Collective Sanitation as Practiced by Mahatma Gandhi

A picture taken in 1930, shows a man believed to be Mahatma Gandhi with broom

Collective cleanliness 

 As I grew up in the Sewagram Ashram founded by Gandhiji in 1936, the picture that is etched in my mind is of our joyous participation in the collective cleaning drive in the Ashram. Oh , what joy it was for us children to walk with our own jhadu (broom), tokri (basket) and a little khurpi (shovel) and  phawada (spade) and  march out in  teams to our allocated area for taking part in systematic community sanitation for three quarters of an hour each morning under the leadership of our elders. The time that we spent in cleaning the surroundings, especially the toilets, are one of the happiest memories of my life. Everything became so clean and the night soil was composted into pits that turned magically into Sone khaad, used as manure in the farms.  The habit of cleaning the toilets has continued even today and it is with great pride that my family gets involved in this task.

 For centuries, perhaps from the feudal ages or even earlier sanitation is considered to be a mean activity in India. The job used to be done by the members of a particular caste of people who were treated differently. Although every mother does the cleaning of the children and women sweep the household, cleaning of streets and latrines were left to the so called untouchables.

Even as a child, Gandhiji could not accept the idea of untouchability. When Dedhabhai came to clean the toilets in the Gandhi household in Probandar, his mother Putli Bai forbade Mohan, or Moniya as she used to call him from playing with him. It was unbearable to Mohan who for once could not comply with his mother’s orders.  Dedhabhai and Mohan became friends. Many years later, he told Dr. Ambedkar that he was wedded to untouchability much before he was wedded to Kasturba. His tireless campaign against untouchability had undoubtedly shaken the very foundation the system. However, untouchability was not eradicated from the country. Even today untouchability is present despite Gandhiji’s campaign and Dr. Ambedkar’s constitution and laws.

Phoenix Settlement

Gandhiji began cleaning the toilets in South Africa as well. Ever since he established a community in Phoenix, he made cleaning of the campus a common activity for everyone. Cleaning of the toilets, which was considered to be the dirtiest of jobs was voluntarily taken up by Gandhiji himself until it became a natural part of the whole process of sanitation. 

In Sewagram too, the collective sanitation became a fine art and developed into a scientific activity, when most of the members joined the activity and some of them became leaders in planning and organizing the activity for the whole community. Everyone, from Gandhiji to the little ones in the Ashram used to carry the basket on their heads!

Experiments with different types of latrines were also conducted in the Ashram to make the cleansing process free of offensive smell and to use night soil for fertilizing the farms. It developed into a process that made it both hygienic and economically productive.  But perhaps the most important dimension of the process was the social one. A task that was abhorred by the higher caste Hindus was turned into a daily ritual by Gandhiji in his Ashram.  One of Gandhiji’s methods of introducing his Ashram life to newcomers was to allot the task of cleaning the toilets. It was both a test of their willingness to change their lifestyle and an act of initiation in the Ashram way of living. 

Once Srimanarayan, a young educated youth from London School of Economics had come to seek an audience with Gandhiji in the Sewagram Ashram. He had come with big dreams of changing the Nation; eagerly awaiting his turn to tell his ideas to Gandhiji. On the appointed day of his meeting, even before he could utter a word, Gandhiji with a smiling face and soft voice instructed him to join the collective sanitation for which he was ready to leave. My mentor, Narayanbhai Desai was a teenager at that time and was responsible to perform the role of the senior partner to the beginners. He told me that it was most interesting for him to see the novice passing through almost a mental crisis in the earlier stages. His task was to present them the process in as pleasant a way as he could! 

The process

The sanitation duties would rotate from time to time giving the Ashramites experience in various processes and preventing them from being bored. Preparing some of the implements such as brooms and preparing compost-pits were also part of the community sanitation activity. Community sanitation was Gandhiji’s revolutionary method of social change, being a constructive revolt against untouchability. When Gandhiji turned his steps towards the villages, the prosperous Indians could hardly imagine what kind of villages captured Bapu’s attention.  From the beginning of his stay in Maganwadi, Bapu had begun going to the adjoining village to clean the faces from the streets and yards, where people normally relieved themselves. This was no jungle hamlet far from the railway track, but a village right by the city of Wardha reminisces Narainbhai Desai.

