To Wacha January 12, 1905 FROM Dadabhai NAVROJI

To Wacha 
January 12, 1905.
T he  v e ry di s cont ent  and  imp a t i e n ce  it (the Congress) has
e v o k ed against  i t s e lf as  s l ow and non-progr e s s ive  a m o ng the rising
g e n e r a t i on arc  a m o ng its best results or  f r u i t.  It  is its  o w n  e v o l u t i on
a nd progress. . . .  W h i l e there is great necessity  f or  i n f o r m i ng the
people here, there is as  m u ch necessity  that the  t rue  k n o w l e d ge
of  t h e ir  c o n d i t i on  s h o u ld  w i d e l y spread  a m o ng the  I n d i an people
themselves.  T he  c o - o r d i n a t i on  of  b o th  is necessary  to  e v o l ve the
r e q u i r ed  r e v o l u t i o n — w h e t h er  it  w o u l d  be peaceful  or  v i o l e n t.
T he character  of the  r e v o l u t i on  w i l l depend  u p on the  w i s d om
or  u n w i s d om  of  the  B r i t i sh  G o v e r n m e nt and  a c t i on  of the
B r i t i sh peopl e. 4 4 2  D A D A B H AI  N A O R O J I :  T HE  G R A ND  O LD  M A N  OF  I N D I A
July 12, 1906.
I hope the next Congress  w i l l make a strong pronounc ement
as to the absolute necessity of self-government as the  o n ly remedy
f or  a ll India's wr o n gs and needs. Congress  should make a clear
di s t inc t ion between  t wo aspects of its duties.  T he one, a complete
change of policy as speedily as possible in the most suitable  w a y,
leading to self-government—this is Congress's  m a in  w o r k — a nd
the second, the hatefulness of the vagaries and failures of the
existing  admini s t r a t ion.  T he most  i m p o r t a nt  of the  t wo  is the
first. . . .  T he  w h o le mo v eme nt of the Congress must be managed
to be backed by the masses.


To Wacha 
July 27, 1905. 
We are  n ot yet quite prepared to bite, it is true, unless the
vice of the rule so  m u ch intensifies as to lead people to  n i h i l i s m.
B ut our present weapon is to bark as  l o u d ly as we can and as
frequently as possible.  T he demand that we must have selfgovernment must be ever present and  roa r ing  a ll over  Indi a. A  R E S T L E SS  P EN 4 4 I
. . .  A n o t h er object  it  w i l l  a c compl i sh is  that the mass  o f the
people  w i l l  be  t r a i n ed  in  a g i t a t i on and  be educated  in the  e v il
and the  r eme d y. We need to move the masses to an appreciable
e x t e n t. . . .  T he  m o re  t h ey  t r y  to keep us  d o w n , the louder must
be  o ur  c r y,  and  o ur  c ry mu st  be clear and  w e ll  k e pt directed
t o w a r ds  s e l f - g o v e r nme n t.  Of course,  a ll this  is  d i f f i c u l t,  b ut  it
has to be done. A  c h i ld is helpless,  b ut it has a  p o w e r f ul we a p on
in  c r y i n g.  . . . I  am afraid some  b e g i n n i ng  o f  n i h i l i sm  w i l l  n ot be
v e ry distant