The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-12-12
The Indian Revolution, Gandhi,
and His American Admirers

gether with righteous indignationb with the
enumeration of British crimes in India, and ends
1t with grave warning, to wit: 1.-THE
sudden grant of Home Rule might plunge
her into such chaos as now disrupts China"
(page 205), therefore, Home Rule must not
come overnight" page 2o6)
When even the most reactionary elements of
Indian society now assembled at the Round
Table Conference demand immediate Dominion
Status, it is doubtful whether the Indian bour-
geois nationalist will be grateful to Mr. Durant
for his advice And this is the most outspoken
critic" of the Anglo-Indian regime from among
the American liberals These are the upholders
OF American ideasm, to whom Mr. Sulindra
Nath Chose, who styles himself as the president
OF the Indian National Congress in America ap-
peals for help to the Indian revolution!
Gandhis admirers in this country are not con-
fined to the liberals, pacifists, missionaries and
other masters of sanity arts. From the plat
form of meeting held last June Bertram D.
Wolfe, the recognized theoretician of the Right
renegadeS solemnly announced his groups in
clusion into the ranks of the fighters for the
cause of Mahatrpa Gandhi Wolfe authorita-
lively informed his audience "Gandh is the
symbol of the mass movement, of the mass
struggle, of the revolutionary uprising of the
Indian people"
That Gandhi betrayed the revolutionary
struggle in 1922, the strike of Tata metal work.
ers in 1925, the Bardoli peasants in 1928, the
Ahmedabad workers at all times; that Gandhi
is ready any day and any hour to negotiate for
an honorable" compromise with British imper-
ialism; that Gandhi has consciously made it
his aim not to permit revolution in India-all
this MIR. Wolfe, who poses as Communist for
got even to mention. Wolfe forgot; but, Will
Durant recalled these facts, and recalled them
as acts of moral courage" on the part of
Gandhi. Evidently Mr.. Wolfe will not have to
travel very far to shake hands with Mr. Durant
The political conclusions from the Identified
ton of Gandhi with the Indian revolution can
be traced in the pamphlet India in Revolt
published by the Lovestone group and in later
articles in the Revolutionary Age" BY far the
most amazing document in the pamphlet is a
programmatic article entitled, 1.-THE Lessons of
the Lahore Congress" which presumably has the
full approval of the international Communist
Opposition" as the Right renegades call them
selves.
In that document it is proposed that the Ma
tional Congress mobilize around it larger and
larger masses of workers" Thus not only the
hegemony of the revolutionary struggle but even
the guidance of the working class itself is hand
ed over to the national bourgeoisie gratis Is
this criminal move-from the point of view of
elementary Communist strategy-proposed at
least with the misconceived idea to accelerate
the mobilization of the masses for active strug-
gle against imperialism? Nothing doing! The
document literally warns the National Congress-
What we can do is to avoid a premature clash
with the enemy possessing superior forces"
The appeal for non-payment of land revenue
issued by the National Congress was subject to
1nnumerable reservations in the hope of liuuidat-
ing The movement before it could have a chance
to develop Yet in an atmosphere charged with
electricity even this half hearted move, made
under the pressure of the masses gave new
stimulus to the struggle of the peasantry.
What Is the stand OF the Right Opposition on
this question? 1t is "The non-payment of
taxes can be more easily organized :. there
fore any campaign in that direction is more
likely to bring us prematurely in clash with
the established authorities. In view of these
alarming consequences of any serious, large
scale, no-tax campaign, it is sure that it will
never be undertaken. Thus non-payment of
taxes is an utterly impractical slogan"
What a gratifying sight: Roy Brandler and
Lovestone urging Gandhi not to come to pre-
mature clash with the established authorities"
These saviors of the Indian revolution are SO
thoroughly permeated with the spirit of nom
violence that they accompany even the demand
for naturalization Of land with respectful apollo
gies in that 1.-THE abolition of the native states
and landordism is not measure for injuring
personally the few thousand gentlemen and
'-A--- ts~~,ss-' 4.