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

THE BENGAL SITUATION 335
people to say that the revolutionary movement is the result
of unemployment among middle-class youths.
At the outset it should be pointed out that the revolutionary
movement is not an anarchist movement, nor is it merely a
terrorist movement. The revolutionaries do not aim at
creating anarchy or chaos. While it is a fact that they do
occasionally resort to terrorism, their ultimate object is not
terrorism but revolution and the purpose of the revolution
is to install a National Government. Though the earliest
revolutionaries studied something about revolutionary
methods in other countries, it would not be correct to say
that the inspiration came from abroad. The movement was
born out of a conviction that to a Western people physical
force alone makes an appeal. It is not generally realised by
Britishers, that it is they who have been primarily responsible
for teaching the Indian people the efficacy of physical force.
Two or three decades ago (and even till to-day in some
cases) the average Britisher in India, especially when he was
a member of the army, or of the police, was so haughty in his
general behaviour towards Indians, that no Indian with a
grain of self-respect could help feeling the humiliation of
being under a foreign government. In the street, in the
railways, in the tram-cars, in public places and in public
functions, in fact everywhere, the Britisher expected the
Indian to make way for him and if he refused to do so, the
Indian would be assaulted. In such cases of friction, the
forces of the Government were always on the side of the
Britisher. Cases frequently happened in which Indians of the
highest position and rank—even Judges of the High Court—
would be insulted in this way. Even during the Great War,
when India was fighting on the side of England, such cases
of friction between Indians and Britishers would constantly
occur in the tram-cars in Calcutta,¹ No legal or constitutional
remedy could be found for such insults for neither the police
nor the subordinate Law Courts would venture to do justice.
Then the time came when Indians began to hit back and
when they did so, the effect was immediate and remarkable.
Ever since then, in proportion as they have been able to hit
¹ The writer has had personal experience of many such cases.

336 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
back, Indians have been able to move about in their own
country without losing their self-respect. Even in the colleges
in Calcutta, British members of the staff would often be
guilty of insulting behaviour towards Indian students and the
fact that to-day such cases are not frequent, is because Indian
students also made use of physical force in upholding their
self-respect.
This then is the psychology behind the revolutionary
movement; but a further explanation is necessary to show
why Bengal has, comparatively speaking, become its strong-
hold. The trouble began with Macaulay. When he was out
in India as a member of the Government, Macaulay wrote a
scathing denunciation of the Bengalis and called them a race
of cowards. That calumny went deep into the hearts of the
Bengali people. Simultaneously the Government took the
step of excluding the Bengalis from the army on the ground
that they were not sufficiently warlike or brave. The climax
came when the Grand Moghul, Lord Curzon of Kedleston,
attempted to crush the Bengalis by partitioning their province.
The people at first retorted with the help of Swadeshi and
boycott. But when brute force was used—as at Barisal in
1906—to break up peaceful processions and meetings, the
people felt that peaceful methods would not suffice. In sheer
despair, young men took to the bomb and the revolver.
The effect was immediate. The behaviour of the Britisher
began to improve. The impression gained ground that for
the first time the Bengali was being respected by the Britisher.
Many of the revolutionaries were hanged but they were able
to demonstrate that the race to which they belonged was not
a race of cowards. They were therefore regarded as martyrs
in many a Bengali home and they had the silent homage of
the Bengali race.
On this soil and in this manner has grown up the revolu-
tionary movement in Bengal. What is the remedy for it?
Two courses are open to the Government—firstly, to demon-
strate to the people that for winning political freedom it is not
necessary to resort to revolutionary methods and secondly,
to give individual revolutionaries a chance of serving their
country along peaceful and constructive lines. With regard

