Thread by @sheshapatangi1

#NotMyMahatma - 5

CONSPIRACIES & TREACHERY.

In the early part of 19th century, the freedom fighters across India came together & decided to go all out against British.
Abhinav Bharath, Anushilan Samithi & Gadar party were formed to liberate Bharath.
By #Violence, they built

pressure & with Pen, they caught the attention world over.

At this crucial juncture, when Independence was inevitable, the British planned to bring Gandhi to India in early 1915.

How they did? Read on…

The British themselves enhanced his stature among the general public,

which in due course, contributed to his emergence as the Mahatma. On the eve of his return to India in Jan 1915, Gen Smuts, the South African min, told the press: "I am convinced that Gandhi is sincerely anxious to come to a fair settlement, and his power while it lasts, is an

enormous asset to Britain in its efforts to arrive at a settlement.''
British ensured a hero's welcome for Gandhi. They arranged for him to land at the Apollo Bunder in Bombay - an honor accorded to Royalty.
Viceroy Lord Hardinge conferred on him the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal

for his services in Africa . On his arrival, he was welcomed by those who among the knighted industrialists - Sir Dorab Tata, Sir J. B. Petit, Sir Vithaldas Thackersay, Sir Purshotamdas Thakurdas, Sir Ibrahim Rahimtoola, Sir Jamshetji Jeejibhoy and otherS

(mkgandhi.org/satyagraha_saf…).

18-year-old young revolutionary, Gopinath Saha, was hanged in March 1924 after seeking to kill a notorious Police Commissioner, Charles Tegart & killing a civilian Ernest Day by mistake.
He had stirred Bengal by valiantly declaring at the court that

he really had intended to murder Tegart and expressed his sincere sorrow for having killed the wrong person. He was glad to pay with his life and hoped that "May every drop of my blood sow the seeds of freedom in every home of India''
At Sirajgunj in Pabna, the Bengal Provincial

Conference held in May 1924, passed a resolution which while disassociating itself from violence, paid a tribute to Saha's ideal of self sacrifice.
On June 11, 1924, GD Birla complained to Gandhi: "At the Sirajgunj Conference, the Swarajists have openly declared themselves in

favour of violence & have thereby torn the mask of non-violence off their faces. Thus, ended the drama of non-violence." @authorAneesh

Subsequently, Gandhi strongly disapproved of the resolution & was in fact infuriated when C R Das praised the courage, sacrificing spirit of

Gopinath Saha. A resolution was moved at the AICC at Gandhi's instance in June 1924, which characterised Saha's action as misguided love of the country & disapproved emphatically of all political murders as inconsistent with the Congress creed.

The same AICC resolution also

went out of the way to commiserate with Ernest Day's family, but did not have a single word to say about the fate of the teenaged Gopinath Saha. Gandhi declared himself as 'Defeated and Humbled" that the resolution was passed at a narrow margin of 78 in favor and 70 against.

Gandhi also forced the Calcutta Corporation to annul a similar resolution that it had passed.
As an aside, the Karachi Congress in 1931 passed a similar resolution on Bhagat Singh in Gandhi's presence and under the presidency of his staunch loyalist, Vallabhbhai Patel.

S Bose quipped: "The circumstances at Karachi were such that this resolution had to be swallowed by people, who under ordinary circumstances, would not come within miles of it. So far as the Mahatma was concerned, he had to make his conscience somewhat elastic.''

In another

instance, Revolutionaries attempted to blow up the Viceregal Special on December 23, 1929 at Delhi. Gandhi himself moved a resolution in Dec 1929, Lahore session of the Congress, congratulating the Viceroy on his escape & condemning the revolutionaries.
(netajisubhasbose.org/post/what-was-…)

It said: "This Congress deplores the bomb outrage perpetrated on the Viceroy's train & reiterates its conviction that such action is not only contrary to the creed of the Congress but results in harm being done to the national cause. It congratulates the Viceroy and Lady Irwin

and their party including the poor servants on their fortunate & narrow escape.''
(academic.oup.com/book/4532/chap… 618410)

What happened subsequently, I'll reveal tomorrow.

Before finishing, bit of history to leave you thinking....

In 1909, Gandhi believed that "it is a cowardly

thought, that of killing others.'' Within a decade, while enlisting for defending the Bristish, he said that Indians can immortalize themselves by sacrificing their lives as British soldiers in the WW- 1.

If they [Indians fighting for the British in the first world war]

fall on the battle-field, they will immortalize themselves, their village and their country.
(Ref mkgandhi.org/hindswaraj/cha…)

Hypocrisy thy name is Gandhi.

#NotMyMahatma

#VANDEMATARAM