Gandhiji’s bid to purge majority community’s hearts of hatred

The fast which he has now undertaken is less easy for the general public to understand; and in fact there are sections of them more particularly among the refugees, who do not sympathise with it and are in a sense antagonistic to it. (On 14 January 1948, some demonstrators at Birla House in Delhi where Gandhi was fasting had shouted “Let Gandhi die”. There were demonstrations in other parts of Delhi also against what was thought to be his policy of appeasement towards the Muslims. At some places, peace marches for communal harmony were attacked). Therein lies its significance and supreme courage.We are faced, particularly in East Punjab and Delhi, with the psychological problem created by the events of the last few months. These have created in the minds of people, not merely among the refugees but also among others, a bitterness, a sense of desperation and a desire for retaliation —in short, a serious spiritual malaise. This is wholly understandable but nonetheless extremely dangerous. We have all of us done our best to cure it but have not succeeded except only to a limited extent. The difficulties have been partly due to our inability to effectively tackle the problem of rehabilitation about which I shall write further in this letter, and partly to the continuing evidence of hostility and barbaric conduct towards the minorities in Pakistan. The result has been that sections of the Hindu community are not in tune with and do not understand Gandhiji’s approach to the Muslim problem in India. They resent his approach and think that it is somehow or other inimical to their own interests. And yet any person with vision can see that Gandhiji’s approach is not only morally correct, but is also essentially practical. Indeed, it is the only possible approach if we think in terms of the nation’s good, both from the short and long-distance points of view. Any other approach means perpetuating conflict and postponing all notions of national consolidation and progress.



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