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

274 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE On the whole the activities of the Congress in 1932 did not compare unfavourably with those of 1930. Nevertheless, every Congressman could feel one difference. In 1930, the Congress had taken the offensive, while the Government was on the defensive. In 1932 it was just the reverse. There is no doubt that in spite of the manifold defects of the Delhi Pact, die-hards in England and in India took it as a defeat or a humiliation for the all-powerful British Government. They were smarting under a sense of defeat and wanted to avenge themselves. The overwhelming majority gained by the Conservatives at the General Election in October 1931, encouraged them greatly. Moreover, the attitude of Mahatma Gandhi and the statements made by him in England, gave them the impression that he was unwilling or unprepared to face a fight again. That the Mahatma was honestly pursuing a peaceful policy has to be admitted on all hands and his very unpreparedness can be regarded as a proof of his sincerity of purpose. In fact, the Mahatma carried his peaceful inten- tions so far that he neglected to keep his 'powder dry.' He was in reality dragged into a fight in 1932 because of the non possumus attitude of the Viceroy on the one hand and the rising temper of the public on the other. In this connection it is significant that the aggressive steps taken by the Govern- ment of India during the absence of the Mahatma, had the full approval of His Majesty's Government. Apart from the Government's attitude there were two other factors that forced the Mahatma to resume the fight, the general temper of the public and the influence of the Left Wing. As for the first, in none of the major provinces was the public satisfied at the attitude of the Government. Those who had given in to the Mahatma hoping that something tangible would come out of the Round Table Conference were disillusioned. Further, the steady propaganda carried on by Left-Wing Congressmen, youth-leaguers¹ and Left-Wing Labourites, also had its effect. While in England the Mahatma did feel now and again that another fight was unavoidable but the pit ¹ On December 22nd, 1931, the Maharashtra Youth Conference met at Poona with the writer in the chair and passed a resolution calling upon the Congress Working Committee to resume the civil-disobedience campaign.