This is very high quality BS vending from Mr. Guha. It is not a surprise given that he has built his entire career around praising Nehru and Gandhi, two individuals who perhaps compete only with Stalin and Mao in terms of sheer human misery inflicted. What is disappointing is to see this marxist crap being published under the classical liberal publication which otherwise has pretty decent stuff.
> Gandhi's fight against racism in South Africa
What Mr. Guha fails to write here is how deeply racist Gandhi himself was. Gandhi was fully supportive of racial discrimination against the Negros but insisted that he himself should not be counted among them. His fight was not to eliminate discrimination but to get a superior status for himself.
> His struggle against untouchability came out of this desire to make Indians more fit for true freedom. And while by no means a thoroughgoing feminist, he did an enormous amount to bring women into public life.
I think Guha is dodging the key point that Gandhi was a misogynist of very high order. He opposed modern education for women. Thought they should be taught only to cook and take care of family.
> The third reason Gandhi matters is that while a practicing Hindu, he refused to define citizenship on the basis of faith.
This is categorically false. Religion was the central aspect of his politics. Gandhi got prominence in India after he started the Caliphate movement in India, demanding that British should reinstate Caliphate in Turkey and tried to gain support of Indian muslims for his cause pretending to be their leader. This actually gave more prominence to radical Muslims uniting in the name of religion rather than more reformative people. Subsequently Gandhi would demand that Hindu sacrifice themselves to please Muslims violent mobs and that the women offer themselves willing for rape in order to appease the Muslim mobs.
He wanted his religious ideals forced on people through the power of state. This is the reason why his home state of Gujarat still has alcohol prohibition.
If anything the creation of Pakistan suggests that Gandhi's religious politics failed miserably. Not only it created one of the most rabidly religious state in the world, it created an epicenter of terrorism and violence which would even threaten UK and USA as of today.
> The sixth reason Gandhi matters is that he was a precocious environmentalist who anticipated that unbridled growth and consumerism could bring planetary disaster.
Guha is way out of his depth here. While there is no evidence that growth and consumerism brings disaster, it is Gandhiji's choices which are far more disastrous for the planet. For example, burning wood in villages is worse than using LNG. Using high efficiency machines to make cloth is far more environmental friendly alternatives to his hand made linen.
Gandhi did not oppose consumerism but glorified poverty. He thought being poor takes you closer to God because he was influenced by Christian philosophy.
> The eighth reason Gandhi matters is that he had a rare knack of making leaders out of followers.
Gandhi worked hard to make sure that his Yes-Men are promoted while those who criticism him are shunned often using completely undemocratic means. Subhash Chandra Bose and B R Ambedkar were better men than all those people that Guha mentions and Subhash even democratically had won the INC presidentship but Gandhi was too salty about it and plotted to get rid of Subhash. Rest is all history as they say.
> The ninth reason Gandhi matters was his willingness to see the opponent’s point of view, coupled with his readiness to reach out to them and seek an honorable compromise.
There is not a single instance in gandhi's life where he compromised on anything except with the British. He knew that the day British think he is of no use he will be disposed off hence he played along. You can look at all his movements and all his speeches. He made demands from others and when others refused he would threaten them with fast until death. This passive aggressiveness reached to a level where he forced women to sleep with him naked as well.
Gandhi's impact on modern India is minimal in that sense and that is perhaps for good. Indian state has forcibly and using its coercive power has forced Gandhi's ideas on population. A lot of states adopted alcohol prohibition. Indian government forced people to use the hand made clothes instead of adopting modern technology.
Claiming that Gandhi is responsible for India democracy is outright retarded. Indian National Congress, the party and political movement which played the big role had a long and much older tradition of debate and democracy. At no stage of India, we saw anyone from any ideology demanding India to be a dictatorship except for the Communists. Gandhi's ideological opponents such as Ambedkar, Sawarkar, Subhash Bose etc. were fierce advocates of democracy and democratic institutions.
Many of Gandhi's ideas and conclusions, such as the importance of daily life human relations and decentralized democracy, are still important today not only for India but for the whole planet. Gandhi was also a "complex" person and had many inconsistent thoughts through his life. One of his main contribution was commitment to local level engagement and relations.
