Tuesday, 25 September 2018

(Mahatma) GANDHI : THE OTHER SIDE


New Book:
GANDHI
THE OTHER SIDE


(Quotes from the Book)
Study the past if you would divine the future.
– Confucius

 I am a humble but very earnest seeker after truth.
Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

—Mahatma Gandhi

As a politician, he was never a Mahatma! I refused to call him Mahatma.
I never in my life called him Mahatma.
He doesn’t deserve that title not even from the point of view of his morality!
—Dr BR Ambedkar

It seems presumptuous to pick holes in Gandhi’s campaigns and strategies, and appear to belittle a man of epic dimensions, especially when the nationalist mythologies render it sacrilegious to re-evaluate his achievements. Great men of action, who perform great deeds, do commit great mistakes. And there is no harm in pointing these out. In one sense it is a Gandhian duty, as he equated truth with God.
—SS Gill

I see it as clearly as I see my finger: British are leaving not because of any strength on our part but because of historical conditions and for many other reasons.
—Mahatma Gandhi
And, the “historical conditions and other reasons” were not of the Congress/Gandhi’s making
—they were despite them.
 
Here is what Gandhi stated in his speech at a prayer meeting in New Delhi on 19 July 1947{CWMG/Vol-96/86-87}:
“I have been asked some questions. Here is one: ‘One understands that the national flag that has been proposed will have a little Union Jack in a corner. If that is so, we shall tear up such a flag and, if need be, sacrifice our lives.’… But what is wrong with having the Union Jack in a corner of our flag? 

“If harm has been done to us by the British it has not been done by their flag and we must also take note of the virtues of the British. They are voluntarily withdrawing from India, leaving power in our hands. A drastic bill which virtually liquidates the Empire did not take even a week to pass in [the British] Parliament. Time was when even very unimportant bills took a year and more to be passed. Whether they have been honest in framing the bill only experience will show.


“We are having Lord Mountbatten as our chief gate-keeper. So long he has been the servant of the British king. Now he is to be our servant. If while we employed him as our servant we also had the Union Jack in a corner of our flag, there would be no betrayal of India in this. This is my opinion. It pains me that the Congress leaders could not show this generosity. We would have thereby shown our friendship for the British. If I had the power that I once had I would have taken the people to task for it. After all, why should we give up our humanity…”

There is an ocean of books eulogising Gandhi. This book has consciously chosen not to be yet another drop in that ocean. This is also not a ‘balanced’ book. It does not attempt to offset good with the bad, or vice versa. This book looks hard at the other side.

“Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained,” said the ‘Apostle of Truth’ Gandhi; and this book looks hard at the truth about Gandhi.

This book brings out the fact that most of the Gandhian thoughts and ideas were regressive, backward, irrational, illogical, impractical, and products of faulty comprehension. They were founded on very limited study, and on stubborn egoism born out  of ‘I know best’. No wonder the ‘Mahatma’ has no legacy worth the name! Most of his ideas were discarded soon after his death—actually, much before his death: from 1944 onwards he stood sidelined. His only visible relevance that we see today is in ‘Swachh Bharat’. True, he advocated cleanliness, but then millions too have been advocating it!

It was Gandhi who won us our freedom—so it is claimed. If it were true one would generously ignore all acts of omission and commission, and shortcomings of Gandhi. But, it is not true. Please refer to the chapter ‘What Really Led to Freedom?’ Gandhi had himself admitted: “I see it as clearly as I see my finger: British are leaving not because of any strength on our part but because of historical conditions and for many other reasons.” Most likely, without Gandhi India would have won its freedom, or at least self-government, many years before 1947.

Apart from the history of the Gandhian Freedom Struggle, this book brings out Gandhi's detailed biography, his beliefs, and the principal aspects of his character and personality.

Those interested can click on the book-image on the book's Amazon page to check on the book's "Table of Contents", "Detailed Table of Contents" and initial pages.
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Rajnikant Puranik
September 26, 2018
www.rkpbooks.com

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