Gandhiji's Perspective on Swaraj

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCE ISSN NO: 0972-1347

GANDHIJI’S PERSPECTIVE ON SWARAJ

Dr. G. RAJASEKARAN Assistant Professor,Department of Philosophy Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College (Autonomous) Mylapore, Chennai-600 004 Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT : The aim of this paper is to bring to light the significance of the comprehensive nature of Swaraj advocated by Mahatma Gandhi.The purpose of this paper is to expose the different aspects of Swaraj in respect of political, social, economical and religious and to show the relevancy of his Philosophy of Swaraj in the modern society.

I. INTRODUCTION

MEANING OF SWARAJ

The aim of Gandhiji was to establish Swaraj, the ideal State in India. He used the tem Swaraj with a definite meaning and significance. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word ‘Swaraj’ is self-rule and self- restraint. He used this Sanskrit term in the wider context and for higher purpose. Swaraj may be rendered as disciplined rule from within.

PERSONAL SWARAJ

Gandhi used the term Swaraj for both the individual and the nation. By personal Swaraj it is meant rule over one’s self. The first condition which he laid down for Personal Swaraj was control over lust.1 Man cannot rule over himself without conquering the lust within him. Rule over all without rule over oneself is deceptive and disappointing. The great mission in life cannot be fulfilled without the rule over the self. 2. Gandhi desired an ideal state in which all the individuals would achieve maximum degree of self-rule and self- restraint which would be guided by certain ideals and principles.

Gandhi regarded individual as a centre of power. He stated that Swaraj in the individual combined the cosmic principles with one’s individual actions. He further explained that Swaraj means “learning to rule over oneself or attaining the ability of self-rule.” One who had attained such ability was considered to be free or to have attained freedom.Gandhi considered individual as a spiritual being, endowed with a divine mission to fulfill. He considered individual as the soul and according to him, his true nature was freedom, which was self - realisation or realisation of God. He said that individual who had realised his freedom might be said to had attained his Swaraj or self-government which was synonymous with moksha or salvation. According to Gandhi, the highest goal in life was to attain moksha, to become one with or dissolve oneself into the cosmic spirit. Gandhi asserted that self-rule was a self-achieved state of affairs, not something granted by others. It (self-rule) was a self-transformative activity. Gandhi considered truth, non-violence, Brahmacharya, non-possession, non- stealing, fearlessness, removal of untouchability, commitment to bread labour, faith in equality of religions and practice of swadeshi as pillars of personal Swraj.

NATIONAL SWARAJ

Gandhi used the term National Swaraj in a wider sense. According to him, national Swaraj means national self-rule and self-restraint in political, social, economic and religious fields. His concept of Swaraj has multi-dimensional aspects.Let us discuss the various aspects of Swaraj from the inner as well as outer freedom.

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a) Political aspect of Swaraj

Politically national Swaraj means that the people of the country must be in complete control of all the political institutions.3.The Government of the country must be based on the consent of the majority people which should be ascertained through the adult suffrage. The people who elect such Swaraj government should have contributed the manual labour to the state. This concept of Swaraj government is democratic which is managed by the people who have faith in the dignity of labour. The national Swaraj will be real if the masses develop the capacity to resist the authority when it is abused. In Swaraj state, the ultimate power would be vested with the people. The political power is decentralized in such a way that even the smallest man can enjoy the freedom without any social, political or economic disability. There is no political domination either by an individual or by any group.4.Gandhi talked about the Political view of Swaraj. He accepted the truth of the famous mantras given by Tilak that Swaraj was the birth right of Indians. He started his political career in 1893 as a believer in the goodness and justice of the British Empire and who clung to that belief till 1919, was transformed into a defiant champion of Swaraj in 1920 and of Purna Swaraj in 1929.

