By
Mahatma Gandhi
BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
It pains me to know that the Muslims of Tihar¹ and the neighbouring areas have to suffer unnecessary hardships. Many of them are landowners but are unable to till their land for fear of harassment. They have sold away their cattle, ploughs and other implements. They are being protected by the army.² More than two thousand of those distressed people had gathered round me. Through their leader they conveyed to me their desire to go to Pakistan, because life had become impossible for them here. They said that a large number of their friends and relatives had already gone to Pakistan. Hence, it would be a mercy if the Government could arrange to send them to Lahore. They said they had nothing to complain against the army. However, I would not like to devote the whole time in giving an account of that meeting. I told those people that I had no power in my hands, but I would gladly convey their message to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Home Minister.
I am told that the refugees have become a problem in Delhi and that because they have suffered atrocities in Pakistan, they think they have special privileges. When they go to buy things in the market they expect the shopkeeper to give them what they want without charging them anything or at a considerably reduced rate. At times, a single person buys things worth hundreds of rupees. Some refugees expect the tongawallahs to give them free rides or charge a very nominal fare. If this report is true, it is my duty to say that the refugees have failed to learn the lesson that sufferers generally learn through hardships. Thereby they are harming themselves and the country and making the already complicated problem more complicated. If they continue to behave like this, they are sure to lose the sympathy of the Delhi traders.
At the same time, I cannot understand how the refugees who have come from Pakistan after losing everything, can buy things worth hundreds of rupees. I would also wish that except on rare and necessary occasions, the refugees should not use anything other than their God-given feet for moving about. Apart from this, I am also told that ever since lakhs of refugees started coming to Delhi, there has been a steep rise in the revenue derived from spirituous liquor. As a matter of fact, those people should realize that when the Central and the Provincial Governments accede to the demands of the Congress, neither hard liquor nor other intoxicants like opium and hemp would be available in the Indian Union. The same situation can be created in Pakistan too, because our Muslim friends would not need a Congress resolution to declare total prohibition. Can the refugees, who have undergone so many hardships, not restrain themselves from taking intoxicants and indulging in luxuries? I hope the refugee men and women will take the advice I have given them through my earlier speeches that wherever they go, the refugees should mix with the people like sugar in milk, and make a firm resolve not to be a burden on them. Let the rich and the poor refugees live in the same camps and work in full co-operation, so that they can become ideal and self-supporting citizens.
[From Hindi]
Prarthana Pravachan-I, pp. 55-7
Notes
- 1. Gandhiji had visited Tihar village at 4 p. m. and met the Muslims there.
- 2. While Gandhiji was returning to Delhi, his car was stopped by a number of Indian soldiers who saluted him and assured him that they were providing full protection to those in distress. Gandhiji smiled and said that providing protection and kindness without distinction of caste or creed was the attribute of a soldier.
Notes
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