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UNIT SR I AUROBFNDO S POLITICALT H O U G H T

Structure

ObjectivesInt roduct ionSr i Aurobindo : His Life and Work9.2.1 Early Life-Formative Stage

9.2.2 Preparatory Phase9.2.3 Phase of Political Activism

9.2.4 Later Phase-19 10 OnwardsPhilosophical Fo unda tion of Auro bindo s Poli t ical Tho ughtPolit ical Thought : Early Phase9.4.1 His Views on the lndian National Congress

9.4.2 Nature of the British Rule9.4.3 Concept of Nation and Theory of Spiritual Nationalism

9.4 .4 Final Goal waraj9.4.5 Positive Programme of Political Action

The Second Stage rom 1910 On ward s9.5.1 Evolution of Human Society9.5.2 Nature of Human Unity

Critical E valuation9.6.1 Theory of Nationalism piritual or Religious?9.6.2 Emphasis on Political Issues9.6.3 Sri Aurobindo: An Anarchist/Terrorist

Let Us Sum UpSome Useful BooksAnswers to Check Y our Prog ress Exercises

9 0 OBJECTIVES

This unit deals with the poli t ical thought of Sri Aurobindo and his contribution tomodern lndian poli t ical thought and national freedom struggle in India. After goingthrough this unit , you should be able to:

enumerate the factors responsible for shaping his thought,

analyse the philosophical fo unda tions of his thought,

describe his views on the concept of nation and nationalism, the objective ofnational freedom struggle, his posit ive programme of poli t ical action. human mityetc. , and

0 evaluate his role as a thinker a nd activist in the freedom movement.

9.1 INTRODUCTION

The closing decades of the nineteenth and the dawn of the twentieth centuries arevery important in the history of modern India. During this period, religioculturaln a t i ~ n a l i s ~merged a s a powerful force in opposit ion to the w estern inspiredliberalism and the Brit ish rule. Ramkrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda inBengal and Swam i Daya nand Saraswati in Pu nja b led a revival of interest in lndiantradit ion. The moveme nt resulted in a major attempt t o reinterpret lndian tradit ionso as to insti l l a sense of pride in the lndian youth. Another aspect of this movementwas i ts radical poli t ical outlook. These two aspects reinforced each other. SriAurobindo represents the best example in this tradit ion of a leader who provided aspiri tual foundation to lndian nationalism.

In this unit , a sketch of S ri Aurobindo s l ife and the major landm arks influencing histhoug ht has been p rovided. T hen , we will analyse the philosophical fo unda tions of



Militant Nationalism his views on nationalism, Lwarajya and the course of political action prescribed byhim have been analysed. At the end, his contribution t o ln dian polit ical thinking hasbeen evaluated.

SRI AUROBINDO: HIS LIFE A N D WORK

Born in Calcutta on 15th August 1872, Sri Auro bin do lived an eventful life an dcontributed immensely to the fields of philosophy and politics. His life span can bestudied by dividing it into four stages.

9 2 1 Early Life Form ative StageAuro bindo s upbrin ging was completely western. For a period of fourteen years-from 1879 to 1893-he studied in England . During this period, he showedextraordinary intellectual abilities. He learned various classical and modernEuropean languages. During his Cambridge University days, he began to take aninterest in Indian politics and cam e in con tact with som e young revolutionaries fromIndia. He was also deeply influenced by lrish nationalists and their efforts forachieving independence for Ireland. He returned t o India in 1893 at the age of 21with the fire of nationalism burning in him an d a stro ng and resolute hil l t o workfor it.

9 2 2 Preparatory Phase

O n arriving in India he joined gove rnme nt service in the princely stat e of Baroda. AtBaroda, he undertook a serious study of lndian history, philosophical texts andBengali literature. He was impressed by the spiritualism underlying Indianphilospphy an d li terature and this added a new dim ension to his polit ical thinking.During this period, Auro bindo wrote extensively on the then situation in the countryand elaborated his iedas about nation, nationalism etc. He also remained in touchwith the freedom movem ent generally an d particularly with revolutionary activities inBengal. His interest in revolutionary politics, however, did not keep him away fromhis spiritual quest.

9 2 3 Phase of Political Activism

In 1905 Bengal was partitioned . This event evoked stron g resentm ent throu gho utthe country. Aurobindo resigned from his job in Baroda (1906) and plunged intoactive politics which m.arked the beginning of the third phase of his life. This phaseof political activism was very brief 1906-1910). Du ring this period, he participatedactively in politics and su ppo rted the radical grou p led by Tilak. He pa;ticipated inthe Surat session of the Congress. He also wrote extensively on various topics ofnational importance in this period.In 1908, he was implicated and arrested in theMan iktola Bom b Case. He was ho nou rably acq uitted in 1909. After his release, heremained involved in politics for short while. In 1910, he withdrew from activepclit ics and went to Chandra Nagar and later on moved to Pondicherry. His suddenwithdrawal was a result .of his desire for spiritual development.

9 2 4 Later Phase 1910 OnwardsDuringl this period, Au robind o w rote mainly in the wider contex t of humanity and i

spiritual future. He elaborated his ideas and ideals in the context of humandevelopment and i ts ult imate goal of hum an unity. His important works l ike theLife Divine Essays on Geeta The Synthesis of Yoga and the epic poem Savitriwere written during this period.

T o sum u p, we can say th at his political activism a nd spiritual devlelopment were notseparate but went together, His political thought was an extension of his yogic andspirituql vision. Th erefore, b efore we study his views o n th e key conc epts in politics.it s necessary to understa nd the philosophical fou nda tion s from which his politicalthought emerged.

heck Your Progress I

ote i) Use the space given below for you r answer.ii) Check you r answers with the model answ ers given at end of the unit.



1) What are the major factors which influenced Aurobindo's political thinkin g?

2 Fill in the blanks with the correct alternatives:i) Sr i Aurobindo s tudied........................ in England.

a ) Classical and modern European languages.

b) lndian historyc) Christian theology.

ii) Sri Auro bind o established co ntacts with................ fter he returns to India.a) moderate leadersb) revolutio naries in Bengalc) Indian brinces.

iii) Sri Auro bin do entere d active politics in..................

a) 1893b) 1901c) 1906

iv) In the later phase Sri Aurobind o mainly wrotel l tl- L v s r r ~ n r- - . - - - U .................

a) huma n uni ty

b) freedom struggleC) world wars.

9 3 P H I LO S O P H IC A L F O U N D AT I O N O FAUROBINDO S POLITICAL THOU GHT

Aurobindo's writings reflect diverse influences. Of these, the lndian tradition ofidealism in philosophy seems to have impressed him the most. The great E uropea nphilosophers fro m H omer to Go'ethe influenced him the maxim um during hisformative period and the study of Geeta, Upanishads and Vedanta had a deepimpact on his political thinking. As Romain Rolland said, Sri Aw ob ind o was the

h ighest synthesi s of t he genius of Asia and the gen ius o f ~ i r o ~ e .e tried tointegrate the materialist trend in western philosophy with the idealist tradition inIndian philosophy. Vedantic philosophy as propounded by Ram akrishn a an dVivekanand also influenced Aurobindo's thinking.

He was also inspired by the remarkable vitality and diversity of the lndianintellectual tradition. He believed that the writings of the Vedantic sages and theBuddha reflect the genius of the lnd ian mind. However, at a later stage, according t oAurobindo, the Indian philosophical tradit ion became narrow in outlook and lost i tsdyna mism an d vitality. A s against this, western p hilosophy managed to retain i tsdynamism a nd continued to grow. Auro bindo wanted to com bine the best elementsof the lnd ian and western philosophical tradit ion.

He explained the origin, nature and destiny of this world in his theory of evolution.According to his theory of creation, matter passes through various stages ofdevelopment; from the plant and animal stages to that of the mind and thesupermind. In his view, matter is spirit in a hidden form, growing progressivelytoward s the revelation of the spirit which is the supreme, unconditioned a n d absolutereality. In this process of evolution, in the trans formation from the mind to thesuperm ind, the technique of 'yoga' helps hu man beings to hasten th e process. SriAurob indo developed his own technique called ' Integral Yoga' orPurna Yogawhich incorporates th e techniques of four yoga i.e. Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Jna nayoga and R aja yoga-as well as the Tantrik philosophy. Thro ugh this integral Yoga,a Yogi can rise to the supremental level, which will bring him joy(Ananda). T h e .attainment of Ananda helps in self-realization and assists in the service of humanity.

According to him, since 'matter' is not different from 'spirit ' 'gradual evolution ofmatter will convert it into pure spirit. Despite the obstacles in the way which may

Sri Aurobindo

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Militant Nationalism

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slow down the process, the advancement of humanity in the direction of spiritualperfection will continue. In this process, a few developed souls will work aspathfinders and will struggle hard to find the path for others.

Aurobindo believed that India's tradition of spiritual thought and practice was veryadvanced and the whole of humanity could benefit from this in its spiritual journey.He wanted India to take the lead and for this reason, thought that India ought to befree, to play her true role in the spiritual regeneration of the world.

9 4 POLITICAL THOUGHT:

EARLY PHASEA close scrutiny of Aurobindo's writings show tha t he wrote extensively on problemof current political importance in the early phase of his political activity. Hispolitical thought at that time consisted of :

His views on the Indian National Congress and the British rule in India.

a The Concept of Nation and the Theory of Spiritual Nationalism.

a His programme of action heory of Passive Resistance etc.,

His writings in this period must be seen against the political background of ourcountry in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. His objective was to mobilizethe masses for the fight against the foreign ruler~~and is ultimate goal was full

freedom for the country.

Aurohindo's thoughts in the later phase, i.e. from 1910 onwards reflect clearly theneed for humanity to return to the spiritual motivations 6 . life. In this section, wewill concentrate on his political thought, which he expressed in the earlier phase ofhis life (1883-1905) and the first phase of his political activity (1905 to 1910). Later,we will proceed to study his views on human unity.

9.4 l His Views on the Indian N ational C ongressWhen Aurobindo returned from England, he observed the political scene and'expressed his views through his writings in journals like 'Bande Mataram'. He wascritical of the Congress organization and its leadership at that time. He criticised theCongress on four counts-viz. i) its aims and objectives, ii) its composition, iii) the

motives of the leaders and iv)'the methods adopted by them for the realisation oftheir aims and objectives. This does not mean that he was basically against thenational Congress. On the contrary, he declared that The Congress was to us, allthat is to man most dear, most high and most sacred. But at the same time, he didnot hesitate to express his disillusionment and dissatisfaction about its working.

Abaut the aims and objectives of the organization, he thought that the Congress didnot have a clearcut goal of national freedom. The leaders of the Congress werewasting time on trifles like certain administrative reforms, which were totallyinadequate to meet the need of the time. Their demands, he delivered were'shamefully modest.'

Abaut the composition of the Congress, he thought that the Congress was a middleclass organization and therefore, did not represent the Indian masses. The newlyeducated middle class leadership was only interested in gaining power and a place inthe In ian polity. He emphasised the need for convert ing the national movement intoa mass vement by including in it the vast numbers of the proletar iat. He believedthat the emergence of the Indian 'proletariat' on the horizon of the nationalmovement would be an important key to the solution of the problem of transformingrhe Congress into a truly national and popular body.

Thirdly, regarding the motives of the Congress leaders, his observation was that theywere not sincere leaders. They were timid and afraid of displeasing their rulers. Hebelieved that these defects in the organization had adversely affected the nationalmovement in the country.

He felt that the Congress leadership had not perceived the British rule correctly andtherefore, instead of boldly asserting their goal, the leaders relied on the sense of



justice and benevolence of the British rulers. They resorted to futile petitions andrequests in the annual sessions of the Congress.

He therefore stressed the need for a broad based organization th at could channelizethe entire power of the co untry t o free it fro m foreign rule. Thus, his insistence onenthusing the m asses with the spiri t of independence was on e of the first efforts togive a mass character to the freedom movement.

9 4 2 Nature o f the ritish RuleAurobindo's f irst poli tical writ ings in ' lndu-P rakas h' n Anglo-~M aratnipaperwas a direct at tack o n Brit ish rule. Of course, some leaders participating in the

national movement were also criticising British rule at that time, but their criticismwas quite indirect . His writ ing was a depa rture from this style of expression. Hecreated such a sensation in the country tha t justice M.G. Ranade had to wa rn theeditor of Indu-Prakash to be careful, and subsequently the editor had to requestAu robind o to modify his tone, which he did rathe r reluctantly.

The purpose of Aurobindo's criticism of the British rule was two fold. In the firstinstance, he wanted to strengthen the anti-Brit ish sen timents in the country andsecondly, to break the myth of British superiority.

He expressed the view that the British political system was in no way the best as waswidely believed by In dian intelligentsia. He was also critical of the absenc e of socialfreedom and equality. Hence, he believed that copyingr i ~ cS~iikli i;; ~ n o ~ I U L i l l

the interest of our country. Regarding the nature of the Brit ish rule in India heexpressed the view tha t , I t is mercantile in founda tion and exploitative incharacter . It must be, therefore, weakened from its base itself, in order to achievefreedom and independence of the country.

Aurobindo described the behaviour of the Brit ish officials as rude and arrogant. Hebelieved that the system of administration set up by the British in lndia wasthoroughly unsuitable to the lndian people, their socio-economic system, their mindand genius. He was also critical of the anglicised Indians who regarded the Britishway of l ife an d cultu re worth emulating.

He, however, did not object to learnibg from the experience of the Brit ish, thoug h hewas against the thoughtless aping of Eu rope an ideas an d ideals. H e objected to thegrowing tendency amo ng Indians to ignore the past and of having n o clear vision forthe fu ture .

9 4 3 Concept of Nation and Theory of Spiritual NationalismAur obind o's concept of nation was deeply influenced by Bankimc handra-a grea tBengali novelist. He believed that the nation is not just a piece of land nor a mass ofhuman beings. It is neither a figure of speech nor the creation of mind. Itssomething more than a geographical unit or a f igment of peoples ' imagination. Thus,his concept of nation is profound and very different from the co mm only heldpatriotic notions about the nation.

T o him, India wa s like hjs moth er an d hence he was highly devoted to her. Heglorified lndia as a Mother Goddess, and adviced the young patriots to work fortheir nation which is their m other. He believed that th e l iberation of the motherlandis the most urgent duty of her children for which they must be ready to sacrifice eventheir lives.

According to Aurobindo's hnderstanding, the 'nation' is a mighty 'shakti ' composedof all the shaktis of al l the m illions of units tha t m ake up the nation. I t is thus aliving entity. He expressed his deep feelings of love and dedication to the motherlandin numerous art icles an d poems. Such patriotism he believed could wor k miracles.Thus, A urobindo's definit ion-of nationalism had a spiri tual dimension, unlike theordinary patriotic understanding of the terms nationalism.

Nationalism in his opinion is not merely a political movement. It is neither apolitical program me nor a n intellectual past time. In his opinion, nation.alism is ak into religion. It is a faith a nd a creed which o ne ha s to live. It is a religion which ha scome from God. Hence, i t cannot be crushed. Even if at tempts are made by external

forces to suppress i t, i t reemerges an d survives due t o the strength o f Go d in i t .

Sri urobindo



Militant Nationalism Natilonalism is immortal. It can not die, because it is not a creation of human beingsbut is created by G od. If one wants to be a nationalist , one must w ork for hisnation. Nationalism in his opinion w as a deep and fervent 'rel igious sadhana' . Herein l ies the d i fference between Aurobindo 's concept of na t ional ism - ~ dationalism asperceived by other thinkers and political activists of his time.

Nationalist movement sparked off by the partition of Bengal was in the opinion ofAur obind o a divinely inspired and guided m oveme nt. In his opinion, this movementwas not guided by any political self interest, but it was a religious mission which thepeople were trying to fulfil. Th us for him, nationalism is a religion by which peopletry to realise God in their nation, and their fellow country men .

9.4.4 Final Goal warajIndia 's l iberation from foreign domination was the final goal for Aurobindo.Swaraj ,i.e., self rule by Indians was not merely of economic and political nature. It wasnecessary fo r India t o pe rform its spiri tual mission dedicated to th e uplif tment ofhuman ity. He advocated indep endence for lndia for t* following reasons:

Liberty being the first indispensable condition of rational development-intellec tual,m oral, individ ual a nd political-is in itself a necessity of nat ion al life.Hence it was worth striving for its own sake.

Secondly, in the process of development of human beings, spiri tual and moraladvance is more important than material advance. Aurobindo was of the opinionthat ln dia with her spiri tual developm ent was destined to take the lead for the

progress of the world and for this reason too lndia must be free.India must have swaraj to l ive well an d happily. F or this Indians should not l iveas slaves but as free people to wor k for the spiritual a d intellectual benefit of thhuman race.

The concept of nationalism which dominated his though t and activity in the earlyphase was just a stepping stone to move in the direction of the unity of hum ankin d.This unity of humank ind was regarded by him as a pa rt of nature 's eventual schemand as the inevitable goal of hu ma n developm ent. (This point is discussed in detail iSection 10.5). To achieve this goal of nationa l independence , he explained th eme tho ds to be followed. We shall see in detail his plan of political actio n which headvocated in his very brief association with political activity.

9.4.5 Positive Programme of Political ActionIn 1906, Auro bindo left his job a t B aroda an d plunged into active polit ics. I t is atthis stage that he thought and wrote about the poli t ical techniques to be adoptedagainst the British. The theoretical base of the political course of action that hesuggdsted was two fold. Com plete freedom from British domina tion was his ult imatgoal and this he believed, could not be achieved by ap peals to the charity of foreignmasters, but by iha nne lisin g the unlimited reserved strength of millions of Indians.

According to A urobin do, this l imitless reservoir of inner strength an d powe r of thepeople could be channelised through different kinds of political actions; viz.,I) through secret revolutionary propaganda by setting up revolutionary organuation.The object of this action was to prepare fo r an arme d insurrection. 2) Secon dly,continuous prop agan da against foreign rule through w ritings, speeches, publiccontacts etc. This was regarded by many a t that t ime a s a n impossible schemebecause in their opinion the bri t ish Em pire was too strong to be destabil ised througsuch techniques. 3) Thirdly, mobilising the masses through various organizations tocarry an open and total opposit ion to foreign rule through methods of non-cooperation and passive resistance.

