60-680: The August Offer was an offer made by Viceroy Lord Linlithgow in 1940 promising the expansion of the Viceroy's Executive Council to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, the giving of full weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of the Indians' right to frame their own constitution after the end of the war. In return, it was hoped that all parties and communities in India would co-operate in Britain's efforts during
120-469: A dictator, has to be unseated and one cannot wait to convert him. The satyagrahi would count this a partial success. The theory of satyagraha sees means and ends as inseparable obtain an end are wrapped up in and attached to that end. Therefore, it is contradictory to try to use unjust means to obtain justice or to try to use violence to obtain peace. As Gandhi wrote: "They say, 'means are, after all, means'. I would say, 'means are, after all, everything'. As
180-759: A higher level. A euphemism sometimes used for satyagraha is that it is a "silent force" or a "soul force" (a term also used by Martin Luther King Jr. during his famous " I Have a Dream " speech). It arms the individual with moral power rather than physical power. Satyagraha is also termed a "universal force," as it essentially "makes no distinction between kinsmen and strangers, young and old, man and woman, friend and foe." Gandhi contrasted satyagraha (holding on to truth) with "duragraha" (holding on by force), as in protest meant more to harass than enlighten opponents. He wrote: "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate
240-501: A limited number of Indian politicians to his executive council and to establish a war advisory council that included Princes, politicians and other interests in the national life of India. However, Linlithgow warned the politicians that his proposal did not imply that there would be any revision of the Government of India Act 1935 . The declaration marked an important advance over the existing state of things, as it recognised at least
300-433: A mass civil disobedience movement, but here Gandhi insisted on Individual Satyagraha , which was not to seek independence but to affirm the right of speech. Also, a mass movement might turn violent, and he would not like to see Britain embarrassed by such a situation. That view was conveyed to Linlithgow by Gandhi they met 27 September 1940. Non-violence was set as the centerpiece of Individual Satyagraha by carefully selecting
360-651: A means of national defense (what is now sometimes called "Civilian Based Defense" (CBD) or " social defence "): ...there should be unadulterated non-violent non-cooperation, and if the whole of India responded and unanimously offered it, I should show that, without shedding a single drop of blood, Japanese arms—or any combination of arms—can be sterilized. That involves the determination of India not to give quarter on any point whatsoever and to be ready to risk loss of several million lives. But I would consider that cost very cheap and victory won at that cost glorious. That India may not be ready to pay that price may be true. I hope it
420-512: A method of combating oppression and genocide, stating: If I were a Jew and were born in Germany and earned my livelihood there, I would claim Germany as my home even as the tallest Gentile German might, and challenge him to shoot me or cast me in the dungeon; I would refuse to be expelled or to submit to discriminating treatment. And for doing this I should not wait for the fellow Jews to join me in civil resistance, but would have confidence that in
480-791: A statement on behalf of the British government. It was known as the August Offer and offered greater rights in the governance of India to the Indian people. The proposal was rejected by most Indian politicians, including the Congress Party and the Muslim League. Disputes between the British administration and Congress ultimately led to massive Indian civil disobedience in the Quit India Movement . Linlithgow suppressed
540-414: A true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause." Civil disobedience and non-cooperation as practised under satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering", a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end usually implies a moral uplift or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, the non-cooperation of satyagraha
600-579: Is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance . Someone who practises satyagraha is a satyagrahi . The term satyagraha was coined and developed by Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) as early as 1919. Gandhi practised satyagraha as part of the Indian independence movement and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for Indian rights . Satyagraha theory influenced Martin Luther King Jr.'s and James Bevel 's campaigns during
660-422: Is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatsoever; and it ever insists upon truth. There is a connection between ahimsa and satyagraha. Satyagraha is sometimes used to refer to the whole principle of nonviolence, where it is essentially the same as ahimsa, and sometimes used in a "marked" meaning to refer specifically to direct action that is largely obstructive, for example in
