Critics of Gandhi: From the far left to the far right, the people who disagreed with his principles
Even during his time, Gandhi's ideology and views encountered strong opposition from some of India's most venerated historical figures.
Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. | Photo Credit: Twitter
Key Highlights
- While Nehru advocated more pragmatic Western traditions, Gandhi was resolute in grounding India's identity in individual responsibility and spirituality
- Ambedkar asserted that Gandhi's proposition to reform India's caste system by instigating a change in the mindset of higher castes was unworkable
- Veer Savarkar's Hindutva ideology was vigorously at odds with Gandhi's pluralism
The 20th century has been marked by some of the bloodiest conflicts often characterised by large uprisings as resistance movements against the inhumane acts of hegemonic powers. Of all the great leaders that came to spearhead these movements, perhaps one man – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – stands out for his contrarian political ideology founded on civil disobedience and non-violence. Gandhi's plan to achieve Indian independence was rooted in his philosophy of Satyagraha which he utilised spectacularly to unify the Indian populace against British imperialism.
Jawaharlal Nehru
But the reality is that the Indian lawyer who returned from South Africa to lead his country to freedom remains a subject intense debate and, indeed, even during his time Gandhi's ideology and views encountered strong opposition from some of India's most venerated historical figures.
The nature of the relationship between Gandhi and democratic India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru has been oft-discussed as historians attempt to lay bare the disagreements between the two.
Nehru was a staunch democratic socialist who believed that India ought to embrace modernity if it was to transform itself from a country of an exploited people into a strong, progressive nation. Gandhi's vision of a free India, on the other hand, was rooted in a sense of deep individualism and spirtualism. While Nehru advocated more pragmatic Western traditions, Gandhi was resolute in grounding India's identity in individual responsibility and spirituality.
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BR Ambedkar
Gandhi's views on the caste system have also came under heavy criticism by one of the finest statesman the nation has ever seen, BR Ambedkar. Ambedkar asserted that Gandhi's proposition to reform India's caste system by instigating a change in the mindset of higher castes was unworkable. Citing his two-nation theory where there existed one nation of ruling higher castes, and another of the untouchables, Ambedkar was in favour of the complete annihilation of the caste system through the empowerment of the lower castes.
The movement itself must be led by the depressed classes themselves, he contended. Ambedkar also disagreed with Gandhi's vision of the village as a unit of local administration. Claiming that the Indian village was a breeding ground for communalism, localism and corruption, he believed that placing increased power and trust in the Panchayats would lead to a greater erosion of individual liberty.
Veer Savarkar
Yet, perhaps Gandhi's greatest ideological rival was that of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. Despite the similarities in their backgrounds in that both spent several years abroad before returning to India and becoming champions of the nationalist movement, their political ideologies were markedly different.
Often referred to as the 'Father of the Hindutva movement.' Savarkar's notion of the Indian identity was culturally rooted, meaning that anyone, regardless of whether they belonged to other religions, who considered India as the land of their ancestors was embracing it as a 'Hindu' holy land based on a shared common bloodline and history.
His ideology was vigorously at odds with Gandhi's pluralism. He was vehemently opposed to the alliance Gandhi made with Khilafat leaders. Gandhi, who had mastered symbolic politcs, had hoped that the move would set the nation on a path towards greater Hindu-Muslim unity. The failure of the movement and the huge communal clashes that followed was unforgivable to Savarkar, and it was against this backdrop that he wrote his treatise on Hindutva in 1923.