This work had two purposes. One was to encourage the villagers to adopt better habits of sanitation and the second was to show that proper Hindus could undertake such work. The job of ‘sweeper’ was assigned to an outcaste community, to fulfill this function.  But teaching such lessons to the villagers was no easy task as we are seeing even in today’s times. For months on end the villagers looked on Gandhiji, Mahadevbhai and their companions as ordinary sweepers.  Only, these were better, because they took no money for their work!  

‘Go over there. It is dirtier on that side.’ So said one who had just eased himself, pointing to the spot he had soiled. In the Sabarmati Ashram it was dumping the buckets of ‘night soil’ into compost pits, and to scrub the buckets with coconut-leaf brooms. But here things were different.  When my father questioned him about what good was this work, as it doesn’t affect people. To that Gandhiji said,’ the bane of untouchability is no ordinary blemish on our society. We will have to perform a prolonged penance to remove it.’ Gandhiji was so enthusiastic about sanitation and a stickler for cleanliness that he maintained that if he had his way he would be out there sweeping those roads himself. Not only that, he would plant flowers there and water them daily. Where there was dung of heaps today, he would make gardens. ‘Sweeping is an art in itself, he said. 

Village sanitation program

Health, sanitation and beauty were apparent outcomes of village sanitation programme; Gandhiji wanted to tackle the question of the biological resource of natural fertilizers and disposal of human and animal waste. Perhaps his fastidious habits of personal hygiene were inherited from his mother Putlibai, who was particular about religious observances.

Perhaps it is also the time we learn from the Japanese people, how to keep the surrounding and the neighborhood clean. During my recent trip to Tokyo and Kyoto in October 2104, I chanced upon group of elderly in uniforms, brooms and cleaning materials, who were keeping the sub ways, hotels, rooms, roads and all the public places spic and span, like only the Japanese can. Their dedication, commitment and diligence is something to learn from.  From their childhood, Japanese children are taught to clean. Called o-soji, this is a part of their education.

Even the Japanese audience of the recent World Cup matches in football demonstrated to the world how much they value cleanliness. Though their team lost, after the match was over, all of them rose as one and cleaned the stadium as though to do their natural duty of maintaining cleanliness and order all around.  Can we learn from them?  After all, it was just 66 years ago that our Father of the Nation demonstrated to us that cleanliness is next to Godliness.  

Mahatma Gandhi- the Servant Leader

Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 as the leader of successful movements; by now he was acquainted with many important leaders of the Congress. He was invited by them to participate in the meetings of the Congress and was given due respect by the leaders. Clad in the garb of a peasant, Gandhi saw himself as an ordinary worker of the Congress. He was firm in his principles, code of ethics and views but remained extremely polite and courteous. He looked upon the leaders of the previous generation with great respect.

Gopalkrishna Gokhale, whom Mahatma Gandhi considered his political guru, had given Gandhi a valuable advice, ‘Keep your eyes wide open; your ears too, but do not speak in public.’ It was to first understand India. Gokhale ji had given another piece of advice, which was to, if possible, try and spiritualize the politics. When Mahatma Gandhi was busy in South Africa, Gokhale ji had said in the public meeting that a ‘person like Gandhi has not been born in our country in the last 1000 years and he is not sure when in the future another would come like him’. 

On his return to India, Mahatma Gandhi decided that to understand India; he would travel only by train in third class to know the people of this country, to understand the core of their faith, of what they believe in. After a year, he had fully understood the plight of the millions in India. He saw that the real India lives in the villages; the great masses of India remained unconcerned even about political independence. They were cut off from the leaders and their promise of swaraj.  The Amritsar Congress of 1919 was the first Congress where Mahatma Gandhi’s views acquired significance. In the following one year his involvement with the Congress acquired a different character.

He came, he won and he conquered. This is what people thought in India as Mahatma Gandhi emerged as the leader during the Congress session in 1919. By the time the Congress met for its annual session in 1920 at Nagpur, he was amongst the leading figures of the Congress. The Congress acquired a truly national character with the non-cooperation movement. After fifteen years, the Congress decided to give up the policy of adopting resolution, drafting petitions, holding special sessions and advocated a strategy of direct action. This signaled the basic change in the role of the Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was clear about the methods to be adopted for the programs for Nation building focusing on constructive activities and that’s what his advised the Indian National Congress in 1934 to pursue.

