@UPSC_THOUGHTS

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 Editor’s Note
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
India’s struggle for freedom from an alien rule went
hand-in hand with a cultural renaissance and an
attempt to liberate minds from the shackles of orthodoxy
and rigid tradition. The struggle on the political front
was hard enough but the challenge of bringing about
change on the socio-economic level was a much
greater one. Several great men and women of India
have contributed immensely in ideas as well as action
to create a free and modern India. Among these greats,
Contents
Biographical Sketch 1
Thoughts and Ideas 11
Ends and Means (12); Satyagraha (13); Non-Violence
(19); Morality (23); Religion (25); Swaraj (32);
Democracy (34); Swadeshi (36); State, Society and
Sarvodaya (38); On Civilisation (45); Communal Issue
(52); Concept of Economic Order (58); Trusteeship
(60); Non-Possession (65); Spirit of Humanity (67);
Self-discipline (71); On Education (73); New Social
Order (76); Status of Women (77); Untouchability
(79); Prohibition (82); International Peace (83); Gandhi

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore have an importance that
is conceded even by their most bitter critics. Their
ideas may be controversial, not unanimously accepted,
but they were striking enough to provoke a response
and the Indian National Congress (86); Gandhi and
the Indian Constitution (89); Gandhi and Subhas
Chandra Bose (94); Gandhi and Nehru (97)
Relevance of Gandhi Today
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
106

Biographical Sketch 126

from others and have an impact on the masses. In Ideas and Achievements 133
this book an attempt has been made to put together Humanism (133); A Man of Letters (134); Views on
Culture (136); On Science (138); Nationalism (142);
the life, thoughts and achievements of the three Communalism and Secularism (143); Socialism (147);
illustrious personalities. Besides, brief sketches of other On Planning (149); Freedom of Press (151); Statesman
eminent personalities have been included—admittedly and Idealist (153); International Outlook (155); Non-
Alignment (158); Panchsheel (160)
far from being exhaustive. We have enlarged the Nehru’s Thoughts: Their Relevance to the Present 162
gallery of personalities in this edition. RABINDRANATH TAGORE
The ideas and achievements of these leaders are Biographical Sketch 172
Thoughts and Ideas 174
not to be found in any single source. Many a book Patriotism (174); Ideals of Education (176); On Politics
and encyclopaedia have had to be consulted for the and British Rule (180); Philosophy of History (183);
research. We hope the book is of interest to our Spiritual Humanism (184); As Poet (185); As Painter
(186);Music (187) Tagore and Gandhi (188)
readers. Any suggestion for improvement is welcome. Tagore’s Ideas and Views: Their Significance in Present
Times 191
EMINENT PERSONALITIES ASSOCIATED
WITH MODERN INDIA
Abanindranath Tagore 197
Acharya Narendra Dev 198

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Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray 198 Gaganendranath Tagore 226
Achyut S. Patwardhan 198 Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi 226
Ajit Singh 199 Ganesh Vasudeo Mavalankar 226
A.K.Fazlul Haq 199 Gopabandhu Das 227
Allan Octavian Hume 199 Gopal Ganesh Agarkar 227
Alluri Sitaramaraju 200 Gopal Hari Deshmukh ‘Lokahitawadi’ 228
Amir Chand 200 Gopal Krishna Gokhale 228
Amritlal Vithalal Thakkar (Thakkar Bappa) 201 Govind Ballabh Pant 229
Ananda Mohan Bose 201 Hakim Ajmal Khan 230
Annie Besant 202 Har Bilas Sarda 231
Aruna Asaf Ali 203 Henry Louis Vivian Derozio 231
Asaf Ali 204 Indulal Yajnik 231
Asutosh Chaudhuri 205 Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar 232
Asutosh Mukhopadhyay 205 Jadunath Sarkar 233
Badruddin Tyabji 205 Jadonang 233
Baliram Keshavrao Hedgewar 206 Jamnalal Bajaj 234
Balwant Wasudev Phadke 207 Jayaprakash Narayan 234
Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay 207 Jatindranath Das 235
Barindrakumar Ghosh
Begum Safia Abdul Wajid
Behramji M. Malabari
Bhagat Singh
Bhai Balmukund
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208
209
209
210
Jatindranath Mukherji
Jitendra Mohan Sengupta
Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee
Jyotiba Phule
Jyotirmoyee Ganguli
235
236
236
236
237
Bhai Parmanand 210 Kailash Nath Katju 237
B.R. Ambedkar 210 Kalpana Dutt 238
Bhulabhai Desai 212 Kanahiyalal Manaklal Munshi 238
Bipin Chandra Pal 212 Kandukuri Viresalingam 238
Bir Singh 214 Kasturba Gandhi 239
Chakravarthi Vijiaraghavachariar 214 Keshub Chandra Sen 239
Champakaraman Pillai 214 Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan 241
Chapekar Brothers 215 Khudiram Bose 242
Chandra Shekhar Azad 215 Lakshminath Bezbarua 243
Charles Freer Andrews 216 Lala Hardyal 243
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari 217 Lala Lajpat Rai 244
Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai 218 Liaquat Ali Khan 245
C.R. Das 218 Lokmanya Tilak 245
C.Y. Chintamani 221 M.A. Ansari 247
Dadabhai Naoroji 221 Madam Bhikaji Cama 247
David Hare 222 Madan Lal Dhingra 247
Dayananda Saraswati 222 Madan Mohan Malaviya 248
Dhondo Keshav Karve 224 Madeleine Slade (Mira Behn) 248
Dinabandhu Mitra 224 Madhao Srihari Aney 249
Durgabai Deshmukh 225 Mahadev Govind Ranade 249
E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker 226 Mahadev Desai 250

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Manabendra Nath Roy 250 Sachchidananda Sinha 272
Manindranath Banerji 251 Sachindranath Sanyal 272
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad 251 S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar 272
Margaret Elizabeth Noble (Sister Nivedita) 252 Saifuddin Kitchlew 272
Matangini Hajra 252 S. Subramaniya Iyer 273
Maulana Mohammad Ali 253 Sarojini Naidu 273
Mohammad Ali Jinnah 253 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 274
Mohanlal Ghose 255 Satya Pal 275
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya 255 Satyendranath Basu 275
M. Venkatakrishnaiah 256 Shivram Rajguru 275
Motilal Nehru 256 Shyama Prasad Mukherjee 276
Muhammad Iqbal 256 Sohan Lal Pathak 276
Mukund Ramarao Jayakar 257 Sohan Singh Bhakna 276
Naba Gopal Mitra 257 Sri Aurobindo Ghose 277
Nalini Sengupta 257 Sri Narayana Guru 279
Nanibala Devi 258 Subba Rao Pantulu 280
Narayan Malhar Joshi 258 S. Satyamurti 280
Narsimha Chintamani Kelkar 259 Subhash Chandra Bose 280
N. Gopalaswami Ayangar
Nilakantha Das
N. Kumaran Asan
P. Ananda Charlu
Pattabhi Sitaramayya
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259
260
260
261
Subramania Bharati
S. Srinivasa Iyengar
Surendranath Bannerjea
Surya Sen
Swami Saraswati Sahajanand
281
282
283
283
284
Pandita Ramabai 261 Swami Shraddhanand 285
Pherozeshah Mehta 261 Swami Vivekananda 286
Pratap Singh Kairon 262 Syed Ahmed Khan 287
Preetilata Waddedar 262 Tanguturi Prakasam 287
Purushottamdas Tandon 263 Tej Bahadur Sapru 288
Raja Rammohan Roy 263 T.K. Madhavan 291
Raja Mahendra Pratap 265 Udham Singh 291
Rajendra Nath Lahiri 266 Upendranath Brahmachari 291
Ramakrishna Paramhansa 266 Vallathol Narayana Menon 292
Ramana Maharshi 266 Verrier Elwin 293
Rama Tirtha 267 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 293
Rajendra Prasad 267 Vinayak Narahari Bhave (Acharya Vinoba Bhave) 294
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur 267 Vallabhbhai Patel 294
Ram Manohar Lohia 268 Vithalbhai Patel 296
Ram Prasad Bismil 268 V.O. Chidambaram Pillai 296
Rao Bahadur Sabapathy Mudeliar 269 William Jones 297
Ram Chandra Bharadwaj 269 Walchand Hirachand 297
Rani Gaidinliu 270 Woomesh Chandra Bonnerjee 297
Rashbehari Bose 270 Dr. Zakir Hussain 298
Rehana Tyabjee 270 READING LIST 301
Romesh Chander Dutt 271

