer associations, our old friends, the 'Khilafat' the 'Congress' and the 'Swaraj' volunteers were to be replaced by a new organization to be called the "National Volunteers" and we knew from our own reports that the particular name to be affected by the new organization of non-violent volunteers in Behar was theQaumi Sebak Dal. Perhaps members of this Council would like to know something about the organization of this BeharSebak Dal. This is what we heard about its organization.
Each squad was to consist of 20 volunteers. 20 squads would make a companyMaha Dal, in this there would be 400 volunteers. Each squad would be under an officer.
Over 20 assistants there would be a higher officer. What he would dictate all the four hundred volunteers would have to observe.
The BiharSebak Dal'sduty would be "Revolution" even if they had to sacrifice their lives.
And this is what we were told about their plans of campaign:
It was first to attack all the police-stations of the district and to take them into their possession, after removing the Inspectors, Jamadars and the Police.
When the thana had been taken possession of, then theKachahriwould have to be taken possession of and theHakimswould be removed.
Civil disobedience would commence in Chapra District from village Basantpur, in Muzaffarpur from thana Katra, and then Sitamarhi.
Such then was the information on which the Local Government had to act. Does the Council still wonder that action of the nature taken was taken? To those who protest that the informationheld by Government was unreliable I can only reply that it has been fully corroborated not only by what has happened in other Provinces and by published documents of the non-co-operation movement but also by what has happened under our very noses in this Province. The non-co-operators say that it was never in contemplation to make an attack on Basantpur police-station on the 10th December. We believe that this particular experiment was nipped to the bud by the Notification of the same date, which found the leaders assembled at Chapra and threw them into consternation. But how do they explain the raids which were actually made at a somewhat later date on the police-station of Sonbarsa, Raghupur and Mahua in the District of Muzaffarpur, or the attempt to picket the Gaya Civil Courts on the opening day after the X'mas holidays, which was only frustrated by the despatch of troops from Patna to Gaya on the previous evening? Were all these fortuitous and accidental? Do all these evidences of intention exist only in the heated imagination of the police? I shall have occasion later to tell the Council what effect these raids have had on the internal condition of the Muzaffarpur District. My present object is only to prove that when the Local Government took action under the Criminal Law Amendment Act on the 10th December, they were fully justified in believing that the civil disobedience movement would be started at a very early date in the Tirhut Division.
I do not wish to weary the Council by going into details regarding the Patnahartal. It seemed to Government, and with good reason, that efforts were being made to impose an intolerable tyranny on the citizens of Patna at a time when the representatives of the people, who sit in this Council, had extended to his Royal Highness a most cordial welcome and had voted a special grant to make that welcome worthy of the occasion. The object of the non-co-operators was to substitute for the welcome the same kind of deliberate insult that had been attempted to be offered to the Royal visitor at Benares and Allahabad. Government, I say, would have been open to the gravest reproach if it had made no effort to counteract that mean and wicked project, which was soforeign to the innate hospitality and reverence of the Indian people, and particularly repugnant, one would imagine, to the sturdy loyalty of Bihar. Under this double compulsion then Government decided that the time had come to follow the example of its neighbours. Members of Council know as well as I do what followed. There was, as Government expected there would be, much excitement in the city—the stirring of a hornet nest always has this sort of reaction.
Sir, let not this Council be deceived by any cry of repression, by any false appeal for the freedom of association and the freedom of speech. This Government is not out for repression. It has no desire to interfere with political activity or freedom of speech. When Mr. Gandhi and his friends use these phrases, what they mean is license to preach sedition, and liberty to foment rebellion and revolution. Let us see how the system works in practice. I will read to the Council a recent report on condition of the Muzaffarpur District. It is dated the 5th January:—
"The Muzaffarpur District still continues to be in very disturbed state particularly the Sitamarhi Subdivision, where it is reported that law and order are decreasing daily and Magistrates are even insulted in their own Courts. The Sitamarhi Sub-jail is said to be practically in a state of mutiny, the prisoners shouting and singing all day until about 10P.M., while on one occasion a warder was rushed and knocked down. Additional police have been asked for this subdivision and are badly required. The Masses in this district are said to have no longer any dread of going to jail owing to the inducements held out to them that they will be treated as political prisoners and fare better than in their own homes. The police have come in for more than their fair share of attention from the non-co-operators during the week and the Superintendent of Police is of opinion that his force has become exasperated almost beyond endurance by the gross insults and abuse that has been heaped upon them.
"On the 26th December 1921, about 200 volunteers escorted by a large and noisy mob forced their way into the Sonbarsa Thana compound in the Sitamarhi Subdivision, carrying swaraj flag andrepeating the Delhi fatwa. The thana police were told that to remain in Government service was for a Hindu equivalent to eating cow's flesh and for a Muhammadan to eating pig. Later the crowd became more insulting and abusive and though seven of the ringleaders were arrested, the crowd did not disperse until nearly midnight. Following this incident the whole of the thana staff were boycotted, the services of the barber, washermen and even supplies of food were stopped, until the divisional inspector succeeded in intervening.
"At Raghupur Police-station in the same district, 300 volunteers appeared and told the sub-inspector that on the 1st January they would plant the swaraj flag in the compound and take possession of the police-station. At Mahua Police-station, the Police were also grossly abused and insulted and similar reports have been received by the Superintendent of Police from other police stations in the district.
"Mention was made in last week's report of a fracas in the Court compound at Hajipur where alms were being distributed to the poor. This was followed on the same day by a parade of 100 Sevak Dal volunteers in front of the Hajipur police-station who shoutedSarkar ki nokri karna haram haiand grossly abused the Police.
"Reports received from factories also indicate a serious state of unrest in the Mufassal. Mr. G. P. Danby writing from Bowarrah factory mentions that noisy shouting bands of volunteers are moving about the country making themselves a general nuisance and that to all appearance mob law prevails. The Belsand Factory in this district is reported to have been surrounded on the 4th January by a large mob shoutingGandhi ki jai. Europeans and loyal Indians are expressing their disappointment that Government did not continue strong measures against the non-co-operation movement."
That is a police report, and lest the Council may think it is highly coloured I will read a shorter note of the Divisional Commissioner, Mr. Scroope, who is a man of sober judgment.
Mr. Mansfield, Subdivisional Officer Sitamarhi, came to seeme yesterday before I left for Bankipur. He is a level-headed officer and in no sense an alarmist. He informed me that the police are no longer able to deal with non-co-operators in Sitamarhi town. The latter are practically in possession of the liquor shops which they now picket with impunity. They also haunt the neighbourhood of the Court and create much noise and disorder during the trial to political cases. They ask to be arrested and some of them who have been placed under trial under section 290, Indian Penal Code have been grossly insulting to the Magistrate. The journeys to and from Court of persons under trial for a political offence are made regular occasions for noisy demonstrations and abuse of Government. Mr. Mansfield's considered opinion is that non-co-operators are now entirely out of hand, that the existing police force is quite unequal to the task of keeping them in check and that law and order have practically ceased to exist in Sitamarhi town.
The sub-jail can only be described as in a state of mutiny. It is much overcrowded containing about 90 inmates (I am not certain of the exact number; almost all are under trials) and certain influential non-co-operators under trials have been preaching defiance and insubordination to their companions. The result is a total absence of discipline; the undertrials sing and shout at the top of their voices throughout the day and most of the night and any attempts on the part of the warders to enforce order and obedience are wholly ignored.
