There are more than yesterday.
He will be saying prayers in the garden. Just follow the others.
Brother, Bapu is already late for prayers.
Oh, God!
The object of this massive tribute...
died as he had always lived:
A private man without wealth...
without property...
without official title or office.
Mahatma Gandhi...
was not the commander of armies...
nor a ruler of vast lands.
He could not boast any scientific achievement...
or artistic gift.
Yet men...
governments, dignitaries from all over the world...
have joined hands today to pay homage...
to this little brown man in the loincloth...
who led his country to freedom.
In the words of General George C. Marshall...
the American secretary of state:
"Mahatma Gandhi has become the spokesman...
for the conscience of all mankind.
He was a man... who made humility...
and simple truth...
more powerful than empires."
And Albert Einstein added:
"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this...
ever in flesh and blood...
walked upon this earth."
Tell me... do you think about hell?
No, neither do I.
But this man here...
is a Christian, and he's written that in order to believe...
Excuse me, sir.
How long have you been in South Africa?
- A week. - I don't know how you got a ticket.
Just what are you doing in this car, coolie?
Why, I have a ticket.
A first-class ticket.
- How did you get it? - I sent for it in the post.
I'm an attorney. I didn't...
There are no colored attorneys in South Africa.
Sit where you belong!
- I'll take your luggage back, sir. - No.
Just a moment, please.
You see?
Mohandas K. Gandhi, attorney at law.
I'm going to conduct a case for an Indian trading firm.
Didn't you hear me? There are no colored attorneys in South Africa.
I was called to the bar in London...
and enrolled at the High Court of Chancery.
I am, therefore, an attorney.
And since I am, in your eyes, colored...
I think we can deduce there is at least...
one colored attorney in South Africa.
Smart bloody Kaffir!
Throw him out.
Just move your black ass back to third class...
or I'll have you thrown off at the next station.
But I always go first class!
But you're a rich man. Why put up with it?
Yes, I am rich. But I am Indian.
I do not expect to travel first class.
- In England, I was a poor student. - That was England.
This is part of England's Empire.
Mr. Gandhi, you look at Mr. Khan and you see a successful Muslim trader.
Most South Africans see him simply as an Indian.
And the vast majority of Indians, mostly Hindus, like yourself...
were brought here to work mines and harvest crops.
Most Europeans don't want them doing anything else.
- But that is very unchristian... - Mr. Gandhi, in this country...
Indians are not allowed to walk along the pavement with a Christian.
You mean, you employ Mr. Baker as your attorney...
but you can't walk down the street with him?
Well, I can.
But I risk being kicked into the gutter by someone...
less holy than Mr. Baker.
Well, then it must be fought.
We are children of God like everyone else.
Allah be praised!
And what battalions will you call upon?
I will write to the press...
here and in England.
I will use the courts.
You'll cause a lot of trouble. Our position is...
We are members of the Empire.
And we come from an ancient civilization.
Why should we not walk on the pavements like other men?
I rather like the idea of an Indian barrister in South Africa.
I'm sure our community could keep you in work for some time...
even if you caused a good deal of trouble.
Especially if you caused a good deal of trouble.
There's the English reporter. I told you he'd come.
You also said your article would draw a thousand people.
At least some of the Hindus brought their wives.
No, I asked my wife to organize that.
Some of them are leaving.
"Ladies and gentlemen...
we have asked you to gather here to help us proclaim our right...
to be treated as equal citizens of the Empire.
We do not seek conflict.
We know the strength of the forces arrayed against us...
know that because of them, we can only use peaceful means.
But we are determined that justice will be done.
The symbol of our status is embodied in this pass...
which we must carry at all times...
but which no European even has to have.
The first step towards changing our status...
is to eliminate this difference between us."
Now?
You write brilliantly, but you have much to learn about handling men.
"We do not want to ignite...
the fear or hatred of anyone.
But we ask you...
Hindu, Muslim and Sikh...
to help us light up the sky...
and the minds of the British authorities...
with our defiance of this injustice."
We will now burn the passes of our committee and its supporters.
We ask you to put your passes on the fire...
You bloody dog!
Those passes... are government property!
And I will arrest the first man who tries to burn one!
Take him away.
You little...
Sammy...
bastard!
Now! Are there any more?
If you want this kind of trouble, you can have it.
Let me go!
Stop.
The London papers have arrived from the Cape.
The worst was the Daily Mail. They said the burning of passes...
- Ask Mr. Herzog to see me. - ... was the most significant act...
in colonial affairs since the Declaration of Independence.
They'll find we're better prepared this time.
Mr. Gandhi will find he's on a long hiding to nothing.
"A High Court judge confirmed that Mr. Gandhi...
would've been within his rights to prosecute for assault...
since neither he nor Mr. Khan resisted arrest."
I told you about English law.
As I told you about English policemen.
Yes?
We're very pleased to have you back, Papa.
And I am glad to be back.
Come.
Mind your face.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about my days in a police hospital.
Come, come.
Just like proper English gentlemen. I'm proud of them.
They're boys and they're Indian.
Will you take this off? It pinches every time I speak.
I've got it.
You'd be Gandhi.
I thought you'd be bigger.
- I'm sorry. - No, that's all right.
My name is Charlie Andrews, sir.
I've come from India.
I've read a great deal about you.
Some of it good, I hope.
Would you care to walk?
- You're a clergyman? - Yes.
I met some remarkable people in India.
And when I read what you were doing, I wanted to help.
- Does that surprise you? - Not anymore.
At first, I was amazed...
but when you're fighting in a just cause...
people seem to pop up, like you, right out of the pavement.
Even when it's dangerous or...
Hey, look what's coming!
A white shepherd leading a brown Sammy!
- Perhaps we should... - Doesn't the New Testament say:
"If your enemy strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the left"?
The phrase was used metaphorically. I don't think our Lord...
I'm not so sure. I have thought about it a great deal.
I suspect he meant you must show courage...
be willing to take a blow, several blows, to show...
you won't strike back, nor will you be turned aside.
And when you do that, it calls on something in human nature...
that makes his hatred for you decrease and his respect increase.
I think Christ grasped that, and I have seen it work.
Good morning.
Get off the pavement, you bloody coon.
- Yeah, get off. - Kaffir!
- Colin, what you doing? - Nothing.
Come out where I can see you!
I said, what you doing?
We were just trying to clean up the neighborhood.
You're late for work. I thought you'd gone 10 minutes ago.
Get on!
You'll find there's room for us all.
- That was lucky. - I thought you were a man of God.
I am, but I'm not so egotistical as to think...
he plans his day around my dilemmas.
You could call it a communal farm, I suppose.
But you've all come to the same conclusions.
Our Gita, the Muslim's Koran, your Bible.
It's always the simple things that catch your breath.
"Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Not always practiced...
but it's something we Hindus could learn a lot from.
That's the kind of thing you'll be seeking on this farm?
Well, we shall try.
Bad news, I'm afraid.
They're going to change the pass laws.
It's taken time, but it needed to be done fairly.
We didn't want to create an injustice simply because Mr. Gandhi...
was abusing our existing legislation.
Just one moment, sir, please.
I beg your pardon.
But on a short trip...
I wouldn't spend too much time on the Indian question, Mr. Walker.
It's a tiny factor in South Africa.
Well, it is news at the moment.
I plan to report on the condition of the mines here...
- ... as well as the economy. - Good.
But I would like to meet this Mr. Gand-eye.
