God be thanked for what may be termed the happy ending of the first stage in this, for me at least, the final struggle for freedom. I cannot withhold my compliments from the Government for the policy of complete non- interference adopted by them throughout the march. After the graceless and childish performance in the matter of Mr. Vallabhbhai's arrest and imprisonment and equally unprovoked arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Sen Gupta, I was wholly unprepared for this exemplary non-interference. I am not so foolish as to imagine that the Government has suddenly lost their proved capacity for provoking popular resentment and then punishing it with frightfulness. I wish I could believe this non-interference was due to any real change of heart or policy. The wanton disregard shown by them to popular feeling in the Legislative Assembly and their high-handed action leave no room for doubt that the policy of heartless exploitation of India is to be persisted in at any cost, and so the only interpretation I can put upon this non-interference is that the British Government, powerful though it is, is sensitive to world opinion which will not tolerate repression of extreme political agitation which civil disobedience undoubtedly is, so long as disobedience remains civil and, therefore, necessarily non-violent.
It remains to be seen whether the Government will tolerate, as they have tolerated the march, the actual breach of the salt laws by countless people from tomorrow. I expect extensive popular response to the resolution of the Working Committee. I have seen nothing to warrant the cancellation of the notice I have already issued, that all committees and organizations throughout the length and breadth of the land are free, if they are prepared, to commence from tomorrow civil disobedience in respect of the salt laws.God willing,I expect with my companions (volunteers)to commence actual civil disobedience at 6.30 tomorrow morning. 6th April has been to us, since its culmination in Jallianwala massacre, a day for penance and purification. We, therefore, commence it with prayer and fasting. I hope the whole of India will observe the National Week commencing from tomorrow in the spirit in which it was conceived. I am positive that the greater the dedication to the country's cause and the greater the purification, the speedier will be the glorious end for which millions of India consciously or unconsciously are striving.
