WAR GAMES IN
SOUTH AFRICA
BOOK-
REVIEW - ' GANDHI
BEFORE INDIA' - BY
RAMCHANDRA GUHA
- PENGUIN PUBLICATION
Introduction. This
book is as challenging as
Gandhi himself! As it
was exasperating and
exhausting for Gandhi's friends,
associates, family members, adversaries and
followers to comply/agree to his
idealistic demands even though they
admired him so it is with this book. Ramchandra's book is marked by its
slowness as it captures in
minutest detail the life and work of the Mahatma in South Africa from
1894 to 1914; about 20 years. But it is a dedicated research work, which is
confirmed from the wide and deep bibliography, research material running into
almost 100 pages at the end of the book.
Ramchandra Guha seems to be the most appropriate historian for the purpose . For such a work one requires not
only a determined person but also a
devoted person. Guha's impeccable credentials are reaffirmed ; yet again. His ability to explore the events
and actions from many perspectives present a more rounded and illuminating
picture of the Mahatma whose life and achievements in South Africa are known
very little to a large number of his admirers as most consider his work in
India to be of more importance.
Journey. The book
commences its journey at Porbandar and traces the ancestry of Mahatma who was socially and economically
well placed . His moderate marks, rather above average marks in studies ;though
the common perception is that he was not good at studies initially. There is desire and will to do well and
overcome his inadequacies. He journeys to England to study law much against the
wishes of his community , who later ostracize him . But prior to that he is
married and craves for his young and beautiful wife. His mother instructs him
to keep away from wine ,women and meat and he promises and complies. In England
he is treated well by the English and becomes an ardent advocate of
vegetarianism, shares residence with a vegetarian Englishman and writes
articles on vegetarianism. Completes Law
and returns to India and is not very
successful in Rajkot and Mumbai. On the request of a Gujarati Muslim
businessman he agrees to visit South
Africa to contest his case as there were very few Indians who could understand
English and Gujarati, he continues to stay there to write applications of
Indians and to represent them in court,
soon gains prominence and emerges as the leader of the Indian community. Returns
to India after few years to try again his legal practice in Mumbai, meets a
Gujarati ascetic Raichand and is influenced by his teachings. Fails again at
Mumbai High Court and returns to South Africa for good with his wife and
children. During these years he fights for the rights of the Indians , becomes
their undisputed leader, negotiator and develops a large following among
Indians of all hues, Europeans , Jews and Christians. He becomes devotee of Tolstoy and a celibate . His stay
culminates in extracting concessions for
the community in terms of recognition of marriage , waiver of 3 Pounds as tax
and other concessions, but all this after prolonged negotiations, Satyagraha,
strike and loss of lives. This was a Herculean task. The struggle in South
Africa was a struggle of about a lakh Indians mostly from Gujarat, Tamil Nadu
and other Southern Indian states. Gandhi himself survived two serious attacks
to his life, one by the Europeans and the other by his own community.
Rehearsal.It
is truth which must be revealed to Indians who are proud of Gandhi and all
those who cherish his ideals and ideas. What emerges very clearly is the fact that the stay of 20
years in South Africa was indeed very punishing and yet very rewarding for
Gandhi for it made his fight with the
English in India so much easier! It inadvertently turned into a rehearsal , a ‘War preparation
‘! But this training was intense an indeed very concentrated and it bore the
fruit of freedom in India! After more than 30years;it was preparation of 20
years of sweat, toil and blood in far away land. Whatever tactics and tools he
applied for the evacuation of English from India had its reference in South
Africa. He explored within and without; when he arrived in India there were
very few doubts he had within. He was a vegetarian, a celibate ,had forsaken
wealth , his religion was inclusive, his strength- the people.
Personal Example .
He displays exemplary leadership of Ideology and action. He not only propagates
his ideas through his newspaper- INDIAN
OPINION , in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Tamil but also practices the same . He asks people
to court arrest by breaking laws, but his family also joins with his sons and
wife.
Negotiator. He displays tremendous
perseverance and stamina for
constant negotiations, wait and watch
games with the South African Government. He leads Indian delegation to England
on two occasions with assurances but little success, generates sympathy among distinguished foreigners for
his cause. The trend continues in India—Round Table Conference, Gandhi- Irvin
pact, Cabinet mission .
Common Cause. He is able to attract men and women of various regions, Nationalities,
religion because he is able to strike a common cord. He stood against anti-
people laws in both countries- united them on common issues such as taxes,
marriage laws, salt, khadi and Freedom.