Mahatma Gandhi created standards for all of us for bringing about transformative change in any collective endeavor.  The eminent Gandhian, Narayan Desai writes in his book My Life is my Message, that Gandhi’s revolution was two sided. On the one hand he was trying to convince the Congress to adopt a program of non-cooperation and on the other hand; he was hoping to build the nation through simple but concrete programs. For both these, the methods were based on truth, non-violence and purity of means. His clarity on the efficacy of his methods was unusual and novel for the country at that time. The Congress, its organizations and the many associations for constructive work became his vehicle.

The greatest achievement of non-cooperation, civil disobedience and quit India movements and programs was that it created a large group of dedicated men and women, professionals, lawyers, teachers, and political leaders who were willing to sacrifice their all for the country.  It was required of them not to cooperate with the unjust or injustice. Gandhi had realized that untruth, injustice, oppression and tyranny last only so long as their victim accepts them. The moment on learns to say NO to injustice, their edifice collapses immediately. This was true for the political, the economic and the social order. He said,’ I believe that it is possible to introduce uncompromising truth and honesty in the political life of the country…’

And how did Mahatma Gandhi bring spiritualization in politics? The path he took was especially suited for him. As he knew that the means were in his hands, but ‘the end was in the hands of God’.  ‘I will first examine the means and only then will I adopt them’, he had said. There were ways through which he attempted to give politics a spiritual color.  The first was his insistence on ‘purity of means’ that he adopted; and the means were of Non-violence and truth.  The second may have been that ‘Service to Mankind is Service to God’ which has come down to us through Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda. It is through these that the spiritualization of politics was achieved and he undertook his constructive programs.

Mahatma Gandhi’s upmost desire was to restore the dignity of the poorest of the poor. This he understood was only possible through selfless service. He had said ‘Service which is rendered without joy help neither the servant, nor the served, but all other pleasure and possessions pale into nothingness but before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.’

He felt in communion with himself in the midst of the poor and unhappy. Their joys and sorrows became his. The ills that plagued them perturbed them deeply, while their goodness made his heart dance with joy. He felt oneness with the people and according to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru there was no one who knew the pulse of the people better than Mahatma Gandhi.

In fact, one can trace the motive for working for a cause larger than his own personal desires or needs, continuing from his childhood, through his youthful days to the end of his life. He was involved in politics for the same reason. His life was a ceaseless quest for Truth and the incessant desire to measure him on the scales of truth. Mahatma Gandhi’s definition of truth is very simple, speak as you think and act as you speak. There should be unity of thought, word and deed. He was a leader who did what he said. There was no difference between what he did and what he said.  The leadership quality that one sees clearly, is that he was one leader who kept the Nation above himself and his organization.

At that time, communication media was in its infancy. The best way to communicate with the masses still remained through the word of mouth. Though people were illiterate, India had attentive ears. It could hear the soft, soothing voice of Mahatma Gandhi, who spoke in a language that they understood clearly, straight from his hearts.  He was one who lived amongst them, in an ashram, dressed just like them. Indians, though respected the bejeweled rich Maharajas and Nawabs, accepted Mahatma Gandhi as their own and gave him their hearts. 

The main impetus behind Mahatma Gandhi’s attempt at forging unity in the country was religious, that is, moral and spiritual motivation. He would not have entered the political realm without the spiritual motivation. Spirituality, bound the leader and the masses together in an invincible thread of love and respect as the servant leader marched forth leading the nation for fifteen years through the Indian National Congress. Mahatma Gandhi employed symbols and allegories that would immediately speak to the audience; while speaking to the large groups his language was replete with cultural references. If educated persons asked about his views he used language familiar to such a person.

In the book Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership, P.A. Nazareth mentions that by empathizing with the masses, praying, working and living with them, selecting simple issues like cotton and salt which they understood Gandhi managed to enthuse and inspire them, convince them that truth, non-violence and purity of means were effective weapons for India’s political, social and economic emancipation, that a mere 100,000 Englishmen in India could not rule its 350 million people if the latter refused their cooperation and were willing to suffer the consequences, that all Indian, men and women, rich and poor, high caste, low caste and untouchables had a vital role to play in the liberation of India. Concurrently he also managed to train, plan, fund raise, finance, lead and effectively control vast group of people with desperate interests and backgrounds. Millions responded to his call; they spun cotton, they burnt foreign cloth, they submitted to beatings and imprisonment and refrained from violence.   