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#1732801303745720-569: Is directly denied by large and power elements in the India’s national life". Moreover, as the British Empire was pre-engaged in their war against the Germans, the period was unpropitious for addressing congressional issues in India. Therefore, Linlithgow stated that the constitutional future of India could be resolved in the future once the war was over by establishing a constituent assembly that
780-453: Is in fact a means to secure the cooperation of the opponent that is consistent with truth and justice. When using satyagraha in a large-scale political conflict involving civil disobedience, Gandhi believed that the satyagrahis must undergo training to ensure discipline. He wrote that it is "only when people have proved their active loyalty by obeying the many laws of the State that they acquire
840-414: Is our supreme duty. Assessing the extent to which Gandhi's ideas of satyagraha were or were not successful in the Indian independence struggle is a complex task. Judith Brown has suggested that "this is a political strategy and technique which, for its outcomes, depends greatly on historical specificities." The view taken by Gandhi differs from the idea that the goal in any conflict is necessarily to defeat
900-442: Is real, as opposed to nonexistent (asat), and c) good as opposed to evil or bad. This was critical to Gandhi's understanding of and faith in nonviolence: "The world rests upon the bedrock of satya or truth. Asatya , meaning untruth, also means nonexistent, and satya or truth, also means that which is. If untruth does not so much as exist, its victory is out of the question. And truth being that which is, can never be destroyed. This
960-486: Is the doctrine of satyagraha in a nutshell." For Gandhi, satyagraha went far beyond mere "passive resistance" and became strength in practising non-violent methods. In his words: Truth ( satya ) implies love, and firmness ( agraha ) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha , that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence, and gave up
1020-450: Is used to kill poison" and for that reason as long as machinery is viewed as bad it can be used to undo itself. The essence of satyagraha is that it seeks to eliminate antagonisms without harming the antagonists themselves, as opposed to violent resistance, which is meant to cause harm to the antagonist. A satyagrahi therefore does not seek to end or destroy the relationship with the antagonist, but instead seeks to transform or "purify" it to
1080-551: Is what matters most.' From April 1933 to November 1934 he was chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Indian constitutional reform, drawn up to consider the proposals for Indian self-government contained in the government's March 1933 White Paper . He agreed to take the job after Lord Salisbury declined it (although he agreed to serve on the committee) and Sidney Peel , the second choice, fell ill with phlebitis . Linlithgow told
1140-679: The Civil Rights Movement in the United States, as well as Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid in South Africa and many other social-justice and similar movements. Gandhi envisioned satyagraha as not only a tactic to be used in acute political struggle but as a universal solvent for injustice and harm. He founded the Sabarmati Ashram to teach satyagraha . He asked satyagrahis to follow
1200-866: The Navy League from 1924 until 1931. He was chairman of the Medical Research Council and of the governing body of the Imperial College London . Linlithgow was also chairman of the committee on the distribution and prices of agricultural produce and president of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture until 1933. In 1926 he was chairman of the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India , which published its findings in 1928. Influenced by submissions to
1260-697: The Second World War . However, the proposal was rejected by the Indian National Congress . Moreover, the minorities, especially the All-India Muslim League , were assured that no constitutional scheme was acceptable to the government without their agreement, which thus provided a veto power to the League. As the offer did not give a clear assurance for the establishment of Pakistan, the League did not accept it and it
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#17328013037451320-601: The Viceroy of India , succeeding Lord Willingdon . Travelling out to India on the P&;O liner RMS Strathmore , he arrived in Bombay, with his wife, daughters, and personal staff, on 17 April 1936. Linlithgow implemented the plans for local self-government embodied in the Government of India Act 1935 , which led to provincial governments led by the Congress Party in five of the eleven provinces of British India , but
1380-573: The Jewish mind could be prepared for voluntary suffering, even the massacre I have imagined could be turned into a day of thanksgiving and joy that Jehovah had wrought deliverance of the race even at the hands of the tyrant. For to the God-fearing, death has no terror. When Gandhi was criticized for these statements, he responded in another article entitled "Some Questions Answered": Friends have sent me two newspaper cuttings criticizing my appeal to
