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The History of the Controversy: We received the following email on October 26, 2004: Original Message ----From: Tridip Suhrud [tridip_suhrud@da-iict.org] Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 11:48 AM Subject: Deletions and Revisions in the Revised Edition of the CWMG Dear Friend, We seek your time and patience for this rather long e mail. Kindly bear with us. I on behalf of a group of independent scholars would like to bring to your notice the Deletions and Omissions in the Revised Edition (2001) of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (CWMG). The CWMG was commissioned in February 1956. The control and direction of the series was vested in the Advisory Board, the original members of which were Shri Morarji Desai (Chairman), Kakasaheb Kalelkar, Devdas Gandhi, Pyarelal Nayar, Maganbhai P Desai, G Ramachandran, Shriman Narain, Jivanji P Desai and Shri P M Lad. Following were the members of the Advisory Board as reconstituted in 1967. Shri Morarji Desai (Chairman), Kakasaheb Kalelkar, R R Diwakar, Pyarelal Nayar, Maganbhai P Desai, Ramdhari Sinha "Dinkar", Shri Shantilal H Shah, the Director, Publications Division, and the Chief Editor. Shri Bhartan Kumarappa was appointed the first Chief Editor, after his death till October 1959 Shri Jairamdas Doulatram worked as the Chief Editor after which Prof. K Swaminathan assumed the Chief Editorship from February 1960 till the completion of the project.He was assisted first by U R Rao and later by Prof. C N Patel who worked as the Deputy Editor (English). After an extremely careful process of selection, verification and translation Vol. 1-90 were published. Vols. 91-97 were published as Supplementary Volumes while Volumes 98-100 were indices. The CWMG is recognised the world over as the standard reference work, largely due to the intellectual quality of the editorial precision that is evident. The Last Volumes was published in 1994. Subsequently, in 1998 decision was taken by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to not issue reprints of the CWMG as was the practice hitherto but to prepare a Revised Edition, perhaps with a view to RECAST and RESTRUCTURE the material and to bring Chronological sequence to the Supplementary Volumes.

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It has not been possible for us to ascertain what the nature of the Consultative Process was or who were the members of the New Advisory Board. The Publisher's note to the revised edition does not mention who was the Chief Editor or who were the members of the Reconstituted Advisory Board were. The outcome of this Revised Edition was a CD-ROM Version (the so called e book) and a new print edition. The Following is the evidence of incompetent and insensitive Editorial work that has resulted in Omissions and Deletions. The Original Edition (OE) carried a preface for each volume and also list of Acknowledgements and Sources for each volume. The Revised Edition (RE) in the process of inserting material for sake of chronology lost sight of the Sources and Acknowledgements specific to each volume, hence a decision was taken to have a combined list of Acknowledgements and Sources common for all Volumes. These appear in each volume and occupy 42 pages. That is in 100 volumes 4200 pages are printed which have no segregation or intellectual merit. The Original had worked out a system of indices of persons and subjects. There were 4000 major entries with 9000 subentries under the various major entries. The Revised edition has done away with the entire classificatory system and subentries and classifications have been dropped, making the entire index meaningless. For example The entry on Action(s): has 16 subclasification, which bring out the philosophical aspects of Action, such as ; ahimsa in thought, and faith, and freedom from ego, and knowledge, and non-action, and predestination, and rebirth...selfless, and without attachment. The Revised entry had no classification whatsoever, rendering it useless. Same has happened to large numbers of entries like Transvaal, Rajkot, The Gita. There have also been deletions from the indices itself. The Original had 324 entries under Bhave,Vinoba. The revised edition has only 175 entries which is spread over two widely separated sections in the index of names. The first entry is on p. 43 of vol 100 while the next set of entries are on p. 349 of the same volumes. Why? Because for the editors Bhave, (Acharya) Vinoba and Vinoba Bhave are two separate individuals! Let's take the example of Khan Abdul Gafar Khan. The original had 382 entries under that name. The new has lost distinction between Khan Abdul Gafar Khan and his elder brother Dr. Khan Sahib. The Combined entries under these two names in the Revised Edition are 115. Similar is the case of Adajania, Sorabji, Shahpurji, a close associate of Gandhiji in South Africa. The Original has 173 entries while the revised has 26 entries, again the entries are dispersed.

