I am most anxious for my nation, for my Mussalman brethren also, to
understand that if they want to vindicate national honour or the honour
of Islam, it will be vindicated without a shadow of doubt, not be
conceiving a punishment or a series of punishments, but by an adequate
measure of self-sacrifice. I wish to speak of all our leaders in terms
of the greatest respect, but whatever respect we wish to pay them may
not stop or arrest the progress of the country, and I am most anxious
that the country at this very critical period of its history should make
its choice. The choice clearly does not lie before you and me in
wresting by force of arms the sceptre form the British nation, but the
choice lies in suffering this double wrong of the Khilafat and the
Punjab, in pocketing humiliation and in accepting national emasculation
or vindication of India's honour by sacrifice to-day by every man, woman
and child and those who feel convinced of the rightness of things, we
should make that choice to-night. So, citizens of Trichinopoly, you may
not wait for the whole of India but you can enforce the first step of
non-co-operation and begin your operations even from to-morrow, if you
have not done so already. You can surrender all your titles to-morrow
all the lawyers may surrender their practice to-morrow; those who cannot
sustain body and soul by any other means can be easily supported by the
Khilafat Committee, if they will give their whole time and attention to
the work of that Committee and if the layers will kindly do that, you
will find that there is no difficulty in settling your disputes by
private arbitration. You can nationalise your schools from to-morrow if
you have got the will and the determination. It is difficult, I know,
when only a few of you think these things. It is as easy as we are
sitting here when the whole of this vast audience is of one mind and as
it was easy for you to carry that chair so is it easy for you to enforce
this programme from to-morrow if you have one will, one determination
and love for your country, love for the honour of your country and
religion. (Loud and prolonged cheers.)