Hind Swaraj by M. K. Gandhi

HIND SWARAJ BY M. K. GANDHI

* It is a case study.

* It is not against any civilization on people.

* It is an effort to understand the things which suit us.

* He opposes anything that is obstacle in achieving goal.

* It is study of causes of our faults.

Introduction:

"Read Hind Swaraj if you love the human family and this earth which is our home. Read it if you wish to do your little but to halt man's mad race towards self extinction".

T.K. Mahadevan

Hind Swaraj or Home Rule was first published in the columns of Indian Opinion of south Africa. It was written in 1908 during Gandhiji's return voyage from London to South Africa in answer to the Indian school of violence and its prototype in South Africa. When Gokhale saw the translation in English, on his visit to South Africa in 1912, he thought it so crude and hastily conceived that he prophesied that Gandhi himself would destroy the book after spending a year in India.

The way in which the text flowed onto the ship's notepaper and the confidence it revealed that Hind Swaraj was felt by Gandhi to be something in the nature of a discovery fusing insights that had seemed unconnected until then. The clear cut formulation that only non-violence suited the genius of India whereas violence was inseparable from western civilisation held considerable promise.

Violence and western civilization go together, as do Satyagraha and Indian civilization.                                      

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CONCEPT OF SWARAJ

Meaning of Swaraj

The word ‘Swaraj’ had been in use for long time and various leaders, writers and others used the term differently and made their own interpretations in various contexts. Literal meaning of Swaraj is 'self-rule' or 'self-restraint'. Gandhi used the Sanskrit term in the wider context and for higher purpose. Gandhi writes,

"The word "Swaraj", is a sacred word, a Vedic word, meaning self-rule and self-restraint, and not freedom from all restrain, which 'independence' often means."

Swaraj, so defined, he said, is an 'all satisfying goal for all time' and ‘learning to rule over oneself and attaining ability to self-rule’. Gandhi used the term in following different contexts.

 (1) Personal Swaraj:-

For Gandhi, Swaraj is significant for both the nation and individual. The first condition for personal Swaraj is control over self. An individual must be ruled by his own self or his own thoughts. The personal Swaraj leads to psychological, social, economical, spiritual and ideological independence. It means minimum rule of government and society on an individual. An individual should develop self-discipline. Personal Swaraj is further the development of personality. An individual is governed by the rule of ideals and principles which are his own creations. In quest of material well-being, modern civilization has definitely made voluptuousness a common virtue and in the process takes note neither of morality nor of religion. Gandhi writes,

“Civilization is like a mouse gnawing. While it is soothing us when its full effect is realized, we shall see that religious superstition is harmless compared to that of modern civilization.”

One can realize the soothing effect of modern civilization only when he has attained the personal Swaraj and goes on the path created by himself. In short, Gandhi regarded truth, non-violence, Brahmacharya, non-possession, non-stealing, fearlessness, removal of untouchabihty, commitment to bread labour, faith in equality of religions and practice of swadeshi as pillars of Personal Swaraj.

(2) National Swaraj

Gandhiji used the term national Swaraj in a wider sense. According to him, national Swaraj means national self-rule and self-restraint in political, social, economical and moral fields. His concept of Swaraj has multi-dimensional aspects.

(A)  Political Aspect of Swaraj

Politically national Swaraj means that people of the country must be in complete control of all political institutions. The government of the country must be based on the consent of the majority people which should be ascertained through the adult suffrage. The people like such Swaraj government should contribute the manual labour to the state. This concept of Swaraj government is democratic which is managed by the people who have faith in the dignity of labour.

The national Swaraj will be real if the masses develop the capacity to resist the authority when it is abused in Swaraj state. The ultimate power would be wasted with the people. The political power is decentralized in such way that even the smallest man can enjoy the freedom without any social, political or economic disability. There is no political domination either by any individual or by any group. Swaraj must be poorna(complete). He defined poorna Swaraj as that Swaraj which is

"as much for the prince as for the peasant, as much for the rich land owner as for the landless tiller of the soil, as much for the Hindus as for the Mussalmans."

Purna Swaraj, thus understood, merges into Sarvodaya.

(B) Economic Aspect of Swaraj

According to Gandhiji, national economic Swaraj meant easy availability of food, clothing and shelter to all the people in the country. The production of these basic necessities of life should be localized. Localization of production should be done at every village and town. They should be self sufficient. Economic Swaraj will not be poorna until these conditions are created. For Gandhi, economic freedom means

"entire freedom from the British capitalists and capital, as also their Indian counterpart. In other words, the humblest must feel equal to the tallest. This can take place only by capital or the capitalists sharing their skill and capital with the lowliest and the least."

To Gandhi, national economic Swaraj also meant the ability to preserve art in Indian industries which are essential for its economic existence. These essential national industries are agriculture and cloth industries without the revival and development of these industries economic independence and equality cannot be ensured to all the Indians.