Here is a latter report of the doings of one of these roving bands of whom mention is made in the police report. The Superintendent of Police writes on the 21st January.
At the same time I received a telegram from Mr. Gray, Meanchupra.
"All roads here stopped by volunteers. No carts or servants allowed works. Come if possible, position critical".
I left at 2P.M.and arrived Meanchupra at about 3P.M.
About 500 yards on the road west of Meanchupra I found some volunteers sitting on a culvert guarding the road. On arrival at the Bungalow I found Mr. and Mrs. Gray and their three childrenabsolutely shut off and isolated by three volunteers. All the Factory work had been stopped as the jamadar peons and coolies were not allowed to enter the factory so that there was no one to cut the sugarcane etc. All carts had been stopped, volunteers cutting the ropes of the bullocks and driving them away. Even the house servants had been stopped from going to the bungalow from their village. There was no bearer, cooksmashalchi,dhobe, garden coolies or evenmurgiwala. Mrs. Grey had to dig up the potatoes in the garden, cook the food, wash up the dishes, etc., and her ayah asked her (as well she might) if it was true that the British Raj was over.
Sir, these are the facts which have already compelled Government to post a force of additional police to the Sitamarhi subdivision, and I do not disguise from the Council that they may force us at no distant date to take even sterner measures to preserve the peace of the district, and of other districts that are similarly threatened. If Government find it necessary later to present to Council a bill of costs which will not be at all to their liking, let them thank their non-co-operation friends for the gift.
I know we shall be met with the old cry of repression, but in this case it is a stupid cry. No Government of this country wants repression for repression's sake, and least of all the Government of Bihar and Orissa, which includes within its number three distinguished Indians who have never been accused of any lack of political independence. For my own part I claim that no one welcomed more keenly than I did the inauguration of the new reforms era in India. I had the confident hope (and in this matter I speak also for my hon'ble colleague, Sir Havilland Le Mesurier) that we had before us a great and inspiring task of friendly co-operation with educated Indians, which would at no very distant date place this country in the forefront of the common-wealth of nations. Sir, this great task has for the moment been heavily handicapped and hampered by the poisonous cult of non-co-operation, a cult which has embittered and clouded the political life of India and caused discouragement to all the friends of reform. It has made life aburden and weariness to all ranks of Government officers, to the responsible agents of Government in districts and to the directing staff at headquarters but I have still hope that the better sense of India will prevail and that the clouds will clear away. It is to you, members of the Council, that Government look to give a lead to the public which you represent, in the fight against this great danger which menaces India. The danger is not one which threatens only the officers of Government, professional men, and men of wealth and property. The interests of the common people, the patient cultivators and the toiling workmen, are just as much at stake. It is they who will suffer most, if revolution comes, as the same classes are suffering to-day in Russia where they are perishing in millions as a result of the disintegration of ordered Government. I call therefore upon the representatives of all classes in this assembly to consider what is their duty, their solemn duty, on this occasion. The choice is between the orderly progress of India towards a future of brightest promise and the perilous path of revolution which leads to darkness and death. There is no midway between them. I appeal to you, gentlemen of the Council, to put aside any pre-conceived notions or prepared speeches with which you may have entered this hall to-day and to look at the position in all its naked truth. The question you have to decide for yourself is whether you stand for orderly Government or revolution. I trust that the hon'ble mover himself will realize his responsibility in the light of these remarks and withdraw his resolution now that it has served its purpose of securing a full discussion of the political situation.
APPENDIX XVIIDisgraceful TyrannyThe following is taken from the speech delivered by the Hon. Mr. Hammond, the officiating Chief Secretary of the Bihar and Orissa Government, during the recent debate in the Provincial Council on the political situation.The Pioneer 1st February, 22.Has the hon. member read what has just happened in Guntur, in Madras, where rents are being withheld? Is he aware that not in one but in two or three districts in the Province there have been refusals to pay chaukidari taxes; that we have read not one but several speeches advocating this refusal? May I tell the Council that barely three or four days ago, in the district of Puri, a Panch assessor was murdered while endeavouring to collect chaukidari tax? Swami Vidyanand and others who followed and desclaimed against repressive laws enquired what have the "volunteers" done? It is a pertinent question, and, with your permission, Sir, I will give a few instances by way of answer. Time does not allow me to go through all their nefarious activities, but if Hon. members want to know what the "volunteers" have done, apart from enforcedhartaland the ordinary common forms of secret intimidation, ask the widow of the Mahomedan, Mazir Ali Kalal, whose corpse was exhumed in Ranchi, thrown upon the public road and the face beaten in with a brick; ask Gopi Khar at Chatra, who on the 3rd January was beaten and taken with his face blackened through the town because his wife committed the foul crime of selling food to those who visited liquor shops. Is that persuasion? Is thisAhimsa? ask the woman of Kateya, Mussammatt Paremia Koerin, near Siwan, who was stripped naked and driven through the village by a howling mob. She complained as well she might to the Government police officer, who, when he went to hold an enquiry was attacked by a mob—a demonstration in force of soul-force! A speaker later in the debate declaimed against those, the Planters and the police, whose courage, he said, "took the form of delight in tyrannising over the poor and of oppressing their fellow-countrymen." I ask in all sincerity what are these cases I have related but a disgraceful tyranny; are they not, indeed, 'oppression of the poor?' "What right?" I shall be asked "have you to lay these crimes at the doors of the non-co-operation party?" The answer is, that when men publicly oppose the funeralit is not irrational to believe that they are concerned with the subsequent exhumation of the corpse. In the other cases I have mentioned evidence has been taken and there is the judicial finding.North and South of the GangesAnother member asked me to explain the difference between the positions north and south of the Ganges. Let us take this town of Patna. The hon. member did not, as some do, denyin totothat, there had been intimidation. I say there is in fact but little difference. In Tirhut the crime manifest and overt, and in Patna it is suppressed. Have the Council heard of those poor beggars who received tickets entitling to go to Gulzarbagh on the morning of the 22nd December and get blankets? Do they know that these people were asked by "volunteers" on their way to show their tickets which were then taken and torn up, that the same day some of the beggars when returning from Gulzarbagh were deprived of the blankets which they had been given which were burnt, and the beggars had to be content with such warmth, as they could derive from the glow of enforced patriotism. The difference between this side of the Ganges and the other is that in Patna such things do not unfortunately in a large city attract much attention.Oh! the shame of it, a blind beggar woman deprived of her blanket, but no violence of course was used, only soul-force. Babu Ganesh Dutt appealed to justice and sympathy. Do these beggars deserve no sympathy? Is there to be no justice done on their oppressors? I shall be told that the leaders of the movement disavow such action; that they deplore them as much as we do. Sir, we cannot separate the methods from the ideals of the revolutionary movement. I am prepared to believe that some of the leaders deplore violence and would try to restrain it, but I maintain, and I challenge, any hon. member here to disprove it that, conducted on the lines as it is, admitting such members as it does to its ranks, the non-co-operation movement must inevitably result in violence.The Giridih RiotsLet us take the case to which reference had been made before in this Council, the serious riots which occurred at Giridih, andwhich ended in an attack upon the sub-jail and the thana and the burning of the records. From what did that originate? It is a simple story. A sold B a cow and said that she would yield 1½ seers of milk. B took the cow away and found that he did not get the guaranteed amount of milk. Lawyers here know that the law of warranty is a somewhat difficult and intricate matter. However the local self constituted Panches decided that, A should take back the cow and refund the money. He