MAHATMA GANDHI

FACTORS THAT LED TO HIS RISE ON THE INDIAN POLITICAL SCENE

Prior to the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi on the Indian political scene, the Nationalist movement in India was described as “politics of studied limitations” (Judith Brown) and as “a movement representing the classes” as opposed to the masses. Brown has argued that Congress since its inception until the 1920s had been the preserve of western-educated groups, predominantly High caste Hindus, who came from the three Presidencies that been the longest under the influence of the British. Thus, these leaders, as DA Low has argued, were only concerned about creating a new elite society and culture for themselves and were influenced by the ideas and ideals of the British aristocracy or the Middle classes and were only marginally interested in bringing about far-reaching socio-economic changes in the Indian society. They saw the masses as socially backward and politically passive coming from the backward provinces of Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces etc and therefore they were never included in any of the congress policies or programmes. It is for this reason that the INC was termed as representing the “microscopic minority”.

The Nationalist demands were weakened considerably with the growing factionalism within the INC and the consequent Surat split that took place in 1907 dividing the party into the moderate and the extremists. However, in popular perception there seemed to be no difference between the two factions, who were perceived to be engaged in nothing more than fruitless polemics. It seemed that Indian politics oscillated between moderate mendicancy and individual terrorism- both limited and elitist methods- because they feared uncontrolled mass agitations. The moderate methods seemed to be highly limited in terms of its objectives and methods and yielded unsatisfactory results. The Extremist methods that usually gave way to violent or terrorist activities also failed to achieve much and at the same time invited major repression and coercion from the government. Imprisonment and deportation of the extremist leaders broke the back of the movement forcing it to move underground, further isolating it from the people. With the extremist leaders, either in prison or retired, from politics the moderate led Congress sunk into total inactivity. Thus, by 1915-17, both these strands of politics had reached their saturation point, were not threatening enough to achieve the goal of swaraj and had led to the increasing disillusionment of the masses.

Moreover, this was the period of economic hardship that had been brought about as a result of the impact of WW1. The war expenses of the British, which they sought to recover from their colonies went on increasing even after 1919. As they could not increase the land revenue, new and indirect form of taxation was used on trade and industry, the burden of which fell on the common people as it resulted in a phenomenal price rise. The rising prices were accompanied by the phenomenon of food shortage and famine like conditions, which further intensified the miseries and sufferings of the people. the increase in the prices of essential goods was not accompanied by a simultaneous rise in the income of the masses. This was largely due to the lack of expansion in exports of agricultural raw materials. This had adversely affected even the richer sections of the peasantry. Finally, there was an increasing tendency of peasant-proprietors being dispossessed and turned into tenants-at-will.

It was during this period that significant developments could be seen in the field of industries especially the Jute and textile industries. This industrialization had seen the expansion of the working class and it was this class that was hard-hit by the extraordinary price hike of this period. The average cost of living of workers in cities like Lahore and Bombay had increased by 60 to 70% but the wages only rose by 15 to 25%. Thus, it can be seen that WW1 had major social and economic implications resulting in the dislocations of nearly all sections of the Indian population, accomplishing the necessary social mobilization for an impending mass upsurge.

This climate of moral and physical despondency formed the background to the rise of Mahatma Gandhi. He had no vested interest in the political status quo and at a time of moral vacuum and political despondency, he was able to provide a new political programme that appealed to and incorporated the masses but was also spiritually noble. As Judith Brown has argued that this ideology “appealed to few wholly, but to many partially” as everyone could find in it something to identify with.