This is very high quality BS vending from Mr. Guha. It is not a surprise given that he has built his entire career around praising Nehru and Gandhi, two individuals who perhaps compete only with Stalin and Mao in terms of sheer human misery inflicted. What is disappointing is to see this marxist crap being published under the classical liberal publication which otherwise has pretty decent stuff.
> Gandhi's fight against racism in South Africa
What Mr. Guha fails to write here is how deeply racist Gandhi himself was. Gandhi was fully supportive of racial discrimination against the Negros but insisted that he himself should not be counted among them. His fight was not to eliminate discrimination but to get a superior status for himself.
> His struggle against untouchability came out of this desire to make Indians more fit for true freedom. And while by no means a thoroughgoing feminist, he did an enormous amount to bring women into public life.
I think Guha is dodging the key point that Gandhi was a misogynist of very high order. He opposed modern education for women. Thought they should be taught only to cook and take care of family.
> The third reason Gandhi matters is that while a practicing Hindu, he refused to define citizenship on the basis of faith.
This is categorically false. Religion was the central aspect of his politics. Gandhi got prominence in India after he started the Caliphate movement in India, demanding that British should reinstate Caliphate in Turkey and tried to gain support of Indian muslims for his cause pretending to be their leader. This actually gave more prominence to radical Muslims uniting in the name of religion rather than more reformative people. Subsequently Gandhi would demand that Hindu sacrifice themselves to please Muslims violent mobs and that the women offer themselves willing for rape in order to appease the Muslim mobs.
He wanted his religious ideals forced on people through the power of state. This is the reason why his home state of Gujarat still has alcohol prohibition.
If anything the creation of Pakistan suggests that Gandhi's religious politics failed miserably. Not only it created one of the most rabidly religious state in the world, it created an epicenter of terrorism and violence which would even threaten UK and USA as of today.
> The sixth reason Gandhi matters is that he was a precocious environmentalist who anticipated that unbridled growth and consumerism could bring planetary disaster.
Guha is way out of his depth here. While there is no evidence that growth and consumerism brings disaster, it is Gandhiji's choices which are far more disastrous for the planet. For example, burning wood in villages is worse than using LNG. Using high efficiency machines to make cloth is far more environmental friendly alternatives to his hand made linen.
Gandhi did not oppose consumerism but glorified poverty. He thought being poor takes you closer to God because he was influenced by Christian philosophy.
> The eighth reason Gandhi matters is that he had a rare knack of making leaders out of followers.
Gandhi worked hard to make sure that his Yes-Men are promoted while those who criticism him are shunned often using completely undemocratic means. Subhash Chandra Bose and B R Ambedkar were better men than all those people that Guha mentions and Subhash even democratically had won the INC presidentship but Gandhi was too salty about it and plotted to get rid of Subhash. Rest is all history as they say.
> The ninth reason Gandhi matters was his willingness to see the opponent’s point of view, coupled with his readiness to reach out to them and seek an honorable compromise.
There is not a single instance in gandhi's life where he compromised on anything except with the British. He knew that the day British think he is of no use he will be disposed off hence he played along. You can look at all his movements and all his speeches. He made demands from others and when others refused he would threaten them with fast until death. This passive aggressiveness reached to a level where he forced women to sleep with him naked as well.
Gandhi's impact on modern India is minimal in that sense and that is perhaps for good. Indian state has forcibly and using its coercive power has forced Gandhi's ideas on population. A lot of states adopted alcohol prohibition. Indian government forced people to use the hand made clothes instead of adopting modern technology.
Claiming that Gandhi is responsible for India democracy is outright retarded. Indian National Congress, the party and political movement which played the big role had a long and much older tradition of debate and democracy. At no stage of India, we saw anyone from any ideology demanding India to be a dictatorship except for the Communists. Gandhi's ideological opponents such as Ambedkar, Sawarkar, Subhash Bose etc. were fierce advocates of democracy and democratic institutions.
Many of Gandhi's ideas and conclusions, such as the importance of daily life human relations and decentralized democracy, are still important today not only for India but for the whole planet. Gandhi was also a "complex" person and had many inconsistent thoughts through his life. One of his main contribution was commitment to local level engagement and relations.
https://vladanlausevic.medium.com/gandhi-as-a-defender-of-the-caste-system-a26332b5c6b