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

THE ANTI-CLIMAX 91
and get him sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. But
the point they had to consider was what the effect of such an
action would be on the masses who idolised the Mahatma.
Lord Reading, it was reported, was genuinely afraid that in
spite of all the non-violence which the Dictator preached,
his arrest would be followed by widespread disorder, rioting
and bloodshed. And coming after Lord Chelmsford, under
whose regime the Amritsar massacres had taken place, he had
no desire to repeat the terrible events of 1919. He was
therefore anxiously and nervously looking for an opportunity
to strike at the Mahatma—when the latter himself took a
step which had a depressing effect all over the country and
produced a revolt within the Congress itself. That was
the proper psychological moment for Lord Reading to act
—if only the Secretary of State for India, Mr. Montagu,
would not stand in his way. Fortunately for the Government
of India, early in March, owing to differences with the
Cabinet in England, Mr. Montagu was forced to resign. The
last obstacle was therefore removed and on March 10th, 1922,
Mahatma Gandhi was made a prisoner.
The trial of Mahatma Gandhi was an historic event. In
describing the trial proceedings, Deshbandhu C. R. Das in
his presidential speech at the Gaya Congress in December
1922, drew an analogy with the trial of Christ before Pontius
Pilate. A similar comparison was also drawn by the well-
known Y.M.C.A. leader, the late Mr. K. T. Paul.¹ In the
trial, the Mahatma who described himself as a farmer and a
weaver, made a lengthy statement describing how 'from a
staunch loyalist and co-operator I have become an uncom-
promising disaffectionist and non-co-operator.' And he
ended his statement with these words: 'The only course open
to you, the Judge and the Assessors, is either to resign your
posts and thus dissociate yourselves from evil if you feel
that the law you are called upon to administer is an evil and
that in reality I am innocent, or to inflict on me the severest
penalty if you believe that the system and the law you are
assisting to administer are good for the people of this country
and that my activity is therefore injurious to the public weal.'
¹ The British Connection with India by K. T. Paul, London, 1927, p. 50.