Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/720

 630 NON-CO-OPERATION

the millhands. They must either work for Goverment or for us fa., for violence or against it. There is no middle way. They must not interfere with us. Either they must be amenable to our love or helplessly submit it to the bayonet. They must not seek shelter under the banner of non-violence for the purpose oi doing violence. And in order to carry our message tc them we must reach every millhand individually and let him understand and appreciate the struggle.

Similarly we must reach the rowdy elements, be- friend them and help them to understand the religious character of the struggle. We must neither neglect them nor pander to them. We must become true servants. The peace that we are aiming at is not a patched up peace. We must have fair guarantees of its continuance without the aid of Government, and sometimes, even in spite of its activity to the contrary. There must be a heart union between the Hindus, Mussalmans, Parsis, Christians and Jews. The three latter communities may and will distrust the other two. The recent occurrences must strenghthen that distrust. We muet go out of our way to conquer their distrust, We must not molest them if they do not become non-co-operators, or do not adopt swadeshi or white khaddar cap, which has become its symbol. We must not be irritated against them even if they side with the Government on every occasion, We have to make them ours by loving service.

This is the necessity of the situation. The alterna" tive is a civil war and a civil war with a third party consolidating itself by siding now with one and then with the other, must be held an impossibility for the near future. And what is true of sihaller communities is also true of co-operators. We must not be impatient

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