Special Issue on Gandhi - DDCE, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
Special Issue on Gandhi - DDCE, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
Special Issue on Gandhi - DDCE, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
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A Journal of Arts, Humanities & Management<br />
SPECIAL BROADISSUE THEME : EDUCATION ON GANDHI<br />
Board of Editors<br />
Susmit Pani, M.A, Ph.D<br />
Niranjan Pani, M.Phil, Ph.D<br />
Prajna P Panigrahi, M.A, Ph.D<br />
Mamata R Behera, M.A, Ph.D<br />
<strong>DDCE</strong><br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> for All<br />
<strong>DDCE</strong>, UTKAL UNIVERSITY, BHUBANESWAR, INDIA<br />
Vol - I, 2008
Editorial Board<br />
Prof. S.P. Pani,<br />
Director,<strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.<br />
Dr. N. Pani,<br />
Reader, Public Administrati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.<br />
Dr. M.R. Behera<br />
Lecturer in Oriya, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.<br />
Dr. P.P. Panigrahi<br />
Executive Editor<br />
Lecturer in English, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.<br />
Copyright :<br />
© <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong><br />
Authors bear resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for the c<strong>on</strong>tents and views expressed by them.<br />
Directorate of Distance & C<strong>on</strong>tinuing Educati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
does not bear any resp<strong>on</strong>sibility.<br />
Published by :<br />
Director,<br />
Directorate of Distance & C<strong>on</strong>tinuing Educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
<strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Vanivihar,<br />
<strong>Bhubaneswar</strong> – 751007.<br />
India.<br />
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ii
EDITORIAL .....<br />
To-day there is a renewed interest in Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Cinema makers,<br />
envir<strong>on</strong>mentalists, social activitists, political leaders, developmental ec<strong>on</strong>omists,<br />
educators, social scientists and a host of others are innovatively using and advocating<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideals to address the challenges of changing world. In the last decade,<br />
numerous biographies of <strong>Gandhi</strong> have appeared, placing him in new light and focus.<br />
The youth in particular no l<strong>on</strong>ger reject <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a theoretician, a n<strong>on</strong>-practical<br />
practiti<strong>on</strong>er of ethics and at the best an excepti<strong>on</strong>al individual impossible to emulate.<br />
Young politicians are even trying to free <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm of the fads and are attempting to<br />
carry forward the essence of <strong>Gandhi</strong> in politics. Increasing globalizati<strong>on</strong>, neo-capitalism<br />
and the booming service sector is not without c<strong>on</strong>cern for quality of life for the majority<br />
and respect for local requirements, culture and c<strong>on</strong>cerns. Many essential <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
principles are echoed without the use of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name. It seems <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s influence<br />
was underestimated in the past. He is not limited to India, not limited to political<br />
movements and he did not create a new religi<strong>on</strong>. In keeping with the renewed interest<br />
in <strong>Gandhi</strong>, ‘Search’ chose this theme for the present issue.<br />
Unlike earlier editorials no value judgement and opini<strong>on</strong> is expressed <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Articles cover aspects of Literature, Educati<strong>on</strong>, Management and Development; World<br />
Order and Peace and Thought. We hope the articles would generate enough interest in<br />
the readers. We look forward to a lively feedback from readers. Though the treatment<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong> is varied, almost all the articles come from my academic partners, colleagues<br />
and scholars and as such there is a syncretistic treatment to an extent. We place <strong>on</strong><br />
record our deep sense of appreciati<strong>on</strong> for Prof. L.N.Misra our Vice-Chancellor for his<br />
enthusiastic involvement and support.<br />
On behalf of the Government of Orissa <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> is organizing a State<br />
Level Seminar <strong>on</strong>, ‘GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY AND ITS IMPACT ON MODERN<br />
SOCIETY IN THE DIRECTION OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND UNIVERSAL<br />
BROTHERHOOD’, <strong>on</strong> 20th January, 2008. This special issue of ‘Search’ is being<br />
released <strong>on</strong> this occasi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
iii<br />
S.P. Pani
A TRIBUTE TO GANDHI<br />
“All mankind is richer for the life and legacy of Mohandas K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He was a<br />
great s<strong>on</strong> of India who struggled for the freedom of his nati<strong>on</strong> and for the spiritual and<br />
material well-being of his people. He was an apostle of n<strong>on</strong>-violence who espoused<br />
the c<strong>on</strong>cept that goodness dwells in all men and who ennobled both his cause and<br />
country by his work.<br />
But as with all great movers of history, his influence was not c<strong>on</strong>fined to India<br />
al<strong>on</strong>e. His inspiring profile captivated the world. Here, in America, we observed the<br />
dramatic unfolding of the Mahatma’s life with interest and hope. We saw in him the<br />
enrichment of individual pers<strong>on</strong>ality and human dignity by thoughts and ideas generated<br />
afar. An American, Henry David Thoreau, provided some of the inspirati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> which<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> drew. And in turn, this generati<strong>on</strong> of Americans, earnestly seeking to further<br />
the civil rights movement, has adopted much of the philosophy and many of the<br />
techniques moulded and refined by the Indian leader.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> believed the world could rec<strong>on</strong>cile its differences without resort to hate<br />
and violence. Men are brothers to each other, he thought. And our aim must be to help<br />
men act more like brothers: to prefer compassi<strong>on</strong> over intolerance, to elevate generosity<br />
above greed, to cast out cruelty for justice. Twenty years after his death, with the world<br />
still beset by divisiveness and anger, the need for the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an message is greater<br />
than ever. One of his favorite Christian hymns was “Lead, Kindly light, amid the<br />
encircling gloom”. The light of Mohandas K. <strong>Gandhi</strong> burns brightly still as a beac<strong>on</strong><br />
for Indians, for Americans, and for all the world.”<br />
iv<br />
President<br />
Lynd<strong>on</strong> B. Johns<strong>on</strong>
C<strong>on</strong>tents<br />
1. <strong>Gandhi</strong> And C<strong>on</strong>flict Resoluti<strong>on</strong>: A Rethinking P. K. Nayak 1<br />
2. Relevance Of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Principles:<br />
With Reference To C<strong>on</strong>temporary Indian<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omy Under Globalisati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Dipak Ranjan Das 7<br />
3. Gita: <strong>Gandhi</strong> And N<strong>on</strong> Violence A.N. Mishra 15<br />
4. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> And World Peace B. Satapathy 24<br />
5. <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri Revisited : Reflecti<strong>on</strong>s On<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> - A Performed Leader<br />
N. Pani 35<br />
6. Lage Raho Muna Bhai (LRMB) Technique :<br />
Ic<strong>on</strong> Of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri<br />
Charubala Pani 49<br />
7. <strong>Gandhi</strong> On The First World War Santosh Kumar Sethi 55<br />
8. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s Visit To Orissa - Its Impact Sabita Kar 63<br />
9. The Invaluable Gift Biraj Mohan Das 68<br />
10. Peoples <strong>Gandhi</strong>: The Man And The Mahatma Suryakant Nath 71<br />
11. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Theories Of Educati<strong>on</strong> S.P.Pani 80<br />
12. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Model Of Extensi<strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> : A Study Sarita Mishra 96<br />
13. <strong>Gandhi</strong> And Marx<br />
A Study Of Comparative Political Philosophy<br />
Ganeswar Nayak 122<br />
14. English Literature And Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>:<br />
Select Review Of Literature<br />
Geeta Satapathy 131<br />
15. Poetics Of Protest : <strong>Gandhi</strong> And Indian English Novels A. J. Khan<br />
Z. Jabeen<br />
148<br />
16. <strong>Gandhi</strong> As An Invisible Force<br />
In Raja Rao’s Kanthapura<br />
P. P. Panigrahi 152<br />
17. “Mira And The Mahatma” By Sudhir Kakar: A Review Priyadarshi Kar 157<br />
18. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s C<strong>on</strong>cept of Gram Swaraj : Role and Deenabandhu Das 160<br />
Relevance of Khadi and Village Industries in a<br />
Sustainable Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Order<br />
v
Guidelines for c<strong>on</strong>tributors :<br />
Papers are invited for<br />
A Journal of Arts, Humanities & Management<br />
1. The Broad Themes for up coming issues are and ORISSA GENDER STUDIES<br />
(including feminism).<br />
2. Each paper be prefaced with an abstract not exceeding 300 words.<br />
3. The article should be within 6000 words including references etc. It should relate<br />
to the BROAD THEME OF THE COMING ISSUES.<br />
4. MLA style sheet or Chicago style sheet should be strictly followed.<br />
5. Please use MSword and e-mail the article to : searchpolly72@yahoo.com. Send a<br />
hard copy by post in c<strong>on</strong>firmati<strong>on</strong>. Articles shall not be returned, but acceptance<br />
shall be intimated as so<strong>on</strong> as possible. C<strong>on</strong>tact Dr. P.P. Panigrahi, Lecturer in<br />
English, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>-751007, India, for further details. You<br />
may reach Dr. P. P. Panigrahi at searchpolly72@yahoo.com<br />
6. Authors may suggest names of Refrees who are specialists in the field.<br />
7. Published material shall not be c<strong>on</strong>sidered. However, Papers published earlier in<br />
abstract format in proceedings of Seminars , C<strong>on</strong>ferences and Workshops may be<br />
sent. Such details may be provided by the authors.<br />
8. Authors are resp<strong>on</strong>sible for c<strong>on</strong>tents and views expressed in the article and<br />
<strong>DDCE</strong> shall bear no resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for the same.<br />
vi
GANDHI AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION: A RETHINKING<br />
* Reader, Dept. of History, Government College, BOMDILA, Arunachal Pradesh-790001<br />
1<br />
P. K. Nayak*<br />
The present century we live in is a century of variati<strong>on</strong>s. Ours are times in the plural.<br />
We live in the plurality of times. We live many different histories with our narrow and<br />
sectarian individualities and individualist ambiti<strong>on</strong>s. The ambiti<strong>on</strong> of the rich and the<br />
poor alike, overriding all differences of status and castes, is to enjoy the good things of<br />
life. Ours is a c<strong>on</strong>sumerist culture, not satiated by any amount of material possessi<strong>on</strong>s and<br />
enjoyments, finding its way out in the theory of competiti<strong>on</strong>. Competiti<strong>on</strong> sets in moti<strong>on</strong><br />
the c<strong>on</strong>flict which further provokes violence. The world is getting polarized in this line<br />
affecting the human values from macro to the micro level.<br />
How fast we go nuclear is the utmost c<strong>on</strong>cern of the nati<strong>on</strong>s today. Nature’s beauty<br />
is now at the mercy of the power hungers. The positive and purposeful living of human<br />
beings is thwarted, buffeted too. In this c<strong>on</strong>text, <strong>Gandhi</strong>an way of looking at things and<br />
solving the problems through his principles have become a reality. Of course, to such a<br />
culture, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life and times will indeed come as a voice from the wilderness, a voice<br />
which is irrelevant and meaningless, until the present age is c<strong>on</strong>verted from its youthful<br />
folly to the wisdom that voice represents. Youth has to grow into maturity. India will<br />
rediscover its own <strong>Gandhi</strong>an heritage of perennial wisdom which it had “loved l<strong>on</strong>g since<br />
and lost awhile”. 1 That discovery will mean a new kind of behaviour pattern, different<br />
from the selfishly c<strong>on</strong>sumerist behaviour, ensuring a corresp<strong>on</strong>dingly altruistic social<br />
structure as well.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>flict has been a c<strong>on</strong>stant phenomen<strong>on</strong> in the history of human race. ‘War is the<br />
father of all things’ declared Heraclitus in his famous aphorism by which he meant that<br />
evoluti<strong>on</strong> in the universe due solely to its c<strong>on</strong>flicting elements, procreating new things in<br />
turn. 2 The Hegelian dialectic too does support it. In the 19th century the theory of c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
underwent important transformati<strong>on</strong> under Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. According<br />
to biological formula of Darwin, species evolve by a mode of ‘natural selecti<strong>on</strong>’ by which<br />
nature eliminates the undesirable elements. 3 So there is a ceaseless ‘struggle for existence’<br />
giving rise to new varieties. Applying this biological finding to arena of sociology of<br />
human behaviour, Darwin c<strong>on</strong>cluded that even in the realm of ideas and interest c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
opens up new streams of thought and acti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
But Darwin in his obsessi<strong>on</strong> with struggle, completely ignores the element of<br />
cooperati<strong>on</strong> both in biological and sociological realms, the harm<strong>on</strong>ious blend that attracts<br />
the elements of nature towards each other and holds them together. <strong>Gandhi</strong> admits that<br />
there are “repulsi<strong>on</strong>s enough in nature”. But he adds, “She lives by attracti<strong>on</strong>. Mutual love<br />
enables nature to persist. Man does live by destructi<strong>on</strong>. Self love compels regards for
others. Nati<strong>on</strong>s cohere because of the mutual regard am<strong>on</strong>g individuals composing them.<br />
Some day we must extend the nati<strong>on</strong>al law to the universe, even as we have extended<br />
family laws to form nati<strong>on</strong>s a larger family”. 4 It is under such background that this paper<br />
based <strong>on</strong> both primary and sec<strong>on</strong>dary sources has grown up.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s sources of inspirati<strong>on</strong> titling him the apostle of truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
need special menti<strong>on</strong> here. Three ‘moderns’ as <strong>Gandhi</strong> used to say “left a deep impressi<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> his life and captivated him; Raichandbhai by his living c<strong>on</strong>tact, Tolstoy by his book<br />
The Kingdom of God is Within You and Ruskin by his Unto this Last.” 5 Besides Tolstoy<br />
and Ruskin, he was influenced by Thoreau also. Of these three, <strong>on</strong>e was Russian, the other<br />
English, and the thirdAmerican. With regard to the influence of the three western thinkers,<br />
the American writers, Louis Fischer and Joan B<strong>on</strong>durant, said that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was already<br />
influenced by the ideas which were later c<strong>on</strong>firmed by the teachings of these western<br />
writers. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had already in the embry<strong>on</strong>ic stage the ideas and the ideals that these<br />
philosophers were preaching; what the c<strong>on</strong>tact with their philosophy did was to strengthen<br />
his c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s by giving an authority and sancti<strong>on</strong> to his beliefs. 6<br />
To <strong>Gandhi</strong>, cooperati<strong>on</strong> and harm<strong>on</strong>y rather than c<strong>on</strong>flict and struggle c<strong>on</strong>stitute the<br />
fundamental law of the universe. C<strong>on</strong>flicts occur more as temporary irregularities in the<br />
even and ordered flow of life, rather than as universal and ceaseless phenomena. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
dialectic takes man as the centre of reas<strong>on</strong> and provides for a technique of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong><br />
whereby <strong>on</strong>e or both sides of a c<strong>on</strong>flict can resolve the antim<strong>on</strong>y into a reinterpretati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
This can lead to what is termed as a ‘creative resoluti<strong>on</strong> of c<strong>on</strong>flict’. 7 <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that<br />
a c<strong>on</strong>flict can be creatively resolved <strong>on</strong>ly when peace is taken to be a positive c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
rather than a negative <strong>on</strong>e.<br />
This negative c<strong>on</strong>cept of peace is standard western formulati<strong>on</strong> to which Johan<br />
Galtung also subscribes when he defines ‘resoluti<strong>on</strong> of c<strong>on</strong>flict’ as absence of c<strong>on</strong>flict. 8<br />
Hence the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an sense of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> would mean not merely the eliminati<strong>on</strong><br />
of maladjustment, but also progressing towards a better and more meaningful readjustment.<br />
When violent relati<strong>on</strong>ship is transformed into a n<strong>on</strong>-violent <strong>on</strong>e and the energies of the<br />
opp<strong>on</strong>ents are harnessed to achieve a higher goal, a creative resoluti<strong>on</strong> of c<strong>on</strong>flict is reached<br />
at. <strong>Gandhi</strong> does not regard a c<strong>on</strong>flict as an antag<strong>on</strong>ism between two, but takes it as a<br />
product of the faulty system. The means, therefore, must develop to change the system<br />
itself eliminating any future possibility of c<strong>on</strong>flict. Social transformati<strong>on</strong> of the c<strong>on</strong>flicting<br />
parties works miracle in this regard.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> does not believe that violence is embedded in human nature. To him, man is<br />
essentially peace-loving, co-operative and caring for others. And goodness in man can be<br />
aroused, articulated and strengthened. Calling an enemy a brother, showing somebody the<br />
left if slapped <strong>on</strong> right cheek, blaming not the opp<strong>on</strong>ent but the situati<strong>on</strong> and seeking to<br />
enlist the cooperati<strong>on</strong> of opp<strong>on</strong>ent in restructuring it, surely put the opp<strong>on</strong>ent into a<br />
2
transformati<strong>on</strong>. He thinks the Hindu-Muslim quarrels have often been due to the interventi<strong>on</strong><br />
of lawyers. He wants all people to settle their own quarrels; “men were less unmanly if<br />
they their disputes either by fighting or by asking their relatives to decide them. They<br />
became more unmanly and cowardly when they resorted to the course of Law. It is a sign<br />
of savagery to settle disputes by fighting. It is not the less so by asking a third party to<br />
decide between you and me. The parties al<strong>on</strong>e know who is right and therefore they ought<br />
to settle it”. 9<br />
If <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s percepti<strong>on</strong> as regard the root of c<strong>on</strong>flict is to be described, it should be<br />
Himsa or Violence. <strong>Gandhi</strong> uses the word in a number of senses so much as it is difficult<br />
to identify it with the traditi<strong>on</strong>al meaning. To him, nobody has an access to absolute truth,<br />
but has access to relative truth. Therefore, when pers<strong>on</strong>s or groups fight, it involves a<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict between different sets of relative truths. And in order to resolve the c<strong>on</strong>flict, these<br />
sets of relative truths are to be synthesized so that it becomes an improvement up<strong>on</strong> each<br />
of its c<strong>on</strong>stituents which leads towards the absolute truth, though not the absolute <strong>on</strong>e<br />
itself.<br />
Against such a backdrop <strong>Gandhi</strong> rejects the employment of violence as a means in<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong>. Since nobody represents the absolute truth, no <strong>on</strong>e has also the rights<br />
to force his opini<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> others which, in other words, entails rejecti<strong>on</strong> of violence. Therefore,<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> should necessarily be achieved through peaceful negotiati<strong>on</strong>s. 10 <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
is not c<strong>on</strong>vinced by the argument that there may be party to a c<strong>on</strong>flict which is so corrupt<br />
that it does not represent even a single fracti<strong>on</strong> of a truth. In that case it needs to be totally<br />
suppressed.<br />
Blanche Wats<strong>on</strong> also corroborates <strong>Gandhi</strong>an objectives of n<strong>on</strong>-violence against<br />
violence. He puts “Repressi<strong>on</strong> has never worked. I challenge anybody to point me to a<br />
single episode in either ancient or modern history, which proves that repressi<strong>on</strong> has even<br />
<strong>on</strong>ce achieved the end to which it has been directed. This policy has certainly been no<br />
success in English hands. It failed in America in 1775; it failed in English domestic affairs<br />
in the ‘20s and the ‘40s of the last century; it failed in South Africa after the Boer War; it<br />
failed in Ireland yesterday; and it will fail in India tomorrow. If repressi<strong>on</strong> succeeds in<br />
anything, it is in advertising the cause of the enemy”. 11<br />
Repressi<strong>on</strong> provokes c<strong>on</strong>flict and a soluti<strong>on</strong> is never reached at. Further, the synthesis<br />
of the two opposing claims in c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> does not necessarily imply partial<br />
surrendering of original claims from both the sides. In other words, a synthesis is not a<br />
compromise as understood in the modern parlance in negotiati<strong>on</strong>s. The <strong>on</strong>ly thing that a<br />
synthesis ensures is an increased hold over the truth. Thus, a n<strong>on</strong>-violent c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong><br />
in the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an sense departs from the traditi<strong>on</strong>al sense in that there is no sacrificing of<br />
positi<strong>on</strong>, no c<strong>on</strong>cessi<strong>on</strong> to any party, and no victory in the sense of triumph of <strong>on</strong>e party<br />
over the other. A synthesis is a triumph for both the parties, because this higher realizati<strong>on</strong><br />
3
of truth makes a victory of the situati<strong>on</strong> which leads to the c<strong>on</strong>flict possible. Thus, a<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict should not be viewed as a naked c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>tati<strong>on</strong> of predetermined objectives from<br />
which departures can not be made. The negotiators, <strong>on</strong> the other hand, should proceed<br />
with an open mind or heart, prepared to c<strong>on</strong>vince and to be c<strong>on</strong>vinced.<br />
This is a fact that there stands a relati<strong>on</strong> between social structure and techniques of<br />
resolving c<strong>on</strong>flicts. But this should not mean that such a society should be established<br />
before this technique is put to practice. The requirement of an un-<strong>Gandhi</strong>an technique<br />
which is now prevalent will tend to push the society further away from a desirable social<br />
order. That is why <strong>Gandhi</strong> adopted his technique against the British without waiting for<br />
his ideal society to materialize. And also when he was prescribing his technique for<br />
Independent India, he did not have the slightest illusi<strong>on</strong> that such a society was in the<br />
offing. Therefore, a <strong>Gandhi</strong>an soluti<strong>on</strong> to this social order first or technique first problem<br />
is that while the technique is being practiced, simultaneous efforts should also be made,<br />
through c<strong>on</strong>structive programmes to build up a n<strong>on</strong>-violent social order. 12<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had never attempted to put his ideas <strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>flict and its soluti<strong>on</strong> in a wellsynthesized<br />
manner. They lie scattered in his works and <strong>on</strong>e has to go into the whole lot to<br />
present them cohesively. He suggests different stages of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong>s with each<br />
stage having a separate course of c<strong>on</strong>duct. Each stage has to be taken up <strong>on</strong>ly after the<br />
failure of the preceding <strong>on</strong>e. If persuasi<strong>on</strong> through reas<strong>on</strong> or negotiati<strong>on</strong> holds the first<br />
stage, self- suffering becomes the sec<strong>on</strong>d <strong>on</strong>e. It is to be remembered that parties to a<br />
negotiati<strong>on</strong> should be unprejudiced to the maximum extent possible and must have complete<br />
understanding of the c<strong>on</strong>flict situati<strong>on</strong> in general and of the objectives to be attained in<br />
particular.<br />
Stressing up<strong>on</strong> self –suffering <strong>Gandhi</strong> writes, “I have found that mere appeal to<br />
reas<strong>on</strong> does not answer where prejudices are age-l<strong>on</strong>g and based <strong>on</strong> supposed religious<br />
authority. Reas<strong>on</strong> has to be strengthened by suffering and suffering opens the eyes of<br />
understanding”. 13 B<strong>on</strong>durant calls this mechanism of self-suffering as “shock-therapy” 14<br />
up<strong>on</strong> the opp<strong>on</strong>ent, Jacques Maritain sees in it <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ‘real genius’ 15 and Blanche Wats<strong>on</strong><br />
calls it ‘the law of c<strong>on</strong>scious suffering’. 16<br />
Wats<strong>on</strong> attributes, “In his work as a reformer he has evaded no penalty, but has<br />
accepted gladly the punishments imposed up<strong>on</strong> him as <strong>on</strong>ly so many weap<strong>on</strong>s to his hand.<br />
He has faced an assassin without flinching. Four times, in South Africa and in India, he<br />
has been impris<strong>on</strong>ed. Thrice he has been beaten by mobs, and <strong>on</strong>ce left pr<strong>on</strong>e in the gutter<br />
as <strong>on</strong>e dead. His body bears the stripes of the whips with which he has been lashed, his<br />
wrists and ankles the marks of the chains with which he has been bound for hours together<br />
to the ir<strong>on</strong> bars of his cell. And all because sacrifice has been deliberately chosen as the<br />
law of his life and the sword of his fray.” 17<br />
4
<strong>Gandhi</strong> also holds a religious view of self-suffering. Most of the religi<strong>on</strong>s advocate<br />
self-suffering instead of causing harm to others. If self-suffering fails to resolve the c<strong>on</strong>flict,<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> would prescribe for ‘n<strong>on</strong>-violent direct acti<strong>on</strong>’ which is characterized by such<br />
tools as n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> and civil disobedience as the sphere of c<strong>on</strong>flict may be, that is to<br />
say that while civil disobedience can be undertaken <strong>on</strong>ly against a governmental authority,<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> can be applied in cases of pers<strong>on</strong>al and group c<strong>on</strong>flict also.<br />
Clarence Case prefers to put it as “n<strong>on</strong>-violent coerci<strong>on</strong>” rather than “n<strong>on</strong>-violent<br />
direct acti<strong>on</strong>”. He goes to deny a c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> in terms of n<strong>on</strong>-violent coerci<strong>on</strong> and<br />
comments that the combinati<strong>on</strong> of n<strong>on</strong>-violence and coerci<strong>on</strong> “is not the outcome of a<br />
prec<strong>on</strong>ceived noti<strong>on</strong> but represents a working arrangement.” 18 But this is hardly applicable<br />
in the light of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideas <strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong>. Coerci<strong>on</strong> involves intimidati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
physical or psychological and <strong>Gandhi</strong> would not prescribe for such a course which is<br />
likely to make the opp<strong>on</strong>ent more and more obdurate and less amenable to see the reas<strong>on</strong><br />
in the Satyagrahi.<br />
For him Satyagraha had deep linkage with the brotherhood of man. It discards the<br />
biological c<strong>on</strong>cept of the struggle for human existence as well as the survival of the fittest.<br />
It believes in love, respect, mutual help and cooperati<strong>on</strong> in the work for the welfare of our<br />
society as a whole. Ultimately, it is the c<strong>on</strong>cept of human progress and advancement in<br />
social, ec<strong>on</strong>omic and other fields. He opines that evil can not be cured by evil, nor hate<br />
c<strong>on</strong>quered by hate. ‘It is n<strong>on</strong>-violence if we merely love those that love us. It is n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this<br />
grand law of love. Love of the hater is the most difficult of all. But by the grace of God<br />
even this most difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish if we want to do it.’ 19<br />
Incidence of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> is also reflected in case of his own pers<strong>on</strong>ality being<br />
understood as an ic<strong>on</strong> or God by his blind followers. Vinoba Bhave puts, “<strong>Gandhi</strong> warned<br />
every <strong>on</strong>e of us against being a blind devotee of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, because this country is given to<br />
hero-worship. It should be comm<strong>on</strong>ly understood that he was a man and he must be allowed<br />
to remain a man. Our good lies in his remaining a man. On the other hand, if we impose<br />
godhood up<strong>on</strong> him no good would come of it and we would have lost a human ideal. We<br />
shall <strong>on</strong>ly lose by turning him into God. We shall <strong>on</strong>ly be adding to the plethora of sects<br />
that already exists. Let, therefore, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji remain what he was, an ideal man”. 20<br />
On c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> never put anything as a diehard theoretician. He himself<br />
practised what he propagated and in <strong>on</strong>e sphere or the other he had put into practice all the<br />
modes of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> and that with a fair measure of success. His opp<strong>on</strong>ents at<br />
various stages have included even his wife, Kasturba, the Natal Government in South<br />
Africa, the Ahmedabad Mill owners and of course, the British Government, and his<br />
successes <strong>on</strong> all these fr<strong>on</strong>ts are hardly questi<strong>on</strong>ed.<br />
5
To sum up, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life was a saga of sadhana, of incessant efforts towards achieving<br />
moral perfecti<strong>on</strong>. He was a man of acti<strong>on</strong>, an activist and as such plunged himself into the<br />
vortex of social activism. He never had the slightest noti<strong>on</strong> of becoming a great man <strong>on</strong>e<br />
day. He simply attended to what came before him; a series of crises followed <strong>on</strong>e after the<br />
other. And he simply resp<strong>on</strong>ded to them. With the spark of genius that nature had endowed<br />
with him, he would have made a mark for himself in any sphere of life. It was not merely<br />
the circumstances but his inner strength to face them squarely that led to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s greatness<br />
which placed him ‘at the pinnacle of magnificence’. 21 <strong>Gandhi</strong>an device of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong><br />
has not been claimed a basic technique. Even <strong>Gandhi</strong> also agreed to at. But we believe that<br />
suitably getting adopted to the present day circumstances may prove to be <strong>on</strong>e of the most<br />
viable techniques of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
References<br />
1. Merry Kappen (ed.), <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Social Acti<strong>on</strong> Today, New Delhi,1990, p.12.<br />
2. Karnal Singh (ed.), <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Directi<strong>on</strong> to the Society at Cross-roads, Patna, 1991,<br />
p.65.<br />
3. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species By Means of Selecti<strong>on</strong> of the Preservati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
Savoured Races in the Struggle For Life, England, 1968, p.31.<br />
4. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Young India, 2 March 1928.<br />
5. Shri Ram Sharma, <strong>Gandhi</strong> The Man and The Mahatma, Chandigarh, 1985, p.23.<br />
6. Ibid., p.25.<br />
7. Joan B<strong>on</strong>durant, C<strong>on</strong>quest of Violence: The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy of C<strong>on</strong>flict,<br />
L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>, 1958, p.199.<br />
8. Karnal Singh, op.cit., p.66.<br />
9. C. Shankaran Nair, <strong>Gandhi</strong> And Anarchy, New Delhi, 1922 (Reproduced, 1995),<br />
p.6.<br />
10. Kenneth Boulcing, C<strong>on</strong>flict and Defence: A General Theory, New York, 1962, p.304.<br />
11. Blanche Wats<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong> And N<strong>on</strong>-Violent Resistance, New Delhi, Reprint, 1989,<br />
pp.516-17.<br />
12. S. C. Gangal, The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Way To World Peace, Bombay, 1960, pp.71-114.<br />
13. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Young India, 19 March 1925.<br />
14. B<strong>on</strong>durant, op.cit., p.229.<br />
15. J. Maritain, Man And the State, Chicago,1951, p.70.<br />
16. Wats<strong>on</strong>, op.cit., p.530.<br />
17. Ibid., pp.530-31.<br />
18. Clarence M. Case, N<strong>on</strong>-Violent Coerci<strong>on</strong>: A Study in Methods of Social Pressure,<br />
L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>, 1923, p.3.<br />
19. S. R. Bakshi, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, New Delhi, 1990, pp.55-56.<br />
20. K. Shah(ed.), Vinoba <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>, p.11.<br />
21. Shri Ram Sharma, op.cit., p.28.<br />
6
RELEVANCE OF GANDHIAN ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES:<br />
WITH REFERENCE TO CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ECONOMY UNDER GLOBALISATION.<br />
7<br />
Dipak Ranjan Das.*<br />
The study of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> has become a matter of historical importance for the<br />
present youth mass. The people who were inspired by the ideals of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> to<br />
fight for the independence of the country and had sacrificed a lot, few of them survive<br />
now. Moreover the number of people who had pers<strong>on</strong>ally come in c<strong>on</strong>tact with Mahatma<br />
is <strong>on</strong> the steady decline. On the other hand, there has been an increasing awareness of<br />
‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm’throughout the world in modern times. The Govt. of SouthAfrica where <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
started his revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary career and had experimented with the idea of n<strong>on</strong>-violence, is<br />
setting different memorials in h<strong>on</strong>our of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the tenets of humanism which<br />
were champi<strong>on</strong>ed by Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinue to inspire the masses of youth in the<br />
countries ranging from materialistic United States to the communist China. This is a matter<br />
of pride for India. But it is a matter of great regret that <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm is gradually losing its<br />
hold in the country of its origin. Efforts should be initiated to understand and apply<br />
‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm’ in practical fields.<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> had significantly c<strong>on</strong>tributed to different spheres of knowledge<br />
and India would be immensely benefited by the real applicati<strong>on</strong> of some of these ideas in<br />
the fields of ec<strong>on</strong>omics, polity and social affairs. The present paper aims at highlighting<br />
the relevance of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omic principles with special reference to c<strong>on</strong>temporary<br />
Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy under globalizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> did not receive any formal training in Ec<strong>on</strong>omics nor did he study much<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omics <strong>on</strong> his own. His busy political life left little time for reading. Since moral<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>s weighed heavily with <strong>Gandhi</strong> in everything he did, his ec<strong>on</strong>omic ideas<br />
were influenced not so much by ec<strong>on</strong>omic treatises as by his readings of such books as<br />
Ruskin’s ‘Unto This Last’., Tolstoy’s ‘The kingdom of God is Within’ ‘The Bible’, ‘The<br />
Upanishad’, and ‘The Bhagabad Gita’. They were also distilled from his valuable<br />
experience. So it is not surprising that his ec<strong>on</strong>omic ideas are not presented in the form of<br />
a scientific or scholarly manner with jarg<strong>on</strong>s of ec<strong>on</strong>omics. Nevertheless, it is possible to<br />
gather a c<strong>on</strong>sistent body of knowledge in ec<strong>on</strong>omics from his scattered writings and<br />
speeches which is as distinctive as to merit the name ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Ec<strong>on</strong>omics’. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omics has all time relevance with remarkable originality and analytical potency of<br />
very high order.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ec<strong>on</strong>omic ideas were fundamentally man-centered and practically based<br />
<strong>on</strong> a set of interrelated c<strong>on</strong>cepts characterised by simplicity, self-sufficiency and selfreliance.<br />
The basic c<strong>on</strong>cepts inherent in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omics are village self- sufficiency,<br />
*Head, Department of Ec<strong>on</strong>omics, Aer<strong>on</strong>autics College, Sunabeda-763002(Orissa)
Swadeshi, trusteeship, bread-labour, decentralizati<strong>on</strong>, co-operative principles, appropriate<br />
technology etc. and these have elements of inter-dependence so that taken together, they<br />
form a coherent system and in spirit., strive for man’s welfare by keeping ethics as their<br />
essence and social welfare as prime objective. Some important c<strong>on</strong>cepts of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omics are given below.<br />
Village self-sufficiency:<br />
To <strong>Gandhi</strong>, every village must be ec<strong>on</strong>omically self-sufficient at least in the<br />
producti<strong>on</strong> of their basic physical needs and for this he needed producti<strong>on</strong> by masses<br />
instead of mass producti<strong>on</strong> by machines. It was the <strong>on</strong>ly viable basis of stable ec<strong>on</strong>omy,<br />
since a system of localized producti<strong>on</strong> and distributi<strong>on</strong> would not suffer from drastic inflati<strong>on</strong><br />
and recessi<strong>on</strong>s to which a centralized ec<strong>on</strong>omy naturally suffers. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>ceived a broader<br />
view of rural development and asked people to cultivate rural mindedness, fully utilize the<br />
local resources for becoming self-reliant and these together c<strong>on</strong>stituted the ‘Swadeshi’<br />
movement. In exchange of letters with Nehru he drew a beautiful picture of the ideal<br />
village.<br />
“My village will c<strong>on</strong>tain intelligent human beings. They will not live in dirt and<br />
darkness as animals. Men and women will be free and able to hold their own against<br />
any<strong>on</strong>e in the world. There will be neither plague nor cholera, nor small pox; no <strong>on</strong>e will<br />
be idle, no <strong>on</strong>e will wallow in luxury. It is possible to envisage railways, post and telegraph<br />
and the like. 1<br />
Trusteeship<br />
Trusteeship is a revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary ec<strong>on</strong>omic philosophy of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He was very much<br />
fed up with high- handedness of power and violence both in capitalism and communism<br />
and wanted some approach to solve these. As a result trusteeship is born. Sabina Sangvi 2<br />
observes, “at the time <strong>Gandhi</strong> as formulating his ideas of trusteeship the world has two<br />
principal methods of ec<strong>on</strong>omics: capitalism and communism” <strong>Gandhi</strong> had seen defects in<br />
both. Both have failed to provide fuller life for everybody. Instead of rejecting them<br />
straightway, he tries to incorporate some of the positive features of both, into his alternative<br />
plan of trusteeship. Trusteeship is a synthesis of capitalism and communism by eliminating<br />
violence<br />
By the c<strong>on</strong>cept trusteeship <strong>Gandhi</strong> meant that capital, should be owned, operated<br />
and managed for the benefit of the society and not for the capitalist’s private gain. He<br />
hoped that capitalist should voluntarily renounce the assets in excess of their requirement<br />
to the state or c<strong>on</strong>tinue to hold them <strong>on</strong>ly as ‘Trustees’ of the society. He said “all people<br />
having m<strong>on</strong>ey or property should hold it in trust for the society”. 3 Under the trusteeship<br />
scheme the rich people would kept for them <strong>on</strong>ly that much of wealth which is essential<br />
for a good standard of living. The rest would be meant for others in the society. Trusteeship<br />
would eliminate ec<strong>on</strong>omic inequality.<br />
8
It is true that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of trusteeship so far has not been tried. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
himself was not sure of its practicability, but had full faith in it as he wrote “I adhere to my<br />
doctrine of trusteeship in spite of the ridicule that has not been poured up<strong>on</strong> it. It is true<br />
that it is difficult to reach so is n<strong>on</strong>-violence”. 4<br />
Bread-labour<br />
An integral part of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omics is his c<strong>on</strong>cept of Bread –labour, according<br />
to which every human being should earn his daily bread by his own labour. The Russian<br />
writer T.M. B<strong>on</strong>daref first put forward this idea. Tolstoy took it up and gave it wide<br />
publicity.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, <strong>on</strong> reading Tolstoy was very much taken up with this idea and made it an<br />
integral part of his philosophy. Even if, he had not read Tolstoy, it is more than likely that<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> would have stumbled <strong>on</strong> it sp<strong>on</strong>taneously in the course of his political practice.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> recognized physical labour as a biological necessity. The body needs physical<br />
labour almost as much as it needs food, air and water. The c<strong>on</strong>cept of bread-labour fits into<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought in the following way.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an socialism requires the capitalists to regard them as trustees of the property.<br />
It also emphasizes minimizing our wants to solve ec<strong>on</strong>omic problem. The c<strong>on</strong>cept of<br />
bread-labour facilitate both. If a man works for his bread, he would maintain a sound<br />
health. He would want to eat wholesome food and live a natural life. This would<br />
automatically reduce his wants. Sec<strong>on</strong>dly, if every <strong>on</strong>e did physical labour everyday, labour<br />
would acquire more dignity. Thirdly, when a capitalist does physical labour in his own<br />
factory he will not <strong>on</strong>ly understand the problem of workers, but also gradually realize that<br />
his income over and above what he earned through his physical labour is not legitimately<br />
his. Gradually he will think himself as a trustee rather than owner of the factory.<br />
Co-operative principles<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasized the cooperative efforts in the field of agriculture small scale<br />
and cottage industries and in other fields of nati<strong>on</strong>al interest. In agriculture, the small and<br />
fragmented holdings of land would be cooperatively cultivated to increase the producti<strong>on</strong><br />
and minimise the cost. The small scale and cottage industries too would enjoy all advantages<br />
of large scale producti<strong>on</strong>s without practically getting into large scale.<br />
Decentralisati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omics believe in decentralisati<strong>on</strong>. Planning should be made at the<br />
grass root level in which villages, individuals, and families would play a dominant role. In<br />
the decentralised planning means would justify the ends and not ends satisfying the means.<br />
The subject matter of ec<strong>on</strong>omic planning would be man and his development. Promoti<strong>on</strong><br />
of rural and small scale industries would be the prime importance. Resources would be<br />
9
c<strong>on</strong>served by avoiding wastage. What is waste in <strong>on</strong>e becomes a raw material in the other.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was not advocating a stagnant self-sufficient village of the past but a vibrant and<br />
dynamic village ec<strong>on</strong>omy which would not be made subservient to the urban cities. The<br />
decentralized system of producti<strong>on</strong> and independent village ec<strong>on</strong>omy would also be a<br />
strategy against foreign invasi<strong>on</strong>, since industries are not c<strong>on</strong>centrated in a few urban<br />
centers. Decentralisati<strong>on</strong> would prevent c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> of ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political power in<br />
the hands of a few. It would also strengthen the village ec<strong>on</strong>omy and stop migrati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
urban areas. It will help to reduce inequalities and leads to realisati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an socialism.<br />
Machinery and Technology<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was not against machines or technology. He was in favour of appropriate<br />
machinery and technology. He wrote “I welcome the machines that lightens the burden of<br />
milli<strong>on</strong>s of men living in cottages and reduces man’s labour.” 5 He was not against machinery<br />
but he was against all machinery designed for the exploitati<strong>on</strong> of the people. In other<br />
words, he opposed large scale industrialisati<strong>on</strong>. He had written that “there is no room for<br />
machines that would displace human labour and that would c<strong>on</strong>centrate power in a few<br />
hands”. 6 Regarding technology, it can be stated that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not against technology,<br />
but he was in favour of appropriate technology. Appropriate technology, according to him<br />
was <strong>on</strong>e, which, besides fully utilizing or augmenting the existing resources, would keep<br />
it need – determined. Technology is essential if it is simple and usable by the masses. It<br />
should enhance the productivity of workers, and not replace workers. He favoured widely<br />
dispersed cottage and small scale industries using labour intensive technology as a soluti<strong>on</strong><br />
to the problems of a labour surplus ec<strong>on</strong>omy like India. <strong>Gandhi</strong> opposed establishment of<br />
large scale industries but he was not opposed to establishment of Ir<strong>on</strong> and Steel, defense<br />
industries and other strategic large industries in the grater interests of the country.<br />
Having an idea about the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>cepts, we need to explain the<br />
relevance of these principles in the c<strong>on</strong>temporary ec<strong>on</strong>omic scenario. India has stepped<br />
into the era of globalisati<strong>on</strong> with the introducti<strong>on</strong> of new ec<strong>on</strong>omic reforms since 1991.<br />
Though some ec<strong>on</strong>omic reforms were introduced by Rajiv <strong>Gandhi</strong> Government (1985-<br />
89), it was the Narasimha Rao Government that gave a definite shape and start to the new<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic reforms or globalisati<strong>on</strong> in India. The importance <strong>on</strong> liberalizati<strong>on</strong>, privatizati<strong>on</strong><br />
and globalizati<strong>on</strong> has resulted in gradual withdrawal of unnecessary trade and business<br />
restricti<strong>on</strong>s, encouragement to private initiatives and integrati<strong>on</strong> of the Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy to<br />
the world ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Adopti<strong>on</strong> of ec<strong>on</strong>omic reforms or globalizati<strong>on</strong> has resulted in the<br />
overall ec<strong>on</strong>omic development of the country. The growth of selected ec<strong>on</strong>omic indicators<br />
in the post 1990-91 period has been shown in the following table.<br />
10
Growth of Selected Indicators<br />
Indicators 1990-91 2005-06<br />
GDP at factor cost at c<strong>on</strong>stant prices(Rs. Crore) 692871 2604532<br />
Per capita NDP at c<strong>on</strong>stant prices(Rs.) 7321 20734<br />
Index of industrial producti<strong>on</strong>s (Base 1993-94=100) 91.6 221.5<br />
Index of agricultural producti<strong>on</strong> (Base 1981-82=100) 148.4 189.3<br />
Gross Domestic Capital Formati<strong>on</strong>(as percent of GDP) 26.3 33.8<br />
Gross Domestic Savings (as percent of GDP) 23.1 32.4<br />
Foodgrains producti<strong>on</strong>s(Milli<strong>on</strong> t<strong>on</strong>nes) 176.4 208.3<br />
Electricity generati<strong>on</strong>(Billi<strong>on</strong> KWH) 264.3 623.2<br />
Forex Reserves (Rs. Crores) 4388 647327<br />
Source : Ec<strong>on</strong>omic survey 2006-07<br />
An analysis of the table shows that within 15 years of ec<strong>on</strong>omic reforms, the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
income, the per capita income, index of industrial and agricultural producti<strong>on</strong>, capital<br />
formati<strong>on</strong>, savings, foodgrain producti<strong>on</strong>, volume of electricity generati<strong>on</strong>, foreign exchange<br />
reserves etc. all have increased. The annual rate of ec<strong>on</strong>omic growth which was <strong>on</strong>ly 0.5<br />
per cent in 1991-92 and reached 5 percent in 1992-93, increased to 8.2 per cent in 1996-97<br />
and 9 per cent in 2005-06. 7 In the last four years the rate of growth of GDP has been<br />
impressive 7.5 percent (2003-04), 8.5 per cent (2004-05), 9.0 percent (2005-06) and 9.2<br />
percent (2006-07). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is c<strong>on</strong>fident of having a 10 per cent<br />
growth in the Eleventh Five year plan period. News papers say “India is Shining”.<br />
But actually India is shining <strong>on</strong>ly in part. There exist a more important part which<br />
remain neglected. That is the agriculture or rural sector <strong>on</strong> which majority of Indians<br />
depend for their livelihood. Social sectors have also not been able to develop adequately.<br />
Era sezhiyan 8 observes “in 1951, agriculture provided employment to 72 per cent<br />
of the populati<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>tributed 59 per cent of GDP. How ever by 2001 the populati<strong>on</strong><br />
depending up<strong>on</strong> agriculture came to 58 per cent whereas share of agriculture in GDP went<br />
down drastically to 24 per cent and further to 22 per cent in 2006-07. This is resulted in a<br />
lowering of per capita income of farmers and increasing rural indebtedness”.<br />
The growth rate of agriculture has declined. The agricultural growth rate of 3.2 per<br />
cent between 1980-97 decelerated to 2 percent in 2006. 9 The number of rural landless<br />
families has increased from 35 per cent in 1987 to 55 per cent in 2005. 10 The inequality in<br />
rural sector is also quite high. The 61 st round of NSS in 2003 observed that the bottom 51<br />
per cent of rural household hold 2 per cent of land whereas the top 1 per cent hold 15<br />
11
percent. The depressing rural atmosphere has lead to suicide of farmers.Agriculture Minister<br />
Sarad Power informed the Rajya Sabha <strong>on</strong> May 18, 2006 that roughly 1 lakh farmers<br />
committed suicide during the period 1993-2003.<br />
The situati<strong>on</strong> of employment, health, poverty eradicati<strong>on</strong> etc are also discouraging.<br />
The proporti<strong>on</strong> of unemployed to the total labour force has increased from 2.62 per cent in<br />
1993-94 to 3.6 percent in 2004-05. The absolute number of unemployment has increased<br />
from 9.02 milli<strong>on</strong> to 13.1 milli<strong>on</strong> during the same period. 11 Health sector is no better. The<br />
Approach Paper to Eleventh Plan c<strong>on</strong>ceded that the progress implementing the objectives<br />
of health have been ‘slow’. The paper says that the rates of Infant Mortality for India is 60<br />
as against 13 (Srilanka), 30(China) and 19 (Vietnam). The Maternal Mortality Rate is 407<br />
in India as against 92(Srilanka), 56(China) and 130(Vietnam). On poverty line, Prof. Rudder<br />
Dutt observed that the average decline in percentage of populati<strong>on</strong> below poverty line in<br />
the post reform period (1993-2004) is less (i.e. 0.74 percentage point) compared to the<br />
pre-reform period (1983-1993, i.e. 0.85 percentage point). 12 It shows that the poverty<br />
eradicati<strong>on</strong> measures have been less effective in the post-reform period than in the prereform<br />
period. In the ranking of Human Development Index, India ranks 126th as per<br />
UNDP report 2006. About the impact of globalisati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the development of India, the<br />
ILO Report (2004) stated “ In India there had been winners and losers. The lives of educated<br />
and rich had been enriched by globalizati<strong>on</strong>. The IT sector was a particular beneficiary.<br />
But the benefits had not yet reached the majority, and new risks had cropped up for the<br />
losers, the socially deprived and the rural poor.”<br />
Thus we observe that globalisati<strong>on</strong> has failed to remove the problems of many<br />
important socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic sectors.Apart from these failure, globalizati<strong>on</strong> has other possible<br />
negative effects like loss of ec<strong>on</strong>omic independence of India, fear of dumping, destructi<strong>on</strong><br />
of domestic industries, resource depleti<strong>on</strong> etc. But India is already hooked <strong>on</strong> to<br />
globalizati<strong>on</strong>. So whether to globalize India or not is not the important questi<strong>on</strong> now.<br />
The important questi<strong>on</strong> is how the deficiencies and harmful effects of globalizati<strong>on</strong><br />
can be adequately made up by the applicati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omic principles so that a<br />
full-fledged growth can be achieved. The modalities of applicati<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Ec<strong>on</strong>omics<br />
can be chalked out in the following manner.<br />
The focal point of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omics is the village as it is the hub of all human<br />
activities in India. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was of the opini<strong>on</strong> that Indian villages needed to be viewed<br />
with more dignity as they support the Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Every individual and family in the<br />
village would actively engage in cottage, rural and small scale industries. The natural<br />
resources of the village would be best exploited through small scale and cottage industries<br />
without having an adverse impact <strong>on</strong> envir<strong>on</strong>ment. These industries would mostly make<br />
use of the renewable sources of energy leading to c<strong>on</strong>servati<strong>on</strong> of n<strong>on</strong>-renewable sources<br />
of energy. Emphasis <strong>on</strong> cottage and small industries would ensure maximum employment<br />
12
opportunities and solve the unemployment problem. There would be school, health center,<br />
post office and other basic requirements in every village. Within the village ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
agricultural land would be cooperatively cultivated so that better inter-pers<strong>on</strong>al relati<strong>on</strong>ship<br />
would be established in the rural atmosphere. Co-operative method would also reduce the<br />
cost of producti<strong>on</strong>. Importance to village ec<strong>on</strong>omy would lead to simultaneous growth of<br />
agriculture and industry throughout the country which would help to reduce inequality<br />
am<strong>on</strong>g the people and disparity am<strong>on</strong>g regi<strong>on</strong>s. Improvement of rural ec<strong>on</strong>omy with<br />
provisi<strong>on</strong> of all basic facilities will check the rural-urban migrati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
But these activities needed to be properly coordinated with the help of an agency<br />
that is village Panchayat. This would be the central governing body at the village level<br />
enjoying all types of power. Moreover this would be truly a democratic body comprising<br />
people from different walks of life. It would give people an opportunity to acquaint<br />
themselves with the process of governance in a democratic manner. The system of village<br />
Panchayat would coordinate am<strong>on</strong>g all the ec<strong>on</strong>omic activities that operate at the village<br />
level. The areas in the matter of nati<strong>on</strong>al importance would be taken care of by the uni<strong>on</strong><br />
government at the center.<br />
We can thus sum up the findings of the above discussi<strong>on</strong> by subscribing to the view<br />
that the evil effects and deficiencies of the <strong>on</strong>going process of globalizati<strong>on</strong> can be aptly<br />
made up by the applicati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omic principles to ensure a full- fledged<br />
development of Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy whereby the dreams of the father of the nati<strong>on</strong> could be<br />
translated into reality.<br />
References<br />
1. D.G.Tendulkar (1951-54): Mahatma, Life of Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
(8volumes ), Vithalbhai Jhaveri & D.G.Tendulkar.<br />
2. E.F.Schumacher (1974): Small is Beautiful, Abacus, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>.<br />
3. Govt. of India: Ec<strong>on</strong>omic survey 1990-91, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2000-01,<br />
2005-06, 2006-07<br />
4. Harijan, June 3 , 1939<br />
5. Hiren Mukherjee (1960): <strong>Gandhi</strong> – A study, Peoples publishing House.<br />
6. J.B.Kripalini (1961): <strong>Gandhi</strong> ; His life and Thought, Oriental L<strong>on</strong>gman, Calcutta.<br />
7. J.D.Sethi (1970): <strong>Gandhi</strong> Today, Vikas Publising House, Bombay<br />
8. J.K.Mehta,(1985): <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Thought, South Asian Books.<br />
9. J.L. Nehru (1958): A bunch of old letters.<br />
10. Jai Narain (1987): <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s View of Political Power, Deep & Deep Pub. New<br />
Delhi<br />
13
11. I bid. : (2003) : Alternative Ec<strong>on</strong>omics, Deep & Deep Pub. New Delhi<br />
12. Mainstream, May 8, 2007<br />
13. Mainstream, June 16, 2007<br />
14. M.K.<strong>Gandhi</strong> (1957): From Yervada Mandir, Navajivan Publishing House,<br />
Ahemedabad.<br />
15. I bid, (1960): Socialism of my c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.<br />
16. I bid, (1970): Capital and labour. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.<br />
17. I bid, (1982): Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, Navajivan Publising House.<br />
18. I bid, (1983): An Autobiography, Navajiban Publilsing House,<br />
19. I bid, (1946) : Harijan, July 28<br />
20. Planning Commissi<strong>on</strong>, Govt. of India : An Approach Paper to the Eleventh Five<br />
Year Plan (2007-12)<br />
21. S.K.Desmukh (ed.)- Trusteeship C<strong>on</strong>cepts, Precepts and Practice.<br />
22. Young India, June 22, 1938.<br />
14
GITA: GANDHI AND NON VIOLENCE<br />
15<br />
A.N. Mishra*<br />
The Bhagavad Gita (Comm<strong>on</strong>ly known as the Gita) is <strong>on</strong>e of the best representatives<br />
of Indian philosophical and religious textual heritage. It is the most translated and<br />
commented up<strong>on</strong> scripture of Hindu religi<strong>on</strong>. The Gita is most synthetic in nature of its<br />
expositi<strong>on</strong> as well. C<strong>on</strong>sisting of seven hundred verses in lucid Sanskrit, the Gita is at<br />
<strong>on</strong>ce a guide book for every men ad women; transcending the barriers of time, space and<br />
pers<strong>on</strong>ality. It is capable of binding itself to multifaceted interpretati<strong>on</strong>s and understanding.<br />
All Indian schools of philosophical thought and religious practices can and do interpret<br />
the Gita in their own lines of thought and seek sanctificati<strong>on</strong> from it. The early Europeans<br />
who translated the Gita found the reflecti<strong>on</strong>s of their own religiosity in it and hence believed<br />
that it was a copy of the Bible (Urusula King, Ic<strong>on</strong>ographic Reflecti<strong>on</strong>s of the Religious<br />
and Secular importance of the Bhagavadgita within the image world of modern Hinduism”,<br />
New Essays <strong>on</strong> the Bhagavadgita; Compiled by Arvind Sharma, New Delhi p. 62-63).<br />
The Gita is universally acclaimed for its intense practical nature in additi<strong>on</strong> to the<br />
philosophical expounding of the Indian or Hindu philosophical heritage. In volume, in<br />
style and in presentati<strong>on</strong>, it is definitely more acceptable and intelligible to a vast range of<br />
readers than the Vedas and the Upanishads. It has caught the attenti<strong>on</strong> and caused the<br />
imaginati<strong>on</strong> of a number of thinkers, through India’s cultural history spread over centuries.<br />
In modern times great thinkers like Swami Vivekananda, Tilak, <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Aurobindo,<br />
Radhakrishnan and many others took it as a sacred duty to offer their commentaries <strong>on</strong> the<br />
Gita. Beside these stalwarts, numerous translati<strong>on</strong>s and commentaries in different regi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
languages have been successfully attempted up<strong>on</strong> with the growth ad development of<br />
vernacular literature in the country. In the era of post-independent India, the Gita still<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinuous to attract the real of versatile commentators like Swami Sivananda, Swami<br />
Chidbhavananda, Bhakti Vedanta Prabhupada and others. Numerous religious – sanths as<br />
well as management wizards in their discourses regularly telecast through the T.V. Channels<br />
lavishly refer to the Gita to substantiate different points of view. The Gita assumed a<br />
special significance during the freedom struggle of India. Cantos from it were trumpeted<br />
to urge people into positive acti<strong>on</strong> from a state of inertia, apathy and inacti<strong>on</strong>. It was used<br />
to justify violence as well as n<strong>on</strong>-violence. “The Bhagavadgita still remains powerful in<br />
forming the c<strong>on</strong>sciousness of upper class Hindus by furnishing the ideological sphere<br />
were they fight out their c<strong>on</strong>flicts.” (D.D.Kosambi, An Introducti<strong>on</strong> to the Study of Indian<br />
History; Bombay, 1956, p-121). The overbearing influence of the text <strong>on</strong> the thought and<br />
acti<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>Gandhi</strong> is clearly discernable from his interpretati<strong>on</strong> of the text. In the first half<br />
of the twentieth century, which witnessed the birth pangs of a free India, <strong>Gandhi</strong> immensely<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributed towards the enrichment of Indian thinking. He played the most vital role in<br />
her political history and nati<strong>on</strong>alistic upheaval, dominating the Indian political scenario<br />
* Principal, Aer<strong>on</strong>autics College, Sunabeda.
