“The Voice of Satan”

THE commonest of all superficial criticisms is that which takes the form of ridicule, and in the present case no criticism has been commoner than the affectation of a surprise that the decision at Barduli should have been immediately preceded by Mahatma Gandhi’s letter to the Viceroy and his rejoinder to the Government of India’s reply. The answer which Mahatma Gandhi has given to this criticism actually shows how very different are the worlds in which he and his critics live. After emphatically stating that “the tragedy at Chauri Chaura roused him thoroughly” he writes as follows in his leading article in the latest issue of Young India:--“‘But what about your manifesto to the Viceroy and your rejoinder to his reply?’— spoke the voice of Satan. ‘Surely it is cowardly to withdraw the next day after pompous threats to the Government and promises to the people of Barduli.’ Thus Satan’s invitation was to deny Truth, and, therefore religion, to deny God himself.” This, to our mind, disposes of also the theory that if Mahatma Gandhi had come to know of the Government of India’s orders for his arrest on the morning of the 11th, he would not have come to his present decision. This theory only goes to show that Mahatma Gandhi differs as radically and fundamentally from some of his friends as he does from most of his critics. It is perfectly certain that in the one case as in the other, the voice of personal vanity would have been to Mahatma Gandhi as the voice of Satan, which he would have rejected with as little ceremony in the one case as he did reject it in the other.