This paper depicts the humanity of Hindu
religion ................
Gandhiji''s perception
Gandhi''s perception of
politics resulted from his indictment of modern civilisation, which morally was "satanic." He outlined this in
Hind Swaraj (1909) whose principal theme was the
moral inadequacy of civilisation, especially so-called modernisation and present day globalisation, which was closely connected with "soullessness" of politics. As Raghavan Iyer comments: "
Gandhi, all political institutions become merely instruments for the pursuit of power, whether directly or by the indirect manner in which they maintain and foster ownership of property and provide the psychological incentives that are connected with power." Such power was invariably detached from ethics, morality, non-violence, selflessness, truth, and God and was offensive to Gandhi.
The bridge between Gandhi''s religion and politics rested on the conceptual pillars of dharma or selfless service for the welfare of all; karma meant adherence to a path of action that particularly empowered the poorest sections; and holism — as all life is one. An invariable theme at prayer meetings and in Gandhi''s voluminous writings was the urgency to bring devotion in accord with conduct. For Gandhi, a dharmik was a master of controlling passions, fears, untruth, and, most importantly, gave practical witness of profound love for others. How many dharmiks in India today can truthfully call someone from another religion or caste a friend, or a sister, or a brother and be present to serve/protect them selflessly?
The question whether Gandhi''s religious values subserved his politics is contemporarily clarified by Stephen Carter, an American public intellectual and Professor of Law at Yale, in The Culture of Disbelief (1993). Carter writes: There is nothing wrong and much right with letting religious faith be the wellspring of a citizen''s public action. At the same time, one whose moral judgments are driven by religious devotion must be ever careful to discern whether God''s word or human politics is doing the work. For there is a vast difference between a political inspiration that is fired by one''s deepest religious beliefs and a claim of religious belief that is fired by a pre-existing political commitment. It is the job of the religiously devout citizen to understand and preserve this distinction, one that unfortunately is blurred, and perhaps disbelieved, by our political rhetoric, as well as by our mass media.
Gandhi''s politics was driven by his faith and morality to the point where it exasperated even his closest comrades. Yet, Gandhi neither relented nor harboured any feelings of hatred. Summarising the imperative of bringing religious values into politics, Gandhi said:
I could not be leading a religious life unless I identified myself with the whole of mankind and that I could not do unless I took part in politics. The whole gamut of man''s activities today constitutes an indivisible whole.
Ethical question
Gandhi''s pervasive challenge to every raj is predicated on the moral values of: swadeshi, aparigraha (non-possession), sarvodaya, ahimsa, bread labour, trusteeship, non-exploitation, and equality. This necessarily involves the ethical question of means and ends — "as the means so the end."
Could it yet be said that Gandhi joined religion and politics as a matter of convenience? Carter, again, explicates this query: "If the role of the religionist is first to make up her mind about which political position to take and next to search for religious arguments to support the already selected view, the idea of faith as the source of moral inspiration is trivialised." Gandhi''s life and writings reveal that he was primarily a moral philosopher-activist. Through this prism of moral thought Gandhi viewed, reflected, and acted iost of Gandhi''s political campaigns were planned at his ashrams in days of solitude, prayer, fasting, self-examination, and rigorous self-control.
And, yet, Gandhi refused to wear an ochre loin-cloth or tour the country in an arrogant rath (chariot), but on humble pad (feet) to awaken and unite all Indians in the marathon march for swaraj. Perhaps, then, it was all of a piece that for 33 years, ever since his return from South Africa in 1915 until his assassination by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member at a prayer meeting, he "rose at 4:00 a.m." from "4:15 to 4:45 a.m. morning prayer"; from "6:30 to 7:00 a.m. women''s prayer class"; and concluded his day by attending "Common worship 7:00 to 7:30 p.m." Would you say that it was convenience or convergence?
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