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History continues to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi as a figure of Indian resilience and struggle. Throughout the world, Indian history is seen as if synonymous to his name, and yet, in the shadows of that glory remain hidden the people who shaped the legacy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Every year on 2nd October, the world remembers Gandhi, the man who fought the British and did it so artfully that they had no resort except to accept the man with a frail frame and a frightfully forceful firmness to not fail. Yet, it was not just Gandhi who was behind the framing of his Gandhian fame. It was the collective efforts of many behind the curtain, his many supporters and mentors whose benefaction made Gandhi into theman who was able to bring the British Raj to its knees.

The man who perhaps influenced Gandhi’s life the most was Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale was a great reformist and nationalist leader who influenced economic and developmental thinking. He was an influential and respected member of the Indian National Congress. He wrote recommendation letters for Gandhi to several lawyers in Bombay, in order to secure a juniorship in the latter’s name. He proposed the Natal Indentured Labour Bill to help Gandhi gain a legal framework and to assist him in his struggle in South Africa. In Gandhi’s own words, “If Gokhale had not played this stellar role, the South African problem would never have resolved.” It was he who convinced Gandhi to return to India from South Africa to serve his people, and to spend a year visiting every part of the country – every city, district and village, so that he may get to know the people he had come to serve. He sought a promise from Gandhi to not utter a word on Indian issues for one year till his discovery of India was complete. Gandhi wrote in his book, Satyagraha in South Africa, “Every word of Gokhale glowed with his tender feeling, truthfulness and patriotism. Gokhale prepared me for India.”

Though Gandhi’s views on women’s rights were closer to Puritan-Victorian expectations of women, the women who accompanied him shaped his ideologies, and helped propagate them. Perhaps the most relevant woman encircling the glory of the Mahatma was his wife, Kasturbai “Kasturba” Mohandas Gandhi. She helped her husband in South Africa by establishing the Phoenix Settlement. She participated actively in protests and civil movements, and spent most of her time serving in ashrams. Despite being of ill health, she joined many of Gandhi’s protests, and was jailed on several occasions, with the most famous one being her imprisonment at Aga Khan Palace. She later died at a detention camp.

Another important woman beside Gandhi was Sushila Nayyar, an Indian physician, veteran Gandhian, and a politician. Sister to Gandhi’s personal secretary, she played a leading role in several programmes for public health, medical education, and social and rural reconstruction in India. She was Gandhi’s physician, a part of his trusted inner circle, and she worked for the empowerment of women, while also advocating for family planning.

One more man behind Gandhi’s success was J.C. Kumarappa, the pioneer of rural economic development theories, who has been credited with developing economic theories based on Gandhism. When Kumarappa started working with Gandhi, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya complimented Gandhi for the wonderful training he had given to Kumarappa. In response to the compliments, Gandhi had said, “I haven’t trained him, he came to me readymade.”

These people were some of the many spokes of the Mahatma’s wheel that spun a revolutionary movement. If Gandhi was the light of the candle, these people were his wax. However, history casts them in the shadows. The wheel would never have turned to drive a successful cause, in the absence of its spokes.

 

Feature Image Credits: Time Magazine

Shreya Juyal

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Bollywood influences and almost the entire population of the nation, and the Hindi movie industry’s understanding of freedom is embarrassing and this is reflected on what they decide to show us on Independence Day.

National holidays are always a reason to celebrate. Even if they do not come with a festival, they prove to be a holiday we never knew we needed. A breathing space, quite similar to a Sunday, but incredibly precious. While our lazy brain cells debate whether or not to spend the day holed up binging on a senseless television show, corporations are at work.

If we could rank holidays on the basis of which can be most easily capitalised, Independence Day would surely be at the top. It does not just carry meaning; it carries immense emotion and history, too. It also helps that independence is a spectrum – any incident in our lives could be loosely tied to the idea of freedom. The sheer number of products and the brands they belong to hence find different ways of associating themselves with this day, and frankly the results are incredibly creative and inclusive. For example, last year Ola’s campaign, #MyIndependenceDay followed Meghna Sahoo, their first transgender driver, getting ready for the day’s work or #UnitedByHope from Benetton.

Although these advertisements are produced by corporations that value profit more than anything else, they push the boundaries and very often start conversations. It is important for imaginations to be filled with myriad notions of freedom and patriotism. Bollywood, on the other hand, seems insistent on feeding us one type of patriotism and one idea of freedom. Judging by what the industry has been serving on Independence Day for the past few years, they seem obsessed with an aggressive and predominantly masculine brand of patriotism.