Aurobindo tr ied all the three methods. Even when he was at Baroda, he had contactwith the revolutionary organizations in Bengal as well as M ahar ashtra. He tried toestablish secret groups throug h his Bengali contacts in the B aroda Army. At thesame time, he developed contacts with radical Congress.leaders like Tilak and co-operated with him t o reduce the influence of mod erates on the organization. In thesituation of polit ical turmoil following the parti t ion of Bengal, he organised an d

propagated methods of passive resistance.



His advocacy of the method of passive resistance was the result of his disillusionmentover the consti tutional methods of moderate leaders. He was opposed to methodslike passing resolutions , sending petitions, a nd ent erin g int o negotiation s with Britishrulers. Instead, he advoc ated methods l ike boycott of foreign goo ds non co-operation with the rulers etc. These were, accord ing to him, the methods mostsuitable a t the t ime since Indians were faced with rulers who were oppressive andinsensitive to the de mand s of the people.

Thus, the measures he adv ocated were no t mo ral o r spiri tual but very practicalpolitical measures. He did not reject the use of force in the application of thesemethods. Violence was no t taboo for A urobind o. T he use of force and violence wasjustified, if circumstances demanded them. Here in lies the difference between

Gandhiji s metho d of civil resistance and A urobind o s me thod of passive resistance.Gandhiji regarded violence as unethical and hence, harmf ul and undesirable. He alsoregarded i t as tainted by mora l cowardice and as incomp atiable with the end forwhich it could be used. But for Aur ob ind o passive resistance was a compreh ensiveprogramme of national regeneration.

Programme of Action

Boycott was the key word in the p rogram me of action proposed to resist highhande dness an d oppress ive measures employed by the British rulers. Boycott in thiscontext means a n act of organised refusal to d o anything which shall help o r assistthe Brit ish officialdom in adm inistration of i t. This non co-operation was to continu eas long as the aspirations of the people remained unfulfi lled. Th e object of putt ingthis method of boycott on the foref ront of the programme was to make theadmin istration under present conditions impossible. The main target of the boycottwas British goods, since econo mic exploit ation b y the British rulers was to bestopped forthw ith. Aur obin do believed that if this was done, the empire wouldcollapse in consequence.

Boycott of the Brit ish system of education was another part of the programme. Thissystem was fo und t o be anti-national as well as faulty in i ts very foundations. I t wascompletely cantrolled by the gov ernme nt as was used by foreign rulers t o inculcateloya lty t o t hem and d i s c o u r ~ e d a t r io t ism and the na t iona l sp i ri t. Th i s p rog rammeincluded bo ycott of govern men t run schools and colleges and sou ght to establishbational education insti tutions and a system directed towards creating awarenessabo ut the problems of the country, love for the nat ion an d m enta l preparednessamong the youth of the country to fight against the dominance of alien power.

It also advoca ted bo ycott of the British judicial system. Th e system was regarded a spartial , costly, frequently subordin ated t o the poli tical objects of the rulers andruinous as far as the people of this country were concerned. The administration ofjustice was crit icized for being bureaucratic in nature ..Finally, this programme included boycott of administration. The executive/administrative machinery were regarded as ruthless, repressive, arbitrary, rqeddlingan d inquisitorial in character. T he objective of boycott was t o reduce theadministrative m achinery t o a m ere skeleton so that i t would be useless for the rulersin their efforts to exp loit and harass the helpless masses of this country.

Aurobindo was well aware of the importance of orderliness and discipline for anation. When he advocate d boycott , he also advocated alternative arrangeme nts toreplace the exist ing system. H e regarded this pro gram me as a scheme of selfdevelopment a nd believed that if the people were firm in enforcing these methods,British rule could be ended within no time.

Check Your Progress

Note i) Use the space given below for you r answer.i i) Check you r answers with the answers given at the end of the unit .

1) Write in brief f ou r major points on which Aurob indo cri t icised the IndianNational Congress.

ri Aurobindo



Militant NationalBm

6

2 Explain in brief Aurobindo s concept of nation.

3) State whether the following statements are true or false:i) Aurobindo criticised British rule because he wanted to strengthen the anti-

British sentiments. (True/ False)

ii) Nationalism is immortal; hence it can not be crushed. (True/ False)

iii) Passive resistance means opposing the rulers by passing resolutions againstthem. (True/ False)

iv) Aurobindo regarded violence as taboo and advocated non-violent methods.(True/ False)

v Objective of boycott was to make the working of the administrationimpossible. (True/ False)

9 5 THE SECO ND STAGE: FROM 1910 ON W AR DS

We have already noted that Aurobindo dramatically withdrew from politics in 1910and moved to Pondicherry, following the persistant calls from his inner self throughmystic experiences. His writings during this phase are mainly philosophical in nature,in which we find extension of his eadier political ideas now expressed in the widercontext of humanity and its spiritual future.

9 5 1 Evdution of Human SocietyAurobindo argues that, in the course of its development. human society has to passthrough three stages. The first is the stage of spontaneity. At this stage. the formsand activities of community formation. Tts traditions and customs and institutionalsetup are the result of natural organic growth. Natural i lrsti~cts nd environmentalneeds play an important part in its formation. The people believe in certain symbolwhi~h re imaginative and instinctive in nature. The people belonging to the same

race or kinship follow identical symbols which become a religion for them. Thus, inthis stage of development, natural instincts and religious symbols go together.

The second stage is the stage of consciousness in which people become intellectuallyself conscious and start thinking about this life and its problems with the help ofintelligence and creative power. This stage, is predominantly psychological andethical in nature. In this stage intellectuals get importance and come forward as theinitiators of the age of reason and revolt or progress and freedom.

The third stage is the stage that represents both the triumph and failure of reason.this stage., human beings in collectivity begin to live more deeply and purposively.Life of human beings at this stage will be governed by a sense of unity, sympathy,spolntaneous liberty and the spirit of individual and communal existence. From herehumankind has to advance towards the realization of spiritualised society. This is th

ideal towards which t h i process of evolution of society points out.



In this spiritual society, nation as a regulating mechanism will have no place. It willnot be worshipped by people s their G od o r their larger self. There would be noclashes or conflicts on the basis of separate identities as nations. There would beunity within the nations as group but there would also be ultimate unity and onenessof the hum ankind . The prim ary responsibility of achieving this unity was entrustedby Aurobindo to India.

9 5 2 Nature of Human UnityIt will not be a mechanical unity established unde r the iron law of the state or anyorganization because such kind of mechanical unity will negate the diversity ofvarious groups, individuals or rices. There would be no supp ression of individual lifkor the life of smaller community. All individuals and cammunities will get the fullestoppo rtunity for the full development of their potentialities and the full expression oftheir multifaced diversity.

The future society will be a society of complex oneness, a world society in whichpresent nations will be intrinsic parts of the whole. The national societies wouldcontinue to function as cultural units but their physical boundaries will have norelevance s they would look beyond them to realise the vision of the unity ofmankind.

Aurobindo was aware of the problems and hurdles in the way of the emergence ofsuch spiritual society at that time, but he was optimistic about its advent in the nearfuture. He was not only hopeful but certain about the achievement of world unity

an d peace. Mankind s aspiration for peace and unity had become a reality to som eextent in the for m of the establishment of the League of Nations in 1920 and theUnited Nations in 1945. He was also aware of the practical lim itations of suchorganisations in the face of the realities of international politics, but firmly believedin the emergence of united world. It was his belief that this was certain because itwas essential for the very contin uance of hum anity a nd failure in this respect meantthe failure of the hum an race itself. This could never be, for humanity would not ,whatever be its occasional lapses, work for its own extinction.

heck Your Progms

Note i) Use the space given below for you r answer.ii) Check your answers with the answers given at the end of the unit.

I) According to Auro bindo , what are the stages throug h which the human societydevelops?

2) Explain in brief Auro bindo s vision of the fu tur e society.

Sri Auroblndo



Militant Na tionalism

9 6 CRITICAL EVAL UATIO N

The study of Aurobindo's political thought raises certain points of criticism whicneed to be discussed before we take into consideration his contribu tion to moderIndian poli t ical thought and the national movement.

9 6 1 Theory of Nationalism: Spiritual or Religious?In the context of his theory of 'spiritual nationalism', it is argued that though it icalled spiritual nationalism, in reality it was religious,. as we have known it, andtherefore reactionary in character. I t was an attempt to mobilize the masses on aemotio nal basis an d detrac ting their at tention from real issues l ike poverty, econexploitation, inequality which are inimical to the progress of the individual as we.the comm unity. I t was a n appeal t o H indu religious sentiments in the gar b of thcultural heri tage of th e land.

Further, i t is argued t ha t to regard nationa,l ism as a n instrum ent of spiri tualperfection is too idealist ic an d visionary for th e com mo n person. T o associatereligion with politics, though in the name of spirituality, is dan gero us propos itii n a m~l t i r e l i ' ~ ious ,ulticultural plural society like India. It is argued that in theultimate an alysis, t,his exercise has resulted in increasin g the strife between theHin dus an d the Muslims-two ma jor religious comm unities in India, which finaresulted in the parti t ion of the cou ntry.

Aurobindo's defenders would, however, claim that his concept of nationalism anh~um an nity were based on his understanding of the Hindu Sa nata na D harm a,which t o him m eant a n open a nd universal philosophy of life.

His concept of nationalism clearly indicates his spiritual approach to politics. Nomerely his theory of nationalism, but his political philosophy in its totality hasspiri tual overtones. Poli t ics fo r him was a n aspect of the br oader process of persnational and international spiri tual development. He looked upon Indianindependence as a n essential turn in the l ife of this ancient land for playing the rof a spiritual guide of humanity at Large. He believed this was India's predetermirole and that s he could rise to that level only through the teachings of the Hindureligion. Nationalism can not a fford to neglect any on e. I t is therefore imperativeone to bring all the sections of the society into the m ai ns tr ym of polit ical l ife. IIndian context, he believed that all the sections including tribals and communitieoutside of H indu civilization must form p art of the process of national independas nationalism excludes none. It is in this sense, Aurobindo's followers say that, concept of spiri tual nationalism sh ould be understood.

9 6 2 Emphasis o n Political IssuesCritics point out tha t A uro bind o paid less attention t o the issues of social reformwhich were perhaps more important and urgent. The defence of the radicals in thregard was that it was a matter of giving preference in the light of circumstances

existing at that t ime. T o them the problem of social reform was not in any wayunimp ortant in comp arison w ith the issue of national independence, but the lat tewas considered as a matter of primary importance. In this context, Aurobindo hvery clear approach. H e stated that , poli tical freedo m is the life breath of a natto attemp t social reforms, ed ucationa l reforms, industrial expan sion, the moralimprov emen t of race, without aiming first and foremost a t polit ical freeddm is thvery height of ignorance and futility.

9 6 3 Sri Aurobindo An AnarchistITerroristGecix,se: u his advocacy of force or violent means in the fight against foreign rul~ u r o b i n d os crit icised as an a narchist as well as a terrorist in his app roa ch a ndaction. H e was certainly not a n anarchist. N either was he a terrorist though he dnot disapprov e of the use of violence on m oral an d spiri tual grounds. But he di



approve of blind terrorism against individuals in the manner of a violent anarchist.In his vision of a future society, he accepteh existence of nations as cultural units inthe broader scheme of human unity at the spiritual level. Hence, the charge of being'anarchist' in case of Aurobindo is without a basis.

As far as his advocacy of violent m eans an d association with th e revolutionarygroups is concerned, it can be said that it was a reaction against the increasinglyintolerant and uncivilised way of the British rulers. It was a reaction to British policyand to the partition of Bengal. It was the reaction of an emotional patriot to brutalexploitation of his motherland and tyrannical government at the hands of the alienrulers. To him, ends were important, by whatever means they were achieved.However, within a short period the limitations of this strategy became very clear.Aurobindo himself has pointed out these.

Aurobindo also pointed out that moral standards are only relative and ca nnot beheld to be universal. According to Aurobindo, violence was best avoided but couldnot be totally avoided or prohibited.

9 7 LET U S S U M U P

We have taken into account some major pcints of criticism regarding Aurobindo'sthought. W e shall now proceed to estimate his contribution to modern Indian

political thought and the national movement.His theory of spiritual nationalism is a unique contribution to modern thought. Hiswritings inspired the educated youth of histime to take up the cause of nationalfreedom . By interpre ting the conc ept of nationa ism in spiritu al terms he gave a newdimension to the national movement and lifted it above the economic and politicalcontext and a new kind of spiritual idealism was set before the nationalists in thecountry.

Secondly, by advocating complete freedom from the foreign domination as the finalgoal of the freedom struggle he brought change in the texture of our nationalmovement. It was quite a bold stand taken by him when the moderates werespearheading the national movement.

Thirdly, ~t may be pointed ou t tha t Au robin do was the first political thinke r wh orecognised the need of giving a broad base to the national movement. He emphasisedthe need of mas s mobilization an d participation of all sections of society in thenational movement way back in 1893. In this sense, he was a true demo crat relyingon th e j o ~ n t ction by the m any rather t han the intellectual initiative of a few. Hisadvocacy of passive resistance created a sense of renewed confidence am on g themasses and exposed the contradiction between the myth and reality of British raj.

With his advocacy of radical m et k de s to attain the goal of full freedom for Indiannation, he created a favourable atmosphere for revolutionary spirit among thepolitical activists and by participating in it as their leader he set an example of beingboth, a theoretician as well as practitioner and a good organizer which is a rarecombination of the qualities of the prophet and the leader.

Check Your rogress

Note: i) Use the spac e given below f or your answe r.ii) Check your answers with the answe rs given at the end of the unit.

1) Identify two major points of criticism ab out theory of spiritual naliionalism.

Sri Aurobindo



Militant Natfondisrn

Was Sri Aurobindo at1 Anarchist.?

3 Fill in the blanks and complete the sentences.i) Not merely his theory of nationalism but pis political philosophy in tota

had..i Political freedo m is the of a nation.

iii) As a patriot he continuo usly wrote ab ou t political ma tters on the themeof

iv) Sri Au rob indo is the unique exa mp le of being both as weas which is a rare quantity found am ong leaders.

9 8 SOME USEFUL BOOKS

Kaiuna karan K.P. 1975) : Indian Politicsjrom Dodabhai Naoroji to Gandhi.Gitanjali Prakashan, New Delhi.

Mdhta V.R. 1983) : Ideo1og.v Modernization and Politics in India. ManoharPublications, New Delhi.

Sa tm a G.N. Ed.) 1973) : The Vision oj Sri Aurobindo Dipti Publications, SriAurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry.

Sarma G.N. Ed). an d Shakir Moin 1976): Politics and Society :Ram Mohan R0.yto Nehru. Parimal Prakash an, Aurangabad Ch.3 .

Singh Karan 1970) : Prophet oj lndian Nationalism. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,Bymbay.

Panthan Thom as Ed). 1986) Political Thought in Modern India. Sage PublicatioNew Delh i Ch . 12).

Varma V .P. 197 1) : Modern Indian Political Thought. Laxmi Narayan Agarwal,Agra.

9 9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESSEXERCISES

k k ourProgressAns. .2.1; 9.2.2.

Ans. 2 ) A ii B iii) C iv)

Check Your y m n 2Ans. .4.1.Ans: 2 .4.3.Ans. 3 rue

2 rue3 alse4 alse5 rue

Ans. 4 .4.5.



k k Your Progaw 3Ans 51

Ans 2 . 9 5 2

Cbeck Your ProgressAns 6 1

Ans 2 6 3

Q Spiritual overtone2 Life breath3 Full independence

Theoretician ractitioner



Structure

10. IIntroduction

10.2 Philosophical Foundations of Gandhi s Political Perspective

10.3 Views 011 Huinan Nature

10.4 Relationship between Religion an d Politics

10.4.1 Concept of Religion

10.4.2 Concept of Politics

10.4.3 Relationship between Religion and Politics

10.5 Unity of Ends and Means10.5.1 Relationship Between Means and Ends

0.6 Satya, Satyagraha and Ahin~sa

10.7 Concept of Swaraj

10.8 On Parliamentary Democracy

10.9 Grain waraj or Development from Below

10.10 Ideas on the economy

10.1 1 Sarvodaya: The Rise of All

10.12 Theory of Trusteeship

10.13 Evils of Industrialism

10.14 Corlcept of Swadeshi .

10.15 Sun~n?ary

10.16 Exercises

10.1 INTRODUCTION

Moha~ldasKaran~chandGandhi (1869-1948), herein after Gandhiji, was undoubtedly the mostauthentic and celebrated representative of the wisdom and culture of India in our times. Hisc o ~ ~ n l r y m e naddress 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 anda seeker of truth. We collsider him as a 'yugapurusha', one who inaugurated a new era.

Thc contribution of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Indian national movement wasu~~pa ralleled.He made the Indian National Congress a peoples Congress and the nationalniovement a mass movement. He made people fearless and bold and taught them the n o n

violel11 1iietl1odsfor fighting against injustice. He had a passion for individual liberty which



Icd him to niake dcep forays within Iiis own inner self as it led him to probe into the naturaand social world around hini, particularly the tradition which he considered his own.

Gal~dliiji s hilosopliy was a profound engagement with modernity and its pitfalls. Againsthc cvils of wan.ton industrialisation, materialisni and selfish pursuits, Gandhiji suggested,

turn, swadeshi, primacy of the self and trusteeship; against the institutioii of state, as thforce personified, and the prevalent notion of democracy where only heads are counted, hefavourcd a swaraj type of denlocracy where everything springs from the free individual anwlierc decisions are made bottom-up with the locus of power below. He proposed a minimalslate, vested only with coordinativepowers, that supports decentralisation with the autonomousindiviclual as its base of support.

A spiritual perspective infuses Gandhiji's whole approach to life. I-Iis political understandinand practices, suggestions on the economy, social niobilisation and practical life have theibasis in inorality and ethics. Pursuit of Truth is his mantra and non -violence was integrato it.

