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<strong>Our</strong> <strong>Bapu</strong><br />
killing and plundering the Hindus there. The frail old man immediately started<br />
for that place.<br />
He scorned all danger, and went about preaching his gospel of love from village<br />
to village. Often he had to journey on foot and sometimes he even walked<br />
barefoot. He lived and moved with the villagers of Noakhali. He ate with them<br />
and slept with them. He talked to people, and asked them to stop fighting each<br />
other and to return the plundered goods to their rightful owners. He called<br />
back those who had become homeless and put them again in their homes. He<br />
restored the displaced and the desolate to their friends, and strove in every<br />
way to bring order out of confusion.<br />
In Bihar-Preaching Love<br />
After Noakhali, trouble broke out in Bihar. The Hindus there burnt down entire<br />
villages in which Muslims lived; passions ran high and hatred was let loose once<br />
again. When <strong>Bapu</strong> heard all these he was full of grief and set out for Bihar at<br />
once. Again he preached his gospel of love and told the people that it was a sin<br />
to take anyone's life. Hindus and Muslims alike were the natives of the same<br />
country. They had lived together for generations and centuries, and , they had<br />
to live together. Why hate and kill each other, then? This was how he talked to<br />
them. In the beginning they did not pay heed to his words, but slowly and<br />
gradually, the small feeble voice of Truth touched their hearts; they began to<br />
realize that they were human beings and not beasts of prey. They vowed to<br />
keep the peace and cherish love and goodwill.<br />
In those unhappy days, <strong>Bapu</strong> worked continuously and feverishly. He forgot his<br />
food and his sleep; he was unmindful alike of freezing cold and scorching heat.<br />
He would wander barefoot in the villages of Noakhali or go from place to place<br />
in Bihar, bringing help to the distressed and peace to broken hearts. Not for a<br />
moment did he lose hope; not for a moment was his faith shaken. Trials and<br />
difficulties gave him more courage; suffering and hardship made him more<br />
gentle.<br />
www.mkgandhi.org Page 62
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