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MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
1869-1948
Biographical Sketch
Mohandas Karatnchand Gandhi was born at Porbandar, a
small coastal town in Kathiawar, Gujarat, on October 2,
1869. He was the fourth and last child of his father’s fourth
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and last marriage. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, called
Kaba, was diwan for twenty-eight years in the states of
Rajkot, Porbandar and Wankaner and earned a name for his
uprightness. Putlibai, Gandhi’s mother, was good natured,
patient, and almost saintly, but also steeped in orthodoxy.
EDUCATION Gandhi was sent to school at the age of
seven. He married Kasturba at the age of 12. Gandhi passed
his matriculation examination in 1888 and was sent to
Bhavnagar for higher studies but could not adjust there. It
was at this time that Mavji Dave, a family friend, suggested
that Gandhi be sent to England.
Gandhi sailed for England from Bombay on September
4, 1888 to become a barrister. Initially, he was so anxious
to appear like an English gentleman, that he tried for three
months to learn dancing, French and elocution. However
he was unsuccessful. Thereafter he concentrated on his
study, led a simple life, and even did his own cooking.
After the initial lapse, he observed scrupulously the triple
vow he had given his mother to abstain from wine, women
and meat. He became a member of a Vegetarian Society and
made friends with Theosophists and was introduced to
Madame Blavatsky and Mrs. Annie Besant. He got access
1
2 Gandhi
to Indian philosophical and religious books, which he read
avidly. He read the Bible and found the New Testament
more interesting than the old and Christ’s Sermon on the
Mount went straight to his heart. He read with deep interest
the Song Celestial and Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold. He
came to look upon the Bhagavad Gita as his spiritual
dictionary. After his contact with men of different faiths
and studying various religious books, Gandhi said that he
had crossed the ‘Sahara of Atheism’. He sailed back to India
in 1891.
SOUTH AFRICA As soon as he disembarked at
Bombay, he heard about his mother’s death which had taken
place sometime earlier, though the news had been withheld
from him lest his studies be upset, for he had been greatly
attached to his mother. The loss of his father six years
earlier had been a great shock, but this bereavement was
even more painful. Gandhi found it difficult to practise at
the bar as he had learnt nothing of Indian law. Just at that
time a businessman of Porbandar wrote to his brother,
proposing that Gandhi be engaged in a civil suit relating
to their business in South Africa. He was then not twenty-
four. He initially went to South Africa for one year but
stayed on with a few breaks for about 21 years (1893-1914).
The National Indian Congress was launched on May 22,
1894, with Gandhi as the secretary. He started for India
towards the middle of 1896 for a stay of six months after
which he took his wife and two sons with him when he
went back. In the Boer War, though Gandhi’s real sympathy
was with the Boers, he decided to lend support to the British
as a citizen of the British Empire.
Gandhi returned to India in 1901. A few days after
his return, he took part in the Calcutta Congress session.
His resolution on South Africa was rushed through and
passed unanimously without the least notice being taken
by anyone, which pained Gandhi. He soon left on a tour
visiting Rangoon, Banaras, Agra, Jaipur, Palanput traveling
third class en route to Rajkot. Towards the end of 1902 he
 Gandhi
again had to sail for South Africa. Now he stayed on in
South Africa for twelve years although at the time of leaving
India, he had thought that he would have to stay for only
as many months. In South Africa, Gandhi first tried out
satyagraha methods to fight against the racialism prevalent
there. It was also in South Africa that he experimented with
the idea of community living at the Phoenix Farm. Later,
in 1910 he established Tolstoy Farm in Transvaal. The
inhabitants were vegetarians and put in manual work. While
none of the struggles achieved the results aimed at, Gandhi
certainly gained valuable experience.
BACK IN INDIA On January 9, 1915 Gandhi and
Kasturba reached Bombay. A public reception presided over
by Pherozeshah Mehta and attended by distinguished
people of all sections was held in his honour. In 1915, he
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founded the Satyagraha Ashram in a rented house at
Kochrab in the vicinity of Ahmedabad, on the lines of
Phoenix and Tolstoy Farms. The Ashram was subsequently
removed to it own premises on the banks of River Sabarmati.
He lived there for 16 years. Some of the most active leaders
of the freedom movement began their political training in
this Ashram.
On coming back to India, he sought contact with
Gopal Krishan Gokhale, whose way of thinking was nearest
to his own. He travelled all over the country to understand
the real state of things. Political activities were then at their
lowest ebb, and when Gandhi entered politics, after having
initially busied himself with social problems, he did so on
his own initiative and not on behalf of the Indian National
Congress.
THE FIRST SATYAGRAHAS At the Lucknow Congress
(in 1916), a peasant from Bihar, Raj Kumar Shukla requested
Gandhi to visit Champaran in North Bihar where share-
croppers cultivating indigo were having trouble with the
British planters. The Champaran Satyagraha affected twenty
lakh kisans. The struggle centred round Tinkathia, which
was a century-old grievance. It was a system by which the
3 4 Gandhi
landlords forced their tenants to till one-third of their land
for indigo, though other crops would have fetched the share-
croppers more profit. Significantly enough, Gandhi declared
that he did not look upon the planters as enemies. He was
able to get the Government to appoint a commission to look
into the peasants’ grievances. Gandhi, too, was a member
of this commission. Though evidence clearly pointed to
extremely oppressive and corrupt behaviour on the part of
the planters over a long period of time, Gandhi won over
the planters by declaring that he was not concerned with
the past and would be content if the oppression stopped.
Nor did he insist on heavy reparation; he asked that the
peasants be refunded twenty-five per cent of the amount
exacted from them as a guarantee that no further exactions
would be made. A compromise, but one that met with the
satisfaction of both sides; more importantly, the peasants
were released from the tyranny of the fear invoked in them
by the planters. Gandhi soon took up the question of mill
hands of Ahmedabad, whose wages were low. He was
supported in the tussle for a better deal for workers by
Anusuyabai against her own millionnaire brother who led
the fray on behalf of the mill-owners. Gandhi organised a
strike, and undertook a fast to unite the workers. Ultimately,
the mill-owners were persuaded to agree to arbitration and
the decision was favourable to the workers.
Then Gandhi went to Kheda, where the poor peasants
already burdened with heavy assessments had to face
famine owing to the failure of crops. He initiated a no-
revenue campaign and hopes of a better future ran high.
The Government was forced to declare that the land revenue
may be paid only by those peasants who were capable of
paying it. Once again, satyagraha helped to free the peas-
antry from an inactivating fear of authority.
NON-COOPERATION In the First World War Britain got
the support of the people and Gandhi genuinely believed
that self-government would be granted to India once the
war was over. What happened, instead, was the introduction
 Gandhi
of the Rowlatt Bill in 1919 imposing severe restrictions on
the people. Tension ran high and things came to a tragic
head with the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre. The Hunter
Committee report on the events did nothing to assuage
feelings, as there was no expression of regret about the
ghastly incident. At about the same time the issue of the
Khilafat also came up. Gandhi saw in it the opportunity
of bringing the Hindus and Muslims together in a large-
scale non-cooperation movement force the British to give
India its independence.
In April, 1920 he declared in Bombay that if the
Rowlatt Acts were not repealed, remaining with the empire
would be impossible. For the first time, lie contemplated,
though only as a warning, the ideas of a complete break
with Britain. A few weeks later, on August 1, Gandhi wrote
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to the Viceroy: “I could retain neither respect nor affection
for the Imperial Government which have been moving from
wrong to wrong in order to defend their immorality.” With
this letter he started the campaign of non-cooperation with
the Government, a signal long awaited which, however,
none of the other leading personalities dared to give. On
the same day Tilak, then the most respected leader of the
national movement, died. The Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford
characterised the non-cooperation movement in August
1920 as “the most foolish of all foolish schemes”. Gandhi
was looked upon as a harmless eccentric. But as the
movement gained momentum, the Government’s violence
could not crush Gandhi’s non-violence.
Gandhi’s idea of non-cooperation had an instanta-
neous, mighty appeal because it was so simple. He had
promised at the Nagpur Congress Session in December 1920,
that if India non-cooperated non-violently, self-government
would come within twelve months. Gandhi carried this
message to the nation. He made non-cooperation so personal
as to give each individual the impression that unless he
non-cooperated he would delay Swaraj. Gandhi himself
returned to the Viceroy his two South African war medals
5 6 Gandhi
and his Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal for humanitarian work in
South Africa.
In January, 1922 the Bardoli Satyagraha and construc-
tive programme were formulated. After giving a week’s
notice to Lord Reading of mass civil disobedience if the
Government’s policy of repression was not changed, Gandhi
started civil disobedience campaign in Bardoli on 1 Feb-
ruary, 1922.
Then came the 5th of February 1922. In Chauri
Chaura, a small place in the United Province, a demonstra-
tion passed a police station. A few people straggling behind
were abused by the police. They defended themselves. The
police began firing, thereupon the crowd of protesters
returned and the police after exhausting their ammunition
locked themselves up in the police station, which was set
afire by the enraged demonstrators. 22 policemen were
burnt alive. The entire movement seemed to turn violent.
In order to prevent that, Gandhi called off the movement
and thereby caused disappointment in the masses as well
as to the Congress leaders. But Gandhi considered launching
the non-cooperation movement without preparing the masses,
a “Himalayan blunder”. The CWC met at Bardoli in Gujarat
on February 12 and at Gandhi’s behest passed a resolution
stopping all non-cooperation activities. Gandhi urged con-
gressmen to donate their time to the constructive programme.
He was arrested on March 10, 1922 and the British charged
him with sedition. Gandhi declared that “non-cooperation
with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good”.
The same sentence which was passed on Tilak in 1908 was
passed on Gandhi, imprisoning him for six years.
In September 1924, Gandhi undertook a 21 days’ fast
at Delhi in Maulana Muhammad Ali’s house to do penance
for the inhumanity revealed in the communal clashes.
CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAMME Gandhi now emphasised
on the constructive programme he had formulated which
included spinning and weaving khadi, prohibition, working
for eradication of untouchability and uniting the Hindus
 Gandhi
and Muslims. He undertook a tour of India to make these
ideas popular. The socio-economic programme was more
important at this time for Gandhi, for he felt that the masses
needed as much as freedom on a political plane. In 1928
when the Simon Commission came, it was boycotted. At
Bardoli a no-tax campaign under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
got Gandhi’s support. In 1929, the Congress factions drew
up a resolution declaring that complete independence
would be demanded if dominion status were not granted
by the end of the year. Gandhi once again entered the
political arena, though he declined to become President of
the Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru, instead, got the office. And
at the Lahore Congress session, ‘purna swaraj’ became the
demand.
SALT SATYAGRAHA The tri-colour was hoisted on
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January 26, 1930 to signify the independence demand.
Gandhi, however, did not launch a satyagraha movement
immediately: true to his principles, he tried other avenues
first. He put forward his ‘eleven points’ for the Govern-
ment’s acceptance failing which civil disobedience was to
be launched. Among the eleven points were total prohi-
bition, reduction in land revenue, cuts in army expenses
and salaries of civil servants, changes in the Arms Act,
protection of textiles, reservation of coastal shipping for
Indians, lowering of the rupee-sterling rate, and abolition
of the salt tax. It was the last item that strongly appealed
to Gandhi as a cause on which to pin the civil disobedience
movement, for the tax was, to him, “the most inhuman poll
tax that ingenuity of man can devise”.
On March 12, 1930 with 79 co-workers from the
Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi started on foot for Dandi on the
Arabian sea coast. This was the historic Dandi March, the
beginning of the Civil Disobedience Movement. There, on
April 6, he broke the Salt Law by making salt from sea
water. Afterwards he decided to take possession of the salt
warehouse at Dharsana but was arrested on the night of May
5. After Gandhi’s arrest, the Dharsana agitation was carried
7 8 Gandhi
on in a perfectly non-violent manner with Sarojini Naidu
stepping in as leader. It was realised by the Government
that brutal repression alone would not serve to suppress
the determined masses whose non-violent strength, indeed,
amazed many an onlooker. In January, 1931 Gandhi was
released. Lord Irwin and Gandhi negotiated a settlement,
popularly known as the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Accordingly,
Gandhi suspended the Civil Disobedience Movement and
agreed to take part in the Second Round Table Conference.
Gandhi prevailed upon the Karachi session of the INC to
ratify the pact. He sailed to London in September 1931 to
attend the Second Round Table Conference as representative
of the Congress and came back disappointed only to resume
the movement. Gandhi was arrested and kept in the
Yeravada prison.
FASTING FOR A CAUSE On August 17, 1932, the
British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald published his
Communal Award, providing for separate electorates for the
scheduled castes. Protesting against this Gandhi started a
fast unto death on September 20. However, as a result of
the united efforts of several leaders, the Yeravada (or Poona)
Pact was signed on the fifth day of the fast. The depressed
classes were to get reserved seats instead of separate
electorate. Gandhi broke his fast on September 26. On May
8, 1933, Gandhi declared his intention to go on a fast again
for twenty-one days—this time not as a protest against
Government but as a process of purification that would fit
him and his followers better for serving the scheduled
castes. As soon as he started the fast, the Government
released him.
WITHDRAWAL AGAIN When the civil disobedience
movement was officially withdrawn in May 1934, Gandhi
once again withdrew from active politics. He had started
the weekly Harijan in 1933, and campaigned vigorously
through it as well as Young India against social discrim-
ination. From 1934 to 194o Gandhi threw himself heart and
soul into the work of village uplift or what may be called
 Gandhi 9 10
his programme of constructive work, with the ultimate aim
of making the nation strong enough for the attainment of
Swaraj. He gave the Sabarmati Ashram to a group of
‘Harijans’ in 1934 and established headquarters at Wardha
and later, in 1936, he settled in a nearby village, Segaon,
given to him by Jamnalal Bajaj. He named it Sevagram. In
1934, he had resigned from the Congress, somewhat dis-
turbed at the disillusionment expressed by his followers
about the efficacy of non-cooperation and the charkha as
weapons in the struggle for freedom. So he devoted his time
to social work. During February and March 1939, Gandhi
got entangled in the fight for constitutional reforms in
Rajkot.
‘DO OR DIE’ In 1939 the Second World War broke
out. In the meanwhile the Congress had, reluctantly,
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decided to contest elections in the provinces according to
the Government of India Act 1935. Congress ministries were
formed and later resigned on the question of declaring India
as a party to the war. Gandhi did not want to jeopardise
the war effort of the Allies with a mass civil disobedience
movement at this juncture, but he was disappointed at the
Government’s lack of response on the issue of self-govern-
ment. Protest took the form of satyagraha by individuals
and then by small groups. The Government remained
unmoved. But all was not well on the battlefront for Britain.
The Cripps mission was sent with draft proposals to be
implemented after the war. It left everyone dissatisfied. The
danger from Japan was near and Gandhi felt that India
should be left to its fate —even if it led to anarchy—and
Britain should get out.
On 8 August, 1942 the AICC met at Bombay and
passed the Quit India Resolution and proposed the starting
of a massive non-violent struggle under Gandhi’s leadership.
Gandhi declared, “We shall either free India or die in the
attempt; we shall not live to see the perpetuation of our
slavery”. Immediately Gandhi along with other Congress
leaders was arrested. Protest and violence erupted.
Gandhi
On February 22, 1944, Kasturba passed away at the
Agra Khan Palace. Gandhi and Kasturba had a married life
of sixty two years. “We were a couple outside the ordinary,”
Gandhi wrote feelingly in reply to a condolence from Lord
Wavell. In this period of imprisonment Gandhi lost another
trusted and loved companion, his secretary, Mahadev Desai.
On May 6, 1944, Gandhi and his associates were
released. Altogether Gandhi spent 2089 days in Indian
prisons and 249 days in South African prisons.
FREEDOM: NOT UNALLOYED WITH BITTERNESS
Gandhi did not enter active politics after his release from
prison. But he expressed his staunch opposition to the
proposal of partitioning the country along religious lines.
To this end he had held talks with Jinnah who held on
obstinately to the demand for Pakistan before he would give
support to any independence move. The talks had ended
in failure. The Cabinet Mission and its failure, the Muslim
League’s Direct Action atrocities, the destruction of life and
property disillusioned Gandhi to the core. He toured the
affected regions to try and comfort the victims of mindless
riots and violence.
In October 1946, communal riots broke out in Noakhali.
Tension grew in several parts of the country and Hindu-
Muslim disturbances rose to a pitch unprecedented in their
brutality. Gandhi toured the worst-affected areas from
November 7, 1946 to March 2, 1947 and stayed in forty-
nine villages undergoing hardships and dangers to his life
from religious fanatics. Gandhi who was nearing 78 years
resorted to a fast unto death on 2 October to save Calcutta
from the fury of the communal riots. He was finally
persuaded to break his fast after three days when leaders
of different communities pleaded and gave a combined
assurance in writing that there would be no more riots in
Calcutta. He spent August 15, 1947—Independence Day—
fasting and spinning. The partition and the bloodbath that
accompanied it left Gandhi a disillusioned man.
THE END Gandhi began his last fast on January 14,
 Gandhi 11
1948 to death, if need be, for communal peace. He declared
that his fast unto death was directed to the conscience of
all Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan. One hundred
men of all communities including Babu Rajendra Prasad
gave a pledge on January 18 to protect the life, property
and faith of the Muslims. On January 20, Madanlal threw
a bomb and damaged a part of the boundary wall of Birla
House where Gandhi’s prayer meeting was in progress.
Gandhi desired that Madanlal should be forgiven.
On the fateful day of January 30, 1948 Nathuram
Godse fired three shots from his pistol and Gandhi slumped
to the ground at Birla House with the words ‘Hey Ram’ on
his lips. The Father of the Nation was no more. He was
cremated at the Rajghat and his ashes were immersed at
the sacred Sangam—the confluence of Ganga, Jamuna and
Thoughts and Ideas @UPSC_THOUGHTS
Saraswati near Allahabad on February 12.
“What I have done will endure, not what I have said or
written.” So wrote Gandhi, and, indeed, there is no single
repository of his thoughts and ideas, no radical or system-
atic philosophy as such that he offered. We have to glean
his ideas and thoughts from his letters, articles and random
writings, and, above all, from the way he lived his life and
motivated people in the national struggle for freedom.
Indian Opinion, a South African weekly, Young India and
Harijan were major media through which Gandhi expressed
his views. His books, My Experiments with Truth, The Voice
of Truth, Path to God, Hind Swaraj are the sources in which
we may seek and get the ideas that shaped Gandhi’s life
and activities. He was much influenced by religions ideas
pertaining to all major religions of the world. He was
equally conversant with Indian traditions and western
intellectual principles such as liberalism and rationality.
John Ruskin’s Unto This Last and Tolstoy’s The Kingdom
of God is Within You, Henry Thoreau’s concept of civil
12 Gandhi
disobedience, the ideas of Mill, Green, Spencer and Marx
all influenced him or evoked some response from him and
served to shape his own ideas.
There are some concepts basic to Gandhian thought.
All his actions are to be seen as applications of these
concepts to real life. “As the microcosm, so the macro-
cosm”—is an idea that informs all his thought and action.
Principles have to be practised by oneself before getting
others to follow them. And the principles to be followed
are truth, ahimsa, non-possession, non-stealing and
Brahmacharya—the cardinal observances of the satyagrahi
in the quest of self-realisation. The five cardinal principles
are “five test points in what is a single commandment—
to love all mankind as oneself.”
Truth is God to Gandhi and the way to that God is
through ahimsa or non-violence, for God is also love and
ahimsa is the manifestation of the love for all. Divinity, he
considers, is within everyone and everything. Prayer’ is
meant to evoke the divinity within ourselves. Facing truth
and following ahimsa is no easy task; it involves a fearless
courage. Fear implies the absence of love or ahimsa towards
the object of our fear. A corollary to truth and non-violence
is the concept of non-possession. If we love our neighbours
as much as we love ourselves, we would not desire to
possess superfluities when others do not have even the basic
necessities of life. And from the interaction of truth and
non-possession arises the principle of non-stealing, for in
stealing one violates both truth and non-possession. Indeed,
Gandhi considered even those who filled their brains with
useless knowledge and those who wasted a moment of time
in idleness to have committed the crime of stealing.
Brahmacharya is a corollary to the “Law of universal love
which sublimates all desire as well as all possessiveness”.
It is the simultaneous control of all the organs of mind,
body and speech. Fearlessness comes out of following the
five principles. In the following pages comes a detailed
discussion of Gandhi’s ideas.
 Gandhi 13
ENDS AND MEANS
Gandhi views the ultimate object of man’s life as self-
realisation which implies the greatest good for all. Believing
in the principle of spiritual unity, he advocates that the
only way to find God is to see Him through His creation
and to be one with it. According to him, there is just the
same inviolable connection between the ends and the means
as there is between the seed and the tree. Gandhi holds
that it is only through good means that lasting peace and
progress can be attained. He sees truth as the end and non-
violence as the way. The quest for truth is an endless
process. Non-violence is just not a mechanical performance.
It is the finest quality of the human heart and comes by
gradual training.
Undoubtedly, non-violence as an ethical norm is
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
generally considered basic to Gandhi’s philosophy, a kind
of ‘foundation stone’. He himself, however, says several
times that truth as a goal precedes non-violence. The end
has greater value than the means used to reach it. But in
any case non-violence is a necessary part of Gandhi’s
philosophy. Gandhi says that if we take care of the means,
then we shall inevitably reach the goal sooner or later. To
the question whether the means are more important than
the end or whether the end is more essential than the means
that lead to it, Gandhi replies that they are interdependent
and equally necessary. If the means are wrong, the right
goal will not be reached, or if it is reached, a disvalue will
in addition be realised. If the means are right, the right goal
will be reached without any negative side effects. Non-
violence is a norm concerning the relationship between the
means and the end.
Commenting on the relationship between means and
ends, Gandhi says, “Means may be compared with the seed,
ends with the tree; the same unbreakable connection exists
between means and ends as that between the seed and the
tree”. Morality is a necessary means for achieving the right
goal. Gandhi did not accept violent means for achieving a
14 Gandhi
goal, whether individual or collective. He did not want to
achieve political independence for India by violent means,
even if it were possible. “If India takes up arms, she may
achieve a rapid victory. In such a case, India would lose
her place as the pride of my heart”. A goal achieved by
wrong means is not a real goal, but proves before long to
be an illusion. Means, says Gandhi, to be means, must
always be within reach. When speaking of the relationship
between means and consequences, Gandhi often limits
consequences to external consequences or political and
economic ends and warns against trusting solely in them.
The consequences Gandhi does not primarily stress are
material and apparent. The consequences he most esteems
are spiritual in nature. Mere apparent success which results
from the use of wrong means must not be confused with
real success. Bad means can never bring about a purely good
result, because the total consequences involve a negative
spiritual development.
SATYAGRAHA
“Ahimsa or non-violence is the highest duty” is a well-
known saying from the Mahobharata. Its practical applica-
tion in life is satyagraha or soul-force. According to Gandhi
it is based on the assumption that “the world rests on the
bedrock of satya or truth.” Gandhi explained the term
“satyagraha” from various viewpoints. Satyagraha is not a
weapon of the weak, the coward, the unarmed and the
helpless. It is a weapon of the morally vigilant and the
active. As Simone Panter-Brick significantly puts it, Gandhi’s
satyagraha rejects violence but not fighting; it is a war
without violence. Satyagraha is not the traditional resistance
of evil by evil. It is the resistance of evil by its opposite,
i.e., by good. Gandhi believed that evil can be destroyed
only by good, just as fire can be extinguished only by water,
not by fire. Fighting evil by evil multiplies evil. Fighting
violence by violence merely aggravates violence. Satyagraha,
on the other hand, is a fight between opposite forces, not
 Gandhi 15
between identical ones.
In Indian Opinion, Gandhi described satyagraha as
“firmness in a good cause”. In Young India, he pointed out
that satyagraha was just a new name for “the law of self-
suffering”. And in Hind Swaraj, he proclaimed that “sac-
rifice of self is infinitely superior to sacrifice of others,”
and that a self-sufferer does not make others suffer for his
mistakes.
Gandhi’s concept of satyagraha does not imply pas-
sivity, weakness, helplessness or expediency. It stands for
the greatest courage man is capable of. It is essentially an
attitude of mind and a way of life based on the firm desire
for vindicating just causes, correcting wrongs and convert-
ing wrong-doers by voluntary self-suffering and by patient
and active use of the means which are non-violent and
means.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
intrinsically just. It harmonises the cause, the end and the
Satyagraha is rooted in the power of reality, in the
inward strength of the soul. It is not merely the negative
virtue of abstaining from violence, but the positive one of
doing good. A satyagrahi is chivalrous to his opponents.
The disobedience of law has always to be civil, and “civility
does not mean the mere outward gentleness of speech
cultivated for the occasion, but an inborn gentleness and
desire to do the opponent good”. In all his campaigns,
whenever the enemy was in trouble, Gandhi went to his
rescue. The opposite of satyagraha is ‘duragraha’. Joan
Bondurant has clearly distinguished Gandhi’s satyagraha
from its obverse, the duragraha. The duragrahi regards truth,
justice, rightness his monopoly and does not allow the
possibility of the opponent also being in the right. The
duragrahi first destroys his opponent’s position in order to
destroy his misdeeds. The satyagrahi, on the other hand,
enables the alleged evil-doer to prove his point and allows
a fair chance of its acceptance.
Satyagraha as a technique was evolved by Gandhi as
an alternative to rebellion and war for solving human
16 Gandhi
conflicts—political, social or economic. Gandhi was con-
vinced of the futility of violence, both in organised and
unorganised forms, for solving conflicts and deadlocks on
a durable basis. In South Africa, he used it against the
apartheid policy of the Government. In India, he offered
it for seeking redress of particular grievances, and for the
ultimate purpose of attaining freedom. Gandhi’s own ap-
plication of satyagraha points to two related things. Nega-
tively, it enjoins upon man the duty to eradicate evil and,
positively, it reminds him of his obligation to serve the
community.
Satyagraha shifts the emphasis from the doer to the
deed. Gandhi aimed at the destruction of evil, but not of
the evil-doer. He would hate the sin, but not the sinner.
In Harijan, Gandhi observed: “The idea underlying Satyagraha
is to convert the wrong-doer, to awaken the sense of justice
in him, to show him also that without the cooperation,
direct or indirect, of the wronged, the wrong-doer cannot
do the wrong intended by him.” He went to the extent of
calling satyagraha as “a solvent strong enough to melt the
stoniest heart”. Satyagraha seeks to change “relationships
that are evil into others that are good, or at least less bad”.
Satyagraha aims not only at the change of heart and
mentality of the opponent but it also “invariably exerts a
purifying influence on those, in whose behalf it is under-
taken”. It can be offered at any time and at any place, and
is effective in all circumstances. Satyagraha can be practised
not only against a government, but also against society as
a whole, for the latter may happen to be as’ wrong as the
former. The Champaran Satyagraha was directed against the
British Indigo Planters; whereas the opponents in the
Ahmedabad Satyagraha were the mill-owners with whom
Gandhi had cordial relations.
Gandhi, on the basis of his satyagraha experiments,
said that satyagraha can be offered only in respect of the
person or agency whose cause and means appear to be
prima facie wrong. It must be offered only on impersonal
 Gandhi 17
issues, for “selfishness and satyagraha can never go to-
gether”. He required his co-workers to offer satyagraha in
the spirit of promoting a common cause, without even being
conscious of their selfish interests. It involves the deliberate
breach of laws which one regards contrary to one’s con-
science. It was conceived by Gandhi in abnormal situations.
It was born in South Africa in the context of racialism and
was nurtured in India in that of an alien rule. Gandhi
employed it during his five-decade-long public life as an
antithesis to racialism, imperialism and various other forms
of tyranny. Satyagraha stands for truth and justice and
enables the people to challenge and change the government
if it is inefficient, incompetent, tyrannical or unjust.
The very first qualification that Gandhi prescribed for
an ideal satyagrahi was that he must be an actual sufferer.
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An ideal satyagrahi must subscribe to truth and nonviolence
as his creed, as satyagraha can be offered only by the person
who understands truth and has justice on his side. A
satyagrahi must also be strong in mind and soul for a weak-
minded man can never be a satyagrahi. “Satyagraha is a
struggle in which the oldest and the weakest in body may
take part, if they have stout hearts”. A satyagrahi is required
neither to retaliate nor to submit to the opposite party. He
must strive through reason, discussion and self-suffering to
arrive at a solution agreeable to all. Gandhi conceived
satyagraha only as a weapon of the law-abiding citizens and
not of those who come in conflict with law due to their
criminal traits. He thought that satyagraha could be adopted
as a way of life only by those who are disciplined and
vigilant and who possess virtues like compassion and
civility. He also required the satyagrahi not to take any
illegitimate advantage of the opponent’s weak points. He
wanted satyagrahis to be above suspicion. It was partly to
enable the satyagrahis to overcome their lust and passion,
and partly to inclucate the spirit of swadeshi in his
countrymen, that he prescribed an additional qualification
for them. He himself was and wanted his countrymen to
18 Gandhi
be habitual khadi-wearers and spinners.
The principles that a satyagrahi must learn to follow
are the ideals of truth and non-violence, non-possession and
non-stealing and brahmacharya. It is only on sublimating
one’s desires that one can achieve the physical, moral and
spiritual strength necessary to fight a just war non-violently
and fearlessly. As part of discipline Gandhi advocated a
simple diet for satyagrahis; this had a practical aspect, too,
for a satyagrahi may have to work in places where the food
available may not be what he or she is used to. In such
circumstances, if one is used to simple eating one can do
with whatever is available. A satyagrahi would live by his
or her labour and be satisfied with basic necessities. A
satyagrahi’s actions are selfless and motivated by universal
love and ideal of truth. It is his inner conviction and faith
in god (or truth) that helps him to convince even the
opposing party to change.
The satyagrahi has various methods at his disposal.
Non-cooperation is the refusal to cooperate with an oppres-
sor or evil force. Civil disobedience is a form of non-
cooperation in which the satyagrahi refuses to comply with
laws or orders incompatible with morality or general good.
Gandhi was particular that civil disobedience never de-
generated into criminal disobedience; only laws that go
against people’s welfare were to be disobeyed. Defiance and
disrespect have no place in Gandhi’s form of civil disobe-
dience, satyagraha could use hartal, i.e. stopping business
activities, to draw attention to a cause or issue; however,
this method is to be sparingly used and when discussion
and persuasion have failed. Furthermore, no coercion is to
be used; it is to be purely voluntary in participation.
Picketing is another method used to prevent certain activi-
ties which are immoral and against public welfare. Again,
no coercion or intimidation is to be allowed; nor should
there be any obstruction to general movement of people.
Boycotting certain objects, ‘activities or even those partici-
pating in those activities is also a legitimate method of a
 Gandhi 19
satyagrahi. Hijarat—migration in protest—may be adopted
by those who, suffering loss of self-respect, yet lack either
the courage to practise full satyagraha or the ability to
defend themselves by force. Fasting is also a method of
satyagraha, but its purpose is self-purification and a means
of gaining moral strength, not a means of coercion. It is
only to be used as a last resort, and it implies not merely
the physical capacity to withstand hunger but a spiritual
strength of purpose and faith in God.
NON-VIOLENCE
Ahimsa, non-violence, has been a familiar concept found
in the Indian religions and philosophies for a very long
time. All the Indian philosophical schools with the excep-
tion of the materialists accepted non-violence. But the
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
adoption and propagation of a cult of non-violence by
Gandhi was undoubtedly a unique phenomenon in our
country. In an issue of Young India, Gandhi gave a
comprehensive definition of non-violence to be practised
by a Congress satyagrahi in his relationship with a person
who had behaved with him in a fashion which had violent
ingredients. Gandhi did not relish the idea of retaliation
of any kind on a wrong-doer. He pieached, instead, the
gospel of non-violence for his true followers and workers.
When a person claims to be non-violent, he is expected not
to be angry with one who has injured him. He will not
wish him harm; he will wish him well. He will not swear
at him, and he will not cause him any physical hurt. He
will put up with all the injury to which he is subjected
by the wrong-doer. Thus non-violence is complete inno-
cence.. Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill
will against all that lives. It, therefore, embraces even
subhuman life not excluding noxious insects or beasts.
Nonviolence is, therefore, in its active form goodwill
towards all life. It is pure love.
According to Gandhi non-violence is a perfect state.
It is a goal towards which all mankind moves naturally
20 Gandhi
though unconsciously. If, says Gandhi, we can manage to
apply non-violence successfully at home, it will in its pure
form become an irresistible power in the service of the State.
Thus, the individual’s attitude to those people he has
personal dealings with every day is the point of departure
for extending the non-violent attitude. Gandhi admits that
throughout the whole of its long history never has complete
non-violent action been applied throughout the country. In
several cases, Gandhi expresses the idea that non-violence
is negative. He says that a man may serve both his neighbour
and humanity at the same time provided that the service
of the neighbour is in no way selfish or exclusive; in other
words, it does not include exploitation of another human
being. This means that a man can positively help another
or a limited groups, provided that he does not cause
violence to others. The basis which makes positive action
non-violent is negative—i.e. the lack of violence.
Gandhi asserts the power of perfect non-violence thus:
“One person who can express Ahimsa in life exercises a
force superior to all the forces of brutality”. In any case,
according to Gandhi, perfect non-violence is impossible to
achieve. “Perfect non-violence is impossible so long as we
exist physically, for we want at least some space to occupy.”
Gandhi was very keen on emphasising the difference
between his non-violence and passive resistance. He in-
sisted that non-violence was not something passive. “Non-
violence is not one form, it is the only form of direct action.
Passive resistance is a misnomer for non-violent resistance.
It is much more active than violent resistance.” Gandhi so
disapproves of the use of non-violence as a cloak for
cowardice that time and again he says that he would prefer
violence to cowardice. According to Gandhi, the religion
of non-violence is not meant merely for the rishis and saints.
It is meant for the common people as well. Non-violence
is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute.
Non-violence in its dynamic condition means conscious
 Gandhi 21
suffering. It does not mean meek submission to the will
of the evil-doer, but it means putting one’s whole soul
against the will of the tyrant. “Working under this law of
our being, it is possible for a single individual to defy the
whole might of an unjust empire to save his honour, his
religion, his soul, and lay the foundation for that empire’s
fall or its regeneration.”
Gandhi says that he did not plead for India to practise
non-violence ‘because’ it was weak. He wanted her to
practise non-violence being conscious of her strength and
power. He wanted India to recognise that she has a soul
that cannot perish and that can rise triumphant above every
physical weakness and defy the physical combination of a
whole world. Gandhi argues that non-violence is more
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effective than physical power. He thus separates power from
violence, and says that if he fasted in order to stir the
conscience of a friend who had gone wrong, even if his
fault had been undisputed, he would not be forcing him
in the ordinary (violent) meaning of the word. Positive
action within the different fields of society is, according
to Gandhi’s experience, the basic presupposition for the
success of non-violence.
According to Gandhi, non-violence must fill the whole
person. It should not just be applied to occasional private
acts. Non-violence which is not applied to every field of
life has no practical value. He distinguishes between power
and violence. There is also non-violent power. As a matter
of fact, as to its actual consequences, it is more significant
than deeds performed with the help of violence. The effect
or power of non-violence lies in the fact that it functions
in a qualitatively different way from violence.
The Gandhian concept of non-violence is dharma in
action, and truth translated. It is not a static code of morality
ready for adoption. It evolves and is in essence ‘creative
morality’, in the language of Bergson. Nonviolence is a
dynamic and creative concept centred on truth. Truth, the
22 Gandhi
supreme Gandhian value, is the consummation of all that
is spiritual in man. Gandhi’s interpretation of the concept
of ahimsa is a glorious chapter in the history of Indian
ethical thought. He regards violence as an evil in itself. He
does not consider it to be neutral. He is uncompromising
in his opposition to it. He wants to build a world based
on truth and non-violence and not on untruth and love-
lessness. He argues that violence could bring no good to
man in any sphere. His doctrine is built on his conception
of human nature as being essentially good. The method of
ahimsa is a lateral approach. It seeks to overcome the
opposition and change the mind of the opponent. Anybody
whose faith falters in this has no use for non-violence. Non-
violence is not for the weak.
The non-violence of Gandhi is a clean break with the
normal habits of mankind and it is an advance in the ethical
march of human thought. “It is a rebirth into light,” in the
words of Geoffray Ashe. The non-violence of Gandhi is not
a vague gentleness, nor is it passive for it wants a person
to oppose evil with his all, and be prepared to stake his
life. It is not for the weak, nor for the coward. It is born
of an indomitable faith. Evil has to be opposed with soul-
force. “It is a reassessed system of unarmed action offered
not merely as an expedient, to use where force was
impossible, but a weapon superior to force.”
Non-violence wakes us from our animality to human-
ity. Gandhi used to say, “The day dawns from the moment
we wake up.” Non-violence is the power of truth and it
is the strength of the spirit. It is not physical strength of
money power. Spiritual strength by its very nature is
unconquerable and is ultimately victorious over all other
forces, for it is the vehicle of truth. Non-violence implies
suffering, for it is love in action. In short, ahimsa means
largest love and greatest charity. The doctrine of non-
violence seeks a revaluation of traditional values.
To him, while truth was the end non-violence was
the means. They were so intertwined that it was practically
 Gandhi 23
impossible to disentangle and separate them. They were like
the two sides of a coin. Gandhi was so seriously committed
to this ideal of non-violence that he declared: “I would
certainly retire from the political life if I find that India
does not imbibe my message and that India wants a bloody
revolution. I should have no part in that movement because
I do not believe in its utility either for India or, which is
the same thing, for the world.”
Non-violence can be used not only by isolated indi-
viduals, but by the masses and by nations in their mutual
relations. For him, non-violence was not a mere philosoph-
ical principle. It was the rule and breath of his life. It was
a matter not of the intellect but of the heart. Strength does
not come from physical capacity, but from an indomitable
will. Self-sacrifice of one innocent man is a million times
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more potent than the sacrifice of a million men who die
in the act of killing others.
MORALITY
For Gandhi truth is the highest value, the only intrinsic
value, the only thing good in itself; the endeavour for truth
is also at the same time the highest of virtues. Morality is
a means or a method of realising this goal. Morality, to
Gandhi, is the fundamental presupposition for the knowl-
edge of truth and for self-realisation. He holds that when
moral presuppositions are lacking motivation leads one
astray; it blinds. Achieved knowledge is then distorted, and
then not even the most technically perfect scientific method
can replace the lack of moral presuppositions. Morality is
thus the basic precondition for the knowledge of truth. On
the one hand, morality serves to purify motivation in order
to achieve right knowledge and, on the other, it is a way
to self-realisation. In principle, morality is derived from
Truth, which is unity.
Gandhi was very fond of the Bhagvad Gita and its
teaching of selfless action. He who is unselfish inevitably
agrees with non-violence, says Gandhi. He believes that the
24 Gandhi
results of our deeds are only known in part. Gandhi believes
in the law of karma. It means the interdependence of moral
deeds, that is to say, the interdependence of good and evil
deeds and formation of a person’s character or personality.
According to the law of karma, every moral deed always
influences the subject, and thus morality always primarily
concerns the self. Gandhi considers the spiritual attitude
to be a useful criterion, but points out that it is not the
only one. He says that activity must be just in thought, word
and deed. Gandhi had a legal training and formed a concept
of the nature of ethical justice and the relationship between
rights and duties. Demands which are not preceded by duty
performed are not actual rights. They are not morally
acceptable. Gandhi explains that the necessary presuppo-
sition for a non-violent society is justice in all departments
of life. Justice means advancing the good of everyone
equally, including the weakest.
Gandhi is a moral idealist. But he does not present
impossible practical norms. He announces that morality has
an unconditional character in the form of ethical ideals, but
that nevertheless it is not only for rishis or saints; it is meant
for ordinary people as well. Gandhi severely criticises moral
propagandists who do not themselves live up to their
teachings. Gandhi proves how goodness can be made
effective and how good ethics has at the same time to be
good national economics. A norm theory, which remains
purely speculative, is, according to Gandhi, without signifi-
cance. Gandhi does not seem to separate the concepts
“duty” and “virtue”; for him they mean the same thing.
Gandhi speaks of several moral duties of which the most
cardinal are
(i) truthfulness (Satya), (ii) non-violence (Ahimsa), (iii) self-
control (Brahmacharya) (iv) non-stealing (Asteya), and
(v) non-possession (Aparigraha).
These five moral duties are common to most of the
ascetic schools—Jainism, Buddhism, Yoga and Upanishads
and the Gita. Gandhi’s ethics form an open system even
 Gandhi 25
in the sense that a change in society and circumstance
affects the interpretation of the contents of duty.
RELIGION
RELIGION AS LIFE IN GOD In consistency with the
great spiritual tradition of Hinduism, Gandhi affirms that
when once we rise from the grossness to which the flesh
is prone into the liberty of spirit, the view from the summit
is identical for all. We have to climb the mountain by
different paths, from the points where we happen to be,
but that which we seek is the same. “The Allah of Islam
is the same as the God of the Christians and the Isvara of
the Hindus. Even as there are numerous names of god in
Hinduism, there are many names of God in Islam. The
names do not indicate individuality but attributes, and little
man has tried in his humble way to describe mighty God
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
by giving Him attributes, though He is above all attributes,
indescribable, immeasurable. Living faith in this God means
equal respect for all religions.” Gandhi’s attitude to other
religions is not one of negative toleration but of positive
appreciation. He accepts Jesus’ life and work as a supreme
illustration of the principle of nonviolence. He appreciates
the character of Prophet Mohammad, his fervent faith and
practical efficiency, the tender compassion and suffering of
Ali. The great truths emphasised by Islam, that is, intense
belief in God’s overruling majesty, puritanic simplicity of
life, ardent sense of brotherhood and chivalrous devotion
to the poor are accepted by him as fundamental to all
religions. But the dominating force in his life was Hinduism
with its conception of truth, its vision of the soul and its
c h a r i t y .
All religions, however, are means to one great religion.
Gandhi says, “It is not the Hindu religion which I certainly
prize above all other religions, but the religion which
transcends Hinduism, which changes one’s very nature,
which binds one indissolubly, to the truth within, and
which ever purifies.” There is no other God than Truth,
26 Gandhi
and the only means for the realisation of truth is love or
ahimsa. Knowledge of truth and the practice of love are
impossible without self-purification. Only the pure at heart
can see God. To attain to purity of heart, to rise above
attachment and repulsion, to be free from passion in
thought, word and deed, to be redeemed from fear and
vanity, the inconsistencies of our flesh and the discursive-
ness of our minds must be overcome. Discipline, effort,
austere living, tapas is the way to it. Suffering rinses our
spirit clean.
Only the pure at heart can love God, and love man.
Suffering love is the miracle of the spirit by which, though
the wrongs of others are borne on our shoulders, we feel
a sense of comfort deeper and more real than any given
by purely selfish pleasures. At such moments we under-
stand that nothing in the world is sweeter than the
knowledge that we have been able to give a moment’s
happiness to another, nothing more precious than the sense
that we have shared another’s sorrow. Perfect compassion
untouched by condescension, washed clean of pride, even
of the pride of doing good, is the highest religious quality.
Participation in political life is for him a means to
the religious life. Politics is the application of religion in
a certain sphere of life. He wanted to spiritualise politics.
His ideas are based upon religious tradition, not political,
juridical, philosophical or economic. He attempts to base
his economic doctrines on religion. He defends economic
independence, i.e. swadeshi on the ground that it originally
means the soul’s final emancipation and freedom from
earthly bonds. Gandhi considers himself a Hindu on the
basis of his birth and upbringing. He explains that pure
Hinduism contains everything one might expect from a
religion. He sees the special beauty of Hinduism in the fact
that it includes all the essentials of other religions, and what
it excludes he considers inessential. The reform of the
Hindu community in the face of the conservative opposition
was one of the main tasks to which Gandhi gave his life.
 Gandhi 27
Gandhi says that when he speaks of religion, he does
not mean any conventional or usual religion, but that
religion which is at the root of all religions and that this
fundamental religion harmonises the historical religions and
makes them valid. “Just as a tree has one trunk but many
branches and leaves, so there is one true and perfect
religion, although it is divided into many as it appears
through a human intermediary.” He briefly defines religion
as trust in the moral organisation of the universe. He says
that religions are different roads to the same goal. He also
considers religion to be a very personal matter. He regards
it the duty of every civilised man and woman to read with
sympathy the writings of every religion. He is ready to
accept from other religions that which seems to him to be
good, but he hesitates to criticise them because he is
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
uncertain of his knowledge of them. His criticism of the
historical religions is principally directed towards his own.
GANDHI AND HINDUISM Gandhi’s Hinduism was an
ingenious intellectual construct. There was hardly a Hindu
religious aspect or practice to which he did not give a
worldly and secular content. At the same time, he respected
the integrity of the Hindu religious consciousness and
avoided the all too common mistake of reducing religion
to mere social service or morality. For him religion culmi-
nated but was not exhausted in social service, and the latter
had a spiritual meaning and significance only when in-
spired by the search for moksha. Gandhi’s Hinduism thus
had a secular content but a spiritual form. It therefore both
appealed to and alienated his atheist and religious follow-
ers. The former were attracted by his passionate concern
with social, economic and political issues but felt ill at ease
with their spiritual roots; the latter reacted in the opposite
manner.
Gandhi redefined Hinduism and gave it a radically
novel orientation. Not God, but the human being was made
its centre, and self-purification and active service in the
spirit of love constituted its content. He marginalised the
28 Gandhi
Shastras and deprived them of their religious and moral
authority. He rarely referred to them to support his views,
poured contempt on the endless debates about the meanings
of their isolated passages and interpreted them as he thought
proper. He thereby undermined the traditional religious
basis of brahmanic authority and liberated Hinduism from
their stranglehold. The brahmins had stressed the authority
of the Shastras; Gandhi argued that they, including even
the Vedas, were subject to the test of reason and conscience.
They had concentrated on the ritual and ceremonial aspect
of religion; Gandhi emphasised on social service. The
brahmins glorified the intellectual and spiritual and looked
down upon manual activities; Gandhi insisted that the
manual work was an integral part of the cosmic yajna and
that whoever avoided it was a thief and a parasite. They
regarded certain activities and the people engaged in them
as polluted; Gandhi rejoined that only those engaged in the
so-called lowly activities truly served their fellow-men and
it made the “untouchables” not the brahmins, the privileged
“children of God”.
Gandhi distinguished between philosophical and prac-
tical or popular Hinduism, the two extremes into which in
his view it had become polarised, and contended that they
had failed in their own different ways to develop a
satisfactory theory of morality. By philosophical Hinduism,
Gandhi largely meant the vedantic metaphysic, the pride
and glory of Indian philosophy and by which he was
himself deeply influenced. In his view it had discovered
some of the greatest moral principles known to mankind
such as the unity of man, life and creation, ahimsa and
the indivisibility of humanity and of human salvation, and
could have constructed a most profound system of morality
on their basis. Gandhi argued that instead it turned its back
on the world and betrayed its powerful insights. Although
for obvious political and other reasons he did not launch
a frontal attack on it, he stated in no uncertain terms why
he was most unhappy with it. First, like all other religions,
 Gandhi 29
philosophical Hinduism defined salvation in personal terms
and encouraged spiritual selfishness. Second, it was callous,
lacked a social conscience and showed indifference to
wordly suffering on the spurious ground that material
suffering was spiritually inconsequential and had no claim
on the attention of a spiritual seeker. Third, it was negative
and passive and had a wholly unjustified horror of action.
Fourth, and to Gandhi its most important limitation,
philosophical Hinduism failed to develop an adequate
theory of morality. For Gandhi, popular Hinduism repre-
sented the other end of the spectrum and suffered from the
opposite limitations. Although he greatly admired its simple
faith, feel for the pervasive presence of the divine, its sense
of dharma and the spirit of service and self-surrender, he
found it gravely defective. Gandhi concluded that both
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
philosophical and popular Hinduism needed radical reform
albeit for opposite reasons. The former stressed the Brahman
but ignored the world; the latter made the opposite mistake.
By interpreting each in this way, Gandhi hoped to reduce
their traditional distance and create a common basis on
which all Hindus could unite.
Gandhi redefined almost every major category of
philosophical Hinduism in activist, social and worldly
terms. He gave a radically novel content to the concept of
moksha and almost equated it with dharma. He gave an
inward or spiritual orientation to the central categories of
popular Hinduism. It had confined God to heaven; Gandhi
argued that He was present in every living being and was
to be found not in temples but in the huts of the poor.
Prayer did not consist in chanting hymns and devotional
songs but serving other human beings—for that was a way
of serving God. Spinning as a way of identifying with the
poor was ‘the greatest prayer, the greatest worship’. For
Gandhi, wearing khadi was more sacred than wearing beads
and saffron robes. Not the ‘so-called holy rivers and towns
but the places where the poor and the untouchables lived
were truly holy, and working and living among them in
30 Gandhi
the spirit of a pilgrim was a true pilgrimage. When Gandhi
went to Noakhali to reconcile the warring Hindus and
Muslims, he called himself a pilgrim and his stay there as
an act of pilgrimage. Gandhi thus secularised Hinduism as
much as it was possible to do so within a spiritual
framework, an unparalleled achievement in the history of
Hindu thought anticipated by several, especially
Vivekananda, but accomplished by no other.
RELIGIOUS BASIS OF POLITICS Politicians are not
generally reputed to take religion seriously, for the values
to which they are committed are rather inconsistent with
the values of religion. But for Gandhi, all life is of one piece.
“To see the universal and all-pervading spirit of truth face
to face one must be able to love the meanest of creation
as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford
to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion
to truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can
say without the slightest hesitation and yet in all humility,
that those who say that religion has nothing to do with
politics do not know what religion means!” Again, “I have
no desire for the perishable kingdom of earth. I am striving
for the kingdom of heaven, which is spiritual deliverance
...My patriotism is for me a stage on my journey to the land
of eternal freedom and peace. Thus it will be seen that for
me there are no politics devoid of religion. They subserve
religion. Politics bereft of religion are a death-trap because
they kill the soul.” For Gandhi there is no religion apart
from human activity. In the acid test of experience Gandhi
remains, not a politician or a reformer, not a philosopher
or a moralist, but someone composed of them all, an
essentially religious person endowed with the highest and
most human qualities and made more lovable by the
consciousness of his own limitation.
A fierce advocate of truth and non-violence, Gandhi
accepts the creative force of religion in human history. He
says, “All religions are founded on the same moral laws.
 Gandhi 31
My ethical religion is made up of laws which bind men
all over the world”. In the spirit of the Gita he feels that
lived with a sense of detachment and disinterestedness the
life of karmayoga could lead to the attainment of moksha—
redemption and emancipation of the soul from the clutches
of maya. He holds that an attitude of aggressive or self-
righteous altruism in politics does not lead to any progres-
sive expansion of the human self or of the nation. The
victory of Rama over Ravana is a symbol of the conquest
of physical power by spiritual strength. Religion tames our
savage nature and binds man to God and man to man. Thus
spiritualisation of politics helps the genuine claims of the
society and humankind. When Gandhi speaks of the reli-
gious basis of politics he is not preaching primitivism but
inculcates the superiority of a life of strenuous dynamic
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
activity in quest of the good of one’s soul and mankind.
It is the concept of karmayoga or religion as dynamic
altruism that Gandhi wants to make the basis of transformed
social and political action.
Gandhi does not identify religion with any creed, or
dogmatic theology. It means a recovery of divine faith; it
is not merely a means for personal purification but it is
an immensely powerful social bond. To Gandhi,
spiritualisation of politics does not mean the establishment
of a theocracy. Its incorporation in politics only means a
progressive movement towards justice and truth. Religion
is a dynamic force; it means the assertion of unity with
God. Since Gandhi’s religion is Ethical Religion, his concept
of politics is only a spiritualised and moralised form of
politics.
SWARAJ
Gandhi did not come into contact with an idea, individual
and institution that he did not transform. Ideas gathered
novel meaning and significance, individuals were inspired
by new messages and aspirations, and institutions acquired
added relevance after their association with Gandhi. Swaraj
is one of those many ideas that obtained a distinctly
32 Gandhi
Gandhian imprint when it passed through the prism of
Gandhian analysis.
The term ‘Swaraj’ appeared in Gandhi’s writings for
the first time on November 3, 1905. Gandhi gave serious
thought to the question of Swaraj in 1903 and during his
return voyage from London to South Africa, in answer to
the Indian school of violence and its prototype in South
Africa, he wrote for the columns of the Indian Opinion,
a series of articles on Swaraj that subsequently appeared
in book form with the title Hind Swaraj. In Hind Swaraj
was expressed for the first time Gandhi’s comprehensive
view about the nature and picture of Swaraj. The spirit of
Swaraj expounded in this booklet remained almost the same
throughout Gandhi’s life with only slight modifications in
matter of details.
The term Swaraj as used by Gandhi acquired, in
course of time, the significance of severance of political
relationship with the British ruling clique, with its culmi-
nation in the slogan of ‘Quit India’. Yet Gandhi, to start
with, did not conceive of Swaraj in the sense of severance
of all relationship with Britain and the British people.
Initially it did not signify anything beyond enjoyment of
dominion status within the framework of the British Empire.
The ultimate objective of the first non-cooperation move-
ment, as per Gandhi’s own admission, was “Swaraj within
the Empire if possible and without if necessary”.
The Gandhian concept of Swaraj has a far broader and
deeper significance than English terms like freedom or
independence. Swaraj for Gandhi had both a negative and
a positive implication. Negatively speaking Swaraj meant
freedom from alien rule and its influence on civilisation.
Positively Swaraj meant freedom for the whole people, the
peasants, the workers, the women, everyone included.
The people’s Swaraj of Gandhi is four dimensional:
the four dimensions being provided by the political, social,
economic, and the moral facets. Gandhi considered them
as constituting the “square of Swaraj.” Unless these four
 Gandhi 33
dimensions are in perfect trim and properly adjusted and
coordinated, the square of Swaraj will present a distorted
picture or as Gandhi said, “it will be out of shape if any
of its angles is untrue”. The political aspect of Gandhi’s
Swaraj is primarily concerned with freedom from British
imperialistic domination and transfer of political power
from the British into the Indian hands. But he believed,
and rightly too, that freedom from British yoke and intro-
duction of Indian rule over Indians may not solve the real
problem. He insisted on democratisation in the matter of
possession and on the exercise of governmental authority
“for the people”. To him Swaraj meant that people shall
constitute the sovereign power. Politically translated, Swaraj
is “perfect democracy, in which inequalities based on
possession, colour, race, creed or sex vanishes. In it land
press.” @UPSC_THOUGHTS
and state belong to the people, justice is prompt, perfect
and cheap and there is freedom of worship, speech and the
Gandhi’s Swaraj is a state of existence where all social
distinctions wither away. He said, “Every community would
be on a par with every other, under the Swaraj constitution”.
Gandhi’s economic Swaraj “is full economic freedom for
the toiling millions”. In the economic aspect of Swaraj he
had primarily in his mind the removal of the misery of the
‘Daridranarayan’. Once he wrote in Young India, “The
Swaraj of my dream is the poor man’s Swaraj”. Economic
Swaraj for Gandhi signified removal of poverty, hunger,
destitution, deprivation and exploitation. Gandhi treated
Swaraj as a synonym of Rama Rajya. Profoundly non-
doctrinaire in his approach to religion and as much a
Christian, a Muslim and a Jew as a Hindu in respect of
his religious belief, he did not consider Rama Rajya in any
Hindu’ doctrinaire sense of the term. He said, “By Rama
Rajya, I do not mean Hindu Rajya. I mean by Rama Rajya
Divine Rajya, the Kingdom of God.”
Emphasis on self-restraint and self-rule remained a
significant cornerstone of Gandhi’s moral dimension of
34 Gandhi
Swaraj. He also laid stress on performance of duty. To him,
“performance of duty and observance of morality are
conceivable terms.” As Wilfred Wellock has observed the
basis of Gandhian Swaraj is “the small community such as
the village and the small market town. Only in such society
where politics are local and vital since they have to do with
the organisation of the local economic life can there be real
political and economic freedom and full personal respon-
sibility.”
DEMOCRACY
Gandhi defines democracy as “the art and science of
mobilising the entire physical, economic and spiritual
resources of all the various sections of the people in the
service of the common good of all”. His notion, of democ-
racy was that under it the weakest should have the same
opportunity as the strongest. For realising that ideal, he
prescribed the instrument of non-violence. His constructive
programme is the modus operandi of ideal democracy. In
its method, the programme is essentially individualistic. In
India, it is practically village work which is indispensable
for the emancipation of the nation.
“Swaraj”, according to Gandhi, is the Government by
many. Since Swaraj meant self-government people must
learn to rule themselves. Gandhi believed in the concept
of popular sovereignty. The political manifestation is but
a concrete expression of the individual’s soul force. As
people get the government they deserve, self-government
can come only through self-effort. He believed that people
are the roots, the state is the fruit. “If the roots are sweet,
the fruits are bound to be sweet.”
He says, “Swaraj of my dream is the poor man’s
Swaraj”. It is here that Gandhi emerges as a proletarian
democrat who also thought of abridging the gulf between
the rich and the poor, the weak and the strong. Ordinary
amenities of life should be similarly and identically avail-
able to everyone in the society. Self-government was
 Gandhi 35
attainable through a continuous endeavour to be indepen-
dent. Self-government is dependent entirely upon our
internal strength, upon our ability to fight against the
heaviest odds.
Gandhi also distinguished between individual and
national self-government. National or political self-govern-
ment was to be attained precisely by the same means that
are required for individual self-government or self-rule.
Gandhi holds that as every human institution is liable to
be greatly abused, democracy is no exception to that
universal principle. Democracy requires reduction of the
possibility of abuse of power to the minimum. Like J.S. Mill,
Gandhi distinguished between Real and Deceptive democ-
racy. Real democracy cannot be imposed from without but
comes from within, spontaneously. Individual freedom can
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
have the fullest play only under a regime of unadulterated
Ahimsa. Most modern states are either undemocratic or at
best democratic in form rather than in spirit. “True democ-
racy”, Gandhi argued, “cannot be worked by twenty men
sitting at the centre”. It has to be worked from below by
the people of every village. His ideal state was to be a
democracy of autonomous village republics based on non-
violence instead of coercion, on service instead of exploi-
tation, on renunciation instead of acquisitiveness and on
local and individual initiative instead of centralisation.
Gandhi emerges as a reluctant democrat. To safeguard
democracy, people must have a keen sense of indepen-
dence, self-respect and oneness. They should insist upon
choosing as their representatives only such persons as are
good and true. Gandhi was wedded to the principle of
universal adult franchise as it satisfied all the reasonable
aspirations of all classes of people. According to him,
constitutional or democratic government will be a distant
dream so long as non-violence is not recognised as a living
force, an inviolable creed and not a mere policy.
Gandhi believes in internal democracy based on
purificatory discipline. The need is for spiritual transfor-
36 Gandhi
mation or psychological metamorphosis of both the ruler
and the ruled since democracy does not necessarily make
fools into wise men. He opposes concentration of power
in the hands of a small minority whether in the field of
economics or politics. He considers the problems of democ-
racy from a moral rather than a political point of view.
Gandhi’s ideas on democracy bear the stamp of his pas-
sionate belief in non-violence, truth, self-sacrifice and
individual freedom.
SWADESHI
Swadeshi, a complex Hindu concept with a long history,
had been revived and widely used since at least the
partition of Bengal in 1905. Gandhi took it over and so
redefined it as to offer an Indian alternative to the European
doctrine of nationalism. Gandhi used the term Swadeshi to
refer to the unity, swa meaning one’s own and desh, the
total cultural and natural environment of which one was
an inseparable part. Desh was both a cultural and an
ecological unit and signified the traditional way of life
obtaining within a specific territorial unit. The territorial
reference was as important as the cultural. Desh did not
mean a state or a polity for a way of life might not be
organised in such a manner; nor a mere piece of territory
unless it was inhabited and culturally appropriated by a
community of men sharing a common way of life; nor a
cultural group unless it occupied a specific territorial unit
and its cultural boundaries coincided with the territorial.
The swadeshi spirit, which Gandhi variously trans-
lated as the community, national or patriotic spirit or the
spirit of nationality and sharply distinguished from nation-
alism, basically referred to the way an individual related
and responded to his desh. Gandhi insisted that since a man
imbued with the swadeshi spirit loved his community and
wanted it to flourish and realise its full potential, he could
never be insensitive to its limitations; on the contrary, he
was intensely alert to them lest they should cause its
degeneration and decline. Gandhi’s reaction to Katherine
 Gandhi 37
Mayo’s highly vituperative Mother India was a good ex-
ample of what he meant by the swadeshi spirit. He called
it a gutter inspector’s report which the British rulers should
forget but the Indians should always remember.
For Gandhi the swadeshi spirit extended to all the
elements composing the desh and implied a love of not only
the traditional way of life but also the natural environment
and especially the people sharing it. For Gandhi the
swadeshi spirit was not a sentimental attachment to an
abstraction called India or Britain but an active love of the
men and women sharing and sustaining a way of life, and
had a moral, economic and political content. A man who
loved Indian food customs, traditions and way of life but
remained indifferent to the plight of the people who
collectively made all these possible was guilty of moral
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
hyprocrisy and gravely deficient in the swadeshi spirit. For
Gandhi, the swadeshi spirit did not imply indifference, let
alone hostility to other deshas. As a moral being every
individual had a duty to be deeply interested in the
problems faced by people in other communities. Gandhi
was, however, deeply wary of abstract internationalism.
Gandhi thought that some form of moral division of labour
was inescapable and that each community must look after
its members. Gandhi distinguished between self-interest and
selfishness. The former referred to legitimate needs; the
latter referred to illegitimate greed. The swadeshi spirit
sanctioned legitimate self-interest but not selfishness.
STATE, SOCIETY AND SARVODAYA
THE STATE Like many other Indian leaders Gandhi
had considerable difficulty in coming to terms with the
modern state. At one level he understood it better than
them. He was trained as a lawyer, had observed it in its
developed form in Britain and distorted forms in South
Africa and India, and as a leader of the independence
movement he had close day-to-day contact with it. He was
one of the few to notice that the modern age was unique
in assigning the State a most dominant position in society.
38 Gandhi
Gandhi, however, had his severe handicaps. As a votary
of non-violence, he was obsessed with the coercive aspect
of the state and could not appreciate its moral dimensions
until fairly late in life. He was opposed to large-scale
industrialisation and did not much understand the eco-
nomic role of the state either. As a moralist he was deeply
preoccupied with personal integrity and individual respon-
sibility and had great difficulty in coming to terms with
the need for collective discipline and the moral compro-
mises required by membership of the state. As a political
leader who had spent all his life fighting against it, he could
hardly avoid sharing the rebel’s deep suspicion and biased
view of the state. For these and other reasons, Gandhi’s
theory of the state was uneven, in parts refreshingly original
and profound, in others historical and naive.
Gandhi was most critical of the modern state. It was
impersonal, ruling by rules, functioning more or less like
a machine with no human beings apparently in charge of
it or accepting responsibility for its actions. Gandhi con-
tended that even when the state left room for personal
responsibility, its structure and manner of operation al-
lowed too many escape routes. He thought that the state
was inherently inhospitable to personal responsibility and
had an anti-human thrust. He was not opposed to rules and
institutions whose vital importance he fully recognised, but
thought that the modern state relied on them so heavily
that it stifled human responsibility and even forgot that it
was an association of human beings. As he sometimes put
it, the modern state was organised along scientific lines and
had reduced the Government to a machine. Gandhi’s
criticism of it was an integral part of his larger critique of
modern science.
For Gandhi the state was a system of institutionalised
cooperation sustained by the acts of its citizens. Each citizen
was therefore partly responsible for what the state did in
their name. It was, however, so structured and run that it
appeared to exist independently of people, obscured the
 Gandhi 39
links between its acts and theirs, and dulled their con-
science. Without their realising it, the people were morally
compromised and rendered accomplices to the State’s
sometimes immoral deeds. In Gandhi’s view the state also
fostered a statist manner of thinking and appropriated man’s
moral and social powers. Rather than let them run their
lives themselves and grow to their full moral stature, it
encouraged its citizens to take the easy option of letting
the state take all their decisions. For Gandhi the state stood
above and over society, and was neither in organic and daily
contact with nor constantly accountable to society Its
primary concern was to reduce society to a pliable and
homogeneous material amenable to uniform rules and
bureaucratic management. It was therefore impatient of
individual differences and diversity and hostile to strong
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
and independent minded citizens, groups and community
lest they should become centres of independent initiative
and dissent. Gandhi contended that as a vast and imper-
sonal machine only concerned with administering society,
the state was uninterested in and incapable of activating
and mobilising the full range of its moral impulses and had
no alternative but to rely on fear and force. It was really
nothing but, “violence in a concentrated and organised form
and could never be weaned away from violence to which
it owes its very existence”. Unlike the personal violence
of ancient kings the modern state’s massive violence was
barely visible. It was hidden behind the fabric of rules,
“never crudely flaunted but nevertheless subtly displayed
at regular intervals, officialised such that no specific
individual could be blamed for committing it, parcelled out
to a number of agencies to administer it on its behalf so
that its citizens never grasped its scale and magnitude, and
exported abroad and rendered invisible.” All this created
the dangerous illusion that the modern state had eliminated
violence when in fact it had intensified it.
For these and other reasons Gandhi concluded that
by its very nature the state was incompatible with man’s
40 Gandhi
moral and spiritual nature. Man was really atman or soul;
the modern state was a ‘soul-less machine’. The two simply
could not co-exist. If they really cherished and were
genuinely concerned about their moral status, men had to
find an alternative way of structuring their organised life.
In addition to his general critique of the modern state,
Gandhi contended that it was especially unsuited to India.
India had a spiritual civilisation. Non-violence was deeply
cherished in India, whereas the state relied on violence.
Since the task of independent India was to purify and
stabilise its civilisation, its polity should be so structured
that it could protect and act as its internal critic. In Gandhi’s
view, far from revitalising Indian civilisation, the modern
state was bound to set about replacing it with one conducive
to its own ethos and requirements.
Gandhi thought that the modern state with its cen-
tralist tendencies was inherently incapable of building up
Indian people’s courage, self-confidence and capacity for
initiative and was likely to render them even more passive
and timid. He was also deeply worried about the enormous
amount of power it would have to acquire in order to
undertake the massive task of social reconstruction and the
threat this posed to people’s liberties. He thought, too, that
since the Indian state was likely to be dominated by the
urbanised and westernised elite alienated from ordinary
people and committed to values profoundly at odds with
theirs, it was bound to remain as exploitative as its colonial
predecessor.
Gandhi argued that independent India should evolve
a new type of non-statal polity. Ideally he preferred
‘enlightened anarchy’ under which socially responsible and
morally disciplined men and women never harmed one
another and did not need any kind of polity. Since that
was, like the Euclidean straight line, inherently unrealisable
but to be constantly approximated, Gandhi opted for
‘ordered anarchy’ under which citizens enjoyed maximum
freedom consistent with the minimum necessary order.
 Gandhi 41
Gandhi sketched such a polity, not as a blueprint to be
copied but only as an indication of the general lines along
which Indians should think. As he imagined it, the new
polity consisted of small, cultured, thoroughly regenerated,
well-organised and self-determining village communities.
IDEAL STATE AND SARVODAYA Gandhi was a philo-
sophical anarchist who, ideally speaking, repudiated the
State as such, whatever its form. Gandhi believed that “the
greatest good of all” could be realised only in the classless,
stateless democracy of autonomous village communities
based on non-violence instead of coercion, on service
instead of exploitation, on renunciation instead of acquis-
itiveness and on the largest measure of local and individual
initiative instead of centralisation. Besides, according to
Gandhi, “the state represents violence in a concentrated and
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
organised form. The individual has a soul, but as the state
is a soulless machine, it can never be weaned from violence
to which it owes its very existence,” and violence was evil.
Violence includes not only physical coercion but also
economic and social coercion. To quote Gandhi: “I fear,
because, although while apparently doing good by minimising
exploitation it does the greatest harm to mankind by
destroying individuality which lies at the root of all progress
...What I disapprove of is an organisation based on force
which a state is.” The ideal society, which he named as
Sarvodaya Society, was the stateless democracy, the State
of enlightened anarchy where social life has become so
perfect as to be self-regulated. According to Gandhi, sarvodaya
implies welfare of all secured by the conscious effort of
everyone in the community. It is a new social order,
planned by goodwill and cooperation. A believer of sarvodaya
and a votary of ahimsa cannot subscribe to the utilitarian
formula, “greatest good of the greatest number”, because
under it the interests of a substantial minority could be
sacrificed for the good of the majority. But a believer of
sarvodaya will strive for the greatest good of all and die
in the attempt to realise the ideal.
42 Gandhi
Gandhi’s ideal society postulates that development of
self-governing village communities, decision of local issues
by only consensus or near-unanimity, limitation of wants
and the development of people’s capacity to run their affairs
with minimum governmental control and assistance will
lead to the welfare of all and social harmony. Life in such
a society will be a life of mutual aid and sharing, and of
freedom. Sarvodaya society will be based on truth and non-
violence in which there will be no distinction of caste or
creed, no opportunity for exploitation and full scope for
development both for individuals as well as groups. “Ev-
erybody would know how to earn an honest living by the
sweat of one’s brow and make no distinction between
intellectual and physical labour. No one would then harbour
any distinction between community and community, caste
and outcaste. Everybody would regard all as equal with
oneself and hold them together in the silken net of love...”
Gandhi stated that in such a State, everyone is his
own ruler. He rules himself in such a manner that he is
never a hindrance to his neighbour. In the ideal State,
therefore, there is no political power because there is no
State. But the ideal is never fully realised in life. Hence
the classical statement of Thoreau that “that Government
is best which governs the least.” Self-government, according
to Gandhi meant continuous effort to be independent of
Governmental control. The stateless society of self-regulat-
ing harmony was ideal in the platonic sense that it was
a model to strive for, not a goal that could be attained. But
as the “golden age” was far off he thought it practicable
to work for the realisation of a “predominantly non-violent
society”. Gandhi stated: “ Let us be sure of our ideal. We
shall ever fail to realise it, but should never cease to strive
for it.”
Being a practical idealist, Gandhi realised that an ideal
society which he named as Sarvodaya Society could not
come into existence immediately; it was, therefore, nec-
essary to continue with the existing state but modifying it
 Gandhi 43
with the nobler, and virtuous ideals of sarvodaya till the
people were ready and worthy to be free of the State and
Government. This predominantly non-violent state was
Gandhi’s second best ideal society, Gandhi had to com-
promise between ideal and near-ideal; the former meaning
stateless sarvodaya society and the latter meaning predom-
inantly non-violent state. In 1931 on the eve of his departure
for London to attend the Round Table Conference, Gandhi
stated, “...I shall work for an India, in which the poorest
shall feel that it is their country in whose making they have
an effective voice; an India in which all communities shall
live in perfect harmony. There shall be no room in such
an India for the curse of untouchability or the curse of
intoxicating drinks or drugs; women will enjoy the same
rights as men. All interests not in conflict with the interest
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected,
whether foreign or indigenous.. .This is the India of my
dream. I shall be satisfied with nothing less.” This statement
gives us a complete picture of Gandhi’s contemplated state,
based on equality in the very comprehensive sense of the
term, i.e., social, economic and political. Freedom will exist
and flourish, because the state is subject to no one else,
and all its people, without barriers of caste, creed, religion,
colour and sex, participate in its governance. The policemen
will be reformers. Their police work will be confined to
robbers and dacoits. Quarrels between labour and capital
and actions like strikes will be few and far between in a
non-violent state. Similarly, there will be no room for
communal disturbances.
STATE AND SOCIETY To Gandhi, the individual is the
end and’, the state is a means to the end of his self-
realisation. Gandhi does not approve of any increase in the
powers of the state as it is detrimental to the development
of an individual’s personality and harmful to mankind at
large. Gandhi stresses on enlightened public opinion which
alone can keep a society healthy. Everyone will be his own
master and there will be equal freedom for all. Individual
44 Gandhi
freedom can make a man voluntarily surrender himself
completely to the service of society. He rejects unrestricted
individualism as the law of the jungle. Gandhi believes that
willing submission to social restraint for the well-being of
the whole society enriches both the individual and the
society of which he is a member.
Gandhi desires the evolution of a federation of auton-
omous village republics, each village having equal access
to the capital. He views the coercive authority of the state
as destructive of individual freedom and human personality.
Gandhi believes that the state is an unnecessary and
superfluous association for an ideal society based on
nonviolence, since the function of the state is the regulation
of social behaviour. He believes in a state of enlightened
anarchy where everyone knows everyone’s responsibility.
His non-violent social order leads to statelessness or philo-
sophical anarchy. Gandhi himself was aware of the limi-
tations of his unrealisable ideal. His kingdom of God on
earth seems impossible and impracticable in the contem-
porary materialistic world of ours.
Gandhi considers self-realisation to be the ultimate
aim of man’s life and service of the nearest and the best
known of God’s creation to be the only way for its
achievement. In order to ensure the speedy realisation of
this objective, he seeks to adumbrate the features of a well-
ordered society. He finds modern civilisation to be short
of the ideal society of his conception and in order to bring
the former in conformity with the latter he accepts the state
as an indispensable evil.
Gandhi favours the secular state and rejects the notion
of the theocratic state even for the regions where the whole
community has one religion. He never welcomes state
interference in matters of religion, for he believes that
religion is a personal matter. He does not appreciate even
state aid (partly or wholly) to any religious body.
 Gandhi 45
ON CIVILISATION
CIVILISATION: INDIAN AND MODERN In India as in
the other colonies those critical of their rulers’ civilisation
tended to be uncritically defensive about their own. Gandhi
was convinced that this seductive but suicidal trap had to
be scrupulously avoided. Like the other Indian leaders from
Rammohan Roy onwards, Gandhi was awed by the sheer
survival of Indian civilisation.
THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF INDIAN CIVILISATION
In Gandhi’s view Indian civilisation was not only plural
but pluralist, that is, committed to pluralism as a desirable
value; not just a collection of different ethnic, religious and
cultural groups but a unity-in-diversity. Gandhi believed
that over the centuries the Indians had ‘blended with one
another with the utmost freedom’ and made India a
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
microcosm of the world. Indian civilisation was a ‘synthesis
of different cultures’, a happy family whose members,
different in temperaments, habit and mode of thought,
enjoyed a relaxed relationship and shared enough in
common to wish and be able to live together in harmony.
It was not wholly Hindu, Muslim or Christian but a fusion
of all of them. Thanks to its history of tolerance and
synthesis, a unique spirit had grown up in India and become
an integral part of its way of life. Indeed India had
developed an unusual faculty, the ‘faculty for assimilation’,
and an ‘amazing tolerance of opposite ideas’.
For Gandhi to be on Indian soil was to breathe the
refreshing air of infinite diversity and to watch with
admiration and delight the most ingenious ways in which
men and groups skilfully negotiated their relations, and the
social order spontaneously adjust itself to their demands
without central coordination. Gandhi was convinced that
epistemological pluralism was unique to India and had
saved it from the dogmatism and arrogant proselytisation
that had disfigured many great religions. He did not explain
why India alone had succeeded in discovering and making
it the basis of its way of life. For Gandhi its epistemological
46 Gandhi
pluralism was the key to India’s long survival and its ability
to come out not only unscathed but positively richer from
the three “mighty assaults” it had faced in its history,
namely Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. In each case,
India imbibed ‘whatever was good’ in the three religions
and emerged refreshed “as one would rise out of a hot bath
with a warm glow”.
Gandhi argued that although Indian civilisation was
still living and fundamentally sound, it was inevitable that
a country so old and subjected to centuries of foreign rule,
depriving it of the opportunities for healthy development,
should develop serious ‘defects’ and ‘excrescences’. As
someone who loved it and wished to see it flourish, he
thought he had a duty to expose and remedy these defects.
He was deeply disturbed by the widespread tendency
among his countrymen to gloat over their past achievements
and either remain complacent about their current predica-
ment or blame it all on the British and hope that their
eventual departure would restore them to their ancient
glory. Gandhi knew he had to counter this tendency if lie
was to create a space for national self-examination.
Commenting on the familiar list of achievements of
the ancient Indians canvassed by a large array of writers,
Gandhi argued that some of these were pure fantasies,
products of an understandable but dangerous self-deception,
and that even if they were all real, nothing followed. The
past glory did not redeem the current degeneration. On the
contrary the greatness of their ancestors made the present
generation of Indians look even more degenerate and
heightened their sense of shame. Gandhi was even more
scathing about the tendency to blame the British for India’s
sorry state. The degeneration had long preceded British rule
and was largely responsible for the ease with which they
had been able to conquer India. Gandhi drew up a lengthy
catalogue of Indian defects covering the national character
and Hindu society, culture and religion. In Gandhi’s view,
the Hindu social structure had become degenerated and
 Gandhi 47
thrown up both a plethora of excessively rigid and morbidly
self-conscious castes obsessed with dietary and other taboos,
and a cluster of such ugly practices as untouchability, child
marriage, polygamy and polyandry, sacrificial violence, a
ban on foreign travel and temple prostitution. Hindu culture
had become callous and the old experimental spirit that had
once led to remarkable discoveries and vitalised it for
centuries had suffered a decline. He said, “The first thing
we have to do is to improve our national character. No
revolution is possible till we build our character.”
Gandhi contended that, contrary to the general impres-
sion, there was a deep streak of violence in Indian culture.
He chided his close friend C.F. Andrews for arguing that
non-violence was the central theme of major Hindu scrip-
tures. Gandhi did, of course, say that non-violence was
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
central to Indian civilisation in a way that was not true
of any other. Gandhi was most fearful of the eclectic
adoption of western values, institutions and practices.
Unless Indians knew what to adopt or borrow and why,
the adoption was bound to be indiscriminate and would
lead to the corruption and eventual erosion of their
civilisation. Gandhi felt that even Pandit Madan Mohan
Malaviya, one of the finest students and champions of
Indian civilisation, had “not properly understood the soul
of India in all its grandeur” and unwittingly borrowed many
a western value and practice that really subverted its very
basis. Gandhi did not think much of the grand project and
cultural synthesis advocated by both the liberal and con-
servative leaders. The two civilisations had very different
orientations and could not be integrated. For Gandhi, the
only proper and realistic course of action open to India was
to take a careful and critical look at itself in a “discrimi-
nating conservative spirit”. For the past few centuries India
had become static, ‘asleep’, ‘inert’. Thanks to its welcome
contact with the West, it had both awakened and gained
access to the scientific spirit of inquiry. It must now turn
inward, identify and critically reinterpret the central prin-
48 Gandhi
ciples of its civilisation in the light of modern needs and
use them as the basis of its carefully planned programme
of regeneration.
GANDHI’S CRITIQUE OF MODERN CIVILISATION
Gandhi’s critique of modern civilisation is far more complex
than is generally imagined and quite different from that of
such other thinkers as Rousseau, Carlyle, Ruskin, Tolstoy
and Thoreau, by the last three of whom he was deeply
influenced. In Gandhi’s view, modern civilisation is grounded
in a fatally flawed theory of man. Unlike ancient civilisation
which was soul- or spirit-centred, the modern one was body-
centred and in that sense ‘materialistic’. Gandhi argues that
modern civilisation suffered from several basic and inter-
related limitations. First, it lacked moral and spiritual
depth. Secondly since it had no guiding principles to decide
what desires deserved to be satisfied and within what limits,
it led to a way of life devoid of meaning and purpose.
Thirdly, it de-humanised man and had a profound anti-
human bias. Fourthly, it perverted the human psyche and
was suffused with the spirit of violence. Finally, it reduced
wisdom to knowledge and the latter to a form of power
only useful as an instrument of control over nature and
other men. It thereby not only perverted the pursuit of truth
but also lacked a system of knowledge capable of critically
evaluating its basic assumptions and objectives.
For Gandhi modern civilisation was propelled by the
two interrelated principles of greed and want. It was
controlled by ‘a few capitalist owners’ who had only one
aim, to make profit, and only one means to do so, to
produce goods that satisfied people’s wants. They had a
vital vested interest in constantly whetting jaded appetites,
planting new wants and creating a moral climate in which
not to want the goods daily pumped into the market and
to keep pace with the latest fashions was to be abnormal
and archaic. Indeed, since self-discipline or restriction of
desires, the very emblem of human dignity, threatened to
cause mass unemployment, throw the economic system out
 Gandhi 49
of gear and cause human suffering, it was seen as antisocial
and immoral.
For Gandhi machines relieved drudgery, created lei-
sure, increased efficiency and were indispensable when
there was a shortage of labour. Their use must therefore
be guided by a well-considered moral theory indicating how
men should live, spend their free time and relate to one
another. Since the modern economy lacked such a theory
and was only propelled by the search for profit, it mechanised
production without any regard for its wider moral, cultural
and other consequences. Machines were introduced even
when there was no obvious need for them and were in fact
likely to throw thousands out of work. This was justified
either in the name of increased leisure without anyone
asking why it was important and what to do with it, or
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
cheaper goods, as if man was only a passive consumer and
not an active moral being for whose sanity, self-respect and
dignity the right to work was far more important than the
gratification of trivial wants.
For Gandhi the mechanisation or fetishism of technol-
ogy was closely tied up with the larger phenomenon of
industrialism, another apparently self-propelling and end-
less process of creating larger and larger industries with no
other purpose than to produce cheap consumer goods and
maximise profit. He argued that since modern economic life
followed an inexorable momentum of its own, it reduced
men to being its helpless and passive victims and repre-
sented a new form of slavery, more comfortable and
invidious and hence more dangerous than the earlier ones.
Thanks to its restlessness and ‘mindless activism’ incor-
rectly equated with dynamism and energy, modern
civilisation undermined man’s unity with his environment
and fellowmen and destroyed stable and long-established
communities. In the absence of natural and social roots and
the stable and enduring landmarks which alone gave man
a sense of identity and continuity, modern man had become
abstract, indeterminate and empty.
50 Gandhi
Modern man, Gandhi went on, spent most of his
energy trying to steady himself in a hostile and unsteady
environment. He had neither the inclination nor the ability
to slow down the tempo of his life, relax, compose himself,
reflect on his pattern of life and nurture the inner springs
of energy. He lived outside himself and exhausted himself
physically and spiritually. Gandhi thought that modern
civilisation had a depressing air of ‘futility’ and ‘madness’
about it and was likely to destroy itself before long. In
Gandhi’s view, the exploitation of one’s fellowmen was
built into the very structure of modern civilisation. Con-
sumers were constantly manipulated into desiring things
they did not need and which were not in their long-term
interest. Workers were made to do jobs at subsistence wages
under inhuman conditions and given little opportunity or
encouragement to develop their intellectual and moral
potential. The poor were treated with contempt and held
responsible for their own misfortunes. The weaker races
were treated as if they were animals, and bought and sold,
and brutally exploited. The weaker nations were conquered,
mercilessly oppressed and used as dumping grounds for
surplus goods and as sources of cheap raw material. For
Gandhi imperialism was only an acute manifestation of the
aggressive and exploitative impulse lying at the very heart
of modern civilisation and at work in all areas of human
relationships.
Gandhi believed that modern civilisation rested on
and was sustained by massive violence. It involved violence
against oneself. It also involved violence against other
human beings at both the personal and collective levels.
Modern civilisation also involved an egregious amount of
violence against nature, which was largely seen as man’s
property to do with it what he liked. In Gandhi’s view
violence “oozed from every pore” of modern society and
had so much become a way of life that modern man could
not cope with himself or others without translating it into
the military language of conflict—struggle, mastery, sub-
 Gandhi 51
jugation, domination, victory and defeat.
For Gandhi a civilisation properly so-called placed the
human being at its centre and measured its greatness in
terms of its ability to produce men and women possessing
such distinctively human powers as self-determination,
autonomy, self-knowledge, self-discipline and social co-
operation. Modern civilisation did the opposite. By encour-
aging them to alienate their powers to large organisations
run by experts, it rendered human being passive, helpless
and heteronomous. Gandhi argued that the highly centralised
and bureaucratic modern state enjoying and jealously guard-
ing its monopoly of political power was a necessary product
of modern civilisation.
Although convinced that the foundation of modern
civilisation was ‘rotten’, Gandhi did not dismiss it altogether
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
but praised what he took to be its three great achievements.
Firstly, he admired its scientific spirit of inquiry. The
second great achievement of modern civilisation consisted
in understanding and bringing the natural world under
greater human control. Thirdly, in Gandhi’s view, modern
civilisation had greatly contributed to the organisational
side of life.
It is said that Gandhi largely concentrated on the
darker side of modern civilisation and overlooked some of
its great achievements and strengths. And since he saw it
from the outside he oversimplified it and did not fully
understand its complex structure. As a colonial subject
deeply sensitive to the economic damage colonialism had
caused in India, he concentrated on its exploitative tenden-
cies and equated it with industrialisation and capitalism.
He could not provide a satisfactory theory of imperialism
either, and naively imagined that every country embarking
on large-scale industrialisation was bound to become im-
perialist. But some of the comments he makes come
uncomfortably close to the truth of modern civilisation as
we perceive it today.
52 Gandhi
THE COMMUNAL ISSUE
Gandhi started his public life in South Africa while living
with Indian immigrants who professed the Islamic faith.
Gandhi clearly realised that there was a genuine need of
friendship between the Hindus and Muslims. In this regard
he said, “I never missed a single opportunity of removing
the obstacles in the way of unity. My South African
experiences had convinced me that it would be on the
question of Hindu-Muslim unity that my ahimsa would be
put to the severest test”. He understood that swaraj for India
would be an impossible dream without an indissoluble
union between the Hindus and Muslims of India.
The Khilafat and non-cooperation movements became
two sides of the same coin. And Khilafat became a part
of the Congress party’s programme. The idea was to achieve
Hindu-Muslim unity. In this regard he said, “If I had not
joined the Khilafat movement, I think I would have lost
everything. In joining it I have followed what I specially
regard as my dharma.”
During the 1920s communal riots took place in various
parts of the nation. This pained Gandhi to such an extent
that he took to 21 days’ fast as a penance to bring peace
in the nation. The violent clashes between the two com-
munities appeared to him as a symptom of a spiritual
malady which had to be immediately checked if sanity of
the true religious spirit was to be preserved.
Gandhi was very critical of hatred which he described
as the container of poison and a destructive force. Hatred
greatly affected the religious, economic, cultural and po-
litical life of the communities. It retarded progress in all
walks of life. He wished his message of non-violence to
reach each and every Indian. In this regard he put forward
some ideas for the people: He or she must have a living
faith in non-violence. That is impossible without a living
faith in God. The messengers of peace must have equal
regard for all the religions of the world. The peacebringer
must have a character beyond reproach and must be known
 Gandhi 53
for his strict impartiality.
Gandhi felt that the press always plays a dominant
role in the society for maintenance of communal harmony.
It exercises a powerful influence over the mind of the
people. He always wished that communal hatred should be
stopped through writings by responsible persons including
the editors and correspondents of newspapers and journals.
By the 1930s when the Khilafat committee had
gradually sunk to the position of a dead organisation and
the Muslim League had become an arena of factional fight,
the Muslim population was almost indifferent to all politics.
On the other hand Hindu communalists had emerged as
an organised political force and were making considerable
headway. Gandhi, however, continued his efforts to bring
leaders of all shades of opinion to participate in the freedom
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
movement. Due to his efforts thousands of Khudai-
Khidmatgars—a disciplined and well-organised political
force of the North-West Frontier Province—under the lead-
ership of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan offered patriotic ser-
vices during the civil disobedience movement. His actions
earned Abdul Ghaffar Khan the title of ‘Sarhadi Gandhi’.
Gandhi dwelt on communal unity in his writings on
constructive programme. He describes it as an unbreakable
heart unit. “The thing essential for achieving such unity
is for every Congressman, whatever his religion may be, to
represent in his own person a Hindu, Muslim, Christian,
Zoroastrian, Jew etc., shortly every Hindu and non-Hindu.
He has to feel his identity with every one of the millions
of the inhabitants of Hindustan.”
Throughout his long political career in India, Gandhi
sincerely put in efforts to seek Hindu-Muslim unity and
bring the two communities on a common platform for
successfully launching his anti-Raj movements. Time and
again, he restored to fasts whenever he noticed the lack of
communal unity and harmony in any region of the country.
Finally in the 1940s Gandhi was opposed to the idea
of partition. In his own way he advocated the scheme of
54 Gandhi
a united India thus asking Hindus, Muslims and other
communities to live in a common homeland. He, however,
could not succeed in spite of his best efforts in this
direction. A day came when a separate nation was created
on the basis of religion.
GANDHI AND THE PARTITION Like all great events
the partition of India was full of intriguing paradoxes.
Gandhi was passionately concerned with avoiding partition
and was shattered when it occurred. He was not particularly
worried about the loss of territory. Gandhi defined India
in civilisational and not territorial terms and was far more
concerned about the integrity of its civilisation than its
territorial boundary. Partition deeply disturbed him because
it shattered his conception of Indian civilisation. Indian
civilisation was for him plural and synthetic and not only
tolerated and respected but positively cherished diversity
and differences. It had provided a hospitable framework
within which different communities, cultures and religions
had lived side by side and made their distinctive contri-
butions. With all its limitations and occasional quarrels,
India had been a happy family to which all its children
felt privileged to belong. Since for Gandhi this was the
‘truth’ about India, partition was a ‘lie’. It denied the deepest
realities about the Indian civilisation and history and
contained a profound ‘untruth’.
Furthermore, Gandhi had fought for India’s indepen-
dence because, among other things, it represented a distinct
civilisation that was being eroded by British rule and
needed an independent state to protect it. Partition implied
that the grounds on which he had fought for India’s
independence were false. The contradiction between the
basis of Indian independence and that of partition haunted
Gandhi. When India was about to be divided, he plaintively
appealed to the Muslims in the rest of the country not to
emigrate to the new state of Pakistan. Even after partition
had become a reality, he kept urging his countrymen to
disprove Jinnah’s two-nation theory by providing complete
 Gandhi 55
security to the Muslims, if necessary at the risk of their
lives. Gandhi spent his last few months urging the intensely
bitter Hindu refugees not to harm the Muslims or take over
their property. He chided Sardar Patel for not doing enough
to protect them. And his last act, which probably cost him
his life, was to pressurise the government of India to give
to Pakistan its agreed share of the collective assets and
affirm the honour and spirit of India.
Although Gandhi was desperately anxious to avoid
partition, he could not do much to prevent it. He was
handicapped by the complex legacy of history and the
potentially explosive patterns of social and economic in-
equalities between the two communities. He had to function
within a colonial context. He also had his fair share of
human limitations and made errors of judgement. To an
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
extent, his conception of Indian civilisation was limited
and, although never anti-Muslim, it had a strong Hindu
orientation. However, it had nothing in common with the
ethnic or even cultural nationalism of Tilak and Aurobindo,
let alone such Hindu fundamentalists as Savarkar. Thanks
to the non-nationalist philosophical framework within which
he conceptualised the independence movement, our free-
dom struggle did not throw up a Hindu nationalism to
match that of the Muslim League. Instead, it guaranteed full
protection to Muslims even under the greatest provocation,
laid the foundations of a secular state, bore no hostility to
the British, and gave the country the confidence to invite
Mountbatten to stay on as Governor-General of independent
India and use him as an instrument of the new state. All
this was truly remarkable in a people enjoying indepen-
dence after hundreds of years of foreign rule and intensely
bitter about both the fact and the manner of their country’s
partition. While Gandhi’s spiritual approach to politics is
held by some scholars as partly responsible for the partition,
it must also be given most of the credit for containing the
nationalist virus and for giving the independence movement
a rare measure of breadth and depth.
56 Gandhi
IDEAS ON SOCIALISM
Gandhi was not a doctrinaire socialist advocating state
ownership of the means of production. He himself used to
say that he was not a socialist in the strict contemporary
meaning of the term but that his type of socialism was
village socialism. It was his firm view that it is the
fundamental law of Nature, without exception, that Nature
produces enough for our wants from day to day, and if only
everybody took enough for himself and nothing more, there
would be no pauperism in this world and there would be
no man dying of starvation. He said, “I am no socialist and
I do not want to dispossess those who have got possessions.”
According to Gandhi, socialism and communism of the
West are based on the belief in the essential selfishness of
human nature. Gandhi did not subscribe to that view. He
did not approve of the idea of class-war. His own method
was “conversion”, not compulsion. In his opinion, class-
war was not inevitable if the doctrine of trusteeship was
accepted and implemented.
If Gandhi was a socialist at all, his socialism was
entirely his own. Socialism did not represent itself to him
as a necessary and logical stage in social evolution growing
out of production relations of capitalism. It was not out of
any theoretical study or critical intellectual analysis of the
social development of history that Gandhi arrived at his
form of socialism. He developed his concept when he was
confronted with the growing influence of scientific social-
ism and when the whole country was surcharged with
socialist slogans.
Gandhi was not a dogmatist. He always tried to adapt
himself to changed situations. It was only after 1934 when
a substantial section of Congressmen and the educated
public in general turned for the first time towards socialism,
that he also began to call himself a socialist. But he was
a socialist not in the Marxist sense of the term. He said,
“I call myself a socialist, I love the very word but I will
not preach the same socialism as most socialists do.” During
 Gandhi 57
his detention in Aga Khan Palace, Gandhi read for the first
time, at the age of 74, Karl Marx’s first volume of Das
Capital. He did not care whether Marxism was right or
wrong. Moral indignation against acquisitiveness was the
principle of socialism for him. He said, “All I know is that
the poor are being ousted, something has got to be done
for them. To me this is axiomatic.” His conception of
economic equality did not mean that everyone would
literally have the same amount. Gandhi often claimed in
the course of his discussions with communist and socialist
friends that he was a better communist or socialist that they
were. Their goal was identical. The difference in regard to
the means and the technique employed was, however,
fundamental. Changing the structure of society through
violence had no attraction for Gandhi because he believed
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
that it would not benefit the dumb millions of India.
Gandhi believed that economic justice could not be
achieved through violence and coercion. He believed that
exploitation of the poor could be ended not by destroying
a few capitalists but by removing the ignorance of the poor
and teaching them to non-cooperate with their exploiters.
He did not believe that there was an irreconcilable antag-
onism between the interests of the capitalists and those of
the masses. What was needed, according to him, was not
the extinction of capitalists, but a transformation of the
existing relationship into something healthier and purer.
Socialism for Gandhi was neither a gospel for the
expropriation of the rich nor a programme for the
nationalisation of the means of production, distribution, and
exchange, but it was based essentially on ideas of non-
possession, trusteeship, non-violence, human equality, and
the service of the poor. Gandhi’s faith was in individual
and cooperative efforts and not in the State. He could not
trust the State with unlimited power for bringing about a
radical social and economic transformation. Gandhi wanted
to establish a village-based, utterly decentralised society
where power would be universally dispersed. Gandhi, while
58 Gandhi
attacking the inequitable and unjustifiable basis of capital-
ism and vested interests, pleaded for the adoption of
trusteeship.
CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC ORDER
For Gandhi, that economics is untrue which ignores or
disregards moral values. The extension of the law of non-
violence in the domain of economics means nothing less
than the introduction of moral values as a factor to be
considered in regulating international commerce. According
to Gandhi, the economic constitution of India, and for that
matter of the world, should be such that no one under it
should suffer from want of food and clothing. Everybody
should be able to get sufficient work to enable him or her
to make the two ends meet. And this ideal can be
universally realised only if the means of production of the
elementary necessities of life remain in the control of the
masses. These should be freely available to all as God’s air
and water are or ought to be; they should not be made a
vehicle of traffic for the exploitation of others. Their
monopolisation by any country or group of countries or
persons would be unjust. Gandhi held that “the neglect of
this simple principle is the cause of the destitution that we
witness today not only in this unhappy land but in other
parts of the world too.”
Gandhi said, “My ideal is equal distribution, but so
far as I can see, it is not to be realised. I therefore work
for equitable distribution.” According to him, love and
exclusive possession can never go together. Theoretically
when there is perfect love, there must be perfect non-
possession. The body is our last possession. So a man can
only exercise perfect love and be completely dispossessed
if he is prepared to embrace death and renounce his body
for the sake of human service. He held that economic
equality is the master key to non-violent independence.
Working for economic equality means abolishing the eternal
conflict between capital and labour. It means the levelling
 Gandhi 59
down of the few rich in whose hands is concentrated the
bulk of the nation’s wealth on the one hand, and a levelling
up of the semi-starved naked millions, on the other. A non-
violent system of government is clearly an impossibility so
long as the wide gulf between the rich and the hungry
millions persists.
According to Gandhi the real implication of equal
distribution is that each man shall have the wherewithal
to supply all his natural wants and more. To bring this ideal
into being the entire social order has got to be reconstructed.
A society based on non-violence cannot nurture any other
ideal. As he said, “We may not perhaps be able to realise
the goal but we must bear it in mind and work unceasingly...
To the same extent as we progress towards our goal we
shall find contentment and happiness, and to that extent
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
too, shall we have contributed towards the bringing into
being of a non-violent society.”
At the root of this doctrine of equal distribution must
lie that of the trusteeship of the wealthy for superfluous
wealth possessed by them. For according to the doctrine
they may not possess a rupee more than their neighbours.
In this argument honesty on the part of the trustee is
assumed. Gandhi’s picture of economic equality conveyed
the ideas that everyone must have a balanced diet, a decent
house to live in, facilities for the education of one’s
children, and adequate medical relief. He was not opposed
to everything above and beyond the bare necessities of life
but these must come after the essential needs of the poor
were satisfied.
At the centre of Gandhi’s economic programme for
India was his plan for revival of the village economy. He
took up the cause of the peasants as he perceived the general
tendency towards urbanisation and exploitation of the
villages for the sake of urban-centred economy. He saw that
the only way of bringing hope of good living to the people
in the rural areas was by making the villages the centre-
piece in the economic programme. In his judgement any
60 Gandhi
kind of economy which exploits people and concentrates
wealth in a few hands, stands self-condemned.
According to Gandhi, khadi and village industries
represent the symbol of economic freedom and equality. He
felt that real economic freedom means that the common
necessities of life should be found through the labour of
villagers. Gandhi was opposed to the machine age, but not
to the machine as such. He believed that machine is good
when it serves man, but not when it seeks to master him.
He held that machinery was harmful when the same thing
could be done easily by millions of hands not otherwise
occupied. An industrialised India would mean utter ex-
tinction of many millions. Therefore he never agreed with
those who favoured the use of machines on a large scale
in India.
TRUSTEESHIP
Concerning the form of ownership of property, Gandhi
proposed his well-known theory of trusteeship, an economic
extension of his philosophical concept of man as a trustee
of all he had, including his powers, capacities, energy and
time. The theory was intended to avoid the evils and
combine the advantages of both capitalism and communism,
and to socialise property without nationalising it. As he
imagined it, every industrialist employing more than a
certain number of workers was to look upon his industry
not as his property but as a social trust. He was to work
along with his employees, take no more than what he
needed for a moderately comfortable life, look on them as
members of his family and be jointly responsible with them
for the management of industry, and to provide healthy
working conditions and welfare schemes for them and their
families. Both the owner and the workers were to regard
themselves as trustees of the consumers, and to take care
not to produce shoddy goods or charge exorbitant prices.
Part of the moderate profit they made was to be devoted
to the welfare of the community, and the rest to the
improvement of the industry. The owner was free to
 Gandhi 61
bequeath his industry to his children or whomever he liked
only if they agreed to run it in the spirit of trusteeship.
Asked if any of his capitalist friends had become a
trustee, Gandhi admitted that none had; even Jamnalal Bajaj
had ‘come near, but only near it’. Asked what should be
done to get them to become such trustees he replied that
the sustained pressure of educated and organised public
opinion, including a satyagraha, was the best way. If that
did not work, he was reluctantly prepared for the State to
impose trusteeship by law. It would prescribe the remunera-
tion to be paid to the trustee ‘commensurate with the service
rendered and its value to society’. He was free to choose
his heir, but the choice had to be finalised by the State.
Gandhi thought that such a cooperative decision checked
both trustee and state power. The trustee retained formal
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
ownership of his property; his use of the profit, his income
and choice of heir were subject to state control. As Gandhi
put it, “I desire to end capitalism almost if not quite as
much as the most advanced socialist and even communist.
But our methods differ, our languages differ”.
Professor Dantwala and other socialists had a long
discussion with Gandhi regarding the nature and impli-
cations of his theory of trusteeship. They summed up his
views in a draft, to which he made a few changes all
designed to strengthen its egalitarian thrust. The final
version read as follows:
(i) Trusteeship provides a means of transforming the
present capitalist order of society into an egali-
tarian one. It gives no quarter to capitalism, but
gives the present owning class a chance of
reforming itself. It is based on the faith that
human nature is never beyond redemption.
(ii) It does not recognise any right of private own-
ership of property except in so far as it may be
permitted by society for its own welfare.
(iii) It does not exclude legislative regulation of the
ownership and use of wealth.
62 Gandhi
(iv) Under state-regulated trusteeship an individual
will not be free to hold rouse wealth for selfish
satisfaction or in disregard to the interests of
society.
(v) Just as it is proposed to fix a decent minimum
living wage, even so a limit should be fixed for
the maximum income that would be allowed to
any person in society. The difference between
such incomes should be reasonable and equitable
and variable from time to time, so much so that
the tendency would be towards obliteration of the
difference.
(vi) Under the Gandhian economic order the character
of production will be determined by social ne-
cessity and not by personal whim or greed.
The draft was a fairly accurate statement of Gandhi’s
mature economic views. Since the early 1930s he had
increasingly begun to turn radical, partly in response to the
political pressures of the discontented groups and partly
because he was beginning to see more clearly than before
the economic implications of his moral and political
thought.
To Gandhi man was the centre of all considerations.
He believed that an innate relationship existed between
man, the system in which he functioned and the processes
of production in which he was engaged. One could not
transform any one of these in an isolated way without
affecting the others. He had no use for programmes predi-
cated merely on material progress. Freedom to him was an
essential precondition of growth and development of per-
sonality of the individual or the society. He therefore
rejected state socialism as it was bound to lead to dicta-
torship. Gandhi did not believe in the inevitability of class-
war. If society is to progress mere extinction of landlord
and capitalist was not adequate, but a more radical trans-
formation of the relationship between the landlord and the
tenant, capital and labour was called for. It was not capital
 Gandhi 63
that was evil, only its wrong use.
Gandhi rejected the use of violence in bringing about
a classless society and hoped that it could be achieved
through love and persuasion and by arousing the social
consciousness of the rich as well as the strength and unity
of the poor. He was opposed to state capitalism. Gandhi
saw clearly that this doctrine would not become a voluntary
code of conduct either automatically or within reasonable
time. “I would be very happy, indeed,” he said, “if the
people concerned behaved as trustees; but if they fail, I
believe we shall have to deprive them of their possession
through the state with the minimum exercise of violence.”
His socialism was not to be thrust from above. It was to
come from below. Gandhi envisaged the enforcement of the
rights and obligations of trusteeship through creating public
of the village community.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
opinion from below and real power at grassroots, at the level
Gandhi’s approach to trusteeship was comprehensive,
based on his approach to life and society. He derived
inspiration from the spiritual foundation of Indian culture,
which alone helps in uplifting man. Trusteeship is not a
make-shift formula to give concessions to capitalists. It is
a philosophy of life and organisation. It is a method of
management, a method to bring about inter-personal rela-
tionship, where status symbolised by authority, riches or
heredity merges itself with the common man. It envisages
a new structure and a system of organisation based on non-
violence, the welfare of all and sharing of responsibility,
fruits of production as well as decision-making. As a part
of the quest to express the concept of trusteeship through
a system of industrial management where owners and
workers will become co-trustees for society, Gandhi founded
in his own lifetime some all-India organisations. One was
the All India Spinners Association; the other was All India
Village Industries Organisation. In post-independent India,
Bhoodan, Gramdan and Sampattidan movements launched
by Acharya Vinoba Bhave provide yet another example of
64 Gandhi
a voluntary movement to create a social climate on the lines
of trusteeship.
Gandhi, of course, had to be most careful lest he
should alienate his capitalist friends, whose moral and
especially financial support he badly needed for the struggle,
or heighten the expectations of the poor and provoke
violence, or accentuate the deep ideological divisions
within the Congress and endanger its precarious unity. From
time to time, he therefore moderated his utterances. Since
he was committed to non-violence which had its obvious
limits, and since he was averse to an interventionist state,
there was also some doubt about how far he would have
pressed his economic radicalism expressed through trust-
eeship into practice. Furthermore, he was far more sym-
pathetic to the demands of the landhungry peasants than
the industrial workers, because the former provided the bulk
of his supporters and had a critical role to play in his
conception of the regenerated India. All this had led some
of his Marxist commentators to cast doubt on the sincerity
of his radical pronouncements and to call him a ‘mascot’
or ‘spokesman’ of the capitalist class. The criticism is
misconceived and fails to take account of the evolution of
his economic thought.
DOCTRINE OF NON-POSSESSION
The doctrine of non-possession is one of the principal
doctrines of Gandhian economics. There is an essential
linkage between this doctrine and other doctrines such as
those of non-violence, non-exploitation, non-stealing, and
trusteeship. Gandhi formulated the doctrine of non-posses-
sion as one of the key philosophical principles underlying
the well-known political movement known as the Satyagraha
Movement. Politically it was a non-violent civil disobe-
dience or Civil Resistance movement. Philosophically, it
was a movement led by a force which is born out of an
intense desire to follow the path of truth. Gandhi viewed
satyagraha essentially as a process of reformation and
 Gandhi 65
purification of the individual who was the key to hi social
order. Among other things, a satyagrahi—a follower of
truth—has to pursue the principle of non-hoarding or
nonpossession. “In observing the vow of non-hoarding,”
wrote Gandhi, “the main thing to be borne in mind is not
to store up anything which we do not require. For agri-
culture, we may keep bullocks, if we use them, and the
equipment required for them. Where there is a recurring
famine, we shall no doubt store foodgrains. But we shall
ask ourselves whether bullocks and foodgrains are, in fact,
needed.” In another context he wrote: “This principle (non-
possession) is really a part of non-stealing. Just as one must
not deceive so must one not possess anything which one
does not really need. It would be breach of this principle
to possess unnecessary foodstuffs, clothing or furniture. For
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
instance, one must not keep a chair, if one can do without
it. In observing this principle, one is led to a progressive
simplification of one’s life.”
The Gandhian doctrine of non-possession is offered
as an indictment of one of the most powerful drives in
modern economic society: the drive for multiplication of
wants, fuelled by an insatiable propensity for superfluous
or conspicuous consumption. One may justify such con-
sumption as an essential prerequisite for economic growth
and stability in an affluent society. To Gandhi, it was an
economic issue as well as a moral issue. To him, ethics and
economics were inseparable. He believed that possession of
goods, beyond the limits of need, distinguished from want
or demand is a form of theft and, therefore, immoral. He
realised that the perfect ideal of nonpossession is unattain-
able because it demands total renunciation. His pragmatic
mind would accept something short of the perfect realisation
of the ideal; namely, a movement towards it through the
process of gradual reduction of wants and minimisation of
consumption. The doctrine of non-possession, if it implied
only voluntary reduction of wants, could be construed as
a totally negative doctrine. But Gandhi expounded it as a
66 Gandhi
positive doctrine. According to him, it would teach that
everyone should limit his own possessions to what is
needed by him and spend tile rest for the welfare of others.
He considered this as a desirable, non-violent method of
reducing inequality of income distribution and
maldistribution of wealth. He was aware of other means of
dealing with these problems but lie discounted them
because of his fear that other methods would violate either
the principle of non-stealing or the principle of non-
violence through the coercive powers of the state. Gandhi
would put utmost reliance oil the individual and his moral
awakening to bring about radical changes in the distribution
of income and wealth in society.
Gandhi’s doctrine of non-possession has another im-
portant implication for the economy of his ideal state. If
this doctrine is widely adopted it would change the
orientation of production from demands to needs. The
principal structural change that Gandhi stressed upon was
decentralization of economic decision-making and recon-
struction of the small village economy as an essentially self-
sufficient and self-governing economic unit. Gandhian
principles of economics can work only in a Gandhian
economic system; these cannot be superimposed on any
other economic system with radically different operating
characteristics. Gandhi shared incisive insight into the
inherent nature of modern, acquisitive societies bent upon
accumulation of goods and multiplication of wants in a
never-ending process. He had serious doubts about the
ability of modern society to survive if it went along its
present course. He was fearful of the high probability of
the reconstruction of societies through an eruption of
violence. As an alternative to this path of violence, he
offered a set of doctrines for social reconstruction consistent
with the fundamental principle of non-violence. The doc-
trine is thus both a challenge and a response to the
“acquisitive society”. It is a challenge because it proposes
a radical transformation of society through the transfor-
 Gandhi 67
mation of the individual. It is a response because it suggests
a way to fill one of the most serious gaps in modern
society—the moral gap, the widening gap between moral
progress, and technological and other material measures of
progress.
THE SPIRIT OF HUMANITY
Unceasing is the toil of those who are labouring to build
a world where the poorest have a right to sufficient food,
to light, air and sunshine in their homes, to hope, dignity
and beauty in their lives, Gandhi is among the foremost
of the servants of humanity. He joins forces with men of
fixed convictions to work by the most direct means possible
for the cure of evils and the prevention of dangers.
Democracy for him is not a matter of phrases but of social
reality. All his public activities in South Africa and India
man. @UPSC_THOUGHTS
can be understood only if we know his love for the common
When Gandhi was in South Africa he saw that Indians,
though nominally free citizens of the British Empire, were
subjected to grave disabilities. Both church and State denied
equality of rights to non-European races, and Gandhi started
his passive resistance movement on a mass scale to protest
against the oppressive restrictions. He stood out for the
essential principle that men qua men are equal and artificial
distinctions based on race and colour were both unreason-
able and immoral. He revealed to the Indian community
its actual degradation and inspired it with a sense of its
own dignity and honour. His effort was not confined to the
welfare of Indians. He would not justify the exploitation
of the African natives or the better treatment of Indians on
account of their historic culture.
In India it was his ambition to rid the country of its
divisions and discords, to discipline the masses to self-
dependence, raise women to a plane of political, economic
and social equality with men, end the religious hatreds
which divide the nation, and cleanse Hinduism of its social
68 Gandhi
abomination of untouchability. “If I have to be reborn, I
should wish to be born an untouchable so that I may share
their sorrows, sufferings and the affronts levelled at them,
in order that I may endeavour to free myself and them from
that miserable condition”. Though Gandhi prides himself
on being a conservative Hindu, there has not been a more
vigorous critic of the rigours and disabilities of caste, of
the curse of untouchability, of the vice in temples, of cruelty
to cattle and the animal world. “I am a reformer through
and through. But my zeal never leads me to the rejection
of any of the essential things of Hinduism.”
Gandhi’s main charge against the British Government
in India was that it had led to the oppression of the poor.
In the broadcast address which he gave from London to
America in 1931, Gandhi referred to the “semi-starved
millions scattered throughout the seven hundred thousand
villages dotted over a surface nineteen hundred miles long
and fifteen hundred miles broad.” He thinks that we have
been snared and enslaved, and our souls conquered for a
mess of pottage. A spirit and a culture which had soared
up in the rishis of the Upanishads, the Buddhist monks,
Hindu sannyasins and Muslim fakirs, cannot be content
with cars and radios and plutocracy. Our vision his been
dimmed and our way lost. We had taken a wrong twist
which dispossessed, impoverished and embittered our
agricultural population, corrupted, coarsened and blinded
our workers, and had given us millions of children with
blank faces, dead eyes and dropping mouths. He holds that
beneath out present bafflement and exasperation the bulk
of the people retain a hunger for the realisation of the old
dream of genuine liberty, real self-respect; of a life where
none is rich and none is poor, where the extremes of luxury
and leisure are abolished and where industry and commerce
exist in a simple form.
Gandhi has tried to re-kindle a torpid generation with
the fire that burnt in his soul, with his passion for freedom.
In freedom men and women reveal their best; in slavery
 Gandhi 69
they are debased. To liberate the ordinary human being from
the restrictions, internal and external, which warp his
nature has been the aim of freedom. As a great defender
of human liberty, he struggled to release the country from
foreign control. He employed spiritual weapons and refused
to draw the sword, and in the process trained the people
for independence, making them capable of winning and
holding it.
Whether it was the South African Government or the
British Government, whether it was the Indian mill-owners
or the Hindu priests or the Indian princes who were the
objects of Gandhi’s criticism and attack, the underlying
spirit is exactly the same in all these different activities.
“I recognise no God except the God that is to be found in
the hearts of the dumb millions. They do not recognise his
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
presence; I do. And I worship the God that is Truth, or
Truth which is God, through the service of these millions”.
Gandhi is the prophet of a liberated life wielding
power over millions of human beings by virtue of his
exceptional holiness and heroism. There will always be
some who will find in such rare examples of sanctity the
note of strength and stark reality which is missing in a life
of general goodwill, conventional morality or vague aes-
thetic affectation which is all that many modern teachers
have to offer. To be true, to be simple, to be pure and gentle
of heart, to remain cheerful and contented in sorrow and
danger, to love life and not to fear death, to serve the spirit
and not to be haunted by the spirits of the dead,—that is
the essence of nobility.
INDIVIDUAL Gandhi always lays stress on the individ-
ual as the starting point of his scheme of social regeneration.
He believed in the absolute oneness of God and, therefore,
also of humanity. Human life was considered as an undi-
vided whole. The individual constitutes the primary con-
cern of Gandhi. To him, the problem of the group is
essentially the problem of the individual. The progress of
the society depends upon the soul force of the average
70 Gandhi
individual. A man can become a good citizen and a true
satyagrahi only by disciplining his life according to the
Gandhian ethical principles. His satyagraha works from the
individual to the social order and vice versa. The individual
must live for social service, increasingly by self-direction
rather than by mere habit. Thus, in his plan of social
reconstruction he attaches great importance to the indi-
vidual with whom lies the first step and then makes the
institutional approach. Actually the individual occupies the
heart—the centre of his consciousness whose moral regen-
eration is the primary concern of Gandhian philosophy.
Gandhi refuses to accept the empirical self as true self
and, while recognising the brute in man, he calls for self-
protection. In his view, the attributes of being uniquely
human are neither fixed for all times nor immutable. He
believes that goodness in man can be articulated, strength-
ened and perfected. Once the good in man is aroused, man
can move on the path of self-realisation. Gandhi pegs this
hope on the perfectibility of human nature.
For Gandhi, self-development is learning to be human,
a learning that is characterised by a ceaseless process of
inner illumination and self-transformation. It is basically an
understanding of one’s true being and letting that being
unfold itself.
ON SELF-DISCIPLINE
According to Gandhi, civilisation, in the real sense of the
term, consists not in the multiplication but in the deliberate
and voluntary restriction of wants. This alone promotes real
happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for
service. He held that a certain degree of physical harmony
and comfort is necessary, but above that level, it becomes
a hindrance instead of help. Therefore the ideal of creating
an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems
to be a delusion and a snare. The satisfaction of one’s
physical needs, even the intellectual needs of one’s narrow
self, must reach a dead stop before it degenerates into
 Gandhi 71
physical and intellectual voluptuousness. According to
Gandhi a man must arrange his physical and cultural
circumstances so that they may not hinder him in his
service of humanity, on which all his energies should be
concentrated. Gandhi held that the relation between body
and mind is so intimate that, if either of them got out of
order, the whole system would suffer. Hence it follows that
a pure character is the foundation of health in the real sense
of the term; and we may say that all evil thoughts and evil
passions are but different forms of disease.
Gandhi believed that perfect health can be attained
only by living in obedience to the laws of God, and defying
the power of Satan. True happiness is impossible without
true health and true health is impossible without a rigid
control of the palate. And he who has conquered his senses
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has really conquered the whole world, and becomes a part
of God. Gandhi opined that it is wrong and immoral to seek
to escape the consequence of one’s acts. It is good for a
person who over eats to have an ache and then undergo
a fast. It is bad for him to indulge his appetite and then
escape the consequences by taking tonics or other medicine.
It is still worse for a person to indulge in his animal
passions and escape the consequences of his acts. Nature
is relentless and will have full revenge for any such
violation of her laws. Moral results can only be produced
by moral restraints. All other restraints defeat the very
purpose” for which they are intended.
Gandhi said, “Do not brood over the passions. When
you have once come to a decision, do not be reconsidering
it. Taking a vow implies that the mind ceases to think on
the subject of that vow any longer.” Further, Gandhi argued
that he who has mastered his senses is first and foremost
among men. All virtues reside in him. God manifests
Himself through him. Such is the power of self-discipline.
He argued that just as for conducting scientific experiments
there is an indispensable scientific course of instruction, in
the same way, strict preliminary discipline is necessary to
72 Gandhi
qualify a person to make experiments in the spiritual realm.
He held that abstemiousness from intoxicating drinks and
drugs, and from all kinds of foods, especially meat, is
undoubtedly a great aid to the evolution of the spirit, but
it is by no means an end in itself. Many a man eating meat
and living in fear of God is nearer his freedom than a man
religiously abstaining from meat and many other things, but
blaspheming God in every one of his acts. Experience had
taught Gandhi that silence was a part of the spiritual
discipline of a votary of truth. The tendency to exaggerate,
to suppress or modify the truth, wittingly or unwittingly,
is a natural weakness of man, and silence is necessary in
order to surmount it. A man of few words will rarely be
thoughtless in his speech; he will measure every word.
Gandhi insisted on disciplining one’s thoughts. According
to him, all power comes from the preservation of and
sublimation of the vitality that is responsible for the creation
of life. This vitality is continuously and even unconsciously
dissipated by evil or even rambling, disorderly, unwanted
thoughts. And since thought is the root of all speech and
action, the quality of speech and action corresponds to that
of thought. Hence perfectly controlled thought is itself a
power of the highest potency and becomes self-acting.
VIEWS ON EDUCATION
By education, Gandhi meant an all-round drawing out of
the best in child and man—body, mind and spirit. He
argued that literacy is neither the beginning nor the end
of education. It is only one of the means whereby men and
women can be educated. Literacy in itself is no education.
He was of the view that children should be taught useful
handicrafts from the beginning. Thus every school can be
made self-supporting, the condition being that the state
takes over the products made by students. He held that true
education of the intellect can only come through a proper
exercise and training of the bodily organs e.g., feet, hands,
eyes, ears, nose, etc. In other words, an intelligent use of
 Gandhi 73
the bodily organs in a child provides the best and quickest
way of developing his intellect. But unless the development
of the mind and body goes hand in hand with a correspond-
ing awakening of the soul, the development of body and
mind would prove to be lopsided. By spiritual training
Gandhi meant teaching the heart to feel. Gandhi held that
the highest development of the mind and the soul is
possible under such a system of education. Every handicraft
has to be taught not merely mechanically but scientifically,
i.e., the child should know the why and the wherefore of
every process.
Gandhi’s ideas on education comprise the following:
1. He was not opposed to education even of the highest
type attainable in the world. 2. The state must pay for it
wherever it has definite use for it. 3. He was opposed to
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all higher education being paid for from the general
revenue. 4. It was his firm conviction that the vast amount
of the so-called education in arts given in our colleges is
a sheer waste and has resulted in unemployment among
the educated classes. 5. The medium of foreign language
through which higher education has been imparted has
caused incalculable intellectual and moral injury to the
nation.
According to Gandhi, it would be good economy to
set apart a class of students whose business would be to
learn the best of what is to be learnt in the different
languages of the world and give the translation in the
vernaculars. Universities must be made self-supporting. The
state should simply educate those whose services it would
need. For all other branches of learning it should encourage
private effort. The medium of instruction should be altered
at once and at any cost, the provincial languages being given
their rightful place. He said that he would prefer temporary
chaos in higher education to the criminal waste that is daily
accumulating. Gandhi said that he was not an enemy of
higher education as such but to the kind of education given
in this country by the British. Under his scheme there will
74 Gandhi
be more and better libraries, laboratories and research
institutes. Under it the nation should have an army of
chemists, engineers and other experts who will serve society
and answer the varied and growing requirements of a people
who are becoming increasingly conscious of their rights and
wants. And all these experts will speak, not a foreign
tongue, but the language of the people. The knowledge
gained by them will be the common property of the people.
There will be truly original work instead of mere imitation.
And cost will be evenly and justly distributed.
On one occasion, he said, “I do not want my house
to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed.
I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house
as freely as possible. I would have our young men and
women with literary tastes to learn as much of English and
other world languages as they like, and then expect them
to give the benefits of their learning to India and to the
world like a Bose, a Ray or the Poet himself. But 1 would
not have a single Indian to forget, neglect or be ashamed
of his mother tongue, or to feel that he or she cannot think
or express the best thoughts in his or her own vernacular.
Mine is not a religion of the prison-house.”
Gandhi heartily endorsed Pandi Khare’s proposition
that music should form part of the syllabus at the primary
education level. Physical drill, handicrafts, drawing and
music should go hand in hand in order to draw the best
out of the boys and girls and create in them a real interest
in their work. According to Gandhi, music means rhythm,
order. Its effort is electrical. It immediately soothes. Unfor-
tunately, like our Shastras, music has been the prerogative
of the few. It has never become nationalised in the modern
sense. Gandhi said, “If I had any influence with volunteer
boy scouts and seva samiti organisations, I would make
compulsory a proper singing in company of national songs.
And to that end I should have great musicians attending
every congress or conference and teaching mass music.” He
held that the utterly false idea that intelligence can be
 Gandhi 75
developed only through book reading should give place to
the truth that quickest development of the mind can be
achieved by the artisan’s work being learnt in a scientific
manner. True development of the mind commences as soon
as the apprentice is taught at every step why a particular
manipulation of the hand or a tool is required. The problem
of the unemployment of students can be solved without
difficulty, if they will rank themselves among the common
labourers. Gandhi argued that it is better for children to
have much of the preliminary instruction imparted to them
vocally. To impose on children of tender age a knowledge
of the alphabet and the ability to read before they can gain
general knowledge is to deprive them, whilst they are fresh,
of the power of assimilating instruction by word of mouth.
Literary training by itself adds not an inch to one’s moral
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
height, and character-building is independent of literary
training. Gandhi was a firm believer in the principle of free
and compulsory primary education for India. He held that
we shall realise this only by teaching the children a useful
vocation and utilising it as a means for cultivating their
mental, physical, and spiritual faculties. He was of the
opinion that economic calculations in connection with
education were not to be considered sordid or out of place.
True economics never militates against the highest
ethical standard, just as true ethics to be worth its name
must, at the same time, be also good economics. Gandhi
valued education in the different sciences. He wanted to
develop, in the child his hands, his brain, and his soul,
because “the hands have almost atrophied. The soul has
been altogether ignored”. Gandhi remarked that a wise
parent allows the child to make mistakes. It is good for
children once in a while to burn their fingers. He was also
strongly in favour of introducing sex education as part of
the curriculum. But the sex education that he stood for had
for its object the conquest and sublimation of the sexual
passion. Such education should automatically serve to bring
home to children the essential distinction between a man
76 Gandhi
and brute, to make them realise that it is man’s privilege
and pride to be gifted with the faculties of head and heart
both, that he is a thinking no less than a feeling animal,
and to renounce the sovereignty of reason over the blind
instinct is, therefore, to renounce a man’s estate. In man,
reason quickens and guides the feeling; in brute, the soul
lies ever dormant. The aim of education, for Gandhi, was
to awaken the heart. To awaken the heart is to awaken the
dormant soul, to awaken reason and to inculcate discrimi-
nation between good and evil.
GANDHI AND NEW SOCIAL ORDER
Gandhi is essentially a man of faith. His conception of the
new social order is not a secular concept. It is rooted in
religion and sustained by faith in the moral law, the divinity
and dignity of man. Gandhi is critical of our civilisation
and its ways of life. He stands for a new world order made
in the image of social justice and freedom. His concept of
the new social order seeks to go ahead of the age of sensate
culture. It is spiritual in the sense that it believes in the
divine potentialities of man to grow to his best in close
cooperation with all. Its ideal is the universal well-being
here on earth and the realisation of a spiritual community
of all men. In his view there is no possibility for man to
grow to his best apart from the society and the community
he lives in. Self-development has necessarily to be through
social participation. One cannot grow to one’s best level
leaving the rest. Human happiness and misery are organic.
Gandhi is opposed to the doctrine of total renuncia-
tion of all activities and the seeking of individual salvation
by going to the mountain tops and monasteries. He does
not agree with the negative view of liberation, namely,
giving up all our commitments and social ties. The supreme
spiritual ideal for man is the realisation of God in himself.
To realise god in man as the soul of his soul, man needs
to practise moral virtues and keep his mind pure. Service
to humanity is the highest form of worship of God. Gandhi
 Gandhi 77
wants the individual first to set himself right and then seek
to reform society.
Gandhi strongly felt all his life the evil of untouch-
ability and was of the firm opinion that Hindu scriptures
do not sanction it. He feels that this evil is opposed to the
central spirit of Hinduism. He writes: “ I am a reformer
through and through. But my zeal never takes me to the
rejection of any essential thing in Hinduism...I have always
regarded untouchability as an excrescence...A religion that
established the worship of the cow cannot possibly coun-
tenance or warrant the cruel boycott of human beings.”
STATUS OF WOMEN
Gandhi decried any kind of discrimination against women
as an anachronism. Commenting on some of the ancient
scriptures, he opined that the saying attributed to Manu that
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
‘for woman there can be no freedom’ is not sacrosanct. He
propagated perfect equality between a son and a daughter
in a family. He said, “I fail to see any reason for jubilation
over the birth of a son and for mourning over that of a
daughter. Both are God’s gifts. They have an equal right
to live, and are equally necessary to keep the world going.”
Gandhi maintained that the women of India had
strength, ability, character and determination to stand on
their own and work shoulder to shoulder with men in every
walk of life. Time and again, he called upon women to join
the Indian National Congress and take part in the freedom
struggle. They came in large numbers at Gandhi’s call and
participated in the social and political movements he
launched. Even Lord Irwin in a communication to the
Secretary of State commented: “Gandhi’s appeal to women
is a move and whatever may be its practical effect in the
field of action, it is likely to have considerable effects in
social life.”
Social evils such as child-marriage and enforced
widowhood met with severe criticism from Gandhi. He was
quite clear in his mind regarding the eradication of these
78 Gandhi
evils. He realised that the enactment of any kind of
legislation would not help, but enlightened public con-
sciousness would be a boon. He said that such customs are
irreligious and by countenancing such customs, we recede
from God as well as swaraj. The purdah system prevalent
among women could not escape Gandhi’s attention. He said
that this system crippled free movement of women, retarded
their advancement, and was a hindrance in the performance
of useful work in the society. He condemned the dowry
system as pernicious, and one which greatly lowered the
status of women and destroyed the sense of their equality
with men. He was also critical of unnecessary expenditure
on marriages and advocated simple matrimonial alliances.
He was instrumental in the celebration of several marriages
in his ashram, where he blessed couples during simple
ceremonies.
Gandhi advocated absolute equality of the sexes and
wished that in social, economic and political spheres,
women should be given full protection. He also demanded
equal remuneration for women for equal work. Gandhi did
not like women being called the weaker sex. He declared,
“To call women the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s
injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength,
then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength
is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s
superior.” He was very critical of the devadasi system and
advised the devadasis to take up an honourable living by
spinning khadi. He said, “To think that there should be a
class of people given to this kind of immoral service and
that there should be another who should tolerate their
hideous immorality makes one despair of life itself.”
In various constructive programmes which he launched
for the upliftment of the masses, and in all social and
educational institutions he founded during his long political
career, Gandhi always afforded a place of equality and better
status for women. Gandhi’s appeal for support in various
movements greatly influenced prominent women like
 Gandhi 79
Kasturba Gandhi, Kamala Nehru, Mrs. C.R. Das, Sarojini
Naidu, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur
and others. They courted arrest and suffered in jail. Their
messages to the women of India proved effective in
mobilising other womenfolk to take part in tile freedom
struggle as well as social upliftment programmes.
UNTOUCHABILITY
Being a practical idealist and a man of action without any
pretensions of a philosopher, Mahatma Gandhi was a great
humanist and has a place in history as a redeemer of
mankind like Socrates, Buddha and Christ. Gandhi was not
an armchair theoretician confined to mere intellectual
gymnastics but a pragmatic reformer. Being deeply en-
trenched in Hindu religious traditions and being sensitive
to the writings of Tolstoy, Ruskin and Thoreau, Gandhian
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
philosophy was a viable equation between the traditional
and the modern. Gandhi adopted a synthesising approach
to reconstitute the Hindu traditions by renovation and
reinterpretation.
As a metaphysical idealist and a moral individualist,
Gandhi believed in a real egalitarian society but refused to
acknowledge any sense of distance and superiority between
the varnas. According to Gandhi, “Untouchability means
pollution by the touch of certain persons by reason of their
birth in a particular state or family”. Gandhi believed that
untouchability is not a part and parcel of Hinduism, but
a plague that has injured Hinduism through the ages.
He was against this inhuman practice in his abiding
concern for reconstituting the Hindu social order. None can
be born untouchable, as all are the sparks of one and the
same fire. Abolition of untouchability is the abolition of the
fifth caste. Gandhi, therefore, named the untouchables as
‘Harijans’, the children of God. According to him, when
caste-Hindus develop the true inner conviction of the wrong
of such practices and get rid of untouchability, only then
they will find favour with God. For the removal of
80 Gandhi
untouchability, Gandhi recommends the vow which follows
from the principle of spiritual unity of all life. He wants
everyone to break down the barriers between man and man
and between various beings. To him, removal of untouch-
ability is a bigger problem than that of attaining Indian
independence. It is a question of transcendental significance
far surpassing swaraj in terms of political constitutions.
Gandhi’s anti-untouchability movement was a gesture
of unity with the depressed classes by the satyagrahi.
Accordingly, he advocated a constructive programme which
is essentially village work for village swaraj. The eighteen
items which he included in the programme were indispens-
able for the emancipation of the nation through non-
violence. The first item in the list was communal unity,
the second being removal of untouchability. Once these
ideas become a part of our daily life, nothing need be done
by us as individuals.
Gandhi held that if untouchability lived, Hinduism
and, with it, India would die. In this age of reason, the
ideal of freedom and the principle of social equality demand
removal of untouchability. Its practice is a denial of the
spiritual unity of all men and the law of the varna. Gandhi’s
efforts lightened, to some extent, the misery and restored
the self-confidence of the submerged classes. This was also
one of the items in the volunteers’ pledge drawn up by
Gandhi in 1921. All this was intended to remove the social
tyranny of the caste Hindus and vindicate the civil rights
of the untouchables. He wanted inter-marriage and inter-
dining of the untouchables and caste-Hindus which is not
prohibited even by the law of Varna—shramadharma. For
that purpose, he wanted all Congressmen to become Harijans
for a change of outlook so that the Congress can progres-
sively represent the masses. By such actions, the ‘untouch-
ables’ also would rise up and Hinduism would leave a rich
legacy to the world.
Untouchability is a phenomenon which is peculiar to
Hinduism only and it is not warranted either by reason or
 Gandhi 81
in the Shastras. It should be repugnant to our sense of
humanity to consider a single human being as ‘untouchable’
by the reason, of birth. Gandhi believes that all men are
equal, and he aims at the brotherhood of man.
Gandhi’s fight for the emancipation of the Harijans
resulted in Article 17 of the Indian Constitution calling for
abolition of untouchability and Article 46 of one Directive
Principles of State Policy for promotion of educational and
economic interests of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes and other weaker sections of the community and
protecting them from social injustice and all forms of
exploitation.
PROHIBITION
Gandhi attached the highest importance to the programme
of prohibition. Along with khadi, removal of untouchability
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
and communal unity, prohibition constituted a strong pillar
of Gandhi’s well-known constructive programme. Gandhi
wanted to educate the poor people about the evil effects
of drinking. Once he wrote that if he became the dictator
of India for one hour, the first thing he would do would
be to close down all liquor shops without compensation.
Gandhi regarded drinking as worse than thieving or pros-
titution. He was very clear that drinking was deleterious
for the development of Indian society. Realising that Gandhi
was right in insisting on prohibition, the founding fathers
of our Constitution laid down a responsibility on the
Government, in the Directive Principles of State Policy, to
prohibit the manufacture, sale and consumption of intoxi-
cating drugs and drinks.
Gandhi was very critical of intoxicants like wine,
ganja, toddy, opium and others which ruin health and
family life. He launched prohibition drives on numerous
occasions and through his speeches and writings asked
people to take a vow not to drink and use intoxicants. On
one occasion he said that he would have Indian children
illiterate rather than have drunkenness in the land as the
82 Gandhi
price of their education. He did not believe that prohibition
was an impossibility in India. He called abkari as ‘immoral,
sinful and a hideous source of revenue’. The method of
experimenting in one or two districts did not appeal to
Gandhi. He was a fierce prohibitionist and advised people
to agitate ‘from one end of the country to the other’. In
a speech at Madras on September 6, 1927, he demanded,
“Whatever deficit is found in connection with the ahkari
revenue should be made good out of military expenditure
and no other.” However, he was willing, to make an
exception for the use of liquor for medicinal purposes. He
also opined that “a woman would rather have her husband
an idiot than a drunkard”. He made a distinction between
England and India and declared, “What is good enough for
England is not necessarily good enough for India. If we
allow this drink problem to continue, our posterity will
curse us.”
ON INTERNATIONAL PEACE
Gandhi saw mankind as one and held that all are equally
subject to the moral law. All men are equal in God’s eyes.
There are, of course, differences of race and status and the
like, but the higher the status of a man, the greater is his
responsibility. Gandhi argued that it is impossible for one
to be an internationalist without being a nationalist. Inter-
nationalism is possible only when nationalism becomes a
fact, i.e., when peoples belonging to different countries have
organised themselves and are able to act as one man. It is
not nationalism that is evil, it is the narrowness, selfishness,
exclusiveness which characterises modern nations that is
evil. Each wants to profit at the expense of, and rise on
the ruin of, the other.
Gandhi held that there is not a single virtue which
aims at, or is content with, the welfare of the individual
alone. Conversely, there is not a single moral offence which
does not directly or indirectly affect many others besides
the actual offender. Hence whether an individual is good
 Gandhi 83
or bad is not merely his own concern but really the concern
of the whole community, indeed, of the whole world.
Though there is repulsion enough in Nature, she lives by
attraction. Mutual love enables Nature to persist. Man does
not live by destruction. According to Gandhi, self-love
compels regard for others. Nations cohere because there is
mutual regard among individuals composing them. “Some
day we must extend the national law to the universe even
as we have extended the family law to form nations—a
larger family.”
Gandhi said that his mission was not merely broth-
erhood of Indian humanity, not merely freedom of India,
But through the realisation of freedom of India he hoped
to realise and carry on the mission of the brotherhood of
man. Gandhi’s patriotism was not an exclusive thing. It was
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
all embracing and he rejected that patriotism which sought
to mount upon the distress or the exploitation of other
nationalities. The conception of his patriotism was nothing
if it was not always, in every case without exception,
consistent with the broadest good of humanity at large.
Gandhi was of the opinion that duties to self, to the family,
the country and to the world are not independent of one
another. One cannot do good to the country by injuring
himself or his family. Similarly one cannot serve the
country injuring the world at large. In the final analysis,
we must die that the family may live, the family must die
that the world may live. But only pure things can be offered
in sacrifice. Therefore, self-purification is the first step.
When the heart is pure, we at once realise what is our duty
at every moment.
Gandhi was of the view that the golden way is to be
friends with the world and to regard the whole human
family as one. “He who distinguishes between the votaries
of one’s own religion and those of another mis-educates the
members of his own and opens the way for discord and
irreligion.” Gandhi’s patriotism was calculated not only to
desist from hurting another nation but also to benefit all.
84 Gandhi
Gandhi wanted freedom for our country, but not at the
expense or exploitation of others, not so as to degrade other
countries. He did not want the freedom of India if it meant
the extinction of England or the disappearance of English-
men. He wanted the freedom of his country so that other
countries may learn something from his free country, so that
the resources of his country might be utilised for the benefit
of mankind. He further argued that there is no limit to
extending our services to our neighbours across State-made
frontiers. God never made those frontiers. Gandhi’s goal was
friendship with the whole world. For him patriotism was
the same as humanity. “I am patriotic because I am human
and humane. It is not exclusive, I will not hurt England
or Germany to serve India.” Imperialism had no place in
his scheme of life. According to him the law of a patriot
is not different from that of the patriarch. And a patriot
is so much the less a patriot if he is a lukewarm humani-
tarian. There is no conflict between private and political
law for Gandhi.
Gandhi’s non-cooperation was neither with the En-
glish nor with the West. His non-cooperation was with the
system established by the West, with the material civilisation
and its attendant greed and exploitation of the weak. Indian
nationalism was not to be exclusive or aggressive, or
destructive. According to Gandhi, it was to be health giving,
religious and, therefore, humanitarian. India must learn to
live before she can aspire to die for humanity. As he said,
“Not to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to
disbelieve in the godliness of human nature. Methods
hitherto adopted have failed because rock-bottom sincerity
on the part of those who have striven has been lacking.
Not that they have realised this lack. Peace is unattained
by part performance of conditions, even as a chemical
combination is impossible without complete fulfilment of
the conditions of attainment thereof. If the recognised
leaders of mankind who have control over the engines of
destruction were wholly to renounce their use, with full
 Gandhi 85
knowledge of its implication, permanent peace can be
obtained.” He was of the view that if the mad race for
armaments continued, it was bound to result in a slaughter
such as had never occurred in history. The very victory
would be death for the nation that emerged victorious.
There was no escape from the impending doom save
through a bold and unconditional acceptance of the non-
violent method with all its implications. If there were no
greed there would be no occasion for armaments. The
principle of non-violence necessitates complete abstention
from exploitation in any form. Once the spirit of exploi-
tation is vanquished, armaments will be felt as a positive
unbearable burden. According to Gandhi real disarmament
cannot come unless the nations of the world cease to exploit
one another.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
GANDHI AND THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS
During the freedom struggle, there had been differences
between Gandhi and the Congress on many issues. Few of
the younger generation of intellectuals, whether they were
Hindus, Muslims or Parsis, accepted Gandhi’s philosophy
of life. They gave a qualified allegiance to his economic
views. Most of them were rationalists and many of them
were inclined to socialism. The wealthy men who contrib-
uted lavishly to Congress funds were equally far from his
world outlook. Only a minority in the Congress, insignifi-
cant in its number, shared Gandhi’s pacifism, the deepest
of his convictions. In fact Gandhi had several times been
defeated over big issues and some of his chief ideas he had
never succeeded in imposing on the Congress at all, notably
his hostility to industrial development. His mystical view
of non-violence, his philosophy behind non-cooperation, his
doctrine of the purity of means appealed only to a minority
in the Indian National Congress. To quote Nehru, “Always
there has been that inner conflict within him and in our
national politics, between Gandhi as a national leader and
Gandhi as a man with a prophetic message which was not
86 Gandhi
confined to India but was for humanity and the world.”
So long as his colleagues in the field of politics were able
to remain convinced of the practicability of his policy, they
continued to support it. But when other problems and
concrete situations arose, for which Gandhi still believed
his non-violent technique was relevant but in which case
he offered only generalisations, they went their own way
and rejected both his general policy and its universal ethic.
The Indian National Congress before Gandhi’s entry
was, according to Lala Lajpat Rai, neither inspired by the
people nor devised or planned by them. It lacked the
essentials of a popular movement. The pre-Gandhi Congress
was virtually filled with members mostly from middle class
society, who used to assemble and indulge in endless
discussions. Gandhi aroused the emotions of the multitude,
his message reached every nook and corner of the seven
lakh villages in India and captivated the hearts of the
peasants constituting the real India. Gandhi’s leadership
gave the Congress a dynamism and drive it had never
known before. Instead of remaining a “three days’ wonder”,
it became an organisation humming with activity through-
out the year. Gandhi realised that no nation had risen
without suffering; he broke the country’s quietism before
long and the people found that if they wanted to be free,
they must strike the blow themselves. A new era started.
Gandhi remained for a long period as the sole
spokesman and leader of the Congress, rivalled and dis-
puted by none. This new era gave the nation a new concept
of leadership, saw the emergence of a new type of nation-
alism and produced a new psychology in the masses. The
Congress ideology after World War I was mainly a creation
of Gandhi. In 1920-22, he led the non-cooperation move-
ment and it was he who suspended it; in 1930-34 he led
the Civil Disobedience Movement, conferred with the
Viceroy, represented the Congress at the Round Table
Conference, and later suspended the movement. In 1940,
again, he conducted the Individual Satyagraha and in
 Gandhi 87
August 1942, the All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C.)
formally requested him to take the lead and guide the
nation. Yet, one cannot truly say that the Congress was a
“one-man show” or that the Congress ideology was identical
with the Gandhian principles. On the contrary, there were
significant differences between Gandhi and Congress, re-
vealed in various Congress meetings since 1924.
The Congress was never a body of Gandhi’s “yes
men”: it was too vast and heterogeneous for that. Though
Gandhi was its centre of gravity, there were other thought
currents which influenced its development. The attainment
of independence further widened the gulf. Gandhi was
conscious that the swaraj that was coming must be far
removed from the swaraj of his dreams. Already, his advice
to reject wholly the Cabinet Mission’s constitution plan had
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
been overruled. Before independence, the Congress leaders
had to accept many of the Gandhian suggestions and ideas,
because they were unable to put forward either an alter-
native plan of action or an alternative leadership. But, in
the post-independence era, they rejected or sidetracked
many of the Gandhian ideas as too lofty, medieval and
impractical. With the formulation of the interim govern-
ment, the real direction of Congress policy was passing from
him to Nehru and Patel and he, as though by a natural
instinct, was drifting away from the seats of power, in order
to devote himself to direct service of the people. The
remaining 15 months of his life were politically ineffectual
though morally that period was the crown of his career.
The politician gave way to the saint.
The Congress Party had accepted Gandhi’s leadership
as an expedient way to political freedom. As the time finally
came, his political associates left him and went their own
way. The distressing developments inside the Congress after
independence and the moral degradation of the men in the
Congress agonised Gandhi; he gave a serious thought to the
future of the Congress. Gandhi found his voice sunk in the
wilderness. The Congress having come into power showed
88 Gandhi
signs of giving his constructive programme the go by. On
receipt of a complaint from Shriman Narayan Agarwal that
in the Constitution that was being framed, there was no
mention of gram panchayat, Gandhi said, “We must recognise
the fact that the social order of our dreams cannot come
through the Congress of today. Nobody knows what shape
the Constitution will ultimately take...”
In the last days of his life, Gandhi believed that the
Congress, as a propaganda vehicle and parliamentary ma-
chine, had outlived its use. India had still to attain social,
moral and economic independence in terms of India’s
700,000 villages, as distinguished from cities and towns.
The Congress must be kept out of unhealthy competition
with the political parties and communal bodies. For these
and other similar reasons, Gandhi suggested the All India
Congress Committee to resolve to disband the existing
Congress organisation and become a Sevak Sangh. He then
listed the proposed rules and method of organisation for
the new association. The next day (January 30) Gandhi was
no more. His revolutionary vision remained unfinished.
This plan of Gandhi’s was not accepted by the A.I.C.C.
which believed that the Congress could neither forgo its
political role nor become so decentralised.
GANDHI AND THE MAKING OF THE INDIAN
CONSTITUTION
While moving the ‘Objectives Resolution’ in the Constituent
Assembly, Jawaharlal Nehru characterised Gandhi as the
“leader of the people”, “father of the nation”, “architect of
the assembly”. Alladi Krishnaswami Aiyar described Gandhi
as the “architect of India’s political destiny”. These plaudits
set the initial tone and the pattern of Constitution-making
in India. But, as the deliberations of the Constituent
Assembly proceeded and gained momentum, and revealed
sharp conflicts and contradictions in the ideas and senti-
ments of the members, it became apparent that Gandhi’s
worshippers would be outnumbered and outpaced by those
with different ideas and Gandhi would remain only a
 Gandhi 89
ceremonial object of adulation, an object of worship and
ritual celebration. The Constitution that finally emerged was
quite a deviation from his ideas and principles. Under the
chairmanship of B. R. Ambedkar the Drafting Committee
decided that the Gandhian scheme was not practicable in
socio-economic and political conditions of the day. As such
Ambedkar suggested a centralised parliamentary system of
government.
The Congress Experts Committee, which was set up
by the Congress Working Committee with Nehru as its
Chairman, set India on the road to the present Constitution,
Discarding the Gandhian plan as conservative and undem-
ocratic, the Committee proposed a liberal democratic par-
liamentary system of government with a federation. Nehru
envisaged a centralised administration. In course of a long
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
exchange of letters between Gandhi and Nehru, in October
1945 Gandhi stressed the need for decentralised political
institutions. He voiced his resolve to stand by the system
of government envisaged in Hind Swaraj. But the Congress
party and many of the Indian leaders were couching their
demands for independence in terms of a parliamentary
democracy, and many had participated in the modified
forms of representative government which were introduced
in British India. According to Nehru, the Congress had never
considered the Gandhian view of society (as exemplified
in Hind Swaraj), much less agreed to adopt it.
There was a fundamental divergence of views regard-
ing methods and approaches between Gandhi on the one
hand, and Nehru and many others on the other. To both
Gandhi and Nehru, the aim was the same, that is, common
good, minimising the social and economic differences
among the people; but while Gandhi believed that the
means should be trusteeship, decentralisation, etc., Nehru
and many others, on the other hand, believed that the means
should be socialism, central planning and a modern economy
with considerable emphasis on industrialisation. Nehru
believed that Gandhian schemes were very difficult to work
90 Gandhi
out in practice and any consideration of them would be
divorced from reality. Nehru had made his views clear
throughout the thirties and expressed them even more
plainly to B. N. Rau in November, 1945. How far, Nehru
asked, “will this sort of progress fit in with a purely village
society?” Therefore, in order to quell internal disturbances,
to maintain law and order, and to implement a programme
of State planning, it was necessary to establish a centralised
political structure and not the decentralised economy of
Gandhi’s dream. Nehru’s views found wide Support from
a large section of the Assembly members. The architects
of free India’s Constitution favoured modern methods and
techniques to Gandhian methods for tackling problems
confronting them.
When the Constituent Assembly met for considering
the Draft Constitution on November 4, 1948 the President
of the Assembly expressed the willingness to be guided by
the spirit, life and teaching of Gandhi. That this was merely
a pious sentiment and did not reflect the actual goings-on
in the decision-making process was evident from the chorus
of protests and criticism from a number of members who
resented the copious borrowings from and “slavish imita-
tion” of foreign Constitutions, the commission of the
“political past” of India and the “political and spiritual
genius” of the Indian people, the failure to frame a
Constitution “suited to the genius of our land,” the omission
of any “trace of Gandhian social and political outlook”, “the
complete departure from Gandhi’s ideas and wishes”, the
failure to represent “the real soul of India” and the “mind
of Gandhi”.
Hind Swaraj contains Gandhi’s blueprint for the
Indian Republic which was dismissed by Nehru “as being
out of date.” Gandhi severely criticised the British parlia-
mentary practices and procedures. He said, “...If India
copies England, it is my firm conviction that she will be
ruined.” He was alive to the basic malady of parliamentary
democracies: He compared the mother of Parliaments to a
 Gandhi 91
“sterile woman”. Gandhi wanted to evolve a political system
suited to the genius of the people. In 1942 he told Louis
Fischer: “I do not think that a free India will function like
the other countries of the world. We have our own forms
to contribute.” He did not believe in the accepted Western
form of democracy with its universal voting for parliamen-
tary representatives. His contemplated form was village
swaraj or Panchayati Raj. Shriman Narayan Agarwal, one
of the followers of Gandhi, drafted a “Gandhian Constitution
for Free India.” He based his work on the well-known
Gandhian principle that “violence logically leads to
centralisation: the essence of nonviolence is decentralisation.”
Economic and political decentralisation would result,
Agarwal believed, in self-sufficient self-governing village
communities, the “models of non-violent organisation”. But,
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
great as Gandhi’s influence had been, and profound as his
achievement was in putting the village and the common
masses on the centre of the Indian stage, he had not
succeeded in converting his own party to his view of how
Indians should govern themselves.
A major Gandhian principle which produced the most
protracted discussion before being incorporated within the
Constitution was Panchayat Raj. Gandhi said “in a free India
we will have Panchayat Raj.” In his opinion there was no
law which could stop a Panchayat from functioning wher-
ever the people wanted it. It was Gandhi’s firm conviction
that India lives in her seven lakh villages. To him, that was
the real India for which he lived. His picture of indepen-
dence was that it must begin at the bottom. Gandhi
envisaged complete political and administrative
decentralisation at the village level with an indirectly
elected Government at the top. It was during 1946-47 that
Gandhi fitted his “concentric circles” with the structural
content of people’s democracy and sovereignty at the
grassroots which he described as Panchayati Raj—a kind
of cooperative commonwealth of reformed and reconstruct-
ed village communities. These ideas did not make much
92 Gandhi
impression on the framers of the Constitution. The attitude
of the Drafting Committee and especially of Ambedkar as
regards village panchayats was that they could not be the
basis of new democracy. The issue came to a head in the
course of the second reading of the draft Constitution in
the Constituent Assembly in November, 1948. Ambedkar,
the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, said that the love
of the intellectual Indian for the village community was
blind and baseless. It was not backed by reason. Ambedkar
concluded that “village republics have been the ruination
of India.” He expressed his pleasure that the draft Consti-
tution had discarded the village as its unit.
Gandhi laid great emphasis on the promotion of
cottage industries, an idea which has been included in the
Directive Principles of the Constitution. As per the Directive
the Central Government has established several Boards to
help the State Governments in the matter of finance,
marketing and the like. Some of these are the All India
Khadi and Village Industries Corporation Board, All-India
Handicrafts Board, All India Handloom Board, Small Scale
Industries Board, Silk Board, Coir Board. Besides, the
National Small Industries Corporation has been set up with
certain statutory functions, and the Khadi and Village
Industries Commission has been set up for the development
of khadi and village industries.
Another Directive Principle, Article 47, relates to
prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs. In pursuance
of the Directive in the Constitution, the Planning Commis-
sion took up the matter and drew up a comprehensive
scheme through its Prohibition Enquiry Committee. Since
then prohibition has been introduced in several States in
whole or in part. Though paucity of the financial resources
of the States is the primary reason for the failure to fully
implement this Directive so far, it would be only candid
to record that ultimately, the inability of the people to
imbibe the Gandhian ideal of life is at the back of its failure.
The spread of the malady of intoxication amongst the
 Gandhi 93
younger generation since independence is, in fact, alarming.
Another Gandhian principle enshrined in Article 47
relates to the raising of the standard of living, particularly
of the rural population in accordance to which the Gov-
ernment of India launched its Community Development
Project in 1952. Later on, Integrated Rural Development
Programme (IRDP in 1978-79), National Rural Employment
Programme (NREP), Rural Landless Employment Guarantee
Programme (RLEGP), Drought Probe Areas Programme
(DPAP), Desert Development Programme (DDP) and some
other schemes were launched.
It is, however, an incontrovertible fact that whatever
the means adopted for reaching that goal, it is the quality
of human beings involved that ensures either success or
failure. And the quality of human beings is far behind the
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simple nobility that Gandhi’s vision conceived.
GANDHI AND SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
Subhash Chandra Bose returned to India in 1921, and went
to Mahatma Gandhi for guidance who, perceiving the
passion for India’s liberation that consumed Bose, directed
him to Desabandhu C. R. Das. During Gandhi’s Salt
Satyagraha movement Bose was arrested and lodged in goal.
When the movement was called off in March 1931 upon
the conclusion of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Subhas Bose raised
his voice in protest against the Pact and the suspension of
the movement, especially when patriots like Bhagat Singh
and his associates had not been saved from the noose.
Gandhi had known him well enough in 1929 at Lahore
when Subhas Bose staged a walkout and formed a new
group, the Congress Democratic Party. Again, one of the
reasons behind Gandhi’s formal retirement from the Con-
gress in 1934 was his knowledge of Bose’s formidable
opposition. In 1933, Bose and Vithalbhai Patel had issued
a manifesto asserting that Gandhi had failed and that fresh
leadership was necessary. In 1934 Bose expanded this thesis
into a book, The Indian Struggle.
94 Gandhi
On the eve of the Congress presidential election in
1939, Bose entered into a headlong clash with Gandhi. As
a matter of fact this episode was the turning point of his
career. Soon after the presidential election in which Bose
became victorious the members of the Congress Working
Committee resigned and the Congress met at Tripuri under
the shadow of a crisis within the party, as well as
internationally. With prophetic foresight Subhas warned
that an imperialist war would break out in Europe within
six months, and demanded that the Congress should deliver
a six-month ultimatum to Britain; in the event of its
rejection, a nationwide struggle for “Poorna Swaraj” should
be launched taking full advantage of Britain’s entanglement
in the war. His warning and advice, however, went un-
heeded, and the followers of Gandhi sought to curtail his
power as Congress President. He resigned his presidentship,
formed the ‘Forward Bloc’ and ultimately severed all
relations with the Congress. In 1940, at the Anti-compro-
mise Conference, he thoroughly opposed Gandhi’s policy,
pleaded for direct struggle and condemned spinning and
the constructive programme.
Gandhi and Bose represented two diametrically oppo-
site forces. Gandhi was moved by instinct, Bose was guided
by reason. Bose felt that there was a deplorable lack of
clarity in the plan which Gandhi had formulated and that
he himself did not have a clear idea of the successive stages
of the struggle which would bring India to her cherished
goal of freedom. Subhas was for a life of service and
suffering but his perception was in accordance with the
view and conviction of C. R. Das who again differed with
Gandhi on the main points of his programme.
Gandhi was a moralist; Bose was an Indian Nationalist
first and last. Bose had little faith in non-violence and in
the doctrine of purity of means. To him, Gandhism was
wanting because it was wedded to non-violence. Gandhi’s
spiritualism had no attraction for Bose. “Ascetics and
yogis”, he said, “have held... an honoured place in society,
 Gandhi 95
but it is not their lead that we shall have to follow if we
are to create a new India, at once free, happy and great.”
Gandhi’s position on the relationship between nation-
alism., religion, and language had no appeal for Subhas.
Gandhi knew that if India was to become free, it would
have to go beyond constitutionalism and embrace the
principles of satyagraha. But Subhas believed that swaraj
could be obtained only by the use of political violence and
the forceful expulsion of the British. Subhas almost iden-
tified swaraj with the establishment of the modern ‘English
rule without the Englishman’. As a political realist, he could
not appreciate the extreme ethical idealism of Gandhi.
However, he had great respect for the character and
personality of Gandhi. On July 6, 1944, in a broadcast from
the Rangoon Radio, he hailed the Mahatma as the ‘Father
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of our Nation’ and sought his blessings in the war for India’s
freedom. He admired Gandhi’s devotion to truth and the
purity of his character. Subhas bowed before “his single-
hearted devotion, his relentless will, and his indefatigable
labour”. He also appreciated Gandhi’s “humanitarian out-
look and his freedom from hatred.” Though he recognised
the great work of Gandhi in the consolidation of the
Congress and in bringing about a great mass awakening,
Bose did not become a Gandhian. At the end of his book,
The Indian Struggle Subhas had prophesised. “But India’s
salvation will not be achieved under Mahatma Gandhi’s
leadership.” History has proved that Bose was not entirely
correct.
On economic issues also, Bose and Gandhi differed
radically. Bose deplored the idea that “modernisation is bad,
large scale production is an evil, wants should not be
increased and standard of living should not be raised.” In
his opinion, “If India is to attain and maintain her freedom
and grow as a modern state, she must have not only a
socialist order but also modem arms, modern industries and
the State will have to be a people’s State and a strong
centralised State.” Bose wanted the Congress to adopt a
96 Gandhi
radical economic programme, including abolition of land-
lordism, expansion of cooperative movement, a comprehen-
sive scheme of industrial development under State owner-
ship and State control. While acknowledging the indisput-
able position of Gandhi in the Indian national movement,
Bose was irreconcilably opposed to his dogma of non-
violence, charkha and cottage industries, isolation from
foreign influence and, above all, to his reformism and
trusteeship theory.
GANDHI AND NEHRU
Although Jawaharlal Nehru played quite an important role
in the history of our struggle for freedom and* Was, indeed,
the most important leader after Gandhi during the period
dominated by the latter, his place in history is largely
determined by his leadership of India as its Prime Minister
for about seventeen years after the achievement of indepen-
dence. If the period between 1919 and 1947 can be
described as the Age of Gandhi, that between 1947 and 1964
can, with equal legitimacy, be described as the Nehru era.
In the political history of modern India, Jawaharlal
Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi have a unique and abiding
position. Their thoughts and ideals have become an integral
part of the national consciousness. Their emergence on the
Indian political scene and the inspiring leadership they
provided brought about qualitative transformation in the
character of the nationalist movement. With a rare sense
of dedication, they worked together for over a quarter of
a century and their political partnership was perhaps the
most exciting in the history of Indian nationalism. The fact
that these two men, divided by deep intellectual differences
and distinct social outlooks, could work together for long
is a great puzzle for anyone who makes a serious study
of their ideals.
Nehru felt extremely happy and elated when he joined
the movement and worked initially as a Congress cam-
paigner. But before long he came to realise that in spite
of a great deal of love and respect for each other there
 Gandhi 97
appeared a divergence of views on many questions between
him and Gandhi. If in the early years, their differences were
largely confined to the objective of the national Congress
and the efficacy of the method of non-violence, later they
disagreed on the content of swaraj. Despite frequent ex-
change of ideas, sharp differences persisted between them
on the fundamental problems of industrialisation, planning
and economic development. Also on the vital questions of
modernisation and changing the structure of property and
power as well as on the problem of Indian states, Nehru
and Gandhi could seldom agree with each other. They both
spoke a great deal of their differences on many occasions,
yet they clearly saw the common foundation which made
them comrades-in-arms in the struggle for independence.
Personal attachment and national interest never allowed
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them to drift apart and in practical life they were very near
to each other. Gandhi also accepted some of the ideas of
his young political partner and openly acknowledged that
in his thinking he was far ahead of his surroundings. In
this long and intimate contact with one another, Nehru and
Gandhi used to have repeated and prolonged discussions
on all vital matters. Although they failed to convince each
other, they certainly influenced each other. The letters and
correspondence which they frequently exchanged also re-
vealed not only their temperamental and fundamental
differences but also the many things which they had in
common.
NEHRU’S PERCEPTION OF GANDHI Of all the staunch
nationalists Nehru was perhaps the First to realise the
commanding position of Gandhi in the country as well as
in the Congress. Both as a man of charismatic charm and
as a man of the masses, Gandhi enjoyed an incomparable
position in India. All others including Nehru, however,
much opposed to his viewpoint and however valid and
strong their ground for an honest difference of opinion, had
to withdraw in favour of his judgement and accept his
leadership. This was not because of Gandhi’s superior
98 Gandhi
intellect but because of his mass popularity. Admiring this
fascinating aspect of his craftsmanship, Nehru wrote in his
Autobiography, “It was remarkable how Gandhiji seemed
to cast a spell on all classes and groups of people and drew
them into one motley crowd struggling in one direction.”
DIFFERENT APPROACHES Nehru had a unique relation-
ship with Gandhi. He was Gandhi’s most critical follower.
As one who differed from him on many vital matters and
yet cooperated with him in large measure, Nehru had to
carry the burden of adjustments till the last moment. In
other words, the history of his political career during the
entire period of his association with Gandhi was the history
of a relentless struggle to reconcile his own ideas on the
right course of action with those of Gandhi. From the
beginning, Nehru was quite emphatic on the point that
politics should “entirely be based on clarity of thought and
reasoning and has no room for the vague idealistic or
religious or sentimental process which confuse and befog
the mind”. This was an intellectual and rational approach
to politics and he wanted to consider all issues and
problems on a scientific basis. Gandhi, on the contrary,
attached little importance to the intellectual approach to
the problems of life. He was essentially a man of action,
guided solely by the considerations of practical” life. He
was not much enthusiastic about the acquisition of the-
oretical knowledge or scholarly attainments. Nehru often
found it difficult to appreciate this peculiar attitude and
approach of Gandhi who “seemed to be wandering off into
a world of his own”. He never objected to Gandhi when
the latter acted on his ‘instincts’ (a word which Nehru
preferred to intuition or inner voice) in the event of a crisis.
What he insisted upon was that a leader must have a
rational grasp of the situation and be expected to give
adequate reasons for his political decisions especially when
he wanted others to follow his mentioned ways. More than
the actions, on many occasions, it was the reason which
Gandhi gave for his actions that used to upset Nehru most.
 Gandhi 99
He often felt that much of what Gandhi had said in the
early phase of the movement did not go well with modern
psychological experience and method.
ON RELIGION AND POLITICS Nehru and Gandhi had
divergent views on religion and politics. While religion did
make a strong and powerful appeal to Gandhi, it had no
impact on Nehru. Gandhi regarded politics and religion as
inseparable. To him, politics was religion in action. He
never believed that the two were mutually exclusive. He
believed in God, and had great faith in prayer. But his
prayer meetings were all occasions for him to speak about
the political and moral advancement of the country. Nehru
had an altogether different understanding of religion.
Nehru’s psychological disposition was not religious
but secular, rational and scientific. He had a natural distaste
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for everything rooted in irrational faith. His scientific
background and the western influence on him might have
sharpened his critical way of thinking. He did not like the
frequent diversion of moral problems and spiritual values
which Gandhi insisted upon along with the questions of
political freedom and social and economic emancipation of
the masses. He was, therefore, naturally inclined to think
that the mixing up of religion and politics under Gandhi’s
leadership was encouraging the reactionary movement of
revivalism. Nehru did not like the mixing of religion with
national politics. He wanted to deal with the political
problems on the political plane only. It was his conviction
that a religious outlook often negated the ability for right
thinking. He looked upon such an outlook as an “enemy
of clear thought for it is based not only on the acceptance
without demur of certain fixed and unalterable theories and
dogmas, but also on sentiment and emotion and passion”.
Gandhi’s religion was neither conventional nor tradi-
tional. He, indeed, revolted and raised the voice of protest
against religious obscurantism and dogmatism. Among the
contemporary leading nationalists, he was perhaps the only
one who had gone very deeply into the religious and
100 Gandhi
philosophical texts of classical Indian tradition as well as
the’ writings of daring Western moralists of the 19th century
like Tolstoy, Thoreau, Ruskin, Emerson and Carlyle. Instead
of discarding religion altogether, his attempt was to rein-
terpret it in such a way as to meet the requirements of
modern society. While Gandhi wanted to make it primarily
an instrument of moral and spiritual regeneration of the
country together with the political programme of winning
freedom, Nehru would have certainly liked the Congress to
work mainly for the liberation of India. Unlike Nehru,
Gandhi had a much wider social mission the consciousness
of which kept him “outside the modern tradition of political
reasoning”, and he was at times reluctant “to follow a
strictly logical route in coming to conclusions”. In the
pursuit of his comprehensive universal mission, Gandhi was
eager to instil a new spirit and value into the Indian life
with least damage to its traditional structure. Nehru, on the
contrary, desired to change the structure itself in the light
of the liberal traditions of the West.
Nehru found it impossible to keep aloof from Gandhi
and his philosophy of life. Despite his scepticism about
religion, Nehru was conscious of its intrinsic value. He
admitted that religion satisfied the inner urges of man for
something which the world of reason and science could not
explain. In a way it fulfilled one of the basic needs of life.
Though not religious in the formal sense, Nehru was
inclined to accept many things which Gandhi advocated as
the essence of religion.
ON TRUTH AND NON-VIOLENCE For Gandhi, the
realisation of truth through love and non-violence was the
ultimate goal of life. He considered his own life as an
experiment with truth. In his reinterpretation of religion and
politics, Gandhi stressed the need to recognise the funda-
mental differences between “sectarian beliefs and religious
commitment, between power politics and pure politics.”
Nehru, however, had some reservations about this view-
point of Gandhi’s. He was more interested in finding the
 Gandhi 101
right step to take, the right direction to proceed on and the
truth of the present. A politician, he believed, could not
think like a prophet nor could he be an ultimate seeker
of truth. He could think in terms of compromises or be ready
to choose the lesser one if the choice was between two evils.
Ultimately all had to pass through a process of trial and
error.
Gandhi’s mysticism did not appeal to him. Though
Nehru was attracted to the Gandhian philosophy of non-
violence, he did not profess absolute allegiance to the
doctrine of non-violence or accept it for ever. But in the
Indian situation though he considered it as an unchallen-
geable political creed, he did not rule out the possibility
of the use of force in a particular situation. “Everything that
comes in the way”, he said, “will have to be removed, gently
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
if possible, forcibly if necessary. And there seems to be little
doubt that coercion will often be necessary”. It was Nehru’s
strong belief that individuals could practise and observe
Gandhi’s non-violent method of action. But no political
organisation could ever do so. While Gandhi insisted on
non-violence as the only effective means for achieving his
ideal, Nehru preferred “freedom with violence to subjection
with non-violence”.
Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence evoked much
sympathy and interest both at home and abroad. At home,
its legacy is reflected in the political programme of almost
all organised political groups. Recourse to violence is
condemned outright. According to Lloyd Rudolph, “It
helped to explain and legitimise, even if it was not the basis
of, Nehru’s non-aligned foreign policy and it continues to
influence the political tactics of organised political forces”:
DIFFERENCES ON MODERN CIVILISATION Gandhi’s
critique of modern civilisation was not appreciated by
Nehru who felt very strongly about it. “Few of us, I think”,
wrote Nehru, “accepted Gandhiji’s old ideas about machin-
ery and modern civilisation.” Gandhi looked upon modern
civilisation with a feeling of distress and on machinery as
102 Gandhi
representing ‘great sin’. He believed that the so-called
material progress which often led to perpetual competition
between man and man was a positive menace to the moral
growth. In order to enjoy true freedom, Gandhi stressed the
need to free the mind from the stranglehold of modern
civilisation.
Unlike Gandhi, Nehru and most other Congress lead-
ers thought of their country’s progress in terms of
modernisation. They were tremendously influenced by the
material progress of the West and they believed that India’s
salvation lay essentially in catching up with the scientific
and technological advancement of the West. But Gandhi was
bold enough to say ‘No’, and reject that general viewpoint.
To him, India’s salvation lay not in imitating the West but
in becoming more like India. “Instead of copying the West,
India should ask herself what she really is, where her true
calling lies. The key to the recovery of her lost glory is
in her ancestral village culture, her almost forgotten cottage
industries such as spinning and weaving and so forth”.
Gandhi was also opposed to the idea of machine enslaving
man, dehumanising and alienating man from self and
society. Nehru obviously found it difficult to agree with
many of these ideas.
Nehru argued that India had many things to learn from
the industrial progress of the West and wanted to do
everything possible to quicken the pace of material progress.
Refuting the argument of Gandhi, he asserted that the spirit
of the modern age was represented by the West. But on
the question of machine subjugating man, Nehru was
shrewd enough to understand its real implications. Gandhi
would not have objected to machinisation under proper
conditions. What he disliked was the dangerous conse-
quence of machinisation, “within the framework of a market
economy whose shortcomings were compounded by its
backwardness”. He always considered his vision of self
sufficient villages as a viable alternative to machine
civilisation.
 Gandhi 103
TRUSTEESHIP AND SOCIAL SYSTEM Gandhi upheld
the belief that social institutions were the visible manifes-
tation of the individual’s moral values and it was not
possible to alter those institutions without changing the
value orientations. Consistent with this belief Gandhi hoped
to bring about a non-violent social order through bread
labour, trusteeship and decentralised villages and cottage
industries. Nehru was not very vocal about Bread Labour,
but he repudiated the theory of trusteeship as most unreason
able. Trusteeship meant that the power for good or evil was
vested in the self-appointed trustee who should exercise it
at his free will. For Nehru, to believe in trusteeship, to give
unchecked power and wealth to an individual and to expect
him to use it entirely for the public good was not only
harmful but dangerous as well. The only trusteeship that
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
could be reasonably fair was the trusteeship of the nation
and not that of an individual on group.
Nehru resented Gandhi’s failure to protest against the
semi-feudal zamindari system which prevailed in a greater
part of India or against the capitalist exploitation of both
workers and the consumers. He was also very vocal against
Gandhi’s views on varna vyavastha. “Caste system”, Nehru
said, “was wholly opposed to modern conditions and the
democratic ideal” and so he stood for its abolition. Instead
of trusteeship, he favoured state ownership and control of
capital and natural resources. For Nehru, a drastic change
in the existing order—social, political and economic—was
fundamental to the whole movement. What surprised Nehru
most was Gandhi’s failure to consider the semifeudal system
prevalent in India as out of date and a great obstruction
to general economic progress. Gandhi was not only inclined
to accept the ‘taluqdari system’ as such but wanted it to
continue.
Nehru and Gandhi could hardly agree with each other
on economic ideas. They had both dissimilar social and
economic aims and ideals. While Nehru stood for the
establishment of a democratic socialist state, Gandhi’s ideal
104 Gandhi
was a non-violent agrarian society free from exploitation.
While Gandhi championed the cause of a simple, self-
contained autonomous village community, Nehru rejected
it by categorically stating that “the village can no longer
be a self-contained economic unit.” While Gandhi advo-
cated a simple and austere life based on renunciation and
voluntary restriction, Nehru called for an increase in wealth
and prosperity, and an improvement in the general stan-
dards of living. In short, Nehru always regarded ‘Hind
Swaraj’ as absolutely unreal and wanted to go much
beyond the Gandhian programme.
DIFFERENCES ON KHADI WORK Khadi work was an
integral part of Gandhi’s constructive programme and he
had made it clear to all Congressmen that swaraj for the
millions depended upon the spinning wheel ‘humming in
every village’. Gandhi wrote that “khadi is the sun of the
village solar system”. Though Nehru called khadi “the livery
of our freedom”, he had certain reservations and misgivings
about it. He honestly believed that khadi propaganda was
relatively a minor thing in a fast-developing political
situation and so tie had no desire to confine his activities
to it. Nehru never regarded khadi as a sound economic
proposition though he admitted that it had a definite place
in the economy.
DIFFERENT SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE The socialists in the
country had long been critical of Gandhi whose metaphys-
ical outlook and approach to politics was not appreciated
by them. Nehru, to an extent, shared their criticism. But
he believed that, though Gandhi might be averse to socialist
ideas, the logic of the political situation which was fast
developing in the country would gradually compel him to
see the necessity of fundamental social change. In other
words, Gandhi might disagree with the means but not with
the objective. To Nehru, Gandhi appeared to be an “extraor-
dinary paradox” and a “philosophical anarchist”. With all
his sympathy and love for the poor, he still seemed to
support a system which produced that very evil. Nehru
frankly admitted his inability to understand this curious
 Gandhi 105 106 Gandhi