Among Gandliiji s notable writings, mention may be made of An Autobiography: The Sto,

of' U I J Experirtlents with Truth; The Collected Works of Mahatrna Gandhi; PanchayatiRrrj; Satj)ugr.nha ii olrfh Africa; Sarvodaya and Hind Swaraj. He edited Young India

wllich he later ienanied as Harijnn which remained his mouthpiece.

As is ti-ue abo.ut anyone else, Gandhiji was also influenced by many: Tolstoy (Gospels iBrief; hat o Do, The Kingdonz of God is Within You), Ruskin Utzto This Last), ThoreaEssn j~on Civil Disobedierrce), Swami Vivekananda, Gokhaleand Tilak, just to mention

few. T11ere is the strong stanip of his family and the Indian national movement with its croscurrents 11 hini. He was fa~uil iarwith the teachings of the major religions of the world. Hewas exceptioiially well- read and even translated such works as Plato s Republic into Gujara

I He maintained extensive correspondence wit11 some of the most outstanding figures of htime, I-le maintained a whipping schedule travelling to different parts of the vast Indiansubcontjneilt sometimes traversing long distances on foot. Many associated themselvespe~.sonaflyclose to hini and he left his imprint on many who came into contact with him. Hlenr~ it rom everyone I1e came across and 11 significant event of his times escaped hiattention. His assassinat io~ibrought t6 a close a life of undaunted courage resting on the

call of conscience, conilnitted to the service of his country, comnlon weIfare and ulliverslovc.

10.2 PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATlONS.OF GANDHI SPOLITICAL PERSPECTIVE

Ga~idliij iwas a deeply religious man. .This perspective shaped his politics, his economic ideasand his view of society. However, the religious approach that lie inibibed was markedldifferent from other religious illen. He wrote to Mr. Polak, " Most religious men I have m

arc politicians in disguise; I, however, who wear the guise of a politician, am at heart, a~.cl igiousman. My bent is no t political but religious. "



He accepts the inner oneness of all existence in the cosmic spirit, and saw all living beingsas representatives of the eternal divine reality. Divine presence envelops the whole worldand it makes its reflective presence felt in men and women. Gandhiji believed that man'sultimate goal in life was self -realisation. Self -realisation, according to him, meant seeing Godface to face, i.e., realisingthe absolute Truth or, what one may say, knowing oneself. Hebelieved that it could not be achieved unless man identified himself with the whole ofmankind. This necessarily involved participation in politics. Politics is the means, par excellence,to engage with the world. Such an engagement is expressed in service. Gandhiji was clearin his mind that Truth could not be attained by merely retiring to the Himalayas or beingbogged down with rituals but in actively engaging with the world, keeping oneself open tothe voice of God and critically reflecting upon oneself and letting others to reflect on you.

" Man's ultimate aim is the realisation of God, and all his activities, social, p o l $ c ~ l ;religious,have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God. The immediate service of allhuman beings becomes a nece&irypart of the endeavour, simply because the only way tofind God is to see Him in His Creation and be one with it. This can only be done by serviceof all. I am a part and parcel of the whole, and I cannot find Him apart from the rest ofhumanity. My countrymen are my nearest neighbours. They have become so helpless, soresourceless, and so inert that I must concentrate myself on serving them. If I could persuademyself that I should find Him in a Himalayan cave I would proceed there immediately. ButI know that I cannot find Him apart from humanity. "

It is only through the m&ns of self -purification that self -realisation can be attained. Thefasts, prayers and works of service that he undertook were all directdd towards such an end.

In his Autobiography, Gandhiji says that self-realisation required self -purificationas

itsethical foundation. Man's moral life flows from sucll a search inward into his own self andexpresses itself in outward activity of fellowship and concern to others. Gopinath Dhawanwrites in this connection: This ethical outlook is the backbone of Gandhiji's political philosophyeven as his ethics has for its foundation in his metaphysical principles. To him the moraldiscipline of the individuals is the most important means of social reconstruction. " Gandhijiinvoked the five -fold moral principles: truth, non-violence,non-stealing, non-possession andcelibacy. The observance of these moral principles would purify man and enable hiin to striveafter self -realisation.

10.3 VIEWS ON HUMAN NATURE

Gandhiji's views on man, human nature and society are in consonance with his philosophicaloutlook and reflect his convictions regarding morality and ethical pursuit of life. At thesame time he was deeply aware of the imperfections of human beings. What is important,

. however, is the disposition: " There is no one without faults', not even men of God. They aremen of God not because they .are faultless but because they know their own faults .... andare ever ready to correct themselves. " Conscious as Gandhijiwas about man's weaknesses

* as an individual or a member of a group, he still did not think of man merely or onIy as a

brute. Man, he was convinced,was

after all a soul as well. Even the most brutal'of rneri,fie felt, cannot disown the spiritual element in them, i.e,, their potentiality for goodness.While regarding the individual as imperfect he had great faith in human nature " I refuse "



,

Hinduistn, which changes one's very nature, which binds one indissolubly to the truth withinand whichever purifies. It is the permanent element in human nature which counts no costtoo great in order to find full expression and which leaves the soul utterly restless until it hasfound itself knows its maker and appreciates the true correspondence between the Makerand itself'. Any kind of sectarian foreclosure, he felt, was a violation of human nature and

its authentic striving. He said,"

Religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief inordered moral government of the universe. It is not less real because it is unseen. Thisreligion transcends Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc. It does not supersede them. It harmonisesthem and gives them reality " . Talking about specific religions, he says, " Religions aredifferent roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take differentroads, so long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many religions as thereare individuals " . While diversity of religions is admissible, he did not think that any religioncan claim itself as superior over others. In fact, when a religion claims itself superior toothers its credentials are suspect and it becomes a hurdle in the path of our self -realisation:So long as there are different religions, evely one of them may need some distinctive

symbol. But when the sy~nbol is made into a fetish and an instrument of proving thesuperiority of one's religion over others, it is fit only to be discarded J '.

10.4.2 Concept of Politics

Politics, for Gandhiji, was but a part of man's life. Though lie thought that an increase inthe power of the state did the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality which layat .the root of all progress, yet he viewed political power as a. means that enabled people tobetter their conditions in every department of life. Politics therefore is an enabling activity.He wrote, " my work of social reform was in no way less ox subordinate to political work.

The fact is that when I saw that to a certain extent my social work would be i~npossiblewithout the help of political work, I took to the latter and only to the extent that it helpedthe former " .

Political activity of man is closely associated with other activities of man and all theseactivities, according to Gandhiji, influence each other. " Life is one indivisible whole, and allmy activities run into one another " . Therefore political activity is intimately related to otherwalks of life and pursuits. What he hated in politics was the concentration of power and theuse of violence associated with political power.

10.4.3 Relationship between Religion and PoliticsHe formulated the relationship between politics and religion as an intimate one. Religioncannot be divorced from politics. Given the fundamental objective of life as self - realisation,if politics does not enable religious pursuits it is not worthwhile at all. He stated categorically,

" For me, politics bereft of religion is absolute dirt, ever to be shunned " . He further thoughtthat political activity that divorces itself from the quest of self - realisation is not worth d ~ esalt.Politics creates the conditions for pursuits which members of a polity feel are basic to themaking of their selves. What could be more basic than pursuit of one's own self? He felt," For me there is no politics without religion - not the religion of the superstitious and the bind,

religion that hates and fights, but the universal religion of toleration.

P liti i i ti t l l t d t th ti ti iti f h lif Thi i ti l l t i



modem times. He wrote, " The whole gamutof man s activities today constitutes an indivisiblewhole. You cannot divide social, economic, political and purely religious work into watertightcompartments. "

While regarding politics as the method through which men can rule themselves withoutviolence.andreligion as the embodiment of ethical and moral rules, Gandhiji argued tha t theirclose relationship has to be lecognised. So much importance did he attach to politics thathe insisted on taking part in politics as if it is something religious in nature.

As evident, Gandhiji looked at politics with a view to reform it. He firmly believed that hecould lead a truly religious life only when he took part in politics. But the motivation thatimbuesone in participation in public life is important.

The Gandhian view of politics was a politics where people participated in public affairs forpurposes of servingothers. Hence, for him, all political activities concerned themselves with

the welfare of everyone. As political activity is closely related to the cause of the peopleit is essential that such activity be permeated by religion or at least should be t q concernof the people who are religiously motivated. Politics permeated by religion, according to him,means politics dedicated to serve the cause of humanity which eventually leads to a betterunderstanding of truth. For him, the kingdom of God lies here in this world, in the men here,and within men, those whose political activity is directed towards the service of humanity.TO quote him, " I could not be leading a religious life, unless I identified myself with the wholeof mankind, and I could not do so unless I took part in politics " .

For Gandhiji, politics, is one method of seeking a part of the whole truth. Political activity

helps man to achieve the capacity to rule himself, a capacity wherein he obeys rules of thesociety without any external force or external imposition. Religion and politics, so understood,make, a good case for swaraj. He regards concentration of power as detrimental to theindividual freedom and initiative

Gandhiji never considered political power as an end; it was a means to enable people tobetter their condition in every walk of life. For him political power was a means to regulatepublic life at varipus levels in tune with the principles stated above. If the life of a politybecomes self-regulated, there was no need to have representative government. It will then-

be an enlightened anarchy. In such a state everyone will be his own ruler respecting the

self-rule of others over themselves. It would then be a completely non - violent society andstate. I3 however felt that no society can ever become completely non - violent but if it does'it would be the purest anarchy'. The latter is the ideal to strive for. In the idoal state,therefore, there is no political power because there is no state.

10.5 UN TY OF ENDS AND MEANS

That the ends and means are related to each other is one of the basic tenets of Ga~ldhianphilosophy. Gandhiji drew no distinction between the means and the ends implying therebythat one leads to the other and that the latter is the effect of the former, Such n assertion,

for him, approximates the scientific principle of the relationship between cause and cffect,Gandhiji would not like to attain the noblest end if that was to be achieved through impur



10.5.1 Relationship between Means and Ends

He felt that the relationship between means and ends are integral and constitutive. " Meansand ends are convertible terms in my philosophy of life " . Refuting t h ~ s ewho opined that'means are after all means', he said, " means are after all everything " . As the means so theend. There is no wall of separation between means and ends. While good ends have to be

cherished they are not in our control. But means are in our control."

Indeed the Creatorhas given us control (and that too very limited) over means, none over the end. Realisationof the goal is in exact proportion to that of the means. This is a proposition that admits ofno exception. " Therefore, " If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.

He rebuked those who think that if one seeks good ends the morality of means can be leftto themselves. For him, " Impure means result in impure end.. . One cannot; reach truth byuntruthf~~lness .Truthful conduct alone can reach Truth " .

He argued that means and ends are enmeshed into each other. " Are not Non - violence and

'i'ruth twins?"

He replies, The answer is an emphatic 'No'. Non -violence is embedded in,

Truth and vice - versa. Hence has it been said that they are faces of the same coin. Eitheris inseparable from the other. "

Inspired by the Gita, the ethical principle that he upheld was atmasakt i One does notperform his duty expecting the fruit of his action and does it for the sake of duty. It soughtdetachment from the fruits of action. " By detachment I mean that you must not worrywhether the desired result follows from your action or not, so long as your motive is pure,your means is correct. Really it means that things w ll come right in the end if you take carefor the means and leave the rest to Him. "

His approach to action was to be stated by him in categorical terms" I have.. .

. concernedmyself principally with the conservation of the means and their progressive use. I know ifwe can take care of them, attainment of the goal is assured. I feel too that our progresstowards the goal will be in 'exact proportion to the purity of our means.

This method may appear to be long, perhaps too long, but I atn convinced that it is theshortest. "

10.6 SATYA. S TY GR H AND HlMS

Truth or Satya, for Gandhiji, is God himself. He therefore changed the statement, " God isTruth " , later in his life into, " Truth is God " and suggested that it was one of the fundamentaldiscoveries of his life's experiments. It is Truth, lze says, that exists; what does not existis untruth. The life of man, for Gandhiji, is a marc11 of his pursuit in search of Truth or God.

According to Gandhiji, truth is what the inner self experiences at any point of time; it 'is ananswer to one's conscience; it is what rcsponds to one's moral self. He was convincedthat knowledge alone " leads a person to the truth while ignorance takes one away from thetruth.

Satyagraha means urge for Satya, or truth. Satyagraha is not merely the insistence on truth;



it is, in fact, holding on t o truth through ways which are moral and non -violent; it is not theimposition of one's will over others, but it is appealing to the reasoning of the opponent; itis not coercion but is persuasion.

Gandhiji highlights several attributes of satyagraha. It is a moral weapon and does notentertain ill -feeling towards the adversary; it is' a non -violent device and calls upon its userto love his enemy; it does not weaken the opponent but strengthens him morally; it is aweapon of the brave and is constructive in its approach. For Gandhiji, a Satyagrahi is alwaystruthful, morally imbued, non -violent and a person without any malice; he is one who is

devoted to the service of all.

Truth, he firmly believed, can be attained only through non -violence which was not negative,meaning absence of violence, but was positively defined by him as love. Resort to non -violence is recourse to love. In its positive sense, non -violence means love for others; in itsnegative sense, it seeks no injury to others, both in words as well as deeds. Gandhiji talkedof non -violence of different people. There is the non -violence of the brave: one has theforce but he does not use it as a princi ple; there is the non -violence of the weak: one doesnot have faith in non -violence, but he uses it for attaining his objectives; there is the non -violence of th e coward: it is not non-violence, but impotency, more Ilarmful than violence.For Gandhiji, violence was a better option than cowardice.

Through non -violence one appeals to the truth that nestles in people and makes the latterrealise it in themselves, comc around, and join hands in the common march to truth along withthose whom they earlier considered as their adversaries. Given the enmeshing o f means andends, Gandhiji, often saw Love, Truth, God and Non - violence as interchangeable terms. Truthor God or Self -realisation being man's ultimate goal in life, this goal can be attained onlythrough non -violence or ahimsa.

10.7 CONCEPT OF SWARAJ

Gandhiji's concept of Swaraj was not merely confined to freeing India from the British yoke.Such freedom he desired but he said that he did not want to exchange 'king log for kingstork'. Swaraj is not transfer of political power to the Indians. Nor does it mean, as heemphasised, mere political self -determination. For him, there was no Swaraj in Europe; for

him the movement o f Swaraj involved primarily the process of releasing oneself from all thebondages one i s prey to both internal and external. It involves a movement of self - purificationtoo. It is not the replacement of one type of authority by another. He felt, " the real Swarajwill come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition of the capacityby all to resist authority when abused " . Swaraj, he used to say, is power of the people todetermine their lot by their own efforts and shape their destiny the way they like. In otherwords, " Swaraj is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity toregulate and control authority " .

Swaraj is usually translated in English as 'Independence'. Gandhiji, however, gave this term

a much deeper meaning. T h e word Swaraj is a sacred word, a Vedic word, meaning self -rule and self -restraint and not freedom from all restraint which 'independence' ofien means " .He saw swaraj as freedom for all plus self control by all It is related to t h inner strength



and capacity of a people which enable them to understand and control their social world:The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward

freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is the correct viewof freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated upon achieving reform from within " .

Freedom from within means control over oneself, which, in turn, means alife

based onunderstanding one's own self. Gandhi perceived non - violence as the key to attain suchfreedom and self -control. Non -violence needs to be imbued in our thought, words and deeds.Once non -violence as Love takes possession of these dimensions of the person then a senseof duty prevails over those of rights. We tend to do things for others without expectingreturns thereon. " In Swaraj based 11 Ahimsa, people need not know their rights, but it isnecessary for them to know their duties. There,isno duty that does not create correspondingrights and those rights alone are genuine rights, which flow from the performance of duty.77

Swaraj is thus a basic need of all. It recogtlises no race, religion, or community."

Nor isit the monopoly of the lettered persons ... Swataj is to be for all, including thk former butemphatically including the maimed, the blind, the starving, toiling millions. A stout hearted,honest, sane, literate man may well be the first servant of the nation. " Swaraj will necessarilybe inclusive of the poor and the toiling masses. Therefore, he adds, " Let there be no mistakeas what Purna Swaraj means. .... It is full economic freedom for th e toiling millions. Itis no unholy alliance with any interest for their exploitation. Any alliance must mean theirdeliverance. " (Young India 16 4 193 1, p.77 . In the same vein, Gandhiji made it very clearthat India's Swaraj did not mean the rule of majority coin~nunity.e. Hindus. 'Every communitywould be at par with every other under the Swaraj constitution.'

Swaraj, implying government based on the consent of the people is not a gift which comesfrom above, but it is something that comes from within. Democracy, therefore, is not theexercise o f the voting power, holding public office, criticising government; nor does it meanequality, liberty or security, though important as they all are in a democratic polity. It iswhen the people are able to develop their inner freedom which is people's capacity toregulate and control tlzeir desireslimpulses in the light of reason that freedom rises from theindividual and strengthens him.

His Swaraj had economic, social, political and international connotations. Economic Swaraj,

as he says himself, " stands for social justice, it promotes the good of all equally including theweakest, and is indispensable for decent life. " Social Swaraj centres on " an equalisation ofstatus. " Political Swaraj aims at '.'enabling people to better their condition in every departmentof life. " In the international field, swaraj ernphasised on interdependence. " There is " , hesays, No limit to extending our services to our neighbours across state -made frontiers. Godnever made those frontiers. "

10.8 ON PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY

Gandhiji did not subscribe to the view that democracy meant the rule of the majority, Hegave several definitions of democracy on several occasions. When we put them together,Gandh@may say, Democracy must in essence.. . mean the art and science of mobilising the



entire physical, economic and spiritual resources of all the various sections of the peo ple inservice of the common good of all. " He further said, " true democracy or the Swara j ofthe masses can never come through untruthful and violent means, for the simple reason thatthe natural corollary to their use would be to remove all opposition through the suppressionor extermination of the antagonists. That does not make the individual freedom. individual

freedom can have the fullest play only under a regime of unadulterated Ahimsa.