Through the leadership qualities like service, self- sacrificial love, spirituality, integrity, simplicity, emphasizing follower needs, and modeling Mahatma Gandhi cultivated public opinion that truth and non-violence were integral to the life of the country. Transparency was seen in all his actions throughout his life. There was no difference between his personal life and public conduct. He uttered what he thought and acted according to what he uttered. And how did he do this? By cultivating the courage of conviction, by being steadfast to his no-comprise zone, by insisting on purity of means of adhering to truth and non-violence in every sphere. For Mahatma Gandhi, the laudable ends could never justify means because such means contaminated even the noblest of objectives. Purity of means was what he insisted on while confronting discrimination, slavery, oppression, injustice and violence.

What was the reason for emergence of Mahatma Gandhi as a leader in the country? He had new methods to offer and the country saw the emergence of Mahatma Gandhi as a leader. His qualities also satisfied the aspirations of the people. With him to lead the Congress, the struggle for freedom had ceased to be an exclusive preserve of the elite. He had taken it to the common people.  He was a common man himself. He spoke the language of the people that was culturally rooted. He had exceptional command over the English language, but insisted on using his broken Hindustani. His simple life of labor, the willingness to undergo voluntary self-suffering and his faith in the oneness of all souls was in itself an example. He awakened the power of the people by reposing faith in them.

Mahatma Gandhi’s personality uniquely combined humility with self-confidence, serenity with enthusiasm. He was willing to understand his own limitations and shortcomings and subject himself to the most sever discipline to rid him of all defects. This man had a quality that attracted the educated and the illiterate alike. It was open for all to see. His words matched his action. Hindustan needed action not merely eloquence. The people of India went to Mahatma Gandhi with hope, expectation and desire. They hoped that this man who understood their suffering would lead them to swaraj.

It was a unique coming together people and leader. His quest for perfection led him to search for the truth with the people. He did not run away from politics, though to him it was not the primary quest.  Why did the masses of India love him? Mahatma Gandhi believed that the reason was his affection and love for the poor of the country. He communicated the intricate aspects of Truth, like the sages had communicated the most incommunicable knowledge by simple formulation: ‘Speak the truth’, ‘Follow your dharma’. He communicated it through his life by establishing unity between his individual life and public conduct and that is how it reached the hearts of people.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi resigned even from the primary membership of the Congress. He wanted the Congress to take up the constructive activities for Nation building. The Congress Working Committee often met in his presence and did not stop seeking his council. He either remained a president or a mentor to constructive work organizations established by Congress. The country saw the leadership of Gandhi for about 15 years.  Mahatma Gandhi was a revolutionary who thought about the need to remove violence and at the same time how to establish a non-violent society; a society without oppression, a society without authoritarian government. And this Mahatma Gandhi meant to do with Constructive programs to cover the maximum sectors of society; the financial sector, the social sector, the educational sector and the political sector. The political strength of constructive activity was not clearly seen by the county as much as Mahatma Gandhi wanted it to be.

‘The best way to find your self is to lose yourself in the service of others’ Mahatma Gandhi had said.

THE BOND OF AFFECTION BETWEEN GANDHI AND NEHRU

Mahatma Gandhi first met Jawaharlal Nehru at the annual meeting of the Indian National Congress in the year 1916 at Lucknow. That was the year of his marriage with Kamala. In his autobiography,  Nehru writes "My first meeting with Gandhiji was about the time of Lucknow Congress during the Christmas, 1916. All of us admired him for his heroic fight in South Africa, but he seemed very distant and different and un-political to many of us young men. He refused to take part in Congress or national politics then and confined himself to the South African Indian question. Soon afterwards his adventures and victory in Champaran, on behalf of the tenants of the planters, filled us with enthusiasm. We saw that he was prepared to apply his methods in India and they promised success." This first meeting was enough to impress Nehru regarding Gandhi and the charm of this relationship increased and flourished with passing time.

