"W HAT IS A WAR CRIMINAL?

" Gandhi responded to a Western

reporter on the eve of the war's end. "Was not war itself a
crime against God and humanity and, therefore, were not all
those who . . . conducted wars, war criminals? . . . Roosevelt and Churchill
are no less war criminals than Hitler and Mussolini."1 He saw little hope
for peace through the United Nations, born in San Francisco that April of
1945, and was unwilling to journey west to teach the "art of peace" to
America. He felt challenged to the limits of his waning strength in his quest
to bring peace to India.
Viceroy Wavell tried to lure Congress and Muslim League leaders into
his administration, thereby launching the last phase of Britain's devolution
of power prior to granting independence. His broadcast in mid-June 1945,
unveiling the plan he'd been hatching since his appointment, revealed his
political naivete. He proposed a new Executive Council with an equal
number of "caste Hindus and Muslims," functioning under the 1935 Constitution.
Under his plan only the viceroy and commander in chief would
remain Englishmen.
Wavell wired his first invitation to Gandhi, who responded with the
disclaimer that he represented "no institution." Nonetheless, Wavell urged
him to join his Simla Conference, and Gandhi agreed. His acceptance wire,
however, informed the viceroy that there were "no caste and casteless Hindus"
who were "politically minded" and insisted that Congress alone represented
"all Indians." Gandhi urged Wavell to invite Maulana Azad, president
of the Congress, and told Azad to convene a Working Committee
meeting in Bombay. So, by the eve of the Simla Conference, Gandhi was
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Gandhi's Passion
back in harness as the force behind Congress, despite his repeated disclaimers
of power or influence. Viceregal wires energized Gandhi. He felt much
stronger since meeting with Jinnah and started talking again about his
much earlier expressed desire to live for 125 years. "That should be everybody's
life-span."2 He met Vallabhbhai Patel in Panchgani, a hill station
near Poona, where they rested for a few days before journeying on together
to Bombay to meet with the Congress Working Committee there on
June 22.