persuaded by them that the movement was a splendid manifestation of religious faith, as he himself described it to me.  For, once satisfied that the cause which they had taken up was a religious cause, he was prepared to make it his own without inquiring too closely into its historical or political justification.  For him it became a revolt of the Mahomedan religious conscience against the tyranny of the West just as legitimate as the revolt of the Hindu conscience against the same tyranny embodied in the Rowlatt Acts.  Whilst Mahomedans proved their emancipation from narrow sectarianism by joining in the Satyagraha movement of passive resistance in spite of the Hindu character impressed upon it by its Sanscrit name, it was, he declared, for Hindus to show that they, too, could rise above ancient prejudice and resentment by throwing themselves heart and soul into the Khilafat movement.  Both movements were to be demonstrations of the “soul-force” of India, to be put forth in passive resistance according to his favourite doctrine of Ahimsa, the endurance and not the infliction of suffering.

But Mr. Gandhi, with all his visionary idealism, was letting loose dangerous forces which recked naught of Ahimsa.  Hindus and Mahomedans “fraternised” at the Delhi Hartal in attempts to compel its observance by violence which obliged the authorities to use forcible methods of repression, and of the five rioters who were killed two were Mahomedans.  These deaths were skilfully exploited by the Extremists of both denominations, and a day of general mourning for the Delhi “martyrs” was appointed.  The spark had been laid to the train, and Hindus and Mahomedans continued to “fraternise” in lawlessness, arson, and murder wherever the mob ran riot.  Systematic attempts to destroy railways and telegraphs at the same moment in widely separated areas pointed to the existence of a carefully elaborated organisation.  Public buildings as well as European houses were burnt down in half a dozen places, and Europeans were often savagely attacked and done to death, nowhere more savagely than at Amritsar, where five Europeans, two of them Bank managers, were killed with the most fiendish brutality, and a missionary lady, known for her good works, barely escaped with her life.  The authorities were not slow to take stern measures.  Troops were rapidly moved to the centres of disturbance, flying columns were sent through the country, and armoured cars and trains and aeroplanes were used to disperse the rioters.  A Resolution issued by the Government of India on April 14 asserted its determination to use all the powers vested in it to put down “open rebellion” even by the most drastic means.  By the end of the month the Viceroy was able to announce that order had been generally restored, though in some places there was still considerable effervescence.