THE FASTING MAHATMA

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 328, 15 September 1932, Page 4

THE FASTING MAHATMA

3 It is to be regretted that Mr. Gandhi has decided to starve himself to death ; this is a lengthy process and there will be very many who will see in this fact, the chief eause for regret. Man is a perverse animal and gratifies his lusts and his dislikes in different ways, but whatever may be the judgment of posterity upon the Mahatma, it must at least be conceded that he has a genius for making himself unpleasant along unorthodox lines. Mr. Gandhi is scarcely an exhilarating or an inspiring object, judged by Western standards, but he has the facility of the demagogue in exciting the passions of the mob and in this facility, his reputed asceticism has played no small part. In the scantiness of his attire, he is only excelled by the modern sunbather, or a fllm star at a dinner party, and in the frugality of his fare by a dyspeptic, or an anxious lady undertaking a reducing course. He has already provided an inspiration for one s of New Zealand's relief workers who recently converted a loincloth into the mantle of prophecy, and although his sartorial standards, would evoke hysteria in the "Tailor and Cutter," they appear to receive a hearty reception in Calcutta and are even received under protest in Mayfair. Charlatan or inspired prophet, Gandhi must be recognised as a j tremendous force in India. From j his prison cell he may have perceived his power falling away from him, and have decided to answer this challenge to his leadership of the "untouchables" by a theatrieal gesture which will I restore their fading allegiance. j The unfortunate part of the mat-

! ter is that while Mr. Gandhi j mortifies the flesh that he may exalt the spirit, the British Government will be represented as the oppressor who has imposed this martyrdom upon the Mahatma, and this feeling will be fomented by the Congress party for its own ends. Truly the way of a Government, even if it be not a transgressor, is hard. It has on the one hand, its thousands whom it cannot save from starving, and on the other its prophets who insist upon martyrdom. It is said that "he who drives fat oxen must himself be fat." There are varying views upon the sleekness of the Indian oxen which Mr. Gandhi is driving or leading to the slaughter, but if Mr. Gandhi expects to live upon his hump, his fast will not be of long duration.