Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/567

 It is alleged that I have without proper considera- tion persuaded thousands to join the movement. That allegation is, I admit, true to a certain extent, but to a certain extent only. It is open to anybody to say that but for the Satyagraha campaign, there would not have been this violence. For this, I have already done a penance, to my mind an unendurable one namely, that I have had to postpone my visit to Delhi to seek rearrest and I have also been obliged to suggest a temporary restriction of Satyagraha to a limited field. This has been more painful to me than a wound but this penance is not enough, and I have, therefore, decided to fast for three days, i.e., 72 hours. I hope my fast will pain no one. I believe a seventy-two hours' fast is easier for me than a twenty-four hours' fast for you. And I have imposed on me a discipline which I can bear. If you really feel pity for the suffering that will be caused to me, I request that that pi'y should always restrain you from ever again being party to the criminal acts of which I have complained. Take it from me that we are not going to win Swarajya or benefit our country in the least by violence and terrorism. I am of opinion that if we have to wade through violence to obtain Swarajya and if a redress of gnevances were to be only possible by means of ill will for and slaughter of English men, I, for one, would do without that Swarajya and without a redress of those grievances. For me life would not be worth living if Ahmedabad continues to countenance violence in the name of truth. The poet has called Gujarat the " Garvi" (Great and Glorious) Gujarat. The Ahmedabad, its capital, is the residence of many religious Hindus and Muhammadans. Deeds of public violence in a city like this is like an

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