It’s hard to imagine what anyone can have against Gandhi. He was entirely harmless. He didn’t hold political power and never forced anyone to follow his beliefs. One might question some of his principles, but no one who’s read “My experiments with Truth” can deny his sincerity in following them.
And yet with his birthday in 2010, there are those with whom Gandhi has fallen entirely out of fashion. Mainly with India’s right wing (and before anyone complains, that’s not an insult. I’m using the phrase “right wing” as generally understood and as defined by Wikipedia. So don’t take offence when none is intended.)
I’ve heard him called a rogue, the destroyer of India, a traitor, a betrayer and what not. Of course, the virulent right wing elements are a minority compared to the rest. But if you listen to these people, you get the picture that Gandhi had horns and slithered around on his belly.
There are many who idolize Nathuram Godse – the crazy fellow who was against Gandhi and who assassinated a defenseless man with a gun. To me, actions speak far louder than words. Never mind what Godse stood for. If the end result is the killing of a someone who never preached violence and never harmed him or anyone else, I want no part of what he was smoking. Such people point to the speech he gave in his defense. Even a cursory reading leads me to wonder if was entirely sane. Here’s a small extract:
All this reading and thinking led me to believe it was my first duty to serve Hindudom and Hindus both as a patriot and as a world citizen. To secure the freedom and to safeguard the just interests of some thirty crores (300 million) of Hindus would automatically constitute the freedom and the well-being of all India, one fifth of human race.
Say what? You mean as long as Hindus are happy, it doesn’t matter if Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Muslims and Jains are miserable eh? I get the feeling Godse would have gladly sided with Hitler. After all, as long as the non Jews and fully naturalized Germans were happy, then automatically Germany will be happy no?
Here’s another beauty:
This conviction led me naturally to devote myself to the Hindu Sanghtanist ideology and programme, which alone, I came to believe, could win and preserve the national independence of Hindustan, my Motherland, and enable her to render true service to humanity as well.
Beware of the man who recommends only one way of thinking to the exclusion all others. He’s either god himself, or a fanatic.
Now I may not agree with everything Gandhi said. I’m not sure ahimsa or non violence would have helped the Jews against Hitler for example and he himself agreed that if ever violence were acceptable it would be against an evil of that magnitude. But that doesn’t mean I don’t understand his main argument. That violence breeds more violence. Even violence for a just cause. It’s a double edged sword that merely deflects the injustice to another group of people if at all.
It’s ironic that when the entire world admires Gandhi and the president of the US has a portrait of him in his office, he’s attacked most in his own country. Gandhi was a man who led a movement of the kind the world has never seen. As a member of humanity, I gotta admire the guy irrespective of his nationality.
Interestingly I’ve noticed that the same people who hate Gandhi also hate Mother Teresa! One day I’d like to find out the real cause of this connection. It’s so absurd and out of whack that the explanation must be equally strange. Perhaps someone can enlighten me…
im sorry but after reading all of the opinions and facts i still do not understand why people hate Gandhi nor why people supported him, yes he was a great man but i just really do not see a world without violence.
In reply to deon
WHY PEOPLE HATE Gandhiji ?
1) He was one of the reason for division of India
2) He was very soft towards some people without fore sight of their vision.
(a) Jawaharlal Nehru : He may be an ardent politician in Indian politics, but you can get some insight on his hideous character on internet (its personal opinion which the now gandhi family has shadowed upon. Instead of being in history as the first PM, he has done nothing for india on greater scale. In fact he was’nt even proposed by his own party as protagonist, (Instead Sardar vallabh patel was elected by the party, that is another story though) Mahatma Gandhi was the reason Nehru was preferred.
In reply to PRANAY VAIDYA
Gandhi merely gave his opinions. He was neither a leader with political power, nor did he impose violence on anyone. People had the freedom to simply ignore him and his advice. Since he didn’t believe in violence, nothing would have happened and no one would have been killed or harmed.
Which means if you have to hate someone, hate those people who actually took the decisions. No one put a gun to their head and forced them to do anything.
But to hate a peaceful person? And to kill them for it? That’s an act of horrible savagery, shame, and barbarity. And it’s something only a coward could have done. Shooting an unarmed man in a dhoti. So brave!