According to the Gandhian Scholar, Narayan Desai, in 1919, some months after the massacre at the Jallianwala Bagh, General Dyer was travelling back to Delhi by train after disposing before the Hunter Commission. All the berths in his compartment were occupied by soldiers, save one. Later in the night, a passenger came and occupied it. General Dyer was chatting with his fellow passengers and boasting of his deeds. He had no idea that the Indian passenger in his train was none other than Jawaharlal Nehru. Describing this incident, Nehru wrote, ‘He pointed out how he had the whole town at his mercy and he felt like reducing the rebellious city to a heap of ashes, but he took pity on it and refrained.’These boastful words echoed his statement before the Hunter Commission.

For about eight months the government of India tried to put a veil of secrecy over the atrocities in Punjab. Sin is closely related to darkness; it considers itself immune under the cloak of secrecy.

The young Nehru began taking active interest in the national problems after the Punjab incident. He was assigned to work along with C.R.Das, who investigated the incidence of atrocities in Amritsar. He also had the opportunity to observe Mahatma Gandhi from close quarters.  He recorded his first impression of Mahatma Gandhi, saying:

‘During the Punjab inquiry, I saw a great deal of Gandhiji. Very often his proposal seemed novel to our committee and it did not approve of them. But almost always he argued his way to their acceptance and subsequent events showed the wisdom of his advice. Faith in his political insights grew in me.’

The day after General Dyer’s massacre in Jalliawalan Bagh, Gandhiji commenced his 72 hours fast in Ahmedabad. On 21^st July 1919, he announced in Bombay that he was suspending the civil disobedience movement and would not resume it because of violence in “Chauri Chaura” village of Gorakhpur district of the united provinces, where the police had opened fire on a peaceful large procession. The principals of ahimsa integral to this decision were revealed to the country some two years later.

This decision caused much debate and consternation among the non-cooperators. Nehru questioned the wisdom of that decision to suspend the movement. Later he answered these and other question himself.

“As a matter of fact even the suspension of civil resistance in February 1922 was certainly not due to “Chauri Chaura” alone, although most people imagined so. That was the last straw. Gandhiji has often acted almost by instinct… At that time our movement, in spite of its apparent power and the wide spread enthusiasm, was going to pieces. All organization and discipline was disappearing; almost all our good man were in prison and the masses had so far received little training to carry on by themselves… These were probably the reasons and influences that worked in Gandhi’s mind, and granting his premises and the desirability of carrying on with the technique of non-violence, his decision was right. He had to stop the rot and build a new.”

In Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru had found the absolute leader who was capable of handling the entire nation says Siddhartha Dash in his book on Gandhi and Nehru. This quality he found missing in almost all the Indian political leaders of the time. Even Motilal Nehru was highly impressed and influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's inner strength and self-confidence. The greatest quality that went in favor of Mahatma Gandhi was his image. General masses could identify themselves through Gandhiji. In the initial stages of his political career, Jawaharlal Nehru found everything regarding Mahatma Gandhi amazing and great. His plan of action in any field attracted Nehru to a great deal. Nehru's admiration for Gandhi grew in the Satyagraha Sabha in 1919 to defy the notorious Rowlatt Act.

On 8^th November 1927, the viceroy announced the appointment of the royal commission to consider the future constitution of India. Mrs. Anne Besant inaugurated the boycott committee, formed to oppose the Simon commission. A public meeting was held at the Shraddhanand Park for declaring the boycott of British goods as the first step for the attainment of Swaraj. Gandhiji was following the Indian reaction to the Simon commission with great interest. Two things interested him deeply.  One, the country was united in its opposition to the royal commission and the Congress and the Muslim League had passed almost similarly worded resolution, where they had stated that non- inclusion of Indians was an insult to India’s self-respect. Both these organization felt that the Indians should have the right to determine the future of their country. The police assaulted peaceful protesters at many places and in places where the law and order was in the hands of white officers the repressive character of the state became more apparent. Unfortunately, Lala Lajpat Rai sustained grave injuries and succumbed to this on 17^th November 1928.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote in the Young India when the news of the assault on Lala ji had reached him “Well done!  Now we shall not be long in getting Swaraj”, explaining the importance of Martyrdom. His response to Jawaharlal Nehru is indicative of the caring and intimate relationship that the two of them shared. He wrote, “My love to you. It was all done bravely. You have braver things to do. May God spare you for many a long year to come and make you His chosen instrument for freeing from yoke.”

