Gandhism is a collection of ideas depicting Mohandas Gandhi's inspiration, vision and work of life. This is mainly related to his contribution to the idea of ​​non-violent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance. The two pillars of Gandhism are truth and nonviolence.
The term "Gandhism" also includes what Gandhi says, actions and words to people around the world, and how they use them for guidance in building their own future. Gandhism also seeps into the realm of individual human, non-political and non-social. A Gandhi can mean an individual who follows, or a particular philosophy associated with, Gandhism. Professor Ramjee Singh calls Gandhi the bodhisattva (bodhisattva is a Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has produced bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous desire to attain buddah for the sake of benefit all living things.The Bodhisattva was a popular subject in the art of Buddhism in the 20th century).
However, Gandhi did not approve of 'Gandhism'. As he explained:
"There is no such thing as" Gandhism "and I do not want to leave any sect after me I do not claim to have brought new principles or teachings I just try my own way to apply eternal truth to us daily life and problems. The opinions I have formed and the conclusions that I have obtained are not final, I can change it tomorrow, I have nothing new to teach the world: Truth and nonviolence are as old as hills. "
In the absence of Gandhism's "Gandhism", there is a school of thought that we must get what Gandhism initiates, from life and work. One such deduction is that his philosophy is basically based on "truth" and "nonviolence" in the sense that first, we must recognize the truth that people are different at all levels and accept it. Secondly, we should not resort to violence to resolve the inherent differences between people at all levels: from between two people to two countries or two races or two religions.
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Although Gandhi's thoughts are unique in themselves, they are not without ideological parents. Gandhi in his own writings sets the inspiration to say certain things. It can be said that his exposure to the West, during his time in London, forced him to see his position in various religious, social, and political affairs.
Soon after his arrival in London, he was under the influence of Henry Stephens Salt, who has not become a renowned campaigner and social reformer who would later become himself. Salt's first work, The Application of vegetarianism changed Gandhi toward the question of vegetarianism and food habits. It was also around this time that Gandhi joined the vegetarian community in London. Salt finally became Gandhi's friend as well. Speaking of the importance of Salt's work, historian Ramachandra Guha said in his ' Gandhi before India' ,
"For the Indians we visit, however, the Vegetarian Society is the sanctuary that saves him.Gandhi Young has little interest in the two great popular passions of the late nineteenth century in London, theater and sports.The imperial and socialist politics made him cold, weekly vegetarians in London he found the cause, and his first English friends. "
Salt's work allowed Gandhi for the first time to take part in collective action. Salt then went on to write a biography of Henry David Thoreau, who had a great influence on Gandhi. Although Walden can also move Gandhi, it is a more important Civil Disobedience (Thoreau). Gandhi was already in the midst of civil disobedience in South Africa when he read Thoreau. He not only adopted the name for the kind of struggle he would win, but also adopted unlawful means to call for their reforms. In 1907, the name Thoreau first appeared in the journal that Gandhi later edited, the Indian Opinion in which Gandhi calls Thoreau's 'sharp' and 'unanswerable' logic.
Gandhi's residence in South Africa itself seeks inspiration from other Western literary figures - Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy's critique of institutional Christianity and faith in the love of spirits greatly moved him. He will once become a popular political activist writing the introduction of Tolstoy's essay, Letter to a Hindu . Gandhi exchanged letters with Tolstoy and named him Ashram 'Tolstoy Farm'. In Gandhi's thoughts, Tolstoy's Kingdom of God Is Within You sits side by side with the Application and Civil Disobedience .
Tolstoy Farm was Gandhi's experiments on his utopian political economy - later called 'Gram Swaraj'. One of the main sources of this concept is Unto John Ruskin's This Last where Ruskin criticized 'economic man' (this was written after Ruskin backed away from his famous Art criticism). Gandhi tried all of his Ashram systems of self-sufficiency and decentralized economy. Gandhi was rewarded with this book by a close associate named Henry Polak in South Africa. Ruskin's philosophy urges Gandhi to translate this work to Gujarati.
In the Indian Opinion, we find mention of Giuseppe Mazzini, Edward Carpenter, Sir Henry Maine, Helena Blavatsky. The first exploration of pluralism can be said to begin with its relationship with the Jain teacher near home, Raychandbhai Mehta.
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Satyagraha
Satyagraha is formed by two Sanskrit words Satya (truth) and Agraha (holding firm). The term was popularized during the Indian Independence Movement, and is used in many Indian languages ​​including Hindi.
