“I simply cannot bear to look at Ba’s face. The expression is often like that on the face of a meek cow and gives one the feeling as a cow occasionally does, that in her own dumb manner she is saying something.” These are the exact words of none other than the accredited Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, describing his own wife, Kasturba Gandhi.
75 years have passed since India received its independence from Britain, and still, to this day, the name of one single man reigns in the minds of all Indians, Mahatma Gandhi. His supposed efforts towards the independence of India are greatly commemorated, especially by those who are unaware of the numerous inexcusable flaws he possessed. This past October 2nd marked the 153rd birth anniversary of the man himself, and while hundreds of millions of Indians were chanting his name in glory and respect, little were aware of the dreadful and ignorant tyrant he was.
10 million Indians lost their lives between 1857 and 1947 during the reign of the British Raj. While the country was suffering a nationwide famine and unimaginable poverty, Gandhi enjoyed the leisure of studying law abroad and later moving to South Africa. Many are aware of the train incident that occurred there, in which Gandhi refused to give up his seat and was therefore thrown off the train by a white man. He was fed up by the harsh treatment of Indians in South Africa, whom he considered superior to Africans. After all, he was an Indian, and believed he did not deserve the same treatment as the “insolent” Black people there, whom he described as “troublesome, very dirty and live like animals." Along with this, he also mentioned, “Ours is one continual struggle against a degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the Europeans, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw k***ir whose occupation is hunting, and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.” The message is unbelievably clear here. His blatant hypocrisy and racism alone is evidence of the horrendous man he was. The immensely glorified civil rights movement he led in South Africa was only present to benefit Indians and further oppress Blacks.
Upon returning to India, Gandhi began a series of non-violent efforts towards the independence of India, the Salt March is a prominent example of this. Today, this historic protest is portrayed as a model of the relentless power of non-violence and “satyagraha”, or mass civil disobedience. Around 60,000 people were arrested and imprisoned as a result of the Salt March- more than the amount of people who actually participated in it. People still argue that the event was a major factor in India’s gaining of independence, even though India got its independence nearly 17 years after it occurred. It was a mere publicity stunt strategically designed to further expand and promote Gandhi’s heavily apparent cult of personality. His justification for this unfair tolerance of terror and oppression was the supposed desire to change the flawed mindset of the British. In the critically acclaimed movie, “Gandhi''directed by Richard Attenborough, his character mentioned how he wanted the British to realize they were morally wrong. This begs the question, did he really succeed in doing so? The answer is a rather explicit NO. The globe was in the midst of World War ll, the bloodiest conflict fought in history. As a result, Britain found itself extremely weakened both politically and economically, which meant that it simply could not govern an incredibly large colony like India. This also explains why 13 former British colonies were granted independence between 1945-1960, which further solidifies the idea that Britain did not want to leave, but had to leave. In 1976, The former prime minister of Britain, Clement Atlee was asked about why Britain decided to grant India independence despite the Quit India movement dying out long before 1947. He responded, “…the INA activities of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which weakened the very foundation of the British Empire in India, and the RIN (Royal Indian Navy) Mutiny which made the British realize that the Indian armed forces could no longer be trusted to prop up the British.” When asked about the impact of Gandhi’s non-violence movement, he replied, “m-i-n-i-m-a-l.” The Royal Indian Mutiny and the efforts of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, both of which were largely violent, were what truly earned India its independence. Keep in mind Clement Atlee served from 1945-1951, so he experienced India’s independence struggle first hand.
Although Gandhi is portrayed as an opposer of racism and a promoter of inclusivity, his rather friendly interactions with major dictators say otherwise. “We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents." This was a letter to Hitler he wrote, in which he also referred to him as his “dear friend.” His admiration of the German leader went to such an extent that he even justified the dictator’s actions towards the Jews. “Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs…As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions.” In other words, Gandhi proclaimed that the Jews should have comitted suicide instead of fighting back, as it would “shame” the Germans. This emphasizes his disconnection with reality and inability to critically think. Moreover, when asked about his opinions on Benito Mussolini, another major European dictator, he replied, “one of the greatest statesmen of our time.”
Additionally, Gandhi possessed numerous social flaws that would undoubtedly be unacceptable today, such as his flagrant lack of respect for women. For starters, he had incredibly rude remarks towards his own wife, exemplified by the quote in the introduction. When she was diseased with pneumonia, he refused to have medicine injected into her body, eventually leading to her death. However, when he was struck with Malaria and was prompted to take medication for it, he showed no form of refusal. This is proof of not only his hypocrisy, but also his absolutely despicable selfishness. Furthermore, during his time in South Africa, when he discovered a male youth harassing two of his female followers, he proceeded to cut the girls’ hair off, to ensure that the “sinner’s eye'' was “sterilized.” The man was more concerned with the corruption of the boys’ brain rather than the atrocious abuse that the girls faced. What’s more? He believed that women should carry responsibility for sexual attacks upon them, and that it would be justfied for fathers to kill their daughters who had been sexually assaulted for the sake of the family’s community honor. These horrendously sexist and senseless remarks are indicative of Gandhi’s extremely broken personality and lack of character.
It is estimated that the British robbed $45 trillion from India. During the total reign of the British Raj, nearly 35 million Indians died. And yet, what was Gandhi concerned about? Some unethical non-violence movement that normalized getting harassed and oppressed by the British? To what extent can tolerance be justified? Where is the line drawn? What Gandhi failed to realize in the midst of this was that non-violence should be preached to the aggressor and not the victim. A victim has a complete and moral right to self defense. Fighting for what's right should never be a matter of violence or non-violence. In the case of the British, violence was required, as it was the only method that could truly prompt them to leave and grant the country the independence it so deserved. We must now ask ourselves. Why do we celebrate a man who delayed India’s independence? Why do we idolize a man who lacked respect for his own wife? Why do we glorify a man who supposedly fought racism but despised Black people? Why do we support a man who supported Hitler?
Last but certainly not least, the man was just incredibly absurd. He proceeded to show his “patriotism” by not eating food for weeks. This achieves nothing other than, once again promoting his cult of personality. And that's not it. He allegedly woke up every day and asked all the girls in his ashram if they had good bowel movement. In what way is that a normal question to ask? It is rather unfortunate that his followers had to experience this on the daily. All in all, he treated women like absolute crap. He can very much be regarded as the Andrew Tate of pre-independence India. So much so that he even slept with his own grandniece to test his chastity.
Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfj5f0GVLZ0 - (for picture)
“Gandhi” movie (no url)
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