Gandhi - The Freedom Negotiator: Unraveling the Real Gandhi

Introduction

“In the history of nationalism, a single individual is often identified with the making of a nation. Thus, for example, we associate Garibaldi with the making of Italy, George Washington with the American War of Independence, and Ho Chi Minh with the struggle to free Vietnam from colonial rule. In the same manner, Mahatma Gandhi has been regarded as the ‘Father’ of the Indian nation 
-NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) – A Government body in India that dictates curriculum for elementary and secondary schools in India 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most popular political personality of 20th century and his legacy still continues, especially in India. He is also christened as Father of the Nation in India. He is regarded as the most prominent freedom fighter of India against British colonial empire. When I searched Google, I came to know there have been approximately 250 stamps issued bearing Gandhi's image from 80 different countries worldwide. As per an article on gandhiworld.in, there are more than 70 countries that have statues of MK Gandhi. History books taught to students in Indian schools have chapters after chapters on MK Gandhi’s freedom struggle, his selflessness, integrity of character, fight against apartheid, fight against Hindu caste system and so on.

On the other hand, there are very less reference of other freedom fighters in such books; even if there are mentions they can be regarded as cursory at best. Thousands of freedom fighters were imprisoned in just one jail - the dreaded Andaman Cellular Jail by the British government, many were hanged, many were killed in shootouts, 30,000+ INA (Indian National army or Azad Hind Fauj) soldiers died fighting against British Army, many hundreds died during Army and Navy revolt thereafter. So, what is so special about MK Gandhi to get him such extensive coverage or were the prominent historians had a little amnesia?

No, we are not here to talk if some historians needed or even need a dose of Donepezil. We will only review the history of our beloved Gandhi-ji and how suitable the title of ‘Mahatma’ and ‘Father of the Nation’ are. In the following chapters, I would try to reveal various facets of this ‘great man’ which may help many readers to know him better. Then I will leave it to the judgement of our readers to decide if they want to join the campaign mentioned in the last section of this article.

I have also created a video on this topic. You are encouraged to watch the video as well. While watching the video, I request you to pause it at relevant places as I have provided lots of supportive content in parallel to the main narration.


This article is broken down into 8 pages. You can navigate directly to any of these pages from the navigation links at the end of each page. 

1. Introduction 
2. Stretcher Bearer – Gandhi in South Africa and his views on native black Africans 
3. Cast(e) Some Light – Gandhi’s view on caste system and related varnashrama 
4. Child Bearer – Gandhi’s view on women 
5. Intoxicated Bravery – Gandhi’s view on revolutionaries and armed struggle 
6. Appeasement – Gandhi’s contribution to the appeasement politics 
7. Freedom Negotiator? – Gandhi’s so-called ‘freedom movements’ 
8. Conclusion

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8