A movement cannot be 'insane' that is conducted by men of
action as I claim the members of the Non-co-operation Committee are. It
is hardly 'unpractical,' seeing that if the people respond, every one
admits that it will achieve the end. At the same time it is perfectly
true that if there is no response from the people, the movement will be
popularly described as 'visionary.' It is for the nation to return an
effective answer by organised non-co-operation and change ridicule into
respect. Ridicule is like repression. Both give place to respect when
they fail to produce the intended effect.

THE VICEREGAL PRONOUNCEMENT

It may be that having lost faith in His Excellency's probity and
capacity to hold the high office of Viceroy of India, I now read his
speeches with a biased mind, but the speech His Excellency delivered at
the time of opening of the council shows to me a mental attitude which
makes association with him or his Government impossible for
self-respecting men.

The remarks on the Punjab mean a flat refusal to grant redress. He would
have us to 'concentrate on the problems of the immediate future!' The
immediate future is to compel repentance on the part of the Government
on the Punjab matter. Of this there is no sign. On the contrary, His
Excellency resists the temptation to reply to his critics, meaning
thereby that he has not changed his opinion on the many vital matters
affecting the honour of India. He is 'content to leave the issues to the
verdict of history.' Now this kind of language, in my opinion, is
calculated further to inflame the Indian mind. Of what use can a
favourable verdict of history be to men who have been wronged and who
are still under the heels of officers who have shown themselves utterly
unfit to hold offices of trust and responsibility? The plea for
co-operation is, to say the least, hypocritical in the face of the
determination to refuse justice to the Punjab. Can a patient who is
suffering from an intolerable ache be soothed by the most tempting
dishes placed before him? Will he not consider it mockery on the part of
the physician who so tempted him without curing him of his pain?

His Excellency is, if possible, even less happy on the Khilafat. "So far
as any Government could," says this trustee for the nation, "we pressed
upon the Peace Conference the views of Indian Moslems. But
notwithstanding our efforts on their behalf we are threatened with a
campaign of non-co-operation b