Gandhi and the Raj~I

People could not see through this game of non-adversarial opposition and remained overawed by Gandhi's sacrifice when he was arrested. The man remained in absolute control of people's emotions. No wonder, he would write to an English correspondent, Esther Faering, in April 1918, 'I am the one man who can today preserve the peace in India as no other man can.' The British capitalized on this to channelize the anti-colonial spirit in the non-revolutionary path

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Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi had a strange relationship with the Raj. His ritualistic act of seeking prior permission from the British India government prior to each movement and assuring that his intention would cause least harm to the authority, cast serious doubt on his anti-imperialist credentials. He demonstrated time and again his unshakable loyalty to the British. It is time we should examine dispassionately his attitude towards the Raj.

Gandhi wrote in his letter to Sir Reginald Maxwell, Home Member of Viceroy's Executive Council on 2nd December 1940, "...My desire is to cause the least embarrassment to the Govt. consistently with the prosecution of my mission..."

Later in 1947, he wrote to his private secretary Pyarelal, "you have referred to my attitude in regard to the British Empire. Let me tell you I derive no little strength from my implicit loyalty to the British Empire in thought, word and deed..."

This implicit loyalty to the British Empire he harboured even when he was in the thick of Satyagraha movements in South Africa. To cite an example, in 1907, reacting to the Lala Lajpat Rai led anti-British agitations in Punjab he wrote, "...we stand to lose by ending British rule and that, if we wanted to, India is not in a position to end it." He then clarified his stand by stating further, "...Let us aspire to be as able and spirited as the colonists are, and demand and secure the rights we want." [Collected Works of Gandhi Vol.7pp6-7]

At the close of this piece he made a more shocking statement: "...The fault, in fact, lies with us. If we remove the fault, British rule, which is a cause of misery today, can become a source of happiness..."