declined to do so; and then as sanction to enforce the orders of this local court applied that cruel engine of oppression, social boycott. In all civilised communities the black-mailer is regarded with disgust and condemned. It has been for the non-co-operation party to use social blackmail as the basis of sanction to its ideals. The inevitable result of such a sanction is violence.What are the "volunteers" doing? They are fishing in troubled waters. They tried—let us once again come back to Patna—to get the domestic servants to strike: they succeeded in persuading some of the motor-car drivers to desert their masters when their services were most required. What are the "volunteer's" doing? They are persuading raiyats to withhold rent. I know the case of a wealthy zamindar who had to borrow money from the bank to pay his Government revenue. I maintain, sir, that though honest men amongst the non-co-operators speak of non-violence the movement must inevitably lead to violence.Take an instance from private life—let us again quote from Patna. A gentleman returning from Calcutta, a man well acquainted with the law of the land, found that his servant had, at the bidding of one gentleman who is an active recruiting officer of "volunteers," decided to break the contract made with his master. I have the best authority for saying this breach of contract resulted in righteous indignation which took the form of personal violence. What are these "volunteers" doing? They are provoking violence; they are picketing; they are intimidating; they are interfering between the master and servant, between landlord and tenant, between the railway and its employees."Volunteers" Recruited from Criminal ClassesI know it will be said that efforts have been made to purify the ranks. It was found, for example, in Chapra, thatdoms, registered as criminal tribes, were enlisted in the ranks of the national "volunteers." From the other districts, too, came reports of ex-convicts and persons of the "C" class register not only being enrolled but being welcomed. The efforts to remove these members and to purify the movement does not seem likely to be successful if we may judge from a leader's experience in the Bhagalpur Division, at Banka, in the district of Bhagalpur. There I am informed, when he visited some villages with a view to expelling the undesirables, he was himself expelled and told to mind his own business. I submit, sir, for the earnest consideration of this Council that you can not separate principles from methods or the ideals from the agents who are employed. Lastly, we have had an appeal that this Council should share the responsibility for maintenance of law and order. We have been solemnly advised by some of the speakers that Government should abdicate from the duty imposed by Statute of maintaining law and order in favour of these "volunteers" who were, so we are asked to believe, inaugurated solely to prevent a recurrence of the scenes that occurred in Bombay—to stop women being stripped of their clothes in the streets, to stop murder and loot. Can Government for a moment, in view of the activities I have related, contemplate handing over the duty, the primary and essential duty of the police, to the Kanmi Sevak Dal? The question has only to be asked to show its absurdity.The question of Counter-PropagandaThe only piece of practical advice we received from Mr. Madan was that propaganda should be met by counter propaganda. But there are difficulties.First how many of the hon. members would be willing to take up the task of propaganda? Secondly, how many of them would be listened to if they did? How many of these would be able to obtain a hearing? I confess it seemsto me, when Hon. members have protested that Government do not publish all the facts, that the time may come when every district and Sub-Divisional Magistrate ought to be his own publicity officer. In the last week we should have had stories in the papers of ladies being insulted in Monghyr, pushed into the road, and spat upon. We should have read of the wife of a settlement Officer, with her sister-in-law, being insulted by school-boys one of the ladies having her head cut with a stone; and from many districts we should have heard that pitiful tale of little children whose lips can hardly lisp the popular war cry being taught to shout it, not as a tale of admiration for an ascetic idealist, nor as reverence for a person of mystic magnetism, but as a mark of racial hatred, a hymn of hate. We could have published instances from Muzaffarpur and Champaran of the insults to Europeans, of mob roaming about shouting and committing mischief. Hon. members would have heard of Magistrates unable to hold trials because of the noise in the Court compounds. All these and more should have been done in the way of counter propaganda, exposing the methods of what is in fact a revolutionary movement, but would much good have been done thereby? Is it not more important to take steps to prevent such things happening? I ask the hon. members to remember that every vote given in favour of this resolution is a direct encouragement to the non-co-operation party they profess to abhor.
The following is taken from the speech delivered by the Hon. Mr. Hammond, the officiating Chief Secretary of the Bihar and Orissa Government, during the recent debate in the Provincial Council on the political situation.The Pioneer 1st February, 22.
Has the hon. member read what has just happened in Guntur, in Madras, where rents are being withheld? Is he aware that not in one but in two or three districts in the Province there have been refusals to pay chaukidari taxes; that we have read not one but several speeches advocating this refusal? May I tell the Council that barely three or four days ago, in the district of Puri, a Panch assessor was murdered while endeavouring to collect chaukidari tax? Swami Vidyanand and others who followed and desclaimed against repressive laws enquired what have the "volunteers" done? It is a pertinent question, and, with your permission, Sir, I will give a few instances by way of answer. Time does not allow me to go through all their nefarious activities, but if Hon. members want to know what the "volunteers" have done, apart from enforcedhartaland the ordinary common forms of secret intimidation, ask the widow of the Mahomedan, Mazir Ali Kalal, whose corpse was exhumed in Ranchi, thrown upon the public road and the face beaten in with a brick; ask Gopi Khar at Chatra, who on the 3rd January was beaten and taken with his face blackened through the town because his wife committed the foul crime of selling food to those who visited liquor shops. Is that persuasion? Is thisAhimsa? ask the woman of Kateya, Mussammatt Paremia Koerin, near Siwan, who was stripped naked and driven through the village by a howling mob. She complained as well she might to the Government police officer, who, when he went to hold an enquiry was attacked by a mob—a demonstration in force of soul-force! A speaker later in the debate declaimed against those, the Planters and the police, whose courage, he said, "took the form of delight in tyrannising over the poor and of oppressing their fellow-countrymen." I ask in all sincerity what are these cases I have related but a disgraceful tyranny; are they not, indeed, 'oppression of the poor?' "What right?" I shall be asked "have you to lay these crimes at the doors of the non-co-operation party?" The answer is, that when men publicly oppose the funeralit is not irrational to believe that they are concerned with the subsequent exhumation of the corpse. In the other cases I have mentioned evidence has been taken and there is the judicial finding.
Another member asked me to explain the difference between the positions north and south of the Ganges. Let us take this town of Patna. The hon. member did not, as some do, denyin totothat, there had been intimidation. I say there is in fact but little difference. In Tirhut the crime manifest and overt, and in Patna it is suppressed. Have the Council heard of those poor beggars who received tickets entitling to go to Gulzarbagh on the morning of the 22nd December and get blankets? Do they know that these people were asked by "volunteers" on their way to show their tickets which were then taken and torn up, that the same day some of the beggars when returning from Gulzarbagh were deprived of the blankets which they had been given which were burnt, and the beggars had to be content with such warmth, as they could derive from the glow of enforced patriotism. The difference between this side of the Ganges and the other is that in Patna such things do not unfortunately in a large city attract much attention.
Oh! the shame of it, a blind beggar woman deprived of her blanket, but no violence of course was used, only soul-force. Babu Ganesh Dutt appealed to justice and sympathy. Do these beggars deserve no sympathy? Is there to be no justice done on their oppressors? I shall be told that the leaders of the movement disavow such action; that they deplore them as much as we do. Sir, we cannot separate the methods from the ideals of the revolutionary movement. I am prepared to believe that some of the leaders deplore violence and would try to restrain it, but I maintain, and I challenge, any hon. member here to disprove it that, conducted on the lines as it is, admitting such members as it does to its ranks, the non-co-operation movement must inevitably result in violence.
