Nine

9

They confused and confounded everything before August 1942. They did the same while at it. And they are continuing at the same old job of confusing end confounding after they have come out of it—and always with the same airs of all knowing-ness, all doing-ness, and busy-ness.

When the leaders came out of the jail, they had to apologize to the Government for all that happened. They disowned Responsibility for it and righty so. For they had no part in it either in deeds or in words or even in intentions, except that they were caught and involved by the Government. The respectable, middleclass, Gandhi-caps, the official responsible Congress, the whole array of secretaries and presidents in the country were caught to no purpose. What was done was done by the students, the labourers, and the peasants, on their own initiative, at their own hazards, with no help or word of encouragement from the Congress quarters. The only part of the high official Congress when it came out of the jail was, to insult them and belittle their inspiration. They invariably and uniformly, have been called ‘mobs’ by the leaders and their press. On the other hand, one of them came and owned it and “assumed the sole responsibility for it”, of a thing in which he had absolutely no share.

The leaders tried to explain away the whole political significance of whatever little was done. They gave an interpretation of the August “disturbances” (mere disturbances?) which was highly flattering to themselves. They explained that the people rose “spontaneously at the unprovoked arrest of their beloved leaders.” Well, they may be leaders of the people in their own estimation, and, perhaps also as a matter of sentiment, but they have done nothing to show that they deserve this position and, on the other hand, did everything to forfeit their right to this privilege.

Unfortunately, true to themselves, they have again busied themselves with owning or disowning or responsibilities, apportioning and exchanging blames, exchanging bouquets for the sacrifices they made. They should have set up a commission to inquire into the causes of the failure of the movement. That should have been their first job. But, instead of doing it, they are playing at being blind and not looking to the fact that they failed. Either, they argue, they did not start any movement, and in case they started, they did not lose it. According to them they won it. What a complacency!!!