Mahatma Gandhi in Defense of Violence

It is believed that Mahatama Gandhi was completely opposed to violence as a principle. However the following excerpts from Mahadevbhai's diary will show that under certain circumstances, Gandhiji found violent means of struggle necessary:

Excerpts from Mahadevbhai Desai’s Diary- Volume No 4, 13-Nov-1917 to 17-Jan-1919:

Page 139: (Mahadevbhai): “Lashkar bharti [military recruitment] is the only topic being discussed with all those who are coming to meet these days. The main points of Lakshar bharti are:”

(Gandhiji): "…If we help England in this war then instead of England ruling over us we will have an upper hand over England. There is a need for us to get military training…those who wish to learn weapon craft and those who want to learn to hurt/kill, to them I can teach even violence. Those who do not know how to die without killing should learn to kill and then die…’

Page 141-154: Date 6-7-1918:  (Mahadevbhai): “To answer a question raised by Andrews that how can a believer of non-violence advice violence, Bapu had written a letter [Excerpts]:”

(Gandhiji): “…What responsibility do I have towards those who are not opposed to violence but are not ready to fight due to cowardice or due to the dislike of the English? I should not tell them that ‘If you follow my path it is very good but if you do not follow my path then you should give up your cowardice or dislike whatever it may be and fight’? You cannot teach non violence to a person who does not have the strength to kill/hurt… 

 “…you say that ‘Hindi as a race had given up violence in the past with full knowledge and chose to stand in the favor of humanity.’ Is this historically true? I do not see any of this at all in either Ramanaya or Mahabharata or... Right now I am not thinking of the spiritual aspects of these epics. Divine men have been shown in them as blood thirsty, revengeful, and merciless towards enemies…the narrative of wars in these epics are not any less grandeur then those of today…in the first prayer written by Tulsidas to be sung in the praise of Lord Rama, he has given uppermost place to his ability to destroy the enemies…Take the Musalman period after that. In that period, the Hindus were no less eager than the Musalmans to fight. Only, they were not organized. They had become weak in body and had degenerated due to internal fights. You attribute sacrifice as the quality of this race but there is no such sacrifice recommended in Manusmruti…if one thinks of the principle of compassion towards all the five elements as per Buddhism, then it has failed completely. If folklore is to be believed then the great Shankracharya in order to drive away Buddhism from India had not hesitated to adopt indescribable cruelty. And he succeeded! Take the British era thereafter. Subjects have been compulsorily disarmed but the desire to kill has not gone away at all from the heart.    This principle of the Jains has also failed totally…I mean to say that Jains would be as happy as any other people on this earth to see the destruction of enemies…At the most it can be said of Hindustan that here many individuals compared to other countries have done more efforts to popularise the principle of nonviolence with more success. But based on this there is no need to opine that the principle of nonviolence have deep roots among the people…

 “I do not agree with you that Hindustan can drive away number of armies descending from the west, east, north or south based on its moral/ethical values alone…

“…when I call upon every Hindi to join the army, I continuously tell him that the reason for joining the army is not to quench the thirst for blood but to become fearless…

“…The meaning of all this is that in exceptional circumstances as a necessary evil, refuge/shelter can be taken in war …if the motive is pure then war can also be turned for the good of mankind…Love, Mohan”

Page 153-154: Mahadevbhai: “In a letter to Hanmantrao” [excerpts]:

(Gandhiji): “…I know that friends are unhappy with my work of military recruitment drive for both political as well as religious reasons. But I know that both types of my friends are making a mistake of criticizing my work… In following the principle of non violence and having failed to teach non violence to people, I have come to discover that there is no violence in every type of killing, many a times in order to follow nonviolence, it is necessary to kill/hurt. As a nation we have lost the ability to kill/hurt. It is clear that those who have lost the ability to kill/hurt cannot practice nonviolence. Supreme sacrifice lies in nonviolence. Subjects who have become weak and bayli [feminine] cannot adhere to this great practice of this sacrifice. As we cannot say of a mouse that it has sacrificed its power to kill a cat… Though it may sound terrible but it is true that we must make conscious efforts for a long time and get our strength back…In the the case of dacoits too an organized protest and an organized carnage/bloodshed is possible…I strongly believe that our children should be taught the art of self-defense. It is becoming more and more clear to me that if we will not regain the strength of self - defense, then we will remain useless for Swaraj for generations..Servant, M.K.Gandhi”

Page 156: (Mahadevbhai): “To Dr Mehta 22-7-18”:

(Gandhiji):“Thought a lot before undertaking the task of military recruitment, and decided that this is the biggest responsibility…it is the work of bringing life into the dead. And yet it is necessary to try. It seems people are getting great training out of this work…”

Page 157: (Mahadevbhai): “To Mrs Polak”:

(Gandhiji):“…I believe that two things can be achieved through our [military] recruitment. We will become brave, we will learn to use weapons a little, and by becoming partners of whom we want, we will be able to prove our ability more by helping them a little …your well-wisher Mohandas Gandhi. ”

Page 180 :( Mahadevbhai) “Telegram to Surendranath Banerjee. 10-8-’18:”

(Gandhiji): “Dear Brother Banerjee,

Right now I am engaged with the work of army recruitment here…coming to Calcutta means six days will be gone in just back and forth of travel. If I want to do my work with satisfaction then to remain absent for such a long time is not possible for me… Because just now I have got news from the Government that they have accepted my request to open an army training centre and form an army team [unit] in Gujarat. You will agree that I cannot give up this work…In this matter I hold what may seem very strong and queer thoughts, with which most of the leaders may not agree. I believe strongly that by giving up all other work for military recruitment then if not earlier, in one year we will get a fully responsible Government…Servant M.K.Gandhi”

Page 191: (Gandhiji): “Dear Samarth, …I feel that at this time leaders should keep aside all other activities and should put all their efforts in the work of military recruitment …Servant M.K.Gandhi”

Page 242-246: (Gandhiji): “Appeal for recruitment in the Army. Leaflet first. Brothers and Sisters of Kheda District…

“…Government does not give us commission in the army, it does not withdraw the law concerning possession of weapons, it does not open centres for military training; then how can we help? Objections are valid.

“... Government is making a big mistake in not rectifying this. The English people have done many good deeds. God may bless them for it. But in the name of English people, the disarmament of Hindustan by the English officers is a grave sin and if the English officer class does not get warned in time  then they will wash away all their righteous deeds. God forbid if Hindustan is wounded and it becomes subordinate to some other people, then the curse of the Hindi people will be inflicted on the English people so badly that…

“…If the Government by not giving or delaying the giving of commission in order to stop us from enrolling in the army or in any other way is stopping us from being of help- even then it is my firm belief that it is absolutely necessary for us to enroll in the army.

“…The Government needs five lakh people for the army. Government will get such kind of people anyhow. If we give this many people, we will get credit…many times recruiting agents are taking people it is heard, that also can be avoided. It is not any less powerful if we get the entire work of recruitment…

“…Kheda district has 600 villages. Every village has a population of over a thousand. If every village gives a minimum of 20 people, then Kheda district will give an army of 12000 people… Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nadiad 22-6-’18.”

Page:247-249: (Gandhiji): “Military Recruitment Appeal. Second Leaflet:

“It is a month since writing the first appeal. In this period I and associates working with me have gained a lot of experience.  Meetings were held at Nadiad, Karamsad, Ras, Kathlal, Jambusar, etc...

“…Hardly 100 people might have enrolled. When I think of this number against the month, it seems very small…

“…By enrolling in the army we will learn to use weapons, we will derive national fervor, and we will become capable of protecting our villages…Your servant forever Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.”

(Translated from Gujarati by me)

End

  

Dams and downstream impacts

The tragic deaths of 24 young students in Himachal Pradesh due to sudden release of waters from Larji Hydro Power Project on the river Beas reminds us once again of a similar tragedy at Dharaji on the banks of river Narmada in Madhya Pradesh in the year 2005. While official figures say fifty seven people died due to sudden release of waters from the upstream Narmada Sagar dam, the unofficial estimate is that over a hundred people died. 

