Mahatma Gandhi- The greatest Hindu leader of the 20th century

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Was Gandhi one of the greatest Hindus ever? Did he serve the Hindu cause in many ways than one? If yes, then why do we demonize him? To me, Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest Hindus ever born. 

Gandhi is one of the greatest Hindus ever born. Image credits- www.indiatoday.in


I have been on Twitter for more than 10 years and have watched Mahatma Gandhi being trolled every passing day for various reasons. Some people attack Gandhi because they believe that he was responsible for the partition of Bharat while others believe that he was too sympathetic to the Muslims. Many people also feel that his sexual experiments with his niece and other women were obnoxious. Gandhi's treatment of Netaji Subhash Bose, Bhagat Singh, and other freedom fighters has also angered many Hindutva fanboys. 

In this article, I will focus on just one aspect of Gandhi and that is about the Hindu cause. 

Ram Rajya, BJP and Mahatma Gandhi


Do you remember that in the late 1980s, when the BJP was struggling as a political force, this party came up with 'Ram Rajya'? According to the party, the concept of 'Ram Rajya' represented a state which guaranteed justice to everyone in Rama's kingdom. There was no politics of appeasement, and definitely, everyone had the same opportunity to grow and prosper. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi. Image courtesy- NDTV.com


Basically, the Bhartiya Janata Party was trying to prove itself as a Hindu party by invoking the name of Rama. It was promising to the voters that if the BJP came to power, it would implement Ram Rajya. 

Obviously, the Muslims and the secular brigade had a problem with this term 'Ram Rajya'. These people thought by talking about this utopian thought, the BJP  was communalising the country. By taking about Ram Rajya, the critics said, the BJP was going against the constitution. But we all know what these two words did to the BJP, don't we? The party came to power at the center in 1999, and yet again in 2014 and lately in 2019. 

But why am I connecting Ram Rajya and BJP? 

Because, this term was used so many times by, hold your horses, Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle!

Gandhi believed that India needed not just political freedom but moral transformation as well. For him, the concept of Ram Rajya was an effective tool for that moral change. He called upon his co-religionists i.e. the Hindus to copy Lord Ram in their daily lives before they could even yearn for independence. So as you can see, it was Mahatma Gandhi who made Lord Ram and His models the mainstay of Indian political thought and this makes him as one of the tallest Hindu leaders. 

Reconnecting with Harijans


But Gandhi did not restrict himself to models and shibboleths. He practiced what he preached. For him, any change had to be initiated by the individual himself. One can't depend upon the government for the desired change. 

For Gandhi, Ram Rajya also meant controlling one's senses, desires and practicing cleanliness. And what did he do to make Ram Rajya a possibility?

First, he insisted that everybody in his ashram cleaned his or her toilet on his own. You had to use your own hands to clean your latrines. This was the cardinal rule for all the members in his community. There were no exceptions to this rule. Even Kasturba, Gandhi's wife, had to clean her toilets. Initially, she revolted but later had to obey Gandhi's wishes. 

Gandhi thought that this rule was essential for removing the scourge of untouchability and social exclusion. At that time ( 1930s-1947), it was the lower castes who were mainly responsible for cleaning up toilets. People from this community were expected to come to the houses of the upper castes once a week, and clean their toilets. This was a despicable practice and kept these unfortunate men and women from climbing up the social ladder. Gandhi wanted to break this practice and bring the lower caste community to the mainstream. Without the active participation of the Harijans, any independence movement in India was a sham, Gandhi felt. Harijans were an important part of the Hindu community, according to Gandhi.

Communal Award and the Poona Pact 


In the 1930s, the British came forward with a diabolical plan. It was so much devilish that only a person of the moral force of Gandhi could foil it. Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about the Poona Pact. 

In August 1932, the British government decided to give a separate voting status to the scheduled castes or Harijans. The government believed that this group was not a part of the Hindu religion and it needed to be represented separately in various legislatures. This was a very wicked thought as it aimed to divide the Hindus almost vertically. This Communal Award was almost similar in thought to the Partition of Bengal on religious lines and was aimed at not just weakening the Hindus but also our freedom struggle. 

Gandhi saw through this British trick and started his fast unto death while he was in a Pune jail. He was adamant that the British withdraw this anti-Hindu Communal Award. Until the British stopped in their tracks, he would continue with his fast which would end only with Gandhi's death. 

Did Gandhi succeed in his endeavor? Did the British withdraw their vile Communal Award bill? Did the Hindus stay united? 

Yes. 

Ultimately, the British and a few leaders like Babasaheb Ambedkar had to backtrack their steps and this is how our Hindu dharma was saved. We all must thank Gandhi for this. But for him, we could have become a minority and our Bharat might have been split in not one but three nations. 

To sum up, it is very easy to abuse Gandhi on Twitter and Facebook for being anti-Hindu, but we must also read up a little bit of history. In my opinion, Gandhi remains as one of the tallest leaders of Hindu dharma. 

References:

3. Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Ram Rajya - https://www.jstor.org/stable/4398252
4. Mahatma Gandhi- An Indian model of Servant Leadership -http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan050932.pdf

5. Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Poona Pact- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00856408508723068























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