Evening star., 1949-01-30

COrQeQ the title OF M2NdtIna, r
by the English words Great Soul.
This man, advanced in years a
tinued existence verged on the MI
raculous, died by the bullets Of an
assassin-one of his own faith and
blood. The murderer represented a
small yet fanatical group OF Hindu
extremists who resented Gandhi's
tireless efforts to lay the founda-
tions of a New India in fraternal
reconciliation. mutual understanding
and enduring peace.
Catastrophe Threatened
At the moment of his passing,
India, which had attained the long
sought goal OF nationhood only a
wear before, was rent by bloody
strife. The historic antagonism be-
tween the chief religions, Hinduism
and Islam, had just split the sub
continent politically, its predoml-
nantly Moslem sections insisting on
separate nationhood as "Pakistan." :"
But large minorities were left on
each side of the new frontiers, and
the division had been attended by
wholesale rioting, forced -migratlons
and atrocities of every kind. The
vengeful passions reused by those
events threatened to degenerate into
a general catastrophe.
Hindu extremists called for the
expulsion of the Moslem minority to
Pakistan and the creation OF a spe-
cifically Hindu state. In addition
there was a struggle within Hindu
ism itself, the lower orders demand
ing abolition of the ancient caste
system which had condemned them
to religious, economic and social dis
elimination at the hands OF the
higher castes eliminating in the
dominant Brahmin oligarchy.
Against both of these evils
Gandhi had set his face like flint.
He preached the abolition OF caste
barriers as resolutely as he did
peace between Hindus and Moslems.
When the u-Moslem riots first
broke out on . large scale he pro-
claimed q "fast unto death" unless
they stopped, which they soon did
temporarily, since no one dared to
take the odium of responsibility for
his demise through hunger striking.
When the situation again deterio-
rated, early In January, 1S4S. ne
proclaimed another fast, to be called
of only If violence ceased through
out the Indian Union. regardless OF
provacation. It will end my fast, "
he then declared, "only If Delhi,
capital of India, rises to the heights
and Moslems in India are assured
they can live in peace. Whatever
may happen in Pakistan-even II
not a single Hindu or Sikh remains
alive therein India, no Moslem
must be touched or feel unsafe"
Legacy of Achievement
Once again the rising tide Of vio-
lence ebbed, and Gandhi had won
another moral victory. But this
sublime attitude and its results 50
angered the Hindu fanatic fringe
that, only . fortnight later, he was
done to death a. he went to hold
his usual evening prayers.
Gandhi's assassination produced
a veritable moral earthquake. A
universal cry of grief and horror
arose, uttered by all creeds and
castes. Every one felt measure
of responsibility for the tragedy,
coupled with = sense Of duty to
atone for 1t by working for the
realization Of the Mahatma's teach
ings and ideals. The result has
been that dandhi, in and by his
martyrdom. has left behind him .
legacy Of constructive achievement
which can hardly be overestimated.
Not only has the menace Of general
Hindu Moslem civil war been
averted; the riffs within Hinduism
have been largely healed, Fanatical
high-caste obstructionism has viz
tually disappeared, while caste
barriers are being legally demol-
ished.
Truth His Religion
Before surveying these concrete
results. it may be well Ito state, in
the Mahatma's own words. the
things he stood for. Gandhi relied
profoundly on the power of what he
termed "ahimsa, or nonviolence.
AS he expressed 1t, "ahimsa does
not mean meek submission to the
will of the evil-doer. It means the
putting of ones whole soul against
the will of the tyrant. Working
under this law Of our being, it Is
possible for a single individual to
defy the whole might Of an unjust
empires fall or its regeneration.
II India made violence her
creed, 7 could not care to live in
India. She would cease to evoke
any pride In me-" And as to the
scope of his religion. he explained:
my Hinduism is not sectarian. It
includes all that I know to be the
best in Islam, Christianity, Buddh-
ism and zoroastrianism. I approach
politics, as everything else, in a