05 Mother in the Father of the Nation

The Mother in the “Father of the Nation” Vinay Lal NDIA has just finished observing Ithe 126th birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known to Gandhi’s intimate friends and acquaintances as Bapuji, to most other Indians (including, curiously, his detractors) as Gandhiji, and to the rest of the world as Mahatma Gandhi. He is also, in official Indian broadcasts and in official representations of him, ‘Father of the Nation’, and it is by A this designation that a grateful country remembers him on his birthday and other solemn occasions — or so one presumes. As the chief architect of the nation’s independence movement, Gandhi no doubt led, or fathered, the country to emancipation from British rule. Indeed, in no other Gandhi at a prayer meeting in Lahore country was the association between the freedom struggle and one man so led, among other sources of political unanimity on conceding the title of close as it was in India. In shaping wisdom, to the formulation of the ‘Father of the Nation’ to him. The all the principal moments of the fundamental rights for all Indian designation has become sacrosanct in movement, from the struggle in citizen, and safeguards for minorities, a manner that makes it undesirable, Champaran to the non-cooperation in the new constitution. If ever the for the common fate of those who are movement of 1920-22, the civil appellation ‘Father of the Nation’ has venerated is that they are worshipped, disobedience movement, the Salt seemed appropriate, it was never more vilified, or ignored, but almost never Satyagraha, and the Quit India so than in the case of Mahatma understood. Only in very recent years, Movement, Gandhi was to have the Gandhi. if the aspersions cast on his name by authorial and decisive voice. It is Though Gandhi has always been Mayavati and Kanshi Ram are any under the Mahatma’s guidance that an unacceptable, and sometimes indication, has he seemed to some the movement, unique among anti- hated, figure for people of certain major groups in our country to be less colonial struggles in the Third World, political persuasions, such as than the ‘Father of the Nation’. In remained largely non-violent, and it Marxists, Naxalites, and orthodox the most extreme form of the is largely on Gandhi’s account that Hindus of certain types, and for many allegation, he is said to have merely the movement was bound to a certain Punjabis and Bengalis who perhaps fathered a tribe of dull, corrupt, ethical conception of political and unthinkingly were to place the blame vulgar, and singularly unattractive public life. It is Gandhi’s vision that for the partition and consequently politicians. It is in any case was supposed to have inspired Nehru, their own dislocation on Gandhi’s transparent that no greater mockery purportedly his ‘successor’, and that shoulders, there has been a surprising is made of the ‘Father of the Nation’ No. 91 (November-December 1995) 27 and his teachings than by those primarily affecting women. Most Kishwar has noted, what is so striking politicians who, in an annual and singularly, Gandhi was a firm about Gandhi is that, unlike totemistic enactment of modern advocate of equality between men and politicians whose pronouncements are political ritual, lay wreaths at his women, and he was not prepared to habitually radical but whose practices samadhi every October 2nd. In yet countenance discrimination against are to the same degree retrograde and another caricature of Gandhi, the women in any form. In the matter of insulting to women, Gandhi was Mahatma is represented merely as a sexuality, for instance, he deprecated orthodox in his pronouncements but shrewd bania and upholder of sanatan those ‘double standards’ by which a refreshingly radical and experimental dharm, appearing in the guise of a man who engaged in unregulated in his practice. (See Gandhi and saint, master of the art of sexual conduct was easily forgiven, Women; Manushi Prakashan, 1986) dissimulation. even considered ‘liberal’, but a Thus Gandhi himself laboured to woman who did likewise was Though many of the criticisms of devise ways which would enable considered a prostitute, traitor to her Gandhi do him a great deal of women to spend less time in the sex and to the noble ideals of wifehood injustice, and are too contemptible to kitchen and his own diet consisted of and motherhood. This is scarcely to be worthy of a response, a strong case largely uncooked food. By admitting say that Gandhi thought that both is to be made for doing away with women into his ashram, he offered men and women could engage in ‘Father of the Nation’ as a designation them the choice of something other promiscuous sexual activity; rather, for Gandhi. In remembering Gandhi than marriage, and among his close he wished to hold men to the same as the ‘Father of the