Let’s consider Independence Day releases of the past five years. Here’s a list for your reference-

2019 – Mission Mangal, Batla House, and 

Saaho

2018 – Toilet- Ek Prem Katha

2017 – Rustom

2016 – Brothers

2015 – Singham 2

It doesn’t take a lot to notice that the protagonist is almost always a dedicated male soldier, a dedicated male police officer, a dedicated father, etc. It’s one man’s fight to save a city or the country.

Mission Mangal stands out presenting a different brand of patriotism, one that involves the use of intelligence and team-work. Even though the poster makes it very clear that the male scientist is more important and hence takes roughly the amount of space given to five female pivotal characters, it is refreshing to see that, for once, it is not one man’s fight to make the country proud. In fact, a lot of people were involved and all of them had equally important roles to play.

Isn’t that a much more holistic and realistic approach to understanding what being a patriot is? The ability to collectively make the country a better place? The decision to release these movies on Independence Day has consequences.

They begin to set the rules for what defines patriotism for popular imagination as they set the standard. People fill theatres on Independence Day, expecting this standard and then production houses continue making this brand of movies to suit this standard. It is a vicious cycle.

Another problem with these movies is that they always end well. That one man does succeed to save the city (no surprises there). Independence Day is a happy and proud occasion but independence is a process. It did not end on 15th August and it does not end when the credits start rolling.Bollywood barely tries to scratch the surface on the idea of freedom. The amount of influence they hold on public consciousness is no secret. Yet, they steer clear of uncomfortable conversations. Mainstream production houses never produce films that make you squirm in your seats. Look at the wasted opportunity, our country still houses communities who are yet to achieve an independent existence.

Our movies need to reflect realities, they need to urge us to define our own patriotism by making decisions that benefit the country in some way. We need to stop being fed stories that make us believe that there is no work left to be done, or even if there is, there is a muscular man out there to do it.

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

 

Pragati Thapa

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Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced his plan to incorporate the Deshbhakti Curriculum in schools from 2020.

On Wednesday, 14th August, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the introduction of a “Deshbhakti Curriculum” in Delhi government schools, from next year. The main motive behind this decision is to induce patriotism among young students, and to make them feel proud and responsible for the country.

The announcement came during the launch event of “Constitution at 70” campaign where the Deputy CM and Education Minister Manish Sisodiya was also present. While addressing the crowd at the event, Kejriwal said that the aim of  ‘Deshbhakti Curriculum’ is to make every citizen proud of their country, aware of their duty and responsibility towards the nation, and instill a sense of passion to make sacrifices for the nation.

“When our children grow older and start working, and at any point if they accept a bribe, then they must feel from within that they are betraying ‘Bharat Mata’. When they jump a traffic light, they must feel they’ve wronged their country,” said Kejriwal during the event.

On Thursday , 15th August, he also quoted a tweet by Manish Sisodiya referring to the Curriculum in which he wrote, “We want that every child, after completing his education, becomes a good person, is capable of taking care of his family and becomes a true patriot.”

“Constitution at 70” campaign is a Delhi government initiative to make sure the future generations understand the values of Indian Constitution. It will encompass students studying in Class 6 to 11 and will continue till 26th November 2019, the date which marks 70th Year of inception of Indian Constitution. The three-month course will focus on the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, said Meghnad S., a constitution expert who also hosts the show Consti-tuition on Newslaundry.

The decision to induct a Deshbhakti curriculum came just two days before Independence day, and is being looked as a step to neutralise Aam Aadmi Party’s image in current political ecosystem marred by nationalism. The NCT of Delhi will tentatively have assembly elections next year as well.

Feature Image Credits: Twitter

Priyanshu

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A rational approach would suggest that liberalism is directly proportional to the progression in time but in today’s scenario, all means of sound judgment seem to be clouded by the veil of pseudo-patriotism. While patriotism is an emotion that requires inward reflection of our duties as national citizens of the country, pseudo-patriotism necessitates the exhibition of the same, disregarding consensual willingness. As is incessantly debated, the many folds and crevices of patriotism seem to have acquired a false sense of affinity towards jingoism, and in the grand scheme of things, if this ulterior wave persists, the essence of patriotism will soon get drowned in the battle cry for nationalistic fervor.

In a recent case in Madhya Pradesh, School Education Minister, Vijay Shah instructed the government schools in Satna District to answer their roll calls by enunciating, ‘Jai Hind’ from October 1. His insistence stems from the martial chants of ‘Jai Hind’ as a greeting and suggests that repeated intonation of the same will foster the love for the country, in the youth, as is deemed necessary by certain political segments. Another bizarre implication of instilling committed patriotism in the people is the order passed by the Supreme Court to play the national anthem in cinema halls across India before the feature film begins and all present in the hall are mandated to stand up for the same as a part of their “sacred obligation”.

