Mahatma Gandhi: The Man Who Became One With the Universal Being

by Romain Rolland

Scarcely had the letter, to the viceroy been despatched when there occurred an outbreak more violent than any of the others. During a procession at Chauri-Chaura, in the district of Gorakhpur, or, rather, after the procession had passed, some stragglers were "interfered with and abused by the constables." Attacked by the mob, the constables opened fire, and when they exhausted their ammunition they retired to the thana (the police barracks) for safety. The mob set fire to the thana. In vain the besieged begged for mercy. They were pitilessly massacred and burned. As the provocation had come from them, however, and as no non-coöperation volunteer had had a hand in the attack, Gandhi would have been justified in disclaiming all responsibility for the outrage. But he had really become the conscience of India. The crime of a single one of his people cut him to the quick. He took upon himself all the sins of his people. His horror was such that on the spur of the moment, and for the second time, he stopped the civil-disobedience movement that he had just launched. The situation was vastly more complicated than after the Bombay riots, and only a few days before he had sent his ultimatum to the viceroy. How could he retract it without making his program seem illogical and even ridiculous? "Satan," as Gandhi says, "forbade it." Realizing that "Satan's" voice was the voice of pride, he decided to retract the manifesto.

And on February 16,1922, there appeared in "Young India" one of the most extraordinary human documents ever written. It is Gandhi's mea culpa, his public confession. From the depths of his mortification words of thanks swell to his lips, of thanks to God for having humbled him:

God has been abundantly kind to me. He has warned me for the third time that there is not as yet in India that truthful and non-violent atmosphere which, and which alone, can justify mass disobedience, which can be at all described as "civil," which means gentle, truthful, humble, knowing, wilful, yet loving, never criminal and hateful. He warned me in 1919 when the Rowlatt Act agitation was started. Ahmedabad, Viramvrag, and Kheda erred. I retraced my steps, called it a Himalayan miscalculation, humbled myself before God and man, and stopped not merely mass civil disobedience, but even my own.... The next time it was through the events of Bombay that God gave me a terrific warning. He made me eyewitness.... I announced my intention to stop the mass civil disobedience which was to be immediately started in Bardoli. The humiliation was greater than that in 1919. But it did me good and I am sure that the nations gained by the stopping. India stood for truth and non-violence by the suspension.

But the bitterest humiliation was still to come.... God spoke clearly through Chauri-Chaura.... And when India claims to be non-violent and hopes to mount the throne of liberty through non-violent means, mob violence even in answer to grave provocation is a bad augury.... Non-violent attainment of self-government presupposes a non-violent control over the violent elements in the country. Non-violent non-coöperators can only succeed when they have succeeded in attaining control over the hooligan of India....

Therefore, on February 11, at Bardoli, he "put his doubts and troubles" before the working committee of the congress. They did not all agree with him. "But never," he said, "has a man been 'blessed,' perhaps, with colleagues and associates so considerate and forgiving."

They sympathized with his scruples and consented, at his request, to suspend the order of civil disobedience, urging at the same time that all organizations strive to create an atmosphere of non-violence.

I know that the drastic reversal of practically the whole of the aggressive program may be politically unsound and unwise, but there is no doubt that it is religiously sound. The country will have gained by my humiliation and confession of error. The only virtue I want to claim is truth and non-violence. I lay no claim to superhuman powers. I want none. I wear the same corruptible flesh that the weakest of my fellow-beings wear, and am therefore as liable to err as any. My services have many limitations, but God has up to now blessed them in spite of the imperfections.

For confession of error is like a broom that sweeps away dirt and leaves the surface cleaner and brighter. I feel stronger for my confession. And the cause must prosper for the retracing. Never has a man reached his destination by persistence in deviation from the straight path. It has been urged that Chauri-Chaura cannot affect Bardoli. ... I have no doubt whatsoever on that account. The people of Bardoli are, in my opinion, the most peaceful in India. But Bardoli is but a speck on the map of India. Its effort cannot succeed unless there is perfect coöperation from the other parts.... Just as the addition of a grain of arsenic to a pot of milk renders it unfit as food so will the civility of Bardoli prove unacceptable by the addition of the deadly poison from Chauri-Chaura.... The latter represents India as much as Bardoli. Chauri-Chaura is, after all, an aggravated symptom. In civil disobedience there should be no excitement. Civil disobedience is a preparation for mute suffering. Its effect is marvelous, though unperceived and gentle.... The tragedy of Chauri-Chaura is really the index-finger. It shows the way India may easily go if drastic precautions be not taken. If we are not to evolve violence out of non-violence, it is quite clear that we must hastily retrace our steps and reestablish an atmosphere of peace, and not think of starting mass civil disobedience until we are sure of peace being retained in spite of mass civil disobedience being started and in spite of government provocation.... Let the opponent glory in our humiliation and so-called defeat. It is better to be charged with cowardice than to be guilty of denial of our oath and sin against God....

And the apostle wants to redeem the blood shed by others:

I must undergo personal cleansing. I must become a fitter instrument able to register the slightest variation in the moral atmosphere about me. My prayers must have deeper truth and humility. For me there is nothing so cleansing as a fast. A fast undertaken for fuller self-expression, for attainment of the spirit's supremacy over the flesh, is a most powerful factor in one's evolution....[115]

And he imposes on himself a continuous five days' fast. He does not want his co-workers to follow his example. He must punish himself. "I am in the unhappy position of a surgeon proved skill-less to deal with an admittedly dangerous case. I must either abdicate or acquire greater skill." His fast is penance and punishment for him and for the rioters of Chauri-Chaura who sinned with his name on their lips. Gandhi would like to suffer for them alone, but he advises them to hand themselves voluntarily to the Government and to make a clean confession, for they have injured the cause they meant to serve.

I would suffer humiliation, every torture, absolute ostracism, and death itself to prevent the movement from becoming violent or a precursor of violence.