- Gandhi. - Gandhi.
Of course. We Westerners have a weakness...
for these spiritually inclined men of India.
But as an old lawyer, let me warn you.
Mr. Gandhi is as shrewd a man as you will ever meet...
however otherworldly he may seem.
But I'm sure you're enough of a reporter to see that.
I hope so. Thank you for your time, sir.
So it's not spiritualism or nationalism.
We're not resisting anything but the idea that people can't live together.
You see?
Hindus, Muslims...
Sikhs, Jews...
even Christians.
Mr. Walker of the New York Times.
How you doing?
Without a paper, a journal of some kind...
you cannot unite a community.
You belong to a very important profession.
And what do you think an important professional should write...
about your response to General Smuts' newest legislation?
I don't know.
I'm still searching for a response.
You will respect the law?
There are unjust laws as there are unjust men.
You're a small minority to take on the South African government...
- ... not to mention the British Empire. - If you are a minority of one...
the truth is the truth.
Herman Kallenbach...
our chief carpenter, also our chief benefactor.
Vince Walker, New York Times.
This is quite a place you've got here.
And you call it an ashram?
That's right. The word only means "community."
But it could stand for "village" or "the world."
You're an ambitious man, Mr. Gandhi.
I hope not.
I hear that you also prepare the meals and clean the toilets.
- Is that part of the experiment? - Ba!
We will need another place set for Mr. Walker's driver.
I will tell Tara.
Yes, it's one way to learn that each man's labor...
is as important as another's.
While you're doing it, cleaning the toilet...
seems far more important than the law.
Please, come and join us.
You'll need something before your journey back.
- Would you excuse me, please? - Yeah, sure.
What is it?
Sora was sent to tell me I must...
rake and cover the latrine.
That's right. Everyone takes their turn.
It is the work of untouchables!
In this place, there are no untouchables...
and no work is beneath any of us.
I'm your wife!
All the more reason.
As you command.
The others may follow you, but you forget...
I knew you when you were a boy.
It's not me.
It's the principle.
And you will do it with joy or not do it at all.
Not at all then.
All right then, go. You don't belong here!
Go and leave the ashram altogether. We don't want you!
Have you no shame?
I'm your wife!
Where do you expect me to go?
What's the matter with me?
You're human.
Only human.
And it's even harder for those of us...
who do not even want to be as good as you do.
I apologize.
I must get back to that reporter.
And I must...
rake and cover the latrine.
I want to welcome you all.
Every one of you.
We have no secrets.
Let us begin by being clear...
about General Smuts' new law.
All Indians must now be fingerprinted...
like criminals.
Men and women.
No marriage other than a Christian marriage is considered valid.
Under this act...
our wives and mothers are whores.
And every man here is a bastard.
He has become quite good at this.
And a policeman...
passing an Indian dwelling...
I will not call them homes.
May enter and demand the card of any Indian woman whose dwelling it is.
Goddamn them!
Understand...
he does not have to stand at the door.
He may enter.
I will not allow it!
I swear to Allah.
I'll kill the man who offers that insult to my home and my wife...
and let them hang me!
I say talk means nothing!
Kill a few officials before they disgrace one Indian woman.
Then they might think twice about such laws.
In that cause, I would be willing to die!
I praise such courage.
I need such courage...
because, in this cause, I too am prepared to die.
But, my friend...
there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
Whatever they do to us...
we will attack no one... kill no one.
But we will not give our fingerprints, not one of us.
They will imprison us. They will fine us. They will seize our possessions.
But they cannot take away our self-respect...
if we do not give it to them.
Have you been to prison?
They beat us and torture us. I say...
I am asking you to fight.
To fight against their anger, not to provoke it.
We will not strike a blow.
But we will receive them.
And through our pain...
we will make them see their injustice.
And it will hurt...
as all fighting hurts.
But we cannot lose.
We cannot.
They may torture my body...
break my bones... even kill me. Then...
they will have my dead body...
not my obedience.
We are Hindu and Muslim...
children of God, each one of us.
Let us take a solemn oath in his name...
that, come what may...
we will not submit to this law.
God save our gracious King
God save our noble King
God save our King
These men are contracted laborers.
They belong in the mines.
You put their comrades in jail.
When you free them...
they will go back to work.
I've warned you.
We've warned each other.
I don't think that's very good.
Steady, steady.
Stop!
At the canter, charge!
We should lie down. Down!
The horses won't trample on us. Lie down!
Follow me! Follow me!
Now what the hell do we do?
Let them march.
In our own sweet time, in our own sweet way...
we'll get them.
- One law! - One king!
Some of you may be rejoicing that Mr. Gandhi has been put into prison.
But I would ask you, assembled here in this house of God...
to recognize that we are witnessing something new...
something so unexpected, so unusual...
that it is not surprising the government is at a loss.
What Mr. Gandhi has forced us to do...
is ask questions about ourselves.
As Christians, those are difficult questions to answer.
How do we treat men who defy an unjust law...
who will not fight...
but will not comply?
As Christians, or as people who have not heard the word...
They're sparing no one, I see.
No, you were the surprise.
It has been all over the prison.
We thought they'd be too afraid of the English press.
So did I.
I don't know who they've left out there to do the work.
- Have they touched the women? - My wife publicly defied the law.
They've arrested her and four others.
It split the government.
Well, that's one victory.
If we hold firm, it won't be the last.
Don't worry.
I've never seen men so determined.
You have given them a way to fight.
Gandhi!
I want Gandhi!
Which Sammy is it?
Mr. Gandhi.
I thought we might have a little talk.
Thank you, Daniels.
Will you have a glass of sherry?
Thank you, no.
- Perhaps some tea? - I dined at the prison.
Please, do come and sit down.
Mr. Gandhi.
I've more or less decided to ask the House to repeal the act...
that you have taken such exception to.
Well, if you asked, General Smuts, I'm sure it will be done.
It's not quite that simple.
Somehow, I expected not.
I thought of calling for a royal commission...
to investigate the new legislation.
I think I could guarantee they would recommend the act be repealed.
I congratulate them.
But they might also recommend...
that all future Indian immigration be severely restricted...
even stopped.
Immigration was not an issue on which we fought.
It would be wrong of us to make it one, now that we...
We are in a position of advantage.
I'm ordering the release of all prisoners within the next 24 hours.
You yourself are free as from this moment.
Assuming we are in agreement.
Yes, yes.
It's just that in these clothes, I would prefer to go by taxi.
All right. Fine.
I'm afraid I have no money.
Neither have I.
I'm awfully sorry.
Daniels...
will you lend Mr. Gandhi a shilling for a taxi?
I beg your pardon, sir?
How far will you be going, Gandhi?
Now that this is settled, I'd thought seriously of going back to India.
But a shilling will do splendidly for the moment.
Thank you.
I'm obliged, Mr. Daniels...
but I can find my own way out.
Guard of honor!
Attention!
Present arms!
- My God, he loves it! - I'm sure he hates it.
Generals' reputations are being made in France today...
fighting on the Western front.
Not as military governors in India.
What the devil's going on back there?
Must be that Indian who made all that fuss in Africa.
My cabin boy told me he was on board.
There he is.
God, he's dressed like a coolie!
I thought he was a lawyer.
Mr. Gandhi, have you refused to wear European clothes?
No, I haven't refused.
I simply wanted to dress the way my comrades in prison dress.
Will you support the war effort?
