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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE FIGHT RESUMED (1932)

True to his habit of travelling by the lowest class available, the Mahatma arrived in Bombay as a deck-passenger by S.S. Pilsna on December 28th, 1931. Elaborate arrangements had been made by the Bombay Congress Committee to accord him a right royal reception. Thanks to the propaganda of the Congress, the failure of the Mahatma to achieve something tangible for his country at the London Conference had not produced any depressing effect. And judging from the warmth, cordiality and affection displayed at the reception, one would think that the Mahatma had returned with Swaraj in the hollow of his hand. The same evening he spoke at a mass meeting of 200,000 people at Azad Maidan. Only with the help of loudspeakers could his voice be audible to that vast gathering. The festivity over, the Mahatma settled down to .business. Reports from different parts of the country were duly placed before him. It was soon evident that the, situation was materially different from what it was when he had sailed from Bombay towards the end of August. It looked as if the Government had been waiting till Mahatma Gandhi sailed from Bombay in order to start a policy of ruthless repression. The two authors of the Delhi Pact being away from India, the Government could treat that document as a scrap of paper.

It is necessary to recapitulate briefly the events of 1931 which led to a crisis at the end of the year rendering imperative a resumption of the civil-disobedience campaign. After the Karachi Congress, youth and labour circles continued to condemn the Delhi Pact. The Provincial Youth Conference (Naujawan Bharat Sabha) of the United Provinces, held at Muttra in May and presided over by the writer, passed a resolution of disapproval. In July a session of the All-India Trade Union Congress was held in Calcutta under the Presidency of the writer, where a similar resolution was passed. The Right Wing trade unions had seceded in the meantime, but all the other unions joined the Congress.

Trouble arose from the very beginning over the question of credentials. After the Nagpur session of the Trade Union Congress held in 1929, a split had occurred among those trade unionists who were generally regarded as Communists. Mr. M. N. Roy, the erstwhile representative of India on the Communist International, was expelled from that body. Following this incident, a split occurred among the prisoners in the Meerut Conspiracy Case and also among their followers in Bombay. One group was reported to follow the lead of the official Communist Party and the other of Mr. M. N. Roy. The Girni-Kamgar Union (Textile Workers' Union) of Bombay, formerly controlled jointly by members of both the groups, was the scene of a split and the Credentials Committee of the Trade Union Congress reported that the Roy group was in possession of the union and was therefore entitled to be represented on the Trade Union Congress. This was resented by the other group, who thereupon resorted to constitutional obstruction culminating in a motion of no-confidence in the President. This motion being defeated, the anti-Roy group withdrew from the Congress after creating a lot of disturbance and set up a Red Trade Union Congress. (1) After the defection, the Congress continued its deliberations. It resolved not to affiliate with any international body but to continue unaided the struggle for the rights of the Indian workers. Mr. Ruikar, President of the Nagpur Textile Workers' Union, was elected President for the coming year, and Mr. S. Mukundalal of Calcutta was elected the Secretary. In spite of the internal dissensions in the Trade Union Movement, barring the Right Wingers, all other trade-unionists were opposed to the Delhi Pact. The Pact contained no clause benefiting the workers in any way and neither the under-trial Meerut prisoners nor those convicted in connection with industrial strikes, were granted amnesty. Two Right Wing leaders, Mr. V. V. Giri and Mr. Shiva Rao, were, however, nominated by the Government as members of the second Round Table Conference.

