845.00/1905
Mr. William Phillips, Personal Representative of President Roosevelt in India, to the President 24
Dear Mr. President: Since my last letter25 the Gandhi business has given us a lot of trouble. A strict censorship has kept from the American press the widespread consternation caused by the official bulletins which indicated that he could not survive the fast. Muslims, Nationalists, Christians joined in the appeal of the Hindus for clemency, partly out of real sympathy and partly out of dread of what would happen throughout India if Gandhi died during the fast.
It is difficult for Anglo-Saxons to understand the deep-seated feelings which have been aroused by this performance of an old man of 73 years. Many Indians have told me that during his previous “fasts unto death” there was nothing like the present nation-wide consternation. The explanation given is that to vast numbers of Hindus Gandhi has a semi-divine quality which separates him from, and elevates him above, the rest of mankind. That such a being is willing to sacrifice himself for the cause that every Indian has at heart, namely, the independence of India, has touched the people as a whole. [Page 202] While, of course, Gandhi’s methods in the past are not approved, probably by the majority, nevertheless his honesty of purpose is respected and Indians who have been violently against him have now joined the chorus of appeals in his behalf. There could be nothing like it in any other country but India.
As an example, I attended a banquet last evening given by one of the Indian members remaining in the Viceroy’s Council in honor of the Governor of the United Provinces. I was told that fifty guests out of approximately one hundred and fifty acceptances gave out of the dinner at the last moment and even the host’s wife and two daughters boycotted the dinner out of sympathy for Gandhi.
This is the fourteenth day of the fast and he has seven more days to go to complete his announced twenty-one days. Lately the bulletins have been far more reassuring and there is reason to believe now that he will survive.
Unfortunately, the whole episode has brought the United States prominently into the picture and I have been literally besieged by callers and overwhelmed by telegrams from all parts of India, asking whether there could not be something done from Washington or by me to relieve the present deadlock. An important conference of political leaders from various parts of India assembled in Delhi last week to urge the Viceroy to clemency and many of them called upon me. To the telegrams we have merely given formal acknowledgment. To the callers I have listened by the hour. While I had to be sympathetic, I gave them no reason to think that we would intervene, and it was only after the Department’s authorization to say, in case I felt the need, that matters affecting the Indian situation which required handling were being dealt with by high officials of the American and British Governments, that I gave them that much comfort. I did this in the hope that it would lessen the pressure on the Mission and at the same time show the Indians that we were not completely indifferent.
But the Viceroy has remained adamant and has refused to listen to any appeals. He regards the case as one of defiance to law and order which must be dealt with accordingly. He does not feel, I fear, the pathos in the appeal of these millions for freedom for their own country. He is certainly a man of determination, for he has shown no weakening in his policy to let Gandhi bear the consequences of his fast and die in the process if necessary, no matter what the results may be. Perhaps he is a “chip off the old block” that Americans knew something about in 1772.
I realize perfectly that neither you nor the Secretary could do much but I had hoped that the Secretary’s talks with Halifax might bear fruits in some way. At least I hoped to avoid the impression here, signs of which have already appeared, that by the presence of our forces in India and my own presence we were openly encouraging the [Page 203] British to retain their hold over India. For, rightly or wrongly, there is one fixed idea in the minds of Indians—that Great Britain has no intention of “quitting India” and that the post-war period will find the country in the same relative position. In the circumstances, they turn to us to give them help because of our historic stand for liberty.
I fear that the Office of War Information in India has been too active in advertising in the press, under the caption of the American flag and the Statue of Liberty, that the President “has declared the extension of these fundamental liberties to all men the base of the American people’s war aims”, et cetera, et cetera. Certainly Indians look to us for the help in their struggle, which presumably it will be difficult for us to give during the war. And after the war they believe that any such help will come too late, since whatever persuasion we can exercise over the British can be done better now than when the general scramble begins for post-war settlement. That is their view, I think, and one cannot live here without having a great deal of sympathy for it.
I am looking forward to the opportunity of talking over the situation with you when I return to Washington, and before then I hope to do a certain amount of travelling in the central and southern parts of the country to get a wider view of its problems.
With kindest remembrances and best wishes,
Sincerely yours,