He did portray a saint like image. This probably was just because of the virtue of his bare body and shortage of clothes or maybe due to his low diet and lean body. He looked like the poorest man in the country and gained sympathy for the same.
Firstly the Great Mahatama’s stance towards the Africans was racist. In South Africa he never did anything for the blacks. In fact he wanted to create a stratified society with Whites at the top and the Africans at the bottom. One of Gandhi’s major “achievements” in South Africa was to promote racial segregation by refusing to share a post office door with the black native. He totally supported the British and accepted them as our rulers. One might say that it is significant that his well-known struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks whose living conditions were even worse.“
Major disappointment arrived in 1918, when Gandhi was persuaded by the British to help raise soldiers for a final victory effort in the war. Charlie Andrews criticized Gandhi for recruiting Indians to fight for the British.
Alarmingly the mahatama supported all the wars. There wasn’t a war that the so called non- violent man Gandhi did not support. The prophet of peace Gandhi’s support for the British in the Boer War, the Zulu War, World War 1 and World War 2.
“Suffice it to say that my loyalty to the British rule drove me to participation with the British in that war ”( MK Gandhi, My Experiments With Truth, pg.138)
Our national hero even had the courage to say that “All Jews should commit mass suicide!”, and he himself had Jewish friends. Gandhi wrote letters to his friend Hitler and supported him.
“We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents.” Gandhi to Hitler.
Bapu had two choices: either to resist or collaborate with the oppressive and exploitative colonists. Sadly, he preferred to be a collaborator of the British. He was the voice and conscience of three hundred million Hindus. Instead of fighting the colourless, he betrayed his people by prolonging their misery by merely supporting the empire and requesting for amendments rather than freedom.
“But I believed that the British empire existed for the welfare of the world. A genuine sense of loyalty prevented me from even wishing ill to the empire. ” ”( MK Gandhi, My Experiments With Truth, pg.172)
The British continuously fooled Gandhi by taking him in favour of the British – Indian co-existence. This trap was in the form of representative institutions, distribution of power, bureaucratic positions, business, contracts etc. and those who were willing to play this game under the devious rules set by the colonists were rewarded for their cooperation and those who tried to scuttle the game were brutally punished. And the father of the nation belonged to the former category.
In fact, when the oppressed sections of the society – the poor peasants and workers – tried to rebel against their exploitation, Gandhi and his co workers hastened to pacify such resistance movements which directly ceased their growth and indirectly prolonged the British stay. A typical example was the peasant movement in the district of Bardoli in Bengal. When the peasants refused to pay the rents and taxes to the Indian landlords and the imperial government, Gandhi sent a Congress committee, which ‘liquidated’ the conflict and assured the zamindars that Congress had ‘no intention of encroaching on the legal rights’
The ‘ Great Mahatma’ who proclaims to have sacrificed everything for the nation, enjoyed his ‘rest periods’ in the jail because in addition to special servants, his prison suite consisted of three rooms with a garden. In the comfort of this imprisonment, he leisurely negotiated with Viceroy Lord Irwin and betrayed the cause of the people by calling off the Civil Disobedience Movement and agreeing to attend the second Round Table conference in London
Gandhi was considered as the messiah working for the betterment of the oppressed, on the other hand, he remained completely unmindful to the pathetic plight of the working class in Ahmedabad – the home of Gandhi. Over there, 92 percent of the houses were one-roomed, unsanitary, and ill-ventilated, with inadequate water supplies and latrine accommodation entirely wanting. The question arises is that why didn’t he fight for their welfare?
The reason behind this was that this would have brought him in conflict with the mill-owners of Ahmedabad, who were the main source of his funds. Instead of creating awareness about the class conflict in the society, Gandhi preached docility and collaboration. But his autobiography remains silent about this fact.
Critics of Gandhi have argued that his tactics and actions unnecessarily delayed the departure of the British, precipitated the partition of India, and led to the Hinduisation of Congress because of his over-emphasis on religion. His defence of caste especially annoyed the untouchables who were denied political independence.
Sarojini Naidu once said it costs us billions to keep Mahatma Gandhi in poverty. He who is called the “apostle of peace,” counseled a Jewish delegation” to oppose the evil of Nazism by “soul force” – by committing mass suicide, was all praise for annexing Kashmir by armed aggression.
This great personality MK Gandhi who supported the British during the Boer War and Zulu Rebellion. This “ahimsa” racist who did not support the Africans in their efforts to get freedom from the British.Mahatma that supported the British in World War 2 and encouraged the Indians to support the British, thus perpetuating the colonial rule in the Subcontinent and supporting the Empire. This true human being supported the British effort in World War 1, and packed off thousands to the war effort to be used as cannon-fodder.
The great mahatama has still not been able to give the answer to the question raised upon him a million times that why couldn’t he save freedom fighter Bhagat Singh from being hanged. If he wanted he could have saved the young freedom fighter but this selfish man did not.
Another amazing truth belonging to his kitty is that he even told the Sikhs “don’t let your swords rust”. He himself wanted India to attack Kashmir. He was a freedom fighter and a dictator. But despite his distaste for it, Mahatma was a title he would bear until his death and beyond, and while there were other Mahatmas in the India of his lifetime, Gandhi is the only one remembered today. He is called the father of the nation, but still his strategies are considered to be naïve and impractical.
. There is a big myth that Gandhi was successful as a lawyer, but this is absolutely wrong. He was a failure and was unable to even find himself a living and even was unable to capitalise on the chances donated to him by his brother and other friends.
“I hastened from the court, not knowing whether my client won or lost her case, but i was ashamed of myself, and decided not to take up any cases until I had courage enough to conduct them.”(My experiments with truth, MK Gandhi, pg. 66)
None of his movements were successful. All his movements were either called off or were oppressed. But still he gets the credit of the independence of India though on the contrary he hampered it.
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In his book Gandhi sadly did not mention everything. Still there are a lot of things unsaid about him which if he wanted he could have inculcated in his book. He did not answer a lot of questions like the reason he had for not saving Bhagat Singh etc. , which advisably should have been addressed.
He was a famous man and did a lot for the country but certainly did not deserve the acclamation he got.