1440-477: The Jews. The two critics suggest that in presenting non-violence to the Jews as a remedy against the wrong done to them, I have suggested nothing new... What I have pleaded for is renunciation of violence of the heart and consequent active exercise of the force generated by the great renunciation.” In a similar vein, anticipating a possible attack on India by Japan during World War II , Gandhi recommended satyagraha as
1500-514: The Joint Select Committee that he would show no favouritism between the Indian factions (Hindus, Muslims and Princely States) and would be neutral just as he was between his own five children. The committee's proposals became the Government of India Act 1935 . Having previously declined both the governorship of Madras and the governor-generalship of Australia (his father was the first Governor-General of Australia), he became
1560-475: The Royal Commission, "a decade later, when (he) became Viceroy of India he showed a personal interest in nutrition, pushing it to the top of the research agenda". The reason for sending a Commission on Agriculture under Linlithgow was 'because constitutional reform without economic and educational reform will do nothing to ameliorate the condition of life of the mass of the population of India, and this
1620-598: The Satyagrahis. The first Satyagrahi selected was Acharya Vinoba Bhave (Bhoodan Movement), who was sent to jail after he spoke against the war. He was followed nearly by 25,000 individual satyagrahis. The second was Jawahar Lal Nehru. The third was Brahma Datt, one of the inmates of the Gandhi's Ashram. All were sent to jail for violating the Defence of India Act , and many others were also later imprisoned. However, since it
1680-532: The United States: Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of Satyagraha ( Satya is truth which equals love, and agraha is force; Satyagraha , therefore, means truth force or love force)
1740-411: The application of satyagraha, I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and compassion. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on
1800-547: The differences in ideologies that separated the All-India Muslim League and the Indian National Congress must be bridged before any significant constitutional settlement was made. Nevertheless, the Viceroy announced that the British government was now willing to move forward with governmental changes that would "associate Indian public opinion with the conduct of the war." Linlithgow was authorized to admit
1860-850: The disturbances and arrested the Congress leaders. Some historians have partly blamed Linlithgow for the Bengal famine of 1943 which resulted in three million deaths. His seven-year tenure as viceroy, the longest in the history of the Raj , ended in 1 October 1943, succeeded by Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell who had been military commander in British India since January 1942. Indians were not kind in their assessments of his career. V. P. Menon in The Transfer of Power in India stated: "His 7½ year regime – longer than that of any other Viceroy –
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1920-439: The doctrine of satyagraha developed, the expression “passive resistance” ceases even to be synonymous, as passive resistance has admitted of violence as in the case of the suffragettes and has been universally acknowledged to be a weapon of the weak. Moreover, passive resistance does not necessarily involve complete adherence to truth under every circumstance. Therefore it is different from satyagraha in three essentials: Satyagraha
1980-407: The end the rest were bound to follow my example. If one Jew or all the Jews were to accept the prescription here offered, he or they cannot be worse off than now. And suffering voluntarily undergone will bring them an inner strength and joy [...] the calculated violence of Hitler may even result in a general massacre of the Jews by way of his first answer to the declaration of such hostilities. But if
2040-477: The essay Civil Disobedience published in 1849. The statement that I had derived my idea of civil disobedience from the writings of Thoreau is wrong. The resistance to authority in South Africa was well advanced before I got the essay of Thoreau on civil disobedience. But the movement was then known as passive resistance. As it was incomplete, I had coined the word satyagraha for the Gujarati readers. When I saw
2100-497: The establishment of an advisory war council, giving weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians' right to frame their own constitution after the end of the war. In return, it was hoped that all parties and communities in India would cooperate in Britain's war effort. Linlithgow attempted to solve the Congress-Raj stalemate over popular control of India's defense. Linlithgow prefaced his proposal by reiterating that
2160-418: The following principles On another occasion, he listed these rules as "essential for every Satyagrahi in India": Gandhi proposed a series of rules for satyagrahi s to follow in a resistance campaign: The terms originated in a competition in the news-sheet Indian Opinion in South Africa in 1906. Mr. Maganlal Gandhi , grandson of an uncle of Mahatma Gandhi, came up with the word "Sadagraha" and won
