THE MAHATMA AT 150 ... (1)
On the eve of Gandhiji's 150th birth anniversary let us remember his contributions to mass awakening and the precipitation of massive blunders in the freedom movement that compromised our national struggle for undiluted, unconditional freedom from colonial yoke. Let us pay him critical homage for his seminal contributions admixed with terrible compromises made with the enemy who he naively, nay, somewhat mischievously sought to transform with offerings of love and pain suffered at their hands. Our reverence for the leader of salt, satyagraha and the charkha must be guarded and measured and we, under no count, must either harbour him malice or entertain his flawed philosophy as our national political ideal.
Gandhiji is a historical personality of historic significance, no doubt, but we must no more be blinded by his imperfect rationalisation of the human psychological processes that apparently impelled him unto adopting a certain naive system of political persuasion that has destroyed our geographical integrity for good and debilitated our population with it. Our responses to Gandhian thinking and his career graph must be balanced and unbiased with critical analyses governing our eventual judgement on his contributions or otherwise to the nation. Mere assumptions based on his apparent but no real saintliness will not suffice any more to grant him the quasi-divine status he has thus far enjoyed in our polity.
Gandhiji's actions, personal and political, must be dispassionately scrutinised and studied in the pure light of reason and inferences arrived at about his contributions to the nation's political fate. Let ruthless reasoning help shed the aura surrounding the Mahatma and reduce his contributions or otherwise to rudimentary terms whereby they are apprehended in their proper historical perspective.
Vande Mataram !
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
On the eve of Gandhiji's 150th birth anniversary let us remember his contributions to mass awakening and the precipitation of massive blunders in the freedom movement that compromised our national struggle for undiluted, unconditional freedom from colonial yoke. Let us pay him critical homage for his seminal contributions admixed with terrible compromises made with the enemy who he naively, nay, somewhat mischievously sought to transform with offerings of love and pain suffered at their hands. Our reverence for the leader of salt, satyagraha and the charkha must be guarded and measured and we, under no count, must either harbour him malice or entertain his flawed philosophy as our national political ideal.
Gandhiji is a historical personality of historic significance, no doubt, but we must no more be blinded by his imperfect rationalisation of the human psychological processes that apparently impelled him unto adopting a certain naive system of political persuasion that has destroyed our geographical integrity for good and debilitated our population with it. Our responses to Gandhian thinking and his career graph must be balanced and unbiased with critical analyses governing our eventual judgement on his contributions or otherwise to the nation. Mere assumptions based on his apparent but no real saintliness will not suffice any more to grant him the quasi-divine status he has thus far enjoyed in our polity.
Gandhiji's actions, personal and political, must be dispassionately scrutinised and studied in the pure light of reason and inferences arrived at about his contributions to the nation's political fate. Let ruthless reasoning help shed the aura surrounding the Mahatma and reduce his contributions or otherwise to rudimentary terms whereby they are apprehended in their proper historical perspective.
Vande Mataram !
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
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