This had been read widely in its English and Hindustani translations, and had exercised the imagination of the poets and writers of the age of the immense possibilities that ‘Home Rule’ could offer. In fact, while Gandhi was still in South Africa, Urdu poets had begun to position him as a beacon of hope. Brij Narayan Chakbast is addressing Gandhi when he is penning these lines:

Watan se hain to duur par nigah kar laina

Idhar bhi aag lagi hai zara khabar kar laina

(You are far away from the country but do look at us

There’s a fire here too, do take heed of us)