Jawaharlal Nehru had assumed the responsibility of the working secretary of the congress after his return from Europe in 1927. Mahatma Gandhi wrote to him after the 1927 Madras session of the congress saying, “If I can advise you, now that you are working secretary of the Indian national congress, it is your duty to devote your whole energy to the central resolution, i.e. of unity and the important but secondary resolution, i.e., boycott of the Simon commission.”

By the end of 1929 the Congress recognized that it would be required to enter into a direct confrontation with the government and that civil disobedience movement was imminent. The organization looked towards Mahatma Gandhi for leadership. A president was required for the Lahore Congress. Mahatma Gandhi was tuned to the new youthful winds blowing across the Congress. He clarified his views on the issue of the president ship of the Congress in two essays: ‘Who should wear the Crown?’ appeared in the Navjivan on 4^th August 1929, and ‘My Limitations’ was published in the Young India of 12^th September 1929. 

In this article he also said that Jawahrlal Nehru should become the president of the Congress. Gandhi felt that Nehru had everything to recommend him. He has discharged with devotion and ability the office of the secretary of the Congress.  Nehru’s bravery, determination, application, integrity and grit had captured the imagination of youth.  He was in touch with the Labour Party and was closely acquainted with European politics, which allowed him to assess the Indian political situation. Reflecting on his own influence on the masses Mahatma Gandhi said:

‘So long as I retain the affection of our people, there is not the slightest danger of my not being without holding office to make the fullest use of such powers, as I may possess. God had enabled me to affect the life of the country since 1920 without the necessity of holding office. I am not aware that my capacity for service was whit enhanced by my becoming President of the Congress in Belgaum.’

The AICC elected Nehru as the President for the Lahore session of the Congress.  Most members of the AICC were eager for a struggle by the beginning of 1930 and like other leaders of the Congress; Nehru knew that if a struggle of non-payment of taxes or civil disobedience is to be waged no one could lead the movement as well as Gandhi.  

Mahatma Gandhi wanted the wisdom and the courage of the youth to be harnessed for the nonviolent struggle of independence and so he wanted the congress to elect the young leaders as President.  It was Gandhi who had insisted that Nehru be appointed the Congress President of Faizpur Congress in 1936.

Nehru was influenced by the socialist thoughts and dreamt of complete independence.  His training and intellectual disposition allowed him to appreciate the idea of freedom over that of Swaraj. Narayan Desai says in his book ‘My Life is My Message’ that it is important for us to note clearly the differences between Nehru and Gandhi.  Mahatma Gandhi did not give a rebuttal to all the arguments raised by Jawahalal Nehru, instead he asked Nehru to openly protest or come and meet him for an exchange of views.  Both Gandhi and Nehru gave significance to practical and pragmatic issues and did not allow their ideological differences to come in the way of the primary objective of attaining national freedom.

On 15 January 1941, Mahatma Gandhi had stated ‘Some say Pandit Nehru and I were estranged. It will require much more than difference of opinion to estrange us. We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor.’

Mahatma Gandhi had great fondness for Jawahalal Nehru. To Gandhi, a man like Nehru is rare. A man of sterling character, fearless and therefore reposed a deep trust in Nehru. It was because of his liking that he projected Nehru on the national scene. Gandhi believed that the success of independence movement and national reconstruction depends on the sacrifice of the young generation. Nehru represented the aspirations of younger generation. Nehru effectively harnessed Gandhi’s popularity and charisma to fulfill these objectives. Gandhi also wanted to utilize the energy of this youthful leader, his ability to view the issues in a larger perspective and his enthusiasm for the task of attaining swaraj.  Both had to make compromises in order to work towards a shared objective. But their differences about the long term vision for India persisted but Nehru’s heart was submitted to Gandhi; His intellectual core was formed by western thinking, his emotions bound him to Gandhi, the two retained their regards and mutual reverence for each other.

On the night of 30^th January, 1948 Jawaharlal Nehru gave these words to the millions of hearts:

‘…The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shown in this country was no ordinary light. The light that has illuminated this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts. For that light represented the living truth, and the eternal man was with us with us with his eternal truth reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient country to freedom.”