CENTENARY OF A FAMOUS QUOTE OF GANDHIJI
Exactly 100 years ago, M.K. Gandhi wrote in the ‘Introduction’ of his autobiography [“AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OR THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH”] the following:
“LET HUNDREDS LIKE ME PERISH, BUT LET TRUTH PREVAIL. LET US NOT REDUCE THE STANDARDS OF TRUTH EVEN BY A HAIR’S BREADTH FOR JUDGING ERRING MORTALS LIKE MYSELF.”
This precept or doctrine is the basis on which we analyse the writings of Shri M.K. Gandhi who had left this world many years before most of us were born.
DUPLICITY
Duplicities are galore in the writings and utterances of Shri M.K. Gandhi . Today, I shall discuss only one of those.
We have read that Shri M.K. Gandhi abhorred secrecy [1]. He had written:
1) “My life has been an open book. I have no secrets and I encourage no secrets.” [2]
2) All sins are committed in secrecy. The moment we realize that God witnesses even our thoughts, we shall be free. [3]
3) I have come to regard secrecy as a sin more especially in politics. If we realized the presence of God as witness to all we say and do, we would not have anything to conceal from anybody on earth.” [4]
Even before Subhas Chandra Bose had resigned from the post of the Rashtrapati or President of the Congress Party because of the non-cooperation of Shri M.K. Gandhi and Congress’ Old Guard, Shri Gandhi was reluctant to release the correspondence that was exchanged till then between him, mostly from Rajkot and Delhi, and Subhas Chandra Bose, mostly from his sickbed at Jamadoba (P.O. Jealgora, near Dhanbad). Subhas Bose was a gentleman and was extremely respectful to all elderly persons, especially towards ‘Mahatmaji’ who was elder to him by more than 27 years. Shri M.K. Gandhi was well aware of this quality of Subhas Bose, but was equally aware that the treatment that was being meted out to the elected Congress President was immoral. He knew that if these things come out in the public, his own image would be greatly tarnished. He knew that without the cooperation of Subhas Bose, it would be extremely difficult to conceal these communications. Therefore he tried to put moral pressure on Subhas Chandra Bose by writing in postscript of his letter dated New Delhi, the 30th March 1939: “SO FAR AS I AM CONCERNED OUR CORRESPONDENCE NEED NOT BE PUBLISHED. BUT YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO PUBLISH IT, IF YOU THINK OTHERWISE.” [5]
We now know that Shri Gandhi was forwarding all these correspondence to his principal sidekick Jawaharlal Nehru, and the latter was against publication of these letters exchanged between his mentor and the ‘re-elected’ Congress President, whom he envied. As Shri M.K. Gandhi had rightly judged, Subhas Chandra Bose did not publish these letters at that time despite being misunderstood by the general public.
However, after the resignation of Subhas Chandra Bose on April 29, 1939, in the All-India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.) meeting being held at Wellington Square, Calcutta, and after Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as Congress President on April 30, 1939, the Press initiated intense discussions on this matter. The A.I.C.C. concluded its three-day session on May 1st and the new President Dr. Rajendra Prasad , announced the names of the members of the new Working Committee, which he declared had the approval of Mahatma Gandhi! It is pertinent to note that Shri M.K. Gandhi was not agreeable to approve the Working Committee which Subhas Bose would have constituted.
It is also relevant to know that Shri M.K. Gandhi had reached Calcutta on April 27, 1939, and was camping at Sodepur, a suburb of Calcutta, but did not attend the A.I.C.C. meeting. Moreover, Subhas Chandra Bose held long discussions with Shri M.K. Gandhi on April 27, 28 and 29, 1939, and was able to extract a letter from Shri Gandhi, dated Sodepur, the 29th April 1939, addressed to himself (Subhas) in which Shri Gandhi advised Subhas Bose to form his own working committee [which Shri Gandhi very well knew would not be in conformity with the Pant Resolution adopted in the Tripuri Congress for want of ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi’s approval] and Subhas Bose read out this letter at the A.I.C.C. Meeting in Wellington Square on April 29, 1939, before tendering his resignation. [6]
Shri M.K. Gandhi left Calcutta for Brindaban (Champaran District, Bihar) on May 1, 1939, to attend the Gandhi Seva Sangh Conference. He stayed for a week in Brindaban, Bihar. Besides attending various meetings, Shri Gandhi answered questions at the Gandhi Seva Sangh Meetings on May 5, 6 & 7, 1939. On May 5, 1939, he was asked questions by some persons at Gandhi Seva Sangh Meeting concerning the Congress President’s resignation, etc. One of the questions was the following:
“Question: “Cannot your correspondence with Subhas Babu be published? If not, will you please explain why?”
