Fallen upon evil times as we are, we have to be thankful even for
small mercies. Everybody heaved a sigh of relief when it was known
that the Bakr Id had passed off quietly all over India. But
the news from Bihar had set Gandhiji at war with himself. It was in
Bihar that mass Satyagraha in India was born. It was in Bihar that
his political career in India had practically commenced. And now it
was the people of Bihar, for whom he had indefatigably laboured and
who had showered upon him such love and affection —Bihar of
Brijkishore Babu and Rajendra Babu— that had gone mad and besmirched
the fair name of India. He had declared times without number that if
the people of India should run amok against the English, they might
find him dead. How could he be a witness to the same in regard to
innocent Mussalmans who were after all our countrymen, our own kith
and kin? "I went on spare, milkless diet, principally for reasons of
health soon after coming to Calcutta. The happenings in the country
induced me to prolong it. Now Bihar will send me to complete fast if
things do not radically mend," he wrote in a letter to Rajkumari
Amrit Kaur on Sunday the 4th. "There will be no time limit," he
added. "Do not agitate yourself but be really glad that I feel I
have the strength to go through the ordeal and live up to my creed."
On the following day in a letter to Pandit Jawaharlal he wrote :
"The news from Bihar has shaken me. My own duty seems to me to be
clear. A deep bond unites me with Bihar. How can I forget that? If
even half of what one hears is true, it shows that Bihar has
forgotten humanity. To blame it all on the goondas would be an
untruth. Although I have striven hard to avert a fast, I can do so
no longer.... My inner voice tells me, 'You may not live to be a
witness to this senseless slaughter. If people refuse to see what is
clear as daylight and pay no heed to what you say, does it not mean
that your day is over?' The logic of the argument is driving me
irresistibly towards a fast. I, therefore, propose to issue a
statement* that unless this orgy of madness ceases, I must go on a
fast unto death. The fast may have to be delayed for some time. When
you asked me at Delhi about it, I had replied that I was not
thinking of it at the time. All that has now changed. You can strive
with me, if you think differently. Whatever you say will carry
weight with me. But knowing as you do my temperament, I am sure you
will approve of my proposed step. In any event you will go on with
your work without a moment's thought about my possible death and
leave me in God's good care. No worry allowed." But neither Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru nor the Sardar to whom he had caused a copy of the
letter to be sent tried to dissuade him. They understood better the
magnitude of the stake. It was nothing less than India's
independence.
Chaumuhani,
8-11-'46
Harijan, 17-11-1946