While trade union circles merely kept up vocal opposition to the Delhi Pact, the revolutionaries in Bengal, exasperated by the repressive policy of the Government, created a serious crisis in the province. The Armoury Raid in Chittagong in April 1930, was an aggressive act, but it was on the whole an isolated one. The subsequent acts of terrorism in other parts of Bengal were acts of retaliation or reprisal rather than acts of aggression. In Dacca, the principal city of East Bengal, in August 1930, Mr. Lowman, the head of the Intelligence Branch of the Police was seriously wounded. But prior to that, there had been Hindu-Moslem riots in Dacca and Mymensingh Districts, in connection with which the conduct of the police had been open to serious question. Moreover the Dacca police had been harsh and brutal in dealing with Satyagrahi volunteers engaged in peaceful picketing of foreign cloth and liquor shops and in other non-violent activities. Towards the end of 1930, the Inspector-General of Prisons, Bengal, Lieut-Col. Simpson, was assassinated in his office in the Government Secretariat buildings in Calcutta. But prior to that there had been indescribable ill-treatment of political prisoners in many prisons in Bengal and all appeals made to the Government for redress had been of no avail. The murder of Mr. Peddie, Magistrate of Midnapore, in 1931, and subsequently of two of his successors, was the result of the untold atrocities committed by the forces of the Crown in Midnapore District in the attempt to suppress the non-violent no-tax campaign. The public of Calcutta had appointed an impartial committee consisting mostly of Moderate men to inquire into and report on some of the atrocities committed in that district. The report was duly published and the facts brought to the notice of the Government. But no redress followed. It was then that in a fit of exasperation people took to terrorism by way of reprisal. These acts of terrorism served to stiffen the attitude, of the Government and a stronger dose of repression was administered. A golden opportunity of putting an end to the regrettable state of affairs arose in March 1931, when the Delhi Pact was concluded. But instead of turning over a new leaf, the authorities decided to copy the Black and Tan methods that had been employed in Ireland. Between June and October 1931, three regrettable incidents took place successively — at Chittagong, at Hijli Detention Camp, seventy miles from Calcutta, and at Dacca. At Chittagong an Indian police officer was murdered. The next morning, hooligans were let loose on the town and while the police remained inactive, looting went on in broad daylight. The idea was to teach the people of Chittagong a 'moral' lesson. An inquiry committee appointed by the Calcutta public came to the conclusion after investigation that the conduct of some local officials was open to serious question and the late Mr. J. M. Sengupta openly made the allegation in a public meeting in Calcutta. On the report of the Divisional Commissioner, official action against some officers was taken after a very long time. At the Hijli Camp there was some misunderstanding between the state-prisoners and the armed guards. Following this, one night the armed warders made a surprise attack on the state-prisoners' barracks and, after firing indiscriminately at the barracks, attacked the state-prisoners with the butt-end of their rifles. During the firing, two of the state-prisoners, Santosh Mitra and Tarakeswar Sen, were killed and twenty seriously injured. An official committee appointed by the Government consisting of a judge of the High Court came to the conclusion after as open inquiry that the firing was altogether unjustified. At Dacca, there was an unsuccessful attempt to murder the District Magistrate. The same night, four parties of policemen went out to different parts of the city, raided the houses of respectable citizens, destroyed furniture and other articles, assaulted people and carried away whatever valuables they could besides making a large number of indiscriminate arrests. The Calcutta public sent a Committee of Inquiry, (2) which after due inquiry, corroborated all the above facts.

In November a new ordinance was promulgated by the Government which introduced a veiled form of martial law in the District of Chittagong. Under this ordinance, hardship and penalty were imposed on the people as one would expect under martial law. The curfew order was introduced, people were ordered to carry identification cards, young men were prohibited to use bicycles, political suspects were ordered to remain indoors for weeks at a stretch, collective fines were imposed on villages which were suspected to be frequented by revolutionaries. Moreover, soldiers were made to march through the villages as a display and people were ordered, on pain of penalty, to come out and receive them. Many of these orders were issued subsequently in Midnapore and Dacca Districts. While this double dose of repression was being administered, no steps were taken to punish the officials responsible for the happenings at Chittagong, Hijli and Dacca, nor was any compensation or relief given to the sufferers. To add to the unrest, during the period of truce, some revolutionary prisoners were condemned to death and hanged. The vicious circles of official repression — revolutionary terrorism (3) — official counter-terrorism — thus went on. A further complication arose when the Calcutta Municipal Corporation passed a resolution (4) expressing grief at the execution of one of the revolutionary prisoners, Dinesh Chandra Gupta. In the midst of this turmoil the position of the Congress in Bengal was unenviable. Theoretically there was peace between the Government and the people, but in reality the relations were strained and there were 'hostilities' on both sides. To consider the situation a special session of the Bengal Provincial Conference was held at Berhampore in December. The Conference resolved that the Government had virtually violated the Delhi Pact and the Congress should, therefore, formally give notice to the Government and revive the civil-disobedience campaign, emphasis being laid on the boycott of British goods. It was hoped that the revival of the civil-disobedience movement would divert the energy of the youths and thereby help to stop the terrorist campaign in the province.