The following was Gandhiji’s Answer: “AT ONE STAGE IT HAD BEEN DECIDED TO PUBLISH THE CORRESPONDENCE. LATER ON, AFTER JAWAHARLAL’S ARRIVAL IT WAS DECIDED TO WITHHOLD THE PUBLICATION. IT WAS ALSO DECIDED THAT I SHOULD NOT ISSUE ANY STATEMENT. IT WOULD NOT BE IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION. In this my attitude was that Subhas Babu should do only what suited him. This should be our only attitude if we are non-violent. IT IS NONE OF OUR CONCERN TO PUBLISH ANY CORRESPONDENCE. WE SHOULD WITHHOLD THE PUBLICATION AS LONG AS WE CAN. It becomes our duty to publish the correspondence only when someone does something contrary to what he has written in a letter. There is no such question here. That is why I have left it to Subhas Babu. If any misunderstanding arises from the correspondence not being published, it will not bring any particular harm. The other person will publish it when he thinks it is necessary to do so. WHEN IT BECOMES ANCIENT HISTORY, IT WILL BE ABANDONED.” [PAGE 209, VOLUME 69, THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI]
RELEASE OF THE CORRESPONDENCE
For information of the readers, it must be told that at page 217 of the same Volume 69 of the C.W.M.G., there is a telegram dated Brindaban, May 6, 1939, with the heading: “TELEGRAM TO SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE” and it reads as follows:
“SUBHAS BOSE
CALCUTTA
“RELEASE CORRESPONDENCE. LOVE. BAPU”
We also find text of the following telegram at page 181 of Volume 9 of Netaji Collected Works, published jointly by Netaji Research Bureau, Kolkata, and Permanent Black, Ranikhet:-
“To Mahatma Gandhi
“Calcutta, 5th May, 1939
“DESIRE TO RELEASE OUR CORRESPONDENCE. KINDLY WIRE OPINION ‒ SUBHAS.”
The reply telegram “From Mahatma Gandhi” , as reproduced above, has also been printed at Page 182 of Volume 9 of the aforesaid Netaji Collected Works.
FINALLY, THE CORRESPONDENCE THAT WAS EXCHANGED BETWEEN SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE AND MAHATMA GANDHI WAS RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION ON MAY 13, 1939.
BRIEF BACKGROUND INFORMATION
To understand the Congress predicament of 1939, it is important to know the following:
1. Gandhiji was furious when his proxy candidate was defeated by Subhas Chandra Bose in the election for the Congress President held on January 29, 1939. The official result was known on January 30, 1939.
2. Gandhiji issued a nasty Statement from Bardoli on January 31, 1939, wherein he also famously wrote: “After all Subhas Babu is not an enemy of his country.” [7]
3. Gandhiji wrote a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on February 3, 1939, from Segaon, Wardha, stating that: “After the election and the manner in which it was fought, I feel that I shall serve the country by absenting myself from the Congress at the forthcoming session. Moreover my health is none too good. I would like you to help me. Please do not press me to attend.” [8]
4. Gandhiji, as he had already informed Jawaharlal Nehru, invented an alibi in the princely state of Rajkot and did not attend the Tripuri Congress.
5. Gandhiji made a fuss of the Rajkot issue, magnifying it manifold, and even fasted at Rajkot for 4 days from March 3 to March 7, 1939, which was an exaggerated act with the ruler of a small princely state as compared to the larger ongoing imbroglio in the Congress Party.
6. Subhas Chandra Bose had an attack of Broncho-Pneumonia and despite his serious sickness, he reached Tripuri defying the advice of the topnotch doctors of Calcutta.
