Will Gandhi Work?

(This article has been due since second October)

Sometimes, I think we are just not capable of digesting Gandhi. With Gandhi, I mean a set of ideas which were revived by a man through his own experimentation, named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Most of us agree that Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence is nice, but what would happen to him if he was dealing with the likes of Adolf Hitler? Check out any history books, where Hitler has been produced as evil monster, which I do not contradict but agree as a brute reality. It wouldn't have been possible for Gandhi to destroy such distorted morality! So, we must reach a conclusion that Gandhi and his ideals are not applicable everywhere and therefore should be discarded.(?)

I see such thinking as a result of our upbringing where everything good is judged on its merit of achieving a purpose. The method which helps us in achieving the purpose fastest, is the best! The usefulness of achieving such a purpose and the means applied to achieve these purpose does not count. So, when Gandhi wouldn't have succeeded against Hitler, how can I or anyone else succeed without violently protesting for my cause? I should kill someone to make my voice count!

If you do not like someone or his ideas, is it okay to give yourself the right to kill him? I don’t endorse such savage justice. The path taken up by Gandhi is hard path and the right path. It takes great strength and integrity to be in the system and fight it. Instead, just blowing up the whole parliament and corrupt ministers doesn’t give us any kind of purpose. It does not help us build infrastructure or economy, protect our liberty, or remove poverty. Such acts are called terrorism.

If you really wish to achieve peace and harmony, your disapproval of Gandhian principles appear completely hypocritical and illogical, it is simple logical inference one should make. We have this tendency to blame others for our own miseries. We blame the English for the partition and with some incoherent - stupid - piggish logic, even Gandhi. But, why is it so hard to accept that the actual cause of failure is the seeds of hatred that we sow in our minds and heart on everyday basis? The caste system is our oldest mean to discriminate each other. Also, we have so many religions amongst us with each having its own level of superiority complex, further the different cultures and races. Such hatred starts in mind as we start questioning people as, Why do they eat non-veg? Why don't they drink? Why do they look like Chinese? How can I eat the food touched by him?... Gandhi tried, throughout his life, to remove these differences, his idea was simple, be the change that you want to see in the world, learn to love and respect the other although he is quite different from you.

I had been meeting people people since the time I left school who try to impose their (misguided) intelligence on me by contradicting every action of Gandhi by either stupid nonsensical logic or hypothetical plot which never happened, just like the one in the first paragraph. Consciously, I have stopped forcing myself to answer them. But I couldn't feel sorry for them and stop wondering, "No human who knows a little bit of history can come to the conclusion that Gandhi was responsible for the partition. It is their ignorance which speaks under their frail veil of intelligence."

People usually forget that non-violence does not mean making peace. On the other hand, it means fighting bravely and sincerely for truth and doing what is just. Like all fights, there will be a terrible loss and pain but it takes courage and patience to fight against injustice without losing your sanity and killing people in rage of the moment. You cannot just expect things to change overnight, it takes a lot of character to be Gandhi or follow his path and make it work.