possibly withdraw altogether. That would mean making a present of India to Japan, and England would never consent to that, nor would the United States approve. If you demand that the British pack up and go bag and baggage, you are simply asking the impossible; you are barking up a tree. You do not mean, do you, that they must also with draw their armies?”
For at least two minutes Gandhi said nothing. The silence in the room was almost audible. “You are right,” he said at last. “No, Britain and America, and other countries too, can keep their armies here and use Indian territory as a base for military operations. I do not wish Japan to win the war. I do not want the Axis to win. But I am sure that Britain cannot win unless the Indian people be come free. Britain is weaker and Britain is morally indefensible while she rules India. I do not wish to humiliate England.”
“But if India is to be used as a military base by the United Nations, many other things are involved. Armies do not exist in a vacuum. For in stance, the United Nations would need good organization on the railroads.”
“Oh,” he exclaimed, “they could operate the railroads. They would also need order in the ports where they received their supplies. They could not have riots in Bombay and Calcutta. These mat-
