Mr. Kasturi Ranga Aiyangar was pleased to answer my argument in favour
of the details of the first stage of non-co-operation that I had the
honour of explaining at the great Madras Beach meeting. He expressed his
dissent from all but the renunciation of titles. He suggested boycott of
foreign goods in the place of the other items. Even at the risk of
repeating arguments familiar to the readers of "Young India", I must
deal with the question of boycott which has now received the imprimatur
of so able a publicist as Mr. Kasturi Ranga Aiyangar.
In the first place, boycott of British goods has been conceived as a
punishment and can have no place in non-co-operation which is conceived
in a spirit of self-sacrifice and is a matter of sacred duty.
Secondly, any measure of punishment must be swift, certain and adequate
for the effect intended to be produced. Resorted to by individuals,
therefore, boycott is ineffectual, for, it can give no satisfaction
unless it is productive of effect, whereas every act of non-co-operation
is its own satisfaction.
Thirdly, boycott of British goods is thoroughly unpractical, for, it
involves sacrifice of their millions by millionaires. It is in my
opinion infinitely more difficult for a merchant to sacrifice his
millions than for a lawyer to suspend his practice or for a title-holder
to give up his title or for a parent to sacrifice, if need be, the
literary instruction of his children. Add to this the important fact
that merchants have only lately begun to interest themselves in
politics. They are therefore yet timid and cautious. But the class, to
which the first stage of non-co-operation is intended to appeal, is the
political class which has devoted years to politics and is not mentally
unprepared for communal sacrifice.
Boycott of British goods to be effective must be taken up by the whole
country at once or not at all. It is like a siege. You can carry out a
siege only when you have the requisite men and instruments of
destruction. One man scratching a wall with his finger nails may hurt
his fingers but will produce no effect upon the walls. One title-holder
giving up his title has the supreme satisfaction of having washed his
hands clean of the guilt of the donor and is unaffected by the refusal
of his fellows to give up theirs. The motive of boycott being punitive
lacks the inherent practicability of non-co-operation. The spirit of
punishment is a sign of weakness. A strengthening of that spirit will
retard the process of regeneration. The spirit of sacrifice is a
determination to rid ourselves of our weakness. It is therefore an
invigorating and purifying process and is therefore also calculated to
do good both to us and to those who evoke the spirit of sacrifice in us.
Above all, if India has a mission of her own, she will not fulfil it by
copying the doubtful example of the West and making even her sacrifice
materialistically utilitarian instead of offering a sacrifice spotless
and pleasing even in the sight of God.