A fast for friendship
November 22, 2024
On November 22, 1921, Gandhi ended his fast for friendship, having persuaded the Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Christian, and Jewish communities of Mumbai to stop fighting. (In 2021, I wrote a 27-part Twitter thread packed with images.)
The trouble began November 17 when the Prince of Wales arrived in India for a four-month tour of the country he would someday rule (briefly) as King Edward VIII. This was about 15 months after Gandhi launched his “Swaraj in a year!” campaign; the tour suggested the British planned to stay in India for a while. Besides calling for a boycott of the Prince’s visit, Gandhi organized a big, nonviolent bonfire of foreign cloth.
However, mobs began to form that afternoon, harassing Europeans and swiping foreign head-gear. Things escalated; passersby were beaten, stores were ransacked, trams were torched, women were raped. The police summoned the army to disperse the crowd with gunfire, causing more death and injury. (In another part of town, Gandhi’s personal appeal was able to break up the crowd.)
On the 18th, with the city still agitated, the mills decided to close down at 10am. This dumped thousands of workers into the street, overwhelming public transportation. Mobs formed again, Hindus and Muslims clashed with Parsis. In the evening, they started setting fires, burning a police station and some liquor stores. These were often owned by Parsis because, unlike Hindus and Muslims, their religion did not prohibit alcohol. One owner calculated the risk and poured his entire stock into the gutter; his shop was spared.
In the early hours of November 19, Gandhi began a fast. A leaflet was distributed explaing he would only take water until “the Hindus and [Muslims] of [Mumbai] have made peace with the Parsis, the Christians and the Jews.”1 While this was technically an indefinite fast, I don’t think anyone expected it to go on long enough as to put his health at risk.
What was at risk was his belief that the people understood nonviolence. Gandhi wrote an appeal to the hooligans, chiding them for not understanding “the political wisdom of nonviolence,” even if they didn’t grasp “the moral necessity of it.”2 On the 21st, leaders from the Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Christian and Jewish communities signed a public appeal for friendship and brotherhood. Things continued to calm down, but Gandhi declined to break his fast, waiting to see if the city remained quiet overnight.
It did, and on the morning of the 22nd, an eclectic group gathered to share some fruit. Gandhi was pleased, and hoped it would be “a sign of our permanent friendship.”3
Is there a consumer item that you’d burn, to show you’d changed your ways?
Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (Appeal to Bombay citizens, November 19, 1921) p. 12,022
CWMG (An appeal to the Mavalis, November 20, 1921) p. 12,024
CWMG (Statement before breaking fast, November 21, 1921*) p. 12,032 *This date is an error.