  • Talk about Gandhi’s role in mass mobilization. Judith Brown has talked about how that real significance of Gandhi lay in his recognition of the potential of the masses and in his ability to channelize their discontent and resentment against the British in a constructive and productive manner. However, this mass mobilization came with certain restraints. “Inclusivism” was Gandhi’s unique style of politics, which was based on the recognition of the diversities of India. His idea of Swaraj was synonymous with Ramrajya. Inclusion of women and dalits. Gandhi gained nationwide popularity by championing the local causes- peasant discontent against the European Indigo planters at Champaran; the cause for revenue remission of draught hit farmers in Kheda and involvement in the Ahmedabad textile mill strike. The masses had interpreted Gandhi’s message in their own terms and rumours surrounding the powers of this messianic leader served to break the barriers of fear involved in confronting formidable enemies. 
  • His emphasis on using religion as a means to mobilize people instead of on the basis of ideas derived from the west. He believed that religion had a much stronger hold on the people as their loyalties were not determined by the institution of class. His critique of western civilization, parliament etc etc Thus, he provided a completely new perspective to the people. He was not essentially rejecting modernity but by offering an ideological critique of western civilization in its modern phase, Gandhi was effectively contesting the moral legitimacy of the Raj that rested on a stated assumption of the superiority of the west.
  • Gandhi was successful in uniting the moderates and extremists on a common political platform, thereby, playing a major role in reviving and revitalizing the INC. He could effectively claim for himself a centrist position because he alienated neither faction and tactically combined the goal of the moderates with the means of the extremists. He had adopted the moderates goal of Swaraj but was extremely vague about its definition as he knew that any specific definition would alienate one or the other group. He method of satyagraha looked very much like the passive resistance of the extremists but his insistence on non-violence alleviated the fears of the moderates and other propertied classes, who were apprehensive of agitational politics. According to Judith Brown, his very rise to power was based on this mediatory function.
  • Brown has given another reason for the rise of Gandhi. He mediated between the small groups to whom politics had become a natural activity over several decades and a wider spread of groups who began to be active in politics for the first time. Thus, in this way he began to train a new group of leaders, who better placed to represent and understand the rural groups and to deal better with the rural elite. This was all part of the Gandhian strategy of taking the movement to the grass-root level. It was because of Gandhi that India’s comparatively smooth transition from elitist politics to a stage of far wider participation in politics had been possible.
  • Constructive programme. Through this he was able to link the abstract ideas such anti-Imperialism to the ordinary, everyday problems of the masses.