Democracy is a reflective and deliberative activity marking the presence of everyone. Intrue democracy every man and woman is taught to think for himself or herself. HO W thisreal revolution can he brought about I do not know except that every reform, like charitymust begin at home. " Democracy extends consideration to the viewpoints of others as itexpects consideration to one's own viewpoint. " The golden rule of conduct (in a democracy),he said, is mutual toleration, seeing that we will never all think alike and that we shallalways see Truth in fragments and from different angles of vision. Conscience is not thesame thing for all. Whilst, therefore, it is a good guide for individual conduct, imposit ion ofthat conduct upon all will be an insufferable interference with everybody - else's freedom ofconscience.

Gandhiji was wedded to adult suffrage. He felt that it is the only way to safeguard theinterests of all: the minorities, the poor, the dalits, the peasants and women. He hoped thatthe voters give weight to the qualifications of the candidates, not their caste, community, orparty affiliation. He wanted men of character to enter legislatures for even if tliey commitmistakes they would never do anything against the interests of the voters. Men and womenwithout character elected by the people would destroy the democratic system.

Referring to parliamentary democracy in 1931, Gandhi envisaged a constitution o f indepcnde~l

India " which will release India from all thraldom and patronage, and give her, if need be, theright to sin . He laid down his vision of an independent India as follows: " I shall work foran India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country in whose making tliey havean effective voice; an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people;an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room insuch an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs.Women will enjoy same rights as men. Since we shall be at peace wit11 all the rest of theworld, neither exploiting nor being exploited. We shall have the smallest army imaginable,All interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulouslyrespected whether foreign or indigenous. Personally, I hate distinction between foreign andindigenous. This is the India of my dreams. ... 1 shall be satisfied with nothing less. "

10.9 GRAM SW R J OR DEVELOPMENT FROM BELOW

According to the Gandhian thinking, democracy can function smoothly and according to theconcept of swaraj only if it is decentralised. " Centralisation as a system is inconsistent withnon-violent structure of society " . He wanted the centre of power to move from cities tovillages.

While conceptualising the decentralised system of rule, Gandhi advanced his theory of OceanicCircle, which he explained in the following words:



" In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever- wideningnever ascending circles. Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by thebottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual alwaysready to perish for the village, the latter ready to perish for the circle o f villages, tillat last the whole becomes a life c ~ m p o s e dof individuals, never aggressive in their

arrogance but ever humble, sharing the majesty of,the oceanic circle of which theyare integral units.

Therefore, the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle butwill give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it. Gandhi defended sucha position even at the cost of being called a utopian. I may be taunted with the retort thatthis is all Utopian and, therefore, not worth a single thought. If Euclid's point, thoughincapable of being drawn by human agency, has an.imperishab1e value, my picture has its

I

own for mankind to live. Let India live for this true picture, though never realisable in itscompleteness " .

The building blocks of democracy have to be villages. Gandhiji wanted each village to havean annually elected Panchayat to manage the affairs of the village. Each village followingthe oceanic circle theory would be autonomous yet interdependent. As Gandhiji argued, " Myidea of village swaraj is that it is a complete republic, independent of i ts neighbours for itsown vital wants, and yet inter -dependent for many others in which dependence is a necessity " .

10.10 IDEAS ONTH ECONOMY

Gandhiji s political philosophical ideas came to shape his ideas on the economy centrally. Hiseconomic thought revolves around the following normative ideas: (i) Economic process mustwork towards equality and non -exploitation (ii) it must be consistent with f i l l employment (iii)it must provide low priced consumer goods which satisfy the needs of the people (iv) allthose industries with sophisticated technology must be in the public sector (v) no massproduction without equal distribution.

For Gandhiji, the two cardinal principles in his economic thought are the promotion of equalitytogether with social justice. For the purpose the three principles which he prescribed are:(a) of non-possession i.e, economic policies to be pursued on need - base and not on the want-base (b) inequality arises with irrational desires to have more than what one wants (c) intechnologically advanced countries, people do not consume goods in the same proportion theyproduce; labour-intense technologies are to be preferred to the capital - intensive ones.

Gandhiji's economics stressed on equality, social justice, full employment and harmoniouslabour -capital relations. The last two centuries produced a good number of social thinkersand scientists. Mam offered an alternative to the capitalistic system articulated by AdamSmith. He called it communism. In between capitalism and communism stood socialism.Capitalism gave rise to colonialism and exploitation of the poor against which Gandhi foughtall through his life. But he opposed capitalism as much as communism. For him theindividual, his freedom, dignity and satisfying life were more important than mere economicprogress, which both capitalism and communism promised to deliver, Anything that did notliberate the man was unacceptable to Gandhi.



Morality and ethics occupy a central place in Gandhian concept of economics. " Trueeconomics never mitigates against the highest ethical standard, just as all true ethics to beworth its name must. An economics that inculcates Mammon worship and enables thestrong to amass wealth at the expense of the weak is a false and dismal science. It spelIsdeath. True economics, on the other hand, stands for social justice; it promotes the good ofall, equally including the weakest, and is indispensable for decent life. "

In Gandhian economics, the supreme consideration is the human being. Every man has theright to live and, therefore, to find work to meet his basic needs of food, clothing, shelter,education, health and self -esteem. He felt, 'these should be freely available to all as God'sair and water arie ought to be. They should not be made a vehicle of traffic for exploitationof others. Their monopolisation by any country, nation or group of persons would be unjust .

,I-Ie argued that w e must utilise all human labour before we entertain the idea of employingmechanical power. " Real planning " , according to Gandhi, " consists in the best utilisation ofthe whole man - power of India and the distribution of the raw products of India in hernumerous villages instead of sending them outside and re -buying finished articles at fabulousprices. "

10 1 1 SARV DAVA:THE RISE OF ALL

Gandhiji was critical o f the path both capitalist and socialist economies had taken, Americaharbours massive poverty amidst abundant wealth. " America is the most industrialised countryin the world, and yet it has not banished poverty and degradation. That is because it neglectsthe universal manpower and concentrates power in the hands of the few who amass fortunes

at the expense of the many."

Socialist economies, he felt, put the cart before the horse:"

AsI look at Russia where the apotheosis of industrialisation has been reached, the life theredoes not appeal to me. To use the language of the Bible, 'what shall i t avail a man if hegain the whole world and lose his soul? In modem terms, it is beneath human dignity to loseone's individuality and become a mere cog in the machine. I want every individual i obecome a full blooded, fully developed member of the society. "

While he looked at socialism positively, he felt that it was deeply enmeshed in'violenceSocialisn~was not born with the discovery of the misuse of capital by capitalists. As I have

contended, socialism, even communism is explicit in the first verse of Ishopanthad What

is true is that when some reformers lost faith in the method of conversion, the technique ofwhat is known as scientific socialism was born. ... I accepted the theoly of socialism evenwhile I was in South Africa. My opposition to socialists and others consists in attackingviolence as a means of affecting any lasting reform. " Further, socialism has only one aimthat is material progress. " I want freedom for full expression of my personality. ... Underthe other socialism, these is no individual freedom. You own nothing, not even your body. "

Harijan, 4.8.1946)

Against capitalism and socialism, Gandhi proposed the concept of Sarvodaya, which wasbased on three basic principles:

I that the good of the individual is contained in the good of all;



2. that the lawyer's work has the same value as the barber's, in as much as all have the sameright of earning their livelihood from their work;

3. that a life of labour, i-e. the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life worthliving.

10.12 THEORY OFTRUST SHIP

One of the most original contributiolls of Gandhiji in the area of economics is the conceptof trusteeship. Gandhiji wanted complete equality in so far as the basic needs o f the peoplewere concerned. fact he wanted the basic needs o f all including animals to be metsatisfactorily. But at the same time, he wanted people to have illcentives to remain economicallyactive and producemore. This naturally would lead to some people having Inore than whatthey need. They would bc rich but there would be no poor because the basic needs of allwould be satisfied.

To ensure that those who were rich did not use their property for selfish purposes or tocontrol others, he derived the term " Trusteeship " . Explaining the meaning underlying thisterm he said, 'Everything belonged to God and was from God. Therefore, it was 111eantforHis people as a whole, not for particular individuals. When an individual had more than hisproportionate portion h e became trustee of that portion for God's people'.

He wished that the idea of trusteeship becomes a gift from India to the world. Then therewould be no exploitation and no reserve. In these distinctions he found the seeds of war andconflict.

He elaborated on his idea of trusteeship extensively. He suggested " as to the successor the. trustee in office would have the right to nominate his successor subject to the legal sanction. "

The idea underlying the concept of trusteeship was twofold:

1. All humans are born equal and hence have a right to equal opportunity. This means that allmust have their basic needs fully satisfied.

2. All humans, however, are not endowed with equal intellectual and physical capacity. Somewould have greater capacity to produce than others. Such persons must treat tlleinselves astrustees of the produce beyond their basic needs.

3 . Violence and force as modes of distribution of produce have to be rejected,

10.1 3 EVILS OF INDUSTRIALISM

Gandhiji was against industrialisation on a Inass scale because it leads to many insolubleproblems such as the exploitation of the vijlagers urbailisation ea vir on m en tal pollutiolletc.~ wanted manufacturing to be done in villages and by the villages. This would keep themajority of the people of India fully employed; they would be able to meet their basic needsand would remain self -reliant. Even modern machines could be used provided they did notlead to unemployment and become the rneans of exploitation.



The concept of Swadeshi, for Gandhi, is encompassing. In religion, it means to be faithfulto our ancestral religion; in politics, it means the use of indigenous institutions; in economics,it emphasised on the use of things produced in the immediate neighbourhood;one must preferlocally produced things even if they are of relatively inferior quality or costly. It: does notmean that one should hate foreign-made products. Gandhiji had a place for foreign-madegoods, especially medicines and life -saving drugs if they are not produced in the country.

10.15 SUMMARY

There is a remarkable consistency and continuity in the political ideas of Gandhiji and theuses he put them to. Gandhi considered man as embodying the spiritual principle in him whichis divine. His self -realisation is the prime task of every man and woman. While man is notperfect and desires and mundane interests constantly pitch themselves as his prime wants,he has an innate disposition to seek his spiritual realisation. If the spiritual nature of man has

to be privileged then man's priorities have been to be ordered accordingly. He thereforebitterly criticised modernity and its insinuations which confine man to this world and itsallurements. He argued that the divine nature of man makes religion to engage itself positivelywith the world. He did not agree that religion should be separated frotnpolitics. He thoughtthat politics offers great opportunities to serve others and such service is an essentialattribute of religion. While Gandhi believed in his own religion and thought highly of it, hebad equal respect for all other religions, considered all of them as true but not withoutsh~rtcomings.He considered that ends and means are integral to each other. I-Ie did notsubscribe to the idea that good ends justify appropriate means. He applied this principle tothe pursuit of truth as well, which he considered as God himself. Truth as end and non -

violence as means are inseparable.

While Gandhiji appreciated the need of power in the absence a fully self - regulated and self -

, directed order, wl~ichhe called swaraj, he did not consider political power as an end; it wasonly a means to serve the people, especially the poor. Its primary purpose is to enable peopleto be themselves a i d to establish the conducive conditions for the purpose. He was thevotary of swaraj which meant more than political freedom. Swaraj to him meant self - control.A person who can control his thoughts, words and actions is well - disposed to self-realisation.If all are imbued with swaraj individually and collectively, an ideal society would become a

reality,

He saw democracy as an art and science of mobilising the entire physical, economic andspiritual resources of all the various sections of Ihe people in service of the common goodof all. It cannot come about by untruth and violence.

Gandhi considered capitalism, communism and socialism as socio - political systems that do notrecognise adequately the freedom, equality and dignity of the individual. Their prioritiesremain lop-sided. He advocated the principle of sarvodaya - the rise of all -which ensuresbasic needs of all and extends equal consideration to all.

Gandhi rejected the concept of Homo e onomi us on which modern economics and civilisationis based. Gandhian economics focuses on meeting the basic needs of all through self -employment This is possible only if the wants are minimised and they are placed in perspective



with the essential striving of man. Gandhi believed that trusteeship ensures cre tivity andinitiative, ensures freedom while at the same time ensuring equal distribution of goods.Gandhi stood for village based decentralised system of governance. He wanted to seevillages as self -governing republics with maximum autonomy but at the same time cooperatingand interdependent upon one another. He defended swadeshi wherein all the basic needs of

citizens can be met locally. Gandhiji not only encountered strong opposition to his ideas butalso received support in ample measure. But these consequences did not deter him fromholding fast to his ideas and formulate his practices accordingly.

10.1 EXERCISES

1. Explain briefly the philosopl~ic l foundations of Gandhiji's political philosophy.

2. List the special features of Gandhian economics.

3. Highlight the Gandhian concepts of economic equality and swadeshi.

4. Discuss Gandhiji's views on religion and its relationship with politics.

5. Comment on Gandhi's views on the End -Means unity.

6. Discuss Gandhiji's views on truth and non -violence.

7. Explain the uses of power according to Mahatma Gandhi.

8. Discuss Gandhij i 's ideas of parliamentary democracy.

9. Do the present day village p nclr y ts meet the requirements of Gram Swaraj?



Structure

12.1 Ititroductio~l12.2 Life Sketch

12.2.1 His Writings

12.3 B. R. Ambedkar s Thought and Ideas

12.3.1 Ideological Orientation

12.3.2 Reason and Rights

12.3.3 Religion

12.3.4 Caste

12.3.5 Ilntouchability

12.3.6 Constitutional Detnocrucy

12.4 Social Justice and Supportive Polity

12.5 Summary

12.6 Exercises

12.1 INTRODUCTIONBabasaheb Ainbedkar is one of the foremost thinkers of modern India. His thougl~i iscentrally concerned with issues of freedom, I~umanequality, democracy and socio-politicalemancipation. I-le is a unique thinker of the world who himself suffered much hurnilialioi~,poverty and social stigma, right from his childhood, yet 11e rose to great educatio~ lal ndphiIosophica1 heights. He was a revolutionary social reformer who demonstrated great faithin democracy and the moral basis of a society. He was one of the principal critics of India'snational movement led by M.K.Gandlli.I-Ie built civic and political institutions in India andcriticised ideologies and institutions that degraded and enslaved people. He undertook severalmajor stidies on the economy, social structures and institutions, law and constitutionalism,history and religion with inethodological rigour and reflexivity. He was the Chairman of theDrafting Committee of the Indian Constitution and defended its key provisions wit11 scholarlyprecision and sustained arguments without losing sight of the ideals it upheld while, at thesame time; l ~ o l d i ~ l girinly to the ground. He embraced Buddhism, recasting i,t to respond tomodern and socially emailcipatory urges, with hundreds of tllousands of his followers andpaved the way for its resurgence in Modern India.

12 2 LIF SKETCH

BabasahebAmbedkar (1891-1956) was born in the unto~ichableMahar Caste in Maharashtra



Gandhi, its undisputed leader. This opposition was poignantly visible at the Round TableConference in 1931 where Dr Ambedkar demanded separate electorate for the depressedclasses, which, M.K.Gandhi, as the sole representative of the Congress veheme~itly opposed.M.K. Gandhi went on a fast unto death against the con~munal award of 1932 that grantedseparate electorate to the untouchables. Dr.Ambedkar negotiated on behalf of the Depressedclasses and signed the Poona Pact, agreeing for the joint electorate with reservation fordepressed classes, that led to the withdrawal of the fast by M.I<.Gandhi.

In 1936, Dr Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party which contested 17 seats in

the elections of 1937 in the Bombay Province and won 15 of them. The World War 11 andthe demand of the Muslit~l League for Pakistan introcluced new and complex issues in thenational movement. Dr Atnbedkar established a d i.fferetlt party, the Scheduled caste federationin 1942 and was appointed as a nlember of the Viceroy's Council in the same yeas for ta

period of five years.

Ambedkar was elected to the onstituent Assembly from Bengal and in the Assembly, madea plea for a united India with the Congress and thc Muslim Leagite working together. 1-Iewas appointed as the Chair~nan of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution andbecame the law minister in the Nehru Cabinet in August 1947. In both these capacities he

conceptualised, for~nulated and defended a free and egalitarian fratnework for public life in

India with extensive safeguards for th disadvantaged and autonorny for religious nlinoritiesand linguistic and cultural groups in India.

Alnbedkar resigned from the Nehru Cabinet in 195 1 and strove to work out an altenlativcto the lack of social and economic democracy in India and the inability oi thc Constitutionaldelnocracy to effectively function in its absence. Such a search eventually Icd llin~to conversionto Buddhism and the proposal for the establishment of the Rcpublica~~Party of India. I-Ic diedon 6 December, 1956 n~ourned by millions. He lcrt behind a complex body of thoughtscattered across a large numbcr of wrilings and speeches, an eventful public life spanningacross civic and political life and a radical agcnda for economic, social and culturalreconstruclion.

12 2 1 His Writings

L Anlbedkar wrote several books. Unlike his contemporaries, he l~ ad one a lot of original

researcli on his texts. Apart from writing thc Indian Constittltion asthe

Chairman of itsDrafting Colnnlittee and defending it in the ~narathon debates of the Constittrent Assembly,he wrote several books that reflect syste~hatic thinking. Apart from his doctoral dissertationson The Problem o the Rupee (1923) and The volzrtiori oJ Proviwciu1 Firzance ii 1 BritishIndia(1925) he wrote Annihilation o C7c~.rfe 136),. hoz~gI7t~son Pakistan (1940), WhatCongwss and Gandhi have dorte o the U?;2touchable,s(l945),Who were the Szidras?(1946), The Untouchables: who were They. ctntl Y gi they hecume Urztozcchables? (1948)

, States and Minorities 1947), Thoughts on li~zgziistic tates (1955) and his magnum opusThe Buddha and his Dharnrna (1957) are the most important. Apart from them he wrotenumerous articles, submitted learned mcmorallda, delivered lectures and commented on the

issues in the journals he published.



12.9 B. R . AMBEDKAR S THOUGHT AND IDEAS

Dr. Ambedkar's thought has inany dimensions. There were very few issues that h leftuntouched. He formulated his opinion on many crucial questions that India was confronting

during his times. His versatility is reflected in his social and political though t, economic ideas,law and constitutionalism.