for nearly four decades. A prolific writer, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was essentially the destiny of the milli<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of Indians. Hence, it is worthwhile to attempt an analysis of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s interpretati<strong>on</strong> the<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cept of N<strong>on</strong>-Violence in the Gita, more so, when the world decides to observe 2nd October, his birth date as the Internati<strong>on</strong>al N<strong>on</strong>-Violence Day.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had influenced milli<strong>on</strong>s of people both in and outside India with his unique<br />
pers<strong>on</strong>al traits, sincerity of thought and the magical spell of his pers<strong>on</strong>al charm. “It is<br />
surprising and impressive to find a private citizen without wealth, property, official title,<br />
positi<strong>on</strong>, scientific achievements, artistic gifts or the power of oratory, to have influenced<br />
so many people, people of the lowest wr<strong>on</strong>g if the society to men of great achievements, in<br />
India and abroad”. (Louis Fischer, The Life of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>, 1982, p-19).<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life, stature and influence he exerted <strong>on</strong> others seemed almost to bel<strong>on</strong>g to another<br />
planet. He defied all expectati<strong>on</strong>s. Einstein aptly remarked, “Generati<strong>on</strong>s to come, it may<br />
be, will scarcely believe that such a <strong>on</strong>e as this (<strong>Gandhi</strong>) ever in flesh and blood walked<br />
up<strong>on</strong> this earth.” (B.R. Nanda, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, A Biography, New Delhi, 1982. p-8).<br />
An era of India’s history of freedom movement is termed as the ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Era’. In the<br />
years since his assassinati<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideas have acquired an internati<strong>on</strong>al appeal and<br />
have been shared by individuals and by peace movements throughout the world. His care<br />
for n<strong>on</strong>-violence in thought & acti<strong>on</strong>, his numerous experiments with new political weap<strong>on</strong>s<br />
like satyagraha & his voluminous writings, journalistic & pers<strong>on</strong>al; made him the most<br />
outstanding & dominating figure, from the twenties of the last century unto his death. A<br />
practical – idealist, an exp<strong>on</strong>ent of the Bhagavadgita, the gospel of selfless acti<strong>on</strong> ad<br />
Satyagraha, the philosophy of truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence; <strong>Gandhi</strong> had many books published<br />
even though to himself he was “neither a prolific writer nor a deliberate author”. (R<strong>on</strong>ald<br />
Duncan, (Ed). The Writings of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Oxford, 1983, p-30). N<strong>on</strong>e-the less, <strong>Gandhi</strong> with<br />
his recorded speeches, discourses and writings <strong>on</strong> various aspects of c<strong>on</strong>temporary India<br />
and the world; still remains <strong>on</strong>e of the most distinguished thinker - politicians in the<br />
history of mankind.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>s were known for their integrity and for the courage of their c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
(B.R. Nanda, op.cit. pp 15-16). The teachings of Mahavira & Vallabhacharya, the s<strong>on</strong>gs<br />
of Mirabai & the poems of Narasinh Mehta exerted a great influence <strong>on</strong> the minds of the<br />
people of Gujrat in general and <strong>on</strong> that of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>s in particular. In additi<strong>on</strong> to these,<br />
his love for nursing the sick, his compassi<strong>on</strong>ate mind towards the ailing and the down<br />
trodden, his utmost faith in Ramanama; were attributed to his l<strong>on</strong>g experience from a very<br />
tender age, of attending to his sick father, the influence of his own nurse Rambha and the<br />
regular reading of the Ramayana before ill Kaba <strong>Gandhi</strong> (his father) by a pundit viz.<br />
Ladha Maharaj of Bilesvar. His mother Puthibai was deeply religious and orthodox in<br />
temperament. Her austerities, her str<strong>on</strong>g will, left a permanent impressi<strong>on</strong> of u<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
His wife Kasturabai’s quiet practice of submissi<strong>on</strong> to suffering, taught the less<strong>on</strong>s of n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
and passive resistance to <strong>Gandhi</strong> (Ibid, pp 19-21). Vegetarianism, practiced out<br />
of deference to his parents, though was an inc<strong>on</strong>venient obligati<strong>on</strong> in L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> for <strong>Gandhi</strong>,<br />
16
it became a missi<strong>on</strong>, the starting point of a unique discipline of body and mind which<br />
transformed his life and pers<strong>on</strong>ality. (Romainroland, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> ; Publicati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
Divisi<strong>on</strong>, New Delhi, 1976, p-27).<br />
In L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> for the first time read the Gita in Sir Edwin Arwold’s translati<strong>on</strong><br />
of the Bhagavadgita titled The S<strong>on</strong>g Celestial. So far he had never read the Gita, neither<br />
the original nor a translated <strong>on</strong>e. The two verses of the Gita by which <strong>Gandhi</strong> was<br />
permanently impressed are :<br />
dhyayato visayan pumsah.<br />
sangas tesu’pa jayate<br />
sangat samjayate kamah<br />
kamat krodho bhijyte II. 62.<br />
krodhat bhavati sammohah<br />
sammohat smriti vibhramah<br />
smritibhramsad buddhinaso<br />
buddhinasat pranasyati. II. 63.<br />
Sir Edwi Arold translated these as:<br />
“If <strong>on</strong>e p<strong>on</strong>ders <strong>on</strong> objects of the sense, there springs<br />
Attracti<strong>on</strong>; from attracti<strong>on</strong> grows desire,<br />
Desire flames to fierce passi<strong>on</strong>, passi<strong>on</strong> breeds,<br />
Recklessness; then the memory all betrayed<br />
Lets noble purpose go, ad saps the mind,<br />
Till purpose, mind and man are all und<strong>on</strong>e”<br />
(M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, (hence forth Collected Works),<br />
vol. XXXIV; Publicati<strong>on</strong> Divisi<strong>on</strong> New Delhi, 1972, p-60).<br />
In the words of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, “…. (these) verses in the sec<strong>on</strong>d chapter made a deep<br />
impressi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> my mind, and they still ring in my ears. The book struck me as <strong>on</strong>e of<br />
priceless worth. The impressi<strong>on</strong> has ever since been growing o me with the result that I<br />
regard it today as the book of par excellence for the knowledge of Truth”.(Ibid). During<br />
the same period <strong>Gandhi</strong> read the Light of Asia, another book of Sir Edwin Arnold <strong>on</strong><br />
Buddha, and Blavatsky’s Key to Theosophy and the Bible. The message of supreme<br />
forgiveness and n<strong>on</strong>-violence of the “Serm<strong>on</strong> On The Mount” impressed him. His young<br />
mind tried to unify the teachings of the Gita, the Light of Asia & the Serm<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the Mount.<br />
He later declared, “that renunciati<strong>on</strong> was the highest form of religi<strong>on</strong> appealed to me<br />
greatly.” (Ibid).<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was essentially an experimental pers<strong>on</strong>ality. He titled his autobiography as<br />
the Story of My Experiments with Truth. Vegetarianism, passive resistance, satyagraha,<br />
Brahmacharya (celibacy), Aparigraha. (n<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>), Ahimsa (n<strong>on</strong>-violence), Satya<br />
17
(Truth), Anasakti (n<strong>on</strong>-attachment), Osteopathy, Hydropathy, dietics, fasting, penance,<br />
were all experiments deliberately and c<strong>on</strong>sciously carried out by <strong>Gandhi</strong> in his life time.<br />
From his childhood he had an interest in questi<strong>on</strong>s pertaining to morality, ethics and religi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
And it was in South Africa he had an opportunity to study books of his interest <strong>on</strong> morality,<br />
ethics and religi<strong>on</strong>. “The book which was ultimately to form his str<strong>on</strong>gest b<strong>on</strong>d with<br />
Hinduism as well as the greatest influence in his life was the Bhagavad Gita. “(B. R.<br />
Nanda, op. cit, p -98). To <strong>Gandhi</strong> Gita was not merely a book of ethics or metaphysics, but<br />
it was his spiritual reference book, a permanent infallible guide of his daily life. “When<br />
doubts haunt me” wrote <strong>Gandhi</strong>, “when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not<br />
<strong>on</strong>e ray of light <strong>on</strong> the horiz<strong>on</strong>, I turn to the Bhagavadgita and find a verse to comfort me;<br />
and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been<br />
full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible or invisible effect <strong>on</strong> me, I<br />
owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavadgita.” (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong> Young India, (7.8.25), quoted<br />
by Louis Fischer,op.cit. p.44).<br />
Truth, n<strong>on</strong>-violence and morality were the summum b<strong>on</strong>um of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life and<br />
work. He judged every aspect of life including the teachings of the Gita by the tests of<br />
truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence. Truth and no-violence to <strong>Gandhi</strong> were like the touch st<strong>on</strong>e of a<br />
goldsmith and anything that failed to register its absolute purity <strong>on</strong> either of it was rejected<br />
by him. He did not c<strong>on</strong>sider the shastras (scriptures) including the Vedas to be absolute.<br />
He had a simple formula, for reading and understanding a shastra. He wrote, “I found the<br />
right method for reading – for understanding the shastras. If any injuncti<strong>on</strong> in a shastra is<br />
opposed to truth, n<strong>on</strong>-violence and brahmacharya, it is unauthentic, which ever the shastra<br />
in which it is found. The shastras are not above reas<strong>on</strong>. We can reject any shastra which<br />
reas<strong>on</strong> can not follow. (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Hindu Dharma, Delhi, 1993, p – 41). <strong>Gandhi</strong>, <strong>on</strong>e<br />
of the most practical men of his times and his treatment of the Gita reflects his practical<br />
attitude. He drove every thought of his mind into its pers<strong>on</strong>al implicati<strong>on</strong>s and practical<br />
applicati<strong>on</strong>s. He had the whole of the Gita by heart, by regular practice of memorizing<br />
<strong>on</strong>e verse every morning. while going through his morning toilet. (B.R. Nanda, op. cit p-<br />
68). He c<strong>on</strong>stantly referred to the verses of the Bhagavadgita to sanctify his views and<br />
acti<strong>on</strong>s. “All c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>s, (with <strong>Gandhi</strong>) whatever their point of departure returned to<br />
the teachings of the Gita, the gospel of selfless acti<strong>on</strong>. (R<strong>on</strong>ald Duncan, The writings of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> Oxford 1983, p.24). <strong>Gandhi</strong> cited the verses from the Gita to justify even n<strong>on</strong>violence,<br />
which was quite uncomm<strong>on</strong> to the Indians. His co-workers like Swami Anand<br />
and others requested <strong>Gandhi</strong> to provide a translati<strong>on</strong> of the whole text of the Gita for a<br />
better understanding of his views acti<strong>on</strong>s, political weap<strong>on</strong>s and ideologies. “Just as acted<br />
up<strong>on</strong> by affecti<strong>on</strong> of coworkers like Swami Anand and others”, <strong>Gandhi</strong> recollected the<br />
event in the introducti<strong>on</strong> to Anaskti Yoga, his translati<strong>on</strong> of the Gita and wrote:“Iwrote<br />
My Experiments with Truth”, so has it been regarding my rendering of the Gita. ‘We shall<br />
be able to appreciate your meaning of the message of the Gita, <strong>on</strong>ly when we are able to<br />
study a translati<strong>on</strong> of the whole text by yourself, with the additi<strong>on</strong> of such notes as you<br />
18
may deem necessary. I do not think it is just <strong>on</strong> your part to deduce “Ahimsa” etc., from<br />
stray verses’ thus spoke Swami Anand to me during the n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> days. I felt the<br />
force of his remarks. I, therefore, told him that I would adopt his suggesti<strong>on</strong> when I got the<br />
time.” (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Collected Works, Vol.XLI, op. cit. 1970, pp.90-91).<br />
Anasakti Yoga (literally, the yoga of n<strong>on</strong>-attachment), the Gujrati Versi<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
Bhagavad Gita rendered by <strong>Gandhi</strong> with additi<strong>on</strong>s of his own commentaries and notes,<br />
was completed <strong>on</strong> June 27, 1929 by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. The book was published by the Navajivan<br />
Publishing House, Ahmedabad <strong>on</strong> March 12, 1930. The English translati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
Anasaktiyoga by Mahadev Desai bore the title The Gita According to <strong>Gandhi</strong> , which<br />
appeared first in Young India <strong>on</strong> 6.8.1931. However, <strong>Gandhi</strong> had translated the Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
part himself, from Gujarati to English, while he was in the Yeravda pris<strong>on</strong> (Ibid.p. 90).<br />
Prior to translating the Gita, during his sabbatical years in the Sabarmati Ashram,<br />
Ahmedabad, <strong>Gandhi</strong> had daily delivered discourses <strong>on</strong> the Gita before the ashramites at<br />
the time of their morning prayer, from 24 February 1926 to 27 November 1926. Notes<br />
were taken by Mahadev Desai and Punjabibhai, the inmates of the Ashram. These were<br />
subsequently edited and published by Narhari Parikh in 1955 under the title <strong>Gandhi</strong>jinu<br />
Gitashikshan, an English versi<strong>on</strong> of which found its place in the Collected Works of<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, vol. XXXII; published by the Publicati<strong>on</strong> Divisi<strong>on</strong> of the Government<br />
of India, in 1969. These discourses of <strong>Gandhi</strong> were subsequently published in 1980, under<br />
the title M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong> Interprets The Bhagavadgita by Orient paperbacks. Earlier to this,<br />
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan published <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s The Teachings of the Gita. <strong>Gandhi</strong> never<br />
claimed any scholarly understanding of the text or any spiritual or mystic experience being<br />
behind his understanding the Gita. He did not ever hope to replace the existing translati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and commentaries, nor did he c<strong>on</strong>sider them to be inaccurate. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>ceded that he<br />
was reading his own meaning into the Gita while commenting up<strong>on</strong> the verses. To him,<br />
“This desire (of translating the Gita) does not mean any disrespect to other renderings.<br />
They have their own place. But I am not aware of the claim made by the translators of<br />
enforcing their meaning of the Gita in their own lives. At the back of my reading there is<br />
the claim of an endeavor to enforce the meaning in my own c<strong>on</strong>duct for an unbroken<br />
period of 40 years.” (Ibid. P.92). He was not writing his commentaries <strong>on</strong> the Gita for the<br />
scholarly higher castes, nor for the men of spiritual merit, but for the comm<strong>on</strong> people,<br />
particularly the Vaishyas the Sundras and the Women and for those who needed Gita’s<br />
c<strong>on</strong>solati<strong>on</strong> to guide them selves through the mental turbulences in life. On the basis of<br />
his sincere edeavour to enforce the teachings of the Gita in his own life, <strong>Gandhi</strong> boldly<br />
justified his claim of authority to offer an interpretati<strong>on</strong> of the Gita, which differed from<br />
the traditi<strong>on</strong>al views <strong>on</strong> many important respects.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s’ approach to the treatment of the c<strong>on</strong>cept of war and n<strong>on</strong>-violence in Gita<br />
illustrated his attitude to all the shastras. Everything written in Sanskrit was not a shastra<br />
for <strong>Gandhi</strong>. For understanding the meaning of the shastras in their true perspective, <strong>on</strong>e<br />
19
must have a well cultivated moral sensibility and experience in the practice of these truths.<br />
The sec<strong>on</strong>d rule to be followed in determining the meaning of a text in a shastra for<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was that, <strong>on</strong>e should not stick to its letters but try to understand its spirit, its<br />
meaning in total c<strong>on</strong>text. He argued. “a poet puts a particular truth before the world, it<br />
does not necessarily follow that he has known or worked out all its great c<strong>on</strong>sequence, or<br />
that having d<strong>on</strong>e so he is able always to express them fully. A poet’s meaning is limitless.<br />
Like man the meaning of great writings suffers evoluti<strong>on</strong>. On examining the history of<br />
languages, we notice that the meaning of important words has changed or expanded.”<br />
(Ibid,p.92).<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that the shastras could be misleading for a reader who did not<br />
follow the rules of discipline and religious observances. He said, “The shrutis and smritis<br />
do not become scriptures merely because they are known by these respectable names.<br />
Whatever goes against the eternal principles of truth etc cannot be religious. xxx in the<br />
language of the Gita, shastra can <strong>on</strong>ly mean, if meaning is to be acceptable to reas<strong>on</strong>, the<br />
utterances of a sthitaprajna (Man of steadfast Intellect) xxx an ordinary pers<strong>on</strong> like me<br />
will have no other alternative than to serve the people in the light of his experience.” (Ibid<br />
pp.177-78). He further says. “To take up a work like Gita, without having equipped <strong>on</strong>e<br />
self in this manner is the surest way of falling into the slough of Desp<strong>on</strong>d. It would be like<br />
taking up a study of botany without ever having seen plants.” (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, collected<br />
workers, Vol-XXXII, op. cit.p-92).<br />
If Gita describes Krishna urging Arjuna to fight it could not be, to <strong>Gandhi</strong>, a<br />
justificati<strong>on</strong> of war or violence. Anybody who derives the justificati<strong>on</strong> of war or violence<br />
or killing from the Gita is not a true Bhakta nor is entitled to interpret a shastra. “It is<br />
possible to draw any number of evil ideas” said <strong>Gandhi</strong>, from the Bible, the Vedas, the<br />
Koran and other scriptures. I have come across people who justified even murder <strong>on</strong> the<br />
authority of these works. The Gita, however, will serve as a safe guide to any <strong>on</strong>e who<br />
reads it with truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence as his guiding principles.” (Ibid, p.314).<strong>Gandhi</strong> found<br />
the author of the Gita to have extended the meanings of words like Yajna or sannyasa.<br />
While yajna meant offering of animals, prior to the compositi<strong>on</strong> of the Gita, the Gita<br />
attached a different spirit to these words. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>vinced that by asking Arjuna to<br />
fight, Krishna did not intend to prove that violence was in c<strong>on</strong>sistence with renunciati<strong>on</strong><br />
of fruits of acti<strong>on</strong>. To quote <strong>Gandhi</strong>:<br />
“The author (of the Gita) himself extended the meanings of some of the current<br />
words. We are able to discover this even <strong>on</strong> a superficial examinati<strong>on</strong>. It is possible that,<br />
in the age prior to that of the Gita, offering of animals in sacrifice was permissible. But<br />
there is not a trace of it in the sacrifice in Gita sense. In the Gita, c<strong>on</strong>tinuous c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> God is the king of sacrifices xxxx but never animal sacrifice. Xxx Let it be granted that<br />
according to the letter of the Gita, it is possible to say that warfare is c<strong>on</strong>sistent with,<br />
renunciati<strong>on</strong> of fruit. But after 40 years of unremitting endeavor fully to enforce the<br />
20
teaching of the Gita in my own life, I have, in all humility, felt that perfect renunciati<strong>on</strong> is<br />
impossible without perfect observance of ahimsa in every shape and form. “(M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>,<br />
Collected Works, vol. XLI; op.cit, pp. 99-100).<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, like all other headers of his time, was “embraced by the snake of politics.<br />
For him politics without religi<strong>on</strong> was “like a corpse, <strong>on</strong>ly fit to be burried”. (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>,<br />
Collected Works, vol-xiii, p.221). Thus he tried to justify his political acti<strong>on</strong>s and ideologies<br />
by quoting from different religious scriptures. Since the Gita was his “infallible guide”<br />
and the spiritual reference book for his daily c<strong>on</strong>duct, it becomes very interesting to study<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s approach in his treatment of the Gita vis-à-vis his socio political ideologies and<br />
his absolute c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>cepts of n<strong>on</strong>-violence & truth. While analyzing the<br />
war setting of the Bhagavadgita, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was definitely disturbed. An apostle of n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
& a foremost leader of Indian politics, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not prepared to accept the<br />
Mahabharata War in general and the Gita episode in particular as historical events! Violence<br />
in any form, even <strong>on</strong> the authority and sancti<strong>on</strong> of the Bhagavadgita was not acceptable to<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. To him the Gita was not an aphoristic work but a great religious poem.<br />
He questi<strong>on</strong>ed the miraculous origin of the principal warriors of the Mahabharata viz the<br />
Kauravas and the Pandavas. The Pandavas c<strong>on</strong>sisting of Yuddhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna,<br />
Nakula & Sahadeva whose fatherhood has been attributed to the five Gods viz Dharma,<br />
Vayu, Indra and Asvini Kumaras respectively <strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>e side. On the other hand were the<br />
Kauravas, “a hundred brothers, all born at the same instant”, wrote <strong>Gandhi</strong> and asked,<br />
“Have we ever heard of such a thing actually happening?” (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Collected Works,<br />
vol. xxxii. Op. cit, p.95-97).<br />
To substantiate his c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s, <strong>Gandhi</strong> argued that, “A man cannot describe even a<br />
drop of water seen by him. God having created him so weak, how can he describe an<br />
actual event perfectly?” (Ibid) <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata<br />
depicted the characters of the epic symbolically. The battle between the Pandavas and<br />
Kauravas represents the c<strong>on</strong>flict between the Countess Kauravas and Pandavas dwelling<br />
within us. It is a battle between the innumerable forces of good and evil which became<br />
pers<strong>on</strong>ified in us as virtues and vices.” (Ibid).<br />
The hypotheses that Mahabharata is not a historical event, that some of the places,<br />
events and pers<strong>on</strong>s referred there in might be historical, that wars were not taboo when the<br />
Gita was composed and that the battle field of Kurukshetra was <strong>on</strong>ly a symbol of the<br />
battle between good ad ever which rages in every human heart etc. are founded <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
own intuiti<strong>on</strong>, logic and experience <strong>on</strong>ly. <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not claim any academic authenticity<br />
in favor of his c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s. Highly learned people likeShyamji Krishnavarma, Vinayak<br />
Damadar Sarvarkar and others refused to accept what <strong>Gandhi</strong> interpreted. C<strong>on</strong>sequently<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had a wish:<br />
“How much better it would have been if the sage Vyasa had not taken this illustrati<strong>on</strong><br />
of fighting for inculcating spiritual knowledge. For, when highly learned and thoughtful<br />
21
men read this meaning in the Gita, what can we expect of ordinary people? If what we<br />
describe as the very quintessence of all shastras, as <strong>on</strong>e of the Upanishads, can be interpreted<br />
to yield such a wr<strong>on</strong>g meaning, it would have been better for the holy Vyasa to have taken<br />
another, more effective illustrati<strong>on</strong> to teach sacred truths.” (Ibid.p.102).<br />
To <strong>Gandhi</strong> for whom <strong>on</strong>-violence was the paramount political weap<strong>on</strong> for India’s<br />
independence, the choice of Vyasa to c<strong>on</strong>vey great truths of life through a war setting was<br />
an error. However, <strong>Gandhi</strong> later realized that “just as inAesop’s Fables and in Panchatantra,<br />
the authors have created c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>s am<strong>on</strong>g birds and animals to impart moral teaching,<br />
so in the Mahabharata virtues ad vices are pers<strong>on</strong>ified and great moral truths c<strong>on</strong>veyed<br />
through those figures. The descripti<strong>on</strong> of the battle serves <strong>on</strong>ly as a pretext.” (Ibid).<br />
To <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vyasa, the author of Mahabharata did not think that fighting was wr<strong>on</strong>g.<br />
Nevertheless, in the Gita, Vyasa according to <strong>Gandhi</strong>, wanted to prove the futility of a war,<br />
by making the victors shed tears of sorrow and repentance & by leaving them with nothing<br />
“but a legacy of miseries. (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Collected Works, vol XLI, op. cit, p.93). <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
mind was disturbed with two questi<strong>on</strong>s; 1) why did the author of the Gita take a war like<br />
illustrati<strong>on</strong> ?2) If the physical battle of the Mahabharata is nothing but an analogical or<br />
allegorical piece of destructive literature, does the Gita then prohibit violence all-together ?<br />
The answers to these questi<strong>on</strong>s are also provided by <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself in his following<br />
statements:<br />
“The battlefield described here is primarily the <strong>on</strong>e inside the human body ….<br />
Fighting there well may be. But here (in the Gita) the physical battle is <strong>on</strong>ly an occasi<strong>on</strong><br />
for describing the battlefield of the human body. In this view the names menti<strong>on</strong>ed here<br />
are not of pers<strong>on</strong>s but of qualities which they represent. What is described is the c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
within the human body between opposing moral tendencies imagined as distinct figures.<br />
A seer such as Vyasa would never c<strong>on</strong>cern himself with a descripti<strong>on</strong> of mere physical<br />
fighting. It is the human body that is described as Kurukshetra as Dharmakshetra. It does<br />
become that, when used in the service of God. The epithet may also mean that for a<br />
kshyatriya a battlefield is always a field of dharma. ( M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Collected Works, vol<br />
xxxii, op at, pp 95-97). “The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the<br />
most excellent way of self realizati<strong>on</strong>….That matchless remedy is renunciati<strong>on</strong> of fruits<br />
of acti<strong>on</strong>. This is the centre round which the Gita is woven. This renunciati<strong>on</strong> is the sun,<br />
round which devoti<strong>on</strong>, knowledge and the rest revolve like planets. Thinking al<strong>on</strong>g these<br />
lines, I have felt that in trying to enforce, in <strong>on</strong>es life the central teaching of the Gita, <strong>on</strong>e<br />
is bound to follow the central teaching of the Gita, <strong>on</strong>e is bound to follow truth ad ahimsa.<br />
When there is no desire for fruit, there is no temptati<strong>on</strong> for untruth or himsa. Take any<br />
instance of untruth or violence, and it will be found that at its back was the desire to attain<br />
the cherished end. But it may be freely admitted that the Gita was not written to establish<br />
ahimsa. It was an accepted and primary duty even before the Gita age. The Gita had to<br />
deliver the message of renunciati<strong>on</strong> of fruit. This is clearly broughtout as early as the<br />
sec<strong>on</strong>d chapter.<br />
22
But if the Gita believed in ahimsa or it was included is describe less, wahy did the<br />
author take a warlike illustrati<strong>on</strong> ? When the Gita was written, although people believed<br />
in ahimsa, wars were not <strong>on</strong>ly not taboo, but nobody observed the c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> between<br />
them and ahimsa. (M.K. Gadhi, collected works, vol. XLI op.at p.102). Arjuna was a<br />
Kshyatriya, for whom fight to protect the weak and uphold truth was a sacrosanct duty. In<br />
the battle filed of KurukshetraArjuna was desp<strong>on</strong>dent, not because he was averse to fighting,<br />
but to kill his Kunsmen (Srajanam) <strong>Gandhi</strong> refers to the repeated use of the term “Srijanam<br />
in the sec<strong>on</strong>d chapter of the Gita to establish that by putting the word kinsmen (srajanam)<br />
repeatedly in the mouth of Arjuna, the author of the Gita had tried to show into what<br />
darkness of ignorance Arjuna had sunk. In the past Arjuna never hesitated to fight even<br />
against his relati<strong>on</strong>s. Arjuna was a kshyatriya. He was kown as gudakesha, which means<br />
<strong>on</strong> who has c<strong>on</strong>quered his mind, who is always vigilant. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was also c<strong>on</strong>vinced that<br />
Arjuna was a seeker who observed the disciplines of yama-niyama. He was a brahmachari<br />
in perfect c<strong>on</strong>trol of all his senses. As a follower of shastras he was aware of the supreme<br />
value of <strong>on</strong>-violence. But in Kurukshetra he was possessed by a deep affect of inertia<br />
arising out of despandency which prevented him from discharging his duties as a Kshyatriya.<br />
In case Arjuna had an aversi<strong>on</strong> to fighting by nature Krishna woulde have asked Arjuna to<br />
go to Duryadhana and win him oever his heart! But that was not the case. Arjuna decided<br />
to quit the battle field due to his attachmet to ego and his reas<strong>on</strong> delusi<strong>on</strong> arising out of it<br />
A pers<strong>on</strong> who believed in fighting and did not regard it as violence, though it is violence,<br />
is here being asked to kill (M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, collected workers, op. at pp 100 – 104).<br />
Even <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>ceded that ahimsa (n<strong>on</strong>-violence) is an ideal which it is impossible<br />
to realize to perfecti<strong>on</strong>. May be it is possible to realize ahimsa in thought but not in acti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
In human body, violence is inescapable because while the eyes wick and nails have to<br />
pared, violence I oe from or author is inevitable. Evil is inherent in acti<strong>on</strong>. Arjuna did not<br />
raise, therefore, the questi<strong>on</strong> of violence and n<strong>on</strong>-violence. N<strong>on</strong> shri Krishna exhorted the<br />
Gita to support violence. Arjuna simply raised the questi<strong>on</strong> of distincti<strong>on</strong> between Kinsmen<br />
& others, which according to <strong>Gandhi</strong> was due to Arjuna reas<strong>on</strong> of relusi<strong>on</strong> arising out of<br />
his ignorance ad attachment to ego. The cause of all spiritual evil is this ignorant attachment<br />
to ego & the central teaching of the Gita according to <strong>Gandhi</strong> is the surrender of all<br />
attachments to self. Throughout his discourses <strong>on</strong> the Gita during the daily prayer meetings<br />
at sabarmati Ashram <strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasized his stand <strong>on</strong> the setting of the Gita by repeatedly<br />
referring to the first chapter of even while analyzing the verses from its other chapters, and<br />
explaining the real motive of the author of the Gita behind his selecting the war setting of<br />
the Mahabharata.<br />
To <strong>Gandhi</strong>, what the Gita propounds <strong>on</strong> the comm<strong>on</strong> sense level is that, <strong>on</strong>ce plunged<br />
into battle, <strong>on</strong>e should go <strong>on</strong> fighting. One is not expected to give up the task <strong>on</strong>e has<br />
undertaken. Thus the illustrati<strong>on</strong> of war used in the Gita is not pointers or inadequate. But<br />
a wise man should not read a wr<strong>on</strong>g meaning in it under any circumstances.<br />
23
MAHATMA GANDHI AND WORLD PEACE<br />
24<br />
Brahmananda Satapathy *<br />
The c<strong>on</strong>text is the ‘Global Peace’ in the modern world and the text is<br />
‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy’ for its attainment. The broad hypothesis is : “ World peace<br />
can <strong>on</strong>ly be realized through n<strong>on</strong>-violence. There is no alternative to n<strong>on</strong>-violence”.<br />
The objectives of this paper are the following :<br />
i) to state the problems / crises of the modern world ;<br />
ii) to analyse the multi-dimensi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cepts of N<strong>on</strong>-violence and Truth ;<br />
iii) to examine <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views <strong>on</strong> state and his visi<strong>on</strong> of democracy ;<br />
iv) to present <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s interpretati<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to the formulati<strong>on</strong> of India’s<br />
foreign policy and world-views ; and<br />
v) to establish an organic relati<strong>on</strong>ship between <strong>Gandhi</strong>an principle and world peace.<br />
The modern world is facing a multi-dimensi<strong>on</strong>al crisis ; a crisis that poses<br />
challenge to each and every aspect of our life. Am<strong>on</strong>g the outstanding aspects of this<br />
crisis are ; over-militarisati<strong>on</strong>, nuclear proliferati<strong>on</strong> and global reach of arms,<br />
overdevelopment and underdevelopment resulting in mal-development, a vast number<br />
of people suffering from poverty, hunger, and marginalizati<strong>on</strong>. Added to these are<br />
envir<strong>on</strong>mental degradati<strong>on</strong> in the forms of abuse and overuse of nature and polluti<strong>on</strong><br />
and growing paucity of resources, denial of human rights, gender bias and injustice,<br />
crisis in the field of energy, mounting insecurity and violence, terrorism, war and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flicts , drug trafficking, AIDs . Besides there are corrupti<strong>on</strong> communalism,<br />
unemployment, regi<strong>on</strong>alism, problems of language, ethical and moral degradati<strong>on</strong> in<br />
private and public life. All these together pose a grave challenge to the world. Peace<br />
is far away so l<strong>on</strong>g as these problems exist.<br />
II<br />
Am<strong>on</strong>g the various political ideologies, democratic governance appears to be<br />
best because it is this very system which provides maximum opportunities of public<br />
progress and development. People can themselves decide the mode of their welfare.<br />
But, is the democratic system of governance free from above problems ? Therefore<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy is very much c<strong>on</strong>textual today <strong>on</strong> this accord.<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> treated his individual life in accordance with his ideas. He<br />
said “ my life is my message”. Therefore <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm is a mixture of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cepts and practices. The basic groundship happens to be “N<strong>on</strong>-violence”. He<br />
*P.G. Dept. of Political Science, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Orissa
practiced and prescribed n<strong>on</strong>-violence as a remedy against all social evils. It is the<br />
most ancient eternal values and culture of India. He said <strong>on</strong> this account, “ I have<br />
nothing new to teach you …. Truth and n<strong>on</strong> -violence are as old as hill.” N<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
and Truth are two sides of a same coin.<br />
A. N<strong>on</strong>-Violence<br />
Total n<strong>on</strong> –violence c<strong>on</strong>sists in not hurting some other <strong>on</strong>e’s intellect, speech<br />
or acti<strong>on</strong> per own thought, utterance or deeds and not to deprive some <strong>on</strong>e of his<br />
life.” In essence, abstinence in toto from violence is n<strong>on</strong> violence. In this c<strong>on</strong>text<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> clarified in an editi<strong>on</strong> of young India.<br />
“…. To hurt some<strong>on</strong>e, to think of some evil unto some <strong>on</strong>e or to snatch <strong>on</strong>e’s<br />
life under anger or selfishness, is violence. In c<strong>on</strong>trast , purest n<strong>on</strong>-violence is an<br />
epitome in having a tendency and presuming towards spiritual or physical benefit<br />
unto every<strong>on</strong>e without selfishness and with pure thought after cool and clear<br />
deliberati<strong>on</strong>s …. The ultimate yardstick of violence or n<strong>on</strong>-violence is the spirit<br />
behind the acti<strong>on</strong>.”<br />
B. N<strong>on</strong>-Violence is perpetual<br />
From beginning unto now man has been ultimately treading path of n<strong>on</strong>violence.<br />
It came into existence al<strong>on</strong>g with man. It is co-terminus with life. In case,<br />
it has not with man from the very beginning, there might have been self-doom by<br />
man. Besides there has been gradual enhancement in development and proximity in<br />
spite of presence of various obstacles and hurdles.<br />
C. N<strong>on</strong>- violence and Truth both are complementary to each other. It is more<br />
appropriate to say ” Truth is God, “ rather than saying “ God is Truth”. He<br />
equated God with Absolute Truth as ultimate reality. Soul is the spark of this<br />
God of Truth. It is the moral, the spiritual force, the divine spirit which<br />
regulates our body and mind. It is the voice of God, the voice of Truth within<br />
us.<br />
Both are two sides of the same coin. Both have same value. Difference<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sists in approach <strong>on</strong>ly. The derivati<strong>on</strong> is that Truth stays with permanence and<br />
that Truth is permanent. N<strong>on</strong>-violence <strong>on</strong> account of being permanently present stays<br />
to be true. N<strong>on</strong>-violence is both a means and an end in itself.<br />
D. N<strong>on</strong> –Violence is the str<strong>on</strong>gest weap<strong>on</strong>.<br />
It is not a weap<strong>on</strong> of the weak. It has no place for cowardice. It is an active<br />
force. N<strong>on</strong>-violence is impossible without bravery / courage/ fearlessness. Doing<br />
at any cost something that <strong>on</strong>e ought to do. The courage of dying without<br />
killing. Having decided up<strong>on</strong> the rightness of a situati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong> would not<br />
25
E.<br />
like <strong>on</strong>e to be passive spectator to evil. This is the essence of N<strong>on</strong>-Alignment<br />
which is different from neutrality. “ When freedom is menaced or justice is<br />
threatened or where aggressi<strong>on</strong> takes place we can not and shall not be<br />
neutral.”<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-Violence has individual and social aspects too. It fosters co-operati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
cooperati<strong>on</strong> progress. Progress is difficult to achieve without co-operati<strong>on</strong>. Cooperati<strong>on</strong><br />
is possible <strong>on</strong>ly when there is no violence. To him, regulati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
mutual relati<strong>on</strong>s in society is through n<strong>on</strong>-violence to c<strong>on</strong>siderable extent. He<br />
wished it to be developed <strong>on</strong> large scale. He called up<strong>on</strong> the people to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinue to develop it in practice throughout life as the basis of life.<br />
F. N<strong>on</strong>- Violence is not utilitarianism<br />
It is All - Timely and all welfaristic. A n<strong>on</strong>-violent is always ready to face<br />
punishment for the maximum benefit of all whereas a utilitarian is not.<br />
G. Complete unity and integrity of body, mind and soul in the individual human<br />
being. The body should be c<strong>on</strong>trolled by mind and the mind by the soul – a<br />
harm<strong>on</strong>y am<strong>on</strong>g three. But this c<strong>on</strong>trol is not to be achieved by despising or<br />
H.<br />
neglecting either the body or mind or soul.<br />
Means are at least as important as, and often more important than , ends. It is,<br />
of course, desirable that ends should be good and reas<strong>on</strong>able. They give<br />
directi<strong>on</strong> to life while the means adopted c<strong>on</strong>stitute life itself. It the means<br />
c<strong>on</strong>firm to the test of truth and no-violence, even mistakes, errors, and failures<br />
aid the growth of the individual. We can not get a rose by planting a noxious<br />
weed. There is an inviolable c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> between the means and end as there<br />
is between the seed and tree. The relati<strong>on</strong>ship between the two is organic.<br />
There must be purity of means . Those who grow out of violence, they will<br />
end in violence. This is what makes <strong>Gandhi</strong> distinctly different form Kautilya,<br />
Machiavelli, Bentham, Karl Marx, Lenin, Trotsky and other.<br />
III<br />
Examinati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s view <strong>on</strong> state may, perhaps, lead to a better<br />
understanding of his visi<strong>on</strong> of democracy. Sometimes a c<strong>on</strong>fusi<strong>on</strong> is made between<br />
the acts of the individuals and those of the state, and it is expected that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
State is to be n<strong>on</strong>-violent. But how is the State act n<strong>on</strong>-violently, when it represents<br />
violence in a c<strong>on</strong>centrated and organized form ? Indeed a n<strong>on</strong>-violent state is a<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> in terms. It could <strong>on</strong>ly be called a n<strong>on</strong>-violent stateless society. This<br />
is the ideal for <strong>Gandhi</strong>. N<strong>on</strong>-existence of State as cherished by <strong>Gandhi</strong> is impossible<br />
instantly or in near future. At the level of imperfect nature of man, am<strong>on</strong>g the<br />
existing states, democratic governance appears to be best.<br />
26
But the paradox is that being theoretically the best system of government,<br />
there is tidal waves of violence and other related problems sweeping across the<br />
world and seems to be having no respite.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> is certainly a staunch supporter of democracy. He believed that state<br />
is best which governs least and this is his sec<strong>on</strong>d best ideal. He held the view that<br />
there are certain things which cannot be d<strong>on</strong>e without political powers, even<br />
though there are numerous other things which do not at all depend up<strong>on</strong> political<br />
power. While in ideal society, there is no room for the military and police, yet in<br />
the actual state there is provisi<strong>on</strong> for it according to the moral level of its citizens.<br />
Democracy should be intermingled with n<strong>on</strong>-violence in even manner and<br />
governmental interference is minimum. The present democratic systems can overcome<br />
the problems most importantly “ violence and terrorism” <strong>on</strong>ly when n<strong>on</strong>-violence is<br />
accorded supreme status in practice as well as in principle and at social as well as<br />
individual plane. Only such a democracy can be successful in its real goal. The<br />
existing democratic deficit can be overcome by incorporating “ <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm in<br />
Democracy” . Violence is not sacred, pure or welfaristic from any point o f view.<br />
Whatever is gained <strong>on</strong> the basis of it is impure and temporary. Democracy and<br />
violence can never be mutual. The basis of democracy is n<strong>on</strong>-violence in toto. In<br />
it, people will grow accustomed sp<strong>on</strong>taneously to observe their social obligati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
without the operati<strong>on</strong> of the State. The more the individuals have imbibed the spirit<br />
of n<strong>on</strong>-violence, the less the necessity of State. This is the implicati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cept of Swaraj. “ The attempt to win Swaraj is Swaraj itself. It is a developing<br />
ideal and is “ better than the best”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> calls it “ indefinable”. Whatever political<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>Gandhi</strong> accepted, he did so as a transiti<strong>on</strong>al device, to be transcended by<br />
better <strong>on</strong>es. No instituti<strong>on</strong>al device is final. They must involve with the evoluti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
the individuals. The state should work in the directi<strong>on</strong> of development of n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
at individual, community, social and nati<strong>on</strong>al levels. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believes that<br />
politics can remain pure and free of corrupti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>ly if and so far it is based <strong>on</strong><br />
ethical principles- ethics which are comm<strong>on</strong> to all religi<strong>on</strong>s. He stands for the<br />
spiritualizati<strong>on</strong> and secularizati<strong>on</strong> of politics. <strong>Gandhi</strong> said : “ If they are to be truly<br />
made democratic, they must be valiantly n<strong>on</strong>-violent. In case of its absence,<br />
democracy shall be there for namesake <strong>on</strong>ly and it would be better for it …. Clearly<br />
be supporter of dictatorship”. This democracy must be such that it should not<br />
warrant power of punishment. In it people will certainly be c<strong>on</strong>scious of their<br />
duties. Peace requires peaceful method. There is no alternative to n<strong>on</strong>-violence.<br />
IV<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s experiences in South Africa became his laboratory where he c<strong>on</strong>ducted<br />
experiments and formulated his worldview. The discovery was Satyagraha. The<br />
policy of apartheid by the White Minority Government made the lives of the<br />
27
milli<strong>on</strong>s of the coloured people deplorably miserable. Col<strong>on</strong>ialism was legitimized.<br />
He valiantly fought against racialism, apartheid and col<strong>on</strong>ialism. The historic<br />
challenge before him was whether the weak could fight the str<strong>on</strong>g. Through his<br />
c<strong>on</strong>stant experimentati<strong>on</strong> he realized that n<strong>on</strong>-violence was the str<strong>on</strong>gest weap<strong>on</strong> of<br />
the col<strong>on</strong>ized masses and taught them to use it. He was able to induce courage and<br />
strength in the weakest of the weak and remorse in the hearts of the cruelest of the<br />
cruel and his belief that good exists in all humans, <strong>on</strong>e <strong>on</strong>ly has to awaken that<br />
good within.<br />
On his return from South Africa, <strong>Gandhi</strong> took the leadership of Indian<br />
Nati<strong>on</strong>al C<strong>on</strong>gress and adopted a positive and dynamic stand <strong>on</strong> internati<strong>on</strong>al affairs.<br />
He said : “My idea of nati<strong>on</strong>alism is that my country may become free, that if need<br />
be the whole of the country may die so that human race may live. There is no room<br />
for race hatred here. Let that be our nati<strong>on</strong>alism”.<br />
He also said<br />
“I do want to think in terms of the whole world. My patriotism includes the<br />
good of mankind in general. Therefore my service of India includes the services of<br />
humanity …. Isolated independence is not the goal of the world states. It is voluntary<br />
interdependence. The better mind of the world desires today not absolutely independent<br />
states warring <strong>on</strong>e against another, but a federati<strong>on</strong> of friendly, interdependent states.<br />
The c<strong>on</strong>summati<strong>on</strong> of that event may be far off. I want to make no grand claims<br />
for our country. But I see nothing grand or impossible about expressing our<br />
readiness for universal interdependence rather than independence. I desire the ability<br />
to be totally independent without asserting the independence”.<br />
From the beginning of the N<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> Movement, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
emphasized the view that free India would have friendly relati<strong>on</strong>s with other<br />
countries. In the issue of Young India, 1 June, 1921.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote<br />
“ An India awakened and free has a message of peace and goodwill to a<br />
groaning world. N<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> is designed to supply her with a platform from<br />
which she will preach the message.”<br />
In November 1921 all India C<strong>on</strong>gress Committee (AICC) passed a resoluti<strong>on</strong>,<br />
drafted by <strong>Gandhi</strong>, c<strong>on</strong>veying to the neighbouring countries that the foreign policy<br />
of the then Government of India did not represent the Indian opini<strong>on</strong> and was<br />
formulated by the British Government for holding India in subjecti<strong>on</strong> rather than<br />
protect her border. Freedom movements in Asian countries drew inspirati<strong>on</strong>, sympathy<br />
and support of the C<strong>on</strong>gress.<br />
28
Under his leadership the C<strong>on</strong>gress did not want to limit its outlook to fighting<br />
against British imperialism in India and thought of combating imperialism elsewhere<br />
in the world. In 1927 at its Madras Sessi<strong>on</strong> the C<strong>on</strong>gress declared that India could<br />
not be a party to any imperialist war and in no case should India be made to join<br />
a war without the c<strong>on</strong>sent of its people. In September 1933 Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote<br />
to Pandit Nehru : “ We must recognize that our nati<strong>on</strong>alism must not be inc<strong>on</strong>sistent<br />
with progressive internati<strong>on</strong>alism…. I can, therefore go to the whole length with you<br />
and say that we should range ourselves with the progressive forces of the world “.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> criticized the aggressive policies of Hitler and Mussolini. For India it is <strong>on</strong>e<br />
of complete oppositi<strong>on</strong> to fascists ; it is <strong>on</strong>e of oppositi<strong>on</strong> to imperialism. All India<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress Committee reaffirmed its determinati<strong>on</strong> to oppose any attempt to involve<br />
India in the war without the c<strong>on</strong>sent of the Indian people.<br />
After the outbreak of the Sec<strong>on</strong>d World War, <strong>Gandhi</strong> supported the cause of<br />
Poland. Even despite British decepti<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not want to embarass Britain<br />
when she was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with Nazi Germany.<br />
It may be noted that after the outbreak of the Sec<strong>on</strong>d World War, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
insistence <strong>on</strong> the applicati<strong>on</strong> of n<strong>on</strong>-violence in the internati<strong>on</strong>al arena led to his<br />
ideological break with the C<strong>on</strong>gress organizati<strong>on</strong>. Realising the futility of war in<br />
June 1940, <strong>Gandhi</strong> went to the extent of unging C<strong>on</strong>gress to declare that free India<br />
would not use any armed force for its defence.<br />
In September 1940 the A.I.C.C. passed the resoluti<strong>on</strong>. The A.I.C.C. stated its<br />
commitment to the policy and practice of n<strong>on</strong> –violence, world disarmament and<br />
world peace. During the war, the nati<strong>on</strong>alist movement in Afro-Asian countries<br />
gained momentum. The end of the World War II was followed by the Cold War<br />
between the two Superpowers. In such a state of affairs, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> and<br />
Pandit Nehru propounded their doctrine of internati<strong>on</strong>al amity and cooperati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
resurgence of Afro-Asian countries for the sake of liberati<strong>on</strong> from col<strong>on</strong>ial rule.<br />
India made it categorically clear to keep aloof from all alignments.<br />
Asian Relati<strong>on</strong>s C<strong>on</strong>ference was held from 23 March to 2 April 1947 in New<br />
Delhi. In this gathering both <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Nehru stressed the role of Asia and India<br />
in the promoti<strong>on</strong> of world peace. <strong>Gandhi</strong> declared “I would not like to live in this<br />
world if it is not to be <strong>on</strong>e world. I would certainly like to see that dream realized<br />
in my life time”. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji advocated “voluntary inter-dependence” of nati<strong>on</strong>s as<br />
against their isolated independence”, and “Universal interdependence rather than<br />
independence”. The AICC in its resoluti<strong>on</strong> 1942 under <strong>Gandhi</strong> subscribed to an<br />
idealistic approach to India’s foreign policy. It expressed “the future” peace, security<br />
and ordered progress of the world demand a World Federati<strong>on</strong> of free nati<strong>on</strong>s and<br />
<strong>on</strong> no other basis can the problems of the modern world be solved”. Such a World<br />
29
Federati<strong>on</strong> was advocated for the sake of the freedom of the member nati<strong>on</strong>s,<br />
preventi<strong>on</strong> of aggressi<strong>on</strong> and exploitati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>on</strong>e nati<strong>on</strong> by another, protecti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al minorities, advancement.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> advised the Asian delegates to c<strong>on</strong>vey to the whole world, particularly<br />
the West the message of Love and Truth. He said :<br />
“The west today is pining for wisdom. It is despairing of the multiplicati<strong>on</strong><br />
of atom bombs, because the multiplicati<strong>on</strong> of atom bombs means utter destructi<strong>on</strong><br />
not merely of the west but of the whole world, as if the prophecy of the Bible is<br />
going to be fulfilled and there is to be, heaven forbid, a deluge. It is upto you to<br />
deliver the whole world, not merely Asia, from that sin. That is the precious<br />
heritage your teachers and my teachers have left us”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was in favour of building up of a “World Comm<strong>on</strong>wealth”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> in<br />
his speech <strong>on</strong> 15 September 1931 at the Round Table C<strong>on</strong>ference (Sec<strong>on</strong>d Sessi<strong>on</strong>)<br />
said :<br />
“Time was when I prided myself <strong>on</strong> being, and being called, a British subject.<br />
I have ceased for many years to call myself a British subject, I would far rather be<br />
called a revel than a subject. But I have aspired- I still aspire- to be citizen, not<br />
in the Empire, but in a Comm<strong>on</strong>wealth; in a partnership if God wills it an<br />
indissoluble partnership - but not a partnership super-imposed up<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>e nati<strong>on</strong> by<br />
another”.<br />
Pandit Nehru formulated India’s foreign policy adopting <strong>Gandhi</strong>an prescripti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
It found its expressi<strong>on</strong> in the formulati<strong>on</strong> of Panchasheel. Panchasheel are five<br />
principles of peaceful co-existence signed between India and China in April 1954.<br />
These are :<br />
i) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty<br />
ii) Mutual n<strong>on</strong>-aggressi<strong>on</strong><br />
iii) Mutual n<strong>on</strong>-interference in each other’s internal affairs<br />
iv) Equality and mutual benefit and<br />
v) Peaceful coexistence.<br />
The policy of N<strong>on</strong>-Alignment reflected the essence of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an prescripti<strong>on</strong><br />
and reiterati<strong>on</strong> of ‘Panchasheel’. It has grown in to a gigantic movement having 118<br />
countries as members and completing its 14th Summit. In fact, the N<strong>on</strong>-Aligned<br />
Movement (NAM) is rightly described “ History’s biggest peace movement.” It stood<br />
for ‘Atom for peace’. The <strong>on</strong>ly possible answer to the atom bomb is n<strong>on</strong>-violence.<br />
As Pandit Nehru used to say “ I would call ours the authentic <strong>Gandhi</strong>an era<br />
and the policies and philosophy which seek to implement are the policy and<br />
30
philosophy taught to us by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji. There have been no break in the c<strong>on</strong>tinuity of<br />
our thoughts before and after 1947.”<br />
V<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> is a practical idealist. He is not a pacifist. The impact of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an message <strong>on</strong> Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was so profound and electrifying<br />
that he practised the message and techniques for the liberati<strong>on</strong> of the black people<br />
in America. He also deserves to be c<strong>on</strong>sidered as the first public figure who sensed<br />
and articulated the comm<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>cern in respect of envir<strong>on</strong>ment. He taught “ Earth is<br />
our mother and we are her children .” A mother can satisfy the needs of her children<br />
but not greed. Hence limitati<strong>on</strong> of human wants. He str<strong>on</strong>gly pleaded for liberati<strong>on</strong><br />
and upliftment of women. If women are empowered and reign the world, it would<br />
be a peaceful world. <strong>Gandhi</strong> is a postmodernist in the sense that he has harm<strong>on</strong>iously<br />
balanced the multiple identities. There is no private <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Public <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He<br />
has prescribed basic educati<strong>on</strong> for cultivating and nurturing moral life.<br />
The ultimate ideal of ‘N<strong>on</strong>-violence and Truth’ is unrealized and unrealizable<br />
; its value c<strong>on</strong>sists in pointing out the directi<strong>on</strong> , not in their realizati<strong>on</strong>. Striving<br />
after the ideal is the very essence of practising <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s philosophy. This c<strong>on</strong>sciousness<br />
should make <strong>on</strong>e strive to overcome the imperfecti<strong>on</strong>. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not<br />
have a shadow of doubt that the world of tomorrow will be, must be, a society<br />
based <strong>on</strong> n<strong>on</strong>-violence.<br />
Bibliography<br />
1. Ravindra Kumar, “Relevance of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm in the Modern Polity”, in the book<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Interactive Multimedia, Electr<strong>on</strong>ic book, 2007.<br />
2. ______, Essays <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm and peace, Meerut, Krishna Publicati<strong>on</strong>, India, 1999.<br />
3. ______, Theory and Practice of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an N<strong>on</strong>-violence, Mittal Publicati<strong>on</strong>s, New<br />
Delhi, 2002.<br />
4. M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Satyagraha in South Africa, Ahmedabad, Novajivan, 1950.<br />
5. ______, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiment with Truth, 1956.<br />
6. ______, The Selected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, 6 Vols. 1968.<br />
7. Gene Sharp, The Politics of N<strong>on</strong>-violence Acti<strong>on</strong>, Bost<strong>on</strong>, 1973.<br />
8. K. Santhanam, “Basic Principles of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm”, in the book, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>,<br />
Interactive Multimedia, Electr<strong>on</strong>ic book, 2007.<br />
9. B.S. Sharma, “The Ideal and Actual in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Philosophy”, in the book Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, p.cit., 2007.<br />
31
10. R.N. Iyer “Means and Ends in Politics”, in the book Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> op.cit, 2007.<br />
11. M.B.Byles, “<strong>Gandhi</strong> Through the Eyes of Gita’, op.cit. 2007.<br />
12. G. Ramachandran, “The Essence of <strong>Gandhi</strong>”, op.cit, 2007.<br />
13. D.N. Pathak, “<strong>Gandhi</strong>-From Culture of violence to culture of peace”, op.cit., 2007.<br />
14. S.C. Gangal, The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an way to world peace, 1960.<br />
15. Martin Luther King Jr., the Trumpet of c<strong>on</strong>science, 1967.<br />
16. S.N. Rath, “Jawaharlal Nehru: His Approach to Internati<strong>on</strong>alism” in the book S.Rath<br />
(ed.) Jawaharlal Nehru: The Nati<strong>on</strong> Builder and Architect of India’s Foreign Policy,<br />
Anu Books, Meerut, 1992.<br />
17. B. Pradhan, “Idealistic Cornerst<strong>on</strong>es of Jawaharlal’s Foreign Policy”, op.cit. Meerut,<br />
1992.<br />
18. A.C. Pradhan, “J. Nehru and the evoluti<strong>on</strong> of India outlook <strong>on</strong> internati<strong>on</strong>al affairs<br />
in pre-independence era”, op.cit, Meerut, 1992.<br />
19. J.Nehru, The Discovery of India, New Delhi, 1981, pp.402-21.<br />
20. Young India, 1st June 1921.<br />
21. S. Gopal (Ed.), Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, VII, New Delhi, 1975, p.602.<br />
22. Acharya Bhabananda, Rachanabali (1) Samalochana O Anubada Sahitya, Mayur<br />
Publicati<strong>on</strong>s, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>, 2002.<br />
23. Sanford Krolick and Betty Cann<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong> in the “Postmodern” Age: <str<strong>on</strong>g>Issue</str<strong>on</strong>g>s in War<br />
and Peace, Colorado School of Mines, USA, Colorado, 1984.<br />
“ There are innumerable definiti<strong>on</strong>s of God, because his manifestati<strong>on</strong>s are innumerable<br />
…. But I worship God as Truth <strong>on</strong>ly. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after<br />
Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even<br />
if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it. But as l<strong>on</strong>g<br />
as I have not realized this Absolute Truth, so l<strong>on</strong>g must I hold by the relative truth as<br />
I have c<strong>on</strong>ceived it …. Often in my progress I have had faint glimpses of the Absolute<br />
Truth, God, and daily the c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> is growing up<strong>on</strong> me that He al<strong>on</strong>e is real and<br />
all else is unreal. Let those, who wish , realize how the c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> has grown up<strong>on</strong> me<br />
; let them share my experiments and share also my c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> if they can. “<br />
- <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
32
<strong>Gandhi</strong>giri Revisited : Reflecti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong><br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> - A Performed Leader<br />
33<br />
N. Pani*<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> is an Internati<strong>on</strong>al ic<strong>on</strong>, Martyr and Champi<strong>on</strong> of ‘n<strong>on</strong>violence’.<br />
As a performed leader of the world he is well acknowledged and his life<br />
became a message to the world. His passi<strong>on</strong> for values and work coupled with his<br />
skill provides excellence in shaping word peace and order. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> Led<br />
India. India is celebrating 150 years of First War of Indian Independence 1857.<br />
Presently <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm revisited in cross borders. World is a fan of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri<br />
exhibited in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. The powerful mantra - Satyagraha, N<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
and Truth - of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri helps comm<strong>on</strong> man (am admi) to solve social<br />
problems. The image of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> is people oriented and values and spirit<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sim is people centered. Leadership essentially means influencing people.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> influenced not <strong>on</strong>ly people of India, Africa, Britain but also people of<br />
America. The buzz word of his performed leadership is ‘participati<strong>on</strong> of people’. He<br />
had high c<strong>on</strong>cern for ‘people’ and high c<strong>on</strong>cern for work. So, he could be named<br />
as a ‘Team Manager’ as per Blake and Mout<strong>on</strong>s Managerial Grid Theory of<br />
Leadership. Really <strong>Gandhi</strong> Led people by heart and managed ‘the work’ by mind.<br />
He had a dream of ‘New India’ then. Accordingly he marched ahead. Currently<br />
affected by terror, global order is rethinking of n<strong>on</strong>-violence for c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
As a matter of fact the principles of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm, the visi<strong>on</strong> of Mahatma in areas of<br />
socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political envir<strong>on</strong>ment are discussed below. Undoubted, his ideas<br />
are key to peace and brotherhood of modern society in this globalizati<strong>on</strong> era. And<br />
India needs reinventing of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sim to solve encounted multifarious problems and<br />
to fulfil the visi<strong>on</strong> of India. In <strong>on</strong>e word fasi<strong>on</strong> is to rediscover <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. In this<br />
regard <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views as to socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political ideas are placed below.<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Idea<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was a practical man. He designed ways and principles to fight India’s<br />
freedom struggle. As a ground work he champi<strong>on</strong>ed the cause of ‘indigenous<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy’ system. It’s characteristic, as designed, was self sustaining and egalitarian<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy. His ec<strong>on</strong>omy model is based <strong>on</strong> poverty reducti<strong>on</strong> and rural dynamics.<br />
Utilisati<strong>on</strong> of India’s natural resources was a step towards this directi<strong>on</strong>. It is a fact<br />
that he was against machine. That was the underlying principle for which he<br />
developed ‘Khadi’ and advocated ‘Swadeshi’ goods. No doubt spinning would create<br />
employability and increase per capita income of the poor peasants. Really his<br />
champi<strong>on</strong>ing the cause of village ec<strong>on</strong>omic independence and sustainable agriculture<br />
* Reader in Public Administrati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>
are landmarks in history. Side by side he was opposed to industrializati<strong>on</strong>, a factor<br />
in individual growth and development. <strong>Gandhi</strong> focused ‘human factor’ which is now<br />
the guiding principle in Human Resource Management.<br />
Political Ideas<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic development of rural India is dependent <strong>on</strong> political power to rural<br />
India. This is the underlying principle of Panchayati Raj- a form of self-governance<br />
at village level. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> said Independence must begin at the bottom…..it<br />
follows, therefore, that every village has to be self-sustained and capable of<br />
managing its affairs. ‘Empowerment of rural India’ was the visi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Really<br />
his dream of ‘Gram Swaraj’ became a reality with the enactment and introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
of Panchayati Raj system . And this dream became c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>al with the 73rd Amendment Act 1992. That provides for<br />
Village Panchayat, Panchayati samiti and Zillaparishad.<br />
Establishment of Gram Sabha at the village lord.<br />
Seat reservati<strong>on</strong> for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.<br />
Reservati<strong>on</strong> for women (1/3 of seats).<br />
State Finance Commissi<strong>on</strong> for important of finances of Panchayats.<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-violence Bullet: Shooting of Terrorism<br />
Terrorism is a menans in 21st Century, better to say a ‘cancer in modern social<br />
order’. It is rampant all over the world and particularly in India. India’s track record<br />
in cracking terror cases is pathetic (Times of India (29th exhibit-1 below :<br />
August, 2007) as given in<br />
Exhibit -1: Terror Cases in India (1993-2007)<br />
May,12,1993 Searial Blasts, Mumbai 257 dead and 1400 injured<br />
Feb,14,1998 Bomb Blasts, Coimbatore 58 deal 200 injured<br />
Dec.,13,2001 Parliament Attack, New Delhi 12 killed<br />
Sept.,24,2002 Akshardham, <strong>Gandhi</strong>nagar 34 dead and 81 injured<br />
Aug.,25,2003 Gateway and Zaveri Bazar,<br />
Mumbai 53 dead, 161 hurt<br />
July,29,2005 Shramjeevi Exp., Varanasi 12 dead, 52 injured<br />
Oct.,29,2005 New Delhi 61 dead, 92 injured<br />
July,11,2006 Train Blasts, Mumbai 187 dead, 700 injured<br />
Feb.,19,2007 Samjhuta Exp., Panipat. 68 dead, 125 injured<br />
May,18,2007 Mecca Musjid, Hyderabad 14 dead, 100 injured<br />
Aug.,25,2007 Hyderabad 42 dead, 54 injured<br />
(Source Times of India : August29,2007).<br />
34
As such 47,37 people died in terrorist violence during 1994-2005 and 4666<br />
people died in terrorist violence (n<strong>on</strong>-noxalite) during 2002-2006. And globally 9/11<br />
and 7/7 attack in US and UK were more horrifying. True, may causes can be<br />
ascribed to terrorism. High populati<strong>on</strong> growth rate, unemployment social c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
(Religious and ethics), underdevelopment and poverty and territorial c<strong>on</strong>flicts are<br />
major causes of terrorism in India. Terrorism is intended to cause death or serious<br />
body harm to civilizati<strong>on</strong>s : (UN Security Council : 2004). Further terrorism involves<br />
violence and the threat of violence. (Walter Laqueur ; Center for Strategic Internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Studies). It tries to exhibit fear psychosis am<strong>on</strong>g the comm<strong>on</strong> man. Sometimes it is<br />
political goal directed. Additi<strong>on</strong>ally it may take several forms and magnified the<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flicts.<br />
In pre-independent India struggle for freedom experienced violence. But<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> used the weap<strong>on</strong> of ‘N<strong>on</strong>-violence (Ahimsa) to resolve the<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict. Necessarily n<strong>on</strong>-violence was key to C<strong>on</strong>flict Resoluti<strong>on</strong>. Towards this<br />
value, <strong>Gandhi</strong> used the technique of ‘fasting’. It is pertinent here to present <strong>on</strong>e<br />
example. That is<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> was against the creati<strong>on</strong> of Pakistan in 1944. This culminated in<br />
Unrest and Jinnah declared August 16 as ‘Direct Acti<strong>on</strong> Day’. It resulted in killings<br />
of 5000 people and 15000 wounded in Calcutta. This spreaded to other parts of<br />
India. Furthermore people died in Bihar. To ease the Hindu Muslim tensi<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
warned to take fasting until death. C<strong>on</strong>sequently, tensi<strong>on</strong> claimed down though riot<br />
was there sparsely.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sim : Key Principles<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm is a collecti<strong>on</strong> of principles, values and ideas. It has a wide<br />
boundary . It touches all individuals. The ideas are :<br />
a) Satyagraha<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> opined that ‘I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
are as old as the hills. The terms means truthful effort.<br />
b) Truth<br />
In <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s philosophy ‘Truth is God’ . (The Story of My Experiments with<br />
Truth.)<br />
c) Ahimsa<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sim’s journey was a destinati<strong>on</strong> ‘truth’. Truth is the foundati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy. Really it is an undeniable fact that the truth is far more<br />
powerful than any weap<strong>on</strong> of mass destructi<strong>on</strong> (<strong>Gandhi</strong>). And the foundati<strong>on</strong> of it<br />
is faith and courage.<br />
35
“Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we can not practice it in full. We must<br />
try to understand its spirit and retrain as far as is humanity possible from violence”<br />
(<strong>Gandhi</strong>).<br />
d) Brahmacharya or Celibacy<br />
It not <strong>on</strong>ly purified <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji but calmed aggressive mind. Besides, it negates<br />
lust and develops a positive c<strong>on</strong>trol mechanism within self.<br />
e) Vegetariasim<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s teaching of n<strong>on</strong>-violences cools a pers<strong>on</strong>s and aggressive attitude.<br />
And in this directi<strong>on</strong> vegetarism food habit is a major aid.<br />
f) Khadi : Missi<strong>on</strong> Indianisati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> adopted Khadi clothes to promote employment opportunities in rural<br />
India and to eradicate poverty and to balance social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic inequality. Side<br />
by side <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted to develop ‘an identity’ to Indian Culture. Presently<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress Party adopted this ‘culture ic<strong>on</strong>’ as the official party uniforms. Further<br />
khadi was also a protest movement against violence of ec<strong>on</strong>omic policy of British<br />
Government.<br />
g) Fasting<br />
‘Fast Unto Death’ was a technic of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> and a problem solving<br />
approach. Necessarily it is a c<strong>on</strong>trol mechanism. Though fasting is hardship to<br />
health yet <strong>Gandhi</strong> had undertaken this fasting thrice.<br />
1922 : Chauri Chura Incident<br />
1934 : Communal Award<br />
1947 : Hindu - Muslim Riots<br />
h) Simplicity<br />
Simple living and high thinking is the motto of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. While professing<br />
simplicity urban living style failed to touch him. Even if he renounced the gifts and<br />
reduced himself to ‘zero’. So to say his swearing of ‘dhoti’ symbolizes his love for<br />
comm<strong>on</strong> man. Really <strong>Gandhi</strong> is small in material and big in spiritual.<br />
i) Faith<br />
Faith is the <strong>on</strong>e of the main beliefs of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. It is derived from Hinduism.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had str<strong>on</strong>g belief in Gita-righteousness in all walks of life.<br />
The beginning : Fight Against Discriminati<strong>on</strong><br />
‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> visited South Africa in 1893. A train incident evoked a softness in<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. He promised to eradicate ‘racial discriminati<strong>on</strong> and finally succeeded. True,<br />
36
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was then a leader of fragmented Indian-coming from all parts. On returning<br />
to India in 1915 as a matter of fact he became a true leader of India, above the<br />
regi<strong>on</strong>al and parochial factors. He was then known by ‘Mahatmaji’- a title was<br />
given by Rabindranath Tagore. Necessary he became so, as he had the skill of a<br />
performed mass leader.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> : The Home-Maker<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a good home maker also. This was exemplified from his<br />
ideas <strong>on</strong><br />
a) Birth C<strong>on</strong>trol and family planning<br />
b) Vegetarianism and timely food habits.<br />
c) Scarifies and renunciati<strong>on</strong> of material things.<br />
d) Brahmachasya to c<strong>on</strong>trol self, lust, love for wife and spiritual purity.<br />
e) Use of home made medicines.<br />
f) Simple living<br />
g) Compromising attitude and<br />
h) Nursing and missi<strong>on</strong>ary attitude.<br />
i) Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Planner<br />
j) Ideas <strong>on</strong> Recycling of things.<br />
k) Focus <strong>on</strong> mother’s educati<strong>on</strong> for development of children- future of nati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
l) Ideas <strong>on</strong> cleanliness.<br />
m) Duty to father- the sec<strong>on</strong>d Guru.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>- Seven Deadly Sins<br />
As noted ‘Mahatma’ title was given to <strong>Gandhi</strong> by Tagore. So the other view is<br />
‘Mahatma’ title was given by Nautamial Bhagavanji Mehta <strong>on</strong> Jan.,21,1915 Mahatmaji<br />
was of the view that SEVEN SINS will destroy humanity. Seven sins are :<br />
Wealth without work<br />
Pleasure without c<strong>on</strong>science<br />
Knowledge without character<br />
Commerce (Business) without Morality (Ethics)<br />
Science without Humanity<br />
Religi<strong>on</strong> without Scarifies<br />
Politics without Principles.<br />
(Stephen R C<strong>on</strong>vey (1990), Principle Centered Leadership).<br />
37
And <strong>Gandhi</strong> was of the view these sins can be negated by following natural<br />
principles and laws. It is true as <strong>Gandhi</strong> said all human beings are pr<strong>on</strong>e to sinful<br />
acti<strong>on</strong>s. But he believed that punishment to such acti<strong>on</strong>s are the resp<strong>on</strong>sibility of the<br />
God.<br />
Social Reformer<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> became a great social reformer. More particularly he was a catalyst of<br />
social change. His str<strong>on</strong>g c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s caurage and understanding of social life were<br />
pointers of changing social structure. Unmistakably <strong>on</strong>e can say with his novel<br />
problem solving approach and weap<strong>on</strong> of n<strong>on</strong>-violence he removed Britishers. He<br />
was a great ‘change’ manager. <strong>Gandhi</strong> approved inter caste marriage. He designed<br />
castes called ‘Harijana’ and ‘Girijana’, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes. As a<br />
matter of fact with his magic wand he fought against untouchability.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Model :Development initiates<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> dreamed of development of individual and quality of life. There by he<br />
was not against globalizati<strong>on</strong> or global collaborati<strong>on</strong>s. But he was not favourable to<br />
be the slave to naked globalizati<strong>on</strong>- which is practised today. However he excelled<br />
in developing rural India, as put earlier. He identified (approx) 7,00,000 villages<br />
with India. If villages evaporate India will be no where. Development of village<br />
brings empowered people, an employment capacity building. For such development<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was of the view that the village development was linked to village industrial<br />
development. And for c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> each village should have a village panchayat.<br />
In <strong>on</strong>e word he dreamed of a sustained village and potential social harm<strong>on</strong>y.<br />
Moreover, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a creative leader with his innovative technique of ‘Salt<br />
Satyagraha’ and Dandi March, the basic way to fight against injustice. Really these<br />
are the techniques of ‘Things TO DO’.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>flict Resoluti<strong>on</strong> : <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Technique of Satyagraha<br />
Satyagraha stands for protesting ‘false’ through n<strong>on</strong>-violent ways. He tought<br />
that it was a potent weap<strong>on</strong> to resolve c<strong>on</strong>flict. Preamble of the c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
UNESCO reads ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men<br />
that the defenses of place must be c<strong>on</strong>structed’. Prior to this <strong>Gandhi</strong> talked of world<br />
peace. In ‘Hindu Dharma’ Mahatma wrote “The world will live in peace <strong>on</strong>ly when<br />
the individuals composing it make up their minds to do so’ (Hindu Dharma :<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>). Necessarily ‘attitude to peace’ is vital in the dirty envir<strong>on</strong>ment of c<strong>on</strong>flicts<br />
rippled with religious fundamentalism, violati<strong>on</strong> of Human Rights, discriminati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
poverty and inequality in distributi<strong>on</strong> of ec<strong>on</strong>omic resources. In this new milli<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an formula of peace is a potent way to resolve c<strong>on</strong>flicts and violence. As<br />
such the peace formula comprises of the ideals of Satyagraha, Swaraj, Sarvodaya,<br />
Swadeshi, Sarva Dharma Sambhava Social Harm<strong>on</strong>y and Communal Unity. Additi<strong>on</strong>aly<br />
38
his ideas <strong>on</strong> decentralizati<strong>on</strong> of power, wealth, ec<strong>on</strong>omic inequality and trusteeship<br />
are more pointers to peace. Exhibit-2 given below represents <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Formula and<br />
C<strong>on</strong>flict Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Exhibit - 2<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Formula : Destinati<strong>on</strong> Peace<br />
C<strong>on</strong>flict / Problem Soluti<strong>on</strong>s / Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
Moral Crisis N<strong>on</strong>violence, Ashram, Anasakta Karma<br />
Religious Fundamentalism Sarva Dharma sambhava, Tolerance, Respect<br />
towards all Religi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong>al reform Nai-Talim<br />
Social Disturbance Removal of untouchability, communal unity,<br />
sarvodaya, Upliftment of women, prohibiti<strong>on</strong>,<br />
service of Backward classes, village sanitati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Political C<strong>on</strong>flicts Swaraj, decentralizati<strong>on</strong> of power, Democracy of<br />
Enlighted majority.<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Problems Trusteeship, swadeshi, Breed Labour, Khadi &<br />
Village Industries, Decentralisati<strong>on</strong> of Wealth<br />
(Source : Chhaya Rai : <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s Role and Relevance in C<strong>on</strong>flict Resoluti<strong>on</strong>).<br />
The above problem solving approaches also culminated with ‘ Vrata’s enunciated<br />
by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji : They are<br />
1. Village Industries<br />
2. Removal of Untouchability<br />
