178 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
ship in a frank and forthright manner. In one letter, he condemned
Gandhism for its “sanctimonious hypocrisy” and “outrage on democ-
racy.” In another, he wrote: “The more I think of Congress Politics, the
more convinced I feel that in future we should devote more energy and
time to fight ing the High Command. If power goes into the hands of
such mean, vindictive and unscrupulous persons when Swaraj is won,
what will happen to the country. We should concentrate on fight ing the
Congress High Command now[,] and to that end, we should make al-
liances with other po lit i cal parties wherever and whenever possible.”^105
He was especially scathing about Abul Kalam Azad, who was taking
disciplinary action against the Bose brothers. If discipline in a demo-
cratic or ga ni za tion meant rule by the majority, then the Congress lead-
ership was playing a game of double standards. They wanted the leftist
minority to blindly obey the dictates of the rightist majority at the all-
India level, yet demanded that the overwhelming majority, who were
loyal to the Boses in Bengal, should submit to a minority that formed
the ad hoc committee. By this token, it was Azad who was indulging in
indiscipline, not the Boses.^106
It was Bose’s determination to fight British Imperialism rather than
the Congress High Command that led him to make the decision to go
on a hunger strike, in an attempt to force the government to release
him. He was keen to take advantage of the international war crisis to
fight for India’s freedom and not waste the war years in prison. The day
before Bose began his fast, Gandhi sent a telegram to a friend on the
question of disciplinary action: “Regret inability even unwillingness to
interfere notwithstanding my regard and friendship for the brothers.
Feel bans cannot be lifted without their apologizing for indiscipline.”
Public protests against the democracy defi cit within the Congress con-
stituted lack of discipline. Subhas responded by wishing to keep per-
sonal relations above po lit i cal differences, and by professing deep per-
sonal regard and love for Mahatma Gandhi. He then quoted J. H.
Gurney’s poem on William Tell, the greatest hero of Switzerland, which
summed up the warrior’s attitude toward the saint:
My knee shall bend, he calmly said,
To God and God alone,