Mr. Montagu does not like the Khilafat agitation that is daily gathering
force. In answer to questions put in the House of Commons, he is
reported to have said that whilst he acknowledged that I had rendered
distinguished services to the country in the past, he could not look
upon my present attitude with equanimity and that it was not to be
expected that I could now be treated as leniently as I was during the
Rowlatt Act agitation. He added that he had every confidence in the
central and the local Governments, that they were carefully watching the
movement and that they had full power to deal with the situation.
This statement of Mr. Montagu has been regarded in some quarters as a
threat. It has even been considered to be a blank cheque for the
Government of India to re-establish the reign of terror if they chose.
It is certainly inconsistent with his desire to base the Government on
the goodwill of the people. At the same time if the Hunter Committee's
finding be true and if I was the cause of the disturbances last year, I
was undoubtedly treated with exceptional leniency, I admit too that my
activity this year is fraught with greater peril to the Empire as it is
being conducted to-day than was last year's activity. Non-co-operation
in itself is more harmless than civil disobedience, but in its effect it
is far more dangerous for the Government than civil disobedience.
Non-co-operation is intended so far to paralyse the Government, as to
compel justice from it. If it is carried to the extreme point, it can
bring the Government to a standstill.
A friend who has been listening to my speeches once asked me whether I
did not come under the sedition section of the Indian Penal Code. Though
I had not fully considered it, I told him that very probably I did and
that I could not plead 'not guilty' if I was charged under it. For I
must admit that I can pretend to no 'affection' for the present
Government. And my speeches are intended to create 'disaffection' such
that the people might consider it a shame to assist or co-operate with a
Government that had forfeited all title to confidence, respect
or support.
I draw no distinction between the Imperial and the Indian Government.
The latter has accepted, on the Khilafat, the policy imposed upon it by
the former. And in the Punjab case the former has endorsed the policy of
terrorism and emasculation of a brave people initiated by the latter.
British ministers have broken their pledged word and wantonly wounded
the feelings of the seventy million Mussulmans of India. Innocent men
and women were insulted by the insolent officers of the Punjab
Government. Their wrongs not only unrighted but the very officers who so
cruelly subjected them to barbarous humiliation retain office under the
Government.
When at Amritsar last year I pleaded with all the earnestness I could
command for co-operation with the Government and for response to the
wishes expressed in the Royal Proclamation; I did so because I honestly
believed that a new era was about to begin, and that the old spirit of
fear, distrust and consequent terrorism was about to give place to the
new spirit of respect, trust and good-will. I sincerely believed that
the Mussalman sentiment would be placated and that the officers that had
misbehaved during the Martial Law regime in the Punjab would be at least
dismissed and the people would be otherwise made to feel that a
Government that had always been found quick (and rightly) to punish
popular excesses would not fail to punish its agents' misdeeds. But to
my amazement and dismay I have discovered that the present
representatives of the Empire have become dishonest and unscrupulous.
They have no real regard for the wishes of the people of India and they
count Indian honour as of little consequence.
I can no longer retain affection for a Government so evilly manned as it
is now-a-days. And for me, it is humiliating to retain my freedom and be
a witness to the continuing wrong. Mr. Montagu however is certainly
right in threatening me with deprivation of my liberty if I persist in
endangering the existence of the Government. For that must be the result
if my activity bears fruit. My only regret is that inasmuch as Mr.
Montagu admits my past services, he might have perceived that there
must be something exceptionally bad in the Government if a well-wisher
like me could no longer give his affection to it. It was simpler to
insist on justice being done to the Mussulmans and to the Punjab than to
threaten me with punishment so that the injustice might be perpetuated.
Indeed I fully expect it will be found that even in promoting
disaffection towards an unjust Government I have rendered greater
services to the Empire than I am already credited with.
At the present moment, however, the duty of those who approve of my
activity is clear. They ought on no account to resent the deprivation of
my liberty, should the Government of India deem it to be their duty to
take it away. A citizen has no right to resist such restriction imposed
in accordance with the laws of the State to which he belongs. Much less
have those who sympathize with him. In my case there can be no question
of sympathy. For I deliberately oppose the Government to the extent of
trying to put its very existence in jeopardy. For my supporters,
therefore, it must be a moment of joy when I am imprisoned. It means the
beginning of success if only the supporters continue the policy for
which I stand. If the Government arrest me, they would do so in order to
stop the progress of non-co-operation which I preach. It follows that if
non-co-operation continues with unabated vigour, even after my arrest,
the Government must imprison others or grant the people's wish in order
to gain their co-operation. Any eruption of violence on the part of the
people even under provocation would end in disaster. Whether therefore
it is I or any one else who is arrested during the campaign, the first
condition of success is that there must be no resentment shown against
it. We cannot imperil the very existence of a Government and quarrel
with its attempt to save itself by punishing those who place it
in danger.