12.3.1 ldeo ogical Orientation

Dr Alnbedkar described himself as a 'progressive radical' and occasionally as a 'progressiveconservative' depending upon the context of demarcation from liberals, Marxists and othersas the case might be. He was an ardent votary of freedom. He saw it as a positive powerand capacity, enabling people to make their choices without being restrained by economicprocesses and exploitation, social institutions and religious orthodoxies and fears and prejudices.

He thought that liberalism upheld a narrow conception of freedom which tolerated hugeaccumulation of resources in a few hands and the deprivation and exploitation that it bred.He thought that liberalism is insensitive about social and political institutions which, whileupholding formal equality, permitted massive inequalities in the economic, social and culturalarenas. He argued that liberal systems conceal deep inequalities of minorities such as thecoliditions of the Blacks in U S A and Jews in Europe. I -Ie further argued that liberalism wasoften drawn to justifi colonial exploitation and the extensive injustices it sustained. Liberalstress on the individual ignored community bonds and the necessity of thc latter to sustaina reflective and creative self. Further liberalism ignored the repression and Llle alienation ofthe self that exploitative and dominant structures bred. He found that liberalism has aninadequate understanding of state and the measures that state has to neccssnrily adopt topromote and foster good life. He felt that the principle of equality before law is truly a greatadvance as compared to the inegalitarian orders that it attempted to s~rpplantbut it is notadequate. He advanced stronger notions such as equality ~Fconsideration,equality of respectand equality of dignity, He was sensitive to the notion of respect and the notion of communitywas central in his consideration.

Ambedkar identified certain crucial areas on w l h h he was in tune with Marxism. I -Ie arguedthat the task of philosophy is to transform the world, as Marx suggested in his tl~esesonFeurbach, and he saw the central message of the Buddha as dernarlcling thc S ~ I I I C ,Thereis conflict between classes and class - struggle is writ large in social relations IIe argued thata good society demands extensive public ownership of the means of productiotl and equalopportunity to everyone to develop his or her self to the fitllest extent, I-Ic, however, rejectedthe inevitability of socialism without the intervention of human agency concretely workingtowards it; the economic interpretation of history which does not acktlowledge the crucialrole that political and ideological institutions play and the conceptioll ofthe witheringawayof the state, He decried the strategy of viole~lceas a means to seize power and called forresolute mass action to bring about-agood society. I4e underscored the transformative effectof struggles in transforming those launching the struggles and the social relations against

which they are 1aunched.Hefurther argued that a desirable political order can lac createdonly by acknowledging a moral domain which he saw eminently expressed in t h e Buddha's

teachings



He was very critical of the Brahmanical ideology which, he felt, has been the dominantideological expression in India. He argued that it reconstituted itself with all its vehemenceby defeating the revolution set in motion by the Buddha. It subscribed to the principle ofgraded inequality in organising social institutions and relations; defended the principle of birthover the principle of worth; undermined reason and upheld rituals and priest - craft. It reducedthe shudra and the untouchable to perpetual drudgery and ignominy. It defended inequality .and unequal distribution of resource3 and positions and sanctified such measures by appeal

- to doctrines such as karrtla siddhanla. It upheld the principle of the superiority of mentallabour over manual labour. It had little sympathy towards the degraded and the tnarginalised.It left millions of people in their degraded condition, away from civilisatioa, and defendedtheir abomi~z able onditioils.It had little place for freedom and for re -evaluation of choices,It parcellised society into umpteen closedgroups making them unable to close ranks, fostera spirit of comlnunity and strive towards shared endeavours. It took away from associated

life its joys and sorrows, emasculated struggles and strivings and deplored sensuousness andfestivity. He constructed Brahmanismas totally lacking in any ~noralvalues and considerationsbased on such values.

Arnbedkar was a bitter critic of Gandhi and Gandhism. He attacked Gandhi s approach tothe abolition of untouchability, an approach that denied its sanction in the shastras and whichcalled upon caste Hindus to voluntarily renoLunce it and make reparations for the same.Ambedkar felt that rights and hurnanitycannot be left lo the mercy and pre.judices of peoplewho have developed a vested intcrest in undermining them. He did not demarcate the castesystem and varna system, as Gandl~idid, but saw both of them as upholding the same

principle of graded inequality. Even if untouchability is abolished through the Gandl~iatiappealto conscience, which A~nbedkardid not think possible, untouchables will continue to occupythe lowest rung of society as a layer of the shudras. He saw Gandhi not merely caving into I-lindu orthodoxy but reformulating such orthodoxy afresh, Gandhi was dispensing moralplatitudes to untouchables and trying to buy them with kindness while letting others topromote their interests, without hindrance. He rejected the appellation Harijan that Gandhihad bestowed on untouchables alld poured scorn an' it.

Ambedkar rejected many central notions as propounded by Gaiidhi stlch as Swaraj, non -

violence, decentralisation, Khadi, trusteeship and vegetarianism. He subscribed to a modern

polity with tnodern economy. This-worldly concerns were central to his agenda rather thanother -worldly search. He felt that an uncritical approach to Panchayat Raj will reinforce thedominant classes in tlie countryside handing over additional resources and legitimacy to then1to exploit the social classes and groups below them.

12.3.2 Reason and Rights

Ambedkar saw the modern era as heralding a triumph of hunzan reason from myths, customsand religious superstitions. The world and man, he argued, can be explained by human reasohand endeavour. The supernatural powers need not be invoked for the purpose. In fact tlie

supernatural powers themselves reflect weak human capacities and an underdeveloped stateof human development: He therefore saw the expression of human Peason inanifest in

d d h l l f h bl h d h



divorced from active engagement with practice leads to priest - craft and speculation.

Ambedkar's attitude to religion remained ambivalent. While he did not subscribe to a beliefin a personal God or revelation, he felt that religion, s morality, provides an enduringfoundation to societies and enables collective pursuit of good life. Such a religion elevatesmotives, upholds altruism and concern for others, binding people in solidarity and concern.It cares aiid supports and strives against exploitation, il~justiceand wrong -doing.

Hc argued that freedom, equality and fraternity are essentbl conditions for good life and aregime of discrete rights need to be constructed on them as the foundation. He understoodrights not merely with it^ the narrow confines of liberal individualism but as individual andgroup - rights. I le defen d both types of rights in the Constituent Assembly debates. Further .he argued for both civil and political right. and social and econolnic rights. He did not seethem in opposition but rs reinforcing one a ather. If there is a conflict between them, theyhave to be negotiated through civic and political Ibrums He also subscribed to the rights ofn~inori t iesand cultural groups to maintain their distinctive belief's and identities while at thesame time afrording them proper conditions to take their rightful place in public affairs. Hedefended preferential treatment accorded to disadvantaged communities not only for reasonsof equality but also on grounds of egalitarian social structures, and for the pursuit of a saneand good society.

12.3.3 Religion

Ambedkar dwelt extensively on major religions of the world, particularly Hin d~ lism , slarn,Christianity and Buddhism. I-Ie wrote a great deal 11 Hin 21 and Buddhism. The mainstreamtrajectory of religious evolution that he traced in earl) tndia was the Vedic society gettingdegenerated into Aryan society; the rise of Buddhism and thc social and moral transformationthat it brought about and the coul~terrevolution u ' =st in the development of a speciricideological and political expsession which he termed Bralimanism.

I-Tc found that the Hindu scriptures do not lend tbe~nselvesto a unified and coherentunderstanding. They reflect strong cleavages within and across sects and tet~dcncics.Thereare cleavages within the Vedic literature; the Upanisliadicthought, often, cannot be reconciled

with the Vedic thought; the Smriti literature is, quite often, in contention with the Srutiliterature; gods come to be pitted against one another and Tantra is in contelltion with theslnriti literature. 'The avatars of Hinduism, such as Ratna and Krishna, cannot be held up foradulation as exemplaries. He saw the Bfiagavadgita as primarily putting forward a set ofarguments to save Brakinanism in the wake of the rise of Buddhism aiid the inabilily of theformer to defend itself by appeals to rituals and religious practices.

Ainbedkar developed a new iilterpretation of Buddhism and saw it as socially engaged. It

privileged the poor and tile exploited and was concerned with the sufferings and joys of thisworld. It does not subscribe to the existence of God or the eternity of soul. It upholds reason,

affirms the existence of this world, si~bscribesto a moral order and is in tune with science.He saw the great values of freedom, equality and colnmunity as central to the teachings ofthe Buddha



of them subscribe to a transcendental domain which, apart from its affront to hurnan reason,beget authoritative and paternalistic tendencies. In a sense they dwarf huinan reason, freedomof enquily and equality of persons. Their pronouncements cannot be reconciled with scientificreason. Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God militates against reason. Both these

religions, he felt, accommodated themselves to graded inequality and ranking to differentdegrees. Their precepts have often led their adherents to resort to force and violence. Hesaw the Buddha standing tall against the protagonists of both these religions.

12 3 4 Caste

Ambedkar's understanding of caste and ~ a s t esystem underwent certain significant changesovertime. Initially he identified the characteristics of caste as endogamy superimposed onexogamy in a shared cultural milieu. He f i ~ that evils such as sali child - marriage andprohibition of wid~w~remarriagewere its inevitable outcomes. Once a caste closed its

boundaries, other castes too fallowed suit. The Brahmins closing tllemselves socially firstgave rise to castes. Alnbedkar continued to emprt ;ise the etldogarnot~s chal.acteristic ofcaste but roped in other features such as division of IcS~urabsence of inter - dining and theprinciple of birth which he had initially considered as integral to endogamy. Hc also foundthat caste n me is important for the continued reproductioll of caste. He argued that castesas discrete entities have to be distinguished from caste system based on the principle ofgraded inequality. At the pinnacle of this systenl are the Brdimins. We argued that rankingon the basis of graded inequality safeguards the stability of the system and ensures itscontinued reproduction which simple it~equality would not have permitted. The dissentingmembers are accornmodated as another grade in the hierarchy of defcrence and contenlpt

that deeply mark the caste system. Ambedkar thought that caste is an essential feature ofHinduism. A few reformers may have denounced it but for the vast majority of Hindusbreaking the codes of caste is a clear violation of deeply held beliefs. The principles governingvarna system and caste system are one and the same. Both of them uphold graded inequalityand subscribe to the doctrine of birth rather than worth.

Ambedkar argued for the annihilation of caste without which wielding community bonds, andupholding freedom and equality becomes well-nigh impossible. I-Ie suggested inter-castemarriages and inter -caste dining for the purpose although the latter, he considered, is taofeeble an exercise to constitute enduring bonds. He further argued that shnstras whichdefend 'varnasl~ratndharma' have to be abandoned as they justify and legitilnise gradedorganisation of society. He also felt that priesthood in Hinduism should be open ta all theco - religionists on the basis of certified competence rather than on birth. At the same timehe thought this project is well nigh impossible to be carried out because what is to berenounced is believed to be religiously ordained.

12.3.5 Untouchability

Ambedkar distinguished the institution of untouchability from that of caste although theformer too is stamped by the same principle of graded inequality as the fatter. Untouchabilityis not merely an extreme form of caste degradation but a qualitatively dfiferent one as thesystem kept the untouchable outside the fold and made any social interactiotl with him



condemned to ghettoes on the outskirts of the village, are universally despised and kept awayfrom human association.

He did not subscribe to the position that untouchability has its basis in race. He saw it as

a social institution defended by the ideology of Brahmanism. While he did not extensivelyprobe the reasons for the origin of untouchability in one instance, he proposed a veryimaginative thesis that untouchables were broken men living on the outskirts of villagecommunities who, due to their refusal to give up Buddhism and beef-eating, came to becondemned as untouchables.

Given the deep -seated beliefs and practices of untouchability prevailing in India, Ambedkarthought that no easy solution can be found for the malaise. Removal of untouchabilityrequired the transformation of the entire society wherein respect and rights towards theother person becomes a way of life rather than a mere constitutional mechanism. Given the

entrenched interests and prejudices revolving around the institution of untouchability, it wassomething too much to expect from entrenched groups. Therefore he felt that the primaryburden of emancipating themselves fell on the untouchables themselves. Such -self-helprequired not only struggles but also education and organisation, Further a constitutionaldemocracy with preferences at various levels can help enormously in such an endeavour.

The major area of Am bedkar s work was on constitutional democracy. He was adept indifferent constitutions of the world particularly those that provided an expansive notion of

democracy. Rule of law as a bond uniting people and according equal participation of peoplein collective affairs was quite central to his imagination. He was deeply sensitive to theinterface between law on one hand and customs and popular beliefs on the other. Hehowever felt that customs may defend parochial interests and popular beliefs might be deeplycaught in prejudices and may not uphold fairness. They may not be in tune'with the demandsof time, morality and reason. But if law upholds freedom and democracy then it could beplaced at the service of common good. Given the long -drawn prejudices and denial ofjusticein public culture he thought that the role of the state based on law and democratic mandateis crucial. He envisaged a democracy informed by law and a law charaoterised by sensitivityto democracy. Law uplzeld reason and morality but without the authoritative i~~juhct ionsof

law, the former had no teeth.

Such a stress on democracy and law made Ambedkar to strongly stress the autonomy of thestate. State needs to transcend the parochial interests galore in society which often tend toreduce the state as an instrument of their purpose. He argued that ascriptive majoritieswhich are permanent, and not amenable for political dissolution and reconstitution, too canbe considered as parochial interests. They can undermine rights but at the same time pretendthat they are upholding constitutional democracy.

12.4 SOCI L JUSTICE AND SUPPORTIVE POLITY

Ambedkar was the first major theoretician in India who argued that consideration for the



upholding of rights. He developed a colnplex set of criteria to determine disadvantage.Untouchability was only one of the great social disadvantages, altliougl~it was one of themost degrading and despicable one. He concentrated on socially engendered disadvantagesnot because lie was unaware of natural and hereditary disadvantages but he felt that niostdisadvantages are upheld by do~ninantsocial relations which attempt to convert tliem asnatural disadvantages foreclosing attention to them and absolving larger society from anyresponsibility towards t l ie~n.He left behind a system of safeguards for the disadvantaged in

general and the untouchables in particular. I -Ie thought that a set of positive lneasilres area better guarantee than merely the moral cotiscie~~ceof society although tlie latter is aprerequisite to sustain such measures in tlie longer run.

With regard to a scheme of safeguards he advanced three types of mcasures although allthese three types of measures were not seen by hiin as appropriate to all tlie disadvantagedgroups and equally so. Their appropriateness is something to be worked o ~ i i11 response to

the concrete conditions of the concerned group. I-Ie demanded an autonomous politicalrepresentation to tlie disadvantaged groups not merely to ensure tlieir political presence butto ensure that the concerned groups undertake their pursuits of development, preservation orreproduction, as the case may be, by themselves. He envisaged definitive constitutionalmeasures for the purpose rather than merely rely on public conscience. I-Ie argued that suchrepresentation will enable these groups to take into account the larger and the c o ~ n ~ n o nissuesinto account and pitch tlieir specific demands accordingly. I -le sought rcservation for thedisadvantaged groups in public employ~nentto the extent they fulfill tlie requirement for suchemployment.' He felt that they would be inevitably marginalised if such suppo~ twas 1101

legally extetided to them. I-Ie souglit extensive supportive policy measures towards tllesc

groups so as to extend to them the benefits of val-iousdevelopmental and welfare measuresthat a state undertakes.

Ambedkar saw preferential measures as resting on an inclusive conceptio~iof rights ratherthan merely the goodwill or benevolence of the majority. In fact goodwill itself needs to becultivated with an awareness of such rights. In the absence of such cultivation, goodwill andbenevolence often collapse into narrow pursuit of interests masquerading tken-tselves in thelanguage of altruism.

12.5 SUMMARY

A~nbedkarhas often been portrayed as a leader who upheld the partisan cause of theut~touchables.He was of course partisan and he upheld the cause of the untouchables as themost disadvantaged and reviled segment of the Indian society. But such partisanship andadvocacy were grounded on a body of tllought and ideas built 11 defensible arguments whichhe very ably and effectively deployed. He critically engaged with the ideas and ideologiesin place in the world of his times and attempted to devise his own valuations arid judgementson them. He did not cave in to their popularity and preeminence. He had a place for religiollin the private domain as well as in the moral life of societies but such a place was grounded

in good reason. An inclusive conception of riglits and an assertion of this world was centralto his understanding of public life. He was an ardent votary of democracy. But democracy

b f d d f l b d b f l f H h



divorced from active engagement wit11 practice leads to priest -craft and speculation.

An~bedkar sattitude to religion remained ambivalent. While he did not subscribe to a beliefin a personal God or revelation, he felt that religion, as morality, provides an enduringfoundation to societies and enables collective pursuit of good life. Sucli a religion elevatesmotives, upholds altruisnl ancl concern for others, binding people in solidarity and concern.It cares and supports and strives against exploitation, injustice and wrong - doing.

He argued that freedom, equality and fraternity are essentjal conditionsfor good life and aregime of discrete rights need to be constructed on them as the foundation. I-le understoodrights not merely within the narrow confines of liberal ind iv id~~al i s tnbut as individual andgroup -rights. He defent d both types of rights in the Constituent Asselnbly debates. Further .he argued for both civil and political right. and social and economic rights. He did not seethem in opposition but ;is reinforcing one r atJler. If there is a conflict between them, theyhave to be negotiated through civic and political forums He also subscribed to the rights of~ninori t iesand cultural groups to nlaintain their distinctive beliefs and identities while at thesame time affording them proper conditions to take their rightful place i n public affairs. Hedefended preferential treatment accorded to disadvantaged com~nunit iesnot only for reasonsof equality but also on grounds of egalitarian social structures, and for the pursuit of a saneand good society.

12.3.3 Religion

Anlbedkar dwelt extensively on major religions of the world, particularly Ilinduism, Islam,Christianity and Buddhism. He wrote a great deal on Mi11 nd Buddhism. Thc mainstrean1trajectory of religious evolution that he traced in earl) india was the Vedic society gettingdegenerate d into Aryan society; the rise of Buddl~ism nd the social and moral transformationthat it brought about and the counterrevolution ni;:- :st in the development ol a specificideological and political expressioll which 11e termed Brahmanism.

