GANDHI Final PDF

POLITICAL SCIENCE
Understanding Gandhi
B.A Prog. Semester 5th
Important Questions
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NOTES
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UNDERSTANDING GANDHI
CONTENT
1 - Swaraj
2 - Satyagraha
3 - Trusteeship
4 - Swadeshi
5 - Religion and Politics
6 - Gandhi's Critique of Modern Civilization
7 - Nationalism
8 - Communal Unity
9 - Women question
10 - Untouchability
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Q 1. Discuss Gandhi's concept of Swaraj.
Ans - Introduction
Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj is defined as a ‘model code of
conduct which points out to men the path of their duty,’ path of
control over desires and the path of ‘mastery over their minds
and passions.’
It implied an elevation of a personal moral being to limit

indulgences and sees happiness as largely a mental construct.
Otherwise, what did Gandhiji mean by Swaraj? Find out more
about Gandhi on Swaraj and independence, democracy and the

future of India.
What does Swaraj Mean
To achieve this state of ‘Swaraj’ one has to live a life of simplicity

and should not have greed for wealth and power. For Gandhi, high mental intellect is
not possible unless one stops running after material life.
Basically, he wanted to create a world where an individual followed agricultural
labour under a sustainable village ecosystem and lived independently. Gandhi
divided ‘Swaraj’ in the following ways:
 National Independence
 Political freedom of the individual

 Economic freedom of the individual
 Spiritual freedom of the individual or ‘self-rule.’
Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj confirms his firm commitment to moral
individualism. The term ‘Swaraj’ literally means ‘self-rule,’ ‘self-government,’ ‘self-
determination’ or ‘independence.’ This term became popular during India’s struggle

for independence from the “British Colonial Rule.”
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Ghandi’s Concept of Swaraj and Independence
Gandhi argued that ‘Swaraj’ did not simply mean political independence from the
foreign rule; it also implied the idea of cultural and moral independence. If a country
is politically independent but culturally dependent on others for choosing its course
of action, it would be devoid of ‘Swaraj.’ Swaraj does not close the doors of learning
from others, but it requires confidence in one’s own potential and decisions. Gandhi
thought of ‘Swaraj’ as a system in which all masses will have a natural affinity with
their country and they will readily collaborate in the task of nation-building.
‘Swaraj’ or self-government rules out people’s dependence on government. This

applied even to their own government. Thus, Gandhi writes in Young India (1925):
“Self-government means continuous effort to be independent of government
control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. Swaraj
government will be a sorry affair if people look up to it for the regulation of every
detail of life.”
Ghandi’s on Swaraj and Democracy
Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj also exemplifies his vision of a true democracy.

Under this system, people will not merely have the right to elect their
representatives, but they will become capable of checking any abuse of authority. In
his own words, mere withdrawal of the English is not independence. Independence
means the consciousness in the average villages that they are the maker of their own
destiny, that they are their own legislator through their own representatives.
The real ‘Swaraj,’ he felt, will not come by the acquisition of authority by a few
but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when abused. ‘Swaraj’
is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and
control authority. Economic freedom of the individual is the third dimension of
‘Swaraj.’ Economic Swaraj stands for social justice, it promotes the good of all equally
including the weakest and is indispensable for a decent life.
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Gandhi on Swaraj and India’s Economic Future
For Gandhi, India’s economic future lay in the adulation of the ‘charkha’ (spinning
wheel) and ‘khadi’ (homespun cotton textile). If India’s villages are to live and
prosper, the charkha must become universal. Rural civilization argued Gandhi, “is
impossible without the charkha and all it implies, i.e., the revival of village crafts or
cottage industries.” As a votary of purity of means as well as ends, Gandhi tried of
political self-government as well as individual self-government.to assert that we must
rely on non-violence or ahimsa for the attainment
Gandhi elaborately dwells on the principle of nonviolence or ahimsa as the way to

transform Individual character and also as the guiding principle of political struggle.
He demonstrates the superiority of non-violence over violence ‘at least in the
majority of the cases.’ He asserts that the force of love and pity is infinitely greater
than the force of arms. The principle of non-violence is founded on soul force (will
power) while violence was founded on physical force.
Conclusion
Thus, Gandhi’s aim of totally implementing the concepts of Swaraj in India was
not achieved. The voluntary work organisations which he founded for this purpose
did serve as precursors and role models for people’s movements, voluntary
organisations, and some of the nongovernmental organisations that were
subsequently launched in various parts of India.
Although the word Swaraj means self-rule, Gandhi gave it the content of an
integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life, at the individual level Swaraj
is vitally connected with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment, ceaseless
self-purification and growing self-reliance. Gandhi was undaunted by the task of
implementing such a utopian vision in India. He believed that by transforming
enough individuals and communities, society at large would change.
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Q 2. What do you mean by Satyagraha? Discuss its basic postulates as
propounded by Gandhi.
Ans - Definition:
Satyagraha is a Sanskrit word that comes from the roots satya, meaning "truth,"
and agraha, meaning "insistence." It can be loosely translated to mean "insistence

on truth" or "holding onto truth."
The concept of satyagraha was developed and introduced by Mahatma Gandhi who
used it in the Indian independence movement and earlier in his struggles for Indian
rights as a determined but nonviolent resistance to evil.
Mahatma Gandhi founded an ashram to teach satyagraha, where he asked his
practitioners to follow the principles described as Yamas in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
The first two Yamas -- ahimsa (nonviolence) and satya -- most closely fit the
philosophy of satyagraha.
Gandhi considered satyagraha not only as a tactic to be used in a political struggle,
but also as a solution for interpersonal conflicts. He believed that it should be taught
to everyone. A person who practices satyagraha is a satyagrahi.
Satyagraha basic postulates
Like other Gandhian concepts, satyagraha too was not an exemption to
misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Following are some of the major
misconceptions of satyagraha:
(1) Satyagraha is referred to any form of opposition to government or any direct
social or political action short of organized violence.
(2) Satyagraha is equated with demonstrations with shouting of slogans, fasting,

and strike with boycott.
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(3) Satyagraha is equated with non-violence, with passive resistance, and even
with the Gandhian concept of sarvodaya.
(4) Gandhi’s reference to his life as “experiments with truth” and of himself as a
persistent satyagrahi (one who practices satyagraha) lead people to consider a

satyagrahi as either merely a “seeker after truth,” or one who has adopted the
Gandhian system of morals and values.
(5) A satyagrahi, understood as one who has adopted the Gandhian system of
morals and values, is believed to be a vegetarian, someone observing brahmacharya
(continence), and one who is practicing aparigraha (non-possession) etc.
There are certain characteristics specific to Gandhian satyagraha which makes it

possible to distinguish movements that can be classified as satyagraha and that are
not.
 Truth
According to Gandhi, “Satyagraha is literally holding on to Truth, and it means
therefore Truth-force.” Truth, for Gandhi, was God. Gandhi defined his personal goal
as to “seeing God face to face.” Gandhi explains Truth-God relationship as follows:
“There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are
innumerable. They overwhelm me with wonder and owe and for a moment stun me.
But I worship God as Truth only.
” Gandhi, at the same time, was aware of the fact that the human mind cannot
know the Absolute fully.
To have found the Truth completely, Gandhi believed, would mean that one has
realized oneself and reached his destiny; in other words, he has become perfect.
Being aware of human beings’ inability to know the Truth wholly, Gandhi insisted on
the importance of being open to those who differ with us. Although, Gandhi never
claimed to have known the Truth, he did claim to have found the way to it.
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 Non-violence
The Sanskrit word ahimsa is translated as non-violence. Emphasizing on the
inseparableness of truth and non-violence in satyagraha, Gandhi describes
satyagraha as follows: “It is a movement intended to replace methods of violence

