Then, the last and perhaps the most difficult argument for me to answer is that Gandhiji has been always for prohibition. Let me make it very clear to this House that I am second to none in my admiration, respect and veneration for Gandhiji. Gandhiji is the father of the Nation; he is the father of all of us. But, Sir, I want to say something. It was stated here, might be perhaps a little frivolously, that where liquor is, Gandhiji is not; where Gandhiji is, liquor is not. In other words, Gandhiji shuns sinners, presuming that liquor drinking is a sin. Gandhiji read, studied, I dare say, loved the Gita, and as a student of the Gita, he had, what I may say, attained SamaDrishti. He did not make any distinction between a sinner and a saint. Gandhiji was a saint first, a politician afterwards. I want you to consider, Sir, I make bold myself to ask you, what do you think is the essence of Gandhism? The essence of Gandhism is love, toleration; its essence is non-violence, search for truth and all these important things. The externals of Gandhism or the outward trappings of Gandhism are Khaddar and prohibition. Unfortunately, the followers of Gandhiji, some of them have been giving more importance to the outward trappings of Gandhism than to the essence of it. Gandhiji’s conception of truth was that though truth is one, every individual is to have his own approach to truth, and every individual had to see it for himself. Therefore, this is what Gandhiji said, what Gandhiji wanted. If we merely follow blindly, the good father that he is, he will really be sorry, though he has departed, – he has left even this House full of lisping babes, who merely do discredit to the Father, – for not having taught them to think individually and rationally. Then, Sir, are we going to say: merely because it is the father’s word, as the saying goes, Baba Vakyam Pramanam, is that going to be the philosophy of life? We are living in an age, when, in spite of the fact that there are several defects in it, there is one very important thing about the twentieth Century. This is an age of interrogation. The young men of today want to throw a challenge and find out the truth for themselves. As Flaker has said, “Even if God were to burn with hell and fire, I would still ask Him till He answers me why;” I would not follow blindly even if God were to tell me to do so. We are not to be dumb driven cattle; We are to be heroes in this strife. Sir, George Bernard Shaw has said much the same thing, ‘examine, test and then accept’. If you are fond of Sanskrit literature, Kalidasa says more or less the same thing:
