|
THE
PHILOSOPHY
OF
THE
BOMB*
THE
GOSPEL
OF
LOVE
Gandhi
declares
that
his
faith
in
the
efficacy
of
non-violence
has
increased.
That
is to
say,
he
believes
more
and
more,
that
through
his
gospel
of
love
and
self-imposed
suffering,
he
hopes
someday
to
convert
the
foreign
rulers
to
his
way
of
thinking.
Now,
he
has
devoted
his
whole
life
to
the
preaching
of
his
wonderful
gospel
and
has
practised
it
with
unwavering
constance,
as
few
others
have
done.
Will
he
let
the
world
know
how
many
enemies
of
India
he
has
been
able
to
turn
into
friends?
How
many
O’Dwyers,
Readings
and
Irwins
has
he
been
able
to
convert
into
friends
of
India?
If
none,
how
can
India
be
expected
to
share
his
‘growing
faith’
that
he
will
be
able
to
persuade
or
compel
England
to
agree
to
Indian
Independence
through
the
practice
of
non-violence?
WHAT
WOULD
HAVE
HAPPENED
If
the
bomb,
that
burst
under
the
Viceroy’s
Special,
had
exploded
properly,
one
of
the
two
things
suggested
by
Gandhi
would
have
surely
happened.
The
Viceroy
would
have
either
been
badly
injured
or
killed.
Under
such
circumstances
there
certainly
would
have
been
no
meeting
between
the
leaders
of
political
parties
and
the
Viceroy.
The
uncalled
for
and
undignified
attempt
on
the
part
of
these
individuals,
to
lower
the
national
prestige
by
knocking
at
the
gates
of
the
government
house
with
the
beggar’s
bowl
in
their
hands
and
dominion
status
on
their
lips,
in
spite
of
the
clear
terms
of
theCalcutta
Ultimatum,
would
have
been
checkmated
and
the
nation
would
have
been
powerful
enough
to
kill
the
Viceroy,
one
more
enemy
of
India
would
have
met a
well
deserved
doom.
The
author
of
the
Meerut
prosecutions
and
the
Lahore
and
Bhusawal
persecutions
can
appears
a
friend
of
India
only
to
the
enemies
of
her
freedom.
In
spite
of
Gandhi
and
the
Nehru
and
their
claims
to
political
sagacity
and
statesmanship,
Irwin
has
succeeded
in
shattering
the
unity
between
different
political
parties
in
the
country
that
had
resulted
from
the
boycott
of
the
Simon
Commission.
Even
the
Congress
today
is a
house
divided
against
itself.
Who
else,
except
the
Viceroy
and
his
olive
tongue,
have
we to
thank
for
our
grave
misfortunes?
And
yet,
there
exist
people
in
our
country
who
proclaim
him a
Friend
of
India!
THE
FUTURE
OF
THE
CONGRESS
There
might
be
those
who
have
no
regard
for
the
Congress
and
hope
nothing
from
it.
If
Gandhi
thinks
that
the
revolutionaries
belong
to
the
category,
he
wrongs
them
grievously.
They
fully
realise
the
part
played
by
Congress
in
awakening
among
the
ignorant
masses
a
keen
desire
for
freedom.
They
expect
great
things
of it
in
the
future.
Though
they
hold
firmly
to
their
opinion,
that
so
long
as
person
like
Sen
Gupta
whose
wonderful
intelligence
compels
him
to
discern
the
hand
of
the
CID
in
the
late
attempt
to
blow
up
the
Viceroy’s
Special,
and
persons
like
Ansari,
who
think
abuse
the
better
part
of
argument
and
know
so
little
of
politics
as to
make
the
ridiculous
and
fallacious
assertion
that
no
nation
had
achieved
freedom
by
the
bomb,
have
a
determining
voice
in
the
affairs
of
the
Congress,
the
country
can
hope
little
from
it;
they
are
hopefully
looking
forward
to
the
day,
when
the
mania
of
non-violence
would
have
passed
away
from
the
Congress,
and
it
would
march
arm
in
arm
with
the
revolutionaries
to
their
common
goal
of
Complete
Independence.
This
year
it
has
accepted
the
ideal
which
the
revolutionaries
have
preached
and
lived
up to
more
than
a
quarter
of a
century.
Let
us
hope
the
next
year
will
see
it
endorse
their
methods
also.
VIOLENCE
AND
MILITARY
ELPENDITURE
Gandhi
is of
opinion
that
as
often
as
violence
has
been
practised
in
the
country,
it
has
resulted
in an
increase
of
military
expenditure.
If
his
reference
is to
revolutionary
activities
during
the
last
twenty-five
years
we
dispute
the
accuracy
of
his
statement
and
challenge
him
to
prove
his
statement
with
facts
and
figures.
If,
on
the
other
hand,
he
had
the
wars
that
have
taken
place
in
India
since
the
British
came
here
in
mind,
our
reply
is
that
even
his
modest
experiment
in
Ahimsa
and
Satyagraha
which
had
little
to
compare
in it
with
the
wars
for
independence
produced
its
effect
on
the
finances
of
the
Bureaucracy.
Mass
action,
whether
violent
or
non-violent,
whether
successful
or
unsuccessful,
is
bound
to
produce
the
same
kind
of
repercussion
on
the
finances
of a
state.
THE
REFORMS
Why
should
Gandhi
mix
up
the
revolutionaries
with
the
various
constitutional
reforms
granted
by
the
government?
They
never
cared
or
worked
for
the
Morley-Minto
Reforms,
Montauge
Reforms
and
the
like.
These
the
British
government
threw
before
the
constitutionalist
agitators
to
lure
them
away
from
the
right
path.
This
was
the
bribe
paid
to
them
for
their
support
to
the
government
in
its
policy
of
crushing
and
uprooting
the
revolutionaries.
These
toys
–
as
Gandhi
calls
them
–
were
sent
to
India
for
the
benefit
of
those,
who,
from
time
to
time,
raised
the
cry
of
‘Home
Rule’,
‘Self
–
Government’,
‘Responsible’,
‘Full
Responsible
Government’,
‘Dominion
Status’
and
such
other
constitutional
names
for
slavery.
The
revolutionaries
never
claim
the
Reforms
as
their
achievement.
They
raised
the
standard
of
independence
long
ago.
They
have
lived
for
it.
They
have
ungrudgingly
laid
their
lives
down
for
the
sake
of
this
ideal.
They
claim
that
their
sacrifices
have
produced
a
tremendous
change
in
the
mentality
of
the
people.
That
their
efforts
have
advanced
the
country
a
long
way
on
the
road
to
independence
is
granted
by
even
those
who
do
not
see
eye
to
eye
with
them
in
politics.
Next
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