Let me give an example. The author says, "Gandhi lived his life more keenly aware of context and the need to adapt to it than most." But she forgets to mention the dark side of this "adaptation". In Africa, the context was anti-black and so Gandhi took that stance, arguing it was necessary for the success of his fight for the rights of Indians nationals. In India, the context was pro-caste (or pro-varna, as Gandhi might say) and so Gandhi took that stance "in the greater interest" of the movement. Discussing the context in which the Dandi March took place, B R Ambedkar, in his book What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables (1945), says that while on the one hand Gandhi and his fellow "Congressmen were engaged in fighting for Swaraj which they said they wanted to win in the name and for the masses, on the other hand and in the very year they were committing the worst outrages, upon the very masses by exhibiting them publicly as objects of contempt to be shunned and avoided."
This story is from the January 01, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
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This story is from the January 01, 2023 edition of Down To Earth.
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