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Liberated, Clip no. 001
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In a fresh
effort to avert the vivisection of India, Gandhi wrote to
Mountbatten, “It would be a blunder for the British to be a
party in any way to the division of India… if it has to come,
let it come, let it come after the British withdrawal…
“If you
are not to leave a legacy of chaos behind, leave the Government
of the Whole of India to a party of your choice…” |
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002 |
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The
impending division of India was a deep source of agony to
Gandhi’s tormented soul. Ploughing his lonely furrow, he mused
in a low tone, “Let posterity know that Gandhi was not a party
to India’s vivisection.” He remained on the periphery during the
last stage of the negotiations… |
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003 |
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On June 3,
Mountbatten secured the consent of the Congress and the League
leaders to the British Government plan of setting up two
independent Dominions on August 15, 1947… |
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004 |
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The
congress Working Committee disliked the partition of India but
it “Could not let India bleed continuously” and accepted the
plan…
An
emergency meeting of the All-India Congress Committee was
convened on June 14, to ratify the decision to establish a
strong Government and arrest chaos… |
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005 |
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Gandhi was
steadfastly opposed to the division of India and yet he urged
the members to support the division with full faith in their
leaders…
Appealing
for communal unity, he said, ‘The Plan puts both Hinduism and
Islam on trial…” and concluded, “make India a land where there
will be no discrimination and no inequalities…” |
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006 |
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The
Working Committee resolution was adopted, 157 voting for and 29
against…
Giving his
definitive summing up on socialism suited to Indian conditions,
Gandhi wrote, “Even as members of the individual body are equal,
so are the members of society. This is socialism…” |
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007 |
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He
stressed its purity. “Truth and Ahimsa must incarnate in
socialism which is as pure as crystal and requires crystal like
men to achieve it.”
India was
moving into a new orbit out of subjection… |
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008 |
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The Constituent
Assembly adopted the banner under which the struggle for freedom
had been fought… the spinning wheel was replaced by the ever
moving wheel of the Divine Law of Love symbolizing the dynamism
and permanence of Indian culture… |
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009 |
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The sands
of time were running out… While the work of partition was
proceeding at break-neck speed, Gandhi was in Calcutta
dispelling hate with love. |
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010 |
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The
midnight of August 14, 1947 symbolized the rebirth of a nation
after the slumber of centuries and a long struggle for
self-determination…
India
emerged from subjection to freedom… A new hope came into being;
a long-cherished vision materialized as the ancient land took
its rightful place in the community of the world… |
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011 |
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The
Constituent Assembly paid a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the
architect of Indian freedom, and assumed power for the
governance of India… |
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012 |
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Jawaharlal
Nehru, the first Prime minister, said with moving eloquence,
(his voice)… “Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and
now the time comes when we shall redeem out pledge… At the
stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will
awake at life and freedom… it is fitting that at this solemn
moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India
and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity…
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013 |
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“The
ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe
every tear from every eye… That may be beyond us, but so long as
there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be
over…” |
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014 |
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On August
15, the appointed day, people gathered to welcome the dawn of a
new age and witnessed the peaceful transfer of power…
Lord
Mountbatten became the first Governor-General of the Dominion by
the will of the sovereign people of India… |
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015 |
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After
hoisting the national flag, the first servant of the Indian
people addressed from the ramparts of the Red Fort the half a
million gathered below. “On this day our first thoughts go to
the Father of our nation, who held aloft the torch of freedom
and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us…”
Paying
tribute to the unknown soldiers of freedom, he urged the people
to look to the future with faith and confidence.
Concluding
he observed, “To the nations and peoples of the world, we send
greetings… And to India out much-loved motherland, the ancient,
eternal and ever-new, we pay our reverent homage…”
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016 |
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As a
result of Gandhi’s healing presence in Calcutta, stirring scenes
of Hindu-Muslim fraternization were witnessed; but for him, it
was a day of prayer and deep heart-searching… |
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017 |
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With the
departure of British Army contingents from India’s shores, ended
the 190 year old British domination over India…
Gandhi
praised the British withdrawal as “the noblest act of the
British nation…” |
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018 |
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The time
of rejoicing was brief…The rumblings of communal frenzy could be
heard in the distance… A vast region was churning with
hate…Minorities were tyrannized and persecuted… Millions of men,
women and children uprooted from their settled homes and cut off
from their old moorings migrated on dimension unprecedented in
recorded history and trekked their way to safety. |
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019 |
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Migration
was not a matter of personal choice for the migrants but was
forced on them by hate of man. The refugees rolled on in a two
way steam across the border.
