‘The Triple Stream’

...he that laboureth right for love of Me
Shall finally attain! But, if in this
Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure!

–The Song Celestial

AFTER RAJKOT

People everywhere are perplexed about the happenings in Rajkot. To voluntarily renounce the benefits of the Gwyer Award, and, further, to advise the people of Rajkot to come to terms with the Thakore Saheb and his Dewan, must have needed all the inner reserves of the spirit of Satyagraha on the part of its foremost apostle. No decision of Gandhiji’s since Chauri Chaura has so tried the faith of his followers and set them wondering where all this might lead. If the Princes and their Ministers must be conquered by love rather than through strife, there is nothing to prevent the same philosophy of love being applied to our relations with the agents of British Imperialism. If the demand for responsible government in the States can be pitched in a lower key, the opposition to Federation can also be relaxed. This inner light of Gandhiji may not, after all, be an unfailing guide. There is perhaps a grave danger in permitting the course of a huge political struggle to be swayed by considerations which have no apparent connection with politics as commonly conceived. If any leader other than Gandhiji had tendered this advice, it would have been his undoing. Such is the line of argument pursued by friends and foes alike.

But Gandhiji is a leader apart. To him the immediate objective, though important, is of little consequence when weighed against certain vital concepts. Success is not success unless it is achieved by means wholly in consonance with those concepts. And if Gandhiji, after intense introspection, and an intimate study of conditions in the States, advises the suspension of Satyagraha, it is because he feels that the Satyagraha practised is not undefiled by malice, anger, and violence. Even his own resort to it at Rajkot must have been tainted by some defect, for, otherwise, it would have won over Durbar Virawala without the need for intervention by the Paramount Power. When a unique weapon like Satyagraha is wielded by a nation on the advice of a leader who is guided at every stage by the inner voice, it is not open to those who seek his guidance to doubt the genuineness of his dependence on that voice. Ultimately, Gandhiji’s worth as a leader must be judged by the wide-spread allegiance which his doctrines of truth and non-violence have won in our age, and by the great strides which a dependent nation has taken towards freedom by practising those doctrines. In the case of Rajkot, the scrapping of the Gwyer Award has put Durbar Virawala on the defensive and cast on him the responsibility of conciliating the people. In other States, too, the statement of Gandhiji about his new technique is not interpreted by the men in power as a surrender but as an invitation to friendly and fruitful negotiations. With the Viceroy on one side urging the Princes to set their houses in order, and Gandhiji on the other giving them a clear field for action in consultation with their own people, the States are likely to enter on the path of progress without the bitterness born of internecine strife. Whether this view is too optimistic, events alone can show.

ANOTHER PITCHED BATTLE?

From Tripuri to Calcutta, and from Calcutta to Bombay, the fight within the Congress for control of the organisation continues unabated. Though the forces of the Left have little chance of success at the next meeting of the All India Congress Committee at Bombay, every attempt is being made to organise the Forward Bloc of Mr. Bose, the Royist League of Radical Congressmen, the Kisan Sabhas and other groups, with a view to offer battle to the present Congress Cabinet and challenge its right to lead the country. Mr. Bose feels that real unity can be achieved only through a consolidation of the Left elements and an immediate resumption of the struggle for independence. He hopes to unfold his programme before the end of this month; the programme will represent the maximum measure of agreement amongst those Congressmen who are dissatisfied with what is imagined to be a drift to tame constitutionalism and eventual compromise with British Imperialism. The chiefs of the Congress Socialist Party, however, are as lukewarm as before, for they do not foresee any accession of strength to their programme, which is a class-conscious drive towards a new social order. The attitude of Pandit Jawaharlal largely determines that of the C. S. P., and the Pandit is unable to call up any enthusiasm either for the present programme of the Rightist leaders or for the future programme of the Forward Bloc. He even smells a danger to democracy; Mr. Bose’s Bloc may become the handmaid of Fascism.

The immediate task before the Congress is that of purifying the organisation. A battle royal may be waged at Bombay over the proposed amendments to the Constitution. If the amendments are accepted, it will become difficult for self-seeking local bosses to swamp the executive bodies of the Congress or to influence the return of delegates, by large-scale enlistments on the eve of elections. This is a desirable end: so too is the elimination of rank communalists owing allegiance to anti-Congress bodies. But it is not so clear why persons belonging to "other" organisations should also be kept out. This has been viewed as an attempt to penalise large numbers of militant Leftists who hope some day to convert themselves into the majority.

THOSE STALWARTS

The stalwarts of an earlier generation are leaving us, but the memory of their great deeds abides. The latter part of the nineteenth century in Andhra was illumined by two personalities, Viresalingam and Venkataratnam, affectionately referred to as ‘Pantulu Garu’ and ‘Naidu Garu.’ Nearly every one of the present day leaders came under the influence of these high-souled fighters for righteousness. Sir R. Venkataratnam is almost the last of the Patriarchs. He was in the tradition of the ancient Rishis, and his disciples felt ennobled by his presence and teaching.

Virabhadra Rao, historian of Andhra, passed away last month, a few days prior to ‘Naidu Garu’. He dedicated his life to the study and interpretation of Andhra culture. His monumental ‘History of the Andhras,’ published thirty years ago, contributed to the awakening in Andhra, and laid the foundations for that movement of political and cultural integration, the fruits of which we have yet to garner.