To Every Englishman in India

Speech

By: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Date: October 20, 1920

Source: Mahatma Gandhi. Speeches and Writings of Mahatma Gandhi. Madras: G. A. Natesan & Co., 1933.

About the Author: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in the commercial town of Porbander in Gujarat, India. He is also popularly known as Mahatma, meaning "Great Soul" Gandhi and Bapu, or "Father." A mediocre student during his primary school days, Gandhi later studied law in England and qualified to be a barrister. He spent most of his early years as a professional barrister in South Africa. On his return to India, Mahatma Gandhi commenced his non-violent struggle against British rule with the Non-Cooperation movement in 1920. This was followed by numerous non-violent movements that were instrumental in obtaining independence for India from British rule. On January 30, 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was on his way to a prayer meeting in New Delhi when he was assassinated by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse.

INTRODUCTION

The East India Company, established in 1600 primarily as a trading enterprise, gradually transformed itself into a ruling enterprise and colonized the Indian subcontinent. By 1756, the company had attained colonial rule in most parts of India. More than a century later, in 1864, India became a formal colony under the British rule.

The British pursued various policies exploiting the subcontinent's natural resources such as cotton, indigo, spices, and tea to sustain Britain's economy. Many commercial policies favored England, creating a trade imbalance with India.

Formed in 1885, the Indian National Congress (INC) proposed economic reforms and wanted a larger role in the making of British policy for India. Though initially not opposed to the idea of British Governance of India, it soon actively became the forefront of the non-violent freedom struggle. Under the leadership and guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), Vallabhbhai Patel (1875–1950), and others, the INC organized various movements based on the principles of non-violence to oppose British policies that were deemed discriminatory.

Gandhi, during his early years, practiced law in South Africa—a country then ruled by the United Kingdom—for over twenty years. After being treated unequally on several occasions, Gandhi started playing an active role in the civil rights movement in South Africa. Soon, he began to perfect a policy of passive disobedience and non-violent resistance against the British Government in South Africa. He called his pursuit of political reform and non-violent resistance, Satyagraha, a Sanskrit word that means "the quest for truth".

On his return to India, the unequal status of Indians and policies encouraging Hindu-Muslim divide prompted Gandhi to initiate a nationwide non-cooperation movement against the British Empire. Launched in 1920, the non-cooperation movement demonstrated to Britain that it was futile to rule a society where a collective unwillingness to be ruled existed.

The primary source is the transcript of an open letter "To Every English Man in India" published on October 20, 1920, in Young India, a weekly magazine started by Mahatma Gandhi. A year later, Gandhi wrote another open letter in Young India. Marking the commencement of the non-cooperation movement, through these letters, Gandhi sought to reach out to the English people themselves. The purpose of the letter was to establish a common bonding between the English and the Indians by addressing key problems and unfair policies imposed by the British rule. The letter is excerpted here.

PRIMARY SOURCE

Dear Friend,—I wish that every Englishman will see this appeal and give thoughtful attention to it.

Let me introduce myself to you. In my humble opinion no Indian has co-operated with the British Government more than I have for an unbroken period of twenty-nine years of public life in the face of circumstances that might well have turned any other man into a rebel. I ask you to believe me when I tell you that my co-operation was not based on the fear of the punishments provided by your laws or any other selfish motives. It is free and voluntary co-operation based on the belief that the sum-total of the British government was for the benefit of India. I put my life in peril four times for the sake of the Empire—at the time of the Boer War when I was in charge of the Ambulance corps whose work was mentioned in General Buller's dispatches, at the time of the Zulu revolt in Natal when I was in charge of a similar corps, at the time of the commencement of the late War when I raised an Ambulance Corps and as a result of the strenuous training had a severe attack of pleurisy and, lastly, in fulfillment of my promise to Lord Chelmsford at the War Conference in Delhi, I threw myself in such an active recruiting campaign in Kaira District involving long and trying marches that I had an attack of dysentery which proved almost fatal. I did all this in the full belief that acts such as mine must gain my country an equal status in the Empire. So last December I pleaded hard for the trustful co-operation. I fully believed that Mr. Lloyd George would redeem his promise to the Mussulmans and that the revelations of the official atrocities in the Punjab would secure full reparation for the Punjabis. But the treachery of Mr. Lloyd George and its appreciation by you, and the condonation of the Punjab atrocities, have completely shattered my faith in the good intentions of the Government and the nation which is supporting it.

But though my faith in your good intentions is gone, I recognise your bravery and I know that what you will not yield to justice and reason, you will gladly yield to bravery.

See what this Empire means to India:

Exploitations of India's resources for the benefit of Great Britain.

An ever-increasing military expenditure and a civil service the most expensive in the world.
    Extravagant working of every department in utter disregard of India's poverty.
    Disarmament and consequent emasculation of a whole nation, lest an armed nation might imperil the lives of a handful of you in our midst.
    Traffic in intoxicating liquors and drugs for the purpose of sustaining a top heavy administration.
    Progressively representative legislation in order to suppress an ever-growing agitation, seeking to give expression to a nation's agony.
    Degrading treatment of Indians residing in your dominions, and,
    You have shown total disregard of our feelings by glorifying the Punjab administration and flouting the Mussulman sentiment.