Some people love to pick on someone’s faults and find malicious intentions behind someone’s deeds.They wouldn’t have done things any better or even closer. Few years back, I’d read some post on the internet telling Jana Gana Mana was written in praise of King George vi ! Phew! Such talks are shallow and endless… Also it is sad that we don’t value our people by following their footsteps & being that way(,while I don’t mean someone who doesn’t agree with such principles disrespect them)… It is their choice of course, but if we are proud of something, we must reflect that with our reverence. He is called the father of our nation, exists smiling on the currency notes.That is all… It is sad that when someone is being called a ‘Gandhi’, it is more so because it is rudely sarcastic that he is adherent to his honest principles, rather than a compliment.
In short, always try to put the blame on someone else for our lack of progress/ political stability. Like ‘Britishers looted us’, ‘xyz divided us…’…
In reply to Pink
Yes. It’s always much easier to blame another person.
I had read views of some of above candidate. what they uttered are far from true fact. In my views, Gandhiji and his philosphy was in right path.He was not against any one but it was complexity of Hindu Religion. Most of converted are Hindu,either they are muslim or christian or sikhs or budhist. Hindu are very narrow minded and all cast of Hindus are does not see beyond own cast.
Mahatma Gandhi was against todays Congress. He was in favour of, to finished it and advised to formulate new political parites but our leader were English oriented. Before Gandhi, every indian having forfathers (dada,par dada etc) but no one were daring to oppose Muslim and Britisher. Now we can criticise , proved oursellf as a Hero but in fact are just like a bubble of water.
Thus, before say somthing or write against some great personality,we should aware/knowledge of that times atmosphere.
Here is my opinion – Gandhi was revered because his methods were novel. Non-violence was a sensation in the times of the World War. He made people turn their heads coming up with a new approach to oppose invasion and authority. Unfortunately, “novelty” is the same reason why people have started hating him. When you are among the millions who made Gandhi the Mahatma he never was, just saying “I dislike him” earns you a lot of attention.
I am indifferent to Ghandi in that it was nice how he fought against such dictators, but real men are violent, that is it. The fact is, most revolutions in the world were ended by—violence.
Why was Ghandi successful? One dude was a huge help as to why the British left–Hitler. Trust me, if WW2 weren’t happening, India’s “non violence” would have been trounced.
So Ghandi, like MLK is overrated. As far as I’m concerned, people who used arms like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mehmed the Conqueror, Attila the Hun, Aurangzeb, Tamerlane, Hannibal of Carthage were heroes.
Mr Gandhi was a safety valve for britishers .He was brought from south africa to divert the mind of young indians , making them to leave the path of struggle.How one can get independence by doing bhagans, kirtans and making khadi’s.The paid media showed him as a hero as funded by the birlas’ who had been working for the shrewd britishers at that time .Therefore Mr Gandhi got VIP treatment from the britishers where as They murdered the true leader like Mahatma Lala Lajpath Rai when he was protesting non-violently . In 1947 we got independence not because of Mr. Gandhi but as World war 2 was a set back for the britishers and they were not able to handle the country any more. In reality one needs to fight against the injustice ……..
and one cannot get anything in life without doing struggle.
In reply to Ayushmaan
So killing Gandhi is ok?
In reply to bhagwad
Gandhi got death penalty for siding with and appeasing the Muslims, (who never actually followed his ahimsa principles) , at the cost of millions of slaughtered Hindus (who followed his ahimsa path) . Gandhi even tried to establish a caliphate in Turkey by inspiring Muslims in India to become more communal and transnational. Gandhi was in denial mode when these steps taken by him resulted in the moplah massacres, he tried to stop the British army that went in to save the raped and slaughtered Hindus !! Mahatma…?? The problem of communal riots that flare up every now and then is the Gandhi’s lovely legacy that we relish everyday..thank you bapu. May your soul blister in hell.Amen.
In reply to Indian
Death sentence from which court? And please show me the law with the statute number than he broke to deserve the death penalty.
Killing Mr Gandhi was absolutely wrong that can never be appreciated . Mr Godse should had used different ways to express his concerns. He should had done struggle to highlight his views & make people aware about his concerns. How much big differences may he had but killing him can never be justified . It did more harm as it gave many more years to gandhivaad…..
In reply to Ayushmaan
I think that’s perfectly fine. One can always disagree with another person and make their views known as much as possible.
Dear friend,
It is my opinion that Gandhiji was not wrong and he leads the nation to independence. We can find shortfalls of any one because we are unaware about circumstances of that period. May be he committed some mistake but we should pay him honour. If he was wrong then it is right that our Father, Grand father and so were wrong and supported him. It means they were not intelligent as w are. It is very easy to commnet in a comfort zone but in adverse circumstances, we forget ourself. It is my opinion, we should respect to Gandhiji.
