From the Archives: ‘Dominion in action’, says Mahatma Gandhi

"I can wait for Dominion Status Constitution" writes Mahatma Gandhi in Young India.

Mahatma Gandhi's latest article in Young India is an excellent reply to his critics and the critics of the Delhi leaders' manifesto in India and England. Mahatma Gandhi has the extraordinary ability of placing other people in the wrong.

And after what he has said in his article, it does not lie in the mouth either of his critics or of the Government to say that Indian demands are exorbitant or impossible of immediate fulfilment.

"I can wait for Dominion Status Constitution" writes Mahatma Gandhi, "If I can get real Dominion in action -that is to say, if there is a real desire on the part of the British people to see India (as) a free and self-respecting nation, and on the part of British Officials in India the true spirit of service".

Mahatma Gandhi with Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru

It is well-known that Mahatma Gandhi was the author of the Calcutta resolution, as well as of the Delhi leaders' manifesto. His clear enunciation therefore, of what India wants, has the authority of one who for several years has been de facto if not always de jure, dictator of Indian policy.

The political Delhi leaders' manifesto has been uncharitably characterised in some quarters, as couched in a bargaining spirit. In others it has been considered impossible of fulfilment, considering the technical aspects of the issues it raises. Mahatma Gandhi has by his laconic enunciation of what India wants, knocked the whole case of his critics into a cocked hat.

After what Mahatmaji has written, the Labour Government and the Viceroy cannot say that Indian opinion is unreasonable and is blind to the realities of the situation.

We take it that the policy laid down in the preamble to the Government of India Act of 1919, was laid down by a decree of Parliament and cannot be amended or changed except by Parliament itself. In the face of this technical difficulty, it is true, even if the Labour Government fully approve, they cannot openly declare that the Round Table Conference would be called to confer upon India full Dominion Status.

They have pleaded, and to some extent justly, that they have for the present, despite manifest difficulties in India, to content themselves with the present announcement. And we assure them that no responsible Indian has any add in any WAY desire to to their difficulties. And Mahatma Gandhi is certainly the last among responsible Indians to add to them.

What he has now stated in his article, is in fact the result of a full realisation of these difficulties on his part. In the face of what he has stated, whatever technical difficulties there may have been in the way of fully satisfying, in letter as well as in spirit, all the conditions laid down in the leaders' manifesto, there can be absolutely difficulty in meeting the demand now put forward by the Mahatma. In fact that demand is not only consistent with, but a logical and inevitable consequence of the policy laid down by Mr. Wedgwood Benn himself in his speech in the House of Commons.

"The Birkenhead tone has gone," said Mr. Benn. But Mr. Benn will agree that the Birkenhead spirit can only be exorcised if the spirit of true responsibility and service to the people is substituted for it in the administration.

It does not certainly require an Act of Parliament to make every officer of the Government feel that he is a servant of the people and not their master, and that his chief concern is the furtherance of the interests and prosperity of the people and not of any one else.

Dominion Status in letter may be only possible by a Parliamentary statute but till the formalities in this respect can be fully gone through there is nothing to prevent Mr. Wedgwood Benn and Lord Irwin, both of whom are solicitous of winning India's co-operation and good will, to make Indians feel that even though Dominion Status is not conferred in form, it has been at least established in spirit.

Mahatma Gandhi has put forward a demand which the Government consistently with its recent pledges cannot refuse. It is in the hands of the Secretary of State, the Viceroy and his advisers and not in the hands of any other body to meet that demand; and what is more, that demand is the inevitable and logical consequence of the policy which Mr. Benn and the Viceroy have promised to pursue in regard to India.

Mahatma Gandhi has by his latest declaration therefore further paved the way for a better and fuller understanding between England and India. He has shifted the responsibility of making a further advance in the direction of creating a better atmosphere from the shoulders of Indian leaders to those of the Viceroy and his Government.

He has only asked that the spirit of the announcement should be introduced into the Government without delay, no matter how long it may take to formulate the new constitution. It (remains) with the Government and the Viceroy now to show that they mean what they say, and that forms of Government do not matter, so long as there is the heart to serve the people and not to rule them.

It is needless to add, that in what Mahatmaji has said, he has behind him the will of all those who have supported the Delhi leaders' manifesto. It signifies a recognition of the technical difficulties confronting the Labour government on the one hand and wants the fulfilment of the conditions laid down in the Delhi manifesto in spirit, on the other.

It is a demand as consistent with the Calcutta resolution as it is with the declarations of the Secretary of State and the Viceroy. It is therefore irresistible and undeniable, and at once gives the Government a chance to establish its bonafide and to take a step further towards bringing a closer understanding between itself and the people of the country.