{"id":915,"date":"2013-03-30T22:10:24","date_gmt":"2013-03-31T02:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sangamithra.wordpress.com\/?p=915"},"modified":"2013-03-30T22:10:24","modified_gmt":"2013-03-31T02:10:24","slug":"letters-on-civil-disobedience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sangamithraiyer.com\/?p=915","title":{"rendered":"Letters on Civil Disobedience"},"content":{"rendered":"

I spent my last morning at the British Library<\/a> pouring over a volume of letters marked confidential and private \u201cCorrespondence with and Noting about Mr. Gandhi 1931-1932, \u201d which provided a glimpse into the lives of those engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience movement in India as well as the colonial response to those efforts.<\/p>\n

The beginning of the collection\u00a0includes a letter from Gandhi to the Viceroy regarding police brutality against those participating in nonviolent protest. On one incident women who were organizing \u201cto protest against a brutal treatment of a girl 17 years old by a police official,\u201d found themselves too, the victims of such brutality. Gandhi writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe injuries were severe in several cases. Some of those who were assaulted belong to the Satyagraha Ashram at Sabarmati. One of them, an old widow, a Member of the Managing Board of the Ashram, was drenched in blood. To give you some idea of the nature of the police barbarity I give a free translation of her letter to me.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This translated letter describes not only the abuse these women endured, but also the strength of their conviction and compassion:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was on this occasion that I understood somewhat the meaning of Ahimsa. I was quite fearless when the blows were coming down upon me, and I assure you I had no hatred or anger in me. Even now I feel no resentments toward the police, and its is growing upon me that we shall achieve success to the extent we cultivate the spirit of Ahimsa.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gandhi implored that the Viceroy look into this matter and set up a Committee \u201cto\u00a0investigate the allegations of excesses against officials in different parts of India since the inauguration of the Civil Disobedience Campaign\u2026Till I hear from you and know your wish in this matter I am not sending this letter to the press.\u201d<\/p>\n

This file did not contain the actual letter back to Gandhi from the Viceroy, but rather draft notes on how to respond. While Gandhi\u2019s letter is a moral plea, the draft response is an offering of advice regarding political strategy. \u00a0The language is what Norman Mailer in Armies of the Night<\/em> called “totalitarianese which is to say ,technologese, which is to say any language which succeeds in stripping\u00a0itself of any moral content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0I would suggest that the following principles be kept constantly in view:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n