Mahatma Gandhi was a visionary whose spiritual maturity still shines like a beacon in the night. He is my hero and I frequently visit a statue of him in Union Square off 14th Street in New York. Others who also honor Gandhi have put garlands of flowers around his neck. The statue reveals the vulnerability in his frail body but I can also see his determination and perseverance in his stance, striding ahead with a walking stick. I am reminded of Gandhi’s desire to give of himself completely in service of others. He slept only a few hours every night and would walk long distances even when in his seventies..
You stated: “…Hitler for example and he himself agreed that if ever violence were acceptable it would be against an evil of that magnitude.”
Are you saying that Gandhi didn’t agree with Hitler? I’m guessing you’re ignorant of his, that is Gandhi’s… letters to Hitler. One in particular is great as it’s basically Gandhi going on about how Indians are actually Aryan. I’m also guessing that you’re ignorant of Gandhi’s life in general. What Gandhi took issue with was the method, not the way.
Hitler is a tragically misunderstood man. I think he’d be ashamed of modern Nazism or Neo-Nazis. Did you know that Hitler didn’t believe in the Jewish race? Did know that he specifically stated in his writings that such an idea was nonsense. That the Jewish race he spoke of was actually the set of cultures and traditions tied behind the guise of a faith? Did you know that not only did Blacks, Semites, Homosexuals, etc… serve in the Nazi’s military but also in the SS? That the people that we Americans (US citizens) see as Jewish; Were not only in the Nazi party, but also in the Gestapo. My favorite view of the Nazi’s is that of the idea that they were anti-homosexuality. They were very pro-bear and many were bears themselves. Hell they even started the party with bears. (No Hitler wasn’t gay.)
You have to love the evolution of words. I might might say: “I’m taking Bobby here, down for a trip to factory.” or “I went for a walk with him.”. To you those might be literal statements, they both might involve travel, they might even sound nonviolent. I can assure you if I stated those phrases; I wouldn’t be going anywhere. Those are both ways of saying I got in or am going to fight. When I say these things about the writings of these men, I’m not speaking in such a context. They were very clear about what they were saying.
Anyway this link; https://board.freedomainradio.com/topic/38282-the-truth-about-gandhi/ goes on to say allot about why some hate the man. Personally I hate ideas of men (Men is and honorary and includes women in case your slow.). Men are not ideas, they’re people. No matter how great the stature, they’re just men; They all bleed, and can all be taken down. What I hate about ideas of men, is that it often causes them to become nekokaburi. A great example of this is the Civil Rights movement in the US. A movement aimed at helping the Black Man, and a movement which as utterly destroyed him. The irony in the US is that Black Man and more importantly the Black Family was far better off before the movement. He was in fact almost on part with the White Man in terms of income, was ahead of the White Man in terms of family stability, and so on.
We love to praise the bullshit we’re a part of. I think it feeds the ego. Those of us with no self-esteem such as I or others with very low self-esteem such as others, see this. You praise words you don’t understand, taken out of context and farmed. Then misunderstand the people that have looked into the men and wonder why they’re hated.
As far as why the man Mother Teresa was, is, and will be hated. She’s a crook, a fraud and worse. We’re talking about a person that was running cesspools of filth, tying down children to beds and beating them (From reports of volunteers.), but worst of all committing the worst sin of the religion she claimed to represent. I’m not a Christian but either Peter or Paul wrote about the false members of the church. Anywho, if there’s interest I may cite and get more involved in this.
I’m a liberal collectivist just like Gandhi. This means that I’m a person that cares about people and think people should work together, and for each other. Granted I am also a “racist” just like Gandhi. This also means that I’m not an authoritarian. The opposite of liberalism is authoritarianism. Hitler, Stalin, President Barack Obama, are all authoritarians. So what does this mean? Am I a Republican or a Democrat? A Republican of course, because Republicans are the true liberals in the US. The fact is that the majority of leftwinged liberals in the US are actually Republicans, and have always been Republicans since foundation almost 200 years ago.
Please don’t speak of right and left winged and political affiliations. Gandhi was left winged as much as I hate to admit it, so was Stalin and Lenin, but the “left winged” Democrats in the US? They were started by members of the Klu Klux Klan. Their stated manifesto was the opposition of the abolitionists and Republican party. These “left wingers” have more in common with all the so called “right winged” maniacs in history. Right and Left winged are meaningless terms that only server to conflate and confuse people in meaning. I guise or tool of those seeking to hide behind others.
In reply to Broken Stitch
Wishing right now I could edit my improper grammar and spelling. Guess that’s why I’m baca.