In 1928, he supported Motilal Nehru in the demand only of dominion status, but in 1929, he sided with the radical younger element in congress who wanted it to accept complete independence as its goal.Swaraj or Political freedom in the sense of national independence of the country from the iron chains of British imperialism became the passion of his soul. Highlighting the political view of Swaraj, Gandhi said that it was the state in which people could maintain their separate existence without the presence of the English. We feel that we are dependent upon them for our internal and external security, for an armed peace between the Hindus and the Muslims for our education and for the supply of daily wants, not even for the settlement of our religious squabbles. According to Gandhi, Swaraj was the complete freedom from the alien yoke in every sense of the term. He believed that it was impossible for an alien government to understand the problems of its native people. Gandhi blamed the British for the pathetic situation of the Indian people. He considered them responsible for all types of problems and oppressions on the general masses. The only training in Swaraj we need is the ability to defend ourselves against the whole world and to live our natural life in perfect freedom even though it may be full of defects. Good government is no substitute for self-government. Gandhi believed that national Swaraj could be attained by the same means which were essential for attaining individual Swaraj. He had related the method of attaining individual Swaraj with National Swaraj and considered them complementary to each other. According to Gandhi, the national Swaraj would be real if the masses developed the capacity to resist the authority when it was abused. He stressed the need of discipline, self-help, self- sacrifice and courage for the attainment of Swaraj. He regarded Swaraj essential for solving all problems of the Indian People. He believed that under self-rule, Indians would enjoy all those rights and advantages which were enjoyed by British under their own rule and he stressed that Indians would be able to get what they deserved.

He did not regard independence as his ultimate goal. He wanted India to come to her own and that state could not be better defined by any single word than ’Swaraj.’ He said, “My ambition is much higher than independence.” To Gandhi, Swaraj did not mean merely the withdrawal of British rule. It was not only the absence of alien bondage. Political Swaraj in the sense of transfer of power from one set of rulers to another set did not satisfy him. He said, “I am not interested in freeing India merely from the English yoke. I am bent upon freeing India from any yoke whatsoever; I have no desire to exchange “king log for king stork.” Hence for me the movement of Swaraj is a movement of self-purification. Gandhi believed that each nation should have its own system of government, in which the common masses should rule. The key concept of Swaraj was that power must belong to the people. Gandhi accepted Parliamentary form of government as the immediate goal of his conception of Swaraj, with the wishes of the people of india, but he pinned his faith in “Hind Swaraj, “rule of all the people or rule of justice.”Gandhi’s Swaraj was not an end in itself, but only an effective means to the realisation of a stateless society. The purpose of Gandhi’s Swaraj state was to establish Ramrajya, the rule of dharma, or the kingdom of God on Earth.

b) Social aspect of Swaraj:

The social content of national Swaraj means the removal of social suppression of one community by another. It also implies that the various social groups and communities will follow the ideal of peaceful co-

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existence. There will be no evil passions in the hearts of the Hindus and the Muslims.5.There should be real Hindu-Muslim unity based on mutual love and affection. These two communities shall try to establish United Secular India. another social evil like untouchability will be completely abolished and social equality will be ensured. The caste-system will disappear but four Varna’s will be functionally equal. The social hierarchy will be pulled out.

Women who represent half of the society will be equal to the men. There shall be no domination of woman by man. She will be respected as mother and sister in the society. She will have a unique and highly respectable role to play in the society. Social Swaraj will not be complete without due place and honourable role for the woman in the society.Gandhi stressed that no one was born untouchable and unequal, Removal of untouchability meant removal of social barriers and inequalities. Thus, the insistence on removal of untouchability was central to social dimension of Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj.Gandhi’s Swaraj was egalitarian and secular in nature. According to him, Hind Swaraj was the rule of all people irrespective of any discrimination on the basis of religion.In the social dimension of his concept of Swaraj Gandhi laid great stress on Hindu-Muslim Unity also. He stressed that India could not win Swaraj if eight or more crores of muslims were opposed to it. It was difficult to attain Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim Unity.

