-> What is the book about?
Book is life events of Gandhi from 1914 till his death in 1948. It covers important political events during that time. Ramachandra Guha has taken information from all the sources available including Collected Works of Gandhi, Official Archives available in libraries and museums , diaries of various people.
Positives:
-> As book is drawn from so many sources available, his presentation is very comprehensive.
-> Guha's narrative skills are really good. He plays role of impartial, interesting commentator most of the time and that of a curious analyst sometimes.
Negatives:
-> At some places, book feels like a drag due to its huge size.
* Below is the summary of things drawn principally from this book but also based upon cumulative knowledge of mine about Gandhi from several books. I tried to cover major achievements and controversies about Mahatma's life. I have tried to stay brief and comprehensive at the same time.
-> Controversies over personal life:
i) Saraladevi Chaudarani
Recently there are reports being circulated on Internet regarding love of Gandhi. Even though he didn't act upon it in any way, Gandhi definitely seems to have been attracted to the women by name Saraladevi. There was correspondence between them for a brief period which Gandhi has brought to halt on the advise of Mahadev Desai and Rajagopalachari.
Though not something that we usually expect from Mahatma, there is not much Gandhi has done in this instance that is ethically wrong.
ii) Experiments with grand niece Manu
Most controversial of Gandhi's life are his experiments with his grand-niece Manu. It seems like Gandhi she also wanted to prove her commitment to Brahmacharya. Gandhi justifies saying this is needed to test their purity of mind. It seems these were conducted with her consent who was an adult and in fact stopped at her word.
Whatever the explanations, unequal power equation is clear between the two people. Gandhi seemed to have slipped into abstractness and vagueness of mysticism in his justification. Looking at it objectively, Gandhi has definitely committed a mistake in this instance.
-> Controversies over public life:
i) Bhagat Singh execution
One of the widespread criticism of Gandhi is that he could have prevented hanging of Bhagat Singh. This needs careful analysis. In his negotiations with British government, he generally asked release of political prisoners from Congress who were not charged with violence. This is not only because he was committed to non-violence but also because it is the claim that their movement was non-violent which put Congress on a moral higher ground and brought them to negotiating table. Endorsing violence will result in losing political and moral power won till then and could invite repression from government.
Inspite of these limitations, Gandhi did ask the Viceroy to commute sentence of Bhagat Singh in light of the popular support for him and Viceroy declined.
Criticism that Gandhi is solely responsible for death of Bhagat Singh seems to over estimate and also misunderstand leverage that Congress possessed over British at that point of time.
ii) Racial hatred
Gandhi is accused of racial hatred towards Africans during his stay at South Africa. Though hatred is a bit too strong a word, Gandhi seemed to have believed in hierarchy of races initially and asked British that Indians be treated better than Africans. This line of thought definitely faded later on and he advocated universal brotherhood.
iii) Being soft on the caste system
Gandhi initially, though he opposed untouchability, thought varna system is not inherently evil. He said he didn't feel inter-dining and inter-caste marriages were necessary. This is definitely conservative compared to radical reformers like Narayana Guru and Ambedkar. This changed gradually and from late 1930s he supported inter-caste marriages and called caste system absolutely anachronistic.
iv) Regressive economic policies
Gandhi's economic policies are seen as regressive by many as he glorified village and opposed industrialization. This opposition is not blind and he once said he was all for mechanization if it benefits everyone. Self-reliance (at-least in the strategic and essential sectors) and equitable distribution that he has advocated are worthy economic ideals.
Achievements of Gandhi
Philosophical:
i) Non-violence:
- In decades of world history marred with violence, Gandhi's message of non-violence was profound. He similar to philosophers like Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus has made non-violence basis of his moral thought. This has inspired several people like Martin Luther King and continues to inspire countless people till today to become pacifists.
ii) Truth:
-Out of all commitments of Gandhi, his commitment to truth is the strongest. He was always open to debating with counter-arguments and consider all points of view. If there were any critics at his prayers or his meetings, he would invite them to come over and discuss. As he grew with new experience and knowledge he changed his opinions. Though it is projected as inconsistency in thought, it is being open to change instead of being rigid and being able to grow. This evolution of opinion is clearly seen in the question of caste and gender equality.
iii) Religion with reason:
-He studied all major religions of the time. He always carried Gita, Quran, Bible with him and frequently referred to faith, God being the reason for his decisions many times. Though a man of faith, he used reason and refuted inhuman practices like untouchability, Purdah. He insisted that just because something is written in Sanskrit scriptures doesn't make it word of god. He lamented that Hinduism has lost its way due to regressive caste system and Christians at that time have forgot the message of Christ and got into violence, racial hatred.
iv) Humanity
-Universal love for humanity was basis of his thought. "Hate the sin, not the sinner" was his thinking. He held no hatred for his political opponents. He held no hatred even for British as he disclosed publicly. He referred to Jesus's message of universal love in the quote "Love your enemy as yourself" many a times and followed it sincerely. This made some aggressive youngsters think that Gandhi was doing injustice to freedom movement. Nothing can be further from truth. No other person has contributed as much as he did to cause of Indian freedom and nation building.