and it is a movement based entirely upon truth…” In his satyagraha movement,
Gandhi considers truth and non-violence (love) as the two sides of the same coin.
Gandhi continues, “…without ahimsa it is not possible to seek and find Truth.
Ahimsa and Truth are so intertwined that it is practically impossible to disentangle
and separate them… Nevertheless, ahimsa is the means; Truth is the end. Means to
be means must always be within our reach, and so ahimsa is our supreme duty. If we
take care of the means, we are bound to reach the end sooner or later.” In short, in
satyagraha movement for Gandhi, truth is the ultimate goal and non-violence is the
means to it
 Self-Suffering
In satyagraha, self-suffering is willingly accepted by the satyagrahi himself with
the specific intention of the moral persuasion of the enemy. Self-suffering is neither
an inability to win over the opponent through violence nor a meek submission to the
will of the evil-doer. It is a fight against an evil system and a tyrant with one’s soul
force. In other words, self-suffering is the way of the strong.
Gandhi says, “Non-violence cannot be taught to a person who fears to die and
has no power of resistance.” To the critics who said satyagraha is the way of the
cowards, Gandhi replied, “I do believe that where there is only a choice between
cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.” Self-suffering is clearly different
from cowardice as well as violence against the opponent. Self-suffering, in
satyagraha, is directed to resisting humiliation as well. Gandhi gave supreme value to
the dignity of a person.
8
That is why, he believed that submitting to humiliation should be resisted even
at the cost of self-suffering of the body, even unto death. Further, Gandhi considered
being forced to act against one’s own conscience is dehumanizing. Therefore, Gandhi
insisted that every satyagrahi “…must refuse to do that which his conscience forbids
him to do and must preserve the dignity of the individual though it means loss of
property or even life.”
 Conclusion
It is generally accepted that Gandhi’s consistent use of certain traditional
terminology to refer to his new ideas caused the initial confusion in understanding
Gandhi’s philosophy of satyagraha.
Secondly, the idea of satyagraha was not fully developed even in Gandhi’s own
mind when he began his mass social and political campaign. The idea of satyagraha
grew into a clear philosophy of action as Gandhi involved in various types of social
and political campaigns and faced with mostly challenges than successes in the initial
stage.
Thirdly, confusion also arose out of Gandhi’s reference to his personal goal in life
as the realization of Truth - seeing God face to face - which he also called satyagraha.
However, in a later period when questioned by Lord Hunter, Gandhi himself
distinguished satyagraha as a spiritual goal from satyagraha as a tool for social and
political change. It is the latter which is widely known and used around the world as
“satyagraha” today.
Finally, confusion still lingers around satyagraha because as Gandhi himself

accepted that satyagraha is not a dogma but it is a dynamic concept just as the
circumstances in a society where satyagraha finds its place and relevance.
9
Q 3. Critically examine the concept of nationalism in Gandhian thought.
Ans - Introduction
The modern Indian political discourse, which begins with Rammohun Roy, had
distinctively a social connotation which only transformed itself into a political one
after the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The philosophy of
early Indian nationalism focused more on the social rather than on the political
because of the deep social cleavages and the unevenness in which the modern
notion like a nation looked far-fetched.
For instance, Rammohun talks of continued Indian subordination and freedom
from the British after 150 years. After Rammohun we find a larger assertion in the
context of an assertion of an Indian identity, yet, like Surendranath Bannerjee, the
general proposition was that India is not yet a nation but a nation in making.
By the time Gandhi entered the political arena in India via his long and fruitful
experiments in truth in South Africa, the debate between the Moderates and the
Extremists was virtually over and the debate over the primacy of the social or of the
political was resolved. By this time, with the widespread influence of the reform
movements and the nationalist struggle that had exerted on the Indian mind many
of the European conceptions and articulations; these became an integral part of the
nationalist discourse with the Mahatma becoming the representative and unifying
force. He dismisses the idea that the attributes of a nation in India are of a recent
origin and especially due to the imprint of British colonialism.
Concept of nationalism in Gandhian
Gandhi rejects the popular perception that ‘India has become a nation under the
British rule’ and disputes the claim of those who argue that India is a nation after the
British introduced western ideas and to the changes brought about by the modern
means of communication such as the railways and the telegraph.
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This view, he dismisses, is the British interpretation of Indian history and points
out in the Hind Swaraj (1909) “I hold this to be mistake. The English have taught us
that we were not one nation before and that it will require centuries before we
become one nation. This is without foundations. We were one nation before they
came to India. One thought inspired us. Our mode of life was the same. It was
because we were one nation that we were able to establish one kingdom.
Subsequently, they divided us”
Gandhi’s claim that India is nation is based on two assumptions: the first is that
ancient Indian civilisation has a capacity to accommodate diversity and plurality and
the second is that in the ancient India, the acharyas, in establishing certain places of
pilgrimage, laid the basis for the evolution of an all India consciousness.
The Ancient civilisation of India was predominantly Hindu in character but it was
open to non-Hindu values and ideas. Gandhi highlights the accommodative capacity
of India to fuse new ideas and values with its ancient civilisation over several
centuries.
As for the second assertion, Gandhi points out that pilgrim centres like Haridwar in
the North and Rameshwaram in the South and Jagannath in the East were
established not merely for religious benefit but “to create and sustain a sense of
common identity among Indians scattered over an immense territory…they saw that
India was one undivided land so made by nature. They, therefore, argued that it must
be one nation. Arguing thus, they established holy places in various parts of India,
and fired the people with an idea of nationality in a manner unknown in other parts
of the world”.
According to Gandhi, India’s strength lies in the unity amidst its diversity. He
acknowledges the existence of many languages and dialects and insists that all
provincial languages of Sanskrit and Dravidian stock should be replaced by
Devanagari.
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 ASSESSMENT OF THE CONGRESS AND THE BRITISH POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES
In the Hind Swaraj Gandhi makes an assessment of the Indian National Congress
from its inception till 1909. the young in India are indifferent to the Congress as they
think of it as an instrument for perpetuating British rule and the need to abandon the
constitutional mode of agitation, and to adopt violence, Gandhi points out that
despite its inadequacies, the Congress was the first institution that has “enthused us
with the idea of nationality”.
It has brought together Indians from different parts of India and has insisted
that the “Nation should control revenue and expenditure” and “has always desired
self-government after the Canadian model” and has given us “a foretaste of Home
Rule”. It would be improper to be dismissive of the Congress as that would “retard
the fulfilment” of the final object of attaining true swaraj.
 SELF-RULE: NEED TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE ELITE AND THE
MASSES
For Gandhi, Nationalism meant self-rule in which the whole community and not
just the elite would be free and active; in which soul force and not brute force is the
basis of public order and in which national interest is the supreme ethical criterion of
state action. He rejects the proposition that a government by national elite is
beneficial simply because it is a government by the national elite as evident from his
virulent criticism of the Indian princes whose tyranny is worse than that of the British.
Reminding the Reader in the Hind Swaraj, he points out “you will admit that the
people under several Indian princes are being ground down. The latter mercilessly
crush them. Their tyranny is greater than that of the English”. Similarly, he rejects the
violent methods of Revolutionary nationalists by criticism of Madan Lal Dhingra and
says ‘those who will rise to power by murder will certainly not make the nation
happy’.
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CONCLUSION
Jayantanuja Bandhopadhyaya identifies six Indian nationalism ideals, which include
the following:
1. anti-imperialism
2. anti-racism
3. Asianism
4. globalism
5. nonviolence
6. democracy.
These ideals were fully realised under Gandhi's leadership. Between the Russian
Revolution of 1917 and India's independence in 1947, it was the strength of these
ideals that prevented the international communist movement from making
significant progress in India. Anti-imperialism and democracy are the two central
ideological tenets of Indian nationalism, and for the majority, nonviolence is a tactic
rather than a policy. Indian nationalism's fundamental goal remains anti-imperialism.
By focusing exclusively on the political aspects of Gandhi's personality, Marxists

