India's week began and ended with deceptive quiet. In the cooling monsoons of central India the Congress party Working Committee met with Mohandas Gandhi at Sevagram. Monday was Gandhi's day of silence, but Tuesday morning the silence was broken. Correspondents were summoned to receive the committee's decision. In a high-pitched, whistling voice, the 90-lb. archenemy of the British Raj declared that, from now on, the people of India would be in open, nonviolent rebellion against British rule.
By Wednesday morning the resolution had reached New Delhi. The Viceroy's Council met in the...