IX. A TUSSLE WITH
POWER
To turn now to the Asiatic Department.
Johannesburg was the stronghold of the Asiatic
officers. I had been observing that, far from protecting
the Indians, Chinese and others, these officers were
grinding them down. Every day I had complaints like this:
'The rightful ones are not admitted, whilst those who
have no right are smuggled in on payment of 100. If you
will not remedy this state of things, who will?' I shared
the feeling. If I did not succeed in stamping out this
evil, I should be living in the Transvaal in vain.
So I began to collect evidence, and as soon as I had
gathered a fair Amount, I approached the Police
Commissioner. He appeared to be a just man. Far from
giving me the cold shoulder, he listened to me patiently
and asked me to show him all the evidence in my
possession. He examined the witnesses himself and was
satisfied, but he knew as well as I that it was difficult
in South Africa to get a white jury to convict a white
offender against coloured men. 'But,' said he, 'let us
try at any rate. It is not proper either, to let such
criminals go scot-free for fear of the jury acquitting
them, I must get them arrested. I assure you I shall
leave no stone unturned.'
I did not need the assurance. I suspected quite a
number of officers, but as I had no unchallengeable
evidence against them all, warrants of arrest were issued
against the two about whose guilt I had not the slightest
doubt.
My movements could never be kept secret. Many knew
that I was going to the Police Commissioner practically
daily. The two officers against whom warrants had been
issued had spies more or less efficient. They used to
patrol my office and report my movements to the officers.
I must admit, however, that these officers were so bad
that they could not have had many spies. Had the Indians
and the Chinese not helped me, they would never have been
arrested.
One of these absconded. The Police Commissioner
obtained an extradition warrant against him and got him
arrested and brought to the Transvaal. They were tried,
and although there was strong evidence against them, and
in spite of the fact that the jury had evidence of one of
them having absconded, both were declared to be not
guilty and acquitted.
I was sorely disappointed. The Police Commissioner
also was very sorry. I got disgusted with the legal
profession. The very intellect became an abomination to
me inasmuch as it could be prostituted for screening
crime.
However, the guilt of both these officers was so
patent that in spite of their acquittal the Government
could not harbour them. Both were cashiered, and the
Asiatic department became comparatively clean, and the
Indian community was somewhat reassured.
The event enhanced my prestige and brought me more
business. The bulk, though not all, of the hundreds of
pounds that the community was monthly squandering in
peculation, was saved. All could not be saved, for the
dishonest still plied their trade. But it was now
possible for the honest man to preserve his honesty.
I must say that, though these officers were so bad, I
had nothing against them personally. They were aware of
this themselves, and when in their straits they
approached me, I helped them too. They had a chance of
getting employed by the Johannesburg Municipality in case
I did not oppose the proposal. A friend of theirs saw me
in this connection and I agreed not to thwart them, and
they succeeded.
This attitude of mine put the officials with whom I
came in contact perfectly at ease, and though I had often
to fight with their department and use strong language,
they remained quite friendly with me. I was not then
quite conscious that such behaviour was part of my
nature. I learnt later that it was an essential part of
Satyagraha, and an attribute of ahimsa.
Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a
good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed
disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or
wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may
be. 'Hate the sin and not the sinner' is a precept which,
though easy enough to understand, is rarely practised,
and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the
world.
This ahimsa is the basis of the search for
truth. I am realizing every day that the search is vain
unless it is founded on ahimsa as the basis. It
is quite proper to resist and attack a system, but to
resist and attack its author is tantamount to resisting
and attacking oneself. For we are all tarred with the
same brush, and are children of one and the same Creator,
and as such the divine powers within us are infinite. To
slight a single human being is to slight those divine
powers, and thus to harm not only that being but with him
the whole world.
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