Mahatmaji’s reply

Lahore, Tuesday, November 18, 1924

EXCEPT on one point, the reply given by Mahatma Gandhi to the critics of the Calcutta agreement in an article in Young India is both satisfactory and convincing. He frankly admits that he made a surrender to Swarajists and that the agreement puts them on a par with No-changers. He justifies this surrender on four grounds, each one of which, in our opinion, is strong and all of which taken together make an absolutely conclusive case in favour of the agreement. In the first place, non-violence means, as it has a rule meant with the Mahatma, ‘the utmost accommodation compatible with one’s principles’. Undoubtedly, there have been a few exceptions to this rule, and one of these exceptions was when shortly after his release, the Mahatma announced his intention of bringing forward a proposal for the virtual exclusion of Swarajists from the Congress Executive. But the lapse was promptly regretted, and since then every step the Mahatma has taken has been dictated by a supreme regard for the wholesome rule. Secondly, if the non-cooperation programme is suspended, as the country has made it perfectly clear that it should be, and as the Mahatma himself feels sure that it must be, it follows that ‘the Swarajya party should have no odium attached to its activity’, and this can only be secured by putting them on a par with No-changers. Thirdly, ‘the compromise was inevitable if voting and all that it means was to be avoided’. It is all very well to say that the constitution of the Congress places it on a par with parliamentary bodies and that, therefore, like all similar bodies, it must recognise and accept the rule of the majority.