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Narsinhbhai's Challenge
Though I was not even a member of the Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh*, quite often the Managing Committee of the Sangh and also its General Meeting were held in my house at Nadiad.** They held no constraint in holding important meetings in the house of one who held no position in the Sangh. I remember gratefully the warm feelings they thus expressed for me.
At one such meeting "Nityayuvan" Narsinhbhai*** graced the occasion with his presence. At first he quietly watched the proceedings of the meeting. For our part, we discussed the resolutions on the agenda and passed them. When the business of the meeting was over, Narsinhbhai began his address to us. He said, "Untouchability can never be removed by the gentle methods you are following. We should give to harijans aggressive programs of satyagraha (non-violent fight for truth) against Caste-Hindus. Harijans should be instigated to bathe and wash their clothes in public ponds, to draw water from public wells, to enter Hindu temples for worshipping the deities, and thus to rise in revolt against the bans and social stigmas under which they have been suffering. A terrific commotion should thus be raised, in order to open the eyes of Caste-Hindus to the injustices they perpetrate against them. The present methods of your Sangh (Harijan Sevak Sangh) of founding separate ashrams, giving scholarships to students, and digging separate wells in Harijan localities seem to me to be ways of perpetuating, instead of removing, untouchability. And you, full-blooded young men that you are, have enclosed yourselves in schoolrooms to teach the three R's to children! That is worthless." These were in effect the words he said. There was no doubt that, owing to his intense sympathy for Harijans, he had spoken from the very depth of his heart.
*The rule
for membership required that one bind oneself to three years' service in the
Sangh.
* * See footnote on page 215
*** "Nityayuvan" = ever young. This was the popular title given
to Shree Narsinhbhai for his courageous sufferings as a revolutionary fighter
for India's freedom. Without permission he dared to give to the Viceroy himself
the bill of costs for items under his charge, for an entertainment given to
him (Viceroy) by the ruler of Baroda State. Narsinhbhai also published a spurious
pamphlet titled "Herbal Medicines/" Inside he showed the ingredients
and method to make a bomb! He had to flee from India and live for many years
in exile.
Mahatma Gandhi's View
While Narsinhbhai burst out in this manner, I remembered that we were doing constructive work under the advice and guidance of Mahatma Gandhi in his Sabarmati Ashram. At that meeting Mahatma Gandhi had specifically suggested to the workers to stick to the constructive program. He had asked them to make it a pint to meet and mix with Harijans and create a feeling of oneness in their hearts for them. They should also exert themselves to remove, without any fuss, any genuine complaint about harijans or their actual harassment by Hindu society in place, help them in such other distressing situations and in reviving their village-industries (weaving, tanning, etc.).
Challenge Accepted
Though I knew all these things quite well, I decided immediately to accept Narsinhbhai's challenges, resign from the Harijan Sangh, go to him and plunge into the satyagraha program as advocated by him. I told you clearly what had seized my mind and what my resolve was on the matter. You also enthusiastically expressed your readiness to join me and accept the challenge. Oh, how many were the responsibilities I had to discharge at the time! I was the bread-winner of so many members of my family! All the same, both of us had the nerve to refuse to take lying down Narsinhbhai's goading remarks that questioned our mettle as young men.
Both of us immediately tendered our resignations, and the next morning we went from Nadiad to Narsinhbhai's house at Anand, ready with our kit for satyagraha. He was stunned at the sight of our arrival so soon after his address to us at Nadiad. We told him: " We have resigned from the Harijan Sangh in order to take part in the program of satyagraha you have asked us to take up. Please, therefore, be our leader and we will follow you at any cost. We have come prepared to get our heads broken at the Caste-Hindu well at any place you choose." Our most sudden and unexpected visit and our words amazed him.
Gandhiji's Disapproval
Mahatma Gandhi was engaged at that time in a parley with the Viceroy, Lord Irwin, in order to bring about an honorable settlement of disputed issues, so that he could accept the government's invitation and attend the Second Round Table Conference in London. It was a critical situation then facing the country. A united front against the Government was an indispensable requisite.
After some reflection Shreve Narsinhbhai told us, "Let me first take Gandhiji's advice." (Any sensational struggle against Caste-Hindus at that time would create friction among Hindus and be detrimental to the interests of India.).
He went to Borsad (a few miles away), where Gandhiji was staying, and narrated all that had happened about the idea of launching a satyagraha struggle. Gandhiji told him, "So long as Harijans (of Gujarat) are not fully endowed with internal strength and spirit and are not themselves prepared to suffer the consequences of such fighting programs, we shall land them in greater distress by egging them to satyagraha for gaining their rights. That method will not give them any relief and will make them all the more timid and weak. It is there fore not at all advisable in their present state of total helplessness to incite them to offer satyagraha."
Shree Narsinhbhai then returned to Anand, gave us the report of his talk with Gandhiji and said, "I am so sorry! We can do noting in the matter at present. But, I must say, I am highly delighted by the courage, adventurous spirit, and readiness for endurance of great physical hardship shown by both of you." And really he was in rapture at our intrepid behavior.