The Finished Fast
Mr. Gandhi on Wednesday completed his twenty-one days fast and seems safe to survive the ordeal, though till his strength is built up again some danger must remain. The situation now reverts to normal. It has indeed never been so abnormal as critics of the Government of India both in India and in this country would have liked to make it, apart from the special relaxations accorded to the Mahatma for the period of the fast. What has been accom- plished by Mr. Gandhi depends on what Mr. Gandhi purposed. If he fasted as a semi-religious exercise which he felt to be forced on him his end has presumably been achieved. If his aim is to secure his unconditional release it has not been achieved. An instructive commentary on the episode is the statement that the end of the fast was to be celebrated by the attendance of "five American special correspondents, three British, two news- reel men, two photographers and twelve Indian journalists," a project which the Bombay Government has very promptly and very properly squashed. Mr. Gandhi was and still is a detenu, and the indulgences granted him during his fast do not include facilities for publicising the penance. As for the political position, it remains what it has been ever since the Congress Party rejected the Cripps offer ; as soon as Indians can agree among themselves on a constitution for an independent India they can have an independent India, and if the good offices of the Goverment of India or the British Government will smooth the way to Indian agreement those offices are available. The only matter for regret in connexion with the fast is that it has caused the resignation of three Hindu members of the Viceroy's Council.
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