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While recasting and rearranging matter in the Revised edition some very thoughtless errors have been introduced. For example Vol. 74 of the Revised edition (ADDENDA). See page 462, 463. The letter to Herman Kallenbach is printed under the title Letter to Prabhudayal Vidyarthi. Letter to Prabhudayal Vidyarthi is printed under Letter to Mathurdas Trikamji, while letter to him is under Letter to Pyarelal and Letter to Pyarelal under Letter to Herman Kallenbach. We have been able to identify so far over 500 instances of deletion or misinformation in the CD-Rom version and over 300 cases of deletion from the print version. For example 26 letters and documents of Gandhiji from the South African years are missing from the First Revised Edition. This also includes Gandhiji's DRAFT WILL AND TESTAMENT (dated June 19, 1909). There are many such instances. This clearly is unacceptable to any serious student of Life and Thought of Mahatma Gandhi. This is also indicative of the callous and insensitive approach of the then I & B ministry and the Publications Division. Our Plea is simple: There is no need whatsoever to issue a Revised Edition of the CWMG. The Government must ensure that the Revised Edition and the CD-Rom Version are withdrawn and the original CWMG is Re-printed. The GOI must also institute processes whereby no revisions are introduced in the CWMG in the future. If new material comes to light, the editors of the CWMG had introduced the practice of issuing Supplementary Volumes. The same practice should be followed. We hope that you will study this issue and voice your concerns and join us in appealing to the authorities to re-instate the intellectual integrity of the CWMG. Many Thanks Tridip Suhrud on behalf of Friends of CWMG.

4 List Vol. No. (revised ) 10 26 26 26 26 56 80 80 21 21 22 27 30 Of Missing Items Sr. No Date As Per Old Vols. 2 1909 adden da 3 45 46 47 209 330 331 adden da 14 adden da 15 adden da 16 adden da 21 adden da 23 March 17, 1922 March 18, 1922 April 2, 1923 April 8, 1923 August, 28, 1932 April 22, 1941 May 23, 1941 Novembe r 18, 1920 Novembe r 18, 1920 February 26, 1921 April 8, 1924 February 21, 1925

Serial Numb er 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Vol. No (old) 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 91 91 91 91 91

Description

Letter to Chhaganlal Gandhi Letter to Mazharul Haq Letter to Prabhudas Gandhi Letter to Kashi Gandhi Letter to Narandas Gandhi Letter to Nirmala Gandhi Letter to Prabhudas Gandhi Letter to Prabhudas Gandhi Letter to Narhari D. Parikh Letter to Anasuyaben Sarabhai Letter to Anasuyaben Sarabhai Letter to Manilal Doctor Letter to Rameshwardas

5 Birla Letter to G D Birla A Talk Letter to Haribhau Upadhyaya Letter to Mridula Sarabhai A Letter Letter to Chhaganlal Gandhi

14 15 16 17 18 19

91 91 91 91 91 91

32 36 37 38 42 6

adden da 25 adden da 29 adden da 30 adden da 31 adden da 38 50

August 14, 1925 After October 10, 1926 1926 January 24, 1927 Before August 1, 1928 on or after February 25, 1907 February 10, 1907

20 21 22 23 24

91 91 91 91 91

6 6 6 19 23

51 52 53 230 269

25 26

91 91

26 26

306 308

Letter to Chhaganlal Gandhi February Letter to P.S. 20, 1907 To Governor, Transvaal March 1, Letter to 1907 Chhaganlal Gandhi March 23, Telegram to 1920 Mathurdas Trikumji Before Letter to June 30, Kunvarji 1921 Anandaji Kapadia March 6, Letter to S. A. 1922 Brelvi After Letter to Baba March 21, Lakshmandas