But the trouble was not only in Bengal. During the absence of the Mahatma from India a crisis had arisen in the Frontier Province, and also in the United Provinces. The official complaint was that the Red Shirt Volunteers (5) of the Frontier leader, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, were engaged in subversive activities, though as a matter of fact they were perfectly non-violent. No notice was sent to the Congress headquarters about this complaint. Suddenly an ordinance was issued declaring the Red Shirt Volunteers an illegal body. Simultaneously Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Frontier Gandhi, and his brother, along with some other leaders, were put under arrest and taken to distant prisons. Several hundred Red Shirts were immediately cast into prison, and within a few months their number arose to several thousand. Thereafter troops were sent into the remotest villages in order to terrorise the people and break up the Red Shirt organisation.

In the United Provinces there had been an acute economic crisis for some time past. In November 1930, Mr. H. N. Brailsford, the wellknown Socialist writer, who was an altogether independent observer, told the writer in Calcutta that the conditions in the United Provinces were verging on an agrarian revolution. About this time the no-rent campaign was started by the Congress in the province. After the Delhi truce, when the no-tax campaign was suspended, the peasants being in the same condition as in 1930, could not pay their rent. In May, the Mahatma tried to mediate in the matter and advised the peasants to pay 50 per cent of their dues — but that also they could not. Thereupon the Government remitted a portion of the land revenue and maintained that that was enough. The peasants thought otherwise and, on their behalf, the Provincial Congress Committee tried to carry on negotiations with the Government. In November matters reached a crisis. The Government demanded that the peasants should pay up their dues pending negotiations. The peasants demanded, on the contrary, that pending negotiation, the collection should be suspended. At this stage the Provincial Congress Committee approached Sardar V, Patel, the Congress President, and Mahatma Gandhi, who was then in Europe, for advice. The Mahatma left it to the Committee to do as they thought best. The Peasants' League (Kishan League) of the United Provinces then took the matter in hand and informed the Congress Committee that if they did not start the no-rent campaign, it would be launched by the Kishan League. Faced with the possibility of losing its hold on the masses, the Provincial Congress Committee decided to commence the no-rent campaign. Immediately this was done, an ordinance was issued for suppressing that campaign. A large number of arrests was made under the ordinance and about the middle of December when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mr. Sherwani were leaving Allahabad for Bombay to make preparations for the reception of the Mahatma, they were arrested in the train.

As has been stated at the beginning of this chapter, on December 28th, 1931, Bombay city was en fête for the reception of India's beloved leader. Never was a king or a victorious general given a warmer welcome. A hostile demonstration was attempted by the followers of Dr. Ambedkar as also by the local Communist Party, but the smallness of it only served to throw into bolder relief the tremendous hold which the Mahatma had over the masses. The next day the Congress Working Committee met and authorised Mahatma Gandhi to apply for an interview (6) with the Viceroy and accordingly he sent the following telegram:

'I was unprepared on landing yesterday to find the Frontier and the U. P. Ordinances, shootings in the Frontier and arrests of valued comrades in both and on the top, the Bengal Ordinance awaiting me. I do not know whether I am to regard these as an indication that friendly relations between us are closed or whether you expect me still to see and receive guidance from you as to the course I am to pursue in advising the Congress.'

