The relevance of Gandhi in Modern Politics
It’s been nearly 74 years since his death, but Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi remains the most prominent political figure in Indian History, with his ideas and ideologies cutting across the boundaries of politics, ideologies, culture, region, and religion. Gandhi is primarily viewed as the leader of the Indian National movement against the British, but his contributions are much larger than that. His ideas to fight against inequality, injustice, and historical wrongdoings continue to inspire millions in India and across the world.
We are currently living in a world which suffers from the immaturity of politics and politicians. From Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar to large democracies like the USA, India, and Spain, we see much political turmoil, with injustice towards particular communities, be it racial, regional or religious. The world currently needs the Gandhian way of politics, a politics that not only functions on the ideals of honesty and simplicity but also a politics that moves forward ethically.
Gandhi was a practitioner of empathetic humanism and pluralist thinking and believed in the process of listening and learning. He believed in the philosophy of patience in understanding other religions and cultures and had a very ethical view of religions. He always professed a balance between religious views and modern rationality.
Gandhi’s concern for the individual’s self-respect led him to profess the philosophy of “Swaraj”. Swaraj means the right to self-governance for all individuals irrespective of their religion, culture, or race. He focussed on constant experimentation through cross-cultural and inter-faith understanding and dialogue. Gandhi wanted a politics that could constructively engage with conflicting values in a practical and empathetic way.
Gandhi said, “I am but a seeker after Truth. I claim to have found a way to it. I claim to be making a ceaseless effort to find it. But I admit that I have not yet found it. To find Truth completely is to realize oneself and one’s destiny, i.e., to become perfect. I am painfully conscious of my imperfections, and therein lies all the strength I possess because it is a rare thing for a man to know his own limitations.” Gandhi wanted people to learn to be responsible to themselves and towards others. This is an excellent lesson for the political class so that they can build a character where they have autonomy and authority over one’s self.
This way, he aimed for mature politics based on character building and not a struggle to get elected or grasp power. According to Gandhi, self-respect and self-restraint were the two essential principles that can lead us towards a politics of morality. Such a politics can then be called a politics of maturity, which values the true ideals of democracy. However, we observe that these ideas have been lost in present-day politics.
Gandhi said that in the presence of egotism, there would be arrogance and incivility in the functioning of the ruling class. However, there will be a culture of friendship and civility in the absence of egotism, where the ruling class values an individual’s self-respect.
We observe the current political situation across the world and notice the apathetic behavior of the ruling class over the ruled. Gandhi’s ideas of appeal to the self to bring the sense of morality to oneself are the way towards a moral and mature politics. Such politics can help us achieve the goal of Swaraj or self-governance. Hence we can say that Gandhi may be old, but his ideas are our way towards a brighter political future.
