The Event (5/6)
March 15, 2023
The previous installments can be read here: part one, part two, part three, part four
On Friday, March 15, 1918, Mohandas Gandhi looked out at the crowd of striking workers gathered to hear him speak, knowing that the men were losing faith. The leaflet that day reminded the workers that this wasn’t “merely for a 35% increase…. We are fighting to uphold our honor.” Yet Gandhi could see that many were ready to fold, ready to go back to work in the textile mills for poverty wages. He knew he would have to do something dramatic.
“I cannot tolerate it for a minute that you break your pledge,” he announced. “I shall not take any food, nor use a car til you get [the] 35% increase or all of you die fighting for it.” What a commitment he was making to them! If necessary, he would dedicate the rest of his life to their cause.
The pronouncement shocked the crowd. Some wept, others announced they would fast as well. Gandhi dissuaded them. This was his business. “You took an oath relying on my advice. In this age the oath has lost its value. Men break their oath at any time and for any reason and I am grieved to have been instrumental in thus lowering the value of an oath.”
This was the first, and most spontaneous, of Gandhi’s public fasts. Biographer Erik Erikson wrote extensively about what he called the Event in Gandhi’s Truth: On the Origins of Militant Nonviolence. He describes the reaction of Gandhi’s countrymen to later events: “All of India would hold its breath while the Mahatma fasted, and whole cities would leave their lamps unlit in the evening in order to be near him in the dark.”
On March 15, 1918, however, he wasn’t interested in influencing the national discussion. His goal was to keep the union together, and improve the quality of life for all of its members. After three days, he succeeded.
For those completing the February-March Gandhi challenge, today’s fast brings it to a close. (Except for those doing the 3-day fast through the 18th.) I failed my walking challenge this month, about 10 miles short of my goal, although the rest went well.
The next challenge starts April 1, with posts covering the end of the Salt March, the first national day of fasting, MLK’s assassination, and more. For those ready to commit to a month of sobriety from intoxicants and a two 24-hour fasts, you can sign up at this link, and learn more about the month’s optional challenges, like the 6th annual fast against gun violence.
Today’s discussion question: Can indefinite fasts — hunger strikes — be justified?