Tracing Gandhi by Samir Banerjee

Author:Samir Banerjee [Banerjee, Samir]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367432157
Google: Efl9zQEACAAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-01-15T01:36:27+00:00

The satyagrahi

From the above it is clear that satyagraha retains one unresolved, perhaps unresolvable, problematic. It splits the satyagrahi from the event because while the event ends with fulfilment or failure of its temporal expectations, the satyagrahi goes on since for her there is no success or failure. Satyagraha remains a ‘quest for a principle of life’. Implicit is the fact that although the project of the satyagrahi remains life long, every single event sustains her very being; the satyagrahi progresses through a succession of satyagraha events. The problematic lies in what should be the emphasis: the nature of the sequence or a particular event. A sequence oversees the ethos and the nature of linkages, while every event is a cluster of specifics. Of particular importance is the sustaining and adapting of memories and sentiments to inspire and monitor ensuing events. The congress party in some ways became the institutional repository of the memories of the concatenation of various satyagrahas which aided and gave a distinct identity to the freedom struggle. But Gandhi was reluctant to give such a role to an institution because he feared misuse of such memory. He wanted the congress party to be disbanded once freedom was acquired. For him satyagraha was too sacred a practice and the heritors can only be the people. Perhaps he felt that an institution could never be expected to be sensitive to ‘that little voice’ listening to which is important because satyagraha is not a political strategy. He was also aware of the various offshoots such as boycott, non-cooperation, fasting, and so on. He was also mindful that all the satyagraha that he initiated, supported or mentored, or even withdrew, were unalike in terms of mass support. Consequently the role of the satyagrahi becomes critical and even vital. Memory of satyagraha is to aid the satyagrahi and not become some heuristic folklore to encourage political manipulation.

The above becomes evident when we see how Gandhi explains various facets of satyagraha particularly the role of the satyagrahi. Summing up while ‘looking back on the Indian struggle in South Africa’, he explains, satyagraha as a praxis, carried out to its utmost limit is independent of pecuniary or other material assistance; violence is the negation of this great spiritual force; it can be cultivated or wielded by those who will entirely eschew violence; it can be used by individuals as well as by communities; it may be used as well in political as in domestic affairs; its universal applicability is a demonstration of its permanence and invincibility; it can be used alike by men, women, and children; it is impossible for those who consider themselves to be weak to apply this force; and this requires the adoption of poverty.133 Explaining ‘The essential law of satyagraha’ in 1919 he writes, “It is only where a conflict of interest arises, then arise the progeny of untruth, viz.; anger, ill-will, etc., and then we see nothing but poison in our midst. A little hard thinking will show

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