He found that the Hindu scriptures do not lend themselves to a i~llificdand coherentundesstanditlg. They rei lect strong cleavages within and across sects and tendcl~cics."Thereare cleavages within the Vedic literature; the Upanishadic tlzought,often, cannot be reconciledwith the Vedic thought; the Smriti literature is, quite often, in contention with the Sruti .

literature; gods come to be pitted against one another and Tantra is in contention wit11 thestnriti literature. The avatars of E-Iinduism,such as R a ~ n aand Krishna, cannot be hcld up foradulation as exetnplaries. He saw the ,Bhagavadgita as primarily putting forward set ofarguments to save Brahmanism in the wake of the rise of Buddhism and the inability of theformer to defend itself by appeals to rituals and religions practices.

Ambedkar developed a new interpretation of Buddhism and saw it as socially eugagccl, Itprivileged tlie poor and the exploited and was concerned with the sufferings and joys o thisworld. It does not subscribe to the existence of God or the eternity of soul. It upholcls reason,affirms the existence of this world, subscribes to a moral order and is in tune with science.He saw the great values of freedom, equality and cornmurxity as central to the teachings ofthe Buddha.



of them subscribe to a transcendental domain which, apart from its affront to human reason,beget authoritative and paternalistic tendencies. In a sense they dwarf human reason, freedomof enquiry and equality of persons. Their pronounce~nentscannot be reconciled wit11 scientificreason. Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God militates against reason. Both thesereligions, he felt, accolnmodated themselves to graded inequality and ranking to different

degrees. Their precepts have often led their adherents to resort to force and violence. Hesaw the Buddha standing tall against the protagonists of both these religions.

12.3.4 aste

Ambedkar's understanding of caste and ~ a s t esystem underwent certain significant changesovertime. Initially 11e identified the characteristics of caste as endogamy superimposed onexogamy in a shared cultural milieu. I-Ie f t i ~ hat evils such as sati, child-marriage andprohibition of w i d o ~ ~ r e m a r r i a g ewere its inevitable outcomes. Once a caste closed itsboundaries, other castes too followed suit. The Brahmins closing tlleinselves socially first

gave rise to castes. Arnbedkar continued to elnprl,;ise the endogamous characteristic ofcaste but roped in other features such as division of r cb~ ur,absence of inter-dinihg and theprinciple of birth which he had initially considered as integral to endogamy. He also foundthat caste name is important for the continued reproductioli of caste. He argued that castesas discrete entities have to be distinguished from caste systenl based on the principle ofgraded inequality. At the pinnacle of this system are the Brahmins. He argued that rankingon the basis of graded inequality safeguards the stability of the system and ensures itscontinued reproduction which simple inequality would not have permitted. The dissentingmembers are accommodated as another grade in the llierarchy of deference and conletnptthat deeply nlark the caste system. Ambedkar thought that caste is an essential feature ofHinduism. A few reformers may have denounced it but for the vast majority of Hindusbreaking the codes of caste is a clear violation of deeply held beliefs. T l ~ eprinciples governingvarna system and caste system are one and the same. Botlz of them uphold graded inequalityand subscribe to the doctrine of birth rather than worth.

Ambedkar argued for the annihilation o f caste without which wielding c om n ~u nit y o ~ ~ d s ,ndupholding freedom and equality becomes well -nigh impossible. I -Ie suggestccl inter -castemarriages and inter -caste dining for the purpose although the latter, he considered, is loofeeble an exercise to constitute enduring bonds, He further argued that shastras whichdefend arnashramdharmaYhave to be abandoned as they justifj) nd legit i~niscgradedorganisation of society. He also felt that priesthood in Ilinduism should be open to all tlt

co - religionists on the basis of certified competence rather than on birth. At llle same timehe thought this project is well nigh impossible to be carried out because what is to berenounced is believed to be religiously ordained,

12.3.5 Untouchability

Ambedkar distinguished the institution of untouchability from that of caste although theformer too is stamped by the same principle of graded inequality as the latter. Untoucl~abilityis not merely an extreme form of caste degradation but a qualitatively different one as thesystem kept the untouchable outside tlze fold and made any social interaction with himpolluting and deplorable. He argued that in spite of differences and cleavages all untotlchables



social justice as an essential attribute of a good polity and suggested coticrete measures forthe same. His ideas mark him as different from his contemporary thinkers and today weregard him, and he is much relevant to us, for being so mucll different from others.

12.6 EXER ISES

1. Comment on Ambedkar's critique of liberalism.

2. What were Ambedkar 's significant differences with Marx?

3 . Highlight the characteristics of Bralln~anismas an ideology.

4. Identify four issues of conflict between Gandhi and Ambedkar.

5. Discuss thesignificance of reason in Ambedkar's thought.

6. Higl~lightthe conception of rights in Arnbedkar's thought.

7. Review Ambedkar's understanding of I -Iinduism.

8. Why does Ambedkar regard Buddhism as appropriate to the modern world?

9. What do you think of Ambedkar's critique of Christianity and Islain?

10. Highlightthe characteristic features of untouchability, accordit~gto Ambedkar.

11. Why does Ambedkar think that struggle against untouchability has to be launched on several, fronts?I

12. Highlight the reasons for Ambedltar's defence of constitutional Democracy.

13. Why does Alnbedkar thinkthat ascriptive majorities may spell doom to constitr~tionaldemocracy?

14. Adduce Ambedkar's arguments for extending preferential treatment to the disadvantaged.

15. Outline the scheme of preferential treatment suggested by Ambedkar. From your reading andexperience evaluate ally one of these preferential schettles.

16. Why does Ambedkar think that caste system is impermeable to demands of Equality?

17. " Hinduism and caste system are inseparable " . Do you agree?



subsistence; industry and commerce seems to be destroyed; and why ? Because there is toomuch civilisation, too much means of subsistence, too much industry, too much commerce .

" Marx discussed about this crises in his classical work Capital. Not only both Marx andEngels discussed about the recurring cyclical crises steadily leading to its inevitable destructionbut also pointed out that the active force which arises within womb of capitalism will surely

destroy the capitalism itself. Marx said,"

Not only has the bourgeioisie forged the weaponsthat bring death to itself; it has called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons- the modern working class - the proletarians. "

Accorditlg to Namboodiripad, the formation of the socialist camp comprising several nationswould ultimately lead to the virtual end of the colonial systems. While analysing tlie centralfeatures of the world political scene he cautioned 11s to be aware of the weal~nessesanddifficulties of the c o ~ ~ n t r i e sof the socialist world. He said that the socialist world is not anisland in t he ocean of humanity. It coexists with the capitalist world. " While it is possible for .

the Socialism to exert its influence on the capitalist world , it in its turn faces the dangers

of the penetration of the in luence of the capitaiist world."

T h e present day crises in thecapitalist world is bound to have its impact on the Socialist world. Therefore, one has to becareful to see that economic planning proceeds 011 the well -tested principles of balanced andpropos t io~~a teevelopment.

I-Ie eniphasised that the long -term perspectives of the Socialist d e v e l o p ~ n e ~ l tprogrammess l l o ~ ~ l dbe based on the step by step nationalisation, collecrivisation and social control of allthe means and instruments of prodmction, including land. He cautioned both State and tlleI arty leadership not to neglect the supreme task of fighting the evil influences of alien classideology whicli appears in various ~nani fes ta t ions~including the iron grip of religion on the

minds of tlie pcople. This analysis of Namboodiripad showsnow to what extent his philosophyhas be co n~ e elevatlt in the conternporary society .

14 7 2 On Caste Conf li ls

Naniboodiripad said that the destruction of the 'age -old' village system and the developn~entof the new capi t a l i s~nby tllc British administration resulted in two apparently contradictoryfeatures in the Indian socicty and politics : the ernel-genceof working class as a class andthe disruption of the unity of the working class and the toiling people as evidenced in theincreasing conflicts between 'bacltward' and 'forward castes'. These tensions were built

into thc national niovement in which the leaders often Iiighlighted the revival of the 'age -old'Indian civi l isat ioi l and cul t~~rethereby emphasising divisioll of society into a hierarchicalsystem of castes. I-Ic talked about tlie two contradictory features of the Indian politics : tliegrowing unity of the working class against the Bhootlingam Report and theIndustrial RelationsBill i n 1973, and the g ra ur i~ lg o ~ ~ f l i c t sbetween the 'backward' and 'forward' communities.1 k advised us to have a proper ~ulderstandingof the n a t ~ ~ r end depth of these two crises,and to resist oppression that acts as one of the contributing factors giving rise to t e ~ ~ s i o n sand con.llicts amo@ higher' and 'lower' castes. He referred to the non-Bralzmin movementsin different parts of the country. It is important to re~nenlberthat the struggle waged by thetnillions of' people belonging to the hitherto oppressed castes and co~nmuni t ieshas become11ow an integral part of tile struggles for secular democracy. It would therefore, be rationalto conclude that t l ~ cdemand for reservations made by the 'backward' communities would



critical of this approach . The CPI(M) gave a call for a struggle against the whole campof reaction represented by all parties of the ruling classes , including and dotni~iatedby theruling Congress Party. He advocated for a well -coordinated political struggle against tlireemain enemies of the people - imperialism or foreign ~nonopoly, feudalism or all the antiquatedsocio-ci~ltural,economic and political institutions within the country, and the rapidly growing~nonopolycapital with tlie foreign collaboration.'

He was emphatic about proletarian iuter~~ationalismof the working classes towards the worldsocialist 11iovernent.He said that Indian revolutiotl is an ititegral part of the process oftra~isitiollfrom capitalism to socialism that takes place on a world scale. But this does notmean that India is ripe for this transition. India has to go through another revolution as tliemain pre -condition for the transition from capitalism to socialism. "

14.7.5 ndian History

Na~nboodiripadwas o f t h e opinion that altliougk historians claim to be iinpal-tial , 'objective'and itlterested only i n 'discovering tlie truth', their work invariably reflects tlie philosophy ofthe class they belong to. Some of die liistorians stand for particular religious colninunities ,

regional ,linguistic or cultural groups or co~i~niunit ies.heir writings often reflect theirapproaches to the proble~iisof the llistory and culture of India. Often tlie conflicting viewsof different historians, represetlting particular sc.lloolsof history create social teusious andinstabilities. He said ,

" Historians other than those guided by the theory of historical materialismare Ilandicapped by the fact that they do not see tlie history of human society as one ofman s struggle against nature in the course of which he enters into mutual relations withother tneti1bcrs of the society. Nor do they perceive that these ~ i i u t ~ ~ a lreactions beconie whatare known as relations of conflicts between the exploiting and exploited classes. " I t is indeednicessary to loolc LIPOII the history of all human societies as the history of class struggle.While referring to the study of the history of India, one should begin with the quest forundcl-standing the nature of the pre British society, its weakness, and developments of theseweaknesses, existing socio -economic structures, and political regimes.

Tlic political philosophy of EMS Na~nboodiripadis indeed a valuable contribution to thegrowth of social sciences of the conte~nporilrysociety.

14.8 SUMMARY-

Colnll~unistthought in 111diahas its roots in tlie Marxist - Leninist ideology. The c o r n n ~ u ~ l i s tmovcmcnt n India, though ~ollowingthe Marxist tenets, steered ahead in the specific Indianconditions. The early cornmu~zisls,before tlic birth of tlie Comtnunist Party of India (CPI)were ilnli-imperialist. Thatis why, they had to undergo irnprison~ne~lt(Kanpur, Meerut Cases).The CIY i n its initial years, worlted with some effectiveness in orgatlising the workers andthc peasants. It witnessed a split in the course of its evolutioti (the CPI and the CPI -M).It: stood for the cstablisli~nent Fsacialistsociety and sought an imperialist -free and exploitatioii-free sociillist i~itcrn atiolialism heIndian Marxists had never been the orthodox followers ofMarxism. M N Roy moved, theoretically, from Marxis111to radical humanism; while EMSNambaodisipad sought, in practical terms, a ~noderniseddeveloped society in India, especiallyin Kcrala.



14 9 EXERCISES

I . Mention, in brief, the growth of communist movement in India.

2. Distinguish between Socialism and Co~nmunism

3 . How far was M Roy influenced by Marxism? On what grounds did he differ from M arxism?

4. What were Roy's Ideas 01 1 Radical Humanism?

5. Mention the contribution of EMS Namboodiripad to the com~nunistthought in India.

6. Trace the Indian Com~nunis tthought before and after independence.



UNIT 18 SIR SYE AHM ED KHAN,MO HAM M AD IQBAL,M.A. J INNAH A N DABUL KALAM AZAD

Structure

ObjectivesIntroductionSir Syed Ahmed Khan18.2.1 Aligarh Monment18.2.2 Political Thought

Mohammad Iqbal-18.3.1 Islam and Ego18.3.2 Cardinal Principles of Iqbal s Political Thought18.3.3 Nationalistn

18.3.4 Democracy

18.3.5 Islamic Democracy18.3.6 Socialism

18.3.7 IndividualM.A. Jinnah18.4.1 Liberalism and Jinnah18.4.2 Nationalism

18.4.3 TweNation TheoryAbul Kalam Azad18.5.1 Romantic Phase of his Ideas18.5.2 Nat~on allsm

18.5.3 Democracy18.5.4 Post-Romantic Phase pf his Ideas

Let Us Sum UpSome Useful BooksAnswers to Check Your Progress Exercises

18 0 OBJECTIVES

This unit deals with the political thoughts of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, MohammadIqbal, M.A. Jinnah and Abul Kalam Azad. 'The unit will enable you to know theirviews on:a Relationships between lslam and Hinduioim

Relationships between Hindus and Muslims

Relationships between Islam and Politirs, and senets of democracy

Nationalism.

18 1 INTRODUCTION

British colonial rule brought about a number of changes in Indian society along withthe spread of modern education whicd generated consciousness of nationa%sm inIndians of all religions. Nationalistic leelings found expression through political,socio-cultural and religious processes and activities. The enlightened individualsbelonging to the Hindu and the M ~ s l i m ommunities generated.consciousness insociety and particularly in their respective communities. In the latter part of thenineteenth and first half of the tyentieth centuries there emerged several social,re iglot~, cuirural and political dovements and organisations in India. Thesemovements were mostly led by the Hindu and Muslim leaders in their respectivecommunities. Sir Syed AhmedIKhan, Mohammad Iqbal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and

Abul Kalam Azad were amo& many others who influenced Indian society



significantly. These lead ers deve.loped their political tho ugh t regardin g the. S ir S ye d ~ h m c d h an ,relationship between religion and politics, democracy and rights of individuals, Mohamrnad Iqbal, M.A. Jinnah

sovereignty and nationalism. Islam has been the hub of their views. But they did not a d PbU Ka'm

.make what c an be termed as original contribution to poli t ical thought.

18.2 SIR S Y E D A H M E D K H A N

18 2 1 Aligarh 'Movem entSir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Aligarh movement. This movement aimed atspreading modern e ducation and creating poli tical consciousness amon g the IndianMuslims. .The first national aw akening a mo ng the Muslims found expressi~on hroughthis movement. He was assisted in his movementby able persons like Khwaja AltafHussain Ali, Maulvi Wazir Ahmed and Maulvi Shib i Numami. This move:ment isknow n as 'Aligarh movement ' because it had started at Aligarh. Sir Syed AhmedKhan established M oha mm eda n Anglo Oriental (MA O) College at A ligarh in 1875.This college developed into Aligarh University in 1890. The Aligark movement aimedat spreading Western education among the Muslims without weakening theirallegiance to Islam. Th e moveme nt also aimed at introducing social reforms am on gIndian Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan condemned polygamy and social ban onwidow remarriage. Widow remarriage was permitted by c .-m Thc Alizarh

movement was based on the l iberal interpretation of Quran. I t str ived to harmoniseIslam with modern liberal culture.

18 2 2 Political Th oughtThe poli t ical thought of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan can be divided into two phases: Firstphase spanned up to 1887, an d the second phase startcd after 1887. Dur ing the firstphase Sir Syed Ahmed Khan stood for Hindu-Muslim unity. Expressing the need forHindu-Muslim unity he said that for "centuries we have been living on the same soil,eating the same fruit on the same land breathing the air of the same country." In1873, he declared that religion sh ould no t be a n obstacle for nationalism. Headvocated separation between religious and poli t ical matters. A ccording to him thereligious and spiri tual matters were not l inked with m und ane affairs. A s a member of

the Viceroy's legislative counc il he strove fo r the welfare of bo th Hinfius andMuslims. In 1884, he mad e i t clear that "by the word q aum , 1 mean both Hindusan d Muslims. W hat we see is that >allof us, whether Hindus or Muslims, l ie on onesoil , are governed by the o ne a nd the sam e ruler, have th e same sources of benefitand equally share the hard ships of a famine". He was not a religious bigot or Hindubaiter. He worked closely with the Hindu s in the scientif ic society and the AligarhBrit ish lndia Association. He sought donations from the Hindu Rajas andZam indars for M A 0 College. Hindu s were well represented in the management an dthe teaching community. In the initial years of the college, the Hindu studentsoutnumbered the Muslims. Cow slaughter was banned in the college. Along withSur end ra Na th Banerjee he dema nded restoration o f age for civil servicesexa min ation fro m 18 to 21 years. He revived the British Association a t Aligarh forhis purpose.

~ h turprisingly durin g the second phase Sir Syed Ahm ed Khan changed his vi6ws(in Decem ber 1887). Until then he had a background which was almost similar tothat of the Congress. But du ring this phase imperialist though t foun d expression inhis writings. They were based on the "emancipatory", "democratic" an d "progressive"characterisation of the British rule. Unlike before he opposed the application ofprinciples of representative an d ~ar lia m en ta ry overnment. He held that the westernform of democra cy and nationalism would not ope rate in India. H e said that in acountry like lndia which was complex and full of diversities of castes, religions andraces, the system of representative form of government would not satisfy theprinciples of equality. Democracy believes in the rule of the.majority. In his opinionsuch a system would lead to the domination of the more educated and mbrenume rous Hindus over the less educated and less nume rous Muslims. Helopined that

'&e Congress demand fo r a representative form of government would hurt theMuslims most.



