150 Years of celebrating Mahatma: Relevance of Gandhian Principles

“The year was 1989; almost four decades after an untimely assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In South Africa, the resistance of blacks, led by Nelson Mandela, had just manifested in the form of a successful Bus boycott program in Johannesburg. His inspiration, as Mandela said, was Mahatma Gandhi. The concerted efforts soon brought an end to Apartheid in South Africa.

Two decades later, in the western powerhouse of the world – U.S.A., an African American takes the oath of U.S. President for the first time- His inspiration – once again, the khadi-clad ascetic- Mahatma Gandhi.”

These two examples serve the purpose of explaining how much relevance Gandhian principles have in this era.

In 2019, the world celebrated the eternal legacy of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth year; completing 150 years since 2nd October, 1869.

Gandhiji had always been a consistent guide, philosopher, social reformer, political activist in the historical landscape of India. His ease of blending abstract concepts with simplistic illustrations made him dear to intellectuals of the upper strata to marginalized ones from the lower strata. His message to humanity finds resonance in this rapidly changing contemporary world, marred by uncertainty and anxiety.

GANDHIAN PRINCIPLES: THE LIGHTHOUSE FOR HUMANITY

In his autobiography, “My Experiments with Truth”, Gandhiji illustrates how he was influenced by teachings that inculcated seeds of truth and altruism in his personality. Today Gandhiji is our Harishchandra, and it is time for us to take inspiration from his principles and values which permeate diverse aspects of human life; so that we can inculcate seeds of tolerance and fraternity just like him.

The primary tenets of Gandhian principles are – Non-violence and satyagraha. His tryst with truth and peace was evident in his childhood when he admitted to his teacher that he had cheated to pass an exam. Similarly, at his Phoenix Farm in South Africa, nobody was allowed to rebuke or condescend anyone. Gandhiji used to provide peaceful arbitration of disputes. This quality of his proved instrumental in the later colonial struggle against the British when he leveraged Non-violence and Integrity as tools of courage against the British Empire, manifesting in civil disobedience movements and the Quit India movement.

Despite being from a well-to-do family, Gandhiji never considered wealth as a marker of human reputation. According to his “doctrine of trusteeship”, the wealth of aristocrats is not for their private aggrandizement, rather they are mere trustees of the almighty who has and rich is – to help the needy on behalf of God.

He considered the framework of resolving socio-political issues through his unique 7-sins principle – according to which, our society has seven sins that impede its development – knowledge without character, wealth without work, leisure without conscience, worship without sacrifice, politics without principles, commerce without morality, and science without humanity.

According to Rajmohan Gandhi, “the most striking quality of Gandhiji was to make decisions which men of ordinary stature can never have the courage of”. The Gandhian principle of decision-making was based on the Gandhian Talisman- according to it – “Before making any decision, one should close his eyes and imagine the face of the most unfortunate and distressed person he has ever met and one must ponder whether his decision would affect that wretched soul and how”. Thus guiding our conscience.

Relevance in the contemporary world

Gandhian idea of Ahimsa is particularly relevant in our present Indian society as well as the global one. We are seeing an increasing number of custodial violence, mob lynchings, and hate crimes; which mirrors the increasingly disturbing trend of conflicts at a global level, e.g., the Shia-Sunni conflict in the Middle East to the threat of Nuclear proliferation in North Korea. We can use Gandhian ideas of peace resolution in this context by bringing all stakeholders to a single table.

On the economic front, China is increasingly dominating global affairs through debt-trap diplomacy and wolf warrior pragmatism, but as Gandhiji said, “Commerce without morality is a social sin” which calls for a reset in the global supply chain and multilateral collaboration to balance global affairs.

The instances of Religious revivalism are visible in the rise of ISIS and communal riots like the Delhi violence of 2019. This diverges from the Gandhian appeal of a non-sectarian society. Gandhi always maintained that a person must be pluralistic in outlook and monistic at heart. For him, tolerance was not just acceptance of diversity, it was active engagement with diversity with mutual give and take. This new approach towards tolerance must be emphasized at the global level.

In the political arena, India is witnessing a new stream of “Resort politics”, “MLA purchasing”, and “horse trading”; which is a social sin (politics without principle). Gandhian politics never came in the way of morality, as witnessed in his resignation from Congress and his mutual respect towards Bose and Ambedkar despite ideological differences. Hence, our politics need a Gandhian touch of WELFARE-based politics and not convenience-based politics.

“Men build enough walls but not enough bridges.” This is manifested in light of increased global protectionism and the US-China trade war. Gandhiji always stressed the need for international collaboration but limiting westernization at the same time. His socialism aimed at community welfare and the end goal of a state-less society. But today, states are consolidating their strength through means like immigration barriers, trade tariffs, etc.; which is detrimental for a cosmopolitan society and deprives developing countries of the advantage which once developed countries leveraged.

Gandhian socialism never intended to harm the marginalized section through protectionism. Even when he organized the boycott of British cotton textiles, he personally visited Lancashire cotton mills to apologize to mill workers, such was his integrity.

His love for the downtrodden “Harijans” and women’s emancipation needs to be institutionalized in the modern world. Every 10 minutes, a woman faces sexual abuse in India, 30% of hate crimes target Dalits in India while Gandhiji believed that no job is inferior, today Dalits are compelled to penury as 98% of manual scavengers are Dalits only.

In this age of digital Narcissism, we need to remind ourselves that science without humanity is a social sin. The rise of Artificial Intelligence poses dangers to humanistic proclivities and ethical balance. Recently, a Microsoft AI named Tay was coaxed to provide sexist and racist remarks by mischievous agents. Thus, technology needs to be complemented by “Nai Talim” which emphasizes on value building along with technocracy.

The pertinent challenges to human life are eminent in the form of climate change and conflict induced by it. Climate change is driving environmental refugees and social conflict, manifested in the Chad Basin of Africa. We need to reorient our priorities as Gandhiji used to say that the earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs but not every man’s greed. We need to balance our ecological footprints in accordance with natural well-being.

Hence, in literature and in life, we do not pursue conclusion, but we pursue beginnings. We should begin to inculcate Gandhian values in ourselves and build a society envisioned by Gandhiji – self-reliant and morally upright.