SPEECH AT PRAYER MEETING, SABARMATI ASHRAM
I am glad that you have been coming to our prayer in such large numbers, and generally I would say, 'May your tribe increase.' But I must utter a few words of warning. If it is mere curiosity that draws you here, you had better not come at all. If it is the prayer that attracts you, you are quite welcome, but in that case this sudden inroad cannot be accounted for. But I presume you come both for the prayer and for understanding the significance of the campaign I am about to launch.
As for the prayer, I assure you that mere utterance, parrot-wise, of the name of God is of no avail. All your trouble in coming this long distance from the town would be wasted and the quiet of our prayers would be disturbed. If therefore your desire to take part in the prayer is genuine, you must be prepared to fulfil a condition which alone can prove your bona fides, and that is that you come here dressed in khadi. You may or may not admit the many claims made on behalf of khadi, but one thing is now practically universally admitted, that khadi unites the wearer to the poorest of the land. And I may tell you that but for the progress that khadi has made in recent years I should not have been able to launch this campaign. It is the spread of khadi that infuses in me the hope that the message of non-violence has spread to the masses, for I have always associated non-violence with khadi. A believer in violence may wear khadi, but he would do so in order to exploit it.
As for the other desire that also prompts you to come here, you know that the march begins on Wednesday morning. Everyone is on the tiptoe of expectation, and before anything has happened the thing has attracted world-wide attention. Now I should like to analyse the thing for you and to implore you to appreciate its implications. Though the battle is to begin in a couple of days, how is it that you can come here quite fearlessly? I do not think anyone of you would be here if you had to face rifleshots or bombs. But you have no fear of rifleshots or bombs. Why? Supposing I had announced that I was going to launch a violent campaign (not necessarily with men armed with rifles, but even with sticks or stones), do you think the Government would have left me free until now? Can you show me an example in history (be it England, America or Russia) where the State has tolerated violent defiance of authority for a single day? But here you know that the Government is puzzled and perplexed. And you have come here because you have been familiarized by now with the idea of seeking voluntary imprisonment.
Then I would ask you to proceed a step further. Supposing ten men in each of the 700,000 villages in India come forward to manufacture salt and to disobey the Salt Act, what do you think can this Government do? Even the worst autocrat you can imagine would not dare to blow regiments of peaceful civil resisters out of a cannon's mouth. If only you will bestir yourselves just a little, I assure you we should be able to tire this Government out in a very short time. I want you, therefore, to understand the meaning of this struggle and to do your part in it. If it is only curiosity that moves you to walk this long distance, you had better not waste your time and mine. If you come here to bless us and our movement, the blessings must take some concrete shape. I don't want any money from you. I am hoping that it may be possible to fight this battle with the least possible money. At the time of Kheda Satyagraha in 1918 I had to refuse several offers for raising contributions. In Bardoli an appeal was made and there was a spontaneous response, but much of the money was saved and is now being utilized for constructive work. So I do not want you to contribute any money just now. That you will do unasked when our suffering has reached that stage which cannot but compel your sympathy. But I want you to take your courage in both hands and contribute in men towards the struggle which promises to be fierce and prolonged. I certainly expect the city of Ahmedabad, the Ahmedabad of Vallabhbhai, who is already in jail, to furnish an unlimited supply of volunteers to keep the stream unbroken, in case batch after batch happens to be arrested and marched to jail. That is the least I expect of you. May God give you the strength to rise to the occasion.