Reflections On Gandhi
by George Orwell
Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent, but the tests that have to be applied to them are not, of course, the same in all cases. In Gandhi's case the questions on feels inclined to ask are: to what extent was Gandhi moved by vanity - by the consciousness of himself as a humble, naked old man, sitting on a praying mat and shaking empires by sheer spiritual power - and to what extent did he compromise his own principles by entering politics, which of their nature are inseparable from coercion and fraud? To give a definite answer one would have to study Gandhi's acts and writings in immense detail, for his whole life was a sort of pilgrimage in which every act was significant. But this partial autobiography, which ends in the nineteen-twenties, is strong evidence in his favor, all the more because it covers what he would have called the unregenerate part of his life and reminds one that inside the saint, or near-saint, there was a very shrewd, able person who could, if he had chosen, have been a brilliant success as a lawyer, an administrator or perhaps even a businessman...read+
Gandhi and the myth of non-violence
Simon O'Neill
Mahatma Gandhi is feted as the leader of the non-violent campaign for India's independence. Many believe he showed how to change the world peacefully. But as Simon O'Neill explains, this is a myth that hides the truth about both the independence movement, and Gandhi's role in it.
The independence movement was ultimately held back by Gandhi's elitist ideas. According to George Orwell, who was a police officer in India, "Gandhi made it easier for the British to rule India, because his influence was always against taking any action that would make any difference." (The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 2, p136.)..read more
Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent, but the tests that have to be applied to them are not, of course, the same in all cases. In Gandhi's case the questions on feels inclined to ask are: to what extent was Gandhi moved by vanity - by the consciousness of himself as a humble, naked old man, sitting on a praying mat and shaking empires by sheer spiritual power - and to what extent did he compromise his own principles by entering politics, which of their nature are inseparable from coercion and fraud? To give a definite answer one would have to study Gandhi's acts and writings in immense detail, for his whole life was a sort of pilgrimage in which every act was significant. But this partial autobiography, which ends in the nineteen-twenties, is strong evidence in his favor, all the more because it covers what he would have called the unregenerate part of his life and reminds one that inside the saint, or near-saint, there was a very shrewd, able person who could, if he had chosen, have been a brilliant success as a lawyer, an administrator or perhaps even a businessman...read+
Gandhi and the myth of non-violence
Simon O'Neill
Mahatma Gandhi is feted as the leader of the non-violent campaign for India's independence. Many believe he showed how to change the world peacefully. But as Simon O'Neill explains, this is a myth that hides the truth about both the independence movement, and Gandhi's role in it.
The independence movement was ultimately held back by Gandhi's elitist ideas. According to George Orwell, who was a police officer in India, "Gandhi made it easier for the British to rule India, because his influence was always against taking any action that would make any difference." (The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Vol. 2, p136.)..read more
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