overlooked the critic Gandhi, who was acutely aware of India's acute disparities and
sought to resolve them in his own unique way. According to Nirmal Kumar Bose,
Gandhi defies categorization as the prophet of Indian bourgeois nationalism. To
begin, Gandhi's methods are such that they will succeed only if the masses become
self-acting in the latter stages of the revolution.
And the likelihood is that if the masses achieve success by fully developing their
conscious strength, they will also refuse to be exploited in the future by anyone who
wishes to ride on their back. Second, Gandhi was opposed to India benefiting at the
expense of any other country. He regarded humanity as a single family. As a result,
Bose asserts, Gandhi transcended bourgeois nationalism.
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Q 4. Analyse Gandhi's idea of communal unity.
Ans - Introduction
In our series on Gandhian philosophy, today we bring you a report on Gandhiji's
views on communal harmony and religious tolerance. Mahatma Gandhi was a great
proponent of Communal unity. He firmly believed that all religions teach men to be
good and peaceful and that intolerance is the religion of the negative. The Father of
the Nation said that the essence of true religious teaching is that one should serve
and befriend all.
Mahatma Gandhi was a champion of communal harmony and wanted all Indians,
be they of any religion, to unite against the colonial government. He never found
serious differences between the Hindus and Muslims and other minority
communities like the Christians and the Sikhs or Parsis. Gandhiji saw an inviolable
harmony existing in all creation enshrined in all religions, and it was this principle
that led him to accord equal respect to all faiths. He stressed upon universal peace,
brotherhood, and reverence for all life. Mahatma Gandhi said, the final goal of all
religions is to realise this essential oneness.
 INDIA’S COMMUNAL PROBLEM IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
For centuries, the Hindus and Muslims in India had lived in peace and harmony.
Before the advent of the British, religion and religious community had no political
salience. The society was divided into the ruling class and the subject class. It was the
British who accentuated the religious and cultural differences between the
communities and tried to pit one against the other. They maliciously designated the
entire period from 1200 AD to 1757 AD as the period of Muslim rule over the Hindus
whereas the fact was that the business of the state was carried on together by all
communities whether immigrant or indigenous.
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Moreover, the European historians portrayed this long period as one of the
subjugations and oppression of the Hindus. Thus, after the Battle of Plassey in 1757,
they claimed that the British rule was a Divine Providence for the Hindus as it had
delivered them from the tyranny of the Muslim rulers.
The accentuation of the religious and cultural differences between the Hindus and
Muslims and the consolidation of separate communal identities were aided not only
by the aggressive religious revivalist movements during the nineteenth century but
also by the deliberate British policy of promoting one community and downgrading
the other, particularly after the Revolt of 1857.
After the failure of the Revolt, the Hindus had taken full advantage of
opportunities of modern education and employment created by the British and
improved their lot whereas the Muslims followed a policy of aloofness from the
British and suffered from degradation and backwardness. The huge imbalance
created between the two communities was one of the reasons for the alienation of
Muslims from the Indian National Congress.
When the British saw a challenge to their supremacy from the growing
nationalism of the Hindu middle class, they applied the traditional policy of divide-
and-rule and the counterpoise of the natives by the natives. The grant of certain
safeguards (separate electorate and weightage) to the Muslim community under the
Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 began a new era of Hindu-Muslim conflict as the
majority community considered any gain of the minority community as the loss of
the majority.
A measure of the Hindu-Muslim political unity and cooperation was brought
about by the Congress-League Lucknow Pact of 1916 and the Khilafat and Non-
cooperation Movement, the movement that had joined together the Khilafat
Committee, the Muslim League, the Jamiat-ul-Ulama and the Indian National
Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
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 GANDHI ON INDIA’S COMMUNAL PROBLEM
Before the ascendancy of Gandhi in the Indian politics almost all the prominent
Congress leaders including Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Motilal Nehru,
Lala Lajpat Rai, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and others had fully acknowledged the
multicommunal character of the Indian polity and therefore believed in the Hindu-
Muslim unity as a perquisite of any political advance in India. This realisation had led
to the conclusion of the Lucknow Pact in 1916 which became possible because all the
liberal leaders of both parties were behind it. Gandhi, a disciple of the liberal
Gokhale, too was a great
champion of Hindu-Muslim unity and a believer in a composite plural Indian
nation. There can be no greater testimony of his universal liberal nationalism than
Chapter X of his Hind Swaraj. The following statement has been cited in the previous
lesson, which needs mention again in this context: “In no part of the world are one
nationality and one religion synonymous term; nor has it ever been so in India. India
cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging to different religions live in
it. The introduction of foreigners does not necessarily destroy the nation, they merge
in it.
A country is one nation only when such a condition obtains in it. That country
must have a faculty for assimilation. India has ever been such a country. In reality,
there are as many religions as there are individuals, but those who are conscious of
the spirit of nationality do not interfere with one another’s religion. If they do, they
are not fit to be considered a nation. If the Hindus believe that India should be
peopled only by Hindus, they are living in dreamland.
The Hindus, the Mahomedans, the Parsees and the Christians who have made
India their country are fellow-countrymen, and they will have to live in unity if only
for their own interest”
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Gandhi’s was a simplistic reading of the communal divide. More than British
imperialism, it appears, socio-economic disparity between the two was at its root.
Gandhi looked at it as merely a game of British imperialism.
To Gandhi, Hindus and Muslims were one community with subtle differences. He
often preached to them to have a change of heart towards each other for better in
order to live harmoniously and as one undivided community.
Conclusion
The liberal approach of Gandhi towards the national and communal problem in
British India, as outlined in his Hind Swaraj, has been discussed briefly. He had been
successful in uniting the Hindus and Muslims under his leadership during the days of
the Khilafat and Non-cooperation Movement. But the subsequent collapse of the
non-cooperation movement and the abolition of Khilafat by the Turkish Grand
National Assembly in 1924 had depressed both the communities. The reactionary
forces took full advantage of this disarray and tried their best to drive a wedge
between the two.
Further, personalities, political forces and their ideologies, and the intervention
of a third party all played their respective parts in the drama of Partition played
during the period 1937-1947. Partition was neither inevitable nor desirable. It was an
unnatural partition resulting in the loss of a million lives, displacement of millions of
others, changing forever the equations between the majority and minority
communities and leaving behind a delicate issue that remains unresolved to this day.
17
Q 5. Gandhi's 'Trusteeship' theory is a political weapon in the form of industrial
problem, struggle of labor and capital.
Ans - INTRODUCTION
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the greatest Indian of all time, is also known as the
apostle of peace and non-violence. He was not only famous for his political or social
works but also known for his unique but practical economic thought. The
background of gandhian economy is very strong.
Gandhi was fighting against the extreme poverty, backwardness and socio –
economic challenges as a part of his independence movement, of that time. Gandhi
thought that economic self-sufficiency is very much essential for an individual and
nation. He thought that the important economic wealth of the nation is human being
so throughout his life he was working for the overall development of the individual
and also for the economic equality.
Working for economic equality means abolishing the conflict between capital and
labour section of our society. To build the economic foundation of the nation and
individual strong and make the country economically self-sufficient he used many
nonviolent means. swadeshi, swaraj, sarvodaya, trusteeship is some of them
The idea of trusteeship is based on the notion that nobody can be the permanent
owner of property. Everything belongs to god. We can only hold the thing or
property as a benevolent custodian.
 LABOUR AND TRUSTEESHIP
The third side of the pentagonal foundation of Gandhiji’s concept of trusteeship is
provided by Gandhi’s theory of Bread Labour. According to this, sufficient
quantity of physical labour has to be performed in order to entitle himself to lay his
claim on his bread. Nobody who does not perform some reasonable quantity of
physical labour shall have the right to have his bread.
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Gandhi believed that not only the Bible emphasizes on body labour; even the
Bhagavat Gita does so. The Gita’s emphasis on yajna was understood by Gandhi as
performance of body labour or physical labour. Interpreting the term Yajna as found
in verses 12, 13 and 14 of Chapter 111 of the Bhagwad Gita, Gandhi says that the
emphasis here is on physical labour or manual labour. In this connection Gandhi
writes “I venture to suggest that in verses 12 and 13 of Chapter III (in the Gita) the
word yajna is capable of only one meaning.
The fourteenth verse makes it absolutely clear”. Here Gandhi quotes Edwin
Arnold from his Song Celestial to justify his point. Edwin Arnold in translating the
fourteenth verse writes “By food the living live, food comes of rain and rain comes by
the pious sacrifice, and sacrifice is paid with tithes of toil" Thus Gandhi’s concept of
Bread Labour carried to its logical conclusion implies that whereas each shall work
according to his capacity, shall acquire from the society only according to his need.
 GANDHI’S THEORY OF TRUSTEESHIP
Trusteeship is a Socio-economic Philosophy which was developed by Mahatma
Gandhi as a part of his non-violent revolution. It is a concept where one voluntarily
gives up or relinquishes one’s right on wealth earned by him and dedicates it to the
welfare of the poorer section of the society. Gandhi had a firm believe that every
capitalist being a human have in them the element of goodness which every
individual necessarily possess.
So, if they realize that without the labour of the poor it would not possible for
those to acquire wealth, then the capitalist would function only as trustee for the
poor. They would then keep all the surplus money or wealth in trust for the welfare
of the poor which would establish economic equality in society.
Gandhi described trusteeship very simply by the following words” Supposing I
have come by a fair amount of wealth either by way of legacy or by means of trade
and industry. I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me.
19
What of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used
for the welfare of the community”.
Mahatma Gandhi used it as a powerful tool for removing economic and social
disparity and ultimately establishing peace in the society. Gandhi had no doubt
about its abiding value. He said, “My theory of Trusteeship is no makeshift, certainly
no Camouflage.
I am confident that it will survive all other theories. It has the sanction of
Philosophy and religion behind it. No other theory is compatible with non-violence.”
He used trusteeship as an instrument for establishing economic and social equality.

In fact, Gandhi said that his trusteeship is a gift from India to the world.
Mahatma Gandhi himself was an example of this idea as his worldly possessions
were just a pair of cloths, watch, stick and few utensils. Gandhi was not an arm- chair
philosopher. He never believed in theory only. He believed in experimenting his own
theory and he made a first test on him.
 SALIENT FEATURES OF TRUSTEESHIP
The following are the salient features of trusteeship:
1. Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy, which provides a means by which
the wealthy people would be the trustee of trust that looked after the welfare of the
people in general. Trusteeship provides a means of transforming the present

capitalist order of society into an equalitarian one.
2. Gandhi used trusteeship as a powerful tool to establish permanent peace in
society by removing economic and social inequalities. Gandhi did not believe in
capture of power, but accumulation of power to the many. He believed that the very
concept of ownership or capitalism involves at its root the form of violence. He