Gandhi invited Muslims to join the congress in large number immediately if they wanted to be in power under Swaraj. He believed that there should be no social suppression of one community by another.Gandhi believed that Swaraj would not be complete without due place and honourable role for the women in the society. He stressed that there should not be domination of women by men. According to him, men and women should have equal opportunities to develop their personality.Gandhi raised his voice against child marriage, to which, it was irreligious to give religious sanction. Like child marriage, Gandhi believed that Purdah was one of the social evils of the society. It has impeded the march towards Swaraj. According to him, Purdah not only denied the freedom to the women, but also the free gifts of God like light and fresh air. He called the people to “tear down purdah with one mighty effort.”Gandhi said that the first reform for the women should be to understand the important idea of freedom. They should cherish it as a part of dharma and it should be their duty to inculcate the values of independence, fearlessness and firmness in their children.Gandhi insisted on the Swaraj of the downtrodden and backward sections of the society and argued that it should not be limited to the educated class ad rich people. The Swaraj of his dream was the poor man’s Swaraj.

c) Economic aspect of Swaraj

According to Gandhiji, national economic Swaraj meant easy availability of food, clothing and shelter to all the people in the country. The production of these basic necessities of life should be localized, so that every village and town shall be self-sufficient in these basic necessities. Economic Swaraj will not be Poorna (Complete) until such conditions are created. To Gandhiji national economic Swaraj also meant the ability to preserve certain Indian industries which are essential for its economic existence. These essential national industries are agriculture and cottage industries. Without the revival and development of these industries, economic independence and equality cannot be ensured to all the Indians.6.In an ideal Swaraj state, the people should be free from economic exploitation and domination. Men with capital will voluntarily share their fruits with their common workers under trusteeship system. The institution of trusteeship is one of the basic features of economic Swaraj state. It avoids economic exploitation, ensures economic equality and guarantees proper distribution of production without storage and wastage.7

Gandhi believed that the necessaries of life should be enjoyed by poor people in common with those enjoyed by the princes and the monied man. It doesn’t mean that they should have palaces like theirs. They are not necessary for happiness. According to Gandhi, everybody should be able to get sufficient work to enable them to make both ends meet. He emphasised that this could be realized only if the means of production of the elementary necessaries of life remained in the control of the masses.Gandhi believed that working for Economic equality meant abolishing the eternal conflict between capital and labour. It meant the levelling down of the few rich in whose hands was concentrated the bulk of the nation’s wealth on the one hand, and the levelling up of the semi-starved naked millions on the other. According to Gandhi, when an individual had more than his requirement, he must act as a trustee of that excess income. He tried to solve the problem of equality by

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institution of trusteeship.According to him, the meaning of trusteeship was that a rich man was allowed to retain his property, but was expected to hold his wealth and personal talents in trust and to use them for the service of society. Gandhi believed that if bread labour doctrine was accepted, there would be no distinction between the capital and labour. The capitalists like the labourers would do the body-labour for their bread and would act as trustees of their property for the benefit of the labourers in particular and the society in general.

Thus, Socio-economic equality would be assured. Swadeshi was the essence of his economic Swaraj.

d) Religious aspect of Swaraj

Gandhian concept of Swaraj state is to be based on non-violence. A state which is not based on the Principle of non-violence can never achieve its full moral height.8 Such a non-violence state should be defended not by the professional military but by the non-violent Satyagrahis.Gandhiji firmly believed that under such non-violent state the weakest man can rise to his full moral height. This implies that the moral development of the individual and the state go hand in hand. The course of one affects that of the other. Under the protective walls of violent forces, both the individual and the state cannot realize their moral potentialities.Thus, Gandhiji defined Swaraj in terms of the individual and the nation. According to him, Swaraj of a people means the sum total of the Swaraj (self-rule) of the individuals.9 Such Swaraj can come into existence when the citizens discharge their duties in proper manner. In terms of a national Swaraj, it is the sum total of all activities which go up to build an ideal state based on moral force. The quality and the vitality of such national Swaraj depends on the quality and vitality of its people. The people of such state are conscious of their moral strength in its collectivity. Gandhiji tried to identify his concept of Swaraj state with the Ramraj, the ideal state of Sri Rama.