3. Village Sanitati<strong>on</strong><br />
4. Upliftment of Women<br />
5. Communial Unity<br />
6. Services of Backward Classes<br />
7. Prohibiti<strong>on</strong><br />
8. Nati<strong>on</strong>al Language<br />
9. Basic Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
10. Adult / Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
Further to resolve c<strong>on</strong>flict <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji advised the assimilati<strong>on</strong> of valuesforgiveness,<br />
truthfulness, n<strong>on</strong>-violence, love, friendliness, mercy to self. Also in the<br />
fulfillment of c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> he used, as noted above, a powerful means ‘Fasting<br />
Unto Death’. So, Satyagraha- a moral and human atom bomb to win over opp<strong>on</strong>ents<br />
and resolve c<strong>on</strong>flict with love, Sarva Dharma Sambhav- a vaccine to check religious<br />
c<strong>on</strong>flict and awaken creative values, social realities and knowledge of good governance<br />
are major steps of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy in furtherance of peace and brotherhood.<br />
39
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm Cross : Broder Setting<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a global leader and he was the product of globalizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
His leadership came to limlight in South Africa first, not in India. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was not<br />
opposed to globalizati<strong>on</strong>. Excess of it is threat to culture, and ec<strong>on</strong>omic balance. He<br />
was prepared to accept what are good, not as every foreign things are good. "I do<br />
not want my house to be walled in <strong>on</strong> all sides and my windows to be staffed . I<br />
want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. Bu<br />
I refuse to be blown off my feet by any" (M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong> : Hind Swaraj and other<br />
writings). Cross broder dealings are very old. Presently India is in the grip of ‘diet<br />
coke’, LCD TV, Luxury Cars and high end technologies. These are all the effects<br />
of globalizati<strong>on</strong> and western c<strong>on</strong>sumerism to which almost every urban Indians are<br />
trapped. To illustrate the phenomen<strong>on</strong> it is to be marked that new trend in<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sumerism is the indebtness. In Housing Loans burden between 1991 to 2005 is<br />
ratio of 40 : 84 and the total c<strong>on</strong>sumer war burden is 26 : 93 (Tol : 2006). Despite the<br />
debate of plus and minus points of globalizati<strong>on</strong>. ‘Culture mix’ is the way of<br />
development. And it provides a comparative dynamics for development. A comparis<strong>on</strong><br />
of development index of China and India are presented below in exhibit 3 to<br />
emphasis the cross border co-operati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Exhibit - 3<br />
China and India : Widening Differences<br />
Indicators China India<br />
GDP in $ Trill<strong>on</strong> 5.33 2.33<br />
GDP per capita 4.091 2.126<br />
Populati<strong>on</strong> below $1 / day (%) 9.9 34.3<br />
Populati<strong>on</strong> below $2 / day (%) 34.9 80.4<br />
F<strong>on</strong>y reserves $ Trilli<strong>on</strong>s 1.612 276.0<br />
Rice Productivity kg / hectare 6233 3034<br />
Wheat Productivity kg/hectare 4155 2688<br />
Life Expectancy (years) 72.5 63.7<br />
Underweight children % 8 47<br />
Infant mortality rate % 23 56<br />
Maternal Mortality Rate % 45 430<br />
Public Health Expenditure<br />
%ofGDP<br />
1.8 0.9<br />
Teleph<strong>on</strong>es (Milli<strong>on</strong>) 910 265<br />
Internet Users (Milli<strong>on</strong>s)<br />
(Source Times of India : 13 January, 2008).<br />
185 46<br />
40
And it is a matter of knowledge and technology transfer to equip <strong>on</strong>e State<br />
with other States of the world. India is marching towards ec<strong>on</strong>omic globalizati<strong>on</strong><br />
and India’s growth is sky rocketing. Yet, as noted above, the case of is bey<strong>on</strong>d<br />
comparable to China. So <strong>Gandhi</strong> talked of ec<strong>on</strong>omic globalizati<strong>on</strong> focusing <strong>on</strong> ‘self<br />
sufficiency <strong>on</strong> most and dependency <strong>on</strong> some’. This <strong>Gandhi</strong>an idea of ‘self<br />
sufficiency’ is the corner st<strong>on</strong>e of India’s foreign policy today. <strong>Gandhi</strong> pleaded for<br />
peasants rights. But in the name of globalizati<strong>on</strong>, we are bartering away these with<br />
WTO resoluti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was opposing the cutting of tree for industrial purposes. And the<br />
modern form for it is ‘Green Movement / Chipko movement. Further <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was<br />
opposed to woman’s outside work as they were the rule maker and director of home<br />
affairs. But with globalizati<strong>on</strong> and western culture this value system has changed.<br />
Indira Nooyi has became a top ranking Pepsi corporate women. Really <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s few<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cepts are pr<strong>on</strong>e to ‘close globalisati<strong>on</strong>’. And present India has to compete in the<br />
technologically advanced countries for survival. So cross border ec<strong>on</strong>omy with self<br />
reliance, <strong>Gandhi</strong>an way, is a must for development of India.<br />
LRMB Technique : Ic<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri<br />
A number of films have been made including ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> My Father’ released in<br />
July 2007. ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> My Father’ shooted and premiered in South Africa. Further a<br />
best known film is Lage Raho Munna Bhai, the bolywood of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri and<br />
screened first in UN. In it young generati<strong>on</strong>s are imbibed with popular Lage Raho<br />
Muna Bhai Techniques of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri to solve problems. As such the cardinal<br />
principle of Lage Raho Muna Bhai Techniques of problem solving approach are :<br />
1. Tolerance<br />
2. Truth<br />
3. Faith<br />
4. Love<br />
5. N<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
6. Accommodati<strong>on</strong><br />
7. Mutuality of Interest<br />
8. Persuati<strong>on</strong><br />
9. Scarifies<br />
And these are the qualities of a performed leader be in in social life or<br />
corporate life.<br />
41
Legacy of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
Recently during 2006 South Africa observed 100th anniversary of Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Satyagraha at Durban in the presence of Prime Minister of India, Manmohan<br />
Singh. This is a greatest tribute to Mahatmaji while Thabo Mbeki acknowledged<br />
that ‘Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the native s<strong>on</strong> of India and at the sometime a beloved s<strong>on</strong><br />
of ‘South Africa’ as well, provided the unparallel leadership and example that<br />
inspired the triumphant march to freedom and democracy in India in 1947 and in<br />
South Africa in 1994” (1st October,2006 : Thabo Mbeki). Further Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
respect for integrity, truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence symbolized American Civil Rights<br />
Movement, which celebrated golden jubilee in 2006. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an teachings, moreover<br />
influenced leaders of the world such as. Martin Luther King, Nels<strong>on</strong> Mandela, Khan<br />
Abdul Ghaffer Khan etc. and political movements. A plethora of books have been<br />
written by celebrated authors <strong>on</strong> life and thoughts of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. UN announced <strong>on</strong> 15th June 2007 to declare 2, October, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Jayanti of India, as Internati<strong>on</strong>al Day of<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-Violence. Further Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was great, is great and will remain great.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, as a leader had profound impact <strong>on</strong> life and thoughts of Americans. As such<br />
a tribute to Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> by few Americans are placed below in Exhibit-4 for<br />
appreciati<strong>on</strong>. (Norman C<strong>on</strong>sins : 1968).<br />
Exhibit - 4<br />
What They Say : Reflecti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Views Authors<br />
“The means adopted are not violence, not bloodshed,<br />
not diplomacy as <strong>on</strong>e understands it nowadays,<br />
but they are purely and simply truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence.” Will Durant<br />
“From my background I gained my regulating<br />
Christian ideals. From <strong>Gandhi</strong> I learned my<br />
operati<strong>on</strong>al techniques.” Martin Luther King<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> meant by, ‘Mahatma’ as insignificant man.” JO Davids<strong>on</strong><br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong>! <strong>Gandhi</strong> the Beloved! Mahatma!<br />
The great Soul of India” Frederick Fisher<br />
‘All religi<strong>on</strong>s bel<strong>on</strong>g to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’ Welthy H<strong>on</strong>singer Fisher<br />
“Is n<strong>on</strong>-violence a form of direct acti<strong>on</strong>? I asked<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> replied ‘It is not <strong>on</strong>e form, it is the <strong>on</strong>ly form’. Howard Thurman<br />
“Mr. <strong>Gandhi</strong> is the greatest Indian since Buddha.<br />
Like Buddha, he will be worshiped as a<br />
God when he dies”, John Gunther<br />
One has to go back centuries to find men who appealed<br />
as str<strong>on</strong>gly as <strong>Gandhi</strong> did to the c<strong>on</strong>science of individual. Louis Fischer<br />
42
I remember the last c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong> best, because in it<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> revealed a side of his character that has been<br />
little publicized, this was his sense of humor. Robert Trumbull<br />
The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of soul-force is a mystic<br />
<strong>on</strong>e and seems to me the secret of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s technique<br />
of influence, if not of his doctrine, seemed to me a<br />
little clearer after I had actually seen him practicing<br />
it at his prayer meeting. Edm<strong>on</strong>d Taylor<br />
‘The charkha illustrates a major tenet of <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
When individually c<strong>on</strong>sidered man is insignificant,<br />
even like a drop of water, but in the mass he becomes<br />
mighty and powerful like the ocean. Margaret Bourke – white<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, however was <strong>on</strong>e those prophets who General Doughlas<br />
lived far ahead of the time”. MacArthur<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was essentially a man of peace and inspite of Earl Warren<br />
his advanced age was still devoting his entire life to that cause.<br />
This spirit of Mahatma Gadhi will live and grow and<br />
his influence will increase with the years. Dr. Henry Grady<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was <strong>on</strong>e of the deathless few across the centuries, Arthur H.<br />
who have lifted human character to immortal authority… Vandenberg<br />
who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires.<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was h<strong>on</strong>or and esteem in all America<br />
as a world leader for peace. Joseph W. Martin, Jr.<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> died by violence as he was staking his<br />
life in order to set the examples of n<strong>on</strong>-violence. Walter Lippmannn<br />
Every-<strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>cerned with a better future for mankind<br />
must be deeply moved by the tragic death of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Albert Einstein<br />
Speak the truth and let a man overcome anger by love.<br />
Let him overcome the liar by truth (Buddha). Like Buddha<br />
it was <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s urge to liberate man. Edgar P. Snow<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> bel<strong>on</strong>gs to the coming age of hope…<br />
Thus he gave a key to understanding both himself and the age. Ralph Templin<br />
‘I was <strong>on</strong>e am<strong>on</strong>g a multitude of pers<strong>on</strong>s who were<br />
blessed with <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s friendship. John Haynes Holmes<br />
The greatness of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not simply that<br />
he freed India, but that he himself grew toward. Truth. Herrym<strong>on</strong> Maurer<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a combinati<strong>on</strong> of west and east. E Stanley J<strong>on</strong>es<br />
43
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> is the very embodiment of the democratic<br />
process and spirit. Clare and Harris Wofford<br />
You and I have no rights to anything until the milli<strong>on</strong>s<br />
are fed and clothed better. D<strong>on</strong>ald Harringt<strong>on</strong><br />
The people loved him (<strong>Gandhi</strong>) for his sacrifice and<br />
renunciati<strong>on</strong>; it was, largely, the secret of his enormous<br />
influence with them and was what made it possible for<br />
him to become a nati<strong>on</strong>al leader. Eleanor Roosevelt<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was also a key to the revoluti<strong>on</strong>s of our time.<br />
Of all the revoluti<strong>on</strong>aries who have dominated this century’s<br />
stage-Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin and Mao-<strong>Gandhi</strong> al<strong>on</strong>e<br />
offered no less important to understand this history than<br />
to study the course of fascism and communism. Chester Bowles<br />
The wit and wisdom of <strong>Gandhi</strong> is for us to live by<br />
and not merely to quote. The wit and wisdom of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
can be lived not <strong>on</strong>ly by saints, but also by sinners, by those<br />
of us who are average, as <strong>Gandhi</strong> insisted to was average. Homer A Jack<br />
If ever men achieve a world peace to no single man will<br />
it owe a greater debt than to Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Norman Thomas<br />
Source : Norman C<strong>on</strong>sins (1968); Profiles of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> : A Critical Insight<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> is syn<strong>on</strong>ymous with ‘Without truth Nothing’, Hindu cultural and<br />
religious values. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ans are also Muslims-Khan Abdul Ghafferkhan, Christians-<br />
Horace Alexander, Jewish-Herman Kallenbach. As such <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is of omni<br />
present. It crossed border, gender sensitiveness , sex and race factors. Simplicity and<br />
truthfulness are prime qualities of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ans of yesterday, today and tomorrow.<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-violence, Satyagraha is the ‘weap<strong>on</strong>’ to fight against injustice. He was a great<br />
fighter against poverty, untouchability, injustice, ignorance, alchoholism and struggle<br />
for freedom. Despite his positive c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to India and world order he was<br />
criticized by Jinna and other Pakistanis for neglecting political rights of Muslims.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>troversies are there <strong>on</strong> this topic as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Pravin<br />
Togadia criticized <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideology <strong>on</strong> this point of appeasing Muslims. Moreover,<br />
while world appreciates <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s n<strong>on</strong>-violence, few were in favour of achieving<br />
Indian Freedom at gun’s point.<br />
At a later point <strong>Gandhi</strong> stated “There was a time when people listen to me<br />
because I showed them how to give fight to the British without arms who they had<br />
no arms …..but today I am told that my n<strong>on</strong>-violence can be of no avail against the,<br />
(Hindu-Muslim riots) and, therefore, people should arm themselves for self-defence.<br />
44
Obviously his rigid ‘Ahimsa’ attracted criticisms. Rose has thorns, Mo<strong>on</strong> has darker<br />
side, yet fragrance and cool shine are beauty of rose and mo<strong>on</strong> respectively.<br />
Undoubtedly there may be darker side of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, but the rising side of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
made him ‘world leader’ also in the present new millennium.<br />
A Final Word<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> is rediscovered. <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is back in India. It is a fashi<strong>on</strong> now.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> envisi<strong>on</strong>ed a ‘Self Sufficient India’. Presently India is facing crucial challenges.<br />
To put a few are :<br />
1) To empower people.<br />
2) Redefining Legal system and to tackle problems of 3ps- Policies, Power and<br />
Populati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
3) Tackling Populati<strong>on</strong> explosi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
4) To combat illiteracy.<br />
5) A clear cut divisi<strong>on</strong> between Rich and Poor- unequal distributi<strong>on</strong> of wealth.<br />
6) Widening cultural divide.<br />
7) Mounting Unemployment.<br />
8) Tackling of Terrorism<br />
9) Envir<strong>on</strong>ment and Sustainable Development.<br />
10) Social and Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Imbalance.<br />
11) Never setting ‘Sun’-Corrupti<strong>on</strong><br />
12) Pseudo Secularism.<br />
13) Livilihood for all.<br />
14) Unsafe basic living envir<strong>on</strong>ment.<br />
15) Educati<strong>on</strong> for all.<br />
In this milieu <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is touching the horiz<strong>on</strong> of Indian imaginati<strong>on</strong>. So<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> is back and touched young Indians. On this commemorati<strong>on</strong> of 150 years<br />
of First War of Indian Independence can the visi<strong>on</strong>, filtered with circular-lense, save<br />
India from the challenges India is facing in Liberisati<strong>on</strong>, Privaisati<strong>on</strong> and Globalisati<strong>on</strong><br />
era ? Can the reinventing in <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm focus India as a str<strong>on</strong>ger State in coming<br />
days ?<br />
References<br />
1. Fischer, Louis, (2002) The Essentials <strong>Gandhi</strong> : An Anthology of his Writings<br />
<strong>on</strong> his life, Work and Ideas, Vinitage, New York.<br />
2. Dutta, Dadage, M. S. Mishra (1995). Fundamentals of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm, Mittal<br />
Publicati<strong>on</strong>s, New Delhi.<br />
45
3. Pani, Narendra (2002), Inclusive Ec<strong>on</strong>omics; <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Method and<br />
4.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>temporary Policy, Sage, New Delhi.<br />
Weber, Thomas (2006) <strong>Gandhi</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm and <strong>Gandhi</strong>ans, Roli Books Ltd.<br />
5. Gnahdi, M. K. (1929) An Autobiography, The Story of my Experiments with<br />
Truth.<br />
6. Ganesh S, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, The Ec<strong>on</strong>omic and Political Weekly’, 14<br />
, October, 2006.<br />
7. Gupta, Batim D, ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm in Business’, The Telegraph, 10 Ocober,2006.<br />
8. Mandela Nels<strong>on</strong> (2003) L<strong>on</strong>g Walk to Freedom : An Autobiography, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>.<br />
9. Richard Falk : <strong>Gandhi</strong>, N<strong>on</strong>-violence and the struggle Against War at http://<br />
www.transnati<strong>on</strong>al.org/forum.<br />
10. James Morris<strong>on</strong> (2003), Legncy of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, The Wasingt<strong>on</strong> Post, 13 August,2003.<br />
11. Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth & K. Lee Lerner (eds) (2006) Terrosim : Essential<br />
Primary Sources, Thoms<strong>on</strong> Gale.<br />
12. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Mohatma, (1994), The Colleced works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, New<br />
Delhi Publicati<strong>on</strong>s Divisi<strong>on</strong>s, Ministry of Informati<strong>on</strong> and Broad Casting,<br />
Government of India.<br />
13. Bhana, Surendra and Goolam Vahed, (2003), The Making of a Political<br />
Reformer : <strong>Gandhi</strong> in South Africa : (1893-1914) Manohar, New Delhi.<br />
14. B<strong>on</strong>durant, John V (1988) C<strong>on</strong>quest of Violence : The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy of<br />
C<strong>on</strong>flict, Princet<strong>on</strong>.<br />
15. Norman Cousins (1968) Profiles of <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
16. Stephen R C<strong>on</strong>vey (1990), Principle centered leadership. Sim<strong>on</strong> & Schuster,<br />
West Garden Place, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>.<br />
17. Yogesh Chadha, <strong>Gandhi</strong> A life<br />
18. www//wikepedia.<br />
“There is nothing to prevent us from profiting by the light that may come from<br />
the West. Only we must take care that we are not overpowered by the glamour of<br />
the West. We must not mistake the glamour for true light.”<br />
46<br />
- <strong>Gandhi</strong>
Lage Raho Muna Bhai (LRMB) Technique : Ic<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri<br />
47<br />
Charubala Pani*<br />
Lage Raho Munna Bhai- (carry <strong>on</strong> Munna Bhai) directed by Rajkumar Hirani<br />
was released in 2006 . This symbolizes <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri. In otherwords <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri became<br />
a fashi<strong>on</strong> now. This film stands for a social transformati<strong>on</strong> through techniques of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. It is a story of under world d<strong>on</strong>-ic<strong>on</strong> of violence. Later he was imbided<br />
with <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri- Satyagraha, n<strong>on</strong>-violence and truth and became a true <strong>Gandhi</strong>an.<br />
LRMB (Lage Raho Munna Bhai) has tremendous impact <strong>on</strong> culture of India.<br />
It touched the popular imaginati<strong>on</strong> of the young Indian mass . LRMB is opposite of<br />
go<strong>on</strong>dagiri as it professes <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri. It is touchy as in the film ‘Bapu’ is used for<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name who preached truth and humanism through out the film is a bid to<br />
solve problem. Essentially ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong>giri’ has became a problem solving approach and<br />
LRMB techniques revoluti<strong>on</strong>ized the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> society and world order.<br />
This film was screened at 2007 Cannes Film Festival and was declared a block<br />
buster. Further it is the first Hindi film to be shown in the United Nati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Films <strong>on</strong>: Theme <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
Recently in July 2007 ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> My Father’ a film which displays the c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
between father and s<strong>on</strong> was released. Prior to the latest film a number of films have<br />
been released <strong>on</strong> the life and thoughts of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Lage Raho, Muna Bhai provides soluti<strong>on</strong>s to problems. But ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> My<br />
Father’ could not solve the problems of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s s<strong>on</strong>. Once <strong>Gandhi</strong> said, ‘the<br />
greatest regret of my life are two people; I could never c<strong>on</strong>vince My Muslim friend<br />
Mohammed Ali Jinnah and my own s<strong>on</strong> Harilal <strong>Gandhi</strong>. The film <strong>Gandhi</strong> (1982),<br />
directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley was made <strong>on</strong> life of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. It is criticized <strong>on</strong> the ground that <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not bring independence al<strong>on</strong>e<br />
single handedly.<br />
Another film was ‘The Making of the Mahatma’ directed by Shyam Benygal<br />
was <strong>on</strong> the theme of ‘Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s 21 years stay in South Africa. Further in<br />
1998 film ‘Hey Ram’ was produced by Kamal Hasan <strong>on</strong> the theme of assassinati<strong>on</strong><br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. But the film LBMB is of a different taste and encompassing effect <strong>on</strong><br />
the minds of people of India as well as of world.<br />
LRMB- The Dramatic Plot<br />
Sanjay Dutta in the film played the role of Munna Bhai. Munna is helped by<br />
Circuit and Arshad Wassi played the role. And the language they choose is<br />
Bombaiya Hindi, a dialect specific to the Indian city of Mumbai.<br />
* Senior Lecture in Home Science, Womens College, Dhenkanal
As story goes Munna is in love with the voice of Jahnavi, a radio jockey.<br />
Munna plans to meet her. An occasi<strong>on</strong> arises <strong>on</strong> the <strong>Gandhi</strong> Jayanti day- when birth<br />
day of <strong>Gandhi</strong> was celebrated. Jahanvi announces a c<strong>on</strong>test <strong>on</strong> life and belief of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. Munna wins the c<strong>on</strong>test by kidnapping and by bribing a group of Professors.<br />
After that Muna is granted an interview with Jahnvi as a reputed Professor of<br />
History and specialist <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy. Later <strong>on</strong> Jahnavi asked professor<br />
Munna to deliver a Lecturer <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> philosophy. For this the cheater Munna<br />
learned heard and prepared thoroughly <strong>on</strong> the life and works of <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
During his study the miracle Bapu’s image appeared before him and offered<br />
help and advice to solve problems. Here Munna is advised to practice truth first. It<br />
is very hard and difficult <strong>on</strong> the part of Munna to tell the truth to Jahnavi. Munna<br />
succeeded in winning the heart of his lover by telling the truth. Bapu, very often<br />
appeared before Munna who sang ‘Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram’ in memory of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. This is the turning point of Munna’s life. With truth he get the most loved<br />
<strong>on</strong>e inspite of his past record of violence, go<strong>on</strong>dagiri, lieing and cheating. Later <strong>on</strong><br />
the spirit of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri (n<strong>on</strong> violence and truth) shapes the life of Munna.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>sequently Munna with Jahnavi co-hoasted a radio programme - <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri - to<br />
solve everyday problems.<br />
Power of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri : Destinati<strong>on</strong> Problem Solving<br />
Problem1 : Lucy Singh and Simran are father and daughter. Lucy is a<br />
unscrupulous business man. Generally he engaged Munna and Circuit (Go<strong>on</strong>das) for<br />
his nefarious and underworld activities. Simran Loves Sunny (Abhishek Bachchan)<br />
and intends to marry him. Sunny is the s<strong>on</strong> of business magnet Khurana.) Khurana<br />
opposed the marriage as she is mangalik.<br />
Lucky captured the ‘Sec<strong>on</strong>d Innings House’ through unfair means. In return<br />
Munna launches a n<strong>on</strong>-violent protest as advised, by Bapu to regain it. His protest<br />
is named as ‘Get Well so<strong>on</strong> Lucy' and asks audience of radio show to send flowers<br />
to help. Lucy recovers from the disease of dish<strong>on</strong>esty. Munna, Circuit and senior<br />
citizens help them, Jahnavi and other sweet sixty people begin a peaceful satyagraha<br />
in fr<strong>on</strong>t of Lucy’s House. This is a acid test of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri- as truth, n<strong>on</strong> violence,<br />
faith, accommodati<strong>on</strong>, mutuality of interest, tolerance are working to solve the<br />
problems of dish<strong>on</strong>esty and unscrupulousness.<br />
Meanwhile Jahnasi leaves Munna. Munna is trickled by Lucy. Muna, without<br />
being disappointed c<strong>on</strong>tinues to adopt <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri. This speaks of ‘high tolerance’<br />
capacity In the final Lucy returns the house and became a fan of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri. Jahnavi<br />
returns to her sweet heart- Munna and Simr<strong>on</strong> married to Sunny.<br />
48
Problem-2<br />
Victor D’Sowza lost his father’s m<strong>on</strong>ey in stock market. He tells the truth to<br />
his father to balance the loss by working as a driver.<br />
Problem-3<br />
A retired teacher who was denied of his due pensi<strong>on</strong> gets everything through<br />
LRMB technique of n<strong>on</strong>-violence.<br />
As such the LRMB Technique Formula is presented below as exhibit 1 for<br />
clear understanding.<br />
Exhibit-1: :LRMB Technique: Problem Solving Formula<br />
ÿþÿ<br />
þ ÿ<br />
ÿ<br />
(LRMB Technique Model : Problem Solving Formula developed by Dr N Pani &<br />
Dr C Pani )<br />
Truth : First Munna tells truth to Jahnavi and c<strong>on</strong>quer the heart.<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-violence : In fr<strong>on</strong>t of Lucky’s House Satyagraha is arranged to transform Lucy.<br />
Tolerance- Tolerance changed Lucy, brings back Jahnavi to Munna, resolves Simran’s<br />
marriage and Munna to succeed as a whole.<br />
49<br />
þ<br />
ÿ
Faith, Love, Accommodati<strong>on</strong>, Mutuality of Interest, Persuati<strong>on</strong> Sacrifies- Muna<br />
practices all these values as inspired by Bapu, the maker.<br />
Also there are other small sub themes. However throughout the film the spirit<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm / <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri Fashi<strong>on</strong> prevails. <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri was taught to comm<strong>on</strong> man<br />
through cinema / visual presentati<strong>on</strong>. Really <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is dry and when it is<br />
presented with visual effects it takers are many and effectivity is heart touching.<br />
Essentially, it solves problems through c<strong>on</strong>vincing and it c<strong>on</strong>trols social justice<br />
related factors governed by astrology.<br />
The Making of LRMB<br />
Munna Bhai MBBS was a hit. So the sec<strong>on</strong>d film <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> by Rajkumar<br />
Hirani was given the title of Lage Raho Munna Bhai. It is a fact first name of the<br />
film was Munna Bhai Meets Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Sec<strong>on</strong>dly it was retitled as Muna<br />
Bhai 2nd innings and finally the name was given as LRMB. The main interest of the<br />
film maker is the revival of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm in the nude age of terrorism. In fact<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>sm was a forgotten past. But with LRMB <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri gets a new momentum.<br />
As to details of Lage Raho Munna Bhai Table 1 is given below :<br />
(Source<br />
website)<br />
50
The director Hirani admits certain facts during interview. That it is true that<br />
many people do not know who is <strong>Gandhi</strong> and what is the implicati<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
Jayanti. Many also did not know the first name of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Further while writing the<br />
screen play they (Hirani and Abhijat) are trying to insert provocati<strong>on</strong>, crying and<br />
laughing scenes to make the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy more heart touching to the<br />
comm<strong>on</strong> man. Circuit and Munna practice the role of after seeing the Muna Bhai<br />
MBBS.<br />
LRMB - Impact of other Films<br />
Munna Bhai series takes the prime actors Munna and Circuit. It seems that<br />
LRMB is more similar to the wish of Laurel and Hardy. Besides in LRMB while<br />
in making, the director was inspired by Harishkesh Mukherjee. Further certain<br />
scenes are copies of other films. In LRMB Bapu’s image was seen. In ‘Oh God’<br />
(1977) God appears as an old man. Like the film ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ (1987)<br />
an opening line for radio show was same. Again the s<strong>on</strong>g ‘Pal Pal… Har Pal’ is<br />
a copy of the s<strong>on</strong>g (Theme for a Dream , Cliff Richard).<br />
Acceptance Level : High Profile of LRMB<br />
Lage Raho Munna Bhai was well accepted in India and other countires as it<br />
propagated <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. As a bollywood film it’s earning is of Rs.69.97 crores.<br />
Besides financial success it has been rated a ‘Block buster and rated U’, Universal<br />
suitable for all ages, in India. It was screened also in United Nati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> 10th November 2006 with the introducti<strong>on</strong> by UN Under Secretary General, Sashi<br />
Tharoor. Its impact at world forum is so great that UN declared 2nd October as<br />
‘Internati<strong>on</strong>al Day of N<strong>on</strong>-violence <strong>on</strong> 15th June 2007.<br />
Missi<strong>on</strong> LRMB : Spread of Truth and N<strong>on</strong>-Violence<br />
It is a fact <strong>Gandhi</strong> played an important role in making India free and<br />
independent with the use of n<strong>on</strong>-violence missile. In LRMB c<strong>on</strong>text Satyagraha by<br />
Munna and Jahnavi to get back the house is a similar to India’s struggle for<br />
freedom. As the film was a hit, the theme <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri was also suddenly engulfed<br />
everybody. Increasingly <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophies n<strong>on</strong> violent protest, love to enemy by<br />
presenting flowers become the center stage of life style of young Indian people.<br />
Some uses khadi, some cap and some hands over roses to enemies. Gradually<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is more practiced by urbanities . The reality is the hit of the film. In the<br />
process <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri becomes hot. Eventually Munna’s role becomes a role model for<br />
gangsters with simplicity of Bapu and his problem solving messages. Also the spirit<br />
of LRMB is to metamorphose underworld d<strong>on</strong>s and terrorists to follow n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
and healthy practices. Only time will tell its impact <strong>on</strong> society in future.<br />
51
<strong>Gandhi</strong>giri Protests : C<strong>on</strong>temporary Scene<br />
The gaining grounds style <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri is practiced in India and world. In U.S.<br />
during July,2007, hundreds of flower bouquets were sent to United States Citizenship<br />
and Immigrati<strong>on</strong> Service Office by the Green Card applicants. Due to effect LRMB<br />
<strong>on</strong> 17th July 2007 USCIS had d<strong>on</strong>e some favour in accommodating requests. So<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an technique- a LRMB model is to protest the wr<strong>on</strong>gs peacefully. Moreover<br />
in India people organized protests <strong>on</strong> pattern of LRMB in Lucknow and peasants in<br />
Vidharva Regi<strong>on</strong>. Again South Africa celebrated 100th anniversary of Satyagraha in<br />
South Africa in 2006. And our Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh declared for<br />
establishment of a new Public Service Bill to combat corrupti<strong>on</strong>s. Additi<strong>on</strong>ally,<br />
LRMB techniques are also applied to solve managerial problems and to resolute<br />
positive or negative c<strong>on</strong>flicts in this 21st century. Above all after more than 100,<br />
years <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm survives and showed the way as to journey 'corrupti<strong>on</strong> minimizati<strong>on</strong>'<br />
in free India. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was the message and brand <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri by LRMB (A comedy<br />
carrier) is the message now.<br />
References<br />
1. Ganesh S, ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’, Ec<strong>on</strong>omic and Political weekly 41<br />
(October 14-20)2006.<br />
2. Ghosh, Arunabha, ‘Lage Raho Muna Bhai : Unravelling Brand <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri 41,<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic and Political weekely December 23-29, 2006.<br />
3. Ramachandra Sushri, ‘Jolly good Bollywood, Munnabhai rescues Mahatma,<br />
The Tribune, September 23,2006.<br />
4. Lage Raho with Munna Circuit Comic Books Diligent Media Corporati<strong>on</strong>, 23,<br />
March 2007.<br />
5. Louis Fischer (ed) 2002, The Essentail <strong>Gandhi</strong> : An Authority of his writings<br />
<strong>on</strong> his life work and Ideas.<br />
6. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M. K. Satyagraha in South Africa.<br />
7. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Rajmohan (1990) Patel : A Life, Navajvan Publishing House.<br />
8. Hunt, James D (1978) <strong>Gandhi</strong> in L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>, Promilla & Co., New Delhi.<br />
9. Bhana, Surendra and Goolam Vahed (2005), The Making of Political Reformer:<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> in South Africa, 1893-1914, m<strong>on</strong>ohar, New Delhi.<br />
10. B<strong>on</strong>idurant, John V. (1988). C<strong>on</strong>quest of Violence : The <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm Philosophy<br />
of C<strong>on</strong>flict , Princet<strong>on</strong>.<br />
11. Yogesh Chadha, <strong>Gandhi</strong> of Life.<br />
12. www//wikipedia.com.<br />
52
GANDHI ON THE FIRST WORLD WAR<br />
53<br />
Santosh Kumar Sethi*<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> as a thinker of India’s Freedom struggle and of<br />
the 20th Century was immense. It is now generally agreed that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views and<br />
thought was a gradual evoluti<strong>on</strong>, though fundamentals of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm may have<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinued without little change, yet <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm was and is still dynamic today. It was<br />
shaped and influenced by c<strong>on</strong>temporary events. The First World War was <strong>on</strong>e such<br />
event of great importance. The First World War broke out shortly after <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
come to an agreement <strong>on</strong> the Indian questi<strong>on</strong> in South Africa. <strong>Gandhi</strong> learnt of the<br />
outbreak of the First World War <strong>on</strong> his voyage to England as a preparatory to his<br />
eventual departure for India. 1 All the complexities with which <strong>Gandhi</strong> was caught,<br />
like Satyagraha, place of violence and n<strong>on</strong>-violence the debate between the Moderates<br />
and Extremists C<strong>on</strong>gress, the questi<strong>on</strong> of Empire and war were reflected in his<br />
resp<strong>on</strong>se to the First World War.<br />
The present paper is a brief attempt to represent <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s resp<strong>on</strong>se to the war<br />
in his own words. The two basic issues under focus were <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s attempts to raise<br />
a corps of volunteer for nursing in England in 1914 and later in India attempts for<br />
enlistment of Indians as soldiers in the army in 1918. The <strong>on</strong>ly source used in this<br />
paper is <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s own writing and speeches. The presentati<strong>on</strong> of his ideas shall be<br />
followed up with an analysis. The limited analysis excludes a review of literature<br />
and the points of views of other scholars <strong>on</strong> this issue.<br />
In Madeira, <strong>Gandhi</strong> heard that the Great war had broken out while he was <strong>on</strong><br />
his way to England. War was declared <strong>on</strong> 4 August 1914 and <strong>Gandhi</strong> reached<br />
L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> 6 August. On arrival in England <strong>Gandhi</strong> was caught with a dilemma<br />
whether to take the side of England or not, whether the Indians should use the<br />
opportunity of the difficult hour of their opp<strong>on</strong>ent, whether to offer any help to the<br />
British in view of his principle of n<strong>on</strong>-violence. In additi<strong>on</strong> to these he w<strong>on</strong>dered<br />
how the Indians could offer any help when they have been near completely disarmed<br />
by the British and were being treated as a sec<strong>on</strong>dary race if not slaves. Within few<br />
days <strong>Gandhi</strong> had come to terms.<br />
“ I knew the difference of status between an Indian and Englishmen, but I did<br />
not believe that we have been quite reduced to slavery. I felt then that it was more<br />
the fault of individual British officials than of the British system and that we could<br />
c<strong>on</strong>vert them by love” 2 He added “ I thought that England’s need should not be<br />
turned into <strong>on</strong> opportunity, and that it was more becoming and farsighted not to<br />
press our demand while the war lasted. I therefore adhered to my advice and invited<br />
*Sr. Lecturer, Department of History, K.B. College, Barang.
those who would enlist as volunteers “. 3 <strong>Gandhi</strong> had adopted a similar line during<br />
the Boer War in South Africa. He recognized the dilemma, never the less. “It was<br />
quite clear to me that participati<strong>on</strong> in war could never be c<strong>on</strong>sistent with Ahimsa.<br />
But it is not always given to <strong>on</strong>e to be equally clear about <strong>on</strong>e’s duty. A votary of<br />
truth is often obliged to grope in the dark”. 4 Within four days of his arrival <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
had come to a firm c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong> that he should offer his services as a n<strong>on</strong>-combatant.<br />
He w rote to the Under Secretary of States <strong>on</strong> 10 August 1914,“ Owing to the crisis,<br />
both Mr. Kallenbach and I are now stranded here and both of us hope shortly to<br />
be able to offer our services as n<strong>on</strong>-combatants during the crisis that has over taken<br />
the Empire”. 5 About fifty Indians issued a circular <strong>on</strong> 13 august 1914 calling for<br />
placing their services unc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>ally during the crisis at the disposal of the<br />
authorities. 6<br />
As so<strong>on</strong> as <strong>Gandhi</strong> made his intensi<strong>on</strong> of serving the injured known, he was<br />
criticized both by followers and opp<strong>on</strong>ents for violating his avowed principle of n<strong>on</strong><br />
violence. Explaining his stand he wrote to Mangalal <strong>Gandhi</strong>, “ But I found that,<br />
living in England, I was in a way participating in the war, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> owes the food<br />
it gets in war time to the protecti<strong>on</strong> of the navy. Thus to take this food was also<br />
a wr<strong>on</strong>g thing. There was <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong>e right course left, which is to go away to live<br />
in some mountain or cave in England itself and subsist there <strong>on</strong> whatever food or<br />
shelter nature might provide, without seeking assistance from any human being. I do<br />
not yet posses this spiritual strength necessary for this. It seemed to me a base<br />
thing, therefore, to accept food tainted by war without working for it. When<br />
thousands have come forward to lay down their lives <strong>on</strong>ly because they thought it<br />
their duty to do so, how could I sit still ? A rifle this hand will never fire and so<br />
there <strong>on</strong>ly remained nursing the wounded and I took it up “. 7 <strong>Gandhi</strong> never absolved<br />
him of the tint of violence. He noted “ those who c<strong>on</strong>fine themselves to attending to<br />
the wounded in the battle can not be a solved from the guilt of war”. 8 However<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had no narrow and unrealistic visi<strong>on</strong> of Ahimsa “ Ahimsa is a comprehensive<br />
principle, …. man can not for a moment live without c<strong>on</strong>sciously or unc<strong>on</strong>sciously<br />
committing outward Himsa, the very fact of his living …. necessarily involves some<br />
Himsa …. He ( a votary of Ahimsa) will be c<strong>on</strong>stantly growing in a s elf restraint<br />
and compassi<strong>on</strong> but he can never become entirely free from outward Himsa”. 9<br />
Explaining his political motive he w rote “ I had hoped to improve my status and<br />
that of my people through the British Empire”. 10 More than a decade after the<br />
incident <strong>Gandhi</strong> had no qualms over his involvement. He wrote, “even today I see<br />
no flaw in that line of argument, nor am I sorry for my acti<strong>on</strong>, holding, as I then<br />
did, views favourable to the British c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>”. 11<br />
Having explained <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views in his own words for raising a voluntary<br />
nursing corps we may turn to its working. About fifty Indians under his leadership<br />
54
underwent a training in first-aid and nursing. So<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his compani<strong>on</strong>s<br />
developed difference of opini<strong>on</strong> with Col. R.J. Baker over the issue of appointment<br />
of secti<strong>on</strong> leaders. C<strong>on</strong>ceding that military discipline would not allow any such lever<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> claimed a positi<strong>on</strong> of primacy and right to c<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong> in the capacity as<br />
Chairman of the Volunteer Corps. He wrote” I assure you that I am most anxious<br />
to please you as our Commanding Officer, but I am equally anxious to serve my<br />
countrymen many of whom have joined this movement up<strong>on</strong> my advice”. 12 He also<br />
wrote to India office calling for disc<strong>on</strong>tinuance of direct recruitment by Col. Baker,.<br />
For he feared, “ the Corps would loose its nati<strong>on</strong>al and voluntary character”. 13 In<br />
view of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s illness he had no scope to work actually as a volunteer. Finally<br />
the Indian Volunteer Corps went to Netley hospital and offered its services. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
probably had in his mind the objective of organizing the corps and returning to<br />
India as and when c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s improved <strong>on</strong> arriving in India he noted, “ After all,<br />
all my work, so far as the organizati<strong>on</strong> of crops was c<strong>on</strong>cerned, was finished, and<br />
that as both of us were ill, we should at <strong>on</strong>ce return to India” . 14<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s political activities <strong>on</strong> return to India since January 1915 is well<br />
outside the scope of this paper. And as the outline of his activitings is too well<br />
known it is not specified here. It is quite interesting to observe that <strong>Gandhi</strong> seldom<br />
commented <strong>on</strong> the Great War again until 1918. He hardly resp<strong>on</strong>ded to the<br />
internati<strong>on</strong>al events which the world was experiencing. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinued to work<br />
for India’s freedom struggle through the Champaran and kheda movement. He<br />
attended the War C<strong>on</strong>ference <strong>on</strong> 29 April 1918 and issued the first leaflet of appeal<br />
for enlistment in the Army <strong>on</strong> 22 June 1918. He issued the sec<strong>on</strong>d leaflet <strong>on</strong> 22<br />
July 1918. He c<strong>on</strong>tinued with his efforts for enlistment almost up to the end of the<br />
war. After the war political events in India took a different turn and <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
attenti<strong>on</strong> also moved away to other issues and movements which he launched.<br />
In the sec<strong>on</strong>d leg of the paper an attempt is being made to analyze <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
views <strong>on</strong> enlistment. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s love for the British Empire still remained intact up<br />
to the end of the First World War. Noting his love for the Empire he said, “I<br />
discovered that the British Empire had certain ideals with which I have fallen in<br />
love, and <strong>on</strong>e of those ideals is that even subject of the British Empire has the<br />
freest scope possible for his energies and efforts and whatever he thinks is due to<br />
his c<strong>on</strong>science. I think that this is true of the British Empire as it is not true of any<br />
other Govt.’s that we see”. 15 He still cherished the hope that India would become<br />
an equal partner in the British Empire al<strong>on</strong>g with Australia and Canada and felt that<br />
to be the feeling of Indians. He said ‘travelling all over India I have gathered that<br />
her people want to live, as those of Canada and Australia do, as citizens having<br />
equal rights with the Government. We want it to obtain our c<strong>on</strong>sent for carrying <strong>on</strong><br />
the war and <strong>on</strong>ly then ask us to c<strong>on</strong>tribute in men and m<strong>on</strong>ey. If our intenti<strong>on</strong> is<br />
55
not to leave the empire, it is to our advantage to work with the British as our<br />
partners….. Our duty is two fold : to resist injustice and take the necessary steps<br />
to end it and at the same time to stand by the Govt. in its hour of difficulty ….<br />
we loose nothing by trusting and so I have no hesitati<strong>on</strong> in advising people to join<br />
up”. 16<br />
As to the motive of the British he was not prepared to c<strong>on</strong>ceded a higher t<strong>on</strong>e<br />
nor did he feel the Germans to be completely fiendish. He noted, “is the war which<br />
England is fighting <strong>on</strong>e for land ? Surely not why, she felt, should Germany be<br />
allowed to have her way ? Germany, too, <strong>on</strong> her part, is fighting for her self<br />
respect. She wants to vindicate herself”. 17 And added at another time. “I refused to<br />
credit it (Germany) with exclusive fiendishness”. 18<br />
As enumerated earlier <strong>Gandhi</strong> was cognizant of the impossibility of living<br />
without violence and thus he was not Prepared to take a stand that he or India had<br />
nothing to do the with the First World War. He noted, “under excepti<strong>on</strong>al circumstances<br />
war may have to b e resorted to as necessary evil”. 19 He supported the cause for<br />
participating in the war as it might give the opportunity to participate in a peace<br />
talk. He noted, “ there is no speech in which. I have yet said, “Let us go to kill<br />
the Germans”. My refrain is, “ Let us go and die for the sake of India and the<br />
Empire”, and I feel that supposing that the resp<strong>on</strong>se to the cal is over whelming and<br />
we all go to France and turn the scales against Germans, India will then have a<br />
claim to be heard and she may then dictate a peace that will last”. 20<br />
Besides his love for the empire and the possibility of participating in the<br />
peace talk <strong>Gandhi</strong> advocated the creati<strong>on</strong> of an army out of his and the nati<strong>on</strong>alists<br />
efforts to join the British for the sake of Swaraj. Fear and timidity was <strong>on</strong>e of the<br />
worst enemy of t he Indians and for <strong>Gandhi</strong> the n<strong>on</strong>-violent Satyagrahi is not <strong>on</strong>e<br />
who opts for n<strong>on</strong>-violence out of timidity or lack of capacity. N<strong>on</strong>-violence was<br />
always for <strong>Gandhi</strong> a weap<strong>on</strong> of the str<strong>on</strong>g, the brave and the capable. Sayings of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> are appended herewith, in tune with the above.<br />
Abroad, terrible blood shed are going <strong>on</strong>, in the war in the Europe, the British<br />
have proved themselves as brave people. We want to be partners of these<br />
heros. We shall command respect as such <strong>on</strong>ly if, in company with t hem, we<br />
make ourselves a heroic people ‘. 21<br />
When the people become physically fit and str<strong>on</strong>g enough to wield the<br />
sword, Swaraj will be theirs for the asking …. I know that we are utterly<br />
timid. People afraid of even a squirrel had much better think of improving<br />
their own c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> than of getting Swaraj. Here we have an invaluable<br />
opportunity for getting back the capacity to fight which we have lost and<br />
we should not miss it . 22<br />
56
As l<strong>on</strong>g as we have to look to Englishmen for our defense as l<strong>on</strong>g as we are<br />
not free form the military, so l<strong>on</strong>g we can not be regarded as equal partners<br />
with Englishmen, it behaves us, therefore, to learn the use of arms and to<br />
acquire the ability to defend ourselves …. Hence the easiest and straightest<br />
way to win Swaraj is to participate in the defense of the empire. 23<br />
Indians have a double duty to perform. If they are to preach the missi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
peace, they must prove their ability in war, but it is true a nati<strong>on</strong> that is unfit<br />
to fight can’t from experience prove the virtue of not fighting. I do not infer<br />
from this that India must fight. But I do say that India must know how to<br />
fight. 24<br />
I have seen for myself, that India has altogether lost the capacity to fight, it<br />
has not a particle of the courage it should have …. Nor do they have the<br />
strength to fight back docaites should any descend <strong>on</strong> the village. Can a<br />
nati<strong>on</strong> whose citizens are incapable of self-defense enjoy Swaraj ? 25<br />
We are not entitled to demand Swaraj, till we come forward to enlist in the<br />
army. 26<br />
To sacrifice s<strong>on</strong>s in the war, ought to be a cause not of pain but of pleasure<br />
to bravemen. Sacrifice of s<strong>on</strong>s at this hour will be a sacrifice for Swaraj. To<br />
the women, my request is that they should not be alarmed by this appeal but<br />
should welcome it. It c<strong>on</strong>tains the key to their protecti<strong>on</strong> and h<strong>on</strong>our. 27<br />
If we want Swaraj, it is our duty to help the Empire and we shall undoubtedly<br />
get the reward of that help if our motive is h<strong>on</strong>est, the Govt. will behave<br />
h<strong>on</strong>estly with us . Assuming for a moment that it will not do so, our h<strong>on</strong>esty<br />
should make us c<strong>on</strong>fident of our success. It is no mark of greatness to be<br />
good <strong>on</strong>ly with t he good lies in returning good for evil. 28<br />
Even though <strong>Gandhi</strong> pleaded for enlistment he was not uncritical of the<br />
British. He criticized the Govt. for not granting commissi<strong>on</strong>s to Indians in the<br />
army, for not repealing the Arms Act, for not opening schools for military<br />
training. Similarly <strong>Gandhi</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>scious of the possible bargaining power that<br />
India may gain. “ Besides, we shall learn military discipline as we help the<br />
Empire, gain military experience and acquire the strength to defend ourselves.<br />
With that strength, we may even fight the Empire should it play foul with us “.<br />
29 He added, “ The half a milli<strong>on</strong> men whom we shall raise will go with love<br />
of Swaraj in their hearts, when they, comeback they are bound to get Swaraj<br />
if they have learnt military discipline, half a milli<strong>on</strong> others will be roused. 30<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had yet another reas<strong>on</strong>. He did not want India to pass from British<br />
Empire to a less sympathetic imperialist power. He observed, “ If the worst<br />
57
happens to India, which God forbid, and she passes into the hands of some<br />
other nati<strong>on</strong>, India’s piteous cry will make England hang her head in shame<br />
before the world and a curse will descend up<strong>on</strong> her for having emasculated<br />
a nati<strong>on</strong> of thirty crores”. 31 <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinued with his efforts to t he last even<br />
practically without any success. In his analysis the failure was not due to a<br />
unpreparedness to co-operate with the English or to use the difficult hours to<br />
our advantage but for simple timidity. He wrote in a letter, “ I find great<br />
difficulties in recruiting but do you know not a man has yet objected because<br />
he would not kill. They object because they fear to die. The unnatural fear<br />
of death is ruining the nati<strong>on</strong>”. 32 <strong>Gandhi</strong> was also cognizant of views different<br />
from his but the paper excludes an analysis of other views. One way quote<br />
from <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s letter to S.N. Benerjee to point out how his plea was based<br />
<strong>on</strong> good faith, “ I simplicity believed that if we were to devote our attenti<strong>on</strong><br />
exclusively to recruiting, we should gain full resp<strong>on</strong>sible Govt. in a years time,<br />
if not so<strong>on</strong>er”. 33<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s point of view <strong>on</strong> the twin issues of our focus may be summerised.<br />
Indians were not yet reduced to slavery and it was still open t o them to offer<br />
their help to the English in their hour of crisis and aspire to a positi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
partnership in the British Empire.<br />
India could aspire for a domini<strong>on</strong> status like Canada and Australia.<br />
The ills of the British Raj was mostly due to individuals and the system had<br />
not completely failed and was not irreparable.<br />
Principle of n<strong>on</strong>-violence and compassi<strong>on</strong> does recognize the existence of<br />
violence in life and nature. Ahimsa as a comprehensive principle thus does not<br />
exclude violence or war all the time.<br />
Under existing circumstances offering services as n<strong>on</strong> combatant even though<br />
not free from guilt or tint of war was still justifiable. Under the principle of<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-violence <strong>on</strong>e may refuse to hold a rifle or indulge in violence pers<strong>on</strong>ally<br />
but nature would not allow him to remain away from the war, thus it was best<br />
for him to offer services as n<strong>on</strong>-combatant.<br />
As a leader of corp of volunteer <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not relinquish his leadership over<br />
the group and persisted with his political overt<strong>on</strong>es. His participati<strong>on</strong> in the<br />
voluntary corps was not benefit of political motives.<br />
The c<strong>on</strong>tinuance of British Empire was still justifiable. It was in India’s<br />
interest that she does not pass away from British Empire to another imperialist<br />
power.<br />
The war motives of the Empire was not wholly justifiable and Germany was<br />
also not completely a fiendish power.<br />
Indians must participate in the war and enlist in large number under nati<strong>on</strong>alist<br />
58
leadership for the following reas<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
To cure themselves of timidity and to develop as a brave race.<br />
To prove their resp<strong>on</strong>sibility as they claim equality and partnership.<br />
To participate an equal terms in the peace to follow.<br />
To acquire the ability for self defence.<br />
To create an army of half milli<strong>on</strong> holding Swaraj dear to their heart.<br />
The plea was based <strong>on</strong> good faith and not an prec<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s. It was self<br />
explanatory that no British Govt. could neglect an army under nati<strong>on</strong>alist<br />
influence and c<strong>on</strong>trol.<br />
Failure any large scale enlistment was due to refusal to fight out timidly and<br />
not out at any c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> in the principle of n<strong>on</strong>-violence <strong>on</strong> the part of<br />
Indians.<br />
To c<strong>on</strong>clude <strong>Gandhi</strong> stated his political philosophy in c<strong>on</strong>text of the twin<br />
issues of the war. He did not accept the idea that India’s participati<strong>on</strong> in war should<br />
be c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>al to a guarantee of Swaraj at the end of the war. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s offer of help<br />
did not mean that he was un-critical of the British administrati<strong>on</strong>. Even though he<br />
was a votary of n<strong>on</strong>-violence yet he did not refuse to explore the possibility of<br />
advancing the cause of Indians through the war. <strong>Gandhi</strong> still had faith in the Empire<br />
and was uncritical of the forces of imperialism. He did not term the war as a fight<br />
for empire and commercial interest. He even did not resp<strong>on</strong>d to internati<strong>on</strong>al events<br />
an like the Russian Revoluti<strong>on</strong> w hen the war was in progress and c<strong>on</strong>find himself<br />
to the Indian issues <strong>on</strong>ly. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s principle of n<strong>on</strong>-violence was holistic and not<br />
unrealistic as made out comm<strong>on</strong>ly. Not withstanding these <strong>Gandhi</strong> did revise his<br />
opini<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> many issues subsequently.<br />
Notes and References<br />
1. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, An autobiography, Ahemadabad, 1940, p.260.<br />
2. Ibid, p. 262.<br />
3. Ibid.<br />
4. Ibid, p.263.<br />
5. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG (The collected works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>) Vol-XII, New<br />
Delhi, 1966, p.-526.<br />
6. Ibid, p.527.<br />
7. Ibid, p.531.<br />
59
8. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, An autobiography, p. 264.<br />
9. Ibid<br />
10. Ibid<br />
11. Ibid, p.265<br />
12. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XII, p.539, date 14.10.1914.<br />
13. Ibid, p.544 Letter to C. Roberts 25.10.1914.<br />
14. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XIII, p.1, 09.01.1915.<br />
15. Ibid, p.59, date 24.04.1915.<br />
16. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XIV, pp. 452-53, date 30.06.1918.<br />
17. Ibid, p. 337, date 12.04.1918.<br />
18. Ibid, p. 477, date 06.07.1918.<br />
19. Ibid<br />
20. Ibid<br />
21. Ibid, p.307, date 04.04.1918<br />
22. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XV, p.2, date 01.08.1918<br />
23. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XIV, p.440, date 22.06.1918<br />
24. Ibid, p.463, date 30.06.1918.<br />
25. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XV, p.2 , date 01.08.1918.<br />
26. Ibid, p.1, date 01.08.1918.<br />
27. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XIV, p.443, date 22.06.1918.<br />
28. Ibid, p. 441, date 22.06.1918.<br />
29. Ibid, p. 438, date 21.06.1918<br />
30. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XV, p.3, date 01.08.1918<br />
31. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XIV, p.441, date 22.06.1918<br />
32. Ibid, p.509, date 29.07.1918<br />
33. M. K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, CWG, Vol-XV, p.15, date 10.08.1918.<br />
60
GANDHIJI’S VISIT TO ORISSA - ITS IMPACT<br />
61<br />
Sabita Kar*<br />
Freedom Struggle in Orissa is an important aspect of the history of Orissa. It was<br />
intensified by the visit of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He visited Orissa for seven times. The present<br />
work gives picture of his visits in the year 1921, 1925 and 1927.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was collecting informati<strong>on</strong> about the poverty of Orissa due to flood and<br />
famine through Takkar Bapa (Amrutlal Takkar). On the report of the latter, he was writing<br />
about the famine in Orissa in ‘Navjeevan’, a Gujarati journal and in ‘Young India’ in May<br />
1920. He was also appealing the people to help Orissa though those columns. 1<br />
At the invitati<strong>on</strong> of Pandit Gopabandhu Dash <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji came to Orissa in March<br />
1921. He reached Cuttack stati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> 22 March by Puri Express. About ten thousand people<br />
al<strong>on</strong>g with three hundred volunteers welcomed <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji at the stati<strong>on</strong> and accompanied<br />
him in a processi<strong>on</strong> to the Swaraj Ashram at Cuttack. 2<br />
It was decided to hold a meeting <strong>on</strong> 23 March at Cuttack’s Barabati Premises. But<br />
the C<strong>on</strong>gress leaders were c<strong>on</strong>fused as police had clamped secti<strong>on</strong> 144 in Cuttack in order<br />
to prevent the party from holding this meeting. Pandit Gopabandhu arranged the meeting<br />
<strong>on</strong> the sands of Khathjuri river. About fifty thousand people had gathered under the open<br />
sky to listen <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji. On the same day, he had a meeting with the Marwari and Gujarati<br />
merchants of Cuttack regarding the boycott of foreign cloths. He also met the mussalmans<br />
of Cuttack <strong>on</strong> 24 morning. On the same day, he addressed the women, the students and the<br />
lawyers of Cuttack. In those meetings he gave emphasis <strong>on</strong> the C<strong>on</strong>gress policy of n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
3<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s meeting with the women in noteworthy. In order to involve the women in<br />
his programme he met them in a separate meeting in the Binod Bihari premises of Cuttack.<br />
This meeting was attended by nearly forty women including Sarojini Choudhury, Sarala<br />
Devi, Hiranmayi Senapati, Ramadevi and Haimavati Devi. 4 Haimavati Devi made all<br />
arrangements for the meeting. The wife of professor Mohini Mohana Senapati sang a<br />
patriotic s<strong>on</strong>g <strong>on</strong> the occasi<strong>on</strong>. 5 <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji appealed the women to join the freedom<br />
movement; gave stress <strong>on</strong> Harijan upliftment and raising a fund for the secti<strong>on</strong> Sarala<br />
Devi also appealed the women to d<strong>on</strong>ate liberally in the form of m<strong>on</strong>ey and jewellery for<br />
the Harijan Fund. Some rich women c<strong>on</strong>tributed m<strong>on</strong>ey and those who did not have with<br />
them, emptied themselves of all jewellery. 6 There was jewellery more than sixty to seventy<br />
‘Bharis’. In additi<strong>on</strong>, a thousand of rupees were collected quickly. <strong>Gandhi</strong> felt very happy<br />
seeing the attitude of the awakened women.<br />
This meeting is very much significant in the history of Orissa as the Oriya women<br />
attended a public meeting for the first time and a leader like <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s stature and eminence<br />
* UGS College, Sakhigopal, Puri
addressed the women of Orissa in a separate meeting. “A small group of Oriya women<br />
who attended that meeting in purdah went <strong>on</strong> to become active political leaders of Orissa<br />
in the next ten years, being tremendously inspired by the charisma and oratory of Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. 7<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji reached Bhadrak <strong>on</strong> 25 morning by passenger train, Mahatab had shouldered<br />
the resp<strong>on</strong>sibility of his boarding and other arrangements. 8 He could not arrange the horsedrawn<br />
cart (which was the <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong>e vehicle at Bhadrak owned by a lawyer) due to the<br />
pressure of the then Sub-Divisi<strong>on</strong>al Officer of Bhadrak. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, Kasturba and others<br />
had to walk for three miles to reach Bhadrak town. There, he met the businessmen in the<br />
morning and lawyers in the afterno<strong>on</strong>, addressed a big gathering in the evening. In his<br />
meetings he precipitated <strong>on</strong> n<strong>on</strong>-co-operati<strong>on</strong> as an instrument to fight against the British<br />
government. 9<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji reached Puri <strong>on</strong> 26 evening. On 27 he addressed an women folk and a<br />
general meeting. Pandit Gopabandhu accompanied him in his tour. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji discussed<br />
about the then famine c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> in Orissa with the leaders and visited some famine affected<br />
areas. 10 On 29 March he left for Ganjam.<br />
On 30 March <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji reached Berhampur. There he came to know about the<br />
problems of integrati<strong>on</strong> of the Oriya speaking territories and read the related issues. He<br />
expressed his experience <strong>on</strong> the visit to Orissa in ‘Young India’ dt. 13 April 1921 in the<br />
following way – ‘I saw more than what I expected… I they (Orissan people) mean swaraj<br />
as food and dress… I food is very much essential for them… He also praised Pandit<br />
Gopabandhu’s efforts as a nati<strong>on</strong>alist through these columns. 11<br />
Throughout the meeting <strong>Gandhi</strong> urged the people of Orissa to enroll at least <strong>on</strong>e<br />
lakh C<strong>on</strong>gress members and collect three lakhs of rupees for Tilak Swaraj Fund. By the<br />
end of June, collecti<strong>on</strong>s for Tilak Swaraj Fund came to Rs. 25,000/- membership of C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
reached 40.000/- and there were about 15,000/- Charkha’s playing in the state. 12<br />
Being inspired by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, the people of Orissa took active part in the n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong><br />
movement. They boycotted the foreign cloth and government instituti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Mahatab c<strong>on</strong>ducted the movement at Balasore while Pandit Gopabandhu at Puri and<br />
Cuttack. The C<strong>on</strong>gress activists toured the villages of Orissa to popularise the use of<br />
Charkha and handspun- Khaddar. The students boycotted the schools, colleges and the<br />
lawyers-the courts.<br />
Al<strong>on</strong>g with the boycott of foreign cloth, picketing infr<strong>on</strong>t of liquor and opium shops<br />
also c<strong>on</strong>tinued vigorously in the province. To stop people from drinking alcohol, volunteers<br />
of Swaraj Ashram would stand in fr<strong>on</strong>t of wine shops in Cuttack and Balasore and picket<br />
from six’ o clock in the evening to nine o’ clock in the night. To dissuade the volunteers<br />
from picketing, prostitutes were engaged to throw urine and hot water <strong>on</strong> the volunteers. A<br />
large number of C<strong>on</strong>gress workers were impris<strong>on</strong>ed for boycott and picketing.<br />
62
At the invitati<strong>on</strong> of Madhusudan Das <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji paid a visit to Orissa in August 1925.<br />
On 19 he reached Cuttack and visited ‘<strong>Utkal</strong> Tannery’, a leather industry established by<br />
Madhubabu. The latter had previously discussed with <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji about the financial crunch<br />
of the industry. Sri Satish Dasgupta and few business men of Calcutta had accompanied<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji to Cuttack to watch and restore the financial c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> of the tannery. 13 Intensi<strong>on</strong><br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was to drag the attenti<strong>on</strong> of the industrial people of India to this industry of<br />
Orissa.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was always c<strong>on</strong>scious about the poverty of Orissa. Through his writings in<br />
‘Young India’ titled ‘Orissara Durdasa’ dt.25 November 1925, he asked the permissi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
the ‘Navjeevan’ and ‘Young India’ readers to d<strong>on</strong>ate the c<strong>on</strong>tributed Malabar Fund for<br />
Orissa. 14 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji again came to Orissa in 1927. He had decided to remain <strong>on</strong>e m<strong>on</strong>th in<br />
Orissa. As his health did not permit, he came in the m<strong>on</strong>th of December and c<strong>on</strong>tinued<br />
here for about twenty days. He was accompanied by Miraben, Mahadev Desai, Kaka<br />
Kalelkar. Orissan leaders like Harekrushna Mahatab, Gopabandhu Das and Niranjan Patnaik<br />
were also with him throughout his tour.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji reached Oriss <strong>on</strong> 5 December 1927. Till 11 December he visited Chhatrapur,<br />
Rasulkunda, Belaguntha, Aska, Purusottampur, Boirani, Polasara, Kodala, Khallikote,<br />
Rambha Banpur and Bolgarh. Godabarish Mishra had arranged the meeting at Banpur. On<br />
12 and 13 December he visited Khurda, Jatani, Sakhigopal and Puri. On 14 he reached<br />
Balasore.<br />
At that time Balasore was very much affected by flood and famine. Two prominent<br />
areas of Bhadrak were totally swept away by flood. Mahatab, Gopabandhu and other<br />
leaders of Orissa had intimated the matter to <strong>Gandhi</strong>. The latter had an intensi<strong>on</strong> to visit<br />
those affected areas and to speed up the Khadi work there too. Previously <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji had<br />
deputed C.F.Andrews, Reverend Takkar, and Horace Alexander – three foreign social<br />
activists to review the flood and famine c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> of Orissa and to collect informati<strong>on</strong><br />
about the then Prajamandal movements of Nilagiri and Kanika – two Garjat states. 15<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji met the women of Balasore and spoke in a general meeting. He gave<br />
emphasis <strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>structive works like playing Charkha, spread of Khadi, nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
cleaning of villages and harijan upliftment.<br />
He reached Bhadrak after two-days stay at Balasore. He could not attend a general<br />
meeting due to blood pressure and took rest for <strong>on</strong>e-day. He had a two-day programme at<br />
Charbatia, which was 25 miles distance from Bhadrak. The road was totally swept away<br />
in the flood. Mahatab as the Chairman of the Local Board had repaired it. As <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was<br />
feeling uneasy, he lied down in the Motor Vehicle and Mahatab himself drove him to the<br />
place. Others went by bus. The programme was published in ‘Young India’dt.29 December<br />
63
1927. Thousands of men and women met <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and explained their poverty. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji<br />
instructed them to be self-reliant by playing Charkha and spinning Khaddar. 16<br />
On 20 December evening <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji addressed a general meeting at Cuttack. A grand<br />
collecti<strong>on</strong> was made for Khaddar. On 21 he visited the leprosy ashram at Cuttack. During<br />
this stay, he had a discussi<strong>on</strong> with the activists like Gobabandhu and others regarding the<br />
different problems of Orissa and other developmental works in the area.<br />
Mahatab had a discussi<strong>on</strong> with <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji about the producti<strong>on</strong> of salt in Orissa. He<br />
pointed out about the poverty of Orissa due to the closure of salt industry. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji asked<br />
Mahatab to enroll at least 25 volunteers for the purpose, so that he would come to c<strong>on</strong>duct<br />
the movement in Orissa. After three years the salt satyagraha at Inchudi <strong>on</strong> the sea coast of<br />
Balasore in Orissa was c<strong>on</strong>sidered as the sec<strong>on</strong>d ‘Dandi’ in the history of Indian freedom<br />
struggle and Mahatab had played a vital role in it.<br />
Another discussi<strong>on</strong> of Mahatab with <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji is notable. Since 1920 Mahatab had a<br />
dream of Greater Orissa (Uni<strong>on</strong> of Princely States with the Province). He was involving<br />
himself in the Prajamandal Movements of some Princely States like, Nilagiri, Kanika,<br />
Dhenkanal Talcher, Ranpur etc. In each and every step he had c<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong> with the great<br />
leaders like <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, Patel and Nehru for c<strong>on</strong>ducting the movement. Mahatab begged the<br />
assistance of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji in the merger of Princely States. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji told Mahatab to arrange<br />
at least two Agreement Letters from two Princely States of Orissa. Later <strong>on</strong> Mahatab<br />
arranged two letters from the raja of Hindol and Rajamata of Ranpur and his sincere<br />
efforts came true in the Mid-December 1947 when the Merger Document was signed by<br />
the 26 Princely States of Orissa in the presence of Sardar Patel, V.P. Men<strong>on</strong> and other<br />
dignitaries of Orissa.<br />
Inspired by <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology Jivaramji Kalyanji Kothari wished to serve the poor<br />
people of Orissa in his own m<strong>on</strong>ey. He d<strong>on</strong>ated <strong>on</strong>e lakh rupees to All Orissa Spinners<br />
Associati<strong>on</strong> for the spread of Khaddar, another <strong>on</strong>e lakh to <strong>Gandhi</strong> Seva Sangha for<br />
c<strong>on</strong>structive work and Khaddar work in Orissa. Instructed by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji he and his wife<br />
established an Ashram at Bhadrak and d<strong>on</strong>ated rupees 25,000/- for its maintenance. Till<br />
his death he was engaged in c<strong>on</strong>structive works in and around Bhadrak. 17 .<br />
The visit of <strong>Gandhi</strong> was providing boost to the social and nati<strong>on</strong>al activistsas well<br />
as the people to serve the nati<strong>on</strong>. In 1927, about eighty thousand houses and sixty miles of<br />
railway lines were swept away by flood in Balasore. The activists were providing relief to<br />
the affected people at <strong>on</strong>e hand and fighting against the inactive policy of the then<br />
government <strong>on</strong> the other. In the same year, about <strong>on</strong>e thousand people left Nilagiri, the<br />
Garjat state in protest of the Bethi and Magan and came to Balasore.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s visit created mass awakening and political c<strong>on</strong>sciousness am<strong>on</strong>g the<br />
people of Orissa.Almost all secti<strong>on</strong>s of the people men-women, rich-poor, Hindu – Muslim,<br />
64
joined the nati<strong>on</strong>al stream and engaged themselves in c<strong>on</strong>structive works like hand-spinning<br />
and hand-weaving, removal of untouchability, promoti<strong>on</strong> of inter-communal unity,<br />
suppressi<strong>on</strong> of alcoholic habits and extensi<strong>on</strong> of nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Reference<br />
1. H.K. Mahatab-<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and Orissa. Pp.5-11.<br />
2. Ibid., P.13.<br />
3. Ibid., p.13.<br />
4. Annapurna Maharana, pers<strong>on</strong>al interview, 27 September 1990, quoted in J.Das,<br />
unpublished thesis Female Uplift in Orissa – 1983-1947p.182.<br />
5. V. Rajendra Raju, Role of Women in India’s freedom Struggle New Delhi. 1994.p.29.<br />
6. Rama Devi Choudhury, Jeevan Pathe (Oriya) Cuttack 1984.p.53.<br />
7. Cited in Bina Kumari Sarma “<strong>Gandhi</strong>an movement and women’s Awakening in<br />
Orissa”. The Indian Historical review – Vol. XXI. No.1&2 edited by Anup Taneja<br />
Delhi. 1997. p.82.<br />
8. H.K. Mahatab Sadhanara Pathe, p.48.<br />
9. H.K. Mahatab-<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and Orissa p.16.<br />
10. Ibid. P.18<br />
11. Ibid., pp.19-21.<br />
12. The Samaj 9 July 1921.<br />
13. H.K. Mahatab <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and Orissa, p.25.<br />
14. Ibid., pp.27-28.<br />
15. Ibid., pp44.<br />
16. Ibid., p.50.<br />
17. Ibid., p.59.<br />
65
THE INVALUABLE GIFT<br />
66<br />
Biraj Mohan Das*<br />
Our motherland India was under British rule for l<strong>on</strong>g years. The alien English rulers<br />
inflicted torture <strong>on</strong> our people. The oppressi<strong>on</strong> by the foreign rulers gave rise to acute<br />
disc<strong>on</strong>tent in the minds of the people. The idea of freeing India from foreign rule sprouted<br />
in their minds. As a result of this an agitati<strong>on</strong> swept across the length and breadth of he<br />
whole country. <strong>Gandhi</strong> made his way to India from South Africa at a point when there was<br />
a str<strong>on</strong>g need for leaders to steer the agitati<strong>on</strong>. Under his leadership the Indian movement<br />
for independence gathered momentum. He led the agitati<strong>on</strong> through n<strong>on</strong>-violent means.<br />
The people in the whole of India f<strong>on</strong>dly called him “Bapu” or “<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji”. India finally<br />
achieved independence <strong>on</strong> 15 August 1947 under his str<strong>on</strong>g leadership. The people of<br />
India are in the habit of worshipping him as the “Father of Nati<strong>on</strong>”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji had immense love for Orissa. A dreadful famine broke out in Orissa in<br />
1920. When <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji came to know about it, he sent Amrutlal Thakkar to Orissa for an<br />
‘<strong>on</strong> the spot’ assessment of the situati<strong>on</strong>. Based <strong>on</strong> Amrutlal’s report, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji made an<br />
appeal to his countrymen to extend a helping hand to the afflicted. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji addressed the<br />
Indians inhabiting regi<strong>on</strong>s other than Orissa thus, “It will be quite unjust for all of us if we<br />
take our meals in peace when our brothers and sisters in Orissa are dying of abject starvati<strong>on</strong><br />
and thirst”. Afterwards he made frequent visits to Orissa to apprise himself of Orissa’s<br />
problems. Making ‘Padayatra’ to various parts of Orissa, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji explained to people<br />
about the movement for ‘Swaraj’, removal of untouchability and spread of cottage industry.<br />
The people of Orissa were permanent victims to natural calamities of all kinds.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji did not fail to notice that the artisans were not deterred by their poverty from<br />
producing exquisite handicrafts made of b<strong>on</strong>e, born and silver. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji showered<br />
admirati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the artisans of Orissa when he saw their w<strong>on</strong>derful items in an exhibiti<strong>on</strong><br />
organized by the ‘All India Charkha Sangha’ and ‘All India Gramodyoga Sangha’. While<br />
addressing the Lucknow C<strong>on</strong>gress in 1936, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji not <strong>on</strong>ly expressed his appreciati<strong>on</strong><br />
of the Orissa Artisans but also communicated it to the Indian people.<br />
Messages about ‘Khadi’ and ‘fearlessness’ were propagated in the whole of Orissa<br />
throughout the m<strong>on</strong>th of December in 1927. On 11 December <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji made a stopover at<br />
Bolgarh. While he was engaged in talking to Dinabandhu Andrews (<strong>on</strong>e of his followers<br />
and a social activist), a man in a shabby loin cloth came and stood before <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, holding<br />
a piece of straw between his teeth. Then he lay down at the feet of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and saluted<br />
him. The man stood up after a while and placed that piece of straw <strong>on</strong> his head and started<br />
to retreat. In the mean time <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, who had been taken aback at this strange c<strong>on</strong>duct,<br />
stopped the stranger.<br />
*<strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>.