2220-459: The form of civil disobedience. Gandhi says: It is perhaps clear from the foregoing, that without ahimsa it is not possible to seek and find Truth. Ahimsa and Truth are so intertwined that it is practically impossible to disentangle and separate them. They are like the two sides of a coin, or rather of a smooth unstamped metallic disk. Nevertheless, ahimsa is the means; Truth is the end. Means to be means must always be within our reach, and so ahimsa
2280-402: The inconvenience of facing a prosecution for a breach of the rule. Such compliance is not, however, the willing and spontaneous obedience that is required of a Satyagrahi. Satyagraha theory also influenced many other movements of nonviolence and civil resistance. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote about Gandhi's influence on his developing ideas regarding the Civil Rights Movement in
2340-493: The means I employ, the watch is stolen property, my own property, or a donation." Gandhi rejected the idea that injustice should, or even could, be fought against "by any means necessary"—if you use violent, coercive, unjust means, whatever ends you produce will necessarily embed that injustice. However, in the same book Gandhi admits that even though his book argues that machinery is bad, it was produced by machinery, which he says can do nothing good. Thus, he says, "sometimes poison
2400-430: The means so the end. Separating means and ends would ultimately amount to introducing a form of duality and inconsistency at the core of Gandhi's non-dual (Advaitic) conception. Gandhi used an example to explain this: "If I want to deprive you of your watch, I shall certainly have to fight for it; if I want to buy your watch, I shall have to pay for it; and if I want a gift, I shall have to plead for it; and, according to
2460-470: The natural and inherent right of the people of the country to determine the form of their future constitution, and explicitly promised Dominion status . The following proposals were included: The Congress trusted the intentions of the British government. Consequently, Linlithgow acorded that the British government "could contemplate the transfer of their present responsibilities for the peace and tranquility of India to any system of Government whose authority
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2520-413: The opponent or frustrate the opponent's objectives, or to meet one's own objectives despite the efforts of the opponent to obstruct these. In satyagraha, by contrast, "The Satyagrahi's object is to convert, not to coerce, the wrong-doer." The opponent must be converted, at least as far as to stop obstructing the just end, for this cooperation to take place. There are cases, to be sure, when an opponent, e.g.
2580-452: The opponent, but on oneself. Gandhi distinguished between satyagraha and passive resistance in the following letter: I have drawn the distinction between passive resistance as understood and practised in the West and satyagraha before I had evolved the doctrine of the latter to its full logical and spiritual extent. I often used “passive resistance” and “satyagraha” as synonymous terms: but as
2640-516: The prize. Subsequently, to make it clearer, Gandhi changed it to Satyagraha . "Satyagraha" is a tatpuruṣa compound of the Sanskrit words satya (meaning "truth") and āgraha ("polite insistence", or "holding firmly to"). Satya is derived from the word "sat", which means "being". Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. In the context of satyagraha, Truth, therefore, includes a) Truth in speech, as opposed to falsehood, b) knowledge of what
2700-565: The recalcitrance of the princes prevented the establishment of elected governments in most of the princely states . With the outbreak of the Second World War , Linlithgow's rejection of the request by the Congress for a declaration that India would be given the chance to determine its own future after the war led to the resignation of the Congress ministries. He declared India to be at war with Germany in September 1939, without consulting Indian politicians. On 8 August 1940 Lord Linlithgow made
2760-478: The right of Civil Disobedience." He therefore made part of the discipline that satyagrahis: This obedience has to be not merely grudging but extraordinary: ...an honest, respectable man will not suddenly take to stealing whether there is a law against stealing or not, but this very man will not feel any remorse for failure to observe the rule about carrying headlights on bicycles after dark.... But he would observe any obligatory rule of this kind, if only to escape
2820-515: The title of Thoreau’s great essay, I began the use of his phrase to explain our struggle to the English readers. But I found that even civil disobedience failed to convey the full meaning of the struggle. I therefore adopted the phrase civil resistance. Non-violence was always an integral part of our struggle." Gandhi described it as follows: Its root meaning is holding on to truth, hence truth-force. I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In
2880-433: The use of the phrase "passive resistance", in connection with it, so much so that even in English writing we often avoided it and used instead the word " satyagraha " itself or some other equivalent English phrase. In September 1935, in a letter to P. Kodanda Rao , Servants of India Society, Gandhi disputed the proposition that his idea of civil disobedience was adapted from the writings of Henry David Thoreau , especially