Gandhi had complete faith in Religion. He said, “I come forward saying that I have complete faith in religion and I do not conceal my deep faith in that.”10 Gandhi said that Religion was essential for Promoting morality. He used to say, most religious men I have met are politicians in disguise. I however, were the guise of a politician but am at heart a religious man.11.Gandhi said that the whole gamut of man’s activities constitutes an indivisible whole; you cannot divide social, economic, political and purely religious work into water-tight compartments. There is religion apart from human activities. It provides a moral basis to all human activities. He was of the view that Religion, being the means of communication with God and the sustaining force, is the vital current that should pervade activity. He said that the root of religion is ‘That which binds.’12 It sustains a person, which nothing else does. It is rock bottom, fundamental morality.When morality becomes religion, because it binds, it holds, it sustains him in the hour of trial. Man’s ultimate aim is the realisation of God, and all his activities political, social,economic and religious have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God.

The immediate service of all human beings becomes a necessary part of the endeavour, simply because the only way to find God is to see Him in His creation and be one with it. This can only be done by service of all.He said that religion should pervade everyone of our actions. Here religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. It is not less real because it is unseen. This religion transcends Hinduism, Islam Christianity etc. It does not supersede them. It harmonises them and give them reality.

CONCLUSION

From the above description Gandhiji’s view on Swaraj was elaborately analysed at various aspects like political, social, economical and religious from all the dimensions. Gandhi had a long vision about India’s freedom. For which, he thought of getting freedom from Britisher’s and to be an independent state.Gandhi envisaged that the people of the country should rule over themselves without any discrimination, all should be treated equally, all should get anything and everything in their life, women should be respected at par with men, over and above, women should take part in all the activity of the social problems and political problems. He strongly defended that Hindu-Muslim should live together and without the participation of the Muslims in freedom struggle, it is highly impossible to get freedom or independence from British rule. His ideas on Swaraj is self-rule and self-restraint. It means people or masses of the country should be allowed to exercise their rights

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freely without any condition in all aspects. i.e. politically, socially, economically and religious. For which, Gandhi aimed at Purna Swaraj or Hind Swaraj that is complete freedom in all aspects both external and internal freedom.

When we talk about internal freedom it means religious or spiritual views, it is the inner force, which is vital for all human activity which binds everything and is called religion and the purpose of it is to have a vision of God. Gandhiji’s Swaraj is not attained completely even today. Since Indian Independence the country was ruled by the minority and the majority were subdued. I mean about majority and minority not in the sense of religion like Hindu, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Sikhs etc. but in the sense of upper class and lower class.

We got independence from the British and not Swaraj from our country. Gandhiji aimed at classless society, elimination of untouchability and purdah system and everyone should lead their life on self-rule both Personal and National Swaraj. Gandhiji’s Swaraj, is not only applicable during the time of Pre-independence but also it applies in the modern times, His Swaraj is very essential and Paramount in the current scenario, because people fighting for their self-rule and to be free and independent from any hinderance.

FOOT NOTES:

Dr. S. H. PATIL – “ Gandhi and Swaraj “ – Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi – 1983 Page : 39 Ibid - Page : 39 Ibid - Page : 40 Ibid - Page : 40 Ibid - Page : 41 Ibid - Page : 41 Ibid - Page : 41 Ibid - Page : 42 Ibid - Page : 42 Narinder Mehta & S. P. Chhabra –“ Modern Indian Political Thought “ – New academic publishing company, Jullundur - First Published 1976 – Page : 210 Ibid – Page : 210 Ibid – Page : 210

REFERENCE:

1. Dr. S. H. Patil – “Gandhi and Swaraj “ – Deep & Deep Publication, New Delhi – 1983 2. Mehta & Chhabra – “ Modern Indian Political Thought “ New academic publishing company, Jullundur – 1976 3. Gummadi Veerraju – “ Gandhian Philosophy -Its Relevance today ” Decent Books, New Delhi - 1999

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