Harijan Poona — Saturday February 4 1939

The Ultimatum to the Viceroy the withdrawal of it within a week ; then the plunge into the Slough of Despond ; difficult unexciting fruitless-looking ( to them ) toil at the constructive programme ; then again the flinging of a small challenge to the powers that be the storm and oppressive heat of suffering followed by a rich harvest which was scarcely reaped before a fiercer and long-drawn-ou [...] I am sorry the Resident resents my intervetion and the influence of the Congress in shaing the policy and programme of the people of Rajkot. [...] The Congress adopted the policy of non-intervention in the sense of direct participation in the matters affecting questions arising between the people and the Princes. [...] What then is the duty of the Congress when the people of Rajkot have to face not the Ruler and his tiny police but the disciplined hordes of the British Empire ? The first and natural step is for the Congress ministry to make themselves responsible for the safety and honour of the people of Rajkot. [...] In my opinion it is the duty of the Viceroy to ask the Resident in Rajkot to restore the pact and to ask the British Prime Minister of Jaipur to lift the bans.