On enquiry he learnt that the pers<strong>on</strong> was an untouchable. Earning livelihood by<br />
selling firewood was his vocati<strong>on</strong>. The stranger said, “I came to Bolgarh for selling firewood<br />
and learnt of your tour. I am proud of having had the privilege of seeing you”. He uttered<br />
this with a great sense of delight. It was quite shocking for <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji when he learnt that<br />
the peculiar c<strong>on</strong>duct of the stranger was all about saluting a pers<strong>on</strong> of a higher caste. He<br />
also came to know from him about the practice prevalent am<strong>on</strong>g his caste people of eating<br />
the flesh of dead animals and drinking ‘tadi’ (a country liquor).<br />
After listening to him carefully <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji said, “I want something from you. Will<br />
you give it to me?” Instantly the stranger started to search the foldings around his waste,<br />
but stopped when <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji said, “I do not want your m<strong>on</strong>ey. Rather I ask you to give me<br />
two things: ‘Abstain from eating the flesh of dead animals and drinking liquor and put an<br />
end to the practice of saluting a man of higher caste in the manner you did.” The stranger<br />
in reply told <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji that he would be excommunicated from his own society if he did so.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji taught him to be fearless and advised him to live a life of h<strong>on</strong>our and dignity. He<br />
said, “You should be ready to face excommunicati<strong>on</strong>, if this is a price- you must pay for<br />
being fearless.” The stranger promised to keep his words and departed. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji had<br />
expressed the opini<strong>on</strong> that if the pers<strong>on</strong> changed c<strong>on</strong>duct as he said he would do, then this<br />
would be the most valuable of the gifts that he had hitherto received.<br />
A similar example can be cited. In 1934, while <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was waiting in a camp for<br />
a barber to come and shave him during his “Padayatra” across Orissa, a woman turned up<br />
there with a shaving kit and gave him a good shave. The ornaments she was wearing<br />
caught <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s attenti<strong>on</strong>. Two bangles, earrings and the glass-bangles were the things<br />
she wore. “They do not suit you”, commented <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji. The woman said sorrowfully that<br />
the ornaments were borrowed to keep appearances, especially while appearing before a<br />
great man like <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji persuaded her to give up wearing ornaments and the<br />
woman accepted it gladly. Before she left, she requested <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji to accept her day’s<br />
earnings for the cause of charity.<br />
On the Annual day of ‘<strong>Gandhi</strong> Seva Sangha’ at Delang in 1938, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji made a<br />
quotable statement. He said, “Orissa is the land of love. If I can do something for Orissa<br />
that will be my supreme service to India”. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji made it clear that though Orissa was<br />
his favourite centre of pilgrimage, it is not because of the presence in it of the temple of<br />
Lord Jagannath, as the untouchables were denied access to this. Also he refused to go<br />
inside the temple because he c<strong>on</strong>sidered that he too was being barred from entering the<br />
temple. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji expressed his displeasure <strong>on</strong> coming to know that Kasturba and Durga<br />
Ben (the wife of Mahadeb Desai) had been inside the temple.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was always keen <strong>on</strong> the progress and prosperity of Orissa and discussed<br />
the ways and means of achieving this with the leaders and social activists of Orissa. On 19<br />
August 1925 he came to Orissa as a guest of Madhusudan Das. A visit to <strong>Utkal</strong> Tannery<br />
67
gave him a favourable impressi<strong>on</strong> about Madhu Babu’s unique endeavour to utilize the<br />
workers of Orissa and highlight their skills. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji wrote in all the newspapers, praising<br />
Madhu Babu fulsomely.<br />
In 1946 when he was <strong>on</strong> his way to Madras in a special train, the train was not<br />
supposed to halt anywhere inbetween during the night. But <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji stopped the train and<br />
met the people of Orissa at stati<strong>on</strong>s like Balasore, Bhadrak and Cuttack. He also addressed<br />
a meeting at Berhampur. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji learnt Oriya script and language during his ‘Padayatra’<br />
across Orissa. This was indicative of his profound love of and respect for Orissa and her<br />
people.<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> w<strong>on</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al independence for more milli<strong>on</strong>s of people than any<br />
other leader of men, and with less bloodshed, and that was the truth. He showed<br />
the weak and the poor how to struggle without taking life, and that was the<br />
truth. He spent years in jail for the nati<strong>on</strong>al cause, and <strong>on</strong>ce he helped c<strong>on</strong>duct<br />
the prosecuti<strong>on</strong> against himself after violence occurred in a civil disobedience<br />
movement. He broke the system of indentured Indian labor in South Africa. He<br />
w<strong>on</strong> respect for Indians and restored the self-respect of men who had humiliated<br />
them. He fought color and racial discriminati<strong>on</strong> everywhere. And all that was<br />
the truth. He laid the foundati<strong>on</strong>s for a nati<strong>on</strong>al language which would bring<br />
men close together regardless of creed, and he nursed and tended the sick and<br />
the helpless to teach men kindliness and self-scarifies. Against 3,000 years of<br />
prejudice he raised a crusade for the human rights of 50,000,000 untouchables,<br />
and he opposed the bigotry and dogmatism and the hateful orthodoxy of the<br />
caste system with more success than any Indian since Gautam Buddha.”<br />
68<br />
Edgar P. Snow
PEOPLES GANDHI: THE MAN AND THE MAHATMA<br />
69<br />
Suryakant Nath*<br />
On hearing the news of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s assassinati<strong>on</strong>, the famous English dramatist and<br />
writer, G.B.Shaw is supposed to have remarked that “..it shows how dangerous it is to be<br />
too good.” 1 Was <strong>Gandhi</strong> too good? Or is he made out to be too good? A close look at the<br />
views and impressi<strong>on</strong>s of the various segments of the Indian populati<strong>on</strong> provides a very<br />
varied and c<strong>on</strong>trasting opini<strong>on</strong> about <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Every educated Indian thinks he knows <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Almost every<strong>on</strong>e knows he was<br />
popularly known as the Mahatma. Most think he was a saintly pers<strong>on</strong> who worked for the<br />
liberati<strong>on</strong> of our motherland from the British rule. Some, who are a little unsure, say he<br />
was a freedom fighter who underwent l<strong>on</strong>g terms of impris<strong>on</strong>ment to make us free. Students<br />
of social science feel he made their task difficult by introducing phrases like n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
passive resistance, satyagraha, Sarvoday and soul-force.<br />
What else is there to <strong>Gandhi</strong>? One could ask what more is there to be known about<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>?<br />
A Punjabi remembers <strong>Gandhi</strong> as the killer of Bhagat Singh. The more moderate<br />
<strong>on</strong>es think that he did not strive enough to bargain with Lord Irwin for Bhagat’s life. Some<br />
even hold him resp<strong>on</strong>sible for the partiti<strong>on</strong> killings. The <strong>on</strong>es more in tune with the macho<br />
image of the Khalsa, think that the c<strong>on</strong>cept of Satyagraha was cowardice and effeminate<br />
and did not suit the hardy Punjabis. 2<br />
A Bengali thinks of <strong>Gandhi</strong> as <strong>on</strong>e who c<strong>on</strong>spired to keep Subhas Bose out of the<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress hierarchy and forced him to found a new political outfit, the Forward Bloc. Bose<br />
never got his due in the C<strong>on</strong>gress hierarchy because of the close relati<strong>on</strong>s between Nehru<br />
and <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his competitive rivalry with Nehru <strong>on</strong>ly alienated him from <strong>Gandhi</strong> and<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress. In spite of being the first state to come under the spell of the British and the first<br />
<strong>on</strong>e to experience western renaissance it could not exercise the political clout it ought to<br />
have exercised in Indian politics. 3<br />
The communists think that he was the stooge of the Col<strong>on</strong>ial government and<br />
compromised at every possible turn to hoodwink the toiling peasants. He was the clever<br />
bania from Gujarat who always served the interests of the bourgeoisie and sacrificed the<br />
interest of the comm<strong>on</strong> man. Whenever there was some scope for popular militancy <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
killed the movement by going for a negotiated settlement/compromise. 4<br />
The Brahmins of the Hindu Mahasabha variety thought that <strong>Gandhi</strong> never took up<br />
the cause of the Hindus and went out of the way to accommodate the interest of the Muslims,<br />
a fact for which <strong>Gandhi</strong> had to pay with his life. 5 The Muslims, unfortunately, labelled a<br />
similar kind of pro-Hindu allegati<strong>on</strong> against <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
*Lecturer in History, Nati<strong>on</strong>al Defence Academy, Pune, 411023
A vast majority of the Dalits think that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was superficial in his sympathies<br />
towards them ,<strong>on</strong>e who diagnosed the disease but did not prescribe the medicine in right<br />
doses. His advocacy of all-Indianness was a pretentious clothing and in the l<strong>on</strong>g run<br />
proved to be detrimental to the Dalit interests. He gave a name to them but was not genuine<br />
in espousing their cause. By curbing pro-Dalit militancy he <strong>on</strong>ly made the Dalit interest<br />
subservient to the Caste Hindus. Caste Hindus ,<strong>on</strong> the other hand, felt betrayed when<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s followers incorporated the reservati<strong>on</strong> policy in the c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>verted<br />
it into a major plank of vote-bank politics. 6<br />
The British Imperial masters always thought that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a shrewd politician<br />
and was trying to befool the poor and illiterate masses in the garb of a spiritual Messiah.<br />
Some of his political opp<strong>on</strong>ents always complained that through fasts and dharnas<br />
he tried to emoti<strong>on</strong>ally blackmail them to toe his line. The British masters were scared of<br />
his popularity to act silly but it did not refrain them from making provocative statements<br />
about <strong>Gandhi</strong>. 7<br />
The western media became more interested in his experiments with Brahmacharya<br />
and with his experiments of self-c<strong>on</strong>trol with his young female workers rather than the<br />
more significant aspects of the freedom struggle and nati<strong>on</strong>-building. However, it is also<br />
important to remember that many westerners openly acknowledged <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s greatness<br />
and did everything possible to influence the public opini<strong>on</strong> in their countries. 8<br />
His eldest s<strong>on</strong>, Harilal, became a rebel against his father’s generosity and floated<br />
the idea which gained more currency that <strong>Gandhi</strong> could have been a good Father of the<br />
Nati<strong>on</strong> but a very bad father to his s<strong>on</strong>s. He did every possible thing to hurt his father<br />
including a c<strong>on</strong>versi<strong>on</strong> to Islam and by becoming an alcoholic. 9<br />
His wife Ba or better known as Kasturba also had her share of complains against<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. To her, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was so rigid, adament or obstinate(determined) that if he decided<br />
to do something it was impossible to prevent him from doing that, forcing her to be a little<br />
more guarded in her views while with <strong>Gandhi</strong>. 10<br />
So, Who is the real <strong>Gandhi</strong>? <strong>Gandhi</strong> as perceived by <strong>on</strong>e of these or a combinati<strong>on</strong><br />
of all these attributes?<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> never c<strong>on</strong>sidered himself to be a political strategist. 11 Nor did he ever believe<br />
that there can be something like <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm after him. He was of the firm opini<strong>on</strong> that there<br />
should be nothing like <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm after him and people should refrain from oppressing<br />
others in the name of <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. Rather they should follow the ideals which he held dear<br />
to his heart. 12<br />
When pressed for a message by <strong>on</strong>e of the c<strong>on</strong>gress Shanti Senas, he is supposed<br />
to have said that “my life is my message” c<strong>on</strong>veying the feeling that he lived what he said<br />
and there was no gap between his speech and deed.<br />
70
But does this suffice enough as our knowledge of <strong>Gandhi</strong>?<br />
There is flood of literature <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> today. Many praise him to the skies, stopping<br />
short of virtual deificati<strong>on</strong> while others malign him calling him different names and<br />
projecting him as a villain of the first order. Vilificati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong> gained much currency<br />
during the tenure of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the centre as it had an agenda to serve,<br />
i.e., to restore the sullied image of RSS and the Janasangha. 13<br />
The more intelligent <strong>on</strong>es have tried to cash in <strong>on</strong> the very relevant theme of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
philosophy by Presenting him in a more acceptable package in form of <strong>Gandhi</strong>giri in the<br />
cinematic format to the Gen-next crowd. 14<br />
Whether we like him or not, the abysmal political situati<strong>on</strong> has some how forced us<br />
to rethink the practicability of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an methods in our modern settings. When all else<br />
has failed we are again forced to adopt the <strong>on</strong>ce old, impractical and archaic methods of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>. So can we ignore <strong>Gandhi</strong>? Or more appropriately, is <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm of any immediate<br />
relevance today?<br />
In the pre-independence days <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s aura was created more through rumours and<br />
ignorance. In an era when means of mass communicati<strong>on</strong> were almost n<strong>on</strong>-existent, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
left very few Indian hearts untouched. 15<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> could mean many things to many Indians. Illiterate masses who had been at<br />
the receiving end of the col<strong>on</strong>ial administrati<strong>on</strong> for centuries suddenly found a saviour in<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and promptly attributed mythical qualities which they had been familiar with since<br />
the ages. The c<strong>on</strong>cept of incarnati<strong>on</strong>s or Avatarvaad very easily suited <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s image<br />
because his style of austere living, his saintly attire and his belief in the c<strong>on</strong>cept of Niskam<br />
Karma of the Bhagavat Gita easily endeared him to the masses. Indian masses have always<br />
venerated the ascetic way of life and they could easily accept <strong>Gandhi</strong> as their Messiah. 16<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s own writings also run in to volumes. There is practically nothing or no<br />
subject <strong>on</strong> which <strong>Gandhi</strong> has not said or written. <strong>Gandhi</strong> used a very simple language and<br />
most of his writings were extempore and do not reflect prior framing or c<strong>on</strong>ceptualisati<strong>on</strong>. 17<br />
They definitely provide an insight into the pers<strong>on</strong>ality of the Great Man.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> never felt comfortable with the epithet ‘Mahatma’ or the great soul which<br />
Rabindra Nath Tagore had coined for him. 18 It probably weighed heavy <strong>on</strong> his shoulders<br />
where he realised he had to make efforts to live up to the expectati<strong>on</strong>s of the masses.<br />
Many incidents in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life speak volumes about his pers<strong>on</strong>ality. We shall<br />
however, recount a few to get a selective insight in to the great man’s pers<strong>on</strong>a.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was the uncrowned king of pre-independent India. Many letters used to be<br />
addressed to <strong>Gandhi</strong> from England and America with <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Emperor of India,<br />
or simply M K<strong>Gandhi</strong> and India in the address column. 19 Though he never held any official<br />
71
positi<strong>on</strong> in the organisati<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> was the undisputed leader of the C<strong>on</strong>gress. For milli<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of Indians, C<strong>on</strong>gress meant <strong>Gandhi</strong> and vice-versa. The magic of the name of the C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
was to a great extent c<strong>on</strong>nected with the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an myth.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had a fascinating array of vocati<strong>on</strong>s attributed to him. Not many quite seemed<br />
to know who or what he was. He was a mahatma, a pundit, a sadhu, a Brahmin or even a<br />
devata. The most intelligent said, he was a man who was working for the good of the<br />
country. But there were curious instances of the power of his name. 20<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> Baba could work miracles. 21 Thousands joined the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an movement<br />
being mesmerised with his pers<strong>on</strong>ality and saint-like approach to life. Many who had<br />
never ventured out of the safety of their homes and who did not have the slightest of ideas<br />
about Satyagraha, jumped headl<strong>on</strong>g into the nati<strong>on</strong>alist movement without bothering to<br />
care what would happen next or what an uncertain journey it could lead to. The example<br />
of a peasant woman, Sushila Devi, a close aide of Rama Devi Choudhary, presents a<br />
peculiar example of how <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name worked w<strong>on</strong>ders in the life of ordinary Indians. 22<br />
She was a widow and did not have any children. One night, <strong>Gandhi</strong> came in her dreams<br />
and the next morning she packed her ornaments in a bundle and left for the nearest C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
worker’s house. 23<br />
To most rural masses, <strong>Gandhi</strong> meant C<strong>on</strong>gress and vice versa. Every<strong>on</strong>e interpreted<br />
and appropriated <strong>Gandhi</strong>an messages and ideas according to his or her political and moral<br />
visi<strong>on</strong>. In a meeting at Cuttack in March 1921, Gopabandhu Dash introduced <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
thus:<br />
“Three hundred years ago, <strong>on</strong> the same day, Chaitanya came to preach prema dharma(<br />
doctrine of love) in Orissa. Today, after three hundred years, another mahapurusha (Great<br />
man)has come to preach Rajnaitika prema dharma (political doctrine of love). Our <strong>Utkal</strong><br />
has always been famous as the land of dharma. Today, because of this Mahatma, politics<br />
again, is based <strong>on</strong> Dharma”. 24<br />
The experience of the famous Oriya educati<strong>on</strong>ist and freedom fighter Chitta Ranjan<br />
Das of Bagalpur (Jagatsingpur) also makes an interesting reading. He narrates in his<br />
Mitrasya Chakshusa that after the outbreak of the Quit India Movement in August 1942,<br />
he felt restless for two to three days. Then, he c<strong>on</strong>fided to his elder brother that he had a<br />
str<strong>on</strong>g urge to plunge into the nati<strong>on</strong>alist movement so that he could do some thing for the<br />
country. His brother did not dissuade him. He <strong>on</strong>ly told him that that since he (his brother)<br />
was the eldest child in the family, he had certain resp<strong>on</strong>sibilities towards the family and so<br />
he could not think of joining the nati<strong>on</strong>alist movement even if he had the inclinati<strong>on</strong> to do<br />
so. But if Chitta wanted to give up studies and join the movement, his brother did not have<br />
any objecti<strong>on</strong> from his side. 25<br />
There might have been a thousand such instances of ordinary young men and women<br />
joining the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an bandwag<strong>on</strong> without any c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> or commitment to the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
72
philosophy or methods of acti<strong>on</strong>. The kind of attitude which many families displayed in<br />
providing moral support to young men and women who joined the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an movement<br />
also speaks volumes about the magic of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name.<br />
In an age when communicati<strong>on</strong> system was almost n<strong>on</strong>-existent, people in the<br />
inaccessible countryside formed their opini<strong>on</strong> about <strong>Gandhi</strong> or for that matter <strong>on</strong> any such<br />
outside forces or phenomena through rumours. Hear-say accounts and rumours played a<br />
very significant role in the creati<strong>on</strong>, circulati<strong>on</strong> and furtherance of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an myth. 26<br />
Ram Narayan Choudhary, an associate of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, in his book Bapu As I saw him<br />
narrates a very strange incident. He menti<strong>on</strong>s that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideas and his pers<strong>on</strong>ality<br />
influenced not <strong>on</strong>ly the educated or the ordinary Indians but also the thieves, thugs and the<br />
highway robbers. From his own experience he cites an example. One day a trader/<br />
businessman came to his house and after paying his regards narrated a story of how the<br />
very name of <strong>Gandhi</strong> saved him from the clutches of the thieves. The businessman was<br />
passing through Shingoli, a hilly terrain in the erstwhile Gwalior state. At the sight of the<br />
thieves the man started screaming loudly “Bande Mataram” and “Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> Ki<br />
Jai”. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name probably did the trick and the robbers spared him. Those days (N<strong>on</strong>co-operati<strong>on</strong><br />
days) even the thieves followed certain norms and they refrained from looting<br />
women, Brahmins and the saints. Many Indians (including thieves and anti-socials)<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidered <strong>Gandhi</strong> to be a saint and thought it to be improper to harass his followers. 27<br />
Depending <strong>on</strong> their standing in the local C<strong>on</strong>gress hierarchy, many C<strong>on</strong>gress leaders,<br />
who some how or the other, resembled <strong>Gandhi</strong> in their life style came to be popularly<br />
known as <strong>Gandhi</strong> of a particular area, be it a district or a province. 28<br />
For a nati<strong>on</strong> obsessed with the idea of hero-worship, the characters in the epics and<br />
the incarnati<strong>on</strong>s have been the usual medium for categorising the so-called great men.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s grand daughter, Manu Behn compared <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s activities at Noakhali with Sri<br />
Rama’s adventures in the forest. Both had lost the dearest things in their lives and yet both<br />
“…brought enlightenment to souls that had lost hope and brought happiness from sorrow.” 29<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress has often been criticised for being an organisati<strong>on</strong> of the bourgeoise or a<br />
party of collaborators who repeatedly betrayed the masses. 30<br />
These may c<strong>on</strong>tain some truth. But it would be totally unfair to dismiss the<br />
organisati<strong>on</strong> as an organisati<strong>on</strong> of the propertied class. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an movements had their<br />
limitati<strong>on</strong>s and inadequacies, which were internal to mass movements as such. But, then<br />
also, <strong>on</strong>e has to take into account the strength and greatness of <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a pers<strong>on</strong> and the<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology. Otherwise, how can <strong>on</strong>e explain for the fact that <strong>Gandhi</strong>an leadership<br />
retained more mass popularity than his radical critics!<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> bel<strong>on</strong>ged not <strong>on</strong>ly to India and his message is relevant for the whole world.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> might have died for India but for the world he will c<strong>on</strong>tinue to live forever. 31<br />
73
<strong>Gandhi</strong> has received so much adulati<strong>on</strong> during his life time and after that we can not<br />
possibly add any thing new to eulogize <strong>Gandhi</strong> or <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm. Unfortunately, <strong>Gandhi</strong>, who<br />
w<strong>on</strong> the hearts of the people all over the world through his deeds and through the power of<br />
his ideas, we have c<strong>on</strong>veniently forgotten them all and started worshipping him like God.<br />
Attempts are being made not <strong>on</strong>ly at the individual level but also at the organised level to<br />
him <strong>on</strong> a high pedestral and garland him with meaningless sweet words. There is possibly<br />
something wr<strong>on</strong>g in the Indian milieu which creates gods out of ordinary human beings<br />
and forces people to forget the very values for which they stand.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> never wanted to become an ic<strong>on</strong> of worship. He was a man of acti<strong>on</strong>, a<br />
revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary, a man of flesh and blood just like each <strong>on</strong>e of us, who tried to transform the<br />
society by ridding it of its weaknesses and evil practices through love, truth and n<strong>on</strong>violence.<br />
In stead of following the lead he provided we are busy creating temples for him,<br />
a practice he would have definitely disapproved of if he had been alive. The very fact that<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was fallible, committed mistakes and admitted them in public does give us enough<br />
less<strong>on</strong>s in life and inspires us to transform ourselves individually and collectively.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> not <strong>on</strong>ly fought for our independence. He also envisaged Ram-Rajya al<strong>on</strong>g<br />
with freedom. We have achieved independence but Ram Rajya is still a distant dream.<br />
References<br />
1. Cited in Surjyakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack, 1995,<br />
p.153.<br />
2. During an orientati<strong>on</strong> course for the teachers of higher sec<strong>on</strong>dary classes in<br />
Chandigarh, the author had the experience of interacting with the participants as a<br />
resource pers<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> 5th and 6th of September 2005 at the State Institute of Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
and Technology (SIET), Chandigarh.Almost all the participants expressed the feeling<br />
that <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology of passive resistance did not suit the hardy Punjabis (<br />
Sikhs)who had been accustomed to armed struggle against the Mughals for more<br />
than a century.<br />
3. In spite of ideological differences, <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Bose had tremendous respect for<br />
each other. On many occasi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>Gandhi</strong> described Bose as a true patriot. On the<br />
other hand, Bose himself admitted that no other Indian leader had absolute command<br />
over the masses as <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He even went to the extent of comparing <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
Dandi March with Napole<strong>on</strong>’s return from exile from Elba. During his radio<br />
broadcasts from Rango<strong>on</strong>, Bose frequently referred to <strong>Gandhi</strong> as the father of the<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>. Sharat Kumar Mohanty, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Manisha (O), Mita Books, Cuttack:2000,<br />
p. 11.<br />
4. Sumit Sarkar, Popular Movements and Middle Class leadership in late Col<strong>on</strong>ial<br />
India, Centre for Studies in Social Science, K.P.Bagchi & Co, Calcutta, 1985, p.43.<br />
74
R P Dutt believed that “….<strong>Gandhi</strong> manipulated the masses by calling them to acti<strong>on</strong><br />
when favourable to the bourgeoise and then withdrawing his support if things got<br />
out of hand”, Cited in Resistance to the soul: <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his critics by Michael F.<br />
Plotkin, site-file://A:\Articles On & By <strong>Gandhi</strong>.htm, p.1.<br />
5. V D Savarkar thought that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s methods c<strong>on</strong>tradicted the religious outlook of<br />
Hinduism and jeopardized Hindu political interests as well. Cited in Resistance to<br />
the soul: <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his critics by Michael F. Plotkin, site-file://A:\Articles On &<br />
By <strong>Gandhi</strong>.htm, p.3. He saw <strong>Gandhi</strong> to be a threat to the existence of Hindus in<br />
India and thought that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s influence over the C<strong>on</strong>gress hurt the Hindu cause<br />
because he gave in to Muslim demands. Ibid.,p.10. Aggressive Bihari Hindus<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidered him to be very bad Hindu and a Muslim spy. 95% of the letters which<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> received during 1947 were abusive letters and some of them were addressed<br />
as Mohammad <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Cited in S K Das, op.cit., p.7.<br />
6. Ambedkar interpreted <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views as c<strong>on</strong>servative, reacti<strong>on</strong>ary, downright archaic<br />
and unrealistic. Cited in Resistance to the soul: <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his critics by Michael<br />
F. Plotkin, site-file://A:\Articles On & By <strong>Gandhi</strong>.htm, p.12. He also c<strong>on</strong>tended that<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was a prop<strong>on</strong>ent of the caste system and an antag<strong>on</strong>ist towards progress that<br />
would have benefited all of India, especially the depressed classes. Ibid., p.3.<br />
7. <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself provided them with enough reas<strong>on</strong>s to do so by making statements<br />
like “I am a politician trying my hardest to be a saint”. Cited in Suryakanta Das,<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.134.<br />
8. G B Shaw, Lord Reading, Lord M<strong>on</strong>tague, General Smuts were all smitten by<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s pers<strong>on</strong>ality. During the Quit India Movement when <strong>Gandhi</strong> was interned<br />
in theAga Khan Palace, Shaw said “ The king should release <strong>Gandhi</strong> unc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>ally<br />
as an act of grace unc<strong>on</strong>cerned with policy and apologize to him for the mental<br />
defectiveness of his cabinet.” Cited in Suryakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha<br />
Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.152.<br />
9. Cited in Suryakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.62.<br />
10. Once when Kasturba was bleeding severely and allopathic medicines failed, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
suggested Ba to give up eating of salt and pulses. She dared <strong>Gandhi</strong> to give up<br />
eating these two items himself first to which <strong>Gandhi</strong> took up the challenge and gave<br />
up eating salt and pulses for <strong>on</strong>e year from that very moment . Kasturba realised her<br />
mistake and pleaded with <strong>Gandhi</strong> to take back his words but <strong>Gandhi</strong> stuck to his<br />
words and both <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Kasturba gave up eating salt and pulses for <strong>on</strong>e year.<br />
Coincidentally, Ba was cured. Sharat Kumar Mohanty, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Manisha (O), Mita<br />
Books, Cuttack:2000, p. 125.<br />
11. In <strong>on</strong>e of the prayer c<strong>on</strong>gregati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> 29 January 1947 <strong>Gandhi</strong> said, “Iamwhat<br />
God has willed me to be and act as he directs. Let him do what he wills of me. If he<br />
75
so chooses, he can kill me. I believe I am acting as he commands me”. D G Tendulkar.,<br />
Mahatma, Navjivan Publishing house, p.286, Cited in Suryakanta Das, op. cit., p.36.<br />
12. <strong>Gandhi</strong> said “ My Mahatmaship is worthless. D<strong>on</strong>’t call me Mahatma. Rather adopt<br />
the ways of truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence.” Cited in Suryakanta Das, op. cit., p.14.<br />
13. Speaking about <strong>Gandhi</strong> Savarkar criticized that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>tinual appeasement of<br />
the Muslims endangered the interests of the Hindus. Cited in Resistance to the<br />
soul: <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his critics by Michael F. Plotkin, site-file://A:\Articles On & By<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>.htm, p.11. During the tenure of theBJPgovernment at the centre in the late<br />
1990s, many lesser known leaders of the RSSandJanasangha suddenly came to<br />
assume nati<strong>on</strong>al significance.<br />
14. A spurt in films <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> has suddenly revived interest in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideas and<br />
values. <strong>Gandhi</strong> Mera Baap, Maine <strong>Gandhi</strong> Ko Nahin Mara and Lage Raho Munna<br />
Bhai were popular as well as critically acclaimed.<br />
15. Deificati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong> started almost around the 1920s. The entire G<strong>on</strong>da tribe<br />
worshipped <strong>Gandhi</strong> as God. Sharat Kumar Mohanty, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Manisha (O), Mita<br />
Books, Cuttack :2000, p. 283.<br />
16. Manu Behn, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s grand daughter compared his days in Noakhali as lord Rama’s<br />
days of exile in the forest. Cited in Suryakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha<br />
Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.28.<br />
17. Louis Fisher said “His brain had no blue pencil”. Ibid., p. 5. Suryakanta Das also<br />
writes that he did not attempt to express his ideas in finished form. So, <strong>on</strong>e heard not<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly his words but also his thoughts. Ibid., p.48.<br />
18. Cited in Suryakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.18.<br />
Although it is widely accepted that the epithet ‘Mahatma’ was coined by Tagore<br />
when he addressed <strong>Gandhi</strong> in <strong>on</strong>e of his telegrams in 1916. A school of historians,<br />
however, do believe that it was probably first used by some<strong>on</strong>e else. Sarojini Naidu<br />
told <strong>on</strong>e of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s biographers (Vincent Cehan) she had already heard people<br />
calling him Mahatma when she met <strong>Gandhi</strong> for the first time in 1914. Sharat Kumar<br />
Mohanty, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Manisha (O), Mita Books, Cuttack :2000, p. 91.<br />
19. Cited in Suryakanta Das, op. cit., p.58.<br />
20. The story of a poor man from Bengal makes a curious reading. With a photograph of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> hanging from his neck, the man came to him and after paying his respects narrated<br />
that he was suffering from paralysis and chanting <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s name religiously had cured<br />
him. <strong>Gandhi</strong> rebuked the man sternly and asked him to remove the photo immediately.<br />
He told him that it was by the grace of God and not <strong>Gandhi</strong> who had cured him. Sharat<br />
Kumar Mohanty, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Manisha (O), Mita Books, Cuttack :2000, p. 283.<br />
76
21. Sumit Sarkar, Popular Movements and Middle Class leadership in late Col<strong>on</strong>ial<br />
India, Centre for Studies in Social Science, K.P.Bagchi & Co, Calcutta, 1985, p.43<br />
22. Rama Devi was wife of a very prominent <strong>Gandhi</strong>an C<strong>on</strong>gress leader, Gopabandhu<br />
Choudhary and sister-in-law of ex-chief minister of Orissa, Nabakrusna Choudhary.<br />
23. When her relatives went to bring her back, she hid in a bush and left for the C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
worker’s house, which was three kilometres away, <strong>on</strong>ly after the sun set. Rama Devi<br />
Choudhary, Jiban Pathe(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack,1984,p.102.<br />
24. The Samaj, 2 April 1921.Gopabandhu Rachanavali, Vol.VI, Janma Satavarshiki<br />
Samiti,1977,pp.72-73.<br />
25. Chitta Ranjan Das, Mitrasya Chakshusa(o), S.B. Publicati<strong>on</strong>s, Cuttack, 1993,p.96.<br />
26. Some of the rumours which made the rounds in early 40’s in a remote and inaccessible<br />
village like Ainipara in P.S.Pattamundai of Kendrapara district of Orissa were that<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was invincible. No British bullets could kill <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Like the mythical figure<br />
of Vasudeva escaping Kansa’s pris<strong>on</strong> when Lord Krisna is born in Mathura, it was<br />
believed by many that no British jail could keep him impris<strong>on</strong>ed permanently. And<br />
that <strong>Gandhi</strong> had the miraculous powers to escape from such c<strong>on</strong>finements. Some<br />
others had the noti<strong>on</strong> that the Englishmen had chained us like cattle and <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
the magic scissors to cut our chains and make us free. Pers<strong>on</strong>al Interview with<br />
Sripati Mahakud,Village-Ainipara, dt.18 July 1990.<br />
27. Cited in Suryakanta Das, Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>(o), Grantha Mandir, Cuttack, 1995, p.18.<br />
28. For example, Laxman Naiko, the tribal leader from the inaccessible tract, Koraput,<br />
came to be popularly known as <strong>Gandhi</strong> of Malkanagiri. Biswamoy pati, “Storm<br />
over Malkanagiri: A Note <strong>on</strong> Laxman Naiko’s Revolt, 1942”, in Gyanendra Pandey<br />
(ed.)The Indian Nati<strong>on</strong> in 1942, OUP, New Delhi, 1988, pp. 195-197. Martin Luther<br />
King, who followed the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideals of truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence in the 1960s<br />
came to be popularly known as the American <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
29. Cited in Suryakanta Das, Op.cit., p.28.<br />
30. Sumit Sarkar, Popular Movements and Middle Class leadership in late Col<strong>on</strong>ial<br />
31.<br />
India, Centre for Studies in Social Science, K.P.Bagchi & Co, Calcutta, 1985,<br />
p.51.Communist leader S.G.Sardesai wrote, “ <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s acti<strong>on</strong> involved innumerable<br />
compromises with imperialists, feudal and Indian bourgeoise interests, thereby<br />
hampering the full development of the nati<strong>on</strong>al-revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary forces in the country”.<br />
Cited in Suryakanta Das, Op.cit., p.144.<br />
Louis Fisher cited in Suryakanta Das,Op.cit.,p.8.<br />
77
GANDHI’S THEORIES OF EDUCATION<br />
78<br />
S.P.Pani*<br />
All good theories can be put to practice and all good practices can be theorized.<br />
Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong> (1869-1948) more popularly known as Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
is the most striking example of translating great theories into practice and theoritising<br />
great practices. His life and works is such a unique example of putting theories into practice<br />
that Einstein predicted that the coming generati<strong>on</strong>s would find it difficult to believe that<br />
such a man walked with flesh and blood in this world<br />
A General Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> is defined as the process of bringing up, instructi<strong>on</strong>s, teaching, training<br />
and strengthening the powers of body, mind and culture. To be educated, is to be well<br />
cultivated, cultured, knowledgeable, refined in judgement and taste, and experienced. The<br />
foundati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong> is two fold psycho-physiological and philosophical. For centuries<br />
before the advent of modern disciplines like psychology and sociology, metaphysics and<br />
philosophy provided the foundati<strong>on</strong> to educati<strong>on</strong>. As the study of mind was separated<br />
from philosophy, psychological and behavioral sciences added new dimensi<strong>on</strong>s to educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Philosophy is an attempt in the highest kind of generalizati<strong>on</strong> and also includes<br />
generalizati<strong>on</strong>s <strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>, it’s meaning, objective, methods and scope etc. Philosophy<br />
is defined as the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge, investigati<strong>on</strong> or c<strong>on</strong>templati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
nature of being, knowledge of the causes and laws of all things and the principles underlaying<br />
any sphere of knowledge and reas<strong>on</strong>ing. The philosophical foundati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong><br />
did not exclude the study of nature, science and abstracti<strong>on</strong>s, educati<strong>on</strong> was not limited to<br />
metaphysics, literature and history and educati<strong>on</strong> also did not exclude skill comp<strong>on</strong>ent.<br />
Jnana (knowledge) and Vidya (art and skill) always were c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be two sides of<br />
wisdom in India. The philosophical foundati<strong>on</strong>, both in east and west, India and the rest of<br />
the world, had set the goal of educati<strong>on</strong>, it aspired to answer all questi<strong>on</strong> that arise in our<br />
mind, search for explanati<strong>on</strong> which would lead to a perfect understanding of life, world<br />
and event bey<strong>on</strong>d the world. A new dimensi<strong>on</strong> was added with advent of psychology. The<br />
process of acquiring knowledge, understanding, assimilati<strong>on</strong> etc now forms an integral<br />
part of educati<strong>on</strong>. Physiological aspects of human body like the human brain and the<br />
sensory system were added <strong>on</strong>. Cognitive aspects of educati<strong>on</strong> now stand recognized.<br />
Besides these behavioral studies have also enriched the c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>. The<br />
metaphysical, ethical and religious goals of educati<strong>on</strong> have been widened to include social,<br />
political, ec<strong>on</strong>omic and other goals of life. Educati<strong>on</strong> has also evolved as a science bey<strong>on</strong>d<br />
the horiz<strong>on</strong>s of humanities, arts and social science. The ancient Indians had held ‘Sa Vidya<br />
Ya Vimukteya’(Educati<strong>on</strong> Liberates) as the highest goal of educati<strong>on</strong>. The original meaning<br />
*Director, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.
may have been c<strong>on</strong>fined to liberati<strong>on</strong> from chain of rebirth and realizati<strong>on</strong> of god head, yet<br />
the underlying thought was a complete understanding of the world and bey<strong>on</strong>d. Today the<br />
scope of liberati<strong>on</strong> stands widened, it includes liberati<strong>on</strong> from ignorance, hunger, diseases,<br />
and c<strong>on</strong>flict etc. It includes developmental and democratic goals of life. The emphasis has<br />
shifted from individual to the social formati<strong>on</strong>s and event <strong>on</strong> the entire mankind and bey<strong>on</strong>d.<br />
‘Educati<strong>on</strong> being a preparati<strong>on</strong> for life, the aims of educati<strong>on</strong> are <strong>on</strong>e with those of life.<br />
These can be terrestrial, cosmic, supra-terrestrial and supra cosmic. The aim of an individual<br />
or a society is dependent <strong>on</strong> it’s stage of progress and it’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of progress. Progress<br />
must include physical, aesthetics, mental and even spiritual. Progress also aims at perfecti<strong>on</strong><br />
and perfect harm<strong>on</strong>y in individual and social life and harm<strong>on</strong>y in nature and even harm<strong>on</strong>y<br />
in entire reality bey<strong>on</strong>d earth. Educati<strong>on</strong> must provide for the claims of vital, physical and<br />
emoti<strong>on</strong>al being that man is, the claims of man as ethical and religious being and his<br />
understanding of laws of God and nature and claims of spiritual l<strong>on</strong>ging of mankind spread<br />
bey<strong>on</strong>d the known world. Man of all the animals is the most dissatisfied and has the<br />
highest search for perfecti<strong>on</strong> and satisfacti<strong>on</strong>, man is gifted with dreams, men have always<br />
cherished utopias, how ever unreachable they appear to be. Educati<strong>on</strong> is the <strong>on</strong>ly answer<br />
to man’s search for complete understanding, harm<strong>on</strong>y and development. Educati<strong>on</strong> today<br />
has new challenges. Riche writes “The great modern idea is that it is possible to enrich<br />
collectively and individually all the members of a society through c<strong>on</strong>tinuous progress in<br />
the organizati<strong>on</strong> of work, in it’s processes and instruments, that this enrichment provides<br />
by itself the means of further development and that this development can be rapid and<br />
infinite”. 1 Besides the need for c<strong>on</strong>tinuous enrichment, communicati<strong>on</strong> is another challenge.<br />
“The electr<strong>on</strong>ic communicati<strong>on</strong>s network inevitably creates a universal super – culture.<br />
What will be the relati<strong>on</strong> between the super culture and more traditi<strong>on</strong>al cultures of the<br />
past, both nati<strong>on</strong>al and regi<strong>on</strong>al, is a questi<strong>on</strong> the next fifty year will have to answer”,<br />
observed Keneth Building. 2 Communicati<strong>on</strong> technology, cultural synthesis and cultural<br />
identity asserti<strong>on</strong> are a new set of challenge for educati<strong>on</strong>. Other challenges include those<br />
of mass media, leisure, new thinking of the youth and man’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of happiness, progress,<br />
peace, development and perfecti<strong>on</strong> etc. Added to these living itself has become a new<br />
science and an art. Modern management masters, counselors and even godmen have<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributed immensely to the science and art of living. Educati<strong>on</strong> is also required to<br />
assimilate these new less<strong>on</strong>s and c<strong>on</strong>cepts. As a whole educati<strong>on</strong> pervade life in it’s entirety<br />
and the future of mankind is shaped through educati<strong>on</strong>. The scholar may add few<br />
observati<strong>on</strong>s an educati<strong>on</strong> to reflect the multi-dimensi<strong>on</strong>al feature of educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
‘Educati<strong>on</strong> is something which makes man self-reliant and self-less’. (Veda)<br />
‘Educati<strong>on</strong> is for liberati<strong>on</strong>’. (Upanishads)<br />
‘Nothing is more purifying an earth than knowledge’ (Bhagavat Gita)<br />
“Human educati<strong>on</strong> means the training <strong>on</strong>e gets from nature” (Panini)<br />
79
“Educati<strong>on</strong> means training of country and love of nati<strong>on</strong>” (Kauitlya)<br />
“Educati<strong>on</strong> is the realizati<strong>on</strong> of self” (Sankaracharya).<br />
“Blessed are the men and women whose minds are centred <strong>on</strong> the acquisiti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
knowledge, who possess sweet and amiable tempers, who cultivate truthfulness and other<br />
similar virtues, who are engaged in aesthetic work as prescribed by the Vedas”.<br />
(Dayananda Saraswati)<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> “stands for humanism, for tolerance; for reas<strong>on</strong>, for the adventure of<br />
ideas and for the search of truth. It stands for the <strong>on</strong>ward march of human race towards<br />
even higher objectives”.<br />
(Jawaharlal Neheru).<br />
“Aspirati<strong>on</strong>s of new India will require a fresh outlook and new measures to tackle<br />
its problems of hunger, poverty, delusi<strong>on</strong>, greed and hatred”<br />
(Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad)<br />
“The destiny of India is now shaped in her classrooms. This, we believe, is no mere<br />
rhetoric. In a world based <strong>on</strong> science and technology, it is educati<strong>on</strong> that determines the<br />
level of prosperity, welfare and security of the people. On the quality and number of pers<strong>on</strong>s<br />
coming-out of our schools and colleges will depend our success in the great enterprise of<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>; the principal objective of which is to raise the standard of living<br />
of our people”.<br />
(D.S. Kothari)<br />
“In our nati<strong>on</strong>al percepti<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> is essentially for all. This is fundamental to<br />
our allround development material and spiritual. Educati<strong>on</strong> has an articulating role…<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tribute to nati<strong>on</strong>al cohesi<strong>on</strong>, a scientific temper and independence of mind and sprit…<br />
furthering the goals of socialism, secularizing and democracy. Educati<strong>on</strong> develops man<br />
power (as) the ultimate guarantee of nati<strong>on</strong>al self reliance. In sum, Educati<strong>on</strong> is a unique<br />
investment in the present and future”.<br />
(Nati<strong>on</strong>al Policy <strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> 1986).<br />
Having listed major Indian thinking the scholar may list some major western c<strong>on</strong>cepts.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> is comm<strong>on</strong> search for knowledge through critical interplay between teacher<br />
and people and dialectics is the best method.<br />
(Socrates)<br />
The ultimate educati<strong>on</strong>al quest as reviewed in dialogue is the search for the Good,<br />
that is, the ultimate idea that binds together all earthly existence. (Plato)<br />
80
“No <strong>on</strong>e will doubt that the legislator should direct his attenti<strong>on</strong> above all to the<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> of youth… the citizen should be moulded to suit the form of government under<br />
which he lives”. (Aristotle)<br />
Natural educati<strong>on</strong>, unlike the artificial and formal educati<strong>on</strong> of society, enables <strong>on</strong>e<br />
to become social, moral and rati<strong>on</strong>al while remaining true to <strong>on</strong>e’s own nature. If <strong>on</strong>e is<br />
educated to be a man, not a priest, a soldier, <strong>on</strong> an attorney <strong>on</strong>e will be able to do what is<br />
needed in any situati<strong>on</strong>. (Russeoue)<br />
The art of educati<strong>on</strong> must be significantly raised in all its facets to become a science<br />
that is to be built <strong>on</strong> and proceeds from the deepest knowledge of human nature.<br />
(Pastalozzi)<br />
Natural criteri<strong>on</strong> for pedagogy is freedom and the <strong>on</strong>ly method is experience.<br />
(Tolstoy)<br />
“Philosophy and educati<strong>on</strong> renders service to each other. Educati<strong>on</strong> becomes the<br />
laboratory of philosophy. Society should be interpreted to the child through daily living in<br />
the classroom, which acts as a miniature society. Educati<strong>on</strong> leads to no final end. It is<br />
something c<strong>on</strong>tinuous, a rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> of accumulated experience, which must be directed<br />
towards social efficiency. Educati<strong>on</strong> is life, not merely a preparati<strong>on</strong> for life.<br />
(Dewey)<br />
Today educati<strong>on</strong> is c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be life l<strong>on</strong>g and a process of c<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
knowledge. The present century is termed as the knowledge century. Knowledge will<br />
drive the future and as such educati<strong>on</strong> assumes tremendous importance for the human<br />
society.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an theories of educati<strong>on</strong> were based <strong>on</strong> practical aspects. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not a<br />
system builder and he never c<strong>on</strong>sciously developed a theory of educati<strong>on</strong>. His theory of<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> is built <strong>on</strong> his practices. He wrote and partly theoricised educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the basis<br />
of practical problems and issues relating to educati<strong>on</strong> which he faced. Apart from this he<br />
always tried his best to be c<strong>on</strong>sistent with the central socio – political principles he had<br />
enunciated. Attainment of complete freedom just not from foreign rule and attainment of<br />
self sufficiency by the teeming milli<strong>on</strong>s of India were supreme aim of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and these<br />
were equally applicable to educati<strong>on</strong> for him. The present discussi<strong>on</strong> endeavours to identify<br />
the general principles and aims of educati<strong>on</strong> as developed by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. The general principles<br />
and aims of educati<strong>on</strong> is followed up with a discussi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> practical aspects and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>temporary issues.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Theories of Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had a holistic approach to educati<strong>on</strong>. For educati<strong>on</strong> must c<strong>on</strong>sider all aspects<br />
of life and society. <strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasized the ancient central principle of educati<strong>on</strong>, “Sa<br />
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Vidya Ya Vimuktya”, Educati<strong>on</strong> is that, which liberates. He accepted the Vishnu Purana’s<br />
dictum as the real aim of educati<strong>on</strong> and expanded the meaning and scope in relati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>temporary needs. He says, “The ancient aphorism, educati<strong>on</strong> is that which liberates is<br />
as true today as it was before. Educati<strong>on</strong> here does not mean mere spiritual knowledge nor<br />
does liberati<strong>on</strong> signify <strong>on</strong>ly spiritual liberati<strong>on</strong> after death. Knowledge includes all training<br />
that is useful for the service of mankind and liberati<strong>on</strong> means freedom from all manner of<br />
servitude even in the present life. Servitude is of two kinds slavery to dominati<strong>on</strong> from<br />
outside and to <strong>on</strong>e’s own artificial needs. The knowledge acquired in the pursuit of this<br />
ideal al<strong>on</strong>e c<strong>on</strong>stitutes true study 2 . So, he emphasized God realizati<strong>on</strong>, and liberati<strong>on</strong> from<br />
the chain of births as the highest goal of educati<strong>on</strong>, which Indians hold for generati<strong>on</strong>s. He<br />
says, “that is true educati<strong>on</strong> which leads to freedom ...that educati<strong>on</strong> which delays our<br />
freedom is to be shunned, it is satanic, it is sinful 3 . Thus, the foundati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
principles of educati<strong>on</strong> is based <strong>on</strong> the eternal Indian principles of educati<strong>on</strong>, which opens<br />
the door for all and knowledge. Simultaneously aim of educati<strong>on</strong> for him included the<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>alistic goal of political freedom.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sidered manual labour to be important. He experimented it throughout<br />
his life. He was str<strong>on</strong>gly opposed to the pagan ideal that man of letters should be free from<br />
the burden of mundane life. He realized the theory of Karma yoga as main path of life. So,<br />
for him manual labour should be given highest priority in all aspects of life physical,<br />
social and educati<strong>on</strong>. He writes, “useful manual labour, intelligently performed, is the<br />
means par excellence for developing the intellect. One may develop a sharp intellect<br />
otherwise too. But then it will not be a balanced growth but an unbalanced distorted<br />
aborti<strong>on</strong> 4 . Besides this he had also emphasized physical educati<strong>on</strong> and motor development<br />
for the development of the intellect. The core of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s proposal was the introducti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
productive handicrafts in the school curriculum. The idea was not simply to introduce<br />
handicrafts as a compulsory subject, but to make the learning of a craft as the central axis<br />
of the entire teaching programme. Through this teaching programme he wanted to<br />
disseminate the knowledge of the producti<strong>on</strong> processes involved such as – crafts, spinning,<br />
weaving, leather work, pottery, metal work, basket making and book binding etc. In real<br />
sense, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s proposal intended to introduce manual labour in educati<strong>on</strong> system. In this<br />
way he wanted to implement a programme of social transformati<strong>on</strong> which he originally<br />
experimented in South Africa in Phoenix Farm (1904) and Tolstoy Farm (1910) 5 . In other<br />
way he says, “you have to start with the c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>, that looking to the needs of the villages<br />
of India, our rural educati<strong>on</strong> ought to be made self supporting, if it is to be compulsory 6 .<br />
He thought that manual labour was the <strong>on</strong>ly tool which can bring prosperity to the country.<br />
Creating wealth in the villages through agriculture and craft was the <strong>on</strong>ly way to raise<br />
socio ec<strong>on</strong>omic status of the country. He realized that our educati<strong>on</strong> system must prepare<br />
the country and our students for creating wealth as vast majority of populati<strong>on</strong> depended<br />
<strong>on</strong> agriculture. It was the supreme and legitimate goal that <strong>Gandhi</strong> aspired through manual<br />
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labour in educati<strong>on</strong> system. He wrote, if text books are treated as a vehicle for educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
the living word of the teacher has very little value. A teacher who teaches from text books<br />
does not impart, originality to his pupils7 . He realized that school educati<strong>on</strong> was a sure<br />
passport to the service sector but such a situati<strong>on</strong> would not last in India. On the other<br />
hand it would create a lifeless society without work. Thus the agriculture based India<br />
should need the hands with practical knowledge, which <strong>Gandhi</strong> enunciated. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
advocates crafts training as a practical strategy. For him educati<strong>on</strong> must bake bread, it<br />
must fulfill the terrestrial goal of equipping the pupil with skills which would enable him<br />
to earn his living. Though he was c<strong>on</strong>scious that others had advocated craft educati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
promote creativity yet that was not his plank. Craft was central to him as a mechanism of<br />
creating employability in students. There can be debate whether craft is the best mechanism<br />
of creating employability. But there can not be debate <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s central c<strong>on</strong>cern that<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> must equip students to earn. Crafts as a strategy may work in rural settings, but<br />
with changing times. Vocati<strong>on</strong>alisati<strong>on</strong> through industrial training, paramedical training,<br />
IT applicati<strong>on</strong> training, food preservati<strong>on</strong> and agrarian training etc can be achieved.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> also drew his theory of manual labour from the Indian c<strong>on</strong>cept of Karma<br />
Yoga. A follower of Bhagvat Gita <strong>Gandhi</strong> str<strong>on</strong>gly felt that Jnan Yoga does not exclude<br />
Karma yoga. He had realized that n<strong>on</strong>e of us can live without Karma and as such we must<br />
learn to do karma. Acti<strong>on</strong> was always advocated. He wanted to awaken the Indians from<br />
inacti<strong>on</strong> to acti<strong>on</strong>. Besides the Bhagvat Gita, <strong>Gandhi</strong> drew his theory of manual labour<br />
from the writings of Tolstoy and others. He was also opposed to the traditi<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>cept of<br />
high caste Brahmin and Khetriyas of leaving all manual work to Vaisyas and Sudras. He<br />
wanted an egalitarian society where all secti<strong>on</strong> worked hard for all rural development. He<br />
wanted to built a system where each learnt to respect physical work, each acquired skill in<br />
physical work and each c<strong>on</strong>tributed to increased producti<strong>on</strong>. Such a system of educati<strong>on</strong><br />
was bound to promote a more democratic and more prosperous society.<br />
Ethics was the foundati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>. He wanted educati<strong>on</strong><br />
to promote morality. Character building, refinement, behavioural change, development of<br />
pers<strong>on</strong>ality were the socio-ethical aims of educati<strong>on</strong> for <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He says, real educati<strong>on</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>sists not in packing the brain with so many facts and figures, not in passing the<br />
examinati<strong>on</strong>s by reading numerous books but in developing character8 . His characterbuilding<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cept in educati<strong>on</strong> included truth, purity, fearlessness and integral development<br />
of mind, body and spirit. He had also emphasised “Sthitaprajna” – equanimity in both<br />
favourable and adverse c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s. In this way he advocated for the pers<strong>on</strong>ality<br />
development. Body, mind and spirit with equanimity should develop.<br />
The major c<strong>on</strong>cepts, which <strong>Gandhi</strong> stressed <strong>on</strong>, included social aspects of educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
According to him the aim of educati<strong>on</strong> is both social and individual. He tried to implement<br />
his ideals <strong>on</strong> society and c<strong>on</strong>sidered these aspects as vital for creating a good society. His<br />
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sole aim was to create a society with good social order based <strong>on</strong> truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
through proper system of educati<strong>on</strong>. He observes “there is something radically wr<strong>on</strong>g in<br />
the system of educati<strong>on</strong> that fails to arm boys and girls against social and other evils. That<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> al<strong>on</strong>e is of value, which draws out the faculties of a student so as to enable him<br />
or her to solve correctly the problems of life in every department” 9 . Thus, <strong>Gandhi</strong> had a<br />
praise worthy visi<strong>on</strong> of well-balanced society. He str<strong>on</strong>gly advocated a scheme of educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
which can train the future citizen to stand independently and for playing his role effectively<br />
in society. In this way he tried to maintain a harm<strong>on</strong>ious relati<strong>on</strong>ship between man, society<br />
and educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Culture occupied a core place in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s system of educati<strong>on</strong>. He thought that<br />
culture is the real reflecti<strong>on</strong> of pers<strong>on</strong>ality. He says “I attach for more importance to the<br />
cultural aspect of educati<strong>on</strong> than to the literacy. Culture is the foundati<strong>on</strong>, the primary<br />
thing, which the girls ought to get from here. It should show in the smallest detail of your<br />
c<strong>on</strong>duct and pers<strong>on</strong>al behaviour, how you sit, how you talk, how you dress etc, so that any<br />
body might be able to see at a glance that you are the product of this instituti<strong>on</strong>. Inner<br />
culture must be reflected in your speech, the way in which you treat your visitors and<br />
behave towards <strong>on</strong>e another and your teachers and class10 . The students should imbibe the<br />
culture of the country through educati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideal of educati<strong>on</strong> was culture based.<br />
He realized that the achievement of freedom and upliftment of the people lies in our<br />
culture. He argued that “Nothing can be farther from my thought that we should become<br />
exclusive or erect barriers. But I do respectfully c<strong>on</strong>tend, that an appreciati<strong>on</strong> of other<br />
cultures can fitly follow, never precede an appreciati<strong>on</strong> and assimilati<strong>on</strong> of our own. It is<br />
my firm opini<strong>on</strong>, that no culture has treasures, so rich as ours has. We have not known it,<br />
we have been made even to deprecate its study and deprecate its value. We have almost<br />
creased to like it.An academic grasp without practice behind it is like an embalmed corpse,<br />
perhaps lovely to look at but nothing to inspire or ennoble. My religi<strong>on</strong> forbids me to be<br />
little or disregard other cultures, as it insists under pain of civil suicide up<strong>on</strong> imbibing and<br />
living my own11 . He emphasized <strong>on</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong> which should be “culture based<br />
through which the child can learn refinement and knowledge”. For him “Culture” meant<br />
refinement of feelings and “educati<strong>on</strong>” meant knowledge of literature. Educati<strong>on</strong> is a<br />
means and culture is the end. The latter is possible even without educati<strong>on</strong>. For instance,<br />
if a child is brought up in a truly cultured family, it will unc<strong>on</strong>sciously imbibe culture from<br />
its envir<strong>on</strong>ment. In our country at any rate, present day educati<strong>on</strong> and culture have no<br />
c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> with each other. If the educated still retain some culture that is in spite of their<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>12 .<br />
Self-supporting aspect of educati<strong>on</strong> had taken the central place in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an system<br />
of educati<strong>on</strong>. He advocated knowledge through work. The focal point was that the students<br />
should stand independent with earning capacity. He should be prepared as an earning unit<br />
for the family and a helping hand to society after the completi<strong>on</strong> of his studies. To him,<br />
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Indian villages were capable of becoming such communities, indeed, he believed that<br />
Indian villages were historically self reliant and the great task now was to restore their<br />
aut<strong>on</strong>omy and to create the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s necessary for ec<strong>on</strong>omic self sufficiency and political<br />
dignity in villages. Col<strong>on</strong>ial rule, he thought, had damaged the village ec<strong>on</strong>omy subjecting<br />
it to exploitati<strong>on</strong> by city dwellers. Freedom from col<strong>on</strong>ial rule would mean empowerment<br />
of the village and its development as a viable community. The Basic Educati<strong>on</strong> plan was<br />
meant to develop the village al<strong>on</strong>g these lines, by training children for productive work<br />
and by imparting to them attitudes and values c<strong>on</strong>ducive to living in a co-operative<br />
community13 . For him, educati<strong>on</strong> is to be need based so that unemployment problem could<br />
be eradicated. In this way he tried to develop ideals like dignity of labour and work efficiency<br />
as integral parts of intellectual growth. Real educati<strong>on</strong> to <strong>Gandhi</strong> must lead to selfsufficiency.<br />
He thought a student with knowledge of agriculture or craft will never feel<br />
helpless in battling with the world in general and the country like India in particular. His<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al plans fitted nicely in agrarian country like India.<br />
The educati<strong>on</strong>al system, which <strong>Gandhi</strong> had dreamt is nati<strong>on</strong>al in character and suited<br />
for India. These ideas envisaged that the educati<strong>on</strong> should aim at nati<strong>on</strong>al integrati<strong>on</strong>. He<br />
tried to touch people and disseminate his ideas through the channel of educati<strong>on</strong>. He says,<br />
“Educati<strong>on</strong> is just a means. If it is not accompanied by truthfulness, firmness, patience and<br />
other virtues, it remains sterile and sometimes does harm instead of good, the object of<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> is not to be able to earn m<strong>on</strong>ey, but to improve <strong>on</strong>e self and to serve the country.<br />
If this object is not realized, it must be taken that the m<strong>on</strong>ey spent <strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> has been<br />
wasted” 14 . He opposed English system of educati<strong>on</strong> as it produced man with a little<br />
knowledge without working ability. That was merely clerk manufacturing educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
According to him “So l<strong>on</strong>g as educati<strong>on</strong> in the country is not imparted by pers<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
integrity and c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s are not created in which highest knowledge will be available to<br />
the poorest of Indians, so l<strong>on</strong>g as a perfect c<strong>on</strong>fluence of educati<strong>on</strong> and dharma has not<br />
taken place and educati<strong>on</strong> has not been brought into relati<strong>on</strong> with c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s in India, so<br />
l<strong>on</strong>g as the intolerable burden imposed <strong>on</strong> the minds of the young by imparting educati<strong>on</strong><br />
through a foreign medium has not been lifted, so l<strong>on</strong>g will there be no upsurge of nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
life, there is no denying this” 15 . He tried to implement the new system of educati<strong>on</strong> at<br />
village level. <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted a political system which would protect the interest of villagers<br />
against the ills modernized mass producti<strong>on</strong>. Therefore, his c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> of nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong><br />
desired to produce ideal citizen who were industrious, self-respecting, independent, and<br />
generous individuals living in a small community16 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasized vernacular medium of instructi<strong>on</strong>. He always favoured educati<strong>on</strong><br />
through mother t<strong>on</strong>gue. He states that “I must cling to my mother t<strong>on</strong>gue as to my mother’s<br />
breast, in spite of its short comings. It al<strong>on</strong>e can give me life giving milk” 17 . Mother<br />
t<strong>on</strong>gue should be treated as the birth right of our students. He observed “The foreign<br />
medium has caused brain tag, put an undue strain up<strong>on</strong> the nerves of our children, made<br />
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them crammers and imitators, unfitted them for original work and thought and disabled<br />
them for filtrating their learning to the family <strong>on</strong> the masses. The foreign medium has<br />
made our children practically foreigners in their own land” 18 . <strong>Gandhi</strong> always advocated<br />
for vernacular in place of English. Even though he knew the importance of English and<br />
was aware of it’s rich treasure he felt that it was not favourable under Indian c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
He said, “I regard English as the language of internati<strong>on</strong>al commerce and diplomacy and<br />
therefore c<strong>on</strong>sidered its knowledge <strong>on</strong> the part of some of us essential. As it c<strong>on</strong>tains some<br />
of the richest treasures of thought and literature, I would certainly encourage it’s careful<br />
study am<strong>on</strong>g them who have linguistic talents and expect them to translate those treasures<br />
for the nati<strong>on</strong> in it’s literature” 19 . However, he accorded status of sec<strong>on</strong>d language to English<br />
not in school but in <strong>University</strong> course.<br />
According to <strong>Gandhi</strong> religi<strong>on</strong> played an important role in educati<strong>on</strong>. He was extremely<br />
religious and felt that the essence of religi<strong>on</strong> was to live for others, sacrifice and selfdenial.<br />
Religious educati<strong>on</strong> never meant for him knowledge of religious books but the<br />
observance of fundamental ethics, which is comm<strong>on</strong> to all religi<strong>on</strong>s. He noted that “If<br />
India is not to declare spiritual bankruptcy, religious instructi<strong>on</strong> of its youth must be held<br />
to be at least as necessary as secular instructi<strong>on</strong>. It is true that knowledge of religious<br />
books is no equivalent to that of religi<strong>on</strong>. But if we can not have religi<strong>on</strong>, we must be<br />
satisfied with providing our boys and girls with what is next best… I do not believe that<br />
the state can c<strong>on</strong>cern itself or cope with religious educati<strong>on</strong>. I believe that religious educati<strong>on</strong><br />
must be the sole c<strong>on</strong>cern of religious associati<strong>on</strong>s. Do not mix up religi<strong>on</strong> and ethics. I<br />
believe that fundamental ethics is comm<strong>on</strong> to all religi<strong>on</strong>s. Teaching of fundamental ethics<br />
is undoubtedly a functi<strong>on</strong> of the state. By religi<strong>on</strong> I have not in mind fundamental ethics<br />
but what goes by the name of denominati<strong>on</strong>alism. We have suffered enough from state<br />
aided religi<strong>on</strong> and a state church. A society or a group, which depends partly or wholly <strong>on</strong><br />
state aid for the existence of its religi<strong>on</strong>, does not deserve or better, still does not follow<br />
any religi<strong>on</strong> worth the name” 20 . Through religious educati<strong>on</strong> he tried to explore the moral<br />
issues in educati<strong>on</strong>. For him religious educati<strong>on</strong> forms a crucial segment of moral instructi<strong>on</strong><br />
in educati<strong>on</strong>al instituti<strong>on</strong>s. He str<strong>on</strong>gly recommended for prayer, daily reading of Hindu<br />
scriptures for Hindu students, Quran for Muslims and Bible for the Christian students. He<br />
thought that the core ethics of religious educati<strong>on</strong> was truth and ahimsa, which can bring<br />
the knowledge of broad minded and tolerance to the students. He says “to use religi<strong>on</strong><br />
means truth and ahimsa or rather truth al<strong>on</strong>e, because truth include ahimsa, ahimsa being<br />
the necessary and indispensable means for its discovery. Therefore, anything that promotes<br />
the practice of these virtues is a means for imparting religious educati<strong>on</strong> and the best way<br />
to do this, in my opini<strong>on</strong>, is for the teachers vigorously to practise these virtues in their<br />
own pers<strong>on</strong>” 21 . The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of religious educati<strong>on</strong> was coupled with love and<br />
universal brotherhood and there is no difference between religi<strong>on</strong> and morality. Briefly<br />
these ideas can be traced from his writings.<br />
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“A liberal educati<strong>on</strong> to all should include, as I have put it, a reverent study of other<br />
faiths, but I do not want to labour this point” 22 .<br />
“Just as preservati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>on</strong>e’s own culture does not mean c<strong>on</strong>tempt for that of others,<br />
but requires assimilati<strong>on</strong> of the best that there may be in all other cultures, even so<br />
should be the case with religi<strong>on</strong>” 23 .<br />
“Teachers who teach under a comm<strong>on</strong> administrative system have no right to impart<br />
religious instructi<strong>on</strong> according to their own viewpoint” 24 .<br />
“It is true that we lack religious educati<strong>on</strong> in the country. Religious instructi<strong>on</strong> can<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly be imparted through the practice of religi<strong>on</strong>, not by exhibiting mere learning” 25 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had well thought ideas <strong>on</strong> women’s educati<strong>on</strong> and co-educati<strong>on</strong>. He wanted<br />
women to be respected and not to be c<strong>on</strong>sidered as instrument of pleasure. He wrote<br />
“women must cease to be our servants and objects of enjoyment as they are at present and<br />
become, instead our life compani<strong>on</strong>s, equal partners in the battle of life, sharers in our<br />
happiness and unhappiness. All our efforts seem utterly futile as l<strong>on</strong>g as this is not<br />
accomplished” 26 . <strong>Gandhi</strong> was committed to the upliftment of women through structural<br />
and curricular change in educati<strong>on</strong>. He pleaded that the pers<strong>on</strong>s resp<strong>on</strong>sible for drawing<br />
up plans for women’s educati<strong>on</strong> to remember that “man rules the outer circle of the married<br />
life. Therefore he must have the greater knowledge of all those activities of life, which<br />
c<strong>on</strong>stitute, his sphere. The women, <strong>on</strong> the other hand, are dominant in the inner or domestic<br />
circle of their life. She must have special knowledge of the management of the home, care<br />
of children, their educati<strong>on</strong> etc.” 27 Therefore women should be educated from primary<br />
stage, so that they can discharge their resp<strong>on</strong>sibilities well. He said, “women must learn as<br />
part of elementary educati<strong>on</strong> at least their own mother t<strong>on</strong>gue. Hindi if it is not their<br />
mother t<strong>on</strong>gue, enough Sanskrit to be able to understand the drift of the Bhagvad Gita,<br />
elementary arithmetic, elementary compositi<strong>on</strong>, elementary music and child care. Al<strong>on</strong>g<br />
with this, they should know well the process up to the weaving from cott<strong>on</strong>. When a<br />
woman receives this educati<strong>on</strong> she should have an envir<strong>on</strong>ment that will shape her character<br />
and enable her to see clearly the evils in society and to avoid them” 28 . He thought that<br />
early marriage of girls should be banned from the society as this was the sole cause of low<br />
attendance in sec<strong>on</strong>dary and higher educati<strong>on</strong>. He further pleaded, “And this educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
which men will give to women, will not be merely literacy, it will be extended to cover<br />
social reform and politics. Literacy must be <strong>on</strong>ly a preliminary to the teaching of the other<br />
subjects menti<strong>on</strong>ed above. These may be taught even without it. A man who undertakes to<br />
teach his wife in this manner will have to change his attitude towards her. A man will<br />
himself be a student with his wife and will observe complete celibacy in his relati<strong>on</strong> with<br />
her until she attains maturity. In no case will he subject a girl of twelve to fifteen years of<br />
age to the ag<strong>on</strong>y of bearing children to him. One ought to shudder at the very thought of it.<br />
If this is d<strong>on</strong>e we will not be crushed under the weight of inertia as we are at present” 29 .On<br />
87
the other hand he str<strong>on</strong>gly supported co-educati<strong>on</strong> to create balance in society. He felt it<br />
would foster healthy relati<strong>on</strong> between boys and girls.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideas <strong>on</strong> women educati<strong>on</strong> would <strong>on</strong>ly be translated to reality through<br />
educating women <strong>on</strong> all aspect of reproductive health, child rearing and home management.<br />
It even involved educating men <strong>on</strong> these. Both men and women were also to be taught<br />
good marital relati<strong>on</strong>ship. <strong>Gandhi</strong> recognized that home management requires training.<br />
He also raised social issues like child marriage, early c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>, several activities before<br />
reaching reproductive age etc. for all these extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> and activity was a must.<br />
Guru – Shisya Parampara, the traditi<strong>on</strong> of teacher-follower, is an important<br />
comp<strong>on</strong>ent of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an educati<strong>on</strong>. This had received the highest place in Indian educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
heritage. In ancient period, ideas and knowledge and skill were passed from <strong>on</strong>e generati<strong>on</strong><br />
to the other mostly through the teachers. The teacher in the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong><br />
has been described as “Lamp-Post, a sign board, a dissolvent, a processor, <strong>on</strong>e who saves<br />
pupil from tyranny of words” 30 . To him, an ideal teacher is always truthful and n<strong>on</strong>-violent<br />
and all knowledge should be devoted to duty, students and God. He says, “I ask teachers to<br />
cultivate their hearts and establish with the students heart c<strong>on</strong>tact. I have felt that the<br />
teacher’s work lies more outside than inside the lecture room. Unless the teachers are<br />
prepared to give all their time outside the classroom to their students, not much can be<br />
d<strong>on</strong>e. Let them fashi<strong>on</strong> their hearts rather than their brains. Let them help them to erase<br />
every word out of their dicti<strong>on</strong>ary, which means disappointment and despair” 31 . <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
laid stress <strong>on</strong> the ancient ideals of Guru Shisya relati<strong>on</strong>ship, he says, “A teacher is a mother…<br />
who can not take place of a mother can never become a teacher. A child should not feel<br />
that it is receiving educati<strong>on</strong>” 31 . The teacher or Guru should be the epitome of devoti<strong>on</strong> in<br />
order to elicit devoti<strong>on</strong> from the students. According to him “educati<strong>on</strong> of heart could <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
be d<strong>on</strong>e, through the living touch of the teachers” 33 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> also wanted that teachers should be creative, c<strong>on</strong>structive and having a good<br />
managerial ability to utilize the available resources. He writes “what we need is educati<strong>on</strong>ists<br />
with originality, fired with true zeal, who will think out from day to day what they are<br />
going to teach their pupils. The teacher can not get this knowledge through musty volumes.<br />
He has to use his own faculties of observati<strong>on</strong> and thinking and impart his knowledge to<br />
the children through his lips, with the help of craft” 34 .<br />
So, the role of teacher was given highest priority in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
He also str<strong>on</strong>gly opposed the punishment of students. He says, “I am quiet clear that you<br />
must not inflict corporal or any other punishment <strong>on</strong> your children or pupils” 34 . He rejected<br />
traditi<strong>on</strong>al method of punishment to students.<br />
Medium of instructi<strong>on</strong> and nati<strong>on</strong>al language was a much debated issue in educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was in favour of a nati<strong>on</strong>al language. He found Hindi satisfied all the necessary<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, which can be accepted by all inhabitants of India, so it should be the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
88
language. He opined that without the knowledge of Hindustani it would be impossible for<br />
the people to go to other states of India. He felt that Hindustani to be the window through<br />
which <strong>on</strong>e can understand the other. He says “you talk of poverty of Hindi literature, you<br />
talk of the poverty of today’s Hindi, but if you dive deep into the pages of Tulsidas, probably<br />
you will share my opini<strong>on</strong> that there is no other book that stands equal to it in the literature<br />
of the world in modern languages. That <strong>on</strong>e book has given me faith and hope, which no<br />
other book has given. I think that is a book, which can stand any criticism and any scrutiny,<br />
alike in literacy, grace, in metaphor and in religious fervour” 36 .<br />
Not <strong>on</strong>ly he pleaded for a nati<strong>on</strong>al language but he str<strong>on</strong>gly raised voice for a comm<strong>on</strong><br />
script. He writes, “If we are to make good our claim as <strong>on</strong>e nati<strong>on</strong>, we must have several<br />
things in comm<strong>on</strong>. We have a comm<strong>on</strong> culture running through a variety of creeds and sub<br />
creeds. We have comm<strong>on</strong> disabilities. I am endeavouring to show that a comm<strong>on</strong> material<br />
for our dress is not <strong>on</strong>ly desirable but necessary. We need also a comm<strong>on</strong> language not in<br />
suppressi<strong>on</strong> of the vernaculars, but in additi<strong>on</strong> to them … it is possible to adopt a comm<strong>on</strong><br />
script, we should remove a great hindrance in the way of realizing the dream, which at<br />
present it is, of having a comm<strong>on</strong> language” 37 . <strong>Gandhi</strong> was aware of the fact that the<br />
Devanagari script as the <strong>on</strong>ly deciding factor and known to the largest part of India. Spread<br />
of Hindustani as a nati<strong>on</strong>al language demanded extensi<strong>on</strong> tools also.<br />
As India is an agrarian country, <strong>Gandhi</strong> pleaded for adult educati<strong>on</strong> to make people<br />
self-sufficient, skilled worker and ec<strong>on</strong>omically independent. He thought that adult<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> is the best method to promote the spread of literacy and impart useful knowledge.<br />
He wanted to eradicate illiteracy, ignorance and to spread knowledge by selected teachers<br />
from masses and selected syllabus. He says, “Adult educati<strong>on</strong> should have an intensive<br />
programme of driving out ignorance through carefully selected teachers with an equally<br />
carefully selected syllabus according to which they would educate the adult villagers<br />
mind” 38 . Thus, for <strong>Gandhi</strong> literacy campaign must not begin and end with a knowledge of<br />
alphabet, it must go hand in hand with the spread of useful knowledge. On the whole it<br />
includes all aspects of life such as physical, social, educati<strong>on</strong>al and community etc.<br />
Last but not the least <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong> also includes sex educati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
boys and girls, rendering service to the society and technical training which would help in<br />
building self supporting skills. For <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the vast amount of the so-called educati<strong>on</strong><br />
especially in arts, given in colleges are sheer waste and this resulted in unemployment<br />
am<strong>on</strong>g the educated classes. “The medium of a foreign language through which higher<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> has been imparted in India has caused incalculable intellectual and moral injury<br />
to the nati<strong>on</strong> 39 .<br />
89
<strong>Gandhi</strong> also echoed c<strong>on</strong>cepts of naturalism, idealism and pragmatism. Some of these<br />
are placed below.<br />
He tried to explore the child’s educati<strong>on</strong> through natural and rural envir<strong>on</strong>ment like<br />
a naturalist. His real attempt was that of rescuing educati<strong>on</strong> from the four walls of the<br />
class room.<br />
He advocated freedom for the child “If children are to find themselves, they must be<br />
allowed a sufficient degree of freedom, if they are to develop their powers to the<br />
fullest, they must be prepared to accept the appropriate discipline and training”.<br />
He greatly stressed the importance of educating the child in natural surroundings.<br />
By teaching handicrafts to children the teachers can draw out their faculties.<br />
He minimizes the use of text books “I do not even remember having made much use<br />
of the books that were available. I do not find it at all necessary to load the boys with<br />
quantities of books. I have always felt that the true text books for the pupil is the<br />
teacher. I remember very little that my teachers taught me from books, but I have even<br />
now a clear recollecti<strong>on</strong> of the things they taught me independent of books. Children<br />
take in much more and with less labour through their ears than through their eyes. I do<br />
not remember having read any book from cover to cover with my boys”.<br />
He had also given emphasis <strong>on</strong> idealist c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>. This is reflected from<br />
all his writings as well as from his upbringing and early educati<strong>on</strong>. He wrote,<br />
“L<strong>on</strong>g before I undertook the educati<strong>on</strong> of the youngsters at the Tolstoy Farm I had<br />
realized that the training of spirit was a thing by it self. To develop the spirit is to<br />
build character and to enable <strong>on</strong>e to work toward a knowledge of God and self<br />
realizati<strong>on</strong> and I held that this was an essential part of the training of the young and<br />
that all training without culture of the spirit was of no use and might be even harmful.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji also believed in the harm<strong>on</strong>ious development of pers<strong>on</strong>ality and advocated<br />
that different types of social culture and physical activities to be undertaken to achieve<br />
this end”.<br />
Few pragmatic c<strong>on</strong>cepts were str<strong>on</strong>gly advocated by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji throughout his life.<br />
He tried to correlate educati<strong>on</strong> with actual life. All his c<strong>on</strong>cepts were based <strong>on</strong> pragmatic<br />
philosophy of educati<strong>on</strong>. The introducti<strong>on</strong> of a basic craft as the center of educati<strong>on</strong>, the<br />
co-ordinati<strong>on</strong> and correlati<strong>on</strong> of the c<strong>on</strong>tent of the close relati<strong>on</strong>ship of educati<strong>on</strong> with<br />
actual life, the method of learning by doing, the individual initiative, the sense of the total<br />
resp<strong>on</strong>sibility and emphasis <strong>on</strong> experiment were experimented by him for discovering<br />
truth as well as the real implementati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong>. He himself calls his autobiography<br />
“My Experiments with Truth”. He advocates that a child should learn from the real<br />
experiments of life. M.S.Patel, observes <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji “in his educati<strong>on</strong>al philosophy, gives<br />
90
due place to the dominant tendencies of naturalism, idealism and pragmatism, which fuse<br />
into a unity, give rise to a theory of educati<strong>on</strong> which would suit the needs of the day and<br />
satisfy the loftiest aspirati<strong>on</strong>s of the human soul40 .<br />
Before we turn to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>, let us recall the essentials<br />
of his c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> liberates is the highest ideal for <strong>Gandhi</strong>. His c<strong>on</strong>cept of liberati<strong>on</strong> was<br />
not limited to liberati<strong>on</strong> of the soul from the chain of rebirth or of the spirit from matter. It<br />
included freedom from foreign rule, from poverty, from social inequality and such other<br />
undesirable b<strong>on</strong>dages.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> and learning did not shun physical labour. Intellectualism was not the<br />
privilege of those who did not worry for bread and better. Educati<strong>on</strong> was for all and as<br />
such manual labour and earning <strong>on</strong>e’s bread through sweat was a must. Wealth creati<strong>on</strong><br />
for feeding the milli<strong>on</strong>s was necessary and each had to acquire the skill of increasing food,<br />
cloth and shelter, the essential requirement.<br />
Ethics and morality is the foundati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong>. Religi<strong>on</strong> in the form of<br />
denominati<strong>on</strong>alism was not acceptable. Religi<strong>on</strong>, which included n<strong>on</strong>-violence and truth,<br />
which demanded living for others had to be taught. Practical ethics was the meeting ground<br />
and the scriptures taught these highest principles. Religi<strong>on</strong> and culture form the core of<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>. The essence of nati<strong>on</strong>al culture also needs to be carried forward through<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Social goals of educati<strong>on</strong> in terms of women empowerment, removal of<br />
untouchability and caste divisi<strong>on</strong>, removal of blind beliefs, unscientific attitude etc were<br />
dear to <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Home Management also formed a part of his c<strong>on</strong>cern.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted educati<strong>on</strong> to be self-supporting, to be supported by local community.<br />
He stressed <strong>on</strong> simple basic structures with cleanliness. He felt no government to be capable<br />
of ensuring universal primary educati<strong>on</strong> without community support. For him <strong>University</strong><br />
and technical educati<strong>on</strong> has to be supported by corporate house for they stood to benefit<br />
most from it.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> advocated mother t<strong>on</strong>gue to be best medium of instructi<strong>on</strong>. He recognized<br />
the place of English.<br />
Above all <strong>Gandhi</strong> was essentially a nati<strong>on</strong>alist even in his educati<strong>on</strong>al thought and<br />
as such he wanted an end to the de-nati<strong>on</strong>alism of col<strong>on</strong>ial system of educati<strong>on</strong>. His visi<strong>on</strong><br />
of Indian Independence was political, ec<strong>on</strong>omic, social and even cultural. This complete<br />
independence or purnaswaraj al<strong>on</strong>e could ensure her rightful place in the internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
community of nati<strong>on</strong>. Educati<strong>on</strong> was the most important tool for the all round and holistic<br />
visi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
91
References<br />
1. Pani R.N., Integral Educati<strong>on</strong> Thought and Practice, New Delhi: Ashish Publishing<br />
House, 1987, pp.28.9.<br />
2. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., To The Students, Ahmedabad : Navajivan Publishing House.1949.<br />
p.288.<br />
3. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Vol.18, p.471.<br />
4. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Vol.85, p.199.<br />
5. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Ahmedabad : Navajivan<br />
Publishing House, 1977. www.mkgandhi.org.<br />
6. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.66, p.137.<br />
7. Kumar, Krishna., Thinkers <strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong>. Z. Morsy (ed)., Paris, UNESCO : Vol.2.<br />
1994.<br />
8. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.47. p.422.<br />
9. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., To The Students, p.245.<br />
10. Ibid., p.291.<br />
11. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.45, 1931. pp63-64.<br />
12. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.41, 1929. p.6.<br />
13. Kumar Krishna., PROSPECTS, Paris, UNESCO : Internati<strong>on</strong>al Bureau of Educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Vo.23, No.3/4, 1993. p.507-17.<br />
14. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.6. p.361.<br />
15. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.16. p.156.<br />
16. Kumar Krishna., PROSPECTS, Paris, UNESCO : Internati<strong>on</strong>al Bureau of Educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Vo.23, No.3/4, 1993. p.507-17.<br />
17. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.85, p.88.<br />
18. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.21, p.40.<br />
19. Ibid.<br />
20. Prabhu, R.K., U.R. Rao., The Mind of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, (Comp). Ahmedabad :<br />
Navajivan Publishing House, 2002. pp.69-70.<br />
21. Cenkner, William., The Hindu Pers<strong>on</strong>ality in Educati<strong>on</strong>, New Delhi: Manohar<br />
Publicati<strong>on</strong>, 1976. p.114.<br />
22. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.35, p.343.<br />
92
23. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., True Educati<strong>on</strong>, Ahmedabad : 1949, pp.127-128.<br />
24. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.36, p.383.<br />
25. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.41, p.291.<br />
26. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.14, p.32.<br />
27. Ibid, p.207.<br />
28. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.34, p.384.<br />
29. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.14, pp.32-33.<br />
30. Cenkner, William, The Hindu Pers<strong>on</strong>ality in Educati<strong>on</strong>, p.112.<br />
31. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.40, p.120.<br />
32. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.41, p.9.<br />
33. Cenkner, William, The Hindu Pers<strong>on</strong>ality in Educati<strong>on</strong>, p.112..<br />
34. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.68, p.374-375.<br />
35. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.72. p.226.<br />
36. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.19. p.322.<br />
37. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.26. p.119.<br />
38. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.65. p.234.<br />
39. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Vol.67. p.158.<br />
40. Aggarwal, J.C., Theory and Principles of Educati<strong>on</strong>, Vikas Publishing House, 1990.<br />
pp.242-244.<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was <strong>on</strong>e of the deathless few across the centuries, who have lifted<br />
human character to immortal authority … who made humility and simple truth<br />
more powerful than empires …”<br />
- Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg<br />
93
GANDHIAN MODEL OF EXTENSION EDUCATION : A STUDY<br />
94<br />
Sarita Mishra*<br />
Theory of Extensi<strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
Extensi<strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> is an essential aspect of educati<strong>on</strong>. It is an integral part of any<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al system. As discussed in the preceding chapters, extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> is the<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> outside the organized schools and class rooms. It broadly refers to extending, to<br />
spreading, to disseminating useful informati<strong>on</strong>, knowledge and skills outside the organized<br />
schools and class rooms. It is predominantly associated with agriculture and family welfare<br />
in Indian c<strong>on</strong>text. All out-reach acti<strong>on</strong>s including distance and c<strong>on</strong>tinuing educati<strong>on</strong> are<br />
also treated as part of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. Life l<strong>on</strong>g educati<strong>on</strong> and educati<strong>on</strong> for all, the<br />
two internati<strong>on</strong>al motto of educati<strong>on</strong> can be achieved <strong>on</strong>ly through extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. It<br />
is c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be an important tool of changing attitudes in life. Attitudinal change<br />
would c<strong>on</strong>tribute to nati<strong>on</strong>al integrati<strong>on</strong>, growth of desired social changes, such as – love<br />
for girl child, greater tolerance, growth of respect for other religi<strong>on</strong>s, growth of scientific<br />
temperament and increased agricultural prosperity. Extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> also includes<br />
activities related to c<strong>on</strong>tinuing educati<strong>on</strong>, skill updati<strong>on</strong> of the educated and skilled people.<br />
It includes activities where even the best of the educated adults go back to schools and<br />
colleges to recharge their batteries. Extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> also includes activities related<br />
with transferring the fruits of research to the actual users. The findings of the agricultural<br />
research should be transferred to the farmers. Similarly research in medicine and surgery<br />
has to reach medical practiti<strong>on</strong>ers and they must apply it. Such examples can be multiplied.<br />
Extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> thus involves transfer of knowledge and skill from the laboratories to<br />
the practiti<strong>on</strong>ers. It involves democratizati<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong>al opportunities and societal<br />
changes. Having broadly outlined various facets of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> and shades of its<br />
meaning, the scholar needs to find out how these get reflected in Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cepts<br />
and ideas <strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. Though educati<strong>on</strong> was not the primary focus of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life, yet,<br />
his ideas <strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> are quiet well defined. It is argued here that his ideas <strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong><br />
have enriched the c<strong>on</strong>cept and practice of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> in Indian c<strong>on</strong>text.<br />
The present attempt is an explorati<strong>on</strong> in this directi<strong>on</strong>. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed<br />
that the activities outside the regular classroom and outside the syllabi to be of greater<br />
importance. This is the fundamental premises <strong>on</strong> which the scholar links <strong>Gandhi</strong> with<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s experimentati<strong>on</strong> were not limited to politics, it extended to<br />
dietary habits, educati<strong>on</strong> and even medical treatment. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s experimentati<strong>on</strong>s were<br />
not necessarily based <strong>on</strong> new ideas, he drew his c<strong>on</strong>cepts from a number of sources. His<br />
uniqueness was his attempt to translate great ideas into practices. As noted earlier in the<br />
biographical sketch, <strong>Gandhi</strong> drew heavily from writings of Thoreau, Ruskin and Tolstoy<br />
*Academic C<strong>on</strong>sultant, Management Programme, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.