While these are very grave, one time, less frequent dam disasters, there are other downstream impacts of dams which are rather permanent, having far reaching consequences, resulting into great hardships for the people living in the downstream of the dams. Many people’s movements have been bringing to light the multiple adverse impacts dams have on the downstream ecology of the river and its people.

One such struggle that had effectively raised these issues was the movement in the downstream of Dantiwada and Sipu dams  in North Gujarat lead by a senior Gandhian Shri Chunibhai Vaidya. [ Dantiwada dam is on the Banas river in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. Sipu river is the main right bank triburtary of Banas and Sipu dam is on this river.] Though this struggle was one of the pioneering struggles in the country to have brought to light the serious impacts that dams have on the downstream ecology and its people, not much is known about it. 

Dantiwada Dam. Photo: NWRWSKD, Govt of Gujarat.

Excerpts from the following document of Gujarat Loksamiti (translated here from Gujarati by me), the organization leading the struggle, will bring to light some important issues concerning downstream impacts of dams and riparian rights:  

Gujarat Loksamiti

                                                                                                      

                                                                                      Date-18-9-1989

" When the delegation of Gujarat Loksamiti and allied organizations met with the Chief Minister Shri Amarsingh Choudhary, Minister of Water Resource Shri Vijaydas Mahant and other officials on 18-9-1989, Monday; along with the points given the following detailed note was attached:

Subject:

 1.     The issue of releasing waters from Dantiwada Dam. 

 2.     Stop the construction of Sipu dam.

The CM has himself admitted several times that riparian rights is not only a law of Gujarat, or the Country but it is an international law and accordingly the people of the downstream should be supplied water…in order that silt also flows along with the water till the month of September, water shall not be stopped. 

This issue is accepted by the task manager of the World Bank…Chairman of the Central Water Commission…and member Planning Commission…

Four days ago, we had gone to the village Gulabpura in Radhanpur Taluka at ten o’clock in the night. There we saw women going to fill one pot of water at that time of the night which took 3-4 hours to fill …there are villages there which drink water from ponds having both human and animal excreta. There are such villages also that drink hard/salty water harmful to health. And the villages that never had any water problems have been declared no source and they do not get water even 2-4 days in a week from a pipeline that has been provided for water to them. Sights of four hundred women struggling to fill water from just four taps…is common. 

It is our claim that this is all as a result of Dantiwada [Dam]. There was no such issue before Dantiwada. Dantiwada is the cause of this plight.

 1.  As per riparian rights it is the people of downstream who have the first right over the waters of Dantiwada. The CM has agreed that the water should flow freely till the month of September. The past twenty five years of experience makes it clear that those who have built the dam have by mistake made it so big that it is never going to get filled and water is never going to flow for those who live in the downstream. Considering it to be the first right of those living in the downstream, the waters should be released at 530 feet. By doing so, even silt will flow down with the water and the rate of silting of the dam too will be slow.

2.    The project report of Danditwada clearly states that the downstream people will have uninterrupted flow of Sipu. This promise given in writing with all seriousness has been completely disregarded and Sipu dam is being built. This work is not moral. Even if 50 crores have been spent, another 50 crores are yet to be spent. Why is the Government in a hurry to spend hundred crores and invite destruction of the downstream? It is necessary to seriously think about stopping the work of the Sipu dam today.

3. The argument that there is a catchment of 944 square miles below the dam is a completely misguiding argument ...Even this year the river flow lasted only for 4-5 days…Today also everyone can see that the river is completely dry.

4.   ...You have said many times that the dam waters will be released. The project report of Dantiwada also states that waters will be released for the downstream. But not once in these many years this has been done…

5.     There was a saying on the banks of Kakrej as well as in the villages far away that ‘…pick up mud and you will find water…’One could get water at 7-8-10 and 15 feet…this is why people preferred to have wells in every field. There were thousands of such wells…as per the Chairman of Janta Bank…, about six thousand wells were built with concrete frame. Today not a single well has water. Nearly 10-15 thousand fields have no water for irrigation from these wells today. Crores worth of potatoes grew at Kakrej, thousands of labor from outside got employment here, the river bed was auctioned for potato cultivation and farmers earned lakhs of rupees. All this was finished after the building of Dantiwada dam. Where water was available at 7-8-10-15 feet, the water table has gone down to 400-500 to 800-900 feet. Usage of electricity for this is a big issue today. This was not an issue at all before Dantiwada. What did we achieve after having spent so much is an issue today? For Umbri-Shihori water pipeline, seven wells have been dug in the river bed…Due to this water table is falling. Water was available at 8 meters, today it has gone down to 35 meters. And this is because the Sipu dam is not yet built and the river is still flowing. If Sipu dam will be built, even this pipeline will go dry. Then we will have to run to provide water through tankers. After snatching away the river and drying the pipeline, we are fast moving in the direction of providing water through tankers.

