What a Gandhian constitution might have looked like: Sidin Vadukut

What if Nathuram Godse had missed? What if Gandhi had survived, and cast his immeasurable influence on the Constitution of India? The answers to some of these questions may lie in the unique events that transpired in a corner of Maharashtra in 1938. In the summer of that year, a procession of 6,000 peasants living in the town of Atpadi, in present-day Maharashtra, began marching the 160km to Aundh, the capital of their microscopic princely state. Intelligence officers working for the ruler of Aundh, Raja Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, sent alarming reports of an angry crowd, led by fiery 
leaders, shouting revolutionary slogans. 

These spies were entirely right to be alarmed. The procession accounted for more than 10% of the entire population of Atpadi taluka. Two days later, and with no sign of enthusiasm abating, the procession was camped just 5km outside the gates of Aundh. Writing about the events some five decades later, the late Apa Sahib Pant, son and heir of the raja of Aundh, recalled the state of alarm in the palace. The prince prayed to the royal family’s deity, Jagadamba. “Oh goddess,” he thought, “can this be the end of Aundh, and Baba’s dreams of a model state?”

As the procession camped for the night, the ministers, advisers and the prince himself were running helter skelter at the palace preparing for the inevitable showdown. The protesters were expected to arrive at the palace and demand an audience with the raja the next day. Yet no one at the palace, it appeared, had sought to consult with the raja. A meeting of high-ranking officials was called hastily in a palace called the “Rangachi Kholi”. This was where the raja liked to paint. Almost every day, up to 2 hours at a time, Bhawanrao would paint scenes from the Ramayan, Mahabharat, or the life of Shivaji, whom he adored.
Much to the astonishment of his ministers, the king appeared unperturbed about the revolution that seemed to have gathered at his doorstep. After listening to his advisers, he turned to his son. Apa Pant, later to become a stellar diplomat in the service of the Republic of India, suggested a gentle response. Let us offer them a lunch of dal and rice, the prince claims to have said, and then let us ask these citizens of Aundh what they are protesting about. “Let it be so,” said the king.
The next day, placated by a warm welcome and lunch, the protesters sat down to talk. A variety of leaders spoke to and for the crowds, and, as the day passed, the audience swelled as villagers began to pour in from surrounding hamlets, most not even part of Aundh’s jurisdiction. Two issues appeared paramount: lower taxation and better administration. The government of Aundh agreed to review taxation rates. And two Congress leaders—Shankarrao Deo and B.V. Shikhare—were appointed to review the state of administration in Aundh and suggest reforms.

But the events of that summer led to something much more than just two promises of reform and a free lunch. They began to make the ruling disposition of Aundh think. How did things get to this point? What if, next time, rice and dal didn’t placate a crowd of thousands? What if, next time, as one minister had feared, the crowd burnt down the palace? Something had to be done. The people needed a better deal. And thus it came to pass that some six months later, on 23 November 1938, on the 70th birthday of the raja, Aundh did something unprecedented, perhaps, in the history of kingship in India. That morning, Bhawanrao Pant Pratinidhi, the ruler of Aundh, relinquished his throne. The government of Aundh had passed on to his people. “My children,” the raja declared, were now capable of managing their own affairs. He would now just watch and guide them. There was just one problem. How would Aundh actually manage its own affairs? The leaders of Aundh turned to the one man they knew could help: Mahatma Gandhi… read more:
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/p1p8hydrvOgHttZC8FXSJJ/What-might-a-Gandhian-constitution-have-looked-like.html

Also see
The Sangh’s New Game Plan for Ayodhya
1948: Assassination of Gandhi





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