In an ideal Swaraj state, the institution of trusteeship is one of the basic features of economic Swaraj state. It avoids economic exploitation, ensures economic equality and guarantees proper distribution of production without storage and  wastage.

(B)   Social Aspect of Swaraj

The social  content of national Swaraj means the removal of social suppression of one community by another. It also implies that the various social groups and communities will follow the ideal of peaceful co-existence. There will be no evil passions in the heart of The Hindus and The Muslims. There should be real Hindu-Muslim unity based on mutual on love and affection. These two communities shall try establish united India. Another social evil like untouchablity will be completely abolished and social equality will be ensured. The caste system will disappear but four varnas will be functionally equal. The social hierarchy will be pulled out.

Gandhi's ideal society was Ramrajya. Ramrajya was the establishment of a just and perfect society or kingdom of righteousness on earth.

Women who represent half of the society will be equal to the men. She will be respected as mother and sister in the society. Social Swaraj will not be complete without due place and honourable role  for the women in the society.

(D) Moral Aspect of Swaraj:

                      Gandhian concept of Swaraj is to be based on non-violence. A state which is not based on the principle of non-violence can never achieve its full moral height. such non-violence state should be depended not by the professional military but by non-violent satyagraha. Gandhi wrote in Hind Swaraj

“Satyagraha is referred to in English as passive resistance. Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering; it is the reverse of resistance by arms. When I refuse to do a thing that is repugnant to my consience, I use soulforce.”

Gandhiji firmly believed that under such non-violent state the weakest man can rise to his full moral height. This implies that the moral development of the industries and the state go hand in hand. 

Conclusion:-

In conclusion, Gandhi’s concept of Swaraj had broad dimensions and his  goals were greater and more ambitious. Gandhiji had serious attention on how to realise Swaraj. He was not in favour of immediate freedom but believed to let people wholly comprehend what Swaraj stood for in India. That is why he said,

“Swaraj will not drop from the cloud and it would be the fruit of patience, perseverance, ceaseless toil, courage and intelligent appreciation of the environment.”

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GANDHI'S CONCEPT OF CIVILISATION

Definition of Civilisation and His Views on Indian Civilisation:-

In Hind Swaraj, Gandhi defines true civilisation as follows:

“Civilisation is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance or morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and our passions. So doing, we know ourselves. The Gujarati equivalent for civilisation means "good conduct".”

Gandhi goes on to point out that the truly civilised conduct calls for (i) limiting our wants; (ii) avoiding life-corroding competition; (iii) preventing conditions that generate robbery, prostitution and other vices; (iv) placing the rishis and fakirs over the kings; and (v) subordinating "brute force" to "soul force", or in other words, making our social and political actions conform to the principles of ethics and morality, viz. the principles of satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence).

Hind Swaraj was written, as Gandhi himself says, in answer to the Indian school of violence and its prototype in South Africa.

“I came in contact with every known Indian anarchist in London. Their bravery impressed me, but I felt that their zeal was misguided. I feel that violence was no remedy for India’s ills, and that her civilization required the use of a different and higher weapon for self-protection.”

Gandhi believed that for freedom of India, it would need a different kind of policy for its civilisation is a higher kind of civilisation. To examine whether Hind Swaraj is reasonable and holds the scales even a lengthy quotation is called for. It is taken from chapter is, "What is true civilization?"

"I believe that the civilization that India has evolved is not to be beaten in this world…..Rome went, Greece shared the same fate; the might of the pharaohs was broken; Japan has become westernized: of China nothing can be said, but India is still, somehow or other, sound at its foundation.”

Gandhi is of the view that civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over mind and passions. If this happens in India, he believes, then India, has nothing to learn from anybody else.

Critique of Modern Civilisation:-

Gandhi writing about Hind Swaraj said:

"It teaches the gospel of love rather than that of hate. It replaces violence with self-sacrifice. It puts soul force against brute force....The booklet is a severe condemnation of 'modern' civilization".

Gandhi condemned modern civilisation not because it was Western or scientific but because it was materialistic and exploitative. The true test of Western civilisation lies in the fact people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life. It seeks to increase bodily comforts. According to the teaching of Mohamed this would be considered ‘a satanic civilization’ and Hinduism calls it the ‘Black Age’

According to Gandhi, the question of civilization is not what he meant, but he adds;

 "Several English writers refuse to call that civilization which passes under that name. Many books have been written upon that subject. Societies have been formed to cure the nation of the evils of civilisation. A great English writer has written a book called "Civilization: Its Cause and Cure". Therein he has called it a disease".

Views on Violence, Science and Machinery, Railways, Doctors, and Lawyers

For Gandhi, violence is one of the principle features of modern civilisation. Violence is evil. It expands and multiplies and is inseparable from the greed of western civilization. As long as modern civilization continued to shape man's destiny, violence he believed would be the natural consequences. Violence is the cancerous element growing in the womb of modern civilization.

