Social Service, Work & Reform Volume III M. K. Gandhi Compiled & Edited by: V. B. Kher First Published: December 1976 Printed and Published by Jitendra T. Desai Navajivan Publishing House Ahmedabad-380 014 INDIA Phone: 079 - 27540635, 27542634 E-mail:[email protected] Website: www.navajivantrust.org Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III EDITORIAL NOTE "To me political power is not an end but one of the means of enabling people to better their condition in every department of life." Young India, 2-7-1931 "Mere withdrawal of English is not independence. It means the consciousness in the average villager that he is the maker of his own destiny, he is his own legislator through his chosen representatives." Young India, 13-2-1930 When peaceful transfer of power to India was effected in a unique way, hopes were universally aroused that the non-violent revolution initiated by Gandhiji would be carried to its fruition in post-independent India. Three decades is comparatively a short span in a nation's life, but it is sufficiently indicative of the lines on which the country is proceeding. Seen in this light, it is undeniable that the revolution has soured on the way. In independent India the humble villager in the 7,00,000 villages dotting the map of the country was to come into his own. He was to be the maker of his destiny and, in effect, the future of the country. The dung heap in the village was to be transformed into a green common ensuring adequate food, clothing and shelter for its inhabitants. The rule was to subserve his interests and not to lord it over him. The flow of men and commodities from the village to the city was to be reversed. With the village as the centre of planning, the village economy was to be enriched and only the surpluses generated, were to find their way to the city www.mkgandhi.org Page 1 Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III markets with profit both to the villager and the city-dweller. The weaker sections of the society exploited for centuries, such as the depressed classes, the aborigines, the women, the landless labourers etc. were to assume their due place inthe society. In effect, all energies and attention of the society were to be absorbed in the uphill but the glorious task of ushering in justice social, economic, and political by non-violent means, for therein lies the secret of non-violent freedom. However, the rulers chose to turn their backs to nonviolent revolution for whatever reasons, maybe, their lack of faith in basic Gandhian tenets, their blind admiration and adoration and slavish imitation of foreign models of planning, their failure to involve the masses in nation building and last but not the least their incapacity for innovation. The results are there for all to see: the villages by and large steadily 'becoming penurious and the consequent exodus of the inhabitants thereof to the cities where they eke out a degrading and miserable sub-human existence in slums; the cities bursting at their seams under chaotic conditions with haphazard unplanned growth and polluted atmosphere; proliferation of bureaucracy corroded by corruption etc.,—one can go on and on with the narration of the disastrous consequences produced by the betrayal of the non-violent revolution. This is not to say that there has been no material progress but even that has been lop-sided and uneven. It is not the purpose of this Note to condemn or censure anybody but the facts must be stated without any gloss, so that we can at least begin to think where we have gone wrong and take corrective measures to save the nation from the impending ruin. As foreseen by Gandhiji, we have become "a fifth rate carbon copy of the West" without any worthwhile contribution www.mkgandhi.org Page 2 Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III to make to the world. Must this state of affairs continue? Renowned thinkers and social scientists like Gunnar Myrdal, Colin Clark, and others have also opined that the ills from which we are suffering are due essentially to our straying away from Gandhian thought and principles. What does Gandhiji have to say on the economic, political, moral and ethical, and social challenges facing the country? A study in depth of Gandhiji's writings reveals the unique combination of a visionary and a practical reformer that he was, with an indissoluble bond of love and sympathy for the masses. Twenty-five years ago the Editor started with the thought of studying Gandhiji's ideas on various facets of life, but the study proved so absorbing and fascinating that he soon decided to share the fruits of his studies with his fellow citizens. As a result, the compilation in three volumes on economic, industrial and labour problems saw the light of the day under the title "Economic and Industrial Life and Relations". This was followed by publication of the collection in three volumes of Gandhiji's Odyssey under the title "In Search of the Supreme". Next came the compilation, again in three volumes, on matters political, entitled "National and Political Life and Affairs". The last but not the least in the series is the present collection in three volumes on social questions, which is being published under the title "Social Service, Work and Reform". The response and appreciation of the public to the series has justified the faith of the Editor in the task which he undertook years ago with much reverence. The prize, however, is in the process as declared by the Bhagwad Gita. www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III TO THE READER I would like to say to the diligent reader of my writings and to others who are interested in them that I am not at all concerned with appearing to be consistent. In my search after Truth I have discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly or that my growth will stop at the dissolution of the flesh. What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment, and, therefore, when anybody finds any inconsistency between any two writings of mine, if he has still faith in my sanity, he would do well to choose the later of the two on the same subject. Harijan, 29-4-'33, p. 2 M. K. GANDHI www.mkgandhi.org Page 4 Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III SECTION ONE: UNTOUCHABILITY 1. ANTYAJA STOTRA (Translated from the preface dated 17-4-1918 in Gujarati.) The most striking instance of the terrible excesses of Hinduism is our treatment of the Antyajas. How degrading and shameful it is, Shri Amritlal Padhiar has set out vividly in his Antyaj Stotra. There is some exaggeration in it, thanks to the poet in him, but it is slight. Shri Padhiar has given a heart-rending picture which cannot but fill the reader with horror to the very root of his being. He has poured forth his indignation in the stotra. It should be read out to men and women in their millions, in the same way that the works like the Bhagvat are read out to them in every square. Till we have rid ourselves of this taint of untouchability, the big question will remain whether we have become fit for Swaraj. If slave owners can be said to be fit, then perhaps we are. Let it not be forgotten that we are ourselves under subjection at present. Those who desire to be free from this state should all the more pay attention to their own evils. The little, mole-like faults of those who have fallen on evil times seem to others as huge as the Himalayas. Something of this kind has happened about our conduct towards the Antyajas; what is more to the point, the evil itself is a Himalayan one and hence it obstructs our progress. I have studied, with care and in a spirit of humility, the controversy which has followed in the wake of the Antyaja Conference at Godhra. I have not come across a single convincing reason justifying the practice of www.mkgandhi.org Page 5 Social Service, Work & Reform – Volume III untouchability. Where the scriptures themselves are under attack, to quote from them is like the blind man denying the existence of what he does notsee. If we cannot defend our conduct by reason, the authority of scriptures is of no avail. They cannot be above reason and morality. If these latter are given the go-by any fraud can be justified in the name of religion. We shall have to make such a sustained effort to purge ourselves of this terrible sin that, as Shri Padhiar points out, the effort will by itself raise us very high. If we make it in our traditional manner, we shall have achi- eved our aim while advancing in the path of dharma; if we follow the method they do in West, a gulf will be created between us and the Antyajas. It is cowardly for anyone to suggest that the Antyajas will be emancipated when the old generation has passed away. Our worth as men consists in doing tapascharya and awakening in our elders compassion and the purest sense of dharma. That and nothing less is our duty. If we boldly translate our words into action, the task can be accomplished quite soon. It is a mean desire to wish to kill an enemy so that one may rule over his kingdom afterwards; dharma consists in winning him over to our way of thinking and converting him into a friend.