aspect of Gandhi’s thought. He totally disagreed with his
leader’s favourite idea of “conversion and not coercion.”
To be good in one’s personal life and then expect the rest
of the things to become automatically good was, to Nehru,
not a political or scientific attitude but a narrow moralist
attitude. In fact, Nehru’s innate disposition was to revolt
against such an attitude.
Relevance of Gandhi Today
The thoughts and ideas of Mahatma Gandhi have spread
throughout the world since they were first evolved by the
Mahatma. Based on the noble and sustainable ideals of love,
brotherhood, truth, non-violence and welfare of all, his
thoughts alongwith the path devised by him for realising
them have gained admiration and popularity in many parts
practised Gandhism even in a limited sense. It is only lip
service that has been offered to Gandhi and Gandhism. It
is as if Gandhi died in 1948, and was easily forgotten by
the very India which he helped to liberate with his views
and which, he was eager, should become a leading light
of the world by adopting the spiritual and noble ideals he
preached.
An understanding of the depth and intrinsic value of
his message, its eternal and universal significance, and that
it operates at various levels through a myriad techniques
show us the relevance of Gandhism. His thoughts operate
at various levels—the individual, society, state and the
global level—and they concern themselves with various
fields. It is true that they often appear intractable, too perfect
for use in real-life situations. And, in many cases, his ideas

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of the world. They have been recognised as the views and
ways of a great man, which carry the mark of greatness in
them. Nevertheless a serious question that has been raised
is, are such great thoughts still relevant in the present time?
No doubt, Gandhi’s ideas were crucial in boosting the
may not provide a direct answer to our present-day
problems. But they definitely indicate a direction. That they
can do much more than that is attested to by the fact that
Gandhi lived by what he preached, and successfully too!
And once Gandhi himself stated that he was an “ordinary”
morale of the masses and awakening them and making them
mortal preaching and living by views that were most noble
fight for independence from British rule. And they played
and good for mankind. Today, people from world-over agree
no mean part in forcing the British to leave the country.
and admire many facets of his thoughts such as non-
But are they significant in the India and the world of today,
violence, the non-exploitative growth of economy and
to the man today?
environment, etc. for their message and relevance, which
There is no dearth of people who doubt the continuing
only makes us wonder whether there is not anything in
relevance of his thoughts. From their point of view, the
them.
foremost reason for this is the Utopian nature of his ideas.
However, there is need to mention one thing. Gandhi
On the face of it, they seem impractical musings that cannot
propagated his ideas at least 50 years back. Since then, the
be of much relevance in a world that has lost its moral
world has undergone a lot of change especially in the
and ethical values and has set itself on the track of crass
political and economic sense, and so has India. Many of
materialism and intellectualism; in a society that shows
his views may thus need to be modified in order that they
marks of continuing on the road to selfishness, exploitation
are applied to present conditions while their essence is kept
and degeneration. Actually, Gandhi and his ways have been
intact. There is no reason to doubt whether such a step
considered irrelevant from time to time since the early
would have been approved by the Mahatma were he alive
twentieth century. Such doubts have been largely inspired
to this day. It would also not be wrong to study his ideas
in independent India by the fact that India since indepen-
in combination with others from varied sources and produce
dence has never really adopted any of his thoughts and
 Gandhi 107
an amalgamation of thoughts that would serve as a relevant
framework for addressing present day problems and con-
cerns.
THE ESSENCE OF HIS VIEWS The great relevance of
Gandhian thoughts and ideas especially to modern man lies
in their very essence. All his concepts and techniques for
moral and spiritual regeneration are aimed at man’s
realisation of self—which was for him the attainment of
God—so that man could become parmatma. Gandhi’s vision
opens the ‘way to a better and superior life, a ‘higher’ man
devoted to love, justice and truth. But such glory could be
achieved only by serving mankind for the welfare of the
common people especially the downtrodden, as only in the
service of people can the soul’s qualities of truth, humility
and justice be demonstrated. What can be of greater
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relevance to us than understanding how such self-realisation
may be possible, how man can achieve a higher state of
being! All the operational techniques preached and followed
by Gandhi ultimately aim at the attainment of this goal.
Once man’s inner transformation takes place, all other
changes would automatically occur. The need for this is
all the more urgent today as spiritual and moral values are
only on the decline and progress is largely gauged on
material terms. What follows is a discussion of the signifi-
cance and feasibility of some major facets of Gandhian
thought and practice in the present time.
NON-VIOLENCE AND SATYAGRAHA Through non-
violence as defined by him, Gandhi sought to effect a
bloodless revolution that would pave way for peace in the
world society. He saw non-violence as the soul force or the
truth-force that would work as the underlying principle in
the transformation of societies into communities residing
in love and universal brotherhood. Once adopted as the
tenet that would guide all thought and action, it could bring
about change in every sense—not just socio-politically but
also economically. The technique of non-violence is ex-
pressed through satyagraha, fighting non-violently by adher-
108 Gandhi
ence to truth through fasting, courting suffering and impris-
onment, and non-cooperation with the unjust authority by
refusing to obey its dictates. Non-violence is a means of
achieving one’s goal in the individual as well as the
collective sense.
In contemporary society where violence has became
the rule rather than the exception, only non-violence can
save man from total destruction. Violence everywhere, even
on the streets, has unfortunately come to be accepted as
a part and parcel of daily life. Violence has even became
a means of entertainment. It has ultimately moulded our
psyche into a violence-prone one. What we need to do
essentially is rid ourselves of the violent mentality in us.
This is only possible by reorienting ourselves to the message
and relevance of non-violence by infusing its spirit into our
hearts and minds. Since the earliest of times, nonviolence
has been advocated for this purpose by many preachers and
messengers from different corners of the world. In India too,
message of non-violence was preached by Mahavira, Bud-
dha, Nanak, and others. The same nonviolence was advo-
cated by Gandhi but in a different form: he propounded
its technique as it could be used in practice and in daily
life by 20th century man.
It is often argued that non-violence can be actually
practised only in a very limited sense—by an individual,
and that too with exceptions—and Gandhi would perhaps
be the only one to do it. Further, that non-violence as state
policy is impossible for implementation and it succeeded
against the British only because the British were a ‘civilised’
power. Non-violence would be relevant and possible in the
world scenario only when all nations adopt non-violence
as an article of faith and eschew the present race of
armaments. We can refute such arguments by pointing out
that only individuals make up a society, state and nation;
in other words, if all individuals in a society adopt the
principle of non-violence heart and soul and abide by it
in all situations, the society or the state would become the
 Gandhi 109
epitome of non-violence. Of course, this would be a
Herculean task. But it is not impossible if men are trained
to develop qualities such as self-resistance and discipline
which are paramount to developing a nonviolent outlook
towards life. The age we live in is one of violence. And
here, violence be gets violence. It is imperative that non-
violence is ‘made’ relevant to the atomic age. Reducing state
or government violence is all the more necessary as this
has been growing over the years to become a source of major
concern today. State-inspired and state-supported terrorism,
authoritarianism and dictatorship, corrupt state administra-
tive machinery are perhaps some of the worst forms of
violence. A check on government violence would go a long
way in reducing violence of wars and contributing to social
and environmental progress. It would contribute to equalising
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wealth among the population as there will be no forceful
government support to guarantee ownership and concentra-
tion of power and money. It is true more often than we
realise that the violent actions of the state to check crime
and social ills only make matters worse.
Gandhi well understood the relevance of non-violence
and satyagraha for not just the society that existed in his
time but for all times to come and in all contexts. He did
not intend to limit the adoption of his broad-based satyagraha
to our country. His belief in its effectiveness was such that
he advocated it to the suffering Jews, the Abyssinians and
the Czech during the Second World War. He believed that
offering of satyagraha would effectively work against the
might of dictators such as Mussolini and Hitler. The greatest
asset of the non-violent mode of functioning is its universal
application and the fact that it can be easily organised even
in the open. It is difficult to crush provided it has adequate
leadership. In contrast, violence especially against the State,
which is a mighty institution in modern times, cannot hope
to succeed unless it is underground; therefore, it is not easy
to organise. The Satyagraha method rescues a struggle from
degenerating into massive violence through entrenchment
110 Gandhi
of divisive forces, persuasive hatred and corruption and lies
in politics. Non-violence’s superiority over violence also
bears scientific testimony. Konrad Z. Lorenz in King
Solomon’s Ring explains how of two opponents when one’
stops violence and fights only with his inner strength in
a non-violent manner, the aggressor begins developing an
inner obstruction towards violence and finally is unable to
kill his enemy. This is ample proof that the giving up and
not the use of deadly weapons and violence is prescribed
by human nature for the survival of man.
That the major problems of today have their origins
in the depth of individual and social life means that only
a basic or revolutionary change can change the dismal
scenario. Non-violence is such a revolution; it aims at
altering the fundamental outlook Sway from violence for
good. It is an inner revolution, a rebirth. We can use
nonviolence to fight all kinds of ills that are rampant in
our country—be it black marketing, nepotism, corruption,
red tapism. If India could use non-violence successfully
against the foreigners in the early half of the 20th century,
why cannot it be used 50 years later with equal success
against our own countrymen. Unfortunately, India since its
independence, has failed to emphasise the relevance of the
nonviolent principle and create a precedent to other nations
by adopting it. In post-independent India, institutions left
behind by Gandhi to pursue and practise his ideals became
institutions of government patronage. Centres of nonviolent
revolution such as the Sabarmati and Sevagram from where
Gandhi started the Gandhi March and the Quit India
campaign were converted to relief centres. The khadi and
village industries organised by Gandhi to develop people’s
power of self-reliance as an integral part of the non-violent
revolution came under government control. The Gandhi
Smarak Nidhi was organised after Gandhi’s death to lend
finances to non-violent programmes across the country. But
ultimately its resources of more than 10 crore rupees was
spent in raising museums and isolated relief work activities.
 Gandhi 111
At the international level, the Gandhian technique could
be used by peace-loving, nonviolent people from different
nations to fight against global terrorism, nuclear ills, the
drug menace in the world, civil wars and even issues such
as the link-up of trade with matters unrelated to trade by
the rich nations of the world.
As human situations are varied and demand different
responses at different times, we cannot hope for a readymade
mode of non-violent struggle to suit every situation. One
just needs to remember that the basic principles of non-
violence remaining the same, a type of non-cooperation and
passive resistance that suits the situation most should be
adopted.
POLITICS AND SOCIETY Gandhi envisaged a socio-
political regeneration through his ideas and practices based
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on truth and love. For him, the “greatest good of all” in
a socio-political set-up could be realised only through the
classless, stateless democracy of autonomous village com-
munities based on non-violence and not coercion, on
service and not exploitation, and on the largest measure of
all local and individual initiative.
Welfare of all and social harmony could only be
achieved through development of self-governing village
communities, decision of local issues by near unanimity if
not consensus, limitation of wants and development of
people’s capacity to look after their affairs without gov-
ernment control. This ideal society was the Sarvodaya
society characterised by equal treatment of all castes and
creeds, absence of exploitation and the scope for devel-
opment of individuals and groups. His ideal society or
Sarvodaya society of stateless democracy could only be
realised by first cleaning the society of all its ills. He, thus,
called for ‘clean’ politics and a higher state of morality in
society. In this, as in his other ideas and concepts, the
essence is in cultivating spiritual and moral values that
would build a strong character given to the quest .for truth
and self-realisation. The above-mentioned aspects will have
112 Gandhi
to be borne in mind to understand how his views on politics
and society can help us in modern times.
Today politics has become a dirty game. In India, it
is characterised by every major social ill. There is corruption
and hypocrisy and double standards of the so-called po-
litical leaders. It is only money power that runs the wheel
of politics. As a result, goondaism has become a rampant
disease. To complicate the scene, there is the mixing of
politics with religion merely to win votes. The remedy to
this depressing state of affairs is in understanding the
Gandhian message and putting it into practice. Gandhi
wanted politics to be combined with moral principles and
a programme of social reform, and this is urgently needed
today. We must infuse the spirit of religion in politics as
recommended by Gandhi in order to rescue politics from
the low depths to which it has fallen. But spiritualisation
of politics does not mean communalising it; religion’s
incorporation in politics only means a progressive move-
ment towards justice and truth. For Gandhi, changing
society without the instrument of politics was no solution.
And in today’s context, this will be an impossibility, what
with politics being the centre-point of the life of a nation
and its people. Finally, only good men will be able to
establish a good political system. So all said and done, there
is the need for men to build up their individual moral fibre
on the principle of goodness and truth.
Gandhi pleaded for simple living and restricting
materialism in society so that its maladies such as corrup-
tion, violence, etc. could be tackled successfully. Gandhi
also stressed that simple living worked against the psychol-
ogy of possession, which ultimately resulted in degeneration
of values in society. For Gandhi, every coin not earned by
dint of labour was tainted with sin. Gandhi’s emphasis on
labour for earning things in life need special attention today
what with the problem of black money and corrupt ways
of acquiring easy money.
EDUCATION It is in the field of education that we can
 Gandhi 113
borrow much from the Gandhian framework of values to
emerge with ideas in education that would replace defects
in the present day set-up. Gandhi himself realised the
utmost relevance of his ideas on education for independent
India. That is why he said in The Problem of Education,
“I have given many things to India. But this system of
education together with its technology is, I feel, the best
of them. I do not think I will have anything better to offer
the country”. Our educational system as it is today derives
from the one established by the British, which Gandhi
termed as defective and a monster. Gandhi offered his
system as an alternative to the British system that served
the interests of a few and was unrelated to the environment
and concerns for development. For him it was the most
concentrated form of alienation that generated superficial
charges.
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elitism. Out present-day system is not free from such
Our educational system as it exists does not educate
man in the real sense. No doubt it informs and teaches but
that is done only in a superficial sense. There is no attempt
to strengthen the mind to improve its power to create and
be innovative, and to enlarge its scope of vision beyond
the day-to-day. Real education must aim to build the moral
and spiritual values of man so that be can aim at greater
things in life while building a society and a world that
would be an epitome of the best of human values. Adopting
the Gandhian ideas on education would mean providing
education aimed at developing a spiritual man dedicated
to truth and non-violence for the “highest development of
mind and soul”. It would inculcate a national consciousness
and an obligation to meet social necessities in the indi-
vidual. Thus, the education that would be provided would
look beyond classrooms and schools or universities: it
would address problems like poverty, create a productive
base in villages by reviving village industries to remove
disparities between villages and cities, etc. In contrast,
compare the education of today that lacks a broad vision,
114 Gandhi
which is of no direct use in looking into the socio-economic
problems that our country faces now.
It is shocking to realise that the so-called education
of today does not even prove useful in daily, practical life.
Whatever is learnt in the school or college does not
practically equip the student with the means necessary to
make a living in the world. What is needed is not merely
theoretical education but practical education as well.
Realising this need, Gandhi called for an education that
would integrate self-activity with life, as in spinning, or
education through craft. The philosophy behind education
through craft is very much relevant today. Gandhi wanted
the crafts medium to be village handicrafts at least at the
basic primary education level as (i) that would be in keeping
with the concept of bread-labour, (ii) education could then
provide a link with various human activities through
medicine, electronics, commerce which were also crafts.
We definitely need to reorient education to link it with
activities which would make it useful and productive in
daily life though we may not necessarily rely on village
handicrafts. An Gandhi said, only economic crafts can make
education self-financing; and making available adequate
resources especially financial for spreading education is the
biggest hurdle in the field of education in present times.
Gandhi was of the view that the crafts must always reflect
a change in educational methodology. We must bear this
in mind at a time when technology has exerted its impact
in almost every area, including education. That is to say,
for instance, that as the computer slowly replaces traditional
means of teaching in some aspects, the crafts taught must
rely more and more on the use of computers or computer
activities.
Gandhi wanted educational institutions to be some-
thing more than merely that; they should be like commu-
nities that integrate people closer to one another in mind
and spirit. He wanted such communities to be linked with
other social communities through social and cultural
 Gandhi 115
endeavours. All this bears great relevance in these times
when the classroom, school and college breeds feelings of
alienation among our youth and encourage a whole range
of social ills. Also, Gandhi stated, for the school and college
to become a house of true knowledge and learning the
‘teacher’ must raise himself in character to provide the right
example to his students. Gandhi felt that education must
inculcate a strength in men and women that would teach
them to labour and become self-reliant. In other words,
education must be free and self-supporting, that is, relying
upon oneself individually and collectively rather than
depending upon the charity of others. Unfortunately, this
principle is nowhere to be found nowadays. Education is
subsidised to such a great extent that for the sake of the
few who are to be educated, all people are required to
contribute financially.
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Gandhi’s ideas on primary and adult education are
of immense value to us and we ought to take them up
seriously. We find that children are nowadays unnecessarily
burdened with bookish learning at a very young age which
not only strains their mind extremely but blunts their
minds. The need at the earliest stage is not for theoretical
but activity-based education that would make education
interesting as well as help the mind think innovatively.
Gandhi’s call for vocal rather than alphabetical training at
the primary level is worth taking note of. At this level,
Gandhi wanted an education that would build the foun-
dations for satisfying the preconditions of a moral system.
So he voiced the need for dissipating ethical ideas to
students, as ethics is the distillation of different religious
concepts upon which children would not differ. Coming to
adult education, does education of adults mean simply
making them ‘literate’, which is what our adult education
programmes are aiming at? Adult education, for Gandhi,
was continuous mass education, an education in work,
service and self-discipline that would be a continuation of
that education imparted in their younger days.
116 Gandhi
GANDHI’S ECONOMIC IDEAS Gandhi’s views on eco-
nomic matters are of as much relevance today as are his
thoughts on socio-political issues. He was not an economist
in the professional sense and he did not read the thoughts
of revered economists such as Adam Smith and David
Ricardo. Gandhi evolved his economic ideas from the very
moral and spiritual principles that he espoused and which
he let influence his thoughts on all other matters. He said,
“true economics stands for social justice and moral values”,
and true economics was to “manufacture souls”. The basis
of his economic ideas, thus, are truth, bread-labour, non-
possession, satyagraha, non-violence. And the major inten-
tion behind his ideas is to benefit the common people, the
large population of India that comprises many poor. Un-
fortunately, Gandhi’s economic ideas have been misun-
derstood by many. Some have argued, some continue to feel,
that Gandhian economics is irrelevant today. It is felt that
Gandhi was totally against the modernisation of economy
and machine-based industrialisation. Rajendra Prasad and
C. Rajagopalachari, long-time interpreters of Gandhian
economics, finally gave it up when they were inducted as
cabinet ministers. But the fact that the economic frame-
work—with little reverence to Gandhian ideas—adopted by
the country since its independence has yet to benefit the
common masses—especially the poverty-ridden—is a good
enough reason to take up Gandhi’s economic thoughts
seriously for study. The gist of his ideas and thoughts,
directly or indirectly, can prove relevant to present-day
India. In his article, “Core of Gandhian Economics” in the
book, The Relevance of Gandhi to our Times, G.
Ramachandran is of the opinion that Gandhian economics
will be studied more and more with the passing decades
“because he (Gandhi) thought and planned not only in terms
of the present but even more of the future.”
Development of Industries India is an agricultural
country where most of the population resides in villages.
It is for this reason that Gandhi wanted the country’s socio-
 Gandhi 117
economic structure to be built on agricultural economy. For
large-scale agricultural development though it will be now,
difficult to use Gandhi’s methods of limited wants and use
of simple tools. We must remember his basic message in
this context—that the capital and consumer needs must be
produced from the land and this should be the foundation
of the economy. Nowadays, it is only consumerism-based
industrialisation that is on the ascent. Those who cannot
afford even the most necessary things in life continue to
be denied of these things. As a result, the gap between the
well-off and the poor is only increasing with each day.
An agricultural country like India must pursue ag-
riculture-oriented industrialisation to a greater extent. This
would also ensure that people are not uprooted from their
agricultural livelihoods. Gandhi, who revered labour, saw
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that large-scale use of machines in industries and mass
production was only making people idle. In other words,
unemployment was becoming a major problem—as it is
today. He said this was because the rural people were
thrown at the receiving rather than the producing end by
rampant industrialisation: they are forced to share a product
in the production of which they have not played a part.
In a country where a large number of people are based in
rural areas, this kind of industrialisation is self-defeating.
A large agriculture-oriented industry, on the other hand,
would mean more employment opportunities for making
roads, rural electrification, transport, etc. People would not
leave their villages and towns and migrate to cities in search
of jobs that are not there for the asking.
Gandhi aimed at evolving a decentralised economic
system based on small machines and labour-intensive
industries. The beneficial results of a decentralised system
that the nature of decentralisation as advocated by Gandhi
would lead to are many. It would (i) lead to a continuous
rise in the efficiency and productivity of the industry as
it would require planned and constant efforts at improving
the technique of production; (ii) satisfy local and regional
118 Gandhi
needs by making full use of local/regional resources;
(iii) lead to the development of every village or small village
groups as an agro-industrial community; (iv) not be exploit-
ative or bureaucracy-ridden; (v) ultimately lay the founda-
tions of economic democracy. However, complete
decentralisation of this kind may not be possible all of a
sudden as the base for such development has not been laid
all these years. Moreover, the feasibility of the Gandhian
manner of decentralisation would rest on getting technology
that is suited to the development pattern aimed at. But no
such technology, which would be labour-intensive as well
as which would boost productivity significantly, has been
evolved so far. What can be done is to study Gandhi’s
approach to reconciliation of big, centralised industries in
urban India with a vast chain of decentralised industries
spread through rural India. As he said, all the big industries
then can be run solely under community management and
all small-scale industries in a manner that the producers
will themselves own the tools of production. People can
convert raw materials into consumer goods for consumption
as well as daily profitable employment. Only wise planning
can bring about a synthesis of the two industries for
maximum employment and production in economy with an
attempt to put people as masters of both the types of
industries. It is also necessary to bring the human element
in industrialisation to the forefront. As Gandhi said, large
industries under community management must not only
give industrial labour fair play but also full participation.
Gandhi, time and again, stressed the importance of
promoting khadi and village industries. In the set-up
amalgamating big industries and small ones that is dis-
cussed above, khadi and village industries can be made part
of the decentralised sector that will contain cottage, village
and small-scale industries. But a crucial thing is that like
other aspects of the sector, even pottery, handmade paper
and other village industries will need to be modernised in
the light of advancing technology. Only then can they
 Gandhi 119
become vital to the overall socio-economic prosperity.
Technology Development Technology has advanced at
a rapid pace in the last 40 to 50 years with the result that
today technology is the buzzword in every area of activity.
It has red to a major problem though—its rampant and
indiscriminate use and misuse. Even developing countries,
many of which are poor and bear a severe resource crunch,
are opting for all kinds of sophisticated technologies at large
financial costs. Not only that, imported technology-based
industries are being set up. Many of them produce luxurious
goods that are not useful for more than a handful of the
population.
There is a cry is for becoming self-reliant in tech-
nology without realising what kind of technology are we
talking about and whom does it benefit. Thoughtless and
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wasteful technological use has resulted in a number of
socio-economic problems such as rising poverty and unem-
ployment, environmental degradation and loss of ethical
values. Our country is also in the snare of the so-called
technological advancement. A solution to the technological
problem of today can be found in Gandhian views on
technology development. Until now, we have only un-
heeded and even flouted Gandhi’s warnings on this subject.
For instance, more than 50 years ago Gandhi had warned
that the growing gap between the most advanced and the
least advanced technologies would result in two different
technological cultures—one advanced, borrowed and totally
foreign-oriented and another less developed, indigenous and
transmitted through local media and languages—that would
polarise societies.
One of Gandhi’s basic postulates was that human
wants must be curtailed and those human wants rejected
that are repugnant to human consciousness. Now, lack of
any such principle in the course of technological devel-
opment has resulted in the poor state of societies in the
, nations of the West where excess of material progress has
deteriorated society-so that it is falling apart. A fruitful
120 Gandhi
lesson from such a disaster is that technological and scale
choices, that is, on what scale technology should be
implemented, cannot be solely determined by economic
considerations—as, Gandhi said, economics cannot remain
inseparable from ethics. What is needed is appropriate
technology which, for Gandhi, was nothing but appropriate
industrialisation—not western industrialisation that “in-
duced a dangerous acquisitive lust and also became an
instrument of imperialism”, a fetishism of consumerism. He
wanted labour-intensive technology, one that would be
biased towards the quality of labour rather than the quality
of equipment. And the importance of this kind of tech-
nology is now slowly being accepted abroad by scientists
and economists. It is being realised that capital intensive
technology can be pushed too far and to a point when not
merely the balance between man, machine and nature is
destroyed but also the very existence of human life on earth.
Once again, it is time to sincerely plead, like Gandhi
did, for technological development that would be matched
by appropriate human, organisational and cultural devel-
opment. We need to first see whether we have the socio-
economic pre-requisites for an imported technology. It is
recognising the structural and organisational constraints in
developing societies—which suffer from the same even
now—that Gandhi discouraged the use of any technology
which stultified changes in the organisational set-ups.
Trusteeship Gandhi presented an alternative to the
prevailing economic organisations in his concept of trust-
eeship. Trusteeship is based upon the principle of non-
possession and it condemns the instinct of acquisition.
Gandhi wanted that all property should be considered as
a trust to be used for the welfare of all people. For this,
it would be necessary for owners of private property, who
were only trustees, to give up their ownership rights. His
concept of trusteeship recognises that it is man’s acquisitive
tendency that creates doubts and insecurities in his mind.
Gandhi also wanted to thus uplift the morale of the people.
 Gandhi 121
Gandhi’s principle addresses the moral grounds of the
institution of non-possession in a revolutionary departure
from the traditional capitalistic way of looking at things.
The idea of trusteeship may not seem very practicable
for any time leave alone the present period; However, it
is not entirely ‘baseless’ in these modern times that are
characterised by a keenness to understand new lines of
development and progress and adopt them if necessary.
With new and widely spread education new levels of
understanding have been reached by the people that leaves
a large scope for giving new life to ideas of the past that
can be usefully adapted to the present times. Coming to
the Gandhian concept itself, it would prove useful in doing
away with economic disparities, unjust distribution of
wealth and problems of maladjustments between employers
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and employees, and easing the conflict between the being
established and the already established in society. It also
aims to narrow the class gap—a concern that the democratic
nations have been preoccupied with for long, and that
which our country has aimed at through her cooperative
policies, the community development projects, and in her
taxation policy. Thus the concept of trusteeship is relevant.
It can be made practicable once it is seen in the context
of the changed conditions in modern times. Some critics
have noted that partial trusteeship is already being intro-
duced in some developed countries. In some capitalist
nations, people have started gradually accepting workers’
control of and share in management, notes an essay in
Essays in Gandhian Economics edited by Ramesh Diwan
and Mark Lutz.
Gandhi outlined a revolutionary economic programme
that put a great deal of emphasis on self-sufficiency of
economies. This is the need of the hour today when
economics has come to be dictated by wealth and power.
It is an economic criterion that forces less developed nations
to show subservience to developed countries on the inter-
national front every now and then. For freedom from
122 Gandhi
economic subjection, self-sufficiency of economy is ex-
tremely important—and this is what Gandhi pleaded for.
According to Gandhi, such self-sufficiency could also allow
voluntary mutual dependence among nations. Most eco-
nomic theories today are of domination and rejection.
Gandhi’s economic programme, in contrast, is a non-
violence-based programme whose goal and relevance for
modern times cannot be doubted. The Chinese, for one, have
shown that developing nations with large populations
cannot follow the western model of shift of population
through industrialisation. And in India, we have already
accepted Gandhi’s emphasis on village as the unit of the
Indian economic system.
Gandhian economics was an attempt to reconcile
science and spirituality, production and character, goods
and culture. One can only venture to say that without any
hope of such reconciliation, the future of mankind is not
bright. The pressing need is for studying the methods of
application of Gandhian economics in changing conditions
and situations in India and the world.
GANDHI’S VIEWS ON ENVIRONMENT Addressing the
environment-related problems in order to save our natural
surroundings and our planet from degradation and destruc-
tion has become a great concern in our times. And not
without reason. Man, since his beginning, has been careless
to his natural surroundings and continues to be so. And
the realisation today is that soon he may have to pay a
heavy price for exploiting nature perseveringly and ruth-
lessly. Problems such as rising environmental pollution,
shrinking of habitats and the fast-depleting natural re-
sources, the depletion of the ozone layer are disturbing the
ecological balance and creating problems for man himself.
Gandhi was aware that man’s activities vis-a-vis his sur-
roundings would soon ring the alarm bells so that man
would be forced to revise his attitude towards his environ-
ment. But because he wanted man to awake to the problem
at the earliest, he pleaded for a sensible approach and
 Gandhi 123
greater awareness in use of nature and in environment-
related matters as such. He also called for greater diligence
in addressing the problems that emerged. Many environ-
mentalists today adopt an approach that clearly recognises
Gandhi’s own approach in some sense or the other. But
Gandhi’s views on environment as a whole deserve greater
merit and understanding as Gandhi’s thoughts deal with
more than one problem and keep in mind all aspects of
man’s surroundings. Actually, Gandhian thoughts in their
entirety are very significant in this context. For they aim
at creating a non-exploitative world order which can
address all problems including environmental exploitation
and the resulting complications between nations on the
international scene.
Gandhi warned of some factors that play a major role
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in creating environmental degradation, these being unlim-
ited urbanisation, massive industrialisation in which raw
materials are exploited without a thought for the conse-
quence on the balance of nature, and spread of
industrialisation through profit motive alone. No one can
deny that the above-mentioned factors have played the
largest role in degrading our environment over the last two
centuries. Gandhi suggested ways to address ecology-related
problems which, once adopted in their spirit and content,
can serve to solve many of the problems. Today, mans
ecology-related problems include (i) shrinkage of natural
resources base available to the ecosystem people owing to
over-grazing, etc., (ii) inefficient building-up of man-made
capital and meting it out to the people in an unfair manner,
as a result that there is a negative impact on the natural
capital and a few people end up with control of natural
and man-made capital, and (iii) drain of India’s natural
capital to the outside world. The core of Gandhian prescrip-
tions are suitable for these concerns. The Gandhian view
Sees environmental degradation as mainly a result of
materialistic greed on the part of people. Material consump-
tion must be maintained within limits and it must allow
124 Gandhi
equitable sharing of natural products and those of the
economy among all sections of the people. If the people
at large and especially the elite should not desire more and
more of material comforts, the ecosystem people must also
learn to be contented with subsistence. Ultimately, Gandhi
was insistent that the build-up of man-made capital must
not be at a considerable cost to the natural capital. The
ecosystem people should have greater access to the natural
resource base in their localities. Gandhi wanted all people,
those in as well as out of power, to voluntarily adopt these
principles as a moral imperative. And the present-day
environmental scene suggests that what he pleaded for may
soon become necessary for our happy existence on earth.
The present-day environmentalists and their
programmes reflect an approach which is not very different
from the approach of Gandhian thoughts to our environment
and ecology. The environmental movement of today holds
that environmental protection is man-centred. And man, as
an individual as well as a social being, has always been
central to the Gandhian system. Gandhi wanted that the link
between man and man should, through nonviolence, make
the social fabric. One more feature of the environment
movement of is that it goes beyond direct environment
degradation to its effect on human sensitivity and the today
general balance between man, economy and nature. This
approach is in keeping with Gandhian concerns. But Gandhi
went a step further still. He wanted attention to be given
to the cultural and spiritual needs of man in this context.
This issue is, however, yet to come to the forefront.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
(1889—1964)
Biographical Sketch
To many Indians, old and young, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
epitomised the courage, dignity, wisdom and humanity that
won for India its freedom from alien rule and established
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it on the world map as a practising democracy on the way
to progress and prosperity. This favourite disciple of the
great apostle of Indian freedom, indomitable leader of his
people along the thorny path of liberation, wise counsellor
and moulder of policies of a reborn nation, renowned
interpreter of the aspirations of a great race and one whose
intellectual leadership combined the profound knowledge
of the West with the great heritage and enduring traditions
of the East and a champion of underprivileged people whose
devotion to the noble ideas of universal peace and under-
standing won for him the respect and acclaim of all
mankind, was born on November 14, 1889. Nehru’s ances-
tors came from Kashmir. They were Brahmins enjoying the
honorific of Pandit, which means ‘Man of Learning’. The
original family name was not Nehru but Kaul. Nehru’s
father, Motilal was a highly successful lawyer whose ability
to earn money was more than matched by his ability to
spend it. As Motilal prospered, the family’s standard of
living improved. When Jawaharlal was three years old, his
father moved to Anand Bhavan—a large rambling house,
with its own swimming pool, electricity and running water,
the first of its kind in Allahabad. Anand Bhavan was a
125
126 Nehru
happy instance of coexistence between the English and
Indian styles of living: Motilal enjoyed the former, his wife
Swarup Rani the latter, and the children enjoyed both. As
Jawaharlal admitted in the very beginning of his Autobi-
ography: “An only son of prosperous parents is apt to be
spoilt, especially so in India. And when that son happens
to have been an only child for the first eleven years of his
existence there is little hope for him to escape this spoiling.”
His boyhood was lonely and until the age of sixteen when
he went to Harrow, Jawaharlal never attended school. He
was educated at home by a series of English governesses
and private tutors, but of these only Ferdinand T. Brooks
made any impression on young Jawaharlal. Brooks devel-
oped in Jawaharlal two interests which endured—a taste for
reading and a curiosity in science and its mysteries.
In May, 1905, Jawaharlal sailed for England with his
parents and his four-year-old sister Sarup. He joined Harrow
in the Christmas term of 1905 and left at the end of the
summer term in 1907. At Harrow, Jawaharlal did all the
things required of a public school boy. Although he adjusted
himself in time to his new surroundings, he was “never
an exact fit”. He came to like the place but the sense of
intellectual restraint and confinement irked him somewhat.
He longed for the wider world of the university. And in
October, 1907, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge.
Jawaharlal, with his attachment to science, chose the
Natural Science Tripos, his subjects being Chemistry, Geology
and Botany. But his interests were broader, and his mind,
naturally inquisitive, roved over a wide horizon. Politics
and economics attracted him and he had always been drawn
towards history and literature. He read widely, if desulto-
rily. However, Jawaharlal left no impress on the life of the
university or, indeed, on the hundred-odd Indian students
studying at Cambridge in his time. His shyness and reserve
prevented him from speaking often at the Majlis—a society
of Indian students at Cambridge. A similar diffidence
deterred him from taking part in the discussions of his
 Nehru 127
college debating society known as ‘The Magpie and Stump’
which had a rule that a member not speaking for a whole
term must pay a fine. Jawaharlal often paid the fine.
After seven years in Britain, Jawaharlal may have had
poor results, but he did acquire an extremely good library
and a much broader mind. As M.J. Akbar says, he also
became a confirmed schizophrenic about Britain. Even ten
years after his return, in May 1922, he would tell a British
judge at his trial, “I returned to India as much prejudiced
in favour of England and the English as it was possible for
an Indian to be”. He admired in particular the British
commitment to freedom and patriotism. He wanted the same
liberties as an Indian, in India, and grew to hate the British
rule with a passion he could not find for anything else.
He had gone to England in a mood of adventure and
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discovery. But he returned to his motherland—to discover
India. It is not without significance that several years later
a book of his was to bear the title, Discovery of India.
Nehru was at first attracted by Gokhale’s ‘Servants of
India Society.’ The spirit of service and sacrifice which
animated the Society drew his admiration, but neither then
nor later did he entertain any thought of joining it. As Frank
Moraes says, it was about this time that the name of Gandhi
came into Nehru’s ken. Nehru was impressed by the Natal
Satyagraha launched by Gandhi as a protest against the
failure of the South African Government to honour its
undertaking to repeal an annual tax on the labourers. Action
had always stimulated and inspired Nehru.
The marriage of Jawahar and Kamala took place in
Delhi on February 8, 1916. It was Vasant Panchami that
day—the festival which heralds the coming of spring. The
wedding of 26-year-old Jawahar and 17-year-old Kamala was
one of the most glittering events of the time. On November
19, 1917, a daughter was born to the young couple. The
child was named Indira after Motilal’s mother, Indrani.
The year 1916 is a landmark in the political story of
modern India. At the Lucknow session of the Congress, the
128 Nehru
Congress and the Muslim League decided to cooperate with
each other. It was at the Lucknow Congress that twenty-
seven-year-old Nehru met Gandhi for the first time. Neither
on Nehru nor on the session as a whole did Gandhi make
any strong impact. In the same year, Nehru became joint
secretary of the provincial Home Rule League started by
Tilak and Annie Besant. “Mrs. Besant,” Nehru was to remark
long after, “had a very powerful influence on me in my
childhood, and even later when I entered political life her
influence continued”. It did not, however, overwhelm
Gandhi’s later influence which, in fact, submerged it. But
at that time, Gandhi was “very distant and different and
unpolitical to many of us young men”. Annie Besant was
not the only woman whose oratory moved Nehru. He found
the lyrical eloquence of Sarojini Naidu, poetess and poli-
tician and the first Indian woman to be President of the
Congress, equally “evocative. “Plainly, his patriotism had
strong emotional roots”.
The Jallianwala Bagh tragedy brought Nehru for the
first time into close political contact with Gandhi. He sensed
in Gandhi a new revolutionary force in action. Gandhi, he
reflected, was always thinking of the mass mind of India.
He was of and for the people. On May 28, 1920, the Khilafat
Committee, meeting in Bombay, adopted Gandhi’s non-
cooperation programme. Nehru did not completely share
Gandhi’s enthusiasm for the Khilafat cause, which was more
religious than political in its motivations. 1921 was the year
of khaddar, of the charkha, of the Gandhi topi, of mass
upheaval and of direct confrontation with the British. Nehru
was in the forefront. In fact, his political career coincides
almost exactly with Gandhi’s revolution. He rode the slogan
of the year: “Go to the villages!” He concentrated on the
progress of the non-cooperation movement in his province,
particularly in the villages.
1921 was an extraordinary year for Nehru. In his own
words, “I took to the crowd and the crowd took to me, and
yet I never lost myself in it; always I felt apart from it.’
 Nehru 129
In December, Nehru was arrested. Nehru, like most of the
Congress leaders, resented the sudden suspension of the
non-cooperation movement by Gandhi. On the last day of
January 1923, Nehru and other political workers in the
Lucknow goal were discharged. From 1923 onwards, he
found a great deal of solace and happiness in family life,
though he gave little time to it. In December 1923, the
annual session of the Congress was held at Kakinada under
the presidentship of Maulana Mohammad Ali who induced
Nehru to accept the All-India Congress secretaryship. In
December 1924, the Congress session was held at Belgaum,
and Gandhi was the President. At the end of the session,
Nehru was again elected, at Gandhi’s instance, the working
secretary of the A.I.C.C. for the next year. In March 1926,
Nehru sailed alongwith Kamala to Europe for her medical
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treatment in Switzerland. In February 1927, he was ap-
pointed the Indian Congress representative at the Congress
of Oppressed Nationalities, Brussels. He also attended the
meeting of the League Against Imperialism at Cologne.
From December 1927 to December 1929, Nehru played
the leadership role in various ways: “in setting a new basis
and goal for the national movement, in acquiring a new
following, in increasing his popularity among the masses,
in intensifying the conflict between nationalist India and
the British Raj, and in strengthening and mobilising the
Congress organisation for the civil disobedience movement
of 1930”. At the age of forty, Nehru had come to be
recognised by his colleagues in the struggle as a man of
superior qualities; he was adored by the masses as their
glorious prince, identified by the British as a leader to be
reckoned with and crowned by the nation as the Congress
President at Lahore in December 1929. The occasion had
a personal significance for Nehru’s father, Motilal: this was
the first time in the history of Congress that a son had
succeeded his father as President. Motilal proudly made
over charge to Jawaharlal, saying that what the father was
unable to accomplish the son would achieve.
130 Nehru
The issue at Lahore was war or peace. The key
resolution was moved by Gandhi. In essence the party was
called upon to authorise the AICC, “whenever it deems fit,
to launch upon a programme of civil disobedience, includ-
ing non-payment of taxes” and 26 January was fixed as
Independence Day, The civil disobedience movement began
with Gandhi’s Dandi March on 12 March 1930. “Nehru,
however, was prevented from playing more than a token
role” in this struggle. During the first week he directed
operations from Congress headquarters in Allahabad, issu-
ing a stream of circulars to local organs on day-to-day
tactics. For violating the Salt Law he was sentenced to six
months’ imprisonment. During his fifth term in prison,
Nehru began a series of letters to his daughter, later
published as Glimpses of World History. During a period
of almost four years, from the end of 1931 to September
1935, he was free for only six months. Kamala Nehru died
on 28 February 1936 in Switzerland. In his presidential
address to the Lucknow Congress in 1936, he urged the
Congress to accept socialism as its goal. A resolution on
Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy was passed by
the Congress on his urging. He became the President of the
All-India States People’s Conference in 1939.
On August 8, 1942 the Congress passed the famous
‘Quit India’ Resolution in Bombay demanding “the imme-
diate ending of British rule”.
In the early morning of August 9, a few hours after
the AICC session was over, Gandhi, Nehru and all the
members of the Working. Committee were arrested and
taken to unknown destinations, for detention without trial.
For the ninth time, and this was the last, Nehru passed 1,040
days in prison. In all, 3,262 days in the life of Nehru lie
buried in different prisons—Lucknow, Nabha, Naini, Bareilly,
Dehra Dun, Calcutta, Almora, Gorakhpur, and Ahmednagar
Fort.
In September, 1946, an Interim Cabinet, headed by
Nehru, was formed by the Congress. Since August 15, 1947,
 Nehru 131
he was the Prime Minister of India till his death on May
27, 1964. Jawaharlal Nehru achieved his greatness by dint
of hard work, by service to humanity. His greatness
extended to diverse fields from planned development to
literature, friendship with nature to love for children,
concern for peace to quest for prosperity for all mankind.
Jawaharlal Nehru was not born free. He fought his way
to freedom. After political freedom arrived, he struggled to
give India economic freedom too. He enriched the greatness
of his achievement through touches of refinement and
forged ahead as a towering giant among the all-time greats.
As Pearl S. Buck wrote, “At all events, Jawaharlal
Nehru is unforgettable. He began his life in the shadow of
Gandhi, but he soon emerged into the full light of his own
day, and there he lived and will live forever, not only as
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the greatest figure of modern India, but also as one of the
very few truly great men in all the world.” As Pandey rightly
remarked, “No man in the twentieth century was loved by
so many millions of people. Gandhi was reverred and
worshipped; Nehru was adored, loved and cherished”. He
gave the people of India unity, regarded them as his God,
and framed them in democracy. Through democracy he
wanted to adore and preserve the dignity and freedom of
the Indian people, and protect them against the humiliation
and coercion from which they had suffered enough in the
past. In the last year of his life, while lying in the shadow
of illness and loneliness, conflicts and frustrations, he could
reflect that the world was moving steadily towards peaceful
co-existence, and India was firmly rooted in the democratic
way of life. If it were so, it was no mean achievement.
Ideas and Achievements
HUMANISM
Gandhi, Tagore and Nehru constitute the great trinity
representing modern India. Humanism was the common
trait and bond of this Trinity’. Nehru’s god was man. So
132 Nehru
was Gandhi’s; and so was Tagore’s. If there was anything
Nehru worshipped, it was the Spirit of Man, the noble and
the rational in him. Humanism was central to the outlook
and thought of this ‘pagan’, as he liked to call himself.
Nehru had a profound sense of history and deep respect
for India’s heritage. He wanted the Indian people to free
themselves from the shackles of the past. At the same time,
Nehru urged upon the masses to recondition their mind
equipping themselves with the problems of the present and
future perspective. This, said Nehru, was possible only
when the people tried to imbibe the highest ideals of the
present age—humanism and scientific spirit. Despite an
apparent conflict between the two, there was “a growing
synthesis between humanism and scientific spirit, resulting
in a kind of scientific humanism”.
To Nehru what really mattered was the masses. He
approvingly quoted Rousseau: “ ‘Tis the people that com-
pose the human race; what is not people is so small a
concern that it is not worth the trouble of counting”. His
likes and dislikes for ideologies, systems and personalities
were dictated by liberal humanistic considerations. To him
Mother India meant the teeming millions, and national
liberation meant the end of their sorrows and sufferings.
If there was anything in which Nehru the scientist had faith
it was the godlike and progressive in Man, It was this that
sustained him through many a frustration, suffering and
dejection. From behind the walls of Ahmednagar Fort, he
wrote to his daughter: “How amazing is this Spirit of Man.
In spite of innumerable failings, man, throughout the ages,
has sacrificed his life and all he held dear for an ideal,
for truth, for faith, for country and for honour....” This
humanist ideal inspired him throughout his life. He acted
upon the maxim of Remain Rolland which he approvingly
quoted: “Action is the end of thought. All thought which
does not look towards action is an abortion and a treachery”.
One of his heroes was La Passionaria in whom he found
“the symbol of the common man and woman who had
 Nehru 133
suffered and been exploited for ages and were now deter-
mined to be free”. Nehru loved life passionately, and fought
all his life to deliver it from all forms of slavery and
degradation. Possessed of a scientific and rational temper,
he always looked upon science as an effective instrument
for the liberation of man.
A MAN OF LETTERS
Jawaharlal Nehru belonged to that small company of
statesmen who were also men of letters: Lenin, Churchill,
de Gaulle, Kennedy. Nehru’s books were read the world
over. His Autobiography became required reading for free-
dom fighters in all colonial territories. It gave them hope.
Nehru was a voracious reader and a prolific writer. Over
thirty volumes of his selected works have appeared. Then
there are books—Glimpses of World History, The Unity of
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
India, The Discovery of India, A Bunch of Old Letters. Add
to this his speeches, and we have something monumental.
Almost all of Nehru’s serious writings, done during prison
terms, radiate a vitalising freshness. In his famous and
brilliantly drafted’ statement at his Gorakhpur trial in 1940,
Nehru said: “I am a lover of words and phrases and try
to use them appropriately. Whatever my opinions might be,
the words I use are meant to express them intelligently and
in ordered sequence.” Literary style, literary form and
sensibility, and literary talent never deserted Nehru.
Nehru’s knowledge of English literature, Greek drama
and poetry, and world history was deep and wide. His
writings are replete with quotations from the saints and
sages of all ages and countries. Jawaharlal Nehru was a
remarkably accomplished essayist. His essays deal with a
variety of themes and subjects, united always to a perfection
of form. Nehru kept a notebook to take down passages that
stirred his mind and heart from each book he read. During
all his terms of imprisonment he filled many notebooks and
kept a diary. These diaries are also beautifully written and
we get a glimpse of Nehru’s innermost feelings and thoughts.
134 Nehru
“We get to know his moods, his melancholy, his ebullience,
his extraordinary resilience and profoundly impressive
detachment as far as the less important activities of mortals
were concerned.”
On reading An Autobiography, Rabindranath Tagore
wrote to Nehru, “Through all its details there runs a deep
current of humanity which overpasses the tangles of facts
and leads us to the person who is greater than his deeds
and truer than his surroundings.” As a story of India’s
national struggle, “the Autobiography is unsurpassed; as a
sympathetic study into the characters of some of the men
and women who shaped India’s destiny in those fateful
days, it has no equal/’ With the Autobiography, Nehru had
established for himself a permanent position in the world
of letters. It expresses the manifold aspects of his rich
personality more adequately than perhaps anything else he
has done. His passionate insistence on judging things
rationally gives to his writings a unique quality of under-
standing and clarity.
There is in all his writings a balance and sobriety that
is characteristic of the scientific temper. His attempt to see
the other side of the shield at one time led his critics to
describe him as the ‘Harnlet of Indian Polities’. His writings
and his acts are full of human dignity. It is his reverence
for man that makes him not only a champion but also a
bard of oppressed humanity. People have at times tended
to misjudge Nehru and describe him as a man of moods
and impulses. Impulsive he often was. A Bunch of Old
Letters reveals that behind and underneath all these out-
bursts of momentary feelings there was in him a deep and
changing purpose which had swayed his thought and action
since the beginning of his political life. Many have been
attracted by his personal charm and the sparkle and
brilliance of his conversation, but the strength of his mind
and the tenacity of his purpose have not always been fully
realised. “I am not a man of letters, and I am not prepared
to say that the many years I have spent in goal have been
 Nehru 135
the sweetest in my life, but I must say that reading and
writing have helped me wonderfully to get through them.
I am not a literary man, and I am not a historian; what
indeed am I?” asked Nehru. In fact he was both and much
more.
Who else but a man of letters would have kept the
lines from Robert Frost’s poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening’ on his working desk:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
VIEWS ON CULTURE
Jawaharlal Nehru was a statesman, scholar, administrator,
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
historian and humanist. Nehru possessed a rare intellectual
capacity to absorb and reconcile many divergent trends. He
was a man who could blend the visionary with rational,
the ideal with the practical, custom with modernity, tra-
dition with progress. Nehru had the benefit of a liberal
education and possessed a natural gift for writing. His
contact with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and his asso-
ciates at Santiniketan naturally widened his love for the
visual arts, music, dance and drama. Nehru explained the
essence of culture in terms of inner growth, behaviour
towards others, capacity to understand others and the
capacity to make one self understood. He believed that a
person who cannot understand another’s viewpoint is
limited in mind and culture and nobody can claim to have
the fullest knowledge and wisdom. Nehru wrote, “The
cultured mind...should have its windows and doors open.
It should have the capacity to understand the other’s
viewpoint fully even though it cannot always agree with
it. The question of agreement or disagreement only arises
when we understand a thing. Otherwise, it is blind negation
which is not a cultured approach to any question.”
Nehru said that nobody belongs one hundred per cent
136 Nehru
to a particular race or culture. In the course of history every
culture is moulded by external influences. The external
factors transform a culture incessantly. Nehru compared a
culture to the root and the outside influences to the flowers
and branches of a plant; only a proper balance between the
roots, leaves and flowers keeps a plant alive. Nehru believed
that each nation and each separate civilisation develops its
own culture with the passage of time. And the growth of
a culture is affected by geography, by climate and by all
kinds of other factors. He argued that the culture of India
in the past was affected greatly by the Himalayas, the forests
and the great rivers of India. In his ‘Will and Testament’,
Nehru has written that the Ganga has been the symbol of
India’s culture. “The Ganga, especially, is the river of India,
beloved of her people, around which are intertwined her
racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumphs,
her victory and defeats. She has been a symbol of India’s
life-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flow-
ing and yet ever the same Ganga.”
Nehru always looked forward to furthering the cause
of India’s cultural association with the rest of the world.
He firmly believed that India’s cultural relations with the
world would lead to a better understanding between lndians
and the people of other countries. He also argued that the
British who indulged in unashamed and naked exploitation
of India were responsible for the cultural poverty of India.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of Nehru to India’s
renovating culture was his emphasis on science and what
he called the scientific temper. Nothing impressed and
distressed Nehru more than the Indian attitude to ratio-
nality, the ambivalence that was found even in the Indian
intellectual who, when put to the best, found himself back
in the dark ages of superstition, taboos, totems and astrol-
ogy. He knew that this was a sad gap in an otherwise
estimable heritage and he strove hard all his life to preach
the gospel of science. He also injected into our cultural
renaissance a feeling of righteous indignation against all
 Nehru 137
violation of human dignity, against regimentation and
dictatorship, and against racialism and communalism. This
regard and respect for human dignity was one of his most
outstanding contributions to the Indian view of life and it
was badly needed in a society that had consigned egali-
tarianism and individual human worth to the vedantic
realm and tolerated political, economic and social condi-
tions that constituted a continuing erosion of human
dignity. Even more than what he said and wrote, it was
his personality and the way he lived and interacted with
his fellow human beings that constituted his greatest
contribution to India’s cultural renaissance. Like Gandhi
and Tagore, Nehru also believed in synthesis. He himself
was the product of a cultural synthesis. He believed in
science and gloried in its achievements’ but science and
ON SCIENCE
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
technology were only handmaidens to serve the people; and
their service was his worship.
Jawaharlal Nehru, as Prime Minister of India for seventeen
years since the beginning of independence, moulded the
character of modern India. Science was an essential com-
ponent of India which he sought and worked so hard to
build. So great was his zed for science and for the scientific
approach to life that he missed no opportunity of imparting
his views to others. For Jawaharlal Nehru, the supreme task
of the age was to lift mankind from its age-old state of bare
subsistence to a social level which provided security,
material progress and, above all, the opportunities for a
higher life to all. He knew that this aim could be achieved
only through science and its applications to life. He believed
profoundly that India could become a great nation again
only by basing its way of life on modern science.
Nehru had a scientific approach to India’s political,
social and economic problems. He believed in enlighten-
ment and was a votary of reason and emancipation of the
intellect. His scientific attitude made him an exponent of
138 Nehru
modernism. Nehru wanted India to accept the scientific
approach which is the sole antidote to medievalism, priest-
hood, ecclesiasticism and social stagnation that had envel-
oped India in darkness. Nehru saw science as a great
intellectual discipline which broadens a man’s personality
and makes him look at things objectively and dispassion-
ately. “What is science?” he asked, and replied, “It is the
search for truth, truth of the physical world,...truth arrived
at by a process of trial and error, by experiment, not taking
something for granted until it is proved, and rejecting
everything that is disproved or doesn’t fit in with the facts
before us”. And he continued, “It not only gives us a greater
understanding of the world as it is, but creates ultimately
a temper, an objective temper, a dispassionate scientific
temper which should help us in dealing with other prob-
lems.” It was scientific temper which he cherished, which
he wished to inculcate in the Indian people.
It was Nehru’s unflinching belief that science had
developed at an ever-increasing pace since the beginning
of the century with the result that the gap between the
advanced and backward nations had widened more and
more. Only by adopting the most vigorous measures and
by putting forward our utmost effort into the development
of science can this gap be bridged. He argued that it is an
inherent obligation of a great country like India, with its
traditions, scholarship and original thinking and its great
cultural heritage, to participate fully in the march of science,
which is probably mankind’s greatest enterprise today.
Independence gave Nehru the opportunity to translate
into action his already-formed conviction that science was
crucial to the solution of India’s needs and problems. In
1937, at his instance, the Congress Working Committee had
called for appointing committees of experts to device a
machinery for planning. As chairman of the National
Planning Committee he had interacted with scientists like
Meghnad Saha, P.C. Mahalanobis and others. The scientific
community recognised Nehru’s enlightened approach and
 Nehru 139
honoured him by electing him to preside over the thirty-
fourth session of the Indian Science Congress (1947), when
he was Vice-President of the Interim Government
Nehru stressed the need for state control and devel-
opment of atomic energy from the angles of both investment
and state policy. Greatly concerned at the misuse of atomic
energy for military purposes and at the suggestion of
Bertrand Russell, Nehru asked Dr D.S. Kothari to make an
objective study, with the materials available, of the conse-
quences of the use of nuclear, thermonuclear and other
weapons of mass destruction. Nehru believed that atomic
energy would be the harbinger of a revolution in the social,
economic and political life of the world. He also emphasised
the need for self-sufficiency and national self-reliance and
said, “It is better to produce and have second-class weapons
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than to rely on first-class weapons which you do not
produce and get from outside. We cannot be up-to-date in
science and technology by relying on outsiders who supply
us.”
Nehru recognised agriculture as the base of India’s
economy and associated himself with functioning of the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research and visited many
of its institutes. The areas of medicine and health claimed
his special attention. He recalled the glorious days of the
Indian systems of medicine when their influence had spread
to far away countries and argued that even without accept-
ing the basic premises of the Indian systems in their
entirety, it would be desirable to integrate some of the
excellent remedies into the modern system after subjecting
them to scientific testing.
Nehru was a major influence in diverse scientific and
socio-scientific fields. He helped to steer scientific activities
into the mainstream of development. He would invite the
best of foreign experts to handle large irrigation and power
projects rather than risk leaving them in inexperienced
Indian hands. He cautioned against the growing tendency
towards ‘giganticism’ in undertaking large projects which
140 Nehru
took time and large investments; smaller power and irri-
gation projects brought quicker social and economic returns.
Nothing sums up Nehru’s faith in science better than
the Scientific Policy Resolution of the Government of India
which was tabled in the Lok Sabha on 13 March 1958. The
resolution acknowledged the role of science and technology
in national prosperity, and the social and cultural advance-
ment of the people. To implement the policy, Nehru
appointed a Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet.
As Prime Minister, Nehru made it a point to inaugurate and
participate in the annual sessions of the Indian Science
Congress. Besides maintaining close personal contact with
top Indian scientists, he took every opportunity during his
journeys abroad to visit scientific institutions and meet
scientists. Among eminent scientists with whom Nehru had
close relationship were Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell,
Henry Dale, Alexander Fleming, A.V. Hill, Frederic Joliot-
Curie, Niels Bohr, J.D. Bernal, J.B.S. Haldane and P.M.S.
Blackett.
India’s high-tech achievements in atomic energy and
space research today owe not a little to the vision and
inspiration of the country’s first prime minister.
CONCEPT OF NATIONALISM
Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the giants of modern India,
who left a lasting impact on the socio-economic and
political forces of the day. Intense nationalism was part of
his mental make-up which was abundantly evident in the
course of the Indian national movement. Yet he was an
internationalist par excellence. In him the two major
streams of nationalism and internationalism harmoniously
blended with each other. His outlook was shaped by the
aspirations of the people of India in the course of their epic
struggle for freedom. It combined all that was noble and
true in the culture of India—as expressed by his mentor
Gandhi—with the compassion and humanism of the twen-
tieth century. Within the nation, he sought to transform an
 Nehru 141
ancient civilisation into a modern industrial nation, secular
in outlook, democratic in its political culture, and with the
vision of a new social order. Outside India, he strove hard
to promote peace among nations, large or little, and impart
a new voice to the new states.
Nehru possessed a clear understanding of the distinc-
tive features of nationalism. Nehru was aware of the merits
of nationalism and its many contributions to the evolution
of modern civilisation. He knew well how nationalism had
all along been a driving force for freedom and indepen-
dence. He believed, too, that it gave a certain degree of
unity, vigour and vitality to many peoples ail over the
world. But he was equally aware of its limitations too. He
rejected fanatical and religious nationalism. Nehru believed
that nationalism would be a curse if it was narrow and
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sectarian. He hated aggressive nationalism as it is destruc-
tive and creates a fear and suspicion about or in the minds
of neighbours. He rejected the nationalism that approved
aggressive expansionism. He believed that the nationalism
of the French Revolution showed that very evil. He,
therefore, thought that to limit, liberalise and balance
nationalism was essential.
Commenting on Indian nationalism, Nehru wrote in
the Autobiography, “Nationalism is essentially an anti-
feeling and it feeds and fattens on hatred and anger against
other national groups... There was certainly this hatred and
anger in India in 1921 against the British, but in comparison
with other countries, similarly situated, it was extraordi-
narily little.” He completely differentiated Indian nation-
alism from the fascist type of nationalism in Europe. He
said that the former was the historical urge to freedom and
the latter, the last refuge of reaction. He held that Indian
nationalism from its inception proceeded from a wider base
because of its roots in the universal virtues of ‘pacifism,
liberalism and rationalism’.
142 Nehru
ON COMMUNALISM AND SECULARISM
Jawaharlal Nehru was the child of the Indian renaissance.
By temperament, training and conviction he was opposed
to obscurantism, medievalism, communalism and sectarian-
ism. His thoughts on communalism are refreshing and
instructive, especially at the present time when Indian
nationhood is threatened by all sorts of narrow creeds,
irrational norms and fissiparous tendencies. Nehru was a
votary of secularism.
Nehru was perhaps the first Indian leader to under-
stand the broader social, economic and political dimensions
and character and causation of communalism. From the
beginning of his political career in the early 1920s he was
totally opposed to communalism. Initially this hostility did
not go beyond a formal critique of communal riots and basic
religious intolerance and bigotry, and of the British authori-
ties for trying to create communal divisions in the Indian
society. His remedy for the communal problem also re-
mained confined to the traditional nationalist ‘Hindu Muslim
bhai bhai’ approach and appeals for Hindu-Muslim unity
for the winning of swaraj. In his political tours during 1928
and in his various addresses to the youth and student
conferences in the country, he made communalism a major
target of attack. The Independence of India League, founded
by Nehru and other nationalists, barred a communalist or
a member of any communal organisation from being a
member of the League.
Like his great mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru saw
the moral imperative as a practical necessity. Far from
divorcing value systems from the stratagems and tactics of
politics, he returned repeatedly to the theme that right
means alone can ensure right ends and wrong means are
bound to vitiate even the most noble objectives. Nehru’s
understanding of India and her history helped him to
appreciate the special characteristics of Indian civilisation
which made it different from others and gave India her
strength. These characteristics, he felt, were India’s fun-
 Nehru 143
damental unity in diversity, and the capacity to absorb,
assimilate and synthesise different influences. Nehru was
of the view that the India of tomorrow would draw its
strength from these features. This would help to exclude
tendencies towards parochialism and sectarianism. In his
view, democracy, secularism and socialism were closely
linked together. Together they would make for a strong
India, based on the dignity of the individual and the full
flowering of the human personality, an India which would
see an improvement in the quality of life of the poor and
downtrodden. “Deeply appreciative of the unique ability to
synthesise diversity which has characterised Indian
civilisation, Jawaharlal Nehru derived the political param-
eters of contemporary secularism from the tradition of
tolerance and synthesis which constituted the essential
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parameters of the idea of India, an idea which went back
deep into our civilisation, which was responsible for the
continuity of our civilisation and which, over millennia,
had enabled our civilisation to survive every kind of
vicissitude—military, political, or economic”. He wrote:
“We talk about a secular India...What it means is that it
is a State which honours all faiths equally and gives them
equal opportunities; that as a State, it does not allow itself
to be attached to one faith or religion, which then becomes
the State religion...India has long history of religious
tolerance. That is one aspect of a secular State, but it is
not the whole of it. In a country like India, which has many
faiths and religions, no real nationalism can be built except
on the basis of secularity. Any narrower approach must
necessarily exclude sections of the population, and then
nationalism itself will have a much more restricted meaning
than it should possess.”
Nehru was western and modern in his outlook. At the
same time, he understood the complexities of the Indian
situation. He was an agnostic. He was hardly attracted by
religion, except as a cultural force and a matter of heritage.
He was definitely against organised religion. He said on one
144 Nehru
occasion, “Any organised religion invariably becomes a
vested interest and thus inevitably a reactionary force
opposing change and progress.” Nehru was against organised
religion and by implication also against mixing religion with
politics. He despised politicisation of religion. Nehru
recognised the influence of communalism over the masses
who had neither vested interests nor any truck with British
imperialism. He even compared Indian communalists’
methods with the working of the Nazis in Germany. Nehru
believed that communalism was a middle-class phenom-
enon and felt that so long as politics was dominated by
middle-class elements, one could not do away with com-
munalism altogether.
Nehru recognised the economic background of com-
munalism but- believed that it was due much more to
political causes. He also made it clear that religious hostility
or antagonism had very little to do with the communal
question. “The present communal question is not a religious
one, although sometimes it exploits religious sentiments and
there is trouble.” According to him, a secular State did not
mean that people should give up their religion. It meant
that the state protected all religions, but did not favour any
one at the expense of the others and did not itself adopt
any religion as the state religion. It was in this spirit that,
under Nehru’s guidance, constitutional guarantees were
given to all religions.
Determined to eliminate communalism from indepen-
dent India, Nehru had a resolution moved in Parliament
by Ananthasayanam Ayyanger. Nehru also felt that com-
munalism was much more dangerous than an external
attack. One could fight an external attack with all deter-
mination. “But the other (communal) attack is more vicious,
because it gradually creeps into our minds without our
understanding its full significance or its full danger.”
Nehru laid great emphasis on science and technology
and thought that with their dissemination, rational and
secular forces would be strengthened. He referred to dams
 Nehru 145
like the Bhakra Nangal as the ‘modern temple, mosque or
university.’ Nehru upheld secularism as an ideal and
consciously worked for its dissemination in society. How-
ever, Nehru had seen in the last phase of his life a series
of communal riots which took place from 1961 to 1964 in
the northern and north-eastern towns. He was greatly
shaken after the Jabalpur riot in 1962, and formed the
National Integration Council. Nehru expected the majority
to be magnanimous towards the minority.
Nehru clearly understood the close connection be-
tween the emergence and growth of communal forces and
the British policy of divide and rule. He did not, of course,
accept the simplistic view that communalism had been
basically created by British policy. He held that commu-
nalism had arisen because of certain conditions within
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Indian society. But, argued Nehru, because communalism
also served the needs of colonial domination the colonial
power had encouraged it in diverse ways. Nehru also argued
that communalism did not benefit the religious community
whose interests it claimed to defend and promote. Nor was
Nehru’s objection to communalism on ideological grounds
alone. For our nation, it was also a politically disruptive
phenomenon, for Indian unity could be maintained only on
the basis of secularism.
Nehru regarded communalism as the most dangerous
tendency of the times which had to be combated on all
fronts. He carried on a massive private and public campaign
against communalism through public speeches, radio broad-
casts, parliamentary speeches, private letters and epistles
to the Chief Ministers. Nehru’s commitment to secularism
was total and unconditional and all pervasive. If, after
independence, under most unfavourable circumstances,
India framed a secular Constitution and laid the foundations
of a secular state and society, it was, above all, because
of Jawaharlal Nehru.
Having known intimately and at a bitter cost the evils
of communal politics Nehru, right from the days of the
146 Nehru
freedom struggle, counselled the nation to be secular and
modern. Nehru’s secularism was partly anti-ecclesiastical
for he could not put up with rituals of organised religion
or with fanatical and sectarian interpretations of it. But his
secularism was more of tolerance, co-existence of religions
and understanding of the fellowmen. Nehru was a mission-
ary of secularism since he was a self-proclaimed ‘pagan’.
He knew fully well that communalism would dissipate the
nation’s energies, while secularism would be essential to
nation-building. Fighting against orthodoxy and vested
interests behind the seemingly religious orders, Nehru
attempted to make secularism a strong pillar of our national
polity.
SOCIALISM
The vision of socialism has been commonly shared by the
Left leadership in the pre-independence era as well as
today. Nehru was a brilliant exponent of this school of
thought. The aim of Nehru was to achieve complete
independence, both political and economic, for the people
of India. The obvious method to be adopted to accomplish
this task was ‘Democratic Socialism’. It was different from
Marxism. This was a logical and scientific approach in
Democracy to realise equal distribution of income via
planned programmes”.
As capitalism had taken deep roots in the then Indian
soil, Nehru very well realised that a complete change was
not only difficult but also harmful. So in the midst of the
then prevailing circumstances, Nehru thought a compromise
between capitalism and state ownership would prove use-
ful.
Nehru’s economic ideology was based on the fact that
the progressive advancement of Indian economy could be
possible by dividing it into public and private sectors,
which would work together for proper and smooth growth.
For Nehru, socialism was for control of capital in the
national interest rather than an imposition of authority on
 Nehru 147
private enterprise. As a believer in social control rather than
dictatorship, Nehru despised all kinds of privilege. He
looked down upon authoritarianism and stressed the im-
portance of individual freedom. His proposal for a scientific
and practical socialism, which he aimed to achieve by
granting due liberty and discipline to the people, was
different from the absolute socialism of the idealistic and
theoretical type. This was precisely why his ideal postulated
a society Indian in sentiment, secular in its outlook and
democratic in its working.
“Production”, he said, “is wealth and this wealth can
be abundant with vast labour potential if dignity of labour
is realised in all forms.” He stressed the importance of
spread of education for good technical training and mana-
gerial skills to improve the curve of industrial expansion.
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So he was convinced that “without social freedom and
socialistic structure of society or the state, neither the
country nor the individual could develop much”.
The beginning of Nehru’s interest in socialism could
be traced to his Cambridge days when the Fabianism of
Bernard Shaw and the Webbs attracted him. But this was,
as he confessed, purely an academic interest. He was
influenced by the lectures of Bertrand Russoli and John
Maynard Keynes. The vague ideas of socialism nurtured
during his student days received a new revival and reori-
entation in the light of the sweeping political, social and
economic changes taking place throughout the world.
VIEWS ON PLANNING
During the freedom struggle a significant step that Nehru
took to change the face of the Congress in a radical direction
was the creation of a consciousness of economic planning.
In the late thirties he came to the conclusion that it was
no longer necessary or possible in India to abolish the
capitalist system as a whole. All that he wanted was to
reform it by gradually introducing some of the basic tenets
of socialism until a new economy combining both capital-
148 Nehru
ism and socialism emerged. Much before the advent of
freedom, Nehru realised that an economic regeneration was
a pre-requisite of a progressive modern life and it could
not be achieved except through concerted planning. Insis-
tence on planning for social and economic reconstruction
thus became a cardinal feature of his thought. He was
deeply impressed by the erstwhile Soviet Union’s economic
development through planning which, according to him,
caught the imagination of the world.
The fact that the Congress was in charge of the
administration in many Indian provinces under the Act of
1935, added a new dimension to his ideas on economic
planning. Subsequently in 1938 when the Congress decided
to set up a “National Planning Committee” with Nehru as
its chairman, he boldly accepted that challenging task. He
took up the work in all earnestness and constituted a broad-
based committee enlisting the services not only of the
Congressmen but also of scientists, economists, businessmen
and industrialists. But its work was interrupted when the
war broke out and Nehru was arrested and imprisoned.
However, the statement of objectives made by Nehru as
chairman of the Planning Committee became a significant
factor on the literature of economic planning in India.
To Nehru, planning was a necessary ingredient of a
socialist economy in a democratic structure. However, he
had no intention of frightening away any section of the
people by stressing the socialist aspect. He, therefore, chose
to remain vague and imprecise while formulating the aim
of planning. “The ideal of the Congress is the establishment
of a free and democratic state in India. Such a free
democratic state involves an egalitarian society in which
equal opportunities are provided for every member for self-
expression and self-fulfilment, and an adequate minimum
of a civilised standard of life is assured to each member
so as to make the attainment of this equal opportunity a
reality. This should be the background or foundation of our
plan.”
 Nehru 149
Nehru’s concept of planning was not based on any
dogmatic or doctrinaire considerations. He was guided more
by the desire for quick results than by any ideological
adherence. His only interest was to put the people on the
road to steady economic and social progress. “I do not care
what ‘ism’ it is that helps me to set them on that road;
if one thing fails, we will try another.” It was this practical
and flexible attitude that led him to believe that a mixed
economy was most suitable for India.
Nehru’s concept of a mixed economy involved the
recognition of the public and private sector’s participation
in the development activities. Key sectors of the economy
were to be wholly under state control while the private
sector operated in other spheres. But the private sector must
be subject to state control so as to make it function within
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the objective of the national plan. While commenting on
the role of the private sector, Nehru observed, “The control
over the private sector will relate not only to its dividends
and profits but will extend to all the strategic points in the
economy of the country.” Within the broad framework of
the national plan, private enterprise was to receive sufficient
encouragement to operate in many fields. He envisaged
more and more state control over the private sector gradu-
ally as the years passed on in order to make the mixed
economy sufficiently capable of adapting itself to changing
conditions.
It was unwise, according to Nehru, for India to imitate
any economic model from other countries. India must
evolve a system which suited her own requirements and
genius, and the idea of mixed economy was considered to
be the best. Nehru was quite emphatic about this when he
declared that economic “change will have to be in the
direction of a democratically planned collectivism. A demo-
cratic collectivism need not mean an abolition of private
property, but it will mean the public ownership of the basic
and major industries. In India especially it will be necessary
to have in addition to the big industries, cooperatively
150 Nehru
controlled small and village industries. Such a system of
democratic collectivism will need careful and continuous
planning and adaptation to the changing needs of the
people”.
But the truth of the situation in India, even after
planning and economic development for about four and half
decades, was that the problem of mass poverty could not
be liquidated. In spite of his best efforts through planning,
a certain minimum standard of living is still a far cry for
a sizable section of the community. The rapid growth of
private capital and the colossal waste of national resources
resulting from misplaced national priorities in planning
have contributed to the ever widening gap between the rich
and the poor. However, it is not the concept of planning
that has proved to be wrong but, in most cases, it is poor
implementation that has led to lopsided development and
unbalanced growth.
FREEDOM OF PRESS
Nehru was very well aware of the role of press in shaping
the public opinion, and that the press for a public man was
an essential tool. He felt the suppression of facts to be a
crime which would eventually deprive the citizens of
forming their opinion on day-to-day happenings in the
world. The question of freedom of press in Nehru’s con-
sideration .was as vital as anything else. He said, ‘The
question of freedom of press is a vital question and
inevitably the brunt of the fight must fall upon the
journalists; but the general public must take their fair share
in if. Nehru was not in favour of censorship and wanted
complete freedom for editors to work without fear. He
realised that the press like the government is a custodian
of public interest and that any attempt to hamper its
freedom by repressive legislation would certainly affect its
interests prejudicially and would not fail in the end to react
upon the position of the Government itself. Nehru had his
own opinions on individual journalists, editors and news-
 Nehru 151
papers. He never allowed any one to make undue criticism
of influential sections of the press or pin sweeping labels
on the interests and tendencies behind journalism. He paid
attention to the traits and special features of Indian language
journalism. As early as 1936 he criticised the fact that “the
profession of journalism is confined to the members of the
male sex”. He stressed and noted the advantages women
brought to the profession and cited the advanced interna-
tional experience on this point. Nehru railed against certain
irresponsible newspapers and periodicals, which unreason-
ably attacked ambassadors and ministers whom he sent
aboard. He was justifiably furious against those sections of
the press which were instrumental in spreading ‘hatred’,
‘communal’ bitterness, and the cult of violence. His letters
to Chief Ministers provide insights into an administrative
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frame of mind towards the press that does not quite reveal
itself in the public speeches and writings. His progressive
anger against communal poison and the induction of
obscenity, indecency and vulgarity can be well discerned
from his feelings depicted in his works. Nehru clearly
preferred self regulation or self-discipline by journalists.
Temperamentally, politically and intellectually, Nehru
was incapable of letting down the independent press on
any basic issue. His thinking and practice on the press
question were vastly and qualitatively different from those
of the leaders of many other countries. He made a vital
difference to the preservation, the institutionalisation and
the stabilisation of the relatively independent and free press
tradition. It must be remembered how brilliantly Nehru
dealt with a historically given tradition with its “tensions
and contradictions” in the early years of independence. It
is no exaggeration to say that Indian journalism which still
carries in its ranks those who took up the pen as a cudgel
against Nehru’s thinking and his domestic and international
policies owe to him an immense debt of institutional
gratitude.
The evolution of his ideas on the role and freedom
152 Nehru
of press was manifested in the National Herald which was
closely associated with him. Born in the pre-independence
era (in late 1930s), National Herald became a ‘child of
revolution’ which fought against poverty, suppression of the
human spirit and communalisation of all kinds. In doing
so it never lost sight of one great lesson—never to distort,
news,, never to write with malice and never to hit below
the belt.
THE STATESMAN AND IDEALIST
Statesmanship and idealism are a rare and, at times, an
embarrassing combination. Statesmanship has to be prag-
matic and intent on attaining the practical objectives
through available means. On the other hand, idealism
demands the idealist to demonstrate his or her loyalty to
ideals even in the face of stiff opposition and ridicule. In
modern India, Jawaharlal Nehru has been the supreme
example of this rare combination. As a statesman he was
always ready for a reasonable compromise consistent with
fundamental principles and policies. On the other hand he
rejected concessions and compromises when the seemed to
obscure his vision and ideals.
Unlike Gandhi, Nehru did not attach much impor-
tance to spiritual values. His ideals were human, rational
and wordly. His hatred and rejection for religious taboos,
communalism, cattiest tendencies, capitalism and landlord-
ism were manifested in his activities. Yet, like Gandhi, he
always retained the goodwill of his critics. He was free from
intolerance, ill will, vindictiveness and petty dislikes; hence
he could retain the affection and cooperation of all great
followers of Gandhi within the Indian National Congress.
Towards the late 1940s Nehru’s statesmanship was put
to an acid test. To prevent partition he tried to placate the
leaders of the Muslim League to the utmost extent. Yet it
was pitiable that Nehru’s as well as Mountbatten’s combined
statesmanship could not foresee and prevent the terrible
communal flare-up that followed across the Punjab. How-
ever, he handled the issue of rehabilitation of the millions
 Nehru 153
of Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan and the terrible retri-
bution meted out to the Muslims on the Indian side with
wonderful patience, vigilance, sympathy and never-ceasing
activity. This secured him the admiration not only of the
Muslims who remained in India but even those of Pakistan.
In the post-1950 period Nehru become the supreme
head of the Government of India and the undisputed leader
of the Indian National Congress. Temperamentally a dem-
ocrat Nehru tried t6 carry parliament and the party with
him. He did not feel much scruple in manipulating the
Constitution to achieve his ends. The setting up of the
Planning Commission and National development Council,
the Five Year Plans, the national laboratories, the Atomic
Energy Commission and the Community Development
Programme constituted bold experiments towards his goal
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of ‘science’ and ‘socialism’.
These great schemes did not demand from him an
exercise of his prudence owing to the lack of effective
opposition. Perhaps he was not well-equipped to evaluate
the economic and financial implications of the approved
projects. Secondly, enough care was taken by his Finance
Ministers not to incur his disapproval by insisting on
economy and moderation. The emergence and popularity
of the ideas of co-operative farming, indiscriminate
nationalisation of banking and industry, state trading, etc.
can be attributed to this ascendancy of idealism over
statesmanship. These probably distracted and confused the
evolution of planned economy on a pragmatic basis.
Nehru could be called the exclusive architect of
India’s foreign policy in those days. His principles and
ideals of foreign policy such as non-alignment, anti-impe-
rialism, ‘Panchsheel’ and peace secured for India a position
of great status and prestige in the realm of international
politics. But certainly a partial failure of his statesmanship
is reflected in his dealings with communist China and
Pakistan. These failures were overlooked on account of the
great ideals he pursued. He even failed to follow his ideals
154 Nehru
in relation to the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian revolt,
and the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
NEHRU’S INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK
During the long years of the freedom struggle, one of
Nehru’s significant contributions to the Indian National
Congress was the fostering of an international outlook. Long
before India won its freedom, Nehru realised that national
isolation was neither desirable nor possible in a world
which was rapidly changing and becoming more of a global
village. He had a deep sense of history and attempted in
his own way to analyse history rationally. What he noticed
in history was the strong urge in men to come together,
to cooperate and work out their problems in common.
Nehru felt that it was from that cooperation that man was
able to progress from barbarism to civilisation. Nations were
growing more and more independent and none could go
against that historical tendency. India must, therefore, “be
prepared to discard her narrow nationalism in favour of
world cooperation and real internationalism.”
The INC began to grow international-minded and
started taking interest in world events only in the early
nineteen twenties. This was mostly the contribution of
Nehru. Unlike most of his colleagues in the Congress Nehru
from the beginning evinced keen interest in international
affairs. He had a thorough grasp of the developing inter-
national trends and almost all resolutions on international
problems, passed in the Congress sessions prior to indepen-
dence, were drafted by him. It was largely at the instance
of Nehru that the Congress developed a foreign policy based
on the elimination of political and economic imperialism
everywhere and the cooperation of free nations.
Nehru possessed a rare ability to analyse the interna-
tional situation by placing the national problem in the wider
world context. He realised that the Indian struggle for
freedom was part of the global struggle and that its strategy
and tactics should be such as would fit in the context of
world developments. In his report of the Brussels Congress,
 Nehru 155
Nehru made a positive suggestion to the AICC to set up
a special department dealing with foreign affairs. Nehru was
the official representative of the Congress at the Brussels
Congress against Imperialism. It was on his insistence that
the Congress later decided to associate itself with the League
Against Imperialism. His close contact with different peoples
during his stay in Europe became a turning point in the
evolution of his ideas. “If we claim independence today,”
Nehru argued, “it is with no desire for isolation; on the
contrary, we are perfectly willing to surrender part of that
independence in common with other countries to a real
international order.” The greatest enemy of such an inter-
national order, according to him, was imperialism which
would make it impossible for world cooperation and world
peace.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
In his Presidential address to the Congress in 1936,
Nehru made a brilliant analysis of the Indian problem in
the larger context of the then prevailing international
situation. His emphasis was on the two conflicting forces
at work—the imperialist-fascist forces of a decaying cap-
italism on the one hand, and the progressive forces—
socialist and the nationalist—on the other. The growing
tension between the two was inevitable and the freedom
struggle in India was a part of the general confrontation
against the former.
Nehru possessed a great imagination and a clear
perspective on international politics. He was quite enthu-
siastic about the burning problems confronting the world
and wanted India to involve herself significantly in finding
solutions to them. When Italy attacked Ethiopia he called
for protest demonstrations throughout the country. Similarly
Nehru wanted the Jews to negotiate a settlement with the
Arabs on the Palestinian issue instead of relying on British
imperialism. He thought Britain was exploiting the unhappy
relations between the Arabs and the Jews. In Asia, Nehru’s
sympathy was always with China in its fight against Japan.
As he was determined to challenge imperialism, he found
156 Nehru
it necessary to organise the boycott of Japanese goods.
When the Second World War broke out, the Congress
defined its attitude to the war largely upon the lines
suggested by Nehru. In 1940, Nehru plainly told the
Americans that there could be no proper settlement of the
world problems unless India and China were included in
the settlement and treated as free nations. India, he added,
was ready to cooperate, but only on the basis of peace,
freedom and democracy. Time and again, Nehru insisted
that the states should maintain a reasonable balance be-
tween nationalism and internationalism. Every state should
strive for an adjustment of her national interests with those
of the other states in order to promote international
harmony and cooperation. In fact, the policy of non-
alignment initiated by Nehru after independence was mainly
aimed at the attainment of this objective. “It is a great tribute
to him that he insisted that India should be non-aligned
in the insane struggle for power which has preoccupied the
United States and the Soviet Union at the expense of the
welfare of mankind.”
NON-ALIGNMENT
Non-alignment was the philosophy which Nehru gifted to
the world of power politics, secret diplomacy, military pacts
and nuclear arms race. Out of this policy emerged such
concepts as those of coexistence, mutual respect, tolerance
of different systems of governance, respect of territorial
integrity and non-use of force.
Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the leaders of India’s
freedom struggle who gave it an international dimension.
After independence, the impact of his ideas on world affairs
was widely recognised; indeed, his views served as a path-
finder especially to the new states of Asia and Africa. It
was Nehru’s sense of the changed balance of world forces
and of the dire consequences of a nuclear holocaust, should
it break out, that made him, along with Tito and Nasser,
bring into existence the non-aligned movement in 1956. It
 Nehru 157
was to this movement and to the effort of making it ever
more influential that he dedicated the major part of his time
and energy when it came to the foreign policy of our nation.
The major components of Nehru’s non-alignment were
peace and disarmament, development and independence so
that imperialism and colonialism in all their manifestations
were liquidated. Nehru declared that non-alignment in
actual concrete terms meant ‘a policy of acting according
to our best judgement”. He pleaded for independence of
judgement for each country in international relations so as
to have a greatest degree of democratisation at the inter-
national level. Nehru believed passionately in a world at
peace and coexistence between various nations. This be-
came necessary in the context of the so-called groupings
which expressed themselves in terms of blocs—the Soviet
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Bloc or the Communist Bloc, on the one hand, and the
American Bloc, or that of Democracy, or rather the non-
Communist Bloc on the other. Underlining the essence of
non-alignment, Nehru declared in the Parliament, “We
propose to keep oh closest terms of friendship with other
countries unless they themselves create difficulties.... We
intend co-operating with the United States of America. We
intend co-operating fully with the Soviet Union.” At the
Belgrade Summit, Nehru passionately urged the two super-
powers to resume disarmament negotiations which had been
disrupted.
Nehru was respected as a leader of great values and
great good sense and political sagacity and looked up to
in his personal as well as official capacity, for being of
service to the cause of peace. He realised that apart from
the maintenance of world peace, a strong Asia and a united
Afro-Asia, comprising nations which were dependent and
were still backward and underdeveloped, should be one of
the prime tasks of non-alignment. A significant aspect of
Nehru’s non-alignment was that while he desired economic
assistance for India’s advancement, he would not, for this
purpose, compromise the country’s self-respect. He made
158 Nehru
it clear that “we cannot be bought by money; we shall
continue to accept help provided there are no strings
attached to it and provided our policy is perfectly clear and
above board and is not affected by the help we accept.”
As Rasheeduddin Khan says, “There is now a greater
realisation of India’s early contribution in providing initial
stability and direction to NAM, especially the creative role
that the architect of its foreign policy, Jawaharlal Nehru,
had played as the precursor (1947-55), progenitor (1955-61)
and pioneer (1961-64) of the non-aligned movement, thereby
committing the largest newly liberated developing country,
with an active democratic polity and expanding industrial
base, to the global task of building a decolonised world of
equals with shared goals for a common future.”
Non-alignment, in the sense of independence from
alignments, has been the dominant ethos of India’s foreign
policy. As a term signifying a ‘value’ and a ‘norm’, non-
alignment is an integral part of India’s political culture in
international affairs. This was primarily the contribution of
Jawaharlal Nehru who asserted that: “I have not originated
the policy of non-alignment. It is a policy inherent in the
circumstances of India... inherent in the conditioning of the
Indian mind during our struggle for freedom, and inherent
in the very circumstances of the world today.”
CONCEPT OF PANCHSHEEL
Much before India won freedom, Nehru wrote in the
Discovery of India: “Self-interest should drive every nation
to the wider cooperation in order to escape disaster in the
future and build its own free life on the basis of others’
freedom”. He argued that the biggest idea that had gradually
evolved in people’s minds all over the world is the futility
of war—that war does not solve any major issue and that
all problems, however difficult and intricate, should be
approached peacefully. Nehru said that it would be an
exaggeration to declare that India had made a major
difference to world policy. But, nevertheless, he opined that
India had, on significant occasions, made a difference, and
 Nehru 159
that difference had led to certain consequences. India’s
contribution in this direction was Panchsheel, and the ideas
underlying it.
China and India signed the Sino-Indian Agreement on
Trade and Intercourse between the Tibetan Region of China
and India on 29th April 1954. The preamble to this
Agreement enunciated the Panchsheel or Five Principles to
govern relations between the two nations. These were:
(i) Mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity
and sovereignty
(ii) Mutual non-aggression
(iii) Mutual non-interference in each other’s internal
affairs
(iv) Equal and mutual benefit
(v) Peaceful co-existence
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
According to Nehru, Panchsheel means that each
country should carve out its own destiny without interfering
with others. It also means that there may be different ways
of progress, possibly different outlooks, but that, broadly,
the ultimate objectives are the same. The idea of Panchsheel
lays down that each nation must ultimately fend for itself.
Nehru did not say this in terms of military fending but in
terms of striving intellectually, morally, spiritually, and in
terms of “opening out all our windows to ideas from others,
and learning from the experience of others”. Each country
should look upon such an endeavour on the part of the
other with sympathy and friendly understanding and with-
out any interfere ace or imposition. For any nation, this
is a sincere policy based essentially on goodwill and
fellowship with other countries, with no ill will for any
country. Each nation should co-operate with all “in the
quest of peace and security and human betterment. No one
should object to the principle of friendship and co-operation
with others. It is hatred and violence and hostility that we
should dislike and avoid. We want friendship with all
countries. Our doors are open to all”. Nehru’s Panchsheel
rests on equality and mutual respect and peaceful co-
160 Nehru
existence, and rules out aggression and internal interference.
If Panchsheel is fully and sincerely accepted by all coun-
tries, peace would be assured everywhere, and co-operation
would follow. This does not mean that all countries should
be alike or should follow the same policies. It means that
each country should be free to develop itself as it chooses
and yet be friendly to others. Panchsheel, according to
Nehru, is the lesson of tolerance and peaceful coexistence
and cooperation which India has believed in through the
ages. As he said, “we welcome association and friendship
with all the flow of thought and ideas of all kinds, but we
reserve the right to choose our own path. That is the essence
of Panchsheel”. India’s non-alignment which had naturally
sprung up from Panchsheel was meant to keep away bi-
polarity, the cold war, ideological crusades, the arms race,
and military blocs which were the chief characteristics of
the then prevailing international reality.
Nehru’s Thoughts: Their Relevance
to the Present Times
Jawaharlal Nehru is the foremost among the great builders
of modern India. One of the most prominent leaders of
India’s struggle for independence, Nehru became the first
Prime Minister of independent India. He remained India’s
leader for about 17 years, inspiring and integrating the best
talents in various areas such as administration and science
to the task of carving out a new India. His achievements,
a result of his intellectual leadership, wise counselling and
moulding of policies and utmost dedication to the social
cause, not only won him respect and acclaim within the
nation but also universal recognition so that India acquired
an extremely respectable and friendly image in the inter-
national scene. His greatest concern was in addressing the
problems of the world as well as those of India that were
expressed at the time and also those which, he thought,
would emerge in the future. It was Nehru’s broad and
 Nehru 161
profound vision that helped him identify the problems as
well as search for solutions to address them successfully.
It is for this reason that Nehru’s views and ideas were
relevant in independent India and they continue to be of
relevance today. There are two more things that need to
be highlighted in this context to understand to a greater
extent the continuing relevance of Nehruvian thoughts. One,
his mind and thoughts were given to a balanced approach
which came as a boon, specifically, to India. Nehru knew
that only a development pattern based on such an approach
would suit the country and help her to overcome the
hurdles in her path successfully. Secondly, as India’s
problems were diverse and they related to various fields
and gave all indication of continuing to be so, Nehru
concerned himself with all of them. Thus his thoughts have
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
a wide-ranging significance: they deal with international
concerns such as the power conflicts in the world, and
global disarmament, the relevance of general concepts such
as democracy, socialism, etc., the need for secularism and
science and technological progress in the country, and also
politics and administration, social reform and uplift, and
economic development and change in India.
The continuing relevance of Nehruvian thoughts in
general and with respect to some areas are discussed in
what follows.
NEHRU’S MODERNISM NO one would deny that the
last two centuries have been the harbingers of modernisation,
which by now has seeped into all areas of activity, or life
as a whole. But not without repercussions. Indiscriminate
and rampant modernisation in almost every sphere without
any concern for suitable infrastructural and other kinds of
development has resulted in a heap of socio-economic
problems such as poverty, inequitable income distribution,
and environmental degradation. It has also brought about
an erosion in human values and utter disregard for moral
and ethical principles. As a result, modern man is a bundle
of confusions and worries, one who is quite ignorant of the
162 Nehru
extent to which he should encourage and rely on modern-
ism. An understanding of Nehru’s ‘modern’ outlook pro-
vides the right answer to this dilemma.
For Nehru, the goal of modernism was solely the
betterment of man. It being so, we cannot encourage
modernism where and when it threatens to work against
its very end. Nehru was sensitive to the turbulence of the
human spirit in the modern age. He also foresaw an
explosion of human consciousness owing to the growing
depth and intensity of man’s awareness. So he advocated
a balanced approach towards modernisation—a type of
modernisation that would respect human concerns for
material progress as well as safeguard of values. The use
of science for modernisation, for instance, is to be welcomed
but the processes and products of such use must not be
used for harming man, his environment and his world.
Again, the growth of industries is a good sign but the
industries must not be blind to human needs and the
common people’s concerns. Such a sane approach should
be greatly encouraged today when modernism has come to
mean reckless use of technology and ultimately a society
rid of human values.
There is another aspect of Nehru’s modernism that has
specific and special significance to countries such as India.
We have a country that has a long and glorious past which
has left its own mark in terms of political, social and
cultural values. A growing problem in present times is to
reconcile these values with the various aspects of
modernisation. It is often argued that the two cannot
intermingle; that modernisation (interpreted as a western
phenomenon) would mean doing away with our age-old
traditions. In other words, we can only choose one of these
at the price of the other. Nehru’s own views on this aspect
provide a fresh answer to the problem. He advocates
adoption of modern technologies and a modernist view to
transform India but without turning our backs on the
country’s socio-cultural legacy. In other words, he favoured
 Nehru 163
attempts at progress that were attuned to the Indian context.
Such a thought was based on Nehru’s innate faith that
Indian culture was not only deep-ranging but also broad-
based: it can adapt to any environment and can assimilate
new ideas and ways of life without losing its core relevance.
For instance, adopting ways and values of western science
ought not to create conflicts in the Indian mind and society
but instead hasten their growth. Our cultural experience in
the past is a proof that the Indian mind has always adopted
new aspects according to their need and applicability.
Therefore, the need now is to strengthen our faith in the
Indian cultural consciousness and to desist from pitting it
against modernism and creating conflicts.
His INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK Since Nehru’s time,
there has been a considerable shift in international policy
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
and the non-aligned movement yet the ideas he promoted
for world peace and cooperation and the orientation he gave
to the foreign policy of India remain relevant. The universal
character of his internationalism and the greatest impor-
tance he attached to issues of concern to the world render
a unique significance to his ideas. Their relevance for the
world of today is because nations continue to flex their
political and economic muscle to exploit the weaker
amongst them. The threat of wars and other forms of
destruction loom as large today as they did at the time of
Nehru.
Ironically, cooperation among nations is all the more
imperative today as technological advancements in com-
munications and other fields have brought the nations closer
to one another. Political and economic blocs amongst
countries to boost political and trade ties are the order of
the day. It is worth noting that the establishment of the
World Trade Organisation to subject all nations of the world
to a common set of trade laws bears a strong echo of Nehru’s
pleas for democratisation in global economic relations
without which countries cannot become equal partners.
We, first of all, need to infuse the spirit of univer-
164 Nehru
salism and goodwill embodied in Nehru’s ideas for world
peace. Without such a spirit, we will find it difficult to even
envisage international cooperation and amity. Though a
thorough patriot and nationalist, Nehru saw the loftiest task
as preservation of world peace. It was, he said, “the most
urgent thing of today and the future”, greater in importance
than India’s problems. For a world federation “of which
every free nation will be a member” was the ultimate
solution to world problems as the ultimate destiny of human
race was in the formation of one brotherhood. Thus he
stated that the foreign policy of any country must interpret
its national interests in such a manner that it does not
conflict with overall international interests. So he laid the
foundations of our country’s foreign policy in a manner that
they would contribute to creating a favourable international
climate. India’s problems were to be viewed in the inter-
national context of world cooperation and peace. These
ideas form the basis of his non-alignment principle. Non-
alignment aims at advancing and protecting nations’ inter-
ests without putting them in conflict with concerns for
world peace. It was a positive policy to fight against the
goals of strengthening military and nuclear power adopted
and pursued by rich nations. The cold war has ended and
the battle of the superpowers has ceased at least for the
time being. But as long as nations continue to pursue
military objectives through military pacts and colossal
military expenditures, non-alignment will prove relevant.
A vociferous campaigner of disarmament, Nehru
strongly criticised development of nuclear weapons and
repeatedly stressed their destructive aspects. He said, “The
choice today in this nuclear age is one of utter annihilation
and the destruction of civilisation or of some way to have
peaceful co-existence between nations. There is no middle
way.” Today, more than ever before, there is a greater threat
of nuclear destruction of the world though this is often
disguised in double-talk. The more powerful nations have
repeatedly attempted to link disarmament with other ques-
 Nehru 165
tions. This is exactly what Nehru warned us against, as such
a ‘tie-up’ would become an impediment to resolving the
main issues. And he made one thing clear. It is questions
relating to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy that deserve
our full attention.
NEHRU’S SCIENTIFIC THOUGHTS It was under Nehru,
who inspired the growth of science and technology in
independent India, that the country began scientific and
industrial expansion on a large scale. Nehru established a
number of important scientific institutions to encourage
growth of science in the nation. He established Indian
Institutes of Technology, National Physical and Chemical
Laboratories and other central laboratories for research on
wide-ranging scientific areas such as food, drugs, leather
technology, electronics and engineering. He headed many
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of the institutes and establishments, playing a Herculean
role in promoting their aims. As President of the Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research, for example, he guided
the Council towards achieving its aspirations in research
activity for as many as 16 years.
In this age of science, progress based on science can
provide a solution to many socio-economic problems.
However, a blind reliance on modernisation and science
cannot achieve this. This is because science may often be
misused and abused as a result that it may not only prove
ineffectual in solving the existing problems but may also
create new ones. As a foremost step, it is necessary to
understand what we mean by science. Nehru’s views on
science and its usefulness to modern man can help us
greatly in understanding the true meaning of science and
reinterpreting its utility for modern society so as to make
it more meaningful to our times.
Nehru advocated a wise approach to, and wise utility
of, science. For Nehru, science was precise knowledge
tested by reason, not speculation. He preferred distributive
reasoning according to the method of science—though
aware that the intuition and other methods of sensing reality
166 Nehru
cannot be ridiculed. He saw that the Indian society was
plagued by many ills rooted in tradition and born out of
supernatural and metaphysical speculations. And so he said,
science was the sole means of preventing “that loosening
of the mind’s discipline in religious, ceremonial and
mystical emotionalism which come in the way of under-
standing ourselves and the world”. It was again science—
the “living philosophy”—that was the answer to modern
ills and concerns. It was, for him, the only means of
confronting day-to-day’ concerns, socio-economic ills such
as caste and untouchability, and problems such as suffi-
ciency of food, clothing, housing, sanitation, growing popu-
lation and illiteracy, and vast resources running to waste.
He believed that science could not be divorced from “social
and political happenings and from the economic structure
of the world”. He once confessed that his interest in science
arose from the social consequences of science rather than
science itself. That is to say, science is not to be simply
practised in the laboratory but its ways, methods of
approach and the scientific spirit must become a part of
daily life itself. He believed that science must essentially
serve “humanity, human good, raise human standards and
help our fellowmen.”
Today, science has well seeped into our day-to-day
life and activities but this has yielded benefits—that too,
only to a few—as well as created new problems. It has
emerged as a threat to our system of moral and human
values which is a must to ensure that humanity does not
degenerate and pave the way for its own destruction. Nehru
warned that sheer advancements in science would make
people unscientific and undue stress upon technology
would bring about lopsided growth—and this is what has
happened. The spiritual vacuum has grown proportionate
to the so-called advancements in science and technology.
The need of the hour is to develop a scientific temper as
advocated by Nehru.
One of the major problems to the growth of scientific
 Nehru 167
institutions and scientific research in India is governmental
interference. Nehru wanted that political interests should
not be allowed to interfere in the working of research
institutions for governments may be good and bad and they
are very slow in changing. He also doubted whether
scientists always had the scientific approach to life’s
problems as they were “often unscientific outside their
laboratory or in considering other human problems”. This
‘double-standards’ syndrome is not in keeping with the
approach of science, one that helps to think and act straight
and teaches one not to be afraid of discarding or accepting
anything if there are sufficient reasons for doing so.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE For socio-economic
transformation of India towards prosperity, Nehru advo-
cated the path of science and technological advancements.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
And what other path than this can prove more suitable at
this time of immense scientific progress! Nehru wanted
social change through patient and extended education. He
did not agree with Gandhi and others that India needed
to unlearn all that she had learnt through western science
and technological advancements, that is, modern transport
and communication systems such as the railways and
telegraph, etc. Only ideas and outlook, modern in the real
sense of the term, could herald social transformation. Nehru,
who also disagreed with Gandhi’s views on asceticism
linked with simplicity, self-control and mortification of the
flesh, could not get himself to idealise the simple peasant
way of life. He believed that modernisation should help the
spread of urban ideas to rural areas. To build a new society,
Nehru relied upon a socialism that with its final aim as
a classless society with equal economic justice and oppor-
tunity of all intended to raise mankind to higher material
and cultural levels, and cultivate spiritual values, and the
desire to love and to do right.
Nehru aimed at an economic transformation that
acknowledged the contributions of technology and led to
social welfare. As he saw it, many social problems like the
168 Nehru
suppression of Harijans and inavailability of adequate food
and clothing to the masses were problems of economic
exploitation; their roots lay in the economic system. And
a dynamic conception of economic progress where dyna-
mism referred to technological change was necessary in a
transitional economy. Nehru’s economic development
programme for India has built the foundations of India’s
economy.
Where industrialisation itself is concerned, Nehru
encouraged its growth as he argued that India could not
be really independent if she was not technologically ad-
vanced. He favoured decentralisation of industries but
viewed heavy industries as a must. He emphasised that
growth of industries was only to better man’s social and
economic condition without in any way harming him and
his environment. Industrialisation must be based on a
human outlook. Man should not be sacrificed to machines.
Workers for instance, should get their due and must not
be exploited by the industries.
His SECULARISM NO one would deny that the India
of today is caught in the clutches of communalism. And
nothing but the legacy of secularism bequeathed to this
nation by Nehru can solve the intensifying communal
muddle. Realising this, there is a need for the country’s
leaders to imbibe the secular spirit in the real sense and
desist from fuelling communal tensions merely to satisfy
their narrow interests. The common people also need to
remember what Nehru said—that secularism has been
responsible for the nation’s continued survival as an entity.
Secularism as taught by Nehru has special relevance
to us. It was his belief that there was no place for religion
in the sense of a political power. A State should not misuse
religion or indeed, even have anything to do directly with
religion. Only secularism—not to be confused with
irreligion—ought to be the guiding principle of state policy.
But Nehru carried the concept of secularism further than
that. It was not limited to its application as State policy;
 Nehru 169