believed in the equal distribution of wealth. So, he used trusteeship as an instrument
to remove social and economic disparities from society.
20
3. Trusteeship tries to reduce the gap between rich and the poor. Economic
equality is the master key to nonviolent movement. so, Gandhi want to abolish
capitalism not capitalist. He invites capitalist to become a trustee.
4. It tries to change the attitude of the capitalist. Because without the labour and
the co-operation of the poorer section of the society it would not possible for the
capitalist to accumulate wealth. So, they should voluntarily surrender their excess
wealth and keep that in trust for the welfare of the working and the poorer section.
5. Gandhi’s trusteeship covered not merely material source of wealth and power
but also non-material possessions such as special talents that some individual have
possessed. Gandhi believed that every individual has got some talents or ability. But
we exploit that talent or ability for personal gain in the beliefs that we own the talent.
But Gandhi said that we do not own the talent but we are appointed as trustee by
God and so we should use the talent to help others who are less fortunate or
talented.
CONCLUSION
Gandhi's perspectives as for riches, private property, ownership and so forth are
best shown in his hypothesis of Trusteeship. It holds that every individual having
riches and property should hold it in trust for the general public. The basic suspicion
fundamental this hypothesis is that excess of property or riches or capacity ought to
be set in the trust to be uninhibitedly open to all who need it.
It doesn't recognize inheritance or individual possession, or recognizes all
holding of riches, well beyond one's prerequisite as theft. It gives extension to the
state to control the order of the trustees and never makes an endeavour to break
down the uncommon abilities of acquirement in people. It announced the claiming
class should be allowed to hold the stewardship of their ownership and utilize their
abilities to grow their riches.
21
Q 6. What is women empowerment according to Gandhiji?
Ans - Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi had expressed his views and had written on numerous issues
that concerned the Indian Society in particular and humanity in general. This article
examines the importance and relevance of his views on issues that directly or
indirectly impacts the status of women in India. The following issues are being
considered:
 Equality of Sexes.
 Marriage.
 Purdah.
 Dowry System.
 Widow Remarriage.
 Divorce.
 Women's Honor.
 Education and Co-education.

 Birth Control.
 Sterilization.
The perception of the self is a matter of conditioning. The way men and women
perceive themselves is also a matter of conditioning that had and is taking place
since the dawn of human race on earth. Given the biological differences, can woman
be psychologically different from man? Can women be cerebrally inferior to man? I
am sure that the answer would be clear 'No'.
Yet, differential conditioning over many a millennium has contributed to the
perception that both men and women are different, both psychologically and
cerebrally. Religion, customs and laws from times immemorial had relegated women
to the backyards of human civilization.
22
 Women empowerment (The Mahatma on Women)
The Mahatma said that women have been suppressed under custom and law for
which man was responsible and in the shaping of which she had no hand. Rules of
social conduct must be framed by mutual co-operation and consultation. Women

have been taught to regard themselves as slaves of men. Women must realize their
full status and play their part as equals of men.
 Equality of sexes
Women must not suffer any legal disability which is not suffered by men. Both are
perfectly equal. Sexual equality does not translate into occupational equality in spite
of the absence of a legal bar. Women instinctively recoil from a function that belongs
to men. Nature has created sexes as complements of each other. Their functions are
defined as are their forms.
The Mahatma's view on sexual equality will not be taken kindly either by the
modern man or the woman. The instinctive recoiling of women from a function that
belongs to men is a consequence of historical indoctrination. What belongs to men
and what belongs to women is deeply embedded in the psyche of men and women.
The question is therefore who should complement whom. It should be matter of
choice both for the man and the woman as husband and wife as to what vocation
they should take up. It is unjust to expect the women to complement as a matter of
an unwritten rule.
To say that their functions are defined as are their forms is to emphasize on the
sexual division of labor. The theory of sexual division of labor has been set aside by
the developments since the departure of the Mahatma. Today men and women,
compete and co-operate, complement and even supplant each other. However, the
Mahatma's view on women being a complement of man should be looked at from
the point of view of his intention. The Mahatma's intention was honest. He wanted to
protect the institution of family and at the same time exalt women with equal status.
23
 Woman's Honor
It is physically impossible to violate a woman against her will. The outrage takes
place only when she gives way to fear or does not realize her moral strength. If she
cannot meet the assailant's physical might, her purity will give her the strength to die
before he succeeds in violating her, for example, Sita (Harijan, 14th January, 1940).
When a woman is assaulted, her primary duty is self-protection. God has given her
nails and teeth. She must use them with all her strength and if need be, die in the
effort (Harijan, 01st March, 1942).
Perhaps due to the overriding importance given to female chastity in the Indian
society, the Mahatma emphasizes once again on female chastity and purity. His
solution for the helpless woman under sexual assault to die before the violation takes
place is a very traditional view of what women should do when they are sexually
assaulted. It is akin to hara-kiri or jouhar. In the days of armed sexual assaults and
gang or group sexual assaults on women, the Gandhian solution is inadequate.
Further, chastity is not an exclusively female virtue. The male person who assaults
sexually also loses his chastity and therefore, he must also die. In fact, chastity as a
virtue has been imposed upon women since times immemorial and has been the
single most important cause of her degraded status in the society.
 Women's Education
Education enables women to uphold their natural rights. Men and women are
complementary to each other. Man is supreme in the outward activities and
therefore he should have a greater knowledge thereof. Home life is entirely the
sphere of woman and therefore in domestic affairs, in the upbringing and education
of children women ought to have more knowledge. Unless courses of instruction are
based on a discriminating appreciation of these basic principles, the fullest life of
man and woman cannot be developed.
24
The Mahatma's views on women's education are based on family ideals because
he assumes that man is supreme in the extra-mural activities and that woman is
supreme in intra-mural activities. Hence, education imparted to both men and

women should be according to their pre-ordained stations in life. The Mahatma's
views on women's education are based on his belief in woman being a complement
of man and are therefore out of sync in the modern context.
Conclusion
On a scale of one to ten, the Mahatma comes out with flying colors for his views
on the various aspects concerning women in our society. Considering the fact that he
wrote his ideas about 70 to 80 years ago, we can set aside some of his views such as
the women being a complement of men in matters of occupation and education and
female chastity in the context of women's honor.
The Mahatma, by far, can be considered the best friend of women in India and the
world. The Mahatma's purity of thought and honest intentions is beyond question.
No other man in the entire history of India or in the world had such godly ideas
about women. For both men and women, to have a better perspective of each other
and life, Gandhian literature will continue to be a prescription for many years to
come.
The Mahatma by far was one of the most honest and divine historical figures of
the modern age. His philosophy of non-violence, although not new, assumed
revolutionary proportions under his tutelage and captured the hearts and
imaginations of people all over the world. Non-violence as enunciated by the
Mahatma is the strongest weapon of the strong as against violence which is the
weakest weapon of the weak.
25
Q 7. Describe Gandhi's views on the abolition of untouchability.
Ans - INTRODUCTION
Untouchability is the practice of discriminating various individuals and groups
based on their cast and the jobs done by them. Untouchability is practiced for a very
long time. The untouchables usually bear inhuman treatment because they belong to
the lower caste. They have been going through various kinds of discrimination in
almost all places. Untouchability, in its literal sense, is the practice of ostracising a
minority group by segregating them from the mainstream by social custom or legal
mandate. The origin of untouchability and its historicity are still debated. B.R.
Ambedkar believed that untouchability has existed at least as far back as 400 AD. In
India untouchability is practised on the basis of caste system hierarchy.
 PRIOR TO INDEPENDENCE
Before Independence the people of India has faced much discrimination on basis of
their caste and on basis of their job. There existed a caste system in India dividing the
whole system in to four categories. The castes have been derived from Vedic texts
divided people into four major groups: Brahmans – Priests and elite people,
Kshatriyas – Warriors, Vaishyas – Small Businessmen and Merchants, Shudras –
Sanitary workers. Shudras are also known as Dalits.
Thus, these differences in the people of ancient India were mostly based on caste
and profession of the people. The society of Dalit faced the most discrimination. It
was considered as the Brahmans were born from the head of the God and the Dalits
were born from the legs of the God. They were treated as untouchables. The term
Dalit for the untouchables is derived from the Sanskrit which means broken or
downtrodden. Some people believe that the system of untouchability only prevails in
India but it is also prevalent in other countries such as Japan, Tibet, and Korea.
26
Dalits were considered impure from birth, Untouchables perform jobs that are
traditionally considered "unclean" or exceedingly menial, and for very little pay. One
million Dalits work as manual scavengers, cleaning latrines and sewers by hand and
clearing away dead animals. Millions more are agricultural workers trapped in an
inescapable cycle of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and oppression. Dalits were
prevented from getting educations and even were not allowed to walk on roads
where the higher caste people walked. Touching low caste people were considered
as impure. Any person of high caste touching a low caste should under certain rituals
to gain purity. Also, low caste people where given heavy punishments for touching
the higher caste with or without intention.
Dalit women are particularly hard hit. They are frequently raped or beaten as a
means of reprisal against male relatives who are thought to have committed some
act worthy of upper-caste vengeance. They are also subject to arrest if they have
male relatives hiding from the authorities. Women from Kerala of low caste were not
even allowed to cover their upper body with clothes. They even were forced to pay
breast taxes. The story of the sacrifice of Nangal is very famous. She belonged to low
and was forced to pay breast tax. She severed her own breast and bleed to death to
not to pay tax. Her act is known as a sacrifice and still stays in the heart of many
women.
 IN THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE
Years passed but still the untouchability existed. Even the great leaders Dr. B.R
Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi faced many problems with respect to
untouchability. Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) and Bhimrao Ambedkar (1891-

