Gandhi returned to Ahmedabad. He
was recouping his health there when he read in the papers the Rowlett
Committer’s report which had just been published.
This report recommended the
introduction of amendments to the criminal law. These recommendations startled
Gandhi. He described them as” Unjust, subversive of the principles of liberty
and justice, and destructive of the elementary rights of individuals.”
Friends approached Gandhi for
guidance.
“Something must be done,” he said
to them,” If the proposed measures are passed into law, we ought to do a
Satyagraha.”
Gandhi was sorry he was in poor
health, else he would have put up resistance against the amendments alone. From
his sickbed he wrote articles for the Indian papers explaining that the
proposed bill was an act tyranny. No self-respecting people could submit to it.