But whether or not we succeeded in obtaining these conveniences, every one of us was firm in his resolution of passing his term in jail in perfect happiness and peace. The number of Satyagrahi prisoners gradually rose to over 150. As we were all simple imprisonment convicts, we had no work to do except keeping the cells etc. clean. We asked the Superintendent for work, and he replied: T am sorry I cannot give you work, as, if I did, I should be held to have committed an offence. But you can devote as much time as you please to keeping the place clean.’ We asked for some such exercise as drill, as we had observed even the Negro prisoners with hard labour being drilled in addition to their usual work. The Superintendent replied, ‘If your warder has time and if he gives you drill, I will not object to it; nor will I require him to do it, as he is hard worked as it is, and your arrival in unexpectedly SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA large numbers has made his work harder still.’ The warder was a good man and this qualified permission was quite enough for him. He began to drill us every morning with great interest. This drill must be performed in the small yard before our cells and was therefore in the nature of a merry-go-round. When the warder finished the drill and went away, it was continued by a Pathan compatriot of ours named Nawabkhan, who made us all laugh with his quaint pronunciation of English words of command. He rendered ‘Stand at ease5 as ‘sundlies.5 We could not for the life of us understand what Hindustani word it was, but afterwards it dawned upon us that it was no Hindustani but only Nawabkhani English.
CHAPTER XXI THE FIRST SETTLEMENT We had thus been in jail for a fortnight, when fresh arrivals brought the news that there were going on some negotiations about a compromise with the Government. After two or three days Mr Albert Cartwright, editor of The Transvaal Leader, a Johannesburg daily, came to see me.
All the daily papers then conducted in Johannesburg were the property of one or the other of the European owners of the gold mines, but except in cases where the interests of these magnates were at stake, the editors were unfettered in the expression of their own views on all public questions. Only very able and well-known men were selected as editors. For instance the editor of The Daily Star had formerly been Private Secretary to Lord Milner, and later went to England to take Mr Buckle’s place as editor of The Times. Mr Albert Cartwright of The Transvaal Leader was as broad-minded as he was able. He had almost always supported the Indian cause in his columns. He and I had become good friends. He saw General Smuts after I was sent to jail. General Smuts welcomed his mediation. Mr Cartwright thereupon met the Indian leaders, who said, ‘We know nothing about THE FIRST SETTLEMENT legal technicalities, and cannot possibly talk about com¬ promise so long as Gandhi is in prison. We desire settle¬ ment, but if Government wants it while our men are in jail, you should see Gandhi. We will ratify any arrange¬ ment which he accepts.’
Mr Cartwright thus came to see me and brought with him terms of settlement drafted or approved of by General Smuts. I did not like the vague language of the document, but was all the same prepared myself to put my signa¬ ture to it with one alteration. However, I informed Mr Cartwright, that I could not sign it without consulting my fellow-prisoners, even if I took the consent of the Indians outside prison for granted.
The substance of the proposed settlement was that the Indians should register voluntarily, and not under any law; that the details to be entered in the new certificates of registration should be settled by Government in con¬ sultation with the Indian community, and, that if the majority of the Indians underwent voluntary registration. Government should repeal the Black Act, and take steps with a view to legalize the voluntary registration. The draft did not make quite clear the condition which requ¬ ired Government to repeal the Black Act. I therefore suggest¬ ed a change calculated to place this beyond all doubt from my own standpoint.
Mr Cartwright did not like even this little addition and said, ‘General Smuts considers this draft to be final. I have approved of it myself, and I can assure you that if you all undergo re-registration, the Black Act is bound to be repealed.’
I replied, ‘Whether or not there is a settlement, we shall always be grateful to you for your kindness and help. I should not like to suggest a single unnecessary altera¬ tion in the draft. I do not object to such language as would uphold the prestige of Government. But where I myself am doubtful about the meaning, I must certainly suggest a change of language, and if there is to be a settlement after all, both the parties must have the right to alter the draft. General Smuts need not confront us with an ultima¬ tum, saying that these terms are final. He has already aimed SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA one pistol in the shape of the Black Act at the Indians. What can he hope to gain by aiming a second?’
