Page:Speeches And Writings MKGandhi.djvu/904

 MISCELLANEOUS

that) Meeers, Cbotani and Khatri saved last Bakr Id day, the Hindu millionaires of Bombay oouid nob have saved if they had given the whole of their fortunes- The greater the pressure pub upon the Mussulmans, bha greater must be the slaughter of the cow. We musto leave them to their own sense of honour and duty, And we shall have done the greatest service to the oow.

The way to save the oow is not to kill or quarrel with the Mussulman. The way to save the oow is to die in the aot of saving the Ehilafat without mentioning the oow, Cow protection is a process of purification, It is tapasya, i.e. t self -suffering. When we suffer voluntarily and therefore without expectation of reward, the cry of suffering (one mighb say) literally asoends to heaven, and God above hears it and responds. That is the path of religion, and it has answered even if one man baa adopted it in its entirety. I make bold to assert without fear of contradiction, that it is nob Hinduism to kill a fallow-man even to save the oow. Hinduism requires its votaries to immolate themselves for the sake of their religion, i.e,> for the sake of saving the oow. The question is how many Hindus are ready wibbout bargain ing with the Mussulmans bo die for them and for their reli- gion ? If the Hindus can answer it IB the religious spirit), they will not only have secured Mussulman friend- ship for eternity, but they will have saved the oow for all time from the Mussulmans. Let us nob swear even by the greatest among them. They can but help. They oaunot undertake to change the hearts of millions of men who have hitherto given no thought to the feeling* of their Hindu neighbours when they slaughter the oow. Bat Qod Almighty can in a moment change them and onve them to pity. Prayer accompanied by adequate

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