and from books like Bible and Gita etc. He had also the <strong>on</strong>erous resp<strong>on</strong>sibility of evolving<br />
a visi<strong>on</strong> for a India which was largely village based, a India which was caste ridden and<br />
where women were delegated to a lower status. He also aspired to create a patriotic India,<br />
he did not want merely sup-plantati<strong>on</strong> of the British culture, he wanted sup-plantati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
industrial capital driven ec<strong>on</strong>omy with an Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy sensitive to its needs and to its<br />
populati<strong>on</strong>. Having portrayed the milieu of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s educati<strong>on</strong>al thinking, let us turn to<br />
the principal theme i.e. how <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideas enriched extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. It is proposed<br />
to deal the theme in two parts. In the first part a selective summary of extracts and views<br />
from <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s writings is being presented, as clues to the theories of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
In the sec<strong>on</strong>d part an analysis of experiments carried out by <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his followers <strong>on</strong><br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> is being dealt.<br />
From very ancient period educati<strong>on</strong> in India has been based <strong>on</strong> values, virtues and<br />
rituals associated with a predominant agrarian society. The foundati<strong>on</strong> and strength of our<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> system also lies in the traditi<strong>on</strong>al “Guru Kula Ashrams” culture which <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
advocated from the very beginning of his career and in his attempts for upliftment of<br />
Indian society. Disciplined way of life, community based living and learning by doing was<br />
the basic principles adopted by <strong>Gandhi</strong> for his ashram inmates. <strong>Gandhi</strong> spent more than<br />
two decades at South Africa and he was drawn to establishing communities, more specially<br />
ashrams. Having established these ashrams <strong>Gandhi</strong> could no l<strong>on</strong>ger escape the practical<br />
questi<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong>. In South Africa the vast numbers of indentured labourers were<br />
mostly illiterate; there was an enormous resp<strong>on</strong>sibility of making them cognizant of political<br />
and human rights. The <strong>on</strong>ly instrument was of course educati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was drawn into<br />
experimentati<strong>on</strong> and into practical aspects of educati<strong>on</strong>. He attended to issue of political<br />
methods and social transformati<strong>on</strong> through building of ashram schools. He was using a<br />
familiar Indian model, that of guru living in his ashram in the company of his disciples. In<br />
the ideal ashram community, the teacher was expected to set an example of the life worth<br />
living and from this high pedestal of daily existence he was permitted to demand any<br />
c<strong>on</strong>ceivable form of sacrifice from the students. This quasi-mythologized image seems to<br />
have served an important rhetorical functi<strong>on</strong> in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s plea for reform in educati<strong>on</strong>. His<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al model promised to place modern c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong> and pedagogy within<br />
the Indian traditi<strong>on</strong>. 1 Traditi<strong>on</strong>ally in India educati<strong>on</strong> was imparted in ashrams or hermitages<br />
of saints away from villages and cities. Students were required to live in the home of the<br />
teachers. In both the cases the learning atmosphere was informal, the students were self<br />
reliant, they were expected to work as a team, they were expected to participate in all<br />
worldly activities associated with the family of the teacher, it involved learning by doing.<br />
Subsequently, <strong>Gandhi</strong> established numerous communities or ashrams in India, Sabarmati<br />
and Wardha became the most famous all over India. One of the foremost c<strong>on</strong>cern of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
was to develop an awareness of dignity of labour and a new attitude to work through the<br />
ashram c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong> with a free envir<strong>on</strong>ment, disciplined way of life and learning<br />
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through work. The ashram established by <strong>Gandhi</strong> worked as centres, which facilitated allround<br />
change. They were like labs of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cept of need-based educati<strong>on</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>sidered as a solace to the Indian<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> during freedom struggle. The educati<strong>on</strong> which <strong>Gandhi</strong> – c<strong>on</strong>ceived for the agrarian<br />
India was need based. The time demanded employment for the hands, food for hungry<br />
stomach and knowledge for illiterate. Keeping these three requirement in mind <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
had planned for need based educati<strong>on</strong> which would be a help to the rural Indians and the<br />
poor in particular. For him, unless enough employment opportunities are created in each<br />
of the villages, we will so<strong>on</strong> face a situati<strong>on</strong>, where over crowded and polluted cities<br />
would swell with more crime, more slums and more filth. Such cities <strong>Gandhi</strong> felt would<br />
breed revoluti<strong>on</strong>aries and promote violence. “We should learn enough less<strong>on</strong>s from three<br />
of the recent developments, when the truck owners, milk suppliers and vegetable suppliers<br />
and vegetable growers in the neighbouring states of Delhi went <strong>on</strong> strike pressing their<br />
demands <strong>on</strong> different occasi<strong>on</strong>s. Life almost came to a stand still besides rising prices in<br />
these items which forced the comm<strong>on</strong> public to go without vegetables and milk, sending<br />
shock waves all round. It is a fact that the cities do not produce any of the essential items<br />
of food, they depend <strong>on</strong> villages and when those items produced in the villages do not<br />
reach the urban centres, both the urban and the rural centres suffer. The situati<strong>on</strong> in the<br />
villages is very alarming and there is a point in quarrelling with the observati<strong>on</strong>s made by<br />
some of the planners recently that during the last 50 years the face of rural, India has not<br />
improved, it has <strong>on</strong>ly shrunk because of malnutriti<strong>on</strong> and lack of attenti<strong>on</strong>. Unemployment<br />
and poverty stalk every village and stare menacingly at over 40% of Indian populati<strong>on</strong>” 2 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> argued that the textbooks did not provide need based learning material. For<br />
him though they were not harmful they were hardly useful. Most of the books were written<br />
by English men who did not care to reflect the Indian envir<strong>on</strong>ment. Though they were<br />
good for children of England, they were not necessarily relevant for Indians. Further <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
argued that the Indian society is too varied to have a uniform set of textbooks. “For instance,<br />
want of Harijan children are, in the beginning stages at least, different from those of the<br />
others”. He advocated that teachers require the books more than the students. The teachers<br />
utilizing the books have to prepare learning material for his students as per requirement.<br />
Most of the textbooks <strong>Gandhi</strong> felt were dead weight <strong>on</strong> the children. The teachers and<br />
managers of educati<strong>on</strong> have a great resp<strong>on</strong>sibility in India to develop instructi<strong>on</strong>al material<br />
suitable to our needs. “The primary aim of all educati<strong>on</strong> is or should be the moulding<br />
character of pupils” 3<br />
.<br />
He tried to implement the need based educati<strong>on</strong> such as, handicraft training,<br />
agriculture practices, dairy and animal husbandry and kitchen gardening etc, which would<br />
help them to earn and educate them about the resources of the country.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> syllabi included various skills for different artisans.<br />
He wanted skills to be transferred and learned by each and every member of the society.<br />
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Through this the socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic status of the rural India can be raised. He realized that<br />
these skill oriented training can <strong>on</strong>ly be possible through the free educati<strong>on</strong>al atmosphere<br />
which is an important aspect of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. According to <strong>Gandhi</strong> “The salvati<strong>on</strong><br />
of India and Indians lay in educati<strong>on</strong>. The educati<strong>on</strong> of the masses will bring them steps<br />
nearer to freedom and it would also lighten up their minds”. He was also c<strong>on</strong>vinced that<br />
the British system of educati<strong>on</strong> was not a good system and it suffered from many defects,<br />
it was costly, bookish, anti India, examinati<strong>on</strong> ridden, so <strong>on</strong> and so forth, which resulted in<br />
imbibing ‘babu’ type mentality. It was also bey<strong>on</strong>d the reach of average Indians. 4 He says<br />
“the introducti<strong>on</strong> of manual training will serve a double purpose in a poor country like<br />
ours. It will pay for the educati<strong>on</strong> of our children and teach them an occupati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> which<br />
they can fall back in adult life, they can choose the craft for earning a livelihood. Such a<br />
system must make our children self reliant. Nothing will demoralize so much as that we<br />
should learn to despise labour. 5<br />
As milli<strong>on</strong>s lived in the villages at a very low level of subsistence, despise of labour<br />
was dangerous. He argued, if these milli<strong>on</strong>s produced some products, they can put their<br />
product in market and add wealth to their own and to the nati<strong>on</strong>. Most lived in a hand to<br />
mouth situati<strong>on</strong>. A starving man will be glad to earn an h<strong>on</strong>est anna during his spare time.<br />
Thus in this way <strong>Gandhi</strong> had visualized the need for implementati<strong>on</strong> of skill oriented<br />
training in villages. This could be achieved <strong>on</strong>ly through extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> approach.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted to develop a system of educati<strong>on</strong> universally acceptable to India and<br />
a system based <strong>on</strong> the needs of Indians. His c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> of educati<strong>on</strong> aimed to reach each<br />
and every pers<strong>on</strong> of the society as well as the whole family. He stressed “introducti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
productive handicrafts in the schools. He wanted the schools to be self supporting as far as<br />
possible. There were two reas<strong>on</strong>s for this. Firstly, a poor society such as India simply<br />
could not afford to provide educati<strong>on</strong> for all children unless the schools could generate<br />
resources from within. Sec<strong>on</strong>dly, the more financially independent the schools were, the<br />
more politically independent they could be” 6 .<br />
Self-sustenance and independence of schools were twin objectives of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. To<br />
translate these two objectives, ‘Educati<strong>on</strong> for All’ and ‘Whole family Approach’ became<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s central aim. Through these two extensi<strong>on</strong> methods of educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> tried to<br />
implement the Basic Educati<strong>on</strong> at every village. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had evolved “an informal system<br />
of educati<strong>on</strong> in his ashrams in SouthAfrica. Children lived with their parents in the ashram<br />
where tilling and handicraft were the means of livelihood. Elders taught the children the<br />
3R’s (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’s), that was good enough for the children who<br />
could pursue their studies in regular schools or colleges later. <strong>Gandhi</strong> insisted teaching<br />
should be in their own language and that children must also work in the fields and learn<br />
skills. The system that provided inexpensive and pers<strong>on</strong>alized educati<strong>on</strong> is ideal for the<br />
people of India 7 . He wanted the members of the family as well as children to be involved<br />
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in all educati<strong>on</strong>al training programs imparted by ashram schools. His educati<strong>on</strong>al ideals<br />
and extensi<strong>on</strong> methods were suitable for the rural people and village centred India.<br />
Self-sufficiency aspect took a core place in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an extensi<strong>on</strong> ideal. To him, “Indian<br />
villages were capable of becoming such communities, indeed he believed that Indian villages<br />
were historically self reliant and the great task now was to restore their aut<strong>on</strong>omy and to<br />
create the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s necessary for ec<strong>on</strong>omic self sufficiency and political dignity in<br />
villages” 8 . He had given emphasis <strong>on</strong> the earning capacity through training. More<br />
specifically, he stressed <strong>on</strong> purposeful industrializati<strong>on</strong> which meant, protecting the right<br />
of villages to produce what they could without competiti<strong>on</strong> with large scale mechanized<br />
establishments, Basic Educati<strong>on</strong> could enhance the productive capacities of village children<br />
under such a plan9 .<br />
Self sufficiency aspect of training was highly praiseworthy. This provided knowledge<br />
and skill for earning ability and productive capacity building. These vital c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> training programme fitted suitably to the agrarian India and as well as to the 21st century. He noted,<br />
“it is my firm belief that if Nayee Talim cannot become self-supporting, then the<br />
teachers do not understand what it is. In my view, am<strong>on</strong>gst other characteristics, selfreliance<br />
is the most important characteristic of Nayee Talim. If this is so, for the educati<strong>on</strong><br />
of boys and girls, then adult educati<strong>on</strong> must also be self supporting. If we believe that it is<br />
difficult to c<strong>on</strong>vince adults about the value of educati<strong>on</strong>, then I have to say that this is<br />
nothing but an old illusi<strong>on</strong>. And the teaching of the 3R’s in adult educati<strong>on</strong> is not part of<br />
our Nayee Talim. The meaning of adult educati<strong>on</strong> is that we will give them, through their<br />
own language, all round educati<strong>on</strong> of a pure and socially useful life. And if they do not<br />
easily become self-supporting in my view there is some serious defect in that educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
We should also forget that complete cooperati<strong>on</strong> should be the basis from the very beginning.<br />
Those who know the full meaning of cooperati<strong>on</strong> will raise no doubts about self-reliance” 10 .<br />
Hence the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an principle of self-sufficiency through extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong><br />
addressed the problems of rural mass, it guided them, it inspired them to work vigorously<br />
towards fulfillment of their wants and desires.<br />
All the training programmes which <strong>Gandhi</strong> dreamt of intended social reform and<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic upliftment. The c<strong>on</strong>structive programme as c<strong>on</strong>ceived by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was an integral<br />
part of our fight for freedom. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tributed to social reform through his movement<br />
for removal of untouchability, character building, removal of illiteracy, women’s educati<strong>on</strong><br />
and developing earning ability. He say’s “I do visualize electricity, ship building, ir<strong>on</strong><br />
works, medicine making and the like existing side by side with village crafts and also<br />
want every home to be a factory with its help the villager can produce articles for his own<br />
use and of need be for the market” 11 .<br />
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He also adopted a Harijan family and adopted their daughter as his daughter, thus<br />
his main aim was to rec<strong>on</strong>struct the society through his c<strong>on</strong>structive training programme<br />
and extensi<strong>on</strong> approach where all people of various communities can learn together, live<br />
together and earn together. This core c<strong>on</strong>cept was vital to <strong>Gandhi</strong> during freedom struggle<br />
and remain vital even for social service sector today. Once he was advised, “No <strong>on</strong>e is<br />
listening to you” “So why not stop talking of Khaddar?” He answered “but why should I<br />
stop reciting my favourite mantra?” He said in reply – “Khaddar and Khaddar al<strong>on</strong>e is the<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly passport to the hearts of villagers”. He maintained that for industrializing rural India<br />
there was nothing better than the spinning wheel. In September 1925 he was able to persuade<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress to establish an “All India Spinners Associati<strong>on</strong>” with a branch in every district.<br />
It was to be a part of the C<strong>on</strong>gress organizati<strong>on</strong>s but with independent existence and<br />
powers12 .<br />
An “All India Village Industries Associati<strong>on</strong>” became a part of the activities of<br />
C<strong>on</strong>gress. It’s functi<strong>on</strong> was to promote traditi<strong>on</strong>al village industries other than hand spinning<br />
and hand weaving. He toured all over the country in furtherance of his c<strong>on</strong>structive<br />
programme. He was very selective <strong>on</strong> topics like Khadi, village industries, untouchability,<br />
sanitati<strong>on</strong>, prohibiti<strong>on</strong> and self-c<strong>on</strong>trol verses birth c<strong>on</strong>trol. It was to serve people. He was<br />
instinctively aware that it was also a means of retaining his power over them13 .<br />
Besides Political activities c<strong>on</strong>structive programmes like Khadi, village industries,<br />
social reforms were <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s main c<strong>on</strong>cern. The All India Spinners Associati<strong>on</strong> served as<br />
training ground for workers, political, social as well as c<strong>on</strong>structive14 . The principal idea<br />
was reflected from his visi<strong>on</strong> for society, which had given shape through extensi<strong>on</strong><br />
programmes and activities c<strong>on</strong>ducted by <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Village and agriculture became two pillars of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an extensi<strong>on</strong> theory. He wanted<br />
that training should be c<strong>on</strong>ducted in the villages so as to act as a dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> for the<br />
farmers and artisans. He felt “the poverty of Indian villages was being aggravated by<br />
development of modern industry. Not <strong>on</strong>ly cott<strong>on</strong> mills, but rice mills, flour mills, oil<br />
mills and sugar factories were leading to the decay of traditi<strong>on</strong>al village industries and<br />
creating wide spread rural un-employment. Therefore, creating wide spread rural<br />
employment through revival of village industries and handicrafts, <strong>Gandhi</strong> hoped, would<br />
meet the needs of people by their own labour. Instead of being robbed of employment and<br />
earnings by the encroachments of modern industry, he sought to promote not <strong>on</strong>ly hand<br />
spinning, hand weaving and handicrafts of all kinds but also hand pounding of rice, hand<br />
grinding of corn, oil pressing in the traditi<strong>on</strong>al village ghani and producti<strong>on</strong> of village<br />
made gur in place of factory made sugar. 15 The real problem and soluti<strong>on</strong> of the country<br />
lies in the heart i.e. the villages, he held, “They are calling me to bury myself in them” 16 .<br />
He realized that the role of the villagers was notable in the freedom struggle. And extensi<strong>on</strong><br />
training was the <strong>on</strong>ly media through which the villagers could learn and earn. He str<strong>on</strong>gly<br />
99
viewed that the traditi<strong>on</strong>al old implements, the plough and the spinning wheel, have shaped<br />
our wisdom. We must gradually return to the old simplicity. He believed that multiplicati<strong>on</strong><br />
of wants and machinery c<strong>on</strong>strained reaching our goals. For him India’s salvati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sisted<br />
in unlearning what she had learnt in the last fifty years. The railways, telegraphs, hospitals,<br />
lawyers, doctors and such like all have to go and the so called upper classes have to learn<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sciously, religiously and deliberately the simple peasant life, knowing it to be a life<br />
giving true happiness … you can not build n<strong>on</strong>-violence <strong>on</strong> factory civilizati<strong>on</strong>, but you<br />
can build it <strong>on</strong> self c<strong>on</strong>tained villages” 17 .<br />
Agriculture should use such techniques which will not deplete the soil and pollute<br />
the envir<strong>on</strong>ment. For this farmers should use eco-friendly producti<strong>on</strong> technique by using<br />
lesser and lesser amount of fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides. He preferred well<br />
irrigati<strong>on</strong> instead of large hydro-electric projects since this lead to exploitati<strong>on</strong>18 .Agricultural<br />
sector al<strong>on</strong>e can not solve the problem of rural poverty and unemployment. That is why<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> stressed the growth of rural industries like khadi, handlooms, sericulture and<br />
handicrafts19 . He argued that large scale industries make people lazy and help c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong><br />
of wealth in the hands of few. On the c<strong>on</strong>trary, rural industries are based <strong>on</strong> family labour<br />
and required less capital. His c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> village and agrarian industry was noteworthy.<br />
This was based <strong>on</strong> extensi<strong>on</strong> principles and learning methods. He said “I If we want to<br />
impart educati<strong>on</strong> best suited to the needs of the villagers, we should take the vidyapith to<br />
the villages” 20 . Further his suggesti<strong>on</strong> was “The dry knowledge of 3R’s is not even new, it<br />
can never be permanent part of the villagers’ life. They must have knowledge given to<br />
them which they must use daily. It must not be thrust up<strong>on</strong> them. They should have the<br />
appetite for it. What they have today is something they neither want nor appreciate. Give<br />
the villagers village arithmetic, village geography, village history and the literary knowledge<br />
that they must use daily ... They will treasure such knowledge and pass <strong>on</strong> to the other<br />
stages. They have no use for books which give them nothing of daily use” 21 . <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
thought of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> theory revolved around the heart of India i.e. village and<br />
agriculture and allied industries.<br />
Group learning and adult educati<strong>on</strong> has a central place in extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>. For<br />
adult learners, the village itself is the class room. <strong>Gandhi</strong> realized that the adult educati<strong>on</strong><br />
is the <strong>on</strong>ly tool through which the village people can learn at their door step. He opined “If<br />
I had charge of adult educati<strong>on</strong>, I should begin with opening the minds of the adult pupils<br />
to a greatness and the vastness of their country”. The villager of India is c<strong>on</strong>tained in his<br />
village. Hindustan is for him a geographical term. <strong>Gandhi</strong> observed that the villagers were<br />
ignorant of the evils of foreign rule. They had not realized that foreigners were ruling them<br />
because of their own weaknesses. Thus the first objective was a kind of political educati<strong>on</strong><br />
through which villagers realize the need for self-governance or swaraj. He said “My adult<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> means therefore first true political educati<strong>on</strong> of the adult by word of mouth. Of<br />
course in all I have written, openness has been assured. N<strong>on</strong>-violence abhors fear and<br />
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therefore secrecy. Side by side with the educati<strong>on</strong> by the mouth will be literacy educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
This is itself a specialty” 22 . He urged the c<strong>on</strong>gress men to achieve this goal of political and<br />
literacy educati<strong>on</strong> at the shortest period through adult educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Further his argument was “In my opini<strong>on</strong> what we have reas<strong>on</strong> to deplore and be<br />
ashamed of is not so much illiteracy as ignorance. Therefore, adult educati<strong>on</strong>, too should<br />
have intensive programme of driving out ignorance through carefully selected teachers<br />
with an equally carefully selected syllabus”. 23 <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted “adult educati<strong>on</strong> should<br />
include the educati<strong>on</strong> of everybody at every stage of life. Further he states that “I must<br />
have my eye <strong>on</strong> the children right from their birth. I will go a step further and say that the<br />
work of educati<strong>on</strong>ist begins even before that. For instance, if a woman becomes pregnant,<br />
Ashadevi will go to her and tell her “I am a mother as you will be. I can tell you from my<br />
experience what you should do to ensure the health of your unborn baby and your own.<br />
She will tell the husband what his duty towards his wife is and about his share in the care<br />
of their expected baby”. Thus the basic school teacher will cover the entire span of life.<br />
Naturally, his activity will cover adult educati<strong>on</strong>. He says “Adult educati<strong>on</strong> of my c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong><br />
must make men and women better citizens all round. To workout the syllabus and to<br />
organize the work of adult educati<strong>on</strong> is a more difficult task than preparati<strong>on</strong> of the seven<br />
years course for children. The comm<strong>on</strong> central feature of both will be the imparting of<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> through village craft. Agriculture will play an important part in adult educati<strong>on</strong><br />
under the basic scheme. Literary instructi<strong>on</strong> must be there. Much informati<strong>on</strong> will be<br />
given orally. There will be books more for the teachers than for the taught. We must teach<br />
the majority how to behave towards the minority and vice versa. The right type of adult<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> should teach good neighborliness and cut at the very root of untouchability and<br />
communal problem24 . His c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> of adult educati<strong>on</strong> not <strong>on</strong>ly aims at educating the<br />
rural mass but to develop attitudinal change am<strong>on</strong>g them.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had given greater emphasis <strong>on</strong> informal way of teaching. In his opini<strong>on</strong> “A<br />
teacher who establishes rapport with the taught becomes <strong>on</strong>e with them, learns more from<br />
them than he teaches them. He who learns nothing from his disciples is, in my opini<strong>on</strong><br />
worthless. Whenever I talk with some<strong>on</strong>e I learn from him. I take from him more than<br />
what I give him. In this way a true teacher regards himself as a student of his students. If<br />
you will teach your pupils with this attitude, you will benefit much from them” 25 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Basic Educati<strong>on</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>cerned with learning from every day life which is the<br />
basis of informal educator’s work. It was also an educati<strong>on</strong> focused <strong>on</strong> the individual but<br />
reliant <strong>on</strong> cooperati<strong>on</strong> am<strong>on</strong>gst individuals. <strong>Gandhi</strong> advocated a family relati<strong>on</strong>ship am<strong>on</strong>gst<br />
teachers and students. He advocated parental attitude for teachers 26 . He wanted the teaching<br />
should be in informal surrounding. The students should imbibe the skills through informal<br />
way of learning. He always looked bey<strong>on</strong>d text book studies and c<strong>on</strong>sidered them to be of<br />
sec<strong>on</strong>dary importance. He says “Almost from the commencement, the text books deal, not<br />
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with things the boys and girls have always to deal within their homes, but things to which<br />
they are perfect strangers. It is not through the text books that a lad learns what is right and<br />
what is wr<strong>on</strong>g in the home life. He is never taught to have any pride in his surroundings.<br />
The higher he goes, the farther he is removed from his home, so that the end of his educati<strong>on</strong><br />
he becomes estranged from his surroundings. He feels no poetry about the home life. The<br />
village sciences are all a sealed book to him. His own civilizati<strong>on</strong> is presented to him as<br />
imbecile, barbarous, superstitious and useless for all practical purposes. His educati<strong>on</strong><br />
calculated to win him from his traditi<strong>on</strong>al culture. And if the masses of educated youths<br />
are not entirely denati<strong>on</strong>alized, it is because the ancient culture is too deeply embedded in<br />
them to be altogether uprooted even by an educati<strong>on</strong> adverse to its growth. If I had my<br />
way, I would certainly destroy the majority of the present text books which have a bearing<br />
<strong>on</strong> and corresp<strong>on</strong>dence with the home life, so that a boy as he learns may react up<strong>on</strong> his<br />
immediate surrounding27 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong> was also culture based. For him freedom and<br />
upliftment of the people lie in its own culture. He was not exclusive. He did not denounce<br />
other cultures. He favoured appreciati<strong>on</strong> and understanding of our own culture as the first<br />
step, it can be followed up with appreciati<strong>on</strong> and assimilati<strong>on</strong> of other cultures. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
sadly observed that the existing official system of educati<strong>on</strong> not <strong>on</strong>ly promoted western<br />
culture, which had no c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong> with the surrounding of the students, but went further in<br />
denouncing India’s culture. <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not stop at making students learn about our culture.<br />
For him culture involved refinement of feelings, attitudes and behaviour, culture is a matter<br />
of practice. Mere academic knowledge about culture was not enough; culture must get<br />
reflected in our life. One may be cultured without any literary educati<strong>on</strong> and a so-called<br />
degree holder may behave in an uncultured manner. <strong>Gandhi</strong> found that in India culture<br />
and educati<strong>on</strong> are divorced from each other. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was advocating a cardinal principle<br />
of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> i.e. extensi<strong>on</strong> should link educati<strong>on</strong> with culture of the people28 .<br />
Childcare and pre-school educati<strong>on</strong> at home forms an important comp<strong>on</strong>ent of<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> in India and all other under developed and developing countries. This<br />
assumes greater significance as large secti<strong>on</strong> of our mothers are still illiterate and not<br />
aware of healthy practices. <strong>Gandhi</strong> recognized that child’s educati<strong>on</strong> begin much earlier<br />
before going to school. Educati<strong>on</strong> does not start with learning of alphabets.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted children to develop the following habits and attitudes before going<br />
to school.<br />
To co-ordinate properly his limbs, senses and mind.<br />
To be n<strong>on</strong>-violent i.e. not to beat friend and siblings, kill flies or be violent.<br />
To develop healthy habits of cleanliness, body care and food intake etc.<br />
To learn to bear with denial of favourite food and toys etc.<br />
To pr<strong>on</strong>ounce words correctly and form sentences properly.<br />
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To develop basic value judgment of discreaming between good and bad etc.<br />
To develop basic awareness of geography of surrounding areas.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> sounds almost like a c<strong>on</strong>temporary educati<strong>on</strong>ist. <strong>Gandhi</strong> identified the<br />
complexity of educati<strong>on</strong>al puzzle in India. Following were its aspects.<br />
Lack of resources for universal primary educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Competing demands for funds for primary, sec<strong>on</strong>dary and higher educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The moral and ethical issue of funding educati<strong>on</strong> by raising revenue from liquor and<br />
other intoxicants.<br />
The desirability of retaining the rural character of schools.<br />
The need and justificati<strong>on</strong> of English medium of educati<strong>on</strong> at sec<strong>on</strong>dary level.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s soluti<strong>on</strong> for this puzzle was clear and well directed. His answers were as<br />
follows:<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> advocated minimalism and simple infrastructure which the community must<br />
come forward to provide. The volunteers if possible from village and adjoining area must<br />
come forward to teach. If necessary open air classrooms under trees should functi<strong>on</strong>. Text<br />
books should be avoided for the students and teachers must develop courseware with<br />
available local resources. Literary educati<strong>on</strong> should not be emphasized. Basic arithmetic,<br />
alphabetical reading, health and hygiene should form the core.<br />
Primary educati<strong>on</strong> claim for funds are supreme and always overrides the demands<br />
of sec<strong>on</strong>dary and higher educati<strong>on</strong>. As far as higher educati<strong>on</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>cerned, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
wanted the corporate and industrial sector to finance it for they stood to benefit most out<br />
of it.<br />
As far as sec<strong>on</strong>dary educati<strong>on</strong> was c<strong>on</strong>cerned <strong>Gandhi</strong> advocated the self-sufficiency<br />
principle partly through learning by doing, craft educati<strong>on</strong> and producti<strong>on</strong> related activities.<br />
He also felt that there was not much need to provide sec<strong>on</strong>dary schools in villages when<br />
we have not achieved universal primary educati<strong>on</strong>. He was not opposed to sec<strong>on</strong>dary<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> but he wanted primary school at every village first.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> could never rec<strong>on</strong>cile with the argument of raising liquor revenue for<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>. It indirectly meant promoti<strong>on</strong> of sale of liquor and other intoxicants to raise the<br />
revenue. <strong>Gandhi</strong> could never support a drunkard educated society. The gain from educati<strong>on</strong><br />
could be completely wiped out with increase in c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong> of liquor. Besides he had<br />
moral objecti<strong>on</strong>s. Thus alternate method of financing educati<strong>on</strong> was advocated by <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not opposed to modernity he recognized the predominant rural<br />
nature of India. He never wanted schools to be diverted from the community of the locality.<br />
The products of urbanized schools were likely to live for the cities and the village could<br />
hardly gain from them.<br />
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<strong>Gandhi</strong> felt that English Medium of instructi<strong>on</strong> at sec<strong>on</strong>dary level was uncalled for.<br />
He felt what is learnt in four years can easily learnt in two years in vernacular medium. He<br />
recognized English as an internati<strong>on</strong>al language and the need for sec<strong>on</strong>dary school children<br />
to be familiar with it. Mastery over English was <strong>on</strong>ly required at higher level.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of cow protecti<strong>on</strong> was not an echo of Hindu fundamentalism. His<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cept of cow protecti<strong>on</strong> included cattle breeding, improvement of the stock, humane<br />
treatment of bullocks and formati<strong>on</strong> of model dairies etc.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and the c<strong>on</strong>gress had established the All India Village Industries Board to<br />
promote cottage and village industries. It worked for inventi<strong>on</strong> of more efficient charkha<br />
and other instruments used in the villages. It organized exhibiti<strong>on</strong>s of village crafts and<br />
promoted marketing activities and all these were related to the schools. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s promoti<strong>on</strong><br />
of handicrafts was not from pure ec<strong>on</strong>omic point of view. He recognized the need for<br />
creativity and development of the intellect through craft learning.<br />
From the proceeding discussi<strong>on</strong> it is evident that though <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not use the<br />
word extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> he had widely used principles of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> in<br />
formulati<strong>on</strong> of his educati<strong>on</strong>al ideas. The following principles of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> are<br />
reflected in his educati<strong>on</strong>al ideal.<br />
Principle of interest and needs;<br />
To be effective, extensi<strong>on</strong> work must begin with the interests and needs of the people.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was focused <strong>on</strong> the needs of the people. His educati<strong>on</strong>al visi<strong>on</strong> covered,<br />
agriculture, rural rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>, health and hygiene, alternate technology,<br />
employment generati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Grassroots principle of organizati<strong>on</strong>;<br />
For extensi<strong>on</strong> work to be effective and real, it has to be a synthesis of democracy<br />
obtained at the level of the family and more particularly at village level.<br />
Village was given greater emphasis by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. His foremost step was to improve<br />
the village through establishment of village schools which should of self reliant.<br />
Besides this step he had tried to bring out the leaders through panchayati systems<br />
and by formati<strong>on</strong> of groups.<br />
Lab to field is a sacred principle of extensi<strong>on</strong>;<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>stantly endeavoured to take lab developments in childcare, mother care,<br />
health, hygiene and medicine to the people. He even tried to take the skills of a<br />
trained midwife to villages. Followers of <strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasized alternate technology<br />
or technology suited to India. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s mantra was not the latest but the most<br />
appropriate technology. <strong>Gandhi</strong> in fact went bey<strong>on</strong>d lab to field, he wanted labs to<br />
develop technology appropriate to Indian fields.<br />
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Principle of cultural change;<br />
The changed ways must be learnt and all learning must be grafted <strong>on</strong> what is already<br />
known. It is obvious that the change agent must know what the villagers know and<br />
what they think.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> realized that the teacher volunteer should be well aware of the village<br />
geography, values, tabooes, mores and surroundings which will help to provide a<br />
suitable learning atmosphere.<br />
Principle of Cultural differences;<br />
In order to make extensi<strong>on</strong> programmes effective, the approach and procedure must<br />
be suited to the culture of the people who are taught.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had evolved a system of educati<strong>on</strong> carrying forward the Indian culture, ethos,<br />
traditi<strong>on</strong> and instituti<strong>on</strong>s. It was not a copy of the west. Simultaneously it was not<br />
revivalist or anti-modern. He was keen to incorporate those modern aspects, which<br />
were useful.<br />
Principle of learning by doing;<br />
In extensi<strong>on</strong> work, farmers should be encouraged to learn new things by doing and<br />
by direct participati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Learning by doing and dignity of labour attained wider meaning under <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
experimentati<strong>on</strong>. Craft educati<strong>on</strong> for creativity and livelihood and work in the field<br />
and in the school were sacred under his system of educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Principle of trained specialists;<br />
Trained specialists have to be engaged, who are in touch with their respective research<br />
institutes.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> always invited master craftsmen to train the school children. He organized<br />
volunteers from cities who were educated and skilled in their own field. They worked<br />
for few m<strong>on</strong>ths in champaran and returned back to Bombay. The cascade method of<br />
training was utilized by him.<br />
Principle of leadership;<br />
The involvement of leaders in extensi<strong>on</strong> programmes is the <strong>on</strong>e single factor that<br />
determines the success or failure of those programmes.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was no armchair educator, he himself established schools, taught there and<br />
was involved in every aspect of it, in latrine cleaning, classroom teaching, outing<br />
for children, craft educati<strong>on</strong> and every other activity. He himself lead from the fr<strong>on</strong>t<br />
and created a band of leaders to carry forward the work.<br />
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Whole family principle;<br />
All members of the family have to be developed equally by involving all of them.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, his wife and even children lived in the various ashrams in which he lived.<br />
Wherever he took up, any activity (even political), <strong>Gandhi</strong> had taken care to get the<br />
whole family involved.<br />
Principle of cooperati<strong>on</strong> and participati<strong>on</strong>;<br />
To involve a great number of pers<strong>on</strong>s in achieving desired comm<strong>on</strong> ends, there<br />
seems to be no acceptable alternative but to let them choose the ends and then<br />
aiding them to organise their self help efforts successfully to do the things.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> always drew the entire community, his appeal was never to <strong>on</strong>e class or<br />
community, he never set <strong>on</strong>e class against other, he never fermented hatred and<br />
anger.<br />
Adaptability principle in the use of extensi<strong>on</strong> teaching methods;<br />
No single method is effective under all situati<strong>on</strong>s. Various communicati<strong>on</strong> mediums<br />
such as reading material radio, televisi<strong>on</strong> and internet etc. can be used depending <strong>on</strong><br />
the target group.<br />
Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not devote enough thought <strong>on</strong> various mediums of<br />
communicati<strong>on</strong>, he realized the importance using more than <strong>on</strong>e method. Learning<br />
by doing, group learning, informal way of teaching and community based training<br />
are the methods used by <strong>Gandhi</strong> for making the educati<strong>on</strong> more effective and learner<br />
oriented29 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Experiment On Extensi<strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
Experiments <strong>on</strong> Community learning<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was no armchair thinker of educati<strong>on</strong>. He was highly experimental; ever<br />
ready to try out new things and ever eager to put theories to practices. As noted earlier<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had established several communities or ashrams and he carried out educati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
experiments in these. Presently an attempt is being made to analyze various experiments<br />
carried out by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Inspired by <strong>Gandhi</strong> both during his life time and afterwards numerous<br />
experiment <strong>on</strong> his line of thinking have been worked out. These are also being analyzed<br />
here.<br />
Phoenix Settlement :<br />
In 1903 <strong>Gandhi</strong> returned to South Africa after a brief sojourn in India. His objective<br />
was to meet Mr. Chamberlain and advance the Indian cause. He had just settled down in<br />
Johannesburg when large number of Indians became ill due to unusual rain. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
read Ruskin’s ‘Unto This Last’ and immediately put it into practice. The teachings of the<br />
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ook as grasped by <strong>Gandhi</strong> were as follows, That the good of the individual is c<strong>on</strong>tained in<br />
the good of all; that a lawyer’s work has the same value as the barber’s, in as much as all<br />
have the same right of earning their livelihood from their work; that a life of labour, that is,<br />
the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicrafts man, is the life worth living. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was<br />
drawn to these ideas and was ready to translate these newly imbibed ideas into practice.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> did not take l<strong>on</strong>g to put the ideas of ‘Unto this last’ into practice – within ten<br />
days he purchased for Rs.1,000/- a hundred acres of land, c<strong>on</strong>taining a fine little spring, a<br />
dilapidated cottage and plenty of fruit trees, some of which bore mangoes and oranges.<br />
The plot was fourteen miles from Durban and two and a half mile from Phoenix stati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The Phoenix settlement thus came into being in the middle of the year 1904. The Indian<br />
opini<strong>on</strong> was so<strong>on</strong> published from Phoenix being shifted from Durban. The settlers of<br />
Phoenix were divided into two classes, the schemers and the paid workers. The schemers<br />
had to make a living by manual labour. They were given three acres each round the press.<br />
No land was fenced in and paths and narrow roads divided <strong>on</strong>e holding from another. The<br />
original idea was to build mud huts thatched with straw or small brick houses. But due to<br />
lack of funds structures of corrugated ir<strong>on</strong> were erected by the settlers. If any member<br />
vacated his house or holding, it was not sold but passed to another member. The original<br />
members comprised a small group of Indian and European idealists. The col<strong>on</strong>y was to be<br />
as far as possible self supporting and life’s material requirements were to be reduced to a<br />
minimum.<br />
In course of time Phoenix settlement grow up and educati<strong>on</strong> became an important<br />
comp<strong>on</strong>ent of the settlement30 . Phoenix settlement was rural based and principles of<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> were widely applied. This community c<strong>on</strong>cept of educati<strong>on</strong>al experiment has a<br />
place am<strong>on</strong>gst great educati<strong>on</strong>al attempts. Utilizati<strong>on</strong> of available resources and selflearning<br />
methods were emphasized.<br />
Originally the Phoenix settlement was meant for running the “Indian Opini<strong>on</strong>”, a<br />
newspaper of which <strong>Gandhi</strong> was the editor. But gradually a number of Satyagrahis joined<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s cottage with their families and became the follower of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideals. The<br />
entire surrounding was equipped with all facilities. Around thirty number of children<br />
received literary training with practical knowledge <strong>on</strong> agriculture and planting. They were<br />
also given training in envir<strong>on</strong>mental care, hygiene and sanitati<strong>on</strong>, spending the whole day<br />
<strong>on</strong> their studies with physical activity like – cooking, gardening, c<strong>on</strong>structive work etc.<br />
The atmosphere of the settlement was like that of a school-cum-workshop. There the<br />
theoretical and practical aspects of learning had been taken care. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong><br />
of extensi<strong>on</strong> ideals took its shape from Phoenix settlement. He had started experimenting<br />
his educati<strong>on</strong>al philosophy under surrounding of community-based settlement.<br />
The core ideas of educati<strong>on</strong> at Phoenix settlement was to create a family – an extended<br />
family, a family of resister and a community which lived and acted like a family. It was an<br />
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extensi<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s own family, “When <strong>Gandhi</strong> was at Johannesburg, he introduced as<br />
much simplicity as could be possible in his household. He was not against the literary<br />
educati<strong>on</strong> but he did not hesitate to sacrifice it for the service of the community. He said<br />
that proper training in character should be given by the parents at home. He believed that<br />
the ways of doing and thinking would be reflected in the children. He himself tried to<br />
imbibe the philosophy. He provided training <strong>on</strong> all aspects, during his talks through<br />
c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>. He talked to his children <strong>on</strong>ly in Gujarati, since it was his c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> that<br />
those Indian parents who trained their children to think and talk in English from their<br />
infancy betrayed their children and their country. He also observed that, “they deprived<br />
them of the spiritual social heritage of the nati<strong>on</strong> and rendered them to that extent unfit for<br />
the service of the country”.<br />
Thus <strong>Gandhi</strong>an experiment opened a new visi<strong>on</strong> in educati<strong>on</strong>al methods. The main<br />
objective of establishing the settlement were to<br />
Imbibe the value of self-help.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong> through the community living.<br />
Life l<strong>on</strong>g support through ec<strong>on</strong>omic self-sufficiency.<br />
Learning through mother t<strong>on</strong>gue.<br />
Achievement of individual as well as nati<strong>on</strong>al goal.<br />
Emphasis <strong>on</strong> skilled training <strong>on</strong> agriculture, envir<strong>on</strong>ment and physical activity.<br />
Importance given to learning by doing or result dem<strong>on</strong>strati<strong>on</strong> method.<br />
Self learning through group activity.<br />
These were the practical learning given to the ashramites at South Africa. This<br />
opened the path for exploring <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology and extensi<strong>on</strong> philosophy of educati<strong>on</strong>31 .<br />
Tolstoy Farm :<br />
During 1910 the Satyagraha movement in South Africa gathered great momentum<br />
“On May 30,1910 Hermann Kallenbach, a rich German architect and a close friend of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, offered the use of his farm for passive resisters and their indigent families. The<br />
use of a farm of 1,100 acres was given free of any rent or charge. <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Kallenbach<br />
named it after Tolstoy”. Both Kallenbach and <strong>Gandhi</strong> were influenced by Tolstoy’s writings.<br />
The Tolstoy Farm was nearly two miles l<strong>on</strong>g and a three-quarter mile broad. Up<strong>on</strong><br />
the farm, there were nearly <strong>on</strong>e thousand fruit bearing trees and a small house. During the<br />
seas<strong>on</strong> oranges, apricots and plums grew in abundance. Water was supplied from two<br />
wells as well as a spring. The nearest railway stati<strong>on</strong>, Lawley, was about <strong>on</strong>e mile from the<br />
farm, and Johannesburg twenty-<strong>on</strong>e miles. <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Kallenbach now decided to build<br />
108
houses <strong>on</strong> the farm to accommodate the passive resisters. Some satyagrahis came to work<br />
and live <strong>on</strong> the farm.<br />
The settlers were the South Africans who originally hailed from Gujarat, Tamil<br />
Nadu, Andhra and North India. There were Hindus, Muslims, Parsis and Christians am<strong>on</strong>g<br />
them. There were forty young men, two or three elders, five women and thirty children<br />
including five girls32 . They had a comm<strong>on</strong> kitchen. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was prepared to provide meat<br />
to those who wanted it, however every<strong>on</strong>e wanted to be a vegetarian. Initially settlers<br />
lived in tents and unsaturated simple houses not l<strong>on</strong>g after. The men’s quarters were<br />
separated from women’s and every<strong>on</strong>e including married people led a celibate life. To<br />
make the family self supportive, small industries like sandle making and carpentry etc<br />
were started.<br />
A school was started in June for the youngsters. Classes were held <strong>on</strong>ly in the<br />
afterno<strong>on</strong> from two to five, as the settlers were engaged in hard physical labour in the<br />
morning. <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Kallenbach, assisted some young men, to work as teachers. Religious<br />
instructi<strong>on</strong> was given by <strong>Gandhi</strong>, who wrote out the fundamental doctrines of Hinduism<br />
and studied books <strong>on</strong> Islam and Zoroastrianism. He taught his pupils to respect all religi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and to live together like blood brothers”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s class was heterogeneous in character c<strong>on</strong>sisting of people of all ages from<br />
7 to 21 and c<strong>on</strong>sisted of both boys and girls. He divided the class into two secti<strong>on</strong>s, he<br />
taught the Gujuratis in Gujurati medium and the rest through English. Story telling was<br />
the principal method, <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself picked up a bit of Telugu, Tamil and Dutch, general<br />
knowledge in History, Geography, Arithmetic and Sanskrit were taught. Only <strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>e<br />
occasi<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> had punished a pupil with a ruler and repented. His experiment of coeducati<strong>on</strong><br />
in Tolstoy farm was daring. He explained the virtue of self restraint to his pupils.<br />
He slept in a open veranda and the boys and girls were spread around him. Life was as<br />
simple as humanly possible. No drug was used and nature cure was adopted. Purity of<br />
thought, word and deed were emphasized and ashramites prepared themselves to became<br />
great satyagrahis. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was in touch with Tolstoy and was greatly influenced by him.<br />
On Tolstoy’s death <strong>on</strong> Nov., 20 th 1910 <strong>Gandhi</strong> paid tribute in the following words : “Of the<br />
late Count Tolstoy, we can <strong>on</strong>ly write with reverence. He was to us more than <strong>on</strong>e of the<br />
greatest men of the age. He has endeavoured, so far as possible, to follow his teaching.<br />
The end of his bodily life but put the final touch to the work of humanity that he, in his<br />
own inimitable manner inaugurated. Tolstoy is not dead; he lives through the lives of his<br />
innumerable followers throughout the world. We firmly believe that, as time rolls <strong>on</strong>, his<br />
teaching will more and more permeate mankind. Though a devout Christian, he truly<br />
interpreted not <strong>on</strong>ly Christianity, but he likewise gave a realistic presentati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
substance underlying the great world religi<strong>on</strong>, and he has shown, how present day<br />
civilizati<strong>on</strong> based as it is <strong>on</strong> brute force, is a negative of divinity in man and how, before<br />
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man can realize his manhood, he must substitute brute force by love in all his acti<strong>on</strong>s in<br />
the daily work of life33 .<br />
Through the Tolstoy farm <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted to explore his ideas of educati<strong>on</strong>. He had<br />
given stress <strong>on</strong> the imparting of educati<strong>on</strong> through parents. He declared, “<strong>on</strong>ly this much<br />
I knew that under ideal c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, true educati<strong>on</strong> could be imparted <strong>on</strong>ly by the parents<br />
and that Tolstoy farm was a family, in which I occupied the place of the father and that I<br />
should so far as possible shoulder the resp<strong>on</strong>sibility for the training of the young”. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
Tolstoy farm was a family and the students were living with their teacher.<br />
Importance was given <strong>on</strong> character building, culture of the heart, training provided<br />
to every<strong>on</strong>e alike, training to all age group and upbringing of the children. These ideals<br />
made the farm an ideal laboratory for educati<strong>on</strong>al experiments. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had spent time<br />
with the students and decided to live am<strong>on</strong>gst them all throughout the day as their father,<br />
so that they could feel the real home atmosphere. He thought that the real family upbringing<br />
can <strong>on</strong>ly be possible through a home atmosphere. The student’s would be benefited <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
through the educati<strong>on</strong> by parents. The extensi<strong>on</strong> principle of whole family approach was<br />
put to practice by Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. In this way he wanted to make student’s aware about<br />
the value of elders and attached greater importance to character building. Therefore he<br />
remarked “I regarded character building as the proper foundati<strong>on</strong> for their educati<strong>on</strong>, and<br />
if the foundati<strong>on</strong> was firmly laid, I was sure that the children could learn all the other<br />
things themselves or with the assistance of friends”.<br />
Besides character building <strong>Gandhi</strong> had emphasized literary training in educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
He started some classes with the help of Mr. Kallenbach and others. But the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
visi<strong>on</strong> never distracted from the extensi<strong>on</strong> principles. Major emphasis was given <strong>on</strong> the<br />
farm activity, cooking and even scavenging had to be d<strong>on</strong>e by inmates. All students were<br />
involved in the activities like gardening, digging pits, felling timber, lifting loads, vocati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
activities like shoe making, carpentry and gardening etc. The teachers were expected to<br />
set an example to others by their own c<strong>on</strong>duct and they were always ready to cooperate<br />
with the students. No work was assigned to students which were not d<strong>on</strong>e by teachers.<br />
Teachers c<strong>on</strong>stantly worked with the student, setting examples c<strong>on</strong>stantly.<br />
Literary training was given in Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati through the vernaculars of the<br />
students. All the children were taught elementary history, geography, arithmetic. In spite<br />
of literary educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> never felt the importance for the text books at all. As he says<br />
“the true text book for the pupil was the teacher and therefore, he never found it necessary<br />
to load the minds of children with a number of text books”. Only questi<strong>on</strong> and answer<br />
method was applied for measuring their power of understanding.<br />
At Tolstoy Farm the students got physical, mental and spiritual training. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidered spiritual training to be very essential part of educati<strong>on</strong> of the children in his<br />
charge. According to <strong>Gandhi</strong>, “the spirit was to develop character and enable <strong>on</strong>e to work<br />
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towards a knowledge of God and self-realizati<strong>on</strong>”, Truthfulness, tolerance and n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
are the key principles always emphasized by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. These principles also played an<br />
important role in character building through educati<strong>on</strong>. He doubted very much whether<br />
the violent method of corporal punishment would be of any use.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had also experimented with group approach. Through group approach <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
promoted learning ability, character building, moral values, tolerance, n<strong>on</strong>-violence and<br />
truthfulness am<strong>on</strong>gst students. He utilized the talents of the students and other inmates.<br />
This group experiment took a central place in the Tolstoy Farm. <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not share the<br />
comm<strong>on</strong> fear that bad would influence the good more than vice-versa. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed<br />
that when good and bad children were brought up and taught together, good would lose<br />
nothing since if there was anything really good, it was bound to react <strong>on</strong> their compani<strong>on</strong>s”.<br />
He c<strong>on</strong>sidered that “a good discipline for the good children to be taught together al<strong>on</strong>g<br />
with the bad <strong>on</strong>es and thrown into their company provided the experiment was c<strong>on</strong>ducted<br />
under the watchful care of their parents and guardians34 .<br />
Thus the experiment of Tolstoy Farm was an example of the extensi<strong>on</strong> principles.<br />
The following extensi<strong>on</strong> ideals were followed by <strong>Gandhi</strong> at Tolstoy farm –<br />
Community based learning<br />
Whole family approach for educati<strong>on</strong><br />
Parent’s are the key teacher to their children<br />
Character building of students<br />
Literary training without the use of text books<br />
Self learning through physical activity from cooking to scavenging<br />
Vocati<strong>on</strong>al training for acquisiti<strong>on</strong> of skill<br />
Self sufficiency as the key motto<br />
Participati<strong>on</strong>, co-operati<strong>on</strong>, group activity, self learning, sharing the social values<br />
Teacher setting an example of good c<strong>on</strong>duct as a group leader, good teacher, good<br />
worker, skilled trainer and as a good parent <strong>on</strong> the whole<br />
Vernaculars of the students were respected<br />
Physical, mental, spiritual training was given through the works assigned to the<br />
students<br />
Agriculture, Gardening, Sanitati<strong>on</strong>, Envir<strong>on</strong>ment and other aspects were given<br />
importance<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-violence became the prime motto for character building<br />
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Culture and religi<strong>on</strong> of all students were respected<br />
Age was not a bar for the studentship<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> worked out his philosophy of educati<strong>on</strong> and applied a number of extensi<strong>on</strong><br />
principle in the Tolstoy Farm.<br />
Experiment at Champaran<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> returned to India in 1915 and traveled extensively for two years. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
was well versed with the problems of indentured labour in South Africa. During these two<br />
years <strong>Gandhi</strong> acquired first hand knowledge <strong>on</strong> the labourers and India’s agriculture. In<br />
1916 <strong>Gandhi</strong> during the Lucknow sessi<strong>on</strong>s of C<strong>on</strong>gress, learnt about the lamenting c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong><br />
of indigo cultivators at Champaran. Champaran is situated in the north west corner of<br />
Bihar, with Gandak as the major river. Motihari and Bettiah were the two important towns.<br />
Indigo cultivati<strong>on</strong> was introduced by planters at the fag end of 18th century. <strong>Gandhi</strong> al<strong>on</strong>g<br />
with J.B.Kripalani, Rajendra Prasad, Majharlal Haque, and others visited various villages<br />
of the Champaran district and acquainted themselves with the ground reality. <strong>Gandhi</strong> led<br />
the Champaran movement which included educati<strong>on</strong>al activities besides socio-political<br />
work. Only educati<strong>on</strong>al aspect is c<strong>on</strong>sidered here. Ignorance was c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be principal<br />
cause of misery. He decided to combat this. He issued a public appeal inviting voluntary<br />
teachers. Babasaheb Soman and Pundlik from Karnatak, Avantikabai Gokhale from<br />
Bombay, Anandibai Vaishampayan and Shankarrao Deo from Po<strong>on</strong>a offered their services.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> also brought Chhotelal, Surendranath and Devadas from the ashram to help in the<br />
work. About this time Mahadev Desai and Narhari Parikh with their wives had cast their<br />
lot with <strong>Gandhi</strong>, and Kasturbai also joined the c<strong>on</strong>tingent.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> arrived in Champaran from Bombay with his volunteers. The first school<br />
was opened in 1917 in a village of the Bettiah Raj, about twenty miles east of Motihari.<br />
Within a week a sec<strong>on</strong>d school was opened in a village forty miles north-west of Bettiah.<br />
A sadhu offered a rent free land of a temple for the school which was opened in 1917. A<br />
thatched hut was erected for the purpose. Soman, Kasturbai and Dr. Deva took charge of<br />
this school. Within few weeks, a third school was opened at Madhubani, which was<br />
c<strong>on</strong>ducted by Mahadev Desai, Narhari Parikh, and Kripalani. About these village schools,<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wrotes thus :<br />
“In the schools I am opening, children under the age of twelve <strong>on</strong>ly are admitted.<br />
The idea is to get hold of as many children as possible and to give them an all-round<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>, a good knowledge of Hindi or Urdu and, through that medium, of arithmetic<br />
and rudiments of history and geography, a knowledge of simple scientific principles and<br />
some industrial training. No cut and dried syllabus has yet been prepared because I am<br />
going <strong>on</strong> an unbeaten track. I look up<strong>on</strong> our present system with horror and distrust. Instead<br />
of developing the moral and mental faculties of the little children it dwarfs them. In my<br />
experiment, whilst, I shall draw up<strong>on</strong> what is good in it, I shall endeavour to avoid the<br />
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defects of the present system. The chief thing aimed at is c<strong>on</strong>tact of children with men and<br />
women of culture and unimpeachable moral character. That to me is educati<strong>on</strong>. Literary<br />
training is to be used merely as a means to that end. The industrial training is to be designed<br />
for the boys and the girls who may come to us for an additi<strong>on</strong>al means of livelihood. It is<br />
not intended that <strong>on</strong> completing their educati<strong>on</strong> they should leave their hereditary occupati<strong>on</strong><br />
but make use of the knowledge acquired in the school to refine agriculture and agricultural<br />
life. Our teachers will also touch the lives of grown up people and if at all possible, penetrate<br />
the puradah. Instructi<strong>on</strong> will be given to grown up people in hygiene and about the<br />
advantages of joint acti<strong>on</strong>, for the promoti<strong>on</strong> of communal welfare, such as, the making of<br />
village roads proper, the sinking of wells etc. And as no school will be manned by teachers<br />
who are not men or women of good training, we propose to give free medical aid as far as<br />
possible”.<br />
About 140 children were being taught at the Barharwa village school. Here weaving<br />
was taught and people were trained in the art of co-operative acti<strong>on</strong> by making them keep<br />
their huts, wells, roads and villages clean. The parents were taught to keep their children<br />
clean and tidy.<br />
The Bhitharwa School was situated in a complete locality, illiterate and ignorant.<br />
The climate of the place was extremely unhealthy. Dr. Deva gave the villagers practical<br />
less<strong>on</strong>s in hygiene and elementary medicine and treated the patients.<br />
These village schools were run most ec<strong>on</strong>omically. One of the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s was that<br />
the villagers should provide the teachers with board or lodging. The villagers willingly<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributed grain and other raw produce. Medical relief was a simple affair. Castor oil,<br />
quinine and sulphur ointment were the <strong>on</strong>ly drugs provided to the volunteers. No patient<br />
was permitted to take home any medicine but he was treated <strong>on</strong> the premises of the school.<br />
Dr. Deva used to visit each center <strong>on</strong> the fixed days.Anumber of people availed themselves<br />
of the medical aid. Sanitati<strong>on</strong> was a difficult propositi<strong>on</strong>. The people were not prepared to<br />
do anything themselves. Even the field labourers were not ready to do their own scavenging.<br />
But <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s men were not the pers<strong>on</strong>s to lose heart. They swept the roads, cleaned out<br />
the wells, filled up the pools and persuaded the villagers to raise volunteers from am<strong>on</strong>gst<br />
themselves.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> asked Kasturbai to inquire why the village women did not wash their clothes.<br />
When she spoke to them about it, <strong>on</strong>e woman took Kasturbai into her hut and said, “Look<br />
now, there is no bore or cupboard here c<strong>on</strong>taining other clothes. The sari I am wearing is<br />
the <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong>e I have. How am I to wash it? Tell Mahatmaji to get me another sari, and I<br />
shall then promise to bathe and put <strong>on</strong> clean clothes every day”. In those days a male<br />
labourer’s wage did not exceed ten pice, a female’s did not exceed six and a child’s three.<br />
In imparting knowledge to the poor villagers, <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted the cooperati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
planters. But it was not to be so. They even put obstacles and the schools had to be opened<br />
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away from the factories. But even them the planters frowned up<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s activities.<br />
Bhitharwa School so<strong>on</strong> after its inaugurati<strong>on</strong> was set <strong>on</strong> fire. In no time did the workers<br />
succeed in erecting a new structure, carrying bricks <strong>on</strong> their own heads. <strong>Gandhi</strong> used to<br />
visit the schools by turn and suggest improvements. After six m<strong>on</strong>ths of work, the first<br />
batch of volunteers was replaced by a new <strong>on</strong>e.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> found in Champaran that the problem of agricultural sector could be solved<br />
through proper village educati<strong>on</strong>. He realized that proper village educati<strong>on</strong> made them<br />
aware about their problem. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had also tried to inquire about the ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of the indigo labourers who were very poor. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an love for educati<strong>on</strong> was reflected in<br />
Champaran village. He had planned to open primary schools in six villages for the<br />
improvement of educati<strong>on</strong>al status of the children. He had requested the villagers to provide<br />
free broading and lodging to the teachers, other expenses had been taken care of by <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Villagers were also ready to afford foodstuff for the educati<strong>on</strong>al purpose. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
faced a great problem in finding teachers, so he issued a public appeal for voluntary teachers.<br />
There was a ready resp<strong>on</strong>se and some of them were ladies. The teachers were like voluntary<br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> workers.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an educative purpose did not exclude envir<strong>on</strong>mental aspect of the villagers.<br />
He had gain experience about the ec<strong>on</strong>omic c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> of the villages, in sanitary<br />
surroundings, mud and stink and untidy courtyards, so he decided to educate the people<br />
about it. For this type of work he required doctors and other assistance. He requested the<br />
servants of India society to lend the services of their doctors35 .<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> specifically instructed the teachers not to involve themselves in politics or to c<strong>on</strong>cern<br />
themselves with grievances against planters. People, who had any complaints to make,<br />
were to be referred to him. Strict discipline has to be followed by teachers as well as<br />
students.<br />
This was a greater foundati<strong>on</strong> experiment for modern community development<br />
projects and nati<strong>on</strong>al extensi<strong>on</strong> services. <strong>Gandhi</strong>an experiments also became an example<br />
later for all the extensi<strong>on</strong> services c<strong>on</strong>ducted by government of India for rural development.<br />
The following features are key aspects of the experiment.<br />
Agriculture and Agricultural problems were emphasized<br />
Importance given <strong>on</strong> agriculturist and plantati<strong>on</strong> labourers.<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong>al training was provided through activity.<br />
Primary educati<strong>on</strong> of children had been taken care<br />
Cooperati<strong>on</strong> from the villagers were facilitated.<br />
Character building, social and pers<strong>on</strong>al cleanliness were the aim of the curriculum<br />
Hygiene and sanitati<strong>on</strong> became the key motto.<br />
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Envir<strong>on</strong>mental care and civic educati<strong>on</strong> were given the prime importance<br />
Village was the nerve center<br />
Community work was given importance.<br />
Literary training was not over emphasised<br />
Hereditary occupati<strong>on</strong> was given importance<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic aspect were taken care<br />
Champaran experiment unlike other <strong>Gandhi</strong>an experiments was not c<strong>on</strong>fined to<br />
prenicts of an ashram. It was spread over <strong>on</strong> large tract. It was <strong>on</strong> a wider scale and<br />
provided more realistic less<strong>on</strong>s for all.<br />
Experiment at Sabarmati:<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> founded an ashram at Kochrab near Ahamedabad <strong>on</strong> 25 May 1915. Within<br />
two years due to outbreak of plague it was shifted to Sabarmati. Maganlal, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s nephew<br />
managed the ashram. It was located <strong>on</strong> the banks of river Sabarmati and was closed to the<br />
Sabarmati jail. It’s solitude was inviting. It was almost fallow without trees. Initially people<br />
lived in tin sheds and latter permanent houses were built. Sabarmati ashram became a<br />
semi permanent house of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> for the rest of his life. There were quiet a few<br />
permanent residence and educati<strong>on</strong> of all was an important comp<strong>on</strong>ent for Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
in Sabarmati ashram. Almost all great freedom fighters of India including Nehru, Patel,<br />
Annie Besant, Maulana Azad etc. lived at Sabarmati frequently. The prime objective was<br />
of course nati<strong>on</strong>alist and training of Satyagrahis36 .<br />
Besides the nati<strong>on</strong>al goal, the ashramites were always c<strong>on</strong>cerned to find out truth<br />
from all aspects of life. They were dedicated to <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy and devoted to truth<br />
as their soul principle. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had prepared certain disciplinary rules and regulati<strong>on</strong>s for<br />
achievement of the nati<strong>on</strong>al goal, social change in terms of attitudes, behaviours thinking<br />
and living style. The following rules were identified by <strong>Gandhi</strong> for inmates at the ashram.<br />
Truth, n<strong>on</strong>-violence, love, chastity, c<strong>on</strong>trol of palate, n<strong>on</strong>-stealing, n<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>,<br />
poverty, physical labour, swadeshi, fearlessness, removal of untouchability, and<br />
tolerance were the rules for ashramites. they were put to carried out certain activities<br />
for achieving the objectives such as<br />
Following these principles ashramites were engaged in worship, sanitary service,<br />
sacrificial spinning, agriculture, dairy, tannery and nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong>.All were based<br />
<strong>on</strong> the extensi<strong>on</strong> principles drafted by <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji.<br />
Sacrifice and selflessness was insisted up<strong>on</strong> for the members of the ashram. They<br />
were required to provide service with humility. <strong>Gandhi</strong> also wanted to revive cottage<br />
industry and hand spinning with the help of ashramites.<br />
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The Satyagraha ashram at Sabarmati had taken the pride as <strong>on</strong>e of the valuable<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>al experiment in social educati<strong>on</strong>. Irrespective of caste, creed and religi<strong>on</strong>, all<br />
were allowed to live in the ashram surrounding and committed to stand against the social<br />
evils – untouchability. After this issue he started training <strong>on</strong> social educati<strong>on</strong> based <strong>on</strong><br />
extensi<strong>on</strong> philosophy which aimed at changing the behaviour, attitude, thinking of the<br />
individual. He admitted the untouchable candidate as inmates of the ashram. The attitudinal<br />
change of the ashramites became a major issue first. To ensure this he wanted to include<br />
people from all class, race, caste, creed and age. On the whole he wanted to achieve<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al goal by imparting such educati<strong>on</strong> and training for attitudinal change of people.<br />
Later it was c<strong>on</strong>sidered as a valuable experiment in nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong>37 .<br />
The following were the features<br />
Attainment of nati<strong>on</strong>al goal was the supreme objective<br />
Spreading the values, like – truth, n<strong>on</strong>-violence, selflessness, love, chastity, c<strong>on</strong>trol<br />
of the palate, sacrifice, n<strong>on</strong>-stealing, n<strong>on</strong> possessi<strong>on</strong>, physical labour, swadeshi,<br />
fearlessness, removal of untouchability and tolerance were attempted.<br />
Social change in through change in attitudes, behaviour, thinking and life style was<br />
emphasized.<br />
Sacrificing life for the service of country was practiced.<br />
Emphasis was given to cottage industry and handloom weaving for self sufficiency<br />
Emphasis was given <strong>on</strong> spiritual, intellectual and physical development<br />
Services in the field of sanitary, sacrificial spinning, agriculture, dairy, tannery,<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al educati<strong>on</strong> were important for all.<br />
Truth as the prime principle was followed by ashramites.<br />
Search for knowledge through truth, insistence <strong>on</strong> truth and devoti<strong>on</strong> to truth was<br />
the guiding philosophy.<br />
Training <strong>on</strong> social educati<strong>on</strong> was emphasized.<br />
All were allowed irrespective of caste, creed, race and class.<br />
Ashramites were strict followers of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an principles and thought.<br />
The language of the province got the principal place in the ashram and selected as<br />
the medium of instructi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> had never forgotten to implement his philosophy of n<strong>on</strong>-violence in each of<br />
the experiment at Sabarmati. <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted to take care of envir<strong>on</strong>ment and wild life.<br />
The surrounding was full of snakes, but <strong>Gandhi</strong> had taken risk of living with the ashramites<br />
under such c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s. However, <strong>Gandhi</strong> had a strict instructi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the general principle<br />
of n<strong>on</strong>-violence and philosophy of not killing reptiles by all the inmates 38 .<br />
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Besides the above <strong>Gandhi</strong> was associated with the nati<strong>on</strong>alist educati<strong>on</strong>al schools<br />
established by his followers. The nati<strong>on</strong>al Gujurati School which was subsequently<br />
developed as Gujurat Vidyapith, was an important instituti<strong>on</strong> with which <strong>Gandhi</strong> was<br />
associated. The general philosophy and practices as evolved by <strong>Gandhi</strong> were adopted. The<br />
special features of the instituti<strong>on</strong> included the following.<br />
Physical and intellectual aspects of educati<strong>on</strong> were empphasised.<br />
Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit were taught as compulsory languages. Under,<br />
Tamil and Bengali were taught as optimal languages. English was restricted to first<br />
three years of the study <strong>on</strong>ly. Gujurati <strong>on</strong>ly was the medium of instructi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and his followers wanted to evolved an instituti<strong>on</strong> which could we replicated<br />
in Government Schools.<br />
Besides educati<strong>on</strong>al experiments carried out ashrams and educati<strong>on</strong>al instituti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> involved himself in hard core extensi<strong>on</strong> activities. <strong>Gandhi</strong> always emphasised <strong>on</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>structive programme. The programmes recommended by <strong>Gandhi</strong> were nothing but<br />
need based extensi<strong>on</strong>. He had formulated an 18 point porgramme which included the<br />
following village industries, basic and adult educati<strong>on</strong>, rural sanitati<strong>on</strong>, uplift of backward<br />
tribes, uplift of women, educati<strong>on</strong> in public health and hygiene, propagati<strong>on</strong> of nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
language, love for the mother t<strong>on</strong>gue, ec<strong>on</strong>omic equality, organizati<strong>on</strong> of kissans, labour<br />
and students and so <strong>on</strong>. Several organizati<strong>on</strong>s like All India Spinners Associati<strong>on</strong>. All<br />
India village IndustriesAssociati<strong>on</strong>, Go-Seva Sangh, Khadi Vidyalaya at Sewagram, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
Ashram at Tiruchungodi, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Niketan at Kallupatti, <strong>Gandhi</strong> Gram at Dindigal, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
Seva Sadan at Porur (Maladwar) and Kasturba Ashram in Trichur etc. All India Khadi and<br />
village industries board, Harijan Sewak Sangh, Hindustani Prachar Sangh were active in<br />
translating the c<strong>on</strong>structive programme into reality. <strong>Gandhi</strong> adopted the extensi<strong>on</strong><br />
philosophy and strategy for nati<strong>on</strong>al rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
From the above discussi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s theories of extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong> and his<br />
experiments in extensi<strong>on</strong> educati<strong>on</strong>, it is evident that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was both a theoretician and<br />
a practiti<strong>on</strong>er. He excelled in both. There is no theoretical or practical inc<strong>on</strong>sistency in his<br />
theories and practices. The same breath flows in both the streams. Educati<strong>on</strong> for him<br />
meant the educati<strong>on</strong> of the entire nati<strong>on</strong> and mankind. Educati<strong>on</strong> started for him even<br />
before a child is born and c<strong>on</strong>tinues till the death; Educati<strong>on</strong> meant not <strong>on</strong>ly good, ethical,<br />
democratic, scientific, humanitarian and other high principles but also practicing all these.<br />
Am<strong>on</strong>gst Indian thinkers he evolved the most complete theory and acti<strong>on</strong> plan for extensi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
References<br />
1. Kumar Krishna., Prospects, Paris, UNESCO : Internati<strong>on</strong>al Bureau of Educati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Vol.23, No.3/4, 1993. p.507.<br />
2. Sarvodaya, Vol.1, No.5, Jan-Feb, 2004.<br />
117
3. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Harijan, 1 December,<br />
Vol.56, 1933. pp.295-6.<br />
4. Nanda S.K., Indian Educati<strong>on</strong> and it’s Problems, Kalyani Publishers, 1997. P.41.<br />
5. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K, Views <strong>on</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Educati<strong>on</strong>, 1st September 1921.<br />
6. <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> Educati<strong>on</strong> : Excellent Collecti<strong>on</strong> of Quotes, Nati<strong>on</strong>al Council for Teacher<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
7. Rangan, K. Swachid, “A <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Agenda for Universal Educati<strong>on</strong>”.<br />
www.mkgandhi.org.<br />
8. Krishna Kumar, Kumar Krishna., PROSPECTS, Paris, UNESCO : Internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
Bureau of Educati<strong>on</strong>, Vol.23, No.3/4, 1993. p-507. – 17.<br />
9. Ibid.<br />
10. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Khadi Jagat, Vol. 82.<br />
1945. pp.143 – 144.<br />
11. Kripilani, J.B. <strong>Gandhi</strong> : His Life and Thought, Publicati<strong>on</strong> Divisi<strong>on</strong>, Ministry of<br />
Informati<strong>on</strong> and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 2003.<br />
12. Sir Mo<strong>on</strong> Penderal, <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Modern India, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>-ECU : The English<br />
Universities Press, p.123.<br />
13. Ibid., p.183.<br />
14. Ibid., p.275.<br />
15. Ibid., p.185.<br />
16. Ibid., p.184.<br />
17. Ibid., p.283.<br />
18. Bhumali,Anil., “Relevance of M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideal of self sufficient village Ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
in the 21st Century”. www.mkgandhi.org.<br />
19. Sarvodaya, Vol- 1. No. 5, Jan-Feb. 2004.<br />
20. Ibid.<br />
21. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The collected works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Harijan, 22 June, vol. 72,<br />
1940. pp.180 – 81.<br />
22. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., Views <strong>on</strong> Adult Educati<strong>on</strong>. www.mkgandhi.org.<br />
23. Ibid.<br />
24. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., Talk to Khadi Vidyalaya Students, Sevagram, Sevak, 15 Feb., Vol. 75,<br />
15 Februar, 1942. p.269.<br />
118
25. Ibid.<br />
26. <strong>Gandhi</strong> M.K., Speech at Bhagini Samaj, Ahemedabad : 20 Feb., Vol.14, 1918. p.206.<br />
27. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., Views <strong>on</strong> Nati<strong>on</strong>al Educati<strong>on</strong>. www.mkgandhi.org.<br />
28. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K., The Collected Works of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, 1st September, 1921.<br />
29. Dahama, O.P., O.P. Bhatnagar., Educati<strong>on</strong> and Communicati<strong>on</strong> for Development,<br />
Oxford IBH, New Delhi : 1985. p.23-26.<br />
30. Tendulkar, D.G., Mahatma, life of Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong>, New Delhi :<br />
The Publicati<strong>on</strong>s divisi<strong>on</strong>, Ministry of Informati<strong>on</strong> and Broadcasting, Government<br />
of India, Vol. – I, 1951. pp. 67-69.<br />
31. Mani R.S., Educati<strong>on</strong>al Ideas and Ideals of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Tagore : A Comparative<br />
study, New Delhi : New Book Society of India, 1995. pp.35-36.<br />
32. Tendulkar, D.G., Mahatma, life of Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong>, New Delhi :<br />
The Publicati<strong>on</strong>s divisi<strong>on</strong>, Ministry of Informati<strong>on</strong> and broadcasting, Government<br />
of India, Vol.– I, 1951. pp.117-118.<br />
33. Ibid, pp123-124.<br />
34. Mani, R.S., Educati<strong>on</strong>al Ideas and Ideals of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Tagore : A Comparative<br />
study, pp.36-44.<br />
35. Tendulkar, D.G., Mahatma, life of Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong>, pp211-213.<br />
36. Mani, R.S., Educati<strong>on</strong>al Ideas and Ideals of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Tagore : A Comparative<br />
study, pp.49-51.<br />
37. Tendulkar, D.G., Mahatma, life of Mohandas Karamchand <strong>Gandhi</strong>, pp306-307.<br />
38. Mani, R.S., Educati<strong>on</strong>al Ideas and Ideals of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Tagore : A Comparative<br />
study, pp.46-48.<br />
“Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong>ce advised us always to assume in our opp<strong>on</strong>ents the<br />
highest motives capable of explaining their acti<strong>on</strong>s. This was not goody-goody<br />
advice but hard political sense.”<br />
119<br />
-Stringfellow Barr
GANDHI AND MARX<br />
(A study in comparative political philosophy)<br />
120<br />
Ganeswar Nayak*<br />
Our country is passing through a period of grave intellectual crisis .We have lost<br />
faith in our moral values and spiritual norms. The tremendous moral and spiritual forces<br />
which were released by the pers<strong>on</strong>ality of <strong>Gandhi</strong> are declining. The presence of rampant<br />
corrupti<strong>on</strong> ,the dominance of m<strong>on</strong>ey and muscle power in the electi<strong>on</strong>, growth of terrorism,<br />
separatism and naxalisnm are eloquent testim<strong>on</strong>ies to the fact that in the post <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
India, old idealism of the prophet is withering away .We are now more careful for<br />
expediency. Hence intellectually we are c<strong>on</strong>fused state. Because of intellectual opaqueness,<br />
we are not clear and firm about the course of our future acti<strong>on</strong>. The important problem is<br />
how our country shall become powerful and vital sphere of political and ec<strong>on</strong>omic existence.<br />
Marxism because of its success in some countries appears to be assuming the character<br />
of a prophetic dispensati<strong>on</strong>. Hence for us, and especially for the intellectuals, it is necessary,<br />
<strong>on</strong>ce more, to discuss the fundamentals of political philosophies. There are several creeds<br />
and cults engaging our attenti<strong>on</strong>. The western democratic equalitarianism is <strong>on</strong>e, and<br />
politically we are committed to that. There is general prevalent belief that this political<br />
form is suited to the instituti<strong>on</strong>al realizati<strong>on</strong> of the moral idealism of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an political<br />
philosophy. There is also the socialistic formulae with the combinati<strong>on</strong> of democracy and<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic plans, for full employment, material plenty and righteous distributi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Communism is fashi<strong>on</strong>able in some circles and although it indulges in occasi<strong>on</strong>al quotati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
from Marx and Engel, it, basically, is inspired by the plans and formulae of Russia and<br />
lately new china.<br />
No philosophy of History can be separated from the impact of the pers<strong>on</strong>ality of the<br />
original creator of the system <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not an academic theoretician but that does not<br />
detract from his importance. He was a moral prophet and leader. Marx was trained in the<br />
traditi<strong>on</strong> of German left wing Hegelian metaphysic .He believes in the efficacy of logical<br />
reas<strong>on</strong> and for over thirty year he labored and toiled persistently to finish his system<br />
although the basic insights that he worked in to his theory were felt and perceived by<br />
1848. In 1883 Engel eulogized Marx as the greatest living thinker and compared him to<br />
Darwin. <strong>Gandhi</strong> has influenced people through his pen and his serm<strong>on</strong>s, but, above all, the<br />
attractive pers<strong>on</strong>ality of the gentle prophet and undaunted leader always evoked a feeling<br />
of respect from many quarters .But while <strong>Gandhi</strong> was generous even to his opp<strong>on</strong>ents,<br />
Marx was a perpetual fighter. He was an aggressive pers<strong>on</strong>ality, always c<strong>on</strong>scious of his<br />
towering intellectual strength, which he thought, because of false and perverse<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sciousness, the c<strong>on</strong>temporary philistines failed to organize and appreciate. His passi<strong>on</strong><br />
* Lecturer in History, SKCG Aut<strong>on</strong>omous College, Paralakhemundi.
for Germanic scholarly thoroughness is apparent in his work and most so in the three<br />
1<br />
volumes of the p<strong>on</strong>derous Das capital and the gigantic Theories of Surplus value .<br />
Metaphysical Idealism versus Dialectical Materialism<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> sincerely and thoroughly believed in an omnipresent, omniscient, infinite,<br />
timeless reality which could be called Sachidananda or Rama or simple truth. He inherited<br />
the str<strong>on</strong>g faith in the existence of a spiritual real from his Vaisnav family .2 The writing of<br />
Tolstoy, and his studies of Buddha and the Gita deepened and strengthened hiss visi<strong>on</strong><br />
.Hence <strong>Gandhi</strong> was spiritual idealist but not a n<strong>on</strong> dualist school. The spiritual truth<br />
according to him was to be realized not by logical ingenuity, discursive analyses or<br />
c<strong>on</strong>ceptual categorizati<strong>on</strong>, but by inner spiritual experience, pure, heavenly- minded and<br />
god fearing life and by persistent endeavor to c<strong>on</strong>cretize the standard of Ahimsa in <strong>on</strong>es<br />
life and acti<strong>on</strong>. Thus we find synthesis of vedantic metaphysics and Jaina –Buddha ethics<br />
in <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He even claimed that the more disciplined, holier and purer he became, the<br />
more did he approximate to the realizati<strong>on</strong> of truth as God His faith in fundamental truth<br />
was born not out of syllogistic and dem<strong>on</strong>strative arguments but out of intuiti<strong>on</strong>, faith and<br />
spiritual experience.<br />
Marx <strong>on</strong> the other hand was a rati<strong>on</strong>alist. Mysticism and faith were anathema to<br />
him. Idealist philosophy, according to him, tried to hypostatize the functi<strong>on</strong>al products of<br />
humane brain and thus exalted mind –born ideas as the Absolute Idea and Demiurges of<br />
the world .He was inspired by the materialistic traditi<strong>on</strong> of Democritus, Epicurus, Hobbes,<br />
Holbach, and felt delight in the applicati<strong>on</strong> of the dialectical methodology of German<br />
philosophy to social science. 3 According to dialectical materialism of Marx and Engel,<br />
nature society and humane brain moved and functi<strong>on</strong>ed, as if in a process of incessant flux<br />
and dynamic moti<strong>on</strong>. There is no static moti<strong>on</strong>less ultimate reality.<br />
The main point for critic regarding the choice between Marxism materialism and<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an idealism centers <strong>on</strong> the inscrutable nature of the ultimate reality .Both camps<br />
idealism and materialism are advancing new arguments and recruiting new propaganda .4<br />
Ethical Absolutism versus Ethical Relativism<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> accepted spiritual idealism, but unlike the vedantic exp<strong>on</strong>ents of Mayavada,<br />
he believed in the supremacy of ethical absolutism. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an theory of ethical<br />
absolutism can be traced to the Vedic c<strong>on</strong>cept of the Rita or the doctrine that there are all<br />
–governing cosmic and moral ordinance which govern both men and gods. <strong>Gandhi</strong> must<br />
have been aware of these insights. 5 His pers<strong>on</strong>al experience, studies and thought also<br />
c<strong>on</strong>vinced him of the categorically binding character of the moral value .Hence he<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidered truth and n<strong>on</strong> –violence to be absolutely and categorically binding. Thus it is<br />
clear that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’ s c<strong>on</strong>cept of truth and N<strong>on</strong>-violence being eternal values and absolutely<br />
binding <strong>on</strong> all pers<strong>on</strong>s is completely immune from the charges religi<strong>on</strong> being a reacti<strong>on</strong>ary<br />
121
gospel or a mask for protecting the interest of the power –holders. Marxism <strong>on</strong> the other<br />
hand, accepts the relativism of the moral criteria and regards ethical codes as the products<br />
of our social growth .6 There are no eternal and moral principles and the ethical system is<br />
relative to the relati<strong>on</strong>s of the producti<strong>on</strong>. The Marxian theory of ethical relativism receives<br />
support from researchers of social science.<br />
This questi<strong>on</strong> of ethical absolutism versus ethical relativism is indeed fundamental.<br />
On the <strong>on</strong>e side we find Buddha, Kant and <strong>Gandhi</strong> preaching the absolute sanctity of<br />
moral norms, and <strong>on</strong> the other we find historicists, sociologists and anthropologist standing<br />
for relativism of even the most sacred ideas about humane relati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
The theory of moral universalism and absolutism, are restated by <strong>Gandhi</strong>, is<br />
significant for worlds thought .For strengthening the moral foundati<strong>on</strong>s of a humane<br />
comm<strong>on</strong>wealth, the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an theory of ethical absolutism is more suited than the relativism<br />
of Marxism.<br />
But in spite of difference between the theoretical standpoints of the two teachers it<br />
must be pointed out that in their pers<strong>on</strong>a lives and carriers both were fundamentally idealist.<br />
Both believed in the value of freedom. Both were men of solid character, and nothingfavor<br />
or frown, fear or temptati<strong>on</strong>, could make them compromise with what they c<strong>on</strong>sidered<br />
vital principles of their life.<br />
Religi<strong>on</strong> as a factor in History-<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> recognized the potency of religi<strong>on</strong> in humane history. Although he called<br />
himself a Hindu, he was no narrow dogmatic sectarian. Like Buddha and Ramakrishna, he<br />
had transcended the limited bounds of creeds, cults rituals and cerem<strong>on</strong>ies .7 He accepted<br />
the moral essence of Hinduism which, according to him, was also the inherent essence of<br />
all great religi<strong>on</strong>s of mankind which, according to him, was also inherent essence of all<br />
great religi<strong>on</strong>s of mankind, as for example, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and<br />
Zoroastrianism. Religi<strong>on</strong> according to <strong>Gandhi</strong> implied a dominant quest for and experience<br />
of the moral values .It al<strong>on</strong>e could provide dynamic inspirati<strong>on</strong> to dedicated selfless<br />
acti<strong>on</strong> .In the spirit of Gita, he felt that performed with sense of detachment and<br />
disinterestedness, the life of Karmayoga could lead to the attainment of moral freedom<br />
and spiritual Moksha. Thus when <strong>Gandhi</strong> talked of the religious basis of politics, he was<br />
preaching neither primitivism nor dogmatic scholatismn nor theocratic papalism, but a<br />
life of strenuous dynamic pursuit to calling in quest of the God of <strong>on</strong>e’s soul and mankind.<br />
In the present technocratic and mechanical phase of humane civilizati<strong>on</strong> with its stress <strong>on</strong><br />
the hed<strong>on</strong>istic calculus and ec<strong>on</strong>omic felicity, self interest and satisfacti<strong>on</strong> of needs and<br />
wants, <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong> of Karma yoga is an asserti<strong>on</strong> of the ethics of self –abnegati<strong>on</strong>. .8<br />
But Marx <strong>on</strong> the other hand denounced religi<strong>on</strong> as opium of the people. To the end<br />
of his life, he felt that religi<strong>on</strong> results in c<strong>on</strong>fusi<strong>on</strong> and mystify issues. Dialectical materialism<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siders religi<strong>on</strong> to be a reacti<strong>on</strong>ary force. Religi<strong>on</strong> according to Engel c<strong>on</strong>tains remnants<br />
122
of antiquated anthropomorphic c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>s of primitive period. 9 Marx and Engels preach<br />
that religi<strong>on</strong> is an ideology fitted to producti<strong>on</strong> relati<strong>on</strong>s of time. 10 It is also asserted that<br />
with the dawn of the society of freedom, abundance and equality, based <strong>on</strong> utilizati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
the knowledge of science, men would not need the c<strong>on</strong>solati<strong>on</strong> of religi<strong>on</strong>. Thus religious<br />
subservience to the blind force of capital would be replaced by the triumphant victory of<br />
positive science. At that fateful moment religi<strong>on</strong> and transcendental and metaphysic<br />
philosophy will not be needed at all .Religi<strong>on</strong> in its instituti<strong>on</strong>alized and historical phase<br />
does not c<strong>on</strong>tain formulae of compromise with the power that be. The orthodox Russian<br />
church supported Czardom .It has sought to provide a rati<strong>on</strong>al and metaphysical foundati<strong>on</strong><br />
for our moral endeavor and has tried to interpret the meaning of humane existence<br />
perpetually exposed to the ag<strong>on</strong>ies in a coherent fashi<strong>on</strong>. 11<br />
Religi<strong>on</strong> is essential for humane being. Religi<strong>on</strong> provides spiritual foundati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
our political and social existence. 12 Marx denunciati<strong>on</strong>s reminds <strong>on</strong>e of the old Jewish<br />
prophet and not modern social analyst. The technological-ec<strong>on</strong>omic interpretati<strong>on</strong> of History<br />
incorporates an element of “ determinism and a belief in the final triumph of the proletariat<br />
class. These noti<strong>on</strong>s of determinism and faith in ultimate victory are in religious traditi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Only the true religi<strong>on</strong> accepting the spiritual potentiality of men can provide the morally<br />
dynamic impetus to socially and political acti<strong>on</strong>. Religi<strong>on</strong> can transform the mind of men,<br />
not by theocratic sancti<strong>on</strong> or supernormal hypnosis, but by suggesti<strong>on</strong>, moral persuasi<strong>on</strong><br />
and exalting the inspiring character of religious heroes. Hence true ethical religi<strong>on</strong> is not<br />
opium of the people but nectar of mankind. 13<br />
Sociology and Ec<strong>on</strong>omics<br />
In <strong>on</strong>e sense <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx may be regarded as polar types. <strong>Gandhi</strong> sp<strong>on</strong>sored an<br />
idealist approach to social problems and regarded the betterment an ennoblement of humane<br />
nature as the foundati<strong>on</strong> of social ameliorati<strong>on</strong>. Marx <strong>on</strong> the other hand, had adopted an<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>al and sociological approach. He wanted to change the social structure as the<br />
prelude to the change of humane nature. Starting from different metaphycal orientati<strong>on</strong>s;<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx provide divergent prescripti<strong>on</strong>s for soluti<strong>on</strong> of social problems. The<br />
central evils against which <strong>Gandhi</strong> fought were racialism, imperialism, and communalism<br />
and untouchables. Marx fought against the reacti<strong>on</strong>ary policies of Prussian Government,<br />
engaged for a time in the revoluti<strong>on</strong>s of 1848, organized and led the first Internati<strong>on</strong>al, and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>centrated his intellectual energies <strong>on</strong> bringing about proletarian solidarity. According<br />
to <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the enemy was foreign imperialism; according to Marx it was bourgeois<br />
Capitalism. If <strong>Gandhi</strong> loved to speak of the” dumb milli<strong>on</strong>” or the” mute milli<strong>on</strong>”. Marx<br />
used to c<strong>on</strong>demn capital as the vampire that sucks the blood of the workers. But while<br />
Marx remained a leader of the proletariat, the saintly <strong>Gandhi</strong> in his pers<strong>on</strong>al life identified<br />
himself with the peasant to an extent far greater than the philosopher Marx could ever<br />
think of.<br />
123
<strong>Gandhi</strong> challenged the foundati<strong>on</strong> of modern civilizati<strong>on</strong>. The hed<strong>on</strong>ic, materialistic<br />
aspects of modern western civilizati<strong>on</strong> repelled him. 14 It was equivalent to darkness and<br />
disease. In Hindu –Swaraj he wrote an almost absolute ruralist 15 But in his later writings<br />
he was <strong>on</strong>ly opposed to the perversities of modern imperialism, fascism and the<br />
technological instruments of violence .Marxism grew in the c<strong>on</strong>text of the western industrial<br />
world. Marx worked out a philosophy of history where in the forces and relati<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
producti<strong>on</strong> were c<strong>on</strong>sidered the ultimate determinate of transformati<strong>on</strong>s of civilizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Sometimes we find in the Marxist writings the equating of the forces of producti<strong>on</strong> with<br />
technology, but most often, this phase is interpreted in a broad sense. Marx opposed to the<br />
fetishism of commodity which is charteristic of capitalism and which distorts humane<br />
relati<strong>on</strong>s between lifeless commodities. Furthermore, capitalist society is based <strong>on</strong> the<br />
merciless process of the extorti<strong>on</strong> of surplus value. It is a laboring class which creates<br />
value, but the surplus is appropriated by the exploiters. The detailed and specialized<br />
divisi<strong>on</strong> of labor creates minute areas of acti<strong>on</strong> and operati<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>verts man almost<br />
into an automati<strong>on</strong> who has lost all aesthic charm in his work. Hence this divisi<strong>on</strong> of labor<br />
should be replaced by a system which will produce the multi-sided man. The capitalist<br />
practice of calculati<strong>on</strong> in terms of m<strong>on</strong>etary profit should also be replaced by calculati<strong>on</strong><br />
in terms of labor. 16<br />
The relati<strong>on</strong> between man and his bread is eternal. His bred may not determine his<br />
thoughts but he must have bred and plenty of that. Both <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx have successes<br />
because they busied themselves with providing the soluti<strong>on</strong> to this problems- How<br />
everybody will provided with bread ? If, according to Marx the capitalist are robbers<br />
because they extract surplus unearned profit, according to the Gandian commentaries <strong>on</strong><br />
Asteya ( n<strong>on</strong>-stealing)anybody, who had more then what he barely needs, is a thief. Marx<br />
challenges accumulati<strong>on</strong> in all its shapes. 17 The prophetic role of <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx is<br />
brought out in their view <strong>on</strong> labor. Labor for him becomes a means of worshipping God<br />
.Marx exalts the c<strong>on</strong>cert physical labor of the workers. Marx, Tolstoy and <strong>Gandhi</strong> would<br />
be almost agreeing in thinking that capital is stored labor. Marx states that capital is<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cealed labor. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not tired of repeating that India s‘real capital c<strong>on</strong>sisted in her<br />
working populati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Both <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx are opposed to the capitalistic process of social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
exploitati<strong>on</strong>, but their emphasis is <strong>on</strong> different counts. <strong>Gandhi</strong> is a moral and spiritual<br />
individual. The individual seeking to better his character my moral techniques is starting<br />
point of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ethics. But Marx views is that organized expropriati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
expropriators by armed proletariat would destroy the the evils of the society. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believes<br />
that roots of the malady are not in the structure of the society but in the psycho comp<strong>on</strong>ent<br />
of man. Thus not individual wealth but the individualistic propensity towards the<br />
acquisiti<strong>on</strong> is central devil. Similarly <strong>Gandhi</strong> wanted the end of British regime. Marx<br />
would have said that the people who hold property do not have any inviolable right to it.<br />
124
Although he would not endorse Proudh<strong>on</strong>’ statement that property is theft; he would think<br />
that capitalistic extorti<strong>on</strong> of surplus is tinged with the blood of the proletariat.Any increase<br />
in the commodities c<strong>on</strong>stituting capita l represents a corresp<strong>on</strong>ding extorti<strong>on</strong> of unpaid<br />
labor from working class. There is realism in what Marx says, it appeals to our youthful<br />
sentiments to get the things d<strong>on</strong>e. Some of us can quote the Bhagavad-Gita with its doctrine<br />
of Dharma-yuddha or righteous war to support Marx. Asiatic intellectual may cite the<br />
example of Russian revoluti<strong>on</strong> and probably of the Chinese revoluti<strong>on</strong> as indicati<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
the strength of the combined exploited class under a determined ruthless leadership.<br />
Philosophy of Politics<br />
In a sense, both <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx is anarchist. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sidered the state as an<br />
organizati<strong>on</strong> of violence and force. He believed that in the ideal perfecti<strong>on</strong>ist society of<br />
Ramarajya there will operate the sovereignty of the moral authority of the people and the<br />
state as an instrument of c<strong>on</strong>centrated violence would cease to exist. 18 Increasing perfecti<strong>on</strong><br />
of the state through the applicati<strong>on</strong> of the precepts, methods and techniques of n<strong>on</strong> –<br />
violent democracy should be immediate goal although the ultimate aim is moral anarchism<br />
c<strong>on</strong>ceptualized as Ramarajya.<br />
According to Marx, the capitalistic state would be replaced by the proletariat<br />
dictatorship. The dictatorship of proletariat as pointed by Lenin would be the highest<br />
c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> of state power. It will build the foundati<strong>on</strong>s for the ultimate classless society.<br />
The communist society will be sec<strong>on</strong>d phase of communism. Since according to Marx,<br />
the state is the child of social exploitati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sequent <strong>on</strong> the growth of commodity<br />
producti<strong>on</strong>, the socializati<strong>on</strong> of the means of producti<strong>on</strong> and the end of private appropriati<strong>on</strong><br />
would mean the withering away of the state.<br />
In spite of a comm<strong>on</strong> hostility to the iniquities, violence and exploitati<strong>on</strong> practiced<br />
by the state, <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Marx enormously differ with regard to their technique of acti<strong>on</strong>.<br />
While <strong>Gandhi</strong> stressed holy life in an Asrama for training in C<strong>on</strong>structive programme,<br />
and the Satyagraha, Marx emphasized class –solidarity and propaganda of communist<br />
ideology .19 While <strong>Gandhi</strong> to a certain extent has been influenced by the suffragettes and<br />
the Sinn Fein Movements, the Paris Commune of 1871 inspired Marx.<br />
Philosophy of Freedom<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> believes that he literary believed that not a leaf moves without sancti<strong>on</strong><br />
from the divine. To the atheist, this may appear to be an extreme statement. In its exaggerated<br />
from, a theological determinism can lead to occasi<strong>on</strong>alism .20 <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that in the<br />
ultimate sense, God or Truth being the final reality and omnicompetent being, it was the<br />
supreme determinant of things and the governor of the movement of the world .But divine<br />
determinism in <strong>Gandhi</strong> applied <strong>on</strong>ly to the ultimate explanati<strong>on</strong> of things. True freedom<br />
means realizati<strong>on</strong> of self or Atma. Spiritual and moral freedom for <strong>Gandhi</strong> lay not in the<br />
125
egoistic asserti<strong>on</strong>s of the claims of the selfish, vain and lustful empirical ego but in<br />
identificati<strong>on</strong> with and obedience to the commands of the spiritual being or truth. To<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> freedom means a totality or a whole. Nati<strong>on</strong>al freedom (swaraj) from the b<strong>on</strong>dage<br />
of alien rulers and exploiters, moral freedom from the slavery passi<strong>on</strong>s, and spiritual freedom<br />
as the emancipati<strong>on</strong> of the soul were the phases of freedom. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji held that a men who<br />
obtains freedom over his passi<strong>on</strong>s would not tolerate the social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic exploitati<strong>on</strong><br />
of his country because the citizens there of are really his own selves.<br />
Marx received from the scientific rati<strong>on</strong>alism of the Enlightment movement in France<br />
and Germany the belief in the stupendous power of reas<strong>on</strong>s to create better society and<br />
happier future for man. 21 Freedom according to Marx means the accentuati<strong>on</strong> of rati<strong>on</strong>ality<br />
entailing the c<strong>on</strong>sequent transmutati<strong>on</strong> of the necessity, writ large up<strong>on</strong> the face of nature;<br />
in to freedom .Large scale planning would create c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong> whereby increased producti<strong>on</strong><br />
with less amount of work would be possible. 22 Marx was a child of the scientific and<br />
technological civilizati<strong>on</strong> of the capitalist west. He therefore did not prescribe the Plat<strong>on</strong>ic<br />
limitati<strong>on</strong> of needs and wants as <strong>Gandhi</strong> did. He <strong>on</strong> the other hand propounded the use of<br />
mechanized power for catering to the needs not of a selfish group but of the entire proletariat<br />
collectivity. Although <strong>Gandhi</strong> modified his old denunciati<strong>on</strong> of machinery as found in<br />
Hind –swaraj, he always accorded grudging recogniti<strong>on</strong>. But Marx and Lenin felt that<br />
socialism is impossible without mechanizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
In an era of accentuated producti<strong>on</strong> of commodity and fashi<strong>on</strong> goods, new wants are<br />
being created and men are busy increasing their standard of living. In eastern countries<br />
also there is quest for planning, capital accumulati<strong>on</strong>, heavy industries and the other adjuncts<br />
of a scientific and technological and scientific civilizati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a champi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
simplicity. As realist he felt that the expansi<strong>on</strong> of demands is bound to result in<br />
minimizati<strong>on</strong> of freedom because fresh demands means increasing dependence of others.<br />
Hence we think there is great wisdom in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views that minimizati<strong>on</strong> of wants<br />
al<strong>on</strong>e can prepare the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s of Individual freedom and rights.<br />
C<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was a nati<strong>on</strong>al liberator, a champi<strong>on</strong> of Asian c<strong>on</strong>sciousness, a saint and<br />
moral revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary who preached the supremacy of Satyagraha. He stressed the moral<br />
bankruptcy of modern civilizati<strong>on</strong> and prescribed the sanctity of ethical substance and<br />
universal moral will. Marx did represent a reacti<strong>on</strong> against western civilizati<strong>on</strong> .In his fury<br />
against malady of capitalism, he become blind to the moral aspect of western civilizati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> thought that a peaceful soluti<strong>on</strong> of our problems is not <strong>on</strong>ly possible but also the<br />
<strong>on</strong>ly way to have a real permanent soluti<strong>on</strong>. Marx wants radical change in the social<br />
structure even by resort to force .In the name of emancipati<strong>on</strong> of proletariat he thinks it<br />
wise to take tooth for tooth and nail for a nail. Marx was a thinking realist a colossal<br />
scholar of history, politics and ec<strong>on</strong>omic thought for his theory of scientific socialism<br />
126
uilt <strong>on</strong> the foundati<strong>on</strong>s of historical materialism and ec<strong>on</strong>omic of surplus value. His<br />
vitriolic pr<strong>on</strong>ouncements against Proudh<strong>on</strong>, Lassalle and Bakunin are integral porti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
of History of the proletariat revoluti<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the angelic saint forgave his opp<strong>on</strong>ents<br />
and even the men who physically assaulted and killed him .Marx saw deep but <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
visi<strong>on</strong> were deeper. There is possibility that that Marx dream may be realized at least in<br />
some more countries. . But <strong>on</strong> the eventual realizati<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Ideas of truth and n<strong>on</strong><br />
violence, freedom and culture .depends the future humane peace<br />
Is it too idealist to hope that we can find a way to synthesize the ethical absolutism<br />
with <strong>Gandhi</strong> with the emphasis of Marx <strong>on</strong> the immediate and radical soluti<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic problems in favor of exploited class .If the social realism of Marx and ethical<br />
idealism of <strong>Gandhi</strong> can be rec<strong>on</strong>ciled, the world will be happier. But this will mean partial<br />
renunciati<strong>on</strong> of the Marxist belief in violence. Force might have been the midwife of<br />
every society pregnant with the birth of a new <strong>on</strong>e but in worlds faced with portentous<br />
doom of nuclear annihilati<strong>on</strong>, the cult of armed ideology to be substantially modified.<br />
One may not go to the extent of loving the opp<strong>on</strong>ent. But by organized campaign of hatred,<br />
falsehood and c<strong>on</strong>spiracy have to be end.<br />
If certain sociological and political c<strong>on</strong>straints were absent, Marxism would be willing<br />
to t<strong>on</strong>e down its fanatical attachment to violence. <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm represents the progressive<br />
intensificati<strong>on</strong> of social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic realism .It is the task before the philosophical<br />
intellectuals individuals to build a comprehensive synthesis based <strong>on</strong> preservati<strong>on</strong> both of<br />
individual moral liberty and comm<strong>on</strong> good of society.<br />
Reference<br />
1. N. Bukharin, Marxism and Modern Thought, p7<br />
2. J . H. Murihead and S Radhakrishnan (Ed) C<strong>on</strong>temporary India Philosophy, p.204<br />
3. L. Fischer, <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Stalin, New York, 1947 p.194<br />
4. V. P Verma, Indian Political Philosophy, Agra, 1959, 1959, p20<br />
5. D. D. Mohan, The Philosophy of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Madis<strong>on</strong>, 1953<br />
6. Shelling and Revoluti<strong>on</strong>, Collected works of Marx and Engels. Vol 2 , p224<br />
7. Collected works of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, 103, Hindu Dharma ,Ahemadabad, Navjivan, 1950<br />
8. Collected works of Marks and Engels, vol –I, p103<br />
9. Collected works of Marx and Engels, vol 2 p224<br />
10. Capital (Chigo editi<strong>on</strong>) vol 1 p91<br />
11. Joseph A Schumpter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, New York, 2 nd editi<strong>on</strong>,<br />
pp5-8<br />
127
12. AN Whitehead, Science and Modern World., Sri Aurobindo Life Divine., N Berdyaev,<br />
Freedom and the Spirit FH Bradely, Ethical studies.<br />
13. VP Verma, The Political Philosiphy of Mahatnma <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
14. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Hind Swaraj, Also <strong>Gandhi</strong> articles collected in Young India(in<br />
Hindi)3 vol<br />
15. In his article British rule in India (1853) Marx harped <strong>on</strong> the stagnating character of<br />
village communities. To him, due to their traditi<strong>on</strong>alism “barbarian egotism” limited<br />
outlook and the c<strong>on</strong>taminating distincti<strong>on</strong> of caste, these villege communities led<br />
almost a passive and vegetative sort of existence. They are unmindful of the ruin of<br />
empires and the massacre of the populati<strong>on</strong> of large towns. Thus they transformed a<br />
self developing social state into never –changing natural destiny and thus brought<br />
about a brutalizing worship of nature.<br />
16. Bohm –Bawerk ,Karl Marx and the close of the system, L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>,1893pp66-192<br />
17. Capital, Vol, chapter XXX to XXXIII<br />
18. B Bhattacharya , Evoluti<strong>on</strong> of Political of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Calcutta, 1969, p186<br />
19. V. P Verma op cit P263<br />
20. Malebranche (1638 -1715) was an occasi<strong>on</strong>alist who upheld that God determines<br />
bodily movement corresp<strong>on</strong>ding to mental process. Thus the permanent causal<br />
efficiency of God is posited un this system.<br />
21. The Trinitarian Formulae, third volume of capital, pp 954-55<br />
22. Ibid..<br />
“The milli<strong>on</strong>s of India live in the rural secti<strong>on</strong>s of India, and it was <strong>Gandhi</strong> who<br />
aroused them, made them shed their fear, and made them c<strong>on</strong>scious of destiny. Before<br />
the advent of <strong>Gandhi</strong> the nati<strong>on</strong>alist movement was am<strong>on</strong>g the intellectuals. He carried<br />
it to the masses. Nobody else in history was acclaimed by such multitudes of humanity.<br />
“<br />
E. Stanley J<strong>on</strong>es.<br />
128
ENGLISH LITERATURE AND MAHATMA GANDHI:<br />
SELECT REVIEW OF LITERATURE<br />
129<br />
Geeta Satapathy*<br />
Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
There is a plethora of writings <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Scholars of various disciplines including<br />
politics, ec<strong>on</strong>omics, psychology, educati<strong>on</strong>, ethics, sociology and literature have written<br />
extensively <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Biographers and general writers have also c<strong>on</strong>tributed a vast<br />
literature <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. His friends, followers, opp<strong>on</strong>ents, and critics during life time and<br />
after have equally added to the literature <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. And as such any review of literature<br />
<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> can <strong>on</strong>ly be a limited exercise. The present paper attempts to analyse works <strong>on</strong><br />
literary assessment <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to English literature and assessment<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s link with English language and literature is a less explored aspect. The present<br />
article attempts to fill this gap. It attempts to arouse interest am<strong>on</strong>gst scholars of English<br />
literature to assess <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a writer. It deals with the works <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> and English<br />
literature.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s link with English is infact manifold. With his voluminous writings in English<br />
including translati<strong>on</strong>s from Gujurati which he made himself and those of others which he<br />
vetted make him <strong>on</strong>e of the most prolific Indian writers in English. Most of his writings<br />
are essays, screeches and letters. They are journalistic in nature. Most were prompted by<br />
c<strong>on</strong>temporary political events and queries from critics and followers. Yet, the writings<br />
were not without tremendous literary value. <strong>Gandhi</strong> also influenced Bhasa writers and<br />
Indo Anglican literature. He c<strong>on</strong>tinues to inspire c<strong>on</strong>temporary writers. Few noted literary<br />
critics have analysed these aspects. It is well-known that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was opposed to English<br />
rule and for that matter any foreign rule. However he was not opposed to English language<br />
and literature. An attempt is being made in the following paragraphs to summerise the<br />
views of critics.<br />
K.R.S. Iyenger is the doyen of Indo- Anglican literature. K.R.S Iyenger certainly<br />
popularized critical study of Indo Anglican literature. He was the chief authority in the last<br />
century with his encylopaedic works <strong>on</strong> Indo Anglican literature. In this particular work<br />
two chapters are devoted to <strong>Gandhi</strong>. One an Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself and the other <strong>on</strong> the<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> literature. Besides these Iyanger also reflects <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>cluding chapter.<br />
Echoing the views of many, Iyenger questi<strong>on</strong>s <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s claim for a place in Indo-<br />
Anglican literature as a writer. “<strong>Gandhi</strong> was no writer, properly so called, nor was he at<br />
any time particularly interested in the art of writing’ but he had to write and talk a great<br />
deal (Often in English) as we have to walk or eat or breath” (p.248). Recognising the<br />
*Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, KIITS <strong>University</strong>, Patia, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>.
