Page:Gandhi The Man and His Message.djvu/3

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GANDHI

THE MAN AND HIS MESSAGE


Mr. Mohandass Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, is today the acknowledged leader of the three hundred million inhabitants of India. He is the author of the Non-violent, Non-cooperation movement, which has been adopted by the Indian National Congress as a weapon of passive resistance wherewith to win India’s freedom. In March, 1922, because of his public activities in India as a leader of his movement, Mr. Gandhi was sentenced to six years’ incarceration on the charge of promoting disaffection towards the British Crown. Recently released from prison by order of the British Labor Government, he has announced his decision to re-enter the arena of Indian political life. The jail life of two years, however much its rigors were mitigated by special care given him during his confinement, has left its indelible mark upon the weak and fragile constitution of Mr. Gandhi. Scrupulously true to his professions, honest and determined as ever in his resolves, Gandhi is ready once again to shoulder the heavy responsibilities that await him as leader of the struggling millions of India, in their fight for freedom. The news of his release, and his subsequent decision to resume his public activities, is hailed with the profoundest joy by his countrymen, confident as they all are in the ability and integrity of their adored and esteemed “Mahatma.” The effects of the soothing and bracing atmosphere of his dynamic personality, his admirers allege, is being widely felt all over. Far from cooling the enthusiasm of his followers, as was expected by his prosecutors, the confinement of Mr. Gandhi has on the other hand intensified their liking for him. Gandhi the Saint comes out of prison as Gandhi the Martyr, with all the halo that attaches to that name.

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