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

CHAPTER III
THE ANTI-CLIMAX (1922)
It is not possible at this distant date to understand how
profoundly the people of India believed in 1921 that Swaraj
would be won before the end of that year. Even the most
sophisticated people shared this optimism. I remember
listening once to the speech of an able Bengali advocate at a
public meeting in 1921, in the course of which he asserted
in all seriousness: 'We are surely going to get Swaraj before
the year is out. If you ask me how we are going to win it,
I cannot answer. But we are going to win it all the same.'
On another occasion in 1921, I was discussing with an
exceptionally able Calcutta politician, some instructions
issued by the Mahatma. He had declared that all funds at
the disposal of the Congress should be spent before the end of
the year and that nothing should be left over for the next.
To a normal rational mind this seemed improper, but defend-
ing the Mahatma, this friend said, 'We have deliberately
chosen not to look beyond December 31st.' All this may
appear now as madness, nevertheless, it gives some idea of
the exuberance of naïve enthusiasm and optimism that had
taken possession of the country that year.
With the dawn of the new year, 1922, a special effort was
made by the Mahatma to whip up public enthusiasm. It was
therefore decided to proceed to the last item in his plan—
namely, the non-payment of taxes. On February 1st, 1922,
he sent an ultimatum to the Viceroy, Lord Reading, saying that
if within seven days the Government did not demonstrate a
change of heart, he would commence general non-payment
of taxes in Bardoli sub-division in Gujerat (northern part of
Bombay Presidency). It was reported that in Bardoli sub-
division there were many people who had worked with
Mahatma Gandhi in the passive-resistance movement in
South Africa and had acquired experience in work of that
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