6 1922 Before August 24, 1923 February 28, 1924 March 4, 1924

27 28 29 30 31

91 91 91 91 91

26 27 27 27 27

309 310 311 312 313

A Note

32 33 34 35 36 37 38

91 91 91 91 91 91 91

27 27 27 38 38 38 38

314 315 316 554 555 556 557

39 40

91 91

38 38

558 559

Message To Romain Rolland Letter to C. Vijayaraghavac hariar March 12, Telegram to 1924 Jawaharlal Nehru on or Letter To after Ramdas Gandhi March 13, 1924 March 17, Letter To 1924 Ramdas Gandhi March 24, Letter to 1924 Mahadev Desai March 25, Letter To 1924 Radha Gandhi January Letter to 23, 1927 Ramkrishna Chandiwala January Letter to 24, 1927 Anasuyaben Sarabhai January Letter to 31, 1927 Anasuyaben Sarabhai February Letter to 3, 1927 Motiram Shaukiram Adwani February Letter To 6, 1927 Motilal Roy February Message to 7, 1927 International

7 Congress Against Imperialism After Letter to Novembe Anasuyaben r 25, Sarabhai 1927 October Letter to 10, 1938 Mathurdas Trikumji October Letter to 13, 1938 Pyarelal January Letter to 21, 1939 Mathurdas Trikumji March 5, Letter To the 1922 Editor, The Survey, New York Decembe A Letter r 1922 (Presumably to Madan Mohan Malaviya) March 31, A Silence Day 1924 Note Before Letter to April 3, Anasuyaben 1924 Sarabhai August Letter To C. 21, 1925 Ramalinga Reddy on or Letter to before Haribhau August Upadhyaya 31, 1925 After Fragment of a Septemb letter er 23, 1925

41

91

40

614

42 43 44 45

93 93 93 95

74 74 74 26

332 333 374 43

46

95

26

44

47 48 49 50

95 95 95 95

27 27 32 32

45 46 53 54

51

95

32

55

8 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 95 96 96 96 96 96 96 35 38 38 38 38 43 45 80 84 4 9 9 9 9 9 63 70 71 72 73 90 94 154 163 1 2 3 4 5 6 May 12, 1926 Before January 10, 1927 January 10, 1927 Letter to Amy Jacques Garvey Letter To Vasumati Pandit Letter To Vasumati Pandit After Letter To February Vasumati 2, 1927 Pandit After Letter To February Vasumati 2, 1927 Pandit Decembe Letter To r 18, Benarsidas 1928 Chaturvedi March 23, Letter To 1929 Prabhavati May 14, Letter to 1941 Venkataswami Naidu August Telegram to M. 27, 1944 A. Jinnah July 3, Letter To Millie 1905 Graham Polak Septemb Letter to er 19, Herman 1908 Kallenbach February Letter to 9, 1909 Herman Kallenbach April 5, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach June 19, Draft Will and 1909 Testament June 21, Letter to 1909 Herman

9 Kallenbach Letter to Herman Kallenbach Letter to Herman Kallenbach A Letter

67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96 96

9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 10

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

June 22, 1909 June 23, 1909 July 3, 1909 July 3, 1909

Letter to Herman Kallenbach July 7, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach July 17, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach July 21, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach July 30, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach August 7, Letter to 1909 Herman Kallenbach August Letter to 12, 1909 Herman Kallenbach August Letter to 20, 1909 Herman Kallenbach August Letter to 28, 1909 Herman Kallenbach August Letter to 30, 1909 Herman Kallenbach

10 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 96 96 96 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 97 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 22 23 24 72 74 75 75 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 286 287 290 311 319 320 321 Septemb er 10, 1909 Septemb er 17, 1909 Septemb er 24, 1909 October 1, 1909 Letter to Herman Kallenbach Letter to Herman Kallenbach Letter to Herman Kallenbach Letter to Herman Kallenbach October Letter to 27, 1909 Herman Kallenbach Novembe Letter To Millie r 14, Graham Polak 1909 Novembe Letter To H S L r 15, Polak 1909 January Letter To H S L 22, 1921 Polak April 10, Letter to 1921 Herman Kallenbach Septemb Letter to er 29, Herman 1921 Kallenbach Decembe Telegram to r 28, Herman 1937 Kallenbach January Letter to 20, 1939 Herman Kallenbach February Letter To H S L 5, 1939 Polak March 2, Telegram to 1939 Amrit Kaur

11 94 95 96 97 97 97 97 97 75 75 75 81 322 323 324 327 March 8, 1939 March/Ap ril 1939 March/ April 1939 August 30, 1941 Letter to Herman Kallenbach Notes to Herman Kallenbach Note to Herman Kallenbach Letter To H S L Polak