6.     About two lakh acres in the downstream before Dantiwada received silt…if the Government wishes; it can establish an investigation committee to check this…Gujarat Loksamiti and its supporting organizations should be part of such a committee…

7.     We also want to raise one another issue of importance, what is the income against the expenditure done…on the building of the Dantiwada dam, its maintenance...interest on capital invested...salary of staff...etc. Also place the revenue before it...you will see the damage done to national production ...  

8.     The suggestions that we have made are creative and such that will prove helpful to the Government…

Signed by:

Raju Purohit.                                    Ilaben Pathak                 Chunibhai Vaidya         

Convener,                                         Secretary,                       President,

Banaskatha District Loksamiti             Ahmedabad Women’s   Gujarat Loksamiti.

Action Group

END 

(Translated from Gujarati by me)

Strategies adopted in the Mulshi Satyagraha.

Narmada Bachao Andolan - Save the Narmada movement (NBA), against the Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada in India is one of the most known anti dam struggles today. One of the reasons why NBA became so known is the many distinctive strategies it adopted like-‘Dubenge par hatenge nahi' (we shall drown but not move), 
'Jalsamarpan' (sacrifice by drowning), so on and so forth. 

It is interesting to know that many diverse strategies were adopted nearly a hundred years ago in the movement against Mulshi dam in Pune district of Maharashtra also. Some excerpts from the book “Mulshi Satyagrha”, by Rajendra Vohra throw light on these strategies:

Decision to not leave one's land: 

“…the work of the foundation of the dam was on… one section [of the people in the submergence area] felt that it would be good to get maximum compensation through threats and the other section did not want any compensation at all but to fight till the end…two such sections were emerging slowly. The declaration of the second section was ‘life or land’…

Occupying the site of the Dam:

“To the North of the river Mula, a canopy was erected to house one thousand to two thousand satyagrahis. Maharashtra’s orange flag was hoisted over the canopy…the satyagraha (insistence for truth) was preplanned. How should the satyagraha be, who should participate, and where should it be held, was all very well planned in advance…Bhuskute, Senapati Bapat, Ranade were leaders of different batches of satyagrahis…at the confluence of the river, the work of laying the foundation of the dam was going on. There, the president of the satyagraha mandal, Karandikar, reached with his batch. Just before sunrise, the people of Maval as well as the volunteers blocked the place where the digging work for the foundation and the work of the foundation was going on in the river bed …the officers of the company ordered the labor to begin work. The labor force came with stones and lime for construction but it was not possible to lay the stones anywhere. Because the entire area was full with the people of Maval... 

Stopping material from reaching the dam site:

“It was decided to start a satyagraha to stop the work of the Tata Company at different places. It was decided to try and stop the supply of material to the company …

“Tata Company stopped the work of the dam for six months. However for the work of the dam, transport between Paud and Mulshi by a railway was to be started…the people of Sheregaon objected to the laying of  railway through their lands…therefore the company began the work of lying the railway over the public road itself…as a solution to this, Bapat decided to remove the railway line near Chinchwad…he convinced the senior people of villages like Sheregaon, Paud, etc and gave a notice to the company and the district authorities that if the company did not stop the work of laying the line then the railway line from anywhere  between Paud to Chinchwad would be removed…on 15^th June about 20-30 farmers sat on a satyagraha on the railway line between Chinchwad and Mulshi…75 more labor were called and the satyagrahis were forcibly removed…when the train started, many satyagrahis tried to sleep under the wheels, however they too were forcibly removed to one side. That is when stone throwing started and 5-6 labor were hurt…