1956) are among the major makers of modern India. Dr. Ambedkar was made to sit
in the floor in his school. He is the same person who framed the Constitution of
India. Mahatma Gandhi was once thrown out of the train in Africa when he was
practising as an advocate there.
27
He was forced to get out from the train by the TC as he was considered as black.
This was the first time when Gandhi faced such a situation. This made him realise the
situation his own country facing which made him return from Africa and come back
to India. He is the one freedom fighter who will be always remembered by every
citizens of India. No matter how the time goes
The above instances that took place in their life made them fight against the
hierarchy system of caste prevailed in India and to abolish he untouchability from
India. Gandhi believed that standing at the heart of the inherited Hindu tradition,
including its caste system, it was possible to overcome untouchability. Gandhi said
that "In my opinion, untouchability is a blot on humanity and therefore upon
Hinduism. It cannot stand the test of reason. It is in conflict with the fundamental
precepts of Hinduism,” He set out to reform but not to reject Hinduism. According
to the Mahatma Gandhi, "the caste system is a hindrance, not a sin. But
untouchability is a sin, a great crime, and if Hinduism does not destroy this serpent
while there is time, it will be devoured by it." He firmly believed that ultimately the
removal of untouchability depended on the change of heart of millions of caste

Hindus.
 AFTER INDEPENDENCE
After several movements and struggles to abolish the practice of untouchability,

laws were made in the constitution to accommodate the interests of the oppressed
classes. Article 17 of the Indian Constitution abolished untouchability and declared it
as a punishable act. Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is
forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an

offence punishable in accordance with law.
Untouchability is neither defined in the Constitution nor in Act. According to
Article 17, no one can restrict the Dalits or Harijan from entering temples, streets,
buses, etc. They are free to use all public services with respect and dignity.
28
Also, no one can refuse from selling anything to the Dalit people. The
government also gives reservation to these castes. Reservation means that a certain
percentage of places in government colleges and jobs are reserved for the people
from lower classes. It, therefore, ensures that their oppression in the past does not
affect the progress of their present and their future. The reservation also aims at
providing them a fair chance of education which is benefit for their growth.
 PRESENT SCENARIO
Today the view of untouchability is different from ancient India. People are
becoming more aware and are adapting to rational thinking. In spite of the
constitutional amendments; untouchability, and caste discrimination still prevail in
society. The politicians use this to increase their vote and gain power in the
government.
The Dalits living in the cities are less vulnerable to this practice of discrimination
as compared to those living in rural areas. People living in rural areas prefer to stick
to their traditional beliefs, practices and refuse to accept the changes made for the
betterment of society. Even inter caste marriages are considered as sin. And now a
days the society has witnessed many murders of grooms of inter caste marriage
done by the relatives of the bride’s family. It is very heart-breaking situation to realise
that the people in 21st century still practises this untouchability.
 CONCLUSION
All people are equal in the eyes of law. No one should discriminate and dominate
others on the basis of their caste. The society should teach the children about the
importance of sensibility, generosity, and equality with all people.
The Dalits face discrimination majorly because of their jobs such as cleaning
public areas etc. Basically, the people should respect them the most as they keep our
society clean and healthy. Therefore, the young generation should take charge and
fight for its complete abolition as they are the future of the county.
29
Q 8. Describe Gandhi's relationship between economic equality and swadeshi.
Ans - Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi had multifaceted personality. His economic aims were different
from conventional economics. His aims were Sarvodaya, full employment, use of
country's own resources, preservation of ecology, justice in income distribution and

opportunities. For Gandhiji the means are as important as the aims. The means must
be nonviolent, ethical, and truthful in all economic spheres. He provided the new
economic system for those means.
He advocated trusteeship, decentralization of economic activities, labour
intensive technology, and first priority to rural India. He explained that capitalism and
mechanization would lead to unemployment, poverty, and inequality and he always
advocated Swadeshi. Gandhiji`s ideal village belongs to the pre-British period, when
Indian villages were the small republics undisturbed by the periodical visitations of
barbarous hordes.
This republican character of the villages was destroyed by the British rule.
Therefore, in Gandhian plan of rural reconstruction, the ancient republican village

without any kind of exploitation served as a model unit. Gandhiji aimed at the
attainment of village Swaraj and said in 1942, My idea of village Swaraj is that it is a
complete republic, Independent of its neighbours for its own vital wants and get
inter-dependent for many other in which dependence is necessity. Gandhiji was the
first man in the world who provided a practical alternative economic system against
the prevailing economic system.
The village-based economy of China and Israel, the small-scale industry base
economy of Japan are nearer to Gandhian ideas in some aspect. A growth model for
economic development is shown on the basis of Gandhi economic thoughts. This
model is applicable to developing economies and India.
30
Swadeshi
Swadeshi literally means ‘of one’s own country.’ Swadeshi is defined as that spirit
within us which restricts us to use the service of our immediate surrounding to the
exclusion of the more remote. It aims at the removal of unemployment and poverty.
It doesn’t advocate rejection of foreign trade, in fact it advocates a healthy and
nonexploitative form of trade.
According to Bapuji, Swadeshi is not just good, it does comprise of our culture,
tradition and values. Bapu wanted that people in India should have sufficient
demand for their produce and therefore, he placed for the use of Swadeshi goods.
However, it is wrong to assume that Bapuji was altogether against foreign goods. It is
clear from his word that says, “It is criminally foolish to produce the goods which are
not profitable to be produced in our country, instead of producing them we should
import them.
Economic Equality
Gandhi had considered views on the question of ownership also. While
capitalism upholds private ownership without any kind of control by the state,
Marxian socialism advocates state ownership of all the means of production and
distribution. Both models were unacceptable to Gandhi because he could see that
both were exploitative and would lead to the concentration of wealth and power and
were thus inconsistent with the principle of non-violence. So he advocated a new

method that would substitute both capitalist and socialist forms of ownership. He
called it trusteeship.
A group of economists after discussing with his ideas on trusteeship as a
revolutionary method of ownership and management, drafted the trusteeship
formula and published it with his approval. Under the Gandhian economic order, the
character of production will be determined by social necessity and not by personal

whim or greed.
31
Gandhi believed that all human beings must hold their property and talents as
trustees. As all wealth and talents are socially created and truly belong to the whole
society and so they must be managed accordingly. Those who hold them can use
only what they need for their upkeep but the rest must be used for the welfare of
society.
Economic equality means that everyone shall have sufficient and nutritious food to
eat, proper shelter to live in, adequate khadi to wear, timely medical relief and
necessary facilities for education. It also implies abolition of the eternal conflict
between the capital and the labour by the levelling down of the rich in whom bulk of
the Nation's wealth is concentrated and the levelling up of the poor. For this, the
constructive workers shall strive to level down the few rich and level up the semi -
starved millions through trusteeship system.
Conclusion
Gandhiji was of the view that only a rural civilization based on the principles of
self-reliance, self-sufficiency, simplicity and limitation of wants, mutual aid and co-
operation, participation and sharing and finally caring and mutual empowerment
through meaningful Community interaction is sustainable and helpful for human
spiritual evolution.
He wanted economic planning for a new India to incorporate this vision into it
and construct an appropriate development model. Gandhian vision of development

was not accepted by Nehru who virtue of being the first Prime Minister, became the
chief architect of the new Indian nation. Nehru himself admitted in the Indian
Parliament, the mistake was that he failed to see the relevance of the Gandhian
programme in the reconstruction of this country which was essentially rural and
traditional. If we view with the Gandhian perspective there is nothing economically or
morally justifiable in the New Economic Policy and therefore need to be reoriented
or rejected. Exploitation and domination are to be resisted.
32
Q 9. What do you mean by Swadeshi? Discuss the relevance of Gandhi's idea of
Swadeshi in contemporary times.
Ans - Swadeshi: The word ‘swadesi’ is derived from Sanskrit and is a sandhi or
conjunction of two Sanskrit words. ‘Swa’ means ‘self’ or ‘own’ and ‘desa’ means
country, so ‘swadesa’ means ‘own country’, and ‘swadesi’, the adjectival form, means
‘of one’s own country’. The opposite of ‘swadesi’ in Sanskrit is ‘videsi’ or ‘not of one’s
country’. The word Swadeshi had many connotations in Gandhi’s thoughts economic,
political, cultural and philosophical. It is central to Gandhi’s philosophy, which in

