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

320 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE such persons will be regulated by rules, made by the Secretary of State. Every person appointed by the Secretary of State will continue to enjoy all service rights existing at the date of his appointment. 'At the expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution Act, a statutory inquiry will be held into the question of the future recruitment for those services except the Foreign Department and the Eccle- siastical Department. The decision on the results of this inquiry, with which the Governments in India concerned will be associated, will rest with His Majesty's Government and be subject to the approval of both Houses of Parliament.'¹ Thus the important services will continue to be under the control of the Secretary of State for India in London, in spite of the so-called responsibility granted to India. The Federal and Provincial Ministers will have as subordinates, officials over whose destiny they will have no control and against whom they will not be able to take any disciplinary measures. As for the other services, the Federal and Provincial Govern- ments respectively will appoint and determine the conditions of service of all persons in the Federal and Provincial services respectively. For conducting competitive examinations for appointments to the Federal and Provincial services respec- tively, there will be a Federal Public Service Commission and Provincial Public Service Commissions. The members of the Federal Public Service Commission will be appointed by the Secretary of State and of the Provincial Public Commission by the Governor. The emoluments of the members of all Public Service Commissions will not be subject to the vote of the Legislatures. Thus the Public Service Commissions will be quite independent of the popular will. Some other provisions have been made to safeguard the interests of Britishers. The Indian Reserve Bank² already ¹ White Paper Proposals, para. 189. ² An announcement has been made by the India Office, London, on 4th October, 1934 saying that the Indian Reserve Bank Bill will be con- stituted early in 1935. The Governor, Deputy-Governors and the Central Board of the Bank will of course be appointed by His Majesty's Govern- ment. As a matter of fact, some appointments have already been made. Sir Osborne Smith has been appointed Governor of the Bank; Mr. J. B. Taylor, first Deputy Governor and Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan (some time Acting Governor of the Punjab) second Deputy Governor.

THE WHITE PAPER 321 referred to, which is a condition precedent to the inauguration of the Federation—will manage currency and exchange according to the dictation of London. To administer the Indian railways with their vast resources, there will be a Statutory Railway Board which will be so composed, as 'to perform its duties on business principles and without being subject to political interference.' In the composition of the Railway Board, the people will have no voice whatsoever. Lastly, there is a very important provision meant to preserve intact the vested interests of the British Mercantile com- munity. The Federal Legislature or the Provincial Legis- lature will have no power to make laws subjecting any British subject domiciled in (or company incorporated in) the United Kingdom to any disability or discrimination in the exercise of certain specified rights—for instance—the right to enter, travel and reside in any part of British India; to hold property of any kind, to carry on any trade or business in, or with the inhabitants of, British India and to appoint and employ at discretion agents and servants for any of the above purposes. Such restrictions on legislation do not exist even to-day. The Indian Legislative Assembly to-day, for instance, can enact laws giving Indians special advantages in the matter of business and trade though they could be subsequently vetoed by the Governor-General. It appears that the British Government want to prohibit altogether legislation like the Indian Coastal Shipping Bill, which sought to reserve the coastal trade of India for Indian Shipping Com- panies. With regard to the 'fundamental rights' which Indian public opinion so strongly demanded, the White Paper says: 'His Majesty's Government see serious objections to giving statutory expression to any large range of declarations of this character, but they are satisfied that certain provisions of this kind such for instance as the respect due to personal liberty and rights of property and the eligibility of all for public office, regardless of differences of caste, religion, etc., can appropriately, and should, find a place in the Constitution Act.' There is no mention in this connection of such elemen- tary rights as freedom of speech, freedom of association, etc. X

322 THE INDIAN STRUGGLE —nor is there any assurance given that the scanty rights to be conceded will be made altogether inviolable.¹ According to the White Paper the powers of the Governor in relation to his ministers, to the Provincial Legislature and to the Provincial Administration will be an exact replica of those enjoyed by the Governor-General at the centre. Hence it is not necessary to repeat all those provisions. The only difference will be that in the Provinces there will be no 'reserved departments' managed by 'Counsellors' but cor- responding to them there may be 'Excluded Areas' or 'Par- tially Excluded Areas' the administration of which will be beyond the control of the Legislature. Most of the provinces will have only one Chamber—but in Bengal, the United Provinces and Bihar there will be two Chambers. The term of the Lower House—the Legislative Assembly—will be five years, and that of the Upper House—Provincial Council —will be seven years. The Provincial Council will be con- stituted partly by nomination by the Governor and partly by direct election from constituencies for Moslem and for non- Moslem voters. In Bengal and Bihar a certain number will also be elected by the Provincial Assembly by the method of the single transferable vote. And in Bengal one member will be elected by qualified European voters. The constitution of the Provincial Legislative Assembly has been explained below. The Franchise Scheme embodied in the White Paper is based on the Lothian Committee's Report, the Prime Minister's Communal Award and the Poona Pact. Talking, generally, the present provincial franchise has been made the franchise for the Lower House of the Federal Legislature. The present ratio of women to male voters will remain unchanged. The existing franchise in all the provinces is essentially based on property. The White Paper proposes to supplement property qualification by an educational qualification common to men and women. There will be a differential franchise in the case of the Depressed Classes in order to enfranchise about 2 per cent. of their population. The White Paper proposes to ¹ For instance, it is not clear that imprisonment without trial will be be rendered impossible in India as has been done in Great Britain owing to the Habeas Corpus Act.

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 Y

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