The Viceroy sent a long reply on December 31st and stated at the end: 'His Excellency feels bound to emphasise that he will not be prepared to discuss with you any measures which the Government of India, with the fullest approval of His Majesty's Government, found it necessary to adopt in Bengal, the United Provinces and the North-West Frontier Province.'

Soon after receipt of this telegram the Working Committee met on January 1st, 1932, and adopted the following resolution:

'… The Committee regards the Premier's declaration as wholly unsatisfactory and inadequate, and in terms of the Congress demands, opines that nothing short of complete independence, carrying full control of defence, external affairs and finance, with such safeguards as may be demonstrably necessary in the interest of the nation, can be regarded by the Congress as satisfactory. The Committee notes that the British Government was not prepared to regard the Congress at the Round Table Conference as entitled to speak on behalf of the nation as a whole. At the same time the Committee recognises with sorrow that communal harmony could not be attained at the said Conference. The Committee invites the nation, therefore, to make ceaseless efforts to demonstrate the capacity of the Congress to represent the nation as a whole and promote an atmosphere that would make the Constitution, framed purely on a national basis, acceptable to the various communities composing the nation. Meanwhile, the Committee is prepared to render co-operation to Government, provided the Viceroy reconsiders his Thursday's telegram to Mahatma Gandhi, adequate relief is granted in respect of the ordinances and its recent acts, a free scope is left to the Congress in any futurfe negotiations and consultations to prosecute the Congress's claim for complete independence, and administration of the country is carried on with popular representatives pending the attainment of such independence.

'In the absence of a satisfactory response from Government in terms of the foregoing paragraph, the Working Committee will regard it as an indication on the part of the Government that it has reduced to nullity the Delhi Pact.

'In the event of a satisfactory response not forthcoming, the Committee calls upon the nation to resume civil disobedience.'

The same day the Mahatma sent a long rejoinder to the Viceroy asking him to reconsider his decision and grant an interview without imposing any conditions as to the scope of discussion. He enclosed a copy of the Working Committee's resolution and added: 'If His Excellency thinks it worth while to see me, the operation of the resolution will be suspended pending our discussion, in the hope that it may result in the resolution being finally given up.'

On January 2nd, 1932, the Viceroy informed Mahatma Gandhi that an interview under the threat of civil disobedience was out of the question. The Mahatma replied as follows:

'… Surely it is wrong to describe an honest expression of opinion as a threat. May I remind the Government that the Delhi negotiations were opened and carried on whilst civil disobedience was on and that when the Pact was made, civil disobedience was not given up but only discontinued. This position was reasserted and accepted by His Excellency and his Government last year prior to my departure for London … Meanwhile I wish to assure the Government that every endeavour will be made on the part of the Congress to carry on the struggle without malice and in a strictly non-violent manner …'

That was the end of the negotiations. On January 4th, the Government of India issued a statement justifying their attitude and conduct. Simultaneously orders were issued to local authorities throughout India to strike at the Congress organisations at once. The ordinances carefully prepared by the Government of India in 1931 during the period of the truce were at once put into operation. According to lists previously prepared by the local authorities, sweeping arrests of Congress leaders were made before they could find time to launch the civil disobedience campaign. Within a week almost everybody who was somebody in the Congress Party was in prison. Nevertheless, the campaign began to gain in strength and volume without any direction from head-quarters. According to official statistics, 14,800 arrests were made in January and 17,800 in February. The Government soon realised that if arrests were continued at that rate it would be impossible to deal with the large prison population. In March, tactics were therefore changed and, instead of making arrests, force was used in dealing with Congressmen and their demonstrations. Under the ordinances, the following steps among others were taken by the local authorities all over India: orders were issued prohibiting meetings and processions; Congress organisations were declared illegal and Congress offices were taken possession of; Congress funds were seized; orders were served on people not to help the Congress in any way nor to harbour Congress volunteers, on pain of punishment; land and property were seized for not paying land revenue or other taxes; National literature was banned; the Nationalist Press was gagged; shopkeepers were ordered not to close their shops when asked by the Congress to do so; 'lathi charges' and even firing were resorted to for dispersing Congress demonstrations.

