The Govt of India Act: India's March Towards Independence
In 1935, when the Govt of India Act was passed, Gandhi was not sure if the Congress should contest elections: “India is still a prison but the Superintendent allows the prisoners to elect the officials who run the jail.” Yet the electorate had been significantly expanded over previous agitations – 30 million Indian voters had access to the franchise.
India-wide elections were held and in 1937 the results were declared, which gave the lie to the long-held British notion that the Congress was simply one among many Indian factions. Congress led the polls in 9 out of 11 provinces. In 6, they obtained a clear majority (Bombay, UP, CP, Orissa, Madras, and Bihar).
In 1939, Gandhi faced a major challenge to his non-violent philosophy. Fascism was rearing its head and his advice remained consistent, but failed to answer the question no pacifist has ever answered satisfactorily: even if you are a saint what right do you have to demand it of others? "Perish unarmed in order that you would convert a dictator to a pacifist" was not working out. In July 1939, Gandhi wrote to Hitler begging him to spare mankind and in September, Germany invaded Poland.
Indians in War
The 1935 Government of India Act appeared to imply that provincial autonomy was a done deal, yet on September 3, 1939, Lord Linlithgow, Viceory of India declared war against Germany on behalf of India. He pitched more than 300 million Indians into the conflict without consulting anyone Indian, let alone their elected Indian representatives.
In response, Indian nationalists adopted a resolution asking for a constituent assembly and sharing of power with the British colonial state – they insisted that if the above were granted, they would support the war. However, all they got from the British were nebulous promises of "changes after the war". The working committees simply resigned, while Indian soldiers, as part of the Allied Forces, continued to be at war against Germany, without the consent of Indians.
Road-Block to Independence: An Obstinate Winston Churchill
Meanwhile, the Indian Viceroy Linlithgow sent off a secret memorandum to Parliament with Churchill now heading the government, saying that his aim was to crush nationalism in India. By the end of 1940, the Government of India Act and all efforts at securing Independence was rendered meaningless, as British tactics were back to the usual: rounding up suspects and putting them in jail. Nationalists who spoke out against India's involvement in Britain's war were beginning to be put in jail: Vinoba Bhave, Nehru, Patel, and a host of other now-famous Indian founding fathers.
Around this time, Subhas Bose, the fiery Bengali nationalist, all but disappeared from India. One fine day, Bose's colleagues were completely startled to hear him being introduced on Berlin radio. Bose was mercurial enough to pack his bags and join the Germans, they knew. But they still hoped that it was a trick; eventually, they conceded rather gloomily that it was indeed the voice of Bose.
In 1941, after Pearl Habor, when Roosevelt went to meet Churchill, the former brought up the question of Indian independence. Churchill exploded and the issue was not raised again. However, in 1942, Roosevelt and Marshal Chiang Kai Shek urged Britain to make a genuine offer. Convinced, Britain sent a man named Sir Stafford Cripps to India with an offer.
The offer was immediately dismissed. Gandhi heard the proposal and told Cripps to take the next flight home. The rejection of the Stafford Cripps plan was unanimous: the Muslim League, the Mahasabha, the Ambedkar group and even the Liberals all agreed that it was unworkable; it would shatter India into 564 separate countries. And Gandhi challenged the British with his simples phrase yet : orderly withdrawal which came to be known simply as Quit India.
"Quit India" and Kasturba Gandhi
But what about the war? Gandhi suggested that a bargain could be struck with western allies allowing their forces to use Indian territory for the duration. But beyond that, there would be no British presence in India. And the only path to such a position of bargaining power, Gandhi decided, was a full-scale satyagraha. By then, Gandhi was 72 years old.
In August 1942, the Quit India resolution was adopted, calling for the transfer of power and offered support for the war provided the terms set forth by Gandhi and the Congress were implemented. The government responded by arresting Gandhi. These were tough emotional years for Gandhi – within a few days of arriving at his palace prison, Mahadev Desai, a close friend, had a heart attack and died at the age of 50.
Kasturba, Gandhi's wife, friend, and confidant said “Bapu has lost his right hand and his left hand – both his hands has Bapu lost.” In 1943, Gandhi took up the issue of Kasturba’s education again – she struggled over the Gujarati script and in memorizing the names of rivers. She thought Lahore was the capital of Calcutta. She also played boardgames such as carom with Gandhi. She became adept at it, while he did not.
In December 1943, the wonderful old lady’s health started to flag. In February 1944, she called for her son, Harilal, albeit unsuccessfully. Later that month, she died with her head in Gandhi’s lap. One of his biographers tells us that as her breathing altered, Gandhi asked, “What is it?” She replied “I don’t know what it is” and died peacefully.
On the 23rd of February, 1944, she was cremated in a sari spun by her husband, as per her wishes. After the funeral, Gandhi returned and sat on his cot. “I cannot imagine life without her. Her passing has left a vacuum which will never be filled. We were a couple outside the ordinary – she became truly my better half.”
Sources:
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Beacon Press, 1993)
- Sugata Bose, Modern South Asia: History, Culture, and Political Economy (Routledge, 2003)
- Stephen Hay, Sources of Indian Tradition, Vol. 2: Modern India and Pakistan (Columbia University Press, 1988)
