Ram Punyani

Posted on October 3, 2000

 Today on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gnadhi (2nd  Oct.2000) one cannot but try to review the assessment of Gandhi's legacy and contribution to the Independent India. This is more important today than ever as the religion based Nationalism is asserting itself as never before. A swayamsevak of the RSS, which is the exponent of  Brahminical Hinduism based Nationalism, is ruling the country as the Prime Minister while many a colleagues of his have not only been saying that Gandhi is not father of the nation as a 5000 years old nation does not need a father (Pramod Mahajan, TOI, Jan 14, 1997) but his other family members(The Sangh Parivar, SP) are asserting that India is a Hindu Rashtra so the secular constitution, which is product of the struggle for freedom led by Gandhi, should be scrapped and be replaced by the one based on Hindu holy scriptures.

Gandhi and Freedom Struggle

 Gandhi's uniqueness lies in the fact that he was keen to intensify the anti-British struggle by involving broad masses, away from the politics of petition of the elite to the British empire. It need not be elaborated in detail that Gandhi was at the center of nationalist movement and he galvanized the movement in a great way. He was quick enough to perceive the state of society: deeply in the grip of religion of orthodox variety. To ensure that the people are to come out from this orthodox paralysis he gave a unique interpretation to religion, emphasizing more on the humanistic aspects of religion which could transcend the boundaries of a single religion, and in the process he got overwhelming response from the people.  His dispute with the practitioners of communal politics (Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha & RSS) can be located precisely at this spot.

 These communalists were themselves mostly 'non religious' but were using religion for narrow ends of consolidating their communities against the other.  They perceived serious threat from Gandhi's deep set religious humanism. It is for this reason that both Hindu and Muslim communalists spewed poison on him, (holding him responsible for the 'mess' which in a way was the outcome of communal politics itself), it is precisely for this reason that one votary of Hindu communal politics, Nathuram Godse, murdered him and in the process won overt and covert kudos from the supporters of the politics of religion based nationalism, Hindu Rashtra.

 His identification and cultural adaptation of the ways of the mass of peasantry gave him the moral and practical leadership of the Indian national movement in the days to come. Because of these methods, unlike the communalists, he was able to arouse and bring together the millions under his leadership. His patriotism was anti-British and was not confined to any single religious denomination. Gandhi had a deeply secular approach to national freedom struggle, and continued to draw in its gambit people of all religions with equal enthusiasm.

Gandhi and Religion:

 For Gandhi religion mainly meant the ethical-moral component of the religion.  He was not much concerned about the rituals, temples and the like while focussing on, and deriving from the core of social norms and values cutting across different religions, "I consider myself as good a Muslim as I am a Hindu and for that matter I regard myself as equally good Christian or Parsi" (Gandhi and Communal Problems, CSSS, 1994 Pg. 6). This quote of his has to be seen along with his two other more often cited quotes, "For me politics bereft of religion is absolute dirt, ever to be shunned", and "Politics divorced from religion is like a corpse, fit only to be burnt". To get the full meaning of his `religiosity', one has to understand that his religiosity transcends the boundaries of prevalent `religious institutions'. His religion is inclusivist, including the whole humanity in its sweep and does not see enemies in those following different religious traditions. This is an understanding in which the very concept of  'we' and 'they' gets abolished.

Gandhi's Nationalism:

 Gandhi's nationalism represented the emerging nation. Though expressed in religious language, it was not bound to any single religion. For him India was to be a secular state where all religions will be respected equally at social level but none of them will be the claimant to guide the state.  While at political level morality has to reign supreme, "in India for whose fashioning I have worked all my life, every man enjoys equality of status whatever his religion is.  The state is bound to be wholly secular" (Pg 87, Gandhi and Communal Harmony, CSSS 1994), and, "religion is not the test of nationality but is a personal matter between man and God", (ibid pg 90), and, "religion is a personal affair of each individual, it must not be mixed up with politics or national affairs" (ibid pg. 90). These were the ideas, which were to lead to formation of the Indian nation.

 We should note here that Gandhi was and is called the Father of the Nation because of his towering role in the Indian national movement.  It was his leadership which, transformed the 'petition politics' into ' mass politics', a politics which could make a dent in the so far impregnable resistance of the British empire to the freedom of India. It was his method and ideas, which made the people to respond to him irrespective of their religion and region, caste and gender, for striving towards free India.  His prefix 'Father of the Nation' is a compliment due to him because of his contribution and crucial role in leading the 'Indian nation' towards freedom.  Those asserting that this nation is 5,000 years old and does not need any father are conveniently confusing between the modern nation states based on Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and the pre-modern kingdoms and empires based on the structural hierarchies and the rigidities of status quo, in line with the goal of their present politics.

 While Gandhi has also been correctly criticised for not giving due attention to the problems of Dalits and for not making land reforms as the central focus of his movement, it is beyond doubt that the current rejection of his concept of secular state by the SP and their attempt to review constitution is another cup of poison, aiming at Hindu Nation and is symbol of retrograde politics and needs to be rejected outright.