Our Bapu - Mahatma Gandhi

Our Bapu
the supreme test of non-violence. And it turned out that people did defy the
laws all over the country and calmly faced the lathi charges. At one place in
the Uttar Pradesh, however, in the village of Chauri Chaura in the Gorakhpur
district, the mob forgot the lesson of non-violence and returned blow for blow
and set fire to a police outpost. Twenty-one policemen died as a result of the
fire. This incident completely upset Gandhiji, and he immediately called off
the movement. A freedom won through bloodshed or pain,' he said, 'was not
worth having at all. It was better to remain a slave than take to such violent
means. And yet I know that the mistake is mine. The country has not yet learnt
the lesson of non-violence properly. Unless people learn the true meaning of
the creed of nonviolence, they will not be ready to offer satyagraha. Truth,
patience, meekness, understanding and love for the enemy are most necessary
for satyagraha.'
Gandhiji is arrested
To admit his mistake and the mistake of his countrymen was not enough for
Gandhiji. He sought to do further penance by observing a five-day fast. He
returned to the Sabarmati Ashram from where he meant to preach his gospel of
non-violence throughout India. But he had hardly been in Sabarmati four days
when the Government arrested him. He was sentenced to imprisonment for six
years. In his absence, Kasturbai sent his message to the country, asking
everyone to give up foreign clothes and wear Swadeshi instead, to spin, to
abolish untouchability and to work for the uplift of the country.
Life in jail had many hardships, but Gandhiji bore them all cheerfully. He would
read the Gita in the morning and the Koran 27 in the afternoon, and in the
evening he would read the Bible with a Chinese Christian. He also spun
regularly, and in his spare time he would learn to read and write Urdu and
Tamil.
Though Gandhiji was in prison, he continued to live in our hearts and to lead
us. He had not been in jail quite two years when he fell seriously ill. The news
of his illness caused great anxiety, all over the country. For six months he
remained ill inside the jail, and when the Government saw that there was no
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