7. Shri M.K. Gandhi was also not in good health then but chose the Rajkot issue as an alibi to absent himself from attending the Tripuri Congress session.
8. The Right-wing leaders who were all nominated in the Working Committee by their mentor Shri M.K. Gandhi, ganged up against the newly reelected leftist Congress President and got the unconstitutional Pant Resolution passed in the Tripuri session making Shri M.K. Gandhi, who was till then the de facto dictator of the Congress Party (despite not even being a primary member of the Congress Party), the de jure dictator of the Party. ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi was compared in the Tripuri Congress session with Herr Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin!
9. Despite his sickness, Mr. Gandhi came by train to Allahabad for a few hours on March 24, 1939, to visit the ailing Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
10. While returning from Tripuri, Subhas Chandra Bose was detrained at Dhanbad on the morning of March 14, 1939, and was transported to Jamadoba (P.O. Jealgora) – nine miles from the railhead at Dhanbad – to the official residence of his fourth elder brother, for complete rest and recuperation. Subhas Chandra remained at Jamadoba – Jealgora for five weeks. [9]
11. Subhas Chandra Bose corresponded with Gandhiji from his sickbed at Jamadoba, for almost a month from the fourth week of March, 1939, till the third week of April 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose was assisted by his nephew Dr. Asoke Nath Bose in taking down notes, typing the letters in a portable typewriter and posting those letters at the Jealgora Post Office (now in Jharkhand).
CONCLUSION
Please note that the same person who proclaimed that he regarded secrecy as a sin, ‘more especially in politics’ or the so-called ‘Great Soul’ who abhorred secrecy, who said that his life has been an open book, said in the same breath: “We should withhold the publication [of the correspondence] as long as we can!” He knew that human memory was short and even if these letters were released to the public after some years, it would not be able to tarnish the image of the ‘Mahatma’ (i.e. himself) and the Old Guard to that extent! Therefore, like a wily politician, he further prophesised: “When it becomes ancient history, it will be abandoned.”
If the above was not an example of duplicity, I do not know what duplicity means. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had rightly said in a BBC interview of 1955: “HE [GANDHI] WAS ALL THE TIME DOUBLE-DEALING.”
Shri M.K. Gandhi had himself said exactly 100 years back: “LET HUNDREDS LIKE ME PERISH, BUT LET TRUTH PREVAIL. LET US NOT REDUCE THE STANDARDS OF TRUTH EVEN BY A HAIR’S BREADTH FOR JUDGING ERRING MORTALS LIKE MYSELF.”
After all, the motto of our Government of India is the Sanskrit phrase: ‘Satyameva Jayate’, which translates to: “TRUTH ALONE TRIUMPHS.”
FOOTNOTE
[1] Page 204, Volume 83, The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (C.W.M.G.), Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
[2] Page 233, Volume 45, C.W.M.G.; also published in Young India, dated 5-3.1931.
[3] Page 184, Volume 24, C.W.M.G.; also published in Young India, dated 5-6-1924.
[4] Page 144, Volume 19, C.W.M.G.; also published in Young India, dated 22-12-1920.
[5] Page 136, Volume 9, Netaji Collected Works, Netaji Research Bureau & Permanent Black, Second Impression, 2016, (First Published in 1995).
[6] Page 181, Volume 9, Netaji Collected Works, ibid.
[7] Page 359-260 , Volume 68, C.W.M.G.
[8] Page 248, A Bunch of Old Letters, compiled and edited by Jawaharlal Nehru, Asia Publishing House, Second Edition, 1960 (First Edition was of November 14, 1958) and Page 368, Volume 68, C.W.M.G.
[9] Page 172, My Uncle Netaji by Dr. Asoke Nath Bose, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1989. Subhas Chandra Bose convalesced at Jamadoba-Jealgora at the official residence of his fourth elder brother – Shri Sudhir Chandra Bose – who was working for the Tata Iron & Steel Company and was stationed there. Subhas Chandra Bose stayed at Jamadoba from March 14 to April 21, 1939, and left for Calcutta on April 21, 1939.
JAI HIND!
