REMEMBERING THE MAHATMA

 

From Sampath’s Desk:

 

 

REMEMBERING THE MAHATMA

(2 October1869-30 January 1948)

Well, we have attained freedom from the alien rule more than seven decades ago; but, for whom, at what/whose cost and how? Let us introspect.

 

Have we come of age in governance post-independence ensuring the cardinal principles of ‘vox populi’, ‘summum bonum’, ‘noblesse oblige’, and ‘pro bono publico’; in short, a corruption-free, people-friendly and public service-savvy polity? 

 

It took centuries for the enslaved people, who earlier remained scattered and disintegrated, to break the manacles and join the national mainstream for the cause of Motherland’s freedom. India being a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lifestyle sub-continental nation, it was an uphill task for our national leaders to unify our people and make them jointly fight the British rulers by instilling in them a sense of unity, brotherhood, team-spirit, and joint endeavour for and during the independence struggle. Warding off myriad barriers and cutting wedges that tore us apart as weaklings, we could finally emerge a ‘free-India’, thanks to the innumerable freedom fighters that made a relentless struggle and sweated it out under the leadership of many national leaders mainly Mahatma Gandhi, making sacrifices of sorts including the supreme sacrifice.

 

People of this vast country did show their dismay and anger many times in the long past in bits and pieces and far in between, living as they were in scattered islands, but only to be quelled and overwhelmed by the alien rulers each time when they erupted, thanks to absence of a joint and united mass freedom movement across the country. Like in the proverbial story where the crafty Lion finally preyed on and killed all the four bulls, one by one, by breaking their unity first and pouncing on them ultimately, it was easy for the alien rulers to crush the uprising every time it surfaced as there was lack of unity. Ironically, it was only with the emergence of a simple, honest and beacon-bearer Mahatma on the horizons of the Indian independence struggle, it got a rare twist, spur, and spurt, and gained momentum to grow and develop into an unbeatable and indomitable mass movement. Then only India was re-born and re-emerged like the proverbial phoenix for ‘Swaraj’ with the ingrained patriotic smoulders stoked by never-before seen flair and fire that engulfed the whole nation which till then remained quiescent. We achieved independence in 1947 through Gandhiji’s peaceful and non-violent means. He dared to take on the mighty British differently. Gandhiji never aspired for any post/position both pre and post independence. Contrarily, he went on a fasting against communal riots with resultant carnage that broke out immediately after declaration of independence along with division of the country into two, namely,  India and Pakistan. The result, there was communal violence leading to mass migration and exodus of people crisscrossing boundaries.

 

The mighty British regime could take on earlier violence-laden revolutions and blood-choked agitations with revenge, but found it difficult to subdue the peaceful and non-violent mass upsurge under Gandhiji’s leadership. With him on the centre-stage, it was only an ‘all-win’ situation for Indian people against the British that till then deployed ‘divide et impera’ to rule us.

         

Even for the ills of today, we have an answer in Gandhiji’s dictionary that has even spread all across the world.  Said he, “All-embracing vision is the right step in the right direction. Let's  not shed one another's blood, but shed our sweat together to make the world a paradise of friendship and altruism. Where the differences have led to estrangement, the use of force and violence estranges us further, digs the ditches deeper. It is better to light at least a candle rather than curse the darkness!” If alive today, Gandhiji would have liked to see people in high positions to channel their powers and energies to effectively serve the people sans corruption.

 

Corruption in public life impoverishes the moral and ethical values, name and fame, and ethos of our country. Winning an election is not a licence or approval for indulging in corruption and amassing  wealth by illegal  and unlwful means. It is only a ‘people-given opportunity and mandate’ to serve them. National causes and people's well-being should be held supreme and acted upon by the rulers.

 

To quote the Father of the Nation, “Earth has provided enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed’. Thundered he, “I would go to the length of giving the whole Congress a decent burial, rather than put up with the corruption that is rampant” (May 1939).

 

He had long back stirred up the conscience of people against corruption which he foresaw would be rampant in the independent India. What a visionary he was? Let every Indian rededicate himself/herself to follow in the footsteps of Gandhiji. The best tribute to him today would be to take a vow and weed out the canker of corruption - lock, stock and barrel!

 

R.SAMPATH