Our Bapu - Mahatma Gandhi

Our Bapu
kind of settlement between the two countries. A ray of hope seemed to come
out of the darkness, and people in India began to think that freedom was at
hand. But once again our hopes were dashed to the ground. The proposals
which Cripps brought with him were not acceptable to our leaders :the British
were not prepared to give what we really wanted. And so Cripps went back to
England, having achieved nothing, and Gandhiji and the other leaders decided
that India could not give the British help in the war, unless she is first given
freedom.
Bapu saw that the European war as well as the war with Japan was ruining our
country. The youth and the wealth of the country were being sacrificed, against
our wishes, for the sake of a foreign nation. His heart was sick and he wanted
to do something. He called all the leaders together and explained to them that,
as long as the British remained in India, they would continue to suck her blood
and to exploit her. It was necessary to make a desperate and united effort to
drive them out of India.
But the fight must remain peaceful and non-violent. If freedom was achieved
through violence and bloodshed, it was not worth having at all. Let us ask the
British with one voice, 'Quit India! Quit India!' The moment Gandhiji gave the
call, the four hundred millions of India took up the slogan 'Britishers, quit India!
Britishers, quit India !' This slogan stared the British in the face wherever they
went. It was written on the walls, the door-posts, the streets, and even on the
office tables where they worked. For the first time they began to realize that
the time had come when they must really quit India.
At the same time Gandhiji wrote a letter to the Viceroy saying that if India was
given freedom, she would willingly help in the war-effort. But if the British
even now refused to give India her freedom, she would be driven to fight for
that freedom to the very last man. It would be a desperate and a bitter
struggle, but it would be fought on the principles of non-violence."
"What reply did the Viceroy give to Gandhiji's letter?" asked Hari.
"Instead of replying to that letter,'' continued the mother, "he only arrested our
leaders and shut them up in jails. Bapu and Kasturbai were taken to the Aga
www.mkgandhi.org Page 54