Whilst the Kheda peasants' question was still being discussed, I had already taken up the
question of the mill-hands in Ahmedabad.
I was in a most delicate situation. The mill-hands' case was strong. Shrimati Anasuyabai had to
battle against her own brother, Sjt. Ambalal Sarabhai, who led the fray on behalf of the mill-
owners. My relations with them were friendly, and that made fighting with them the more difficult. I
held consultations with them, and requested them to refer the dispute to arbitration.
I had therefore to advise the labourers to go on strike. Before I did so, I came in very close
contact with them and their leaders, and explained to them the conditions of a successful strike:
- never o resort to violence, 2. never to molest blacklegs, 3. never to depend upon alms, and 4.
to remain firm, no matter how long the strike continued, and to earn bread, during the strike, by
any other honest labour.
The leaders of the strike understood and accepted the conditions, and the labourers pledged
themselves at a general meeting not to resume work until either their terms were accepted or the
mill-owners agreed to refer the dispute to arbitration.
It was during this strike that I came to know intimately Sjts. Vallabhbhai Patel and Shankarlal
Banker. Shrimati Anasuyabai I knew well before this.
We had daily meetings of the strikers under the shade of a tree on the bank of the Sabarmati.
They attended the meeting in their thousands, and I reminded them in my speeches of their
pledge and of the duty to maintain peace and self-respect. They daily paraded the streets of the
city in peaceful procession, carrying their banner bearing the inscription '#Ek Tek#' (keep the
pledge).
The strike went on for twenty-one days. During the continuance of the strike I consulted the mill-
owners from time to time and entreated them to do justice to the labourers. 'We have our pledge
too,' they used to say. 'Our relations with the labourers are those of parents and children....How
can we brook the interference of a third party? Where is the room for arbitration?'.
Chapter 145
A PEEP INTO THE ASHRAM
Before I proceed to describe the progress of the labour dispute it is essential to have a peep
into the Ashram. All the while I was in Champaran the Ashram was never out of my mind, and
occasionally I paid it flying visits.
At that time the Ashram was in Kochrab, a small village near Ahmedabad. Plague broke out in
this village, and I saw evident danger to the safety of the Ashram children. It was impossible to
keep ourselves immune from the effects of the surrounding insanitation, however scrupulously we
might observe the rules of cleanliness within the Ashram walls. We were not then equal either to
getting the Kochrab people to observe these rules nor to serving the village otherwise.
Our ideal was to have the Ashram at a safe distance both from town and village, and yet at a
manageable distance from either. And we were determined, some day, to settle on ground of our