THE BENGAL SITUATION 337
to the first, the short-sighted policy of the Government has
served to strengthen the arguments of the revolutionaries.
The reforms introduced at the end of the Great War were so
meagre as to cause widespread discontent. The revolutionary
who came out of prison at the end of the war after years of
confinement, found that the promised liberty was an empty
dream and there was no opening for serving his country along
peaceful and constructive lines. Nevertheless, in response to
the appeal made by Mahatma Gandhi and Deshbandhu C. R.
Das, they promised to eschew the path of violence and give a
trial to the new method of non-violent non-co-operation and
it must be admitted that the vast majority did keep their
promise. But what did the Government do? On the plea
that some stray acts of violence had been committed in a
corner of a great province, the Government rounded up a
large number of men from all over the province in 1923 and
again in 1924, and kept them in prison for a number of years
without trial. The public feeling at the time was that there
were over-zealous officers in the Intelligence Branch of the
Bengal Police who in order to justify their existence and the
existence of their department, imagined more than they
actually saw. And it was even believed that agents provocateur
were employed for the purpose of entrapping innocent young
men. It will not do to ignore such complaints with an official
sneer, for if one really desires to go to the root of the problem,
he should investigate all such complaints with an open mind.
After some years, that is in 1927 and 1928, the Government
again began to release the détenus. But as in 1919-20, so
also in 1927-28, a real amnesty did not take place. Both
before and after his release, every détenu was harassed so
much by the police that the release instead of producing a
sense of relief, left bitterness in his mind. If the releases
had been ordered as a stroke of generous-hearted statesman-
ship, the effect would have been quite different. The 1930-34
phase of the revolutionary movement in Bengal could have
been possibly avoided if some special circumstances had not
cropped up. Firstly, the attitude of Mahatma Gandhi at the
Calcutta Congress had a very unfavourable effect on the
minds of the youths. It gave them the impression that the
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338 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
Mahatma was a spent force and that a mass movement under
the leadership of the Congress was highly improbable.
Owing to this feeling a section of the youths began to prepare
for independent action on their own behalf on revolutionary
lines. Thus it was that the Chittagong Armoury Raid took
place. This activity was, however, restricted to a very small
area and when the Mahatma launched his movement early in
1930, the youths all over the province were drawn towards it.
For the subsequent development of the revolutionary move-
ment in Bengal, and for the repeated acts of terrorism, the
Government themselves were to blame more than anyone
else. Whether in Midnapore or in Dacca or in Tipperah
District, in each case atrocities committed by the agents of
the Government and the failure of the public to secure any
redress by constitutional means were responsible for provok-
ing people to acts of terrorism as a retaliation. Even the
subsequent acts of terrorism in Chittagong District should
be attributed not to a desire to work up a revolution in the
country but to a desire to retaliate against what the revolu-
tionaries regarded as acts of official terrorism.
The question arises here—Is it possible in the circumstances
to come to an understanding with the revolutionaries? Yes,
it is, provided the approach is made in the right way and the
intentions are really sincere. A broad mind is required for
an understanding of the problem and courage is needed for
solving it. A direct negotiation with the Party is indispensable.
This necessity would not have arisen if Mahatma Gandhi or
any other public leader had volunteered to be their spokes-
man. Since that is not possible, direct negotiation is the only
alternative.
It is generally urged by police-officers, that the revolu-
tionaries are out for the severance of the British connection
and that they are altogether irreconcilable. There is no
doubt that the revolutionaries stand for independence; but so
also does the Indian National Congress. If an understanding
could be attempted with the Congress, it could be equally
done with the former. In 1931, the then Governor of Bengal,
Sir Stanley Jackson, thought it desirable to make the attempt
and he used the late Mr. J. M. Sengupta as an intermediary.