Despite all these restrictions, the civil-disobedience campaign was in full swing. The following were some of the activities of the Congress: holding meetings and conferences in spite of Government prohibition; organising processions in defiance of police orders; picketing, foreign cloth and liquor shops; picketing British goods, banks, insurance companies, etc.; publishing unauthorised bulletins, newspapers, etc.; saluting the national flag in public and hoisting it over Government buildings; manufacturing salt; attempting to reoccupy buildings seized by the Government; withholding of land revenue and taxes. Besides these activities, during the first six months of the year, special campaigns were conducted on an all-India basis under the orders of the Congress Working Committee or of the Congress President. From April 6th to April 13th, the national week was observed in commemoration of the Amritsar massacre of 1919. This was followed by 'the holding of the 47th session of the Congress at Delhi on April 24th, in spite of the severest police restrictions. The Delhi Congress was followed up by a series of provincial, district and sub-divisional political conferences held throughout India in defiance of the police ban. A raid on the Wadala Salt Depot was attempted on May 15th. An All-India Swadeshi Day was observed on May 29th, to stimulate the Swadeshi (7) (i.e., national industry) movement and an All-India Prisoners' Day was observed on July 4th, to express sympathy for political prisoners. On April 8th, during the National Week Celebration at Allahabad, the police attempted to disperse by force a Congress procession led by the revered widow of Pandit Motilal Nehru. Among those who were seriously injured during the police was Mrs. Motilal Nehru herself. This event sent a thrill of horror and indignation throughout the country. (8) The Delhi Congress was carefully planned. Though the President-elect, Pandit Madan Mohon Malaviya, was arrested on his way to Delhi, the police could not prevent a large number of delegates from arriving there for participating in the Congress. The Congress session having been banned by the Government, in the absence gf a better arrangement, it was held near the Clock Tower in the Chandni Chowk and Mr. Ranchoddas Amritlal of Ahmedabad presided. There was a short session and the resolutions adopted by the Subjects Committee, which had been printed beforehand, were distributed among the public. The Congress reiterated the resolution on independence, approved of the decision of the Working Committee to revive the civil-disobedience movement, and reaffirmed its faith in the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Soon after, the police arrived on the scene, dispersed the gathering by force, and made a large number of arrests.

Reviewing the Congress movement during the first four months, Pandit M. M. Malaviya in a public statement, issued on May 2nd, 1932, declared:

'During these four months up to April 20th last, according to the reports published in the Press, 66,646 persons, among whom were included 5,325 women and many children, have been arrested, imprisoned and humiliated. This could not possibly include arrests in the far-off villages in the interior of the country and, therefore, the Congress estimates the total arrests to be over 80,000 up to that date. The jails are overcrowded and ordinary prisoners are being released before their time to make room for political prisoners. To this has to be added the number of arrests made during the last ten days, including those of the delegates to the Delhi Congress. According to the reports in the Press, firing has been resorted to in at least 29 cases with considerable loss of life. There have been lathi charges on unarmed crowds at 325 places. There have been 633 cases of house searches and 102 cases of confiscation of property. A general policy has been pursued of imposing extraordinarily heavy fines on persons who have been convicted in connection with the movement and property far in excess of what was necessary for realising the amount of the fines has been attached and sold. The Press has been gagged as it has never been gagged before. 163 cases have been reported where the newspapers and public presses have been regulated by orders for confiscation, demands for security and consequent closing down of the presses, warnings, searches and arrests of editors, printers or keepers. Numerous public meetings and processions of non-violent men and women have been dispersed by lathi charges, and sometimes by firing.' (Indian Recorder, Calcutta, p. 271).