Politics and Religion inModern lndia he interface

. He said that so long as the.religious, castiest an d racial differences exist In India, twestern model of democracy could not be established. ie felt that if thq westernmodel of demo cracy was adopted in lndia, the large con lmu nity would totallyoverride the in teres ts of the smal ler communi ty. This argu me nt was carr ied fo r~ aby the comm unalists who believed in th e two-n ation the0r.y. According to th is theHindus and Muslims were two sepa rate nations which had separate econorr,ic,polit ical an d scocial interests an d different cultural a nd historical backg round, an dwho can not fo rm a single nation an d S ir Syed Ah med Khan\ was averse, to theprocess of elections. ln 1888 he said tha t the system of electiton would, put thelegislation in to the han ds of Bengalis o r Hi nd us of Bengali 'type',a condition ofutmost degradat ion and the Musl ims would become s laves o f Hindus . On s imi larground s, he rejected the applicab ility of the Self-government in India, which in hisopinion woultj result in the maltreatment of Muslims. He ev en opposed thefreedom of speech and the press. He openly su~ppo r ted he Lyt tous a t tack on thefreedom of press.

Sir Syed Ahnled Khan was even opposed t o [poli tical agitations. I i e argued that thwould ta ntam oun t to sedit ion and being anti-government or a t least i t would arouthe suspicion of disloyalty in the official m ind. He exhorted hdv~slims o shun poliand re main non-political an d non-agitationaIl..or politically passi ve and complete breach between the Muslims and the Benga.11-dominated Congr ess. He sought toestablish Anglo-Muslim all iance to arou se th e M uslim feelings against the Congre

He changed his views because of the influence of British officirils on him. Herequired the help of the government for the: college foundedby him. The British

officials took advantage of Sir Syed Ahmeld Khan's desperatia~n. hey influenced views to the extent that he became a m an of ideas which were totally different frothose he had cherished earlier. T he M A 0 c:ollege principal, T11,eodore Beck,influenced hi m th e most. Beck set out to cou nter the evil ir luence of Congress counterposing Sir Syed Ahmed Khan against i t . He worked1 ha rd t o cregte a stroconservative school of though tn an d complete a breach n betwe en the Muslims anthe Bengali domina ted Congress.

Sir Syed Ahmed Kha n relented under the influence of Beck. He turned againstCongress. The growth of Hindu revivalism and its links with tthe Congress intensifhis anti-Congress feelings.

Sir Syed ~ h m e d han had limit ed in f luence on the Nor th -ln~d ianMuslims. Hecatalysed social and educational reforms am on g sections of Muslims. His influencwas not al l pervasive. His sustained cam paign against the C ongres s prevented themovement f rom going beyond Aligarh an d i ts neighbouring, distr icts. A large numof Muslims remained uninfluenced by him.

ICheck Your rogressNote ) Use the space provided below fo r yo ur answers.

i i) Check yo ur answers with that given at th e end of the unit .

I What a re the tenets of two-nation theory?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 Explain the views of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan regarding the applicability ofconcept of democracy.



18.3 M O H M M D I OB L

Mohammad lqbal attempted to provide a systematic basis for the political ideas ofIndian Muslims. He provided a critiqu e of the political ideas of liberal democracy inrelation to the Islamic political ideas. For understanding his political ideas, its

necessary to understand his views on lslam and ego.

18.3.1 Islam and Ego

lqbal believed that lslam has been rendered useless for the modern man because ofits medieval spirit. It was so not because of the weakness of lslam per se but becauseof the fact that people did not understand the c u e spiri t of Islam. He blamed theorthodox and self-seeking sufis for providing a harrow interpretation of Islam. lqbalbelieved that medieval mysticism deprives the followers of lslam of h ealthy instinctsand puts forth only the obscure thoughts. He belieted that revival of true lslam wasa must for the cure of the world. A careful study of lslam was necessary which couldgive a kind of insight into its significance as a world fact . lslam had potential ofbecoming a living force .

Iqbal's vision of society, state and politics was based on his view of Islam. Accordingto lqbal the ideal society on eart h will be establis hed by the muslims-chosen peopleof God, the deputies of God in the East. A muslim is not a n extraordinary person(titan) but a common ma n and an embodiment of good:c z he wnr d" o

posesses the qualities of justice an d benevolence . lqb al believed tha t only by self-affirmation, self-expression, and self-development can the Muslims become morestrong and free . These are the three stages through which th e uniqueness of ego canbe achieved.

The philoso phy of egoism or sel f' of lqb al is Significant from the point of view ofhis political ideas. lqba l was dissatisfied with the e conom ic and political system insociety. The S ociety has created institutions w hich have enslaved th e individual. Itundermines the religion an d ethical principles. Iqb al, therefore, offers a higher idealworth emulating. Th e ego must be kept within proper limits. And this can be don eby only obedience and discipline. It will ultimately lead to the viceregency of God.lqbal believed that thoss Muslims who are guided by the Qura n or the Book ofWisdom will fulfil this m~ssion.

18.3.2 Cardinal Principles of Iqbal s Political ThoughtThe conflict between east and west or between love and reason form the cardinalprinciple of Iqbal's political thought. lqba l had show n stron g distrust of west andwestern civilisation. T o him the West symbolised va lues of materialis m and it was incontravention of the high values of spiritualism and'religiosity characterising the,East. The bases of west is reason, while that of the eastern civilisations love.

lqbal felt the need f or creation of an ideal society. H e was critical of th e westernconceptions of various political ideas, i.e. the nation-state, nationalism, equality,liberty, democracy, interp retation of history, the socialist movem ent in the west etc.He opined that western political thought emerged along with the emergence ofcapitalism. The capitalist society is product of m aterial civilisation. T o lq bal thepurpose of society should be to make the life of its members happy and good. Every

member should find opportu nities for the development of his ego an d personality.The capitalist soclety ca nno t se cu re ,~ lq ba l elieved, good life of the people. Its basisis the profit of a feiv. Science, philosophy, democracy, constitution and fundamentalrights of equ ality and liberty are all subservient to the exploiting classes.

18.3.3 Nationalism

In Iqbal's opinion 'Rationalism provides a psychological and political justification forthe nation-state. Th e capitalist system was responsible for its emergence. It is basedon the consideration of territory. Nationalisp merely attaches an individual to aterritory. Patriotism, according to lqbal is different from nationalism. Patriotism isa perfectly natu ral virtue an d has a place in the mora l life of a man . But

nationalism accord ing to Iqbal, is a political concept and is not in consonance withthe spirit of Islam. He believed that if nationalism was accepted in its ideal form,

lslam would no more remain a living factor. Nationalism comes into conflict with

Sir Syed Ahmd Khm,Mohammad Iqbd, M.A. JIIIMII

and Abul Kdam Azad



.Polltim and Relidon inModern India : he Interface

lslam when it beglns to play the role of the political concept dem nding that lslamshould recede to the background of a more private opinion and cease.to be a l ivingfactor in the national life. Iqbal, however, was not oppo sed to the conce pt ofnationalism which had potentialities of uniting people of a particular country for theachievepent of freedom. Such a concept of nationalism, according to Iqbal, was notinconskitent with the spirit of Islam. But religion could be a more uniting factor ofpeople than nationalism. He believed that the Westerners wanted to use nationalismto shatter the religious unity of lslam to pieces . lqbal was not opposed to th e

national mov emen t but viewed nationalism a s a disturb ing element in politics.

Iqbal felt that the mo dern-w orld had becom e a danger a iming at 'de-islamisation' ofthe Muslims. Nationalism was one such danger. Iqbal was afraid of the possiblegrow th of n 'at ionalism in India. H e started with the assumption that India was not anation. Muslims and nationalism ar e not identical accord ing to him because theywere a minority. In the countries where Muslims are a m ajority, Islam hasaccomdnodated nationalism. Muslims in India consti tute a cultura l entity.

D o M usl ims form a separa te na t ion? According to Prof . Moin Shakir, Iqbal has noclear-cut answ er to this question. He believed that M uslims were bound togethernot by racial, linguistic, or geogra phical ties, but their comm una l brotherhood . Heconcluded that India was not a single nation. The idea of nationalism would be anobliteration of diversity, which would be most undesira ble acc ordi ng t o Iqbal. But itdoes niot mean that Iqbal was not in favour of a United India. He felt that fusion ofthe commun ities was no t possible in India. Instead, mutual 'harmon y and co-

operation of different communities should be sough t. T o him th e talk of one nationwas futile . Iqbal's insistence op the maintenan ce of distinct commun ities byrecognising them a s sepa rate entitities gave rise to Muslim N ationalism . This hasmade him the father of the Idea of Pakistan.

According to Moin S hak ir the feeling that the M uslim Lea gue carried Iqbal 's:oncept of Muslim N ationalism t o its logical end is not valid. He never thou ght ofpartitioning India. Instead he suggested the idea of a separate Muslim state in theNor th in his presidential address to the Muslim League in1928 He demanded onlya stale within a state , and no t a separa te state. Mo in Shak ir says Thus, Iqbal's

scheme seems to have no relation to the league dem and f or parti t ion. But the leagueleadership exploited Iqbal's n ame t o give strength and sancti ty to the dem and f orPakistan . Even Jinnah's and oth er Muslim leaders' at temp ts to rally the anti-Hinduforces in the parties unde r the guise of the two-nation theory was more profoundlyinspired by Rah ma t Ali than Iqbal. Iqbal had great respect for non-MuslimCommunities. He was opposed t o the narrow an d sectarian nationalism inside andoutside India as the basis of polity. He had greaf passion for India's freedom.

18.3 4 DemocracyTo lqbal democracy was one of the important features of the modern westernsystem. This democracy is different from a nd oppo sed to the Islamic democracy.This concept of democracyis the inve ntion o f the west. It believs in th e sovereigntyof the people and in the concept of liberty and equality. Western democracy is theresult of a reaction t o the past domina ted by the feudal structure of Europe . lqbalthoueht that these features of democracy a re inconsistent with the tenets of Islam.Unlike in western democracy, the sovereignty in Islamic democracy does notlie with

the people. Sovereignty, ac cor ding to Islam, is vested in Go d; not in the people. ToIqba] the western concept of democracy will be meaningful for a few in the society.This concept is based on the principles of exploitation. The concept of majority ofthe western democracy may n ot be always wise. According to Iqbal, equality andliberty of western democracy are not real. Democracy is a comparison of imperialismand butresses the interests of the exploiters. Therefore, as a rule of the people, itcan not be realised. According to Iqbal, in the garb of democracy, operates thede mo n of autocracy . Liberty and o ther so-called rights are merely a cover incapitalism. Democracy is the continuation of the au thoritarian rule of the past .

18 3 5 Islamic ~ e m o c r a c ~

h e ondemned the western concept of democracy an d urged a n acceptance oflslamic demo cracy. Islamic democrac y did not grow ou t of the extensio n of

ec o~ or ni c pportunity . I t is based on the assump tion that every human be ingis a



centre of latent power, which can be developed by cultlvat~ng certain type of ir ycd ~ h m c d hm

character. In Islamic democracy emphasis is more on moral considerations. Iqbal's Mohammad Iqbd M.A. Jlnnahand Abul Kalam Azeddemocracy does no t belong to the people but t o unique individuals. He was

convinced tha t Islamic democracy would not degenerate into autocracy. T he basis oflslamic demo cracy is shifted from eco nom ic exploitation t o better spiritualpurification and better econom ic adjustment . Iqbal thought tha t a governmentbased on the concept of one God would be more suitable than democracy of thewestern type. The cardinal principles of Islamic democracy would be: the principle ofUnity of G od, obedience to law, tolerance and universalism. Iqbal appreciated theadoption of democra tic institutions in the western countries. But desired th at they bein conformity with the basic principles of Islam. In the context of India also. Iqbalfelt that western democracy was not suitable. He felt that if democracy was appliedto India, the communal oligarchy in the garb of democracy would prevail in India.He, therefore, pleaded for the modification of the dem ocratic insti tutions. H e feltthat a monarCh guided by a religious apd ethical code, may establish a governmentwhich may a im at th e realisation of spiritual ideals throug h a huma n organisation.

18.3.6 SocialismIqbal was impressed by the concept of socialism as propound ed by Karl M arx in thesense that it rejects capitalism, democracy and nationalism. He finds many points ofsimilari ty between Islam a nd Marx ian ideology. He op ined that bo th Islam andMarxism a ~ m t destruction of autocracy in the world, but view capitalism withdisfavour, both disapprove of priesthood an d church a s organized insti tutions . Hebelieved that Islam is a form of socialism which is not used by the Muslims. He,however, did not agree with all aspects of the principles of socialism. According tohim, Marxism s concerned only with matter an d ignores the soul and spiri t . ,He alsorejected the materialist interpretation of history. It was a product of Westernintellectualism according t o him. He believed that the great defect of M arxism is itsdenial of God and spiri tual values. T his, according to lqbal, is the unhealthy anddark side of Marxism.

Iqbal did not agree with the Ma'rxian concept of state and government as well. Hefelt that a classless society would not be achieved and the state would not whitheraway.

18.3.7 IndividualAn individual is inseparable fr om the society. His truest self achieves fulfilment inthe society. The highest aim of the individual is to achieve union with society. Heowes his body an d spiri t to th e society. The society of individual an d co mmu nity is asupreme entity. The interests of the individual and society are not aptagonistic. Theyare mutual a nd com plimentary. Islam recognises the worth of an individual anddisciplines him to sacrifice everything in the service of God. Uncont> led ego or lackof discipline or selfishness s o cha rac teris tic of individua lism c an lead'.t :anarchy.Goodness can be achieved only by the unity of ma n and Go d. From h unity of goda n d man are derived the secret powers of man. The concept of unity of God fbstersthe feelings of brotherhood . T he Islamic community is not governed t i trough hum anlaw but by the divine laws propounded by Quran. I ts words are secret and eternal.

If an individual goes against the c omm unal interest, he will have no freedom.According to lqbal o bedience is the highest virtue of an individual. lqbal does notexhaustively deal with rights. An individual can enjoy those rights which arepermitted by the law of Quran:

/

Check Your Progrss 2Vote i) Use the space provided below for yo ur answers.

ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.

. I ) Discuss Iq bal's views on natio nali sm?



PoUtier m R d i d o n inM o d s n Indlm be Interfnee

2) Compare Iqbal's views on Western democracy with his views on lslamicdemocracy.

18 4 M A J I N N A H

Jinnah's practical politics determined his political thought. Unlike him the politics oAbul Kalam Azad was shaped by ideology.

18 4 1 Liberalism and Jinnah

Jin na h was initially 'influenced by British liberalism. H e was associated with theleadihg Indian liberals i.e. Dadabhai Naoroji,G K Gokhale, S.N. Banerjee andR.C. Das. His early liberalism was a pro duct of his English educ ation a nd theinfluence of India n liberals. He had u ncom prom ising faith in th e concept ofnationalism, demo cracy, secularism and the unity of the country. H e told D r. Ashraf

1 happene d to meet several im por tan t English liberals I grasped that liberalism,which becam e pa rt of my life, thrilled me very much . T he core of his liberalismconsisted of liberty-civil, fiscal, personal, so ~ ia l, cono mic, political an dinternational; moral worth and spiritual equality of each individual, dignity ofhum sn personality, impartial judiciary, cheap legal procedure a nd accesible courts,abolitio n of class privileges an d abolitio n of power of money. His liberalism, t o sumup, sto od fo r: freed om, consti tutionalism, absence of any type of fanaticism in sociaand political life, co-operation with the British government, constitutional form ofagitation for the right cause, rule of law and the unity of country. He did notsuppo rt the extra-consti tutional method in an agitation. He felt that even the non-cooperation movement was a non-liberal movement.

He acknowledged the positive contribution of the British rule. He believed thatdevelopments such as the g row th of feelings of patriotism a nd nationalism were theresult of attitud es an d policies of the British goveroment. He expressed belief50 thedemwcratic institutions of local self-government. According to him a governmentshould not be above public criticism. A civilised government is known for the respecit has for public opinion. unde moc ratic fu nctioning of the government leads torevolution. But he did not g rant people the right to revolt. He stood for theestablishment of democracy. But he felt that it should not be given to them as a giftbut as a r ight. Jinn ah ad heres to l iberalism as a spokesma n of the l iberal middle

class. According to him the middle class could not fit in with a movement of themasses. Jinnah felt that with the emergence of Gand hi and M oha mm ad Ali massesstarted taking p.art in national movement. He felt that the involvement of the massesaffected the liberal character of the Indian National Congress. Therefore, he left theIndian National Congress, and started contradicting whatever he had said earlier.1920 was the dividing year in the poli t ical understanding of Jinn ah.

His approac h t o polit ics du ring the l iberal phase was secular. He emphasised tha t thpeople should forget religious differences. Religion should be separated from politicsHe said the co-operation of all the communities was necessary for the cause of themoth erland . Only if the Indians forgot their religious differences, would they beAeservlng real political franchise, freedo m an d self-government . He did not agreewith the Aligarh movement (or Sir Syed Ahmed Khan) that if the British left India,Hindu Raj would be established. He disagreed with Gandhi on the issue of mixing



4

rel igion with poli tics. He did not even su pport the Khilafat movem ent because i t Sir sye Ahmed Khan,

blended religion with politics. Mohammad Iqbd M.A. Jinnrhand Abul K du n A ud

18.4.2 NationalismAccording to J in nah the emergence of na t ional i sm in India was the resul t of co lonia lpolicies-integration of lnd ia into a poli tical an d social unit and spread of Englisheduca tion. Initially he believed in the 6ne-nation theory. He emphasised th e unitybetween the Hindus and the Muslims. India had a single nationali ty. Thisnationalism was a l iberal an d secular nationalism. He did no t locate patriotism inreligion. He did not consider pan-Islamism as a sound ideology for the Muslims ofIndia. In the init ial phase of his career, J innah str ived for Hindu-Muslim harmony.He labelled the supposed rivalry between the Hin dus an d Muslims as nothing morethan a n a t temp t to d iver t the a t ten t ion f rom the problems an d t o defer re forms.J inn ah was a lso impressed by Gopal Kr ishna Go khale when he met h im in Bombayin 1904. He was so impressed by Gokh ale that he stated his amb ition of becomingthe Muslim Gokhale .