Let us take the case to which reference had been made before in this Council, the serious riots which occurred at Giridih, andwhich ended in an attack upon the sub-jail and the thana and the burning of the records. From what did that originate? It is a simple story. A sold B a cow and said that she would yield 1½ seers of milk. B took the cow away and found that he did not get the guaranteed amount of milk. Lawyers here know that the law of warranty is a somewhat difficult and intricate matter. However the local self constituted Panches decided that, A should take back the cow and refund the money. He declined to do so; and then as sanction to enforce the orders of this local court applied that cruel engine of oppression, social boycott. In all civilised communities the black-mailer is regarded with disgust and condemned. It has been for the non-co-operation party to use social blackmail as the basis of sanction to its ideals. The inevitable result of such a sanction is violence.
What are the "volunteers" doing? They are fishing in troubled waters. They tried—let us once again come back to Patna—to get the domestic servants to strike: they succeeded in persuading some of the motor-car drivers to desert their masters when their services were most required. What are the "volunteer's" doing? They are persuading raiyats to withhold rent. I know the case of a wealthy zamindar who had to borrow money from the bank to pay his Government revenue. I maintain, sir, that though honest men amongst the non-co-operators speak of non-violence the movement must inevitably lead to violence.
Take an instance from private life—let us again quote from Patna. A gentleman returning from Calcutta, a man well acquainted with the law of the land, found that his servant had, at the bidding of one gentleman who is an active recruiting officer of "volunteers," decided to break the contract made with his master. I have the best authority for saying this breach of contract resulted in righteous indignation which took the form of personal violence. What are these "volunteers" doing? They are provoking violence; they are picketing; they are intimidating; they are interfering between the master and servant, between landlord and tenant, between the railway and its employees.
I know it will be said that efforts have been made to purify the ranks. It was found, for example, in Chapra, thatdoms, registered as criminal tribes, were enlisted in the ranks of the national "volunteers." From the other districts, too, came reports of ex-convicts and persons of the "C" class register not only being enrolled but being welcomed. The efforts to remove these members and to purify the movement does not seem likely to be successful if we may judge from a leader's experience in the Bhagalpur Division, at Banka, in the district of Bhagalpur. There I am informed, when he visited some villages with a view to expelling the undesirables, he was himself expelled and told to mind his own business. I submit, sir, for the earnest consideration of this Council that you can not separate principles from methods or the ideals from the agents who are employed. Lastly, we have had an appeal that this Council should share the responsibility for maintenance of law and order. We have been solemnly advised by some of the speakers that Government should abdicate from the duty imposed by Statute of maintaining law and order in favour of these "volunteers" who were, so we are asked to believe, inaugurated solely to prevent a recurrence of the scenes that occurred in Bombay—to stop women being stripped of their clothes in the streets, to stop murder and loot. Can Government for a moment, in view of the activities I have related, contemplate handing over the duty, the primary and essential duty of the police, to the Kanmi Sevak Dal? The question has only to be asked to show its absurdity.
The only piece of practical advice we received from Mr. Madan was that propaganda should be met by counter propaganda. But there are difficulties.
First how many of the hon. members would be willing to take up the task of propaganda? Secondly, how many of them would be listened to if they did? How many of these would be able to obtain a hearing? I confess it seemsto me, when Hon. members have protested that Government do not publish all the facts, that the time may come when every district and Sub-Divisional Magistrate ought to be his own publicity officer. In the last week we should have had stories in the papers of ladies being insulted in Monghyr, pushed into the road, and spat upon. We should have read of the wife of a settlement Officer, with her sister-in-law, being insulted by school-boys one of the ladies having her head cut with a stone; and from many districts we should have heard that pitiful tale of little children whose lips can hardly lisp the popular war cry being taught to shout it, not as a tale of admiration for an ascetic idealist, nor as reverence for a person of mystic magnetism, but as a mark of racial hatred, a hymn of hate. We could have published instances from Muzaffarpur and Champaran of the insults to Europeans, of mob roaming about shouting and committing mischief. Hon. members would have heard of Magistrates unable to hold trials because of the noise in the Court compounds. All these and more should have been done in the way of counter propaganda, exposing the methods of what is in fact a revolutionary movement, but would much good have been done thereby? Is it not more important to take steps to prevent such things happening? I ask the hon. members to remember that every vote given in favour of this resolution is a direct encouragement to the non-co-operation party they profess to abhor.
APPENDIX XVIIIDEMAND FOR AN INDIAN "REPUBLIC"Mr. Hazrat Mohani's AddressAhmedabad, Dec. 30—The following is the full text of the authorised translation of the address, which Moulana Hazrat Mohani delivered this afternoon and which was, from the beginning to the end a plea for the declaration from the 1st January, 1922, of an Indian Republic called the United States of India to be attainedby all possible and proper means, including guerilla warfare in case Martial Law was proclaimed.Gentlemen—While thanking you for electing me to preside over this session of the All-India Muslim League I wish to say in all sincerity that the importance of this session of the League, in which the faith of Hindustan is to be decided required the choice of a person abler than myself, such as Moulana Muhammed Ali, Dr. Kitchlew or Moulana Abdul Kulam Azad to preside over its deliberation but, unfortunately, the Government has forcibly taken away the first two gentlemen from us, I express my inability to accept the responsibility. Consequently, as the proverb goes, "if thou dos't not accept it willingly, it will be forced on thee" this great duty was placed on my weak shoulders. I wish to discharge it to the best of my ability. Success is in the hand of God.The Aims of the LeagueThe present condition of the League appears to be very weak, indeed, but this does not in the least derogate from its real importance for it was the All-India Muslim League which actually realised. The first and the most essential condition of Indian independence is the Hindu-Muslim unity, and now that it has been achieved it is the duty of the League to maintain it also. Besides, it is on the platform of the League that all sections of political opinion amongst the Musalmans, Extremists or Moderates, have so far been and in future will, probably, be brought together. Before going into the causes of the weakness of the League, it will be better to enumerate the aims and object of the League. These are (1) the attainment of Swaraj by the people of India by all peaceful and legitimate means; (2) to protect and advance the political, religious and other rights and interests of the Indian Musalmans; (3) to promote friendship and union between the Musalmans and other communities of India and (4) to maintain and strengthen brotherly relations between the Musalmans of India and those of other countries.The League an Old CalendarThe first of these is also known to be the creed of the Congress. Therefore, so long as the word Swaraj is not defined in consonancewith Muslim desire and the means for its attainment are not amplified, it is only natural that Muslim interests in League should be clear. The third object, Hindu-Muslim unity, is the common object both of the League and the Congress. The fourth object, the unity of Muslim world, which has been, along with other questions, connected with the Khilafat has been specially taken up by the Khilafat Committee. There remains only the second object that is the protection of the special interest of the Muslmans. As to this, so long as a much greater and more important object, that is, the attainment of Swaraj still remains unachieved, people would rather direct their united efforts against the common enemy than look after their special interests. They will be attended to when the time comes for it. As if these causes were not sufficient in themselves, to decrease Muslim influence in the League, its rules and regulations were, unfortunately, so framed that, while public opinion has developed at a rapid pace most members of the League have not moved an inch from their first position. As a result, the League remains nothing more than an old calendar. It is very necessary to remove the causes of the weakness of the League and to remove them immediately, for in proportion as we approach nearer and nearer to the goal of Swaraj the need of the League will be felt more and more, because questions of special Muslim rights will rise again with greater importance when India is free.An Indian "Republic"Our first duty, therefore, should be to reduce the fee for the membership of the League