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With the
rise of anti-Semitism in Germany, Gandhi advised the persecuted
Jews to bravely claim Germany as their home, for he was sure
that religious resistance against the godless fury of a
dehumanized man would bring forth the inner strength and joy
given to them by Jehovah… |
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002 |
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Anticipating the devastating consequences of war, Gandhi wrote
to Herr Hitler- the one person who could prevent a war that
would reduce humanity to a savage state. “Must you pay this
price for an object; however worthy it may appear to you? Will
you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the
method of war?” he asked.
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003 |
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At last
the long apprehended was between England and Germany broke out…
Flouting
Indian opinion, the British Government declared India a
belligerent country and promulgated ordinances, which affected
the Indian people vitally… |
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004 |
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After his
talks with the Viceroy at Simla, Gandhi made it clear that his
sympathies were with the Allies from the purely humanitarian
standpoint… He appealed to British statesmen to open a new
chapter for all those who were held under imperial bondage… |
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005 |
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Condemning
the Nazi aggression, the Indian National Congress declared that
though the Indian people had no quarrel with any people, they
had a deep – rooted quarrel with systems which glorified war
and violence and suppressed the human spirit and that India
could not associate herself with a war side to be for democratic
freedom when that very freedom was denied to her.
It invited the
British government to declare its War aims in unequivocal terms
and added, declare its war aims in unequivocal terms and added,
“A free and democratic India will gladly associate herself with
other free nations for the advancement of humanity. |
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006 |
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Making a
fervent appeal to India to adopt non-violence as her creed and
preserve man’s dignity, Gandhi wrote, “Defense of India by the
present method has been necessary because she is an appendage of
Britain. Free India can have no enemy… |
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007 |
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“It is
better for India to discard violence altogether even for
defending her borders… For India to enter into the race for
armaments is to court suicide.
“With the
loss of India to non-violence, the last hope of the world will
be gone…” |
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008 |
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With the
British Government’s rejection of nationalist opinion, Gandhi
was convinced that its old policy of ‘divide and rule’ was to
continue… His reaction was “ Our independence is not to depend
upon any one’s mercy… It will come when the people are ready for
it”. |
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009 |
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The
congress declared that Indian freedom could not exist within the
orbit of imperialism and asked its Ministries to resign in
protest… |
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010 |
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For a
while to pass beyond the darkness that enveloped the destiny of
the world, Gandhi and Kasturbai visited Shantiniketan at Poet
Tagore’s invitation in February 1940.
The two
apostles of India’s regeneration met…
The Poet’s
simple mud-hut ‘Shyamli’ was Gandhi’s abode here… |
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011 |
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Notwithstanding his ill health, Tagore came to the mango-grove
to express his love and reverence for Gandhi…
The Poet
welcomed Gandhi as one of their own and das “one belonging to
all humanity…”
In a
spirit of deep respect, Gandhi replied: “Shantiniketan will
never cease to grow so long as Gurudev’s spirit broods over it…” |
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012 |
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During
their talks, Gandhi saw that Tagore was living for his dearest
creation, Visvabharati, and wanted to feel sure about its
future… |
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013 |
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As they
partede, Tagore handed over to Gandhi his impassioned appeal:
“Visvabharati is like a vessel which is carrying the cargo of my
life’s best treasure… Accept this institution under your
protection…”
Gandhi
assured him; “Visvabharati caries God’s protection because it
is the creation of an earnest soul… you may depend upon my doing
all for its permanence…” |
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014 |
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Events
were moving with their own momentum… Since India was to continue
under the imperial domain, positive action became inevitable…the
Congress, at its annual session held at Ramgarh, in March 1940,
under the Presidentship of Maulana Aul Kalam azad, placed full
responsibility for conducting the civil disobedience campaign on
Gandhi.
Stressing
the need of discipline, Gandhi said, “The essence of Satyagraha
is not to shout slogans but to carry out in letter and spirit
the word of your chosen general…” |
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015 |
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Gandhi
commended his thirteen-fold constructive programme. In the
fulfillment of it flay the non-violent attainment of Swaraj
based on the solid foundation of social justice and economic
equality enabling each individual to have the wherewithal to
supply all primary needs… |
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016 |
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Correlating economics and ethics and ethics, Gandhi advocated
the Upanishhadic message of enjoying wealth by renouncing it for
the common good…
He
enunciated the theory of trusteeship to transform the
acquisitive society into an egalitarian one… “A society
based on Non-violence cannot nurture any other ideal.” |
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017 |
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Reluctant
to carry the policy of non-embarrassment to the point of
self-extinction, Gandhi decided to launch individual Satyagraha
as a moral protest against war...
