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<strong>Our</strong> <strong>Bapu</strong><br />
allow it. Had the Viceroy consented, and had Hitler listened to <strong>Mahatma</strong>ji's<br />
advice, the world would have been saved all the havoc and destruction that<br />
followed. But England and Germany were both drunk with power and they could<br />
only go headlong towards disaster.<br />
Appeal for freedom<br />
At the same time, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji made repeated attempts to persuade the British to<br />
transfer power to Indians in a peaceful way. But all his efforts were in vain.<br />
Had he wished, he could have asked the whole nation to fight the Government.<br />
But the apostle of nonviolence could never do so; he was not prepared to win<br />
freedom by bloodshed and violence. And yet the fight against the British had to<br />
be kept up somehow. He felt that satyagraha on a mass scale was not proper.<br />
And so he thought of a new method, that of Individual Satyagraha. He decided<br />
to select a few well-tried companions, who had thoroughly understood and<br />
practiced the principles of non-violence, and these were to offer satyagraha,<br />
one by one. The first person chosen for the offer was Shri Vinoba Bhave. He was<br />
immediately arrested, and after him hundreds of patriots, who were only<br />
waiting patiently for their turn. Overnight all the leaders were arrested.<br />
Jawaharlal Nehru was sentenced to imprisonment. But the country was seething<br />
with unrest and the government found it impossible to crush the rising urge for<br />
freedom. Very soon they had to release all those whom they had put in jail.<br />
The fighting in Europe was at its height, when news came that Japan had<br />
joined the war against the Allies and led an attack against America. Japan had<br />
also advanced towards India and occupied Rangoon. The enemy was at our<br />
door. There was widespread anxiety all over the country, and people were<br />
wondering what would come next.<br />
Some thought that India would be attacked in the war between Japan and<br />
America. Some even wished that the Japanese would cross over to India and<br />
drive away British. People were impatient break their chains of bondage.<br />
Seeing such widespread unrest in India, the British government in England<br />
decided to send out Sir Stafford Cripps to India, so that could bring about some<br />
www.mkgandhi.org Page 53
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