and thus increase its members, who will choose their representatives of the League every year. The members to the Council of the Provincial and the All-India Muslim Leagues should be chosen as in the case of the Congress every year. But the most pressing necessity of all is a change in the first object of the League to suit the changed Muslim conditions. Everyone of us knows that the word Swaraj has been definitely left vague and undefined in the creed of the Congress. The object of it has been that, if the Khilafat and the Panjab wrongs, aresettled on the lines of our demands, then Swaraj within the British Empire will be considered sufficient; otherwise efforts will be directed towards the attainment of complete independence. But, gentlemen from the Muslim point of view it is not enough that we should stand for complete independence alone. It is necessary to decide upon the form that it should take and in my opinion it can only be an Indian Republic or on the lines of the United States of India.Besides this, the term "peaceful", which defines and restricts the scope of the legitimate means for the attainment of Swaraj in the Congress creed, is opposed to the nature and religious aspirations of the Musalmans. Therefore, in the creed of the League the words "possible" and "Proper" should be substituted for the words "Legitimate" and "Peaceful". I will explain the matter in detail. The Musalmans should understand clearly that they derive a two-fold advantage from the establishment of an Indian Republic, firstly, the general benefit which they will undoubtedly share along with their Indian brethren as citizens of a common State and secondly, the special advantage which the Musalmans will derive from it is that, with every decline in the prestige and power of the British Empire, which, to-day is the worst enemy of Muslim countries, the Muslim world will get breathing time and opportunity to improve its conditions. Gentlemen, in spite of the present Hindu-Muslim unity, there still exists many serious misunderstandings and suspicions between these two great communities of Hindustan, and it is of primary importance that we should grasp the true nature of these misunderstandings. The Hindus have a lurking suspicion that given an opportunity, the Musalmans will either invite their co-religionists from outside to invade India or will, at least help them, in case they invaded to plunder and devastate Hindustan, and these misunderstandings are so deep-rooted and widespread that, so far as my knowledge goes, no Indian statesman has escaped it, except the late Lokamanya Tilak. On the other hand, the Musalmans suspect that on the achievement of Self-Government, the Hindus will acquire greater political powers and will use their numericalsuperiority to crush the Musalmans. Gentlemen, it is quite clear that these misunderstandings can only be won over by a compromise discussion and mutual and intimate knowledge, and it is an essential condition of this mutual understanding that the third party should not come between them.Hindus and MuslimsThe generality of Musalmans, with few exceptions, are afraid of the numerical superiority of the Hindus and are absolutely opposed to an ordinary reform scheme as a substitute for complete independence. The primary reason for this is that in a merely reformed, as contrasted with an independent Government they will be under a double suspicion, first, a subjection to the Government of India, which will be common to Hindus and Musalmans, secondly, a rejection by a Hindu majority, which they will have to face in every department of the Government. On the other hand, if the danger of the English power is removed, the Musalmans will only have the Hindu Majority to fear. Fortunately this fear is such as will be automatically removed, with the establishment of the Indian republic for, while the Musalmans, as a whole, are in a minority in India, yet Nature has provided a compensation, for the Musalmans are not in a minority in all Provinces. In some Provinces, such as Kashmere, the Punjab, Sind, Bengal and Assam, the Musalmans are more numerous than the Hindus. This Muslim majority will be an assurance that in the United States of India the Hindu majority in Madras, Bombay and the United Provinces will not be allowed to overstep the limits of moderation against the Musalmans. Similarly, so long as a completely liberated India does not come into the hands of the Hindus and Musalmans themselves, the Hindus will be always suspicious that, in case of a foreign invasion, the Musalmans will aid their co-religionist invaders, but on the establishment of the Indian Republic, which will be shared in common by the Musalmans and Hindus there will be no possibility of such a suspicion, for no Musalman will desire that the power of even a Muslim foreigner should be established over this country.The Mopla RebellionGentlemen, I have just stated it as a necessary condition of the Hindu-Muslim compromise that the third party, the English, should not be allowed to step in between us. Otherwise, all our affairs will fall into disorder. Its best example is before you in the shape of the Mopla incident. You are probably aware that Hindu India has an open and direct complaint against the Moplas and an indirect complaint against all of us that the Moplas are plundering and spoiling their innocent Hindu neighbours, but probably, you are not aware that the Moplas justify their action on the ground that at such a critical juncture, when they are engaged in a war against the English, their neighbours not only do not help them or observe neutrality, but aid and assist the English in every possible way. They can, no doubt, contend that, while they are fighting a defensive war for the sake of their religion and have left their houses, property and belongings and taken refuge in hills and jungles, it is unfair to characterise as plunder their commandeering of money, provisions and other necessaries for their troops from the English or their supporters. Gentlemen, both are right in their complaints, but so far as my investigation goes, the cause of this mutual recrimination can be traced to the interference of the third party. It happens thus, whenever any English detachment suddenly appears in the locality and kills or captures the Moplas inhabitants of the place, rumour somehow spreads in the neighbourhood that the Hindu inhabitants of the place had invited the English army for their protection, with the result that after the departure of the English troops the Moplas or their neighbours do not hesitate to retaliate and consider the money and other belongings of the Hindus as lawful spoils of war taken from those who have aided and abetted the enemy. Where no such events have occurred, the Moplas and Hindus even now live peacefully side by side, Moplas do not commit any excesses against the Hindus, while the Hindus do not hesitate in helping the Moplas to the best of their ability.A National Parliament.I have wandered far from my purpose, I meant to emphasise that, in the first clause dealing with the aims and objects of the League, the word "Swaraj" should be defined as complete republic. Otherwise, there is a danger that in the presence of a third party, Self-Government within the British Empire, instead of being beneficial, might actually prove injurious. The second amendment necessary is that the methods for the attainment of Swaraj should be amplified. In the place "peaceful" and "legitimate" means "possible" and "proper" should be permitted. Thus, on the one hand, the opportunity of joining the League will be given to those who do not honestly believe Non-Co-operation alone as the sole path of salvation, recognising the possibility of other methods and adopting them also. On the other hand, the amendment will remove the complaint of those who believe the Non-Co-operation can under no circumstances, remain peaceful to the last, and while subscribing to the creed of the Congress and the first clause of the section dealing with the object of the League as a matter of policy and expediency, refuse to admit it as a faith for all times and circumstances or to remain non-violent even in intention.Gentlemen, there are only two possible means of replacing one Government by another one, the destruction of the Government by sword and the establishment of another in its place, a method which has been followed in the world thus far. The second alternative is to sever all connection with the present Government, and to set up a better or organised Government: parallel to it and improve and develop it till the old order is dissolved and the new takes its place. Friends, to achieve this object, we must immediately set upon a separate and permanent foundation our courts, schools, arts, industries, army, police and a national parliament. Non-violent Non-Co-operation can only help to paralyse the Government, but cannot maintain it. The question now is, can such a parallel Government be established only through non-violent non-co-operation of course, provided the rival Governmentdoes not interfere with its establishment, a condition which is obviously impossible. The rival Government will certainly interfere. We might contend that we will proceed on with our work silently and quietly and in spite of governmental interference as is being done at present. A stage will, however, be reached ultimately when action on peaceful lines will absolutely become impossible, and then we will be forced to admit that a parallel Government can be started, but not continue to the last through peaceful means.Governmental PolicyThe example of Governmental repression is before your eyes. First, it attempted through Karachi trials to prevent the Musalmans from openly proclaiming the articles of their faith, when the people, undaunted by this decision of the Government, preached through the length and breadth of India that it was unlawful to serve in the army. The Government slowly overlooked those activities fearing lest a mere repetition of the Karachi resolution might lead to disaffection in the Army, and in order to divert the attention of the people from those activities, it suddenly, but deliberately declared the enrollment as unlawful. That might get an opportunity of striking at the Non-Co-operators. Like the moths that gather to sacrifice their lives round lighted candle, the advocates of civil disobedience swarmed to break this declaration of Lord Reading and cheerfully went in their thousands to gaol. This is undoubtedly an example of self-sacrifice and self-effacement which will rightly move Mahatma Gandhi to ecstasy, but we detect another truth hidden in this demonstration of happiness and joy. It reveals to our eyes the last stage of both the repression of the Government and the patience of the people. The people are, no doubt, prepared to bear and suffer gladly the hardships of a few days of imprisonment but on the declaration of Martial Law the non-violent Non-Co-operation movement will prove totally insufficient and useless. Amongst the Musalmans, at least there will hardly be found a man who will be prepared to sacrifice his life uselessly. A man can only have one of the two feelings in his heart, when faced by the barrel of a gun, either to seek refuge in flight or to take advantage of thelaw of self-preservation and despatch adversary to hell. The third alternative of cheerfully yielding up one's life to the enemy and considering it to be the one real success will remain confined to Mahatma Gandhi and some of his adherents and fellow thinkers. I, on my part, fear that in general the reply to the Martial Law will be what is commonly called guerilla warfare, or in the words of the Quran "kill them wherever you find them." The responsibility lies with the representatives of the Musalmans. The members of the All-India Muslim League, should consider it their duty either to refrain from adopting Non-Co-operation as their creed or free it from the limitation of keeping it, either by violence or non-violence, for it is not in our power to keep Non-Co-operation peaceful or otherwise. So long as the Government confines to the use of chains and fetters, Non-Co-operation can remain peaceful as it is to-day, but if things go further and the Government has recourse to gallows or machine guns it will be impossible for the movement to remain non-violent.Duty of MuslimsAt this stage, some people would like to ask how is it that, while the Hindus are content to adopt non-violent non-co-operation as the means for attaining independence, that the Musalmans are anxious to go a step further. The answer is that the liberation of Hindustan is as much a political duty of Musalmans as that of a Hindu. Owing to the question of Khilafat it has become a Musalman's religious duty also.In this connection I should like to say just one word. The glories of Ghazhi Mustapha Kemal Pasha and the conclusion of the recent Franco-Turkish Treaty might create an idea in some people's minds that the evacuation of Smyrna by the Greeks is certain, and the restoration of Thrace to the Turks if not certain is within the bounds of possibility. Consequently they might entertain the hope that the struggle in the Near East is coming to a close. I want to warn all such people that the claims of the Musalmans of India are founded more on religious than political principles. So long as the Jazirat-ul-Arab (including Palestineand Mesopotamia) are not absolutely freed from non-Muslim influence, and so long as the political and military power of the Khilafat is not fully restored the Musalmans of India cannot suspend their activities and efforts.The Muslim DemandsThe Muslim demands as regards the Khilafat are these:—(1) that in the pursuance of the promise of Mr. Lloyd George, Thrace and Shayrna, along with the city of Smyrna, should remain purely under Turkish control, so that the political status of the Khilafat Musalman, which is essential for the Khilafat should suffer no diminution, (2) all non-Turkish control should be removed from Constantinople, the shores of Marmora and the Dardanelles in order that the Khilafat at Constantinople may not be under non-Muslim control, which is essential for the Khilafat; (3) all naval and military restrictions imposed on the Khilafat should be removed, as otherwise, he would have no power to enforce the orders of the Khilafat; (4) the Jazirat-ul-Arab, including the Hedjaz, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, should be free from all non-Muslim influence and not be under the British mandate, as it was the death-bed injunction of the prophet. It should be noted that in the fourth demand we wish the English to give up their mandate of Mesopotamia and Palestine and remove their influence from the Hedjaz. As to the question whether the Arabs will acknowledge the Sheriff of Mecca or the Sultan of Turkey as their Khilafat, or whether the Arab Government of Hedjaz, Mesopotamia and Palestine will be independant or under the suzerainty of the Khilafat, they will be decided by the Musalmans. We do not want non-Muslim advice and assistance.A Compact Between Congress and LeagueIn my opinion, gentlemen, the most pressing necessity of Hindustan is the immediate conclusion of a definite compact between the Congress and the League. The Congress should not enter into any negotiations with the Government concerning Swaraj (1) until the minimum Muslim demands with regard the Khilafat are satisfied; (2) on the other hand, the Muslimshould definitely bind themselves that even though their demands with regard to the Khilafat are satisfied, they, the Musalmans of India, will stand to the last by the side of their Hindu brethren for the attainment and preservation of Indian independence. Such a compact is necessary for the work because there are signs of the enemies of Indian independence, and we have to confess with regret that a number of deceitful Indians working with the foreigners are concentrating all their efforts to wreck the Hindu Muslim unity and create distrust and misunderstanding between the two communities. On the one hand, the Musalmans are being enticed by false hopes with regard to the Khilafat question. On the other some show toys of political concessions are being prepared as a gift for the Hindus even before the stipulated period of ten years. It is intended that in simplicity, the Musalmans should consider the return of Smyrna, etc, as the satisfaction their Khilafat demands, and slacken their efforts for the attainment of Swaraj, while the Hindus should be misled into believing a further instalment of reforms as the Swaraj itself, or at least, its precursor and begin to consider the Khilafat as an irrelevant question. There can be only one solution for all these problems. Hindus and Musalmans after mutual consultation, should have Indian independence declared by Mahatma Gandhi, and that in future neither the English might have an opportunity of deceiving nor India of being deceived. After the declaration of independence, the Congress and the League will have only one object left; that is preservation of Swaraj. The 1st January, 1922, is the best date for the purpose because we would thus have fulfilled the promise that we made to attain Swaraj within this year, and the people of India will achieve success in the eyes of God and man.
Mr. Hazrat Mohani's Address
Ahmedabad, Dec. 30—The following is the full text of the authorised translation of the address, which Moulana Hazrat Mohani delivered this afternoon and which was, from the beginning to the end a plea for the declaration from the 1st January, 1922, of an Indian Republic called the United States of India to be attainedby all possible and proper means, including guerilla warfare in case Martial Law was proclaimed.
Gentlemen—While thanking you for electing me to preside over this session of the All-India Muslim League I wish to say in all sincerity that the importance of this session of the League, in which the faith of Hindustan is to be decided required the choice of a person abler than myself, such as Moulana Muhammed Ali, Dr. Kitchlew or Moulana Abdul Kulam Azad to preside over its deliberation but, unfortunately, the Government has forcibly taken away the first two gentlemen from us, I express my inability to accept the responsibility. Consequently, as the proverb goes, "if thou dos't not accept it willingly, it will be forced on thee" this great duty was placed on my weak shoulders. I wish to discharge it to the best of my ability. Success is in the hand of God.
The present condition of the League appears to be very weak, indeed, but this does not in the least derogate from its real importance for it was the All-India Muslim League which actually realised. The first and the most essential condition of Indian independence is the Hindu-Muslim unity, and now that it has been achieved it is the duty of the League to maintain it also. Besides, it is on the platform of the League that all sections of political opinion amongst the Musalmans, Extremists or Moderates, have so far been and in future will, probably, be brought together. Before going into the causes of the weakness of the League, it will be better to enumerate the aims and object of the League. These are (1) the attainment of Swaraj by the people of India by all peaceful and legitimate means; (2) to protect and advance the political, religious and other rights and interests of the Indian Musalmans; (3) to promote friendship and union between the Musalmans and other communities of India and (4) to maintain and strengthen brotherly relations between the Musalmans of India and those of other countries.
