The Gospel Of Freedom |
THERE IS no such thing as slow freedom. Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves. All birth takes place in a moment. (YI, 9-3-1922, p. 148) |
Gilded Slavery To my mind golden shackles are far worse than iron ones, for one easily feels the irksome and galling nature of the latter, and is prone to forget the former. If, therefore, India must be in chains, I would they were of iron rather than of gold or other precious metals. (YI, 16-1-1930, p. 17)
Right To Freedom As every country is fit to eat, to drink and to breathe, even so is every nation fit to manage its own affairs, no matter how badly. (YI, 15-10-1931, p. 305)
Superimposed control is bad any day
.. When this
control is removed, the nation will breathe free, it will have the right to make mistakes. This ancient method, of progressing be making mistakes and correcting them, is the proper way. (H, 21-12-1947, p. 477)
I value individual freedom, but you must not forger that man is essentially a social being. He has risen to his present status by learning to adjust his individualism to the requirements of social progress. Unrestricted individualism is the law of the beast of the jungle. We have to learn to strike the mean between individual freedom and social restraint. Willing submission to social restraint for the sake of the well-being of the whole society enriches both the individual and the society of which one is a member. If this [individual liberty] goes, then surely all is list, for, if the individual ceases to count, what is left of society? Individual freedom alone can make a man voluntarily surrender himself completely to the service of society. If it is wrested from him, he becomes an automaton and society is ruined. No society can possible be built on a denial of individual freedom. It is contrary to the very nature of man. Just as a man will not grow horns or tail, so he will not exist as man if he has no mind of his own. In reality, even those who do not believe in the liberty of the individual believe in their own. Modern editions of chenghiz khan retain their own. (H, 1-9-1942, p. 27) |
Concept Of Freedom Every individual must have the fullest liberty to use his talents consistently with equal use by neighbours, but no one is entitled to the arbitrary use of the gains from the talents. He is part of the nation or, say, the social structure surrounding him. Therefore, he can use his talents not for self only but for the social structure of which he is but a part and on whose sufferance he lives. (H, 2-8-1942, p. 249) |
Will To Be Free Even the most despotic government cannot stand except for the consent of the governed, which consent is often forcibly procured by the despot. Immediately the subject ceases to fear the despotic force, his power is gone. (YI, 30-6-1920, p. 3) The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states. Therefore, the first thing is to say to yourself; I shall no longer accept the role of a slave. I shall not obey orders as such, but shall disobey them when they are in conflict with my conscience.
The so-called master may lash you and try to force you to serve him. You will say; No, I will not serve you for your money or under a threat. This may mean suffering. Your readiness to suffer will light the torch of freedom which can never be put out. (H, 24-2-1946, p. 18) We must be content to die if we cannot live as free men and women. (YI, 5-1-1922, p. 5)
Man has to thank himself for his dependence. He can be
independent as soon as he wills it.
Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living? |
Freedom For Lowliest
Our fear paralyses our thinking powers, or we should at once know that freedom means a state, at any rate some what better than the present for every honest man or woman. It is exploiters, money-grabbers, pirates and the like who have to fear the advent of freedom. (YI, 26-12-1929, p. 421) I shall strive for a constitution which will release India from all thralldom and patronage, and give her, if need be, the right to sin. I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of the intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men.
Since we shall be at peace with all the rest of the world, neither exploiting, nor being exploited, we should have the smallest army imaginable. All interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected, whether foreign or indigenous. Personally, I hate distinction between foreign and indigenous. This is the India of my dreams
I shall be satisfied with nothing else. |
No Exploitation
Men aspiring to be free can hardly think of enslaving others. If they try to do so, they will only be binding their own chains of slavery tighter. (H, 13-4-1947, p. 106)
Independence of my conception means nothing less than the realization the "Kingdom of God" within you and on this earth. I would rather work for and die in the pursuit of this dream, though it may never be realized. That means infinite patience and perseverance.
In concrete terms,
. The independence should be
political, economic and moral. Moral means freedom from armed defence forces. (H, 5-5-1946, p. 116) |
Means Of Peace I personally would wait, if need be, for ages rather than seek to attain the freedom of my country through bloody means. I feel in the innermost recesses of my heart, after a political experience extending over an unbroken period of close upon thirty-five years, that the world is sick unto death of blood-spilling. The world is seeking a way out, and I flatter myself with the belief that perhaps it will be the privilege of the ancient land of India to show that way out to the hungering world. I have, therefore, no hesitation whatsoever in inviting all the great nation of the earth to give their hearty co-operation to India in her mighty struggle. It must be a sight worth contemplating and treasuring that millions of people have given themselves to suffering without retaliation in order that they might vindicate the dignity and honour of the nation. (ICS, p. 209) I would far rather that India perished than that she won freedom at the sacrifice of truth. (YI, 1-10-1931, p. 281)
It would not satisfy my soul to gain freedom for India and not to help in the peace of the world. I have the conviction in me that, when England ceases to prey upon India, she will also cease to prey upon other nations. At any rate, India will have not part in the blood-guilt. (YI, 3-12-1931, p. 380)
My ambition is much higher than independence. Through the deliverance of India I seek to deliver the so-called weaker races of the earth from the crushing heels o Western exploitation . (YI, 12-1-1928, p. 13)
National independence is not a fiction. It is as necessary as individual independence. But neither, if it is based on non-violence, may ever be a menace to the equal independence of the nation or the individual as the case may be. As with individual and national independence, so with the international. The legal maxim is equally moral. Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas*. It has been well said that the universe is compressed in the atom. There is not one law for the atom and another for the universe. |
International Co-operation |
Freedom Of Exploited Races
Freedom of India will demonstrate to all the exploited races of the earth that their freedom is very near and that in no case will they, henceforth, be exploited. (BC, 18-4-1942) * So use your own property as not to injure the rights of another. |