Village Republic. During his
stay in South Africa he reads Tolstoy’s ‘The kingdom of God is within you’
and Ruskin’s ‘Unto the last’ and imbibes their principles religiously,
he becomes a distant disciple of Tolstoy with whom he corresponds too. He not
only preaches their ideas but practices too at ‘Phoenix farm’, and later at the
‘Tolstoy Farm’, which had huge land where he grew fruit bearing trees, ran
school etc with the help of his family members, followers , associates many of
them Europeans , such as the Kallenbach, a German Jew Architect. It is likely that the seeds sown in Phoenix
and Tolstoy farms resulted in his
establishment of’ Sabarmati’ and ‘Wardha’ Ashrams and the publication of his ideas in ‘The
village Republic’.
Women. The first woman who who made deep impact on his actions
was his mother. He learnt from her , self denial, fasting and belief in God,
which was his main stay in all his struggles . During the Satyagraha in South
Africa among the first ten volunteers to arrest the four women were from his
family and friends , including Kasturba.This inspired many women and made the
movement larger and more forceful. It had a tremendous impact on the
authorities. The complexion of the congress changed on the arrival of Gandhi it
not only included the masses but large number of women volunteers.
Walking.
Gandhi loved to walk , perhaps in his busy life the only entertainment and exercise
which he sought was to walk. In London he walked, In Mumbai he walked from
Girgaun to the High Court. In South Africa he walked from residence to work.
During the movement of 1913 in South
Africa he walked with his followers for more than 400 miles covering 30 miles
on an average in a day. The Dandi march therefore though occurred more than 15
years later but sub-consciously was planned earlier!
Penance/Fasting. He made himself
stronger by Fasting , when he felt that some wrong was done , often irreparable;
Gandhi would fast as a gesture of owning moral responsibility, for peace or for
divine assistance! He would fast even if he was not involved directly.When a
sexual scandal occurs at Tolstoy farm involving his unmarried son and Jeki ,
married daughter of his close associate Pranjivan Mehta; Gandhi undertakes
fast. When some of the striking workers are fired at during the movement he
undertakes fast. These fasts in South Africa are therefore prelude to his many
fasts , some near death threatening which he would undertake in India specially
to restore communal harmony.
Organizer.
Gandhi proved to be a great organizer to the cause. Managing his family affairs
such as education of his children,
steering the movement, negotiating with the authorities, running the News Paper The
‘Indian Opinion’. Keeping accounts of the various donations received from India through the good offices of Gokhle.
Managing the affairs at Phoenix and Tolstoy farms. This he achieved through the
able assistance of his associates, but his own organizational abilities were
tested and refined and later put to good use in India.
Sex.
His idea of sex was strange and peculiar not in consonance with modern times.
He became a celibate like Tolstoy, but also propagated the same and almost
forced his children . He believed that sex is to only procreate and once that need is over one must leave it! Perhaps he
was oversexed and craved for it as a young man , perhaps he was guilty that he
was having sex with his wife whilst his father’s death was announced. Tolstoy
too had become a celibate after excesses.
Therefore Gandhi’s prescription on sex is unpalatable and is impractical !
Power
of Paper. It is an old saying that ‘if you do not have a matching Gun of your enemy
then commence a newspaper’(
gar bandook mukabil na ho to akhbar
nikalo!) . Gandhi commenced ’Indian Opinion ‘which
was the mouth piece of the movement. Later in India he expressed his thoughts
through ’Harijan’ and ‘Young India’.
Abilitry to face Hate. Though Gandhi fought the Foreigners both in South
Africa and in India; India was his home
and he was surrounded by his own people but South Africa was hostile .
The hatred of the Europeans against Indians could be gauged from the following
statement of one of the Europeans taken from the book:
“ An evil smelling race and an eye
sore on this, one of the most
beautiful countries in the world. Are we allow them here?(no). Are we to allow
these human parasites to overrun a land which is the heritage of the white people and
for which they have fought and
bled?(no). Then let us take measures before it is too late or they will
gain such a foothold as they have already secured in Natal( loud applause).”
Conclusion. In the end this book is a rare and possesses
research material which is very authentic.
There is no doubt that Ramchandra’s love
and admiration for Gandhi is seen in the book but it is backed with solid material evidence and preparation
of many years. Guha states that the collected works of Mahatma was the main material
in other works on him , for this he has extensively explored the letters of
other people and opinion on Gandhi which is a new perspective.
I
await anxiously for the volume 2 on Gandhi’s work on his arrival in India.
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें