द इण्डियन स्ट्रगल / भारतीय स्वाधीनता संग्राम (नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस - ऐतिहासिक विश्लेषण)

THE STORM BREAKS 85
vincial autonomy and diarchy in the Central Government he
could have for the mere asking, but he wanted full Dominion
status and if he had that, he would be prepared to unfurl the
Union Jack over his Ashrama. As the curtain was rung down
on December 31st, 1921, these words floated like dreams
before my mind's eye.
Before the end of the year, with the exception of Mahatma
Gandhi, all the other important leaders were in prison. As
a matter of fact at the time of the negotiations between the
Deshbandhu and the Viceroy, none of the outstanding intel-
lectual stalwarts was in a position to advise the Mahatma as
to the proper course for him to adopt. If they had done so,
then in all probability, events would have taken a different
course. There can of course be no doubt that within twelve
months the country had made tremendous progress and much
of the credit for that belonged to the Mahatma. But what
has to be regretted is that he did not show sufficient diplomacy
and prudence when the crucial hour arrived. In this con-
nection I am reminded of what the Deshbandhu used fre-
quently to say about the virtues and failings of Mahatma
Gandhi's leadership. According to him, the Mahatma opens
a campaign in a brilliant fashion; he works it up with unerring
skill; he moves from success to success till he reaches the
zenith of his campaign—but after that he loses his nerve and
begins to falter.
Before we close this chapter it would be desirable to take
stock of the year's achievements and failures. The year 1921
undoubtedly gave the country a highly-organised party-
organisation. Before that, the Congress was a constitutional
party and mainly a talking body. The Mahatma not only
gave it a new Constitution and a nation-wide basis—but what
is more important, converted it into a revolutionary organisa-
tion. The tricolour national flag—red,¹ green and white—
was adopted all over the country and assumed great im-
portance. Uniform slogans were repeated everywhere and a
uniform policy and ideology gained currency from one end
of India to the other. The English language lost its importance
and the Congress adopted Hindi (or Hindusthani) as the
¹ The colour red in the national flag has now been altered to saffron.