Page:Mahatma Gandhi, his life, writings and speeches.djvu/384

 those who have provoked the conflict by injustice and cruelty.

I have spoken so far as an Englishmen, taught from my childhood to hate tyranny and to regard it as a sacred duty to stand up for the oppressed and persecuted, to whatever race or country they belong. May I say just a very few words as a Christian. I feel all the more indignant at the cruel injustice inflicted on the Indians in South Africa just because it is inflicted by men who profess to be disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. Tyranny is hateful in any case. It is doubly hateful when exercised by Christians in direct defiance of their creed and in flagrant opposition to the whole teaching and. example of Him whom they acknowledge as their Lord and their God. 1 frankly confess, though it deeply grieves me to say it, that I see in Mr. Gandhi the patient sufferer for the cause of righteousness and mercy, a truer representative of the Crucified Saviour than the men who have thrown him into prison and yet call themselves by the name of Christ.