Gandhi, Mohandas -- Statement at his sedition trial (1922-03-18)

Dave — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 23:23:04 +0000

In my humble opinion, noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, political ethicist [Mahatma Gandhi]
Statement at his sedition trial (1922-03-18)
(Source)

Following the riots in Chauri Chaura, India, on 5 February 1922, which killed 22 police officers, Gandhi was arrested for sedition for articles he'd written against the British government in India, in what is called the "Great Trial of 1922." After this statement he was sentenced to six years (serving two).

Gandhi had previously used the same phrase in "The Poet's Anxiety," Young India (1921-06-01), reprinted in Gandhi's Satyagraha, ch. 69 (1961).

(Note: searching out this quotation is complicated by the varied and evolving spellings of non-co-operation, non-cooperation, and noncooperation.)

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Gandhi, Mohandas -- Statement at his sedition trial (1922-03-18)