Gandhiji Unreconciled Part 1: The setup

A collective work of a six inquisitive Hindus trying to make sense of an exceptional leader of modern-day India.

“The audience was visibly and audibly moved. There was a deep silence when he ceased speaking. Many women were in tears and men were coughing and searching for their handkerchiefs. (…) I have, however, no doubt that had the audience of that day been constituted into a jury and entrusted with the task of deciding Godse’s appeal, they would have brought a verdict of ‘not guilty’ by an overwhelming majority.”
— G.D. Khosla, Chief Justice of Punjab, who heard the appeal of Nathuram Godse

“I fully and confidently believe that if there be any other court of justice beyond the one founded by the mortals, my act will not be taken as unjust.” — Nathuram Godse, Statement #136, ‘May It Please Your Honour’.

For the remainder of the blog, I refer to Gandhiji as MKG (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) for the sake of brevity.

I will begin with a list of a few uncomfortable questions that have remained unreconciled in my mind.

• The non-cooperation movement was called off by MKG owning to a violent incident in Chauri-Chaura. Why was not the support for the Khilafat movement called off after the Mappila riots? Was the inclusion of Muslims more important than his principle of Ahimsa? If yes, on what grounds was Ahimsa (his version) deemed more important than the Non-cooperation movement?
• MKG had resigned from the Indian National Congress in 1934 citing the need to focus on Harijan-welfare. Why did he return to INC in 1936 given untouchability was still in practice? Why did an inactive politician feel the need to push for Dr. Pittabhi Sitaramayya against Subhash Chandra Bose during the elections in 1939? Was that a pseudo-retirement from politics?
• What possible breakthrough was to be achieved by experimenting to sleep naked with young girls in the backdrop of ghastly Noakhali riots? What sort of abstinence does one have to check in their seventies? How does this peculiar behave reflect on a leader of extraordinary stature?

There are several more questions but I will stop here since it should be straightforward to get the drift.

The inability to reconcile complex matters bothers me. I have always have debated about MKG with my friends, sometimes in a heated manner. MKG remains unreconciled in my mind. Thus, I decided on a change in the plan of action for this blog. Following the trend in current pandemic-time, I got a bunch of well-read friends on a group video-chat to discuss several aspects of MKG’s life — the good, bad, and the ugly. The consensus was to understand the genius of MKG and discrepancies in point of view, beliefs, and actions from different perspectives.

Before moving ahead, let me briefly introduce the remaining gang, in alphabetical order: 1) Ajay Vangapaty (Oregon), 2) Ashutosh Ghavi (Oregon), 3) Kiran Muthal (New Jersey), 4) Pavan Savoy (Texas), and 5) Vikas Deshpande (Massachusetts). The following piece is a collective work of all mentioned above. None of us claim to be experts, nonetheless, deeply inquisitive. Our honest attempt has three objectives: i) provide objective analysis, ii) present the subjective part, i.e. our opinions as thought-provoking questions, and iii) refine our outlook and viewpoints in this process.

Due to the vastness of the subject, this blog will be a series of few write-ups. In the next part, we will analyze MKG as a mass leader. MKG had a solid grasp of the needs, wants, and aspirations of the society. He motivated the masses of India to contribute actively in the freedom struggle through lucid yet effective ways such as conscious fasting and spinning the charkha. Therein lies his true genius.

Link to Part 2.
Bharat Mata Ki Jai.