"Oh for a Gandhi”! says a very good cartoon in the Organizer. But supposing a Gandhi or Gandhiji himself came in answer to this and other earnest calls for help, what could we do with him? We will not do what he wants us to do and will do what he does not want done. Like Karl Marx rising from the grave, saying "I am not a Marxist”, Gandhi too would exclaim "No, I am not one of you!” to the Congressmen who drag his name down and hang on to it whenever they feel like slipping from power.

Rajaji in his ‘Dear Reader’ page, Swarajya, October 14, 1967

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When M. R. Masani said that the Fourth Plan now produced was mulish, he used the word in its correct sense, obstinately attached to old errors. The Prime Minister diverted the House with an exposition on the excellent qualities of the mule, its patience, its hardihood, etc. But it was no answer to the charge of a plan or policy being mulish. If one’s behaviour is sheepish, that is awkwardly bashful or timid, it is no good answering that sheep’s is good meat. If a fellow is called goatish for his lustfulness it is no use expatiating on the nimbleness of the goat.

There is no harm in entertaining the House with a diversion of this sort. Adjectives with an — ‘ish’ ending convey the not so admirably qualities of the substantives from which the adjectives are derived, e.g., boyish, womanish, etc. I was amused reading a cutting sent to me which said the PM "rebuked” Mr. Masani. The PM did nothing of the sort, but merely entertained the House with praise of the donkey-mare sterile hybrid.

Rajaji in his ‘Dear Reader’ page, Swarajya, June 21, 1969

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When a Dictator is Prime Minister, the defections from the other parties to the Congress(R) have become as common as fire-flies in their season. The reasons sometimes offered for desertions may be made to look reasonable but the real motive is to please and acquire influence with the dictator. The defectors, at least some of them, may please and acquire some personal influence with the P.M. But they will not command her respect or confidence.

Rajaji in his ‘Dear Reader’ page, Swarajya, May 27, 1972

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A news item from Bangalore tells us that the police have registered a case under the Defence of India Rules against the owner of a Bakery on a charge of having sold eatables after the "prescribed” hour on a Monday afternoon. The case has not yet gone to court. I would respectfully advise the Government of Mysore to stop this comic business of connecting the defence of India with biscuits or cakes in a cafe after 4 p.m. on Mondays in Bangalore. It is very doubtful if the "prescribed hour on Monday” is constitutionally valid. The Prime Minister’s appeal was for voluntary restraint.

Rajaji in his ‘Dear Reader’ page, Swarajya, January 8, 1966

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