effect, means self-sufficiency.
Swadeshi was one of the most important pillars of Gandhi’s movement against
the British in India. He propagated that economic Swaraj is essential for political
Swaraj. Gandhi believed that India had lost political control due to losing the control
over its economy. In his exhaustive treatise ‘Hind Swaraj’ he devotes a complete
chapter ‘Why was India lost?’. This chapter gives an economic argument for the
enslavement of India by the British. It further goes on to give Gandhi’s vision for a
good economic system.
 SWADESHI: SELF-RELIANCE (IN DEFENCE OF INDIGENOUS LIFE)
Generally, the idea of Swadeshi in Gandhian philosophy means local self-reliance
and use of local knowledge and abilities.
Swadeshi (Self-reliance) is mainly understood to mean a protectionist technique that
Gandhi employed against the mercantile policies of the British, whereby the masses
were urged to abstain from cloth manufactured outside India, and instead to use
cotton, silk, or wool cloth made in India. But Gandhi gives it a broader meaning:
Swadeshi carries a great and profound meaning. It does not mean merely the use of
what is produced in one’s own country. That meaning is certainly there in Swadeshi,
but there is another meaning implied in it which is far greater and much more
important.
33
Swadeshi means reliance on our own strength. Reliance on our own strength
means the strength of our body, our mind, and our soul. Gandhi believed that
alienation and exploitation often occur when production and consumption are far
removed from their social and cultural context, and that local enterprise is a way to
avoid these problems. To renew India’s vitality and regenerate its culture, Gandhi had
a vision of free India that was not a nation-state but a confederation of self-
governing, self-reliant, self-employed people living in village communities, deriving

their right livelihood from the products of their homesteads.
 SWADESHI: AN ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY
Gandhi’s Swadeshi is an economic doctrine. It proposes not only self-reliance and
usage of indigenous skills and knowledge systems, but also propagates simple living
and one’s own dignity. In the times of globalization, market-oriented and
commercialized life, Swadeshi has its contemporary relevance. Gandhi’s idea of

Swadeshi deals about the importance of indigenous skills and its productivity. He
believed that Swadeshi is means in realizing the self-reliance and self-governance
(Swaraj).
In that sense his politics of spirituality has not only internalized the essence of
material production and labour, but also proves that he is a pragmatic philosopher.
The practice of economic philosophy of Swadeshi had direct hit on British Empire
and its economy. Gandhi did not stop at just proposing the ideas of the Swadeshi
movement but gave practical ideas to be followed in day to day living-khadi, village
decentralization, trusteeship, bread and labour etc. It is not as if Gandhi was against
science and technology.
 SWADESHI MOVEMENT
Initially the idea of Swadeshi was reflected in the writings of early nationalists
such as Dadabhai Nao roji, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Bipin Chandra Pal, who
stood up in defense of the national economy against the colonial economy.
34
The Swadeshi movement assumed its radical and mass form after 1905 following the
partition of Bengal. In 1907, Swadeshi was officially incorporated within the
conceptual and ideological framework of the Indian National Congress as the

avowed objective of Swadeshi and Swaraj.
The partition of Bengal created widespread resentment all over the country. In
this tense atmosphere people started boycotting foreign made goods and British
institutions, and thus began the Swadeshi movement. Historically Swadeshi was
linked to the other categories such as national economy, territory and culture.
Swadeshi literally meaning one’s own country, aimed at the promotion of indigenous
industries. Along with Swadeshi, the boycott of British goods was organized. The
Swadeshi and boycott were powerful instruments directed against foreign rule.
The nationalists along with the masses wanted to attack the British rule where it
would hurt them the most. About Swadeshi, Lajpat Rai said, “I regard it as a salvation
of my country. The Swadeshi movement ought to teach us how to organize our
capital, resources, labour, energies, talents for the greatest good of all Indians
irrespective of creed, colour or caste.
 SWADESHI: A RELIGIOUS IDEA
Gandhi linked up his idea of Swadeshi to religion. Swadeshi according to him was
not an isolated economic and political principle of his philosophy. It was very much
connected to his philosophy of spiritualism and religion. Gandhi considered

economic Swadeshi not as a boycott movement undertaken because of revenge, but
as a religious principle to be followed by all. Swadeshi, he believed was a religious
principle to be undertaken with complete disregard to the physical discomfort
caused to individuals.
35
According to Gandhi, Swadeshi in religion teaches one to measure the glorious
past and re-enact it in the present generation.
He explained that the chaos that was going on in Europe at the time showed that
modern civilization represented forces of evil and darkness, whereas the ancient, i.e.,
the Indian civilization, represented in its essence, the divine force.
CONCLUSION
Swadeshi is one of the central principles of Gandhi’s philosophy. Gandhi realized

Swaraj through Swadeshi. Swadeshi was an ideal concept of totalizing territorial
nativism by connecting national economy, territory and culture. Gandhi’s 69
Swadeshi is always in defense of indigenous skills, local knowledge systems,

Swadeshi cultural traditions and village economy. Swadeshi meant self-sufficiency of
the home through revitalization in all its aspects.
Through Swadeshi, Gandhi was successful in uniting the economic struggles with
nationalist movement. Gandhi envisaged an organic and political society
characterized by economic self-sufficiency and social harmony. The Swadeshi worker
not only symbolizes charkha and khadi but also lives in simplicity and spirituality. In
Gandhi’s Swadeshi, economics would have a place but would not dominate society.
The Swadeshi economics is based on the principle of non-possessiveness, whereas

capitalism is based on possessiveness. It is believed that beyond a certain limit,
economic growth becomes detrimental to human well-being. Gandhi’s principle of
Swadeshi has much relevance in the contemporary times of globalization.
36
Q 10. Describe Gandhi's views on religion and politics.
Ans - Introduction
Vaishnav Jana to tene kahiye je peer parai jaane re..." This was the unique Bhajan
of Gandhiji, by which it is distinctly proved that how sovereign and welfare oriented
the Gandhiji's Religion was! If in the outset, we talk on Gandhiji's Ideologies on the
adapted polity, it was not at all in the sphere of cunningly treacherous, deceitful or
disguising of cutting plots and revenges on of bloody blood relation centered.
He always remained a great patron for the polity centered on the welfare of
entire human race to fulfil their needs at the same time while in such politics the doer
remains just like a catalytic agent who helps in bringing in home the chemical
reaction but keeps itself away from being affected in any way. He believed in
sacrificing for the noble global goodness.
In other words, Bapuji thought a polity centered on Nationalism and universal
service and whose apex goal should be a human welfare in today's scenario when it
comes to analyze the present politics, it is neither based on Gandhian Ideal polity nor
his religion. Gandhiji's co-religious polity, it would be quiet worthwhile if we take

Gandhian polity as a co-religion polity.
Gandhi Views on Religion and Politics:
His views on religion and its relationship with politics are quite different from
those of many a political philosopher of the Modern Age. The striking characteristics
of politics in the Middle Ages were that it was never free from the influence of
religion. It is only in the Modern Age that politics is being looked upon as a secular
activity i.e. politics must be completely free from religion. Gandhi, on the other hand,
has spiritualized politics. He is opposed to separating religion from politics.
37
He condemned politics which is divorced from religion. His view in that politics
should rest on the foundations of religion. One should not get irreligious in the name
of politics. Devoid of religious influence, the modern politics has turned more
corrupt, selfish, unreliable, materialistic and opportunistic. This politics which has
been separated from religious influence is nothing but the politics of force and fraud.
Politics without religion is lifeless. Those who maintain that religion has no
relationship with politics, do not understand the connotation of religion at all.
There could be no politics without religion; politics must be subordinated to

religion. Politics without religion is a death trap because it would kill the soul.
Therefore, Gandhi’s politics is a religion-oriented science. His concept of religion
being a broad one, it is neither Hinduism or Islam nor for that matter any specific
religion. It is morality, pure and simple, the search for Truth and God.
In his autobiography Gandhiji clarifies that without religion the idea of polity is
quite unimaginable. In this context when it was asked him by a journalist, "How
would you dream one common political strategy in a country of dozens' of
religions?" He replied, "It's sure", he doesn't even think of a polity without religion. In
fact, religion should remain method and medium of our work but one should be very
careful about the word 'religion'.
It doesn't refer to the extremist ideologies; it means faith in a particular moral

system. It is abstract by that its importance cannot be overlooked. It is miles away
from the Hindu, Islam or Sikh religions. It is not to out root these religions but to find
common minimum co relations between them, and make it a real religion. He
reiterates that this unique religion keeps itself away from the so-called divertive
religions. It is different from the violent ones. He believes in a polity in religion. His
religion is sovereign and tolerative, away from superstitious' and traitors. He doesn't
call it a religion which spreads hate and fights on morality.
38
He feels implementation of religion in polity because for him religion is not just
limited to a personal and family life. He thinks that there is the inevitability of religion
in one’s social and poly-moral life as it is important in personal and family life too.
Not a single facet of one's own life be completed without religion's intervene. He
says, "My religious ambitions will not be satisfied until and unless mine affection
does not become one with the humanity that too is possible only when I will find
myself active in poly-morality". Our personality is not indifferent hence it cannot be

