Back to first principles – The Tribune

Lahore, Friday, October 24, 1924

THE controversy which has recently taken place in the press and elsewhere on the question whether a solution of the communal problem must precede a joint effort on the part of different communities to achieve Swaraj, and still more particularly the spirit and temper with what is it about has been carried out, it leaves no room for doubt that in many areas there is too vague a notion about the first principles of the case. He evidently does not realize that the very aspiration of Swaraj, which by general consent, at least the consent of all politically minded Indians, is to-day practically universal in this country, presupposes the existence of a sense of nationhood. It is possible for a country without this sense to be self-governing or even independent, if we use these words in a somewhat loose sense, to indicate simply that it is not governed by any foreign power, but by some power in the country itself. The word ‘Swaraj’ has never been and can never be used in this sense. Its only accepted meaning is the government of a people by itself. Obviously, this government can only be possible when there is among the various component parts of the people, whether individuals or communities and classes, a sense of unity of life and destiny. Do the constituents of the Indian people have this sense today or not? We maintain that they have, and our strongest basis for holding this view is the undeniable fact that the aspiration for Swaraj is practically universal.