Seven

7

And with what means and methods? With the method of non-violence! Govind Ballabh Pant said, “There is no difference of opinion so far as non-violence is concerned. There may be two opinions about its effectiveness.” We are asked to Stick to a method even when its effectiveness is highly dubious.

In fact, for the Congress leaders the effectiveness of a method was a matter of opinion, about some principle of high abstraction, and not a matter of technique, training, organisation, and preparation.

I would not enter into the controversy of the principle, which is purely of a doctrinaire nature. I would only say this: that not only were the Congress leaders hopelessly incapable of any ‘substantive rationality’—that is, any intelligent insight into the inter-relations of an event or situation; they were still more hopelessly incapable of any ‘functional rationality,— that is, a power of co-ordinating and organising means for the efficient and effective achievement of previously defined goals. They were not only confused and divided in their ends and loyalties, they were also confused and confounded and inefficient in their methods.