Mr Cartwright had nothing to say against this argu¬ ment, and he promised to place my suggestion for the change before General Smuts.
I consulted my fellow-prisoners. They too did not like the language, but agreed to the settlement if General Smuts would accept the draft with my amendment. New-comers to jail had brought a message from the leaders outside, that I should accept any suitable compromise without waiting for their consent. I got Messers Leuing Quinn and Thambi Naidoo to sign the draft along with myself and handed it to Mr Cartwright.
The second or third day, on January 30, 1908, Mr Vernon, the Superintendent of Police, Johannesburg, took me to Pretoria to meet General Smuts, with whom I had a good deal of talk. He told me what had passed between him and Mr Cartwright. He congratulated me on the Indian community having remained firm even after my imprisonment, and said, T could never entertain a dislike for your people. You know I too am a barrister.
I had some Indian fellow students in my time. But I must do my duty. The Europeans want this law, and you will agree with me, that these are mostly not Boers, but English¬ men. I accept the alteration you have suggested in the draft. I have consulted General Botha also, and I assure you that I will repeal the Asiatic Act as soon as most of you have undergone voluntary registration. When the bill legalizing such registration is drafted, I will send you a copy for your criticism. I do not wish there should be any recurrence of the trouble, and I wish to respect the feelings of your people.’
So saying General Smuts rose. I asked him, ‘Where am I to go? And what about the other prisoners?’
The General laughed and said, ‘You are free this very moment. I am ‘phoning to the prison officials to release the other prisoners tomorrow morning. But I must advise you not to go in for many meetings or demonstrations, as in that case Government will find itself in an awkward position.’
OPPOSITION AND ASSAULT I replied, ‘You may rest assured, that there will not be a single meeting simply for the sake of it. But I will certainly have to hold meetings in order to explain to the community how the settlement was effected, what is its nature and scope, and how it has added to our responsi¬ bilities.5 cOf such meetings,5 said General Smuts, you may have as many as you please. It is sufficient that you have under¬ stood what I desire in the matter.5 It was then seven o’clock in the evening. I had not a single farthing in my pocket. The secretary of General Smuts gave me the railway fare to Johannesburg. There was no need to stop at Pretoria and announce the settle¬ ment to the Indians there. The leaders were all in Johan¬ nesburg, which was our headquarters. There was now only one more train for Johannesburg, and I was able to catch it.
CHAPTER XXII OPPOSITION AND ASSAULT I reached Johannesburg at about 9 p.m. and went direct to the Chairman, Sheth Yusuf Mian. He knew that I had been taken to Pretoria, and was hence rather expecting me. Still it was a pleasant surprise for him and others to find me unaccompanied by a warder. I suggested that a meeting should be called at once with such attendance as was possible at a very short notice. The Chairman and other friends agreed with me. As most of the Indians lived in the same quarter, it was not difficult to send round notice of the proposed meeting. The Chairman’s house was near the mosque, and meetings were usually held on the grounds of the mosque. There was hence not much to be done by way of arrangement for the meeting. It was enough to have one light on the platform. The meeting was held that very night at about 11 or 12 p.m. The audie¬ nce numbered nearly a thousand, in spite of the shortness of the notice and the late hour.
SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA Before the meeting was held, I had explained the terms of the settlement to the leaders present. A few op¬ posed the settlement. But all of them understood the situ¬ ation after they had heard me. Every one of them, how¬ ever, was troubled by one doubt, ‘What if General Smuts broke faith with us? The Black Act might not be enforced but it would always hang over our heads like Damocles’ sword. If in the meanwhile we registered voluntarily, we would have knowingly played in the adversary’s hands, and surrendered the most powerful weapon in our possess¬ ion for resisting the Act. The right order for the settlement was, that the Act should be repealed first and then we should be called upon to register voluntarily.5 I liked this argument. I felt proud of the keen com- monsense and high courage of those who advanced it, and saw that such was the stuff of which Satyagrahis were made. In answer to that argument I observed: ‘It is an excellent argument and deserves serious consideration. There would be nothing like it, if we registered voluntarily only after the Act was repealed. But then it would not be in the nature of a compromise. Compromise means that both the parties make large concessions on all points except where a principle is involved. Our principle is, that we would not submit to the Black Act, and therefore, would not, in virtue of it, do even such things as were otherwise unobjectionable; and to this principle we must adhere at all costs. The principle with the Government is, that in order to prevent the illegal entry of Indians into the Transvaal, it must get many Indians to take out non- transferable permits with marks of identification and thus set the suspicions of the Europeans at rest and allay all their fears; and the Government can never give it up on their part. We have admitted this principle of the Govern¬ ment by our conduct up to date, and therefore even if we feel like resisting it we may not do so until we find fresh grounds for such a departure. Our struggle aimed not at the abrogation of this principle but at removing the stigma which the Black Act sought to attach to the community. If, therefore, we now utilize the new and powerful force which has sprung up in the community for gaining a fresh OPPOSITION AND ASSAULT point, it would ill become us, who claim to be Satyagrahis. Consequently, we cannot justly object to the present settlement. As for the argument that we must not sur¬ render our weapons before the Act is repealed, it is easily answered. A Satyagrahi bids __good-bye to fear. He is there- v opponent plays him false twenty times” the Satyagrahi is ready to trust him for the twenty-first time, for an impli¬ cit trust in human nature is the very essence of his creed. Again to say that in trusting the Government we play into their hands is to betray an ignorance of the principles of Satyagraha. Suppose we register voluntarily, but the Govern¬ ment commits a breach of faith and fails to redeem its promise to repeal the Act. Could we not then resort to Satyagraha? If we refused to show at the proper time the certificates of registration we take out, our registration would count for nothing, and Government could not distin¬ guish between ourselves and the Indians who might enter the Transvaal surreptitiously. Therefore, whether there is or there is not any law in force, the Government cannot exercise control over us without our co-operation. The existence of a law means, that if we refuse to accept the restriction sought to be imposed through it by the Govern¬ ment, we are liable to punishment, and generally it so happens, that the fear of punishment leads men to submit to the restriction. But a Satyagrahi differs from the genera¬ lity of men in this, that if he submits to a restriction, he submits voluntarily, not because he is afraid of punish¬ ment, but because he thinks that such submission is essential to the common weal. And such is precisely our position regarding registration, which cannot be affected by any breach of faith, however flagrant, on the part of the Govern¬ ment. We are the creators of this position of ours, and we alone can change it. We are fearless and free, so long as we have the weapon of Satyagraha in our hands. And if any thinks that the community may not be as strong after¬ wards as it is today, I should say that he is not a Satya¬ grahi nor has he any understanding of Satyagraha. That would mean that the present strength of the community is not real strength but is in the nature of a momentary SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA effervescence or intoxication, and if that is so, we do not deserve to win, and the fruits of victory will slip out of our hands even if we win. Suppose the Government first abrogates the Act and we then register voluntarily. Sup¬ pose further that the Government afterwards enacts the same obnoxious law and compels the Indians to register. What can then prevent the Government from pursuing such a course of action? And if we are doubtful about our strength today, then too shall we be in an equally bad case. From whatever standpoint, therefore, we examine the settlement, it may be said that the community not only will not lose but will on the other hand gain by the compromise. And I am also of opinion, that when our opponents recognize our humility and sense of justice, they would give up or at least mitigate their opposition.5 I was thus able fully to satisfy the one or two of the small company who struck a discordant note, but I did not then even dream of the storm which was to break out at the midnight meeting. I explained all the terms of the settlement to the meeting and said: ‘The responsibility of the community is largely en¬ hanced by this settlement. We must register voluntarily in order to show that we do not intend to bring a single Indian into the Transvaal surreptitiously or by fraud. If any one of us fails to register, he will not be punished at present; but that can only mean that the community does not accept the settlement. It is necessary, indeed, that you must here raise your hands as a mark of your agreeing to the settlement, but that is not enough. As soon as the arrangements for fresh registration are completed, every one of us who raises his hand should take out a certificate of registration at once, and just as many of you had volun¬ teered before in order to explain to our compatriots why they should not register, even so should you now come forward to explain to the community why they must regis¬ ter. And it is only when we have thus worthily fulfilled our part that we shall reap the real fruit of our victory.5 As soon as I finished my speech a Pathan friend stood up and greeted me with a volley of questions: OPPOSITION AND ASSAULT 149 ‘Shall we have to give ten finger-prints under the settlement?’