Satya
The important element and determining Gandhism is the one, a Sanskrit word for truth. It also refers to virtue in Indian religions, referring to honest in one's thoughts, speech, and actions. Sathya is also called the truth.
Gandhi said: "The truth is far more powerful than weapons of mass destruction."
Brahmacharya and ahimsa
The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonviolent resistance has a long history of Indian religious thought and has undergone much revival in the context of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Muslims and Jains. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography,
At the age of 36, â € <â € Ahimsa, or nonviolence, is another key principle of Gandhi's belief. He argues that total nonviolence will remove the anger, obsession, and destructive impulse of a person. While vegetarianism is inspired by its preservation in the Hindu-Jain culture of Gujarat, it is also an extension of ahimsa. On July 6, 1940, Gandhi published an article in Harijan that applied this philosophy to the question of British involvement in World War II. Homer Jack noted in reprint this article, "For Every Englishman" ( Gandhi Reader ), "for Gandhi, all wars are wrong, and suddenly 'comes to him like a flash' to appeal to UK to adopt nonviolent methods. "In this article, Gandhi stated,
Economy
Gandhi supports the theory of simple living economy and self-sufficiency/import substitution, rather than producing exports such as Japan and South Korea. He envisioned a more agrarian India after independence that would focus on fulfilling the material needs of its citizens before generating wealth and industrialization.
Khadi
Gandhi also adopted the style of clothing most Indians in the early 20th century. The adoption of khadi, or woven fabric itself, is intended to help combat crime of poverty, social and economic discrimination. It is also addressed as a challenge to the contrast he sees between the majority of Indians, the poor and the traditional, and the richer classes of educated and liberal-minded Indians who have adopted behavior, clothing and practices West.
The clothing policy is designed to protest British economic policies in India. Millions of poor Indian workers are unemployed and entrenched in poverty, which Gandhi associates with the industrialization of cotton processing in Britain. Gandhi promotes khadi as a direct boycott of the Lancashire cotton industry, which links British imperialism with Indian poverty. He focuses on persuading all members of the Indian National Congress to spend some time each day hand spinning on a charkha (spinning wheel). In addition to essentially an economic campaign, the impetus for spinning is an attempt to connect devout Indian brahmins and Congress lawyers to connect with the masses of Indian peasants.
Many prominent figures of the Indian independence movement, including Motilal Nehru, were persuaded by Gandhi to undo their silk-worn garments in London supporting khadi.
Fasting
For Gandhi, fasting is an important method of using mental control over basic desires. In his autobiography, Gandhi analyzes the need for fasting to erase his desire for delicious and spicy food. He believes that abstinence will diminish the faculties, bringing the body increasingly under the absolute control of mind. Gandhi opposed meat-taking, alcohol, stimulants, salt and most of the spices, and also eliminated various types of dishes from the foods he ate.
Fasting will also place the body through unusual adversity, which Gandhi believes will cleanse the soul by stimulating the courage to withstand all impulses and pain. Gandhi performed "Fast Unto Death" on three important occasions:
- when he wanted to stop all revolutionary activity after the Chauri Chaura incident of 1922;
- when he was afraid that the 1932 Communist Prize that gave voters separate to untouched Hindus would politically separate Hindus;
- and in 1947, when he wanted to stop the bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal and Delhi.
In all three cases, Gandhi was able to leave his fast before he died. There was some controversy about 1932 fasting, which caused him to engage in conflict with leader Untouchable B.R. Ambedkar. In the end, Gandhi and Ambedkar both made several concessions to negotiate the Poona Pact, which ignored calls for separate voters in turn for voluntary representation and a commitment to eliminate infinity.
Gandhi also used fasting as penance, blaming himself for inciting Chauri Chaura and divisive communal politics from 1932 and 1947, especially Partition of India. Gandhi sought to purify his soul and atone for his sins, in what he saw as his role in letting a terrible tragedy happen. It weighed heavily on his physical health and often nearly killed him.