Shocked by
the events, the Indian Prime Minister tried his best to bring
speedy relief to the refugees… |
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020 |
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The
continuing tension agonized Gandhi. Before leaving Calcutta for
Delhi, on being approached for a message, he wrote in Bengali,
“My life is my message.” |
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021 |
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In Delhi,
Gandhi saw ruptured human relationship… he planted himself,
alone, amidst the raging torrent… and listened to the tales of
woe of the embittered and the uprooted… |
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022 |
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On his
78th birthday Gandhi invoked the aid of the all embracing Power
to take him away from the vale of tears rather than make him a
helpless witness to the butchery of men and cried in a prayerful
tone, “Not my will but dying alone shall prevail”.
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023 |
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In October
1947, events took a grave turn…
On the
princely State of Jammu and Kashmir delaying its decision about
accession to either the Dominion of India or Pakistan,
freebooters from the North West and Punjab invaded the State
with the connivance and material support of the Pakistan
Government to force accession by sword…
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024 |
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The
raiders, well armed and well equipped, sacked and looted towns
and villages, put many inhabitants to death and spread a reign
of terror…
Under the
guidance of the National Conference, the people of the Valley
defended their common heritage with courage and unity… |
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025 |
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The
invader was almost on the doorsteps of Srinagar …On October 26,
the state acceded to the Indian Union with the express consent
of the people and sought military aid against the wanton
aggression… Indian troops were flown in and stemmed the tide of
invasion… |
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026 |
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Kashmir
occupied Gandhi’s thoughts… Though he did distinguish between an
aggressor and a defender, sending troops to Kashmir was not his
way. The case of the defenders, he felt, was so manifestly just
that if the people had resisted the unprovoked invasion
non-violently, it would have won the admiration of the world. |
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027 |
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At the
moment of crisis, on Gandhi’s initiative, the first session of
the All India Congress Committee after the attainment of freedom
declared its faith… “India as a nation is bound together by
indissoluble cultural and historical links…It is also a land of
many religions and many races, and must remain so… Our aim has
been to develop this great country as a democratic secular
state…” |
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028 |
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Values
were changing fast under the impact of events… For Gandhi,
political independence had little value if it did not herald the
era of the common man… He was uncompromisingly opposed to the
mania of mass-production by the sacrifice of human values… |
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029 |
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Gandhi
denounced the craze for pomp and pageantry …after
independence…and did not see any merit in hiding poverty.
“India”, he maintained,” Possesses only her moral capital which
increases with the spending…” |
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030 |
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Distressed
at the rise of military expenditure in independent India, Gandhi
painfully observed, “India’s destiny lies along the bloodless
way of peace…The hope lingers in me that India might still lead
the way to wards world-federation…
“To have a
warless world, the economy of the participating nations must be
free from all exploitation.” |
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031 |
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Communal
harmony and the secular state were in great jeopardy… Sporadic
violence in Delhi continued…
In the
face of the moral challenge, Gandhi was groping for light… |
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032 |
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Out of the
depths of anguish came the decision to fast unto death to purge
the city; of Delhi of the communal virus and lay his head on
God’s lap… On January 13, 1948 he began the fast, and passed
from tumult into peace. He gave vent to his feeling. “Death for
me would be a glorious deliverance rather than that I should be
a helpless witness to the destruction of India…” |
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033 |
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As the
leaden hours crept by and drop by drop strength ebbed out of the
frail body on the fasting bed, a deep heart-searching was set in
amongst all concerned…
The fast
terminated with reunion of hearts of all communities brought
about by an awakened sense of duty on January 18… |
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034 |
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Showering
benediction on Prime Minister Nehru who had been fasting in
sympathy, Gandhi Wrote, “Give up your fast…May you live long and
continue to be the jewel of India…” |
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035 |
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Thought
feeble yet vibrant, Gandhi continued his after-prayer talk… (his
voice and the sound of the bomb explosion)
The
explosion was from a bomb thrown by a Hindu refugee to kill
Gandhi…
Gandhi
remained unruffled…(his voice “listen I Listen! Listen everybody…”)
Relying on
God, he refused to accept any kind of human protection… |
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036 |
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Discussing
the question of the reconstitution of provinces on a linguistic
basis, Gandhi observed, “Cultural autonomy had been our
watchword… But such re-distribution should not militate against
the organic unity of India… Autonomy did not and should not mean
disruption…
Surveying
the political scene, in a tone of infinite sadness, he remarked,
“ I have to find peace in the midst of turmoil, light in the
midst of darkness, hope in despair…” |
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037 |
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Giving a
moral orientation to the Indian National Congress, Gandhi
suggested in a draft constitution that it should transform
itself into a … Lok Sevak Sangh striving for the social,
economic and moral independence of the country in terms of its
seven hundred thousand villages… |
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