19. Tiredness of Non-violence

THE IMMEDIATE cause is the most dangerous. The thinking portion seems to be tired of non-violence. It has not as yet understood my suspension of Satyagraha after the Ahmedabad and Viramgam tragedies, then after the Bombay rowdyism, and lastly after the Chauri Chaura outrage. The last was the last straw. Thinking men imagined that all hope of Satyagraha, and therefore of Swaraj, too, in the near future, was at an end. Their faith in non-violence was skin-deep. Two years ago a Musalman friend said to me in all sincerity, "I do not believe your non-violence. At least I would not have my Musalmans to learn it. Violence is the law of life. I would not have Swaraj by non-violence as you define the latter. I must hate my enemy." This friend is an honest man. I entertain great Musalman friend of mine. The report may be untrue, but the reporter himself is not an untrue man.

Nor is this repugnance to non-violence confined to Musalmans. Hindu friends have said the same thing, if possible, with greater vehemence.

What I see around me today is, therefore, a reaction against the spread of non-violence. I feel the wave of violence coming. The ndu-Muslim tension is an acute phase of this tiredness

Hindu-Muslim tension is an acute phase of this tiredness.