it was a state of mind that had to be inculcated by the

people for social harmony. The communal ideology attacked
the spirit of secularism under the cover of religion. It would
not be wrong to say that it was Nehru’s insistence on
secularism as a guiding principle of state policy as well
as of our thought-processes and behaviour patterns that has RABINDRANATH TAGORE
kept democratic institutions and processes alive in India
to this day despite large-scale problems such as poverty. (1861—1941)
Nehru established the country’s political, economic
and social foundations. His vast influence on our thoughts
and ideals is by no means restricted to the areas discussed
above. One can only say that his immense contribution has Biographical Sketch
so seeped into the modern Indian man and his political
Poet, philosopher, educationist, patriot, humanist, interna-
and social set-up that we will always be overcome with
tionalist and a spokesman of the soul of India, Rabindranath
a sense of gratitude and indebtedness when we think of

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
him. In this respect he becomes extremely relevant to
modern India. Through his practical, wise and balanced
views, Nehru attempted a change against all odds. And he
was in many ways successful in his efforts both at the
Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 at Jorasanko, the Tagores’
residence in Calcutta. He was the fourteenth child of
Debendranath and Sarla Devi. His father, known as Maharishi,
was a deeply religious man and was actively associated with
the Brahmo Samaj. The Tagores were known for their riches
domestic and the international level. There is much that
and their patronage of art and learning; they were animated
the world of today and Indians in particular can learn from
by a deep religious fervour and love of literature and music.
his message, ideas, concepts as well as the way he lived
Several eminent men of letters, and popular musicians,
his life.
dancers and authors used to frequent Jorasanko. This artistic
atmosphere of his home had a great impact in shaping the
artistic genius of the poet.
When his elder brother, Somendra, and his sister’s
son, Satya, gave an impressive picture of the outside life
of their school, Rabindranath wanted to join them at
Oriental Seminary. He could not stay long in this school
and was admitted in Normal School—a school run on
British pattern. Here, too, he was not impressed by the
school’s atmosphere. During the recess and leisure,
Rabindranath would go up to the second storey and while
away the time sitting by a window. After leaving the Normal
School, he joined the Bengal Academy. When he was twelve
years old, he went on a trip to the Himalayas accompanied
170
 Tagore 171
by his father. The tour lasted for four months, and his father
always found time to instruct Rabindranath in Sanskrit,
English and Astronomy.
On his return from the Himalayan tour, he was put
in St. Xavier. He felt that life in school was a combination
of prison and hospital. He was disillusioned with school
and did not concentrate on studies. He left schooling in
his fourteenth year and never went to a school again.
Though he gave up schooling, he did not give up reading.
As his house was crammed with opportunities for learning
music, painting, drama and literature, he evinced keen
interest in them. His mother died when he was fourteen
but the gap was filled by his childless sister-in-law,
Kadambari. In the same year, his poem was published in
the Amrita Bazaar Patrika. Soon after he wrote a story in
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verse entitled Banaphul which ran into 1,600 lines and was
divided into 8 cantos. He wrote a series of lyrics entitled
Bhanusinher Padavali in the language of the medieval
Vaishnav poets of Bengal.
On September 20, 1878 Rabindranath and his elder
brother Satyendranath Tagore, the first Indian to become
an I.C.S., sailed for England. There, he joined a public
school at Brighton. Later he joined London University and
studied English literature. In order to learn western music,
he joined a music school in London, developed interest in
painting and frequented the art galleries. In 1880 he
returned to India without earning an academic degree. On
December 9, 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi. In 1890 he
went to England once more but came back after a couple
of months. He founded, on December 22, 1901, Santiniketan
near Bolpore. Death took away, between 1902 and 1907,
five of his dearest ones—his wife in 1902, his daughter in
1903, his son Satish Chandra and his father in 1904, and
his youngest son Samindra in 1907. It was during this
period that he wrote our national anthem. During this
faithful period of travail, Rabindranath wrote his magnum
opus, Gitanjali which fetched him the Nobel Prize in 1913.
172 Tagore
He opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905, inaugu-
rated the Raksha Bandan festival to demonstrate Bengal’s
unity, and led a big procession singing a song of his own.
In the same year, he gave his famous speech at the INC
session. In 1912, he left again for England for medical
treatment. He met Rothenstein, the famous painter who
introduced him to W.B. Yeats, the gifted poet. He returned
to India on October 4, 1913. Until his end, he devoted his
energies to Visva Bharati. On August 7, 1941 the great poet,
patriot and prophet closed his eyes for ever.
Thoughts and Ideas
ON PATRIOTISM
Tagore explains his concept of patriotism as the basis of
his love for the motherland. Elaborating it he says when
India suffers from injustice, it is right that we should fight
against it and the responsibility is to right the wrong, not
as Indians but as human beings. His central point was that
he would not be ready to lose the true perspective of life
and the world. In other words, he was not impressed by
the idolatry of geography but prompted by the love of
mankind. “I love India but my India is an idea and not
a geographical expression” observed Tagore. All through his
writings he proclaimed his hatred of national vanity. It was
only in “small minds, patriotism dissociated itself from the
higher ideal of humanity”.
The basic concern of the age is that mankind must
realise unity and to realise this adequate opportunities
should be created to reveal different peoples to one another.
The deepest source of all man-made calamities is misun-
derstanding and therefore Tagore felt that the East for its
own sake and for the sake of the world, must not remain
unrevealed. Tagore loved his country in the context of
humanity; he advocated the cause of his country in the
framework of universal freedom.
Yet particular national events did evoke response from
 Tagore 173
Tagore. He made innumerable speeches and wrote profusely
on the crisis created by the partition of Bengal. His words
on the subject were on the lips of patriotic youths in every
part of the country. Likewise, after the infamous 1919
Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which singed the nation’s con-
science, Tagore came to personify India’s indignation.
Returning his knighthood, Tagore wrote to the viceroy, Lord
Chelmsford: “The very last I can do for my country is to
take all consequences upon myself in giving voice to the
protest of the millions of my countrymen, surprised into
a dumb anguish of terror. The time has come when badges
of honour make out shame glaring, in the incongruous
context of humiliation, and I for my part wish to stand,
shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my
countrymen who for their so-called insignificance are liable
to suffer degradation....”
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Tagore believed that nationalism, in its truest and
sanest sense, is the inviolable right of the composite Indian
people to fully and freely live its own special life in its
own way, following its own peculiar genius, and developing
its specific culture to its highest perfection, and thus to
contribute what is highest and best in it to the general stock
of human knowledge and human culture. That Tagore had
a message for his times has been acknowledged by many
a leading intellectual, and it had been proclaimed to all
the world by the Academy of Literature of Stockholm,
which gave him the Nobel Award.
Tagore’s poem entitled India’s Prayer epitomises his
concept of patriotism. Tagore was ever conscious that to
tyrannise for the country is “to tyrannise over the country”.
A nation which gives itself to immoral aggrandisement is
on the road to disintegration; a nation which accepts
predatory patriotism deforms its own ideal. Tagore’s con-
cept of patriotism reminds us of the great words of Abraham
Lincoln: “With malice towards none, with charity for all,
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right—
let us strive on to finish the work we are in.”
174 Tagore
In the words of former president, R. Venkataraman,
“Tagore was in many ways the prophet of New India, its
National Poet and Bard. Tagore came into the world when
a New Age was beginning to take shape. For one thing, a
sense of nationhood was being felt, for the first time. In
one memorable line of the great song that has now become
our National Anthem, Tagore linked all our lands together
in one Shrinkhala...”
IDEALS OF EDUCATION
Tagore had a philosophy of life, and his theory of education
was accordingly shaped. Generally, education is dominated
by the ideal of attaining technical efficiency in order to get
on in life. Such an education is incomplete according to
Tagore.
Tagore regarded education as the basis of the true, the
complete life. Perfect knowledge is the basis of all true
freedom; it is avidya which forges fetters that bind. That
is why the wise man comes and says, “Set yourselves free
from avidya; know your true soul and be saved from the
grasp of the self which imprisons you”.
Tagore felt that the education of a child is the most
important work in building up the life of the nation. He
wanted to train human beings for freedom, for peace, for
justice. Accordingly, in his school he brought about an
atmosphere of freedom, of sympathy and of service and
these are Tagore’s cardinal ideals of education.
His concept of education sprang from his reverence
for human personality. He made children happy in an
atmosphere of freedom and he found his own freedom
“through trust, through my faith in human approach to
educational problems”, and through education he wanted
to bring about a desirable social order. Mere book knowl-
edge does not interest the child so as to hold his attention
fully. “The brain gets weary of mere words.” As a result
of imperfect, wrong and undesirable education, we may earn
academic degrees but not the strength to reconstruct our-
 Tagore 175
selves. According to Tagore, no nation can be alive and
strong, unless its children receive proper education, nor
mere book knowledge. The stress on book knowledge was
given in our country by the foreign rulers on political
considerations. Every imperial government avoids spreading
true enlightenment; the strength of foreign government lies
in the people’s ignorance.”
Tagore believed that the provision for the training of
the children must begin from the earliest stage. He turned
to this vital task unaided and he began his experiments at
Santiniketan. True education is the basis of all constructive
work, according to him. Further Tagore enunciated that the
aim of the school should be the highest degree of individual
development in each of its pupils. He could not accept the
view that true education would in any way stifle the very
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essence of freedom. Free minds, nurtured on free criticism,
must seek for profound changes in the foundations of
society resulting in the triumph of reason over human
conduct. Tagore strove for the unfettered exercise of reason,
thus helping the broadening of the arena of revolutionary
spirit. He saw in the monolithic power of the state the germs
of counter-revolutionary forces and an attempt to prevent
the access of the masses to social benefits.
Tagore was an advocate of the medium of instruction
through the mother tongue. In a speech read before the
Rajshahi Association in 1892 which was published under
the title of Siksher Her-Pher (Topsy-turvydom in Education),
Tagore pointed out the folly of imparting education through
the vehicle of a foreign language. English is a completely
alien tongue, its association of themes and ideas are foreign
and the education we receive through the medium of
English is “inadequate to our life”. There is no joy, no
expansion, no blossoming of our faculties. The best phase
of our boyhood is lost under the load of foreign dictionaries
and lifeless grammars. “From boyhood we pass to adoles-
cence, from adolescence to young manhood carrying a load
of mere words. In the domain of Saraswati we can never
176 Tagore
be more than unskilled labourers. Our backs grow bent, but
there is no all-round development of our manhood/’ This
sense of frustration weighed greatly on Tagore, and one of
the objects of his educational experiments at Santiniketan
was to train children in their mother tongue.
Tagore in his own words raised his voice against the
European system: “To our misfortune, we have in our
country all the furniture of the European university except
the human teacher. We have instead been merely purveyors
of book-lore in whom the paper-god of the bookshop seems
to have made himself vocal”. Tagore complained that we
knew the West which was masterful and powerful but not
its artistically creative aspect. However, he cautioned us that
we could not afford to turn western. The Eastern mind is
there, “it is in your blood, in the marrow of your bones,
in the texture of your flesh and in the tissues of your
brains.” In his view, the centre of our culture should also
be the centre of our economic life. The East has a culture
of its own, and the East for its own sake and for the sake
of the world must not remain unrevealed.
Tagore favoured open-air classes. The deadness of the
walls made everything dull and gloomy. Discipline was not
imposed upon children: they had the freedom of movement
as he believed that a moving mind had more power to
assimilate facts and to gather knowledge from the outside
world. Further he believed that the proper means of
education would be to allow children to acquire knowledge
casually and suddenly not just through the narrow channel
of book education which was like martyrdom imposed from
without. Tagore drifted away from the Soviet ideal of
education, as he believed that “there must be disagreement
where minds are allowed to be free. It would be a sterile
world of mechanical regularity if all of our opinions were
forcibly made alike. Freedom of mind is needed for the
reception of truth; terror hopelessly kills it. The brute
cannot subdue the brute. It is only the man who can do
it.”
 Tagore 177
In Tagore’s opinion, the school must be an “ashram
where men have gathered to attain the highest end of life,
in the peace of nature, where life is not merely meditative,
but fully awake in its activities, where boys’ minds are not
being perpetually drilled into believing that the ideal of the
self-idolatry of the nation is the trust ideal for them to
accept, where they are bidden to realise man’s world as
God’s kingdom to whose citizenship they have to aspire.”
He lamented that the system of folk education, which was
indigenous to India, was dying out.
Tagore’s Viswa Bharati stood for certain ideals with
the ultimate objective of strengthening the spiritual force
of Asia and to make India alive to her culture, to widen
the sphere of cooperation to curb the spirit of contention
and competition, to teach mankind to look beyond the
and goodwill.
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interests of individual nations and to meet in mutual respect
Tagore saw an educational institution to be more than
distribution centres of knowledge; they ought to create
knowledge. In other words, they should foster the spirit of
inquiry, of exploration. The intellect, the emotions, the
entire personality of a human being must be moulded by
education and such an education does not emphasise on
science or arts at the cost of one another.
An educational institution, in Tagore’s vision, should
not exist in isolation; it should have a close contact with
the socio-economic conditions prevalent in the locality.
Knowledge acquired at the institution should be applied to
improve the condition of the people around. It was this idea
that led to the establishment of a rural welfare section at
the Viswa Bharati. Galled Sriniketan, it was to look after
the welfare of surrounding villages. In this project a young
Englishman, Leonard Elmhirst, lent great support.
The basic principles guiding the rural reconstruction
project were: to sustain the work without outside help, and
to integrate the approach to rural work by involving
intellect, manual labour and emotional satisfaction in work
178 Tagore
undertaken. The programme may have inspired the com-
munity development programme of the Planning Commis-
sion at a later date. The problems of the people were
observed and specific expert advice and solutions found.
As a result, agricultural practices were improved, coop-
erative banking and medical service provided, adult literacy
and cottage industries encouraged.
ON POLITICS AND BRITISH RULE
How peculiarly unfortunate it is, when a great nationalist
leader is grossly misunderstood by his own countrymen!
Rabindranath Tagore has often been dubbed as “docile” who
dared not criticise the British rule, oppressive as it was.
People even go to the extent of saying that if he had any
idea on politics at all, Tagore preached the “politics of
subservience” and he had always allied himself with the
iniquities of the British administration in India. But in
reality Tagore was one of the most uncompromising critics
of British rule in India. His views were sometimes more
extreme and penetrating than those of his unimaginative
critics and more critical than the views of many reputed
leaders.
When he found India “smothered under the dead
weight of British administration” it utterly disillusioned
him. The dire poverty of the Indian masses rent his heart.
“Rudely shaken out of my dreams I began to realise that
perhaps in no other modern state was there such hopeless
dearth of the most elementary needs of existence. And yet
it was this country whose resources had fed for so long
the wealth and magnificence of the British people. I could
never have remotely imagined that the great ideals of
humanity would end in such ruthless travesty”.
Tagore wanted the freedom of India, not that she may
shut herself up in her isolation, nor that she should lord
it over other nations, but that she may be in a position to
offer to the world her best gifts and be able to accept from
others the best they have to offer. He resented India’s
 Tagore 179
political subjugation because to continue existence as the
eternal rag-picker at other people’s dustbins is the greatest
shame.
The large-hearted liberalism of the nineteenth century
English politics of which Tagore was a great admirer
deserted British rule in India. The liberality in the character
of the English did fascinate Tagore. But the character of
the British rule in India disillusioned him and he was
merciless in his analysis of the exploitation of India by the
British.
Tagore was alive to both aspects of the contact of India
with England, and hence we find in him the contradiction
of robust faith in the Englishman and ignoble contempt for
the impersonal and unproductive rule of the British. Tagore
chastised the Englishman for his insular habits, for his
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conceit and indifference to others, for his exclusiveness. The
Englishman judges the whole world by his own standards.
Tagore felt that the spirit of accommodation is eloquently
absent in him. He does not like to understand others with
sympathy. Therefore, there is a wall of misunderstanding
between the English and the Indians.
Tagore believed that the anti-British movement arose
mainly from the wounds of lacerated hearts. For him the
Englishman had made himself useful, but not dear to the
Indians. He gave them medicine without making it tasteful.
The Englishman did not sprinkle water on the soil, but
showed no miserliness in sowing seeds. Was the soil
therefore to be blamed if the corn of gratefulness did not
grow in abundance, asked Tagore.
Tagore pointed out the character of the British rule
in India and referred to its impersonal character. Union of
heart between the ruler and the ruled cannot be brought
about by conquests, by mere administration. Tagore ques-
tioned the English poets: they had sung of the sufferings
of Greece, Italy, Hungary and Poland, but how many of them
had a thought for the misery of the Indians? Perhaps
England looked upon India as her milch cow.
180 Tagore
He made a fascinating analysis of the British rule in
his book Raja-Praja (The Ruler and the Ruled). He found
that the best way of checking the growing feelings of enmity
between the ruler and ruled was for the Indians to devote
attention to the discharge of their immediate responsibilities
and keep aloof from the English. “We must earn our right;
we get what we deserve”—was Tagore’s favourite thesis.
This being his basic philosophy he was more conscious of
our own imperfections than those of the rulers.
Tagore believed that it was not so much because the
British were foreigners that they were unwelcome to
Indians, but it was because while pretending to be trustees
of India’s welfare they had sacrificed the happiness of
millions in India to bloat the pockets of a few capitalists
back home. He was grief-stricken at the sight of the famished
Indians crying for bread. He realised that British rule had
shaped India’s cultural relations with the other Asiatic
countries. India’s attention had been diverted to the West
and India, ‘the cultural leader’ of the East, had become a
vassal to the West not only culturally, but politically and
economically. He felt most miserable when he found that
India’s will was paralysed and a sense of impotence had
corroded her mind under the aegis of the British rule.
He comprehended the objective reality of the Indian
situation in his own way. The fundamental cause of India’s
poverty, according to Tagore, was the dislocation of ancient
resources contained in the villages. It was the change in
the economic system which had dislocated the whole
structure of Indian life.
Tagore always stood up for a constructive programme.
He did not or could not support the boycott movement
which was accompanied by bonfires of foreign goods. The
idea that destruction was a prelude to construction was not
acceptable to him. He did not favour rousing mass indig-
nation against the British Government. He could not ap-
preciate such anger to be the basis of the political objective
of the Indians. Tagore stated that the British made better
 Tagore 181
rulers than any other foreign nation would. But he deplored
the machine-like quality of their administration which had
lost all human contact with Indians. This brought humili-
ation and misery to the masses.
Tagore strongly believed that “for the individual as
well as for the nation freedom is always the ultimate goal.”
But in our own nature are hidden the obstacles to its
attainment, and these must first be removed. We must work
first to free our industries, control our education, strengthen
our community. Tagore was very critical of power politics.
In his conception of social democracy there was no
ascendancy of groups, no domination of individuals, simply
because they had got into power. When the war of 1939
broke out, Tagore blamed it on power politics, for power
fills its store-room with looted goods; it identifies posses-
minds.
PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
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siveness with the principle of right; it poisons human
Tagore viewed man as a social being rather than a political
being. The primacy of society and the social interpretation
of history were acceptable to him. He believed that the
history of India was the expression of the evergoing “process
of racial and social synthesis”.
Tagore’s concept of politics as a ‘specialised and
professionalised aspect of society’ seems to denounce the
efficacy of political agitation. Both the trends of revivalism
and reformism were accommodated in his political prin-
ciples or ideology. He was in favour of restoring the pristine
glory of India’s past, its spiritual values, ideals of simplicity
of life, pure vision but not quite with any religious tinge.
He emphasised on the fact that if India has to march
triumphantly on the road of progress, she has to root out
the internal contradictions of her society; only then would
India be fit to fight for freedom.
Tagore felt the State and the Government should
create a congenial atmosphere for social solidarity to grow
182 Tagore
and expand. It must make the citizens conscious of their
rights, power and capacities and help them to solve their
own problems themselves.
He had enormous appreciation for the catholicity and
broadmindedness of Indian civilization. He believed that the
dominant theme of India’s history and culture is to find
the one among many—to discover the unity amidst diver-
sity.
Accepting the immense work of the spiritual heritage
of India, he championed the moral law of historical
progress. Believing the essence of civilization to be the love
of humanity and not the accumulation of material power,
he decried the emasculation, the dearth of spiritual
harmonising power and the mist of stupefaction which the
western imperialists were inflicting on eastern humanity.
At the same time, the cosmopolitanism, rationalism, human-
ism and the enormous spirit of quest of the western
civilisation, culture and science deeply impressed Tagore.
He dreamt of freedom, peace, light and immortality in place
of darkness, fear and overwhelming death.
TAGORE’S SPIRITUAL HUMANISM A humanist par
excellence, Tagore was a prophet of love, harmony and
fellowship. Rejecting the narrow dividing walls and con-
centrating his attention on concrete humanity as an organic
whole, Tagore gave to the organised man the gospel of unity
and harmony. His vision of peace, love and humanism was
nurtured on spiritual foundations demanding that man be
treated in the perspective of the eternal. He stood for
spiritual equality and moral equanimity. Believing that man
is only a unique model of God, Tagore desired the exaltation
of the spirit of man. Stressing on the liberty of the human
spirit, he stood for the idealisation and perfection of the
neglected human spirit. Tagore regarded man as the cul-
mination of the creative process of a superior great power.
The inner being of man is organic with the heart of eternity.
He said, “Truth, which is one with the Universal Being,
must essentially be human, otherwise whatever we indi-
 Tagore 183
viduals realise as true can never be called truth...In any case,
if there be any truth absolutely related to humanity then
for us it is absolutely non-existing...My religion is in the
reconciliation of the super-personal man, the universal
human spirit, in my own individual being....”
Accepting the sanctity of human conscience, he stood
for synthesis between philosophic contemplation, devo-
tional adoration and affirmative action. Realising that God
belongs to the broken home as well as to magnificent
temples and churches, his humanism pleads for social
mutualistic co-operation, love and service. His spiritual
humanism is poles apart from sensualism, hypocrisy, dis-
semblance and pragmatic expediency.
TAGORE AS POET
India’s first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore grew up
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in an atmosphere that encouraged artistic qualities. Imbued
with a creative genius and influenced by the literary and
other artistic activities continuously taking place at his
home, Tagore’s literary efforts flourished and achieved
world fame. He started writing from an early age, and was
in no small way influenced by the critically appreciative
comments of his sister-in-law who looked after him like a
mother.
Tagore’s early works are dominated by a love of
nature, but they are what he himself calls of a “copy-book”
kind. His Sandhya Sangeet marks the first step in individu-
ality; it led Bankim Chandra Chatterjee to hail the advent
of a new literary giant. But the work is melancholic, and
Tagore himself traces this mood to his having lost contact
with nature and turning inwards. With the restoration of
the bond of nature, which came through a sudden revelation
inspired by the beauty of a sunrise, Tagore was inspired
to write the Prabhat Sangeet With that he got back the world
of his childhood, he said. In his maturity, his poetry evinces
a strong streak of optimism besides a style in which
different features of nature assume human qualities. The
184 Tagore
nature in his poetry is a living entity. These stylistic aspects
are first noticeable in his Kori-O-Kamal.
Tagore did not follow convention; his style of writing
marked a departure from the old ways in its simplicity.
Moreover, his tendency to attribute human qualities to even
non-living entities was new to Bengali writing. It was finally
his Gitanjali (Gita: Song; anjali : offering) that won him
worldwide recognition and the Nobel Prize in 1913. The
English version contained more than 100 compositions,
more than half of them coming from his Bengali Gitanjali
and the rest from his other books including the Gitimalya.
The theme is the relationship between the poet and his
personal God, and as such the collection was an offering
of songs to God. It represents, in a way, the culmination
of the Vaishnava poetic tradition with its intense spiritual
note.
Tagore inspired Indian literary endeavour, especially
after the award of Nobel Prize. The Chhayavad school in
Hindi poetry shows his influence, as do the literature in
Assamese, Oriya and Gujarati. Above all, his achievement
inspired Indians with the confidence that their mother
tongue was as capable of great literature as was Sanskrit
and the European languages.
Tagore, the poet, was also India’s spiritual ambassador
to the world. His songs of love—universal love—and mystic
union with a spiritual godhead offered something new to
Western civilisation. He travelled over England, Europe,
Canada, America, Russia, Japan, Ceylon, and carried the
message of Indian culture to those peoples.
Tagore’s literary greatness, however, is not confined
to poetry. In his hands, novel, drama, short story, essay and
literary criticism, all attained maturity. Tagore provide a
vital impetus to the cultural renaissance of India. He
naturalised the western spirit into Indian literature and
made it truly modern.
 Tagore 185
TAGORE AS A PAINTER
The literary activities of Rabindranath Tagore are so over-
whelming that one tends to overlook his contribution to
music and his experimentation in painting. It was at a very
late stage of life—in his sixties—that Tagore yielded to the
urge to paint. No formal training was acquired by him. As
a consequence, perhaps, his paintings conform to no
established pattern or school.
His first attempts were merely rhythmic lines, one
might say, assuming strange shapes. He gradually adopted
fresh methods, using his finger-tips or even rags to spread
the ink. He graduated to recognisable forms expressive of
ideas and thoughts. Tagore did not paint from ‘models’ but
from imagination.
Tagore probably had an inclination for abstract art:
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“People often ask me about the meaning of my pictures.
I remain silent even as my pictures are. It is for them to
express and not to explain.”
As time went by, however, Tagore’s painting grew
away from abstract expression. It could be said that the
fantastic forms of mythical beasts and prehistoric birds and
reptiles that he painted embodied a transitional phase from
the pure abstract to the more recognisable human shapes
suggesting moods and thoughts. It is interesting to note in
this context that Tagore was not generally in favour of
abstract theories—as his music and dance clearly show.
Joseph Southhall, art critic, observes that Tagore’s drawings
are the outcome of a “powerful imagination, seeing things
in hue and colour as the best Oriental sees them, with that
sense of rhythm and pattern that we find in Persian or
Indian textiles craftwork.” And behind that colour and form
lay “a deep feeling and apprehension of the spiritual life
and being of men and animals...”
TAGORE AND MUSIC
The revival of interest and resurgence of Indian music in
the modern times owes much to the efforts and contribution
186 Tagore
of Rabindranath Tagore. In his teens itself, Tagore wrote
some Vaishnava lyrics under the name, Bhanu Sinha
Thakur. In his musical drama, Balmiki Pratibha, produced
in 1881, Tagore used English and Irish melodies, the entire
experiment serving, as Tagore himself says, to loosen “the
chains of melodic forms”.
Tagore’s music is in a class by its own. He had
technical knowledge, but stayed clear of orthodox virtu-
osity. At the same time, his music was not loose and
undisciplined; “his songs are well chiselled and finely
proportioned in form and content” as B. Chaitanya Deva
observes. His foundations in music came, not from any
formal training, but from his close contact with musicians
of the folk as well as classical traditions. Amidst all this,
his brother Jyotindranath playing melodic tunes on the
piano all day long undoubtedly inspired Rabindranath.
Rabindranath Tagore composed dhrupad, thumri,
tappa, but mostly songs. Though the songs show the
sectional divisions of asthayi and antara, they are imbued
with the spirit of Bengali folk traditions such as sari, baul
and keertan. He made use of the common ragas—Malhar,
Khamaj, Bhairavi, Pilu. But he also created different moods
through these ragas, and produced new combinations such
as Multani-Bhimpalasi, Asavari-Bhaviavi, Darbari-Todi-
Bhairavi He also made use of new talas like sasthi (6),
navami (9), jhampak (10). In his songs, there is a fusion
of mood, word and tune. “Vocal music”, he said, “reaches
its perfection when the melodic form is allowed to develop
freely and carry our consciousness with it to its own
wonderful plane.”
TAGORE AND GANDHI
Gandhi called Rabindranath Tagore ‘Gurudev’. There was
much in common between the two and much of a differ-
ence, too. They held each other in mutual respect, in spite
of differences in viewpoint. Both looked upon humanity
with love and held a vision of a better world, but their
 Tagore 187
approaches differed: Gandhi was an activist, Tagore, the
imaginative poet, a visionary.
Gandhi and Tagore had widely different childhoods,
family background, and educational experience. They had
different views on politics and international conditions and
yet shared a spiritual approach to problems. Gandhi looked
upon God as truth, and Tagore saw godhead in love. They
had their own stands of evaluation of individuals, or
common people and events.
When Gandhi launched the Non-cooperation Move-
ment, Tagore disagreed with him. To disbelieve the ability
of the Mahatma was out of question. What the poet was
chary of was the psychosis of the crowd. The poet was
distinctly hesitant about the outcome if the right to non-
cooperate was given to a crowd without any leash to check
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
its self-willed march. The poet sought to divest the move-
ment of its earthly trappings and lift it to a higher plane—
to that of spiritual import. According to the poet, “ ‘No’
in its passive moral form is asceticism and in its active
moral form is violence.” Tagore’s principal objection was
that violence was inherent in the concept of non-coopera-
tion and hence the movement was negative in character.
Tagore’s attitude was similar in the case of burning
of foreign cloth. But Gandhi could not accept this inter-
pretation of the poet. Rebutting the view, Gandhi made a
significant remark: “In burning my foreign clothes, I burn
my shame”. In other words, the very idea of foreign
domination over the country was being obliterated when
foreign cloth was being consigned to the flames. If for
Gandhi it symbolised breaking off the alien shackles, for
Tagore it implied mindless destruction.
On the question of the Bihar earthquake the views of
Gandhi and Tagore were diametrically opposite: here Tagore’s
rationalism was matched against Gandhi’s blind faith; the
former’s scientific temper of mind against Gandhi’s super-
stition. A similar controversy was raised regarding the cult
of charkha propounded by Gandhi. Tagore’s main argument
188 Tagore
against it was that the charkha retarded the development
of a fierce mind and hampered initiative. It tended, for
Tagore, to shape everyone alike, engendered in them a love
of mechanical habits instead of fostering creative abilities
and ended by making everyone a prey to drudgery, a servant
of joyless work. It was a denial of the vitality of science
as a panacea for the evils of poverty and destitution.
To quote Tagore, “...that the all-embracing poverty
which has overwhelmed our country cannot be removed by
working with our hards to the neglect of science. Nothing
can be more dignified drudgery then that man’s ‘knowing’
should stop dead or his ‘doing’ go on for ever.” He believed,
when science can be fruitfully applied on a nationwide
scale towards the removal of all wants, to forgo the benefits
of science and to remain fixed to the charkha is tantamount
to betraying a medieval and obscurantist attitude to life.
It is not necessary to point to particular areas of
agreement to stress the similarity of outlook between Tagore
and “6andhi. To the Indian mind, the ideological affinity
between the two is in their deep religiosity, moral sense
and faith in India’s spiritual values. God, Truth or whatever
we call it was the prime source of inspiration to both.
As far as their attitude to and love of the village is
concerned, both were on the same grounds. However, their
sensibilities were different. The intuitive sense of the poet
is wholly his; it is not possible to share it with someone
else. The predominantly action-based life of Gandhi has
little in it of poetic imagination; but that deficiency of his
mental make-up is more than compensated for by his love
for man as its focal point. Of course the poet’s love of the
village sought manifestation in practical work too.
It is not easy to reconcile every view of a poet—a
dreamer and an idealist in the main—with that of a man
of action; but in the poet’s case this reconciliation became
an actuality. Such synthesis is rare but it is nevertheless
true.
 Tagore 189 190 Tagore

Tagore’s Ideas and Views: Their Significance Tagore saw India’s problems as essentially social and so
advocated reform of the society itself. To solve the political
in Present Times
problems, there was a need to rely on qualities such as self-
The relevance of Rabindranath Tagore’s thoughts for the
help and sacrifice. For Tagore, what India needed was
modern man cannot be gauged in any restricted sense for
constructive work and this had to come from within herself.
he was not only a poet-philospher, but also a political and
It required that man grow to his full heights by inculcating
social reformer, educationist, and humanist. His contribu-
moral powers. His ideas being such, Tagore refused to deify
tion and influence has been undoubtedly wide in their
the State and give exaggerated and exclusive importance
range. Deep in their meaning, his thoughts depict a pro-
to the whole concept of nationalism. He believed in the
found universalist and humanist vision that make them
harmonising strength of social instincts to evolve a social
significant for all times and all places. His outlook was such
unity through the ‘Samaj’ (society) and not the State. The
that it viewed things in their entirety. And so, his answers
Sama was a living organism, the basic institution necessary
to the moral and spiritual questions and his solutions to
to ensure the material, cultural and spiritual fulfilment of
the specific issues that confront modern man are entire in
the individuals comprising it. But this system, he felt, had
their approach and reach. He did put into practise many
decayed over the years and modern man’s preoccupation

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of his ideas and, as a result, won a great deal of success
and acclaim. The programmes and experiments he began,
in Shantiniketan for instance, are still carried on now with
a lot of zeal and commitment. All this, to some extent,
certifies their continuing relevance.
should be with rejuvenating it. He criticised the nation that
was based on conflict and conquest rather than social
cooperation, one that was merely a political and economic
union of people for a mechanical purpose. Nationalism, he
believed, had its basis as unity which might well be there
In order to fully understand and appreciate Tagore’s
in spite of divisive socio-economic conditions. But nation-
relevance to the present times, it is necessary to delve into
alism had to be viewed in the context of the higher goal
the essence of his thoughts which are, by no means,
of universal brotherhood. Even u casual study of modern
confined to philosophical topics alone; they deal with
world history is enough to observe that much of the wars
education, rural reconstruction, agricultural development,
and destruction experienced in the 19th-20th centuries has
political reforms, cultural aspects, and a host of other issues
been inspired by distorted concepts conveying an exagger-
of practical importance. In this discussion, we will take up
ated significance of nation and State. The State has grown
some aspects of his thoughts to study their continuing
to become an infallible source of power. Much of the
relevance.
violence witnessed in the world today is itself inspired by
POLITICAL REFORM Politics is in a degraded state States through a direct policy of aggression or else through
today. On one hand, it is not sincerely attuned to the goal
covert means. In such a scenario, the ideals of Tagore
of welfare and peace in the society; on the other, there is
provide material for sincere meditation on this issue.
no attempt to ensure that considerable significance is
RURAL COMMUNITY AND AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT
attached to growth and preservation of moral values in the
A large population of India resides in rural, agricultural
political leaders and reformers, and in the political setup
areas. Our dreams of a prosperous India, therefore, must
as a whole. Aware of this, let us now approach Tagore’s
necessarily mean the growth and prosperity of rural India
thoughts on politics and we will, no doubt, learn something.
and the people living therein. And so, Tagore was keen in
 Tagore 191
rural reconstruction, not in a limited or superficial sense
but as a movement for nation-building with the goal of
social, economic and political freedom for the individual.
He did not merely evolve a rural community development
programme but experimented with it in his Santiniketan.
The programmes that he set in motion are being carried
on in Santiniketan even today.
The experiment of rural development at Santiniketan
was begun as a sober, calculated, systematic effort on the
part of workers to find a comprehensive solution to the
problems of village communities. Such development relied
on the qualities of self-help, individual freedom, self-
relisation to guide the people to recognise their problems
and to fight them with the resources available. For Tagore,
such development was not to be based on charity. It was
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
a community endeavour—and not State action—that was
based on cooperation among the people. The cooperation
and self-help was such that even the surplus of the rich
got spent equally among the members of the community.
The relevance of this programme for the present-day rural
set-up is two-fold—one, its goal envisages overall devel-
opment, i.e., progress in every sense (it includes freedom
not only in the political sense but also freedom from
ignorance and inactivity), and secondly, its approach is
universal unlike modern programmes of community devel-
opment that are specific and depend upon the organisation
of, and conditions obtaining in, a social set-up.
The agrarian development programme envisaged by
Tagore was, likewise, broad in its goals and reach. Tagore
felt that self-help among farmers to free themselves from
debt, adopt improved technologies, etc., would raise’ farm
productivity and income. Consolidation of holdings and
other forms of collective action would contribute signifi-
cantly to better farm layout and organisation. Tagore also
recommended voluntary contributions towards relief, re-
habilitation of weaker communities and zamindars’ contrib-
uting finances for local development. Conferment of own-
192 Tagore
ership rights on tenants would lead to much improvement
in the tenants’ status and contribute to agricultural devel-
opment. These ideas can be very usefully put to use for
agricultural reform and progress especially as they would
not prove difficult in practice.
TAGORE’S VIEWS ON EDUCATION Tagore’s name
figures among the leading educationalists of modern India.
Revolting against the unrealistic, alien, mercenary, and
mechanical educational system of the British, Tagore ex-
tended his own alternative system of education that upheld
the highest ideals. Tagore put his education-related ideas
into practice in Santiniketan as a result that Santiniketan
in 1901 had few parallels as a progressive school not only
in India but also the world. The education advocated by
him is aimed at growth of the society in every sense—not
only spiritual, moral and cultural development of man but
also socio-economic development. For Tagore, the great
objective of education was “to know man and to make
oneself known to man.” Tagore, wanting to free education
from the form and content it had acquired under the British,
stated that education ought to be less of instruction and
more of experience and slow absorption. Tagore’s concept
and practise of education has an enormous relevance for
us as the various ills that he identified in the British system
of education and which he sought to do away with are a
part and parcel of present-day education.
As education was an exploration, mere theoretical
education cannot be satisfactory. The need, he said, was
for improvisation at every level—even, for instance, in
making little of financial resources go a long way. Education
was nothing short of learning to live, and the atmosphere
in which education is imparted is of great significance.
Tagore preferred open-air classrooms in the midst of
nature—a suggestion which if adopted today even in a
limited sense would do away with unnecessary expenditure
on building schools and classrooms and especially furniture
and other things to equip them with. In present-day schools
 Tagore 193 194 Tagore

and colleges, a major problem is the relation between
children or students and teachers. There is no proper
interaction between them so that the students are alienated
from the teachers and vice versa. Unless a warm and
purposeful relationship is established between the learners
and the teachers, education cannot hope to achieve its full
objectives. That is why Tagore stressed that the life within
a classroom is similar to life within a community where
all are equal, and so interaction and cooperation must be
as among equals. The teacher must be a guide to his
students as well as their friend. Education must teach the
mind how to create and help it to relax and enjoy—and
so, Tagore’s insistence on creative self-expression. Two
ways in which this could be achieved was aesthetic
education and craftwork. Tagore strongly disapproved
naturalised the western spirit into Indian literature and
made it truly modern. Tagore received the Nobel Prize in
literature in 1913 for his Gitanjali. This was a proud
moment for India as it immediately gained worldwide
attention.
The revival of interest and resurgence of Indian music
in the modern times owes much to the efforts and contri-
bution of Tagore. Tagore composed new songs, used com-
mon ragas to create different moods and produced new
combinations, and made use of new talas so that “the
melodic form” could “develop freely and carry our con-
sciousness with it to its own wonderful plane.”

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
education that emphasised cramming, which plays an
essential role in the educational pattern of today.
TAGORE’s CULTURAL CONTRIBUTION In the cultural
field, Tagore’s enormous contribution mainly pertains to
literature, painting and music. His cultural works and
endeavours are relevant to us today in many ways. One,
any person can study and enjoy his works thereby gaining
aesthetic pleasure as well as knowledge of deeper and
greater things in life. Secondly, they have been a source
of great inspiration to present-day litterateurs and artists so
that the works of many modern artists are dependent upon
Tagore’s contribution for their emergence and popularity.
Also, Tagore was one of the first in modern Indian to spread
the message of Indian culture to the people abroad not only
through his literary writings but personally as well.
Tagore inspired Indian literary endeavour, such as the
literature in Assamese, Oriya and Gujarati and the Ghhayavad
school in Hindi poetry. He inspired Indians with the
confidence that their mother tongues are capable of being
suitable mediums for great literature. It would be worth
pointing out that in the last 50 years or so there has been
incessant activity in the field of regional literature. Tagore

EMINENT PERSONALITIES ASSOCIATED
WITH MODERN INDIA
In this section is given a biographical
survey of some other eminent personalities,
besides Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, who
made valuable contributions to the growth
of modern India. The selection includes
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
political thinkers and activists, socio-
cultural and religious reformers. Also
included are some personalities who,
though not Indian by birth, could very well
be considered inseparable from the history
of modern India.
ABANINDRANATH TAGORE (1871-1951)
Abanindranath Tagore’s name figures among the greatest
artists India has ever produced. Great grandson of Dwarkanath
Tagore and nephew of Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath
learnt painting at a very early age. In 1895, he produced
a collection of paintings on Krishnalila in which he
synthesised Indian and Western styles. In 1898, he was
appointed vice-principal of the Art School, Calcutta. He
extensively studied the Rajput, Mughal, Japanese styles of
painting and with time, evolved his own unique style. His
exhibitions were held in Paris, London and Tokyo and he
attained international fame. With the help of other artists,
he propagated national aesthetic ideal and emphasised an
Indian approach to art. Abanindranath also distinguished
himself as a writer and wrote nearly 30 books on diverse
195
196 Other Eminent Personalities
subjects in which he laid emphasis on individual freedom.
His novel, Patherdabi, acted as a source of inspiration for
youth who joined revolutionary groups.
ACHARYA NARENDRA DEV (1889-1956)
A reputed scholar, socialist and nationalist, Acharya Narendra
Dev was a lawyer by profession. He was one of the first
persons to join the Non-Cooperation Movement and give
up his practice. In 1934, he became the President of Patna’s
Socialist Conference and in 1937, a member of the UP
Legislative Assembly. He also remained a member of
Congress Working Committee for some time. In 1948, he
cut off links with the Congress to form the Socialist Party
and became its Chairman. Acharya Narendra Dev also
distinguished himself as an educationist. In 1925, he was
made the principal of Kashi Vidyapeeth. He also became
the Vice-Chancellor of Lucknow and Banaras Universities.
ACHARYA PRAFULLA CHANDRA RAY (1861-1944)
A pioneer of chemical research in India, Prafulla Chandra
Ray joined the Presidency College as a lecturer in chemistry
in 1889 after completing higher education at the Edinburgh
University. With the help of a renowned French chemist,
Berthelot, he did commendable research work in Ayurveda.
His work History of Hindu Chemistry was published in
1902. In 1892, he founded Bengal Chemical and Pharma-
ceutical Works which progressed phenomenally under his
guidance. He attended several international science con-
gresses and seminars as a representative of Indian univer-
sities. In 1920, he was elected President of Indian Science
Congress. Prafulla Chandra Ray’s ultimate aim was to make
use of the wonders of science for the uplift of the masses.
He wrote several articles on science which were published
in leading journals of the time. Also an ardent social worker,
he was actively involved in famine relief work in 1922 in
north Bengal. He advocated the use of khadi and started
several cottage industries. A firm believer in rationalism,
he condemned the decadent social customs such as un-
 Other Eminent Personalities 197
touchability. He continued with his constructive social-
reform work till his death.
ACHYUT S. PATWARDHAN (1905-1971)
Achyut S. Patwardhan was one of the founder-members of
the Congress Socialist Party. During the Quit India Move-
ment, he played an active role in keeping the popular
morale high. He was involved in underground activities in
Maharashtra and provided guidance in the distribution of
arms and ammunition. After independence, he kept away
from politics.
AJIT SINGH (?-1947)
A revolutionary nationalist, Ajit Singh worked in close
association with Lala Lajpat Rai, He was arrested for his
anti-British activities and in 1907 he was deported to
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Mandalay. After being released, he launched a journal,
Peshwa, and founded Bharat Mata Society, both of which
influenced the youth of India to participate in the political
affairs of the country. He fled India in 1908 but continued
to work for the national cause by assisting the Ghadr Party
in its activities. He passed away on August 16, 1947.
A.K. FAZLUL HAQ (1873-1962)
One of the founder-members of the Ail India Muslim
League, A.K. Fazlul Haq fought for the rights of Muslims.
From 1916 to 1921, he was the President of the League.
He played a significant role during negotiations between the
Congress and the League over the Lucknow Pact in 1916.
He represented the League at the Round Table Conferences
(1930-33). In 1937, he left the Muslim League and launched
the Krishak Praja Party. After the 1937 elections, he entered
into a coalition with the Muslim League and formed a
Government in Bengal. From 1938-43, he worked as Chief
Minister of Bengal. After independence, he settled in Dacca.
ALLAN OCTAVIAN HUME (1829-1912)
A.O. Hume’s name figures among those few Britishers who
not only supported the cause of Indian independence but
198 Other Eminent Personalities
also zealously worked for it. Hume came to India after
joining the Indian Civil Service (in 1849). He introduced
several reform measures for social emancipation, some of
them being—scheme of free schools at Etawah, scholarships
for higher education and establishment of, juvenile reforma-
tory school. He also favoured the introduction of new
technologies in the field of agriculture for increasing the
quantity and quality of food production. He criticised the
unjust and anti-India policies of the British and opposed
the concentration of judicial powers in the hands of police
superintendents. In consequence of his criticism of Lord
Lytton’s administration, he was removed from the Secre-
tariat.
After retiring from the IGS in 1882, Hume began
mobilising leading intellectuals and nationalistic forces of
the time and formed the Indian National Union in March
1884. This was later named as the Indian National Congress.
The ING was the first political organisation to exist at an
all-India level. Hume is thus appropriately known as the
father of the INC, who led Indians to fight “bloodless battles
of constitutional reform”. He dedicated the rest of his life
in popularising the aims and objectives of the Congress both
in India and abroad. He played a significant role in bringing
to the notice of English officials the grievances of the people
of India. For the purpose, he set up the British Committee
of Congress in London in 1899 and launched a journal,
India. Although his dream of seeing India an independent
country was not fulfilled during his lifetime, his assiduous
efforts for the cause did not go waste. The INC, which was
his brainchild, succeeded in launching a mass political
struggle and ultimately overthrew the colonial rule.
ALLURI SITARAMARAJU (1897-1924)
Himself a non-tribal, Sitaramaraju began to live among the
tribals of Visakhapatnam, mainly the Girijans, from 1921.
He played a significant role in bringing the tribals into the
political mainstream and merged their demands with the
principles of the Non-Cooperation Movement. In conse-
 Other Eminent Personalities 199
quence to the British indifference to the tribals’ grievances,
he organised the tribals for an armed rebellion against the
colonial rulers. These Rampa Revolts were violently sup-
pressed by the British army. Sitaramaraju surrendered in
the hope that the British would address his people’s
concerns. But he was shot dead in May 1924.
AMIR CHAND (1869-1915)
A school teacher, Amir Chand participated in several social
reform and educational activities. He advocated widow
remarriage, national education etc., and helped in the
spread of the Swadeshi Movement. He was drawn towards
the revolutionary group after he met Lala Hardayal and Ras
Behari Bose. Hereafter, he organised several revolutionary
activities in northern India. In February 1914, he was
arrested in connection with Lahore Bomb and Delhi Con-
sentenced to death.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
spiracy cases. He was accused of throwing a bomb on Lord
Hardinge during a procession in Delhi. He was tried and
AMRITLAL VITHALAL THAKKAR (THAKKAR
BAPPA—1869-1951)
A renowned social reformer, Thakkar Bappa was born at
Bhavnagar on November 29, 1869. In 1890, he graduated
in civil engineering and joined government service. He later
served in Uganda railways in East Africa. After returning
to India, he joined the Bombay Municipality as an engineer.
In 1914, he resigned and took up social work. He became
a member of Servants of India Society and advocated the
rights of untouchables and tribals. He founded the Bhil Seva
Mandal and served another tribal welfare organisation
Bharatiya Adamjati Sangh as its vice-president. He was also
associated with the Depressed Classes Mission and the
Widows Home, Poona. Thakkar Bappa was deeply influ-
enced by the reform measures advocated by Gandhi. During
1933-34, he came in close contact with the great leader and
undertook a Harijan tour with him. He was appointed
Secretary of the Harijan Sevak Sangh set up by Gandhi.
200 Other Eminent Personalities
He also took part in State People’s Movement. Later, he was
elected to the Constituent Assembly. He also served as
Secretary and Trustee of the Kasturba Gandhi National
Memorial Fund.
ANANDA MOHAN BOSE (1847-1906)
A nationalist from Bengal, Ananda Mohan Bose played a
pioneering role in the establishment of the Indian Associa-
tion of Calcutta in 1876. The Association aimed at unifying
Indian people on a common political programme and
protesting against the unjust policies of the British. Working
in close association with Surendranath Bannerjea, he helped
in organising the Indian National Conference, which held
its first session in 1883. The Indian National Conference
acted as a prelude to the Indian National Congress which
was set up in 1885. Bose was one of the architects of the
Congress and presided over its 1898 Madras session. He also
participated in agitations launched against the Ilbert Bill,
the Vernacular Press Act and the partition of Bengal.
ANNIE BESANT (1847-1933)
An Irishwoman, Annie Besant came to India in 1893 to work
for social reform in various fields. A woman who was
deeply inspired by India’s religious traditions, she wanted
to work in a religious capacity also. She had, to begin with,
no political motives for staying and working in India. As
head of the Theosophical Society which she joined in
England in 1888, she did commendable social reform work.
She attempted to bring about reforms in higher education,
with which view she began the Central Hindu School and
College—later developed into the Banaras Hindu University.
She continually worked to secure women their rights and
equality for the lower castes. Her efforts were directed
towards rejuvenation of the panchayati system in its true
sense. She prepared The Lotus Song, a translation of the
Gita into English and gained recognition for this achieve-
ment. Her entry into politics in 1913 was, according to her,
commanded unto her by Rishi Agastya who wanted her “to
 Other Eminent Personalities 201
form a small band of devoted people who were brave
enough to defy wrong social customs like premature mar-
riage”. It may have resulted from the realisation that social
reform by itself would get the country nowhere if the British
continued to subjugate it. However, she entered politics and
achieved a rare feat: recognition as a leader at a period of
great turmoil even while being a white woman. In the
process, she had to contend with some aversion from
opposite sides. On one hand, she aroused suspicions in the
religious orthodoxy with her claim that she was a Hindu
of the ancient type; on the other, some of the British in
India scorned her for her repeated calls to Indians to
politically and culturally awaken them.
She stepped into politics at a time when the Congress
was at a crucial juncture—the Surat split had led to the
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
expulsion of the extremists and placed it under the mod-
erates who lacked a concrete plan of action, Ms. Besant
realised the importance of the extremists in the Congress.
It was only after their return that she moved a resolution
on political reforms in India at the Congress session in 1916
at Lucknow. Of the opinion that India should demand self-
government without waiting for World War I to end, she
announced on September 25, 1915 her decision to set up
a Home Rule League. The intention was to let it operate
as auxiliary to the Congress. Congress rejected her Home
Rule programme. But she opened up various branches for
her movement to flourish much to the government’s dislike.
Ms. Besant spread her ideas on political and social
reform through her New India and Commonweal. She was
made President of the Congress’ Calcutta session of 1917.
She moved the most crucial resolution passed at the
Congress’ Amritsar session (1919-20)—that on the Jallianwala
Bagh massacre, with a scathing attack on the officials
responsible for the episode.
Growing differences between Ms. Besant’s views and
those of the Congress and Gandhi soon relegated her to the
background in the political scene. Ms. Besant felt that the
202 Other Eminent Personalities
Montagu Chelmsford reforms were a means to free India
but Gandhi thought them inadequate and unacceptable. As
a result, at the Congress’ Amritsar session she could not
get through an amendment to the main political resolution.
She also felt that non-cooperation and boycott of foreign
goods would “lead to a very terrible impasse from which
liberation will only come after cruel sufferings”. Ms. Besant
did not attend the 1920 session at Nagpur. In the last 13
years of her life, she gave up active participation in politics
altogether.
ARUNA ASAF ALI (1909-1996)
Born on July 16, 1909, as Aruna Ganguli at Kalka in
undivided Punjab, her family had a distinguished Brahmo
lineage related to the family of Rabindranath Tagore. At the
age of 19, breaking age-old social conventions she married
Asaf Ali, a leading Delhi Congressman in 1928 who was
to become India’s first Ambassador to the USA and later
Governor of Orissa.
Aruna went to prison during the 1930 and 1932 Civil
Disobedience Movements, and in 1940 in connection with
Gandhiji’s call for Individual Satyagraha. In 1942, she
hoisted the tricolour at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Grounds
(now called August Kranti Maidan), after Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad’s arrest.
In 1947, she was elected President of Delhi Pradesh
Congress Committee. In 1950 she joined the Communist
Party for a permanent revolution of her own fashioning,
only to leave the party two years later.
She was elected the first Mayor of Delhi in 1958—
the only woman mayor the city has ever had. As mayor,
she was instrumental in bringing about some major reforms
in the civic administration, but soon got disillusioned with
the bureaucracy and the government and left the post after
14 months. In May 1964, she rejoined the Congress Party.
She was awarded the 1964 International Lenin Prize
“for the promotion of peace among nations” and the
prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Un-
 Other Eminent Personalities 203
derstanding for 1991. She bemoaned the “lopsided” devel-
opment of the country after independence. Associated with
numerous women organisations she was against giving
reservation to women in jobs and law making bodies as she
saw it as a badge of weakness and backwardness.
She served as President of the National Federation of
Indian Women and also the All India Women’s Conference.
She, along with Edatata Narayanan and A.V. Baliga, founded
the Link and Patriot group of newspapers.
Aruna Asaf Ali died on July 29,1996 after a long
illness.
ASAF ALI (1888-1953)
Asaf Ali obtained his degree in law at the Lincoln’s Inn.
He returned to India in 1914 and started practising here.
Soon he was drawn into the nationalist mainstream and was
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
deeply involved in Home Rule League, Non-Cooperation
Movement etc. He gave up his legal practice in response
to Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation. He was a member of
the Congress Working Committee; of Central Legislative
Assembly (from 1935-1947); and of Executive Council,
Government of India (1946-47). After independence, he was
made India’s first Ambassador to Washington, a post he held
for two years (l 947-1948). He also served as the Governor
of Orissa and as India’s Ambassador to Switzerland. He
passed away in 1953.
ASUTOSH CHAUDHURI (1860-1924)
A great educationist, Asutosh Chaudhuri was a lawyer by
profession. He favoured a technology oriented educational
system that would ultimately help in the industrial develop-
ment of the country. He helped in the setting up of the
National Council of Education in 1906, the aim of which
was to organise a system of education, literary, scientific
and technical, on national lines and under national control.
ASUTOSH MUKHOPADHYAY (1864-1924)
A well-known educationist, Asutosh Mukhopadhyay began
his career as a lawyer and rose to the position of a judge
204 Other Eminent Personalities
in the Calcutta High Court in 1904. For a few years, he
served as member of Bengal Legislative Council. He was
appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University
and remained so for more than ten years. He also founded
the Calcutta Mathematical Society. He was chosen President
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and Chairman of the
Trustees of Indian Museum and Council of Imperial (now
National) Library.
BADRUDDIN TYABJI (1844-1906)
A true patriot with indomitable courage, Badruddin con-
tributed to the Indian freedom struggle in diverse ways. As
an exceptional and fair judge, he thwarted the government’s
efforts to imprison nationalist leaders as they gained
popular support. Badruddin’s deep spirited nationalism
expressed itself in his direct involvement in political
programmes and made him a respected leader. He was a
social reformer who laid great emphasis on education as
the means to do away with “backwardness and decadence”.
With great faith in secularism as well as Islamic teachings,
Badruddin put his heart and soul in efforts to see a free
and united India.
Badruddin Tyabji was born on October 10, 1844 in
an aristocratic family. He was educated in England and
emerged with an excellent academic record. In 1867, he was
called to the Bar. He joined the Middle Temple and emerged
as the first Indian barrister in Bombay. He distinguished
himself as an eloquent and incomparable leader of the
Bombay Bar. His knowledge of law, the flawless manner
in which he argued his cases and his impressive personality
brought him accolades from many quarters. He was ap-
pointed to the Bombay Bench in 1895 and in 1902, became
the second Indian Chief Justice. Perhaps Badruddin’s finest
hour as judge came when he released Tilak on bail. Tilak
had been charged with sedition by the government for what
it saw as provocative articles in his paper, Kesari.
Badruddin was nominated to the Bombay Legislative
Council in 1882. He played a major role in founding the
 Other Eminent Personalities 205
Bombay Presidency Association and the Indian National
Congress. In 1887, he presided over the third Congress
session in Madras.
As first Secretary and later President of the Bombay-
based Anjuman-i-Islam, he stressed modernisation of Mus-
lim education. He wanted women to be educated so that
they could gain their rightful place in society. He asked
the people to give up religious prejudices and practices such
as the purdah system. He accepted the existence of various
communities in the country and believed that they should
be concerned about their interests. At the same time, he
emphasised that Indian people ought to fight for their
common interests as Indians.
BALIRAM KESHAVRAO HEDGEWAR (1899-1940)
Hedgewar was a medical graduate. He actively participated
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
in the freedom struggle and was associated with the
Congress as well as Tilak’s Home Rule Movement. He came
into the limelight after he established the Rastriya Swayam
Sevak Sangha on September 27, 1925.
BALWANT WASUDEV PHADKE (1845-1883)
One of the earliest revolutionaries, Wasudev Phadke suc-
cessfully organised members of the Ramosi tribe in the
Bombay Presidency for a revolt against the British. He
raided several British installations and seized money from
government treasuries. He was finally arrested in July 1897
and sentenced to transportation for life. He died in February
1883 in Aden, after observing a fast unto death.
BANKIMCHANDRA CHATTOPADHYAY (1838-1894)
Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay (or Chatterji), composer of
the hymn Bande Mataram that inspired love for the
motherland in millions of Indian hearts, was a great writer,
rationalist thinker and philosopher whose contribution to
the Indian freedom struggle cannot be traced in terms of
mere outward achievement. Rather, it is of a spiritual
significance in that he called for a complete regeneration
of the national culture in order that Indians might shrug
206 Other Eminent Personalities
off the foreign yoke.
After graduating from the Calcutta University,
Bankimchandra found employment in the civil and judicial
services of the Bengal government. He came in the public
eye with the publishing of his first novel, Durgesnandini,
which was in Bengali, in 1864. He takes the credit for
writing many more works—a total of 11 novels, three
volumes each of humour and satire and short fiction,
treatises on religion and philosophy and some essays. His
journal Bangadarsan is a unique contribution to Bengali
literature for its scholarship and brilliance of style when
dealing with social and literary themes.
Bankimchandra related the state of India’s subjection
to foreign rule to aspects cultural in origin. He stated that
it was the Indian people’s innate lack of solidarity and a
desire for liberty—in other words, a cultural attribute—that
was responsible for their subjection. Though the East was
indeed superior to the West in the spiritual aspect of
culture, it was far behind in terms of overall social
advancement and prosperity—that is, the material aspect of
culture. So Bankimchandra pleaded for a synthesis of the
spiritual wealth and the kind of material progress achieved
by the western world in sciences and the industries. His
national-cultural ideal was thus a complete regeneration of
culture which required a transformation of the Indian
society.
Bankimchandra had very little faith in social reform
through legislative institutions functioning under the con-
trol of the British. He believed that the new “national
religion” could only come to be through education. He
called for a wider spread of rational learning in order to
produce an intellectual and cultural leadership which
would also concern itself with the problems of national
education. For education to benefit widely, it was necessary
to emphasise the importance of cultural institutions for
large-scale instruction.
 Other Eminent Personalities 207
BARINDRAKUMAR GHOSH (1880-1959)
A committed patriot from Bengal, Barindrakumar Ghosh
was influenced by the revolutionary philosophy of Aurobindo
Ghosh. He assisted Aurobindo in various patriotic ventures,
especially during the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal. He
was one of the founders of a secret organisation, known
as the Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta in 1902. In April 1906,
Barindrakumar helped in starting the Yugan tar weekly
which spread revolutionary ideas among the radical youth.
In 1908 he was arrested along with 34 other revolutionaries.
He was awarded a death sentence, which was later com-
muted to life imprisonment. After being released in 1919,
he associated himself with The Statesman and Basumati.
BEGUM SAFIA ABDUL WAJID (1905- )
Begum Safia was born on September 5,1905 in Etah in Uttar
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Pradesh in an educated and a comparatively liberal Muslim
family. She graduated from Isabella Thowborne College and
post-graduated from Allahabad University. She then joined
the Indian National Congress, which provided her the
opportunity of voicing her opinions at a political level. In
1942, Begum Safia took active part in the Quit India
Movement because of which she had to lose a lucrative and
prestigious job of a lecturer in a government college. After
independence, she continued to work for the emancipation
of the masses. She was elected to the Uttar Pradesh
assembly twice—in 1952 and 1957. Thereafter she took up
social work, but refrained from taking part in active politics.
BEHRAMJI M. MALABARI (1853-1912)
Behramji Malabari’s name figures among the greatest social
reformers in India. That he had to face several hardships
during his childhood (because of poverty and the death of
his parents) probably accounted for his sincere sympathy
for the weak and the helpless, especially women. He
realised the need for drastic but gradual changes in the
social structure for upliftment of the distressed. He raised
his voice against casteism, child marriage and advocated
208 Other Eminent Personalities
widow remarriage and equality of the sexes. He relentlessly
worked with other social reformers such as Dadabhai
Naoroji, M.G. Ranade and Dinshaw Wacha to initiate
legislative enactments on social issues. His efforts were
rewarded by the enactment of the Age of Consent Act (1891)
which forbade the marriage of girls before the age of 12.
His Notes on Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood
(1884) is a powerful condemnation of child marriage arid
forced widowhood. He also founded a social service
organisation, Seva Sadan.
Apart from social service, Behramji achieved fame as
a litterateur. His literary talents attracted notice while he
was still at the university. Nitivinod (1875), a collection of
Gujarati poems; the Indian Muse in English Garb (1876),
a book of English verse; Gujaratand the Gujaratis, an
account of his own province are a few of his noteworthy
works. In addition, he frequently contributed to newspapers
and journals, such as Bombay Gazette, Times of India,
Indian Spectator and Voice of India.
BHAGAT SINGH (1907-1931)
A young and courageous revolutionary, Bhagat Singh was
a Sikh jat born in the district of Lyallpur in pre-independent
Punjab. In 1925, he became involved with the Hindustan
Socialist Republican Army and became one of its leading
fighters. He started the militant Naujawan Bharat Sabha in
Punjab. Angered at the death of Lala Lajpat Rai during an
agitation against the British, he killed Saunders in 1928.
He played the major role in the Lahore conspiracy. On April
8, 1928 he bombed the Central Legislative Assembly and
gave himself up. His execution was carried out on March
23, 1931.
BHAI BALMUKUND (1891-1919)
Bhai Balmukund was a disciple of Lala Lajpat Rai in the
early phase of his political career. Later, he was drawn
towards the revolutionary groups of Lala Hardayal and Ras
Behari Bose. He was involved in the bomb attack on Viceroy
 Other Eminent Personalities 209
Lord Hardinge in Delhi in 1912, for which he was arrested,
tried and sentenced to death.
BHAI PARMANAND (1874-1947)
Bhai Parmanand was a close associate of Lala Hardayal and
assisted him in organising the activities of the Ghadr Party
in the U.S. He returned to India in 1913 and was arrested
in the Lahore Conspiracy case. His death sentence was
commuted to life-imprisonment by Lord Hardinge. After his
release in 1920, he became the Chancellor of National
College, Lahore. A staunch Arya Samajist, Bhai Parmanand
resented certain policies of the Congress which he felt were
pro-Muslim. He joined the Hindu Mahasabha and in 1933
was elected as its President.
B.R. AMBEDKAR (1891-1956)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the leader of the depressed
classes in India who played a key role in framing India’s
Constitution, spent a lifetime fighting against the caste
prejudices and injustices within the Hindu society. His life
was one long battle for social reform that would secure the
untouchables of India their long-denied rights and a changed
status in society.
Born in Mahu (Madhya Pradesh) in the Mahar caste
which traditionally constituted inferior village servants,
Ambedkar was able to pursue higher education with help
from the Gaikwad of Baroda and the Maharaja of Kolhapur.
He completed his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New
York and received a D.Sc, from the London University to
become one of the best educated persons in Bombay. He
soon plunged into the great task ahead of him. Ambedkar
was of the view that only the untouchables could reform
their own social status. With adequate political represen-
tation, they could sort out their grievances. So he began
to organise the untouchables by means of their own
newspapers, social and cultural forums and conferences that
would highlight the plight of the oppressed classes in the
Indian society. In 1924, he founded the Depressed Glasses
210 Other Eminent Personalities
Institute and in 1927, the Samaj Samata Sangh. He
approached the Government of the time for political rep-
resentation of the untouchables. Another area of attention
for Ambedkar was education. For its spread among the low
classes, he set up a network of colleges by the name of
Peoples Education Society and founded hostels.
Ambedkar made his mark as the leader of the untouch-
ables in 1927. Following the outbreak of caste violence
during the Mahad conferences of 1927 over the question
of opening the town pond to the untouchables, he made
a demand for separate electorates for the untouchables. And
a dream came true with the signing of the Poona Pact which
gave political representation to the depressed classes.
But when his persistent call for equal social status to
the untouchables continued to be ignored, Ambedkar de-
clared his rejection of Hinduism in 1935 and started
considering conversion. He wrote the Annihilation of Caste
(1936) emphasising the need to do away with the practice
of hereditary priesthood in Hinduism. But it was only in
the October of 1956, a couple of months before his death,
that the ceremony for the untouchables’ conversion to
Buddhism was conducted at Nagpur.
Ambedkar was the first untouchable leader to demand
independence for India. This he did at the Depressed
Glasses Conference held at Nagpur in 1930. One of his best
known political achievements is his great contribution to
the making of the Indian Constitution. He ensured that the
Constitution provided for representation of the Scheduled
Castes in legislatures and services under the Government
and entrusted the responsibility of educating them with the
Government. The Indian Constitution also included anti-
untouchability clauses and provided for a government
officer to take due care of minority affairs. As the Law
Minister in the first Union Cabinet, he introduced the Hindu
Code Bill, which was supposed to make the Hindu law
uniformly applicable all over India.
Ambedkar also founded three political parties. The
 Other Eminent Personalities 211
Independent Labour Party was announced in 1936 to fight
the 1937 elections—the first elections in which the untouch-
ables were to have a certain number of seats. The Repub-
lican Party which was conceived in 1956 aimed at bringing
together the untouchables, the economically deprived in the
country and all other persons eager to usher in a better
India.
BHULABHAI DESAI (1877-1946)
Bhulabhai Desai was born in Surat in an agriculturist family.
He was educated at Calcutta and served as Advocate-
General of Bombay for some time. In 1916, he joined the
Home Rule Movement and in 1930, he became a member
of the Indian National Congress. He was imprisoned for a
year for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement.
He represented the Congress in the Central Legislative
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Assembly for nine years. In 1944, Desai, as the leader of
the Congress in the Assembly, played a significant role in
negotiations between the Muslim League and the Congress
over the issue of the formation of an Interim Government
at the Centre. The negotiations resulted in the Desai-Liaquat
Pact (Liaquat Ali Khan was the Deputy Leader of the
Muslim League in the Assembly.) The last among Desai’s
memorable achievements was his defence of the prisoners
of the Indian National Army. Bhulabhai Desai passed away
in 1946.
BIPIN CHANDRA PAL (1858-1932)
Bipin Chandra Pal was born on November 7, 1858 in village
Poil in Sylhet district, which now lies in Bangladesh. Bipin
Chandra was a patriot, an orator, a teacher, preacher, writer
and critic, and the chief architect of the Bengal Renaissance
movement. He was also a prominent leader of the Indian
nationalist movement. A born publicist and a rebel, he
joined the Brahmo Samaj very early in life and led protests
against social evils, regardless of the fear of being de-
nounced by his near and dear ones. He stopped believing
in the caste system when he was only fourteen, and later
212 Other Eminent Personalities
on married a widow of a higher caste. He expressed support
to the Age of Consent Bill of 1891. Even during his political
career he was ready to go to all extremes when it came
to conscience or conviction.
Though an average student, Bipin Chandra was an
avid reader and amassed great literary competence. He
started the weekly Paridaashak when he was only 22 years
old. His journalistic career saw him in the editorial staff
of the Bengal Public Opinion, Calcutta, as the editor of the
Tribune in Lahore from 1887-88, as founder editor of the
English weekly, New India in 1901, and as the founder
editor of the English daily Bande Mataram in 1906, which
was later banned by the government.
He also published the English weekly Swaraj in
London during his exile in 1908-11, founded the English
monthly Hindu Review in 1912, edited the daily Indepen-
dent and the weekly Democrat from 1919 to 1920 and the
Bengalee in 1924-25. He also regularly contributed to the
Modern Review, the Amrita Bazaar Patrika and the States-
man.
Called as “mightiest prophet of nationalism” by
Aurobindo, Bipin Chandra strongly advocated passive resis-
tance, boycott of English goods, cessation of all associations
with the foreign government and promotion of national
education. A fierce and confident orator, his speeches
influenced thousands of men and women during 1905-07
of the Swadeshi Movement. Long before complete indepen-
dence was made its goal by the Congress, he was preaching
it consistently. He opposed centralised class rule and
wanted to establish a federal Indian republic, each of whose
provinces, districts and villages would enjoy autonomy. His
idea of patriotism and freedom combined both personal and
national freedom.
A lover of truth and freedom, Bipin Chandra was
viciously against hypocrisy. A serious political, social,
philosophical and religious thinker, he was also a gifted
stylist in the field of literature. His book, The New Economic
 Other Eminent Personalities 213
Menace of India, demanded increased wages and shorter
work-hours for the Indian labourers. His concern for the
poor led him to fight for the cause of the Assam tea-garden
labourers during the last quarter of the 19th century. He
warned against economic drain of India by the British. Bipin
Chandra died in 1932.
BIR SINGH (?-1916)
During his stay in Canada, Bir Singh, a native of Punjab,
became involved in the activities of the Ghadr Party. After
his return to India in 1914, he organised a terrorist
movement and was arrested on charges of conspiracy.
Sentenced to death, he died on the gallows in the Lahore
Central Jail on March 30, 1916.
CHAKRAVARTHI VIJIARAGHAVACHARIAR
(1852-1944)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
C. Vijiaraghavachariar, a keen upholder of social rights, was
the first among the Indian leaders to suffer a jail term. This
was in 1882. He went on to help A.O. Hume and Dadabhai
Naoroji found the Congress in 1885 and he also aided in
the preparation of its constitution. He undertook many
social reform schemes in the Madras Legislative Council
from 1895 onwards. He was a member of the Imperial
Legislative Council from 1913 to 1916. In 1919, he pushed
forward a resolution on fundamental rights and gained the
Congress’ approval. He was the President at the important
Congress session of 1920 that adopted non-cooperation.
Vijiaraghavachariar was the first Indian to prepare a Swaraj
Constitution for the country that was presented at the 1927
Congress session in Madras.
CHAMPAKARAMAN PILLAI (1891-1934)
Dr. Champakaraman Pillai became involved in anti-British
politics while he was still a student. He left India in 1908
for Germany and enrolled himself at the University of
Berlin, where he obtained a doctorate degree in engineering,
politics and economics. He continued with his patriotic
ventures and organised the International Pro-India Commit-
214 Other Eminent Personalities
tee at Zurich, Switzerland. During the First World War, he
organised the Indian National Volunteer Corps in Germany
to enlist Indian soldiers. He also persuaded the German
government to help end the colonial rule in India. In 1914,
he founded the Indian National Party at Berlin with the
help of Lala Hardayal, Tarakath Das, C.K. Chakravarty and
Haramba Lal Gupta. Later (in 1919), he organised the League
of Repressed Nations. He also joined the Pan-German
Nationalist Party. At one point of time, he was involved
in a conflict with Adolf Hitler over the latter’s remarks about
India. He died in 1934.
CHAPEKAR BROTHER’S (BALKRISHNA CHAPEKAR—
1873-1899; DAMODAR CHAPEKAR—1869-1898; VASUDEV
CHAPEKAR—1880-1899)
The Ghapekar brothers belonged to Maharashtra, and under
the influence of Tilak engaged themselves in revolutionary
activities. They organised a society, known as the ‘Society
for the Removal of Obstacles to the Hindu Religion’, for
imparting military training to Indian youth for overthrowing
the British. On June 22, 1897 Damodar and Batkrishna
attacked and killed Mr Rand, the British Plague Commissioner
of Poona against whom there was great resentment. Mr Rand
had adopted policies to forcibly evacuate people from Poona
during the plague epidemic in 1897. Both brothers were
arrested, tried and sentenced to death. Damodar was hanged
to death on April 18, 1898 and Balkrishna on May 12, 1899.
The third Ghapekar brother, Vasudeva, killed Ganesh Shankar
Dravid, the man who helped in getting Damodar and
Balkrishna arrested. He too was arrested, tried and sen-
tenced to death. He was hanged on May 8, 1899.
CHANDRA SHEKHAR AZAD (1906-1931)
A famous revolutionary hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Chandra
Shekhar became popular as ‘Azad’ when, arrested during
the Non-Cooperation Movement and questioned by the
court, he repeatedly gave his name as ‘Azad’. He believed
that aggression was necessary to end the British rule.
 Other Eminent Personalities 215
Azad became a member of the Hindustan Republican
Association. He took part in the Kakori conspiracy of 1925
and worked in association with the Bengal revolutionaries.
He became a leader of the Hindustan Social Republican
Army and the head of its military division. He was involved
in a number of incidents such as the second Lahore
Conspiracy, the Delhi Conspiracy, the killing of Saunders
in Lahore and the throwing of the bomb in the Central
Assembly. Azad shot himself at Alfred Park in Allahabad
while fighting the police.
CHARLES FREER ANDREWS (1871-1940)
An English missionary and philanthropist, Charles Freer
Andrews will always be remembered for his selfless social
service. While he was in England, he did substantive
humanitarian work to emancipate the downtrodden. After
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
coming to India, he was attached to St. Stephen’s College,
Delhi for eight years. During this period he came into
contact with several prominent nationalists and social
reformers of the time, such as Dadabhai Naoroji, G.K.
Gokhale, Lajpat Rai, T.B. Sapru and Rabindranath Tagore.
With time, he came to identify himself as an Indian and
not a foreigner. He extended his wholehearted support to
the freedom struggle and criticised the British for their
unjust and racial policies. He also took part in political and
social movements launched by Indian leaders. He expressed
his concern for Madras cotton weavers during their strike
in 1918 and in 1919 organised relief campaigns among the
unemployed labourers of tea estate at Chandpur. Similarly,
he championed the rights of labourers in Rajasthan and
Simla and those of the striking railway workers at Tundla
in 1921-1922. He was twice elected President of the Trade
Union Congress, in 1925 and 1927. He actively worked with
B.R. Ambedkar for formulating proposals for Harijan de-
mands (1933) and joined campaigns launched against
untouchability. His compassion for the poor and the un-
derprivileged earned him the title Deenabandhu from
Gandhi.
216 Other Eminent Personalities
Charles Andrews advocated the rights of Indians
settled in other parts of the world as well, especially in
English colonies. He visited South Africa several times to
assist the Indians settled there fight against the inequities
of the British administration. (He stayed with Gandhi at the
Phoenix ashram in South Africa.) He brought to light the
difficulties faced by Indian labourers in South Africa, East
Africa, West Indies, Fiji etc., through authentic data col-
lected by him. He used his influence in England to arouse
public opinion against colonial exploitation. He even ne-
gotiated with the government in England for Gandhi’s
release from prison.
After 1935, he devoted himself to missionary work.
In 1938, he attended the Christian World Conference at
Tambaram. According to Gandhi, “he preached the purest
love”.
Rev. Charles Freer Andrews passed away in 1940 at
Calcutta.
CHAKRAVARTI RAJAGOPALACHARI (1879-1972)
Born in an orthodox Brahmin family in Salem (Tamil Nadu),
C. Rajagopalachari became a lawyer, and established a
lucrative practice. He entered the political forefront after
meeting Gandhi in 1919. His political career is marked with
a number of achievements. He gave up his practice in
response to the non-cooperation call by Gandhi. In 1921-
1922, he became the General-Secretary of the Indian Na-
tional Congress and from 1922 to 1924, he was a member
of the Congress Working Committee. He played a prominent
role in spreading the Civil Disobedience Movement in Tamil
Nadu. He was arrested in April 1930 for leading a salt march
from Trichinopoly to Vedaranniyam on the Tanjore coast.
He led the Congress to victory in Madras in the 1937
elections. As the Chief Minister of Madras (1937-39), he
introduced (i) Madras Temple Entry Act (in 1938); (ii)
prohibition in the State. In 1942, he resigned from the INC
on its refusal to accept the Cripps Mission plans. He,
alongwith Bhulabhai Desai, was in favour of recognising the
 Other Eminent Personalities 217
rights of Muslim majority provinces to secede through
plebiscites after independence had been gained. He later
prepared the CR Formula for Congress-League cooperation,
which, however, was rejected by the Muslim League.
Rajagopalachari served as the Governor of Bengal (August-
November 1947) and was a member of the Governor-
General’s Executive Council (1946-47). He was the first and
last Indian Governor-General of India (1948-50). He became
the Minister for Home Affairs in the Central Government
(1951). In 1959, he founded the Swatantra Party which
emphasised individual liberty and was critical of ‘extreme’
socialism.
Apart from being a statesman who possessed foresight
and an ability to think rationally, C. Rajagopalachari was
a great socialist and an erudite scholar. He condemned
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
orthodox religious and social customs. The ushering in of
the Madras Temple Entry Act, 1939, and the introduction
of prohibition during his chief-ministership of Madras (in
the pre-independence era) reflect his zeal for social reform.
He also advocated upliftment of Harijans and other de-
pressed classes and played a leading role in the Poona
settlement. He was also an outstanding intellectual. He read
English literature extensively, and was particularly influ-
enced by the writings of Thoreau and Tolstoy. He also
contributed articles, both in English and Tamil, to several
journals. His views on political problems are contained in
the articles in the journal Swarajya and in the collection
Satyam Eva Jayate. Awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954,
‘Rajaji’ (as he was fondly called) passed away in 1972.
CONJEEVARAM NATARAJAN ANNADURAI (1909-1969)
Annadurai was a prominent social worker and political
activist from Tamil Nadu. He worked as a teacher and
journalist for some time. He edited Viduthalai, Kudi Arasu
and his own weekly, Dravidanadu. After joining the Justice
Party, he served as sub-editor of Justice, lie also organised
labour movements for the emancipation of workers. His
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Dravida Progressive Federa-
218 Other Eminent Personalities
tion) or the D.M.K. went a long way in awakening social
and political consciousness in Tamil Nadu.
After independence, he was elected to the Rajya
Sabha. In 1967, he became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
after the victory of his party, the D.M.K., in the assembly
elections. He served in the post till his death in 1969.
C.R. DAS (1870-1925)
C.R.Das was born on November 5,1870 in Calcutta. Even
while he was a student in London, he took active part in
the electioneering campaign of Dadabhai Naoroji. Public
attention came his way when he brilliantly defended
Aurobindo in the Alipur Bomb Conspiracy case in 1908.
He also published five volumes of poems with the titles
Malancha in 1895, Mala in 1904, Antaryami in 1915,
Kishore-Kishoree and Sagar Sangit, both in 1913. He also
started the Bengali monthly Narayana, and also wrote
vaishnava kirtan songs. In 1915 he was elected President
of the Literary Section of the Bengal Literary Conference
during its Poona session. He started his paper Forward in
October, 1923.
C.R. Das presided over the Bhowanipore session of the
Bengal Provincial Conference in 1917. He was also present
at the special session of the Congress in Bombay in 1918
and voiced his opposition of the Montague-Chelmsford
Report. C.R. Das was also a member of the Congress Enquiry
Committee set up to look into the Jallianwallah Bagh
massacre in 1919. He opposed the acceptance of the
Government of India Act of 1919. He was appointed as
“supremo” by the Congress in Bengal to focus activities
against the government. He was imprisoned on December
11,1921 for his activities and later released in July, 1922.
Although elected as President of the Ahmedabad Congress,
he was not allowed to take the chair as he was an under-
trial prisoner. After release he was elected as President of
the Congress for its Gaya session.
C.R. Das founded the All India Swaraj Party in 1923.
He was the President alongwith Motilal Nehru, serving as
 Other Eminent Personalities 219
secretary. The name of the party was the Congress Khilafat
Swaraj Party and its manifesto was issued at Gaya in
December 1922. The party was devoted to the attainment
of Swaraj by all peaceful and legitimate means. The Swaraj
Party soon emerged as an important opposition leader and
contested elections to the provincial councils and the Indian
Legislative Assembly. Almost a terror to the Bengal Gov-
ernment he was successful in defeating important proposals
of the government. The Calcutta Pact between Mahatma
Gandhi and C.R. Das led to the recognition of the Swaraj
Party by the Congress as its council entry wing in 1924.
During the Kanpur session of the Congress in 1925, the
Swaraj Party was merged with the Indian National Congress.
C.R. Das was elected the first mayor of the Calcutta
Corporation in 1924.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
C.R. Das was devoted to the agrarian cause and
strongly opposed the industrialisation of India on European
patterns. This does not mean that he was against trade and
commerce. On the contrary, he understood the potential of
labour and wanted cheap capital for industries so that they
could yield returns. While presiding over the Lahore session
of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1923 he expressed
support for factory legislation and the unionisation of
industrial workers. He also presided over the Calcutta
session of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1924.
C.R. Das was devoted to Swaraj. He sacrificed his rich
practise at the Bar to devote himself wholly to the cause.
Swaraj for him meant not the acquisition of additional rights
for elite classes but a richer and better life for the Indian
masses.
His dedication, coupled with a poet’s passion and a
lawyer’s analytical mind, made his friends and associates
call him Deshbandhu Chittaranjan. He was a man of original
political ideas and high political status.
Deshbandhu was a Brahmo Samajist initially. He
became a vaishnava and regarded each and everything as
the revelation of God. Like his colleagues Bankim and
220 Other Eminent Personalities
Aurobindo, Deshbandhu also held the concept of the Indian
nation as divine. He was all for Hindu-Muslim cooperation
and even evolved the Das Formula to adjust the claims of
different communities in Bengal. He realised early the latent
threat which imperialism posed to world peace. He differ-
entiated between aggressive nationalism and the need for
self-development and self-fulfilment. He was a believer in
the theory of fundamental rights, and included mental and
moral harmony and growth alongwith political freedom
under Swaraj. He was also familiar with modern western
political theories.
His prophetic vision and grasp of politics came to
expression in his advocacy of village panchayats and his
five-point programme on governmental reconstruction. The
five-point programme stated: the formation of local centres
based on the ancient village system, the growth of larger
groups resulting from integration of these local centres,
similar growth for a unified state, autonomy for the village
centres and larger groups, and the retention of the residuary
power of control with the central government.
Deshbandhu passed away on June 16,1925 in Darjeeling.
His body was brought back to Calcutta where lakhs of
people and leaders such as Gandhi paid their homage to
him. A poet, lawyer, a great leader and a devout believer,
he was ready to make any sacrifice for his nation.
C.Y. CHINTAMANI (1880-1941)
A well-known journalist and editor of pre-independence
era, C.Y. Chintamani was associated with several newspa-
pers and journals such as The Leader (which he edited for
29 years), The Indian People and The Hindustan Review.
He was also a founder-member of the Liberal Party and
represented it at the Round Table Conference. He was the
General Secretary of the National Liberal (Party) Federation
of India for nine years and held the post of its President
twice—in 1920 and 1931.
 Other Eminent Personalities 221
DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917)
The “Grand Old Man of India” and the “Father of Indian
Nationalism” who worked with perseverance and
unshakeable faith towards the goal of swaraj was the first
Indian to claim self-government for his people. Dadabhai
Naoroji was also the first Indian to show that India was
being drained of its wealth under the British rule and thus
was fast succumbing to poverty. He played a key role in
founding the Indian National Congress in 1885 and was
associated with the organisation till his death.
Dadabhai was born at Khadak in Bombay on Septem-
ber 4, 1825. The pains suffered by his mother in the process
of ensuring that Dadabhai received good education made
this great leader a zealous supporter of free education
especially to children. He stepped out of his college days
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
at the Elphinstone Institution with a host of academic
honours and became a partner of the first Indian commercial
company set up in Britain. In England itself, he began the
task of exposing the miseries India was suffering under the
British administration. To further his aims, he joined W.C,
Banerjee to found the London Indian Society.
In 1867, he called for admitting Indians to the civil
service. He also suggested that the civil service examina-
tions should be held in India also. His “Evidence relating
to the Efficiency of Native Agency in India” upheld the
capability and integrity of Indians when appointed to posts
of trust and responsibility. His labours proved fruitful with
the government’s decision to include Indians in the civil
service, In 1876, he published his paper titled “Poverty of
India”—a prelude to Poverty and Un-British Rule in India,
published in 1901. He held the British government respon-
sible for India’s poverty. The drain of India’s wealth to
England was taking place at a time when the country was
in dire need of industrialisation and other economic re-
forms, he pointed out.
To secure justice for India, Dadabhai brought out the
monthly, The Voice of India. He was a key factor behind
222 Other Eminent Personalities
the introduction of the Ilbert or Criminal Jurisdiction Bill
that allowed courts in India to try Europeans under Indian
judges. In 1885, Dadabhai became the vice-president of the
Bombay Presidency Association. Dadabhai also became the
first Indian to be elected to the British Parliament.
DAVID HARE (1775-1842)
A Scotsman, David Hare played a pioneering role in
introducing western education in India. He founded a
number of schools and colleges such as the Hindu College
and the Medical College at Calcutta. He also founded the
School Book Society for printing and publishing English
and Bengali books. He was closely associated with the
Young Bengal Movement launched by Derozio to inspire
a spirit of rationalism and liberty among the youth of
Bengal.
DAYANANDA SARASWATI (1824-1883)
The social and religious reform activities of Dayananda
Saraswati were the main inspiration behind the many
reform movements of the 19th and the early 20th century
that transformed the Indian society. A man committed to
purging Hinduism of the evil practices that had crept into
it and thus reforming the Hindu society as a whole,
Dayananda (named Moolshanker at birth) was born in 1824
at Tankara (Morvi state, Gujarat) in an extremely religious
background. Inspired by a couple of early experiences in
life, he left home in 1846 to become a sanyasi, adopting
the name ‘Dayananda’. He received guidance under Swami
Virjananda. To deliver and spread his ideas on reform, he
wrote a significant number of pamphlets and books includ-
ing the magnum opus, Satyarth Prakash, Bhratinivarna,
Sanskarvidhi, Vedabhasya, Sandhya, Bhagavata-Khandanam,
Ratnamala and Vedangaprakash.
Dayananda was keen to rid Hinduism of its belief in
idolatry, avataras and animal sacrifices, polytheism and its
many rites. He propagated monotheism, and stated that God
was omniscient, all pervasive, infinite, formless, merciful
 Other Eminent Personalities 223
and just. He believed that God could be perceived transcen-
dentally and worship of God’s attributes was the way to
moral fulfilment. Dayananda’s inspiration was the Vedas.
Believing them to be eternal and infallible, he gave the call
of ‘Back to the Vedas’. His religious reform works inspired
confidence among the Indians regarding their racial and
national past and inculcated a sense of national pride and
consciousness.
To purge the caste system of its various ills, Dayananda
held the character of individuals and the actions performed
by them and not birth as the basis for determining the caste.
He informed the masses that untouchability was a crime
that went against the Vedic principles. Opposing child
marriage, he increased the marriageable age of both women
and men. He suggested widow remarriage. As education was
cation to children. @UPSC_THOUGHTS
important for forming individual character, he said that it
was the states’ responsibility to provide compulsory edu-
Dayananda’s founding of the Arya Samaj at Bombay
in 1875 as an organisation embodying his social and
religious principles was a noteworthy achievement. Though
Dayananda laid down 28 guiding principles for the Samaj,
they were made into “Ten Principles of the Arya Samaj in
1877. The principles include recognition of one God who
is omniscient, all-pervading, all-truth, all-knowledgeable,
immortal, eternal, infinite, just, merciful and the maker of
the universe. The Vedas are believed to be the true books.
The Samaj would work for the physical and spiritual
welfare of men and diffuse knowledge among them. Love,
justice, truth and virtue are the moral qualities accorded
importance. With the setting up of the Samaj, many
gurukuls and Dayananda Anglo-Vedic colleges came to be.
The Arya Samajists continue to perform welfare activities
to this day.
DHONDO KESHAV KARVE (1858-1962)
Also known as Annasaheb Maharishi Karve, Dhondo Keshav
was a devoted social reformer and educationist. He dedi-
224 Other Eminent Personalities
cated his life for the upliftment of widows and himself
married a widow to prove his sincerity for the cause. He
founded several institutions to promote widow marriage and
women’s education. Some of these were—the Vidhva
Vivahottejak Mandali (Society for the Promotion of Widow
Remarriage) in 1893, which was named as Vidhva Vivaha
Pratibandh Nivarak Mandali (Society for Removal of Hin-
drances to Widow Remarriage) in 1895; Mahisashrams
(Widow Homes) in 1898; Mahila Vidyalaya (School for
Women) in 1907; Nishkam Karma Math (Monastery of
Disinterested Work) in 1908; Indian Women’s University in
1916; and the Samata Sangh (Association for Promotion of
Equality) in 1944.
In 1955, Dhondo Keshav received the Padma Vibhushan
and in 1958, he was honoured with the Bharat Ratna.
DINABANDHU MITRA (1830-1873)
Dinabandhu Mitra was a Bengali writer whose play Neel
Darpan Natakam (published in 1860) brought to light the
hardships faced by Indian indigo cultivators due to the
policies of European planters. The play, which was later
translated and published in English by Madhusudan Dutt,
initiated a movement to protest against oppression of indigo
cultivators.
DURGABAI DESHMUKH (1909-1981)
Durgabai Deshmukh distinguished herself as a fearless
freedom fighter and a dedicated social worker. Popularly
known as the ‘Iron Lady’ she was born on July 15, 1909
at Rajahmundry (in Andhra Pradesh) in a middle class
family. She did not have access to formal education
initially. But it was due to sheer determination to educate
herself that she obtained a bachelor’s degree from Andhra
Pradesh. Later she studied law and began practising at the
Madras High Court. After independence she joined the
Supreme Court Bar.
Durgabai’s patriotism was recognised in 1930 when
the Salt Satyagraha was launched. She, with the help of
 Other Eminent Personalities 225
two other prominent nationalists (A.K. Prakasam and
Desodharaka Nageswararao), organised the movement in
Madras. She was arrested and imprisoned for her involve-
ment in a movement that had been banned. She continued
with her anti-British activities even after her release. In
1946, Durgabai shifted to Delhi. She became a member of
the Constituent Assembly and used her potential in framing
the constitution. In 1952, Durgabai contested the general
elections but failed to win. However, in recognition of her
selfless service to the nation she was awarded the
Tamrapatra.
Several of her unique achievements were in the field
of social work. She realised that the progress of a country
was entirely dependent on the emancipation of the masses.
It was for this reason that she gave utmost priority to social
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
reconstruction. Because of her concerted efforts, the Andhra
Mahila Sabha was set up in 1941 for the welfare of women.
Later, several branches of this sabha were opened in
different parts of the country. Durgabai also edited a journal
known as Andhra Mahila and inspired women to rebel
against meaningless social constraints imposed on them.
Comprehending the value and role of education in bringing
about social change, she set up the Andhra Education
Society. Sri Venkateswara College in the University of Delhi
also owes its origin to her. Further, she played a pioneering
role in the setting up of the Central Social Welfare Board.
She was awarded the Paul Hoffman Award for her contri-
bution to social work. Durgabai Deshmukh died on May 9,
1981.
E.V. RAMASWAMY NAICKER (1879-1973)
E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (also known as Periyar) was
primarily a social reformer who selflessly worked for the
upliftment of the lower castes. In 1925, he started the Self-
Respect Movement, which rejected brahminical religion and
culture. Naicker felt that Hinduism under the control of
brahmins was the prime instrument of exploitation of the
226 Other Eminent Personalities
lower castes. He sought to undermine the position of
brahmin priests by formalising weddings without them. He
condemned Manusmriti for its caste bias. In 1924, he
brought out a journal named Kudi Arasu.
Naicker was also involved in the political struggle for
independence. He was a member of the Indian National
Congress and participated in several movements.
GAGANENDRANATH TAGORE (1867-1938)
A well-known painter, Gaganendranath was closely associ-
ated with the Swadeshi Movement. He promoted the Indian
Society of Oriental Art to revive national pride. His art
depicted his consciousness of contemporary socio-political
conditions. Gaganendranath didnot adopt conventional paint-
ing styles and through experiments, evolved his own
unparalleled style.
GANESH SHANKAR VIDYARTHI (1890-1935)
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was a journalist who wrote in
Hindi on social and educational problems prevalent in
India. He became a disciple of Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi and
published the news weekly Pratap. (In 1920, the Pratap
became a daily.) Vidyarthi was chosen the President of UP
Provincial Congress Committee and from 1926 to 1929, he
remained a member of UP Legislative Council. He was
murdered in an attempt to prevent communal riots.
GANESH VASUDEV MAVALANKAR (1888-1956)
G.V. Mavalankar abandoned his profession as lawyer to
participate in India’s freedom struggle. He joined the Non-
Cooperation Movement in 1921. An honorary professor of
the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, he participated in all the major
Congress activities. His role in the Salt Satyagraha, Civil
Disobedience Movement and the Quit India Movement
earned him the wrath of the British who confined him to
the prison. Even in jail he did not give up working for the
country. He began the task of reforming hardened criminals.
He was made the President of the Ahmedabad Municipality.
In 1937, he was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly
 Other Eminent Personalities 227
and made its Speaker. He was made the President of the
Central Legislative Assembly in 1946. In free India, he was
appointed the Speaker of the Lower House in Parliament.
GOPABANDHU DAS (1877-1928)
A law graduate, Gopabandhu Das initially worked as the
headmaster of a school in Puri. Later he started his own
legal practice. He founded an English-medium high school
at Sakhigopal which attracted many future patriots. He
launched a monthly journal Satyabadi and a daily, Samaj
to arouse nationalist sentiments and to initiate a social
crusade. As a member of Utkal Conference, he played an
important role in bringing together Oriya-speaking areas
under one administration. He was elected President of Oriya
Provincial Congress Committee and to the Legislative Council
of Bihar and Orissa. During his presidentship of the
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Congress Committee, the Utkal Conference merged with the
Indian National Congress. He was instrumental in getting
the principle of linguistic division of provinces accepted
at the 1920 Nagpur session of the Congress. In 1926, he
became a member of Servants of India Society and was
elected its vice-president. A promoter of liberal outlook,
Gopabandhu devoted his life to constructive politics and
social work.
GOPAL GANESH AGARKAR (1856-1895)
Born in a Chitpavan brahmin family in Maharashtra,
Agarkar distinguished himself as a great patriot and a social
reformer. In 1880, he took his master’s degree from Poona.
In 1881, he, along with Tilak, started the journals Mahratta
and Kesari to arouse national sentiments in the masses. In
1888, he launched his own weekly Sudharak through which
he condemned the caste system and untouchability. A
strong advocate of power of human reason, he criticised
blind dependence on tradition and false glorification of the
past, Agarkar also founded Fergusson College and was made
its Principal in 1892.
228 Other Eminent Personalities
GOPALHARI DESHMUKH ‘LOKHITWADI’ (1823-1892)
A dedicated social reformer, Gopalhari Deshmukh ad-
vocated a reorganisation of Indian society on rational
principles and modern, humanistic secular values. He
attacked Hindu orthodoxy and supported social and reli-
gious equality. He said, “If religion does not sanction social
reform, then change religion.” Deshmukh founded the
Punarvivah Mandal at Ahmedabad to encourage widow
remarriage. He was the editor of a monthly Marathi
magazine, Lokhitwadi, and assisted in launching Marathi
newspapers, Induprakash and Jnanprakash.
GOPAL KRISHNA GOKHALE (1866-1915)
The man whom Mahatma Gandhi referred to as his political
guru was none other than the spirited Gopal Krishna
Gokhale. Born in the district of Ratnagiri (Maharashtra) in
1866, Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in Bombay
in 1984 and secured the job of a teacher in the New English
School at Poona. The most momentous event of his life was
to occur when he was teaching as a professor at the
Fergusson College. He came in association with Justice
Mahadev Govind Ranade who motivated Gokhale to devote
himself to the Indian freedom struggle. In 1890 Gokhale was
made the Secretary of the Sarvajanik Sabha, an organisation
representing the aspirations of the people, by his guru,
Ranade. Six-years later, they formed the Deccan Sabha that
aimed at welfare activities such as providing relief during
famines and the attack of the plague, land reform work and
local self-government. Gokhale became the Deccan Sabha’s
first Secretary.
Gokhale began to assume many other prestigious
appointments. He placed before the Royal Commission
(Welby Commission) in England a 186-page evidence ex-
plaining how his country was suffering both financial and
administrative mismanagement at the hands of the British.
After becoming a representative of the municipalities of the
Central Division of Bombay Presidency in 1899, he called
 Other Eminent Personalities 229
for relief work to save the peasantry who were suffering
as a result of the famine. Vehemently attacking the Land
Alienation Bill that allowed the administration to take over
lands in case of unpaid dues, Gokhale suggested the
establishing of cooperative credit banks and banks for land
mortgage as an alternative. He was also dead against plans
for communal representation in the municipalities. After
becoming a member of the Imperial Legislative Council in
1901, Gokhale pursued issues such as rural poverty, edu-
cation, taxation, defence expenditure and the duty on salt
with much vigour.
Gokhale, in 1889, entered the Indian National Con-
gress which sent him to England in 1905 to inform the
English public of the oppressive nature of the British rule
in India. He also presided over the National Congress
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
meeting at Banaras in 1905. In the same year, he founded
the Servants of India Society to train workers who could
enthusiastically dedicate themselves to serving the nation.
GOVIND BALLABH PANT (1889-1961)
G.B. Pant, who hailed from the modern state of Uttar
Pradesh, became a member of the All India Congress
Committee and an opposition leader in the UP Council. A
swarajist, he was at the forefront of the agitation against
the Simon Commission. His involvement in the Civil
Disobedience Movement led to his imprisonment in the
early 1930s. He prepared the Pant Report’ on reforming the
agrarian set-up in UP. The first Congress ministry of his
province was formed by him in 1937. He was actively
involved in discussing the issue of transfer of power to India
with the British. He became the first Chief Minister of UP
and held that post for eight years during which he did much
for its overall progress. One of his achievements during this
time was the abolition of the zamindari system in UP. In
1955, G.B. Pant was given the Home Ministry portfolio in
the Union Cabinet. He played a major role in the
reorganisation of states. He is a recipient of the Bharat
Ratna.
230 Other Eminent Personalities
HAKIM AJMAL KHAN (1868-1927)
“Hindu-Muslim unity was the breath of his nostrils”—so
stated Mahatma Gandhi after the death of this great leader
of Hindu-Muslim unity and the struggle for independence.
By profession a unani physician of worldwide fame upon
whom was conferred the title of Hafiz-ul-Mulk in 1908 and
Kaiser-i-Hind in 1915 for his contribution to the science of
medicine, Ajmal Khan was born on February 12, 1868 in
Delhi. His efforts towards developing the indigenous sys-
tems of medicine include the setting up of the ‘Hindustani
Dawakhana’ in Ballimaran, Delhi. He made his mark in the
literary field as well: he wrote verses in Persian and Urdu
adopting the pen-name Shaida and was the founder of
Mujalla-i-Tibbia, a monthly magazine.
His political career began taking shape with his
attempts to project his views on the state of the society in
the Urdu weekly, Akmal-ul-Akhbar. Social reform went
hand in hand with his political fight for India’s indepen-
dence. He voiced a strong cause in favour of educating the
women of India. He pleaded with the Hindus and the
Muslims to maintain communal harmony. He urged the
Muslims of India to pay regard to Hindu susceptibilities
while fulfilling their duty as devout patriots. He was
personally involved in bringing peace to areas torn by
communal riots and rebuking the guilty persons for their
wrong actions. He was a strong force behind the joint Hindu-
Muslim initiative to protest against the massacre in
Jallianwalla Bagh and demand a peaceful swaraj.
Ajmal Khan had not only been the President of the
All-India Muslim League but he was also the first Muslim
Chairman of the Hindu Mahasabha’s Reception Committee.
Atone point of time, he held the twin posts of President
of the Indian National Congress and Chairman of the
Khilafat Conference. Gandhi appointed Hakim Ajmal Khan
as the Chairman of the Civil Disobedience Enquiry Com-
mittee after his arrest in 1922.
Any account of Hakim Ajmal Khan would be left
 Other Eminent Personalities 231
incomplete without mentioning the National Muslim Uni-
versity founded by him in Aligarh, the Jamia Millia Islamia,
in 1920 which was shifted to Delhi five years later. He
became the first Chancellor of the university which, in
keeping with Gandhi’s freedom programme, encouraged the
using of takli and charkha.
HAR BILAS SARDA (1867-1955)
Har Bilas Sarda is remembered for his social reform
activities. He was an Arya Samajist leader from Rajasthan.
He played a pioneering role in initiating legislative action
in the social sphere. In 1929, he presided over the Indian
National Social Conference held in Lahore. It was largely
due to his efforts that the Child Marriage Restraint Act,
1930, came into being.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
HENRY LOUIS VIVIAN DEROZIO (1809-1831)
A prominent Anglo-Indian, Derozio played a major role in
introducing western attitudes into Indian intellectual life.
He taught literature and history at Hindu College, Calcutta
and was perhaps the first nationalist poet of modern India.
Drawing inspiration from French Revolution, he inspired
his pupils to think freely and rationally, question all
authority, oppose meaningless customs and traditions. He
started a discussion group—the Academic Association—to
enable interaction amongst students. He also edited the
papers, the Hesperus and The Calcutta Library Gazette and
was connected with the India Gazette, He also supported
women’s rights and education. His followers known as
Derozians launched the ‘Young Bengal Movement’ and
demanded several rights for Indians from the British and
also attacked the vices of society. The movement included
Rasikkrishna Mullick, Tarachand Chuckervati and
Krishnamohan Bannerji. Derozio was removed from Hindu
College in 1831 because of his radicalism. Although the
Young Bengal Movement failed to become popular, it did
initiate a kind of renaissance in Bengal in the late 1920s,
the credit for which goes to Derozio.
232 Other Eminent Personalities
INDULAL YAJNIK (1892-1972)
Indulal Yajnik distinguished himself as a social worker,
freedom fighter and a journalist from Gujarat. He took part
in the Home Rule movement and Kaira Satyagraha. He
established schools for tribal children and became a member
of the Antyaj Seva Mandal. He also took up the cause of
peasants and associated himself with the Kisan Sabha. He
was made the President of the Akhil Hind Kisan Sabha in
1942. Founder of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Indulal Yajnik
brought out the monthly—Navjivan Ane Satya, and a
daily—Nutan Gujarat
After independence, he founded the Maha Gujarat
Janta Parishad.
ISWAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR (1820-1891)
Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, a famous scholar and writer,
devoted his entire life to the cause of social welfare so that
even today songs continue to be composed and sung in his
honour. Born in the district of Hugli (West Bengal) in 1820,
Vidyasagar dedicated all his time and the whole of his
wealth to social reform activities even through times when
he was completely deserted by all his near and dear ones.
The fact that he could write brilliantly to convey his themes
and ideas proved a great asset to his realisation of the many
goals he had set for himself.
One of his deepest concern was the prohibition of
widow remarriage in the Indian society of his times. After
publishing a pamphlet on widow remarriage in 1854, he
continued to justify his viewpoint to pundits and reputed
persons who clearly opposed his stand tooth and nail.
Finally, he was able to get the Widow Marriage Act passed
in 1856. He went on to conduct the first widow marriage
in 1865. But this earned him an unlimited amount of
criticism. He was excommunicated and his friends refused
to support him. Nevertheless, he continued to conduct
widow marriage ceremonies. True to the last, he had his
own son married to a widow.
 Other Eminent Personalities 233
Vidyasagar also worked to rid the society of the
practices of child marriage and polygamy. Education was
also a matter that received much of his sincere attention.
Vidyasagar, regarded as a creator of the Bengali language
as it exists today, had himself received a liberal education
at the Sanskrit College. He published a number of works
for use by school students. His works include the Betal
Panchabingsati (1846); Upakramanika, writings on Sanskrit
grammar; the Bengali translation of Shakuntala, all in the
early 1850s; and hooks including the Charitaboli, Kothamala,
Barnaporichoy. He also set up many schools for providing
education to girls though these were shut down later on.
He set up a college as well, the Metropolitan Institution.
JADUNATH SARKAR (1870-1958)
Jadunath Sarkar was a learned scholar, historian and a
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
prolific writer. He maintained a distinguished academic
career. In 1892, he won the highest academic honour of
Calcutta University—the Premchand Roychand Scholar-
ship—for achieving first class in M.A. Throughout his life,
he was associated with various educational institutions such
as the Presidency College, Calcutta, Patna College and
Banaras Hindu University. During 1926-28, he served as ‘
honorary vice-chancellor of Calcutta University. Apart from
these, Jadunath Sarkar held the membership of several
distinguished international educational societies and com-
missions. Some of these were—Royal Asiatic Society of
Great Britain and Ireland (1923); American Historical As-
sociation of Washington (1927); and Royal Historical Society
of England (1935).
As an educationist, he promoted academic research
and became a founder-member of Indian Historical Records
Commission. He was also attached to Bangiya Sahitya
Parishad, Bhartiya Sahitya Parishad and the National Coun-
cil of Education. History was Jadunath Sarkar’s main
preoccupation. He has to his credit several books on Mughal
empire, Maratha supremacy and modern Indian history.
234 Other Eminent Personalities
Jadunath Sarkar received several awards for his pioneering
research work.
JADONANG (1905-1931)
A leader of the Naga tribals of Manipur, Jadonang resented
the presence of the British in his state. He also wanted to
purge his community of decadent orthodox customs and at
the same tithe preserve the community’s real culture.
Inspired by the teachings of Gandhi, he merged his socio-
religious movement with the freedom struggle. He asked his
people not to cooperate with the British and refrain from
paying taxes. He also proclaimed the establishment of an
independent ‘Naga Raj’. Jadonang was arrested for his anti-
British activities. He was hanged to death in August 1931.
His followers continued with their struggle even after his
death.
JAMNALAL BAJAJ (1889-1942)
Seth Jamnalal Bajaj was a well-known industrialist. He
joined the Indian National Congress at the age of 30 and
remained the treasurer of the Congress for the rest of his
life. In 1921, he gave up his title of Rai Bahadur. He did
commendable work as the Chairman of the Reception
Committee at the Nagpur session of the Congress. He also
founded the Gandhi Seva Sangha, Gau Seva Sangha, Sasta
Sahitya Mandal and helped in the establishment of
Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha. He gifted Seagon village to
Gandhi who named it Sevagram.
Jamnalal Bajaj also distinguished himself as an altru-
ist. He took keen interest in the development of rural
industries and promoted the cause of Harijan upliftment.
JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN (1902-1979)
An ardent freedom fighter and a crusader for social reform,
Jayaprakash Narayan was popularly known as Loknayak. He
was born on October 11, 1902 at Sitabadiara (near Patna)
in Bihar. As a student, he maintained a brilliant academic
record throughout his academic career. After completing
primary schooling in his village, he matriculated from Patna
 Other Eminent Personalities 235
and won a gold medal and a merit scholarship. In 1921,
he gave up his studies temporarily to participate in the Non-
Cooperation Movement. In 1922, he went to the USA and
obtained his Master’s degree from Ohio University,
Narayan was deeply influenced by Marxist philoso-
phy. After returning to India, he worked for the cause of
the workers and joined the communist cell. He advocated
the abolition of zamindari and called for the nationalisation
of heavy industries. Comprehending his socialistic zeal,
Nehru urged him to join the Indian National Congress and
offered him the charge of its Labour Department. Narayan
accepted Nehru’s offer. Hereafter, Narayan became actively
involved in the freedom struggle. He was jailed for his
participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement. After
being released, he formed the All India Socialist Party. In
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
1942, Narayan was imprisoned once again for being in-
volved in the Quit India Movement.
After independence, Narayan faded from active politi-
cal life. Instead, he continued with his struggle for social
reform and joined Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement. In
1975, however, he entered the political mainstream once
again—this time to protest against the imposition of national
emergency. He supported the movement for restoration of
popular rule and was instrumental in the formation of Janata
Party. He was jailed and released only in 1977. His efforts
yielded results, however, since the Janata Party had a
decisive victory over the Congress in the 1977 elections.
Narayan has to his credit a number of books on social,
political and economic problems in India and his name
figures among the erudite Indian writers.
He breathed his last in 1979.
JATINDRANATH DAS (1904-1929)
Jatindranath joined the revolutionary movement after he
became disillusioned with politics of the moderates. He was
arrested on June 14, 1929 for his involvement in the Lahore
Conspiracy Case. He died while in imprisonment on Sep-
tember 13, 1929 after observing fast for sixty-three days.
236 Other Eminent Personalities
JATINDRANATH MUKHERJI (1880-1915)
Jatindranath Mukherji believed in achieving freedom through
revolutionary methods. A disciple of Vivekanand and
Aurobindo Ghose, he joined the Revolutionary Party and
carried out its activities in West Bengal and Orissa. Because
of his undaunted spirits, he was nicknamed ‘Bagha Jatin’
(Jatin, the tiger). He was arrested in 1910 for his involve-
ment in the killing of Shamsul Alam, a police inspector.
After his release, he was once again arrested in connection
with Howrah Conspiracy Case, but released in 1911. In
1915, he was seriously wounded in an encounter with the
police near Balasore. He died on September 10, 1915.
JITENDRA MOHAN SENGUPTA (1885-1933)
Jitendra Mohan Sengupta gave up his legal practice in
response to the non-cooperation call. He organised the strike
by workers of Assam-Bengal Railways. He was later chosen
the President of Bengal Provincial Congress Committee and
played a significant role in spreading the Civil Disobedience
Movement. In 1931, he attended the Round Table Confer-
ence in London. Fondly known as deshapriya, he was
arrested in 1932. He passed away in 1933.
JOGESH CHANDRA CHATTERJEE (1895-1969)
Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee was an enthusiastic participant
in the Non-Cooperation Movement. However, disillusioned
by the early withdrawal of the movement, he joined the
revolutionary group of nationalists. For some time, he
associated himself with the activities of Anushilan Samiti
in Bengal. Later, he became involved in terrorist activities
in the region covering Punjab-U.P.-Bihar. He played a
prominent role in the founding of Hindustan Republican
Association/Army (later renamed Hindustan Socialist Re-
publican Association) in October 1924 in Kanpur, the aim
of which was to overthrow the colonial government through
an armed rebellion. He was arrested for being involved in
the Kakori Robbery in 1925 and transported for life. After
being released he formed the Revolutionary Socialist Party
 Other Eminent Personalities 237
in 1940. In 1942, he was once again arrested during the
Quit India Movement. About 24 years of Jogesh Chandra
Chatterjee’s life were spent in jail.
JYOTIBA PHULE (1827-1890)
A radical and liberal thinker who received his early
education in a Mission School, Mahatma Phule worked for
the uplift of the low castes. He authored the Sarvajanik
Satyadharma Pustak that emphasised equality of all men
and called for equality before the law and equality of
opportunity. He agreed that the British rule had ushered
in a general improvement in the condition of the masses.
English education had made the depressed classes aware
of their rights and inspired thoughts of overcoming domi-
nation by the high castes. But he criticised the British
administration for its many injustices including diversion
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of funds meant for higher education purposes.
Phule regarded the Hindu tradition as one dominated
by brahmin thought and culture. He condemned the Prarthana
Samaj and the Sarvajanik Sabha as organisations concerned
with the cause of the brahmins alone. He aimed at replacing
the Hindu religion with the ‘Sarvajanik Ishwar Pranit Satya’.
In 1873, he founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers
Society), the leadership of which came from the backward
classes. The Samaj aimed at spreading education among
women and lower caste people.
JYOTIRMOYEE GANGULI (1889-1945)
Jyotirmoyee Ganguli’s involvement in the freedom struggle
is an example of how even the masses were ready to lay
down their lives in their attempt to challenge British might.
Jyotirmoyee was born in 1889 in Calcutta and joined
government service at an early age. However, she resigned
in response to Gandhi’s call for civil disobedience against
the British. She took part in anti-British demonstrations and
propagated the policies of the Congress. Inl945, she joined
an agitation organised by the Forward Bloc to protest against
the imprisonment of IN A soldiers. Jyotirmoyee, represent-
238 Other Eminent Personalities
ing the protestors, demanded the release of the prisoners,
but the demand was turned down. Violence erupted sub-
sequently and two Indian students were killed. Furious at
the British insensitivity, Jyotirmoyee took out a procession,
the suppression of which led to her untimely but heroic
death.
KAILASH NATH KATJU (1887-1969)
Kailash Nath Katju was a well-known advocate and a
political activist. In 1933, he defended the accused in the
Meerut Conspiracy Case. After the 1937 elections, he was
inducted as the Minister for Justice, Industries and Develop-
ment in the Congress ministry formed in the United
Provinces under G.B. Pant. He was also elected to the
Constituent Assembly. In 1951, he served as Minister for
Home Affairs. Later, he became the Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh.
KALPANA DUTT (1913-1978)
A prominent woman revolutionary in Bengal, Kalpana Dutt
(later Joshi) was influenced by the revolutionary ideas of
Surya Sen. She joined the Chittagong Republican Army and
participated in the Ghittagong Armoury raids. She was
arrested and sentenced to transportation for life. After being
released in 1936, she joined the Communist Party of India.
KANAHIYALAL MANAKLAL MUNSHI (1887-1971)
K.M. Munshi was a lawyer by profession. Before joining the
Indian National Congress, he was drawn towards the
revolutionary group. He participated in the Salt Satyagraha
and the Civil Disobedience Movement. In 1937, he was
appointed Home Minister in Bombay. In 1940, he was
arrested for offering individual satyagraha. He played a
valuable role in conducting cases connected with the Quit
India Movement. He was also elected to the Constituent
Assembly. After independence, K.M. Munshi held several
significant public offices. In 1948, he was appointed Agent-
General of the Government of Hyderabad and was given the
crucial responsibility of merging the state of Hyderabad with
 Other Eminent Personalities 239
the Indian Union. In 1952, he served as Food Minister at
the Centre. From 1953 to 1958, he held the post of the
Governor of Uttar Pradesh. In 1960, he joined the Swatantra
Party.
K.M. Munshi was a renowned writer, educationist and
social reformer. In 1938, he founded the Bharatiya Vidya
Bhavan, a trust which runs several educational institutions
and publishes books on Indian culture. His name is also
associated with the Sahitya Samsad, Gujarati Sahitya Samsad
and Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. He started a number of
magazines and journals such as Bhargava, Gujarat, Social
Welfare and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Journal. Among
his noteworthy writings are I Follow the Mahatma, The
Creative Art of Life, Akhand Hindustan and Pilgrimage to
Freedom.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
KANDUKURI VIRESALINGAM (1848-1919)
A native of Rajahmundry (in Andhra Pradesh), Kandukuri
Viresalingam dedicated his entire life to the cause of social
reform. He condemned child marriage and encouraged
widow remarriage. He established institutions and homes
for rehabilitation of widows and orphans. Later, he founded
Hitakarini Trust at Rajahmundry to fulfil his social objec-
tives. Kandukuri Viresalingam is also known for promoting
Telugu literature.
KASTURBA GANDHI (1869-1944)
Kasturba, affectionately nicknamed ‘Ba’, married Mohandas
K. Gandhi in 1882 and became the backbone of his struggle
against the British. She was a source of moral support to
him right from the days of Gandhi’s agitation in South
Africa. Her participation in political activities there made
her one of the first women to be imprisoned by the British
in Transvaal. Back in India, she took part in all of Gandhi’s
political programmes. For her involvement in the Quit India
Movement in 1942, she was arrested and imprisoned. She
died in a jail in Poona two years later.
240 Other Eminent Personalities
KESHUB CHANDRA SEN (1838-1884)
A well-known social and religious reformer, Keshub Chandra
Sen was born in Calcutta in 1838. As an intelligent student,
he often took home prizes for excellence in Arithmetic and
English at an early age. Educated in the Hindu College, the
college activities in which he evinced great interest in-
cluded acting and reading. He was married at 18 to a child
of nine or ten years of age.
Keshub was convinced that the only way to bring
about a social transformation was through religious refor-
mation—religion must be the basis of all reform movements.
It was with this aim that he joined the Brahmo Samaj in
1857 and soon after, he took his first great step to oppose
idolatry. He opposed the kind of education that neglects
to focus on God and religion in his first tract, ‘Young Bengal,
This is for you’, written in 1860. Keshub also criticised the
lack of active religion in the lives of the patriotic men of
the country. To encourage prayer and religious conversa-
tion, he setup the Sangat Sabhain 1860. In 1862 Debendranath
Tagore, Keshub’s senior in the Brahmo Samaj, conferred
upon him the Brahmananda (Rejoicer in God) title.
Following dissension within the Samaj owing to the
outright and stern views of Keshub and some of his
colleagues who opposed the caste system and the thread
ceremony of the brahmins, the ‘Brahmo Samaj of India’ was
set up in 1866 by Keshub and his friends. This Samaj,
distinct from Debendranath’s ‘Adi Brahmo Samaj’, consid-
ered the universe as God’s temple, truth as the everlasting
scripture, faith as the root of all religion and love as the
true spiritual culture. The Samaj’s scriptures included
selections from the sacred books of many religious com-
munities. Keshub was the motivating force behind the
setting up of the Brahmo Mandir in 1868. The Mandir which
respected all religious systems was to further advance the
founding principles of the original Brahmo Samaj.
According to Keshub Chandra Sen, the Hindu society
was chiefly plagued by idolatry and the caste system. In
 Other Eminent Personalities 241
“Appeal to Young India”, he called upon the people to
witness how their purposeless customs, the plight of their
womenfolk and evils such as hypocrisy were gnawing at
their freedom, chances of improvement and true happiness.
Reform was necessary but Keshub believed that only those
who possessed a firm sense of duty, reformed themselves
before reforming others and had the courage to tread on
thorny paths could become successful reformers. After his
return from England in 1870, Keshub set up the Indian
Reform Association. As part of the Association’s activities,
Keshub started the Sulabh Samachar and the Sunday Mirror
and made the Indian Mirror, which he started in 1861, into
a daily newspaper. A ‘Normal School for Native Ladies’,
a ‘Society for the Benefit of Women’ and an ‘Industrial
School’ were also begun.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Keshub Chandra Sen, who had always urged for
reforms regarding child marriage, the age-old opposition to
widow remarriage and polygamy, saw a dream fulfilled with
the Native Marriage Act becoming law in the year 1872.
The law introduced civil marriage. It further permitted
widow remarriage and inter-caste marriages, and put an end
to child marriage and bigamy.
It was only during his later years that Keshub Chandra
Sen’s actions began to run contrary to his own religious
and social principles. He began to manage the affairs of the
Samaj he had set up with sole authority, without allowing
any kind of discussion on opinions and views. Worse, his
daughter was still below 14 years of age when he married
her off in the Kuch Bihar family—which was polygamous—
according to those very Hindu rites he had been known
to condemn. He followed it up by defiantly justifying the
marriage as one conducted under divine command.
KHAN ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN (1890-1988)
Born in village Uttamazai (now in Pakistan) in a Pathan
family, Abdul Ghaffar Khan had his early education in
Peshawar. He was then sent to Aligarh, where he had the
242 Other Eminent Personalities
opportunity of meeting several educationists and national-
ists, including Reverend Wigram (his principal), Gandhi,
Jawaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad. After returning to
his own province (NWFP of British India), he worked for
inculcation of ideas of nationalism in the minds of Pathans.
His meaningful political career began in 1919 during
agitations against Rowlatt Act and Khilafat Movements.
Thereafter, from 1920 to 1947, he took a prominent part
in the activities of the Congress. He was involved in all
major political movements such as Non-Cooperation, Civil
Disobedience, Satyagraha and Quit India. For several years,
he was a member of Congress Working Committee but
declined the offer of presidentship of the organisation.
During this period (1920-1947), he was arrested several
times and spent around fourteen crucial years of his lifetime
in jail. In the 1920s, he came to be known as ‘Frontier
Gandhi’ because of his close association with Gandhi. Abdul
Ghaffar Khan resigned from the INC in 1939 because of his
disapproval of the war policy of the Congress. He rejoined
the organisation in 1940 when the policy was revised.
Apart from being an ardent freedom fighter, Abdul
Ghaffar Khan was a dedicated social reformer. Realising the
need for social reconstruction, he propagated Gandhian
principles—principles which he had himself adopted. He
firmly believed in the cult of khadi, non-violence, the need
for development of village industries and emancipation of
depressed classes and women. For the purpose of bringing
about positive social changes he set up an organisation,
Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants of God) in 1929. The
organisation which was also known as ‘Red Shirts’, com-
prised non-violent revolutionaries who were also devoted
social workers and played an active role in the nationalist
movement. Because of his socialistic zeal, Ghaffar Khan was
given the title Fakhar-e-Afghan (the pride of Afghan). In
1940, he founded another Khudai Khidmatgar on the banks
of Sardaryab and named it Markar-e-Allai-e-Khudai
Khidmatgar.
 Other Eminent Personalities 243
Ghaffar Khan also advocated national education. He
was instrumental in the establishment of a number of
national schools in his province, especially the Azad High
School of Uttamanzai and the Anjuman-ul-Afghanie. In
1928, he started a monthly journal in Pushto, Pakhtoon,
which was stopped in 1931. However, it resumed publi-
cation a few years later as Das Roza.
Although a pious Muslim, Ghaffar Khan believed in
secularism. He condemned the communal politics of the
Muslim League and argued against the idea of partition.
After partition, he started a struggle for establishment
of Pakhtoonistan for Pathans and was jailed several times
by successive Pakistan governments. He lived in exile in
Afghanistan for several years. In 1969, he was invited to
India on the occasion of Gandhi centenary celebrations. In
KHUDIRAM BOSE (1889-1908)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
1987, he was presented the Bharat Ratna.
Ghaffar Khan passed away in 1988.
Born in Midnapore (West Bengal), Khudiram Bose gave up
his studies to participate in the Swadeshi Movement. He
joined the Revolutionary Party and was actively involved
in protest movements against the partition of Bengal. In
1907, he took part in the looting of mail bags at Hargacha.
In the same year, he was involved in the bomb attack on
a train carrying Bengal Governor near the Narayangarh
Railway Station. In 1908, he, alongwith Prafulla Chaki,
organised a bomb attack on the carriage of Kingsford, the
Sessions Judge at Muzaffarpur (Bihar), who had passed
harsh sentences against some nationalists. However, instead
of Kingsford, two English ladies got killed. Bose was
arrested and was sentenced to death at a tender age of 19.
LAKSHMINATH BEZBARUA (1868-1938)
A well-known writer from Assam, Lakshminath Bezbarua
started his literary career in 1889 through his journal Janaki.
He made immense contribution to the development and
enrichment of Assamese literature. He has to his credit
244 Other Eminent Personalities
several plays, poems, essays and fictional work, several of
which are based on patriotic themes. The Assamese state
anthem, O,Mor Aponar Desh is penned by Lakshminath.
LALA HARDYAL (1884-1939)
The ardent nationalist counts among the few who stead-
fastly and consistently pursued the cause of India’s freedom
struggle abroad to win international support. Born on
October 14,1884 in Delhi, Lala Hardyal had an outstanding
academic record to his credit. He stood first at the school
level, in his intermediate studies at St. Stephen’s College
in Delhi and at the post-graduate level. He was awarded
a scholarship to study at St. John’s College in Oxford. He
obtained a Ph.D. from the London University.
The work carried out by Indian revolutionaries in
England encouraged him to strive for a free India. He
familiarised Lala Lajpat Rai with his belief that indepen-
dence was to be won through “passive resistance”. He was
made the first President of the Ghadr Party launched at San
Francisco in 1913. His activities in America made the
British urge the Government in America in 1914 to arrest
him. After securing a release, Hardyal continued his revo-
lutionary work in Geneva. His five years spent in Germany
saw the organisation of the Indian Independence Committee
and an Oriental Bureau to translate writings associated with
the freedom cause. He spent some time in Stockholm,
Sweden, asking Indians to focus on Home Rule. He worked
as a professor in American Universities during his later
years. He is said to have died in Pennysylvania on March
4,1939.
Lala Hardyal believed that only a national education
system would enlighten the young minds. Problems like
communalism and casteism were proving as setbacks to the
Indian cause. India was in need of moral energy to
overcome the British. He also authored many books includ-
ing the well-known Wealth of Nations and Hints for Self
Culture.
 Other Eminent Personalities 245
LALA LAJPAT RAI (1865-1928)
An ardent nationalist and a dedicated social reformer whose
achievements earned him the title of “The Lion of Punjab”
(Sher-e-Punjab), Lala Lajpat Rai was born in Ludhiana in
1865. Though he equipped himself for a career in law, he
was drawn into the political cause when residing at Lahore.
Here, he also came in contact with Mahatma Hans Raj who
became a source of inspiration for him. Being an Arya
Samajist as well, Lala Lajpat Rai helped in the establishment
of the D.A.V. College at Lahore.
His extremist ideas helped him team up with Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal to form the famous
group, ‘Bal, Pal, Lal’. After a disappointing trip to England
in 1905 along with Gokhale, his message to his countrymen
was that they themselves and no one else would tight for
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
their freedom. He withdrew his name from the list for the
presidency of the Congress at its Surat session. He visited
Britain in 1914 and the USA as well to educate the
international public about India’s cause. In September 1920
Lala Lajpat Rai became President of the Special Session of
the Congress at Calcutta. Gandhi’s non-cooperation
programme was not really to his liking at first. But in 1922
he opposed its withdrawal. He joined Motilal Nehru and
C.R. Das to found the Swaraj Party. In 1923 and 1926, he
entered the Central Legislative Assembly as a swarajist. At
the Assembly, he initiated a resolution on the Simon
Commission’s boycott. He died on November 27,1928 after
receiving heavy injuries while leading a demonstration
against the Simon Commission in Lahore.
Lala Lajpat Rai was the founder-editor of The Bande
Mataram, The Punjabee and The People. During his politi-
cal career, he was imprisoned many times including two
occasions in 1921 and 1922 when he was involved with
the Non-Cooperation Movement.
LIAQUAT ALI KHAN (1895-1951)
Liaquat Ali Khan championed the rights of Muslims and
was a prominent member of the Muslim League. He was
246 Other Eminent Personalities
instrumental in bringing about negotiations between the
Congress and the League in 1944, which resulted in the
Liaquat-Desai Pact. He was the Finance Minister in the
Interim Central Government in 1946-1947. After partition
he became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was
assassinated in a public meeting at Rawalpindi in October
1951 by an unknown person.
LOKMANYA TILAK (1856-1920)
Born on July 23,1856 in Ratnagiri district, Bal Gangadhar
Tilak was one of the most dashing leaders of political India
during its pre-independence years. He came to be called
‘Lokmanya’. With a graduation certificate from the Deccan
College of Poona, he began his public career by setting up
the New English School at Poona. As Tilak believed in the
power of education to serve the masses he became the
founder-editor of the journals, Mahratta in English and
Kesari in Marathi. After joining the Indian National Con-
gress in 1891 he moved an Arms Act resolution at its annual
conference for modifying the resolutions governing gun
prohibition and Indians’ involvement in the military. He
worked to increase focus on political rather than social
reforms. His agitations against the foreign rulers focussed
on the British divide and rule programme and their
partisanship towards the Muslims, their land revenue
policies and their corrupt administration. He also took over
the Sarvajanik Sabha from the moderate leadership. To
foster Indians’ sense of pride, he began celebrating the
Ganapati Pooja festival and the Shivaji festival with great
pomp.
Tilak was imprisoned in 1897 for 18 months and again
in 1908 for six years, during which time he penned down
his thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita to produce the
Gitarahasya. To advance India’s cause, he founded the
Home Rule League in 1916. In the same year, he helped
in ushering in the Lucknow Pact between the leaders of
the Congress and the Muslim League. He lent support to
Gandhi’s programmes including the Non-Cooperation Move-
 Other Eminent Personalities 247
ment. His efforts led to the passing of a resolution for
responsible cooperation with the administration on the
Reforms Act at the Amritsar Congress in 1919.
Tilak joined Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal
to constitute the triad ‘Lal, Bal, Pal’ which encouraged
swadeshi, national education, boycott of foreign products
and swaraj. Tilak is associated with the slogan, ‘Swaraj is
my birthright and I will have it’. For Tilak, the term ‘swaraj’
implied the people’s divine right to remove bad rulers. It
also implied that the people and the rulers must have a
common country, race or religion. Tilak stated that swaraj
further meant a well-governed system for the peoples’
welfare which is set up by and accountable to them alone.
According to Tilak, ‘swaraj’ did not possess a political
meaning only; its spiritual significance was in that it
life to follow. @UPSC_THOUGHTS
represented a life centred in self and relying on self. Its
significance was not limited to this life but extended in the
Tilak’s concept of nationalism stemmed from his pride
in India’s past and the impact of western learning and
sciences on him. His realisation of the need for a political
movement that would unite the country transcending all
barriers and the exploitation of the Indians under the British
also contributed to his nationalism. In truth, his concept
put together the spiritual unity of the Vedanta ideal and
nationalism as expounded by western thinkers.
He identified the driving force of nationalism as pride
in the country’s legacy and unity. A common religion or
language furthers oneness among the people and this
oneness can be strengthened by symbols such as flags,
celebration of festivals, etc. Tilak aroused national feelings
considerably by means of his publications, for western
education had taught him to value press freedom, individual
freedom and free political expression and organisation.
M.A. ANSARI (1880-1936)
M.A. Ansari studied medicine and qualified as a surgeon.
In 1912-13, he played an important role in organising the
248 Other Eminent Personalities
All-India Medical Mission to Turkey. He later joined Home
Rule League Movement and participated in the Non-Coop-
eration and the Khilafat Movements. He was elected the
General Secretary of Congress in 1927. In 1928, he presided
over the All Parties Conference and Convention. He was
arrested and remained imprisoned from 1930 to 1932. M.A.
Ansari is also regarded as one of India’s great educationists.
He was closely associated with the founding of Jamia Millia
Islamia in 1920.
MADAM BHIKAJI CAMA (1861-1936)
Madam Bhikaji Cama entered politics in the early 1900s
inspired by the spirit and determination of leaders such as
Dadabhai Naoroji and Shyamji Krishna Verma. After leaving
for England in 1902, she participated in the Socialist
Congress at Struttegart in 1907. A year later, she joined
hands with Savarkar, Sardar Singh Rana and others in
extremism. A source of inspiration to Indian youths in the
UK, she encouraged them to fight for their nation’s cause.
She organised the Free India Society and began the Bande
Mataram to spread her revolutionary thoughts. She died in
India in the year 1936.
MADAN LAL DHINGRA (1887-1909)
A martyr, Madan Lal Dhingra was born in Punjab. He went
to London in 1906 to study engineering. It was in Britain
that he came in contact with revolutionary nationalists such
as Shyamji Krishna Verma and V.D. Savarkar. Influenced
by their thoughts, he became involved in Indian revolution-
ary activities in Britain. He participated in the activities of
the Indian Home Rule Society, the Abhinava Bharata and
