“The Hindus have written to me complaining that I was responsible for unifying and awakening the Mussalmans and giving prestige to the Moulvis which they never had before. Now that the Khilafat question was over, the awakened Mussalmans have proclaimed a kind of jehad against the Hindu... The tales that are reported from Bengal of outrages upon Hindu women are the most disquieting if they are even half-true.”
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Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: Attributed to Young India (1924) but only via partisan secondary works (M.A. Karandikar; H.V. Sheshadri, The Tragic Story of Partition); no clean primary confirmed.
About this quote
Rousing a group to action can release energies that later turn in directions the organizer never wanted, and blame lands on whoever lit the spark. The honest response isn't denial but facing the reports squarely — even unconfirmed ones — and owning a share of what one's own influence set in motion.
When to use it
- A manager who pushed a team to be more assertive must own it when that assertiveness curdles into infighting.
- A coach who stokes rivalry between two squads has to answer for it when the rivalry turns nasty.
- An organizer who fires up a large crowd feels responsible when a fringe of it damages property.