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

CHAPTER VI THE SLUMP (1925-27) CONSIDERING the influence of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921 and 1922, the rise of the Swaraj Party must be regarded as some- thing unaccountably remarkable. Though the leaders and the rank and file of the Party had the highest respect for the personality of the Mahatma, the Party was frankly an anti- Gandhi Party and it was strong enough to force the Mahatma to voluntary retirement from politics. This retirement con- tinued virtually till the Calcutta Congress in December 1928. Now what was the secret of the Swaraj Party’s success? To understand that one must know more about the practical shape which Gandhiism took, and as to how the mass mind reacted to the personality of the Mahatma, during the period 1920-22. Though Hindu society has never had an established church like Europe, the mass of the people have been pro- foundly susceptible to the influence of Avatars,¹ priests and ‘gurus.’² The spiritual man has always wielded the largest influence in India and he is called a ‘Sant’ or ‘Mahatma’ or ‘Sadhu.’ For various reasons, Gandhiji came to be looked upon by the mass of the people as a Mahatma before he became the undisputed political leader of India. At the Nagpur Congress in December 1920, Mr. M. A. Jinnah, who was till then a Nationalist leader, addressed him as ‘Mr. Gandhi’ and he was shouted down by thousands of people who insisted that he should address him as ‘Mahatma ¹ According to many Hindus, God incarnates Himself from age to age in order to save the good and destroy the wicked and in order to establish the reign of Truth on earth. These incarnations are called Avatars. Ac- cording to other Hindus, these Avatars are not divine incarnations but human souls in the highest stage of development—that is, when they have realised their oneness with Godhead. According to popular belief there have been nine Avatars up till now—and the tenth is to come at the end of the present wicked age. ² ‘Guru’ is a religious preceptor. In India only a truly spiritual man can be a religious preceptor. 133