If I wish to enjoy the benefits and protection of the British Empire...
it would be wrong of me not to help in its defense.
Now that you're back in India, what will you do?
I don't know.
- I don't know. - One more question.
As an Indian woman, how could you accept the indignity of prison?
My dignity comes from following my husband.
Thank you very much.
Just a few words, then we'll get you to civilization.
May I?
I'm glad to be home...
and I thank you for your greeting.
I'll follow with your wife.
Don't worry. Everything's arranged.
- Who's that young man? - That's young Nehru.
He's got his father's intellect, his mother's good looks...
and the devil's own charm.
If they don't ruin him at Cambridge... Wave, wave!
He might amount to something.
I must say, when I first saw you as a bumbling lawyer here in Bombay...
I never thought I'd greet you as a national hero.
I'm hardly that, Mr. Patel.
Yes, you are!
It's been 200 years since an Indian cocked a snook...
at the British Empire and got away with it.
And stop calling me Mr. Patel. You're not a junior clerk anymore.
The new military governor of the Northwest Province was on that ship.
Too bad you came back third class.
He might have been impressed...
by a successful barrister who'd outmaneuvered General Smuts.
Yes, I'm sure.
Are you involved too, Mrs. Nehru?
No. I leave practical matters to my husband...
and revolution to my son.
Mr. Gandhi, I'd like you to meet Mr. Jinnah, our joint host...
member of congress and leader of the Muslim League.
How do you do?
And Mr. Prakash, who, I fear...
is awaiting trial for sedition and inducement to murder.
I have not actually pulled the trigger, Mr. Gandhi.
I have simply written...
if an Englishman kills an Indian for disobeying his law...
it is an Indian's duty to kill an Englishman...
for enforcing his law in a land that is not his.
It's a clever argument. It may not produce the end you desire.
We hope you'll join us in our struggle for home rule, Mr. Gandhi.
Excuse me. May I, Mohan? There's someone I'd like him to meet.
Excuse me.
Sorry to rush you.
He told the press he'd support the British in the war.
That's nonviolence for you.
You know, Mohan...
now I have a confession to make.
I didn't decide to come to South Africa.
Professor Gokhale sent me.
We are trying to make a nation, Gandhi.
But the British keep trying to break us up...
into religions, principalities, provinces.
What you were writing in South Africa...
that's what we need here.
I have so much to learn about India.
And I have to begin my practice again. One needs money to run a journal.
Nonsense. Go on, Charlie. This is Indian talk.
We want none of you imperialists here.
All right, I'll go and write my report to the viceroy.
You go and find a pretty Hindu woman...
and convert her to Christianity.
And convert her to Christianity.
That's as much mischief as you're allowed.
Come, let's find a quiet corner.
Now, you forget about your practice.
You have other things to do.
India has many men with too much wealth.
And it's their privilege to nourish the effort of the few...
who can raise India from servitude and apathy.
I'll see to it.
You begin your journal.
I have little to say.
Come, let's sit down.
India is an alien country to me.
Change that.
Go and find India.
Not what you see here...
but the real India.
You'll see what needs to be said...
what we need to hear.
When I saw you in that tunic, I knew.
I knew I could die in peace.
Make India proud of herself.
Charlie, please. You're both being foolish.
But the air is lovely. Anyway, there's no room in there.
Please! Come in.
No violence, please.
Let me hang on with two hands or I will fall.
Englishman, sahib!
Come, there is room up here!
Put your foot on the window. Come!
- What are you doing? - I'm going nearer to God.
Charlie! Be careful!
Let go. Let go!
- Let go! - Oh, dear!
Hello.
You see? It is most comfortable.
Sahib?
Are you a Christian?
Yes, I'm a Christian.
I know a Christian.
She drinks blood.
Blood of Christ. Every Sunday.
Charlie!
It's all right, sahib. It's very safe.
Bend!
Pray to God, sahib. Now is when it is best to be Hindu.
I agree with Jinnah.
Now that the Americans are in, the war will be over soon.
The Germans are worn out as it is.
And our first act should be...
to convene a congress party convention...
and demand independence.
And we will speak with one voice, united.
And we should invite Gandhi.
What the devil's happened to him?
He's discovering India.
Which is better than making trouble where it matters.
Invite him, let him say his piece about South Africa...
then let him slip into oblivion.
Insurgents.
They've derailed a troop train.
Keep clear! Come on.
They've killed an English soldier.
We were asked for toleration.
We were asked for patience.
Some of us gave it...
and some did not.
Well, their war is over.
And those of us who supported it...
and those of us who refused...
must forget our differences.
And there can be no excuses...
from the British now.
India wants... home rule.
India...
demands home rule!
Congratulations.
And let no one question...
that Mr. Jinnah speaks...
not just for the Muslims...
but for all India!
And now... I'm going to introduce to you...
a man whose writings...
we are all becoming familiar with.
A man who stood in high esteem with our own beloved Gokhale.
A man whose accomplishments in South Africa...
will always be remembered.
Mr. Mohandas Gandhi!
Your journal has made great impact.
I'm flattered by Mr. Patel.
I would be even more flattered if what he said were true.
But it is true.
I read it. Often!
Since I returned from South Africa...
I've traveled over much of India.
And I know that I could travel for many more years...
and still only see a small part of her.
And yet, I already know...
that what we say here...
means nothing to the masses of our country.
Here, we make speeches for each other...
and those English liberal magazines that may grant us a few lines.
But the people of India...
are...
untouched.
Their politics are confined to bread...
and salt.
Illiterate they may be, but they're not blind.
They see no reason to give their loyalty to rich and powerful men...
who simply want to take over the role of the British...
in the name of freedom.
This congress tells the world...
it represents India.
My brothers...
India... is 700,000 villages...
not a few hundred lawyers in Delhi...
and Bombay.
Until we stand in the fields...
with the millions that toil each day under the hot sun...
we will not represent India.
Nor will we ever be able to challenge the British...
as one nation.
Have you read his magazine?
No.
But I think I'm going to.
Pull over.
This can't be the way.
Yes, I'm sure this is the direction India is taking.
To think I almost got excited by Mr. Jinnah...
when all this was awaiting me.
We're looking for Mr. Gandhi.
- You'll find him under that tree. - Thank you.
I'm anxious to meet this new force.
I try to live like an Indian, as you see.
It's stupid, of course.
Because in our country...
it is the British who decide how an Indian lives...
what he may buy, what he may sell.
And from their luxury...
in the midst of our terrible poverty...
they instruct us on what is justice, what is sedition.
So it's only natural that our best young minds...
assume an air of Eastern dignity...
while greedily assimilating...
every Western weakness as quickly as they can acquire it.
If we have home rule...
that'll change.
Would you, please?
Why should the British grant us home rule?
We must take the peelings to the goats.
We only make wild speeches or perform even wilder acts of terrorism.
We've bred an army of anarchists...
but not one group that can fight the British anywhere.
Hello! Hello!
But I thought you were against fighting.
Now just spread it around.
There you are.
They like the new peelings mixed in with the rotting ones.
Where there's injustice, I always believed in fighting.
The question is, do you fight to change things or to punish?
I've found we're all such sinners, we should leave punishment to God.
And if we really want to change things...
there are better ways of doing it...
than derailing trains or slashing someone with a sword.
The fire is ready.
You see, even here...
we live under tyranny.
What did I tell you? Look at him!
I can see the British shaking now.
