The largest and the most important Congress ever held has come and gone,
It was the biggest demonstration ever held against the present system of
Government. The President uttered the whole truth when he said that it
was a Congress in which, instead of the President and the leaders
driving the people, the people drove him and the latter. It was clear to
every one on the platform that the people had taken the reins in their
own hands. The platform would gladly have moved at a slower pace.
The Congress gave one day to a full discussion of the creed and voted
solidly for it with but two dissentients after two nights' sleep over
the discussion. It gave one day to a discussion of non-co-operation
resolution and voted for it with unparalleled enthusiasm. It gave the
last day to listening to the whole of the remaining thirty-two Articles
of the Constitution which were read and translated word for word by
Maulana Mahomed Ali in a loud and clear voice. It showed that it was
intelligently following the reading of it, for there was dissent when
Article Eight was reached. It referred to non-interference by the
Congress in the internal affairs of the Native States. The Congress
would not have passed the proviso if it had meant that it could even
voice the feelings of the people residing in the territories ruled by
the princes. Happily it resolution suggesting the advisability of
establishing Responsible Government in their territories enabled me to
illustrate to the audience that the proviso did not preclude the
Congress from ventilating the grievances and aspirations of the subjects
of these states, whilst it clearly prevented the Congress from taking
any executive action in connection with them; as for instance holding a
hostile demonstration in the Native States against any action of theirs.
The Congress claims to dictate to the Government but it cannot do so by
the very nature of its constitution in respect of the Native States.
Thus the Congress has taken three important steps after the greatest
deliberation. It has expressed its determination in the clearest
possible terms to attain complete null-government, if possible still in
association with the British people, but even without, if necessary. It
proposes to do so only by means that are honourable and non-violent. It
has introduced fundamental changes in the constitution regulating its
activities and has performed an act of self-denial in voluntarily
restricting the number of delegates to one for every fifty thousand of
the population of India and has insisted upon the delegates being the
real representatives of those who want to take any part in the political
life of the country. And with a view to ensuring the representation of
all political parties it has accepted the principle of "single
transferable vote." It has reaffirmed the non-co-operation resolution of
the Special Session and amplified it in every respect. It has emphasised
the necessity of non-violence and laid down that the attainment of
Swaraj is conditional upon the complete harmony between the component
parts of India, and has therefore inculcated Hindu-Muslim unity. The
Hindu delegates have called upon their leaders to settle disputes
between Brahmins and non-Brahmins and have urged upon the religious
heads the necessity of getting rid of the poison of untouchability. The
Congress has told the parents of school-going children, and the lawyers
that they have not responded sufficiently to the call of the nation and
and that they must make greater effort in doing so. It therefore follows
that the lawyers who do not respond quickly to the call for suspension
and the parents who persist in keeping their children in Government and
aided institutions must find themselves dropping out from the public
life of the country. The country calls upon every man and woman in India
to do their full share. But of the details of the non-co-operation
resolution I must write later.