WOMEN’s ROLE

  • The politicization of women had been taking place ever since the second half of the 19th However, their role was restricted to the parameters of domesticity that had been imposed upon them over the centuries. Home was prescribed as the rightful arena for women. For instance, during the Swadeshi movement they indulged only in the boycott of British goods and used Swadeshi, crushed their glass bangles and observed non-cooking days as a ritual of protest. This nature of participation did not abruptly breach the accepted norms of feminine behavior or signify their empowerment. Annie Besant and Sarojini Naidu in the post-WW1 scenario had tried to take up the cause of the women but were unable to evolve an ideology or carve out a niche for them in nationalist politics.
  • The age of Gandhian politics is said to mark the beginning of the emancipation of women in India. It was with Gandhi’s takeover of the National Movement that women began to play a much bigger role in the national movement.
  • Their involvement in the movement, however, was devised in such a way that they could remain at home and still contribute to the movement. It was the programmes of Swadeshi and boycott that were considered to be the most suited for the limitations imposed upon the contribution of the women restricted by their role to their household. Thus, without challenging their traditional role in society Gandhi was able to make them the base of their movement.
  • He was able to link their personal lives and problems with the national cause. For instance, in the salt satyagraha and the dandi march, Gandhi had banked upon the women to play a significant role. This according to him was due to the fact that every woman buys and uses salt, one of the cheapest commodities, as a matter of routine. Thus, a rise in the salt tax would naturally have affected the women the most. The symbolic value of this campaign was such that it was able to touch the imagination and everyday life of the women and also revolutionized one’s perception of the kitchen as linked to the nation. A number of women’s associations violated salt laws, women volunteers carried lottas of sea water to make salt at home and many others went on the street trying to sell this salt and many women also attacked salt factories.
  • Similarly, the Swadeshi programme aimed at the sensibilities of the women. It was argued that millions of women had lost their jobs as a result of the destruction of the village crafts with the coming of the British rule. Thus, by engaging them in the spinning of Khadi, Gandhi hoped to get them re-employed and reinstate their economic independence and dignity. 
  • According to Gandhi, the job most suited to the women was the picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. He believed that no one could appeal to a person’s heart better than a woman. He chose women for this job because of their ‘inherent’ capacity for non-violence. He believed that the NCM of 1921 had failed because men had been entrusted with this task and inevitably violence had crept in. This agitation of picketing was to be initiated and led exclusively by women and though men were allowed to participate they should play only a subservient role to the women. Finally, he believed that the role of women in such a movement would prevent uncalled-for provocative action from the side of the government.
  • It was during the Quit India Movement that women seemed to have played a leading role. According to Geraldine Forbes, the female activism was the most visible during this movement. With most of the leading male members of the INC in jail, the women took up the mantle of leading the movement. For instance, Sucheta Kriplani co-ordinated the non-violent resistance, while, Aruna Asaf Ali gave leadership to the underground revolutionary activities. However, the most significant aspect of this movement was the participation of a large number of rural women taking their own initiative to liberate their country. Further increase in the participation of the rural women came about when the ban on the communist party was lifted in 1942.
  • Impact on Women. Women from extremely traditional and conservative families were allowed to walk on the streets without a veil and be part of the society as equals. All caste and religious taboos were forgotten. Gandhi succeeded in galvanizing the traditional housebound woman as a powerful instrument of political action. By opening the gates to the national movement to the women Gandhi had greatly facilitated the acceptance of women’s cause by the nationalists. From 1924, the INC had always demanded that women enjoy the same political rights as their male counterparts in the legislatures. At its Karachi session in 1931 the INC committed itself to the political equality of women, regardless of their status and qualifications. This according to Madhu Kishwar was due to the enhanced social status of the women on account of their participation in such campaigns. Gandhi by greatly loosening the traditional biases that existed towards women was able to ensure that some of the prominent women like Sarojini Naidu were able to stand on an equal footing vis-à-vis the men in the political sphere.
  • A number of women’s associations had sprung up signifying the enhanced role that women had started to play in the political sphere. Women’s Indian Association (1917); National Council of Women in India (1925) and All India Women’s Conference (1927), which besides agitating for women’s education also started demanding all sorts of women’s rights from franchise to marriage. Even at the provincial level a number of such organizations had come up. However, instead of mobilizing mass support among the women, these organizations petitioned to the government and appealed to the nationalists for support. However, they were able to get a number of bills passed like the Sarda Act that fixed the minimum age of marriage for women at 14 and also passed laws protecting the rights of the women when it came to inheritance, women’s right to property and divorce etc. However, most of these were difficult to implement and hence, became more or less dead for all practical purposes.
  • Madhu Kishwar- Gandhi’s insistence on non-violence had made it possible for more and more women to step out of their houses, instead of hiding in fear, as they tend to do when movements encourage the use of violence. The programmes that were taken as part of the movement were such that women would not feel limited or unequal to men, as they inevitably do when sheer muscle power or capacity for inflicting violence are to determine the outcome of a struggle. Thus, the traditional qualities of women such as their lesser capacity for organized violence were not downgraded but upheld as models of superior courage. SB says that most women, who participated in the National Movement came from families whose husbands were already involved in the movement launched by Gandhi. Thus, in this case their public role was a mere extension of their domestic roles as wives, mothers, sister or daughters. Thus, the politicization of women could take place without leading to any significant changes in their domestic or family relations. 
  • However, the role of women in the National Movement remained secondary or auxiliary. Active involvement in Congress activities was confined only to a few prominent women like Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta and Kamaladevi. Majority of the women were never associated with active political campaigns. Gandhi had in many ways systematized and given shape to the labour divide that existed between the men and women. Women were meant to engage only in those activities that they could normally perform from home. Thus, he saw males and females in terms of ‘active-passive’ complementary, which had been an important device for denying women any chance to acquire power and decision-making ability in the family and in society. Finally, he was unable to devise a programme that would end the economic dependence of the women. While, he did advocate the spinning of the charkha as a means of livelihood for the women, given the rapid development of the mill-made cloth, the charka-spun cloth could not have provided any real source of livelihood to the women. Moreover, Gandhi himself did not believe that women should work for wages or take up commercial enterprise. Whilst he promoted the idea of men and women being fundamentally one, he did assert that at some point there was a vital difference between the two that should be maintained. This he extended to vocation also. According to Geraldine Forbes, the climate that had been created during this period recognized certain public role for women but at the same time accepted the social, biological and psychological differences between sexes. Kumari Jayawardena has also argued that the women did not use the occasion to raise issues that affected them as women. Their own goals were subordinated to those of national liberation, community honour or class struggle.