THE BENGAL SITUATION 339
The result was not altogether hopeless. That the negotiations
then proved to be abortive was due entirely to the fact that
the Government did not comply with the request of the state
prisoners in Buxa Detention Camp that the negotiations
should be conducted directly with them and not through any
police-officer.
There are two conditions essential to the success of an
attempt of this sort. Firstly, the Government should really
be able to demonstrate by their own liberal policy that it is
possible for the Indians to win their political rights without
any resort to violence. If their policy, however, be to resist
for all time the Indian demand for freedom, then no under-
standing will ever be possible. Secondly, the Government
must see to it that those who are to give up revolutionary
methods, are given other opportunities for serving their
country along peaceful and constructive lines. Merely to find
some employment for them will not be enough. It is foolish
to suggest, as many have done in order to please the Govern-
ment, that middle-class unemployment is the cause of the
revolutionary movement. If that had been the case, well-to-do
people would never have been drawn into the movement.
But while it is true that middle-class unemployment is not
the cause of the revolutionary movement, it is of course true
that if opportunities for public service had been open to
young men in Bengal, then the attempts of the revolutionaries
to obtain recruits would have failed. The present temper and
policy of the Government whereby every young man is
regarded as a potential revolutionary and treated as such, and
the present conditions in the province, whereunder it is quite
hopeless to win Swaraj by working along constructive lines,
are among the most fruitful causes of the revolutionary
movement. Revolutionary methods are in their ultimate
analysis, an expression of utter despair. If this despair is once
removed, an understanding with the revolutionaries is
certainly possible. That will not mean that they will cease
to be patriots or that they will give up serving their country.
It will only mean that they will direct their activities along
other channels.
Whether an understanding could be reached in the near
2Y

340 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
future depends largely on the personality of the present
Governor of Bengal, Sir John Anderson. Before he went out
to India, he made statements to the effect that he was going
out not merely to suppress the revolutionary movement but
with a view to understanding the deeper causes of it in order
to effect a reconciliation. Unfortunately since his arrival in
Bengal, he has hardly done anything towards a genuine
reconciliation. Nor has he given any proof of his desire to
understand the deeper causes of the movement, though in the
meantime he has done everything that a zealous police-officer
could hope to do. Sir John Anderson has the reputation of
being a strong man and that reputation is not without founda-
tion. Only a strong man can tackle a problem of this sort
which has baffled so many people. The diehards in the
Indian Civil Service and in the Indian Police Service are not-
the people who would welcome an understanding with any
party in the country—much less with the revolutionary party.
Therefore it is not unfortunate that the Governor of Bengal
is a strong man. It is only to be hoped that he will show his
strength of mind and firmness of resolve to better purpose
than in the past during the remaining years of his office.

CHAPTER XVIII
A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE
As the life of the present British House of Commons will
come to an end in '1936, the Constitution Bill for India will
certainly be put through Parliament before the next General
Election. There is at present a keen controversy going on in
England between the supporters of the White Paper and the
Conservative Diehards led by Mr. Winston Churchill. For
India, the controversy has no interest whatsoever. As we
have already seen, the White Paper contains precious little
and few people in India will be sorry if the scheme is whittled
down further, as seems likely, or suffers complete shipwreck.
What really interests India in connection with the White
Paper is the fact that it leaves no room for co-operation for
those who may feel tired of the prolonged struggle and
would like to settle down to some useful, constructive work.
The policy of the Government, therefore, will help to keep up
the present opposition.
The Government hope to stifle or ignore the Nationalist
opposition in the country with the help of the minorities—
the Moslems, the Depressed Classes, the Indian Christians
and the Anglo-Indians. But will they succeed? It is probable
that for a time a large section of the different minority com-
munities in India will be under official influence. This will
be their return for the concessions made to them in the
Communal Award. But this position cannot last long. The
Communal Award has at best given these communities better
representation in the Legislatures under the new Constitution.
But the new Constitution will give no power to the Indian
people as a whole or to any section of them. It will not
therefore take the representatives of the different com-
munities in the Legislatures long to realise that though the
Government gave them seats, they did not give them power.
Seats in the Legislatures are only meant for a few. These
341

342 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
few can retain their hold over the general public, only if they
can do something for the betterment of the entire community.
That will not be possible, since no power will be actually
transferred to the people. When the different communities
realise that their representatives are not able to do anything
for them, they will cease taking any interest in the Legislatures
and popular discontent against the Constitution will begin
to grow. This discontent will be further augmented by the
economic crisis in India—and even if an improvement takes
place in Great Britain or in any other country, it will not
have any repercussions in India. The Indian economic crisis
is only partly an effect of the world crisis. It is also an indepen-
dent phenomenon, being due to a large extent to exploitation
of India's resources and of the Indian market by foreign, and
especially British industries and also to her inability to
modernise her industrial system, in order to cope with foreign
competition. An improvement in the Indian economic
situation will necessitate, therefore, not only an improvement
in the world economic situation, but also a modernisation of
India's industrial system.
There are other reasons why the help of the Indian
minority communities will not be of much avail to Great
Britain. Firstly, among the Moslems there is a large and
influential section who are Nationalists and who are as
anti-Government as the Nationalist Hindus. Their influence
is not likely to suffer eclipse, but will probably increase in the
days to come. Secondly, among the Depressed Classes, the
majority even to-day are supporters of the Congress. The
Congress propaganda to abolish untouchability altogether
will certainly bring more members of the Depressed Classes
into the fold of the Congress. Thirdly, the Indian Christian
community can no longer be labelled as pro-Government.
In their annual conferences they have repeatedly condemned
separate electorate and advocated joint electorate. In recent
years there has been a remarkable change of feeling among the
younger generation of Indian Christians. On the religious
side they have begun to resent the domination of European
Christians and they demand a national church for themselves.
On the political side, the younger generation of Indian Chris-

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE 343
tians is becoming rapidly pro-Congress. In 1930, when the
writer was in prison in the Alipore Central Jail in Calcutta,
among his fellow-prisoners there was a fine set of young
Indian Christians who had joined the civil-disobedience move-
ment and they were typical of the new awakening in their
community. Fourthly, so far as the Anglo-Indians are con-
cerned, a distinct change is visible. Till recently they were
the loyal supporters of the Government and the henchmen
of the British. They looked upon England as their spiritual
home and themselves as British in everything except in the
pigment of their skin. The Government, too, gave them
special facilities and privileges—not granted to Indians. But
things are changing now. Anglo-Indians have been made
statutory natives of India under the law of the land. The
leader of the community, Lieut.-Col. Sir H. Gidney, addressed
an appeal to his community the other day asking them to
look upon India as their home and to feel proud of India.
Feeling is steadily growing in the community that they
should no longer try to hobnob with Britishers, but should
throw in their lot with the children of the soil. Fifthly, so
far as the non-official Britishers are concerned, they can
hardly do anything more for the Government in suppressing
the Nationalist movement. There has long been close
co-operation between the Government and the non-official
British community in this matter—but in spite of that, the
Nationalist movement has been making headway. In the days
to come, the influence of the non-official British community
is likely to diminish rather than increase. In Bombay, for
instance, business supremacy has already passed into the hands
of the Indians. In 1932, the British firms in Bombay had
to pass a resolution, expressing sympathy with the Nationalist
movement in order to save themselves from a crushing and
effective boycott. The Ottawa Pact and the Indo-British
Textile Agreement represent the last attempt of the non-
official British community to maintain the status quo—but how
long can they stem the rising tide of Nationalism?
Thus, according to human calculation, it appears certain
that the Government will not be able to permanently weaken
the nationalist forces in India by placating the minorities.

344 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
No popular upheaval is, however, possible till the promul-
gation of the new reforms. Thereafter it will take a few years
—probably two or three—for the people to be completely
disillusioned. Then there will be the beginning of another
mass upheaval. What exact form this upheaval will take, it
is difficult to determine at this stage.
During the next few years the inner condition of the
Congress will be somewhat unsettled, that is to say, no party
will be sufficiently strong to be able to suppress the others.
The Socialist Party in the form it has assumed to-day—
cannot make much headway. The composition of the Party
is not homogeneous and some of its ideas are out-of-date.
But the instinct that has urged the formation of the Party is
right. Out of this Left-Wing revolt there will ultimately
emerge a new full-fledged party, with a clear ideology,
programme and plan of action. It is not possible at this stage
to visualise the details of this Party’s programme and plan of
action—but one may attempt to give the bare outlines:

1. The Party will stand for the interests of the masses,
   that is of the peasants, workers, etc., and not for the
   vested interests, that is, the landlords, capitalists and
   money-lending classes.
2. It will stand for the complete political and economic
   liberation of the Indian people.
3. It will stand for a Federal Government for India as
   the ultimate goal, but will believe in a strong Central
   Government with dictatorial powers for some years
   to come, in order to put India on her feet.
4. It will believe in a sound system of state-planning
   for the re-organisation of the agricultural and industrial
   life of the country.
5. It will seek to build up a new social structure on the
   basis of the village communities of the past, that were
   ruled by the village ‘Panch’ and will strive to break
   down existing social barriers like caste.
6. It will seek to establish a new monetary and credit
   system in the light of the theories and the experi-
   ments that have been and are current in the modern
   world.

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE 345
7. It will seek to abolish landlordism and introduce
a uniform land-tenure system for the whole of
India.
8. It will not stand for a democracy in the Mid-Victorian
sense of the term, but will believe in government by
a strong party bound together by military discipline,
as the only means of holding India together and
preventing a chaos, when Indians are free and are
thrown entirely on their own resources.
9. It will not restrict itself to a campaign inside India
but will resort to international propaganda¹ also, in
order to strengthen India’s case for liberty and will
attempt to utilise the existing international organi-
sations.
10. It will endeavour to unite all the radical organisations
under a national executive so that whenever any action
is taken, there will be simultaneous activity on many
fronts.
A question which is on everybody’s lips in Europe is:
‘What is the future of Communism in India?’ In this con-
nection it is worth while quoting the expressed opinion of
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,² whose popularity in India to-day
is, according to the writer, second only to that of Mahatma
Gandhi. In a Press statement issued on December 18th,
1933, he said: ‘I do believe that fundamentally the choice
before the world to-day is one between some form of Com-
munism and some form of Fascism, and I am all for the
former, that is Communism.’ I dislike Fascism intensely and
indeed I do not think it is anything more than a crude and
brutal effort of the present capitalist order to preserve itself at
¹ In 1920, when Mahatma Gandhi took charge of the Congress, he
abolished the Congress Committee in London and its paper India which
represented the only organ for propaganda for India outside her shores.
Recently a change seems to have come over him. In January 1932, just
before his arrest, the Congress Working Committee, at his instance,
issued an appeal to the nations of the world for sympathy for India in
her struggle for liberty.
² It should be made perfectly clear that this is Pandit Nehru’s personal
opinion and not the opinion of the Indian National Congress. Nor does
his popularity imply that his views find acceptance among the rank and
file of the Congress—just as Mahatma Gandhi’s unprecedented popularity
does not imply that his followers wear loin-cloth or drink goat’s-milk.

346 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
any cost. There is no middle road between Fascism and Com-
munism. One has to choose between the two and I choose the
Communist ideal. In regard to the methods and approach to
this ideal, I may not agree with everything that the orthodox
Communists have done. I think that these methods will
have to adapt themselves to changing conditions and may
vary in different countries. But I do think that the basic
ideology of Communism and its scientific interpretation of
history is sound.'
The view expressed here is, according to the writer,
fundamentally wrong. Unless we are at the end of the
process of evolution or unless we deny evolution altogether,
there is no reason to hold that our choice is restricted to two
alternatives. Whether one believes in the Hegelian or in the
Bergsonian or any other theory of evolution—in no case need
we think that creation is at an end. Considering everything,
one is inclined to hold that the next phase in world-history
will produce a synthesis between Communism and Fascism.
And will it be a surprise if that synthesis is produced in
India? The view has been expressed in the Introduction
that in spite of India's geographical isolation, the Indian
awakening is organically connected with the march of progress
in other parts of the world and facts and figures have been
mentioned to substantiate that view. Consequently, there
need be no surprise if an experiment, of importance to the
whole world, is made in India—especially when we have seen
with our own eyes that another experiment (that of Mahatma
Gandhi) made in India has roused profound interest all over
the world.
In spite of the antithesis between Communism and
Fascism, there are certain traits common to both. Both
Communism and Fascism believe in the supremacy of the
State over the individual. Both denounce parliamentarian
democracy. Both believe in party rule. Both believe in the
dictatorship of the party and in the ruthless suppression of all
dissenting minorities. Both believe in a planned industrial
reorganisation of the country. These common traits will form
the basis of the new synthesis. That synthesis is called by the
writer 'Samyavada'—an Indian word, which means literally