In connection with the above report, it may be noted, that during the period under review, political prisoners in Karachi Jail and in Haripur Jail in the Frontier Provinces were subjected to whipping. In Rajshahi Jail in Bengal, political prisoners were subjected to numerous humiliating punishments like bar-fetters, night handcuffs, gunny clothing, etc. In Suri Jail in Bengal, women prisoners went on hunger-strike as a protest against ill-treatment. (9)

On the whole the activities of the Congress in 1932 did not compare unfavourably with those of 1930. Nevertheless, every Congressman could feel one difference. In 1930 the Congress had taken the offensive, while the Government was on the defensive. In 1932 it was just the reverse. There is no doubt that in spite of the manifold defects of the Delhi Pact, die-hards in England and in India took it as a defeat or a humiliation for the all-powerful British Government. They were smarting under a sense of defeat and wanted to avenge themselves. The overwhelming majority gained by the Conservatives at the General Election in October 1931, encouraged them greatly. Moreover, the attitude of Mahatma Gandhi and the statements made by him in England, gave them the impression that he was unwilling or unprepared to face a fight again. That the Mahatma was honestly pursuing a peaceful policy has to be admitted on all hands and his very unpreparedness can be regarded as a proof of his sincerity of purpose.

In fact, the Mahatma carried his peaceful intentions so far that he neglected to keep his 'powder dry'. He was in reality dragged into a fight in 1932 because of the non possumus attitude of the Viceroy on the one hand and the rising temper of the public on the other. In this connection it is significant that the aggressive steps taken by the Government of India during the absence of the Mahatma had the full approval of His Majesty's Government. Apart from the Government's attitude there were two other factors that forced the Mahatma to resume the fight: the general temper of the public and the influence of the Left Wing. As for the first, in none of the major provinces was the public satisfied at the attitude of the Government. Those who had given in to the Mahatma hoping that something tangible would come out of the Round Table Conference were dsillusioned. Further, the steady propaganda carried on by Left Wing Congressmen, youth-leaguers (10) and Left Wing Labourites also had its effect. While in England the Mahatma did feel now and again that another fight was unavoidable but the pity of it is that no preparations were made by the Congress for the coming campaign and no plans were prepared in advance. The campaign of 1932 was an imitation of that of 1930 and the Government had prepared effective counter-measures for dealing with a campaign of that sort. If the Congress wanted to be successful in 1932 as well, it should have devised new tactics to take the Government by surprise.

Notes

From the beginning the Red Trade Union Congress has not shown much sign of activity except occasionally in Bombay and in Calcutta.
The writer was a member of this Committee, but when he arrived near Dacca, he was removed from the District by sheer physical force by police officers. The moment he was free he started for Dacca again when he was put in prison. He was subsequently released and could then continue the inquiry.
In December 1931, two schoolgirls, named Shanti and Suniti, shot dead the Magistrate of Comilla.
This resolution was resented by the Government as well as by all Britishers.
These volunteers were so called from the colour of their uniform. They were Congress volunteers and had nothing to do with the Communist Party.
The writer, who was one of those invited to attend this meeting of the Working Committee, expressed the opinion that in the circumstances it would be humiliating for the Mahatma to apply for an interview. But all the others present thought differently.
After the Congress was banned, 'Buy Indian' Leagues were organised within the ambit of the Law.
The medical officer who attended on Mrs. Nehru reported as follows: — "'Her injuries were caused by something like a lathi. She has received half a dozen injuries, including a bad cut on her head which caused profuse Weeding.'
In many other prisons similar incidents took place. In Kajmundhry Jail, a prisoner belonging to the Lahore Conspiracy Case was flogged. In Bellary Jail, political prisoners were attacked by warders with sticks (lathis). In the Deoli Detention Camp for Bengal state-prisoners near Ajmer, the state-prisoners were assaulted by the guards and seriously injured. In all such cases the usual charge against the prisoners was one of insubordination.
On December 22nd, 1931, the Maharashtra Youth Conference met at Poona with the writer in the chair and passed a resolution calling upon the Congress Working Committee to resume the civil-disobedience campaign.