I regarded this event as the advent of satyagraha in India. For during my interview with the Bombay Government the Secretary had expressed his disapproval of a reference to satyagraha in a speech which I had delivered in Bagasra (in Kathiawad).
“Is not this a threat?” he had asked. “And do you think a powerful Government will yield to threats?”
“This was no threat,” I had replied. “It was educating the people. It is my duty to place before the people all the legitimate remedies for grievances. A nation that wants to come into its own ought to know all the ways and means to freedom. Usually they include violence as the last remedy. Satyagraha, on the other hand, is an absolutely nonviolent weapon. I regard it as my duty to explain its practice and its limitations. I have no doubt that the British Government is a powerful Government, but I have no doubt also that satyagraha is a sovereign remedy.”
The clever Secretary sceptically nodded his head and said: “We shall see.”