importance of <strong>Gandhi</strong> at least in India between two world wars (1919 – 1945) Iyenger<br />
notes “life could not be the same as before, and every segment of our nati<strong>on</strong>al life –<br />
politics, ec<strong>on</strong>omics, educati<strong>on</strong>, religi<strong>on</strong>, social life language and literature – acquired a<br />
more <strong>on</strong> less pr<strong>on</strong>ounced <strong>Gandhi</strong>an hue” (p.248). Thus Iyenger recognizes that <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
exercised a tremendous influence <strong>on</strong> our languages, <strong>on</strong> literatures through his own writings<br />
in English and Gujurati and through the writings of others both Indo-Anglican and<br />
Vernacular who came under his influence. Iyenger also calls the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an period (1920-<br />
48) the phoenix hour of India. A new life gushed forward through the new views of India.<br />
Thus Iyenger c<strong>on</strong>cludes “No apology is pleaded therefore for c<strong>on</strong>sidering <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a<br />
writer and as a formative influence <strong>on</strong> the writers of his time” (p.249). Iyenger goes <strong>on</strong> to<br />
highlight the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy of life in all its facets politics, ec<strong>on</strong>omics, culture,<br />
religi<strong>on</strong> and spirituality. Iyenger c<strong>on</strong>siders Hind Swaraj as the locus classics am<strong>on</strong>g <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
writings. Iyenger instead of holding that Tolstay, Threaou, Ruskin, Plato, Dada Bhai Naroji<br />
and R.C. Dutt etc shaped the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideal, argues that <strong>Gandhi</strong> found echoes of his own<br />
c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong> in these writers. “Evidently <strong>Gandhi</strong> had anxiously sought corroborati<strong>on</strong> for his<br />
inner most c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s in the writings of others so that he might not be misled by himself<br />
or mislead his country men” (p.251). Iyenger finds that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s reading was selective not<br />
voracious yet his mind was receptive and creative. Hind Swaraj though written around<br />
(1908 – 1909) was the spring of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s thought. Iyenger at length draws the germs of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an political, ec<strong>on</strong>omic, educati<strong>on</strong>al and ethical thoughts from <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s three<br />
principal works namely the Hind Swaraj, Satyagraha in South Africa and Experiments<br />
With Truth – An Autobiography. Besides establishing <strong>Gandhi</strong> place or positi<strong>on</strong> as a prose<br />
writer, an essayist Iyenger also recognizes <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a translator of ancient poetry. It<br />
would be out of place here to provide any extensive descripti<strong>on</strong> of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought as<br />
identified by Iyenger. However Iyenger’s observati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>an style of writing and<br />
speaking needs to be reflected. “<strong>Gandhi</strong> had neither the time nor the inclinati<strong>on</strong> to cultivate<br />
the so called art of writing or speaking in English. He merely wrote or spoke straight <strong>on</strong>,<br />
and when we read them today the word seem to be often insipid or anemic, with no colour,<br />
no radiating brilliance. Yet they are <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s words, and their very bareness c<strong>on</strong>stitutes<br />
their strength” (p.263). Iyenger c<strong>on</strong>tinues to argue that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s pers<strong>on</strong>ality and his sincerity<br />
of purpose puts strength to his words, his style and indeed makes him a great writer, “but<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s mastery of language, however deceptively or disarmingly bare and simple, was<br />
never less than adequate to the place, mood or occasi<strong>on</strong>. (pp.263-64).<br />
Iyenger quotes extensively from <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s celebrated Banaras <strong>University</strong> Speech<br />
(Feb. 1916) to exemplify <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s powerful and effective style. Referring to the security<br />
arrangement for the Viceroy <strong>Gandhi</strong> spoke “why this distrust? Is it not better that even<br />
lord Harding’s should die than live a living death?” (p.264). <strong>Gandhi</strong> was critical not <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
of foreign rulers but also the Indians themselves. Referring to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s power of c<strong>on</strong>vincing<br />
his opp<strong>on</strong>ents Iyenger endorses the views of Prof. Vivian d Sala Pinto that <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
c<strong>on</strong>verted a drag<strong>on</strong> and this is much more difficult than killing a drag<strong>on</strong>. Iyenger also<br />
130
efers to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cluding statement in the great trial of 1922 and he calls it imperishable<br />
classic from our quest and struggle for freedom. “I have no desire whatsoever to c<strong>on</strong>ceal<br />
from this quote the fact that to preach disaffecti<strong>on</strong> towards the existing system government<br />
has become almost a passi<strong>on</strong> with me… I knew that I was playing with fire. I ran the risk<br />
and if I was set free, I would still do the same… I had either to submit to a system which<br />
I c<strong>on</strong>sidered had d<strong>on</strong>e inseparable harm to my country, or incur the risk of the mad furry of<br />
my people”. Further <strong>Gandhi</strong> was referring to his commitment to n<strong>on</strong>violence and the<br />
unfortunate incident of Chouri Choura. (p.268).<br />
Comparing <strong>Gandhi</strong> with Sri Aurobindo he finds how both used similar ideas in<br />
distinctly different manner. He writes “there were, indeed, many parallels between <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
thoughts <strong>on</strong> Swaraj and Swadeshi, self mastery and passive resistance, and Sri Aurobindo’s,<br />
although the latter’s had a more pr<strong>on</strong>ounced spiritual accent where as the former;s had an<br />
obvious ethical accent. But both saw that mastery of the self had to come first and that it<br />
would be no easy canter to the goal” (p.257). Iyenger endorses the view of Jawaharlal<br />
Nehru that with the death of <strong>Gandhi</strong> at least a particular sort of light went out.<br />
Iyenger argues that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was no systematic thinker or system builder. He had<br />
spurts of intuiti<strong>on</strong> which were like sparks from the anvil and <strong>Gandhi</strong> succeeded in expressing<br />
them in memorable terms. These, Iyenger, further stresses that though <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a man<br />
of acti<strong>on</strong> and a practical man, be was primarily a man of God. Religi<strong>on</strong> of truth was<br />
central. He was a humanist and a religious man more than a nati<strong>on</strong>alist and a patriot.<br />
Reflecting <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s thought and ideals Iyenger insists that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>tradicti<strong>on</strong> were<br />
rec<strong>on</strong>ciled with the practical requirements of a karmayogi. He cites few examples like<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s hope that Hindustani would become the nati<strong>on</strong>al language of India but c<strong>on</strong>tinued<br />
to write and speak English. He distrusted machines and c<strong>on</strong>ceded that human body is a<br />
w<strong>on</strong>derful machine. He was critical of fast traveling but used car and train when c<strong>on</strong>venient.<br />
He wanted English to free India yet he was not opposed to their c<strong>on</strong>tinued stay. He wanted<br />
a change of their heart. Iyenger points out these to sustain his view that <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a<br />
pragmatist, no arm chair thinker and a practical man of acti<strong>on</strong>. With his ideas and acti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> revoluti<strong>on</strong>ized our political life and in turn our writing.<br />
Iyenger argued that <strong>Gandhi</strong> erred in denying art’s aut<strong>on</strong>omy and pre-eminence.<br />
(p.272) Iyenger agrees that <strong>Gandhi</strong> carried forward the new Indian traditi<strong>on</strong> of writing<br />
excellently in both Gujarati and English like Rammohan (Bengali and English) and Tilak<br />
(Marahati and English). Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> was no great scholar, his simplicity, pointedness<br />
and clarity was refreshing in c<strong>on</strong>trast to heaviness of earlier Indian writings. Amplitude,<br />
richness of phrasing and weight of miscellaneous learning had to give way to a bare and<br />
austere. Yet <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not lack in fullness (p.272). As a rule, the, Indian writing and<br />
speaking in English since the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an revoluti<strong>on</strong> has tended to be wisely utilitarian,<br />
cultivating the virtues of clarity and directness and brevity rather than eloquence and<br />
elaborati<strong>on</strong> and exuberance” (p.273). Iyenger finds a world of difference between the<br />
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earlier writings of Rammohan Roy, Malariya, Surendranath Banerjee etc <strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong>e hand and<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, Patel, Subas Bose <strong>on</strong> the other hand. Iyenger compares the speech of Ambika<br />
Charan Mazumdar with that of Sardar Balalbhai Patel to bringout the difference. Similarly<br />
Iyenger also quotes from Rajaji and Nehru to highlight the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an style and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tent. Iyenger argues that many followed <strong>Gandhi</strong> and used short sentences <strong>on</strong>e after<br />
another like strokes of painting brush. <strong>Gandhi</strong> used words of anguish, purity and even<br />
exert in a simple manner without ornamentati<strong>on</strong>. The impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an style was<br />
immediate and l<strong>on</strong>g lasting. <strong>Gandhi</strong> also used imagery without much intricacy. Iyenger<br />
goes <strong>on</strong> to argue that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s influence was not limited to political essayist of c<strong>on</strong>temporary<br />
period. <strong>Gandhi</strong> also influenced novelists and short story writers of vernacular and Indian<br />
English literature. At length Iyenger analyses the writings of Venu Chitale, K. Nagarajan,<br />
Raja Rao, Sarojini Naidu, R.R. Sreshta, Pyarelal and R.K. Narayan etc. Iyenger also refers<br />
to the vast literature <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. He observes that his followers, opp<strong>on</strong>ents and writers of<br />
various political c<strong>on</strong>victi<strong>on</strong>s have resp<strong>on</strong>ded to <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his views.<br />
M.K. Naik like Iyenger is <strong>on</strong>e of the most acclaimed critic of Indo-Anglican literature.<br />
M.K. Naik al<strong>on</strong>g with K.R.S Iyenger is <strong>on</strong>e of the most noted writer of history of Indian<br />
English literature. His “A history of Indian English Literature” is an all time classic. In the<br />
present limited survey of literature the whole book is not being taken up. The review is<br />
limited to Naik’s views <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Broadly Naik deals with <strong>Gandhi</strong> in two parts. One<br />
attempts to treat <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a English writer. The other attempts to treat the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
period of Indian English writing and the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an theme and style <strong>on</strong> Indian<br />
English writing.<br />
The present review attempt to identify the main streaks of Naik’s understanding.<br />
Naik chooses to christen the period 1920 to 1947 as the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an whirl wind to<br />
signify the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> the Indian English writings. Naik traces the political<br />
career of <strong>Gandhi</strong> to bring out how he was central to the events (including socio-political)<br />
in India. Infact no author, English or vernacular, <strong>Gandhi</strong>an <strong>on</strong> N<strong>on</strong>-<strong>Gandhi</strong>an could ignore<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, his acti<strong>on</strong>s and ideas. This is not to deny originality of theme in other writers but<br />
to assert the overbearing impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. It is not necessary here to trace the political<br />
career of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. The unprecedented awakening, the public participati<strong>on</strong> of women, the<br />
mass including the uneducated, the dalits, the Muslims and a host of other marginalized<br />
secti<strong>on</strong>s in India’s freedom movement happened largely due to <strong>Gandhi</strong>. With this the<br />
themes of Indian literature widened. Women participati<strong>on</strong> in public life, removal of<br />
untouchability, the ordeal of the freedom struggle, east west relati<strong>on</strong>ship, the communal<br />
problem and the plight of landless, down trodden, exploited and oppressed became the<br />
most compelling themes of Indian English writing. These themes were not limited to<br />
political essays, they percolated down to short stories, novels, drams, poems, and even<br />
cinemas. <strong>Gandhi</strong> also raised especially the political prose to a new height. Naik feels that<br />
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the nature and c<strong>on</strong>tent of Indian English writings would have been distinctly different<br />
without a <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Before we to trace <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s impact <strong>on</strong> Indian English writing, Naik’s<br />
views <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a writer can be summarized.<br />
Naik argues that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s world view evolved under the influence of the New<br />
Testament, The Gita, Ruskin’s Unto This Last, Thoreau’s Essays <strong>on</strong> Civil Disobedience,<br />
and works of Edward Carpenter and Tolstoy. Naik further argues that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views<br />
were also shaped largely by the Satyagraha and other political movements, his experiments<br />
in community living and his c<strong>on</strong>temporary milieu. He categorizes the writings into three<br />
periods, the L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> period 1888 – 91, the South African period 1893-1915 and the Indian<br />
period 1916-48. Quoting selectively from the writings of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Naik tries to bring out<br />
the essential views. He identifies the following, “<strong>Gandhi</strong> was no erudite scholar, by no<br />
means an original thinker with a razor sharp mind, nor a brilliant theoretician” (p.122).<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> declared “I have presented no new principles, but tried to restate old principles. I<br />
have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence are as old as the hills. All I<br />
have d<strong>on</strong>e is to experiment in both <strong>on</strong> as vast as a scale I could do”. Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> claims<br />
no originality and Naik tends to agree with him, <strong>Gandhi</strong> definitely brew a new drink. He<br />
ascribed new meanings to ancient Indian thought and his critics assert that <strong>Gandhi</strong> used<br />
the ancient writings of India selectively and out of c<strong>on</strong>text to sustain his own views. Other<br />
accuse him of a shallow understanding of India’s scripture. <strong>Gandhi</strong> even found justificati<strong>on</strong><br />
for n<strong>on</strong>-violence from Bhagavad Gita !<br />
Naik rightly asserts that doctrines such as soul force, passive resistance, n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
and purity of means were corner st<strong>on</strong>es of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ideology. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s principal c<strong>on</strong>cern<br />
included poverty alleviati<strong>on</strong>, empowerment of dalits, women and the marginalized. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
was deeply religious yet tolerant, had a spiritual quest for God realizati<strong>on</strong> and above all<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was highly experimental.<br />
During the South African (1893-1915) period <strong>Gandhi</strong> blossomed out as a<br />
disputati<strong>on</strong>ist, journalist and author. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s pamphlets, ‘An appeal to every, Britom in<br />
South Africa (1895), ‘The Indian franchise’(1895) and Grivances of the British Indians in<br />
South Africa’(1896) were fine examples of his vigorous plea for ameliorati<strong>on</strong> of the Indian<br />
c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>. Naik holds <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s ‘Hind Swaraj’ as his first major work. Naik points out<br />
views <strong>on</strong> Hind Swaraj varied in extremes. ‘John Middle t<strong>on</strong> Murrey and Gerald Heard<br />
held the book as a modern classic while G.K. Gokhle felt it to be crude and a hastily<br />
c<strong>on</strong>ceived book which the author would withdraw after he had spent a year in home land.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> himself asserted (1938) nearly 30 years after writing the book that he saw nothing<br />
to alter his views expressed in Hind Swaraj. Naik rightly asserts that Hind Swaraj reflects<br />
the essential world view of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s real struggle was not merely for political<br />
emancipati<strong>on</strong> from the British but from freedom of the b<strong>on</strong>dage of modern machine<br />
civilizati<strong>on</strong>. He wanted to unleash the springs of Indian culture. Infact this is the major<br />
theme dominating the entire <strong>Gandhi</strong>an literature. During the South African period <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
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style and themes of writing got crystalised. During the Indian period (1916-48) <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
published two well known journals, ‘Young India’1919 to 1932 and ‘Harizan’ 1933 to 48.<br />
All the writings of <strong>Gandhi</strong> appeared here in serial form. Most of these were written originally<br />
in Gujurati and were translated not by the author but by others. These translati<strong>on</strong>s were<br />
mostly corrected and revised by <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself. Thus Naik argues that these writings<br />
cannot be put at par with Hind Swaraj which was translated by <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself. Further it<br />
can be argued that <strong>Gandhi</strong> never wrote in English but translated or revised translati<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
his work. Thus problems of analyzing his style remain. <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his translators also<br />
faced inherent difficulties of translati<strong>on</strong>. These difficulties forced <strong>Gandhi</strong> in no small<br />
measure to use Indian words and expressi<strong>on</strong>s to a great extent. He was also forced to<br />
provide rather lengthy descripti<strong>on</strong>s and analysis to put across Indian words and thought in<br />
the absence of appropriate English equivalence. Of course <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not <strong>on</strong>ly transcreating<br />
but also enriching the English language and literature in the process. Of the writings of<br />
Indian period the following are the major. The ‘Story of my experiments of truth’ (1927-<br />
28), Satyagraha in South Africa (1928), Discourses <strong>on</strong> the Gita’(1930), and From Yevarda<br />
Mandir-collecti<strong>on</strong> of letters from the Yevarda pris<strong>on</strong> (1932). Other works included,<br />
‘C<strong>on</strong>structive Programme its meaning and place’ (1941) and ‘Key to health’ (1948) etc.<br />
Besides these <strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote extensively in English. Majority of his English writings were<br />
letters and numerous speeches that he delivered. Infact the majority of his writings now<br />
placed in the 102, volumes of his complete works are in English. He also c<strong>on</strong>tinuously<br />
wrote short articles and note in English in the columns of ‘Young India and Harijan. These<br />
voluminous and numerous writings definitely place <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a writer of English language.<br />
The translati<strong>on</strong>s of his major books from Gujurati to English does not dilute his claims as<br />
a Indo-Anglican writers.<br />
“In c<strong>on</strong>trast to the opulent rhetoric of earlier stalwarts like Surendranath Banerjee<br />
and Pherozshah Mehta, <strong>Gandhi</strong> used a spare and simple, transparent and energetic style<br />
which eschewed all oratorical flourishes and communicated with the directness of an<br />
arrow hitting its mark. His early style of the L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> period is expectedly drab and colourless,<br />
for it is the expressi<strong>on</strong> of a diffident man wholly unsure of himself; but the transformati<strong>on</strong><br />
which his character and career underwent in South Africa lent a new vigour to his style<br />
without taking away its basic simplicity. With maturity also came a gift for homely analogy<br />
(e.g. his descripti<strong>on</strong> of the charkha as (not a new inventi<strong>on</strong> (but) a re-discovery like the<br />
discovery of its own mother by a strayed child), a happy knack of coining memorable<br />
phrases like ‘Himalayan blunder, ‘Satanic Government’, ‘Poem of pity’ (descripti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
the low) and ‘Drain Inspector’s Report’ (apropos of Miss Mayo’s attack <strong>on</strong> India), and a<br />
puckish sense of humour (e.g. ‘The woes of Mahatmas are known <strong>on</strong>ly to Mahatmas’) are<br />
noteworthy. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s place am<strong>on</strong>g modern India English prose writers is as distinctive as<br />
his role in the life of modern India has been. (p-125) Such is the assessment of M.K. Naik.<br />
Naik traces the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> his c<strong>on</strong>temporary writers like Nehru, Raj<br />
Gopalchari, Vallavbhai Patel, J.B. Kripalini, J.C. Mumarappa, Morarji Desai, G.<br />
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Ramchandran and Vinoba Bhave etc. Similarly those who were opposed to Gandih also<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributed to the Indian writings in English. Am<strong>on</strong>gst the opp<strong>on</strong>ents of <strong>Gandhi</strong> Naik<br />
enlists Subhash Chandra Bose, M.N. Roy, B.R. Ambedkar, V.D. Savarkar, Shyam Prasad<br />
Mookarjee and S.A. Dange etc.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> gave Indian journalism a new life and colour. <strong>Gandhi</strong> participated with others<br />
(like Radhakrishnan, Vivkananda and Aurobindo) in enriching religious and philosophical<br />
prose writings in India. <strong>Gandhi</strong> not <strong>on</strong>ly wrote an autobiography but also inspired others<br />
to write his biography. In fact today <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s biographies itself form an important<br />
comp<strong>on</strong>ent of the Indo-Anglican biographical literature. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life and views are<br />
reflected eminently in the Indian literature both English and vernacular. The <strong>Gandhi</strong> theme<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinues to inspire film makers.<br />
As a whole Naik finds <strong>Gandhi</strong> to be an epoch making writer. <strong>Gandhi</strong> does not bel<strong>on</strong>g<br />
to the genere of Indian English writers who intrinsically imbibed the style of English<br />
writers. His directness of style, choice of simple words extensive views of Indian (imagery),<br />
his sense of humour, his use of Indian words, and his coinage of new similies etc have<br />
secured an impeccable positi<strong>on</strong> in Indo- Anglian literature.(p.320) 2<br />
Sunil Klilnani in his work, provides <strong>on</strong>e of the most exhaustive analysis <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
and English. A free summary of his writing provide an interesting insight into “<strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
The Writer”. M.K. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was a central figure in the l<strong>on</strong>g and uneasy journey of English<br />
in becoming an Indian language. He found ways to make, the alien language of the rulers,<br />
intimate, fluent and cantankerous. English which had made the empire also unmade it. It<br />
was used to sub-ordinate people and ultimately used to usher freedom. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not a<br />
professi<strong>on</strong>al writer though he could have made his living through writing and journalism.<br />
He did not author any ficti<strong>on</strong> or works of imaginati<strong>on</strong>. In the initial years he wrote letters<br />
to the editors, short articles mostly <strong>on</strong> vegetarianism and petiti<strong>on</strong>s. Later <strong>on</strong> his prose<br />
included essays, some of which were l<strong>on</strong>g, autobiography, memories, letters in very large<br />
number and news paper articles. His writings mostly relate to the busy significance of his<br />
life and acts. Rhythms of politics, India’s struggle for freedom and for re-generati<strong>on</strong> defined<br />
his writings. <strong>Gandhi</strong> more than anybody else exemplified vividly Indian politics in English<br />
language for more than half a century. <strong>Gandhi</strong> pointed and structured human relati<strong>on</strong><br />
through the fragile architecture of language. He proved bey<strong>on</strong>d doubt that English though<br />
a foreign language in India is capable of portraying the inner most thoughts of Indians.<br />
Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> was opposed to modern capitalistic machine driven society and c<strong>on</strong>sidered<br />
mother t<strong>on</strong>gue to be the best medium of instructi<strong>on</strong> at least upto high school level of<br />
educati<strong>on</strong>, Yet he always accommodated English al<strong>on</strong>g with other Indian languages as a<br />
vital link between Indians and the world. English was his language of public communicati<strong>on</strong><br />
and the language in which he penned his thoughts. Most of his speeches have been published.<br />
The bulk of his spoken and written worlds have been published, running into over 100<br />
volumes. <strong>Gandhi</strong> began his journey with English like most other children of his time,<br />
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early in life unsteadily and uncomfortably. English was awesome and the language of the<br />
rulers, the bureaucrats and of the government. It had to be learnt through mother t<strong>on</strong>gue<br />
and mostly through translati<strong>on</strong> method. Gujurati was <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s mother t<strong>on</strong>gue and partially<br />
Urdu was spoken around. Like most Indian children of his time <strong>Gandhi</strong> learnt English<br />
almost in the reverse way. Every child learns mother t<strong>on</strong>gue first by listening, then by<br />
speaking and lastly by writing. In India in c<strong>on</strong>trast most children start writing English,<br />
follow it up with speaking and hardly listen to good English. Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote<br />
occasi<strong>on</strong>ally in Gujurati and spoke in Hindi and Gujurati he remained an Indian writer of<br />
English language till his death. In the initial years in South Africa <strong>Gandhi</strong> h<strong>on</strong>ed his skills<br />
by c<strong>on</strong>tinuously writing letters to the editors and drafting petiti<strong>on</strong>s and memorials <strong>on</strong><br />
behalf of the Indian community. During this period in South Africa he wrote two most<br />
substantial books Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha. These two works reflect the worth of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
as an accomplished Indo- Anglican writer.<br />
He learnt English in the school from St IV <strong>on</strong>wards <strong>on</strong>ly. In the High School<br />
examinati<strong>on</strong> the students were required to study subjects like Geography, Science and<br />
Mathematics in English medium. <strong>Gandhi</strong> acquired this necessary competency in English.<br />
After completing school educati<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> went for some time to a local college but decided<br />
very so<strong>on</strong> to go to England to pursue law. English had definitely opened windows for him<br />
though not swept him away. He was definitely interested and keen to go to England. Infact<br />
English had opened a new world for him. At the school level am<strong>on</strong>gst other things he had<br />
studied Paradise Lost and Pride and Prejudice. Indians generally used roat method to learn<br />
English just like Sanskrit. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was no excepti<strong>on</strong>. After reaching L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>, was<br />
forced to speak English and even experienced public speaking. In fact right during the sail<br />
he had to encounter this problem. In the initial year at L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> was enamoured<br />
with the English way of life and tried hard to become an English gentle man. Very so<strong>on</strong> he<br />
got over this fad and was himself again. <strong>Gandhi</strong> read Bell’s ‘Standard Elocuti<strong>on</strong>ist’ and<br />
though hesitant <strong>Gandhi</strong> evolved as a public speaker. He developed into a voracious,<br />
promisicuous reader : Gibb<strong>on</strong>, Theosophical pamplets and vegetarian tracts, all caught his<br />
attenti<strong>on</strong>. He was an immigrant, a radical in many ways, an intellectual of a different<br />
class, a spiritualist, a vegetarian and a c<strong>on</strong>cerned Indian all rolled into a strange and<br />
appealing phenomen<strong>on</strong>. His law educati<strong>on</strong>, involvement with marginal vegetarian and<br />
religious groups defined the boundaries of his involvement with English as a reader, speaker<br />
and writer. His earliest writings were related to vegetarianism. The articles were always<br />
short, written in simple English with a great deal of clarity in ideas and expressi<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
was definitely not exposed to a dose of classical, Latin Greek and literature of Elizabethan<br />
or Victorian English. Thus unlike other Indian writers of English like Aurobindo, <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
was not bound at all by the classical English style. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s exposure to English literature<br />
was limited to the prescribed texts at the school level. <strong>Gandhi</strong> did not go to a <strong>University</strong> in<br />
England. All these probably shaped his style to some extent. <strong>Gandhi</strong> returned to India<br />
armed with a law degree and put his skills of English language in drafting legal petiti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
136
He almost failed as a lawyer. In 1893 he sailed for South Africa hired by a Gujurati trader<br />
operating in South Africa. He was hired to help the European lawyers engaged by the<br />
traders. It was in South Africa between 1893 to 1915 <strong>Gandhi</strong> evolved as a writer and<br />
developed a distinct style as an author. In this process he was also recognizing that his<br />
alternate political ideology and methods did not fit into any existing Indian or English<br />
nomenclature. <strong>Gandhi</strong> finally found a way out. He coined the expressi<strong>on</strong> ‘Hind Swaraj’<br />
taking words from Indian sources and used it in English language. In course of his life<br />
time <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>tinued with this practice of incorporating several Indian words in his<br />
English writings such as Satyagraha, Khadi, Ahimsa, and Swodeshi etc. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not<br />
the l<strong>on</strong>e practiti<strong>on</strong>er. Several nati<strong>on</strong>alists and spiritualists also used many, Indian words in<br />
English. This was not limited to Indians, English men also used several Indian words in<br />
English. Just as Indian words were creeping into English, the reverse was also happening.<br />
In fact English was increasingly becoming an Indian language at least in India. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
with others enriched the process of making English language familiar and easy even to<br />
comm<strong>on</strong> people through his writings and speeches.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote Hind Swaraj in the form of a dialogue. It is not known whether <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
ever read Plato’s ‘Republic’, an all time classic in Greek language. One is tempted to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>jure that <strong>Gandhi</strong> had some exposure to Plato’s ‘Republic’. Plato’s Republic is a classic<br />
example of debating political ideology. It was a refined versi<strong>on</strong> of the sophist debates <strong>on</strong><br />
issues of ethics and philosophy. As far as this theme was c<strong>on</strong>cerned (political) there is<br />
striking resemblance. However <strong>Gandhi</strong> no where matches Plato’s fluency, choice of words<br />
and linguistic excellence. It is interesting to note that <strong>Gandhi</strong> never repeated the dialogue<br />
style in any of his later writings. This is not at all to suggest that Hind Swaraj has no<br />
literary value. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not c<strong>on</strong>cerned or c<strong>on</strong>scious of literary style, His objective was<br />
to put across his new ideal. This he did brilliantly with great success. The work is full of<br />
similies, metaphors and examples to be cited. Some of which are startling in their vividness.<br />
Hind Swaraj was basically a statement of a doctrinal moral argument. It was written to<br />
guide the political struggle in India.<br />
Hind Swaraj was the first book that <strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote. It was written in Gujurati while<br />
sailing back from England to South Africa in 1909. The background of the book is an<br />
important c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had g<strong>on</strong>e to England to plead with the English leadership<br />
that South Africa was a part of the British empire and the Indians should be treated at par<br />
with the English in South Africa. This demand he felt is legitimate, as Queen Victoria in<br />
her proclamati<strong>on</strong> in 1858 had assured the Indians that they would be treated of par with<br />
the other subjects of her empire. <strong>Gandhi</strong> could cut no ice. The English leaders argued that<br />
they are <strong>on</strong> the verge of granting domini<strong>on</strong> status to South Africa at par with Canada and<br />
Australia and as such they would not interfere in the internal affairs of South Africa.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> felt dejected. This was <strong>on</strong>e part of the background. The other was the scenario in<br />
India. C<strong>on</strong>gress stood split between the moderates and extremists in the Surat C<strong>on</strong>gress of<br />
137
December 1907, the leaders of the extremist facti<strong>on</strong> were all behind bar, the Morle-Minto-<br />
Reform was too little and absolutely meaningless. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was caught between the two<br />
facti<strong>on</strong>s. He did not questi<strong>on</strong> the patriotism of the moderates but felt the moderates<br />
c<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>al methods of petiti<strong>on</strong>ing and prayer to be ineffective. Yet, he had still faith in<br />
the British sense of justice and fair play. He agreed with the extremist as far as rejecti<strong>on</strong> of<br />
moderate method was c<strong>on</strong>cerned. But he could not accept the violent opti<strong>on</strong>. He wanted to<br />
offer an alternate fr<strong>on</strong>t, ‘Hind Swaraj was the manifestati<strong>on</strong> of the alternate <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
ideal. L<strong>on</strong>g after Hind Swaraj was written <strong>Gandhi</strong> insisted that he might change a word or<br />
t<strong>on</strong>e down the language but he still stands for the ideal and the spirit of Hind Swaraj. Hind<br />
Swaraj is the <strong>on</strong>ly systematic enunciati<strong>on</strong> of his philosophy. Hind Swaraj is thus written,<br />
when <strong>Gandhi</strong> was baffled with two different themes – <strong>on</strong>e of dejecti<strong>on</strong> with the English<br />
leadership and the other of the Indian crises of moderate – Extremist divisi<strong>on</strong>. There was<br />
also a sense of dejecti<strong>on</strong> with India. It seemed Curz<strong>on</strong>’s dream of the sad demise of C<strong>on</strong>gress<br />
was looming large. Hind Swaraj was written in Gujurati and published in 1909. It had he<br />
advantage of being translated by <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself and published as Indian Home Rule. The<br />
book was banned in South Africa for almost 30 years. The book was reissued in1938 in<br />
South Africa. In 1921 <strong>Gandhi</strong> reprinted the book as Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. In<br />
1924 another editi<strong>on</strong> was published in USA with the title Serm<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the Sea. The several<br />
titles that <strong>Gandhi</strong> tried out reflects his groping for a suitable nomenclature for the alternate<br />
movement he was leading.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought was a growth and development. His early writings during his stay<br />
in England as a law student does not touch up<strong>on</strong> political issues. However <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinuously reflected in his writings in Indian Opini<strong>on</strong>, letters to editors of South African<br />
news papers, pamphlets and petiti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Much of the power of the book is derived from clarity of its argumentati<strong>on</strong> and<br />
directness of expressi<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself said that it is a book which can be put in the<br />
hands of a child. It is full of examples, similes, metaphors, and paraboles, some of which<br />
are startling in their vividness. One such metaphor that <strong>Gandhi</strong> regretted letter refers to the<br />
British parliament. He wrote “that which you c<strong>on</strong>sider to be the mother of parliaments is<br />
like a sterile women and a prostitute”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> described the book as a severe c<strong>on</strong>demnati<strong>on</strong> of modern civilizati<strong>on</strong>. As a<br />
whole the c<strong>on</strong>flict between India and England was perceived more as a c<strong>on</strong>flict between<br />
the eternal India and the modern industrial capitalist western civilizati<strong>on</strong>. The political<br />
aspects were subordinated to this clash of civilizati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s writings is a polemical<br />
critique of <strong>on</strong>e of the central maxims of western historical c<strong>on</strong>sciousness, Historia<br />
Magisteria Vitae. He c<strong>on</strong>sistently refuted the arguments that what had not occurred in<br />
history should not occur. <strong>Gandhi</strong> insisted history is really a record of working of the force<br />
of love or of the soul. He wanted Indians to release themselves from the subjecti<strong>on</strong> by<br />
138
another civilizati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> simply rejected the English model of civilizati<strong>on</strong>. Hind Swaraj<br />
remains <strong>on</strong>e of the most illustrious literary work of <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
Between publicati<strong>on</strong> of Hind Swaraj and Satyagraha in South Africa <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>tinued writing <strong>on</strong> various issues in journals in English and Gujurati. Satyagraha in<br />
South Africa was the l<strong>on</strong>gest of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s book and stands in critical relati<strong>on</strong> to the earlier<br />
Hind Swaraj and later autobiography. <strong>Gandhi</strong> dictated Satyagraha in South Africa while in<br />
Yervada Jail 1923-24. It was translated into English by Valaji Desai, with the help of<br />
Verror Eluin and C.F. Andrews. The book was first published in 1928. He wrote the book<br />
less as a statement of doctrinal moral argument and more a as factual record of his life in<br />
South Africa. He stated “they <strong>on</strong>ly object in writing this book is that it may be helpful in<br />
our present struggle”. He wanted to impress the followers of civil disobedience movement<br />
that Satyagraha was derived not from moral theory or doctrine but from experience and<br />
practice. He took great pains to avoid exaggerati<strong>on</strong>s and melo drama while recounting the<br />
political event plain prose. Even events directly relating to him were not romanticized or<br />
layered with emoti<strong>on</strong>al reflecti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> returned to India in 1914 and found a flourishing debate <strong>on</strong> all aspects of life<br />
in India c<strong>on</strong>ducted through an active political press. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was already an established<br />
practicing journalist and he joined the fray with enthusiasm. <strong>Gandhi</strong> started his first paper<br />
‘Satyagraha’ in 1919. So<strong>on</strong> after two other papers ‘Young India’ in English and ‘Naba<br />
Jiban’ in Gujurati were placed under his editorship. He was quite provocative. He wrote<br />
‘sediti<strong>on</strong>’ has become the creed of the C<strong>on</strong>gress. I am aware that I have written str<strong>on</strong>gly<br />
about the insolent threat that has come across the seas, but it is high time that the British<br />
people were made to realize that the fight has commenced in 1920 is a fight to the finish.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was of course arrested for the article and was also charged. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s courtroom<br />
speeches based <strong>on</strong> written statements is masterly in its management of words and meaning.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> succeeded in translating his individual c<strong>on</strong>flict with west into a Universal c<strong>on</strong>flict<br />
for Indians. <strong>Gandhi</strong> left no choice for the judge : either he could execute the law and<br />
c<strong>on</strong>vict <strong>Gandhi</strong> or act according to his c<strong>on</strong>science and resign. He said “I am therefore here<br />
to submit not to a light penalty but to the highest penalty. I do not ask for mercy. I do not<br />
ask for an extenuating act of clemency. I am here to invite and cheerfully submit to the<br />
highest penalty that can be inflicted up<strong>on</strong> me for what in law is a deliberate crime and<br />
what appears to me to be the highest duty of the citizen”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> successfully used English legal language and etiquette to drive wedge between<br />
the meaning of the state and those other whom it rooted. The sense of language he<br />
dem<strong>on</strong>strated was not c<strong>on</strong>tinuous across realms. His words was no less than a subtle and<br />
effective system of defeating terrorism and organized display of force. The impact of his<br />
simplicity, directness of expressi<strong>on</strong> and clarity of thought particularly <strong>on</strong> the Indians was<br />
tremendous.<br />
139
The dramatizati<strong>on</strong> of his own life through his autobiography ‘Satyagraha and life in<br />
South Africa and numerous other journalistic writings <strong>on</strong> him are of tremendous impact.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s writings in particular are a great literary achievement for it shaped in no small<br />
measure modern Indian life including c<strong>on</strong>temporary. <strong>Gandhi</strong> still reflects the story of a<br />
young hero exiled from home to L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> and then to South Africa, <strong>on</strong>e who fights injustice,<br />
humiliati<strong>on</strong> and suffering, <strong>on</strong>e who learns spiritual and physical fortitude, <strong>on</strong>e who returns<br />
to his home land to free his people from align rule. All this he does not though any political<br />
intrigue, secret plan or through any direct acti<strong>on</strong>. His speeches and writings were the real<br />
magic ward. Reading <strong>Gandhi</strong> involves more than reading his words. It means reading life,<br />
reading a part of Indian history and even the world history. Through reading <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong>e<br />
can still catch-hold of the rhythms, vulnerabilities, strengths and the sensibilities not <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
of his life but of his time.<br />
An autobiography and the story of my experiment with truth was initially written in<br />
Gujurati and serealised in journals. Later <strong>on</strong> it was translated and corrected by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. It<br />
was serialized in English between 1927 to 29. Many have opined that <strong>Gandhi</strong> followed the<br />
form of sequencing of parables as in Bhudhist Jataka traditi<strong>on</strong>. Individual drama was<br />
skillfully blended with the historical epic, it was the story of a quest for freedom and<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>hood as well as pers<strong>on</strong>al purificati<strong>on</strong> and salvati<strong>on</strong>. He even claimed that he had no<br />
definite plan before him when he started writing. He wrote as the spirit moved him at the<br />
time of writing. The experiment theme dominates. His life was, he believed lived by the<br />
scientific method of testing trial, error and c<strong>on</strong>stant revisi<strong>on</strong>. He wrote of experiments in<br />
political, spiritual, physical (<strong>on</strong> his body) and even dietetics field. He never claimed any<br />
finality about his c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s and kept an open mind regarding all resources.<br />
One of the last text he wrote as a book was “Key to health” in 1942. This was also<br />
written originally in Gujurati translated by Sushila Nayer and revised by <strong>Gandhi</strong> himself.<br />
This is <strong>on</strong>e of the typical examples of the self help manual.<br />
Less than a fortnight before his assassinati<strong>on</strong> in January 1948. <strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote that<br />
“English and Indian scholars of English believe that there is something special in my<br />
English” this speciality is not easy to capture. Few features may be gleaned, new coinages<br />
of words were striking. These new coinages were not limited to use of Indian words in<br />
English. His most powerful coinage was perhaps ‘Quit India and this was in English. This<br />
provoked the English to react to resp<strong>on</strong>d with their own coinage ‘We wish we could’.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> developed an unornamented style completely diverged from the prose style of<br />
earlier, Indian English writings. He hardly fell into rheortorical bluster. His writing were<br />
still like a lawyers brief but without the obfusicati<strong>on</strong> of legal language. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had<br />
c<strong>on</strong>stantly the difficulty of translating words and c<strong>on</strong>cepts of Indian language into English.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s English was distinct in more than <strong>on</strong>e way. Though <strong>Gandhi</strong> never advocated use<br />
of English as the official language, and the medium of instructi<strong>on</strong> and was c<strong>on</strong>stantly<br />
fighting with the English civilizati<strong>on</strong>, he had no quarrel with the English people, loved<br />
140
England the land of the English and used English with great skill for translating his goals<br />
of life. <strong>Gandhi</strong> and English language are inseparable.(p.406) 3<br />
“Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not a voracious reader. As a student he had hardly read<br />
anything outside textbooks. Whatsoever he happened to go through either came to him by<br />
chance or was recommended or presented by his friends. The result was that, whatever he<br />
had read was, infact, thoroughly assimilated and profitably utilized in his day to day life.<br />
It was thus a case of intensive, and not extensive, study. The salutary effect of this selective,<br />
limited study was that <strong>Gandhi</strong> never had any c<strong>on</strong>fusi<strong>on</strong> or c<strong>on</strong>flict in his mind. His views,<br />
therefore came to have a unique blending of profundity, simplicity and clarity”. (p.235).<br />
Sharma holds that Tolstoy, Ruskin, Thoreau, Mazzini, Edward Carpenter, Mar Nadau,<br />
Plato, Emers<strong>on</strong>, Dadabhai Naoroji and Romesh Chander Dutt influenced <strong>Gandhi</strong>. From<br />
Tolstory he imbibed universal love, from Ruskin he learnt that the life of labour is the life<br />
worth living, good of the individual is c<strong>on</strong>tained in the good of all, Thoreau taught him<br />
that poverty is preferable, that there is nothing wr<strong>on</strong>g in breaking the law observance of<br />
which would be more disastrous. “Thus Tolstoy’s love-force and Thoreau’s idea of civil<br />
disobedience formed the base of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s passive resistance movement”. (p.235). Sharma<br />
goes <strong>on</strong> to hold that R.C. Dutt’s Ec<strong>on</strong>omic History of India, ideas of Ranade, Gokhale and<br />
Tilak resulted in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an demand for aboliti<strong>on</strong> of the salt tax, the khadi movement,<br />
revival of village industries and prohibiti<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> accepted Gokhale as his political<br />
guru and identified religi<strong>on</strong> with politics. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had studied thoroughly Bhagavadgita,<br />
learnt 13 chapters by heart, it was his infallible guide of c<strong>on</strong>duct, learnt the doctrine of<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>, equability and dedicated himself to the service of community and aspired<br />
for self realizati<strong>on</strong> through the renunciati<strong>on</strong> of fruits of acti<strong>on</strong>. Reading of Edwin Arnold’s.<br />
The light of Asia and the New Testament fortified his faith in renunciati<strong>on</strong> as highest form<br />
of religi<strong>on</strong>. These readings also notified his method of fasting as a means of self-restraint.<br />
Rajchandra taught him the less<strong>on</strong>s of Brahmacharya, subtle and profound thoughts of<br />
Hinduism, its visi<strong>on</strong> of the soul and it’s charity. Serm<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the Mount, writing of Surdas<br />
and Shamal Bhatt also taught him principles of humility and return of good for evil. Sharma<br />
summarizes the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought as follows :<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> had thus picked up all that was good, assimilated it, practiced it and then<br />
preached it. In other wards, what has come to be known as <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology is nothing<br />
but what is good and noble in life? It has, therefore achieved universality and is as relevant<br />
to day as it was during his life time. It stands for truth, n<strong>on</strong>-violence, fearlessness, selfhelp,<br />
simplicity, h<strong>on</strong>esty, voluntary poverty, love for all and hatred for n<strong>on</strong>e, religious<br />
tolerance, decentralizati<strong>on</strong> of power, equal status for women and self realizati<strong>on</strong> through<br />
self restraint and self abnegati<strong>on</strong>. It also advocates a life of brahmacharya and c<strong>on</strong>siders<br />
fasting to be a necessity as an external deed. He was for the use of Hindi or Hindustani and<br />
regi<strong>on</strong>al languages. He encouraged the establishment of cottage industries so that the<br />
villages may become self sufficient by learning different handicrafts and be thus weaned<br />
141
away from enchantment of city life. He was against the use of foreign goods, untouchability,<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omic suppressi<strong>on</strong> and deep rooted prejudices and superstiti<strong>on</strong>s”. (p.236). Sharma<br />
quotes Jawaharlal Nehru <strong>Gandhi</strong> influenced milli<strong>on</strong>s of people in India in varying degrees;<br />
some changed the whole texture of their lives, other were <strong>on</strong>ly partly affected, or the effect<br />
wore off, and yet not quite, for some of part of it could not be wholly shaken. Different<br />
people reacted differently’ Sharma feels that Indo-Anglian ficti<strong>on</strong> writers also reacted as<br />
above. Sharma lists Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya,<br />
Nayantara Sahgal, Padmini Sengupta and Shanta Rameshwar Rao Gopal am<strong>on</strong>gst writers<br />
greatly influenced by <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Am<strong>on</strong>gst those who were marginally or superficially<br />
influenced, Sharma lists K Nagarajun, Manhor Malg<strong>on</strong>kar, Balachandra Rajan, C.N. Zutshi,<br />
Vessu Chitale, Kamala Markandaya,Arthur S.Lall,AamirAli,AHusain and Khwaja Ahmad<br />
Abbas etc.<br />
Sharma holds that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s influence was two fold, he influenced the theme and<br />
style of Indo-Anglian writers. The Indo-Anglian writers being highly educated tended to<br />
be sophisticated, artificial and ornamental in their approach. “However under the impact<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an insistence <strong>on</strong> simplicity, proximity to nature and clarity, these writer adopted<br />
a simple, direct and coherent rather than bombastic and pompous style of writing”. (p.237).<br />
Sharma further argues that under <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s influence writers moved their scene from town<br />
to the village, their characters from highly educated to the comm<strong>on</strong> men, they took up<br />
themes of untouchability, orthodoxy, superstiti<strong>on</strong>s, slavery, exploitati<strong>on</strong> etc. Of course<br />
Sharma’s claim can be c<strong>on</strong>tested, infact modernity and spread of educati<strong>on</strong>, etc. had raised<br />
these issues in India for nearly a century. Sharma quotes from Bhabani Bhattacharya’s<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> The Writer:<br />
“Inspired by him (<strong>Gandhi</strong>), they turned towards the depicti<strong>on</strong> of the life of comm<strong>on</strong><br />
man, the poor and the illiterate, particularly in the villages. Their prose style became less<br />
ornamental, less designed for the high braw scholar, simple, direct, natural, the literature<br />
of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an era aimed of appealing not to the class al<strong>on</strong>e, but the masses as well…<br />
There was a reacti<strong>on</strong> against absolute values. The writers drew largely <strong>on</strong> life for their<br />
themes and new horiz<strong>on</strong>s opened up before them”. (pp.237-8).<br />
Sharma traces the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an influences <strong>on</strong> individual authors.<br />
Speaking Mulk Raj Ananda Sharma holds that <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>verted him to simplicity,<br />
sincerity and truth, made him cut meretricious literariness’. Under <strong>Gandhi</strong>an influences<br />
Mulkraj wrote about the poorest of the poor and not about rich, orthodox people of high<br />
caste, class and status. Mulkraj also introduced <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a character.<br />
R.K. Narayan in Waiting for Mahatma (1955) introduces <strong>Gandhi</strong> as a character. The<br />
novel eloquently reverberates with c<strong>on</strong>cern for comm<strong>on</strong> man. KAAbbas’s Inquilab (1955)<br />
K Nagarajun’s Chr<strong>on</strong>icles of Kedaram (1960) Chaman Nahal’s Azadi (1975) deal with<br />
pre-independence India and in all these <strong>Gandhi</strong> is introduced as a character. <str<strong>on</strong>g>Issue</str<strong>on</strong>g>s of<br />
142
communal violence, boycott, prohibiti<strong>on</strong> etc dear to <strong>Gandhi</strong> figure prominently in the<br />
novels.<br />
Dandi March figures inAnanda Lall’s The House of Adampur (1956) K Nagarajun’s<br />
Athawar House (1939).<br />
“Literature is the mirror of the era”. Keeping this in mind, the writers of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
era or those writing about it have tried to lend a semblance of authenticity to their creative<br />
works by bringing <strong>Gandhi</strong> <strong>on</strong> the scene either pers<strong>on</strong>ally or by report. They find themselves<br />
both comfortable and c<strong>on</strong>fident by making <strong>Gandhi</strong> speak his mind directly or by reproducing<br />
his speeches. More or less, <strong>Gandhi</strong> always remains in the background and in no way<br />
disturbs the mainstream of the novel. The novelists have handled the situati<strong>on</strong> commendably<br />
well. Too prominent role could have turned the novel into a biography and <strong>Gandhi</strong> was too<br />
important to be given <strong>on</strong>ly a minor role. With a master’s stroke of tact and craftsmanship<br />
the two have been beautifully blended”. (241-2). Indo-Anglican writers have also reflected<br />
the dissenting voice through their characters. Sharma quotes widely to bring this out.<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> is a humbug … He is a fool. He is a hypocrite. In <strong>on</strong>e breath he says he<br />
wants to abolish untouchability, in the other he asserts that he is orthodox Hindu. He is<br />
running counter to the spirit of our age, which is democracy. He is in the fourth century<br />
BC with his ‘Swadesh’ and his spinning – wheel. We live in the twentieth”. (Mulkraj<br />
Anand’s Untouchable (pp.138-9).<br />
“The Mahatma seemed full of himself, of his spiritual struggle.And Lalu felt himself<br />
lapsing into listlessness, as it he were being suffocated by the deliberate simplicity of the<br />
egoistic c<strong>on</strong>fessi<strong>on</strong>al talk of self-perfecti<strong>on</strong>”. (Mulkraj Ananda’s the Sword and the Sickle<br />
(p.207).<br />
“These politicians, <strong>Gandhi</strong> folk, they w<strong>on</strong>’t leave any<strong>on</strong>e in peace”. (R.K. Naryan’s<br />
Waiting for the Mahatma p.31),. what is this <strong>Gandhi</strong> Busienss? Nothing but wearing coarse<br />
hand made cloth, not fit for a map and bellowing out bhajans and bhajans and mixing with<br />
pariahs.” (Raja Rao’s Kantha pura p.42).<br />
“Our present theories al<strong>on</strong>e can explain the development of mankind, and Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> is the <strong>on</strong>e enemy of this new dispensati<strong>on</strong>. More insidious than Hitler is this<br />
intellectual venom that is spreading over vast and ignorant humanity. Beware”. (Raja<br />
Rao’s Comorade Kirillor : p.35).<br />
Sharma finds how Indo-Anglican writers were both h<strong>on</strong>est and bold in depicting<br />
divergent view points <strong>on</strong> the c<strong>on</strong>troversial topics like brahmacharya and n<strong>on</strong>-violence.<br />
R.K. Naryan, Raja Rao and others created characters who are sex – obsessed and caught<br />
with <strong>Gandhi</strong>an obsessi<strong>on</strong> of brahmacharya, characters who find brahmacharya inc<strong>on</strong>sistent<br />
with of life and nature, women who find their husband’s obsessi<strong>on</strong> un-natural. Similarly<br />
Sharma identifies several characters in Indo-Anglican ficti<strong>on</strong> write critical of n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
143
as a philosophy of life, how many of them feel that <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s advocacy of n<strong>on</strong> violence as<br />
life sustaining principle lack deeper understanding. Similarly partiti<strong>on</strong> as a theme and<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s point of view figure prommently in many works. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views <strong>on</strong> machinery<br />
is also taken up. Many reflect a fine understanding of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an view. Machines were<br />
projected as death trap which alters the character of man, how men break under the weight<br />
of the machines, how machines needs to be limited and not abolished. Etc. (p.250).<br />
Author’s were equally critical at his promoti<strong>on</strong> of Hindi – Hindustani and regi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
languages, they refused to accept his views <strong>on</strong> English”. Why waste time learning each<br />
other’s language when we both speak English? It is so impractical” (Nayantara Saighal –<br />
A time to be happy, sterling publishers 1975 (pp.58-59). Sharma quotes <strong>Gandhi</strong> to set the<br />
positi<strong>on</strong> right.<br />
“I cannot stop the English editi<strong>on</strong>… My relati<strong>on</strong>s with west are increasing everyday<br />
… I can not cast out English Language from my small store of knowledge. I do not wish<br />
all Indians to give up or forget it… English is the language of the world. Its internati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
positi<strong>on</strong> can not be disputed. Imperialistic rule of the Englishman will go because it was<br />
and is an evil. But the superior role of the English language can not go”. (p. 252).<br />
Sharma argues that with the passage of time the impact of <strong>Gandhi</strong> appear to have<br />
waned, that it has became a functi<strong>on</strong> to worship <strong>on</strong>ly the form and yet few <strong>Gandhi</strong>tes still<br />
hold the spirit.<br />
“To c<strong>on</strong>clude with Dhananjay’s words from Anant Gopal Sheorey’s latest book <strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an theme, Dusk before dawn (1976), “We have followed <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji in our struggle.<br />
We must now follow him equally loyally in freedom so that his dream of world peace and<br />
brotherhood is fulfilled”. (p. 253). 4<br />
Sharma finds out Bhabani Bhatacharya publishes his first novel shortly after India<br />
attains independence. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an spirit dominated Indian mind right upto early years<br />
of Indian independence from 1920’s. At least for forty years (1920-60s) <strong>Gandhi</strong>, his acti<strong>on</strong><br />
and ideas dominated the Indian life and thinking, and as such, it also dominated the India<br />
writing both in English and Vernacular. Sharma of length analyses the novels of Bhabani<br />
and traces <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cepts. Sharma finds out how <strong>Gandhi</strong>an c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>s of N<strong>on</strong>violence,<br />
role of women, fearlessness, limitati<strong>on</strong> and in adequacy of mere political freedom,<br />
social reawakening, voice against orthodox rituals and superstiti<strong>on</strong>s, widow remarriage<br />
and caste hierarchy, synthesis of rural and urban values, self restraint eradicati<strong>on</strong> of social<br />
evils, freedom against exploitati<strong>on</strong>, simplicity and humility, asceticism and aestheticism,<br />
sublimati<strong>on</strong> of sexuality, self renunciati<strong>on</strong>, voluntary poverty, simple living celibacy in<br />
mind and body, self-c<strong>on</strong>trol, oppositi<strong>on</strong> to mechanizati<strong>on</strong> of life, and identificati<strong>on</strong> with<br />
masses etc are taken up by Bhabani in his novels. The influence of <strong>Gandhi</strong> was not limited<br />
to Bhabani. Sharma c<strong>on</strong>cludes with the following<br />
“A review of Bhabani Bhattacharya’s novels thus amply proves that he has had a<br />
tremendous influence of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology. He has, infact, created mini <strong>Gandhi</strong>s …<br />
144
Bhabani Bahattacharya seems to have had a sound grounding in <strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought,<br />
culminating in his scholarly masterpiece, <strong>Gandhi</strong> the Writer, published in 1969 at the time<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s centenary celebrati<strong>on</strong>. This special, c<strong>on</strong>scious study of <strong>Gandhi</strong> has given him<br />
an added advantage over other n<strong>on</strong>velists. Being thoroughly familiar with <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s views<br />
<strong>on</strong> varied subject. Bhabani Bhattacharya has been able to touch up<strong>on</strong> almost all the aspect<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology and in the right perspective too”. (p.105). Sharma the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
values that Bhabani supported. These included c<strong>on</strong>cern for mass, work is worship, universal<br />
love, self-help, voluntary poverty, absence of hatred against enemy and c<strong>on</strong>versi<strong>on</strong> through<br />
love etc. Sharma also identified Bhabani’s rejecti<strong>on</strong>s also. And these included futility of<br />
leading a life of abstinence. Bhabani feels that repressi<strong>on</strong> of natural instincts is unhealthy,<br />
it is natural for men to he tempted. However, Bhabani accepts self restraints. “what is<br />
needed is purely a human approach which c<strong>on</strong>cedes co-existence of vice and virtue”.<br />
In the same vein Bhabani bhatacharya suggests a synthesis of rural and urban values<br />
and sought middle path for the growth of ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Not <strong>on</strong>ly small scale industry need to<br />
be encouraged even industrializati<strong>on</strong> and he producti<strong>on</strong> have came to stay in the face of<br />
populati<strong>on</strong> explosi<strong>on</strong>”. (p.106). Like Bhabani other authors also find merit in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>s but rarely accept the whole of Gandian ideals.<br />
From the above review it is evident that there is a great scope for studying <strong>Gandhi</strong> as<br />
a writer. This seems to be a less explored aspect of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an studies. Further those who<br />
study <strong>Gandhi</strong> from ethical, political and social stand points also need to be sensitive to the<br />
literary aspects. It is pertinent to observe that without making any c<strong>on</strong>scious effort <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
evolved a new style of writing and speaking. He was very effective with his simplicity,<br />
directness brevity, use of Indian and vernacular words, similies and metaphors and bare<br />
style.<br />
References<br />
(Note : The page nos. in brackets refer to the book under review. Where ever it involves<br />
quotes from other sources same has been indicated.)<br />
Book under Review<br />
1. K.R. Srinivasa Iyenger., Indian Writings In English, Sterllling Publishing House,<br />
New Delhi 1994, Reprint, 5th editi<strong>on</strong> 1985, pp.848.<br />
2. M.K. Naik., History of Indian English Literature, Sahitya Akademi, 1982, Reprint –<br />
2005, New Delhi, p.320.<br />
3. Khilnani, Sunil., <strong>Gandhi</strong> and English. An illustrated History of Indian Literature in<br />
English, ed: Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Permanent black, 2003. pp.406.<br />
4. Sharma Sudarshan., Gandihan Ideology in Indian Ficti<strong>on</strong> in English. Indian Ficti<strong>on</strong><br />
in English Roots and Bloosoms Volume- II, Ed: Amarnath Prasad and Nagendra<br />
Kumar Singh, Sarup and S<strong>on</strong>s, New Delhi, 2007, pp.256. p. 235-256.<br />
145
POETICS OF PROTEST : GANDHI AND INDIAN ENGLISH NOVELS<br />
A.J. Khan*<br />
Z. Jabeen**<br />
Indian novelist ,short-story writer, and art critic writing in English, Mulk Raj Anand<br />
was am<strong>on</strong>g the few writers to render Punjabi and Hindustani idioms into English. Called<br />
the Zola and Balzac of India, Anand drew a realistic and sympathetic portrait of the poor<br />
of his country. With Raja Rao and R.K.Narayan he has been regarded as <strong>on</strong>e of the ‘founding<br />
fathers’ of the Indian English novel. It is pertinent to note here that the flowering of the<br />
novel form in India coincides with the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an movement, which was at its str<strong>on</strong>gest.<br />
The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an philosophy has left lasting impressi<strong>on</strong>s up<strong>on</strong> various aspects and<br />
attitudes of Indian life and letters. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an myth may not be present in all the branches<br />
of literature but its catalytic effect was felt in all the branches besides novels, though in<br />
lesser degrees, during the ‘Pre and Post-Independence’period of our country. The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cepts regarding the caste system, untouchability, female educati<strong>on</strong>, n<strong>on</strong>-violence and<br />
the like are reflected in the different forms of literature like ficti<strong>on</strong>, drama , poetry and so<br />
<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Indian Writing in English in indebted to <strong>Gandhi</strong>an spirit in more ways than <strong>on</strong>e.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji himself was not <strong>on</strong>ly a reputed Anglo-Indian prose writer but also a colossus<br />
who bestrided almost the entire period of Indian Writing in English, appearing either as a<br />
character or as a subject or as a pervasive influence up<strong>on</strong> the socio-political scene depicted<br />
by the writer. In this regard Dr. M.K. Naik rightly observes :<br />
The <strong>Gandhi</strong>an whirlwind began to sweep over the length and breadth of the land,<br />
upsetting all established potential strategies and ushering in refreshingly new ideas and<br />
methods which shook the Indian life in several spheres to the core.(1)<br />
The nati<strong>on</strong>al upsurge created new social and political c<strong>on</strong>sciousness am<strong>on</strong>g the<br />
Indian masses. It is out of this c<strong>on</strong>sciousness that ficti<strong>on</strong>, which is the most effective<br />
expressi<strong>on</strong> of our imaginati<strong>on</strong> emerges. Ficti<strong>on</strong>, as Hazlitt puts it, is c<strong>on</strong>stituted of, ‘the<br />
very web and texture of society as it really exists’ And it seeks creative expressi<strong>on</strong> for its<br />
new c<strong>on</strong>sciousness. Thus while speaking about <strong>Gandhi</strong>an influence Dr. M.K. Naik makes<br />
an apt observati<strong>on</strong> :<br />
The work of K.S.Venkataramani, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao would not perhaps<br />
have been possible had the miracle that was <strong>Gandhi</strong> not occured during this period.(2)<br />
Born into a family of metal workers with an army background in Peshawar, Mulk<br />
RajAnand witnessed the bloody reality of col<strong>on</strong>ial rule with the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre<br />
* Sr. Lecturer, P.G. Dept. of English, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong><br />
** Lecturer in English, Christ College, Cutttack<br />
146
at Amritsar in 1919. Like most Indians of his generati<strong>on</strong>, he threw himself into <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
n<strong>on</strong>-cooperati<strong>on</strong> movement. This led him into student agitati<strong>on</strong> against the British for<br />
which he received eleven stripes <strong>on</strong> his back and was briefly jailed. The experience had<br />
deep impact <strong>on</strong> the young Anand and he c<strong>on</strong>cluded that the noti<strong>on</strong>s of ‘Empire’ and<br />
‘Freedom’ were complete opposites :<br />
I had grown up in the ferment of a great moral and political movement in which I<br />
had learnt that alien authority c<strong>on</strong>stricted our lives in every way. I can’t say there was no<br />
bitterness in my hatred of imperialism, because I remembered how often waves of fury<br />
swept over me to see hundreds of human beings go to jail daily after being beaten up by<br />
the police for offering civil disobedience.(3)<br />
Growing up under the Raj and writing against the backdrop of col<strong>on</strong>ial rule and<br />
anticol<strong>on</strong>ial resistance, Anand was c<strong>on</strong>vinced that art cannot be and should not be divorced<br />
from its social functi<strong>on</strong>s. His writings that project the writer as a revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary bear the<br />
imprint of the post col<strong>on</strong>ial rhetoric that emerged during the phase of independence struggles<br />
in the col<strong>on</strong>ized societies across the world. Achebe, the well-known African novelist, sees<br />
the writer as primarily a teacher and envisages a pedagogic role for a creative writer, as<br />
George Lamming of the West-Indies upholds that the role of a writer lies in the shaping of<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al c<strong>on</strong>sciousness. Anand had posited this positi<strong>on</strong> at least a decade earlier to both of<br />
them, when he firmly asserted that any attempt <strong>on</strong> his (the writer’s) part to shirk the<br />
resp<strong>on</strong>sibility is betrayal of his own power and acceptance of mental and spiritual death.<br />
As an Indian student in L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>, Anand became a part of the literary crowd known<br />
as the ‘Bloomsbury group’. His meeting with such writers as T.S. Eliot, Le<strong>on</strong>ard and<br />
Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and John Stratchey left him both impressed and perplexed.<br />
L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong> at that time was the centre of the English-speaking intellectual world and Anand<br />
had hoped to meet like-minded individuals who would share his anti-col<strong>on</strong>ial liberal views.<br />
To his surprise, he discovered that, according to Eliot, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was an ‘anarchist’ and that<br />
Indians should c<strong>on</strong>centrate <strong>on</strong> cultural aspects of their society and leave the politics of<br />
governance to the British! Many of these writers had not visited India and so their<br />
impressi<strong>on</strong>s were perhaps formed by Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, which, to Anand was<br />
typical of col<strong>on</strong>ial fantasies of India. Anand held A Passage to India to be the best ficti<strong>on</strong><br />
writing <strong>on</strong> his homeland, as this went bey<strong>on</strong>d the oriental c<strong>on</strong>cepti<strong>on</strong>s of the ‘natives’ and<br />
attempted to depict the complex, often c<strong>on</strong>tradictory and mostly c<strong>on</strong>fr<strong>on</strong>tati<strong>on</strong>al impact of<br />
col<strong>on</strong>ial rule in India. He had wanted to write about ordinary, mundane, everyday life<br />
experiences of Indians who were not kings and gods. May be for this reas<strong>on</strong> he returned<br />
to India briefly in 1929. Disgusted with religious sectarianism, communalism and caste<br />
system, he set about writing his first novel Untouchable. The idea of untouchability as a<br />
social evil obsessed the minds of men in the 1930’s. <strong>Gandhi</strong> called the untouchables<br />
harijans (children of god) and fought almost single-handed for the eradicati<strong>on</strong> of the evil<br />
of untouchability. He initiated revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary social acti<strong>on</strong> and w<strong>on</strong> many rights for the<br />
147
neglected strata of society. Anand being a typical product of the time has dealt with the<br />
problem in vivid artistic terms. His treatment of the theme in the novel is of high moral<br />
seriousness. When Anand visited <strong>Gandhi</strong> in his Ashram in Ahmedabad and showed him<br />
the drafts of his novel Untouchable, <strong>Gandhi</strong> was quite critical because of the excessive<br />
influence of ‘Bloomsbury’. While in Ahmedabad, Anand lived like a disciple and did his<br />
share of cleaning the toilets—an act seen as defilement for a caste Hindu. During this<br />
period, Anand revised his book c<strong>on</strong>siderably and when Forster read it, his retort to those<br />
who complained about the ‘dirt’ in the novel was that the book seems to me indescribably<br />
clean.... it has g<strong>on</strong>e straight to the heart of its subject and purified.(4)<br />
Untouchable is a chilling expose’ of the day-to-day life of a member of India’s<br />
untouchable caste, Bakha. The young outcaste, Bakha, is eighteen, proud, ‘str<strong>on</strong>g and<br />
able-bodied’, a child of modern India, who has started to think himself superior to his<br />
fellow outcastes. The novel records the events of a single day in the life of Bakha, a toiletcleaner,<br />
who accidentally bumps into a member of a higher caste. The touching occurs in<br />
the morning, and subsequently shadows the rest of the day. Bakha searching for a salve for<br />
the social destiny of the degradati<strong>on</strong> into which he was born, talking first with a Christian<br />
missi<strong>on</strong>ary and then with a follower of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, but by the end of the book, he<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cludes that it is technology, in the form of the newly introduced flush toilet that will be<br />
his saviour. While the system of flush toilet may deprive him and his family of the traditi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
livelihood they have had for centuries, it may also liberate them in the end by eliminating<br />
the need for a caste of toilet-cleaners.<br />
Anand, <strong>on</strong>e of the powerful critics of the Indian caste system has also suggested that<br />
the British dominati<strong>on</strong> of India has in fact aggravated the suffering of outcastes like Bakha.<br />
After nineteen rejecti<strong>on</strong>s, Anand’s novel was published in England with a preface by<br />
E.M.Forster :<br />
Untouchable could <strong>on</strong>ly have been written by an Indian and by an Indian who<br />
observed from the outside. No European, however sympathetic, could have created the<br />
character of Bakha, because he would not have known enough about his troubles. And no<br />
untouchable could have written the book, because he would have been involved in<br />
indignati<strong>on</strong> and self-pity.(5)<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> articulates that the plight of untouchability is both a ‘ moral and religious’<br />
issue. He “ regards untouchability as the greatest blot <strong>on</strong> Hinduism”—(6) and asserts that<br />
it is ‘satanic’ to assume any<strong>on</strong>e in Hinduism is born polluted. <strong>Gandhi</strong> then recounts the<br />
story of a Brahmin boy and a sweeper in his ashram and attempts to show understanding<br />
for the sweeper ; he feels that if the Brahmin “wanted the ashram sweeper to do his work<br />
well he must do it himself and set an example.” This idea of <strong>Gandhi</strong> while appearing to be<br />
sympathetic, also c<strong>on</strong>cedes the existence of an untouchable because it assumes the existence<br />
of hierarchy of power between the untouchable and other high caste Hindus, thereby<br />
perpetuating the cycle of oppressi<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong> then proceeds to criticize the untouchables<br />
148
y saying that they have to ‘cultivate habits of cleanliness’, that they must get rid of their<br />
‘evil habits’ such as “drinking liquor, gambling and eating carri<strong>on</strong>.”(6) They must, as<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> says, “ cease to accept leavings from the plates of high caste Hindus, however<br />
clean they may be represented to be.”(7) In essence, he advocates emancipati<strong>on</strong> by<br />
purificati<strong>on</strong>. Yet there is an inherent dichotomy in <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s rhetoric because the existing<br />
system does not allow for the untouchables to become purified primarily because their<br />
fundamental existence is rooted in the professi<strong>on</strong> of filth. It is as Bakha says to his father,<br />
“they think we are mere dirt because we clean their dirt.”(8) Anand, although an avid<br />
follower of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, has Bakha questi<strong>on</strong> the Mahatma’s speech, “but now, now the Mahatma<br />
is blaming us. That is not fair!”(9) This suggests, perhaps, that Anand’s view of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
and his political rhetoric cannot be idealized because it too c<strong>on</strong>tains elements of oppressi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Anand then proceeds to offer his last possible soluti<strong>on</strong> to the alleviati<strong>on</strong> of untouchability.<br />
Through the poet Iqbal Nath Sarshar, Anand takes the chance to express his own Marxist<br />
inclinati<strong>on</strong>s, “ Well, we must destroy caste, we must destroy the inequalities of birth and<br />
unalterable vocati<strong>on</strong>s. We must recognize an equality of rights, privileges and opportunities<br />
for every<strong>on</strong>e.”(10) He advocates that a change in professi<strong>on</strong> will free the untouchables<br />
and the way to achieve this change is through the implementati<strong>on</strong> of a flush system.<br />
In Untouchable Anand displays compassi<strong>on</strong> for the plight of untouchables but never<br />
sentimentality. In many ways the novel records his thinking bey<strong>on</strong>d the limits of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
idea of the untouchables as harijan – children of god. For Anand this is far too patr<strong>on</strong>izing<br />
and it is for this reas<strong>on</strong> that his ficti<strong>on</strong>alized account depicts a debate between a <strong>Gandhi</strong>type<br />
figure espousing the <strong>on</strong>eness of humanity and simple living <strong>on</strong> the land and a poet<br />
who poses a modern soluti<strong>on</strong> to the problems of untouchability- flushing toilets ! The<br />
rapid movement of life in Untouchable gives it a rich dramatic significance. It is a brilliant<br />
example of sustained poetic realism. Although it employs a low mimetic form of ficti<strong>on</strong>, it<br />
also has esoteric poetic flights, and a breadth of metaphor uncomm<strong>on</strong> to such a form.<br />
Notes<br />
1. Naik. M.K. A History of Indian English Literature (Sahitya Akademi -1982),p.114<br />
2. Ibid; p.118<br />
3. Anand. A. Apology For Heroism: A Brief Autobiography of Ideas(Kutub-<br />
Popular, 1946), pp.53,54<br />
4. Anand M.R. Untouchable (Arnold Publishers) p.7<br />
5. Ibid; p.9<br />
6. Ibid; p.163<br />
7. Ibid; p.165<br />
8. Ibid; p.89<br />
9. Ibid; p.165<br />
10. Ibid; p.173<br />
149
GANDHI AS AN INVISIBLE FORCE IN RAJA RAO’S<br />
KANTHAPURA<br />
150<br />
Prajna Paramita Panigrahi*<br />
The Indian novel in English is a product of an urge for socio-political reforms, the<br />
revival of past traditi<strong>on</strong>s, the search for a nati<strong>on</strong>al identity and the increasing awareness of<br />
the role of the individual in society. Set against the backdrop of col<strong>on</strong>ial India, the novel<br />
fascinated the comm<strong>on</strong> man with the novelty of its exotic form and its capability of<br />
representing a changing world in its various dimensi<strong>on</strong>s. Hence, we have The great stalwarts<br />
of prose, namely R.K.Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya<br />
etc., each working in his own defined terrain. Towards the 1920s and 1930s, novels of<br />
Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao percolated social realism and the reform movements<br />
generated by liberalists and humanists, backed by the noti<strong>on</strong>s of Satyagraha (demands<br />
based <strong>on</strong> truth).<br />
Apart from having a transparently positive visi<strong>on</strong> of life, explored and expressed<br />
artistically in all these ficti<strong>on</strong>s, they have a predominant <strong>Gandhi</strong>an figure or philosophy<br />
which clinches the crisis towards an affirmative soluti<strong>on</strong>. Pre and Post –independent crisis<br />
are put to test under the microscopic eyes of Bhabani Bhattacharya and are assessed from<br />
different angles so that a positive message, which is both ethical and universal could reach<br />
the reader. In his least known novel, “ Dream in Hawaii”, the central figure Swami<br />
Yogananda also refers to <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his spirit in the following words:<br />
“Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> in his homeland has been turned into <strong>on</strong>e of the numerous Gods<br />
and placed <strong>on</strong> a high pedestal, a dead image with flowers <strong>on</strong> his st<strong>on</strong>e feet, while abroad;<br />
he is more and more a living presence. I shall have no regrets if the world accepts Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> with all that he has stood for and fought for, while India rejects him.”p.49<br />
Bhattacharya has str<strong>on</strong>g faith in <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm and all that it stands for. Hence they are<br />
often noticed in his creative works, which ends in idyllic rec<strong>on</strong>cilement of c<strong>on</strong>tradict<br />
values. Like <strong>Gandhi</strong>, he has an affirmative visi<strong>on</strong> of life. The sterling qualities and the<br />
resplendent spirit of man cannot be crushed down by adversity, is what <strong>Gandhi</strong> stood for<br />
and also the creative need of Bhattacharya. His work dem<strong>on</strong>strates <strong>Gandhi</strong>an values as the<br />
epitomes of all virtues. On the other hand, Raja Rao depicts the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy in<br />
simple but subtle terms. He does not preach the ideals of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. But <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm exists in<br />
his novels as a powerful force, guiding the characters towards self-purificati<strong>on</strong> and the<br />
overall task of joining into the mass movement : the struggle for Swaraj.<br />
Kanthapura is Raja Rao’s explorati<strong>on</strong> of the real India that breathes and lives in the<br />
villages. The ritual-based, traditi<strong>on</strong>-oriented, masses having immense faith in the l<strong>on</strong>g<br />
*Lecturer in English, <strong>DDCE</strong>, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, <strong>Bhubaneswar</strong>
standing scriptures and values c<strong>on</strong>dense into a static village, with the village goddess<br />
Kenchamma as the overriding deity, protecting them all. Thus, metaphysics, history, folk<br />
memory, racial self-c<strong>on</strong>sciousness are the different undert<strong>on</strong>es that support a realia level.<br />
With a belief in the cycle of rebirths, and in the descent of avatars ,Raja Rao sees life as an<br />
ever-flowing river and reflecting the reality that is bey<strong>on</strong>d.<br />
Kanthapura is the name of the south Indian village that symbolizes Hindu India.<br />
The novel describes how this remote and otherwise static village is stirred into dynamic<br />
activity by the influence and impact of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>. It also portrays how the village<br />
becomes the epitome of satyagraha and the ensuing violence until it is crushed into silence<br />
by the ruling power. The novel suggests a struggle between the c<strong>on</strong>servatism of <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
and the socialist aspirati<strong>on</strong>s of many of his followers including Moorthy. The novel appears<br />
to probe the problems of good and evil, order and disorder by equating the freedom<br />
movement with the age-old epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata.<br />
A typical Indian archetype is that of an incarnati<strong>on</strong> of God as the savior of the<br />
people in distress, establishes righteousness (dharma) and destroys the evil. Moorthy is<br />
the mover of acti<strong>on</strong>, a devotee of the Mahatma c<strong>on</strong>ceived as an incarnati<strong>on</strong>, a veritable<br />
avatar of the divine, born in this earth to end the suffering of Indian people under the<br />
British rule. His life and deeds, as portrayed by the village bard, approximate to those of<br />
Lord Krishna, the archetype of the divine rescuer. Jayaramachar, the harikatha man or the<br />
otherwise village bard comes to Kanthapura and tells a new kind of tale in which he<br />
mingles Hindu mythology with c<strong>on</strong>temporary politics. He compares <strong>Gandhi</strong> to Lord Siva<br />
when he says, “Siva is the three-eyed, and swaraj too is three-eyed; Self-purificati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Hindu Moslem unity, Khaddar.” Kanthapura 16.<br />
Akin to Lord krishna’s slaying of the serpent Kalia, we are told that <strong>Gandhi</strong> goes<br />
from village to village slaying the serpent of foreign rule.<br />
You remember how Krishna, when he was but a babe of four, had begun to fight against<br />
the dem<strong>on</strong>s and had killed serpent Kali. So too our Mohandas began to fight against the<br />
enemies of the country…..his voice was so pure, his forehead so brilliant with wisdom,<br />
that men followed him, more and more men followed him as they did Krishna the fluteplayer.<br />
Kanthapura 18.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> teaches Moorthy how to be a true satyagrahi, a forerunner and apostle of<br />
truth and sacrifice. The villagers remember the Mahabharata war and how Krishna teaches<br />
Arjuna the dictum of life and the insight <strong>on</strong> how to be a man of acti<strong>on</strong>. Since <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
interpreted self -rule as an ideal form of government in the manner of Ramrajya, the<br />
villagers are quite hopeful and c<strong>on</strong>fident of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s victory. Further, <strong>Gandhi</strong> (in L<strong>on</strong>d<strong>on</strong>)<br />
is Rama g<strong>on</strong>e into exile to rescue India(Sita) from tyranny of the British ( Ravana) while<br />
Jawaharlal Nehru( Brother Bharat) awaits the return of his leader from the Sec<strong>on</strong>d Round<br />
Table C<strong>on</strong>ference.<br />
151
They say Mahatma will go to the Red –man’s country and he will get us swaraj. He<br />
will bring us swaraj, the mahatma. And we shall all be happy. And Rama will come back<br />
from exile and Sita will be with him, for Ravana will be slain and Sita, and he will come<br />
back with Sita <strong>on</strong> his right in a chariot of air, and brother Bharatha will go to meet them<br />
with the worshipped sandal of the master <strong>on</strong> his head. And as they enter Ayodhya, there<br />
will be a rain of flowers. Kanthapura 110.<br />
This modern Sthalapurana, beginning like a grandmother’s tale of her village, is<br />
replete with examples from history and myths that catch <strong>on</strong> with the imaginati<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
innocent minded and traditi<strong>on</strong>-driven people of Kanthapura with hope and enthusiasm.<br />
Raja Rao believes that the Indian villagers minds are attuned to myths and mythical exploits<br />
of the innumerable gods and goddesses. Hence, the <strong>on</strong>ly way, <strong>on</strong>e can drill the message of<br />
a nati<strong>on</strong>’s struggle for independence was to appeal to their mindsets and mingling traditi<strong>on</strong>,<br />
myth, religi<strong>on</strong>, politics and social behavior. Thus, <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the leader of the masses,acquires<br />
the status of a saint and avatar. Harikathas, change their t<strong>on</strong>es and adapt <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
movements in real life to their inherent structures. The villagers call him the big mountain,<br />
<strong>on</strong>e of their names for Lord Siva. Moorthy is called the Small mountain and they hope that<br />
the two mountains shall protect them. Kanthapura 128-129.<br />
In the Discovery of India, Nehru says about <strong>Gandhi</strong>: “ he was like a powerful<br />
current of fresh air that made us stretch ourselves and take deep breaths, like a beam of<br />
light that pierced the darkness and removed the scales from our eyes, like a whirlwind that<br />
upset most of the things but most of all the working of the people’s mind. He did not<br />
descend from the top, he seemed to emerge from the milli<strong>on</strong>s of India, speaking their<br />
language and incessantly drawing attenti<strong>on</strong> to them and their appalling c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>. Political<br />
freedom took a new shape then and acquired a new c<strong>on</strong>tent. <strong>Gandhi</strong> influenced milli<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
people in India in varying degrees some changed the whole textures of their lives, others<br />
were <strong>on</strong>ly partly affected , or the effect wore off, and yet not quite, for some part of it could<br />
not be wholly shaken off. Different people reacted differently.”<br />
With his inimitable political prowess, <strong>Gandhi</strong> became a spiritual leader of the Indian<br />
masses, who looked up to him as a great soul, glorifying and almost deifying him in the<br />
process. Indians followed him, women came out of their coco<strong>on</strong>ed existence and joined<br />
his clari<strong>on</strong> call for independence. He promised freedom from the alien rule, with the <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
weap<strong>on</strong>, n<strong>on</strong>-violence. He assured his followers victory and always reverberated that an<br />
unarmed and n<strong>on</strong>-violent India could bring the mighty empire to its fall. Britishers shall<br />
be forced to leave India. All that we need is determinati<strong>on</strong> and courage to fight the enemy.<br />
His immense faith in himself and his values mesmerized milli<strong>on</strong>s of Indians in all walks of<br />
life. The sacrifices, suffering, prol<strong>on</strong>ged fasting which he took up<strong>on</strong> himself to ensure<br />
communal feeling and harm<strong>on</strong>y strengthened him. He called up<strong>on</strong> his countrymen to boycott<br />
all British made goods, their schools and colleges, their courts of law, their titles and<br />
152
h<strong>on</strong>ours, their electi<strong>on</strong>s and elective offices, and should the need arise if all boycotts failed,<br />
British tax collectors as well. The total withdrawal of Indian support for the British would<br />
thus cripple the mechanism , and through peaceful n<strong>on</strong>-violence, swaraj would be obtained.<br />
And thus the satyagrahis or soldier saints, were trained to help and motivate the villagers<br />
to give up the practice of untouchability, another facet of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an movement<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’ s movement had many facets, <strong>on</strong>e of them being an attack against the drink<br />
menace. It was also decided not to pay taxes as a protest to impress up<strong>on</strong> the rulers that<br />
the freedom workers held against their rulers. The people of Kanthapura and the adjoining<br />
areas promised in the name of the Mahatma not to drink Toddy or liquor in any form. The<br />
toddy shops are picketed to prevent the sale of liquor.<br />
Moorthy explains to his villagemen. And of the toddy booths that are to be picketed,<br />
for toddy trees are government trees and toddy booths are to exploit the poor and the<br />
unhappy…..but never be harsh to them nor wicked….remember we are not out to fight the<br />
white man or the white man’s slaves ….but against the dem<strong>on</strong>iac corrupti<strong>on</strong> that has<br />
entered their hearts, the purer we are, the greater will be our victory, for the victory we<br />
seek is the victory of the heart. Send out love where there is hatred …we are not soldiers<br />
-at –arms, say I; we seek to be soldier saints. Kanthapura 129-130.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s practice of singing bhajans (hymns) at his prayer meetings is<br />
widelyaccepted. The people take out prabhat pheris ( morning outings), like getting up at<br />
dawn, gathering at the temple, and going through the village roads, in the twilight singing<br />
religious s<strong>on</strong>gs.<br />
Kanthapura , thus,remains primarly a novel about freedom movement, the political<br />
and social beliefs of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, dwelling mostly <strong>on</strong> his noti<strong>on</strong>s of n<strong>on</strong>-violence<br />
and aborti<strong>on</strong> of untouchability. Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> doesnot figure in Kanthapura as a character<br />
, but his invisibility makes his presence str<strong>on</strong>gly felt. Moorthy is his spokespers<strong>on</strong>, he is<br />
the <strong>on</strong>e who blends gandhian philosophy with the everyday activities of the villagers. He<br />
motivates them to practice ahimsa and speak the truth. He also persuades them to make to<br />
cott<strong>on</strong> yarn <strong>on</strong> the spinning wheel and to wear the cloth spun and woven by their own<br />
hands. Kanthapura,23.<br />
British made clothes are to be discarded and destroyed in b<strong>on</strong>fires. Moorthy tells his<br />
village followers that <strong>Gandhi</strong> says “ spinning is as purifying as praying.’ Kanthapura,25<br />
In kanthapura, Raja Rao dramatizes the nati<strong>on</strong>al struggle as a mythic and symbolic<br />
event. The kanthapura village, in his novel, is a piece of mythic land c<strong>on</strong>taining within it<br />
the memory of the village . Raja Rao goes a step further in mingling the grace and t<strong>on</strong>e of<br />
the speech rhythms of his stories . Replete with philosophical overtures, <strong>on</strong>e can say that<br />
Raja Rao blends history, facts with metaphysics. The references to the karma philosophy,<br />
the omnipresence of God, the immortality of the soul and the doctrine of incarnati<strong>on</strong><br />
which are derived from the Bhagavad Gita signify the novelist’s fascinati<strong>on</strong> for Vedant.<br />
153
His literary art c<strong>on</strong>firms that Indian mindset is more accustomed to the familiar<br />
traditi<strong>on</strong>al values and myths, than with the c<strong>on</strong>temporary and factual existence. They are<br />
more c<strong>on</strong>nected with history than with the here and now. Hence, the use of harikathas, and<br />
the comparis<strong>on</strong>s of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> with Hindu gods, gives the sleepy villagers something<br />
to sit up and listen. The thread that binds the Indian mind with its culture invariably very<br />
str<strong>on</strong>g and thus kindles a joy to be a part of that stream that has been handed over from<br />
generati<strong>on</strong>s to generati<strong>on</strong>s. Hence, Kanthapura wakes up from its deep slumber and becomes<br />
a part of the great Indian struggle forIindependence. Kanthapura symbolizes India, its<br />
capacity to absorb influences and yet remain essentially the same. It has the freedom of<br />
the romance, the broad canvas of the epic,and the symbolism of a fable.<br />
Bibiography<br />
1. ( Siv Narayan Dash: <strong>Gandhi</strong>an spirit as role model in the creative writings of Bhabani<br />
Bhattacharya…..edited by Amar Nath Prasad and Nagendra Kumar Singh: Indian<br />
ficti<strong>on</strong> in English: roots and blossoms, P.P.36<br />
2. Raja Rao,. Kanthapura. New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1992.<br />
“<strong>Gandhi</strong> w<strong>on</strong> nati<strong>on</strong>al independence for more milli<strong>on</strong>s of people than any other<br />
leader of men, and with less bloodshed, and that was the truth. He showed the weak<br />
and the poor how to struggle without taking life, and that was the truth. He spent years<br />
in jail for the nati<strong>on</strong>al cause, and <strong>on</strong>ce he helped c<strong>on</strong>duct the prosecuti<strong>on</strong> against<br />
himself after violence occurred in a civil disobedience movement. He broke the system<br />
of indentured Indian labor in South Africa. He w<strong>on</strong> respect for Indians and restored the<br />
self-respect of men who had humiliated them. He fought color and racial discriminati<strong>on</strong><br />
everywhere. And all that was the truth. He laid the foundati<strong>on</strong>s for a nati<strong>on</strong>al language<br />
which would bring men close together regardless of creed, and he nursed and tended<br />
the sick and the helpless to teach men kindliness and self-scarifies. Against 3,000 years<br />
of prejudice he raised a crusade for the human rights of 50,000,000 untouchables, and<br />
he opposed the bigotry and dogmatism and the hateful orthodoxy of the caste system<br />
with more success than any Indian since Gautam Buddha.”<br />
154<br />
Edgar P. Snow
“Mira and The Mahatma” by Sudhir Kakar: A Review<br />
155<br />
Priyadarshi Kar*<br />
A topic c<strong>on</strong>cerned with Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s “experiments with truth”, simply put his<br />
attitude towards sex or his sexual philosophy, has many a times courted serious c<strong>on</strong>troversy<br />
and c<strong>on</strong>fusi<strong>on</strong>. This topic has been handled by quite a few scholars in the past, am<strong>on</strong>g<br />
whom the most recent known work is a novel by <strong>on</strong>e of India’s best psychoanalysts and<br />
writers—Sudhir Kakar’s book, Mira and the Mahatma. Though categorized as a fictitious<br />
work, it is in fact quasi-historical in nature. The book emerged from a collecti<strong>on</strong> of letters<br />
found in the archives of the Nehru Memorial Museum Library in New Delhi. Letters<br />
exchanged between <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji and his devoted English disciple Madeline Slade, whom the<br />
Mahatma affecti<strong>on</strong>ately called Mira, after the 16th century Indian woman-saint infatuated<br />
with Krishna and, letters written from Mira to Prithvi Singh, a former Ghadar revoluti<strong>on</strong>aryturned-<strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
, with whom she was madly in love with. These provided Kakar the<br />
basis of the story. It is a story about an introvert, more handsome than pretty young woman,<br />
more comfortable with nature than with people, passi<strong>on</strong>ate about Beethoven, disciplined<br />
and determined about any task she undertakes, and yet, searching for that elusive figure in<br />
whom she can repose complete trust and love. Kakar takes the story to another level by<br />
weaving together facts gleaned from books, diaries, letters, and recollecti<strong>on</strong>s, al<strong>on</strong>g with<br />
his own imaginary set of characters, many of whom are quite obviously based <strong>on</strong> real<br />
people who travelled in and out of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s and Mira’s separate worlds.<br />
One such character is Navin, the “highly educated, yet curiously naive” narrator of<br />
the story, who was Mira’s Hindi tutor at Sabarmati. Kakar entrusts Navin to tell us about<br />
“the great modern mytho-historical epic that is <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s life”, a life characterised by a<br />
heartfelt c<strong>on</strong>cern for the poorest of the poor, a profound interest in engaging with everybody,<br />
an uncanny ability to publicly admit <strong>on</strong>e’s mistakes, and an admirable tendency to arrive<br />
at a c<strong>on</strong>sensus, “at the risk of exposing himself, and the author, to the ridicule of our<br />
cynical times”. The story is mainly about Mira or Mirabehn, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji, and their relati<strong>on</strong>ship<br />
spanning for almost two-and-a-half decade. Navin in the novel, is actually Kakar’s alter<br />
ego, through whom Kakar enjoys a ringside view of the swirling events of the 1920s and<br />
1930s. Navin, a Hindi scholar, specialising in Premchand comes to stay in Sabarmati<br />
ashram and is immediately commandeered to become Mira’s general guide and tutor. The<br />
book starts with Navin visiting Mira’s retirement home in Vienna, in fact, Sudhir Kakar<br />
himself visited Mirabehn in 1964, she left India in 1958 after staying for 35 years and then<br />
traverses back in time to the mid-1920s, when Mira was first introduced to <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji through<br />
her friend and god-father Romain Rolland.<br />
Madeline Slade, daughter of a British admiral - who wished “to hear the call of the<br />
Eternal” —gets deeply moved by <strong>Gandhi</strong> and his philosophy after reading Romain Rolland’s<br />
*Executive Editor, Spectrum Books, New Delhi.
