Relevance of Gandhism in New India

The reference

“Do not shrink the dam in a country, it is not
the duty area of ​​Gandhi, no problem, it is
Gandhi
,  Gandhi is the next evolution of humanity in the next era of imagination  .”

Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas not only inspired people all over the world but also played an important role in transforming India and the world from the perspective of compassion, tolerance and peace. Gandhi insisted on developing principles and practices during his lifetime and also contributed immeasurably to the voices of marginalized groups and oppressed communities around the world. Mahatma Gandhi’s role and his influence in the creation of New India is undisputed. Even in the present twenty-first century, Gandhi as a man and a philosopher is as relevant as he was before. ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ accepted by Gandhiji means that all religions are equal and ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ means goodwill towards all religions, maintaining an atmosphere of harmony and compassion in this global and technological age and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ It is necessary to realize the idea of ​​(the world is a family).  

Mahatma Gandhi inspired the world’s big moral and political leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama etc. and also influenced social and political movements in Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Europe.

Mahatma Gandhi: A General Introduction   

• Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in the princely state of Porbandar. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, was the Diwan of the princely state of Porbandar and his mother’s name was Putlibai.
• Gandhi received his early education from Rajkot and later went to London to study law. It is noteworthy that in London itself, a friend of his introduced him to the Bhagavad Gita and its influence is clearly seen on Gandhiji’s other activities.
• In the year 1893, Dada Abdullah (a businessman who had a shipping trade in South Africa) invited Gandhi to contest the case in South Africa, which Gandhi accepted and Gandhi left for South Africa. It is known that this decision of Gandhiji greatly influenced his political life. 
• In South Africa, Gandhi felt racial discrimination against blacks and Indians. He faced humiliation on several occasions due to which he decided to fight racial discrimination.
• At that time Indians and blacks in South Africa did not have the right to vote and even walked on the pavement, Gandhi strongly opposed it and eventually succeeded in establishing an organization called ‘Natal India Congress’ in 1894. . After returning to South Africa for 21 years, he returned to India in the year 1915. 

Gandhi and Satyagraha 

• Gandhiji gave the name of ‘Satyagraha’ to his entire non-violent working system . Satyagraha for him meant using pure self-power against all kinds of injustice, tyranny and exploitation. 
• Gandhiji believed that anyone could adopt Satyagraha, in his views, Satyagraha was like a banyan tree which has innumerable branches. The Champaran and Bardoli Satyagrahs were not done by Gandhiji only to gain material benefits for the people, but to protest the unjust attitude of the then British rule.
• The Civil Disobedience Movement, the Dandi Satyagraha and the Quit India Movement were the prime examples in which Gandhiji used Atmaabal as a weapon of Satyagraha.

Gandhi’s Religious Thoughts 

• It is known that Gandhiji was born in a Hindu family and since his father was a Diwan, he also got a lot of opportunity to meet people of other religions, he had many Christian and Muslim friends. At the same time, Gandhiji was also heavily influenced by Jainism in his youth. Many analysts believe that Gandhiji drew inspiration from the concept of ‘Satyagraha’, the prevailing principle of Jainism, ‘Ahimsa’ .
• Gandhiji referred to ‘God’ as ‘truth’. He said that “I am not a stereotype.” They used to observe all religions of the world tightly on the test of truth and non-violence, whoever failed in it would reject it and they accepted it if they were able to live up to it.

Socio-economic system

• Gandhi believed that the economic system had the greatest impact on the individual and society and the economic and social beliefs that arose from it gave rise to the political system. 
• Centralized capital is generated from the production-centric system, as a result of which the economic and social system becomes concentrated in the hands of a few people of the society. In such a situation, the composition of Gandhi’s society can be considered based on decentralization.
• Gandhi’s economic-social philosophy calls for decentralized production system, decentralization of means of production and decentralization of capital, so that society is self-reliant in the achievement of essential materials for life and does not have to be the antithesis of anyone.

Gandhi and Cleanliness

• Gandhiji considered cleanliness more important than independence. Cleanliness is a major issue in India which can be clearly seen only during a rail journey.
• Cleanliness is a daydream for many people in the country and to help them in their cleanliness, the government has constructed more than 11 crore toilets in the last five years and declared rural India as open defecation free on 2 October 2019. is. 
• However, many of those toilets are not in working condition or have no water facilities; But here it should be emphasized that this effort has created unprecedented public awareness.

Gandhi and Swaraj

• Gandhiji dreamed of a Ramrajya where there is complete good governance and transparency. He wrote in Young India (19 September 1929), by Ramrajya I do not mean Hindu Raj. My Ramrajya means – the kingdom of God. For me, Ram and Rahim are one and the same; I accept no God other than the God of truth and righteousness. Whether Ram has ever lived on this earth or not, in my imagination, the ancient ideal of Ramayana is undoubtedly one of true democracy, in which even a very bad citizen can be assured of speedy justice without a complicated and costly process.  
• In the Amrit Bazar Patrika on 2 August 1934, he said, ‘The Ramayana of my dreams ensures equal rights for both the king and the poor.’ Then in Harijan on 2 January 1937, he wrote, ‘I have described Ramrajya, which is the sovereignty of the people on the basis of moral authority’.
• Active publication of all regular information and data is being made available online by all ministries towards good governance. The roles and responsibilities of government officials and political executive are very clearly defined.
• Government land Akanksheepuarn districts (Aspirational Districts) is identified and Policy Commission is monitoring 39 indicators. The objective of this initiative is to bring these districts to equal or better status than other districts. These initiatives are in line with Gandhiji’s efforts to uplift the people of the last section of society.

