Wednesday, September 5, 2012


" People say that the days of big public meetings, processions and
speeches are past, that the time has come to work while keeping the
mouth shut. But the organizers of conferences and public meetings
are always anxious to make great shows of them. In their zeal, many
times they forget the truth and practise deception on the innocent
public while making preparations for conferences. A notice about
some conference says:

It is a matter of great pleasure that the conference is going to take place
in a big way. Important leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, the Ali Brothers,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Kitchlew, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Devdas
Gandhi, Shankerlal Banker, Rajagopalachari, Seth Jamnalal Bajaj, Maulana
A. Jafar Khan, Shrimati Gandhi, Bi Amma Sahiba, Tapasvi Sunderlal,
Makhanlal Chaturvedi , Shrimati Subhadra Kumari, etc., are expected to come.

It is possible that the reception committee has sent invitations to
these leaders. But till replies have been received from them saying that
they will try to come, it is not true to say that they are expected to
come. However commendable the intention may be, it is improper to
mislead people. Once or twice people may be deceived, but very soon
the workers lose their prestige as well as the I trust of the people.
Abraham Lincoln has rightly said: ‘You can fool all the people some
of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool
all the people all the time.”

- M.K.Gandhi , Hindi Navajivan, 1-6-1924