‘Yes and no. My own view of the matter is, that all of us should give digit impressions without the least hesi¬ tation. But those, who have any conscientious objection to giving them or think it to be derogatory to their self-respect, will not be obliged to give those impressions.’
‘What will you do yourself?’
‘I have decided to give ten finger-prints. It may not be for me not to give them myself while advising others to do so.’
‘You were writing a deal about the ten finger-prints. It was you who told us that they were required only from criminals. It was you who said that the struggle centred round the finger-prints. How does all that fit in with your attitude today?’
‘Even now I fully adhere to everything that I have written before about finger-prints. Even now I say that in India finger-prints are required from criminal tribes. I have said before and say even now, that it would be a sin in virtue of the Black Act to give even our signatures not to talk of finger-prints. It is true that I have, — and I believe wisely, — laid great stress on this requisition of finger-prints. It was easier to rouse the community to a sense of the gravity of the situation by a reference to such a new and startling feature of the Act as the finger¬ prints than to minor items in which we had already yield¬ ed submission. And I saw from experience that the commu¬ nity grasped the situation at once. But circumstances have now changed. I say with all the force at my command, that what would have been a crime against the people yesterday is in the altered circumstances of today the hall¬ mark of a gentleman. If you require me to salute you by force and if I submit to you, I will have demeaned myself in the eyes of the public and in your eyes as well as in my own. But if I of my own accord salute you as a brother or fellow-man, that evinces~~my^' HurniTIty^ancl gentlemanliness, and it will be counted to me as righteous¬ ness before the Great White Throne. That is how I advise the community to give the finger-prints.’
SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA ‘We have heard that you have betrayed the commu¬ nity and sold it to General Smuts for 15,000 pounds. We will never give the finger-prints nor allow others to do so. I swear with Allah as my witness, that I will kill the man who takes the lead in applying for registration.5 ‘I can understand the feelings of Pathan friends. I am sure that no one else believes me to be capable of sell¬ ing the community. I have already said that finger-prints will not be demanded from those who have sworn not to give them. I will render all possible help to any Pathan or other who wishes to register without giving finger-prints, and I assure him that he will get the certificate all right without violence being done to his conscience. I must con¬ fess, however, that I do not like the threat of death which the friend has held out. I also believe that one may not swear to kill another in the name of the Most High. I there¬ fore take it, that it is only in a momentary fit of passion that this friend has taken the oath. However that may be, whether or not he carries out his threat, as the principal party responsible for this settlement and as a servant of the community, it is my clear duty to take the lead in giving finger-prints, and I pray to God that He graciously permit me so to do. Death is the appointed end of all life. To die by the hand of a brother, rather than by disease or in such other way, cannot be for me a matter for sorrow. And if even in such a case I am free from the thoughts of anger or hatred against my assailant, I know that that will re¬ dound to my eternal welfare, and even the assailant will later on realize my perfect innocence.5 It is perhaps necessary to explain why these questions were asked. Although there were not entertained any feelings of hatred against those who had submitted to the Black Act, their action had been condemned in plain and strong terms on the public platform as well as in Indian Opinion. Life with them therefore was anything but pleasant. They never imagined that the bulk of the community would stand to their guns and make such a display of stren¬ gth as to bring the Government to terms of compromise. But when over 150 Satyagrahis were already in prison and there was a talk about settlement, it was almost OPPOSITION AND ASSAULT too much for the ‘blacklegs’ to bear, and there were among them some who even wished that there should be no settle¬ ment and would try to wreck it if it was effected.