Hello!
I'm looking for Mr. Gandhi.
I've been trying to speak to you for a long time.
Our crops.
We cannot sell them.
We have no money.
But the landlords still demand the same rent.
We have nothing left.
Mr. Taylor, sir. Up here!
Jesus!
What the hell is going on?
I don't know, sir.
The agent got a telegram.
And it just said, "He is coming," and gave the time of the train.
Who the hell is "he"?
I don't know, sir.
Out of the way. Come on, you!
- Who the devil are you? - My name is Mohandas K. Gandhi.
Whoever you are, we don't want you here.
I suggest you get back on that train before it leaves.
They seem to want me.
Now, look here.
I'll put you under arrest if you'd prefer.
On what charge?
I don't want any trouble.
I'm an Indian traveling in my own country. I see no reason for trouble.
Well, there had better not be.
Make way for the officer.
For years...
the landlords have ordered us...
to grow indigo...
for dyeing cloth.
Always, they took part of the crop as rent.
But now...
everyone buys their cloth from England.
So no one wants...
our indigo.
The landlords...
say we must pay our rent...
in cash.
What we could...
we sold.
The police have taken the rest.
There is... no food.
I understand.
The landlords are British?
What we can do, we will try to do.
Shukla... is all Champaran like this?
Yes, Bapu.
The whole region.
Hundreds. Thousands.
Some landlords have tried to help.
But what can they do?
- Are you Mr. M.K. Gandhi? - Yes.
I'm sorry, you're under arrest.
I'm not sorry at all.
Who did you say would be buying the drinks?
Oh, no!
Wouldn't you know, that's the best innings I've had since Oxford.
- India's full of grief, old man. - I've got no idea.
All I know is there's a riot or something at Motihari in Champaran.
The whole company's ordered out.
I would like to see the prisoner.
On the left, sir.
- Charlie. - Shades of South Africa.
Not quite.
They're only holding me...
until the magistrate's hearing.
Then it will be prison.
Did they take your clothes?
These are my clothes now.
You always had a puritanical streak, Mohan.
If I want to be one with them...
I have to live like them.
Yes, I think you do.
But thank God we all don't.
My puritanism runs in a different way.
I'm far too modest for such a display.
Couldn't I be let in with the prisoner? I am a clergyman.
They're calling you "Bapu."
I thought it meant "father."
It does.
We must be getting old, Charlie.
What do you want me to do?
I think that you can help us most...
by taking that assignment you've been offered in Fiji.
I have to be sure...
They have to be sure that what we do...
can be done by Indians alone.
But you know the strategy.
The world is full of people who will despise what's happening here.
It is their strength that we need.
Before you go...
you could start us in the right direction.
I must leave from Calcutta...
and soon.
Say goodbye to Ba for me.
Well, I...
There are no goodbyes for us, Charlie.
Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.
- I'm going to clear the courtroom. - I'm not sure we'd be able to.
It is a first hearing. It's supposed to be public.
And he's a lawyer.
I don't know where they found the nerve.
I don't either, but the troops won't be here till tomorrow.
How did the press get here before the military?
That English clergyman sent a number of telegrams yesterday.
I understand one of them even went to the viceroy.
You have been ordered out of the province...
on the grounds of disturbing the peace.
With respect, I refuse to go.
Do you want to go to jail?
As you wish.
All right.
I will release you on bail...
of 100 rupees until I reach a sentence.
I refuse to pay 100 rupees.
Then I will grant release on bail...
without payment until I reach a decision.
Gandhiji! Gandhiji!
We are from Bihar.
We received a cable from an old friend...
who was at Cambridge with us.
His name is Nehru.
- I believe you know him. - Indeed.
He tells us you need help, and we have come to give it.
I want to document coldly, rationally, what is being done here.
It may take months.
We have no pressing engagements.
You will have to live with the peasants.
There will be risks.
I don't know what this country's coming to.
But good God, man!
You yourself raised the rent simply to finance a hunting expedition.
And some of these others: Beatings, illegal seizures...
demanding services without pay.
Even refusing them water.
In India!
Nobody knows what it is to try to get these people to work.
You've made this half-naked whatever-he-is...
into an international hero.
"One lone man, marching dusty roads, armed only with honesty...
and a bamboo staff, doing battle with the British Empire."
At home, children are writing essays about him.
What do they want?
Gareth!
Yes, sir.
There's a rebate on rents paid.
They're to be free to grow crops of their own choice.
And a commission, part Indian, to hear grievances.
That would satisfy him?
And His Majesty's government.
It only needs your signature for the landlords.
It'll be worth it to see the back of him.
Thank you, sir.
- We're too damned liberal. - Perhaps.
At least this has made the government see some sense about what men...
like Mr. Gandhi should be allowed, and what they should be denied.
Where is Mr. Gandhi?
He said he preferred to walk, sir.
I followed him most of the way. He's just turned the corner.
He came third class.
God, give me patience.
My house is honored.
The honor is ours.
I'd like you to meet Dr. Kallenbach, an old friend.
He's interested in flowers. I told him he could wander your garden.
I'll send for my gardener. You'll have plenty to discuss.
Thank you.
Gentlemen, the hero of Champaran.
Only the stubborn man of Champaran.
Mr. Patel you know.
Maulana Azad, my colleague and a fellow Muslim...
and just recently released from prison.
Mr. Kripalani.
And of course, you know Mr. Nehru.
I'm beginning to know Mr. Nehru.
Please sit down. Do sit down.
Gentlemen, I've asked you to come here through Mr. Jinnah's kindness...
because I've had the chance to see the legislation.
And it is exactly as was rumored.
Arrest without warrant, and automatic imprisonment...
for possession of materials considered seditious.
And your writings are specifically listed.
So much for helping them in the Great War.
There is only one answer. Direct action on a scale...
they can never handle.
I don't think so.
Terrorism would only justify their repression.
And what kind of leaders would it throw up?
Are they men that we'd want at the head of our country?
I too have read Mr. Gandhi's writings...
but I'd rather be ruled by an Indian terrorist than an English one.
And I don't intend to submit to that kind of law.
I must say, it seems to me...
that it's gone beyond remedies like passive resistance.
If I may...
I, for one, have never advocated passive anything.
I'm with Mr. Jinnah. We must never submit to such laws...
ever.
And I think our resistance must be active and provocative.
May I?
I want to embarrass all those who wish to treat us as slaves.
Thank you.
All of them.
- Forgive my stupid illustration. - Allow me.
No, please.
But I want to change their minds...
not kill them for weaknesses we all possess.
And what resistance would you offer?
The law is due to take effect from April 6.
I want to call upon the nation...
to make that a day of prayer and fasting.
A general strike?
I mean a day of prayer and fasting.
Of course, no work could be done. No buses.
No trains.
No factories.
No administration.
The country would stop.
My God, it would terrify them!
350 million people at prayer?
Even the English newspapers would have to report that...
and explain why.
- But could we get people to do it? - Why not?
Champaran stirred the whole country.
Thank you.
They're calling you "Mahatma."
"Great Soul."
Fortunately, such news comes very slowly to where I live.
I think if we all worked to publicize it...
all of congress...
every avenue we know...
I could get articles printed in most of the papers in Delhi and Bombay.
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Only civilians will visit. Don't you think so, Your Highness?
Of course, the army will always be loyal.
I'll have you know, we've got 500 troops.
They'll be damn hungry by morning, I'll tell you that.