Nation’, we turn political associates and confidantes standards to which women were held. him into a resolutely masculine were a number of women. A much Men were least entitled to pontificate figure, a very questionable and larger number of prominent Indian on the morals of women, or to act as dubious enterprise; concurrently, the women, such as Kamala custodians of their virtue; and as he female half of the population, which Chattopadhyay, Sarojini Naidu, Usha once put it pointedly, “Why is there more accurately, ashamedly, and Mehta, Sushila Nayar, and Aruna all this morbid anxiety about female alarmingly is less than half, is put on Asaf Ali, have testified to the part purity? Have women any say in the notice that in giving birth to the played by Gandhi in drawing women matter of male purity? Why should nation, and wisdom, they had, and away from their homes, and in men arrogate to themselves the right will continue to have, no equivalent bringing them into the midst of the to regulate female purity?” Gandhi’s role to play. The solution scarcely independence struggle. Many Indian advocacy of equality between the resides in producing a woman, say a feminists have, not unexpectedly, sexes, nevertheless, did not prevent Sarojini Naidu or Rani of Jhansi, who recognised Gandhi as an unequivocal him from being patriarchal, most might conceivably be thought champion of women’s rights — notably with respect to the adequate to play the part of the though Gandhi’s language was the occupations to be followed by women. ‘Mother of the Nation’. No woman language of duties not rights — and In fact he could be insufferably remembered as the ‘Mother of the an avid listener to women’s voices. sanctimonious about these matters. Nation’ would ever achieve parity He did not think that women should As Ashis Nandy has so eloquently with the ‘Father of the Nation’, least assume the roles and occupations argued, a “major element in Gandhi’s of all in a country where the name of pursued by men, and he was rather philosophy was his rediscovery of the father alone is recorded in adamant in adhering to the view that womanhood as a civilizing force in passports, official forms, and the principal bread-winner would human society.” It is also the case government records; moreover, the continue to be the man. But the value that his practices were informed by a inclusion of women in the narratives of housework was not, in Gandhi’s concerted endeavor to bring women of history is, paradoxically, often the view, thereby demeaned, and indeed into the public realm; and one could easiest way of undermining the he was of the opinion that women, in go so far as to say that Gandhi sought centrality of women’s issues, the contributing to good standards of to feminise politics and the public gendered nature of our discourses, and housekeeping, nutrition, sanitation, realm. It is partly within this context the deep structuring of patriarchy. and hygiene, were thereby performing that one must view Gandhi’s resort It is incontestably evident that a far more valuable service to the to fasting, his insistence upon Gandhi had a deep interest in, and nation than engineers, scientists, and spinning, and his resolute conviction profound awareness of, issues other experts. Besides, as Madhu of the efficacy of non-violent 28 MANUSHI resistance. Gandhi thought of moral codes. Here, again, there is the Finally, there is the consideration women, upon whom fell the role of difficulty that Gandhi relied upon that Gandhi himself had eminently nurturing the human race, as highly suspect categories of ‘nature’ ‘feminine’ qualities, and he naturally prone to non-violence in and the ‘natural’, but the net effect of appreciated these qualities in other conduct and thought, and more adept his view of women, and of those men as well. During his fast in 1933, at the art of persuasion. Far from ‘feminine’ practices from which he undertaken on behalf of the cause of being the weapon of the weak, non- had a great deal to learn, was such as Harijan upliftment, he found the violence was the weapon of the strong, to empower women and make them highest words of praise for Sardar and Gandhi held firm to the view that feel the equal of men. Patel, later to be known as the ‘Iron women had greater powers of resilience and resistance than men. The rules of politics were the rules laid down by men, and only women were capable of humanizing this public sphere and rendering it more accountable to the conscience of men and women. Through his recourse to fasting, Gandhi sought to negate the supposed distinction between men’s fasts as political and public, and women’s fasts as ritualistic and private, and in so doing he provided a new interpretation to traditons of women’s fasting by placing those squarely within a politics of resistance.

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