I must regard my participation in Congress proceedings at Amritsar as
my real entrance into the Congress politics. My attendance at the
previous Congress was nothing more perhaps than an annual renewal of
allegiance to the Congress. I never felt on these occasions that I
had any other work cut out for me except that of a mere private, nor
did I desire more.
My experience of Amritsar had shown that there were one or two
things for which perhaps I had some aptitude and which could be
useful to the Congress. I could already see that the late Lokamanya,
the Deshabandhu, Pandit Motilalji and other leaders were pleased
with my work in connection with the Punjab inquiry. They used to
invite me to their informal gatherings where, as I found, resolutions
for the Subjects Committee were conceived. At these gatherings only
those persons were invited who enjoyed the special confidence of the
leaders and whose services were needed by them. Interlopers also
sometimes found their way to these meetings.
There were, for the coming year, two things which interested me, as
I had some aptitude for them. One of these was the memorial of the
Jalianwala Bagh Massacre. The Congress had passed a resolution for
it amid great enthusiasm. A fund of about five lakhs had to be
collected for it. I was appointed one of the trustees. Pandit
Malaviyaji enjoyed the reputation of being the prince among beggars
for the public cause. But I knew that I was not far behind him in
that respect. It was whilst I was in South Africa that I discovered
my capacity in this direction. I had not the unrivalled magic of
Malaviyaji for commanding princely donations from the potentates of
India. But I knew that there was no question of approaching the
Rajas and Maharajas for donations for the Jalianwala Bagh memorial.
The main responsibility for the collection thus fell, as I had
expected, on my shoulders. The generous citizens of Bombay
subscribed most liberally, and the memorial trust has at present a
handsome credit balance in the bank. But the problem that faces the
country today is what kind of memorial to erect on the ground, to
sanctify which, Hindus, Musalmans and Sikhs mingled their blood. The
three communities, instead of being bound in a bond of amity and
love, are to all appearance, at war with one another, and the
nation is at a loss as to how to utilize the memorial fund.
My other aptitude which the Congress could utilize was as a
draftsman. The Congress leaders had found that I had a faculty for
condensed expression, which I had acquired by long practice. The
then existing constitution of the Congress was Gokhale's legacy. He
had framed a few rules which served as a basis for running the
Congress machinery. The interesting history of the framing of these
rules I had learnt form Gokhale's own lips. But everybody had now
come to feel that these rules were no longer adequate for the ever
increasing business of the Congress. The question had been coming up
year after year. The Congress at that time had practically no
machinery functioning during the interval between session and
session, or for dealing with fresh contingencies that might arise in
the course of the year. The existing rules provided for
three secretaries, but as a matter of fact only one of them was a
functioning secretary, and even he was not a whole-timer. How was
he, single-handed, to run the Congress office, to think of the
future, or to discharge during the current year the obligations
contracted by the Congress in the past? During that year, therefore,
everybody felt that this question would assume all the more
importance. The Congress was too unwieldy a body for the discussion
of public affairs. There was no limit set to the number of delegates
in the Congress or to the number of delegates that each province could
return. Some improvement upon the existing chaotic condition was
thus felt by everybody to be an imperative necessity. I undertook
the responsibility of framing a constitution on one condition. I saw
that there were two leaders, viz., the Lokamanya and the
Deshabandhu who had the greatest hold on the public. I requested
that they, as the representatives of the people, should be
associated with me on the Committee for framing the constitution.
But since it was obvious that they would not have the time
personally to participate in the constitution-making work, I
suggested that two persons enjoying their confidence should be a
appointed along with me on the Constitution Committee, and that the
number of its personnel should be limited to three. This suggestion
was accepted by the late Lokmanya and the late Deshabandhu, who suggested the names of Sjts. Kelkar and I.B. Sen
respectively as their proxies. The Constitution Committee could not
even once come together, but we were able to consult with each other
by correspondence, and in the end presented a unanimous report. I
regard this constitution with a certain measure of pride. I hold
that, if we could fully work out this constitution, the mere fact of
working it out would bring us Swaraj. With the assumption of this
responsibility I may be said to have made my real entrance into the
Congress politics.