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE 347
'the doctrine of synthesis or equality.' It will be India's task
to work out this synthesis.
There are several reasons why Communism will not be
adopted in India. Firstly, Communism to-day has no
sympathy with Nationalism in any form and the Indian
movement is a Nationalist movement—a movement for the
national liberation of the Indian people. (Lenin's thesis on
the relation between Communism and Nationalism seems to
have been given the go-by since the failure of the last Chinese
Revolution.) Secondly, Russia is now on her defensive and
has little interest in provoking a world revolution, though the
Communist International may still endeavour to keep up
appearances. The recent pacts between Russia and other
capitalist countries and the written or unwritten conditions
inherent in such pacts, as also her membership of the League
of Nations, have seriously compromised the position of
Russia as a revolutionary power. Moreover, Russia is too
preoccupied in her internal industrial reorganisation and in
her preparations for meeting the Japanese menace on her
eastern flank and is too anxious to maintain friendly relations
with the Great Powers, to show any active interest in countries
like India. Thirdly, while many of the economic ideas of
Communism would make a strong appeal to Indians there are
other ideas which will have a contrary effect. Owing to the
close association between the Church and the State in Russian
history and to the existence of an organised Church, Com-
munism in Russia has grown to be anti-religious and atheistic.
In India, on the contrary, there being no organised Church
among the Indians and there being no association between the
Church and the State, there is no feeling against religion as
such.¹ Fourthly, the materialistic interpretation of history
which seems to be a cardinal point in Communist theory will
not find unqualified acceptance in India, even among those
who would be disposed to accept the economic contents of
Communism. Fifthly, while Communist theory has made
certain remarkable contributions in the domain of economics
(for instance the idea of state-planning), it is weak in other
¹ Further, in India a national awakening is in most cases heralded by a
religious reformation and a cultural renaissance.

348 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
aspects. For instance, so far as the monetary problem is
concerned, Communism has made no new contribution, but
has merely followed traditional economics. Recent ex-
periences, however, indicate that the monetary problem of
the world is still far from being satisfactorily solved.
While, therefore, it would be safe to predict that India will
not become a new edition of Soviet Russia, one may say with
equal strength that all the modern socio-political movements
and experiments in Europe and in America will have con-
siderable influence on India's development. Of late, India
has been taking and in future will continue to take, more and
more interest in what goes on in the outside world.
To come back to the Congress. The present controversy
between Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Madan Mohon Mala-
viya is of passing interest as the issue is a very minor one.
Neither the Congress Nationalist Party nor the official Con-
gress Parliamentary Party has a rôle to play in future, because
both of them are heterogeneous parties without any clear
ideology or programme. It only remains to consider the
future of Gandhiism in India. It has been urged sometimes
that Gandhiism is an alternative to Communism. This idea
is, in the opinion of the writer, erroneous. Mahatma Gandhi
has given the country—(and may be, the world) a new method
—the method of passive-resistance or Satygraha or non-violent
non-co-operation. He has not given his country or humanity
a new programme of social reconstruction as Communism has
—and the alternative to Communism can be only another
theory of social reconstruction. No doubt, the Mahatma has
condemned the ‘machine civilisation’ of the modern world
and has eulogised the good old days when men were content
with their cottage industries and their wants were few. But
that is a personal belief or idiosyncrasy. Whenever he has
expounded the contents of Swaraj, he has spoken in the
language of Mid-Victorian Parliamentarian Democracy and
of traditional capitalist economics. The ‘Eleven Points’
which he enunciated in 1930 as connoting his ‘substance of
independence,’ will be unreservedly accepted by any Indian
industrial magnate. One could therefore say that the Mahatma
does not intend pulling down the modern industrial structure

