Page:Gandhi The Man and His Message.djvu/12

 by the following statements which he gave to the Indian press in those turbulent days.

“Our non-violence teaches us to love our enemies. By non-violent non-cooperation we seek to conquer the wrath of English administrators and their supporters. We must love them and pray to God that they might have wisdom to see what appears to us to be their error. It must be the prayer of the strong and not of the weak. In our srength must we humble ourselves before our maker.

"In the moment of our trial and our triumph let me declare my faith. I believe in loving my enemies.....I believe in the power of suffering to melt the stoniest heart.....We must by our conduct demonstrate to every Englishman that he is safe in the remotest corner of India as he professes to feel behind the machine gun"

“There is only one God for us all, whether we find him through the Bible, the Koran, the Gita, the Zindvesta or the Talmud, and He is the God of love and truth. I do not hate an Englishman. I have spoken much against his institutions, especially the one he has set up in India. But you must not mistake my condemnation of the system for that of the man. My religion requires me to love him as I love myself. I have no interest in living except to prove the faith in me. I would deny God if I do not attempt to prove it at this criical moment.”

It must be remembered that all this was at a time when Mr. Gandhi held an undisputed sway over the hearts of his three hundred million countrymen. Setting aside all precedence Mr. Gandhi was unanimously elected the dictator of the Indian National Congress with full powers to lead the country in times of emergencies. A word from Mr. Gandhi was sufficient to induce the suffering millions of struggling India to sacrifice their lives without regret or reproach. No man ever commanded the loyal allegiance of a greater number of hearts, feeling at the same time so meek.

Through the successive stages of “self-denial” and “self-purification” he is gradually preparing his countrymen for the final step in his program, the civil disobedience. Once the country has reached that stage, and his program is carried