HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II SEMESTER III/IV Complementary Course for BA ENGLISH / BA ECONOMICS / BA SOCIOLOGY CBCSS UG (2019 Admission Onwards) School of Distance Education University of Calicut 1 HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II University of Calicut School of Distance Education Study Material B.A. HISTORY SEMESTER III/IV CBCSS (2019 Admission Onwards) HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II Prepared by: MODULES I, II &III Sri. Sunil Kumar G., Assistant Professor N.S.S. College, Manjeri. MODULE IV Dr. N. Padmanabhan, Associate Professor & Head PG Department of History CAS College, Madayi P.O., Payangadi RS-670358 Kannur - Dt., Kerala. Scrutinised by: Sri. Ashraf Koyilothan Kandiyil Chairman, Board of Studies - History (UG) 2 HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II CONTENTS MODULE I GANDHIAN TOOLS FOR STRUGGLES MODULE II GANDHIAN CONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAMMES MODULE III CRITIQUE OF GANDHI MODULE IV INDIA: THE REPUBLIC 3 HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II MODULE I GANDHIAN TOOLS FOR STRUGGLES Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), herein after Gandhiji, was undoubtedlythe most authentic and celebrated representative of the wisdom and culture of India in our times. His countrymen address him, with respect, as the Mahatma. For many,among the greatest, Gandhiji was the great. He was a social reformer, an economist, a political philosopher and a seeker of truth. We consider him as a 'yugapurusha', one who inaugurated a new era. The contribution of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Indian national movement was un-paralleled. He made the Indian National Congress a peoples' Congress and the national movement a massmovement. He made people fearless and bold and taught them the non-violent method for fighting against injustice. He had a passion for individual liberty which was closely bound with his understanding of truth and self-realization. His search for truth led him to make deep forays withinhis own inner self as inspired him to probe into the natural and social world around him,particularly the tradition which he considered his own. Gandhi’s philosophy was a profound engagement with modernity and its pitfalls. Against the evils of wanton industrialization, materialism and selfish pursuits, Gandhi suggested, in , turn, swadeshi, primacy of the self and trus- teeship;against the institution of state, as the force personified, and the prevalent notion of democracy where only heads are counted, he-favored a swaraj type of democracy where every- thing springs from the free individual and where decisions are made bottom-up with the locus of power below. He proposed a minimal slate, vested only with coordinative powers, that supports decentralization with the autonomous individual as its base of support. A spiritual perspective infuses Gandhiji's whole approach to life. This political understanding and practices, suggestions on the economy, social mobilization and practical life have their basis in immorality and ethics. Pursuit of Truth is his mantra and non-violence was integral to it.AmongGandhiji's notable writings, mention may be made of An Autobiography: The Story,of' My , Ex- periments with Truth; The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi; Panchayati Raj; Sarvodayaan- dHind Swaraj. He edited Young India which he later renamed as Harijan which remained his mouthpiece. Gandhi was also influenced by many: Tolstoy (Gospels in Brief; What to Do, The Kingdoms of God is Within You), Ruskin (Unto This Last), Thoreau (Civil Disobedience), Swami Vivekananda, Gokhale and Tilak, just to mention afew. He was familiar with the teachings of the major religions of the world. He was excep tionally well-read and eventranslated such works as Plato's Republic into Gujarati. He maintained extensive correspondence with some of the most outstanding figures of his time. The role of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian Freedom Struggle is considered the mostsignificant as he single-handedly spearheaded the movement for Indian independence. Thepeaceful and non- violent techniques of Mahatma Gandhi formed the basis of freedomstruggle against the British yoke. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2ndOctober 1869. After he came back to India from South Africa, where he worked as abarrister, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who led the Congress party, introduced MahatmaGandhi to the concerns in India and the struggle of the people. The Indian independencemovement came to a head between the years 1918 and 1922.A series of non-violencecampaigns of Civil Disobedience Movementwere launched by the Indian NationalCongress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.The fo- 4 HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II cus was to weaken the Britishgovernment through non cooperation. The protests were mainly against abolition of salttax, land revenue, reducing military expenses etc. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was ‘a man of millennium’ who imparts the lessonof truth, Non- violence and peace. The philosophy and ideology is relevant still today. Thephilosophy of Gandhi was based on truth, sacrifice, non-violence selfless service andcooperation. In modern times, nonviolent methods of action have been a powerful tool forsocial protest. According to Gandhi one should be brave and not a coward. He shouldpresent his views, suggestions and thoughts without being violent. One should fight a warwith the weapons of truth and non violence. Gandhi said that ‘There is no god higher thantruth’. According to Gandhi’s thoughts nonviolence is ultimate solution of every kind ofproblem in the world. Gandhi was single person who fought against the British with theweapons of truth and Non-violence by persuading countrymen to walk on the path of non-violence. Gandhi leading a decades-long nonviolent struggle against British rule in India,which eventually helped India, wins its independence in 1947. By the efforts of GandhiIndia became independent. Gandhi initiated non violence activities like Quit Indiamovement and non-operation movement. Gandhi could never have done what he didalone, but with his ability to identify a seed here, a seed there and nurture it, he was able tocre- ate a forest of human change. He understood that it was not enough to be a leader, butto create leaders. In quite simple and clear words, Gandhism consists of the ideas, whichMahatma Gandhi put forth before human world. Along with that, to the maximumpossible extent, Mahatma Gandhi treated his individual life in accordance with theseideas. Clearly; Gandhism is a mixture of Gandhi’s concepts and practices. The basicground ship of Gandhism happens to be non-violence. Thenon-violence is the mostancient eternal value. This non-violence is the ground of ancient-most civilization andculture of India. Mahatma Gandhi said on this very account while making his conceptsand practices based on non-violence: ‘I have nothing new to teach you’ Truth and non-violence are as old as hill. As we know, non-violence and truth are two sides of the samecoin. After knowing Gandhism, it is imperative for us to know clearly the concept of non-violence also as it accords the ground for Gandhism. Gandhi’s impor- tance in the politicalworld scenario is twofold. First, he retrieved non-violence as a powerful politi- cal tool andsecondly manifestation of a higher spiritual goal, culmination in world peace. For Gan- dhi,means were as important as the end and there could be only one means-that of non- violence. As a situation opposite to violence is non-violence, we can firmly state, total- nonviolence consists in not hurting some other one’s intellect, speech or action per ownthought, utterance or deeds and not to deprive some one of his life. Mahatma Gandhi fullya- grees with above-mentioned derivation of non-violence. He himself has said, Non-violence is not a concrete thing as it has generally been enunciated. Undoubtedly, it is apart of non-violence to abstain from hurting some living being, but it is only an iotapertaining to its identity. The principle of nonviolence is shattered by every evil thought,false utterance, hate or wishing something bad unto someone. It is also shattered perpossession of necessary worldly things. In this chain Mahatma Gandhi clarified in anedition of Young India: ‘To hurt someone, to think of some evil unto someone or to snatchone’s life under anger or selfishness, is violence. In contrast, purest non-violence involvesa tendency and presuming towards spiritual or physical benefit unto every one withoutselfishness and with pure thought after cool and clear deliberations’. The ultimateyardstick of violence or non-violence is the spirit behind the action. There are manyexamples of their use like resistance, non-violent resistance, and civil revolution.Mahatma Gandhi had to struggle in his whole life, but he never disap- pointed, he continuedhis innate faith in non-violence and his belief in the methods of Satya- graha.Thesignificance of Satyagraha was soon accepted worldwide. Martin Luther King adopted 5 HIS4(3) C01 MODERN INDIAN HISTORY (1857 TO THE PRESENT): II themethods of Satyagraha in his fight against the racial discrimination of the Americanau- thorities in 1950. Gandhism is very much contextual today on this accord. Itissignificant. We should grasp importance of Gandhism while analyzing it. Presently a bigportion of the world happens to be under Democratic system of Government.Theoretically, this system stands out to be the best up to now. This is a truth. It is thebestbecause people are connected with it directly or indirectly at every level. Not only this, itis this very system, which provides maxi- mum opportunities of public progress anddevelopment. People can themselves decide in this system the mode of their welfare.However, even though being theoretically the best system of government, if we peruse thedemocratic nations, we first of all find that there is non-equal devel- opment of the citizens.We subsequently find that these nations are more or less victimized by re- gionalism.