The historic pact between Lord Irwin, the Viceroy and Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 brought to an end the salt satyagraha. THE HINDU: “We are sure now that all obstacles have been surmounted, the two parties will be able to proceed to the great constructive effort to establish India’s future constitution in accordance with the nation’s desires and needs in the spirit of conciliation that has today been inaugurated.”
MARCH 4, 1931
Peace
IT IS HARDLY POSSIBLE TO EXAGGERATE THE IMPORTANCE OF the news flashed throughout the country in the early hours of the morning today that agreement had at last been reached in the peace conversations between Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin. No two persons could better represent India and Great Britain at this juncture. That a settlement has been made possible by the fact that these two men in true religious spirit strove with a determination to achieve peace and goodwill between two great peoples where bitterness and mutual distrust had been brought about by policies and incidents of the past is no less significant. It was the hope that such personal and fruitful contact might be established between Gandhiji and the Viceroy that sustained thoughtful minds in both countries in the dark days that are past. Since the time when Lord Irwin impressed with the reality of the Indian struggle for freedom and with the duty he owed his country and India to remove the bitterness and end the conflict that he then clearly foresaw went to England in 1929 and returned to India with a definite policy of advance unhampered by the mistakes of the past, the country has, as Mahatma Gandhi declared and the Congress approved, expressed its appreciation of the sincerity and goodwill that have inspired him. We have often expressed the view that these great qualities that he exhibited should be utilised to evolve concrete political policies and be made the basis of the settlement which the Congress under the lead of Mahatma Gandhi and the lead of those great leaders that alas are no more – Deshbandhu Das and Pandit Motilal – has always striven for. We have repeatedly urged that between a generous interpretation of Lord Irwin’s policy and a just view of the national demands as interpreted by the Congress leaders, the difference was so little that it was eminently the task of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Motilal and Lord Irwin to unite in removing it and that the national struggle should be brought to a speedy and successful end by this means. There existed no doubt such mistrust and suspicion, justified unfortunately by the policies and utterances of Lord Irwin and his government engendered by the stress of the struggle that went on and under the pressure of a system of administration and of its agents and advocates who would not reconcile themselves to the political changes that were coming on so rapidly and certainly. But the determination, sacrifices and suffering of the nation under the lead of the great apostle of peace and non-violence made repression and reaction futile and Lord Irwin has eventually been able to prevail and have his way in bringing about peace. We are sure, now that all obstacles have been surmounted, the two parties will be able to proceed to the great constructive effort to establish India’s future constitution in accordance with the nation’s desires and needs in the spirit of conciliation that has today been inaugurated. It will be the country’s prayer that God would give Mahatma Gandhi health and lead the national cause and realise the nation’s purposes with the same vision, wisdom and unstinted cooperation of all leaders, parties, and communities that he has received at this juncture. It will also be the country’s devout hope that after Lord Irwin lays down the Viceroyalty that has culminated in this great and historic step in national pacification, he will be able with even more freedom and energy to assist in the completion of the national constitution of the Indian people whom he has loved and befriended.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I