THE ARMED REVOLUTION FOR FREEDOM ... 6
Gandhiji was fond of fasting to secure his political ends. But even in this the revolutionaries turned his Gurus as Jatin Das and his Lahore Jail inmates taught him a lesson or two how to be true to a fast unto death and not merely declare grand endpoints in self-inflicted starvation which could be conveniently observed when the chances of achieving the ends were high and the risk of death rather low.
Before Partition Gandhiji fasted to stop communal riots but did not dare to observe a 'fast unto death' to stop Partition itself for he knew that in the bargain his life would be lost but the nation would still be dismembered. Had he observed such a fast then and died to prevent Partition, I would have ranked him beside the great Jatin Das who stands head and shoulders above 'the master of broken fasts' and gave up his life by truly fasting unto death as opposed to putting up a pretence of it. Jatin Das of India, like Bobby Sands of Northern Ireland, fasted for 63 days before dying. Bobby Sands 'gave up the ghost' after 69 days. Gandhiji broke his 'fast unto death' ever and recovered to begin it soon on another pretext. His was a 'fast unto breaking it' forever.
Vande Mataram !
Written by Sugata Bose
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