Reflections on Jallianwala Bagh
Walking Alone, Walking Together: Tagore and Gandhi on Jallianwala Bagh Siby K. Joseph On the eve of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, I wrote a brief piece titled The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: Gandhi’s Shift from Loyalty to Rebellion. In response, a friend pointed out that Tagore returned his knighthood during this period, marking the first significant difference between Tagore and Gandhi regarding their course of action in a public cause. Because I had not referred to Tagore’s renunciation of his knighthood or Gandhi’s return of his Kaiser-i-Hind medal in 1920, I was prompted to look into their correspondence concerning the nationwide "Satyagraha" against the Rowlatt Act. On 5th April 1919, Gandhi wrote to Tagore seeking "a message of hope and inspiration for those who have to go through the fire." Gandhi acknowledged that he valued even "adverse opinions from friends," as they serve as "lighthouses to give out warnings of dangers lying in the stormy p...