In the Hind Swaraj, he directed his tirade against the ancillaries of western civilization such as the machines, railways, doctors lawyers and violence. He was against the machines, not because he was anti-machine, but because he was against the craze for machine and mechanization. Far from opposing the progress of science, he admired the modem scientific spirit of the West and maintained that the world needs 'the marvelous advances in science’ But science has caused the exploitation of "the weaker races of the earth" and the destruction of the "lower orders of creation" in the name of science and humanism. He says,

“Machinery has begun to desolate Europe. Ruination is now knocking at the English gates, Machinery is the chief symbol of modern civilization; it represents a great sin.”

It is machinery that has impoverished India.

He hated the railways because he hated the break neck speed of the so-called modern civilization and the evils that are associated with the introduction of the railways. Railways have greatly contributed to make us believe that India had never been a one nation. Gandhi believes that railways have created distinctions among us as he says to the reader,

“Only you and I and others who consider ourselves civilized and superior persons imagine that we are many nations. It was after the advent of railways that we began to believe in distinctions.”

Railways spread diseases and increase the frequency of famines. Railways accentuate the evil nature of man: Bad men fulfill their evil designs with greater rapidity. The holy places of India have become unholy.

About lawyers, he says that his firm opinion is that the lawyers have enslaved India, have accentuated Hindu-Mahomedan opposition and have confirmed English authority as Gandhi believes,

“If pleaders were to abandon their profession, and consider it just as degrading as prostitution, English rule would break up in a day.”

The lawyers advance quarrels instead of repressing them. Moreover, men take up that profession, not in order to help others out of their miseries, but to enrich themselves. It is one of the avenues of becoming wealthy and their interest exists in multiplying disputes. The lawyers suck the blood of the poor people. Lazy people, in order to indulge in luxuries, take up such professions. It is the lawyers who have discovered that theirs is an honourable profession. They frame laws as they frame their own praises. They decide what fees they will charge. In every respect, Gandhi considers the profession as immoral.

Gandhi severely criticize the profession of doctors and is of the opinion that doctors too have consolidated the English rule in India. The business of a doctor is to take care of the body or to rid the body of diseases. Doctor gives one medicine, he is cured for overeating. He would overeat again and takes his pills again. Had he suffered the punishment deserved by him, he would not have overeaten again. But his mind becomes weakened with use of medicines. The result is that we have become deprived of self-control and have become effeminate. Hospitals are institutions for propagating sin. Doctors kill annually thousands of animals. They affect our religiousness as Gandhi says,

“These doctors violate our religious instinct. Most of their medical preparations contain either animal fat or spirituous liquors; both of these are tabooed by Hindus and Mahomedans.”

The doctors do not really serve the humanity. Doctors make a show of their knowledge, and charge exorbitant fees.

Comparison of Indian and Western Civilisations:-

            Gandhi, at many places in the Hind Swaraj, makes brilliant comparison of several aspects of Indian civilisation and Western civilisation and expresses his higher esteem for Indian civilisation to Western civilisation. He says,

"The tendency of Indian civilisation is to elevate the moral being, that of western civilization is to propagate immorality. The latter is godless, the former is based on a belief in god.”

 While Gandhi was responding in Hind Swaraj specifically to violence as a method of attaining Swaraj or self-rule, he saw violence rooted in modern civilisation. Violence was, for Gandhi, an inevitable result of the values that underlie modern civilization and its institutions. So those who desire immediate independence by way of violence, would immediately transform India into Englistan. Gandhi says,

“We want English rule without the Englishman. You want the tiger's nature, but not the tiger; that is to say, you would make India English. And when it becomes English, it will be called not Hindustan but Englistan.”

So Indian civilization differed from Western civilization with regard to violence. Indian civilization has faith in non-violence and passive resistance.

            Another aspect of difference is that Western civilisation seeks material well-being in pursuit of happiness, while, as Gandhi says,

“Our ancestors saw that happiness was largely a mental condition... The rich are often seen to be unhappy, the poor to be happy... Observing all this, our ancestors dissuaded us from luxuries and pleasures.”

Modem civilisation is based on a faulty concept or model of man as a materialistic or body-centred. In short, roots of Indian civilisation have been shaken because of the strong influence of Western civilisation.

Conclusion:-

To conclude, it can be noted that Hind Swaraj must connote more than an intellectual curiosity to know what ‘a crank, prophet, genius human’ in Mahadeven's words had to say about modern civilization and how far what he says stands the test of time and logic. Gandhi's Hind Swaraj has little to do with a careful analysis of social conditions, the institutional structures and individual motivations and their interactions that produce an outcome which he labels "the satanic civilisation". His was a moral response to what he perceived as the evils of modern civilization. Hind Swaraj represents a moral condemnation of modern civilisation; it is, therefore all the more penetrating, compelling and unsettling.