Mahatma Gandhi’s insights on post materialistic world order, His Will, His model deaths and vision for gender equality.

In the book “Post Modern Gandhi and Other Essays”  authored by Rudolf and Rudolf of the Chicago University  and published by University of Chicago Press in 2009 it is emphatically stated that Mahatma Gandhi was the founder of the post-materialistic world order as he was responding to challenges of  modern civilisation which emerged after industrial revolution in Europe and which celebrated multiplication of wants and desires fostered by relentless materialistic appetite.

In fact the incessant pursuit of materialistic appetite resulted in excessive consumption of energy and resources of the planet earth and, therefore, more carbon dioxide and green house gas got emitted  to the atmosphere. The creation of what is called carbon economy is attributed to a life style the chief determinant of which is materialism and subordination of spiritual and environmental values to materialistic pursuits. Predominance of materialism means prevalence of violent and unhealthy outlook. Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi stressed on non-violence and made it the way of life. Upsurge of materialism is the chief source of conflict and war. The phenomenon of colonialism which resulted in the loss of freedom of most of the countries of Asia and Africa can be explained in terms of the search for raw material and market by the European countries for enhancing their production and expanding their markets and territories. Gandhi understood civilisation  in terms of morality, restraint and discipline as opposed to the characteristics of modern civilisation such as acquisition, possession, exclusion and superiority of the white race. The two world wars were by products of a calculus which gave primacy to trade rivalries. Gandhi chose non-violence and non-possession which are fundamental principles of Yoga. In fact it was Einstein who said that Gandhi confronted the brutalities of Europe with the dignity of a simple human being. His choice of words “dignity of a simple human being” is worth noting. In fact life based on simplicity and suffering can confront the violence and rather can transform society in a non-violent manner. Gandhi had said that simplicity, trust and suffering are the attributes of soul force. This is higher than the force and energy based on materialism. Even while marching to Dandi to break the salt law which prohibited Indians to make salt from sea water he told that the larger objective of the Dandi March was much more than independence of India. He explained its larger objective was to free the world from the monstrous greed of materialism. His struggle for freedom of India was a struggle to save our planet from greed and avarice.

Gandhi’s Will

He wrote a will. Normally people write will and state that their wealth and riches are to be shared or apportioned as per their desire. But Gandhi wrote a will the first sentence of which is remarkable in conveying his profound adherence to the ideal of non-possession. He wrote that he did not consider anything as his personal property. If any thing would be regarded as his personal property by law and custom or if anything would come to him by way of royalty on account of his books or writings, then that would go to a trust called the Navjeevan Trust of which none of his own family or kin  was a Member. Rarely one comes across some one in  history who wrote a will declaring that he or she did not possess anything or did not consider any thing as his or her personal property.

He famously stated that he always remained tuned to infinity and therefore did not desire to possess anything of the universe. It is such a universal consciousness that is required now to save the planet earth from the rising tide of degradation caused by consumerism and fossil fuel based economic development and industrialisation. Truly Gandhi was the founder of the post materialistic world order.

The way in which Gandhi wanted to die

People who are driven by the idea of non-possession are far above conventional standard of living and not afraid of death. Gandhi was such a person. He in fact always wanted to die a death which would vindicate his non-violent world view. He once received  a letter from some young people from the eastern province  of India-Orissa- requesting him to send a condolence letter to a family which lost a young son, Shri Krushna Chandra Nayak, due to snake bite while distributing famine relief.  Gandhi instead of writing a condolence letter wrote that the family deserved a congratulatory letter for having produced a child who could lay down his life when he was in the midst of suffering people and serving them. He passionately expressed his desire that he wanted to die such a death. Yet on another occasion in 1930s he strongly pleaded that the cause of communal harmony and Hindu-Muslim unity could not be served by merely writing and talking about it, rather by mingling with people and  persuading  them to abstain from violent activities. He asserted that unless some people die in preventing communal violence the cause of communal harmony could not be upheld. In following that advice one of his followers Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthy proceeded to Kanpur where communal violence broke out and while dissuading people to desist from violence got killed by the marauding mob. Hearing that tragic news Gandhi wrote a piece which depicted his desire to die. He wrote that if he could die without hatred for his assassins while being attacked by them from all sides then history would record that Gandhi was truly non-violent. He visualised a situation when  one assassin would axe him; another box him and the third violently kick him. In the midst of such attacks he would tell anybody coming forward to save his life not to do so and if he could die without any ill will for his assassins then his non-violent outlook and action would be vindicated. Truly Gandhi died that way on 30 January 1948.

It has been said that he stopped  three bullets of hatred by coming on their trajectory. In fact the ideology and forces who killed Gandhi could not get adequate space  in Indian public life for quite some time because he stopped those three bullets of hatred which they fired on him. India’s multicultural society and shared legacy of tolerance and harmony among diverse communities and faiths is largely not supportive of defining India in terms of one religion be it  Hinduism which is the religion of the majority people. At a time when top leaders of Europe who are increasingly departing from the preferred choice of making their respective countries multicultural and arguing for aggressive liberalism to make minorities accept western values concerning respect for human rights and rights of women, it is important for them to follow a more tolerant policy which will accommodate values and vision of all faiths.