Panchayati Raj and Rural Economy 

• Gandhi’s views on this issue were very clear. He said that if Panchayati Raj was ever established in every village of India, I would be able to prove the truth of this picture, in which both the first and the last will be equal, ie there will be neither the first nor the last. In this regard, he believed that when Panchayati Raj is established, then democracy will show many things which violence can never do. 
• Gandhi knew well that the real soul of India resides in the villages of the country. Therefore, it is meaningless to imagine the actual development of the country until the villages are developed.
• In Gandhi’s philosophy, it is envisaged to prepare the villages for the economic base of the country. Gandhi was of the view that along with setting up heavy factories, it is necessary to maintain the second level, which is the rural economy. 

Gandhi and Untouchability

• Gandhi considered the struggle against untouchability or untouchability to be even more formidable than the struggle against imperialism. The reason for this was that in the struggle against imperialism, he had to fight with the external forces, but in the fight against untouchability, he had to fight with his own people. He used to say that my life is dedicated to eradicating untouchability, just as it is for many other things.
• Gandhi considered untouchability to be the stigma and fatal disease of society, which destroys not only himself but the entire society. Gandhi said that this untouchability brought many crises on the Hindu society.
• They also did not agree with the argument of some Hindus that untouchability is a part of Hinduism, which is not possible to abolish. 

Sustainable agriculture

• Mahatma Gandhi considered a cordial relationship between man and nature. He believed in self-sufficient agriculture. But today our agricultural sector is in crisis. We have a stock of 70 million tonnes of food grains, but the price is so high that we cannot export it. 
• Despite the fact that there are many malnourished people in our country, we are obliged to increase the cost and raise the minimum support price. At least 43 to 45 percent of the working population in India is engaged in agriculture and the sector contributes 14-16% to the GDP. Therefore, Indian agriculture suffers from low productivity.
• The brainchild of Subhash Palekar of Amravati district of Vidarbha, Zero Budget Natural Farming is being heavily focused by the NITI Aayog. Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is able to meet our food requirements and ensure a healthy and prosperous India. Chemical inputs are least used in the traditional Indian agricultural system.

Relevance of Gandhism in New India  in the Present

• The relevance of Gandhi and his ideology in this current era of communal fanaticism and terrorism has increased further, because according to his principles, it is necessary to carry all religions and ideologies together in order to maintain communal harmony.  
• In today’s era, his principles are very important, because never before has he felt so much need. But there is a contradiction with this, that despite all this, no one is ready to follow their principles.
• Gandhiji is considered a man of experimentation, but this experiment was not limited only to the intellectual level; In fact, he also introduced it in his life, which some people criticize even today. But words like ‘what will people say’ did not have a place in his thinking and experiments .
• Among the influential people of the 20th century are Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachov, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King (J), Aung San Suu Kyi, Poland’s Lech Walesa, etc., who followed Gandhi in their respective countries Used ideology and brought non-violence as its weapon and brought changes in our areas and countries.
• This is the proof that after Gandhi and outside India also through non-violence, a successful fight was fought against injustice and it was also conquered.

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi is considered one of the world’s largest political and spiritual leaders of the 20th century. He is remembered all over the world as peace, love, non-violence, truth, honesty, fundamental purity and compassion, and a successful user of these tools, on the strength of which he united the whole country against the colonial government and raised the reputation of freedom. Today, in any country of the world, when a peace march comes out or atrocities and violence are opposed or the violence has to be answered with non-violence, then the world remembers Gandhi on all such occasions. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that Gandhi’s thoughts, philosophy and principles were relevant even yesterday, are still today and will remain so in the coming time. 

Question- While evaluating the Gandhian approach in the development of New India, evaluate its relevance in the present .

FAQ

What was Gandhi's ideology?

Gandhi believed that the root of every religion was truth (truth), non-violence (non-violence) and golden rule. Despite his belief in Hinduism, Gandhi was also critical of many social practices of Hindus and was trying to reform the religion.

What were the main ideas of Gandhi?

Mahatma Gandhi was the world guru of Indian descent. Great Indian values, especially the highest value of non-violence, were the basis of his ideas. In practice, he solved all problems through non-violence. His ideas based on non-violence are important in a completely new world.

What were Gandhi's values?

Values such as truth, non-violence, asceticism, humility, equality, etc. reinforce this turbulent landscape in the core of the organization.

What are the moral qualities of Gandhi?

Mahatma Gandhi was a great personality. He always stood for truth and honesty, opposed violence, distanced himself from materialistic desires and pursued a path of high morality. He was a world-renowned and still obscure person due to the limelight he lived as a hermit.