The Congress of Nagpur drew up the plans for a hierarchy of committees of provincial congresses, representing twenty-one provinces and twelve languages, and placed under them local committees in each village or group of villages. It advised the formation of a band of national workers to be called the Indian National Service to be financed out of funds called the All-India Tilak Memorial Swaraja Fund.
Every adult, male or female, possessing 4 annas was given the right to vote, provided he had signed the credo of the constitution. Whoever has attained the age of twenty-one and has sworn adherence to Article I of the Constitution and agreed to uphold the rules and by-laws of the constitution is eligible.
[82]March 23, 1921.
[83]October 6, 1920; May 11 and 18, July 28, October 20, 1921.
[84]In citing his friendship with the Mussulman Maulana Mohamed Ali, Gandhi claims that both men remain true to their respective faiths.
Gandhi would not give his daughter in marriage to one of Ali's sons, nor would he share the meals of his friend; and the same is true of Maulana Mohamed Ali. But this does not prevent both men from being fond of each other, respecting each other, and relying on each other.
Gandhi does not say that intermarriage between Hindus and Mussulmans, and the fact of eating together, should necessarily be condemned, but he says they are impossible at the present time. It will take at least a century for the two peoples to reach such a stage of fusion. A policy purported practical should not attempt to carry such a reform. Gandhi does not object to it but considers it premature. The only important thing, for the present, is for the two peoples to respect each other and remain loyal to each other. Here, too, Gandhi shows his sense of realities. (October 20, 1921.)
[85]Speech made April 27, 1921.
[86]October 27, 1920.
[87]In the end of April, 1921, untouchability begins to diminish. In many villages the pariahs are allowed to live among other Hindus and to enjoy the same rights. (April 27, 1921.) In other regions, however, their condition remains deplorable, particularly in Madras. (September 29, 1921.) The question is included in the program of the National Assemblies of India from this time on. The Congress of Nagpur, in December, 1920, had already expressed the desire of seeing untouchability wiped out.