THE ONLY TRUE METHOD

JUDGING from his latest utterances, Deshbandhu Das has now come definitely in line with that hitherto more or less neglected section of the Nationalist party which, while believing firmly in non-violent non-co-operation as a method of attaining Swaraj, has been insisting all through the last three eventful years upon the supreme necessity of using the Councils as an auxiliary and indispensable measure of considerable potency. What is even more remarkable is that his advocacy of the use of the Councils is based on exactly the grounds on which others within the Congress have always based it. “I am going to take the people into the path of resistance,” he said in his latest speech. “I know they will follow me, I have 60 lakh voters, and I am going to appeal to them. I want you to enter the Councils and secure a majority and put forward the national demand. If it is not accepted, I want you to oppose the government in every measure — good, bad and indifferent. What I do want is to fight the bureaucracy from all directions, from inside the Councils... and from outside the Councils by working the non-co-operation programme more enthusiastically, so that activity outside may react on activity inside and vice versa. I am for direct action as much as the most orthodox non-co-operator. Only I do not want to exclude any field.” Everyone who is familiar with the controversies that divided Congressmen before and after the Nagpur meeting will see at once that except for the ambiguity or rather the uncertain connotation of some of the words used by Das, this is exactly what others have been saying all this time.

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