Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/616

 326 NON-CO-OPERATION

wanted for his country but also how to live for his count ry and how to die for his country. I ho^e then that whatever I say this evening to this vast m iss of people, will bear fruit in that same sacrifice for which the life of Lokamanya Tilak Maharaj stands. His life, if it teaches us anything whatsoever, teaches one supreme lesson : that if we want to do anything whatsoever for our country, we can do so not by speeches, however grand, eloquent and convincing they may be, but only by sacrifice at the back of every word and at the back of every act of our life. 1 have come to ask everyone of you whether you are ready and willing to give sufficiently for your country's sake, for your country 's honour and for religion. I have boundless faith in you, the citizens of Madras, and the people of this great presidency, a faith which I began to cultivate in the year 1893 when I first made acquaintance with the Tamil labourers in South Africa; and I hope that, in these hours of our trial, this province will not be second to any other in India, and that it will lead in this spirit of self-sacrifice and will translate every word into action.

NEED FOR NON-CO-OPERATION

What is this non-co-operation, about which you have heard much, and why do we want to offer this non-co- operation f I wish to go for the time being into the why. There are two things before this country : the first and the foremost is the Khilafat question. On this the heart of the Mussalmans of India has become lascerated. British pledges given after the greatest deliberation by the Prime Minister of England in the name of the English nation, have been dragged into the mire. The promises given to Moslem India on the strength of which the consideration that was excepted by the British nation was exacted, have

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