the India House. In July, 1909 he assassinated Sir William
Curzon Wyllie, an Advisor to the Secretary of State of India,
at a gathering in the Imperial Institute. During his trial,
Madan Lal Dhingra declared unremorsefully that his act was
“a humble revenge for the inhuman hangings and transpor-
tation of patriotic Indians”. He was sentenced to death and
died on the gallows at the Pentonville Prison, London on
August 17, 1909.
 Other Eminent Personalities 249
MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA (1861-1946)
Born in Allahabad, M.M. Malaviya was a lawyer by
profession. A member of the provincial as well as central
legislature for many terms, in 1907 he helped set up the
Indian Industrial Conference and the UP Industrial Asso-
ciation in Allahabad. He was one of the ‘Moderates’ in the
Congress. The massacre in the Jallianwala Bagh made him
prompt the Congress to build a memorial for the dead in
that area. He established his Nationalist Party in 1926. He
helped found the Banaras Hindu University and later
became its Vice Chancellor. M.M. Malaviya also served as
the editor of publications such as the Hindustan, the Indian
Union and Abyudaya.
MADELEINE SLADE (MIRA BEHN———1892-1982)
Madeleine Slade was born in a family of aristocrats in
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
England in 1892. She was first introduced to Gandhian
thought through Mahatma Gandhi, a book by Romain
Rolland. Deeply influenced by Gandhian philosophy, she
joined the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad and adopted
the ashram’s austere life-style. The name Mira Behn was
given to her by Gandhi himself. With time, she became a
close associate of Gandhi and took part in several of his
political and social programmes. She toured several parts
of the country to promote the concept of khadi and the
Satyagraha Movement. She contributed over a thousand
articles to Young India and Harijan and also wrote for The
Statesman, The Times of India and The Hindustan Times.
She played a major role in the establishment of Sevagram,
an ashram near Wardha. She accompanied Gandhi to the
Round Table Conference in London in 1931. In 1942, she
prepared the people of Orissa to resist Japanese invasion
non-violently. She was sent by Gandhi to the AICC,
Allahabad with the draft resolution on the Quit India
Movement. As a result of her participation in the political
plan, she was placed under detention (1942-1944) in the
Aga Khan Palace.
250 Other Eminent Personalities
Mira Behn is also known for her pioneering work in
social reform, especially at the rural level. She set up a
Kisan Ashram at Muldaspur (Uttar Pradesh) for serving
villagers and cattle. She was appointed the honorary special
advisor to the UP Government for the Grow More Food
Campaign. In 1947, she started Ashram Pashulok near
Rishikesh and a settlement named Bapu Gram. In 1959, she
left India and settled in a village near Vienna where she
pursued her interest in classical music.
In 1969, on the occasion of the Gandhi Centenary
Celebrations, she was invited to England by Lord Louis
Mountbatten to narrate her experiences with Gandhi. In
1981, she was honoured with Padma Vibhushan by the
Government of India.
MADHAV SRIHARI ANEY (1880-1968)
Madhav Srihari Aney was a prominent rightwing Con-
gressman of Berar. His political career is marked with a
number of achievements. He was a member of the Congress
Working Committee. In 1926, he joined the Responsivist
Party. In 1930, he was arrested for his role in Civil
Disobedience Movement. He was also actively involved in
the activities of Indian Home Rule League. From 1924 to
1930 he was the member of Legislative Assembly. In 1935,
he was appointed the General Secretary, Anti Communal
Award Committee. He became a member of the Governor-
General’s Executive Council in 1941 but resigned in 1943.
From 1943 to 1947 he was in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as a
representative of India. He was also a member of the
Constituent Assembly of India. After independence, he
became a Member of Parliament.
MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE (1842-1901)
A social and political reformer, Ranade was born in 1842
in Maharashtra. A graduate of the University of Bombay,
his professional career touched the peak in 1893 with his
appointment as judge of the Bombay High Court, He became
involved in the working of a number of institutions aiming
 Other Eminent Personalities 251
at social, economic and political advancement of India such
as the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Social Conference,
Industrial Conference, the Prarthana Samaj and the Indian
National Congress.
For social reform, Ranade believed that the discrimi-
natory caste values must be done away with. Hence, he
supported the Bhakti movement (Bhagwat Dharma) which
gave all castes equal status in society. Equality of the sexes,
the spread of education, rescuing children and widows from
social injustices, protection of agricultural workers and land
tenants from exploitation—these causes were espoused by
Ranade with fervour. The State had an immense respon-
sibility in ensuring social equality but ultimately it is the
people themselves who have to work for their betterment.
Ranade held that the social, economic and administrative
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
aspects of society are interlinked so that social uplift,
political liberties and economic rights go hand in hand.
The necessary transformation of the Indian society
would be a gradual process. Ranade advocated moderate
methods and not outright rebellion to effect the transforma-
tion. Such moderate activities include legislative and execu-
tive methods, teaching and enlightening the masses and
finally reforms through state penalties.
MAHADEV DESAI (1892-1942)
Secretary to Mahatma Gandhi for 25 years, Mahadev Desai
was a great non-violent fighter of India’s struggle for
independence. He actively participated in Champaran
Satyagraha (1917), Non-Cooperation Movement (1921), Civil
Disobedience Movement (1930), Individual Satyagraha (1941)
and the Quit India Movement (1942). He also edited The
Independent (published from Allahabad) and the Navjivan
(published from Ahmedabad). He passed away in 1942 in
Aga Khan Palace, Poona, where he was imprisoned with
Gandhi for being involved in the Quit India Movement.
MANABENDRA NATH ROY (1887-1954)
A nationalist supporting communist ideology, M.N. Roy was
252 Other Eminent Personalities
born in a Bengali family in 1887 and named Narendranath
Bhattacharya. He was drawn to nationalist terrorism at a
very early age. His experience with terrorism gained him
popularity in the terrorist ranks. It was during his tour
abroad that he was inspired by communist ideas. He became
a member of the Indian National Congress in 1940. But he
was disappointed with its moderate approach. Roy also did
not agree with many of Gandhi’s policies. The result was
his breaking off from the INC and his founding of a new
party, the Radical Democratic Party. Roy wished the party
to represent peasants, workers as well as the bourgeoisie.
But in 1948, he was forced to dissolve his party.
Roy associated himself with the founding of the
Mexican Communist Party. It was to participate in the
second congress of the Comintern that Roy was invited by
Lenin to Russia to contribute to the latter’s ‘Draft Thesis
on the National and Colonial Question’. Roy became the
leader of the communist movement in India. But after his
return to India in 1930, he was imprisoned for 6 years for
having taken part in communist conspiracy activities. His
major work was India in Transition, a book on Marxist
ideology.
MANINDRANATH BANERJI (?-1934)
Manindranath Banerji participated in the Kakori conspiracy
case. He killed one of his uncles, J.N. Banerji, who was the
Deputy Superintendent of Police and was investigating the
Kakori conspiracy case. He was sentenced to 10 years harsh
imprisonment. Manindranath died in Fatehgarh Central Jail
after observing a hunger strike for 66 days in protest against
inhuman treatment meted to him by the police.
MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD (1888-1958)
Born in Mecca where his forefathers had settled during the
1857 Revolt, Abul Kalam Azad came with his parents to
India in 1898. Settled in Calcutta, he began participating
in the freedom struggle by associating himself with the
revolutionaries during the swadeshi uprising.
 Other Eminent Personalities 253
Through Al Hilal and Al Balagh, weeklies which he
began in 1912 and 1915 respectively, he started spreading
nationalistic thoughts. He came in contact with Gandhi and
began lending support to the non-cooperation agitation. He
was made the head of the Khilafat Committee as well. He
presided over the Congress’ special session at Delhi in 1923
to become the youngest President. He was again elected
President of the Congress at its Ramgarh session in 1940.
He remained President as no session was held in the five
following years. Abdul Kalam Azad headed the Jamiat ul
Ulema as President in 1924, and the Nationalist Muslim
Conference five years later in the same capacity.
Confined to the Ahmednagar fort after his arrest along
with other leaders in 1942, Maulana Azad participated in
the Simla Conference after his release. He also negotiated
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
with the British Cabinet Mission in 1946 for India’s
independence. He was made a member of the Constituent
Assembly and became Minister of Education and Arts in
the interim government.
After India’s independence, he was first appointed
minister in charge of education and later given the portfolios
of natural resources and scientific research. His many note-
Worthy contributions in free India include setting up of the
University and the Secondary Education Commission and
the University Grants Commission, reorganisation of the All
India Council for Technical Education, developing the
Indian Institute of Science, and setting up the Kharagpur
Institute of Technology and many scientific research labo-
ratories.
MARGARET ELIZABETH NOBLE (SISTER NIVEDITA—
1867-1911)
Irish by birth, Margaret Elizabeth Noble was a well-known
educationist and promoted the methods of education intro-
duced by Froebel and Pestallozzi. She met Swami
Vivekananda in 1890 and the meeting proved a turning
point in her life. She joined the Ramakrishna mission and
became a nun. Henceforth, she came to be known as Sister
254 Other Eminent Personalities
Nivedita. She established a school for girls and took part
in programmes for uplift of women. She also worked for
promoting national consciousness and criticised the racial
policies of the British. Her efforts in organising relief work
during the plague epidemic in 1899 and during the Bengal
famine of 1905 deserve special mention. She wrote several
articles, two of which are The Master as I Saw Him and
The Web of Indian Life.
MATANGINI HAJRA (1870-1942)
Matangini Hajra was born in 1870 in Midnapore (West
Bengal) in a typical peasant family. She endured the
hardships of life, particularly those imposed by rich
zamindars and the British. However, when the sufferings
became unbearable, Matangini plunged into the mainstream
of political struggle in order to challenge the might of the
British. In 1930, she participated in the Dandi March
organised to defy salt laws. In the same year, she was also
involved in agitations against the imposition of chowkidari
tax. (The Congress Working Committee had called for non-
payment of chowkidari tax in zamindari provinces.)
Matangini was arrested for her role in the protest movement
and was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
However, Matangini’s biggest and final contribution
to the national cause came in 1942 during the Quit India
Movement. It was in this year that a parallel national
government was established in Tamluk sub-division and
hereafter began clashes between patriots and government
forces. Matangini was also involved in attacks planned on
police stations etc. It was while she was hoisting the
national flag that she was hit by a bullet and she lost her
life.
MAULANA MOHAMMAD ALI (1878-1931)
Born at Moradabad in 1878, Mohammad Ali was educated
at Aligarh and later at Oxford. He took part in Khilafat
agitations and Non-Cooperation Movement. He presided
over the 38th annual session (in 1923) of the Congress at
 Other Eminent Personalities 255
Kakinada. In 1924, he was one of the conveners of the Unity
Conference. In 1928, he was involved in anti-Simon dem-
onstrations and in 1930, he attended the First Round Table
Congress. Mohammad Ali also edited an English weekly,
Comrade and an Urdu daily, Hamdard. He passed away in
1931 while in London.
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH (1876-1948)
Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born on December 25, 1876 in
Karachi. He received his primary and secondary education
at Karachi and Bombay. From 1892 to 1896, Jinnah studied
law at Lincoln’s Inn, London. After returning to India, he
enrolled himself as an advocate at the Bombay High Court.
Jinnah’s political career began with the Indian Na-
tional Congress and he was greatly influenced by the
moderate leader, Gopal Krishna Gokhale. At this time, he
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
did not regard the interests of Muslims as distinct from
those of other Indians. In fact, in 1906, Jinnah signed a
memorandum against separate electorates for Muslims. In
1909, Jinnah got elected to the Imperial Legislative Council
as the representative of the Muslims of Bombay. Even after
joining the All-India Muslim League in 1913, he did not
break his contacts with the Congress. In May 1914, he was
sent to London as a member of Congress deputation. In
1915, he worked for the coming together of Congress and
Muslim League and the resultant Lucknow Pact, under
which the two parties agreed to present joint constitutional
demands to the government. Jinnah was elected to the
presidentship of the Muslim League in 1916. In 1917, he
joined Annie Besant’s Home Rule Movement and was
elected President of its Bombay branch. In 1919, Jinnah
resigned from the Imperial Legislative Council in his protest
against the Rowlatt Act.
Jinnah’s relations with the Congress started to become
sour after the entry of Gandhi in the Congress. He was
highly critical of the latter’s policies and strongly disap-
proved the Non-Cooperation Movement. By this time,
256 Other Eminent Personalities
significant differences had also crept up between Hindus
and Muslims. Jinnah resigned both from the Congress and
the Home Rule League and hereafter completely associated
himself with the politics of the Muslim League. In 1928,
he proposed amendments to the Nehru Report and sought
major concessions for Muslims. In March 1929, Jinnah
proposed his Fourteen Point demands. These, however,
were not accepted.
Jinnah left for England in 1930 to practice at the Privy
Council and did not return until 1935. He was then offered
the leadership of the Muslim League which he accepted.
The 1937 elections proved a setback for the Muslim League
since the party performed badly as compared to the
Congress. After the elections, Jinnah adopted a tough stand
and blocked all avenues for conciliation between the
Congress and the League. He demanded that the Congress
declare itself a Hindu organisation and recognise the
Muslim League as the sole representative of the Indian
Muslims. On March 24,1940, the Lahore session of the
Muslim League passed the ‘Pakistan Resolution’ and called
for formation of a separate state for Muslims.
After 1940, the League stuck to its demand of a
separate state throughout the negotiations under August
Offer, Cripps’ proposals, Simla Conference and Cabinet
Mission Plan. Finally, the League under Jinnah succeeded
in getting its terms accepted and Pakistan was formed.
Jinnah became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
He died at Karachi in September 1948.
MOHANLAL GHOSE (1849-1909)
Mohanlal Ghose adopted a moderate approach in politics.
He was an eloquent speaker and used his talent in 1879,
when he represented the British Indian Association (Calcutta)
in England, to demand the admission of Indians in the Civil
Services. In 1903, he presided over the annual session of
the Indian National Congress held at Madras.
 Other Eminent Personalities 257
MOKSHAGUNDAM VISVESVARAYA (1861-1962)
An engineer, M. Visvesvaraya worked in government public
works department. He was an expert in designing water
supply projects and handled several important water supply
matters related to Surat, Sind, Dhulia, Kohlapur, Pune,
Belgaum, Dharwar and Bijapur. He retired from service in
1908. In 1909, he was appointed the chief engineer of
Mysore State by the Maharaja of Mysore. The
Krishnarajasagara Reservoir on the Cauveri was built under
his guidance. In 1912, he became the Diwan of Mysore and
introduced several constitutional reforms for the develop-
ment of education, agriculture, industry and commerce in
the state. In association with leading industrialists of his
time, Visvesvaraya helped in establishing several factories.
From 1927-55, he was the director of Tata Iron and Steel
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Co. He was made the President of the All-India Manufac-
turers’ Organisation. A genius in planning, he was awarded
the Bharat Ratna in 1955. Reconstructing India, Planned
Economy for India, Memoirs of My Working Life and
Sayings: Witty and Wise are a few of the books written by
him.
M. VENKATAKRISHNAIAH
A well-known educationist, M. Venkatakrishnaiah established
schools in Mysore. He also set up an orphanage. He
launched the Kannada weekly Vrittanta Chintamani and
assisted in the publishing of more than 10 newspapers in
Kannada and English. He spoke against the Newspaper
Regulation Act. A staunch advocate of Hindu-Muslim Unity,
he also supported various constructive social activities. He
was popularly known as the Grand Old Man of Mysore and
as Tatayya (grandfather).
MOTILAL NEHRU (1861-1931)
An advocate, Motilal Nehru was one of the accomplished
leaders of the Bar. After attending some of the initial
Congress sessions, Motilal became an active supporter of
the Home Rule movement in 1916. He then started the
258 Other Eminent Personalities
Independent for spreading the ideas of and support for the
movement. It was in the same year that he met Gandhi.
He was appointed Chairman of the Congress Commission
looking into the incident at the Jallianwala Bagh. Much
impressed by Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement, he gave
up his flourishing practise and began to participate in the
movement. He was put behind bars during the incident of
boycott of Prince Wales’ visit. To mount India’s struggle
by pursuing its cause within the legislature, Motilal and C.R.
Das setup the Swarajya Party. He was made an elected
member of the Central Legislative Assembly and leader of
the opposition. Before his death, he donated the Anand
Bhawan—after renaming it ‘Swaraj Bhawan’—to the Con-
gress.
MUHAMMAD IQBAL (1873-1938)
A renowned poet, philosopher and lawyer, Iqbal began
writing patriotic songs at an early age. One of his most
famous composition was sare jahan se achha hindustan
hamara. Later he joined the Muslim League. In 1930, he
presided over Allahabad session of the Muslim League and
in his speech mooted the idea of the formation of a separate
Muslim state.
MUKUND RAMARAO JAYAKAR (1873-1959)
A graduate in law, M.R. Jayakar held several important
political posts in the pre-independence era. He was a
member of the Congress Commission to enquire into the
Punjab disturbances in 1919. He gave up his successful
practise in response to the non-cooperation call by Gandhi.
His sacrifice inspired many others who boycotted govern-
ment jobs and entered the mainstream of political struggle.
He led the Swaraj Party in the Bombay Legislative Council
from 1923 to 1925 and was the deputy leader of the
Nationalist Party in the Central Legislative Assembly from
1926 to 1930. He was one of the Indian delegates to attend
the Round Table Conference. In 1937, he was made the
judge of a Federal Court. He was one of the members of
 Other Eminent Personalities 259
the Constituent Assembly. He also served the Poona Uni-
versity as its Vice-Chancellor.
NABA GOPAL MITRA (1842-1894)
Naba Gopal Mitra was a Bengali playwright and poet. He
founded several institutions which promulgated the spirit
of self help, self-reliance and promoted Indian art and
culture. Some of these institutions were National School,
National Gymnasium, National Circus, National Theatre and
the Hindu Mela (also known as National or Jatiya Mela).
Since the names of these institutions bore the prefix
‘national’, Naba Gopal came to be known as National Mitra.
NALINI SENGUPTA (1886-1973)
Nalini Sengupta’s name figures among the few British who
supported the cause of India’s independence. Born at
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Cambridge in 1886 to Frederick William and Edith Gray,
Nalini’s initial fascination for India, like any other foreigner,
was limited to appreciation of the country’s rich history and
culture. It was after her marriage to Jatindra Mohan
Sengupta, an eminent nationalist, that she actually under-
stood the contemporary Indian social and political scenario,
in terms of the freedom struggle. Her husband’s influence
coupled with the views of the then famous patriots (both
extremists and moderates) transformed her to a staunch anti-
colonialist and a dedicated freedom fighter. Till 1920, she
utilised her potential in supporting the extremist views and
policies. At the same time, she also put into practice several
of Gandhi’s principles and ideals. She actively participated
in boycott and non-cooperation movements, organised
protests, addressed meetings and aroused nationalist interest
in the Indian masses. Nalini was arrested several times but
that did not deter her from pursuing her goal of attaining
self-rule for India. In 1933, she was elected to the post of
presidentship of the Indian National Congress—a rare
achievement since she was a woman and that too a woman
from Britain. She also became the Alderman of Calcutta
Corporation. Nalini was elected unopposed to the Bengal
260 Other Eminent Personalities
Legislative Assembly and remained its member from 1940
to 1946. After partition, Nalini stayed in East Pakistan. She
breathed her last in 1973.
NANIBALA DEVI (1888-1967)
Nanibala Devi was born in 1888 at Howrah in a typical
brahmin family. She was widowed at the age of 16, but
refused to live a secluded life, as was the fate of most
widows of those times. Instead, she joined the Jugantar
Party, one of the most powerful revolutionary groups, which
was led by her nephew Amarendranath Chattopadhyay. In
a few years time, Nanibala began to actively contribute to
the nation’s cause through her organisation. She supported
the network’s activities and, like most revolutionaries, came
to be convinced that the British could be ousted only
through force. She was arrested in Peshawar for possessing
arms and ammunition and deported to Calcutta jail. Nanibala
was the first and only woman to be tortured by the police
under the Regulation III of 1818. She also became the
Calcutta jail’s first, woman prisoner. Even in imprisonment,
she did not refrain from showing her resentment against
the British, both through speech and action. She was
released in 1919 but hereafter she remained rather passive.
She died in 1967.
NARAYAN MALHAR JOSHI (1875-1955)
Narayan Malhar Joshi was born in Kolaba district of
Maharashtra in 1875 and was educated at Poona and
Bombay. In 1909, he joined Servants of India Society and
took up the cause of labour. He was instrumental in the
founding of the Social Service League in 1911 for improving
the condition of the common masses. He was also associated
with several labour organisations and in 1921 he joined the
All India Trace Union Congress. In 1931, N.M. Joshi broke
away from the AITUC and formed the All India Trade Union
Federation. He remained a member of the Central Assembly
for 26 years. He was also a member of the Governing Body,
ILO. N.M. Joshi was responsible for several enactments on
 Other Eminent Personalities 261
labour welfare. He also advocated the setting up of dispen-
saries, industrial training schools and cooperative societies.
In 1947, he became a member of the Central Pay Commis-
sion.
He passed away in 1955.
NARSIMHA CHINTAMANI KELKAR (1872-1947)
Narsimha Chintamani Kelkar was one of Lokmanya Tilak’s
closest associates. He edited Tilak’s Maharatta from 1897
to 1919 and Kesari from 1897to 1899 and then from 1901
to 1931. In 1920, he served as President of Bombay
Provincial Conference. From 1923 to 1926, he was a member
of the Central Legislative Assembly. He was a member of
the Congress Working Committee for several years.
N. GOPALASWAMI AYANGAR (1882-1953)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Gopalaswami Ayangar worked for the Civil Service for over
30 years before retiring in 1937 and assuming the premiership
of Kashmir. He worked for the progress and development
of Kashmir. He helped in preparing the Sapru Committee
Report and later, the Constitution of India itself. After
independence, he was made a minister. As Minister of
Transport and Railways, he developed an efficient railway
network in the country. He played a crucial role in
reorganising the States after succeeding Sardar Patel in 1950
as the Minister of States. He also served India as Minister
of Defence.
NILAKANTHA DAS (1884-1967)
Nilakantha Das played a significant role during the Non-
Cooperation Movement. In 1923, he joined the Swaraj Party.
After independence, he led the Independent Peoples Party.
A great educationist, Nilakantha was the Chairman of the
Utkal University Committee. Pie also edited Navabharata,
Samaj and Seva.
N. KUMARAN ASAN (1873-1924)
Kumaran, one of the finest among the Malayalam poets, was
an ardent social reformer who worked to uplift the social
status of the backward castes. Born at Kayikkara village near
262 Other Eminent Personalities
Trivandrum on April 12, 1873 in a caste of low social status,
Kumaran received little formal education. One of the major
turning points of his life was his association with Shri
Narayana Guru, one of the greatest social reformers of
Kerala, at the age of 17. With Narayana Guru’s help,
Kumaran was able to study at the Sanskrit College in
Bangalore for some time. He spent about five years outside
his native state during which he studied Sanskrit literature,
Hindu and Buddhist philosophical works and English
language and literature.
Soon after returning to Kerala, Kumaran Asan began
participating in social reform work. He became the first
general secretary of the Shri Narayana Dharma Paripalana
Yogam (S.N.D.P. Yogam), founded to improve the social and
economic condition of the Eazhava community—to which
Kumaran belonged. For 16 years, he worked steadfastly
towards that goal. He represented his people in the
Travancore State Legislature for many years. By 1919, he
had succeeded in organising his community on the path
to advancement.
Kumaran died of a boat accident on January 16,1924
in Pellana. A memorial built in his honour stands in
Thonnakkal village.
P. ANANDA CHARLU (1843-1908)
P. Ananda Charlu was a prominent public figure in South
India and was responsible for organising several political
campaigns before the Indian National Congress appeared on
the scene. With the help of his associates (such as M.
Viraraghavachari and G. Subramaniya Aiyer), he set up a
political organisation known as the Madras Mahajan Sabha
in 1884, which aimed at creating public opinion. It were
the efforts of leaders like P. Ananda Charlu that prepared
the ground for the establishment of the Indian National
Congress, an organisation at the all-India level. In fact, P.
Ananda Charlu was one of the 72 delegates (also called the
‘brave-72’) who attended the first session of the ING (in 1885
at Bombay) and laid down its aims and objectives. In 1891,
 Other Eminent Personalities 263
he presided over the annual session of the Congress at
Nagpur. From 1903 to 1905, he was a member of the Madras
Legislative Council.
PATTABHI SITARAMAYYA (1880-1959)
A political leaded from Andhra, Sitaramayya was a doctor
by profession. He supported the Swadeshi cause and in
1916, he joined the Congress. In 1919, he launched an
English journal, Janmabhumi, to propagate the views of the
Congress. He was elected to the AICC and CWC and was
made the official historian of the INC. In 1948, he presided
over the annual session of the Congress at Jaipur. After
independence, he was actively involved in reorganising the
country along linguistic lines. In 1952, he became the
Governor of Madhya Pradesh.
PANDITA RAMABAI (1858-1922)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
A dedicated social worker from Maharashtra, Ramabai rose
her voice against decadent Hindu customs, which she felt
were particularly unjust to women. She relentlessly worked
for the uplift of women. In 1889, she set up Sharda Sadan,
an institution for the education of women. Later she
established Mukti Sadan and Kripa Sadan to rehabilitate
homeless women. She also wrote a number of books in
Marathi and English to awaken social consciousness regard-
ing the rights of women.
PHEROZESHAH MEHTA (1845-1915)
Pherozeshah Mehta, an eminent leader of the Indian Na-
tional Congress, was born on August 4,1845 in Bombay. A
moderate whom Gopal Krishna Gokhale recognised as his
leader Pherozeshah was educated in the best institutions
such as the Branch School and Elphinstone College. While
in England for law studies during 1964-68, he was influ-
enced by the personality of Dadabhai Naoroji. He distin-
guished himself in the legal profession after returning to
India. The Ilbert Bill was denounced by him for being based
on injustice during a meeting of the citizens of Bombay in
April 1883. Six years later, he was made the Dean of the
264 Other Eminent Personalities
Faculty of Arts, University of Bombay. In 1915, he was
appointed its vice-chancellor.
Pherozeshah became a member of the Indian National
Congress in its founding year. He elaborated his idea of
nationalism at the Calcutta session of the Congress in 1890.
He became President of Lahore Congress after the Congress
Surat split (1907). In 1893, he was elected to the Imperial
Council. His achievements here are also associated with the
amendment bills to the Cantonments Act of 1889 and the
Police Act of 1861.
For his social activities, he gained popularity as ‘the
uncrowned king of Bombay’. He started a newspaper, The
Bombay Chronicle, and founded the Central Bank of India.
He died on November 5, 1915 of a heart Collapse.
PRATAP SINGH KAIRON (1901-1965)
Pratap Singh entered the political forefront after his return
from the US in 1929. He organised peasant activities in
Punjab. Later, he worked for the Desh Bhagat Parivar Sahaik
Committee, an organisation to assist political activists. The
journal New Era was started by him. He became a cabinet
minister in Punjab and later served as chief minister. He
was shot dead on February 6, 1965.
PREETILATA WADDEDAR (1911-1932)
Preetilata was born in Chittagong (Bangladesh) in 1911. She
plunged into politics at an early age and joined various
student organisations. Later, she became the disciple of
Surya Sen, the leader of the Chittagong group of revolu-
tionaries. Under Sen’s influence, she came to believe that
the British could be ousted only through violent and armed
rebellions; the weak policies of the Congress were no match
to the might of the British dominion. Preetilata and her
comrades organised several terrorist attacks in Bengal, thus
creating panic among the colonial rulers and challenging
their invincibility. The hallmark of Preetilata’s career was
the courageous attack on the Paharthali European Club at
Chittagong on September 24, 1932. Though she escaped
 Other Eminent Personalities 265
unhurt, the police launched a frantic search for her.
Preetilata preferred death to confinement and when she
realised she could no longer hide, she consumed potassium
cyanide in 1932. Her death, however, set an example of
selfless service for others to follow.
PURUSHOTTAMDAS TANDON (1882-1962)
A lawyer by profession, Purushottamdas joined the Non-
Cooperation Movement and later the Civil Disobedience
Movement in U.P. As a leader of the kisan movement, he
organised a no-rent campaign. Also known as Rajarshi, he
was made the Speaker of the U.P. Legislative Assembly
(1937) and President of the Congress (1951).
RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY (1774-1833)
The noted social and religious reformer of India was born
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
of an orthodox brahmin family at Radhanagar, West Bengal
on May 22, 1774. His education, thorough and extensive,
involved study of secular texts as well as those concerned
with the various religions of the world. He became familiar
with a number of languages—the oriental languages Persian,
Arabic and Sanskrit and others such as English, French,
Greek, Latin and Hebrew. His earliest reformist writing was
a rational critique of idolatry in Hinduism when he was
merely 16 years of age. A result of that work was that he
was forced to leave home. He gained employment with the
East India Company in 1803 and worked there till 1814,
when he left his job desiring to devote himself to activities
of social reform.
Disturbed by the degenerating aspects of the society
as he witnessed them in Bengal, he adopted an approach
to social reform that sought to expose narrow religious
beliefs and practices, emphasise the importance of modern
Western education and thought in this context and involve
the state in reform work. Hoping to cleanse Hinduism of
the corrupt beliefs and practices that had crept into it, he
firmly opposed polytheism, idolatry, monopoly of the
brahmins over the Hindu sacred texts and also the belief
266 Other Eminent Personalities
in revelations and miracles. He wrote the Tuhfat-ul
Muwahhiddin in Persian which was his first published work
(1803-4). The modem Indian Luther, as Rammohan Roy is
sometimes called, began re-interpreting the vedantic litera-
ture and doctrines of Hinduism. But clearly Rammohan Roy
did not wish to preach a new religion; his aim was to simply
present a reformed Hinduism. Translation of an Abridge-
ment of the Vedant and Bengali, English and Hindi
translations of the Upanishads were published between
1815 and 1823. Supporting the concept of a single, Uni-
tarian God, he evolved three fundamental religious tenets
based on belief in (i) one universal supreme being, (ii) the
soul’s existence, and (iii) life after death.
Viewing reformist religious associations as the means
to transform the then existing social and political state of
affairs, in 1815 he founded the Atmiya Sabha and in 1828,
the Brahmo Sabha (renamed, Brahmo Samaj). The Brahmo
Samaj, opposed to idolatry and priesthood, had its goal as
“the worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable,
Immutable Being who is the Author and Preserver of the
Universe.” The form of worship it supported consisted of
prayer and meditation and reading from the Upanishads.
The Brahmo Samaj believed in fostering qualities like piety,
charity, benevolence, morality and virtue in order to unite
men irrespective of their religious persuasions.
Rammohan Roy was saddened at the plight of Indian
society which had become a victim to self-inflicted ills. Of
deep concern to him was the position of women in society.
The lot of women was plagued by illiteracy, their downright
subjugation by males in society and specific ills such as
the corrupt practice of sati or widow-burning. To rescue
the Indian society from its superstitions and injustices and
improve the plight of women, he favoured modern Western
education for its scientific and inquiring spirit and broad
ideas. But his approach to Western education greatly varied
from that of other contemporary intellectuals of Bengal. One
notable feature is that Rammohan Roy, unlike them, encour-
 Other Eminent Personalities 267
aged the British involvement in the religious and social
transformation of India.
Of Rammohan Roy’s ideas for economic reform,
noteworthy are his views on reforming the permanent
settlement so that it could render equal benefits to the
British as well as the Indians. He called for reducing the
revenue-demand on zamindars, and the security of the
tenants. His proposals to emancipate the peasants from the
miseries they were subjected to under the permanent
settlement were, however, put down by the rulers.
Rammohan Roy staunchly supported the granting of
civil liberties to the Indian people. And so he wanted the
British Parliament to govern by means of fair laws, which
could be brought about by setting up commissions of
inquiry, establishing a free press and consulting the views
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
and opinions of gentlemen of intelligence and respectability.
Ram r Roy’s contribution to the Indian press lies in his
founding of the journals, The Brahmanical Magazine and
the Samvad Kaumudi, a weekly in Bengali, both in 1821
and the Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian the following year. If he
did not outrightly demand political liberty, it was because
he did not forget the limitations of the Indian people at
the time. Moreover, it is to be remembered that the struggle
for an independent India, which carried with it a deep
hatred for the British rule, was yet to take a concrete and
definite form at that time. Rammohan Roy wished the
British Parliament and not an Indian Legislative Council to
frame just political laws only because he was fully aware
that any such council would end up under the control of
the British Governor-General.
RAJA MAHENDRA PRATAP (1886-1964)
An Indian prince, Raja Mahendra Pratap strenuously worked
for the freedom of the country. From 1914 to 1945, he stayed
outside India and organised revolutionary activities. In
1915, he set up a Provisional Government of Free India in
Kabul. Later he worked for the Ghadr Party and established
an Indian League in Japan.
268 Other Eminent Personalities
Mahendra Pratap was in favour of technical and
vocational education. He established the Prem Vidyalaya at
Brindaban, U.P. He condemned the concept of class war
and abolished the zamindari system. He also launched two
newspapers—Prem in Hindi and Nirbal Sewak in Hindi and
Urdu.
RAJENDRA NATH LAHIRI (1898-1927)
A martyr, Rajendra Nath was deeply influenced by the
philosophy of revolutionary leaders. He joined the Hindustan
Socialist Republican Association and played a significant
role in several raids organised by the HSRA. He was also
involved in the Kakori dacoity on August 9, 1925 for which
he was arrested, tried and sentenced to death.
RAMAKRISHNA PARAMHANSA (1836-1886)
A poor priest at the Kali temple in Dakshineswar, Calcutta,
Ramakrishna Paramhansa was one of the most prominent
socio-religious reformers of his time. After realising oneness
with the Absolute, he became a saint. He sought salvation
through traditional ways of renunciation, meditation and
prayers rather than through meaningless rites and rituals.
He recognised the oneness and formlessness of God and
emphasised that Krishna, Hari, Ram, Christ, Allah are
different names of the same God. He organised his young
disciples to form a Ramakrishna Math. The math consisted
of monks who lived a life of renunciation and practical
spirituality. These monks were then sent out as teachers
and workers to spread the universal message of vedanta.
Ramakrishna also taught that all men and women, irrespec-
tive of caste or creed were manifestations of the Divine and
that selfless service to these men and women was selfless
service to God. Ramakrishna’s philosophy helped a great
deal in bringing about a social regeneration in Bengal. After
his death, Narendranath Dutta (Swami Vivekananda) founded
the Ramakrishna Mission (in 1897) to propagate the teach-
ings of Paramhansa. The headquarters of the math and the
mission are at Belur near Calcutta.
 Other Eminent Personalities 269
RAMANA MAHARSHI (1876-1950)
Ramana Maharshi’s original name was Venkatraman. A
spiritual experience in 1896 inspired him to renounce
worldly pleasures. At Tiruvannamalai, he realised the
Absolute through deep contemplation. He became a saint
and came to be known as Sri Ramana Maharshi. He toured
all over the country and preached religious philosophy.
RAMA TIRTHA (1873-1906)
Born at Murariwala in Punjab, Rama Tirtha was influenced
by the teachings of Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Dvarakhapitha
and later of Swami Vivekananda. In 1901, he became an
ascetic and started preaching the philosophy of vedanta. He
toured several parts of the world and preached compassion
and emancipation of humanity. He aimed at establishing
a vedantic community.
RAJENDRA PRASAD (1884-1963)
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Rajendra Prasad was involved in the freedom struggle since
his student days. Hailing from the modern state of Bihar
he joined an anti-partition demonstration in Bengal and set
up the Bihari Students’ Conference. He started his career
as a lawyer in 1911 at Calcutta, but continued to participate
in the fight for independence. In 1917, he joined the
Champaran satyagrahis in their cause. After relinquishing
his legal practise, he was actively involved in the Non-
Cooperation Movement in Bihar and later, the Salt Satyagraha
in 1930 and Civil Disobedience in 1932 for which he was
sent to jail. He was also the editor of a weekly in Hindi
called Desh. A staunch believer in education for reform he
was a founder of the National College at Patna of which
he also became the Principal. He began a tour of his
province after the Cripps Mission failed. At the forefront
of the Quit India Movement, he suffered arrest and deten-
tion in the Ahmednagar fort.
In the interim government formed in 1946, he was
appointed the minister in charge of food and agriculture.
He took over as the President of the Constituent Assembly.
270 Other Eminent Personalities
After India became free, he was appointed the first President
of the Indian Republic. Rajendra Prasad was conferred with
the Bharat Ratna award in 1962.
RAJKUMARI AMRIT KAUR (1889-1964)
A member of the Kapurthala ruling family in Punjab,
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur received education in England.
Impressed by Gandhi’s message and efforts after her contact
with him in 1919, she began involving herself in Congress
activities. She participated in the satyagraha of 1930. She
was put behind bars for her agitation during the Quit India
Movement in 1942.
She was appointed India’s first health minister after
the country won freedom. From then on, she concentrated
her efforts on uplift of the poor, women and children. She
was a founder-member of the All India Women’s Confer-
ence. She founded the Indian Council of Child Welfare and
was its President as well. She also played a memorable role
in aiding the Indian Red Cross.
RAM MANOHAR LOHIA (1910-1968)
A patriot who fought against the prevalence of social
injustices in society, Lohia’s unique achievement is the
manner in which he evolved the socialist movement in
India. Ram Manohar Lohia was a founder-member of the
Congress Socialist Party in 1934. The party’s mouthpiece,
The Congress Socialist, came under the editorship of Ram
Lohia. Nehru encouraged him to take up the Congress’
Foreign Department in 1936. Lohia then played a great role
in helping the Congress develop good fraternal ties with
prominent forces in other nations. He began the movement
for independence in Goa in June 1946.
In post-independent India, Lohia is credited with the
founding of the Socialist Party of India. He excelled as a
parliamentarian and a forceful journalist. He favoured and
worked for the growth of Hindi, the national language.
RAM PRASAD BISMIL (1897-1927)
A martyr, Ram Prasad Bismil was born in 1897 at
 Other Eminent Personalities 271
Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He actively participated in the
terrorist movement as a member of Hindustan Socialist
Republican Association. He was involved in several attacks
by revolutionaries of Sherganj, Bichpuri etc, and in the
Kakori Mail dacoity (August 9, 1925). He was arrested and
sentenced to death. His composition—Sarfaroshi ki tamanna
ab hamare dil mein hai; dekhana hai zor kitana bazu-e-
katil mein hai—became a source of inspiration for hundreds
of young men and women who continued the struggle for
freedom.
RAO BAHADUR SATAPATHY MUDELIAR
Born at Bellary (Karnataka) in 1838, Mudeliar was a social
reformer who associated himself with the Congress move-
ment from the time of its inception. After being orphaned
as a child, he was helped by his grandfather to gain a liberal
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
education and a job at the office of the Collector. He went
on to become the largest native cotton exporter.
His generosity and charity for the poor knew no
bounds. He set up depots at his factories to feed the starved
during the 1878-79 famine. He developed an implement for
cutting the prickly-pear leaves into pieces so that they could
be used as food for cattle. The implements were provided
to the famine-stricken area to rescue the cattle from starving
to death. He also adopted as many as 300 orphans.
In Bellary, he set up the Satapathy Mudeliar Hospital,
a couple of schools for educating girls, schools for children
of the pariah community and a technical school. As
chairman of the municipality of the military and civil
station at Bellary, he ushered in health and sanitary reforms.
For Mudeliar’s services, the Viceroy conferred upon him
the title of ‘Rao Bahadur’. Mudeliar was the moral force
behind the movement, ‘Sarmarga Samaj’ which aimed at
social equality of all men, and moral and spiritual uplift
of the needy. He was the founder-president of the ‘Asso-
ciation for the Suppression of Drunkenness’ and a major
inspiration behind the forming of the ‘Mussalman Temper-
ance Society’.
272 Other Eminent Personalities
RAM CHANDRA BHARADWAJ (1886-1918)
A staunch believer in the philosophy of revolutionary
terrorism, Ram Chandra was a journalist and editor of Aftab,
Akash and the Bharat Mata. In 1911, he went to the USA
where he became involved in the activities of the Ghadr
Party and edited their journal Ghadr. Later he took over
the leadership of the movement from Lala Hardayal, after
the latter’s departure from the USA. Ram Chandra was
assassinated on April 23, 1918 in San Francisco, allegedly
by a secret agent of the British government.
RANI GAIDINLIU (1915-1981)
Gaidinliu was a Naga woman nationalist leader and a
disciple of Jadonang, a Naga tribal who had launched a
political movement to overthrow the British from Manipur.
After the capture and execution of Jadonang, Gaidinliu led
the movement and organised a popular tribal rebellion. She
was arrested in 1932 and spent 14 years in jail. She was
finally released from prison after independence. It was
Jawaharlal Nehru who described her as the ‘Rani of the
Nagas’ and since then, the title ‘Rani’ is used before her
name.
RASHBEHARI BOSE (1886-1945)
Rashbehari Bose was one of the great revolutionaries of the
first half of the 20th century. Born on May 25, 1886 at
Palarabighati (West Bengal), Bose joined the Revolutionary
Party at an early age. He organised several clandestine
activities in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab. He came into
limelight when he threw a bomb on Lord Hardinge’s (the
then Viceroy of India) procession in Chandni Chowk, Delhi
on December 23, 1912. After throwing the bomb, Bose
managed to escape arrest and went in hiding in Varanasi.
With the help of the members of the Ghadr Party, he
planned a simultaneous rebellion which would rock the
whole of north India. The British, however, foiled all
attempts of Bose to create unrest and arrested several of
Bose’s confidants; of which twenty-eight were hanged after
 Other Eminent Personalities 273
trials under what came to be known as the Lahore Con-
spiracy Case. Bose managed to escape from India in 1915
and went to Japan where he lived as a fugitive. In March
1942, he organised a conference to set up an Indian
Independence League, the first session of which was held
in June 1942 at Bangkok. He was then elected President
of the Council of Action for the formation of INA. He
mobilised Indian soldiers taken as prisoners of war by the
Japanese forces for an armed rebellion against the British
rule. In 1943, he handed over the charge of INA to Subash
Chandra Bose in Singapore. Bose died in Tokyo on January
21,1945.
REHANA TYABJEE (1900-1975)
Rehana Tyabjee was born in an affluent and well-educated
family at Baroda on January 26,1900. It was from her father,
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Abbas Tyabjee, an eminent judge, that she took her first
lessons of patriotism. Later, she became an ardent follower
of Gandhi and his principles. She adopted the lifestyle of
Sabarmati Ashram and worked selflessly, both at the
political level for gaining freedom and at the social level
for establishing an Utopian order. Rehana was actively
involved in several agitations against the British rule,
especially against those policies of the British which aimed
at dividing Indians on communal lines. She played an
important role in non-cooperation and boycott movements,
inspiring the masses to adopt ‘swadeshi’ as the principle
of their lives. She also rose to presidentship of the Youth
League of Congress. In 1942, she was arrested for partici-
pating in the Quit India Movement, and was sentenced to
one year’s imprisonment.
Rehana held a special interest in spiritualism, which
helped her cross barriers of caste, class, religion etc. Though
she was a Muslim, she was open to viewpoints from
different religions. Gandhi was particularly impressed by
this virtue of Rehana’s. She was quite adept at singing
Hindu devotional songs and has the honour of being the
274 Other Eminent Personalities
first Muslim woman to sing Vandemataram at any Congress
session. Rehana also supported Gandhi in his efforts to
eradicate untouchability. She pleaded for the cause of
women and commended the Rai Saheb Harbilas Sharda Act,
which favoured the prohibition of child marriage. Even after
independence, Rehana continued with her social work but
kept away from active politics. She died on May 16, 1975.
ROMESH CHANDRA DUTT (1848-1909)
A noted nationalist and an economist, Romesh Chandra Dutt
was among the first Indians to clear the I.C.S examination
(in 1869) and worked for the Indianisation of the Civil
Services. After retiring from service, he became actively
involved in the nationalist movement. In 1899, he was made
the President of the Indian National Congress and as such,
presided over the Lucknow session. As a scholar, Dutt
conducted pioneering research in the field of economy,
particularly on issues such as poverty of cultivators, fam-
ines, indigenous industries and impact of high taxes. His
famous works include The Economic History of British
India, India in the Victorian Age, and History of Civilisation
in Ancient India.
SACHCHIDANANDA SINHA (1871-1950)
Born at Arrah in Bihar, Sachchidananda Sinha was one of
India’s well-known lawyers and educationists. He joined the
Congress in 1899 and approved of the views and philoso-
phies of the moderates. He participated in the Home Rule
League Movement. Sachchidananda was elected to the
central and provincial legislatures a number of times. He
served as member of Executive Council of Government of
Bihar and Orissa in 1921. From 1936 to 1944, he held the
post of vice-chancellor of Patna University. In 1946, he was
made the interim president of the Indian Constituent
Assembly.
Sachchidananda also distinguished himself as a jour-
nalist. He was the publisher of the Indian Nation and editor
of Hindustan Review.
 Other Eminent Personalities 275
SACHINDRANATH SANYAL (1895-1945)
Sachindranath Sanyal was a close associate of Ras Behari
Bose. He played a major role in organising a revolt by the
soldiers of the 7th Rajput Regiment in the United Provinces.
He was arrested for his involvement in the plan and was
sentenced to transportation for life. After his release in 1919
(when an amnesty was declared), he helped in the founding
of the Hindustan Republican Association. Sachindranath
was once again arrested in the Kakori Conspiracy case in
1925 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
S. KASTURI RANGA IYENGAR (1859-1923)
He was a well-known journalist, social reformer and po-
litical leader from Madras. In 1905, he acquired The Hindu,
which he edited till his death. Through his paper, he
launched powerful campaigns to rouse patriotic sentiments.
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Kasturi Ranga also opposed decadent social customs such
as child marriage and untouchability.
SAIFUDDIN KITCHLEW (1888-1963)
Kitchlew worked for India’s freedom in close association
with Gandhi. He was at the forefront of the 1919 Satyagraha
Movement. The Martial Law Commission transported him
for life but he was later released. He actively participated
in all the programmes of the freedom struggle. During his
lifetime, he spent an overall 14 years or so in prison. In
the capacity of a barrister, he defended men involved in
the freedom struggle who stood as accused in famous trials
such as the Delhi and Meerut Conspiracy cases. He was the
founder-president of the All India Peace Council and vice-
president of the World Peace Council. He was the first
among the Indian recipients of the Stalin Peace Prize. He
received the prize in 1954.
S. SUBRAMANIYA IYER (1842-1924)
Popularly known as the ‘Grand Old Man of South India’,
S. Subramaniya Iyer was one of the founders of the Indian
National Congress. He was also closely associated with
Annie Besant’s Home Rule League. A lawyer by profession,
276 Other Eminent Personalities
he was the first Indian to be appointed as the vice-
chancellor of Madras University.
SAROJINI NAIDU (1879-1949)
Sarojini Naidu, the ‘Nightingale of India,’ is remembered
as a leading woman nationalist leader of India’s political
struggle for independence. Born in 1879 as Sarojini
Chattopadhyay and one of the brightest students in school,
she blossomed into a writer of passionate verses on a variety
of themes. Her works on poetry are The Golden Threshold,
published in 1905; The Feather of the Dawn; The Bird of
Time, published in 1912, and The Broken Wing, published
in 1917.
After finishing studies at the Madras Presidency, she
went to pursue further studies at King’s College in London
after obtaining a scholarship. It was only after her marriage
to Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu in 1893 that she became
determined to serve the people in need with courage and
perseverance. She urged the student community to stand
united and fight against racial and communal disintegration.
She worked to encourage the setting up of homes for
orphans and other needy persons and schools where girls
could pursue education.
She entered politics about the year 1902 with Gopal
Krishna Gokhale as her initiator. Under his guidance, she
began to work for the cause of India’s freedom from the
foreign yoke. Thus she was one of the first women to
participate in the national struggle for independence. Working
close to Mahatma Gandhi and participating in all of his
programmes including the Dandi March, Sarojini Naidu
received much adulation. She became the President of the
Indian National Congress in 1925. The Asian Relations
Conference in the year 1947 was presided by her.
Following India’s independence, she was given the
governorship of Uttar Pradesh.
SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN (1888-1975)
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in a brahmin family in
 Other Eminent Personalities 277
Tiruttani (Tamil Nadu) on September 5, 1888. He developed
interest in religion, philosophy and culture at a very early
age. His education at Christian missionary educational
institutions gave him an opportunity to get acquainted with
western liberal thought. His main subject at the university
level was philosophy and in the course of time, he was
to become one of the greatest philosophers and education-
ists of India. After completing his graduation, Radhakrishnan
joined government service (provincial education) in Tamil
Nadu. Thereafter he was associated with several prestigious
educational institutions in India as well as abroad. He
taught philosophy at as many as five universities. He was
appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University in
1931 and that of Benaras Hindu University in 1942. He gave
lectures on theology and philosophy in Chicago, Manches-
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
ter, London, Oxford and other universities. A recipient of
at least 105 honorary distinctions and degrees from univer-
sities all over the world, Radhakrishnan also held several
distinguished cultural posts. He was the leader of the Indian
delegation to UNESCO from 1946-50, Chairman (in 1948)
and President (1952) of UNESCO’s University Education
Commission. In 1959 he attended the PEN Conference and
became the Vice-President of international PEN. In 1962,
he represented the Calcutta University at the Congress of
Philosophy, Harvard University. A celebrated writer,
Radhakrishnan authored several books on philosophy, the-
ology, education and other subjects. A few of his famous
works are The Ethics of the Vedanta and its Material
Presupposition (1908); The Philosophy of Rabindranath
Tagore (1918); Idealistic View of Life (1932); Eastern
Religion and Western Thought; Reign of Philosophy in
Contemporary Thought; Kalki on the Future of Civilisation
and Indian Philosophy.
Radhakrishnan also held several important political
posts. From 1949-52, he was the Ambassador Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary to the erstwhile USSR. He was
278 Other Eminent Personalities
elected the Vice-President of India twice (1952-56 and 1957-
62). He served as President of the nation from 1962 to 1967.
His birthday is celebrated as Teacher’s Day.
SATYA PAL (1885-1954)
A doctor by profession, Satya Pal resigned from government
service and joined agitations against Rowlatt Bill. He was
imprisoned a number of times but that did not dissuade
him from participating in nationalist activities. He served
as Secretary and President of Punjab Congress and as the
Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly.
SATYENDRANATH BASU (1882-1908)
Satyendranath Basu was a resident of Midnapore (West
Bengal). He was a teacher in a government school. Im-
pressed by the philosophy of revolutionary terrorism, he
pioneered the formation of Ananda Math, a revolutionary
secret society at Midnapore. Because of his anti-British
activities, especially those related to the Swadeshi Move-
ment, he was dismissed from government service in April
1906. In 1908, he was arrested on charges of involvement
in the Muzaffarpur and Alipur bomb cases. He was tried
and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the
Alipur Central Jail on November 21, 1908,
SHIVRAM RAJGURU (1908-1931)
Rajguru was a brave revolutionary leader from Maharashtra.
He was involved in several underground activities, aimed
at overthrowing the British. Angered at the death of Lala
Lajpat Rai due to lathi charge of police during an anti-Simon
procession, Rajguru (alongwith his associates—Bhagat Singh
and Chandra Shekhar Azad) assassinated inspector Saunders
on December 17, 1928 in Lahore. (Saunders was responsible
for the lathi charge.) Rajguru was arrested in September,
1929 and was tried as one of the main accused in the Lahore
Conspiracy Case. He was sentenced to death and died on
the gallows in the Lahore Central Jail on March 23, 1931.
 Other Eminent Personalities 279
SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJEE (1901-1953)
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a distinguished educationist.
At the young age of 33, he was made the Vice-Chancellor
of Calcutta University. He joined politics in 1937 and was
elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. In 1939, he
joined the Hindu Mahasabha. From 1940 to 1944, he
remained the President of the Hindu Mahasabha. In April
1950, he resigned from the post of Union Minister for
Industries and Supplies. He also founded the Bharatiya Jana
Sangh and advocated the full integration of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir with India.
SOHAN LAL PATHAK (1883-1916)
Sohan Lal Pathak, a primary school teacher in Punjab, was
an associate of Lala Lajpat Rai. He took a keen interest in
revolutionary activities and resigned from his job after he
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
was asked to sever his contacts with Lala Lajpat Rai. He
became the joint editor of Bande Mataram, an Urdu journal.
In 1914, he went to the US to join the Ghadr Party. He
was given the task of instigating the Indian soldiers in the
British army stationed at Burma, Singapore and Malaya for
an armed revolt against the British. The Indian soldiers in
Singapore put up a revolt in March 1915. However, the
revolt was brutally suppressed. Sohan Lal was arrested in
1915 in Burma, where he was trying to organise an uprising.
He was tried and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows
in Mandalay Jail (Burma) on February 10, 1916.
SOHAN SINGH BHAKNA (1870-1968)
A native of Amritsar, Sohan Singh Bhakna went to the USA
in 1909 to seek employment. In 1913, he founded the Hind
Association (later renamed as the Hind Association of the
Pacific Coast) with the help of Indians settled in the US
and Canada. He became the Association’s first President and
Lala Hardayal, its Secretary. The Association published a
journal, Ghadr, which demanded freedom for India. Later,
a revolutionary organ of the Association emerged which
came to be known as the Ghadr Party. Sohan Singh was
280 Other Eminent Personalities
one of the founders of this party and was associated with
the Komagata Maru ship incident in 1914. He was also
instrumental in the opening of branches of the Ghadr Party
in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shangai, Manila etc., and in this
way, played a major role in uniting Indians settled outside
India for the common aim of achieving independence. He
was arrested for his anti-British activities under the Lahore
Conspiracy Case and sentenced to death. Later, his death
sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. After his
release in 1930, he devoted the rest of his life in organising
kisan sabhas and other welfare programmes for peasants.
SRI AUROBINDO GHOSE (1872-1950)
Sri Aurobindo Ghose has been one of the finest thinkers
and philosophers of modern India. He was also a popular
leader of the freedom movement who went on to become
a yogi and a mystic.
Aurobindo was born in Konnanagar (West Bengal) on
August 15, 1872. Soon after completing his education from
Loreto Convent at Darjeeling, he was sent to England to
pursue further studies. He studied in St. Paul’s School in
London from 1884. After securing a senior classical schol-
arship, he joined King’s College, Cambridge in 1890.
After returning to India, he studied Sanskrit and
Indian culture, religion and philosophy. And then till 1910,
he devoted himself to the freedom cause by introducing
radical programmes for the Bengal Congress while urging
Indians to boycott all foreign-made goods and programmes
of the British Government. He was arrested for his pro-
swaraj activities in 1910 and jailed in Alipore for a year.
It was during his imprisonment that he underwent an
intense mystical experience that was to have a profound
impact on him. From then onwards, he assumed the life
of a yogi and went to reside at Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu
where he also founded an ashram. The town of Auroville
in Pondicherry, the ‘universal town’, was later conceived
by one of his chief disciples, known as ‘the Mother’, to bear
 Other Eminent Personalities 281
out Aurobindo’s philosophical principles. Auroville,
symbolising the universal spirit, was then opened in 1968.
Aurobindo also published The Arya, a philosophical jour-
nal, that included his well-known writings namely, The
Ideal of Human Unity, The Synthesis of Yoga and The Life
Divine.
Aurobindo’s political ideas and his philosophy cannot
be distinguished as two separate sets of thoughts. This is
because all his political ideas are based on those very
spiritual and moral concepts that form the essence of his
philosophical thoughts. Thus, nationalism for Aurobindo is
not simply a political programme or a concept of the
intellect. It was a spiritual endeavour, “a religion that has
come from God”. It is an active religion whose main
weapons are spiritual. Aurobindo believed that India’s
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national movement had to succeed so that India could
complete her destined task and “become herself. So swaraj
was not merely a hint of political independence; swaraj was
the means by which she could become a spiritual guide
to the whole of humanity.
To deal with national oppression, Aurobindo advo-
cated passive as well as active resistance depending upon
the type of pressures applied. As political liberty is of the
greatest importance to a nation, it has to be guarded or
secured by any means.
Aurobindo was of the opinion that individuals must
be ready to lay down their lives in their nation’s interests.
Only by identifying himself with the national will can an
individual achieve fulfilment. But the nation itself was not
simply a group of individuals, as Aurobindo saw it. It was
an organism just as the individual is one, and a nation has
its own personality as well. The function of a society is
to help an individual achieve the human ideals and so, a
society’s ideals have to be based on an accurate understand-
ing of human existence. Man needs to realise that his
essential being does not rely on scientific and technological
advancements as those made in the West but is a result
of living in the spirit.
282 Other Eminent Personalities
The revolution conceived by Aurobindo was spiritual
in nature. It involved a realisation based on the concepts
of the Supreme Reality (Sachchidananda), Supermind (the
Truth Consciousness) and Evolution. The basic idea of
humanity was Brahma—whose freedom is equally shared
by humans who have an organic relationship with one
another. The Brahma (super-consciousness) is related to the
Mind (consciousness) through the supermind, the most
complete spiritual consciousness. And spiritual evolution
was a process that spread over the whole of reality itself.
SRI NARAYANA GURU (1845-1928)
Sri Narayana Guru was a famous socio-religious reformer
from Kerala. He represented the aspirations of the Ezhavas
who were considered untouchables in Kerala. He opposed
the domination of the brahminic or the priestly class and
worked to secure temple entry rights to the depressed castes
as well. In 1888, he started the Aravippuram Movement
with the installation of a Siva idol at Aravippuram and
defied brahminical laws. On the wall of the Siva Temple,
he inscribed the following words: “Devoid of dividing walls
of caste, of race, or hatred of rival faith, we all live here
in brotherhood.” In 1902-1903, he launched the Sri Narayana
Dharma Paripalana Yogam (the SNDPY) which took up the
cause of social equality. The movement demanded (i) right
of admission to public schools; (ii) recruitment to govern-
ment employment; (iii) access to roads and entry to temples;
and (iv) political representation for the depressed castes.
The SNDPY had a great impact and helped in the eman-
cipation of the lower castes. Sri Narayana Guru will always
be remembered for his relentless efforts to bring transfor-
mation in the social structure.
SUBBA RAO PANTULU
A well-known freedom fighter and social reformer, Subba
Rao was the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the
Madras Congress of 1898. He served as General Secretary
of the Congress from 1913 to 1917. He was one of the prime
 Other Eminent Personalities 283
builders of modern Andhra. He was also one of the four
founders of The Hindu, an English daily.
S. SATYAMURTI (1887-1943)
A graduate in law, Satyamurti was a prominent leader of
the Indian National Congress. He propagated nationalist
views in the South and became the Secretary and later
President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee. Because
of his activities, Satyamurti came to be known as the
Firebrand of South India. From 1923 to 1930, he was a
member of the Madras Legislative Council where he was
the secretary and later deputy leader of the Congress. He
withdrew from the Council in 1930 to participate in the
Salt Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience Movement. He
was imprisoned as a result, From 1933 to 1942, he remained
a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. In 1939, he
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became the Mayor of Madras Corporation and prepared
details of the Poondi Dam Project—later renamed as
Satyamurti Sagar. He also held the posts of the President
of the South India Film Chamber of Commerce and the
President of the Indian Motion Picture Congress. In 1942,
he was imprisoned for his contribution to the Quit India
Movement. In 1943, he died while in detention.
SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE (1897-1945)
Subhash Chandra Bose revolutionised the freedom struggle
with his ideas. He was born in 1897 at Cuttack in Orissa.
He pursued higher studies in Calcutta and at the Cambridge
University, after which he passed the Indian Civil Service
Examination in England. But he did not join the ICS. He
returned home to Join the Non-Cooperation Movement.
From then onwards, he became an active member of the
Congress. He was made the Chief Executive Officer of the
Calcutta Corporation in 1924. It was during his association
with Congress volunteers at the Congress session in Calcutta
that communism had its impact on him. As a result, he
developed thoughts and ideas of his own which were
unsupportive of Gandhi’s programmes.
284 Other Eminent Personalities
In spite of Gandhi’s opposition, Subhash Chandra
Bose was elected the Congress President in 1938 (at Haripur)
and 1939 (at Tripuri). In 1938, he declared that the Indian
freedom struggle ought to synchronise with the world war
at the time. Owing to political differences, he resigned from
the Congress in 1939. After founding the Forward Bloc and
the Kisan Sabha, he left India in 1941 to intensify the
freedom struggle by carrying out his revolutionary
programmes.
After seeking the support of the Soviet Union in
India’s struggle and a meeting with Hitler, he made a major
impact on the Indian nationalist movement with his
reorganisation of the Indian National Army in 1943. Also
called Azad Hind Fauj, the INA had been founded in
Singapore in 1942 by Captain Mohan with Japan’s support
but then had been left as good as dead. Subhash Chandra
Bose revived the INA by recruiting 60,000 Indian prisoners
in Burma, Malaya and other places as its soldiers. The
organisation meant to internationalise the Indian freedom
struggle through violent means. He coined the slogans ‘Delhi
Chalo’ and ‘Jai Hind’ which proved to be a constant source
of inspiration to INA men. As supreme commander of the
INA, he established a provisional Indian Government. The
INA was successful only in its initial phase. But the INA
had achieved a unique distinction by succeeding in uniting
people of different religions and backgrounds under its
head.
Subhash Chandra Bose met a sudden end in a plane
crash in 1945.
SUBRAMANIA BHARATI (1882-1921)
The poet, social reformer and freedom fighter of South India
is renowned for his beautiful verses celebrating the freedom
struggle, the theme of patriotism and his motherland.
Subramania Bharati was born on December 11,1882
in the district of Tinnevelly in Tamil Nadu. Such was his
poetic genius that at the young age of 11 he was awarded
 Other Eminent Personalities 285
the title of ‘Bharati’. He was educated at the Hindu College
School in his district and he gained proficiency in Sanskrit
and Hindi. He began teaching in Ettayapuram in 1902 to
earn his living. During this period, he studied poetical
works in English and wrote for newspapers under the
pseudonym, ‘Shelly Dasan’. He became the assistant editor
of the Swadesamitran in 1902 and later, the editor of
Chakravarthini.
It was in 1905 that Bharati flung himself into the
freedom struggle heart and soul. His meetings with a
number of nationalist and spiritual leaders proved a great
source of inspiration. He went on to write many poems on
leaders including Lokmanya Tilak. He met Sister Nivedita
in 1906, and later the Mandayam brothers, S. Tirumalachari
and S. Srinivasachari, and the moderate leader, V.
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Krishnaswami Aiyar. His revolutionary writings as the
editor of India and in the English weekly, Bala Bharati
infuriated the Government. In 1908, he released his first
book of poems, Songs of Freedom, which was not only a
literary achievement but also a strong call for freedom from
foreign rule. Thus, Bharati led the freedom movement in
Madras.
Evading arrest, in 1908 Bharati escaped to Pondicherry
which was soon to emerge as the refuge for many political
leaders. His 10 years spent in Pondicherry are considered
the best period of his growth as a poet. Here, while
continuing his strife with the British rulers, he had the
occasion to meet V.V.S. Aiyar and Sri Aurobindo. The
meeting with Aurobindo greatly heartened Bharati; he
learned to view the glories of his motherland and began
admiring them in his poems. In 1912, he wrote some of
his best poems.
Bharati was arrested in 1918 near Cuddalore. The next
year in Madras, he met Gandhi to whom he dedicated a
poem, To Mahatma Gandhi7. Bharati died on September 12,
1921, about two months after he was attacked by an
elephant at the Triplicane temple in Madras.
286 Other Eminent Personalities
S. SRINIVASA IYENGAR (1874-1941)
A member of the Madras Senate who was the Advocate-
General of Madras from 1916 to 1920, Srinivasa Iyengar
fought to erase communal-based injustices as President of
the Madras Social Reforms Association. But he gave up all
his titles including the Advocate-Generalship and withdrew
from the Legislative Council in order to protest against the
killing of his countrymen in Jallianwala Bagh. A swarajist,
he was made deputy leader of the opposition in the Central
Legislative Assembly. He participated in the swarajist
walkout of 1926 and organised protest against the Simon
Commission in 1928. He expressed dissatisfaction with the
Nehru Report on independence. The founder of the Indepen-
dence of India League was in favour of a welfare state and
a society founded on socialist ideals. His public career came
to an end in 1930.
SURENDRANATH BANNERJEA (1848-1928)
Surendranath Bannerjea was a great Indian patriot from
Bengal. He was chosen for the Indian Civil Services ill 1896
but was dismissed on controversial grounds. He was one
of the founding members of the Indian National Congress
and was elected its President twice. Surendranath Bannerjea
also distinguished himself as a journalist. He launched
powerful press campaigns especially through his own paper
Bengalee to spread nationalist sentiments throughout the
country. He played a prominent role in the Swadeshi
Movement and in movements launched against the partition
of Bengal. In 1918, however, he left the Congress. In 1921,
he accepted the offer of the job of minister of local self-
government and health, which was resented by other
nationalists.
SURYA SEN (1894-1934)
Surya Sen led the revolutionary movement in Chittagong
(now in Bangladesh) where his views attracted several
followers. He wanted to free Chittagong from the hold of
the British and to establish an independent government. For
 Other Eminent Personalities 287
the purpose, he set up several organisations, including the
revolutionary Chittagong Republican Army. Surya Sen was
involved in the Assam-Bengal Railway dacoity aimed at
raising funds for arms and ammunition. He was also
suspected of setting up the Dakshineswar factory for pro-
ducing bombs and was jailed from 1926 to 1928 for
revolutionary activities. He decided to organise an armed
rebellion to show that it was possible to challenge the might
of the British empire. On April 18,1930, the Republican
Army carried out a raid on two government armouries and
completely brought to a halt telephone, telegraph and
railway services. The Army seized power of Chittagong and
declared the establishment of a National Revolutionary
Government. Surya Sen then issued a manifesto in the name
of Indian Republican Army and called on all Indians to
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
revolt against the British in a similar way.
However, the British soon retaliated and launched
attacks on the Revolutionary Army. The clashes between
the Army and the British forces unleashed a wave of
violence in Ghittagong. Under Sen’s guidance, Preetilata
Waddedar attacked the European club in 1932. The British
forces began a frantic search for Sen, who was finally
captured in February 1933. He was sentenced to death and
hanged on January 12, 1934. The Chittagong raid, however,
succeeded in its attempt to fire the imagination of the youth
who recruited themselves in several revolutionary groups.
SWAMI SARASWATI SAHAJANAND (1889-1950)
Swami Saraswati Sahajanand was a staunch upholder of the
peasants’ cause. He mobilised the peasants of Bihar to resist
feudal oppression. He set up the Sitaram Ashram and was
the Bihar Kisan Sabha’s first President (1929). Later, he
became the President of the All-India Kisan Sabha. He
demanded several agrarian reforms such as abolition of
zamindari, and creation of peasant proprietorship. As the
editor of Bhoomihari Brahmin and the Lok Sangraha, he
brought to light several hardships faced by peasants. He also
288 Other Eminent Personalities
wrote books dealing with peasants’ concerns. Because of his
selfless services, he came to be known as Kisan Pran.
Swami Saraswati was also involved in the freedom
struggle. He joined the Non-Cooperation Movement and the
Civil Disobedience Movement. He was imprisoned for
refusing to bide by the salt law (1930) and for participating
in the Individual Satyagraha (1940).
SWAMI SHRADDHANAND (1856-1926)
Strongly influenced by Swami Dayanand Saraswati,
Shraddhanand started working for the Arya Samaj. He
spread the social ideals of the Arya Samaj Movement. He
strongly condemned Hindu orthodoxy, caste rigidities,
untouchability and idolatry and advocated widow remar-
riage, education of women and adoption of orphans. In
1902, Swami Shraddhanand established a residential uni-
versity—Gurukul—at Hardwar to impart education to stu-
dents in the traditional framework. At Jullundhur, he set
up a girls’ college and at Delhi, the Dalit Uddhar Sabha
to promote social equality. He also started the weekly, Satya
Dharma Pracharak to propagate the views of Swami
Dayanand. Later, he served as the President of the Shuddhi
Sabha, an organ of the Arya Samaj to reconvert to the Hindu
fold the converts to Christianity and Islam.
Swami Shraddhanand was also involved in the po-
litical struggle, especially during agitations against Rowlatt
Act. He was made the Chairman of the Reception Committee
of the Amritsar session of the Congress in 1919. In 1922,
he suffered imprisonment for participating in Guru Ka Bagh
Satyagraha,
He was assassinated by a Muslim fanatic on December
23, 1926.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (1863-1902)
One of the most notable personalities of modern India
Swami Vivekananda was a spiritual leader, philosopher and
social reformer whose teachings have been a continual
source of inspiration to people all over the world. Hailed
 Other Eminent Personalities 289
as the “Prophet of Nationalism”, Vivekananda’s soul-inspir-
ing messages on the motherland infused the nationalists of
pre-independence India with a burning patriotism. Though
never directly involved in politics, he was the very spirit
of courage, self-help and independence. Advocating the
building up of physical and moral courage and pride in
the ancient glory of India, he awakened millions to the
plight of the motherland and strengthened Indian nation-
alism. His speeches on foreign soils not only roused the
international community to India’s strife for freedom but
unveiled to them the glory of India’s ancient religion and
culture.
Narendranath Datta or Vivekananda was born on
January 12, 1863 in Calcutta. He cleared the entrance
examination of the Metropolitan Institute and studied in the
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Scottish Church College in Calcutta. His education included
study of western philosophy which he later used to interpret
Indian concepts on religion. He became a disciple of the
saint Ramakrishna Paramhansa. After his guru’s death, he
became a monk to popularise Ramakrishna’s teachings
denouncing priestly domination and rituals, and emphasising
renunciation, bhakti and meditation. After taking the vow
of sannyasa he travelled all around India. He adopted the
name ‘Vivekananda’ at the suggestion of Maharaja Ajit Singh
of” Khetri. Vivekananda opposed child marriage, discrimi-
nation on the basis of caste and the poor status of women
and supported education and health care for the needy. In
1897, he formed the Ramakrishna Mission to carry out
charity and work for spiritual welfare. The Mission mainly
sought to improve the condition of women, overhaul the
education system and fight against caste injustices and
belief in superstitions.
While meditating on a rock at Kanyakumari—which
now bears the Vivekananda memorial, he decided to spread
Indian culture in the West and arouse it to the needs of
the poor in India.
In 1893, Vivekananda attended the World Parliament
290 Other Eminent Personalities
of Religions at Chicago, USA to represent Hinduism. His
performance there made history for he astounded the
audience by his portrayal of Hinduism as a religion of
tolerance and universal acceptance. It was his rhetoric, his
showmanship and the manner in which he unveiled the
religion in western terms that won him international repute.
His lectures abroad on other occasions as well revealed the
essential spirit of Hinduism and its relevance in modern
times to the western world. As a result, he won many
followers abroad. He wrote the Song of the Sannyasin. The
journal Parbuddha Bharat was set up. He was the inspi-
ration behind the setting up of the Advaita Ashram at
Pithoragarh, the Shanti Ashram in California and Vedanta
Centre in San Francisco.
For Vivekananda, the Bhagavat Gita bore the supreme
goals of mankind. He spread the ideas of universal brother-
hood, unity in diversity and unattached karma of the
Sanatana Dharma. He believed that true Hinduism was to
be found in the Advaita Vedanta which considers all kinds
of phenomena as incomplete representations of the one
reality. He drew upon western idealistic and evolutionary
thoughts to explain that the philosophy of Advaita was a
scientific and rational set of principles that could provide
the universal cure for problems whether they be of mate-
rialism or backwardness. Vivekananda held the Vedanta as
the touchstone of reason. He called to the youth of India
to draw their inspiration from the Vedanta and strive to
free India from political bondage and advance her spiritu-
ally. Vivekananda’s spiritual philosophy and nationalistic
thoughts influenced Aurobindo Ghose, Radhakrishnan,
Aldous Huxley and many others.
SYED AHMED KHAN (1817-1898)
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was a great Muslim educationist and
social reformer of his times. He was in favour of liberal
education and advocated the introduction of western learn-
ing besides traditional Islamic studies. He laid emphasis on
principle of enquiry and favoured scientific and rational
 Other Eminent Personalities 291
attitude. In 1864, he founded a scientific society and in
1870, he launched Tahzih-al-akhlaq, an Urdu journal. The
Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh (later, the
Aligarh Muslim University) owes its origin to him. Sir Syed
also founded the ‘Aligarh Movement’. He championed the
rights of Muslims and objected to participation of Muslims
in the activities of the Indian National Congress.
TANGUTURI PRAKASAM (1872-1957)
T. Prakasam joined the freedom movement and renounced
his government job in response to the non-cooperation call
by Gandhi. Along with his associates, he spread the
movement in Andhra delta region and came to be fondly
regarded as Andhra Kesari (the Lion of Andhra). He also
became a member of the AICC. In 1926, he got elected to
the Madras Legislative Assembly but resigned in 1930. He
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also made significant contributions during the agitations
against the Simon Commission and during Salt Satyagraha.
In 1937, he became the Revenue Minister in the
Rajagopalachari Ministry of Madras, and in 1945, he became
the Chief Minister. After independence, he became the first
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
TEJ BAHADUR SAPRU (1875-1949)
Tej Bahadur Sapru was born on December 8, 1875 in Aligarh
in a Kashmiri Pandit family. His grandfather was the Deputy
Collector in Aligarh. Tej Bahadur had his schooling in
Mathura after which he joined the Agra College for further
studies. He topped the list of successful candidates in both
the B.A. (Hons.) and later the M.A. examinations in English
literature. He earned his LL.B degree in 1895 and started
to practise law in the District Court in Moradabad. Three
years later, in 1898 he shifted his practise to the Allahabad
High Court though his work remained modest initially. Tej
Bahadur utilised his spare time to earn his LL.M in 1901
and his LL.D. subsequently. With time he became well-
known as a brilliant advocate and established a very
successful practice.
292 Other Eminent Personalities
Tej Bahadur’s political inclinations came to expres-
sion rather early. He attended the Allahabad Congress of
1892 and was said to have been swept off his feet by the
eloquent Surendranath Banerjea. He became a Congress
delegate in 1896 and was elected to the Education Com-
mittee of the Lahore Congress of 1900. Other people elected
to the committee included Das and Malaviya. Sapru also
served as President of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Commit-
tee for many years. He was also a member of the All India
Congress Committee from 1906 to 1917 and was also one
of the General, Secretaries of the party. Tej Bahadur is said
to have been most influenced by Gokhale, whom he came
across at the Banaras Congress in 1905. Both of them
expressed their views against violence and lawlessness, and
supported agitation through constitutional means.
Contesting on a Congress ticket, Sapru was elected to
the Imperial Legislative Council in 1916. The national
demands for constitutional reforms titled “The memoran-
dum of nineteen members” was drafted by Tej Bahadur in
collaboration with Jinnah and Malaviya. He also played a
vital role in the realisation of the Congress-League pact at
the Lucknow Congress of 1916. The Montagu-Chelmsford
Report was published in 1918 and due to differences with
the extremist group, he had to withdraw from the Congress.
He joined the Liberal Party in 1919 and was made a member
of the Functions Committee. The Functions Committee
specified the subjects which were to be transferred to the
Governor and his ministers, and those which were reserved
for the Governor’s sole administration. Once again his role
in the constitution of the report was invaluable. Recognising
his work he was appointed a Law Member to the Viceroy’s
Executive Council. In his new role as a Law Member Tej
Bahadur played a central part in getting certain press
legislations repealed, like the Press Act of 1910 and the
Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act of 1908. It was
because of Tej Bahadur that the Criminal Law Amendment
Act of 1908 was withdrawn from the statute book. But Tej
 Other Eminent Personalities 293
Bahadur was not satisfied with a few events and resigned
his Law Membership in 1922, though the Government
conferred knighthood upon him in 1923. Two of these
events were the resignation of Montagu as Secretary of State
and Gandhi’s arrest in 1922.
Tej Bahadur represented the Government of India at
the 1923 Imperial Conference in London, and it was there
that he fearlessly voiced his devotion to the cause of
equality.
In 1929 a Reforms Enquiry Committee was set up by
the Government to consider the demands for revisions in
the 1919 Government of India Act. The committee was
headed by Sir Alexander Muddiman, and Tej Bahadur
served on the committee as a non-official member. Sapru
was pivotal in the drafting of the minority report, the
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signatories to which included Jinnah. The minority report
recommended complete provincial autonomy alongwith a
responsible central government. In contrast, the majority
report recommended maintaining the status quo. Tej Bahadur
called for a boycott when the all-white Simon Commission
was appointed to consider the matter.
The All Parties Conference of 1928 set up a committee
which was headed by Motilal Nehru and was to draft a
constitution to meet this challenge. The report of the
committee was largely drafted by Tej Bahadur Sapru and
proposed a federal polity inclusive of the princely states.
This resulted in the First Round Table Conference in 1930.
In 1929, meanwhile, the Congress had passed a resolution
for complete independence. Unfortunately, Sapru’s efforts
to encourage the Congress to join the conference did not
bear fruit and the Congress boycotted the conference. Sapru
received complete Indian support for his ideal of an All
India Federation and his demand for a more responsible
central government. He also received support from Prime
Minister Mac Donald and the British Labour Party, and
could consequently convince Mahatma Gandhi to attend the
Second Round Table Conference in 1931. Unfortunately the
294 Other Eminent Personalities
Labour Party was defeated in the 1931 general elections and
Willingdon replaced Irwin as the Viceroy, Due to this
change in the official circles the second and the third Round
Table Conferences were hardly satisfactory and the resulting
Government of India Act of 1935 did not find any support-
ers in India. Sapru resigned from the Liberal Federation and
started to act independently. He became a member of the
Privy Council in 1934; and in the same year was appointed
Chairman of the United Provinces Committee on Unemploy-
ment. The committee, on which seven eminent personalities
served as members, recommended in its report introduction
of vocational education, establishment of employment
exchanges, coordination of education with modern trends
and better remuneration to teachers.
The remaining part of his life was marred by ill health
and frustration on the political front. He led an isolated
life, though he did preside over a Non-Party Conference in
1941. The Congress and the League were not allowed to
participate. Demands of the conference included equality
for India, withdrawal of Satyagraha and the boycott of
parliamentary institutions. Events started to hasten towards
the partition of the country though he tried his best to
prevent it.
Sapru was also a supporter of the Hindu Law Reform
and also pleaded for the cause of the tenants in the
zamindari areas of U.P. and Bihar. He was the President
of the Indian Council of World Affairs whose inaugural meet
was presided by him in 1943. He was also a great scholar
of Urdu and Persian and is said to have defeated Jinnah
by interpreting an original Arabicised Persian document
during a legal battle in a High Court. The incident was so
remarkable that a daily on the next morning carried the
following headline: “Maulana Sapru translates Arabic Text
for Pandit Jinnah.”
T.K. MADHAVAN (1886-1930)
A disciple of Sri Narayana Guru, T.K. Madhavan’s name
is associated with the Temple Entry Movement. The move-
 Other Eminent Personalities 295
ment demanded the throwing open of Hindu temples and
roads to the untouchables and non-caste Hindus. In 1924,
Madhavan assisted other social reformers in launching a
Satyagraha at the Vaikkom Temple in Kerala. The Vaikkom
Satyagraha, which was also supported by Gandhi, proved
successful. In 1927, Madhavan was elected as the Organising
Secretary of the Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam,
a movement started by Sri Narayana Guru to bring about
transformative changes in the social structure.
Madhavan also participated in various political move-
ments as a member of the Indian National Congress.
UDHAM SINGH (1899-1940)
A revolutionary from Punjab, Udham Singh assassinated the
Punjab Governor, Sir Michael O’Dyer, the man responsible
for the Jallianwallah Bagh tragedy, on March 13,1940. He
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
was arrested and sentenced to death.
UPENDRANATH BRAHMACHARI (1875-1946)
Upendranath Brahmachari was a lecturer in Campbell
Medical School. He was elected the President of the Indian
Science Congress in 1936 and held the office of President
of Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal twice. He undertook
several research activities and discovered ‘Urea Stibamini’.
He also found a urea antimony for the treatment of kala
azar.
VALLATHOL NARAYANA MENON (1878-1958)
A major modern Indian poet who alongwith Kumaran Asan
and Ulloor forms the trinity of modern Malayalam poetry,
Vallathol sang of Indian nationalism in his poems. His
beautiful verses urged the masses to espouse the freedom
cause by inspiring unity among the various communities.
His songs in praise of his country also depicted the various
turmoils engulfing her under the British rule to awaken
millions of Indians to the glory of their motherland.
Born in Chennara village (Kerala) in October 1878,
Vallathol was mainly involved in the study of Sanskrit and
the Ayurveda system. He began writing poems in Sanskrit
296 Other Eminent Personalities
and Malayalam from a young age. After becoming the
manager of Kerala Kalpadrumam, a publishing house, he
translated the Valmiki Ramayana. Though he became totally
deaf in 1909, this affected neither his literary pursuits nor
his journalistic career. In 1921, he met Gandhi and came
to regard him as his teacher. His dream of establishing a
Kathakali art-centre came true with the founding of the
Kerala Kalamandalam in 1930. The Madras Government
made him /poet laureate’ in 1948. From 1950 to 1953, he
visited a number of countries abroad including Poland,
Soviet Union and China participating in important functions
and meeting leaders. He received a golden ‘Manihara’ from
the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru during the silver
jubilee celebrations of the Kerala Kalamandalam in 1955.
The Nehru Peace Prize was conferred posthumously upon
him by the Soviet Land in 1966.
Of his many poems devoted to the nation’s cause are
To the Motherland (1917), Salutation to the Mother (1918),
The Puranas (1918), My Ingratitude (1919), This Way, This
Way (1921), Unity Before Everything Else (1924), Our reply
(1925), The Blood Must Boil (1933), and Please Forgive us,
Mother (1941). Higher and Higher (1923) was a panegyric
on the Indian National Congress flag that he saw as a symbol
for India’s freedom and progress. Peasants’ Song (1919),
inspired by Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa, is a call for
peace. A tribute to Gandhi emerged in the form of My
Master (1922). Our Mother (1949) was written on the first
death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
VERRIER ELWIN (1903-1964)
A British by birth, Verrier Elwin came to India in 1927 and
associated himself with the Seva Sangh at Poona. On
Gandhi’s advice, he started to work for the upliftment of
the tribal people. He set up the Gond Seva Mandal which
was later named as Tribal Welfare and Research Unit. His
sincere concern for the rights of the aboriginals was
recognised and he was made the Deputy Director of the
Anthropological Survey of India in 1946. In 1960, he
 Other Eminent Personalities 297
became the Advisor for Tribal Affairs to Chairman of a
committee set up to study progress of development in
selected tribal areas. He served as member of Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission. Elwin also wrote
a number of books related to the field of anthropology. Some
of these are—The Baiga (1939), Agaria (1942), Tribal Art
of Middle India (1951), Religion of Indian Tribe (1955),
India’s North-East Frontier in the 19th Century (1959), A
Philosophy of NEFA (1957) and Tribal India and Nagaland
(1961).
VINAYAK DAMODAR SAVARKAR (1883-1966)
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a multi-faceted personality
and achieved fame as a poet, scholar, social worker,
historian and as one of the earliest revolutionaries. In 1899,
at the age of 16, he founded Mitra Mela (Assembly of
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Friends). In 1904 this organisation was renamed as the
Abhinav Bharat Society (New India Society). In 1906, he
went to London on a scholarship and started the Free India
Society. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the
Revolt of 1857, he wrote Indian War of Independence in
which he called the Revolt as the first war of independence.
He was awarded D.Litt. by the Poona University for his
work. In 1910, he was arrested in connection with the Nasik
Conspiracy Case and deported to India. He was transported
for life but released in 1924. In 1937, he joined the Hindu
Mahasabha and was elected its President. He dedicated the
rest of his life in serving the society. Savarkar breathed his
last in 1966.
VINAYAK NARAHARI BHAVE (ACHARYA VINOBA
BHAVE—1895-1982)
Vinoba Bhave was born on September 11, 1895 in Kolaba,
Maharashtra in a Chitpavan brahmin family. His early
education was at Baroda. Later, he studied at Varanasi. He
was interested mainly in philosophical literature. He joined
Sabarmati ashram and became one of the closest associates
of Gandhi. He was actively involved in the Nagpur Salt
298 Other Eminent Personalities
Satyagraha, the Dandi March and the Temple Entry Move-
ment in Kerala. In 1940, he was chosen by Gandhi to be
the first satyagrahi for the individual civil disobedience
movement Vinoba Bhave set up Gandhi ashrams at Paunar
and Maganwadi. He started the Bhoodan Movement after
independence to enable agricultural labourers acquire some
land. He also led the Sarvodaya movement.
Vinoba Bhave was a learned scholar. He knew eigh-
teen languages (both Indian and foreign). He wrote several
books, of which Gitai in Marathi, Gita Pravachan in Hindi
and Bhoodan Yajna have won international fame. Vinoba
Bhave was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously.
VALLABHBHAI PATEL (1875-1950)
Vallabhbhai Patel, remembered as ‘Sardar Patel’ and
honoured with the title of ‘the Iron Man of India’, assumes
a special place in the history of India’s freedom struggle.
Not only was he a fearless and dedicated freedom fighter,
but he also equally concerned himself with social service.
His unique achievement was his creation of a new, united
India or the ‘Bharat’—the India of today—by integrating the
erstwhile princely states into the Indian Union within a
year’s time.
Vallabhbhai Patel was born at Nadiad in Gujarat on
October 31,1875 in the family of an agriculturist, Jhaverbhai
Patel who was believed to have fought in the army of Rani
Jhansi at the time of the 1857 revolt. A latecomer to school
life, Vallabhbhai completed his matriculation in 1897. A law
course, preparatory to the District Pleaders’ Examination,
set him up as a country lawyer in Godhra. He gained
reputation as a defence lawyer and left for England in 1910
to pursue higher studies in law. He distinguished himself
in the Roman Law and became a Barrister in just two years
instead of three. Coming back to India, he set up legal
practise in Ahmedabad.’
It was from 1917 onwards that Vallabhbhai began
seriously devoting himself to social service. Elected Munici-
pal Councillor in Ahmedabad and Secretary to the new
 Other Eminent Personalities 299
Gujarat Sabha that went on to aid Gandhi immensely in
his Gujarat campaigns, Vallabhbhai now involved himself
in the peasant struggle. In 1918, he started the Kheda or
Kaira satyagraha that demanded the suspension of revenue
collection from cultivators as the crop yield was less than
25 per cent—a provision included in the land revenue
regulations. Vallabhbhai, who was thus brought in close
alliance with Gandhi, encouraged the cultivators to fight in
a non-violent and confident manner. The two men played
a large part in forcing the government to finally yield to
the cultivators’ demands. What awaited Vallabhbhai next
was the other great satyagraha to follow—the Bardoli
satyagraha. It was while fighting for the rights of peasants
in Bardoli that the nation saluted him as their ‘Sardar’.
Vallabhbhai courageously led as many as 80,000 peasants
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
in this taluka in Surat district to protest against the land
revenue hike by 22 per cent or even 50 to 60 per cent.
Again here, the government was forced to agree that it
would assess the correct revenue to be levied. Vallabhbhai
had by this time given up his legal practise and had
splendidly transformed the Municipal Committee of
Ahmedabad from a local body into a popular representative
institution.
Vallabhbhai actively participated in the boycott of the
Simon Commission and helped Gandhi and other leaders
launch the salt satyagraha. He became the first national
leader to be arrested in March, 1930. Recognising his
dedication to the freedom cause, the Indian National
Congress made him its President in the March of 1931.
When the Congress ministries were set up in 1937,
Vallabhbhai guided the provincial governments along Con-
gress policies as Chairman of the Congress Parliamentary
Sub-Committee. He also instructed the ministries to resign
in 1939 in protest. Vallabhbhai participated in Gandhi’s
individual civil disobedience and he was arrested on
November 17, 1940 though soon released on account of his
health. But he now participated in the Quit India Move-
300 Other Eminent Personalities
ment. Arrested on August 9, 1942, he was imprisoned for
about three years this time.
After the Second World War, Vallabhbhai, on behalf
of the Congress, explored with the British ways to provide
a peaceful and enduring solution where Indian indepen-
dence was concerned. India gained independence and he
was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister of India, with the
Home, Information and Broadcasting, and States portfolios
placed under his care. Vallabhbhai reorganised the Civil
Services by creating categories such as the Indian Admin-
istrative Service and the Indian Foreign Service. The Hindi
language received its due status in the government media.
And as Minister of States he integrated 562 States into the
Indian Union within just 365 days!
VITHALBHAI PATEL (1871-1933)
After joining the Congress, Vithalbhai gave evidence before
the Joint Committee of Reforms in England in the year 1919.
He was made the President of the Bombay Municipal
Corporation in 1924 and the President of the Central
Legislative Assembly a year later. For his participation in
the Civil Disobedience Movement, he was put in jail by
the British. Vithalbhai breathed his last in Geneva.
V.O. CHIDAMBARAM PILLAI (18..-1936)
Born at Ottapidaran in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu
in the late nineteenth century, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai
qualified as a lawyer. He was a staunch supporter of the
Swadeshi Movement and was drawn into the freedom
struggle when Bengal was partitioned in 1905. He launched
a campaign to boycott foreign goods, and founded coop-
erative weaving mills and warehouses for national products
in Tuticorin. Noticing the ill-treatment of Indian workers
by British shipping companies, Chidambaram Pillai floated
the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company. His speeches
against the imperialist policy of the British led to his arrest
and the award of a double life sentence (which was later
reduced to 6 years rigorous imprisonment). Released in
1911, he died in 1936.
 Other Eminent Personalities 301
WILLIAM JONES (1746-1794)
William Jones was born in London. He came to India in
1783 and was appointed as associate judge at Calcutta’s
Supreme Court. He had deep interest in oriental culture and
philosophy. He collected and studied rare manuscripts in
Sanskrit and also translated the laws of Manu, Shakuntala
and the Hitopadesa. Known as ‘Oriental’ Jones and the
‘father of Indology’, Jones was the founder-president of the
Asiatic Society, an association to promote interest and
research in Asian culture. His Asiatick Researches earned
him world-wide fame.
William Jones also distinguished himself as a linguist.
He mastered 28 languages—both European and oriental. In
1771, he wrote a book on Persian grammar. He also
translated from Persian to French the life-history of Nadir
@UPSC_THOUGHTS
Shah. In addition, he introduced the principles of translit-
eration in the study of oriental languages.
He passed away in 1794.
WALCHAND HIRACHAND (1882-1963)
Walchand Hirachand was a famous industrialist and relent-
lessly worked for the development of Indian industry. In
1927, he became the President of the Indian Merchants
Chamber and in 1932, that of the Federation of the Indian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
WOOMESH CHANDRA BONNERJEE (1844-1906)
Woomesh Chandra Bonnerjee was born at Calcutta in an
affluent Brahmin family. Following his family tradition, he
studied law (at the Middle Temple, London) and later
became very successful as a lawyer. While he was in
London, he helped in the formation of the London Indian
Society, which later integrated with the East India Asso-
ciation. Thus, even while he was in London, he championed
the cause of his country and his countrymen.
After returning to India, Bonnerjee played a pioneer-
ing role in the formation of the Indian National Congress.
He was its first President and as such presided over its first
302 Other Eminent Personalities
session in 1885. In 1891, he was once again chosen as the
Congress President. As a politician, Bonnerjee held a
moderate approach. If on one hand, he strongly condemned
the anti-India policies of the British, on the other he also
acknowledged the benefits India enjoyed from its associa-
tion with Britain. He wanted the British to provide the
“same facilities of national life that exist in Britain” to
Indians. Further, he was in favour of western education for
his countrymen.
In his personal life too, Bonnerjee had an unorthodox
attitude towards various aspects of life, especially religion
and social customs. He advocated widow remarriage, abo-
lition of child marriage etc.
In 1902, Bonnerjee left for England and settled there.
He started practising at the Privy Council. Bonnerjee has
the distinction of being the first Indian to contest election
to the British House of Commons.
DR. ZAKIR HUSSAIN (1897-1969)
A staunch nationalist and a renowned educationist, Zakir
Hussain was born at Hyderabad in February 1897 in a family
of Afghans. After completing his matriculation from the
Islamic High School at Etawah in 1913, he joined the
Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh. He main-
tained a brilliant record during his student days, excelling
not only in academics but also in extracurricular activities.
In 1918, he passed the B.A. degree examination with
Honours and enrolled himself for M.A. Zakir Hussain’s
political career began in 1920 when he responded favourably
to Gandhi’s call for non-cooperation with the British and
boycotted his educational institution. Deeply impressed by
Gandhi’s mission to develop centres of national education,
he, along with a group of students and teachers, formed
an institution which came to be known as the Jamia Millia
Islamia.
In 1923, he went to Germany to pursue further studies
and in 1926, he obtained a doctorate in Economics from
 Other Eminent Personalities 303 304 Other Eminent Personalities

