Page 113 - GANDHI A Biography for Children and Beginners

GANDHI – A Biography for children and beginners

He advised the Congress leaders, — implored them, not to accept partition in a

hurry. The worst that could happen was that they would have to wage another

struggle to obtain independence without losing the unity of the country. Even if
partition was to come, let it come after the British left. Their presence created

an artificial situation. But Gandhi could not convince the leaders of the

Congress. They had made up their minds. They did not want to sail with him.

They went through the ritual of consulting him. But they did not lay all the
cards on the table. They did not let him know that they had conveyed their

acceptance of partition to Mountbatten. It was from others that Gandhi came

to know that they had accepted partition.

As one irreversible step after another was taken on the path towards partition,

Gandhi cautioned and implored the Congress and the Government at every

step. He asked them not to be in a hurry, not to abdicate the claim of the
Congress to represent the nation; not to accept anything which would reduce

Congress to the position of a representative of the Hindus or Caste Hindus; not

to accept the partition of the Punjab or Bengal on grounds that were based on

religion; not to accept the partition of the country. At every point, the
Congress either disagreed with Gandhi or circumvented Gandhi. Mountbatten

brazenly told the Mahatma, 'The Congress is not with you; it is with me.'

As the negotiations progressed the Congress was not keen to keep Gandhi in the

picture. Two leaders of the Congress, Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru told

the Viceroy not to worry too much about what Gandhi said. Often Gandhi was

kept in the dark, and came to know of the decisions of the Congress only after
they had been conveyed to the Government or arrived at in consultation with

the Government. He was unwanted. From the beginning of the negotiations,

Gandhi was clear that he wanted independence for united India. If the

Government were not prepared to accept that position, he felt the Congress
should not agree to the partition of India, but should be prepared for another

non-violent struggle to achieve independence for an undivided India.

The Congress leaders particularly Nehru, Azad and Patel had decided that

immediate independence was more important than the unity of India. They

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