Hind Swaraj

India suffers under the heel of civilization. It has become lazy, not merely in worldly matters but in those of religion as well. To people who object to the terrible suffering caused by religious conflict, Gandhi replies that this is not the fault of religion itself and that such wars “will always happen so long as there are to be found ignorant and credulous people. But there is no end to the victims destroyed in the fire of civilization” (23).

Did the British bring peace to an India beset by political and religious conflict? Gandhi answers that people who cannot resolve their own disputes are unfit to rule themselves. He adds: “Moreover, the present peace is only nominal, for by it we have become emasculated and cowardly” (23). 

“Railways, lawyers and doctors” are ruining India, asserts Gandhi. Railroads increase the British hold on the country, spread disease, and disrupt grain markets, leading to famine: “Bad men fulfil their evil designs with greater rapidity. The holy places of India have become unholy” (25).

Can good people make positive use of the railroads? To this, Gandhi answers that good people “are not in a hurry […] But evil has wings.