The first of these is also known to be the creed of the Congress. Therefore, so long as the word Swaraj is not defined in consonancewith Muslim desire and the means for its attainment are not amplified, it is only natural that Muslim interests in League should be clear. The third object, Hindu-Muslim unity, is the common object both of the League and the Congress. The fourth object, the unity of Muslim world, which has been, along with other questions, connected with the Khilafat has been specially taken up by the Khilafat Committee. There remains only the second object that is the protection of the special interest of the Muslmans. As to this, so long as a much greater and more important object, that is, the attainment of Swaraj still remains unachieved, people would rather direct their united efforts against the common enemy than look after their special interests. They will be attended to when the time comes for it. As if these causes were not sufficient in themselves, to decrease Muslim influence in the League, its rules and regulations were, unfortunately, so framed that, while public opinion has developed at a rapid pace most members of the League have not moved an inch from their first position. As a result, the League remains nothing more than an old calendar. It is very necessary to remove the causes of the weakness of the League and to remove them immediately, for in proportion as we approach nearer and nearer to the goal of Swaraj the need of the League will be felt more and more, because questions of special Muslim rights will rise again with greater importance when India is free.
Our first duty, therefore, should be to reduce the fee for the membership of the League and thus increase its members, who will choose their representatives of the League every year. The members to the Council of the Provincial and the All-India Muslim Leagues should be chosen as in the case of the Congress every year. But the most pressing necessity of all is a change in the first object of the League to suit the changed Muslim conditions. Everyone of us knows that the word Swaraj has been definitely left vague and undefined in the creed of the Congress. The object of it has been that, if the Khilafat and the Panjab wrongs, aresettled on the lines of our demands, then Swaraj within the British Empire will be considered sufficient; otherwise efforts will be directed towards the attainment of complete independence. But, gentlemen from the Muslim point of view it is not enough that we should stand for complete independence alone. It is necessary to decide upon the form that it should take and in my opinion it can only be an Indian Republic or on the lines of the United States of India.
Besides this, the term "peaceful", which defines and restricts the scope of the legitimate means for the attainment of Swaraj in the Congress creed, is opposed to the nature and religious aspirations of the Musalmans. Therefore, in the creed of the League the words "possible" and "Proper" should be substituted for the words "Legitimate" and "Peaceful". I will explain the matter in detail. The Musalmans should understand clearly that they derive a two-fold advantage from the establishment of an Indian Republic, firstly, the general benefit which they will undoubtedly share along with their Indian brethren as citizens of a common State and secondly, the special advantage which the Musalmans will derive from it is that, with every decline in the prestige and power of the British Empire, which, to-day is the worst enemy of Muslim countries, the Muslim world will get breathing time and opportunity to improve its conditions. Gentlemen, in spite of the present Hindu-Muslim unity, there still exists many serious misunderstandings and suspicions between these two great communities of Hindustan, and it is of primary importance that we should grasp the true nature of these misunderstandings. The Hindus have a lurking suspicion that given an opportunity, the Musalmans will either invite their co-religionists from outside to invade India or will, at least help them, in case they invaded to plunder and devastate Hindustan, and these misunderstandings are so deep-rooted and widespread that, so far as my knowledge goes, no Indian statesman has escaped it, except the late Lokamanya Tilak. On the other hand, the Musalmans suspect that on the achievement of Self-Government, the Hindus will acquire greater political powers and will use their numericalsuperiority to crush the Musalmans. Gentlemen, it is quite clear that these misunderstandings can only be won over by a compromise discussion and mutual and intimate knowledge, and it is an essential condition of this mutual understanding that the third party should not come between them.
The generality of Musalmans, with few exceptions, are afraid of the numerical superiority of the Hindus and are absolutely opposed to an ordinary reform scheme as a substitute for complete independence. The primary reason for this is that in a merely reformed, as contrasted with an independent Government they will be under a double suspicion, first, a subjection to the Government of India, which will be common to Hindus and Musalmans, secondly, a rejection by a Hindu majority, which they will have to face in every department of the Government. On the other hand, if the danger of the English power is removed, the Musalmans will only have the Hindu Majority to fear. Fortunately this fear is such as will be automatically removed, with the establishment of the Indian republic for, while the Musalmans, as a whole, are in a minority in India, yet Nature has provided a compensation, for the Musalmans are not in a minority in all Provinces. In some Provinces, such as Kashmere, the Punjab, Sind, Bengal and Assam, the Musalmans are more numerous than the Hindus. This Muslim majority will be an assurance that in the United States of India the Hindu majority in Madras, Bombay and the United Provinces will not be allowed to overstep the limits of moderation against the Musalmans. Similarly, so long as a completely liberated India does not come into the hands of the Hindus and Musalmans themselves, the Hindus will be always suspicious that, in case of a foreign invasion, the Musalmans will aid their co-religionist invaders, but on the establishment of the Indian Republic, which will be shared in common by the Musalmans and Hindus there will be no possibility of such a suspicion, for no Musalman will desire that the power of even a Muslim foreigner should be established over this country.
Gentlemen, I have just stated it as a necessary condition of the Hindu-Muslim compromise that the third party, the English, should not be allowed to step in between us. Otherwise, all our affairs will fall into disorder. Its best example is before you in the shape of the Mopla incident. You are probably aware that Hindu India has an open and direct complaint against the Moplas and an indirect complaint against all of us that the Moplas are plundering and spoiling their innocent Hindu neighbours, but probably, you are not aware that the Moplas justify their action on the ground that at such a critical juncture, when they are engaged in a war against the English, their neighbours not only do not help them or observe neutrality, but aid and assist the English in every possible way. They can, no doubt, contend that, while they are fighting a defensive war for the sake of their religion and have left their houses, property and belongings and taken refuge in hills and jungles, it is unfair to characterise as plunder their commandeering of money, provisions and other necessaries for their troops from the English or their supporters. Gentlemen, both are right in their complaints, but so far as my investigation goes, the cause of this mutual recrimination can be traced to the interference of the third party. It happens thus, whenever any English detachment suddenly appears in the locality and kills or captures the Moplas inhabitants of the place, rumour somehow spreads in the neighbourhood that the Hindu inhabitants of the place had invited the English army for their protection, with the result that after the departure of the English troops the Moplas or their neighbours do not hesitate to retaliate and consider the money and other belongings of the Hindus as lawful spoils of war taken from those who have aided and abetted the enemy. Where no such events have occurred, the Moplas and Hindus even now live peacefully side by side, Moplas do not commit any excesses against the Hindus, while the Hindus do not hesitate in helping the Moplas to the best of their ability.
I have wandered far from my purpose, I meant to emphasise that, in the first clause dealing with the aims and objects of the League, the word "Swaraj" should be defined as complete republic. Otherwise, there is a danger that in the presence of a third party, Self-Government within the British Empire, instead of being beneficial, might actually prove injurious. The second amendment necessary is that the methods for the attainment of Swaraj should be amplified. In the place "peaceful" and "legitimate" means "possible" and "proper" should be permitted. Thus, on the one hand, the opportunity of joining the League will be given to those who do not honestly believe Non-Co-operation alone as the sole path of salvation, recognising the possibility of other methods and adopting them also. On the other hand, the amendment will remove the complaint of those who believe the Non-Co-operation can under no circumstances, remain peaceful to the last, and while subscribing to the creed of the Congress and the first clause of the section dealing with the object of the League as a matter of policy and expediency, refuse to admit it as a faith for all times and circumstances or to remain non-violent even in intention.