segmented n social, economic, poly-moral and orthodox religiousness.
He doesn't believe in phenomenon which deviates from human welfare and such
religious approach all other attitudes taking morality can only make life
unmeaningful, unimportant, and hatchy-potchy. On this solid base Gandhiji puts
religion and morality at apex spot in polity and he makes it mandatory to every
politician to work in the frame work. The world's long-time history witnesses the
intervene of cut-plots, violence, cruelty, injustice, exploitation, oppression and such
defame us devils as a base in polity.
In today's polity it is known as a pure and real politics, the politicians who use
these unfair means to benefit their nation are known as successful politicians. One
who develops his country without thinking for a second for other countries . They
selfishly snatch every bit of success as an opportunist for their countries and these
people are taken and accepted universally, but being a worshipper of truth and non-
violence Gandhiji discarders this selfish and violent tradition in polity.
Actually, he wants to prove religion through morality and ultimately a moral polity
through religion. He says that if there is no inclusion of religion with politics, no one
can achieve the almost aim. Hence, he says, "Polity without religion is a phenomenon
of great worries. According to him, the people who don't believe in the religion in
politics, they don't know religion. He who is not nationalist cannot be well versed
with his own responsibilities and religion, he believes in main function of polity
should be to see the welfare of citizen and of the country.
39
So, its necessary Polity is a service for the welfare of mankind, which results in truth.
He says that there is no heaven outside to which one reaches after death, but it is
present here and we can attain it here, in this context it is simply inevitable to differ
polity from religion.
He explores a polity without religion becomes a medium for a few people to
suffice their selfishness, and by this there develops an autonomy on the canvas of
democracy the representatives of common people start paying heed at their own
interests at the cost of public welfare. The polity in chair earns for the party. And the
epitome of dirty polity comes when they make new laws for their own profit in the
name of public welfare and responsibilities.
Conclusion
Gandhiji believed in the equivalence of rights and responsibilities. The one, to
which one takes as a right for him remains the same for all and becomes a
responsibility too. Where rights are interlinked with responsibilities their rests self-
Government and the political control looks out of office. Our ideologies should not
be selfish, luxurious or self-gained result oriented but all the rights should be
practiced for common welfare, with sacrifice without selfish aims.
The work done with selfish results creates oddities in physio-social circumference
which pares ways for immoral social theories resulting in communalism and
communal riots. But if a work done by willingness and that too for rights and
responsibilities, no question arises of wish or unwillingness. It gives birth to wide and
involving principles.
In this way the religion-based politics is a politics of self and he governs himself
in such a way that never creates any threat for neighbouring nations, in such political
moralistic governments no one works for selfish aims. Only humanity and morality
become the base of religion-based nation. The masses and self-become government,
here we attain Gandhiji's battle free self-government.
40
Q 11. Examine the relevance of Gandhi's ideology in modern India.
Ans - Introduction
People still remember and cherish the person who was incredibly responsible for
achieving this freedom. Often quoted, Mahatma Gandhi is remembered for his
teachings. His ideas still resonate in people’s minds. However, how relevant are these
ideas of non-violence and truth that give us freedom today? Mahatma Gandhi is
considered the most splendid Statesman of India. His ideas and views still hold a
significant position in the country’s policies and governance and underline the most
humane way to resolve many of the problems that plague our society.
Born in Porbandar, Gujarat, Gandhi played a significant role in India’s struggle for
freedom. His thoughts of ahimsa and truth, swadeshi and swaraj, helped India free
itself from colonial rule. However, the central question is whether this policy is still
relevant at present times or not. Let us compare the Gandhian policy with its present
scenario.
Gandhi’s Policy Still Relevant
1. Ahimsa:
Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of non-violence is very relevant as the world faces
terrorism and other forms of violence. Mahatma Gandhi’s policy of non-violence was
based on the concept of non-violence and compassion. Against colonial violence, he

proposed a nonviolent response. In his view, a calm, nonviolent response reduces the
attacker’s wrath and frustration and is a more potent weapon than violence. The Salt
March of 1930 was one of the most famous acts of Gandhi’s peaceful resistance. In
present times, the ideal of non-violence needs to guide the approach of individuals
and nations, and world organizations, like violence, initiate a vicious circle of
repression and injustice.
41
India at present faces a threat from Chinese expansionist policies, but it is
Gandhi’s philosophy that is helping India not wage any China war. In the west, India
constantly is facing the belligerent attitude of Pakistan, but the ahimsa policy of the
country holds its respect in International forums. Still, after 74 years of Independence,
Gandhi’s ahimsa policy holds ground.
2. Satyagraha:
Gandhiji called the general method of nonviolent action ‘Satyagraha’. It is the
expression of the purest spiritual power against all injustice, oppression, and
exploitation. Satyagraha was thought of as the moral alternative to war.
Gandhi has shown us how to solve problems and conflicts from the micro to the
macro level and has proved to be an effective remedy. Many contemporary
challenges related to human rights, sustainable development, climate change, socio-
political unrest, war and peace, terrorism, and politico-administrative corruption can
be corrected using Gandhian Ideology. The critical aspect of satyagraha is standing
for truth using non-violent means, and this ideology needs to be implemented in all
spheres of society.
The farmers protesting against the Farm Law have also resorted to non-violence
at present to reveal their interest in the Law passed by the Government.
3. Swaraj:
According to Mahatma Gandhi “Real Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of
authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority
when it is abused “. Swaraj holds a significant position in today’s society. In the age
of markets laden with products based on generating and gratifying instant of social
approval, and when public imagination is becoming increasingly vulnerable to
demagogues, the economic, social, spiritual, and political connotations of swaraj still
continue to be significant.
42
4. Swadeshi:
Indigenous peoples focus on political and economic action inside and outside
their communities. It is the interdependence of community and self-reliance.
Gandhi’s thought of swadeshi is still prevalent in our society, by taking steps towards
making India self-reliant.
During the Covid times, when India was witnessing a severe economic crisis, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi called ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat ‘, the second version of
Swadeshi. This swadeshi form aims to make the country self-reliant. In order to free
the country from the shackles of hunger, unemployment, poverty, swadeshi is the
best path to unshackle these.
5. Secularism:
Gandhism was tolerant of all religions. Today, the world needs more and more
religious and intelligently tolerant people in societies where violence is perpetrated
in the name of religion. In society, tolerance helps to neutralize religion, caste,
ethnicity, region, etc. in the world, based on day-to-day ethnic-Centered prejudices.
There are still different events held to inculcate the principles of secularism and
equality in society. Though we witness different religion-based differences, i.e. Hindu
and Muslim, it is the secularism ideology that is protecting the country from another
partition.
6. Communal Harmony:
Gandhi always tried for Hindu-Muslim unity. At the present time, this ideology is
equally significant. If Hindus and Muslims are united, the country can reach the
heights of becoming a world power. A person should always respect others’ faith.
Cases of mob lynching are also violating the Gandhian ideology of communal
harmony, so steps should be taken in this direction.
43
7. Decentralization:
The Gandhian idea of decentralization was implemented in democracies through
the 73rd and 74th amendments, which empowered local self-governments at the
grassroots level. Indian Government, for instance, has implemented local self-
government by adopting the Panchayati Raj and Municipality system in rural and
urban areas, respectively, and providing them with some subjects under the state list.
This ideology of Gandhi is still relevant and plays a vital role in India’s grass root
development.
8. Cleanliness:
Gandhi paid great attention to purity, or cleanliness and was a staunch advocate
of ‘Swachhata’. He used to say, “Cleanliness hi Seva.” India’s most significant
cleanliness initiative, the recently implemented Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, fulfills Bapu’s
dream of making India clean.
However, this quest for purity goes beyond physical purity and requires more
attention to inner purity. Therefore, for a clean India, with clean roads and toilets, we
need a corruption-free society with a high degree of transparency and accountability,

which is the need of the hour.
9. Sustainable Environment:
Gandhi always spoke of minimization of wants and advocated a nature-friendly

idea. Gandhi believed that “there is enough on earth for human needs but not
enough for human greed.” These lines from Mahatma Gandhi show how human
behavior destroys nature, and there is a need for a sustainable lifestyle in our times.
The world revolves around global warming, climate change, and resource
depletion, and all environmental covenants and sustainable development efforts

must implement Gandhi’s philosophy. The recent coal crisis also compels us to follow
the Gandhian philosophy of sustainable growth. Due to the increased consumption

of resources like land, water, air, the carbon footprints are accelerating.
44
10. Women Emancipation:
Gandhi played a vital role in bringing women out of their domestic work and
involved them in public life. He was against the patriarchal form of society. With glass
ceilings still far from being shattered in the public sphere, the Gandhian thought of
women’s emancipation remains relevant.
Conclusion
Gandhi’s thought was an inspiration for the society. Ultimately, all ideas and
thoughts of the Mahatma were reached by him via lifelong experimentation with
truths, which makes Gandhian thoughts more significant in the present era. In order
to become a superpower, India should pay homage to Gandhian ideology and walk
in the assigned path.
45
Q 12. Discuss the various aspects of modern civilization criticized by Gandhi in
Hind Swaraj.
Ans - Introduction
As a postmodernist thinker, Gandhi had excepted himself from modernity and
modern civilization. Modern civilization is the instrumentalist, machinist, rationalists,