the University of Berlin. Even during his stay in Germany,
Zakir Hussain had contacts with the Jamia and closely
followed its progress. After his return to India in 1926, he
was made the University’s Vice-Chancellor at a young age
of 29. Under his captainship, the Jamia rose to great heights,
attracting the attention of educationists all over the world.
In 1937, he participated in the National Conference
on Education in Wardha. The conference was convened to
consider Gandhi’s scheme of free, compulsory and self-
supporting education for rural areas. Zakir Hussain was
given the charge of formulating a detailed Basic National
Education Scheme. While preparing the scheme, he dis-
played a thorough grasp of the essentials of education and
the draft was approved in the conference by an overwhelm-
ing majority. He also accepted the responsibility of propa-
lished under the title The Dynamic University. He also
wrote short stories for children under pseudonyms, one of
which was Ruquayya Rehana. He was interested in callig-
raphy and learned type-setting, the knowledge of which he
used in printing Ghalib’s poems while he was in Germany.
Dr Zakir Hussain was a firm believer in humanistic
values. As an educationist, he opined that primary educa-
tion can play a great role in instilling values and principles
in a child. He also promoted secularism and condemned
communal politics. He had a spiritual bent of mind and
was well acquainted with the philosophy of Sufi saints. His
liberal outlook was also reflected in the quality of education
that was imparted in Jamia Millia Islamia during his vice-
chancellorship.
Dr Zakir Hussain was awarded the Bharat Ratna in

@UPSC_THOUGHTS
gating basic education. In 1948, he was elected unanimously
to the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim
University by the university court. He was appointed a
member of the Indian Universities Commission in December
1963 for his endless services to the nation.

1948. In recognition of his services to the cause of edu-

cation, he was appointed member of the Executive Board
of UNESCO. He was also associated with the Indian Press
Commission, International Education Service, CBSE, etc.
Zakir Hussain was a member of the Rajya Sabha
twice—in 1952 and 1956. In 1957, he was appointed the
Governor of Bihar. In 1962, he was elected to the post of
Vice-President of India, and in 1967, to the highest office
in the land—that of the President. He passed away on May
3, 1969 while in office.
A multi-faceted personality, Dr Zakir Hussain was
interested in literary and academic work, painting, music
and gardening. Frank Moraes called him “a great gentleman
who recognised that knowledge had no frontiers”. Zakir
Hussain translated Plato’s Republic and Edwin Cannan’s
Elementary Political Economy. He wrote a book in Ger-
man—Die Botschaft des Mahatma Gandhi. Several of his
addresses during convocation ceremonies have been pub-
 Other Eminent Personalities 305 306 Other Eminent Personalities

26. Jawaharlal Nehru, A Biography (3 vols.), S. Gopal

27. A Study of Nehru, Rafiq Zakaria
28. Trials of Jawaharlal Nehru, Gopal Ram
29. Jawaharlal’s World View, Williard Range
READING LIST 30. Nehru: The Years of Power, Tyson Geoffrey
31. Architects of Swaraj, B. Ahluwalia
32. Builders of Modern India, Indian Council of Historical
1. Rabindranath Tagore, V. Lensy Research
2. Rabindranath Tagore, E. Thompson 33. Nehru Memorial Lectures 1966-91
3. Social Thinking of Tagore, S. Sinha 34. Political Thought in Modern India, Thomas Pantham
4. Character Sketches, B.C. Pal and Kenneth L. Deutsch (Ed.)
5. The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore, S. 35. Bharati in Verse, S. Prema
Radhakrishnan 36. Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Relevant volumes
6. Rabindranath Tagore: Homage from Visva-Bharati, 1962
7. The Life of Mahatma Gandhi, L. Fischer
8.
9.

10.
11.
S.G. Gangal (Ed.) @UPSC_THOUGHTS
Mahatma Gandhi, R. Rolland
Gandhi and the Contemporary World, K.P. Misra and

Gandhi and His Social Thought, S.R. Bakshi

The Core of Gandhi’s Philosophy, Unto Tahtinen
12. Gandhi: Soundings in Political Philosophy, R. Roy
13. Towards Trusteeship, B. Sarkar
14. Gandhi: A Challenge to Communalism, G. Chakravarthy
15. My Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments
with Truth, M.K. Gandhi
16. The Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, D.M. Datta
17. Life and Thought of Gandhi, J.B. Kripalani
18. Contemporary Relevance of Gandhi, M.P. Sinha (Ed.)
19. The Relevance of Gandhi to our Times, R. Achuthan
(Ed.)
20. Essays in Gandhian Economics, Romesh Diwan (Ed.)
21. Gandhian Values and 20th Century Challenges, Dr. J.D.
Sethi (Ed.)
22. Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, Frank Moraes
23. Nehru: The Making of India, M.J. Akbar
24. An Autobiography, J.L. Nehru
25. Nehru: A Political Biography, Michael Brecher