He chose
to keep himself out and selected Vinoba bhave as the first
Satyagrahi to preach publicly non-co-operation in the
war-effort… |
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018 |
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The
person-by-person symbolic protest assumed huge dimensions…
Thousands answered the call, proclaimed their faith and courted
imprisonment… |
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019 |
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On the
Government forbidding the press to report the progress of
Satyagraha, Gandhi suspended the publication of his journals and
asked everyone to become his own newspaper carrying authentic
news… |
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020 |
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The
theatre of the war came nearer India…
Civil
disobedience prisoners were set free in December, 1941…
The
nearness of war became a challenge to Gandhi and a test of
faith…
He resumed
the weeklies to disseminate his view that “all war is immoral”. |
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021 |
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Gandhi
felt that he must accept the necessary consequences and
implications of non-violence… He dreamt of India becoming a
symbol of non-violence and a messenger of peace … and said
prophetically, “Jawaharlal will be my successor… and when I am
gone, he will speak my language.” |
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022 |
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Just then,
Sir Stafford Cripps came to India with the proposals of the
British war Cabinet on self-government for discussion with
representative Indians… |
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023 |
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Behind the
proposals which dealt essentially with the future, after the
cessation of hostilities, lay the old imperial policy of
creating division in India and encouraging every factor that
came in the way of national growth and freedom.
There was
no intention to part with power in them…
Cripps
made it clear that “the scheme was to be accepted or rejected as
a whole…”
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He began a
series of negotiations with the leaders of all political
parties…
On March
27, Gandhi arrived in New Delhi as Cripps was anxious to meet
him…
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025 |
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Strongly
disapproving the indefinite and innumerable partitions involved
in the proposals, Gandhi asked, “ Why did you come if this is
what you have to offer?”
Characterizing the offer as a “post-dated cheque”, Gandhi soon
left for Sevagram.
The
proposals were rejected by every single party and group in
India. |
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026 |
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Jawaharlal
Nehru’s reaction was, that India would be one in freedom, as it
had been one in subjection…
He said,
(his voice)… “The Clock of destiny is ticking away and war and
danger hover over the world. We shall have to face their
consequences also and we can only face them by forgetting our
petty troubles and conflicts and putting on together, so that we
may, by united strength make India independent…”
The Cripps
Mission failed. The prospect of freedom receded into some dim
and distant future… |
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027 |
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Inaction
at the critical stage became intolerable for Gandhi who was
convinced that India’s real safety lay in orderly and timely
British withdrawal…
Expressing
the prevailing mood of the people, Gandhi urged passionately,
“Leave India to God and if that be too much, leave her to
anarchy…” |
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028 |
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To put the
Allied cause on an unassailable basis, Gandhi wrote to President
Roosevelt that the position of the democracies in the war was
morally indefensible so long as India and Africa were not
granted independence.
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029 |
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India
stood in peril of invasion… the Quit India Campaign began to
take shape in Gandhi’s mind…
Accepting
Gandhi’s view that India’s bondage enfeebled her for her own
defense, the Congress working Committee proclaimed to the
country that British rule in India must end… only the glow of
freedom would enable the people’s united will to resist
aggression…
“If the
appeal fails,” the resolution emphasized, “Congress will utilize
all its non-violent strength for India’s liberty under the
inevitable leadership of Mahatma Gandhi…” |
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030 |
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The
leaders assembled in Bombay on the eve of the All India Congress
Committee meeting which had been summoned to endorse the Quit
India Resolution… |
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031 |
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On August
7, 1942, the sullen passivity of the people was converted into a
spirit o non-submission and resistance… They assembled at the
Gowalia Tank maidan and awaited the final call for India’s
deliverance… |
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032 |
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The
deeply-felt sentiment of the Indian people firmly convinced
Gandhi that “suppression will never put out the light of revolt,
once it has been lighted…”
He came
there to guide at the crucial hour with ill will towards none…
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033 |
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Opening
the proceedings of the historic session, President Azad
explained that the Quit India proposal meant, “Withdraw as
masters” and pointed out, power when it comes, will belong to
the whole people of India…” |
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034 |
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Moving the
Quit India Resolution, Jawaharlal Nehru affirmed that its
conception was not narrow nationalism and in no sense a threat
but an offer of co-operation of a free India…
He
asserted, “The flame that would be kindled by passing the
resolution would illumine the darkened horizon…” |
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035 |
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Seconding
the resolution, Sardar Patel declared, “To rouse the people to a
supreme effort, it must dawn on them that this is a people’s
war” |
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036 |
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Amid
deafening applause, the Quit India Resolution representing the
voice of the oppressed people was carried with over whelming
majority, only thirteen voting against… |
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037 |
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Outlining
his plan of action, Gandhi spoke for two hours. “The
contemplated struggle has its roots in non-violence… I must act
when the earth is being scorched by the flames of violence and
crying for deliverance.
“how is
this vast mass of humanity to be aflame in the cause of world
deliverance, unless it has touched and felt freedom?
