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25

Passive Resistance

All wings of the nationalist party were now united; and educated Islam joined hands with them on the Congress platform. Never did the prospects of effective and united work seem more hopeful. But the ancient divisions and methods of action which have their roots in temperament and human nature, and even in personal ambitions, were not to be effaced in a day; and they were soon apparent in the work of the Congress. Mrs. Besant, who had hitherto identified herself with the work of the Theosophical Society and the Hindu Educational movement, joined the Congress held in Madras in 1914. Her eloquence, her forceful personality, her indefatigable industry, and her power of organization, soon made themselves felt. She had a considerable hand in bringing about the union of the different wings of the Nationalist party. She travelled from one part of India to the other, held personal interviews with the different Indian leaders and was in close correspondence with some of them.

When the Congress met in Bombay in 1915, she called a meeting to consider the question of the formation of a Home Rule League. It was to be an organization to carry on propaganda work in connexion with the question of Home Rule or Self-Government. I presided at the meetings of this conference. The general feeling at the time was that such an organization would serve to overlap and perhaps weaken the Congress. The Home Rule League was not then formed. The idea, however, was not given up by Mrs. Besant, and the League was subsequently organized.

I have no desire to re-awaken the memories of events which are now well-nigh forgotten, but I must say that the League served to create the first division in the Congress camp after the reunion. I did not join it, nor did many of the ex-Presidents of the Congress. I incurred some unpopularity. But unpopularity is an inconstant factor in public life, and I was not afraid to run the risk of facing