Gandhi’s Last Message: ‘Raze the Sacred Sites of Others and You Too Will Be Obliterated’ - by Sudhir Chandra
For a man who made
such a powerful intervention in the history of the 20th century, many of
Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas were misunderstood during his lifetime. Sudhir Chandra’s Gandhi:
An Impossible Possibility, translated from Hindi by Chitra
Padmanabhan draws our attention to
Gandhi’s last years, particularly the marked change in his understanding of the
acceptance of non-violence by Indians. It points to a startling discovery
Gandhi made in the years preceding India’s Independence and Partition: the
struggle for freedom which he had all along believed to be non-violent was in
fact not so. Calling for a serious rethink on the very nature and foundation of
modern India, this book throws new light on Gandhian philosophy and its
far-reaching implications for the world today. Excerpted below is a section
from the book in which Gandhi’s voice reaches out to our times with renewed
urgency.
Gandhi…had wanted to
avoid the country’s partition. Failing in that he engaged himself in preventing
the division of hearts, emphasising that even as the country had been divided,
the hearts must not be divided. Also knowing that if the hearts had not been
divided, the country could never have been divided and contending with this
paradox, because he understood that neither India nor Pakistan stood to gain in
the absence of mutual friendship. Should one become hell, the other can never
be heaven.
Seventy years have
since gone by. In the meantime, the division of hearts has perhaps deepened in
both countries – across the border and within the border as well. People’s
hearts have experienced new divisions. Gandhi’s warning has assumed greater
relevance today compared to earlier periods.
But only if we are
able to see, which is not easy. And when people cannot see, saying or doing
something to reach out to them becomes that much more difficult. Why was Gandhi running
in his old age from pillar to post? To be immortalised in history? To save the
Hindus and the Sikhs from the Muslims? To save the Muslims from the Sikhs and
the Hindus? Or to save humans from humans, by saving their humanity for them?…
Gandhi’s helplessness
was such that he was reduced to admonishing everybody by turn because everybody
was succumbing to the prevailing frenzy. He knew, and was repeatedly saying so,
that between the Hindus and Muslims [both of whom had become animals] for one
to refrain from becoming an animal is the only straight way to get out of this
violence. But no one was ready to heed him, to refrain from becoming an animal.
When he admonished the Hindus and the Sikhs, he was told to see what the
Muslims in Pakistan were doing, and also that the Muslims staying on in India
were traitors. Gandhi would listen attentively and respond publicly. But such
had become people’s mentality in the midst of that collective hysteria that
Gandhi’s slightest concern for the Muslims seemed like outright favouritism to
the Hindus and Sikhs, and when he criticised the Muslims or gave them advice,
he was disregarded….
…Along with
humanity,Gandhi laid stress on civic responsibility in a democracy:
Had man not become so
ruthless as to commit atrocities against his brother, these thousands of men,
women and innocent children [in refugee camps] would not have been so helpless,
and in many cases hungry. . . . Was all of this inescapable? A strong voice came
from within me: ‘No’. Is this the first fruit of a month of independence?. . .
Have the citizens of Delhi become mad? Do they not have even a shred of
humanity left in them? Does the love for their country and its independence not
appeal to them at all? I may be forgiven for putting the blame primarily on the
Hindus and the Sikhs. Can they not be worthy as humans to halt this tide of
hatred? I would strongly urge Delhi’s Muslims to let go of their fear, put
their trust in God and surrender all their firearms to the government. Because
the Hindus and the Sikhs are afraid that the Muslims possess firearms, it does
not mean that they do not have weapons of their own. It is only a question of
degree. Some may have less, some more. To obtain justice, the minorities will
either have to depend on God or on the human created by Him, or they will have
to depend on their guns, pistols and other weapons to protect themselves
against those whom they do not trust.
My advice is firm and
unchanging. Its truth is self-evident.
Have confidence in
your government that it will protect every citizen from those who commit
injustice, no matter how many more and superior weapons they may have. . . . By
their actions the people of Delhi will only make the task of seeking justice
from the Pakistan government difficult. Those who want justice will have to do
justice. They should be guiltless and true. Let the Hindus and Sikhs take the
rightful step and ask the Muslims who have been chased out of their homes to
return.
If the Hindus and
Sikhs have the courage in every way to take this rightful step, the refugee
problem will become very easy to handle. Then not only Pakistan but the whole
world will acknowledge their claims. They will save Delhi and India from
disgrace and destruction.
‘Those who want
justice will have to do justice.’ This was not mere idealism. Gandhi was
providing a formula for a viable morality.
In any civilised
society, said Gandhi, if avenging ill-will is considered proper, it can be done
so only through the agency of the government, certainly not through individual
interventions….
Gandhi believed that
if the safety of the Muslims was assured in India, he would be able to go to
Pakistan and do a great deal for the minorities there. [H]e said:
What shall we do about
the Muslims who have left? I have stated that we will not bring them back right
now. We will certainly not bring them back by means of the police and military.
We will bring them back only when the Hindus and Sikhs tell them, you are our
friends, please return to your homes, you don’t require the military or police,
we are your military, we are your police, all of us will live as brothers. If
we are able to accomplish this in Delhi I assure you that our way will become
absolutely clear in Pakistan. And with that will commence a new life. When I go
to Pakistan I will not let them off easily. I will die for the Hindus and Sikhs
there. I would be happy to die there. I would be happy to die here, too. If
what I say cannot be achieved here, then I must die.
That a new life should
commence was Gandhi’s desire. He was desiring this amid the barbarity of 1947.
It was either this or else a vow of self-annihilation... read more:
https://thewire.in/118963/gandhi-message-mosque-temple/See also
Dennis Dalton - Gandhi During Partition: A case study in the nature of satyagraha
