The subjection of India
Its cause and cure
Introduction by M. K. Gandhi
The letter printed below is a translation of Tolstoy's letter written in
Russian in reply to one from the Editor of Free Hindustan. After having passed
from hand to hand, this letter at last came into my possession through a friend
who asked me, as one much interested in Tolstoy's writings, whether I thought
it worth publishing. I at once replied in the affirmative, and told him I
should translate it myself into Gujarati and induce others to translate and
publish it in various Indian vernaculars.
The letter as received by me was a type-written copy. It was therefore referred
to the author, who confirmed it as his and kindly granted me permission to
print it.
To me, as a humble follower of that great teacher whom I have long looked upon
as one of my guides, it is a matter of honour to be connected with the
publication of his letter, such especially as the one which is now being given
to the world.
It is a mere statement of fact to say that every Indian, whether he owns up to
it or not, has national aspirations. But there are as many opinions as there
are Indian nationalists as to the exact meaning of that aspiration, and more
especially as to the methods to be used to attain the end.
One of the accepted and ``time-honoured'' methods to attain the end is that of
violence. The assassination of Sir Curzon Wylie was an illustration of that
method in its worst and most detestable form. Tolstoy's life has been devoted
to replacing the method of violence for removing tyranny or securing reform by
the method of non-resistance to evil. He would meet hatred expressed in
violence by love expressed in self-suffering. He admits of no exception to
whittle down this great and divine law of love. He applies it to all the
problems that trouble mankind.
When a man like Tolstoy, one of the clearest thinkers in the western world, one
of the greatest writers, one who as a soldier has known what violence is and
what it can do, condemns Japan for having blindly followed the law of modern
science, falsely so-called, and fears for that country ``the greatest
calamities'', it is for us to pause and consider whether, in our impatience of
English rule, we do not want to replace one evil by another and a worse. India,
which is the nursery of the great faiths of the world, will cease to be
nationalist India, whatever else she may become, when she goes through the
process of civilization in the shape of reproduction on that sacred soil of gun
factories and the hateful industrialism which has reduced the people of Europe
to a state of slavery, and all but stifled among them the best instincts which
are the heritage of the human family.
If we do not want the English in India we must pay the price. Tolstoy indicates
it. ``Do not resist evil, but also do not yourselves participate in evil - in
the violent deeds of the administration of the law courts, the collection of
taxes and, what is more important, of the soldiers, and no one in the world
will enslave you'', passionately declares the sage of Yasnaya Polyana. Who can
question the truth of what he says in the following: ``A commercial company
enslaved a nation comprising two hundred millions. Tell this to a man free from
superstition and he will fail to grasp what these words mean. What does it mean
that thirty thousand people, not athletes, but rather weak and ordinary people,
have enslaved two hundred millions of vigorous, clever, capable, freedom-loving
people? Do not the figures make it clear that not the English, but the Indians,
have enslaved themselves ?''
One need not accept all that Tolstoy says - some of his facts are not
accurately stated - to realize the central truth of his indictment of the
present system, which is to understand and act upon the irresistible power of
the soul over the body, of love, which is an attribute of the soul, over the
brute or body force generated by the stirring in us of evil passions.
There is no doubt that there is nothing new in what Tolstoy preaches. But his
presentation of the old truth is refreshingly forceful. His logic is
unassailable. And above all he endeavours to practise what he preaches. He
preaches to convince. He is sincere and in earnest. He commands attention.