2940-684: Was a British Unionist politician and statesman, agriculturalist, and colonial administrator. He served as Governor-General and Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943. He also served as vice president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . He was usually referred to as Lord Linlithgow , or simply Linlithgow . Hope
3000-498: Was a non-federal arrangement without Hindu domination. To allay Muslim fears of Hindu domination, the August Offer had been accompanied with the promise that a future constitution would take the views of minorities into consideration. The Muslim League was not satisfied with Linlithgow's offer and rejected it in September. The Congress was in a confused state again after the August Offer. The radicals and leftists wanted to launch
3060-583: Was assured for the establishment of Pakistan A change of government took place in Britain in May 1940, when Winston Churchill became prime minister. The Fall of France in June left Britain in immediate danger of German occupation. As the war was taking a menacing turn from the Allied point of view, the Indian National Congress softened its demands and offered to cooperate in the war if a transfer of authority in India
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#17328013037453120-541: Was born at Hopetoun House , South Queensferry , Linlithgowshire , Scotland, on 24 September 1887. He was the eldest son of John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun , later 1st Marquess Linlithgow, and Hersey Everleigh-de-Moleyns , Countess of Hopetoun and later Marchioness of Linlithgow, daughter of the fourth Baron Ventry . His godmother was Queen Victoria . He was educated at Ludgrove School and Eton College and on 29 February 1908 succeeded his father as 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow. In 1912, aged only 25, he
3180-413: Was conspicuous by its lack of positive achievement. When he left India, famine stalked portions of the countryside. There was economic distress due to the rising cost of living and the shortage of essential commodities. On the political side, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru expressed the general feeling thus: 'Today, I say, after seven years of Lord Linlithgow's administration the country is much more divided than it
3240-600: Was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . His proposers were William Turner , Alexander Crum Brown , Cargill Gilston Knott and James Haig Ferguson . He served as the society's vice president from 1934 to 1937. Linlithgow served as an officer on the Western Front during the First World War . Transferred from Lothians and Border Horse , he commanded a battalion of the Royal Scots . He
3300-525: Was made to an interim government. The British government's response to these demands was a statement delivered by the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow , known as the August Offer. On 8 August 1940, early in the Battle of Britain , the Viceroy of India , Lord Linlithgow , made the so-called "August Offer" at Simla, a fresh proposal promising the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indians,
3360-654: Was mentioned in dispatches and appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire , ending the war with the rank of colonel . He then served in various minor roles in the Conservative governments of the 1920s and '30s. From 1922 till 1924 he served as the civil lord of the Admiralty , becoming chairman of the Unionist Party Organisation in 1924 for two years. He also served as president of
3420-713: Was not a mass movement, it attracted little enthusiasm, and in December 1940, Gandhi suspended it. The campaign started again in January 1941; this time, thousands of people joined and around 20,000 people were arrested. Significant modifications were subsequently made to the August Offer in 1942 during Cripps' mission . Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow , KG , KT , GCSI , GCIE , OBE , TD , PC , FRSE (24 September 1887 – 5 January 1952)
3480-499: Was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform. ... It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking. In view of the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany , Gandhi offered satyagraha as
3540-493: Was representative of the principal elements in India's national life. The Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha on 21 August 1940 eventually rejected the offer, and asserted its demand for complete freedom from the imperial power. Gandhi viewed it as having widened the gulf between Nationalist India and the British ruler. Having not taken the Pakistan idea seriously, Linlithgow supposed that what Jinnah actually wanted
3600-573: Was when he came here'." A sincere Presbyterian , he served as Lord High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland in 1944 and 1945. He died in 1952. On 19 April 1911 he married Doreen Maud Milner (1886–1965), the younger daughter of Sir Frederick Milner . They had twin sons and three daughters: In some circles the three girls were known as Faint Hope, Little Hope, and No Hope. Satyagraha Satyāgraha (from Sanskrit : सत्याग्रह ; satya : "truth", āgraha : "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth", or "truth force",
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