Opinion: Remembering Gandhi and 125 years of Satyagraha

How does one remember Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi? For becoming the leading light of fight against the British? For his writings? For lending the concept of non-violence in the sphere of political action or simply for his compassionate view on how people can live together? I would remember Gandhi on 125th year of Satyagraha for the last reason.

Gandhi's exercise of freedom struggle was both external and internal at the same time. It was different from violent struggles where the object was to target the colonial power through any means so as to force them out of India.

Gandhi on the other hand embarked on self-transformation through public campaign. Making of salt was an act of defiance but it never concluded in violence. Non-violent protest was part of character building process whereby power of protest flew from moral outrage than possibility of physical harm. It never allowed violence to create a vicious circle which was witnessed in many colonised nations which continued way after they had won independence.

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Freedom was not an achievement for Gandhi. It was a desire to create Ram Rajya for millions of people who were divided by caste and religion and united by poverty. The idea was not to build Ram Rajya which would exclude people. It was all inclusive. It tried not to create a sense of other to unite the rest. It is for this reason when Nehru and Patel were busy grappling the reign of power, the dejected old man was busy trudging through the riot hit areas of the sub-continent. The sub-continent was partitioned but Gandhi never allowed his grief to turn into bigotry. He ensured that Congress doesn't indulge in it. Gandhi could not control organisations like RSS but he never went after them like a rogue policeman.

Gandhi should be remembered for his idea of India which was not to build an exclusive cultural identity. His idea of India had space for every religion. He did not hunt for internal enemy. Gandhi's struggle was both collective practice and individual practice in honesty, intellectual development, discipline, ecological sustainability and socio-religious tolerance. Today India is caught in the same debate which dominated political narrative before Gandhi was assassinated. Who does India belong to? Who has the first right to India? Who can stay in India and who should leave? Will Hindus have their say in the country? It is for this reason that Gandhi's satyagraha should be remembered.

It was simply against discrimination and segregation. It united people in campaign which became a nation. His campaign united colour and race and created space for citizens. His Satyagraha even neutralised patriarchy by allowing women full participation in public life. It is for this reason that Gandhi's Satyagraha should be remembered.

Lastly, the biggest lesson of Satyagraha and non-violence is that inner demons have to be dealt first because he made all of us realise that those who hunt outer demons and enemies perpetrate worst crimes against humanity. His Satyagraha stood against all these virtues which today are busy making India strong and confident nation.

Gandhi's assassination brought post-Partition madness to halt. The guilt of assassination prevented violence to escalate further. To there is no Gandhi. So it becomes incumbent upon everyone that they pause and recollect as to what was happening on the eve of Partition. It would calm us all.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)