Excuse me, Your Excellency. Mr. Kinnoch.
Sir, I'm afraid it's confirmed.
Nothing's working, sir.
The buses, the trains, the markets.
There's not even any ordinary civilian staff here, sir.
Is it simply Delhi and Bombay?
Karachi, Calcutta, Madras, Bangalore. It's total.
The army had to take over the telegraph...
or we'd be cut off from the world.
I can't believe it.
He's going to sell his own paper tomorrow in Bombay, sir.
They've called for a parade on Victoria Road.
Arrest him.
He's to go to the visitors' room.
Bapu.
You too?
It seems less formal than Mahatma.
Since your arrest, the riots have hardly stopped.
Not big, but they keep breaking out.
I want to stop them.
And Patel and Kripalani, they're never at rest.
But some English civilians have been killed.
And the army is attacking crowds with clubs.
Sometimes worse.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe we're not ready yet.
In South Africa, our numbers were small.
The government's afraid. They don't know what to do.
They're more afraid of terrorism than of you.
The viceroy's agreed to your release if you will speak for nonviolence.
I've never spoken for anything else.
England...
is so powerful.
Its army... and its navy...
all its modern weapons...
But when a great power like that...
strikes defenseless people...
it shows its brutality...
its own weakness.
Especially when those people do not strike back.
Fighting back will not work.
And that is why the Mahatma...
begs us to take the course of nonviolence.
Back away! Back away!
But if we riot...
if we fight back...
we become the vandals...
and they become the law.
If we bear their blows, they are the vandals.
God and his law are on our...
Front rank, kneel in position!
We...
must have the courage...
to take their anger.
Should we issue a warning, sir?
They've had their warning:
No meetings.
Fire!
Take your time!
Corporal!
To your left.
General Dyer...
is it correct that you ordered your troops to fire...
at the thickest part of the crowd?
That is so.
1516 casualties with...
1650 bullets.
My intention was to inflict a lesson...
that would have an impact throughout all India.
General...
had you been able to take in the armored car...
would you have opened fire with the machine gun?
I think, probably, yes.
General, did you realize there were children and women in the crowd?
I did.
But that was irrelevant to the point you were making?
That is correct.
Could I ask you what provision you made for the wounded?
I was ready to help any who applied.
General, how does a child...
shot with a.303 Lee-Enfield...
apply for help?
Forgive me, gentlemen, but you must understand...
that His Majesty's government and the British people repudiate...
both the massacre and the philosophy that prompted it.
Now... what I would like to do...
is to come to some compromise over the new...
If you will excuse me, Your Excellency...
it is our view that matters have gone beyond legislation.
We think it is time you recognized...
that you are masters in someone else's home.
Despite the best intentions of the best of you...
you must, in the nature of things, humiliate us to control us.
General Dyer is but an extreme example of the principle.
It is time you left.
With respect, Mr. Gandhi...
without British administration...
this country would be reduced to chaos.
Mr. Kinnoch...
I beg you to accept that there is no people...
who would not prefer their own bad government...
to the good government of an alien power.
My dear sir, India is British.
We're hardly an alien power.
Mr. Gandhi.
Even if His Majesty could waive all other considerations...
he has a duty to the millions of his Muslim subjects...
who are a minority in this realm.
And experience suggests that his troops...
and his administration are essential...
in order to secure the peace.
All nations contain religious minorities.
Like other countries, ours will have its problems.
But they will be ours...
not yours.
How do you propose to make them yours?
You don't think we're just going to walk out of India.
Yes.
In the end, you will walk out...
because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control...
350 million Indians if those Indians refuse...
to cooperate.
And that is what we intend to achieve.
Peaceful, nonviolent noncooperation...
till you yourself see the wisdom of leaving...
Your Excellency.
I said to him, "You don't expect us just to walk out."
And he said, "Yes."
What an extraordinary little man, isn't he?
"Nonviolence, noncooperation."
For a moment, I was afraid they were actually gonna do something.
Yes, but I think it would be wise to be very cautious for a time.
The Antiterrorist Act will remain on the statutes...
but on no account is Gandhi to be arrested.
Whatever mischief he causes...
I have no intention of making a martyr of him.
But now something worse is happening.
When Gandhiji and I were growing up...
women wove their own cloth.
But now there are millions who have no work...
because those who can buy all they need from England.
I say with Gandhiji:
There is no beauty in the finest cloth...
if it makes hunger and unhappiness.
My message to you...
is the message I have given to your brothers everywhere.
To gain independence...
we must prove worthy of it.
There must be Hindu-Muslim unity always.
No Indian must be treated as the English treat us.
We must remove untouchability...
from our hearts and from our lives.
We must defy the British.
Not with violence that will inflame their will...
but with a firmness that will open their eyes.
English factories make the cloth...
that makes our poverty.
All those who wish to make the English see...
bring me the cloth from Manchester and Leeds that you wear today...
and we will light a fire that will be seen in Delhi...
and in London.
And if...
like me...
you are left with only one piece of homespun...
wear it with dignity.
Thank you very much.
No, thank you, I can manage.
Don't destroy my good intentions. I already feel guilty...
- ... about traveling second class. - You've earned a few indulgences.
Perhaps, but Maulana's made of sterner stuff.
Our trains met in Bombay.
And there he is, back in that lot, the model disciple.
There's another passenger.
A Miss Slade from London. She's been writing to Gandhiji for years.
She's the daughter of an English admiral.
What do you think the daughter of an English admiral...
proposes to do in our ashram?
- Sink us? - From the looks of the luggage, yes.
She wants to make her home with us. And Gandhiji has agreed.
Miss Slade!
You'd be Mr. Kallenbach.
And you would be Miss Slade?
I prefer the name Gandhiji has given me:
Mirabehn.
Don't pull it so fast. You'll break it again.
Leave it. Leave it.
God gave you 10 thumbs.
Eleven.
Sardar!
Mirabehn!
Come, come.
You will be my daughter.
But then...
some rioting broke out...
between Hindus and Muslims.
Violent, terrible.
Whether it was provoked...
I don't know.
But it gave them an excuse to impose martial law throughout Bengal.
Some of the things the military have done...
Is the campaign weakening?
The marches and protests are bigger, if anything.
But with the censorship here...
they know more in England than we do.
It saps the courage to think you may be suffering alone.
They are not alone.
And martial law only shows how desperate the British are.
Is that homespun?
I sent for it from here. I dyed it myself.
What do the workers in England make of what we're doing?
It must have produced hardship.
It has...
but you'd be surprised. They do understand.
Good.
Ba will have to teach you to spin too.
- I'd rather march. - First, spin!
Let the others march for a time.
I'll teach you all our foolishness.
And you must teach me yours.
We burn British cloth! We burn British cloth!
Long live Gandhiji! Long live Gandhiji!
British rule must go! British rule must go!
I'll stuff it down your damn throat!
Help us!
Leave us alone! We're not harming you.
Go on your way. On your way!
Come back!
Help us! Help us!
Help! Help!
That's one bit of news they haven't censored.
Now it's all over the world.
India's "nonviolence."
What can we do?
We must end the campaign.
After what they did at the massacre? It's only an eye for an eye.
An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
Do you know the sacrifices people have made?
We'd never get the same commitment again, ever.
The whole of India is on the move!
Yes, but in what direction?
If we obtain our freedom by murder and bloodshed, I want no part of it.
Bapu, you are the father of the nation.
