Gandhi On Personal Leadership by Anand Kumarasamy

Author:Anand Kumarasamy [Kumarasamy, Anand]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mobilism
Publisher: Jaico Books
Published: 2013-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

18

The Importance of Courage

Conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. But it is our courage that will move us to speak out and take action even if it means risking our very life. For conscience to be truly effective, courage must be present.

Gandhi realised that there was a crucial relationship between courage and conscience. Without courage, conscience will not translate into effective action. It takes courage to act according to our conscience, for doing so can often make us unpopular, even within our own group. Studies have overwhelmingly shown that group membership and how the group views a person is very important to many people. We will go to great lengths to conform, and hence create and maintain a positive social image. It takes special courage to speak out against something that our conscience tells us is wrong, especially if people around us do not see it the same way.

Gandhi, for example, knew very clearly that "untouchability" was wrong. In fact, he found it abhorrent to his whole being. The caste system, according to historians and Indology experts, seems to have originated as a social classification system that could enable the smoother functioning of society. It created the castes of the Brahmins (the intellectual class), the Kshatriyas (the warrior class), the Vaishyas (the trader class, to which Gandhi belonged), and the Shudras (the service and labour class). It was a practice that had become entrenched in the Indian psyche over many centuries, and whatever its original meaning and intent, the fact is that it devolved with the passage of time into something grotesque. Entire groups of people, by mere reason of birth, were condemned to humiliation, discrimination and social and economic hardships. These groups of people were regarded as "untouchable" by people of the higher castes. It was considered "polluting" for a high-caste person to even go near the shadow of an "untouchable" person.

Gandhi knew that, he would have to take on the powerful Hindu orthodoxy. He was courageous enough to speak out for the abolition of "untouchability," for which there was initially a tremendous backlash against Gandhi. Many orthodox Hindus were outraged. But he took a decisive, vital step and unwaveringly fought the system. At one point, funding for his ashram was withdrawn because Gandhi had allowed a lower-caste family to stay there. Still, Gandhi refused to back down. He risked unpopularity, ostracism, serious damage to reputation, and even death. Gandhi stood his ground resolutely, and refused to go into temples that had closed its doors to "untouchables." He made it a rule in his ashrams and farms that there would be complete equality, and he worked tirelessly for the social and economic betterment of these people.

In this cause, Gandhi even resorted to his "infallible weapon" — fasting. He decided to fast unto death for this cause. In a statement issued on the eve of the fast he stated, if the Hindu mass mind is not yet prepared to banish untouchability root and branch it must sacrifice me without the slightest hesitation.

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