There were only a few Pathans living in the Trans¬ vaal, their total number hardly exceeding fifty. Some of them had come over as soldiers during the Boer War and they had settled in the country like many other Indian as well as European soldiers. Some of them were even my clients, and I was familiar with them otherwise too. The Pathans are an unsophisticated and credulous race. Brave they are as a matter of course. To kill and get killed is an ordinary thing in their eyes, and if they are angry with any one, they will thrash him and sometimes even kill him. And in this matter they are no respecters of per¬ sons. They will behave even to a blood-brother in an identical manner. Even though there were so few of them in the Transvaal, there would be a free fight whenever they quarrelled among themselves, and in such cases I had often to play the part of a peace-maker. A Pathan’s anger becomes particularly uncontrollable when he has to deal with any one whom he takes to be a traitor. When he seeks justice he seeks it only through personal violence. These Pathans fully participated in the Satyagraha struggle; none of them had submitted to the Black Act. It was an easy thing to mislead them. It was quite possible to create a misunderstanding in their minds about the finger-prints and thus to inflame them. This single suggestion, — viz., why should I ask them to give finger-prints if I was not corrupt? — was enough to poison the Pathans’ ears.
Again there was another party in the Transvaal which comprised such Indians as had entered the Trans¬ vaal surreptitiously without a permit or were interested in bringing others there secretly either without a permit at all or with a false permit. This party too knew that the settlement would be detrimental to their interest. None had to produce his permit so long as the struggle lasted, and therefore this group could carry on their trade without fear and easily avoid going to jail during the struggle. The longer the struggle was protracted, the better for them. Thus this clique also could have instigated the Pathans.
SATYAGRAHA IN SOUTH AFRICA The reader will now see how the Pathans got thus excited all of a sudden.
The Pathan’s questions, however, did not have any impression on the meeting. I had asked the meeting to vote on the settlement. The president and other leaders were firm. After this passage-at-arms with the Pathan, the president made a speech explaining the nature of the settlement and dwelling upon the necessity for endorsing it, and then proceeded to ascertain the sense of the meet¬ ing, which unanimously ratified the settlement with the exception of a couple of Pathans present.
I reached home at 2 or 3 a.m. Sleep was out of the question, as I had to rise early and go to the jail to get the others released. I reached the jail at 7 a.m. The Superintendent had received the necessary orders on the ’phone, and he was waiting for me. All the Satyagrahi prisoners were released in the course of one hour. The Chairman and other Indians were present to welcome them, and from jail all of us proceeded to the place of meeting where a second meeting was now held. That day and a couple of subsequent days were passed in feasting and educating the community on the settlement. With the lapse of time, if on the one hand the implications of the settlement became clearer misunderstandings on the other hand also began to thicken. We have already dis¬ cussed the chief causes of misunderstanding. Then again the letter we had written to General Smuts was open to misrepresentation. The difficulty I experienced in meet¬ ing the various objections which were thus raised was infinitely greater than what I had felt while the struggle was actually in progress. In the days of struggle, the only difficulties felt crop up in our relations with the adversary, and these are always easily overcome, for then all inter¬ necine strife and internal discord are either suspended al¬ together or at least they lose their prominence in face of the common danger. But when the fight is over, internal jealousies are again fully in play, and if the differences with the adversary have been amicably settled, many take to the easy and grateful task of picking holes in the settle¬ ment. And in a democratic body it is only in the fitness of