"Gandhi" (1982)
Lord Chelmsford: Forgive
me, gentlemen, but you must understand that His Majesty's government and the
British people repudiate both the massacre and the philosophy that prompted it.
Now, what I would like to do is to come to some compromise over the new civil
legis --
Gandhi: If you will excuse me, Your Excellency, it is our view
that matters have gone beyond legislation. We think it is time you recognized
that you are masters in someone else's home. Despite the best intentions of the
best of you, you must, in the nature of things, humiliate us to control us.
General Dyer is but an extreme example of the principle. It is time you
left.
Kinnoch: With respect,
Mr. Gandhi, without British administration, this country would be reduced to
chaos.
Gandhi: Mr. Kinnoch, I beg you to accept that there is no people
on earth who would not prefer their own bad government to the good government of
an alien power.
British Officer #1: Oh,
my dear sir, India is British. We're hardly an alien power.
Lord Chelmsford: Mr.
Gandhi, even if His Majesty could wave all other considerations, he has a duty
to the millions of his Muslim subjects who are a minority in this realm. And
experience suggests that his troops and his administration are essential in
order to secure the peace.
Gandhi: All nations contain religious minorities. Like other
countries, ours will have its problems. But they will be ours -- not
yours.
British Officer #2: How
do you propose to make them yours? You don't think we're just going to walk out
of India?
Gandhi: Yes. In the end, you will walk out, because 100,000
Englishmen simply cannot control 350,000,000 Indians if those Indians refuse to
cooperate. And that is what we intend to achieve: peaceful, nonviolent,
non-cooperation -- till you, yourselves, see the wisdom of leaving, Your
Excellency.