Religion
Shrimad Rajchandrji, a respected saint in Jainism is Gandhi's spiritual mentor. Gandhi quotes:
- "There is no religion in the World that has explained the principle of Ahi's so profoundly and systematically as it is discussed with its application in every human life in Jainism.As and when the good of principle < i> Ahi? or nonviolence will be deemed to be derived from practice by the people of the world to reach the end of their life in this world and so on, Jainism must have the ultimate status and Mahavira will certainly be honored as the greatest authority in < i> Ahi? . "
Gandhi describes his religious beliefs as rooted in Hinduism as well and, in particular, the Bhagavad Gita:
He acknowledges the Hindu Universalist philosophy (also sees Universalism), which maintains that all religions contain the truth and therefore deserve to be tolerated and respected. It was articulated by Gandhi:
- "After a long period of study and experience, I came to the conclusion that all religions are true all religions have errors in them: all religions are almost the same as me as my own Hinduism, just as all human religions should be equal to one as a close relative myself My own worship for other religions is the same as my own belief, therefore there is no thought about possible conversion. "
Gandhi believes that the core of every religion is truth (satya), nonviolence (ahimsa) and the Golden Rule.
Despite his belief in Hinduism, Gandhi is also critical of many Hindu social practices and seeks to reform religion.
- "So if I can not accept Christianity as either a perfect religion, or the greatest one, I am not convinced Hinduism to be so." Hinduism's defect seems real to me, if untouched it can be a part from Hinduism, it could be a rotten part or a void.I can not understand the raison d'etre of many sects and castes.What does it mean to say that the Veda is the inspired Word of God? If they are inspired, why not the Bible and the Koran "When my Christian friends tried to change me, so did my Muslim friends, Abdullah Sheth continued to encourage me to study Islam, and of course she always said something about her beauty." dd>
He then goes on to say:
- "As soon as we lose the moral ground, we cease to be religious, no religion surpasses morality, for example, can not be untrue, cruel or inconsistent and claim to have God by its side."
Gandhi criticized the hypocrisy in organized religion, not their basic principles.
Then in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:
- "Yes, I am a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, and a Jew."
Gandhi's religious views are reflected in the song that the group often sang:
- Vaishnav jan to call them Vishnava, those who understand the misery of others...
- Raghupati Raghava King Ram Call him Rama or Lord or God...
Nehru's India
Gandhi was assassinated in 1948, but his teachings and philosophy will play a major role in India's economic and social development and foreign relations over the next few decades.
Sarvodaya is a term that means 'universal rapture' or 'progress of all'. It was created by Gandhi in 1908 as the title for his translation of John Ruskin's Unto This Last . Later, nonviolent leader Vinoba Bhave used the term to refer to Gandhi's post-independence struggle to ensure that self-determination and equality reach the masses and oppressed. Sarvodaya workers associated with Vinoba, including Jaya Prakash Narayan and Dada Dharmadhikari, undertook various projects aimed at encouraging popular self-organization during the 1950s and 1960s. Many groups from this network continue to function locally in India today.
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is often regarded as Gandhi's successor, although he is not religious and often disagrees with Gandhi. He was, however, strongly influenced by Gandhi personally and politically, and used the prime minister to pursue ideological policies based on Gandhi's principles. In fact, on January 15, 1942, at the AICC trial, Gandhi publicly proclaimed Nehru as his successor.
Nehru's foreign policy was strong anti-colonialism and neutrality in the Cold War. Nehru supports independence movements in Tanzania and other African countries, as well as the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the anti-apartheid struggle of Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress in South Africa. Nehru refused to align himself with the United States or the Soviet Union, and helped find the Non-Aligned Movement.
Nehru also pushed through large legislation that provided legal rights and freedoms to Indian women, and forbade the toddlers and various forms of social discrimination, in the face of the strong opposition of the orthodox Hindus.
Not all of Nehru's policies are Gandhi. Nehru refused to condemn the USSR 1956-57 invasion of Hungary to quell the anti-communist popular uprising. Some of his economic policies were criticized for removing the right of ownership and freedom from the landowning farmers in Gujarat that Gandhi had fought in the early 1920s. India's economic policy under Nehru is very different from Gandhi with Nehru following a socialist model. Nehru also brought Goa and Hyderabad into the unity of India through a military invasion.
At this point it is important to note that Gandhi believed in a kind of socialism but very different from Nehru. In praising socialism, Gandhi once said, "... socialism is as pure as crystals, and therefore requires crystal-like ways of achieving it." In addition Gandhi is aware of the fact that Nehru's ideology is different from his own but does not object to it because he realizes that this is a well-thought-out point of view. He calls this distinction in emphasis, his whereabouts 'mean' while Nehru is over.
Nehru's greatest failure was often regarded as the 1962 Sino-Indian War, although his policy was said to have been inspired by Gandhi's pacifism. In this example, it led to the defeat of the Indian Army against a shocking Chinese invasion. Nehru has ignored the defense budget and banned the Armed Forces to get ready, which captures the soldiers on the impoverished northeast border of India due to lack of supply and assistance.
Freedom
Gandhi's deep commitment and disciplined belief in nonviolent civil disobedience as a way of opposing forms of oppression or injustice has inspired many of the next political figures, including Martin Luther King Jr. from the United States, Julius Nyerere from Tanzania, Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko South Africa, Lech Wa ?? sa Polish and Aung San Suu Kyi from Myanmar.
Gandhi's early life worked in South Africa between 1910 and 1915, for the improved rights of the Indian population living under South African white minority rule inspired later work of the African National Congress (ANC). From the 1950s, the ANC organized non-violent civil disobedience similar to that proposed by the Indian National Congress under Gandhi's inspiration between the 1920s and 1940s. The ANC activists challenged the police's harsh tactics to protest against the oppressive South African government. Many, notably Mandela, languished for decades in prison, while the outside world was divided in an attempt to wipe apartheid. Steve Biko, perhaps the most vocal obedient to nonviolent civil resistance, was allegedly murdered in 1977 by government agencies. When the first free and universal elections were held in South Africa in 1994, the ANC was elected and Mandela became president. Mandela made a special visit to India and Gandhi who was publicly respected as the one who inspired South Africa's black independence struggle. Gandhi statues have been erected in Natal, Pretoria and Johannesburg.
Martin Luther King Jr., a young Christian minister and leader of the Civil Rights Movement seeking African-American emancipation from racial segregation in South America, as well as from economic and social injustices and political disenfranchisement, traveled to India in 1962 to meet Jawaharlal Nehru. Both discuss Gandhi's teachings, and methodologies govern peaceful resistance. The graphic image of black protesters was hounded by police, beaten and abused, awakened admiration for the King and protesters across America and the world, and sparked the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Non-violent Solidarity Movement from Lech Wa ?? Poland overthrew the Soviet-backed communist government after two decades of resistance and a peaceful strike in 1989, accelerating the destruction of the Soviet Union.
Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar is under house arrest, and the National League for Democracy is pressed in their non-violent quest for democracy and freedom in the military-controlled Myanmar. This struggle was inaugurated when the military rejected the results of the 1991 democratic election and imposed military rule. He was released in November 2010, when free elections were held.
"Without the truth, nothing"
Mohandas Gandhi's early life was a series of personal struggles to decipher the truth about important issues in life and discover the true way of life. He admits in his autobiography to beat his wife when he was young, and enjoy the worldly pleasures of lust, jealousy and possession, not true love. He ate meat, smoked a cigarette, and almost visited a charlatan. Only after much personal upheaval and Gandhi's repeated failures developed his philosophy.
Gandhi does not like having sect followers, and does not want to be called the Mahatma , claiming that he is not a perfect human being.
In 1942, when he had condemned Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and the Japanese military, Gandhi carried out an offensive in civil resistance, called the Quit Indian Movement, which was even more dangerous and certain because of his direct appeal to Indian independence. Gandhi did not regard Britain as a defender of freedom because of their power in India. He does not feel the need to side with world power.
Gandhians
There are Muslim Gandhians, like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as "Frontier Gandhi"; under Gandhi's influence, he organized the Pathans of the Northwest Frontier in early 1919. Christian Gandhians included Horace Alexander and Martin Luther King. Gandhi's Jews include Gandhi's close associate Herman Kallenbach. Atheist Gandhians include Jawaharlal Nehru.
Gandhian idea promotion
Several journals have also been published to promote Gandhi's ideas. One of the most famous is Gandhi Marg , an English-language journal published since 1957 by the Gandhi Peace Foundation.
Harold Dwight Lasswell, a political scientist and communications theorist, defines propaganda as an eclectic attitude management by manipulating significant symbols. Based on this Propaganda definition, Gandhi used important symbols to encourage his ideals of free India from British rule.
The ideas represented in propaganda state that India is a country capable of achieving economic independence without Britain, a religion that transcends boundaries will make the country stronger, and that the most effective protest method is through passive resistance, including nonviolence and principle satyagraha. In his "Quit India" speech, Gandhi said "the proposal for the withdrawal of British rule is to allow India to play its part at the present critical point.This is not a happy position for a big country like India just helping with money and material gleaned from it The United Nations is at war We can not raise the spirit of sacrifice and true velor, as long as we are not free. "On his ideas for a united India he said:" Thousands of Mussalman have told me that if Hindu-Muslim questions must be resolved satisfactorily , it must be done in my life I should be flattered on this, but how can I agree? " for an unattractive proposal for my reasons? Hindu-Muslim Unity is nothing new. Millions of Hindus and Mussalman have searched for it. I consciously strive for the achievement of my childhood. While at school, I make a point to cultivate friendships with Muslim and Parsi students. I even believe at a young age that Hindus in India, if they want to live in peace and friendship with other communities, must diligently develop the virtues of neighbors. , I feel, if I do not make a special effort to cultivate friendship with Hindus, but I must be friends with at least some Mussalman. In India I also continued my business and left no missed business needs to achieve that unity. long-term aspirations for it th in making me offer my full cooperation to the Mussalman in the Khilafat movement. Muslims across the country accepted me as their true friend. "Gandhi's belief in the effectiveness of non-violent passive resistance has been cited as" the belief that nonviolence alone will lead people to do right in all circumstances. "
These ideas were symbolized by Gandhi through the use of important symbols, important supporters in the reception of propaganda, in his speeches and movements. On 3 November 1930, there was a speech given before Dandi March that might be one of Gandhi's last speeches, where the significant symbol of the parade itself shows a nonviolent struggle exclusively to empower an Indian independent. Beginning in Ahmedabad and ending in Dandi, Gujarat, the march saw Gandhi and his supporters directly disobey Rowlatt's Law which imposes heavy taxes and imposes a British monopoly on the salt market. The Khadi movement, part of a larger swadeshi movement, used a significant symbol of burning British fabric to manipulate attitudes toward boycotting British goods and rejecting Western culture and urging its return to ancient pre-colonial culture. Gandhi acquired a wheel and engaged his disciples by turning their own cloth called Khadi; this commitment to spinning hands is an essential element of Gandhi's philosophy and politics. On December 1, 1948, Gandhi dictated his speech on the last night of fasting. By using fasting as a significant form of symbolism, he justifies it as "a fast in which nonviolent freedom sometimes feels compelled to protest against the wrongs committed by society, and this is what he did when as an Ahimsa voter there was no other remedy left Such an opportunity came to me. "This fasting was done in line with his idea of ​​a unifying nation and community. Gandhi's fast only ends when he is satisfied with the reunion of the hearts of all communities that are brought without external pressure, but from a sense of responsibility that is awakened.
Criticism and controversy
The stiff Aimsa Gandhi implies pacifism, and thus a source of criticism from all political spectrum.
Partition concept
As a rule, Gandhi opposed the concept of division as opposed to his vision of religious unity. From an Indian partition to create Pakistan, he wrote in Harijan on October 6, 1946:
- [Request for Pakistan] as proposed by the Muslim League is un-Islamic and I do not hesitate to call it a sinner. Islam stands for the unity and brotherhood of mankind, not to disrupt the unity of the human family. Therefore, those who want to break India into a possible warring group are enemies just like India and Islam. They may cut me into pieces but they can not make me subscribe to something I think is wrong [...] we should not stop aspiring, apart from wild talks, to befriend all Muslims and hold them as fast as our prisoners of love.
However, like Homer Jack's account of Gandhi's long correspondence with Jinnah on Pakistani topics: "Although Gandhi personally opposed the separation of India, he proposed a [...] agreement that Congress and the Muslim League would work together to achieve independence below the interim administration, after which the issue of partition will be decided by plebiscites in districts that have a Muslim majority. "
This dual position on the partition partition of India opened Gandhi to the criticism of both Hindus and Muslims. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his contemporary companion condemned Gandhi for damaging Muslim political rights. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his allies condemned Gandhi, accused him of being politically attractive Muslims while turning a blind eye to their cruelty towards Hindus, and for allowing the establishment of Pakistan (despite publicly announcing that "before partitioning India, my body had to be cut into two parts ").
His refusal to protest the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru by the British occupation authorities is a source of intense censure and anger for many Indians. Economists, such as Jagdish Bhagwati, have criticized Gandhi's idea of ​​swadeshi.
From this critique, Gandhi stated, "There came a time when people listened to me because I showed them how to fight the British without weapons when they did not have weapons [...] but today I was told that my nonviolence does not exist the point is against the Hindu-Muslim riots and, therefore, people must arm themselves to defend themselves. "
See also
Further reading
- Swarup, Ram (1955). Gandhism and communism: Principles and techniques. New Delhi: J. Prakashan.
Note
- Gandhi today: report on Mahatma Gandhi's successor, by Mark Shepard. Published by Shepard Publications, 1987. ISBN: 0-938497-04-9. Quote
References
External links
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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