Today, I see no ground in that for anything but shame.
This was one incident.
Tell that to the families of the policemen who died.
Bapu, the whole nation is marching.
They wouldn't stop, even if we asked them to.
I will ask.
And I will fast as a penance for my part in arousing such emotions.
And I will not stop until they stop.
But...
God! You can be sure the British won't censor that.
They'll put it on every street corner.
Gandhiji, people are aroused.
They won't stop!
If I die, perhaps they will stop.
I must get ready for morning prayers.
Mirabehn is here.
I've brought your drinking water.
There's a little lemon juice in it. That's all.
Herman has gone to meet Pandit Nehru.
There was a telegram.
Almost everywhere, it has stopped.
When it is everywhere...
then my prayers will be answered.
Do you find me stubborn?
I don't know.
I know that you are right.
I don't know that this is right.
May I turn you?
When I despair...
I remember that all through history...
the way of truth and love has always won.
There have been tyrants and murderers...
and, for a time, they can seem invincible.
But in the end, they always fall.
Think of it.
Always.
Whenever you are in doubt that that is God's way...
the way the world is meant to be...
think of that...
and then try to do it his way.
And now, could I have another feast of lemon juice?
Panditji!
Jinnah...
Patel...
all of congress has called for the end of noncooperation.
There's not been one demonstration.
All over India, people are praying that you will end the fast.
They're walking in the streets...
offering garlands to the police...
and British soldiers.
Perhaps I have overdone it.
- Good morning, Bapu. - Good morning.
Don't let him go. If he bumps me, I'm done for.
Don't worry, I won't let him go.
I'm sorry, Mr. Gandhi, sir...
but you're under arrest.
On what charge?
Sedition.
You can't be serious.
This man has just stopped a revolution.
That's as may be.
I only know what I am charged to perform.
I don't believe it!
Even the British can't be that stupid.
Help me, please.
Mira, you must look after Ba.
If there is one protest, one riot, a disgrace of any kind...
I will fast again.
Herman.
I have been on many trips.
Monda.
This is just another trip.
I am at your command.
I know we are not ready for my kind of independence.
If I'm sent to jail, perhaps that is the best protest...
our country can make at this time.
And if it helps India, I've never refused His Majesty's hospitality.
Call the prisoner to the bar.
"Noncooperation has one aim:
The overthrow of the government.
Sedition must become our creed.
We must give no quarter...
nor can we expect any."
- Do you deny writing it? - Not at all.
And I will save the court's time...
my lord, by stating under oath that, to this day...
I believe noncooperation with evil is a duty...
and that British rule of India is evil.
The prosecution rests, my lord.
I presume you are conducting your own defense, Mr. Gandhi.
I have no defense, my lord. I am guilty as charged.
And if you truly believe in your system of law...
you must inflict on me the severest penalty possible.
It is impossible for me to ignore that you're in a different category...
from any person I have ever tried...
or am likely to try.
Nevertheless, it is my duty to sentence you...
to six years' imprisonment.
If, however, His Majesty's government should, at some later date...
see fit to reduce the term...
no one will be better pleased than I.
Yes, I'm sure that's exactly what they hoped.
Put him in prison a few years. With luck, he'd be forgotten.
Maybe they could even subdue him.
Well, he certainly wasn't forgotten.
As soon as he got out, he was back tramping the countryside...
preaching nonviolence and demanding a free India.
Everyone knows another showdown's coming.
How does an American journalist in Central America...
learn that Gandhi was born in Porbandar anyway?
I've been aware of him for a long time.
He certainly makes good copy.
The other day, Winston Churchill called him a half-naked Indian fakir.
I met him once.
- What, you mean Gandhi? - Yeah.
South Africa, a long time ago.
I wonder if he'll recognize me.
What was he like?
He had a full head of hair then.
We were like college students, trying to figure everything out.
Well, he must have found some of the answers.
In every worthy wish of yours, I shall be your helpmate.
Helpmate.
Take the fourth step, that we may be ever full of joy.
I will ever live devoted to you...
speaking words of love and praying for your happiness.
Take the fifth step...
the walking around a fire...
that we may serve the people.
I will follow close behind you...
and help to serve the people.
Take the sixth step...
that we may follow our vows in life.
I will follow you in all our vows and duties.
Take the seventh step...
that we may ever live as friends.
You are my best friend...
my highest guru...
and my sovereign lord.
And then I put a sweetened wheat cake in her mouth.
And I put a sweetened wheat cake in his mouth.
And with that, we were pronounced...
man and wife.
We were both 13.
It's beautiful.
Even as a boy... I thought so.
Thank you.
Trying to keep up with you is like chasing a jackrabbit.
You've come because you think something is going to happen.
- Is it? - Perhaps.
I've come here to think about it.
Do you remember much of South Africa?
Oh, yes. A great deal.
I've traveled so far...
and thought so much.
As you can see, my city is a sea city.
Always full of Hindus... Muslims...
Sikhs, Jews, Persians.
My family's sect was the Pranami.
Hindu, of course.
But in our temple, the priest used to read...
from the Muslim Koran...
and the Hindu Gita, moving from one to the other...
as if it mattered not which book was read...
as long as God was worshiped.
When I was a boy...
I used to sing a song in the temple.
A true disciple Knows another's woes
As his own
He bows to all... and despises none.
Like all other boys... I sang the words...
not thinking what they meant or how they might influence me.
I've traveled so far.
And all I've done is come back...
home.
Wait a minute.
- You know what you're gonna do? - It would have been uncivil of me...
to let you make such a long trip for nothing.
- Where are you going? - Come.
- Where are we going? - Back to the ashram.
Then to prove to the new viceroy...
that the king's writ no longer runs in India.
Salt?
Yes, sir. He's going to march to the sea and make salt.
There's a royal monopoly on the manufacture of salt.
It's illegal to make it or sell it without a government license.
All right, he's breaking the law.
What will that deprive us of? Two rupees of salt tax?
It's not a serious attack on the revenue. Its primary importance is symbolic.
- Don't patronize me, Charles. - No, sir, I...
In this climate, nothing lives without water or salt.
Our absolute control of it is a control on the pulse of India.
And that's the basis of this declaration of independence?
The day he sets off...
everyone is supposed to raise the flag of "Free India."
And then he walks some 240 miles to the sea and makes salt.
I say ignore it.
Let them raise their damned flags.
Let him make his salt.
It's only symbolic if we choose to make it so.
He'll arrive at the sea...
on the anniversary of the Massacre of Amritsar.
General Edgar is right. Ignore it.
Mr. Gandhi will find it takes a great deal more...
than a pinch of salt to bring down the British Empire.
You've done me a great service.
Not at all, sir.
It would be uncivil for us to let you make such a long trip for nothing.
We'll go.
Long live Gandhiji! Long live Gandhiji!
Is it over if they arrest you now?
Not if they arrest me...
or 1000 or 10,000.
It's not only generals who know how to plan campaigns.
What if they don't arrest you? What if they don't react at all?
Something for your notebook:
The function of a civil resister is to provoke response.
And we will continue to provoke...
until they respond or they change the law.
They are not in control. We are.
That is the strength of civil resistance.
Vince!
- What did he say? - He said he's in control.
Do you intend to walk all the way?
It's the only way I can get the story.
Besides, my name is Walker.
"My name is Walker."
- My dear Mrs. Nehru! - Bapu.