According to Saroj in i Naidu J inn ah emerged as the ambassador of Hindu-Musl imunity at this meeting. H e rejected the separate electorate propo sed by the Morley-Min to reforms of 1909. But paradoxically, he became the Calcu tta Council's Muslimmember f rom Bombay. Tho ugh not the forma l member of the M usl im League ,J inna h suppor ted the resolu tion of the Musl im League tha t s t rove to a t ta in asystem of self-government suitable to India to be broug ht ab ou t throug h

consti tutional means, a steady reform of the exist ing system of administrat ion, by

promot ing na t ional uni ty and fos ter ing publ ic sp ir i t among the people of India , andby co-operating with other communities for the said purposes .

But a fte r J innah was app ointed a s the permanent pres ident of the Musl im League ,his views on Hindu-Muslim unity underwent significant changes. He supported theresolution of the Muslim League which resolved t o work fo r Swaraj , full rel igiousliberty an d sepa rate electorates .

O n the eve of the Simo n Comm iss ion , J innah re jec ted the Nehru repor t which wasopposed to the system of separate electorates . He described the Neh ru report asnothing mo re than a statement of the Hindu position . He had sensed even before1923 tha t the Hindu Mah asabha was influencing the C ongress . J innah made threeamen dmen ts on M arch 27 , 1927 in a conference chaired by h im ( in re la t ion t o theNehru report .) i) Th ose were sep arate electorates should remain, i i) there sho uld be

reservation for Musl ims to the ex tent of one th i rd of the sea ts in the cent ra llegislature an d i i i) residuary powers should be vested in t he provinces. This propo salwas rejected by the Congress in 1928. Agha Khan, the founder president of theMuslim League, wh o presided over th e All Part ies Muslim Co nference in 1929, wrotea i jout Ji innah th a t For h im (J innah) there was no fu ture in Congress or in anycamp-allegedly on all lndia basis-which was in fact Hin du do min ated . We had atlast won him over to o ur view . At this conference Jinna h declared that the Sim onCom mission Rep ort was dead . But he spelt out wha t was later to becom e hiss t ra tegy fo r the prom ot ion of Pakis tan .

18.4.3 Two-Nation Theory

Jinnah's passion for Hindu-M uslim unity was replaced by his belief in the two-nation

theory af te r he had re jec ted the Nehru a nd the Sim on Com misson repor ts . Fo r h imHindus and Muslims no m ore cons ti tu ted a uni ty. Ins tead , they now came torepresent tw o separate nations. H e emphasised tha t Muslims were a separate party ,an d he spok e the language of a bargainer . As a chair ma n of the federalsubco mm ittee he said no consti tution would wo rk unless it gave a sense of securi tyto the Muslims and o ther minorities . He began to em phasise that since Muslims area nation, they must preserve their culture an d separate identity. He said that H ind uextremism could be dangerous to Muslim existence. He ruled out the possibil i ty ofharm ony between Hind us and Muslims. H e called Con gress a Hind u party whichwanted l o establi sh Hindu Raj . E s tabl ishment of democracy would m ean comple teexfinction of Islam, he said.

Almost during the same period the Muslim students in Cambridge Universi ty werel a ~ n c h i n ~n agi ta t ion for the separa te s ta te of Pakis tan . Rah ma t Al i, a s tud ent of



Pdltlcs nd Relidon n

hodern ndh : h nterfmceCambridge University founded Pakistan N ational M ovement. H e was lnspired bypoet Iqbal. He wrote a pamphlet- Now or Never Are We to l ive or perish? Hestrove for the forma tion of Pakistan which w ould supposedly include the followinregions-Punjab, N.W.F.P. (Afgh anistan), Kash mir, Sin dh an d Baluchistan. Th eMuslim League met on Mar ch 4, 1934 in Ne w ae lh i for establishing unity in theparty. This terrorised the pro-British elements. Though Jinnah supported thecommunal award, which was opposed by the Congress, he abstained from voting it.

Jinnah continued to ignore Rahmat Ali 's call for Pakistan and his angry attacks ein 1937. But he changed his position during the election campaign of 1937.

He furth er emphasised tha t historical an d cultural differences existed betweenHindu s an d M uslims. He held that Hinduism and Islam were two entirely distinand sepa rate civilisations . They be ldng to different religions, philosophies, socialcustom s and cherish tw o dist inct-bodies of l i terature. They neither inter-marry nod o they interdine. They belonged to two different socie ti~s. awaharlal N ehru did acknowledge the existence of the Muslim Leage during the election campaign in1937. Jinna h reacted t o this at t i tude of Nehru and said, there is a third party (apfrom the Congress and the government) in this country and th at is the Muslims . asked the Congress to leave Muslims alone . J inna h complained at the All IndiaMuslim League session held in Octob er 1937 that th e Congress discriminated a gathe Muslim League in the Hindu dominated areas. H e made building up of a masparty of Muslims one of his priorities du ring 1938 an d 1939. Th e member ship of Muslim League multiplied ma nifold between the Luckn ow session of 1937 an d th

Lahore session of 1940. He st i ll s trove for an India which was independent, andwhere the interests of the Muslims would be safeguarde d. He denounce d Con gresfor imposing Bande Matra m (Hail to the Mother) . He compared the Muslims oIndia with the Negroes of Africa an d Slaves in Jan ua ry 1938. In April 1938, hlabelled Congress as a Hindu pa'r tym. On Marc h 20, 1940, Jinn ah dem anded th edivision of India into auto nom ous n ational states . But he did not use the wordPakistan. But after Jinna h finished speaking at Lahore, the historic Pakistanresolution was hammered. Jinnah said that the Hindu leaders of Hindu Mahasabwanted t trea t Mus lims like Jew s in Germany . J inn ah considered the Quit Inddemand as an a t tem pt to force Mussalmans and surrender to Congress te rms ofdictation .

Jinna h maintained that Muslims cannot divorce their religion from politicsHence Hin du-M uslim unity o r nationalism, signifying hom ogene ity between themall non-religious matters, is unimaginable . There fore, a separate homela nd fo rMuslims was dema nded. Jinn ah exhorted the Muslims to prepare for the katt le fogetting Pakistan in Baluchistan in July 1948. In the 1940s he reminded the Muslimof the discrimination they faced in the earlier decades. Jinnah said in his messagethe Pakistan Day on March 23, 1944:

Pakistan is within graspInsha-Allah, we shall win.

Jin na h told a public meeting in Ahmed abad in October 1945 Pakistan is a questife and de ath fo r us . He cam paigned in the 1945 elections on the issue.

O n Jun e 20, 1947, the me mber s of the Bengal legislative Assembly voted fo rpartition of their province by a large majority. Sind did it later.

Th e 'Parti t ion C ouncil ' was formed.

The birth of separatist Muslim Nationalism had taken place mu ch before Jinnahstarted advocating i t. But before Jinna h supported i t, the character an d content oseparate Muslim Nationalism had largely been cultural. Jinnah made it apolitical wea pon fo r the creation of Pakistan-a new state. He successfully gave aideological and religious tinge to the two-nation theory.

Jinnah's two-nation theory even distorted his earlier concept of liberal democracyHis new concept of democracy was limited to his idea of separate homeland forMuslims He did not den y the spiritual aspects of democrac y in Islam. He opposethe application of the western type of democracy in India. According to him, Indwas not f it for domsc racy. He said the majority of the peopie are totally ignoranilliterate, untutored, living in old superstitions of the worst type, thoroughly



antagonistic to each other, culturally and socially It is impossible to work a Sir Syed Ah m d Khan,

democratic parliamentary government in India . Majority rule will become tyrannical Mohammd qbd9 M.A. lm*

a nd Ab ul K a l m A u din India. M uslims will suffer in economic, social, cultural an d political aspects of life.He said that the joint-electoral system would lead to the enslavemen t and virtualextinction of the minority community. This aspect of the Aligarh movement, whichwas rejected by Jinnah earlier, influenced the later phase of his politics and thought.

Check Your ProgressNote i) Use the space provided below for yd ur answers.

i i) Check yo ur answers with the answers given at the e nd of the unit

I) Discuss Jinnah's views on concept of nationalism.

2) Explain briefly Jinnah's views on the two-r,stion theorv

18.5 ABUL KALAM AZ AD

Azad represented a synthesis of the west and the east. He combined religion withreason. H e had basic differences with the A ligarh move me nt :-he did not believe that

. the majority Hindu s would prevail upon the identi ty of the minorit ies or theMuslims. H e was not hostile to the British rule before 1905. His earlier politicalatt i tude was shaped by his understanding of Islam. He had regarded Islam as a guidefor all actions which could provide solution to all the problems. In lslam, accordingto Azad, religion and poli tics are obverse an d reverse of the sam e coin.

18 5 1 Romantic Phase of his IdeasAzad opined th at an dnderstanding of Q ura n would help in polit ical, social andcul tura l recon structio n o f life. He expresse d his politica l views in 'Al-Hilas', whichcovered romantic phas e of his ideas. He expressed profo und belief in the

sovereignty of Go d, establishment of the divine kingdom, order a nd goo dgovernment an d in the supremacy of truth. He analysed ln dian poli tics in terms ofreligion. T o him the believers ar e friends of God an d non-believers are friends ofdevil . T he friends of God are ready to die for the truth. They are not afraid ofanything in this or next birth. The friends of devil take recourse to force an d donot l ~ v eruth .

He felt that politics in lndia needed drastic overhauling. For achieving this it wasnecessary tha t the friends of Go d organised themselves into a party of Go d. Hebelieved that lslam ensured complete equality, liberty, tolerance, freedom ofconscience an d expression, fraternity an d broth erhoo d. In 1914 he attempted t oorganise the ulema t o take up the c aus e\of Islam. He tr ied to develop a systematicIslamic theory of poli tics along the l ines of his romanticism. P erhap s he was th e onlyMuslim intellectual to d o so. Til l the end of the First W orId W ar Azad cherishedan d pursued this aim. After the First World W ar he realised that romanticw



Politics and R eligion in app roac h to polit ics would not yield desirable results . H e became anModem India he Interlaw uqcom promising anti-iniperialist . He advoca ted unity am on g the countrymen. H e

said th at nationalism was consistent with the spiri t of Islam. H e called Pan-Islamias a misnomer. He wan ted the Muslims to join Congress. H e said if Muslims jointhe Congress, it would no t be a n unislamic act . This realisation of Azad marked tend of romantic phase of his ideas. The Jalianwalabagh tragedy and the end of thYhilafat m ovement erod ed his faith in roma nticism.

18.5.2 NationalismAccording to Azad Indian naitonalism was neither Hind u nor Islamic. This was

secular and was a synthesis of Hindu and Muslim cultures. He became an advocaof Islam in liberal and Islamic sense. We no long er rema ined hostile to the westerncivil isation. He said tha t religion an d reason were n ot opp osed t o each other. Theare two aspects of Azad's conce pt of nationalism. They are-first, his at t itudetowards the Brit ish, second, his at t i tude towards his countrymen. Up to1905 Azadwas not anti-Brit ish. He was influenced by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, though he did subscribe to the philosophy of Aligarh movem ent. Afterwards he got disi llusionedwith the British and became anti-imperialistic. Till the end of the Khilafat,movemthough Azad em phasised the Hindu-Muslim unity, he was st il l under the influencePan-lslamism. He stil l wanted a separate party for the Muslims.

After he came in contact with Gandhi following the Jalianwalabagh tragedy and tKhilafat movement, he emphasised that the Hindus and Muslims formed a singlenationality. He felt that nationalism could be a strong force, if it was liberated froreligious orth odo xy and narrow-mindedness. Ga nd hi said Azad's faith in nationalwas as robu st as his faith in Islam . Azad believed a unity between Hin dus andMuslims would bring nationalism in India. H e was opposed t o the parti t ion of Inon religious ground s.

Unlike the liberals, he believed that if constitutional means were not successful inachieving their polit ical p urpose, violence could be always tak en recourse to. Nonviolence for him was a matter of policy, not creed.

18.5.3 DemocracyHe supported democ racy dur ing the romantic phase of Al-Hilal . He remained afirm supporter of demo cracy even after he aba ndo ned romanticism . He preachetwo different types of views du rin g the roma ntic an d pdst-rom antic phases of ideas.

In the first phase, he did no t regard demo cracy as a way of l ife. He considered onIslam as a true an d perfect religion. The Prop he t was considered the personificatiof al l values beneficial to mankind. He held that unity and sovereignty of god anestablishment of supremacy of r ighteous order are the real elements of democracyUnity of G od implied the sovereignty of Islam, which aime d a t abolishing thesovereignty of mac. T o him dem ocracy is based on th e will of people, ch aracterisby tolerance, equali ty an d l iberty. Liberty was a n essential prerequisite for thedevelopment of individuals in every society. He said the absence of liberty resultedslavery which was against the tenets of Islam. He. however, said in case of warliberty of a person could be curtailed. He said unrestricted liberty is dangerous.Liberty l ike Islam dem and s faith Bnd action. T ha t is why he suppo rted th e India n

National Movement.Azad said Islam recognises the value of equality. He said Islam swept off racial national dist inctions an d showed the world a t large that al l hum an beings held a nequal rank and all possessed equ al r ights. I t proclaimed tha t excellence did .not l irace, nationali ty or colour. I t was only righteous action that counted and the noblam ong ma n was he who did his work m ost r ighteously. Islamic concep tion ofequali ty is thus no t mech anical but spiri tual .

Savereignty of the Prophet and the Khalif consti tuted the perfect conception ofequali ty, and i t only could tak e the sha pe of the w hole nation's free will, unity,suffrage and elections. T ha t is the reason why the sovereign or president of arepublic is designated Khalif . K halif l i terally me ans no thing more o r less thanrepresentation. I t gives full rights to women an d puts th em a t par w ith men. Islam

superior to western ideologies. Western system of equality is not real. Islamic waylife is full of equality-economic an d political as well as social.



18.5.4 Post-Romantic Phase of his IdeasIn the post-romantic phase his views were no mor e confined to the influence ofIslam. They spread under the influence of West. He expressed belief in thesovereignty of the people. He said tha t the cou ntry belonged to t he people. Allpeople enjoyed equa l r ights. The head of the state or Ca liph should be elected by thepeople. The head of th e state should n ot claim special privileges in relation t o thepeople. The head of the state should consult people having insight in alladministrative an d legal matters. Th e treasury of the coun try should be considered asthe property a nd possession of the people. He m ade a plea for the establishment of

parliamentary form of gbvernment in India. He said National government must bea cabine t government . But he never discussed the merits or demerits ofparliamentary an d presidential form of governments at the academic level. H ebelieved in federalism. He supported greater autonomy of the states'

18.6 LET US S U M U

The poli t ical thought of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, M oha mm ad Iqbal, Mo ham ma d AliJinnah and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad focused on the issues relating to therelationships between lslam and Western political concepts i.e. democracy,nationalism and nationali ty, relationship between lslam and Hinduism, betweenHindus and Muslims an d att i tude towards the British. Sir Syed Ahmed Khaninitially stood for Hindu-Muslim unity. But later he changed his views and becamean ard ent supporte r of the two-natidn theory. He even opposed the introduction oftenets of demo cracy in Indi a. Ego o r self-discipline a n d self-principle ar e thecardinal principles of Iqbal's political thought. He was highly critical of the westernconcept of democracy. T o him nationalism was a polit ical concept which usuallycame in conflict with religion. However, he supported nationalism, it aimed atachieving freedom. Religion could be a m ore unit ing factor. He said H indus andMuslims were two nations. While his views on th e two-nation theory ar e not clear,an d he wante d a state within the state for Muslims, his views became a n inspiringsource for the M uslim League. He opined that lslam contained all the vital aspectsof democra cy and he called i t Islamic democracy.

Jinnah was a liberal in the initial phase of his career. His views on religion and

politics were coloured by his liberalism. In this phase he believed that India was asingle nation. But after the Nehru and Simon Commission reports, he became anarde nt supporter of the two-nation theory. His later views dis to ~t ed ven his earlierl iberal perception of dem ocracy.

Unlike the other three leaders Azad believed that Indian nationalism was secular andwas a synthesis of the Hindu and Muslim cultures. He stood for the synthesis of westan d east . He su pported th e western concept of democracy. He said this concept ofdemocracy was not averse to the principles of Islam.

Check Your ProgressNote: i) Use the space provided below for you r answers.

i i) Check your answers with the answers given a t the end of the unit.

1) Discuss Azad's views on Nationalism.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,Mohammad Iqbd, M.A. Jinnshend Abul K d u n A u d

2 Discuss Azad's views on Democracy.



Politics and Religion inModern India he Interface

18.7 SOME US FUL BOOKS

V.N. Datta, Maulana Azad, Ma noh ar, 1990, New Delhi.

Gandhi , Raj Mohan, Eight Lives: A Study o Hindu-Muslim Encounter, New Delhi.Roli Books International, 1985.

Hasa n, Mushiru ed.) Communalism and Pan-Islamic Trends in Colonial India,New Delhi. Manohar. 1985.

Jalal , A yesha, Sole Spokesman: Jinnah. The Muslim League and the DemandforPakistan, Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Schimmel, Annemarie, Gabriel s Wing: A Stud y into the Religious Ideas of Sir SyedMohammed Iqbal, Leiden, E J Brill, 1964.

Wolpert, Stanley, Jlnnah of Pakisran. New York, Oxford University Press, 1984.

Moin Shakir, From Khilafat to Partition.

18.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESSEXERCISES

Check Your Progress 1I Se e Sub-s ection 18.2.2

2) See Sub-section 18.2.2Check Your Progress 21) See Sub-section 18.3.32) See Sub-sections 18.3.4 and 18.3.5

~ h e c kYour Progress 31 See Sub-sections 18.4.2 an d 18.4.3

Check Your ProgressI) S ee Sub-sections 18.5.2 an d 18.5.3

indian political thinkers

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