iography of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> (Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong>, 1924). Deciding to come to <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s<br />
ashram at Sabarmati, Madeline practices the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an way of life herself, learning spinning,<br />
sitting cross-legged <strong>on</strong> the floor, becoming a teetotaler and a vegetarian and learning Urdu,<br />
etc., for a year. So<strong>on</strong> after arrival, she plunges into the ashram work and the Indian freedom<br />
struggle. Madeline clung to <strong>Gandhi</strong>, with a ferocity which he found very unsettling, perhaps<br />
also because of feelings which her str<strong>on</strong>g need for his physical proximity in turn aroused<br />
in him. During the 24 years of their associati<strong>on</strong>, <strong>Gandhi</strong> would repeatedly send her away<br />
to live and work in other ashrams in distant parts of the country. She would have nervous<br />
breakdowns as a c<strong>on</strong>sequence of these separati<strong>on</strong>s and “struggles of the heart”, as she<br />
called them, or “spiritual ag<strong>on</strong>y”, as <strong>Gandhi</strong> put it, impetuously rush back to wherever<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was <strong>on</strong>ly to be again banished from his presence. <strong>Gandhi</strong> very often tried to redirect<br />
Mira from her single-minded c<strong>on</strong>centrati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> him as a pers<strong>on</strong> to the cause they both<br />
served.<br />
Kakar used DavidAttenborough’s recollecti<strong>on</strong> of a c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong> with Mira to describe<br />
her first meeting with the man she would come to love and reverse as her very own pers<strong>on</strong>al<br />
god. Mira told him, “The moment I saw his (<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s) slight figure sitting <strong>on</strong> his cushi<strong>on</strong><br />
<strong>on</strong> the floor, I felt a str<strong>on</strong>g sensati<strong>on</strong> of light coming from his directi<strong>on</strong>. It was a light I felt<br />
rather than saw… till it exploded behind my eyes”.<br />
Delving deep into the complex relati<strong>on</strong>ship between <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Mira, psychoanalyst<br />
Kakar piles detail up<strong>on</strong> detail, thereby gradually unveiling the man behind the<br />
Mahatma. <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s own pers<strong>on</strong>al struggles with brahmacharya or celibacy, his growing<br />
attracti<strong>on</strong> towards Mira, and his startling truthfulness in admitting as much in his letters to<br />
her, are gems that Kakar encases in his tale of love and devoti<strong>on</strong>. In his effort to unveil the<br />
man whose inner forces are realised in acti<strong>on</strong>, not a savant whose inner life is found in his<br />
thoughts, Kakar peels away the deadening layers of godliness that have reduced <strong>Gandhi</strong> to<br />
dust and replaces it with the aura of a saint who was also a fine human being.<br />
The backdrop and the c<strong>on</strong>text of the Mira-Mahatma relati<strong>on</strong>ship is often the Sabarmati<br />
ashram and later the ashram at Wardha, where Kakar describes Kasturba mechanically<br />
rubbing ghee <strong>on</strong> her husband’s forehead and feet while <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Mira are engrossed in<br />
their nightly c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong>s. This daily activity of wifely devoti<strong>on</strong> and duty, later in the<br />
book, becomes the reference point for Mira’s slow inroads into the pers<strong>on</strong>al space between<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and Kasturba.As <strong>Gandhi</strong> and Mira grow closer, Mira takes over the task of preparing<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>’s food, the cool wrap for his head in summer, and finally, rubbing ghee <strong>on</strong> his feet,<br />
while Kasturba watches mutely. In short Mira’s “intimacy and ease of intercourse” with<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>, and the intensity with which she adores him often lead to tensi<strong>on</strong>s between her,<br />
the Mahatma, and Kasturba.<br />
But what is worth noting is that Kakar does not fall into the trap of simplifying this<br />
relati<strong>on</strong>ship. He unearths Mira’s own growing dependence <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the myriad levels<br />
156
at which <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>nects with his devoted English disciple, and the pain and struggle<br />
both go through to arrive at their own visi<strong>on</strong> of “truth”.<br />
Mira seems to have been often “saddled with the burden of choice,” her head<br />
understanding Mahatma’s letters in <strong>on</strong>e way, and her heart reading it differently. Before<br />
coming to India, Mira also had experienced “a violent and passi<strong>on</strong>ate disturbance” with a<br />
Scottish pianist, an exp<strong>on</strong>ent of Beethoven, and later she would have an intimate but<br />
failed relati<strong>on</strong>ship with Prithvi Singh, who got c<strong>on</strong>verted to <strong>Gandhi</strong>sm from the<br />
revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary Ghadar party. At the very end of the novel, the readers find Mira leading a<br />
retired life in Austria, while her Indian, male, servant expressing a desire to leave her and<br />
return to India.<br />
Apart from taking genuine extracts from Mira’s diaries, her letters to <strong>Gandhi</strong> and<br />
his to her, as well as <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s other writings, Kakar ties together with his own set of<br />
fictitious letters some like the <strong>on</strong>es from Madeline to Romain Rolland and the <strong>on</strong>es to<br />
from Madeline to Navin , to unfold the inner dynamics of the Mira-Mahatma relati<strong>on</strong>ship,<br />
as also their pers<strong>on</strong>al worlds. In <strong>on</strong>e such letter to her godfather, Madeline (or rather,<br />
Kakar) writes, “You wanted me to encounter”. This seems to be the crux of the novel.<br />
Kakar underlines it yet again, when he quotes <strong>Gandhi</strong> telling Mira, “What people listen to<br />
is your life, not your ideas”.<br />
Without drawing c<strong>on</strong>clusi<strong>on</strong>s Navin or Kakar w<strong>on</strong>ders: “Was hers (Mira’s) a tragic<br />
story whose heroine insisted <strong>on</strong> seeing it as a romantic quest in which, after withstanding<br />
the perils of the road, she had been rewarded by an exaltati<strong>on</strong> bey<strong>on</strong>d normal human<br />
experience?”<br />
Yet, <strong>on</strong>e cannot agree or disagree. It is indeed impossible to judge success or failure<br />
of some<strong>on</strong>e else’s life. This perhaps is in the spirit of <strong>Gandhi</strong>, who <strong>on</strong>ce said to Prithvi<br />
Singh, “I disbelieve history so far as the details of acts of heroes are c<strong>on</strong>cerned. I accept<br />
broad facts of history and draw my own less<strong>on</strong>s for my c<strong>on</strong>duct as l<strong>on</strong>g as they do not<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tradict the highest laws of life, but I positively refuse to judge men from the scanty<br />
material furnished to us by history”.<br />
Sudhir Kakar’s Mira and the Mahatma is indeed a welcome venture, since his<br />
standpoints and psychoanalytic insights presented in the book enriches our understanding<br />
of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s inner struggles remained his eternal prooccupati<strong>on</strong>. The work has been very<br />
masterfully crafted in the methodology of psychoanalytic dec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> and add new<br />
meanings to the topic discussed other similar works like Nirmal Kumar Bose’s My Days<br />
with <strong>Gandhi</strong>, Erik H. Eriks<strong>on</strong>’s <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s Truth: On the Origins of Militant N<strong>on</strong>violence,<br />
Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre’s Freedom at Midnight. The book has opened up<br />
new vistas for research scholars in understanding <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s “spiritual struggles” in their<br />
psycho-historic perspective.<br />
* All the quotes are from the work under review.<br />
157
GANDHIJI’S CONCEPT OF GRAM SWARAJ : ROLE AND<br />
RELEVANCE OF KHADI AND VILLAGE INDUSTRIES IN A<br />
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC ORDER<br />
158<br />
Deenabandhu Das*<br />
Growth and development of rural industries has been regarded as an integral part of<br />
rural development. Rural industrializati<strong>on</strong> and rural development are essential for ensuring<br />
over all ec<strong>on</strong>omic development of our nati<strong>on</strong>. Inclusi<strong>on</strong> of small scale and other village<br />
industries would c<strong>on</strong>tinue to be the major comp<strong>on</strong>ents of the programme for<br />
industrializati<strong>on</strong>. Development and expansi<strong>on</strong> of cottage and village industries not <strong>on</strong>ly<br />
help emergence of efficient and decentralized sectors but also create further avenues of<br />
employment in a self-sustaining ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Growth of village industries in rural areas<br />
c<strong>on</strong>tributes to alleviati<strong>on</strong> of poverty of the rural people and provides a new dimensi<strong>on</strong> to<br />
their occupati<strong>on</strong>al pattern. There is, therefore, as Schumacher has said a need for “producti<strong>on</strong><br />
by masses, rather than mass producti<strong>on</strong>”. This can be possible if we could develop<br />
decentralized, small-scale, tiny, cottage and village industries in rural areas. Mahatma<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> in appropriate words has said, “Our villages are <strong>on</strong> the verge of destructi<strong>on</strong> owing<br />
to disappearance of village industries. They can be revived <strong>on</strong>ly by a revival of the village<br />
industries”.<br />
A society based <strong>on</strong> ethical and moral foundati<strong>on</strong>s in which truth (Satya) and n<strong>on</strong>violence<br />
(Ahimsa) would remain as the corner-st<strong>on</strong>es to enable each individual to enjoy<br />
full freedom, equality and social justice, was the vital c<strong>on</strong>cern of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. It would be a<br />
Stateless society – a society in which there would be no police and military, no law courts,<br />
no heavy transport and centralized means of producti<strong>on</strong>. His c<strong>on</strong>cept of state was<br />
democratic, but with limited powers and functi<strong>on</strong>s. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji valued individual freedom<br />
but emphasized that a balance had to be struck between individual freedom and social<br />
restrains. He wanted a class less society in which there would be no exploitati<strong>on</strong> – a<br />
society which would be much similar to a family having close interdependence am<strong>on</strong>g<br />
each other. In <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of Ramarajya – in kingdom of God <strong>on</strong> earth, the Sate<br />
must be based n truth and n<strong>on</strong>-violence and must c<strong>on</strong>sist of prosperous, happy and selfc<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
villages and village communities.<br />
Village Ec<strong>on</strong>omy : A Self-Sustaining Rural Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Order<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji believed that a society must follow certain norms of life where mere material<br />
well being would not be the <strong>on</strong>ly motivating force. There must be proper values in an ideal<br />
community. He emphasized that “true ec<strong>on</strong>omics stands for social justice and for moral<br />
values” 2 . His idea of society was based <strong>on</strong> the theory of equality. He advocated that<br />
everybody should have equal opportunities in life although their capacities would differ.<br />
*Registrar, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>, Vani Vihar, Bhubanswar – 751 004, Orissa.
People with greater talents may earn more by utilizing their intellect, but the greater earnings<br />
should be used for the good of the State. He therefore argued that in a society, nobody<br />
should own or enjoy more than <strong>on</strong>e’s necessity. He believed in the infinite goodness of<br />
human beings. The fundamental tenets of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s c<strong>on</strong>cept of trusteeship were based <strong>on</strong><br />
these assumpti<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s emphasis <strong>on</strong> moral aspects distinguishes his ec<strong>on</strong>omic ideas from other<br />
socialist and materialist philosophers. He emphasized <strong>on</strong> equality of men and equal<br />
distributi<strong>on</strong> of wealth. The rich should utilize their surplus wealth for the benefit of the<br />
other poorer classes of the society. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that trusteeship is a peaceful way of<br />
liquidating class c<strong>on</strong>flict and establishing class collaborati<strong>on</strong>. Trusteeship is therefore, a<br />
“means of transforming the capitalist order of society into an egalitarian <strong>on</strong>e”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> asserted that “the ec<strong>on</strong>omics that disregard moral and sentimental<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>s are like wax works that being life like, still lack the life of the living flesh<br />
… That ec<strong>on</strong>omics is untrue, which ignores or disgraces moral values”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> stressed<br />
<strong>on</strong> equal distributi<strong>on</strong> of nati<strong>on</strong>al wealth. A firm believer in the quality and divinity of man,<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji said that “ec<strong>on</strong>omics that hurts the moral well being of any individual or nati<strong>on</strong><br />
are immoral and therefore are sinful. Thus, the ec<strong>on</strong>omics that permit <strong>on</strong>e country to prey<br />
up<strong>on</strong> another are immoral”. He believed that India needs an ec<strong>on</strong>omic system based <strong>on</strong><br />
self reliance and self respect and must fulfill certain basic human values. The ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
ideas of Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> aimed at material upliftment and moral elevati<strong>on</strong> of human life<br />
both at the nati<strong>on</strong>al and individual level.<br />
Gram Swaraj (Village Republic) : The C<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> laid emphasis <strong>on</strong> the fact that India lived in villages and that <strong>on</strong>ly through<br />
their salvati<strong>on</strong> India would regain her glory and prosperity. His c<strong>on</strong>cept of Gram Swaraj or<br />
Gram Raj (Village Republic) can be interpreted from his idea of “Soul-force”. He used to<br />
say that “India’s soul lives in villages”. To <strong>Gandhi</strong>, villages were the basic units of social<br />
organizati<strong>on</strong>. The villages should therefore be self-sufficient in the matters of their vital<br />
requirements. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji said that “in the villages, the means of producti<strong>on</strong> of elementary<br />
necessities of life must be available to all as God’s air and water and were not to be a<br />
vehicle of traffic for exploitati<strong>on</strong> of others”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> was against the idea of massive and<br />
indiscriminate industrializati<strong>on</strong> of the Western variety because that would be harmful to<br />
society, as all pers<strong>on</strong>s could not be provided with work. He favoured the idea of<br />
decentralizati<strong>on</strong> of producti<strong>on</strong> and nati<strong>on</strong>alizati<strong>on</strong> of big industries and factories. He argued<br />
for the c<strong>on</strong>cept of State ownership of major means of producti<strong>on</strong> and wealth. He favoured<br />
the idea of aut<strong>on</strong>omous and self-c<strong>on</strong>tained villages in which there would be intimate human<br />
relati<strong>on</strong>ship and self-rule through village Panchayats having executive, legislative and<br />
judicial powers.<br />
Thus, we may sum up that the structure of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omy would be labourintensive<br />
and not capital intensive. There would be decentralized system of planning<br />
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producti<strong>on</strong> and decisi<strong>on</strong>-making. The planning model based <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ideology would<br />
be built <strong>on</strong> the ec<strong>on</strong>omic principles like n<strong>on</strong>-violent ownership (trusteeship) n<strong>on</strong>-violent<br />
producti<strong>on</strong> or appropriate, technology, n<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>, (Aparigraph), n<strong>on</strong>-violent work or<br />
bread-labour, co-operati<strong>on</strong>, equality, self-reliant village, ec<strong>on</strong>omy and simplicity and limited<br />
wants. This model of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omy would be founded <strong>on</strong> a n<strong>on</strong>-violent, n<strong>on</strong>exploitative<br />
and egalitarian social order guided by the fundamental principle of Sarvodaya<br />
(Welfare of all). It has been said that <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s philosophy of Swadeshi has ultimately led<br />
to the c<strong>on</strong>cept of self-reliance as a major objective of Indian planning.And “real planning”,<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> wrote “c<strong>on</strong>sist of best utilizati<strong>on</strong> of the entire manpower of India”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> always<br />
stressed <strong>on</strong> the “human factor in ec<strong>on</strong>omic development. Because, according to <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji<br />
“the supreme c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> is man”. In order to provide full employment opportunities to<br />
the people, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji emphasized <strong>on</strong> spread and expansi<strong>on</strong> of khadi and village industries<br />
network in the country. He said “If the government can provide full employment to our<br />
people without the help of khadi and village industries, I shall be prepared to wind up my<br />
c<strong>on</strong>structive programme in this sphere”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> believed in the body-labour or bread-lobour theory and emphasized that<br />
each man should do bodily or physical labour to satisfy his most essential needs. From<br />
Ruskin’s, “Unto This Last”, <strong>Gandhi</strong> realised6 that “the good of the individual is c<strong>on</strong>tained<br />
in the good of all”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> pi<strong>on</strong>eered the cause of spinning as “the <strong>on</strong>ly ready means of<br />
driving away penury and making famine of work and wealth impossible”.<br />
Ideas <strong>on</strong> Khadi & Village Industries<br />
Khadi and village industries, <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji believed symbolized ec<strong>on</strong>omic independence<br />
and equality. He said that khadi and village industries would remove dullness of mind,<br />
banish greed and reduce inequality. He laid much emphasis <strong>on</strong> khadi as providing relief to<br />
the poor masses. Spinning and weaving of hand-woven khadi was regarded as techniques<br />
not <strong>on</strong>ly for obtaining Swaraj or independence from foreign rule but also as a symbol of<br />
unity of Indian people and dignity of labour, but also as a link between the masses and the<br />
classes, the comm<strong>on</strong> citizen and the elitists. Khadi, <strong>Gandhi</strong> said, included village industries<br />
as well. Khadi was c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be the key to Swaraj, a means of mass educati<strong>on</strong>. <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
said, “Khadi is the central sun around which the other village industries evolve like so<br />
many planets. They have no independent existence. Nor khadi will exist without other<br />
industries”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sidered khadi as a means of securing even distributi<strong>on</strong> of producti<strong>on</strong><br />
and c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong>. Wearing of khadi was regarded as the beginning of the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an way of<br />
socializati<strong>on</strong> and a measure to end the sense of alienati<strong>on</strong> of the educati<strong>on</strong>al elite. Khadi<br />
was also a way of discipline and self-sacrifice for each Indian and in the words of Nehru<br />
“the very livery of India’s freedom”. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that the ec<strong>on</strong>omic and moral<br />
regenerati<strong>on</strong> of India lay mainly in the revival of Charkha (Khadi spirit).<br />
Village industries al<strong>on</strong>g with khadi were c<strong>on</strong>sidered by <strong>Gandhi</strong> to ensure selfsufficiency<br />
in the village ec<strong>on</strong>omy. They were regarded as effective means for removal of<br />
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unemployment and under-employment, eradicati<strong>on</strong> of rural poverty and creati<strong>on</strong> of a more<br />
equal society. The village industries being more labour-intensive, there would be greater<br />
opportunities to provide employment to all able and willing people. <strong>Gandhi</strong> justified that<br />
promoti<strong>on</strong> of village industries would eliminate the use of sophisticated machinery and<br />
arrest the scope for rapid and indiscriminate industrializati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> was not against industrializati<strong>on</strong> or use of machines but was opposed to its<br />
indiscriminate and large-scale use. He had a Swadeshi mentality and a str<strong>on</strong>g determinati<strong>on</strong><br />
to meet all the needs and necessaries of life in the country and within the villages. He said<br />
“We should not substitute lifeless machines for living machines scattered over the seven<br />
lakhs villages in India. The machine is well used if it aids man’s labour and simplifies it.<br />
Today, it is used to pour wealth in the pockets of the chosen few. Little attenti<strong>on</strong> is paid to<br />
crores of people from whom the machine snatches away their bread”.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> argued that village and small-scale industries will lead to decentralizati<strong>on</strong><br />
of producti<strong>on</strong> and even distributi<strong>on</strong> of vital necessaries of life. He believed that village<br />
and agro-based industries would help maintaining harm<strong>on</strong>y between men and nature and<br />
would avert ecological crises. G.D.H. Cole10 observed that “<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s campaign for the<br />
development of home-made cloth-khadar is no more the fad of a romantic eager, to revive<br />
the past, but a practical attempt to relieve the poverty and uplift the standard of villages”.<br />
In the perspective of fast-moving changes brought out by scientific progress and<br />
technological advancements the world over, the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an model of development can not<br />
be fully side-trucked as stereotype or static. It still holds c<strong>on</strong>siderable relevance in the<br />
c<strong>on</strong>text of growing ec<strong>on</strong>omy of under-developed and developing countries. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji’s<br />
ideal of Gram Swaraj and village ec<strong>on</strong>omy can be given a fair trial with necessary<br />
modificati<strong>on</strong>s to suit to the changing times. His deeper c<strong>on</strong>cern for man or “human factor”,<br />
development of village ec<strong>on</strong>omy, self-reliance, appropriate technology and several such<br />
ideas needs to be given appropriate thinking in the c<strong>on</strong>text of our planning and programmes<br />
for development. The appropriateness or relevance of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an ec<strong>on</strong>omy and development<br />
model may be well appreciated from the great Nobel laureate Gunnar Myrdal expressed in<br />
Bapu’s birth centenary year. “Often when labouring with India’s staggering development<br />
problems, I have felt inclined to believe that what the great country needs today, more than<br />
foreign aid and day-to-day adjustment of policies to meet the recurring emergencies, is a<br />
spiritual leader of <strong>Gandhi</strong>’s is greatness, his love, and fearlessness. Together with the<br />
group of patriots who would come to surround such a leader, he mighty electrify the nati<strong>on</strong><br />
to undertake, late, but not too late revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary changes in social, ec<strong>on</strong>omic and political<br />
instituti<strong>on</strong>s, attitudes and practices which are now so separately needed”.<br />
Role and Importance of Khadi and Village Industries<br />
The role and importance of khadi and village industries ahs been well espoused by<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> in his ideas and statements expressed in several forums as discussed<br />
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earlier. In recogniti<strong>on</strong> of the role and significance of khadi and village industries in the<br />
Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy, the C<strong>on</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong> of India has incorporated appropriate provisi<strong>on</strong>s in the<br />
Directive Principles of Sate Policy for promoting this cause by the governments at nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
and sate level.<br />
The importance of khadi and village industries and their role in the ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
development of the country has been well emphasized in several industrial Policy<br />
Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s pr<strong>on</strong>ounced by the Uni<strong>on</strong> Government from time to time. The Industrial Policy<br />
Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s of 1948 and more particularly of 1956, 1977 and of 1980 have made categorical<br />
asserti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> the importance and need for development of khadi and village industries in<br />
appropriate scale and manner. Commenting <strong>on</strong> the role of cottage, village and small scale<br />
industries, the industrial Policy Resoluti<strong>on</strong> of 1956 stated, “they provide immediate large<br />
scale employment; they offer a method of ensuring am<strong>on</strong>g equitable distributi<strong>on</strong> of the<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al income and they facilitate and effective mobilizati<strong>on</strong> of resources of capital and<br />
skill, which might otherwise remain unutilized. Some of the problems that unplanned<br />
urbanizati<strong>on</strong> tends to create will be avoided by the establishment of small centres of<br />
industrial producti<strong>on</strong> all over the country”.<br />
In the c<strong>on</strong>text of our nati<strong>on</strong>al planning, almost all successive Five Year Plans up to<br />
the Eighth Plan (1985-90), have emphasized <strong>on</strong> the important role of village and small<br />
industries sector and particularly <strong>on</strong> khadi and village industries in alleviating rural poverty<br />
and in fighting rural unemployment. The First Plan (1950-51) described village industries<br />
as a “central place” in the rural development programme. The Planning Commissi<strong>on</strong> while<br />
drafting the First Plan laid due emphasis <strong>on</strong> VSI sector “not <strong>on</strong>ly out of pure ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong>s but also for its social significance, as it forms an inseparable part of the<br />
socio-cultural milieu of the rural society in India”. The Third Plan (1961-66) stressed <strong>on</strong><br />
“encouraging the further growth of industries in rural areas and in small towns” with the<br />
objective of providing “opportunities of income and employment in a dispersed manner<br />
all over the country”. The Sixth Plan (1980-85) also recognized the importance of village<br />
and small scale industries and the land document stated that promoti<strong>on</strong> village and small<br />
industries will “c<strong>on</strong>tinue to be an important element in the nati<strong>on</strong>al development strategy”.<br />
Khadi and village industries have got a distinct role to play and have some distinctive<br />
features which require them to be kept at a separate footing different from small scale<br />
industries. Village industries have got separate work culture, earnings, tools and technology,<br />
inputs and investments which necessitate separate policy support and promoti<strong>on</strong>al measures<br />
like funding and marketing etc. Although village industries have been kept together with<br />
small industries as “VSI sector” in our Industrial Policy Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s and Five Year Plan<br />
documents, village industries should be regarded as a separate sector al<strong>on</strong>g with khadi <strong>on</strong><br />
a distinct footing. Subsequently, the Planning Commissi<strong>on</strong> has appropriately held,<br />
“Although khadi and village industries fall in the category of small industries, the benefit<br />
meant for small industries do not flow to khadi and village industries. It is a high time to<br />
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small industries instead of grouping them together in <strong>on</strong>e VSI sector and devise measures<br />
for support of each of them <strong>on</strong> different basis providing a weightage in favour of village<br />
industries, since what is good for small scale sector is not necessarily so far khadi and<br />
village industries sector, especially in areas, where both product similar products that<br />
would complete with each other”.<br />
With adopti<strong>on</strong> of appropriate planning policies and strategies for development, khadi,<br />
village and small scale industries have a greater role to play in achieving the nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
objectives of maximum ec<strong>on</strong>omic growth together with social justice and equitable<br />
distributi<strong>on</strong> of nati<strong>on</strong>al wealth and income.<br />
In a country as big as the dimensi<strong>on</strong>s of a sub-c<strong>on</strong>tinent where 76.6 per cent of the<br />
total populati<strong>on</strong> live in rural areas and with more than 40% of people living below the<br />
poverty line with average per capita agriculture holding being less than 75 decimals, the<br />
prospects of a gainful employment to the rural people would c<strong>on</strong>tinue to be a distant<br />
dream unless appropriate strategies of development are adopted and suitable measures<br />
undertaken to accelerate ec<strong>on</strong>omic growth. Rural industrializati<strong>on</strong> may appear as a possible<br />
answer to the problem of unemployment and poverty, but indiscriminate industrializati<strong>on</strong><br />
may in its chain bring further hazards of polluti<strong>on</strong> and ecological imbalances. Khadi and<br />
village industries not <strong>on</strong>ly generate grater employment potential in rural areas but the<br />
tools and technology applied in such producti<strong>on</strong> activities do not give rise to threats of<br />
envir<strong>on</strong>mental hazards. In an ec<strong>on</strong>omy of ours, the importance of khadi and village industries<br />
should no more be treated as an ideological obsessi<strong>on</strong> or a fad of some few vanishing<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ans, but as a nati<strong>on</strong>al imperative with potential to face the challenge of mounting<br />
unemployment and appalling poverty.<br />
Khadi and Village Industries : Its Relevance<br />
The important of khadi and village industries, their role in meeting many of our<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>al issues and in bringing out rural development, and the robust rati<strong>on</strong>ale which<br />
keeps hem <strong>on</strong> a distinct and separate footing from other sectors of our developing ec<strong>on</strong>omy,<br />
speak in no uncertain terms about their present relevance. Khadi, cottage and village<br />
industries al<strong>on</strong>g with handicrafts have been an inescapable pat of our developing ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
since several centuries. In spite of awe-inspiring advancements made by man in science<br />
and technology space and cybernetics, progress in informati<strong>on</strong> technology, and<br />
computerizati<strong>on</strong>, men’s taste and appreciati<strong>on</strong> for things of artistic value and excellence<br />
would c<strong>on</strong>tinue to go unabated.<br />
Al our formal mechanisms of planning, methods and strategies for development<br />
have emphasized <strong>on</strong> the relevance of khadi and village industries sector in bringing out<br />
rural development and industrializing, the rural ec<strong>on</strong>omy. Industrial Policy Resoluti<strong>on</strong>s of<br />
1948, 1956 of 1977 and of 1980 have in unequivocal terms reiterated the relevance of this<br />
sector in the c<strong>on</strong>text of our ec<strong>on</strong>omic growth and social development. In the c<strong>on</strong>text of our<br />
163
nati<strong>on</strong>al planning beginning with the First Five Year Plan (1951-56) to Sixth Five year<br />
Plan (1985-90), the role and relevance of khadi, village and small industries has been well<br />
recognized plan outlays made for their development, although not very adequately.<br />
Industrial Policy Resoluti<strong>on</strong> in July, 1991, marked a great reversal in important<br />
policies and programmes of our government in the c<strong>on</strong>text of nati<strong>on</strong>al planning. The New<br />
Ec<strong>on</strong>omic Policy of liberalizati<strong>on</strong> and globalizati<strong>on</strong> of Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy unleased several<br />
changes and challenges to our vast industrial sector hitherto c<strong>on</strong>trolled and regulated by<br />
policies of protecti<strong>on</strong>. Linking up of our domestic ec<strong>on</strong>omy to the global ec<strong>on</strong>omy had led<br />
to a stiff internati<strong>on</strong>al competiti<strong>on</strong> with increasing demand for quality and excellence in<br />
products and services.<br />
In spite of these changes and challenges in the c<strong>on</strong>text of globalizati<strong>on</strong> and ec<strong>on</strong>omic<br />
liberalizati<strong>on</strong>, the khadi and village industries sector would c<strong>on</strong>tinue to keep its relevance<br />
and play a significant role as a major provider of opportunities for work and employment<br />
to a large number of people in the rural areas of our countries. However, in order to maintain<br />
its uniqueness and to sustain itself as an important sector in the first growing Indian ec<strong>on</strong>omy,<br />
khadi and village industries segment must reorient and revitalize its structure with modern<br />
tools and techniques, update its processes and technologies and diversify its activities in a<br />
greater varieties of products.Appropriate backward and forward linkages should be provided<br />
for expanding its scope and ambience for enhanced sale and marketing.<br />
References<br />
1. Biswas, S.C. (Ed.)(1990): <strong>Gandhi</strong>- Theory & Practice-Social Impact &<br />
C<strong>on</strong>temporary Relevance, Indian Institute of Advance Studies, Simla.<br />
2. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K.: The Harijan, Oct.9, 1937.<br />
3. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K.: Autobiography (Story of My Experiment with Truth), Navajiban<br />
Trust, Ahmedabad.<br />
4. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K.: Young India, Nov.,3, 1921.<br />
5. <strong>Gandhi</strong>, M.K.: The Harijan, March 23, 1947.<br />
6. KVIC: Khadi Gramodyog, No.4, January, 1989, Bombay.<br />
7. Planning Commissi<strong>on</strong>, Govt. of India: The Sec<strong>on</strong>d Five Year Plan.<br />
8. Panandikar, P.A. & A.: Rural Industrializati<strong>on</strong>, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New<br />
Delhi.<br />
164
WELCOME NOTE BY<br />
DR. DEENABANDHU DAS<br />
REGISTRAR, UTKAL UNIVERSITY<br />
At the outset I have the pleasure of welcoming you all to this State level Seminar <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>an<br />
Philosophy and its Impact <strong>on</strong> Modern Society in the Directi<strong>on</strong> of Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace and Universal<br />
Brotherhood being organized by the <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> at the behest of Higher Educati<strong>on</strong> and Culture<br />
andI&PRDepartment, Government of Orissa. This is the first of its kind in <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong>. We<br />
c<strong>on</strong>gratulate the Government of Orissa for having bestowed this h<strong>on</strong>ourous resp<strong>on</strong>sibility <strong>on</strong> us. We<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sider ourselves singularly formulate for having in our midst great freedom fighters like Maa<br />
Annapurna Moharana and Sri Goparaj Labanam. The entire country is celebrating the 150 years of<br />
First War of Indian Independence 1857 and 60th year of India's Independence. As a part of this Nati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
celebrati<strong>on</strong>,the Government of Orissa is organizing several functi<strong>on</strong>s to commemorate these two events.<br />
The Government in additi<strong>on</strong> to celebrating the memorable c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> of various revoluti<strong>on</strong>ary leaders<br />
also thought of holding of a Seminar <strong>on</strong> ô <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy and its Impact <strong>on</strong> Modern Society<br />
in the Directi<strong>on</strong> of Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace and Universal Brotherhood and choose <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> for<br />
organizing the same. Our Vice-Chancellor Prof. L.N. Misra, being a teacher of Political Science and<br />
Public Administrati<strong>on</strong> and a specialist <strong>on</strong> Internati<strong>on</strong>al Studieshas been chosen as the Chief Coordinator.<br />
Though it is tempting speak <strong>on</strong> the theme of the Seminar I shall not intrude up<strong>on</strong> the resp<strong>on</strong>sibility<br />
of others. However to set the t<strong>on</strong>e of the Seminar I may be allowed to add few words. Many thought<br />
that <strong>Gandhi</strong>Æs influence both during era of freedom struggle and post Independent India has been<br />
over estimated and even at the cost of side lining c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> of others. Half a century and a decade<br />
has passed since India's freedom and <strong>Gandhi</strong>'s death. Automatically with the passage of time <strong>Gandhi</strong>'s<br />
place in India's freedom struggle has ceased to be a matter of great debate. Yet <strong>Gandhi</strong> refuse to<br />
die out from our mind. For <strong>Gandhi</strong> is more than his c<strong>on</strong>temporary times for his ideas, ideals and<br />
practices have found a new lease of life in c<strong>on</strong>temporary world. At times his philosophy seems more<br />
relevant presently than in his own times. <strong>Gandhi</strong> can be innovatively reinvented to meet the challenges<br />
of c<strong>on</strong>temporary world. Einstein <strong>on</strong>ce felt that the future would not believe that a man like <strong>Gandhi</strong><br />
ever lived with flesh and blood and walked. Probably such fear has been disproved. The young India<br />
today does not reject the whole of <strong>Gandhi</strong>. And in fact finds truth in his own way the relevance of<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an methods of rec<strong>on</strong>ciliati<strong>on</strong>, arbitrati<strong>on</strong> and carrying forward the essential truth. <strong>Gandhi</strong> is<br />
being humanized more and more and the essence is now being separated from his fads. There is<br />
a need for de-romanticizing <strong>Gandhi</strong> and making him more accessible. I shall not p<strong>on</strong>der more about<br />
these thing. On this memorable occasi<strong>on</strong><strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> has organized several talks. These include<br />
the deliberati<strong>on</strong> of Sri Goparaj Labanam, Maa Annapurna Moharana, Prof. S.N. Rath, Prof. K.M. Patra<br />
and Mr. Berkana from the US C<strong>on</strong>sulate, Kolkata. Several papers are going to be presented in this<br />
Seminar by distinguished faculty members of the Universities of Orissa and other colleges. <strong>DDCE</strong>,<br />
<strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> <strong>on</strong> this occasi<strong>on</strong> is releasing a special issue at "SEARCH", their journal of Arts,<br />
Humanities and Management, devoted to <strong>Gandhi</strong>. Numerous articles of great value and quality find<br />
place in the journal. I <strong>on</strong>ce again welcome Sri R.B. Nayak, Commissi<strong>on</strong>er-com-Secretary, Department<br />
of Higher Educati<strong>on</strong>, Sri Labanam, Smt. Moharana, Prof. S.N. Rath, Prof. K.M. Patra and all other<br />
dignitaries and participants to this <strong>on</strong>e day Seminar. I look forward al<strong>on</strong>g with all of you to a successful<br />
academic and cerebral experience.<br />
I welcome you all and thank all for a patient hearing.<br />
Jai Hind<br />
Deenabandhu Das<br />
165
GANDHISM AND UNIVERSAL PEACE<br />
Abstract<br />
166<br />
B.K. Mahakul*<br />
Mahatma <strong>Gandhi</strong> is recognised as the preeminent theorist of n<strong>on</strong>-violent, Civil<br />
disobedience, the leader of IndiaÆs Independence Movement, and an architect of Modern<br />
Indian Self-identity (Nehru, 1946:36). Throughout his life, he seeks a n<strong>on</strong>-violent, peaceful<br />
world, a stable and corporative society and a coherent, spiritual life based <strong>on</strong> mutual respect<br />
and assistance. He sees these goals as desirable but difficult to get in the modern world.<br />
He argues that struggle and resistance are requirements for a self-governing life and the<br />
individual in ultimately the pivot <strong>on</strong> which the entire edifice of <strong>Gandhi</strong>Æs thought revolves.<br />
Hence it is imperative to analyse his visi<strong>on</strong> of man and his roles in the society and the polity,<br />
because <strong>Gandhi</strong>Æs visi<strong>on</strong> of man is the visi<strong>on</strong> of Satyagrahi.<br />
While insisting <strong>on</strong> the adopti<strong>on</strong> of moral means for realizati<strong>on</strong> of the ultimate end of<br />
life, <strong>Gandhi</strong> requires the Satyagrahi at the first instance to purify himself. Self-purificati<strong>on</strong><br />
according to him, demands strict observance of and adherence to five moral vows such as<br />
Satya (Truth), Ahimsa (N<strong>on</strong>-violence), Asteya (N<strong>on</strong>-stealing), Aparigraha (N<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>),<br />
and Brahmacharya (Celibacy) by the Satyagrahi throughout his life. Then vows c<strong>on</strong>stitute a<br />
moral discipline absolutely necessary for the SatyagrahiÆs self-purificati<strong>on</strong> leading to selfrealizati<strong>on</strong>.*<br />
Practicing the ethical discipline to the best of his ability, the individual is required to<br />
play his roles as a Satyagrahi for the realizati<strong>on</strong> of the goal of truth and Justice n the society<br />
and the polity. He is to live the life renunciati<strong>on</strong> and sacrifice but not of inertia; he is to<br />
dedicate his life for the service of all with love and with a sacrificial spirit. He is also to denote<br />
himself to the cause of social rec<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> for the establishment a just social order, and to<br />
undertake activities n<strong>on</strong>-violently for realizing it. Such an endeavour for transformati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
social relati<strong>on</strong>ships in c<strong>on</strong>formity with injustice, what <strong>Gandhi</strong> terms as politics, is to be<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidered by the individual as a religious or dharma is based <strong>on</strong> justice, and makes the<br />
individual c<strong>on</strong>scious of the spiritual unity of all human beings and their dignity and equality.<br />
As true religi<strong>on</strong> does not permit tolerati<strong>on</strong> of exploitati<strong>on</strong> and injustice <strong>on</strong> social relati<strong>on</strong>ship<br />
but encourages to fight against them n<strong>on</strong>-violently, and to strive for the establishment of<br />
justice and harm<strong>on</strong>y am<strong>on</strong>g human beings in the society, <strong>Gandhi</strong> emphasizes that every truly<br />
religious man must be active in politics and every political actor must become genuinely<br />
imbued with ethical and spiritual values of the true religi<strong>on</strong>. This spiritualizati<strong>on</strong> of politics<br />
and of the political man is, indeed, a novel c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong> to mankind as it tends to<br />
provide an effective panacea for eliminating and eradicating the ills and evils of corrupti<strong>on</strong><br />
violence, crime, c<strong>on</strong>flict and disharm<strong>on</strong>y that afflict c<strong>on</strong>temporary societies and politics<br />
throughout the world.<br />
* Lecturer, Department of Political Science & Public Administrati<strong>on</strong>, Sambalpur <strong>University</strong>,<br />
Jyoti Viahr: 768019 (Orissa).
<strong>Gandhi</strong> and Universal Humanism<br />
Johani Xaxa *<br />
Abstract<br />
Mohandas Karam Chand <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the father of nati<strong>on</strong> was not <strong>on</strong>ly a great political<br />
leader but also a radical social reformer. It was under his towering leadership that India achieved<br />
her independence from the mighty British Rule and that too, by the successful use of and<br />
adherence to the technique of Ahimsa and Satyagraha. He had attached immense significance<br />
to these values, for which he stood for his whole life and for which he also scarified his life.<br />
He is physically no more in the world but his teachings and principles of life, still have relevance<br />
in socio-ec<strong>on</strong>omic, and political life of the Indians and also that of the world. The c<strong>on</strong>temporary<br />
society is a fragmented society, æa societyÆ with an absence of a basic c<strong>on</strong>sensus. In such a<br />
society it requires reform the mind of individuals. <strong>Gandhi</strong> believed that the end of the life of<br />
the individual is God-realizati<strong>on</strong>. As for him God is Truth and Truth is God. The individual<br />
ought to strive for realizati<strong>on</strong> of Truth and Justice. The ultimate end ought to be realized by<br />
the individual not merely in his own life but he also ought to work for its realizati<strong>on</strong> in the life<br />
of his fellow human beings in the society. While insisting <strong>on</strong> the adopti<strong>on</strong> of moral means for<br />
realizati<strong>on</strong> of the ultimate end of life, <strong>Gandhi</strong> requires the individual at the first instance, to<br />
purify himself. Self-purificati<strong>on</strong> according to him demand strict observance of and adherence<br />
to five moral vows such as Satya (Truth), Ahimsa (N<strong>on</strong>-violence, Brahmacharya (celibacy),<br />
Asteya (N<strong>on</strong>-stealing) and Aparigrah (N<strong>on</strong>-possessi<strong>on</strong>) by the individual throughout his life,<br />
which would lead, according to him, a disciplined moral life, purify his soul to realize his<br />
ultimate goal.<br />
For <strong>Gandhi</strong>, the basic structure of human society is cofederal; the larger society is<br />
uni<strong>on</strong> of smaller communities, c<strong>on</strong>sisting of oppressor and oppressed. According to <strong>Gandhi</strong>,<br />
Satyagraha is a form of struggle against injustice and oppressi<strong>on</strong>. For <strong>Gandhi</strong>, human society<br />
is its ideal form is the coming together of individual c<strong>on</strong>sciences that is mutual tolerati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The individual's performance of role in the society, <strong>Gandhi</strong> believes is greatly<br />
influenced by the educati<strong>on</strong> he received during the formative years of his life. He, therefore<br />
prescribed for a scheme of educati<strong>on</strong> known as the æNayi TalimÆ in which every child ought<br />
to be educated and trained for the realizati<strong>on</strong> of his ethical goal in life and also the goal of a<br />
just social order.<br />
In the ec<strong>on</strong>omic sphere, the role of the individual, <strong>Gandhi</strong> believes, is determined by<br />
the values of Aparigrapha and Asteya. In practicing these values he should not acquire and<br />
possess those maternal things, which he does not need for the sustenance of his life, otherwise,<br />
it would distract him from his spiritual quest for truth and involve him in violence and<br />
exploitati<strong>on</strong>. The earning bey<strong>on</strong>d the minimum requirement should be used for the good of<br />
community. For the possessi<strong>on</strong>s bey<strong>on</strong>d the minimum requirement <strong>Gandhi</strong> prescribe the<br />
*Reader, Post Graduate Department of Political Science and Public Administrati<strong>on</strong>,<br />
Sambalpur <strong>University</strong> Orissa.<br />
167
instituti<strong>on</strong> of Trusteeship, where the individuals has equal right over the property, as even a<br />
labourer has to behave like a trustee in providing his skill. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had rejected both<br />
industrializati<strong>on</strong> and the western way of life. Rather he advocated cottage industry. It is a<br />
means not <strong>on</strong>ly of achieving self-sufficiency but also of generating large-scale employment in<br />
the country. He pleads for localizati<strong>on</strong> of producti<strong>on</strong> and c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong>, which is c<strong>on</strong>trary to<br />
globalisati<strong>on</strong> of twenty first century. In fact, <strong>Gandhi</strong>Æs idea of producti<strong>on</strong> is very much rooted<br />
in his philosophy of village ec<strong>on</strong>omy.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was deeply religious but had respect for the religious sentiments of the<br />
followers of other faiths. His nati<strong>on</strong>alism was based <strong>on</strong> a secular ideology, which he defined<br />
as Servadharma Sambhav, equal respect for all faith. He understood the fact that religi<strong>on</strong> is<br />
binding foce which all for peace and brotherhood am<strong>on</strong>gst men.<br />
In the political sphere, <strong>Gandhi</strong> had advocated for the establishment of a just<br />
socio-political order. As justice in the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an scene, is the synthesis of the eternal values of<br />
N<strong>on</strong>-violence, Freedom and Equity <strong>Gandhi</strong> lays down its framework in æHind SwarajÆ and<br />
calls it as 'Ram Raj' means 'Divine Rule', a state-less republic. <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji used to regard every<br />
village as a 'republic within the republic'. <strong>Gandhi</strong> thus lays down the framework of Decentralized<br />
Republic Federal Government. For <strong>Gandhi</strong>, n<strong>on</strong>-violence is the means to achieve the end, that<br />
is Truth., while, 'Satyagraha' as a method of n<strong>on</strong>-violence direct against injustice. Satyagrahi<br />
is characterized by n<strong>on</strong>-violence coupled with fearlessness, and is undertaken not against<br />
evil-doer but against his principles policies and acti<strong>on</strong>s for which he is resp<strong>on</strong>sible and in the<br />
process must be ready for self-suffering to removing injustice.<br />
Thus, <strong>Gandhi</strong>an values in the society and in the polity rec<strong>on</strong>ciles the goal of spiritual<br />
Development of the individual with the obligati<strong>on</strong>s of social and political life. It, therefore,<br />
seems to be most relevant and essential for the c<strong>on</strong>structi<strong>on</strong> and establishment of a just political<br />
society by awakening the individuals and making them c<strong>on</strong>scious of their true-self and<br />
humanizing and socializing them in spiritual and ethical values as prescribed by <strong>Gandhi</strong>.<br />
168
GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY AND ITS IMPACT ON<br />
MODERN SOCIETY IN THE DIRECTION OF<br />
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.<br />
ABSTRACT<br />
169<br />
Dalee Sethy*<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy is formally described as the Phillosophy of “Neither.....Nor” as<br />
distinguished from the Philosophy of “Either .... Or”. The latter smacks duality, divisi<strong>on</strong>,<br />
exclusi<strong>on</strong> and oppositi<strong>on</strong>. But the Philosophy “Neither....Nor”, is a proposal for excluding all<br />
exclusi<strong>on</strong>, i.e. airing at in all inclusive ‘all’ (whole). It aims at good of all, happiness af all, and<br />
the well being of all. As often it has been called Sarvodaya. Nothing is genuine unless it tends<br />
to establish universal goodness. In every field of human c<strong>on</strong>cern this exclusi<strong>on</strong> of all exclusi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
or segregati<strong>on</strong>, must be brought to real practise, if at all the world is to saved from ruins.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji fought against all forms of apartheid laws as immoral, unjust, and definitely<br />
unspiritual. Segregati<strong>on</strong> in <strong>on</strong>e form or other is basically wr<strong>on</strong>g. It is untruth, which must be<br />
corrected by the balanced judgment of a Satyagrahi. A satyagrahi is he, who holds steadfastly<br />
to the truth of essential unity of all beings, no animal and plants in exclusi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
All the <strong>Gandhi</strong>an principle can be logically drawn from this doctrine of the essential<br />
unity ofall beings. This basic outlook <strong>on</strong> life and the world is at the root of <strong>Gandhi</strong>an thought.<br />
The foundati<strong>on</strong>al insight is supplied by the Upanishads, where identity of Self of all beings is<br />
declared to be the central theme. The Upanishads declares, he who perceives all beings as his<br />
self, how can be hate(segregates) any body?<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji found this insight basic to all religi<strong>on</strong>s. He pr<strong>on</strong>ounced in unmistakable<br />
terms that all religi<strong>on</strong>s are dear to him as his own religi<strong>on</strong> i.e. Hinduism. Respect for all<br />
religi<strong>on</strong> is the basic note <strong>Gandhi</strong>an out look. But he very much wished for their reform in the<br />
light of this central insight.<br />
The political , social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic ideal of <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji was founded <strong>on</strong> this basic insight<br />
of unity, equality, and the spiritual identity of all beings.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji gathered from the Upanishada that where there is divisi<strong>on</strong>, segregati<strong>on</strong> there<br />
is the cause of c<strong>on</strong>flict. No peace is possible in a world divided <strong>on</strong> ideological grounds. All<br />
separati<strong>on</strong>, segregrati<strong>on</strong>, is due to ignorance. One must try to remove this ignorance by selfeducati<strong>on</strong><br />
if <strong>on</strong>e wants to reap the golden harvest of lasting peace within and without.<br />
The c<strong>on</strong>cept of world citizenship, the world community, the world Government and<br />
globalize ec<strong>on</strong>omic order is what <strong>Gandhi</strong>ji tried to establish in a world torn by strife and<br />
dissensi<strong>on</strong>.<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>ji emphasis to avoid violence at every step to establish amity, is progressively<br />
paving the path for the global understanding and global c<strong>on</strong>cern <strong>on</strong> this planet; the earth.<br />
*Lecturer (SS) In Geography, Ravenshaw <strong>University</strong>, Cuttack.
D.D.C.E.<br />
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STATE LEVEL SEMINAR ON<br />
"<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy and its impact <strong>on</strong> Modern Society<br />
in the Directi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace and Universal Brotherhood"<br />
20 January, 2008.<br />
Organized By<br />
UTKAL UNIVERSITY, VANI VIHAR, BHUBANESWAR<br />
ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ORISSA<br />
In commemorati<strong>on</strong> of<br />
150 years of First War of Independence 1857<br />
and<br />
60 years of Independence.<br />
171
Prof. L.N. Misra, Ph.D.(JNU)<br />
Vice-Chancellor<br />
From the Vice-Chancellor's Desk<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> bel<strong>on</strong>ged to mankind and not to India al<strong>on</strong>e. <strong>Gandhi</strong> had h<strong>on</strong>ed the<br />
skill of achieving universal brotherhood and peace. He symbolizes the flowering of<br />
the seeds that were laid by men like Buddha and Jesus. He reflected the best of<br />
religi<strong>on</strong> for coming centuries, <strong>Gandhi</strong> would c<strong>on</strong>tinue to symbolize a new political<br />
weap<strong>on</strong>, Satyagraha-n<strong>on</strong>-violent resistance, which can affect social change for<br />
which no war is necessary. Many can hold that n<strong>on</strong>-violence is <strong>on</strong>ly half of the<br />
truth. Yet this half is more useful to make oppressi<strong>on</strong> uneasy and to allow the<br />
c<strong>on</strong>science to come to forefr<strong>on</strong>t and prevail. His quest for peace was not that of<br />
an ascetic but of a man of the world. C<strong>on</strong>cerns for c<strong>on</strong>flict resoluti<strong>on</strong> , the globalized<br />
ec<strong>on</strong>omy and the need for democratizati<strong>on</strong> of quality life places <strong>Gandhi</strong> in a unique<br />
positi<strong>on</strong>. It is in fitness that we would be thinking aloud <strong>on</strong> <strong>Gandhi</strong>, his ideal,<br />
practices and legacy.<br />
The Government of Orissa is commemorating 150th anniversary of the First<br />
War of Independence 1857 and 60th year of Independence. On behalf of the Department<br />
of Higher Educati<strong>on</strong>, Government of Orissa, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> is organizing a Seminar<br />
<strong>on</strong> "<strong>Gandhi</strong>an Philosophy and its Impact <strong>on</strong> Modern Society in the Directi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace and Universal Brotherhood", <strong>on</strong> 20th January, 2008. <strong>Utkal</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong> deems it a h<strong>on</strong>our to host the <strong>on</strong>e day Seminar <strong>on</strong> behalf of the Govt.<br />
of Orissa. Notwithstanding the time c<strong>on</strong>straint my colleagues in the <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
have succeeded in meeting the challenge. We have h<strong>on</strong>oured guests including<br />
Sri Goparaj Labanam, a noted freedom fighter from Andhra Pradesh and an erudite<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong>an scholar and Smt. Annapurna Moharana, noted freedom fighter and social<br />
activist of Orissa besides others. As many as twenty research papers of prime<br />
interest are being presented in this state level Seminar. Few papers from outside the<br />
state of Orissa are also being presented. The first Academic Sessi<strong>on</strong> is devoted to<br />
<strong>Gandhi</strong> : Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace & Universal Brotherhood. The Sec<strong>on</strong>d Academic Sessi<strong>on</strong><br />
is devoted to <strong>Gandhi</strong> : Educati<strong>on</strong>, Literature, Management, Ec<strong>on</strong>omy, Political Thought<br />
and other issues. As many as eighteen full papers have been published by <strong>DDCE</strong>,<br />
<strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong> in a special issue of "SEARCH ", a journal of arts , humanities<br />
and management, <strong>on</strong> this occasi<strong>on</strong>. A supplement c<strong>on</strong>sisting of three additi<strong>on</strong>al<br />
abstracts are also being published. I am c<strong>on</strong>fident that the Seminar would leave its<br />
impact in the academia. I place <strong>on</strong> record our sense of appreciati<strong>on</strong> for the support<br />
from Government of Orissa.<br />
172<br />
( L.N. Misra )
10.00 A.M. Inaugural Functi<strong>on</strong><br />
PROGRAM<br />
Guests: Sri Goparaj Labanam, Noted freedom fighter fromAndhra<br />
Pradesh<br />
Smt. Annapurna Maharana, Noted freedom fighter from<br />
Orissa<br />
Sri R.B. Nayak, IAS, Com.-cum-Secy., Deptt. of Higher<br />
Educati<strong>on</strong><br />
Chairman: Prof. L.N. Misra, Vice-Chancellor, <strong>Utkal</strong> <strong>University</strong><br />
11.30 A.M. First Academic Sessi<strong>on</strong><br />
Theme: <strong>Gandhi</strong>:Internati<strong>on</strong>al Peace & Brotherhood<br />
Chairman: Prof. Benudhar Pradhan<br />
Co-ordinator:Prof. Brahmananda Satapathy<br />
1.00-2.00 P.M.LUNCH BREAK<br />
2.00 P.M. Sec<strong>on</strong>d Academic Sessi<strong>on</strong><br />
Theme: <strong>Gandhi</strong>: Educati<strong>on</strong>, Literature, Management, Ec<strong>on</strong>omy<br />
& Other <str<strong>on</strong>g>Issue</str<strong>on</strong>g>s.<br />
Chairman: Prof. K.M. Patra<br />
Co-ordinators: Prof. S. Pradhan & Prof. S.P. Pani<br />
3.30 P.M. Valedictory Functi<strong>on</strong><br />
Guests: Mr. Moulik D. Berkana, Deputy Director, American<br />
Centre, Kolkata<br />
Sri.G.Mohanty,IAS,Com.-cum-Secy.,Deptt.Of I&PR and<br />
Culture<br />
Chairman: Prof. P.K. Sahoo, Chairman, P.G. Council, <strong>Utkal</strong><br />
<strong>University</strong><br />
173
HONOURED GUESTS<br />
Sri Goparaj Labanam<br />
Noted Freedom Fighter from<br />
Andhra Pradesh<br />
Smt. Annapurna Maharana<br />
Noted Freedom Fighter from Orissa<br />
Mr. Moulik D. Berkana<br />
Deputy Director, American Centre,<br />
Kolkata<br />
Sri R.B. Nayak, IAS<br />
Comissi<strong>on</strong>er-Cum-Secretary, Deptt. Of<br />
Higher Educati<strong>on</strong>, Govt. of Orissa<br />
Sri Gopinath Mohanty, IAS<br />
Commissi<strong>on</strong>er-Cum-Secretary, Deptt. Of<br />
I&PR and Culture, Govt. of Orissa<br />
Prof. Benudhar Pradhan<br />
Noted <strong>Gandhi</strong>an Scholar<br />
Prof. K.M. Patra<br />
Noted Historian<br />
174<br />
ORGANISING COMMITTEE<br />
Prof. L.N. Misra, Chairman<br />
Vice-Chancellor<br />
Prof. P.K. Sahoo, Chief Host<br />
Chairman, P.G. Council<br />
Dr. D. Das , OAS(S)<br />
Registrar<br />
Sri H.K. Panda, OFS(S)<br />
Comptroller of Finance<br />
Prof. R.C. Mohapatra<br />
Warden, P.G. Hostels<br />
Prof. B. Satapathy, Academic Co-ordinator<br />
Director, Students Welare<br />
Prof. D.N. Jena<br />
Advisor, Students' Uni<strong>on</strong><br />
Prof. S. Pradhan<br />
HOD, Deptt. Of AIHC&A<br />
Prof. A.K. Patnaik<br />
HOD. Deptt. Of History<br />
Prof. A. Misra<br />
HOD, Deptt. Of Pol.Sc.<br />
Dr. B. Padhi<br />
Development Officer<br />
Prof. H.K. Patra<br />
Director, CDC<br />
Sri S. Panda<br />
Dy. Registrar(Gl.)<br />
Sri P.C. Rath<br />
A.O., PG Central Office<br />
Prof. S.P. Pani, Organising Secretary<br />
Director, <strong>DDCE</strong>