Evening star., 1943-03-04
After Gundhi's Fast

Mahatma Gandhl'S 21-day hunger
strike in protest against his intern
ment by the British authorities has
ended. Yesterday morning he ac-
cepted glass of orange juice from
the hands of his wife after a short
religious ceremony participated in by
members of his family and few init
mate friends. Thus ends an ordeal
which has held all Hindu India In its
grip and has been front-page news
throughout the world, a striking per-
sonal tribute to one of the most ex-
traordinary personalities of our age.
The political effects Of Gandhi's
fast are harder to estimate. For the
moment, it looks like a setback to the
Mahatma. His self-imposed ordeal
was an obvious challenge to the Brit
ish Raj, which came under tremen-
dous pressure not only from Hindu
public opinion but also from SYM
pathizers in Western lands, including
Britain itself. But the Viceroy, Lord
Linlithgow, backed by the home gov
ernment of Prime Minister Winston
Churchill, took up the challenge. The
hunger strike has been Gandhi's IA
vorite weapon for more than 20 years,
and the British expected that he
would use it sooner or later when
they arrested him and many other
leaders of the Congress Party for
seditious activity after they began a
civil disobedience campaign against
British rule last August. That cam
paign quickly produced widespread
rioting and sabotage at an especially
critical moment when victorious
Japanese armies in nearby Burma
seemed poised for an invasion of
India. At so crucial a juncture the
British government held that order
must be maintained and its author
ity upheld at all costs. The failure of
the Cripps mission with its offer of
far-reaching concessions after the
war had shown both the intransi-
geance of the Congress Party and the
bitter opposition of strong minorities,
especially the Moslems, to Con-
gress- dominated native regime. Ac-
cordingly, Britain determined to
stand pat and deal resolutely with
all seditious actions. Admittedly, this
would not eliminate Hindu unrest,
but it would keep it under control
and preserve India from disorder In
the face of the foreign foe. It seemed
the lesser of two evils.
This strong policy at least momen-
tarily has succeeded. Violence and
sabotage have diminished to negligi-
bic proportions, the Japanese threat
Is less imminent, and India Is much
better protected in a military sense.
All this has lessened the prestige of
the Congress Party. Gandhi's hunger
strike may thus be interpreted as a
gesture to sharpen the issue and
revive the agitation in non-violent
fashion. In a sense, it was confess
sion of political weakness. At any
rate it did not move the British au-
thorities. And Gandhi, on his part,
did not make the uttermost chal-
lenge. From the beginning, he an
nounced that his fast was for the
limited period of 81 days, not unto
death" as on a previous occasion.
The testing time is now over. Despite
his 73 years, the frail little Mahatma
has survived and presumably will
soon recover. He now resumes his
status as a political prisoner, though
the Viceroy has indicated that 2 new
status would be considered II the
Congress Party's opposition tactics
should be changed.
The contingent crisis which might
have been precipitated by Gandhi's
death during a hunger-strike thus
has been averted. But the larger
problem of India remains. Perhaps
no workable solution can be even at
tempted during the war. That, at
least, appears to be the British point
of view. Gandhi's fast has done
nothing to change it.