I know you would not mind if we could fight and wrest the scepter form your hands. You know that we are powerless to do that, for you have ensured our incapacity to fight in open and honourable battle. Bravery on the battlefield is thus impossible for us. Bravery of the soul still remains open to us. I know you will respond to that also. I am engaged in evoking that bravery. Non-co-operation means nothing less than training in self-sacrifice. Why should we co-operate with you when we know that, by your administration of this great country, we are being daily enslaved in an increasing degree. This response of the people to my appeal is not due to my personality. I would like you to dismiss me, and for that matter the Ali Brothers too, from your consideration. My personality will fail to evoke any response to anti-Muslim cry if I were foolish enough to raise it, as the magic name of the Ali Brothers would fail to inspire the Mussulmans with enthusiasm if they were madly to raise an anti-Hindu cry. People flock in their thousands to listen to us, because we to-day represent voice of a nation groaning under iron heels. The Ali Brothers were your friends as I was, and still am. My religion forbids me to bear any ill-will towards you. I would not raise my hand against you even if I had the power. I expect to conquer you only by my suffering. The Ali Brothers will certainly draw the sword if they could, in defence of their religion and their country. But they and I have made common cause with the people of India in their attempt to voice their feelings and to find a remedy for their distress.

You are in search of a remedy to suppress this rising ebullition of national feeling. I venture to suggest to you that the only way to suppress it is to remove the causes. You have yet the power. You can repent of the wrongs done to Indians. You can compel Mr. Lloyd George to redeem his promises. I assure you he has kept many escape doors. You can compel the viceroy to retire in favour of a better one, you can revise your ideas about Sir Michael O'Dwyer and General Dyer. You can compel the government to summon a conference of the recognized leaders of the people duly elected by them and representing all shades of opinion so as to devise mans for granting Swaraj in accordance with the wishes of the people of India.

But this you cannot do unless you consider every Indian to be in reality your equal and brother. I ask for no patronage. I merely point out to you, as a friend, an honourable solution of a grave problem. The other solution, namely, repression is open to you. I prophesy that it will fail. It has begun already. The Government has already imprisoned two brave men of Panipat for holding and expressing their opinions freely. Another is on his trail in Lahore for having expressed similar opinions. One in the Oudh District is already imprisoned. Another awaits judgment. You should know what is going on in your midst. Our propaganda is being carried on in anticipation of repression. I invite you respectfully to choose the better way and make common cause with the people of India whose salt you are eating. To seek to thwart their aspirations is disloyalty to the country.

I am,.

Your faithful friend,.

M.K. Gandhi.

SIGNIFICANCE

According to Mahatma Gandhi, the open letter excerpted in the primary source was written with the purpose of apprising the common Englishman about the unjust policies and initiatives of the British Empire in India. In his letter, Gandhi mentions that the only way for India to seek independence from British rule is through non-cooperation.

The widely reproduced letter attracted favorable responses from many Englishmen. One of the replies—reprinted in 2003 as part of an E-book titled Freedom's Battle, by Mahatma Gandhi stated, "May we say at once that in so far as the British Empire stands for the domination and exploitation of other races for Britain's benefit, for degrading treatment of any, for traffic in intoxicating liquors, for repressive legislation, for administration such as that which to the Amritsar incidents, we desire the end of it as much as you do? We quite understand that in the excitement of the present crisis, owing to certain acts of the British Administration, which we join with you in condemning …" Similarly, there were others who exhibited resonance and camaraderie with the Indian people on this issue.

Gandhi's letter marked the beginning of the non-cooperation movement. This movement attains great significance because it shattered the economic might of the British Empire in India. During the non-cooperation movement, the Indian society did not cooperate in any economic or social activity associated with the British Empire.

There was no movement of goods, telegraph lines did not work, and foreign produce such as clothes manufactured in English mills were boycotted. Many Indians gave up their titles and posts across national and local bodies. Eventually, many daily services that were dependent on Indians for smooth operation were disrupted.

Ensuing an episode of violence, the non-cooperation movement came to a premature end on February 12, 1922. A group of policemen assaulted a few nationalist demonstrators in the town of Chauri Chaura in the north east state of Uttar Pradesh. Enraged by such actions, the demonstrators killed more than twenty policemen. Disturbed by these acts of violence, Mahatma Gandhi suspended the non-cooperation movement.

Though the movement did not last long, it is considered by many to be instrumental in the Indian independence struggle. The non-cooperative movement laid the foundation for several other initiatives such as the Salt March of Dandi, and the Quit India movement. The British rule could not withstand an opponent that did not indulge in violence or break any laws. Eventually, India attained independence on August 15, 1947.

Other British colonies are also known to have followed Gandhi's philosophies. Besides, eminent personalities, such as Martin Luther King,—who successfully campaigned for Black rights in North America in the 1960s, and Nelson Mandela, who waged a relentless struggle against apartheid in South Africa, were deeply inspired by his principles of non-cooperation and non-violence.

Gandhian principles of non-cooperation and non-violence have seen resurgence with political developments in the twenty-first century, especially among human rights advocates.

FURTHER RESOURCES

Books

Bakshi, S. R. Gandhi and Non-Cooperation Movement, 1920–22. South Asia Books, December 1983.

Nicholson, Michael. Mahatma Gandhi: Leader of Indian Independence. Blackbirch Press, November 2003.

Web sites

GandhiServe Foundation. "Brief Outline of Gandhi's Philosophy." 〈http://www.gandhiserve.org/information/brief_philosophy/brief_philosophy.htm〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).

Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. "Milestones in Indian History." 〈http://mha.nic.in/his3.htm〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).

Nobelprize.org. "Nelson Mandela and the Rainbow of Culture." 〈http://nobelprize.org/peace/articles/mandela/index.html〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).

Nobelprize.org. "The Nobel Peace Prize 1964." 〈http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/press.html〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).

Project Gutenberg. "Freedom's Battle by Mahatma Gandhi." December 2, 2003. 〈http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=41935〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi." 〈http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/persons/mk-gandhi.html〉 (accessed April 27, 2006).