Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/788

 698 NON-CO-OPERATION

fury bursts, not a man, woman or child is safe and every man's hand is raised against his fellow being ? Of wh,at avail is it then if I fast myself ,to death in the event of such a catastrophe coming to pass ?

What is the alternative ? To lie and say that what I know to be evil, is good? To say that true and voluntary co-operation will come out of false and forced co-operation is to say that light will result from dark- ness.

Co-operation with the Government is as much a weakness and a sin as alliance with suspended violence,

The difficulty is almost insurmountable. Hence with the growing knowledge of the fact that this non- violence is merely superficial, I must continually make mistakes and retrace, even as a man wading his way through a tract Jess forest must continually stop, retrace, stumble, be hurt and even bleed.

I was prepared for a certain amount of depression, dis-appointment and resentment, but I confess I was totally unprepared for the hurricane of opposition. It became clear to me that the workers were in no mood to do any serious work of construction. The construct- ive programme lent no enchantment. They were not a social reform association. They could not wrest power from the Government by such humdrum reform- work. They wanted to deliver ' non-violent ' blows L All this appeared so thoroughly unreal. They would not stop to think that even if they could defeat the Govern- ment by a childish display of rage, they could not con- duct the Government of the country for a single day~ without serious and laborious organisation and construc- tion.

We must not go to gaol, as Mahomed Ali wouldi

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