Gandhi on Gender Equality

The most striking feature of the late twentieth century and the second  decade of the twenty first century is the movement launched by women for their legitimate rights and roles in society. The continued rather irreversible emphasis   on women’s empowerment and gender equality across the world is indicative of the shape of future society which would witness association or participation of critical mass of women in every field of activity be it in politics, economy, legislature or science. Francis Fukuyama in his perceptive article “Had Women Run the World” published in the Foreign Affairs wrote that world would be more peaceful and less aggressive if women secure the responsibility to govern it. If we scan the pages of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi we find that he championed the cause of women’s rights even as he was fighting for the liberation of India from foreign rule. He has been rightly hailed as one of the greatest feminists of the world. He once outlined the scope of non-violent mass action in terms many issues such as economic equality, abolition of untouchability, communal harmony, improvement of  the standard of living of vast masses of people, reformation of  judiciary for giving quick and inexpensive justice to people, removal of superstition from society etc,. It also included the issue of upliftment of women’s status. He strove for adequate space for women in representative bodies when women even did not have right to vote. As early as 1932 he declared that he would boycott any future legislature of India if it did not have enough women in its fold. When in 1947 adequate women were not elected to legislative bodies, he, while answering a question if more women should be there in the legislatures, answered that in such matters he would want justice for them and therefore he would prefer more women in elected bodies even if such preference would lead to total displacement of men. If we correctly interpret his vision we find that he was for more than 33 per cent representation of women in legislative bodies. Possibly only  in last decade of the twentieth century the UN estimated  that 33 per cent  of women must be there in all elected bodies. That magic number of 33 per cent is called the critical mass which is a prerequisite for bringing out the desired perspective of women in every policy of the Government. Much before such a perspective of critical mass was developed or formulated it was Mahatma Gandhi who understood the significance of  greater representation of women   in legislatures.

Gandhi and African Americans

He made deep impact on the minds of the peoples of the world. Americans were greatly influenced by his non-violent movement for freedom of India and social and economic transformation of an ancient society. It is noteworthy that African Americans were particularly impressed by the way he was fighting against injustice without in any way nurturing hatred against the perpetrators of such hatred. Many African Americans came and met him and even invited him to visit America for taking their cause. It happened in 1936 when some African Americans met Gandhi in India and asked him to come to America for the sake their cause. They categorically told him that more than white Americans it is the black Americans who wanted him to come there for fighting for their freedom and justice. He could not accede to their request on the ground that his work in India was not complete and he himself had not succeeded in translating his ideals into action. However he assured them that he would leap forward to join them whenever he would be actuated by the inner call to do so. When the African American delegation told him that some of them were following the path of spirituality by adhering to the values of Christianity, he happily and very prophetically remarked  that   in future the unadulterated message of non-violence would be given to the world by blacks of America. Less than three decades later it was Martin Luther King of the USA who was actuated by following Mahatma Gandhi and the unadulterated idea of non-violence for securing justice and equality for the blacks of America. President Barack Obama is a product of that movement for justice and equality for blacks started by Martin Luther King. While addressing the  parliamentarians of India standing under the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi in the Central Hall of Indian Parliament  he said that he would not have been speaking from that august podium had Mahatma Gandhi’s worldview not impacted the minds of Americans. He acknowledged in so many words that he was there due to Gandhi.

It was New York Times which drew a cartoon after the assassination of Martin Luther King. It showed Dr. King entering the heavens where Gandhi was sitting.  On seeing him enter the heavens Gandhi remarked,  “The odd thing about the assassins is that they think they have killed you Dr. King”.

Hey Ram

In fact none can kill Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Gandhi himself had said a few days before his assassination that if he was true to his conviction he would continue to speak from is grave. He in fact is speaking from his grave and the whole world is paying heed to his words. Albert Einstein    had described Gandhi as the greatest political genius of the twentieth century and remarked that his death was truly glorious. The glory he attained in death yet again brought out his spiritual outlook. It has been written several scriptures that a person steeped in materialism cannot utter the name of the God at the last moment of life.  Gandhi uttered Hey Ram(Oh God) when bullets from the assassin hit his chest. It was not for the first time that he uttered Hey Ram. Way back in South Africa he uttered the same words when he was attacked by some fellow Indians. It so happened that  Gandhi led the Indians in opposing the British policy of compulsorily asking them to give finger prints in certain documents. Later some kind of agreement was reached to withdraw that document. However it was done on the condition that the Indians would voluntarily give their finger prints. Gandhi accepted it by saying that it was a compromise which essentially means giving concessions and not giving up the principle. When Gandhi was proceeding to give his finger prints some Pathans came to him and asked him if he was willing to give the finger print. When he replied in affirmative they assaulted him grievously and Gandhi fell unconscious by uttering Hey Ram. He has written all about those developments in his book Satyagraha in South Africa. Thus, in the beginning of his struggle in South Africa a few fellow Indians attacked him and he collapsed by uttering Hey Ram and lost his consciousness. At the end of his struggle which heralded independence of India from British rule  he was attacked by yet another Indian who fired bullets at him and he lost his life by saying Hey Ram. He, as the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru said, was the symbol of India’s past and would remain the symbol of India’s future. In fact he will forever remain the symbol of future of the whole humanity and planet earth. No wonder that it is said that we can survive the twenty first century and climate chaos by following four things- non-violence, sustainability, respect for nature and justice for the poor. This means turning to Mahamtma Gandhi.