Our Bapu - Mahatma Gandhi

Our Bapu
14. THE QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
"By now the prestige of the British Government had fallen very low and
Gandhiji ruled over the hearts of the millions of the millions of Indian men and
women. In fact, he was the uncrowned king of the country. In some provinces,
the Congress had even formed the government. The British did not approve of
such things, but they were helpless before the growing enthusiasm of the
masses.
The Congress Ministers had been in power only for a short time, when the
Second World War broke out. The British began to use our men and materials in
the war against Germany without even consulting our leaders. The people of
India felt deeply hurt and resented this fresh insult to our national dignity. On
Gandhiji's advice, the Congress governments in the provinces resigned, for
Gandhiji felt that there was not much sense in the Congress party continuing to
hold office when they were not consulted in a matter of the greatest
importance.
Bapu's letter to Hitler
Bapu remained at Sevagram, but he was in touch with all the events that were
happening in the world outside. He was aware of the misery and destruction
that wars caused, and so he wrote a letter to the German Dictator, Hitler,
saying, 'I do not generally regard anyone as my enemy; but today you and I
happen to be fighting a common foe, namely, the British. How wonderful it
would be if, like me, you too fought the enemy with the weapon of non-
violence. Violence could only bring immense ruin and misery to the whole
world. Should you like to know more about the principles of non-violence, there
is a soldier in your army who was with me in my Ashram for some time. He will
be able to tell you everything about the methods of non-violence. You alone
are now in a position to stop this ruinous and bloody war.' Gandhiji wanted to
send this letter to Hitler through the Viceroy of India, but the latter did not
www.mkgandhi.org Page 52