THE DELHI INCIDENT
Mr. M. K. Gandhi sent the following letter to the Press from Bombay under date 4th April, 1919 :
It is alleged against the Delhi people assembled at the Delhi Railway Station (1) that s~me of them were trying to coerce sweetmeat sellers into closing their stalls ; (2) that some were forcibly preventing people from plying tramcars and other vehicles ; (3) that some of them threw brickbats ; (4) that the whole crowd that marched to the Station demanded the release of men who were said to be coercers and who were for that reason arrested at the instance of the Railway authori- ties ; (5) that the crowd declined to disperse when the Magistrate gave orders to disperse. I have read Sanyasi Swami Shradhanandji's account of the tragedy. I am bourxl to accept it as true, unless it is authoritatively proved to be otherwise and his account seems to me to deny the allegations, 1, 2 and 3. But assuming the truth of all allegations it does appear to me that the local authorities in Delhi have made use of a Nasmyth hammer to crush a fly. On their action, however, in firing on the crowd, I shall seek another opportunity of saying more. My purpose in writing this letter is merely to issue a note of warning to all Satyagrahis. I would, therefore, like to observe that the conduct described in the allegations 1 to 4, if true, would be inconsistent with the Satyagraha Pledge. The conduct described in allegations can be consistent with the Pledge, but if he allegation is true, the conduct was premature, because the Committee contemplated in the Pledge, has not
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