Cet article qui a été repris non daté dans le tome 2 page 210 de l'essai biographique consacré à Saïd Hajji par Abou Bakr Kadiri, que son auteur a placé sous le titre
"L'ami et l'ennemi: une nation incorporée par un homme",
a été annoté comme suit:
"Lorsque le préposé français à la censure a eu connaissance de cet article, il ne s'est résolu à en autoriser la parution qu'après de multiples démarches tendant à le persuader qu'il ne faisait aucunement allusion - en parlant de Gandhi - au leader Allal El Fassi qui se trouvait à l'époque exilé aiu Gabon".
On peut donc conclure de ce commentaire que l'article aurait été publié dans le journal "Almaghrib" au courant de l'année 1938, Allal El Fassi ayant été exilé fin 1937.
Over the course of the past week, the whole world witnessed another miracle of the unity and union of the Indian nation which sees light at the end of the tunnel and is resolutely headed on the road to freedom. News of Mahatma Gandhi's fast in protest against modifications of the Indian constitution was broadcast over the airways to all corners of the earth. Everywhere, the civilized world waited for the outcome of his hunger strike with anxiety and compassion. Then finally auspicious news arrived, the Indian district of Randjah renounced the changes proposed by the British Governor in India and so this respected leader broke the fast which threatened to cost him his life.
This was not the first time that this Indian leader resorted to a hunger strike. This fast followed a succession of hunger strikes which allowed him to obtain several victories for his nation in its struggle for reforms and freedoms. One needs to only recall the hunger strike he used when the Labour Party was in power in Great Britain, forcing Prime Minister McDonald to personally intervene by telegram in the name of Her Majesty pleading the Indian leader who was opposing the British colonial policies to spare his life.
It is a miracle to see in our era that a nation endowed with such eminent greatness, such powerful military arsenal, at whose disposition lie immense monetary reserves, whose vast empire never sees the setting sun, a nation who successfully combined science and intelligent thinking, industrial power and true education, now sees in its enemies its own saviours. For this nation considers this scrawny man with the weakest of muscles and tiny face as an enemy and yet at the same time, a friend.
Great Britain sees Gandhi as a sworn enemy, campaigns against him and launches attacks against his humanitarian principles and makes every attempt within its means, be it through the use of force or deceit, to turn off India from the views held by its leader. However each of these attempts have led to stinging defeats, so much so that it had no alternative but to invite its ever vigilant foe to the negotiating table at one of the impressive palaces in the British capital and to crown the negotiations with concessions to India granting it autonomy for internal affairs and the constitution it had desired for so long.
Even as Great Britain launched attacks against Gandhi's calls for freedom, it held back because it saw a serious threat to its continued presence in India should he die. What is the secret behind such ambiguity? A secret that appears to fall within the domain of miracles. The Indian nation, which numbers more than 300 million souls of various roots, faiths, and social castes, has united around one man who is able to draw to his opinions those of all his compatriots. All of India responds upon his signal. When the British government wishes to resolve some matter pertaining to this country, it need not seek to understand the opinion of its millions. Instead it will be satisfied with that of their leader; knowing that in the case where it reaches agreement with him there would no longer be any opposition to its undertakings.
Imagine for a moment the misfortunes which could befall Great Britain should Gandhi pass away. What would happen to India? With whom would Great Britain enter into negotiations? Without a shadow of a doubt it would lose a man who embodies a whole nation. It would be an irreversible loss with serious consequences that only the most informed politicians could appreciate. It is this prospect that motivates the British government to take the utmost care to preserve the life of this foe who fights against its colonial policies, opposes its exactions and incessantly increases the list of grievances against the British colonials who conduct themselves as downright masters of a conquered territory.
By uniting behind Mahatma Gandhi, India intends to show to the entire world its vision of how spiritual power can triumph over the physical power of which Great Britain is so proud. The Indian's faith in the justness of their cause had reached the end of its rope against the British military power. It condemned the British for eating into its gold reserves and finished by thwarting its every move. The only honorable way out for the occupying force was to recognize and give some latitude to India's desire to move freely, to erase any residual inertia's and to implement every action to remove the barriers on the road to independence.
Lord! Isn't this a miracle to see India compelling the British Empire to show such consideration with regards to its enemy; to watch over him so that he does take his life even while he engages it in the struggle against the tyranny of its colonial policies? This is a miracle of unity and faith both of which have been the cause of upheavals in history since the dawn of time and will continue as such until the Creator inherits the universe and all that is to be found in it. Right will always prevail over force, whatever fleeting vanity one can draw from the will of power. A nation which can unite behind its leader and believe firmly in the justness of its cause is a nation deserving to exist and the future will smile upon it.
