Every time Mahatma Gandhi is celebrated with great fan fare which happens to be January 30th or October 2nd disregarding here of-course the rare sense of Gandhigiri euphoria generated by an unexpected source such as Munnabhai ,we come across the inescapable phrase which I feel has been much abused-a Hindu fanatic.It seems there is almost a compulsive obsession to mention that the Mahatma was shot dead by a Hindu fanatic.This of-course makes Godse sound like a deranged lunatic .He was far from that.Nathuram Godse as the quirk of fate would have it in such cases was a highly disciplined man and a better one at that than Gandhiji himself.He was very much like Hitler -a failure at everything else till he joined the RSSS and gunned down the Mahatma.His act to shoot dead a wizened man like Gandhi is cowardly and despicable but was not without reason.The Gandhian philosophy of non violence I have always felt has been sadly not one espousing the cause. To limit violence to mere physical nature would be shallow and wrong.Violence of thought and the emotional pain inflicted is often more painful.Gandhi’s repeated fasts unto death holding a nation to ransom by merely exploiting the love and respect people had for him in general I have felt was an act of violence.The problem with Gandhi’s philosophy is that its closer to inaction than non violence.I find the old man never got the difference between the two.Here are some of the Gandhian principles which seem definitely today anachronistic and unrealistic: 1.He advocated India and for that matter all the Allied nations and supporters merely offer themselves to the invading Axis forces without resistance.His reasoning was that by doing so he hoped to change the minds of the aggressors and bring about a change of heart.This of-course undermines the very cause of the law of action,the role of the protector and the ruler.
2.He saw modern science and technology more of a sin than as an aid. He refused to have a hypodermic needle be used to give the life saving serum to his wife,the reason why she would die.He believed that all cures lay in India’s villages and each man needed to earn enough only to eat and wear a khadi dress.He clearly said he saw no role for industrialisation in modern India.
3. He asked the Hindus not to hit out against the Muslims and proclaimed historically that not even a puny muslim child should be harmed even if all the hindus are killed.Yet he kept quiet on direct action day when the muslim league butchered the hindus.A statement of that nature when the Punjab was plagued by partition riots could have disastrous proportions. for a man who has lost his beloved or seen her being raped, Gandhiji would sound blasphemous.It was indeed one such person’s horrifying tale that would add to the conviction of Godse to assassinate Gandhi.
4.His great tool of civil disobedience while being lethal against the British sadly would turn against the new independent nation. all acts of strikes and bandhs today could be traced back to the Mahatma’s first strike.Interestingly though Gandhi would accept that his movement succeeded only because the British were fair as administrators.He wouldnt have suceeded against say the Nazis or even the current Indian politician.
5.He would undertake his final fast onto death to support Pakistan and force India to deliver the promised sum of money amidst widespread antagonism.Idealism for the sake of it without reason is wrong. On a morality basis involving the nation in a struggle,fasting,using British hatred as a rule to break law count equally as violence.
Subhash Chandra Bose’s INA is a greater and an astounding achievement often not given its due. We as students read about Gandhi,Nehru,Patel but never was I thought about the freedom fighters of my own state.Gandhiji is praised as a Mahatma but never has his follies been told nor will they be and probably must not be.