and it is far away from the purity of the soul. In his book Hind Swaraj, Gandhi says
that it is satanic civilization (Gandhi 1909), nobody has separated from its life
consumption diseases.
The construction of hierarchical societies was created by modernity, It creates an
artificial society that divides the economy into weak and economically successful, and
give rise to two categories such as haves and have not, one side belonged to jobless,
homeless, another side is the king of coins and modern civilization gets them
opportunity to exploit have nots.
here not only human begins are affected by it, but also all universe like ant to
man is affected by this disease, artificial needs, artificial competition is increasing day
by day and we surrender our self as the servant of mechanism, we accepted all,
without question, why.
Another side, a natural thinker Gandhi think about making an organic natural
garden and always pray to God’s make us natural, nature gives us everything, we live
in nature and nature live in with us, but recent day accepting artificiality we are not
only ruined nature, natural beauty, loss many species, decreasing natural resources,
lost balance of ecosystem but also destroying our selves, and we also digging our
grave in our hand. In this topic, I shall try to show modernity and modern civilization
in Gandhi’s eye’s and gets some view in its alternative.
46
Gandhi criticized modern civilization in Hind Swaraj
Gandhi criticized modern civilization as well as mechanical civilization in his
Hind Swaraj, and he compared modern civilization to the machinations of the people,
democracy as the majority rule, and parliamentary democracy with prostitution,

which is also include, , Gandhi’s a Very Short introduction,(1997) by Vikhu parekh and
Vidyut Chakraborty’s, The social and political thought of Mahatma Gandhi
Democracy means that the rule of the vast majority , understood by gaining a
majority in the political field. Here we can talk about the three divorce bills and
citizenship amendment bill. There are three divorce bills where this bill is for Muslim
women but Muslim women oppose the bill. However, modern civilization cannot be
completely abandoned. It is Gandhiji who has acknowledged that we need to change
our attitude.
Gandhi considered violence to be un-Indian, alien to Indian civilisation, and he

expresses his views in Hind Swaraj. In some ways, the goal of Hind Swaraj was to
combat anarchist and violence-prone Indian nationalism with a nonviolent alternative
inspired from Gandhi's early Satyagraha initiatives. Gandhi stated that Hind Swaraj
was written to demonstrate that his countrymen were pursuing a suicidal policy of
violence, and that if they simply returned to their glorious civilisation, either the
English would adopt the latter and become Indianized, or the English would lose
their occupation in India.
Gandhi also depicted "the dichotomy between the spiritual, moral superiority of
Indian society, and the violent, politically corrupt nature of European states" in Hind
Swaraj more vividly than any of his predecessors. While opposing Western power's
"brute force," Gandhi separates himself from militant nationalists for their support for
violence, which he saw as a suicide tactic because it would incite the governing
authority's "organised aggression."
47
khadi as a modern civilisation critique
Khadi, as previously said, has a complicated and unique nomenclature. Gandhi
used Khadi to convey a variety of ideas, the most important of which was a critique
of modernity. On the one hand, Khadi was a suitable representation of lengthy Indian
history, while on the other, it represented a critique of modern Western culture.
Khadi is primarily Indian, and Indians have traditionally been weavers and exporters
of cotton cloth since the dawn of humanity. Before the introduction of machine-
made textiles, the British themselves bought large quantities of clothing from India.
Weaving was the most popular economic activity in the Indian countryside at the
time of the British arrival, second only to farming.
In fact, weaving has long been used as a metaphor in the spiritual discourse of
numerous Indian saints and thinkers, the most famous of whom was Kabir, who was
also a weaver. The collapse of cotton weavers is frequently mentioned in the
chronicle of British colonial imperialism's economic exploitation.
Gandhi brought up Khadi, the concept of hand-woven fabric, and gave it new
meaning. Gandhi redefined the mundane human endeavour, which was no less
complicated than the spiritual content introduced by Kabir and other saints.
Countless songs were written on how Gandhi would or did drive out the British with
the help of his charkha throughout the years of the freedom movement or
subsequently.
It became a symbol of the struggle for freedom as well as a method of economic
restoration for the villages, among other things. Gandhi stated categorically that his
Swadeshi was centred on hand-spun Khaddar and extended to everything that could
and is produced in India. In this way, Khadi represented a return to the glorious
civilisation that India had cultivated before
48
the arrival of the Europeans. Gandhi urged fellow Indians to spin and weave Khadi,
claiming that it connected them to the oppressed. He begged his countrymen to spin
for only thirty minutes a day as a form of devotion. Machines that would dispense
with human labour or concentrate power in a few hands have no place in Gandhi's
universe of charkha and Khadi.
Gandhi devoted himself to the development of Khadi, making it into a cult, as a
technique of nation-building from the grassroots, during the years following his
withdrawal from active politics in the mid-1920s. He proposed a Khadi franchise and
even a "yarn currency" for the organization. Both British and Western-educated
town-bred Indians should have been perplexed by Gandhi's almost emotional
connection to the spinning wheel. It was clear that they couldn't comprehend the
extreme poverty of Indian villages.
Conclusion
It was primarily meant for dissuading the Indian people from falling into the
alluring trap of western civilization both in terms of finding the right means for
Indian independence, as well as building a new India in the post-independent era.
Hence, it involves a very strong criticism of modern civilization verging on its total
rejection. But a closer perusal would reveal that his criticisms are much more
nuanced and balanced than it is usually understood.
Gandhi, in the first place, makes a distinction between western civilization per se
and modern civilization. And it is the latter that is put under his moral gaze. Here
again he accepts some of its positive contributions like time management, greater
control over the environment and better organizational efforts. Gandhi does not stop
at the rejection or western civilization. Rather he charts out a plan for an alternative
modernity.

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POLITICAL SCIENCE

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5 - Religion and Politics

6 - Gandhi's Critique of Modern Civilization

Q 1. Discuss Gandhi's concept of Swaraj.

Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj is defined as a ‘model code of

It implied an elevation of a personal moral being to limit

Otherwise, what did Gandhiji mean by Swaraj? Find out more

about Gandhi on Swaraj and independence, democracy and the

What does Swaraj Mean

To achieve this state of ‘Swaraj’ one has to live a life of simplicity

not possible unless one stops running after material life.

Basically, he wanted to create a world where an individual followed agricultural

labour under a sustainable village ecosystem and lived independently. Gandhi

divided ‘Swaraj’ in the following ways:

 Political freedom of the individual

 Spiritual freedom of the individual or ‘self-rule.’

Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj confirms his firm commitment to moral

individualism. The term ‘Swaraj’ literally means ‘self-rule,’ ‘self-government,’ ‘self-

determination’ or ‘independence.’ This term became popular during India’s struggle

Ghandi’s Concept of Swaraj and Independence

‘Swaraj’ or self-government rules out people’s dependence on government. This

“Self-government means continuous effort to be independent of government

control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. Swaraj

Ghandi’s on Swaraj and Democracy

Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj also exemplifies his vision of a true democracy.

is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and

control authority. Economic freedom of the individual is the third dimension of

Gandhi on Swaraj and India’s Economic Future

cottage industries.” As a votary of purity of means as well as ends, Gandhi tried of

political self-government as well as individual self-government.to assert that we must

rely on non-violence or ahimsa for the attainment

Gandhi elaborately dwells on the principle of nonviolence or ahimsa as the way to

He demonstrates the superiority of non-violence over violence ‘at least in the

organisations, and some of the nongovernmental organisations that were

subsequently launched in various parts of India.

self-purification and growing self-reliance. Gandhi was undaunted by the task of

implementing such a utopian vision in India. He believed that by transforming

enough individuals and communities, society at large would change.

Q 2. What do you mean by Satyagraha? Discuss its basic postulates as

and agraha, meaning "insistence." It can be loosely translated to mean "insistence

rights as a determined but nonviolent resistance to evil.

Mahatma Gandhi founded an ashram to teach satyagraha, where he asked his

practitioners to follow the principles described as Yamas in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.

Gandhi considered satyagraha not only as a tactic to be used in a political struggle,

to everyone. A person who practices satyagraha is a satyagrahi.

Satyagraha basic postulates

Like other Gandhian concepts, satyagraha too was not an exemption to

misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Following are some of the major

(1) Satyagraha is referred to any form of opposition to government or any direct

social or political action short of organized violence.

(2) Satyagraha is equated with demonstrations with shouting of slogans, fasting,

with the Gandhian concept of sarvodaya.

persistent satyagrahi (one who practices satyagraha) lead people to consider a

Gandhian system of morals and values.

morals and values, is believed to be a vegetarian, someone observing brahmacharya

(continence), and one who is practicing aparigraha (non-possession) etc.

There are certain characteristics specific to Gandhian satyagraha which makes it

According to Gandhi, “Satyagraha is literally holding on to Truth, and it means

as to “seeing God face to face.” Gandhi explains Truth-God relationship as follows:

“There are innumerable definitions of God, because His manifestations are

know the Absolute fully.

The Sanskrit word ahimsa is translated as non-violence. Emphasizing on the

inseparableness of truth and non-violence in satyagraha, Gandhi describes