Gandhiji’s priority: Swachata or Ahimsa? -Soter

[The edited version of this opinion is published in Herald, Other Voices, 2nd October 2014 ]

 http://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Middle/Gandhiji%E2%80%99s-priority-Swachata-or-Ahimsa/79260.html

For more than 75 years the Hindu fundamentalist forces in this country and abroad ran an unsuccessful campaign to sow hatred for Mahatma Gandhi by falsely accusing him of being a British agent and causing the partition of  India. It now appears that the Hindu fundamentalist forces have adopted a new strategy of exploiting Gandhiji’s name for political gains and simultaneously distorting his teachings. In his recent writings titled ‘Partition & Parivar’, the renowned political commentator AG Noorani has factually exposed the Hindu fundamentalist groups which actually caused the partition of this country and their conspiracy to mislead this nation by putting the blame on Gandhiji and the Muslim League. The Hindu fundamentalists are known to construct a glorious history around their heroes which often gets contradicted no sooner the historical facts come to light. Gandhiji had said, “I disbelieve history so far as details of heroes are concerned.”

Fortunately, when it comes to Gandhiji, he has left behind a true account of himself and what he believed in through his meticulous notings and writings which continue to inspire thousands around the globe even to this day. His autobiography “My Experiments with Truth’ continues to be a source of inspiration for those Social Reformers who feel hopeless at times. It is our experience that those who usually defame Gandhiji are those who either feel confronted by the truth, or have never read his works and hold an opinion merely from hearsay. History amply demonstrates that the men who want to deny the Truth more than often choose to kill the messenger. The 30^th of January 1948 marks that fateful day in Indian history when Hindu fanatics who could not face the bitter Truth chose to cowardly eliminate the messenger.

In this light, we need to view with caution the attempt by the present Right Wing Government to subtly deny a public holiday on Gandhi Jayanti by compelling citizens to undertake a cleanliness drive and making it appear as a tribute to Gandhiji. One may recall that in and around the year 2002, a similar attempt was made in Goa to cancel the public holiday on Gandhi Jayanti and the Feast of St. Francis Xavier by none other than the then BJP regime under the leadership of the present Chief Minister. Unprecedented public condemnation of this act from every section of society had then compelled the Government to pull back. Now, emboldened by the comfortable majority in Parliament and taking advantage of the Modi mania that has overtaken reason in this nation, the Hindu fundamentalist forces seem to have stepped up their efforts for a second assassination of truth.

No one denies that awareness about sanitation is not a need in this country. But the occasion chosen to do so and the manner in which it has been imposed have nothing Gandhian in it. What one finds difficult believing is the fact that a ‘pracharak’ of a Hindu organization which is alleged to propagate hatred for Gandhiji, has now suddenly begun propagating Gandhiji’s concern for sanitation after becoming Prime Minister. Had Gandhiji lived to celebrate this 145^th birthday, would he have been proud about such a compliment which has become a publicity stunt for many, or even an occasion for some in Gujarat to attempt entering the Guinness World Records?

The little that we can comprehend from Gandhiji’s extensive writings prompts us to believe that he would have been the first to non-cooperate with such an event of ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ given the pathetic social, economic and political conditions prevailing in this country. He probably would have chosen this occasion to go on a fast and draw attention to the deviation from the Hindu way of life by those who advocate religious and cultural intolerance and a ‘Hindu nation’. The pracharak turned Prime Minister must have not read Hind Swaraj, or else he would have known that though Gandhiji advocated ‘swachata’ as a necessity for Swaraj, his dream was for a Bharat devoid of caste discrimination and where both Hindus and Muslims would adopt the path of Ahimsa and learn to live as brothers and sisters. The rest would automatically follow, as external uncleanliness for Gandhiji was a manifestation of what was within the human person. Undertaking ‘Swachata’ while ‘Himsa’ continues is definitely not a celebration of the ideals which Gandhiji lived and died for.