A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE 349
if he were to get political mastery over his country, nor does
he desire to completely industrialise the country. His pro-
gramme is one of reform—he is fundamentally a reformist and
not a revolutionary. He would leave the existing social and
economic structure much as it is to-day (he would not even
abolish the army altogether) and would content himself with
removing the glaring injustices and inequalities against which
his moral sense revolts. There are millions of his countrymen
who accept his method owing to the pressure of circum-
stances, but not his programme of reconstruction, and who
would like to build up quite a different India if they had the
power. As has been already indicated, the future of India
ultimately lies with a party with a clear ideology, programme
and plan of action—a party that will not only fight for and win
freedom, but will put into effect the entire programme of
post-War reconstruction—a party that will break the isolation
that has been India's curse and bring her into the comity of
nations—firm in the belief that the fate of India is indis-
solubly linked up with the fate of humanity.

APPENDIX
Since the above was written, three events deserving of
notice have taken place. The plenary session of the Congress
met in Bombay on October 26th, 1934. The elections to the
Indian Legislative Assembly, in which the Congress Party has .
been participating, began in November. And the Report of
the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Indian Constitutional
Reforms was published on November 2nd, 1934.
The two important resolutions passed by the Bombay
Congress refer (1) to a change of the Congress Constitution
and (2) Constitution of an all-India Village Industries Asso-
ciation. The second resolution connotes an extension of the
existing Khadi (spinning and weaving) programme of the
Congress and indicates that the Congress desires to emphasise
non-political work. The first resolution has two principle
parts. (1) Reduction in the numerical strength of the Congress
delegates and of the all-India Congress Committee and (2)
provision of a rule that one must habitually wear Khadi for
six months in order to be elected a member of a Congress
Executive. Both the above resolutions may be regarded as
the Mahatma’s handiwork.
According to the Congress Constitution in vogue for
thirteen years, the number of delegates to be elected to a
Plenary Session of the Congress was 6000, while the strength
of the All-India Congress Committee was about 350. At the
Lahore Congress in December 1929, an attempt was made by
Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and others to reduce the
stand of the former to 1000 and of the latter to 100. But the
attempt was defeated. The Bombay Congress has now
reduced the former to 2000 and the latter to 155. The signifi-
cance of this move in very great. When in 1920, the Mahatma
seized the Congress machinery and turned out the older
leaders, the forces of democracy were on his side and the
Nagpur Congress of 1920 was attended by no less than 14,000
delegates. To-day, the Mahatma is afraid of the forces of
democracy which he has helped to stir up, hence his attempt to
350

APPENDIX 351
reduce the stand not only of the Congress delegates, but also
of the All-India and Provincial Congress Committees.
Verily, the Mahatma has ceased to be a dynamic force. May
be, it is the effect of age.
But why did the Congress swallow the constitutional
amendment? The reason is not far to seek. In May 1933, the
Mahatma was able to suspend the civil-disobedience move-
ment under cover of his three weeks' fast. In November 1934,
he was able to alter the constitution under cover of his
retirement from the Congress. On both occasions, so great
was the sympathy roused for the Mahatma that emotional
and unthinking people accepted everything that the Mahatma
proposed, if only that would please him.
The question here arises—'has the Mahatma retired? If
so, why?' He has retired in the sense that his name does not
appear in the list of members of the Supreme Executive of
the Congress. But the executive—the Working Committee—
has been backed by his blind supporters. The present Work-
ing Committee is more submissive to the Mahatma than even
the Working Committee of last year, of which the Mahatma
was himself a member. Among the personnel of the present
Working Committee, the Swarajists or Parliamentarians are
conspicuous by their absence. Even, Mr. M. S. Anay who
dared to differ from the Mahatma on the question of the
Communal Award, is not there, despite his loyalty and sub-
missiveness in the past. And poor Mr. Nariman who ventured
to think independently, has been virtually kicked out of the
Committee. In 1924, the Mahatma had really retired from
Congress Politics together with his Party, as the Congress
machinery had been seized by his opponents, the Swarajists.
To-day, the person of the Mahatma may not be in the Com-
mittee—but his Party is there, stronger than ever. Moreover,
he has a direct control over the most important department of
future Congress activity—the Village Industries Association.
The so-called retirement of the Mahatma will not, accordingly,
diminish his hold over the Congress machinery in anyway—
but will enable him to disown all responsibility for the failures
of the official Congress Party during the next few years. His
retirement, therefore, is only one of his strategic retreats to

