By
Mahatma Gandhi
BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Today is New Year’s Day according to the English calendar. I am happy to see such a large number of people gathered here. I regret that it took no less than 7 minutes for us to make room for the women to sit. Even one minute lost at such a meeting is hundreds of thousands of minutes lost to hundreds of thousands of people. Our brothers should learn to offer first place to the sisters. The country where women are not honoured is not really civilized. According to Manu¹ men and women should both understand their own limits. We should learn to behave with added restraint now that we are free. I hope the audience attending the prayer meetings will be even larger in future. But all those that come should come with prayer in their hearts, for prayer is the food for the heart. We cannot get anywhere else such food as we get from God. I also hope that the audience will maintain silence and will return to their homes in silence.
Recently there was a Harijan conference in U. P., at which it is reported, a minister preached to the Harijans that they should give up their unclean habits, unclean living and unclean clothes and abstain from alcohol. A Harijan countered that the Government could burn up the unclean clothes just as it could have palm trees cut down and wine shops closed. I admire the courage of the Harijan friend. I for one make gur from palm. I shall advise the Harijan brethren that the cure is in their own hands. Even if liquor is sold in shops they should keep away from it as they would from poison. In fact liquor is worse than poison. Labourers drink in order to forget their domestic worries. Poison can only kill the body. Liquor can kill even the soul. One loses the ability to control one’s action. I would advise the Government to close down liquor shops and to replace them by eating-houses where people could get pure and light food. Here they should distribute books from which people could learn something and they should provide to them some harmless entertainment. But there should be no place for cinema. This will help people to give up alcohol. I say this from my experience of many countries. I have seen this in India and I had seen it also in South Africa. I am quite sure that giving up alcohol increases both the physical vigour of man and his capacity to earn. It is for this reason that prohibition has been a part of the Congress programme since 1920. Now that we are free the Government should redeem its pledge and give up the unholy excise revenue. It is not a real loss, for it will bring enormous good to the people. This is the way to our prosperity. We should achieve this through our own effort.
[From Hindi] Prarthana Pravachan—II, pp. 258-9
Notes
- 1. Codifier of Hindu Law, author of Manavadharmashastra, generally known as Manusmriti
Notes
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