E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi – His Life & TimesChapter VIIIWinston S. Churchill VERSUS Mohandas K. GandhiTHE day the second World War started, England took India into the war byproclamation without consulting any Indians. India resented this additionalproof of foreign control. The next day, nevertheless, Gandhi boarded the firstDelhi train to Simla in response to a telegraphic summons from the Viceroy,Lord Linlithgow, to come to the summer capital. ‘We Do Not Want AnyUnderstanding’, the public at the station chanted as the Mahatma walked tothe train. It was his day of silence, so he smiled and departed.The Viceroy and the Mahatma discussed the nature of the coming hostilities,'and as I was picturing before him the House of Parliament and the WestminsterAbbey and their possible destruction, I broke down. I have becomedisconsolate. In the secret of my heart I am in perpetual quarrel with Cod thatHe should allow such things to go on'.Gandhi had a 'daily quarrel' with God; non-violence had failed; God had failed.But at the end of each quarrel, the Mahatma decided that 'neither God nor nonviolenceis impotent. Impotence is in men. I must try on without losing faith.'Gandhi blamed Hitler for the war. 'Rightly or wrongly, and "respective of whatthe other powers have done before under similar circumstances', he wrote inHarijan of September 16 1939, 'I have come to the conclusion that Herr Hitler isresponsible for the war. I do not judge his claim. It is highly probable that hisright to incorporate Danzig is beyond question if the Danzig Germans desire togive up their independent status. It may be that his claim to appropriate thePolish Corridor is a just claim. My complaint is that he will not let the claim beexamined by an independent tribunal.'Critics said he had talked 'sentimental twaddle' in the Simla interview with theViceroy. 'My sympathy for England and France,' Gandhi replied, 'is not the resultof momentary emotion or, in cruder language, of hysteria.' Equally, 'My wholewww.mkgandhi.org Page 395