The bench referred to Article 51(A) (a) of the Constitution, which states that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem”, in the processing of this order.However, it seems that the lawmakers are conflicted among themselves because until now, the law precisely stated that it has been left “to the good sense of the people” not to indulge in indiscriminate singing or playing of the national anthem. The playing of the national anthem prior to a film is not only unnecessary but also a blatant contravention of an existing law altered and modified to suit the convenient propagation of a flawed nationalistic outlook.

As is popularly preached, there is a time and a place for everything. There is a certain kind of mood that complements the recitation of the national anthem and the unfurling of the national flag. An atmosphere as nonchalant as that of a cinema hall, reveling in the undertones of humour, sarcasm and wit fail terribly at incorporating the anthem and garnering reverence for the same. The theatre audience consists of a majority, who view it solely as a means of entertainment and exercise their involvement as dormant participants. Instilling patriotic sentiments in a crowd that is only casually aligned to the cause and predominantly treats it as an unnecessary precursor, in itself defeats the purpose for which it is so crudely being materialised.

Both, nationalism and patriotism reek of honor and esteem and rise way beyond the modern day construct of ethnocentricity. It is high time that the learned minds are set free to explore and redefine their allegiance.

Image Credits: The Indian Express

 

Lakshita Arora

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Over the entire course of the evolution of humanity, patriotism has been the tantalisingly sensitive concept which has held together the very fabrics of co-existence. At the same time, even its slightest manipulation for the parsimonious politics has created the greatest of unrests in the world order, making the phenomenon detrimental at both cause and effect ends; something which the world realized in 1914 and again in 1939. But certain lessons are never learnt.

Today, as the world bears witness to the gradual shift from the conventional to an era of neo-realist politics sugarcoated in the theories of post truth and alternative facts, it is intentionally made to overlook a global conspiracy of implied xenophobia. The election victories are shaped on hate speeches on any line which demarcates a set of majority from a minority, or at least appeases the former.

A section of people in India and Pakistan believe that a war will solve all their problems. Donald Trump’s America believes that creating a wall at the Mexican Border will end all their misery. Many British believe that Brexit will once again make them the rulers of the world, and a section of Australia and many other European nations believe that the immigrants are better left to perish due to cold and starvation. Remarkably, according to their local leaders, they all are the true patriots.

Howard Zinn in ‘The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy’ writes that, “If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, not as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one’s country, one’s fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.”

It had never been as important as today to rise above this politics of segregation, and identify oneself beyond the selfish lines of race, religion and nationality, because at the end of the day, as Zinn writes, it all boomerangs.

With inputs from: The Zinn Reader – Writings on Disobedience and Democracy, Howard Zinn, Seven Stories Press, 1997

Nikhil Kumar

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Over the entire course of the evolution of humanity, patriotism has been the tantalizingly sensitive concept which has held together the very fabrics of co-existence. At the same time, even its slightest manipulation for the parsimonious politics has created the greatest of unrests in the world order, triggering phenomenon detrimental at both cause and effect ends; something which the world realized in 1914 and again in 1939. But certain lessons are never learnt.

Today as the world bears witness to the gradual shift from the conventional to an era of neo-realist politics sugarcoated in the theories of post truth and alternative facts, it is intentionally made to overlook a global conspiracy of implied xenophobia. There is this politics of hatred at play all around the world, against the social, racial and demographic minorities, flourishing by virtue of a lullabied majority, all in the name of patriotism.

The election victories are shaped on hate speeches on any line which demarcates a set of majority from a minority or at least appeases the former. Employing Islamophobia, Transphobia, racial bias or a sense of hostility to the immigrants, the majority in every nation is made to believe that the minority is the root cause of all their problems.

A section of people in India and Pakistan believe that a war will solve all their problems. Donald Trump’s America believes that creating a wall at the Mexican Border will end all their misery. Many Brits believe that Brexit will once again make them the king of the world and a section of Australia and many other European nations believe that the immigrants are better left to perish. Remarkably, according to their local leaders, they all are the true patriots.

Howard Zinn in ‘The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy’ writes, “If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, not as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one’s country, one’s fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.”
It has never been as important as today to rise above this politics of segregation and identify oneself beyond the selfish lines of race, religion and nationality because at the end of the day, as Zinn writes, it all boomerangs.

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]
Reference- The Zinn Reader: Writings on Disobedience and Democracy, Howard Zinn, Seven Stories Press, 1997

Image Credit- Nikhil Kumar for DU Beat