[This is an extract from the column “ News of The Struggle “, a weekly feature in Indian Opinion.]

[Before April 19, 1913]

 

When Mrs. Gandhi understood the marriage difficulty, she was incensed And said to Mr. Gandhi: “Then I am not your wife according to the laws of this country.” Mr. Gandhi replied that that was so and added that their children were not their heirs. “Then,” she said, “let us go to India.” Mr. Gandhi replied that that would be cowardly and that it would not solve the difficulty. “Could I not, then, join the struggle and be imprisoned myself?” Mr. Gandhi told her she could but that it was not a small matter. Her health was not good, she had not known that type of hardship and it would be disgraceful if, after her joining the struggle, she weakened. But Mrs. Gandhi was not to be moved. The other ladies, so closely related and living on the Settlement, would not be gainsaid. They insisted that, apart from their own convictions, just as strong as Mrs. Gandhi’s, they could not possibly remain out and allow Mrs. Gandhi to go to goal. The proposal caused the gravest anxiety. The step was momentous.

Indian Opinion, 1-10-1913