Breaking section 144:

“Satyagraha started on the 1^st of May… as per Kesri’s (Newspaper) estimate around 500 people of Maval and 250 volunteers had assembled…...Senapati Bapat was leading the satyagraha... The labor force started work by cordoning the area ...when the satyagrahis broke the cordon to enter, the labor force started beating them up shouting slogans like ‘Kolhapur Maharaj Ki Jai’...next day the company goons beat up the volunteers mercilessly. The women of Maval were insulted...they were pulled by their hair, mud was thrown at them...in the afternoon about 100 men and women shouted ‘Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai’ and marched towards the stayagraha site...many of them were beaten up by the labor to the extent that they fainted...a special court was established at the dam colony itself where the proceedings against those who were arrested as part of the satyagraha campaign for the violation of section 144 was undertaken...

Jalsamrpan/ Jalsamadhi:

“When Senapati was released from jail, the three year time limit set by Mulshi Parishad had ended; in fact, it was six months over the time line given. Therefore the conditions of the Samsatyagraha was no longer binding. He (Senapati Bapat) took an independent decision and on 6 November 1924, he published a leaflet titled Mulshi’s “Partial Pause”. He gave full thought to the subject and than published a leaflet Mulshi’s “Full stop”. He said that from the next day onwards I would proceed to live in the Mulshi Peta, and when the main deity of that area Lord Jyotirupeshwar will face jalsamadi (drown), at that time I will also undertake jalsamadhi..., In the leaflet, he took the oath of pure satyagraha, where he believes violence as secondary... 

Violent Struggle: 

“In this way though the satyagraha that had lasted for three and a half years was over, as per the views of Senapati, its full stop was yet to happen and that was to happen through his pure satyagraha…Satyagraha Mandal had been dissolved. Meaning collective satyagraha, non violent satyagraha- was over. Senapati opened a new satyagraha office at his home itself and gave a call for volunteers. This appeal was to undertake violent struggle. He received very little response. Five volunteers came forward…Bhuskute did not have faith in Senapati’s pure satyagraha (violent struggle)…Balvant Gore had participated in Samsatyagraha earlier and he was also punished for that…For Mulshi’s ‘Full Stop’, he purchased sword and pistol from Hyderabad…Atmaram Modak had come to Pune in 1921-22 and had become a part of Mulshi Satyagraha…He had faith in Senapati’s  armed satyagraha…

“9^th December was decided as the date of Satyagraha. That day morning, stones were laid on the railway line to stop the railway. After some time the train carrying labor from Chinchwad arrived…when the train halted, the laborers got down to remove the stones from the track and the satyagrahis injured the laborers with swords and Senapati fired a bullet into the leg of the driver…later as decided earlier, Senapati and …his four coworkers, surrendered at the police station in Paud… they were imprisoned for six months during the time of investigation…Bapat’s statement was taken on 9^th February. He explained the difference between Samsatyagraha and Pure Satryagraha and also submitted that the main feature of this satyagraha was merely to punish the body and not cause death…

"In the last week of March, the proceedings were conducted before the Sessions Judge Dunlop, which ended on 28^th March. Bapat made it clear that we had no intention to kill. If I had wanted to kill, I have taken military training at Edinburgh. I could have easily done that… Jury gave a verdict that only the case of possession of arms by the satyagrahis can be proved…they are free of all other charges. But the Judge did not accept this verdict and the papers of the case were sent to the high court. S. R Gokhale was the lawyer of Senapati Bapat. Gokhale explained the features of pure satyagraha to Justice Mirza and Justice Parsivel. The main objective of pure satyagraha is truth and duty…there are two aspects to this, one is punishment to body and two, punishment by death. Bapat accepted the first. There is no political objective behind Mulshi satyagraha. Tata Company is submerging the area. Every single resident of Maval is deeply attached to this area. The way in which every English is attached to the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar square, every Maharashtrian loves this area. These arguments had no impact on the court…

"The court gave its ruling on 12^th June. Senapati was sentenced with seven years, Gore with five years; Bhambhle, Modek and Kukde with three years and Dev with one year of rigorous imprisonment…

(Translated from Marathi by me)