352 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE
which he is in the habit of resorting, whenever there is a
political slump in the country.
With regard to the elections to the Indian Legislative
Assembly, the latest report (dated November 24th, 1934)
goes to show that the official Congress Party has captured 43
seats, the Congress Nationalist Party 8 seats and others ap-
proximately 46. Among the 46 non-descripts, at least 10 are
expected to be close upon sixty in a house of approximately
145 members.
The Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on
Indian Constitutional Reforms contains no surprises for one
who is familiar with the contents of the White Paper. The
Report is approved by a large majority of 31 members of the
Committee. The Labour members of the Committee have
submitted an alternative scheme which is much more liberal
than the majority report. On the other hand, Lord Salisbury
and four other members have submitted, and the report
concedes only provincial autonomy and opposes responsible
Government at the centre. The majority report has whittled
down still further the already inadequate proposals of the
White Paper with a view to placating the Die-hard opposition
in Parliament. In view of the whittling down, it is widely
believed that when the Government of India Bill is introduced
on the basis of the report of the Joint Committee, it will have
the support of an overwhelming majority in the House of
Commons.
The following are some of the important points on which
the Joint Committee modify the White Paper proposals :-
I. Additional provisions are recommended in relation
to 'Law and Order' as follows :-
(i) The consent of the Governor, given in his dis-
cretion, should be required to any legislation
affecting Police Acts and to any rules made there-
under affecting the organisation or discipline of
the Police.
(ii) Records of the Intelligence Department relating
to terrorism should not be disclosed outside the
Police Force except to such public officers as the
Governor may direct.

APPENDIX 353
(iii) For the purpose of combating terrorism, the
Governor should have the power to take under
his own control any branch of Government which
it is necessary to use for that purpose.
2. Ministers and Secretaries to Government would be
required to bring to the notice of the Governor
anything that is likely to involve his 'special respon-
sibilities.'
3. Upper Chambers should be established in Madras
and Bombay as well as in Bengal, United Provinces
and Bihar.
4. Election to the Federal Lower House should be
indirect, by the members of the Provincial Lower
Houses, instead of direct by voters in territorial
constituencies.
5. If less than 90 per cent. of the State adhere to the
Federation, additional States representatives should
be appointed to the Federal Legislature to the extent
of half the difference between the seats to which the
Federating States would ordinarily be entitled and
the full State's representation if all the States acceded.
6. The High Courts should have control over the pro-
motions and postings of subordinate Judges, and the
Governor should have the final word in the appoint-
ment of District Judges.
7. The Governor-General should have a special responsi-
bility to prevent the imposition of penal tariffs on
goods imported from the United Kingdom.
8. The Legislatures in India, should after ten years,
have the constitutional right to present Addresses, for
the consideration of His Majesty's Government and
Parliament, recommending amendment of the Con-
stitution on certain specified matters such as compo-
sition of the Legislatures and franchise.
9. The separation of Burma from India should be accom-
panied by a Trade Agreement between the two
countries binding for a specified time.
As far as it can be ascertained, public opinion in India is
exceedingly hostile to the Joint Committee's Report. Never-
theless, the Bill, based on the Report, is expected to be put
through the British Parliament before the end of 1935.