A number of nationalist leaders condemned the attack on the Assembly, as the government expected them to. Gandhi decried that ‘the bomb throwers have discredited the cause of freedom in whose name they threw the bombs.’ Motilal chose a different path. Two days after, the Congress president delivered a speech in which he reflected on the significance of the attack:

It is wise statesmanship alone which can, by strengthening the forces of non-violence, meet the forces of violence. To say that ‘This is a sad day for the future of India’ or that ‘Such an incident is a catastrophe to India’ will do no good. … The real India does not believe in the cult of the bomb, nor does she believe in the cult of the Statutory Commission. India believes in suffering, and if the Government does not weaken the hands of Mahatma Gandhi she will one day stagger the . . .