Speaking after the evening prayer at Uruli, Gandhiji said that in
his opinion, nature cure was an essential ingredient in the
building of Swaraj of his conception. The attaining of true Swaraj
presupposed the triple purification of body, mind and soul.
He could have hardly imagined when he uttered those words, that
within twenty-four hours an occasion would arise to put that precept
into practice. On the very next day a villager was brought to him
with injuries on his body, received at the hands of thieves who had
taken away ornaments etc. from his house. There were three ways,
Gandhiji told the villagers of Uruli, of dealing with the case. The
first was the stereotyped orthodox way of reporting to the police.
Very often it only provided the police a further opportunity for
corruption and brought no relief to the victim. The second way,
which was followed by the general run of the village people, was to
passively acquiesce in it. This was reprehensible as it was rooted
in cowardice- Crime would flourish, while cowardice remained. What
was more, by such acquiescence we ourselves became party to the
crime. The third way, which Gandhiji commended,, was that of pure
Satyagraha. It required that we should regard even thieves and
criminals as our brothers and sisters, and crime as a disease of
which the latter were the victims and needed to be cured. Instead of
bearing ill-will towards a thief or a criminal and trying to get him
punished they should try to get under his skin, understand the
cause that had let him into crime and try to remedy it. They should,
for instance, teach him a vocation and provide him with the means to
make an honest living and thereby transform his life. They should
realize that a thief or a criminal was not a different being from
themselves. Indeed, if they turned the searchlight inward and
closely looked into their own souls, they would find that the
difference between them was only one of degree. The rich, moneyed
man who made his riches by exploitation or other questionable
means, was no less guilty of robbery than the thief who picked a
pocket or broke into a house and committed theft. Only the former
took refuge behind the facade of respectability and escaped the
penalty of law. Strictly speaking, remarked Gandhiji, all amassing
or hoarding of wealth, above and beyond one's legitimate
requirements was theft. There would be no occasion for thefts and
therefore, no thieves, if there was a wise regulation of riches and
absolute social justice prevailed. In the Swaraj of his conception,
there would be no thieves and no criminals, or else it would be
Swaraj only in name. The criminal was only an indication of the
social malady and since nature cure, as he envisaged it, included
the triple cure for body, mind and soul, they must not be satisfied
with merely banishing physical illness from Uruli, their work must
include the healing of the mind and soul too, so that there would be
perfect social peace in their midst.
The Way of Satyagraha
If they followed the nature cure way of dealing with the criminal,
which, as he had already explained, was the way of Satyagraha, they
could not sit still in the face of crime. Only a perfect being could
afford to lose himself within himself and withdraw completely from
the cares and responsibilities of the world. But who could claim
that perfection? "On the high sea a sudden calm is always regarded
by experienced pilots and mariners with concern. Absolute calm is
not the law of the ocean. It is the same with the ocean of life.
More often than not, it portends rough weather. A Satyagrahi would
therefore neither retaliate nor would he submit to the criminal,
but seek to cure him by curing himself. He will not try to ride two
horses at a time, viz. to pretend to follow the law of Satyagraha,
while at the same time, seeking police aid. He must forswear the
latter, in order to follow the former. If the criminal himself
chooses to hand himself over to the police, it would be a different
matter. You cannot expect to touch his heart and win his confidence,
if at the same time you are prepared to go to the police and inform
against him. That would be gross betrayal of trust. A reformer
cannot afford to be an informer." And by way of illustration, he
mentioned several instances of how he had refused to give
information to the police, about persons who had been guilty of
violence and came and confessed to him. No police officer could
compel a Satyagrahi to give evidence against a person who had
confessed to him. A Satyagrahi would never be guilty of a betrayal
of trust. He wanted the people of Uruli to adopt the method of
Satyagraha, for dealing with crime and criminals. They should
contact the criminals in their homes, win their confidence and trust
by loving and selfless service, wean them from evil and unclean
habits and help to rehabilitate them by teaching them honest ways of
living.
Badlapur,
5-8-'46
Harijan, 11-8-1946