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038 |
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I will
have to resist the might of the empire with the might of the
dumb millions with non-violence as a policy confined to this
struggle…”
He
declared that he would try for an honourable settlement before
commencing the actual struggle…
Concluding
Gandhi Said, “here is a dictum for the non-violent soldier of
freedom-‘Do or Die’.” |
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039 |
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A few
hours later in the early morning of August 9, Gandhi was removed
from the scene of action and immured along with his party behind
the barbed wire isolation of the Aga Khan Palace Detention camp
at Poona… |
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040 |
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Members of
the Working Committee were picked off and detained in the Fort
of Chand Bibi at Ahmednagar… The Government got ready their
prisons, police and ordinances… |
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041 |
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India’s
national pride rose in revolt…Patriotic urge to action moved the
people …
It was a
spontaneous mass upheaval… The temper of the people rose and so
did the temper of the alien Government… |
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042 |
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Six days
after the internment, Gandhi’s secretary, Mahadev Desai, died
suddenly in detention. He served his Master to the last…
In a
corner of the detention ground, performing the last rites,
Gandhi said, “this sacrifice cannot but hasten the day of
India’s deliverance.” |
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043 |
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In his
exhaustive correspondence with the Viceroy, detenue Gandhi
asked, “Is the demand for independence, legitimate at all times,
a challenge that could only be met by immediate repression
instead of patient reasoning with the demanding party?”
He blamed
the Government for letting loose an avalanche of leonine
violence to suppress a popular movement avowedly non-violent…
There was
no vestige of acceptance of Gandhi’s reasoning… Seeking soothing
balm for his pain Gandhi decided to crucify the flesh by
fasting.. |
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044 |
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Seventy-four year old Gandhi launched on a 21day fast on
February 10, 1943 in the shadow of the detention camp….
Outside
the agates stood his sorrow-laden sister praying in anguish… |
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045 |
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As says
passed into weeks, he grew weaker… His strength had almost ebbed
out. But he was able to pull through the great ordeal…
When
Gandhi’s life was hanging in the balance, the Government set out
their unsustainable accusation against Gandhi replete with
inferences and innuendoes…
Garbled
extracts from Gandhi’s writings had been torn from their context
and presented in a false setting…
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046 |
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Gandhi
replied seriatim to the indictment…
He
characterized it as the case of a prosecutor who first arrests
and gags his victims and then opens his case behind their backs…
“ I have
no regret for what I have done or said in the course of the
struggle for India’s freedom.” Affirmed Gandhi and suggested
reference to an impartial tribunal… |
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047 |
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In
detention, Gandhi spent some time teaching his
seventy-four-year-old wife…
But it did
not last long … Kasturbai’s health deteriorated fast…
She died
as a prisoner on February 22,1944… Thus ended the sixty-two year
old companionship of Gandhi and Kasturbai…
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048 |
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Gandhi’s
constant companion in all his life’s struggle was cremated under
his very eyes…
Giving
vent to his feelings, he said, “ I cannot imagine life without
Ba”.
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049 |
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A famine
of vast dimension overtook the people…starvation stalked the
land…
On May 6,
1944, India heaved a sigh of relief on Gandhi’s sudden and
unconditional release on medical grounds…
Before
leaving the detention-camp, he offered floral tributes to his
two departed comrades- Mahadev and Kasturbai at the consecrated
ground… |
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050 |
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After
twenty-one months of incarceration, Gandhi passed out of the
barbed wire…An arduous journey lay ahead… |
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051 |
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On May 11,
Gandhi once again arrived at Juhu to sojourn at Gandhi Gram and
entered on a fornight’s silence to ensure uninterrupted rest.
The
sea-breeze brought him some relief and enabled him to build his
broken body… |
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052 |
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Every
evening, people of all shades crowded on the beach to attend
Gandhi’s congregational prayer which he considered to be the
greatest binding force maintaining the oneness of the human
family.
Gandhi’s
faith in the efficacy of prayer was immovable… he was in tune
with the infinite…(Prayer music) |
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053 |
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At a
special request, Gandhi gave autographs in ten scripts-Devnagri,
Roman, Gujarati, Persian, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu,
Bengali, and Oriya…
“If only I
had the time”, he remarked,” I have energy enough to learn more
Indian languages…”
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054 |
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Partially
recuperated form his illness, Gandhi reached Sevagram…
In an
interview he said that the exploited races would not feel the
glow of the Allied Victory…
He asked,
“Must rivers of blood flow for such an empty victory?” |
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055 |
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Gandhi
came to Bombay for a frank and friendly talk with Mohmad Ali
Jinnah on the question of communal unity… He went to Jinnah’s
house on September 9, 1944 “as a seeker of light for
establishing living peace…”
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056 |
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The
eighteen day-talks never converged but ran a parallel course and
broke down. The cleavage was on the cardinal issue of the
two-nation theory…
Gandhi had
no sense of disappointment or despondency though the talks did
not prove fruitful…
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057 |
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At a
prayer meeting he explained, “The result confirms my view that
the presence of the third power hinders the solution…” |
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