Hindus and Muslims were drifting apart from each other again. There were communal riots too here and there. Gandhi was in confusion. His people had ditched him again. The moral upsurge which he had generated had vanished now, and hatred and enmity have crept in. 

Even the Congress Party had been traveling in two boats towards different directions.  Gandhi had no option other than entering into a fast, this time for 21 days for atonement for the wayward actions of his people. 

Announcing his fast, Gandhi spoke in highly emotional words: “It seems as if God has been dethroned. Let us reinstate Him in our hearts.”

This fast did not go untouched. There was a great soul-searching and while Gandhi lay in fast, support and solidarity flowed to him from every part of India and from leaders of various communities.