POSTSCRIPT Allahabad 29th December
1945
DURING MARCH AND APRIL, 1945, THE
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS Working Committee, interned in Ahmadnagar Fort prison
camp, were dispersed and sent to their respective provinces. The camp jail was
wound up and presumably reverted to the military authorities. Three of
us—Govind Ballabh Pant, Narendra Deva, and I—left Ahmadnagar Fort on March 28th
and were brought to Naini Central Prison where we met a number of our old
colleagues, among whom was Rafi Ahmad Kidwai. For the first time since our
arrest in August, 1942, we had an opportunity of having first-hand accounts of
some of the occurrences of 1942, for many of those in Naini Prison had been arrested
some time after us^ From Naini we three were taken to Izatnagar Central |
-ftwwr; near Bareilly. Govind Ballabh Pant was released on account of
ill-health. Narendra Deva and I lived together in a barrack in this prison for
over two months. Early in June we were transferred to the mountain prison of
Almora, which I had known so intimately ten years earlier. On June 15th we were
both discharged, 1,041 days after our arrest in August, 1942. Thus ended my
ninth and longest term of imprisonment.
Since
then six months and a half have passed. I came from the long seclusion of
prison to crowds, intense activity and conti-nuous travelling. I spent only a
night at home and then hurried to Bombay for a meeting of the Congress Working
Committee. And then to the Simla Conference convened by the Viceroy. I found it
a little difficult to adjust myself to the new and chang-ing environment and
could not easily fit in. Though everything was familiar and it was good to meet
old friends and colleagues, I felt somewhat as a stranger and an outsider, and
my mind wan-dered to mountains and snow-covered peaks. As soon as the Simla
business was over I hurried to Kashmir. I did not stay in the valley, but
almost immediately started on a trek to the higher regions and passes. For a
month I was in Kashmir and then I came back to the crowds and the excitements
and bore-doms of everyday life.
Gradually some picture of the past
three years formed itself in my mind. I found, as others did, that what had
taken place was far more than we had imagined. These three years had been a
time of heavy travail for our people and each person we met bore the mark of it
on his face. India had changed and under the seeming quiet of the surface there
was doubt and questioning, frustration and anger, and a suppressed passion.
With our release and the turn events took, a change came over the scene. The
smooth surface was ruffled and cracks appeared. Waves of excitement passed
across the country; after three years of suppression, the people broke through
that shell. I had not previously seen such crowds, such "frenzied
excitement, such a passionate desire on the part of masses of people to free
them-selves. Young men and women, boys and girls, were afire with the urge to
do something, though what they should do was not clear to them.
The
War ended and the atom bomb became the symbol of the new age. The use of this
bomb and the tortuous ways of power politics brought further disillusion. The
old imperialisms still functioned, and events in Indonesia and Indo-China added
to the horror of the scene. The use of Indian troops in both these countries
against people struggling to be free brought shame to us at our helplessness and
an abiding anger and bitterness. The temper of the country continued to rise.
The story of the Indian National Army,
formed in Burma and Malaya during war years, spread suddenly throughout the
country and evoked an astonishing enthusiasm. The trial by court martial of
some of its officers aroused the country as nothing else had done, and they
became the symbols of India fighting for her freedom. They became also the
symbol of unity among the various religious groups in India, for Hindu and
Moslem and Sikh and Christian were all represented in that army. They had
solved the communal problem amongst themselves, and so why should we not do so?
We are on the
eve of general elections in India and these elections absorb attention. But the
elections will be over soon— and then? The coming year is likely to be one of
storm and trouble, of conflict and turmoil. There is going to be no peace in
India or elsewhere except on the basis of freedom.
THE
DISCOVERY OF INDIA
JAWAHARLAL
NEHRU
This
book has acquired the status of a classic since it was first published in 1946.
It unfolds the panorama of India's past and seeks to analyse the sources and
strength of India's national personality and how she fits into the modern
world. It is the fascinating story of a celebrated Indian's quest for the
spirit of India which has resulted in the continuity of a cultural tradition
through five thousand years of history.
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