Man needs salt...
as he needs air and water.
This salt comes from the Indian Ocean.
Let every Indian claim it as his right.
And so, once more, the man of nonviolence...
has challenged the might of the British Empire.
They're making it everywhere, sir. Mobs of them.
Publicly.
Congress leaders are selling it on the streets of Delhi.
We're being made fools of, sir, around the world.
Isn't there any instruction from London?
We're required to stop it. And stop it we will!
I don't care if we fill the jails. Stop it!
Arrest anyone, any rank, except Gandhi.
We'll cut the strength from under him.
And then we'll deal with the Mahatma.
Jump to it! Clear this beach!
Don't hit back! No violence!
There must be 100,000 under arrest. And it still goes on.
- Who's leading them? - I don't know. Nehru, Patel...
most congress officials are in jail. And their wives and children.
We've even arrested Nehru's mother.
Has there been any violence?
In Peshawar, the deputy police commissioner...
lost his head and opened fire with a machine gun.
But he's facing disciplinary court.
You can't expect things like that not to happen.
The question was intended to discover if there was any violence on their side.
No, sir.
I'm afraid not.
Perhaps if we arrested Gandhi, it might...
He's addressed this letter directly to you, has he?
Yes, sir, he has.
The usual thing:
"India's salt belongs to India."
Then he says flatly...
that he will lead a raid tomorrow on the Dharasana Salt Works.
Thank him for his letter...
and put him in jail.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. It'll be my pleasure.
- And Fields? - Sir?
Keep that salt works open.
Yes, sir.
I'm sorry, sir.
My orders are to allow regular staff only through these gates.
Very well.
In his name.
And for his sake, we will not raise a hand.
Long live Mahatma Gandhi!
Long live Gandhiji!
We are ready!
I want firmness and discipline.
- All right, take up your positions. - Yes, sir.
To your mark. Forward!
Last night at midnight...
they took Gandhiji from us.
They expect us to lose heart...
or to fight back.
We will do neither!
On your guard!
No, sir. The gate is closed!
"They walked...
both Hindu and Muslim alike...
with heads held high...
without any hope of escape...
from injury or death.
It went on and on into the night."
Stop.
"Women carried the wounded and broken bodies from the road...
until they dropped from exhaustion."
Stop. "But still, it went on and on." Stop.
"Whatever moral ascendancy the West held...
was lost here today.
India is free...
for she has taken all that steel and cruelty can give...
and she has neither cringed nor retreated." Stop.
I am aware that I must have given you much cause for irritation...
Your Excellency.
I hope it will not stand between us as men.
Mr. Gandhi...
I am instructed to request your attendance...
at an all-government conference in London...
to discuss the possible independence...
of India.
Only recently released from prison...
Mahatma Gandhi leaves Bombay on the SS Rajputana...
to attend the conference on Indian independence...
called by Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.
Mr. Gandhi, the sole Indian Congress Party delegate...
is staying at Kingsley Hall in London's East End...
for the duration of the talks.
He's seen here amongst local cockneys...
who have taken him to their hearts.
Besides attending the conference...
he has found time to meet political and religious leaders...
like Mr. Lloyd George...
the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Bernard Shaw...
and Charlie Chaplin.
He journeyed last week from Kingsley Hall...
to accept an invitation to tea from King George and Queen Mary...
at Buckingham Palace before attending the conference.
And I would emphasize that I think our first duty...
is to recognize that there is not one India...
but several.
A Hindu India...
a Muslim India...
and an India of princely states.
And all these must be respected...
and cared for.
Not just one.
Mr. Gandhi, who has been attending...
the London Round Table Conference on Indian Independence...
journeyed north to visit a cotton mill.
Although not dressed for the Lancashire climate...
Mr. Gandhi received a warm welcome from mill workers...
before heading back south...
for a final meeting with Mr. MacDonald.
The prime minister said the talks were both constructive and frank.
So farewell, Mr. Gandhi.
And bon voyage!
So the truth is, after all your travels...
after all your efforts...
they've stopped the campaign and sent you back empty-handed.
They're only clinging to old dreams...
and trying to split us in the old way.
But the will has gone.
Independence will fall like a ripe apple.
The only question is, when and how.
Well, I say, when is now!
And we will determine how.
Precisely.
Bapu, she is limping again.
It's only a sprain.
Take her to the river. We'll make a mud pack for her.
Go. I won't be a moment.
They are preparing for war.
I will not support it.
But I do not intend to take advantage of their danger.
That's when you take advantage.
That is just another way of hitting back.
We've come a long way together with the British.
When they leave, we want to see them off as friends.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there is something I must attend to.
Mud packs.
Mr. Gandhi, sir.
I've been instructed to inquire as to the subject of your speech tonight.
The value of goat's milk in daily diet.
But you can be sure that I will also speak against war.
Sorry, that can't be permitted.
Corporal!
It's all right, Mrs. Gandhi.
I have orders to return with you and your companion to the ashram.
If you take my husband, I intend to speak in his place.
Hold it a second, will you?
It was the Aga Khan's palace before they turned it into a prison.
They're holding Gandhi and congress politicians there.
Pandit Nehru and the others are up at Ahmednagar Fort.
Not bad for a prison, eh?
I guess no place is good if you're locked in.
Your timing's pretty lucky.
They had him cut off from the press.
But his personal secretary died, so they let up on restrictions.
Yes, I have heard of LIFE magazine.
I've even heard of Margaret Bourke-White.
But I don't know why either should be interested in an old man...
sitting alone in prison...
while the rest of the world is blowing itself to pieces.
Well, you're the only man I know who makes his own clothes.
But for me, that's not much of an accomplishment.
No, prison is rather agreeable to me.
And there is no doubt that after the war...
independence will come.
My only worry...
is what shape it will take.
- Jinnah has... - Stop!
I'm sorry, but... Could you come forward, please?
- Come, come. - Just up to the railing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Now, sorry.
Go on. "What shape it will take..."
Jinnah has what?
Jinnah has cooperated with the British.
It has given him power and the freedom to speak.
And he's filled the Muslims with fears...
of what will happen to them...
in a country that is predominantly Hindu.
And that I find hard to bear...
even in prison.
Mr. Gandhi?
It's hard for me to see this as a solution to the 20th century's problems.
I have friends who keep telling me...
how much it costs them to keep me in poverty.
But I know happiness does not come with things...
even 20th-century things.
It can come from work and pride in what you do.
India lives in her villages...
and the terrible poverty there can only be removed...
if their local skills can be revived.
Poverty is the worst form of violence.
And a constructive program is the only...
nonviolent solution to India's agony.
It will not necessarily be progress for India...
if she simply imports the unhappiness of the West.
Do you really believe you could use nonviolence against Hitler?
Not without defeats and great pain.
But are there no defeats in this war?
No pain?
What you cannot do...
is accept injustice from Hitler or anyone.
You must make the injustice visible.
Be prepared to die like a soldier to do so.
Is this what I'm meant to end up with here?
No.
That's what you get for distracting me.
What do you expect when you talk like that?
I expect you to show as much patience as I am now.
Turn slowly and pull it gently.
And that includes the life of women.
Bapu has always said...
there were two kinds of slavery in India:
One for women, one for the untouchables.
And he has always fought against both.
Does it rankle, being separated in this way?
In Hindu philosophy...
the way to God...
is to free yourself of possessions...
and of passions.
Bapu has always struggled to find the way to God.
