Since Gandhiji does not fall into any harsh and sharp category, he keeps troubling us.
The 74th anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi gives us an opportunity to reflect on his character and contribution as a significant figure in world history. Usually, to praise a historical person, one tries to enumerate their qualities to show how wonderful they were in all walks of life.
But Mahatma Gandhi was an enigmatic and disturbing man. He thought out of the box. He was an open-minded soft reader of concepts and categories., In this regard, he saw his place between the weakest and the poorest. His belief of just and true politics was that in such an environment the weakest should get equal opportunities as the strongest. Therefore, it would be doubtful for Gandhi to be celebrated by the powerful and conquerors and not by the weak and defeated.
If Gandhi continues to harass the powerful and victorious, it is because he does not fit the history and narratives of the conquerors.
Why do we continue to read and admire Gandhi? Not because he is the father of the Indian nation, but because he troubles us. He was the main skeptic of oppressive systems and was a rebel against all forms of hidden and open authority.
example of simplicity
This is also because Gandhi is a great example of simplicity and transparency in an arrogant and unruly civilization like ours. Gandhi’s simplicity was reflected in his actions and actions, but mostly in his way of life. Unlike most of us, Gandhi had more joy and fulfillment in pursuing less in life, to say no to all of us. The corporate mindset – to be successful – that dominates all aspects of our lives did not exist for him. And maybe it is because of his pure simplicity that we are finding it so difficult to understand Gandhi. Naturally, corporates, even when they use it as a logo or emblem, are intimidated by it. Perhaps because Gandhi, like Sisyphus, continues to roll the rock to the top of the mountain. With Gandhi we never encounter the absolute truth. Gandhi is an eternal truth seeker. In fact, Gandhi has emerged victorious through his strenuous trials. His condition remains unclear and disturbing.
Certainly, Gandhi was an ambiguous personality, but he never wore a mask. He neither masked himself nor put a mask on the face of Indian history.
Rather, he challenged Indian history by asking clear and cryptic questions. As such, in practically all of Gandhi’s historical works, there was a moral or spiritual inquiry. Therefore, he inspired Indians to a historical and civilizational awareness, which went as far as a spiritual conversion to non-violence. That is to say, the Gandhian myth completely reversed the relationship between a leader and his people.
Like Socrates, Gandhi was the midwife of the mind (Gandhi was greatly influenced by Socrates and his way of thinking). He reversed the guiding values of Indian life. His philosophy was accompanied by spiritual practice, an active reflection on truth, and a vibrant awareness of all areas of life. Gandhi believed that the true test of life for the individual could be summed up in two principles: self-discipline and self-restraint. In this regard, he said: “A man of enjoyment lives to eat; The temperate man eats to live.” His vision of community goes in that direction and Gandhi gives moral and political primacy to the two concepts of self-realization and self-government. For Gandhi, a self-actualizing and self-aware community is a society of citizens that reconciles the individual’s self-determination with the recognition of shared values in the community.
point of self-transformation
Interestingly, in a very existential way, Gandhi believed in the interconnected nature of human existence. Similarly, their interest in democracy was neither representation nor elections, but the self-transforming nature of citizens.
But we can go even further and say that for Gandhi, this process of self-transformation affects not only the inner life of the individual but also the public life. Therefore, what seems important is to maintain the morality of human action. And of course, solidarity is an advancement of that same moral. However, what Gandhi taught us is that solidarity is not just a promise of compassion; In fact, we can call it the awakening of responsibility. Undoubtedly, Gandhi was well aware that global responsibility is nothing but a prime allegiance to mankind. It goes without saying that remembering Gandhi can be a way for us to remind ourselves of our global responsibilities and our allegiance to mankind. Without it there would be no solidarity and universal harmony among the peoples of the world.
need for ethical leadership
The pandemic clearly shows us that our world lacks a moral leadership that can develop through the experiments of empathy and the redress of humanity’s sufferings and grievances. Even though Gandhi is no more with us, his spirit lives with the great transformational leaders of the 20th and 21st centuries such as Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Vaclav Havel. and Pope Francis. As a global thinker with an inter-historical and geographical impact, Gandhi was a moral and political leader who lived out of the box. We continue to wrestle with the radical parts of his vision.
Ramin Jahanbeglu is the director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the OP Jindal Global University, Sonepat, Haryana.
,