-> He has also put his philosophy about several other subjects though not as elaborately as he did on the above ones
-> Environmental:
He was for environmental sustainability when it was the time for rapid industrialization and the term still not very popular as reflected in his often quoted saying "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed"
-> Economic:
He said he was for mechanization as long as it is welfare of everybody and doesn't lead to concentration of wealth. But self-sufficient village was foundation of his economic thought.
-> Gender equality:
Gandhi has encouraged women to work in public sphere and always asked them to come out in support of national movement. It is at his insistence that Sarojini Naidu was made Congress President in 1925. He said woman is in no way inferior to man and should be treated as an absolute equal in all matters. But this is an evolutionary thought as can be seen in treatment of his wife. In South Africa, he was a very dominating husband who once asked her to leave because she didn't listen to him. Over the time as he grew, his treatment towards her became more of a friendly and equal one.
Political Achievements:
i) Making freedom movement truly a mass movement:
Freedom movement before 1915 was confined to middle class intellectuals and to few cities like Bombay and Calcutta. It is with his arrival and his non-cooperation movement that freedom movement has become a truly mass movement. Since then, it has stayed that way till Independence in 1947.
ii) Uniting various sections
He could unite all the sections and put up united Hindu-Muslim front during Non-cooperation movement. Though this unity has weakened gradually, he could keep united sections of Leftists like Nehru, moderates who wanted constitutional reform, Gandhians like Patel who wanted mass movements, conservatives like Rajaji within umbrella of Congress and fight unitedly.
iii) Successful campaigns for political changes
His campaigns of Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience, Quit India and several other local movements like Champaran were successful in progressing cause of Indian Independence.
iv) Leading Congress
Though he has resigned in 1934 from Congress, Gandhi continued to be unofficial leader for Congress till his demise and guided Congress, which may not be the only organization but certainly most effective and broad-based organization of our freedom movement.
v) Stopping communal riots during partition
Gandhi has made herculean effort to stop communal riots during partition. Occupied with the task, he didn't even take part in Independence day celebrations on August 15th, 1947. He was successful in stopping the riots in Bengal. Lord Mountbatten has written appreciating Gandhi saying he has achieved what 55,000 policemen failed to do in Punjab. This is one of the most understated achievement of Gandhi and in my opinion, definitely his finest achievement.
On his way to Punjab to build communal harmony, he was killed in Delhi. On the shock of his death, communal riots all over have ceased. He rendered service to the nation even in death.
Mixed Achievements (Political and Philosophical):
It is difficult to draw hard distinctions between philosophy and politics of Gandhi because he always strove to have no difference in thought and deed. We have many people who are either great philosophers or who are great politicians. But Gandhi is a rare example of philosopher politician. So, we do see lot of overlap between his philosophy and politics.
Below are few more examples of it.
i) Inter-religious harmony:
Gandhi has requested for religious tolerance not only because it is essential for a united India but also on moral ground that different religions are different ways to God and all religions deserve equal respect.
ii) Against untouchability:
There are many understated achievements of Gandhi in his life. His campaign against untouchability is definitely one of them. In 1930s, he has focused his efforts entirely on eradicating untouchability though with a limited success. At one point, Nehru and Patel asked Gandhi to focus more on politics instead of social reform which he has declined. His opposition to untouchability might be partly coming from the need to unite Hindus but it is also because it is against humanity which is basis for his moral thought.
iii) Peaceful protest
He said that any mass movement at the scale of India has to be necessarily non-violent. This pragmatic necessity, along with his love for non-violence has lead to his novel weapon of Satyagraha.
iv) Democracy
Equality logically follows the thought of universal love and humanity. So, Gandhi wanted India to be a democracy and laid strong foundations by making Congress a democratic organization.
Argument - "Non-violence delayed Indian freedom":
There is an argument that Gandhi with his emphasis on non-violence has delayed Indian Independence. This argument is not without substance. Gandhi has put non-violence as means above the end goal i.e Independence. His cancellation of Non-cooperation movement due to violence at Chauri Chaura is an example. For him means were as important as the ends.
This might seem absurd to some people. But careful examination will help us understand the merit of the argument.
If Independence was the ultimate goal for us, we can say Gandhi erred in his thinking. But is Independence the final goal for us or is it the development, political stability and prosperity of the nation? One might argue that all these will necessarily follow Independence. This is not true.
Examination of the nations that became independent in 1950s, 1960s will reveal the success that is India. We are one of the few countries to remain a democracy throughout and never slip into dictatorship. Many countries have seen bloody civil wars over issues like language, religion including our neighbors of Pakistan(Urdu and Bengal languages), Sri Lanka ( Tamils and Sinhalese). India is rightly called continent sized country with many languages, religions, castes etc. But sense of national unity is so strong that talk of secession is seldom and civil war is never seen. Successful democracy of this kind could only be established by a broad based national movement which isn't violent.
Every country in the world has got its Independence but some of them are on their way to self-destruction and some of them are on their way to progress. Independence at any cost was not the goal of Mahatma Gandhi and in my opinion very wisely so.
Conclusion:
Overall Gandhi was a remarkable man with many virtues and success with very few flaws and failures. His success as a politician in India and as a philosopher throughout the world is profound.
I will end with the below quote of Ramachandra Guha which aptly describes Mahatma
"Beyond satyagraha, interfaith harmony, environmental responsibility, the ending of British Empire, and the deligitimizing of untouchability, the practice of, and the largely successful quest for, truth may in fact be Gandhi's most remarkable achievement"
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