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Famous Speeches Of Gandhiji
Reception In Madras
April 21, 1915
In reply
to the Welcome address read by Mr. G. A. Natesan on behalf of the Indian
South African League, at a meeting at the Victoria Public Hall, Madras, on
the 21st April 1915, with Dr. Sir Subramania Iyar in the Chair, Mr. Gandhi
said -
Mr. Chairman and Friends, - On behalf of my wife and myself I am deeply
grateful for the great honour this you here in Madras, and may I say, this
Presidency, have done to us and the affection that has been lavished upon
us in this great and enlightened - not benighted - Presidency.
If there is anything that we have deserved, as has been stated in this
beautiful address, I can only say I lay it at the feet of my Master under
whose inspiration I have been working all this time under exile in South
Africa. (Hear, hear). In so far as the sentiments expressed in this
address are merely prophetic. Sir, I accept them as a blessing and as a
prayer from you and from this great meeting that both my wife and I myself
may possess the power, the inclination, and the life to dedicate whatever
we may develop in this sacred land of ours to the service of the
Motherland. (Cheers). It is no wonder that we have come to Madras. As my
Friend, Mr. Natesan, will perhaps tell you, e have been overdue and we
have neglected Madras. But we have done nothing of the kind. We know that
we had a corner in your hearts and we knew that you will not misjudge us
if we did not hasten to Madras before going to the other presidencies and
to other towns. But, Sir, if one-tenth of the language that has been used
in this address is deserved by us, what language do you propose to use for
those who have lost their lives, and therefore finished their work on
behalf of your suffering countrymen in South Africa? What language do you
propose to use for Magappan and Narayansawmy, lads of seventeen or
eighteen years, who braved in simple faith all the trials, all the
sufferings, and all the indignities for the sake of the honour of the
Motherland (Cheers.). What language do you propose to use with reference
to Valliamma, that sweet girl of seventeen years who was discharged from
Maritzburg prison, skin and bone suffering from fever to which she
succumbed after about a month's time (Cries of shame).
It was the Madrassis who of all the Indians were singled out by the great
Divinity that rules over us for this great work. Do you know that in the
great city of Johannesburg, the Madarasis look on a Madrasis as dishonored
if he has not passed through the jails once or twice during this terrible
crisis that your countrymen in South Africa went through during these
eight long years? You have said that I inspired these great men and women,
but I cannot accept that proposition. It was they, the simple-minded folk,
who worked away in faith, never expecting the slightest reward, who
inspired me, who kept me to the proper level , and who inspired me by
their great sacrifice, by their great faith, by their great trust in the
great God, to do the work that I was able to do. (Cheers). It is my
misfortune that my wife and I have been obliged to work in the lime-light,
and you have magnified out of all proportion (crisis of 'No ? No ?') this
little work we have been able to do. Believe me, my dear friends, that if
you consider, whether in India or in South Africa, it is possible for us,
poor mortals-the same individuals, the same stuff of which you are made if
you consider that it is possible for us to do anything whatsoever without
your assistance and without your doing the same thing that we would be
prepared to do, you are lost, and we are also lost, and our services will
be in vain, I do not for one moment believe that the inspiration was given
by us. The inspiration was given by them to us, and we were able to be
interpreters between the powers who called themselves the Governors and
those men for whom redress was so necessary. We were simply links between
those two parties and nothing more. It was my duty, having received the
education that was given to me by my parents to interpret what was going
on in our midst to those simple folk, and they rose to the occasion. They
realised the might of religious force, and it was they who inspired us,
and let them who have finished their work, and who have died for you and
me, let them inspire you and us. We are still living and who knows whether
the devil will not possess us tomorrow and we shall not forsake the post
of duty before any new danger that may face us, But these three have gone
for ever.
An old man of 75 from the United Provinces, Harbart Singh, has also joined
the majority and died in jail in South Africa; and he deserved the crown
that you would seek to impose upon us. These young men deserve all the
adjectives that you have so affectionately, but blindly lavished upon us.
It was not only the Hindus who struggled, but there were Mohamedans,
Parsis and Christians, and almost every part of India was represented in
the struggled. They realised the common danger, and they realised also
what their destiny was an Indians, and it was they, and they alone, who
matched the soul-forces against the physical forces. (Loud applause.)
Source : Speeches and Writings of Gandhi
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