By
Ram Puniyani for New Age Islam
6 October
2023
As we
prepare to celebrate the birth anniversary of the father of the nation on
October 2 this year, we do need to look back at his teachings and the
prevailing situation in the country. His global recognition was manifested when
the leaders from different countries assembled on Raj Ghat to pay tribute to
him in the aftermath of the G-20 summit in New Delhi. That even those who
subscribe to the ideology which put three bullets into his chest could not
ignore him was more than obvious. While the ideology Gandhi propounded is
spreading all over the world, what is happening to the concepts of truth,
non-violence, communal harmony and the idea of formulating policies with the
‘last person’ in mind in India today?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to a statue of Gandhi in
Sabarmati Ashram. Photo: PTI
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The present
dominant ideology in India sees Islam and Christianity as foreign religions.
This understanding is one of the foundations of hate against minorities and
leads to violence against them. How did Gandhi see the presence of different
religions in India? He writes,
“Certainly the great faiths held by the people
of India are adequate for her people.” He then goes on to list the faiths of
India, “Apart from Christianity and Judaism, Hinduism and its offshoots, Islam
and Zoroastrianism are living faiths.”
The
prevalent dominant ideology presents all the ills of Hindu society as a result
of the oppression of Muslim. Gandhi saw history in a totally different light.
“The Hindus flourished under Moslem sovereigns
and Moslems under the Hindu. Each party recognized that mutual fighting was
suicidal, and that neither party would abandon its religion by force of arms.
Both parties, therefore, decided to live in peace. With the English advent
quarrels recommenced…Is the God of the Mohammedan different from the God of the
Hindu? Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it
matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal? Wherein
is the cause of quarrelling?”
A lot is
made of conversion to Islam and Christianity, scattered but serious
anti-Christian violence is ascendant. What did Gandhi think of conversions?
“The Two races (Hindus and Muslims) lived at
peace amongst themselves during Muslim rule. Let it be remembered that many
Hindus embraced Islam before the advent of Muslim rule in India. It is my
belief that had there been no Muslim rule, there would still have been
Musalmans in India, even as there would have been Christians had there been no
British rule. There is nothing to prove that the Hindus and Musalmans lived at
war with one another before British rule.”
His great
disciple Nehru in his book The Discovery of India points out about India:
“She was like some ancient palimpsest on which
layer upon layer of thought and reverie had been inscribed, and yet no
succeeding layer had completely hidden or erased what had been written
previously.”
Mahatma Gandhi in 1944. Photo: By Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons,
Public Domain
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Hate is
being spread against Gandhi in an intense manner. Through word of mouth and
other systematic channels, propaganda is spread that Gandhi did not prevent the
hanging of Bhagat Singh. The truth is that Gandhi wrote two letters to Lord
Irwin seeking the death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment or seeking
a suspension of the death sentence. Lord Irwin was considering Gandhi’s request
but was threatened by British officers working in Punjab of resignation en
masse. One should recall that it was Gandhi who drafted the resolution in the
Karachi Congress of 1931, criticising the government for Bhagat Singh’s
hanging.
They also spread
the lie that Gandhi treated Subhas Chandra Bose very badly. The truth is that
though there were differences in their approach towards non-violence and
driving the British away in the wake of the Second World War, they had great
mutual respect. Bose called Gandhi as the ‘Father of the Nation’, and named the
first battalion of the Azad Hind Fauz (AHF) after the Mahatma. Gandhi on his
part called Bose a ‘Prince amongst patriots’ and paid a visit to the officers
of the AHF in jail. It was the Congress which fought the cases of the AHF
prisoners.
A similar
controversy has been magnified about differences with Babasaheb Ambedkar. While
Babasaheb was asking for separate electorates for the Scheduled Castes, Gandhi
was for reserved constituencies. This was to keep the society united in the
face of the anti-colonial struggle. Babasaheb did recognise Gandhi as the
tallest leader of the freedom movement and after his second marriage, an
inter-caste one, stated that had Gandhi been alive, he would have been happy.
It was Gandhi who ensured that Ambedkar was part of the first cabinet of India
and also suggested that Ambedkar should be the chairman of the Drafting
Committee of the Indian constitution.
As far as
the controversy over who should be the first prime minister of India – Sardar
Patel or Nehru, Gandhi did favour the latter. It should be noted that Nehru and
Patel were Gandhi’s two closest associates. He favoured Nehru mostly for his
grasp of global politics. There may be other unstated factors – like Nehru
being the most popular leader among the masses after Gandhi, and as the younger
leader, could play a role in the growth of the nation for a longer time. These
are just guesses – as far as Patel and Nehru were concerned, they were totally
in sync with each other, irrespective of a few differences. Patel said of Nehru
that he was not only his younger brother but also his leader.
In today’s
scenario, the country needs to reexamine the dangerous path of hate which is
stalking the streets. It was Gandhi’s ‘Ishwar, Allah Tero Naam’ which kept all
religious communities together in the anti-colonial struggle. Following his
message of social reform, struggle against the caste system, and unity across
religious lines is the need of the hour. That will be our best tribute to him.
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Ram
Puniyani is president, Centre of Study of Society and Secularism and has
written several books including Communal Politics: Facts Versus Myths (Sage,
2003), Deconstructing Terrorist Violence (Sage 2015), Indian Nationalism versus
Hindu Nationalism (Pharos 2014) and Caste and Communalism (Olive 2013).
Source: BJP's Gandhi Dilemma: How To Use the
‘Brand’ While Destroying Its Spirit
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/ideology-gandhi-bjp-brand-spirit/d/130835
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