Ruskin’s book thus paraphrased has a lesson for Indians no less
than for
the Englishmen to whom it was primarily addressed. New ideas are
in
the air in India. Our young men who have received Western
education
are full of spirit. This spirit should be directed into the right
channels, as
otherwise it can only do us harm. ‘Let us have Swaraj’ is one
slogan; ‘Let
us industrialize the country’ is another.
But we hardly understand what Swaraj is. Natal for instance enjoys
Swaraj but her Swaraj stinks in our nostrils, for she crushes the
negroes,
and oppresses the Indians. If by some chance the negroes and the
Indians left Natal, its white men would fight among themselves and
bring about their own destruction.
If not like Natal’s will we have Swaraj as in the Transvaal one of
whose
leaders, General Smuts, breaks his promises, says one thing and
does
another? He has dispensed with the services of English policemen
and
employed Afrikanders instead. I do not think that this is going to
help
any of the nationalities in the long run. Selfish men will loot
their own
people, when there are no more ‘outsiders’ left to be looted.
Thus Swaraj is not enough to make a nation happy. What would be
the
result of Swaraj being conferred on a band of robbers? They would
be
happy only if they were placed under the control of a good man who
was not a robber himself. The United States, England and France
for
instance are powerful States, but there is no reason to think that
they are
really happy.
Swaraj really means self-control. Only he is capable of
self-control who
observes the rules of morality, does not cheat or give up truth,
and does
his duty to his parents, wife and children, servants and
neighbours. Such
a man is in enjoyment of Swaraj, no matter where he lives. A state
enjoys
Swaraj if it can boast of a large number of such good citizens.
It is not right that one people should rule another. British rule
in India
28 / M. K. Gandhi
is an evil, but let us not run away with the idea that all will be
well when
the British quit India.
The existence of British rule in the country is due to our
disunity,
immorality and ignorance. If these national defects were overcome,
not
only would the British leave India without a shot being fired but
we
would be enjoying real Swaraj.
Some foolish Indians rejoice in bomb-throwing, but if all the
Britishers
in the country were thus killed, the killers would become the
rulers of
India who would only have a change of masters. The bomb now thrown
at Englishmen will be aimed at Indians after the English are there
no
longer. It was a Frenchman who murdered the President of the
French
Republic. It was an American who murdered President Cleveland. Let
us
not blindly imitate Western people.
If Swaraj cannot be attained by the sin of killing Englishmen, it
cannot
be attained either by the erection of huge factories. Gold and
silver may
be accumulated but they will not lead to the establishment of
Swaraj.
Ruskin has proved this to the hilt. Western civilization is a mere
baby, a
hundred or only fifty years old. And yet it has reduced Europe to
a sorry
plight. Let us pray that India is saved from the fate that has
overtaken
Europe, where the nations are poised for an attack on one another,
and
are silent only because of the stockpiling of armaments. Some day
there
will be an explosion, and then Europe will be a veritable hell on
earth.
Non-white races are looked upon as legitimate prey by every
European
state. What else can we expect where covetousness is the ruling
passion
in the breasts of men? Europeans pounce upon new territories like
crows
upon a piece of meat. I am inclined to think that this is due to
their massproduction
factories.
India must indeed have Swaraj but she must have it by righteous
methods. Our Swaraj must be real Swaraj, which cannot be attained
by
either violence or industrialization. India was once a golden
land,
because Indians then had hearts of gold. The land is still the
same but it
is a desert because we are corrupt. It can become a land of gold
again
only if the base metal of our present national character is
transmuted
into gold. The philosopher’s stone which can effect this1 transformation
Unto This Last: A Paraphrase / 29
is a little word of two syllables – Satya (Truth). If every Indian sticks to
truth, Swaraj will come to us of its own accord.
1 ‘Institutions,’ says Herbert
Spencer, ‘are dependent on character; and
however changed in their superficial aspects, cannot be changed in
their
essential natures faster than character changes.’ V.G.D.
ምንም አስተያየቶች የሉም:
አስተያየት ይለጥፉ