Chachaji

Sharma: Do you recall what was the reaction of the people towards the boycott of foreign cloth or the promotion of Khadi?

Chacha Ji: The boycott of foreign cloth got momentum only after 1930. Earlier, Mahatma Gandhi had said that we should use Khadi. Of course, only some people, those who were dedicated, were using Khadi. But this ‘Boycott of Foreign Cloth’ movement came in 1930 and I was one of the most prominent figures to conduct it in Delhi. Actually our leader to conduct this movement was Behn Satyavati.¹ Under her dynamic and fiery leadership, we had quite a big batch of volunteers and we conducted the movement throughout the Katras in Chandni Chowk, which was the market for foreign cloth—wholesale and retail. We had a very powerful organisation to see that they did not sell foreign cloth any more. At that time, we had a few hundred volunteers. We went to each and every merchant. We used to stand in all the Katras and asked the shopkeepers to collect their cloth and take it to their homes, or else we will ‘seal’ the goods. Then we would also not allow foreign cloth to be despatched in bales to other cities for sale—because Delhi has always been the wholesale market for foreign goods, especially cloth. On the other side, we moved from shop to shop and saw that nobody purchased foreign cloth. We were very vigilant. We had a regular organisation to see and check that nobody broke our ‘seals’ and the cloth was not sold.

And sometimes when it was done, I mean when either through indirect means or by some tactful ways, if any merchant took out cloth and sent it to the railway station and it came to our notice, we were very particular and powerful to ‘check it’, ‘seize it’ and ‘seal the confiscated goods’ in our own godown. And not to give it back.

Then a regular ‘Court’ was organised and contractor Lala Narayan Dutt, who was a leading Arya Samaji, as I said earlier, Pearey Lal Motorwala and a few others were members of the Court. We would ‘arrest’ anybody who infringed our rules (and sold foreign cloth) and take him to that Court, and he was ‘fined’ there. The ‘fine’ varied according to the ‘infringement’. If it was a very small thing the fine was between Rs. 100/- and Rs. 200/-. If somebody had sold a bale or something like that, then the fine was about Rs. 1,000/-. The maximum fine ever imposed was on one Jaipuria—I have forgotten his full name. He was living in Sabzimandi. He was asked to pay Rs.10,000/- but he refused. Otherwise, we could collect most of the fines. Unless the fine was collected we never allowed that merchant:

1. to move out of his house;

2. to go to shop;

3. to go for shopping or any other work.

We would do picketting at his house as well as at his shop.

Now this Jaipuria was at Sabzimandi. And we were asked to collect this fine of Rs. 10,000/-. I took a batch of volunteers, about 13 ladies, to his house and asked him to pay the fine. “Otherwise these ladies will sit at your house without food, and you will be responsible for them.”

It was a bungalow type house. He had armed guards. So he threatened me that if this was done he would shoot us.

I said: “Shoot me at least. I do not care for my life. You see these are the orders from our Court. And we must collect the fine.”

Every day I had to go twice or thrice to see the Dharna of the ladies...to give them food and all that. But they would stay there till the fine was recovered.

So though it took us about 13 or 14 days but ultimately we recovered the fine.

But once or twice, in between, he threatened to shoot. He also approached the police but then he realized that the things will become more serious and worse and he paid the fine.

Like that we collected a few lakhs as fines. And this movement went on for about 6 months or so. This was in 1930.

In those days the Congress used to appoint a ‘Dictator’ to run the movement, because some ordinances were promulgated.

I do not remember the exact nature of the ordinances but these were mentioned in my case of 1930. One was 17A and the other was 17B or something like that.

So in Delhi regular ‘Dictators’ were appointed. When this foreign cloth boycott movement became very strong, the police issued warrants against me. And, as far as I remember, there were two or three cases against me: obstructing the police on duty and obstructing the public in coming out, and all those things.

When these warrants were issued against me and I got this information I went underground. And...I escaped from Chandni Chowk.

The Dramatic Reading of the “Pledge for Independence”

In the meantime, the most prominent thing which was going on probably in the whole country was that everywhere and in every city the ‘Congress Pledge for Independence’ was to be read out in public, and it was not allowed. It was banned. The Congress had adopted this Resolution at the Congress session in 1929 at Lahore, where Jawahar Lal became the first President at such a young age. And I was all through present in that Congress session of Lahore on the bank of Ravi and also during his procession on horseback through the Anarkali Bazar… That was of course so inspiring and heartening to every Indian and lover of India. And now this was to be done here also in Delhi. So our people of the District Congress Committee had a secret meeting in one of the streets of Nai Sarak, because all our Congress offices were more or less sealed and captured by the police. In this meeting they were very anxious about:

“Who Will Read This Pledge?”