Do you mean that he gave up married life?
Four times he tried...
and failed.
But then he took a solemn vow.
And he's never broken it?
Not yet.
- I've got permission to move her. - I'm very sorry, sir.
She's had a massive thrombosis. It's a serious heart attack.
She'll never survive the trip.
It's better if we just keep her here and hope.
It's time for my walk.
I won't be long.
Guard... present arms!
We have come to crown victory with friendship.
To assist at the birth of an independent India...
and to welcome her as an equal member...
in the British Commonwealth of Nations.
In the British Commonwealth of Nations.
I am here to see that I am the last British viceroy...
ever to have the honor of such a reception.
I am not concerned about the independence of India.
I'm concerned about the slavery of Muslims.
Please, Mr. Jinnah.
I won't watch the mastery of the British...
replaced by the mastery of the Hindus.
Muslim and Hindu are the right and left eye of India.
No one will be master, no one slave.
The world is not made of Mahatma Gandhis.
I'm talking about the real world.
- How the... - The real India has...
Muslims and Hindus in every village and every city.
How will you separate them?
Where there is a Muslim majority...
that will be Pakistan.
The rest is your India.
My dear Jinnah...
the Muslims are in a majority on two different sides of the country.
The Muslims are in a majority on two different sides of the country.
Let us worry about Pakistan. You worry about India.
Gentlemen...
I think perhaps we should recommence.
Death to Jinnah! Death to Jinnah!
Thank God, they've stopped.
Manu. Abha.
I'm your granduncle...
but I can still walk either of you into the ground.
I don't need to be pampered in this way.
Finish your quota of spinning.
Bapu. Bapu.
Bapu, please don't do it.
What do you want me not to do?
Not to meet with Mr. Jinnah?
I am a Muslim...
and a Hindu...
and a Christian and a Jew.
And so are all of you.
When you wave those flags and shout...
you send fear into the hearts of your brothers.
That is not the India I want.
Stop it!
For God's sake, stop it.
If you've finished your prayers...
perhaps we could begin our business.
My dear Jinnah...
you and I are brothers...
born of the same mother India. If you have fears...
I want to put them at rest.
Begging the understanding of my friends...
I am asking Panditji to stand down.
I want you to be the first prime minister of India...
to name your entire cabinet...
to make the head of every government department a Muslim.
Bapu.
For me and the rest...
if that is what you want...
we will accept it.
But out there...
already there is rioting...
because Hindus fear you are going to give too much away.
If you did this...
no one would control it.
No one.
It is your choice.
Do you want an independent India and an independent Pakistan...
or do you want civil war?
Jinnah! Jinnah! Jinnah!
What you did in Noakhali, Bapu, was a miracle.
Miracle.
But millions are on the move...
and no one can count the dead.
In Calcutta, it's like civil war.
The Muslims rose and there was a bloodbath.
Now the Hindus are taking revenge.
If we can't stop it...
there'll be no hope for the Hindus left in Pakistan.
An eye for an eye, making the whole world blind.
Aren't there any troops to spare?
Nothing.
The divisions in Bombay and Delhi can hardly keep the peace now.
And each fresh bit of news creates another wave of madness.
We could cut all news off.
Bapu, please, where are you going?
I don't want to hear more.
We need your help.
There is nothing I can give.
Where are you going?
Calcutta.
If I had shunned death or feared it, I would not be here now...
nor would you be concerned for me.
But, sir, please.
I don't have the men to protect you...
not in a Muslim house, not this quarter.
I'm staying with the friend of a friend and...
Death to Muslims! Death to Muslims!
Why are you staying at the home of a Muslim?
They are murderers!
They killed my family!
Get out of Calcutta, Gandhi!
Death to Muslims! Death to Muslims!
Prime Minister.
Why must I read news like this in the paper?
Inform Sardar Patel. Arrange a plane.
We will go Friday.
Four days, sir?
Bapu.
Sardar, you have gained weight.
You must join me in the fast.
If I fast, I die.
If you fast, people go to all sorts of trouble...
to keep you alive.
Bapu, forgive me, I've cheated.
I could have come earlier...
but your fast has helped.
These last days, people's minds have begun to turn to this bed...
and away from the atrocities.
But now... it is enough.
All that has happened is that I've grown a little thinner.
Tomorrow, 5000 Muslim students...
of all ages...
are marching here, in Calcutta, for peace.
And 5000 Hindu students are marching with them.
I'm glad.
But it will not be enough.
Bapu, you are not so young anymore.
Don't worry for me.
I cannot watch the destruction of all that I've lived for.
Death to Gandhi!
Who dares say such things?
Who?
You kill me first!
Come!
Where are you?
Kill me first!
Where are you?
His pulse is very irregular. The kidneys aren't functioning.
Bapu?
I have brought Mr. Suhrawardy.
It was he who called on the Muslims to rise.
He is now telling them...
to go back to their homes...
to lay down their arms.
Think what you can do by living...
that you cannot do by dying.
What do you want?
That the fighting will stop.
That you make me believe...
that it will never start again.
Sometimes...
it is when you are quite without hope...
and in utter darkness...
that God comes to the rescue.
Gandhiji...
is dying...
because of our madness.
Put away your revenge.
What good will come of more killing?
Have the courage to do...
what you know is right.
For God's sake...
let us embrace like brothers.
It's our promise.
We stop.
Hindu swords.
It's a promise.
Go.
God be with you.
Here, eat!
Eat!
I'm going to hell...
but not with your death on my soul.
Only God decides who goes to hell.
I killed a child.
I smashed his head against a wall.
Why?
They killed my son.
My boy.
The Muslims killed my son!
I know a way out of hell.
Find a child.
A child whose mother and father have been killed.
A little boy about this high...
and raise him as your own.
Only be sure that he is a Muslim...
and that you raise him as one.
Go.
God bless you.
Bapu?
There's been no fighting...
anywhere.
It's stopped.
The madness has stopped.
It's foolish...
if it's just to save the life of an old man.
No. In every temple and mosque...
they have pledged to die...
before they lift a hand against each other.
It is true, Bapu.
Everywhere.
Maulana, my friend...
could I have some orange juice?
Then you and I...
will take a piece of bread together.
He will be saying prayers in the garden.
That is how you eat muli.
I'm not sure that I want to be remembered that way.
Don't worry. With luck, you may not be.
No, he will be remembered for tempting fate.
Mickey Mouse!
You're really going to Pakistan?
You are a stubborn man.
I'm simply going to prove...
to Hindus here and Muslims there...
that the only devils in the world are those...
running around in our own hearts.
And that is where all our battles ought to be fought.
Bapu.
So, what kind of warrior have you been in that warfare?
Not a very good one.
That's why I have so much tolerance...
for the other scoundrels of the world.
Sardar?
Ask Panditji to consider what we've discussed.
- Enough! - One more.
- You're a temptress! - Just an admirer.
Nothing's more dangerous...
especially for an old man.
There's a sadness about him.
He thinks he's failed.
Why?
If anything's proven him right, it's these last months.
I may be blinded by my love for him...
but I believe...
when we most needed it...
he offered the world a way out of madness.
But he doesn't see it.
Neither does the world.
Brother, Bapu is already late for prayers.
Oh, God!
Oh, God.
When I despair...
I remember...
that all through history...
the way of truth and love has always won.
There have been tyrants and murderers...
and for a time, they can seem invincible...
but in the end, they always fall.
Think of it.