“No,” I said, “you take both.”
Nehru left me at about twelve-thirty for an hour’s talk with Gandhi. When I arrived at Gandhi’s hut for my interview, Nehru was there on the floor. He looked unhappy. I sat down next to him. Gandhi turned to me and invited questions with the customary “now?”
I began the interview by commenting on the fact that whereas British law and British political practice required a high centralization of power in Parliament and the Crown, the American political concept was based on the principle of federation. “Don’t you think,” I asked, “that in view of the diversities of India you will need here a federation which will satisfy the Princes and the Moslems?”
“I am in no position,” he confessed, “to say which system would suit us better. First, the British must go. It is a matter of pure speculation what we will do later. The moment the British withdraw, the question of religious minorities disappears. If the British withdraw and there is chaos, I cannot say what form will ultimately rise out of the chaos. If I were asked what I would prefer, I would say federation and not centralization. There is bound to be a federal system of some sort. But you must be satisfied with my answer that I am not disturbed by the problem of whether we are to have a federation or not. Perhaps your cast-iron mind mocks at this. Perhaps you think that with
