________________
November elections in which only about one-third of those eligible voted.
On November 17, 1921 Prince of Wales came to Bombay. He was greeted from one end of India to the other with a Hartal (strike) of protest and mourning that brought all organizational activity to a full stop. It was a startling demonstration of the new spirit of the nation, and every where it was nonviolent, except in Bombay where a large number of nonviolent spectators unexpectedly turned into rioting mobs.?' Gandhi tried to restore peace but failed and imposed a five day fast upon him. He succeeded on fourth day in bringing the riots to an end.
In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with full dictatorial powers by congressional session at Ahmedabad. Gandhi wrote to the Viceroy on February 1, 1922 that the 87,000 people in Bardoli were ready for civil disobedience by refusing to pay land taxes.2* He gave the Viceroy seven days. Violence also erupted 800 miles away at Chauri Chaura” He asked the government to release the nonviolent prisoners, free the press, and stop interfering in nonviolent activities. Gandhi once again cancelled the campaign, this time on the day it was to begin; instead, he fasted for five days in penance. He met with the Congress Working Committee at Delhi, and they decided to suspend the non-cooperation campaign in order to concentrate on the constructive programs."
The British took this opportunity to arrest Gandhi on March 10, 1922 and they put him on trial on March 18. He did not apologize for the non-cooperation movement. Instead, he invited the court to give him the highest penalty afforded by law for the deliberate crime of what appeared to him to be the highest duty of a citizen." He explained, “In my humble opinion, noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with
Pg.82 Gandhi & Jainism