And they could not find anyone because in Chandni Chowk the police had put—it is not an exaggaration I think—a police force of more than ten thousand all around the Clock Tower, and in the town hall and behind it where the Congress meeting for the ‘Independence Pledge’ was to be held. And hundreds on horses...and machine-guns were also fixed because they were expecting some trouble.

It was a very furious and a very dangerous situation. They created a terror to frighten and demoralize the whole of the city. And everything all around and the stage where the Congress meeting were to take place was captured. And now…???

How the Congress procession should go—because the procession was to end at the Company Bagh behind the town hall? And how all this was to be conducted? And who will conduct and read this PLEDGE?? It became a problem.

When the secret meeting was going on I was also sitting there. I was very young—the youngest. I was hardly twenty-five or so in those days.

Suddenly Lala Narayan Dutt and Maulana Abdullah looked at me. And this inspired and instigated me so much!

I said: “I will read out the whole thing.” And then, of course, it was to be done. Otherwise probably they did not have any young man, who would have the courage to go through all this and take the risk.

There may be firing. There may be machine-guns. Anything may happen there. But I said: “I will do that.” So this responsibility was given to me.

The procession was to start from all over the city in small batches and collect at Bar-Shah-Bullah at the end. And from Bar-Shah-Bullah through the Egerton Road—now called Nai Sarak—it was to go. And I was to conduct all that procession and at the end of the procession, I had to read out the Pledge.

At the same time there were two or three warrants against me. And if the police could see me they would immediately arrest me.

The higher authorities of the Congress had, about fifteen days earlier, appointed me the ‘Seventh Dictator’ of the main Congress movement in Delhi.

So in those days I was also acting as the ‘Seventh Dictator.’ So all these responsibilities I had to take.

I had a car—not that I had my own car—but one car was given to me which had nothing to do with Congressmen or Congress movement. I sat in that car with two people. One was my maternal uncle and the other had also nothing to do with Congress. One sat on my right and the other on my left.

I had a very big overcoat on my body and a turban. My maternal uncle always used such a turban with a kullah and with a big shamla,and all that. That was called ‘Mushaddi Lungi’. I wore all that dress. And all three of us had cigarettes in our hands—which I had never touched in my life because I came from more or less a Sikh family and also the Arya Samaj. But to conduct that and to make that thing successful I had to keep it in my hand. And my maternal uncle held a cigar in his hand and the other person also. So nobody could imagine that we were Congress people. I would go round and round the procession in that car giving them instructions, guiding them and also seeing that it was going on well. This took hours and hours—six, seven or eight hours till we reached the Clock Tower.

When we reached the Clock Tower, the whole procession was cordoned off and obstructed. The procession was not allowed to move any further.

I think there must have been more than fifty thousand people in the procession. And it was a huge sight and there was so much excitement and all that. And the entire procession just sat around the Clock Tower.

Now a 6 feet high stool was arranged for me just near the Clock Tower—to be put there so that I could stand on it and read out the ‘Pledge for Independence’.

It was around 4 or 5 o’clock in the evening. In the same ‘dress’, I pierced through the whole crowd. It took me half an hour to reach that stool. And when I reached near that stool I pulled off the overcoat and gave it to somebody. There were one or two persons with me who knew that this had to be done. Then I pulled off my ‘Mushaddi turban’ also and gave it to them. Now I was in my plain white Khadi clothes, with achkan underneath and Gandhi cap on my head. I rose on that stool and started reading the Pledge very loudly.

So, of course, I was shouting and shouting and shouting and shouting, reading that Pledge. And there was so much noise in the public that nobody could probably hear anything. But it was a long Pledge and I was reading and reading…

Now the police were quite behind the crowd and it took them about 15 minutes to reach me. The police batch led by the Kotwal, as far as I remember his name was Abdul Wahab, pierced through the crowd furiously. Along with the police force of 10-15 persons, violently raging, he reached the stool, caught hold of me and dragged me down and immediately put me in a police van and sent me to the jail. And soon after that I found that, in lorries and trucks, hundreds and hundreds of people were coming into the jail, arrested after me. Probably several hundreds of people were arrested but they did not have a large number of vehicles. Hundreds offered arrest. But whatever the capacity of the vehicles they had, they went on sending them to bring them to the jail. I was told that after me one lady, who was a powerful member of the Congress, whose name was Chando Bibi, rose up on the same stool and started giving a speech. She was also arrested and sent to the jail. By the night hundreds were let off. But still a few hundred people were inside the jail throughout the night and there was so much noise, and all that.