Lucifer wrote:Johnny wrote:Somehow it is fashion among general people to go against the best there is in any field.
Is that why you criticise the Mahatma? Have you even heard of 'My Experiments with Truth'? My suggestion: Please read that book before you jump to conclusions.
I am not jumping to conclusions.
I read the book and some others about Gandhis influence of India history. I have enough data to say what I say. Yes I understand no body is perfect.
If you would have read all the book that I read you would have known what I am talking about. In his book Gandhi is very candid about his short comings and mistakes. I respect him for sharing that with us. He was and is someone I look to emulate. But he would sacrifice everything at the altar of his principles. The world cannot be seen as black and white; there has to be a gray zone, a middle path. Yes your principals are important but other people are also important sometimes you have to relent.
My beef is with how he followed his principles without looking into the actualities of life. Why did he walk out of the conference where India was divided. He should have sat there and tried to convince Jinnah and others from his party not to divide the country. If Jinnah was not convinced, he should have probably asked Nehru or someone else to take him out. Sacrifising one person to save a country is acceptable. But no what about my principals.. what would people think about me. I am a Mahatma, I shouldnt be doing this.
He was very particular about his principals; and who ever did not agree would be put out of his circle. The same thing happened to his family, he would force his kids to do things and the eldest son when he stood against his father he put him outside the circle of trust. Read about Hiralal and his life. He succeeded as a saint but he failed as a father; He writes that in his book and that is why none of his kids emulated him. They were all too tired of his principals. Goodness given is regular doses works fine; he was too good to be TRUE.
About fasting; He writes in his book about how his mother was used to fasting sometimes for days at a stretch. And she used to involve her kids to fast with her. My point is.. he used this fasting as weapon to hold the indian mass hostage. He didnt fast before he became an important person in India. He didnt fast in South Africa for the good of common people? Why? When he became the mahatma he used this tactic to get his way, not once not twice.. several times. It was like.. I will fast and die else you listen to what I have to say? That is Viloence.. holding people hostage.
Read this...
http://meadev.nic.in/Gandhi/chronology.htm. Look at the dates
- 17 September 1924 Started 21 days' fast for Hindu-Muslim unity
- 4 January 1932 Started fast against separate electorate for the Harijans
- 8 May 1933 Started 21 day fast for the improvement of Harijan's condition and was released at 6 p.m. from jail.
- 3 March 1939 Started fast unto death at Rajkot and on settlement of the issue ended fast on 7 March 1939
- 10 February 1943 Started fast in Agakhan Palace-Jail
- 15 August 1947 At Calcutta, fasted as country was cut into two pieces
- 13 January 1948 Started fast in Delhi against communal riots
No mention of fasting in South Africa or his life before he started his work in India. Why?
About non-violence; Yes the people who were involved in the Freedom movement under the Gandhian principle were all people with high morals. But it is a subtle form of violence. A violence that kills all other forms of expression of freedom and imposes his theory of non-violence.
Somebody said:
"Even democracy is a form of dictatorship; every opinion which stands against it will be hunted and destroyed".on similar lines
"Non-violence is also a from of violence; every other opinion which stands against it will be hunted and looked down upon!"Yes he was a great man infact a saint. And I respect him for that, but politics cannot be run by saints. He started a movement that was based on a simple principal of non-violence, once freedom was close he should have changed his tactic to keep the land he liberated togather. But no he couldnt give up his principals. Maybe he should have gotten togather with S.C.Bose or people like Bhagat singh, taken out all the people who wanted to create PAKISTAN. He and his principals ruined the country.
He was the only man who could have changed the history at that point when India was divided. But he choose not to. WHY ? Were his principals so important... Was his mahatma stature so important.
And its childish to say I criticize mahatma because he is popular. I like him as a person, but I dont like that way he did things.
~badmash~