Gandhi’s Philosophy in India Today

ASIA--PACIFIC, KUDANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR SATYAGRAHA, INDIA, 19 Jul 2010

PV Rajagopal and Shannon Moran – Ekta Parishad

In a world that is becoming increasingly indifferent to the philosophies of Gandhi, a small but sure space still exists in India where his legacy survives.  It is in the people’s movements, the struggles of the common man that the principles of Gandhi still endure.  It is through the memories and knowledge of the people that the spirit of integrity and equality for all mankind has been able to persevere.  As we endeavor to rediscover the grassroots of our humanity we are moving towards the reclamation of our spirituality, our connection with each other, and our capacity to work together towards the creation of a world where peace and our desire to see social equality guides our actions.  The struggle to keep the credos of Gandhi alive faces hurdles that will be a challenge we must meet head on, armed with our willingness to trust that the principles of non-violent civil disobedience will bring about a resurgence of the values that once guided the actions of India’s people.

Our insatiable appetite for indulgence has created a society of consumers who are unable to strike a balance between materialism and morality; a society that seems unable to see the people left behind by the “progress” of this country.  Where is our morality when we sacrifice the rights and dignity of our brothers and sisters so that we can continue to feed our habit of accumulating material things?  Our drive to consume has left many of this country’s citizens on the way side and we can see evidence of this everyday.  We can see it our cities at night when the sidewalks become the resting places of those without roofs to shelter them.  We can see it on our morning commute when we pass people forced to relieve themselves in public because of the lack of basic sanitation facilities in the slums that hundreds of thousands call home.  We can see it as we hurry past the outstretched arm of a begging child.  Gandhi looked straight into the face of adversity; he challenged unjust laws and led a struggle for rights that triumphed over India’s colonizers.  His message was clear; India has thrived for generations because of her traditional village economic systems.  The village economy strengthens people’s relationships with each other and with the earth they depend on to grow their food and raise their families.  Why then have we turned a deaf ear to the voices of the people who understand the dynamics of maintaining harmony between production and consumption?  Why is it that the voices we value are the same voices that call for the oppression of the poor while simultaneously professing their desire to see the creation of more sustainable models of development?  Why do we turn to the forces behind the destructive elements that hold the poor down when discussing how to create pro-poor models of development?  The danger posed by following the lead of the oppressor will only dissipate when we turn to the people who understand and practice the ways of Gandhi for knowledge and advice.

Today we can see a new kind of struggle between the growing global village and the shrinking rural village.  We have become so desensitized to the calamities around us that our understanding of reality has become distorted.  What this points to is our disconnection with morality; our disconnection from society, for we, the “haves,” are not society.  Ours is a society of people from all walks of life, from all social, economic and spiritual backgrounds.  Our place is with each other, yet we continue to walk through life under the illusion that we are not connected.  For us to claim that we are followers of Gandhi, we must choose to become a part of this struggle.  We can no longer allow ourselves to use our ignorance as an excuse for our inaction.  Gandhism today can change the face of this struggle, but we have to return to his ways and understand his guiding principles in order to reclaim his philosophy.

The path of Gandhi was never one he walked alone.  He was a revolutionary to be sure; the path he chose to walk was not the path of the rulers or of the elite.  He walked with thousands of those in this country that believed, like he did, that non-violence and truth were the tools to see change.  It is interesting that in a country of more that a billion, there can be so many of us that are walking alone, unable to remember how to relate to the people that fall outside of what we call our “community.”  Look around this country today and you will find it full of division; political, religious, and economic divides that eat away at the roots that nourish our society.  These divides, these rootless communities, can only be mended when the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” ceases to exist.  This means sensitizing ourselves, allowing ourselves to see the world around us with open eyes, with all of its pain and all of its suffering, so that we can reconnect to the people around us and rejoin the community we have lost.  This is the epitome of what Gandhi stood for.  His struggle was a struggle for the connection of all, a connection that was beyond class, beyond caste and beyond division.

As the affects of globalization reach all corners of the world, it is becoming increasingly important to look at what the affects of creating a global village has on traditional village communities.  When the drive to increase global exchange fails to properly weigh the consequences of the changes it creates, the dynamic of the village community is threatened.  Traditional village industries are lost with the influx of cheap, factory produced foreign goods.  While many argue that with globalization also comes connectivity, this connectivity fails to include the rural communities that it affects.  Traditional methods of farming are lost to corporate agriculture without providing a space for transition.  The trend in politics leans heavily towards the creation of an industrialized India whose economic growth is built on the backs of the poor.  There are small pockets of communities that remain connected to Gandhi’s vision of a village based economy that reinforces community ties and promotes a balance between production and consumption, but how long will these communities be able to withstand the pressures of India’s “development?”  Discontent among India’s people is growing and evidence of civil unrest can be plainly seen in the streets.  Consumerism and capitalism are the driving forces behind the powers that control this country, but there is power in the people’s struggles.  There is power in their dedication to the tenets of Gandhi’s philosophy.  The people’s movements will be what lead India back to the philosophy of Gandhi, but it is up to us to determine how quickly we return to his ways.

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