Godse says : One of the conditions imposed by Gandhi for his breaking of the fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by the Hindu refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and censure the Pakistan Government or the Muslims concerned. Gandhi was shrewd enough to know that while undertaking a fast unto death, had he imposed for its break some condition on the Muslims in Pakistan , there would have been found hardly any Muslims who could have shown some grief if the fast had ended in his death. It was for this reason that he purposely avoided imposing any condition on the Muslims. He was fully aware of from the experience that Jinnah was not at all perturbed or influenced by his fast and the Muslim League hardly attached any value to the inner voice of Gandhi.
On Muslim slaughter of Hindus and Sikhs, Gandhi elsewhere said. “I would tell the Hindus to face death cheerfully if the Muslims are out to kill them. I would be a real sinner if after being stabbed I wished in my last moment that my son should seek revenge. I must die without rancor. … You may turn round and ask whether all Hindus and all Sikhs should die. Yes, I would say. Such martyrdom will not be in vain.”
Gandhi addressed the homeless Hindus at the end of one of his Prayer Meetings and said, “After all, who are the killers ? They are our Muslim Brethren, none other. Does a converting into another religion break the bond of brotherhood ?”
In a speech on April 6, 1947; Gandhi again advised the destitute Hindus, “Even if Muslims decide to wipe out the Hindu race, there is no point in Hindus getting angry on Muslims.Even if they slit our throats, we should be patient and accept death. Let them rule the world, we will pervade the world and merge with it. At least we should not be afraid of death. The providence is made of life and death. Why feel unhappy about it ? We will enter a new life if we face death with a smile. We will create a new Hindustan [India].
Though Gandhi was an orthodox Hindu even he went against the sentiments or the feelings of the Hindus in order to maintain communal harmony. The famous Vande Mataram’ song had proved an inspiration during those days. Bengali community almost worshipped the song. But when Jinnah, the president of Muslim League and a handful of his follower Muslims objected, disregarding the nationalist sentiment of the song, Gandhi put a ban on it and forced the whole nation to abandon it. In 1940, Congress announced a decision that the words Vande Mataram’ should not be used by Congress members in any public speeches and announcements.
Gandhiji could have saved Sukhdev, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru.
They were hung to death for avenging the murder of Lala Lajpat Rai, (a Hindu Mahasabha founder member). It’s believed Gandhiji could have stopped their hanging, so why didn’t he ? Bhagat Singh was only 24 when he was hanged. It could have been stopped by Gandhi. But Gandhiji was not sincere in his efforts for reasons of his own. Gandhi could have put pressure on Irwin to release Bhagat Singh. Irwin & Gandhi were very close. So close that Irwin had forced a temporary truce on the freedom movement. However, he sent S Shastri, T B Sapru & M R Jaykar to plead wih Irwin. Gandhiji seemed to believe that if Bhagat Singh lived on, his idea of “non violent” movement would get challenged. So it is alleged that he did not do enough to stop their hanging.Gandhiji, in fact, told openly that militant movement was harmful to “India’s freedom movement”. Although Gandhiji, on popular pressure, did write to Irwin on the day of the execution, pleading to have mercy on the three revolutionaries but as anyone would expect – the letter would be too late.
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