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 paths of life."

Tagore’s response, written on April 12, revealed his deep anxiety regarding the nature of mass power. He warned that "power in all its forms is irrational," comparing it to a horse that drags a carriage blindfolded. While he praised Gandhi for proclaiming a faith "against the cowardliness of hidden revenge and the cowed submissiveness of the terror-stricken," he cautioned that "passive resistance is a force which is not necessarily moral in itself." He expressed a fervent prayer that "martyrdom for the cause of truth may never degenerate into fanaticism."

For Tagore, India's true victory lay in proving she was "morally superior to the people who rule her." He emphasized that "moral conquest does not consist in success" and that the spirit must "stand unabashed before the arrogance that scoffs at the power of spirit." As a "poet's contribution," Tagore included two verses to anchor these ideals. He prayed for the "supreme courage of love" and a "dignity of pain that accepts hurt, but disdains to return it," with these poems asserting that no power could "rob me of my freedom" because the soul remains unfettered even within "dungeon-walls."

While both were devastated by the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, their methods of protest and courses of action differed fundamentally. This divergence is aptly captured by the title of the book Walking Alone, Walking Together. Despite their differences of opinion on many issues, they remained deeply respectful of each other. Through a public letter addressed to Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, protesting the atrocities in Amritsar, Punjab, Rabindranath Tagore renounced the knighthood that had been conferred upon him in 1915. 

 Tagore expressed his profound revulsion at the "enormity of the measures taken by the Government in the Punjab," which he argues has revealed the utter "helplessness of our position as British subjects in India." He condemns the British response to local disturbances as a display of "disproportionate severity" that is "without parallel in the history of civilised governments," asserting that the slaughter of a "disarmed and resourceless" population can claim neither political expediency nor "moral justification."He was convinced that all appeals for justice have been in vain—as the "passion of vengeance is blinding the nobler vision of statesmanship"—Tagore chooses to speak for the millions "surprised into a dumb anguish of terror." He declared"The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen, who, for their so-called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings."The letter concludes with his formal request to be relieved of his Knighthood, a title he can no longer bear in good conscience while his fellow citizens are treated with such dehumanising cruelty.

 In a letter addressed to V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, Gandhi wrote: “The Punjab horrors have produced a burning letter from the poet. I personally think it is premature. But he cannot be blamed for it.” Tagore’s letter to the Viceroy renouncing his Knighthood was subsequently published in Young India on June 7, 1919.

Gandhi—despite his horror—maintained a degree of restraint. He chose to wait for the government to lift the ban on his entry into Punjab so he could personally investigate the case, believing it was essential to prepare the masses for a disciplined, long-term struggle rather than acting on immediate impulse. This highlights the fundamental difference in their temperaments: the poet reacted with a solitary, moral outburst, while the activist calculated the strategic timing for a national movement.

 On August 1, 1920, the paths of the poet and the activist finally converged when Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement. In his formal letter to Lord Chelmsford, Gandhi expressed that it was "not without a pang" that he returned the Kaiser-i-Hind and war medals earned through years of humanitarian service. He stated that he could "retain neither respect nor affection" for a Government that had acted in an "unscrupulous, immoral and unjust manner." Reflecting on the atrocities, he noted that while mob excesses were unpardonable, the official punitive measures "amounted to a wanton cruelty and inhumanity, almost unparalleled in modern times." Ultimately, Gandhi concluded that petitions were no remedy for a Government "so hopelessly indifferent to the welfare of its charge," bringing his journey from loyalist to rebel to its final, decisive conclusion alongside Tagore.

 

About the Author 

Dr. Siby K. Joseph is Director, Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies,Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Sevagram,Wardha- 442102,  Maharashtra  (INDIA) 

Email: directorjbmlrc@gmail.com

Link of the article mentioned in the write- up : https://globalgandhi.com/the-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-gandhis-shift-from-loyalty-to-rebellion/