Gentlemen, there are only two possible means of replacing one Government by another one, the destruction of the Government by sword and the establishment of another in its place, a method which has been followed in the world thus far. The second alternative is to sever all connection with the present Government, and to set up a better or organised Government: parallel to it and improve and develop it till the old order is dissolved and the new takes its place. Friends, to achieve this object, we must immediately set upon a separate and permanent foundation our courts, schools, arts, industries, army, police and a national parliament. Non-violent Non-Co-operation can only help to paralyse the Government, but cannot maintain it. The question now is, can such a parallel Government be established only through non-violent non-co-operation of course, provided the rival Governmentdoes not interfere with its establishment, a condition which is obviously impossible. The rival Government will certainly interfere. We might contend that we will proceed on with our work silently and quietly and in spite of governmental interference as is being done at present. A stage will, however, be reached ultimately when action on peaceful lines will absolutely become impossible, and then we will be forced to admit that a parallel Government can be started, but not continue to the last through peaceful means.
The example of Governmental repression is before your eyes. First, it attempted through Karachi trials to prevent the Musalmans from openly proclaiming the articles of their faith, when the people, undaunted by this decision of the Government, preached through the length and breadth of India that it was unlawful to serve in the army. The Government slowly overlooked those activities fearing lest a mere repetition of the Karachi resolution might lead to disaffection in the Army, and in order to divert the attention of the people from those activities, it suddenly, but deliberately declared the enrollment as unlawful. That might get an opportunity of striking at the Non-Co-operators. Like the moths that gather to sacrifice their lives round lighted candle, the advocates of civil disobedience swarmed to break this declaration of Lord Reading and cheerfully went in their thousands to gaol. This is undoubtedly an example of self-sacrifice and self-effacement which will rightly move Mahatma Gandhi to ecstasy, but we detect another truth hidden in this demonstration of happiness and joy. It reveals to our eyes the last stage of both the repression of the Government and the patience of the people. The people are, no doubt, prepared to bear and suffer gladly the hardships of a few days of imprisonment but on the declaration of Martial Law the non-violent Non-Co-operation movement will prove totally insufficient and useless. Amongst the Musalmans, at least there will hardly be found a man who will be prepared to sacrifice his life uselessly. A man can only have one of the two feelings in his heart, when faced by the barrel of a gun, either to seek refuge in flight or to take advantage of thelaw of self-preservation and despatch adversary to hell. The third alternative of cheerfully yielding up one's life to the enemy and considering it to be the one real success will remain confined to Mahatma Gandhi and some of his adherents and fellow thinkers. I, on my part, fear that in general the reply to the Martial Law will be what is commonly called guerilla warfare, or in the words of the Quran "kill them wherever you find them." The responsibility lies with the representatives of the Musalmans. The members of the All-India Muslim League, should consider it their duty either to refrain from adopting Non-Co-operation as their creed or free it from the limitation of keeping it, either by violence or non-violence, for it is not in our power to keep Non-Co-operation peaceful or otherwise. So long as the Government confines to the use of chains and fetters, Non-Co-operation can remain peaceful as it is to-day, but if things go further and the Government has recourse to gallows or machine guns it will be impossible for the movement to remain non-violent.
At this stage, some people would like to ask how is it that, while the Hindus are content to adopt non-violent non-co-operation as the means for attaining independence, that the Musalmans are anxious to go a step further. The answer is that the liberation of Hindustan is as much a political duty of Musalmans as that of a Hindu. Owing to the question of Khilafat it has become a Musalman's religious duty also.
In this connection I should like to say just one word. The glories of Ghazhi Mustapha Kemal Pasha and the conclusion of the recent Franco-Turkish Treaty might create an idea in some people's minds that the evacuation of Smyrna by the Greeks is certain, and the restoration of Thrace to the Turks if not certain is within the bounds of possibility. Consequently they might entertain the hope that the struggle in the Near East is coming to a close. I want to warn all such people that the claims of the Musalmans of India are founded more on religious than political principles. So long as the Jazirat-ul-Arab (including Palestineand Mesopotamia) are not absolutely freed from non-Muslim influence, and so long as the political and military power of the Khilafat is not fully restored the Musalmans of India cannot suspend their activities and efforts.
The Muslim demands as regards the Khilafat are these:—(1) that in the pursuance of the promise of Mr. Lloyd George, Thrace and Shayrna, along with the city of Smyrna, should remain purely under Turkish control, so that the political status of the Khilafat Musalman, which is essential for the Khilafat should suffer no diminution, (2) all non-Turkish control should be removed from Constantinople, the shores of Marmora and the Dardanelles in order that the Khilafat at Constantinople may not be under non-Muslim control, which is essential for the Khilafat; (3) all naval and military restrictions imposed on the Khilafat should be removed, as otherwise, he would have no power to enforce the orders of the Khilafat; (4) the Jazirat-ul-Arab, including the Hedjaz, Palestine, and Mesopotamia, should be free from all non-Muslim influence and not be under the British mandate, as it was the death-bed injunction of the prophet. It should be noted that in the fourth demand we wish the English to give up their mandate of Mesopotamia and Palestine and remove their influence from the Hedjaz. As to the question whether the Arabs will acknowledge the Sheriff of Mecca or the Sultan of Turkey as their Khilafat, or whether the Arab Government of Hedjaz, Mesopotamia and Palestine will be independant or under the suzerainty of the Khilafat, they will be decided by the Musalmans. We do not want non-Muslim advice and assistance.
In my opinion, gentlemen, the most pressing necessity of Hindustan is the immediate conclusion of a definite compact between the Congress and the League. The Congress should not enter into any negotiations with the Government concerning Swaraj (1) until the minimum Muslim demands with regard the Khilafat are satisfied; (2) on the other hand, the Muslimshould definitely bind themselves that even though their demands with regard to the Khilafat are satisfied, they, the Musalmans of India, will stand to the last by the side of their Hindu brethren for the attainment and preservation of Indian independence. Such a compact is necessary for the work because there are signs of the enemies of Indian independence, and we have to confess with regret that a number of deceitful Indians working with the foreigners are concentrating all their efforts to wreck the Hindu Muslim unity and create distrust and misunderstanding between the two communities. On the one hand, the Musalmans are being enticed by false hopes with regard to the Khilafat question. On the other some show toys of political concessions are being prepared as a gift for the Hindus even before the stipulated period of ten years. It is intended that in simplicity, the Musalmans should consider the return of Smyrna, etc, as the satisfaction their Khilafat demands, and slacken their efforts for the attainment of Swaraj, while the Hindus should be misled into believing a further instalment of reforms as the Swaraj itself, or at least, its precursor and begin to consider the Khilafat as an irrelevant question. There can be only one solution for all these problems. Hindus and Musalmans after mutual consultation, should have Indian independence declared by Mahatma Gandhi, and that in future neither the English might have an opportunity of deceiving nor India of being deceived. After the declaration of independence, the Congress and the League will have only one object left; that is preservation of Swaraj. The 1st January, 1922, is the best date for the purpose because we would thus have fulfilled the promise that we made to attain Swaraj within this year, and the people of India will achieve success in the eyes of God and man.