The music of humanity
January 30, 2014 is the 66th anniversary of Gandhi's assassination
Dilip Simeon
10 Iconic Photos That Show Why Gandhi Was Called The Great Soul
प्राइम टाइम : गांधी का नाम बस दिखावे के लिए?
The force of love is
the same as the force of the soul or truth. We have evidence of its working at
every step - M.K. Gandhi
One of the most famous anti-fascist films was Charles Chaplin’s The
Great Dictator, which subjected Hitler’s fantasies of global domination to
withering satire. Less well-known was his first post-war movie, Monsieur Verdoux (1947), about a genial family man who makes a living by marrying
and murdering wealthy widows. Upon being caught, this anti-hero says ‘Clausewitz
said that war is the logical extension of diplomacy; Monsieur Verdoux feels
that murder is the logical extension of business.’
All distinctions notwithstanding, this is where the common trajectories
of modern history show themselves. A large segment of our official elites,
businessmen, opinion-makers and middle classes are accustomed to the view that
some amount of bloodletting is inevitable in politics, a few thousand corpses
and sundry riots and ‘encounters’ are an acceptable cost in return for the
fantasy of progress, prosperity and stability. Market fundamentalists decided
long ago that untrammeled capitalism is good for humanity. That it is a fantasy
does not matter – fantasies are meant to deflect our minds from intolerable
reality. State power is now infused in criminality; with a brazenly partisan media playing drummer-boy, its fascination with petty crime in contrast to its silence
on crime in high places. To cite Verdoux again, ‘It's all business. One murder
makes a villain. Millions, a hero. Numbers sanctify.’ Let’s wait and see where
our demented arithmetical imagination takes us.
Many people believe that Gandhi needs a rest. He’s
irrelevant, except as an icon. Is this true? I do not think so. Ahimsa remains
crucial, especially when a growing sense of injustice calls for democratic agitation
on a continental scale. It also relates to the ecological impact of militarism.
His assassin’s accusation that Gandhi was emasculating Hinduism and rendering it impotent points us beyond
stereotypes on gender and masculinity. As opposed to rampant
consumerism, Gandhi’s frugal ideals remind us that fostering ceaseless growth with
finite resources is like celebrating cancer. His condemnation of the atom bomb
and of the urge to use science for destructive purposes resonates with
contemporary concerns. His insistence on shramdaan
and constructive work are a compass for activist energy. His talisman for
public policy - the suggestion that we keep the humblest of individuals in mind
- is both ethical and pragmatic. The warning delivered during his last months: that
failure to resolve Hindu Muslim conflict would result in the sub-continent being
doomed to condominium status under the great powers was prophetic. So was his
critique of communally defined nationalism, implicit in his opposition to the
transfer of population in 1947. His critical engagement with modernity was surely
a necessary debate.
Gandhi's mind worked in tandem with his heart and instinct. He
had warned that partitioning India
would not solve communal problems and that it would lead to catastrophic
violence. He also warned that if the decision was taken and the two parties did
not act with goodwill and trust, it would lead to a state of permanent
animosity and conflict. In the last months of his life he understood his
isolation from the Congress as well as from a large part of public sentiment.
He said he felt as if he had been thrown into a fire pit, that his heart burned.
About those who combined communal hatred with slogans of Akhand Hindustan, he
remarked: ‘There is nothing in common between me and those who want me to
oppose Pakistan
except that we are both opposed to the division of the country. There is a
fundamental difference between their opposition and mine. How can love and
enmity go together?’
Gandhi derived his lessons from unremarkable things. Rather,
he could see extraordinary truths in small events. He was a philosopher of the
quotidian. Asked by his
imaginary interlocutor (in Hind Swaraj)
for historical evidence on soul-force or truth-force, Gandhi replies that the
continued existence of human life despite incessant wars was proof enough. It
was war and violence that made news, not the everyday love and co-operation
that characterised the lives of millions. History did not record everything
that happened but rather, ‘every interruption of the even working of the force
of love or of the soul… you cannot expect silver ore in a tin mine.’ But he
found his silver where he expected it. In 1947, two refugee women came to see
him in Delhi
The one stable feature of communal ideology is pessimism. To
insist that people of different faiths, despite being neighbours for centuries
are incapable of co-existence, is surely the most pessimistic belief there is. A
year ago, the Pakistani writer Mobarak Haider wrote of Pakistan ’s
polity: ‘War is a tragedy but a society at war with itself and everything
around, with no objective and no remorse is more than a tragedy; it is a total
disaster.’ He went on to characterize it as being ‘in a state of schizophrenia
passing into paranoia.’ Whether this assessment fits all of us is a matter for
self-reflection.
In October 1947, All-India Radio arranged a special
broadcast on Gandhi’s birthday, and requested him to listen. He declined,
saying he preferred rentio (the spinning
wheel) to radio. The hum of the spinning-wheel was sweeter. He heard in it the
“still sad music of humanity”. He refused to release his birthday messages from
the world over – it felt futile, when the public seemed to have lost faith in
non-violence and truth. As we live through January 30 once more, as we replay the
mindless rituals, let us think why, far from becoming irrelevant, Gandhi
remains so real. It is because he drew meaning from ordinary things, especially
those that signified the persistence of friendship and love amidst hatred and
violence. That is why his life and message are so much a part of the “still sad
music of humanity”. Today we can only hope that the sadness disperses and the
music remains.
Goodbye once again Bapu. Let’s hope we learn to deserve you.
10 Iconic Photos That Show Why Gandhi Was Called The Great Soul
प्राइम टाइम : गांधी का नाम बस दिखावे के लिए?
क्या हम या हमारे राजनीतिक दल ईमानदारी से यह बात स्वीकार कर सकते हैं कि गांधी को पूजा तो जा सकता है, मगर उनके आदर्शों पर नहीं चला जा सकता है। क्या कोई दल अपने अतीत के तमाम राखों को झाड़ कर अचानक नए सिरे से गांधी पर चलने के लिए प्रस्थान कर सकता है। एक चर्चा प्राइम टाइम में.
See also
Godse pushed Manu forcefully aside with his left hand, momentarily exposing the gun in his right. The items in her hands fell to the ground. For a few moments she continued arguing with the unknown assailant. But when the rosary dropped she bent down to pick it up. At this precise moment, a burst of deafening blasts ripped apart the peaceful atmosphere as Godse fired three bullets into Gandhi's abdomen and chest. As the third shot was fired Gandhi was still standing, his palms still joined. He was heard to gasp, "He Ram, He Ram". Then he slowly sank to the ground, palms joined still, possibly in a final ultimate act of ahimsa. Smoke filled the air. Confusion and panic reigned. The Mahatma was slumped on the ground, his head resting in the laps of both girls. His face turned pale, his white shawl of Australian wool was turning crimson with blood. Within seconds Mahatma Gandhi was dead. It was 5.17 pm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUjna9vkUBk
