Remembering Gandhi

REMEMBERING GANDHItc "REMEMBERING GANDHI"

The Indian nation and peace lovers all over the world have been celebrating the Birthday of Gandhiji on the 2nd October, every year.

I remember that in my younger days, when the birthday of Gandhiji was celebrated in every locality by the common people of the locality comprising of the old and the young, there used to be Prabhat Pheris, colourful tricolour festoons hanging gracefully from pandals and posts and people singing the Ramdhun soulfully. People professed faith and pride in non-violence and the Gandhian Path that made their nation independent. At the end of the meeting sur or be sur “Vaishnava Janato Tene Kahiye Jo Pida Paraya Janede” was sung, and people distributed sweets to the children of the locality bought with funds raised from their humble savings.

This was the scene in the early fifties, when the Indians had not yet tasted the intoxication of power.  Today it is no longer so; when exactly did the Indian people give the go by to the Gandhian ideals wantonly or unconsciously is a moot point.  When one comes to think dispassionately one cannot but come to the conclusion that certain developments in the world and at home seem to have imperceptibly contributed to the side lining of the Gandhian ideals.

The emergence of the Soviet Union as one of the big powers after the II World War had a tremendous influence on the Indian intellectuals who mostly hailed from well-to-do families, and who normally had a stint at a foreign University - usually Cambridge or at the London School of Economics where the political thought of Betrice Webb dominated.

Nehru himself being a fabian socialist depended on this class for moulding his policies, and for making India a truly democratic socialist state.

Originally, the focus of the India Government under the Gandhian influence was based on mixed economy, whereby the rural industries and rural economy would be protected.

The first five year plan concentrated on the development of agriculture which yielded good results.  Later, on the advice of these intellectuals the focus was shifted to the development of Large Scale Industries and Public Sector Undertakings.  Their advice was well meaning, the bonafides of these advisers cannot be questioned.  They wanted to make India a powerful country, but they failed to understand the requirements of India’s millions of helpless villagers. Gandhiji realising that the village is the fulcrum of Indian life had advocated Gram Swaraj or self sufficient village economy, that would have automatically stopped the emigration of rural labour’s exodus to the towns in search of employment, the consequent emergence of slums and poverty and damage to ecology.  Another factor that aggravated the situation and foiled the aspiration to make India a fully democratic socialist state, was that after the 1955 elections and more particularly so, after the 1960’s people who were returned to power both at the Centre and in the States in most cases were people who had a lot of money power.  They belonged mostly to the wealthy landed classes, sugar barons and Mica Mine owners etc.  Most of them neither had the idealism of the earlier generation who were exposed to the Gandhian Thought, nor were they participants in the freedom struggle. Their interests were in conflict with the ideal of democratic socialism and it ultimately led to the failure of the public sector undertakings.

Coming to the academic front it became a fashion among scholars to talk about Marxism whether one understood Marx properly or not. To be a Marxist was the “It thing” for promotions and to be recognised as a scholar.

During the 19th Century renaissance period and also during the freedom movement several books on national heroes like Maharana Pratap Singh, Shivaji, Rudrama Devi were brought out.  The history of the Marathas, the Mughals, the Vijayanagar empire and Cholas etc., were brought out by eminent scholars like Ranade, Sardesai, Jagdhunath Sarkar, Beni Prasad, Iswari Prasad, N. Venkata Ramanayya, Mahalingam and Nilakanta Sastry, R.C. Mazumdar and others.  These works inspired the people to participate in the freedom movement with great zeal.  But most of these works were condemned as the writings of the reactionary writers who ignored the history of the real people by neglecting the economic history of the people.  The Marxist historians in India upto the late seventy’s were mostly drawn from the affluent sections of the society who were educated abroad, at Oxford or Cambridge and were strong in historical methodology where as the overaged Indian historian could not talk to them in equal terms either in diction or in terms of Marxist Historical Method.  Against the onslaught of the Marxist historians the moderate section of historians gradually withdrew from several Historical Associations however good they might be as scholars with an independent, dispassionate attitude in historical writings.  It is to be said to the credit of the Marxist historians that they showed the importance of socio-economic history and some of them are really committed and sincere scholars.  But the Coterie that followed them were overwhelming and intolerant in their attitude condeming everything that is not based on this materialistic interpretation of history, with the result it lead to the rise of several splinter groups of extreme Rightists.

The Marxist historians also blamed Gandhiji for using words like “Rama Rajya” and “Satyagraha”, “Soul force” or “the inner voice”, saying that it led to the incitement of communal feelings which is not true, as borne out from the Indian elections of 1921 and 1937, and the tremendous response that Gandhiji got during his tours of Bengal and Noakhali in October, 1946 and March, 1947 and also during his fast in Bengal for Hindu - Muslim unity in September, 1947.  Gandhiji was a Hindu because he was born a Hindu, but his religion was based on humanitarianism and his was a universal religion.  He being an Indian, and an Indian who knew India’s dumb masses thoroughly, he used the Indian ethnic terminology of “Rama Rajya” and Satyagraha - which every Indian, be he a Hindu or Mussalman understood immediately, wherever he might be residing and however illiterate he might be.  Every villager knows the concept of Rama Rajya which means to him a true democratic state based on Dharma or the principles of Justice.

So, also the concept of Satyagraha. The average villager is familiar with the stories of Harischandra or “Bali”, who were prepared to sacrifice everything for truth. “Truth” or “Satya” is an integral part of the Indian cultural heritage.

The Indian Moderates during the early phase of the Indian freedom struggle were also sincere patriots but they could not reach the Indian masses because the terminology they used for explaining their aspiration was western in concept, where as Gandhiji by using an essentially Indian terminology became a mass leader drawing the masses into the freedom struggle.  His “Inner voice” was nothing but the prompting of the conscience with which every religion is familiar and every Indian from his birth has inherited a cultural ethos which enables him to understand the power of the “Atman”.

Another view point that emerged was that India attained independence more due to the sacrifice of the INA and the rebellion of the Regional Indian Navy.

Due to these bickerings among the Leftist and Nationalist school of historians the Indian freedom struggle and the Gandhian contribution to the freedom struggle and his services to Indian nation became a casualty.

It was only in 1975 that Indira Gandhi, made the study of Indian freedom struggle compulsory in the Universities.  However the fact remains that the youth of the country was not exposed to Gandhian thought or the spirit of the freedom movement for more than three decades after independence.

In the Soviet Union it was the practice to make the study of Philosophy i.e. Marxism compulsory for all students at different levels. In India leave alone Gandhian philosophy even certain aspects of Gandhian ideals are not taught as an ingredient part of the curriculum even to the school children in the form of non-detailed study, when the children are at an impressionable age.  The result we see is that the youth is attracted more towards violence and movements like naxalism.

The Constructive Programmes undertaken by Gandhiji like eradication of untouchability, upliftment of the oppressed classes and women, the revival of cottage industries, after impendence, came under the State patronage and became State undertakings.

The favour and dedication of private individuals and private institutions doing this Constructive work was no longer there. So, while paying lip service to Gandhian ideology we moved actually away from his teachings.

Gandhi was not a political philosopher in the technical sense of the term we might apply for Hobbes, Kant or Marx.

He was basically a humanist, who understood the sufferings of the poor and succeeded in showing the world that man can sermount all difficulties through non-violence and by adhering to the path of Truth with a firm belief in God, which he called  soul force.

While accepting the globalisation of the world economy and the liberalisation of the Indian Economy, the Gandhian concept of running industries on Trusteeship basis can be taken up as we have not completely given up Public Sector Undertakings.

The Gandhian concept of realising village self sufficiency, even now could be realised through the various projects the Government of India has undertaken like the Jawahar Rojgar Scheme, and by strengthening the Panchayati Raj on a truly democratic basis, improvement of agriculture through the Nabard and building houses for the poor and by encouraging the setting up of local rural industries. Some of these schemes were announced on the occasion of the Gandhiji’s 125th birthday in 1995.

Gandhiji died a martyr at the altar of communal unity. He fasted so that Pakistan could be given the chance to survive on strong economic base. As such on the occasion of his birthday his message of peace, non-violence and truth should be spread from every pulpit and platform. All sections of the people must celebrate the birthday of this apostle of peace, non-violence and love with sincerity and dedication.

As long as non-violence and truth are recognised as the most precious heritage of mankind that make human beings into “Man”, the message of Gandhi is relevant.

Commitment to these Gandhian principles would make the present day India to overcome corruption, terrorism, factionalism and crime. Gandhi has not said in vain that “In the midst of darkness light persists, In the midst of untruth truth persists”.