![]() ![]() Ultimately, for all the disagreements you have with Gandhi, there's his moral and physical courage, his willingness to lay his life on the line, his ability to encourage a sense of debate and dialogue. On how to balance respect and criticism for the political and spiritual leader At the same time, in the 1920s and '30s, to bring women into public life - to encourage them to become ministers, parliamentarians - was certainly, I think, quite revolutionary. Gandhi's views on women's rights certainly fall short of what a contemporary, 21st century sensibility would expect. Like many men of his time, he felt women must bear the primary burden of. They were an imposition on young people and an exercise in power, because he is the great Mahatma and she's just a young follower. He wanted to make sure he was not a sexual predator. He was doing these experiments to test his celibacy. Gandhi was also obsessed with his own sexuality and celibacy, which is hugely problematic. By the time he reached his 30s, he was outgrowing his racism, and for the last 35 years of his public life, he was advocating absolute equality for all people. The record is very clear: He was racist when he was young. Even if we Indians throw him out or discard him or disregard him, there will be people elsewhere in the world, with whom his ideas and legacy will resonate. So that's it: Gandhi does not belong to India. Now, I'm absolutely certain Gandhi had not heard of the Dominican Republic! But the Dominican Republic had heard of Gandhi. He said, "He's greatly admired in my country." And I ask this gentleman of the hotel staff, "What is your country?" The answer was the Dominican Republic. Gandhi, isn't it?" So, this person was able to recognize Gandhi in a lawyer's suit, as a young lawyer. The book was on my table and someone from housekeeping came in to clean my room and saw it. His ideas of interfaith harmony, environmental sustainability, nonviolence - these are ideas that are enduring and universal.Īfter the first volume of my Gandhi biography came out in 2013, I was in a New York hotel promoting it. He would have given India a mixed report card. He would have welcomed the spirit of entrepreneurship of young Indians and the fact that we've had 17 successive free elections.Īt the same time, there's the arrogance of our political leaders, the lack of respect for the elementary courtesies of public debate, the environmental degradation rampant across India, corruption and criminality, violence against women. He would have welcomed the delegitimizing of "untouchability". I don't think he would have been utterly despairing of India today. ![]() Now, that is not something that goes well with a shortsighted kind of market-oriented economy that we have today. He recognized that unbridled consumerism would destroy the world. ![]() There is a growing revisionist historiography which suggests that if India had adopted the path of violent revolution, independence from the British would have come quicker.Ī third aspect of disquiet with Gandhi is his advocacy of the simple life, which does not gel well with the acquisitive, materialistic and rapidly growing industrializing society. Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 1869-1948), Indian nationalist and spiritual leader, leading the Salt March in protest against the government monopoly on salt production.Ī second aspect is his absolute insistence on nonviolence, which young men see as pussy-footed and weak-kneed and - dare I say, feminine - and hence not macho enough. ![]()
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